Need programmers eyes for this (not code):

I'm puzzled at this program I received from a client. The windows executable looks like this attached picture. I have not seen this type of "look and feel" since like 1995. Any programmers out there that recognize this look and feel or can say, "No, this doesn't look like C#" will really help me here. I am waiting to get the source code of this program. The buttons don't have any depressed image, just a plain text with rounded rectangle. This can't be VB, VC, Java or Processing. What can this be? Flash? Authorware?

Big thanks!

program interface.gif

Got words that the development system is called RunRev:

http://www.runrev.com/

Anyone heard of it? Is it free? $999? gotta be kidding me! Is it any good?

I didn't know Java was such a difficult language that it required this to be created... Its basically just VB for Java.

What can this be? Flash? Authorware?

20-year-old crapware if that's the finished product.

I just spent 5 minutes looking at their site, I still don't know what they do but I certainly didn't see any rubbish UIs like that, the examples look quite flash.


Rob

Most visual development systems have a variety of ways that you can create the objects. 3D or flat are common.

I work in Visual Basic 6 and I can also create my own objects with their own properties (I have made sliders that could have both endpoints set by the program, a popup keypad for data entry on a touch screen and such. Any of the Visual Studio languages will allow you to do pretty much the same thing, the difference is the language behind the visual objects.

Sometimes the objects that the language offers are very limited and creating your own object allows you to make it more adaptable (and more complex) but just because you see an interface it doesn't give you much insight into the language the code was written in.

Graynomad:
I just spent 5 minutes looking at their site, I still don't know what they do but I certainly didn't see any rubbish UIs like that, the examples look quite flash.


Rob

Same feeling. They seem to use some natural language syntax that is very orthogonal to C or BASIC style. I just can't do that. I mentioned Authorware because I know I can draw up some plain old looking interface with it if it were 1998 and I did better than that by drawing my own pictures for buttons, buttons with mouse hovering on top, buttons when pressed etc. I guess runrev doesn't just produce a plain old look by default. I might have to redo the interface with Processing. At least people are used to java look and feel these days :slight_smile:

Graynomad:
20-year-old crapware if that's the finished product.

XD

I can make that look in seconds using FLTK, why you would want to is beyond me, but its not that hard outside of the MS environments ... if you really wanted to you could do the same in .NET, but now you have gone from a deliberate decision to going well out of your way.

It could be plain html with a clickable map ]:smiley:
Jantje

I must admit I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Clear enough to read. Uncomplicated and to the point.

I've seen much fancier, and much worse, sometimes at the same time.

pico:
I must admit I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Clear enough to read. Uncomplicated and to the point.

I've seen much fancier, and much worse, sometimes at the same time.

Not trying to say it's not good or not working. Just trying to find out what environment it came from (was later informed it was runrev). It works.

pico:
I must admit I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Tell me which elements cause an action when clicked?

At a guess those big orange button looking thingies look like promising candidates for activation to do something functional. Unless the entire text of the Tech Guides is, in fact, "Tech Guides".

pico:
At a guess...

Exactly. Anything that leaves the human guessing is a worthless interface. I've seen better user interfaces done entirely in "ASCII graphics" (e.g. Turbo Vision circa 1992).

Looks like something from one of the first color Palms.

It's pretty funny that they pitch it as "cross-platform": their homepage is festooned with logos, claiming you can "deploy your apps anywhere". But, if you check their feature matrix (about halfway down the page), 90% of their features don't work on any "platform" that you couldn't have your dog fetch with your pipe and slippers.