Three updates for three products

I've been keeping busy with a number of projects, and today I'm finally updating the site.

First, taking up most of my free time, is my open source FreeImage wrapper class. I've added some 40 new functions to the API, fixed at least one bug and improved some of the funcitonality. Also, I've included some pretty complete documentation (much of which comes directly from the FreeImage documentation itself).

Second, speaking of documentation, I added Enum and Structure support to my Documentation Generator. Minor changes include the addition of external hyperlinks, a few small fixes and probably a few other things that I've already forgotten about.

Finally, a bug was reported to me with respect to Inline HTTP and its SendFile function in which large (>2MB) files were altered slightly during transmission. This has been fixed, and I've also added a 'CaughtError' event and updated the documentation.

Two new nodes

After some eight months, I've added two new nodes: RB Documentation Generator and Inline HTTP.

Inline HTTP is a TCPSocket subclass that acts as an HTTP server for use in your REALbasic apps. I will be releasing the source code to Inline HTTP before long.

RB DocGen is an application I whipped up for use with Inline HTTP. It allows you to create a documentation project from scratch or from an XML source code file. The project represents classes, modules, class interfaces, methods, events, properties and constants and allows you to document them. Documentation allows easy hyperlinking between nodes and is easily generated into a folder of HTML files.

Beta FreeImage Wrapper Released

Some time ago, I made numerous additions to the FreeImage wrapper class but never got around to uploading them. Tonight, I have finally done so. The FI Wrapper can be found alongside the 'stable' version. This version has not been exhaustively tested, and should therefore be considered 'beta' software.

As I am releasing this code open source, I hope others will build upon what I have started. In particular, I am hoping for someone to come up with an elegant way to convert a FreeImage object into a REALbasic Picture object and vice-versa.

FreeImage wrapper now available

I've implemented my FreeImage wrapper for the FreeImage library as much as my needs require at the moment and then some. I've decided to put the wrapper online so others may benefit from it with the hope some clever Declare programmers out here can build upon what I've done. Enjoy!

FreeImage wrapper in the works

I've got a FreeImage wrapper in the works for doing graphics work in RB outside of the builtin capabilities. In fact, it's almost ready for more widespread testing -- there are just a few things I'd like to complete first before going ahead with releasing it.

That and I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Depending on what the license permits and whether Bill sees any interest in it, it may become a "plugin" available on RBLibrary. Or maybe I'll just give it away libre style.

New shoddy design

I got sick of the old dingostick design (what with the graphic taking up 25% of the screen), so I whipped up a newer-yet-still-shoddy design that's somewhat more simple. One of these days, I'm going to do something about the mediocre layout of the projects section.

Using the Canon SDK

My next project in the sea of possibilities is to use the Canon SDK to automate camera controls, both with the old PowerShot S10 and with my new Digital Rebel XTi. For the moment, I am without a test environment -- the S10 has a serial cable but requires USB, and my XTi should arrive any day. Once I have the capacity to test my software, I'm thinking I'll make the wrapper classes available (assuming it's in-line with Canon's license agreement).

A whole new dingostick

After considerable time without any real update, I'm finally bringing dingostick back from bitrot. While it may not have as frequent updates as my other blog, this one at least is devoted to geeky stuff, including my RBLibrary articles and plugins More to come!