[Gambas-devel] New GTK+ features

[Benoit Minisini]

On Thursday 03 March 2005 13:44, Daniel Campos wrote:
> Hi:
>
> Here's gb.gtk 050303. Two new features added:
>
> 1) I've implemented then "MovieBox" widget, it is fully functional, so
> MovieBox could be removed from gb.qt.ext and added to gb.qt.
>

Cool.

> 2) I've added a new (experimental) feature, that I think is very important,
> trying to make it as simple and intuitive as possible:
>
> I've added a new widget called "Plugin" which embeeds a X-window (mainly
> from
> another process, but could be from the same process). This has been done
> using the XEMBED protocol specification, which is managed by the
> GtkPlugin and
> GtkSocket classes when using GTK+, and can be easily implemented with
> QtXembedContainer and QtXembedClient (
> http://www.trolltech.com/products/solutions/catalog/Widgets/qtxembed/ )
> when using QT ... Benoît? 

Cool yet :-)

A few remarks:

* This feature is not included in the standard qt library, and that it is an 
X11 only feature.

* You should use GB.Alloc(), GB.Realloc() and GB.Free() instead of malloc(), 
realloc() and free(). This way, you can easily debug memory leaks.

> Thanks to the XEMBED protocol, both client 
> (plugin) and
> server (main application) can work together, without the problems of the
> old system:
> just using a remote XID without any coordination between the two apps:
>
> A plugin is just a Form. Now gb.gtk forms have an optional parameter
> called "Plug". If you load
> a Form using the "normal way":
>
>
> Form1.Load()
> Form1.Show()
>
>
> Form is shown as usual, allowing to work with the plugin as a
> stand-alone application, and to
> debug the program without problems. But if you ser the "Plug" parameter:
>
> Form1.Load(NULL,true)
> Form1.Show()
>
> The Form is hidden (it is really a GtkPlug window instead of a main
> window). 

As, in the future, the IDE will be able to manage different types of form 
(Form, WebForm, ReportForm, ...), wouldn't it be possible to make a class 
named "Plugin", like "Form", that would inherit "Window", instead of one 
extra argument to Window constructor ?

> Then we obtain 
> the Form ID:
>
> PRINT Form1.ID
>
> (We print it on stdout, or we can write in a file, or send it using a
> Socket, or whatever)
>
> We receive the ID in the main application, and we pass the Form ID from
> the plugin application to
> the "Plugin" widget:

Shouldn't the "Plugin" widget named something like "Plugger" instead ? If I 
understand well what is plugged in what of course :-)

>
> ...
> READ #hProcess,Id,-255
> ...
> MyPlugin.Plug (Id)
> ...
>
> Then, the Plugin widget shows the Form embeed into the main application.
>
> "Plugin" has two signals: "Plugged" when a remoted XID is sucessfully
> loaded, and "Unplugged" when
> the plugin application frees or closes then Form.
>
> Then, the programmer can create any communication system between both
> applications.
>
> As XEMBED protocol is a standard, you can even mix GTK+,QT, Motif,
> FOX... applications, written in
> any programming language (python, for example).
>
> This feature would allow to write, for example, a control panel adding
> new features using plugins,
> (writting plugins for the Mandrake control center?), and to work with
> these plugins as stand-alone
> applications when you do not want to use the centralized control panel.
> This would allow also to
> run applications from different computers (that are using the same
> X-Server), and to show them
> as one big application to the user.
>
> I send a little example, with a little communication system. You've
> create a "plugintest" folder into
> your home folder. Then compile and place there the "Plugin1" and
> "Plugin2" applications. Now
> run the "MainApplication" and enjoy! (do not place "MainApp" at plugins
> folder, it will not run!)

I tried them. The focus behaves strangely. It works, but sometimes I don't see 
the mouse, or the focus rectangle. Strange...

I saw by using these examples that message boxes are not modal. This is a 
problem, they must be!

>
> Regards,
>
> D. Campos

Regards,

-- 
Benoit Minisini
mailto:gambas at ...1...