The V C++ GUI Framework User Guide:V FAQ

How Can I Help
Q: How can I contribute to the V project?

A: As you may know from other sources, so far V has been pretty much a one person project - me. That means while V is getting pretty complete, there are still things missing, and things that could be done to make it better.

I really appreciate help from the ever growing V community. There are several ways you can help contribute to V:

1) Find bugs.

If you discover a V bug, I really do appreciate bug reports. Better are bug reports with a solution. I've received an amazing number of bug reports along with a patch to the source code to fix it. While it would be ideal to get a report and a fix, I still want to get the reports.

2) Contribute applications.

I'd like to collect two kinds of V applications. First would be apps that would be useful to the whole V community, either as a tool, or perhaps as an example of something useful. I'd also like any kind of app that uses V that you might wish to share. Any time you can share code that others might learn from, it will be useful.

3) Additions to V

V does have some things missing (a direct draw canvas, multi-selection lists, double click in Athena, etc.). I would like to see all of these added to V eventually, but just don't have the time to get to them quickly. I'd really like contributions such as these.

However, for the contributions to be really useful, they need to be developed using certain guidelines. First, if you see a hole you'd like to fill, e-mail me bruce@objectcentral.com first. Someone else might be working on it, or I might already have some specific ideas. If it is a big project (like the OS/2 port), I probably can put you in touch with others working on the problem.

Second, a new feature for one platform isn't really useful for inclusion in V. Anything new must run on both Windows X, and OS/2. There are a few ways to handle this requirement. First, do the different versions yourself. Second, find someone else to do the other platforms. Third, use only existing V classes.

One problem with distributed development by volunteers is keeping things in sync. I've been turning out a new version of V every few months, so it is hard to keep contributions current when they are necessarily done on older versions. We just have to work with it.

In summary, I really do like help. It is hard to coordinate sometimes, but I will do my best. Contributors will be acknowledged in the appropriate places. Just send me e-mail with any bugs reports, contributions, or ideas.

About vAppWinInfo class
'''Q: How do you use the vAppWinInfo class? An example?'''

A: Well, vAppWinInfo largely turns out to be useless. It was intended for MVC apps, but it doesn't work for that very well.
 * Beginning with V 1.21, the functions vApp::UpdateAllViews and vWindow::UpdateView have been added to help support MVC. See vApp in the Reference manual for a better discussion.

How to use vTimer
Q: I want to call a screen update every few seconds. Is it best to call the routine from within the TimerTick routine, or send an update event to the cmdwin ?

A: The key to coordinating a timer with a window is to create the timer object from the command window, and pass the 'this' of the command window to the timer. The timer then uses the pointer to the command window to call the WindowCommand method of that window object to do whatever is needed on the timer event.
 * Consider the following code excerpts:

// Derive a simple timer class that allows a command window // pointer to be passed in. class myCmdWindow;  // Whatever you command window class is    class myTimer : public vTimer {      public:           // public myTimer(myCmdWindow* cw) { cmdw = cw; } ~myTimer {} virtual void TimerTick // Call the window's WindowCommand to respond to the timer {cmdw->WindowCommand(appropriateID, appropriateID, C_Button);} private:         //--- private myCmdWindow* cmdw; };   // Then, in the command window //================>>> myCmdWindow::myCmdWindow <<<================ myCmdWindow::myCmdWindow(char* name, int height, int width) : vCmdWindow(name, height, width) {    // Appropriate stuff to define window // ...    // Now, create the timer to local myTimer _timer ptr. _timer = new myTimer(this);        // create timer _timer->TimerSet(1000);            // 1 second interval // ....   }

Q: Fast way to display bitmaps?
Q: I'm using V to display bitmaps. My app is rendering a complex image so I would like to display the result every few seconds. I tried drawing my bitmap with DrawIcon, but it takes too long and the second call to the function displays the same bitmap even if the data of the vIcon changed. I tried using a pen and drawing points one by one but that is way too slow.
 * So, is there any easy and fast way to display 24-bit bitmaps using V?

A: This may be one of the weaker parts of V. I've spent a good deal of time with this issue, and can't get stuff real fast. In theory, writing to a vMemDC should be the fastest way to write pixels, which you can do a row at a time with DrawColorPoints, then transferring to the screen with CopyFromMemDC. This technique get you about as close to the native drawing stuff as can be done portably, but it is still faster to draw directly to the screen using DrawColorPoints. It isn't real fast.
 * The native tool kits let you work directly with the bitmap/pixmap in memory, but do it quite differently on Windows and X. Perhaps someday I'll figure out a way to give portable access to the underlying model.
 * An alternative, and not a terrible one, is to get the handle to the actual X or Windows window used for the canvas. This is HWND vCanvas::DrawingWindow for Windows, and Widget vCanvas::DrawingWindow -OR- Drawable vCanvas::GetXDrawable for X. You can then use the HWND or Widget/Drawable as to draw to directly using the native drawing toolkits. These are usually much easier to use and figure out than all the control stuff for dialogs and menus.

Q: More on displaying images fast
Q: I'm thinking of using V for a project I'm about to start. I need to be able to display images (8, 16, 24, and maybe 32 bit) to a window and I need to do it very fast.

A: Actually, in its current state, V can't really do what you need. The vMemoryDC already uses BitBlt to in the CopyFromMemoryDC method, but it is still too slow - it takes too long to fill the image, no matter what mode you use.
 * The ultimate solution is to provide access directly to the screen memory via a pointer. This is something like Microsoft's game API. However, I haven't had the time to do it portably, although I think it can be done.
 * The alternative is to drop down to real Windows or X code. The vCanvas provides the necessary hooks to get the Window, Drawable, or Widget as needed. This solution is not portable.

Q: Coordinate Translation and Scaling
Q: When using a canvas with scaling and translation, it's not clear whether coordinates are first translated and then scaled, or vice versa.

A: ScreenX = (((PassedInX + XTranslate) * ScaleMult) / ScaleDiv);

Q: About colors and color maps
Q: I assume that V tries to allocate read/write color cells when under X, so that it can (possibly) change colors. If the color map is full, does it just take what it can get?

A: Presently, V tries to hide what is going on with the color map. This led to some problems on the X version in earlier releases. With V Version 1.07 and later, V tries to allow efficient use of the colormap while still hiding most of the details.
 * The main way to use and generate colors is with vColor objects. There are 16 predefined vColors, and you can declare other vColors, either with no color specified (which defaults to black), or your own colors. Ideally, it wouldn't matter how many colors you used, or how many vColors you declared, or how many times you changed the color value of vColor objects.
 * In reality, some color systems do allow unlimited colors, but most existing systems run with a palette or color map of 256 colors. So mostly, at any given time, a program can have only 256 active colors. As better color hardware gets more widely used, this situation will change, but count on only 256 for now.
 * The question then becomes which 256 colors are available to the program. Both X and Windows provide default system color maps that provide the current 256 colors, and V uses the default system color maps. The way the system color maps work are somewhat different for X and Windows, however.
 * The situation for X is currently somewhat better than Windows. The default system color map is allocated partly ReadOnly, and partly ReadWrite. Usually, four to eight colors are allocated ReadOnly, and correspond to black, white, and the basic colors used by the screen manager. The rest of the entries are available for program use. When you create a new color, either by declaring a vColor object with a new color, or you use vColor::Set to set an existing object to a new color, a new cell of the system color map is allocated and used. If you continue to generate more new colors, the map eventually fills up, and you don't get what you had hoped for.
 * With V Version 1.07 and later, a new method called vColor::ResetColor was added to help solve this problem. If you will be generating lots of new colors, you can only use about 245 or so of them at a time. If you use vColor::Set to change the colors, the color map fills up. If, on the other hand, you reuse and existing vColor object by calling vColor::ResetColor, then the original entry in the X system color map is reused. Thus, as long as you don't use more than the number of available entries in the color map, you won't have problems displaying just what you want at any given time. You can use vColor::BitsOfColor to determine the color resolution of the system you are running on.
 * The situation on Windows is different. There, you still usually have 256 colors, but the default system color map (called a palette in Windows jargon) is fixed. Each time you use a color, Windows uses the closest match, and this is sometimes a dithered color. Thus, while you will never run out of palette entries, you also don't always get the color you wanted.
 * Since Windows systems more commonly have more colors, and since you don't run out of color map entries, I don't plan to change this soon. Changing would mean adding a color map or palette V object, with all the portability problems that introduces. For now, vColor::Set and vColor::Reset have identical behavior on Windows, but quite different behavior on X.

When to set attributes for a vCanvasPane
Q: When *exactly* is the right time to set such attributes as Background color etc. to a vCanvasPane? The attached DC is not available at constructor call, so I tricked around using static variables and Redraw, but there has to be a cleaner way, no?

A: Actually, you got it. Redraw is called when the window is first displayed, before you have any chance to call any of your code. So, you really do need something like: void myCanvas::Redraw(int x, int y, int h, int w)  { static int first = 1; // Redraw is called when the canvas is first displayed, // before your code can do any real work. The vDC is    // available at this point. Any special initialization // needs to be done here because the vDC is not // available at constructor time. if (first) {        first = 0; // Set colors, whatever now... // And call your parent class's Redraw vParentPane::Redraw(x,y,h,w); return; }    // Normal Redraw code goes here ....  }

Q:Too many Redraw messages to keep up with
Q: My V application takes quite a bit of time to redraw its image. When I drag another window across the V app's window, the app gets behind trying to keep up with all the Redraw messages sent by this action. Is there a way around this problem?

A: This problem doesn't occur on all platforms. (e.g., Windows draws an outline of the top window, avoiding these multiple calls to Redraw. X and NT do generate multiple calls.) No matter how fast V drawing ever gets, this situation will no doubt continue to exist. There is a rather simple solution that works for the V Icon editor that limits the total number of redraws to 2. Consider the following code fragment adapted from the V Icon Editor code: //===================>>> myCanvasPane::Redraw <<<================= void myCanvasPane::Redraw(int x, int y, int w, int h)  { // Cheap way to handle multiple calls to Redraw that // doesn't use the passed coordinates. static int nest = 0; // Track multiple calls to Redraw if (++nest > 1)  // ignore multiple calls return; DrawImage;     // draw image - may take a while if (nest > 1)    // had nested calls, so need to redraw again {        DrawImage;  // draw image }   nest = 0;          // Really done }

==V Command Control=

Q:How to dynamically modify list controls
Q: I need the ability to dynamically add/delete/modify items in a list box control.

A: There are two ways to do this. You can modify the contents of the ORIGINAL list, and then call the SetValue function with the 'ChangeList' value. You can also create a new list, and call SetValue with the 'ChangeListPtr' value. These are explained in the reference manual in more detail.

Q:Does V have Text Edit controls?
Q: Are there any text editors (or a text widget) out there written using V?

A: V currently has a relatively complete text editor class. It will support standard keypad commands for standard line-oriented text. You can extend the command set of the editor, and it handles buffering for reasonably sized files. It can be extended to handle unlimited file sizes.

Q:Changing size of dialogs
Q: With dialogs, and even command windows is there a way to set the minimum and/or maximum size allowed for the user to resize? Some dialogs just don't make any sense to allow the user to resize, while others would be really nice to allow the user to change the size on.

A: Dialogs are whatever size they are. The X window manager does whatever it does to dialogs if you fiddle them, and I don't think I can fix V to freeze the sizes.

Q:Starting with Application Maximized
Q: How can I start an application with the window maximized?

A: For Windows only, you can use the native ::ShowWindow to maximize the application window in your AppMain function: //============================>>> AppMain ============================== int AppMain(int argc, char** argv) { // Use AppMain to create the main window (void) theApp->NewAppWin(0, "My V App", 450, 250); ::ShowWindow(theApp->winHwnd,SW_MAXIMIZE); // Windows only! return 0; }

Q:History of values on menus
Q: I have a field that I would like to maintain a history of, such that if the user enters a new value it will be added to the history. Something of a combination C_ComboBox and a C_TextIn. I'm certain you've seen this sort of thing under Windows.

A: Hmm... V does not allow you to dynamically add items to a menu. It does let you change the contents of a menu item. A good compromise might be to keep a history of the last 4 things in a menu (using blanks or until you fill in the field), and the full history in a dialog using a list or a combo box (which can now be totally dynamic in V 1.10).

Q:Getting dynamic changes from TextIn Controls
Q: Upon completion of data entry into a single line text field, is there a way to retrieve the data from that field upon completion of text entry (signalled either by a carriage return or a tab key) rather than pressing a button to invoke the GetTextIn function?

A: V can't do this. You could do this directly on X or on Windows, but the mechanism is completely different on each platform, so V has to hide it. On windows, pressing Return will terminate the dialog if there is a default button defined, but that helps only for one text in field, and it doesn't work on the X version. The next best alternative might be to put a "submit" button to the right of each field you want to work this way. A pain, but...

Q: Is there a way to traverse a set of single line text fields per keystroke, as opposed to moving the mouse from one text field to another?

A: This works on the Windows version right now, but doesn't work on the X Athena version. It might work for the Motif version when it is done.

Grouping controls in a dialog
Q: When designing a dialog window, I sometimes want to place a control to the right of several other controls. This can be done by giving cRightOf and cBelow (members of CommandObject) the right values. By this I can place a control to the right of another. I would like to place the control to the right of three other controls but as the size becomes dynamic, I don't know which one will be the largest. Is there a way to express this in the CommandObject structure? Or are there other ways to achieve this goal?

A: The best way I know to get a control to the right of (or below or whatever) a group of other controls is to place the other controls in a frame. Since you can make the frame have no border, you can make it so it won't show on the displayed dialog. You can also use blank objects as space fillers to help control positions. Another thing that helps is padding the messages with blanks to get alignment right.

Another trick is to make a control that will be as large as the largest control that gets generated, and then make it hidden. It will count in the size calculations, but not be displayed in the dialog. Hidden controls can occupy the same location on the dialog as the controls you want to see.

Using borderless frames is the best tool that V has for controlling tricky layout, but even so, sometimes you still can't get everything placed exactly as you want. This is one of the compromises of the V design. Most of the time, you can design pretty good looking dialogs. Sometimes, you have to compromise, and get OK instead of perfect. All things considered, I hope most V users will find this a reasonable compromise.

Layout of Controls different in X and Windows
Q: I've got a problem with positioning the controls in a dialog box. The linux version is working correct, but the same source, compiled with Borland, results in a dialog box with overlapping controls. Do you have a clue?

A: The documentation needs to be more explicit about this. It turns out that this is actually an inherent problem with V. If you had started out with Windows, you'd probably find the X version was OK. The problem is that not all controls are the same relative size on X and Windows. While dialogs with just buttons and label fields will generally work on both platforms, using lists, spinners, or progress bars will often give a good looking result on one platform, but not another.

Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions for this problem. Both, however, involve being able to compile for both platforms. Of course, you wouldn't be seeing the problem at all if you weren't compiling on both platforms.

Sometimes using a different control as the reference control works. For example, if you had a label and a spinner on one line, and want to put another label and spinner below, the natural tendency is to use the label since it is first. However, the spinner is taller on Windows, so will generate an overlap on the Windows version. Using the spinner as the reference rather than the label solves the problem.

The other thing is to use borderless frames, and position controls relative to the frame rather than controls in the frame. By combining this and the above technique, you can usually design an attractive dialog that works on both platforms. The vDraw example program quick pick dialog uses these tricks to get a layout suitable for both platforms.

I wish it were easier, but it is just not possible to get all controls the same relative size on all platforms. At least there is a way around the problem, even if it takes a bit more care. Usually, though, it just takes 20 or 30 minutes to clean up a dialog.

Q: vIcons as controls in a vCanvasPane
Q: I'm working on a simple application for FreeBSD, and would like to use the V GUI toolkit. I have the following need for this application:

The main window of the application will represent a group of objects as icons. Each icon will have an image and a name. When the user double-clicks on an icon, a dialog allowing the user to customize that object will be created/shown.

Is there a straight forward method in V to represent a scrolling "icon arena", where each icon represents an object? I've thought about making each object and icon button and just adding all of them to a command window, but I don't quite see how to make the window scrollable.

A: You will have to do some work, but this would be true for most any GUI toolkit.

You can draw a V icon anywhere in the canvas of a command window. For each icon, you would have to track its X,Y position, and associated label. (A simple list would do.) You then map mouse clicks to the icon you've placed at the mouse location by searching your list. Use scroll bars in the canvas as needed, and adjust mouse coordinates to account for scrolling.

A little work, but not that hard. The double click is harder. V does not support a separate message for double clicks. You can fake it by counting two clicks, or get close to real by using a timer. This limitation is mostly due to the Athena widget set on X.

Q:Controlling width of Lists
Q: One more question, have you thought about my suggestion to let the user control the width of a C_List ?

A: The way lists are supposed to work now is that V will use the width of the widest item in the list when first instantiated. So one possibility is to first create the list with a fake item that is as wide as the widest list item you expect, and then use ChangeList or ChangeListPtr to change to the actual list. The problem on Windows is that it is hard to dynamically resize the whole dialog, so I do the best I can by sizing the list to the widest item. This then determines the size and positions of all the other controls in a dialog with a list. In fact, I don't know how non-V Windows programs handle list size, if they really do. Windows dialogs are normally fixed size.

Q:Waiting for computations
Q: Could you please tell me what's the best way to tackle the following problem? I would like to have a modal dialog that shows the user some useful information about a time-consuming operation. Basically, I want to open a modal dialog, start the computation and let the computation update the dialog's command objects. How can this be done? If the dialog is not modal it would be no problem, but I definitely want to block all input to the application. What I need is some routine to Show a modal dialog but returning immediately so that the program can proceed.

A: This is a hard problem for V, unfortunately. X and Windows handle modal dialogs somewhat differently, so there is not a portable solution that V could support.

But one suggestion is to add a "Begin Computation" button to the modal dialog. Then in the dialog's DialogCommand method, call the code to do the computation. That code should call vApp::CheckEvents periodically to keep the system working, but I think this will give you the effect you want, more or less. While the call to the computation would not return until it was done, the calls to vApp::CheckEvents would allow a Cancel button to work within the modal dialog, which would then need to call a routine in your code to set a cancel flag, or something like that. You could also set flags within the modal dialog that it is in the middle of a computation and behave accordingly.

I haven't tried this, but I'm pretty sure this technique can work. It does require a "Begin" button, however, which might not work the way you want.

I also think that you could keep a state flag of your own, and override all DialogCommand and WindowCommand methods to ignore any messages while in compute mode. I think the message from the V close box on X, or the system close box on Windows might go around these, but then that might still be how you want it to work - exit if the user says so.

V in the Computer Science Classroom
Q: Is V suitable for CS classes that use C++?

A: V has been used in the classroom at the University of New Mexico, and at several other places. It was used for two UNM CS courses, a Senior level software engineering class, and a Junior level design and programming class.
 * I used V for my software engineering class, and it was excellent for that. It let the students get big projects done with truly neat interfaces. This is the FIRST time I've been able to teach software engineering and have projects that both use C++ and have a nice user interface. I really didn't want to use Tcl/Tk for a real software engineering class.
 * V has also been used in the Junior level programming class. It is when the students first tackle real programs using C++. The students used V to build some simple, but real programs that required some design. I didn't teach the class, but as I recall, one project involved putting a spinning wheel on the screen, and controlling position and spin rate using various V controls. The problems students had with V involved the standard problems with programming in general, how to really use classes, constructors, destructors, etc., and general GUI issues. V itself was really never a hindrance - just struggling students.
 * Personally, I really feel V is PERFECT for that level of class. If you want to use a real programming language (all debates aside, C++ is real compared to a scripting language), and would like the students to be able to generate GUI programs, I really don't know of any alternative to V in an academic environment where freeware is important.
 * For the first time, students really were able to fairly easily generate GUI programs with C++ code. They found this VERY rewarding and fun. More so that with the old INPUT/OUTPUT stuff that we were limited to before. And not only that, a lot of students are getting their own Linux boxes now, and that makes V even better for them.
 * I hate to sound like a salesman, but the results I saw at UNM and have had reported to me at other colleges and universities make me wish that CS departments all around the country knew about V, and would consider using it. There are a couple of other freeware GUI frameworks (wxWindows and YACL), but neither is as simple or clean as V. (You can even use V code for case study, it is very clean.) I really don't think there is anything missing from V for student projects. And the manual is good enough so as to not generate tons of V questions for the instructor. (I would get literally ONLY 3 or 4 V questions per semester from my software engineering class - they really just asked project questions.)
 * Well, I've rambled, but I would like to encourage you to take a serious look at V and consider it for your classes.

Q:Why does V use static tables for menus?
Q: Why have you used static tables of structures to initialize Menu and Command panes ?
 * Doesn't object oriented programming include hiding of data structures?

A: One can stick strictly to a paradigm, and end up with something that is obscure and difficult to program with, or one can bend the rules and end up with something far simpler and easier to use.
 * The ability to easily define menus, dialogs, command bars, and status bars using structures (which are usually static, but don't have to be) gives a very simple and easy way to define these things. After looking at some other OO GUI frameworks, I decided they were too hard to get started with, and that you ended up with code that was too hard to maintain. Keeping all the definitions for V control objects in a single declaration is much simpler.
 * The declarations for menus and dialogs actually are replacements for the resource definitions usually found in the native GUI toolkits. For example, V does not use standard Windows .RC files to define menus and dialogs. You will find many similarities in the elements included in a V dialog CommandObject declaration and a Windows .RC file.
 * Underneath it all, however, all the controls are implemented as C++ objects, and the details of the implementation of each control object for each platform are hidden. The definitions of dialogs and menus are platform independent, and easy to define, modify, and maintain.

Q:Programming for Windows vs. Unix and X
Q: This last is kind of a shot in the dark, but... I'm trying to do most of my development on Linux, but also engineer the code for Windows compatibility. The portability section in the coding style guidelines appendix has some good information, but what I was wanting to know mostly was how the Windows programming environment differs from the Unix-type environment in terms of memory management, pointer usage, and the like. Can you recommend a good book on programming in Windows to help ease me into this (eventual) port? If it can explain the difference between 16-bit and 32-bit Windows (and the differences between Win32s, Win 95, and Win NT in particular) it would be even more helpful. Also, I'm not exactly up on the MDI/SDI thing, either.

A: Windows comes in just two basic flavours, Windows 3.1, which has a bunch of very ugly properties left over from the segmented architecture of the Intel 8086, and the 32-bit varieties, which includes Win32s, Win 95, and Win NT. Win 95 has some nice dialog controls, but for now V is not using them. Other than that, all these are really WIN32 platforms.
 * As a programmer, there is really only one major issue you have to deal with. The Windows 3.1 platform is basically a 16-bit platform, and thus limits data objects to a maximum size of 64K bytes. You can have a whole bunch of 64K objects, but each object can be at most 64K. There are also some limits (not hard to hit...) on the amount of static data allowed, again tied to 64K. This one seems to vary from compiler to compiler, but can be hit by defining a lot of big static V Icons. I had some problems with the V Icon Editor, for example.)
 * The bottom line on Windows 3.1 is that you have to use what is called Large Model to compile V applications, and think about the 64K limit for any single data object. You can't assume that you can compare pointers for objects allocated separately (but then you shouldn't assume that anyway), so using pointers in 3.1 really doesn't create additional problems. As of V 1.21, official support for 3.1 has been abandoned. There have been enough new features added that have just made keeping V 3.1 compatible too difficult.
 * The WIN32 platform solves all these problems by using the linear addressing available on all Intel chips since the 80386. The WIN32 API to the system is almost compatible with the older 3.1 API, but there are some major incompatibilities, and some of that 16-bit ugliness remains. But fortunately, V hides all of that. For regular old C++ programming, use 'new' and pointers just as you would on a real computer with a real operating system (like Linux or SunOS!).
 * I personally don't have much positive to say about Microsoft (some of it stemming from personal experience back when I was involved with my own PC software company), so I've really avoided using Visual C++, but V users have reported V will compile with it. I like Borland C++ the best, but Watcom's C++ 10.6 isn't bad, and for one price you get 3.1, 95, NT, and OS/2 support. If you are associated with an academic institution, you can get Watcom for only $100, a really great deal. For NT and 95, the Cygnus port of gcc is getting pretty reasonable, too, but it isn't quite native.
 * I've found the Charles Petzold books the most useful for getting going, but I also think that Herbert Schildt's books are pretty good, and would maybe be my first choice today. There are a lot of BAD Windows books, and books by either of these two authors are a pretty safe bet.

Q:V vs. wxWindows
Q: How would you compare V against wxWindows ?

A: V and wxWindows are quite similar in their goals. Naturally, I prefer V. WxWindows has been around a bit longer than V, and has some tools not available in V. WxWindows is less fixed in the look and feel of the apps it generates. WxWindows originally used Motif and OpenLook implementation for X, and has recently switched to gtk. V uses a customized version of the free Athena widgets, and as of 1.21, also supports gtk.
 * V, on the other hand, pretty much imposes a look and feel. It turns out that this look and feel is the standard Windows look and feel, as well as the Motif look and feel. Thus, when using the Xt Athena version, you end up with Windows/Motif like apps. I think this is a good thing.
 * You can see a result of this approach in how V builds dialogs. While wxWindows uses a generic window for both drawing canvases and dialogs, V uses different objects for each. Thus, on X, you get a different kind of shell widget used for dialogs and canvases, while on Windows you get a real Windows dialog box with its specialized look. Thus your apps will look more native.
 * The last I looked, V also had more controls for its dialogs. Adding controls to dialogs and windows is done differently. In wxWindows, you add each object via a line of code. V lets you define whole dialogs and menus simply using a static array. I think this latter approach is much easier to program.
 * The visual look of V is more polished. This shows especially in the dialogs. The Windows version has a very nice 3D look for all dialog components, and the shading and color choices look much more like polished apps than the standard app colors generated by wxWindows apps. The X version also uses nice shading, and allows you to change the color design using an X resource file.
 * Finally, if you look at the source code, I'm confident you will find the V code much more readable and well structured. The wxWindows code seems much less polished, and really lacks comments. This may be a matter of style - I am a strong believer in the concept that it is almost impossible to over comment code. I believe this leads to more maintainable code.

Q:Using V for commercial applications
Q: I've read the GNU License, and I'm not sure if I can use V for commercial applications. What are the restrictions for using V for a commercial app?

A: The short answer is yes, you can use V for commercial applications. The following are the relevant sections of the GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE contained in the file COPYING.LIB : <<<<< BEGIN EXCERPT of GNU License >>>>>>
 * The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow. Pay close attention to the difference between a "work based on the library" and a "work that uses the library". The former contains code derived from the library, while the latter only works together with the library. [stuff deleted]
 * 5. A program that contains no derivative of any portion of the Library, but is designed to work with the Library by being compiled or linked with it, is called a "work that uses the Library". Such a work, in isolation, is not a derivative work of the Library, and therefore falls outside the scope of this License.
 * However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the library". The executable is therefore covered by this License. Section 6 states terms for distribution of such executables. [stuff deleted]
 * 6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also compile or link a "work that uses the Library" with the Library to produce a work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit modification of the work for the customer's own use and reverse engineering for debugging such modifications. [NOTE: This language is much more restrictive than it may appear. The reverse engineering is allowed ONLY for debugging modifications to the library. There is nothing to imply that allowing reverse engineering extends to your work, so your protection remains intact.]
 * You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the Library is used in it and that the Library and its use are covered by this License. You must supply a copy of this License. If the work during execution displays copyright notices, you must include the copyright notice for the Library among them, as well as a reference directing the user to the copy of this License. Also, you must do one of these things: [Several options for supplying access to the library, and object code for using modified libraries.]<<<< END EXCERPT >>>>
 * My interpretation of all this is that you can pretty much protect your commercial software. You need to acknowledge that you are using V, and provide access to V. This can easily be accomplished by providing a link to the V Web site.
 * Possibly the most objectionable part requires that you allow users to relink the work using a modified version of V. This provision can be satisfied by providing access to the object code files only upon request. You are also allowed to charge for that access. Between these, I don't think there is much real impact on using V for a commercial package.
 * So, by my interpretation, you can comply with the GNU license by doing the following:
 * 1. Acknowledge the use of V, and supply a reference to the V Web site.
 * 2. Supply a copy of the GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE. The license implies that the object code is available for relinking for an appropriate charge. I don't think you need to explicitly state this anywhere else. You can also make it clear that only the V library uses that GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, and that your commercial software uses a different license.
 * 3. Being prepared for the very unlikely event someone will actually want to pay for access to the object code to relink to a modified version of V.

WINDOWS.H and WINDOWSX.H files for Windows version
Q: I downloaded the V C++ GUI package for Microsoft Windows from your website and attempted to compile and run the tutorial (TUTAPP.CPP), only to discover that it indirectly required two files named "WINDOWS.H" and "WINDOWSX.H". I don't have either of these files. Where can I get them?

A: WINDOWS.H and WINDOWSX.H are the files that define the interface to the Windows API toolkit. All Windows apps require these files. They are usually provided with your compiler.

Cygnus gcc-win32
Q: Does V work with the Cygwin environment?

A: The standard V distribution includes support for the latest Cygwin compiler (B20 at this writing). There is also occasional discussions of V on the Cygwin mail group.

Missing files/libraries in X
Q: I'm trying to compile your V libraries on Linux and seem to be missing some of the include files for X. The only subdirectories I have beyond include/X11 are Bitmaps and Pixmaps which aren't really include directories. For example, I'm missing the "Xaw" and "Xmu" directories to name a few. Could you direct me to where I could get the extra include files that I require to build the libraries?

A: V assumes that X has been installed on your system in some place, usually something like /usr/X11 or /usr/X11R6 and other related spots. The standard X installation contains the X include files, X libraries, and others. V also needs the Athena widget set, Xaw, and other files. Some systems don't install these (especially Motif only systems), although most do. Almost always, if your system is running X, then the required files are probably there.
 * Other that this general information, it is beyond my capability to provide more help about proper installation of X on your system. Check with your system administrator for help on that.

OS/2 Version
Q: Why is the OS/2 Version different or out of sync with the other V versions?

A: The OS/2 version was written and is maintained by Jon Hacker. We do our best to keep versions in sync, but it is not always possible.

Mac Version
Q: When will a Mac version be available?

A: I don't know. Probably never, unless someone volunteers to do the port. For some time, the Mac looked pretty dead, but perhaps the new iMac will be Apple's salvation. But to date, there has not been enough interest expressed for a Mac port. Volunteers?

Q:Using V from C
Q: V GUI looks quite interesting. I wonder if there is a way to use it from a C program?

A: V can be used from C, but you still need to use the basic C++ object oriented framework. Converting an existing C program can often be difficult because they are often command driven rather than event driven.
 * It is much easier to convert a C program that has its major functionality isolated into routines that get called from the command interface interpreter. The easiest path is to toss the interface code and start with a V sample program. Define the menus and toolbars you need, and then call the appropriate C code from a 'case' in the 'WindowCommand' routine of the command window. Given the simple definitions of menus and toolbars, using this approach requires more cut and paste into the sample code than complete understanding of C++.
 * Handling output from the C program may also be a bit difficult. The V vTextCanvas class may be the easiest. Essentially, it works just like a classic dumb terminal, like a DOS session from Windows, or a tty window from X. It isn't a VT100 (say, that sounds like an interesting project), but it has similar functionality. Using it will still require minimal understanding of C++.
 * In the end, however, learning C++ is really worth it. I've found the main payback is much more maintainable and robust code. It is far easier to modify a well-defined object than a piece of even a good C module, and the modifications don't break the rest of the system.

Q:How can I learn C++?
Q: I was wondering if you could help me out. I have been trying to learn C++, and I would like to learn how to use V also. What can you do to help me?

A: Occasionally I get general help requests like this. As much as I would like to be able to help you out, I really don't have the time to devote to getting people up to speed on C++ or GUIs in general.
 * I do have some strong opinions about C++ and object orientation. I think OO is wonderful, and that C++ is a reasonable OO language, if not perfect. It has the overwhelming advantage of being the marketplace winner. One of the main problems with C++ that I have found is that there are no really outstanding C++ books available, either for the new programmer, or for someone converting to C++.
 * The main problem I've found is that to use C++ in a reasonable and effective fashion, you need to use its object-oriented capabilities. Without really understanding objects, encapsulation, inheritance, AND aggregation, it is hard to know what constructors are really good for, why destructors are so wonderful for managing dynamic objects, and the real significance of shallow and deep object semantics.
 * So, given that, I can recommend the following books:
 * FIRST, get the object-orientation! While these books aren't perfect, they are the ones I like best:
 * Object-Oriented Systems Design - An Integrated Approach,
 * Edward Yourdon, Yourdon Press, ISBN 0-13-636325-3.
 * Object-Oriented Analysis and Design, Second Edition, Grady Booch,
 * Benjamin/Cummings, ISBN 0-8053-5340-2.
 * The C++ Books are harder to pin down. I really don't like
 * any of them. But I probably most use:
 * C++ Primer, 2nd Edition, Stanly B. Lippman, Addison Wesley,
 * ISBN 0-201-54848-8.
 * Stroustrup's book is essential after you are proficient
 * with C++.
 * It turns out that GUIs are one of the most natural object-oriented applications around, so they really do provide a great way to get started on OO. The use of inheritance, messages, and real objects makes then seem natural. I think V is a good example OO GUI. In fact, V started out as a small demo program for an OO/C++ book I'm trying to write. The V demo has taken over, and my book is on the back burner...