* Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? @ 2001-02-26 9:49 Ashley Collins 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt ` (2 more replies) 0 siblings, 3 replies; 8+ messages in thread From: Ashley Collins @ 2001-02-26 9:49 UTC (permalink / raw) Hi I'm running GNAT Ada under MSDOS. I'd like to build a very simple 'graphical' user interface for my application. The type of interface should support the ANSI character set so that I can display non-movable windows, scrollers etc. Does anyone know of any good user interface library code that works under MSDOS? Anyone care to make a recommendation? Where can I find it? Ashley ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-26 9:49 Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? Ashley Collins @ 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt 2001-02-27 9:12 ` Ashley Collins 2001-02-27 1:52 ` Al Christians 2001-02-28 15:59 ` gressett 2 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread From: Randy Brukardt @ 2001-02-26 20:08 UTC (permalink / raw) Ashley Collins wrote in message <983180961.119586@ernani.logica.co.uk>... >I'm running GNAT Ada under MSDOS. I'd like to build a very simple >'graphical' user interface for my application. The type of interface should >support the ANSI character set so that I can display non-movable windows, >scrollers etc. > >Does anyone know of any good user interface library code that works under >MSDOS? Anyone care to make a recommendation? Where can I find it? The MS-DOS version of Janus/Ada contains such a thing (called "JWindows"). But it has to write directly to the VGA hardware, and thus was not designed to work with another compiler. The MS-DOS versions of Janus/Ada are still available (16-bit Ada 83, 32-bit Ada 83 & Ada 95). See www.rrsoftware.com. (There are different versions of JWindows for Ada 83 and Ada 95; the Ada 95 was the inspriation for Claw.) Randy Brukardt. >Ashley > > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt @ 2001-02-27 9:12 ` Ashley Collins 0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread From: Ashley Collins @ 2001-02-27 9:12 UTC (permalink / raw) Thanks for all the various suggestions. My requirement can best be summed up as follows: - runs under GNAT Ada for DOS (just DOS on the machine, nothing else!) - no requirement whatsoever for any pointing device e.g. mouse - simple windowing, coloured text, menus would be nice - free? Further threads welcome. Ashley "Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com> wrote in message news:eJym6.3356$7e6.1361379@homer.alpha.net... > > Ashley Collins wrote in message > <983180961.119586@ernani.logica.co.uk>... > >I'm running GNAT Ada under MSDOS. I'd like to build a very simple > >'graphical' user interface for my application. The type of interface > should > >support the ANSI character set so that I can display non-movable > windows, > >scrollers etc. > > > >Does anyone know of any good user interface library code that works > under > >MSDOS? Anyone care to make a recommendation? Where can I find it? > > > The MS-DOS version of Janus/Ada contains such a thing (called > "JWindows"). But it has to write directly to the VGA hardware, and thus > was not designed to work with another compiler. > > The MS-DOS versions of Janus/Ada are still available (16-bit Ada 83, > 32-bit Ada 83 & Ada 95). See www.rrsoftware.com. > > (There are different versions of JWindows for Ada 83 and Ada 95; the Ada > 95 was the inspriation for Claw.) > > Randy Brukardt. > > > >Ashley > > > > > > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-26 9:49 Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? Ashley Collins 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt @ 2001-02-27 1:52 ` Al Christians 2001-02-27 5:50 ` tmoran 2001-02-28 15:59 ` gressett 2 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread From: Al Christians @ 2001-02-27 1:52 UTC (permalink / raw) There is a way to access the MSDOS video buffer from the GNAT version of DOS. So, if you want to write your own library to put things on the screen, it is not too impossibly hard, just a little work. The problem nowadays with a simple text-mode GUI like that is that it is not mouse aware, and almost all computers have mouses, and almost all users want to use them. That motivated me to abandon a similar effort about seven years ago just a little beyond the proof-of-concept stage. Even the more successful (non-Ada) DOS text-mode GUI's that could use the mouse were often user-unpleasant. Al Ashley Collins wrote: > > Hi > > I'm running GNAT Ada under MSDOS. I'd like to build a very simple > 'graphical' user interface for my application. The type of interface should > support the ANSI character set so that I can display non-movable windows, > scrollers etc. > > Does anyone know of any good user interface library code that works under > MSDOS? Anyone care to make a recommendation? Where can I find it? > > Ashley ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-27 1:52 ` Al Christians @ 2001-02-27 5:50 ` tmoran 2001-02-27 8:25 ` Al Christians 0 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread From: tmoran @ 2001-02-27 5:50 UTC (permalink / raw) >nowadays with a simple text-mode GUI like that is that it is not mouse aware You can use the mouse in text, as well as graphic, modes. It's just uglier. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-27 5:50 ` tmoran @ 2001-02-27 8:25 ` Al Christians 0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread From: Al Christians @ 2001-02-27 8:25 UTC (permalink / raw) tmoran@acm.org wrote: > > >nowadays with a simple text-mode GUI like that is that it is not mouse aware > You can use the mouse in text, as well as graphic, modes. It's just uglier. Yes. But writing a UI framework for DOS that is mouse aware is much less simple than writing one that isn't. If you just use the keyboard, you have just one stream of input to handle, and you can easily track where you are. And I've used some of the text mode commercial user interfaces that could get mouse input, and the mouse was no fun. It doesn't move smoothly, it has to jump annoyingly from rectangle to rectangle in the text grid. I suppose that there might be some apps that can make good use of DOS on dedicated hardware, but most of the world has had GUI apps for more than five years, and it would be unpleasant for most to go back. I recall that there was a little trouble addressing the video buffer with GNAT. Because GNAT for DOS runs in protected mode, you've got an address that's bigger than the 32-bit of segment and offset of the DOS real mode video buffer, and no way I could find to force any Ada variable to locate itself at the real address of the video buffer. But there were C language interface routines that came with djgpp that could be called from Ada to clobber the buffer indirectly. I think I also got this working with RR's Ada 95 for DOS. Did it have some easier way to convert to DOS addresses? Back then, we used to worry about how long it took for screens to update, but computers are 15 times faster now, so it probably doesn't matter much if you do any of this the fast way or the slow way. If the DOS machine is one that will be dedicated to just this Ada app, or at least not too much else will be run on the machine, then Ansi.Sys may be a pretty good alternative. Ansi.Sys was comparatively slow, but that probably doesn't matter much anymore, and it was very bad to have it installed if any programs were run that could possible ever send escape characters to stdout that weren't part of a well-formed escape sequence. But on a dedicated machine you could possibly prevent that, and Ansi.Sys gives some help for someone who wants to write a text mode GUI. Al ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-26 9:49 Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? Ashley Collins 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt 2001-02-27 1:52 ` Al Christians @ 2001-02-28 15:59 ` gressett 2001-02-28 19:41 ` Gautier de Montmollin 2 siblings, 1 reply; 8+ messages in thread From: gressett @ 2001-02-28 15:59 UTC (permalink / raw) "Ashley Collins" <collinsa@logica.com> wrote: >Hi > >I'm running GNAT Ada under MSDOS. I'd like to build a very simple >'graphical' user interface for my application. The type of interface should >support the ANSI character set so that I can display non-movable windows, >scrollers etc. > >Does anyone know of any good user interface library code that works under >MSDOS? Anyone care to make a recommendation? Where can I find it? > >Ashley > There is one written in C available from Mix Software. <http://www.mixsoftware.com> It is the C/Windows Toolchest. It is not Open Source, but source is available. It's not free, but it is cheap. You would need the source, as the binary object libraries probably wouldn't link with GNAT-generated code. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? 2001-02-28 15:59 ` gressett @ 2001-02-28 19:41 ` Gautier de Montmollin 0 siblings, 0 replies; 8+ messages in thread From: Gautier de Montmollin @ 2001-02-28 19:41 UTC (permalink / raw) gressett@iglobal.net: > It is the C/Windows Toolchest. It is not Open Source, but source is > available. It's not free, but it is cheap. You would need the source, > as the binary object libraries probably wouldn't link with > GNAT-generated code. For that a binding to Free Vision, a clone of Borland's Turbo Vision, would fit, since it has been made for DJGPP (same wood as GNAT/DOS). __________________________________________ Gautier -- http://www.diax.ch/users/gdm/ ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 8+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2001-02-28 19:41 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 8+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed) -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2001-02-26 9:49 Ada + MSDOS + User Interface Code? Ashley Collins 2001-02-26 20:08 ` Randy Brukardt 2001-02-27 9:12 ` Ashley Collins 2001-02-27 1:52 ` Al Christians 2001-02-27 5:50 ` tmoran 2001-02-27 8:25 ` Al Christians 2001-02-28 15:59 ` gressett 2001-02-28 19:41 ` Gautier de Montmollin
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