Can I build a graphical interface from ocaml toplevel?

Question

À few questions regarding the interactive toplevel and graphical UI programming:

Is it possible to build a graphical interface dynamically from ocaml toplevel?
It is possible to use the Graphics library too?

score 12 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 19 '15 at 13:23

12

You can use the LWT toplevel with integration with the lablgtk main loop:

install lwt-glib and lablgtk, on debian based systems:

apt-get install liblwt-glib-ocaml-dev liblablgtk2-ocaml-dev

in the OCaml toplevel, load everything:

#use "topfind";;
#require "lwt.simple-top";;
#require "lwt.glib";;
#require "lablgtk2";;

then initialise the GTK and the LWT integration:

GMain.init ();;
Lwt_glib.install ();;

And play:

let w = GWindow.window ();;
w#show ();;

Graphics does not have a main loop like GTK, so there is no problem there. But inside a GTK application you should use cairo instead.

edited Feb 19 '15 at 13:23

didierc

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answered Feb 16 '12 at 12:19

Pierre Chambart

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That's wonderful. I had been looking for such a trick for so long ! – Fabrice Le Fessant Feb 16 '12 at 12:22
It is possible to use the Graphics library too ? – Fabrice Le Fessant Feb 16 '12 at 12:24
3

Graphics does not have a main loop like GTK, so there is no problem there. But inside a GTK application you should use cairo instead. – Pierre Chambart Feb 16 '12 at 12:28
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Is there a module with Graphics interface to play with Cairo ? – Fabrice Le Fessant Feb 16 '12 at 12:30
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There is actually a binding for Cairo library in OCaml, check [ocaml-cairo](http://caml.inria.fr/cgi-bin/hump.en.cgi?contrib=518). – Çağdaş Bozman Feb 18 '12 at 12:49

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 16 '12 at 12:26

6

You can also use the Graphics module (see the manual). You will need to manage a lot of things yourself (the event loop, the toolkits) but it is much simpler than lablgtk:

#load "graphics.cma";;
Graphics.open_graph " ";;

answered Feb 16 '12 at 12:26

Thomas

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Can I build a graphical interface from ocaml toplevel?

2 Answers2