Current and Next Beta - ArsClip

The beta testers a very good job catching issues for v5.20 of ArsClip. The current beta v5.21 is mostly small tweaks and another rework for JavaScript support. The previous design for JavaScript support allowed for data to flow mostly in one direction, from the script to ArsClip. This means that data can only be sent to the clipboard by the script. The JavaScript redesign adds a "getCurrentClipboard" function so that data can also be retrieved from the clipboard.

In the next Public Beta, some old and low-priority issues are going to be resolve. The Edit Clips/Macros window has an issue with the History tab. The Popup Clips list isn't updated to reflect realtime changes. This means that it would either show old data or error out when used if the window is left open. The Global Hotkey uses an index reference the Permanent Clip to execute. This means that all hotkeys have to be re-made every time a Permanent Group. While this is not a common routine, it's still a bad design.

There are currently no new features planned for the next beta, so I'm open to ideas.

Next Beta - ArsClip

The next Public Beta of ArsClip is delayed. I'm working on a synchronization issue with JavaScript support that is taking longer than usual.

Release Plans - ArsClip

My website was moved to a new server a few weeks ago, to fix the downtime issues that were occurring. The server has been very fast and stable, but hasn't had any heavy load. To test this, a new Rename Master version was released this week.

The current plan is to release ArsClip v5.20 officially next week. While no further Release Candidates are expected, this will allow plenty of time for any last-minute fixes. After release, 5 days are going to be reserved for fixing any undiscovered critical issues. Version 5.21 will either be a quick-fix release or a Public Beta with new features, depending.

Feature Freeze - ArsClip

No new features are being added to the current Public Beta version of ArsClip. Only bug fixes will be addressed.

Since quite a bit has changed in the program, the testing period will be for longer than usual. A lot of really old code was refactored, so there are many combinations to test.

Better Script Support - ArsClip

Testing custom Macros and JavaScript is now much easier in the current Public Beta.

Instead of using a separate window for showing the results when executing the Permanent Clip, results are now shown directly in the Edit Clip window. This method is much less distracting and has a better work flow.

When testing a JavaScript clip, the results control is also used to display syntax and runtime errors. ArsClip will also attempt to highlight the line of JavaScript where the error occurred. This automates the debugging process similar to how modern compilers work.

JavaScript support has also been reworked. Some cases were discovered where the script could not communicate with ArsClip. There were also an issue with focus being taken away when the script was run, and this has been fixed. The result of the rework is that executing JavaScript is much more seamless and stable.

RFC - ArsClip

Request For Comments. While the changes for the current ArsClip beta are seemingly small, there are plenty of usability issues that have surfaced. I need more feedback to make sure I don't miss any of them.

For example, the moving of the Filter and the More/Less menu items to the Title Bar makes it harder for keyboard users to discover their shortcut keys. First, these items shortcuts keys have been changed so they are always the same, just like Popup Clips. Changing the Tab key to default to showing shortcut keys is used as a workaround for this issue. AC already uses Alt for another function, so there are issues mimicking how the OS deals with accelerator keys.

Another issue that's surfaced is the width of the Popup. The Caption Bar requires more space than the minimum width of the Popup. The calculations were changed so that the width of the Caption Bar is calculated first, so it can be used in the minimum width routine.

Guts - ArsClip

Some of the code in ArsClip is over 10 years old, and not all of it has aged gracefully. It can take more effort to update code than to rewrite the entire block because it's not structured well. The latest group of changes required some rewrites.

When both a picture and text was detected on the clipboard, only one of the items would be copied depending on a configuration option. When picture clips are enabled, it seems more logical to just copy both so the user can decide which one they wish to paste. While this sounds like an easy change, the Clipboard Monitor is designed to only handle copying a single clip. The copy routine also would only ever choose a single format based on the configuration options. This code has been reworked into something more simple and easier to maintain to support this feature. While updating this code, it was discovered that the drawing routine for picture also had some color issues. This routine was also reworked.

The bad part of rewriting is there are many exceptions to test and it's easy to miss some. I'll probably be working on these issues for the next few days.

Visual Tweaks - ArsClip

Now that the Popup is being updated, it's not a bad time to re-evaluate some of the decisions made for the look. Many of the "eye catching" features of the interface have been muted in the Test 8.

Expandable menus are now more subtle in look. The previous design definitely made the menu distinguished, but also added to the overall clutter. The highlight has received the same treatment. It's now a flat color instead of a gradient with a possible outline.

These changes are similar Windows changes to the UI. I'm not trying to copy the OS, since its look is always a moving target. I am looking at if the change makes sense for ArsCip. For example, using the Segeo UI font made sense. The Popup defaulted to Arial for compatibility with Unicode and WinXP. Now, a new default font is used for Vista and above.