[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.
</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>General</I></B><P>

<ul>
<li>wxHTML printing. When finished, this will allow an application to generate
printed reports with very little effort.
<li>wxSocket.
<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>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
<li>PCX writing code.
<li>GIF animation code.
<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxChrono class.
<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.
<li>Bug tracking system.
</ul>

<P>

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

<ul>
<li>Windows CE port.
<li>Cure bug whereby in a panel within another panel, all buttons become
default buttons (heavy black border).
<li>Write a RC->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.
25a37c8c JS	113	</ul>
	114
	115	<P>
	116
d139753a	117	<H4>Release 2.4 (stable)</H4>
25a37c8c	118
14e40b5a VZ	119	Release date: ?
	120
	121	Stable version of 2.3.
25a37c8c JS	122
25a37c8c JS	123	<ul>
14e40b5a VZ	124	<li>wxMac release.
14e40b5a VZ	125	<li>wxBeOS port.
25a37c8c JS	126	</ul>
	127
	128	<P>
	129
	130	<CENTER>
	131	<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="todo">To-Do List</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
	132	</CENTER>
	133
	134	<P>
	135
	136	Developers: please feel free to add to these, and delete them when they are done.
	137
	138	<P>
	139
	140	<B><I>General</I></B><P>
	141
	142	<ul>
	143	<li>wxHTML printing. When finished, this will allow an application to generate
	144	printed reports with very little effort.
	145	<li>wxSocket.
	146	<li>Split library into several, for base (classes and functions usable by console and GUI
	147	applications), console (classes and functions usable by console application only)
	148	and GUI (classes and functions usable by GUI application only).
	149	<li>Extend and unify drag and drop handling (e.g. we need to specify multiple drop targets
	150	that can handle multiple formats).
9b94d7f9 JS	151	<li>Expand the number of controls that can be specified in a WXR file;
9b94d7f9 JS	152	add constraint specification to WXR syntax and Dialog Editor; add multilanguage support to WXR.
f19d58d5 VZ	153	May be we'd better change the format completely and replace WXR with XML
f19d58d5 VZ	154	(providing conversion utility for old files)?
7c7d8b16 VZ	155	<li>Context sensitive help: we need to have wxHelpEvent which would be
	156	generated when the help for a given control is requested and a standard
	157	handler for it in wxWindow which would invoke the default help system with the
	158	correct help id.
25a37c8c	159	<li>Rewrite Dialog Editor.
f19d58d5 VZ	160	<li>Modem-oriented classes: wxDialUpManager for dialing up the ISP and
	161	determining if there is a connection to Internet on the machine and
	162	wxPhoneDialer for dialing arbitrary phone numbers and otherwise communicating
	163	with the modem.
d139753a	164	<li>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
25a37c8c JS	165	<li>PCX writing code.
	166	<li>GIF animation code.
	167	<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxChrono class.
9b94d7f9	168	<li>Debug wxPostScriptDC further.
25a37c8c	169	<li>wxDateTime class.
d139753a	170	<li>Regular expressions support.
9b94d7f9	171	<li>Expansion of wxHTML to support further tags, and frames.
25a37c8c JS	172	<li>MGL port (see Backroom/Future Ports page).
	173	<li>Rotated text support.
	174	<li>FreeType support.
	175	<li>Support for 'skins', perhaps using a set of alternative control and window classes
	176	written generically in wxWindows.
9b94d7f9 JS	177	<li>Serial and parallel port support.
9b94d7f9 JS	178	<li>Modem and telephony support.
25a37c8c JS	179	<li>Book, tutorial.
25a37c8c JS	180	<li>More examples.
d139753a	181	<li>Bug tracking system.
25a37c8c JS	182	</ul>
	183
	184	<P>
	185
	186	<B><I>wxMSW</I></B><P>
	187
	188	<ul>
	189	<li>Windows CE port.
	190	<li>Cure bug whereby in a panel within another panel, all buttons become
	191	default buttons (heavy black border).
	192	<li>Write a RC->WXR converter.
	193	</ul>
	194
	195	<P>
	196
	197	<B><I>wxGTK</I></B><P>
	198
	199	<ul>
	200	<li>GNOME/KDE integration libraries.
	201	</ul>
	202
	203	<P>
	204
	205	<B><I>wxMotif</I></B><P>
	206
	207	<ul>
f19d58d5 VZ	208	<li>Fix menu accelerators
f19d58d5 VZ	209	<li>Fix refresh problems
25a37c8c JS	210	<li>Allow wxSystemSettings to be configurable, perhaps via a control
	211	panel application.
	212	</ul>
	213
	214
	215	</BODY>
	216	</HTML>
	217