Since EMME/2 is running both on Microsoft Windows based PC and under various flavors of Unix, an important requirement for Enif is that it, too, will be running under both types of operating environments.
This goal is accomplished by programming Enif in the C++ programming language [4] and basing it on the commercial version of Qt[5], a C++ cross-platform GUI application framework developed by TrollTech AB in Olso, Norway. Qt not only provides a platform independent method to access the different windowing systems, but, in addition, it features a very powerful concept of signals and slots. The latter are also extensively used in Enif to implement the communication and synchronization between non-graphic objects, such as e.g. in the grouping mechanism for parameters. Another important advantage of Qt is the fact that it is distributed as source code. This eliminates the risks of having Enif depend on ``black box'' type precompiled components beyond our control.
The generic language used in Enif is English -- just as is the case for EMME/2. However, Qt provides an extensive support for internationalization which makes it possible to use Enif in any other language by providing the proper translation files. At the moment, a French translation file is available for Enif to demonstrate this mutli-lingual capability.