Adobe Illustrator SDK Changelog
What's new in Adobe Illustrator SDK CS6
May 10, 2012- ADM removed:
- Adobe Dialog Manager (ADM), the UI framework that was used for the Illustrator UI before CS5, was previously deprecated and is no longer supported. The ADM header files and sample plug-in have been removed from the SDK.
- If you have any existing plug-ins that use ADM, they will cause compilation errors; to use them in the current release, you must explicitly include the header files from the previous release.
- It is recommended tha you remove any usage of ADM from your plug-ins and replace it with another UI framework of your choice. You can use any 3rd-party or platform-specific UI framework, or one of the UI frameworks provided by Adobe, such as Flash/Flex-based controls. Adobe can provide support only for Adobe products.
- Data types updated:
- Throughout the SDK, data types have been updated to be more specific and to support both 32-bit and 64-bit architecture.
- Memory allocation automatic:
- Memory allocation in this release is completely compatible with platform usage. Developers are no longer required to explicitly allocate and release memory.
- Sample plug-ins recompiled and reworked:
- All of the samples in this release have been updated to reflect the new data types that are now in use throughout the API, and the interfaces have been reworked to remove the use of ADM. All samples have been compiled in the currently supported development environments.
- New features:
- Pattern creation:
- This release updates and simplifies pattern creation. The SDK samples have been updated to use the new API and creation techniques.
- Live Trace enhancements
- Tracing functionality has been updated to use vectorization, and the AITracingSuite has been replaced by the AIVectorizationSuite. New versions of the tracing snippets (LiveTrace and LiveColor) in the SnippetRunner SDK sample demonstrate the use of the new suite and techniques.
- Gradients on strokes:
- The ability to apply gradients to strokes is demonstrated by a new snippet (SnpGradient) in the SnippetRunner SDK sample.
- API changes:
- The obsolete ADM classes and header files have been removed.
- Legacy header files for versions earlier than CS5 (AI 15) have been removed.
- Access to AGM ports, which was previously available through ADM, is now available through the AIDrawArtSuite. An example of usage is provided by the new DrawArt SDK sample.
- These header files and classes are no longer included:
- AICropArea.h
- AICropAreaRange.h
- AIDataStack.h
- AITracing.h ( replaced by AIVectorizeSuite)
- AIUIUtils.h
- ASLib.h
- ASMemory.cpp
- IAIUnicodeStringUtils
- IAIUserInput
- AIToolIconDict has been removed and replaced by types added to AIAddToolDataSuite.
- Many functions have changed parameter types to accommodate the removal of ADM and type changes such as long to ai::int32 or size_t. See details in the API Advisor page.
- New functions have been added in existing suites:
- AIAnnotatorDrawerSuite
- AIAppContextSuite
- AIArtSuite
- AIBeautifulStrokesSuite
- AICharacterEncodingSuite
- AICommandManagerSuite
- AIDictionarySuite
- AIDocumentViewSuite
- AIDrawArtSuite
- AIFontSuite
- AIIsolationModeSuite
- AIMeshSuite
- AIOverrideColorConversionSuite
- AIPatternSuite
- AIPreferencesSuite
- AIUserSuite
- ATE::CharFeaturesSuite, ATE::AICharInspectorSuite
- ATE::ParaFeaturesSuite, ATE::ParaInspectorSuite
- SPFilesSuite
- New suites have been added to support new features and functionality:
- AIControlBarSuite
- AICSXSExtensionSuite
- AIPanelSuite
- AIPanelFlyoutMenuSuite
- AIUIThemeSuite
- AIVectorizeSuite (replaces AITracingSuite)
- ATE::ArrayKashidaWidthSuite
- New classes include:
- IAIPointImpl
- IAIRectImpl
- ATE::IArrayKashidaWidth
- New files include:
- AIBasicUtilities.h
- AIControlBar.h
- AICSXS.h, AICSXSExtension.h
- AIModalParent
- AIPanel.h
- AIScriptMessage.h
- AITransformTypes.h
- AIUITheme.h
- AIVectorize.h
- AIWinDef.h
- Outdated plug-in samples removed:
- The Shell plug-in framework and Adobe Dialog Manager are no longer supported, and the corresponding samples, Shell and ADMNonModalDialog, have been removed from the SDK in this release.
- Samples updated for new types:
- All samples have been updated to use the new data types and to remove ADM interfaces.
- Samples updated to use new techniques and suites:
- The new ScriptMessage sample demonstrates the use of the new AIScriptMessage structure.
- The MarkedObjects and ScriptMessage samples demonstrate the new control of application theme colors provided by the new AIUIThemeSuite.
- The MultiArrowTool sample demonstrates how to make a tool icon that works with both light and dark themes. All samples that use tools use the new tool types
- The new EmptyPanel sample demonstrates how to create panels and control bars with the new AIPanelSuite and AIControlBarSuite, and how to combine these with controls implemented with native Windows and Mac OS components.
- The SnippetRunner sample has been updated with snippets that demonstrate new features and techniques, including gradients on strokes (SnpGradient) and the new tracing mechanism (LiveTrace and LiveColor).
New in Adobe Illustrator SDK CS5 (May 4, 2010)
- ADM deprecated:
- Plug-ins that use it will still run in Illustrator CS5, but must be ported to some other UI framework to run in future releases.
- Sample code changes:
- SnippetRunner Code Snippets - To demonstrate new features, a new code snippet, SnpSymbolHelper, has been added to the SnippetRunner project, and the code snippet SnpArtboardHelper has been modified.
- C++ framework is required when developing Illustrator CS5 plug-ins. The legacy shell framework is no longer supported. The Shell sample plug-in has been removed.
- The ADMNonModalDialog sample plug-in has been removed.
- A new sample plug-in, StrokeFilter, demonstrates the usage of new stroking functionality using the API provided by the new AIBeautifulStrokesSuite. This sample uses a Flash-based UI, which is a possible alternative for ADM in the SDK samples.
- The MultiArrowTool sample plug-in has been enhanced to demonstrate how to display an annotation while drawing a path by dragging the cursor.
- A new sample plug-in, FreeGrid, demonstrates the usage of new Perspective Grid functionality using the API methods provided by the new AIPerspectiveGridSuite and AIPerspectiveTransformSuite. This sample uses a Flash-based UI, which is a possible alternative for ADM in the SDK samples.