liris-vision / starling

A graphical tool to build simple computer-vision applications.

starling

Starling is a graphical tool to build simple computer-vision applications, developped by the IMAGINE, R3AM and SAARA teams of the LIRIS laboratory.

Starling provides an easy to use graphical environment to experiment computer vision, and to generate C++ code examples of vision algorithms use. It relies on the OpenCV library.

It's a fork of the Harpia project. Main improvements from Harpia 1.1 are:

• generates C++ code using OpenCV 2.x C++ API,
• makes new module integration easier by adding just one xml file,
• replaces some components by new standards (XML parser, canvas).

It can also be used for OpenCV experimenting and learning.

Starling runs on Linux, MacOS and Windows. A Debian package for Ubuntu is available here.

starling's Issues

The cancel button of the "Export diagram to PNG" dialog box doesn't work

When the button is clicked, a Python error occurs:
File ".../harpia/harpiagcfrontend.py", line 841, in on_Export_clicked
if not filename.endswith(".png"):
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'endswith'

Add copy-paste of several blocks at a time

For now it is only possible to copy-paste one block at a time.
We need a more powerfull copy paste feature that can manage several blocks.
Points to address:

• how to select several blocks ? With a rectangle selection ? With CTRL+click ?
• must also copy the connection between the blocks.

Separate the code of the GUI and the code that manages the blocks graph

Apply a Model-View-Controller pattern to isolate the blocks graph management and the GUI.
Then the batch mode could be more easily and more cleanly implemented.

The title of the "show image" block window is not always visible

When the "show image" block displays a small size image, the title of the window is truncated.

Clicking "Run" button when a connector is initiated generates a Python error

When a connector is initiated, and the "Run" button is clicked, a Python error occurs:

File ".../harpia/GcDiagram.py", line 351, in __BlockXMLOut
if t_oConnector.fromBlock == self.m_oBlocks[t_oBlockIdx].GetId() and (self.m_oBlocks[t_oConnector.toBlock].GetState() or a_bKeepNonFlowing):
KeyError: -1

Then the "Run" button becomes grayed and irresponsive.

Add a vertical scale on histogram display ("draw histogram" block)

Improve video read

Due to the user reaction time, it's difficult to pause the video at the first frames.
We should:

• start the video in paused state (but not in batch mode !)
• display more clearly that the video is paused
• implement an image by image read mode
  All this would make the "show image" block code more complex. We could keep the current "show image" block as it is, and add a new "interactive show image" block ?

Replace gtk.glade (libglade) by GTkBuilder to reduce dependencies

Libglade is used to load GUI. It brings extra dependencies.
See http://www.micahcarrick.com/gtk-builder-libglade-faq.html to replace libglade by gtkbuilder.

Replace goocanvas by gtk.DrawingArea to reduce dependencies ?

Require some test before to decide it's feasible.
Related to #5 .

Improve temporary directories management

A temporary directory is created each time the 'run' button is clicked, to put the generated files . The directories are created in the standard system place (/tmp on Linux). There are several issues:

• it is difficult to retrieve the generated files because no information is given about their location
• for each opened project, a lot of temporary directories are created (one for each run)
• the temporary directories are not removed after use ; this is safe on Linux because they are created in /tmp, but not on WIndows

The "LIRIS-VISION directory" parameter is lost when Starling is restarted

When the "LIRIS-VISION directory" parameter of the preferences window is modified, it is properly saved in the .starling.conf configuration file. But the saved value is not used the next time Starling is launched.

The "Help/Tip of the day" menu entry doesn't work when tip display at startup is disabled

The "Help/Tip of the day" menu entry works until the "show tips at startups" check button is unchecked. Then it doesn't work anymore. "Help/Reset tip of the day" makes it work again.