Lazarus 1.6.0 release notes: what changed

Revision 1 to 2. Removed lines have a minus sign; added lines have a plus sign.

Old	New		Line
1	1		Lazarus 1.6 was released at February 18, 2016.
2	2
3	3		Statistics:
4	4
5	5		1. commits: 2683
6	6		2. log: svn log -r 47337:50707
7	7
8	8		# LCL Interfaces Changes
9	9
10	10		# LCL Changes
11	11
12	12		- Added TFlowPanel in ExtCtrls.pp
13	13		- The TreeNodes of TShellTreeView are now of type TShellTreeNode. In order to access the nodes as such, you need to explicitely cast the node to TShellTreeNode. The TShellTreeNode class provides the following functions and properties:
14	14		- ShortFilename: returns the filename without path.
15	15		- FullFilename: returns the fully qualified filename.
16	16		- IsDirectory: returns True if the node represents a directory.
17	17		- BasePath: returns the basepath of the node.
18	18		- Added 'iscancel' parameter to QuestionDlg. If no cancel button is explicitely set, mrCancel is returned in case the dialog is closed with ESC or system close button.
19	19		- Added support for TCustomEdit.TextHint.
20	20		- Added TTimeEdit in editbtn.pas.
21	21
22	22		# IDE Interfaces Changes
23	23
24	24		- [[Lazarus IDE Tools\|Quick fix]] for fpc message Local variable "i" does not seem to be initialized inserts an assignment.
25	25		- Local variable completion (e.g. Complete Code on "i:=3;") now groups variables of same type. You can get the old behaviour in Tools / Options / Codetools / Code Creation / Group automatically defined local variables.
26	26
27	27		# IDE Changes
28	28
29	29		- Editor
30	30		- Basic multi-caret mode
31	31		- Option for multi-line notebook-tabs
32	32		- line-number part of gutter now allows to select the current line, or several lines.
33	33
34	34		- Project
35	35		- Additions and Overrides are now added as last. Formerly they were added after the inherited and before the custom compiler options.
36	36
37	37		- Messages Window
38	38		- The IDE now warns when there are duplicate units or include files in packages.
39	39		- Success line. New option to show compiler message "n lines compiled. m sec". Tools / Options / Messages Window / Show FPC message "lines compiled"
40	40
41	41		- Desktops
42	42		- See [[IDE Window: Desktops\|Desktops]]
43	43		- Multi-monitor screen layouts are supported by the IDE.
44	44
45	45		- IDE CoolBar and Editor Toolbar
46	46		- A new configurable IDE CoolBar replaces the static Toolbar. It shares settings GUI with EditorToolbar which was moved to IDE's codebase. The command set that can be selected was refined. Earlier only IDEMenuCommands could be selected, now a limited selection of all IDECommands.
47	47		- EditorToolbar package is empty and deprecated. It's functionality is now part of the IDE. Please uninstall it from the IDE because it will be removed from the 1.8 release.
48	48
49	49		- Object Inspector
50	50		- The Boolean property editor now uses a CheckBox by default. A ComboBox with "False", "True" can still be selected in options.
51	51
52	52		- Package editor
53	53		- Two separate buttons for adding files were replaced by one button with a dropdown menu. The "Add" and "Add more" buttons can be considered a failed experiment.
54	54		- Many usability issues were fixed. The whole tree is not updated any more after each operation and focus stays in right place after them.
55	55
56	56		- Environment
57	57		- new Environment setting "Multiple Lazarus instances" to set up what happens if Lazarus is started with a file in command parameter.
58	58
59	59		- [[lazbuild]]
60	60		- new option --verbose-pkgsearch to show what packages are searched and found.
61	61
62	62		- lazarus
63	63		- new option --force-new-instance to force opening a new instance and ignoring the "Multiple Lazarus instances" option.
64	64
65	65		- Code navigation and completion for class helpers, record helpers and type helpers.
66	66
67	67		# Components
68	68
69	69		## LazControls
70	70
71	71		- Added [[TListViewFilterEdit]], having the same idea as other FilterEdits but working on [[TListView]]. This is still very basic and will be improved later.
72	72		- All FilterEdits now use TextHint property for the grey '(Filter)' text which is shown when not active.
73	73		- Added [[TCheckBoxThemed]], a custom drawn CheckBox. It is in development for use as OI Boolean property editor.
74	74
75	75		## Codetools
76	76
77	77		- Support for type, record and class helpers
78	78		- Support for operator type evaluation "I := A + B;"
79	79		- Improved support for ObjCCategory
80	80		- Class completion of properties can use prefixed variable name and const parameter. See Options / Codetools / Class Completion.
81	81		- New option Options / Codetools / Code Creation / Insert new event methods to section
82	82		- New option Options / Codetools / Identifier Completion / Miscellaneous / Jump to error
83	83		- It now finds sources of units installed via fppkg.
84	84
85	85		## Project Groups
86	86
87	87		- New IDE package to manage projects, packages and Pascal files, see [[Project Groups\|here]].
88	88
89	89		## Docked Form Editor
90	90
91	91		The package implementing a docked form editor can be found in components/sparta/dockedformeditor/sparta_dockedformeditor.lpk. It makes the most sense with [[Anchor Docking]] but can be used also without it.
92	92
93	93		IMPORTANT: the docked form editor is included in 1.6 but is not stable there and has known bugs that affect its usage. Please do not report issues based on your 1.6 experience but always check against the current trunk where the designer has been improved further. Docked editor bug fixes won't be merged into 1.6 since a lot of them were OS/WS dependent and the LCL code had to be changed as well.
94	94
95	95		If you want to use the docked form editor, you have to use complete Lazarus trunk. Copying the sparta packages from trunk into your 1.6 fixes won't work.
96	96
97	97		## Package Tabs
98	98
99	99		- New IDE package to replace source notebook tabs/pages with buttons sorted by package and name, see [[Package Tabs]].
100	100
101	101		## Favorites
102	102
103	103		- New IDE package to add projects to favorites and keep them up in the "Open" button drop-down menu, see [[Favorites]].
104	104
105	105		## Debugger / win 32
106	106
107	107		The version of gdb shipped with the win32 installer was updated to 7.7.1
108	108
109	109		PRO:
110	110
111	111		- solves some gdb crash issues for all current window versions (7 and up)
112	112		- solves a bug, that environment changes were not passed on
113	113
114	114		REGRESSIONS
115	115
116	116		- <https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=16016> this manifests for example:
117	117
118	118		:* records may be displayed as class and vice versa
119	119
120	120		:* pointer to record may be dereferenced without warning (hiding the fact that a value is a pointer)
121	121
122	122		:* shortstrings may not display correct (they are internally encoded as record)
123	123
124	124		# Changes affecting compatibility
125	125
126	126		## LazUtils
127	127
128	128		- Unit LazUTF8 now sets UTF8 as default codepage when compiled with FPC 2.7+ making programming with Unicode easier, but there are some incompatibilities. Read [[Unicode Support in Lazarus\|more]].
129	129		- There are wrapper functions around LCL, CodeTools and LazUtils for some string functions defined in LazUtils. The wrappers are now deprecated. They can be compeletely disabled by defining "DisableWrapperFunctions". They will be removed in the next release (after 1.6).
130	130
131	131		### SysToUTF8 does not convert
132	132
133	133		Similar: AnsiToUTF8
134	134
135	135		- Old behaviour: SysToUTF8 converted on Windows from system codepage to UTF-8.
136	136		- New behaviour: Does not change the string (unless you disable the new UTF-8 mode).
137	137		- Reason: function was mainly used for converting strings from the RTL, which is now talking UTF-8.
138	138		- Remedy: use function WinCPToUTF8 from unit LazUTF8 or CP1251ToUTF8 from unit LConvEncoding.
139	139
140	140		### UTF8ToSys does not convert
141	141
142	142		Similar: UTF8ToAnsi
143	143
144	144		- Old behaviour: UTF8ToSys converted on Windows UTF-8 to system codepage.
145	145		- New behaviour: Does not change the string (unless you disable the new UTF-8 mode).
146	146		- Reason: function was mainly used for converting strings for the RTL, which is now talking UTF-8.
147	147		- Remedy: use function UTF8ToWinCP from unit LazUTF8 or UTF8ToCP1251 from unit LConvEncoding.
148	148
149	149		### CopyFile behaviour changed
150	150
151	151		- Old behaviour: CopyFile raised exceptions by default when copying failed under arbitrary circumstances.
152	152		- New behaviour: CopyFile returns False upon all failures, regardless of the reason.
153	153		- Reason: a function that returns False upon failure should not raise an exception in such cases.
154	154		- Remedy: an optional parameter ExceptionOnError has been added. Set it to True to get the old behaviour.
155	155
156	156		### Wrappers for string functions are deprecated
157	157
158	158		Various units in LCL, LazUtils and Codetools have wrappers for string functions in LazUTF8 and LazFileUtils. They are now deprecated and the hint after "deprecated" tells where the actual function can be found. The wrappers can be completely disabled by defining "DisableWrapperFunctions".
159	159
160	160		## LCL incompatibilities
161	161
162	162		### QuestionDlg modal result on close by ESC key and system close button changed
163	163
164	164		- Old behavior: the cancel modal result was picked up from the actual button list.
165	165		- New behavior: the cancel modal result is always mrCancel.
166	166		- Reason: the ESC or system close button are in a way a third "virtual button" that is always there. If your dialog shows only buttons "Yes" and "No", closing by ESC doesn't really mean any of them.
167	167		- Remedy: use the new 'IsCancel' parameter to define cancel modal result and get the old behavior.
168	168		- More information: [[Dialog Examples\|Dialog_Examples#QuestionDlg]]
169	169
170	170		## Other Packages and Components
171	171
172	172		### AnchorDocking improved
173	173
174	174		- Due to recent bug fixes in AnchorDocking, your application can be started with slightly changed docked layout (docked window size growing/shrinking).
175	175		- Remedy: Call TAnchorDockMaster.ResetSplitters after your layout and form have been initialized (the docking site has the correct height at last).
176	176		- More information: [Issue \#29475](https://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=29475)
177	177
178	178		### SynMemo is now Deprecated
179	179
180	180		- SynMemo was deprecated.
181	181
182	182
183	183		Any code referring to SynMemo will now give a warning about this.
184	184
185	185		- SynMemo was also removed from the component palette.
186	186
187	187
188	188		However SynMemo is still a registered component, and if you open any project already containing a SynMemo it will load correctly.
189	189
190	190		If you must have an IDE with SynMemo on the component palette, you can compile the IDE with WithSynMemo defined. This is temporary, and will be removed at some point after the release.
191	191
192	192		SynMemo was nearly identical to SynEdit (except it did publish less properties).
193	193
194	194		It only featured 2 extra method:
195	195
196		-	~~` function CharIndexToRowCol(Index: integer): TPoint; `\~~
197		-	~~` function RowColToCharIndex(RowCol: TPoint): integer; `~~
	196	+	``` pascal
	197	+	function CharIndexToRowCol(Index: integer): TPoint;
	198	+	function RowColToCharIndex(RowCol: TPoint): integer;
	199	+	```
198	200
199	201		Those are now available in SynEdit. However with a strong warning
200	202
201		-	~~` experimental; deprecated 'SynMemo compatibility - very slow / SynEdit operates on x/y';`~~
	203	+	```text
	204	+	experimental; deprecated 'SynMemo compatibility - very slow / SynEdit operates on x/y';
	205	+	```
202	206
203	207		It is highly recommended not to use them. The calculation in those methods was always done without taking in account trailing spaces (if trim trailing spaces was active). This may have lead to wrong results.
204	208
205	209		A common use case for those methods was apparently:
206	210
207	211
208	212		\- Get the caret position as CharIndex.
209	213
210	214		\- Insert some text
211	215
212	216		\- Add the text length to the CharIndex
213	217
214	218		\- Set the caret position from the CharIndex
215	219
216	220		If setting the text changed trailing spaces (e.g. text was appended at the end of line, behind some trailing spaces, which then would not be trailing any more) then the calculation would not be correct.
217	221
218	222		Yet if the 2 methods would include trailing spaces, it could equally go wrong. If between getting the caret position, and restoring it any trailing spaces where trimmed, then the restore is wrong.
219	223
220	224		For this reason, and for the fact that they are extremely inefficient (slow) their use is not recommended.
221	225
222	226		To archive caret adjustment in SynEdit, use InsertTextAtCaret, TextBetweenPointsEx or SetTextBetweenPoints, which all have the option of adjusting the caret.
223	227
224	228		### TSynEditExporterHtml behaviour has changed
225	229
226	230		- Old behaviour: both ExportAsText and CreateHTMLFragment controlled the output.
227	231		- New behaviour:
228	232
229	233
230	234		Output is now controlled by the property Options
231	235
232	236		The property CreateHTMLFragment is deprecated and will be removed in a future release
233	237
234	238		ExportAsText now only affects how the exportbuffer is put on clipboard
235	239
236	240		- Reason:
237	241
238	242
239	243		More options than CreateHTMLFragment were needed
240	244
241	245		The comments in the parentclass (TSynEditExport) state that this property controls the way the export buffer is put onto the clipboard
242	246
243	247		- Remedy:
244	248
245	249
246	250		Use Options property to control the output.
247	251
248	252		Remove references to CreateHTMLFragment
249	253
250	254		### TSynCustomHighlighter.GetIdentChars implementation has changed
251	255
252	256		- Old implementation: \[#33..#255\]
253	257		- New implementation: \['_', 'A'..'Z', 'a'..'z', '0'..'9'\]
254	258		- Reason:
255	259
256	260
257	261		The new character array better suits most uses.
258	262
259	263		### EasyDocking isn't supported in the IDE anymore
260	264
261	265		You cannot install easydockmgr and easydockmgrdsgn in the IDE anymore. Use AnchorDocking instead. easydockmgrdsgn package was removed from 1.7.
262	266
263	267		## IDE incompatibilities
264	268
265	269		# Previous release notes
266	270
267	271		---
268	272		From the Free Pascal wiki, page "Lazarus 1.6.0 release notes", as it stood on 2020-08-08 after a change by Arent, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's [[Licensing]] page. If you have concerns about this material, [message the admin](/wiki-contact).
269	273		Category: Lazarus
270	274		Category: Release Notes

Back to history