Are there any cross-platform GUI frameworks here which work out-of-the-box?

[SamuelMarks]

I've recently been trying to get an open-source cross-platform GUI library—in C or C++—working with an open-source cross-platform C/C++ package manager.

Experience here with vcpkg:

• nanogui @ [nanogui] update to 16/10/2020 - also it's broken #17052
• fltk @ [fltk] Undefined symbols on macOS 11.1 (20C69) #17053
• libui @ [libui] Undefined symbols on macOS 11.1 (20C69) #17054
• nuklear @ [nuklear] fatal error: 'malloc.h' file not found #17055
• tgui @ [TGUI] Install fails without error on macOS 11.1 (20C69) #17056
• imgui @ [imgui] fatal error: 'imgui_impl_allegro5.h' file not found #17058
• glui @ [glui] Interface doesn't update but render does #17059
• wxwidgets @ [wxwidgets] error "No Target! You should use wx-config program for compilation flags!" #17072
• allegro5 @ [allegro5] How do I use it? #17108
• gtk, gtkmm @ [glib] build failure on macOS (gtk, gtkmm) #17216
• nana @ [nana] build failure - You will need to install Xorg dependencies to use #17291
• dlib @ (LAPACK: [lapack-reference] build failure - gfortran required? #17293, GUI not launching: [dlib] (no build error, but no GUI get: Error of failed request: BadValue (integer parameter out of range for operation) #17295)

Experience with hunter:

• imgui (evolved into missing allegro5) @ [imgui] How do I resolve [hunter ** INTERNAL **] Project 'imgui' not found? cpp-pm/hunter#376

Experience with sw:

• imgui @ Compiler is not implemented: '' or 'AppleClang' SoftwareNetwork/sw#64

Experience with conan:

• imgui and nuklear (really allegro5) @ [bug] <imgui> missing dependency from conan repo of <allegro5> conan-io/conan#8763
• wxwidgets @ https://github.com/conan-io/conan/issues/8782
• libui @ [bug] ERROR: Missing binary: libui/0.4.1@bincrafters/stable conan-io/conan#8783
• tgui @ [bug] tgui fails to install because of colon in name ('tgui:texus') conan-io/conan#8784

Experience with conda:

• fltk @ [fltk] How to configure CMake to find this C/C++ dependency? conda/conda#10601
• wxwidgets @ [wxwidgets] PackagesNotFoundError but https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/wxwidgets; conda install -c conda-forge wxwidgets used conda/conda#10602

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You folks have been helpful and are commenting—and sometimes providing patches—for most of my issues here. But I still don't have a working 'Hello World' from any cross-platform C/C++ GUI library. Any suggestions?

[Neumann-A]

Qt should work (using CMake). At least the cmake test port and paraview work on windows & linux.

[SamuelMarks]

@Neumann-A My only issue with Qt—and the reason I haven't tested it in the above list—is the licensing issue. Commercial vs noncommercial usage.

Also for my purposes I don't need anything too fancy, just forms, a tree view, [stretch goal: image and video rendering], and maybe a graph or two… I even tried doing it myself (link with Windows SDK to create windows as they recommend, but linking with macOS failed to show anything on screen).

I was rather surprised that none of the 9 vcpkg packaged UI frameworks worked out-of-the-box. Hopefully as those issues progress someone will contribute enough PRs that one works (there are some open PRs now; hopefully will be completed). Might need to send a few more myself…

[Neumann-A]

Qt is the only GUI Framework with test ports if it actually works. It has cmake in scripts/test_ports and paraview. So maybe vcpkg needs some test_ports for the other gui frameworks.

[NicolBolas]

@SamuelMarks

I was rather surprised that none of the 9 vcpkg packaged UI frameworks worked out-of-the-box.

I'm not sure what you mean by "out-of-the-box". I had no trouble installing wxWidgets through vcpkg and finding a "Hello World" tutorial that could work with it (thus proving that vcpkg installed it correctly). Vcpkg installs libraries; it doesn't install applications. Libraries can be used to build applications, but you have to bring the application code yourself.

So they do work "out-of-the-box"; they just don't write the application code for you. Nor should they. So I don't think the problem is with vcpkg so much as what you expect from it.

[SamuelMarks]

@NicolBolas I also tried wxwidgets, see #17072

Hello World didn't work. YMMV.