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Sencha Architect Changelog

What's new in Sencha Architect 3.1 Build 1835

Aug 8, 2014
  • Ext JS 5 Support in Sencha Architect:
  • The biggest update in Sencha Architect 3.1 is the addition of Ext JS 5 support. Ext JS 5 offers many new and exciting features: Touch support, architectural improvements (MVVM), responsive configs, and component upgrades, to name a few. All of these features are now supported by Sencha Architect.
  • MVVM Architecture Support:
  • Ext JS 5 introduced support for MVVM architecture, with ViewControllers tied directly to the Views. To support this new approach, Sencha Architect 3.1 automatically generates a ViewController for every view that you create. Also with the new MVVM approach, a ViewModel coordinates changes between Model’s data and the View it represents, using a technique called “two-way data binding.” Sencha Architect 3.1 automatically generates a ViewModel as well for every view that you create. We encourage you to use ViewModels and ViewControllers. Note that if you are upgrading an existing Ext JS 4.2.x app, Sencha Architect 3.1 will continue to use the MVC structure you are accustomed to, but it will also allow you to leverage the MVVM functionality.
  • Routing Support:
  • We have added support for the newly introduced routing feature in Ext JS 5, which allows you to implement “deep linking” within your applications by translating your application’s URL into controller actions and methods. Sencha Architect 3.1 offers a very simple interface to designate URLs on which to fire functions.
  • Touch-Optimized Charts Support:
  • Ext JS 5 added a new high-performance and touch-optimized charting package (built on top of Sencha Touch charts) that offers support for interactions (pan, zoom, etc.) as well as some new chart types and enhancements to existing chart types.
  • There are significant differences between this new charting package and the older Ext JS 4 legacy charts. Due to the differences, Sencha Architect 3.1 can’t auto-update your charts, instead it asks you to replace them using the new charts package. Note that Sencha Architect 3.1 does not support the use of the legacy charts, even though its available as a standalone package with the Ext JS 5 framework. That said, we have made every effort to provide helpful migration information for updating to the new charts package.
  • Migrating Ext JS 4.2.x Applications to Ext JS 5.0.x:
  • One of our main goals with Sencha Architect 3.1 was to make the migration of Ext JS 4.2.x applications (built using the previous versions of Sencha Architect) as simple as possible. MigrationTo upgrade your application, simply open your Ext JS 4.2.x project in Sencha Architect 3.1, right-click on the Library node under Resources, and click Upgrade to Ext JS 5.0.x. Remember, Ext JS supports both the new MVVM and the previous MVC architectures, and it is not mandatory to switch to MVVM from MVC for your existing applications. Sencha Architect 3.1 will not automatically convert your MVC code to MVVM, but it will enable you to get started with the new MVVM architecture along with your existing MVC structure.
  • Sencha Cmd 5 in Sencha Architect 3.1:
  • The latest Sencha Cmd 5.0.x integration with Sencha Architect 3.1 also offers a number of optimizations to make Sencha Architect and Cmd work faster and better, together.
  • Sencha Architect 3.1 leverages the Sencha Cmd ‘sencha app watch’ functionality to automatically digest and recompile the changes to your application by continuously monitoring for changes. With Sencha Cmd 5.0.x, Sencha Architect 3.1 can now deploy its own lightweight web server. This is especially helpful for users that are doing proof-of-concept projects or are just getting started and do not have a server environment set up. You can find the configurations for the web server under Preferences -> Web Server, where you can enable or disable it, and designate a port number.
  • Improved Project Inspector:
  • We’ve greatly enhanced the project inspector in Sencha Architect 3.1 to make it easier to navigate, and to load large projects faster. The new project inspector even shows the namespaces as folders (a highly requested feature by our users), which is incredibly helpful when trying to organize your classes. The inspector now has two tree panels that sit side by side. The left pane shows every top level class and the right pane shows all details of the selected class.
  • Visualization for Linked Instances:
  • Sencha Architect has always allowed you to re-use existing views as building blocks to compose other views. We call this feature linked instances. When hand-coding this would be the same as writing a subclass and then re-using that class. Simple and DRY
  • When we expanded the single pane inspector to two panes it was obvious that we would need to change the way we visualized the relationships between classes. We are drawing bezier curves with SVG from each instance of the class in the detail inspector to where the class is defined.
  • The reverse connection can also be shown by clicking the linked instance icon in the main panel. It will list every instance of where this class is being used.
  • Helper Tool:
  • We have added a “Helper” tool to provide common use cases that will support your development. The initial implementation of the ‘Helper” contains a data UI builder.
  • Theming Enhancements:
  • Sencha Architect 3.1 provides a new feature for theming called “Quick Themes.” Quick Themes, which work just like custom themes, allow quick modifications to Neptune and Neptune Touch (default Ext JS themes) by simply modifying a few variables. Users save time by not having to customize every single component. A Quick Theme can always be converted to a regular custom theme, if you need more detailed customization. Other areas where Theming got some enhancements are: speed, autocomplete for SCSS variables, gradient selectors, and font selectors.
  • Editor Enhancements:
  • The editor experience in Sencha Architect 3.1 has been enhanced to allow inline editing within classes. Users can now see the full context of their classes as they edit properties, create functions, and/or add comments.

New in Sencha Architect 3.0.2 Build 1375 (Feb 12, 2014)

  • App Templates:
  • When you launch Sencha Architect 3, the first thing you’ll notice are a whole bunch of new App Templates. Use Templates to kickstart your project and get working on the more strategic aspects of your app sooner
  • Theming:
  • Ever had to reskin UI components to match someone else’s visual design? Then we’ve got great news for you. The new Theming feature in Architect 3 exposes the SCSS used to style Ext JS and Sencha Touch UI components. You can customize the look and feel of your app, and see your changes in Architect, all without digging through a bunch of complex CSS files. If you want to reuse and share your themes you can simply export them, and import into another project.
  • Architect User Extensions:
  • Architect 3 works with custom extensions built with the Ext JS or Touch frameworks. Extensions are bundles of self-contained code that can be imported into your project to add functionality. These extensions work like any other component in Architect. They can be dragged from the toolbox onto the canvas, rearranged in the project inspector, and configured in the config panel.
  • Powerful Collaboration:
  • Maintaining a consistent user experience across teams has never been easier, because most of the features we discussed — Themes, Templates, and Extensions — can all be exported, shared, and reused.
  • Code Editing:
  • Long-time Architect users will be happy to know we’ve implemented some much-requested productivity enhancements like Code Completion.
  • Sencha Cmd Integration:
  • The first time you save your project in Sencha Architect 3, you’ll notice a prompt for build tools. That’s because Architect 3 is tightly integrated with Sencha Cmd, the command line interface for packaging apps. Architect automatically sets up your project, so it’s ready to go whether you’re debugging and deploying for the web, or delivering a native iOS or Android app.

New in Sencha Architect 2.1.0 Build 584 (Aug 16, 2012)

  • Ext JS 4.1 Support:
  • Architect now supports Ext JS 4.1, so you can create projects targeting Ext JS 4.1 and get all the performance benefits and other improvements over 4.0.7.
  • Ext JS 4.0 to 4.1 Auto-Migration:
  • One of the most requested features was the ability to easily migrate from Ext JS 4.0 to Ext 4.1 projects. The Architect and Ext JS teams worked closely to make this capability as simple as possible.
  • Upgrading is as easy as right-clicking Library in the project inspector and choosing Upgrade. More details are in the Resources guide under Library resource.
  • Sencha Touch 2.0.1.1:
  • Architect now supports Sencha Touch 2.0.1.1, so you can create projects targeting the latest production version of the Touch framework.
  • Source Control Improvements
  • Another goal for this release was to make it even easier for teams to collaborate, and to improve interaction with source control systems. In Architect 2.1, we've made the following changes to achieve this goal:
  • Dramatically cleaned up metadata files to make them easier to merge when working in teams.
  • Settings that are particular to a user are now saved in a .architect file, which can be easily ignored in your source control settings.
  • Change identification scheme from serial ids to GUIDs resulting in less merge conflicts.
  • CSS Rendered in the Project Canvas
  • We want the canvas to truly represent the design of your application. To improve this, CSS resources are now loaded directly into the canvas. The canvas now truly reflects the design of your app, without having to refresh the browser.
  • Sample project Loanshark project with custom CSS included
  • Improved Code Editor:
  • We're continuing to improve the code editing experience inside of Architect. These feature improvements make it even easy to work with code inside of Architect.
  • Line numbers are now reported with respect to entire file when viewing sub elements (e.g. functions, event bindings, templates).
  • Users can now jump from generated class into editing functions, actions, and more by clicking on the edit icon in the left hand gutter (see image).
  • Better JSHint validations, now reporting warnings and errors.
  • Find/Replace for better refactoring and speed through your code.
  • The new icon lets you click through to edit
  • Templates, Objects, Array Configs:
  • We've enhanced the user experience for editing and changing advanced configs. Editing these configs now brings up the full code editor giving you plenty of room to work.
  • Multiple Config Types:
  • Many of the framework configs allow more than one type e.g. string, object, or array. Architect now supports these multi-typed configs, and it's easy to switch between them. Custom configs inherit this ability.
  • Class:
  • We've added a new item to the toolbox called “Class”. This item allows you to extend items in the framework — such as adding abstract classes. Now every top level instance in the Project Inspector (which is a class) receives several configs from the class system (e.g., requires, mixins, singleton, uses, static functions).
  • Message Log:
  • A log of messages you have received can now be accessed showing a history for the current session.
  • File logging can optionally be turned on that maintains cross session history.
  • Access the message log by clicking the icon on the bottom left of the Architect. This icon also displays the number of messages.
  • Cleaner Settings:
  • Various settings have moved in the UI in order for them to be more flexible. Ext Direct, Google Maps API, and framework library settings have all moved out of the project settings and into the Project Inspector as Resources.
  • Documentation:
  • Documentation, like software, is a continuous process, and we've refreshed the Architect documentation. You can view them at the Architect Docs center.
  • Example Projects:
  • Sencha Architect examples have moved to Github. This will allow community members to fork and collaborate on these examples. We've also added new examples and refreshed the existing ones.
  • Stability:
  • For this release, we made improving the quality of the core product a huge priority. A special thanks to all of our community members who submitted bugs and reported other issues. The Architect team is very confident about the stability and enhancements in 2.1. Plus, new Architect bug reports include more detailed diagnostics that will help the team resolve issues faster.
  • Performance:
  • Performance is a first class feature, and the team has been hard at work executing on this priority. This performance work in the product should positively effect everyone but it'll show most notably when working with large projects.
  • Many of our customers are using Sencha Architect as their complete app builder and have whole project teams working with it. It's been amazing to watch these projects grow in size and complexity! Some contain hundreds of views, and even more models and stores. In Architect 2.1, we've made some major improvements in performance. Thanks to our customers who worked with the Architect team via the forums and/or beta program. This greatly helped us test and improve the speed and reliability of Architect 2.1.
  • Background:
  • For those that don't know, Architect is built with Ext JS and is a desktop packaged web app. The packager for Architect is built by our Web Platform Team and runs a purpose-built version of WebKit that gives us the ability to use WebKit features in addition to features that are needed to build desktop applications. Because it runs on WebKit, we're able to use the amazing tools that come with WebKit, such as the profiler. After profiling, what we noticed is that these large projects spent a lot of their time instantiating configs. This probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but it gave us a vector of attack to make the config system leaner and faster.
  • Performance Results:
  • A large decrease in initial load times for all apps, making it quicker and easier to get in and out of Architect.
  • Memory footprint that is 55% smaller than before.
  • Much faster open-project speeds and a snappier experience working with the application.