# ANN: RubyCLR first drop **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423 "2006-01-13T22:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/1 "2006-01-13T22:58:00Z")
I posted the first drop of my RubyCLR bridge here: [http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2006/01/12/first-drop-of-rubyclr](http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2006/01/12/first-drop-of-rubyclr) There’s more information about it on the blog entry. This is a very early build, but the unit tests that I have all pass. If you have the .NET Frameworks 2.0 installed on your computer you could give it a test drive. If folks could provide any feedback at this point it would be greatly appreciated. If someone wants a simple challenge extending the bits, you could add static field support which is currently missing from this drop, unlike what I claimed on my blog entry 🙂 Thanks -John > **[John Lam's Blog](https://www.iunknown.com/)** > > Since 1997 ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/2 "2006-01-14T00:05:32Z")
John L. wrote: > I posted the first drop of my RubyCLR bridge here: > [http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2006/01/12/first-drop-of-rubyclr](http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2006/01/12/first-drop-of-rubyclr) What’s the overall idea of the bridge: to allow Ruby to be called from, say, C# code, or to write Ruby code and compile it into a .net assembly? I thought it would be the latter, but when you mention it does not yet support generics, etc. I got confused (I wouldn’t use generics if I’m writing Ruby code). Jeff ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/3 "2006-01-14T00:34:45Z")
> What’s the overall idea of the bridge: to allow Ruby to be called from, > say, C# code, or to write Ruby code and compile it into a .net assembly? The bridge allows you to manipulate C# objects from Ruby, which is different form the scenarios that you present. It also supports callbacks - that is you can write event handlers for CLR events in Ruby. So it is a two-way bridge in this sense. It’s currently a non-goal for the bridge to support creating CLR objects using Ruby, although I can imagine how that could be done. I thought it would be the latter, but when you mention it does not yet > support generics, etc. I got confused (I wouldn’t use generics if I’m > writing Ruby code). If you want to consume CLR objects, you need to support generics. The WinFX libraries use generics heavily. -John > **[John Lam's Blog](https://www.iunknown.com)** > > Since 1997 ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/4 "2006-01-14T06:58:29Z")
John L. wrote: > The bridge allows you to manipulate C# objects from Ruby, which is Ah! Makes sense now. Kind of like how the COM Callable Wrappers let COM objects talk to .Net components, one could consider the bridge to be a kind of “Ruby Callable Wrapper”, I guess? Sounds exciting. I will definitely take a look at it when I get the chance. Jeff > **[Hey Daddio!](http://www.softiesonrails.com)** > > Home of Hey Daddio Software ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/5 "2006-01-16T01:03:27Z")
On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 00:42:11 +0100, Wilson B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > On 1/13/06, John L. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > How crazy would I have to be to try making a Windows Forms GUI app using > this? > > Looks like fun, either way. Actually, I already managed to call .NET ArrayLists via Win32OLE. It doesn’t get (much) crazier. Why would you want to use WinForms anyway? It’s such a horrible terrible clumsy GUI toolkit anyway. David V. ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/6 "2006-01-16T00:45:21Z")
On 1/13/06, John L. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > unlike what I claimed on my blog entry 🙂 How crazy would I have to be to try making a Windows Forms GUI app using this? Looks like fun, either way. ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/7 "2006-01-16T01:09:29Z")
On 1/15/06, David V. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Actually, I already managed to call .NET ArrayLists via Win32OLE. It > doesn’t get (much) crazier. > > Why would you want to use WinForms anyway? It’s such a horrible terrible > clumsy GUI toolkit anyway. I’m looking for the ability to write GUI apps in Ruby, without any of the deployment difficulties associated with ‘non-standard’ toolkits. I probably just need to get better at packaging working subsets of the full Ruby install on Windows, though. I was starting to think that .NET was an easier prerequisite than “Ruby, GTK+, and these particular environment variables.” Your post reminded me how bad parts of WinForms are, though. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/8 "2006-01-16T01:21:32Z")
On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 01:06:43 +0100, Wilson B. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > Looks like fun, either way. > > > the deployment difficulties associated with ‘non-standard’ toolkits. > > > I probably just need to get better at packaging working subsets of the > > > full Ruby install on Windows, though. I was starting to think that > > > .NET was an easier prerequisite than “Ruby, GTK+, and these particular > > > environment variables.” > > > Your post reminded me how bad parts of WinForms are, though. Heh. Well, someone did point my attention at a binary ruby-gtk, so if that has GTK bundled along, things might get less insane in first-time deployment. David V. ---
**Author:** ![johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@johnlester](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnlester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ann-rubyclr-first-drop/52423/9 "2006-01-16T04:00:53Z")
> How crazy would I have to be to try making a Windows Forms GUI app using > this? > > Looks like fun, either way. Using the earlier non-released build of my bridge, I created a lap around WinFX app: [http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2005/11/29/matthews-birthday-present](http://www.iunknown.com/articles/2005/11/29/matthews-birthday-present). There was Avalon and Indigo stuff there (it was a flash card app that used Indigo to pull images out of flickr and used Avalon to render a 3D flash card that would rotate about its z-axis). The Indigo stuff wasn’t all that well baked as Ruby since I didn’t support generics in that version of my bridge. I still don’t in this version, but it’s a super high priority item to get working. I think the real fun will be to use Ruby to gen Avalon UI’s on the fly. -John > **[John Lam's Blog](https://www.iunknown.com)** > > Since 1997