Hello,
IBM has released a new XUL motor over at the
Alphaworks site dubbed IBM Reflexive User Interface
Builder lead by Barry Feigenbaum - an IBM
accessibility researcher and a professor of computer
science at the University of Texas, Austin.
The IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder site
states:
What is IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder?
The IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder is an
application that constructs and renders graphical user
interfaces (GUIs) for Java Swing and Eclipse Standard
Widget Toolkit (SWT) based upon a descriptive XML
document. (Java Swing is a rich GUI toolkit included
with Java that provides operating system-independent
GUI components. Eclipse SWT is an add-on GUI toolkit
that takes advantage of host operating system GUI
components for maximum host integration.) IBM
Reflexive User Interface Builder is both a
specification for a mark-up language in which to
describe GUIs and an engine for creating (and, if
desired, rendering) them. This application can be used
as a stand-alone application for testing and
evaluating basic GUI layout and functionality, or it
can be used as a library within the context of a Java
application for creating and rendering GUIs for that
application.
How does it work?
Although other XML script-driven, Java-based GUI
engines have been developed, the power of this
approach stems from its reliance upon the Java
Reflection API, which allows classes to be
introspected in order to reveal their fields,
constructors, and methods. Proceeding in this way, IBM
Reflexive User Interface Builder can create and render
GUIs based solely upon the information in an XML
document. This document need not conform to any
pre-defined DTD or XML schema.
Now if you wonder how this new IBM offering differs
from other XUL offerings or IBM's very own AUIML
browse the FAQ that states:
Q: How is the IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder
different from other document-based GUI builders?
The IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder differs
from other XML-based GUI systems in that it uses Java
Reflection APIs to create its set of tags and
attributes. This means that it has no DTD or schema.
It also means that the run time is very small. And
most importantly, it means that the tags match the
components and methods of the particular GUI toolkit
being used. This means that, for example, if you
already know Java Swing, you can develop GUIs with
minimal learning.
Q: How is the IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder
different from the Abstract User Interface Mark-up
Language (AUIML) toolkit on alphaWorks?
AUIML supports a target independent mark-up
language (for example, it can be rendered into Swing
and HTML implementations) using abstract GUI
components. AUIML is not human-friendly; it is
intended to be created by a Visual Builder tool (an
Eclipse plug-in) and not edited directly. The IBM
Reflexive User Interface Builder is an XML language
that is GUI toolkit-specific, allows use of any
component in the GUI toolkit, and is intended to be
used directly by humans. The Builder is directly
interpreted to produce the GUI, it requires no
pre-compilation step; AUIML requires a visual builder
step to prepare for GUI generation. AUIML depends on
an extensive and predefined set of XML tags with
associated tooling; the Builder uses reflection and
thus does not. AUIML requires Eclipse and the Visual
Builder extension to develop a GUI; the Builder needs
only a text editor to develop a GUI. AUIML is a
higher-level toolkit (it included wizards, property
sheets, etc.) with a predetermined user interface
concept; the Builder is low-level and allows any GUI
supported by the GUI toolkit to be developed.
More @ http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/rib
If anyone tries out IBM's new XUL offering, I
invite you to let us know what you think and how it
goes. (As always please post your comments to
xul-talk.)
- Gerald
-------------------
Gerald Bauer
XUL Alliance | http://xul.sourceforge.net
United XAML | http://xaml.sourceforge.net
Interested in hiring Gerald Bauer? Yes, I'm available.
If you know of an opportunity, please contact me today.
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