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krk969's Avatar
Posts: 754 | Thanked: 630 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ London
#1
Sorry but I couldnt find a satisfactory answer to my question in the search , hence a new thread.

Im about to start on some application development , wrt this

1. I was wondering do I need to use QT or Hildon Api's to create windows, buttons likewise to build my app ?
I understand QT is integrated with hildon, but im confused with this.

2 . Also in the future, I may want to access phone functions, like placing a call/sms/email or the sensors, does this have anything to do even remotely with the choice I make QT/hildon above ?

Apologize if these questions have already been answered,I will be most grateful if I can be forwarded to that post if thats the case.


Thanks for clarifying .
 
hopbeat's Avatar
Posts: 516 | Thanked: 643 times | Joined on Oct 2009 @ Denmark/Poland
#2
Hello,

1. You can use either Qt or GTK+ to create windows, buttons etc. The choice is your's, I would suggest Qt as it is more 'into the future'

2. No, those APIs should be accessible from both graphical frameworks. We are testing a sensor library right now which runs great in a demo application written in Qt.
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#3
I'm not the best person to tell you about these issues, but I'll give it a shot

The choice you need to do is choose between Qt and GTK+. Latter is the native UI library used for applications. I wouldn't say that Qt is integrated with Hildon, Qt supports different styles for same application, and for Maemo 5 Qt style looks like native application.

For accessing phone functionality you will use Maemo 5 API and DBUS signalling.

edit: Also don't forget Python when starting application development.
 

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krk969's Avatar
Posts: 754 | Thanked: 630 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ London
#4
thank you guys for being so prompt in your responses.

That does help.

Sorry but im still confused about the hildon framework.
http://maemomm.garage.maemo.org/docs...l/classes.html
I thought that hildon framework was some kind of a wrapper over GTK developed for Nokia handhelds.

So my choices can be QT OR GTK OR Hildon , isnt that right ?

Id still go with QT as its C++ based and I can use either C++ or python for creating the app, but I just wanted to know what this hildon framework classes in the above link were, and whether it gives me more options for creativity while creating the app .

Thanks again.
 
Posts: 341 | Thanked: 607 times | Joined on Dec 2008
#5
It's basically up to you, but Hildon is what has been used for the system applications, so it is very stable. Qt on Fremantle has yet to really prove itself, so you may run into some issues. Also, I believe that the Fremantle specific Qt additions aren't well documented yet.

If you only care about the N900 and want to make a standard application that behaves like other default applications, then I suggest Hildon. If you want to port your application in the future to other Nokia devices, or you are planning to make a custom UI anyway, then Qt is worth a closer look.
 

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Posts: 341 | Thanked: 607 times | Joined on Dec 2008
#6
Originally Posted by krk969 View Post
thank you guys for being so prompt in your responses.

That does help.

Sorry but im still confused about the hildon framework.
http://maemomm.garage.maemo.org/docs...l/classes.html
I thought that hildon framework was some kind of a wrapper over GTK developed for Nokia handhelds.

So my choices can be QT OR GTK OR Hildon , isnt that right ?

Id still go with QT as its C++ based and I can use either C++ or python for creating the app, but I just wanted to know what this hildon framework classes in the above link were, and whether it gives me more options for creativity while creating the app .

Thanks again.
Hildon is an extension to Gtk, that adds Hildon specific widgets (like the pannable area). The majority of elements used in system applications are Hildon widgets, not plain Gtk widgets. Hildon also has many helper functions to use Gtk widgets in the Fremantle style, to apply the right themeing, etc.

Qt for Fremantle is doing the same now, with custom widgets that behave like their Hildon counterparts. However, those haven't been used extensively in applications yet, as it was just released a very short time ago.
 

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krk969's Avatar
Posts: 754 | Thanked: 630 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ London
#7
Originally Posted by kanishou View Post
Hildon is an extension to Gtk, that adds Hildon specific widgets (like the pannable area). The majority of elements used in system applications are Hildon widgets, not plain Gtk widgets. Hildon also has many helper functions to use Gtk widgets in the Fremantle style, to apply the right themeing, etc.

Qt for Fremantle is doing the same now, with custom widgets that behave like their Hildon counterparts. However, those haven't been used extensively in applications yet, as it was just released a very short time ago.

exactly the answers I was looking for.
So things like getting a menu when I click on the application title on the window , or having a system wide setting apply to my windows/apps etc, I presume this would come as hooks by default when I use the hildon framework.
But if I use QT or GTK I wouldn't have this , am I right in that presumption ?
 
Posts: 415 | Thanked: 732 times | Joined on Jan 2009 @ Finland
#8
Qt widgets look and feel like native widgets. there's some things missing still though. I haven't tried plain GTK but I'd guess it looks like plain GTK

try getting some existing application's sources and compiling them for Maemo and see how they look and feel without modifications.
 
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#9
Originally Posted by krk969 View Post
exactly the answers I was looking for.
So things like getting a menu when I click on the application title on the window , or having a system wide setting apply to my windows/apps etc, I presume this would come as hooks by default when I use the hildon framework.
But if I use QT or GTK I wouldn't have this , am I right in that presumption ?
I too have the same kind of presumption. Can anybody tell is this correct?
 
krk969's Avatar
Posts: 754 | Thanked: 630 times | Joined on Sep 2009 @ London
#10
Originally Posted by rkc View Post
I too have the same kind of presumption. Can anybody tell is this correct?
the Hildon framework has been integrated into QT , cant speak for GTK as I dont know much but I would not think its different as Hildon is built on top of GTK, feel free to correct me Hildon gurus.

For the QT api's that have hildon features check out the wiki. here and here
It talkes about Kinetic scrolling, stackable windows, menus from the title bar etc.

so just start making your QT apps using some help from these wiki's and you will see it nicely working on the maemo platform.

hope that answers.

Last edited by krk969; 2010-01-13 at 13:14.
 

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