Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by CreamSauce

From DDK & ADK to SDK

CreamSauce — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 23:10:58 +0800

Although some codes are proprietary, like Windows Kernel, the world of computer technology is full of collaboration.

All this while, I realize that I build software components on top of someone's creative piece of works, and someone else (if any) relies on my class library to build a higher layer of software.

The wheel is the best invention, finally I understand why it is not always good to reinvent the wheel. :-D

Take Windows for example, they have this Windows Driver Kit, Assessment and Deployment Kit, and Software Development Kit.
As we all understand, hardware manufacturers need device drivers for operating system to work with their equipment or peripherals. Computer manufacturer to deploy operating system, and application developers to deploy software.

It takes many years and many good reads to know all in I.T., and it takes constant effort to follow and learn the latest paradigm shift and new technology.

Nobody is alone in building the computer era, and hence I take no pride in becoming one. We are team, the collaborators.

Please feel free to express your opinion. Thanks.

Redistributing a PHP package

CreamSauce — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 18:04:53 +0800

Hi all PHP masters, recently I wanted a PHP open-source solution from someone else, instead of reinventing it using C#.
His PHP code needs mbstring and imagick extension, that's all. I managed to download PHP 7.4 and imagick extension.
All set up nicely and I ran a Composer Install on his PHP code too.

Now, I am going to distribute this PHP code together with my C# .NET solution as a complete package.
Questions:
1. Should I run Composer Install on the PHP code again when copying it to users' PC? Or can I just include the composer.json and composer.lock along with the distribution, no need to run Composer or anything anymore?

2. What is the minimal files required for PHP 7?

I managed to run PHP.exe with the following necessary files (most are for imagick extension)

CODE

Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is D63E-8E04

Directory of C:\php

07/02/2020 01:08 AM <DIR> .
07/02/2020 01:08 AM <DIR> ..
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 75,264 CORE_RL_BZLIB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 1,311,744 CORE_RL_CAIRO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 3,417,088 CORE_RL_EXR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 1,288,704 CORE_RL_FLIF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 2,510,848 CORE_RL_GLIB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 240,640 CORE_RL_JP2_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 463,360 CORE_RL_JPEG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 336,896 CORE_RL_LCMS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 886,272 CORE_RL_LIBRAW_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 571,904 CORE_RL_LIBRSVG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 383,488 CORE_RL_LIBXML_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 68,096 CORE_RL_LQR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 598,016 CORE_RL_MAGICK++_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 1,784,832 CORE_RL_MAGICKCORE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 839,168 CORE_RL_MAGICKWAND_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 265,216 CORE_RL_OPENJPEG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 365,568 CORE_RL_PANGO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 199,680 CORE_RL_PNG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 422,400 CORE_RL_TIFF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 623,616 CORE_RL_TTF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 493,056 CORE_RL_WEBP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 89,088 CORE_RL_ZLIB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 133,632 IMAGEMAGICKOBJECT.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_AAI_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_ART_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_AVS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,696 IM_MOD_RL_BGR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 37,888 IM_MOD_RL_BMP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_BRAILLE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_CALS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_CAPTION_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 26,112 IM_MOD_RL_CIN_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_CIP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_CLIPBOARD_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,824 IM_MOD_RL_CLIP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 31,744 IM_MOD_RL_CMYK_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 21,504 IM_MOD_RL_CUT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 156,160 IM_MOD_RL_DCM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 48,128 IM_MOD_RL_DDS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,872 IM_MOD_RL_DEBUG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 26,624 IM_MOD_RL_DIB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,824 IM_MOD_RL_DJVU_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_DNG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 11,776 IM_MOD_RL_DOT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 11,776 IM_MOD_RL_DPS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 34,816 IM_MOD_RL_DPX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,968 IM_MOD_RL_EMF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_EPT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,968 IM_MOD_RL_EXR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_FAX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,312 IM_MOD_RL_FD_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 24,064 IM_MOD_RL_FITS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 20,480 IM_MOD_RL_FLIF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 11,776 IM_MOD_RL_FPX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 33,280 IM_MOD_RL_GIF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,872 IM_MOD_RL_GRADIENT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_GRAY_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,824 IM_MOD_RL_HALD_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 22,016 IM_MOD_RL_HDR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_HISTOGRAM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_HRZ_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_HTML_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,696 IM_MOD_RL_ICON_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,848 IM_MOD_RL_INFO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_INLINE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,456 IM_MOD_RL_IPL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,824 IM_MOD_RL_JBIG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_JNX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 24,064 IM_MOD_RL_JP2_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 51,712 IM_MOD_RL_JPEG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 44,032 IM_MOD_RL_JSON_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_LABEL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,336 IM_MOD_RL_MAC_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 220,160 IM_MOD_RL_MAGICK_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_MAP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,336 IM_MOD_RL_MASK_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,360 IM_MOD_RL_MATTE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 32,256 IM_MOD_RL_MAT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 34,304 IM_MOD_RL_META_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 40,448 IM_MOD_RL_MIFF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_MONO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,696 IM_MOD_RL_MPC_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,456 IM_MOD_RL_MPEG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 12,800 IM_MOD_RL_MPR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 90,112 IM_MOD_RL_MSL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_MTV_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_MVG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,336 IM_MOD_RL_NULL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_OTB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 25,088 IM_MOD_RL_PALM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 21,504 IM_MOD_RL_PANGO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 468,992 IM_MOD_RL_PATTERN_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 25,088 IM_MOD_RL_PCD_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 23,552 IM_MOD_RL_PCL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 27,136 IM_MOD_RL_PCX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 22,528 IM_MOD_RL_PDB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 50,176 IM_MOD_RL_PDF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,456 IM_MOD_RL_PES_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_PGX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 37,888 IM_MOD_RL_PICT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_PIX_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,872 IM_MOD_RL_PLASMA_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 157,184 IM_MOD_RL_PNG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 40,448 IM_MOD_RL_PNM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 30,208 IM_MOD_RL_PS2_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 36,352 IM_MOD_RL_PS3_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 56,320 IM_MOD_RL_PSD_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 50,176 IM_MOD_RL_PS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,384 IM_MOD_RL_PWP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,968 IM_MOD_RL_RAW_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,184 IM_MOD_RL_RGB_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_RGF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_RLA_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 22,016 IM_MOD_RL_RLE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,360 IM_MOD_RL_SCREENSHOT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,848 IM_MOD_RL_SCR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_SCT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_SFW_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 24,576 IM_MOD_RL_SGI_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 25,600 IM_MOD_RL_SIXEL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,872 IM_MOD_RL_STEGANO_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 23,552 IM_MOD_RL_SUN_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 68,096 IM_MOD_RL_SVG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 25,088 IM_MOD_RL_TGA_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,336 IM_MOD_RL_THUMBNAIL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 61,440 IM_MOD_RL_TIFF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 13,312 IM_MOD_RL_TILE_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_TIM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_TTF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 24,576 IM_MOD_RL_TXT_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 16,896 IM_MOD_RL_UIL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,872 IM_MOD_RL_URL_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_UYVY_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 18,432 IM_MOD_RL_VICAR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,408 IM_MOD_RL_VID_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 27,136 IM_MOD_RL_VIFF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 23,552 IM_MOD_RL_VIPS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_WBMP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 23,040 IM_MOD_RL_WEBP_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 11,776 IM_MOD_RL_WMF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,184 IM_MOD_RL_WPG_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 19,456 IM_MOD_RL_XBM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 24,064 IM_MOD_RL_XCF_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 14,848 IM_MOD_RL_XC_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 26,112 IM_MOD_RL_XPM_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 17,920 IM_MOD_RL_XPS_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 15,360 IM_MOD_RL_XTRN_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 29,184 IM_MOD_RL_YCBCR_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 23,552 IM_MOD_RL_YUV_.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 130,048 PHP.EXE
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 69,873 PHP.INI
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 9,359,360 PHP7.DLL
06/02/2020 09:12 PM 296,960 PHP_IMAGICK.DLL
153 File(s) 31,083,249 bytes
2 Dir(s) 276,441,964,544 bytes free

And one more thing, if I just include the LICENSE.md or LICENSE.txt along with his PHP code, that would be fine, right?
I am not sure if this is more to OSS question or PHP question.

Thanks for any help!

Manipulating bitmap image in C#

CreamSauce — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 18:57:41 +0800

Recently I played around with C# code on how to manipulate bitmap image, and then send the bitmap data using ESCPOS commands to receipt printer.

Here's the code I came across and modified by me:

CODE

using System.Drawing;

public static Bitmap GetBitmapData(string bmpFileName, int thresHold, Bitmap bpm = null)
{
Bitmap bitmap = null;
Bitmap previewPic = null;

if (bpm != null)
{
bitmap = bpm;
previewPic = bpm;
}
else
{
bitmap = (Bitmap)Bitmap.FromFile(bmpFileName);
previewPic = bitmap;
}

int xheight = (int)bitmap.Height;
int xwidth = (int)bitmap.Width;

for (var y = 0; y < xheight; y++)
{
for (var x = 0; x < xwidth; x++)
{
var _x = (int)x;
var _y = (int)y;
var color = bitmap.GetPixel(_x, _y);
var luminance = (int)(color.R * 0.3 + color.G * 0.59 + color.B * 0.11);
Color newPix;
if (luminance < thresHold)
newPix = Color.Black;
else
newPix = Color.White;

previewPic.SetPixel(_x, _y, newPix);
}
}

return previewPic;
}

For example, the following will use original image in Picturebox1 and change it to monochrome image in Picturebox 2:

CODE

pictureBox2.Image = GetBitmapData(string.Empty, trackBar1.Value, (Bitmap)pictureBox1.Image);
pictureBox2.Show();

The trackBar.Value is from Min 0 to Max 255, as a threshold for the monochrome image output. Greater threshold will resulting in thicker-bordered image while lesser threshold will resulting in thinner-bordered image.

-------

So now, what are other techniques to manipulate the bitmap image using the GetBitmapData() code above?

For example:

If I "SetPixel(x,y, NOT newPix)" (not tested) will invert the image.

As for other filter or effect, what can be done? E.g. using OR or AND bitwise operator with each pixel in the bitmap?

Does anyone find this project interesting?

How to Transmit as many random data as possible?

CreamSauce — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 18:03:57 +0800

Ok, I am just throwing this question at codemaster, if anyone can come up with "idea" or "answer" to the below:
(my own question, anyway)

In today modern computer technology, how would one transmit as many random data as possible? There's one sender and there's one receiver at the other end.

Size, and speed . You name it.

But that's not my answer.

Go figure out.

What is in your GitHub repo?

CreamSauce — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 20:26:56 +0800

Is there anyone who want to share what's in your GitHub repo?

Perhaps you can describe your pinned /popular / starred repos? And what's forked repo?

For example, @alexa has pinned his LISP compiler as his highlighted repository.

My repo is on and off, don't really have anything useful to share.... I wonder if anyone sharing VBscript on GitHub?
I mean if part of my VBscript code was from Microsoft documentation example, and part of it was my own works, can I still publish it on GitHub....and what kind of license apply here?

(I only know MIT licensing of which Microsoft use a lot)

How do you implement text editor undo function?

CreamSauce — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 23:10:26 +0800

Ok, I am done with low-level programming and borrowing ideas from coding competition. Frankly speaking, I am not good in most of the algorithms.

From today, I am going to brainstorm together with fellow coders on mid-level programming, let's start with versioning, or Undo function in text editor.

How do you implement unlimited undo function in text editor?

Although my method is not the best, unproven its usefulness, but I still think is better than the below:

To implement Undo, Would you....
1) Store multiple versions of the content of text editor as separate files on disk / memory?
What if the initial content of text editor is 2MB, and the user makes changes (or click Save button) 20 times.....?

2) Track the changes of each version of the text content, and store it as "differences of content between current version and previous version"?

So, what's your idea?

EDIT: My own C# WinForms .NET sample code at post #13......

My comprehensive list of coding challenge

CreamSauce — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 04:48:32 +0800

Coding Competition:

Hugi Size Coding Competition Series
http://hugi.scene.org/compo/compoold.htm

While this Assembler size-optimizing contests are discontinued, people may still find it useful from the older compos held.
(For example, the idea of my "Golden Ratio Compo" thread was borrowed from it)

QUOTE

Hugi Size Coding Competition #1 (The "Nibbles" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #2 (The "Text Compression" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #3 (The "Pong" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #4 (The "Expression Evaluator" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #5 (The "SORT" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #6 (The "Brainf*** Interpreter" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #7 (The "Image Compression" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #8 (The "Morse" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #9 (The "SPEW Emulator" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #10 (The "Taquin" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #11 (The "Maze Pathfinder" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #12 (The "Prime Finder" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #13 (The "Soko Ban" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #14 (The "SPEW Assembler" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #15 (The "Image Manipulation" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #16 (The "Hexagon" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #17 (The "Dump" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #18 (The "Roman-Decimal Converter" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #19 (The "Cellular Texture Generator" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #20 (The "Date of Easter" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #21 (The "Tic Tac Toe" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #22 (The "Dropping Game" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #23 (The "Knight's Tour" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #24 (The "A Turtle Drawing Machine" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #25 (The "Sudoku" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #26 (The "Golden Raito" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #27 (The "Resurrection" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #28 (The "Hugi USB" Compo)
Hugi Size Coding Competition #29 (The "Random Maze Builder" Compo)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Google Coding Competitions
https://codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com/

This is what I found recently, and is an ongoing coding challenge. You can still try to solve old problems as a practice from its archives.

Replies timestamp is in reversed order

CreamSauce — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 21:52:59 +0800

I just noticed this on this subforum, wanted to give feedback to moderators for your attention.

I am not sure what went wrong with his replies...

Design & Content (aka brain & look)

CreamSauce — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 15:22:03 +0800

How to have a better Brain and Look.... It applies to web, app, or even on how to design a transhuman...

As you might already knew, web include Design and Content (,or brain and look)

It is more about my philosophy, but am uncertain about its real world applications......

Here's go.

Brain: (design)

- well centered (Stability)
- got tail and head (Interoperability )
- always do the right thing (Effectiveness)
- always do the thing right (Efficiency)
- oneness (Integration)

.....however Scalability is not possible

Look: (content)

- got head (Introduction)
- got tail (Conclusion)
- well centered (Explanation or main body text)
- all at a glance (Highlights in point form)
- got proof (Example)

Since Lowyat.net has no section for philosophy, I've decided to post it on this subforum.

Ideas: Emulate LED flashing using bit manipulation

CreamSauce — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:25:59 +0800

Supposedly you have a parallel port which has 8-pin connector, you would connect also 8 x LEDs (with resistors, of course) using parallel cable.

Now, what would you do to do the following effect?
1. A LED on from left to right, and right to left (* . . . . . . . -> . * . . . . . . . -> . . * . . . . . etc)

2. Flashing LED (for SOS, let say)

3........Your ideas

Hints: Using bit manipulation......

Just trying to have some fun for your new year 2020!

I miss the office jobs

CreamSauce — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 22:35:35 +0800

I miss the office jobs, which I can wear long-sleeve or short-sleeve shirt and Western trouser to work in air-conditioned office.
But the days are gone, since I started getting old. Now I am 43 year old male, working as delivery rider using motorcycle.

What would you do if.....
1. Can no longer work as sw. developer anymore because cannot catch up with latest tech

2. Can no longer work as office boy because I am not young anymore (office boy)

3. Cannot work as general clerk in office because all they want is female clerk.

4. Have big employment gap from 2011-2012 (family business) and 2013-2015 (overseas long vacation), don't know how to connect with career life before 2011

So I am working as delivery rider at the moment, but hope to work in office again. Any suggestion or any solution to my above 4-point dilemma?
Thanks in advance.

Coding Challenge: How to detect changes in data?

CreamSauce — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 20:38:40 +0800

Let me rephrase the question:

Supposed you have 1GB of data that you want to prevent unauthorized modification.

How would you check the 1GB-data quickly for any new modification?

1. Will you store the 1GB-data as image in your program or app to compare side-by-side?

2. ..........
-------------------------------------------------------

Original question:

This time our challenge is to compare two files (with same file size) programmatically.

For instance, these are two text files with same file size, but differs slightly from each other.
[attachmentid=10383310]
[attachmentid=10383311]

Objective:
1. Output whether two files are different / same.

2. (Optional) Output where are the difference(s).

To make things easier, we just need to aim for 1st objective, that is, finding whether the two files are same / different.

What is the method that you can think of? Please feel free to discuss, and paste your solution onto here, too.

The "Golden Ratio" Compo

CreamSauce — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 21:10:36 +0800

This time your task is to create a program that displays the Golden Ratio.

QUOTE

This is the ratio of dividing a line segment A into two parts B and C such that A is to B as B is to C.

A
------------+-------
B C

This deceptively simple ratio has fascinated mathematicians for centuries.
It can be written as A/B = B/C.

The ratio A/B is usually designated by the Greek letter phi, and it is approximately equal to 1.618.

Now if your task were to simply output "1.618", it wouldn't be much of a challenge. Printing a text string would do. The challenge is that your entry must print the value of phi for 2400 places after the decimal point, rounded to the nearest value. You may use a text string if you want, but it's very unlikely to be a winning strategy.

Please refer to this (math.txt) on how to calculate it with thousands of decimal places.
[attachmentid=10374680]

QUOTE

The exact format must be: "1.618...<cr><lf>" with, of course, the dots being replaced by the proper digits.

Please, if possible, output your calculation "1.618....<cr><lf>" as a text file, and compare with the "solution.txt". If no differences found, then your answer is correct!

solution.txt (courtesy hugi.scene.org)
[attachmentid=10374681]

You can write it in any programming language..... Please let me know if you find it interesting, or not.

The Return of Compress coding challenge

CreamSauce — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 14:57:04 +0800

This question is designed by me, so I take advantage of it!

Try to compress the following 256-bytes string, see how much you can compress?

There are only "F" or "G".

CODE

FGFFFFFFGFFFFGGGGGGGGGGGGGFFFFFGGGGGGGGGGGGFFGFGGGFFFGGGGGGGGFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGGGGGGFFFGFGGFGFFFFGFFGFGGFFFGFGGFGFFFGFGGGGFGGGGGGGGGFFFFFFFFGGGGGGGFFFFFGFFGGGGGGGFFFGGGFFGGGGGGFFGGGGGGGGGFFGFFGFGFFGFFGFFFFGGGGFGGFGGGFFFGGGFFFGGGFFGGFFGGGGFFGFGGFFFGFGGF

You can download the string as ANSI text file (256 bytes):
[attachmentid=10373407]

You don't need to do file handling, just store the string as variable.

Again, the string BEFORE compressed and AFTER decompressed must be identical.

gz = 79 bytes (324%)
bzip2 = 94 bytes (272%)
deflate = 67 bytes (382%)

Of course, it has no real world application.

I am the winner in this coding challenge.

Paste your code onto here.

Is it worth to invest in Delphi 10.3 Pro at $1495?

CreamSauce — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 15:48:14 +0800

Currently I am using free trial version which will expires less than one year. Furthermore, the application created with free trial version cannot collect annual revenue more than $5000 or must buy a professional edition.

Delphi is simple to use, I use only one line of code (with the rest just drag- and-drop) for a complete RESTful Android app to access and retrieve JSON from any Web API.

QUOTE

Mobile development features for Android and iOS are available in all version of Delphi, C++Builder and RAD Studio, with the exception of the Starter Edition.
When developing for iOS, you will also need a Mac computer for development and running in the simulator. You will need an Apple Developer account to test and deploy to iOS devices. Additional details are available in the online and product documentation.

Their cheapest licensed product is Professional edition, but still $1495. Is it worth to invest in it? Currently I have no social networking, no reputation as freelance programmer, and no existing or prior successful* customer.

(* I do have customers in the past, but failed to collect payment from all of them)

I afraid the money spent on the commercial license cannot guarantee income to at least cover the $1495.

https://www.code-partners.com/offerings/delphi/
US$1,495.00

I have no idea if the pricing is to be renewed yearly or one-off payment.

I love Delphi, besides VB and C#. So please, I am not open to any other framework or programming language.

A coding assignment

CreamSauce — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 20:41:17 +0800

Let say you have the following as input string.

CODE

string testCase = "oooGdgGoodgddoGdgdgooodgodGooooGGGododGGdgdGoGGgggooooGGddgoooododggGogGoGggGGdGdoGdodGGooGgoGgdgGdGoGdoGgogGGoogGGGgoGGdggdGGooGoodoogGdGGgdoGddGoGoGgogGGooogGgoGdoooGgGggGggGdggdddogGggogGdGggodgGGGodgoodoGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGoGgGggoogggodGGGGGdGGGgogGoddgdGGg";

Now, given the input string, calculate the number of occurrence of "G" from left to right.

Criteria:
1. "G" x 15 will increment the counter by 1
2. "G" x 5 will decrement the counter by 1
3. "G" x 3 will decrement the counter by 1
4. "G" x 2 will not increment or decrement the counter
5. "dog" will reset the counter to 0
6. "G" x 1 will increment the counter by 1

I think it is case-sensitive. The coding assignment was taken from the website of one senior member here.

[Code Challenge] ASCII art compression

CreamSauce — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 20:44:37 +0800

Anyone want to try to compress the sample ASCII art?

[attachmentid=10299796]
Must open with text editor using fixed-width font.

The text file preview (don't compress this, because this is image, not ASCII art text):
[attachmentid=10299797]

While there is no prize money, I still encourage code masters on LYN to take part.
Rules:
1) No third-party compression library (e.g. LZW), no copy-paste code.

The objective is to:
1) Find out how many bytes you can save (or compress) with banner.txt
2) Able to compress AND decompress correctly.
(for command-line tool, can use FC.exe to perform binary file comparison between after compressed and after decompressed.)

Real life application?
1) If you are transferring large files from server to client in your program, apply compression will save both bandwidth and download/upload time.
2) [Add your own list]

Well, I am not expert in compression. The purpose of this Code Challenge is to promote awareness among fellow Malaysian coders, to realize how to "survive" without third-party library, and use this as practice to code an algorithm.

How to optimize code for reading text file

CreamSauce — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 22:22:33 +0800

I have a text file with following format for 365 days.

CODE

Tuesday, January 1
blah blah blah

Wednesday, January 2
sample text

Thursday, January 3
replace with text....

Friday, January 4
sample text

Saturday, January 5
sample text

Sunday, January 6
blah blah blah

Sample text file:
[attachmentid=10299077]

I have written C# code to "seek" for a particular ID (or "dddd, MMMM d" in this regard) and read the following paragraph until it detects null or empty line.

I felt something not right in this code although it is working. It is not efficient.
The problem is, I insist in standalone text file format so that it will be much easier for me to compile other text file in similar format.

CODE

private string LoadText(string fileName,string ID)
{
string textLine2 = string.Empty;

using (StreamReader textFile = File.OpenText(Application.StartupPath + "\\" + fileName))
{
while (textFile.Peek() > 0)
{
string textLine0 = textFile.ReadLine();

if (textLine0==ID)
{
textLine2 += textLine0;

while (textFile.Peek() > 0)
{
string textLine1 = textFile.ReadLine();

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(textLine1))
return textLine2;
else
{
textLine2 += Environment.NewLine;
textLine2 += textLine1;
}
}
}
};

};
return textLine2;
}

The code will, for example, read the whole paragraph of a particular day.

CODE

textBox4.Text = LoadText("jp2019.txt", dateTimePicker1.Value.ToString("dddd, MMMM d"));

Any ideas?

My former DOS empire... until Windows destroyed it

CreamSauce — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 23:20:39 +0800

Was working on Visual Studio 2017 for few months, learned some basic Xamarin forms, and picked up C# by setting aside my long-time favourite VB.NET.

A few days ago, I downloaded 5.5 GB of Visual Studio 2019 with key features. Upon opening the IDE, my eyes were wandering, was it because Microsoft developers had cramped too many functions into their IDE?

The time machine travelled back to 1998... I recall several scenes. I was sitting in front of a blue-colour monitor. That was the usual colour of Turbo Pascal 7 IDE. I was building my DOS empire at that time.

1. Audio Player and Recorder: Yes, 8-bit direct access to Sound Blaster 16. (Happily bought a Sound Blaster 16 programming guide for RM 10 at that time)
2. Image & Video Format. Yes, 320x200x256 low resolution graphical output. I invented my own compression-less image (DLP) and video format (DLV), also with their respective converter (e.g. PCX to DLP) and player.
3. Text Screen Capture: Yes, a TSR for users to capture text screen in the background and automatically save as file.
4. Font Manipulation: Yes, I even had a font editor and loader to customize the 256 of ASCII characters.
5. Programming Language: Yes. It was my own compiler which generated 8-bit CPU machine code as .COM executable.
6. Utilities: Yes, address book / calculator / files cleaner / disk copier / Text-to-HTML converter.......etc
...I was like almost building my own Operating Environment (NOT operating system) in text mode under DOS platform.

But I forgot that the ICT is trending fast in the glimpse of an eye. Microsoft is slowing eliminating DOS from its Windows solution and users cannot run legacy DOS programs in 64-bit Windows nowadays.

It destroyed my DOS empire, but in a good way, that it benefits millions others, with operating systems which deliver higher performance, and better user experience.

While this thread is nothing coding-specific, I would like advice on how to adapt to IT ever-changing world, and slowly forget about DOS era.
It is true that I have tried to adapt to IT in stages:
2000 ~ 2003: I worked as Psion OPL cum Symbian C++ programmer, where Psion UK shut their consumer market in 2003 and Symbian has had the same fate...
2004 ~ 2008: Mostly VB6 + MSSQL + CR, I was involved in business software solution, e.g. POS, SMS (School Management System). (As you might already know, VB6 or classic VB is no longer relevant nowadays)

....Basically I am not a programmer who works in office now, but I still consider myself a hobbyist programmer.

I am sorry folks, too difficult for me to forget the yesteryear, especially almost entire of my efforts have gone in vain. Not to mention a few utilities I developed for Windows 3.11 using VB2 and VB3.

[Win32] Anyone interested in Resumé Wizard?

CreamSauce — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 18:07:27 +0800

Hi all. I was Mussle, but I gave up the old user account because I didn't like the username.

I am planning to start a fresh Windows Form project, which will collect all information from user, and export them as PDF document.

The following information shall be collected in building the resume:
1. Personal Details
2. Skills (5+)
3. Career History
4. Education

The most difficult part is PDF part. I saw a few customizable PDF libraries but they are NOT free. I intended to export it to PDF at my own by referring to PDF File Format Specification (PDF32000_2008) using basic features. (No photos)

https://pictr.com/images/2019/08/04/5gdVZq.png

https://pictr.com/images/2019/08/04/5gdnvr.png

Basically, I found that I can create the PDF document using text file editor! The problem is calculating the offset of each section in the trailer.

I tried the following after referring to three different examples.

CODE

%PDF-1.4

1 0 obj

<<

/Type /Catalog

/Outlines 2 0 R

/Pages 3 0 R

>>

endobj

2 0 obj

<<

/Type /Outlines

/Count 0

>>

endobj

3 0 obj

<<

/Type /Pages

/Kids [4 0 R]

/Count 1

>>

endobj

4 0 obj

<<

/Type /Page

/Parent 3 0 R

/MediaBox [0 0 612 792]

/Contents 5 0 R

/Resources

<<

/ProcSet 6 0 R

/Font

<<

/F1 7 0 R

>>

>>

>>

endobj

5 0 obj

<<

/Length 73

>>

stream

BT

/F1 24 Tf

100 100 Td

(Hello World) Tj

ET

endstream

endobj

6 0 obj

[/PDF /Text]

endobj

7 0 obj

<<

/Type /Font

/Subtype /Type1

/Name /F1

/BaseFont /Helvetica

/Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding

>>

endobj

8 0 obj

<<

/Creator (Low Yat Dot Net)

/CreationDate (D:20190804183000)

>>

endobj

xref

0 9

0000000000 65535 f

0000000009 00000 n

0000000074 00000 n

0000000120 00000 n

0000000179 00000 n

0000000364 00000 n

0000000466 00000 n

0000000496 00000 n

0000000503 00000 n

trailer

<<

/Size 9

/Root 1 0 R

/Info 8 0 R

>>

startxref

584

%%EOF

You can try to copy and paste it on any text file editor, and save it with .PDF extension.

[attachmentid=10295897]
Or if you are interested, you can also download this text file with same content, and rename it as .PDF will work.

However, creating a resume programmatically will be more difficult. Is anyone interested to join me in working for this Resumé Wizard project? (I use Visual C#).

P.S. I will be able to post three times every 12 hour only during probational membership.