Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!pcrat!rick
From: rick@pcrat.uucp (Rick Richardson)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.motif
Subject: Re: Porting  A t h e n a -Widgets to Motif-Widgets
Message-ID: <1990Jul24.112000.2986@pcrat.uucp>
Date: 24 Jul 90 11:20:00 GMT
References: <2336@laura.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@pcrat.UUCP (Rick Richardson)
Distribution: comp
Organization: PC Research, Inc., Tinton Falls, NJ
Lines: 58

In article <2336@laura.UUCP> hit@anton.informatik.uni-dortmund.de ( * HIT * ) writes:

>Hello experts,

>has anyone of you already replaced Athena-Widgets by Motif-Widgets
>in an application?

Right in the middle of doing it now.  So far, I'd say that
going from Athena to Motif is an exercise in substituting
one set of (painfully determined) bug workarounds for an
as-yet-unknown-in-scope set of bugs.

>What are your experiences? Can you give some hints? 

Being halfway (optimistically) down the road now, I would
say that it is a mistake to assume that you can get away
with having just the Motif binary libs and include files.
Budget in a Motif source license before you start (we didn't).

>Are there any tools (available/being built) to port
>Athena applications to Motif?

At least for us, it would have to be an AI program, like:
	"Athena scrollbar hack detected...deleting"
	"Athena form detected...Motif form OTL...switch to manual"

Besides, there is quite a bit in Motif that calls out to you
to make UI style changes.

It is very tempting to fidget with a widget or two.
This is the only fun part of Motif.  Coworkers can tell
when you do this, because you break into mindless song:

	I'm fidgeting a widget, or two
	Not an ordinary widget, or two
	And when I'm done
	I'll see it on the Sun
	I'm fidgeting a widget, or two  [repeat, ad nauseum]

OK, so the Sun has OpenLook.  It rhymed, damnit!  How about this:

	And when I'm done
	It won't work on the Sun

>Note that I am a beginner concerning Motif.

Same here.  You get Motif developer status when you have
identified all of the bugs.  You get your guru badge when
you have completed debugging the widget set.  That means,
we're all beginners.

-Rick

-- 
Rick Richardson | JetRoff "di"-troff to LaserJet Postprocessor| Ask about
PC Research,Inc.| Mail: uunet!pcrat!jetroff; For anon uucp do:|   FaxiX
uunet!pcrat!rick| uucp jetroff!~jetuucp/file_list ~nuucp/.    | for UNIX/386
jetroff Wk2200-0300,Sa,Su ACU {2400,PEP} 12013898963 "" \d\r\d ogin: jetuucp