Hi, Perhaps should you study a solution like the Kivy framework for programming the GUI ? Kivy uses a easy and simple language (Python) and you can build real applications for a various systems (Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android...).
Best regards. François Michaud. 2013/12/10 Philipp Heckel <[email protected]> > Hi Vincent, > > thanks very much for taking the time so look at GUI options, and for > prototyping a bit :-) > > As for today we've identified the following constraints for Gui creation. >> The library we are going to use should be : >> 1/ nice (obvious no ? :) ) >> 2/ as portable as possible >> 3/ well integrated into a maximum number of environments (windows, linux >> and OSX) >> 4/ easy to use (as a developper) >> > > All true :-) > > >> - Java FX : >> * pros : new library, portable >> * cons : few components, not easy to integrate into existing build >> systems (gradle / maven) >> > > I don't have any GUI experience -- well with Swing a bit for the original > Syncany client -- so please correct me if I'm wrong or I'm saying stupid > things ... > > I remember Fabrice mentioning that JavaFX is not (yet?) fully open source, > so that would be an additional con. However, I think the major issue is > that it's not easily integrable with Gradle. So I vote "ney". > > - Eclipse SWT : >> * pros : nice (see eclipse), easy to use >> * cons : portable via dedicated os libraries (not too hard to >> integrate into gradle/maven >> > - Eclipse Swing : >> * pros : nice (with extra Look And Feel), fully portable, easy to >> use >> * cons : default System tray hugly (but can be overriden with >> dedicated panels) >> > > - From what I've seen so far, I like SWT a bit better than Swing, but > that's not a strong opinion and can be easily overridden. What I like about > SWT is that it actually uses the native components wherever possible while > Swing draws its own components. For the user, that makes SWT feel more like > a native application than a Swing application will ever do. > > - The system tray on SWT looks nice on my Linux Mint with Gnome3, but it > there is no icon at all for Ubuntu with Unity (-> Unity needs special > handling with its "appindicator" thing ...). > > - Obviously, that also means having to have native libraries with SWT, but > you wrote that they are not too hard to integrate. Can you elaborate on > these libraries? > + Do we have to ship DLLs/SOs in the final JARs? > + If so, can we compile them ourselves or do we have to put them in our > repo? > > - You wrote "fully portable" with Swing? Does that mean "no native > libraries" or "also on mobile"? > If it's the former, see above; if it's the latter, don't we need a > dedicated GUI for mobile anyway? > > > >> I've not yet started to look at other non-java graphical libraries, and >> any input on this subject is welcome ! >> > > Let's not make it more complicated than we already have and stick to those > three (two) options :-) > Unless someone suggests a Wunderkind, hehe. > > >> Besides, we should have the following screens for the application : >> - a "settings panel" >> > Yep. > > >> - a "folder watching panel", from which we can "watch", "stop watch" any >> local folder >> > Do we need this? SparkleShare does this entirely from the tray menu, and I > actually like that idea. Something like: > > [ Private stuff ] > [ Work stuff -> ] > [ Edit ... ] > [ Pause ] > [ Remove ] > [ --- ] > [ Settings ... ] > [ Help ] > [ Quit ] > > >> - a "init" panel, with dedicated UI for each plugin >> - a "connect panel" >> > > Agreed. I initially designed it as a "wizard" (see screenshots on > syncany.org). Do you think that's not necessary? Having all options on > one panel might scare people away and not allow any explanations. Just an > idea. > > >> - a "main screen" accessible when right-clicking in icon tray (like >> dropbox) >> > Hm? What happens when right-clicking the Dropbox icon? What should appear > in this main screen? > > Here is a quick example of a java swing GUI under windows, with jgoodies >> look and feel. >> > > General code / GUI stuff: > - You've already done a lot of work, even though you call it "quick > example". Do you think we should do some screen design with pencil first? I > think that's crucial to good user experience, right? > - Also: I think we should first talk a bit more about the GUI <-> daemon > architecture and how they interact. I think the REST server in the daemon > is fine, but I don't like the REST server in the GUI. I think the GUI > should subscribe (long-polling via REST?) to the daemon, and the daemon > should fire events. What do you think? > - The Local/FTP/S3 panels are hardcoded in the gui package, shouldn't they > be in separate modules? Like syncany-plugin-ftp-gui, etc.? Or is that > overkill? > > To your example code: > - The jgoodies stuff looks quite good on your screenshot, but really > aweful on my Linux :-) It falls back to the ugly old Swing "metal" LoF. I > realize this is just an example, so that's obviously not a big issue. > - It took a while until I realized that the "init screen" is not a > working example, the getParameters() of the individual panels always > returns "null" :-) > - I like the idea with the socket / port lock. Clever :-) > - I also like the general handling of the DaemonServer/Handler, handing > off actions to "handle*()" methods. These methods could also be > externalized in their own classes. > - Can you elaborate on the Google Event Bus usage? As I understand, it > just replaced regular Listener interfaces within a JVM, but it's not for > communication between GUI and daemon, right? > - I suppose the use of commands instead of operations was easier for now, > but we shouldn't rely on any CLI-only stuff. > > Keep up the good work! > > Best > Philipp > > -- > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~syncany-team > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~syncany-team > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > >
-- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~syncany-team Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~syncany-team More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
