2.24 (22 Mar 2020)

Date spreadsheet functions added:

DAYS(),
ISOWEEKNUM().

Mathematical spreadsheet functions added:

BASE(),
DECIMAL(),
GCD(),
LCM().

Engineering spreadsheet functions added:

BIN2DEC(),
BIN2HEX(),
BIN2OCT(),
BITAND(),
BITLSHIFT(),
BITOR(),
BITRSHIFT(),
BITXOR(),
DEC2BIN(),
DEC2HEX(),
DEC2OCT(),
HEX2BIN(),
HEX2DEC(),
HEX2OCT(),
OCT2BIN(),
OCT2DEC(),
OCT2HEX().

The C_COMPLEX() spreadsheet function may take a single parameter as the real part of the resulting complex number with imaginary part zero.

The DAYNAME() and WEEKDAY() spreadsheet functions may now take a mode parameter to control the calculation.

The DDB() spreadsheet function may now use a non-integer period for calculation.

The TRIM() and VALUE() spreadsheet functions can accept text strings longer than 200 characters as input.

RISC OS: !RunImage is squeezed for faster loading from slow devices.

RISC OS: Improved packaging giving homepage and indicating compatibility.

2.23 (not released)

'What happened to this release?' I hear you ask. This was used for developing new features and bug fixes, many of the former of which made it into 2.24, with some of the latter being backported to (bug fix build) 2.22.01. A number of people used copies of development builds that described themselves as 2.23 variants in order to test some of these new features and for checking bug fixes, so this version number was best left unused for actual releases.

2.22.01 (24 Dec 2019)

Fireworkz Pro: Holidays file updated with VE Day 2020 and dates in 2021.

Formatting a very large number with a small radix (either with Style or the TEXT() spreadsheet function) no longer overflows temporary buffer causing subsequent error.

Fixed the DAYS_360() spreadsheet function (had inadvertently been forcing European method).

Fixed the SUM_X2PY2() spreadsheet function.

Fixed memory leak when closing spreadsheet documents.

Fixed inserting of names that are defined as cell references into text cells.

Allow inserting of names that are defined as ranges into text cells. Only the top left cell value is used

Attempts to autoformat numeric data typed on the formula editing line (as occurs with Edit in Cell). e.g. £1,234 will be recognised as a number and formatted with currency symbol and thousands separator. Any text starting with an equals sign will not be autoformatted but parsed as a formula as before.

Any error when loading a template for a foreign file is now referred to using the template filename, not the foreign filename.

RowTable construct only saved in document when different to default (zero).

PipeDream charts saved in either the new (0xA77) or the old (0xDDE) file type are recognised as Draw files and may be inserted into documents.

Uses C library's inverse hyperbolic functions rather than own implementation.

Checks for integer overflow when adding to / subtracting from date / time components.

Checks for attempt to divide by a denormalised (i.e. very very small) number; this would previously have given FP error rather than Divide by zero.

Checks for rejection of non-numeric values in SPEARMAN() spreadsheet function improved.

The logical spreadsheet functions and operators (such as AND() and &) would previously have given a Parameter out of range error when passed large numbers that were not representable in the largest (32-bit) integer type used internally, rather than just checking whether the number was zero (false) or non-zero (true). This also applies to logical values used in custom function control statements (IF/ELSEIF/WHILE/UNTIL)

Numbers may now be formatted using a date format in the Numbers section of the Style editor. If a date format is detected in that section, numbers are treated as Microsoft Excel-compatible serial numbers and converted to dates for formatting. This can help with importing files from Microsoft Excel.

Formatting now imported better from Microsoft Excel BIFF3 files. This allows dates and/or times to be correctly detected.

Increased accuracy of numbers loaded from Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 files.

RISC OS: Fix for double-clicking foreign file types when Fireworkz is not loaded.

RISC OS: Internal error handler improved to show Continue and Quit button pair with more logical outcomes.

RISC OS: ROOL DDE 29a build environment used.

Windows: Some spreadsheet function status line help was not correctly encoded and appeared garbled.

Windows: When a desktop icon is created on installation, it is created in the common desktop directory, not just the installing user's.

2.22 (13 Feb 2019)

RISC OS: Fonts are not used in edit controls and combo box controls if no Desktop font is in use.

RISC OS: More tiny adjustment to calculated width of labels in dialogue boxes to avoid clipping.

RISC OS: Toolbar buttons render better when the display mode is changed to different EIG factors.

2.21.04 (05 Jan 2019)

% displayed after Scale value in the View control dialogue box.

RISC OS: Use a single routine for consistent manipulation of RGB for disabled items.

RISC OS: List box entries rendered using SWI Wimp_PlotIcon for improved contrast when disabled.

RISC OS: Tiny adjustment to calculated width of labels in dialogue boxes to avoid clipping.

RISC OS: No longer tries to conditionally provide a ptr_menu sprite for old systems.

Windows: Fix for Print Setup.

Windows: Add question mark icon to dialogue box title bars. Clicking this, then clicking on a control in the dialogue box, will bring up help (as F1).

Windows: Saner chart legend dialogue box layout.

2.21.03 (18 Sep 2018)

Fix for mail merge field insert.

2.21.02 (02 Mar 2018)

Speed-ups for large sparse matrices in M_DETERM() and M_INVERSE() spreadsheet functions.

2.21.01 (06 May 2017) - didn't tag this one!

Windows: Fix for DDE protocol to avoid occasional crash when opening documents from File Explorer. This also allows multiple documents to be selected in File Explorer and opened together with the Open menu option.

2.21 (04 May 2017) - didn't tag this one!

Fix for importing Microsoft Excel worksheets using MULRK records with General cell style.

Allow template files that are loaded by double-clicking, dragging to the application icon (RISC OS) or from the Open dialogue box (Windows) to load supporting documents (e.g. custom functions or referenced data). This is achieved by renaming the newly created document after loading, rather than creating a new untitled document and loading the template into that, as remains the case when creating documents from the application icon (RISC OS) or from the New dialogue box (Windows).

Page dialogue box button reorder with default at top.

Style intro dialogue box button reorder with Cancel at bottom.

Spreadsheet Name intro dialogue box button reorder with Cancel at bottom.

RISC OS: Fix UI for Choices dialogue box to allow caret in the delimiter field.

Windows: Fix for double-clicking on a Fireworkz document to open raising a File Explorer error. Creates top-level hidden window for DDE server earlier during start-up phase.

2.20.01 (12 Dec 2016)

Allow template files that are loaded by double-clicking, dragging to the application icon (RISC OS) or from the Open dialogue box (Windows) to load supporting documents (e.g. custom functions or referenced data). This is achieved by renaming the newly created document after loading, rather than creating a new untitled document and loading the template into that, as remains the case when creating documents from the application icon (RISC OS) or from the New dialogue box (Windows).

Page dialogue box button reorder with default at top.

Style intro dialogue box button reorder with Cancel at bottom.

Spreadsheet name intro dialogue box button reorder with Cancel at bottom.

RISC OS: Fix UI for Choices dialogue box to allow caret in delimiter field.

2.20 (25 Oct 2016)

The COUNTBLANK() spreadsheet function has been recategorised as a statistical function (like COUNTA()).

When saving a selection as Text that is just a fragment (i.e. not containing any whole cells), no terminating newline is appended. This is particularly useful when transferring text to other consumers via the clipboard.

Fireworkz Pro: Improved structure of the User Guide.

Fireworkz Pro: Allows text to be pasted from global clipboard into database fields.

RISC OS: Support added for global clipboard. Fireworkz documents can accept clipboard data in Fireworkz native format and any other that it can import. Fireworkz documents can supply clipboard data in Fireworkz native format and any other that it can export. The 'writable icons' in dialogue boxes accept and supply clipboard data as Text.

RISC OS: Application resources moved from !Fireworkz.Resource to !Fireworkz.AppData. Language-specific resources (Choices, Dictionaries, Document Templates) are located in a sub-directory of AppData. The only one currently provided is UK. Language-neutral resources (Markers, Pictures) may be found in the Neutral sub-directory of AppData. Fireworkz$Path is set by !Boot and !Run and is used to locate these resources.

RISC OS: Many resources (Loader, Help) are now located in !Fireworkz.Resources. (They had previously been separated out of the Resource directory into a RISC_OS sub-directory). Language-specific resources are located in a sub-directory of Resources. The only one currently provided is UK. A new variable, FireworkzRes$Path, is set by !Boot and !Run and is used to locate these resources.

RISC OS: high-res and low-res sprites have been unbound from the executable and are now located in Sprites22 and Sprites24 respectively in !Fireworkz.Resources. Supports use of Wimp$IconTheme prefix to locate themed variants thereof (none are supplied).

RISC OS: Window Manager flags bit is set to save and restore FP state over SWI Wimp_PollIdle calls rather than doing it manually.

RISC OS: Release notes are now located at top level in !Fireworkz.

Windows: Language-neutral application resources (Markers, Pictures, Support) may now be found in the Neutral sub-directory of Fireworkz\System. Language-specific resources are located in a sub-directory of System. The only one currently provided is UK, as before. A registry variable, SystemPath, is set by the installer and is used to locate these resources.

Windows: Some resources (DLLs, Help) are now located in Fireworkz\Resources. Language-specific resources are located in a sub-directory of Resources. The only one currently provided is UK. A new registry variable, ResourcesPath, is set by the installer and is used to locate these resources.

Compatibility spreadsheet function added:

ODF.MOD()

2.10.02 (07 Jul 2016)

Version information (and therefore top-bit-set encoding used therein) is saved in each Choices file.

BaseSingleCol construct is only saved in files where needed (i.e. when non-zero).

All newlines are suppressed in files between elements in Style definitions and Effect applications.

Reinstated the older Ctrl-Shift-D keyboard shortcut as synonym for Insert Date (now Ctrl-D).

RISC OS: Better handles upgrading from an earlier version with a Choices directory but without a ChoicesDoc.

RISC OS: Uses DejaVuSans.Mono 12pt (if it is available AND a Unicode Font Manager is in use) as the font for formula line text, edit controls and combo box controls.

2.10.01 (04 Jul 2016) - seemingly not distributed!

When the Faint grid option is used for on-screen display, the (thin) grid colour is now derived from the style system. For spreadsheets, this is usually best set in BaseSheet.

RISC OS: Fix for partially initialised structure that could cause fault during application exit.

RISC OS: Use extended syntax SWI Wimp_ForceRedraw to update title bar more efficiently.

2.10 (25 Jun 2016)

Fireworkz Pro: Grey out Cols label in Database Layout dialogue box when Card layout is selected.

Spreadsheet functions that take date parameters have been extended to accept numeric input. If a number is supplied where a date is required, it is treated as an OpenDocument / Microsoft Excel-compatible serial number and converted to a date value. This allows data sets containing such numeric values to be more easily processed in Fireworkz.

Read-only files are locked against editing; to edit a read-only file it must first be saved with a different file name.

The 3-D chart terms roll and pitch have been replaced by the terms turn and droop that better describe their actions (chart turns about y-axis, floor of chart droops forwards from the rear x-axis).

Polygonal Draw paths in charts are now closed correctly.

Non-rectangular quadrilateral Draw paths in charts use rounded joints. This avoids mitred joints of non-Thin lines poking well beyond 3-D bars.

Greatly improved click selection of objects in charts; more refined tests are applied if the simple object bounding box is hit.

JPEG files inserted into charts now render correctly.

Resizing charts and pictures shows the zoom factor being applied.

Supports loading of Poster and Vector (RISC OS) image files.

ImageFileEmbedded construct added to handle loading / saving non-native / original format image files in addition to a more portable Draw file representation.

Fixes for note unpinning and repinning.

Fixes for note saving — compatibility for older readers.

Note saving — where the original image file data is available (and is of type other than Draw file) this will be listed as the default option.

Fix where inserting multiple copies of the same referenced picture could lead to them not being displayed until the document was reloaded.

Styles that are only used in Upper regions (i.e. ones that are not printed, e.g. Current cell) are not used to populate the style in the Effects dialogue box.

Improved sizing and alignment of UI elements in several dialogue boxes.

Several OK buttons in dialogue boxes replaced with Insert buttons (e.g. for Insert field).

Any errors when saving a user's Choices file will now delete that file: this avoids malformed Choices files preventing start-up.

Removed support for ancient 'Integrale' format spell check dictionaries.

Template Text and Number styles updated to have an appropriate New Object attribute.

Templates now use separate Header and Footer styles rather than a combined BaseHeadFoot style.

RISC OS: Fixed bug which always mapped Shift+Select clicks as Adjust clicks and restored several Ctrl+Select clicks as mapping to Adjust clicks as documented.

RISC OS: Fixed bug which prevented menus from having dashed-line separators.

RISC OS: Uses DejaVuSans.Mono 12pt (if it is available) as the font for formula line text.

RISC OS: Improved high-res sprites for toolbar buttons and Thin line style.

RISC OS: Uses coloured Formula Enter (tick) and Formula Cancel (cross) toolbar buttons.

RISC OS: Tweaked appearance of Make Constant and Function Selector buttons.

RISC OS: Disabled toolbar buttons rendered on normal background rather than white (less intrusive effect).

RISC OS: Changed the appearance of writable field borders to more be consistent with RISC OS Style Guide (Issue 3).

RISC OS: Uses ChangeFSI, if available, as a utility to convert a much wider range of image file formats. On machines where the OS is not shadowed in RAM, you can improve ChangeFSI's performance by first typing *RMFaster BASIC.

RISC OS: Scrap files (for both file loading and image conversion) are created in the <Wimp$ScrapDir>.Fireworkz directory.

Windows: File Open dialogue box may be used to open multiple files at once; use Ctrl-click to select more than one file.

Windows: Open as read-only option is now present in the File Open dialogue box.

Windows: Dialogue box captions are Appropriately Capitalised.

Windows: Fixed bug which always mapped Ctrl-clicks and Shift-clicks as right mouse clicks; these are mapped as required in each context.

Windows: Right mouse button clicks on toolbar buttons are ignored (there are no context menus).

Windows: More attractive 32-bit toolbar buttons with alpha channel are used on high-colour displays when themes are active.

Windows: Toolbar buttons are rendered using current theme if possible. Disabled toolbar buttons are rendered dimmed using alpha blending. When themes are active, the theme separator is rendered rather than just leaving the space blank.

Windows: Dialogue box owner-draw buttons are rendered using current theme if possible; if not, they are always framed using DrawFrameControl (previously the frame could disappear leading to confusion).

Windows: Dialogue box owner-draw buttons are slightly larger than before.

Windows: Colour dialogue box custom colours are initially populated with RISC OS Window Manager sixteen default colours for convenience.

Windows: Dictionary dialogue box list was too large and had internal scroll bar.

Windows: As JPEG files inserted into Drawfiles do not render on Windows, when you insert them into charts on Windows they are first transformed to Windows BMP.

Windows: Uses GDI+ to natively handle a much wider range of image file formats.

Windows: Windows 2000 Professional is no longer supported.

Date spreadsheet functions added:

EDATE(),
EOMONTH().