News

There are going to be some changes around here, soon. Not terribly huge ones, just some cosmetic and under-the-covers related stuff.

As you can probably tell, the updates have been rather sparse. To tell you the truth, it is because updating this site is a pain. There have been changes to project versions and stuff, but I have not been announcing them.

However, I've been writing some better CMS software for my websites, and this will be updated to that in a while, so I won't have to tear my hair out if I have to edit anything.

Ok, that's all for now - Happy Belated New Year!

• Got rid of the SceneObject getUpper/Lower/X/Y/Z() functions. Debated just deprecating, but since they only had one typical equivalent value that used function calls on the same object to calculate. Adjust your code accordingly.
• Added Common.close(Closeable).
• Fixed: A particularly bad bug in Scene2D where Pair memory was re-used instead of re-instantiated, changing grid coordinates for all members of the Scene!
• Changed GridMap.get(int, int) so that it returns null if a set of coordinates off the grid is entered.
• Changed Wave: offset is a double, not float.
• Added Wave.getSample(int).

For Commons:

• Changed internals of the abstract data structures so that repetitive gets, iterations, and other operations do not create new objects.
• Added new interface that extends Iterator, ResettableIterator, which contains a reset() method that will set the iterator back to the beginning of the structure it was created for, as though it were just created. The general policy of reset() is that it will not create additional objects to reset itself.
• All iterable structures now return a "ResettableIterator" class.
• Changed Ticker: it is now very, very accurate.
• Scene2D changed a lot. Generates no additional memory for lookups and visibility checks.
• Added: randElement(Random, T ... objects) to RMath.
• Fixed: SparseGridMap's get(x,y) method did not correct bounds by wrap type.
• Added: SparseQueueGridMap.
• Added: FloatGrid.
• Added: AbstractVector.replace(int, T).
• Fixed: GridMap contained its own wrapping fields which undermined its parent class's fields. These have been removed.
• Added: Polynomial.

And one little change to Common Lang:

• Fixed some end of block comments in Lexer not being detected.

• Removed update() from Scene2D.
• Fixed a bunch of places where AbstractLinkedList could break itself.
• Made all public entry points into Scene2D synchronized.
• Added "package-info" files to commons packages.
• Added Matrix4F and changed a method or two in Matrix4D.
• Changed internal datatype for Matrix4D in order to be consistent with the other *D structures.

Hey, everybody. Just got done with that revamp I posted about. Half a year later and everything gets better!

The sidebar has more stuff on it than last time - mostly due to the splitting of Commons into sibling projects.

All projects have been upgraded to version 2.0, mostly due to the Commons series of libraries changing. If you need the older versions, they're under "Other Downloads" on the right. Nightly (or almost-nightly) builds of the projects are available, too - but I cannot guarantee the stability of the nightlies, programming-wise or structure-wise.

Javadocs of course have been updated as well, and can be found in pretty much the same place as last time.

Okay, that's it! Thanks for your patience!

Of course, this is not to say that Commons as it stands is crap, per se - everything is still completely functional. It could just be better, is all. ;)

Also, in the future, Black Rook is planning preliminary versions of the upcoming OpenGL and OpenAL encapsulation libraries, the purpose of which would be object-orienting the OpenGL and OpenAL contexts, and well as adding some helpful utility classes, so that's something to at least look forward to.

Also Doom Struct has been updated to 1.6.2:

• Fixed: Some versions of Doom (i.e. the "vanilla" ones) may rely on a particular lump order for entries in maps. WadIO has been changed to reflect this.
• Fixed: Doom-compatibility checking for linedefs allowed up to 32767 sidedefs when it should have been 65535.

Changes to Commons:

• Added: GradientAbstract to math package for creating sampleable gradient types.
• Changed: SortedMap now extends VectorAbstract. Because of this, the value-fetching function was changed to getValue() and U removeIndex() was changed to U removeValueAtIndex() in order to clear up ambiguities, and the protected methods swap() and compare() have been removed entirely. Naturally, this may end up breaking programs. Please update your code to the new functions.
• Changed: SortedVector and ComparatorVector to use sort() and not its own methods. The sorting methods in those classes have been deprecated as of this version.
• Added: RWaveTypeField: For setting/getting wave forms.
• Changed: RColorField: The edit cells are expandable with the field's size, but not the selector button.
• Added: VectorAbstract.sort(int startIndex, int endIndex) for sorting within a range.
• Added: WaveUtils.createNoiseWave() for creating Noise functions.
• Added: Rectangle2D/F to com.blackrook.math.
• Added: coalesce(T ... objects) to Defs. Returns the first non-null object in the list.
• Added: New constructor for Wave. Made sense to add it. You'll know it when you see it.

• Fixed: Saving a Doom or Strife-format Thing would fail if saved as anything other than Hexen type.
• Fixed: Saving a Doom or Strife-format Linedef would fail if saved as anything other than Hexen type.
• Fixed: "-" should be a valid character in entries and textures.

Changes to Commons:

• Fixed: Wave.getInterpolatedValue(long, int, int) was not returning the correct upper bound value in certain cases.
• Added: Class DataGrid for storing two-dimensional data to be used for grid-oriented data. It's essentially a non-jagged multidimensional array, but it contains other useful methods.
• Fixed: LL.remove(T) would not return true for items in the middle of the list if removed successfully. Geez, one day I'm gonna rewrite this sucker...
• Changed: Ticker uses an interrupt now to stop() the underlying ticker thread. Safer in cases of race conditions.

Changes to Scripting:

• Added: SimpleScriptEngine.callScript(String, String) for instantiating scripts at a particular label.
• Added: Additional methods to SimpleScriptInterpreter for using interpreters as a pool.
• Fixed: ControlInterpreter had a slightly buggy implementation of integers and incerement/decrement. This has been fixed.

• Changed: DLReader should not have been made "final."
• Added: Package info files.

Well, I think it's pretty cool... but then again, I'm biased.

Also, several other projects have received updates, and the Online Javadoc system has been changed. So, go exploring!

Changes to Doom Struct

• Added: Additional methods to ANIMATED and SWITCHES that allow for easier retrieval and manipulation of entry contents.
• Added: The "WINXMSG" lumps in Hexen are now known as a text lumps.

• Changed/Added: ControlInterpreters now recognize an INTEGER subtype on Values. Types will promote to higher ones automatically depending on certain conditions.
• Added: Additional necessary documentation for ControlInterpreter that was missed. Apologies for the inconvenience.
• Changed: Commands can now have an INTEGER type argument, forcing whole numbers.

• Changed: Lexer.Stream is now protected, not private.
• Added: com.blackrook.math.WaveFormType for interfacing WaveForm shapes and types.
• Changed: The enum WaveForm has been changed to use WaveFormType.
• Added: QMath.cosineInterpolate for cosine interpolation.
• Added: QMath.cubicInterpolate for cubic interpolation.
• Added: com.blackrook.math.CustomWaveForm for abstract waveform sampling.
• Changed: Parser provides better error message for when a token can't be read.
• Changed: QMath.wrap* methods to be more accurate (and computationally efficient).
• Added: HashListTable.enqueue() and dequeue(), for treating the lists like queues.
• Changed: Tweaked the accuracy of the Ticker class.
• Added: com.blackrook.struct.VectorAbstract for tying together most of the vector types.
• Changed: ComparatorVector, SortedVector, VolatileList, and HandleVector have been changed dramatically, but still remain the same functionally. Code may need to be changed to conform to the new calls. This adds some much needed consistency to the library.

• Changed: Made Flat clear pixel data on dimension change.
• Changed: Internal representation of Flat data.
• Fixed: Flats now export properly in bytes.
• Fixed: ANIMATED now exports properly in bytes - a whole record needed to be added with the terminal.
• Added: Internal representation of Animated Entry.
• Changed: The "textures" lump is now known as a text lump - it wasn't before.
• Added: checkNotNull() to DoomObjectUtils().
• Added: com.blackrook.doom.struct.Switches. Reads/edits a Boom engine SWITCHES lump.
• Added: setPixelColor() and setImage() to DoomGraphicObjects. Flat, PNGData, and Patch have been changed accordingly.
• Added: getNearestColor() to Palette.
• Changed: DoomUtil.getNearestColor() - if a palette is not specified, the original color is used, unaltered.

The Commons library has also been updated to version 1.5.0, bringing with it some additional changes and features:

• Added: Added package info files to the library.
• Added: "GenericContainer" classes and interfaces for writing simplistic container formats or container handlers.
• Changed: PNGContainerWriter calls toByteArray() once instead of twice. Should be a tad more efficient, that way.
• Changed: ComparatorVector and SortedVector no longer rely entirely on compareTo() returning 0 to determine equality. The method equals() is now called before the comparison steps.
• Changed: ComparatorVector's remove(int) method was RENAMED to removeIndex(int), like the other data structures in Struct. Please change your code accordingly. Deprecation was not an option, since it would not fix anything nor would it encourage current users of the method to change their code.
• Added: RTimerField to com.blackrook.swing.field. It is a field that acts like a stopwatch. The com.blackrook.swing.field.data package contains graphics used by this panel type.
• Deprecated: com.blackrook.lang: CLexer, CLexerSystem, and CLexerToken have all been deprecated. Please use their updated counterparts in the same package. Current users are encouraged to update their code.
• Changed: SortedVector's clear() method is now synchronized.
• Added: Clear() method to ComparatorVector.
• Added: Clear() method to Scene2D.
• Added: getAllFlaggedKeys(List out) to ResourceBank.

The Doom Struct project has also been updated to version 1.4.0, though its not as significant as Commons:

• Added: Added package info files to the library.
• Fixed: DoomObjectUtils.checkEqual(String, String, String) now tests for INequality, like it should.
• Changed: Made WadFile.getData(Entry) public.
• Added: WadFile.getDataAsStream(Entry).

The Commons was updated to version 1.4.0. Changes include:

• Removed: getResource() from com.blackrook.lang.Lexer. It also no longer implements ResourceLoader.
• Added: RCheckBox to com.blackrook.swing.field.
• Added: com.blackrook.swing.dialog package: contains useful dialog types.
• Added: RList to com.blackrook.swing.field.
• Added: Methods for adding files to the JVM classpath at runtime (com.blackrook.struct).
• Defs.addFilesToClassPath(File...)
• Defs.addURLsToClassPath(URL...)
• Added: Methods for adding native libraries to the JVM classpath at runtime (com.blackrook.struct). Employs a bit of a hack to get this to work.
• Defs.addLibrariesToPath(File...)
• Defs.addLibraryToPath(File)
• Changed/Added: A dialog box for picking a date for RDateField (com.blackrook.swing.field).

The DataLanguage project was updated to version 1.1.0. Changes include:

• Changed: Changed DLReader completely to use CommonLexer and Parser in the commons library. This reader should be incompatible with existing implementations, but not enough to warrant a major version number change. Minor changes to existing code will be needed to use this.
• Changed: Copyright label in DLWriter.
• Added: method to DLWriter for writing to a generic OutputStream.

And finally, the Doom Struct project was updated to version 1.3.0. Changes include:

• Added: com.blackrook.doom.struct.Animated. Reads/edits a Boom Engine ANIMATED lump.
• Removed: A serial ID from Texture (unnecessary).
• Changed: Some Linedef special names in DoomUtilTables.
• Fixed/Changed: Reject.get/setSectorIsVisibleTo's functions were reversed. Apologies for the mixup.

Phew. Did anyone actually read any of that? :)

• Fixed: If ComparatorVector's increment size is 0 or less, it should double its size on expansion.
• Added: getAllObjects() method to Scene2D.
• Fixed: Scene2D's getIntersectingObjects() somehow decided that objects can intersect with themselves. Whoops.
• Changed: com.blackrook.scene.SceneObject/Scene2D - added methods for getting pre-calculated bounding areas for potential collision detection. Scene2D's profiling methods have been changed to support these methods that should have existed in the first place. Apologies to those who are already using this interface - you will have to update implementors of this class.
• Changed: com.blackrook.math.Wave and WaveForm - added method for other primitive types.
• Added: com.blackrook.swing.field package - A set of Swing panels for getting/setting data.
• Added: com.blackrook.struct.TallyTable - a special Hashtable for doing running tallies.
• Added: com.blackrook.lang.CommonLexer - a special Lexer that automatically reads certain C-like preprocessor directives.
• Added: Additional wrapValue() methods to com.blackrook.math.QMath.
• Fixed: Potential wrapValue() divide-by-zero errors fixed.
• Fixed/Changed: com.blackrook.lang.Lexer now recognizes that identifiers can start with underscores.