From graphics-request at octave dot org Fri Dec 17 09:57:24 2004
Subject: Re: Octave GUI API: Proposal.
From: Shai Ayal <shaiay at yahoo dot com>
To: N Smethurst <nick dot smethurst at free dot fr>
Cc: graphics at octave dot org
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:53:18 +0200

Is the GUI in this discussion just buttons, sliders etc... or are you 
proposing to put all the graphics including graphs into this API?

Moving the graphs into this format can be quite tricky since gnuplot 
does not lend itself easily to the handle graphics paradigm. However 
considering only the buttons, sliders etc... as GUI is also "not natural".

I have no answer to this. As I wrote in another similar thread I myself 
am not sure any of these graphics issues should be integrated into 
octave -- Every developer can develop them for his own graphics 
implementation. By insuring that all of them work using the handle 
graphics paradigm (which is far from perfect, but the de-facto 
standard), high level function can be shared by all implementations

	Shai

N Smethurst wrote:
> Hello all.
> 
> In an effort to come back from the dead and reintroduce myself into the Octave 
> community, I wish to offer my help in the design of the Octave GUI layer.
> 
> I have, of course, a keen interest; it is something Ole and I have talked 
> about in the past and intended to start.
> 
> My current comments are:
> 
> 1. The base GUI layer must not depend on any libraries other than those which 
> Octave already depends.
> 
> 2. I would suggest a simple plugin system for implementing specific GUI 
> systems, where the plugin library could be specified at Octave startup.
> 
> 3. The base GUI layer should take the form of handle graphics, with higher 
> functionality written as .m files.
> 
> What I lack currently is:
> 
> 1/ lots of time
> 
> - this is something I need to sort out myself
> 
> 2/ a deep understanding of the class hierarchy in Octave.
> 
> - I ask therefore if someone could write or point us to a full explanation of 
> the class hierarchy, and how to create custom types in Octave. The last time 
> I looked (I admit this was some time ago) there was limited documentation.
> 
> On Friday 17 Dec 2004 10:42, Ole Jacob Hagen wrote:
> 
>>We are also planning to make a octave-internal graphics object handler,
>>but have made a Props package to Oplot, which is an external library
>>that comes with Oplot. This package is using callbacks, when a property
>>has changed.
> 
> 
> Ole: could the Props package form the base of a internal Octave GUI layer?
> 
> Regards to all and I hope we can implement a simple but effective GUI layer in 
> Octave soon.
> 
> Nick
> 
>