-*-Help-*-

Release Notes - Alpha

                                            version: 8.1
                                            created: 03/18/1991 {10:22:14 AM}
                                        last update: 05/24/2006 {12:42:47 PM}

	  	Table Of Contents

"# About Alpha"
"# AlphaX System Requirements"

"# Known Limitations"
"# Changes between Major Releases"
"#   Changes between 8.1 and 8.0"
"#   Changes between 8.0b14 and 8.0"
"#   Changes between 8.0b8 and 8.0b14"
"#   Changes between 7.6 and 8.0b8"
"#   Changes between 7.5 and 7.6"
"#   Changes between 7.4 and 7.5"
"#   Changes between 7.3 and 7.4"
"#   Changes between 7.0 and 7.3"

"# Registration"
"# License and Disclaimer"

<<floatNamedMarks>>


	  	About Alpha

The Alpha-Cabal is pleased to announce this release of AlphaX.

Alpha is a powerful text editor that has been designed for working with a
variety of different source files, including LaTeX, HTML, C++, Tcl, and
many other programming languages.

The Alpha-Cabal is a small group of Alpha users who have taken over Alpha's
development from the original author Pete Keleher.  All improvements of
Alpha and its suite of Tcl script files (collectively known as "AlphaTcl")
are undertaken by unpaid volunteers.

This version of Alpha does has some known bugs --- use it at your own risk.

For more information and other download options please visit

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wiki/>

This file contains information about "# Known Limitations" with this release,
as well as significant "# Changes between Major Releases".  Many references
are made below to automatically installed Help files -- if you are not reading
this document in Alpha, you can always review it again after launching the
application by selecting the "Help > Release Notes" menu item.

Once Alpha has been installed, please see the "Readme" file for additional
information about some of the Alpha's many features, and how to obtain more
help about using the application.


	  	AlphaX System Requirements

AlphaX is only supported on Mac OS X 10.2 or later.  It has not been tested on
Mac OS X 10.1 and will most likely not run.

AlphaX also requires the "Tcl" scripting language software.  The AlphaX
distributions for Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2.x) and Panther (10.3.x) include a Tcl
interpreter embedded within the application; Tiger (10.4.x) includes Tcl
within the Library of the OS. If you choose the appropriate disk image to
download and install, no other software is required in order to run AlphaX.


	====================================================================


	  	Known Limitations

The "Known Bugs" Help file contains lists of all known problems that have
been submitted to the "Alpha-Bugzilla" database.  These include

Bug# 14     Alpha messes up non fixed-width font

AlphaX works best with a fixed-width font, such as Monaco or Courier.  Fonts
that use variable widths are often displayed very poorly, especially with
regard to syntax coloring.

Bug# 27     Path lengths are too short (either 127 or 255 characters)

Many of AlphaX's functions fail with long path names.  The only solution is
to move the file in question to a higher level in your hierarchy.

Bug# 32     RFE: implement true "soft-wrapping" in AlphaX

Currently, the "Soft" wrap option in the status bar pop-up menu doesn't
really soft-wrap the lines in the file -- every new line that you see does
have a carriage return preceding it.  The "Soft" option only affects the
automatic wrapping of text as you type/delete.  To remove unwanted
line-endings, use the "Text > Paragraph To Line" menu item.

Bug# 1202   More OSX (10.3) Keyboard Shortcut conflicts

Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) introduced a number of new OS shortcuts that
interfere with key-combinations that Alpha has used for years, including
Command-Option-D ("Text > Uncomment Line").  Please see the Help file
"Keyboard Shortcuts # MacOSX 10.3 notes" for more information about possible
solutions.  This will hopefully be addressed in the next release.

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

	  	Changes between Major Releases

The lists below are certainly not comprehensive, but outline the major changes
in Alpha's behavior and User Interface between public releases -- in general,
they do not include references to any previously known bugs which have been
fixed.  In addition to these changes, there have of course been a multitude of
internal fixes and enhancements that improve the software "behind the scenes".
The "Changes - Alpha" and "Changes - AlphaTcl" files contain more specific and
technical information.

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


	  	 	Changes between 8.1 and 8.0

In development, no scheduled release date.

(1) There has been a major update regarding how "Helper Applications" are
assigned.  Rather than defining an application "signature" for a preference
named something like "Browser Sig", there are a number of different
"services" defined which can make use of particular applications, such as a
service to view urls.

Preferences: HelperApplications

The change here allows command-line programs to be specified in addition to
"normal" applications.

(2) While internal "core" changes to the AlphaX binary are rarely mentioned
here, one of them is likely to have a large impact on users who have modified
AlphaTcl source files through the package: smarterSource mechanism.  The core
command "select" has been renamed to be the command: selectText .  If you
have "prefs.tcl" files or "Smarter Source" files that use the old command,
these should now be updated.

This hyperlink: <<procs::findAllProcUsage $PREFS [list "select"]>> will open
a new browser window listing all possible current uses of [select] that
should be updated; press Return on any item in the browser window to open the
source file, and replace "select" with "selectText" when necessary.

Click here: << procs::findAllProcUsage $smarterSourceFolder [list "select"]>>
if you have "Smarter Source" files; again, this will open a new browser
window listing all possible current uses of [select] that should be updated.

The only occurrences of "select" that need to be changed are those that 
attempt to select text in a window.  Such usages will look something like

	select $pos1 $pos2

or

	select -w $w $pos1 $pos2

If you're not sure what should be updated, send a note to one of the mailing
lists described in the "Readme" file.

(For a full explanation of why this change was necessary, see bug# 1979.)

(3) The "Help > Report A Bug" routines have been updated to make it easier
for users to report problems with AlphaX and the AlphaTcl suite of files.
The initial <<reportABug>> dialog includes options for starting a "stack
trace" for any defined procedure as well as attaching a local file to a
previously reported bug that is logged in the Alpha-Bugzilla database.

The "Known Bugs" and "Debugging Help" files have also been updated; the
latter contains more information about what to do (and what not to do) if you
encounter problems with this distribution.

(4) AlphaX now makes use of the canonical Mac OS X "Support" folders.  Users
will be able to modify AlphaX's default behavior by adding files to the
Support Folder in the "user" domain.

<<file::showInFinder $SUPPORT(user)>>

System administrators can over-ride some of AlphaX's default behavior by 
adding files to the Support Folder in the "local" domain.

<<file::showInFinder $SUPPORT(local)>>

Several AlphaTcl packages make use of these Support Folders, and will explain
more in their documentation.

(5) The package: specialCharacters is now always turned on; it creates an
"Edit > Special Characters" menu allowing you to insert non-ascii characters
into the active window.

(6) The package: speech creates an "Edit > Speech" menu that allows text to
be spoken using Mac OS X speech facilities.

(7) The "Recent Files Menu" and "Recent Files Multi Menu" packages have been
combined into a single package: recentFiles , which is always turned on and
creates a "File > Open Recent" submenu.

(8) When the new package: autoWrapComments is turned on, text that is typed
in in a commented line will be automatically wrapped even if the current
"Wrap" setting is "None".  This feature was previously enabled by the
package: autoContinueComment .

(9) Alpha's "Mail Menu" has been updated, and now supports the viewing of
incoming messages and the sending of composed messages without the use of
any "helper" application (such as Eudora.)  See the "Mail Help" file for
more information.

(10) "Fortran" mode has always provided support for fixed-format Fortran
files.  A new "Fortran90" mode now supports free-format Fortran files as
well.  See the "Fortran Mode Help" for more information.

(11) Alpha's "Utils > Tcl Shell" window is now in "Tcl" mode, which supports
keyword colorizing.  This is one example of a subtle change that most users
won't notice -- several packages which made use of "Shel" mode for shell
windows have been updated to use "minor-mode" technology.  If you're really
interested in this change, see the "Extending Alpha" help file.

(12) A new global "EE" menu (for Extract and Evaluate) menu has been added,
which can be added to the global menu bar.

Preferences: Menus

This menu helps with development of .dtx documents, see the package: eeMenu
help window for more information.

(13) The package: copyRing now inserts an "Edit > Swap Clipboard" menu command
that trades the current selection for the Clipboard contents.

(14) Several new features have been added, including

    package: identities       (personalize your AlphaTcl installation)
    package: licenseTemplates (supports package: documentProjects templates)
    package: openDocument     (open files using a variety of methods)

(15) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: calculator
    package: documentProjects
    package: Fort
    package: mailMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(16) Several AlphaTcl packages are now turned on by default (and can never be
turned off), including

    package: recentFiles
    package: speech
    package: specialCharacters

(17) Some AlphaTcl packages have been classified as obsolete and removed from
the standard distribution:

	Experimental Tcl Shell
	Recent Files Menu
	Recent Files Multi Menu

Their archived source files can still be found in the AlphaTcl CVS "Attic".


	  	 	Changes between 8.0b14 and 8.0

Released May 2005

These are the first public, final releases of Alpha8 and AlphaX. All future
development work will focus on the AlphaX binary, and the core Alpha8
application will never be updated.  Future versions to the AlphaTcl library
will not support MacClassic/Alpha8.

(1) Printing is now available in AlphaX.

(2) Alpha's Help menu has been re-organized, and now includes items for

    "More Modes Help"
    "More Menus Help"
    "More Features Help"

Selecting these will open a list-pick dialog with options for all installed
AlphaTcl packages.

Additional new Help menu items available include

    "Search Help"
    "Modes Menus & Features"
    "Search e-mail archives"
    "Make a suggestion"

Suggestions are logged as Requests For Enhancement (RFEs) in Alpha-Bugzilla,
and listed in the "Known Bugs" help file.

The "WWW faq" item has been removed, since it has not been actively
maintained.  The AlphaTcl Wiki and the mailing list archives are the best
spots to get questions answered until we have a dedicated site.

The "Changes - Alpha" and "Changes - AlphaTcl" files are no longer included
in the main Help menu, since they list the technical changes that won't
interest most users.  They are still available via hyperlinks in this file,
as well as in the AlphaDeveloper menu.

(3) The default "Word Wrap" preference for each mode has been exposed, and
can be changed by selecting "Config > Mode Prefs > Preferences".  This
preference determines the initial "Wrap" setting for all windows which are
opened in that mode.

Preferences: Mode

The "Wrap" pop-up menu in the status bar now changes the setting only for
the active window.  When the package: autoContinueComment is turned on,
text that is typed in in a commented line will be automatically wrapped
even if the current "Wrap" setting is "None".

Preferences: Electrics

Pressing Control-Return still creates a new line without any automatic
indentation or insertion of comment characters.

(4) The "File Format" pop-up menu in the status bar allows you to change
the font, font-size, tab-size, and indentation amount of the active window.
You can also change the window's TYPE and CREATOR codes.  (Most files that
you edit are of type "TEXT", and Alpha's creator code is "ALFA".)

(5) Alpha no longer provides support for the "Think" IDE. The "saved state"
options used to include "None" "Think" and "MPW", but the terminology has
been changed to reflect a binary choice: "Text Only" vs "Remember Window
State".  When "Remember Window State" is selected, window position, current
selection, tab sizes, and font information are saved every time you open and
close the file.  You can toggle this in the "File Format" pop-up menu.

(6) The package: versionControl is now "always-on" and the "lock/pencil" icon
in each window's sidebar is always a pop-up menu.  Version control (VC)
systems keep track of multiple versions of a source file.  They provide a
more powerful alternative to keeping backup files.  Examples of VC systems
supported by Alpha include

    package: vcPerforce
    package: vcCvs
    package: vcVoodoo and 
    package: vcLocal

The pop-up menu provides access to various VC options as well as information
for the fileset (if any) to which the active window belongs.  You must
normally specify a "VC tool" to use for the fileset containing the active
window.  If a 'CVS' directory is present in the folder containing the active
window and no other VC system has been established for that file, the VC menu
will automatically assume that you're using CVS as your VC tool.

(7) Some of Alpha's menubar menus (File through OpenWindows) have been
re-organized.  In particular, "Indent Line/Selection" is now in the "Edit"
menu in the "Shift Right/Left" section, and all of the "All Tabs To Spaces"
etc.  items are in a new "Edit > Tab Conversions" submenu.

"Edit > Indent" replaces the previous "Indent Line/Indent Selection"
commands, and indents the entire selection (if any) and not just the line
containing the cursor.

The "OpenWins > Iconify" menu item has been renamed "Minimize Window."

Some of Alpha's global keyboard shortcuts have also been adjusted.

	"Edit > Indent"                 is Control-I
	"Search > Find In Next File"    is Command-Control-F    (was Command-M)
	"OpenWins > Minimize Window"    is Command-M            (was Control-I)

(8) The new "Utils > Compare > Diff Prefs" menu item can be used to adjust 
any Diff preferences/flags before performing window etc. comparisons.

(9) In TeX mode, "Shift-Command-R" will invoke a new smooth interface to
teTeX, with support for most dvi/pdf viewers, and featuring error browsing,
synchronisation, and auto-next-action.  See the "teTeX Help" file for
further description and instructions.  This web page

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wikipages/typesetting-files>

provides additional information about typesetting LaTeX documents using
AlphaX, and the various preferences that need to be properly set.

(10) Previous versions included "CodeWarrior Menu" and "CodeWarrior2 Menu".
These have now been combined into a single package, and updated for MacOSX.
For more information on how it works see the "CodeWarrior Menu Help" window.

(11) The "File Utils" feature has been updated and renamed, for more
information see the help window for the package: windowUtilities .  This
update also created a new package: fileCompression , which allows you to
create .sit .zip, and .tar archives from within Alpha.

(12) The "Remote Tcl Shell" package has been incorporated into the Tcl menu,
and it is no longer a feature that needs to be turned on.  The menu item
"Utils > Toolserver Shell" has been removed, and is now only available in the
"MPW Menu".  The menu item "Utils > Shell" is now "Utils > Tcl Shell".

(13) The "Cut And Copy Using Pin" preference has been incorporated into a new
package: clipboardPreferences .  The "Smart Cut Paste" preference previously
defined by the package: copyRing has been renamed "Cut Paste Whitespace" and
moved into this new package as well, along with a new "Select After Paste"
preference.  This "Clipboard Preferences" package must be turned on in the
preferences: Features dialog to make these options available.  Once it is
turned on, select "Config > Preferences > Interface Preferences > Text" to
change their values.

Preferences: Text

The package: copyRing has also received a major update, and now offers a new
"Edit > Clip Recorder" menu which maintains a Clipboard History.

(14) The "Switch To Menu" package has been deemed obsolete and removed from
the standard distribution.  The new package: favoritesMenu allows you to
specify Files, Folders, and Applications to be opened by Alpha.

Preferences: Features

(15) One new mode has been added:

    package: dot (For files in the dot language (for automatic graph design))

(16) Several new features have been added, including

    package: clipboardPreferences (additional preferences for cut/copy/paste)
    package: favoritesMenu   (open favorite files/folders/apps from Alpha)
    package: fileCompression (for archiving windows/files/folders)
    package: windowUtilities (various handy window tools, formerly "fileUtils")

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(17) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: alphaServer
    package: copyRing
    package: M2
    package: newDocument
    package: sourceforgeMenu
    package: smarterSource
    package: terminal

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(18) Several AlphaTcl packages are now turned on by default (and can never be
turned off), including

"Fileset Information" packages :

    package: filesetEncodingPreference
    package: filesetFtpMirror
    package: filesetIndentationPreference
    package: filesetTabPreference

All of the "Fileset Information" packages add preferences that can be turned
on when you <<editAFileset>> and click on the "Attach/Detach Info" button.

(19) Several AlphaTcl packages have been classified as obsolete and removed
from the standard distribution, including

	File Utils
	Remote Tcl Shell
	Switch To Menu
	Think Menu

Their archived source files can still be found in the AlphaTcl CVS "Attic".

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

	  	 	Changes between 8.0b8 and 8.0b14

Released December, 2003

(1) Mouse scroll-wheels now work in AlphaX.

(2) The keyboard shortcut for the "Search > Replace And Find Again" menu
command is now Command-J rather than Command-H. This is due to a conflict with
a Mac OS X system shortcut for "Hide Application" that is active in all open
applications.  The global Appearance preference named "Don't Use Command H"
has also been removed.

(3) All searches performed via "Search > Find" now make use of Tcl 8.x regular
expressions.  See the "Regular Expressions" help file for the current options
and syntax that are now available.

(4) The feature named "Electric Return" has been removed.  Most editing modes
now have a preference named "Indent On Return" which toggles the automatic
indentation of text associated with pressing the Return key.

Preferences: Mode

Pressing Control-Return still creates a new line without any indentation.

Similarly, the "Electric Braces" and "Electric Semi" features are no longer
available "globally".  For those modes in which such functionality might be
useful, you can turn on/off the mode preferences of the same name.

(5) The feature named "Electric Tab" has been removed due to its confusing
implementation.  Use the "Config > Special Keys" dialog to map any functions
that use the Tab key, with or without modifiers.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(6) A new "DiffBOA" (Diff Background Only Application) is distributed with
both Alpha8 and AlphaX in the "Tools" directory for use as a "Diff" helper.
See the "Diff Help" file for more information.

(7) Additional command-line support, enabled via the package: alphaServer .
See the "Alpha Manual # The Command Line" Help window for more information.

(8) The "Config > Mode Prefs > Features" dialog now only lists those items
which are actually useful for the current mode.  Several features that used to
appear in these dialogs can now only be turned on/off "globally", using the
"Config > Global Setup > Features" menu item.

Preferences: Features
Preferences: Mode-Features

(9) When Alpha takes over the Numeric Keypad, Keypad-2 is now mapped to the
menu command "Search > The Pin > Hilite To Pin".  See the "marks Help" window
for more information about using the Window Pin.

Note that Alpha no longer takes over the Numeric Keypad by default, click on
the "NLCK" button in the status bar.  Click <<toggleNumLock>> to find it.
The NumLock state is saved between editing sessions.

(10) Added XHTML support to HTML mode.

(11) The "Vcs" package has been renamed "Version Control".  When this package
is turned on, the "lock/pencil" icon in the upper right corner of every window
will serve as a "Version Control" pop-up menu.  See the "Version Control Help"
window for more information.

Preferences: Features

(12) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: bat  (for Windows ".bat" batch files)
    package: InSh (for "INteractive SHells")
    package: Mp   (for Metapost files)
    package: Plc  (for CodeWarrior's "Property List Compiler" language)
    package: Ruby (for "Ruby" object-oriented programming files)
    package: Vlog (for "Verilog HDL" files)
    package: VB   (for Microsoft "Visual Basic" files)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(13) Several new features have been added, including

    package: alphaServer (command-line support for opening files in Alpha)
    package: latexColors (support for additional TeX mode coloring)
    package: windowZoom  (keyboard shortcuts for manipulating active windows)
    package: xserv       (internal system code for external app interactions)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(14) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: alphaDeveloperMenu
    package: colorMenu
    package: HTML
    package: macros
    package: Tcl

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(15) Several AlphaTcl packages are now turned on by default (and can never be
turned off), including

"Electric" packages :

    package: electricCompletions
    package: electricExpansions

Both of the "Electric" features are now enabled by assigning keyboard
shortcuts to their respective functions using "Config > Special Keys", and
they are disabled by assigning "No Binding" to them.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

"Version Control" packages :

    package: vcCvs
    package: vcLocal
    package: vcPerforce
    package: vcVoodoo

These "Version Control" support packages add <<editAFileset>> options when
the package: versionControl has been turned on.

Other "always-on" packages include

    package: alphaServer
    package: ODBEditor

(16) Several AlphaTcl packages have been classified as obsolete and removed
from the standard distribution, including

	Electric Bindings
	Http Handler
	Version Control Menu

Their archived source files can still be found in the AlphaTcl CVS "Attic".

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

	  	 	Changes between 7.6 and 8.0b8

Released March, 2003

(1) These are the first public beta releases of Alpha8 and AlphaX -- use them
at your own risk.  There is no scheduled date for a final release.

(2) A new Appearance preference named "Don't Use Command H" is turned on by
default in AlphaX. If set, the "Search > Replace & Find Again" menu command
has the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-H. This is in response to the presence
of a Mac OS X "Command-H" shortcut that is active in all applications.

(3) Alpha's "Search > Find" dialog always uses the <<find>> implementation
found in the "SuperSearch" package, which was previously an optional feature.

(4) A new "User Packages" folder can be used for user-added AlphaTcl packages.
Use the "Config > Preferences > Edit User Packages" menu command to open this
folder in the OS Finder.  Any new files placed in this folder will prompt
Alpha to rebuild all necessary Cache files upon the next restart.

(5) A new function named "Typewriter Tab" has been added to the list of
options in the "Config > Special Keys" dialog.  This function will add a space
string extending to the next "tab" column.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(6) The package: wwwMenu can now render remote urls.  Several "Open Url" 
functions will pay attention to the "Open Url Using" WWW preference to 
optionally fetch and render the url in Alpha.

Preferences: Helpers-viewURL
Preferences: Helpers-viewHTML

(7) The package: contextualMenu allows you to specify which items should be
included in Contextual Menus, including mode-specific CM modules.  The CM is
invoked as in other applications, by pressing Control and the mouse at the
same time.  The "Context" can include the surrounding word, selection, or
information regarding the current window.

(8) If the "Vcs" package is turned on the "lock/pencil" icon in the upper
right corner of every window can now also serve as a "Version Control" pop-up
menu.  See the "Version Control Help" window for more information.

Preferences: Features

(9) Balloon Help is enabled in Alpha8.

(10) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: C#  (for Microsoft's "C Sharp" language)
    package: xml (for "eXtended Markup Language" files)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(11) Several new features have been added, including

    package: dictionary         (access to locally installed dictionaries)
    package: projectBuilderMenu (for Apple's "Project Builder IDE")
    package: tcl/TkExtendedC    (support for Tcl/Tk extended C files)
    package: odbEditor          ("Edit in Alpha" support for Interarchy, etc.)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(12) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: notes
    package: Tcl
    package: wwwMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

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

	  	 	Changes between 7.5 and 7.6

Released January, 2003

(1) This is the final release in the Alpha 7.x series.  All future core
development will be devoted to Alpha8 and AlphaX. Do not attempt to use
CURRENT or HEAD sources from the AlphaTcl CVS with Alpha 7.x -- a separate
maintenance branch has been created for any future updates with this binary.

(2) The new "Help > AlphaTcl Home Page" menu item opens the "AlphaTcl Wiki"
page in your local browser.  This site will contain notices of all future
updates to Alpha, Alphatk, and AlphaTcl.

<http://www.purl.org/net/alpha/wiki/>

This site is collaboratively edited, and in general will be more up-to-date
than Pete Keleher's "Alpha Home Page".

(3) The "Electric Colon" pref has been renamed "Special Indent For Case Label"
since there was no true "electric" behavior associated with the ":" key.

(4) Alpha's "TeX" mode has undergone a major update, which might disable some
user-defined modifications.  If you are having any troubles, please ask about
how to update your code in one of the mailing lists described in the "Readme".

(5) References to "the Mark" have been changed to "the Window Pin".  The Pin
is a temporary position marker found in every file, and based on similar
functionality in Emacs.  Various editing actions reset the Pin automatically,
see the "marks Help" window for more information.

(6) A new "Cut And Copy Using Pin" Text preference determines if Cut/Copy
operations use the "Window Pin" when there is no selection.  This is turned
off by default.

Preferences: Text

(7) One new mode has been added:

    package: Wiki (for editing local/remote "Wiki" web sites)

See its Help window for more information.

(8) Several new features have been added, including

    package: addressBook      (maintain e-mail address lists within Alpha)
    package: autoSaveOnSwitch (auto-save windows when switching from Alpha)
    package: bibDelimited     (convert to/from .bib and tab delimited files)
    package: changeLogHelper  (edit ChangeLog windows)
    package: embrace          (keyboard shortcuts to add chars surrounding word)
    package: sourceforgeMenu  (access to SourceForge projects and cvs files)
    package: terminal         (terminal and log file support for tclsh)
    package: wwwDictionary    (open on-line dictionaries for selected word)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(9) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: bibConvert
    package: HTML
    package: internetConfigMenu
    package: latexSizes
    package: TeX
    package: wikiMenu
    package: wwwMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

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

	  	 	Changes between 7.4 and 7.5

Released February, 2002

(1) The default key binding for "Electric Completion" has been changed to
Control-Tab.  It was previously Command-Tab.  The change was made to avoid the
conflict with Mac OS's program switcher.

Preferences: SpecialKeys

(2) Improved interactive search, which allows Delete to remove one character
from the search (and move to the previous match).  Note that a side-effect of
this is that clicking the mouse no-longer aborts the search.  There are
various new keyboard shortcuts available as well (e.g. Control-I switches the
case-sensitivity of the search, Control-W extends search to next word,
"Control-S Control-S" continues the last search.)  For more information, see
the "incrementalSearch Help" window.

(3) A new "Comments Continuation" Text preference has been added, which is
used to determine when comments should be continued when Return is pressed.
Options are based on the presence of the comment character at the start of the
line, as the first non-whitespace character, or anywhere.  Many modes also
define a preference with the same name for mode-specific behavior.

Preferences: Text
Preferences: Mode

(4) A new "Twiddle Adjusts" preference determines which characters are 
affected by the "Edit > Twiddle" menu command.

Preferences: Text

(5) A new "Help > Report A Bug" menu item will guide you through a series of
dialogs to report bugs in the Alpha-Bugzilla database.  Bug reports can now be
filed via e-mail.

(6) The package: wwwMenu can now renders local .html files much better and
faster.  Several internal "Open HTML File" functions will pay attention to the
"Open Html Using" WWW preference to optionally render the file in Alpha.

preferences: Helpers-viewHTML

(7) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: clan (for for "Computerized Language Analysis" files)
    package: M2   (for "Modula-2" files)
    package: mapl (for "Maple" files)
    package: Objc (for "Objective C" files)
    package: PHP  (for ".php" files)
    package: sh   (for unix shell script files)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(8) Several new features have been added, including

    package: macMenu           (manipulate your OS from within Alpha)
    package: recentDirs        (access to recently accessed folders)
    package: reportABug        (create Alpha-Bugzilla bug reports in Alpha)
    package: specialCharacters (insert diacritics and other symbols)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(9) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: bibToHtml
    package: ftpMenu
    package: newDocument
    package: Perl
    package: PS
    package: Scrp
    package: wwwMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(10) All versions of AlphaTcl source files are archived in the "AlphaTcl CVS",
and can be updated using the "MacCVS Pro 2.7" application that is distributed
in the "Tools" directory.  AlphaTcl developers/users can obtain the latest,
cutting-edge version of AlphaTcl by updating all of their source files to
those with the "HEAD" tag.

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

	  	 	Changes between 7.3 and 7.4

Released February, 2001

(1) A new "Examples Help" file contains hyperlinks to open example files in a 
specified mode to examine its syntax coloring and other various features.

(2) The "Eudora Menu" has been renamed "Mail Menu", and has preliminary
support for mail programs other than Eudora.

(3) Some Help files are now available in .html or .pdf formats.  The new
"Config > Preferences > System Preferences > Help" dialog pane allows you to
specify your viewing preferences.

Preferences: Help

(4) Command-Return will now always indent the newly created line, while
Control-Return will insert a new line without any indentation.  In some modes,
this behavior might be over-ridden with other functions.

(5) A new "Config > Global Setup > Create New Mode" menu command will prompt
you to add a new file for mode-specific syntax coloring, etc.

(6) Several new modes have been added, including

    package: Lisp (for Lisp files, used in Emacs packages)
    package: man  (for unix-style reference manual pages)
    package: Mf   (for Metafont files)
    package: S    (for S+/R statistical files)
    package: Stta (for Stata statistical files)
    package: SPSS (for SPSS/PSPP statistical files)
    package: SAS  (for SAS statistical files)
    package: TIP  (for Tcl Improvement Proposal requests)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(7) Several new features have been added, including

    package: alphaDeveloperMenu (a collection of AlphaTcl development tools)
    package: elecCorrections    (automatic correction of typos)
    package: filtersMenu        (advanced Search And Replace functions) 
    package: manipCols          (advanced tab-delimited columnizing functions)

See their respective Help windows for more information.

(8) As is always the case with a major release, several AlphaTcl modes, menus
and features have been updated as well, including

    package: Bib
    package: Scm
    package: Setx
    package: voodooMenu

See their respective Help windows for more information.

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

	  	 	Changes between 7.0 and 7.3

Released February, 2000

See the "Changes - AlphaTcl # 7.3" Help file for all prior changes.


	====================================================================


	  	Registration

Alpha8/X is shareware, please register with the original author Pete Keleher.
50% of all new revenue will go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in
recognition of Alpha-Cabal efforts.

<http://order.kagi.com/?PK&lang=en>


	  	License and Disclaimer


Alpha is copyright © 1990-2006 Pete Keleher.  All rights reserved.

The Tcl code is copyright its respective authors, see the "license.terms" 
file for the standard license used unless specified otherwise.

The Author(s) of this product are in no way liable for any direct or indirect
damage caused by the product.

You may freely copy and distribute Alpha, but please bear in mind that Alpha
is Shareware.  If you decide to keep it, please register your copy.

This document has been placed in the public domain.

