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Highlights
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Product
• Ada to X/Motif Interface for Ada 83 and Ada 95
Programmers
Features
• Ada 95 Compatible
• UIL to Ada Code Conversion
• Includes Ada Binding to X PixMap
• Variable Length Argument Lists Support
• Widget Subclassing Support
General
• Supports a Variety of Ada Compilers
• Runs on most UNIX platforms
• Compatible with leading GUI Builders |
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New from Advanced Technology Center (ATC), AXI is
an Ada-to-X Window System™ interface that gives Ada 95 and Ada 83 programmers full
use of the X Window System’s network display services and the OSF/Motif™
graphical user interface (GUI) standard. AXI makes available X and Motif application
program interface (API) features that were previously available only in the C language.
With AXI, experienced X, Motif and Ada programmers are not forced to learn a new syntax or
tool but can become productive immediately. Complete X Interface and Portability
AXI gives Ada programmers access to more than 2,000
functions and types in the X library, extensions, and utilities, the Xt toolkit and the
Motif widget set and resource manager. Events and callbacks are handled consistently and
can coexist with legacy code written in C. AXI supports X11 release 5 and 6 and Motif 1.2.
AXI is available for the most widely used Ada compilers,
including AdaWorld™, APEX™, GNAT,
ICC™, ObjectAda™, PowerAda™ and VADS.™
Ada 95 Compatible
Ada is a programming language that supports modern software engineering practices and
helps developers deliver reliable, portable software systems. Ada 95 builds on the
strengths of Ada by adding the flexibility of object-oriented programming to the Ada
language.
The current AXI product supports both Ada 83 and Ada 95,
and preserves the API of previous AXI (Ada 83) releases.
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This allows
existing customers to migrate to the newer Ada 95 compilers with minimal changes. Those
beginning development in Ada 95 can readily use AXI for fully compatible Ada 95 code.
Ada GUI Development
ATC has relationships with two of the leading UIM/X GUI builder vendors. ATC teamed with
these companies to facilitate the generation of Ada code from UIL files created in UIM/X.
Each product generates ADA code that is compatible with the AXI bindings. The resulting
products are:
Ada-UIM/X — A GUI builder
for Ada developers that is based on the award-winning UIM/X™ development tool from Bluestone, Inc. Ada-UIM/X was developed as a joint
effort between ATC and Bluestone and is marketed by Bluestone.
UIM/Ada — A GUI builder
for Ada developers that is based on Black & White
Software’s market-leading version of UIM/X. Black & White Software integrated
ATC’s UIL/Trans product with UIM/X to produce UIM/Ada. It generates Ada code
compatible with the AXI bindings.
AXI™ is an Ada to X-Window System interface that
provides full use of the X Window System's network display services and the OSF/Motif
graphical user interface (GUI) standard
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Advanced Technology Center's Comprehensive Offering of Products and Services
ATC is a leader in providing application developers with high
performance graphics environments based on the industry's leading standards, including
Graphical Kernel System (GKS), Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM), Programmer's Hierarchical
Interactive Graphics System (PHIGS), and the M.I.T. X Window System and OSF/Motif.
ATC's family of Ada bindings to graphics libraries works with leading Ada compilers and on
most UNIX platforms.
ATC has considerable experience in porting graphics software
between platforms and in the development of custom Ada bindings and graphics solutions. |
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UIL to Ada Conversion
UIL simplifies the layout of complex Motif applications. UIM/X™ and other GUI builder
tools can be used to generate UIL, which can then be converted to Ada. Advantages of UIL
to Ada conversion include the speedup of complex displays and the elimination of ancillary
UIL files. ATC's UIL/Trans 2.2 UIL to Ada converter is bundled with AXI. UIL/Trans is
capable of generating the complete skeleton of a Motif application in Ada; the programmer
needs only to code the callbacks separately.
Ada Bindings To XPM
X PixMap format 3 (XPM 3) is a de facto standard for handling multicolor images in X. AXI
includes bindings to the entire XPM 3 API as well as XPM resource converters for Motif and
the XPM 3.4h library. AXI's Ada bindings to XPM allow the Ada programmer to specify
multicolor pixmaps as Motif resources and to load and save multicolor pixmaps in AXI
applications.
Varargs API
All of the functions in the Xt toolkit and Motif that take variable-length argument lists
have been implemented in AXI. Use of these functions eliminates much tedious and
error-prone construction of argument lists. AXI also implements many ease-of-use and
type-safety features that are available only through the |
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Ada language. There is no performance penalty
for the use of AXI subprograms through the varargs API.
Two APIs In One
AXI includes two major APIs, each with its own syntax: the native AXI API, which adheres
to the X and Motif syntax documented in the O'Reilly X Window System Series; and the AXI
STARS API, which adheres to the syntax of the STARS bindings to X. The choice of native
AXI vs. STARS API may be made based on program management considerations; for example, the
native AXI API adheres closely to well-known X and Motif conventions and is easier for
experienced X and Motif programmers to learn, while the STARS API facilitates porting of
reusable code or legacy code to AXI. There are no performance differences between the two
APIs.
Widget Subclassing
Sometimes an application cannot be written using just the basic Motif widget set. It may
be desirable to develop additional widgets that can then be used in the application. AXI
supports widget subclassing by providing complete data structures for the private data of
each widget class in the Xt toolkit and Motif. Widgets created by user-defined procedures
are also supported in the UIL/Trans UIL to Ada translator. |
