Re: Making UI creation easier?

It is interesting to see the various comments and suggestions about how
to build Tk GUIs as quick as possible.  I have developed a technique
where I use a spreadsheet to define the GUI which is processed by my own
Perl module.  I can now have GUI's with a number of widgets including:
*	Tabbed and ordinary frames
*	Labels
*	Option menus including the 'native' type
*	Entry boxes
*	HLists and normal Lists
*	Radio buttons
*	Buttons
*	Dialogbox
*	Checkbuttons
*	Text
 
For each widget I store:
*         the appropriate specific data (for example all the choices
available for a pull down menu);
*         general data such row and column positions (since I use the
grid geometry placing which works very efficiently) and names of any
call backs or bound subroutines.
I have not included all options, for example I have not allowed any
colours to be defined but it would be possible to be included these if
needed.
 
In many applications, I need to change the contents of the GUI when some
'choice' has been made.  I have found that I can define the required
behaviour in a spreadsheet whose data is used by a call back.  This is
not really connected to the definition of the GUI but it is another use
of spreadsheets in this context.
 
The benefits I have found include:
*	easy to create a new GUI using cut and paste from existing ones
and to edit these when required;
*	simple to change things such as the options to pull down lists
(in some circumstances you can users do this)
*	ability to have library routines to store and read back the
contents of the GUI (I find this very useful since a number of the
applications I provide are associated with design of products and
therefore the saving of the GUI's contents represent a design file that
can be used again and altered when necessary)
*	straightforward to add new widget types when necessary
*	a consistent way of accessing the contents of the GUI
*	ability to change the appearance of the GUI from data in a
configuration file (this is read before the spreadsheet is processed) -
in this way you can have one spreadsheet that is presented in a number
of ways - this is useful when a number of users of the application each
need to see something slightly different.
*	allows text in the GUI to be given in a number of languages
(using the configuration file)
 
I would be interested to know if anyone else has been using a
spreadsheet in this way.
 
 
Best regards
 
Henry Merryweather