AbiWord Weekly News #167, (2003, week 43, released 2003.10.26)
Welcome to this issue 167 of the AbiWord Weekly News.
Follow-ups:
Text Boxes still in major development, but Martin has yet to name the Zoom feature.
This week in development
New builds for 2.0 and pre-2.0.1, which will release for Windows, POSIX and QNX. A major new path for AbiWord takes its first baby steps today, while import Windows functionality gets some reconsideration and your favourite new feature, Text Boxes, start to become something you can play with! Also, Open Source / Open Books gets its first update since April!
Request for User Assitance
If you, or someone you know, could assist in the following languages, it would be greatly appreciated:
Afrikaans[af-ZA]If you can help, please contact either Jordi Mas or Pierre Abbat.
Assamese[as-IN]
Corsican[co-FR]
Esperanto[eo]
Estonian[et]
Farsi[fa-IR]
Frisian[fy-NL]
Hausa (Niger)[ha-NE]
Hausa (Nigeria)[ha-NG]
Hindi[hi-IN]
Croatian[hr]
Armenian[hy-AM]
Icelandic[is-IS]
Georgian[ka-GE]
Korean[ko-KR]
Cornish[kw-GB]
Marshallese (Nauru)[mh-NR]
Macedonian[mk]
Flemish (Belgium)[nl-BE]
Occitan[oc-FR]
Thai[th-TH]
Urdu[ur-PK]
Chinese (Singapore)[zh-SG]
Silliness of the Week
This Issue
And remember, I give you an email address so you can talk to me, in case you're not on either mailing list.
In this issue:
Editor(s) of this issue: E. A. Zen
If you're interested in using AbiWord for the first time, receiving a more up-to-date version, any particular version or special release, feel free to visit the new Latest Releases page.
DISCLAIMER: It should be generally noted that anything said before the "In this issue:" line is purely editorial. Actually, everything I say is purely editorial. You kind of get used to it.
Discussions
Traffic on the developer mailing list has settled at about 200-400 postings per week. This week, interesting topics on the developer list included:
-
Commit(HEAD) QNX Updates! and
ATTN: QNX STABLE ready to roll! :
→ Johan jumps in with massive QNX fixings. Of the numerous things to bring QNX in the modern AbiAgeNEATO, this series of commits includes font handing reaching the true WYSIWYG, toolbar functionality, mouse functionality and, um, that still un-named zoom feature. Marc announces that the changes were backported to STABLE (remember, that's 2.0.x now), hence the title “ATTN: QNX STABLE ready to roll!!”
§ As soon as Martin announces the name, or the next CVS commit specifies one, it shall receive its NEATO. -
Win32 tinderbox back up :
→ Jeremy announces that the tinderbox system for Windows builds is now sufficiently functional that the new Stable cvs (that's version 2 now, you know) will be made available; however, the nightly downloader application will be unaware of any new build for the time being.
§ I just want to remind Windows users that do use the Jeremy's tinderbox builds that it is very important that you do search for and file bug reports. The less work you're willing to do, the likelihood the bug will continue to exist increases. Also...if you know a spare Windows developer...it'd be real sweet of you to send them to Abiword. -
SuSE 9.0 :
→ James informs us that SUSE builds will be moving towards 9.0 in the future. SUSE 9.0 includes AbiWord 1.99.5, so, it is recommended that you upgrade when the next packages are available.
§ Anyone who actually goes to this link will find out that James is talking about the fictional distribution “SuSE,” so, I corrected this otherwise common error. -
AbiWord Cygwin Port :
→ Gerrit P. Haase is dedicating his time to effectively get the CygWin pseudo-port to build via Makefile. Jeremy offers up the exact kind of help he was searching for and has suggested that, in the future, the tinderbox system may also include CygWin-based builds as well.
§ This just goes to remind that WvWare went 1.0 and no one even noticed. I feel the need to mention the Dom and news thing, but he's been disproving that statement in the past couple of weeks. -
Packaging wishes for 2.0.1 ,
Image Loaders on Win32 (was Re: Re[2]: Packaging wishes for 2.0.1) and
commit: win32native image pluggin :
→ Hub wants to ensure that certain packages are distributed by default, especially the graphical bits, as Windows users often notice that the core version of AbiWord did not, until recently, handle any image format. Additionally, Dom announces that 2.0.1 will be held back, so, it can be released with a QNX port as well. This will effectively bring AbiWord to three out of four (or five) platforms. MacOS X and BeOS (if ever for BeOS)1 will not be released until 2.2 series however.
§ Also, Rui reminds us that RedHat will no-longer support it's distribution directly as of the end of this year. This is probably the one advantage of Microsoft's operating system; official support for Windows95 lasted something like 7 years; official support for Red Hat 9 lasted something like 7 months. If I were a sales weasel, I'd be using that as an arguing point. -
(no subject) :
→ Rafael Antonangelo informs us that his company has settled an Abiword as the default editor; however, they've run into building problems already. CygWin still hasn't gotten up to par and MSVC is having its own set of problems, including the psiconv problem that Jeremy mentioned in Win32 tinderbox back up.
§ As much as I love announcing people using AbiWord in production environments, this is a “How to Get It to Build” thread. -
commit: Textboxes now appear in your document. ,
commit: (HEAD) text box fixes ,
commit: Save/restore Text boxes. Text boxes go exactly where you put them. and
commit: Text box resizing and dragging. :
→ Martin continues work on Abi's text boxes. To date, they can be made, saved, edited, moved and resized.
§ If this hadn't become so common in word processors, I'd probably call them “AbiBoxesNEATO” or some other similarly silly thing. -
Abi 2.0 on SuSE 9.0 :
→ You're probably a week away from the release of 2.0.1, but, since you never know when James will get time for that, here's the official 2.0 release for SUSE 9.0 (notice, it's now 9.0 not 8.x) If I haven't gotten to the Latest Releases page by this time, you can grab them from AbiWord's SourceForge Site.
§ I do intend to sync this and Latest Releases, but you know me.... -
STABLE win32 build and install patch :
→ Jordi has jumped on getting the recent changes to Windows and STABLE into a nice and downloadable binary. As will probably appear in the Developers' Build section soon enough, I present the latest Win32 AbiWord pre2.0.1
§ I cross my fingers every day for one reason or another. Today, I hope I'm getting the Latest Releases out at least very close to the time this goes out. -
Prototype: AbiWord using libgsf :
→ BEHOLD! The future of AbiWord! Dom is soon to create a branch of AbiWord that uses libgsf, the GNOME Structured File Library. This library, which you already use and only 42 people in the entire world know what it is, was developed by Dom and your favourite people at Gnumerc: Jody, Morten, and Jon. This powerful little library is capable of writing to a nearly endless array of mediums, and let me list some of what fits under the concept of “mediums” for you: Buffers, files and streams. That is to say, it works with data just about anywhere except for what you write down on piece of paper. Naturally, there's a screenshot of the primitive system at work. For those of you who want more background, please read “RFP: CompoundStorage document”.
§ Link to the closest thing to a website indirectly courtesy of Jody. That's an AbiRelative you're not going to see anytime soon. Regarding the piece of paper remark: If you took the time to setup a web cam, point it at the paper and create a nice OCR library, you could turn that into a stream and send it to libgsf. If you wouldn't mind placing that paper into the printer, you've really got yourself around that physical world limitation. END BOUNDRY: PHYSICAL WORLD REACHED
Traffic on the user mailing list is sporadic at best. Often, a good topic comes up, but users tend to only respond to the original poster rather than the list (as well), which limits what I would add, as the only lone threads I post are announcements of importance or points of great interest, e.g. solutions to problems in a preceeding thread.. This week, interesting topics on the user list included:
-
W2k AbiWord 1.99.6 - Hangs in Insert-symbol ,
Re: W2k AbiWord 1.99.6 - Hangs in Insert-symbol and
(Fwd) Re: W2k AbiWord 1.99.6 - Hangs in Insert-symbol :
→ Peter Jacobi is having a few issues with AbiWord and Windows. It might come down to an unsuccessful attempt at getting a post 2.x build, it may still be an issue. The Insert Symbol feature appears to hang when attempting to load certain fonts.
§ Oy, did I make a mistake in this thread! I forgot to include a list, so, I just plopped in the developer's mailing list address. When Hub asks for the follow up, I told him to read the friendly thread.... I've really been asking for it lately, haven't I? -
enchant 1.1.0 :
→ Marcel Pol's mirror of choice isn't all that uptodate! But if you want to know the latest on Enchant, feel free to ither read it here or check out its homepage.
§ I knew one day having that section would be useful.
Development
CVS StatsTrack who put in how much and why. And, while you're at it, consider whether you'd like to keep your own cvs build as well. Tables...ooh....
| CVS checkins 2003.10.19 - 2003.10.25 | ||
| Who | Commits | In summary |
| Frank “Jimmy”1 Franklin | 101 |
.
Documentation: forward porting of: document metadata updates, add search.abw/info, add hotoexporthtml.abw/info, corresponding html-template alternative-documentation changes (this is still here?) Bugs: 5948 |
| Martin Sevior | 48 |
fix cut and paste errors that broke tables
TextBoxes: now appear in your document, fixes, can now be saved and restored, go exactly where you put them, can now be interactively dragged and resized |
| Dom Lachowicz | 31 |
remove lots of ucs4_strcpy_chars use metadata as frame's title, show clean/dirty state in title
Plugins: patch from Jeremy Katz (fix hancom plugin), redo Win32 plugin a bunch, update metadata stuff for OpenWriter Libwv: fix msole2 build with mingw Enchant: bump version #, changed exception specifier Bugs: 5927 (partial), 5941, 5946 and 5948 |
| Johan Björk2 | 26 |
font routines remade (WYSIWYG!), GR_QNXImage cleaned up -
- supports image scaling and the new funcs there for the image background stuff,
compiling with Exceptions when using configure instead of diving make,
fix configure+qnx buildsystem so it links the dialog widgets with the binary
(Thanks to FJF!), toolbar works again, Instant Zoom! (reserved for changes in name),
cpp files, update Zoom dialog, start fixing printing,
fix some issues with UTF8/UCS4 in the Toolbar, fix CUA focus,
cleaned the drawing routines in QNX -
- now set the Font/Colors directly in the appropiate calls instead of
waiting til you acctually draw, tr needs [] when specifying ranges of characters,
tr needs [] for char ranges
Bugs: 1234 |
| Kenneth ”Jeremy“ Davis3 | 15 | fix for w32api 2.4 (MinGW 3.1.0), ensure header with api version is included, so prior commit works on pre 2.4 w32api, use Win32Native image importer instead of BMP plugin, add missing line continuation char, more w32api 2.4 adjustments (i.e. conditionally removing 2.3 and less workarounds), remove quote from my comment so Make proceeds (oops), add ABI_EXPORTS, split a function for reuse by plugin, build fix and bump version #, switch over to our fancy new win32 native image importer |
| Marc Maurer | 12 |
require GTK2.2 or above,
Plugins: remove html plugin from the makefile, fix double free when unloading hrtext plugin, add copyright info to OpenWriter, s/UT_String_sprintf/UT_UTF8String_sprintf, comment out a call to unregisterExporter in wordperfect since we don't register a WP exporter, fix double free when unloading the coquille plugin, fix plugin unloading && general brokenness, fix typo in AbiCommand's EditMethod unregging, make Deactivate All plugins work ImpExp: small xhtml importer fix by Frank Enchant: fix aspell detection for stock RH systems, |
| Tomas Frydrych | 7 |
add missing ABI_EXPORT in class definition
Win32: fixed memory leak Bugs: 5269 and 5554 |
| Jordi Mas4 | 6 | native image plugin, fixes protected destructor, revert changes |
| Hub Figuiere | 1 | fix inconsistency beetween keys and strings |
1“Jimmy”: If Ken is Jeremy...
2Johan Björk system-related5 work is QNX unless stated otherwise. Win32 users have probably read the name correctly for the first time. I was assulted by a codepage this week, so, I thought I'd be more cross-page friendly.
3Kenneth "Jeremy" Davis: system-related5 work is Win32 unless stated otherwise.
4Jordi Mas: system-related5 work is Win32 unless stated otherwise.
5system-related: This is the last time I'm going to do these. They seem pointless and aren't much of a shortcut; furthermore, they can be confusing to some readers.
POWs
It's happening...right after the bug thing....
Bug Update
Bug Market
![[graph]](../graphs/abi_bugs-2003.10.26.png)
This week's activity: ResoUnconf +23 (23 : 0), VeriNew -1 (0 : 1), ClosAssi -1 (0 : 1),
Only the most minor of dips into the negative with ResoUnconf still strong at 23. This week most likely is very much so the last before 2.0.1 is released. Alan Bluespan reminds us that when the first stable Windows release of AbiWord 2 goes out, it is likely that ResoUnconf will very much so be weakened and the remaining markets noticeably in the negative. Louis Bugkeyser notes that though that may be true, there will be a significant drop in real bugs before that time, and much of the post-release bugs will be duplicates, inflating the true value, specifically in the direction to a negative index; this means that the following week will probably return straight back to normal. Eric Zen is said to have commented, ”Is it just me, or does the graph look prettier?“
Windows users happy to use AbiWord 2 when it comes out should send thank you's via paypal, which is visible at the bottom of every AWN. Windows users that want to apologise for filing duplicate bugs, not assisting in Q&A of the bugs, not helping in developing the port or for not promoting AbiWord enough to their friends, can do so via paypal, which is visible at the bottom of every AWN ;o)
For information about how to view the chart, please read 142's Special Interest.
Bug Votes
These are the week's Top 20 Bugs in the categories problems and requests for enhancements. Influence next week's results by casting your own votes. Ah, another release, another change of what bugs are on the "Most Wanted" list.
| Top 20 Problems | |||
| ID | Votes | Milestone | Summary |
| 376 | 82 | 2.0.x | File associate problems for all file types with Win32Slu...... |
| 3778 | 46 | --- | Hanging indent setting ignores units |
| 4745 | 31 | Future | Change colour of foreground text for screen only |
| 2362 | 30 | 2.2 | AbiWord only prints across half of page |
| 4031 | 30 | Future | Hebrew status line message is not displayed correctly |
| 4722 | 30 | --- | When using -p or --print the output isn't usable |
| 5059 | 30 | 2.2 | Recent Files breaks with international file names |
| 5252 | 30 | 2.2 | Contrast between cursor (caret) and background is ruined ...... |
| 5794 | 30 | --- | Horizontal space and distortion at print page break in We...... |
| 5815 | 30 | --- | Variable-width font issue |
| 2868 | 25 | 2.0.x | character widths are not calculated correctly for some fonts... |
| 4020 | 24 | --- | UTF8 strings not shown in list of spelling alternatives |
| 2421 | 23 | 2.0.x | TM, Bullet, Euro, Smart Quotes and other symbols originat...... |
| 4733 | 20 | --- | File paths with ampersands kill preferences |
| 1679 | 17 | --- | List changes should keep selection |
| 3216 | 15 | 2.2 | [Tabstops Cannot be Set in Second (or Third) Column |
| 3801 | 15 | Future | Incremental loader seems to struggle with large files |
| 1865 | 13 | --- | Header/footer not loaded properly from .doc |
| 3635 | 12 | --- | Format/Document/Margin/Units doesn't respect locale |
| Top 20 Requests For Enhancement | |||
| ID | Votes | Milestone | Summary |
| 2183 | 451 | Future | Fully Support OpenOffice's XML file format |
| 4038 | 136 | --- | Outline View Support |
| 2321 | 135 | 2.2 | [RFE] Maths/Equation Editing, as a plugin maybe? |
| 2490 | 127 | 2.2 | Finish Cocoa Frontend |
| 3668 | 126 | Future | Support for window tabs instead of separate windows |
| 1950 | 121 | Future | Wish for automatic Table of Contents |
| 1374 | 109 | Future | [RFE] print odd and/or even pages only (for front & back ... |
| 2565 | 82 | Future | Add true MS Word .doc export capability |
| 1144 | 72 | Future | Improve KWord import/export filters |
| 4057 | 70 | --- | Thesaurus Shift+F7 keybindings shortcuts consistency |
| 1929 | 50 | Future | Hyphenation is missing in Abiword |
| 2366 | 44 | 2.2 | implement floating frame |
| 2365 | 43 | --- | AbiWord needs 'view codes' |
| 515 | 41 | 2.0.x | columns change should only affect selected text |
| 2164 | 36 | 2.2 | Ability to set default print command anywhere |
| 1851 | 31 | Future | [rfe] Ability to create an ALL CAPS style, and Small Caps...... |
| 2186 | 30 | Future | The insert page break setting is lost for custom styles |
| 5852 | 30 | Future | Help making Labels/bussiness cards |
| 2219 | 27 | Future | AUTONUM wanted in [ Insert/Field/Number ] menu |
Recently noticed and heavily voted for, 5059, recent Files breaks with international file names, has really taken off, but, apparently, can not be fixed in STABLE, meaning users with issues on this particular bug will have to wait until AbiWord 2.2: Woven Acid Trip. Recently wiped off the list, 5061, cursor and letters overlap, a major graphical issue, has been finally defeated, um, but let's put that in the “for now” category.
Release HackDown
To return the moment there's a meta bug for (I'm assuming) 2.0.2 or otherwise 2.2.0. In the meantime, Dom has a thingy for 2.2.
Abi's Relatives
Several projects are used by, use or synchronise with AbiWord. Some of the most noteworthy libraries and applications will be summarised here. Some may be added under guise of the GNOME Office Suite.; others may be added because it's really just a plug by request. Want your project plugged? Send money to Dom. I'm offering rates of $10 per plug, $25 for a month-long plug, $50 for a quartly plug and $200 to go all year. P*ing us off or the discontinuation of this section does not result in a refund.
Libraries
AbiWord uses several libraries, and other sub-applications, to give it that extra bit of polish. Here, you will learn whatever news I scrape together or has been sent to me in relation to them. I wanted to do more this week, but not so much.
Literally, nothing that's been committed. Unless Nadav's been committed, which would explain so many things.
Not one D*mned thing; back to you, Bob.
The last news item here is dated October twenty...nineth, 2001. There was some minor commit in the CVS, if I recall correctly....
What you see in the CVS summaries, really.
Applications
AbiWord is crucial to the use of or coordinates with a number of full blown applications. Ok, I only know of, like, two. Well, there was that screen play thing, but that went straight out the window. And there was AbiMoz, but some other application has taken its place. I'm sure, once AbiWord 2.0 is seen to all, there will be more to see. Screw the Ant, it's AbiWord II: The Wrath of Dom!!!
GNOME Office SuiteSince I don't know of applications outside of AbiWord that use AbiWord, I'll be doing this Gnome Office business. These people should have newsletters, so, I can steal crap from them.
Jody's gotten lazy. Doesn't he know I depend on his journal for Gnumeric news!?
Nothing really, but I have been made aware, via Rodrigo's log, that Gnome Network, a collection of client-side networking tools, has released version 1.99.2 in time for the next GNOME version inclusion process. Most importantly, the homepage has a credit of ”German Poo.“
Text Box functionality continues to grow...it's a shame nothing still happens here.
The above paragraph....
Vahak Perez has just proposed a new module called HGH100. If accepted, users can expect to turn their biological clock back by as much as 10-20 years. Though it is not known why an xml editor would need this functionality, some users have expressed interest in this before, despite the risk of damage to the hardware clock. Other users, however, have shown more interest in the soon-to-be-proposed module, currently codenamed ”natural viagra,“ which will enhance their gender's sexual characteristics. No word from Dave or Jeff if ither proposal will be accepted for the big 1.0 release.
Other
Look, a place to talk about the AWN
Time will tell about the new format, but I love the “Sometime Sunday” policy. I didn't expect using it for another month, but it's nice not to worry about the AWN. Maybe I'll get a co-editor someday....
2.0.1 is coming Real Soon Now™! If I've done it by the time you read this (like Monday or later), Windows users should see the latest pre-2.0.1 in the Developers' release. Please download and try this out. Most importantly, register bugs you encounter!
AbiWord? 2.0.1 is coming! RSNTM!
After reviewing the CMV (Canadian Monetary Value) of the books, Dom graciously gave me the latest update, so, you'd know where all the money went. I'd like to emphasize that this is an approximation from PayPal specifically. That means it does not include out-of-hand expenses or income from checks, et c. This section is technically out of date already, but will be re-updated when I get some precise, i.e. less approximate, numbers from Dom. Actually, I'm just assuming that “something like” is more of an approximation. Dom can be tricky that way.
Open Source, Open Books.
Last Updated: October 26th, 2003Approximately once a month, don't hedge bets, I'll get this updated by asking (read: whining at) dom. In the meantime, whenever you want to see how much is in and where it gets diverted, just peek down here.
Word of caution, numbers lightly fudged due to (hopefully) temporarily incomplete data. Like a consultant's suggested price, you'll find hidden meaning in the data if you stare long and hard. Surgeon's General's Warning: Staring long and hard may have psychotropic affects; keep out of reach of people who like that sort of thing.
I cannot promise the time of de-fudging, nor can I promise there will be de-fudging any time soon. However, I feel confident that there will be some de-fudging going on.
Despite the last updated marker, these numbers are only accurate to something around the 19th.
Current Balance: $1051.38
Interest earned: $15.56
Expenditures: $2185
$210 to feed 12 people at GUADEC
$100 to pay for Marc's work on the new server
$700 to pay for the new server
$400 to pay for Martin's Boston Gnome Summit Trip
$400 to buy Andrew Dunbar a new computer
$ 60 to misc./entertainment expenses at GNOME summit, GUAD3C, other, paid out of dom's pocket
$225 Patch Prize (those already successfully awarded)
- $ 45 Will Lachance (?)
- $ 45 Marc Maurer
- $ 45 Ruud Vring
- $ 45 Patrick Lam
- $ 45 Dom Lachowicz
- - note: Pat and Dom went to an Italian restaurant named Dom's on Boston's North End.
Neither Pat or Dom seem to recommend visiting Dom's anytime soon.
Actually, I didn't ask Pat, but I'm pretty sure he'd agree.
Personally, I recommend avoiding Dom altogether.
Hmm, typo, what?
Unique contributors: 58*
paypal: 63
check : 3
cash : 1
*58: plusse 3 repeat offenders whom we love dearly
Contributions: $2893.00
Less paypal and other banking fees: $797.00
| PLEASE! Help promote AbiWord development by donating money. The money go to a general AbiWord "fund", presently hosted by Dom Lachowicz (cinamod@hotmail.com). | |
| In order to donate money, you must have a PayPal account. If you do not already have one, the links above will allow you to open one. Please consider putting cinamod@hotmail.com in the "Referral ID" field, which results in a one-time $5 donation from PayPal to AbiWord development if you verify your account. Note that only donations of $3 or more are of interest. Sorry, this is due to the fees imposed by credit card companies and PayPal. | |