Fooling Around

// Oprogramowanie Roman Ryltsov

GPS Location/Coordinate Converter: Fractional Seconds, More Shortcuts

Posted on by Roman

This adds a small update to the recently published GPS Location/Coordinate Converter utility:

  • Seconds in Degrees, Minutes & Seconds notation are shown and are accepted as floating point numbers
  • More shortcuts to popular online map services (note that only Google Maps and Yandex Maps are still accepted as input via clipboard):
    • Bing Maps
    • Yahoo Maps
    • Open Street Map
    • WikiMapia

The latter makes the tool an easy to use converted between the services for a GPS POI.

A binary [Win32] and partial Visual C++ .NET 2010 partial source code are available from SVN.

Utility Clearance: GPS Location/Coordinate Converter

Posted on by Roman

This tool came up as a result of mess around GPS coordinate formatting and variety of popular formats and notations. Some use latitude and longitude degrees, some prefer degrees and minutes with fractional part. this does not take into account choices for datum and file formats.

For instance, both Google Maps and Yandex Maps accept latitude and longitude as ll= URL parameter with the value of latitude and longitude in degrees, however Google uses latitude coming first, while Yandex prefers the opposite.

Recently, a rally road book contained the following formatting of track points:

Having to put a stop to the madness, this utility comes up as a handy assistant to convert and format GPS coordinates into reasonable presentation and separators.

The utility runs on background and monitors clipboard, and once it recognizes one of the following:

  • GPS Point in Degrees
  • GPS Point in Degrees and Minutes
  • GPS Point in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds
  • Google Maps URL
  • Yandex Maps URL

it flashes and updates its UI providing the choices of track point formatting:

The utility is trying hard to accept various separators and formats, just one thing is important to keep in mind: if you are using minutes without seconds, the fractional part of minutes should be separated by decimal point (.).

The utility also responds to hotkeys Ctrl+Shift+F1, Ctrl+Shift+F2 etc. and copies the formatted point location back into clipboard so that one could quickly re-format editable text in another application through clipboard updates. Alternatively, it is possible to click the formatted value and place it into clipboard.

The utility also provides clickable hyperlinks to open Google Maps and Yandex Maps into the point of interest.

A binary [Win32] and partial Visual C++ .NET 2010 partial source code are available from SVN.

Note: you might need to run the tool “As Administrator” elevating UAC privileges in Vista/7 operating systems.

Bonus links on the topic:

NTFS Links: x64 build

Posted on by Roman

Per user request, here goes 64-bit version of NTFS Links utility, which provides shell UI for NTFS Junction Points.

As 64-bit version of Windows operating systems provide two versions of shell explorer, and support both Win32 and x64 platform applications, it is typical to install both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the utility to cover/extend applications of both platforms. Note that 32-bit (Win32) applications can only load and directly interact with 32-bit builds of libraries (DLLs), so 64-bit (x64) applications need a corresponding matching version of the shell extension available.

As the utility provides a shell extension for directory property pages, here comes a curiosity exercise: how Windows 7 uses junction points to cross-map directories under user profile directory, e.g. C:\Users\<username>\Local Settings directory is actually a shortcut to C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local.

Current version of Alax.Info NTFS Links can be downloaded from:

Sample: Simultaneous Audio Playback via Waveform Audio (waveOut) API

Posted on by Roman

The minimalistic sample demonstrates support of [deprecated] Waveform Audio API for multiple playback streams.

Depending on command line parameters, the application starts threads to open audio hardware using separate waveOutOpen call and stream one or more generated sine waves:

  • 1,000 Hz sine wave as 22,050 Hz, Mono, 16-bit PCM (command line parameter “a”)
  • 5,000 Hz sine wave as 32,000 Hz, Mono, 16-bit PCM (command line parameter “b”)
  • 15,000 Hz sine wave as 44,100 Hz, Mono, 16-bit PCM (command line parameter “c”)
Check(waveOutOpen(&hWaveOut, WAVE_MAPPER, &WaveFormatEx, NULL, NULL, CALLBACK_NULL));
ATLASSERT(hWaveOut);
WAVEHDR* pWaveHeader;
HGLOBAL hWaveHeader = (WAVEHDR*) GlobalAlloc(GMEM_MOVEABLE | GMEM_SHARE, sizeof *pWaveHeader + WaveFormatEx.nAvgBytesPerSec * 10);
pWaveHeader = (WAVEHDR*) GlobalLock(hWaveHeader);
ATLENSURE_THROW(pWaveHeader, E_OUTOFMEMORY);
pWaveHeader->lpData = (LPSTR) (BYTE*) (pWaveHeader + 1);
pWaveHeader->dwBufferLength = WaveFormatEx.nAvgBytesPerSec * 10;
//pWaveHeader->dwUser = 
pWaveHeader->dwFlags = 0;
pWaveHeader->dwLoops = 0;
#pragma region Generate Actual Data
{
    SHORT* pnData = (SHORT*) pWaveHeader->lpData;
    SIZE_T nDataCount = pWaveHeader->dwBufferLength / sizeof *pnData;
    for(SIZE_T nIndex = 0; nIndex < nDataCount; nIndex++)
    pnData[nIndex] = (SHORT) (32000 * sin(1.0 * nIndex / WaveFormatEx.nSamplesPerSec * nFrequency * 2 * M_PI));
}
#pragma endregion 
Check(waveOutPrepareHeader(hWaveOut, pWaveHeader, sizeof *pWaveHeader)); 
Check(waveOutWrite(hWaveOut, pWaveHeader, sizeof *pWaveHeader)); 
GlobalUnlock(hWaveHeader);

The operating system is supposed to mix the waves, which can be easily perceived taking place. It is possible to run the application with multiple waveforms within a process, e.g. “abc” command line parameter, and/or start multiple instances of the application.

A binary [Win32] and partial Visual C++ .NET 2010 source code are available from SVN.

Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder at High Resolutions

Posted on by Roman

It is really great news that Windows 7 offers quite some goodies for MPEG-4 support right out of the box, but some things appear to be made not so accurate.

The component responsible for video decoding is Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder (also known as Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder), available with DirectShow interface. It offers video decoding capabilities for video resolutions up to 1920×1088 (Full HD), including DXVA version 2 mode. The decoder is a “preferred decoder” and is given a first chance to be taken when it comes for Intelligent Connect to render a video stream.

Technology went ahead though, stepped behind 1920×1088 in particular. Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder DirectShow filter still remains the first take in H.264 video decoding, and what however is taking place – the decoder accepts the format (media type) which is clearly cannot decode, neither according to specification, nor in real life. As soon as pin connection succeeds, DirectShow is not trying to look for another decoder, which can truly decode the feed. Result: failure to decode video.

The problem takes place in a quite surprising way. Given 5 megapixel video (2560×1592, H.264, Baseline profile, from RTSP-enabled IP camera), the decoder advertises 720×480 NV12 output media type. While consuming input data, the decoder outputs nothing and keeps video window black.

It does not issue any filter graph events, no. The filter is persistent and works hard in assumption that a new piece of knowledge will come from Mars and provide new capabilities to start decoding video, or filter’s input will give up and provide a new SPS to lower resolution down to something less complex.

Well then, so is this advanced technology yet to be discovered by science? It appears that no. CoreAVC Video Decoder, applied to the same H.264 video decodes it well and nice:

Update 2011-09-26: According to Microsoft classification, this is a bug on a released product. That is, if anyone is experiencing severe issues as a result of this behavior, one might need to contact Microsoft Support directly in search of a solution.

Actually, as resolutions over Full HD (1920×1080) are not so much common at the moment, the issue side effects are not yet likely. Still moving on with time, I think the issues are likely to come up, without being severe though.

Utility Clearance: Enumerate Audio ‘MMDevice’s

Posted on by Roman

The utility and code does straightforward enumeration of MMDevices (Vista+, check MSDN for MMDevice API availability), which correspond to MMDevice API, WASAPI, Core Audio API. The code itself is straightforward, with a ready to use binary to quickly lookup data of interest:

The data is detailed well and in Excel-friendly format (via Copy/Paste):

The code also automatically looks up for named Windows SDK constants, such as PKEY_Device_FriendlyName:

    Identifier    {0.0.1.00000000}.{4c1a7642-3f91-43e5-8fcf-b4b1e803d3f9}
    State    DEVICE_STATE_DISABLED    0x02
    Properties:
        {B3F8FA53-0004-438E-9003-51A46E139BFC}, 15    16 bytes of BLOB, DA 07 03 00 02 00 09 00 0E 00 39 00 16 00 C5 02    65
        PKEY_Device_DeviceDesc    Stereo Mix    31
        {B3F8FA53-0004-438E-9003-51A46E139BFC}, 6    Realtek High Definition Audio    31
        {B3F8FA53-0004-438E-9003-51A46E139BFC}, 2    {1}.HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_80860034&REV_1002\4&37D44F2F&0&0201    31
        {83DA6326-97A6-4088-9453-A1923F573B29}, 3    oem29.inf:AzaliaManufacturerID.NTamd64.6.0:IntcAzAudModel:6.0.1.5964:hdaudio\func_01&ven_10ec&dev_0888    31
        PKEY_Device_BaseContainerId    {00000000-0000-0000-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF}    72
        PKEY_Device_ContainerId    {00000000-0000-0000-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF}    72
        PKEY_Device_EnumeratorName    HDAUDIO    31
        PKEY_AudioEndpoint_FormFactor    10    19
        PKEY_AudioEndpoint_JackSubType    {DFF21FE1-F70F-11D0-B917-00A0C9223196}    31
        PKEY_DeviceClass_IconPath    %windir%\system32\mmres.dll,-3018    31
        {840B8171-B0AD-410F-8581-CCCC0382CFEF}, 0    316 bytes of BLOB, 01 00 00 00 38 01 00 00 ... 00 00 00 00    65
        PKEY_AudioEndpoint_Association    {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}    31
        PKEY_AudioEndpoint_Supports_EventDriven_Mode    1    19
        {24DBB0FC-9311-4B3D-9CF0-18FF155639D4}, 3    0    11
        {24DBB0FC-9311-4B3D-9CF0-18FF155639D4}, 4    -1    11
        {9A82A7DB-3EBB-41B4-83BA-18B7311718FC}, 1    65536    19
        {233164C8-1B2C-4C7D-BC68-B671687A2567}, 1    {2}.\\?\hdaudio#func_01&ven_10ec&dev_0888&subsys_80860034&rev_1002#4&37d44f2f&0&0201#{6994ad04-93ef-11d0-a3cc-00a0c9223196}\rtstereomixwave    31
        {5A9125B7-F367-4924-ACE2-0803A4A3A471}, 0    1610612916    19
        {B3F8FA53-0004-438E-9003-51A46E139BFC}, 0    3    19
        PKEY_Device_FriendlyName    Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)    31
        PKEY_DeviceInterface_FriendlyName    Realtek High Definition Audio    31
        PKEY_AudioEndpoint_GUID    {4C1A7642-3F91-43E5-8FCF-B4B1E803D3F9}    31

A binary [Win32, x64] and partial Visual C++ .NET 2010 source code are available from SVN.

See also:

Resource Tools: 64-bit build

Posted on by Roman

I rebuilt the Resource Tools utility in 64-bits to, supposedly, be able to be good with resources on 64-bit binaries (actually 32-bit code might be dealing with those fine also?). Anyway, the build is here and the tool available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

In particular, both 32-bit and 64-bit JavaScript scripts hosted by Windows Scripting Host (respectively, 32-bit from C:\Windows\syswow64 or 64-bit from C:\Windows\system32 – in 64-bit Windows) can leverage the tool in file manipulation.

This utility is specifically helpful in automating steps which involve resource updates, such as to apply OEM branding, or resource-based file operations. The code snippet below archives a copy of DLL and PDB files for published release into a .7z archive named using current file version of the DLL itself (that is, it created a ResourceTools.dll-1.0.6.296.7z archive file out of ResourceTools.dll and corresponding ResourceTools.pdb files):

image = new ActiveXObject("AlaxInfo.ResourceTools.Image");
image.Initialize(inputDirectory + fileName);
productVersion = image.VersionInfo.ProductVersionString;
fileVersion = image.VersionInfo.FileVersionString;
WScript.Echo(" Product Version: " + productVersion);
WScript.Echo(" File Version: " + fileVersion);
shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell");
currentDirectory = shell.CurrentDirectory;
shell.CurrentDirectory = currentDirectory + "\\" + inputDirectory;
try {
    shellExec = shell.Exec(
        "\"" + toolDirectory + "7z" + "\" " +
        "a -t7z " +
        "\"" + currentDirectory + "\\" + outputDirectory + "ResourceTools.dll-" + fileVersion + ".7z" + "\" " +
        "ResourceTools.dll" + " " +
        "ResourceTools.pdb" + " " +
        "");
    while (shellExec.Status == 0)
        WScript.Sleep(100);
    if (shellExec.ExitCode != 0)
        throw new Error("7-Zip Exec failed, .ExitCode " + shellExec.ExitCode.toString());
    WScript.Echo(" Output File: " + "ResourceTools-" + fileVersion + ".7z");
}
finally {
    shell.CurrentDirectory = currentDirectory;
}

Title: Alax.Info Resource Tools
Version: 1.0.6
Download Links: ResourceToolsSetup.msi (Win32, 32-bit) and ResourceToolsSetup-x64.msi (x64, 64-bit)