[stringtemplate-interest] group loading is messy

[Nate]

Why is group loading so messy?

The worst part is that a .ST group file and a directory containing 
templates are really two different kinds of groups. Eg, I have this 
directory structure...

redskin/template1.st
redskin/template2.st
blueskin/template2.st

I want blueskin to extend redskin. The way I ended up doing this is to 
create a text file named "supergroup" which contains the name of the 
super group, which I manually load and call setSuperGroup. Why can't I 
have a .ST file that defines the template group and the directory? This 
way I could define the super group in the .ST file as well as templates 
AND I could have template files in the same directory. Currently I can't 
mix defining templates in a group file and using a directory of templates.

I am feeling frustrated by the StringTemplate API. It feels like there 
has been a few development iterations that added major new features, but 
did so without breaking the older API. The result is an API that is 
awkward and frustrating to use. Are there plans for the next iteration 
of StringTemplate to break backwards compatibility so that the API can 
be cleaned up?

-Nate