JadeGear Journals

Development Update

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:54:33 GMT

I have taken a side road on my Project Road map and started development for CSV and TXT file support also. As of right now, I have a global Class Viewer pane for open files (cpp, hpp, ext, etc..) and I am working on an Object Browser for the objects defined in the Mission File.

The CSV support is for localized strings (stringtable.csv) and will feature a grid view AND a detailed navigational view for editing. The TXT support I figured is pretty much a necessity (on a basic level). The Object Browser will include a list of objects defined within the mission SQM file based on their assigned "name" or class identity if the name is missing. they will be sorted by Unit, Vehicle, Marker, etc.. The ability to drag these names into scripts (as global variables or strings in the case of markers) is one plan of action.

The Class Viewer is basically read only. You can double-click the class name and it will bring the file to focus and auto-scroll to the proper class, but further editing must be done directly to the text itself. Current release (build 1822), each cpp file has a class browser right on the document, what I have essentially done is made it a seperate pane which shows all classes.

Just a heads up...

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:31:00 GMT

I am currently working every other evening on either Script Edit or FSM Edit. It may sound like I really don't get alot done. I can see how this is perceived when others can produce small applications or missions in a few weeks, but it takes a month for me to fix many bugs.

The truth is quite different "behind-the-scenes" and I will give everyone a quick tour of some of the things I have been working on just to prove how deep this application intends to go.

First, I have been in the process of building a fully object-oriented abstract syntax tree for class-based files. What does that mean, you ask? Well, it basically means I will be able to read (or parse) and class file used in ArmA without the overhead of using complex regular expressions and reading line-by-line. The advantages to this method are that I can read any file and instantly detect problems in the structure and behave responsibly when it comes to either correcting the error or displaying the error. The goal is that I can turn around and read cpp files, fsm files, ext files, etc.. all using the same language tree and develop all sorts of editing capabilities. Others may have produced applications which parse a file and display them fancily in some graphical editor. They then output the edited data into either another file or over-write the existing file. Script Edit is quite different. It can respect comments and user-edited code and even perform undos very effectively. I will agree it is far quicker to make something that simply "parses" a file and then spits out the edited data again... but it is far better to have an editor that works with the file rather than consuming it. it also opens far more doors with far less "bugs".

This has been the bulk of my work. It is a very complex topic and something new to me. The SQF and SQS languages do not perform any syntax checking and thus were far less difficult. Perhaps one day I can extend this concept to SQF and SQS, but I fear that might be beyond my control for now.

Secondly, I have been trying to design an intuitive layout for performing some easy "wizard-driven" editing. For example, the ability to simply drag-drop weapons and ammo into the description.ext file seems like a very cool concept! However, designing a working method that allows for flexibility can take some time. I would seriously like to get things done "right" the first time rather than simply shoving it off until "version 2" as other software vendors might do.

Finally, I have been pretty worn down from coding for another business application at my regular job. It can get really confusing walking from one job to the next and realizing that the code you are thinking of actually belongs in the other program!! Would you believe me if I told you I had nightmares about coding?

I *want* to work on Script Edit/FSM Edit, but it just doesn't pay my bills. So unfortunately, until then.. I am placing it at the bottom of the list even though I wish it were at the top! The reality is that I am pushing forward on it every day regardless. I will not rest until it is finished! I can guarantee everyone that!

Sincerely,

Interesting fact:

The last build of Script Edit consisted of 498 source files in 70 folders at a total of 45mb. This does include icons and images.

Script Edit v0.7 Build 1822 Released

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:56:00 GMT

I released a previous build as I promised. It is not as stable as the next will be, but I had no trouble using this build myself. It will not overwrite the commands.xml file automatically yet, so you will need to copy from the program folder. If you do not want to upgrade to this build yet, you can download the commands file seperately.

I am working on creating project files which will be stored within the mission folder to control a sort of "files that were open at time of close" feature. It will also retain layout of views. I am also working on getting the variable list and syntax checking optimized for larger files. And more of course...

As a final note, here are the full changes in this build:

Version 0.7 Beta Build 1822

[General Fixes]

Added Line Display to Scroll bar Tooltip
Disabled Multiple Instances
Double-Click now opens Documents in already open Instance
Variables in IntelliPrompt are now based on first case and not all lower-case
Added Shortcuts to Menu Items (Ctrl-O, Ctrl-M, etc..)
Added Context menus to Doc Tabs
Save All when no documents were open caused Exception.

[Mission Document]

Fixed Addons section in Intel tab of Mission Document
Optimized Update of Mission Document Text
Fixed Numeric errors when value is out of range for sliders

[Variable List]

Optimized Variable List
Included Variable Count in Variable List
Automatic Scrolling when a different doc is selected
Select All Variables in list for a selected file

[Documentation]

Updated for new features
Corrected TASK to TODO

Next Minor Script Edit Release

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Wed, 30 May 2007 13:26:00 GMT

I hope to have a minor release out tonight (or latest tomorrow) which kills about 99% of the reported bugs, however, does not add any new features. I was hoping to add a few features I am working on, but I am having optimization issues. I keep reworking the same part of code and not really getting anywhere I want to be! So, I decided I would turn back to one of my previous stable builds and release it as an interim build between now and my next release.

The good news is that this is my biggest hurdle so far. If I get past this, I expect to have a ton of new features in release.. after release... after release...

To give you a heads up on some of the fixes/changes to things that were reported:

[General Fixes]
* Added Line Display to Scroll bar Tooltip
* Disabled Multiple Instances
* Double-Click now opens Documents in already open Instance
* Variables in IntelliPrompt are now based on first case and not all lower-case
* Added Shortcuts to Menu Items (Ctrl-O, Ctrl-M, etc..)
* Added Context menus to Doc Tabs
[Mission Document]
* Fixed Addons section in Intel tab of Mission Document
* Fixed Numeric errors when value is out of range for sliders
[Variable List]
* Optimized Variable List
* Included Variable Count in Variable List
* Automatic Scrolling when a different doc is selected
* Select All Variables in list for a selected file
[Documentation]
* Corrected TASK to TODO

That should cover a majority on the issues page. There are some others I am working on, but you will get a full list when I release the build sometime tonight/tomorrow.

Script Edit Beta - Public Release

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:37:00 GMT

In the past 3 months, I have been hard at work building the foundation for an IDE. I have never built an IDE before, though I use one everyday. My goal is to complete everything on the Feature List by sometime this summer.

One very important aspect of making this a successful IDE, is to include feedback from the users. This is why I am releasing the Beta version. I would like to see the direction the community takes it.

Please enjoy the first release... and remember... BACK UP YOUR WORK!

Version 0.7 Beta Release

crashdome@sinewsofwar.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:03:00 GMT

Hello again everyone,

I've got a new milestone for FSM Edit. First and foremost, we've laid the ground work for syntax and advanced editing capabilities. Secondly, we've included some support for this within this version. You'll notice a sudden increase in size because of this. It is actually the foundation of another larger (secret) project, but I digress.

For now, you get advanced (tokenized) syntax highlighting which goes beyond the realms of simple coloring. It actually will perform automatic outlining and advanced auto-complete functions.

Our next release will add more of these features including the ability to import existing FSM files.

Enjoy!

Version 0.7 Beta

---------------------------------------------------

Changes (0.7)

* Added Syntax Highlighting based on Script Edit & SQF Language(Tokenized)

* Added Automatic Outlining

* Added Autocomplete

* Added Command List (replaced Commands.txt with Commands.xml)

* Fixed Save Filenames Extensions

* Fixed Export to FSM end-of-line in code block problem

* Fixed Array being in [ ] instead of { }

Note: Binary saves from previous versions will not work properly with v0.7, however XML files should import properly.