glimmer-dsl-libui VS Platypus

glimmer-dsl-libui is a more actively maintained alternative

https://github.com/AndyObtiva/glimmer-dsl-libui

Another GitHub Pull Request for Rubio-Radio (open-source Internet radio app built with Ruby) got accepted and merged, which focused on displaying the currently playing song/program, loading all available radio stations (instead of a pre-defined limit), and enhanced full-text-search support including column-specific queries. The changes have been released in rubio-radio gem version 0.0.6. In fact, the enhanced full-text-search support is included in the latest version of Glimmer DSL for LibUI (Ruby Desktop Development GUI Library used to build Rubio-Radio) as part of the refined_table custom control for use in any projects, so software engineers get that feature for free now.

Recently, I blogged about how I contributed Pagination/Filtering support to Rubio-Radio, an Internet radio application built with Ruby and Glimmer DSL for LibUI.

I am particularly impressed by the fact that the developers of those apps fully went the distance by walking the walk, not just talking the talk, especially given that the developers of the first app (RubyCrumbler) were brand new to Glimmer DSL for LibUI and had to exercise great problem solving skills to finish their app on time for their needs.

# From: https://github.com/AndyObtiva/glimmer-dsl-libui#shape-coloring require 'glimmer-dsl-libui' class ShapeColoring include Glimmer::LibUI::Application COLOR_SELECTION = Glimmer::LibUI.interpret_color(:red) before_body { @shapes = [] } body { window('Shape Coloring', 200, 200) { margined false grid { label("Click a shape to select and\nchange color via color button") { left 0 top 0 hexpand true halign :center vexpand false } color_button { |cb| left 0 top 1 hexpand true vexpand false on_changed do @selected_shape&.fill = cb.color end } area { left 0 top 2 hexpand true vexpand true rectangle(0, 0, 600, 400) { # background shape fill :white } @shapes << colorable(:rectangle, 20, 20, 40, 20) { |shape| fill :lime } @shapes << colorable(:square, 80, 20, 20) { |shape| fill :blue } @shapes << colorable(:circle, 75, 70, 20, 20) { |shape| fill :green } @shapes << colorable(:arc, 120, 70, 40, 0, 145) { |shape| fill :orange } @shapes << colorable(:polygon, 120, 10, 120, 50, 150, 10, 150, 50) { fill :cyan } @shapes << colorable(:polybezier, 20, 40, 30, 100, 50, 80, 80, 110, 40, 120, 20, 120, 30, 91) { fill :pink } } } } } def colorable(shape_symbol, *args, &content) send(shape_symbol, *args) do |shape| on_mouse_up do |area_mouse_event| old_stroke = Glimmer::LibUI.interpret_color(shape.stroke).slice(:r, :g, :b) @shapes.each {|sh| sh.stroke = nil} @selected_shape = nil unless old_stroke == COLOR_SELECTION shape.stroke = COLOR_SELECTION.merge(thickness: 2) @selected_shape = shape end end content.call(shape) end end end ShapeColoring.launch

# From: https://github.com/AndyObtiva/glimmer-dsl-libui#class-based-custom-controls require 'glimmer-dsl-libui' require 'facets' Address = Struct.new(:street, :p_o_box, :city, :state, :zip_code) class FormField include Glimmer::LibUI::CustomControl options :model, :attribute body { entry { |e| label attribute.to_s.underscore.split('_').map(&:capitalize).join(' ') text <=> [model, attribute] } } end class AddressForm include Glimmer::LibUI::CustomControl options :address body { form { form_field(model: address, attribute: :street) form_field(model: address, attribute: :p_o_box) form_field(model: address, attribute: :city) form_field(model: address, attribute: :state) form_field(model: address, attribute: :zip_code) } } end class LabelPair include Glimmer::LibUI::CustomControl options :model, :attribute, :value body { horizontal_box { label(attribute.to_s.underscore.split('_').map(&:capitalize).join(' ')) label(value.to_s) { text <= [model, attribute] } } } end class AddressView include Glimmer::LibUI::CustomControl options :address body { vertical_box { address.each_pair do |attribute, value| label_pair(model: address, attribute: attribute, value: value) end } } end class ClassBasedCustomControls include Glimmer::LibUI::Application # alias: Glimmer::LibUI::CustomWindow before_body do @address1 = Address.new('123 Main St', '23923', 'Denver', 'Colorado', '80014') @address2 = Address.new('2038 Park Ave', '83272', 'Boston', 'Massachusetts', '02101') end body { window('Class-Based Custom Keyword') { margined true horizontal_box { vertical_box { label('Address 1') { stretchy false } address_form(address: @address1) horizontal_separator { stretchy false } label('Address 1 (Saved)') { stretchy false } address_view(address: @address1) } vertical_separator { stretchy false } vertical_box { label('Address 2') { stretchy false } address_form(address: @address2) horizontal_separator { stretchy false } label('Address 2 (Saved)') { stretchy false } address_view(address: @address2) } } } } end ClassBasedCustomControls.launch

Glimmer DSL for LibUI (Prerequisite-Free Ruby Desktop Development GUI Library): this gem just won a 2022 Fukuoka Ruby Special Award after getting judged directly by Matz (creator of Ruby) and the Fukuoka Ruby Award Competition Judges! How is that for a Year of The Ruby Desktop accomplishment!!?!

Another reason why this library was created was to address the need for supporting automated declarative drag and drop features in Glimmer DSL for LibUI coming soon (right now, it supports manually implementing drag and drop with area listeners out of the box).

Something for which I wish there was a windows variant...

Embedding a script into a small tray icon/menubar app can be extremely powerfull even with its low complexity.

[1]: https://github.com/sveinbjornt/Platypus

> Which apps do you use actually it for?

neovim, mutt, tig, weechat

> That's what aliases are for (or you could rename the binary?)!

Unfortunately, it's not that simple on macOS for app bundles. The human readable name of the app bundle really doesn't matter that much to the operating system -- it's the contents of Info.plist that matter. In order to have a separate app that can be Cmd+Tab'd to, you have to have a separate app bundle, separate app bundle identifier, etc. There's really not a way around it on macOS that I've seen.

(And to be clear, aliases do work on the command line. I'm talking specifically about GUI apps - which is my primary method of separating my different activities. Terminal emulator tabs are not good enough.)

This also doesn't solve the performance problems with any of the various GUI applications, nor does it solve my problem for other applications that I want to run.

> By the way, do you know the app https://github.com/sveinbjornt/Platypus that can generate app bundles on a Mac?

I do! I tried this route first, but it falls apart when you start a GUI application from the script that you supply to platypus. If your script is e.g. `wezterm start`, it'll just start up another instance of a wezterm-branded GUI app in addition to the wrapper app that Platypus spits out.

Random fact; this website is created and maintained by Sveinbjörn Þórðarson who also made Platypus (https://github.com/sveinbjornt/Platypus) and Sloth (https://github.com/sveinbjornt/Sloth) — software that Mac nerds might be familiar with.

Sveinbjörn is a ball of energy that just radiates positives for human society.

Not sure if I understood the question properly but I found this program for Macs the other day: Platypus. It will create a .app out of any scrap of code.