This is an interactive showcase how nix-build could be extended for better usability using a GUI based on ncurses.

nix-build uses perl scripts to download NAR files, these 3 examples implement a callback which can be used to query the status of such downloads:

• 01-curl-transport.pl
• net_curl_easy.pl
• www_curl_easy.pl

In nix-build-view I've written a ncurses based view with advanced color string handling.

I wanted to have colored widgets thus I had to write my own WindowManager and I added my own AdvancedString implementation. Please feel free to copy them.

Note: AdvancedString could need some profiling but it is fast enough for this purpose.

I'm not sure which license to pick. two options:

• If I merge this source into nix-build i will pick BSD (this is what nix-build is licensed to)
• If it is decided that nix-build-view should be 'just a view' and thus be its own process GPLv3 would be a good pick

However, I'm open to discussion!

Note: This repository is called nix-build-view but also contains a directory called nix-build-view!

Using stdenv (GCC):

cd nix-build-view
nix-shell -p ncurses cmake
mkdir build; cd build
cmake ..
make
./nix-build-view

In case you want to use clang (LLVM):

cd nix-build-view
nix-shell -p ncurses cmake clang
mkdir build; cd build
export CC=clang
export CXX=clang++
cmake ..
make
./nix-build-view