[wxWidgets.git] / docs / html / roadmap.htm

<HTML>
<HEAD>
  <TITLE>wxWindows Roadmap</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

<a name="top"></a>

<font face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica">

<table width=100% border=4 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#660000">
<font size=+1 face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF">
wxWindows Roadmap
</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

<P>

<CENTER>
<a href="#schedule">Schedule</a> | <a href="#todo">To-Do List</a>
</CENTER>

<P>

This page represents current thinking about where wxWindows is going in the near, 
medium and long-term. It also serves as a schedule for new releases so
that both developers and users can know what to expect when, at least approximately.<P>

We are adopting the Linux kernel style of numbering system where odd minor version numbers are development
versions, and even numbers are stable versions. For example, 2.1.x are development releases,
and the next 'stable' or final release of it would be 2.2.<P>

Bug-fix patches to the stable release (if made) then become point
releases of 2.2 (2.2.x) while development continues with wild abandon
on 2.3.x until the end of the next development cycle when it is
released as 2.4.<P>

Development versions that end up on the FTP site or CD-ROM, as opposed to remaining
in the CVS archive, are semi-stable -- i.e. they are checked for compilation and
run-time problems, but not as thoroughly as the stable versions.<P>

Note that since the wxWindows effort is voluntary, these are not hard-and-fast deadlines:
but we will endeavour to follow them as closely as possible.<P>

Note also that the releases described are for wxGTK, wxMSW and wxMotif ports. wxMac currently follows
its own development path but is due to merge with the main code base in November/December.
Also, minor snapshot releases for specific platforms may be
available at dates convenient to the developers.<P>

<CENTER>
<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="schedule">Schedule</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
</CENTER>
<P>

<H4>Release 2.1.14</H4>

Release date: February 13 or 20, 2000<P>

This will be the final beta release before the final 2.2 release. It will be
synchronized for as many platforms as possible (at least Windows and GTK,
probably Motif and hopefully Mac).

Changes since the last synchronized release (2.1.11):

<ul>
<li>first beta release of wxBase
<li>new or significantly improved base classes: wxDateTime, wxLongLong,
wxCmdLineParser, wxDir, wxStopWatch
<li>much better i18n support, encoding conversion on the fly, wxFontMapper
<li>new wxGrid class
<li>new wxCalendarCtrl class
<li>dynamic toolbar/menubar management
<li>better image formats support: TIFF (new), PCX (improved)
<li>attributes (custom colours/font) support in wxTreeCtrl, wxListCtrl
<li>impressive number of fixed bugs in wxMSW and wxGTK including various
incompatibilities between the two
</ul>

<P>

<H4>Release 2.2 (stable)</H4>

Release date: March 5, 2000.<P>

This is the next stable version of wxWindows. No new features since
2.1.14 beta.

<ul>
<li>bugs found during 2.1.14 will be fixed.
<li>translations of text strings used in wxWindows
<li>documentation updated to include all new classes
</ul>

<P>

<H4>Release 2.3</H4>

Release date: ?

<ul>
<li>Context sensitive help.
<li>More i18n issues: dates, times, ...
<li>POSIX-like regular expressions support for all platforms.
<li>Encryption support (interface to OpenSSL).
<li>UDP support in wxSocket
<li>wxPlot
<li>XML for resource files.
<li>Built-in support for configuring key bindings
</ul>

<P>

<H4>Release 2.4 (stable)</H4>

Release date: ?

Stable version of 2.3.

<ul>
<li>wxMac release.
<li>wxBeOS port.
</ul>

<P>

<CENTER>
<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="todo">To-Do List</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
</CENTER>

<P>

Developers: please feel free to add to these, and delete them when they are done.

<P>

<B><I>Already done</I></B><P>

<P>

<ul>
<li>wxSocket.
<li>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
<li>PCX writing code.
<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxChrono class.
<li>Bug tracking system.
</ul>

<B><I>General</I></B><P>

<ul>
<li>wxHTML printing. When finished, this will allow an application to generate
printed reports with very little effort.
<li>Split library into several, for base (classes and functions usable by console and GUI
applications), console (classes and functions usable by console application only)
and GUI (classes and functions usable by GUI application only).
<li>Extend and unify drag and drop handling (e.g. we need to specify multiple drop targets
that can handle multiple formats).
<li>Expand the number of controls that can be specified in a WXR file;
add constraint specification to WXR syntax and Dialog Editor; add multilanguage support to WXR.
May be we'd better change the format completely and replace WXR with XML
(providing conversion utility for old files)?
<li>Context sensitive help: we need to have wxHelpEvent which would be
generated when the help for a given control is requested and a standard
handler for it in wxWindow which would invoke the default help system with the
correct help id.
<li>Rewrite Dialog Editor.
<li>Modem-oriented classes: wxDialUpManager for dialing up the ISP and
determining if there is a connection to Internet on the machine and
wxPhoneDialer for dialing arbitrary phone numbers and otherwise communicating
with the modem.
<li>GIF animation code (support is already there, but wxAnimation is not yet complete)
<li>Debug wxPostScriptDC further.
<li>wxDateTime class.
<li>Regular expressions support.
<li>Expansion of wxHTML to support further tags, and frames.
<li>MGL port (see Backroom/Future Ports page).
<li>Rotated text support.
<li>FreeType support.
<li>Support for 'skins', perhaps using a set of alternative control and window classes
written generically in wxWindows.
<li>Serial and parallel port support.
<li>Modem and telephony support.
<li>Book, tutorial.
<li>More examples.
</ul>

<P>

<B><I>wxMSW</I></B><P>

<ul>
<li>Windows CE port.
<li>Write a RC to WXR converter.
</ul>

<P>

<B><I>wxGTK</I></B><P>

<ul>
<li>GNOME/KDE integration libraries.
</ul>

<P>

<B><I>wxMotif</I></B><P>

<ul>
<li>Fix menu accelerators
<li>Fix refresh problems
<li>Allow wxSystemSettings to be configurable, perhaps via a control
panel application.
</ul>


</BODY>
</HTML>
Commit	Line	Data
25a37c8c JS	1	<HTML>
	2	<HEAD>
	3	<TITLE>wxWindows Roadmap</TITLE>
	4	</HEAD>
	5
	6	<BODY>
	7
	8	<a name="top"></a>
	9
	10	<font face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica">
	11
	12	<table width=100% border=4 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
	13	<tr>
	14	<td bgcolor="#660000">
	15	<font size=+1 face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF">
	16	wxWindows Roadmap
	17	</font>
	18	</td>
	19	</tr>
	20	</table>
	21
	22	<P>
	23
	24	<CENTER>
	25	<a href="#schedule">Schedule</a> \| <a href="#todo">To-Do List</a>
	26	</CENTER>
	27
	28	<P>
	29
	30	This page represents current thinking about where wxWindows is going in the near,
	31	medium and long-term. It also serves as a schedule for new releases so
	32	that both developers and users can know what to expect when, at least approximately.<P>
	33
d139753a JS	34	We are adopting the Linux kernel style of numbering system where odd minor version numbers are development
	35	versions, and even numbers are stable versions. For example, 2.1.x are development releases,
	36	and the next 'stable' or final release of it would be 2.2.<P>
	37
	38	Bug-fix patches to the stable release (if made) then become point
	39	releases of 2.2 (2.2.x) while development continues with wild abandon
	40	on 2.3.x until the end of the next development cycle when it is
	41	released as 2.4.<P>
	42
	43	Development versions that end up on the FTP site or CD-ROM, as opposed to remaining
	44	in the CVS archive, are semi-stable -- i.e. they are checked for compilation and
	45	run-time problems, but not as thoroughly as the stable versions.<P>
	46
	47	Note that since the wxWindows effort is voluntary, these are not hard-and-fast deadlines:
25a37c8c JS	48	but we will endeavour to follow them as closely as possible.<P>
25a37c8c JS	49
d139753a	50	Note also that the releases described are for wxGTK, wxMSW and wxMotif ports. wxMac currently follows
9b94d7f9 JS	51	its own development path but is due to merge with the main code base in November/December.
9b94d7f9 JS	52	Also, minor snapshot releases for specific platforms may be
25a37c8c JS	53	available at dates convenient to the developers.<P>
	54
	55	<CENTER>
	56	<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="schedule">Schedule</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
	57	</CENTER>
	58	<P>
	59
14e40b5a	60	<H4>Release 2.1.14</H4>
25a37c8c	61
14e40b5a VZ	62	Release date: February 13 or 20, 2000<P>
	63
	64	This will be the final beta release before the final 2.2 release. It will be
	65	synchronized for as many platforms as possible (at least Windows and GTK,
	66	probably Motif and hopefully Mac).
	67
	68	Changes since the last synchronized release (2.1.11):
25a37c8c JS	69
25a37c8c JS	70	<ul>
14e40b5a VZ	71	<li>first beta release of wxBase
	72	<li>new or significantly improved base classes: wxDateTime, wxLongLong,
	73	wxCmdLineParser, wxDir, wxStopWatch
	74	<li>much better i18n support, encoding conversion on the fly, wxFontMapper
	75	<li>new wxGrid class
	76	<li>new wxCalendarCtrl class
	77	<li>dynamic toolbar/menubar management
	78	<li>better image formats support: TIFF (new), PCX (improved)
	79	<li>attributes (custom colours/font) support in wxTreeCtrl, wxListCtrl
	80	<li>impressive number of fixed bugs in wxMSW and wxGTK including various
	81	incompatibilities between the two
25a37c8c JS	82	</ul>
	83
	84	<P>
	85
d139753a JS	86	<H4>Release 2.2 (stable)</H4>
d139753a JS	87
14e40b5a VZ	88	Release date: March 5, 2000.<P>
	89
	90	This is the next stable version of wxWindows. No new features since
	91	2.1.14 beta.
25a37c8c JS	92
25a37c8c JS	93	<ul>
14e40b5a VZ	94	<li>bugs found during 2.1.14 will be fixed.
	95	<li>translations of text strings used in wxWindows
	96	<li>documentation updated to include all new classes
25a37c8c JS	97	</ul>
	98
	99	<P>
	100
d139753a JS	101	<H4>Release 2.3</H4>
d139753a JS	102
14e40b5a	103	Release date: ?
25a37c8c JS	104
25a37c8c JS	105	<ul>
d139753a	106	<li>Context sensitive help.
7c7d8b16	107	<li>More i18n issues: dates, times, ...
14e40b5a VZ	108	<li>POSIX-like regular expressions support for all platforms.
	109	<li>Encryption support (interface to OpenSSL).
	110	<li>UDP support in wxSocket
	111	<li>wxPlot
	112	<li>XML for resource files.
ee6e1b1d	113	<li>Built-in support for configuring key bindings
25a37c8c JS	114	</ul>
	115
	116	<P>
	117
d139753a	118	<H4>Release 2.4 (stable)</H4>
25a37c8c	119
14e40b5a VZ	120	Release date: ?
	121
	122	Stable version of 2.3.
25a37c8c JS	123
25a37c8c JS	124	<ul>
14e40b5a VZ	125	<li>wxMac release.
14e40b5a VZ	126	<li>wxBeOS port.
25a37c8c JS	127	</ul>
	128
	129	<P>
	130
	131	<CENTER>
	132	<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="todo">To-Do List</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
	133	</CENTER>
	134
	135	<P>
	136
	137	Developers: please feel free to add to these, and delete them when they are done.
	138
	139	<P>
	140
70d213e0 GRG	141	<B><I>Already done</I></B><P>
	142
	143	<P>
	144
	145	<ul>
	146	<li>wxSocket.
	147	<li>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
	148	<li>PCX writing code.
	149	<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxChrono class.
	150	<li>Bug tracking system.
	151	</ul>
	152
25a37c8c JS	153	<B><I>General</I></B><P>
	154
	155	<ul>
	156	<li>wxHTML printing. When finished, this will allow an application to generate
	157	printed reports with very little effort.
25a37c8c JS	158	<li>Split library into several, for base (classes and functions usable by console and GUI
	159	applications), console (classes and functions usable by console application only)
	160	and GUI (classes and functions usable by GUI application only).
	161	<li>Extend and unify drag and drop handling (e.g. we need to specify multiple drop targets
	162	that can handle multiple formats).
9b94d7f9 JS	163	<li>Expand the number of controls that can be specified in a WXR file;
9b94d7f9 JS	164	add constraint specification to WXR syntax and Dialog Editor; add multilanguage support to WXR.
f19d58d5 VZ	165	May be we'd better change the format completely and replace WXR with XML
f19d58d5 VZ	166	(providing conversion utility for old files)?
7c7d8b16 VZ	167	<li>Context sensitive help: we need to have wxHelpEvent which would be
	168	generated when the help for a given control is requested and a standard
	169	handler for it in wxWindow which would invoke the default help system with the
	170	correct help id.
25a37c8c	171	<li>Rewrite Dialog Editor.
f19d58d5 VZ	172	<li>Modem-oriented classes: wxDialUpManager for dialing up the ISP and
	173	determining if there is a connection to Internet on the machine and
	174	wxPhoneDialer for dialing arbitrary phone numbers and otherwise communicating
	175	with the modem.
70d213e0	176	<li>GIF animation code (support is already there, but wxAnimation is not yet complete)
9b94d7f9	177	<li>Debug wxPostScriptDC further.
25a37c8c	178	<li>wxDateTime class.
d139753a	179	<li>Regular expressions support.
9b94d7f9	180	<li>Expansion of wxHTML to support further tags, and frames.
25a37c8c JS	181	<li>MGL port (see Backroom/Future Ports page).
	182	<li>Rotated text support.
	183	<li>FreeType support.
	184	<li>Support for 'skins', perhaps using a set of alternative control and window classes
	185	written generically in wxWindows.
9b94d7f9 JS	186	<li>Serial and parallel port support.
9b94d7f9 JS	187	<li>Modem and telephony support.
25a37c8c JS	188	<li>Book, tutorial.
	189	<li>More examples.
	190	</ul>
	191
	192	<P>
	193
	194	<B><I>wxMSW</I></B><P>
	195
	196	<ul>
	197	<li>Windows CE port.
ee6e1b1d	198	<li>Write a RC to WXR converter.
25a37c8c JS	199	</ul>
	200
	201	<P>
	202
	203	<B><I>wxGTK</I></B><P>
	204
	205	<ul>
	206	<li>GNOME/KDE integration libraries.
	207	</ul>
	208
	209	<P>
	210
	211	<B><I>wxMotif</I></B><P>
	212
	213	<ul>
f19d58d5 VZ	214	<li>Fix menu accelerators
f19d58d5 VZ	215	<li>Fix refresh problems
25a37c8c JS	216	<li>Allow wxSystemSettings to be configurable, perhaps via a control
	217	panel application.
	218	</ul>
	219
	220
	221	</BODY>
	222	</HTML>
	223