Xtrema - Unicode String Class [ public beta ]

 

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A new unicode string object for Director that also includes file I/O, clipboard I/O, drag'n'drop and lots of simple (e.g. find and replace) and advanced (selecting a tag in an html or xml document) string functions, plus a new dot syntax model.

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Xtrema is a many-in-one Xtra for Director. This first public beta release includes only the String Class: Unicode support This class adds support for almost any type of character encoding known to Windows. You can create SBCS or DBCS ANSI, MacOS, ISO, or Unicode strings. You can easily convert from one encoding type to another, and on the fly append, insert, search for or replace substrings - even if the target's and the source's encoding types are different. Import / Export Load / save ANSI, MacOS, utf-7, 8, 16, or 16be unicode encoded files. Copy from / paste to clipboard unicode, or ANSI strings, with respect to the string's locale. Drag'n'Drop a string's data to any OLE application. Export to / import from various Director data types String Operations With more than 100 commands, ranging from simple find and replace to advanced methods like selecting an HTML or XML tag, all you wanted to do and more (far as strings are concerned) is most probably covered. With the user of this class, your apps will be much faster and your scripts simpler and cleaner - less lingo code. Compatibility Most of the basic Director's string properties (e.g. char, word) and commands (e.g. put into) are supported by the new string object, in order for your scripts to be backwards compatible, should you decide to replace director's string objects with objects of this class in existing projects. Performance Creating a new xStr object is slower than creating a native Director string - this has to do with the way Director handles external objects. From there on, you can expect a significant performance increase in almost all string functions, when comparing them with their Director equivalents. In certain cases, the difference can be measured even in times x. References - Bringing the power of C++ pointers to Director. Working with references can boost a movie's performance to a professional level. Keep in mind that under the hood, Director is a C++ app - one that sacrifices performance for stability. Going for speed is now an option. Working with references is quite simple - and safe as well, long as a couple of rules are followed. Dot Syntax The dot syntax used in this class is perhaps as important as the long awaited unicode support. You can use dot property-like commands to select an area of the target object, and then expand, shrink, move, modify the selection at will. Xtrema introduces an inheritance model for the dot syntax, which allows really lengthy and complex commands to be executed from a single line. This feature, along with the use of references can help you create extremely fast and memory efficient parsers. And all that without the need to use variables holding offsets in your code. Displaying Unicode Strings Though the Xtra can load / import / create / modify / save / export unicode strings, displaying the strings in is an issue, since the current Director's version text/field members do not support unicode strings. A new text member is being designed, that will be able to display unicode text. Until the completion of the new member, the 'toSL' command can be used to convert a unicode string to a list of ANSI strings that Director can display. This command can also be used to create MacOS - encoded text content. Using Unicode Scripts An external app that adds support for using unicode scripts in Director can be downloaded from the downloads area.