RE: UI proposal

[Eric McDonald <mcdonald@phy.cmich.edu>]

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003, Lincoln Peters wrote:

> The comments that follow in this message assume that (most of) the
> developers still want to use SDL for a new Xconq interface.

I am still have much to learn about both GTK and SDL, but I am not 
sure that these two things are diametrically opposed. I 
can see using SDL to do cross-platform graphics/video work, while 
using GTK to do cross-platform UI work (similar to my suggestion 
about wxWindows). The downside is that this makes Xconq have two 
external software dependencies instead of one.... Also, I could be 
way off base here. Like I said, I will research it more this 
weekend.

> Using dock items in GTK+/GNOME interfaces, it is possible not only to
> move a dock item from one edge of the screen to another, but also to
> turn a dock item into a floating window.  That would very closely mimic
> the behavior of the Mac interface.  How difficult would it be do set
> that up using SDL?

One thing that any solution should address is whether layout 
managers are available. Being able to plop down a window or any 
other component and have the other components be rearranged in an 
aesthetically pleasing manner with minimal functional impedance to 
the user and with minimal guidance from the programmer is a 
desirable trait.

Eric