From: Lothar Scholz Date: 2004-11-26T07:09:34+09:00 Subject: Re: Ruby GUIs and installation effort Hello Dave, DB> "Alexander Kellett" : >> On Nov 25, 2004, at 2:03 PM, Dave Burt wrote: >>> I'm happy to leave the AWT/Swing debate to c.l.j; suffice it to say my >>> view >>> is Swing's API's far better designed (which is more important from >>> toolkit >>> user's perspective than how easy it is to port) >> >> not awt. swt. DB> Goes to show I should have left the Java bit alone. >>>> Anyway, I really don't think a real cross platform gui is possible. >>> >>> Why not? >> >> because to target mac os x, windows, gnome, or kde, >> in *every* case you need an *entirely* different look >> and feel. this just isn't possible with the standard >> mechanisms used in gui creation. >> >> let me summarize: >> layouts are *just too low-level* DB> I disagree that they inherently are. DB> Consider web applications as an example of how a platform-independent GUI DB> spec can be loaded in the platform's look-and-feel. Mozilla's XUL browsers DB> extend this idea into the realm of usable interface-building. It's possible. No it's not. If you want to confirm to apples user interface guidelines you have to use exact spacing (12 pt here, 14 pt there, round help icon button to the right of a dialog, make cancel the default button not okay, .... ) and a specific way to layout fields in a dialog. Okay some of the MacOSX applications don't do this (even some of apple's own). Mozilla does not look really native to apple users. It has the same look but not the same feel. -- Best regards, emailto: scholz at scriptolutions dot com Lothar Scholz http://www.ruby-ide.com CTO Scriptolutions Ruby, PHP, Python IDE 's