DATA FORMETS

Any programmer who has used version control will find the idea of -not- using it painful, and for good reason. Nevertheless, there are a few projects here for which it’s simply unavailable. As a general rule, any time we’ve had this issue at Tenthline the problem lies with the data formats we’re using.

I really dislike mailing documents back and forth. It’s inefficient, and it’s very easy for one of the authors to end up out of the loop, if the latest revision doesn’t get mailed out to everyone. Nevertheless, that’s the infrastructure I’m currently stuck with, if only because of the nature of our clients. As per their demands, all changes must be tracked inpgm file type Microsoft Word documents. All hail the proprietary .doc format!

I’d rather track changes with a wiki, or, better yet, .rtf files and subversion, but thanks to the dependance on Microsoft’s own mechanisms, that’s not an option. Fortunately, we keep our own internal data on wikis, ensuring that I can always find the latest and up-to-date reference anytime.

On another note, Content Server, the CMS platform that Tenthline does a lot of development on, has built in version control, which isn’t bad, but it suffers from being entirely proprietary. Sometimes I appreciate having choice. Instead, Content Server keeps its data in a database which is largely inaccessible except through its own tools and UI. For end users, this isn’t bad. It’s certainly easier than getting them to manage their own solution. And the complex data stored by a CMS system more or less demands a database. For developers, however, the inability to access the flatpgm file type files of our own .jsp code can be a bit of a detriment when doing heavy duty development.

Another important function in image creation includes display. This enhances image management and manipulation. There are various image display attributes, which include anti-aliasing enhancement, dithering, contrast, brightness, gamma correction, Orientation, color reduction, rotation, and auto-aspect ratio. Some effects include wipe and blocks. Another major attribute of image display includes high-speed display. Display plays a role during printing because it enhances orientation of the image before printing. Printing functions include auto-color minimization, single/ multi-page printing, automatic sizing of a page as well as automatic centralization of printing pages. This enhances page placement to obtain an ideal print out. Another important function involved in image development includes transformation. For quality image creation, the SDK should concentrate on transformation of figures or images.