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New GP4 Codec library for .Net users

Developers
2005-07-04
2013-04-22
  • Webprofusion

    Webprofusion - 2005-07-04

    Hi Folks,

    After some playing around with the code I found a way to compile the GP decoder from DGuitar to a dll which is usable from .net based programs .

    You can get it from:
    http://www.webprofusion.com/scalex/source/GP4JLib20050704.zip

    It was compiled with Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 (Visual J#). A few things were commented out to get this to compile, specifically anything referencing Swing or javax.* packages. It would be nice if the decoder classes could be kept free of references to Swing etc in the future to make this kind of code use easier.

    I don't know if I'll ever get round to building a C# viewer for these files but using the DGuitar classes would make it a lot easier!

    DGuitar is an excellent piece of coding, keep up the good work!

     
    • Mauricio Gracia Gutierrez

      Hello Webprofusion

      Thanks for your comments, and your work to make it posible.

      BUT...I would like you to include the GNU/GPL license on that ZIP file i dont want any of our code to end up in comercial products...thanks

      Sorry for the delay in answering I hope someone would start GP5 decoding !!

      Bye

       
    • Webprofusion

      Webprofusion - 2006-01-05

      Again, My Apologies for omitting the GPL text file from this zip. The zip file has been removed.

      My full response to Mauricio is below:

      My apologies to Mauricio, I was on vacation in New York over the new year and didn't get his email. With regards to this matter I simply forgot to put the GPL text file in the zip file for which I apologise sincerely. The zip file was a .Net library which only used some DGuitar source code to demonstrate how it was possible to turn part of DGuitar into a reusable library and did not use any Scalex source code in any way. The zip file has now been removed from our servers.

      The public version of the Scalex application does not yet include any GPL code and no distribution of the Scalex application has ever included any GPL code. The experimental version which used the DGuitar source to read Guitar Pro files is only on my laptop and has not been distributed to anyone.

      The zip file in question is an experimental .Net project titled 'GP4JLib' for Visual Studio 2005 which takes the java source of Dguitar  and compiles it as a .Net library. This was done as an experiment to share with the DGuitar developer community in the hope that other uses for the library might be explored (online guitar tablature, online Guitar Pro to MusicXML converters etc). A screenshot of this experiment integrated with our experimental Scalex application was included in the zip file mentioned below, however no distribution of the Scalex application using with Dguitar source code was ever distributed. We are aware of the rules and benefits of the GPL and we were not making any attempt to intentionally use GPL'd source code without permission. The mistake of not including the GPL text file would have been rectified immediately had we been notified when we made the zip file available in July 2005 via the sourceforge forum.

      The zip file with the Dguitar source code has been removed from our public server and was only used to point other DGuitar developers at sourceforge (using the dguitar sourceforge forum) to the fact that such an experiment (using DGuitars java code as a library for a C#/.Net based program) was indeed possible. The  zip file mistakenly omitted the GPL license text file simply because the project  was compiled one afternoon and uploaded that evening, again please accept my apologies for this - I was just excited by the fact that the DGuitar code was so easily made into a .Net library and wanted to share that information with the developers.

      We will immediately discontinue the development of this version of the software with the DGuitar source, as it would appear our use of the source is unwelcome  - the Scalex guitar tuition software is developed as an occasional hobby and presented under the company name but has never commercially been sold and has always been given away free. The only reason the Scalex source code hasn't been distributed public is that it's not considered high enough quality for public review. As far as we are aware the Scalex application itself has not violated the GPL in any way as no version using GPL code has been distributed.

      Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss this matter further.

      Regards,
      Christopher Cook
      ----- Original Message -----
      From: Mauricio Gracia Gutiérrez
      To: license-violation@gnu.org
      Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 6:20 AM
      Subject: Rv: Improper use of Open Source software

      Hello

      I am the creator of the DGuitar Project available at
      http://DGuitar.sourceforge.net
      therefore I am the copyright holder

      This project has always been released with GNU/GPL license, and somebody has taken the JAVA CODE and make it work under Microsoft .NET framework
      http://www.webprofusion.com/scalex/source/GP4JLib20050704.zip

      The SCALEX product appears to be using our GP4 decoding process
      http://www.webprofusion.com/scalex/

      Below is the email sent to them...please advise

      Thanks

      Mauricio Gracia Gutiérrez Asunto: Improper use of Open Source software

      Hello Webprofusion 

      Thanks for your comments, and your work to make posible a GP4 codec library for .NET...

      BUT...Is REQUIRED to
      - include the GNU/GPL license on that ZIP file,
      - mention the DGUITAR webpage were original library was taken from
      - mention that your product uses a OPEN SOURCE library

      if this are many conditions for you please remove the ZIP from your webpage and discontinue the offering of the SCALEX product

      We dont want or need any of our code to end up in comercial products...

      thanks

      PD You have 1 week to do this..other wise SourceForge will be notified about this improper use of the software..

      Sorry for the delay in answering I hope someone would start GP5 decoding !!

      Bye
      -----------------------------------------

      Hi Folks,

      After some playing around with the code I found a way to compile the GP decoder from DGuitar to a dll which is usable from .net based programs .

      You can get it from:
      http://www.webprofusion.com/scalex/source/GP4JLib20050704.zip

      It was compiled with Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 (Visual J#). A few things were commented out to get this to compile, specifically anything referencing Swing or javax.* packages. It would be nice if the decoder classes could be kept free of references to Swing etc in the future to make this kind of code use easier.

      I don't know if I'll ever get round to building a C# viewer for these files but using the DGuitar classes would make it a lot easier!

      DGuitar is an excellent piece of coding, keep up the good work!

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      • Mauricio Gracia Gutierrez

        Hello

        The INTENTION is..and was good..but the METHOD is not as good...that is what this is all about. your contribution is wellcome.

        How do we know how many people downloaded that ZIP file ?

        Even if if was just 5 users, all of them could be using OUR code to develop their own GuitarPro viewer and eventually charge $ for a GNU/GPL source code since there is no explination of where did the code came from or which license it has.

        Now how do we aviod avoid any spreading of that downloaded source code without license ?

        Thanks

         
        • Webprofusion

          Webprofusion - 2006-01-05

          Hi Mauricio,

          I appreciate your concerns and I will be paying particular interest to any new .Net (or java) based Guitar Pro viewers and will be happy to help identify if they appear to use the this library or the source code to achieve GP4 decoding. This would most likely be achieved by looking for known bugs in that version of the GP4 decoder source manifesting themselves in the user interface of the software in question.

          With the introduction of GP5 this particular version of the source code also becomes less desirable over time. That in addition to existing bugs you might have in the decoder should prevent that particular branch from being particularly desirable as a basis for a commercial product. Given the amount of work required to actually create a viewer worth paying for (even with this library, since the library only contains the portions necessary for decoding GP files) I doubt that you will see any commercial viewers based on this source. That being said, I stand by my offer to help investigate any products which may be infringing on your copyright as a result.

          I would suggest that DGuitar could avoid future such slip ups by including some copyright info and mention of the GPL in the header of your source files. As it stands anyone could create a distribution of latest DGuitar with the GPL text file removed and then claim they didn't know it was GPL'd. That argument would of course be invalid but as it stands there could be any number of versions of the DGuitar source being distributed without the GPL notice file, GP4JLib is just one that happens to be that way by accident.

          Regards,
          Christopher Cook

           

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