Bug 734031 (intro): Various documentation tweaks

README.md

@@ -2,66 +2,44 @@
 GCLI - Graphic Command Line
 ===========================
 
-GCLI is a command line component. It is used in Ace/Skywriter/Cloud9/etc
-It can be easily embedded in any web page and JavaScript application.
+GCLI is a graphical command line component. It is being integrated with
+Firefox developer tools and with editors like Orion and Ace. It can be embedded
+in web pages and JavaScript applications.
 
-Getting Started
----------------
-GCLI uses submodules, so make sure you checkout with the following:
-
-    git clone git://github.com/joewalker/gcli.git --recursive
-    cd gcli
-    python static.py
-
-Then in a browser, visit 'http://localhost:9999/' and where you see the '>'
-prompt, type 'help' to see a list of commands, 'sh ls -la' executes the list
-command using a shell provided by the python server.
 
 Why?
 ----
-There are a number of problems with common command lines:
+
+Command lines have advantages over graphical UIs in speed of entry and the
+ability to contain an almost unlimited set of commands without becoming
+cluttered. On the other hand GUIs typically come with better discoverability.
+GCLI is an experiment to see if we can improve the discoverability of command
+lines whilst retaining the speed and powerful command set of traditional CLIs.
+
+There are a number of problems with the design of traditional command lines:
 
 * They assume a curses-style 80x24 (or similar) character array for output. 
-  This hasn't made much sense for the last 10 years, even system consoles are
-  capable of graphics these days.
-* They assume serial access to the output.
+  Even system consoles are capable of graphics these days. It ought to be
+  possible to have richer output.
+* They assume serial access to the output - one command at a time.
   This made sense when multi-tasking was expensive, however with modern
   processors single-tasking is starting to look expensive.
 * They are so loosely coupled that the integration is typically nothing more
   than argv/stdout/stderr/stdin.
   That level of integration made sense on memory constrained devices, but with
   more resources, we can provide much richer integration.
 
-Command lines are often better than UIs for speed of entry and for things like
-history/scripting/etc, but on the other hand UIs are typically have better
-discoverability, so it would be good to retain the speed/text basis, but make
-CLIs easier to use.
 
-Ideas
------
-Some of the benefits that are currently working:
+Getting Started
+---------------
 
-* Output can be HTML, so tables can be laid out better than the space based
-  formatting that 'ls' uses.
-* All commands can run in the background. '&' becomes the default.
-* Commands can write to the output whenever they want, without risk of colliding
-  with another task, this means that commands can safely ask for clarification
-  or further input whenever they want.
-* Output can contain command links, so the output of 'ls' can contain icons to
-  copy/move/delete the listed files.
-* An AST of the input is created, so we can identify exactly what in the command
-  line is incorrect before return is pressed, and require a fix before the user
-  is allowed to continue.
-* The input parameters are typed. Enter "set historyLength 7" and then press UP.
-  The system knows that the type of the 'historyLength' setting is a number, so
-  we can do an increment operation.
+    git clone git://github.com/joewalker/gcli.git
+    cd gcli
+    # Load index.html into your web browser (except Chrome)
+    # For Chrome:
+    npm install .
+    ./gcli.js
+    # Visit http://localhost:9999/
 
-Some additional benefits that should be possible:
+When you see the '»' prompt, type 'help' to see a list of commands.
 
-* The command line display does not have to be a plain string. In addition to
-  the error mark-up we can obscure passwords and when the user types
-  "--password tiger" we can display "--password *****". Potentially long
-  filenames could be displayed in shortened form (using "...") when they're not
-  being edited.
-* We could generate a menu system that would allow selection and even execution
-  of commands using a mouse in a why almost as familiar as a traditional GUI.

index.html

@@ -41,13 +41,10 @@
     });
 
     // 'deps' should be the same as in lib/server/build.js:buildStandard
-    var start = new Date().getTime();
     var deps = [ 'gcli/index', 'gclitest/index', 'demo/index' ];
     require(deps, function(gcli, gclitest) {
       gclitest.run({ useFakeWindow: true });
       gcli.createView({ useTooltip: true });
-
-      console.log('Startup time (inc tests): ' + (new Date().getTime() - start)/1000 + 's');
     });
   </script>
 

lib/server/build.js

@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ function createUndefineFunction(project) {
 }
 
 /**
- * 
+ * Test build file
  */
 exports.buildMain = function() {
   var firefoxHome = main.gcliHome + '/../devtools';