Simulators, Maps, Arrays, Etc.

I am glad you like the idea and cooperation between extensions is a new phase to explore, for sure.

I am not sure if I would resort to calling this a huge amount of work with heavy requirements just yet. We really haven't gotten very far as to the scope of this project. It could very well start as a proof of concept, (getting it off the ground) and evolve over time.

CT has low funds, but we do our best for now and the quality devs here have created some great and complex stuff both freely and within our budget.

I think it depends on the developer(s) and working together without pressure. Some people can get a complex extension done, on their own, in a relatively short time, while others might go eight or nine months and still have little to show for it as far as potential publishing goes. I think the former, in unison could accomplish a lot without a big bureaucracy and that our modest budget would actually get major returns without risk, something that does not always happen. Everybody works at their own speed and skills and discipline level as we see.

Anyway, I hope more developers will chime in here. No matter what the larger picture or long-term goals for the idea may be, it is still possible to start small and focus so that something eventually evolves out of it.

All we are really interested in is positive results and benefits to users. I won't let words and prognostications build imaginary walls around creative potentials that have yet to be tried and tested. The EDT has always been about "what if", not about limitations. That is how so much great stuff came out of it.

I heard it is possible to wrap the .NET framework for MMF2 extensions. I believe with this (C#) it should be possible to prototype such an extension in a realistic time frame.
I don't want to start off a discussion between C++ and C#, but to any objectively minded person it should be obvious how much faster you can get results with the latter ;)

Anyhow. Depending on the dev doing it, it might be a time effective way to create a prototype, which can later be translated to a C++ extension. I wouldn't do it myself though, as I'm not fully aware of all the C++ limitations that should be kept in mind while creating a prototype, so it can be translated in the end.

If we're serious about this, we should certainly do the nescessary research and testing before "going for real".

Good points Random.

Hopefully the idea can be exciting and challenging. If so, then getting serious is going to be easy. ;)

Just a little OT, kind of:

Another place where I see extensions working together is icons. Any objects that have or use icons should be able, with conditions and actions to work together in various ways, like IconView, IconList, List View, Tree, Cursor, etc., and any objects/controls that may come along in the future in that respect.

They should all be able to use a common pool of icons that make for easy drag-and-drop and synchronization. I don't mean literally dragging the graphic, but more like a common standard where the icon order means a direct relationship between the extensions. However, the ability for one object to get its icon graphic from another is not out of the question. Might be easier than always relying on files or internals.

This is overdue and would make a world of difference when you are working with those objects. Right now, it is tedious and convoluted to get them to play together.