Category: news

Just a few new items this time. The first one is the most important. On April 27th, jqWidgets released their version 3.8.0. Unfortunately, this introduced a namespace conflict with one of the other libraries AppStudio uses. We went back and forth with them about the best way to fix this: the fix in the this release.

What’s new in 5.0.4:

1. jqWidgets: Library conflict caused by jqWidgets 3.8 fixed.
2. Samples: new PhoneGapFileSystem sample.
3. Languages: locale files updated.
4. Native Build Status: now shows a wait cursor.

AppStudio 5.0.3 is ready. It has some fixes and some enhancements.

1. Deploy: Don’t create manifest file if no caching.
2. Deploy: PhoneGap CLI remembers to create config.xml
3. Samples: new VisualEffects sample.
4. Samples: several updates.
5. Translator: Problems with Functions fixed.

AppStudio 5.0.2 is ready. It fixes a number of issues which appeared in the new release.

1. Check for Update: Set up text for translation.
2. Controls: Allow multiple entries for ChangeForm where needed.
3. Controls: jqxEditor control now has grab handles in Design Screen for resizing.
4. Controls: Panel – Fix how it appears on Design Screen. Remove unused properties.
5. Controls: jqxTabs control now appears properly.
6. Deploy: ‘no cache’ option added to Manifest File property.
7. Forms: Improved reset() function. Thanks, Buck!
8. Internal: Went back to wxPython 2.9.5 to solve problem with Spanish locale.
9. Make EXE: correct delete file command in make script.
10. Make EXE: Force a save before making exe.
11. Samples: Update and rename ModalForm.
12. Translation: Fix some tab characters.

#6 can be useful if you have an app which will only be used if the device is online. It disables caching, so there is no update message if you update the app on the server.

AppStudio 5.0.1 is ready. It fixes a number of issues which appeared in the new release.

1. Code Window: Format code problem fixed.
2. Deploy: Adding/deleting files to Project Explorer forces full Deploy.
3. Deploy: Don’t change name of file when deploying.
4. Deploy: Fix formatting error in manifest.
5. Deploy: Warn users of spaces in file names.
6. Forms: .reset() function is back.
7. IDE: Design Screen now checks for Internet Explorer 11.
8. IDE: pyExecJS not needed.
9. Make exe: All needed folders are now included.
10. Run menu: Replace “Make Desktop App” with ‘Make exe’.

Upgrading to AppStudio 5.0 is straightforward. Here’s the information you need.

Ordering the Upgrade

• Upgrades are free for anyone who bought AppStudio 4 (or the upgrade to it) after January 1, 2015.
• If you bought before Jan 1, the upgrade costs $49.95.
• You can download the demo to give it a try.
• You can buy the full version in the demo using PayPal or use our order form.
• After you buy, restart the IDE and you will have the full licensed version. No serial number needs to be entered.

Some technical stuff you should know

• Keep a backup of your critical projects. (Always!)
• As promised when AppStudio 4 was released, jQuery Mobile 1.3 and iWebKit have been removed. It might be easier to convert any of these that you have left before upgrading to AppStudio 5.
• Windows XP is no longer supported. We had to do this to add IE 11 support, but it is a good idea anyway. Microsoft is no longer issuing security patches for Windows XP, so consider it to be wide open to hackers.
• Read about the rest of the breaking changes.

After several months of hard work, AppStudio 5.0 is ready. It has over 200 new features, enhancements and fixes.

Here are some of the major new features:

• Use Responsive Design for apps that adapt smoothly to different screen sizes.
• Make Windows Executable (exe) apps.
• Ten new controls, including Container, Collapsible, Editor, Password Input and Window.
• Use ChangeForm to show forms.
• Pop Modal Forms over your app.
• Internet Explorer 11 support.

But there is much more than major new features. Our motivation for many of the minor changes in the release was to make everyday things easier to do. You’ll find many places where we simplified things, got rid of unnecessary steps and provided straightforward ways to get stuff done.

Complete details here: http://wiki.nsbasic.com/Version_5

Special thanks to the beta testers who patiently help us get it right!

Stay tuned to this blog. We’ll add posts about many of the new features in the coming days.

AppStudio 4.2.9 is ready. This release has a number of improvements and a new control. It’s called Calculation, and lets you display the result of a constantly updating calculation, without doing any coding.

1. Controls: new Calculation control
2. Deploy: FireFox support improved.
3. Deploy: Recommended size of iOS icon increased to 180×180 for iOS8.
4. General: copyright changed to 2015.
5. Runtime: new Number function converts strings to numbers.
6. Samples: New Calculation sample.
7. Samples: Several tidied up and improved
8. Translator: a=”//*” now translates properly

AppStudio 4.2.8 is ready. This release has a number of fixes and a new control. It’s called Generic, and lets you build your own control based on HTML tags.

1. Language: Improved Format function
2. Controls: Add missing images to jqmListBox
3. Controls: Label and Button: clean up generated HTML
4. Controls: New Generic control
5. Controls: Bottom now works on jQW controls
6. Controls: Chrome warning for blank bounds value fixed.
7. Runtime: Fix registration of Education Version in KSA.
8. Runtime: jQuery updated to 2.1.3.
9. Samples: New Generic sample.

AppStudio 4.2.7 is ready. This release has a number of fixes. If you use PhoneGap Build, you will need to update to it to stay current with the Build API.

1. Button: add ‘.text’ to autocomplete
2. Controls: jqWidget CheckBox check_black image added.
3. Demo: Add nag screen.
4. Deploy: Use ProjectID instead of Filename.
5. PhoneGap: Start using new API key for Build.
6. Runtime: make function return value a local var
7. Select: Fix margins when mini=true
8. Translator: fix a.add(“a”,”a a”)

All high school students to learn how to program mobile devices.

NS BASIC Corporation announced today that it has signed an agreement with Tatweer Education Holding Company, part of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education. NS BASIC will supply its NSB/AppStudio Education Edition for use in teaching high school students how to program.

The agreement allows Tatweer to install AppStudio in all high schools in Saudi Arabia. There are some 30,000 schools in the country.

Saudi High School students are required to take two terms in programming. The first term covers basic programming. The second term, using AppStudio, teaches programming for mobile devices. Approximately 450,000 students will be learning mobile device programming per year: over the 4 year life of the agreement, over 1.8 million students will learn how to program.

“Students learn best when they’re doing what they love.” said George Henne, President of NS BASIC Corporation. “Making their own apps for smartphones will engage them and, hopefully, hook them on programming.”

Training is already underway, with the first class scheduled to complete in January 2015. The Ministry developed its own curriculum in Arabic for the course. The AppStudio IDE was enhanced to provide Arabic language and right-to-left text support.