EveryGUI 0.99.b review

EveryGui is an attempt at being a GTK+ Graphical User Interface for "Everything" (involving command line programs) on UNIX systems

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Jeffrey Bakker

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EveryGui is an attempt at being a GTK+ Graphical User Interface for "Everything" (involving command line programs) on UNIX systems. EveryGUI's goal is achieved by providing two powerful applications:

Chameleon, which is a dynamic GUI for virtually any tool or OS command. It loads config files of tools which are chosen from a list, and dynamically creates widgets reperesenting the tools' options. Not only does it execute the commands, but it can save a batch of commands into a shell script for later/repeated use.

And Designer, which is a visual environment for creating/editing config files that determine Chameleon's different behaviours for each tool/command. Designer feels like a cross between QT Designer and Glade, but requires no coding at all to get the functionality working (that's Chameleon's job to do it automagically).

I decided to design EveryGUI because I have found myself writing over half a dozen GUIs for command line programs, when I realised a lot of the code is very similar, so why not make a unified GUI for all purposes? It makes sense to me...

Of course, there are already GUIs for cdrecord, lame, tar, webcpp, etc. which are more specialized for their tasks, but with the small learning curve of EveryGUI compared to the dozens of other GUIs you have to install and learn, EveryGUI proves to be very time efficient. And with its flexibility, you can customize and extend it specifically for your needs.

Whether you're new to Linux and haven't mastered all the common everyday commands, or you've been using it for years and you need a robust power tool, EveryGUI can make your life a lot easier.

Imagine being able to use programs like cdrecord, mkisofs, LAME, tar, RPM, Webcpp or commands like upload your project file releases to sourceforge, or mount an .iso image with just a few clicks, all in the same graphical interface. Imagine being able to add more tools to this interface, or bind your favorite commands to the click of a button without writing any code or even having to hand write config files...

..it's time to stop dreaming, and start using EveryGUI.

Requirements:
GTK+ version 2.6.x
Python
PyGTK 2.6
libglade

What's New in This Release:
Added an installation routine using distutils (see README).
Added a mini console bar with a history of current session commands.
Added quotes around text entry data before executing the command.
Command output window now uses a monospace font for improved readability.
Chameleon now displays the command run in the output window on execution.
Quick executes from command buttons now display output in output window.
Included libglade.py, as libglade.pyc seems to be corrupt on some machines.
Choice to process input files as seperate, or pass to command as a list.
Updated some of the definition (.egd) files for improved input files list.
Updated some of the definition files with a print help button.
Added definitions for video encoding using mencoder with lame/xvid.
Improved tar and seperated into two definitions.
Added a wildcard filechooser in the Input Files tab.
Configure Programs button and menu item now opens Designer.
Fixed save button "saving as" on new files already saved in Designer.
Undocking toolbar and option creation pane no longer shows as a menu.
Sort list of definitions in Chameleon and Designer.
Removed printing of appinfo on startup in Chameleon and Designer.