After working some months with version 2.2.1 I saw some bugs which
should be fixed. Especially the CAL converter did not work as expected
in every case. Now I tried to use a regular expression comparison to
enforce a correct detection of real CAL blocks in IL source code.

I have some more small improvements in mind and a new release will
come during next month. Just ask me if you need a preliminarily release
with the current fixes ask me.

I know, I said we will see a new version until end of October. Now we’ve
mid of December. I’m sorry but I had a joyous occasion in private.
And next I’ve found some problems in using the beediff source for the file
differencing function. I think I have to rewrite a lot of routines to hold the
promise „never create any registry entries“ and to make the differencing
really work.

So, for the moment I’ve canceled the file differencing function and will only
have a look to the function block call conversion functionality and the new
Mitsubishi Melsoft support.
Hopefully I’m able to release version 2.2.0 during the next week or better
before the new year is there...

The release v2.1.2 is nearly two and a half month old and during the last
time PLCEdit got some changes according to the announced ToDo list.
But the work would take a few month in addition if we want to leave the
list unchanged. The current feature improvements have reached a status
which allows a speedy release. So, what are the selected features?

- file comparision and differencing utility:
  a dialog window which shows two POUs side by side with in
  color highlighted differences; implemented as context menu
  of each page; comes with optional file open dialog
- function block call conversion:
  enhanced POU compatibility by converting function block calls
  into the appointed IDE call model; can be used as setting for
  the file save routines and as option for the batch processing
- support for Mitsubishi MELSOFT:
  support for .asc export files; supported CONFIGURATION files/sections
- updates:
  enhanced support of TYPE definitions;
  FUNCTION dialog with user defined data types

The upcomming release will not yet include the PLCOpen XML support.
The implementation takes to much time and would delay the release
until 2010.
For now there must be some points fixed regarding the file diff utility.
So, I hope we have 2.2.0 ready this month.

I think it is once again the time to give a report about the development
status of PLCEdit. Now we have version 2.1.x and I think PLCEdit is a
well featured editor. But the development remains fully active to fit the
requirements of the daily work.

Regarding to the latest ToDo list I’ve started to include a file differencing
dialog. Therefore I’ve added code from beediff, a Qt based opensource
project. Thanks to Piotr Pszczolkowski! A first quick and dirty setup works
pretty cool.

I’ve also started to include a functionblock call convert function which will
be part of the batch routine and file ave routine as well. It should help to
make POU ouputs more compatible to the appointed IDE. I think it will be
a lot of work and maybe some conversions will not supported.

Both features will be part of the next release. If you have some other ideas,
something new ore any regarding the new features please let me know.

PLCEdit is slowing down my PC
I’m sorry about this bad behaviour! PLCEdit uses an update routine for
the current line and printable area indicators, which is permanently called.
I’ve fixed this issue and the update is already uploaded to the repository.
The packages for Win, Linux and Mac will be available during the next days.

The items of the last ToDo list are finished and now we have
a feature freeze and a code freeze. The freeze will be testet
the following weeks. So, hopefully v2.0 can be released at the
beginning of March 2009.

Some words about the current source:
1.
PLCEdit seems to have some problems with Siemens Step7
sources. I’ll try to fix it, but it would be nice to get some help.
2.
Sometimes PLCEdit’s open routine is very slow for big or
many files. Regarding this I have add a progressbar, which
will be shown during the file open process and if the batch
routine runs, too.
3.
An often asked feature was a possibility to insert function
blocks with its call model into a page. The answer is the
new class FBDialog
The dialog allows to insert opened function blocks from a list,
by using a page-correct call model for all supported sources.

The actual todo list:
- testing the current source
- fixing Siemens Step7 bugs (done)
- preparing the app and the docu for the release

A lot of work was done. And there is only one
open issue from the last ToDo list.
Now its around christmas time and maybe the
CoDeSys problem is to much to solve it during
the last days of this year. I want to include the
fix in RC1 ... I’m sorry, but you have to wait.
If you want a fixed batch convert I would please
you to download the linux file. It includes the
latest stable source, which could be compiled
easily „at home“ or ask me for an executable.

I have updated the project website. It shows
now a docs menu, which contains a changelog
and holds links for the FAQ and the Help.

The actual todo list:
- better CoDeSys support (done)
- disabled menu items greyed out (done)
(- Sucosoft checksum support (n/a))

Oh, my last entry is from june. I’m sorry but there
were some private things to to. Now I’m working
on the next enhancements and some bug fixes,
eg. the batch converter bug, which causes same
content for all converted files
I’ll try to publish the release candidate at the end
of december 2008.

At the moment I think about to use Scintilla as
the editor back-end. It could solve some basic
problems with the syntax highlighter and the
line numbers. But it would be a lot of work.
We will see... maybe in v2.1.

The actual todo list:
- new settings file handling (done)
- better CoDeSys support (v2rc1)
- timer based autosave (done)
- fix batch converter bug (done)
- syntax highlighter updates (done)
- interface enhancements (done)
- Help files (done, english)

My time for working on PLCEdit is limited, but I try my
best to ensure that development does'nt stop now.
Some points of the new ToDo list were already done.
I also plan to support another PLC-software provider.
We will see what's happen until v2b2 .

The actual todo list:
- interface enhancements (done)
- language translations (done)
- fix file-extension-save bug (done)
- save sessions as project (done)
- export as PDF (done)
- better CoDeSys support
- new POU files support (done)
- timer based autosave (v2rc1)
- Help files (v2rc1)

The last weeks were not really productive. There were some
user interface enhancements made. On Mac OS the App looks
now more mac-like. And the Toolbar icon size is now 22px.
You can see it on the Home and Features pages.

I have also found a bug. If an already open document needs
to be saved, next to the name a broken filename extension
will be shown and later used by the export routine.
As a work around please erase the extension first, before
editing the file name. The next version contains a bugfix.

And how long will it take until the next beta-release?
I'll try to release the next beta until the beginning of june.

Today it looks very well. All work for v2b1 was done.
Now I'm going to prepare the application for distributing.
The public beta will be released maybe today or tomorrow.

As you see we have some open issues and maybe some small bugs, too.
However, I've decided that the first beta version will miss some features.
So, the help files and the translation functionality are planned for v2.0b2.
Now let us tell about the development progress:
In the last days the batch converter, the POU information dialog and the
print dialog were implemented. With this the core class named PageCtrl
was revised. Now the file import/export functions have its own class,
which makes it easier to write functions like the batch converter or the
prototype function and many other features which needs acces to the
prepared POU file content.
Now some bugs in the POU info dialog needs to be fixed. The find and
replace dialogs will be the last steps on the way to the public beta.

The development of PLCEdit is still in full activity. But today it seems that
I could not hold the promise to release a 2.0b1version at the end of March.
Some issues needs more concentration, so it could take some more days.
The actual todo list:
- printing (done)
- POU info dialog (done)
- batch converter (done)
- find & replace dialogs (done)
- drag & drop (done)
- translation (v2b2)
- Help files (v2rc1)