Category: news

The use of “nsbasic” in our web site’s name has become more and more inaccurate. Most of our new users aren’t here because they program in BASIC. They’re here to get an easy to use development tool which uses modern technologies and JavaScript.

When new domains ending in “.dev” were announced, we jumped on it. The website is now http://www.appstudio.dev, reflecting what the product is today.

Nothing else has changed. It’s the same team, the same product and support.

We still support BASIC. It continues to be an important language, both for people just starting out with programming and for people who learned to program years ago. It’s always been a comfortable language that lets you get things done. We continue to respect it.

The name changes are all aliased – there’s no need to change your bookmarks. The old links will continue to work as the always have.

We’re pleased to announce that 7.3.0 has been released.

The major new feature is integration with Nodejs and Electron. With these, you can now build standalone apps for Windows, MacOS and Linux.

Node integration also opens up the npm directory of modules which can be included in your app – over 750,000 of them at last count!

Watch the blog – there is more information coming.

Here’s what is new and fixed in the new release:

1. AppStudio can now build native apps for Windows, MacOS and Linux.
2. Node and npm can now be used. Over 750,000 modules available.
3. Electron support added.
4. BS: Input icon can now be clicked on.
5. BS3: Updated to Bootstrap 3.4.1
6. BS4: Switch.text can be used to get and set text of switch.
7. BS4: Updated to Bootstrap 4.3.1
8. Docs: Using Node and Electron to build Desktop Apps
9. Project Explorer: Allow files in project root to be dragged into Project Explorer.
10. Run: Make Windows Executable (EXE) has been removed.
11. Run: Package for Distribution using Electron has been added.
12. Runtime: FastClick has been turned off.
13. Samples: BS3 Hamburger: Label was hiding Hamburger.
14. Samples: execPython removed.
15. Samples: New ElectronWeather sample.
16. Windows: installer rebuilt using pyInstaller 3.4

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.2.2 has been released.

It includes new features and some bug fixes.

1. Controls: New CSSGrid and CSSGridItem controls.
2. Documentation: Wiki updated with new controls.
3. Documentation: Bootstrap 3 vs Bootstrap 4 doc improved.
4. BS4: New link to preview icons.
5. BS4 Card: new imageWidth property added.
6. BS4 Switch: bug fixed – no size option.
7. Installer: Windows signing certificate updated.
8. Samples: New CSSGrid sample.
9. Samples: Volt Storage sample – fix to password check.
10. Icons: Update link to point to https://www.nsbasic.com/app/OpenIconic.html

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.2.1 has been released.

It includes new features and some bug fixes.

1. BS4: New Toast control
2. BS4: Select: No longer creates empty values for item
3. BS4: Updated Bootswatch themes
4. BS4: Switch: New Bootstrap native Switch replaces of Titatoggle’s Fliptoggle.
5. Code Windows: Markdown (.md) files can now be edited.
6. Deploy: loadType is now implemented.
7. Deploy: new loadType: noload
8. IDE: eslint dialog is reused (so there are never two visible at once)
9. IDE: Project CSS is now marked up as CSS.
10. IDE: Rare project corruption issues fixed – now it self fixes.
11. IDE: Update copyright to 2019
12. Project Explorer: Files can now be dragged and dropped. Will be deployed to the project’s root directory.
13. Project Explorer: Folders can now be dragged and dropped. Will be deployed to the project’s root directory.
14. Samples: Volt users – bug fixed in password check.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’ve been working on a way to get projects using old frameworks up to date. Bootstrap 3 has been updated to Bootstrap 4. jQuery Mobile hasn’t been updated in 5 years.

The Framework Converter is an open source project which hopes to help with this. It replaces all the controls it can in your project with the latest version from Bootstrap 4. The new controls have the same names, positions, text and other values as the original control.

You will still need to work on positioning and styling so the result looks good. Especially in the case of jQM, the web has evolved. Fonts are bigger, there is more white space and layouts tend to be less busy. The Framework Converter does the heavy lifting – you’ll still have work to do.

Here’s how to use it:
https://wiki.nsbasic.com/Framework_Converter.

We’ve also put the project in a Github repo called framework-converter, if you want to look at the source code and see how it works.

There’s some interesting technology under the hood. The project is done in AppStudio, using Node.js with npm, a huge library of addons; and Electron, a technology for packaging JavaScript into a desktop app.

Give it a try – you’re certain to have questions. Feel free to post them to our web board. If you find issues, post them to the framework-converter issue tracker on GitHub.

We’re pleased to announce that 7.2.0 has been released.

This release has a couple of breaking changes. Please read the section “Important!” below!

1. BS4: i18n support added to iconFeedback descriptions.
2. BS4: Select: text property added.
3. BS4: Select: value property changed to contain an index value.
4. Common: Container (and other controls) no longer get error on .addChild()
5. Installer: MacOS installer is now fully code signed.
6. Installer: MacOS now built using PyInstaller 3.4.
7. jqW: jqWidgets 7.0 is supported.
8. Runtime: Delay on starting app in local browser in MacOS Mojave fixed.

Important!

• Please note that the changes to BS4 Select will break code in some cases. See Wiki.
• The new version of AppStudio may hang the first or second time it is run. Just restart it. This is due to the new code signing requirements of MacOS Mojave.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.1.0 has been released.

It has some new features as well as usability enhancements. It also fixes issues which have been reported.

1. BS4: New themes: lux, materia, minty, pulse and solar.
2. BS4: Upgraded to Bootstrap 4.2.1.
3. BS4 Dropdown: Outline button option added.
4. BS4 Dropdown: Icon was not showing in some cases.
5. BS4 Hamburger: Outline button option added.
6. BS4 Jumbotron: Outline button option added.
7. BS4 Label: Appearance defaults to ‘primary’.
8. BS4 Listgroup: Appearances adds primary, secondary, light and dark options.
9. BS4 Listgroup: Icons property added.
10. BS4 Select: fontsize of select option is now same as title.
11. BS4 Select: Icon was not appearing.
12. BS4 Textarea: fontsize of body is now same as title.
13. BS4: You can now specify the text which appears when hovering over an icon.
14. IDE: Copyright changed to 2019.
15. jqW: jqxGrid – problem with column property fixed.
16. Samples: Flexbox sample improved.
17. Samples: Labels sample renamed to Label.
18. Volt: Upload limit increased from 50 megs. Keeping it under that size is strongly recommended.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.0.4 has been released.

It has some new features as well as usability enhancements. It also fixes issues people have reported.

1. Controls: BS4 Label has new LabelStyle and borderRadius options.
2. Controls: DataTable now includes extensions, including buttons, responsive, scroller and fixedHeader.
3. Controls: Flexbox properties added the Container, Header, GridRow and GridCol.
4. Controls: New FlexBox control makes layout easier.
5. PhoneGap Status: Closes instead of hiding behind AppStudio when file is selected.
6. Properties: Problem with calc (used in bounds) and ‘vh’ fixed.
7. Samples: New BS4 Labels sample.
8. Samples: New FlexBox sample.
9. Samples: Validation sample updated.
10. Translator: Const is now translated properly from BASIC.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.0.3 has been released.

It has some new features as well as usability enhancements. It also fixes issues people have reported.

1. Deploy: Babel option transpiles code for compatibility with other browsers.
2. Properties: New project properties to control Babel.
3. Deploy: Problem importing .bas files fixed.
4. Preferences: New preference for auto save on run. Defaults to true.
5. PhoneGap Status: Can no longer be started more than once.
6. MakeEXE: Default AppStudio icon used if none supplied.
7. eslint: Icon added to top of Code Window for JavaScript.
8. eslint: Always bring the window to the front when invoked.
9. eslint: Close window if new code in Code Window.
10. Properties: Implementation of enableAppScrolling updated for Android Chrome.
11. BS: form.reset() now works on Bootstrap (3 and 4) controls.
12. BS4 Label: Appearance property fixed.
13. BS4 Buttons have a new toggleControl option to hide/show another control.
14. BS4 Modal: Values can now be set using HTML, not just text.
15. jqxPhotoGallery: Editor window now appears for editing photos property.
16. jqxScheduler: Add a couple of missing icons.
17. jqxScheduler: Sample improved.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”

We’re pleased to announce that 7.0.2 has been released.

It fixes a number of issues people have reported with the new release. Updated translations for many of the languages we support are included.

1. Controls: jqxGrid: Problem with ‘ready’ property fixed.
2. Deploy: Problem with Obfuscation fixed.
3. Design Screen: MsgBox errors no longer display.
4. Design Screen: Remove “Settings” from Add Control list.
5. IDE: Export of external files fixed.
6. Language files updated.
7. Samples: BS4 Input fixed.
8. Samples: Leaflet updated to use the latest libraries.
9. Samples: StockQuote removed. Yahoo deprecated the API which it used.

The easiest way to get the update is on the Help menu – “Check for Updates…”