WindowBuilder Pro (WBPro) is a power tool that greatly enhances the process and results of building user interfaces for VA Smalltalk. WBPro lets you interactively create, place, and edit user interface controls in your Smalltalk applications. As you interactively build your application you can experiment freely and easily tune and perfect your UI.

Key Benefits  Generates eye-catching UIs for VA Smalltalk WYSIWYG UI development Supports reusable visual components Bi-directional editing Unlimited undo/redo Supports drag/drop Supports tool tips and platform help Build portable UIs National Language Support (NLS) Build portable UIs using dozens of widgets Support for Windows 95/98 controls and OLE/ActiveX

WindowBuilder Pro also provides powerful productivity boostingtools such as visual inheritance, morphing of controls, and much more.

Features in the new version (with many screenshots) »

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Features

WindowBuilder Pro 5.5 (WBPro) has the tools that let you multiply your productivity. You'll save time, increase consistency, achieve more reuse and simplify maintenance. You get tools like....

Specialized Editors

Each control has a specialized editor that appears when you double click on the control in the interface editor. The editors allow you to easily see and set all of the options and features associated with the control.

Other specialized editors allow you to easily specify the menus for your windows, window attributes, icons, fonts, fore and back colors, and more. Multiple widgets of the same type can be edited simultaneously.

WbApplication

WbApplication is a flexible application framework for your UI. The generated Smalltalk code complies precisely with the VisualAge for Smalltalk coding recommendations. WbApplication supports visual composition to let you make nested components. WBPro supports bi-directional editing whereby changes made by hand to the generated code are reflected in the layout editor and vice versa.

Select and Place UI Components Easily

Each window you create is a subclass of WbApplication. To edit or change these windows, you use the Edit Class dialog to choose from only those windows created by WindowBuilder Pro. View them alphabetically, hierarchically, or by frequency of access. User specified filters are also supported.

Nested Components

WBPro enables you to create your own controls as composites of other controls. WbApplication subclasses can be complete UIs or they can be components used in other UIs.

These composites are treated as single objects by WBPro. They can be reused, and if their definitions change, the change is reflected anywhere they are used. They can be nested arbitrarily deep, can have tabbing order, and you have control of the border style.

Automatic Alignment and Sizing

The WBPro Interface Editor lets you align controls to the same top, bottom, left, or right edge, or center vertically or horizontally. All you do is select the item(s) and press a button. Controls may be easily distributed vertically or horizontally within an area and their widths and heights may be easily replicated to provide a uniform appearance.

Attachment Editor

WindowBuilder Pro uses an attachment editor to make it easy to use VisualAge's robust system for specifying what happens when a window is resized. Attachment styles make it easy to set up complex attachment specifications across multiple widgets. A dynamic thumb-nail view shows the affects of any attachment changes before they are made.

Morphing Morphing allows you to quickly change any control from one type to another compatible type. Easily morph a listbox to a combobox to a radiobox and back to a listbox!

Callback Editor A callback editor enables you to set up and manage callbacks and event handlers. Multiple handlers can be defined for each event and easily re-ordered. Handlers may be configured for multiple widgets simultaneously!

Visual Subclasses

WBPro lets you visually subclass a window. Part of the window is described in the superclass and part is described in the subclass. A callout capability in the #addWidgets method lets you call the superclass to pick up the specification of the part of the UI to be described by the superclass.

Use Dozens of Widgets Easily

WBPro supports all common and extended widgets including notebooks, iconic containers, tables, splitbars, toolbars, Windows 95/98 controls and OLE/ActiveX controls.

 

Drag and Drop Support WBPro supports drag/drop. A drag/drop editor lets you specify whether a widget should be a drag/drop source or target. It also allows you to specify callback handlers for any drag/drop adapter.

Control Fonts The Font Editor lets you easily change the font of the widgets you select.

Control Colors

The Color Editor lets you specify the foreground and background colors of the widgets.

 

Menus, NLS Support, Tab & Z-Order Support, and More

WBPro supports hierarchical menus on windows and widgets. A menu editor makes it easy and gives you precise control. WBPro also includes NLS support. A tab and z-order editor makes it easy to specify tab order and z-order.

UIs in VA Smalltalk Composition Editor

Any WBPro created windows may be used as parts within the VA Smalltalk Composition Editor.

WBPro has three editors to let you define the VA connection features for a WbApplication subclass. The attribute, action, and event editors let you specify the VA attributes, actions and events for the class. You make connection between the WbApplication window and other parts in the Composition Editor. When you double click on a WBPro-created window in the Composition Editor, WindowBuilder Pro will open on the window so you can modify and maintain your window or control. WBPro gives you more precise control over your UIs because it gives you easy, complete access to the CwWidget system. There's no need to build specialized scripts to access and control the widgets.