[Kss-devel] will megrok.kss ever go "live"?

[Simone Deponti]

Hi all,

Godefroid Chapelle wrote:
> There are no effects module for now.
> 
> This is definitely sthing that we should add asap. We need to improve
> the sexyness ;-)
> 
> Further, it would be really easy to develop. The biggest problem is to
> decide which library to use.
> 

I have been giving a look at Yahho UI Library in the hope to add effects for
a project I have to develop.
However, YUI's API for effects is rather generic, as it doesn't provide
per-se a set of effects, but rather provides the following facilities:
* An animation facility to move DOM elements around (even along a Bezier
path)
* A transition utility that helps into defining how the transition should
happen (very fast at the beginning and slowing down toward the end, etc)
* A generic facility to modify the CSS of an element and transition from a
CSS "state" to another: ex. if I want a fade, I can go

var myAnim = new YAHOO.util.Anim(el, { opacity: { from: 1.0, to: 0.0 } }, 1,
YAHOO.util.Easing.easeOut);
myAnim.animate();

So with YUI we can either choose one of the two approaches:
1. Have a set of defined effects (like fade etc etc)

action-client: fade;
action-fade-transition: quadric;

2. Have a more general API that goes like:

action-client: anim;
action-anim-attribute: opacity;
action-anim-from: 1.0;
action-anim-to: 0.0;
action-anim-transition: quadric;

(Note: quadric equals easeOut in YUI)

Honestly, I guess that for YUI both APIs can apply, as we can have more JS
in the plugin that "composes" the basic YUI commands to have the desired
effect.

In my opinions, there is the choice: a more generic effects API (2) or a
more effect-oriented one (1)

Pros of 1:
* More easy to use
* Could support YUI, jQuery(?) and Scriptaculous/MooTools (all the prototype
derived ones)
Cons of 1:
* Less flexible

Pros of 2:
* More flexible
Cons of 2:
* Probably not implementable with Scriptaculous and Mootools
* Harder to master for the KSS user (where by user I mean "him who develops
using KSS")

I would like to receive some feedback from the list about this two API
drafts I thought about, so I can direct my effort on YUI toward a common
goal :)

P.S. Since I work for a communication/advertising agency, effects are a must
for us: I like the YUI library as of now, due to its flexibility so I will
try to implement a KSS effect plugins based on it, however I have no
preference on the API to expose.


-- 
Simone Deponti (shywolf9982)