If you only need to display marked-up information, rather than edit it,
then wxHTML will suit your needs. wxHTML is built into wxWindows - please see the reference
manual for details, and samples/html.
@@ -172,29 +180,57 @@ no wxWindows wrapper for these (but text attribute functions are being added in
-
+
+
+wxWindows library itself is unfortunately not exception-safe (as its
+initial version predates, by far, the addition of the exceptions to the C++
+language). However you can still use the exceptions in your own code and use
+the other libraries using the exceptions for the error reporting together with
+wxWindows.
+
+
+There are a few issues to keep in mind, though:
+
+ - You shouldn't let the exceptions propagate through wxWindows code,
+ in particular you should always catch the exceptions thrown by the
+ functions called from an event handler in the handler itself and not
+ let them propagate upwards to wxWindows.
+
+
- You may need to ensure that the compiler support for the exceptions is
+ enabled as, considering that wxWindows itself doesn't use the
+ exceptions and turning their support on results in the library size
+ augmentation of 10% to 20%, it is turned off by default for a few
+ compilers. Moreover, for gcc (or at least its mingw version) you must
+ also turn on the RTTI support to be able to use the exceptions, so you
+ should use --disable-no_rtti --disable-no_exceptions options
+ when configuring the library (attention to the double negation).
+
+
+
+
+
We are using the CVS system to develop and maintain wxWindows. This allows
-us to make alterations and upload them instantly to the SourceForge server, from
+us to make alterations and upload them instantly to the server, from
which others can update their source.
To build source from CVS, see the file BuildCVS.txt in the top-level wxWindows distribution
directory.
-
+
By ftp, and via the wxWindows CD-ROM.
If you are feeling adventurous, you may also check out the sources directly
-from the cvs
+from cvs.
-Currently we're working too hard on getting wxWindows 2 finished (are GUI toolkits ever
+Currently we're working too hard on getting wxWindows finished (are GUI toolkits ever
finished?) to think very far ahead. However, we know we want to make wxWindows as robust
and well-publicised as possible. We also want to aim for better platform-independence of
-resources such as icons and bitmaps, standardising on the PNG for all platforms.
+resources such as icons and bitmaps, standardising on PNG and XPM for all platforms.
Other possibilities include: DCOM/CORBA compatibility; a wxWindows book;
wxWorkshop, an IDE;
@@ -206,12 +242,24 @@ their product.
The high-level goal of wxWindows is to be thought of as the number one C++ framework,
for virtually any platform. Move over, MFC!
+
+
+wxBase is a subset of wxWindows comprised by the non-GUI classes. It includes
+wxWindows container and primitive data type classes (including wxString,
+wxDateTime and so on) and also useful wrappers for the operating system objects
+such as files, processes, threads, sockets and so on. With very minor
+exceptions wxBase may be used in exactly the same way as wxWindows but it
+doesn't require a GUI to run and so is ideal for creating console mode
+utilities or server programs. It is also possible to create a program which can
+be compiled either as a console application (using wxBase) or a GUI one (using
+a full featured wxWindows port).
+
-wxUniversal is a new port of wxWindows being currently actively developed. The
-main difference is that wxUniversal implements all controls (or widgets) in
-wxWindows itself thus allowing to have much more flexibility (i.e. support for
-themes even under MS Windows!). It also means that it is now much easier to
+The main difference between wxUniversal-based ports (such as wxX11, wxMGL) and other ports (such as wxMSW, wxGTK+, wxMac)
+is that wxUniversal implements all controls (or widgets) in
+wxWindows itself thus allowing to have much more flexibility (for example, support for
+themes even under MS Windows). It also means that it is now much easier to
port wxWindows to a new platform as only the low-level classes must be ported
which make for a small part of the library.
@@ -223,11 +271,47 @@ The Java honeymoon period is over :-) and people are realising that it cannot
meet all their cross-platform development needs. We don't anticipate a major threat
from Java, and the level of interest in wxWindows is as high as ever.
+
+
+Microsoft is spending a lot on promoting the .NET initiative, which
+is a set of languages, APIs and web service components for Windows.
+Ximian has started an open source version of .NET, mostly for Linux.
+C# is Microsoft's alternative to Java, supporting 'managed code',
+garbage collection and various other Java-like language features.
+
+Although this may be attractive to some developers, there
+is a variety of reasons why the .NET/Mono combination is unlikely
+to make wxWindows redundant. Please note that the following comments
+are Julian Smart's opinions.
+
+
+- Not everyone wants or needs net services.
+
- C++ will be used for a long time to come; compared with C++, C# is a recent development and its future is not certain.
+
- Mono Forms may only target Winelib (at least to begin with), so the end result is not as native as
+wxWindows (I'm aware there is GTK# for use with the C# language).
+
- C# is usually byte-compiled and therefore slower. Plus, .NET adds a layer of overhead to the client computer
+that wxWindows does not require.
+
- Mono hasn't proven its long-term viability yet (it's a complex system of components); wxWindows is ready now.
+
- You may not wish to buy into Microsoft marketing spin and APIs.
+
- Microsoft may at some point sue developers of non-Microsoft .NET implementations. After all,
+platform-independence is not in Microsoft's interest.
+
- .NET might never be implemented on some platforms, especially Mac and embedded variants of Linux.
+
- wxPython and other language variants provide further reasons for wxWindows to continue.
+
- The same issue exists for Qt: if Qt sales remain strong, it's a good indication that
+the market for a C++-based approach is still there. (Either that, or everyone's turning to wxWindows!)
+
+
+There is nothing to stop folk from developing a C# version of the wxWindows API;
+we already have bindings to Python, Perl, JavaScript, Lua, Basic, and Eiffel.
+Update: a wx.NET project is now in progress.
+
+
+
Please check out the Community pages,
in particular the suggested projects, and
-mail Julian Smart or the developers' mailing list with your own suggestions.
+mail the developers' mailing list with your own suggestions.