ssa@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu (Shahrooz A Alavi) (11/21/90)
Does anyone have any experience using any of the following UIMS products? - UIMX - TeleUse - ezX - Builder Xcessory - HP OpenDialogue Any other ones? I am trying to compile a list of advantages/ disadvantages of each. Can anyone point me to an article about any of them, specially a comparison? Thanks ----------------------------------------------------------- S. Alavi (919) 467-7909 ssa@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu
mayer@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM (Niels Mayer) (11/22/90)
In article <1990Nov20.213313.15494@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> ssa@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu (S Alavi) writes: > Does anyone have any experience using any of the following > UIMS products? ^^^^ I cannot comment on any of the products you mentioned, but I do have one thing to say: Most of the products you mention are not UIMS's (user interface managemnt systems). With the exception of HP/Apollo's OpenDialog, most are just interactive "User Interface Development Tools" or "direct manipulation builders." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niels Mayer -- hplabs!mayer -- mayer@hplabs.hp.com Human-Computer Interaction Department Hewlett-Packard Laboratories Palo Alto, CA. *
ath@prosys.se (Anders Thulin) (11/23/90)
In article <1990Nov20.213313.15494@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> ssa@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu (S Alavi) writes: > [ list of UIMS's deleted] > Any other ones? I am trying to compile a list of advantages/ > disadvantages of each. Can anyone point me to an article > about any of them, specially a comparison? A recent article is: Deborah Mix: Generations of User-Interface Management Systems IEEE Software, Sept. 1990 It contains a reasonably good overview of UIMS systems. Its more an introduction to UIMS tools than a technical comparison of each. Some technical details may be inaccurate, but that's of minor importance, I think. An interesting touch is the division for UIMS into 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation systems. Don't take it too seriously. There was a comparison between TeleUSE and UIMX as 'the 2 best UIMS (User Interface Management) tools', based on the poster's research in april to comp.windows.x. Although it may reflect the state of affairs at that time (big grin ;-), it should probably not be taken as an indication of the current state of the art - things happen all the time. Hope this is of any help, -- Anders Thulin ath@prosys.se {uunet,mcsun}!sunic!prosys!ath Telesoft Europe AB, Teknikringen 2B, S-583 30 Linkoping, Sweden
dex@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Dex Smith) (11/28/90)
I can offer some input on HP Interface Architect, which is the HP version of
UIMX. Here's a list of features:
* True WYSIWYG layout.
Widgets can be interactive created, moved, and resized with the mouse.
* Full support for the entire OSF/Motif 1.0 widget set.
Includes support for every widget and every resource. Special forms,
such as the Menu Editor, simplify complicated development tasks.
* Built-In C Interpreter.
The interpreter allows seamless integration of user interface and
application functions during development. You can immediately test
the behavior of your whole application (not just the user interface).
* Convenience library (optional).
A complete library of convenience functions is provided to simplify
interactions with the Xt Intrinsics and the OSF/Motif widgets. Use of
the convenience library is optional. For porting applications to other
platforms, the source code for the convenience library is available as
a separate product.
* C code generation.
Code generated by Architect includes calls to its convenience library.
However, you can generate portable Xt/Xm code using HP's Motif Code
Generator (MotifGen).
* No run-time licensing requirements for applications built with HP Architect.
* Online help (accessed via the HP VUE Help Manager), including:
* Task reference.
* Technical reference.
* HP quality documentation:
* Quick Start -- 40-page hands-on tutorial.
* Developer's Guide -- 350-page, three-part guide, including:
* Using HP Architect.
* HP Architect Concepts and Techniques.
* HP Architect Reference.
HP Interface Architect is currently available on HP 9000 Series 300, 400, and
800 workstations.
- Dex Smith, Learning Products Developer
Interface Technology Operation
Hewlett-Packard Company
Corvallis, Oregon USA
dex@hpcvlx.hp.comnazgul@alphalpha.com (Kee Hinckley) (11/28/90)
In article <100920256@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com> dex@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Dex Smith) writes: > * Full support for the entire OSF/Motif 1.0 widget set. What if I need to use a non-Motif widget as well (e.g. Table)? -kee -- Alphalpha Software, Inc. | motif-request@alphalpha.com nazgul@alphalpha.com |----------------------------------- 617/646-7703 (voice/fax) | Proline BBS: 617/641-3722 I'm not sure which upsets me more; that people are so unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate everyone else's.
gz4@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (12/19/90)
In article <665@riegel.prosys.se>, ath@prosys.se (Anders Thulin) writes: > In article <1990Nov20.213313.15494@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> ssa@eceugs.ece.ncsu.edu (
dex@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Dex Smith) (12/22/90)
> What if I need to use a non-Motif widget as well (e.g. Table)?
HP Architect 1.0 does not let you add to its palette of widgets. However,
since it has a complete built-in C interpreter, *any* C code can be used
during development, including custom widget code or additional libraries.
You can load code directly into the interpreter, or you can create a
custom version of Architect with your code built-in. To create a custom
version, you simply compile your code right into Architect. All of the
needed files are provided: "architect.o," "main.c," and "Makefile."
If the additional widget that you want to use is in a library, you
simply relink Architect with that library, registering the functions
that you intend to use.
The "HP Interface Architect Developer's Guide" provides a step-by-step
procedure for adding additional widgets.
- Dex Smith
P.S. Have you seen the "UNIX World" top-ten products of 1990? UIM/X
is one of them! HP Interface Architect is HP's trade name for
the UIM/X product developed in partnership with Visual Edge
Software. HP has added this value to the Architect version:
* Portable Motif code generation utility.
* Online help (provided via the HP VUE Help Manager).
* HP-written, high-quality documentation.
* HP support services.nazgul@alphalpha.com (Kee Hinckley) (12/24/90)
In article <100920265@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com> dex@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Dex Smith) writes: >> What if I need to use a non-Motif widget as well (e.g. Table)? > >HP Architect 1.0 does not let you add to its palette of widgets. However, >since it has a complete built-in C interpreter, *any* C code can be used >during development, including custom widget code or additional libraries. Any? K&R or ANSI? What about platform local extensions? E.g. alignment directives on HP/Apollo workstations. In any case, I'm using C++, so.... ... >The "HP Interface Architect Developer's Guide" provides a step-by-step >procedure for adding additional widgets. But by "adding" you just mean I can use them in my code, right? Above you say they can't be in the palette. > * Portable Motif code generation utility. What exactly is this? > * Online help (provided via the HP VUE Help Manager). Does that mean you have to run HP VUE to use it? What are the memory requirements? -kee -- Alphalpha Software, Inc. | motif-request@alphalpha.com nazgul@alphalpha.com |----------------------------------- 617/646-7703 (voice/fax) | Proline BBS: 617/641-3722 I'm not sure which upsets me more; that people are so unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate everyone else's.
dex@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Dex Smith) (01/03/91)
> > The "HP Interface Architect Developer's Guide" provides a step-by-step > > procedure for adding additional widgets. > But by "adding" you just mean I can use them in my code, right? Above > you say they can't be in the palette. You can link you own code into Architect (creating a new binary). This makes your code (which could be custom widgets, application-specific functions, etc.) directly available to the built-in interpreter. For example, suppose you wrote a custom Foo widget. You would probably have these three files: Foo.c Foo.h FooP.h Also, suppose within this code you also established a convenience function called MyCreateFoo() for creating an instance of your Foo widget. After creating a new "architect" binary by compiling and linking in your Foo source code, you could interactively create an interface using the standard Motif widgets, then add instances of your Foo widget using direct calls to the interpreter. > > * Portable Motif code generation utility. > What exactly is this? It's a tool that generates C source code using Architect interface files (or interface files from any UIMX 1.0 Motif-based product). Interface files are the intermediate storage format for user interfaces developed with Architect. Rationale: C source code generated directly from Architect (or any other vendor's version of UIMX) contains calls to the Ux convenience library. This means that this additional library must be available on the platform where you want to compile. (The source code to this library is available as a separate product form Hewlett-Packard.) If you want to avoid this library, you can use HP's Motif Code Generator utility (MotifGen) to convert Architect interface files into source code that contains only standard C, X, Xt, and Xm calls. > > * Online help (provided via the HP VUE Help Manager). > Does that mean you have to run HP VUE to use it? What are the memory > requirements? The help manager is a part of HP VUE -- you can use only portions of VUE (such as the help manager) if you wish. The memory requirements for the help manager should be about the same for any single Motif application. If you plan to run the entire HP Visual User Environment, things are pretty snappy on a 16MB Series 350. If you have less than 12MB, things tend to slow down due to swapping. - Dex Smith Interface Technology Operation Hewlett-Packard Company Corvallis, Oregon