FXRuby: Create Lean and Mean GUIs with Ruby (Pragmatic Programmers)

✍ Scribed by Lyle Johnson

• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 217
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

FXRuby is a highly object-oriented toolkit for building lean, mean, cross-platform graphical user interfaces in Ruby. Since its initial release in 2001, FXRuby has become one of the most popular GUI choices for Ruby developers. This book is your best resource for rapidly learning how to develop powerful, sophisticated GUIs in your favorite programming language. If you're a newcomer to GUI programming, this book will introduce you to the basics of FXRuby programming by leading you through building a GUI application with FXRuby from start to finish. If you're an experienced software developer who just needs to get up to speed on FXRuby and what it can do for you, this book will help you put FXRuby to work in your Ruby-based applications. Along the way, you'll learn how to leverage FXRuby's vast collection of user interface elements to build visually rich user interfaces. You'll see how FXRuby uses the concept of sending messages between objects to implement event-driven applications, and how you can most effectively use layout managers to construct flexible user interfaces. Go beyond the basics with proven, practical knowledge and techniques for developing real-world GUI programs in Ruby.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 7
Foreword......Page 10
Acknowledgments......Page 12
What's in This Book?......Page 13
How to Read This Book......Page 14
Where to Get Help......Page 15
A Word About Versions......Page 18
Building an FXRuby Application......Page 19
Getting Started with FXRuby......Page 20
Installing FXRuby......Page 23
Instant Gratification......Page 25
What Picture Book Does......Page 31
Application Data......Page 33
Let's Code......Page 35
Get Something Running......Page 36
Create the View......Page 37
Construct an Image from a File......Page 40
Take 2: Display an Entire Album......Page 43
Add Album View......Page 44
Display Images as Thumbnails......Page 47
Import Photos from Files......Page 50
Dynamically Reconfigure the Album View......Page 55
Make the Album View Scrollable......Page 58
Create the Album List View......Page 62
Use a Split View......Page 65
Switch Between Albums......Page 67
Add New Albums......Page 70
Serialize the Album List with YAML......Page 72
So, What Now?......Page 76
FXRuby Fundamentals......Page 78
FXRuby Under the Hood......Page 79
Event-Driven Programming......Page 80
Mouse and Keyboard Events......Page 85
Timers, Chores, Signals, and Input Events......Page 87
Syncing the User Interface with the Application Data......Page 91
Using Data Targets for GUI Update......Page 92
Responsive Applications with Delayed Layout and Repaint......Page 93
Client-Side vs. Server-Side Objects......Page 95
How Windows Work......Page 98
Building Simple Widgets......Page 100
Creating Labels and Buttons......Page 101
Editing String Data with Text Fields......Page 111
Providing Hints with Tooltips and the Status Bar......Page 113
Displaying Simple Lists with FXList......Page 115
Good Things Come in Small Packages: FXComboBox and FXListBox......Page 118
Branching Out with Tree Lists......Page 121
Displaying Tabular Data with FXTable......Page 126
Editing Text with the Text Widget......Page 133
Adding and Removing Text......Page 134
Navigating Through Text......Page 136
Searching in Text......Page 137
Applying Styles to Text......Page 139
Creating Visually Rich User Interfaces......Page 142
Using Custom Fonts......Page 143
Pointing the Way with Cursors......Page 146
Creating and Displaying Images......Page 149
Manipulating Image Data......Page 151
Creating and Displaying Icons......Page 155
One More Thing......Page 158
Managing Layouts......Page 159
Understanding the Packing Model......Page 160
Arranging Widgets in Rows and Columns with a Matrix Layout......Page 173
Dynamically Resizing Layouts with a Splitter Layout......Page 177
Managing Large Content with Scrolling Windows......Page 179
Organizing Windows with Tabbed Notebooks......Page 180
Strategies for Using Different Layout Managers Together......Page 182
Creating Cascading and Scrolling Menus......Page 188
Adding Separators, Radio Buttons, and Check Buttons to Menus......Page 191
Adding Toolbars to an Application......Page 193
Creating Floating Menu Bars and Toolbars......Page 194
Providing Support with Dialog Boxes......Page 197
Selecting Files with the File Dialog Box......Page 198
Selecting a Directory with the Directory Dialog Box......Page 199
Choosing Colors with the Color Dialog Box......Page 201
Selecting Fonts with the Font Dialog Box......Page 202
Alerting the User with Message Boxes......Page 204
Creating Custom Dialog Boxes......Page 205
Looking Ahead......Page 210
Bibliography......Page 212
F......Page 213
K......Page 214
R......Page 215
W......Page 216
Y......Page 217