formsPlayer 1.5 status update

We're still working hard on formsPlayer 1.5, and to help the process we've been reorganising how we do some of our internal development. The most significant change has been to complete the migration of our source control system to Subversion. We've been using Subversion for a while now for sample code, but it's only recently that we've been able to move across all of the many modules and projects that make up formsPlayer. Now that we have, we're in a much better position to manage the creation of distinct branches, which in turn makes it easier to create different versions at different times, for different categories of users. Below we explain the different types of versions that we'll be creating.

Branches for new features

For those who want--or need--to be testing the newest formsPlayer features, we'll be providing branches that preview new functionality. These builds are almost certainly going to contain bugs as the new features settle down, and they would only be recommended to anyone who specifically needs to look at the particular new feature being highlighted. But as a way of getting a heads-up on some of the exciting functionality that we have in the pipeline, these builds will certainly be important for some developers.

The latest versions of 1.5.5 fall into this category, since they contain a radical change to the way that the XForms select and select1 controls are implemented. However, since the features are so new, there are still a number of formatting and other refinements that need to be made before it is ready for proper testing.

A branch for bug-fixes

For developers who don't need to be using the 'up-to-the-minute' features, we'll always have a branch which contains the latest bug-fixes. Anyone who wants to do some testing of their application--and at the same time help us to find bugs--would normally focus their attention on this version.

At the moment the latest version in this category is 1.5.4, the latest build being 1.5.4.1005.

Priorities

Although we may produce further updates to 1.5.5 over the next period, the priority is to create a version of 1.5.4 that is completely stable before shifting focus.