From: Jeff Hobbs <jeffh@...>
Date: 2005-10-06T04:56:48+09:00
Subject: Re: The definitive GUI for Ruby

Eustaquio Rangel de Oliveira J wrote:
> --- Jeff Hobbs <jeffh@removethis.activestate.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Eustaquio Rangel de Oliveira J wrote:
>> Tk is only ugly if that's the way you like it.  You have a
>> full set of themed widgets available now that give you
>> native look and feel, with all the same dynamic control and
>> general ease of use that Tk has always provided.  All this
>> on Aqua, Win32 and X11 (even Windows/CE).  Some screenshots
>> of Tk apps that try not to be ugly:
> 
>> An example of improving a Tk app by "going native":
>> http://wiki.tcl.tk/14522
> 
> Oh boy, was me that did not checked all its features
> or Tk has evolved a lot on the last years? Will take a
> look on all that stuff.
> 
> Thanks a lot for the links, Jeff. I hope you didn't
> get the "ugly" thing as an insult. 

No insult taken.  Tk certainly keeps moving, but it's done in
a low-key manner.  There have always been many extensions to
Tk that provide a wealth of extra functionality.  User demand
for the native widget extension (tile) has triggered its
inclusion for Tk 8.5 (still in development).  Looking at the
Ruby/Tk sources, there appears to be support for tile in there
already (based on the Tk 8.4 stuff).

The classic Tk widgets do have a dated look, but even that is
easily modified with a few lines of code and the 'option'
command.  For true native look and feel though, you really
need to rearchitect the widgets (as tile/ttk does).  For
example, most tile widgets don't have a -background option -
that is something that the theme controls (and when you are on
something like OS X, may not be a simple color at all).

Anyways, Tk may still not be the ideal toolkit for your needs,
but "because it's ugly" is no longer a valid reason.  ;)

-- 
   Jeff Hobbs, The Tk Guy
   http://www.ActiveState.com/, a division of Sophos