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When it comes to Portable Development on Silicon Graphics platforms, ViewKit ObjectPak, Database Xcessory and Builder Xcessory will be key pieces in your programming environment.
ViewKit ObjectPak, from ICS, is the portable version of Silicon Graphics' IRIS ViewKit C++ application framework. ViewKit is already the basis of much of SGI's internal development - now make it the basis of your development! ViewKit ObjectPak is available for all UNIX platforms in binary and source distributions.
Database Xcessory is an advanced visual development environment featuring a powerful SQL widget toolkit. With Database Xcessory developers can build Motif interfaces that interact directly with relational databases without writing a single line of X, Motif, or SQL code.
ICS' Builder Xcessory is your upgrade from Silicon Graphics' RapidApp GUI builder! Builder Xcessory allows you to build your application in a WYSIWYG fashion, testing your user interface as you go. Where RapidApp allows only limited access to the Motif API, Builder Xcessory gives you full access to virtually all of the features and functionality of Motif. For multi-platform application development, Builder Xcessory outputs your choice of UIL, C, C++, Java, or ViewKit source code.
Builder Xcessory: Winner of the X Journal 1995 Editors' Choice Award for Best GUI Builder!
ViewKit ObjectPak (tm) is a C++ application framework designed to simplify the task of developing UNIX applications, particularly those based on the OSF/Motif user interface toolkit.
The ViewKit framework promotes consistency by providing a common architecture for applications and improves programmer productivity by providing high-level, and in many cases automatic, support for commonly-needed operations. In addition to providing facilities normally associated with a graphical user interface, the framework serves as a central integration platform for other facilities applications typically need. These include support for inter-application communication, process control, and automatic on-line context-sensitive help.
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ViewKit implements the Doug Young Method of using OSF/Motif, a C-based object system, with C++. The essence of this method lies in the mechanics of maintaining the C++ this pointer when going to and from the Motif widgets, and in the philosophy of building high-level UI objects from Motif before creating any C++ classes. Doug describes this method in detail in his book, Object-Oriented Programming with C++ and OSF/Motif (Prentice Hall, 1995, 2nd Ed. ISBN 0-13- 209255-7).
Merriam-Webster defines framework as:
a: a basic conceptional structure (as of ideas)
b: a skeletal, openwork, or structural frame
ViewKit ObjectPak is just that - a combination of application design philosophy and basic software building blocks. Initially developed four years ago at Silicon Graphics, Inc., ViewKit is a well-planned, mature system that addresses a number of C++ programming issues including software reuse, programmer productivity, GUI implementation with Motif, and application usability. ViewKit builds and extends on the Doug Young method of using C++ together with Motif. Furthermore, it encompasses the notion of a generic application - your starting point for development.
The ViewKit framework encourages an object-oriented approach to application development that results in cleaner architectural design and more easily maintainable code. The ViewKit architecture is based on the concept of a component. A component is simply a C++ class that encapsulates related elements along with the semantics of those elements. Nearly everything in the ViewKit library is a component, including the application class, VkApp, the top-level window class, VkWindow, and the various menu classes such as the VkSubMenu class. Components can be nested, and a single logical user interface component often consists of collections of smaller user interface components. Programmers are encouraged to develop their own components and to base the architecture of their applications on collections of objects that may include pre-defined ViewKit components, custom components, as well as other classes and objects.
ViewKit classes fall into several general categories -
ViewKit contains roughly 95 classes to help you with your development projects.
Both RapidApp, the basic builder bundled with Silicon Graphics' Developer Magic MegaDev product suite, and Builder Xcessory, an advanced tool available directly from ICS, generate ViewKit source code.
ViewKit ObjectPak is available in source and binary form. Binaries are available on Sun SunOS, Sun Solaris, HP HP-UX, IBM AIX, SCO Open Desktop, and DEC Digital UNIX (OSF/1).
For ViewKit on SGI platforms, contact Silicon Graphics, Inc., directly.
A Motif 1.2.n development system and a C++ compiler are required.
For a list of currently supported compilers, click here.
ViewKit is licensed per developer. There are no run-time or royalty fees for applications developed with ViewKit ObjectPak.
Database Xcessory (tm) speeds client/server application development with its WYSIWYG user interface development environment. Developers work faster because they can build complex C and C++ database applications using drag and drop.
Database Xcessory applications get their database functionality from a set of Motif-based SQL widgets. The widgets work closely together to generate SQL queries at runtime, pass the queries to a database server, and automatically format the results on the user interface.
Another way to place new widgets on the interface is to select them from the Palette. The Palette gives the developer access to the full set of Motif widgets as well as the SQL widget toolkit and graph widgets.
Database Xcessory also supports styles, which are named groups of Motif resources that can be applied to any of the widgets in the application. With styles developers can create and enforce a corporate style guide. Like classes, if a style is edited, all of the widgets governed by the style will be updated to reflect the change.
In addition, Database Xcessory is closely integrated with the leading CASE tools for UNIX, including: SunSoft's WorkShop, CenterLine's CodeCenter and ObjectCenter, Mercury Interactive Corporation's XRunner, and Pure Software Inc.'s Purify.
The toolkit contains three different types of widgets:
The SQL widgets also offer:
User Interfaces: Motif v1.2.x, X11R5 Minimum Recommended Memory: 24 MB 32 MB Graphics Display: 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 Disk: 23 MB
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Winner, Best GUI Builder, 1995 X Journal Editors' Choice Award"Without Builder Xcessory we would not have been able to make VActor Xpression as simple as it is to use."
........................Dave Wallace, SimGraphics; Case Study
"I found Builder Xcessory to the most attractive, most intuitive and most easily learned Motif GUI builder (of those tested)."
........................Daniel Rappaport, UNIX Review
"Builder Xcessory is a robust UI product..."
........................Bob Burgess, Lockheed Integrated Solutions Company
Builder Xcessory (tm) is the industry-leading GUI builder tool for OSF/Motif. Builder Xcessory allows you to build your application in a WYSIWYG fashion, testing your interface as you go, then automatically generates your choice of Motif UIL, C, C++, Java, or ViewKit source code!
Builder Xcessory integrates seamlessly into your existing development environment, communicating with your other Developer Magic tools.
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Click on picture for full-scale image of Builder Xcessory
The greatest challenge facing developers of graphical applications today is reducing the time and costs of software development without decreasing application quality. This means finding ways that streamline development and improve productivity to keep ahead of the competition.
Builder Xcessory allows you to build your application on the screen, dragging both UI and non-UI widgets and components from the palette to your application. Builder Xcessory helps you to build new components, subclassing from existing components and building up new UI components from the widgets on your palette. Builder Xcessory will then generate the C++, Java and ViewKit code for you.
Integrated Computer Solutions' Builder Xcessory has all the power developers need to manage projects of any size from start to finish. At the same time, developers have the freedom to integrate Builder Xcessory with the application development environments and tools they already use, as well as the flexibility to work with Motif version 1.1 or 1.2.
Builder Xcessory was specifically designed to integrate with other specialized tools and to provide a supporting environment for every aspect of the application development process, from design to deployment. Builder Xcessory supports:
Builder Xcessory implements a rich set of object-oriented design features that provides simple ways to create, store, reuse and share interface parts. Best of all, the benefits of Builder Xcessory's object-oriented approach help developers whether they are working in C, C++, Java, ViewKit, or UIL.
Builder Xcessory implements the object-oriented method proposed by Motif expert Doug Young of Silicon Graphics, Inc., whose approach has become the de facto standard in the industry for combining C++ with the C-based Motif widget set.
Object-Oriented Programming with C++ and OSF/Motif (Prentice Hall, 1995, 2nd Ed. ISBN 0-13- 209255-7)
Creating Builder Xcessory "classes" is as easy as selecting a widget or group of widgets and choosing the "Make Class" menu option. Builder Xcessory classes allow developers to create their own widgets and widget collections. Classes are automatically saved onto the Palette for reuse in the current or any future applications. And when a class definition changes, all of the widgets based on that class are updated, throughout the entire application.
Builder Xcessory "styles" let developers create named groups of resources that can be applied to any or all widgets in the application. Styles act like a database of resource information, remembering which resources have been applied to widgets throughout the application and allowing developers to create a repository of widget templates. Styles can be locked to help create a corporate look and feel. Like classes, if the style is edited, all of the widgets governed by the style will be updated to reflect the change.
ICS has made classes much more flexible and easy to use by offering the ability to create subclasses. Subclassing lets Builder Xcessory users reuse and extend the classes they have already created. A subclass is created from an existing class. The subclass inherits all of the characteristics of its parent class, including all of its widgets and all of their resource settings. The developer can make changes to the subclass, changing resources and adding new widgets, without altering the parent class. However, any changes made in the parent class percolate down to the subclass. Developers use subclasses to add features to an existing class. For instance, if a developer uses the same two-button dialog throughout an application, it makes sense for the dialog to be defined as a class. However, for the few times when the dialog needs three buttons, Builder Xcessory makes it very easy for the developer to create a subclass that can handle the extra button.
Widget classes can be easily saved and shared among developers. Options give you the ability to quickly import and save classes in modular UIL files.
Organizing the details of large GUI projects with dozens of developers and hundreds of thousands of lines of code is a difficult task. Builder Xcessory solves this problem by providing data managers to track styles, constants, procedures, identifiers, data types, and files. An Application Manager lets developers easily add Timers, which call a defined function at prescribed intervals, and Work Procedures, which call a defined function every time the user interface of the application is idle. A Search field in the Browser allows users to quickly find a particular widget in a large hierarchy. In addition, a setting lets the Browser pan automatically, displaying the currently selected widget.
Builder Xcessory offers a suite of features guaranteed to improve productivity by simplifying and shortening the GUI development process. For instance, the XmForm Editor lets developers graphically manage the complex relationships between multiple new constraint resources placed on every child of a form. This allows even novice Motif developers to quickly master the XmForm and use it to create applications that resize elegantly on command.
Builder Xcessory offers developers the ability to select multiple widgets and apply changes to the shared resources of the selected widgets. For instance, developers can select four text fields and make them all insensitive to input using a single extended editor. Along with the ability to select and edit multiple widgets, Builder Xcessory provides tools that allow alignment of a group of widgets according to their left, right, top, or bottom edges. In fact, the Alignment Editor offers 16 different options for both aligning and distributing widgets. Using this timesaving feature allows widgets with any parent to line up with each other.
Other features in the user interface of Builder Xcessory include:
Builder Xcessory features special editors and menu options that make it easy to build applications that comply with the international standards set in X11R5 and Motif 1.2. As a result of its internationalization support, Builder Xcessory is the only GUI builder tool that allows you to use the full functionality of Motif XmStrings (compound strings) without writing a line of code. Additionally, you can:
Builder Xcessory offers what developers are looking for - a GUI development environment with the power to create state-of-the-art applications, coupled with the flexibility to integrate with other tools. ICS offers a complete Builder Xcessory evaluation program, free of charge. Simply contact ICS for more information.
Builder Xcessory is available on SGI IRIX, Sun SunOS, Sun Solaris, HP HP-UX, IBM AIX, SCO Open Desktop, DEC Digital UNIX (OSF/1), and DEC OpenVMS.
Minimum Recommended Memory: 16 MB 24 MB X Libraries: R4 R5+ (needed for custom widgets) Motif: 1.1.x 1.2.x (needed for custom widgets) Graphics Display: 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024
Builder Xcessory is licensed per simultaneous user. There are no run-time fees, no run-time systems, and no royalty fees for applications developed with Builder Xcessory.
For a limited time, ICS is extending a special offer to all RapidApp users. Save over 35% on new Builder Xcessory licenses!
Call ICS today for details!
(617) 621-0060 Voice (617) 621-9555 Fax
info@ics.com htttp://www. ics.com/
ICS maintains a global network of distributors. Click here for a list.
