http://ascgen.jmsoftware.co.uk updated(!) 9


Let’s see, I spent a week or so writing a MVC framework in php, then I found Code Igniter and decided to use that instead.

Just as a test, I’ve remade the old ascgen website using the framework, and recreated the design totally in CSS. It doesn’t look that much, but it validates as XHTML strict and the examples gallery is all created on the fly from a mysql database. The framework is really easy to use; most of the time was spent on the css. When I get around to doing the bigger web project I’ve got in mind I’ll have a good idea about how to do it.

Not much progress on this program. I’ve worked out exactly what the problem with non-standard characters is, but fixing it isn’t straightforward thanks to the native methods I had to use to get accurate measurements of the fonts.


9 thoughts on “http://ascgen.jmsoftware.co.uk updated(!)

  • Dwayne

    Rupert Everett from Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) in Size 12 Times New Roman using these valid characters ” .…‚,:;aceflmnstux¦” with the ¦ being search and replaced with code for bold l and the other chracters being assigned a coloured shade code.

    It’s gone awfully quiet.

  • Dwayne

    In case this is a Win ‘98 thing or you haven’t noticed for some reason or another, there appears to be a thing where if you leave the default directory and select an image from another dir, the next time you go to load an image it goes back to the default rather than the directory you were just in.

  • Jonathan

    It works in xp, but in 98 it restores the directory and puts the full path to the previous file in the dialog. I’ve got no idea why it’s doing that.

    Also, “???? ” is my new favourite ramp. I just wish I could sort out the problems with non-standard characters.

  • Dwayne

    I could see those as being incredible! 😀

    I might try and create my own font using those characters.

    By the way, behind Firefox I think your software is the software I most frequently use.

  • J

    hey

    buddy, ur work is amzing

    i got a illusion, why not use color chars to make color pics? umm is that possible????i think it is logical

  • Jonathan

    I looked into it a few months ago. It’s easy to create the image, but the problem is that the control I’m using to display text is far too slow in applying colours to the characters.

  • Dwayne

    The things I would most like to see changed; of course, it’s your own discretion, but as I can’t seem to be able to copy characters from within fonts and saving a new font without the characters coming up distorted (`l’ is not exact, but has the exact width), I thought I’d just mention it again.

    My ideas are:
    1) Remove the Auto button from monospace fonts.
    2) Incorporate styles (bold, italic, etc) into the input box.
    3) Insert an input selection option from the menus. I’m not sure what to call them, but I was thinking all of the input values should have a `o’ to the left of them, that is on or off depending on which input is selected. Would work better than a submenu. The inputs of course at present would be just Ramp and Auto. Whenever it’s a variable width gen or combination of multiple styles (or fonts) it defaults back to Auto. Maybe the Font feature in the right-click menu — that I suggest in point 3 — becomes unavailable when in ramp.
    4) Add a highlight text in the input box, right-click menu option for Font, to change style/size/font of the selected characters.
    5) Add an output to HTML/RTF option.

    The way I envision it is that this feature would be `hidden’, essentially. The most impressive thing about AscGen is its ability to generate in simple text format. So that everything essentially remains the same. However, other users can play around and experiment with a greater degree of control.

    I still haven’t figured out how many bold characters (or italic characters even) I would incorporate because I have too little knowledge about creating fonts in font editing software; whenever I copy and paste a bold character and insert it into a regular font, say the character `f’, it will come up distorted, for Times New Roman at size 12, without the middle line of the `f’. And I found this on Fontforge and a commercial program on trial. Can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong?

    The only character thus far I’m confident in in bold is `l’. Variable width conversions also work best with slender characters. I think it’s in the very nature, that because the height doesn’t change and you can pack more in in width (if you ever need an idea for character selection in the Auto generation, for Variable width it should be an emphasis on characters with the smallest width). Not sure how incorporating bold will have an impact beyond the improvement that the `l’ creates.

  • Dwayne

    “It works in xp, but in 98 it restores the directory and puts the full path to the previous file in the dialog. I’ve got no idea why it’s doing that.”

    One of the great things is that the software is so quick to get up, what I do is I just save the defaults if I wish to keep working in that directory and reboot the software. So, it’s easily workaroundable.

  • Dwayne

    Another idea that I just had — it may or may not correspond with what plans you have in store — I don’t know if it would work, but basically be able to enclose certain character combinations or words in quotation marks (a single quotation mark would be a valid character, two would not), so that those combinations remain accumalative in width and darkness in the generations. Probably wouldn’t work, though. :/

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