LaTeX.org

If the screenshot is a bitmap (usual on MSWin) then use convert from the ImageMagick tools to convert to EPS (uses ghostscript). Either scale at that point or, better,

\usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}

...
\includegrahics[scale=0.3]{screenshot.eps}

or whatever scale you like.

Have now RTFM which I should have done to begin with; I now understand the error message that I was getting. The pdftricks package is a hack, an elegant hack, but still a hack. Maybe if I enable shell escapes I'll be able to compile a simple test.

Perhaps the MikTeX build has shell escapes enabled ...

The DVI standard does not require pictures to be in any particular format as all such are handled by DVI drivers through \special.

Some old (broken?) dvi previewers can only handle some formats; modern ones can handle most that were mentioned.

One further possibility is to test in wxPython and freeze in wxWidgets if you decide that you really need the speed (you probably won't).

If the GUI and model are kept properly separate, then the issue of PyQt versus wxPython can be deferred. there's a lot of non-visual stuff to do:

Define ...

I cannot get your test file to compile at the command line using TeXLive 2007 (March 2007) version of all packages.

I have no trouble at all using pstricks with TeXNicCenter and going via PS. This is logical as other postings have indicated because pstricks is designed for use with PS. Conversion ...

The listings package is definitely the way to go. Syntax highlighting is built-in but customisable.

The following minimal test file

%%%%%%%%%%%
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{pstricks}
\begin{document}
\psset{unit=1mm}
\pscircle(0,0){10}
\end{document}
%%%%%%%%%%%
compiled and viewed correctly using LaTeX=>PS but not LaTeX=>PDF. Using LaTeX=>DVI the file compiled correctly but the ...

Is it actually a problem? Are you getting PDF output when you want dvi or ps?

All the variants of the latex command execute pdfTeX on my system (TeXLive2007) as they did on the previous version. The exact behaviour depends on the name by which it was invoked.

MikTeX may well behave in the same ...

I think that the discussion of language is a side-issue. If C++ offers the best tools for the job, then use it; if C++ isn't fashionable, tough!

(BTW the *compilers* in the free versions of MS VC++/VB/C# kits appears to have no restrictions; it is the IDE capabilities that are limited. To prove ...