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Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 13:41:43 -0700
From: kelly@fsl.noaa.gov (Sean Kelly)
Message-Id: <9601072041.AA09490@emu.fsl.noaa.gov>
To: brian@mediacity.com
Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
In-Reply-To: <199601072007.MAA26116@MediaCity.com> (message from Brian Litzinger on Sun, 7 Jan 1996 12:07:32 -0800 (PST))
Subject: Re: Which X app development tools?
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>>>>> "Brian" == Brian Litzinger <brian@mediacity.com> writes:

    Brian> I was wondering what tools people would recommened for
    Brian> developing the user interface.

Well, OI is pretty nice, builds on FreeBSD in two easy steps, and is
otherwise completely unavailable.

So, I use tcl/tk.  I embed a tcl interpreter in the app and provide
tcl commands for all the functions my app provides.  Then I write the
entire user interface as a tcl/tk script.  Widget clients call my
app-specific commands.

Advantages: it's easy to change the interface without recompilation;
tk's widgets are more attractive than Motif; I can make customized
installations of the app for various clients.

Disadvantages: startup time is slower---you've got to wait for the
script to be parsed.  To avoid this, you can structure your scripts to
be loaded-on-demand, but that's another disadvantage since it adds
complexity to your s/w deployment.

-- 
Sean Kelly
NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory, Boulder Colorado USA

I had a friend who was a clown.  When he died, all his friends went to
the funeral in one car. -- Steven Wright