macOS I want to make a widget

[unintelligence]

Hey all, I recently switched (me + - windows = ) and I want to write a simple widget or two. I'm completely clueless when it comes to programming for OS X, as all my experience has been with Windows.

1. Which language(s) can you code a widget in? I am most comfortable with C++, I know a fair amount of C and Scheme, and I can sorta putz around in Java.

2. I already know what I want to do, and I know how to do it in the Terminal with a set of Unix commands. So, my question is, is there a library that I can include that allows one to interface with the underlying Unix?

Thanks for all your help, guys

 

[kainjow]

Check out Apple's Developing Dashboard Widgets article, and the links at the bottom.

 

[unintelligence]

HTML and Javascript... fantastic. Ok, thank you for your help, kainjow.

Is there a C++ library I could link against to write a simple command-line tool instead?

 

[robbieduncan]

HTML and Javascript... fantastic. Ok, thank you for your help, kainjow.

Is there a C++ library I could link against to write a simple command-line tool instead?

You don't have to link against any library to write a C or C++ command-line tool. You might want to link against Carbon or CoreFoundation if you need some of the APIs provided, but if you just want to read/write from STDIN/STDOUT then the basic C or C++ APIs will work.

Note if you just want to glue together some existing commands it's probably easier to do it in Perl than C or C++...

 

[unintelligence]

Thanks robbieduncan, your help is much appreciated

 

[4God]

I know it is a simple program and not as effective as the deep coding described here, but I just use Dashcode.
The beta version has expired for now but I understand it will be available with Leopard when it comes out.

 

[conflicttheory]

Also making a widget

I am also making a widget. My idea is to have a photocast widget with different photocasts for different people. So a different one with a different set of pictures for each person I send it to. I am using Dashcode and the photocast template, but I have run into a problem.

The problem is hosting the images. I have tried several different free services to host test images, and when I add the url of the album, gallery, etc, it will not run.

Anyone have any ideas how to change this? I am going to have to pay for .mac photocasting , or change the coding of the widget to accept other image hosting services? Or do something different?