Subject: Re: XP dialogs
From: Martin Sevior (msevior@mccubbin.ph.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Sun Feb 11 2001 - 05:49:18 CST
On Sun, 11 Feb 2001, Aaron Lehmann wrote:
>
> So the logical conclusion is to not be cross-platform.
>
We admit to having platform specific code. However we lots more xp code
than platform code. Our approach is always to have as much code xp as
possible. It was really cool to do the pageSetup backend AFTER all the
front ends were coded. I knew that getting right on Linux would
automatically get it right on all platforms. Was I right Win developers?
That's pretty cool.
> Actually, our current approach isn't really that bad. We basically
> have a portable backend with different frontends. The problem is that
> we always sync the frontends and end up with lowest common denominator
> anyway.
>
That's not true. Why do you think we don't have a Lists dialog right now?
It's because people wanted a better one, not because I could do X in gtk
and they couldn't in QNX or Windows. When I design a dialog I don't think
about how the other developers will code their version at all (except to
put as much code in XP as possible). I just think, "We got all these great
developers, I'm sure they'll work out how to do it on their platfrom". And
they do. Joaquin and I sweated for about 2 months getting "Insert Symbol"
right for gtk. Bruce Pearson came along and said "I'll do the Windows
version". Two days later he committed it.
That's our great strength as an Open Source project. A commercial project
would not attempt what we do because the people with the right skills are
naturally drawn to our project but are otherwise rare and expensive. We
get them because we're a cool project that challenges their skills.
Christopher Plymire came along and basically got BeOS up to par with GTK
in about 6 weeks by implementing 6 or 7 BeOS dialogs. He actually got
ahead of the GTK version when he did the BeOS version of Bruce's Columns
dialog.
Actually the best way to speed up Dialog development on Abi is allow
libglade. Then we could quickly get a GTK dialog just right, code up the
backend, produce screen shots, and tell the other developers to "Go For
It".
In the long run something like program to convert the glade XML file <-->
to other platform XML file would be my view of how to cut down on
per platform maintainence. Then say Hub, with his glade => Aqua
converter could take our GTK dialog, tweak it a bit (these things never
come out just right) and produce a lovely Mac Aqua dialog.
With tools like glade (I'm sure other platforms have multiple things like
this) getting the eye-candy is easy.
The real challenges for Abi post 1.0 are all in the backend.
- Coding Tables that don't suck (our number 1 wishlist item)
- Coding Frames that don't suck
- Getting Equations into Abi
- Per Page footnotes.
- Improving the layout code.
- Working out an XP component system.
- Improving and extending our import/export filters.
Getting the backend right and working out the interface to these are all
hard problems. Writing the eye-candy to present these to the world is much
easier.
I think the write the GUI once for all platforms is a red herring.
Finally after Mac, can someone tell me a platform we're not on but should
be?
(Not counting small screen PDA's)
Cheers
Martin
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