New BLIde BETA available for everyone

BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/New BLIde BETA available for everyone

ziggy(Posted 2009) [#1]
A new BETA version of BLIde is available for everyone.
for newcomers, BLIde is a powerful IDE for BlitzMax, for windows.

Free edition users can get the beta here:
http://www.blide.org/?section=getfree

BLIde Plus beta version can be downloaded from here:
http://www.blide.org/plus
(Blide plus autentication requiered)

The list of changes (specially for free edition users) is very big, so I won't put a never-ending list here. If you wish to beta-test it, just go ahead and provide feedback in order for me to fix any possible issue.

New features are not yet documented, this will be done soon on the RC or production release.

Hope you find it usefull.


GfK(Posted 2009) [#2]
Slight problem; The free version - 0.9.74A is telling me that 0.9.74B is available. When I let it take me to the download page, 0.9.74B is nowhere to be found.


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#3]
Just about to try this new version out and looking forward to it. Thanks for all of your hard work.

Can I just ask if you ever plan to include a Framework Assitant like tool into the actual IDE? I know that it can be added as a seperate addon but it would be nice to have a similar tool already included.

Anyway, off to download now :)

Jason.


GfK(Posted 2009) [#4]
Just having a play with 0.9.74A with the new unmanaged solutions... looking great so far. much much better!


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#5]
thanks! don't forget to report all the issues you find!!!


GfK(Posted 2009) [#6]
Just bought it; where can I find my password to download the latest version?


Grey Alien(Posted 2009) [#7]
Cool. I'll probably be buying a couple of versions of this soon. Guess I should test out the trial version first.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#8]
@Gfk: Just emailed to you (I think)


GfK(Posted 2009) [#9]
Yep, got it, but it says wrong username or password? I'm using my email address and the registration code from the email.

[edit] never mind, its working now. :)


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#10]
Can I just ask if you ever plan to include a Framework Assitant like tool into the actual IDE?
No. I'm still very bussy with the BLIde SDK system, that is receiving very big improvements -the last one, is the total integration with visual studio, so you can make plugins for BLIde directly using C#, not yet documented as it is being heavy tested-.
Making a tool like this one, once the SDK is more developed, should be a relativelly easy task for any user. I just think it is too early now. current BETA SDK (in the 0.9.74 A) integrates the first access to the keywords stored in the BLIde internal intellisense system, so you can see in wich module a speciffic function was declared, etc... So part of the work is already done there.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#11]
@Gfk: Solved.


GfK(Posted 2009) [#12]
Loving the new unmanaged solutions! Dead easy to use and feels like *I* have control now.


plash(Posted 2009) [#13]
I like that you removed some of the nag message boxes.
I still think you should add file-dragging support (drag source code onto BLIde and it opens it).


Mr. Write Errors Man(Posted 2009) [#14]
I still think you should add file-dragging support (drag source code onto BLIde and it opens it).


Seconded. I find myself using standard IDE because I don't like to use open file dialogs. I prefer dragging files from folders.


TaskMaster(Posted 2009) [#15]
Just put a shortcut to BLIde in your "Send To" directory, then you can right click a file and send it to BLIde.


plash(Posted 2009) [#16]
With the "Reopen applications and tabs" option on, BLIde does not re-open any files I previously had open.
However, it does open the help page, which it should not be doing, because I did not have it open previously.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#17]
@Plash: where you working on an unmanaged solution before closing BLIde or on another kind of project?


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#18]
I`ve had the same problem as Plash on the previous version of BLIde (and this new version too). My files were not being re-opened despite being opened when I shut the program down and had the same option enabled.

Also the "nothing" option doesn`t seem to work either. This should open the default BMax help page correct but it doesn`t, only the BLIde help gets opened as usual.

This happened on both XP and Vista.

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#19]
I've been spending the day making some optimizations and it has bee quite productive. Managed to narrow down drastically the unmanaged solution save time using a sort-of hash table for file reference. yay! (thanks to Brucey for his ultra big wxmax project!, and gman for the irrlitch one!)

@QuickSilva: The "Nothing" option works well. It is suposed to not open last application or tabs. It leaves the Help menu with the BLIde documentation. If you want an empty workspace, you have also the option.
The "reopen last solution and opened tabs" issue, it is something I'll be fixing for production release.


AlexO(Posted 2009) [#20]

I like that you removed some of the nag message boxes.
I still think you should add file-dragging support (drag source code onto BLIde and it opens it).



Blide half-way supports this. If you have the 'Help' tab open you can drag a bmx file on top of it and it'll open. Oddly, it won't work on any other tab. I've found myself wanting this feature also.


plash(Posted 2009) [#21]
where you working on an unmanaged solution before closing BLIde or on another kind of project?
No, I don't like extra files. Why does BLIde not re-open files that do not belong to a project?

I like that you removed some of the nag message boxes.
Specifically, when opening files (C, C++, etc) that the free edition does not have highlighting for. For each file you opened (in the last version) you had to wait like 10 seconds before the nag screen would go away (now there isn't one).


Htbaa(Posted 2009) [#22]
drag-n-drop file support would be great. I really don't understand why it's not added yet. It's just one of those small details that make the IDE more enjoyable to work with.


plash(Posted 2009) [#23]
drag-n-drop file support would be great. I really don't understand why it's not added yet. It's just one of those small details that make the IDE more enjoyable to work with.
Agreed.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#24]
Ok ok... Drag & Drop added for next release. Dragged files will be considered stand alone files, that is, not part of any project.


Htbaa(Posted 2009) [#25]
That's perfect.


Damien Sturdy(Posted 2009) [#26]
I get a compatibility problem in Vista 64 Ziggy. It seems you are using Flash.OCX somewhere, and that isn't provided for my version of windows. Installing flash doesn't work.

Instead I get a warning saying flash isn't installed, click to get the non flash version, and when I close blide, I get a message from Widows saying the program required flash.OCX which is no longer provided.

[edit]

It's the help tab that does this by the way.


plash(Posted 2009) [#27]
It's the help tab that does this by the way.
Ahh, that's because the new help page uses this silly flash navigator. IMO it is going a bit far, the programmers I know only need speed and things working.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#28]
@Cygnus: Ok, I'll remove the flash help for the next beta, and leave a plain html version.


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#29]
How about the ability to add an icon to a wiindow that is not created with MaxGUI or for those who do not own it? This plus centering of a none MaxGUI window would be nice features to add to an already great IDE.

Also is there any chance of a few more IDE colour choices (skins) or is this not possible? A choice to choose a skin and maybe select a custom colour for it would be nice.

Thanks for your continued hard work on this.

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#30]
How about the ability to add an icon to a wiindow that is not created with MaxGUI or for those who do not own it?
This is already possible with BLIde Plus.
? This plus centering of a none MaxGUI window would be nice features to add to an already great IDE.
This has to be done by the user in the code as It implies program modifications. I'm open to suggestions anyway!


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#31]
So is the icon on a none MaxGUI window feature disabled in the free version as currently it only allows me to place them on MaxGUI windows.

With regards to the window centering hopefully a future update of BMax will sort that out (fingers crossed).

And how about the extra skins? Is it possible in a future version?

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#32]
New BETA version available. This new beta version introduces several important changes in the internal BLIde engine that should make BLIde faster and lighter in some areas, specially when handling big solutions.
A small list of changes:

Fixed a stability issue that could make BLIde crash when importing lots of files in a single import operation, from an unmanaged solution.

Fixed a small memory leak

Added drag & drop support

Several stability fixes all over BLIde

Implemented several optimizations on the solution management area. BLIde is now much more responsible on old computers (tested on a Pentium III 800Mghz)
Updating is HIGHLY recommended to all beta-testers.


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#33]
Thanks for the latest version Ziggy, seems to run very nicely. One thing that I did notice was that if I do the following,

Type TPlayer
Field XPos:Int
Field YPos:Int
End Type

Local Player:TPlayer=New TPlayer

I am no longer getting the list appear to offer me suggestions, for example if I type the following...

Player.

The list used to appear and offer me suggestions based on my type, so XPos and YPos would appear in the list.

I have no idea as to why this has stopped working in the latest version have you? The list just will not appear for my own types.

Am I doing something wrong?

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#34]
It should appear. I'll take a look to see what can be causing this, but this BETA has lots of changes in all the internal BLIde automations, so this kind of bugs are, more or less, expected.
I'll try to replicate it here and find a fix.

Thanks for the comment!


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#35]
Hi Ziggy, just tried the older stable version on your site and that works correctly so it definitely is a problem with the new version. Other than that though it seems to be working nicely.

Keep up the great work!

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#36]
Thanks for the info. working on a fix!


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#37]
Another small possible bug. If I define a Global variable and then later change my mind and make it into a Constant variable it still says that it a Global in the drop down list at the top of the BLIde window. If I reload my code then it gets updated correctly. This happens the other way around too (Const-Global) so may happens with all variable types?

Also, case correction only seems to work if you define your variables as a Global. Shouldn`t it work for Locals too? For example, if I declare Name:String as a Global and later type nAmE it gets corrected but if I declare it as local it doesn`t. I realise that Locals scope is only for the loop that they are in but I still think that it should correct their case in that loop, so...

For a=0 to 100
Local Name:String

nAmE
(Name should use case correction whilst we are still in this loop.)

Should change to "Name" automatically as with Globals.
Next

Hope this makes sense.

Nothing major, just wanted to point it out.

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#38]
Thanks QuickSilva, this other bug is related to the same issue I'm currently fixing. Thanks for the report!


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#39]
No probs.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#40]
New beta released, should have the QuickSilva bugs fixed.


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#41]
That was quick! I`ll check it out as soon as I can get the latest BMax 1.32 working. (I`m having a few problems with it.)

Jason.


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#42]
Just to let you know Ziggy that the latest beta is working well and fixes the problem that I was having before. Thanks for the fix.

The local case problem mentioned above is still present though but I assume that you are still working on this? If not then it`s nothing major just wanted to mention it.

Jason.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#43]
BLIde has never case corrected Locals, as this is legal in Blitzmax:
Strict
Type MyClass
   Method A()
      Local Variable:int = 5
      For Local J:int = 0 to 100
          Local variABLE:String = "Hello"
          Print variaABLE
      Next
   End Method
End Type

So making BLIde understand exactly wich is the declaration of a local, and then perform correction would force one (if not more) additional step on the parsing, and this would introduce a big performance hit. So locals are not case corrected and won't be in the near future.

Glad to see the other issue is gone!


QuickSilva(Posted 2009) [#44]
Oh I see, thanks for the explanation. You`re correct, it`s not worth adding if it creates a performance hit. But maybe an optional extra?

Jason.


Retimer(Posted 2009) [#45]
What about having it optional for us with high end pc's? It's probobly my only gripe with blide as manually ensuring all locals are case-perfected to 'beautify' my code (habbit of nature from coding with case-sensitive languages)...it would be a nice feature to have support for.

Also, is there a way that when using colon to get the code completion window popup to 'always' have the tab show 'all' rather then 'common'? I only took a quick look, maybe I missed the option for this.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#46]
is there a way that when using colon to get the code completion window popup to 'always' have the tab show 'all' rather then 'common'?

Not, but it always displays the last tab you used. Also, you can disable the autolists tabs on the preferences dialog, so there's no Common/all any more, if you wish.


What about having it optional for us with high end pc's?
I will not do it, as it would mean to force the usage of 2 different parsers, with the maintenance of both of them, etc. In the future, when low end computers will be capable of this, I'll add it as the default behaviour, but not before!


JoshK(Posted 2009) [#47]
Can you make it so dragging a code file onto the editor window will open the file? Also, can you add support for .vert, .frag, and .geom shader files?


Htbaa(Posted 2009) [#48]
About supporting file extensions. Please add .h files and the like as known source files to the open file dialog. When I'm checking out some C program in BLIde for examples I always need to select *all files* before I can select a .h file.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#49]
@Leadwerks: Draging files into the editor should open them in current Beta

@Htbaa: You can associate the h extension to the C parser so it is used by BLIde as a known file extension. To do so, go to the File menu, settings and then associate file extensions with BLIde parsers.


Htbaa(Posted 2009) [#50]
Oh I didn't know about that one. Thanks!


GfK(Posted 2009) [#51]
I found three bugs.

First - when you first install BLIdePlus and run it, there's a clicky thing up top telling you to buy BLIdePlus, but I already did - its installed! Next time I start BLIde, it goes away.

Second thing: When I change "Threaded Build" from True to False (or vice versa), and hit "compile", it doesn't actually recompile. It thinks because the code hasn't changed, that it doesn't need to.

Finally: In the preferences, "Show Line Numbers" is off by default, yet the line numbers are visible. If I click on that option, it works fine thereafter.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#52]
@Gfk: Thanks! I¡ll be fixing this for release version.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#53]
@Gfk: The Threaded build not re-building when switched off is an internal Max issue that is confusing quickbuild on the BMK utility. I can't fix it from the IDE, The only possible fix would be to disable quickbuild when the threaded mode is enabled/disabled.


seyhajin(Posted 2009) [#54]
hi ziggy,

i used a free edition and i found any...

bugs ???:
- when 'auto-capitalize' ( i like a C/C++ style ) disabled, press 'Enter' write eg: 'End Method', it's possible to not capitalize 'auto-complete' words when ' autocapitalize' disabled ? and remove a space between 'end' and 'method' too ?

requests:
- add 'new/open' shorcuts in toolbar menus, it's really annoying to go through the menu 'File'.

but Blide it's really a greatest IDE for BlitzMax :), thanks for that !


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#55]
@seyhajin: Disabling autocapitalization does not converts auto-completion to lowercase. Those are different things, somebody could say that he/she preffers to write all the code uppercase... This could be done customiz<able if there's enough demmand for it. :D
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions!


seyhajin(Posted 2009) [#56]
@ziggy: it's logic, if i disabled 'autocapitalize', i don't want auto-completion capitalized code :D. i prefer lowercase to distinguish the BlitzMax language and my own code. And i used 'symbolic' variable type for any variables, it's possible to add option to convert it automatically and vice-versa ?

[edit] Another suggestion, when i write (eg:) a new method, Blide expand all 'foldable area' under current 'type', i really appreciate to save 'expand' state everytime when using multiple classes in a single file.


JoshK(Posted 2009) [#57]
I would also arrange the module s in the module builder in a tree view. It makes it much easier to find the one you want.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#58]
@Leadwerks: Like your tool? Yes, it is a very good idea...


TaskMaster(Posted 2009) [#59]
ziggy,

Could you make the advanced module builder allow selecting/unselecting a range of items by holding down the shift key like other list boxes?


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#60]
@TaskMaster: I'll take a look. I don't know if the control being used supports multi-selection. If I change it to a tree control, to allow selection of whole namespaces, I could not activate multi-select... so not sure where to go... I'll investigate!


Htbaa(Posted 2009) [#61]
A small bug in 0.09.65A: When I want to toggle the Quickbuild option from the toolbar (to deselect it), it registers the click (I see the icon flash) but nothing happens. I click again and it's fine.

Also, a small feature request: How about added an option that will increment the version number of your project. Now I can manually set 0.0.1 for example. But every time I compile I've made revisions, so it would be nice if that one could auto-increment. Optional, of course.


ziggy(Posted 2009) [#62]
How about added an option that will increment the version number of your project.
That would break quick build on managed solutions.


Tommo(Posted 2009) [#63]
A little request here:
Can we use F2 to rename the file in solution explorer? Just like windows explorer. I think that would be more comfortable than "click-wait-click".