# 1 Introduction

The MUtilities library is a collection of routines and classes to extend the Qt cross-platform framework. It contains various convenience and utility functions as well as wrappers for OS-specific functionalities. The library was originally created as a "side product" of the LameXP application: Over the years, a lot of code, not really specific to LameXP, had accumulated in the LameXP code base. Some of that code even had been used in other projects too, in a "copy & paste" fashion – which had lead to redundancy and much complicated maintenance. In order to clean-up the LameXP code base, to eliminate the ugly redundancy and to simplify maintenance, the code in question has finally been refactored into the MUtilities (aka "MuldeR's Utilities for Qt") library. This library now forms the foundation of LameXP and other OpenSource projects.

# 2 Project Structure

The MUtilities project directory is organized as follows:

- `bin/` – compiled library files (static or shared), link those files in projects that use the MUtilities library
- `docs/` – programming interface documentation, generated with Doxygen tool
- `etc/` – miscellaneous files, everything that doesn't fit in anywhere else
- `include/` – public header files, include this directory in projects that use the MUtilities library
- `obj/` – object code files, intermediate files generated during the build process
- `res/` – resource files, required for building the MUtilities library
- `src/` – source code files, required for building the MUtilities library (third-party code in `src/3rd_party/`)
- `test/` – unit tests, based on Google Test framework
- `tmp/` – temporary files, automatically generated during the build process

# 3 Example

Here is a minimal example on how to use the MUtilities library in your project:

    //MUtils
    #include <MUtils/Global.h>

    int main(int argc, char **argv)
    {
        qDebug("Random number: %u\n", MUtils::next_rand_u32());
    }

## 3.1 Build Notes

- In order to use the MUtilities library in your project, your build environment must have already been set up for building Qt-based projects. Setting up Qt is not covered by this document.
- Additionally, make sure that MUtilities' `include/` directory is contained in your "Additional Include Directories" and that the MUtilities' `bin/` directory is contained in your "Additional Library Directories".
- Finally, make sure that your project links against the `MUtils32-1.lib` library file. For each build configuration, pick the proper .lib file from the corresponding `bin/<platform>/<config>/` directory!
- If your projects intends to use the MUtilities library as a static library, then the macro `MUTILS_STATIC_LIB` must be added to your project's "Preprocessor Definitions".

# 4 API Documentation

A fully-fledged documentation of the MUtilities programming interface (API) is available thanks to Doxygen. Please see `docs/index.html` for details!

# 5 License

This library is free software. It is released under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Version 2.1.

    MUtilities - MuldeR's Utilities for Qt
    Copyright (C) 2004-2023 LoRd_MuldeR <MuldeR2@GMX.de>. Some rights reserved.

    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
    Lesser General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301 USA.

# 6 Acknowledgement

The following people have contributed in the development of the MUtilities library:

- John Buonagurio <jbuonagurio@exponent.com>
  Support for Qt5

The following third-party code is used in the MUtilities library:

- Keccak/SHA-3 Reference Implementation
  Implementation by the Keccak, Keyak and Ketje Teams, namely, Guido Bertoni, Joan Daemen, Michaël Peeters, Gilles Van Assche and Ronny Van Keer
  No Copyright / Dedicated to the Public Domain

- Natural Order String Comparison
  Copyright (C) 2000, 2004 by Martin Pool <mbp@sourcefrog.net>
  Released under the zlib License

- Adler-32 Checksum Algorithm (from zlib)
  Copyright (C) 1995-2013 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler
  Released under the zlib License

e.o.f.