Hey there kksou,

I've seen you eBook at: http://www.kksou.com/php-gtk2/ebook/

I really want to purchase it but just wanted to ask you this one thing:

Does the eBook contain any examples about an Instant Messenger written with PHP-GTK2 ? Because I trully doubt it can be done with PHP-GTK2....

I've seen this type of application listed in the eBook description at the above link going:
On the B2C level, your imagination is the limit:

* MP3 player
* MP3 organizer
* Photo album and organizer
* Instant messenger
* Desktop file search
* Text editor
* PHP/HTML editor
* Web browser
* FTP client
* Financial calculators
* Sudoku player
* DVD/CD catalog
* File synchronizer
* ...


So I'm just wondering... Is there some codes or theory in this eBook to help me better understand and see how sockets work and how to actually get to write my OWN instant messenger ?

If you could provide such a thing I'll personally buy your book and also easily refer a lot of my friends to buy it. I'll buy it anyway though because it seems VERY useful for someone like me (have been doing php web based for over 7 years now), but just PLEASE, can you include such an example in that book ?

Thank you very much for your hard work and all the help you're giving us. You're really making lots of lifes easier.

CD.

No. The ebook does not contain examples of Instant Messenger.

Please take a look at :

phpICQ: http://phpicq.sourceforge.net/

It might be the example that you want.

Regards,
/kksou

I'm on that right now. Thank you very much. I'll just buy the eBook anyway it seems REALLY usefull. And by the way just one more question.

Do you think it's better to use Glade interfaces rather than positioning all GUI by code ? What are the benefits on Glade and what are the benefits on writing the GUI in code ?

Thanks again.

oh and I'm pretty sure I saw a GLADE book here in your website... but can't remember where. Can you please tell me where it is and about the cost ? Thank you,
CD

I think you're referring to this book:

Mastering Glade for PHP-GTK2

Regards,
/kksou

ciprian_dimofte wrote:
Do you think it's better to use Glade interfaces rather than positioning all GUI by code ? What are the benefits on Glade and what are the benefits on writing the GUI in code ?


Each method has its up side and down side. It really depends on your personal preference.

Glade can really save you a lot of time when you are designing complicated GUIs. Just give Glade a try and you will know what I mean. One of the more useful tool I really like is the widget tree - it shows you a hierarchy view of your entire widgets in your application. Another very useful feature using Glade is when you need to move widgets around. For example, if you wish to move an entire content (which contains 10 levels of widgets) in an hbox to another vbox. Of course you can do all these using direct coding. But using Glade, it's really simple and easy. And it's actually quite fun using it.

Another reason people use Glade is when they have two teams of people developing an application. The design team can work on the Glade, while the coding team works on the code. Both can be done in parallel.

Having said that, coding in direct PHP-GTK2 (without using Glade) has its own fun too. For many people who enjoys using OOP (object-oriented programming), they will usually subclass a standard widget to create their own widgets. All the related signals and methods will be neatly encapsulated within each class (or new widget). You can build very organized widgets and classes that makes coding, extending and maintaining these widgets/classes very easy.

There are also times when creating widgets directly is much easily done than using Glade. For example, if you need to create 100 GtkEntry's. Using direct coding, you can do a simple for-next loop.

In any case, try both methods and decide for yourself. It's really a matter of personal choice.

Regards,
/kksou

Oh well I just started out on PHP-GTK2 a couple months ago, and the thing is I've been doing it all WITH Glade, which I think indeed is pretty neat.

I just wanted to have some sort of a reassurance that IT IS indeed a good choice when going live into production, which I now think it is and makes no performance diffrence weather I use Glade for the GUI or direct Code.

One other reason I love Glade is because I'm not 100% familiar with the OOP in PHP, so until I'll get more familiar with the OOP and what it REALLY stands for in PHP5, I'd prefer to do it all procedural... which will involve more work but at least it's what I can master at this time.

Thanks
CD