iCalMaker 1.5.1 released

iCalMaker 1.5.1 was released today (download).

This release includes a number of bug fixes and a couple of new features:

New Features:

• Added support for the export of iCal "invitations" direct to Apple Mail, Eudora, Microsoft Entourage, Mailsmith and PowerMail
• Added direct support for the export of iCal files to PowerMail

Bug Fixes:

• Caught a bug that was causing some problems with the import of tab- and comma-delimited files
• Fixed a bug that caused some unicode text not to be exported correctly to iCal
• Corrected some broken links in the ‘Help System’
• Stomped on a bug that was causing some repeat event not to be correctly formated in vCal (Palm) export
• Solved a problem that was causing the return and delete keys from working as advertised
• Fixed a bug that would cause the program not to work if ‘Toast‘ was installed

Busy few days bug chasing and adding new features

Bugs are funny things. No matter how much you test a program you can be sure that there is some one out there with a computer set up in such a way that your program won’t work! And ever so often a user will say ‘does your program do X?’ or ‘it would be great if it did Y’, and you think ‘why didn’t I think of that!’ (if you have some idea, or bug reports, please send them to: bugs@mmisoftware.co.uk or feedback@mmisoftware.co.uk)

So a round up:

mailMaker: Added support for export to PowerMail. Also caught a really nasty bug which was causing the program to crash for some users on Mac OS X 10.2 to 10.2.8. There is also another weird bug that I haven’t been able to solve. It appears that if Toast is installed, and the default e-mail program is not running, then mailMaker cannot send the messages to the e-mail program.

JPEGCleaner: No bugs to deal with but support has been added for importing jfif files and exporting as jpeg.

iCalMaker: Added some new features such as support for the export of iCal "invitations" direct to Apple Mail, Eudora, Microsoft Entourage, Mailsmith and PowerMail, and direct support for the export of iCal files to PowerMail. Also caught a number of bugs.

The bugs:

• some problems with the import of tab- and comma-delimited files
• problems with unicode text not to be exported correctly to iCal
• some repeat events not to being correctly formated in vCal (Palm) export
• solved a problem that was causing the return and delete keys from working as advertised
• have all been squashed!

Also, corrected some broken links in the ‘Help System’.

Fun and games with dates and languages

iCalMaker started life as a simple project to solve a particular problem I had with getting a plain-text, tab-delimited, file of data into iCal. The simple solution was to just enter everything in to iCal by hand. But being a computer type of person I thought I could write a quick program to do the job. That was a year ago! The ‘simple’ program (just for me) took only a couple of days to write and check, it was then suggested I release the program. Therefore after 6 months of writing, polishing and testing, iCalMaker 1.0 was released in May 2003.

So, what have I learnt in the last 12 months?

1. The ical/vcal/ics format is a lot more complicated than I first thought!
2. We (i.e. the planet!) use a wild and wonderful array of methods to express dates and times (not only are there different names for the dates (which I knew) but there are also hundreds (thousands?) of different ways to say the same date, e.g. 12/3/03 could be the 12th March 2003, or 3rd December 2003, it could also be March 12th, Mar 12, 12 Mar, 12 March, 3/12/3, 03/12/2003, 2003/12/03 etc. etc.)
3. People like using diaries and it is a constant source of amazement as to what they wish to record and the weird and wonderful format of the files!

Right, back to hunting a tricky vcal 2.0 to vcal 1.0 conversion bug and to trying to find a way input dates from a file sent to me by a French customer.

Fun and games with xcode…

Well, I have been working on a the new product and trying to chase a bug in iCalMaker.

Looks like I have the bug cornered. It is a rare beast that only comes out during the conversion of iCal files back to Palm (i.e. vcal files version 2.0 to vcal files version 1.0) and only appears during the conversion of yearly repeats with no end. Once the bug has been squashed there will be a round of intensive testing and version 1.5.1 of iCalMaker will be out.

xcode, the new programming environment from Apple, has been causing some problems. I am working on a new project and for some reason I can no longer add files. Most weird. I have no idea why this should suddenly happen. I can’t think what has changed. It is really annoying as I was in the final stages of completing the work, i.e. the features in the program were finished, beta testing was going well, and all I was trying to add was the help system!