\section{What is wxWidgets?}\label{whatis}
wxWidgets is a C++ framework providing GUI (Graphical User
-Interface) and other facilities on more than one platform. Version 2 currently
-supports all desktop versions of MS Windows, Unix with GTK+, Unix with Motif,
-and MacOS. An OS/2 port is in progress.
+Interface) and other facilities on more than one platform. Version 2 and higher
+currently support all desktop versions of MS Windows, Unix with GTK+ 1.x or 2.x,
+Unix with Motif, Unix with just X11, Unix with DirectFB, Mac OS X, OS/2.
wxWidgets was originally developed at the Artificial Intelligence
Applications Institute, University of Edinburgh, for internal use,
For a selection of wxWidgets tutorials, please see the documentation page on the \urlref{wxWidgets web site}{http://www.wxwidgets.org}.
Please note that in the following, ``MS Windows" often refers to all
-platforms related to Microsoft Windows, including 16-bit and 32-bit
+platforms related to Microsoft Windows, including 32-bit and 64-bit
variants, unless otherwise stated. All trademarks are acknowledged.
\section{Why another cross-platform development tool?}\label{why}
The file {\tt "wx/wxprec.h"} includes {\tt "wx/wx.h"}. Although this incantation
may seem quirky, it is in fact the end result of a lot of experimentation,
and several Windows compilers to use precompilation which is largely automatic for
-compilers with necessary support. Currently it is used for Visual C++ (including
-embedded Visual C++), Borland C++, Open Watcom C++ and newer versions of GCC.
+compilers with necessary support. Currently it is used for Visual C++ (including
+embedded Visual C++), Borland C++, Open Watcom C++, Digital Mars C++
+and newer versions of GCC.
+Some compilers might need extra work from the application developer to set the
+build environment up as necessary for the support.
\section{Libraries}\label{libraries}
\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-In addition to the core wxWidgets library, a number of further
-libraries and utilities are supplied with each distribution.
-
-Some are under the 'contrib' hierarchy which mirrors the
-structure of the main wxWidgets hierarchy. See also the 'utils'
-hierarchy. The first place to look for documentation about
-these tools and libraries is under the wxWidgets 'docs' hierarchy,
-for example {\tt docs/htmlhelp/fl.chm}.
+In addition to the \helpref{wxWidgets libraries}{librarieslist}, some
+additional utilities are supplied in the \tt{utils} hierarchy.
For other user-contributed packages, please see the Contributions page
on the \urlref{wxWidgets Web site}{http://www.wxwidgets.org}.
Xnest-based display emulator for X11-based PDA applications. On some
systems, the Xnest window does not synchronise with the
'skin' window. This program can be found in {\tt utils/emulator}.
-\item[{\bf Configuration Tool}]
-The wxWidgets Configuration Tool is a work in progress
-intended to make it easier to configure wxWidgets
-features in detail. It exports setup.h configurations and will
-eventually generate makefile config files. Invoking compilers is
-also on the cards. Since configurations are
-handled one at a time, the tool is of limited used until further
-development can be done. The program can be found in {\tt utils/configtool}.
-\item[{\bf XRC resource system}]
-This is the sizer-aware resource system, and uses
-XML-based resource specifications that can be generated by tools
-such as \urlref{wxDesigner}{http://www.roebling.de}.
-You can find this in {\tt src/xrc}, {\tt include/wx/xrc}, {\tt samples/xrc}.
-For more information, see the \helpref{XML-based resource system overview}{xrcoverview}.
-\item[{\bf Object Graphics Library}]
-OGL defines an API for applications that need to display objects connected by lines.
-The objects can be moved around and interacted with.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/ogl}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/ogl}, and {\tt contrib/samples/ogl}.
-\item[{\bf Frame Layout library}]
-FL provides sophisticated pane dragging and docking facilities.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/fl}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/fl}, and {\tt contrib/samples/fl}.
-\item[{\bf Gizmos library}]
-Gizmos is a collection of useful widgets and other classes. Classes include wxLEDNumberCtrl,
-wxEditableListBox, wxMultiCellCanvas.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/gizmos}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/gizmos}, and {\tt contrib/samples/gizmos}.
-\item[{\bf Net library}]
-Net is a collection of very simple mail and web related classes. Currently
-there is only wxEmail, which makes it easy to send email messages via MAPI on Windows or sendmail on Unix.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/net} and {\tt contrib/include/wx/net}.
-\item[{\bf Animate library}]
-Animate allows you to load animated GIFs and play them on a window. The library can be extended
-to use other animation formats.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/animate}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/animate}, and {\tt contrib/samples/animate}.
-\item[{\bf MMedia library}]
-Mmedia supports a variety of multimedia functionality. The status of this library is currently unclear.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/mmedia}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/mmedia}, and {\tt contrib/samples/mmedia}.
-\item[{\bf Styled Text Control library}]
-STC is a wrapper around Scintilla, a syntax-highlighting text editor.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/stc}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/stc}, and {\tt contrib/samples/stc}.
-\item[{\bf Plot}]
-Plot is a simple curve plotting library.
-You can find this in {\tt contrib/src/plot}, {\tt contrib/include/wx/plot}, and {\tt contrib/samples/plot}.
\end{description}
\chapter{Programming strategies}\label{strategies}
\subsection{Use ASSERT}\label{useassert}
-Although I haven't done this myself within wxWidgets, it is good
-practice to use ASSERT statements liberally, that check for conditions that
-should or should not hold, and print out appropriate error messages.
+It is good practice to use ASSERT statements liberally, that check for conditions
+that should or should not hold, and print out appropriate error messages.
+
These can be compiled out of a non-debugging version of wxWidgets
and your application. Using ASSERT is an example of `defensive programming':
it can alert you to problems later on.
+See \helpref{wxASSERT}{wxassert} for more info.
+
\subsection{Use wxString in preference to character arrays}\label{usewxstring}
-Using wxString can be much safer and more convenient than using char *.
-Again, I haven't practiced what I'm preaching, but I'm now trying to use
-wxString wherever possible. You can reduce the possibility of memory
-leaks substantially, and it is much more convenient to use the overloaded
-operators than functions such as strcmp. wxString won't add a significant
-overhead to your program; the overhead is compensated for by easier
-manipulation (which means less code).
+Using \helpref{wxString}{wxstring} can be much safer and more convenient than using wxChar *.
+
+You can reduce the possibility of memory leaks substantially, and it is much more
+convenient to use the overloaded operators than functions such as \tt{strcmp}.
+wxString won't add a significant overhead to your program; the overhead is compensated
+for by easier manipulation (which means less code).
The same goes for other data types: use classes wherever possible.
\section{Strategies for portability}\label{portability}
-\subsection{Use relative positioning or constraints}\label{userelativepositioning}
+\subsection{Use sizers}\label{usesizers}
Don't use absolute panel item positioning if you can avoid it. Different GUIs have
-very differently sized panel items. Consider using the constraint system, although this
-can be complex to program.
-
-Alternatively, you could use alternative .wrc (wxWidgets resource files) on different
-platforms, with slightly different dimensions in each. Or space your panel items out
-to avoid problems.
+very differently sized panel items. Consider using the \helpref{sizers}{sizeroverview} instead.
\subsection{Use wxWidgets resource files}\label{useresources}
Use .xrc (wxWidgets resource files) where possible, because they can be easily changed
-independently of source code.
+independently of source code. See the \helpref{XRC overview}{xrcoverview} for more info.
\section{Strategies for debugging}\label{debugstrategies}
\subsection{Use the wxWidgets debugging facilities}\label{usedebuggingfacilities}
-You can use wxDebugContext to check for
+You can use \helpref{wxDebugContext}{wxdebugcontext} to check for
memory leaks and corrupt memory: in fact in debugging mode, wxWidgets will
automatically check for memory leaks at the end of the program if wxWidgets is suitably
configured. Depending on the operating system and compiler, more or less
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff