Convert Image to String

[collizz]

Hi

Can someone please let me know which classes, objects, etc I should use into to convert an image file (.png, probably) to a printable string in Java?

The image will be around 100px square and I presume I could scan 1px lines into arrays, etc? I'm hoping Java has a predefined method to handle this kind of thing.

I'm familiar with OOP and most programming terminologies (I've been in IT forever), but unfortunately I just don't have time to "become one" with Java - at least not before my client expects delivery!

Assume the basic output to be a matrix, showing one of two images in each cell.

Thanks in anticipation.

[NormR1]

What would the String contain? The pixel RGB values as decimal numbers separated by commas?
Seems like a very strange conversion. Like a debug output for looking at the structure of an image.

[collizz]

Hi, NormR1

Thanks for getting back to me, so quickly.

For demonstration prposes recently, I created a simple matrix image for my client.

Some of the cells in the matrix had a coloured tick, otherwise, the box was left blank. Pretty simple stuff.

They liked the idea of a colourful, online alternative to the usual static, paper documentation and asked to have it provided online, on-demand.

I have the formatted data ready for input, and I am now trying to print rectangles representing one of the two states, rather than the unatractive ASCII version, e.g. "| N | Y | N |" ..."

So, instead of writing "N" or "Y", I want to output a 10px by 10px image, say, a red box or green box.

How do I do this?

I can handle the logic; it's just the convoluted mechanics of loading a string with the contents of an image.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[NormR1]

I want to output a 10px by 10px image, say, a red box or green box.

Where is this 10x10 image to be displayed? In a GUI?
You can add a JPanel to a container, override the JPanel's paintComponent method and add calls to various Graphics class methods to draw the rectangles.

the convoluted mechanics of loading a string with the contents of an image.

That makes no sense to me. How to load the contents of an image into a String???

[collizz]

OK, I appreciate your patience and I'll try once again to explain my problem.

- I used Fireworks to create a .png image file, which shows a typical x/y matrix
- That image file is linked to a RoboHelp snippet and parent help topic
- The compiled WebHelp application provides an web page for my client, who wants to see "real" data in the same format
-I wrote a VB script that produces a text file, which can replace the graphic if I can't produce the graphic myself

I want to do this in Java, to drag myself int the modern world.

I can probably manage this

, a component of a WebHelp topic.

At the moment, I am writing characters ("N", "Y", etc) to a file, as an alternative

[collizz]

I appreciate your patience and I'll try once more to explain my problem.

- I used MX Fireworks to create a .png image file, showing a typical Y/N matrix of certain relationships in the client's database
- I then created a PDF version of the image, for clarity and archival purposes
- the PDF file is linked by reference to a RoboHelp snippet, which is included in its parent RH topic
- a compiled WebHelp application provides a web page for my client's reference

No problems so far.

- the client now wants to see 'live' data in the same format as the approved test page
- to do this, I put together a VB script that runs nightly against use the client DB, recreating the unattractive, but accurate text version of the matrix
- as before, I create a PDF version of the generated .txt file

Still OK.

- the next step is to rework things in Java, replacing the "Y" and "N" characters by appropriate images (say, green and red boxes)
- as there will multiple rows and columns in the matrix, I want to loop through my input datastream, preloading the output text record with a series of coloured images, rather than "Y" or "N" characters
- each fully loaded row record will be written as a record to the new text file, which will be converted to PDF, etc as before

Java's capability of replacing the "Y" and "N" strings with a green or red box is what I need explaining, please.

Thank you.

[NormR1]

Java's capability of replacing the "Y" and "N" strings with a green or red box i

Where/how are the "Y" and "N" Strings being displayed?

preloading the output text record with a series of coloured images

Strings do NOT contain anything but characters.
Sounds like you want to generate HTML with references to colored images.

[vegaseat]

Take the bytes in an image file and encode it to printable character combinations with base64.

[NormR1]

Or get some slick image scan code and if the image is a picture of a flower,
set the String to "Picture of a flower"