ALTERNET STUDIO 9.0
AlterNET Studio 9.0 is a major release focusing on .NET 7.0 support and improvements across all our component libraries.
Main enhancements include:
.NET 7 support for all AlteNET core libraries and NuGet packages.
Visual Studio Code -like look and feel for the Code Editor.
TextMate generic parser with all themes supported by Visual Studio Code.
Improvements in the Python language-server parser.
Revisited license checking and enforcement.
Read highlights of version 9 here.
Below is a list of changes in this release:
Code Editor
+ Visual Studio Theme was added to provide Visual Studio Code look and feel for the text editor.
+ Code Editor can now display a magnifier area, making it easier to see and navigate the document's content.
+ Images with alpha channels are now used in Code editor code completion, line styles, and bookmark indicators.
+ DataTips shown during expression evaluation follow the code editor’s visual theme.
+ Standalone Search/Replace dialog forms now follow the code editor’s visual theme.
+ TextEditor now uses a default border style similar to RichEdit control
+ Custom Border style was added to SyntaxEdit, allowing to specify different border colors/border widths.
+ Image lists used in code completion are now cached for better performance.
+ Incremental search is now implemented via a popup search panel.
+ Code Editor now supports the drawing of Emoji characters.
- Code completion drawing was optimized to remove flickering.
- Code Editor handles shortcuts like Ctrl + K Ctrl+ N correctly, even if they’re present in the main menu items.
Parsers
+ TextMate-based generic parser has been added, supporting all language themes from Visual Studio code.
+ Python LSP parser has been updated to include embedded packages for three different Python language servers, including Pyright, which drives Microsoft Visual Studio Code Pylance extension.
+ Roslyn parsers have been updated to the latest version of Microsoft Code Analysis API.
+ Performance of LSP-based parsers has been generally improved.
- The issue with code completion for generic classes has been resolved for advanced C#/Visual Basic and TypeScript parsers under .NET 6/7.
- The issue with showing descriptions for the code completion members has been fixed for C#/Visual Basic and TypeScript parsers.
- The issue of an un-indenting current statement when typing { in the editor when connected to the C# parser has been fixed.
- The issue with formatting code containing read-only lines has been fixed.
- Several issues with Schema-based code completion for XML have been fixed.
Scripter
+ Scripter now supports compiling, executing, and debugging non-file system-based Python/IronPython and TypeScripts code.
+ StepOut command was added to Debug toolbar and menu.
- The Issue with code completion not being displayed in the evaluation dialog has been fixed.
- Now, it’s possible to specify implicit using both for .cs and .csx scripts.
- The Issue with TypeScript scripts located on the drive other than C:\ has been resolved.
Form Designer
+ Form designer can now serialize the designed form into Python code and run it using the Python.NET scripting engine.
+ Toolbox now supports in-place editing of the categories.
+ Property Grid now includes a component list that shows all controls on the form
- Exception when adding a column in DataGridView designer has been addressed.
Installation
+ All core libraries and NuGet packages have been updated to support .Net Framework 4.6.2, .Net 6, and .NET 7.
+ SyntaxBuilder tool to create generic parser schemes has been added to the program installation.
+ Installation now offers to run the Demo Explorer at the end of the installation process.
+ All assemblies and demo projects are now signed with an Alternet Software certificate.
Licensing model
+ Licensing checking is now not performed in case .licx files are not included in the application.
Demo Projects
+ Demo projects have been updated to target .net 4.6.2, .net 6, and .net 7 Frameworks.
+ Debugger UI thread example project has been added to demonstrate how Python and TypeScript script debuggers can be used to debug scripts that are run within the context of a separate form.
+ Python Threading demo has been added to show how several separate scripts can be executed simultaneously.
+ Python DAP demo project was added to demonstrate debugging of multiple threads.
+ AlterNET Studio demo now includes a bookmark management toolbar and saving/loading bookmarks between application sessions.
+ PackageReference demo was added to show how Scripter and Code Editor can reference NuGet packages.
