Side effects?

[Ian Wadham]

On 01/02/2013, at 11:05 AM, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
> On Jan 31, 2013, at 16:53, Ian Wadham wrote:
>> I did "sudo port install -k -s pallet"
> 
> Single-letter flags like -k and -s have no effect unless you put them immediately after the word "port".
> 
> sudo port -k -s install Pallet

Oops. That's what I actually "commanded" but not what I emailed.

>> I am unfamiliar with both Objective C and the Macports structure … :-(
>> 
>> However, I am familiar with C++, Qt and Qt Designer (a forms designer
>> and code generator for Qt-based GUIs).  Is there a forms designer for
>> Mac, BTW?  Hand-coding of widgets can be laborious ...
> 
> Interface Builder. It's part of Xcode.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_Builder

Thanks, Ryan.  That looks good.  It's not exactly lying around on the surface
in Xcode, though.  FWICG, you have to use File->New… and ask for a XIB
file(?).

>> Or maybe I could prototype in C++ and Qt while boning up on Xcode
>> and Cocoa …  BTW I have OS X 10.7.5 Lion and Xcode 4.2.1.  Would
>> those be OK as a platform, from Macports' point of view?
> 
> Yes, but please update to Xcode 4.6. It's a free update for Lion or Mountain Lion users on the Mac App Store or at Apple Developer Connection.

Will do.

> My opinion is that cross-platform frameworks like Qt or wxWidgets or Java result in programs that don't look at home on any platform, especially not OS X which has a very specific interface design aesthetic, and which are also far larger and slower than if they had been written to the target OS directly. If cross-platform compatibility is your primary interest and you cannot afford to create separate native interfaces for each of your target platforms then so be it. But for a MacPorts GUI, which need only run on OS X, I strongly suspect that the best user experience will result from writing in Objective-C with Cocoa.

I tend to agree in this case.  No need for a Macports GUI to be cross-platform.

However, for me there is a learning curve to be climbed on Objective C, Cocoa
and Xcode.  I don't know if I have the energy for that.  I will be 75 next month and
I wrote my first computer program about 50 years ago in Autocoder on a Ferrant
Sirius, which is now in a local museum.  So don't expect too much … :-)

Cheers, Ian W.