forums.silverfrost.com

[jalih]

Thanks for examples,

My first version will support only scanning for source images in selected format and from selected source directory. Source images are alphabetically sorted before being written into animated GIF file. I may later add more sophisticated control for source images and animation frames.

My current prototype looks like this

I still need to glue some "bolts and nuts" together, but basic interface is allready working including simple drag and drop support.

[DanRRight]

No, these are independent windows in your example, Paul. Here what i mean. It's like resizable ob/cb. Several panels share the same area but you can increase and decrease their share with mouse

[PaulLaidler]

This (i.e. docking windows) is not something I could contempt providing within ClearWin+, at least not at the moment. If anyone wants to take this up as a challenge, there is enough functionality already available for users to do this for themselves given time and patience.

[DanRRight]

All compilers GUI are implemented via docking windows. SDBG would look much neater with them too...miss them very much.

[jalih]

I hit the wall while using Clearwin+ for the user interface. When I call a .NET routine from the callback, it works for the first time. A second call to the callback always kills the program with memory violation exception. When using some .NET class, there seems to be multiple threads running and I suspect this to be the cause for the exception.

As a result, I decided to create a .NET Form based user interface. Maybe it's a good time to try using Visual Clearwin?

I have updated my files and added the Component Pascal source for the AnimGif.dll into AnimGif_dll directory. Available here

[DanRRight]

Never seen Visual Clearwin in action, tried it before but failed. If 5 min video guide like the ones people post on YouTube was made things would be much easier.

[PaulLaidler]

There is a set of sample programs in C:\Users\xxxx\Documents\FTN95 Examples\NET\Visual ClearWin.

[DanRRight]

By some reason they never worked besides just "multithreading". I wrote about this here couple years ago, hopefully things changed since that because this is the way we all should program in future - truly visual way - but i never tried again.

[PaulLaidler]

Did you try again with a later release because I did fix a regression arising with .NET 2.?

[DanRRight]

Just tried again. It complaints that it does not see CSC or VBC which is true - i have just the classical Win32 installation of FTN95...Will try to install right FTN95 on another copy of Windows7 OS i have somewhere. Or this was NET issue?

[jalih]

[DanRRight]

It is known that developers and users who do not know what's to expect from the product see things differently. So seeing things with the eyes of users (read - idiots) is #1 condition for success. Look at the failure of Linux distros among general public and rise of Android and iOS both based on Linux.

At Silverfrost I'd ask several users to write similar step-by step commentary as below to their NET examples ... what they see, what they want to see, how easy all was, are they impressed or depressed....

Here is the notes of an idiot in his N-th attempt to look at the Silverfrost NET DEMO.


==========
First step looking at what demo examples we have

--> Fortran Calculator, Mandelbrot, Matrix inversion etc, very very few same as 10 years ago

Fortran Calculator
------------------
--> Clicking on all bat files ...
--> Getting complaints on absent vbc
--> Thanks to Jali, adding path c:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727
--> complaint on absent 'resgen'
--> making global search of resgen
--> Found two in Microsoft SDKs

c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Bin\ResGen.exe
c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Bin\x64\ResGen.exe

--> Copying 64bit file first
--> compiling again
--> WOW, i've made exe file
--> launching
--> Great, it shows calculator menu
--> typing 4 and then sqrt
--> oops crash (unhandled exception)
--> taking resgen 32bit
--> compiling
--> crash again with the same error
--> Going to CS folder, doing all the above
--> getting error "Invalid calculation ..." message but not Exception message
--> doing 2+2
--> crash ... getting the same damn Exception message

Conclusion - crap
Who make all these examples, Andrew?
------------------
Next is Mandelbrot
--> Compiling
--> getting "unhandled exception..."

Conclusion - crap

-----------------
Matrix inversion
--> Compiling
--> getting EXE
--> running
--> Great atl least i see GUI
--> clicking on INVERT
--> "unhandled exception"

Conclusion is obvious

-----------------
Next is Message Box...
--> Compiling
--> it self-launches
--> scares my firewall
--> i allow it to run
--> freezes "Messagebox has stopped working, searching for solution"

Conclusion - Crap

-----------------
Next OnlineImageViewer
--> Launching BAT
--> run
--Works!

Conclusion - FINALLY SOMETHING WORKS AS IS!

-----------------
Threads

--> Launching BAT
--> run
--> Works! The only one worked since first look many years ago
--> Oops
--> praised to early
--> can not stop it .... freezed

Conclusion: WORKS... but

-----------------
Visual Clearwin
--> Searching for BAT files
--> No single BAT file found... no EXE files...no AVI or MP4 files ...no even README
--> i do not know what's to do without reading manuals
--> i do not read manuals to view demos and nobody does
--> pitiful end of the game again

Conclusion ? A decade from its appearance i still did not even see the DEMO of Visual Clearwin ! Irony is that i was probably one of the first who adopted Clearwin and used it excessively ...
-----------------

So far I am depressed with the NET.
Done Year 2022 Nov 20...

sorry for typo...it's 2012

[jalih]

[DanRRight]

Well, i see the gui but when run it i get same damn exceptions. But seems that does not matter too much. I don't know... but from what i have seen so far i don't see any really sweet candy and don't feel any motivation to fix anything and proceed further...i don't do excessive programming in other compilers and hence there is no value to me in NET. What i miss in FTN95 is Wininet, but if i needed it too much i'd take it from Intel Fortran. Will try .NET and Visual Clearwin again some day if will be lured by good demo

[LitusSaxonicum]

Jalih,

If you are looking for a good layout model for a graphics manipulation program, take a look at Microsoft's ICE (Image Composition Editor) which is a utility to create panoramas from a set of overlapping images. It is free to download, and works very well. (Just search MSDN for it).

95% of the time my own slow progress is because I do not know at the outset what layout works best. Actually doing it is less of a problem - except in maybe 10% of the cases where there isn't a simple Clearwin way of doing it, or worse, when the Clearwin code has an issue, like it doesn't work well in Windows 7.

Eddie