G4P & GUI Builder new versions available

G4P 4.2
This is an exciting release in that it allows the user to embed 2D / 3D views as PeasyCam views into the main sketch. I have described these in the previous posts GView and GViewPeasyCam.

GUI Builder 4.3
This version has been designed to be used with G4P 4.2 so includes the new controls. It also fixes bugs reported since the last release.
IMPORTANT NOTICE it will not work with any GUI designed with earlier versions of GUI Builder.

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Exciting update! Thanks always @quark for all you do on G4P.

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Any way to convert builder data from 4.2 to 4.3? I have a project with a big interface (around 90 components) and it will be a pain to recreate all.

GUI Builder uses Java serialisation so if there are significant changes in GUI Builders data model then it is unlikely to be compatible with previous releases.

A change in the minor digit (second) of the version number indicates there have been significant changes in the data model so 4.3 is likely to be incompatible with the previous version 4.2.1

I say ‘is likely to be’ because sometimes the incompatibility maybe restricted to certain components so it might be that you may be lucky.

To prevent corruption of the GUI file GUI Builder only reads GUIs where the major (first) and minor (second) version number digits are the same.

So it is possible to do a fairly simple test to see if it will work with your project.

READ THE FOLLOWING FULLY AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND IT BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO APPLY IT.

If this doesn’t work you will have to reinstall GUI Builder 4.2.1 manually and possibly G4P 4.2 if you have updated that. If you are not sure how to do that then you can always continue with GUI Builder 4.2.1 until your project is finished.

  1. Load your project into Processing
  2. Use File | Save As to make a copy of the entire project.
  3. Locate the copy of your project using a file manager. Inside the project you will find a folder called GUI_BUILDER_DATA and inside that a file called gui.ser.4.2 rename this file gui.ser.4.3
  4. install the GUI Builder 4.3 and open the copied sketch, lauch GUI Builder and see if it loads the GUI.
  5. If it seems to work, then try some simple changes to the GUI. Save and close the project then reopen the project to make sure it still works. If it does all well and good else you must reinstall GUI Builder 4.2.1 and go back to the original project.

You can find previous versions of GUI Builder and G4P on Sourceforge

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Thanks for the information.
Nope. 4.3 can’t open my 4.2 file. I must redo the interface.
Would you consider to use an human-readable format for G4P builder data?
It should avoid this issues in the future - just open with a text editor and adapt the structure.

Why not stay with GUI Builder 4.2.1 and upgrade once your project is finished.

Yes I have considered XML and JSON and I have also considered completely rewriting GUI Builder since it uses Java Reflection extensively. GUI Builder uses Java Swing and I would want to use Java FX.

I will probably get around to it sometime but it is not a priority since GUI Builder rarely gets significant updates as both G4P and GUI Builder are in a mature stable state.

Also I have just started a new version of Shapes 3D, Apart from 2 or 3 classes I have totally scrapped the previous version. The new version is looking good with a more consistent and versatile API and many new features. This morning I have successfully implemented movies as textures. Still a long way to go.

After Shapes3D I will probably look at the Sprites and AI for 2D Games libraries but I might also look at GUI Builder. See what I feel like at the time.

Sorry you have to redo the interface but as I said before why not stick with GUI Builder 4.2.1 for the moment.

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(Just to understand my pain)

I guess my projects are never finished… this one I’m talking about was launched on 2017 and it keeps going.
That’s OK. When I have time I’ll update it. It’s not a priority right now.

Great news! I’m planning to use Shapes in the near future. Thank you.

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If you plan to use Shapes3D then I suggest that you wait until the next version (3.0) because everything you learn with the current version will be wasted as the new API is completely different. :grinning:

In the near future I will be posting some example sketches (pre-release) that people can play with. So watch out on this forum.

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