Thread for Einhugur releases for Buoy in 2026.
We have released our first component for Buoy, the Einhugur Word Component 1.0 for Buoy.
Word component is a Buoy component that enables you to create, read, write and edit Word docx files from Buoy code.
The component can:
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Create new Word documents.
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Read and write paragraphs and runs from Word documents.
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Read and write tables in word documents. (Very basic writing).
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Read and write nested tables and nested paragraphs in word documents. (Very basic table formatting).
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Read and write document info in Word document.
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Read and write headers.
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Read and write footers.
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Read and write basic bullets and numbering setup on paragraphs.
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Read and write indents.
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Read and write links and bookmarks.
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Supports easy fill into form template feature.
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Preliminary support for read and write for shapes.
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Support for reading and writing Character Style hierarchy.
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Support for reading and writing Paragraph Style hierarchy.
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Support for reading and writing Table Style hierarchy.
Not yet supported in our Buoy version of the component:
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Read and write pictures (jpg and png) from Word document.
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Read SVG pictures from Word document (currently read only).
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Language codes.
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Many detail method and properties on various of classes.
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Classes and Enums will be put in proper namespaces once Buoy supports that.
The component is supported on:
Supported on: macOS Intel / macOS Apple Silicon / Windows 64 bit / Windows ARM 64 bit / Linux 64 bit / Linux ARM 64 bit.
While Buoy is getting established and we have not so many components for Buoy then licenses for Einhugur components for Buoy are given for free.
You can email us at support@einhugur.com and request free perpetual key which will give you key with 3 months of free updates with possibility of extending its free updates period if we still have the free key program at that time.
If you have already valid update period for the main Einhugur Component pack then you can mail us and get free key for Einhugur Buoy components that have same update period as your component pack key.
You can also run without any license key, in which case the component is limited in some way which will vary depending on the component.
More info at https:/www.einhugur.com
Is there some trick you use to do this?
Like can buoy read Xojo plugins?
Buoy doesn’t use Xojo Plugins. There’s a bit of overhead there that we don’t have access to. For the most part, Buoy’s packages are just compiled libraries with declares to execute their functions and possibly a bit of Buoy code to make them look better in the user’s code.
If you download the base package, Buoy currently ships with 9 packages (including one called testpkg). These are all features that you as the developer get to decide whether they are included in that one project.
Packages are well documented and there are lots of examples… including how to use Buoy to build the libraries since it can build .dylib, .dll and .so files as well as executables.
The trick was to be on vacation for 10 days and sleep as little as possible and spam Greg with questions and problems.
But no its big re-coding. The code in the Xojo plugin was of course C++ code but it was never made to be generic use C++ library, since I got my own engine in this component that was only made to be Xojo plugin at the time. So yea it was just big re-write and blood, sweat and tears.
This is incredible. I’ve been following both Buoy and Objo and I’m genuinely impressed by what y’all have done.
THIS IS VERY COOL to see !!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we see the first example of a Grand-Xojo-Plugin-Supplier supporting an Alternative.
Congrats!
Objo lacks interop at the moment (although it is most certainly on the roadmap), so extensive 3rd party support isn’t happening yet (though the tires are being kicked) but overall it is far more polished and complete at this stage. Garry’s approach is very systematic in these matters and he’s been working on it longer.
Over time I expect both Objo and Buoy to catch up where they are “behind” each other or the general state of the art (I leave Xojo out of the comparison purposely, as it has IMO already rendered itself irrelevant other than to whatever extent Objo and Buoy want to make migration easier for its user base; but Xojo has made so many questionable architectural decisions over the years that any truly 100% compatible product would itself be risible).
If both of these new products end up competing in the marketplace and with each other, they will likely appeal to different developer tastes (native controls vs not, text editor oriented or proprietary form-based tooling oriented, bespoke cross platform framework vs Avalon, the degree to which AI is in the mix in generating code, etc).
Speaking only for myself, I’ll end up enduring a lot of things I don’t love if I can simply get a stable platform and a vendor that is truly service oriented and devoted to its users and its ecosystem, while substantively delivering on the promise of “cross platform from a single code base” and making architectural decisions that are defensible and well implemented and maintained even in those instances where I disagree with them.
Once both products are past a 1.0 release quality in other than name, another thing they will need to address that “X” hasn’t is a succession plan that’s beneficial to the user base and their confidence in it. Products driven by a sole proprietor, however young-ish, have to provide for getting run over by the proverbial bus. Probably in terms of a code escrow arrangement that would open-source the code (literally or at least in the private repository sense) so the community could carry on. Providing for easy transition by forming an advisory council or org of some kind that would be somewhat ramped up to step in should the situation require it. Maybe some form of revenue sharing from there with the owner’s estate in the form of license royalties perhaps. Just generally guarding against some corporate entity swooping in and enshittifying the platform or just shutting it down as a source of competition. Because I’ve been through too many of those situations over the years.
But I’m way ahead of the game here. Right now the focus is rightly on bringing these products properly to life in the first place. It’s kind of exhilarating to see life breathed into them, and to have real input into their evolution.
Hello Bob,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful reply. I enjoyed reading it.
You make a number of good points, especially about stability, long-term support, and having a vendor that truly listens to its users. I also hadn’t really considered the importance of a succession plan for a platform driven by a single developer, but I think that’s a very valid observation.
I still can’t help wondering what could be achieved if Garry, Greg, and Bjorn combined their knowledge and experience into a single platform. To me, that would create a very strong competitor with the potential to attract a much larger developer community.
That said, I also understand your point that two independent products may ultimately appeal to different kinds of developers, and that competition can encourage innovation.
It will certainly be interesting to see how both projects evolve over the coming years.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Kind regards,
Chris
The trick was to be on vacation for 10 days
Do more vacation 
We have released RawBitmap package 1.0, GraphicsFormats 1.0 package and Word component update 1.2 for Buoy.
(The RawBitmap and GraphicsFormats are super preliminary and mostly have what was needed to advance the Word package more)**
Word component is a Buoy component that enables you to create, read, write and edit Word docx files from Buoy code.
The component can:
-
Create new Word documents.
-
Read and write paragraphs and runs from Word documents.
-
Read and write tables in word documents. (Very basic writing).
-
Read and write nested tables and nested paragraphs in word documents. (Very basic table formatting).
-
Read and write document info in Word document.
-
Read and write pictures (jpg and png) from Word document.
-
Read SVG pictures from Word document (currently read only).
-
Read and write headers.
-
Read and write footers.
-
Read and write basic bullets and numbering setup on paragraphs.
-
Read and write indents.
-
Read and write links and bookmarks.
-
Supports easy fill into form template feature.
-
Language codes.
-
Preliminary support for read and write for shapes.
-
Support for reading and writing Character Style hierarchy.
-
Support for reading and writing Paragraph Style hierarchy.
-
Support for reading and writing Table Style hierarchy.
Not yet supported in our Buoy version of the component:
-
Many detail method and properties on various of classes.
-
Classes and Enums will be put in proper namespaces once Buoy supports that.
The component is supported on:
Supported on: macOS Intel / macOS Apple Silicon / Windows 64 bit / Windows ARM 64 bit / Linux 64 bit / Linux ARM 64 bit.
GraphicsFormats 1.0 for Buoy
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Can read and write PNG’s from files.
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Can read and write PNG’s from Byte buffer.
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Preserves and deals with ICC color profiles in pngs.
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PNG’s are supported 8bit deep or 16 bit deep.
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Can read and write ICO’s from files.
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Can read and write ICO’s from Byte buffer.
RawBitmap 1.0 for Buoy
- This is center piece for Einhugur Advanced image processing and handling to support our other packages. The RawBitmap supports various of color spaces, different depths, Color profiles, CMYK, RGB, Gray, and other things.
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While Buoy is getting established and we have not so many components for Buoy then licenses for Einhugur components for Buoy are given for free.
You can email us at support@einhugur.com and request free perpetual key which will give you key with 3 months of free updates with possibility of extending its free updates period if we still have the free key program at that time.
If you have already valid update period for the main Einhugur Component pack for Xojo then you can simply use your key.
You can also run without any license key, in which case the component is limited in some way which will vary depending on the component.
More info at https:/www.einhugur.com
We have released Einhugur GraphicsFormats package 1.1 and Einhugur RawBitmap package 1.1 for Buyo.
New in RawBitmap 1.1:
- Added RawBitmapDescription class.
New in GraphicsFormats 1.1:
- Fixed bug which caused the EinhugurGraphicsFormats.RawIco module to not be usable at all.
- Added RawBmpExporter class.
- Added RawBmpImporter class.
- Added ReadHeader function to the RawPngImporter class.
- Added RawJpegExporter class.
- Added RawJpegImporter class.
- Added RawWebPExporter class.
- Added RawWebPImporter class.
The GraphicsFormats for Buoy can currently read and write either from file or buffer, PNG, JPEG, ICO, BMP and WebP. Supporting ICC color profiles in the formats that support that, and supporting deeper 16 bit dept in formats that support that.
Note that this component currently has no example projects while we have no API to convert to and from Buoy picture. However there is one good example for it in our Word Component for Buoy where a png is added to the Word document, using the Graphics formats component.
While Buoy is getting established and we have not so many components for Buoy then licenses for Einhugur components for Buoy are given for free.
You can email us at support@einhugur.com and request free perpetual key which will give you key with 3 months of free updates with possibility of extending its free updates period if we still have the free key program at that time.
If you have already valid update period for the main Einhugur Component pack for Xojo then you can simply use your key.
You can also run without any license key, in which case the component is limited in some way which will vary depending on the component.
More info at https:/www.einhugur.com