***29th OCT - CURRENT BETA 1.2 IS VERSION HERE***

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
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29th Oct 2010
Firstly, an apology, I’m only new to this forum myself and am still struggling to navigate my way around. I accidently deleted my announcement from 27th Oct when trying to move it in the posts section. So for all those folks searching for it blame me. Sorry!

Today, we tried to focus mainly on actually fixing some bugs and didn’t spend a huge amount of time on the forums.

I’ve upload a new Scrivener.exe to with all the bug fixes listed below for those that would like it here http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/Scrivener.zip
If you don’t have winzip you can download the .exe file directly from
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/Scrivener.exe
However, if you have an anti- virus or internet protection software switched on it will most likely complain, or even quarantine the file, as it is an executable file - however, it’s perfectly safe.

This is not a new install, rather a ‘hot fix’. What’s involved is simply unzipping the Scrivener.zip file onto your desktop. Inside the zip is a Scrivener.exe file. Next close down Scrivener if it’s running, then delete a single file called ‘Scrivener.exe’ from the directory where you installed Scrivener i.e. C:\Program Files\Scrivener. Then you simply copy the downloaded Scrivener.exe into this same directory where you deleted the other one from. That’s it. Fire up Scrivener and you’re away. You will not loose any of your text in your Scrivener projects as these are stored in completely separate folders.

Here is a list of the bugs we fixed today:

CORKBOARD FIXES:

  • Double clicking corkboard index card text selects it. Right clicking now displays context menus + shortcut keys are enabled for copy, paste etc.

  • Clicking on the corkboard tools icon (shown in figure 1) now allows all customizations to be saved: the size of index cards, their ratio and spacing etc. See Figure below:

Corkboard.png

  • Now you can drop index cards on top of each other to nest them the same way you can in outliner and binder. This is a Mac 2.0 feature. However by default you can’t drag onto corkboard index cards, but you can now change a setting in the Edit>Options to allow this. See figure below change # 1:

  • Many Windows users requested, “Please add an Ok button to Options dialog” to make the application behave more like a Windows app rather than a Mac. So, we have. We added 'Okay", ‘Cancel’ and ‘Apply’ buttons. See figure below change # 2:

Options dialog.PNG
Options dialog.PNG460×557 23.3 KB

DUAL SCREEN FIXES:

  • Scrivener now no longer defaults only to the primary screen. Multi-monitor users can now expect the full screen to appear in the monitor where the original window is currently located thus catering fully to extended displays.

OUTLINER:

  • “total word count” is now operational.

GENERAL:

  • All buttons now give me a hover over popup to assist identify what they are.

SCRIPTWRITING:

  • CTRL+M to toggle scriptwriting mode has been fixed.

PROJECT TARGET WORD COUNT:

  • Switching between documents maintains correct target word count to one that does not.

SNAPSHOT (Multiple Bugs):

  • Creating and deleting snapshots now functions as expected.

INSPECTOR:

  • Clicking the auto-synopsis on a blank document no longer hangs Scrivener

FULLSCREEN MODE:

  • The Bold, Italic, and Underline formatting tools are now working properly in full screen mode when using the hotkeys.

EDITOR:

  • If you double-click on an image that is displayed in the EDITOR, the ‘Image Tools’ popup appears. On the Scale Slider option there are two buttons either side (Left for Small - Right for Large). Clicking these buttons buttons now works as expected.

Early next week we will be doing a deep dive on the core rich text engine of Scrivener to fix some of the more sinister bugs like changing fonts, imports, and XP issues etc. The frequency of the hot fixes will vary, I certainly don’t want people to expect one daily, weekly etc. I’ll just release them as and when there’s significant benefit to you all. As we progress the product will become increasing robust and the bugs generally become less significant, therefore release cycles grow further apart. We will see how we go - software development is not an exact science - that’s why so many corporate IT projects are late, fail or go way over budget.

LINUX users. Apologies to my bearded friends, we didn’t manage to get time to do a build of Scrivener for LINUX today. It’s just after midnight now Aussie time and I’m downing tools for the day. We don’t want to rush this when tired. We’ll do a build tomorrow when we’re fresh and don’t make any silly mistakes, plus I need to fork out a new platform licence and get that squared away with the Qt folks - I forgot about that.

Time for bed. I’ll post a daily update again on Monday.

Lee
its.PNG

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Re: Linux users and a Linux version–you’re very generous to take time to do anything for Linux. We’ll check back here tomorrow. Meantime, thank you very much for all you’ve done. :slight_smile:

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I knew that, of all the possible frameworks you could have used for Scrivener, you did indeed pick Qt for a reason. Adobe AIR was a bit redundant since it is cross-platform and there’s already a Mac version that doesn’t utilise it. When I saw the Qt dlls flash by in the installation process, I could’ve sworn that there would be a Linux version soon.

Thank you for the bug fixes so far. I think, if anything, we are all awaiting the fixes for the .rtf parser and all the other iffy things that is annoying with the core point of Scrivener, but these rudimentary bug-fixes are useful in improving the user experience in its totality.

PS: You people should totally host a nightly build program. :smiley:

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Yay thanks!

And no worries. The windows version works great. :wink:

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Woo! Progress!

The fact that you’re releasing fixes so quickly is awesome; too many software projects take forever to even touch on anything worthwhile, much less the big problems. And few developers are so open and interactive.

I also look forward to the various fixes in the text engine. This seems to be the key point you’re getting drum beat on, and is the place where improvements will be the most awesome for us users, I think. I know it’s a lot of work, but we appreciate the time and effort you’re putting forward on this.

Keep up the good work!

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I tried to install this update, but got this error message:

An unexpected error is preventing this operation. Make note of this error code, which might be useful if you get additional help to resolve this problem: Error 0x80004005: Unspecified Error.
Scrivener
Type: Application
Date Modified: 29/10/2010
Size 4.19 MB

I tried to install it the same way I did the last update, by copy and pasting into the Scriv program folder, and choosing “copy & replace” when the option window came up. After the error message, I tried to install it by first deleting the .exe file then copying the new file, but the same error message appeared.

I have windows Vista Home Basic

Now I’m without any .exe (not sure where they go if deleted!) so I guess I’ll download the program from the main link again.

I’m really enjoying working with Scrivener–thanks for all the hard work you’re doing!

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Hi

I’ve downloaded the above file, but am getting the following message:

‘The program can’t start because QTwebkit4 dII is missing from your computer’

It suggests that I try installing again, but I’m not sure what it is.

I’m using Windows 7.

Many thanks

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Don’t feel badly, I did the exact same thing the other day. Replace the unzipped file from today’s update in your Scrivener file in Program Files. It’ll replace the Scrivener.exe in there. :slight_smile:

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Thank you!

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I get this message too. Could someone please explain to me, in words I understand, how to change this? I can’t open the downloaded icon on the desktop at all. I did extract to desktop. And when I go to my program files I cannot find the .exe. So I’m a bit stuck… :unamused:

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Hi Millie,

On your desktop right click on your unzipped file ten choose properties. There you will find where your scrivener.exe is located. In Windows Explorer go to that location, copy the file and past it in Scrivener folder: Program files/Scrivener and accept to overwrite the original. That’s all.

I hope it helps.

Jeco

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The whole DLL can’t be found error sounds like people are trying to run the EXE file as an installer, which it isn’t. It’s just a replacement for the actual program executable. This’ll be in either c:\Program Files\Scrivener, or c:\Program Files(x86)/Scrivener, depending on whether you’re using a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows. The easiest way is just to download the EXE version of the link and drop it in that folder, replacing the one that’s already there.

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Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed. I know you’re snowed under with bug zapping!

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Hi Lee
Thanks for the update. I downloaded Scrivener exe and installed it in my program folder. So far as I can see, all the bug fixes/enhancements work as you describe in your daily update for the 29th

Using Windows 7 64 bit
Great work - hope you get some sleep sometime :slight_smile:

Vanessa

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Thanks.

I know the rich text fixes are what everyone is craving for and you’ll get them. There are a few things that concern me, to be completely open:

Firstly I’m overwhelmed with bug posts, emails etc. This is a great problem to have and I’m very thankful for all the great feedback - we absolutely need this and I’m not complaining just trying to set expectations and perspective.

Secondly, we need to fix bugs - especially rich text related ones. Some of these problems are incredibly complex because we have had to write our own rich text parser. This doesn’t mean much to most of you; however, it’s complex and will probably require a lot of concentrated effort and focus to pick out several needles in a large haystack that are causing these issues. We’re also a very small team myself and a part time C++ Qt God.

Thirdly, we need to be responsive and interactive with the fantastic Scrivener community who have justified high hopes for Scrivener. Emails, posts etc. all take time and mind space and it’s tempting just to shut the door and go to our programming caves without sunlight and appear two months later with everything fixed, but that’s not what Scrivener is about. It’s not just the software - it’s all of us chasing our crazy writer dreams and having the guts to live out our passions, we just happen to congregate in a community around some great software.

Finally, we need to find the balance between all of these. Which right now, I’m struggling with from a time perspective.

The key editor fixes may not come for another month, but they will come and I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up too much just because we are releasing fixes frequently right now -which in themselves cause install problems and require support for some users. We are not due to release production ready software until Feb, we’re still in Oct, so personally, I think we’re progressing well and want to ensure all of you get the best quality software as soon as we can bake it in the Windows Scrivener oven and no sooner; under cooked food always give one a stomach ache.

Happy days

Lee

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Amen! :slight_smile:

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Thanks a bunch! :smiley:

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That’s part of what attracted me to Scrivener in the first place. The good people here, with their enthusiasm and wit and sense of fun. There are lots of tools a writer can use to put the words in order (and I’ve tried most of them, and none has a feature set like Scrivener!), but communities are priceless. Thanks, Lee, for all your hard work getting a Windows version out there so more of us have a chance to not only use a wonderful tool for writing, but also a chance to join the Scrivener community. Because finding a place where our crazy dreams and passions are shared and we are not alone? That helps to kick depression and loneliness right out the door. I don’t know too many writers who don’t need that. :smiley:

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What is this “sun” of which you speak? :slight_smile:

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I got this error when I tried to copy from the ZIP file to the Program Files\Scrivener folder directly. (Reproducibly.)

I did an “extract all” for the ZIP file, then the copy worked as it is supposed to.

The dialog box’s title was “Copy Error”? Try extracting the file first. It looks like the source of this particular issue may be Windows itself.