What's New - July, 2010
[Home]
July 7, 2010: Too hot here to do much outside so I have had an excuse to get back on the computer. It reached 86 degrees here today which is hot by mountain standards, but the flatlanders are suffering 100 degrees so I guess we shouldn't complain.
Validate Numeric Input was one of the first programs posted on DFF and , frankly, I had not looked at it in years. It described a coding technique to validate numbers as the user entered them. A viewer wrote recently requesting the ability to validate multiple integers separated by commas in a single text string in the same manner. Version 2 posted today provides that capability. It also includes sample code to extract and convert multiple numbers from the string as required.
July 17, 2010: I have been working on a "railroad shunt puzzle" solver in my spare time for the past week or two. It's an interesting but challenging problem and I have ways to go. Fortunately a sharp user has given me something to post. Peg Solitaire Version 4.1 implements fixes for three bugs found and corrected by a sharp Delphi programmer from Sweden. (Last name spelled Andersson with "ss" led to the Sweden guess).
July 22, 2010:
I'm not sure of the definition of
"Dog days" but the hot, humid. weather recently seems to qualify. The
month has flown by as I work on planning a family reunion vacation over
Christmas holidays. As grandchildren grow up it becomes more difficult to
coordinate availability around school schedules (three different states), summer
jobs, band camps, etc. etc. We're apparently not alone which explains why,
for example, cruise prices tend to double for the week between Christmas
and New Years. But it looks like it's going to happen! Whew!
Here's a simple
Compass Drawing Demo
posted in our Delphi Techniques section today. I adapted it from an
aircraft instrument simulator which I never got around to post and demonstrates
a few useful techniques like smooth animation, drawing text at angles, and the
handy Sin and Cos trig functions.