[ViewKit Logo] [Builder Xcessory Logo]


ViewKit ObjectPak & Builder Xcessory

...from Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc.

When it comes to Portable Development on Silicon Graphics platforms, ViewKit 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.

ICS' Builder Xcessory (BX) is your upgrade from Silicon Graphics' RapidApp GUI builder! BX 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, BX gives you full access to virtually all of the features and functionality of Motif. For multi-platform application development, BX outputs your choice of UIL, C, C++, or ViewKit source code.

Builder Xcessory: Winner of the X Journal 1995 Editors' Choice Award for Best GUI Builder!

Special Upgrade Offer for RapidApp users!

Go to the:
ViewKit Description
Builder Xcessory Description


ViewKit ObjectPak

The Best Way to Program with C++

ViewKit 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.

[DY Book Cover Image]

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).

Mature Application Framework

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 which 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.

Components

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, which 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.

ViewKit and Application Builders

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 Product Information

Development System Requirements

ViewKit ObjectPak is available in source and binary form. Binaries are available for the following UNIX platforms:

DEC, Digital UNIX (OSF/1)
HP, HP-UX
IBM, AIX
SCO, SCO UNIX
Sun, SunOS
Sun, Solaris 2 (SPARC)

For ViewKit on SGI platforms, contact Silicon Graphics, Inc. directly.

Also required are a Motif 1.2.n development system and C++ compiler.
For a list of currently supported compilers, click here.

Licensing

ViewKit is licensed per developer. There are no run-time or royalty fees for applications developed with ViewKit ObjectPak.

ICS Contact Information


Builder Xcessory

[X Journal Logo] Winner, Best GUI Builder, 1995 X Journal Editors' Choice Award


"Without BX, 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 (BX) 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++, or ViewKit source code!

BX integrates seamlessly into your existing development environment, communicating with your other Developer Magic tools.

[BX Screenshot Thumbnail] Click on picture for full-scale image of Builder Xcessory Version 3.5

The greatest challenge facing developers of graphical applications today is reducing the time and costs of software development without decreasing application quality. That 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. BX helps you to build new components, subclassing from existing components and building up new UI components from the widgets on your palette. BX will then generate the C++ and ViewKit code for you.

Integrated Computer Solutions' Builder Xcessory 3.5.1 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 BX 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.

Integration

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. BX supports:

Object Oriented Design and Development

Builder Xcessory 3.5.1 implements a rich set of object oriented design features which provide simple ways to create, store, reuse and share interface parts. Best of all, the benefits of BX's object oriented approach help developers whether they are working in C, C++, ViewKit, or UIL.

Doug Young Method

[DY Book Cover Image]

BX 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)


Classes and Styles

Creating BX "classes" is as easy as selecting a widget or group of widgets and choosing the "Make Class" menu option. BX 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.

BX "styles" let developers create named groups of resources which 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.

Subclasses

ICS has made classes much more flexible and easy to use by offering the ability to create subclasses. Subclassing lets BX 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, BX makes it very easy for the developer to create a subclass which can handle the extra button.

Save and Share Classes

New in BX 3.5, widget classes can be easily saved and shared among developers. New options give you the ability to quickly import and save classes in modular UIL files.

Large Project Support

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. New in BX 3.5 is an Application Manager which lets developers easily add Timers that 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. Also new in BX 3.5 is a new Search field in the Browser which allow users to quickly find a particular widget in a large hierarchy. In addition, a new setting lets the Browser pan automatically, displaying the currently selected widget.

Enhanced Productivity

BX 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.

Select and Edit Multiple Widgets

New in BX 3.5, 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, BX 3.5 provides new tools which allow alignment of a group of widgets according to their left, right, top, or bottom edges. In fact, the new 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 enhancements to the user interface of BX include:

Fully Internationalized Applications

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, BX 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 Evaluation Program

Builder Xcessory 3.5.1 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.


Platforms

BX 3.5 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.

Development System Requirements

                Minimum         Recommended
RAM:            16              24
X Libraries:    R4              R5+ (needed for custom widgets)
Motif:          1.1.x           1.2.x (needed for custom widgets)
Display:        1024 x 768      1280 x 1024

Licensing

BX is licensed per simultaneous user. There are no run-time fees, no run-time systems, and no royalties for applications built with BX.


Upgrade from Developer Magic's RapidApp to Builder Xcessory!

For a limited time, ICS is extending a special offer to all RapidApp users. Save over 35% on new BX licenses!

Call ICS today for details!


Contact Information

Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc.
201 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139

(617) 621-0060 Voice
(617)621-9555 Fax

info@ics.com
http://www.ics.com/

ICS maintains a global network of distributors. Click here for a list.


Go to the:
Top
ViewKit Description
Builder Xcessory Description