Topics

1

N.A.N.Y. 2022 / NANY 2022: Tickertape using dotmatrix displays (IoT/ESPEasy)

« on: December 31, 2021, 05:13 AM »

NANY 2022 Entry Information

Application Name	Dotmatrix display support for ESPEasy
Version	2021-10
Short Description	Use 8x8 dotmatrix displays to build a tickertape display
Supported OSes	ESP8266/ESP32 microcontrollers
Web Page	ESPEasy documentation for the plugin
Download Link	Github releases page for ESPEasy (use the DISPLAY build)
System Requirements	ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller (best get one with min. 4MB and USB support on board for easy connection) Dotmatrix displays based on MAX7219 chip Level converter 3v3 - 5V Proper power supply
Version History	Included in the ESPEasy release build since October 2021
Author	Ath

Description
I've been helping with some development on the ESPEasy platform, a firmware for ESP8266/ESP8285 and ESP32 WiFi enabled microcontrollers, for some time. (See also my entry for NANY 2021)
By request on the ESPEasy Github issue tracker, there was a desire to add support for dotmatrix display using the MAX7219 chip.
I found an open source Arduino library that has quite extensive support for these chips/displays, called Parola, that offers some fancy features for displaying all kinds of information on such displays.
After some investigation, I found that, with some work, I could add that as a feature to ESPEasy.
The hard parts were in a) getting the library to work with ESPEasy without triggering watchdog resets, and b) designing and building a usable UI for configuration.
a) was solved by adding some 'yield()' calls, allowing for background tasks and the watchdog to process as needed.
b) was solved by getting feedback from other developers on the project

Features

• Display text, with several effects including a tickertape style, on groups (zones) of such display modules
• User defined zones from 1 to 254 of display modules
• Use of variable content, like date/time, or measured values like temperature etc.
• Brightness control per zone
• Draw bar-graphs on groups (zones) of displays
• Address separate pixels of each display
• Repeating content display

Planned Features
Any reasonable request that comes in

Screenshots
A group of displays showing some different content:


Display contents:

• Date (DD-MM) with animation
• Date (YYYY-MM-DD) with animation (scroll left, in progress)
• Clock (24h), updated every minute, no animation, no flashing colon
• Date/Time (YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm) with animation (scroll left, in progress)
• Bar-graph with 3 bars, type 2 (single line) mimicking temperatures (-14, +4, +26) on a +40 to -20 (left to right) scale and a zero-point around 1/3rd from the right (the left module reflected weirdly in the photo, but it does work)
• Text (ESPEasy is great fun!) with animation (scroll left, in progress)

Top-right is a 'proper power supply', as these displays can use quite some current when many LEDs are lit.
Bottom-left is the ESP8266 controller (a Wemos D1 mini clone)
Between the controller and the bottom display is a level converter for 3V3 to 5V.

The configuration of the zones: (from the documentation page, linked above)

(For details best visit the official documentation page)

Usage
Installation

• Download the latest ESPEasy release from the Github releases page.
• Extract the entire .zip file in an empty folder
• Start the ESP.Easy.Flasher.exe (Windows) or get the esptool flash tool for other OS-es)
• Select the .bin file with 'DISPLAY' in the name (either ESP8266 or ESP32, depending on the controller used) or 'MAX' when using an ESP32 with 16 MB Flash
• Upload the .bin file (for ESP32 initially the '-factory.bin' should be used) to the controller.
• After successful completion, reset the controller
• Connect to the WiFi Accesspoint exposed by the unit (ESP-Easy, ESP32 or MAX-ESP32), password 'configesp'
• Enter the credentials for your WiFi network the ESP controller can connect to (2.4GHz only)
• Find the ip-address of the using, either by looking at the log available via the USB serial link, your WiFi router or network scanning tool
• Open a webbrowser with the ip-address to the unit to configure the device
• On the Devices page add the 'Display - MAX7219 dot matrix' plugin to the task list, give it a name, and configure using the documentation
• Connect the hardware as suggested in the documentation
• Enable the plugin, and enjoy the display

Uninstallation
Disconnect the device.
Install another firmware on the controller.
Delete all downloaded and extracted files.

Tips
Use a decent power supply to power the displays!

Known Issues
Toying with IoT stuff can be addictive

2

N.A.N.Y. 2021 / NANY 2021: Zever2TFT - Display solar production on TFT or eInk display (IoT)

« on: December 31, 2020, 06:17 AM »

NANY 2021 Entry Information

Application Name	Zever2TFT
Version	0.9
Short Description	Display Zevercloud solar day-production on a TFT or eInk display
Supported OSes	Script: Any OS Supporting Python 3.x, ESPEasy (TFT/eInk/IoT)
Web Page	This page (for now)
Download Link	(Soon to be) Attached
System Requirements	OS Supporting Python 3.x (Windows, Linux/Raspberry Pi, Mac, ...) Additional Python modules: pytz, requests ESP8266 or ESP32 IoT controller unit (Wemos D1, NodeMCU, ESP32 DevkitC, etc.) TFT Display: ILI9341 based tft display (SPI connected) eInk display: IL3897 based e-paper display (SPI connected) Some wires and light soldering skills to connect stuff together (Hardware can be obtained from your local supplier, eBay, Aliexpress, Banggood, etc.) ESPEasy software from https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy A PC (Windows/Linux/Mac) with USB port to flash the firmware onto the ESP controller (I'm using Windows)
Version History	v0.9.0: Dec. 2020: Rework to use changed Zevercloud API v0.1.0: Aug. 2020: Initial version
Author	Link to Author's Profile page

Description
Having installed a solar systems a few years back, using a ZeverSolar inverter and connected to Zevercloud for easy overview of generated power, and an interest in IoT, I found ESPEasy, and the rather affordable ESP controllers, I thought it would be nice to combine these.
The availability of very affordable TFT display (I bought a 4.3", 65k colors unit), and the requirement for the Zevercloud web interface to re-login every 30 minutes or so to be able to view the current production graph, I searched for, and found, an API to retrieve the graph data in json format.
Now to turn that data into a nice graph... enter: Python
I've only sniffed a little at python a few years back, but never actually done anything serious with that, so I took this as an challenge opportunity to learn a few things:
- Python programming
- Turning a bunch of data into a graph
Hence this script was crafted

NB: Some assembly required! And command-line skills required! (that should fit with the average audience here )

Features
Fetch data from the Zevercloud API
Present that on a TFT (or ePaper) display, connected to an ESP controller
Scale the graph, based on the max available value, so the display is nicely filled

Planned Features
Fix the login issue with the revamped API (No thanks, Zevercloud )
Support other Solar power aggregation platforms
Any interesting features I, or other potential users, might think of
A, probably 3D printed, housing for the device

Screenshots


Result of a nice day of solar production

Usage
Installation: Hardware
See next post

Installation: Script

• Install Python 3
• Install required python modules: pip install pytz requests
• Unpack the script and run it once, this will fail, but create an initial settings file: zever2tft.json
• Retrieve the API key, APP Key and APP Secret values (more details are in the script documentation)
• Add the values to the settings file, and set up other, display related, settings like size etc. (more details in the script documentation)
• Run the script, and it should draw the graph of today, or provide a yyyy-mm-dd date as first argument for displaying the graph for that day
• When all settings are filled, a second run of the script will only update the extra data, not yet sent to the display, unless the scale has to be adjusted

Using the Application
Run the script on a regular basis, f.e. using a scheduler, like cron on Linux (Raspberry Pi?) or Task Scheduler on Windows.

Uninstallation
Stop the scheduler if set
Remove the script
Option ally remove the Python install if no longer needed

Tips
Set the scheduler to run every 5 minutes for a regular update
Setup a display timeout and add a button to wake the display, to extend the display's life expectation
As ESPEasy now also supports the XPT2046 touchscreen, mounted on the TFT unit, this can be configured to wake the display on touch (example to be added here)
Best to get an ESP controller unit that supports micro-usb for power supply and has 4 MB of flash memory, so a) it's easy to connect, and b) ESPEasy can be updated OTA (over the air) from it's web interface

Known Issues
Unfortunately, because of the recently changed API url and lacking any documentation, the login for the new API is not fully tested yet, as the new APP key and APP Secret are yet undefined how to fill (to be resolved asap)

Download will be attached ASAP!

3

N.A.N.Y. 2020 / NANY 2020 Mug-shots

« on: February 11, 2020, 01:25 PM »

Again, it seems like I'm the first to kick-off a thread with NANY-2020 mug-shots.

Please add yours (or other rewards received) too



I got both the regular and the alternative design again, but in the smallest available size (11 oz.), so they're actually usable under European coffee machines

4

N.A.N.Y. 2020 / NANY 2020: scss-loop-template-processor

« on: December 28, 2019, 08:16 AM »

NANY 2020 Entry Information

Application Name	scss-loop-template-processor
Version	v1.2.0.0
Short Description	Process SCSS (css preprocessing) @for loops to @each loops including only used classes.
Supported OSes	Any OS that runs .NET 4.7.2 (only tested on Windows)
Web Page	scss-loop-template-processor on Ath's DCMembers site
Download Link	from above DCMembers page
System Requirements	Command-line or script .NET 4.7.2 or newer
Version History	1.2.0.0 - December 2019 - Cleanup code, added this documentation, prepare for NANY 2020 release 1.1.0.0 - November 2019 - Added enable/disable-lines-start/end processing 1.0.0.0 - October 2019 - Working as intended 0.1.0.0 - October 2019 - Initial development
Author	Ath

Description
During development we use many generated classes for 'pixel-perfect' alignment of page elements.
(The proprietary platform used doesn't allow for direct html or css tags to be applied on elements, only classes can be applied, and to override previous, platform-standard, css often !important needs to be added to the css.)
Both the template and the generated output are @include'd in the files proveded to the scss compiler, but those from the templated are disabled by using an @if that is defined in the template-output to be false on second evaluation. During development the template-output is a (nearly) empty file.

Features
Process a template with a set of numeric-postfixed constants to replace @for loops by @each loops intended as scss preprocessing, to reduce the number of generated css classes.

Planned Features
None at the moment, requests accepted.

Screenshots
Command-line tool, so no usable screenshots...

Usage
Installation

• Unpack the zip file
• Provide a list of classes with a numeric postfix
• Provide a scss template with @for loops

Using the Application
Run from a command-line or use in a script.

Uninstallation
Remove the unpacked files (no configuration is saved anywhere).

Tips
Use in a script as a step before releasing a web application having scss files included.

Known Issues
None so far.

5

Living Room / CafePress security incident 2019-02-19

« on: September 25, 2019, 01:43 PM »

Today, September 25th, 2019, I received an e-mail from CafePress, the supplier of, among other stuff, the NANY mugs, stating they have had a security incident on February 19th, 2019, where customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses and account-passwords have been stolen from a database. It appears they first published this story on September 5th, 2019.
I took a screenshot from their website where the whole story is explained for as far as they know.

Link to the page at cafepress.co.uk

6

N.A.N.Y. 2019 / NANY 2019 - StringSimilarity - Release

« on: November 11, 2018, 05:19 AM »

NANY 2019 Entry Information

Application Name	StringSimilarity
Version	1.3.0.0
Short Description	Compare 2 strings/texts giving a distance/proximity score using several algorithms
Supported OSes	Windows 7 or newer (.NET 4.5 or newer required)
Web Page	StringSimilarity page
Download Location	StringSimilarity page
System Requirements	Windows 7/8/10 .NET 4.5 or newer
Version History	2018-11-24 1.3.0.0: Added Load from (txt) file feature. 2018-11-11 1.2.0.0: NANY Release. Show all algorithm results in a grid 2018-10-26 1.1.0.0: (not released) Added extra algorithms, restore screen size/position and settings. 2018-10-24 1.0.0.0: Initial release
Author	Link to Ath's Profile page

Description
As a response to a request by HelmutWe I searched and found an algorithm that seemed to match the request, and folded that into a C#/WinForms application.
After adding a few similar but different algorithms, also found on the internet, and re-shaping the UI a bit to handle larger texts and a results grid, the current incarnation is now available.

Used algorithms and sources:

Algorithm	Source
Jaro-Winkler	Ronnie Overby's Jaro-Winkler
Damerau-Levenshtein	Wicked Shimmy's Damerau Levenshtein
F23 Sorensen-dice coefficient	Feature 23's StringSimilarity.NET library
F23 Cosine similarity	(see above)
F23 Jaccard index	(see above)
F23 Normalized Levenshtein	(see above)

Features
Compare 2 strings/texts and calculate their similarity.

Planned Features
Allow to select 2 files and determine their similarity

Requested features
Make available as separate dll for use from other tools (undecided yet)

Screenshots
Initial screen:


Comparing Similarity and Simelarity


Usage
Installation
- Unzip the file to it's own directory
- Run the exe
(A settings.xml file will be created when closing the application)

Using the Application
- Enter some texts to compare
- Select desired options
- Results are updated immediately when both strings are non-empty
- Results can be sorted by clicking a column title

Uninstallation
- Close the application
- Remove all files

Known Issues
To be reported by users, none so far...

7

N.A.N.Y. 2018 / NANY 2018 Mug showoff

« on: February 09, 2018, 01:05 PM »

Today the NANY2018 mugs I ordered arrived. As usual, mouser demands we post pictures

I ordered both the standard NANY design mug and this year's new design by hamradio (that I really like). I ordered the alternate, smaller size, mugs as the regular size mugs won't fit under the coffee machine at work without partially dismantling it
This time the mugs will actually be used for coffee or tea

The photo was taken with a partial floor plan for one of the Red Cross sleeping locations at the 4 Days Walks in Nijmegen, NL.

8

N.A.N.Y. 2018 / NANY 2018 Release: BedPlanner

« on: December 26, 2017, 08:48 AM »

NANY 2018 Entry Information

Application Name	BedPlanner
Version	1.0.0.0
Short Description	Plan teams of people onto bunk-beds in several locations/rooms
Supported OSes	Windows & Linux, running Oracle Java 8 or newer runtime
Web Page	BedPlanner on Ath's DCMembers site
Download Link	BedPlanner on Ath's DCMembers site
System Requirements	Java 8 or newer runtime Windows & Linux, MacOS (untested)
Version History	1.0.0.0 2017-12-26 Released for NANY 2018
Author	Ath

Description
Requested by a colleague, who is also a Red Cross volunteer and team-lead, to write an application for planning the ca. 700 Red Cross volunteers onto bunk-beds during the Four Days Marches yearly held in Nijmegen, NL, this year (2017) for the 101st time.

Features
BedPlanner combines a list of people, some with specific requests, and a list of locations/rooms/beds so the people can get a good night sleep after a hard days work, medically supporting the walkers (blisters, muscle cramps, fatigue, etc.). This used to be done manually by one person, but it takes days to get everybody happy about their bed. This year it is all done 'mechanically' by BedPlanner, so only a computer to blame
More elaborate description on the Web Page.

Planned Features
Depends on the Red Cross team, organizing the Four Days Marches.

Screenshots
No screenshots, as it is a command-line operated application.

Usage
Installation
Unzip the downloaded file into a subdirectory of its own, on upgrade: overwrite any previous files EXCEPT BedPlanner.properties.
Optionally unzip the downloaded test-data.
Ensure an installed Oracle Java 8 or newer runtime.

Using the Application
Read the included Readme.md file (best use a MarkDown viewer)
Modify the BedPlanner.properties configuration file as needed, setting the columns for input, etc.
Set up input files
Run the application, using the .cmd or .sh script (assuming Windows or a Linux shell), providing parameters as documented in the Readme.md

Uninstallation
Remove all files and directories.

Known Issues
It requires some time to grasp the input (and output) file formats, not for the faint of heart .

9

N.A.N.Y. 2017 / NANY 2017: PDST Personal Development Score Tracker (Mobile app)

« on: December 31, 2016, 02:50 PM »

NANY 2017 Entry Information

Application Name	PDST Personal Development Score Tracker
Version	0.5 (early beta)
Short Description	Set some Personal Development targets and rate/score these on a regular basis
Supported OSes	Mobile: Andoid, iOS, Windows Phone 8.x (maybe), Universal Windows (UWP, aka WinPhone 10) Desktop: Windows 10 (UWP)
Web Page	Under construction
Download Link	Android APK download Google Play Store (published 0.5.0.2) Apple iOS App Store (to be published) Windows Phone 8.x (to be determined) Universal Windows Platform UWP (to be determined)
System Requirements	Android 4.0+ iOS 8+ (Windows Mobile 8.1+) (Windows 10/Mobile)
Version History	2016-12-31: 0.5.0.0 Initial release for NANY 2017 2017-01-01: 0.5.0.2 Update for adding some missing files
Author	Ath

Description
After following a Personal Development training, I proposed and volunteered for writing an App for keeping scores, on some achievements/tasks set so self, on a regular basis. That became PDST

Features
Create/edit tasks
Enter/update a score for how you fulfilled/achieved that task during the last day/week/hour. The score will be averaged of the last week/month/day (24 h).
Delete a score
Delete a task and it's scores

Planned Features
Translation into Dutch, other languages on request (and/or when a translator volunteers)
iOS release
Windows UWP release (Windows 10 Desktop and Mobile)
On demand: Windows Phone 8.x

Screenshots
Main screen: with some (hand entered) tasks:


Create a new Task/ edit a task:


Filled in a task:


After adding a Task, no score set yet:


Short-pressing a task shows the Score screen:


Select the score for a list of available values (0-10):


Select a value:

The OK button stores the value.

Long-pressing a task shows a Delete / Change menu for that task:


Confirm or cancel the delete, also all Scores for that task will be deleted!


When editing a Score, the delete button removes that Score from the database:


Application Icon (warning: Developer Graphics )


Usage
Installation
According to the platform standards,
On Android PDST can be installed from here when the Unknown Sources option is enabled in the Security section:



Using the Application
Select Interval 1 (1 day), 2 (1 week) or 3 (1 hour) for a task, other values not supported yet, a better UI will be in the next version.

Uninstallation
According to the platform standards.

Tips
Any tips for using it?

Known Issues
This is early-beta-quality software and my first actual mobile app, so please bear with me...
Sometimes the average calculation doesn't seem to work as expected, working on that for the next release

10

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / NANY 2016 Release: SysTrayIconsManage

« on: December 31, 2015, 02:07 PM »

NANY 2016 Entry Information

Application Name	SysTrayIconsManage
Version	0.7.0.0
Short Description	'Manage' new hidden SysTray Icons
Supported OSes	Windows Vista and up (.NET 4.5+)
Web Page	TODO
Download Link	For now: Attached to this post
System Requirements	Windows Vista SP2 (Untested yet) Windows 7 SP1 (Untested yet) Windows 8 (Untested) Windows 10 (tested) .NET Framework 4.5 (may be lowered to 4.0 after testing on Windows XP)
Version History	v0.7.0.0 2016-01-06 Fixed the icon-visibility issue, removed the Settings menu, now toggles 'Enabled' on Dbl-Click v0.6.0.0 2016-01-05 Updated some textual errors, added Settings menu to select Dbl-Click behavior v0.5.0.0 2015-12-31 Initial release for NANY 2016
Author	Ath

Description
From mousers idea in the NANY 2016 idea thread:

One of the truly TERRIBLE ideas in recent versions of windows is that icons in the system tray are BY DEFAULT set to hide unless they produce a message.
This can frequently (for me at least) lead to me having programs running in the background that I didn't realize were still running.
The option to hide icons is great.  The default behavior is not.

It might be nice to have a program that changed the system setting to always show icons for newly discovered apps.  That is, the utility would run in the background, and the first time it encounters a new exe running, it would check registry for an entry saying to hide the icon, and change that to say to show the icon.  If the user goes so system tray options and chooses to hide it in the future, there will be no effect, as this app is only modifying the setting the first time an app is seen.

This app sits in the System Tray, and tries to detect* (see: Known Issues) newly installed applications that put an icon in the system tray. When detected, it sets that to always show, stores the application name in a list, and waits for the next application to be added.

Features
Handles the annoying fact that Windows hides new System Tray icons from view after ca. 15 seconds.

Planned Features

• Bugfixes
• Find a better icon (more contrast o a white background)
• Create the corresponding webpage on my dcmembers site
• Lots of improvements...

Screenshots
TODO

Usage
Installation/Update

• Download the .zip file
• If SysTrayIconsManage is running, close it from the right-click menu
• Unpack into it's own directory
• If portable use is desired, rename settings_portable.xml to settings.xml
• Start SysTrayIconManage.exe

Using the Application
Initially, all known (that's usually many more than visible!) SysTrayIcons will be added to the 'known icons' list.
From then on, new applications will, when detected (see: Known Issues), be set to Show Always.
Right-click the SysTrayIconsManage icon to enable "Restart Explorer to activate", or else you won't see the icon getting visibility. WARNING: This option will close ALL instances of Windows Explorer!

Uninstallation
When used portable:

• Stop SysTrayIconsManage (Double-click the icon or Right-Click and selectr Close)
• Delete the files

When used non-portable:

• Stop SysTrayIconsManage (Double-click the icon or Right-Click and selectr Close)
• Delete the executable file
• Delete directory %APPDATA%\SysTrayIconsManage

Tips
Delete a line from section ExePaths in settings.xml to set that application to visible (may take up to 15 seconds to detect)

Known Issues

• New applications may not be detected directly, it may take the user to Logoff/Logon or system restart to be recognized
• All Windows Explorer instances that are open will be closed when 'Restart Explorer to activate' is enabled.
  This is (unfortunately) the only known way to reload the System Tray setting

11

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / NANY 2016 Pledge - Popup Contactlist (withdrawn)

« on: October 11, 2015, 04:49 AM »

--__-- This pledge has been canceled on December 18th, 2015 --__--

I'm early (first?) this year with a pledge for NANY 2016, as a request by questorfla caught my attention: One Key Popup for an Office phone directory
It's something I've been using ever since the MS-DOS days, but because of the back-end required it was a command-line tool that peeked in the company's contacts database, where all kind of names and numbers where stored. (That company has gone defunct long ago )

I think I know what to do, based on the quote below, some previous knowledge and some requirements/wishes of my own.

A simple text document "Phone Book-like listing I can use for people in the Office (or I can see many good Personal Uses too now that Phone Directories are a thing of the past).  Back in he days of Windows 95 (I think) i used to have a fantastic one that ran as a "TSR:" app  back then but it has long since died as it would not run on X64 at all.  I don't even remember the name but i have missed it mightily!  The program would have to be one that loads in memory as I have to refer to it while doing all kinds of other things.  The Old program used to work like a charm if only i knew the name, Maybe someone picked up the pieces and brought it forward to the Windows 10 world.

Something where I can hit ALT+P or similar and have a simple text listing in alphabet order of names and phone numbers that another ALT+P would close.

In my case I only have to deal with maybe 50 names but each has a Home/Office/Cell/Fax/Ofc Extension# etc and it is tiring to have to look them all up on their email signatures or deal with the MS Office Contact program just to get a phone number every time it is needed.
The "paper sheet" hard-copy version tends to "migrate south". (ie: the Round File Area) or.. maybe migrates to other desks!
I would not complain if there was room for an email address on each person as well.

-questorfla (October 09, 2015, 05:09 PM)

I expect to start it this coming week, and a first proto a 'couple of days' later. (I expect questorfla to be the guinea pig for testing )

I'll most likely build it using VS2015/C# (targeted for .NET 4.0 so it'll still run on Windows XP), because of my desire to (optionally) integrate with a locally installed Outlook address-book, and VS/.NET makes that reasonable easy.

12

General Software Discussion / Windows 10: Migration-woes thread

« on: August 08, 2015, 06:04 AM »

Hi,

Besides all the praise and glory on Windows 10 migration(s) it might be right helpful to also list any failed or miserable migrations from a previous version.

13

N.A.N.Y. 2015 / NANY 2015 Mugs designs?

« on: January 02, 2015, 08:22 AM »

NANY 2015 commemorative mug

-mouser (January 02, 2015, 08:11 AM)

Do we have an alternative design available again, this year? The kick-off post didn't get conclusive about that, I'm afraid

14

N.A.N.Y. 2015 / NANY 2015 Entry: SedTester

« on: December 07, 2014, 08:45 AM »

NANY 2015 Entry Information

Application Name	SedTester
Version	1.0.1.0
Short Description	Paste some text, type a sed statement, and see the to be expected output
Supported OSes	Windows XP+, Linux
Web Page	SedTester
Download Link	Download from the SedTester DC Member page
System Requirements	Windows Operating System (XP or newer) .NET 4.0 Client profile (or better/newer) or: Linux (recent versions) MONO (recent edition)
Version History	1.0.1.0: 2015-01-03 Changes for MONO compatibility (verified using MoMA and by testing on Linux) Improved P/Invoke declarations (int -> uint) Disabled single-instance feature on MONO for now as it doesn't like it much Tested with latest MONO on Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon, not all is well: Checkbox RightToLeft feature doesn't seem to work (Could be a Cinnamon issue) Application- and Window-icon don't show (MONO known issue) Sizing issues fixed on all systems (Windows 100%, Windows 125%, Linux) Fixed errorhandling when sed(.exe) can not be found Remove ending newlines from resultText after taking output from sed Remove \r from sourceText before sending as input to sed Added 2015 to Copyright statement 1.0.0.1: 2014-12-31 Fixed some layout issues (WinForms obviously doesn't really like switching normal/large font settings) 1.0.0.0: 2014-12-31 Added 'Explained' panel, giving a description of the entire expression/script Added 'SED script' panel (toggled) Changed input and panels font to Lucida Console for more 'terminal-like' look with better readability Changed to create a temporary file and use -f option for multi-line script Improved visibility of split-sizers Added link to home-page Changed initial window startup location to screen-center Improved Save/Restore settings Many small improvements Pre-releases 0.9.1.0: 2014-12-07 Fixed some display issues on Large Fonts systems (laptops with Full-HD screens...) Handling of multiple-line input text improved Minor display issue improved 0.9.0.0: 2014-12-07 Initial pre-release for NANY 2015
Author	Ath

Description
This application is written after a request from steeladept in the 'Ideas wanted' thread for NANY 2015.
The request was to have a simple tester for sed expressions on a piece of text supplied to it.

Features
Show the result of a sed expression on a piece of text
Show the explanation of a sed expression
Optional SED script panel
Auto-updates the result, unless the Autocheck option is turned off
Saves options on exit
Store/remove sed expressions

Planned Features

• Compatibility with MONO so it can be run on Linux (GUI) (Since v1.0.1.0)
• Multi-expression mode (Available since v1.0.0.0)
• Color the differences between input text and result text
• Expression Explanation panel (Available since v1.0.0.0)

Screenshots
SED expression mode:


SED script mode:


SED script mode (Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon):


Usage
Installation
Unzip the downloaded zip-file in a directory.
The zip-file contains both SedTester.exe and a Windows-compiled version of GNU sed.exe that is spawned by SedTester for getting the result. It needs to be in the current directory or in the Windows path.
On Linux sed.exe can be removed or not extracted, as it won't be usable/used anyway.

Using the Application
Start SedTester.exe (On Linux: run using MONO)
Type or paste some input text
Type a sed expression (or select from the combobox if some are added already)
or Switch to SED script mode using the checkbox and write or paste a script to be executed (most examples from the sed online manual are tested)
Wait a second and it is auto-checked into the result text (when Autocheck is enabled)

Uninstallation
Remove the 2 .exe files, and optionally the auto-created settings.xml, from the directory

Known Issues
On Linux/MONO (tested using the Cinnamon desktop) 2 CheckBoxes don't adhere to the RightToLeft setting...
On Linux/MONO the Application- and Window-icon don't show (MONO known issue)

[/list]

15

Living Room / Hitchbot, a baby-Cody descendant?

« on: August 02, 2014, 09:46 AM »

Last week a researchproject was started, by sending a robot on a hitch-hiking trip across Canada: http://www.hitchbot.me/
It even has instructions for anyone picking it up for a part of the journey.

Sounds a lot like the travels of DC's baby-Cody 

16

Developer's Corner / Developers and the truth (or close to it)

« on: April 30, 2014, 02:10 PM »

This made me laugh as it's so close to 'another (day|week|month|year) at the office': http://stilldrinking...rg/programming-sucks 

17

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / NANY 2014: Mug-shots here

« on: January 21, 2014, 02:31 PM »

Today I received my NANY 2014 mug, so by tradition I took a photo of it in a 'related context', being a tablet that I wrote my WinButtonsWebServer plugin for

18

N.A.N.Y. 2014 / NANY 2014 Release : WinButtonsWebServer plugin for WinButtons

« on: December 31, 2013, 03:18 PM »

NANY 2014 Entry Information

Application Name	WinButtonsWebServer plugin
Version	1.0.0.0 beta
Short Description	A plugin for WinButtons 4.0, using a new plugin interface of WinButtons
Supported OSes	Windows XP and newer
Web Page	WinButtons homepage (not updated with this beta yet)
Download Link	Attached to this post
System Requirements	WinButtons 3.9.9 (beta)/ 4.0.0 (included) Some .wbuc/.ini configurations for WinButtons
Version History	2013-12-31: v1.0.0.0 beta: First release for NANY 2014
Author	Ath

Description
This is a WebServer plugin for WinButtons, allowing button configurations to be displayed by a webbrowser on the local network, f.i. from a tablet or mobile phone, using the WiFi network.

Features
Generate and display a .html/.js page presenting the buttons from a WinButtons configuration file (.wbuc/.ini)

Planned Features

• Complete generation of the button-attributes available for the GUI version of WinButtons
• Add an auto-refresh feature
• Fix any bugs found

Screenshots


Usage
Installation
Unpack the contents of the zip-file on top of an existing (copy) of a WinButtons 3.6.1 installation

Using the Application
After starting WinButtons, run a webbrowser against the url shown in the WinBtnWebServer GUI.

Uninstallation
Remove all files

Known Issues
This currently is beta quality software!

19

Developer's Corner / Progvember - Need another challenge?

« on: October 23, 2013, 03:25 AM »

If you really need another challenge, or this year's NANY isn't challenging enough , you could participate in this: Progvember

<what>
A month of solid, focussed coding....try to get from idea to release in 30 days.
<what>
<when>
The official month of Progvember runs from 1 - 30th November.
<when>
<why>
<1>
...

[OT]
IMHO they should have used proper SGML tags, but hey...

20

Developer's Corner / Opinions wanted: Best SVN client for use on a Mac

« on: May 09, 2013, 04:36 AM »

Hey guys and gals,

I'd better ask your opinion on this matter:
Background info
We're a development shop, that uses mostly Windows to develop software (client- and server-side), written in Java, C#, Cobol, Progress, C++, html5/Javascript, Delphi and Modula (most projects only use a subset of these ) and deploy that on Windows, HP-UX and Redhat Linux.
We use several SVN repositories for source storage and versioning.
For some of these applications we also develop apps for iOS, that need to be developed on a Mac, and for Andoid, that can nicely be developed on Windows.
On Windows we use the 'native' IDE's for the development languages named above, that all come with integrated/plug-in SVN support, like Eclipse, NetBeans and Visual Studio, or use TortoiseSVN from Windows Explorer for update/commit/merge/diff.

The dilemma
The (small) department that develops using the Mac now asked my department (Software Engineering) for a (single) license of SmartSVN to be able to update/commit directly from the Mac to the SVN repositories. Knowing nearly nothing about development on Mac I did some research to find that this tool requires a recurring licensing cost that we'd like to avoid, I suggested them to try and use Eclipse with the Subversive plug-in, as is our default choice on Windows/Eclipse.

Your advice requested
Who has experience with development on Mac, using SVN as a source repository, and can give some advice in this matter?
I have 2 goals here: 1) We'd prefer to have an open source/free solution, but if there is some edge in using SmartSVN (the team is pushing in that direction, because 'it was investigated and found to be good'), I'd be very interested to hear from you. And 2) We'd like to use one of the already known/familiar tools so switching developers will be as smooth/easy as possible.

Tools/solutions I've found so far:

• Eclipse with Subversive plug-in (open source): http://eclipse.org
• NetBeans, has SVN support built-in (free): http://netbeans.org
• svnX finder extension (open source): http://code.google.com/p/svnx/
• SmartSVN (non-free, $69/year): http://www.smartsvn.com/
• CornerStone (non-free, $59, upgrade $29 on major version): http://www.zennaware...ornerstone/index.php
• SCPlugin finder extension (open source, but hasn't been updated since 2010): http://scplugin.tigris.org/

TIA!

21

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / NANY 2013 Release: KeepUpApp, for keeping your applications up! 0.9.7.0

« on: December 31, 2012, 06:20 AM »

NANY 2013 Entry Information

Application Name	KeepUpApp
Version	0.9.7.0
Short Description	KeepUpApp is a tool to keep your applications and services running, where they may be stopping/crashing for undetermined reasons.
Supported OSes	Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Web Page	KeepUpApp page
Download Link	Get it from my KeepUpApp page
Pledge	Pledge thread
System Requirements	Windows NT based Operating system: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 256 MB available memory 3 MB Harddisk storage, (may need more space if logging is enabled)
Version History	2012-12-31, v0.9.7.0: Initial release for NANY 2013
Author	Ath

Description
KeepUpApp is a tool to keep your applications and services running, where they may be stopping/crashing for undetermined reasons.
This is achieved by continuously checking if the executable or service is still running, and starting the application or service if it's not found running.
KeepUpApp handles 32 bit and 64 bit applications, and services, on the local computer. It currently does not handle applications or services on remote systems.
If any 64 bit applications are configured, a 64 bit instance is extracted from the main executable (if not already found in the current directory), that checks these 64 bit applications.
This extracted 64 bit executable is removed when KeepUpApp is stopped.

KeepUpApp was developed for the N.A.N.Y 2013 event, as organized by the DonationCoder.com forum community

Features

• Keep applications (32 and/or 64 bit) and services running
• Supports multiple instances of the same exe, determined by Application-parameters and/or WorkingDir
• GUI configuration screen
• Pause temporarily and/or start paused
• Tray-icon can be hidden, and hidden at startup
• Extensive command-line support, check the KeepUpApp.readme.txt file
• Updated on demand if mouser's DCUpdater is installed

Planned Features

• Add a way to Create a shortcut/registry entry to autostart KeepUpApp when the user logs in
• Any feature requests...?

Screenshots

Settings screen, 32 bit application:

This application is ignored for 3 seconds after it has stopped. If not still back active then, it's restarted, and then ignored for 10 seconds to allow processing of any startup procedure/refresh stuff, etc.

Settings screen, 64 bit application:

This shows how a Command prompt is opened in the configured directory, and as soon as the current directory is changed or the window is closed, a new instance of the Command prompt is started in that location. CMD.exe is a 64 bit application on 64 bit Windows versions...

Settings screen, browse for active application:

All currently running applications and services are listed. The list isn't actively refreshed during browsing. For some applications and services the working directory or command-line parameters can't be retrieved...

Tray-icon context menu:


Usage
Installation

• Install on a (Windows) computer
  
  • Create a new directory
  • Unpack the zip-file
• Configure applications or services to monitor
  
  • Run the (main) executable KeepUpApp.exe
  • Select 'Settings...' from the context menu of the system-tray icon, or use the -set command-line parameter
  • Add applications to the list

Using the Application
After adding some application or service to be monitored, KeepUpApp should be kept active to monitor the state of these applications. In the unforeseen event that such application stops working, either because the user closed it, or it has stopped for some unknown reason, it will be automatically restarted.

Uninstallation

• Stop KeepUpApp
• Remove all files from the computer

Known Issues

• Opening the Applications browser ('...'-button next to Application field) takes some time

22

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / NANY 2013 Pledge: KeepUpApp, for keeping your applications up!

« on: October 30, 2012, 03:08 PM »

NANY 2013 Entry Information

Application Name	KeepUpApp
Version	(not released yet)
Short Description	Monitor applications and restarting them if they're not there
Supported OSes	Windows XP and newer, including Windows Server editions
Web Page	(not available yet)
Download Link	(not available yet)
System Requirements	Windows XP or newer OS, yet unconfirmed: Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 256 MB Memory ~2 MB Free diskspace
Version History	Not released yet
Author	Ath

Description
After a request for suggestions of applications to develop for NANY 2013, not many suggestions have been posted, so I took an idea from the General Software Discussion forum, and turned that into my New App for the New Year

Features
Check the availability of (a list of) applications that need to stay loaded and running.

Planned Features
Working on it...

Screenshots
Preliminary screenshot of the Tray menu:


Usage
Installation

• Unpack the zip-file into a user-selected folder
• Optional: Create a shortcut in the Startup folder
• Configure some applications to be monitored

Using the Application
Set and forget?

Uninstallation

• Optional: Remove the shortcut created in Startup
• Remove all files

Known Issues
It's not ready yet...

23

General Software Discussion / Valve is looking for beta-testers for Steam Linux client

« on: October 28, 2012, 07:18 AM »

We're looking for Linux gamers to install and test our new Steam for Linux client. We are primarily interested in experienced Linux users.

In order to take the survey, you need to first login with your Steam account to link your response with your Steam ID.

http://www.valvesoft....com/linuxsurvey.php

24

Living Room / Raspberry Pi model B now delivered with 512 MB, at same price

« on: October 15, 2012, 10:43 AM »

... we’re very attached to $35 as our highest price point. With this in mind, we’re pleased to announce that from today all Model B Raspberry Pis will ship with 512MB of RAM as standard. If you have an outstanding order with either distributor, you will receive the upgraded device in place of the 256MB version you ordered. Units should start arriving in customers’ hands today ...

Source: http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/2180

25

N.A.N.Y. 2013 / NANY 2013: Please post requests!

« on: October 13, 2012, 01:52 PM »

All,

I'm trying to work up to a pledge for the NANY 2013, but am fresh out of idea's for projects.
Things are quite busy in my head, so I'm not expecting to have idle-time there for idea-mulling

That's why this request:

Please post request(s) here for an application/tool you need, and either don't have the time or the skills to create yourself (skills as in not being a coder).

The application/tool should adhere to the NANY rules, as in being 'New', etc., etc.

As this is a general request, for any potential pledger, I won't limit your ideas to any area, so just drop ideas here, and hopefully there's a coder that can take the challenge o pledge and release for this NANY 2013 installment.


For those interested:
I'd be happy to take a project that would span a couple of weeks worth of work, but of those weeks, only the evenings/nights are available, as I do have a daytime job (programming and programming-related).
I'm not into games development or graphics-work/web-design, that's just not my cup of tea.
I do code in Java, C#, AutoIt3, Delphi, and a few other languages, but that shouldn't limit your scope.
My nickname at work is 'Tim* the Toolman'

*) 'Tim' replaced by my firstname