Zxing-cpp

Major Changes
This release is mostly about the Python, Android and iOS wrappers. The latter 2 have changed considerably to have an API that is more in line with each other and with the core c++ library. The changes will most likely break existing app code but set a proper foundation for the future.

* Python:
* Multithreading Support via GIL by billmccartney in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/616
* Remove numpy requirement, use buffer protocol instead by EchterAgo in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/615
* Support sliced numpy arrays
* Expose return_errors parameter to Python wrapper APIs. by gregtws in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/618
* Expose Result::ecLevel method as python property by marcoffee in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/600
* Build wheels for Python 3.12. by dainnilsson in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/625
* Android:
* Android wrapper: Modernize build files by okarmazin in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/619
* Fix permissions on Android R+ by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/656
* Android wrapper improvements by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/659
* android: add consumerProguardFiles by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/660
* android: Fix build with NDK 26 by michaelweghorn in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/674
* Build with C++20 (improved DataMatrix detection) by default
* Don't `close()` the `ImageProxy` inside `read()` anymore, need to do that outside now (this breaks existing code)
* Change package name from `com.zxingcpp` to simply `zxingcpp` (breaking change)
* publish library on mavenCentral for lowest possible barrier of entry
* iOS/macOS:
* iOS Wrapper improvements by benjohnde in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/630
* iOS wrapper: Add functionality of encoding binary data into Barcodes by alexmanzer in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/635
* Rename ZXingCppWrapper to ZXingCpp by alexmanzer in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/638
* iOS: Enable CocoaPods by providing a podspec by benjohnde in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/637
* Build with C++20 (improved DataMatrix detection) by default
* ios: specify EC level/margin for generation by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/644
* ios: expose all native result items in wrapper by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/649
* ios: clean up ZXIDecodeHints by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/652
* ios: use a default error text instead of crashing by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/661
* ios: improve exception handling by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/664
* ios: rename `ZXIDecodeHints` to `ZXIReaderOptions`

* General:
* Rename `DecodeHints` to `ReaderOptions`. The old name is still available for backward API compatibility but deprecated. Since the C-API and the Qt wrapper code are not officially part of the library, they changed without backward compatibility.
* WASM: bytes in `ReadResult` by Sec-ant in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/588
* DataMatrix: use charset for encoding by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/628
* QRCode: Support QR Code Model1 by sayzzy-nt in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/633
* rMQR Code: Support Rectangular Micro QR Code by gitlost in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/681

Minor Changes and Fixes
* Fix QT 6 QML Crash & Enable QML Shape by LeonnardoVerol in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/597
* Python: Fix wrapper build on MSVC not having __cplusplus for BitHacks by EchterAgo in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/613
* Correctly handle supported image formats on Android APIs < 23 by okarmazin in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/622
* Add `DecodeHints.setMaxNumberOfSymbols()` to C API by siiky in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/665
* aztec: on decoding check for padding bits after B/S by gitlost in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/671

New Contributors
* Sec-ant made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/588
* LeonnardoVerol made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/597
* EchterAgo made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/613
* billmccartney made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/616
* gregtws made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/618
* okarmazin made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/619
* alexmanzer made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/624
* dainnilsson made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/625
* benjohnde made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/630
* sayzzy-nt made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/633
* michaelweghorn made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/674

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/compare/v2.1.0...v2.2.0

Major Changes
* Considerable performance improvements in linear symbol detection (up to 2x speedup in select use cases of `ReadBarcodes`)
* QRCode: major improvement in detection of high version symbols (see e.g. [here](https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/blob/master/test/samples/qrcode-2/high-res-1.jpg))
* DMDetector: reduce runtime overhead of c++-20 builds by around 50%
* Refactor Python wrapper so the sdist includes the core library code by stumpylog in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/530
* wasm wrapper: add function to reader to scan multiple barcode by Trim in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/567
* Added a C wrapper by siiky in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/553. If you find this useful, please have a look at #583.
* new `BUILD_EXPERIMENTAL_API` cmake option (currently enabling `DecodeHints::tryDenoise` feature, see 9bcfdb3637714af9419bae99dd4c48a12625ab1e)
[**EDIT**: just noticed that this does not work, see 8202a4e13a65de3a2b459d121af7b02cc7d2e9b5]

Minor Changes
* fix crash when the source image is less than 3 pixels width/height by liulex in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/476
* Android: Enable the saving of images to the phone gallery. by Sergio- in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/483
* WASM wrapper: add symbologyIdentifier into result by AlexXiong-dev in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/576
* CI: build universal2 python module for macos
* Python: compile module with c++20 (position independend DataMatrix support) by default
* Python: improve error reporting
* DMDetector: fix potential dead-lock
* DMDecoder: support 144x144 symbols in legacy and compliant variants
* UPC/EAN: reduce right quiet zone requirement -> fix non-conformant input
* EAN/UPCA: include AddOn in position calculation
* MSVC build option cleanup
* WASM: simplify and cleanup `demo_*.html` files
* Updated live web demos to latest code (and setup semi-automatic gh-page creation for the future)
* a bunch of minor bug fixes

Sponsors
Thanks a lot to Sergio- and sdcubber for their sponsorship in the past and also to the [current sponsors](https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp#sponsors)

New Contributors
* liulex made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/476
* Sergio- made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/483
* FalsinSoft made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/484
* kientux made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/507
* cbm755 made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/513
* stumpylog made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/533
* nmariusp made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/554
* fedormsv made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/573
* AlexXiong-dev made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/576
* siiky made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/553

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/compare/v2.0.0...v2.1.0

The most visible change from the client perspective is the removal of all formerly deprecated API, (almost) completing the 'cleanup'. Since I was way too slow with this release to implement a 'cleanish' SemVer release as discussed in 333, I decided to release this 2.0 with SONAME 3. A 3.0 release might bring the major version number back in sync with the SONAME.

Major Changes
* switch to UTF8 based API and remove deprecated UTF16 one (`Result::text()`)
* remove all API deprecated in 1.4
* Adding a wrapper for iOS by parallaxe in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/337
* new Aztec detector implementation to support arbitrary rotation and position of the symbol
* support multi-symbol detection in Aztec detector
* replace all Qt originated ECI/CharacterSet conversion code with a new implementation provided by gitlost (libzueci)
* require c++17 to build library and client code
* new `DecodeHints::textMode()` and `Result::text(TextMode)` API to specify how `bytes` are rendered into `text`.
* HRI (human readable interpretation) is the new default for the `TextMode` (has been for most cases before, but not all)
* new `DecodeHits::tryInvert()` feature to test for inverted symbols (white on black background)

Minor Changes
* deprecate `TextUtfEncoding` helpers, not required anymore with UTF8 APIs for both reader and writer
* support for multi-symbol and arbitrary position detection of DataMatrix symbols when library is built with c++20
* Include version number of QR Code and DataMatrix in Result by markusfisch in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/396
* reduce size of `Result` struct by about a third
* cleanup all license related files (see removal of the Qt code above)
* update links and comments to refer to new github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp home
* improved Code128 decoder for over/underexposed images
* support python 3.11
* a whole bunch of fixes and minor improvements all over the place

New Contributors
* khoren93 made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/356
* parallaxe made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/337
* Alex-MSFT made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/415
* Trim made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/435
* zander made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/446
* th1722 made their first contribution in https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/pull/458

Thanks also to all the 'old' ones! :)

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/zxing-cpp/zxing-cpp/compare/v1.4.0...v2.0.0

Note: this is an intermediary release on the way to 2.0. This code is (supposed to be) API compatible (via the `ReadBarcode.h` interface) with v1.3.0 but contains quite a few additional deprecations. It still has SO number 1, which is as wrong as it was for release v1.3.0 and it is not ABI compatible with 1.3 either. 2.0 will be basically 1.4 but with all deprecated API removed and the final fix for 333.

Main changes
* Reader support for Micro QRCode by corbers
* prepared switch from `std::wstring` based utf16 to `std::string` based utf8 results, use new [`ZX_USE_UTF8` macro](https://github.com/nu-book/zxing-cpp/blob/776a2b4f29cbc6c4410aa992080e391c63477a69/core/src/Result.h#L69) to transition to the upcoming 2.0 API
* much improved 'binary' data support via new `Result::bytes()` API, see 334 for a detailed background discussion.
* new `Result::contentType()` API returning information about the type of content (like text vs. binary, etc.)
* better standards conformance with respect to ECI handling, see `Results::bytesECI()`
* support for proper ECI handling across structured append symbols (see [`MergeStructuredAppendResults()`](https://github.com/nu-book/zxing-cpp/blob/776a2b4f29cbc6c4410aa992080e391c63477a69/core/src/Result.h#L185))
* new `Result::error()` API with improved error handling, see also `DecodeHints::returnErrors()`
* removed all internal header files from the installed set, so only the `ReadBarcode.h` based APIs are supported from here on out
* removed all sample images from the 'source' distribution zip/tar balls (much reduced size)
* python `read_barcode` returns `None` if no symbol was found (might break existing code if not checked for `None` before)

Minor changes
* lots of little bug fixes
* smaller per process runtime memory (thanks to vkrause)
* clang-13 and gcc-13 compilation fixes
* ported Qt example code to Qt6
* experimental multi-symbol detection support for DataMatrix when compiled with c++-20
* fix error in multi-symbol detection of linear codes (sometimes reported 1 symbol as 2)
* new `-bytes` and `-errors` options in `ZXingReader`
* support `tryRotate` for PDF417 symbols

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/nu-book/zxing-cpp/compare/v1.3.0...v1.4.0

**DISCLAIMER**: a note for downstream package maintainers: as discussed in 333 this release should have been named 2.0 not 1.3. Please don't package this release until the issue is resolved.

The major new features:
* Multi-barcode reading with the new `std::vector<Result> ReadBardcodes(...)` function. Does not work for Aztec, DataMatrix and Maxicode, yet.
* Multi-resolution scanning that can automatically downscale the input to substantially increase the detection rate on high resolution scans, see `DecodeHints::tryDownscale`, currently only enabled in the `ReadBardcodes` function
* New `Result::symbologyIdentifier` property (thanks to gitlost)
* Updated and improved android wrapper (thanks to markusfisch)

Worth mentioning:
* Most deprecated APIs from last release were removed (will likely break your build if you still have deprecation warnings with 1.2.0)
* New `Result::lineCount` and `DecodeHints::minLineCount` properties to improve reliability of 1D code reading
* New `Result::isMirrored` property (works for QRCode, PDF417, DataMatrix)
* Improved FNC1 handling and deprecation of `DecodeHints::assumeGS1`
* Lots of small fixes all over the place
* Drop in-tree copy of stb image library
* New [OpenCV example code](https://github.com/nu-book/zxing-cpp/blob/master/example/ZXingOpenCV.h)
* QRCode reading improvements
* Python 3.10 support

This includes around 200 commits including those of 11 new contributors.

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/nu-book/zxing-cpp/compare/v1.2.0...v1.3.0

There have been nearly 800 commits that touched about 10k lines of code since the last release.

Here are the highlights/major changes:
* switch to C++-17 (client code can still be compiled with a C++-11 compiler)
* switch to the reimplemented 1D detectors (about 5x faster than old ones in false-positive use case)
* deprecate the use of `ResultMetadata`, see ZXingReader.cpp as an example
* completely new Android wrapper library with CameraX support, integrated build system and demo app
* a lot faster and more capable `isPure` detection for all 2D codes
* completely new QRCode reader (faster, better support for rotated symbols)
* new `BarcodeFormat` names (old ones still available but deprecated)
* new ZXingQtCamReader demo app based on QtMultimedia and QtQuick
* reduced false positive rate for UPC/EAN barcodes + improved Add-On symbol handling
* 20% faster ReedSolomon error correcting
* PDF417 is faster and supports flipped symbols
* DataMatrix: added DMRE support
* much improved python wrapper incl. PyPI module for easy `pip` installation (thanks to antoinehumbert)
* proper ECI handling in all 2D barcodes (thanks to gitlost)
* added Structured Append support for `DataMatrix`, `Aztec` and `MaxiCode` (thanks to gitlost)

Note: The next release will drop support for a number of deprecated APIs. Please update your code and fix all deprecation warnings now.