We just released Wallpaper Updater 2.6!

Today we announce Wallpaper Updater 2.6, our free wallpaper manager compatible with all modern Windows versions. There are several important updates in this version, including program help and user interface.

Read more about Wallpaper Updater 2.6 release here.

You are welcome to download our program here.

Please leave any comments here or on our website, they are all very helpful to us.

QOperatingSystemVersion - new class in Qt 5.9

Qt 5.9 is a current LTS release from Qt Company. In Qt Core we see a new class QOperationSystemVersion which aim is to replace some of the methods of QSysInfo class.

Let's see how this new class works. First create Qt console application and include necessary header:

#include <QOperatingSystemVersion>

After including the header we can use methods of QOperationSystemVersion class for getting information about our system. Available information includes system name, major version, minor version, micro version. Also it includes operation version in form of OSType enumeration which can be convenient if you need to execute some specific code, for example, for Mac OS or Windows.

auto osversion = QOperatingSystemVersion::current();

std::cout << osversion.name().toStdString() << std::endl;
std::cout << osversion.majorVersion() << "." << osversion.minorVersion()
          << "." << osversion.microVersion() << std::endl;

if (osversion.type() == QOperatingSystemVersion::Windows)
{
    std::cout << "Hi, we are on Windows!" << std::endl;
}

This code executed, for instance, on Windows 8.1 gives the following output:

Windows
6.3.9600
Hi, we are on Windows!

What file formats are used with 3D printers

3D printing became really popular recently. That's why we should be able to work with various digital models representing real world. Multiple file formats are used for these digital 3D models.

STL format is very common since most CAD programs use it while generating files. It seems all 3D printers accept this format without any adjustments. Files can be ASCII or binary (large files are almost all binary), format is open and well known, see its description in wiki, for example. But this format has its own drawbacks, among them - very poor support of colors.

VRML is a little bit newer and also universal format. It is basically plain text which is good to compress. Designed initially for virtual worlds, it can contain colors, animations, sounds, etc. So it is more advanced comparing to STL.

AMF format is open (defined by ISO standard) and XML based. As it is clear from its name, it was designed for additive manufacturing processes. While STL file is basically a list of vertices only, AMF file has support for colors, materials, etc.

OBJ is a common 3D graphics open format. It is relatively simple format based on vertices (their positions, normals, etc.). OBJ files usually go together with material description files - MTL, containing additional information about materials. OBJ format allows to include information about colors for each vertex.

X3G is a binary format containing exact instructions how to print. It is used by Makerbot devices such as Makerbot Replicator. If you've got file like STL, you can convert it to X3G.

PLY is a format designed for storing data from 3D scanners. It has both ASCII and binary versions.

FBX is a proprietary Autodesk format. It is used for exchanging data between Autodesk programs mainly. Autodesk provides its SDK. Also some unofficial description of format is available. FBX files can be either binary or ASCII.