Re: [boost] gui library

From: christopher diggins (cdiggins_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-02-18 12:42:28

Christopher Diggins
Object Oriented Template Library (OOTL)
http://www.ootl.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matthew Johnson" <musical.matthew_at_[hidden]>
To: <boost_at_[hidden]>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 7:52 PM
Subject: [boost] gui library

>I spent some time reading the archives regarding the gui project that was 
>started towards the end of last year.  Is that project still underway? 
>What is the best way of keeping up with the status of it?
>
> Thanks,
> Matthew

Hi Matthew,

I have already started work individually on a GDI library using the Boost 
Interfaces Library. Rather than tackling the big problem of GUI, I am first 
trying to solve the subproblem of a generic GDI. I already have a working 
prototype (a Logo style turtle-graphics library) to which I want to add some 
more features before sharing it with the list.

My approach is to create a generic library based on interfaces which 
requires an implementation adapter layer which implements a minimal set of 
GDI primitive operations. This way a user can use the same drawing code 
across different toolkits. There are so many GDI libraries (Win32 api, MFC, 
VCL, wxWidgets, Motif, XLib, DirectX, OpenGL, Qt, ...) and I think it is 
important to be able to use the same drawing code across different GDI 
libraries.

Afterwards I plan on later introducing an event handling library based on 
interfaces, then a widget library, and finally tying all portions together 
to create a big gui library.

Anyway, that's the plan for now. If there is interest in an interfaces 
graphics library, I plan on maintaining discussion on this list. If the 
group's preference is in another kind of library, I will simply continue 
development on it for the OOTL library (the mailing list is at 
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/ootl/ ).

CD