MonoDevelop Cobra add-in

[nerdzero]

The Console.WriteLine calls will output to the same terminal that 'monodevelop' is started from. However, if you started it from a shortcut or launcher, you won't see any output in the app itself. It's helpful to have two monitors, one with the terminal and the other with MonoDevelop, because MonoDevelop itself will output some text when errors occur.

The VB binding does not seem as robust as C#: https://github.com/mono/monodevelop/tre ... NetBinding

Looking at the F# binding could also help: https://github.com/fsharp/fsharpbinding

[DelphiGuy]

Running under Win 7, .Net 4.0, MD 3.0x, I'm having trouble getting through the first step of the readme file: building the solution file. I'm having the same problem under both MD 2.8x and MD 3.0x. I looked at the most recent Cobra/Monodevelop packet on Github this morning 8/27/12, which seems to say that it's attempting to support MD 3.0x. Zip file from github is labelled (among other things) "75066be.zip".

Please see attached screenshot. I realize I haven't captured the entire compiler error msgs very well. Let me know if I should do a better job with that. Thanks.

{Since posting this msg and getting answered I have deleted the screenshot file.}

[nerdzero]

The addin for 3.0 is currently in development and not very useful for actually writing cobra code. Autocomplete displays Cobra keywords and System types but is not aware of the context so it gets in the way more than it helps.

I'd recommend sticking with 2.8 for a little while longer (the "master" branch on GitHub instead of the "3.0" branch). Tonight, I'll update the wiki page and the readme with better instructions on getting up and running.

[nerdzero]

Actually, looking at that screenshot. It looks like that is the 2.8 addin. Compile with MonoDevelop 2.8. You might need to delete the references and restablish them manually to build on Windows, I'm not sure. Again, tonight I will provide more detailed instructions.

[Charles]

The addin for 3.0 is currently in development and not very useful for actually writing cobra code. Autocomplete displays Cobra keywords and System types but is not aware of the context so it gets in the way more than it helps.

We might want an option to turn it on or off. That way if it's problematic, people can still benefit from the syntax highlighting and interactive debugging.

[nerdzero]

Okay, this is what I will do tonight time allowing: I'll update the master branch to support 3.0 without autocompletion and the other experiments I've been working on to make sure it's stable. This way, we can just forget about supporting both 2.8 and 3.0. We'll only support 3.0. With the PPA listed in the Wiki page this should still be relatively easy to get it working on Ubuntu 12.04. I'll also update the README and Wiki page to make all this stuff clear. The only confusing part is compiling on Windows thanks to this issue: https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=321

To compile on Windows, you need to delete the reference to "MonoDevelop.Core" and then re-add it. Apparently, it's not in the GAC so you have to browse to the assembly and manually add it. Typically, this is in c:\program files(x86)\monodevelop\bin\MonoDevelop.Core.dll. It should build successfully after that. I'll see if there's someway to workaround this because it's pretty annoying to have to do this.

Finally, I'll start thinking about easier ways for installation. I know MD has an addin-manager but I haven't played with it yet.

[Charles]

Thanks. You may want to have a snapshot of the 2.8 code somewhere for easy access for anyone who wants to use it for the basics it supports right now (syntax highlighting and debugging).

Regarding installation packages or distribution, I wouldn't worry about that so much now. There is enough to do just fleshing out the functionality and in fact, it would be nice if volunteers other than nerdzero and myself chipped in on that front so we can further distribute the work load and all benefit.

[nerdzero]

Okay, DelphiGuy, I updated the 'master' branch on GitHub to support MonoDevelop 3.0 and updated the instructions in the README for how to compile on Windows. Let me know how it goes. It's essentially the same as the 2.8 code but now conforms to the new interfaces defined in 3.0. However, note that I can't for the life of me seem to get debugging to work on my system in Windows. Works fine in Ubuntu, but not Windows. I'm not sure what's going on there.

The branch containing the experimental code for autocompletion in GitHub is still called '3.0' so don't use that version unless you want to hack on the addin itself...which would make you my hero btw . I'm taking a break for now but will get it renamed to 'experimental' or 'unstable' soon so its intent is clearer.

Thanks. You may want to have a snapshot of the 2.8 code somewhere for easy access for anyone who wants to use it for the basics it supports right now (syntax highlighting and debugging).

Charles, I created a tag for 2.8 in the repo and updated the wiki page with the link to it: http://cobra-language.com/trac/cobra/wiki/MonoDevelop This will server as a snapshot for anyone still running MonoDevelop 2.8.

[Charles]

Thanks. You may want to have a snapshot of the 2.8 code somewhere for easy access for anyone who wants to use it for the basics it supports right now (syntax highlighting and debugging).

Charles, I created a tag for 2.8 in the repo and updated the wiki page with the link to it: http://cobra-language.com/trac/cobra/wiki/MonoDevelop This will server as a snapshot for anyone still running MonoDevelop 2.8.

Perfect. Thanks.

[DelphiGuy]

NerdZero said in his Readme file on github.com https://github.com/ramon-rocha/MonoDevelop.CobraBinding/blob/master/README.md :

To Compile and Use
------------------
1) Open the solution file in MonoDevelop 3.0

- This Addin is developed on Ubuntu. To compile on Windows, you'll need to re-establish the reference to the MonoDevelop.Core assembly by expanding 'References' and right-clicking on MonoDevelop.Core and selecting 'Delete.'

Well, I'm afraid to go back and retrace my steps, but I believe from my memory that there was no "References" in the left-hand column to expand until after I selected Build > Build All a first time.

3) Copy MonoDevelop.CobraBinding.dll to the MonoDevelop addins folder. This location depends on your operating system.

- Ubuntu : ~/.local/share/MonoDevelop-3.0/LocalInstall/Addins

- Mac : ~/Library/Application Support/MonoDevelop-3.0/LocalInstall/Addins

- Windows 7 : ~/AppData/Local/MonoDevelop-3.0/LocalInstall/Addins (on Windows ~ is usually c:\users\<username>, also note that AppData is a hidden folder)

If any folders do not exist, you should create them manually.

I was unable to find the AppData folder from the path you provided above, but I did find C:\Program Files (x86)\MonoDevelop\AddIns , and after I pasted the file into that, the "Cobra" section did indeed appear when opening a new solution.

Haven't tried to compile anything of my own yet, using the Cobra section, but will report back tomorrow. Late here.

4) Restart MonoDevelop and you should now have a "Cobra" section when creating a new project/solution.

Again, yes -- this appeared to be working. Thanks!

The branch containing the experimental code for autocompletion in GitHub is still called '3.0' so don't use that version unless you want to hack on the addin itself...which would make you my hero btw

Hey, I'd like to help out but I'm currently really struggling with OOP / .Net / Cobra / C# (since I have to read a good bit of C# examples to learn Cobra and .Net). I told you before that if you have something a chimpanzee with a typewriter could do, I could volunteer for such a job, but unfortunately I think I exaggerated -- it's more like a rock with a typewriter. At least so far.