AVTK - OpenAV Productions

This is the repository for AVTK, an Audio / Visual ToolKit.

General Info

AVTK is based on PUGL and Cairo, two great libraries. It minimizes what dependencies it has by using these two frameworks. PUGL is a cross platform GL abstraction, while Cairo provides fast vector graphic rendering to GL surfaces.

Avtk::UI

Avtk::UI is the main UI class, where the widget logic resides. The UI class wraps a PUGL view, and manages redrawing and theming of widgets. The UI pointer is passed to all widgets, which gives it a lot of flexibility to control other elements.

In order to write a custom UI, derive a class CustomUI from Avtk::UI, and create some widgets in its CustomUI() constructor. Add the created widgets using the add( Avtk::Widget* ) function, which is inheritited from Avtk::UI.

The Avtk::UI class uses a smart-pointer to manager the Widget* instances passed in, so we do not need to worry about memory leaks when dealing with widgets in this way.

Widgets

The widget is the main UI element in AVTK. Creating custom widgets is very easy: just derive from the widget class, and override the draw() function. In order to have proper mouse interaction for drag and click modes, checkout widget.hxx, which details what ClickMode, DragMode, and Scroll options there are.

The Widget superclass has void value(float) and float value() methods, for setting and getting the most important value of the widget. As not all widgets can be described with one value (think an ADSR or other complex widgets), add custom float getParamX() and void setParamX( float ) functions. These will need to be explicity controlled by the UI, but there's no way around that.

Themes

Each Avtk::UI instance has a Theme*, which contains the current color values for the Theme. Note that line-widths and corner-rounded-ness are also contained within the Theme class.

Creating a new Theme can be done by deriving from the Theme class, and then overriding the float setColor( cairo_t* cr, USE_CASE uc, float alpha); function. This function sets USE_CASE color as the active color for Cairo context cr when it is called. When the given USE_CASE exists in the theme the custom setColor() function returns non-zero: this tells Avtk to not apply the default color.

If the setColor() function returns null, then the default compiled in AVTK theme will be used.

Building

To build a static library from the AVTK source:

git clone https://github.com/openAVproductions/openAV-AVTK
cd openAV-AVTK
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

The current directory now has two binaries

1. The avtkDemo application, just run to see an AVTK UI
2. The avtkTests widget tester, run with a command line argument to test the specific widget. Examples include ./avtkTests and pass an argument from the following list: dialog dial group key list number

Using

To use AVTK in your own application, it is recommended to copy the source code into your tree. This allows you to link statically to AVTK, which avoids a lot of issues when embedding plugins UIs. OpenAV does not intend to support dynamic linking of AVTK, or maintaining a backwards-compatilble ABI.

After building AVTK, a libavtk.a static archive of AVTK is in the build directory. Statically link your application against this .a file, and you're ready to run!

License

AVTK is licensed under the 3-clause BSD license. This allows commercial use of the library.

Contact

If your using AVTK, my curiosity would like an email - this is however in no way mandatory.

Harry van Haaren harryhaaren@gmail.com OpenAV Productions openavproductions.com