Re: IUP status

[Ivan Kolev <ikolev@...>]

>   IUP is active and alive.

That's great news.

>   We are working on version 2.0, scheduled to end of June/July. Version 
> 1.9.1 release date was October 2002, not that far. We have a small team, 
> so release dates are not that frequently.

That's normal, no problem. I got the impression that it's not active for
a few reasons - no recent website updates (which is natural for a small
team focusing on the work, not the publicity), no mailing list as for
Lua (the list makes the impression that a lot of people are using the
product, and that the developers are working on it), and the fact that
the Lua4 binding was still 'beta' when Lua 5 was released.
Anyway, I'm glad that the next release is coming so soon.

>   Some of the Lua 4 binding problems are already solved. We already have 
> an ongoing Lua 5 binding, but will be release together with version 2.0.

Great.

>   We only have a support mail at iup@tecgraf.puc-rio.br, no discussion 
> list. Please feel free to send us any further questions and bug reports.

OK, if you have fixed the bugs in the Lua4 binding, I'll send you just
comments and suggestions for the next build.

Lua + IUP is a very powerful combination. In a very short time I built a
small visual environment for Lua, with a history window (using the list
control), watch window (using a tree control to display tables more
conveniently), and an edit window (using a matrix control to easily edit
table values). Working with Lua is much more pleasant this way, rather
than a simple command line. (Though I remember the good old days of the
command line with affection, one just can't deny the fact that some
things are done much faster with a point-and-click with the mouse :)
Another very important thing in IUP (besides the native look and the Lua
binding) is the presence of Tree and Grid (Matrix) controls. These are
very important controls for every non-basic interface, and especially
useful for developers, or for IDE's and world/level editors of any kind.
And it's a pity that not many GUI toolkits have these controls (FLTK for
example doesn't).

Now I'm working on a generic world/object editor, with plugins for
different purposes. Naturally, the first plugin is a IUP interface
editor :) If there's interest (and you are not already working on a
visual interface editor for IUP), I can publish it when it's ready.

This got a bit long, but I'm really inspired by IUP/Lua, and wanted to
share my enthusiasm... Thanks to all IUP and Lua developers.

Ivan Kolev
Garga Games
www.gargagames.com