GSXView

[Frederic De Jaeger]

Hi lists,

I would like to start a discussion on the design of a new class we
really have to implement.  I call it GSXView.  I is a backend specific
class that inherits from NSView.  The idea is that this class has its
own X subwindow to draw on.

Why do we need such a class?

+  to make applications that are frontends for other applications, like
gv is a frontend of ghostscript.
+  to implement NSOpenGLView (that is what I'm interested in).  It
should be very easy, just attach a GL context to the sub X window,
using glX (I suppose it is the way it is done in gtkglarea)


There are several issues that need to be discussed:

+ First, such a view may not be rotated (maybe scaled, flipped?).

+ What can we do with X events related to the sub-window.  We can
ignore them and let the ancestor manage them.  (But we could optimize
the dispach of such event)

+ What happens if we add subviews to such a view ?  Probably, we
should not permit this (Anyone sees a good reason to allow this ?).

+ Shall we allow PSoperator in such view ?  Probably not.  In fact
drawing is such views does not concern the gui or the backend.

I started thinking of the design.  It may not be difficult to
implement.  What I have in mind is simply create the X window when the
view receives viewWillMoveToWindow: foo 
where foo is non-nil.  
We have to check the focusView mechanism, maybe disable displayRect:
and friends.
We have to trap setFrame and friends, to instruct X to effectively
move the X subwindow.

What are your opinions ?
Is there already someone working on this subject?

I'm quite busy at the moment, I don't have so much time to code.  But
it is not to early to think about those questions.  I hope I will have
more time next December to work on this.

Cheers,

        Frédéric De Jaeger