[UACCESS-L] TextPal 1.8 released -- powerful, open source editor

[Jamal Mazrui <empower@smart.net>]

Now available at
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/palsetup.exe

This is to share recent history on the free, advanced and speech-friendly
editor called TextPal.  Developed with the Ruby programming language, this
open source project seeks to implement almost every feature I found useful
in a text or code editor, and do so in ways that maximize productivity by
screen reader users.  A unique design feature of TextPal is its enhanced
speech accomplished via the APIs of JAWS or Window-Eyes if detected.

Comments, questions, or suggestions are welcome.
Jamal

Version 1.5
Released October 5, 2006

Using an updated 1.85 version of the Ruby interpreter.  Fixed the Quote
command, Control+Q, not working with some comment characters.  Fixed the
document modified status, Alt+Z, not being updated for commands that
create new files such as New from Clipboard, Spell Check, Path List, HTML
Format, or Text Combine.  This made TextPal fail to prompt for changes to
be saved if Alt+F4 was pressed.  The modified status is not set, however,
when a disk file is automatically converted from another format to text,
based on the assumption that one is just doing a quick conversion for
reading in TextPal.  Fixed the Replace with RegExp command,
Control+Shift+R, not recognizing regular expression symbols in the target
string.  Fixed text eemail attachment not opening in TextPal after .txt
file association was set.

Changed the TextCombine command, Control+Shift+T, so that it does not
automatically add a table of contents at the beginning, since a better one
is created by reviewing section headings first with Control+PageDown, and
when satisfied, generating the Table of contents separately with
Alt+Shift+T.  Added paragraph navigation commands:  F9 for next, Shift+F9
for previous, and Alt+F9 for current.  Added the Manual Settings command,
Alt+Shift+M, to configure settings more flexibly than Alt+S, e.g.,
removing multiple files from the recent files or favorites lists.  Added
the history file, available from the Help menu, so users can more easily
learn about the latest changes to TextPal.
----------

Version 1.6
Released October 6, 2006

Added optional set of JAWS scripts to fine tune TextPal interface in ways
that could not be done otherwise, e.g., reading by paragraph with Alt plus
Center, DownArrow, or UpArrow.  The setup program uses JAWS Script
Exchange,
http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/jsxsetup.exe

----------

Version 1.7
Released October 10, 2006

Fixed TextPal speech enhancements not working with Window-Eyes when JAWS
is installed on the same computer but not currently loaded.  Made
Alt+DownArrow or Alt+LeftArrow duplicate F9 and Shift+F9 with Window-Eyes,
as well as with JAWS using TextPal scripts.

Dropped verbalization of command names for common navigation or deletion
operations, e.g., Alt+DownArrow will not say the word "paragraph" before
reading the next paragraph.  Similarly, the DeleteRight or DeleteLeft
commands, Control+Slash or Control+Shift+Slash, do not announce the
command before reading the new line after text removal.  However, the
DeleteDown or DeleteUp commands, Alt+Slash or Alt+Shift+Slash, still
announce themselves as a reminder because they are more destructive.

Addedsentence navigation with Alt+RightArrow or Alt+LeftArrow.



--------------------

Version 1.8
Released October 12, 2006

Using a different dialog engine (IniForm) to improve stability in some
parts of the user interface.  Fixed the Help command, F1, not reliably
launching the TextPal documentation in the default web browser.

Enhancement to support multiple bookmarks per file.  When a file is
opened, TextPal automatically goes to the last one,  if found.  If more
than one bookmark exists, the Go to Bookmark command, Alt+K, presents a
list of bookmarked lines, with the default choice being the next one ahead
of the current cursor position.

The IndentAlert mode, Alt+Shift+I, now speaks the change in indentation
level when using up or down arrow keys, e.g., "saying In 1," or "Out 2."
With JAWS, this announcement is before the new line is read.

The File Find command, Alt+Shift+F, quickly presents the previous results
if the same search is repeated.  Also, the default choice in the list will
be the file after the one last chosen.    If text is selected, the Run At
Cursor command, Shift+F5, prompts with that text rather than the current
word.

Two more options are available through the Settings command, Alt+S.  You
can configure the main TextPal window to be maximized at start up.  You
can also turn word wrap off at start up.  As before, all configuration
options are focusable with a unique hot key in the Settings dialog, e.g.,
Alt+W for WordWrapStartUp.