CompfacePlugin
compface and X-Faces
X-Faces are small black and white icons, often sent with Usenet messages to help visual recognition of the sender, and to add a little personality.
James Ashton wrote the original "compface" code for converting between pixels and a text representation which can be sent via Usenet, and made it freely available. I added a few functions for converting between Mac bitmaps and the text.
CompfacePlugin
I wrapped up the compface code and compiled it into a plug-in for use with REALbasic, called CompfacePlugin. You can download the plug-in, and use it for free---let me know if you find it useful. The current version is 1.0b3, released on 14th January 2003.
| File | Size | Version | Date | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![[*]](pluginicon.gif){kind=small} | CompfacePlugin | 43 kB | 1.0b3 | 14th January 2003 | Stuffit |
CompfacePlugin is built for classic PPC and Carbon only (for Macintosh). If you own CodeWarrior, you can compile the source code to support Mac 68k and to support Windows partially. It was compiled using MPW. REAL Software's plug-in SDK does not support this, so I had to make a few changes. I have prepared a kit that enables the official plug-ins SDK to be used under MPW.
| ||||
X-FaceDraw
X-FaceDraw is a program by Francine Smit that uses CompfacePlugin. It is a simple editor that allows you to create, display and alter X-Faces.
Purple News
James Savage
![[Purple News]](purplenews_icon.gif){kind=icon}
was working on an offline newsreader called Purple News
for MacOS X and 9 that uses my CompfacePlugin.
There are a few decent newsreaders that
run natively under OS X, including
MacSOUP
and MT Newswatcher.
MacSOUP is a shareware offline newsreader with a truly beautiful
graphical thread tree, which is worth the shareware fee alone.
MTNW is a freeware online newsreader, which has also been carbonized.
It's an excellent choice for online use, but it does lack MacSOUP's thread
tree.
![[Made with Macintosh]](macmade.gif)