Release v0.0.0-i
18-Apr-2025
Release v0.0.0-i is a significant release,
with several important new features.
There have been numerous improvements since
the release of version v0.0.0-i on 20-Jan-2025 .
These new features include improved startup and shutdown, info columns, and a new node selection list table for node view that shows the x, y, and z position of rendered nodes.
Improved startup and shutdown
The startup code has been reworked to create internal resources in a more
uniform fashion.
In particular, Spring initialization was moved from the Applications's
init() methods to its start() method.
This helps ensure entities are available on the correct threads.
The changes to the startup code should eliminate the problem where MacOS could not open certain dialogs and panel. The fix has not been confirmed, but DepanFX continues to work fine on Windows 10.
Session loading is deferred to slightly later in startup, so the main window should appear more promptly. If the session startup loads a large model, the main panel area may remain blank for a while. This is still no "busy" service for DepanFX.
Shutdown from the File > Exit menu is robust, and terminates the program.
However, if a node view panel is active, the log output may show
a stack trace from JOGL.
Although this is undesirable, it should not cause any alarm or data loss.
Info Columns
Info columns use DepanFX's notion of node info blocks that may be attached to node.
Conceptually, a node info a defines a set of properties that may be associated with a node. Info columns allow you to select the info and the property that is displayed in the column.
At present, two kinds of node info available:
-
Node Key Info: Allows access to various elements of a node key. This replaces the previously available node key columns.
-
Node Location Info: Provides access to the x, y and z position of a node in a node view. The values are live and updatable.
Node View Node Selection Table
The node selection table for the node view panel now opens with a table definition that includes columns for the x, y, and z positions of each node.
These position columns and the node name column are all implement as built-in info columns. Additionally, the selection table's table view is a predefined built-in. Although these built-in tool configurations cannot be changed, their settings can be used to create editable user-defined tools.
UX Improvements
DepanFX's main menu bar is more responsive, with updates for action availability depending on panel context. For example, the Selection menu's actions (e.g. Clear Selection) are only available if selection is possible.
Many of the tables in various tool editors now include an action cell indicated with a "hamburger" (≡). The action cell provides convenient access to table commands that load resources, reorder table rows, or delete a table row.
The welcome page now includes more suggestions about getting started with DepanFX. For example, it encourages a new user to create a project.
If you close the welcome or workspace panel,
you can reopen those panels through the new View > Panels menu.
This website, the DepanFX's Project Pages, is restructured. The Introduction is now broken down into multiple short steps. The Reference section now contains a few pages
Version Updates
DepanFX now assumes that it running on a Java 21 compliance JVM. Other upgrades include:
- JavaFX: 23.0.2
- Guava: 33.4.0-jre
- Spring: 3.4.2
More details on other component dependencies and their versions are available in the source code.
The project's direct internal use XStream as been refactored
to eliminate Java modularity problems in development.
The non-modular XStream is now accessed via a modxstream wrapper
that is its own "automatic" module.
Release Testing
Due to limited time and equipment, this release has only been tested on an Intel Window 10 laptop. Due to Java's "run anywhere" marketing, I have good faith that it will run well on your Java 21 compliant system.