fltk/CHANGES.txt

Changes in FLTK 1.4.0 RC1                               Released: Oct 20 2024

  General Information about this Release

  - FLTK 1.4.0 is based on FLTK 1.3.4 (released Nov 15 2016).
    Later updates have partially been backported to 1.3.x releases, see
    CHANGES_1.3.txt for more information.

  - CMake is the primary supported build system in FLTK 1.4.0 and later.
    CMake can be used to generate Makefiles, IDE project files, and files
    for several other build systems by using different "generators" provided
    by CMake (for instance Ninja, CodeBlocks, Eclipse, KDevelop3, Xcode, etc.).
    FLTK uses "Modern CMake" since release 1.4.0 which simplifies user
    project build systems significantly.
    See README.CMake.txt and documentation chapter "Migrating Code from
    FLTK 1.3 to 1.4" for more information.

  - autoconf/configure is still supported by the FLTK Team for backwards
    compatibility with older systems that lack CMake support. Support of
    autoconf/configure will be dropped in FLTK 1.5.0.

  - FLTK 1.4 introduces a new platform, Wayland, available for recent Linux
    distributions and FreeBSD. For details see README.Wayland.txt.

  New Features and Extensions

  - fltk-config allows to compile multiple files with more compiler and linker
    options given on the commandline.
  - fl_contrast() functionality has been improved, adding a new contrast
    calculation method based on human contrast perception. This new function
    is now the default but the old, less accurate, contrast function can be
    chosen as an option.
  - Timeout handling has been unified across platforms (#379), see documentation
    in chapter "Migrating Code from FLTK 1.3 to 1.4".
  - New Fl::remove_next_timeout(...) to remove only one timeout (#992).
  - New fltk-options executable, improved Fl::option documentation.
  - New function `Fl_Window::get_size_range()` (#981).
  - New FL_DEPRECATED macro to flag deprecated functions and methods.
  - Enable suppression of "deprecated" warnings by macro FL_NO_DEPRECATE.
  - New animated GIF images support (Fl_Anim_GIF_Image class) (#375).
  - GIF and BMP files can now be "read" from memory, i.e. they can be included
    in source code (use their new constructors).
  - New Fl_Scheme_Choice widget can be used to easily switch schemes in apps.
  - A new scheme named "oxy" has been added (STR 2675, STR 3477).
  - Drawing "Arrows" has been unified in all core widgets.
  - Drawing "Radio Buttons" has been unified in all core widgets.
  - Drawing "Check Marks" has been unified in all core widgets.
  - New methods Fl_Group::on_insert/on_remove/on_move (#527) can be used in
    derived classes to detect addition or removal of children.
  - FLTK widgets can now be used in OpenGL 3 windows.
  - The new convenience function Fl::hide_all_windows() can be used to close
    all open windows, for instance to exit the running program.
  - Windows platform: optionally use GDI+ to antialias oblique lines and curves.
  - Windows: The new function Fl::args_to_utf8() can be used to convert
    "wide character" commandline arguments to UTF-8.
  - X11 and Wayland platforms: Added support of HiDPI displays. FLTK apps
    detect the current display scaling factor and use it to scale all windows.
  - MSWindows platform: FLTK applications detect the display scaling factor and
    automatically scale their GUI accordingly. This effectively renders WIN32
    FLTK apps "per-monitor DPI-aware" whereas they were "DPI-unaware" before.
  - Dynamical GUI rescaling: it is possible on all platforms to rescale all
    FLTK windows mapped to a screen by typing ctrl-'+' (enlarge), ctrl-'-'
    (shrink) or ctrl-'0' (back to starting scaling factor value). Under macOS,
    the corresponding keystrokes are cmd-'+', cmd-'-', cmd-'0'. The resulting
    GUI scaling factor (e.g., 170 %) transiently appears in a yellow popup window.
    Use new Fl::option() item OPTION_SHOW_SCALING to turn on/off these popups.
    Windows moved between screens adjust to the scaling factor of their screen.
    This supports desktops mixing screens with distinct resolutions.
    In addition, use environment variable FLTK_SCALING_FACTOR to further adjust
    the starting scaling factor of all FLTK apps.
  - Note: On some platforms and with some international keyboard layouts you may
    need to set Fl::option(OPTION_SIMPLE_ZOOM_SHORTCUT) to be able to use one or
    more of the scaling shortcuts above with or without pressing the Shift key.
    The new executable `fltk-options` can be used to set this option either
    system wide or for a single user.
  - New horizontal and vertical label margins.
  - Fluid got a lot of UI and functional improvements and the Fluid docs have
    been reworked and put in an own "Fluid User Manual" (HTML and PDF).
    Fluid supports the new Fl_Flex and Fl_Grid widgets.
    For more details please see the manual.
  - New Fl_Grid class to layout multiple columns and rows of widgets.
  - New Fl_Flex class to layout one row or one column of widgets.
  - New Fl_Terminal widget supporting Unicode/UTF-8, ANSI/xterm escape codes
    with full RGB color control.
  - New Fl_Copy_Surface to copy drawings to the clipboard.
  - New Fl::keyboard_screen_scaling(0) call stops recognition of ctrl/+/-/0/
    keystrokes as scaling all windows of a screen.
  - New member function Fl_Image::scale(int width, int height) to set
    the drawing size of an image independently from its data size. The
    same function was previously available only for class Fl_Shared_Image
    and with FL_ABI_VERSION >= 10304. New member functions Fl_Image::data_w()
    and Fl_Image::data_h() give the width and height of the image data.
  - New member functions Fl_Widget::bind_image(Fl_Image *img) and
    Fl_Widget::bind_deimage(Fl_Image *img) to bind an image to a widget, that is,
    to set an image to be used as part of the widget label and also
    to be deleted when the widget is deleted.
  - New member function Fl_Menu_::menu_end() to ensure that the menu is fully
    constructed in its final location after dynamic modifications. This is
    called automatically before the menu is shown.
  - New Fl_SVG_Image class: gives support of scalable vector graphics images
    to FLTK using the nanosvg software.
  - New Fl_ICO_Image class to read Windows .ico icon files.
  - New classes Fl_PDF_File_Surface, Fl_SVG_File_Surface and Fl_EPS_File_Surface
    to save any FLTK graphics to PDF, SVG or EPS files, respectively.
  - New member functions Fl_Window::maximize(), Fl_Window::un_maximize() and
    Fl_Window::maximize_active() to programmatically manage window maximization.
  - Fl_Button now supports a compact flag that visually groups closely set
    buttons into keypads.
  - Fl_Tabs widget now supports close buttons for individual tabs.
  - Fl_Tabs widget now supports four different modes for handling an
    overflowing number of tabs.
  - Mouse buttons 4 + 5 (aka "side buttons") are now supported (#1076, #1068).
    These are typically used as "back" and "forward" functions, e.g. in browsers.
  - Windows platform: added support for using a manifest to set the
    application's level of DPI awareness (issue #309).
  - class Fl_Native_File_Chooser on the X11/Wayland platform relies on external
    commands zenity (PR #599), or kdialog (issue #278), or on the GTK library
    to construct file dialogs. New "Preview" switch added to the GTK dialog.
    The libgtk-based dialog uses in priority the file chooser dialog
    of GTK version 3 when available on the running platform, and falls back
    to version 2 when V3 is not available. In contrast, GTK version 2 was used
    in priority by FLTK 1.3.x. New FL::option() item OPTION_FNFC_USES_ZENITY
    to turn on/off use of zenity-based file dialogs.
  - The undocumented feature FLTK_CONSOLIDATE_MOTION is now OFF on X11 and
    removed on macOS. In FLTK 1.3 this feature has been ON on X11. The macro can now
    be set on the compiler commandline and can be used to reduce the number
    of mouse move events sent to the application but it may be unreliable.
    Recommendation: let it switched OFF unless you really need it.
  - New function fl_capture_window() to capture the content of a rectangular
    zone of a mapped window and return it as an Fl_RGB_Image. It improves
    with HighDPI displays what can be done with fl_read_image().
  - The Windows platform now draws oblique and curved lines in antialiased
    form. The new function void fl_antialias(int state); allows to turn off
    or on such antialiased drawing. The new function int fl_antialias(); returns
    whether line and curve drawing is currently antialiased.
  - The border radius of "rounded" box types can be limited and
    the shadow width of "shadow" box types can be configured (issue #130).
    See Fl::box_border_radius_max() and Fl::box_shadow_width().
  - New fl_putenv() is a cross-platform putenv() wrapper (see docs).
  - New public variable Fl_Image::register_images_done allows an app. to detect
    whether function fl_register_images() has been called.
  - Fix Fl::add_timeout() under Linux (STR 3516).
  - Fix early timeouts in Fl_Clock seen in some environments (STR 3516).
  - Fl_Printer::begin_job() uses by default the Gnome print dialog on the X11
    platform when the GTK library is available at run-time. That can be turned off
    with Fl::option(OPTION_PRINTER_USES_GTK, false).
  - New member functions Fl_Paged_Device::begin_job() and begin_page()
    replace start_job() and start_page(). The start_... names are maintained
    for API compatibility.
  - Fl_Gl_Window can now contain FLTK widgets that are drawn on top of the
    OpenGL scene.
  - OpenGL draws text using textures on all platforms, when the necessary
    hardware support is present (a backup mechanism is available in absence
    of this support). Thus, all text drawable in Fl_Window's can be drawn
    in Fl_Gl_Window's (STR#3450).
  - New member function Fl_Menu_Bar::play_menu(const char *title) to
    programmatically open a menu of a menubar.
  - New member functions Fl::program_should_quit(void),
    and Fl::program_should_quit(int) to support detection by the library
    of a request to terminate cleanly the program.
  - MacOS platform: the processing of the application menu's "Quit" item
    has been changed. With FLTK 1.3.x, the application terminated when all
    windows were closed even before Fl::run() or Fl::wait() could return.
    With FLTK 1.4, Fl::run() returns so the app follows its normal termination path.
  - FLTK apps on the MacOS platform contain automatically a Window menu, which,
    under MacOS ≥ 10.12, allows to group/ungroup windows in tabbed form. The new
    Fl_Sys_Menu_Bar::window_menu_style() function allows to specify various
    styles for the Window menu, even not to create it.
  - New function: int fl_open_ext(const char* fname, int binary, int oflags, ...)
    to control the opening of files in binary/text mode in a cross-platform way.
  - Fix for issue #247 : loading SVG image with BOM.
  - Fl_Text_Selection got a new method length() and returns 0 in length()
    and in all offsets (start(), end(), position()) if no text is selected
    (selected() == false). The behavior in FLTK 1.3 and earlier versions
    (returning undefined values if !selected()) was confusing.
  - New method Fl_Group::bounds() replaces Fl_Group::sizes() which is now
    deprecated. Fl_Group::bounds() uses the new class Fl_Rect that contains
    widget coordinates and sizes x(), y(), w(), and h() (STR #3385).
    Documentation for bounds() and its internal structure was added.
  - New method shadow(int) allows to disable the shadows of the hands
    of Fl_Clock, Fl_Clock_Output, and derived widgets.
  - New method Fl_Tabs::tab_align() allows to set alignment of tab labels,
    particularly to support icons on tab labels (STR #3076).
  - Added Fl_Surface_Device::push_current(new_surface) and
    Fl_Surface_Device::pop_current() to set/unset the current surface
    receiving graphics commands.
  - New macros for easy function and method callbacks with multiple
    type safe arguments (see FL_METHOD_CALLBACK_1 etc.) .
  - The value box size of Fl_Value_Slider is now user settable (STR 3222).
  - The new header file FL/fl_config.h replaces FL/abi-version.h and
    includes some more build configuration settings. This file is always
    included automatically.
  - Nested (aka recursive) common dialogs are now possible (STR 3242, #282).

  Removed Features

  - X11 platform: Support of XDBE, the configure option '--enable-xdbe'
    and the CMake option 'OPTION_USE_XDBE' have been removed because XDBE
    was unreliable and rarely supported by X servers. Double buffering
    support in Fl_Double_Window is not affected.
  - Hardware "overlay" support has been removed. This was rarely implemented
    and should not affect user code because overlay support is simulated.

  New Configuration Options (ABI Version)

  - Add --without-fluid configure option (#725) if Fluid is not needed.
  - X11 platform: Added support for drawing text with the pango library
    which allows to draw most scripts supported by Unicode, including CJK
    and right-to-left scripts. FLTK now outputs PostScript that draws
    those scripts in vectorial form. The corresponding CMake option is
    FLTK_USE_PANGO. The corresponding configure option is --enable-pango.
    This option is OFF by default when the build is only for X11 and ON
    when Wayland support is built as well.
  - Configure option --enable-wayland allows to build the FLTK library for
    the new Wayland platform while remaining compatible with X11. The
    corresponding CMake option is FLTK_BACKEND_WAYLAND. This option is ON by default.
  - Configure options --enable-wayland --disable-x11 used together allow to
    build FLTK for the Wayland backend only (no x11 backend). Under CMake, the
    equivalent option is to set FLTK_BACKEND_WAYLAND=ON and FLTK_BACKEND_X11=OFF.
  - The new configure option --disable-gdiplus removes the possibility to draw
    antialiased lines and curves on the Windows platform. The corresponding CMake
    option is FLTK_GRAPHICS_GDIPLUS.
  - The library can be built without support for reading SVG images or writing
    graphics in SVG format using the --disable-svg configure option
    or turning off FLTK_OPTION_SVG in CMake.
  - The library can be built without support for PostScript, thus reducing
    its size, using the --disable-print configure option or turning off
    FLTK_OPTION_PRINT_SUPPORT in CMake. That makes classes Fl_PostScript_File_Device,
    Fl_EPS_File_Surface and Fl_Printer (under X11 platform only) ineffective.
  - FLTK's ABI version can be configured with 'configure' and CMake.
    See documentation in README.abi-version.txt.
  - Building the 'Forms' compatibility library 'fltk_forms' is now optional,
    default is ON. This may be turned to OFF in a later FLTK release.
  - CMake/Windows/MSVC: New option to select MSVC Runtime when linking apps.

  Bundled libraries

  - Bundled image libraries have been upgraded to newer versions.
    For details see documentation/src/bundled-libs.dox or online docs.

  1.4.0 ABI FEATURES

  - None. FLTK 1.4.0 has a new ABI, breaking 1.3.x ABI.


  Other Improvements

  - Fl_Image::copy() is now 'const', including all derived classes.
    Note: This may require code changes in classes derived from Fl_Image,
    see documentation in chapter "Migrating Code from FLTK 1.3 to 1.4".
  - Fl_Native_File_Chooser can now use kdialog, zenity, and/or GTK3 native
    file choosers on Linux.
  - Contrast of check marks and radio buttons has been improved (#443).
  - Improve X11 (16-bit) clipping of lines and rectangles.
  - Added support of macOS 15.0 "Sequoia", 14.0 "Sonoma",
    13.0 "Ventura", 12.0 "Monterey", and 11.0 "Big Sur".
  - Added macOS support for the arm64 architecture since 11.0 (Big Sur).
  - Added support for macOS 10.15 "Catalina"
  - Added support for macOS 10.14 "Mojave": all drawing to windows is done
    through "layer-backed views" when the app is linked to SDK 10.14.
  - Added support for macOS 10.13 "High Sierra".
  - Fixed X11 Input Method window badly positioned with Fl_Text_Editor
    widget (issue #270).
  - Fixed X11 copy-paste and drag-and-drop target selection (issue #182).
    This fix has been backported to 1.3.6 as well.
  - The user can now copy standard dialog text to the clipboard by
    hitting Ctrl/C (#388).
  - The selected color in Fl_Color_Chooser can now be copied to the
    clipboard by hitting Ctrl/C.
  - Add optional argument to Fl_Printer::begin_job() to receive
    a string describing the error when an error occurs.
  - Fix Windows-specific bug when the program tries to enlarge a
    maximized window, that would freeze the window (git issue #65).
  - Improve X11 16-bit coordinate clipping for text (STR 2798). This
    assumes that text is "small" WRT 16-bit coordinate space and clips
    text if at least one of the x/y coordinates is out of bounds.
  - Fix Fl::add_timeout() in draw() under Linux (STR 3188)
  - Improved documentation for '@' symbols in labels (STR #2940).
  - Fl_Roller can now be controlled via the mouse wheel (STR #3120).
  - Handle Shift + mousewheel event as horizontal scrolling (STR 3521).
  - Tooltips hide by themselves after 12 seconds (STR #2584).
  - Improved constructor for creating Fl_Preferences files with flags for the
    correct locale and for overwriting existing files.
  - Added Fl_Input_::append() method (STR #2953).
  - Fix for STR#3473 (and its duplicate STR#3507) to restore configure-based
    builds on recent Linux/Unix distributions where the freetype-config
    command has been replaced by pkg-config.
  - MacOS ≥ 10.10: Fl_Window::fullscreen() and fullscreen_off() no longer
    proceed by Fl_Window::hide() + Fl_Window::show() but essentially
    resize the window, as done on the X11+EWMH and Windows platforms.
  - Fl_Cairo_Window constructors are now compatible with Fl_Double_Window
    constructors - fixed missing constructors (STR #3160).
  - The include file for platform specific functions and definitions
    (FL/x.H) has been replaced with FL/platform.H. FL/x.H is deprecated
    but still available for backwards compatibility (STR #3435).
    FL/x.H will be removed in a (not yet specified) future FLTK release.
    We recommend to change your #include statements accordingly.
  - The Fl_Boxtype and Fl_Labeltype definitions contained enum values
    (names) with a leading underscore (e.g. _FL_MULTI_LABEL) that had to
    be used in this form. Now all boxtypes and labeltypes can and should
    be used without the leading underscore. A note was added to the enum
    documentations to make clear that the leading underscore must not be
    used in user code, although the enum documentation still contains
    leading underscores for technical reasons (internal use).
  - Boxtypes can now be configured to draw their own custom focus box.
  - The blocks demo program got a new keyboard shortcut (ALT+SHIFT+H) to
    reset the user's high score. It is now slower than before in higher
    levels, hence you can expect higher scores (due to a bug fix in the
    timer code). You can use the '+' key to increase the level at all times.
  - Some methods of Fl_Tabs are now virtual and/or protected for easier
    subclassing without code duplication (STR #3211 and others).
  - Fl_Tabs now has an option to delete tabs by the user (UI), and tab
    overflow has been largely improved with several options.
  - glutAddMenuEntry() now has a *const* label argument (STR #3323)
  - Separated Fl_Input_Choice.H and Fl_Input_Choice.cxx (STR #2750, #2752).
  - Separated Fl_Spinner.H and Fl_Spinner.cxx (STR #2776).
  - New method Fl_Spinner::wrap(int) allows to set wrap mode at bounds if
    value is changed by pressing or holding one of the buttons (STR #3365).
  - Fl_Spinner now handles Up and Down keys when the input field has
    keyboard focus (STR #2989).
  - Renamed test/help.cxx demo program to test/help_dialog.cxx to avoid
    name conflict with CMake's auto-generated target 'help'.
  - Fl_Menu_Bar: left and right arrow keys now wrap to the menu at the
    other end of the menubar when pressed in the first (resp. last) menu.
  - Previously "public" members Fl::awake_ring_*_ are now "private" (#559).
  - The test/clipboard demo program can now save PNG images.
  - New virtual int Fl_Group::delete_child(int n) (STR 3218).
  - Many documentation fixes, clarifications, and enhancements.


  Bug Fixes

  - Fixed all Pixmaps to be '*const' (STR #3108).
  - Fixed Fl_Text_Editor selection range after paste (STR #3248).
  - Fixed crash for very small Fl_Color_Chooser (STR #3490).
  - Removed all shadow lint in header files (STR #2714).
  - Fixed pulldown menu position when at the bottom of the screen (STR #2880).
  - Fixed missing item handling in Fl_Check_Browser (STR #3480).
  - Fixed Delete key in Fl_Input deleting entire widgets in Fluid (STR #2841).
  - Duplicating Widget Class in Fluid no longer crashes (STR #3445).
  - Fixed 'fluid.app' on case sensitive macOS (was: 'Fluid.app').
  - Fl_Check_Browser::add(item) now accepts NULL (STR #3498).
  - Interface to set maximum width of spinner text field (STR #3386).
  - Fl_Text_Display no longer wiggles (STR #2531).
  - Fixed Help_View return value (STR #3430).
  - Fix FL_PUSH event handling of Fl_Check_Browser (STR #3004).
  - Fix a potential crash when a program exits before it opens a window
    (Windows only, STR #3484).
  - Fix Fl_PNG_Image error handling. An error was potentially caused
    by error handling of the image library with setjmp/longjmp.
  - Fix Fl_Browser background and text color parsing (STR #3376).
  - Fix Windows CreateDC/DeleteDC mismatch (STR #3373).
  - Fix Fl_Tabs label drawing for Fl_Window children (STR #3075).
  - Fix line number alignment in Fl_Text_Display/Editor (STR #3363).
  - Fix ignored buffer pre-allocation (requestedSize) in Fl_Text_Buffer.
    See fltk.general "Fl_Text_Buffer constructor bug" on Dec 5, 2016.
  - Fix build with configure --enable-cairo --enable-cairoext,
    see this report in fltk.general:
    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/fltkgeneral/x80qQ6wt0s4


  Removed Features

  - Bundled IDE project files (Xcode and Visual Studio) have been
    removed. Please use CMake to generate your IDE project files.
    See README.CMake.txt for more information.
  - Dropped FLTK 1.0 compatibility (macro FLTK_1_0_COMPAT). This "feature"
    was no longer usable since FLTK 1.3, hence it can be dropped safely.


Changes in FLTK 1.3

  See CHANGES_1.3.txt


Changes in FLTK 1.1

  See CHANGES_1.1.txt


Changes in FLTK 1.0

  See CHANGES_1.0.txt