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From: haacke@exunido.uucp (Ralf Haacke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: GemView (new version and some questions)
Message-ID: <3272@laura.UUCP>
Date: 22 May 91 12:28:07 GMT
Sender: news@laura.UUCP
Reply-To: haacke@exunido.UUCP (Ralf Haacke)
Organization: University of Dortmund, W-Germany
Lines: 73


Dieter have no permission to post articles to the News, so here is his message:

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Hi folks,

sorry but the program/accessory posted in comp.binaries.atari.st have a few
bugs or "unknown features".

I have write a newest version of GemView (1.0.4), but i must test something.
In some day i would to send it to the atari.archive; actually we have a
"ftp"-problem, so i can't do it. I think i will mail it to anyone who send
it to the atari.archive.

Since 1.0.3 (is in atari.archive):
- Correction of some mispelling.
- Better right-mouse-button support.
- GemView now works with a 4 bit color palette (Degas, Tiny and Spectrum).
- A color palette bug corrected (only seen on a TT; is there a bug on the TT
  by using the color index 0(black) and/or 1(white) with vs_color() ???).
- The problem with uniterm is solved.
Since 1.0.4:
- If no window is available the accessory now exit with a warning.
- Better message handling with GEMINI.
- The main-(log)-window have a FULLER-button, which makes a very small and
  smart window.
- And some __small__ changes and corrections.


What to do in the future:

- GemView could be faster (and smaller).
- A Big-GemView, which saves pictures in other formats (???)
- Transfer GEM-Metafiles into pixel-maps (and reverse ???)
- Saving installs.
- Continue work, if GemView runs as ACC and changing the main-application.
  Therefor some questions: Should GemView automaticly opens its own windows,
  if it found out that the runing main program is a gem-program (appl_init)?
  Or should GemView wait for a handling with windows (wind_create/open)?
  Should it ask the user for CANCEL the action, WAIT for new activition or
  changing program or CONTINUE it's work and open the windows?
  (!!! THIS WILL NOT IMPLEMENT IN THE NEXT SOME WEEK/MONTH !!!)
- A new color reduce algorithm. I have the followed idea:
  A color is a point in a 3-dim-room (N^3). First calculate the distance
  from each point to each other and save the nearest point with the distance.
  Next searching the nearest neighbours and make this two point to one. The
  new points is nearer to a  point which represent more points then the
  other. From the new point calculate the distance to all other points and
  save the nearest (some other points must update, if the new point is nearer
  as the nearest neighbour before). Then begin to search the nearest ....,
  until we have reduce enough.
  THAT IS AN ALGORITHM WHICH RUNS VERY SLOW: DOES ANYONE HAVE A BETTER IDEA?

Please let me now what do you think about the program, what you think is
to do in the feature (specialy how should GemView continue it's work) and
where are bugs.
!! I'm also interest in positiv reactions !!

Ciao (bye)
                Dieter



P.S.:   Actually i have not the time to make a lot for GemView.
P.P.S.: I hope anyone have understand my bad english.

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|   Dieter Fiebelkorn                           |   With a rubber duck   :-)   |
|   fiebelko@petra.informatik.uni-dortmund.de   |   one's never alone.   :^{   |
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