1997.05.30 18:35 "Re: Windows WIN32 DIB DLL available", by Sam Leffler

I have developed a WIN32 DLL that returns a Windows DIB (device-independent bitmap object) given a TIFF file, based on libtiff. I would like to hear from those who would like to help test and use such a component.

If this is something you could use and are willing to help test (that is, you write WIN32 applications that use DIB's), send me your e-mail address and I will reply with a UUencoded ZIP file, containing the DLL, sample code, and documentation. Whether the finished product will be free and reflected into Sam's master libtiff has not yet been decided, but all testers will receive a free, final copy.

I agree that inclusion of DIB features in Libtiff is essential to complete its Win32 port. Early Libtiff, which was targeted for SGI Unix boxes, supported tiff-to-native bitmap operations, but this trend (regrettably) died in ports to other systems. I have considered a TIFF-to-DIB addition to Libtiff, but have not pursued this beyond a little defeatured version for my own use. So, my opinion is that this and other tiff-to-native operations would (or should) be welcome additions to Libtiff.

FYI, libtiff was originally written on Sun systems; I never saw an SGI machine until many years after the software existed.

In general I've considered tiff-to-anything conversion support to be outside the scope of what I distribute. In fact I've frequently considered dumping the "to-tiff" conversion apps I provide since they're frequently of little use in the real world. I keep the existing programs around only because I sometimes use them and because they serve as examples of using the library.

If there are Win32-specific API calls that make sense then I suggest adding them to the tif_win32.c code. Otherwise I'd recommend doing what you can outside the scope of the library and contributing it in a form that's easy to pickup w/ the library. I provide a contrib area in the distribution for such stuff.

       Sam