Imaging News — June 2006

Developing Imaging Applications in Windows: Past, Present and Future

Imaging application development has benefited greatly from client/server architecture that utilizes server processing power to speed up image viewing and manipulation. Distributed applications facilitate the incorporation of important document imaging functions, such as annotations, into workflow processes which enable users to process documents quickly and collaborate effectively. Originally, companies developed distributed imaging applications with COM technologies. Currently they are also able to build on the .NET Framework to standardize functionality and deployment across multiple business units. In the upcoming upgrade to .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly called WinFX), developers will have a unified platform for developing client- or web-based applications using both COM and .NET technology in a managed environment.

For many years COM technology was the only method for developing Windows applications that interacted with each other and users' systems. COM commands, which include ActiveX controls for Internet applications, are written in unmanaged, native code (C or C++). These controls communicate directly with the client's system and can write to the Registry without user approval. This makes them very powerful but also creates concerns about security. COM and ActiveX controls are still used today to build applications that rely mainly on client-side processing.

By comparison, the .NET Framework (introduced in 2002) takes a managed code approach, a reaction to both security concerns and Sun's Java platform. In this approach, as the program executes the runtime environment compiles commands and other necessary information to ensure the program works correctly and securely. With .NET, developers can build imaging applications using the .NET base class library and third-party libraries and SDKs designed to give them access to powerful imaging functions.

In the upcoming Windows Vista, .NET 3.0 will be the new API for Windows development. It will extend the current .NET Framework 2.0 and incorporate Win32 functions into a managed environment. This means that developers can build distributed applications entirely in a managed framework — including COM controls — or they can continue to call unmanaged COM and ActiveX functions to work outside their managed code. However, two significant changes are that unmanaged COM controls will no longer be able to freely access the client's Registry and ActiveX will not be able to initiate controls in a browser without user permission or scripting.

Two new components of the .NET Framework 3.0 useful for developing imaging applications are the Windows Communications Foundation (WCF) and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). These components provide a programming structure and specific APIs for constructing applications. The WCF is a rich technology platform for building distributed systems, Client/Server or Node/Node, that enables both local and remote interoperability between applications. WPF is a model for building consistent applications, whether installed on a client machine or accessed over the Web, and will unify other graphical aspects of applications including vector and raster image handling.

Imaging software vendors will also be able to offer more powerful tools that take advantage of the .NET 3.0 Framework's better integration of core Windows' systems and expanded base class library. But, the greatest strength of .NET 3.0 is compatibility with applications built on the .NET 2.0 Framework. This is good news to companies developing in, or considering switching to, .NET because they can continue to work with current third-party tools and technology.

Find out more about a powerful .NET imaging SDK and library that enables you to build expert imaging functions into your applications.

Product Spotlight

RasterMaster for .NET is flexible enough to meet the needs of all your imaging related development projects. Its extensive array of features and functions satisfy your current imaging requirements and future imaging needs including: scanning, viewing, conversion, manipulation, annotation, printing, and saving.

Request an evaluation of the RasterMaster .NET imaging SDK.

Upgrade Now To the Latest Version of Our RasterMaster Imaging SDK

We are excited to announce the release of Java Imaging SDK and Windows Imaging SDK (DLL, ActiveX, and .NET) as well as UNIX are now available.  This upgrade delivers exciting new features to further enhance your development projects including:

• Term-hit highlighting and text extraction for MS Word, MS Excel, PDF, AFP, and PCL
• Significant improvements to MS Word and PDF Reading
• Reading support for MS Excel and static HTML
• Ability to map user defined fonts in rendering AFP/MODCA file format
• Support for PDF saving with JBIG2 compressionReading support for FileNet annotations

Customers with current maintenance agreements are eligible for a free upgrade.  If you would like to request an upgrade or discuss our maintenance programs, please contact us.

President's Corner

Snowbound originally offered only our imaging toolkits from which our customers created all kinds of interesting applications. These applications ranged from viewers to back office server-based applications for document conversion to comprehensive document management systems that embedded our image manipulation technology.

That remains unchanged through today. Many of our customers continue to use our imaging expertise to enhance their applications, while still being able to deploy their own custom solutions, designed for their specific needs.

But as the technology changes, and many of our customers migrated to Java or established a need for web-based viewing and document processing, we moved with them. So for the past several years we have offered powerful Java imaging toolkits as well. In the process of creating demo programs and samples to make life easier for our customers, we found ourselves exceedingly expert in not only developing imaging functions and tools but also in creating powerful viewers and client-server web imaging applications. And as our customers discovered these powerful products, more and more they realized that it didn't make sense to develop their own web-based document processing systems.

And that's how our FlexSnap family of products were born. Sure, we're here to provide the world's best imaging tools but we also now offer the world's best web viewers. Our experience, our knowledge of our imaging libraries and the years spent developing these products all come together when we create our customizable web imaging systems. Now you can jumpstart your development and still get a unique application that is specific to the needs of your customers and your business's needs. Please contact us if you'd like a demonstration.

Simon Wieczner, CEO