Graphical (WYSIWYG) GUI-O Editor
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Since I am REALLY impressed by the facilities of this app, by far the most detailed available (of this kind) on the Google Play Store (Including my own failed effort on similar lines), I am considering writing a graphical (WYSIWYG) GUI-O Editor (like the one available in QT6, specifically for GUI-O.
I mean no disrespect regarding the one available now, but a more visual way to generate the various strings for each "component" may encourage greater use of this App, which more than likely benefit all current and future users.
I am soliciting opinions for:
- Is it a worthwhile effort
- Will it encourage further use
- Any opinions/inputs (assuming it is judged to be worth while)
- If I go ahead with it, I will make it FreeWare (unless the publisher has some other idea).
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@heromed Hi!
No offense taken regarding the current design tool. I strongly agree that it is not very user friendly...

The initial plan was to introduce a simple designer, which would then gradually "grow" into a more capable, user friendly graphical editor.
But, maintaining the GUI-O app (and basically everything else related to GUI-O), I never got this far. It is not a simple project anyhow.
To answer your questions:
It is definitely worthwhile from GUI-O perspective as it would surely be a significantly more friendly tool to create layouts. From my point of view, I see no problem if you license the editor as a FreeWare.
I only see one problem if you go ahead with this - almost all widgets are custom (low-level paint operations), which means all the logic is implemented in the GUI-O. So in order to create an editor that will be 1:1 compatible with GUI-O, you would need to re-implement the widgets exactly... Ideally, the codebase for the widgets should be the same (e.g., shared between the GUI-O app and the editor).
I am sure you understand I cannot share the source code for this as this is one of the main features of GUI-O.
Can you share a brief overview on how would you implement the editor? So we can discuss this further.

P.S.: Which app did you develop? Can I download it from Google Play Store?
Best regards,
Kl3m3n -
@heromed BTW - If you like GUI-O app, please consider leaving a review on Google Play Store.

Thanks.
Kl3m3n -
I will leave a (well earned) comment.
The way I look at it now, the only thing I will need, is the appropriate strings that needs to be generated for each component, which I can get from your design app, unless you are prepared to give me (only) a list of them, thereby protecting your original work.
I envisage a Qt6 WYSIWYG program which will work just like the Qt6 Designer, but instead of generating Python code, it will generate the appropriate strings that your Android App expects.
Those strings then can be read by a "USER" written (Python or other language) program which could send it to the Android device, via the various methods that you provided. I also hope, that while using this graphical designer (as long as a phone is connected), will display every step as the design is developed, just like your designer.
Those are the only thoughts that I have so far. I understand, that this is going to require a significant effort, but considering that I am retired, it will give me a chance to give back a little to the computing (and hopefully many more users) community, which enabled me during the past 65 years of coding, to make a good living, and enjoyment, which is still continuing to this day.
Your comments are more than welcome.
Bob Stanton
bobstantonx@gmail.com -
Hi Bob,
sorry for the late reply!
Wow, 65 years of experience... I can't even imagine all the challenges you've tackled over these years

Of course I can provide an "organized" list of all widgets along with their properties. What would be the best format for you?
One thing I still fail to understand - what will you use for the actual widgets on the editor canvas? Some more generic widgets?
Anyhow, I think we should move this discussion to an email or some other channel. If you want, you can send the reply to: info.guio.app@gmail.com
Best regards,
Kl3m3n