dgg@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Dave Gawron) (09/07/90)
Dear Ada Folks, I have received several responses for additional information regarding TAE (Transportable Applications Environment). As such I'd though it would be better to post the information here to reach the widest possible audience. In my last posting I left out some vital information regarding TAE's Ada code generation capability. Without this additional information you may get the wrong impression of TAE's usefulness (it is very useful). As you may recall I made the following statements: The Ada code TAE produces is not pure. For example, the code generated under the Sun3 version is specifically geared towards the Sun/Verdix compiler. On VMS it produces DEC Ada code. The GENERATED Ada code is pure except for a few package name changes between compilers (for example, TAE_X in DEC Ada vs. X_Windows in Verdix). I was trying, in an unsuccessful way it seems, to point out that TAE only supports certain Ada compilers and anyone looking into TAE should be aware of this. I used the term "GENERATED code" to mean the actual generated Ada code AND the Ada bindings to the TAE object libraries. I should have been more specific on which Ada code was compiler specific. As pointed out to me by Craig Warsaw of Century Computing (the prime contractor of TAE): We only support Verdix and DEC Ada [...] and the Ada bindings distributed with TAE Plus are specific to those compilers. Note, that other people have modified the bindings to work with other compilers. Now that that is out of the way I'd like to give you more information on TAE. I'm not going to delve into gruesome detail, but only mention some points I think are notable (I don't want to steal the thunder of the good folks down at the TAE Support Office). TAE provides an integrated environment for interactively developing and running window-based applications with graphical point-and-click user interfaces. The supported windowing environments are DECwindows (under VMS) and Xwindows (X11R3 under Unix). In a nutshell, TAE lets you interactively design a graphical user interface (GUI) by pasting items (like buttons, strip-charts, pull-down menus, and icons) onto panels. The next step is to generate the Ada or C or FORTRAN code necessary to replicate the GUI upon execution of your application. Each item on a panel is capable of generating events (button pushes...) which can be used to invoke procedures in your application. You should be aware that TAE is not a replacement for GKS or PHIGS nor is it functionally equivalent to them. TAE deals with abstract graphics objects such as buttons, pull-down menus, and icons. However, TAE does allow access to all DECwindows/Xwindows routines. TAE is well documented and comes with several manuals: TAE Plus Overview TAE Plus User Interface Developer's Guide User's Reference Manual Application Programmer's Reference Manual TAE Plus Ada Programmer's Manual (VMS or Unix version) C Programmer's Reference Manual (2 volumes) FORTRAN Programmer's Reference Manual (2 volumes) System Manager's Guide (VMS or Unix version) Guidelines for Adding a New Presentation Type The TAE support office is staffed with a bunch of really helpful folks. I have called them up several times and was amazed at their rapid response time. In one instance they faxed some code to me within a half hour of my call. A friend of mine who is also using TAE related stories of similar exceptional service. There is much more to TAE than I can describe here so I suggest that you get in touch with the TAE support office to get more detailed information. The TAE support office can also tell you how to order the software from COSMIC. Goddard Space Flight Center TAE Support Office Code 522 Attn: Arleen Yeager Greenbelt, MD 20771 Phone: 301.286.6034 Email: taeso@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov COSMIC The University of Georgia 382 East Broad Street Athens, Georgia 30602 Dave dgg@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (128.244.16.1) gawron@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (128.220.101.4)
cew@censun1.UUCP (SSUID Craig E Warsaw) (09/15/90)
dgg@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (Dave Gawron) [7 Sep 90 15:31:34 GMT] writes --TAE provides an integrated environment for interactively developing --and running window-based applications with graphical point-and-click --user interfaces. The supported windowing environments are DECwindows --(under VMS) and Xwindows (X11R3 under Unix). TAE Plus also supports X11R4. ================================================================ Craig Warsaw Century Computing, Inc. 1014 West Street Laurel, MD 20707 Internet: cew@fox.gsfc.nasa.gov