MyGUI

A small C++20 GUI library and demo using GLFW, OpenGL 3.3, and FreeType. It supports layouts, wrapped text, images, scrolling, themes, and controls including buttons, checkboxes, switches, sliders, progress bars, and text fields with selection and clipboard support.

The image above is a real render of the library's widget suite (labels, buttons, checkboxes, switches, sliders, progress bars, and text fields), captured from the renderer test suite; no mockups are used.

Linux CI runs Debug and Release builds and all tests under Xvfb/Mesa. Windows and macOS CI build everything and run headless tests; their rendering and window behavior are not yet tested.

Build and run

1. Install dependencies

You need Git, a C++20 compiler, CMake 3.20 or newer, Ninja, and development files for GLFW, OpenGL, and FreeType.

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git build-essential cmake ninja-build libglfw3-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libfreetype-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install git gcc-c++ cmake ninja-build glfw-devel mesa-libGL-devel freetype-devel

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install cmake ninja glfw freetype

2. Get the source

git clone https://github.com/golba98/MyGUI.git
cd MyGUI

If you already have the source, open a terminal in the repository folder. Run the remaining commands from that folder.

3. Build and launch the demo

cmake --preset debug
cmake --build --preset debug
./build/debug/MyGUI

The demo opens a window with buttons, a click counter, and overlapping panels. Font assets are bundled and copied beside the executable, so you can also launch it from another working directory.

For a Release build:

cmake --preset release
cmake --build --preset release
./build/release/MyGUI

On Windows, use Visual Studio with vcpkg:

vcpkg install glfw3 freetype --triplet x64-windows
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE="$env:VCPKG_ROOT/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
cmake --build build --config Debug
.\build\Debug\MyGUI.exe

Try the demo

Control	Action
Click a button	Toggle the overlay or increase the counter
Tab / Shift+Tab	Move keyboard focus forward / backward
Enter / Space	Activate the focused button
V	Toggle the overlay
Hover the overlay	Change its color
Resize the window	See the layout adjust

The disabled button does not respond. Input diagnostics show mouse movement, scrolling, and key/button state.

Optional command-line arguments:

Option	Purpose
--help	Show available arguments
--font PATH	Use a different scalable Unicode font
--width N --height N	Set the starting window size
--log-events	Print input and window events to the terminal
--frames N	Exit after N frames for a smoke test

For example:

./build/debug/MyGUI --width 960 --height 640 --log-events

Run tests

After building Debug, run all tests:

ctest --preset debug

Renderer and window tests need a display. To run all tests without one on Ubuntu/Debian, use Xvfb and software rendering:

sudo apt-get install xvfb xauth
LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 xvfb-run -a ctest --preset debug

To run only the input, widget, layout, font, and image tests without a display:

ctest --preset debug -L headless

For a Release build, use ctest --preset release instead. See test details for CI coverage, disabling tests, and renderer snapshots.

Examples

Small programs in examples/ show one topic each and build next to the demo (-DMYGUI_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF skips them):

• MyGUI_hello (examples/hello.cpp): a label and a button, the minimum setup.
• MyGUI_layout (examples/layout.cpp): nested layouts, flex weights and wrapped text that reflows on resize.
• MyGUI_widgets (examples/widgets.cpp): every built-in control inside a scroll view.

examples/common/Example.hpp holds their shared font lookup and event loop. Each accepts --frames N for smoke tests. The full demo lives in examples/demo/main.cpp and builds as MyGUI.

Use the library

Read the usage reference for widget examples, event handling, layout, rendering, and resource lifetimes. The demo source shows how to put these together in an application.

The library owns its widget trees. Public headers hide native GLFW, OpenGL, and FreeType types. Window operations, input handling, and drawing run on the main thread; the reference explains the required event loop and resource ordering.

CMake integration

Install the library and use the exported CMake package:

cmake --install build/release --prefix /path/to/prefix

find_package(MyGUI 0.1 REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE MyGUI::MyGUI)

The package installs the public headers under include/gui, the static library, and the bundled Noto Sans font under share/MyGUI/fonts. Because MyGUI is static, its package finds GLFW and FreeType for you. tests/package is a minimal consumer that CI builds against a fresh install. When MyGUI is added with add_subdirectory, link MyGUI::MyGUI; its tests are not built, and examples and install rules default to off (MYGUI_BUILD_EXAMPLES, MYGUI_INSTALL).

Current limits

Multi-line text editing, complex-script shaping, bidirectional layout, color emoji, and native accessibility integration are not included. Labels and buttons clip text that exceeds their bounds.

The bundled Noto Sans font uses the SIL Open Font License. See its source and license.