[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: March 21st, 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 (8 and 24 bit saving added)
<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
<li>wxIPCxxx classes reworked.
<li>Several new samples and demos.
</ul>

<P>

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

Release date: mid. April, 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>Full 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>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>wxSocket.
<li>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
<li>PCX writing code.
<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxStopWatch class.
<li>wxDateTime class.
<li>Rotated text support (might still be improved)
<li>Bug tracking system.
</ul>

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

<ul>
<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>Regular expressions support.
<li>Expansion of wxHTML to support further tags, and frames.
<li>MGL port (see Backroom/Future Ports page).
<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
f6bcfd97	62	Release date: March 21st, 2000<P>
14e40b5a VZ	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>
d2249417 GRG	71	<li>First beta release of wxBase
d2249417 GRG	72	<li>New or significantly improved base classes: wxDateTime, wxLongLong,
14e40b5a	73	wxCmdLineParser, wxDir, wxStopWatch
d2249417 GRG	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 (8 and 24 bit saving added)
	79	<li>Attributes (custom colours/font) support in wxTreeCtrl, wxListCtrl
	80	<li>Impressive number of fixed bugs in wxMSW and wxGTK including various
14e40b5a	81	incompatibilities between the two
d2249417 GRG	82	<li>wxIPCxxx classes reworked.
d2249417 GRG	83	<li>Several new samples and demos.
25a37c8c JS	84	</ul>
	85
	86	<P>
	87
d139753a JS	88	<H4>Release 2.2 (stable)</H4>
d139753a JS	89
d2249417	90	Release date: mid. April, 2000.<P>
14e40b5a VZ	91
	92	This is the next stable version of wxWindows. No new features since
	93	2.1.14 beta.
25a37c8c JS	94
25a37c8c JS	95	<ul>
14e40b5a	96	<li>bugs found during 2.1.14 will be fixed.
f6bcfd97 BP	97	<li>translations of text strings used in wxWindows.
f6bcfd97 BP	98	<li>documentation updated to include all new classes.
25a37c8c JS	99	</ul>
	100
	101	<P>
	102
d139753a JS	103	<H4>Release 2.3</H4>
d139753a JS	104
14e40b5a	105	Release date: ?
25a37c8c JS	106
25a37c8c JS	107	<ul>
d139753a	108	<li>Context sensitive help.
7c7d8b16	109	<li>More i18n issues: dates, times, ...
14e40b5a VZ	110	<li>POSIX-like regular expressions support for all platforms.
14e40b5a VZ	111	<li>Encryption support (interface to OpenSSL).
d2249417	112	<li>Full UDP support in wxSocket
14e40b5a VZ	113	<li>wxPlot
14e40b5a VZ	114	<li>XML for resource files.
ee6e1b1d	115	<li>Built-in support for configuring key bindings
25a37c8c JS	116	</ul>
	117
	118	<P>
	119
d139753a	120	<H4>Release 2.4 (stable)</H4>
25a37c8c	121
14e40b5a VZ	122	Release date: ?
	123
	124	Stable version of 2.3.
25a37c8c JS	125
25a37c8c JS	126	<ul>
14e40b5a VZ	127	<li>wxMac release.
14e40b5a VZ	128	<li>wxBeOS port.
25a37c8c JS	129	</ul>
	130
	131	<P>
	132
	133	<CENTER>
	134	<HR> <FONT SIZE=+2><I><B><a name="todo">To-Do List</a></B></I></FONT> <HR>
	135	</CENTER>
	136
	137	<P>
	138
	139	Developers: please feel free to add to these, and delete them when they are done.
	140
	141	<P>
	142
70d213e0 GRG	143	<B><I>Already done</I></B><P>
	144
	145	<P>
	146
	147	<ul>
d2249417 GRG	148	<li>wxHTML printing. When finished, this will allow an application to generate
	149	printed reports with very little effort.
	150	<li>Split library into several, for base (classes and functions usable by console and GUI
	151	applications), console (classes and functions usable by console application only)
	152	and GUI (classes and functions usable by GUI application only).
70d213e0 GRG	153	<li>wxSocket.
	154	<li>wxImage handlers in separate .h and .cpp files.
	155	<li>PCX writing code.
d2249417 GRG	156	<li>Tidying of timer code, addition of wxStopWatch class.
	157	<li>wxDateTime class.
	158	<li>Rotated text support (might still be improved)
70d213e0 GRG	159	<li>Bug tracking system.
	160	</ul>
	161
25a37c8c JS	162	<B><I>General</I></B><P>
	163
	164	<ul>
25a37c8c JS	165	<li>Extend and unify drag and drop handling (e.g. we need to specify multiple drop targets
25a37c8c JS	166	that can handle multiple formats).
9b94d7f9 JS	167	<li>Expand the number of controls that can be specified in a WXR file;
9b94d7f9 JS	168	add constraint specification to WXR syntax and Dialog Editor; add multilanguage support to WXR.
f19d58d5 VZ	169	May be we'd better change the format completely and replace WXR with XML
f19d58d5 VZ	170	(providing conversion utility for old files)?
7c7d8b16 VZ	171	<li>Context sensitive help: we need to have wxHelpEvent which would be
	172	generated when the help for a given control is requested and a standard
	173	handler for it in wxWindow which would invoke the default help system with the
	174	correct help id.
25a37c8c	175	<li>Rewrite Dialog Editor.
f19d58d5 VZ	176	<li>Modem-oriented classes: wxDialUpManager for dialing up the ISP and
	177	determining if there is a connection to Internet on the machine and
	178	wxPhoneDialer for dialing arbitrary phone numbers and otherwise communicating
	179	with the modem.
70d213e0	180	<li>GIF animation code (support is already there, but wxAnimation is not yet complete)
9b94d7f9	181	<li>Debug wxPostScriptDC further.
d139753a	182	<li>Regular expressions support.
9b94d7f9	183	<li>Expansion of wxHTML to support further tags, and frames.
25a37c8c	184	<li>MGL port (see Backroom/Future Ports page).
25a37c8c JS	185	<li>FreeType support.
	186	<li>Support for 'skins', perhaps using a set of alternative control and window classes
	187	written generically in wxWindows.
9b94d7f9 JS	188	<li>Serial and parallel port support.
9b94d7f9 JS	189	<li>Modem and telephony support.
25a37c8c JS	190	<li>Book, tutorial.
	191	<li>More examples.
	192	</ul>
	193
	194	<P>
	195
	196	<B><I>wxMSW</I></B><P>
	197
	198	<ul>
	199	<li>Windows CE port.
ee6e1b1d	200	<li>Write a RC to WXR converter.
25a37c8c JS	201	</ul>
	202
	203	<P>
	204
	205	<B><I>wxGTK</I></B><P>
	206
	207	<ul>
	208	<li>GNOME/KDE integration libraries.
	209	</ul>
	210
	211	<P>
	212
	213	<B><I>wxMotif</I></B><P>
	214
	215	<ul>
f19d58d5 VZ	216	<li>Fix menu accelerators
f19d58d5 VZ	217	<li>Fix refresh problems
25a37c8c JS	218	<li>Allow wxSystemSettings to be configurable, perhaps via a control
	219	panel application.
	220	</ul>
	221
	222
	223	</BODY>
	224	</HTML>
	225