HDevelopEVO is aimed for developers who work with growing projects and increasingly complex machine vision logic. The preview supports efficient daily work by improving project organization, navigation, and debugging, so development and maintenance become more structured and less error-prone.
It addresses common workflow needs such as keeping an overview of larger code bases, navigating quickly through procedures and variables, understanding script structure and execution flow at a glance, and debugging image-based logic in a more visual and intuitive way.
HDevelopEVO complements HDevelop by introducing modern IDE concepts and workflows that are being evaluated for future generations of HALCON development tools.
HDevelopEVO introduces a more structured way of working with files and projects. The explorer in HDevelopEVO provides a clear structure to manage, create, and edit your files and folders. With just a few clicks, you can navigate your project and keep track of everything.
The enhanced editor in HDevelopEVO is designed to reduce manual effort and support focused development.
Streamline your development workflow with our enhanced editor. Enjoy features like code folding, word wrap, and the ability to open and edit multiple programs simultaneously. Plus, take advantage of our pre-built code snippets for control flow structures.
Debugging in machine vision is inherently visual. HDevelopEVO reflects this by integrating image visualization directly into the debugging process.
The Graphics Window now displays corresponding images during the debugging, providing a more intuitive and visual debugging experience. Enjoy familiar features like double-clicking iconic variables to view them, zooming, panning, and clearing the window. And with the ability to restart and step through your script, you can see how changes affect your images instantly.
HDevelopEVO introduces improvements to the HALCON Script language to support more modular and readable code.
Experience greater flexibility in your HALCON scripting with the ability to declare procedures directly within your code. This streamlined approach simplifies your workflow and makes your scripts more modular.
Features that support your project and development needs
HDevelopEVO 25.11 introduces redesigned syntax highlighting for HALCON Script files, making code easier to read, navigate, and maintain. Instead of uniform coloring, operators, variables, and comments are now displayed in distinct colors, giving scripts a clear visual structure. This improves orientation in the code, reduces errors, and speeds up debugging and refactoring – resulting in a more efficient workflow and a smoother development experience.
With HDevelopEVO 25.11, MVTec introduces the first preview of the HALCON Script Engine, the successor to the HDevEngine. It provides a runtime environment for executing HALCON Script files created in HDevelopEVO. The HALCON Script Engine can initially be integrated into applications via a C++ API. Further interfaces such as .NET and Python are planned for future releases. This bridges the gap between prototyping in HDevelopEVO and productive use in custom solutions.
As a preview version, the HALCON Script Engine already enables embedding HALCON Scripts into applications. While not all language features are supported yet, these will follow in future releases. In the meantime, users can try it out and gain early experience with the new workflow.
Also included in this release are several improvements that make working with HDevelopEVO more efficient. A new script converter simplifies the migration of existing HDevelop procedures and example programs into HDevelopEVO, supporting stepwise conversion and reuse of established code. Usability has been enhanced with interactive tools: a real-time histogram integrated into the threshold operator for intuitive parameter adjustment, and a live display of grayscale values on mouse hover for instant pixel-level analysis. Together, these features simplify migration, speed up troubleshooting, and streamline everyday image processing workflows.
A new converter allows users to transform existing HDevelop procedures and example scripts into HScript files for use in HDevelopEVO. Programs and their associated procedures can be migrated for editing and execution in the new IDE, supporting stepwise conversion – from individual files to complete project folders.
Users receive direct feedback on which elements were converted and which may need further adaptation. While some language features and operators are not yet fully supported, the converter provides a straightforward way to reuse existing HDevelop scripts in HDevelopEVO. Continuous improvements and extended compatibility are planned for future updates.
HDevelopEVO now provides a real-time gray value histogram directly below the threshold operator in the editor. This allows users to intuitively adjust minimum and maximum threshold values by interacting with the histogram, using the current image as reference. Changes are immediately reflected both in the segmented image and within the source code, enabling quick, visual fine-tuning without switching dialogs or editors. This streamlines segmentation workflows and supports efficient parameter optimization for various image processing tasks.
You can now instantly view the grayscale value of any pixel in HDevelopEVO by simply moving your mouse over the image.
The current cursor coordinates and the corresponding grayscale value are displayed in real time, eliminating the need to click or query individual pixels. This streamlines pixel-level analysis, speeds up troubleshooting, and supports quick checks in applications such as industrial inspection, research, or data visualization.
HDevelopEVO 25.05 introduces support for referencing procedures stored in external files. Users can now split their programs into multiple files and reference procedures across them. This enables cleaner program structure and is a first step toward future support for modular libraries.
To address a common need in machine vision workflows, HDevelopEVO 25.05 adds the gray value histogram – one of the most frequently used tools for image analysis. It enables the user to visualize the distribution of pixel intensities in an image and to interactively set thresholds to select relevant regions for further processing.
To support developers more effectively, HDevelopEVO 25.05 introduces AI assistants. These include an interactive chat, agents for, e.g., IDE commands and shell commands, and automatic code completion. Users can choose between cloud-based, self-hosted, or local AI models while maintaining full control over data and model usage. The AI assistants must be explicitly activated by the user.
A key feature of HDevelop is also available in HDevelopEVO. Users can modify running scripts and adjust parameter values during execution without restarting the script. This enables interactive development and supports rapid prototyping, significantly accelerating the development process.
The auto-completion in HDevelopEVO provides support when writing HALCON scripts. While coding, users can now view a short documentation of each operator when needed, helping them better understand its function and parameters. This makes script development faster and more efficient.
HDevelopEVO integrates version control via Git, allowing users to manage projects directly without having to leave the development environment. Git operations, such as committing changes, can be performed seamlessly within HDevelopEVO. Code changes are highlighted in the editor and can be compared to previous versions, making it easier to track modifications within a project. This functionality also enhances team collaboration, as multiple users can work on a project simultaneously and merge their changes efficiently.
