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WTL is now open-source.

2006-05-04
2012-09-26
  • Nobody/Anonymous

    WTL is now open-source, well, at least according to Wikipedia.org:
    

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTL

    At the bottom of the page, you could even find a link to download it from Microsoft:
    

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=48cb01d7-112e-46c2-bb6e-5bb2fe20e626&DisplayLang=en

    There're also links to tutorials and all that.  It seems great, doesn't it?
    
    Now, the question I've in mind is easy to guess:
    

    is it possible to use WTL in Dev-C++?

    Actually, I've had a look at the package, some samples, some header files and tried to compile a WTL sample found elsewhere on the web.  It doesn't compile.  It needs atlbase.h, which in turn needs some other header files in ATL.  So the answer to my own question seems to be "No", but I hope I'm wrong.  I mean, maybe there're some MS header files that we could download and use freely, no?  Or even though WTL is open (and free), one still needs to buy Visual C from MS in order to use it.  Is that it?
    
     
    • Nobody/Anonymous

      WTL is a load of crap!

       
    • Nobody/Anonymous

      WTL went open source more than a year ago (I even posted about it).

      The only problem is that WTL is built on top of ATL (which is not free or open sourced) and you need ATL in order to use WTL.

      The last time I tried compiling ATL (2.0) code using GCC, it balked at certain templates (not sure if this was MS or gcc problem). This was 3-4 years ago.

      You can download ATL 2.0 from here:

      http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/downloads/updates/atl/default.aspx

      but it is not compatible with WTL.

      The short answer is, no WTL is not compatible with gcc (since it depends on ATL, which is not free - now, if you have a MS compiler with ATL, then, in theory, you should be able to compile it using gcc - but my earlier experience did not encourage me).

      rr

       
      • Nobody/Anonymous

        I've done a search before posting, but I didn't find any post talking about WTL being open-source.

         
        • Nobody/Anonymous

          Doesn't really surprise me, the search function in SourceForge (among other things) is a real pain.

          rr

           
    • seaktf

      seaktf - 2006-05-04

      Recently there's Visual Studio Express offered freely by Microsoft:
      http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/
      And according to the FAQ, it's free for life!!!
      http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/

      No, I haven't downloaded the package, but I believe it should include headers file for ATL and MFC. If that's the case, is it sufficient to have the header files to compile WTL programs? In order word, do we still need those DLL files during linking?

       
      • Nobody/Anonymous

        VC Express doesn't come with MFC or ATL.

        Benjamin Lau

         
        • seaktf

          seaktf - 2006-05-05

          Really? Well... I've just finished installing VC Express. After a search, I've found an atl.dll in the directory
          C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.Tools.VisualCPlusPlus.Runtime-Libraries_6595b64144ccf1df_6.0.0.0_x-ww_ff9986d7

          And I've found some ATL text files like ATLDynamic.vsprops in
          C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\VCProjectDefaults
          but I've no idea what these mean.

          One thing is sure, no atl*.h is found. VC Express website is claiming that with this Express Edition, it's possible to create Win application. But without MFC and ATL, are they supposed to use Win32 API to create windows?

           
          • Nobody/Anonymous

            Exactly, on a default install of VC Express, you either use the Windows API or the .NET Framework

            However, if you really like what WTL has to offer, here's an alternative: http://smartwinlib.org

            It's just like WTL, a template based modern C++ GUI Toolkit for Windows.

            Benjamin Lau

             

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