Difference between revisions of "Comparison of wxSmith features"

From Code::Blocks
m (add category)
(moved feature descriptions to this article)
Line 2: Line 2:
 
[[Category:wxSmith Documentation]]
 
[[Category:wxSmith Documentation]]
 
Here is a list of [[wxSmith]] features when compared to other [[wikipedia:WxWidgets|wxWidgets]] [[wikipedia:Rapid application development|RAD]] solutions.  
 
Here is a list of [[wxSmith]] features when compared to other [[wikipedia:WxWidgets|wxWidgets]] [[wikipedia:Rapid application development|RAD]] solutions.  
 +
 
Note that support for new features are added on a daily basis for some of these [[wikipedia:Rapid application development|RADs]].
 
Note that support for new features are added on a daily basis for some of these [[wikipedia:Rapid application development|RADs]].
−
<br>Please update this list when something gets added.
+
 
 +
Please update this list when something gets added.
  
 
==General information==
 
==General information==
Line 596: Line 598:
 
| {{dunno}}
 
| {{dunno}}
 
|-
 
|-
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Validators]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Validators{{refun|Validators}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 603: Line 605:
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Conditional UI]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Conditional UI{{refun|ConditionalUI}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 610: Line 612:
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Event table and handler generation]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Event table and handler generation{{refun|EventTable}}
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 617: Line 619:
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{partial}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Bitmaps support]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Bitmaps support{{refun|Bitmaps}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 624: Line 626:
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[English descriptions]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | English descriptions{{refun|EnglishDesc}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 631: Line 633:
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Easy access to window pointers]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Easy access to window pointers{{refun|WindowPointers}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 638: Line 640:
 
| {{dunno}}
 
| {{dunno}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Visually creating custom controls]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Visually creating custom controls
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{yes}}
 
| {{yes}}
Line 645: Line 647:
 
| {{partial}}
 
| {{partial}}
 
|-  
 
|-  
−
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | [[Template controls]]
+
! style="text-align: left; background: #ececec;" | Template controls{{refun|TemplateControls}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
 
| {{no}}
Line 676: Line 678:
  
 
*{{note|XRCnotworks}} Currently, only one dialog resource per XRC file is imported.
 
*{{note|XRCnotworks}} Currently, only one dialog resource per XRC file is imported.
 +
 +
=== Features explained ===
 +
 +
==== {{note|Validators}}Validators ====
 +
 +
The aim of the validator concept is to make dialogs very much easier to write. A validator is an object that can be plugged into a control (such as a wxTextCtrl), and mediates between C++ data and the control, transferring the data in either direction and validating it. It also is able to intercept events generated by the control, providing filtering behaviour without the need to derive a new control class.
 +
 +
How to use validators in a RAD that supports this concept: Just add a variable, select the variable and a validator, and the data transfer between variable and control is done for you.
 +
 +
==== {{note|ConditionalUI}}Conditional UI ====
 +
 +
It's the ability to adapt the user interface to the UI guidelines of different platform.
 +
 +
Just mark elements as for one platform (or several), and preview the look for any given platform.
 +
 +
[[Image:Conditional ui.PNG|Example of how it looks on DialogBlocks]]
 +
 +
==== {{note|EventTable}}Event table and handler generation ====
 +
 +
The RAD generates the event tables and empty handlers (including UI update handlers) so you can immediately concentrate on writing code to make the dialog come to life.
 +
 +
It includes a choice of event types for each window, with function name editing.
 +
 +
'''DialogBlocks Event Handler'''
 +
 +
Here DialogBlocks haves the list of event handlers.
 +
 +
The most noticeable feature here is that if you do a double-click on a event, you're transported to the function associated in the code. It's very handy.
 +
 +
[[Image:Event handler dialogblocks.PNG|Event Tables in DialogBlocks]]
 +
 +
'''VisualWx Event Handler'''
 +
 +
Here VisualWx filters the events:
 +
* Base wxWidgets Events
 +
* Component Events
 +
* Windows Events
 +
* VisualWx Events
 +
* Custom Events
 +
 +
[[Image:Event handler visualwx.PNG|Event Tables in VisualWx]]
 +
 +
==== {{note|Bitmaps}}Bitmap support ====
 +
 +
Bitmaps support means that you can import images into your project from a variety of formats and associate them with your static bitmap and bitmap button controls.
 +
 +
You can specify whether the bitmaps will converted into XPM format (the standard format for small bitmaps in wxWidgets) and whether the XPM image will be inserted as inline C++ code, or loaded from a file.
 +
 +
==== {{note|EnglishDesc}}English descriptions ====
 +
 +
English descriptions show a brief description of each element, to help you get used to sizers and also to make it easier to see at a glance the important aspects of your dialog element.
 +
 +
[[Image:Rad english descriptions.PNG|An example of DialogBlocks English descriptions]]
 +
 +
==== {{note|WindowPointers}}Easy access to window pointers ====
 +
 +
The ''easy access to window pointers'' concept means:
 +
 +
Give each window a variable name, and the RAD will add the name to the class declaration, and initialise it to the appropriate window in the implementation.
 +
 +
In XRC mode, the RAD can generate the code to find the window and assign it to the pointer variable.
 +
 +
==== {{note|TemplateControls}}Template controls ====
 +
 +
Template controls are sets of most common widgets together, like an Ok/Cancel pair buttons inside a sizer, being user-definable.

Revision as of 20:32, 7 July 2006

Here is a list of wxSmith features when compared to other wxWidgets RAD solutions.

Note that support for new features are added on a daily basis for some of these RADs.

Please update this list when something gets added.

General information

Basic general information about the RADs: developer, license/price etc.

RAD Developer Cost (USD) Open source Software licence
wxSmith Bartlomiej Swiecki Free Yes GPL
DialogBlocks Julian Smart Free (trial), $65 (normal), $30 (student) No Proprietary
wxDesigner Robert Roebling Free (trial), $129 (normal), $29 (student) No Proprietary
wxFormBuilder José Antonio Hurtado, Juan Antonio Ortega Free Yes GPL
VisualWx ? Free No ?
RAD Developer Cost (USD) Open source Software licence

Widgets supported

Widget wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx
wxBitmapButton No Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxBoxSizer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxButton Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxCalendarCtrl Yes Yes No Yes Yes
wxCheckBox Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxCheckListBox Yes Yes No No Yes
wxChoice Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxChoicebook Yes No No No Yes
wxComboBox Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxContextHelpButton No Yes No No Yes
wxDatePickerCtrl Yes Yes No No Yes
wxDynamicSashWindow No No No No Yes
wxFlexGridSizer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxGauge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxGenericDirCtrl Yes Yes No No Yes
wxGrid No Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxGridBagSizer No No No No No
wxGridSizer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxHtmlListBox No No No No No
wxHtmlWindow Yes Yes No Yes Yes
wxListbook Yes No No No Yes
wxListBox Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxListCtrl Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxListView No No No No Yes
wxMenu No Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxNotebook Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxPanel Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxRadioBox Yes Yes Yes Yes No
wxRadioButton Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxSashLayoutWindow No Yes No No Yes
wxSashWindow No Yes No No Yes
wxScrollBar Yes Yes No Yes Yes
wxScrolledWindow Yes Yes Yes No Yes
wxSlider Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxSpacer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxSpinButton Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxSpinCtrl Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxSplitterWindow Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxStaticBitmap No Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxStaticBox Yes Yes No No Yes
wxStaticBoxSizer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxStaticLine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxStaticText Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxStatusBar No Yes No Yes Yes
wxStdDialogButtonSizer No Yes No No No
wxTextCtrl Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxToggleButton Yes Yes No Yes Yes
wxToolbar No Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxTreebook No No No No No
wxTreeCtrl Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wxVListBox No No No No No
wxVScrolledWindow No No No No No
wxWindow (Foreign) No Yes Yes No Yes
wxWizardPage No Yes No No Yes
Widget wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx

Contrib widgets supported

Widget wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx
wxEditableListBox No No No No Yes
wxLEDNumberCtrl No No No No Yes
wxPlotWindow No No No No Yes
wxStyledTextCtrl No No No No Yes
Widget wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx

Languages supported

Feature wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx
C++ code output Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Python code output No Yes Yes No Yes
Lua code output No No No No Yes
Ruby code output No No No No Yes
Perl code output No No Yes No Yes
C# code output No No Yes No No
Basic code output No No No No No
Feature wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx

Features supported

Feature wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx
XRC input Yes† Yes Yes Yes Yes
XRC output Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
XRC code loading Yes Yes No No ?
Validators† No Yes No No No
Conditional UI† No Yes No No No
Event table and handler generation† Partial Yes Partial No Partial
Bitmaps support† No Yes Yes No Yes
English descriptions† No Yes No No Yes
Easy access to window pointers† Yes Yes No No ?
Visually creating custom controls Partial Yes Partial No Partial
Template controls† No No No No Yes
Sizer design Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Non-sizer design Partial No No No Yes
Feature wxSmith DialogBlocks wxDesigner wxFormBuilder VisualWx
  • ^  Currently, only one dialog resource per XRC file is imported.

Features explained

^ Validators

The aim of the validator concept is to make dialogs very much easier to write. A validator is an object that can be plugged into a control (such as a wxTextCtrl), and mediates between C++ data and the control, transferring the data in either direction and validating it. It also is able to intercept events generated by the control, providing filtering behaviour without the need to derive a new control class.

How to use validators in a RAD that supports this concept: Just add a variable, select the variable and a validator, and the data transfer between variable and control is done for you.

^ Conditional UI

It's the ability to adapt the user interface to the UI guidelines of different platform.

Just mark elements as for one platform (or several), and preview the look for any given platform.

Example of how it looks on DialogBlocks

^ Event table and handler generation

The RAD generates the event tables and empty handlers (including UI update handlers) so you can immediately concentrate on writing code to make the dialog come to life.

It includes a choice of event types for each window, with function name editing.

DialogBlocks Event Handler

Here DialogBlocks haves the list of event handlers.

The most noticeable feature here is that if you do a double-click on a event, you're transported to the function associated in the code. It's very handy.

Event Tables in DialogBlocks

VisualWx Event Handler

Here VisualWx filters the events:

  • Base wxWidgets Events
  • Component Events
  • Windows Events
  • VisualWx Events
  • Custom Events

Event Tables in VisualWx

^ Bitmap support

Bitmaps support means that you can import images into your project from a variety of formats and associate them with your static bitmap and bitmap button controls.

You can specify whether the bitmaps will converted into XPM format (the standard format for small bitmaps in wxWidgets) and whether the XPM image will be inserted as inline C++ code, or loaded from a file.

^ English descriptions

English descriptions show a brief description of each element, to help you get used to sizers and also to make it easier to see at a glance the important aspects of your dialog element.

An example of DialogBlocks English descriptions

^ Easy access to window pointers

The easy access to window pointers concept means:

Give each window a variable name, and the RAD will add the name to the class declaration, and initialise it to the appropriate window in the implementation.

In XRC mode, the RAD can generate the code to find the window and assign it to the pointer variable.

^ Template controls

Template controls are sets of most common widgets together, like an Ok/Cancel pair buttons inside a sizer, being user-definable.

Retrieved from "https://wiki.codeblocks.org/index.php?title=Comparison_of_wxSmith_features&oldid=3147"