Re: Interface Builder Alternatives etc
Re: Interface Builder Alternatives etc
- Subject: Re: Interface Builder Alternatives etc
- From: Nik Youdale <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:48:05 +1100
On Leopard, with interface builder 3.0, there is a new file format
called XIB. This basically just stores the nib file in xml format
(which is much more friendly with subversion, etc). Perhaps this
format would be of interest to you? It is recommended to never
manually alter the xml file by hand though...
XIB appears to be the new standard format that apple recommends for
use if all your development work is done on Leopard. The XIB files are
compiled into a deployable nib while compiling in xcode.
See: http://developer.apple.com/DOCUMENTATION/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/IB_UserGuide/BuildingaNibFile/chapter_4_section_6.html#/
/apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40005344-CH11-DontLinkElementID_33
for more information.
Hope this helps,
Nik
On 12/12/2007, at 11:19 AM, Josh de Lioncourt wrote:
I posted on this topic previously, but it needs to be revisited. I
hope someone out there can help me find a practical solution.
I'm a blind programmer. I develop mainly under Windows, but have
been wanting to transition to Mac development, as many blind
computer users are moving that way. Plus, I'm a Mac fan anyway.
Interface Builder is essentially useless with VoiceOver, (Apple's
built-in screen reading solution), due to its highly visual usage.
So far as I can tell, there is no way to build an interface with it
and avoid dragging and dropping controls. That means, I can't
create NIB files with it, and I lose all the benefits that come with
having NIB files.
So, a nice user here on this list gave me some sample code of how to
build a basic interface, purely in source. It was all fine and
well, but such a method has a huge number of disadvantages.
1. You lose all the advantages of NIB's (i.e. faster load times,
ease of localization, etc.)
2. Source code building of interfaces is virtually undocumented.
It's extremely difficult to work out the best way of doing things,
when virtually no one builds their interfaces this way.
3. Development time is substantially increased by having to build
interfaces from scratch in the source code.
4. This puts my own development completely out of sync with the rest
of the Cocoa software development universe.
It seems to me that, with Interface Builder or some other tool,
there has got to be some sort of utility for editing NIB files out
there. Something that gives a list of properties in text form of
all of the objects in the NIB file and allows you to adjust the
positioning, look, and other properties without relying on drag-and-
drop.
This is the most frustrating situation I've ever faced in nearly
twenty years of software development. Apple came a long way by
making XCode nearly entirely accessible with VoiceOver, but without
access to Interface Builder, it's not yet practical.
If you can help...offer suggestions...anything at all, please do.
I'm still learning the ins and outs of Cocoa itself, but that is
getting increasingly difficult without being able to build apps with
a UI to experiment. Cocoa books and manuals constantly tell you to
build an interface in IB...connect this UI element to this method,
etc. All useless if you can't get past the UI design step.
Josh de Lioncourt
email@hidden
...my other mail provider is an owl...
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