Load

Load alpha 6 is now feature complete. Subsequent versions will be labeled Beta releases to fix bugs and increase overall quality. Load alpha 6 release adds:</P> <OL> <LI>The commander has been broken down into individual objects to make it easier to add and manage script elements. The commander launches a script and processes the script elements by instantiating individual objects through a common interface. For example, in Alpha 6 the ElementEcho object handles the <echo> command by using the ElementHandler interface.<BR> <BR> The evaluator object uses the same object instantiation mechanism as the ElementHandlers for objects that handle variables. For example, evalRandom uses an ElementHandler interface but returns a random value.<BR> <BR> A new elementHandlers.properties file maps script element names to the object name of the ElementHandler. You can easily plug-in your own script elements using the new system.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>The expression evaluator now allows embedded expressions. For example, the expression $founditems [ $random [ $foundcount; ]; ]; works fine now.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>JDOM Beta 6 is now included. For more information on JDOM see <A HREF="http://www.jdom.org"><a href="http://www.jdom.org" target="_new">www.jdom.org</a></A>.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>The logging objects are new. The log() object is a thread that queues log entries and then outputs at once. See the <log> element in the Script Reference below for new <log> script elements. The past method of setting log values as a <property> command are no longer valid.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>All the text strings are in the messages.properties file now, this should make localization easier. Load is not double-byte compatible yet.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>You may set the initial height and width of the graphical user interface. The load.properties file is found in the resources directory.<BR> <BR> </LI> <LI>The $lingo; expressions have been changed and simplified. The new format is $lingo[ type ] where type is one of these values:<BR> $lingo; returns a single random word<BR> $lingo[message]; returns a 3-10 line lingo message<BR> $lingo[subject]; returns a single line lingo message</LI> </OL> <P> </P> <P>Load is distributed under an Apache-style open-source license - as described in license.txt. You may build commercial software products based on the Load code. I hope you will offer bug fixes and improvements back to the Load community. Please send your bug fixes and improvements to <A HREF="mailto:fcohen@inclusion.net">fcohen@inclusion.net</A>.</P> <P>Between Beta releases you may find work-in-progress versions of Load code using CVS at cvs.inbuilders.com. The code is in the <I>load</I> project.