Monthly Progress Report for May 2012 (part 2)

I was hoping to have a nonfunctioning preview out by now. But the program code is twice as large as it should be, and is a little slow, mostly because it still has 100% of the version 5 code underneath.

But on a plus note, May was a very productive month for the program. I have the GUI all programmed, and some functionality programmed in. I had to create a clickable link, it's a lot like the hyperlink control in Winforms. I had to create my own version of a numeric up-and-down control.

For April I plan to have some functionality in the program, at least some basic functionality. I have also begun removing some legacy code that has not been needed. Began restructuring the namespace and classes to be more pragmatically efficient.

At the end of April I plan on having an alpha release, even if it just has basic functionality.

 

Sincerely,
William McCormick
McCormick Computers
http://www.mccormickcomputers.com

Monthly progress report for May 2012

I'm hoping to make these progress reports a monthly thing. I think it's a great way for me to see how the progress of the development is going.
I've finally worked out a system in WPF to display a system tray icon have the functionality and have it work exactly like I need. This is done by an open source library, located here http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/36468/WPF-NotifyIcon.

I also hope to have been a non-functioning development preview. For people wondering what some of the code is going to look like and what the window will look like, here is a picture of the designer for XAML.

click image to enlarge

By the end of this month i should have a better design and a non-functioning preview put online.

 

Here's an image of the code behind for everybody that is curious.
click image to enlarge

Backround Cycler version 6 Progress report.

What is going on with Backround Cycler version 6?
Upgrades to the user interface are slow, some of the features that I use in the winforms version are just not present in WPF. This is leaving me the need to extend a lot of the WPF classes. WPF is a challenging framework, but fun to learn.

I am about 50% complete with the GUI upgrades. I had to step back and pull apart the source code to version 5, because I had an e-mail with a bug report. After investigating in talking to the user, I had determined that it was a problem on his and not mine.

So far few things I like about the upgrades to this program are, it looks better, I have better control over how it's displayed (pragmatically).

Backround Cycler has won another award

Backround Cycler has won some awards from softoxi

I am also designing a awards page to host all the Awards that i have won so far

Strange things will be happening in SVN

I have a few people that like to check out the Development code that is in the SVN. As some people know, Backround Cycler is going into version 6 and with that i want to move from WinForms to WPF. this will require that i redo the Projects. I am switching over to WPF to learn WPF as Backround Cycler was a way to learn C# and WinForms

Backround Cycler Version 5 released

I am proud to announce Backround Cycler version 5 was released today. Changes from version 4 are minor but the list is :

• Redesigned the error reporting system, It is now windows Vista and 7 compatible.
• Changed some wording inside of the program.
• Added a tooltip that will display the current desktop background that is displayed.
  • known limitations are that it will still display the last image selected if the user changes the desktop background using the built in Windows background changer
• Code cleanup.

You can download the program here
You can download the source code here [or in a 7z file]

Why codename “V6”

A question that I have gotten on the remake of Backround Cycler is “Where did you get the codename ‘V6’ if it is not Version 6?” Well I did not get the codename “V6” as a version number, as a matter of fact the codename is a reference to a 6 cylinder engine inside of cars. I believe the move to C++/win32++ will produce a better program. As I, the developer, will have better control over the memory. One major problem is C# is the Garbage collector is not clearing the image right after I no longer need it. It is not uncommon for the program to have 3-4 pictures loaded into memory even long after the program is done using them and properly called the destroy methods. The only time the program seems to clear the image is when it loads a large image (+10 mb)

Do you have any comments or suggestions about Backround Cycler?

I have opened a thread on my forums just for comments and suggestions here http://forums.mccormickcomputers.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=88

Backround Cycler v5 beta 1 Released

Backround Cycler v5 beta1 (v4.9.0.1904) has been released today.
to download it you can use this link here

Version 4.9.0.1900 Released (Not on SourceForage)

Backround Cycler version 4.9.0.1900 Alpha 3 has been released and can be downloaded here http://static.allaboutwilliam.com/Downloads/BackroundCycler.v4.9.test.exe

This is a Test release for a New installer system that I am using. I have switched from NSIS to INNOsetup. The program title will read BETA but it is not ready for that yet this is still a Alpha product . I am not releasing this version on Source forage Because I am not packaging or branching the source code in any way if you would like the source code for this one version you can download it from the SVN Trunk the Revision number is 319. Do to the fact that I am not releasing the source code with the release I cannot release it on Source Forage. I plan on having a Beta Build by the first week of November.

What happened to Backround Cycler

Short answer is, I got busy with life things. I will be releasing another version in the next few days with some changes to the way the installer works. Also I have a Road map for version 6 in the wings that will increase the speed of the program. expect a new beta release in the next month.

do to little time version 5 will not contain a web service but I still have plans to roll it in a future version.

Backround Cycler version 4.9.0.1389 (alpha 2) released

Backround Cycler version 4.9 alpha 2 (for 5.0) is out Changes are:

1. Changed some of the Core to prep for access to a web source.
2. Changed the way the FileList loads the files
   • In a future release it will use XML, have test functions that are not called in the release
   • Changed the checking if the file exists, for speed, I check if the file exists on a change background call
3. Added a Check Subfolders check box to the images list so you can change it in that window and not have to go to the behavior section to change it. Picture here
   

Download Backround Cycler version 4.9.0.1389 (alpha 2) here

 

edit: new system requirement .net 3.5 framework

also in edit: no packaged source files but you can download the source file in the SVN release here http://backroundcycler.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/backroundcycler/branches/v4.9.0.1389 This is a SVN site and will not display correctly in a web browser.

Changes in the Upcoming release

A problem with the SVN server and my client SVN app cleared most of my changes from version 4.0 to the alpha release, making updates slow to come.

Changes in alpha 2 will seem like nothing in the GUI but i have scraped ability to change the pictures list it will now always be in Detail view. Another key change is i have sorted some of the classes in a way that seems to make the application run faster.  I am hoping to have alpha 2 released next week.

 

Update on Web images

I am looking into using Picasa to get images. At the moment this plan is only a idea but after BC alpha 2 is released i will start testing that idea out

Version 4.9.0.845 Released

Backround cycler version 4.9.0.845 (a 5.0 alpha) was released today

Some new features are:

1. you can now change the Display of the Pictures list (but it is not persistent so will always load to Detail view)
2. now i have a feature to display a balloon with info about the picture that is currently loaded by the application
3. Changed where the DEBUG.txt file is saved for people on VISTA and later OSes so that if/when the app crashes it can save a stack trace for better debugging.
4. some modifications to two classes that Deal with the Pictures List.

It already has some known bugs in it that will be fixed in alpha 2, they are:

• The List of pictures does not auto save (result of modifying the 2 classes should be fixed in next release)
• you cannot save the display view (it does not have a setting option yet)

you can download the installer here

 

no packaged source files but you can download the source file in the SVN release here http://backroundcycler.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/backroundcycler/branches/v4.9.0.845/4.9.0.245 This is a SVN site and will not display correctly in a web browser.

Progress report on what is being done

1. work on bug report #2812201 (Top Priority)  (believed to be done, but could never reproduce the bug)
2. Improved ImageList by improving my FileList class about 15% faster.
3. Get Images off a web service (am running multiple options in my head and any suggestions is much appreciated)
4. Work on making my application Better.

also am not planning on upgrading to the .net 3.5 framework at the moment but is in the list of possibilities for version 5. a development preview release (alpha release) is planed for the next month

New awards for BackroundCycler

My project has Been awarded two awards from http://www.downloadtube.com they are Virus/spyware/malware free

and this Top Quality Stability and Performance award

I will me making a page just for the awards that my project has made in the coming weeks

Changes and Apologies

I have neglected this application for two reasons

1. I have run out of Idea’s to add to this app.
2. I have been busy with other stuff.

Now i have returned to the project and my plans for Version 5.0 includes,

1. work on bug report #2812201 (Top Priority)
2. Get Images off a web service (am running multiple options in my head and any suggestions is much appreciated)
3. Work on making my application Better.

 

Also i am looking for people willing to test the application on Windows 7, i have no access to this OS at the moment and want preliminary data on compatibility

 

Any suggestions can be made in the Comments section of this post or to my email at williammccormic <at> users.sourceforge <dot> net

 

William Edward McCormick
Project Admin

Backround Cycler 4.0 Released

The long awaited release of Backround Cycler version 4.0 has been released

there are no changes from version 3.9 beta 2 in this release

changes from version 3.0 are

1. fixed a bug in the Debug display now the number of items in the Pictures List are counted
2. Added an Edit settings option to the context menu, it will take you strait into the setting pain of the program
3. Added the option to Scale the Image now your images can be scaled down/up to size and not look stretched out
4. Added option to allow user to change background on application startup
5. Added option to display GUI on application startup
6. Improved FileList class
7. Started Implementing additional language support (right now only English is supported)

You can download it here

Sorry for the long delay Happy New Year

like always Comments are always supported. i even allow anonymous comments.

William Edward McCormick

email (remove spaces): williammccormic @ users.sourceforge.net

Backround Cycler version 3.9 Beta 2 (a 4.0 beta) released

Version 3.9 Beta 2 of Backround Cycler has been released.

Updates to this package are:

1. fixed a bug in the Debug display now the number of items in the Pictures List are counted
2. Added an Edit settings option to the context menu, it will take you strait into the setting pain of the program
   
3. Added the option to Scale the Image now your images can be scaled down/up to size and not look all stretched out
   

William Edward McCormick

Common Questions I have Received & updates

I have received many questions about the Backround Cycler project I will answer them in this post.

Question 1) Did you know that you spelled background wrong?

• Answer) yes, the misspelling was happened when I was registering the project with SourceForge i missed the g. But instead of me contacting SourceForge and asking if they can fix it, I decided to just use the spelling like that.

Question 2) Why use the name Backround Cycler?

• Answer) I did not think that the project would do as good as it did and I was just using it for my Resume. But when I started getting Feedback i started putting thought into my work.

Question 3) Why did you change sites?

• Answer) I was having trouble Administrating SourceForge site for some time. To make things easier on myself i started using this site for Project news. Also Spam had become a problem on the other site and SourceForge does not allow external site linking so i could not implement proper anti-spam mesures.
  

Question 4) Why is Advertising on your site?

• Answer) To make a little money off the project. I try to make the Advertising as non distractive as posible but if you find it to over the top let me know and I will see what i can do to fix it

Updates:
I know that Beta 2 is a little late but i ran into a problem with releasing it. I am fixing the problem as fast as posible and will try to have it released by November 12, 2008.