Parameters: start a design draft

Parameters and Automation will certainly play a crucial role eventually.
They will form a network of relationships to cover all further concerns that can not directly be conceptualised as arrangement or processing.

A shift in the setup of the Job-Functor arguments necessitates to introduce a `Parameter` type — ''albeit just as placeholder''

src/lib/par/parameter.cpp

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /*
-  Parameter  -  representation of an automatable effect/plugin parameter
+  Parameter  -  generic parameter values
 
    Copyright (C)
-     2008,            Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
+     2008,2026        Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
 
   **Lumiera** is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -15,24 +15,19 @@
 /** @file parameter.cpp
  ** Implementation functions of the Parameter abstraction.
  ** 
- ** @todo as of 2016, we still need to work out our parameter/automation concept.
+ ** @todo this is a draft and placeholder, as of 2026
  */
 
 
 #include "lib/error.hpp"
 #include "lib/par/parameter.hpp"
 
-namespace steam {
-namespace mobject {
+namespace lib {
+namespace par {
   
   
-  template<class VAL>
-  VAL
-  Parameter<VAL>::getValue ()
-  {
-    UNIMPLEMENTED ("Any idea how to handle various kinds of parameter types");
-  }
+  /** */
   
   
   
-}} // namespace mobject
+}} // namespace lib::par

src/lib/par/parameter.hpp

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /*
-  PARAMETER.hpp  -  representation of an automatable effect/plugin parameter
+  PARAMETER.hpp  -  generic parameter values
 
    Copyright (C)
-     2008,            Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
+     2008,2026        Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
 
   **Lumiera** is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 
 
 /** @file parameter.hpp
- ** Core abstraction: parameter to be controlled and possibly automated.
+ ** A generic type value that can be discovered and automated.
  ** 
- ** @todo as of 2016, we still need to work out our parameter/automation concept.
+ ** @todo this is a draft and placeholder, as of 2026
  */
 
 
@@ -25,29 +25,26 @@
 
 
 
-namespace steam {
-namespace mobject {
+namespace lib {
+namespace par {
   
-  template<class VAL> class ParamProvider;
   
   
   /**
-   * Descriptor and access object for a plugin parameter.
-   * Parameters may be provided with values from the session,
-   * and this values may be automated.
+   * Descriptor and container to hold a generic parameter.
+   * The value can be fixed or supplied by an automation function.
    */
-  template<class VAL>
   class Parameter
     {
     public:
-      VAL getValue () ;
+      template<typename VAL>
+      VAL get();
       
     protected:
-      ParamProvider<VAL>* provider;
       
     };
   
   
   
-}} // namespace steam::mobject
+}} // namespace lib::par
 #endif /*LIB_PAR_PARAMETER_H*/

tests/16parameter.tests

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+TESTING "Library Test Suite: parameters" ./test-suite --group=param
+
+
+
+PLANNED "Parameter Values" Parameter_test <<END
+return: 0
+END

tests/lib/par/parameter-test.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+  Parameter(Test)  -  verify generic parameter values
+
+   Copyright (C)
+     2026,            Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
+
+  **Lumiera** is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+  under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+  Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
+  option) any later version. See the file COPYING for further details.
+
+* *****************************************************************/
+
+/** @file parameter-test.cpp
+ ** unit test \ref Parameter_test
+ */
+
+
+#include "test/run.hpp"
+//#include "test/test-helper.hpp"
+#include "lib/par/parameter.hpp"
+//#include "lib/format-cout.hpp"
+
+//#include <utility>
+//#include <string>
+//#include <vector>
+
+//using std::string;
+//using std::vector;
+//using std::swap;
+
+
+namespace lib {
+namespace par {
+namespace test{
+  
+//  using lumiera::error::LUMIERA_ERROR_LOGIC;
+  
+  namespace {//Test fixture....
+    
+    class Thing
+      { };
+    
+    template<typename X>
+    struct Some
+      {
+        X x;
+      };
+    
+    typedef Some<Thing> SomeThing;
+    
+  }//(End)Test fixture
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  
+  /**************************************************************************//**
+   * @test cover properties of generic parameter containers.
+   */
+  class Parameter_test : public Test
+    {
+      
+      virtual void
+      run (Arg)
+        {
+          simpleUsage();
+          verify_typeMarker();
+        }
+      
+      
+      void
+      simpleUsage()
+        {
+        }
+      
+      
+      void
+      verify_typeMarker()
+        {
+        }
+    };
+  
+  
+  /** Register this test class... */
+  LAUNCHER (Parameter_test, "unit lib");
+  
+  
+  
+}}} // namespace lib::par::test