Carmen's Headline Viewer
Version 0.8.0 History
   
 
  • 0.8.0 - 16 Jun 99
    Added lots of features and fixed some bugs:
    • Added new built-in providers:
      Wired News
      PalmPower Magazine
      Windows CE Power Magazine
      DominoPower Magazine
      ZDNet
      CNet News
      Hack the Planet
    • Pre-0.8.0 preferences are automatically updated so that the default providers have image URLs. 
    • Added cute little icon.
    • When loading a list from UserLand or RSS Maker, the program now prompts to:

      Load Details - If checked, then details (site name, Image, and Description) are fetched from each provider. This can be quite time consuming. If not checked, the details are fetched as needed during normal operations.

      Make Active - If checked then added providers are automatically marked as active.

      A progress bar is now displayed when loading the lists. Do not be alarmed if it takes several minutes to load the list and all of the details. The program must issue an HTTP request to each site. Some of them time out and this takes some time.
    • Added a Setting to control display of provider image. On by default. The image displays the first line of the provider's description. Double-clicking on the  image takes you to the the provider's site (just like pressing the Visit ("!") button.
    • Add ImageURL to data stored for each provider. The ImageURL can be edited in the provider's Settings. The image is automatically fetched whenever the ImageURL is changed. Images are stored in a temporary directory.
    • When fetching provider lists from UserLand, A "Need Details" flag is stored with each provider. This is needed because the provider lists obtained from UserLand and RSS Maker are bare-bones. That is, they do not
      include a site description, a link to a site image, or even a site title. This information must be obtained
      from the site itself. This "detail fetch" occurs at three points:

      1. When the provider becomes the current provider in the Main dialog.

      2. When the provider's name is selected in the Settings dialog.

      3. When a new Data URL is entered in to the Settings and the Image URL, and the Site, Image, and Description are
      all empty.
    • There is now a context menu for the list of active providers. The following commands are available:

      Visit - Opens up a browser on the site, just like pressing the "!" button or double-clicking on the entry.

      Properties... - Opens up the Settings dialog to the Providers tab, with the clicked provider selected.

      Make Inactive - Makes the clicked provider inactive. It can be activated from the Settings dialog.

      View - This is a submenu. It has the following commands:

      Active Provider List
      Provider Image
      Buttons

      These buttons correspond to similarly named items in the General tab of the Settings dialog.

      Settings
      About
      Exit

      There is a context menu for the list of articles. The following  commands are available:

      Read Article - Just like double-clicking on the article title.

      View - (All the great options described above).

      Settings
      About
      Exit
    • The Appearance Settings have been renamed to View Settings. There is now a new option to show the buttons at the bottom of the main dialog.
    • Fixed a bug where providers were not tagged as to
      their origin.
    • Added mnemonics (hot keys) and tooltips to all items in the 
      Settings dialog.
    • Line feed and carriage return characters in story titles are now 
      replaced with spaces.
    • HTML numeric entities (&#ddd; &#xhhh; &#Xhhh;) and named entities (&name;) are now handled. Numeric entities
      above 255 are replaced with a space character. Named entities within the Latin-1 character set are also handled.
    • The saved window size and position are not updated if the application is minimized when it is exited.
    • Fixed a bug which prevented certain RSS files from being
      processed.
    • Removed most of the color changes which happen each time a new provider is selected. It was just too irritating.
    • The timer which signals a flip to the next provider is now reset each time a new provider becomes current.
    • The hourglass cursor is now displayed when remote data
      is fetched.
    • Non-Ultramode providers no longer have an invisible column
      that steals some of the space better used for the article
      title.
    • Pressing ENTER on an article title is just like double-clicking it.
    • The active provider list in the Main dialog is now automatically scrolled to keep the current provider visible.
    • Pressing ENTER or double-clicking on a provider name in the active provider list is now equivalent to pressing the "!" (Visit) button. It opens up a browser on the provider's site (if the provider's Site URL has been set).
    • Label editing is now disabled for the active provider list.