Actually I did ask this question a while back on the gtk list (although
I called it a gtk java binding, which was probably a poor chioce of
terms). From memory, people replyed that this would be doable, but
weren't sure whether using another platform specific awt implementation,
rather than using swing was a good idea. Having thought about, I think
I tend to agree now, since while it would be nice to have an awt based
on a free lib like gtk, I'm not sure whether it would be worth all the
effort. Currently, I think having something like the XTC-awt lib (see
recent posts to list) would be much more valuable (and much more
x-platform).
BTW, I'm not quite sure why the people suggesting having a swing gtk L&F
think it would in any way help java apps be used with gnome. While they
would "look&feel" the same as gnome (gtk based) apps, this wouldn't
change the fact that they would be using the jdk's _motif_
windows/frames/whatever. Now I don't really know to much about gnome,
but as far as I can see, simply having a swing gtk l&f will not give you
any access to the nice features being built into gnome like drag&drop,
unless you intend to code these up as part of the gtk l&f (which I don't
think the other l&f's do).
Still, I think intergration with gnome is a great idea, and since they
are using things like a CORBA ORB for some things in gnome (not exactly
sure what, need to read upp on it aome more) I think it would be not
too hard to add java stuff into gnome (actually I'm considering doing a
project somewhat along these lines, so if any has any ideas about what
they would find useful, eg. sysadmin features, please let me know).
Maksim.
Paul Duran wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm sure that this question has been asked several times before but I'm
> wondering if anybody has looked at using Gtk for the peer components in the
> AWT. Java allows for the peers to be defined by the implementation, and so I
> think it would be really nice (and even a bit unique) if there was an
> implementation of the AWT in GTK. There seems to be no reason to stay tied
> to motif (which is 1: not free 2: bulky and 3: must be used as statically
> linked for those of us who dont have motif installed on our system).
>
> With the current linux trend steering towards Gnome/GTK , it would be really
> fantastic for there to be an AWT implementation in GTK. Some ppl mentioned
> earlier about implementing GTL l&f in swing, but this would remove that
> necessity and also provide a very significant speed increase.
>
> In short, the source code availablility of GTK and the non-restriciveness of
> the peering interface in the JDK should allow us to port the AWT to use GTK
> for its peering widgets with a fair degree of ease.
>
> If there are any significant technical reasons why this is not possible,
> could somebody enlighten me? I think its a good idea.
>
> Regards,
> Paul Duran
--
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Maksim Lin
Centre for Object Technology Applications and Research
Swinburne University of Technology
http://www.csse.swin.edu.au/maksim
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