Multi Application GUI Framework - Eclipse RCP?

[tkimzey]

Hello,

I'm working on something where multiple independent applications will
need to present a unified GUI. The applications themselves are not
necessarily going to be interoperating (nor am I looking for a
framework to support communication between applications). However the
GUIs these apps need to be on the same screen and integrated. There is
also a desire for the GUIs to be decoupled from the backing
application.

I am looking for a framework to support something like this and
currently delving into Eclipse RCP. I'm only about 30 minutes into
reading but I have only found hints that it may be offering some of the
functionality I'm looking for and decided to take a stab in the
newsgroups here to see if I might get some suggestions.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Chris Uppal]

I'm working on something where multiple independent applications will
need to present a unified GUI. The applications themselves are not
necessarily going to be interoperating (nor am I looking for a
framework to support communication between applications). However the
GUIs these apps need to be on the same screen and integrated. There is
also a desire for the GUIs to be decoupled from the backing
application.

By "different applications" do you mean that they will be different processes ?

If not, then all you need is to run all the applications' code in the same JVM
(one OS process) and for them to use a common library for their GUI. I don't
see why the Eclipse stuff shouldn't be perfectly fine for that. The desire for
GUI decoupling is just normal separation between domain logic and the
presentation layer.

If the apps are going to be different processes then you have a bigger problem.
There isn't (as far as I know) any way to make different processes share the
same GUI (using Eclipse or anything else). So you'll have to have a /single/
process that runs the (shared) GUI, and which communicates with all the
applications (over TCP, say) as independent back-ends. That would be an
interesting architecure, but quite challenging to design.

-- chris

 

[David Segall]

I'm working on something where multiple independent applications will
need to present a unified GUI.

NetBeans also provides an application platform
<http://www.netbeans.org/products/platform/index.html>. Please look at
both and post your conclusions here

 

[tkimzey]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply -- it's unfortunate it took me so long to realize
I had a response.

Yes, I do mean different processes sharing the same GUI (and yes, I
know a communcations framework is necessary to support that).

Ignoring the "backend" processes for a moment, I am just trying to
discover just how helpful Eclipse RCP and it's plugin style
architecture would be in pulling relatively independently developed
GUIs together. I am looking for a framework/support for integrating the
GUI frontends to these applications together.

A commercial product that does something very close to what I am
talking about can be seen at www.tilcon.com -- multiple backend
applications talk to the same GUI engine via proxy code. More pertinant
to what I am talking about, one person can develop a GUI and save it
as a "TWD". That TWD can then be imported and relatively painlessly
integrated into a larger GUI framework.

So you could go off an create your calculator GUI and write the backend
application that performs the logic and uses the proxy to communicate
with the GUI you created. I on the other hand go write a dictionary
program and create a dictionary program and create my own little GUI
frontend. With the tilcon software, I could pull in your "TWD"
describing your calc GUI, the TWD describing my dictionary GUI, put
them side by side in a top level window (or whatever more complex) and
viola.

The Tilcon software is pretty close to what I am looking for except 1)
Developer seats are expensive 2) Every target CPU needs a tilcon GUI
engine, which also costs 3) While quite powerful, you are stuick with
their widgets - if I want to create a little "Calender" widget, no
dice.

Really the notion of backend applications handling most of the logic
via whatever communication path can be ignored. Can you develop an
Eclipse RCP plugin with a GUI that I can *relatively easily* integrate
into a larger GUI framework? The easy part is what I am looking for
help with -- I'm hoping the plug-in style development of Eclipse RCP
might help facilitate something roughly similar. However it's difficult
finding concrete info, and I'm less than a week into the Eclipse RCP
book.

Thanks,

Tom