Matrex 2.0 released

Finally the version 2.0 of Matrex has been released.

The big change is the new optional client/server architecture that allows several users to work together on a project or for a user to delegate the calculations to a server (in the picture we see 3 Matrex Desktops sharing a project on a server run in the same PC).

We already told everything about this feature in the previous articles in this blog (read for example the article showing the steps to follow to connect to a server).

But we have other changes that are really useful.

First of all, Matrex does not need a batch file to start anymore. Just double-click on the matrex_start.jar file and Matrex starts (if java is configured correctly).

This also removes the shell/command line that was always starting together with the GUI, making the application look unprofessional.

Second, Matrex gets installed on MacOSX as an application bundle (packaged by Braxton), that's why its name is terminating with .app.dmg.

Unfortunately the application bundle can only be installed on MacOSX 64 bits.

For the 32 bits version of MacOSX (Java 5) you will need to install the generic version, then, using a shell, go to the top Matrex directory, run:

java -XstartOnFirstThread -jar Java/matrex_start.jar

and follow the instructions to install the GUI library (check also the F.A.Q. about this).

Matrex 1.3.7

I released version 1.3.7, which fixes the bug reported as a comment to the Matrex 1.3.6 blog entry, and that I entered in the Matrex bug tracker:

Matrex seems to forget the Project settings (threading, etc.) after a restart;

This was caused by Matrex not being able to overwrite the project file.
The files are the following (in alphabetic order):

matrex_1_3_7_generic.jar for any platform
matrex_1_3_7_linux_gtk.jar for Linux
matrex_1_3_7_macosx_32.jar for MacOSX with 32 bits Java (Java 5)
matrex_1_3_7_macosx_64.jar for MacOSX with 64 bits Java (Java 6)
matrex_1_3_7_win32.jar for Windows

The bug has also been fixed in the code of the next release, 2.0.

Matrex 1.3.6

A few days ago the Eclipse Foundation published version 3.5 of SWT.
I was waiting for this because it means that Mac users can finally use Matrex with bot Java 5 and Java 6, and with better graphics, because the new version is based on Cocoa.
So, as soon as this new version has become available, I have published the new version of Matrex, 1.3.6.
Together with the new SWT, 1.3.6 comes the following changes:

• There was still some incompatibilities with Java 5, so it was not possible to run Matrex 1.3.5 with Java 5. This problem was hitting mainly the Mac users, that could not use Java 6 because SWT was not working with it. Now I made sure this problem will not show up again.
• From Matrex 1.3.5 maximizing the main window means maximizing only vertically, leaving the horizontal size of the window the same. In Windows it could happen that maximizing the main window it disappeared from the screen. In Linux from time to time the main window was becoming insensible to the mouse after the maximization. These problems got fixed.
• Matrex is able now to read script templates from the script classpath defined in the Files Locations dialog. In this way also the script languages plugins (groovy, jruby...) can be installed outside the Matrex directory.
• Minor bug fixing.

Now the versions are the follwing:

• matrex_1_3_6_win32.jar for Windows 32 bits.
• matrex_1_3_6_linux_gtk.jar for Linux 32 bits.
• matrex_1_3_6_macosx_32.jar for MacOSX 32 bits (Java 5).
• matrex_1_3_6_macosx_64.jar for MacOSX 64 bits (Java 6).
• matrex_1_3_6_generic.jar for all the other architectures, included Windows 64 and Linux 64 (SWT is installed the first time Matrex is started).
  

The choice between 32 and 64 bits depends by the Java runtime interpreter used.

Matrex 1.3.5 has been released

Matrex 1.3.5 has finally been released.

It should have been called 1.4 for the new features it contains, but when the coding started it was called 1.3.5 and so it remained.
As the notes that come in the setup file report, these are the new features:

GUI:

• Project diagram.
• Plugins dialog has been evolved to a more general locations dialog:
  
  
  In this way it is possible to add plugins to Matrex without installing anything in its directory.
  
  

• If a toolbar becomes too small to contain all buttons, it displays a menu containing the missing buttons:
  
  
  
  
• Progress bar that shows loading of the single items of a project:
  
  
  
• The matrix editor has a toolbar, to make the GUI uniform in the whole application:
  
  

Internal:

• Configuration files containing the location of the other Matrex files (see locations dialogs). With this Matrex becomes easy to package for specific operating systems.
• Able to read/write tab separated files (together with the CSV files).
  

Test:

• More unit testing (> 280 tests). The idea is to have a set of tests to fire to check the project before each release.
• GUI unit testing of an editor (Function Editor) with SWTBot.
• Used Findbugs annotations.
  

Several bugs have been fixed.

You can download it here.