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digitalmars.D - Need sounding board for GUI library

reply "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
Hey everyone,

I'm looking for help with a GUI library I'm working on. Right now 
I have a pretty good basis, but it's mostly catering to my own 
whims. I'm looking for someone to help me figure out which of my 
design choices are a good idea, and which need some revising. 
This is currently the biggest obstacle that prevents me from 
making it public.

The other obstacle I could use some help with, is deployment. I 
don't have a lot of experience with open source projects, but I 
want to get this one out there and I want to do it right.

If you're willing to help out, let me know.

Cheers,
Boyd.


PS. Here is a description of the project.

The goal of this library, like any GUI library, is to make GUI's 
a lot easier to build. Here are some of the characteristics of 
the library:

- It's non-native. If I'm going to support native components it 
will be far into the future, because in my experience, native 
components tend to be much too limiting.

- It's platform independent. That said, I currently only support 
win32, but it's written in a platform independent way and should 
easily be portable to other platforms. Once the first version is 
out of the way, this will be a top priority.

- Its main goal is to make custom widgets easy to create. Even 
without supplying any widgets this library should be useful. That 
said I do plan to eventually add many widgets to it, but the 
first version will only have a few.

- Multi-touch support. This is built into the very core of the 
library. Every widget you create can use it.

- Grid layout techniques. The library contains ways to layout 
your components, so that you won't need to calculate positions or 
sizes in the majority of cases.

Here is some sample code, to show you what it looks like.

public class TestApplication: TUiApplication
{
     /// Initialize the application
     public override void Initialize()
     {
         auto title = new TTextGraphic(
             "An uninteresting application",
             TFont("Verdana", 30),
             TColor.Rgb(1,1,1),
             TColor.Rgb(0,0,0),
             TAnchor.Center
         );

         auto image = new TImageGraphic(
             LocalFileStore.GetFile(`C:\Images\GrandPiano.png`)
         );

         auto exitButton = new TButtonWidget("Quit");
         exitButton.PressEvent.Bind(&this.Quit);

         auto main = new TVerticalLayout(
             [
                 title,
                 image,
                 exitButton
             ],
             [
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto),
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Remainder(1)),
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto)
             ]
         );

         Ui.ShowWidgetFullScreen(
             Ui.GetScreens()[0],
             main
         );
     }

     /// Clean up the application
     public override void Finalize(){ }

     /// Whether or not the application will quit.
     /// Use this, for example, to ask the user whether to save 
changes
     public override bool AllowQuit() { return true; }
}

int main(string[] argv)
{
     Run(new TestApplication());
}
Dec 15 2013
next sibling parent reply "MrSmith" <mrsmith33 yandex.ru> writes:
Hi Boyd.

Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a look 
at it?
Let me ask you some questions.
1. How have you done event propagation? Sinking and boobling or 
something else? Can you cancel event propagation?
2. How do you create platform dependent windows. Using WinAPI, 
SFML, GLFW(+), SDL(+), GLUT?
3. How are you rendering widgets? Using OpenGL(+), DirectX, SDL, 
SFML, GDI? If it is OpenGL than what version of it?
4. How your widgets are rendered? Do you have separate 
GuiRenderer which knows how to render basic GUI elements(+) or 
all widgets are directly calling OpenGL code?
5. Do you have any styling of your widgets, external config, CSS 
etc? If any how it is done? Can you set any image or color, 
gradient to any widget?
6. How is your resource management implemented? Do you have any 
dedicated texture, font manager?
7. Do you have animation support (plans to do it)?
8. How is your widget events and properties implemented? Signals, 
variants, reactive programming etc?
8. Do you have model and view separation? Controllers, presenters?
9. How is your layouts implemented? Do you have layout interface? 
What methods it has? When they are called?
10. Can you access property by its name like 
widget.getProperty("width");
11. Do you know that in D is common to use camelCase for method 
names?
12. What other gui's are you looking at while making your own?
Dec 15 2013
parent reply "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 12:59:27 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Hi Boyd.

 Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a look 
 at it?


I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would 
be a good place to put it?


 Let me ask you some questions.
 1. How have you done event propagation? Sinking and boobling or 
 something else? Can you cancel event propagation?


The event propagation method I use is event capturing. First the 
event goes to the outer most widget which determines whether to 
send it to child widgets.


 2. How do you create platform dependent windows. Using WinAPI, 
 SFML, GLFW(+), SDL(+), GLUT?


Platform dependent widgets are not supported at this time. I may 
add native widgets in the future, but right now it seems more 
trouble than it's worth.


 3. How are you rendering widgets? Using OpenGL(+), DirectX, 
 SDL, SFML, GDI? If it is OpenGL than what version of it?


I currently use GDI. It should not be that hard to change this, 
though.


 4. How your widgets are rendered? Do you have separate 
 GuiRenderer which knows how to render basic GUI elements(+) or 
 all widgets are directly calling OpenGL code?


I have created a Canvas class that does all the drawing. This 
ensures platform independences.

You can also use graphic objects to do the drawing instead; the 
TImageGraphic object draws an image, TTextGraphic draws text, 
etc..


 5. Do you have any styling of your widgets, external config, 
 CSS etc? If any how it is done? Can you set any image or color, 
 gradient to any widget?


I have plans for stylable widgets, but I don't have a concrete 
design for this yet. I have some ideas though, and I intend for 
it to be immensely flexible. Basically a stylable widget would be 
a widget without a style at all. The widget would only define a 
list of placeholder blocks that the theme would need to fill.

For example: The TButtonWidget could define the placeholders 
Normal, Hover, Down, DownHover. The theme would then determine 
the exact content of these placeholders. Gradients, images, text, 
borders, layout, you name it.


 6. How is your resource management implemented? Do you have any 
 dedicated texture, font manager?


No I don't, although the theme system will do some resource 
management. Would you consider this as an important feature 
outside of themes?


 7. Do you have animation support (plans to do it)?


No concrete plans, but eventually I do want to support it.


 8. How is your widget events and properties implemented? 
 Signals, variants, reactive programming etc?


At first simply changing properties will have to do. I do intend 
to support something similar to signals.


 8. Do you have model and view separation? Controllers, 
 presenters?


I'm not sure what you mean. A GUI library by its very nature is 
pure view.


 9. How is your layouts implemented? Do you have layout 
 interface? What methods it has? When they are called?


There are to ways to do layout. You can inherit from a layout 
component, in which case you would need to implement a few 
functions. For example the gridlayout requires the implementation 
of the following functions:

/// iterates through the rows of the grid
void ForeachRow(TCanvas canvas, void delegate(TGridLayoutRow) 
exec);
/// iterates through the columns of the grid
void ForeachColumn(TCanvas canvas, void delegate(TGridLayoutRow) 
exec);
/// returns the content of the specified grid cell
TGraphic GetCell(int x, int y);

The other method is to create a TGridWidget using the constructor:

this(TGridLayoutRow[] columns, TGridLayoutRow[] rows, 
TGraphic[][] cells)


 10. Can you access property by its name like 
 widget.getProperty("width");


No. In what situation would you consider using this?

Also Widgets don't have any positional information in them, or 
style information. This is one of main issues I have with the 
existing GUI libraries.


 11. Do you know that in D is common to use camelCase for method 
 names?


As I said earlier I built this library to cater to my every whim, 
so I probably need to change my coding style slightly.


 12. What other gui's are you looking at while making your own?


There are many gui libraries that have influenced my design, but 
I don't plan to immitate any of them. Most influence come from 
the old Borland delphi design, which is still used in many of the 
current ones among which is QT, WxWidgets, other ideas are from 
ExtJs and html/css. It is a fairly unique design though, which is 
why I worry about whether it will be usable by other programmers.



Thanks for the questions, I look forward to hear what you think 
of my answers. Feel free to criticise.

Cheers,
Boyd
Dec 15 2013
next sibling parent reply "Zz" <Zz nospam.com> writes:
Hi Boyd,

Here something that might be interesting for you the gui is 

wrappers).

http://www.creativedocs.net/devs/gui
http://www.creativedocs.net/devs/agg
http://www.creativedocs.net/screenshots/

Zz

On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:19:10 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 12:59:27 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Hi Boyd.

 Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a 
 look at it?


 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would 
 be a good place to put it?


 Let me ask you some questions.
 1. How have you done event propagation? Sinking and boobling 
 or something else? Can you cancel event propagation?


 The event propagation method I use is event capturing. First 
 the event goes to the outer most widget which determines 
 whether to send it to child widgets.


 2. How do you create platform dependent windows. Using WinAPI, 
 SFML, GLFW(+), SDL(+), GLUT?


 Platform dependent widgets are not supported at this time. I 
 may add native widgets in the future, but right now it seems 
 more trouble than it's worth.


 3. How are you rendering widgets? Using OpenGL(+), DirectX, 
 SDL, SFML, GDI? If it is OpenGL than what version of it?


 I currently use GDI. It should not be that hard to change this, 
 though.


 4. How your widgets are rendered? Do you have separate 
 GuiRenderer which knows how to render basic GUI elements(+) or 
 all widgets are directly calling OpenGL code?


 I have created a Canvas class that does all the drawing. This 
 ensures platform independences.

 You can also use graphic objects to do the drawing instead; the 
 TImageGraphic object draws an image, TTextGraphic draws text, 
 etc..


 5. Do you have any styling of your widgets, external config, 
 CSS etc? If any how it is done? Can you set any image or 
 color, gradient to any widget?


 I have plans for stylable widgets, but I don't have a concrete 
 design for this yet. I have some ideas though, and I intend for 
 it to be immensely flexible. Basically a stylable widget would 
 be a widget without a style at all. The widget would only 
 define a list of placeholder blocks that the theme would need 
 to fill.

 For example: The TButtonWidget could define the placeholders 
 Normal, Hover, Down, DownHover. The theme would then determine 
 the exact content of these placeholders. Gradients, images, 
 text, borders, layout, you name it.


 6. How is your resource management implemented? Do you have 
 any dedicated texture, font manager?


 No I don't, although the theme system will do some resource 
 management. Would you consider this as an important feature 
 outside of themes?


 7. Do you have animation support (plans to do it)?


 No concrete plans, but eventually I do want to support it.


 8. How is your widget events and properties implemented? 
 Signals, variants, reactive programming etc?


 At first simply changing properties will have to do. I do 
 intend to support something similar to signals.


 8. Do you have model and view separation? Controllers, 
 presenters?


 I'm not sure what you mean. A GUI library by its very nature is 
 pure view.


 9. How is your layouts implemented? Do you have layout 
 interface? What methods it has? When they are called?


 There are to ways to do layout. You can inherit from a layout 
 component, in which case you would need to implement a few 
 functions. For example the gridlayout requires the 
 implementation of the following functions:

 /// iterates through the rows of the grid
 void ForeachRow(TCanvas canvas, void delegate(TGridLayoutRow) 
 exec);
 /// iterates through the columns of the grid
 void ForeachColumn(TCanvas canvas, void 
 delegate(TGridLayoutRow) exec);
 /// returns the content of the specified grid cell
 TGraphic GetCell(int x, int y);

 The other method is to create a TGridWidget using the 
 constructor:

 this(TGridLayoutRow[] columns, TGridLayoutRow[] rows, 
 TGraphic[][] cells)


 10. Can you access property by its name like 
 widget.getProperty("width");


 No. In what situation would you consider using this?

 Also Widgets don't have any positional information in them, or 
 style information. This is one of main issues I have with the 
 existing GUI libraries.


 11. Do you know that in D is common to use camelCase for 
 method names?


 As I said earlier I built this library to cater to my every 
 whim, so I probably need to change my coding style slightly.


 12. What other gui's are you looking at while making your own?


 There are many gui libraries that have influenced my design, 
 but I don't plan to immitate any of them. Most influence come 
 from the old Borland delphi design, which is still used in many 
 of the current ones among which is QT, WxWidgets, other ideas 
 are from ExtJs and html/css. It is a fairly unique design 
 though, which is why I worry about whether it will be usable by 
 other programmers.



 Thanks for the questions, I look forward to hear what you think 
 of my answers. Feel free to criticise.

 Cheers,
 Boyd
Dec 15 2013
parent "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
Yeah, this is definitely interesting. GDI is pretty limiting, 
though for the moment it's enough. I think I've actually used 
this a long long time ago. Is there a D binding for AntiGrain?

On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:40:09 UTC, Zz wrote:

 Hi Boyd,

 Here something that might be interesting for you the gui is 

 wrappers).

 http://www.creativedocs.net/devs/gui
 http://www.creativedocs.net/devs/agg
 http://www.creativedocs.net/screenshots/

 Zz
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent "John Colvin" <john.loughran.colvin gmail.com> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:19:10 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 12:59:27 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Hi Boyd.

 Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a 
 look at it?


 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would 
 be a good place to put it?


Github is the usual destination these days. Or Bitbucket.
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent "Idan Arye" <GenericNPC gmail.com> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:19:10 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 12:59:27 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Hi Boyd.

 Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a 
 look at it?


 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would 
 be a good place to put it?


https://github.com/

GitHub has many advantages, but the most relevant would be it's 
awesome code-review system.
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent reply "MrSmith" <mrsmith33 yandex.ru> writes:
 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would 
 be a good place to put it?


Look for github. They also have pretty convenient client for 
Windows.

Do widgets internally hold their position and size or they are 
recalculated every time gui is rendered?
When widget will relayout its children.
How are you drawing text?
What type of string do use for text rendering (string, wstring, 
dstring etc)?
Do you plannig to do declarative markup like QML or XUL?
Do you have any working text editing components?
Have you looked at QTQuick/DQuick? 
https://github.com/D-Quick/DQuick


 Also Widgets don't have any positional information in them, or 
 style information. This is one of main issues I have with the 
 existing GUI libraries.


Does it mean that you have one theme for the whole application. 
Do you have any size restrictions in your widget styles or it is 
pure appearence information? If later it is fine.
Dec 15 2013
parent reply "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 15:35:19 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where 
 would be a good place to put it?


 Look for github. They also have pretty convenient client for 
 Windows.


Thanks, I've already created an account. I'm currently building 
the directory structure.


 Do widgets internally hold their position and size or they are 
 recalculated every time gui is rendered?


The container of the widget is responsible for positioning and 
sizing the children. This container generally remembers where the 
widgets are, but not necessarily.

Also, the widgets cache their own last known size, which is 
needed for some events.


 When widget will relayout its children.


Layout will be redetermined if the container widget decides this.


 How are you drawing text?


I currently use ExtTextOutW if that's what you mean.


 What type of string do use for text rendering (string, wstring, 
 dstring etc)?


regular string.


 Do you plannig to do declarative markup like QML or XUL?


Yes, I'm working on a format that defines themes and I'm trying 
to figure out how to best implement multilingual information.


 Do you have any working text editing components?


Yes, a simple one. I'm also working on one that allows markup, 
but it'll take some time


 Have you looked at QTQuick/DQuick? 
 https://github.com/D-Quick/DQuick


 Also Widgets don't have any positional information in them, or 
 style information. This is one of main issues I have with the 
 existing GUI libraries.


 Does it mean that you have one theme for the whole application. 
 Do you have any size restrictions in your widget styles or it 
 is pure appearence information? If later it is fine.


It's a bit more complicated than that. The standard widgets I'm 
working on will not allow you to specify any style information 
directly, you can't even set the text of a button. You will be 
able to specify the functional aspects of the widget and the 
name. This name is later used by the theme system to determine 
the style of the widget.

This done to get a better separation of functionality and 
presentation.

If you do want information from the application into the style, 
you will have to send the information as a parameter to the style 
which determines what to do with it.
Dec 15 2013
next sibling parent reply "MrSmith" <mrsmith33 yandex.ru> writes:
Ok, cool. Now waiting to check it on github.
Dec 15 2013
parent "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 16:47:00 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Ok, cool. Now waiting to check it on github.


Ok, I finally got it ready and working.

https://github.com/GaboonViper/CinchUi

Keep in mind that it's very much work in progress. The base is 
fairly solid, but the widgets still need plenty of work. Not to 
mention I need to add some documentation and refactor the coding 
style.

Cheers,
Boyd
Dec 16 2013
prev sibling parent reply "MrSmith" <mrsmith33 yandex.ru> writes:
Btw, have you worked with MVVM pattern?
Dec 15 2013
parent reply "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 16:47:00 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Ok, cool. Now waiting to check it on github.


This may take a while.


On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 16:51:10 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Btw, have you worked with MVVM pattern?


 From what I can tell it's barely any different from MVC, but no I 
haven't.
Dec 15 2013
parent reply "MrSmith" <mrsmith33 yandex.ru> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 17:08:21 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 16:51:10 UTC, MrSmith wrote:
 Btw, have you worked with MVVM pattern?


 From what I can tell it's barely any different from MVC, but no 
 I haven't.


Yes, you are right. Will you integrate something like this into 
your gui or it would be possible to add on top of it? Mostly i am 
looking for data-bindings.
Dec 15 2013
parent "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 17:11:05 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 17:08:21 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 16:51:10 UTC, MrSmith wrote:
 Btw, have you worked with MVVM pattern?


 From what I can tell it's barely any different from MVC, but 
 no I haven't.


 Yes, you are right. Will you integrate something like this into 
 your gui or it would be possible to add on top of it? Mostly i 
 am looking for data-bindings.


With data-bindings, I assume you mean for fields, such as 
textfields, checkboxes, lists, etc..

I don't have this yet, but it is on the todo list. There is 
nothing that stands in your way of creating something on top of 
it (except for me actually getting the library ready for use:P).
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling parent Walter Bright <newshound2 digitalmars.com> writes:
On 12/15/2013 6:19 AM, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 12:59:27 UTC, MrSmith wrote:

 Have you uploaded your code somewhere so anyone can take a look at it?


 I Have not yet uploaded it, though I would like to. Where would be a good place
 to put it?


github. No question about it.
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent reply Marco Leise <Marco.Leise gmx.de> writes:
Am Sun, 15 Dec 2013 12:41:54 +0100
schrieb "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net>:


 Hey everyone,
 
 I'm looking for help with a GUI library I'm working on. Right now 
 I have a pretty good basis, but it's mostly catering to my own 
 whims. I'm looking for someone to help me figure out which of my 
 design choices are a good idea, and which need some revising. 
 This is currently the biggest obstacle that prevents me from 
 making it public.
 
 The other obstacle I could use some help with, is deployment. I 
 don't have a lot of experience with open source projects, but I 
 want to get this one out there and I want to do it right.
 
 If you're willing to help out, let me know.
 
 Cheers,
 Boyd.
 
 
 PS. Here is a description of the project.
 
 The goal of this library, like any GUI library, is to make GUI's 
 a lot easier to build. Here are some of the characteristics of 
 the library:
 
 - It's non-native. If I'm going to support native components it 
 will be far into the future, because in my experience, native 
 components tend to be much too limiting.
 
 - It's platform independent. That said, I currently only support 
 win32, but it's written in a platform independent way and should 
 easily be portable to other platforms. Once the first version is 
 out of the way, this will be a top priority.
 
 - Its main goal is to make custom widgets easy to create. Even 
 without supplying any widgets this library should be useful. That 
 said I do plan to eventually add many widgets to it, but the 
 first version will only have a few.
 
 - Multi-touch support. This is built into the very core of the 
 library. Every widget you create can use it.
 
 - Grid layout techniques. The library contains ways to layout 
 your components, so that you won't need to calculate positions or 
 sizes in the majority of cases.
 
 Here is some sample code, to show you what it looks like.
 
 public class TestApplication: TUiApplication
 {
      /// Initialize the application
      public override void Initialize()
      {
          auto title = new TTextGraphic(
              "An uninteresting application",
              TFont("Verdana", 30),
              TColor.Rgb(1,1,1),
              TColor.Rgb(0,0,0),
              TAnchor.Center
          );
 
          auto image = new TImageGraphic(
              LocalFileStore.GetFile(`C:\Images\GrandPiano.png`)
          );
 
          auto exitButton = new TButtonWidget("Quit");
          exitButton.PressEvent.Bind(&this.Quit);
 
          auto main = new TVerticalLayout(
              [
                  title,
                  image,
                  exitButton
              ],
              [
                  new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto),
                  new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Remainder(1)),
                  new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto)
              ]
          );
 
          Ui.ShowWidgetFullScreen(
              Ui.GetScreens()[0],
              main
          );
      }
 
      /// Clean up the application
      public override void Finalize(){ }
 
      /// Whether or not the application will quit.
      /// Use this, for example, to ask the user whether to save 
 changes
      public override bool AllowQuit() { return true; }
 }
 
 int main(string[] argv)
 {
      Run(new TestApplication());
 }


A Delphi VCL user!

-- 
Marco
Dec 15 2013
parent reply "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:38:12 UTC, Marco Leise wrote:

 Am Sun, 15 Dec 2013 12:41:54 +0100

 A Delphi VCL user!


A long time ago, yes:) Some of it stuck.
Dec 15 2013
parent John J <john.joyus gmail.com> writes:
On 12/15/2013 10:12 AM, Boyd wrote:

 On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 14:38:12 UTC, Marco Leise wrote:

 Am Sun, 15 Dec 2013 12:41:54 +0100

 A Delphi VCL user!


 A long time ago, yes:) Some of it stuck.



If you can make it anything close to Delphi VCL or Lazarus components, 
it would be awesome!! :)
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling next sibling parent "Rikki Cattermole" <alphaglosined gmail.com> writes:
On Sunday, 15 December 2013 at 11:41:55 UTC, Boyd wrote:

 Hey everyone,

 I'm looking for help with a GUI library I'm working on. Right 
 now I have a pretty good basis, but it's mostly catering to my 
 own whims. I'm looking for someone to help me figure out which 
 of my design choices are a good idea, and which need some 
 revising. This is currently the biggest obstacle that prevents 
 me from making it public.

 The other obstacle I could use some help with, is deployment. I 
 don't have a lot of experience with open source projects, but I 
 want to get this one out there and I want to do it right.

 If you're willing to help out, let me know.

 Cheers,
 Boyd.


 PS. Here is a description of the project.

 The goal of this library, like any GUI library, is to make 
 GUI's a lot easier to build. Here are some of the 
 characteristics of the library:

 - It's non-native. If I'm going to support native components it 
 will be far into the future, because in my experience, native 
 components tend to be much too limiting.

 - It's platform independent. That said, I currently only 
 support win32, but it's written in a platform independent way 
 and should easily be portable to other platforms. Once the 
 first version is out of the way, this will be a top priority.

 - Its main goal is to make custom widgets easy to create. Even 
 without supplying any widgets this library should be useful. 
 That said I do plan to eventually add many widgets to it, but 
 the first version will only have a few.

 - Multi-touch support. This is built into the very core of the 
 library. Every widget you create can use it.

 - Grid layout techniques. The library contains ways to layout 
 your components, so that you won't need to calculate positions 
 or sizes in the majority of cases.

 Here is some sample code, to show you what it looks like.

 public class TestApplication: TUiApplication
 {
     /// Initialize the application
     public override void Initialize()
     {
         auto title = new TTextGraphic(
             "An uninteresting application",
             TFont("Verdana", 30),
             TColor.Rgb(1,1,1),
             TColor.Rgb(0,0,0),
             TAnchor.Center
         );

         auto image = new TImageGraphic(
             LocalFileStore.GetFile(`C:\Images\GrandPiano.png`)
         );

         auto exitButton = new TButtonWidget("Quit");
         exitButton.PressEvent.Bind(&this.Quit);

         auto main = new TVerticalLayout(
             [
                 title,
                 image,
                 exitButton
             ],
             [
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto),
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Remainder(1)),
                 new TGridLayoutRow(TSizeUnit.Auto)
             ]
         );

         Ui.ShowWidgetFullScreen(
             Ui.GetScreens()[0],
             main
         );
     }

     /// Clean up the application
     public override void Finalize(){ }

     /// Whether or not the application will quit.
     /// Use this, for example, to ask the user whether to save 
 changes
     public override bool AllowQuit() { return true; }
 }

 int main(string[] argv)
 {
     Run(new TestApplication());
 }


You may be interested in my GUI toolkit for some ideas[1].
There is also DQuick being worked on.

[1] https://github.com/rikkimax/DOOGLE
Dec 15 2013
prev sibling parent reply Marco Leise <Marco.Leise gmx.de> writes:
Something that is often forgotten when writing your own GUI
toolkit is the tight integration of the native toolkits with
the typical available hardware (e.g. touchscreen, mouse with 1
button), the desktop environment (remembering open windows
after reboot, allowing only one instance and opening
multiple documents in the same instance), accessibility
support and last not least an IME for languages with large
symbolic alphabets that cannot be represented on a keyboard
normally, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean.

By no means do I want to demotivate you :)
Dec 16 2013
parent "Boyd" <gaboonviper gmx.net> writes:
On Monday, 16 December 2013 at 12:54:22 UTC, Marco Leise wrote:

 Something that is often forgotten when writing your own GUI
 toolkit is the tight integration of the native toolkits with
 the typical available hardware (e.g. touchscreen, mouse with 1
 button), the desktop environment (remembering open windows
 after reboot, allowing only one instance and opening
 multiple documents in the same instance), accessibility
 support and last not least an IME for languages with large
 symbolic alphabets that cannot be represented on a keyboard
 normally, like Chinese, Japanese, Korean.

 By no means do I want to demotivate you :)


Accessibility and state remembrance are definitely things I need 
to think about. Thanks.

I already have support for multi-touch. And support for foreign 
languages should be there, although I haven't tested it.
Dec 16 2013