I have got some great test svg files and some very helpful user feedback. This lead to the following improvements in Ab2d.ReaderSvg:

• Added AutoSize property. If its value is true (default - as previous version) the size of returned Canvas is calculated from the size of objects it contains. This is useful if you do not care whether the objects were drawn on the Letter or A4 page - you just need the returned object to be as big as its containg objects. If AutoSize is false the size defined in svg element is used for the size of returned Canvas. This is useful if you were working on a Letter page and would like to preserve the positions of objects inside the Letter area.
• Improved measuring of objects when AutoSize is true (now transformed elements are correctly measured).
• Improved ellipse - before svg ellipse was converted into Path WPF element - now it is converted into Ellipse WPF element
• Added reading elements inside svg link element (before the whole element was skipped). Linking is not supported, but its content is now rendered.
• Added support for underline and line-through text decorations.
• Improved processing of text and tspan svg elements.
• Added help file.

The ViewerSvg has been also improved to support new AutoSize property. Now it also has an automatic error reporting - when an exception occurs in ViewerSvg or Ab2d.ReaderSvg, user can now submit error information to help resolve the problems.

The new automatic error reporting is now part of new Paste2Xaml as well.

To install the new version, download the installer from my Downloads page and simply install it over the previous version (no need to uninstall).

As promised I have published a source code for Animated 3D buttons that were used in previous version of Viewer3ds.

The sample shows how to create 3D buttons that are animated when mouse moves over them. Under the buttons there is a nice reflection of the buttons. The models for the buttons are defined in 3ds files and read with Ab3d.Reader3ds.

The sample is now part of the samples that come with Reader3ds installation.

It is also possible to download the sample alone from here (note that Ab3d.Reader3ds have to be installed on the system).

The previous version or Ab3d.Reader3ds did not work with WPF Browser applications (XBAP). Because WPF Browser applications are running inside a partially trusted environment, the licensing code could not read the license or evaluation information. The new version overcomes this by embedding the information into the applications resources. To do this a license.licx file needs to be added to WPF Browser application's project and its build action should be set to Embedded resource (also for evaluation version).

This is the list of changes for v5.2:

• Added support for using Ab3d.Reader3ds in WPF Browser applications (partially trusted).
• Fixed problems with evaluation version with SmoothingGroups - sometimes "Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection." was thrown.
• Fixed reading some 3ds files with animation - sometimes "System.OutOfMemoryException" was thrown.

For convenience I have also included samples for VS 2008 into the installer (besides VS 2008 solution).

The new version is available on https://www.ab4d.com/Downloads.aspx.

Ab2d.ReaderSvg library has been improved.

The list of changes is not long. I needed some new functionality for importing text. The previous version has also some problems with importing rectangles. This is a list of changes for version 2.2:

• Added support for FontWeight and Italic FontStyle.
• Added support for Rotate in Tspan (for Text on Path).
• Fixed fill and stroke brush for Rectangle element.
• Removed RunWithDeveloperLicense Dialog (shown when commercial license is installed, but the application did not have an embedded license.licx file).

The new version is available on https://www.ab4d.com/ReaderSvg.aspx.

Everyone who has already tried the new version of Viewer3ds knows what I mean. The application just did not start!

During the final testing a wrong version of Viewer3ds "smuggled" into my installer project. Because I have already done extensive Viewer3ds testing, I did not test it again. What a mistake! The installer contained a version of Viewer3ds that required a wrong version of Reader3ds.

Luckily the new Viewer3ds has an error reporting system, so I could act quickly.

The fixed version is already available on https://www.ab4d.com/Viewer3ds.aspx. It was actually already available on 31th December 2008, but because of a New Year celebration I did not have time to write a message about it.

I must admit that the past few releases were not very good. Every release had some problems. I am already using a unit testing, but still there is place for error. I was also quite under pressure, because I have to release new versions for all the products before the previous version expired. With the releases still to come I will have more time for additional testing. So they should be less buggy.

The only thing left to say is:

Happy New Year 2009!

Finally my firstly published application, Viewer3ds, got a major update. The Ab3d.Reader3ds library was also updated.

The previous version of Viewer3ds was really old. More than 2 years old! The main problem with Viewer3ds was that it was using an embedded Ab3d.Reader3ds library for importing 3ds file. This meant that the updates of Ab3d.Reader3ds and many new features that were introduced did not have any effect on the Viewer3ds.

The new version of Viewer3ds does not have an embedded Reader3ds, so the currently available version is used.

The application now also supports many new features. For example:

• The objects hierarchy is displayed in a tree view. It displays names of the objects that were defined in a 3D modeling applications. So when the exported xaml is used in your application, you can know which names to use to access the objects.
• All the 3D objects can be renamed (or given a name if a name was not specified).
• If the 3ds file contains an animation, it can be played with Viewer3ds. A selected frame can be exported to xaml.
• It is possible to export only selected objects (besides exporting all objects).
• Camera can be freely rotated around the read objects (select Free Camera in Cameras Panel).
• Lights can be turned on and off. A camera light that shines in the direction of the camera can be added to the scene (in case the scene does not contain any light).
• There are many options on how to load the 3ds file. For example it is possible to disable transparencies, control the shading of objects, etc.

As you have probably noticed from the screenshot above, the user interface is completely changed. It is now similar to ViewerSvg and Paste2Xaml. The process of user interface unification will eventually lead to a single application that could be used for all the supported file types. I also plan to include some great new features (but will not let you reveal my plans :)

Some of you will probably miss the 3D buttons that were used in the old Viewer3ds. No need to worry. I am going to prepare a sample with the same 3D buttons. It will be available with full source code so you could add the same functionality to your applications.

The Ab3d.Reader3ds library also had some improvements and bug fixes:

• Fixed bug when reading spot lights.
• Fixed Null reference exception when setting Default Material.
• When applying smoothing groups or smooth shading, the texture coordinates are also remapped (before textures were not applied correctly).
• Using new licensing model with improved evaluation. The new version has no fixed expiration date - instead library can be installed for a 60 days evaluation.

The new version is available from https://www.ab4d.com/Viewer3ds.aspx.

I am happy to announce that the new version of ViewerSvg and Ab2d.ReaderSvg is available.

The new Ab2d.ReaderSvg library is now even better. The following is a list of new features and improvements:

• Fixed resolving external references in svgz files.
• Fixed positioning bitmap images.
• Adjusted LinearGradientBrush to show correctly in WPF.
• Added support for MappingMode in LinearGradientBrush.
• Added reading elements inside switch element (before switch was skipped).
• Improved evaluation mode.

ViewerSvg application has also been improved. Now it is using my ZoomPanel.

Most of the improvements are based on great user feedback. I am grateful for it. So if you find any file that is not read correctly you are most welcome to upload it on my Feedback page.

Unfortunately I did not have time to implement support for Geometry and its optimization as it is done in Ab2d.ReaderSvg. But this feature is very high on my priority list and will be surely implemented soon.

The new version is available from https://www.ab4d.com/ViewerSvg.aspx.