From: eivind@idt.unit.no (Eivind Throndsen)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Prototyping tools, anyone? (Summary)
Date: 22 Dec 92 16:12:19 GMT
Organization: Div. of CS & Telematics, Norwegian Institute of Technology
Originator: eivind@boek

I've received three replies to my query for prototyping tools. Thank you
to Debra Wagner, James Logan and Christopher White.

Here are the answers I got. Hope others will find them helpful, too.

Yours,
Eivind Throndsen.

============================================================
From deb@c3ot.saic.com (Debra Wagner) Fri Dec 18 16:48:16 1992

There is an application development/prototyping tool called the
Visual Programming Environment (VPE) developed by a company
called Market Focus Technologies, now owned by SAIC (Science 
Applications International). I worked for Market Focus for 3.5
years and now work for SAIC so I am extremely familiar with the
product. It consists of an object oriented window (GUI) design tool
encompassing raster images, vector drawings, and most all of the
widgets available under either Motif and OpenLook. It runs on most
all Unix platforms and with not only Motif and OpenLook, but also
standard X. 

VPE also contains a fourth generation rule based language that even
non programmers can use. That's how easy it is. I have not found
anything that it can't do. Best of all, the same interface designed with
VPEscreens is used in the final full blown application that has the
rule code behind it. VPE also interfaces with all the major RDBMS's and
with a little additional coding, any standard SQL database. 

I'm not a sales person for Market Focus, just a believer in how easy it
makes my job as a Human Factors/GUI designer.

If you would like additional information, e-mail me back and I can give
you my #.

Hope this is helpful.

- Deborah Wagner
  SAIC

============================================================
From: james@sunny.mitre.org (James Logan)

A tool that allows you to build a user interface that is portable to
multiple platforms is Aspect by Open Inc.  They have built a single
user interface API for the MS-Windows, Macintosh, Unix (HP, SUN, DEC,
IBM, SCO etc.) and character based platforms.  They provide a builder
tool to prototype the user interface, then you add in your application
specific code. 

There are other multiplatform systems that work similar to Aspect.
for example XVT, but these other packages are more expensive.  I am
not sure but I don't think that these other products provide the
builder tool.  Also, Open's product has extended the features of some
of the platforms, so as to become a superset of the common features.

============================================================
From: Human-Factors@gtech.com (Christopher White)

JAM from JYACC is excellent. It's portable accross a number of platforms,
has it's own script language, supports c-hooks and a variety of build
options. You can quickly prototype, but it also a full application
development system (so you don't have to re-do you're work). It is
specifically aimed at SQL environments, but it can be used to do 
almost anything. It supports Motif on down to block terminals *without re-
writing your code*. 

The only drawback is that it is a memory hog on the PC unless you are using
memory extenders (or working in MS Windows). Highly reccommended.


Topher
--
 Christopher A. White                    | "Perfection is not optional."
 caw@gtech.com                           | 
 GTech Corporation, West Greenwich, RI   | from: Rules for sociopathic
 The opinions expressed are mine alone   |       obsessive-compulsives

-- 
Eivind Throndsen (eivind@idt.unit.no)  
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors