Cygnus Extensions
Cygnus provides many options for converting and analyzing data.
However, we recognized that some users would have a need for tasks that we
had not envisioned. To deal with this, Cygnus allows developers to write
extensions to enhance the program's features.
Once we implemented support for extensions in Cygnus, we were very
pleased. Not only did this give customers a way to extend the program, but
it also gave us a way to add functionality more easily ourselves. Cygnus
definitely has more features than it would have had without extensions.
Additional features can be downloaded for free from our
Cygnus Downloads Page and we expect to add many additional extensions to the product in the
future.
Cygnus supports two basic types of extensions. The first are task
extensions. These extensions provide plug-in tasks that are available from
within the program. Task extensions can be written to enhance the
following commands:
- The Import command.
- The Export command.
- The Copy As command.
- The Paste As command.
- The Convert Data command.
- The Compute Checksum command.
The second basic type of extensions are data type extensions. Through
data type extensions, developers can add new data
types to Cygnus. Data types are used throughout the program by the Data
Inspector, Find, Replace, Insert, and Delete commands.
(Note: The current version of Cygnus does not allow you to write data
type extensions that can be used by the Modify command.)
Extensions are designed to be written in C and C++ but may be written
in any language that can create DLLs that export undecorated and unmangled
function names. Instructions on writing extensions are included in the
online help. No additional software or documentation must be purchased
from us.
Of course, customers needing custom extensions who either do not have
the time or technical expertise can contact SoftCircuits. SoftCircuits
provides software consulting services and, obviously, has great expertise
in the area of writing Cygnus extensions.
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