Xref: utzoo comp.sys.apollo:8965 comp.sys.hp:8785 comp.sys.sgi:9978 comp.unix.aix:4971 Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo,comp.sys.hp,comp.sys.sgi,comp.unix.aix Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca!system From: system@aurum.chem.utoronto.ca (System Admin (Mike Peterson)) Subject: MOTIF GUI-Builder software (summary, long) Message-ID: <1991May8.140913.16880@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca> Keywords: MOTIF Sender: system@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (System Admin (Mike Peterson)) Organization: University of Toronto Chemistry Department Date: Wed, 8 May 1991 14:09:13 GMT A while ago I posted a request for Motif GUI-Builder software. Here is a much-belated summary of the responses I got. ----- From: s111@prism.gatech.edu (Liebeskind, Susan H) TAE Plus was supposed to incorporate MOTIF sometime in the near future. With TAE, you get source that definitely runs on the Apollos (but very slowly). They had an unvalidated SGI port as of last summer, but without MOTIF in it. [I called COSMIC Software Repository (associated with NASA) at 404-542-3265 as Susan suggested: TAE Plus is in beta test now, and will be released in a few months. It runs on VAX/VMS, Mac II A/UX, Apollo DN3xxx (and DN4xxx/DN5xxx presumably), DEC Ultrix (VAX and RISC), Sun 3 and 4 series, IBM PS/2 AIX, and HP 9000 series 300. There is an SGI version in the works too, but no IBM RS/6000 version. Cost is $1000 (foreign) which includes source code and 1 set of Docs.] ----- From: Mitchell Patterson Try the Widget Creation Library; it's available at export.lcs.mit.edu, in the directory ``contrib,'' under the name (I believe) Wcl.1.05.tar.Z. It interprets X11 resource files, from which it generates an interface; one can make changes simply by editing that text file -- no recompile or link required. It's really a nifty system. ----- From: schuman@sgi.com (Aaron Schuman) Yes, there's a swell product called UIM/X from Visual Edge Software Ltd. I took a half day training class and by the end of the class I was turning out remarkable complete Motif interfaces in no time flat. Contact the manufacturer at: 3870 Cote Vertu 101 First St., Suite 443 St. Laurent, Quebec H4R 1V4 Los Altos, California 94022 ph 514-332-6430 ph 415-948-0753 fx 514-332-5914 fx 415-948-0843 I know it works on the SGI IRIX workstations. I don't know for sure if it's been ported to your other platforms yet, but I would be surprised if it hasn't been. ----- From: hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov (Dale Hubler) We looked at these products a while ago, some of which were suggested by readers of this group. These are all for the RS6000. IBM - They are working on a product but it is not yet available. We could not get much info on this on eyet. TeleUSE - An interesting and expensive product. It runs on a number of different platforms, including RS6000 and Sun. Kind of strange to see the motif look on the Sun for the first time. Programming is done in a rule based language they call D. It outputs C code, that makes it attractive for portability. Contact: TeleSoft 5959 Cornerstone Court West San Diego, CA 92121 (619) 457-2700 (619) 452-1334 ezX - requires a run-time library for other machines that need to run the executable. I believe this can be exported freely, but I am not 100% sure. Contact: Sunrise Software Systems 1151 Aquidneck Ave, Suite 444 Middletown, RI 02840 (401) 847-7868 Possible e-mail address: drew@sunrise.com (Drew Jenkins) who added: We have a product called ezX. It is a GUI builder that currently runs on the RS/6000. We don't support the Apollo or SGI platforms yet. XBuild - writes C code directly, code is portable without requiring run-time libraries, source code is available for additional $'s. Contact: Siemens Nixdorf 200 Wheeler Rd. Burlington, MA 01803 (617) 273-0480 XFaceMaker2 - Programming is done in a proprietary language, but there is a C code generation option, requires libraries. Builder Xcessory - outputs C, Motif/UIL, make files, and X Resource files. Builder can also read in UIL so you can modify existing programs with it. The cost is $2500. Contact: Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc. 201 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 547-0510 E-mail: info@ics.com (This is probably the package that will be bought.) These are the only products we've found that will run on the RS6000 and generate a motif interface. If you would like vendor names and addresses I am sure I can dig them up. Another member of our group took a closer look and can provide more detailed information if needed. Some of the above comments are his, in fact. ----- From: Kerstin Barley Silicon Graphics recently introduced UIM/X, a Motif GUI-builer tool. It's available through SGI Software Express at 1-800-800-4SGI (Option 1). UIM/X allows you to determine the *behavior* of your interface, as well as the layout. It generates C code and contains a C interpreter to allow you to check your work. I'd be glad to send you a datasheet or talk to you about it if you give me a call. I can be reached at the above 800 number or at my desk -- (415) 335-1761. Jim Terhorst also responded with details about UIM/X. ----- From: mindcrf!karish@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Chuck Karish) This posting in comp.newprod caught my eye. It may turn out to be a port-it-yourself project, though; it's distributed as source. >From: mau@nixbur.UUCP (Michael Urban) Newsgroups: comp.newprod Subject: XBUILD 1.1 announcement. Date: 4 Dec 90 15:02:58 GMT Organization: Nixdorf Computer Engineering Corporation, Burlington, MA SIEMENS NIXDORF UNVEILS NEW VERSION OF USER INTERFACE BUILDER XBUILD Can Be Extended, Customized for Building Motif Applications CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (November 26) -- Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems, Inc., today announced an upgrade of its XBUILD (tm) tool for building OSF/Motif (tm) graphical user interfaces, incorporating new features that let users customize and extend the tool for more productive applications development. The company also announced today that it will offer a trial version of the product, which will allow users to test XBUILD's features by building limited-size interfaces before they buy. First introduced at Xhibition in May 1990, XBUILD is an open user interface development tool (UIDT) for painlessly developing, testing, and perfecting production-ready graphical user interfaces based on the OSF/Motif standard. A major advantage of XBUILD-generated interfaces is that they are fully runtime-independent, requiring no additional runtime software libraries nor license fees. XBUILD Release 1.1 can also import UIL code, allowing it to reuse or edit portions of existing programs. XBUILD is priced at $5,000 for a source code version and $1,500 for each accompanying internal-use license, which allows a user to run binary versions of XBUILD generated from the source code. Also available is a binary license for $1,895. Quantity discounts are available for both internal-use licenses and binary licenses. System requirements for the binary version of XBUILD include UNIX System V (tm) 3.2 or 4.3 bsd or higher, OSF/Motif, and one of the following hardware platforms: Sun 3 (tm), SPARCStation (tm), 386 SCO/Open Desktop (tm), DECStation (tm) 3100, MIPS, or Siemens Nixdorf Targon (tm) 31 and Targon 35 systems. The source code version requires UNIX System V 3.2 or 4.3 bsd or higher, OSF/Motif (tm), and C++ version 1.2. For more information about XBUILD or to order a trial version, contact either Gerard Kiley or Susan Goguen at (617) 864-0066, or send e-mail to xbuild@nixdorf.com! Contact: Michele Nadeem Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems, Inc. (617) 273-0480, ext. 3388 Janice Brown Janice Brown and Associates, Inc. (617) 332-8066 ----- From: jonathan@cs.pitt.edu (Jonathan Eunice) At last week's UniForum, IBM was showing its version of the UIM/X interface builder, which is pretty nice. HP is shipping this now, and SCO and IBM should be shortly. IBM calls it Interface Architect. It writes C code for X Windows. A particular strength is its ability to interpret code so you can see behavior while testing. (This useful feature is lacking in DEC's VUIT and Sun's Developer's Guide.) No solid info on shipping dates, though. ----- From: Colston Sanger Yes, X-Designer, from Imperial Software Technology here in the UK, has been ported to the RS6000, and I think is in IBM's 3rd party software catalogue. Contact address is: Imperial Software Technology - IST 95 London St Reading Berks RG1 4QA Phone: +44 734 587055 Fax: +44 734 589005 alan@ist.co.uk ----- From: cmc@nsl.fr (Colin M. Clark) Thought you might be interested in the following notes on XFaceMaker a product from Non Standard Logics of Paris, France but also avaiable in America from: Santa Cruz Software Services 256 santa Rosa Lane Santa Barbara Ca 93108 Tel: 805 682 0223 Technical support: Tel: (805) 964 9599 Fax: (805) 964 4367 or email: requests@nsl.fr for information. XFaceMaker is currently available on: Sun 3 + sparc 386 Interactive 386 SCO Sony News IBM RS 6000 Dec 3000 Hp 9000/8XX 9000/3XX Apollo Silicon Graphics ( Dec VMS in the works !) XFaceMaker2 is an interactive interface builder for Motif. Using simple click and drag actions it allows the user to chose, size and position widgets in an interface. The interface is realized immediately on the desktop as it is being designed and so the user can work intuitively and interactively. Tools exist for the manipulation of the widgets; cut, copy, paste, kill, align, show, hide, etc. A Resources window can be popped up to edit each widget's resources, with a set of further popup edit windows appropriate for each type of resource or callback selected. Callbacks can call application functions directly and also use the language FACE. FACE is a subset of `C' for defining the behaviour of interfaces. FACE scripts are interpreted so that the usual edit-compile-link cycle is not required speeding up development. The user can immediately test any changes. When the interface is finished a `C' code version can be saved. This has no interpreted elements. It is linked with the normal Xm and Xt libraries together with a library supplied with XFaceMaker2. The source of this library is also supplied. In detail: The main strengths of XFaceMaker2 are: 1) Point and click creation of widgets, by selecting and dragging icons on the desktop. The user constantly sees the interface as it is being designed and so can work intuitively and interactively. 2) Callbacks can call either application functions or FACE scripts. FACE is a subset of C optimised for interfaces. It has the if, else, while and for constructs, and convenience functions such as PopupAndWait which maps the given widget with XtGrabExclusive and waits for a return value. Standard functions such as: printf scanf, atoi, and itoa, are also included, together with certain Intrinsic and Motif functions. FACE has built in variables such as: self, parent and toplevel, for referring to and accessing the resources of other widgets. Because the interface code is initially interpreted, the user can test the behaviour of the interface as it is designed. XFaceMaker2 has two modes: Build mode: a widget can be selected by clicking upon it. When selected it has handles for changing its size or moving it. A Resources window can be popped up to edit the widget's resources, with a set of further popup edit windows appropriate for each type of resource. Try mode: in this mode the interface acts as it will in "real life", so clicking on a widget will result in the appropriate callback being interpreted and its actions being carried out. 3) XFaceMaker2 has a special feature called ActiveValues. These are variables which are shared between the interface and the application. Within the interface an ActiveValue name is associated with a widget together with a Get and Set script. These scripts are also written in FACE. The Get script gets the resource and places it in the ActiveValue while the Set script does the reverse. (It can also cause a widget to be popped up, or cause any other behaviour you want.) This means that the application does not have to know the name of a widget and its resources, it references only the ActiveValue name. Even if the resource or behaviour of the interface is changed at some later point in the design process, the application remains the same, and vice versa for the interface, if the application changes. XFaceMaker2 allows you to create two types of file. The first type is _fm_ a proprietary-format ascii english text file which can be loaded from the application and is interpreted to create the interface. This is useful when the interface is being worked on. It allows the interface to be changed without having to recompile the the application each time. The second type is the _C_ code version. When the interface is finalised, it can be saved and linked directly with the application code. This version has no interpreted elements. The close relationship between the FACE language and 'C' means the that the code produced when the interface is compiled is very efficient. To emphasise a few points.. There are no runtime royalties and the library source code library is provided. The X and Motif libraries used are standard - not specially altered versions. Yes xfm does have another language for writting scripts but we feel this is acceptable because 1 Its very close to C 2 You can ignore it altogether and call your own callback functions directly. ----- Thanks to all who responded. Mike. -- Mike Peterson, System Administrator, U/Toronto Department of Chemistry E-mail: system@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca Tel: (416) 978-7094 Fax: (416) 978-8775