-*-Help-*-

Release Notes - Alphatk

                                            version: 8.4
                                            created: 04/12/1998 {22:45:38 PM} 
                                        last update: 05/24/2006 {12:43:55 PM}

	  	Table Of Contents

"# About Alphatk"
"# Supported Platforms"

"# Known Keyboard Issues"
"# Known Mac OS X Limitations"
"# Changes between Major Releases"
"#   Changes between 8.4 and 8.3"
"#   Changes between 8.2 and 8.3"
"#   Changes between 8.1 and 8.2"
"#   Changes between 8.0 and 8.1"
"#   Changes between 7.3 and 8.0"

"# Registration"
"# License and Disclaimer"

<<floatNamedMarks>>


	  	About Alphatk

We are pleased to announce this release of Alphatk.

Alphatk is a powerful text editor that has been designed for working with 
a variety of different source files, including LaTeX, HTML, C++, Tcl, and 
many other programming languages.

For more information and other download options please visit Alphatk's home 
page, located at

<http://www.purl.org/net/alphatk>

or check out the "AlphaTcl Wiki", a collaboratively edited web site at

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wiki/>.

New development versions are released frequently, so please check for updates
if you are experiencing problems.

This file contains information about any known issues with this release, as
well as significant "# Changes between Major Releases".  Many references are
made below to automatically installed Help files -- if you are not reading
this document in Alphatk, you can always review it again after launching the
application by selecting the "Help > Release Notes - Alphatk" menu item.

Once Alphatk has been installed, please see the "Readme" file for additional
information about some of the Alphatk's many features, and how to obtain more
help about using the application.  

Alphatk shares a suite of Tcl script files (collectively known as "AlphaTcl")
with the Macintosh-native application named "Alpha", and and many of its
improvements are undertaken by unpaid volunteers.  Note that throughout the
documentation, the term "Alpha" also refers to "Alphatk" unless specified
otherwise.


	  	 Supported Platforms

Alphatk.exe - executable runs on any Win 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP system
Alphatk.dmg - executable runs on Mac OS X 10.2 or newer
Alphatk.kit - starkit runs on any platform with TclKit 8.4.2 or newer 
			  (TclKit is a separate download).

In addition, one can also use a pure tcl script-based version of Alphatk,
which is supported on any platform on which Tk 8.4 or newer runs (if you wish
to use older versions of Tcl/Tk, please try Alphatk 8.2).  This means it
should run smoothly on any Windows, Unix or MacOS system!  Alphatk is
currently known to run on:

alphatk.tar.gz/alphatk.zip non-executable distributions:

	Windows NT 4.0sp3,sp5,sp6, with any 8.4.x
	Windows 2000sp1/2 with any Tcl 8.4.x
	Windows XP with Tcl 8.4.x
	Solaris running X-windows, with Tcl/Tk 8.4
	RedHat Linux with Tcl/Tk 8.4.x
	Mac OS X with Tk on Aqua 8.4.x
	Mac OS X with Tcl/Tk 8.4.x and DarwinX

We assume it will also run under many more platforms, but this may not have
been tested.  Please do report what other platforms you've got it running on,
and they'll be added to the list above.  It is also known to work well with
development versions of Tcl/Tk 8.5.


	====================================================================


	  	Known Keyboard Issues

Alphatk's documentation is written from a cross-platform perspective.  In
these documents the 'Command' key is equivalent to 'Alt' on Windows/Unix, and
the 'Option' key is equivalent to 'Meta', when available.  There is also
confusion because on some MacOS keyboards, Apple prints 'alt' in small letters
on the 'Option' key.  Please do not consider that key to be the Alt key.  We
will hopefully clean up this confusion in a future release.

Macs have Command, Shift, Option and Control keys.  Windows machines seem
only to have Shift, Control and Alt keys (the 'Fn' and 'Windows' keys are
not accessible as modifiers from Tk, I believe).  This means on windows
there is a 'Meta' modifier in some menu items which cannot be used.  If you
run Linux on a PC, the 'Windows' key becomes the Meta key, so you can then
use it.  Perhaps there is some way (or some utility) which can translate
that key when running Windows too?  Any suggestions welcome.


	  	Known Mac OS X Limitations

The "Known Bugs" Help file contains lists of all known problems that have
been submitted to the "Alpha-Bugzilla" database.  These include

Bug# 765    Tear off menus becoming black when mouse over - 8.2fc6

Tear-off menus, also known as "floating palettes", often turn black when you
pass the mouse over them.  In general, tear-off menus shouldn't be used until
this bug has been properly addressed.

Bug# 1242   Alphatk's [url::execute] requires open browser

Sometimes it is necessary to first open your web browser before Alphatk is
able to send it a url.

Bug# 1202   More OSX (10.3) Keyboard Shortcut conflicts

Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) introduced a number of new OS shortcuts that
interfere with key-combinations that Alphatk has used for years, including
Command-Option-D ("Text > Uncomment Line").  Please see the Help file
"Keyboard Shortcuts # MacOSX 10.3 notes" for more information about possible
solutions.  This will hopefully be addressed in the next release.

	--------------------------------------------------------------------

	  	Changes between Major Releases

The lists below are certainly not comprehensive, but outline the major changes
in Alphatk's behavior and User Interface between public releases -- in
general, they do not include references to any previously known bugs which
have been fixed.  In addition to these changes, there have of course been many
internal fixes and enhancements that improve the software "behind the scenes".
The "Changes - Alphatk" and "Changes - AlphaTcl" files contain more specific
and technical information.

	--------------------------------------------------------------------

	  	 	Changes between 8.4 and 8.3

In development, no scheduled release date.

(1) There has been a major update regarding how "Helper Applications" are
assigned.  Rather than defining an application "signature" for a preference
named something like "Browser Sig", there are a number of different
"services" defined which can make use of particular applications, such as a
service to view urls.

Preferences: HelperApplications

The change here allows command-line programs to be specified in addition to
"normal" applications.

(2) While internal "core" changes to the Alphatk binary are rarely mentioned
here, one of them is likely to have a large impact on users who have modified
AlphaTcl source files through the package: smarterSource mechanism.  The core
command "select" has been renamed to be the command: selectText .  If you
have "prefs.tcl" files or "Smarter Source" files that use the old command,
these should now be updated.

This hyperlink: <<procs::findAllProcUsage $PREFS [list "select"]>> will open
a new browser window listing all possible current uses of [select] that
should be updated; press Return on any item in the browser window to open the
source file, and replace "select" with "selectText" when necessary.

Click here: << procs::findAllProcUsage $smarterSourceFolder [list "select"]>>
if you have "Smarter Source" files; again, this will open a new browser
window listing all possible current uses of [select] that should be updated.

The only occurrences of "select" that need to be changed are those that 
attempt to select text in a window.  Such usages will look something like

	select $pos1 $pos2

or

	select -w $w $pos1 $pos2

If you're not sure what should be updated, send a note to one of the mailing
lists described in the "Readme" file.

(For a full explanation of why this change was necessary, see bug# 1979.)

(3) The "Help > Report A Bug" routines have been updated to make it easier
for users to report problems with Alphatk and the AlphaTcl suite of files.
The initial <<reportABug>> dialog includes options for starting a "stack
trace" for any defined procedure as well as attaching a local file to a
previously reported bug that is logged in the Alpha-Bugzilla database.

The "Known Bugs" and "Debugging Help" files have also been updated; the
latter contains more information about what to do (and what not to do) if you
encounter problems with this distribution.

(4) Alphatk now makes use of the canonical System "Support" folders.  Users
will be able to modify Alphatk's default behavior by adding files to the
Support Folder in the "user" domain.

<<file::showInFinder $SUPPORT(user)>>

System administrators can over-ride some of Alphatk's default behavior by 
adding files to the Support Folder in the "local" domain.

<<file::showInFinder $SUPPORT(local)>>

Several AlphaTcl packages make use of these Support Folders, and will explain
more in their documentation.

(5) The package: specialCharacters is now always turned on; it creates an
"Edit > Special Characters" menu allowing you to insert non-ascii characters
into the active window.

(6) The package: speech creates an "Edit > Speech" menu that allows text to
be spoken using Mac OS X speech facilities.  (Mac OS X only.)

(7) The "Recent Files Menu" and "Recent Files Multi Menu" packages have been
combined into a single package: recentFiles , which is always turned on and
creates a "File > Open Recent" submenu.

(8) When the new package: autoWrapComments is turned on, text that is typed
in in a commented line will be automatically wrapped even if the current
"Wrap" setting is "None".  This feature was previously enabled by the
package: autoContinueComment .

(9) Alphatk's "Mail Menu" has been updated, and now supports the viewing of
incoming messages and the sending of composed messages without the use of
any "helper" application (such as Eudora.)  See the "Mail Help" file for
more information.

(10) "Fortran" mode has always provided support for fixed-format Fortran
files.  A new "Fortran90" mode now supports free-format Fortran files as
well.  See the "Fortran Mode Help" for more information.

(11) Alphatk's "Utils > Tcl Shell" window is now in "Tcl" mode, which supports
keyword colorizing.  This is one example of a subtle change that most users
won't notice -- several packages which made use of "Shel" mode for shell
windows have been updated to use "minor-mode" technology.  If you're really
interested in this change, see the "Extending Alpha" help file.

(12) A new global "EE" menu (for Extract and Evaluate) menu has been added,
which can be added to the global menu bar.

Preferences: Menus

This menu helps with development of .dtx documents, see the package: eeMenu
help window for more information.

(13) The package: copyRing now inserts an "Edit > Swap Clipboard" menu command
that trades the current selection for the Clipboard contents.

(14) Several new features have been added, including

    package: identities       (personalize your AlphaTcl installation)
    package: licenseTemplates (supports package: documentProjects templates)
    package: openDocument     (open files using a variety of methods)

(15) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: calculator
    package: documentProjects
    package: Fort
    package: mailMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(16) Some AlphaTcl packages have been classified as obsolete and removed from
the standard distribution:

	Experimental Tcl Shell
	Recent Files Menu
	Recent Files Multi Menu

Their archived source files can still be found in the AlphaTcl CVS "Attic".


	  	 	Changes between 8.2 and 8.3

Released November, 2004

(1) Mouse scroll-wheels now work properly in both windows and dialogs.

(2) Macro Recording has been improved, all items selected from menus as well
as functions invoked by keyboard shortcuts are now included in macro scripts.

(3) Preliminary support for "Tabbed Windows".  You can select the menu item
"File > Use Tabbed Window" to explore this.

(4) Increased support for "split" windows.

(5) Pressing Return in a large entry field in a dialog will not trigger the
default button.

(6) The keyboard shortcut for the "Search > Replace And Find Again" menu
command is now Alt-J rather than Alt-H. This is due to a conflict with a Mac
OS X system shortcut for "Hide Application" that is active in all open
applications.  The global Appearance preference named "Don't Use Command H"
has also been removed.

(7) The feature named "Electric Return" has been removed.  Most editing modes
now have a preference named "Indent On Return" which toggles the automatic
indentation of text associated with pressing the Return key.

Preferences: Mode

Pressing Control-Return still creates a new line without any indentation.

Similarly, the "Electric Braces" and "Electric Semi" features are no longer
available "globally".  For those modes in which such functionality might be
useful, you can turn on/off the mode preferences of the same name.

(8) The feature named "Electric Tab" has been removed due to its confusing
implementation.  Use the "Config > Special Keys" dialog to map any functions
that use the Tab key, with or without modifiers.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(9) Alphatk's Help menu has been re-organized, and now includes items for

    "More Modes Help"
    "More Menus Help"
    "More Features Help"

Selecting these will open a list-pick dialog with options for all installed
AlphaTcl packages.

Additional new Help menu items available include

    "Search Help"
    "Modes Menus & Features"
    "Search e-mail archives"
    "Make a suggestion"

Suggestions are logged as Requests For Enhancement (RFEs) in Alpha-Bugzilla,
and listed in the "Known Bugs" help file.

The "WWW faq" item has been removed, since it has not been actively
maintained.  The AlphaTcl Wiki and the mailing list archives are the best
spots to get questions answered until we have a dedicated site.

The "Changes - Alpha" and "Changes - AlphaTcl" files are no longer included
in the main Help menu, since they list the technical changes that won't
interest most users.  They are still available via hyperlinks in this file,
as well as in the AlphaDeveloper menu.

(10) The default "Word Wrap" preference for each mode has been exposed, and
can be changed by selecting "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences".  This
preference determines the initial "Wrap" setting for all windows which are
opened in that mode.

Preferences: Mode

The "Wrap" pop-up menu in the status bar now changes the setting only for
the active window.  When the package: autoContinueComment is turned on,
text that is typed in in a commented line will be automatically wrapped
even if the current "Wrap" setting is "None".

Preferences: Electrics

Pressing Control-Return still creates a new line without any automatic
indentation or insertion of comment characters.

(11) The "File Format" pop-up menu in the status bar allows you to change
the font, font-size, tab-size, and indentation amount of the active window.
In Mac OS X, you can also change its TYPE and CREATOR codes.  (Most files
that you edit are of type "TEXT", and Alphatk's creator code is "AlTk".)

(12) The package: versionControl is now "always-on" and the "lock/pencil" icon
in each window's sidebar is always a pop-up menu.  Version control (VC)
systems keep track of multiple versions of a source file.  They provide a
more powerful alternative to keeping backup files.  Examples of VC systems
supported by Alphatk include

    package: vcPerforce
    package: vcCvs
    package: vcVoodoo and 
    package: vcLocal

The pop-up menu provides access to various VC options as well as information
for the fileset (if any) to which the active window belongs.  You must
normally specify a "VC tool" to use for the fileset containing the active
window.  If a 'CVS' directory is present in the folder containing the active
window and no other VC system has been established for that file, the VC menu
will automatically assume that you're using CVS as your VC tool.

(13) A new "DiffBOA" (Diff Background Only Application) is distributed with
the Mac OS X version of Alphatk in the "Tools" directory for use as a "Diff"
helper.  See the "Diff Help" file for more information.

(14) Some of Alphatk's menubar menus (File through OpenWindows) have been
re-organized.  In particular, "Indent" is now in the "Edit" menu in the
"Shift Right/Left" section, and all of the "All Tabs To Spaces" etc.  items
are in a new "Edit > Tab Conversions" submenu.  "Edit > Indent" replaces
the previous "Indent Line/Indent Selection" commands, and indents the
entire selection (if any) and not just the line containing the cursor.

The "OpenWins > Iconify" menu item has been renamed "Minimize Window."

Some of Alphatk's global keyboard shortcuts have also been adjusted.

    "Edit > Indent"                 is Control-I
    "Search > Find In Next File"    is Command-Control-F    (was Command-M)
    "OpenWins > Minimize Window"    is Command-M            (was Control-I)

(15) The new "Utils > Compare > Diff Prefs" menu item can be used to adjust 
any Diff preferences/flags before performing window etc. comparisons.

(16) Additional command-line support, enabled via the package: alphaServer .
See the "Alpha Manual # The Command Line" Help window for more information.

(17) The "Config > Mode Prefs > Features" dialog now only lists those items
which are actually useful for the current mode.  Several features that used to
appear in these dialogs can now only be turned on/off "globally", using the
"Config > Global Setup > Features" menu item.

Preferences: Features
Preferences: Mode-Features

(18) Added XHTML support to HTML mode.

(19) In TeX mode, "Shift-Command-R" will invoke a new smooth interface to
teTeX, with support for most dvi/pdf viewers, and featuring error browsing,
synchronisation, and auto-next-action.  See the "teTeX Help" file for
further description and instructions.  This web page

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wikipages/typesetting-files>

provides additional information about typesetting LaTeX documents using
Alphatk, and the various preferences that need to be properly set.

(20) Previous versions included "CodeWarrior Menu" and "CodeWarrior2 Menu".
These have now been combined into a single package, and updated for MacOSX.
For more information on how it works see the "CodeWarrior Menu Help" window.

(21) The "File Utils" feature has been updated and renamed, for more
information see the help window for the package: windowUtilities .  This
update also created a new package: fileCompression , which allows you to
create .sit .zip, and .tar archives from within Alphatk.

(22) The "Cut And Copy Using Pin" preference has been incorporated into a new
package: clipboardPreferences .  The "Smart Cut Paste" preference previously
defined by the package: copyRing has been renamed "Cut Paste Whitespace" and
moved into this new package as well, along with a new "Select After Paste"
preference.  This "Clipboard Preferences" package must be turned on in the
preferences: Features dialog to make these options available.  Once it is
turned on, select "Config > Preferences > Interface Preferences > Text" to
change their values.

Preferences: Text

The package: copyRing has also received a major update, and now offers a new
"Edit > Clip Recorder" menu which maintains a Clipboard History.

(23) The "Switch To Menu" package has been deemed obsolete and removed from
the standard distribution.  The new package: favoritesMenu allows you to
specify Files, Folders, and Applications to be opened by Alpha.

Preferences: Features

(24) The "Vcs" package has been renamed "Version Control".  When this package
is turned on, the "V" icon in the upper right corner of every window will
serve as a "Version Control" pop-up menu.  See the "Version Control Help"
window for more information.

Preferences: Features

(25) The packages "Tkcon" and "Remote Tcl Shell" have been incorporated into
the Tcl menu, and are no longer features that need to be turned on.  The menu
item "Utils > Toolserver Shell" has been removed, and is now only available
in the "MPW Menu".  The menu item "Utils > Shell" is now "Utils > Tcl Shell".

(26) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: bat  (for Windows ".bat" batch files)
    package: InSh (for "INteractive SHells")
    package: Mp   (for Metapost files)
    package: Plc  (for CodeWarrior's "Property List Compiler" language)
    package: Ruby (for "Ruby" object-oriented programming files)
    package: Vlog (for "Verilog HDL" files)
    package: VB   (for Microsoft "Visual Basic" files)
    package: dot  (for files in the dot language (for automatic graph design))


See their respective Help windows for more information.

(27) Several new features have been added, including

    package: alphaServer (command-line support for opening files in Alphatk)
    package: clipboardPreferences (additional preferences for cut/copy/paste)
    package: favoritesMenu (open favorite files/folders/apps from Alphatk)
    package: fileCompression (for archiving windows/files/folders)
    package: latexColors (support for additional TeX mode coloring)
    package: windowUtilities (various handy window tools, formerly "fileUtils")
    package: windowZoom  (keyboard shortcuts for manipulating active windows)
    package: xserv       (internal system code for external app interactions)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(28) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: alphaDeveloperMenu
    package: colorMenu
    package: copyRing
    package: HTML
    package: M2
    package: macros
    package: newDocument
    package: sourceforgeMenu
    package: Tcl
    package: Terminal

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(29) Several AlphaTcl packages are now turned on by default (and can never be
turned off), including

"Electric" packages :

    package: electricCompletions
    package: electricExpansions

Both of the "Electric" features are now enabled by assigning keyboard
shortcuts to their respective functions using "Config > Special Keys", and
they are disabled by assigning "No Binding" to them.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

"Fileset Information" packages :

    package: filesetEncodingPreference
    package: filesetFtpMirror
    package: filesetIndentationPreference
    package: filesetTabPreference

All of the "Fileset Information" packages add preferences that can be turned
on when you <<editAFileset>> and click on the "Attach/Detach Info" button.

"Tk Pref" packages :

    package: tkdiffControl
    package: tkhtmlViewer

These packages simply provide additional options for preferences that already
exist in AlphaTcl.

"Version Control" packages :

    package: versionControl
    package: vcCvs
    package: vcLocal
    package: vcPerforce
    package: vcVoodoo

The "Version Control" support packages add <<editAFileset>> options to use
a particular VC tool when editing a window contained in a fileset.

Other "always-on" packages include

    package: alphaServer
    package: ODBEditor

(30) Several AlphaTcl packages have been classified as obsolete and removed
from the standard distribution, including

	Electric Bindings
	Http Handler
	Remote Tcl Shell
	Switch To Menu
	Think Menu
	Tkcon
	Version Control Menu

Their archived source files can still be found in the AlphaTcl CVS "Attic".

	--------------------------------------------------------------------

	  	 	Changes between 8.1 and 8.2

Released January, 2003

(1) The package: rememberWindows can remember the mode and tab size of windows
for which they are manually adjusted.  This can be turned off in the
preferences dialog for "Remember Windows".

Preferences: rememberWindows

(2) A new Appearance preference named "Don't Use Command H" is turned on by
default in Mac OS X. If set, the "Search > Replace & Find Again" menu command
has the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-H. This is in response to the presence
of a Mac OS X "Command-H" shortcut that is active in all applications.

(3) A new "User Packages" folder can be used for user-added AlphaTcl packages.
Use the "Config > Preferences > Edit User Packages" menu command to open this
folder in the OS Finder.  Any new files placed in this folder will prompt
Alphatk to rebuild all necessary Cache files upon the next restart.

(4) A new function named "Typewriter Tab" has been added to the list of
options in the "Config > Special Keys" dialog.  This function will add a space
string extending to the next "tab" column.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(5) The package: wwwMenu can now render remote urls.  Several "Open Url" 
functions will pay attention to the "Open Url Using" WWW preference to 
optionally fetch and render the url in Alphatk.

Preferences: Helpers-viewURL
Preferences: Helpers-viewHTML

(6) The package: contextualMenu allows you to specify which items should be
included in Contextual Menus, including mode-specific CM modules.  The CM is
invoked pressing the right button on your mouse.  The "Context" can include
the surrounding word, selection, or information regarding the current window.

(7) The new "Help > AlphaTcl Home Page" menu item opens the "AlphaTcl Wiki"
page in your local browser.  This site will contain notices of all future
updates to Alpha, Alphatk, and AlphaTcl.

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wiki/>

This site is collaboratively edited.

(8) The "Electric Colon" pref has been renamed "Special Indent For Case Label"
since there was no true "electric" behavior associated with the ":" key.

(9) Alphatk's "TeX" mode has undergone a major update, which might disable
some user-defined modifications.  If you are having any troubles, please ask
about how to update your code in one of the mailing lists described in the
"Readme".

(10) References to "the Mark" have been changed to "the Window Pin".  The Pin
is a temporary position marker found in every file, and based on similar
functionality in Emacs.  Various editing actions reset the Pin automatically,
see the "marks Help" window for more information.

(11) A new "Cut And Copy Using Pin" Text preference determines if Cut/Copy
operations use the "Window Pin" when there is no selection.  This is turned
off by default.

Preferences: Text

(12) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: C#   (for Microsoft's "C Sharp" language)
    package: xml  (for "eXtended Markup Language" files)
    package: Wiki (for editing local/remote "Wiki" web sites)

See its Help window for more information.

(13) Several new features have been added, including

    package: addressBook        (maintain e-mail address lists within Alphatk)
    package: autoSaveOnSwitch   (auto-save windows when switching from Alphatk)
    package: bibDelimited       (convert to/from .bib and tab delimited files)
    package: dictionary         (access to locally installed dictionaries)
    package: changeLogHelper    (edit ChangeLog windows)
    package: embrace            (keyboard shortcuts to add chars surrounding word)
    package: odbEditor          ("Edit in Alphatk" support for Interarchy, etc.)
    package: projectBuilderMenu (for Apple's "Project Builder IDE")
    package: sourceforgeMenu    (access to SourceForge projects and cvs files)
    package: tcl/TkExtendedC    (support for Tcl/Tk extended C files)
    package: terminal           (terminal and log file support for tclsh)
    package: wwwDictionary      (open on-line dictionaries for selected word)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(14) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: bibConvert
    package: HTML
    package: internetConfigMenu
    package: latexSizes
    package: notes
    package: Tcl
    package: TeX
    package: wikiMenu
    package: wwwMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

	--------------------------------------------------------------------

	  	 	Changes between 8.0 and 8.1

Released February, 2002

(1) The default key binding for "Electric Completion" has been changed to
Control-Tab.  It was previously Command-Tab.  The change was made to avoid the
conflict with Mac OS's program switcher.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(2) If the "Vcs" package is turned on the "V" icon in the upper right corner
of every window can now serve as a "Version Control" pop-up menu.  See the
"Version Control Help" window for more information.

Preferences: Features

(3) Improved syntax coloring for all modes.

(4) Balloon Help is enabled in Alphatk.

(5) Improved interactive search, which allows Delete to remove one character
from the search (and move to the previous match).  Note that a side-effect of
this is that clicking the mouse no-longer aborts the search.  There are
various new keyboard shortcuts available as well (e.g. Control-I switches the
case-sensitivity of the search, Control-W extends search to next word,
"Control-S Control-S" continues the last search.)  For more information, see
the "incrementalSearch Help" window.

(6) A new "Comments Continuation" Text preference has been added, which is
used to determine when comments should be continued when Return is pressed.
Options are based on the presence of the comment character at the start of the
line, as the first non-whitespace character, or anywhere.  Many modes also
define a preference with the same name for mode-specific behavior.

Preferences: Text
Preferences: Mode

(7) A new "Twiddle Adjusts" preference determines which characters are 
affected by the "Edit > Twiddle" menu command.

Preferences: Text

(8) A new "Help > Report A Bug" menu item will guide you through a series of
dialogs to report bugs in the Alpha-Bugzilla database.  Bug reports can now be
filed via e-mail.

(9) The package: wwwMenu can now renders local .html files much better and
faster.  Several internal "Open HTML File" functions will pay attention to the
"Open Html Using" WWW preference to optionally render the file in Alphatk.

Preferences: Helpers-viewHTML

(10) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: clan (for for "Computerized Language Analysis" files)
    package: M2   (for "Modula-2" files)
    package: mapl (for "Maple" files)
    package: Objc (for "Objective C" files)
    package: PHP  (for ".php" files)
    package: sh   (for unix shell script files)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(11) Several new features have been added, including

    package: macMenu           (manipulate your OS from within Alphatk)
    package: recentDirs        (access to recently accessed folders)
    package: rememberWindows   (last position/selection used when opening)
    package: reportABug        (create Alpha-Bugzilla bug reports in Alphatk)
    package: specialCharacters (insert diacritics and other symbols)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(12) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: bibToHtml
    package: ftpMenu
    package: newDocument
    package: Perl
    package: PS
    package: Scrp
    package: wwwMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(13) All versions of AlphaTcl source files are archived in the "AlphaTcl CVS",
AlphaTcl developers/users can obtain the latest, cutting-edge version of
AlphaTcl by updating all of their source files to those with the "HEAD" tag.

	--------------------------------------------------------------------

	  	 	Changes between 7.3 and 8.0

Released May, 2001

(1) A new "Examples Help" file contains hyperlinks to open example files in a 
specified mode to examine its syntax coloring and other various features.

(2) The "Eudora Menu" has been renamed "Mail Menu", and has preliminary
support for mail programs other than Eudora.

(3) Some Help files are now available in .html or .pdf formats.  The new
"Config > Preferences > System Preferences > Help" dialog pane allows you to
specify your viewing preferences.

Preferences: Help

(4) Command-Return will now always indent the newly created line, while
Control-Return will insert a new line without any indentation.  In some modes,
this behavior might be over-ridden with other functions.

(5) A new "Config > Global Setup > Create New Mode" menu command will prompt
you to add a new file for mode-specific syntax coloring, etc.

(6) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: Lisp (for Lisp files, used in Emacs packages)
    package: man  (for unix-style reference manual pages)
    package: Mf   (for Metafont files)
    package: S    (for S+/R statistical files)
    package: Stta (for Stata statistical files)
    package: SPSS (for SPSS/PSPP statistical files)
    package: SAS  (for SAS statistical files)
    package: TIP  (for Tcl Improvement Proposal requests)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(7) Several new features have been added, including

    package: alphaDeveloperMenu (a collection of AlphaTcl development tools)
    package: elecCorrections    (automatic correction of typos)
    package: filtersMenu        (advanced Search And Replace functions) 
    package: manipCols          (advanced tab-delimited columnizing functions)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(8) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: Scm
    package: Setx
    package: voodooMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(9) See the "Changes - AlphaTcl # 7.3" and "Changes - Alphatk" Help files for
all other prior changes.


	====================================================================


	  	Registration

Alphatk is shareware, please register with the author Vince Darley.

<http://order.kagi.com/?1GU>

Note that Alpha and Alphatk require two separate licenses.


	  	License and Disclaimer


The core Alphatk implementation (all files in the AlphaCore directory and its
subdirectories) is Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Vincent Darley.  All rights are
reserved to this code, with the exception of those few pieces which carry
other explicit license agreements.  That code cannot be copied, or distributed
in full or in part, in any form, EXCEPT as part of a complete Alphatk
distribution, carrying this exact license.

Alphatk may be distributed, without charge, provided it is distributed as a
complete distribution (archived in whatever way is convenient).  A complete
distribution is the entire Alphatk folder and all of its (recursive) contents.

The use of Alphatk is governed by purchased licenses.  The standard single
license may be used either as 'per human' or as 'per computer' but not both.
For example, a single user can install Alphatk on multiple personal machines
for their own personal use, or it can be installed on one machine for use by
multiple users.  Therefore, concurrent use of Alphatk by more than one user
(presumably on more than one machine) requires the purchase of additional
licenses.  "Site" and "Worldwide" licenses provide for unlimited concurrent
users at either a single location or multiple locations, respectively.

The following terms apply to all files in the core Alphatk software unless
explicitly disclaimed in individual files.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR DISTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR
DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, ITS DOCUMENTATION, OR ANY DERIVATIVES THEREOF, EVEN
IF THE AUTHORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

THE AUTHORS AND DISTRIBUTORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS
IS" BASIS, AND THE AUTHORS AND DISTRIBUTORS HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE
MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES, ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.

GOVERNMENT USE: If you are acquiring this software on behalf of the U.S.
government, the Government shall have only "Restricted Rights" in the software
and related documentation as defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulations
(FARs) in Clause 52.227.19 (c) (2).  If you are acquiring the software on
behalf of the Department of Defense, the software shall be classified as
"Commercial Computer Software" and the Government shall have only "Restricted
Rights" as defined in Clause 252.227-7013 (c) (1) of DFARs.  Notwithstanding
the foregoing, the authors grant the U.S. Government and others acting in its
behalf permission to use and distribute the software in accordance with the
terms specified in this license.

This document has been placed in the public domain.

