DOS GUI
Dr. Luca Poretti
some parameters to classify the GUI...
- c / c++
- text / graphical user interface
- portability
- 16 / 32 bit
Welcome to every suggestion, experience ...
Many thanks in advace ....
James Hall
good. Ran in text mode or graphics mode (EGA resolution worked great
for me - not too big and not too small.) It didn't do multitasking, but
it did do task switching - so it was great to flip between, say,
WordPerfect and AsEasyAs.
These days, if I use a GUI at all under DOS, I use the DESK2 software
that you can find from FreeDOS.
-jh
Steve J. Thornburg
about what you are looking for. If you want a programmer's library to
develop a GUI for DOS based applications, take a look at Fastgraph. If you
are looking for a DOS "shell", I have no preference to offer.
Steve
Dr. Luca Poretti wrote in message <77cur5$9ba$1...@news1-alterdial.uu.net>...
Dr. Luca Poretti
Steve J. Thornburg ha scritto nel messaggio
<77efjp$f...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
>Maybe the day has been too long, or the weather too cold... I am confused
>about what you are looking for. If you want a programmer's library to
>develop a GUI for DOS based applications, take a look at Fastgraph. If you
>are looking for a DOS "shell", I have no preference to offer.
>Steve
>
Ooops ...
Yes, I'm speaking about programmer's library ... (the newsgroup is
msdos.programmer :-)
I have to build a user interface for an industrial computer controlling a
robot under MSDOS...
Thanks for the suggestion .. Now I go to take a look at FastGraph...
Steve J. Thornburg
>Yes, I'm speaking about programmer's library ... (the newsgroup is
>msdos.programmer :-)
>
>I have to build a user interface for an industrial computer controlling a
>robot under MSDOS...
>
>Thanks for the suggestion .. Now I go to take a look at FastGraph...
For Fastgraph info, http://fastgraph.com/ is where to look.
For some interesting related info, take a look at
http://www.gamestats.com/interviews/dgruber/dgruber.htm
I have used Fastgraph for DOS GUI's in applications that required realtime
process control, where system event response latency had to be less than 1
millisecond. It also was used for the GUI in a military target
acquisition/tracking system, which had severe realtime processing
requirements. I found Fastgraph to be capable of providing a "Windows like"
GUI environment without the overhead of typical graphics libraries. The
target acquisition/tracking system had to display live video feed from up to
4 video channels while providing the user with various display information
and the ability to manage the system using a menu based interface.
There is a trial version which you can use for evaluation, but I found that
the full package was well worth having.
Good luck with the robotics project. That's a fascinating area with a
bright future. The ones I've worked with used a combination of embedded DOS
for the host and a DSP unit for motion control, communicating via dual port
RAM.
Steve
Paul Camilleri
for a solid GUI which also has good cross platform support (dos,windows,unix
etc). Or you may have a look at MGL (www.scitech.com) which has a GUI but
is a bit limited. In any case, Fastgraph is certainly an excellent product.
Good luck!
David McFarlane
<por...@vortexsystems.com> wrote:
>Yes, I'm speaking about programmer's library ... (the newsgroup is
>msdos.programmer :-)
>
>I have to build a user interface for an industrial computer controlling a
>robot under MSDOS...
(Here's a long post, but I hope it's worth it.)
As it turns out, I too have been looking into getting a DOS Text GUI
(aka "TUI") library for some time. I've gathered info by lurking in
Usenet and CompuServe, searching DejaNews, byte.com and ddj.com, and
visiting many Web pages. I found hits in DejaNews going back to 1995 --
folks have been asking about this for quite awhile, but the discussion
has been spotty.
As a service to the Usenet community, I here post a summary of my
current investigations. I arranged things in categories, and within
each category more-or-less according to price (well, how would *you* do
it?)
Here are some Books & Articles that have been recommended in this
context:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
$?? "Graphical User Interface Programming" by Steve Rimmer (~1992)
$25 "Graphical User Interfaces With Turbo C++" by Ted Faison (~1994?)
$30 "Teach Yourself Advanced C in 21 Days" by Jones & Guntle (1994)
(These are all rather old, try amazon.com, borders.com, abebooks.com)
$n/a D-Flat, in Al Stevens' C Programming column, "Dr. Dobb's Journal"
starting May 1991
Here are some DOS Text UI Libraries for plain C:
------------------------------------------------
SUIT - Univ. VA
$0 Source avail. in principle Demo impossible to get
Multi-platform, thru BGI, GP, SRGP layers.
This seems to be an ambitious acedemic project ca. 1994 that didn't
catch on and has been abandoned.
www.cs.virginia.edu/~suit
MGUI - Morello
$0/500 Source $5000 Demo avail.
$0 non-commercial, $500 commercial; cross-platform; large memory
model only; uses BGI; also have a good C++ wrapper
volftp.tin.it/italiani/MORELLO/index_e.htm
GameSmith - GameSmith
$0-100 Source $20 Demo avail.
$0 to use, $20 for source w/o support, $100 support w/ source
limited GUI; medium memory model; Xmode
users.uniserve.com/~alexad3
C/Windows Toolchest Mix Software
$40 Source +$10 Demo avail.
>250 fns; looks pretty good! block text select? memory models?
This product has elicited the most posive testimonials on Usenet
over the years.
www.mixsoftware.com
Steph - Stephen Morphet
25# S. No source? Demo avail.
That's 25 pds Sterling
Not bad; large library; fixed width (80 col) windows
Simtel free/shareware archive: www.simtel.net/simtel.net
CodeScreens - Sequiter Software
$67/95 Source incl. No demo avail.
May be OK; w/ source => no model restrictions.
Sequiter ($95): www.sequiter.com
ProVantage ($67): www.provantage.com
Vitamin C 4.5 - Creative Programming Consultants
$224/300 Source incl. Demo avail.
May be OK; w/ source => no model restrictions; can use plain text or
truly "graphical" buttons & widgets.
Creative Programming Consultants ($300): www.netpath.com/~cpc
ProVantage ($224): www.provantage.com
Vermont Views - Vermont Creative Software
$433/495/683 Source incl. Demo avail.
>630 fns; apparently complete, looks good; may order for 60-day no-
risk trial.
Vermont Creative Software ($495): www.vtsoft.com
ProVantage ($433/$683): www.provantage.com
Here are some DOS Text/Graphic UI Libraries that are object-oriented
(C++):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
JPTUI - Jean-Pierre Delprat
$0 Source avail. Demo avail.
Requires BC++ 4.0 or above, even for demo; huge memory model
w3.teaser.fr/~jpdelprat
TurboVision for DOS - Borland
$??
This is the classic OO DOS GUI class library standard. No longer
sold by Borland. I heard (13Sep96) it's available free at their ftp
site -- good luck!
try ftp.borland.com
DOS Buttons - Annasoft
$149 Source incl. Demo avail.
True GUI; pretty, but not useful; emphasis on buttons.
www.annasoft.com
Fastgraph + FastGUI - Ted Gruber Software + JB Systems
$345 FastGUI source Demo avail.
>275 fns; C++ class lib, true GUI; text, chk, radio, slides.
fastgraph.com
MGUI - Morello
see above
Here are some DOS Graphic or Window (*not* GUI or TUI) Libraries for C
or C++ that often get tossed into the discussion:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
curses - freeware
$0 Comes from Unix, of course it includes source! Demo avail.
Basic window & cursor fns, but no GUI or mouse fns.
Simtel free/shareware archive: www.simtel.net/simtel.net
Look for, e.g., cursesp.zip, dcurses2.zip, swears10.zip.
MGL - SciTech Software
$0 Source $0 Demo avail.
Win 3.1 look; 32-bit, C & C++, multi-platform API
www.scitechsoft.com
MetaWindow - MetaGraphics MetaGraphics
$215 Source +$400 Demo avail.
Full, solid graphics & mouse toolkit, but no GUI (3rd party)
www.metagraphics.com
Virt-Win - TeraTech
$295 No source? Demo avail.
Good text & window handling; GUI support uncertain; should have all
memory models, asm source.
www.teratech.com
Fastgraph - Ted Gruber Software
$299 No source? Demo avail.
>275 fns; C++ class lib. Much recommended in Usenet posts.
fastgraph.com
Here are some GUI tools that are marketed expressly as Multi-Platform
Toolkits:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
C++ Views - Liant Software Liant Software
$0 Source avail. Demo?
Object oriented (Byte, Jan94); std template lib extension
www.liant.com
Zinc Application Frameworks - Zinc Software
$0-?? Source avail. Demo avail.
Object oriented; DOS support?
www.zinc.com
XVT - XVT Software
$??
Plain C (Byte, Jan94); OOP; DOS?
www.xvt.com
Galaxy
As of 13Jan99, can't find this.
Utah
As of 13Jan99, can't find this.
zApp
As of 13Jan99, can't find this.
I've seen these mentioned, but they seem to have dropped out of sight:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
unnamed library to emulate Win95 look under DOS - www.debs.org
$0
In a Usenet post on 28Jan98 Ms. Wiles hoped to create such a
library,, but no sight of it as of 13Jan99 - probably abandoned.
www.debs.org
DataWindows - Greenleaf Software
$231
Sighted on 13Feb98, offered by Greenleaf and Provantage, but gone as
of 13Jan99.
www.greenleafsoftware.com, www.provantage.com
MEWEL - Magma Systems
ma...@bix.com (Marc Adler) promoted this product in several Usenet
post thru 1995 and 1996, last post 24Aug96.
ma...@bix.com; www.uno.com (??)
C-Scape - ??
Mentioned in Usenet post 19-Dec-95.
TCXL - Innovative Data Concepts
Mentioned in Usenet post 8Jan98.
Of course, I don't expect this survey to be complete, I expect those of
you who have additional info will contribute it, and if I have the
energy I'll incorporate it into a later revision of this summary.
I will post this as a followup to a few appropriate threads. I hope
this does not offend Usenet spam sensibilities, and I expect I will be
told if it does <g>.
-- David McFarlane 22 Jan 1999
Disclaimers:
The above info is based on what I gathered from other sources, and I do
not guarantee its accuracy. So USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! In particular, I
will not be responsible for any losses or damages that arise from the
use of this info.
Of course, any opinions expressed here are purely my own and not those
of anyone or anything that is associated with me.
Credits:
Thanks are due to all the software publishers above, and to many
contributors on Usenet. Here are some contributors, in more-or-less
reverse chronological order: Dr. Luca Poretti, Steve J. Thornburg, Paul
Camilleri, grafbobo, John Kopp, Denis Gleeson, Robert Morrison,
Christoph Merten, Knut Roll-Lund, David Glick, Debbie Wiles, Mark Nance,
Ryan Phillips, Robert Templeton, MJB, Vincenzo Morello, Allison,
RennieOcon, Matthew Diesch, Walt Silva, Cris Berneburg, Doug Huggard,
James Lynch, Alexander Russell, Jean-Pierre Delprat, Sumo Steve, Anthony
Holbert, Bruce Wedding, Marc Adler, Ted Davis, Molaro Paolo, Kelly
Koblun, Vijay Parikh, Kendall Bennett, Richard Shepard, Thomas Leathley,
Bob Stout, Laura Michaels, Jeff Jones, Starduster.
Laura Michaels
> As a service to the Usenet community, I here post a summary of my
> current investigations. I arranged things in categories, and within
> each category more-or-less according to price (well, how would *you* do
> it?)
Well since I got mentioned in the references, I might as well put my two
cents in. I was looking for a DOS GUI a couple of years ago. I went
through quite a few libraries and finally settled on D-Flat.
>>$n/a D-Flat, in Al Stevens' C Programming column, "Dr. Dobb's Journal"
>> starting May 1991
This is available on CD from Dr. Dobbs. They have a CD with quite a
number of their back issues. Check their web site.
There are actually 3 different types of D-Flat libraries, D-Flat which is
the C version, D-Flat++ which is the C++ version and the D-Flat wrapper
which is code to make the C version work easier in C++. D-Flat has more
features than D-Flat++, so if you need to use C++, you're probably better
off using D-Flat plus the wrapper classes. The latest versions of these
libraries are available from:
http://www.ddj.com/ftp/packages/dflat/dflt20.zip
http://www.ddj.com/ftp/packages/dflat/dfwrap.zip
>>TurboVision for DOS - Borland
>>$??
>> This is the classic OO DOS GUI class library standard. No longer
>> sold by Borland. I heard (13Sep96) it's available free at their ftp
>> site -- good luck!
>> try ftp.borland.com
TV Plus is not supported by Borland any more, it's free and you should be
able to find the code or links to various compiler ports at:
http://www.zeta.org.au/%7Egrove/tvguide.html
>>curses - freeware
>>$0 Comes from Unix, of course it includes source! Demo avail.
>> Basic window & cursor fns, but no GUI or mouse fns.
>> Simtel free/shareware archive: www.simtel.net/simtel.net
>> Look for, e.g., cursesp.zip, dcurses2.zip, swears10.zip.
I tried several versions of curses. At the time, the only one that came
close to the Unix versions was PDCURSES. See:
http://www.lightlink.com/hessling/
>>XVT - XVT Software
>>$??
>> Plain C (Byte, Jan94); OOP; DOS?
>> www.xvt.com
I used this years ago for a DOS GUI. It worked well, but was very costly.
XVT is no longer supporting the DOS environment so it's no longer
available.
>>Zinc Application Frameworks - Zinc Software
>>$0-?? Source avail. Demo avail.
>> Object oriented; DOS support?
>> www.zinc.com
>>zApp
>> As of 13Jan99, can't find this.
I believe these libraries did have DOS versions at one time, but have
phased out or are phasing them out. I know at least one of them no longer
supports a DOS version.
The links listed here and some other User Interface related links that may
be of interest are also accessible at
http://members.aol.com/lauram3017/uilibs.html.
Laura Michaels
http://members.aol.com/lauram3017/index.html