Iv Tools
IvTools is a Software Elephant that can be many things to many people depending on what part of the body they grab:
- It's an evolving collection of vector-graphic tools for educational, scientific, and pre-production use.
- It's a GUI toolkit based on the original lightweight glyphs of InterViews.
- It's a LayeredApplicationFramework for custom DirectManipulation applications based on the UnidrawFramework, as well as a ComponentFramework as defined by PhilipEskelin, et.al.. (see http://www.ivtools.org/ivtools/ivtools-layers.html).
- It has a ScriptingLanguage with a simple-as-you-can-get parenthesis-based syntax and innovative constructs for dataflow expressions and drawing editor control.
- Augment with DougSchmidt's ACE toolkit, and it's a DistributedComponentEnvironment for developing hybrid viewer/server applications.
- Augment with MarkLinton's Fresco (see FrescoFramework) toolkit (future possibility), and it's a cross-platform GUI toolkit with unique vector-graphic capability.
- It might be a good starting point for the infinite canvas of ReinventingComics. Or a graphics-oriented white-board conferencing system. Or a ... (add your idea here).
- It's a HyperStructuredGraphics environment ala Tgif.
- It's a museum piece of FreeSoftware DesignPatterns, a trove of prior-art stretching back to 1986 for convenient patent immunity.
- It supports the IplPackage.
See Also: CompoundObjectProgramming, SourceComponents, DesignPatterns, LayeredApplicationFramework