After playing with the plugin support for a little while i knocked this little thing up for anyone who is interested

there is no installer for it, just unzip to your plugins folder and restart plus

all it does is display text with a colour gradient, of course whoever your sending the text to must have msn plus for it to work (who doesnt?)


usage is

/xfade <colour> <colour> <text that you want coloured>

currently the colours can only be specified in hexadecimal in RRGGBB format

for example

/xfade FF0000 00FF00 some text

will fade from red to green

some other colours in hex :-

FF0000 = bright red
00FF00 = bright green
0000FF = bright blue
000000 = black
FFFFFF = white
7f7f7f = grey
FFFF00 = yellow
FF00FF = purple
00FFFF = cyan

it seems a good plug-in
i can't test now cuz i'm at university at the xp computer and it doesn't let my install or unistall msgplus

when i go home i will download and test it a lot


EDIT:i test it, and i'm agree with Patchou, you can do an option:
/xfade random "text"

great job

cool! I wanted that for myself! thanks

It works well, however, you should consider doing stuff like random fade because I dont want to specify an hexa color everytime

can you give me the source code???

HEY NICE WORK FINN

*even patchou likes it (YOUR IN)

nice work

hey thanks guys

the random thingy is on its way (anything for msn plus creator! ) and also adding being able to specify colours as "red" "green" etc

cant update until i get home from work tonight and can properly test it though

You really made a good plugin.
This thing is going to be popular.
I hope you don't mind that I put it on my site???

quote:

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Originally posted by Bamboe
can you give me the source code???

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contact me please finn

quote:

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Originally posted by Burning Bob
Are you crazy Bamboe!!!
The guy made a good plugin he's not giving away his source code!

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It looks great!  I've downloaded and unzipped it...I just need someone to come online now so as I can try it.

seeing as people seem to want the source and it only took like 10 mins to do, here is the code for the fade function i did, its not great, its very quick and nasty but for anyone who wants it...

oh and it will also go beyond maxtofill by a small amount of letters (which i get around by simply setting maxtofill to be well under the maximum msn plus limit (but still greater than the actual network send limit)

the rest of the plugin is just parameter parsing

void FillColourFade(char *sResult, int maxtofill, int colour1, int colour2, char *text)
{
    int numlets = strlen(text)-1;
    float r1,g1,b1;
    float r2,g2,b2;
    float rstep, gstep, bstep;
    int letsdone = 0;
    char buf[5];

    r1 = (float)((colour1&0xff0000)>>16);
    g1 = (float)((colour1&0x00ff00)>>8);
    b1 = (float)(colour1&0x0000ff);
    r2 = (float)((colour2&0xff0000)>>16);
    g2 = (float)((colour2&0x00ff00)>>8);
    b2 = (float)(colour2&0x0000ff);

    rstep = (r2-r1)/(float)(numlets);
    gstep = (g2-g1)/(float)(numlets);
    bstep = (b2-b1)/(float)(numlets);

    while (*text && maxtofill > 0)
    {
        *(sResult++) = 3;
        maxtofill--;
        *(sResult++) = '(';
        maxtofill--;

        sprintf(buf, "%03d",(int)r1);
        strcpy(sResult, buf);
        sResult += strlen(buf);
        maxtofill -= strlen(buf);

        *(sResult++) = ',';

        sprintf(buf, "%03d",(int)g1);
        strcpy(sResult, buf);
        sResult += strlen(buf);
        maxtofill -= strlen(buf);

        *(sResult++) = ',';

        sprintf(buf, "%03d",(int)b1);
        strcpy(sResult, buf);
        sResult += strlen(buf);
        maxtofill -= strlen(buf);

        *(sResult++) = ')';
        maxtofill--;

        *(sResult++) = *(text++);
        maxtofill--;

        r1 += rstep;
        g1 += gstep;
        b1 += bstep;
    }
}

thx a lot finn

musicalmidget> you can send an IM to an unexistant person :
Actions>send an IM (first one)>Others
write down an adress like qdf@fd.sdq and it'll work

quote:

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Originally posted by Burning Bob
You really made a good plugin.
This thing is going to be popular.
I hope you don't mind that I put it on my site???

---

could you pleas give me the whole souce code, becaus i want to try to make a plug in but I have no idea how to start (I don't know how to make a dll in borland C++ 6)

tnx

quote:

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Originally posted by Finn
no problem, but i should be updating it tonight so might want to wait until then

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Bamboe
could you pleas give me the whole souce code, becaus i want to try to make a plug in but I have no idea how to start (I don't know how to make a dll in borland C++ 6)

tnx

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I've just tried it.  It's great!

I agree with Patchou however, some random fades would make it even better.  Maybe you could also have a small pop-up box like you get for ctrl + k in the conversation window?

Well done!

cool,thanks for this plug-in , Finn 

Cool, Even Patchou likes it! ^^'

* billywoods1 exempts himself from commenting about the yet again stolen idea

Patchou, random fade is very difficult, it never looks good... there are more dark colours than light colours.

quote:

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Originally posted by billywoods1
* billywoods1 exempts himself from commenting about the yet again stolen idea


Patchou, random fade is very difficult, it never looks good... there are more dark colours than light colours.

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Read that again.

Stolen IDEA.

I've been developing Gradier for ages now and about half this board would testify for that.

Edit: and anyway, I had a VBulletin board admin asking if he could use my gradient code which I have on my forum... so it sounds suspiciously to me like they DON'T have it...

never mind, i dont think he heard from the gradier
...

I didnt say it was server side for VBB, it was a small VB program that you entered text into, chose colours, and then could copy and paste into a message

it was never fully released but only distributed to a select few people.

I had never heard of gradier until Misterjad sent me a PM asking to join the team, I politefully declined and gave him my reasons, and partially on his request i pasted the source here.

also as far as i understand it gradier is a seperate program, and not a plugin, if your trying to claim that you came up with the idea for text with colour gradients then i would have to disgaree as they have been around at least since the early text mode BBS's that i used to dial up with my modem to..

anyway i dont see why there should be any arguments here, i simply created a little plugin for my own use and then posted it here (i joined yesterday and had never been on here before then) just in case it may be of use to anyone else

As requested for :- a new version

this will probably be a final version unless someone gives me a reason to continue work on it, or requests an interesting to implement feature

new features

when specifying a colour code, you can use a ? mark to replace that digit with a random value

eg

/xfade ??0000 00??00 some text

will select a random red colour and fade to a random blue colour

you can also replace a colour with "*" as a shortcut to doing ?????? eg

/xfade * 000000 some text

will fade between a random colour and black

a new alias /xrfade some text is simply a shortcut to /xfade * * some text (eg it always fades between 2 random colours)


also instead of typing a colour in hex the following colours are now supported as words

red
black
blue
green
white
grey
cyan
yellow
purple

eg you can do

/xfade red green some text

helpful if i include the zip...

Edit :updated the zip to include a readme on how to use it for anyone who wants to stick it on their website (seeing as several people have asked to)

Edit2: latest version now updated in first post..

thanks

quote:

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Originally posted by Finn
As requested for :- a new version

this will probably be a final version unless someone gives me a reason to continue work on it, or requests an interesting to implement feature

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Simple me

quote:

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Originally posted by Finn
As requested for :- a new version

this will probably be a final version unless someone gives me a reason to continue work on it, or requests an interesting to implement feature

---

well maybe ... you could look if you could get the emoticons to work on it, it doesn't seem to work if i use /xfade ( i like it )
example:

x/fade red blue testing this plugin doesn't show the emoticon but  : D

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how about using like brackets, so everything between  the brackest would NOT have the fade color.... of course the brackets should desappear. that way to use a emoticon you should have to put [] instead of

how bout making like a turn off/on button so you dont have to type the command so i can use ai all the time

wow that'd be AWESOME

quote:

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Originally posted by BooGhost
how about using like brackets, so everything between  the brackest would have the fade color.... of course the brackets should desappear. that way to use a emoticon you should have to put [] instead of

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quote:

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Originally posted by Tandy
how bout making like a turn off/on button so you dont have to type the command so i can use ai all the time

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as yr work is over finn
.... could we have the complete sources ???

btw, i compiled 3 months ago a gradier (my version for fade ) with the ability of making for BBCode & html code ... here it is

Don't sweat, billy, he may have had the same idea as you but Gradier still has the upper hand in many respects:
- Colour selection is a lot easier
- Background colours can be specified too
- Colours are converted back to hex so more can be fitted in

Xfade is a nice bit of coding though... If only I knew how to access the api in vb I'd convert Gradier.
Oh and by the way if no text is specified, xfade makes a gradient out of ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍýýýýÝÝ instead...

quote:

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Originally posted by Misterjad
as yr work is over finn
.... could we have the complete sources ???

---

hey this is a wicked plugin im using it all the time now. i think that the on and off command would be good

okay one more version

i cleaned up the colour fade bit, to now specify the colours it outputs in hex, rather than decimal (i admit i got how to do this from gradier, which i must say has a rather nifty colour preview screen and allows you to graphically pick colours if you dont mind then copying and pasting to msn) - what that basically means is the colour-codes are shorter so you can get more text in

also added a new alias

/xnfade <num colours> <colour> ... <colour> for doing multiple fade within the same text

eg

/xnfade 8 red green blue purple yellow cyan blue red some text

also, if you want to disable the fade mid text type a "ctrl-k" character (if it works you should see the plus colour menu come up) and another one to re-enable it, this is mostly useful for putting smileys inside a colour fade, for example

/xrfade this is a piece of text <ctrl-k><ctrl-k> with a smiley inside a colour fade

very good. If i have and my friend dont will he see it? if he has plus

quote:

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Originally posted by cool_myll
very good. If i have and my friend dont will he see it? if he has plus

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i'm sorry i did'nt really change the file

it works fine !!!!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by nus
i've got the last version and it doesn't work fine

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_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
|Great update!!!                                                         |
|You really need to make more of this shit.                |
|( Something like it but for backgroundcolours ) |
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

quote:

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Originally posted by nus
i've got the last version and it doesn't work fine

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Lobster (and anyone else interested):

I do agree that it's nothing to make enemies over, but it's not the first time my idea has been stolen.

* billywoods1 shoots a dodgy look towards BetterName (although admittedly Ginge did ask us beforehand), NickEXP and various other addons that didn't quite make it...

I just get a tiny bit annoyed when someone takes my idea. Comparably, if some people stole all of Patchou's ideas and future suggestions and made a free, better MSN addon, I think he'd be a bit more than slightly p***ed off. Even if they didn't steal them and they thought them up themselves, Patchou would still be annoyed. So would the rest of this forum.

The fact that the idea was stolen doesn't bother me too much until I realise how popular Gradier really is. If you don't believe me, look at the Nedstat on my page... just the English version... it has about 150000+ views. (The fact that it's gone down noticeably from 4500/day to a few hundred doesn't matter! ) There's no way a Plus! user could have NOT seen it if they're on the forums. I post all the time, and my avatar caption/signature are nearly always something to do with Gradier, plus there are loads of posts about them (Gradier, BetterName, NickEXP) if you go a few weeks back. And it's on mess.be and msgplus.net.

The only reason he's beaten me to it is that he knows C++ and I don't. So forgive me if I want to strangle people like that with a coat hanger, but maybe you can understand why it annoys me so much.

Finn you rule man!! hahaha your plugin is really good, congratulations!

Respect 2 Finn, you're the man
really cool stuff what you made here, keep up tha good work

Hey Patchou:
you see how popular is the /xfade plugin???
you will add it to msgplus!, no????
it's great


billywoods1:

I don't think that nobody's has stolen your idea, he's only got the same idea. the gradier is something that so many people was waiting for, and, naturly, one of them (finn) do a plugin. And C++ is so easy, you can learn it so fast

This is a cool plugin thx

this is a great plugin, but i have an idea for the char limit. the only downside is the plugin would be required to see it.
i've never programmed for messenger, but would it be possible to send the /xfade command and hex codes as hidden chars to the other user, then have then interpretted client-side as they're received? if you understand what i mean? it would be less text sent, and then its just a matter of the plugin recognising the hidden chars and creating the fade.

but in that case, both Messengers, would need to have the plugin, and thats the magic of this one!

thats true, but they both need plus anyways correct? and i mean, patchou likes the plugin already...maybe in the next version it could be released with plus and then you wouldn't have to worry about the independant plugin.

that could be really cool! Patchou just have to use some ideas of millions of people (that could make their own plugins) to improve Plus! and I´m sure Finn is not against that!

exactly, and he doesn't even have to code it into plus, he can make it a "plugin pack" and the automatic installation installs it, but the custom installation has the option. That way he can list it as a 3rd party plugin pack, and still not be liable for anything going wrong. Because if he coded it into plus, i'm sure he would end up redoing everything, and we don't want plugins to make his life hell.

I've got a bit of a problem with the plugin. It works fine at my msn but when I send the .dll file to someone else and tell them what to do it doesn't work.
It only works at my cousin's msn but by two other people it doesn't ??

quote:

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Originally posted by nus
I don't think that nobody's has stolen your idea, he's only got the same idea. the gradier is something that so many people was waiting for, and, naturly, one of them (finn) do a plugin. And C++ is so easy, you can learn it so fast

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quote:

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Originally posted by 3vilboy
I've got a bit of a problem with the plugin. It works fine at my msn but when I send the .dll file to someone else and tell them what to do it doesn't work.
It only works at my cousin's msn but by two other people it doesn't ??

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What happend with this tread???

@ start it was a cool tread because off xfade
now it's getting more boring with the day!

___________________________________________________
Just download the newest version of Plus! and then download this plugin. If you have a problem it's yours and not Finns!!!
___________________________________________________
             

wouldn't it be easier just to make free fader 9 work with Messenger plus! ? i 4get the place where u can download it nut i'm sure it'll be in google. Its by Alistair D Baillie, if thats any use.
nice work Finn, looks wicked.

quote:

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Originally posted by billywoods1
I don't see how Finn couldn't have seen at least one of these programs. Everything on his plugin is in Gradier and, apart from the random fade, is in BetterName and NickEXP too. I don't mean to sound like a complete arsehole but I do get a bit annoyed. Don't take it the wrong way.

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Alright, i've been following this thread for since the start and i only have one thing to say.
Maybe Finn did see Gradier or some other program like it, but doesn't remember
On the other hand, maybe he didn't.  The point is that either way it doesn't really matter because, like you say, most people on this forum know about gradier, so they'll know that it's been done before (although not in this way) and know that the Gradier team can do it as well as Finn.
Now that i've done the totally impartial bit i'll say this:  If an idea isn't copyrighted, can it truly be stolen?
Someone thought of putting a timer in an oven, now hundreds of ovens have timers, yet none of them are stealing ideas

EDIT: And since it's open source, the boon of programming, I don't really see what harm is being done, no matter how you think about it.  Gradier was the original and has been reborn in a new form and a different name, from a different family, yet the original still continues to grow and flourish.

quote:

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Originally posted by 3vilboy
I've got a bit of a problem with the plugin. It works fine at my msn but when I send the .dll file to someone else and tell them what to do it doesn't work.
It only works at my cousin's msn but by two other people it doesn't ??

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FINN do you have any other projects??

Would it be possible to color the text on the receiving end instead of before you send the text? sending the plugin id along with the wanted colors .

quote:

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Originally posted by loconet
Would it be possible to color the text on the receiving end instead of before you send the text? sending the plugin id along with the wanted colors .

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quote:

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Originally posted by Finn

quote:

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Originally posted by loconet
Would it be possible to color the text on the receiving end instead of before you send the text? sending the plugin id along with the wanted colors .

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the problem with that is then the receiver needs the plugin..

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quote:

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Originally posted by Predatory Kangaroo
Alright, i've been following this thread for since the start and i only have one thing to say.
Maybe Finn did see Gradier or some other program like it, but doesn't remember
On the other hand, maybe he didn't.  The point is that either way it doesn't really matter because, like you say, most people on this forum know about gradier, so they'll know that it's been done before (although not in this way) and know that the Gradier team can do it as well as Finn.
Now that i've done the totally impartial bit i'll say this:  If an idea isn't copyrighted, can it truly be stolen?
Someone thought of putting a timer in an oven, now hundreds of ovens have timers, yet none of them are stealing ideas

EDIT: And since it's open source, the boon of programming, I don't really see what harm is being done, no matter how you think about it.  Gradier was the original and has been reborn in a new form and a different name, from a different family, yet the original still continues to grow and flourish.

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i've got a suggestion for this pluggin. i really like the /xnfade but i always use it as a random. can't u make a random command for this like /xrnfade, so the only thing i have to type is the number of colors.

BTW this plugin rocks

quote:

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Originally posted by dannyres
error number 2:

when i type /xfade red blue testtesttesttest.... continuously untill you can type no more messenger just exits itself... i went into the messenger log thing and found this..

2003/07/08 12:26:37 - Entering CEditCtrlWnd:nTextSend
2003/07/08 12:26:37 - Entering CEditCtrlWnd:nTextSend - 1
2003/07/08 12:26:37 - Entering CEditCtrlWnd:nTextSend - 2
catchou's documentsprogrammationmessengerplus2msgplusheditctrlwnd.cpp(980) : Assertion failed!
2003/07/08 12:26:37 - ERROR - CRT - 1 - (0) : Run-Time Check Failure #2 - Stack around the variable 'sCommand' was corrupted.
(0) : Run-Time Check Failure #2 - Stack around the variable 'sCommand' was corrupted.2003/07/08 12:26:52 -
2003/07/08 12:26:52 - ************ Messenger has been started ************


dunno if that helps but thought i would post it anyway.  I think it is a problem with xfade trying to send to much text.

Dan

EDIT: sorry about the 's.. i dont know how to ude code on this board.

EDIT #2: i got my friend to try this and he has the same problem.

EDIT #3: this only happens when you do a long word without spaces.. eg it wont crash if you type /xfade red blue test test test continuously.

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Is it possible to 'protect' your msn so that you won't see the colors? They are irritating if other people use it

I know this question may seem a bit beginner-ish since I am a beginner, but I have xFade downloaded and everything, trouble is, I have not a clue how to work it. Any help here ?

quote:

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Taken from the readme
usage is
     /xfade <colour> <colour> <text that you want coloured>

currently the colours can only be specified in hexadecimal in RRGGBB format, for example
     /xfade FF0000 00FF00 some text

will fade from red to green; some other colours in hex :-
FF0000 = bright red
00FF00 = bright green
0000FF = bright blue
000000 = black
FFFFFF = white
7f7f7f = grey
FFFF00 = yellow
FF00FF = purple
00FFFF = cyan

[...]
also instead of typing a colour in hex the following colours are now supported as words:
red
black
blue
green
white
grey
cyan
yellow
purple

eg you can do
     /xfade red green some text

[... - read everything in the readme attached]

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I know this is an old thread, but someone asked about it, and it was a pain to sort it out, so here it is again (together with some "revamped" info about the plugin):