XUL GUI Builder

Today many "GUI Builder Frameworks" are available which take input in XML user interface language and produce the GUI at runtime. This separates the user interface implementation from the user interface definition.

With this type of decoupling, when a user interface is defined in a document such as XML, users would not have to download and install their GUIs; they can simply browse them as easily as they browse Web pages.

Using XUL from simple to very complex GUI can be made. Support for basic and many advanced UI components is provided as many JAVA based frameworks are available using awt/swing for rendering GUI.

But the specification allowed for events and actions required for the GUI are somewhat limited. The data has to be submitted by the framework and new XML retrieved. Complex application logic cannot be specified.

We are thinking of developing a Framework which will take routines (JAVA jar) along with XML, will use XML to create GUI at runtime and use routines for actions related to events. Action routines can contain complex application logic and use database/datastore adaptors at backend to get/set data through the GUI screens. An IDE will be provided which will be used to generate XML and action routine files for the applications.

Do you find it feasible. If anybody has already attempted such an approach then please let us know of adv/disadv and feasibility of the approach.

Thanks

It sounds fine to me. The only thing I might add is that I thought XPCOM was supposed to do something like that. That isn't to say I don't think your approach sounds useful or interesting. I'd advise you to run with it and see what you come up with.

Another possibility is running XUL along with PHP. There are currently developers working on the task of combinging Mozilla/Gecko with the PHP engine. Information on the mozdev website (http://mozphp.mozdev.org/), and on the project's home page (http://www.thomas-schilz.de/MozPHP/)

I'll be looking into this in the future, and will post my findings on devshed.

neobuddah, that is awsome. I was needing something like that for a project and I thought I was going to have to use an embedded webserver. Thank you for the link.

You're welcome.

You know, the next release of PHP (version 5) has SQLite built in, which is a SQL database. It uses transactions, a small code base, and (according to thier results) is faster then MySQL!

Plus, it uses a flat file to read/write. Think of it - a full product catalog, with over 10000 products, dumped from MySQL, inserted into SQLite, built with a tailored Gecko/XUL front-end, and PHP backend (which can connect to your online server for ordering), slapped onto a Credit-Card-CD and sent to all your customers.

Move-over director!