[boost] Re: GUI/GDI template library

From: Rainer Deyke (rainerd_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-08-02 12:46:50

Beman Dawes wrote:
> Always hard to tell without seeing a firm proposal, but for me
> a  PhysicalGuiLayer template parameter would probably evoke an "over
> my
> dead body" response. I think the reasons Doug gives in his message
> are just the tip of the iceberg, but they are plenty good enough to
> sink the ship, IMO.

For a GUI library to be useful to me, it would need to support custom
physical GUI layers.  I would then write my own custom physical GUI layer in
portable C++ over a crossplatform multimedia API such as SDL (Simple
DirectMedia Layer).  Access to native GUI widgets is useless for me, as
native GUI widgets rarely cooperate with the full-screen multimedia.  I
realize that my needs are unusual, and boost::gui may be unable to
accomodate them.

Nonetheless I also dislike the idea of PhysicalGUILayer as a template
parameter to all GUI elements.  It violates the principle of Once and Only
Once.  Ideally the user should only have to specify the physical GUI layer
at one point in the program (and NativePhysicalGUILayer should be one of the
options).  That way the actual structure of the GUI does not depend on the
physical GUI layer, and the physical GUI layer can even be selected at
runtime.

-- 
Rainer Deyke - rainerd_at_[hidden] - http://eldwood.com