Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Lipikar Version 3.0.0 RC1

A new version of Lipikar 3.0.0, fashionably called as RC1 (Release Candidate 1) has been released. Following are the major changes from the last Beta-3 version:
  • FontBrowser (scaled-down) module added back.

  • The Setup program is now a little over 2 MB - an improvement of about 75% from the last one.

  • The main window cannot be resized freely any more. Window width is now dependent on the FontMap size. Window height can be adjusted by grabbing the horizontal bar between TextBoard and FontMap and pulling it up or down.
    This was needed as the window resize function of old Beta-3 was fairly calculation-intensive and was reported to have brought a P-II 350 MHz (Win98) machine on its knees!

  • Views area now has its own toolbar - appropriate buttons have been moved there from the main toolbar.

  • License has been changed from GNU-GPL to Creative Commons ND 2.5 to avoid the continued controversy about inclusion of ActiveX controls in GPL binaries. Not to worry, it is still a freeware!

This will probably be the last test release until the full release with integrated help is completed.


Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Full Version only after Help File completion

I have decided to release Lipikar 3.0.0 with its long overdue offline integrated help system. As the entire Lipikar development team comprises of I, me and myself - there is little chance that it will see it's daylight before the end of this year. In the meantime, there might be a Beta-4 release with some of the Beta-3 creases straightened out on user feedbacks.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Disruption in Lipikar Development

Sorry folks, it seems I have to postpone the release of Lipikar version 3.0.0 for a while. I have been diagnosed with RSI (Repetative Stress Injury) of the right hand and have been prescribed rest. I am trying my best to kill my doctor and happily get back to coding again as soon as possible...

Monday, May 8, 2006

Lipikar Version 3.0.0 Beta-3

Beta-3 of Lipikar version 3.0.0 released with the following major changes from Beta-2:
  • The "FontBrowser" module was removed - it's contribution towards the core functionalities of Lipikar could not justify it's high overheads. As a result of this removal, the executable size has reduced by about 75% and startup time has reduced significantly.

  • While starting, instead of conforming the window size exactly to the FontMap, Lipikar can now revert to the last window size if the user had resized it.

  • The installer is now capable of detecting and uninstalling any existing installation of Lipikar. Henceforth, Lipikar will not be installed if an existing installation is detected until it is uninstalled.

Friday, May 5, 2006

Lipikar Version 3.0.0 Beta-2

Lipikar version 3.0.0 Beta-2 released today. "Beta-1" was never publicly released - it was provided to Mr. D K. Chowdhury on 29th April 2006 for private testing only. So, as far as public versions are concerned, it's a major jump from the last public release of version 2.1.3. Major improvements are:
  • The "FontMap" (previously known as "Character Map" but rechristened to avoid confusion) gets it's own toolbar.

  • A unique feature called "Custom FontMap" introduced. Instead of operating with a mundane looking FontMap which looks same for all the fonts, you can create your own FontMap layout for a particular font by choosing only the characters you need from that font and arranging them on the 8x28 grid by whichever way you like. Take a look at the two screenshots (normal, custom) to get an idea.

  • Along with create, you can save, load and edit the custom FontMaps as well. These files are only 2 KB in size and can be easily ported by floppies or mail attachments.

  • "Options" was changed to "Default Options". Any change in settings there will affect only Lipikar's default or startup options from now on - it will not change any of the current settings.

  • The "FontBrowser" module gets it's own tab in "Default Options". Among other settings, you can now change the sample text ("The Quick Brown Fox...") too.


Thursday, April 20, 2006

New Host for Lipikar

The file hosting was shifted from GooglePages to Simtel.net today. Affected users notified accordingly. The e-mail to Google has not yet been responded to.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Incomplete download from GooglePages

After one user complained, it was found that the Lipikar setup file was not being downloaded completely from GooglePages site. After downloading the first 1.5 MB, the download was showing as "complete" - go figure!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Lipikar Version 2.1.3

Lipikar version 2.1.3 released today.