0.51
Released March 5., 20090.50 and 0.51 were almost released at the same time, and this page describes the changes for both releases.
Event Chart and Database
The event chart is the most obvious new feature in release 0.51 in the visual sense. The event chart can be used to get a much better view of the different events taking place in SeqZap, execution start/end, test case start/end, measurements and many other things are automatically added to the event chart.
The real benefit of the event chart comes from the ability for tools to log events. This allow tool developers to provide the user with a lot more information about what happens inside the tool, for instance:
- A TCP connection can report exactly the place where the connection was lost
- A device which reports user interactions (button was pushed, etc.) can report these actions as events.
- The beginning and end of various operations can be reported.
We are by no means done exploring the possibilities we can see with this new technology, for instance, all events are saved to a per-user database and we expect that this will give us ample opportunity for calculating statistics and drawing graphs from old and new data in the future.
We are sure that our customers can come up with even more things to use the events view and database for, and we look forward to hearing about them!
Command-line execution
More and more organizations are starting to improve their development process by introducing continuous builds (or nightly builds as they are commonly referred to). One of the new things in release 0.51 is SeqZap's full-blown support for running on the command line or in batch scripts on a build server.
VNC Client Tool
The availability of VNC servers for everything from Linux (framebuffer and X) to Windows Mobile and even IPhone and Android mobile phones, makes this tool something of a swiss army knife when working with devices with a graphical display.
SampleArray Tool
Just as the Stream tool forms the basis for all interaction with stream based interfaces in SeqZap, we expect the SampleArray tool to form the basis for all sampling interfaces in SeqZap.
Sample arrays are often used in system testing, either acquire data using an oscilloscope or to generate data using a signal generator.
The SampleArray tool only provides the infrastructure necessary to "handle" sample arrays in SeqZap while it is up to other tools to provide the means for using these sample arrays for something useful
Audio Tool
The Audio Tool is the first tool to use the Sample Array tool, it provides support for recording audio samples and playing them back again.
The Audio tool both support standard windows audio drivers as well as the more professionally oriented ASIO audio drivers.
MIDI tool
Release 0.51 also includes support for the MIDI protocol, this is a protocol widely deployed by organizations who develop music equipment.
The proprietary SysEx MIDI messages are commonly used for debugging and automation interfaces in musical equipment and the MIDI tool features a plugin architecture that let users implement support for their specific protocol without having to implement the entire MIDI stack.
New Expression Editor
While seasoned SeqZap users undoubtedly will know several expression function which they frequently use, it can be a bit daunting for a new user to be faced with a blank editor control and no way of knowing which functions are available.
With the new expression editor introduced in release 0.51 you can now just start typing a function, variable, workbench, or any other name for that matter, and the editor will automatically suggest the possible completions for your currently entered string.
Since auto completion is a thing that most people expect from a modern IDE, we are proud to announce that it is now fully supported in SeqZap.