AutoIt GUI Creators (Designers)

[TheSaint]

As many of you may not be aware, of much about AutoIt's humble beginnings, and aspects related to the first GUI version of AutoIt, I thought it might be nice to create a historical reference here for all the many GUI creators that have been created by various people over the years.

NOTE - While one could argue, that this topic might be better placed in one of the Chat forums, I would argue, that it links to heaps of good code. While much may be redundant in that code, it is still interesting and forms a great perspective. Many are bound to find useful elements at the very least.

Koda, is no doubt the most well-known GUI creator now, but there was a time, when CyberSlug's legendary GUIBuilder (first known as AutoBuilder) ruled the roost, and AutoIt coder's saw it as a Godsend. AutoIt coding was much simpler back then of course.

Below, will be a timeline, of any AutoIt GUI creators listed in forum pages. It will be added to by myself as I find them or as others here find them and place a link in a subsequent post ... PLEASE HELP! Comments welcome too.

(Also note, that this is also intended to include updates, branches etc by others)

Apr 20 2004 - AutoBuilder by CyberSlug.
Sep 27 2004 - An interesting topic, where CyberSlug talks about the future of AutoBuilder (etc) and renaming to GUIBuilder and you see the first mentions and links to updates by others (including myself & livewire).
Nov 05 2004 - A topic where lookfar is working on a SciTE replacement, talks about starting a Form Designer.

Aug 10 2005 - GuiBuilder first update by TheSaint.
Sep 26 2005 - GUIBuilder updates by livewire (he also talks about transferring his efforts to Koda).
Nov 02 2005 - KODA FormDesigner v1.3 by lookfar
Nov 03 2005 - Seemingly interesting topic about forms by tonedeaf
Dec 26 2005 - AutoIt Studio(beta) by BillLuvsU

Jan 09 2006 - AutoBuilder update (or branch) by _^__darkbytez (livewire also posts).
Feb 19 2006 - Koda v1.5 by lookfar
Sep 07 2006 - Koda v1.7.3.0 by Lazycat

Jan 07 2007 - Form/GUI Builder by FlintBrenick
Jun 10 2007 - Gorganizer by _Kurt (more of an assister than actual GUI maker)
Jun 27 2007 - Basic GUI Designer by Mast3rpyr0

May 03 2008 - Autoit Programmer's Desktop (APD) by Ealric
Jul 11 2008 - Gui Designer by Alek
Aug 11 2008 - Gorganizer update by _Kurt

Jun 19 2009 - Easy GUI by Mat
Aug 13 2009 - GUI Script Creator by Pandemic (not sure this qualifies, but it made me think of templates)

Aug 16 2010 - Creation Gui by AZJIO

Jan 22 2012 - ISN AutoIt Studio by ISI360 (includes ISN Form Studio 2, a GUI editor)
Mar 19 2012 - Arduino GUI Programmer by nikosliapis (creates a specific type of GUI)
Aug 01 2012 - GuiBuilder Resurrected update/branch to GUIBuilder by baroquebob
Dec 01 2012 - Form Builder beta (v1.0.6) by BuckMaster

Jan 12 2015 - GUIBuilderNxt update by jaberwacky of GUIBuilder v0.8 (as a new prototype, modified to work with latest AutoIt) (not a update to the Resurrected version)

Aug 12 2016 - The GuiBuilder Return by DFerrato as an update to GUIBuilder,

Jan 17 2017 - GUIBuilder Project by TheSaint (a work in progress based on CyberSlug's original ... and later versions, updated by Roy, TheSaint & others).

May 29 2019 - The GuiBuilder Return by DFerrato as an update to GUIBuilder, His new and improved version.

May 9 2022 - GuiBuilderPlus by kurtykurtyboy as an update to GUIBuilder. A new an improved version with more to come.

There are a significant number of creators/designers that have been started and never completed.

+++++ STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION +++++

P.S. Well that's it from me tonight. I know of at least one other major creator, but cannot recall it's name or the name of the coder, though I think it starts with 'L'. Bound to be a few I've missed, and some I cannot seem to find their first appearance here (Koda, Form Builder, etc), but there may be an obvious reason for that. Will probably rely on feedback from others now that I've got the ball rolling.

NOTE - If anyone wants to discuss any of these programs above or give some background history, then by all means do so. I will cross-reference (link to) any important comments.

Edited May 9, 2022 by TheSaint

[TheSaint]

GUI CREATION RELATED

I think it is worth adding some elements that have an impact on how GUI's are created.

I am not specifically looking for these tools or addons etc, so please advise if you think something belongs here, as I will just add what attracts my notice.

NOTE - I'm getting the notion, that it could become hard to draw a line with these, and we might end up with an awful lot. Definitely a handy reference though.

Sep 24 2004 - GUI Dev Stuff by Jon (back where it all started to happen in earnestness)

Sep 10 2006 - XSkin.au3... Skin your GUI by Valuater
Oct 24 2006 - ShapedGUI Creator by Ed_Maximized

Feb 19 2007 - EzSkin_1-2-3 by Valuater
Mar 02 2007 - _GuiCreateGrid() by MrCreatoR
Jun 14 2007 - PNG as GUI, drop shadows, curved edges, you name it by lod3n (think this qualifies)

May 10 2008 - How to convert GUI scripts to v3.2.12.0 by Jon
Jun 10 2008 - PNG as GUI, drop shadows, curved edges etc UDF by goldenix
Sep 08 2008 - _GUIFrame UDF by kip
Dec 31 2008 - Perforated image in GUI by GreenCan

Mar 08 2009 - Add a drop shadow to native AutoIt GUI Forms and Dialogs by rover
Jun 21 2009 - A runtime control move/re-size utility by Malkey
Sep 25 2009 - Multiple PNG images as GUI elements by JRowe (seemingly qualifies)

Aug 01 2010 - GUIExtender - Original version by Melba23
Sep 10 2010 - GUIFrame UDF update by Melba23

Mar 09 2011 - _GUIDisable UDF by guinness
Dec 19 2011 - Tab control example: Tabs and subtabs on demand by LarsJ

Sep 09 2012 - GUISpoiler UDF by MrCreatoR
Oct 19 2012 - GUIExtender - New Version by Melba23
Dec 25 2012 - GUI design concepts by guinness

Jan 15 2014 - GUI Fun! by Ascend4nt
Apr 24 2014 - Spotlight + Focus GUI by Ascend4nt (think this qualifies)
May 7 2014 - MetroGUI UDF v4 by BBs19

Oct 09 2015 - Borderless GUI without WS_POPUP, with Drag, Resize & AeroSnap by BBs19

June 10 2023 - Glance - GUI library for AutoIt, based on Windows api by kcvinu

+++++ STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION +++++

Please Help!

Edited June 10, 2023 by TheSaint

[guinness]

Sept 2013 - >_GUIDisable UDF by guinness

[BrewManNH]

'?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

Edited January 26, 2015 by BrewManNH

[junkew]

Would be nice to have it in a tabular overview

Columns then to add

- Works with latest AutoIT     Yes/No

- Supported controltypes      Basic, Standard, Advanced controls

- Supports Ribbon                  Yes/No

- ......

[TheSaint]

@junkew - Sorry, this is just a list for historical reference, though you can get more out of it, if you put the time in.

All that stuff would require testing things, which I'm certainly not about to do ... others can though, if they wish.

The dates though, should help in some regards.

P.S. It is also a quick ready reference to save on searching, and to give awareness of GUI elements that many might not know about ... though that is somewhat of a secondary concern for me.

P.S.S. If you can show me what you mean by tabular view and columns, I might consider it.

Years ago I discovered you cannot do tables here, which is what I would have preferred.

As things look now, I think they are easy enough to read.

The second section, GUI Related, will probably end up messier.

Edited January 27, 2015 by TheSaint

[junkew]

[table]

[tr]

[th]Name[/th]

[th]Age[/th]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]John[/td]

[td]65[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Gitte[/td]

[td]40[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Sussie[/td]

[td]19[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Edited January 28, 2015 by junkew

[TheSaint]

Exactly as I tried it years ago, and seemingly the same result.

It appears to work temporarily and then it doesn't.

[junkew]

probably check when Jon will update to IPBoard 4 or an extension mod to support table tags bbcode

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invision_Power_Board

[TheSaint]

Going by past history of issues, I don't think he will be in any hurry to update just yet.

Edited January 28, 2015 by TheSaint

[TheSaint]

Added a few more GUI Creation Related items.

GUIExtender

GUISpoiler UDF

GUI Fun!

Apart from the fun aspect of that last, it also has a good number of links to other GUI related stuff, and like guinness says, it is interesting, so worthy of addition here in my estimation.

[TheSaint]

And added GUI Dev Stuff by Jon

Takes us right back to where it all started to happen in earnestness, and the key players back then.

Makes an interesting read and introduction.

Though still predated by CyberSlug's AutoBuilder.

Edited February 3, 2015 by TheSaint

[TheSaint]

Just came across what seems a worthy GUI addition here, so added it to Related - Jun 21 2009 - >A runtime control move/re-size utility by Malkey

Edited February 21, 2015 by TheSaint

[Gianni]

all links in this topic are pointing to himself
p.s.
(can be useful as an example of selfreferential recursive loop )

Edited May 5, 2015 by Chimp

[mLipok]

  On 1/28/2015 at 7:54 PM, junkew said:

probably check when Jon will update to IPBoard 4 or an extension mod to support table tags bbcode

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invision_Power_Board

​Maybe now ?

[TheSaint]

For the time being, I am not looking into fixing any broken links, in any of my topics.

Just in case it is for nothing and Jon has to eventually do a rollback and implements a script to fix these types of links.

Luckily I have saved web pages, that should help me if I do need to fix ... many wouldn't of course.

Very poor form by IPB or whatever they are called, and quite a big bug, having a wide impact when it comes to browsing through older topics. Don't agree with the lack of post number either, which only makes it worse.

Edited May 6, 2015 by TheSaint
further illumination

[TheDcoder]

  On 5/6/2015 at 9:36 AM, TheSaint said:

I am not looking into fixing any broken links, in any of my topics.

​Your ToolBox is effected too

[TheSaint]

So I've been told.

Most of the stuff in my Toolbox is pretty long in the tooth now anyway, though I guess still lots of good examples for beginners in many ways, if not without issue with the latest AutoIt ... and not done with a suitable coding etiquette as expected around here by some now. Of course, I'm a much better programmer now than when I did most of that.

[TheSaint]

Ok, all the links in the first post should now be correct and working again. Please let me know of any that are wrong.

I finally got around to digging up my saved web pages from January 2015, and thankfully all the links appear to still work after all the forum update changes.

I'll fix the second post ones next.

EDIT

Damn, even though my webpage copy was saved on the 27th, it has far less entries on it for Post #2.
I must have forgotten to do another save after later changes.
No other saves after that point, even in February etc.

That means quite some research work is required, which this little black duck does not feel up to right now ... dammit dammit dammit!

Those who want to help would be very welcome ... and the names & dates might help you.

P.S. Really weird I didn't save after all that work. Gonna check another backup source. I did have browser issues at one point, which may have been in that period, where things sometimes got saved in the wrong location ... if I'd had a browser crash and didn't pay attention to the date in the folder name. Let's hope.

EDIT 2

No such luck, but Google is being my friend and making it easy to find them.

Edited September 15, 2015 by TheSaint

[TheSaint]

Second post also now fixed, thanks to Google for most links.

Only had a bit of trouble with one, which was listed as -

PNG as GUI, drop shadows, curved edges etc UDF

but was really named -

PNG as GUI, drop shadows, curved edges... _UDF