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Re: Love the language & API, would like to modify the UI
From: |
Andrew Satori |
Subject: |
Re: Love the language & API, would like to modify the UI |
Date: |
Mon, 20 Mar 2006 15:01:07 -0500 |
Delphi is a REALLY bad example of a Windows app, it (and apps it
creates ) uses some truly grisly hacks, though they are probably
relevant to this discussion.
The way Delphi works is that by default (and without a fair amount of
API hacking), it creates a hidden window of class TApplication that
'owns' all other top level windows in the application and the first
window created becomes the "Main" form. When that "Main" form is
closed, TApplication exits, and closes the message loop.
In the OpenStep world, this TApplication window would be analogous to
the NSRunLoop as the owner of the menu, and all top level windows.
As such, it would be practicable to have that create a Delphi style
'menu window' that owns all child window. Where things get ugly is
the management of the child windows. Theoretically, you could simply
parent *all* GS windows to that GSWindowsApplication parent window
and force them into that windows client space. The advantage is that
you could pick up some free functionality (min/max/arrangement).
This would look and behave very much like Adobe's PhotoShop on
Windows, where Palette windows would be handled independently.
It's an interesting, but non-trivial bit of work that could pay huge
dividends at the end though. You could then effectively take a
GnuStep-gui app and compile it to have a much closer to native feel
than ever in the past. If someone wanted to take the next
entrprising step, It would theoretically be feasable to write a .app
to .exe packager that would bundle the .app tree structure into a
compressed archive with a custom .exe self extraction preloader that
would unbundle/set the environment/openapp the GS-gui app all in one
step allowing for easy packaging and consumption by Windows users
that can barely double click a mouse, much less install a complex
application system like GnuStep.
Andy
/* Satori & Associates, Inc.
************************************************/
On Mar 18, 2006, at 6:44 PM, Ingolf Jandt wrote:
Putting the menus into the document windows needs some digging into
the -gui implementation, and in my very personal opinion it does
not comply so well with the openstep design which in the MDI/SDI
question could be described as cooperating/controlled SDI. (As each
document has one window, but one app in control of them.) Do you
remember also Delphi had its main menu apart from the document
views, and I never had the feeling it was no real Windows app.
smime.p7s
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