Little Black Dress

C

minor api change - firmware functions

gizmo.setFirmware() and gizmo.getFirmware() are dead functions as of 11.2

It's unlikely anyone used these.

OpenAL Software Driver

Today I had a user report that their sound card wasn't working with the Creative OpenAL drivers we recommend.

Their card is unable to render sound using hardware.

With a few minutes of Googling I found this via Wikipedia:

• OpenAL Soft
  http://kcat.strangesoft.net/openal.html

Looks like an entirely software based renderer for OpenAL and should hopefully get you out of trouble should you need it.

New firmware loader.

I've just re-worked the Gizmo firmware loader code so that it's basically the same as the rest of the scripting system to work with.

Where yesterday we had one huge fragile monolithic sacrifice-to-the-DRM-gods of a firmware system, we now have a nice clean easy to update modular system that's easy to write new tools for.

No secret altar rituals required.

If you've been looking at how to have your script run "all the time" for all your aircraft, things just got a whole lot easier.

Will ship with 11.2.

"EngineSim"

Back in 2008 I ported the NASA "EngineSim" applet to C++ for use in a plugin.

Today I relocated the files I created in 2008 and uploaded them to the Gizmo source tree.


Hopefully we'll be able to get some of the math's from this:

• NASA EngineSim 1.7a

...into some Gizmo scripts.



The C++ port of the EngineSim code is available here:

• NASA_TurboJetSim_Solver.cpp
• NASA_TurboJetSim_Solver.h

And some basic harness code to make it do something:

• Nasa engine-sim example usage code

I make no claim to Copyright or I.P. over the EngineSim classes.
All I've done is port them from Java to C++.
Licenses are as stated in the files.

Are you there? Who's there?

Started adding basic inter-plugin messaging support. 

Gizmo can now react to messages from other .xpl plugins. 

They can: 

Inject lua script as C-strings. 
Inject Lua blobs. (well, almost)
Send arbitrary commands in to a scripted function handler.

That last one is not real useful at the moment because the data comes across as two numbers.

I need to add another hook so we can just pass string messages into script handlers. Much more useful, easy to use.

The source code is in the unstable branch for now.

Gory details are here...

The idea behind this is to allow for other .XPL's to draw on Gizmos functionality if Gizmo is around. 

The secondary function is to "secure" chunks of script. 

A third party plugin can inspect the Gizmo.plugin and see if it appears to be trust-worthy before uploading payware script data.

This allows for a form of content protection, whether it uses a serial number, activation key or webcam facial recognition to "unlock" the protected content is another matter.

Doxygen output

I've invested a lot of time in documentation in the last few days. It's a good task for the summer heat.

I'm working towards a nice friendly Reference Manual - better than the X-Plugins Wiki stuff.

The Wiki works but it's becoming a chore, it's falling behind because it's "work" to keep it up to date.


So, here's some automated output, it's complete and up-to-date - if not very friendly to read.

http://benrussell.github.com/Gizmo/dox/html/files.html

Git on a Mac

If you're working with Git on a Mac do yourself a favour and check out "Tower".

http://www.git-tower.com/

Very very nice, free beta at the moment.

bug: gfx.drawObject(...)

Found and fixed a bug with the parameters for the function:

bug: gfx.drawObject(...)

Documentation on Wiki says params are: lat,lon,alt,p,r,h
Interncal C code was: lat,lon,alt,p, h, r

If you're trying to use this API and your results are garbage that's why.

Fixed in source, will appear in next public binaries.

Gizmo 11 now builds on Linux.

Just updated the Makefiles and ran through a few tweaks - Gizmo is now building on Linux.

No public release yet but the Makefile has been updated in the git repo.
You'll have to tweak it a little for your own needs though.

Minor blackout..

Had a minor blackout earlier, lost network for a few hours, not even 3G was working.

Something serious failed somewhere.

Anyway, a few hours behind planned schedule, still put the time to use doing code housework while my battery ran down.

Massive amounts of code reworking been going on to make Gizmo's source code "other programmer" friendly.

Plugin Update: Gizmo 11.1.1 - Mac Universal

DRM free, built from GPLv3 Open Source code available now on Github.

No activations. No enrollments. No hassles.

Just fun.

https://github.com/downloads/benrussell/Gizmo/Gizmo.plugin-11.1.1%20-%20Mac%20Universal.zip

Enjoy.

Plugin Update: Gizmo 11.1.1 - Windows

Hot off the compiler comes the first public version of Gizmo Open Source.

This version has no DRM what-so-ever inside it.

No activations, no enrollments, no registrations, no lockouts.

Go for it.

https://github.com/downloads/benrussell/Gizmo/Gizmo.plugin-11.1.1%20-%20Windows.zip

Gizmo goes ...Open Source?

Yep. Gizmo is now an Open Source project. GPLv3.

DRM has been removed.
Encryption keys have been censored.

Stand by for more details.




If you're looking at the Ohloh metrics wondering how the heck it came up with that number, here's a bit of insight:

Ohloh has totalled the entire project. All contributed source code.

Some of this is things like GLee.h, a massive auto-generated header file.
Other things like Lua 5.1.4 sources are included in there as well.

It's not just my personal contribution on the Ohloh bars, it's the total value of all the Open Source / Re-Usable software that went into the making of Gizmo.

I plan on doing an Ohloh-scan of the core parts of Gizmo a bit later on...

Product Activations Restored

Product activations for Corvalis and Falco products have been restored.

Gizmo customers stand by.