Random question

[Agita]

Hello I am an Utter noob at this but just wanting to ask a simple question or two.

What would I use in order to create a graphical interface. Something simple that would link buttons to scrips? Any answer or suggestion would be much appriciated!

Thanks in advance.

[kb.net]

Hi,

That depends on what you need to do. Please provide further information.

[Agita]

Sorry for the lack of info. I don't really know myself. I might not even have the right Idea but, a small window with buttons that link to a script or batch or anything else. Just to give a interactive interface instead of a bunch of different scripts. Thanks for the reply.

(out of curiosity that might lead to giving you a idea have you
ever used a hiren's disk before in particular 9.1 or higher?)

[Hamrick]

I just finished an app that lets you open a data connection and test stored procedures by using an XML config file to specify the stored procedures and corresponding parameter information. If I understand, that's close to what you want to do. There are a few things you need to think about.

• If you want to run any script or program, you can't hard code anything. You have to use some kind of config file to say what program is being run and what parameters it takes. I did that with an XML file that I deserialize into an object hierarchy.
• You need to come up with a way to display the output in a universal way. With program output, that means you're going to end up using just a text box and letting the program format the output. What I did was use a data grid for the result set and a multiline text box for the output parameters.
• The UI needs to be able to adjust to different numbers and types of parameters that you send to the program you're going to run. What I did was make a user control with a name and a text box value that the user can just type freeform parameter data into. There's no validation since it's a utility for people who know what they're doing. ;)

It's harder to write an application that's universal than one that only allows a few different script types. You need to think hard about the design before you start writing code or you'll end up throwing a lot of things away when it turns out to be too specific. :(

As for the language, I wrote mine in C# 1.1, and a .NET language makes things pretty easy if you're on a windows platform. That's what I'd recommend for you. Next in line is non-.NET visual basic if you're on a windows platform that doesn't use .NET and Java if you're not on windows at all. All of them make writing GUIs as simple as possible.

[Agita]

Thanks for the information! I'll start researching.

Thanks for your help!

[Agita]

Sorry to double post but is there a good compiler that works with windows but is free?

[Hamrick]

What language do you need the compiler for? :)

[Agita]

C+ is all I really know.

Willing to experiment with anything else.

[kb.net]

Hi,
If you can unsertand some VBA (and it is very user friendly) you can simply use access or excel. Am sure as you start you can get very good suport.

[Agita]

Visual Basic for Applications?

Expensive? Hoping to say in windows and legal. lol

[Hamrick]

GUIs in C++ aren't really that easy unless you use C++.NET and then you could use C# because it's designed with .NET in mind while C++.NET is a patch job. Visual C# 2005 Express is a free compiler with drag and drop UI features that make it really easy to make a GUI. If you want to use C++ still, Visual C++ 2005 Express is free too. You can find them all here.

[Agita]

Friggn thanks. But... I've tried a thousand times to download them. The I can't connect to download though.

I've heard from others around here that they were trials. I had C++ but I payed for it in school. this is the first time in a while that I have took an interest in programming. Thanks for the info.,

By the way do you know any reason that Would be? Not just me but everyone here too like 5 computers.

[Ezzaral]

Java is always a free option for you.

[Agita]

Never messed with Java.

[kb.net]

Hi,

If never messed with Java I advise you not to start now :)

[Agita]

Thanks, but.. why?

[Ezzaral]

Thanks, but.. why?

Well, because you said you wanted a language to create GUIs with :) You could also use PHP, Python, or Perl if you want to use a scripting language instead of a compiled language. You asked an extremely open-ended question, so any suggestion here is going to be accordingly generic.

If you don't want to use C++, then C# and Java are the closest next in line to what you already know. Microsoft provides a free editor for C# and on the Java side Eclipse and Netbeans are two popular free editor choices.

In the end, you'll have to figure out what you are comfortable using for the task.

[Agita]

I don't mean to be vague. I don't know that much about this and I'm wanting to learn. I've just never really played with this before. I wanted a project to help me learn more about basic programing. I start my last semester for my BS app. in physics in two days . I needed two more electives so I signed up for "programming with Alice" and "Visual Basic using C#" possibly I'll learn what I'm looking for. If not I'll gain some experience and knowledge.

[Ezzaral]

"Visual Basic using C#" is a very odd title, as those are 2 different languages, but yes, you will learn about GUI applications I'm sure.

[Agita]

lol Thats the title on my Book. And what exactly is Alice? It looks familiar.

[~s.o.s~]

> And what exactly is Alice?
"Alice ML is a functional programming language based on Standard ML, extended with rich support for concurrent, distributed, and constraint programming."

[Agita]

Ya, I read that on the wiki.