Graphics - An OpenGL based GUI framework
1. Introduction-
The developer of Pervasive Intelligent Museum Management Systems (PIMMS) has recently decided to revamp the GUI framework of their custom API known as Advanced Reusable Software Engine. The rationale behind this endeavor is to create a more efficient, light weight and portable framework that enable its users to develop platform agnostic applications. One of the core requirements for building this new framework is to use OpenGL for platform independent rendering, so that a tighter UI integration with their 3D applications can be achieved. In this coursework, you are tasked to create and demonstrate an OpenGL based GUI framework. A basic OpenGL Windows application demo (OGLWin) is given to you as the base of your implementation. In addition to implementing the framework, you must also write up a technical report on the design and implementation of your framework. Your work will be assessed based on the quality of both components. Read the remainder of this document for the specific requirements for the GUI framework and the technical report.
2. Component I: An OpenGL Based GUI Framework
Framework Requirements -
A framework is a collection of reusable programming interfaces built for the purpose of application development. Contemporary software framework design often conforms to the object oriented paradigm. As such, a framework written in OO style often consists of classes and methods that are extensible by developers. A GUI framework serves a specific purpose of providing the capabilities of drawing GUI items and handling user interactions. On the top-level, the constituting components of a GUI framework commonly consist of the following:
- Window Manager A window manager is responsible for managing (e.g. creation and deletion) resources allocated for GUI related items as well as handling user inter- actions.
- Renderer A GUI renderer is commonly responsible for 2D drawing of GUI elements such as the frame of a window, buttons, texts and images.
3. Component II: Technical Report
In this coursework, you are required to produce a technical report consisting of no more than 1000 words on the design and implementation of your GUI framework. Your report should contain the following sections:
1. Introduction: You should concisely explain to the reader the purpose of this report and the rationale of the work you did. You should also provide an overview of the outline of your report to guide your readers.
2. Design and Implementation: This section should contain the design and features of your GUI framework. Both frontend and backend features should be included in the discussion. You should precisely explain the methodology and techniques used in the implementation.
3. Evaluation and Result: This section should describe how you tested your work. For examples, if your GUI framework is considered resource efficient, you must describe the tests/experiments you used to evaluate this claim. You should also present relevant data in this section to support the result of your evaluation.
4. Discussion: In this section, you should discuss the result of your work and truthfully describe the strengths and weaknesses of your work. You should relate the discussion to the evaluation and result presented in the earlier section.
5. Conclusion: This section summarise the entire report. You should remind the readers of your achievements and more importantly offer suggestions for future work/improvements. The purpose of this is to give yourself and the reader a direction if further improvements are to be carried out.
6. References: You must present a list of resources used in your work in this section. Valid resources commonly include articles, websites and textbook.
Attachment:- Assignment.rar