> -----Original Message----- > From: Gregg Eshelman via Emc-users [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: July-15-20 7:39 PM > To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) > Cc: Gregg Eshelman > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] New Spindle working. > > What about using the target OS's standard interface APIs like file dialog > boxes? I've seen so many programs that have their own > custom dialog boxes that do the same things as the ones provided by the OS, > which exist so software authors don't have to create > them. Supposed to make software easier to write and smaller.
Exactly my point. Delphi and Lazarus have the CUA interface for all standard forms and dialogs and menus. You could still put 'File' on the RHS but please get rid of those stupid Behive Android buttons. But then I'm writing and reading in English (or Dutch) so text oriented forms are fine. If you use a different language that perhaps are more symbol oriented then ICONs and Behives are perhaps the better user interface. Limit your menu choices to 7 or less items (part of human factors engineering now lost on the current set of millienials that write software). > But there are so many that seem to be conceptually stuck in the times of > MS-DOS when anything past the very basic file functions, > putting text on screen, and accessing serial and parallel ports had to be > provided by each program individually. Every program that > printed anything fancier than raw ASCII text had to include its own printer > support. At least nobody has (yet) gone backwards that > much with Windows software. Back in the day, to use that expression I did have to do command line stuff on both MS-DOS, Micropolis DOS, CP/M in all the variants from -80, -86, -68K and even MP/M-86. Along with OS-9/68K. And even Unix on a PDP-10. That's all from the 70's and very early 80's; like 40 years ago or more. And I do write something similar to command line processing for PIC micro-controllers with 4K RAM and 32K Flash memory. Even if you did attach a graphical screen the method of rendering information require external storage to hold screen images. But command lines on systems that have 1GB of RAM and a 16GB SD card and have a graphical interface are just plain silly. IMHO. And there are many who will disagree. And as for serial port routines I quite agree. I've been working with the component LazSerial which so far, with a few minor fixes lets me access the serial ports of both PCs COMx: and Linux /dev/tty1 or /dev/ttyUSB0. It just works. And LazSerial like CPort for Delphi has a standard dialog that lets a user enter baudrate etc. John Dammeyer > > On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 6:43:43 PM MDT, John Dammeyer > <[email protected]> wrote: > After 3 decades of working with Turbo Pascal and then Delphi, Tcl/Python to > me is such a step backwards it's painful to use.� And > explains why Linux has such a preponderance of command line programs to do > everything.� When it's difficult and tedious to > create graphical applications programmers go to what they know.� And if it's > python and command line then that�s what they do. > > The trouble is not a lot of people in the Linux world, having been so > anti-windows for so long, were ever exposed to the ease of > development and debugging with Delphi.� It's impossible to have an array > index out of bounds sneak into your code because you > can ask the compiler to flag it.� Now granted Python has some nice features. > > Now Lazarus is at the Delphi 7 point.� Embarcadero's Delphi and C++ with > their multi-platform targets allows a programmer to > create the user interface for each target in the style for that target.� Then > set which target and compile and ship.� In playing > around I've created apps that run on my android tablet and PC that have the > look and feel of each OS and run identical applications > code. > > A lot of fun actually. > > John > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
