>
>"Nobody" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message 
>news:pan.2010.05.15.13.35.40.407000@nowhere.com...
>> On Fri, 14 May 2010 14:35:52 -0500, msr wrote:
>>
>
>>
>> AFAICT, PEG is aimed at the level below that, where you might only have
an
>> 8-bit or 16-bit CPU or RAM measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes
(it
>> will run on more powerful systems, but then it's competing with Qt and
>> WinCE).
>
>I can't agree with that assessment
>
>I have worked on two systems where PEG was considered as an appropriate
GUI 
>framework (one rejected it in favour of an "own" solution and the other
used 
>it) and neither of these were 8 or 16 bit systems with limited memory,
they 
>were both 32 bit systems with 100s of megabytes.
>
>In both cases, it came down to licensing cost.
>
>tim
>
>
>

Hi,

You might want to look at FLTK. You can use it on embedded linux or build
it 
for your RTOS.
It comes with uClinux and though is X based, it can be made to work on raw
video buffer.

It has a GUI designer called FLUID which you can use to design your gui on
your linux desktop and just crosscompile it for your target.

I have used it on my previous project running uClinux on a softcore
processor. The gui with menus and buttons was overlayed on live video.

Regards
Manish


	   
					
---------------------------------------		
Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com

"Nobody" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message 
news:pan.2010.05.15.13.35.40.407000@nowhere.com...
> On Fri, 14 May 2010 14:35:52 -0500, msr wrote:
>

>
> AFAICT, PEG is aimed at the level below that, where you might only have an
> 8-bit or 16-bit CPU or RAM measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes (it
> will run on more powerful systems, but then it's competing with Qt and
> WinCE).

I can't agree with that assessment

I have worked on two systems where PEG was considered as an appropriate GUI 
framework (one rejected it in favour of an "own" solution and the other used 
it) and neither of these were 8 or 16 bit systems with limited memory, they 
were both 32 bit systems with 100s of megabytes.

In both cases, it came down to licensing cost.

tim

On Fri, 14 May 2010 14:35:52 -0500, msr wrote:

> Another (better)
> example: a train tickets machine, with buttons, menus for ticket type,
> destinations name, etc

Such a system would typically be built using a "desktop" OS and GUI
toolkit, e.g. Windows or Linux+Qt. Adobe Flash is also quite popular.

It's not uncommon to see Windows BSoDs on ticket machines,
departure/arrival listings, ATMs, video billboards, etc; e.g.: 

http://www.miguelcarrasco.net/miguelcarrasco/2006/10/blue_screen_of_.html

Qt is quite widely used on mobile phones and PDAs (Qt's developer,
TrollTech, is now owned by Nokia), as is WinCE.

AFAICT, PEG is aimed at the level below that, where you might only have an
8-bit or 16-bit CPU or RAM measured in kilobytes rather than megabytes (it
will run on more powerful systems, but then it's competing with Qt and
WinCE).

"msr" <mario.ribas@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:rbGdneSrq-SFO3DWnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d@giganews.com...
>
>>I still don't see that you need a complex GUI to control this.
>
> Sure! The robotic arm example may not be the best. Look at this mp3 player
> GUI: http://pan.fotovista.com/dev/3/1/00015413/l_00015413.jpg
> (monochromatic)

This is a simple "text and line" GUI.  You should be able to build this 
yourself from the basic LCD building blocks

>
>>Unless perhaps you are wanting to draw a "map" of the arm's location, on
> the
>>screen.
>>
>>Or are you using a touch screen?
>
> In the robotic arm example, yes! Just suppose you want a "fancy"
> user-interface (with touch screen) to control something and/or also 
> display
> some info in a "fancy" and user-friendly way. Another (better) example: a
> train tickets machine, with buttons, menus for ticket type, destinations
> name, etc That should be very easy to use and a touchscreen GUI would be
> very helpful. In this case that GUI may be more sophisticated than the mp3
> player GUI, I mean, with color, some graphics, etc

The ticket machine isn't that hard to do because the buttons are always in 
the same place on the screen all that changes is the text inside them (and 
their function).

Adding colour and graphics doesn't make it hard to implement.

What makes it hard to do, and thus requires you to build a solution using a 
purchase API is the requirement to move things around the screen 
dynamically.

tim

>I still don't see that you need a complex GUI to control this.

Sure! The robotic arm example may not be the best. Look at this mp3 player
GUI: http://pan.fotovista.com/dev/3/1/00015413/l_00015413.jpg
(monochromatic)

>Unless perhaps you are wanting to draw a "map" of the arm's location, on
the 
>screen.
>
>Or are you using a touch screen?

In the robotic arm example, yes! Just suppose you want a "fancy"
user-interface (with touch screen) to control something and/or also display
some info in a "fancy" and user-friendly way. Another (better) example: a
train tickets machine, with buttons, menus for ticket type, destinations
name, etc That should be very easy to use and a touchscreen GUI would be
very helpful. In this case that GUI may be more sophisticated than the mp3
player GUI, I mean, with color, some graphics, etc
	   
					
---------------------------------------		
Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com

msr wrote:

> Thank you all for the responses and suggestions!
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, so I have some difficulty in express
> myself clearly, but if you dont mind I will try to explain my doubts
> better.
> 
> I would like to understand how GUIs are made in general (ie, depending on
> the requirements, from the most demanding to the less demandig). From a
> simple mp3 player GUI (monochromatic) to industrial displays
> controlling/monitoring machines (color, few buttons on the screen,
> dialogs, menus, etc).
> 
> For the most demanding systems, maybe Qt+Linux+WinCE were some (which
> more?) of the keywords. But what about "smaller" systems?
> 
> Say, I have a board (pcb) which controls a robotic arm and I want a small
> user-interface (a "specialized" LCD, not a desktop or laptop) to interact
> with that (move up, move down, etc). How can I acomplish that?
> 
> What frameworks/libraries/toolsuites are there to create small embedded
> GUI?
> 
> (note that Im looking at ARM, so 32 bit microcontrollers)
> 
> Thanks again!

I shall recommend a book that I think will explain some of the concepts for 
you.

Front Panel: Designing Software for Embedded User Interfaces by Niall Murphy

I think it will help you enormously.


-- 
********************************************************************
Paul E. Bennett...............<email://Paul_E.Bennett@topmail.co.uk>
Forth based HIDECS Consultancy
Mob: +44 (0)7811-639972
Tel: +44 (0)1235-510979
Going Forth Safely ..... EBA. www.electric-boat-association.org.uk..
********************************************************************

"msr" <mario.ribas@n_o_s_p_a_m.gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:3YKdndKtObsJ9HDWnZ2dnUVZ_uCdnZ2d@giganews.com...
> Thank you all for the responses and suggestions!
>
> Say, I have a board (pcb) which controls a robotic arm and I want a small
> user-interface (a "specialized" LCD, not a desktop or laptop) to interact
> with that (move up, move down, etc). How can I acomplish that?

I still don't see that you need a complex GUI to control this.

Unless perhaps you are wanting to draw a "map" of the arm's location, on the 
screen.

Or are you using a touch screen?

> What frameworks/libraries/toolsuites are there to create small embedded
> GUI?

The BSP that comes with development boards should be sufficient for a basic 
textual GUI.

Do you need anything more complicated than this?

tim

msr wrote:
> Thank you all for the responses and suggestions!
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, so I have some difficulty in express
> myself clearly, but if you dont mind I will try to explain my doubts
> better.
> 
> I would like to understand how GUIs are made in general (ie, depending on
> the requirements, from the most demanding to the less demandig). From a
> simple mp3 player GUI (monochromatic) to industrial displays
> controlling/monitoring machines (color, few buttons on the screen, dialogs,
> menus, etc).
> 
> For the most demanding systems, maybe Qt+Linux+WinCE were some (which
> more?) of the keywords. But what about "smaller" systems?
> 
> Say, I have a board (pcb) which controls a robotic arm and I want a small
> user-interface (a "specialized" LCD, not a desktop or laptop) to interact
> with that (move up, move down, etc). How can I acomplish that?
> 
> What frameworks/libraries/toolsuites are there to create small embedded
> GUI?

I think the first thing you may be missing is that many smaller GUIs are 
hand-rolled for the purpose at hand.  A really basic graphics framework 
(like PEG), is mostly there to manage frames, keep track of which frames 
are 'above' others, and make sure that the 'top' frame doesn't get 
painted over by a 'lower' one.

But when you get right down to it, someone still has to think through 
what a typical user is going to be comfortable with, and program an 
interface that works -- there are guidelines that you can follow for 
that, but I know of no frameworks* for such systems.

* Commercial ones.  Every place I've ever worked at but one that had a 
GUI with menus has ended up with at least a rudimentary menuing system 
that captures menu behavior in some object-oriented way.

-- 
Tim Wescott
Control system and signal processing consulting
www.wescottdesign.com

Thank you all for the responses and suggestions!

English is not my mother tongue, so I have some difficulty in express
myself clearly, but if you dont mind I will try to explain my doubts
better.

I would like to understand how GUIs are made in general (ie, depending on
the requirements, from the most demanding to the less demandig). From a
simple mp3 player GUI (monochromatic) to industrial displays
controlling/monitoring machines (color, few buttons on the screen, dialogs,
menus, etc).

For the most demanding systems, maybe Qt+Linux+WinCE were some (which
more?) of the keywords. But what about "smaller" systems?

Say, I have a board (pcb) which controls a robotic arm and I want a small
user-interface (a "specialized" LCD, not a desktop or laptop) to interact
with that (move up, move down, etc). How can I acomplish that?

What frameworks/libraries/toolsuites are there to create small embedded
GUI?

(note that Im looking at ARM, so 32 bit microcontrollers)

Thanks again! 	   
					
---------------------------------------		
Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com

msr wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Could someone point me to something that could help me
> creating/understanding GUI for embedded systems in general? What's the
> "easier" (I know "easy" could be relative) to get GUI on an embedded
> system?
>
> The hardware I'm looking for is ARM-based microcontrollers (Cortex
> M3, ARM7
> or ARM9).
>
> I think Qt could be a solution right? However I would like to know
> "lighter" alternatives.
>
> Thank you!
>
Also look at uC/GUI from Micrium/Segger.  It should do what you want.

-- 
Scott
Validated Software
Lafayette, CO 



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