Subject:	Re: X programming
To:	djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu (DJ's GPP mailing list)
Date:	Wed, 9 Sep 92 11:31:55 EDT
From:	Stephen Turnbull <turnbull AT ecolan DOT sbs DOT ohio-state DOT edu>

Chris Kukilies writes

> I'm considering getting serious with X programming using djgpp.
> Could anyone help to answer my questions:
>
> 1) What do I need from QuarterDeck?

See my response to David, below.

> 2) Is the dvx library presently available from barnavcle.erc.clarkson.edu
>  sufficient (latest version)?

It seems to be a complete implementation of Xlib, Xmu, and Xt, plus
some DV/X-specific stuff.  I am not an expert, so take that with a
grain of salt.

> Are there any constraints for building local clients using the above
> requisites?

I don't know yet.

David Ronis asks

> 1.  What is the minimal setup which will give me full downward
> compatibility with what I've got.  
> 
> Currently. I use and write DJGPP, Microsoft C6.0, and fortran
> applications.  My networking tools are FTP software's TC/PIP tools,
> and I'm connected directly to our university's ethernet backbone.
> Finally I've written several "desqview-aware" applications.  I don't
> mind if something of mine becomes obsolete, e.g., my networking tools,
> but I'd hope that everything else would still work without too much
> extra trouble.  Is this the case?  For example, can the regular
> desqview interface be run as a separate local window.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "minimal" or the "regular DV interface,"
so forgive me if what I say isn't helpful.  I don't have a lot of
experience with DV; I got it originally in hopes of multi-tasking
DEmacs (the current version neither runs under DV[/X], nor does it
coexist with other DOS-extended software when suspended).  Since it
does not run under DV, I gave up on DV (I use 4DOS, which allows me to
move among DEmacs, TeX, the previewer, and the printer driver as fast
as MicroLimply possible, the main situation where I want to be
multi-tasked).
    As far as I can tell, networking aside, *everything* that ran
under DV will still run under DV/X, with one refinement.  You can run
things under "DOS-writes-to-screen," and it looks exactly like you
time-warped your old DV app into a nifty graphical interface.  (Like
the characters in the Dire Straits "Money for Nothing" video in
reverse.)  I think that answers your question about "old DV
interface."  Of course, you also have a DOS window to run things from
the command line.
    The refinement is a pure bonus.  Due to the wonders of Adobe Type
Manager with scalable fonts, there is a "scalable DOS window" version
of the "DOS-writes-to-screen" interface, and you can make the
characters big or small by reducing or enlarging the window; but you
always have 25x80 characters (or whatever you started with) in the
window.
    If you are running Novell or NetBIOS, DV/X may have native support
for those technologies.  I don't have them, I can't tell you.  The
documentation indicates it should be really easy to get peer-to-peer
communication in those technologies.  If you are running a TCP/IP or
other (surely DECNet is supported since it MIT X is native bilingual
in TCP/IP and DECNet) net, you will need the Network Manager optional
module.
    The file manager and window manager that come with the basic DV/X
package have changed my views about GUI for Intel based machines.
It's the first file manager I've seen that made moving large numbers
of files packed into .zips willy-nilly with no respect for directory
structure easy, if still tedious (it doesn't read your mind :-).
OTOH, it's not the Mac Finder.  'Nuf said.
    In my inexperienced opinion, DV/X is a huge win with nothing but
$100/copy against it if you are already using DV.
 
    I am busy, up to my neck in alligators, you know, right now.  But
I really want this DV/X to take off.  I hate Windows (probably a pure
prejudice now that 3.1 is out ;-), but as I wrote above, DV/X is the
GUI that has me convinced that I want one on *my* machine.  And I want
apps that know about X, which requires an installed customer base "out
there."  So if you have any questions that require a comparison of DV
and DV/X on commonly available software, let me know.  If I've got it,
I'll try it for you.  That is, I'll put it into my (priority :-)
queue.  ("Easy things get done next week, the difficult ones Real Soon
Now.")
--
 
Stephen Turnbull
The Ohio State University, Department of Economics
410 Arps Hall, 1945 N. High St., Columbus, OH  43210-1172  USA
Phone: (614) 292-0654  Fax: ...-3906  Email: turnbull DOT 1 AT osu DOT edu

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