FlowStone Changelog

What's new in FlowStone 3.0.8 SKYLARK

Apr 25, 2015

IMPROVEMENTS:
New opcodes for the Assembler component
New Code Snippets for Ruby Component
New per Ruby component timeout and enhanced timeout handling
New LED Strip Claw component allows you to connect to 5V addressable 60 LED strips from your FlowPaw
Improved the Mem Create component so that it now sends out a trigger after loading
FIXES:
Fixed an issue where the software could crash when switching Direct Sound on and off
Fixed a problem with clicking when stopping all notes for a VST plugin in a host
Fixed a the connector description labels which were drawing at too large a size
Fixed a problem with the Mem Address component so it now gives a zero value for address and size if there is no valid Mem connected
Fixed a number of issues with syntax highlighting failing on various Assembler opcodes
Fixed an issue with the Mem Create component so it now zeroes all values initially
LIST OF NEW OPCODES:
psrld xmm, xmm / xmm, var
pmuludq xmm, xmm / xmm, var
paddd xmm, xmm
sub reg, reg / reg, var
psubd xmm, xmm / xmm, var
jmp label / int
mulpd xmm, xmm / xmm, var
xorps xmm, xmm / xmm, var
andnps xmm, xmm
movd xmm, reg / xmm, var / var, xmm
movss xmm, var / var, xmm / xmm, xmm
cvttps2dq xmm, xmm / xmm, var
You can also now use ebx, ecx and edx in the following opcodes:
add reg, reg
add reg, var
sub reg, reg

New in FlowStone 3.0.7 CHERRY (Dec 23, 2014)

New in FlowStone 3.0.6 PEBBLE (Nov 11, 2014)

New in FlowStone 3.0.5 AMBER (Nov 11, 2014)

IMPROVEMENTS:
New TeachingGoal and GoalProgress components allow educators to set students tasks and monitor progress
New Ruby extractGoalData method allows you to parse the schematics in a folder and extract all Teching Goal data
New sub level editing in front panels
New option to set whether an individual link is curved or has straight line segments
New Code and Assembler components can have Mem inputs via the memin declaration type
New Mem Address component gives you the address of the raw data in a Mem
New channel id output on VoicesToPoly component gives you a unique id for each channel across all active sound processes
New polyintin and polyintout declaration types in Code and Assembler components
New Ruby setViewSize method allows you to change a modules GUI size and position
New Ruby setShowInParent method allows you to hide a modules GUI in its parent front panel
New Ruby playSoundFile method allows you to play a sound from a file asynchronously
New Measurement Computing USB-TEMP component
New send queue size (in bytes) output for the COM Port component
Improved resolving of link control points so that it's easier to grab the point you want to move when many links overlap in a small area
Improved the COM Port component sending mechanism
Improved the software install so that system modules and initial tags are put in the FlowStone folder in Program Files allowing the software to work on multi user systems
FIXES:
Fixed a bug in the Phidgets component which was causing them to lock on and prevent proper redraws
Fixed a bug where properties weren't showing when pasting property components or modules with properties inside a module with the properties panel open
Fixed a problem where the Swap Links option was missing from Schematic menu
Fixed the HID component which was only allowing 64 characters of hex when it should be 64 bytes (128 characters of hex)
Fixed an issue where double-clicking on some files would cause a crash but the same files would load normally from the File menu
Fixed a crash with in the Ruby component which would sometimes occur when adding or removing connectors
Fixed a major memory leak in all the I/O components including the COM Port component
Fixed a problem with rendering captions on some modules
Fixed a problem with crashing and hanging when switching between schematics that use DirectSound or ASIO
Fixed a bug in the ArrayBuilder components where removing more than one link at a time from an input and then undoing caused an error
Fixed Multiply and Divide weren't initially shown with the Maths tag
Fixed the embed dlls option when exporting was not being remembered between sessions
Fixed a problem with the Navigator and Toolbox resizing not working when running a schematic with lots of events being processed
Fixed a memory leak in exported VST plugins
Fixed an issue where the Stream version of the IsPlaying component won't work unless a Bool/Value version of the IsPlaying component is present
Fixed a problem with the software hanging sometimes when using AboutToClose components
Fixed a crash when, in the middle of following a wireless link you change the name or type of the currently followed item and then continue to the next one
Fixed a crash that can occasionally occur with the HID component
Fixed the ClearSends input on the COM Port component as it wasn't working before
Fixed a memory leak in the events system
Fixed a problem with some exported VST plugins hanging the host when closed if there were many instances open

New in FlowStone 3.0.4 Bluebird (May 26, 2014)

In this update we are very pleased to present a feature that has been requested for a long time - the ability to make your own components using external dlls. This is a huge feature and it really opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
We've worked hard to try and make this as simple to use as possible. There is a whole section in the user guide on it (see DLL Component) and we will have examples on the support area. One cool aspect of this is the ability to embed dlls which allows you to make stand alone primitives. Whether you're a programmer or not, we think you're really going to like the benefits that this brings.
For educators we have introduced a feature called Local Toolboxes. This allows you to easily create a reduced toolbox so that students are only presented with the components they need to perform a particular task. The toolbox is local to a schematic and can be saved with it too. The feature may also be useful for power users who want to keep their own toolbox of favourite components to use with particular schematics.
We have a host of other improvements and fixes as well to make your experience even better, including enhancements to the COM Port component and improved VST preset file handling.
IMPROVEMENTS:
New DLL component
New local toolboxes
New About To Close component
New launch file into focus mode option
Improved the preset system so you can load existing fxp/fxb files after you add or remove presets
Exported exes now embed the Ruby dll so it doesn't have to be extracted on launch
The Text Save, Bitmap Save, Preset Text File components all now create the folder path if it doesn't exist
Changed the MidiToVoices component so that we steal releasing notes in preference to held ones
Removed the splash screen from the software as it was sonetimes slowing startup and causing the odd crash too
Made some big improvements to the COM Port component to increase performance including running the connect in a separate thread
The Exe Zoom and Exe Full Screen components now work in Focus Mode
FIXES:
Fixed the Schematic File Path component which wasn't initialising on loading
Fixed it so that timers do not fire during loading for exe and VST
Fixed a problem that was causing exported exes to show as using 100% cpu because the idle wasn't working correctly
Fixed a crashing problem with playing MIDI notes when changing preset or doing anything that might cause a redraw to occur
Fixed a crash when moving from focus mode back to editor and Ruby components are present
Fixed a problem that could occasionally cause a crash on launch
Fixed several issues that could cause thread locking in the events processing

New in FlowStone 3.0.3 RAINDROP (May 26, 2014)

In this release we have two new primitives for connecting to external hardware. The DMX primitive allows you to connect to a massive range of compatible lighting products. The HID primitive will interface with any Hardware Interface Device compatible hardware. Most input devices adhere to this standard but it's not just about games controllers, there is a wide range of hardware that uses HID. With this new primitive you can now create your own device using a PIC and use FlowStone to talk to it.
To enhance the UI building capabilities of Ruby in FlowStone even further we've now added the ability to create in place edit controls, drop lists and message boxes. Previously you would have had to use external primitives to handle these features. It was awkward and messy but now it is incredibly easy.
Toolbox scrolling using a mouse wheel has been vastly improved with the addition of a new Adaptive Scrolling feature. This makes the scroll speed change depending on how quickly you move the mouse wheel. You can now scroll slowly when you need precision or whizz through the toolbox in seconds when you want to get somewhere fast. There's a new Toolbox tab on the Options dialog where you can adjust the scrolling to your taste. There's also a new option here to determine how toolbox filters are combined.
For audio users we have finally found a solution to Ruby sharing for VST plugins. The ruby dll no longer needs to be distributed with exported plugins because we now link it directly with our code. As a result of this each plugin now has its own Ruby interpreter, no more worrying about potential conflicts with other people's plugins. This also solves a problem we were having with compatibility between plugins generated with different versions of FlowStone. As a result of this change VST plugins can't use Ruby extensions. We may be able to get this to work later down the line but it's not guaranteed. For now we think it's a small price to pay as the benefits of this solution massively outweigh this small downside.
As well as this there are a host of other fixes and improvements.
IMPROVEMENTS:
New DMX primitive for controlling lighting devices
New HID primitive for connecting to a huge range of external controllers and boards
New In Place Edits from Ruby code
New Ruby Drop Lists from Ruby code
New Message Box handling in Ruby code
New Adaptive Scrolling feature in Toolbox (see new Toolbox page in Options to control this)
New way of handling exported VST plugins so there is no dependency on the ruby dll and no inter plugin Ruby sharing
New Ruby getInterpolationMode and setInterpolationMode methods for controlling bitmap rendering
New Follow Sync Modules feature
New Schematic File Path primitive
New Paste input on the Bitmap primitive allows you to paste a bitmap from the clipboard
FIXES:
Fixed a crash which can occur when deleting Float Array components that are fed from a Ruby component
Fixed the Changed component so it now saves state
Fixed a bug where Ruby components were not saving state when switched off
Fixed crash when closing an exported plugin if there is another one open
Fixed the conversion from Float Array to string so that it now uses the correct float representation
Fixed a problem which could cause crashes when calculating syntax colouring for Ruby code
Added refresh input to COM port component so that you can request a refresh of the port numbers
Added clear sends input to COM component so that you can clear the send buffer
Added a mouse cursor request on mouse button up
Fixed a problem where module tags were not being saved to .tag files
Fixed a bug in the COM port component where data was being sent out in first in last out order instead of first in first out
Fixed a the COM port component 'Out' output so that triggers are not sent when data is received only when data is sent
Fixed an issue with cursor setting in Ruby not passing through to other elements if no mouseCursor method was present
Fixed a bug when pasting modules which appear on a front panel so that these now all appear on top of existing elements
Fixed a problem in the Phidgets Stepper Controller component where the position was not being reset correctly
Fixed a bug in the Phidgets Stepper Controller where the Zero input trigger was not resetting the current position
Changed the Swap Links feature so it now deselects the components when finished
Changed the way that Mono to Frames and Frames to Mono work so that they can handle variable buffer sizes
Fixed a problem where the software could crash or hang on startup if MIDI events are generated during loading
Fixed the Ruby Draw method so it now uses EditConnector objects to refer to inputs
Added option to say whether tag bar, search and filter pane selections are combined or not
Fixed instabilities in the events system that could lead to crashes when the ruby interpreter is shared (mainly an issue for VST plugins)
Fixed the problem of the UAC dialogs disappearing behind the application window when exporting to VST or EXE
Fixed an issue with muting exported VST plugins in a host where Ruby events would stop being processed

New in FlowStone 3.0.2 FIREFLY (May 26, 2014)

The headline feature of this release is Follow Wireless. This has been on our target list for some time and now it's finally here. Just select a Wireless Component and press the TAB key.
We've also made some big improvements to the connector referencing in Ruby which allows you to use connector label strings as well as indexes to refer to connectors. By using labels it makes your code more readable and less prone to issues if you change the order of connectors.
On top of that there's a new feature for previewing applications called Focus Mode plus many other smaller improvements and fixes. The user guide has been updated to include details on all the new features and how to use them.
IMPROVEMENTS:
New Follow Wireless feature allows you to easily trace the path of wireless links
New connector referencing in the Ruby component allows you to use an index or a label name to refer to a connector
New Focus Mode feature for previewing or using applications by hiding the FlowStone editing interface
New clearEvents method that removes all pending events posted for the Ruby component from which it is called
New exe export options (these were previously only available in SynthMaker)
New optional inputs for the drawCurve and addCurve methods allow you to draw sections of the curve and control the curvature
New setColor method for the Brush object
Improved tag system has improved handling for modules
FIXES:
Fixed a problem with @outs and any defined output variable not being set if value sent are sent out immediately (with no time delay)
Fixed an issue with mouse cursor assignment not working for outputs with multiple links and Ruby components with a pass through
Fixed a Preset Manager issue with Cubase where presets were not being indexed correctly during automation
Fixed the sine oscillator bug introduced in the last version
FIxed a problem with the COM port not reading the NoNull setting on loading
Fixed an issue issue with the Ruby component redrawing when the mouse moves over a link during editing
Fixed the cursor updating when mousing over a link that crosses a module front panel or a component that edits text
Fixed a crash that could occur when using the dup method on a Pen object in Ruby
Fixed a problem with mouse cursor messages not working through a Multiplexer or Selector
Fixed the Navigator so that bookmark keypresses now register after you have clicked on it
Fixed the automatic update checking which was not working in previous versions. This will now work for future releases
The help text wasn't showing in the status bar for the create EXE button on the module action panel

New in FlowStone 3.0.1 SNOWFLAKE (May 26, 2014)

This release fixes many of the teething issues that were reported for version 3. We've also made some small enhancements in a number of areas and added a few more graphics methods.
IMPROVEMENTS:
New getBounds method in GraphicsPath for getting the bounding rectangle of a path
New isVisible method in GraphicsPath for testing if a point is inside a path
New isOutlineVisible method in GraphicsPath for testing if a point lies on a path
New widen method in GraphicsPath for expanding a path
New getWidth method in Pen for finding out the thickness of a Pen object
New option to provide an area in the call to the redraw method
Clipping, text rendering hint and smoothing are now reset after the draw method is called so any changes are only applied within the draw method
The measureString method now has a "bounds" entry which is an array [x,y,w,h] for the bounding area of the string
Added pass through of View data to the Ruby component
Edit components now exit when you hit return
Edit Box modules were not redrawing correctly after clicking away
The Http Post component now removes the http:// part from any url automatically
Added optimisations to all the oscillators to reduce cpu consumption
FIXES:
The getClip method wasn't returning a valid rectangle
MIDI wasn't being sent tout in a VST plugin unless there were MIDI components in the path
MIDI wasn't registering in String and Text components
The Mono to Frame component was causing a crash when if you added it to a schematic with Direct Sound or ASIO on
Visual muting was preventing modules from redrawing when they were shown in the schematic
Fixed a bug with the statistics calculating incorrectly when property panels are being used
Edit Box modules were not redrawing correctly after clicking away
The vertical slider no longer has it's value reversed when changing presets
Creating links to Value connectors was incorrectly sending nil each time
Boolean properties were incorrectly sending a trigger when the properties were opened
Font styles were not all working correctly
Fixed a potential crash on close with the COM Port component
Fixed an issue with the Ruby component not sending values out correctly to triggered data connectors during a loop
Fixed an issue with the Phidgets Motor Controller not setting the encoder position
Fixed a problem where modules with duplicate names were having their tags merged

New in FlowStone 3.0.0 SYMPHONY (May 26, 2014)

This new version merges all the features of SynthMaker with FlowStone. FlowStone users now have the benefit of exporting audio plugins. SynthMaker users now have the Ruby component. Both can make use of the new Frames feature which allows you to process Mono data inside the Ruby component - great for prototyping or non performance critical applications.
MIDI data can now be processed in the Ruby component and sent out with sample accurate timing. There are a host of new drawing commands for the Ruby component too.
We have a new toolbox feature called Tags which makes it easier to group components together and retrieve quicker. There are new Netvox and OWL compoonents for home automation, updated modules (now in downloadable packs) and many other fxes and enhancements
MAIN FEATURES:
MIDI in Ruby
Mono to Frames
Export VST 2.4 Plugins
Tags
Netvox & OWL Components
Expanded Ruby Drawing Commands
Updated Modules
Smart Components
Many fixes and enhancements
IMPROVEMENTS:
New smart components replace components for operations that are shared between different data types (eg Add, Switch and Select)
The Edit Control allows multi line editing and control over font size
Changed the terminator label and description ono the COM Port primitive to make it clearer that it's for received data
New input on the COM Port primitive to specify whether to remove the null terminator when sending a data string
In the Ruby Component Watches now show false values as ""false"" instead of blanks
The Direct Sound In component allows you to choose the input device independently of the output device
You can now change the type of the Boolean, Int, String and Float components by right-clicking on their connectors
A module output label and description can now be set independently the same way as it can for module inputs
The Ruby And DSP Code components now only require a single click to set the cursor position
New Swap Links feature allows you to replace a module with another one by exchanging links between the two
MIDI is all processed using the events system now
We no longer enforce the 0-127 range for sysex bytes
Improved redraw mechanism to prevent too many refreshes
Improved searching in the toolbox now only searches on name and in help
FIXES:
Fixed a memory leak when sending through a COM Port
Fixed the random number generation for arrays in the DSP code component as it wasn't working properly
Stopped the HTTPPost component from producing an unwanted message showing the current port
Fixed a crash when using the SFZ component
Resolved an issue with the Colour Detect component not detecting some extreme levels of HSV correctly
Stopped the Ruby Edit from sometimes causing a crash when watching a variable while something was redrawing
Fixed the PresetSave so it doesn't crash when loading and saving files
Prevented Ruby components from remaining in a processing loop when deleted from a schematic as it was causing 'ghost' like behaviour
Addressed an issue with redraw flicker when mousing over links which cross redrawn areas
Fixed a potential crash when loading multiple schematics during the same session
Fixed an issue where the output pane would remain scrolled sometimes and obscure values from the output
Stopped the Web Url component from firing during copy and paste
Fixed a problem where the connectors of modules could be drawn incorrectly during a GUI refresh
Corrected an issue where a module could become locked
Fixed a problem where redraws were being processed for GUI elements that were set not to show on the front panel
Made the System Folders and Start Folder components update after loading when used un an export
Fixed a problem with the software starting up but the main window not appearing