About ASPImage 1.0

ASPImage allows you to create images on the fly from ASP. Features include:

1. Create JPG and BMP formats
2. Modify existing images
3. Gradient fills
4. Draw methods

ASPImage Installation

To use this ASP component move the DLL into a subdirectory (like \winnt\system32 for NT or \windows\system for Win95). Please use the version of regsvr32 that is included with this component or the version that comes with Microsoft ASP (they are the same version).

To register the component on the system change to the directory where you installed the DLL and type:

regsvr32 aspimage.dll

Finally, run markimag.exe to mark the component in the registry. Beta users must rerun markimag with the released version of this utility.

You may need to modify this example based on the directory you have installed the component to.

Simple Image Example

Using the component is as simple as

1. Creating the object
2. Setting a few properties
3. Calling the SaveImage method

The following code demonstrates how to use ASPImage from VBScript. In this example we'll create a text image that say's "Welcome to" with a gradient fill.

  Set Image = Server.CreateObject("AspImage.Image")

  rem Set various font parameters
  Image.FontColor = vbBlack
  Image.Italic = True
  Image.Bold = True
  Image.FontName = "Arial"
  Image.FontSize = 12
  Image.PadSize = 10

  rem Calculate how big our text info is and set the image to this size
  rem  This has to be done since we want to fill the area with a gradient
  strMessage = "Welcome to"
  Image.MaxX = Image.TextWidth (strMessage)
  Image.MaxY = Image.TextHeight (strMessage)

  rem Create a one way gradient
  Image.GradientOneWay vbRed, vbWhite, 0

  rem Print our string to the image
  Image.TextOut strMessage, Image.X, Image.Y, false

  rem Set the filename and save
  rem   NOTE: You should gen the filename dynamically for multiuser usage
  Image.FileName = "d:\inetpub\wwwroot\images\msg1.jpg"
  if Image.SaveImage then
    rem The image was saved so write the <img src> tag out for the browser to pick up
    Response.Write "<img src=""/images/msg1.jpg""><br>"
  else
    rem Something happened and we couldn't save the image so just use an HTML header
    rem   We need to debug the script and find out what went wrong
    Response.Write "<h2>Welcome to</h2>
  end if

By testing the result of the SaveImage method we can determine if the image save was successful or not. If something happened that causes the image not to be saved it probably means the script is saving the image to an invalid directory or a directory where write rights do not exist.

About purchasing ASPImage

1. The registration license fee covers only one CPU per license. The fee per CPU is $49.95. We have priced the component at a level where we hope that companies or individuals using multiple copies will respect the license agreement.

About Upgrades

1. Who can upgrade?
2. Users can upgrade for free for minor version changes. For example, upgrades from version 1.00 to 1.99 are free. The upgrade from 1.99 to 2.0 may carry an additional license fee.
3. How to get upgrades
4. The latest version of the components are always available at http://www.genusa.com/asp/aspcomp.html. If a fee is associated with obtaining the upgrade it will be noted on that page.

Upgrade Instructions

To upgrade the component from a previous version please follow these steps:

1. Stop all IIS related services such as Gopher, FTP and W3SVC.
2. Change to the directory where the component is located and type "regsvr32 /u aspimage.dll"
3. Move the new copy of aspimage.dll to the current directory and type "regsvr32 aspimage.dll"
4. Restart any necessary IIS related services.

Common Problems

Server object error 80040154.
This is the most common error reported. The error means that ASP could not create the object. Causes include:

1. You never ran regsvr32 on the DLL. See installation section of this document.
2. You registered the DLL with regsvr32 in one subdirectory and moved it to another.
3. IIS does not have proper security permissions to access the DLL or the directory you installed it to. See the ASP FAQ (http://www.signmeup.com/faq/) for information on changing security.
4. Your server may be running low on memory.

Note: Some users have reported that restarting the server after registering the DLL was required to use the component. This should not be necessary but reportedly works in a few cases.

Server object error 'ASP 0177:800401f3'.
This error means "Invalid class string" -- in other words the call to CreateObject failed because the name object cannot be found by the OLE sub-system. Causes include:

1. You really didn't run regsvr32 on the server after all.
2. You ran regsvr32 but it reported an error.
3. Someone modified security on part of the registry that's preventing the OLE subsystem from reading all or part of the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT tree.
4. The name of the object you are trying to create was mispelled or is incorrect.

AspImage isn't writing the image files.
Check directory security and make sure that the IIS user (authenticated and/or anonymous) has security permissions that allow read/write to the directories in question. The same problem may occur when using the AddImage method. If this fails make sure the image file is valid and that proper security permissions have been granted for the component to access the file.

Questions about AspImage

Can I use virtual paths?	No. Since IIS does not provide a standard API to lookup virtual paths outside of ASP. The method for manually looking these up will change between IIS 3 and IIS 4 so we decided to implement physical paths only.
What color constants are defined by VBScript?	The standard color constants are: vbBlack vbRed vbGreen vbYellow vbBlue vbMagenta vbCyan vbWhite You can, of course, add your own constants to your scripting code. For example: vbGrayText = &80000011
Why doesn't AspImage support GIF?	Unisys differentiates between servers and workstations in their GIF licensing policies. In the case of Web servers, they expect the operator of the Web server to pay $1500 a year to allow dynamic generation of GIF images. Because of their policy we cannot ship a GIF enabled version of AspImage to anyone who can't provide proof of owning this $1500 Unisys license. Our suggestion is to avoid GIF.
Is it possible to set the color used by commands such as Rectangle and Ellipse?	See the PenColor, PenStyle and PenWidth properties.

Technical Support

If you require technical support please send complete details about the problem you are having. Include the version of AspImage you are using, sample code snippets that demonstrate the problem (most problems are scripting errors), information about the hosting environment etc. For example, if you are using ASP to host the component please let me know what version of IIS and ASP you are running (and have you installed any of the HotFixes). The more information you can provide in your request for help, the faster your problems can be resolved.

ASPImage Properties

Property	Description
AntiAliasText	The AntiAliasText allows you to create anti-aliased text on the image. By default AntiAliasText is false. Example: Image.AntiAliasText = True
AutoSize	AutoSize determines whether or not an image should be clipped when a draw request that falls outside of the images current coordinates occurs. If AutoSize is true then the image will be enlarged to handle the request. If AutoSize is false then the draw request will be clipped to fit within the current image. Example: Image.AutoSize = False
BackgroundColor	Integer value specifies the background color. Example: Image.BackgroundColor = vbWhite
Bold	True/false value determines if font is bold or not. Example: Image.Bold = True
Expires	If the component is an eval or beta version the expires property will return the date that the component quits functioning. Example: Response.Write "Component Expires: " & Image.Expires
FileName	The FileName property specifies the physical path where a file will be saved using the SaveImage method. Example: Image.FileName = "d:\inetpub\wwwroot\images\abc.jpg"
FontColor	The integer FontColor specifies the color of the font. Example: Image.FontColor = vbRed
FontName	The string FontName specifies the name of the font. Example: Image.FontName = "MS Sans Serif"
FontSize	The integer FontSize specifies the size of the font. Example: Image.FontSize = 12
ImageFormat	ImageFormat determines what graphics for the image will be saved to. Valid values are JPG = 1 BMP = 2 Example: Image.ImageFormat = 2
Italic	True/false value determines if font is italic or not. Example: Image.Italic = True
JPEGQuality	If the ImageFormat is set to JPEG then the JPEGQuality property specifies the quality of the JPEG image to be saved. Valid values are 1-100. Example: Image.JPEGQuality = 95
MaxX	The MaxX property determines the X size of the image. Example: Image.MaxX = 100
MaxY	The MaxY property determines the Y size of the image. Example: Image.MaxY = 100
PadSize	The PadSize property allows you to automatically placed horizontal and vertical padding around text. Example: Image.PadSize = 5
PenColor	Color determines the color used to draw lines on the canvas. Example: Image.PenColor = &h80000011
PenStyle	Style determines the style in which the pen draws lines. Value Type Description 0 Solid A solid line. 1 Dash A line made up of a series of dashes. 2 Dot A line made up of a series of dots. 3 DashDot A line made up of alternating dashes and dots. 4 DashDotDot A line made up of a serious of dash-dot-dot combinations. 5 Clear No line is drawn (used to omit the line around shapes that draw an outline using the current pen). 6 InsideFrame A solid line, but one that may use a dithered color if Width is greater than 1.
PenWidth	Width specifies the maximum width of the pen in pixels. Example: Image.PenWidth = 2
RegisteredTo	Returns the name of the customer or company who purchased the component or "Evaluation" if the component is unregistered.
Strikeout	True/false value determines if font is strikeout or not. Example: Image.Strikeout = False
TextAngle	The TextAngle property determines the angle the text written with TextOut is written at. By default TextAngle is 0. Example: Image.TextAngle = 90
ThreeDColor	Sets the text color used for 3d text. Example: Image.ThreeDColor = &h80000011
Underline	True/false value determines if font is underlined or not. Example: Image.Underline = False
Version	Gets the internal component version number. Example: Response.Write "Component Version: " & Image.Version
X	The X property indicates the current X (horizontal) position of the cursor on the image. Example: Image.X = 10
Y	The Y property indicates the current Y (vertical) position of the cursor on the image. Example: Image.Y = 10

ASPImage Component Methods

Method	Parameters	Return Value	Description
AddImage	strFileName, intX, intY	True/False	Adds a new image to the canvas using the intX and intY coordinates.
Arc	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2, intX3, intY3, intX4, intY4	N/A	Draws an arc on the image along the perimeter of the ellipse bounded by the specified rectangle.
Chord	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2, intX3, intY3, intX4, intY4	N/A	Draws a closed figure represented by the intersection of a line and an ellipse.
ClearImage	N/A	N/A	Clears the image canvas using the current BackgroundColor as the fill color.
Ellipse	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2	N/A	Ellipse draws the ellipse defined by a bounding rectangle on the image.
FillRect	intLeft, intTop, intRight, intBottom	N/A	FillRect fills the specified rectangle on the image.
FloodFill	intX, intY, intColor, intFillStyle	N/A	Use FloodFill to fill a possibly non-rectangular region of the image. The boundaries of the region to be filled are determined by moving outward from the point (X,Y) until a color boundary involving the Color parameter is encountered.
FrameRect	intLeft, intTop, intRight, intBottom	N/A	Draws a 1 pixel wide border around a rectangular region using the points specified.
LoadImage	strFileName	True/False	Loads an existing image into the image canvas. You can load JPG, and BMP files.
GradientOneWay	intBeginColor, intEndColor, intDirection	N/A	Creates a one way gradient beginning with the color intBeginColor and ending in the color specified by intEndColor.
GradientTwoWay	intBeginColor, intEndColor, intDirection, intInOut	N/A	Creates a two way gradient beginning with the color intBeginColor and ending in the color specified by intEndColor.
LineTo	intX, intY	N/A	Creates a line from properties X, Y and going to intX, intY.
Pie	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2, intX3, intY3, intX4, intY4	N/A	Draws a pie-shaped the section of the ellipse bounded by the rectangle (X1, Y1) and (X2, Y2) on the image.
Rectangle	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2	N/A	Creates a rectangle using the points specified.
RoundRect	intX1, intY1, intX2, intY2, intX3, intY3	N/A	Creates a round rectangle using the points specified.
SaveImage	N/A	True/False	Saves the current image canvas into the file specified in the property FileName.
TextOut	strText, intX, intY, bol3d	N/A	TextOut writes a text value using the current font, color and other characteristics to the image at the location specified by intX and intY. If bol3d is true then the text is rendered using a 3d look.
TextHeight	strValue	Integer	Returns the text height for strValue using the current font, font size and font characteristics.
TextWidth	strValue	Integer	Returns the text width for strValue using the current font, font size and font characteristics.

 

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