The Motif Programming Manual is a source for complete, accurate, and insightful guidance on Motif application programming. There is no other book that covers the ground as thoroughly or as well as this one. The book has been updated to Motif 1.2, but is still usable with Motif 1.1.
The Motif Programming Manual describes how to write applications using the Motif toolkit from the Open Software Foundation (OSF). The book goes into detail on every Motif widget class, with useful examples that will help programmers to develop their own code. Anyone doing Motif programming who doesn't want to have to figure it out on their own needs this book.
In addition to information on Motif, the book is full of tips about programming in general and about user interface design.
Contents include:
An introduction to the Motif programming model, how it is based on the X Toolkit Intrinsics, and how it differs from them.
Chapters on each of the Motif widget classes, explaining them in depth, with useful examples that will help you to improve your own code. For example, the chapter on menus shows how to develop utility functions that generalize and simplify menu creation. All of the code shown in the book is available free of charge over the Internet or via UUCP.
Coverage of the drag-and-drop mechanism for transferring data. Two extensive examples show how to implement custom drag source and drop site functionality in a Motif application.
A tutorial on UIL. The chapters on UIL describe all of the techniques used to create an interface with this prototyping tool. The numerous examples cover the basics and explore ways to use UIL to facilitate rapid prototyping.
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The book assumes competence with the C programming language, as well as familiarity with fundamental X Window System concepts. The Motif Programming Manual is not only the most comprehensive guide to writing applications with Motif, it is an integral part of the most widely used series of books on X as a whole. It complements and builds upon the earlier books in the X Window System Series from O'Reilly & Associates, as well as on OSF's own Motif Style Guide. Best when paired with Volume 6B, Motif Reference Manual.
Dave Brennan is a senior software engineer at HaL Computer Systems, where he is a member of the On-Line Information Access System (OLIAS) group. He is responsible for the user interface of the on-line documentation browser, as well as a number of other insidious hacks to which he'll never admit. In addition, Dave maintains the Emacs lisp archive at Ohio State University.
Dan Heller has a degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has developed end-user applications, integrating various well-known user interface styles from SunView to Motif to Open Look, as well as the design of his own interface toolkit. Dan has started his own company, called Z-Code Software, which designs and develops X-based applications for the commercial market. Its first product is Z-Mail, an electronic mail package that runs under Motif, Open Look, and nongraphical displays. Dan is also the author of O'Reilly & Associates' Motif Programming Manual.
