Csfml.pas

[drezgames]

1301

PSFML - SFML (http://www.sfml-dev.org/) (Simple Fast Multimedia Library) for Pascal

Download (https://www.dropbox.com/s/jubwo46aph6q41h/psfml.zip)

PSCML is a C/C++ library based off of CSFML to allow Pascal and other languages the ability to interact with and use the SFML library.

The purpose of PSFML is to be a better link between Pascal and SFML than CSFML was, and also fixes some issues encountered with CSFML, namely the fact that in Delphi is not able to use structs returned as function results from c/c++.

[paul_nicholls]

Nice work Jarrod :)

[drezgames]

Hi Paul,

Thx. Update with some examples coming soon. So I can test and make sure I got everything just right.

[code_glitch]

Wow - I've seen sfml used to great effect in Ludum dare compos. Have you been in touch with the SFML devs to have it listed on their site? It'd be an asset to them to have an extra language be supported after all, and I'll be looking forward to those examples to see if SFML is something I will be picking up in future :D

[drezgames]

Hi, yea SFML is cool. Its was certainly easier to compile the C/C++ sources vs the others I've tried. It coded/structured in a style similar to my own which makes it also easier for me to work with and way easier to import and use in my project. I am working on the examples, but having a bit of a problem with the event structure:


typedef union
{
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Member data
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
sfEventType type; ///< Type of the event
sfSizeEvent size;
sfKeyEvent key;
sfTextEvent text;
sfMouseMoveEvent mouseMove;
sfMouseButtonEvent mouseButton;
sfMouseWheelEvent mouseWheel;
sfJoystickMoveEvent joystickMove;
sfJoystickButtonEvent joystickButton;
sfJoystickConnectEvent joystickConnect;
} sfEvent;

Here is the delphi version of this that I have:


{ TsfEvent }
TsfEvent = record
case Integer of
0: (cType : TsfEventType);
1: (size : TsfSizeEvent);
2: (key : TsfKeyEvent);
3: (text : TsfTextEvent);
4: (mouseMove : TsfMouseMoveEvent);
5: (mouseButton : TsfMouseButtonEvent);
6: (mouseWheel : TsfMouseWheelEvent);
7: (joystickMove : TsfJoystickMoveEvent);
8: (joystickButton : TsfJoystickButtonEvent);
9: (joystickConnect: TsfJoystickConnectEvent);
end;

ctype, and size are returning values, but for some reason key is not. I've checked and rechecked the structure, alignment, etc. Not sure what the problems is at the moment. key.code is always zero but the sfEvtKeyPressed event is returned, just not the key code value. Is there anything wrong with this structure?

[code_glitch]

Hmm, I'm on linux and debugging under wine doesnt really appeal to me. Would it be possible to get the source for a test app of some description? I should have time to play with it tomorrow if you're still having trouble with it.

[drezgames]

Hi, sure here ya go: cfml2_testbed (https://www.dropbox.com/s/phvkqgtk1e8i0ue/csfml2_testbed.zip). Thanks. At the moment I am at a lost as to why keyboard event codes are not returning properly. If I set it to some value before the poll event call, afterwards its always set to ZERO (which is sfKeyA in the enum structure). Also included is an updated cfml2.pas file.

UPDATE: Alright, I think I found the problem. Turns out the enum size was causing the problem. It needs to be: {$MINENUMSIZE 4}. So I will get the header fixed up now, make some examples and push up a new version soon.

[code_glitch]

Hey there piradyne - took the liberty of modifying your header so it plays nice on linux and with the default library layout. I stuck in a tar.gz up here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yiv2r0m13j6i3ss/pascal_csfml_2.tar.gz

I put the testbed program in it too along with the assets it needs. I should point out the .so files in there are for csfml2 for 64 bit gcc. If you're on a 32 bit box - you're going to want to replace 'em for the appropriate versions.

And a quick screenie of everything working more or less as it should: 1302

Edit: Almost forgot to look at this keyboard problem... Be right back with an update once I have that nailed :D

Edit2: Solved it! :D



type
TsfKeyCode = longword;


And in the testbed:


writeln('KeyCode: ',SwapEndian(event.key.code));


It has an offset of 1 but I guess you can't get everything ;) XD

[code_glitch]

So, quick update with everything working... Albeit with a bit of a kludge - if anyone has a way to do this properly please do chime in. What I've done is this:

Header:


function bad_sfRenderWindow_pollEvent(renderWindow: PsfRenderWindow; event: PsfEvent): Boolean; cdecl; external CSFML2_LIB_GRAPHICS; external name 'sfRenderWindow_pollEvent';
function sfRenderWindow_pollEvent(renderWindow: PsfRenderWindow; event: PsfEvent): Boolean; Overload;


And in the implementation section:


function sfRenderWindow_pollEvent(renderWindow: PsfRenderWindow; event: PsfEvent): Boolean;

begin
sfRenderWindow_pollEvent := bad_sfRenderWindow_pollEvent(renderWindow, event);
event^.key.code := SwapEndian(event^.key.code) + 1;
end;


And now the testbed works flawlessly on my system :) I've bundled it all up so if you're on a 64 bit linux system - see here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0x4krmxbdehf26/pascal_csfml2_keyboardfixed.tar.gz

Having seen the testbed code - I'm quite tempted to pick this up as an API for some really quick n dirty development (ala ludum dare :D) nice work piradyne :D

Edit/Disclaimer: for my 'kludge' to work, 32 bit users may have to change from longword to a 32 bit equivalent. And systems with a different endian-ness may need to remove the swapendian call... But hey - I don't have my username for no reason at all ;)

[drezgames]

Ahh cool. In the updated header I had changed the types to enum and set the min enum size to 4 which solved the keycode issue on my end (at least for delphi). The next problem (there is always a problem, haha) is how Delphi handles function result for a structure. I found this reference:
http://rvelthuis.de/articles/articles-convert.html (go down to the return types section)

If you call any of the routines that return a record value you will find that they do not work.... Arrrrrrrg! I've been trying to sort this out using the advance in that article but to no avail. The problem is that (at least in Delphi XE6) it simply will not let you type cast the Int64 type to anything ... other than a record that just so happens to be the same size as the Int64.... freaking Arrrrrg! So the sfVectorXXX types will work fine using this methods, but any other structure larger than Int64, Delphi will just say "invalid typecast". I have not tested this on any other Pascal compiler so not sure if it will be a problem say on FPC or not. But, code_glitch if you can check this it would be much appreciated.

The only solution that I know of is the change the signature of the routines on the c side. I really do not want to have to do this which then means I have more work to keep them up to date and then the same for all the other platforms. Oh my... what started out a looking like a fast and simple solution is turning into a small nightmare... Such as life however... good times, good times. Haha.

[drezgames]

Alrighty then... looks like I will have to make necessary changes to the function signatures to NOT return c structs. So it's not a simple matter of "hooking" to existing DLLs or just recompiling the CSFML sources from the sfml site. I'm having to make some important changes to the code base to make it all work. It will be a little more time before the latest round of changes are completed... maybe another day or so. Because the DLL is being changed to work better with Pascal, I will rename it to PSFML.PAS. I finally was able to get the OGL spinning cube thingy to work. And now... the mission continues....

code_glitch... thanks bro for your help. Maybe you can help me figure out how to get the code base compiled for Linux and OSX at some point.

[code_glitch]

Sure thing and keep up the great work. Not sure about OS X since I've never properly coded for it but Linux shouldn't be a problem :) Just let me know when you have your headers in a state here you'd want them to go cross platform :)

[drezgames]

Phew! Finally.... I got the thing finished. I put up a new build. See link in first post. As been stated, the problem with the original CSFML c bindings was that they returned direct c struct from a lot of the routines. The problem with Delphi for example is that it can not handle struct returned as function results from languages like c. It will simply ignore them. As a result, I had to make a special version that would play nice with Delphi and other similar languages.

At the moment, the psfml dll is for win32 and psfml.pas has been tested with Delphi only. I made this for use in a project that I am working so at the moment it suites my needs. If others are interested maybe we can work together and get it tested with say FPC. I want to also get the dll built for Linux and MacOS. So I welcome the help and feedback. I think I got all of the routine fixed up, but I may have missed some. Look for any routine that has a struct param or return one. All structs should be passed/received as a pointer.

Enjoy!

[SesillaAndromeda]

Hi Jarrod,

is possile to use it on iOS or Android?

Thanks
Sesilla

[drezgames]

Hi,

According to this post:
http://en.sfml-dev.org/forums/index.php?topic=13716.0

sfml can be used with android/iOS... so that part is covered. However, it will be a while until PSFML can be used there... i.e.... i need to figure out how to get it compiled for those platforms. It is on the radar, just OSX and Linux will most likely come first.

All this stuff... is waaay overly complicated. Just look at what you must do to get stuff compiled and working on different platforms. I just hate all these complexities. It's got to be easier, jeez. I almost went insane trying get the c/c++ code compiled for windows. Linux and OSX will be even more thorny spikes, haha.

I'm working on a project that, hopefully if I can get it done... will be a lot easier to use across different platforms.