I am in contact with the developer of the XCMD which handles image import. All problems associated with image import, including RAMDoubler problems, should be fixed soon.
Final release of version 1.0 of Arachnid is being held up while this situation is resolved.
The new version of SuperCard quietly changed an internal system variable that is used extensively by Arachnid. The slight change caused widespread bugs in the beta version 1.7.1 of Arachnid with virtually any operation involving text manipulation. These bugs have been eliminated, so the numerous operations on selected text which would result in nothing should behave as expected.
A change in SuperCard's QuickTime implementation generate a system freeze after the first few frames of the movies. Arachnid has modified the way IT plays movies and this problems no longer occurs. There is no visible change on the users part.
**A new bug to beware of is also tied to the new version of SuperCard. Some operations cause a shift in the menubar. The first 4 menus shift to the left, off of the screen. The commands are still available, so you can quit the program. This has no effect on the placement of menus the next time you launch, so it is essentially harmless. I can manually reset the menubar, so I am looking into detecting when this has occurred so that I can force a reset without forcing the user to quit and relaunch.
Extensive changes and fixes were implemented in the import of an existing HTML file. Tags for colors and background images are placed in the correct location instead of into a text field. The numerous blank text fields which would be generated has been virtually eliminated. The layout of objects is much more accurate. Link information is correctly imbedded for all link types.
Changes in the code which handle the positioning of objects have eliminated virtually all of the sudden scrambling of objects. In addition wide graphics are no longer shifted down so that large gaps are created. This gaps would then result in more sever scrambling. The code is more accurate in calculating where an object is to be placed at the end of text fields. The bug would occur when the last character of a text field was a return, Arachnid would calculate the left character as the last edge of the field instead of where the last visible character ended.
Bugs which kept all linked text from displaying specific sizes or styles have been fixed.
Problems causing lists to lose size settings have been fixed.
Problems have been fixed which caused a Definition list immediately following another list to appear as a sublist within the previous list.
The ordering of the HTML tags has been changed. A strange side effect of turning of a Font size setting is the additional turn off of certain text styles. Changing the order in which the tags are internally generated takes card of the problem.
Problems in the export to html involving linked text: if the first word in a span of linked text initiated a change in text style or size, the first word of the span would NOT display the correct style or size. Similarly, if the first word of text after a span of linked text initiates a change in style or size, it too would not export correctly. These have been fixed.
Bugs in the Style menu: 1, there was a bug which kept certain styles from being applied to text that was already linked. 2, using the Plain command to unstyle text would not work. Both of these work correctly now.
The comment block which Arachnid inserts was placed in a location which disabled text and background colors and images has been relocated to where it no longer conflicts.
Non-scrolling Editable text fields export with the correct size even if there was no text in the field.
The Tools palette is now Closeable. There is a new menu next to the Format menu. This the Tools menu. A greatly simplified, HyperCard like, version of the Tools palette is available as a pull down menu from the Tools menu. Unfortunately, unlike the HyperCard Tools menu, Arachnid's is not "Tear-offable". I hope to have this ready for the next version. This smaller Tools palette is also available with the View menu. Both Tools palettes have commends within the View menu. Arachnid only allows one of the two to be open at a time. So if one is open, opening the other will close the palette that was previously open. Command 1 and 2 keys will opens the big and small Tools palettes, respectively.
Entire library of Links, including all URLs and possible project pages links, are now available as a pull down menu. A Links menu is next to the Tools menu. The Links menu is split into 6 logical types: URLs, page Links, Movie Links, Image Links, Audio Links, and other Links. A sorted list of each type of link is available as a submenu of the Links menu. The exception to this are the Page link menu, which is an ordered list of the pages within your project, and the URLs menu. The URLs menu contains 6 submenus, one for each of five different types of URLs and another for all remaining types. Based on the Name associated with each URL, there are sorted lists for: HTTPs, FTPs, MailTos, News, and Gopher addresses.
The Library palette now generates a message when you try to cut URL, page or text links. You cannot perform these operations with the Library palette.
Arachnid's True Spacing is no longer a Preference. When you Export there are options for the spacing method. The Default setting is Normal spacing.
The method for menubar maintenance has been changed. There is a slight delay before most menus pull down. This insures that the only enabled commands within the menu are those which are defined based on the current Mode and current selection(text or objects). Before this change, the Tools palette attempted to do this, very ineffectively. Each time a mode or tool was changed this would happen. With this no longer happening, switching between modes and tools should be noticeably snappier.
Allegiant Technologies has recently announced that the SuperCard Player for Windows will be released soon. Work on the Windows version of Arachnid will begin soon thereafter.
The new TARGET DATE for final release is October 10. This is tentative, it is very important that EVERYTHING possible be done to resolve the problems with image import, display, and linking before a FINAL version is declared. One thing that will NOT CHANGE is Arachnid's status as Freeware. Just consider Arachnid to be a personal gift from the University of Iowa and myself.
