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IRIS ViewKit
IRIS ViewKit is a C++ toolkit that provides user interface facilities for applications. It defines a collection of high-level components that you typically must implement in all applications, for example, components such as windows, menus, and dialogs. IRIS ViewKit components are designed to implement as many commonly used features as possible. To build a user interface component for your application, you can create a subclass of an IRIS ViewKit component and define any application-specific behavior. Also, with ViewKit classes as a base, you can create your own library of reusable components.
IRIS ViewKit is based on IRIS IM and uses IRIS IM widgets to implement all of its user interface components. You can make IRIS IM and X calls directly from your IRIS ViewKit application, but using ViewKit components directly is simpler and faster than creating your own components from low-level widgets. Figure 4-2 shows the relationship of an application to IRIS ViewKit and the libraries upon which it is built.
Figure 4-2 : IRIS ViewKit in the Developer Environment
An IRIS ViewKit component is a C++ class that encapsulates sets of widgets and methods for their manipulation. Figure 4-3 shows a graphical representation of a portion of the ViewKit class hierarchy.
Figure 4-3 : A Portion of the IRIS ViewKit Class Hierarchy
The functions of some of these IRIS ViewKit base classes are:
- VkComponent--This abstract class defines the basic structure and protocol for all ViewKit components.
- VkDialog Manager--This is the base class for specific dialog classes.
- VkApp--This base class handles application-level tasks such as Xt initialization, event handling, window management, and cursor control.
- VkSimpleWindow--This base class implements a simple top-level window (one that does not require a menu bar).
- VkMenu--This base class provides a standard set of functions for accessing and manipulating menu items.
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