Related pages:

• Digital Signage.
• Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language ( SMIL ).

• The OpenSource AMBULANT Open SMIL Player, Sourceforge "ambulant", Sourceforge "ambulant" for WinXp, Linux, MacOSX.

• Most documentation is stored in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/Documentation”.
  1. Tool to display “PDF” documents.
     • Adobe Reader √.
  2. Tool to generate the API Documentation in “HTML” format.
     • Doxygen √.
  3. Tools to display / edit “UML” Diagrams in the ”Scalable Vector Graphics” ( “SVG” ) format.
     • The commercial Adobe Illustrator was used to create the diagrams in the “SVG” format.
     • The free Adobe SVG Viewer can display the SVG graphics properly. On Windows, this is a plugin for the MSIE browser. Call MSIE browser to display the SVG files √.
     • The commercial CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 can display and edit the SVG diagrams properly.
     • Neither the OpenSource Gnome "Dia" nor the OpenSource GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program are suitable to view or edit the SVG graphics files .
  4. Tool to generate / edit the “Microsoft HTMLHelp” CHM help file, as supplied in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>\Documentation\user-htmlhelp”.
     • ”Microsoft HTML Help Downloads - “Microsoft HTML Help 1.4 SDK”.
  5. Tool to display / edit UML diagrams and other diagrams in the “Graffle” format, an XML data format.
     • The commercial OmniGraffle, just for MacOSX, was used to create the diagrams in the “Graffle” format.
  6. Tool to convert text files formatted in “ReST”, “ReStructured Text”, format in other formats ( HTML, LaTeX ).
     • Sourceforge "Docutils: Documentation Utilities. Written in Python, for General- and Special-Purpose Use", Sourceforge "Docutils: Documentation Utilities" - “Docutils is an open-source text processing system for processing plaintext documentation into useful formats, such as HTML or LaTeX”.
  7. Tool to create a Linux man page “ambulantplayer”.
     • groff.
  8. Tool to display and edit spreadsheet documents.
     • OpenOffice.
• Some other documentation.
  • There is a Documentation of SMIL in the EN.Wikipedia "Document Type Definition" ( DTD ) format, in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/Extras\DTDCache”.
    • Free DTD Editor:
      • The XML editor “EditiX” by JAPISoft, for Win, Linux and MacOSX.
        • The commercial JAPISoft "EditiX".
        • The free JAPISoft "EditiX Lite".
          • JAPISoft EditiX "DTD Editor" - “EditiX is a powerful and easy to use DTD editor”, “This is a free Edition of EditiX XML Editor for non commercial usage”.

• Data files in english and dutch language for GNU `gettext' are stored in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/po”.
  • GNU `gettext' Utilities, Online Manual.
  • EN.Wikipedia "GNU gettext", DE.Wikipedia "GNU gettext".

1. The commercial IDE Microsoft Visual Studio Professional”.
   • In the directory ”<install_dir>\projects\, there are solution files for Microsoft Visual Studio.
     • ”<install_dir>\projects\vc8-smil21/Ambulant-win32.sln” and ”<install_dir>\project\vc8-smil21/third_party_packages.sln” for Visuals Studio 2005 ( = VC8 ), on W2k, WinXp.
   • The pre-built binaries are for W2k. Later Ambulant player editions, i.e. Ambulant 2.2, are for WinXP only ( installation work on W2k, but the application does not run on W2k ).
   • The GUI is built with the commercial EN.Wikipedia "Microsoft Foundation Class Library", so you can´t compile and link the application with the free Microsoft Visual Studio Express editions .
2. A newer Microsoft Windows SDK than supplied with Visual Studio 2005 ( e.g. “Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2” ).
3. DirectX SDK ( e.g. “Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK (December 2004)” ).

• The free IDE Apple Xcode.
• In the directory ”<install_dir>/projects/, there are solution files for the free IDE Apple Xcode v2.3, v3.0, v3.1, v3.2.

• The OpenSource GNU Make toolchain.
  1. In the installation directory <install_dir>, there is a file “Makefile.am”.
  2. GNU Automake reads “Makefile.am” and generates “Makefile.in”.
     • GNU Automake.
     • RedHat "GNU Automake".
     • GNU Autoconf.
     • GNU M4.
  3. GNU Make executes “Makefile.in”.
• GNU Libtool.
  • The small library “libltdl” is shipped with Ambulant in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/libltdl”.
• The GUI is built either with the OpenSource EN.Wikipedia "GTK+" (GIMP Toolkit) - GTK+ 1 or GTK+ 2 ? -, or with the OpenSource / commercial EN.Wikipedia "Qt (framework)".

• The OpenSource Zeranoe FFmpeg, based on FFmpeg.
  • Gitorious "libswscale"Gitorious - “FFmpeg swscaler (experimental mirror)”.
  • EN.Wikipedia "FFmpeg", DE.Wikipedia "FFmpeg".
• The OpenSource LibJPEG.
  • LibJPEG is included in the standard distribution of Ambulant, in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/third_party_packages/jpeg”.
  • The OpenSource jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz of Independent JPEG Group.
    • Independent JPEG Group - Files Directory - “jpegsrc.v8c.tar.gz”.
  • Sourceforge "libjpeg", Sourceforge "libjpeg" - “jpegsrc.v6b.tar.gz” ( outdated ).
  • DLL-files.com "libjpeg.dll".
  • Wolfgang Bischoff "Compile LibJPEG" - “This page explains how to compile libjpeg under Windows XP using Visual Studio”.
• The OpenSource Xerces-C++ XML Parser.
  • The Apache Xerces Project.
  • EN.Wikipedia "Xerces".
  • Installation instructions for Ammbulant: “Assuming 'xml-xerces/c/src' of the distribution is in the include path and bin directory in the lib path”.
• zlib.
  • zlib is included in the standard distribution of Ambulant, in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\zlib” and is maintained and compiled with the “lpng” solution.
    • Alex Chachanashvili "How to build zlib 1.2.3 using Visual Studio 2008 for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows".

• MozillaWiki XULRunner - “For building AmbulantPlayer as a plugin for Firefox Web browser”.
  • EN.Wikipedia "XULRunner".
• The OpenSource LIVE555.COM.
• The OpenSource Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL).

• The OpenSource Valgrind - instrumentation framework for dynamic testing of applications written in C/C++ language, e.g. detection of memory leaks.
  • Testing of the player is supported by supplying a suppression file “valgrind.supp”.

• The OpenSource Sourceforge "NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)", Sourceforge "NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System)".
  • EN.Wikipedia "Nullsoft Scriptable Install System", DE.Wikipedia "Nullsoft Scriptable Install System" ( NSIS ).

• A shell script, using cp, mkdir, hdiutil.

1. Download and install the player binaries from Sourceforge "ambulant / files", and optionally the binaries of the browser plugins.
2. Get a simple SMIL file and some data ( a JPG graphics file, a MPEG4 video ).
3. Experience SMIL by playing the SMIL file with the player and optionally with the browser.
4. Download and install the sources from
   1. Sourceforge "ambulant / files / Ambulant Player Source".
   2. Third Party Packages,win32_wm5|Sourceforge "ambulant / files / Third Party Packages,win32_wm5". The subdirectories of the directory “INTO third_party_packages” must be copied in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages”.
   3. Xerces-C++ XML Parser.
      • Please put the contents of the archive in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages”.
      • Additionally, the subdirectories of the directory <xerces_dir>\src\xercesc” ( i.e. ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\xerces-c-3.1.1\src\xercesc” ) must be copied in the directory ”<ambulant_dir>\include\xercesc”.
   4. ffmpeg for Ambulant, win32 ( “20110119-win32-prebuilt” ).
      • The archive ffmpeg for Ambulant is not necessary for Windows.

1. Generate API documentation ”<install_dir>/Documentation/API/Doxyfile” with Doxygen.
2. View the documentation in “HTML” and “PDF” format and the plain text files, optionally some other data files ( e.g. “Graffle” and “SVG” files ).
3. Additionally, please read ”<ambulant_dir>/\third_party_packages\readme.txt” to learn how to install, compile and link necessary additional packages to make a new binary for Windows.

I can compile and link the player to an executable application, so that it plays SMIL files and displays images. The application can't play videos.

I can´t figure out how to configure Ambulant at compilation time to use the precompiled ffmpeg libraries and DLLs to play MPEG videos. I put the DLLs in the ”<ambulant_dir>\bin\win32” directory, and I statically linked the supplied precompiled ffmpeg libaries. That's not enough, for shure. This is may “AmbulentPlayer Log”:

11:27:28 DEBUG	Ambulant Player: compile time version 2.0.2, runtime version 2.0.2
11:27:28 DEBUG	Ambulant Player: built on Jun 13 2011 for Windows/MFC
11:27:28 DEBUG	Ambulant Player: using DX Player
11:27:35 TRACE	plugin_engine: no plugin loader configured
11:27:35 TRACE	file:///v:/users/public//demo.smil: Parsing document...
11:27:35 TRACE	Using parser expat
11:27:35 TRACE	file:///v:/users/public/demo.smil: Parser done
11:27:35 DEBUG	dx_player: DirectShow video renderer disabled by preference
11:27:35 WARN	No renderer found for <video src="http://localhost/smil/demo.mpeg">, using none_playable
11:27:37 TRACE	none_playable.start(0x1a3be00)
11:27:37 TRACE	none_playable.stop(0x1a34cf8)
11:27:37 TRACE	Returning default rendering surface for node 

1. Open the solution file ”<ambulant_dir>\projects´\vc8-smil21\third_party_packages.sln” with VisualStudio 2005.
   • Execute the menu item “Build / Rebuild Solution”.
   • Create the dirctory ”<ambulant_dir>\lib\win32\”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\expat\lib\Debug\libexpat.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\expat\lib\Debug\libexpat.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\expat\lib\Debug\libjpeg.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\png128\projects\visualc71\Win32_LIB_Debug\ZLib\zlibd.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\png128\projects\visualc71\Win32_LIB_ASM_Debug\libpngd.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\png128\projects\visualc71\Win32_DLL_ASM_Debug\libpng13d.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
2. Open the solution file ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\xerces-c-3.1.1\projects\Win32\VC8\xerces-all\xerces-all.sln” with VisualStudio 2005.
   • Execute the menu item “Build / Rebuild Solution”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\xerces-c-3.1.1\Build\Win32\VC8\Debug\xerces-c_3_1D.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy <ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\xerces-c-3.1.1\Build\Win32\VC8\Debug\xerces-c_3D.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
3. Open the solution file ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\mp3lib\mp3lib.sln” with VisualStudio 2005.
   • Execute the menu item “Build / Rebuild Solution”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\mp3lib\Debug\mp3lib.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
4. Install the precompiled libraries.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavcodec\avcodec.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavcore\avcore.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavdevice\avdevice.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavfilter\avfilter.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavformat\avformat.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavutil\avutil.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libswscale\swscale.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libswscale\swscale.lib” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\lib\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavcodec\avcodec-52.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavcore\avcore-0.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavdevice\avdevice-52.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavfilter\avfilter-1.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavformat\avformat-52.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libavutil\avutil-50.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libswscale\swscale-0.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
   • Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\third_party_packages\ffmpeg-windows-compat\libswscale\swscale-0.dll” to the directory <ambulant_dir>\bin\win32”.
5. Open the solution file ”<ambulant_dir>\projects\vc8-smil21\Ambulant-win32.sln” with VisualStudio 2005. Execute the menu item “Build / Rebuild Solution”.
   • Error message “Cannot open include file: 'ddraw.h': No such file or directory”.
     • Solution: Copy ”<visualstudio_dir>\SmartDevices\SDK\Smartphone2003\Include\ddraw.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>\VC\include\ddraw.h”.
   • Problem #1.
     • Error message ”<visualstudio_dir>\vc\platformsdk\include\strmif.h(27614) : error C2146: syntax error : missing ';' before identifier 'lpSurf'”.
     • Solution: *Include the following code in the file ”<ambulant_dir>\include\ambulant\config\user.h”:

       #ifndef HEMMERLING_FIX
       #define HEMMERLING_FIX
       struct LPDIRECTDRAWSURFACE7 {};
       struct LPDIRECTDRAW7 {};
       #endif

   • Problem #2.
     • Error messages:
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'vfwmsgs.h': No such file or directory”.
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'mmstream.h': No such file or directory”.
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'amstream.h': No such file or directory”.
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'ddstream.h': No such file or directory”.
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'austream.h': No such file or directory”.
       • “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'd3d9types.h': No such file or directory”.
     • Solution:
       • The files are not supplied with the SDK supplied with Visual Studio 2005.
         • Do.
           • Install the SDK “Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2” or a newer SDK.
           • Install the SDK “Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK (December 2004)” or a newer SDK.
         • Instead of using the new SDK, you might.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\Include\vfwmsgs.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\vfwmsgs.h”.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\Include\mmstream.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\mmstream.h”.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\Include\amstream.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\amstream.h”.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\Include\ddstream.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\ddstream.h”.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2\Include\austream.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\austream.h”.
           • Copy “C:\Program Files\Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK (December 2004)\Include\d3d9types.h” to ”<visualstudio_dir>SDK\v2.0\include\d3d9types.h”.
   • Problem #3.
     • Error message “fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'xercesc\util\Xerces_autoconf_config.hpp': No such file or directory”:
     • Solution: Copy ”<ambulant_dir>\include\xercesc\util\Xerces_autoconf_config.msvc.hpp” to ”<ambulant_dir>\include\xercesc\util\Xerces_autoconf_config.hpp”.
   • Problem #4.
     • Error message “Creating library... Performing Post-Build Event... The system cannot find the path specified. 0 file(s) copied. Project : error PRJ0019: A tool returned an error code from 'Performing Post-Build Event...'”.
     • Solution: Select “libambulant_win32” in the Solution Explorer of Visual Studio, open by mouse-rightclick the “Properties”, select the bar “Configuration Properties / Build Events / Post-Build Event”.
       • The current value in the field “Command Line” is “copy “$(TargetPath)” ..\..\lib\win32”, while the path is relative to the Visual Studio Solution/Project files.
       • Please create the directory ”<ambulant_dir>/lib/win32”.
   • Problem #5.
     • Error message “LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'libjpeg.lib'”.
     • Solution: Select “AmbulantPlayer” in the Solution Explorer of Visual Studio, open by mouse-rightclick the “Properties”, select the bar “Configuration Properties / Linker / Input”.
       • The current value in the field “Additional Dependencies” includes the path entries “libjpeg.lib libexpat.lib libpng.lib zlib.lib xerces-c_2.lib”
       • Please modify the path entry to ”..\..\lib\win32\libambulant_win32_D.lib ..\..\lib\win32\libjpeg.lib ..\..\lib\win32\libexpat.lib ..\..\lib\win32\libpngd.lib ..\..\lib\win32\zlibd.lib ..\..\lib\win32\xerces-c_3D.lib ..\..\lib\win32\mp3lib.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avcodec.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avcore.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avdevice.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avfilter.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avformat.lib ..\..\lib\win32\avutil.lib ..\..\lib\win32\swscale.lib”.
   • Problem #6.
     • Errors.
       • Error message “LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'amstrmid.lib'”
       • Error message “LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'strmiids.lib'”.
     • Solution: Install the SDK “Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 R2” or a newer SD ( instead of using the new SDK, you might copy the missing libraries to ”<visualstudio_dir>\SDK\v2.0\Lib” ).
   • Problem #7.
     • Errors.
       • Error message “LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'dxguid.lib'”.
       • Error message “LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'ddraw.lib'”.
     • Solution: Install the SDK “Microsoft DirectX 9.0 SDK (December 2004)” or a newer SDK ( instead of using the DirectX SDK, you might copy the missing libraries to ”<visualstudio_dir>\SDK\v2.0\Lib” ).
   • Problem #8.
     • Errors.
       • Error message ”<ambuland_dir>\third_party_packages\zlib\contrib\masmx86\inffas32.asm(647) : error A2070: invalid instruction operands”.
       • Error message ”<ambuland_dir>\third_party_packages\zlib\contrib\masmx86\inffas32.asm(649) : error A2070: invalid instruction operands”.
       • Error message ”<ambuland_dir>\third_party_packages\zlib\contrib\masmx86\inffas32.asm(663) : error A2070: invalid instruction operands”.
       • Error message ”<ambuland_dir>\third_party_packages\zlib\contrib\masmx86\inffas32.asm(720) : error A2070: invalid instruction operands”.
     • Solution: Replace

       movd mm7,[esi]

       by

       movd mm7,dword ptr[esi]

       in each error line.

• ?