RE: An Ada IDE and discussions

["Beard, Frank" <beardf@spawar.navy.mil>]

I saw a demo, can't remember the product name, probably six or seven years
ago,
where the GUI interface was developed on a UNIX platform.  The vendor also
had
a set of libraries for Windows.  On Unix, it looked like Motif, but when it 
was linked on Windows it looked like Windows.  Granted the demo only had
some
drop down menus, a listbox or two, and some buttons.  Maybe someone will 
remember the product.  The problem for us was when the decision was made
to port to Windows they took away our Unix boxes.  The GUI builder only
worked
on Unix, but could be linked with their Windows libraries to have a Windows
product.  So, it sounded ideal if you needed your product running in both
environments; otherwise, Windows users would have no reason to go out and
buy a Unix box just to do the user interface.

I know one of the goals of Screen Machine, by Objective Interfaces, was to
allow creation of a highly portable UI across various OS's.  Anybody know
about that product?  And whatever happened to it?

There was another GUI builder product (I think) by Frontier Technologies
that I think was targeting both Unix and Windows (off of Unix for five
years and forget everything).  Anybody know about that product?

We were using Bluestone on HP-UX, but they didn't have anything for Windows
at the time, so we dropped interest in them.

It seems like GtkAda could take the same approach as the first product, or
Screen Machine, so the product looks like a native application depending
on where it's linked.

Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: Marin David Condic [mailto:marin.condic.auntie.spam@pacemicro.com]

Win32 programming *is* a standard of sorts that is widely used - millions of
people have it & use it daily. Hence ignoring that market is not wise. But
remember that the various flavors of Unix are *also* a kind of a standard
that is used by millions of people daily. Operating in that environment is
very important as well.

Ada is (at least in part) about standards *and* portability. Its nice to be
able to build code on one machine and have it compile/run on another machine
with a very different architecture. To this end, I applaud GtkAda - it is
trying to provide a common GUI building environment across two very
different platforms & from what I gather is succeeding at that. It is hard
to merge the two systems without settling on *some* style that is going to
clash with the other style. Is it wise to adopt the Unix/Motif look-&-feel
and try to force Windows into that mode? Or should the Windows L&F have been
forced onto the Unix side? Take your pick - some substantial part of the
computer programming & using weorld is going to be unhappy.

I guess that since the GtkAda started from the Gtk/Unix world, the choice
got made to move that style to the Windows side. Should they have pitched
the style & started fresh? They might not have had a product at all if they
did. Certainly, they'd face competition from Claw and others. It might have
become a "me too!" product that had no special niche.

I won't gripe about GtkAda not fitting the paradigm I'm used to. I'd
consider it as a potential tool if a) I was developing in Ada and b) I
needed portability between Unix & Windows. (If I was Windows only, I'd want
something that did the L&F of Windows rather than a compromise.) One could
also evaluate the possibility of using Ada and Java to produce systems that
were portable - and even Internet ready, so there are alternatives. The
decision would come down to a comparison of environments & features & price
and so on. The minute you remove constraint A (develop in Ada) the choices
expand a lot. Hence if the objective is to build apps that are portable
between Unix and Windows, GtkAda has to stack up favorably against a lot of
other players. So the question for the developers is "What market(s) are you
shooting for and how do you stack up against the competitors in that
market?"

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/