Re: [Texmacs-dev] Cocoa backend

[Henri Lesourd]

Martin Costabel wrote:

> Henri Lesourd wrote:
> []
>
> > like : "implementing a lightweight X11 compatibility layer
> > on top of Cocoa, in such a way that (ultimately), one can
> > compile X11 code on the Mac without modification. 
>
>
> Such a compatibility layer already exists. It comes with Mac OSX and 
> it is called, well, "X11"
Yes, but it is not the same. As far as I understand (correct me if I'm
wrong, here), Cocoa is a **native** library, it is not implemented
on top of X11.

This important point being established (and if I'm right on this topic),
it follows that a big part of the job of implementing a **native** Mac
version of TeXmacs (i.e., independent from X11) will include, whatever
the way you do it, the need for reimplementing the part of the X11 API
that is used by the non-native version of TeXmacs. Once we are here,
is should be easy to see that it could be interesting to expose this 
reimplementation
as an independent, **lightweight** library which provides a (currently)
partial compatibility with X11.


> Apart from the latter, which is rather trivial and can be done already 
> with the current X11-based texmacs, this requires, as Massimiliano 
> explains, rewriting substantial parts of TeXmacs.

This is precisely my point : rewriting substantial parts of TeXmacs is 
better
done if you take care of choosing the right interface, and of cutting 
the software
into the right (as reuseable as possible) components.


> And there is no way around the fact that you need - even if you used a 
> compromise such as Qt4 or gtk - for this task someone who knows 
> intimately both TeXmacs and the Mac GUI.
I agree with this.


Best, Henri