what is used to create a form?
 

I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
creating a form with button using visual studio c++
Not everyone uses the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ that requires a runtime
file and most programs seem to have pull down menus and buttons to click on
so what do others use to create a form when writing a program in C++?

A beginner is taught to use functions such as cin and cout but they are for
console programming and most commercially created C++ programs don't have a
DOS screen that pops up when the user uses the program.

--
Regards Brian

Re: what is used to create a form?
 

Brian wrote:

> I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
> creating a form with button using visual studio c++
> Not everyone uses the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ that requires a runtime
> file and most programs seem to have pull down menus and buttons to click
> on so what do others use to create a form when writing a program in C++?

It appears that you are asking how you could use C++ to develop graphical
user interfaces. If that's what you intended to ask then the answer is
simple: pick a widget toolkit or even an application framework and code
away.

There are plenty to choose from besides Microsoft's offering. I suspect Qt
will be the easiest to pick up, in spite of their signals and slots
approach. If it interests you, take a look at:

http://qt-project.org/


> A beginner is taught to use functions such as cin and cout but they are
> for console programming and most commercially created C++ programs don't
> have a DOS screen that pops up when the user uses the program.

You are a bit confused, probably due to some misconceptions. Read up on
standard streams. The "DOS screen" nonsense is just a very specific way a
command line interpreter (in your case, Microsoft's notoriously poor
implementation of one) interprets stdout and stderr. Standard streams are
much more than a way to present the user with a boring text dump.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_streams


Rui Maciel

Re: what is used to create a form?
 

On 10/3/2012 9:06 AM, Brian wrote:
> I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
> creating a form with button using visual studio c++
> Not everyone uses the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ that requires a runtime
> file and most programs seem to have pull down menus and buttons to click on
> so what do others use to create a form when writing a program in C++?
>
> A beginner is taught to use functions such as cin and cout but they are for
> console programming and most commercially created C++ programs don't have a
> DOS screen that pops up when the user uses the program.

Take a look at WxWidgets for a C++ multiple
platform toolkit.
http://www.wxwidgets.org/

I have never used it but it is recommended.

Lynn

Re: what is used to create a form?
 

Hello Brian (and Sam)!

On Wednesday, October 3, 2012 6:47:21 PM UTC-4, Sam wrote:
> Brian writes:
>
> > I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
> > creating a form with button using visual studio c++
> > Not everyone uses the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ that requires a runtime
> ...
> > file and most programs seem to have pull down menus and buttons to click on
> > so what do others use to create a form when writing a program in C++?
> >
> > A beginner is taught to use functions such as cin and cout but they are for
> > console programming and most commercially created C++ programs don't have a
> > DOS screen that pops up when the user uses the program.
>
> These resources typically come from a platform-specific operating system
> library. Microsoft Windows provides several libraries which application use
> to construct UI elements, such as windows and dialog boxes. Linux offers the
> QT C++ toolkit, or the C-based Gnome libraries, for creating application UI.

Just to emphasize what Sam and others are saying:

GUI frameworks -- forms and menus and such -- are not part
of c++ proper; the standard is silent on them (and, as such,
they are a somewhat off-topic for this group). Of course, c++
encourages, rather than prohibits the use of libraries that
are not covered by the standard, and as others have mentioned,
there are any number of c++-based GUI frameworks available.

> There's a QT port for MS-Windows; so, with some effort, it might be possible
> to have a shared code base that compiles against QT on both MS-Windows, and
> Linux.

I would phrase this a little differently, and not call Qt for
windows a port. Qt was from the beginning a cross-platform
framework. (I believe initially for X11 and windows, and now
for many other platforms.)

So, with very little effort it is eminently possible to have a
shared code base for a Qt-based GUI application that builds and
runs on both windows and linux. This is, of course, the whole
point of Qt being a cross-platform framework. (Qt is available
for gcc on linux and for both msvc and windows ports of gcc
(e.g., mingw) on windows.)

So to answer your question, "What do others use to create a
form when writing a program in C++?" Any number of c++-based
GUI frameworks (none of which are defined by the c++ standard).
You could do worse than to choose Qt. If your willing to stick
to windows, you could use microsoft's MFC, with the support it
has in msvc. (And once you make your choice, further questions
won't really be about c++ proper, so you should refer them to a
forum specific to your chosen GUI framework.)

Good luck, and Happy GUI Hacking!


K. Frank

Re: what is used to create a form?
 

"K. Frank" <kfrank29.c@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Brian (and Sam)!
>
> On Wednesday, October 3, 2012 6:47:21 PM UTC-4, Sam wrote:
>> Brian writes:
>>
>>> I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
>>> creating a form with button using visual studio c++
>>> Not everyone uses the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ that requires a runtime
>> ...
>>> file and most programs seem to have pull down menus and buttons to click on
>>> so what do others use to create a form when writing a program in C++?
>>>
>>> A beginner is taught to use functions such as cin and cout but they are for
>>> console programming and most commercially created C++ programs don't have a
>>> DOS screen that pops up when the user uses the program.
>>
>> These resources typically come from a platform-specific operating system
>> library. Microsoft Windows provides several libraries which application use
>> to construct UI elements, such as windows and dialog boxes. Linux offers the
>> QT C++ toolkit, or the C-based Gnome libraries, for creating application UI.
>
> Just to emphasize what Sam and others are saying:
>
> GUI frameworks -- forms and menus and such -- are not part
> of c++ proper; the standard is silent on them (and, as such,
> they are a somewhat off-topic for this group). Of course, c++
> encourages, rather than prohibits the use of libraries that
> are not covered by the standard, and as others have mentioned,
> there are any number of c++-based GUI frameworks available.
>
>> There's a QT port for MS-Windows; so, with some effort, it might be possible
>> to have a shared code base that compiles against QT on both MS-Windows, and
>> Linux.
>
> I would phrase this a little differently, and not call Qt for
> windows a port. Qt was from the beginning a cross-platform
> framework. (I believe initially for X11 and windows, and now
> for many other platforms.)
>
> So, with very little effort it is eminently possible to have a
> shared code base for a Qt-based GUI application that builds and
> runs on both windows and linux. This is, of course, the whole
> point of Qt being a cross-platform framework. (Qt is available
> for gcc on linux and for both msvc and windows ports of gcc
> (e.g., mingw) on windows.)
>
> So to answer your question, "What do others use to create a
> form when writing a program in C++?" Any number of c++-based
> GUI frameworks (none of which are defined by the c++ standard).
> You could do worse than to choose Qt. If your willing to stick
> to windows, you could use microsoft's MFC, with the support it
> has in msvc. (And once you make your choice, further questions
> won't really be about c++ proper, so you should refer them to a
> forum specific to your chosen GUI framework.)
>
> Good luck, and Happy GUI Hacking!
>
>
> K. Frank

What is Qt?
I think I should get to know C++ better before I look at forum suited to
the GUI framework.

--
Regards Brian

Re: what is used to create a form?
 

Hi Brian!

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 9:06:25 AM UTC-4, Brian wrote:
> "K. Frank" <kfrank...> wrote:
> > Hello Brian (and Sam)!
> > On Wednesday, October 3, 2012 6:47:21 PM UTC-4, Sam wrote:
> >> Brian writes:
> >>> I think they call it a platform program when you are using a Form such as
> ...
> > So to answer your question, "What do others use to create a
> > form when writing a program in C++?" Any number of c++-based
> > GUI frameworks (none of which are defined by the c++ standard).
> > You could do worse than to choose Qt. If your willing to stick
> > to windows, you could use microsoft's MFC, with the support it
> > has in msvc. (And once you make your choice, further questions
> > won't really be about c++ proper, so you should refer them to a
> > forum specific to your chosen GUI framework.)
> ...
>
> What is Qt?

Qt is a cross-platform, c++-based GUI and application framework.
(But it's not part of the c++ standard.)

> I think I should get to know C++ better before I look at forum suited to
> the GUI framework.

You should get to know c++ reasonably well before you try to use
a c++-based GUI framework for anything other than learning and
simple experimentation. (But experimenting with a good one can
be a good way to learn c++.)

But if and when you start using something like Qt, you shouldn't
ask your Qt questions here. The participants here want to discuss
c++ itself, rather than various technologies that happen to use
c++. And many of the participants here don't know anything about
Qt (or MFC, or WxWidgets, or ...), so you won't get good (or any)
answers here. So if you have questions about a specific GUI
framework, you'll get the best answers by asking the experts on
that framework on a forum for that framework.

But for pure c++ questions, this is the place.

>
> Regards Brian

Happy Hacking!


K. Frank