[Xcb] Re: XCB official release date

[Barton C Massey]

In message <loom.20050210T081811-199 at post.gmane.org> you wrote:
> I have 2 questions, please bear with me

3, actually :-).  But no problem...


> http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fXCBDevelopmentPlan
> <quote>
> Commit to [[xorg][X.org]]: no date yet
> 
> At this point, the default would be to compile Xlib
> without XCB. Committing all of the necessary pieces to
> [[xorg][X.org]] makes it easier for new developers to turn
> on XCB support and try it out.
> </quote>
> 
> So when is the exact date that this will XCB will be
> implemented in preference to xlib?

Not sure exactly what you're asking.  Current
freedesktop.org modular Xlib bits contain support for using
Xlib atop XCB via the --with-xcb flag.  This is nice, since
you can then use Xlib and XCB in parallel.  Xlib/XCB isn't
really quite ready for prime time yet: doesn't build
perfectly, and once it does, it still has some bugs.  We're
working on it.

We think XCB itself is now stable enough to build toolkits
and simple user programs atop.  Some auxiliary libraries
and functions still need to be designed and implemented for
the convenience of application developers that want to work
directly atop XCB: this work is in progress.

> <quote>
> Some features of Xlib have been sacrificed in achieving
> these goals, notably i18n support and convenience
> buffering and caching features, but the cost will likely
> be worth it for toolkit developers and for those looking
> to write specialized applications layered atop the XCB
> API.
> </quote>
> 
> This is a quote from the massey.pdf I got from
> freedesktop.org.  I am coding a toolkit on xlib R6, and
> I'm using the adrian nye series from orielly, esp volume 0
> reference and volume 1 to code my toolkit on top of Xlib.
> I would really like to know when I have to swich over to
> XCB, and when my widget library will no longer work. It's
> a new library in progress.

We think you should code your toolkit atop XCB instead.
It's much nicer for this :-).  That said, there's no date in
the foreseeable future when you "have to switch over to
XCB": Xlib support will be around for a long time.

> Where is the definitive API and documentation for XCB? The
> docs I have seen on freedesktop.org consist of a broken
> html wiki of a couple structs
> http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software_2fXcbApi
> If possible, please link me to a page with the DOxygen generated docs

Ouch, that page really got mangled in the transition from
TWiki to MoinMoin!  We'll try to fix it ASAP: it really is
pretty good once it is readable.

The documentation for the bulk of the XCB API is the X
Protocol document itself.  A typical XCB function really is
just a direct C binding for a protocol request.

As far as I know, we have no DOxygen.


Hope this helps!

    Bart Massey
    bart at cs.pdx.edu