Re: [ANN] ZeroBrane Studio 0.32; now with unicode support, moai integration, and wxlua 2.8.12 upgrade

[Paul K <paulclinger@...>]

Hi Geoff,

> Just downloaded and had a play with the latest version. The new features are
> great, better than I was anticipating. Most of the time now I dont even need

Glad you liked it.

> 1) When you add a watch value, its fine for simple variables, but if you add
> a table that has more than a few elements you cant see the later ones as the
> watch seems to be restricted to a single line with no word wrap.  You can
> view it in the console window to see the later elements but of course that
> isnt a live update. Be nice to make the watch window text wrap.

This will probably go into "won't fix" category. I think between
supporting hierarchical data in the Stack view, the pretty printing in
console (with one- and multi-line support) and the Watch view I don't
want to make it more complicated. You can always try to make the
window longer to accommodate large elements, or display individual
elements.

> display. I am guessing that 0x95 isnt a valid sequence for UTF8 but Scite
> handled it nicely and just displayed 95 in inverse video and the remaining
> text correctly.
> Its not a big deal as it only took me a minute or two to track down the
> offending characters, but if its an easy fix might be worth you looking at ?

It is something that is already supported with IOFilters, but the
problem is that if configured it will be applied to all loaded files.
There are several existing filters in iofilters.lua; I'm thinking
about comparing the number of lines in the file and the editor and if
they don't match applying the UTF filter to (potentially) fix the
content. This SO answer may provide some useful information
(http://stackoverflow.com/a/6625625/1442917); I'll see how this can be
handled.

>> The next (packaged) version is not planned earlier than the end of
>> September.
> Apart from taking a rest :),

No rest, but I'm not going to release a package a new version more
frequently than any other week as the number of systems and
configurations I'm supporting is growing and they all need to be
tested.

> I wonder what your next preferred area is for future enhancements ?

I'm not a big fan of making announcement until things are ready, but
here is a quick summary of changes planned for the next version. I'm
almost done with the Linux version and a packaging mechanism for it;
the Mac version has been checked in already (along with the packaging
script), so all three versions will be running from the same repo
checkout.

Other areas are: auto-save/recover, integrated profiler, enhanced file
search/navigation, and improving auto-complete logic.

> From my point of view, it would be nice to enhance the way the custom API
> intellisense works. I wanted to be able to add text completion for my custom
> API functions and also a feature to show the parameter help for the custom
> functions. I know you mentioned a while back that you can already do that,
> but I couldnt figure out how to do it. So thinking out loud on options here

Of all the areas, this one seems to be less likely to happen this
month and to be the most challenging. It is possible to extend
auto-complete to cover custom functions, but I'm looking for a good
way to make something like love.audio.getOrientation() (which works
now) to work when someone does a = love.audio; a.getOrientation(). It
sort of works now because of partial matching that is done when you
start typing "get", but it means that all functions that auto-complete
knows about that start from "get" will be presented. This is good
enough for most cases, but I'd like to make it a bit better.

> b) Make it simpler more like Scite where its just a simple standalone text
> file that has the user customisations in it

This is already supported; there are several api files in the api/lua
folder that define various APIs (love2d is one of them). You can check
the structure and define your own if you want. To load the file you
simply list it in your interpreter (for example, the default lua
interpreter does this: api = {"wxwidgets","baselib"}).

I've been thinking about using metalua to parse the source and/or to
use LuaDoc format to get parameter/return values and descriptions, but
I'm open to suggestions.

Paul.

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 4:07 PM, Jeff Smith <spammealot1@live.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi Paul
>
> Just downloaded and had a play with the latest version. The new features are
> great, better than I was anticipating. Most of the time now I dont even need
> to bother adding a new watch as the new tooltip hover feature shows me what
> I need to know !  Thanks for fixing my number 1 omission !
>
> I can always make suggestions for improvements though :)
>
> 1) When you add a watch value, its fine for simple variables, but if you add
> a table that has more than a few elements you cant see the later ones as the
> watch seems to be restricted to a single line with no word wrap.  You can
> view it in the console window to see the later elements but of course that
> isnt a live update. Be nice to make the watch window text wrap.
>
> 2) Little problem I noticed with the unicode changes. I just happened to
> have a Lua script that looked OK in Scite, but when I opened it in ZBS it
> was completely blank.  What this was due to was I had cut and pasted some
> text from a webpage into a Lua long comment. This comment had a couple of
> occurrences of 0x95 char inside it that caused the entire script to not
> display. I am guessing that 0x95 isnt a valid sequence for UTF8 but Scite
> handled it nicely and just displayed 95 in inverse video and the remaining
> text correctly.
> Its not a big deal as it only took me a minute or two to track down the
> offending characters, but if its an easy fix might be worth you looking at ?
>
>
>> The next (packaged) version is not planned earlier than the end of
>> September.
> Apart from taking a rest :), I wonder what your next preferred area is for
> future enhancements ?
>
> From my point of view, it would be nice to enhance the way the custom API
> intellisense works. I wanted to be able to add text completion for my custom
> API functions and also a feature to show the parameter help for the custom
> functions. I know you mentioned a while back that you can already do that,
> but I couldnt figure out how to do it. So thinking out loud on options here
>
> a) Leave as is, but write a detailed Doc on how to do it
> b) Make it simpler more like Scite where its just a simple standalone text
> file that has the user customisations in it
> c) Maybe its possible to write a Lua script that takes the customisations
> from a simple text file and automatically write out whatever file changes
> are needed for your current system ?
>
> Regards Geoff
>
>
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 17:09:38 -0700
>
>> From: paulclinger@yahoo.com
>> To: lua-l@lists.lua.org
>> Subject: Re: [ANN] ZeroBrane Studio 0.32; now with unicode support, moai
>> integration, and wxlua 2.8.12 upgrade
>>
>> Hi Geoff,
>>
>> > Excellent, thats good news, please post an update to the list then when
>> > the
>> > next version is available.
>>
>> The changes have been checked in, so you can start using them now if
>> you update src/ folder from the repository
>> (https://github.com/pkulchenko/ZeroBraneStudio/commits/master). I also
>> added highlighting values in the Watch window that changed since the
>> previous evaluation. The next (packaged) version is not planned
>> earlier than the end of September.
>>
>> > By the way, forgot to mention the new Unicode feature worked great on my
>> > quick test. I have a really nasty Lua source file that contains
>> > Low ASCII, STX, ETX etc, English, French, Greek and Chinese Lua string
>> > texts. This UTF-8 file loaded fine and everything displayed identically
>> > to
>> > when viewed in Scite.
>>
>> This is great; thank you for reporting.
>>
>> Paul.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 5, 2012 at 10:42 AM, Jeff Smith <spammealot1@live.co.uk>
>> wrote:
>> > Hi Paul
>> >
>> > LUA_CPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\?.dll
>> > Yep, that fixed the problem thanks ! Script runs fine now and uses the
>> > sqlite dll without an issue.
>> >
>> >
>> >> I'm working on this feature; it should be available in the repository
>> >> later this week.
>> > Excellent, thats good news, please post an update to the list then when
>> > the
>> > next version is available.
>> >
>> > By the way, forgot to mention the new Unicode feature worked great on my
>> > quick test. I have a really nasty Lua source file that contains
>> > Low ASCII, STX, ETX etc, English, French, Greek and Chinese Lua string
>> > texts. This UTF-8 file loaded fine and everything displayed identically
>> > to
>> > when viewed in Scite.
>> >
>> >> You mean "static code analyzer"?
>> > looks like I am half Brit & half Yank, as I managed to spell it both
>> > ways :)
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards Geoff
>> >
>> >> Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2012 16:35:10 -0700
>> >> From: paulclinger@yahoo.com
>> >> To: lua-l@lists.lua.org
>> >> Subject: Re: [ANN] ZeroBrane Studio 0.32; now with unicode support,
>> >> moai
>> >> integration, and wxlua 2.8.12 upgrade
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Hi Geoff,
>> >>
>> >> Thank you for the feedback. It should work as you are describing, but
>> >> it may require a small tweak. ZBS puts its own libraries first to make
>> >> sure that wx.dll and other libraries it needs will not interfere if a
>> >> different version is present somewhere else in LUA_PATH/LUA_CPATH
>> >> folders. For all the applications that are started form ZBS it puts
>> >> its own libraries last, to minimize interference.
>> >>
>> >> > the problem with ZB Studio is caused by the line require("lsqlite3")
>> >> >
>> >> > Using Scite this loads lsqlite3.dll which on my PC lives in
>> >> > C:\Program
>> >> > Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\ (I have that dll in a few places but I
>> >> > think
>> >> > this
>> >> > is the one scite sees)
>> >>
>> >> If the list of folders you get in the error message doesn't include
>> >> the folder with lsqlite3.dll, then you should try this:
>> >> LUA_CPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\?.dll (note LUA_CPATH
>> >> instead of LUA_PATH).
>> >>
>> >> Please include the full error message if you still have a problem with
>> >> this "require".
>> >>
>> >> > If you are wanting requests for next version features, any chance you
>> >> > could
>> >> > add the select variable name and right click context menu to open the
>> >> > watch
>> >> > window and add that var name to the list I am missing that feature
>> >> > badly.
>> >>
>> >> Yes.
>> >>
>> >> > I love the static code analyser, I am using it quite a lot. If I can
>> >> > be
>> >> > annoying and pedantic :)
>> >> >>> Analizing the source code: Should read >> Analyzing the source
>> >> >>> code:
>> >>
>> >> You mean "static code analyzer"? ;) Fixed. Thank you.
>> >>
>> >> Paul.
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Sep 4, 2012 at 3:10 PM, Jeff Smith <spammealot1@live.co.uk>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> > Hello Paul
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks for the new version of ZB Studio, I am keenly following the
>> >> > development of this excellent project so I have downloaded the new
>> >> > version
>> >> > and having a little play.
>> >> >
>> >> > I hit a problem which we might be able to figure out between us ?
>> >> > (Running
>> >> > Win 7 64 bit here)
>> >> >
>> >> > I have a lua script which works fine in Scite, and I dont remember
>> >> > even
>> >> > having to do any setting up of paths or anything to get it working (I
>> >> > installed the Lua Win batteries packages ages back)
>> >> >
>> >> > the problem with ZB Studio is caused by the line require("lsqlite3")
>> >> >
>> >> > Using Scite this loads lsqlite3.dll which on my PC lives in
>> >> > C:\Program
>> >> > Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\ (I have that dll in a few places but I
>> >> > think
>> >> > this
>> >> > is the one scite sees)
>> >> >
>> >> > I checked my environment vars that I have set
>> >> > LUA_DEV= C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1
>> >> > LUA_PATH = C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\lua\?.luac;
>> >> >
>> >> > I dont actually know without checking if those Win Environment
>> >> > variables
>> >> > are
>> >> > examined by the LUA main EXE or by Scite ? Someone will probably jump
>> >> > in
>> >> > here and tell me :)
>> >> >
>> >> > To try and fix the problem with ZBS I decided to add a new folder
>> >> > path
>> >> > to
>> >> > LUA_PATH
>> >> >
>> >> > LUA_PATH = C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\lua\?.luac;C:\Program Files
>> >> > (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\?.dll
>> >> >
>> >> > Unfortunately the effect of this stops ZBS from even starting up, I
>> >> > get
>> >> > a
>> >> > dialogue box with the following message
>> >> >
>> >> > "Error loading module ''wx' from file C:\Program Files
>> >> > (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\wx.dll" etc etc
>> >> >
>> >> > If I remove the extra path I added it starts up OK once again.
>> >> >
>> >> > I did wonder about the spaces in the path so tried LUA_PATH =
>> >> > C:\Program
>> >> > Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\lua\?.luac;"C:\Program Files
>> >> > (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\?.dll"
>> >> >
>> >> > ZBS now opens up OK again, but my script cant find the dll and gives
>> >> > no file '"C:\Program Files (x86)\Lua\5.1\clibs\lsqlite3.dll"' as one
>> >> > of
>> >> > the
>> >> > output lines.
>> >> >
>> >> > This suggests to me that I was correct originally in changing the
>> >> > lua_path
>> >> > without the speechmarks, but as I say it breaks ZBS.
>> >> >
>> >> > Any ideas how to fix this please ?
>> >> >
>> >> > P.S
>> >> > If you are wanting requests for next version features, any chance you
>> >> > could
>> >> > add the select variable name and right click context menu to open the
>> >> > watch
>> >> > window and add that var name to the list I am missing that feature
>> >> > badly.
>> >> > Thanks if you can.
>> >> >
>> >> > P.P.S
>> >> > I love the static code analyser, I am using it quite a lot. If I can
>> >> > be
>> >> > annoying and pedantic :)
>> >> >>> Analizing the source code: Should read >> Analyzing the source
>> >> >>> code:
>> >> >
>> >> > Regards
>> >> > Geoff
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >> Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 18:47:18 -0700
>> >> >> From: paulclinger@yahoo.com
>> >> >> To: lua-l@lists.lua.org; wxlua-users@lists.sourceforge.net
>> >> >> Subject: [ANN] ZeroBrane Studio 0.32; now with unicode support, moai
>> >> >> integration, and wxlua 2.8.12 upgrade
>> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >> (crossposting to wxlua-users as this is a wxlua-based application;
>> >> >> thanks to John Labenski for all the support and assistance with
>> >> >> wxlua
>> >> >> upgrade.)
>> >> >>
>> >> >> ZeroBrane Studio is a lightweight Lua IDE with code completion,
>> >> >> syntax
>> >> >> highlighting, live coding, remote debugger, code analyzer, and
>> >> >> hypertext/markdown formatting support for integrating learning
>> >> >> materials (examples and demos provided).
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and suggestions. Here is
>> >> >> the
>> >> >> summary with the most important changes (full changelog:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> https://github.com/pkulchenko/ZeroBraneStudio/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md):
>> >> >> - Added Unicode support for file encoding and file paths on Windows
>> >> >> (fixes
>> >> >> #30).
>> >> >> - Added Moai integration and debugging (including debugging of Moai
>> >> >> threads and callbacks).
>> >> >> - Added refresh of Stack and Watch windows after executing a
>> >> >> statement
>> >> >> in remote shell.
>> >> >> - Added display of complex values on multiple lines in shell with
>> >> >> '='.
>> >> >> - Added calltip on mouseover for functions during editing and for
>> >> >> variables/expressions during debugging.
>> >> >> - Added configuration options to set paths to lua and love2d
>> >> >> executables.
>> >> >> - Added support for coroutine debugging with stepping through
>> >> >> coroutine.resume/.yield calls.
>> >> >> - Updated wx.dll to wxlua 2.8.12.2 and wxwidgets 2.8.12.
>> >> >> - Signed zbstudio app and executable to avoid issues with files not
>> >> >> being saved without admin privileges and to remove warning about
>> >> >> 'unknown publisher' on windows (fixes #25).
>> >> >>
>> >> >> There were several changes to improve running on Linux, but more
>> >> >> complete Linux support is still work in progress.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I also posted a screencast that shows live coding with Löve:
>> >> >> http://notebook.kulchenko.com/zerobrane/live-coding-with-love; here
>> >> >> is
>> >> >> a similar screencast with a demo running on OSX:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> http://nikdudnik.com/post/30067678839/ive-spent-last-day-looking-for-a-suitable
>> >> >> (Nikita only saw mine after he published his screencast).
>> >> >>
>> >> >> The code and the packages (.dmg, .exe, and .zip) are available on
>> >> >> github: https://github.com/pkulchenko/ZeroBraneStudio/downloads.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Paul.
>> >> >>
>> >>
>>