StateGraph / News: Recent posts

The original library format was my own XML format to describe a library. One of the goals for this project was to read/write GXL (or at least, an extended GXL format since there are things that JGraph can do that require extension). It makes more sense for the library format to essentially read GXL, although with some additional tags specific to a library.

I'm currently working on this, which is also the start of work to be able to write a document to a file. This time around I've also figured out JUnit, which will play a major role in testing this new functionality.

I've become lazy the last while with documentation and inconsistent style. There is not a lack of comments (I comment quite throughly), but there is a serious lack of JavaDoc's, which I hate doing, but conceed is important.

I've installed eclipse-cs to nag me into fixing them (I hate warnings), and it has had the side effect of my finding two other bugs in the StateApp project. Currently, in that project alone, I've reduced the warnings from over 1400 to ~400. This is a one time cost (and is 'mind nummingly' boring), and is worth the cost if it results is better documentation and even results in my finding a few defects. I will eventually apply this to the other projects, but I think I will need a break when I'm done this one.

After some computer problems and a break over the holidays, I'm back making progress. A basic implementation of a LibraryManager now exists, which will make it much easier to test the SVG renderer. I've also started work on the preference page for managing libraries, but I will need to implement another library before I can put that preference page to any use.

The first release for the project is out. The purpose of the release is to demonstrate functionality, as shown in the screenshots. Stateapp should run cross platform (I developed on Windows and Linux). To run, open a command line and type "javaw -jar stateapp-0.1.0.jar".

I was ready to release a 0.1 package over the weekend, before I realised I had neglected to add one _major_ feature. What would be the point of a 0.1 release of stategraph, if there was no way to select the active state, choose what states a cell is in, etc. Now you can! Expect a release in the next 1 or 2 days.

Things are moving along very smoothly. Tons of features have been implemented over the last few weeks. The first packaged release should be ready within a week. First I have some code clean up to do and fixe some known bugs (mostly with the new border dialogs).

After many long hours, JBF, StateApp, and most importantly StateApp work! There is a lot of functionality still left to do (~90%), but I am progressing very rapidly to duplicating what the GraphPad application does.

Rant: For those who are interested, I'm reimplementing Graphpad was described well by the emsim maintainer. Also, the last Graphpad I look at several years ago, I had great difficulty understanding. One of my primary goals is to duplicate the functionality, but do so in a way that is easy to maintain, and easy for the user. (I've always hated all of the toolbars and menu items that really belong in dialogs since most users will not change the majority frequently). At the time, I tried to submit some fixes for Graphpad, but did not get much response. With JGraph going commercial, I expect less of a repsonse now. Hence, write a new one. Oh, and I get bored sometimes. This keeps me occupied.

After a long absence, some more development. Stategraph now compiles and runs as expected. JBF and stateapp are coming along as a framework for build swing applications, and demonstrating the features of stateapp.