From kde-devel Fri Feb 27 23:53:34 1998 From: Ashley Winters Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 23:53:34 +0000 To: kde-devel Subject: PerlQt/KDE, Request for volunteers X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-devel&m=88865557020280 Hello Qt enthusiasts, I need your help to bind ALL Qt and KDE classes to Perl, easily and efficiently. As many of you may or may not know, I wrote a Qt binding to Perl last year known as PerlQt, and I haven't released an update for 10 months. Even though I haven't released anything in 10 months, I have been working on PerlQt occasionally, and have made impressive unreleased advances. At one time or another, I've found solutions to every problem I had with the previous versions. You can download version 1.06 of PerlQt from http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/id/AWIN/ The C++ binding code to Perl in PerlQt-2 will be generated by a perl script from a file containing C++ prototypes. I created the prototypes for 2000 methods from 80+ core Qt classes into an enhanced Java-like format. I have a working code-generator which generates binding code for Perl from the prototypes. Now I need your help. The current code-generator makes too many Qt-specific assumptions. In order to wean the next version of the code-generator from Qt, I need the prototypes for as many Qt-related libraries and classes as possible, from KDE to OpenGL. Even non-Qt classes would be appreciated. The prototype format is very close to C++, and no Perl knowledge is required. In addition, any classes you provide me with prototypes for at this critical moment will be adjusted by me personally, and will be guaranteed to work the instant PerlQt-2 is released. It took me only 2 days to prototype all of Qt; over 80 classes, with around 2000 methods. It won't take up too much of your time, either. If you're interested in helping me, or just want to see what I've done, send me a message. Along with my reply, I will attach the Qt prototypes as well as the code-generater. The code-generator is not freely distributable *YET* and I am not making *THIS* version available for ftp. PerlQt-2 *WILL* be free. I want to be able to gauge interest and I don't want altavista to permanently index a miniscule component which I'm going to end up completely rewriting anyways. I will mail the code-generator with the prototypes to anyone who asks for it. I only want to know that you want it. If you're interested in contributing, tell me what you would like to interface. Next week, I'll sort out the offers to make sure none of your effort is duplicated. I need volunteers for KDE most of all. When I am finished, I should have the best Perl GUI (fastest, simplest, least memory), and the definitive scripting interface for both Qt and KDE. It will be so simple and wide-spread, that it would be silly for anyone writing anything but the most trivial Qt/KDE library not to write a Perl interface to go with it. And the prototypes will be valid for possible future binding interfaces to other languages. Perhaps even PythonQt ala Ashley? Trolls: Don't worry, the code-generator isn't dependant on Qt and isn't subject to your licensing. Your API is publicly available, and I'm not restricting its redistribution. If you'd like a copy, just ask. :) Thank you, Ashley Winters