Jack Parker (jparker@hpbs3645.boi.hp.com) shares: Here is a summary of all of
the responses I got to my post about a GUI builder. Note there are some in the
FAQ for comp.windows.x that aren't listed here.
Database Interface
Public Capabilities Designer Where is it?
Name Domain? built in? built in? (for PD-Software)
__________ _______ ____________ __________ _________________
AUIS/ATK Yes No Yes (ADEW) export.andrew.cmu.edu
Accell/SQL No Yes/No (1) Yes
DIRT Yes ? Yes export.lcs.mit.edu
Druid No No Yes
IEF No Yes ?
Interviews Yes (C++) No Yes interviews.stanford.edu
GQL ? ? ?
Galaxy No No Yes
NeuronData No No Yes
Omnis 7 No Yes Yes
SUIT Yes No ? cs.tut.fi
Smartstar
Vision No Yes ?
SuperNOVA No Yes Yes
JAM No Yes (DBi) Yes
Tcl/Tk Yes Yes Yes (Xf) sprite.berkeley.edu
TeleUSE No No Yes
Uniface No Yes Yes
UIM/X No (C, C++) No Yes
VUIT No (DEC) No ?
ViewCenter No (C++) No Yes
Wcl Yes No No (its a lib) export.lcs.mit.edu
XVT No Yes (Xi) Yes
XView Yes Yes Yes (Devguide) xview.ucdavis.edu
Xdesigner No No Yes
Xcessory(ICS) No
Xtpanel Yes ? ? lth.se
Xwafe Yes (perl- No, but for Yes (xwafedesign)
based) Oracle there's
oraperl!
Others? YES!
************************ Responses *******************************************
from Chris Anderson, caa@unify.com
Yes, Accell/SQL from Unify.
1 What the Yes/No part means is that we work with both our own database
product Unify2000 (which is a full featured ANSI SQL based database)
or with Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and Ingres, etc.. Our approach is
to support all of the features that each database provides in our 4GL.
We also support character, Motif, and Openlook presentation modes;
you can change between them just by changing an environment variable.
You can get more information from 1-800-248-6439.
And of course, I can answer any specific questions that you might have,
since I work for Unify.
******************************************************************************
from Baard Haugerud, baardh@stud.cs.uit.no
Have you heard about IEF (Information Engineering Facility)
from TI/JMA. Multi platform UNIX/OS2/WINODOWS 3.1 (UNIX HP-UX Motif
Oracle/Ingres).
It will follow you throgh a project from a to z.
planning, analysis, design, construction, .........
******************************************************************************
from Donald.Edgar, Donald.Edgar@UK.Sun.COM
There is an excellent Sybase extension to Tcl by Tom Poindexter
(tpoindex@nyx.cs.du.edu), available from the TCl archive at
harbor.ecn.purdue.edu - a similar extension for another database
vendors C lib would only take a few days.
******************************************************************************
from jeremyr@ibmpcug.co.uk
SuperNOVA is written by Four Seasons, Bilthoven, Holland. It supports
MS-Windows Motif, OpenLook, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Ingres, C-ISAM, Teradata,
Unix, MS-DOS, VMS.....
Please call me on +44 81 446 6481 or fax me your details on +44 81 446 9143
and I will send you more information.
******************************************************************************
from solar%fsrg.bear.com%ursa@cmcl2.NYU.EDU
XView is another X widget library comparable to Xt, Motif, and OpenLook.
XView is not a GUI builder although Sun sells the GUI builder, devguide,
which may be used with code generators for XView (C and C++), OpenLook,
and TNT.
>Are there any others that I've forgotten?
devguide No (C, C++) No Yes
Interviews Yes (C++) No Yes
NeuronData No (C) No Yes
ViewCenter No (C++) No Yes
devguide does not get in the way of a programmer: Its code generators
generate code in files separate from those where the programmer's stub
functions should be put and merges all code from those files each time
a code generator is invoked. It's a Sun only product.
InterViews is freely available. It is a high quality product with
its own builder and extensive C++ class library.
NeuronData and ViewCenter have their own widgets and their own event
loops: That means that you will not be able to realize widgets from
third parties if you use that product. If you want an off the shelf
graph widget, ie XRT, to work with either of these two, you must resort
to IPC.
******************************************************************************
from nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com
I think there is one that you have forgotten. They happen to be
a local company here (in Santa Barbara, California) and we are
using their product on an IBM RS/6000. It is called "Smartstar
Vision" and meets all of your requirements, including a special
"virtual database" that actually lets you mix any of three
different database types, their built-in C-ISAM based database,
Sybase, Ingres, DEC's rdb, and Informix (soon, I hear). Oops,
that was more than five. It is *not* public domain, and it is
rather expensive for the development environment - US$12,000.
It is a 4GL object oriented environment and is quite fun to
develop in.
They have an e-mail address, it is "sales@smartstar.com" or, to
talk with someone directly, try "eadams@smartstar.com" or
"edadams" at the same address. For technical contact, try
"mickey@smartstar.com" - she'll help you find out whatever
you need to know technically. Their phone number is (805) 685-8000.
And it definitely runs on Ultrix.
******************************************************************************
from Wilfred.Hansen@cs.cmu.edu
The Andrew User Interface System (AUIS; formerly the Andrew Toolkit,
ATK) offers an interface builder called ADEW together with a selection
of widgets. Some widgets are the usual low-level interactors; others
are full-scale object editors such as those for figure, rasters, and
typographic-quality text. AUIS is an open system; you can add new
objects or modify existing objects to suit your needs. Semantics for
interaction can be coded in C or a user-level language called Ness.
For information, contact info-andrew-request@andrew.cmu.edu.
For a demo from any X server on the internet: finger help@atk.itc.cmu.edu.
Public domain? The source code is copyright by IBM and CMU, but can
be exploited commercially under the usual X license.
Database capabilities? No
Interface designer? Yes, ADEW
Where is it? export.andrew.cmu.edu (128.2.45.40) or CDrom
******************************************************************************
from Colin Sanson, colins@pec.co.nz
UCS from Software Transformation, Inc.
Suite 100, Cupertino, CA 95014
TEL (408) 973-8081 FAX (408) 973-0989
Supports Windows 3.x, Macintosh, Motif and MoOLIT.
An 0S/2 version is under development.
zApp from Inmark Development Corp.
2065 Landings Drive, Mountain View, California.
TEL (415) 691-9000 FAX (415) 691-9099
Supports Windows and DOS text mode.
Development for OS/2 2.0 and Unix X/Motif may be complete by now.
Zinc from Zinc Software Incorporated.
405 South 100 East, 2nd Floor, Pleasant Grove, Utah 84062.
TEL (801) 785-8900 FAX (801) 785-8996
Supports Motif, Windows, DOS text mode and DOS graphics.
Development for OS/2 2.0 may be complete by now.
XVT from XVT Software Inc.
4900 Pearl East Circle, Box 18750, Boulder, Colorado 80308.
TEL (303) 443-4223 FAX (303) 443-0969
Supports Windows, OSF/Motif, OpenLook, Macintosh, PM and
character mode DOS, UNIX and VMS systems.
C++/Views from Liant Software Corporation.
959 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01701.
TEL (508) 872-8700 FAX (508) 626-2221
Supports MS Windows, OS/2 PM and Motif.
Aspect from Open Inc.
655 Southpointe Ct, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906
TEL (719) 527-9700 FAX (719) 576-3835
Supports Motif, OpenLook, MS Windows, Macintosh and character
terminals.
Galaxy from Visix Software Inc.
11440 Commerce Park Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091.
TEL (703) 758-8230 FAX (703) 758-0233
Email info@visix.com
Supports Macintosh, MS Windows, Motif and OpenLook.
WNDX from WNDX Corporation.
305 1550 Eight St, SW Calgary, Alberta T2R1K1.
TEL (403) 244-0995 FAX (403) 244-1039
Supports MS Windows, DOS graphics mode and X/Motif.
OpenUI from Open Software Associates Pty Ltd.
P.O.Box 401, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia 3134.
TEL +61-3-871-1666
Supports Motif, Microsoft Windows and character terminals.
StarView from Star Division.
1140 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, California 94301.
TEL and FAX (415) 329-9008
Supports Windows 3.1, Windows NT, OS/2 2.0, Macintosh, OpenLook and Motif.
Guild from Guild Products Incorporated.
1710 South Amphlett Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94402.
TEL (415) 513-6650 FAX (415) 349-4908
Supports Windows 3.1, Windows NT, OS/2 2.0 and Macintosh.
A Motif version is under development.
TeleUSE from Alsys, Inc. (formerly TeleSoft)
Alsys CASE Division, San Diego, CA USA
(619) 457-2700 Fax: (619) 452-1334
******************************************************************************
from harden@ics.com
I saw your posting. A builder that was not on the list is Builder
Xcessory (BX) from ICS. It may be in the FAQ you alluded to, though.
If you need more info on BX, let me know and I'll send you our
standard spiel and answer any specific questions you may have. We do
have demos available. Our German distributor is:
Applied Systems
Kassel, Germany
Tel: 49 561 81 30 64
Fax: 49 561 81 92 76
******************************************************************************
from Peter J. Scott, pjs@euclid.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
Wcl is the best for my money. It has no database nor interface
designer (although someone in the UK wrote one called Dirt, haven't
heard anything of it for a while). Here's part of a report I wrote which
explains why I recommend it:
%
\subsection{Interface Builders}
%
The market at present is flooded with tools with the generic title of
``interface builders,'' whose intended purpose is to provide a
way for novices to construct GUIs. Since you may have heard of these
and been told by vendors that they save untold time in training and
development, some elaboration is called for.
Peter Scott has evaluated almost every interface builder there is -- the
only reason he can't be sure that he's reached them all is because new
ones are released by new vendors so often. Every one of them takes its
cue from the archetypal program called ``Interface Builder'' (IB) on the NeXT\@.
However, IB saves its users more time than do its imitators, the reason being
that IB was designed at the same time as the underlying GUI,
NeXTStep, which is not related to X~Windows or indeed any other GUI\@.
X~Windows, however, was never designed with an interface builder in mind
and every such tool that is developed for it has to live with limitations
inherent to X~Windows that would probably not have survived if its
creators had pondered the ramifications for interface builders. (This
is not necessarily an indictment of X~Windows, since it achieves far more
than NeXTStep does anyway, such as network transparency, behavior-independence,
and other capabilities too abstruse to go into here.)
The upshot for the X~Window GUI developer is that no interface builder
on the market really shields him from the vast complexity of X~Windows
or Motif, glitzy demonstrations notwithstanding. There is no
substitute for knowing how X and Motif work; no matter how much the
interface builder is able to do by itself, eventually the developer
is going to have to interact with the interface at the X and Motif
level. You can see this in just about every interface builder by
using it to set resources of a widget; they invariably pop up a
``resource editor'' the use of which requires that the user understand
the original Motif names for resources such as {\tt XmNoverrideRedirect}
or {\tt XmNtraversalOn}.
What we use for rapid prototyping is instead a tool called the
Widget Creation Library (WCL), which makes it possible to specify
the hierarchy and callback hooks of an application using resources.
So much of the interface can then be specified in a simple
textual form that virtually the only code left to be written is the
application code which would have to have been written anyway.
******************************************************************************
from Marc Kenig, marcke@rossinc.com
Omnis supports both Sybase SQL and RPCs directly from it's scripting
language (it also supports Oracle, Sequellink, Rdb, etc). The SQL
interface is genericised, but allows for DBMS specific features. TheRPC allows you to send Pascal-like calls directly from the Omnis
scripting language to Sybase RPCs, or as we are doing, RPCs written in
Open Server. You can return rowsets, parameters and status values
directly back to Omnis variables.
Works great.