ETAF

ETAF is a small text-application framework built above the independent Ebox layout and rendering engine.

Its complete public model is:

Component(props, Scope) → View → Renderer → Ebox Node → Emacs buffer

Every visible structure uses one form:

(name :property value ... child ...)

The only child computation bridge is expr :value; attribute values are ordinary Elisp expressions.

(etaf-view
 (column
  (text :font-weight 'bold "Hello")
  (text
   :color "#687386"
   (expr :value (if ready "Ready" "Waiting")))))

Define a Component:

(etaf-define-component status-label (&key label)
  "Render a status label."
  :view
  (text :font-weight 'bold (expr :value label)))

(etaf-mount
 "*etaf-demo*"
 (etaf-view (status-label :label "Connected")))

etaf-view is the single public View constructor. Structural forms do not use quote; quote remains ordinary Elisp data syntax, such as 'bold. A View returned from ordinary Elisp is explicitly constructed with (etaf-view ...) inside expr.

Performance records

ETAF provides an independent, opt-in, application-neutral timing recorder. It consumes public Runtime observer reports without advice or private cross-package probes. Runtime operations such as Event, Action, mount, flush, and unmount are recorded automatically; Ebox, TP, Data, Resource, and SQLite provider stages inside the same operation are correlated by sequence.

(require 'etaf-performance)
;; In a buffer with a mounted ETAF Runtime:
(etaf-performance-mode 1)
;; Use any mounted ETAF application normally.
(etaf-performance-show)

For an interactive capture, run M-x etaf-performance-clear first. After reproducing the operations, press c in the panel (or run M-x etaf-performance-copy-report) to copy a complete report. Press w (or run M-x etaf-performance-export) to save the same report as an .eld file. The portable report includes the Emacs/display environment, power source, low-power mode, native-JIT state, system load, grouped p50/p95/max, individual operations, GC deltas, and ordered provider stages. The panel header exposes the same environment context so a machine-wide slowdown is not mistaken for one package hotspot.

The *ETAF Performance* panel shows operation IDs, generation changes, total latency, GC deltas, and each flat provider stage in sequence. Provider stages may overlap, so they are not presented as exclusive/self time. Records are bounded by etaf-performance-max-records; disabling the mode only detaches the Runtime observer and never rewrites functions. etaf-performance-summary computes operation p50/p95/max statistics on demand, while etaf-performance-operation-stage-summary groups one operation's flat stages by provider category. etaf-performance-records returns defensive operation and stage snapshots; caller mutation cannot rewrite retained history.

Use etaf-performance-call-operation or etaf-performance-with-operation to trace an arbitrary operation that has no built-in public boundary. Both delegate to the same Runtime operation boundary; they do not create a second timer.

Executable examples

The examples/ directory contains three core-only best-practice applications: retained state and Actions, Data Controller ownership, and Resource error/cleanup lifecycle. They are byte-compiled and driven through mounted public event paths by make check.

(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/github/etaf/examples")
(require 'etaf-counter-example)
(etaf-counter-example-open)

Documentation

• Architecture · 中文架构
• User guide · 中文用户指南
• Implementation plan · 中文实施计划
• Module-boundary proposal (unimplemented) · 模块边界提案（未实现）
• Best-practice examples · 中文示例

Independent packages

Package	Role
etaf-ui	Official Component catalog: Button, Checkbox, Label, Panel, and DataGrid.
etaf-sqlite	Concrete SQLite Data Source; the Data Controller remains in ETAF core.
etaf-playground	ETAF examples, with the UI catalog loaded only when requested.
ebox-playground	Ebox-only layout examples, independent from ETAF.

There is no separate etaf-data install: Data is a core ETAF capability. There is no generic etaf-adapters package: other databases, services, files, or ORMs should provide concrete Data Source packages with explicit names.

Load and verify

ECSS 0.1.0 and TP 1.0.0 are independent packages and may be installed in either order. Install both before Ebox 2.0.0, then install ETAF. ETAF consumes only the Ebox 2.0 public rendering contract.

During development, load the sibling Ebox checkout before ETAF:

(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/github/ebox")
(add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/github/etaf")
(require 'etaf)

Run the complete local gate:

make check EMACS=/Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs

The core gate byte-compiles the implementation, runs the core/Data/Resource tests, and checks documentation/API boundaries. Run make check in the sibling etaf-ui, etaf-sqlite, etaf-playground, and ebox-playground repositories for their independent gates; none is loaded by the core facade.