Hello,
this is, I guess, my first post, but I'm a long time lurker: so first let me say thank you for all the code snippets I've stolen - and I'll be stealing in the future.
I'm no real programmer (I mainly do color correction), but I like to put together simple scripts and panels anyway. This year I'll be working side by side with a friend of mine in PS developing and DI processing (he's on the SDK and Obj-C/Cocoa side), so I'm trying to make up my mind and find my way in more serious scripting.
So far I've sticked with JS; I've found intriguing the flash UI, but for compatibility I've used it only for panels.
Now I've heard (here, for instance, and in a couple of other MAX 2009 videos) that with CS5 things are changing. Flash-Flex/Actionscript will become the way to develop. Besides, they said more info about it would have appeared soon after the conference in the Adobe Devnet website, but I wasn't able to find any reference of it. Then, very recently, JNack (in his blog here) said that no, WebKit will be the way to go - (they're keeping " Flash as an option, too" - whether this means they'll be keeping it as an option at release time or they're thinking about it now, it's still obscure to me).
Now, maybe I'm not sufficiently skilled to avoid drowning in all these information; I started some time ago to read documentation about AS and mxml, believing that it would be a nice option while leaving JS (PixelBender would fit, and then AIR apps could be a further developing idea), but now I'm a bit puzzled - to tell the truth, I've never heard about WebKit before reading JNack's post.
So, I'm aware that CS5 is something (far? near?) in the future, but chances are that here I'll find someone who can put together all these pieces and suggest a possible path in CS5 scripting/developing.
Thanks in advance,
unD
CS5 scripting and developing
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Mike Hale
CS5 scripting and developing
I don't think that you are the only one confused by this. Abode has a bunch of different and incompatible ways to develop for the CS apps. I think that is because the different Adobe teams have different ideas about how things should be done.
I have tried several times to find out from Adobe which would be the best tool to use. No clear response.
I think for the near future( including CS5 ) you will be safe using Extendscript, Actionscript, and MXML. It seems to me that Extendscript and Actionscript are so similar that the hard part of scripting is learning how to use the app's DOM.
The video in your first link says that whenever that tool is released you will be able at access the DOM directly in Actionscript. So you will still need to know Actionscript and MXML.
For me the tough part of using Flex/Flash builder and the Photoshop Panel SDK is working with the Extendscript - XML - Actionscipt interface. I will be happy to see that go away when everything can be done with Actionscript alone.
If you don't want/need to create panels it seems that your only choice for cross-platform scripting is still going to be Extendscript.
I also don't know much about WebKit, but from what I have read it's a layout api for webpages. I know that panels can support web pages but I really can not believe that Adobe would limit us to using a web page in a panel to develop for any of the CS apps. I think that using WebKit would only be an optional way of creating a UI. And because it's based on the browser model I would expect it will have limits as to what you can do in the page.
I have tried several times to find out from Adobe which would be the best tool to use. No clear response.
I think for the near future( including CS5 ) you will be safe using Extendscript, Actionscript, and MXML. It seems to me that Extendscript and Actionscript are so similar that the hard part of scripting is learning how to use the app's DOM.
The video in your first link says that whenever that tool is released you will be able at access the DOM directly in Actionscript. So you will still need to know Actionscript and MXML.
For me the tough part of using Flex/Flash builder and the Photoshop Panel SDK is working with the Extendscript - XML - Actionscipt interface. I will be happy to see that go away when everything can be done with Actionscript alone.
If you don't want/need to create panels it seems that your only choice for cross-platform scripting is still going to be Extendscript.
I also don't know much about WebKit, but from what I have read it's a layout api for webpages. I know that panels can support web pages but I really can not believe that Adobe would limit us to using a web page in a panel to develop for any of the CS apps. I think that using WebKit would only be an optional way of creating a UI. And because it's based on the browser model I would expect it will have limits as to what you can do in the page.
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undavide
CS5 scripting and developing
Mike Hale wrote:I don't think that you are the only one confused by this.
Hi Mike, thanks for your answer.
I'l like to add a new guest in the developing options for CS5, that is: CSIDE (I really have no idea about what it could be, but they'll have a Developer summit soon around it: http://niemannross.host.adobe.com/2010c ... perSummit/.
May I say that I'm more confused than before?!
Regards,
unD
Hi Mike, thanks for your answer.
I'l like to add a new guest in the developing options for CS5, that is: CSIDE (I really have no idea about what it could be, but they'll have a Developer summit soon around it: http://niemannross.host.adobe.com/2010c ... perSummit/.
May I say that I'm more confused than before?!
Regards,
unD
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Mike Hale
CS5 scripting and developing
That is the tool talked about in the video link in your first post in this thread.
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undavide
CS5 scripting and developing
Mike Hale wrote:That is the tool talked about in the video link in your first post in this thread.
Hi Mike,
yes I knew - I found it cited also in the slides from an "Adobe SDK" presentation (2009 I guess); they wrote there "CSSDK integration with CSIDE, deployment support, creation coding and debugging" and nothing else, so I really have no clue about what CSIDE could be (and I hope is not a flavour of C - probably it's just CS-IDE).
Anyway, the March summit (5 days!) hopefully will be recorded and online in a couple of month, we'll see.
Thanks and ciao,
unD
Hi Mike,
yes I knew - I found it cited also in the slides from an "Adobe SDK" presentation (2009 I guess); they wrote there "CSSDK integration with CSIDE, deployment support, creation coding and debugging" and nothing else, so I really have no clue about what CSIDE could be (and I hope is not a flavour of C - probably it's just CS-IDE).
Anyway, the March summit (5 days!) hopefully will be recorded and online in a couple of month, we'll see.
Thanks and ciao,
unD
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Mike Hale
CS5 scripting and developing
If you don't want to wait until March in the video there is a link to sign up for the CSIDE prerelease program.