X-Designer 5.5 - Advanced Technolgy Edition
New Features of Release 5.5
For more information on the other great features
of X-Designer
you should refer to:
Java Swing Code Generation
X-Designer now generates code to use the Swing component set.
Swing components use the JFC (Java Foundation Classes) to give a
set of components which are independent of the underlying window
system. They also feature the "pluggable look and feel" built into
the JFC. All of this means that you can create one user interface
which can reflect the look and feel of any of the major Java
platforms (Windows, Solaris, Macintosh). This look and feel can
even be switched at runtime without the need to restart the
application. Swing gives your application a consistent interface
and platform independence.
If you have generated Swing code from your design, your CLASSPATH
must also include the Swing jar file unless you are using Java 2
because the Swing components are included in that version of Java.
Generate Swing code by choosing "Swing" from the Java option menu
in the Java Code Options dialog. Your generated application can
then run with any compatible version of Java including 1.0, 1.1
and Java 2.
When you generate your Motif design as Java code using Swing
components, X-Designer tries to map each Motif widget in your
design to a Swing component. If no clear counterpart can be found,
X-Designer uses its own MWT library to "mimic" a Swing component
and generate code for the widget.
Improvements to MFC Code Generation
page.
There have been significant improvements in the MFC generated from
designs in X-Designer. Most of these are invisible in the user
interface. The following sections describe those which are
visible.
Event Handlers
X-Designer allows you to add event handlers to widgets in your
design. Most of the event masks available for Motif widgets can be
mapped to Windows code.
Project Files
There is now a toggle in the Code Options dialog to make
X-Designer generate project files for use in Microsoft Visual C++.
This means that you do not need to generate the project files
every time you generate code for your design. The toggle is set by
default.
Enhancements for MFC Version 4
In the previous version of X-Designer you were required to set a
toggle in the Code Options dialog to request the MFC 4
enhancements. This is now a resource - mfcFourEnhancements. When
it is set to true, X-Designer generates code which uses the
extended create functions in MFC version 4 to give your
application the 3D look and feel. This resource also tells
X-Designer to map bitmaps onto labels and icons onto buttons,
giving you 3D buttons and images that do not need to be
insensitive buttons. Images handled in this way are able to find
their natural size. This results in an exact representation of
your Motif design. The default value of this resource is true. The
toggle in the Code Options dialog has been removed.
The Application Shell
In the generated MFC code, an Application Shell now inherits from
a CDialog. This means that pressing when the dialog itself
is selected closes the application. As this is the case two of the
dialog's methods are generated to the stubs file to be overridden
if this behavior is not desired. As with all methods in the stubs
file, anything added to them is retained when code is regenerated.
Help on Windows
You can now specify Activate Help callbacks which are mapped
through to the Windows code.
When the generated application is run on Windows, these callbacks
invoke the default web browser on the system using the specified
URL and a pre-defined help path.
Mapping of Scrolled Window
If the "Scrolling Policy" resource of a Scrolled Window widget is
set to "Automatic", it is now mapped to a CScrollView in the
generated MFC code, providing automatic scrolling on Windows.
Java Code for User-Defined Widgets
X-Designer generates Java code for user-defined widgets in your
design by using a specially configured resource file which
provides a mapping from user widget to Java component. All
integration kits supplied with X-Designer include this resource
file.
Miscellaneous
Generate Dialog
Two changes have been made to the generated dialog:
- The addition of a Reset button.
- Improved control of multi-language Makefile generation.
Default Help Browser
Netscape is now the default help browser. Previously the default
browser was XD/Help. To change to using XD/Help, choose "Use
XD/Help" from the pullright Viewer menu in the X-Designer's Help
menu.
Widget Integration
The XRT Widget Integration kit supports XRT Volume 14, which
includes Quest's new Gauge widget.
The INT Widget Integration kit supports INT version 3.5.
See the
Widget Integration page
for more information about widget integration.
Quest have taken over Sitraka, formerly KL Group.
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