IUP (software)

The IUP Portable User Interface is a computer software development kit that provides a portable, scriptable toolkit for GUI building using C and Lua. This allows rapid, zero-compile prototyping and refinement of deployable GUI applications.

It provides this functionality by binding Lua with its C/C++ code, or simply writing C to the API. It supports calling native Windows graphics, native Motif/Lesstif or GTK+ elements, or the developers' own CanvasDraw elements from the Lua scripts or natively in a C/C++ application.

Features

IUP

Original author(s)	Tecgraf/PUC-Rio in collaboration with Petrobras
Stable release	3.5 / 2011-04-26
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Software Development Kit
License	MIT
Website	IUP

IUP's distinguishing features include:

• Built in support for Lua scripts calling IUP functions (controlled by Lua script) on Windows, and Linux installations of IUP,

• Can also be used from native ANSI C, one of the few plain C capable toolkits,

• Removal of the restriction of class/instance object types, but retaining the Lua-style hierarchy of inheritance.

• An abstract layout model, in which sizes and positions are calculated from horizontal and vertical containers, rather than explicit X and Y coordinates. (Coordinate-based layout is also supported with a third container type.)

• Small API, on the order of about 100 functions.

• Use of an event loop/callback mechanism. This main loop can be called inside Lua.

• Interface elements are created before they are mapped to the native elements. This is the reverse of the usual situation for assembling GUI elements.

• Available as source or pre-built static or dynamic libraries for wide variety of compilers, including turnkey example source.

The Lua scripting is done by binding Lua and IUPLua in (at least) a small C program called a host application. This program creates a Lua state, passes the Lua state to IUPLua for initialization, and then opens and executes a Lua script against the Lua state. Alternatively, the entire IUP state can be dynamically loaded via use of a Lua 'require' or 'package.loadlib' of IUPLua.

The script(s) can later be compiled with the luac compiler if desired.

As of March 2009^[update], only the GTK+ version of IUP supports Unicode. [1]

License/Copyright

IUP is liberally-licensed for free use, modification, sale, and redistribution under the MIT licence. [2]

IUP has been in development at least since the 1.8 version issued in 1998. It was begun in collaboration with Petrobras.

Project sites

• IUP Project
• IUP-Users mailman list and archive, at LuaForge.

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