visual styling

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Ok, I''m building a GUI application for my current contract. Part of our goal for this application is to have a certain "visual style", a kinda "GUI branding" as it were. You know the way you look at almost any windows program and know it runs on a ms platform....

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As if it is not hard enough creating an application using someone else''s GUI, some people feel that they have to go and develop their own source of errors.

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Anyway I''d like some input as to how is the best way to go about this.

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Don''t.

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We''ve developed a simple GUI in directx that has buttons, listboxs, and a few other simple controls. However more complex controls are being talked about by the graphic artists designing the look of the gui, so now we''re wondering if it wouldn''t be better to go with some other options, such as:

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There is an article right here at GameDev about that. IIRC it had some tips about developing more complex controls.

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- owner drawing standard windows common controls

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Nope.

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- using XP visual styles (hacking the Uxtheme.dll)

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Nope. Hacking system DLLs should not be part of a developer''s goal for the finished product, unless of course you are trying to skin the system.

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- using windows blinds

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I hear that WindowBlinds can help applications developers implement skinning, but given the quality of their software I would not trust them. Too shoddy and hackish.

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or sticking with the directx gui and putting more effort into developing the controls?

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I would rid yourself of the DirectX GUI. If your application is any good, it ought to stand on its own merits. And besides, I cannot being to explain all the junky, half-assed, poorly written, buggy, bad-looking, system-version-specific, pieces of crap I have had to deal with. The only thing I hate worse than an application with a custom GUI is an OEM application with a custom GUI.

I don't have a choice as to the custom gui. That was a decision made higher up. I merely have to implement this.

"That's not a bug, it's a feature!"
--me

[edited by - ChaosEngine on January 8, 2003 9:27:53 PM]

The pointy-headed guys stike again, eh?

Well, if it must be done, it must be done. I suppose I was a little too pessimistic. There are projects that have worked fairly well with unnecessarily different GUI themes, notably some of Microsoft''s products, Mozilla, some of Apple''s software, some Antivirus suites, etc. It is not impossible to do it well - just a little more difficult, and many people do not take the time to build it well.

IIRC, the Qt library from TrollTech supports skinning. Or was it wxWindows? Anyway, it would probably be a good idea to license an established library for that if your budget permits. After all, it will probably have undergone more testing and hopefully be more stable than an in-house project. And you can''t beat the development time!

Failing that, and this being a game development site, I am sure there are a lot of people here who would have experience they would like to share.