RELEASE LiveCode 6.5

Thu Nov 28 06:12:26 EST 2013

Just to chime in here and add to what Ben has said below. 6.5 wasn't a
case of adding a few minor features. We didn't do what we usually do and
"bolt-on" the resolution independence code to the existing architecture.
Instead, we replaced the entire graphics architecture for all graphics on
all platforms in the entire engine.

It was a ton of effort and we got "just" one big feature this release -
resolution independence. It might seem like a bitter pill to swallow for
just that feature. Of course that isn't the point. We now have a modern
graphics layer and we can do so much more with it over the next few
versions, as Ben has outlined. We have so much scope now to expose
additional graphics features, re-implement theming and so forth.

There is simply no way to make a change so big without causing some issues
somewhere. We do have an automated test framework, but it too is new. We
are adding tests to it every day to get better coverage. It will take time
to get comprehensive coverage. And with a platform like LiveCode we simply
can't predict and test every possible use even when that is done.

Then there is the issue that, understandably, our customers are busy and
don't always have time to test a release before it comes out. That's fine,
it just means we will need to address your issues in 6.5.x. If you're
still spotting little errors rendering and so forth, please report them
and we'll get them ironed out fast.

I wish I could tell you that the 7.0 process will be smoother. However I
think it only sensible to come out right now and say that it won't be.

Rather than changing (just!) the graphics architecture, we've touched
almost every single line of code in the entire engine on every platform.
Again we're "only" getting one major feature with 7.0 - complete and
transparent Unicode support on all platforms. Again though, this sets us
up to deliver themes and open language hot on the heals of this. And once
we get through all that, things will really speed up. All those stretch
goals that are outstanding become rapid to implement on top. Right now it
looks like we're making slow progress, because we have so many people
working on big architecture stuff that brings only one or two features in
the first release. However our capacity is so much greater that you'll see
the feature set rounded out on top of this work far more rapidly than
you've ever seen before from us.

We're going to do everything we can to be responsive to feedback on 7.0,
to test it internally and to stabilize it. And we will, absolutely,
achieve a rock solid release of all the new tech. But it is going to take
some time. There is no other way to do all of this. We'll communicate as
clearly as we can and be responsive. At the end of the day though we're
relying on your support and patience to get through the next few months of
sweeping changes to the architecture. It will be worth it for everyone
when its done.

Thanks again to all for your patience and support.

Kind regards,

Kevin

Kevin Miller ~ kevin at runrev.com ~ http://www.runrev.com/
LiveCode: Everyone can code

On 28/11/2013 10:44, "Benjamin Beaumont" <ben at runrev.com> wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>Thanks for the warm messages.
>
>For those of you encountering issues can I encourage your to get bug
>reports to us. The new maintenance cycle structure is designed so that we
>can continue to work on a release long after the initial version and bring
>refinements and improvements. Over the next week are so you can expect a
>RC1 of 6.5.1 through which we'll be bringing fixes to bugs that people
>report against yesterdays release.
>
>As a motivation let me encourage you by explaining the work we've done
>this
>year.
>- In LiveCode 6.5 we completely re-implemented the entire graphics layer
>as
>part of our work towards supporting a raft of new features such as theme
>drawing, custom controls, replaced video, browser.. in fact, most of the
>roadmap ahead required a modern 2D drawing API.
>- In LiveCode 7.0 which we've been working on for 9 months, we're
>refactoring nearly every line of code in the engine to create a smaller
>core platform with a much cleaner structure allowing for quicker extension
>of the language. The result will provide all of us a team team and the
>community as a whole with a more robust platform that can more easily be
>extended. 2014 will be an exciting year as we are able to add more
>features
>to the platform and so are community members.
>
>There is a catch though. Big changes introduce a lot of bugs. We have an
>automated system that we use to test our new engines at an API level.
>However, because this is a development language, interactions are hugely
>varied and complicated, which is sometimes beyond automated testing. This
>is where we rely on you as our community to test stacks and feedback to
>us.
>It's something we don't take for granted. We are hugely thankful to have a
>community that cares about the product and it's only with your support
>that
>we can make LiveCode a true success.
>
>So, we encourage anyone who is interested and especially those in the
>community who rely on the technology to test and feedback. In particular
>as
>the RC stage. At this point we are saying that we deem the release to be
>feature complete and are now just refining it for release.
>
>Thanks again for your warm encouragements and support!
>
>Regards,
>
>Ben
>
>
>On 28 November 2013 04:57, J. Landman Gay <jacque at hyperactivesw.com>
>wrote:
>
>> On 11/27/13 6:31 PM, Richard Gaskin wrote:
>>
>>  We all get busy, and it's been hard to focus on testing with so much
>>> work to do.
>>>
>>> But over time I've learned that if I don't test my apps with the
>>>current
>>> test build, I'm likely to have to skip a version if I find anything.
>>>
>>>
>> That's been my problem too lately. They did warn us that 6.5 was a major
>> overhaul and we should test our stacks with it (and work on copies)
>>because
>> in particular the graphics engine was changed. I wanted to help but I've
>> just been too busy to do much. Since I couldn't provide any feedback, I
>> figure I can't complain if my pet glitch doesn't work.
>>
>> --
>> Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
>> HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> livecode-dev mailing list
>> livecode-dev at lists.runrev.com
>> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/livecode-dev
>>
>
>
>
>-- 
>_____________________________________________
>
>Benjamin Beaumont . RunRev Ltd
>
>LiveCode Product Manager
>mail : 25a Thistle Street Lane South West, Edinburgh, EH2 1EW
>email : ben at runrev.com
>company : +44(0) 845 219 89 23
>fax : +44(0) 845 458 8487
>web : www.runrev.com
>
>LiveCode - Programming made simple
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