Scrivener 1.1/1.04 public beta (OLD)

Scrivener Beta Testing (Mac)
1

Hello folks,

NOTE: Updated again 12/05/07 - please re-download!

I have decided to release Scrivener 1.04 as a public beta. This is really the final version of 1.04, except for the fact that the Help file is not yet up to date (so do not complain otherwise :slight_smile: ) and that it is not neatly packaged up as a DMG and so forth.

The idea is simply that anybody who wishes can test 1.04 whilst I’m updating the Help file and preparing the package, and that therefore any major bugs that arise or that I have missed can be fixed before I release 1.04 officially and make it available as an update.

Please note: Because this is a beta, all bug reports should be posted to this thread, and not to the Bug Hunt forum, which is reserved for release versions only.

Note that the file format has changed slightly with 1.04, so that you will need to update your projects, and that the way script formats work have also changed considerably, so be sure to read the Readme file before you start complaining that the Stageplay formats have gone missing. :slight_smile:

1.04 introduces a number of fairly large but oft-asked-for changes, such as:

  • Mail 2.0-style split views
  • No one editor is dominant any more - you can collapse either
  • Overhauled script settings, so that you can create your own script formats
  • Better Subversion support (hopefully)
  • Project References
  • Faded footnotes and annotations
  • “No synopsis” is gone the way of the Dodo
  • You can now assign names to snapshots
  • You can now open your bibliography/citation manager using a keyboard shortcut (shift-cmd-Y) from within Scrivener; Scrivener now accepts automatic pastes from Bookends
  • many, many bug fixes and minor feature additions

The full change list can be found at the end of this post and in the Readme file.

Here is the download link:

literatureandlatte.com/dlbet … 4Beta3.zip

Particular feedback

I would particularly like feedback on whether or not this version plays better with Subversion and on how the new custom scripts feature works for people. Not that it will be redesigned - I just want to make sure it is working properly.

About feedback

Please make feedback as precise as possible. If you notice something wrong, please don’t just post a general comment - direct me to exactly where that thing is. It makes fixing it a lot easier. :slight_smile:

Enjoy!

All the best,
Keith

P.S. I have just uploaded beta 2, which resolves some of the issues mentioned earlier in this thread and should now run on pre-G4 systems (sorry about that, G3 users!). The new beta is 1.04b; I am considering naming the official update 1.1 rather than 1.04, better to reflect the change in interface and file format.

P.P.S. I have just uploaded beta 3 - 1.041b.

Change list since 1.04b

  • Hopefully fixed bug whereby, upon launching a project in Scrivener, an error would get written to the console along the lines of “*** Illegal NSTableView data source (<SCRSearchResultsController: 0x46b2b80>[object class: SCRBinderDocument, number of selected objects: 0]). Must implement numberOfRowsInTableView: and tableView:objectValueForTableColumn:row:â€
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Wow! Lots of stuff to test. Two quick things I noticed:

Suggestion: Upon opening an old project that needs to be updated to the new format, delete the contents of any Synopsis which match “- No Synopsis -”. Currently, all of those previously empty synopsis fields are now considered to have content, and are changing the icons to “card” status (which by the way, looks cool on Folders!)

Crash: Seems simple enough to reproduce. Create a horizontal split. Place the focus in the top split, and press Cmd=’ to close the split. Now press Cmd-= to open a horizontal split. Application should crash. No crashes observed when attempting this with the lower split activated.

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You really need to revise your numbering policy. All of this, and a .01 change? :slight_smile:

I did have a crash myself, as well, and I think it also involved a split screen. To be honest, I couldn’t even quit it, had to force quit. Just tried to reproduce it to double check, but it didn’t crash this time.

4

Keith,

I agree with Talazem, you really should make this a major version upgrade–1.4 maybe? (Not the dreaded 1.5 which would mean it’s back to the novel. :smiley: )

Seriously, though, do you get any sleep? Have you drafted your children, your wife? Has there been a mysterious disappearance of Jolt Cola in the greater London metro area?

Yoicks!

On the subject of the beta, all I’ve noticed so far are some cut-off labels in the preferences.

Best

Dave

5

So… for version 1.1 we can expect the “Agent” and “Editor” modules? Which, respectively, land a six-figure advance and ensure bestsellerdom? (Sorry, academic writers. He is a novelist, after all…)

I agree with all those who think your numbering system needs a serious rethink. Go work on your novel or something! :slight_smile:

Oh yeah. And thanks!

Katherine

6

Okay, I have more time now. Firstly: Impressive update, as usual! Lots of things I did not expect for–well until at least late 2008. :slight_smile:

Now for some beta testing and feedback:

Minor bug: Icon “content” labels (such as card and sheet of paper) do not update immediately when the document is in an Edit Scrivenings session, and has changed status within that session. Make three empty documents, E.S. them, type ‘a’ into one, and then delete the ‘a’, the icon will stay “filled”. When not in E.S., adding and removing the ‘a’ results in immediate icon change. Minor because as soon as E.S. is dismissed, the icons update.

Suggestion: I like the new block insertion point, it makes the cursor much more visible–but it is quite obvious to me why the block cursor was dropped decades ago. It really doesn’t work well with variable width fonts, especially around spaces! I wonder if perhaps a thickened cursor, 2 or 3 pixels wide, would be a more attractive option than something that appears to be an em width, regardless of the actual character width beneath it. There are times when it is somewhat confusing as to precisely where the insertion point is.

Suggestion: Is it technically possible to make Cmd-Opt-6/7 toggle between the two scopes, rather than having a pair of shortcuts each? I think it would be easier to use; you needn’t think about which shortcut to use, depending on the current state, nor even check the current state at all.

Quibble: Okay, as for single-pixel or thick separators between splits, I really don’t mind either way, except that it is well nigh impossible to resize a single-pixel split. Yes, I know there is a grabby thingy, but it is all the way down at the bottom. Is it at all possible, in any way, to make an invisible “buffer zone” around the 1 pixel split that triggers a resize event?

Query: The new ability to manipulate the full screen window from the second monitor sounds splendid! But what if you do not have a laptop?

Query: What do you think about having the new Simple Duplicate feature also dropping meta-data?

You Probably Already Know: But the Tutorial project that is included with the beta has not been updated to the new format. Maybe ought to set the Binder width so that the initial steps can be read, too, now that such things can be saved with the project. “CLICK HERE TO S” is what I get. :wink:

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Once again: fantastic work.
The “ghost annotations” are marvellous.
Thank you!
-R.

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I guess I’m only missing something very obvious … but in the Beta my editor is cut in half, vertically. On the left I have document, but the right half is just grey - as if it calls for “split vertically”. Changing the percentage of the view only affects the text itself. How can I widen it and enjoy my 20" widescreen again?

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@ Typo: go to Preferences > General > Default Editor Width, and there choose a very large number (as indicated).

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Ah, right, many thanks! I just had to uncheck “Fixed Width”, and everything is fine - which means, like before. :slight_smile:

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I’m finding this behavior a little odd. Especially after unchecking “Fixed Width” and then toggling on/off the Inspector. The text editor widens to fill in the gray space but it seems as if it ignores the width number provided as the Default Size.

It’ll take some getting used to I suppose.

Otherwise no problems with the beta so far. Thanks for giving us access and for all the hard work!

12

Very impressive update! I like the visual changes. Thanks for simplifying the way split views work.

There seems to be a bug with displaying saved web pages. When I click on a web page in the binder, the editor window stays blank (except for a message that says “Loading web archive”). Has anyone else noticed this?

I second this suggestion. I also found it confusing that the icons of empty documents were changed into index card icons after the update. The icons are changed back into “empty document” icons when you delete the “No synopsis” string, but even if the synopsis was filled with text, this should not change the icon of an empty document into an index card icon. (It just seems inconsistent behaviour because documents that contain content do not change their status when you add synopses.)

13

Um. To respond (rather despondently):

Nope. That is presuming too much, I think. Do a Replace All if you want to get rid of them.

This completely baffles me, given that nothing has changed here since 1.02 or 1.03, except for the fact that Fixed Width is now on by default (read the change list, people!). Please refer to the Help file (under Preferences), where this is explained in full, and where it has been for the past two releases.

Given that this is a beta, it would really help if you actually told me which labels you are talking about.

The block insertion point is just a gimmick, but one disabled user brought up a good case for including this because of his vision difficulties. Thus, I don’t really see any need to change this - it serves its purpose for those with difficulties. But it is not the sort of thing you would normally want to use with rich text at all.

Not really, because the pop-up requires different shortcuts for each item. Well, technically it is possible, but more programming. And I’m not sure I really agree with this suggestion. Yes, it’s more shortcuts to learn, but at the same time, you always know which one is project, and which one is document. So when flicking between panes, you can hit the shortcut you require to bring up which one you want without even checking what is currently displayed. If it’s a toggle, I think it’s more likely to be confusing.

Groan. You can’t please everybody can you? :wink: Basically: no. You will find exactly the same issue in every other application that uses a single pixel divider except Apple applications. Apple manage to have a buffer pixel, but goodness knows how, given that the buffer pixel still draws everything beneath it. And have Apple made this API public? Have they heck. Will it be available in Leopard? I was hoping so, but maybe not. So developers have to roll their own solution. This is one of the reasons I clung to the old-style dividers when other apps were going single-pixel. But I finally conceded to the single pixel world as it really does seem that Apple are heading that way. My main concern was that it doesn’t separate the binder from the text enough, but if the binder uses a different colour then I don’t think it’s an issue, and it gains you another 30 pixels of space for your text (including the inspector) - which is significant if you are using an old laptop.

You don’t have a laptop? Buy one!

I don’t think it’s a good idea. Simple Duplicate still duplicates everything in the document - it is only the title that doesn’t change along with the fact that it doesn’t copy children with it.

It’s a beta!!!

Thanks all. I will look into the crashes and bugs (which text fields in Prefs, though?!!!).

Hopefully someone users out there will find that there have been some pretty brilliant features added. Where do all the users that ask and ask for things disappear to when the features they wanted actually get added :unamused:

Yes, it’s my usual post-release despondency.

All the best,
Keith

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Your dedication to your program is amazing.

Just FYI, after you release 1.04 I absolutely forbid you to type a single line of code for at least a month or two. You’re going to wear yourself out!

15

Yep, read the change list. Twice actually and was well aware of the change from 1.02 and 1.03. My main problem is that with fixed width on you get horzizontal scrollbars with the default setting for the text editor if the Inspector is on and you hit zoom the behvior I expect is to enlarge the window so that there are no horizontal scrollbars. Maybe this is explained in the Help. Will go read now.

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Um, that is why it’s called fixed width. As in, it doesn’t change. Just like in any word processor with a page layout view, you will get horizontal scroll bars if the width (which is fixed :wink: ) of the “paper” won’t fit (and of course, if it is zoomed, the width is, obviously, fixed too).

If you have any further issues with fixed width, please post in the Technical Support forum and I will gladly reply to them there. I would like to keep this thread on-topic and related to the beta only. Given that fixed width has been around since 1.02, it does not qualify as a 1.04 beta issue.

All the best,
Keith

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That is what I did, but I’m not sure I understand how this could be presumptuous. You would be replacing the previous null state with the new null state. Rather, the current transfer presumes the average user considered the null state to be important enough to now be a non-null state. In my mind, this is no more presumptuous than when a JavaScript removes the “Enter your search query” filler text from a search field when you click in it.

I must be missing something, or perhaps it is not working the way it is intended to work. These shortcuts do nothing unless I am already in the pane associated with them. I cannot go from Keywords to Project Notes by pressing Ctrl-Cmd-6. I have to press Cmd-6 and then Cmd-Ctrl-6. Having four shortcuts would make more sense if you could do that.

Definitely not! :wink:

I’ve always been in the “book margins” camp, rather than the “newspaper margins” camp, on this one. I don’t mind a tight layout in applications where I only spend a few seconds, and there is a large amount of visual difference between the two splits, but in applications that I stare at for hours, having a strong visual demarkation is important. The thicker dividers end up serving the eye in the way a paper margin does. It reduces eye stress because far-end scanning does not so easily conflict with irrelevant data in the center cone of vision.

Blah blah blah. I’m just not one for the single pixel fad, I guess. Like I said, I’ll get used to it, I don’t terribly mind either way – but I do think the overall look & feel of Scrivener has taken a slight step back in that area. On the other hand, the header bar gradient looks quite nice.

On the topic of interface, but a different aspect:

I think the new Synopsis fill icon conveys information properly, but doesn’t quite fit in with the other icons scattered around the interface, visually speaking. They all use a graphite grey as the base darkness, while the new one uses solid black. Non-filled areas (such as inside the paper in the Notes icon; the hole in the key), are fully transparent, and the new icon has solid white instead. It really stands out, to my eye.

Do go back and read my posts on the brilliance of said features in the threads where they were announced! My position has not changed. The condensed version: Named Snapshots! Annotation fading/labelling! SVN! Woo!

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Oh all right. I’ll change it to do what you suggest. :unamused: I suppose all it will take is deleting all those entries from the binderStrings.xml file…

I think I misunderstood your original post. Re-reading it, I’m still not entirely sure, but I think what you mean is that if you are in the references pane and hit alt-cmd-6, the notes pane will be automatically opened and will switch to Document Notes, for instance. This isn’t really possible without adding menu items to the main menu for each possibility. This is because the alt-cmd-6/7 and ctrl-cmd-6/7 keyboard shortcuts are contained in a pop-up menu that is only available when that pane is open; when the notes pane is not visible, the keyboard shortcuts for the notes pop-up are completely disabled and unavailable, and so cannot do anything (such as switching to notes mode and then selecting). And I cannot intercept the cmd-6 that switches mode and look for an alt key press, either. Or rather, I could, but it would do nothing, because the system would interpret that as an alt-cmd-6 command and therefore do nothing because the button is mapped as cmd-6, not alt-cmd-6. And the button itself cannot have more than one keyboard shortcut that does different things. That would require separate controls - namely, extra menu items in the main menu, as mentioned. Hmm, this is precisely the incredibly minor sort of niggle that I end up spending waaay too many words on. The short answer: no, this is not possible. :slight_smile:

Generally, I agree with you, like I said. But Scrivener is going to start looking outdated if I don’t go the “Apple way”. Honestly, Apple seem to be moving towards a unified interface again, and single-pixel splits are part of that, it would appear. The good news is that I could add a preference for this, provided you don’t mind having thicker splits and the grab resizer, and also having gradient splits like the one used between the editors.

The synopsis fill icon was very kindly created by Antony Johnston. I like it. I may dampen the black to dark grey and make the white transparent to better fit with other icons, though.

Then will everything be okay? :wink:

All the best,
Keith

19

First Console entry:

Scrivener[263] Arse!

Repeated Console entries:

Scrivener[263] *** NSRunLoop ignoring exception ‘*** -redComponent not defined for the NSColor NSCalibratedWhiteColorSpace 0 1; need to first convert colorspace.’ that raised during posting of delayed perform with target 497630 and selector ‘saveDocument:’

Scrivener[263] *** -redComponent not defined for the NSColor NSCalibratedWhiteColorSpace 0 1; need to first convert colorspace.

Red “close” button remains dirty
Close project doesn’t work
Quit application doesn’t work
Annotations are encircled by a grey line and text is not red.

Following a Force Quit:
Annotations text is red and encircled by a red line.
Last Annotation was lost.
Typing new text and making it an annotation re-creates the issue and console log entries.
Converting back to regular text Saves the project and allows me to Quit.

Thanks

Bob

20

Heck, just reading the change/fixed/added list wore me out!

Amazing work, Keith. Thank you.