News : Version 14

Version 14.10

9th February 2021

Winteracter v14.10 is now available. This adds various incremental functionality to the recently released v14.0 (see below). Version 14.10 is available at no additional cost to customers who already hold a v14.0 licence. Upgrades are also available from earlier releases (see the Price List page for costs).

View the full version 14.10 release notes.
  • NVIDIA Fortran
    • NVIDIA Fortran is now supported on Linux. This compiler forms part of the recently released free-of-charge NVIDIA HPC SDK. This SDK includes NVIDIA (formerly PGI) Fortran and C/C++ compilers.
    • The Linux version of WiDE has been updated to allow applications to be built with NVIDIA Fortran. NVIDIA C/C++ are also supported.
  • GNU gfortran 10 : Winteracter has been tested with gfortran 10 on all of Windows, Linux and Mac. All three are compatible. The only issue noted was that the --static switch is currently broken in some Windows builds of GCC 10, depending on the associated MinGW-W64/Binutils versions. [Note: While not a Winteracter fault, the static linking issue does impact our standard linking advice and WiDE defaults. Executables can still be linked dynamically on Windows, by removing the --static switch. Alternatively, a version of GCC 10 is available here, which uses slightly earlier versions of MingGW-W64/Binutils.]
  • Tooltips
    • The duration of runtime-assigned toolbar and dialog field tooltips can now be set. The duration of each tooltip can be set individually.
    • The default tooltip duration can now be set by the user, for all X/Winteracter-based applications, in the X version.
  • Grids : The new PushButtonGrid message introduced at v14.0 (see below) has been extended to allow optional grid row/column label button press reporting.
  • Documentation
    • The "X/Winteracter Getting Started Guide" has been retired, with its contents now merged into the appropriate sections of the main documentation. This eliminates duplication and inconsistency issues and ensures that the Guide's contents are available on all platforms.
    • Three new FAQ items have been added. Notably this includes advice on configuring Visual Studio 2019 for use with Intel Fortran Classic (from the Intel oneAPI HPC Toolkit).
  • Demos : A version of the OpenGL 'dino' example program has been added, illustrating use of tesselators.
  • Intel oneAPI : Intel's rebranded "Classic" compiler, which forms part of the freely available Intel oneAPI HPC Toolkit has been tested for compatibility. Minor compatibility adjustments were made to WiDE at the 14.0b update.
  • Lahey Fortran : As of v14.10b, WiDE's Lahey compiler detection on Windows now recognises the recently released Lahey Fortran 7.9.

Registered v14.0 licence holders will receive a free v14.10 licence shortly, via email. Register here, if you have not already done so.

Note: Users of Linux Lahey Fortran 8.x should note that v14.10 will be the last release to support this discontinued compiler. LF 8.x has not been updated in several years and does not work on recent Linux distributions. Support will be removed at the next major release. Support for Windows Lahey compilers is unaffected.


Version 14.0

17th November 2020

Winteracter v14.0 added a variety of new functionality:

View the full version 14.0 release notes.

  • Grids
    • Push button columns : Caption on each cell can be specified individually. New PushButtonGrid message.
    • Check box cell captions can also be assigned individually.
    • New current cell indicator, common to Windows and X. Clean, simple single pixel thickness border.
    • Automatically generated numeric row labels option.
    • Get true cell string length, including trailing spaces.
    • Windows-specific improvements:
      • Major reduction in storage requirements for string columns.
      • Undocumented row label length limit eliminated.
    • X Windows-specific improvements:
      • Reduced storage requirements when using colour or row labels.
      • Improved mouse/keyboard handling in combo box columns.
      • Numerous issues related to right-click menu addressed.
      • Better check marks in printer output for check box columns.
      • PostScript printer output file size halved.
  • Dialogs
    • Treeviews : Check boxes can now be associated with each item:
      • New routines to get/set treeview check box states.
      • New FieldChanged sub-message reports when they change state.
      • Treeview CSV/TSV save/load routines now allow for check boxes.
    • Combo boxes : Improved mouse/keyboard behaviour on X.
    • String/numeric fields : Max length dynamically modifiable at runtime.
  • Editor windows
    • X version supports multi-level undo.
    • Program controllable undo/redo actions:
      • Undo buffer size control.
      • Clear undo buffer.
      • Invoke undo (Windows and X) or redo (Windows).
    • Several other minor improvments.
  • Bit-image files
    • ICO/CUR : Multi-resolution Windows icon/cursor support improved. These allow Windows Explorer or a X desktop manager to use the most appropriate image resolution. Specific changes:
      • When interrogating a multi-res ICO/CUR or loading an image from such a file, the required image can be specified by resolution (e.g. 48x48) or by position (1st, 2nd, ...).
      • The X resource compiler now compiles all of the images in such files into the resource object file. The library uses these when setting window/dialog icons, allowing desktops like Gnome to pick the appropriate size.
      • Each of the visual tools now has a dual-resolution icon, adding a higher resolution program icon.
      • Support added to resource editor, PlotConv and WinterView.
      • "mergeico" command line tool added. Combines multiple ICO or CUR files (single or multi-image) into a multi-resolution file.
    • PNG-compressed images in ICO/CUR files (a.k.a. "Vista" icons) supported. These are 32-bit RGBA images compressed in PNG format, but hidden behind a Windows ICO/CUR header. Their main benefit is reduced compiled resource size on Windows (our resource compiler on X already uses equivalent compression). Specific changes:
      • All routines which read ICO files (e.g. IGrLoadImageData) can extract data from PNG compressed images, either in single image format or mixed PNG/BMP format multi-resolution files.
      • WGrConvertImage, WImageSaveData and WIconSave allow use of PNG-compression when saving icons in 32-bit RGBA ICO/CUR format.
    • BMP : Files in "top down" row order can be read by IGrFileInfo, IGrLoadImageData, IGrLoadImage and WGrConvertImage. Also supported when retrieving X clipboard BMP images. Support also added to visual tools.
    • Stock images : Several additional icons, toolbar button bitmaps and cursors.
  • Shape/Fill primitives
    • Graphics shape/fill routines substantially overhauled.
    • Ellipses : No longer restricted to axis alignment. Any rotation angle allowed.
    • Arcs : Can be elliptical, at any angle. Closure method can now be explicitly specified as none, pie or chord (chord closure is new at this release).
    • IGrReplay updated to recognise new ellipse/arc variants.
    • Shape outlines : Where an outline is required and the underlying API or output format does not provide a suitable primitive, a polyline is now drawn regardless of shape. This can provide efficiency/quality benefits, depending on API/format.
    • Various long-standing edge case issues addressed w.r.t. interactions between particular shape/fill and graphics export/import driver combinations.
    • Most shape fill routines now smaller and more efficient.
  • Metafiles
    • CGM files can be added to program resource on Windows and X.
    • New WMetafileLoadResource : Load a resource EMF or CGM into a memory metafile.
    • CGM importer recognises wider range of 3rd party files. Benefits IGrFileInfo, IGrReplay, WMetafileLoad and PlotConv.
    • CGM image size support via "scaling mode", on both import and export. CGM options dialog allows image extent to be specified.
  • Visual tools : String lengths
    • Various changes relating to string lengths in the visual tools:
      • Maximum string lengths in resource files standardised at 256 characters. Raises length limits on the following: Menu item captions (was 40), tab captions (was 64), dialog titles (was 80), menu item prompts (was 100), toolbar tooltips (was 40) and treeview item captions (was 40).
      • Fortran program unit and parameter name handling in various visual tools upgraded to Fortran 2003 standard (max 63 characters - was 31, as per F90 standard). Benefits WED, WiDE, ResEdit, GraphEd and HelpEd.
      • WiDE compiler/tools switch strings can now be up to 1024 characters long.
      • WiDE external command string length limit effectively eliminated. Maximum length of command line arguments which can be passed to project executable increased from 256 to 1024.
  • WiDE
    • New Subroutines option on Help menu provides quick summary or full documentation for any non-obsolete library routine.
    • Maximum files per project increased to 1000.
    • More settings independently selectable in Release and Debug configurations (e.g. executable name and arguments, resource compiler switches)
    • View Project Directory : Open project files folder view in Explorer or equivalent.
    • Launchpad button in Project dialog provides quick access to visual tools and documentation.
    • Default debugger for use with Intel Fortran on Linux/Mac is now gdb-ia, which superseded Intel's idb.
    • Reformatter recognises F2008 submodules.
    • List Routines and Extract Routines program unit detection rewritten to detect modern Fortran syntax.
    • GNU related improvements on Windows and X.
    • Access to compiler-supplied help improved, when using Absoft or Silverfrost compilers.
    • Shared library and external command handling updated, mainly on Linux/Mac:
      • Library path configurable for each Linux/Mac Fortran compiler and for GNU gfortran on Windows.
      • Mac process invocation reworked to ensure essential shared libraries are accessible to spawned processes. Similar changes on Mac and Linux benefit spawned command prompts.
      • Improved support for shared version of Motif, where used.
      • Mac version now opens Terminal instead of xterm, when a command prompt is required, on the Mac console. (xterm still used when running via remote X server.)
      • Preferred Linux command prompt program configurable. Choice of KDE konsole, gnome-terminal or xterm.
  • Resource editor
    • Grid row label selection reworked/simplified in Grid Properties dialog.
    • Image handling:
      • Image Properties dialog can preview any image in multi-resolution resource ICO/CUR files.
      • PNG-compressed RGBA ICO/CUR files and "top-down" order BMP files supported.
      • Image editor undo buffer depth increased.
    • Add resource option streamlined.
    • Generated resource file size reduced by around 15%.
    • CGM metafiles can be imported.
    • Edit mode field stacking/tab ordering refinements in dialog editor.
  • WED
    • Multi-level undo option added to X version.
    • Undo buffer size configurable on Windows and X.
    • Goto Routine : Program unit detection completely rewritten to detect modern Fortran syntax. Also copes with source lines > 132 characters long.
    • Find All : Result filtering option added, allowing repeated search refinement.
  • Debugging/error reporting
    • Error handler : Additional error reporting level (5), allows an application-supplied error handler to be called each time an error code is generated in a Winteracter library call. The error handler receives the error number, the name of the routine which encountered the error and a string description of the error.
    • Diagnostics file name used by routines in DG group can be specified.
  • Graphics hardcopy/export
    • HP-GL : Plotter support rationalised to assume genuine HP devices only. Simplifies driver and allows better use of standard HP-GL commands, which were not used by default previously. Reduces output file size and improves quality when exported to 3rd party applications.
    • SVG : Font selection improvements.
  • Desktop shortcuts
    • Several improvements to desktop shortcut creation at installation, particularly on Linux:
      • Installer on X offers choice of "Folder view" or "Launchpad", when creating desktop shortcuts. The latter overcomes widely varying quality of implementation issues associated with desktop shortcuts among Linux desktop managers. The new Launchpad program provides common access to supplied tools and documentation, across all X desktops.
      • Desktop shortcut icons redesigned with cleaner and higher resolution images.
  • Compilers/Platforms
    • The Linux GNU gfortran and Absoft Pro Fortran implementations are now built differently to cater for linker (ld) builds which require position independent code, even for executables. This simplifies linking on such systems.
    • The Linux GNU gfortran version has been successfully tested with GCC 9.x.
    • As notified at the time of the 13.0 release, the Linux and Mac versions are now 64-bit only. The Windows version continues to include 32-bit support.
  • Data viewer
    • Image to analyse selectable, when loading a multi-resolution ICO/CUR file.
    • PNG-compressed ICO/CUR files and "top-down" order BMP files can be loaded.
    • Improved support for saving ICO format files, when image data modified.
  • PlotConv
    • Multi-image file browsing extended to support multi-resolution ICO/CUR files. Forward/back controls can be used to select image to view/print/convert, as for CGM or HP-GL files.
    • Other ICO/CUR file improvements, e.g. the max 256x256 pixel size is now supported by the Convert option. PNG-compression in ICO/CUR files supported on both load and save.
    • Top-down order BMP files can be loaded.
  • Miscellaneous
    • Operating system interface : New IOsOpenDir opens specified directory in Windows Explorer, Mac Finder or the equivalent Linux desktop-dependent file explorer.
    • Presentation graphics : Scale plotting routines now support tick marks which extend across both sides of axis line.
    • Information functions : New options to interrogate mouse double-click times, push-button grid cell properties and dialog field style.
    • Clipboard : Bitmap interrogation/retrieval on X refined to improve 3rd party application compatibility (notably with KDE-based tools on Linux).
    • WPlayMovie : Movie playback now allowed on Linux, in a very similar manner to the Mac version.
    • WHelpfile : PDF files now opened via xdg-open on Linux, eliminating need to configure a suitable reader. CHM files can be viewed on Linux/Mac, where a suitable third-party CHM viewer is installed.
    • Demos : Six more demonstration programs, including two new mouse tracking examples.
    • Absoft Fortran 21.0 ("Pro Fortran 2021") : Tested for compatibility on all of Windows, Linux and Mac.


For more information email:

Please note : References to "support for" specific third party software do not imply endorsement of same. Refer to Supported Compilers/Platforms for more information.