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From: Matt S Trentini (matt_trentini_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-12-30 08:00:45


Heya Chris and everyone!

> I'm a little surprised that nobody responded to my suggestion to complete the
> survey of existing GUI libraries.

I'm unable to edit the Wiki - apparently my IP address is blocked for
some reason. Anyways, I wrote on my blog a few other GUI libraries that
we should really take a look at, check it out here:

   http://tinyurl.com/6an9h

I will try and find time to comment on MFC, Win32, WinForms and
wxWidgets which are the libraries I've had some exposure to.

> I'm concerned that unless we explicitly move to structure the conversation
> now, it will implode.

After being away from the PC for awhile (really, it's healthy
sometimes!) and reading up on all the postings about GUI-related topics,
I'm a little concerned with how the discussions are heading. I don't
think it's that anyone is doing anything wrong, just that the topic is
large and I worry that, because of the diverse interests, the discussion
may fizzle.

Hopefully not.

For the record, I'm *definitely* interested in some form of Boost GUI
library.

Personally, I'd love to see a lightweight, cross-platform, native widget
library created. As a _second_step_ I'd like to see a cross-platform
'canvas' library created (allowing the drawing of primitives on the
canvas). The canvas component should be able to be hosted within a
special widget in the widget library.

If we got that far I'd be happy. :)

Skinning is not important to me (as it usually detracts from usability)
and unit independance isn't such an issue for the widget library (though
I think it's critical for the canvas library). So, the widget library
should be easier to write - though obviously we need to sort out things
like events (John's work here on Win32Gui should be leveraged), layout
management and, to a lesser degree, presentation issues like colours and
fonts.

> Do you folks think this is a bad idea? Too much work? Or still thinking about
> it?

Not a bad idea. A fair chunk o' work. Thinking about it a fair bit but
it won't be consuming all of my spare time until a little way into the
New Year. Everyone needs a break! :)

Sorry for the rambling message!

Cheers,
Matt


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