Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[Chris Warwick]

I have been toying about with ways to represent large amounts of code, and 
would like to examine the issues with putting a Windows GUI on top of my 
work... Rather than spending the next 50 years learning how to program 
Windows, I was wondering if there are classes available that I could change to 
meet my needs...

Essentially I am looking for something with a user interface similar to most 
CASE tools... you know different types of boxes, with different types of lines 
drawn between them...

Any ideas would be helpful thanks...

Re: Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[jerry]

Chris Warwick <warwicks@telusplanet.net> wrote:

: I have been toying about with ways to represent large amounts of code, and 
: would like to examine the issues with putting a Windows GUI on top of my 
: work... Rather than spending the next 50 years learning how to program 
: Windows, I was wondering if there are classes available that I could change to 
: meet my needs...

: Essentially I am looking for something with a user interface similar to most 
: CASE tools... you know different types of boxes, with different types of lines 
: drawn between them...

There are several possible solutions, depending on what you like best,
which compiler you use and what you want to spend.

Basically the choices are:

1. Use a thick library containing native Win32 objects
2. Use a UI designer that generator the code implementing the UI
3. Use a UI designer designed for a library

Choice 1 could be *CLAW* (commercial) or *Windex* (in progres). If designed in
a OO fashion, one can imagine inheriting from the base application class,
modifying it and decorating it with other objects. 
My own experiences with these kind of libraries (for different languages
and environments) is that they are nice to get something up & running
real quick, but the libraries architecture can quickly become a bottleneck
to be worked around instead of used.

Choice 2 is my ideal solution. Several UI designers can utilies language and
OS 'plug-ins' to generate native code over several platforms and languages.
Most of them will handle your own code properly, when making changes to the
UI. The Knoware tools are an example. Alas, there are no such tools yet for
Ada. The closest thing is currently *RAPID*.

Choice 3 is  a compromise that combines choices 1 and 2. Here there are
several options. Since I do not like interpreted languages (Tcl/Tk, Java).
I would suggest investing in *GUIBuilder* if you are using OA, or go with
*Gtk* if you use GNAT. GUIBuilder has the advantage of better Win32
integration, Gtk's UI prototyper is somewhat behind in functionality
but the results are portable to other environments.

I would advise that before making a investment (time- and/or moneywise) in
any of these tools, to download (demo) versions and try them out, see what
best fits your needs.

NOTE: Information about tools marked like *this* can be found on the net.
Check www.adapower.com for references.

Good luck,
Jerry.

-- 
-- Jerry van Dijk | Leiden, Holland
-- Team Ada       | jdijk@acm.org
-- see http://stad.dsl.nl/~jvandyk

Re: Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[Tom Moran]

> Choice 1 could be *CLAW* (commercial) or *Windex* (in progres).  If
> designed in a OO fashion, one can imagine inheriting from the base
> application class, modifying it and decorating it with
> other objects.
  Slight correction:  Claw does not have an *application* object
to modify/decorate.  It instead has system objects which your app
can use/extend as needed.  Thus there is a Basic_Window_Type which
will call, for instance, procedure When_Mousemove when the mouse
moves.  If you need to actually use the mouse, you would declare
your own "type Window_Type is new ..."  and supply your own
When_Mousemove, which gets called whenever the mouse moves.
Similarly there is a (class of) Socket_Type, Menu_Type, etc etc.

> 2. Use a UI designer that generator the code implementing the UI
>...  Choice 2 is my ideal solution. ...
> The Knoware tools are an example. Alas, there are no such tools
> yet for Ada.  The closest thing is currently *RAPID*.
  Actually, Claw comes nowadays with CBuild, a visual GUI
designer that will generate code using Claw plus your own code.
  It may not fit everyone's idea of an "ideal solution", but it
certainly goes a long way. ;)

Re: Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[David Botton]

See http://www.adapower.com/windows

David Botton

Chris Warwick wrote in message ...
>I have been toying about with ways to represent large amounts of code, and
>would like to examine the issues with putting a Windows GUI on top of my
>work... Rather than spending the next 50 years learning how to program
>Windows, I was wondering if there are classes available that I could change
to
>meet my needs...
>
>Essentially I am looking for something with a user interface similar to
most
>CASE tools... you know different types of boxes, with different types of
lines
>drawn between them...
>
>Any ideas would be helpful thanks...

Re: Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[Tom Moran]

The message title suggests you want Classes to simplify Windows
programming, but the message body sounds more like you want a visual
GUI builder.  In either case, look at the responses to the "Ada for
Win" thread a few days ago.

Re: Ada 95 Windows GUI Classes

[Decker, Christian R]

A visual GUI builder specific to Ada... Hmm now thats interesting.. I have
built GUIS for ADA using the
Microsoft Developer Studio package.  This allows you to build GUIs using
standard widgets. This then creates
a resource file that you link into your Ada program. In your Ada code you
can get at things created in the
resource file via the string names used in the resoure file or via the
makeIntResource call.

Happy Coding!
Chris



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