Graphics in C++?

[declan]

Hi everyone!

I have a program that runs a simulation, and leaves me with some data. Now I want to view that data graphically, by producing a flowfield. This basically means I'll have to make a picture of tons of small, different colored rectangles.

But I've only done simple graphical things in Java before, using the swing and AWT packages. What is the equivalent for C++? I've poked around a bit and found OpenGL, but is this overkill? Is this what I want? I don't need to do anything fancy like 3D or even changing pictures, just display.

Thanks!

Edit: I should mention, because it seems to be OS dependent sometimes: I'd prefer this to work for Linux or Mac OSX (which is Unix, if that makes a difference against Linux).

[Albatross]

So you just want a GUI?

http://www.wxwidgets.org/

EDIT: SFML is also good.

EDIT2: See below post.

-Albatross

[Athar]

You'll want to use a nice graphics library instead of using OpenGL directly.
There's a number of libraries to choose from. SFML is a good one:
http://www.sfml-dev.org/

There are some tutorials on the site to get you started.

[Galik]

Maybe this will suite your needs:

http://www.graphviz.org/About.php

It takes in data in a particular format and turns it into diagrams.

[declan]

So you just want a GUI?

http://www.wxwidgets.org/

EDIT: SFML is also good.

EDIT2: See below post.

-Albatross

Actually, I don't even want a GUI right now. I don't need to interact with the program, just view results. Is that what I'd use wxwidgets or SFML for?

[Albatross]

You could in theory, but I get the feeling writing a program that would output files compatible with what Galik suggested would suit your needs better...

-Albatross

[Athar]

wxWidgets is for when you need buttons, menus, text fields, scroll bars etc.
SFML is for drawing lines, shapes, text or bitmaps.

[declan]

Seems like I want SFML then. Just something very similar to Java's Swing and AWT packages.

[declan]

What Galik suggested seems cool, but a quick look at the description and gallery seems to tell me that this isn't really what I need. I really need to use data to draw a simple picture made of colored rectangles, using some data my program produces.