From: Kevin Lamonte Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 22:24:16 +0000 (-0500) Subject: 0.3.2 release announcement X-Git-Url: https://git.nikiroo.be/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=5c4313422023bf2250bc0ac093c2f6b1e908173e;p=fanfix-jexer.git 0.3.2 release announcement --- diff --git a/docs/032_announcement.txt b/docs/032_announcement.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee2d5fc --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/032_announcement.txt @@ -0,0 +1,91 @@ +Jexer 0.3.2 Release +=================== + +I am pleased to announce the release of Jexer 0.3.2. This release +completes nearly every feature I set out to make, and is the last +major milestone before 1.0.0. + +Jexer is not an application itself, but rather an advanced text +windowing system framework to help new applications take full +advantage of the terminal. Its major features are: + + * MIT licensed. + + * Direct support for xterm-like terminals: mouse, keyboard, 24-bit + RGB color, UTF-8, fullwidth characters (CJK and emoji), and sixel + images. + + * A Swing-based GUI window that ships with a good-looking Terminus + font. + + * Sixel image support, for both input in its terminal window and + output to the host terminal. Jexer is (to my knowledge) the first + and only system capable of managing multiple terminal windows + displaying properly overlapping images. + + * Draggable / resizable windows, menu bar, and system-modal dialogs + (message/input boxes and filename picker). + + * A full complement of widgets: button, text field, checkbox, + combobox, list, radio button, scrollbars, data table, calendar + picker, progress bar, text display, and simple text editor. Plus + layout manager support for resizable widgets and windows. + + * A terminal window capable of passing "vttest" (including VT100 + double-width / double-height), and supporting all of Jexer's + features. Jexer can run inside itself, with full keyboard, mouse, + and image support. + + * Extensively documented in the code (Javadoc), a wiki, and ships + with a demonstration application showing off all of its available + widgets. + + +Find out more at the Jexer Sourceforge or GitLab project pages: + + * https://jexer.sourceforge.io/ + + * https://gitlab.com/klamonte/jexer + + +Download +-------- + +GitLab: git clone https://gitlab.com/klamonte/jexer.git + +Binary downloads: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=2829121 + +On Maven: + + group: com.gitlab.klamonte + artifact: jexer + version: 0.3.2 + + +Ugh, Java Sucks! +---------------- + +(Thor squint) But does it though? + +More seriously, I initially picked D because it was sexy. But D circa +2013 brought too many headaches for me, so I switched to Java because +I wanted a cross-platform standard library that would be stable over +many years. And Java is OK, it is a solid workhorse that gets the job +done. + +Yet in porting my initial work to Java I stumbled upon an unexpected +benefit: I found ways to accomplish all of what Jexer does _without +calling C directly_. No termios, no ncurses, no forkpty(), and thus +no serious hurdles porting it to anything that can spawn programs and +read their output. On Linux, BSD, or OSX, all you need is 'stty' and +'script' to make things work. (And if you want resizable terminal +windows, add 'ptypipe'.) + +So for those who want something like Jexer but in your own favorite +language, I encourage you to check out the [Porting +Jexer](https://gitlab.com/klamonte/jexer/wikis/porting) page on the +wiki: it has pointers to where the key features are, and a potential +roadmap if you wanted to take part or all of it into your own hands. +I licensed Jexer as MIT, stuck with simple Java 1.6, and thoroughly +documented it in the hope that fans of other languages could more +easily create or enhance their own text user interfaces.