1.2.1 (26/1/98) Fixed a bug with the Save As... command.
1.2.0 (12/1/98) ACE! supports scripting - look at the scripts menu for some examples.
New modules: Omega (version 0.75 and 0.80), Escape Velocity, Harry the
Handsome Executive and an Unlimited Adventures design password module.
Function keys 1 to 4 now Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear respectively. The Clear
button on the numeric keypad also clears text.
Lots of minor bug fixes.
1.1.1 (27/10/97) Added a better version checking process which won't become apparent
until later versions of ACE!
Fixed a bug that prevented ACE! from running on non-MacOS 8 PPC systems
(AppearanceLib not found error on launch)
1.1.0 (23/10/97) Uses the Appearance manager. On MacOS 8 systems, all dialogs and alerts
will be "theme-savy".
Changed the wording of the "Invalid Value" dialog and added a "Use
Maximum/Minimum button".
Fixed a bug with hi/lo nibbles (which only affected the 'M&M II' module).
Fixed a bug with reading in long data types on 68k Macs.
1.0.0 (29/9/97) First public release.
Planed Features
In no particular order of importance, some of the features planned for future versions are:
Multi-pane dialogs
Modules could use many 'window-panes', allowing for a more sensible (and less cramped!) arrangement of controls. For an example of a dialog with multiple panes, see the Preferences dialog in Newswatcher, Fetch or the File Sharing control panel in MacOS 8.
Linked controls
A link between controls will allow controls to affect each other. This would happen in two ways:
1. A control could enable or disable other controls. For example, a checkbox might be disabled until another checkbox is checked.
2. A control could change the value of other controls. For example, increasing a character's 'strength' might increase their 'bonus to hit'.
An option would be provided to disable on-the-fly linking.
Multiple modules
Currently, only one module can be used at a time. In a future version of ACE, all modules will be available simultaneously. This would be useful when combined with scripting.
List controls
A list control (like those in the Chooser) is the best way of presenting a large amount of information that is complicated or which may change in size (number). For example, the equipment list of a character could be displayed (and edited) with a list.
Recordability
A future version of ACE will be 'recordable', allowing you to make a script of your actions by recording them in the script editor.
Compatibility Issues
This section lists any known bugs, conflicts or cosmetic glitches in ACE! and the recommended helper utilities. Unless otherwise noted, all information is relevant to the current versions at time of writing.
ACE!
1. 'Optioned' command keys will not work (i.e. option-command-W and option-command-O). This is because the 'optioned' O and W keys actually appear to the program as ø and ∑ respectively. While I could map these particular characters to O and W, this solution would be dependant on the System Font, and would certainly not work on international systems. The only other solution currently available would involve some complicated mucking around with the 'KCHR' resources.
Holding down the option key while clicking with the mouse works fine.
2. On systems with the appearance manager, when pasting or clearing in an edit text field, a grey background will be drawn in the edit text field. This is a cosmetic bug with the appearance manager.
ResEdit (version 2.1.x):
1. ResEdit may save changes to a resource fork even when the user clicks on the Don't Save button. This occurs when editing some resource types, and not with others. Always work with a copy of your file.
2. ResEdit will freeze when you try to open a DITL (and possibly other resources) when the clipboard contains some styled text. The easiest way to avoid this is to select the DITL resource (before opening it) and copy it (i.e. hit Command-C before opening the DITL).
3. On some Power Macintosh's, ResEdit will freeze if you copy or cut item(s) from a DITL more than once. The only work-around is to copy/cut once, and then quit and reopen the ResEdit if you need to edit another dialog.
4. ResEdit has (crash) problems displaying pop-up menu CNTL's in the DITL editor. If you are working in a DITL and you see a pop-up menu contains characters that should not be present, or are greyed out, then you should immediately save the module and quit ResEdit. Do not attempt to look at the affected pop-up menu, or make any other changes to other dialog items. Similar problems seem to occur with all types of CNTL's. Quitting and reopening ResEdit seems to reduce it's 'sensitivity' to this problem.
5. Don't use the Revert command in the File menu. It doesn't always work.
6. Don't save while a DLOG editor is open. Close the 'DLOG' editor before saving.