thomasf@ius3.ius.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Fahringer) (03/15/91)
Here is the PROBLEM:
I have to start building a graphical user interface (GUI) under X windows
for a huge existing application (parallelzing compiler).
======>>>> As I am a beginner I guess I better use some kind of widget toolkit,
rather than Xtintrinsic or Xlib? Right?
I will have to program about everything one can imagine:
command buttons, scrollbars, pop-up dialog boxes, composite windows at the beginning,
lateron even fancy graphics (like visualizing graphs) in some special purpose
application window.
======>>>> means, that I should use some widget set which is complete
and hopefully does not have that many bugs.
I will implement my GUI on a SPARC SLC (using SunOs 4.1 + X11R4 + twm),
but it SHOULD (not a must) run also on other machines
liek DEC 3100, IBM RS600, Apollos, etc.
======>>>> Thus my GUI should be portable as good as possible.
This restriction can be somehow relaxed. I rather implement
GUI for only a few different architectures than using Xlib!
QUESTION-1: What should I use to program my GUI???
Xview? Someone said: it is simple if the application is reasonable
well behaved and doesn't use pixrect.
OPEN LOOK ?
OLIT ?
Motif?
Athena? O'Reilly says, it is not complete and propably a lot of bugs.
X11/NeWs?
...
QUESTION-2: All the users who want to use the GUI, which I will implement, currently
run X11R4 and twm on their workstations.
If I create my GUI with the widget set you propose,
can the user start my GUI on his workstation (under X11R4 and
twm) without having to switch to some other window manager or Windowsystem?
The users of my GUI will hesitate to give up on X11R4 or twm.
QUESTION-3: this is a general question:
I am kind of confused about: Is Xview == OPEN LOOK == OLIT?
Do all the widget sets have a different
window manager?
I tried to figure out all the above questions by reading into some X books and
also the mails of this bboard, but got more and more confused the more I read.
Thanks for the answers in advance.
Tomgordonc@edai.ed.ac.uk (Gordon Cameron ) (03/21/91)
From article <12357@pt.cs.cmu.edu>, by thomasf@ius3.ius.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Fahringer): > Here is the PROBLEM: > > I have to start building a graphical user interface (GUI) under X windows > for a huge existing application (parallelzing compiler). I'll try and answer some your questions, although I can't claim to be an expert ! > > QUESTION-3: this is a general question: > I am kind of confused about: Is Xview == OPEN LOOK == OLIT? > Do all the widget sets have a different Here's what I know. X11 itself is simply a communications protocol. XVIEW is a set of widgets constructed from Xlib primitives (eg popups, menus etc etc..). Now, OPENLOOK itself is a set of rules which do nothing other than control the display, and the 'look-and-feel' of the application (e.g. certain rules for how windows appear, where they are placed, the decoration on borders, etc etc..). So OPENLOOK is a system which enforces some rules, and does window management etc... So, you may can write an application using the XVIEW toolkit. This application will be compiled to X11 code using the X protocol. You can then run this program (which you wrote using XVIEW) on ANY machine which can run an X11 display. HOWEVER, the window manager that you use will dicatate how the application looks and feels, so the ACTUAL appearance and input handling may DIFFER from amchine to machine, although the application will still function correctly. I hope this is useful...(and reasonably correct - I apologise for the almost inevitable mistakes!) > QUESTION-1: What should I use to program my GUI??? I use XVIEW to write my X applications, and run OpenWIndows (which implements OPENLOOK). The advantage of this is that I now believe SUN distribute as standard a tool called DevGuide which saves a colossal amount of time when actually designing the interface. > QUESTION-2: All the users who want to use the GUI, which I will implement, currently > run X11R4 and twm on their workstations. > If I create my GUI with the widget set you propose, > can the user start my GUI on his workstation (under X11R4 and > twm) without having to switch to some other window manager or Windowsystem? > The users of my GUI will hesitate to give up on X11R4 or twm. There should be no problem. Hope you get on OK - please let me know how things go... Gordon Cameron, Research Assistant, Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh, 5, Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND. -------------------------------------- e-mail : gordonc@uk.ac.edai.fh