[NTLK] [ANN] Towards DCL 1.1 : NES Packager for Unix

From: Paul Guyot (pguyot_at_kallisys.net)
Date: Thu Apr 08 2004 - 15:00:39 PDT


Hi all,

The DCL Group is proud to announce the availability of a new Destkop
Connection Library sample code: NES Packager for Unix.

What is the Desktop Connection Library?
---------------------------------------
The DCL is a C++/Obj-C multi-platform framework for Newton data
manipulation on desktop computers and data exchange between desktop
computers and Newtons using the built-in Dock protocol (the protocol
used by the NewtonOS 2.1 Dock application and the NewtonOS 1.x and
2.0 Connection application).

The DCL currently compiles on Linux and MacOS X. We haven't checked
recently, but it very probably compiles on FreeBSD as well. NetBSD
users will have to wait until posix threads are brought into the
kernel to fully take advantage of the DCL. We're still looking for
Windows and BeOS developers.

The DCL home page is: http://www.kallisys.com/newton/dcl/

What is NES Packager for Unix?
------------------------------
NES Packager for Unix is a command-line interface program that
compiles packages for use with Newtendo emulator from NES ROM files.
It takes advantage of the DCL technology to build the package.

The syntax is the following:

NESPackager -n <game name> -o <package file> <rom file>

for example:

NESPackager -n "DonkeyKong Jr" -o DKongJr.pkg NES.DKONGJR

will create a package called DKongJr from ROM file NES.DKONGJR and
this package's name on the Newton will be DonkeyKong Jr. If the -n
option is not present, it is guessed from the ROM name. If the -o
option is not present, it is the name of the rom file with a .pkg
suffix, i.e. the following is sufficient:

NESPackager NES.DKONGJR

How can I get NES Packager for Unix?
------------------------------------
NES Packager for Unix was just checked into the CVS tree. You can
either download the source code from the CVS repository and compile
it with CodeWarrior, Xcode (on MacOS X) and Jam (MacOS X and Linux).

You can also wait for tomorrow nightly builds that will include NES
Packager for Unix. Make sure you do wait for tomorrow nightly builds.
The current builds (20040804) do not work.

How can I help the development of the DCL?
------------------------------------------
There are many ways to help us with the development of the DCL and
they can be ordered by the amount of time and skills required.

1/ The easiest one is to download a nightly build of the DCL for your
platform here:
http://www.kallisys.com/files/newton/DCL/nightlies/celebrimbor/ (MacOS X)
http://www.kallisys.com/files/newton/DCL/nightlies/misato/ (Linux x86)

and to test applications and sample codes and send us feedback.
Anyone with a MacOS X or a Linux x86 application and a big bandwidth
to download the heavy nightly builds can help us with feedback.

2/ The second way is to test applications and sample codes and design
graphical user interface-level test suites. Our automated tests focus
on the lower layer of the DCL and many annoying bugs are related to
the interface. Hence, gathering a suite of tests of the higher layer
will help us release a very stable version of the applications by
defining tests to perform before any release.

3/ The third way is to port the DCL to other platforms, including
just checking that it does compile on another platform and eventually
provide us with nightly builds for such a platform.

4/ The fourth way is to provide us with a translation in your
language of sample applications and to volunteer for maintaining the
translation through updates of these applications.

5/ The fifth way to help us is to jump into the code and to provide
us with patches to extend the DCL or to fix bugs. If you want to join
us, please discuss your goals with us first to make sure that we do
not work on the same bits at the same time.

About the DCL Group
-------------------
Like several other successful Newton projects such as Waba and NPDS,
the DCL is open source since day one. It is brought to you by the DCL
group that gathers:
- Michael Vacík, Czech Republic <mici_at_metastasis.net>
- Nicolas Zinovieff, France <krugazor_at_poulet.org>
- Paul Guyot, France. <pguyot_at_kallisys.net>

-- 
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-- 
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