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diff --git a/doc/devel/preface.sgml b/doc/devel/preface.sgml new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..fdaa824a8b --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/devel/preface.sgml @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + <preface id="introduction"> + <title>Introduction</title> + + <para> + This is the &Evolution; Developer's Guide or programming guide + for the &Evolution; groupware suite. If you are a programmer + and you wish to use &Evolution;'s functionality from your own + applications or if you wish to modify the &Evolution; core code, + you should read this guide. + </para> + + <para> + If you are an end-user of &Evolution; you do not need to read + this guide; please read the &Evolution; User's Guide instead. + </para> + + <para> + This guide contains the information you need to know to do the + following: + + <itemizedlist> + <listitem> + <para> + Write applications that use &Evolution;'s data + repositories via the &Wombat; personal information server. + Examples of this would be a <application>GNOME + Panel</application> applet that displays today's + appointments, or a telephone dialer application that uses + the contents of the &Evolution; Addressbook. + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para> + Write applications that use the &Camel; mail library. + This includes extending &Evolution;'s own mail component + to perform additional functions. + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para> + Write new components for the &Evolution; Shell. Instead + of writing a stand-alone application, you can provide your + users with the benefit of having integrated views of their + data from within Evolution. + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para> + Write new modules for the &Evolution; Executive Summary. + This allows you to present commonly-accessed information + in a convenient fashion directly in the &Evolution; Shell. + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para> + Modify the core &Evolution; code to add new features or + change its architecture. + </para> + </listitem> + </itemizedlist> + </para> + + <sect1 id="organization"> + <title>Organization of this Guide</title> + + <para> + This guide is organized in two big sections. The first is a + programming guide, which consists of one part for each one of + &Evolution;'s components: there are separate parts for the + calendar, the addressbook, the mailer, the executive summary, + and the shell. Each part gives a description of the + architecture of its corresponding component, and also gives + information about the component's internal architecture and + some implementation details. + </para> + + <para> + The second section of this guide is a reference guide for + &Evolution;'s programming interfaces. We have separated these + into public and private interfaces. The public ones are those + that most people will need to use when writing extensions or + third-party components; the private interfaces are those used + internally in &Evolution;. Even if you do not intend to + modify the &Evolution; core code, it may be useful to know a + bit about the way it is organized internally. + </para> + + <para> + &Evolution; is free software, and we want you as a programmer + to make the most of it. We have provided many useful + interfaces that you can use in your own applications. Still, + we want you to view &Evolution; as a framework for building + groupware applications, and this may occasionally involve + making changes to its core code. We want you to learn from + &Evolution;'s design because we think it marks an important + milestone in the development of large-scale free software + applications. We want you to modify it as you see fit. Free + software gives you this freedom, and we want the whole world + to benefit from it. + </para> + </sect1> + </preface> + +<!-- +Local variables: +mode: sgml +sgml-parent-document: ("evolution-devel-guide.sgml" "book" "book" "") +End: +--> |