Some wishes about Igor

1 As to my knowing, most really good/useable XOPs are from wavemetrics themselves(If I am wrong, please correct me). This is not the case of some other excelent software, such as python. Is there a way which can encourage other people/company to do this? This will surly make Igor more powerful.

2 Can there be an operation like "ImportXOP" as an alternative way to load XOP, but not restart Igor (like python)?

3 Can SQL operations be built in functions? Can igor surpport more web related functions? Igor is now most used by scientists and engeneers. If these are supported well, then Igor can be used in the most popular Big Data Analytics fileds , just as python or R. In my opinion, Igor features both data visualization and easy programming, which is superior to Python or R (if only data represntation and analyzing considered).
Regarding 1: I've written quite a few XOPs myself. I can't really compare these with the XOPs from Wavemetrics as these XOPs solve different problems.
Users can extend Igor by XOPs as well. They just need the XOP Toolkit [1]. I think one way to encourage more users to use the XOP Toolkit would be to bundle it with Igor Pro itself.
I think one goal should be to make the necessity of writing XOPs smaller but make it equally easier.

Regarding 2: Yes that would really be nice. This would also make loading stock XOPs, which needs linking to some folders before they can be used, much easier.

Regarding 3:

Can SQL operations be built in functions?

What would be the benefit?


Can Igor support more web related functions?


What precise functionality have you in mind?

[1]: http://www.wavemetrics.com/products/xoptoolkit/xoptoolkit.htm
[quote=thomas_braun]Regarding 1: I've written quite a few XOPs myself. I can't really compare these with the XOPs from Wavemetrics as these XOPs solve different problems.
Users can extend Igor by XOPs as well. They just need the XOP Toolkit [1]. I think one way to encourage more users to use the XOP Toolkit would be to bundle it with Igor Pro itself.
I think one goal should be to make the necessity of writing XOPs smaller but make it equally easier.

Regarding 2: Yes that would really be nice. This would also make loading stock XOPs, which needs linking to some folders before they can be used, much easier.

Regarding 3:

Can SQL operations be built in functions?

What would be the benefit?


Can Igor support more web related functions?



What precise functionality have you in mind?

[1]: http://www.wavemetrics.com/products/xoptoolkit/xoptoolkit.htm[/quote]

Writting a useable XOP is not easy. I dont think Igor offering the XOP ToolKit is just for a ordinary user to extend Igor's functionality. In fact, for a ordinary user, Igor's built in programming technicks are enough. XOP is really a standard way to extend Igor's functionality, which should be done by really professional people. Of couase, I know it is difficult to attract people writes moduls for Igor, "What would be the benifit for them":)

As far as network programming is concerned, to be honest, I feel that Igor's current support for the network meets my needs completely. What I want to say is that: if web programming can become a basic part of Igor programming, just as data representations and fittings,the field where Igor used can be expanded. After all, much of the data now comes from the Internet and databases.
Quote:
Can there be an operation like "ImportXOP" as an alternative way to load XOP, but not restart Igor

This is conceptually possible but would be difficult. To date this feature has not risen to the top of my to-do list.

Quote:
Can SQL operations be built in functions?


You may know this, but for the benefit of others... SQL operations are available via the SQL XOP:
DisplayHelpTopic "SQL XOP"

This supports any SQL server that supports ODBC.