Announcing Amulet Toolkit Resource Availability (was Re: [gtk-list] Re: GTK for Win32)

[Pat Rogan <rogan lycos com>]

I wanted to tell you all that we have been given permission by the
author to use whatever concepts and code we find useful from the Amulet
graphical toolkit developed at Carnegie Mellon.

(From the web site:)

"Amulet is a user interface development environment for C++ and is
portable across X11 on all kinds of Unix (Sun, Dec, HP, SGI, Linux,
NetBSD, etc.), Microsoft Windows 95 and NT, and the Macintosh. ... More
than just another free virtual toolkit, Amulet includes ... a
prototype-instance object model, constraints, high-level input handling
including automatic undo, built-in support for animation and
gesture-recognition, and a full set of widgets. "

All the examples of porting we could ever want is right there.  Amulet
has recently lost it's funding, and is therefore not being actively
developed or supported by the main developers, but Brad tells me that
periodic updates to the unfinished version 4 are still being made.

(From an email conversation with the main author, Brad Myers)

(ME) >>  Basically, how much of my
>> knowledge about Amulet could I apply to GTK development, or any
>> programs i develop using GTK?

(Brad) > You can use anything that is useful.  In fact, the more I can
> demonstrate technology and idea transfer from Amulet to other
> systems, the better!  Since Amulet is in the public domain, you
> can even use the Amulet code.  If any ideas from Amulet appear
> elsewhere, please let me know so I can cite them.


* (As i said yesterday) Amulet can be found at:

 
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/amulet/www/amulet-home.html


* Please note the EXTENSIVE and COMPLETE documentation...

* I think referencing the Amulet source code will help to answer several
GTK issues including cross platform porting and keystroke bindings.  

* (Note that Amulet applications DO NOT have to be purple... :)

* Amulet also has a beautiful gesture recognition widget.

* Here's an example of Amulet with Open GL compiled in (from the
"Projects Using Amulet" page):

 
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/amulet/www/userspictures/balaguer.i3d.gif


* Note the use of "constraints" and "interactors" as callback values and
methods in Amulet programs.

* Note the Inspector window that lets you browse the slots and values of
widgets.

* Brad isn't really interested in "actively supporting" Amulet anymore,
so please don't bug him _too_much_ about it.  But remember that he would
very much like to know what we find useful from Amulet.

~p@

-- 
Patrick Rogan
-----------------------------------
Systems Engineer

Lycos, Inc.
1 Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street, Suite 525
Pittsburgh, PA   15219-1408