LCDInfo.com

Is there anyone who would be interested in making plugins for LCDInfo ? If so what language would you use ?

I'm asking this because I'm currently working on the plugin interface for the new LCDInfo version and I was thinking about portability between different programming languages.

Basic use for plugins would of course be the data plugins but I thought that it might be also possible to add some callbacks to increase functionality.

As you know, I'm very interested. Either C++ or just plain C. You also know what plugins I'd make.

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{To mod or not to mod, THAT's the question}

Ok.

When I get a little further I'll make some kind example project of a plugin.

I am also interested, it will permit me not to develop my own lcd app (what i'm actually doing) & lcd info will be better than power lcd (it don't work for me)

Good plugins could be done but lcd info should change a little (a big I think because you can't do it actually - I think): instead of always replace lcd data with new one you should make a newdata= actualdata | data function.

I have got some ideas and one of the first that need to be done is a progress bar (have you ever seen jalcd ? try to look at it, it is a good program for alphanumeric displays)

Look also to my topic in the hardware section, the one about the ks0108b

You mean this for graphics or text ? If I understood that right this is pretty much how it's done in the new graphics code. If you have read the old source available you can pretty much forget how things are done there as I'm completely rewriting LCDInfo currently. So just let me know what you would need and I'll see if I could implement that. If you would like to know more of the inner workings of the new version just email me. I hope that the new version will allow to better take advantage of the graphical lcd's/VFD's possibilities.

edit:
let's not forget the VFD's here


In the 0.3.2 version there is already a winamp progress bar as an undocumented feature. I don't currently remember the variable for it but I can check it later. But once again this is going to be rewritten in the next version and also general purpose bars are going to be included. I haven't yet decided how to implement this.

edit:
The winamp progress bar for 0.3.2:
Graphic0=winamp_progbar(10,55,5,100)

winamp_progbar(xposition,yposition,height,width)

arg... thank for the winamp progress bar...
So you want to know what I want?
I have done some nice things under TI 92+/TI89 68K ASM, I was used to use virtual screens to put my graphics & my texts
It was looking like this:

Init of virtual screen
Infiny Loop
| Erase virtual screen
| Put what i want on it
| Copy virtual to real

So I need a virtual screen (really love them)

What you said me, I just wrote two little progressbar functions that just need to be copy/past in the old lcdinfo... but now you rewrite it...

Globally what I need:
Get what there is were I want
Put what I want where I want (pixel position).

I will mainly dev plugins for WMP, because somebody else will make them for winamp and also because I don't really like winamp.

The graphics in the next version are based on frame buffer so you might like it.

I guess the progressbars could be also translated to the new version.

WMP plugin would be great and I've already begun working on a winamp plugin a while ago.

If you want to have a peek at the current code I think that could be arranged. You might have a chance to influence how it's implemented.

im very interested in programming plugins

c/c++

Darkelf
I think a virtual screen would be a good addition, that way when you can get to your lcd screen you canstill test your code.

clarification:
I mean a virtual screen as in a lcd screen emulator app to run code on b4 you try it on the actual lcd and it doesnt work.

At the moment there is a virtual screen that uses the same interface as the actual drivers. So if you wan't to use different controller/virtual screen, you can just replace the driver DLL with what you want.

/!\ When I talk about virtual screen, I mean a buffer where you temp. put data before the screen is sent to the lcd it is fully different to a lcd simulator!

I just finished my first WMP plugin, this is a scope plugin.
Ok... nothing fabulous...
BUT the scope is on the LCD
(it worl only for ks0108b, because my lcd is a ks0108b - you need DLPortIO installed)
My plugin should work on WindowsMediaPlayer 7 & upper, but only tried under the WMP9 & Win XP
here to find it:
http://www.geocities.com/martien_1998/wmplcd.zip
try it & let me know what you think about it...

If you let me look at some code, it will help me a little for my functions/plugins...
Henri: Have you any idea on how to communicate between the plugin & lcdinfo?
WMP plugins must be DLL that media player run himself so to communicate you must put a shared memory (like MBM). An other solution is to implement a solution like jaLCD: TCP-IP interconnection.
I don't konw many things about the first one.
And i don't really like the second one

LCDInfo has both


Great, I'll try that later today when I get access to KS0108 LCD.


I'll email you later today...


I guess you need to use something like the shared memory you mentioned to share the data between the WMP plugin and the LCDInfo WMP plugin. That's what I've done in the winamp plugin.

For some code snippets of what I've used have a look here: http://www.skippari.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=147

Just read it.
It look like the MBM shared memory code.
I will look at this better tonight
I will also give a look to msdn.

For information I use Visual C++ 6, I hope there is no problems with shared mem between microsoft c++ & borland c++

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Shadows move where light should be

The code is pretty much straight from this MSDN example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/defau ... memory.asp

I don't think there should be problems as I did the winamp plugin with visual c++ and the app that reads the shared memory with c++ builder and didn't notice any problems. As long as you don't use any compiler specific data types everything should be ok.