[GUI] Re: Gtk and Object I/O

[Axel Simon]

On Fri, Jan 24, 2003 at 03:32:05PM +0100, Daan Leijen wrote:
> > - In the long run, we will have a CommonGUI library which restricts itself
> > to elements which can be implemented with the native look-and-feel.
> 
> This is indeed exactly what we need! and except for the name, this is
> exactly
> what the Graphics.UI.Port library is trying to do. Fortunately for us,
> Krasimir
> has already done all the hard work and studied the whole off the GTK and
> Windows API and extracted a common interface (and I have little doubt that
> the Port interface will also work for Aqua).
Dear Daan,

is my perception right that Krasimir has created the beginning of a 
portable GUI library in C and that you Ports library is the Haskell 
interface? If so, perhaps we could just add HToolkit to the possible 
back-ends:

- Win32 Object I/O in CVS
- Gtk(2hs)
- an Aqua binding
- HToolkit

But the remaining issue is to create a common (probably Object I/O based)  
layer which gives a common, stable interface to all these. If Krasimir has
done such a good job (and honestly, I do not doubt that), then your Ports
library will be a 1:1 mapping to this CommonGUI library. But there are so
many facettes to a GUI library that it will take years till everything is
implemented. And till then we have the other libraries which people like
Simon Marlow can use to implement specialized version of their 2&3
programs (recall: richt widget set and native look'n'feel).

Axel.