ymery-cpp

C++ implementation of the ymery UI framework using ImGui with YAML-based widget definitions.

For the sister project, python based implementation, see https://github.com/zokrezyl/ymery. That repo contains more documentation as well as an online demo https://zokrezyl.github.io/ymery/demo/index.html

The two repos will be merged at a certain moment.

Features

• YAML-based UI layout definitions
• Plugin-based widget system
• Multiple graphics backends: OpenGL, WebGPU (native), WebGPU (web/Emscripten)
• ImGui with docking support
• ImPlot for charts
• imgui-node-editor for node graphs
• imgui_markdown for markdown rendering
• powerfull layout editor

Building

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.20+
• C++23 compatible compiler (GCC 13+, Clang 16+)
• For OpenGL: OpenGL development libraries
• For Web: Emscripten SDK 3.1.40+ (for WebGPU support with ImGui 1.91+)

OpenGL Backend (Default)

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCPM_SOURCE_CACHE=~/.cache/CPM
make -j$(nproc)

WebGPU Backend (Native)

Uses wgpu-native for native WebGPU support.

mkdir build-webgpu && cd build-webgpu
cmake .. -DYMERY_USE_WEBGPU=ON -DCPM_SOURCE_CACHE=~/.cache/CPM
make -j$(nproc)

Web (Emscripten)

Builds to WebAssembly with WebGPU support for browsers.

Note: Requires Emscripten 3.1.40+ for WebGPU. Ubuntu's packaged version (3.1.6) is too old. Install via emsdk:

# Install emsdk (one-time setup)
git clone https://github.com/emscripten-core/emsdk.git
cd emsdk
./emsdk install latest
./emsdk activate latest

Build:

# Activate Emscripten environment
source /path/to/emsdk/emsdk_env.sh

mkdir build-web && cd build-web
emcmake cmake .. -DCPM_SOURCE_CACHE=~/.cache/CPM
emmake make -j$(nproc)

This generates:

• ymery-cli.html - Main HTML file
• ymery-cli.js - JavaScript glue code
• ymery-cli.wasm - WebAssembly binary
• ymery-cli.data - Preloaded assets (layout files)

To test locally:

python3 -m http.server 8080
# Open http://localhost:8080/ymery-cli.html in a WebGPU-capable browser

Running

Native

./build/ymery-cli -l ./layout -m app
# or for WebGPU:
./build-webgpu/ymery-cli -l ./layout -m app

Web

Open build-web/ymery-cli.html in a WebGPU-capable browser (Chrome 113+, Edge 113+, Firefox Nightly with flags).

Project Structure

ymery-cpp/
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp              # Entry point
│   └── ymery/
│       ├── app.cpp           # Application class
│       ├── types.cpp         # Type system
│       ├── dispatcher.cpp    # Event dispatcher
│       ├── lang.cpp          # YAML layout parser
│       ├── plugin_manager.cpp# Plugin loading
│       ├── frontend/         # Widget system
│       │   ├── widget.cpp
│       │   ├── composite.cpp
│       │   └── widget_factory.cpp
│       └── plugins/          # Widget plugins
│           ├── frontend/     # UI widgets (button, text, etc.)
│           └── backend/      # Data tree plugins
├── layout/                   # YAML layout files
├── examples/                 # Example applications
└── CMakeLists.txt

Configuration

CMake Options

Option	Default	Description
YMERY_USE_WEBGPU	OFF	Use WebGPU instead of OpenGL
CPM_SOURCE_CACHE	-	Cache directory for CPM dependencies

License

See LICENSE file.