Re: Getting started developing software on MS Windows

[Richard Frith-Macdonald]

On 18 Nov 2005, at 12:27, Frode wrote:

> Hello folks!
>
> I am a beginner and have a few questions. What is the state of GNUstep
> on MS Windows? Is it possible to build simple software using  
> GNUstep on
> MS Windows?

For command line tools I think, it's fine.
for GUI apps, it has lots of rough edges, but it's certainly possible  
to build simple software ... the question is whether you find the  
result usable/good enough for your purposes.  I can't answer that for  
you.
NB. Use the latest code from CVS for running on windows with msys/ 
mingw ... the windows port is young, and often the latest CVS code is  
much better than even a fairly recent release.

> I'm asking because I consider compiling a simple Cocoa application  
> on MS
> Windows using GNUstep and finding it hard to know where to start. I  
> have
> build the sample code from the tutors, but when it comes to the menu &
> windows sample, only a black (non-native MS Windows) window is  
> shown. I
> guess something is wrong, but I don't know where I should start  
> looking.

Well you certainly shouldn't see a black window (I guess you mean  
blank, totally black).

You should be expecting to see a window that looks like a GNUstep  
window, not a native looking one.  There are user default you can set  
to make GNUstep use native-style window borders and use the windows  
taskbar rather than an app icon ... when you start an application  
(assuming you are using an up to date copy of the windows backend) a  
panel will ask you to select the way you want to see things.

Even using native windows borders, GNUstep doesn't really look like  
ms-windows (we need the Camaleon theme engine integrated into the gui  
for that, and it's not yet done).  Personally I like the NeXT/GNUstep  
look, and run my apps set up that way, but the native look is being  
worked on.

> I manage to build Gorm-1.0.0 and it compiles and installs just  
> fine. But
> when I launch it with "openapp Gorm.app", the strange black window
> appears again. If I enter ESC, then the application quits.

Sounds like some problem with the drawing code.  I can't check the  
very latest CVS code (my machine is running Debian at the moment and  
is tied up for the rest of the day so I can't run windows), but I'd  
suggest trying that.  Someone else might know how you can get a black  
window ... I've never seen that problem.