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digitalmars.D.learn - Looking for a simple GUI library that works with Vulkan on SDL2

reply Danny Arends <Danny.Arends gmail.com> writes:
Hey all,

I am looking to integrate a GUI library like IMgui / Nuklear into 
my app that uses Vulkan within SDL2 for rendering so that it can 
run on Windows, Linux, and Android 
(https://github.com/DannyArends/CalderaD).

I've tried several different bindings to IMgui, however, none 
seem to work and seem abandoned to me (the most recent updated 
one 'bindbc-imgui' was updated 3 years ago).

For Nuklear, the most up2date package (bindbc-nuklear) seems to 
build, but doesn't provide a Vulkan back-end example so I'm kind 
of stuck with how I'm supposed to integrate it (I might make the 
effort to translate the C-code example provided in the 
https://github.com/Immediate-Mode-UI/Nuklear repository to D)

But this got me wondering, what is the state of the art GUI 
library in D, when I am using modern OpenGL or Vulkan ? Does 
anyone have any tips or tricks on how to achieve a basic GUI ? 
(without writing yet another GUI library binding from scratch)
Feb 19
next sibling parent reply ryuukk_ <ryuukk.dev gmail.com> writes:
On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:21:19 UTC, Danny Arends 
wrote:

 Hey all,

 I am looking to integrate a GUI library like IMgui / Nuklear 
 into my app that uses Vulkan within SDL2 for rendering so that 
 it can run on Windows, Linux, and Android 
 (https://github.com/DannyArends/CalderaD).

 I've tried several different bindings to IMgui, however, none 
 seem to work and seem abandoned to me (the most recent updated 
 one 'bindbc-imgui' was updated 3 years ago).

 For Nuklear, the most up2date package (bindbc-nuklear) seems to 
 build, but doesn't provide a Vulkan back-end example so I'm 
 kind of stuck with how I'm supposed to integrate it (I might 
 make the effort to translate the C-code example provided in the 
 https://github.com/Immediate-Mode-UI/Nuklear repository to D)

 But this got me wondering, what is the state of the art GUI 
 library in D, when I am using modern OpenGL or Vulkan ? Does 
 anyone have any tips or tricks on how to achieve a basic GUI ? 
 (without writing yet another GUI library binding from scratch)


Nuklear works with D (ImportC) out of the box, you don't need any 
binding, that's what i'm using in my game



nk.c
```
// add other configs you need
#define NK_INCLUDE_VERTEX_BUFFER_OUTPUT
#define NK_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "nuklear.h"
```

app.d
```D
import nk;
```

Then the examples are 1:1, C/D is the same


Stick to simplicity, and get rewarded for it
Feb 19
parent reply Danny Arends <Danny.Arends gmail.com> writes:
On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:53:02 UTC, ryuukk_ wrote:

 Nuklear works with D (ImportC) out of the box, you don't need 
 any binding, that's what i'm using in my game

 nk.c
 ```
 // add other configs you need
 #define NK_INCLUDE_VERTEX_BUFFER_OUTPUT
 #define NK_IMPLEMENTATION
 #include "nuklear.h"
 ```

 app.d
 ```D
 import nk;
 ```

 Then the examples are 1:1, C/D is the same


 Stick to simplicity, and get rewarded for it


Thanks for the heads up, unfortunately including the 
nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h doesn't seem to work out of the box with 
ImportC and causes all kinds of compilation errors:

```
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/bmi2intrin.h(86,21): 
Error: unsigned __int128 not supported
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(141,3): 
Error: found `else` without a corresponding `if` statement
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(174,3): 
Error: no type for declarator before `return`
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(175,1): 
Error: no type for 
../Nuklear/demo/sdl_vulkan/nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h(442,46): Error: 
expression expected, not `)`
../Nuklear/demo/sdl_vulkan/nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h(442,47): Error: 
found `malloc` when expecting `)`
```

Seems I will have to wait for betterC to become better at C, Is 
there a formal way of report these errors ?
Feb 20
parent reply "Richard (Rikki) Andrew Cattermole" <richard cattermole.co.nz> writes:
On 20/02/2025 10:58 PM, Danny Arends wrote:

 On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:53:02 UTC, ryuukk_ wrote:

 Nuklear works with D (ImportC) out of the box, you don't need any 
 binding, that's what i'm using in my game

 nk.c
 ```
 // add other configs you need
 #define NK_INCLUDE_VERTEX_BUFFER_OUTPUT
 #define NK_IMPLEMENTATION
 #include "nuklear.h"
 ```

 app.d
 ```D
 import nk;
 ```

 Then the examples are 1:1, C/D is the same


 Stick to simplicity, and get rewarded for it


 
 Thanks for the heads up, unfortunately including the 
 nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h doesn't seem to work out of the box with ImportC 
 and causes all kinds of compilation errors:
 
 ```
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/bmi2intrin.h(86,21): Error: 
 unsigned __int128 not supported
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(141,3): Error: found 
 `else` without a corresponding `if` statement
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(174,3): Error: no 
 type for declarator before `return`
 /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/9/include/sgxintrin.h(175,1): Error: no 
 type for ../Nuklear/demo/sdl_vulkan/nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h(442,46): Error: 
 expression expected, not `)`
 ../Nuklear/demo/sdl_vulkan/nuklear_sdl_vulkan.h(442,47): Error: found 
 `malloc` when expecting `)`
 ```
 
 Seems I will have to wait for betterC to become better at C, Is there a 
 formal way of report these errors ?


That's not -betterC, that's ImportC, different feature.

This one has a similar report: https://github.com/dlang/dmd/issues/20470
Feb 20
parent Danny Arends <Danny.Arends gmail.com> writes:
On Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 10:02:31 UTC, Richard (Rikki) 
Andrew Cattermole wrote:

 On 20/02/2025 10:58 PM, Danny Arends wrote:

 [...]


 That's not -betterC, that's ImportC, different feature.

 This one has a similar report: 
 https://github.com/dlang/dmd/issues/20470



Right, I always get those 2 confused... I mean importC indeed :)
Feb 20
prev sibling next sibling parent reply ryuukk_ <ryuukk.dev gmail.com> writes:
Forgot to mention:

nanogui from drug007: https://github.com/drug007/nanogui

Fluid from arta:
https://forum.dlang.org/thread/wwdqjlrlbzyvodmktrcx forum.dlang.org

minigui from adam: 
https://arsd-official.dpldocs.info/arsd.minigui.html
Feb 19
parent bauss <jacobbauss gmail.com> writes:
On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:59:38 UTC, ryuukk_ wrote:

 Forgot to mention:

 nanogui from drug007: https://github.com/drug007/nanogui

 Fluid from arta:
 https://forum.dlang.org/thread/wwdqjlrlbzyvodmktrcx forum.dlang.org

 minigui from adam: 
 https://arsd-official.dpldocs.info/arsd.minigui.html


There's also DVN which is a visual novel engine, BUT it contains 
a GUI library and the whole of DVN is a source library package, 
so it should be easy to just use the GUI part of the language.

https://github.com/ProjectDVN/dvn/

Mainly take a look at the runDVN() function here:

https://github.com/ProjectDVN/dvn/blob/main/source/dvn/package.d

And just implement something similar to that which uses 
Application.

Views etc. can be seen in the DVN documents on how to create and 
use.

https://dvn-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/custom-views.html

For components just see:

https://github.com/ProjectDVN/dvn/tree/main/source/dvn/components

DVN specifically uses SDL2 also.

Disclaimer: I am the creator of DVN, so if you need help with it 
let me know here, but it should be straightforward.
Feb 19
prev sibling next sibling parent reply IchorDev <zxinsworld gmail.com> writes:
On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:21:19 UTC, Danny Arends 
wrote:

 I've tried several different bindings to IMgui, however, none 
 seem to work and seem abandoned to me (the most recent updated 
 one 'bindbc-imgui' was updated 3 years ago).


Actually, I have been working on an update to BindBC-ImGui for a 
long time. It now directly interfaces with ImGui's C++ API. It's 
99% finished, I just have a few bug bears to sort out before I 
release it.

You can clone the most recent version [from 
here](https://github.com/ichordev/bindbc-imgui) and use `dub 
add-local ./bindbc-imgui 1.0.0` on it so that dub knows where it 
is. Then in your dub recipe, add `bindbc-imgui` version `~>1.0` 
to `dependencies`, set its sub-configuration to 
`static-SDL2-Vulkan`, and add `imgui` to your `libs`.
You will have to build Dear ImGui as a library, including any 
backends you want. Here's an example with the SDL2 backend & 
clang:
```sh
mkdir build
cd build
clang++ -c -g -fPIC -std=c++11 -I../ -I/path/to/SDL2 
-I/usr/local/include/ ../imgui*.cpp \
	../backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp
clang++ -fPIC -std=c++11 -shared -o libimgui.so imgui.o 
imgui_demo.o imgui_draw.o imgui_tables.o imgui_widgets.o 
imgui_impl_sdl2.o -lSDL2
```
I've had weird linker issues when building Dear ImGui as a static 
library, so I recommend trying to build it as a shared library to 
start off with.


 But this got me wondering, what is the state of the art GUI 
 library in D, when I am using modern OpenGL or Vulkan?

 Does anyone have any tips or tricks on how to achieve a basic 
 GUI ? (without writing yet another GUI library binding from 
 scratch)


There isn't one, unfortunately. I've done some work on an API for 
one, but hit a few snags, so it's not the top of my priorities 
right now. [Fluid](https://code.dlang.org/packages/fluid) looks 
like a pretty good option if you want a native D library, but you 
would have to write an SDL/Vulkan backend for it, since it only 
comes with a Raylib 5 backend. It's more of a serious GUI library 
than Dear ImGui though.
Feb 19
parent reply Danny Arends <Danny.Arends gmail.com> writes:
On Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 06:53:26 UTC, IchorDev wrote:

 On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:21:19 UTC, Danny Arends 
 wrote:

 I've tried several different bindings to IMgui, however, none 
 seem to work and seem abandoned to me (the most recent updated 
 one 'bindbc-imgui' was updated 3 years ago).


 Actually, I have been working on an update to BindBC-ImGui for 
 a long time. It now directly interfaces with ImGui's C++ API. 
 It's 99% finished, I just have a few bug bears to sort out 
 before I release it.

 You can clone the most recent version [from 
 here](https://github.com/ichordev/bindbc-imgui) and use `dub 
 add-local ./bindbc-imgui 1.0.0` on it so that dub knows where 
 it is. Then in your dub recipe, add `bindbc-imgui` version 
 `~>1.0` to `dependencies`, set its sub-configuration to 
 `static-SDL2-Vulkan`, and add `imgui` to your `libs`.
 You will have to build Dear ImGui as a library, including any 
 backends you want. Here's an example with the SDL2 backend & 
 clang:
 ```sh
 mkdir build
 cd build
 clang++ -c -g -fPIC -std=c++11 -I../ -I/path/to/SDL2 
 -I/usr/local/include/ ../imgui*.cpp \
 	../backends/imgui_impl_sdl2.cpp
 clang++ -fPIC -std=c++11 -shared -o libimgui.so imgui.o 
 imgui_demo.o imgui_draw.o imgui_tables.o imgui_widgets.o 
 imgui_impl_sdl2.o -lSDL2
 ```
 I've had weird linker issues when building Dear ImGui as a 
 static library, so I recommend trying to build it as a shared 
 library to start off with.


 But this got me wondering, what is the state of the art GUI 
 library in D, when I am using modern OpenGL or Vulkan?

 Does anyone have any tips or tricks on how to achieve a basic 
 GUI ? (without writing yet another GUI library binding from 
 scratch)


 There isn't one, unfortunately. I've done some work on an API 
 for one, but hit a few snags, so it's not the top of my 
 priorities right now. 
 [Fluid](https://code.dlang.org/packages/fluid) looks like a 
 pretty good option if you want a native D library, but you 
 would have to write an SDL/Vulkan backend for it, since it only 
 comes with a Raylib 5 backend. It's more of a serious GUI 
 library than Dear ImGui though.


Thanks,

Running into some weird linker issues within 
bindbc.common.codegen:

```
/usr/bin/ld: 
/home/danny/.dub/cache/betterct/~master/build/betterC-debug-gZx8lRyN8EaQ6hq_UuhHCw/betterct.o:(.data._D39TypeInfo_S6bindbc6common7codegen6F
Bind6__initZ+0x30): undefined reference to
`_D6bindbc6common7codegen6FnBind9__xtoHashFNbNeKxSQBvQBrQBnQBiZm'
/usr/bin/ld: 
/home/danny/.dub/cache/betterct/~master/build/betterC-debug-gZx8lRyN8EaQ6hq_UuhHCw/betterct.o:(.data._D39TypeInfo_S6bindbc6common7codegen6F
Bind6__initZ+0x38): undefined reference to
`_D6bindbc6common7codegen6FnBind11__xopEqualsMxFKxSQBwQBsQBoQBjZb'
```

while the individual components seem to build without issue:

```
     Building bindbc-common 1.0.5: building configuration [yesBC]
     Building bindbc-loader 1.1.5: building configuration [yesBC]
     Building bindbc-imgui ~master: building configuration 
[dynamic]
     Building bindbc-sdl 1.5.2: building configuration [dynamicBC]
```
Feb 20
parent IchorDev <zxinsworld gmail.com> writes:
On Thursday, 20 February 2025 at 10:05:13 UTC, Danny Arends wrote:

 Running into some weird linker issues within 
 bindbc.common.codegen:

 ```
 /usr/bin/ld: 
 /home/danny/.dub/cache/betterct/~master/build/betterC-debug-gZx8lRyN8EaQ6hq_UuhHCw/betterct.o:(.data._D39TypeInfo_S6bindbc6common7codegen6F
Bind6__initZ+0x30): undefined reference to
`_D6bindbc6common7codegen6FnBind9__xtoHashFNbNeKxSQBvQBrQBnQBiZm'
 /usr/bin/ld: 
 /home/danny/.dub/cache/betterct/~master/build/betterC-debug-gZx8lRyN8EaQ6hq_UuhHCw/betterct.o:(.data._D39TypeInfo_S6bindbc6common7codegen6F
Bind6__initZ+0x38): undefined reference to
`_D6bindbc6common7codegen6FnBind11__xopEqualsMxFKxSQBwQBsQBoQBjZb'
 ```

 while the individual components seem to build without issue:

 ```
     Building bindbc-common 1.0.5: building configuration [yesBC]
     Building bindbc-loader 1.1.5: building configuration [yesBC]
     Building bindbc-imgui ~master: building configuration 
 [dynamic]
     Building bindbc-sdl 1.5.2: building configuration 
 [dynamicBC]
 ```


Sorry for the late response. I missed this post.
I see that you are building everything with BetterC enabled 
except BindBC-ImGui. Mixing BetterC and DRuntime breaks 
everything. Using the `dynamicBC` configuration should fix your 
issue.
Jul 04
prev sibling parent Luna <luna foxgirls.gay> writes:
On Wednesday, 19 February 2025 at 15:21:19 UTC, Danny Arends 
wrote:

 Hey all,

 I am looking to integrate a GUI library like IMgui / Nuklear 
 into my app that uses Vulkan within SDL2 for rendering so that 
 it can run on Windows, Linux, and Android 
 (https://github.com/DannyArends/CalderaD).

 I've tried several different bindings to IMgui, however, none 
 seem to work and seem abandoned to me (the most recent updated 
 one 'bindbc-imgui' was updated 3 years ago).

 For Nuklear, the most up2date package (bindbc-nuklear) seems to 
 build, but doesn't provide a Vulkan back-end example so I'm 
 kind of stuck with how I'm supposed to integrate it (I might 
 make the effort to translate the C-code example provided in the 
 https://github.com/Immediate-Mode-UI/Nuklear repository to D)

 But this got me wondering, what is the state of the art GUI 
 library in D, when I am using modern OpenGL or Vulkan ? Does 
 anyone have any tips or tricks on how to achieve a basic GUI ? 
 (without writing yet another GUI library binding from scratch)


i2d-imgui was updated recently. Do note that to use this package 
you’ll need a C++ compiler and CMake. Additionally we’ve chosen 
not to include any backends so you should copy the backends from 
imgui directly and translate them to D. Which should be mostly 
trivial to do.

Additionally my SDL-D package provides bindings to SDL3.
Jul 08