New release of the twinBASIC programming IDE

[VB6 Programming]

The long awaited new release(s) of twinBASIC is now available for download...

These are the releases of the redesigned twinBASIC IDE UI (from Beta 424 onwards), plus other improvements.

Note: This is a PREVIEW of the significant changes made over the last two months. Regressions are EXPECTED at this stage.

• WARNING: there are known memory leaks in these versions, so memory usage will be higher than normal
• WARNING: see important release notes from BETA 424 here https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbas...ag/beta-x-0424

The latest twinBASIC BETA is now available:
https://github.com/twinbasic/twinbasic/releases (Click 'Tags' if this release isn't showing)

BETA 466

• improved: tweaked the intellisense internal sorting algorithm for better performance in larger projects [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 465

• improved: [trace log] known IIDs (internal or via registry) are now reported using their symbolic names rather than raw GUIDs
• improved: [trace log] known DISPIDs are now reported using their symbolic names rather than raw values
• added: [trace log] now supports ${DATE} placeholder in output path (YYYYMMDD) [ fafalone, discord ]
• added: [trace log] now supports ${TIME} placeholder in output path (HHNNSS) [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) intellisense triggering too often, causing short IDE freezes for large projects/packages [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 462/463/464

• added: project settings 'Compilation: Trace Output' and 'Compilation: Trace Flags' offering full tracing logs for tB generated executables [ commissioned work ]
• added: Debug.TracePrint for use in combination with the new tracing features [ commissioned work ]

BETA 461

• improved: stability when editing documents, e.g. wdShellCore in WinDevLib [ fafalone, discord ]
• misc: prep work for supporting unique error IDs emitted by the compiler

BETA 460

• fixed: for large projects, the crash-restart loop detection could cause the restart process to halt at the 'Please Wait' stage [ Gary Miller, discord ]
• fixed: some projects would not finish loading with trace mode enabled [ Gary Miller, discord ]
• fixed: 'Extends Nothing' syntax usage (in project or referenced packages) could lead to an internal buffer overrun, leading to compiler instability
• fixed: compiler auto restart when editing a document that uses the Import Library feature [ fafalone, discord ]
• improved: reduced compiler memory leaks when editing documents in some instances [ Gary Miller, discord ]

BETA 459

• fixed: (regression) form designer context menu 'ActiveX Properties...' was not working [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• improved: [Description()] attribute for components now accepts placeholders ${ProjectName} and ${ComponentName} [ Tecman, discord ]
• improved: the ActiveX Control project now has [Description("${ProjectName}.${ComponentName}")] set for the example control to help discovery in hosts

BETA 458

• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) when tB generated ActiveX controls were placed on some host documents such as Access forms, at design-time a second copy of the form was being painted to the desktop [ commissioned work ]
• fixed: "Not implemented" error shown when adding a tB generated ActiveX control to a MS Access Form in some instances [ commissioned work ]
• fixed: (regression, x64 builds only) stack alignment bug in some instances during codegen causing some runtime instability [ commissioned work ]

BETA 457

• improved: NATIVE EXCEPTION reports will now promote the compiler services into trace-mode
• added: trace-mode for the compiler so that native exceptions provide extra debugging information in the debug console, see Help menu
• fixed: TB0015 DLL-redirection warnings could not be turned off unlike all other warnings [ fafalone, discord ]
• improved: 'PROBLEMS' panel now renamed 'DIAGNOSTICS' to better reflect the intended purpose
• added: support for HINTS and INFORMATION level diagnostics
• improved: hovering over a warning in the IDE will now include the TBXXXX warning code in the displayed information
• fixed: (regression) opening a document in the IDE which contains no components (e.g. all commented out) could crash-restart the compiler

BETA 456

• improved: added warning TB0015_DLLRedirection (hint in future) to indicate when auto DLL redirection has occured for MSVBVM60 and similar imports
• fixed: Slider / DTPicker / MonthView / UpDown controls now have [DefaultMember] set appropriately [ https://github.com//issues/1791 ]
• improved: VB form importer now includes the form filename in error reports [ https://github.com//issues/1790 ]
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) control array events Index argument always zero [ woeoio, discord ]
• fixed: virtual documents (such as global find results) would be left open when closing the active project
• fixed: clicking on an IDE sub-menu header would close the menu rather than triggering the sub-menu to expand
• fixed: scrolling to the end of a document in the IDE could throw Uncaught errors in the debug console [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: IDE uncaught error: 'IDE internal error: Uncaught TypeError: t is not a function' [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: semantic highlighting issue for some cases of prop-lets going through default member accessors [ https://github.com//issues/1788 ]

BETA 455

• fixed: ActiveX control extender issue in RightToLeft implementation, causing a runtime error to be thrown inside the form designer in some instances [ vinicio, discord ]
• fixed: some edge cases around IDE panel (re-)loading [ fafalone, discord ]
• added: redirection of MSVBVM60 declares using API '__vbaRefVarAry' to an internal equivalent implementation, supporting 64-bit [ fafalone, discord ]
• added: redirection of MSVBVM60 declares using API '__vbaAryMove' to an internal equivalent implementation, supporting 64-bit [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: opening/closing projects quickly could trigger the crash-loop detector and the IDE would go into safe-mode [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) LLVM compilation is now working again
• fixed: (regression in BETA 454) code regions could auto-expand after edits in a document [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 454

• improved: VIP gold supporter logos now link to their respective websites
• improved: space character is now expected between attributes combined witha comma (auto prettified) [ fafalone, discord ]
• added: IDE command tbFindWidget_Hide, default assigned to ESCAPE key [ Krool, discord ]
• fixed: ALT+F4 keybinding to IDE command tbIdeWindow_Close was missing [ wqweto, discord ]
• fixed: stick-scroll feature would sometimes not show semantic highlighting
• improved: significantly reduced WebView2 memory pressures when editing large documents
• improved: (IDE) reduction in RAM leaks during editing sessions

BETA 453

• improved: tweaked the docking/floating panel movement sensitivity to try to avoid accidental changes [ fafalone, discord ]
• improved: tweaked the floating to docked panel implementation to try avoid the case of the dissapearing panels [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: added missing IDE shortcuts CTRL+INSERT (Copy), SHIFT+DELETE (CUT), CTRL+F3 (tbEditor_FindSelectedNext) SHIFT+CTRL+F3 (tbEditor_FindSelectedPrev) [ wqweto, discord ]
• fixed: real OS titlebar caption did not show twinBASIC version information [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• fixed: cursor icon not always correct when moving a control in the form designer [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• improved: infinite compiler crash-restart loop now gets detected and the IDE will auto switch to SAFE mode [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 452

• fixed: (IDE) a few more 'IDE internal errors' reported in the debug console
• improved: (IDE) reduction in RAM leaks during editing sessions
• fixed: Clipboard.SetData() second arg should be Optional [ https://github.com//issues/1787 ]
• fixed: removed system beep when pressing Tab/Enter in a TextBox/ComboBox control [ https://github.com//issues/1785 ]
• added: (IDE) recognition for our new VIP GOLD supporters

BETA 451

• added: (IDE) IDE command tbEditor_DeleteLines (default CTRL+SHIFT+DELETE shortcut) [ Gary Miller, discord ]
• fixed: (IDE) statusbar growing in height by 1px when hovering over IDE commands [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• fixed: (IDE) when the rename input box was active, global keyboard shortcuts were still responding [ FullValueRider, discord ]
• fixed: (IDE) double clicking on an existing watch in the WATCH panel was not allowing to edit it
• fixed: (IDE) a few more 'IDE internal errors' reported in the debug console
• fixed: (IDE) middle code selector dropdown was not using the 'default' event appropriately [ https://github.com//issues/1780 ]
• fixed: (IDE) importing a VBP generated class headers using the old attribute spacing/formatting [ https://github.com//issues/1777 ]

BETA 450

• improved: reduction in RAM leaks during editing sessions
• improved: improved general stability during editing sessions

BETA 449

• fixed: a few more 'IDE internal errors' reported in the debug console
• added: commands tbFindWidget_HistoryCyclePrevious and tbFindWidget_HistoryCycleNext and attached to Up/Down keys when find widget is focused [ Gary Miller, discord ]
• fixed: package manager panel goes completely blank and unclosable if left open when opening a non-package project [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: accessing a control array group wrapper via the Controls collection not working [ sokinkeso, discord ]

BETA 448

• fixed: removed DEBUG CONSOLE messages when scrolling inside the monaco editor [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: form designer errors when opening a form and the TOOLBAR panel is closed [ erez, discord ]
• fixed: "IDE internal error" when editing a non-code file [ FullValueRider, discord ]

BETA 447

• fixed: a few 'IDE internal error' messages that have been reported [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 446

• improved: turned on incremental parsing stage 1 (baby steps)
• improved: added window.onerror JS error logging to the DEBUG CONSOLE for helping identify IDE unhandled errors
  

BETA 445

• fixed: (regression since BETA 423) Form/PictureBox/UC Picture property could cause a runtime error when AutoRedraw was True [ axisdj, discord ]

BETA 444

• fixed: some DirListBox issues [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• fixed: Debug Console would sometimes report 'Unrecognized member 'foo' on type 'bar' [non-extensible object]' incorrectly
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) breakpoint changes not effective until next recompile [ FullValueRider, discord ]
• fixed: compiler will no longer crash upon loading a project with duplicate reference entries [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: missing information in hover widget for interfaces [ https://github.com//issues/1721#issuecomment-1934813523 ]
• fixed: project explorer right-click focus issue, preventing cut/copy/rename/delete/etc from being accessible in the context-menu [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 443

• fixed: ActiveXExtender regression [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 442

• fixed: menus seperator issue [ https://github.com//issues/1771 ]

BETA 441

• fixed: (regression) tbEditor_StepOver apperaing in the debug console when stepping through code [ FullValueRider, discord ]
• fixed: type-library parsing had incorrect handling of Alias-void types [ https://github.com//issues/1688 ]
• added: warning TB0017 array argument does not precisely match the expected type as the alias subtypes are different, but this is supported for VBx compatibility [ https://github.com//issues/1688 ]
• fixed: the case of the missing PREVIEW button [ adakordev, discord ]
• fixed: selecting an item in the project explorer would open, but not focus the editor

BETA 440

• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) Ctrl+Up/Down not working to select prev/next procedure in the code editor [ https://github.com//issues/1757 ]
• added: commands tbEditor_MoveToProcedurePrev and tbEditor_MoveToProcedureNext
• fixed: (regression) Function key shortcuts not always working reliably [ FullValueRider, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) 'Import from file...' in Project references not working [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: parser bug; can't declare WithEvents on same line as other class field definitions seperated by comma [ https://github.com//issues/1767 ]
• fixed: unable to disambiguate InStr() in some instances due to too strict overload resolution issue [ https://github.com//issues/1759 ]

BETA 439

• improved: some stability improvements, particularly with samples 15 & 16 [ sokinkeso, discord ]
• fixed: (regression) WebView2 control was not bein shown correctly in the IDE toolbox
• fixed: ProgressBar ForeColor would be lost when the control lost activated state with visual styles off [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: NATIVE EXCEPTION errors now report the local time (with DST if appropriate) [ adakordev, discord ]
• fixed: (regression in 438) graphical glitches in hover widgets in the IDE [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since 423) auto-close feature with parenthesis was not working correctly [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: 'Object not set' error in Label.twin when opening form designer in some instances [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 438

• added: IDE boolean option 'Signature-Help Show First Line Of Docs' to allow further reduction of signature-help widget size
• improved: some keys would incorrectly trigger intellisense such as Page-Down/Up
• improved: hover delay time in the IDE is increased from 300ms to 1000ms to try to reduce/avoid accidental hover widget activation [ https://github.com//issues/1758 ]
• added: IDE boolean option 'Show Information When Hovering' to allow to turn off the hover feature [ https://github.com//issues/1758 ]
• improved: max-height of hover widgets now set to 250px in an attempt to reduce unnecessary screen coverage
• improved: reduced hover widgets padding of text elements to reduce overall sizes
• improved: clicking X in the project settings modal dialog now prompts if you've made unsaved changes
• improved: pretiffier now removes spaces in attributes, e.g. [ Description ("Foo Bar") ] becomes [Description("Foo Bar")]
• fixed: (regressions since BETA 424) drag/drop of project explorer items and tabs now working again [ fafalone, discord ]
• improved: escape key can now be used to cancel the front-page 'New / Open project' dialog
• changed: you can now enable a real OS titlebar for the IDE, via the 'IDE: Show real OS titlebar' setting [ https://github.com//issues/1713 ]
• fixed: [CoClassId] attribute did not offer the codelens feature for inserting a random GUID [ benhut1, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) menu editing via the form designer broken [ OlimilO1402, discord ]
• fixed: debugger was ignoring (exitting) some unhandled runtime errors instead of breaking [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: selecting 'new project' (and similar) menu option doesn't close the exising editing project until a new project is actually loaded [ https://github.com//issues/1764 ]
• fixed: ActiveX control sample had code using to ExperimentalLog event that has since been removed from the implementation

BETA 437

• fixed: key shortcut processing debug messages wrongly being seen in the debug console

BETA 436

• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) some IDE keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+F were being bound to key-up rather than key-down, causing issues
• fixed: (regression since BETA 424) debug console history cycling (up/down keys) quirks
• improved: formatting/cursor position after ENTER key in the code editor in some cases
• fixed: shortcut keys such as CTRL-C/V/X would sometimes trigger intellisense inappropriately
• improved: intellisense horizontal position is now anchored to the start of the word to help reduce flickering
• fixed: intellisense would sometimes pop up during editing a string literal
• improved: reduced the size of the signature-help widget (smaller padding and font)
• improved: signature-help widget horizontal position is now anchored to the procedure symbol
• improved: signature-help widget was dark with the light theme activated

BETA 435

• added: (commissioned work) WEBPAGE panel, allowing a fully isolated webpage to be docked or floated within the IDE
• added: commands tbWebpage_FocusPanel, tbWebpage_ShowPanel, tbWebpage_HidePanel, tbWebpage_GoBack, tbWebpage_GoForward, tbWebpage_Reload, tbWebpage_ToggleMobileMode, tbWebpage_TurnMobileModeOn, tbWebpage_TurnMobileModeOff
• added: WebView2 EnvironmentOptions.EnableTrackingPrevention boolean property (default True)
• fixed: double modal dialog bug which could lock up the IDE, affecting package removal [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 434

• improved: (static library work) added some custom implementations for some of GCCs use of helpers (usually from libgcc)
• added: (commissioned work) new BigNumberLib package available on TWINSERV, utilizing TomsFastMath C static library

BETA 433

• fixed: codegen issue involving copying of non-simple UDTs in some scenarios [ Krool, discord ]
• improved: increased the contrast of the selected tab background color in the IDE [ FullValueRider, discord ]

BETA 432

• fixed: Enum/Type auto close block statement insertion not working
• fixed: Enums (and there members) internal document positions were lost leading to Goto-Definition problems and other issues [ fafalone, discord ]
• fixed: (regression since 424) vertical scrollbars missing on PROBLEMS and OUTLINE panels
• fixed: all light theme floating panels had a dark background
• fixed: codegen issue involving the new streamlined auto implementations for field accessors [ adakordev, discord ]
• fixed: accidentally clicking on the non-icon areas of the toolbar would take focus away from the current panel [ AntsAntix, discord ]
• fixed: some edge cases around flag cloberring in the new codegen since BETA 424, affecting tbSellTree and others [ fafalone, discord ]

BETA 431

• fixed: triggering intellisense in a file that has an Import Library statement could crash-restart the compiler
• fixed: some issues with static LIB file parsing
• added: Sample 18. Static Library Example (libdeflate) compression and decompression