Re: [GLE-general] Problems with QGLE on windows 10

[Laurence A. <lau...@yo...>]

On Tue, 13 Aug 2019 at 12:30, Radek Machulka <rad...@gm...>
wrote:

> > GLE can not die, it tried before with 3.3h, then we got a restart with
> > version 3.5.  And after that it tried to die again, and we got another
> > restart with version 4.  And it became better every time.
>

Here here!

I've been using it (along with research group members) for more than the
past 25 years (version 3.3, maybe?).

Typically, I use it under linux (editing in something basic like nedit, and
viewing the (pdf) output in a pdf viewer. I've never really felt the need
for a dedicated viewer, myself, but then I work from the command line most
of the time.

However, my boss use GLE under windows... This used to be using PFE as an
editor and ghostview to view the (eps) output. More recently, though, he's
been using QGLE and PFE.

I think a basic front-end is useful: i.e., double-click on a gle file and a
preview is shown and it's possible to spawn an editor to edit the gle file
(like QGLE now). However, I've never ever used the pointy-clicky editing
capabilities of QGLE.

For me, the main benefit of GLE is that it does what you tell it to, rather
than what microshaft (or whoever) thinks you want to do. I.e., draw a line
from (2.3,4.5) to (6.4,8.9) all in cm. It can take a little bit of getting
used to that sort of mindset but it's highly powerful. I've always thought
that the pointy-clicky drawing of lines detracts from the ethos of GLE
(sorry!).

Hence, if the old QGLE is likely to become defunct (as QT4 support is
removed) then maybe a very simple "viewing and export only" front-end would
not be a bad thing (with other bells and whistles being added later on).

Presumably, all it needs to do is open a main window, run GLE to generate a
PNG and display it, and then monitor the gle file for changes and update
the image as needed. (Obviously I'm simplifying this somewhat.) I might
give it some thought. Or maybe porting from QT4 to QT5 isn't that bad?
(I've not looked and I've never built anything with QT at all, so that
could be a completely false statement!).

I am glad to hear that GLE has a tendency to survive.
> I was just bit nervous about the git 'activity'...
>

Ditto!

I've fixed a few bugs in it in the past and hope to keep on using it for
years to come. Nothing is as flexible! The majority of GLE is basic C and
C++ with few dependencies and so shouldn't be a problem for compilation.
It's more the front-end parts that are likely to cause compilation issues.

Cheers,
Laurence
-- 
Dr Laurence Abbott <lau...@yo...>
Department of Chemistry,
University of York,
YO10 5DD, UK