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First beta online - 11/11/2004 3:20:28 AM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

(update 21 dec 06)
The latest Version of PicPuz is PicPuz 0.99 Build 125 which is now available for download. See readme.txt for a version history. If you upgrade from a version 0.99.59 or earlier you'll have to uninstall it first.

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I think "Fresh Supplies" complies best with this topic.

I have so much more ideas how to improve my program but time is short. A new project is just waiting ahead and development for my puzzle program is some sort of stuck. So I decided to make the current result available to the world.
As you read, my time is short, so I had no possibility to make some nice web page or whatever. So for now my program is only available through the following link:

(link to old version deleted, current version see at the beginning of the posting)

Please consider:
- No warranty, use at your own risk!
- It is only a beta version, ie. some functions are not available, most of these say that in an appropriate message.

I have included some Nonograms (b/w Pic-A-Pix puzzles) of mine. Have fun with them.

Readme or a help file are not included. Just try and error. Hint: Examine the menus!

Another hint: Try the Web Loader (file menu) to get the current Conecptis' Free Weekly Puzzles - you will see it is amazingly easy! Additionally, you can also load your local JMPuzzles files.

Any comments, suggestions, problems: Send them per mail (see my user profile)

More hints about the program and its functionality you will find mainly in this thread until I find the time to setup my own web page for it.

Have fun,
Ralf Brostedt (ooops, now I betrayed my name ;-)

[edit] PS: I forgot to mention. Of course, the program is for Windows (only). Should work with Win98 and newer (2K, XP). It is developed on W2K and most functions are tested on W98. I hope, XP won't make too much trouble...

Post #: 1

RE: First beta online - 11/12/2004 4:14:33 PM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

I tried downloading it. The menus were in German! But I could approximate the commands from what I remember about typical Windows menus. Problem is - it stopped setup: error - type mismatch

I couldn't read the other messages. Then the installer quit. I am using WinXP Home.

Marlene

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 2

RE: First beta online - 11/12/2004 6:34:04 PM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

You are the second person reporting this behaviour. I am sorry, all issues you mention are "by design" or problems of the Setup Wizard I was using. The more feedback I get, the more I hate this tool...

Are there any other users out there having the "Type Mismatch" problem? If so, please report your Windows Version (including installed language). Maybe it is a problem of XP, but it could also be a problem of the country settings in windows, when the setup tool (of my german Visual Studio) tries to convert file dates (on a machine with international date formats).

I will try to build a proper and functional setup with another tool ASAP, but give me some time, please.

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 3

RE: First beta online - 11/13/2004 2:39:39 PM

puzz18le

Posts: 25
Joined: 5/7/2003
From: France
Status: offline

Hello puzzlers

With this good program, I have create many puzzles!

But I don't know how to create a link for to access at these puzzles!
Help!

puzz18le

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 4

RE: First beta online - 11/13/2004 3:18:49 PM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

quote:

With this good program, I have create many puzzles!

But I don't know how to create a link for to access at these puzzles!
Help!

I don't think I fully understand you. Do you want to access your created puzzles with my program? Or do you want to publish your puzzles on the web?

For the first: I think you are talking about the "Import Bitmap" function of my program. There is one majoe issue I didn't work on yet: You get a second file dialog where you specify the name of the resulting puzzle file. Per default the name of your picture file is still selected - you MUST change this, otherwise your bitmap is overwritten! It is recommended you name the file anything you like and add ".non" as the file extension. So my program can identify the file as a Nonogram puzzle file without problems and will show it in the "File Open" browser. Though you can use any extension you like, only those files with the known puzzle file extension are shown by default in this browser.

For the second: You need some web space where you can upload your puzzle files and tell other users the URL to your uploaded files, so other puzzlers can download and solve them ;-)

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 5

RE: First beta online - 11/13/2004 3:22:49 PM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

Concerning the problems some of you had with the setup: I have built another setup with another tool, that should work better, I hope. I had only the possibility to test it on my machine (W2K SP4 German). If you encounter any problems with the Setup in the link above, try using this one instead:

http://www.pixelgames.de/picpuz/PicPuz_0.9beta_Setup2.zip

...and tell me if this works better.

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 6

RE: First beta online - 11/14/2004 7:55:39 PM

puzz18le

Posts: 25
Joined: 5/7/2003
From: France
Status: offline

Thanks a lot Oops!!
I want effectively to publish my puzzles on conceptis's forum!

Puzz18le.

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 7

RE: First beta online - 11/14/2004 8:16:28 PM

Jessi626

Posts: 27
Joined: 6/4/2002
From: Germany
Status: offline

Ooops, I was the one who wrote you an eMail some days ago, that it didn't work on my PC. The second version works, under Win XP. Thank you for the program!

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 8

RE: First beta online - 11/17/2004 10:30:46 PM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

the second version works for me, too!

Thank you also for the program.

Marlene

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 9

RE: First beta online - 11/20/2004 10:58:37 PM

adhdadoption

Posts: 5
Joined: 8/15/2003
From: United States
Status: offline

Ooops, your program is absolutely awesome! It has everything that makes conceptis puzzles great, and so much more! I am extremely impressed. Congratulations!

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 10

RE: First beta online - 11/21/2004 8:26:53 AM

Cyclone

Posts: 1893
Joined: 1/20/2004
From: Canada
Status: offline

Suddenly notes he hasn't even installed it yet, oops.

I'll get right to that, sir. Yes, sir.

Cyclone

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 11

RE: First beta online - 11/22/2004 10:53:01 PM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

Hi Ooops,
having played with the program a little bit - some comments:
1. Love that I can now do old LAPs on the computer.

Just wish I knew about Axel's program when I first discovered Conceptis - my older LAPs are all pdfs, not lmfs.

Is there a way of cracking the code - i.e. transform pdf to lmf? I can already transform FAP pdf to fp (but not fmf).
2. I noticed that the "import bitmap" feature will only transform pictures to PAP. Is it harder to transform to FAP or LAP?
3. Because I use a proxy server (with password) to access the internet at the office, I can't use the "load from web" option. Error message: "No puzzle file was able to load. Please check your internet connection." So I am still using Axel's program to download the files. Or is it the firewall that is causing problems?

Marlene
P.S.
haven't tried the program yet on Win98 SE as Axel suggested. Been too busy to even open the computer at home. Has anybody else tried loading the program in Win98 SE?

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 12

RE: First beta online - 11/23/2004 2:23:47 AM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

quote:
Is there a way of cracking the code - i.e. transform pdf to lmf? I can already transform FAP pdf to fp (but not fmf).

In the next version there will be the possibility to feed the program with ".lp" files that are similar to those .fp files but for LAPs. If I remember

I will include a short text file which describes how to build such a file. The rest will only be much manual work...

quote:
I noticed that the "import bitmap" feature will only transform pictures to PAP. Is it harder to transform to FAP or LAP?

As PAPs are only a unique definition of a bitmap image the FAPs and LAPs have to be calculated. That means: The same Image results always in the same PAP definition, but for FAPs and LAPs you can have many possible definitions, additionally determining the difficulty level. I don't have an algorithm yet to build such definitions. Conceptis has - but I doubt they will tell me

quote:
Because I use a proxy server (with password) to access the internet at the office, I can't use the "load from web" option. Error message: "No puzzle file was able to load. Please check your internet connection." So I am still using Axel's program to download the files. Or is it the firewall that is causing problems?

I don't think that the firewall causes the problem, because the program gets the data "normally" via the http port (80) - just like the browser. I thought also that the library I use for the internet download would use the functionality built in the Internet Explorer. So if you configured the proxy settings in IE, my program would also use them and work - I _thought_ at last. Seems that I was wrong. I will see if I have a chance to use them although.

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 13

RE: First beta online - 11/24/2004 8:11:24 PM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

Dear Ooops,
Thanks for all the answers to my questions

. I would love to know how to convert the LAP pdfs to .lp since it is difficult to solve LAPs on paper.

I finally tried to use your program in Win98 SE. Works great!

Thanks for making such a great program!

Marlene
Still not able to use the Load from web feature...

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 14

RE: First beta online - 11/25/2004 5:45:45 AM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

Hello marlene,

bad news... I tried to exchange the library for web access with my own code (that is supposed to support also proxies with authentication), but it didn't work. I regret to tell you that you have to live with the current state.

Please check on your side, if you have configured your proxy properly in the System's Internet properties. Maybe you use another browser than Internet Explorer so your proxy settings in your browser may not be known to the System but only to the browser? Go to "System Panel" -> "Internet Properties"(?) and check your connection settings there, please.

PDF to LAP conversion:
There is no way to automatically convert PDFs to LAP files. At least I didn't find a way. I'll introduce an additional file format (extension .lp) that is built similar to the .fp files Axel uses for his FAP puzzles. So you will have to manually transfer the matrix from your viewed or printed PDF into such a file, which will be a lot of hand work. The file format will be introduced with the next version published and I will also include a short help as a text file with a description of how such a .lp file has to be built. So stay tuned...

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 15

RE: First beta online - 11/25/2004 6:39:13 PM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

Hi Ooops,
My proxy is just built that everytime I go to a new site, it asks for a password. It is the work proxy, so I really can't do anything about it. If I need to use your program, I can use a different (work) proxy that is slower but does not need a password.
I believe I can use the web option at home where I just use dial-up, so that should be no problem.

Re: LAP .pdf to .lp files, I don't care if it is a lot of manual work, I just want to convert the pdfs in any way possible. I have a lot of unsolved LAP pdfs that I don't want to solve on paper. Therefore I am eagerly awaiting the next version!

Thanks,
Marlene

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 16

RE: First beta online - 11/25/2004 8:56:55 PM

Cyclone

Posts: 1893
Joined: 1/20/2004
From: Canada
Status: offline

I think the files you want to convert are .lmf files...PDFs of any sort are extremely difficult to convert unless - note this is a big UNLESS - you have the original program that created it.

Cyclone

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 17

RE: First beta online - 11/26/2004 2:14:13 AM

marlene_nv

Posts: 88
Joined: 8/18/2004
From: Philippines
Status: offline

Cyclone,
What I meant by converting LAP pdf to .lp was manually (what Ooops meant by hand work). It is the same way I convert FAP pdfs to .fp (those that are not in the free weekly puzzles page - like easter eggs or review puzzles). I put the pdf file in a clipboard (if on paper) or on screen, open a text file - and type away!

Ooops promised to make an .lp file that will work similar to that for LAPs (I hope).

Marlene

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 18

RE: First beta online - 11/26/2004 6:22:29 AM

Ooops

Posts: 138
Joined: 6/8/2004
From: Afghanistan
Status: offline

Here it is... the new Version (0.91) of my PicPuz.
As promised, it supports the .lp file format. It also includes a README.txt where the file format (and others) are described. Some bugs are solved, some new features are included (like the "Solve Memory", see README what it is).
If you have the previous version installed, please remember to uninstall it first via "Control Panel"/"Software".

http://www.pixelgames.de/picpuz/PicPuz_0.91beta_Setup.zip

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 19

RE: First beta online - 11/26/2004 9:30:21 AM

Cyclone

Posts: 1893
Joined: 1/20/2004
From: Canada
Status: offline

Ah, alrighty, I can start with this one.

Cyclone

(in reply to Ooops)

Post #: 20