I got an email this morning asking for the Windows 7 component update. I had published those last Thursday, but must have unchecked the publish button. It is available now, so go here and get them.
More information will come, soon.
I got an email this morning asking for the Windows 7 component update. I had published those last Thursday, but must have unchecked the publish button. It is available now, so go here and get them.
More information will come, soon.
Well, here comes the update promised. Originally, I planned to release it yesterday, but I had to give a talk today on short notice. So I pushed around priorities a little.
Anyway, this update has a few fixes as well as support for taskbar windows as well, interesting for MDI applications. It is all in the code.
A more detailed update will come in the next days, for now, just the download.
ZIP File (790 Kb). Uninstall prior version first! Unzip and install into IDE.
Well, I am quite overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback I've received during the recent days. One of the most frequent questions was whether I would send out previews to select people. In short: no, this would take too much of my time keeping up with the people. So far only two have received the current dev-state. One is going to use them today for a talk about Windows 7 and one person has given me the most valuable input on the latest feature, the Windows Taskbar Previews.
To all others: it's only two more days, you must wait. Sorry for those.
One good comment regarded the logo used in the latest preview, stating Borland
Delphi, so I have changed that. In due course I redesigned the Embarcadero Studio
logo as EPS file, so if you're interested, I provide it as download. The download
contains the EPS file (vector graphic) and a PNG file (bitmap @ 600dpi) for your use.
Please, be aware that Embarcadero may be quite alert to how you use it. I can not
give you permission to use it, but I guess (hope?) they will be fine with us using
it to promote their products within ours. If not, it's your risk to take!
Download file (ZIP, 430kB)
Well, in my last blog post I've asked for your input for getting a preview of WinControls. I am getting pretty well along with the controls and I've wanted to show you a small preview of the Taskbar Windows component.
Download
video (WMV, 4MB) here
Watch my blog for the upcoming release of the controls and see them live at the EKON 13 this week!
Currently, I am getting ready to ship an update for the Windows 7 taskbar components. As the preview, this one will be open source and free of charge for anyone to use in any project.
However, one problem still remains to be resolved. I try to get a "screen shot" from a tab sheet, whether it is currently visible or not. The normal Delphi method WinControl.PaintTo, and the Windows API methods PrintWindow and BitBlt do not give the desired results.
What do I need this for? Well consider the image below, showing the tabs of the Internet Explorer, currently opened. Something similar I want to create for Delphi as simple component. To create the preview, I must be able to get the "screen shot" of all Tabcontrols, whether they are visible or not.
I have uploaded a sample application, which demonstrates the problem. Feel free to download and test it. This application runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista as well, as it does not demonstrate the preview windows, but simply the "copy" feature, ehm problem.
Feel free to send me any ideas you have regarding this problem, as all other solutions would not be the best ;)
Download the problem sampler (Source, ZIP-file, 4 KB)
Email any solution to dwischnewski (at) gmail.com
Thank you for your support, I'll mention the solution provider in the finals.
UpdateI got the solution in my Inbox now, thanks to Craig Peterson from Scooter Software, who already has helped me a great bit for this whole problem. I'll finish the components now, await the release for October 1st. Be first to see them at the EKON.
The next EKON is coming very soon. This time developers from all over Germany and neighboring countries will come and meet in Darmstadt. This is a new location for the EKON.
I will give two sessions, both on the topic of migrating your existing Delphi applications from Windows XP to the new operating system Windows 7. One session will be about the User Account Control system, which has been updated since Windows Vista. The second session will shed light on other important topics of Windows 7 in general.
I hope to see you in Darmstadt. More information about the conference schedule and
other speakers are available at http://entwickler-konferenz.de.
When I built my current computer, I wanted it to be quiet. Following quite many reviews, I went with the SilenX Ixtrema 120 Quiet Fans and got two for my case.
Compared to other fans, they are quite pricy, at about 16 Euro a piece in Germany, ordered online. So, with raving reviews and for that price, my expectations where quite high. I put them in the most crucial places of my computer, right behind the CPU cooler at the upper far edge of my chasis.
I was impressed with the fans, I could hear them with no problems, two rooms away, or in other words, through a closed door... They are loud, compared to those that came with the Antec chasis, I have. Anyway, since I needed two more fans than came with the chasis, I let them in place. They actually do cool down the inner chasis quite well, and running the CPU and memory a bout 30% above specs, cooling is priority number one, no more extra heating for my office required in the winter.
Well, living with a quite noisy computer for about 150 hours of actual working time, I had a big *bang* inside and one of the Silenx fans shattered quite loudly. The blades came apart in three pieces and went through the whole inside of the computer. Replaced it with a spare fan I had, the computer was quieter and according to the inside thermometer, temparature was up by about 2.5°C.
Another 200 hours later, yesterday evening, the second fan broke into three pieces with a loud bang. Luckily though, this time it did not send those pieces through the whole chasis... I replaced it with another spare one (last I had *g*) and now the computer is really quiet. Temparature does not seem to go up any further, though I did not test it yet. Will do that soon. After 30 minutes at about 75% CPU work time converting 350 DNG (RAW images) to JPEG, the CPU was at under 45°C, which is great for an Intel Quad-Core, currently overclocked at 25%. Will test it at 30% and full load soon.
I will let you know what fans I am using now, when I have let them work a little longer. But they are really quiet compared to those SilenX Ixtrema 120 fans. Extreme they are ;-)
Most of you readers know, that photography is one of my hobbies. Being born in '77 and having real contact with cameras in the mid '90 for the first time, I am a kid of the zooms. I did not even really think about fixed focal lengths. In the last months I have read over and over, that using fixed focal lengths is the best that one can do to improve when taking photography a little more serious.
So searching I learned about the "nifty fifty" from Canon. Why am I writing that? Simply, if you own a Canon and want to learn more about it, think about getting this lens. It usually comes for less than 100 EUR/USD and is a very good glass for that money. Lot's of light and fairly good optics for less than any other SLR lens on the market.
Now, I have taken this step and started on a group on Flickr.com called "Project 50." They encourage you to take 50 photos using a 50mm prime lens. It is fun and it should teach you quiet a lot about photo composition. Below is the fourth photo I've published using the lens and I love it. What do you think?
Taking over... on Flickr.com
I am interested how I'll improve over the coming weeks toying around with that lens. I am already very interested in doing more prime lens photography. But new lenses will have to wait, since they usually are a lot more expensive than 99 Euro in a media market chain store ;-)
Vor wenigen Tagen hat Olympus die neue Pen Kamera E-P1 offiziell vorgestellt. Jetzt bietet Olympus Deutschland 10 Fotografen die Möglichkeit die neue Kamera zu testen. Sie haben Interesse? Dann bewerben Sie sich doch einfach mal: http://www.olympus.de/digitalkamera/pen.htm#?home
Ich habe mich auch beworben und will die Kamera liebend gerne mit der Canon EOS 5D Mark II vergleichen. Mal schauen, ob es klappt. Schreiben Sie in die Bewerbung, warum gerade Sie der geeignete Kandidat sind und vielleicht haben Sie Glück und können die Kamera testen.
Ein guter Freund von mir, André Hotzler, veranstaltet am 11. Juli 2009 einen Fotoworkshop, welcher sich speziell an Amateure richtet. In 4 Stunden erhalten die Teilnehmer Einblick in die Zusammenhänge von Blende, Verschlusszeit und ISO-Empfindlichkeit und den daraus resultierenden Ergebnissen. Wenn auch Sie schon immer mal weg wollten von den Standardprogrammen Ihrer Kamera und Ihre Kreativität zum Ausdruck bringen wollen, dann schauen Sie doch mal rein.
Alle Informationen zum Kurs und zur Anmeldung finden Sie auf XING: https://www.xing.com/events/359475/description
First: thank you Johan and Dr. Bob for inviting me over, I had a great time.
It was interesting meeting so many developers from the Netherlands and from so many fields across the whole development sphere. The SDN group is not solely for Delphi developers, but for all and this makes their events quiet different from others.
Developers have the chance to look outside their box at other options or just get in-depth information on their field of interests. Dr. Bob and Johan already invited me to come back for the large SDN Event in October and I am looking forward being there again.
This event was in Driebergen, close to the city Zeist, where I took this photo the night before the event.
Well, I it has been quiet around this topic for some time. Finally, I have found the time to get back to it and while I have been busy in the last weeks, I took my camera with me almost anywhere I went. So, here are the two prime shots of those last two months.
February '09
Subway Station Marienplatz, taken during the workers strike.
March '09
Netherlands, tide lands. Taken during my visit for the SDN Event in
March '09.
For more photos from this time, visit my Flickr Stream.
Well, I am back from the SDN Event in Driebergen. It was a fun event, I have met quiet a few people and, after a few years, finally met Dr. Bob again. One of my session was about the Windows 7 Taskbar (an update for the components is in the pipe line, btw). And when talking about Windows 7, one of the question coming up was the user account control (UAC) and how - IF - they have changed it.
While talking about that, I started out to remind them WHY it was implemented in Windows Vista and WHY I have not turned it off, ever. The reason is simple: it was implemented to block viruses from invading your computer and yes, it works. My story for them was as simple as it was obviously surprising for most of them sitting in the room.
About two years ago, I started a small experiment. I set up a computer with a new and clean Windows Vista install. Leaving the UAC on and running updates as Windows reminded me to do just that. The way a user should be working with the PC. However, I have not installed any third party Anti-Virus software, nor any third-party firewall, just the on-board tools Windows Defender and the UAC. I used this PC regularly for internet surfing, writing mails, doing some fun, testing software and so on. I let my girl friend use it for internet surfing - she knows how to use a computer, but by far, she is no geek, or even close to that. She does Excel, Word, mails online, games online, iTunes, etc. Even some peer-to-peer sharing. She had an administrative account and I explained to her what UAC meant and why it was implemented.
Well, end of last year I put on Norton AntiVirus, McAffee and a few other anti-virus tools and ran the big test: All tools reported the same final results: 0 viruses found!
Now my challenge to you: try that with Windows XP in todays Internet world ;-)
Conclusion: yes, the UAC is bothersome at times, and when it pops up to often, it will get the user aggravated, but it has its purpose. With Windows XP's on-board tools you simply where at a large risk when you went online. I am a believer of the UAC and, while it bothers me at times, I support it.
With Windows 7 it shows up less often. So some settings will be changed easier than under Windows Vista without the user confirming that. But as far as I have seen, none of the changes (except setting the computer time of course) will survive the next reboot of your computer. And if you don't mind, under Windows 7 you can move up the UAC messages to the Windows Vista level again. And yes, if you still mind, you can turn it off as well, but I know, I won't.
Basically, this is a note to myself, but it may help you anyway. So, I publish it here.
Creating a little more complex query today, I got the error message "Insufficient key column information for updating or refreshing" when trying to apply changes to the data set.
Solution: Set CursorLocation to clUseServer and CursorType to ctKeySet.
Technology: ADO, SQL Server
During the recent days I was looking for a solution on how to access properties of my Wacom tablet within a Delphi application.
Using the Pen & Ink API of Windows is one possibility, however that offered much more than I needed, not thinking about the time getting into that one as well. On the Delphi-PRAXiS I found a link to Centaurix, a company offering an easy to use Delphi component, which gives me access to the properties I just needed. The component is freeware and comes with source code.
Great!
Download here.
Today, I show you the second set of screen shots from the Windows 7 Taskbar components. Since Windows 95 - which introduced the last real change in how the user handles multiple running applications on Windows - we all know the notification area. Sadly many programs have abused this area, so that on some users computers this really grow into a monster featuring easily 30 and more icons. Never on my computer though ;-)
Windows 7 stops this Taskbar spamming in a really effictive way. The notification icons will not be shown anymore, at least on default. They are all hidden away. Even when your application wants to show a (bubble) hint, the user will not see it unless the user approved your application first. Now, since sometimes showing a state can be really important, Windows 7 introduced overlay icons in the Taskbar entry for running processes. This way the application can show some information without the need for more screen real estate - the application already has an entry in the Taskbar anyway - at least in most cases.
Click on images to view full size version.
Windows 7 automatically hides all notification icons unless the user
wants them to show.
Showing the tasks state in the Windows 7 Taskbar.
Note the overlay icon in the second screen shot. Maybe the application is performing a search. A side effect of this is, that the designers should start creating application icons and overlay icons that work with each other well. Overlay icons are shown only if the user uses large icons in the Windows Taskbar (default setting).
For your Delphi application, simply drop a the TdwOverlayIcon component on your form, connect it to an image list (16 x 16 pixels for bitmap size) and set the image index used. Set it to -1 for displaying no overlay icon.
You have asked for it, so here are the first images for you. Today I want to show you a few screen shots of displaying the progress of a rather lengthy task in the Windows 7 Taskbar. You should not that Microsoft does not encourage you to use this for shorter tasks which usually finish within a few seconds. But this is up to you in the end ;-)
For all of you Delphi 7 users, the first screen shot shows Delphi 7 running on Windows 7 using those components. So, this works as well.
Click on images to view full size version.
Delphi 7
running on Windows 7. The demo application is loaded in the IDE, the components are
shown in the tool palette.
The marquee shows a task in progress with undeterminable end - like
connecting to a server.
The progress is coming along just fine.
The application may be waiting for some user interaction, the current
task is paused.
Further, you can cancel a task, coloring the progressbar red as well.
For those of you not knowing Windows 7 just yet and wondering why some application icons have a border in the taskbar and some do not: Windows 7 allows you to pin applications to the taskbar. This way, they will always be in the same order/place. The framed ones are actually running, others are just waiting to be started.
Over at the Delphi-PRAXiS we had an interesting thread going on the last two days where one user asked for what reason it could have, that his Delphi compiler is so slow. It took about 45 minutes to compile just over 20.000 lines.
The source of the problem was a piece of software, which in my mind never earned to be called software. The network version of the Norton anti-virus software. The user asked his admin to exclude PAS, DFM, and DCU files to be excluded from the check list of files being checked with every access.
The compile time went down to 8 seconds. That is just 0,3% of the original compile time. Sadly though, that will not be working anymore...
Well, as written here before, I have toyed around with Windows 7 and created a few Controls that you can simply place on your Form to support some of the most obvious Windows 7 features. Currently available are:
Please note, that if you have Aero turned of, or your Windows 7 is running in a VM, most of the features are not supported by Windows 7 (atm?).
The installer provides packages for Delphi 7, Delphi 2006, Delphi 2007, and Delphi 2009.
Further, those are just the first version in early Alpha State, but they are for free ;-) If you want to use them to create your own controls, those MUST be placed under GPL. For use in your applications you can choose freely between GPL, LPGL and MPL, whatever suits your needs.
In the coming days I'll post a few screen shots and/or short videos demonstrating those controls in action.
If you have suggestions, improvements, or anything else regarding those controls, do not hesitate to contact me ;-)
Download the installer (1,5 MB)
Note: the installer only copies the files to your local hard drive (default folder: User Documents\Delphi Win7 Support). You must open the corresponding project group/package and install it into your Delphi IDE.
Have fun,
Daniel
Probably tomorrow, I will publish my first attempt to create controls tailored towards Windows 7. Naturally, those controls will run on older Systems (tested on XP and Vista), but the new Windows 7 functionality will be available on Windows 7 only, silently failing on older systems.
Currently, I am setting up a VM with Windows XP and Delphi 2006 to test them. Wait a little more and enjoy ;-)
The packages for Delphi 2006, 2007, and 2009 will be included.
During the last days I have taken the time to get familar with Windows 7, at least a little. So far, I do like it, though it is far from stable on my machine at the moment - at least, Windows Vista was better in that respect.
The new Taskbar and the start menu are pretty amazing. I like the feature to show progress and states on it, as well as add buttons to the window preview panes. Also, the Jump Lists are quiet nice, so I started importing those features into Delphi, all available as a small component set. Those will be available soon, with more details about what and how they will work.
However, so far I have seen many sample videos, read quiet a few blog entries on how to program those jump list, but they all habe one thing in common: they are missing the code samples. If you are looking for those samples, download the Windows 7 SDK Beta and look into the installation folder. For me, those are at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0\Samples\winui\Shell\JumpList.
So, you've read it here before, but I have to write about it as well. The next Delphi Code Camp is coming up, and it is the best so far. The concept of the Code Camp was totally redone and this time there will be loads of new courses as well. It starts with a full day session "back to the roots." My friends Holger Flick and Daniel Wolf will give a hands on session for all who are not yet totally familar with Delphi and OOP. You have colleagues whos code scares you? Send them there, they'll get OOP injected in just a day.
All coming days, two (most are) full day courses run parallel. Olaf Monien will talk about the VCL for the Web (aka IntraWeb) and about internet protocols (Tue, Wed). Daniel Wolf will talk about usability - a must go, if you ask me. Sadly I have to be at Photokina in Cologne that day (Tue). Wednesday may track on Windows Technologies around COM is coming. Thursday Bernd Ua will talk about Multithreading and Thomas Pfister helps your RAVE reports along. So, if you speak German and you need some more of those skills, be sure to check it out!
All information are online at entwickler akademie.de. You want to go there, send me an e-mail and I'll help you to get a rebate, let's say 20% off the price ;-)
Vor drei Wochen habe ich mich auch hier von meinem alten Fahrrad verabschiedet und angekündigt, dass ich mich nach einem neuen Rad umschaue. Und das ist auch geschehen und ich habe mehrere verschiedene Modelle verschiedener Hersteller getestet. Eigentlich stand meine Entscheidung schon fast fest (Hersteller Cube), aber dann setzte ich mich auf ein Trek Madone. Und das war ein Erlebnis. Bei einem anderen Verkäufer hatte ich die Möglichkeit das Fahrrad etwas ausführlicher zu testen und habe mit dem Rad eine ungefähr 45 minütige Testfahrt gemacht - es war ein riesen Spaß. Das Rad ist Fahrfreude pur. Als ich wieder am Geschäft des Radhändlers ankam stand mein Entschluss fest und dieses Rad ist es geworden. Nun habe ich das Rad etwas mehr als zwei Wochen und heute morgen die 500 Kilometergrenze überschritten. Ich liebe es noch mehr ;-) Natürlich bin ich jetzt auch auf diese Klick-Pedalen umgestiegen und habe mich erst einmal gepackt, da ich aus diesen nicht raus gekommen bin. Aber insgesamt hätte ich nicht erwartet wieviel Vorteil diese Konstruktion bringt - einfach Klasse.
Momentan habe ich eine kompakte Kassette vorne, welche ich nächstes Jahr wohl auf eine größere umstellen werde, damit ich noch mehr heraus holen kann aus dem Gefährt. Aber jetzt ist es mir auch klar, warum mir diese Rennradfahrer immer wieder was vorgemacht haben, währrend ich versuchte auf meinem alten MTB hinten dran zu bleiben. Mache ich ja jetzt nicht anders und Geschwindigkeiten von 40 km/h sind auch kein Problem - nun gut fast keines, die meisten Radwege sind dafür nicht wirklich ausgelegt und die Ampeln tun ihr übriges zum getrübten Fahrspaß in der Stadt, aber in den umliegenden Gebieten ist es Spaß pur ;-)
Die Bereifung habe ich von Bontrager Race auf Continental Grand Prix 4000S umgestellt. So gibt es weniger Platte und mehr Speed. Diese Mäntel kann ich nur empfehlen, um Eure Dackelspalter (Reifen mit 8,2 bar Luftdruck) vor Luftdruckabfall zu schützen!
Foto folgt demnächst *g*
This year I had the chance to participate in this first world wide photo walk event. While founded as a mean to advertise the sale of Scott Phelby's new book on LightRoom 2, the event was free for anyone to join it. We had lots of fun here in Munich. Below you see the photos that made my selection.
Nach nun fast 13 Jahren muss ich mich von meinem geliebten Mountainbike, einem '95er Trek Y-22 trennen. Als eines der ersten Bikes überhaupt, welche in OCLV-Carbon-Bauweise von Trek ausgeliefert wurden, und als erstes der Y-Frame Serie ist es jetzt zu einem jähen Ende gekommen. Die Aufhängung für die hintere Federung (Alu) wurde damals mittels Industrie-Spezielkleber an den Rahmen (Carbon) fixiert. Und dieser hat jetzt seinen Geist aufgegeben und somit die Nutzung des Fahrrads unmöglich gemacht.
Leider habe ich die Rechnung für dieses wunderbare Fahrrad nicht (mehr) und kann somit die Garantieleistung für den Rahmen nicht in Anspruch nehmen. Trek gibt in Deutschland lediglich 10 Jahre Garantie auf Rahmen, in den USA aber 25 Jahre. Da ich das Fahrrad in den USA erworben hatte, hätte ich somit auch den Anspruch auf diese Leistung. Allerdings könnte mir auch dann Trek keinen neuen Rahmen dieser Serie geben, so dass ich dann den ganzen Rest des Bikes umrüsten müsste (V-Brakes -> Scheibenbremsen und alles daraus folgendes an Teilen...)
Nun ja, jetzt muss ich mich entscheiden was mir als nächstes unter den Hintern kommt. Es wird kein Mountainbike mehr sein, da ich dafür in den letzten Jahren leider keine Zeit mehr gefunden habe. Nachdem ich das Rad aber weiterhin als Sportgerät nutzen möchte wird es ein Rennrad werden. Welches es wird... schaun wir demnächst mal.
Die aktuelle Auswahl schwankt von CUBE zu Trek zu Specialized zu Biancha zu ... schaun mer ma', wie man hier so schön sagt ;-)
Ein Originalbild meines alten Bikes (nicht meines, da schon
demontiert).
Today, while preparing a new layout for business cards, the print shop (I am using Print24.de since a few years) hinted that the data should be prepared using the ICC profile "ISO coated V2.0 ECI". However, they do not offer the ICE profile for download to adjust the color space within Photoshop/Illustrator.
Well, after using Google, I have found the homepage of the European Color Initiative (ECI). In their download section, they offer the download of the profiles for free. On your Window machine, simply unpack the ZIP file, right-click on the ICC files in the Windows Explorer and choose install. Next time you restart Photoshop/Illustrator, you can choose the new, desired printing profiles.
In Europe, if you do not have any other information, use this profile (ISO coated V2.0, also known as Fogra 39L) for your print data. It is the current, common standard used by the print shops.
You should always know your limitations. Today I wanted to save a panorama image I've taken, but Photoshop decided that I had reached the 4GB limit of TIFF files...
The Delphi-Tage (Delphi Days) event in Günzburg, Germany were a success. Finally I had a few minutes to scan through my image stack and select a few for presentation online. Many happy faces - well with the offers available there, no wonder at all...
Next weekend, on June 14th there are the German Delphi Days (www.delphi-tage.de). On this event speakers from Italy (Marco Cantù), CodeGear US (DavidI), CodeGear Germany and Embarcadero are coming, as well as many speakers from the German community.
Let's talk Delphi! Delphi! and Delphi!
And now, just coming in, they allow to sell older releases at prices never seen from CodeGear! BDS 2006 Architect SmallTeam Pack is being sold at 1.309 Euro (instead of 6.652 Euro), Single License for only 714 Euro (instead of 4.152 Euro). And many more products. Many other products like JBuilder 2007, the Turbo line, C++Builder 2006 and Books are for sale. Over 20 different products in over 150 combinations!
Those prices are valid on June 14th only!!! So do not miss them and come and visit the German Delphi Days, it is a once-in-a-life-time saver offer, as long as the products last!!! First come, first serve!
A great source for interesting light setups
Lange hat es gedauert, aber wie ein altes Sprichwort so schön sagt: "Gut Ding will Weile haben.". Nach langen Verhandlungen ist es uns endlich gelungen eine eigene Bleibe für unsere Karategruppe zu finden. Als Karate Dôjô Suganuma gehen wir als Abteilung des TSV Maccabi München e.V., dem jüdischen Verein Münchens. Ziel von Maccabi ist es Kinder, Jugendliche und Erwachsene verschiedener Herkünfte einander näher zu bringen und Brücken zwischen den jüdischen Mitgliedern der Gemeinde und nicht-jüdischen Mitgliedern zu schaffen.
Die Karateabteilung fängt mit wenigen Mitgliedern an und wird hoffentlich schnell wachsen, so dass wir uns selbst finanziell gut tragen können.
Hello folks,
finally we will bring a new product on the market, completely developed in Delphi 2007 for Windows. The software will allow you to render HDR images from one or multiple single images.
If you do not know much about HDR imaging, I recommen the wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging
Whom are we looking for? People with real interest in HDR imaging, who have some time to take images with their digital camera (DSLR recommended) and try to compose final HDR images using our software. If you have experience with other HDR software (like Photomatix, Artizen, FDRTools, ...) you probably can help us too ;-)
So, if you are interested in joining the beta, a few spots are still available. Write a short email to beta (at) fasthdr.com, put your name into the email and a short reason why you are interested. If you have samples of previously made HDRs online (like Flickr), include a link, but please, do not put them into the email.
Anyway, another thought. We use a few TMS components in this project. Many people ranted about my TMS posts and how I was making all of it bad - they should have read more properly. I only talked about one specific component, and I know there are many more, and quiet a few of them, I do like too ;-)
FastHDR uses following great TMS Components (among others): TAdvOfficePager, TAdvOfficeCheckBox,
TSpinEdit, TAdvRangeSlider, TAdvTrackBar
Also, we use: ImageEn from HiComponents, TNT Components, DC RAW and ImageMagick
If you are interested in (digital) photographie, you might want to check out those sites:
There are more, but those two just stand out. I'll add more over time, I'm sure ;)
This week one of our customers needed me in Barcelone for a meeting. Having some spare time, I took my trusted camera around Barcelona and made quiet a few photos (about 5 GB in data). This is one of my favourite images of the day, the colours just turned out great. I used my Blue-Gold-Polarizer to accomplish it. I think I have to get the Singh-Ray version of the polarizer, it will look even better as far as I know ;-)
I hope you like it as well.
Jetzt ist das zweite Delphi CodeCamp sehr erfolgreich abgeschlossen und wieder habe ich über die Entwicklung mit Delphi für Windows Vista referiert. Dieses Mal hat das Delphi CodeCamp in Wiesbaden gastiert. Den Tag zuvor habe ich genutzt, um ein paar Fotos zu machen. Dreie dieser sind in meinem Flickralbum Wiesbaden zu sehen.
Unabghängig davon möchte ich das nächste Mal wahrscheinlich ein neues Thema anbieten und würde mich über Anregungen sehr freuen. Also, wenn Sie einen Wunsch haben, dann her damit.
Yesterday I sent an e-mail to Bruno of TMS Software naming a few of the problems I've found with their AdvToolBar component. Today he wrote back to me stating, that most are fixed already. I'll wait for the next update on their website and let you know of the changes then. Further, I'll add a special page about the TMS components to my blog (coming with the next update of their components), where I keep track of the progress of their components.
I know, I have used harsh words, however, TMS Software - while being shocked - takes them seriously and works to improve their solution. I am excited to see what will come in the feature for use. I am sure, they will improve the form rendering on Vista too, this needs more work.
I am looking forward to see what comes :-)
Well, if you remember the old web site of TMS Software, you will be glad to learn, that they have relaunched their web site. It looks so much better, you must go and visit their site, it is well worth your time.
Go visit them now: http://www.tmssoftware.com/
@Bruno: sorry I did not answer your e-mail yet, but I will this weekend. I know I promised an faster response, but time did not permit at the moment.
My last post about the VCL Ribbon Controls got me some heated feedback, mostly per e-mail, some as comments (not yet published, but I will, rest assured) and pointed out some more facts. About all those I will write here in the comming days some more.
Some wrote about the "waste of money" and asked me whether I had to write it in such strong words. Did I have to? Probably not. Will I change it? No, the word is out now. Am I sorry, just a little. I should have worded it differently, however, it is out now, and I will stand by it.
Will I do some more reviews about both controls. Yes, probably. It was pointed out to me, that the DevExpress controls violate the license as well. However not where, so I guess I have to do some more comparisons to the style guide. Bruno of TMS Software asked me about theirs, and I will answer him today. He, btw was the first to response to me (besides some Skype chats) and he was really friendly about it, though he would have preferred some up-front "warning" or talking about. I admit he has a point there and I'll think about such things in the feature.
The TMS solution has more optional features, that the DevExpress solution has not. I will talk about those as well. I'll also talk about some of the things written before, where TMS has solutions, but forces you as programmer to always watch out for those. It has advantages as well as disadvantages, but for my productivity I rate those disadvantages higher. If this post has some overall effect on the Ribbon Control of TMS, I will be happy to test it for them and I will be happy to blog about that as well.
Further, rest assured that I did not have an easy time writing that last post, but on the other hand I do not understand why so many get so worked up when someone does say what they think, even if it is not a positive mood. I am rather honest than shy. Sorry for hurt hearts.
Currently I am playing around with different ribbon controls. Sadly, there is not one single solution for VCL Delphi developers, that brings (almost) all the features into our IDE - not one! THe two big solutions out there are
First, let's take a look at how MS Word 2007 displays the ribbon controls.
Since Microsoft has patented the Fluent Office UI (as they call it), so if you plan to use it in your applications you have to agree to their license. Sadly, we are not allowed to discuss the license publicly, if you do not have agreed to it yourself. So all I write about it here, you have to read up on yourself. More information you'll find at: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa973809.aspx.
Anyway, whether you like the UI style or not, it is an eye catcher and imo once you get used to it, it is a really effecient way to access the applications functions.
Now, first a look at the solution from DevExpress.
DevExpress has done a great job in bringing the Ribbon Controls into our VCL applications. Once you have taken the time to understand their logic in how to setup your UI, it is very easy to use. Their nice approach in how to use the Action components makes it very easy to divide your application code into UI handling and business logic.
However, if you take a look at the Word screen shot, you'll notice the red area in the title bar "Bildtools", those are part of the contextual tabs of the Ribbon UI design. They are highlighted to tell the user that their functions are directly related to the currently selected object. Sadly, DevExpress has not implemented this feature, one of the most usefull and sensible, into their VCL solution. The request to add this feature was entered on 11/20/2006 and its state (currently: Accepted - Release TBD) has not changed since 11/30/2006.
Now, let's look at the TMS solution:
Imho, this is a really bad implementation of the Fluent Office Ribbon UI. First, you see the frame of the application - that is as "good" as you can get it with their solution - and this really looks terrible. Next, they are violating the Ribbon UI license in multiple areas, which, sadly, I am not allowed to discuss here. Send me an email if you have specific questions about that, we'll work out a way to talk about it. However, since you have to agree to the license in order to use it in your application, you automatically violate it as soon as you use the TMS solution (example: look at the bottom of the ribbon control, look at the [I] access key hint, ...) - so you must not use it.
Whether, or not, this is part of the license, I can talk about one part of the TMS solution, which is bad. Once the window becomes to small to fit all groups (such as Clipboard, Font - Paragraph, Styles, ... in the screen shot above) of the ribbon page, they collapse in a way that the user does not see, which group is which - no labels, no icons, ... Your users will hate you!
Besides this point, imo, the design time usage of the AdvToolBar is horrible. You have to exactly place every component - they should be placed automatically. I do not want to align them by hand, the should flow! I do not have to align them in normal action menu bars either, just arrange their order.
So, if you are looking for a VCL Ribbon Control, currently I would suggest to use the Devexpress solution. However, be aware that they do not support contextual tabs currently, and probably never will (please, let me be mistaken in this point!). If you need those, imo you are out of luck, because you imo you should leave your fingers from the TMS solution, that is wasted money.
Well, that said. If you know of another VCL Ribbon Control, which can be used commercially, let me know. I'll check it out!
Well, just to talk about it. On Saturday I played for the first time with the HDR feature of Corel Paint Shop Pro X2. It is fairly easy to use and produces good results, even with hand held shots, that need to be aligned. Sadly it produces some ghosting, as you can see with the car, that is (not) there. We'll see what else will come...
Well, it is available since about 3 weeks now and I had some feedback already. Now, I would like you guys to take a look at it and let me know what you think. There is a small update in the pipeline, but that is not available yet. A short product description and a video are on the project site: http://www.wischnewski.tv/en/products/dw32pl.html
Start localizing your applications. Demos come with the installer - the product is free for personal and commercial (not governmental) use.
Actually, I have taken this picture in February as well, but this is not so important. Anyway, this picture was taken without a tripod, 1/30 sec, Av 4,0, and 35mm. It was a cool evening, when I went home from work. Since I held the camera in my hand, it is a little blury due to shaking of my hand.