PNG Utilities Deprecated

Posted On: Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 (Graphics, Open Source)
Posted by: Paul Lefebvre

I just noticed that one of my favorite plugins, PNG Utilities, has been deprecated by the developer (Chaotic Box). I often used PNG Utilities in my projects to load icon files because it worked well and was free. Although it still works fine with REALbasic 2008 Release 3.1, it will no longer be updated should problems arise in newer versions of REALbasic.

Both the Einhugur and MonkeyBread plugins have equivalent functionality, so I will probably start transitioning to them when I can.

All hope is not lost, however. PNG Utilities has always been an open-source project and the download includes the C++ source for CodeWarrior (Windows), XCode (OS X) and GCC (Linux). Should a problem arise, perhaps the community will be able to step up and provide an updated version.

Or perhaps someone reading this is looking for a plugin project to take on?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Graphics, Open Source. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses to “PNG Utilities Deprecated”

  1. Frank Condello on August 26th, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    Yes, some folks who expressed interest in taking over maintenance of my plugins didn’t step up when the time came, so I’ve marked them as deprecated for now. I haven’t actually used PNG Utilities in my own projects for years, and unfortunately there’s little incentive to keep working on free stuff once your personal need vanishes.

  2. Jason Adams on September 29th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    What would be the recommended plug-in to move to for PNG purposes, then? I’ve heard of Einhugur and MBS, but haven’t really heard any end-user feedback for either.

  3. Paul Lefebvre on September 29th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

    I haven’t started switching any of my projects over to it yet, but a quick test looks like the Einhugur GraphicsFormats 2.9.2 plugin will work.

    Old Code:
    Me.SaveToolButton.Icon = PNGu.GetPictureWithMask(save32)

    New Code:
    Dim PNGImp As New PngImporter
    Me.SaveToolButton.Icon = PNGImp.OpenFromString(save32)

    Of course, the Einhugur plugin is bigger (5.7MB vs 1.3 for PNG Utilities) so your executable will grow a bit.

  4. Paul Lefebvre on September 29th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    MBS also worked fine (MBS REALbasic PNG Plugin.rbx):

    Old Code:
    Me.SaveToolButton.Icon = PNGu.GetPictureWithMask(save32)

    New Code:
    Me.SaveToolButton.Icon = PNGStringToPictureMBS(save32, 0)

    The MonkeyBread plugin is about the same size as PNG Utilities (1.3MB)

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