Working on the train has its advantages, but it takes its toll on the laptop. Last sunday it broke down. Just at the moment when I needed to release the next version for Tokyo. I've ordered replacement parts but who knows when they will arrive. Until then I am kinda stuck.
I hope to be back in business soon.
Tom.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Software for Macintosh users?
Marleen who is currently demonstrating the GS Judge application at worlds in Tokyo, has received several times the question whether the software is also available for Apple computers. When I look at the statistics of our website (see picture below), it is quit obvious that my target audience likes the Macintosh.
The short answer is: no there is no Macintosh version and there are no such plans as I speak.
Does this means all Macintosh users are left in the cold? Not completely, but they will have to rely on emulation software for Windows. I suppose that most Macintosh users use this approach when they want to run software that was developed for Windows only.
The reason why there is no Macintosh version is that I have no experience at all either with using a Macintosh or with programming against a Macintosh. Last week I consulted a fellow software developer at work who is a Macintosh user, and asked him what the effort would be to build GS Judge for Mac. It could not be done he said, because I am using Microsoft .NET framework version 4.0 that is not fully ported to Macintosh (yet?). The mono project was started just to port this framework to Macintosh and Linux. But wikipedia has this to say about mono:
Mono's aim is to achieve full support for the features in .NET 4.0 except WPF (which the Mono team do not plan to support due to the amount of work it would need), Entity Framework and WF, limited WCF.
Unfortunately, GS Judge is a full-blown WPF application and apparently mono does not plan to support it ever. WPF is a graphical engine that makes it possible to display the WAG exercises with many graphical features (such as zooming the exercise and highlighting individual symbols).
If you are still reading: this all means that there is no easy way to convert existing code from Windows to Macintosh. If we decide to take on the challenge, we must start with buying Macintosh hardware and software, and hire a developer. That is going to cost a lot of money. Which I don't have. Now. Maybe later. I hope.
Tom.
The short answer is: no there is no Macintosh version and there are no such plans as I speak.
Does this means all Macintosh users are left in the cold? Not completely, but they will have to rely on emulation software for Windows. I suppose that most Macintosh users use this approach when they want to run software that was developed for Windows only.
The reason why there is no Macintosh version is that I have no experience at all either with using a Macintosh or with programming against a Macintosh. Last week I consulted a fellow software developer at work who is a Macintosh user, and asked him what the effort would be to build GS Judge for Mac. It could not be done he said, because I am using Microsoft .NET framework version 4.0 that is not fully ported to Macintosh (yet?). The mono project was started just to port this framework to Macintosh and Linux. But wikipedia has this to say about mono:
Mono's aim is to achieve full support for the features in .NET 4.0 except WPF (which the Mono team do not plan to support due to the amount of work it would need), Entity Framework and WF, limited WCF.
Unfortunately, GS Judge is a full-blown WPF application and apparently mono does not plan to support it ever. WPF is a graphical engine that makes it possible to display the WAG exercises with many graphical features (such as zooming the exercise and highlighting individual symbols).
If you are still reading: this all means that there is no easy way to convert existing code from Windows to Macintosh. If we decide to take on the challenge, we must start with buying Macintosh hardware and software, and hire a developer. That is going to cost a lot of money. Which I don't have. Now. Maybe later. I hope.
Tom.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Hurray, the Belgian team qualified 16th
Being a Belgian, I am glad to see that our team qualifies 16th and therefore will go to London for the Olympic Trials! Well done team!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Documentation: Mini-language
Because knowing the mini-language is important if you want to use the full potential of the GS Judge application, I created a document that explains all special codes.
The mini-language.pdf
A complete user manual is not for next week, but given the increasing number of features, it is about time that I start working on it. A problem is my English. Is there any native English speaker among the readers of this blog that volunteers proof reading the user manual?
The mini-language.pdf
A complete user manual is not for next week, but given the increasing number of features, it is about time that I start working on it. A problem is my English. Is there any native English speaker among the readers of this blog that volunteers proof reading the user manual?
Monday, October 3, 2011
Tokyo to Antwerp: Where is the MS-Word AddIn?
It is 4 o'clock in the morning when I receive an sms: hey Tom, judges with a clean pc don't have the MS-Word AddIn after installing the new software.
That is true, I knew it. Those who already have installed the MS-Word AddIn last year, still have it. The reason why it is currently not available, is because the code of it (I mean the code of the programming language, not the code of points of course) is broken.
As you all know, software is changing constantly. The gymnastics software from last year (WC 2010, Rotterdam) uses a Microsoft framework version 3.5. The new software uses the same framework but version 4.0 (In the setup.exe from GS Judge this framework is included, hence the size of 50 MByte). All parts of the application did get converted to this new framework without problem, except the MS Word AddIn. I must rebuild and test it from the ground up. So I guess that is what I will do the remaining of this week.
Stay tuned.
That is true, I knew it. Those who already have installed the MS-Word AddIn last year, still have it. The reason why it is currently not available, is because the code of it (I mean the code of the programming language, not the code of points of course) is broken.
As you all know, software is changing constantly. The gymnastics software from last year (WC 2010, Rotterdam) uses a Microsoft framework version 3.5. The new software uses the same framework but version 4.0 (In the setup.exe from GS Judge this framework is included, hence the size of 50 MByte). All parts of the application did get converted to this new framework without problem, except the MS Word AddIn. I must rebuild and test it from the ground up. So I guess that is what I will do the remaining of this week.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
New version released
The new version is online and can be downloaded for free:
GS Judge version 2.0.0.0
Please uninstall the previous version of GS Judge (or WAG Judge) if you installed the version from the WC 2010.
The new application includes: Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. Vault is still under construction.
Check it out. Verify if it calculates the exercises of your gymnasts correctly. If it does, let me known! If it doesn't, let me know too.
Have fun!
GS Judge version 2.0.0.0
Please uninstall the previous version of GS Judge (or WAG Judge) if you installed the version from the WC 2010.
The new application includes: Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. Vault is still under construction.
Check it out. Verify if it calculates the exercises of your gymnasts correctly. If it does, let me known! If it doesn't, let me know too.
Have fun!
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