Until this point the KosherJava Zmanim API has been released under the GPL V2.0 open source license. This had the effect of forcing any application written using the library to release it’s source code under the same license. Being that the Zmanim API is a library, the LGPL is a more appropriate license. The LGPL allows developers to use the KosherJava Zmanim API, yet keep their application code closed source. Only changes to the API itself (such as ports to different languages) would have to be released as open source. I had in the past on request released the source under the LGPL (the Zmanim API .NET port has already been released under the LGPL with my permission), and with the recent 3/27/2011 SVN checkin I formally changed the Java Zmanim API license to the LGPL 2.1 (not the newer LGPL 3.0). The next 1.3.0 release will be the first formal release under the LGPL. In one case the change to the license required permission from developer who wrote code used by the Zmanim API, and this was done.
Tag: .NET
Zmanim API Ported to .NET (C#)
Yitzchok ported the Zmanim API from Java to a .NET API using C#. The Zmanim .NET project was released under the LGPL 2.1. This is a change from the GPL used by the Java API, something that may change shortly. Also part of the project was the creation of a C# version of the Zmanim CLI, matching Moshe Wagner’s Java Zmanim CLI. When developing the project, Yitzchok created the ZmanimTest JUnit test case class to confirm that the C# port output matched the Java API. I will likely add this to the core Zmanim API in the near future. The port currently relies on IKVM assemblies as can be seen in the Java references in the code sample below, mostly because of the lack of a native .NET equivalent of the Java TimeZone class. Yitzchok also created some examples of the use of the Zmanim .NET API that will be of help to developers. Below are two of the simpler examples in C# and VB.NET demonstrating a very simple use of the API to output zmanim from the console.
C#
using Zmanim.TimeZone; using Zmanim.TzDatebase; //in Zmanim.TzDatebase.dll assembly using Zmanim.Utilities; namespace Zmanim.Samples.Console { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string locationName = "Lakewood, NJ"; double latitude = 40.09596; //Lakewood, NJ double longitude = -74.22213; //Lakewood, NJ double elevation = 0; //optional elevation ITimeZone timeZone = new OlsonTimeZone("America/New_York"); GeoLocation location = new GeoLocation(locationName, latitude, longitude, elevation, timeZone); ComplexZmanimCalendar zc = new ComplexZmanimCalendar(location); //optionally set it to a specific date with a year, month and day //ComplexZmanimCalendar zc = new ComplexZmanimCalendar(new DateTime(1969, 2, 8), location); System.Console.WriteLine("Today's Zmanim for " + locationName); System.Console.WriteLine("Sunrise: " + zc.GetSunrise()); //output sunrise System.Console.WriteLine("Sof Zman Shema MGA: " + zc.GetSofZmanShmaMGA()); //output Sof Zman Shema MGA System.Console.WriteLine("Sof Zman Shema GRA: " + zc.GetSofZmanShmaGRA()); //output Sof Zman Shema GRA System.Console.WriteLine("Sunset: " + zc.GetSunset()); //output sunset System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit."); System.Console.ReadLine(); } } }
VB.NET
mports Zmanim.TzDatebase 'in Zmanim.TzDatebase.dll assembly Imports Zmanim.Utilities Imports Zmanim.TimeZone Module Module1 Sub Main() Dim locationName As String = "Lakewood, NJ" Dim latitude As Double = 40.09596 'Lakewood, NJ Dim longitude As Double = -74.22213 'Lakewood, NJ Dim elevation As Double = 0 'optional elevation Dim timeZone As ITimeZone = New OlsonTimeZone("America/New_York") Dim location As New GeoLocation(locationName, latitude, longitude, elevation, timeZone) Dim zc As New ComplexZmanimCalendar(location) 'optionally set it to a specific date with a year, month and day 'Dim zc As New ComplexZmanimCalendar(New DateTime(1969, 2, 8), location) System.Console.WriteLine("Today's Zmanim for " & locationName) System.Console.WriteLine("Sunrise: " & zc.GetSunrise().ToString) 'output sunrise System.Console.WriteLine("Sof Zman Shema MGA: " & zc.GetSofZmanShmaMGA().ToString) 'output Sof Zman Shema MGA System.Console.WriteLine("Sof Zman Shema GRA: " & zc.GetSofZmanShmaGRA().ToString) 'output Sof Zman Shema GRA System.Console.WriteLine("Sunset: " & zc.GetSunset().ToString) 'output sunset System.Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit.") System.Console.ReadLine() End Sub End Module
The current Zmanim .NET TODO list for the project includes:
- Remove dependency to Java (IKVM assemblies)
- The API should follow the .NET guidelines
- Make it Linq friendly
- Add examples how to use this project in a ASP.NET MVC site and WPF Application
- Try to get it to work on Silverlight