Tweek - Project Page

About Tweek

Tweek is a portable GUI for applications. The Tweek GUI can be run in virtual environments, external on a palm top, or on the desktop next to a running application. Each of these methods gives a familier 2D widget set that can control applications flexibly.

Tweek is a collection of multiple technologies: C++, Java, JavaBeans, and CORBA. Combined, these allow a Java GUI composed of plug-ins to communicate with a C++ application. The result is a distributed Model View Controller implementation. Our implementation aims to simplify the inter-language communication so that programmers can make use of Tweek in their VR applications without knowing all the details of the individual technologies.

At the heart of the inter-language communication is CORBA, the Common Object Request Broker Architecture. It provides a cross-platform, language-independent method for distributed objects to communicate. In Tweek, it manages all communication between the Java GUI and the C++ VR application. Because CORBA is language-independent, there exists the potential for use of other languages besides Java and C++.

The Java GUI itself is a generalized framework that loads JavaBeans dynamically using XML-based descriptions. The JavaBeans may encapsulate any functionality, but those that extend the GUI are crucial to the use of Tweek in a virtual environment. Such graphical JavaBeans are written by the VR application developers and are customized for use with a given application.

Documentation

• Tweek Docs
• Tweek Publications