		Rapid Database Application Development
	Changes/ 0.1 beta 5	"Microsoft Access for Linux"

Kexi 0.1 beta 5 Changes

(since beta 4 version)

Database Support Library

MySQL driver introduced again. Thanks to Martin Ellis.
Kexi file driver now supports unicode (UTF8) storage for text fields
KexiSQL (file driver) migrated to SQLite 3.0.7, former libkexisql is now libkexisql2 for compatibility (it's updated to 2.8.15, by the way).
Sqlite file version is now autodetected on startup. Sqlite2 to sqlite3 format autoconversion added (with progress dialog).
ksqlite and ksqlite2 added as command line shells taken from original SQLite (to avoid version conflicts with original SQLite possibly installed)
better general and driver-specific error handling
KexiDB SQL Parser much improved; test suite added
SQL Parser now supports complex column expressions, operators, joins, criterias, floating-point numbers, 64-bit integers, column and table aliases (not all is available via GUI yet)
SQL Parser now supports type checking useful for SQL Debugger; keywords are better detected
KexiDB speed optimizations
Driver::IgnoreTransactions flag added: transactions are silently bypassed
KexiDB driver now supports custom properties for future extensions
better handling of previous server error messages and numbers
identifiers and strings are safely escaped in db-specific automatical way
table aliases are now supported
full portable support for date, time and datetime types

autonumbers supported, including editing existing autonumber values
db-aware combo box widget much improved
added cell editor for displaying kde icon (using icon name provided as a string)
"Not empty" field's property is now called "Allow Zero Size" (and has opposite meaning)
Table's header supports tooltips when needed (for column description of if column is not wide enough)
Every table view now uses sorting action available also from toolbar and menu.
"cancel row editing" action added
Tab, BackTab keys work again; skipping to next/previous row added; Left, Right arrow keys now by default behave like BackTab, and Tab.
Hidden columns are internally supported; useful for query data views.
Many redraw bugs and weird behaviours fixed
"yes" button for "do you want to delete row?" dlg has "Delete row" text, etc. (as KDE HIG requires)
widgets for date, time improved, datetime widget added
record navigator much improved, now has full-row width, better integrated with horiz. scrollbar
"row highlighting" option added (currently, internal only), comboboxpopup uses it

saving changes to tables works now (data is just dropped, though); user is warned about this, when needed
Added many rules for easier setting primary keys and autonumbers; e.g. setting 'indexed' property to false clears 'primaryKey'; setting 'primaryKey' to true sets 'indexed', 'unique' to true
On table creation (or altering), if there is no primary key, user is asked if it should be added (automatically).
1st column with "key" icon (for pkey) added
primary-key numbers are handled using 64-bit arithmetic

Many code cleanups, updated code docs
Improved editor : minimum size for widgets, impossible to drag widgets out of parent boundaries
Many new actions (all undoable of course): "Snap to grid" or not, many align functions (to right, to top, to fit) and size functions (to fit, to biggest, etc.), "Raise" and "Lower", "Break layout", "Select All, "Clear contents"
Fixed "undo" and "redo" actions which work fine now, also in Kexi
Actions are now enabled/disabled following selection and type of form
KFormDesigner is now a KPart, so it can embeds inside Konqueror to view .ui files, or inside KDevelop to edit them (KDevelop plugin is still experimental, not fully functionnal)
If we're loading a widget which class is not supported, an empty widget is displayed (as in Qt Designer)
Many, many bug fixes and other improvements (thanks to js for reporting them)
Kexi FormPart was reworked again, the form is now inside a scroll view, so it can have any size, even in IDEAL mode
Kexi now supports subforms as MS Access!
These are forms embedded inside other forms. Saving and loading works, and subforms can be nested (many levels: better than in MS Access).
Added a new set of icons for widgets and positioning actions

Many error messages and warnings added. Kexi has now over 750 messages available for translation.
Objects renaming. Operates within transaction.
Toolbar and menu actions reorganized, added
Kexi Browser: "create new" action added to browser's mini-toolbar; icons for particular "create" actions are generated in a cool way
dock window's geometry is saved to a config file
Property Editor (and Property Framework) widget improved, started preparation to make it standard for KDE
PropertyEditor's font size setting is now stored, available for changing by hand
icons can be optionally displayed in any PropertyEditor's row
Warning messages are used instead of questions for dangerous messages.

Handling startup actions much improved; verbosity increased
added many options for server-based (mysql, postgresql) projects (usable since gui is not yet ready): --createdb, --dropdb, --dbdriver, --create-opendb, --user (-u), --port, --host (-h), --local-socket
on startup: password can be now entered using dialog, if it's a server-based connection
added many fine-grained compile-time options for removing all unstable/experimental Kexi features

Kexi - "MS Access for Linux" ... and Windows

This content is available under GFDL

Last edited: 2009-07-29