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ABOUT REV 0144 - 9 August 2008

This is the first default download since release 0135. It represents
several significant changes, so PLEASE READ ALL THE INFO BELOW FOR
REVISIONS 0136 through 0143 if this is the first version you're using
since 0135. We've also tried to update the documentation on
processing.org, however with the number of things that have changed,
some things might be missed.

[ changes ]

+ Updated reference and examples.

+ Unlike release 0135 and earlier, a full JDK (not just a JRE) is
 required. I've added a test to see whether a proper JDK is installed.
 If not, it presents an error message and berates you for not heeding
 the repeated warnings to actually read this document. It also
 permanently disables your privileges for downloading the "expert"
 release of Processing that doesn't include Java.

+ Added loadImageAsync(filename) and loadImageAsync(filename, ext).
 These functions load images on a separate thread so that your
 sketch does not freeze while images load during setup(). While the
 image is loading, its width and height will be 0. If an error
 occurs while loading the image, its width and height will be set
 to -1. You'll know when the image has loaded properly because its
 width and height will be > 0.

 Asynchronous image loading (particularly when downloading from a
 server) drastically improves performance. In my case it was a 2-3x
 speedup when downloading 20 JPEG files that were ~3 MB apiece.

 An example of loading a single image in the background:

 PImage bigImage;

 void setup() {
   bigImage = loadImageAsync("something.jpg");
 }

 void draw() {
   if (bigImage.width == 0) {
     // image is not yet loaded
   } else if (bigImage.width == -1) {
     // this means an error occurred during image loading
   } else {
     // image is ready to go, draw it
     image(bigImage, 0, 0);
   }
 }

 These functions do not yet have proper documentation, and their
 name is very likely to change in a future release before 1.0.
 I'm announcing them because some people will find them useful,
 just keep an eye on revisions.txt for name changes.

+ Fixed a problem where OutOfMemoryErrors (as well as other more
 catastrophic/complicated errors like StackOverflowError) were not
 reported. These are now reported along with additional explanation
 in the editor console.

+ Better error messages for OpenGL quirks.

+ Improve efficiency of directionalLight and pointLight with OpenGL.
 http://processing.org/discourse/yabb_beta/YaBB.cgi?board=SoftwareBugs;action=display;num=1199376364

+ Incorporate changes to better support Andres Colubri's improved
 OpenGL graphics library.

+ Slight modification to name handling in the XML library. This makes
 existing code behave closer to the older XML library found in 0135.
 For those using 0136+, getFullName() has been changed to getName(),
 and getName() to getLocalName().

+ Added indent/outdent feature to the Edit menu. Also updated the
 right-click context menu for the editor to incorporate more of the
 recent additions to the Edit menu.
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=840
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=841

[ bug fixes ]

+ Don't open more than one copy of the Preferences window.
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=830

+ Fixed a problem where bad image data would make image loading fail
 without an error message. The only indication of it breaking was
 that the width and height of the image would be -1. The latter is
 still the case, but an error message is printed to the console.

[ known problems ]

+ "Use textFont() before text" message (see the link for fixes)
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=726

+ fill(), stroke(), strokeWeight(), colorMode(), smooth() and any other
 drawing state set inside setup() sometimes not set once draw() arrives
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=767
 This is related to the previous issue (Bug #726)

+ Slow response on file/sketchbook/examples menus on OS X 10.5.
 This is an Apple bug in Java 1.5 and 1.6 on Mac OS X 10.5
 (but not 10.4) causing these menus to be extremely slow.
 Workarounds described in the bug report:
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=786

+ Intermittent problem where sketches will not start when the Run
 button is pressed some fraction of the time. On a single try,
 it may not work, but subsequent clicks to the Run button will bring
 things back.. So far, this is limited to Mac OS X, but it's
 known to be a threading issue, and is likely to show up elsewhere.
 http://dev.processing.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=852