Preview of HALCON's new IDE – HDevelopEVO
Discover our new IDE HDevelopEVO Preview! Enjoy seamless project management, intuitive handling of iconic and control variables, and a new documentation – all with the proven MVTec look and feel.
HDevelopEVO is continually evolving to meet your needs. It already offers a range of powerful image processing features. With each iteration, we expand the possibilities. Be one of the first to test the latest developments and shape the future of image processing.
You have the opportunity to test the preview. Simply download it via the MVTec Software Manager (SOM) with your existing HALCON license.
Overview of HDevelopEVO Preview
The explorer makes daily development processes more efficient
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.
Code faster with our advanced editor
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.
Streamline Your Workflow: Enhanced Navigation with Outline View
Boost your productivity with the intuitive outline view. Quickly grasp the overall structure of your file including procedures and variables and navigate with confidence.
Watch your images come to life as you debug your script!
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.
Improved HALCON Script language
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.
Latest features
available in HALCON 25.11 Progress
Syntax highlighting for HALCON Script files in HDevelopEVO 25.11
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.
HALCON Script Engine and C++ API in HDevelopEVO
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.
Additional features
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.
Features
available in HALCON 25.05 Progress
Script converter for migration to HDevelopEVO
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.
Inline histogram view for threshold operator adjustments
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.
Live grayscale value display on mouse hover
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.
Use external procedure files in HDevelopEVO
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.
Gray value histogram: First machine vision tool in HDevelopEVO
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.
Integrated AI assistants for smarter development workflows
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.
Features
available in HALCON 24.11 Progress-Steady
Rapid Prototyping
Edit and optimize scripts in real time with "Edit & Continue"
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.
Directly in the flow
Intuitive auto-completion with integrated documentation
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.
Git integration in HDevelopEVO
Seamless working without changing tools
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.