OpenEuphoria

Re: Standardisation between Win libraries

• Posted by Juergen Luethje <j.lue at gmx.de> Jul 24, 2003
• 494 views

Hello Dave, you wrote:

> This is mainly aimed at those wonderful (and pretty darn clever)  people
> out there who develop the Windows libraries (win32Lib, eWin32API, etc)
> for this great language.

.. although this issue is of general importance for Windows programming.

> Is it possible for you all to talk together and decide on a standard set
> of include files for the definitions of Windows constants ie. for
> WM_PAINT, WM_MOUSEMOVE, VK_SPACE, VK_LEFT, etc? and/or other aspects.
>
> With one single set of includes it would make the use of Euphoria for
> Windows soooo much easier.

<snip>

Yep! I also strongly vote for a modular approach.
For all Windows programming, there is a "smallest common denominator":
the wrapping of the Windows API! Whatever we do, we need constant and
routine declarations. It would be really valuable, to have some
_standard_ files, that wrap the Windows API. These files only should
contain:

- global constant ..
- a = open_dll(..)
- idFuncX = define_c_func(a, ..)
- global function FuncX(..)
     ..
     return c_func(idFuncX, ..)
  end function
- (same for procedures, of course)

Maybe I forgot something, but I hope you see my point. These wrappers
should not contain any "bells and whistles".
The API programmers can use it, and the programmers of the advanced
libraries (like Win32Lib) also need something like that anyway.

The problem is _not_ to write the code, there are already such API
wrapper files. I for instance use a set of files, that Chris Bensler
sent me privately. Thanks again, Chris. 

But this isn't the solution. It would be really great to have _standard_
wrappers for this purpose, and the programmers of the advanced libraries
should use them, rather than their own wrappers.

The problem is, that there currently is no agreement, which files
actually should be "the standard". Therefore probably it would be the
best, if such wrappers would be officially shipped with Euphoria (like
with other languages, such as Visual Basic, PowerBASIC, Open Watcom, ..).
Or a wrapper contibuted by users, could be "officially recommended" or
something like that.

<snip>

> Sorry in advance if this starts a bad discussion thread - it's not meant
> as an attack on anyone, just trying to help organise things - a little!

It starts a _necessary_ discussion thread. 

Best regards,
   Juergen

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