Re: [rgui-dev] RE: Backend Debouch

[Tom Sawyer]

> I guess I have to agree. (but if there are as many toolkits as
> languages, getting all ruby-users to use ruby-wise could be critical
> mass :)

another reason to put some work into it.
 
> Xlib for X systems.

just the one, which is awesome, but i take it this is the problem with a
windows version?

> Yes, though speed (notably, implicit calls to pack()) is an issue on
> an iPAQ, atm.

> No, there are other things I am working on: some general things for
> linux-on-iPAQ; a pim-suite for iPAQ (of which he address-book uses
> Ruby-Wise); a totally unrelated set of scripts for a strategic game
> called VGA-Planets. Finally, I have an awful lot of holiday this year,
> plus some business trips (totals 10 weeks easily).
> 
> So that certainly does not make me spend each free minute on Ruby-Wise.

indeed, that's a lot of other projects. i hope you can find the time
though.
 
> Yes. I like my Ruby-Wise interface too much to give it up. Progress
> will occur, but slow, at unpredictable intervals.
> 
> One major step would be to add another (low-level) graphics engine to
> Ruby-Wise (preferably on Windows to gain momentum; problem is I
> neither like nor run any version of windows, so I'll definitely need
> help for that). Coupling Ruby-Wise to Gutopia is likely to speed up
> development (extra incentive).

is there a multi-platform library you can use, or will you have to use
different ones for each?
 
> But, I don't have a clue where to start binding Ruby-Wise to
> Gutopia...
> 
>    http://www.rubygui.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?GUtopIa_Common_Meta-API
> 
> at least brings me familiar idiom, but brings me no closer to what
> Model bind()s to which View and vice versa. or how.
> 
> A short end-user program and its semantics would certainly help me,
> if not just to start asking the right questions. I don't care whether
> that uses Attribute Eval notation and later turns out Gutopia uses
> Hash Notation. That's not important for the concept throught the
> layers. And a minute change of code.

i am working on this now. i am reworking the preliminary code to be more
in lines with the way SWT works, but it is proving difficult. mainly for
the reason that GUtopIa supports ALL of those Notations, not just one of
them. this won't be a problem for integrating Ruby-Wise to GUtopIa
though. I will provide my GTK binding as an example you can work from.
hopefully i'll have a basic rendition of that ready soon.

having said that, i want to point out that GUtopIa can't simply borrow 
SWT's code. to do so would mean dumping the bindings that already exist
for interfacing ruby to gtk, win32, and coco, and stealing the SWT C
code which it designed for use with JNI and reworking it --it would
actually end up being more work. but SWT has some good notions toward
the overall design and i am attemtping to emulate those where they
apply.

~tom