trunk/doc/mainpage.dox

/**

@mainpage libgig


@section Intro

libgig is a C++ library for loading, modifying existing and creating new
Gigasampler files (of both the old version 2 and the latest version 3 of
the Gigasampler format) and DLS (Downloadable Sounds) Level 1 & 2 files.

The library actually consists of three parts:

  - 1. @ref RIFF classes: Provide convenient methods to parse and access
     arbitrary RIFF files. The <i>Resource Interchange File Format</i>
     provides universal data containers ordered in a tree-like structure
     and can be compared to XML, but with the difference that RIFF is
     binary encoded.

  - 2. @ref DLS classes: Provide convenient methods to parse and access
     DLS (<i>Downloadable Sounds</i>) Level 1 and 2 files. These classes
     use the RIFF classes to access such files, since the DLS format
     uses RIFF as its layer beneath to store and structure its data.

  - 3. @ref gig classes: These are based on the DLS classes and provide the
     necessary extensions for the Gigasampler file format v2 and v3, since
     the Gigasampler format is in fact based on the DLS Level 2 format, with
     quite some radical modifications though.

So one can also use this library to access all kinds of RIFF files and DLS
files, but the main focus (as one can obviously derive from the library name)
is currently the Gigasampler format.


@section License

libgig and its tools are released under the GNU General Public License
(GPL).


@section Examples

Beside the actual library there are four example applications which
demonstrate how to use the library:

  - @e gigdump: Demo app that prints out the content of a .gig file.
  - @e gigextract: Extracts samples from a .gig file.
  - @e dlsdump: Demo app that prints out the content of a DLS file.
  - @e rifftree: Tool that prints out the RIFF tree of an arbitrary RIFF file.

Since version 3.0.0 libgig also provides write support, that is for creating
modifying .gig, DLS and RIFF files. You can find a test case called
@c GigWriteTest.cpp which demonstrates how to create a .gig file with
libgig. You find other demo apps regarding write support of libgig on the
website.


@section Portability

This library is developed and optimized for POSIX compliant operating
systems like Linux and OSX and since release 3.1.1 for Windows as well.
libgig was developed to compile on any operating system, though since
release 3.0.0 libgig uses one tiny operating system dependant method to be
able to resize files. Should be a 5 minute job to implement this method for
other operating systems as well though.


@section Outro

For compilation instructions, requirements and further details please refer
to the README file et al.

That's all folks. Happy hacking!

 -- Christian Schoenebeck <cuse@users.sourceforge.net>

@see http://www.linuxsampler.org

*/
1	schoenebeck	1378	/**
2
3			@mainpage libgig
4
5
6			@section Intro
7
8			libgig is a C++ library for loading, modifying existing and creating new
9	schoenebeck	1385	Gigasampler files (of both the old version 2 and the latest version 3 of
10			the Gigasampler format) and DLS (Downloadable Sounds) Level 1 & 2 files.
11	schoenebeck	1378
12			The library actually consists of three parts:
13
14	schoenebeck	1385	- 1. @ref RIFF classes: Provide convenient methods to parse and access
15	schoenebeck	1378	arbitrary RIFF files. The <i>Resource Interchange File Format</i>
16			provides universal data containers ordered in a tree-like structure
17			and can be compared to XML, but with the difference that RIFF is
18			binary encoded.
19
20	schoenebeck	1385	- 2. @ref DLS classes: Provide convenient methods to parse and access
21	schoenebeck	1378	DLS (<i>Downloadable Sounds</i>) Level 1 and 2 files. These classes
22			use the RIFF classes to access such files, since the DLS format
23			uses RIFF as its layer beneath to store and structure its data.
24
25	schoenebeck	1385	- 3. @ref gig classes: These are based on the DLS classes and provide the
26			necessary extensions for the Gigasampler file format v2 and v3, since
27			the Gigasampler format is in fact based on the DLS Level 2 format, with
28	schoenebeck	1378	quite some radical modifications though.
29
30	schoenebeck	1385	So one can also use this library to access all kinds of RIFF files and DLS
31			files, but the main focus (as one can obviously derive from the library name)
32			is currently the Gigasampler format.
33	schoenebeck	1378
34	schoenebeck	1385
35	schoenebeck	1378	@section License
36
37			libgig and its tools are released under the GNU General Public License
38			(GPL).
39
40
41			@section Examples
42
43			Beside the actual library there are four example applications which
44			demonstrate how to use the library:
45
46			- @e gigdump: Demo app that prints out the content of a .gig file.
47			- @e gigextract: Extracts samples from a .gig file.
48			- @e dlsdump: Demo app that prints out the content of a DLS file.
49			- @e rifftree: Tool that prints out the RIFF tree of an arbitrary RIFF file.
50
51			Since version 3.0.0 libgig also provides write support, that is for creating
52			modifying .gig, DLS and RIFF files. You can find a test case called
53			@c GigWriteTest.cpp which demonstrates how to create a .gig file with
54			libgig. You find other demo apps regarding write support of libgig on the
55			website.
56
57
58			@section Portability
59
60			This library is developed and optimized for POSIX compliant operating
61			systems like Linux and OSX and since release 3.1.1 for Windows as well.
62			libgig was developed to compile on any operating system, though since
63			release 3.0.0 libgig uses one tiny operating system dependant method to be
64			able to resize files. Should be a 5 minute job to implement this method for
65			other operating systems as well though.
66
67
68			@section Outro
69
70			For compilation instructions, requirements and further details please refer
71			to the README file et al.
72
73			That's all folks. Happy hacking!
74
75			-- Christian Schoenebeck <cuse@users.sourceforge.net>
76
77			@see http://www.linuxsampler.org
78
79			*/