In this week’s snapshot I’ve added spacers (dynamic and fixed). They work in TabBar and toolbars. Fixed spacer is just a space (12 pixels width). Dynamic spacer resizes automatically to fill rest of the toolbar. You can use dynamic spacers to pin buttons in right side of the toolbar. Also you can center items/tabs by adding dynamic spacers in both sides.

I also added an option to close CE when last tab is closed. And an option to open folders with single click.

Change Log

• Added [Dynamic Spacer] and [Fixed Spacer] items to button Customizer.
• Added "Exit program when last tab is closed" option to Options->Tabs.
• Added "Single click browsing" to Options->Display->Fileview.
• Enabled Drag and Drop in File Search.
• Tab scroll arrows are now same color as button text.
• Search result’s info tip now shows item path.
• Changed Column Settings popup and dialog to support themes and languages.
• Fixed translation issues
• Fixed crash when breadcrumb’s width was resized to zero.
• Updated French translation

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1318 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

Please use the forum to report bugs or feature requests

Finally I managed to finish the tab bar task. I still don’t know what caused those crashes but I found a way to go around that bug, unfortunately that “fix” may slow down session load time a bit. In this build I’ve added a way to scroll tabs if there are too many to fit the screen. The way the scrolling is done might not be perfect and I probably will have to do some changes to it, but for now it will do. It’s also now possible to add buttons to tab bar. I added Right Align separator to the customizer but at the moment it only works properly in tab bar.

I also added an option to close tabs by double clicking over them and fixed few bugs. Oh, and dragging files to program bookmarks now launches them.

***EDIT***
Looks like the tab AutoFit doesn’t work properly in this build. I’ll fix it for next snapshot.

Change Log

• Added "Right Align" item to buttons Customizer
• Added scroll arrows to TabBar
• Added customization support to TabBar
• Added "Close tab on double click" option
• Added Czech translation.
• Dragging files to bookmarks of programs will now launch them.
• Enabled Draw Selection in bookmark tree
• Fixed crashing when opening sessions.
• Fixed header clipping bug in List view mode
• Fixed scrollbar size issue when adding bookmarks.
• Fixed "Session.xml" crash on exit

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1308 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

Well this is annoying, still no snapshot this week. I’ve been fighting with the tab bar for 2 weeks now. This week mainly went in a bug hunt. After I moved the tab bar code from a prototype to CE, I noticed that there is a severe bug causing crashes. I still don’t know exactly what the problem is but yesterday I finally managed to narrow it down in to a single function. I really hope that the problem is indeed in that function (even though it means quite a lot of extra work). The nature of the bug is such that it’s pretty much impossible to track down by normal debugging means.

Here’s how you should be able to reproduce the crash in the previous CE snapshot:

1. Add a button in to the TabBar using Customizer.
2. Open a Session that has more that 2 tabs in it.
3. Select some tab.
4. Close CE
5. –> Crash

Feeling much better now. The pain started to ease on Monday and it’s pretty much gone now. I only got back to work yesterday so there isn’t too much progress, few bug fix and some small things added. I made the breadcrumb in address bar work similar to Windows Explorer (click on background switches to edit mode). Also it’s now possible to re-order sessions and hotkeys by dragging them.

Sorry about the delay on some of the translation updates. They came when I was taking the break and got buried in my email archives.

Change Log

• Added "Change order by dragging" to Session Manager
• Added "Change order by dragging" to Hotkey list.
• Added "Reset to default" button for hotkeys.
• Added “Switch to Next Tab”, “Switch to Previous Tab” and “Set focus to address bar” actions.
• Added option for InfoTips.
• Now clicking the background of Breadcrumb in AddressBar switches to editing mode.
• Fixed bug in toolbar positioning.
• Fixed Breadcrumb popup bug.
• Fixed "Delete dialog goes behind CE" bug in XP.
• Fixed column remembering bugs.
• Added Ukrainian translation
• Updated Spanish translation
• Updated Turkish translation
• Updated Russian translation
• Updated Chinese Simplified translation

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1290 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

Well this week wasn’t too great. I’ve had pretty nasty abdominal pain the whole week, couldn’t do almost any work. Not sure what’s causing the pain but I don’t think it’s anything serious (no other symptoms). I suspect that there’s some issue in the diaphragm, probably caused by the walk I took on last Sunday, the pain started after that.

I tried to do some work but sitting in the office chair is one of the most painful positions so there wasn’t much progress. I did however managed to add a list of closed tabs by sitting in a couch . Also I added buttons for it in the Customizer and in the File menu.

Change Log

• Added list of closed tabs
• Added icon to "Undo Tab Close"
• Added "UndoCount" setting to Advanced->Tabs options.
• Fixed bug in Filters when using ThreadedEnumeration.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1282 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

I started the development of MultiView. I’ve got a working prototype ready for the base framework. There’s still quite a lot of work left but things are moving nicely. Due to the fact that CE wasn’t designed to have  multiple views, the MultiView solution will be little hackish. I’m not happy with that but it’ll do for now.

In this weeks snapshot I’ve done some work with tabs. I added tab selection history so that when you close a tab, previously selected tab will become active. Also I added “Undo Close Tab”. It still needs some work (undo does not restore all settings, icon missing) but the basic functionality is done. You can disable this feature from the Advanced options (Advanced->Tabs->ClosedTabHistory). There are now also options to “Open new tab next to current” and “Auto fit tabs”.

Change Log

• Added Selected Tab History
• Added “Open new tab next to current” option to tabs.
• Added “Auto fit tabs” setting to Options Dialog.
• Added “Undo Close Tab”
• Fixed crash in Info Bar.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1279 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

This week I added global hotkey support. Global hotkeys are system wide shortcuts so they work even if CE is in the background or minimized to tray. I also fixed some bugs and added “New Shortcut” entry in the “New” menu. I noticed that in Windows 7 there is no “New” item in the right click background menu. My debugging skills are a bit rusty so I couldn’t find out what’s wrong with it.

Not sure what I’ll be working with next week. I think I should go through the forum and bug tracker, and create a list of things to do for 1.0 version.

Change Log

• Added Global Hotkey support
• Added "New Shortcut" entry to "New" menu
• Updated German translation.
• Fixed Filter and QuickView Panels not working after startup.
• Fixed "InvalidFileName" error in file search
• Fixed bugs in "New" Menu
• Fixed translation bugs

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1273 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

Seems it was a long break this time, last snapshot was released exactly one year ago. The break was definitely needed and helpful. For the first time in over 15 years I’m heading in completely different direction. There’s still a long way to go but I’m looking forward for that journey.

It’s been a long and cold winter here in Finland, tons of snow also. I’ve mostly spent my time by making music and playing with my new camera (Canon 550D).

I haven’t done much coding until lately when I got back in the office. I have however done some research and thinking for CE 2.0. It’s still a big blur and I’m not sure what direction I should take with it. I was planning on building my own cross-platform UI library for it, but because it’s a huge job I’m not sure it’s the best way to go. For the time being, I only work about 4 hours per weekday.

Anyway, for the past two weeks I’ve worked with CE. I’m polishing everything so I can finally release an official version (CE 1.0). There are tons of people still using the 0.90 version which is awfully buggy. In this week’s snapshot I’ve recreated the Customizer and added Hotkeys page in the Options Dialog. There’s also a new theme called Chrome (based on Google Chrome browser).

Oh, I almost forgot the Tray Icon which is now available through Options dialog.

Change Log

• Added Hotkey customization to Options Dialog.
• Added Tray Icon.
• Added new skin (Chrome).
• Added customization options for toolbars.
• Added "Auto Save History" checkbox to Sessions menu.
• "Auto Save History" is now disabled by default.
• Manage Sessions dialog uses themes now.
• Removed color highlighting from encrypted and compressed files/folders.
• Fixed toolbar positioning bugs.

CubicExplorer 0.91.0.1265 (SVN Snapshot)
Installer (2.3MB)
Zip (2.6MB)

Long time since last update. Not much has happened, I’ve been resting most of the time. No work at all which is good I guess. Instead I’ve been focusing on filming and making music. I build a new studio for that purpose. I also bought a new computer to handle HD video editing. That had a ripple effect to my office which now has more powerful work machine (the old studio heart, powered by Windows 7).

Even though I haven’t done any coding, I have done some research for CE 2.0. I was planning to start working with it few weeks ago but we’ve had a nasty heat wave here in Finland for the past 3 weeks, so I need to wait until it passes. Even though I love sauna, I can’t stand hot weather. Can’t really do anything intelligent in temperature like this (30-35°C). Once the office stops boiling, I’ll start to work with CE 2.0. I’m bored out of my gourd and look forward to start work again.

So far it looks like I’ll be using FreePascal compiler for CE 2.0. I was thinking about C/C++ compilers but didn’t see any valid reason to use them. CE 2.0 will be targeted to Windows, Linux and Mac. I’m not yet sure about the license scheme though. CubicExplorer will be open source but not sure about CubicCore which is the technology CE will be build upon.

Anyway, at the moment I’m glued to a fan and hoping that the weather will cool down. Here’s a little video of what I’ve been filming:

It’s been quite interesting few weeks. I finally found a core reason for the problems I’ve been having my entire life. It’s called Asperger syndrome (wikipedia). I’ve been going through my past by looking at it from Asperger’s point of view, it finally makes some sense. The diagnose is not official yet, but I’ll probably go to neurological tests to make it so.

Personally I don’t think Asperger’s is a sickness/condition you need/can cure. It’s just a different way of looking at the world. Our brains just work differently than most peoples, which is not a bad thing necessarily. For example, I have a photographic memory in some situations. On the other hand, sometimes my memory works very poorly.

My next mission is to learn how to cope with the negative effects of this condition. For example, the breaks I’ve been having with CubicExplorer’s development are directly caused by those negative effects. The goal is to maximize all positive effects and minimize negative. Positive effects include logical thinking, pin point accurate concentration, looking at problems from different perspectives, good memory…etc. Those abilities fit perfectly into programming, that’s why I like coding so much. And that’s why I’m very exited and positive about the future.

What happens next and what about CubicExplorer?

I finally got a temporary disability pension (lasting to the end of 2010). It’s quite difficult thing to get here in Finland (it took 2 years and 4 doctor statements for me). This means I can finally focus on solving these issues without pressure. It also means I have to take distance to this site and CE. You can think of it like rebooting your brain.

However, when I’m not feeling any pressure, I can be very productive and I’ll most likely will work with CE because I’m very exited about it’s future. I’ve started polishing CE 1.0 and hope to release it before summer. Also there will be snapshot releases as soon as I add new bug fixes or features. However, it’s also possible that there isn’t much progress on CE during this year, at the moment it’s impossible to say how things move.

Another change is these “weekly” notes I’m writing. I have to stop them for a while also and write only if there is something to report. However, I might start writing to the blog section more about non-CE related stuff, not sure yet.

Anyway, the way I see it, this break is a very positive thing for CE. I’m looking forward to keep building CE and to make it a program it deserves to be.

Have a great spring everyone! Snow is melting and floods are subsiding here in Finland .