iShell Release Notes

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new features in iShell 4.5
What was changed in 4.5r7
  • Fixed a bug with Movies and Panorama when the Controllers would disappear during user or switching applications.
  • Fixed bug with QTVR cursor not changing properly on Mac OS X
  • Enhanced Movie and Sound Set Rate to use the latest QuickTime options to set the Rate without changing pitch (no chipmunks)
  • Fixed possible redraw bugs when leaving the application and returning. In some cases elements would not redraw.
  • Custom window improvements and improvements to changing window sytle
  • Standard Window now works properly if a custom window is the first window.
  • Improved HTML and RTF text selection for non ASCII characters.
  • Tell Text now has a Get Hot Text option that will return a paired List of the Hot Text Names and Values
  • Hot Text event now has 2 parameters Hot Text and Hot Link. Where the Hot Link is the actual text value clicked on, and the Hot Text is the hidden or href value.
  • Fixed a repeated error crash with Text elements.
  • Mac OS X Leopard fix for burning discs from the Editor
  • Updated all QuickTime code to use QT 7 functions when QT 7 is available.
  • Table can now save and store List and URL items properly.
  • A handful of minor bug fixes.
What was changed in 4.5r6
  • iShell now supports multiple screens in when the Runtime is in Letterbox mode. If you title needs to span multiple screens you can use letterbox mode for this.
  • Mouse Wheel now works with the scroller element in the Runtime.
  • Movies with the Layered attribute checked now have better performance.
  • Fixed a Field and Text search bug that would cause repeated -12 errors and then a crash.
  • Improved looping of movies on Windows.
  • Fixed some drawing bugs with images in RTF and HTML files. If the images were larger than the element they would draw outside the element.
  • Fixed a bug with Images when Bitmap was unchecked in that they would not display at the proper location.
  • Fixed a bug when copying the default scrollbars when a new project was created on the Mac. This only effected case sensitive file systems.
  • Fixed a bug on windows when movies where layered that would cause them to flash when Run was called.
  • Fixed a bug where the Runtime caused an error when Tell Data None was selected in the Editor.
  • Fixed a crash on Windows with Gizmos that would cause a crash on quit as we tried to release the image from QT and QT was already terminated. ImageLayer showed this crash.
  • Fixed a problem when creating a wrap file for the Load Wrap command.
  • Layered QTVR's now can interact with the mouse.
  • Added Set Node attribute. This uses the Name and not the the Node ID.
  • Get Node Attribute now returns the Name and not the ID
  • Fixed Tell Text and Tell Field Find when searching non-ascii characters
  • Fixed a bug with Custom Windows where we would not draw in the full area when switching window shapes
What was changed in 4.5r5
  • Editor now runs in Mac OS 10.3.9.
  • Workaround to make Flash videos play regardless of user's Quicktime preferences.
  • Improved Sound element's handling of very short sounds.
  • You can now wrap a folder from the Project window.
  • You can now playback a buffered movie from a .wrp file.
  • Images in RTF and Text files now scroll properly.
  • iShell now displays in Millions of colors in the Windows Runtime at Full Screen. There was a bug that would cause Windows to go into Thousands of colors most of the time.
  • When an error occurs on Wrap, the file the error occurs on is reported back to the developer.
  • Fixed a bug with Editable Field Gizmo for custom key filtering.
  • Tell Panorama Swing option now accepts a variable.
  • Fixed a Tell Internet bug that would cause a crash if user browsed before the command was completed.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac where Browse command would fail when a file was downloading from the internet.
  • Response time improvement for starting and stopping movies.
  • Fixed a Gizmo Popup Menu bug that would cause an error when the menu went off the bottom of the document.
What was changed in 4.5r4
  • Fixed a bug on Windows with custom region shapes that caused an out of memory error.
  • Updated the Project window's Quicktime and Burn sections to reflect the new requirements of 4.5.
  • Updated Burn not to require both Mac and Win Quicktime installers.
  • You can now burn even if the QuickTime installers are not found. You now get a caution with OK and Cancel options.
  • Updated Gizmos Editable Field to have “Any” and “Letters” and changed “String” to “Letters & Numbers.”
  • Updated Magic Commands to work with nested variables, and to work with Items in a list.
  • Added a readme about using fonts.
  • Updated Font names for the Default Bitstream Vera font. The name was wrong and we would fall back to Arial or Helvetica.
  • Updated Splash Screen to have license information.
  • Fixed Mac Runtime Menu that showed an accent instead of the ellipse in some cases.
  • Fixed a Program Error that was triggered on closing some projects when quitting.
  • Fixed splash screen bug. Changed .png extension of a custom splash screen to .pic.
  • Fixed an image load problem with some RTF files generated by MS Word.
  • Fixed a text conversion problem that forced RTF text files to display as Japanese characters.
  • iShell will now compile on a case sensitive file system on Mac OS X.
  • Updated many of the Macintosh dialog boxes to be more Mac OS X savvy.
  • Fixed a font installer issue on Windows.
new features in iShell 4.0


iShell 4.0 has new features that allow you to publish and deliver your iShell title with ease, allowing you to wrap all your media and documents into one file for distribution while providing the functionality to burn a cross-platform CD, without additional CD burning software.
  • Burn function
  • Wrap function
  • Addition of new Project Window

Wrap Notes

  • Wrap files by the same name as the project file are loaded at the launch of the application.
  • The extension for a wrap file is .wrp.
  • Wrap does not work in the Editor. It is only used in the Runtime.
  • Only files that are seen in the file browser are wrapped. If the file is not shown in the file browser it is not wrapped.
  • To exclude a file from the wrap, right click on the item in the project window file browser and select "No Wrap".
  • Files that you use with Launch URL or used by any other external program cannot be wrapped. Exclude these files from the wrap.
  • Movies and sounds require extra care when wrapping. In general items used in movie elements work best.
  • Some sound formats play back incorrectly in the Sound element when wrapped. To be safe use the movie element to wrap all sound files.
  • Movies that cannot be exported from QT Pro cannot be wrapped. This is a requirement of QT and cannot be avoided. If you need to use one of these movies, exclude it from the wrap.

Burn Notes

  • You must be running Mac OS X 10.2 or later or Windows XP or later.
  • You must have a system supported writeable drive. On Mac OS X a drive that works with Toast does not count. It must work with "iTunes".
  • Any items located in the "Burn Resources" folder will be added to the final CD. You should only added extra items here. NEVER place media or document files in this folder. Place only items such as Read Me's, QT Installers, or 3rd party modules here.
  • Auto Start only works for the Windows Runtime. And only if the end user's machine supports this.
  • QT Installers must be placed in the "QuickTime Installers" folder located in the "Burn Resources" folder. The names must match the names set in the Launcher settings of the project window.
  • The project window has some burn settings that can be changed.
  • "Include QT" check box looks for the QT installers and copies these to the CD.
  • You may need to increase the memory allocation for Mac OS 9. The default is 32k. You can change the memory allocation in OS X by selecting the OS 9 application and choosing Get Info, where there is a place to change the memory requirements. If you are burning from Windows, it's not a problem because you can't burn an OS 9 app.
What was changed in 4.0r10
  • Fixed a bug with the Launcher on Windows 2000 in that it would cause an error preventing the Launcher from opening and launching the project.
  • The Runtime now works properly with XML. There was a Runtime only bug that did not allow you to work with local XML files, only remote HTTP XML files.
  • And a few other small fixes.
What was changed in 4.0r9
  • On Windows after the QuickTime 7 install, iShell would not launch. This is now fixed.
  • On Windows there was a problem displaying a long global list in the project window, this is fixed.
  • RTF files no longer show up as movies. This only happened with QuickTime 7 installed.
  • Tell Data Command would cause a Runtime error if the None option was selected.
  • Report Runtime errors better. The dialog box no longer shows up on quit behind the main window..
  • On the Mac a custom window would draw a white background at startup. This is now fixed.
  • Special characters in the runtime path would prevent the windows runtime from Launching. This is now fixed.
What was changed in 4.0r8
  • Wrap is now sudo case-insenstive. If a path name is in the ASCII range, standard Roman alphabet, then this path does not have to be case sensitive. 'A' will match 'a'. This is not the case for high-ASCII or Latin characters. Ü will not match ü.
  • Check Project was broken. This is now fixed.
  • Fixed a crash that could happen when there were many files wrapped. 5,000 or more.
  • Accessing wrapped files is now faster.
  • Improved display of non-roman characters in HTML and Fields.
  • Fields can now accept a UTF-8 text files with the Switch Command.
  • Improved tab support on Windows in RTF document.
  • If a wrap archive is not supported by the runtime, this is reported properly.
  • Added support in the editor to support .pdf and .exe files.
  • Improved support for opening project files from dialogs, and the file browser.
  • Improved Full Screen mode on Windows. We do not reset the monitor as often now.
  • Fixed problems with QuickTime 7 on Windows.
  • Improved support for Tables of other character sets.
  • Fixed Table Column bug that could crash iShell.
  • Added Greek encodings for HTML. Note - Mac OS X does not support Greek charactet set in iShell.
  • Fixed a crash when saving XML files. In some cases, we would crashed when encoding small strings.
  • libkey on Mac OS X now converts all string scripts properly to UTF-8.
What was changed in 4.0r7
  • This release is Tiger Mac OS X 10.4 compatible.
  • Fixes a bug with Effect Lite Dissolve and Blinds in some runtime Windows.
  • Custom Windows now work better on all Mac OS X platforms. Specific fixes for 10.2 drag problem and general mouse tracking issues.
  • Duplicate List with Targets now duplicates Targets properly.
  • Fixed a bug with wrapping and display of RTF and HTML files. Line breaks and odd spacing should now be solved.
  • Fixed a potential crash with some HTML files. Please verify your files change styles as expect in this release.
What was changed in 4.0r6
  • Table Column Auto Select Click works as expected.
  • Table Column drawing is faster.
  • Help documents are updated.
  • ImageLayer 1.0.9 demo is included in the installer.
  • Effects Lite Dissolve and Blinds now work.
  • Complex projects loading many files and large amounys of code could show a large memory leak and would require many times more memory than necessary. Thid is resolved.
  • Project Burn options have been updated to let you select the QuickTime installers via a dialog box.
  • There is now a button to take you to Apple's website to get the current QuickTime installers.
  • Error -2147286788 when burning from windows should now be resolved.
  • The Project Tab icons on Windows now show the proper deslected state.
  • When launching a PDF or external file with the Launch URL command the application launched would not become the top application and iShell would return in front of it. This was more common on Windows XP SP2. Please let us know if you still see this.
  • Switching a Movie into an empty URL no longer autoruns. It only autoruns if the autorun attribute is set.
  • Table Column Auto Select no longer deselects when moving off the the cell.
  • When a project is set to the Full Screen option on Windows it now properly resizes back to the original size on quit.
  • Streaming movies now autorun properly.
  • On Windows the screen would flicker when selecting chapter tracks from the QT installer. This does not happen any longer. The previous problem was only in the Runtime.
  • Tiled Images drew very slow. This was most noticable in a scroller. This is now fixed.
  • Effects placed over text would draw a few pixels off. This is now fixed.
  • URL indicators on Sound and Table elements now seem to work properly.
  • Tell Internet Post had an unintentional limit of 1024 characters. This is now removed.
  • Setting a variable to another list did not create a new list. Changing the value in one list would change it in the other as well. This is now resolved.
  • Set Attribute Margin of a Field no longer crashes.
  • The system sound volume is no longer adjusted during runtime or during the test. This odd option was removed.
  • In the Help menu, the wording Members was changed to Support.
  • Buffered Movies now run properly from a wrap archive.
  • Editable fields in the Editors Outline window did not display properly with non-ascii characters. This is now fixed umlauts and accented characters now should look proper.
  • Set Tween command now allows the use of properties.
  • Some minor things I am sure we missed :).
What was fixed in 4.0r5
  • Wrap files created with a movie in 4.0r4 would crash the runtime. Do not use 4.0r4 and wrap together.
  • 4.0r4 broke variables in the Tell Data command, and in some of the Kromo commands. This is fixed.
What was fixed in 4.0r4
  • Dual processor Macs now work properly with burning.
  • The Runtime window now works properly with all Set Window commands. You can change to and from one window type to another on both platforms.
  • Runtime Standard windows now resize properly and adjust elements properly based on the Window relative position option.
  • On Windows the standard window now has the menu bar in the window and not floating at the top. The menu bar at the top is only an option for custom windows.
  • Files that are wrapped require case sensitive URLs. The editor now displays a yellow dot when a URL does not match with the proper case.
  • Mac OS 9 Runtime has the default memory increased to 32mb.
  • You can now burn a CD on windows and have this run under Mac OS 10.2.8.
  • The integrated Help files and reference guide have some modest updates.
  • Editor Windows now show the project name and selected tab in the title of each window.
  • The Windows editor now behaves more similar to other windows applications. The default view is a full screen grey background and windows minimize to the task bar.
  • Added some changes to the wrap file to try and help movies load faster. You must create a new wrap the file for this to have an effect.
  • Reordered the Project window buttons. Now it is Check, Wrap, Burn.
  • Fixed some random occuring wrap and burn crashes. If you had a crash in the past this should now not happen.
  • You do not need to close and open the project file before burning. This is now fixed.
  • Fixed a bug with a Table Column were an error could happen, if the table had no rows and the mouse entered the region the element.
  • Improved image drawing with QuickTime. Faster drawing and better support on Windows side.
  • Fixed a crash with the Table. The crash occured when a command was executed on an empty table.
  • On Table Cell Enter and Leave were not being sent in some cases. This is now updated and works proper.
  • Duplicate Command is improved to handle void names and regular names properly in a list, and to properly name the new target so the values are stored and can be logged.
  • On Windows the right mouse button no longer triggers a Mouse Event. This was inconsistent between the editor and the runtime.
  • The Tween command and a few others can now accept a Property for the value passed to the command.
  • Files that are disk cached. Now have the read-only flag removed on Windows. This only occured when cacheing from a locked disc.
  • Document window would draw the Outline view when the default saved view was the Timeline. This is fixed.
  • When clicking the New Document button in the project window, this now brings up the Contextual dialog instead of the New File dialog.
  • Fixed a draw bug on with the Project window on Windows were the bottom pixels where always drawn grey.
What was fixed in 4.0r3
  • Mac OS 9 License code is fixed.
  • Installers are updated on both Macintosh and Windows.
  • QTVR's should now wrap properly.
  • Fixed a bug in the Table Column when a row was empty and the mouse entered the row.
  • Transparent Kind of the Image element was broken on Windows with some Image formats. This is now updated.
  • Fixed a documentation bug with My First Project.
What was fixed in 4.0r2
  • If you use the ImageLayer plug-in you must update this to 1.0.8.
  • Windows 98 playback issues are resolved.
  • Image Printing is fixed.  Images where printing the wrong dimensions.
  • Error Reporting for Wrap and Burn is improved.
  • Progress Dialogs now draw better on Mac OS X.
  • Dual processor machines now return a message that you can't burn with this machine.  A fix is coming in the future.
  • Image Save with the PNG option is now working.
  • New icons of applications and commands.
  • Launcher on Windows now closes QuickTime properly before launching the QT installer.
  • Launcher works properly when the Cancel button is hit on Windows.
  • Launcher works properly when the QT installation is cancelled on Windows.
  • Burn Resources "QuickTime Installers" folder name problem is fixed.
  • Fix in Table commands when using a variable for column values.
  • Improvements for compatibility with QT 6.5.
  • New icons of applications and commands.
  • Mac network code is now much faster.
View old release notes and history.