Links & comparision
At there time GITK was started
e.g. UIML
version 1.0 was out. This approch differs from mine in many details and goals.
Other approaches like e.g. XIML started
later (or at least I found out about them later). And finally some of them are developed behind closed doors,
so one do not really know what they are about, like e.g. AUIML of IBM.
In this section I list related projects and try to list ideas and concepts with are
common or different with GITK
(see page architecture for a brief introduction of how GITK works).
It is important to understand that I do not consider the other approaches as bad or even obsolete,
they are just different.
Please tell me
of any other software approaches I should mention here and correct me if I have made mistakes below.
Projects
UIML:
- uses own XML markup language
|
- main implementation is heavily java based (dialog transformation via java code), another implementation is using .net
- needs adaption profiles for each application and each supported renderer
- static interface target at runtime 4
|
-
please note that there is now a version 3 of the UIML available
and I need to rework the above comparision a bit after reading over it
|
Mozilla XUL:
- uses own XML markup language
|
- focuses on graphical user-interfaces 2
- static interfaces at runtime 4
|
-
Mozilla XUL is just one example of many such systems.
Gerald Bauer has put a site online at xul.sourceforge.net with
tons of interesting material related to this kind of technology.
|
AUIML:
- uses own XML markup language
|
- only focuses on graphical UIs
- static interfaces at runtime 4
|
XForms - The Next Generation of Web Forms:
- uses own XML markup language
- not requires adaption profiles
- high abstraction level
|
- does not uses the XML dialog description as a live model
- static interfaces at runtime 4
|
libglade:
- uses own XML markup language
- is quite programming language independent
|
- only focuses on GTK based graphical UIs
- static interfaces at runtime 4
|
Renaissance:
- uses own XML markup language
|
- focuses on graphical user-interfaces 1
- static interfaces at runtime 4
|
XIML:
- unknown 3
- the page has not been updated since some day in 2002
|
useML:
AVANTI:
- the project seems to have not even a homepage anymore ...
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Further there are many other approaches that e.g. target platform independence such as
wxWindows and Java Swing.
1: this hinders team work, where the developer concentrats on logic
and the usabillity engeneer on interface presentation.
2: e.g. the language to describe the interface is using visual names
(scroll bar, button) and not functional ones.
3: the documentation on the site does not realy gives a clue how it works
and how far the solution has evolved.
4: interfaces can not be adapted or exchanged at run-time,
for most systems the final interface (the kind of presentation) to use will be chosen when starting the application or even when building (compiling) it.
