Jix

Fixing Jix

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:23:39 GMT

If you know some Java and you want to fix Jix, you can!

Jix is written in Java. You can get the source from sourceforge.net (search for "Jix"). There are two CVS modules, util and jix. Each has a (rather terse) readme that explains how to build and run. To build, you need Ant and JUnit.

Assuming that all works, you can use any old text editor or your favourite IDE to hack on Jix. But before you start, you need to know about Xing, which handles the UI. Look at index.html in the util module to find out about this.

Why does Jix include a GUI framework? Good question. Why (since we're asking) does it include its own XML parser, and its own handlers for HTTP, properties files, and the command line? The answer is partly to avoid dependencies, but mostly because I wrote Jix for fun.

If you still haven't given up, well done. I'll be happy to receive patches via e-mail, or you can post them to fb_jix.

Jix on a Mac

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:50:51 GMT

Previously, Mac users had to download Jix as a jar file. Now there's a Mac disk image on the downloads page that lets you install Jix as a regular Mac app.

Jix release: 0.3.1

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:22:50 GMT

No Jix releases for over a year, then two come along at once!

Jix 0.3.1 is available for download.

The only change this time is that you can now copy from the upload results dialog in a postable format. You get each image as a 100x100 thumbnail which links to the full sized image. Paste this into your blog post on LJ or wherever. Thanks to yankeppey for suggesting this feature.

Tilex

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:49:16 GMT

Jix comes with a bonus app, Tilex. This turns an image into something that will tile without joins. You open an image, crop it and mirror it. If you like it, save it and try it on your computer desktop.

This doesn't sound much, but I've found it dangerously addictive. Some things make unexpectedly beautiful tiles: sections of clothing, buildings and plant life pleased me particularly. When you're cropping, look at what's near the edge of the crop. Most of all, trial and error will be rewarded, so if it's not good the first time, use the undo button.

I have put up a gallery of tiles - to get the full effect, try them on your desktop.

If you're on Windows, installer sets Tilex up for first-time users as a tool. If that hasn't happened, you can set it up yourself: on the Tools menu, choose Configure tools... and put this in the command box:
javaw -classpath "C:\Program Files\Jix\jix.jar" Tilex "%f"

If you're not on Windows, setting Tilex up for yourself is very similar. Try something like this in the command box (fixing the path as necessary):
java -classpath "/home/myaccount/bin/jix.jar" Tilex "%f"

Jix release: 0.3

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:52:33 GMT

It's been a long time, but there's a new Jix release available for download. New features:

Configurable tools - open the selected picture in your favourite image editor
Exif data in info dialog - digital cameras store a lot of info in the image
Upload options now all in one dialog

Known issues:

Setting a date for a new galleries doesn't work - there's a server-side bug
Mac installer not yet available (but Jix is quite well behaved on OS X)

Download Jix

Tints and Hips for Jix

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:03:45 GMT

You can un-dock the Jix toolbar: drag the left hand end. You may also be able to dock it elsewhere (down the right hand side, say) but this seems to vary a lot between platforms and Java versions.
The tree and the image pane have context (right-click) menus.
If you have images with long names, they may not show in full in the thumbnail strip - mouse over the thumbnails to see the file name.
Try the zoom settings in the Options dialog - you can decide between rendering speed and quality, and choose whether or not to auto-fit large images to the Jix window.

Tool bar issue

Mon, 21 May 2007 10:08:47 GMT

There is an issue with the Jix tool bar in some Java versions.

It should look something like this:

With some versions of Java 1.5 on Windows, you may see squished a tool bar like this:

The tool bar still works even if it looks odd. If you get Java 1.6 then the tool bar is back to normal.

Java versions 1.5 and 1.6 are also called 5 and 6 respectively for some marketing reason.

Fix for Jix 0.2.2

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:07:59 GMT

I mentioned that there was an issue for some users who are behind a cache/proxy. There's now a new release of Jix that fixes this.

If you have Jix 0.2.2 and it connects correctly to ScrapBook, you don't need this update.

Windows users: Download Jix 0.2.2a setup program
Anybody: Download Jix 0.2.2a jar file

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:31:18 GMT

There's an issue with Jix that prevents some users connecting correctly. This can affect computers that connect through a cache. The symptom is that Jix reports that it cannnot get your security groups. The cause is that the cache is returning the previous response instead of passing the request through to LJ.

It's easy to fix, but I'm busy due to the time of year, so I'm not sure when there will be a new version.

New release of Jix

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 23:43:07 GMT

Jix version 0.2.2 is now available for download.

Actually it was available yesterday, but LJ was down.

This version remembers where you were last looking for pictures, can resume a folder upload after failure, and several other minor improvements and bug fixes.

It is also now open source.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Running Jix on Linux

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:31:39 GMT

There are a few quirks with Jix on Linux.

Sun haven't provided a "native" look and feel implementation, so Jix has the Java "Metal" L&F. It also looks as if the Windows L&F is available, but it isn't. I think this is Sun's fault rather than Jix's (er, I mean mine).
Jix terminates if you try to browse a directory for which you don't have appropriate permissions. This is more my fault: the file system is showing the directory, so Jix is assuming it can read the contents. This will be fixed in the next release.
Modal dialogs don't seem to quite work if you run Jix on a remote Linux machine with X. You are able to bring the parent window to the foreground but you can't interact with it because Jix is waiting for you to close the dialog. Sadly the dialog is now probably behind the parent window. This seems to work much better if you run Jix directly on the local machine. Not sure whose fault this is.

There are also philosophical issues with Java (and therefore Jix) on Linux. Richard Stallman thinks you will fall into a trap*. Assuming you can swallow that pill**, you can run Sun's Java implementation on Linux, and so you can run Jix. You can get in here: http://java.sun.com/linux/

* I like the part where Stallman says "...people who write free software often feel Java is sexy." In fact, people who write free software usually sneer at Java for being slow, verbose, not having closures, etc. etc.

** If you can't swallow that pill, there are free-in-the-Stallman-sense Java implementations, but I haven't tried them. I'd be interested to know what happens to Jix if you do.

Jix 0.2 build 1

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:47:27 GMT

There's a new release of Jix available today. New features include:

Image thumbnails
Images auto-fit to window size when selected
Video file upload
several other minor changes and fixes

All feedback welcome.

Download Jix

Jix, of course, is not to be confused with Jix, Jix or Jix.

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 00:13:24 GMT

Jix may occasionally show an error message after uploading a picture even though the upload worked OK. If you get

Could not upload picture: java.net.SocketException: Connection reset

then the picture has probably been loaded OK. Go to the web site and check before you try again.

The problem appears to be on the server rather than in Jix, and is being addressed. It seems to relate to uploading a picture that has been uploaded before.

Edit: AFAIK this problem still exists, but you can avoid it by getting the next version of Jix. The problem only seems to exist in the old protocol.

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 19:34:41 GMT

Jix and the ScrapBook server are friends again after their tiff. Everything should be working OK.

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:21:05 GMT

Jix is not talking happily to the LJ ScrapBook. You will get a long and poorly worded (sorry) message about having no galleries as Jix starts up. Uploading pictures is not possible. There is a problem on the server which is being addressed. In the interim, please do not adjust your set.

Jix 0.1b8

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:10:15 GMT

A new Jix buid is now available.

This version allows you to specify a new gallery as you upload a picture.

It is available at http://banana.v21hosting.co.uk/jix/download.html

Jix 0.1b7

Sat, 23 Jul 2005 00:05:20 GMT

Jix 0.1b7 is now available.

This version will upload a whole directory of pictures at a time, and will work through a proxy (unless authentication is required). There's also now an off-line mode so you can use Jix just as an image browser.

The latest Jix build is at http://banana.v21hosting.co.uk/jix/download.html

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 23:30:57 GMT

Jix info will appear here shortly. Meanwhile, see the Jix site.