I published Shapes 1.7b (XFZ657-16) yesterday. This program is a shapes (picture) editor. I'd like to talk about this new version.
New Features
There are two new points in 1.7b.
- Added grid feature - [Grid] toggles grid display
- Changed window size to 598 x 428 pixels
The grid step is 10 pixels. This will allow users to adjust shapes sizes. Change about window size is for future support in remote (in a browser with Silverlight on Small Basic program listing server). 598 x 428 is the best size for both in local and in remote. [*1]
Publish Error
Version 1.5b was compact so there was no error when it published. But 1.7b is too large for publish to the server. So, I separated [Open] subroutines into an other source GTV460-1. These subroutines treat local file. So they don't run in remote anyway. I had an another choice to upload 1.7b full source to TechNet Gallery. But for following two reasons, I decided to separate this program and publish them. One is for running this program in remote. The other reason is to confirm a bug fix described below.
Minor Bug Fix
1.5b and older version has a minor bug that the position of scissors in menu was wrong. For long time, I couldn't find this reason of the bug. But recently, I found a timing issue about shapes image rotation. [*2] Though the scissors are not image but triangles and ellipses, I tried to insert Program.Delay() just after shapes added before their rotation. This works well. So, I will write about this issue as a TechNet Wiki article.
Known Issues
There are still known issues when this program runs in remote. I'd like to fix these issues and make Shapes available in remote.
- Rotated Triangle and Line become wrong places.
- Grid sometimes becomes pale color.
- [Open] is not supported.
- [Save] creates only main and Shapes_Init subroutine. Other subroutines are not created.
For the Future
[*1] Small Basic Known Issue: 22108 - Viewport of GraphicsWindow is Narrower and Sometimes Resized in Remote (TechNet Wiki)
[*2] Small Basic Known Issue: 24270 - Shape Image is Not Zoomed from Center in Remote (TechNet Wiki)
[*3] Small Basic: Duck Shoot Images: PowerPoint Macro-Enabled Presentation (TechNet Gallery)
See Also
- Small Basic: Shapes Editor (TechNet Wiki)
- How to Create Animation with Small Basic (MSDN Forum)
- Shapes Editor - Small Basic Featured Program (MSDN Blog - about Shapes 1.42)