April 4, 2008
I know I've said this before, but I really do love the scripting support in WebCoder and phpCoder :). However, you can do even more with it than just create simple scripts. Adam Moore has extended the functionality of phpCoder with SVN support using just scripting, as seen in this post, which really shows you some of the potential. In this post, I wish to highlight something equally cool: The ability to create plugins. It makes it much easier to add advanced functionality, since it allows the developer to create most of the functionality in an IDE designed for the job, like Visual Studio or one of the Express editions. I've written a small tutorial on the subject to get you started - it can be found right here. Have a look and let me know what you think of it.
Also, please have a look in this forum thread - I need your help on that one, guys :)
February 25, 2008
I have just released the 3rd beta version of TSW phpCoder 2008. I think that the application already feels more stable, but I'm sure that there are still bugs to be found, so keep up the good work, guys. As mentioned last time, I will be giving away free commercial licenses to the 5 most active betatesters :)
Download TSW phpCoder 2008 beta 3 - please provide feedback in the beta forum
Special note to people with a previous beta version installed: Unless you allow phpCoder to overwrite your previous settings, you may be missing out on certain fixes, since each beta release usually comes with slightly modified data files, to fix issues where these files are involved.
February 15, 2008
TSW phpCoder 2008 beta 2 has just been released. I wish to thank all the very active beta testers, who have kept me very busy for the last couple of weeks! More than 100 issues have been resolved from beta 1 to beta 2, and I really wish to thank you guys for being so devoted to finding the bugs and telling me about them. I forgot to mention this in the first blog post about beta 1, but I would like to give away a free commercial TSW phpCoder license to the 5 most active betatesters once the final version has been released - as usual :). Keep up the good work!
Download TSW phpCoder 2008 beta 2 - please provide feedback in the beta forum
Please be aware that the usual splash screen has been deactivated in beta 2, because of a compatibility issue with one of the components used. I hope to have this issue fixed soon, hopefully for beta 3.
Special note to beta 1 users: A minor change was made to the internal name of the main menu. This invalidates the toolbar layout file that beta 1 has created for you. If you choose to keep your settings during the first start of beta 2, the main menu will not be displayed properly. In that case, please do the following: Press F8, go to Interface -> Toolbars and press the "Reset all toolbars" button. Now restart phpCoder, and the main menu should be okay again :)
January 29, 2008
I'm very happy to announce that the first beta version of TSW phpCoder 2008 has just been released. You may download it by using the link in the end of this post. Seeing as this is the first beta version, I wish to remind you that the feature list is not necessarily complete yet. If you find something that you would like implemented, be sure to let me know already now. The longer we get into the beta process, the more reluctant I will be to implement new features :). And now, the download link:
Download TSW phpCoder 2008 beta 1 - please provide feedback in the beta forum
I'm really looking forward to hearing what you think of it!
Please notice that TSW phpCoder 2008 requires the .NET framework to run. The installer will try to install it for you, if you do not already have it. For more information about the .NET framework, please see our .NET info page. Also, please be aware that this is beta software. It's meant for testing only, and if you don't feel comfortable using software with known bugs and quirks, you should wait for the final version.
December 14, 2007
WebCoder introduced PHP IntelliSense several versions ago, where your PHP code was parsed to obtain relevant information for the IntelliSense functionality. Including files is a very used technic with PHP, and WebCoder supported this by allowing you to define paths to where you would commonly place your include files. Obviously, parsing lots of files is a big task, and should be done as rarely as possible, to save system resources. However, for some users, this wasn't enough - they have include files which include other files which... and so on. To prevent WebCoder from hogging too many resources, it stops after the first level of included files, that is, it only parses include files of the main file, and no more.
It still works like this in phpCoder 2008, but this new application does come with another way of handling include files: Project based include files. When you create a new project, you will be able to define which folders contains the included files - you can even define specific files. When you open the project, all the files are parsed and the information is cached, allowing you to see it in all project documents. This will also come in handy for people including their files dynamically, since phpCoder will no longer care whether or not you use an include statement for a file that it can actually find.
Of course, the old way still works too, if you prefer it :)
December 10, 2007
I'm very proud to show you the very first video of TSW phpCoder 2008 in action. One of my favorite features of the application is the new PHP Tidy. It will help you write prettier code, by formatting it as configured by you, as you type or when you run the function on your document. You can customize it to suit your coding style, and while it will help you keeping your own coding standards, it can help you get a better overview of other peoples code as well. Open the document, press F4, and all the code is formatted the way you prefer it. This video also shows another new feature: The live syntax check. Have a look and be sure to let me know what you think of it! Oh, and don't worry about the simple interface shown in the video - it's simply running in fullscreen mode, to focus on the feature being shown. There are a bit more to it, which you will see in the next video :)
Click here to see PHP Tidy in action
Stay tuned until next time, where I will show you something even more cool - debugging!
December 7, 2007
As I hinted at earlier, I'm working on a new application. It's called TSW phpCoder, and is, as the name suggests, a dedicated PHP editor. While WebCoder keeps the broad focus, phpCoder is intended for PHP developers only. It will come with a nice set of features to keep the PHP developer happy, and the entire interface is based around writing PHP code. Obviously, you will see stuff that's in WebCoder as well, but phpCoder will be lighter, and almost every feature will be PHP related in one way or another. With that said, most PHP developers will write HTML too and even CSS on occasions - phpCoder will of course help with this, just like it helps you write PHP code. phpCoder brings new features to the table, and besides all the small adjustments and improvements, I think you will find real debugging and profiling, PHP Tidy and live syntax check among the interesting additions! I'm currently creating a couple of videos to show you this, so stay tuned - the first one will be posted within the next couple of days! If you have any suggestions or comments, let me know :)