e_window_types

A lightweight shared types crate for the e_window ecosystem, designed to optimize build dependencies and eliminate unnecessary compilation of heavy UI frameworks when only type definitions are needed.

Purpose

This crate was created to solve a critical build dependency optimization issue: e_window_api was previously required to depend on the full e_window crate, which includes heavy dependencies like egui, eframe, and platform-specific UI libraries. This meant that any project using the high-level API had to compile the entire UI framework stack, even if they only needed basic type definitions for message box functionality.

Architecture

The e_window_types crate provides shared type definitions that can be used across the entire e_window ecosystem:

• e_window_types (this crate) - Lightweight shared types with minimal dependencies
• e_window_api - High-level API, depends ONLY on e_window_types (no heavy UI dependencies!)
• e_window - Full UI implementation, imports types from e_window_types

The API communicates with e_window via process spawning rather than library dependencies, ensuring complete separation.

Shared Types

Message Box Types

• MessageBoxType - Defines dialog types (Ok, OkCancel, YesNo, etc.)
• MessageBoxIcon - Defines icon types (Information, Warning, Error, etc.)
• MessageBoxResult - Defines user response results (Ok, Cancel, Yes, No, etc.)

All types support optional serde serialization when the serde feature is enabled.

Features

• serde - Enables serde serialization support for all types (optional)

Benefits

1. Dramatically faster builds - e_window_api has ZERO dependency on heavy UI frameworks (egui, eframe, winapi, etc.)
2. Complete separation - API layer communicates via process spawning, not library dependencies
3. Minimal footprint - Only essential dependencies for high-level API usage
4. Shared consistency - All crates in the ecosystem use the same type definitions
5. Optional serialization - Serde support can be enabled when needed without forcing it on all users

Version History

• v0.1.0 - Initial release with core message box types and optional serde support