WinForms[E]ToUnix

Many frontends rely on WinForms for UI, but it's windows-only. Our project implements the WinForms API via a cross-platform framework, Eto.Forms, enabling WinForms projects on Unix.

Comment

Inspiration

Talking to professional frontend developers about why their products are not shipped to MacOS or Linux.

What it does

Thinly wraps WinForms frontends with a cross-platform API, freeing frontends from necessarily calling back to the native Windows API. This enables them to run on native Unix APIs as well.

How we built it

We used Eto.Forms, a cross-platform forms API that binds to native UI frameworks on Windows as well as Unix platforms. By reimplementing a portion of the WinForms API, WinForms frontends can be near-seamlessly ported to other platforms.

Challenges we ran into

Our biggest challenge was scalability; as a prototype with only two developers, much of the gargantuan WinForms API remains only partially implemented or not implemented at all. However, as a proof of concept, it is very promising, and already enables basic forms to run on Unix.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Making a tool that sees widespread use (especially in the corporate sector) cross-platform.

What we learned

A LOT about dotnet.

What's next for WinForms[E]ToUnix

Expanding the wrapper to cover more of the WinForms API, thereby enabling cross-platform functionality for larger and more complex forms.

Software Track.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates