[vlc-devel] Re: Writing VLC interface plug-in

[Clément Stenac]

Hello,

> I've looked through hotkeys.c, dummy.c, ncurses.c but I'm still having 
> trouble with how to begin writing code. For starter, I'd like to write a 
> GUI plug-in that just opens up an empty window or dialog box. (using 
> wxwindows)
Fine :)
 
> I ran dummy.c and ncurses.c by typing './vlc -I dummy' and './vlc -I 
> ncurses', but neither seemed to be doing anything involving GUI. As for 
> dummy, it just opened up a console and printed some lines without launching 
> vlc. Is this the desired behavior of dummy?
Yes. 

dummy is not really a gui module, it is more intended to be an example
of how to build an interface module. It does nothing.

> And 'vlc - I ncurses' doesn't seem to be doing anything different from just 
> running 'vlc'. Maybe my vlc is broken.
If you are not running GNU/Linux or another kind of Unix, this is quite
normal as ncurses is an Unix only library.

 
> Could you direct me to a couple more example plugin codes where things like 
> Windows-style dialog boxes, pop-up menus are involved and wxwindows modules 
> are used?
wxwindows is only used in the wxwindows plugin. You can also have a look
at the gtk/gnome, qt, and kde plugins, but they use Unix libraries too.

> Another question. I've also looked at files in ./modules/gui/wxwindows, and 
> discovered that those files are written in c++ rather than c. Having little 
> experience in C++, would I ever need to write codes in C++ if I need to use 
> wxwindows modules?
wxWindows is a C++ library, that makes extensive use of C++ features.
You need to write C++ if you want to use it. However, this should not be
too difficult if you do not want to make very complex things. You only
need to understand the principles of object-oriented programming. Have a
look at the wxwindows plugin files too.

> Thanks again. I feel bad throwing dumb questions at busy people. =(
You shouldn't. Helping others play with VLC is part of the job :)

Good luck,

-- 
Zorglub
Clément Stenac

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