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• A generic error in GDI+ with ToolStrip in ManagerRenderMode

  - by volody

  I have a vb.net form with ToolStrip menu RenderMode - ManagerRenderMode LayoutStyle - HorizontalStackWithOverflow My development environment is .net 4.0, VS2010, windows 7 x64; but occasionally I am getting next error A generic error occurred in GDI+. Stacktrace: at System.Drawing.Graphics.CheckErrorStatus(Int32 status) at System.Drawing.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brush brush, Int32 x, Int32 y, Int32 width, Int32 height) at System.Drawing.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brush brush, Rectangle rect) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripProfessionalRenderer.FillWithDoubleGradient(Color beginColor, Color middleColor, Color endColor, Graphics g, Rectangle bounds, Int32 firstGradientWidth, Int32 secondGradientWidth, LinearGradientMode mode, Boolean flipHorizontal) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripProfessionalRenderer.RenderToolStripBackgroundInternal(ToolStripRenderEventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripProfessionalRenderer.OnRenderToolStripBackground(ToolStripRenderEventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripRenderer.DrawToolStripBackground(ToolStripRenderEventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnPaintBackground(PaintEventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintWithErrorHandling(PaintEventArgs e, Int16 layer) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmPaint(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

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• Unable to load images into each MC?

  - by Hwang

  The images only loads into the last MC, how to make it load into each MC? private function imageHandler():void { imageBox=new MovieClip(); imageBox.graphics.lineStyle(5, 0xFFFFFF); imageBox.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000); imageBox.graphics.drawRect(0,0,150,225); imageBox.graphics.endFill(); allImage.addChild(imageBox); } private function getPhoto():void { for (i=0; i<myXMLList.length(); i++) { placePhoto(); imageHandler(); imagesArray.push(imageBox); imagesArray[i].x=20+(200*i); } addChild(allImage); allImage.x=-(allImage.width+20); allImage.y=-(allImage.height+50); } private function placePhoto():void { loadedPic=myXMLList[i].@PIC; galleryLoader = new Loader(); galleryLoader.load(new URLRequest(loadedPic)); galleryLoader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,picLoaded); } private function picLoaded(event:Event):void { bmp=new Bitmap(event.target.content.bitmapData); bmp.smoothing=true; imageBox.addChild(bmp); }

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• WatiN NativeElement.GetElementBounds() - What is the unit of measurement?

  - by Brian Schroer

  When I'm testing with WatiN, I like to save screenshots. Sometimes I don't really need a picture of the whole browser window though - I just want a picture of the element that I'm testing. My attempt to save a picture of an element with the code below resulted in a picture of a block box, because elementBounds.Top points to a pixel position way past the bottom of the screen. The elementBounds.Width and .Height values also appear to be about half what they should be. Is this a WatiN bug, or are these properties in a different unit of measure that I have to convert to pixels somehow? public static void SaveElementScreenshot (WatiN.Core.IE ie, WatiN.Core.Element element, string screenshotPath) { ScrollIntoView(ie, element); ie.BringToFront(); var ieClass = (InternetExplorerClass) ie.InternetExplorer; Rectangle elementBounds = element.NativeElement.GetElementBounds(); int left = ieClass.Left + elementBounds.Left; int top = ieClass.Top + elementBounds.Top; int width = elementBounds.Width; int height = elementBounds.Height; using (var bitmap = new Bitmap(width, height)) { using (Graphics graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap)) { graphics.CopyFromScreen (new Point(left, top), Point.Empty, new Size(width, height)); } bitmap.Save(screenshotPath, ImageFormat.Jpeg); } }

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• Getting each loaded image

  - by Hwang

  The images only loads into the last MC, how to make it load into each MC? private function imageHandler():void { imageBox=new MovieClip(); imageBox.graphics.lineStyle(5, 0xFFFFFF); imageBox.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000); imageBox.graphics.drawRect(0,0,150,225); imageBox.graphics.endFill(); allImage.addChild(imageBox); } private function getPhoto():void { for (i=0; i<myXMLList.length(); i++) { placePhoto(); imageHandler(); imagesArray.push(imageBox); imagesArray[i].x=20+(200*i); } addChild(allImage); allImage.x=-(allImage.width+20); allImage.y=-(allImage.height+50); } private function placePhoto():void { loadedPic=myXMLList[i].@PIC; galleryLoader = new Loader(); galleryLoader.load(new URLRequest(loadedPic)); galleryLoader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,picLoaded); } private function picLoaded(event:Event):void { var bmpD=event.target.content.bitmapData for (j; j<myXMLList.length(); j++) { bmp=new Bitmap(bmpD); bmp.smoothing=true; bmp.name="bmp"+j; imagesArray[j].addChild(bmp); } }

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• Java Swing NullPointerException when drawing

  - by juFo

  I'm using a custom JLayeredPane. I have several Shapes which needed to be drawn on different layers in the JLayeredPane. To test this I create a JPanel and ask its graphics. Then I draw a test rectangle on that JPanel (preparing the graphics) and in my paintComponent method from the JLayeredPane I finally draw everything. But this fails (NullPointerException). public class MyCustomPanel extends JLayeredPane { // test JPanel testpane; Graphics g2; // test // constructor public MyCustomPanel() { testpane = new JPanel(); this.add(testpane, new Integer(14)); g2 = testpane.getGraphics(); } @Override public void paintComponent(Graphics g) { super.paintComponent(g); g2.drawRect(10, 10, 300, 300); } } // run: //Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.NullPointerException // at view.MyCustomPanel.paintComponent(MyCustomPanel.java:65) Why can't I draw on such a JPanel from within my JLayeredPane? I can draw directly on my JLayeredPane from within my paintComponent method but that's on the default Panel from the JLayeredPane. I need to create and draw on several layers which are added in my JLayeredPane. What am I doing wrong? :s

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• iphone certain PDFs rendering as black image

  - by skantner

  I'm trying to draw the pages of a PDF using the code below. Some PDF's render correctly, but others simply show as a completely black image, or have partial portions rendered and the rest black. In comparing what's going on, the ones that show OK seem to have always have "regular" text in them along with some graphics (diagrams, etc.), while the ones that come out black are typically all graphics (like a page of sheet music, for example). Can anyone point me in the right direction on this? I building this on the new 3.2 SDK. Thanks! // PDF page drawing expects a Lower-Left coordinate system, so we flip the coordinate system // before we start drawing. CGContextTranslateCTM(context, 0.0, self.bounds.size.height); CGContextScaleCTM(context, 1.0, -1.0); // Grab the first PDF page CGPDFPageRef page = CGPDFDocumentGetPage(myPDF, pageNo); // We're about to modify the context CTM to draw the PDF page where we want it, so save the graphics state in case we want to do more drawing CGContextSaveGState(context); // CGPDFPageGetDrawingTransform provides an easy way to get the transform for a PDF page. It will scale down to fit, including any // base rotations necessary to display the PDF page correctly. CGAffineTransform pdfTransform = CGPDFPageGetDrawingTransform(page, kCGPDFCropBox, self.bounds, 0, true); // And apply the transform. CGContextConcatCTM(context, pdfTransform); // Finally, we draw the page and restore the graphics state for further manipulations! CGContextDrawPDFPage(context, page); CGContextRestoreGState(context);

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• C# : changing listbox row color?

  - by Meko

  HI. I am trying to changing backround colorof some rows on listbox.I have 2 list that one has all names and it shown on listbox.And second list has some same value with first list.I want to show that when clicking button it will search in listbox and in second list then will change color where found value. I may search in list box like for (int i = 0; i < listBox1.Items.Count; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < students.Count; j++) if (listBox1.Items[i].ToString().Contains(students[j].ToString())) { } } But I don't know which method to change appearances of row.Any help? *EDIT: * HI I made my code like private void ListBox1_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e) { e.DrawBackground(); Graphics g = e.Graphics; Brush myBrush = Brushes.Black; Brush myBrush2 = Brushes.Red; g.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.Silver), e.Bounds); e.Graphics.DrawString(listBox1.Items[e.Index].ToString(), e.Font, myBrush, e.Bounds, StringFormat.GenericDefault); for (int i = 0; i < listBox1.Items.Count; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < existingStudents.Count; j++) if (listBox1.Items[i].ToString().Contains(existingStudents[j])) { e.Graphics.DrawString(listBox1.Items[i].ToString(), e.Font, myBrush2, e.Bounds, StringFormat.GenericDefault); } } e.DrawFocusRectangle(); } Now it draws my list on listbox.But when I click button first it shows only student that in list with red color but when I click on listbox it again draws all elements.I want that it will show all element ,when I click button it will show all elements and founded element in list with red color.Whre is my mistake?

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• Capturing window image in windows server 2008

  - by Sergey Osypchuk

  I am capturing output of windows program using following function: public static Bitmap Get(IntPtr hWnd, int X1, int Y1, int width, int height) { WINDOWINFO winInfo = new WINDOWINFO(); bool ret = GetWindowInfo(hWnd, ref winInfo); if (!ret) { return null; } int curheight = height; if (curheight <= 0 || curheight > winInfo.rcWindow.Height) curheight = winInfo.rcWindow.Height; int curwidth = width; if (curwidth <= 0 || curwidth > winInfo.rcWindow.Width) curwidth = winInfo.rcWindow.Width; if (curheight == 0 || curwidth == 0) return null; Graphics frmGraphics = Graphics.FromHwnd(hWnd); IntPtr hDC = GetWindowDC(hWnd); //gets the entire window //IntPtr hDC = frmGraphics.GetHdc(); -- gets the client area, no menu bars, etc.. System.Drawing.Bitmap tmpBitmap = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(curwidth, curheight, frmGraphics); Graphics bmGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(tmpBitmap); IntPtr bmHdc = bmGraphics.GetHdc(); BitBlt(bmHdc, 0, 0, curwidth, curheight, hDC, X1, Y1, TernaryRasterOperations.SRCCOPY); bmGraphics.ReleaseHdc(bmHdc); ReleaseDC(hWnd, hDC); return tmpBitmap; } On Development environment everything is excellent, but on windows server 2008 I have following issues: 1) When there is other window in front my - it is getting captured as well 2) When there is no user connected to RDC - image is black On other hand, I am able to render webpage images using IE. How I can change behaviour of windows rendering process to get proper results?

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• flash creates more than one http request

  - by MilanAleksic

  We are facing one issue directly connected with our Flash API we've given to a 3rd party flash vendor. To make a long story short, our API basically wraps domain logic on client and creates a single POST request towards the server in JSON format. All will be ok except in combination MacOS + Safari we receive double requests on server (?). Even more interesting, we are receiving different agent names - one is expected name/decriptor of the browser and system, other is "CFNetwork". POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 Mozilla/5.0+(Macintosh;+U;+Intel+Mac+OS+X+10_4_11;+fr)+AppleWebKit/531.22.7+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/4.0.5+Safari/531.22.7 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 CFNetwork/129.24 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 Mozilla/5.0+(Macintosh;+U;+Intel+Mac+OS+X+10_4_11;+fr)+AppleWebKit/531.22.7+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/4.0.5+Safari/531.22.7 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 Mozilla/5.0+(Macintosh;+U;+Intel+Mac+OS+X+10_4_11;+fr)+AppleWebKit/531.22.7+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/4.0.5+Safari/531.22.7 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 CFNetwork/129.24 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 Mozilla/5.0+(Macintosh;+U;+Intel+Mac+OS+X+10_4_11;+fr)+AppleWebKit/531.22.7+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Version/4.0.5+Safari/531.22.7 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 CFNetwork/129.24 200 0 0 POST /RuntimeDelegate.ashx - 80 CFNetwork/129.24 200 0 0 Has anyone encounter anything like this before?

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• image not loading

  - by Delirium tremens

  trying to run the code // Create a label with an image Image image = new Image(display, "interspatial.gif"); Label imageLabel = new Label(shell, SWT.NONE); imageLabel.setImage(image); is giving me the error message Exception in thread "main" org.eclipse.swt.SWTException: i/o error (java.io.FileNotFoundException: interspatial.gif (O sistema não pode encontrar o arquivo especificado)) at org.eclipse.swt.SWT.error(Unknown Source) at org.eclipse.swt.SWT.error(Unknown Source) at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.ImageLoader.load(Unknown Source) at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.ImageDataLoader.load(Unknown Source) at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.ImageData.<init>(Unknown Source) at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Image.<init>(Unknown Source) at examples.ch5.LabelExample.main(LabelExample.java:31) Caused by: java.io.FileNotFoundException: interspatial.gif (O sistema não pode encontrar o arquivo especificado) at java.io.FileInputStream.open(Native Method) at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:106) at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:66) at org.eclipse.swt.internal.Compatibility.newFileInputStream(Unknown Source) ... 5 more Additional information: In Eclipse, I had expanded Chapter05, then examples.ch5, then right-clicked LabelExample.java, then chose Run As, then 1 Java Application. I tried placing interspatial.gif in the Chapter05 dir, the examples dir, the ch5 dir and the images dir (probably related to an other source code from the same chapter). There is "a package examples.ch5;" line in the beginning of the file. Why is the image not loading?

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• Vertex Buffers in opengl

  - by JB

  I'm making a small 3d graphics game/demo for personal learning. I know d3d9 and quite a bit about d3d11 but little about opengl at the moment so I'm intending to abstract out the actual rendering of the graphics so that my scene graph and everything "above" it needs to know little about how to actually draw the graphics. I intend to make it work with d3d9 then add d3d11 support and finally opengl support. Just as a learning exercise to learn about 3d graphics and abstraction. I don't know much about opengl at this point though, and don't want my abstract interface to expose anything that isn't simple to implement in opengl. Specifically I'm looking at vertex buffers. In d3d they are essentially an array of structures, but looking at the opengl interface the equivalent seems to be vertex arrays. However these seem to be organised rather differently where you need a separate array for vertices, one for normals, one for texture coordinates etc and set the with glVertexPointer, glTexCoordPointer etc. I was hoping to be able to implement a VertexBuffer interface much like the the directx one but it looks like in d3d you have an array of structures and in opengl you need a separate array for each element which makes finding a common abstraction quite hard to make efficient. Is there any way to use opengl in a similar way to directx? Or any suggestions on how to come up with a higher level abstraction that will work efficiently with both systems?

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• How come drawing this line at (0,0) doesn't really draw it at (0,0)?

  - by George Edison

  I have this ActionScript code here: package { import flash.display.Sprite; import flash.display.LineScaleMode; import flash.display.CapsStyle; import flash.display.JointStyle; import flash.display.Shape; import flash.events.Event; public class Main extends Sprite { private var lines:Shape; public function Main():void { if (stage) init(); else addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init); } private function init(e:Event = null):void { removeEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, init); // entry point lines = new Shape(); addChild(lines); lines.graphics.clear(); lines.graphics.lineStyle(10, 0x000000); lines.graphics.moveTo(0, 0); lines.graphics.lineTo(stage.stageWidth, stage.stageHeight); } } } What I'm expecting this to do is to draw a line from one corner of the screen to the other... but that's not what it does. See here.

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• How to give a textbox a fixed width of 17,5 cm?

  - by Natrium

  I have an application with a textbox, and the width of the textbox on the screen must always be 17,5 centimeters on the screen of the user. This is what I tried so far: const double centimeter = 17.5; // the width I need const double inches = centimeter * 0.393700787; // convert centimeter to inches float dpi = GetDpiX(); // get the dpi. 96 in my case. var pixels = dpi*inches; // this should give me the amount of pixels textbox1.Width = Convert.ToInt32(pixels); // set it. Done. private float GetDpiX() { floar returnValue; Graphics graphics = CreateGraphics(); returnValue = graphics.DpiX; graphics.Dispose(); // don’t forget to release the unnecessary resources return returnValue; } But this gives me different sizes with different resolutions. It gives me 13 cm with 1680 x 1050 and 19,5 cm with 1024 x 768. What am I doing wrong?

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• how to make the printer window appear using vb.net 2010

  - by Jeline Esase

  hi I have this code that will send my panel into a printer but the problem is it doesent let me choose which printer I will use any idea on how can I make the printer window appear? thanks Public Class Form1 Dim img As Bitmap Dim WithEvents pd As PrintDocument 'Returns the Form as a bitmap Function CaptureForm1() As Bitmap Dim g1 As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics() Dim MyImage = New Bitmap(Me.ClientRectangle.Width, (Me.ClientRectangle.Height), g1) Dim g2 As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(MyImage) Dim dc1 As IntPtr = g1.GetHdc() Dim dc2 As IntPtr = g2.GetHdc() BitBlt(dc2, 0, 0, Me.ClientRectangle.Width, (Me.ClientRectangle.Height), dc1, 0, 0, 13369376) g1.ReleaseHdc(dc1) g2.ReleaseHdc(dc2) 'saves image to c drive just, u can comment it also 'MyImage.Save("c:\abc.bmp") Return MyImage End Function <DllImport("gdi32.DLL", EntryPoint:="BitBlt", _ SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode, _ ExactSpelling:=True, _ CallingConvention:=CallingConvention.StdCall)> _ Private Shared Function BitBlt(ByVal hdcDest As IntPtr, ByVal nXDest As Integer, ByVal nYDest As Integer, ByVal nWidth As Integer, ByVal nHeight As Integer, ByVal hdcSrc As IntPtr, ByVal nXSrc As Integer, ByVal nYSrc As Integer, ByVal dwRop As System.Int32) As Boolean ' Leave function empty - DLLImport attribute forwards calls to MoveFile to ' MoveFileW in KERNEL32.DLL. End Function Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click img = CaptureForm1() pd = New PrintDocument pd.Print() End Sub 'this method will be called each time when pd.printpage event occurs Sub pd_PrintPage(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As PrintPageEventArgs) Handles pd.PrintPage Dim x As Integer = e.MarginBounds.X Dim y As Integer = e.MarginBounds.Y e.Graphics.DrawImage(img, x, y) e.HasMorePages = False End Sub End Class

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• certain BitMapData types dont work in a beginBitmapFill() method.

  - by numerical25

  Say I loaded a bitMap into a bitmapData type called tileImage. tileImage = Bitmap(loader.content).bitmapData; say I decided to add that bitmap into a sprite like below this.graphics.beginBitmapFill(tileImage ); this.graphics.drawRect(0, 0,tWidth ,tHeight ); It would of course work. But say If I decided to add tileImage into a another bitMapData type like below var tImage:BitmapData = new BitmapData(30,30); tImage.copyPixels(tileImage,tRect,tPoint); and I then added tImage to my sprite this.graphics.beginBitmapFill(tImage); this.graphics.drawRect(0, 0,tWidth ,tHeight ); I then get the following error ArgumentError: Error #2015: Invalid BitmapData. tRect and tPoint are all predefined and set. tRect x and y are 0,0 and the width and height are 30x30. tPoint is 0,0 as well. Yes I understand that this is a very brief explanation but I wanted to elaborate that a bitMapdata type that has its data from the copypixel method does not work with beginBitmapFill. but a varible that gets its data straigt from the source, does. One works, and one doesnt, yet they are both the same data types. why is this ?

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• C# image drawing colours are incorrect

  - by Jon Tackabury

  I have a source bitmap that is 1x1 and I am trying to take that image and draw it to a new bitmap. The source bitmap is all red, but for some reason the new bitmap ends up with a gradient (see image). Using the code below, shouldn't the new bitmap be completely red? Where is it getting the white/alpha from? private void DrawImage() { Bitmap bmpSOURCE = new Bitmap(1, 1, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bmpSOURCE)) { g.Clear(Color.Red); } Bitmap bmpTest = new Bitmap(300, 100, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bmpTest)) { g.CompositingMode = CompositingMode.SourceCopy; g.CompositingQuality = CompositingQuality.AssumeLinear; g.InterpolationMode = InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic; g.PageUnit = GraphicsUnit.Pixel; g.PixelOffsetMode = PixelOffsetMode.None; g.SmoothingMode = SmoothingMode.None; Rectangle rectDest = new Rectangle(0, 0, bmpTest.Width, bmpTest.Height); Rectangle rectSource = new Rectangle(0, 0, 1, 1); g.DrawImage(bmpSOURCE, rectDest, rectSource, GraphicsUnit.Pixel); } pictureBox1.Image = bmpTest; }

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• own drawImage / drawLine in OpenGL

  - by Chrise

  I'm implementing some native 2D-draw functions in my graphics engine for android, but now there's another question coming up, when I observe the performance of my program. At the moment I'm implementing a drawLine/drawImage function. In summary, there are following different values for drawing each different line / image: the color the alpha value the width of the line rotation (only for images) size/scale (also for images) blending method (subrtract, add, normal-alpha) Now, when an imageLine is drawn, I put the CPU-calculated vertex-positions and uv-values for 6 vertices (2 triangles), into a Floatbuffer and draw it immediately with drawArrays, after passing information for drawing (color,alpha, etc.) via uniforms to the shader. When I draw an image, the pre-set VBO is directly drawn after passing information. The first fact I recognized, is: of course drawing Images is much faster, than imagelines (beacuse of VBOs), but also: I cannot pre-put vertex-data into a VBO for imageLines, because imageLines have no static shape like normal images (varying linelength, varying linewidth and the vertex positions of x1,y1 and x2,y2 change too often) That's why I use a normal Floatbuffer, instead of a VBO. So my question is: What's the best way for managing images, and other 2D-graphics functions. For me it's some kind of important, that the user of the engine is able to draw as many images/2D graphics as possible, without loosing to much performance. You can find the functions for drawing images, imagelines, rects, quads, etc. here: https://github.com/Chrise55/LLama3D/blob/master/Llama3DLibrary/src/com/llama3d/object/graphics/image/ImageBase.java Here an example how it looks with many images (testing artificial neural networks), it works fine, but already little bit slow with that many images... :(

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• Trouble managing events in Flex/actionscript

  - by Zaka

  Hello all, I'm doing some newbie tests, so I decided to capture the keyboard events to move a rectangle. But I don't get the desired result. Unless I click on the TextArea box, I'm not able to capture the event key code. After that, all goes pretty well. I'm using Eclipse 3.3 + Flex 3.0 on Linux. Here's my code: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute" enterFrame="enterFrame(event)" keyDown="onKeyDown(event)"> <mx:TextArea id="myText" x="200" y="200" width="100" height="100" /> <mx:Canvas id="myCanvas" x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100" /> <mx:Script> <![CDATA[ public var clearColor : uint = 0xFF456798; public var myPoint : Point = new Point(0,0); public function enterFrame(event:Event):void { myCanvas.graphics.clear(); myCanvas.graphics.beginFill(0xFF344ff0); myCanvas.graphics.drawRect(myPoint.x,myPoint.y,40,40); myCanvas.graphics.endFill(); } public function onKeyDown(event:KeyboardEvent):void { myText.text = "Keycode is: " + event.keyCode + "\n"; switch(event.keyCode) { case 37: //Left myPoint.x -= 1; break; case 38: //Up myPoint.y -= 1; break; case 39: //Right myPoint.x += 1; break; case 40: //Down myPoint.y += 1; break; } } ]]> </mx:Script> </mx:Application>

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• Blackberry UI tool bar : fields alignment

  - by Galaxy

  i am developing custom toolbar manager, but i want to adjust the fields alignment to be centered not aligned to the left , any advice below is the code of toolbar package galaxy.bb.ui.container; import net.rim.device.api.ui.Color; import net.rim.device.api.ui.Graphics; import net.rim.device.api.ui.XYEdges; import net.rim.device.api.ui.container.HorizontalFieldManager; import net.rim.device.api.ui.decor.Background; import net.rim.device.api.ui.decor.BackgroundFactory; import net.rim.device.api.ui.decor.Border; import net.rim.device.api.ui.decor.BorderFactory; public class ToolBarManager extends HorizontalFieldManager { private int bgColor = Color.BLACK; private int borderColor = Color.WHITE; private int borderStyle= Border.STYLE_FILLED; public ToolBarManager(){ super(USE_ALL_WIDTH); } public ToolBarManager(int bgColor) { super(USE_ALL_WIDTH); this.bgColor = bgColor; } public ToolBarManager(int bgColor, int borderStyle) { super(USE_ALL_WIDTH); this.bgColor = bgColor; this.borderStyle = borderStyle; } public int getBgColor() { return bgColor; } public void setBgColor(int bgColor) { this.bgColor = bgColor; } public int getBorderColor() { return borderColor; } public void setBorderColor(int borderColor) { this.borderColor = borderColor; } public int getBorderStyle() { return borderStyle; } public void setBorderStyle(int borderStyle) { this.borderStyle = borderStyle; } protected void paint(Graphics graphics) { super.paint(graphics); XYEdges padding = new XYEdges(5, 5, 5, 5); Border roundedBorder = BorderFactory.createRoundedBorder(padding, borderColor, borderStyle); this.setBorder(roundedBorder); Background bg = BackgroundFactory.createSolidBackground(bgColor); this.setBackground(bg); } }

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• Retrieving the first picture with a HTML parser

  - by justin01

  Hey guys, (Not a native english speaker) I'm doing a personal project in PHP in which I use the Simple HTML Parser to parse the HTML of a given URL and retrieve the first image in a DIV that have a specific ID or class (maincontent, content, main, wrapper, etc. - it's all in an array) and ignore ads. The goal is to take this image and make a thumbnail with it, pretty much like on Digg and others. I thought everything was working fine until I tried my script with the website Snopes ("http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/luckycoyote.asp" <- this page more exactly). The source of the first image it gets is: " graphics/luckycoyote1.jpg ". So far, to correct this problem I created a little function that gets the domain name of the given URL and insert it before the IMG's source attribute. So for sites like Snopes.com, it gives me: "http://www.snopes.com/graphics/luckycoyote1.jpg" ... while the real URL for this image is "http://www.snopes.com*/photos/animals/graphics/luckycoyote1.jpg*" (or, more precisely: " http://graphics1.snopes.com/photos/animals/graphics/luckycoyote1.jpg " - note the subdomain here). So my main question is: how can I externally/dynamically retrieve the full URL address of an image ("absolute path") when I am only given the "relative path"? I'm pretty sure this is possible, since when I paste the link in Facebook's "What are you doing?" field for example, it gives me the correct path to the image while on the website, the source of the image is only (example) "image/photo/example.jpg". Thank you for your time.

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• Multiple Rectangle Generation

  - by user1610541

  In my code i wrote a method that creates a rectangle at mouseX, mouseY. but all it does is update the position of that rectangle so it follows the mouse, i want it to create a new one at the mouse every time the method runs, can someone please help? this is my method public void drawParticle(float x, float y){ g.drawRect(x, y, 4, 4); } The main class Control call the drawParticle method; import java.awt.Point; import java.awt.geom.Point2D; import org.newdawn.slick.GameContainer; import org.newdawn.slick.Graphics; import org.newdawn.slick.SlickException; import org.newdawn.slick.state.BasicGameState; import org.newdawn.slick.state.StateBasedGame; public class Control extends BasicGameState { public static final int ID = 1; public Methods m = new Methods(); public Graphics g = new Graphics(); int mouseX; int mouseY; public void init(GameContainer container, StateBasedGame game) throws SlickException{ } public void render(GameContainer container, StateBasedGame game, Graphics g) throws SlickException { m.drawParticle(mouseX, mouseY); } public void update(GameContainer container, StateBasedGame game, int delta) { } public void mousePressed(int button, int x, int y) { mouseX = x; mouseY = y; } public int getID() { return ID; } } Thanks - Shamus

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• Shuffle tiles position in the beginning of the game XNA Csharp

  - by GalneGunnar

  Im trying to create a puzzlegame where you move tiles to certain positions to make a whole image. I need help with randomizing the tiles startposition so that they don't create the whole image at the beginning. There is also something wrong with my offset, that's why it's set to (0,0). I know my code is not good, but Im just starting to learn :] Thanks in advance My Game1 class: { public class Game1 : Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game { GraphicsDeviceManager graphics; SpriteBatch spriteBatch; Texture2D PictureTexture; Texture2D FrameTexture; // Offset för bildgraff Vector2 Offset = new Vector2(0,0); //skapar en array som ska hålla delar av den stora bilden Square[,] squareArray = new Square[4, 4]; // Random randomeraBilder = new Random(); //Width och Height för bilden int pictureHeight = 95; int pictureWidth = 144; Random randomera = new Random(); int index = 0; MouseState oldMouseState; int WindowHeight; int WindowWidth; public Game1() { graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this); Content.RootDirectory = "Content"; //scalar Window till 800x 600y graphics.PreferredBackBufferWidth = 800; graphics.PreferredBackBufferHeight = 600; graphics.ApplyChanges(); } protected override void Initialize() { IsMouseVisible = true; base.Initialize(); } protected override void LoadContent() { spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice); PictureTexture = Content.Load<Texture2D>(@"Images/bildgraff"); FrameTexture = Content.Load<Texture2D>(@"Images/framer"); //Laddar in varje liten bild av den stora bilden i en array for (int x = 0; x < 4; x++) { for (int y = 0; y < 4; y++) { Vector2 position = new Vector2(x * pictureWidth, y * pictureHeight); position = position + Offset; Rectangle square = new Rectangle(x * pictureWidth, y * pictureHeight, pictureWidth, pictureHeight); Square frame = new Square(position, PictureTexture, square, Offset, index); squareArray[x, y] = frame; index++; } } } protected override void UnloadContent() { } protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime) { if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back == ButtonState.Pressed) this.Exit(); MouseState ms = Mouse.GetState(); if (oldMouseState.LeftButton == ButtonState.Pressed && ms.LeftButton == ButtonState.Released) { // ta reda på vilken position vi har tryckt på int col = ms.X / pictureWidth; int row = ms.Y / pictureHeight; for (int x = 0; x < squareArray.GetLength(0); x++) { for (int y = 0; y < squareArray.GetLength(1); y++) { // kollar om rutan är tom och så att indexet inte går utanför för "col" och "row" if (squareArray[x, y].index == 0 && col >= 0 && row >= 0 && col <= 3 && row <= 3) { if (squareArray[x, y].index == 0 * col) { //kollar om rutan brevid mouseclick är tom if (col > 0 && squareArray[col - 1, row].index == 0 || row > 0 && squareArray[col, row - 1].index == 0 || col < 3 && squareArray[col + 1, row].index == 0 || row < 3 && squareArray[col, row + 1].index == 0) { Square sqaure = squareArray[col, row]; Square hal = squareArray[x, y]; squareArray[x, y] = sqaure; squareArray[col, row] = hal; for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < 4; j++) { Vector2 goalPosition = new Vector2(x * pictureWidth, y * pictureHeight); squareArray[x, y].Swap(goalPosition); } } } } } } } } //if (oldMouseState.RightButton == ButtonState.Pressed && ms.RightButton == ButtonState.Released) //{ // for (int x = 0; x < 4; x++) // { // for (int y = 0; y < 4; y++) // { // } // } //} oldMouseState = ms; base.Update(gameTime); } protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime) { GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue); WindowHeight = Window.ClientBounds.Height; WindowWidth = Window.ClientBounds.Width; Rectangle screenPosition = new Rectangle(0,0, WindowWidth, WindowHeight); spriteBatch.Begin(); spriteBatch.Draw(FrameTexture, screenPosition, Color.White); //Ritar ut alla brickorna förutom den som har index 0 for (int x = 0; x < 4; x++) { for (int y = 0; y < 4; y++) { if (squareArray[x, y].index != 0) { squareArray[x, y].Draw(spriteBatch); } } } spriteBatch.End(); base.Draw(gameTime); } } } My square class: class Square { public Vector2 position; public Texture2D grafTexture; public Rectangle square; public Vector2 offset; public int index; public Square(Vector2 position, Texture2D grafTexture, Rectangle square, Vector2 offset, int index) { this.position = position; this.grafTexture = grafTexture; this.square = square; this.offset = offset; this.index = index; } public void Draw(SpriteBatch spritebatch) { spritebatch.Draw(grafTexture, position, square, Color.White); } public void RandomPosition() { } public void Swap(Vector2 Goal ) { if (Goal.X > position.X) { position.X = position.X + 144; } else if (Goal.X < position.X) { position.X = position.X - 144; } else if (Goal.Y < position.Y) { position.Y = position.Y - 95; } else if (Goal.Y > position.Y) { position.Y = position.Y + 95; } } } }

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• A New Threat To Web Applications: Connection String Parameter Pollution (CSPP)

  - by eric.maurice

  Hi, this is Shaomin Wang. I am a security analyst in Oracle's Security Alerts Group. My primary responsibility is to evaluate the security vulnerabilities reported externally by security researchers on Oracle Fusion Middleware and to ensure timely resolution through the Critical Patch Update. Today, I am going to talk about a serious type of attack: Connection String Parameter Pollution (CSPP). Earlier this year, at the Black Hat DC 2010 Conference, two Spanish security researchers, Jose Palazon and Chema Alonso, unveiled a new class of security vulnerabilities, which target insecure dynamic connections between web applications and databases. The attack called Connection String Parameter Pollution (CSPP) exploits specifically the semicolon delimited database connection strings that are constructed dynamically based on the user inputs from web applications. CSPP, if carried out successfully, can be used to steal user identities and hijack web credentials. CSPP is a high risk attack because of the relative ease with which it can be carried out (low access complexity) and the potential results it can have (high impact). In today's blog, we are going to first look at what connection strings are and then review the different ways connection string injections can be leveraged by malicious hackers. We will then discuss how CSPP differs from traditional connection string injection, and the measures organizations can take to prevent this kind of attacks. In web applications, a connection string is a set of values that specifies information to connect to backend data repositories, in most cases, databases. The connection string is passed to a provider or driver to initiate a connection. Vendors or manufacturers write their own providers for different databases. Since there are many different providers and each provider has multiple ways to make a connection, there are many different ways to write a connection string. Here are some examples of connection strings from Oracle Data Provider for .Net/ODP.Net: Oracle Data Provider for .Net / ODP.Net; Manufacturer: Oracle; Type: .NET Framework Class Library: - Using TNS Data Source = orcl; User ID = myUsername; Password = myPassword; - Using integrated security Data Source = orcl; Integrated Security = SSPI; - Using the Easy Connect Naming Method Data Source = username/password@//myserver:1521/my.server.com - Specifying Pooling parameters Data Source=myOracleDB; User Id=myUsername; Password=myPassword; Min Pool Size=10; Connection Lifetime=120; Connection Timeout=60; Incr Pool Size=5; Decr Pool Size=2; There are many variations of the connection strings, but the majority of connection strings are key value pairs delimited by semicolons. Attacks on connection strings are not new (see for example, this SANS White Paper on Securing SQL Connection String). Connection strings are vulnerable to injection attacks when dynamic string concatenation is used to build connection strings based on user input. When the user input is not validated or filtered, and malicious text or characters are not properly escaped, an attacker can potentially access sensitive data or resources. For a number of years now, vendors, including Oracle, have created connection string builder class tools to help developers generate valid connection strings and potentially prevent this kind of vulnerability. Unfortunately, not all application developers use these utilities because they are not aware of the danger posed by this kind of attacks. So how are Connection String parameter Pollution (CSPP) attacks different from traditional Connection String Injection attacks? First, let's look at what parameter pollution attacks are. Parameter pollution is a technique, which typically involves appending repeating parameters to the request strings to attack the receiving end. Much of the public attention around parameter pollution was initiated as a result of a presentation on HTTP Parameter Pollution attacks by Stefano Di Paola and Luca Carettoni delivered at the 2009 Appsec OWASP Conference in Poland. In HTTP Parameter Pollution attacks, an attacker submits additional parameters in HTTP GET/POST to a web application, and if these parameters have the same name as an existing parameter, the web application may react in different ways depends on how the web application and web server deal with multiple parameters with the same name. When applied to connections strings, the rule for the majority of database providers is the "last one wins" algorithm. If a KEYWORD=VALUE pair occurs more than once in the connection string, the value associated with the LAST occurrence is used. This opens the door to some serious attacks. By way of example, in a web application, a user enters username and password; a subsequent connection string is generated to connect to the back end database. Data Source = myDataSource; Initial Catalog = db; Integrated Security = no; User ID = myUsername; Password = XXX; In the password field, if the attacker enters "xxx; Integrated Security = true", the connection string becomes, Data Source = myDataSource; Initial Catalog = db; Integrated Security = no; User ID = myUsername; Password = XXX; Intergrated Security = true; Under the "last one wins" principle, the web application will then try to connect to the database using the operating system account under which the application is running to bypass normal authentication. CSPP poses serious risks for unprepared organizations. It can be particularly dangerous if an Enterprise Systems Management web front-end is compromised, because attackers can then gain access to control panels to configure databases, systems accounts, etc. Fortunately, organizations can take steps to prevent this kind of attacks. CSPP falls into the Injection category of attacks like Cross Site Scripting or SQL Injection, which are made possible when inputs from users are not properly escaped or sanitized. Escaping is a technique used to ensure that characters (mostly from user inputs) are treated as data, not as characters, that is relevant to the interpreter's parser. Software developers need to become aware of the danger of these attacks and learn about the defenses mechanism they need to introduce in their code. As well, software vendors need to provide templates or classes to facilitate coding and eliminate developers' guesswork for protecting against such vulnerabilities. Oracle has introduced the OracleConnectionStringBuilder class in Oracle Data Provider for .NET. Using this class, developers can employ a configuration file to provide the connection string and/or dynamically set the values through key/value pairs. It makes creating connection strings less error-prone and easier to manager, and ultimately using the OracleConnectionStringBuilder class provides better security against injection into connection strings. For More Information: - The OracleConnectionStringBuilder is located at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/win.111/b28375/OracleConnectionStringBuilderClass.htm - Oracle has developed a publicly available course on preventing SQL Injections. The Server Technologies Curriculum course "Defending Against SQL Injection Attacks!" is located at http://st-curriculum.oracle.com/tutorial/SQLInjection/index.htm - The OWASP web site also provides a number of useful resources. It is located at http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Main_Page

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• How to Tell a Hardware Problem From a Software Problem

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Your computer seems to be malfunctioning — it’s slow, programs are crashing or Windows may be blue-screening. Is your computer’s hardware failing, or does it have a software problem that you can fix on your own? This can actually be a bit tricky to figure out. Hardware problems and software problems can lead to the same symptoms — for example, frequent blue screens of death may be caused by either software or hardware problems. Computer is Slow We’ve all heard the stories — someone’s computer slows down over time because they install too much software that runs at startup or it becomes infected with malware. The person concludes that their computer is slowing down because it’s old, so they replace it. But they’re wrong. If a computer is slowing down, it has a software problem that can be fixed. Hardware problems shouldn’t cause your computer to slow down. There are some rare exceptions to this — perhaps your CPU is overheating and it’s downclocking itself, running slower to stay cooler — but most slowness is caused by software issues. Blue Screens Modern versions of Windows are much more stable than older versions of Windows. When used with reliable hardware with well-programmed drivers, a typical Windows computer shouldn’t blue-screen at all. If you are encountering frequent blue screens of death, there’s a good chance your computer’s hardware is failing. Blue screens could also be caused by badly programmed hardware drivers, however. If you just installed or upgraded hardware drivers and blue screens start, try uninstalling the drivers or using system restore — there may be something wrong with the drivers. If you haven’t done anything with your drivers recently and blue screens start, there’s a very good chance you have a hardware problem. Computer Won’t Boot If your computer won’t boot, you could have either a software problem or a hardware problem. Is Windows attempting to boot and failing part-way through the boot process, or does the computer no longer recognize its hard drive or not power on at all? Consult our guide to troubleshooting boot problems for more information. When Hardware Starts to Fail… Here are some common components that can fail and the problems their failures may cause: Hard Drive: If your hard drive starts failing, files on your hard drive may become corrupted. You may see long delays when you attempt to access files or save to the hard drive. Windows may stop booting entirely. CPU: A failing CPU may result in your computer not booting at all. If the CPU is overheating, your computer may blue-screen when it’s under load — for example, when you’re playing a demanding game or encoding video. RAM: Applications write data to your RAM and use it for short-term storage. If your RAM starts failing, an application may write data to part of the RAM, then later read it back and get an incorrect value. This can result in application crashes, blue screens, and file corruption. Graphics Card: Graphics card problems may result in graphical errors while rendering 3D content or even just while displaying your desktop. If the graphics card is overheating, it may crash your graphics driver or cause your computer to freeze while under load — for example, when playing demanding 3D games. Fans: If any of the fans fail in your computer, components may overheat and you may see the above CPU or graphics card problems. Your computer may also shut itself down abruptly so it doesn’t overheat any further and damage itself. Motherboard: Motherboard problems can be extremely tough to diagnose. You may see occasional blue screens or similar problems. Power Supply: A malfunctioning power supply is also tough to diagnose — it may deliver too much power to a component, damaging it and causing it to malfunction. If the power supply dies completely, your computer won’t power on and nothing will happen when you press the power button. Other common problems — for example, a computer slowing down — are likely to be software problems. It’s also possible that software problems can cause many of the above symptoms — malware that hooks deep into the Windows kernel can cause your computer to blue-screen, for example. The Only Way to Know For Sure We’ve tried to give you some idea of the difference between common software problems and hardware problems with the above examples. But it’s often tough to know for sure, and troubleshooting is usually a trial-and-error process. This is especially true if you have an intermittent problem, such as your computer blue-screening a few times a week. You can try scanning your computer for malware and running System Restore to restore your computer’s system software back to its previous working state, but these aren’t  guaranteed ways to fix software problems. The best way to determine whether the problem you have is a software or hardware one is to bite the bullet and restore your computer’s software back to its default state. That means reinstalling Windows or using the Refresh or reset feature on Windows 8. See whether the problem still persists after you restore its operating system to its default state. If you still see the same problem – for example, if your computer is blue-screening and continues to blue-screen after reinstalling Windows — you know you have a hardware problem and need to have your computer fixed or replaced. If the computer crashes or freezes while reinstalling Windows, you definitely have a hardware problem. Even this isn’t a completely perfect method — for example, you may reinstall Windows and install the same hardware drivers afterwards. If the hardware drivers are badly programmed, the blue-screens may continue. Blue screens of death aren’t as common on Windows these days — if you’re encountering them frequently, you likely have a hardware problem. Most blue screens you encounter will likely be caused by hardware issues. On the other hand, other common complaints like “my computer has slowed down” are easily fixable software problems. When in doubt, back up your files and reinstall Windows. Image Credit: Anders Sandberg on Flickr, comedy_nose on Flickr     

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• HTG Explains: Should You Build Your Own PC?

  - by Chris Hoffman

  There was a time when every geek seemed to build their own PC. While the masses bought eMachines and Compaqs, geeks built their own more powerful and reliable desktop machines for cheaper. But does this still make sense? Building your own PC still offers as much flexibility in component choice as it ever did, but prebuilt computers are available at extremely competitive prices. Building your own PC will no longer save you money in most cases. The Rise of Laptops It’s impossible to look at the decline of geeks building their own PCs without considering the rise of laptops. There was a time when everyone seemed to use desktops — laptops were more expensive and significantly slower in day-to-day tasks. With the diminishing importance of computing power — nearly every modern computer has more than enough power to surf the web and use typical programs like Microsoft Office without any trouble — and the rise of laptop availability at nearly every price point, most people are buying laptops instead of desktops. And, if you’re buying a laptop, you can’t really build your own. You can’t just buy a laptop case and start plugging components into it — even if you could, you would end up with an extremely bulky device. Ultimately, to consider building your own desktop PC, you have to actually want a desktop PC. Most people are better served by laptops. Benefits to PC Building The two main reasons to build your own PC have been component choice and saving money. Building your own PC allows you to choose all the specific components you want rather than have them chosen for you. You get to choose everything, including the PC’s case and cooling system. Want a huge case with room for a fancy water-cooling system? You probably want to build your own PC. In the past, this often allowed you to save money — you could get better deals by buying the components yourself and combining them, avoiding the PC manufacturer markup. You’d often even end up with better components — you could pick up a more powerful CPU that was easier to overclock and choose more reliable components so you wouldn’t have to put up with an unstable eMachine that crashed every day. PCs you build yourself are also likely more upgradable — a prebuilt PC may have a sealed case and be constructed in such a way to discourage you from tampering with the insides, while swapping components in and out is generally easier with a computer you’ve built on your own. If you want to upgrade your CPU or replace your graphics card, it’s a definite benefit. Downsides to Building Your Own PC It’s important to remember there are downsides to building your own PC, too. For one thing, it’s just more work — sure, if you know what you’re doing, building your own PC isn’t that hard. Even for a geek, researching the best components, price-matching, waiting for them all to arrive, and building the PC just takes longer. Warranty is a more pernicious problem. If you buy a prebuilt PC and it starts malfunctioning, you can contact the computer’s manufacturer and have them deal with it. You don’t need to worry about what’s wrong. If you build your own PC and it starts malfunctioning, you have to diagnose the problem yourself. What’s malfunctioning, the motherboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card, or power supply? Each component has a separate warranty through its manufacturer, so you’ll have to determine which component is malfunctioning before you can send it off for replacement. Should You Still Build Your Own PC? Let’s say you do want a desktop and are willing to consider building your own PC. First, bear in mind that PC manufacturers are buying in bulk and getting a better deal on each component. They also have to pay much less for a Windows license than the $120 or so it would cost you to to buy your own Windows license. This is all going to wipe out the cost savings you’ll see — with everything all told, you’ll probably spend more money building your own average desktop PC than you would picking one up from Amazon or the local electronics store. If you’re an average PC user that uses your desktop for the typical things, there’s no money to be saved from building your own PC. But maybe you’re looking for something higher end. Perhaps you want a high-end gaming PC with the fastest graphics card and CPU available. Perhaps you want to pick out each individual component and choose the exact components for your gaming rig. In this case, building your own PC may be a good option. As you start to look at more expensive, high-end PCs, you may start to see a price gap — but you may not. Let’s say you wanted to blow thousands of dollars on a gaming PC. If you’re looking at spending this kind of money, it would be worth comparing the cost of individual components versus a prebuilt gaming system. Still, the actual prices may surprise you. For example, if you wanted to upgrade Dell’s $2293 Alienware Aurora to include a second NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 graphics card, you’d pay an additional $600 on Alienware’s website. The same graphics card costs $650 on Amazon or Newegg, so you’d be spending more money building the system yourself. Why? Dell’s Alienware gets bulk discounts you can’t get — and this is Alienware, which was once regarded as selling ridiculously overpriced gaming PCs to people who wouldn’t build their own. Building your own PC still allows you to get the most freedom when choosing and combining components, but this is only valuable to a small niche of gamers and professional users — most people, even average gamers, would be fine going with a prebuilt system. If you’re an average person or even an average gamer, you’ll likely find that it’s cheaper to purchase a prebuilt PC rather than assemble your own. Even at the very high end, components may be more expensive separately than they are in a prebuilt PC. Enthusiasts who want to choose all the individual components for their dream gaming PC and want maximum flexibility may want to build their own PCs. Even then, building your own PC these days is more about flexibility and component choice than it is about saving money. In summary, you probably shouldn’t build your own PC. If you’re an enthusiast, you may want to — but only a small minority of people would actually benefit from building their own systems. Feel free to compare prices, but you may be surprised which is cheaper. Image Credit: Richard Jones on Flickr, elPadawan on Flickr, Richard Jones on Flickr     

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