[wxruby-users] wxRuby / wxWigets with C++

[Alex Fenton]

Łukasz Łapiński wrote:
> I am experimenting with integration of C++ and Ruby. What exactly I would  
> like to do is to provide an option to use Ruby and wxRuby for creation of  
> GUI and doing algorithms in C++ and then displaying results in the openGL  
> Canvas.
>   
I wasn't totally clear what you wanted - do you want to end up with a 
ruby script that calls some C++ extensions, or a compiled C programme 
that calls wxRuby to do a GUI. I think the latter will be harder...
> But I would also like to transfer the data from the form built using Ruby  
> into some classes in C++. Like parameters: numbers and string. But I am  
> wondering if it is possible to create controls in Ruby and then just  
> assign then into C++ fields (the controls not values). 
Not quite sure how this would work. Unless the interface of your C++ 
library is very complex, it might be easier to do it the other way 
around, ie create a simple ruby wrapper around your C++ library (using 
SWIG or RICE) then use Ruby to transfer the values into the C library. 
Is there a particular reason this won't work for you?
> I thought these are in fact the same controls, they were written in C++,  
> but I guess txt is not of type [wxTextField *], but rather
>   #<SWIG::TYPE_p_wxTextCtrl:0xb7c49944>
>   so how to get the pointer to wxTextField so I can manipulate the control  
>  from cpp class like this
>
> someText->GetValue()
SWIG provides a lot of useful functions for doing this, if you want. See 
http://www.swig.org/Doc1.3/Ruby.html#Ruby_nn50

in particular, SWIG_ConvertPtr which converts a VALUE to the underlying 
C++ object.

It's generally used little directly, as it's easier to use %extend to 
write methods in which the placeholder variable $self refers to the C++ 
object.

alex