V is an easy to program, cross-platform C++ GUI Framework. V was designed to make it the easiest way to write C++ graphical user interface applications available -- commercial, shareware, or freeware. The V framework has been used several semesters for the software engineering class at the University of New Mexico, and has proven to be extremely easy to learn and use, as well as reliable as commercial software. Experienced C++ programmers can typically have a V application working within a single day!
The current release of V includes support for X Windows using the Athena widgets (to keep it free!), with customized versions of some Xaw3d widgets (to give it a 3D look), and Microsoft Windows Win 3.1 and WIN32/Windows 95. Ports for OS/2 and Motif have recently been released. V is available under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License, so will remain freely available to the public.
V is a portable C++ GUI Framework intended to develop a wide variety of applications on different graphical interface platforms. While it is probably not suitable for developing state-of-the art commercial applications with all the latest interface components, it is very complete and suitable for a large majority of custom GUI applications. Applications developed using V will have the look and feel of the native platform, yet will be portable across platforms.
Most standard GUI objects are supported by V, including windows with menus, status bars, tool bars, and a drawing canvas; modal and modeless dialogs with the most common controls (buttons, lists, labels, text entry, check and radio buttons, etc.); and portable printing support.
V also supports OpenGL. Since V is so easy to learn, it allows you to develop an excellent GUI interface for your OpenGL application. Support for interface items is greater than the GLUT tool often used for portable GUI apps.
There are two main groups of programmers who will find V useful First, V is an excellent tool to use for teaching programming to computer science students. It has been used at the University of New Mexico for several semesters for the Senior level software engineering class for developing large projects. It has also been used successfully for the Junior level programming class where students get their first real programming assignments.
At both levels, V has proven to be a very effective tool. Because of its design, it is amazingly easy to learn to use. For the first time, our students have been able to easily develop GUI programs that work on the University's X Windows systems, or often on the students own Linux systems.
The design and implementation of V itself is also an excellent C++ case study. The code is commercial quality, and extensively documented. It provides not only a good case study of an object-oriented design, it provides excellent examples of the low level interface to the native GUI tool kits for X Windows and Microsoft Windows.
V is also an excellent tool for developing many custom applications. It is a suitable tool for research labs, small custom software shops, engineering firms, or individuals that need to develop an application that needs a graphical user interface, especially for multiple platforms. Because of its design, V is far easier to learn and use than the native GUI tool kits. It is also easier to learn than larger frameworks such as MFC or OWL. Since it is freeware, licensed under the GNU Library General Public License, it will always be available with its source code for public use.
The V distribution contains the complete source code for the Windows 3.1, 94 and NT versions, and the X Windows Athena version. The Windows versions have been tested with Borland and Watcom C++ compilers, and there is a contributed makefile for VC++. The X version has been developed using the Gnu g++ compiler, and has been tested on several Unix platforms, including Linux, SunOS, and Alpha, and SGI machines.
There is a 150 page indexed reference manual included. The manual is provided in PostScript and HTML versions. There are also several example programs included in the distribution.
An incomplete list of the features supported by the V Framework includes the following:
To keep it simple, V does not include support for non-GUI objects such as containers or other typical C++ objects. There are other libraries available for those tools.
There aren't many, really. This is freeware developed by just one person, so it takes time to add new features. There are also some features still missing from the framework, including portable help. These features will be included in future versions. V also does not support operating system dependent features such as pipes, forks, or OLE.
The current release of V supports X Windows with the Athena or Motif widget sets, Windows 3.1, 95, and NT, and OS/2. It is unlikely MacOS will ever be supported.
The distribution also includes several useful apps, including an icon editor, a text editor, and the beginnings of a really useful integrated development environment for GNU g++.
Dr. Bruce Wampler is the designer and author of the V GUI Framework. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of New Mexico. He moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado in 1997. He has been a part of the PC revolution since its beginning. He developed some of the first spelling checking software available for PCs way back in TRS-80 and CP/M days. He was the founder of two successful software companies, Aspen Software in the early 1980's, and Reference Software International in 1985. Dr. Wampler was the principal author of the widely known grammar checker, Grammatik.
In 1992, WordPerfect acquired Reference Software and Grammatik. Since that time, Dr. Wampler has been following other interests, which include teaching and developing V. He sees V as a way to give back something to the software community.
V is available via from the SourceForge site. See the Download Page .
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