Dumb Script Question

[ishldgetoutmore 0]

I've got a script I cobbled together from parts other people here have supplied. Coming from a background where I've never done any real scripting (I've never considered myself a coder of even novice ability), reading up on GDIPlus and its powerful utility is a big eye-opener.

Anyway the script is as follows:

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; #SPECIALIZED IMAGE CONVERSION SCRIPT# =========================================================================================
; Name ..........: SpecImageConvert.au3
; AutoIt Version : 3.3.6
; Language ......: English
; Description ...: Queries the user to select files and then crops them, converts them to b&w, and publishes them to PDF format.
; Author(s) .....: Roland Volz
; Thanks To .....: danwilli for the crop, UEZ for the inversion, Authenticity for GDIP.au3 and the tutorial.
; Modified.......:
; Remarks .......:
; Related .......: 
; Link ..........: http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=114533&view=findpost&p=800948
;                  http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=115392&st=0&p=806028&#entry806028
; Example .......: No
; ===============================================================================================================================

#include <GDIPlus.au3>
#include <WinAPI.au3>
#include <Misc.au3>

;Image Crop Settings
Global $ImageCropPosX = 0, $ImageCropPosY = 48, $ImageCropWidth = 880, $ImageCropHeight = 642

;Text Box Settings For Image AFTER Crop
Global $TextBoxWidth = 100, $TextBoxHeight = 17, $TextBoxPosX = 400, $TextBoxPosY = 625, $TextColor = 0xFFFFFFFF, $TextBGcolor = 0xFF000000, $TextFont = "Arial", $TextSize = 10, $TextStyle = 1 ;1 = Bold

Global $hImageContext, $hBackImage

; Query user for files to modify. All files must be PNG format.
$Message = "Hold down Ctrl or Shift to choose multiple files."
$Select = FileOpenDialog($Message, @WorkingDir & "\", "Images (*.png)", 1 + 4 )

; If no files are selected, return an error. Otherwise, split the selections into separate elements of array $Pic. $Pic[0] is the
; number of elements in the array, $Pic[1] is the directory containing the files.
If @error Then
    MsgBox(4096,"","No File(s) chosen")
Else
    $Pic = StringSplit($Select, "|")
EndIf

; Initialize the GDIPlus tools.
_GDIPlus_Startup()
$hBrush = _GDIPlus_BrushCreateSolid($TextColor)
$hBrush2 = _GDIPlus_BrushCreateSolid($TextBGcolor)
$hFormat = _GDIPlus_StringFormatCreate()
$hFamily = _GDIPlus_FontFamilyCreate($TextFont)
$hFont = _GDIPlus_FontCreate($hFamily, $TextSize, $TextStyle)
$tLayout = _GDIPlus_RectFCreate($TextBoxPosX, $TextBoxPosY, $TextBoxWidth, $TextBoxHeight)
$scale_factor = 1.0


; Take each file, crop it, add the title, and save it as a JPG file. If a JPG file already exists with the specified name, then it
; ignores that one and moves on to the next item in the files list.
For $a = 2 To UBound($Pic,1) - 1
    $PicNewName = StringReplace($Pic[$a], '.png', '.jpg')
    If Not FileExists($Pic[1] & '\' & $PicNewName) Then
        Local $tNegMatrix, $pNegMatrix
        $dll = DllOpen("user32.dll")
        $hImage = _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile($Pic[$a])
        $hClone = _GDIPlus_BitmapCloneArea($hImage, $ImageCropPosX, $ImageCropPosY, $ImageCropWidth, $ImageCropHeight)
        $hGraphics = _GDIPlus_GraphicsCreateFromHWND($hClone)
        $hImageContext = _GDIPlus_ImageGetGraphicsContext($hClone)
        $tNegMatrix = _GDIPlus_ColorMatrixCreateNegative()
        $pNegMatrix = DllStructGetPtr($tNegMatrix)
        $hIA = _GDIPlus_ImageAttributesCreate()
        $iX = _GDIPlus_ImageGetWidth($hClone) * $scale_factor
        $iY = _GDIPlus_ImageGetHeight($hClone) * $scale_factor
        _GDIPlus_ImageAttributesSetColorMatrix($hIA, 0, True, $pNegMatrix)
        _GDIPlus_GraphicsDrawImageRectRectIA($hImageContext, $hImage, 0, 0, $ImageCropWidth, $iX, $iY, 0, 0, $iX, $iY, $hIA)
        _GDIPlus_GraphicsDrawImageRectRect($hGraphics, $hBackImage, 0, 0, $iX, $iY, 0, 0, $iX, $iY)
        $tNegMatrix = 0
        _GDIPlus_GraphicsFillRect($hImageContext, $TextBoxPosX, $TextBoxPosY + 1, $TextBoxWidth, $TextBoxHeight, $hBrush2)
        _GDIPlus_GraphicsDrawStringEx($hImageContext, $PicNewName, $hFont, $tLayout, $hFormat, $hBrush)
        _GDIPlus_ImageSaveToFile($hClone, $Pic[1] & '\' & $PicNewName)
        _GDIPlus_GraphicsDispose($hImageContext)
        _GDIPlus_ImageDispose($hImage)
        _GDIPlus_BitmapDispose($hImage)
        _GDIPlus_BitmapDispose($hClone)
        _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hClone)
    EndIf
Next
_GDIPlus_BrushDispose($hBrush)
_GDIPlus_BrushDispose($hBrush2)
_GDIPlus_StringFormatDispose($hFormat)
_GDIPlus_FontFamilyDispose($hFamily)
_GDIPlus_FontDispose($hFont)
_GDIPlus_Shutdown()

I'm trying to perform a series of specific operations on images like the one below:

And turn them into something like this (minus the black bars, of course :

I think the problem is probably where I try to turn the graphic into the negative, but the end result is nothing. Since I'm not a coder and never took classes, I have to ask, what's the proper way to troubleshoot this? Is there a utility I'm missing which shows you graphically the various elements of the script as it's running?

[PsaltyDS 28]

Start out by adding error checking to your function calls. For example, _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile() returns -1 and sets @error if it fails. So you could rewrite that:

$hImage = _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile($Pic[$a])
        If @error Then
            MsgBox(16, "Error", "Image load failed from:  " & $Pic[$a])
            ContinueLoop
        EndIf

Or you can just output values to the console in SciTE while the script is running to see how it's going:

$hImage = _GDIPlus_ImageLoadFromFile($Pic[$a])
        ConsoleWrite("Debug: Loaded image; $Pic[" & $a & "] = " & $Pic[$a] & "; $hImage = " & $hImage & "; @error = " & @error & @LF)

You can also run the script in SciTE with this at the top of the script:

#AutoIt3Wrapper_Run_Debug_Mode=Y

This will output some debugging info in the console pane of the SciTE window while the script runs.

Edited June 11, 2010 by PsaltyDS