How to Guify your 32-bit Harbour Text App

Based on my limited experience, you may convert your 32-bits Harbour text to gui via

a) gtWVT
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2011/02/simple-usage-of-gtwvt.html

b) gtWVW - Sudip is the expert on this ;-)

c) gtWVG - you can incrementally add GUI to your old Clipper codes
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/04/using-harbourwvg-part-i.html (there are 4 parts to this series)

d) HMG stable .3.0.35 (compatible with Harbour 2.0 only) - Need rewrite
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/03/adding-gui-to-xharbourharbour-via-hmg.html
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/05/reporting-with-hmg-part-i.html (2 parts series)
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/03/mapping-clipper-command-to-hmg-commands.html

e) HMG Extended aka Minigui (Needs rewrite)
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/03/mdi-programming-with-minigui.html
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2009/03/programming-mdi-with-minigui-pat-ii.html

I have successfully used hbmk2 for

a) gtwvg

cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2011/02/building-harbourgtwvg-project-using.html

b) hmg
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-compile-hmg-application-hbmk2.html

c) Minigui
cch4clipper.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-build-minigui-hmg-extended.html

Cheers

CCH

[Harbour] GTWVW => GTWVG Port - A Clarification by Pritpal Bedi

CCH: Quoted verbatim from a thread on the Harbour Developers List


Hi Budiyanto, All

> If you mean revising (or rewriting) GTWVW into Harbour, then I'll be very
> much interested, as well as
> many others. But please keep it backward compatible as much as possible. I
> remember you said here
> in the past that GTWVW is "impossible" to port to the new GT API because
> there is a conflict with
> GTWVW's use of first parameter as window designator (for most functions).
> Do you finally find a way
> to solve that problem? Or do you plan change the convention in GTWVW? (I
> hope it is the former.)
>
> Am I interpreting it right with what you mean by "porting GTWVW in GTWVG"?
>

When GTWVW came into existance I had already ported my applns to GTWVG,
the then GTWVT+WVTGUI, so I never looked into GTWVW deeply. Everything
I needed was available in GTWVG ( current name ). Rather at that time
I thought pseudo emulation of controls was good enough to appeal my clients
and I was saved of the time to learn a new protocol. With only little
efforts I was able to roll my applns with a new look and feel.

Over the time concepts changed. Multi-Window and Multi-Threading forced me
to look into real windows world. I was convinced that a lot can be achieved
on this front as MT and GT modal of Harbour is much superior to any other in the
market today.

I looked around for effective GUI modal to base my next developments
targetting not only my own needs but the Clipper community in general. The available
modals in-use for Harbour around were as follow:

1.  FWH
2.  VXH
3.  HWGUI
4.  MINIGUI
5.  XAILER
6.  GTWVW

Every modal had its pros and cons.  Some had documentation missing,
some were pure IDE based, some dynamic but heavily based on #define(s)
( due a large number of parameters for a single activity ), and some lacked
OOP.
Every modal had its own parameters passing and calling convensions.
And, for sure, all modals lacked adaptation to MT, the biggest mainstay
in the coming future.

What I wanted to base next efforts on development of a GUI :

1) It must be adaptable to MT modal.
2) It should be able to take advantage of MW GT whereever possible.
3) It must adhere to standardization of parameters and calling convensions.
4) It must be having a well written documentation.
5) If possible, it must have a user-base.
6) And above all, it must be able to base Multi-Platform GUI.

After a lot of thinking and spadework I could not accept any of the above.
I just picked Xbase++. This compiler's subsystems were almost fitting
my ideology, is having a large user-base, ships with descent documentation,
complete with MT capabilities and nicely fits into Multi-GT environments.

Moreover I had worked with this compiler for some time and know how
best its parameters passing and calling conventions were. Also I wanted to
have a well define class framework to dream for a multi-platform GUI framework.

I knew to follow an already established framework is always a difficult
task.

To create a new protocol you are the master of your own thoughts. But to
copy feature-by-feature is very difficult. But I choose the difficult way.

Also I wanted to have an integrated library which could absorb different
scattered GUI modals into one as all were having one aspect in common -
Harbour.

My first results are quiet encouraging and now GTWVG can host:

* pure console,
* pseudo GUI console,
* Xbase++ consols and dialogs with xbase parts,
* pure consoles with Xbase parts,
* and a mixture of any of the above.

In this evolution process GTWVW becomes the next natural GEM to
be inducted in this whole picture, and probably FWH too, who knows.

If you invest a little time in GTWVG's Xbase++ implementation, you
will wonder how a Xbase++ .prg ( with only those controls which have
have taken some shape ) can be compiled in Harbour. And this is the
same intention for GTWVW too. No code change whatsoever.

As before, today also i say that it is difficult to port GTWVW as is
in new GT system. As GTWVG and GTWVW share the same code base at the
core levels it is easier to embed GTWVW GUI controls into GTWVG.
End user will not experience any change to his/her code. This way
it is not as difficult as it seems to be.

Also to rewrite it again will be sheer waste of time and resources.
In fact I could never take advantage of GTWVW because it become mutually
exclusive with GTWVG, and which I do not want at this time. Possibly
in the coming few days I will lay the base structure how GTWVW
functionality can be included in GTWVG. There onwards there should be
cummulative effort to achieve this goal. I alone can achieve but it may
take a bit longer.

To conclude, GTWVW is not going to be rewritten but will be included
in GTWVG and for sure end-user will need a minimum to change his code.


Hope I am clear enough.

Regards
Pritpal Bedi

A template to transform to GUI using GTWVG by Massimo Belgrano

CCH : I think this article by Massimo Belgrano posted on 25/4/09 at the Harbour Project Main Developer List is pretty useful fo users of Harbour +GTWVG


Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:04:14 +0200
From: Massimo Belgrano <mbelgrano@deltain.it>
Subject: [Harbour] A template for add to a CUI application to transorm
in GUI using gtwvg
To: "Harbour Project Main Developer List."
<harbour@harbour-project.org>

A template for transform in gui a gtwvg application today and i hope
that in future also gtqtg

#INCLUDE "HBGTINFO.CH"
function main
HB_GTSYS()
set color to "N/W,N/BG,,,N/W*"
cls
hb_gtInfo( HB_GTI_ICONFILE, "sample.ico" )
hb_gtInfo( HB_GTI_WINTITLE, "Programm Title" )
Hb_GtInfo( HB_GTI_SELECTCOPY,.T.)
Hb_GtInfo( HB_GTI_RESIZABLE, .T. )

..
return

Function HB_GTSYS()
REQUEST HB_GT_WVG_DEFAULT
Return NIL


compile your apllication with
hbmk2 mio.prg -gtwvg -gui

Please share any idea
for menu is better use vtg class or xbp?

--
Massimo Belgrano

Can GTWVG work with xHarbour ?

CCH : I have been asked quite a few times as to whether GTWVG will compile with xHarbour.
Initially, I thought why not as Ron Pinkas was the one who mentioned about WVG in a response to me in the xHarbour Builder News Group. At that time, I was using the September 2008 Edition of xHarbour.com distro.

Today, Sudip Bhattacharyya revealed an email discussion with Pritpal regarding this matter.

Q. Is there any way to use xHarbour+wvg?

QUOTE by Pritpal Bedi

WVG as of now is not compilable with xHarbour. It is multi-windows, multi-threaded approach and some very fine new concepts which are only available in Harbour.

I had ported WVG to xHarbour but about 1.5 years before. That version is workable but you have to compile it with your own tools. Just look for xharbour/contrib/gtwvg folder in CVS.

Due to its limitations I am not contributing to xHarbour any more.

UNQUOTE

what's the difference between GTWVT and GTWVG?

CCH: In an effort to 'guify' FAS4XHB.EXE, I wanted to retain the procedural approach (i.e no events-driven stuff)
I was advised by Ron Pinkas not to use gtwvw but to take a look at WVT & WVG

I found this interesting article by Clipper... Clipper...Contributor, Pritpal bedi of Harbour Project.

Response by Pritpal Bedi to a post dated 20th Nov 2007 
entitled Gtwvt + Wvtgui = Gtwvg : xHarbour => Harbour

If used as pure console "NOTHING".

If used with GUI extensions, very appealing Windows screens without
sacrificing the Clipper syntax.

To have a bird's eyeview what we can achieve with GTWVG, visit:
http://www.vouchcac.com/ScreenShots/ScreenShots.htm
Though these screens are fairly old, the latest ones have toolbars etc too,
but even then you can have a fairly good overview. To just emphasize, this
lib does not change the way you write code, instead, provide mechanism to
enhance your code to give a GUI look.

This is one of my appln converted to GTWVG (Harbour)   GTWVT+WVTGUI
(xHarbour).

Additionally GTWVG has a nice set of Wvt*Classes() which employ the common
event loop. You can create high performance dialogs with multiple Tbrowe,
Reads, Bitmaps, Buttons, i.e. all GUI elements you can think of.

More, you can open multiple pure Windows dialogs MODELESS or MODEL from
within your Clipper syntax.

I suggest you to experiment with xharbour/contrib/wvtgui/tests/wvtgui.prg to
learn more about these features. In future I will write a comprehensive
documentation.

If group agrees and someone more gifted developer join hands, these graphic
elements can be embedded with base GT to avoid additional code to be written
by the developer.

Based on GTWVG I am working on another libarry GTWVM ( Multiple Console
Terminal Driver ) just like in XBase++. There you can open multiple consoles
in an application containing its own GT and GUI elements and having its own
processing loop independant of others. It requires deep changes into GT core
code, which at the minimum needs a unique identifier for each GT command. I
have achieved a little bit but seems it is a long way to go, and perhaps, at
my own I cannot do everything. If group decided I can show a prototype of
what I am trying to achieve.

Hope you must be clear about the differences of GTWVT and GTWVG.

Regards
Pritpal Bedi, INDIA-USA