MWolf@BCO-MULTICS.ARPA (Mary-Anne Wolf) (02/12/88)
We would like to do Transaction Processing using X to do the display. Does anyone know of a forms package that works on top of X? Thanks, Mary-Anne Wolf Honeywell Bull, 300 Concord Rd, Billerica, MA 02145 (617)671-3688 MWolf -at BCO.Multics.ARPA
MWolf@BCO-MULTICS.ARPA (Mary-Anne Wolf) (02/12/88)
I have the impression that X is very dynamic. This is good. However, has anyone placed importance on keeping a certain core of stuff unchanged, so that those who build something on a particular version of X will not have to throw it all out when the most current version changes? (I assume X11 is not the last version of X.) If so, what can we assume will remain the same in the future? (I hope this is not a silly question.) Thank-you for your opinion, Mary-Anne Wolf Honeywell Bull, 300 Concord Rd, Billerica, MA 02145 (617)671-3688 MWolf -at BCO.Multics.ARPA
RWS@ZERMATT.LCS.MIT.EDU (Robert Scheifler) (02/12/88)
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 88 18:43 EST
From: Mary-Anne Wolf <MWolf@BCO-MULTICS.ARPA>
However, has anyone placed
importance on keeping a certain core of stuff
unchanged, so that those who build something on a
particular version of X will not have to throw it
all out when the most current version changes?
Yes! The MIT X Consortium is very concerned about providing a stable
platform for applications development. The same holds true of just
about everyone else working on X based systems.
(I assume X11 is not the last version of X.) If
so, what can we assume will remain the same in
the future?
The intent is that at least the network protocol and the C Xlib
interface remain stable for at least three years. Stable in the sense
that there are few if any incompatible changes, although there will
certainly be upward compatible additions. We would also like to
stabilize programming interfaces in other languages; the CLX interface
for Common Lisp is one such interface that has already received fairly
wide review. We would also like to provide some sort of stable
"toolkit/UIMS" platform for the major languages; the Xtk Intrinsics are
under review as a foundation of this for C. The MIT X Consortium will
also be working in many other areas to provide common interfaces; the
current X3D-PEX effort (supporting Phigs/+) is one such activity.
Bob Scheifler
Director, MIT X Consortium