[gnome-love] Re: interface for C program

[Chris Wareham <chris incubation demon co uk>]

Illes J. Farkas wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I need to build a graphical interface for my C program (with data input,
> input file selection, run-time messages, some drawing on a canvas etc.)
> and compile the entire package for both Linux and Windows users.


GTK+ is an option then, although if you are going to be writing the
entire application in C then you'll have to be careful not to use
any Unix or Windows specific libraries/functions.


>

> I've been working with C, perl and java for some years now, and a few days
> ago I was told I should use Tcl/Tk and connect that to my C program.
> However, now I rather doubt that 'wish' will be able to communicate with
> an executable in a reliable, platform-independent way.


Although it's probably sacrilege to say this on a GTK+ list, your best
option could be Tcl/Tk, or if you're already a Perl programmer Perl/Tk.
The GTK/Perl modules may be worth looking at as well.

As for the platform independence of Tcl/Tk, it excels at it. Again, if
your C application isn't portable then you face the same problem as
using GTK+. But Tcl itself is no problem - it was specifically
designed to interface with apps written in C. If you haven't already
got a good book on Tcl/Tk, then check out parts III and IV of John
Ousterhout's seminal book "Tcl and the Tk Toolkit".

refs:

 http://projects.prosa.it/gtkperl/ - GTK/Perl
 http://www.scriptics.com/ - Tcl/Tk

Chris
--
knuckle-bone skid marks