Bitmap Masking OS Bug?

Hi Everyone, I think this was covered previously, but I've searched the archive and can't find any topics on it anymore. I'm writing a game that uses an offscreen window to blit images to the main window using a Mask image to maintain the background image of the main window. I'm using winMask

Masking images on 0S 3.5

Hi Everyone, I think this was covered previously, but I've searched the archive and can't find any topics on it anymore. I'm writing a game that uses an offscreen window to blit images to the main window using a Mask image to maintain the background image of the main window. I'm using winMask

Re: Word Lists for Games

Thanks again Ken for your help. Believe me, I would love to be able to use your code (it would save me so much time and frustration). And, it's not that I didn't appreciate it the last time, it's just that after hours spent looking at your code, I still couldn't make any sense out of it. Gosh,

Word Lists for Games

Hi Everyone, I REALLY need some help on this one! I've got a word game where I have a built-in dictionary as a look-up to check against words that the user finds in the game. I'm currently storing a compressed list of words (alpha sorted) as a resource, and at run-time, I extract the resource

Re: Word Lists for Games

My database contains records of compressed data. So, the data in the records is useless until I decompress it. So, I decompress the data into memory. When I originally started writing this game, I thought I would simply use a database, but do you have any idea how large a database with 40,000

Re: Word Lists for Games

I tried using file streams, but again, I wanted the word list to be contained WITHIN the PRC file. I DON'T want the end-user to have to load the word list separately from the PRC file. And, the issue still remains that the list is compressed...therefore, it must be decompressed before it can be

RE: Word Lists for Games

That's not a bad idea. At one time I thought about doing that, but most decompression algorithms work by building a lookup table as they parse the list. This requires them to always start from the beginning of the compressed data. But, as you mentioned, if I stored all the a-words in a record,

Re: Word Lists for Games

That's a pretty good idea about decompressing into another database...I hadn't thought about that. But, this still leaves me with the problem of how to attach this database inside the PRC. I don't want the end-user to have to load 2 files (PRC and PDB). I just want a single PRC file. I've

RE: Word Lists for Games

Yeah, that would probably work...and wouldn't be too slow I guess. As I mentioned in my last message, the reason that I've been trying to stay away from databases and records, etc. is because I want my game to be contained within one PRC file. I don't want the word list to be a separate file

Re: Word Lists for Games

could compress each word individually and when you want to search for a word, compress it and search for it's compressed version. You might not be able to get very good compression ratios like that though. Robert Purcell wrote: That's a pretty good idea about decompressing into another database

Re: Word Lists for Games

Ben, I like your idea for the dynamic tree, and the more that I think about it, I shouldn't decompress the word until it's needed. This would certainly get around my heap space problem. Okay, so let's say that I use a dynamic tree for my word lookup. But, this still comes back to how do I

Re: Word Lists for Games

Sorry for not responding sooner...my cable modem went down! :( Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for their generous help and suggestions with this problem. Thanks also to Henk and Douglas for their ideas on storing the word list. It looks like my best bet will be to use a binary tree to

RE: Word Lists for Games

In the resource, just store your word list as a list of NULL terminated strings Hmmm...so, if I attach a ascii list of words (5-bit encoded) and NULL terminated using PalmREZ, how would I access the list from the program? Can I simply get a pointer to the resource (by ID) and use that to access

Output to File in Codewarrior

Hi Everyone, I'm currently debugging one of my programs, and it would be very nice to be able to dump data to a file using the C function 'fprinf()'. Codewarrior doesn't seem to recognize this function even with stdio.h included. My program decompresses data and dumps the uncompressed data into

Re: Output to File in Codewarrior

Ben, You're The Man! :) Thanks for your help. Now, back to debuggingugh! :( -Robert www.bapsoft.com Hi Everyone, I'm currently debugging one of my programs, and it would be very nice to be able to dump data to a file using the C function 'fprinf()'. Codewarrior doesn't seem to

Merging PRC PDB

I currently have a program that accesses a separate database on the Palm. This requires the end-user to HotSync 2 files (prc and pdb) to install the program. What I would like to do is merge the pdb (database file) with the prc (program file), so that the end-user only has to install the prc

Re: Merging PRC PDB

Thanks Ben, that's exactly the info that I needed! I use Codewarrior for all my development, so it looks to be a pretty seamless operation to add my pdb files at run-time! Thanks again for all your help! -Robert www.bapsoft.com At 12:11 2002-11-25 -0800, you wrote: I currently have a program

Adding a Spell-Checking Database?

Hi Everyone, I need some advice. I'm writing an application that will store a word list of 12,000 words that will be used for spell-checking the word that the user inputs (basically a look-up dictionary). I'm considering different ways of storing this word list in my application. Since this is

Tungsten-T Skin?

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to located a skin for the Tungsten-T (or a large graphic of the device). I need to create a screenshot of the device running my application. I couldn't find anything on the Palm developer's site. Does anyone know of a website that might have a graphic that I could use?

Async Waves on OS5

Hi Everyone, I've read that if you play back waves asynchronously in OS5, you're not supposed to unlock the handle to the sound resource until the sound has finished playing. Unlocking the handle in the middle of playback can cause system crashes, etc. My question: How do I know

RE: Async Waves on OS5

help or suggestions? Thanks, -Robert www.bapsoft.com - From: Danny Wong [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, Look at the wave sound example on the PalmOS site and With the example in the OS 5.0 SDK. regards -Original Message- From: Robert Purcell

Wave samples on Sony Clie

I'm having a hard time getting the Sony API 'SndPlayPcmResource' to play PCM Wave resources. For one thing, I've noticed that the SDK documentation shows this API having 4 arguments, yet the SDK prototype has 5 arguments. So, there's definitely a bug in the docs! I've searched everywhere

Rapid Sample Playback on OS5

Hi Everyone, I running into a problem with sample playback on OS5. I've added wav sounds to a game of mine that causes a click sound everytime a game piece drops on the screen. This causes a very rapid sequence of back-to-back calls to API 'SndPlayResource'. Everything sounds fine for the

CodeWarrior and 'TBmp' type

of the coverter programs out there and none of them work for transparent bitmaps). I prefer using Constructor over Pilrc, but I need the flexibility to define my own types for Bitmaps. I'll pass this new type to WinDrawBitmap. Thanks! Robert Purcell www.bapsoft.com

Adding background color to list items?

, Robert Purcell www.bapsoft.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/

Discarding Events?

would be greatly appreciate! Thanks... Robert Purcell www.bapsoft.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http

penmove events in POSE?

Hello, Does anyone know of a way to get POSE to generate random penmove events? It seems to have no problem with pendown, but so far I've had no luck with other pen events. Thanks, -Robert __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car

Re: Pen movement in graffiti area?

Hi Joe, Sorry for the confusion...let me clarify. So far, I can only get POSE to generate the following sequence of events: (penDownEvent, penUpEvent) I am wanting POSE to generate the following events (in this order): (penDownEvent, penMoveEvent, penUpEvent) I hope that makes a little more

Re: penmove events in POSE?

Joe - I think we may be talking about 2 different things. I'm refering to the use of the POSE Gremlins to generate random penMoveEvents (for the sole purpose of testing my app). I have not found a way to do this in POSE. Again, the Gremlins will only generate (penDownEvent,

Re: penmove events in POSE?

that does drawing that I tested w/ Gremlins, and it worked just fine...is there a specific reason for needing to test the penMoveEvent and how it's handled? -C --- Robert Purcell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Joe - I think we may be talking about 2 different things. I'm refering to the use of the POSE

Re: penmove events in POSE?

The game pieces (tiles) are NOT buttons or controls...they are simply bitmaps that are blitted from an offscreen window. When the user slides the stylus across the screen, the penMoveEvent handler checks the pen coordinates and updates the bitmaps (sprites) accordingly. The penMoveEvent is

Pen movement in graffiti area?

about, and any help would be greatly appreciate. And again, please don't tell me to capture pen events before they are sent to the system handler...I already know this. I'm looking for more specific help on HOW to do this... Thanks!! Robert Purcell

CodeWarrior v8 (upgrade)

into the same problem. Thanks, Robert Purcell __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com

RE: CodeWarrior v8 (upgrade)

listed my email address below. Just replace the (at) with the symbol. Thank you very much! Robert Purcell purc1234(at)yahoo.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com -- For information

Protecting your Resources?

Usually, you can view a Palm app's resources by simply opening the *.prc file in Constructor. However, I have noticed that if you try to open an Astraware product in Constructor, all bitmap resources are EMPTY! This is great because it prevents people from viewing your bitmap resources!

Re: Protecting your Resources? (2)

No, I don't want the resources...I just want to understand how this is done. How can the Palm OS use bitmap resources that are not in the Tbmp format?? What resource ID do you use to draw these bitmaps? Thanks again! if you want the resources - i am sure i can extract them :)

Re: Protecting your Resources? (3)

Ah-ha! I see... Okay, well, if I create my own data format, then I can't use WinDrawBitmap. So, I will have to write directly to video memory? But, I've heard that this is not recommended! What do you think about this? Do you write directly to video memory in your games (Lemmings)? Thanks

Re: Deciphering Memory Leak Log files?

this is pretty awesome! My hat off to Keith and the emulator team for coming up with this great feature! Keep up the good work! Thanks again to everyone, Robert Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] BapSoft, http://www.bapsoft.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo

Deciphering Memory Leak Log files?

of this information is not explained anywhere in the POSE documentation. I guess what I really need is an elementary, step-by-step explanation of how to use the log file information to pin-point the code causing the memory leak. Thanks! Robert Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] BapSoft, http

Bitmap Animation - Clarification?

is never corrupted by animating the car bitmap. Is my understanding correct? Is it necessary to draw the background image (the road) each and EVERY time PRIOR to drawing the car bitmap image? Any thoughts/suggestions/corrections would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Robert Purcell, [EMAIL

Re: Bitmap Animation - Clarification? (2)

, but I try my best to stay away from C++ whenever possible. :) Have you considered releasing a version of Razor in C? Obviously I hate to reinvent the wheel! Thank again for taking the time to help me! :) Robert Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] BapSoft, http://www.bapsoft.com --- In [EMAIL

Shortcut Menu Selection?

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to programmatically determine if the user selected a menu entry via a shortcut stroke or by directly selecting via the pull-down menus. I haven't been able to find any information on the topic. Does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks!! -Robert www.bapsoft.com

Shortcut Menu Selection (2)

Hi Joe, I have a situation where the user selects undo from the menu by doing a shortcut 'U'. This causes a small pop-up bar at the very bottom of the screen. The routine handler that this shortcut'U' calls then draws to the screen. The problem is that the handler routine starts drawing

Reducing Application Size...

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to reduce the size of my palm applications. Does anyone know of any compression/decompression techniques at run-time or other methods for shrinking the size of palm applications? I'm also looking into bitmap compression for my apps. I'd appreciate hearing other

Re: Reducing Application Size...

Wow! Thanks for the great responses! I really do appreciate everyone's input about reducing application size. There were a lot of good gems of advice that I'm sure will help me squeeze my apps much tighter than they are currently. To answer Howard's question, I'm currently using Codewarrior

Re: FrmPopupForm not clearing

Hi Richard, I have seen a problem similar to this in the past. If I remember correctly, it had something to do with my popup form's width. A popup form must have a width no less than 160 (the full width of the screen). Try running your app thru one of the debug roms and see if that produces

Sprites (non-corrupting images)?

Hi Everyone, I'm trying to find a way to create sprite graphics on the Palm. Essentially, I want to create a graphic object that I can move around the screen (and over other bitmaps, etc), that won't require me to redraw the underlying bitmaps, etc. In other words, I don't want this sprite

Handango at 30% !!

Hey Everyone, I just read that starting January 2002, Handango will be taking 30% of the sales for our products! OUCH!! I'm really starting to think that it might be time to look for alternative methods for accepting payment for my products. I thought I might continue to list my products on

Off-Topic: PalmGear Financial Status?

Hello Everyone, I'm really getting concerned about PalmGear. After two months without receiving any payment from them, I sent an email to the president (Kenny). I got a reply that he would be sending out a letter explaining the company's financial situation and their plans for the future. The

Oops! Perhaps I spoke too soon. :)

Hi Everyone, I may have spoke too soon with my last message. I just read Aaron's message from PGHQ. Maybe the situation isn't as bleak as I originally thought. Sorry for all the off-topic messages. I guess I'll shut-up for now and get back to developing! :) Thanks guys, -Robert

Variable Text on Pop-up Forms?

I'm trying to find a way to display *variable* text to a Pop-up form in my program. I've tried using WinDrawText, but this doesn't work (I'm assuming because it's drawing to the main form and not the pop-up form). Now, I'm trying to use a field to display the text (FldInsert), but I still can't

Background Bitmap?

Hello everyone! Does anyone know how to place a bitmap on the background of the palm so that it won't be erased when other bitmaps are drawn on top of it? I'm writing a game and I'd like to have a bitmap as the background for other bitmaps of the gamesimilar to wallpaper on a Windows

Can't access Expansion Card after re-insertion!

the expansion card (without doing a soft reset). I have a Palm m505. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks! Robert Purcell __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com

Adding a Timer?

some help. Does anyone have some example code of adding a timer to the screen that they wouldn't mind sharing with me? I would be greatly appreciative!! Thanks!! Robert Purcell __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute

Expansion Card not visible to program

Hello, I just wrote an application that has uses external databases (*.pdb) for its data. Everything works fine until I move these databases into the expansion card. When the program first runs, it uses DmFindDatabase to search thru memory to locate any database files with the correct

Deleting Databases *Safely* ?

Howdy Everyone, What is the safest way to delete databases? Using DmDeleteDatabase or deleting them from the application list on the Palm's main display? Currently, if I delete a database, from the Palm OS Gui (like you would delete an application), my program creates an illegal exception

RE: Deleting Databases *Safely* ?

Ah, yeah, good point.. you shouldn't see any of your databases other than the application in the Launcher Delete screen. If you do, your database doesn't have the same creatorID of your app; the 2 should be the same. -- Brian Mathis Direct Edge As I recall, all of the databases have the

RE: Deleting Databases *Safely* ?

Robert, If you want the user to be able to delete databases they don't want and you want the app and databases to have the same creator id (which they rightly should), you'll have to create that functionality inside your application. If the user does a delete from the launcher and the app

pdf generator?

Hey everyone, I'm trying to find a PC utility that will create bitmap resource pdb's. I could write a palm program to generate the database files, but it seems like a lot of trouble since I only need to create a couple of them. I'm writing a palm program that will read the database files and

Colored Text...does anyone know the answer??

This is the 2nd time I've posted this question to the forum, but so far no one can solve this problem. Surely, someone out there knows the answer. Anyway, here it goes: What is the easiest way to display colored text on a form? I don't seem to be able to create a color-text resource, so I

Using Bitmap Resources from pdb ??

Hello Everyone, I'm creating an application where I need to keep the bitmap resources as a separate database file (*.pdb). The application will search for a database at startup and will reference the bitmaps from this database *instead* of the bitmap resources that are part of the main

Color Text?

Hello, This is probably a very simple problem. I'm trying to get colored text on my 'About' form. How do I get colored text using Constructor? Or, do I have to use WinDrawChar(), etc. to draw colored text. Is so, how do I draw the text before the OS returns from the Form Handler? Thanks!

Bitmaps as separate pdb's ??????

Hello Everyone, I'm creating an application where I need to keep the bitmap resources as a separate database file (*.pdb). The application will search for a database at startup and reference the bitmaps from this database *instead* of the bitmap resources that are part of the main application.