[Gdal-dev] two subjects - Katrina Good News and Request for VRT API VB6 binding

[Frank Warmerdam]

On 10/5/05, Gerald Buckmaster <buckmasterjunior at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Ladies and gentlemen, it is my firm belief lives were saved as a result of
> the hard work dedicated to the open-source GDAL project.   Frank, you and
> and the entire GDAL Development Team deserve a LOUD round of applause!

Gerald,

It means a great deal to me to hear that GDAL has proven useful for
fast deployment of hurricane recovery efforts.  Clearly the the script
writer(s) (you?), data providers, and rescue teams deserve the vast
majority of the thanks but I am thrilled to see our stuff put to such good
use.

One of reasons I like to work "open source" is that for me the biggest
thrill is knowing my work is getting put to good use.  To a large
extent that is more important to me than financial reward - within
the constraints of making a living.

> Now for the second subject:  I need to create a version of the VB6 utility
> mentioned above that can be triggered by filecreate messaging - basically
> monitoring a directory for the create completion of a bitmap.  With the VB6
> binding now available, courtesy of Frank, this is also an opportunity to
> drop the gdal_translate functionality directly and cleanly into the
> utility...if VRT API VB binding is available, a missing link Frank pointed
> out in March.  If anyone (with more skills than I) could take this on,  I
> would be most grateful, as I'm sure other folks would be as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that VRT capabilities can all be taken advantage
of by just constructing the VRT XML, without having to expose the C++
entry points to the various VRT classes.   So my suggestion is that instead
of adding a bunch of entry points into the VRT classes from VB6, that
you (or we) just prepare the corresponding VRT XML and then pass that
to the GDAL.Open() method.  The VRT tutorial at:

  http://www.gdal.org/gdal_vrttut.html

should give some useful details.  I am also happy to help out as needed.

> I know VB6 really isn't the development tool of choice anymore,  but in my
> industry, it can be difficult receiving certification and accreditation to
> operate apps developed in .NET.  There still is a niche for VB6 development,
> and I believe fleshing out GDAL associated APIs with VB6 bindings can lead
> to some great apps.  I personally am not skilled enough to writing bindings,
> but I can sure use them in RAD prototypes.

I kind of wish I had prepared VB6 bindings several years sooner.

> PS - Frank, do you think there is enough interest to start a gdal-vb-dev
> mailing list?

I don't personally think there are that many VB6 users of GDAL (perhaps 3-5?)
but if you wanted to setup a mailing list at yahoogroups or somewhere similar,
I would be happy to add a reference to it on the VB6 tutorial page and we
could advertise it here on gdal-dev.

Best regards,
--
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Programmer for Rent