RE: EdSharp and brf files on win64

  • From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: "programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:51:32 -0500

Katherine,

To be clear, I am not defending the virtues of 16-bit applications.  <smile>  
NFBTRANS is a very old application that 
was opened up as a sort of open source project many ears ago.  All of its 
updates have been done by volunteers.  
Even with its age, it still runs under the Windows 7 32-bit command prompt just 
fine, but it is not an elegant application.  
It allows one to turn text files into reasonable contracted braille and it has 
a fairly good set of formatting commands that 
can be inserted.  It can take BRF files and turn them back into text files as 
well.  It does not understand Word files, for 
example, and cannot take advantage of the formatting of Word or XML documents 
as can John Boyer's project, for 
example, or as do Duxbury and Megadots.  It is an application that is reaching 
the end of its life but could be useful a 
little longer if the conversion is not too time-consuming.  

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson


On Sat, 2 Jul 2011 00:05:53 +0000, Katherine Moss wrote:

>I guess I've never had to support a 16-bit application on here before.  

>-----Original Message-----
>From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Littlefield, 
Tyler
>Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 6:59 PM
>To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: EdSharp and brf files on win64

>Sighs. Katherine. Was there a point in that? There are still 16-bit 
>applications used when people don't need to 
upgrade. Why upgrade to 32-bit when you can just keep what you have if it 
works? Now the issue comes when 
people switch to 64 bit, but that's when people do have to upgrade. As bad as 
it may seem, 16-bit isnot really 
obsolete. It's still used in real mode, for example.
>On 7/1/2011 1:20 PM, Katherine Moss wrote:
>> I mean, honestly, who on this planet uses 16-bit applications anymore?  
>> Jees, update much?  LOL!
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J. 
>> Boyer
>> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 2:59 PM
>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: EdSharp and brf files on win64
>>
>> Quite frankly, I think that trying to make nfbtrans a 32-bit application 
>> would be more time-consuming than you think 
and would distract you from your other projects. There is something to be said 
for focusing on what is most important to 
you.
>>
>> John
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 12:17:39PM -0600, Littlefield, Tyler wrote:
>>> Steve:
>>> I'm not really sure what you're aiming at. I could probably take a 
>>> peak at nfbtrans though if it would help you. I use c/c++ on a daily 
>>> bases, so it shouldn't be to dificult.
>>> On 7/1/2011 12:10 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
>>>> Steve,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks. For anyone else who mayh be reading this thread, 
>>>> BrailleBlaster could use some experienced Java programmers. We are 
>>>> using SWT to create the interface, because it is accessible out of 
>>>> the box on multiple platforms.
>>>>
>>>> Experienced C programmers would also be welcome to help with some of 
>>>> the modules in liblouisutdml which is the braille translation engine 
>>>> for BrailleBlaster. These modules are currently only stubs. They are 
>>>> transcribe_chemistry, transcribe_music and transcribe_graphics.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jul 01, 2011 at 12:26:48PM -0500, Steve Jacobson wrote:
>>>>> NFBTRANS is written in C.  It is my understanding that besides 
>>>>> changing compiler options, one needs to look at all of the pointer 
>>>>> definitions as they don't always translate from 16-bit to 32-bit.
>>>>>
>>>>> Since John Boyer is also on this list, I would like to make it 
>>>>> clear that I would not want to take resources or time away from 
>>>>> John Boyer's Braille Blaster project which is in the process of 
>>>>> creating a much more modern and flexible open source braille 
>>>>> translation solution.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Steve Jacobson
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:43:28 -0700, inthane wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> what is it written in? someone out here should be able to help you 
>>>>>> fix that!
>>>>>> inthane
>>>>>> . Moderator, Blind Access Help.
>>>>>> . Owner: Alacorn Computer Enterprises "own the might and majesty 
>>>>>> of an alacorn"
>>>>>> www.alacorncomputer.com
>>>>>> . proprietor: Inthane's Grab Bag
>>>>>> for blind computer users and Programmers!
>>>>>> http://grabbag.alacorncomputer.com
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Steve Jacobson"<steve.jacobson@xxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> To:<programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:28 PM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: EdSharp and brf files on win64
>>>>>>> We don't have a 32-bit version of NFBTRANS which is a free 
>>>>>>> translator and backtranslator.  At first, we heard that it would 
>>>>>>> be simple to recompile it, but there is more to it than that.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Steve Jacobson
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:36:48 -0400, Alex Hall wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>> I just tried opening a brf file with edSharp, the first time I 
>>>>>>>> have tried that in quite a while. Here is the dialog that popped up.
>>>>>>>> Obviously, this is on win64.
>>>>>>>> Unsupported 16-Bit Application
>>>>>>>> The program or feature
>>>>>>>> "\??\C:\PROGRA~2\EdSharp\Convert\NFBTrans\NFBTRANS.EXE" cannot 
>>>>>>>> start or run due to incompatibity with 64-bit versions of Windows.
>>>>>>>> Please
>>>>>>>> contact the software vendor to ask if a 64-bit Windows 
>>>>>>>> compatible version is available.
>>>>>>>> OK
>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>> Have a great day,
>>>>>>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website) mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx; 
>>>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap __________ View the list's 
>>>>>>>> information and change your settings at 
>>>>>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>> --
>>>
>>> Take care,
>>> Ty
>>> my website:
>>> http://tds-solutions.net
>>> my blog:
>>> http://tds-solutions.net/blog
>>> skype: st8amnd127
>>> My programs don't have bugs; they're randomly added features!
>>>
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>> --
>> John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer Abilitiessoft, Inc.
>> http://www.abilitiessoft.com
>> Madison, Wisconsin USA
>> Developing software for people with disabilities
>>
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>>


>-- 

>Take care,
>Ty
>my website:
>http://tds-solutions.net
>my blog:
>http://tds-solutions.net/blog
>skype: st8amnd127
>My programs don't have bugs; they're randomly added features!

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>View the list's information and change your settings at 
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