Create modern cross-platform PTZControl2 GUI

[jochenwezel]

Summary

Create a new modern GUI application beside the existing original Windows GUI. The executable should be named PTZControl2.exe and should use a cross-platform GUI stack, preferably Avalonia, so the UI can later be released for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Motivation

The original WinForms GUI is useful, but the current UX has several limitations:

• window cannot be resized smaller / flexibly enough,
• button tooltips can appear behind the mouse pointer and become hard to read,
• buttons are small and fiddly to hit,
• the overall layout would benefit from a modern refresh,
• future Linux/macOS GUI support is not realistic with the old WinForms app.

Proposed approach

Add a new GUI app beside the existing projects instead of replacing the original app immediately.

Suggested executable name:

PTZControl2.exe

Suggested architecture:

• Avalonia UI project for the new GUI,
• reuse existing app icon/form icon resources where practical, e.g. PTZControl/res/PTZControl.ico,
• reuse the current PTZControlConsole/backend services instead of duplicating camera-control logic,
• keep the original PTZControl.exe available while PTZControl2 is reviewed and matured.

First implementation step

Create the initial GUI shell and wire forms/controls to the new backend:

• camera selection / refresh,
• preset restore buttons,
• home/default actions where available,
• zoom controls,
• pan/tilt controls,
• status/error output,
• app startup without requiring the old GUI/bridge prototype.

After this first step, Jochen should review the UI and suggest layout/UX adjustments before deeper feature completion.

Legacy feature compatibility goals

Where possible, PTZControl2 should preserve or replace the useful features of the original GUI:

• app start actions,
• hotkeys,
• launch arguments,
• preset names / friendly names,
• camera auto-detection,
• camera selection,
• Windows registry compatibility for existing PTZControl metadata,
• cross-platform JSON metadata on Linux/macOS,
• existing icon/branding where suitable.

Compatibility can be phased, but missing items should remain visible in this ticket or follow-up tasks.

Release packaging goals

When the app is ready for preview builds, the GitHub release workflow should publish PTZControl2 packages for typical target platforms and architectures:

• Windows x86/x64, possibly arm64,
• Linux x64/arm64,
• macOS x64/arm64.

The existing original GUI package should remain separate from PTZControl2 packages.

Notes

This is a larger feature and should be treated as a new GUI generation, not a small patch to the original WinForms UI.

[jochenwezel]

First implementation step is in main.

Commit:

• 7e2c0e8 Add initial PTZControl2 Avalonia GUI

Implemented so far:

• Added PTZControl.Core as shared backend library.
• Moved CameraBackend from PTZControlConsole into PTZControl.Core.
• Updated PTZControlConsole to use the shared backend.
• Added new Avalonia GUI app PTZControl2.
• GUI is built in designer-friendly Avalonia XAML/code-behind model:
  • App.axaml / App.cs
  • MainWindow.axaml / MainWindow.axaml.cs
• Reuses existing icon via PTZControl/res/PTZControl.ico as application icon.
• Initial GUI controls:
  • camera refresh / selection,
  • preset restore 1..8,
  • pan/tilt relative movement,
  • home movement,
  • zoom relative and absolute percent slider,
  • default move / default all,
  • camera info/status panel,
  • console-style error/status output in the GUI.

Build verification:

dotnet build PTZControlConsole/PTZControlConsole.csproj -c Release
dotnet build PTZControl2/PTZControl2.csproj -c Release

Both .NET builds completed successfully with 0 warnings and 0 errors.

Note: full solution build through dotnet build PTZControl.sln still cannot build the native C++ PTZControl.vcxproj; that requires the Visual Studio/MSBuild toolchain, as before.

Next useful review step:

• Run PTZControl2 locally and review layout/UX before adding release packaging or deeper legacy feature compatibility.

[jochenwezel]

Second GUI iteration is in main.

Commit:

• d67a801 Refresh PTZControl2 operator UI

Design changes:

• Reworked the first functional GUI into a more presentable operator-focused layout.
• Removed the permanent right-side camera-info text box from the main window.
• Added a separate camera information dialog:
  • CameraInfoDialog.axaml
  • CameraInfoDialog.axaml.cs
• Main window now uses a quieter dashboard-style layout:
  • top camera bar,
  • large preset panel,
  • compact live-control panel,
  • bottom status bar.
• Pan/tilt/zoom buttons are now larger, consistent, and use clear icon-like glyphs.
• Preset buttons now try to display existing PTZControl preset tooltip/friendly names from the Windows registry when available; otherwise they fall back to Preset 1 etc.

Build verification:

dotnet build PTZControl2/PTZControl2.csproj -c Release
dotnet build PTZControlConsole/PTZControlConsole.csproj -c Release

Both builds completed successfully with 0 warnings and 0 errors.

Remaining UX review topics:

• Replace glyph-style symbols with proper vector icons if the current look is still not convincing enough.
• Decide final preset-button density and naming display rules.
• Decide whether the main screen needs a compact save-preset mode or whether that belongs in a secondary/settings view.
• Validate whether the GUI should default to a simpler 5-preset operator layout or keep all 8 presets visible.