Here’s a tricky one

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 12:26 PM

Some time ago I wrote a barcode generator program in Delphi. It uses the canvas to draw and then saves that bitmap as a tiff. It works very well in Win98, but in XP acts strangely: the canvas’ background is black instead of white. But not on every system with XP! The program worked well on a computer, but recently the XP was reinstalled on it after a crash. Now even there the background turned black.
What could be the problem?

**Praetor** · 08-08-2004, 12:31 PM

Quote:

the canvas’ background is black instead of white. But not on every system with XP!

(Icon/Desktop)Transparency settings?

Quote:

The program worked well on a computer, but recently the XP was reinstalled on it after a crash. Now even there the background turned black.

If you'd like I can take a look at the source/compilation

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 12:42 PM

Quote:

(Icon/Desktop)Transparency settings?

Already tried every of those (I think), without any luck...
Here's the program: http://www.geocities.com/despartro/codbART.zip
Unfortunately I lost the source files for it

(I have only a backup from very early stages), that's why I hope it's something about settings...

**Praetor** · 08-08-2004, 12:46 PM

Seems to work as expected for me... question: what viewer are u using for images? Some viewers (like irfanview) sometimes default of a specific mask/transparancy color.

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 12:56 PM

Here's the result on my computer (and it's the same in every program - Photoshop, Photopaint, QuarkXpress):

**Praetor** · 08-08-2004, 01:08 PM

Any objects/controls/references you used or did you use all-internal commands/calls?

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 01:11 PM

Oops, I forgot to mention that there’s more. On some XPs even the eps file created with this program is unreadable (unrecognized format). This is really weird, because the eps file’s preambule is ready made (the program just adds the character string that compose the barcode), only the preview bitmap is attached to it. And even if the preview’s background is black, the bitmap size is the same...
By now I saw 3 different ways the program function in XP:
1. TIF and EPS ok
2. TIF bad, EPS ok
3. TIF and EPS bad

**Praetor** · 08-08-2004, 01:14 PM

Quote:

even the eps file created with this program is unreadable (unrecognized format).

Can you post that file?

Quote:

By now I saw 3 different ways the program function in XP:

1. Same problem with W2K?
2. Which is the "problemsome" one? I'm guessing #3

(BTW could it be "Demo" vs "Full")?

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 01:28 PM

Here's what I could find in the old source files:

Bitmap:=tbitmap.Create;
bitmap.height:=1432;
bitmap.width:=2832;
bitmap.Monochrome:=true;
Tiffsave.AttachedBitmap:= bitmap;
bitmap.canvas.font.name:='Barcodefont';
bitmap.canvas.Font.size:=180;
bitmap.canvas.textout(125,26,'qrst '+code);
bitmap.canvas.Font.size:=550;
bitmap.canvas.textout(167,400,'<');
bitmap.canvas.textout(393,400,chr(97+ean[2]));
bitmap.canvas.textout(558,400,chr(65+ean[3]));
.....
bitmap.canvas.textout(2440,400,'>');
Tiffsave.Params.dpix:=2400;
Tiffsave.Params.dpiy:=2400;
Tiffsave.Params.Width:=2832;
Tiffsave.Params.Height:=1432;
Tiffsave.Params.SamplesPerPixel:=1;
Tiffsave.Params.BitsPerSample:=1;
Tiffsave.Params.TIFF_PhotometInterpret:=ioTIFF_BLA CKISZERO;
Tiffsave.Params.TIFF_Compression:=ioTIFF_LZW;
Tiffsave.SaveToFile(fn);
Tiffsave.Bitmap.Free;

Never tried on a win2000. The demo and full version works exactly the same way...
Unfortunately I can't post a messed-up eps, the XP was reinstalled on that computer too, and now only the tiff is bad when running this program on it.

Lorand · 08-08-2004, 08:11 PM

Meantime I discovered the 4th kind of bad output of the program: an eps file that could be imported, printed, but has a corrupted preview (attached).
This program runs perfectly on more than a dozen of computers with Win98 and never had such problems... It could be something about a different internal function of XP. But how come that on some XP-systems it works?

As you can see, in the messed-up bitmap the characters' bounding boxes have white background, so I think the problem arises from the bitmap creation.

08-08-2004, 12:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 42 Posts: 3,042	Here’s a tricky one Some time ago I wrote a barcode generator program in Delphi. It uses the canvas to draw and then saves that bitmap as a tiff. It works very well in Win98, but in XP acts strangely: the canvas’ background is black instead of white. But not on every system with XP! The program worked well on a computer, but recently the XP was reinstalled on it after a crash. Now even there the background turned black. What could be the problem?

08-08-2004, 12:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 25 Posts: 19,954	Seems to work as expected for me... question: what viewer are u using for images? Some viewers (like irfanview) sometimes default of a specific mask/transparancy color. Attached Images __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

08-08-2004, 01:08 PM	#6 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 25 Posts: 19,954	Any objects/controls/references you used or did you use all-internal commands/calls? __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

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08-08-2004, 12:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 42 Posts: 3,042	Here's the result on my computer (and it's the same in every program - Photoshop, Photopaint, QuarkXpress):

08-08-2004, 01:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 42 Posts: 3,042	Oops, I forgot to mention that there’s more. On some XPs even the eps file created with this program is unreadable (unrecognized format). This is really weird, because the eps file’s preambule is ready made (the program just adds the character string that compose the barcode), only the preview bitmap is attached to it. And even if the preview’s background is black, the bitmap size is the same... By now I saw 3 different ways the program function in XP: 1. TIF and EPS ok 2. TIF bad, EPS ok 3. TIF and EPS bad

08-08-2004, 01:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 42 Posts: 3,042	Here's what I could find in the old source files: Bitmap:=tbitmap.Create; bitmap.height:=1432; bitmap.width:=2832; bitmap.Monochrome:=true; Tiffsave.AttachedBitmap:= bitmap; bitmap.canvas.font.name:='Barcodefont'; bitmap.canvas.Font.size:=180; bitmap.canvas.textout(125,26,'qrst '+code); bitmap.canvas.Font.size:=550; bitmap.canvas.textout(167,400,'<'); bitmap.canvas.textout(393,400,chr(97+ean[2])); bitmap.canvas.textout(558,400,chr(65+ean[3])); ..... bitmap.canvas.textout(2440,400,'>'); Tiffsave.Params.dpix:=2400; Tiffsave.Params.dpiy:=2400; Tiffsave.Params.Width:=2832; Tiffsave.Params.Height:=1432; Tiffsave.Params.SamplesPerPixel:=1; Tiffsave.Params.BitsPerSample:=1; Tiffsave.Params.TIFF_PhotometInterpret:=ioTIFF_BLA CKISZERO; Tiffsave.Params.TIFF_Compression:=ioTIFF_LZW; Tiffsave.SaveToFile(fn); Tiffsave.Bitmap.Free; Never tried on a win2000. The demo and full version works exactly the same way... Unfortunately I can't post a messed-up eps, the XP was reinstalled on that computer too, and now only the tiff is bad when running this program on it.

08-08-2004, 08:11 PM	#10 (permalink)
Lorand VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bucharest Age: 42 Posts: 3,042	Meantime I discovered the 4th kind of bad output of the program: an eps file that could be imported, printed, but has a corrupted preview (attached). This program runs perfectly on more than a dozen of computers with Win98 and never had such problems... It could be something about a different internal function of XP. But how come that on some XP-systems it works? As you can see, in the messed-up bitmap the characters' bounding boxes have white background, so I think the problem arises from the bitmap creation.