[ANN] BBEdit 15.5 (15C55) pre-release

[Rich Siegel]

Good morning,

We're working on a feature update to BBEdit 15, and a pre-release version is now available.

Note that this is a _pre-release_ version. The intent is to fix bugs and address areas of improvement based on what our customers have reported. However, since the software is at this point not fully tested, there _may_ be bugs and regressions.

If this prospect makes you nervous, then sticking with the public release versions is your best course of action. Nobody will be offended if you choose to do so; you're under no obligation to install and use anything but a public release. :-)

Complete change notes to date for all the pre-release builds in this cycle are available here:

<https://s3.amazonaws.com/BBSW-download/15.5_Notes.txt>

The change notes are organized into additions, changes, and fixes, and are annotated where appropriate with case numbers. So if you recognize a number corresponding to a support case that was opened for you, you can now verify that it's been fixed correctly. Please take the time to review the changes before using the new build -- it'll be worth your time.

One final note: If you run into a bug in a pre-release version, PLEASE DO NOT REPORT THE BUG TO THE LIST. This includes asking about whether others have seen the same problem. Instead, please send a bug report to <sup...@barebones.com> and we will deal with it there. This will help us keep the list discussion on topic and productive for all list members.

Here is the list of changes made since the previous 15.5 pre-release announcement:

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

version 15.5 (15C55) (2025-04-21)

* BBEdit 15.5 requires macOS 12.0 or later.

Additions
---------

* Added support for the "Writing Tools" feature introduced in
macOS 15.2 as part of the Apple Intelligence suite. Thus, the
corresponding commands on the Writing Tools submenu of the Edit
menu are operational.

+ Added `--ignore-blank-lines` as an option for `bbdiff(1)`. As
with the corresponding options in the Find Differences window,
this will cause lines consisting solely of whitespace to be
considered empty for purposes of comparison.

Changes
-------

* [DOC] When using "Export as HTML", BBEdit will examine the
generated output, and if it lacks a basic HTML document
structure, the application will apply a simple structure. This is
useful for HTML renderers which don't do this on their own (e.g.
most Markdown renderers).

- In Markdown documents, headings are now indented according to
their level. H1 ("# this is an H1") is not indented, H2 is
indented by one space, etc.

The foldable section associated with a heading now encompasses
lower level headings and their sections. So, an H1's foldable
section will include an H2's section that immediately follows it.
These headings will be listed in the function popup with
indentation to match this nesting, like an outline.

Additionally, blockquote sections (indicated with a '>') and list
items "belong" to the heading section immediately before them,
and act like nested documents. The result is that any headings
within those subsections are indented below the parent section.
Here's a small example:

```
### This is an H3

> This is a blockquote
>
> # This is an H1 in a blockquote
>
> This section will be nested in the function popup
> below/within the H3 at top of the example.
```


Fixes
-----

* [NFR] Fixed layout regressions in the completion panel.

* [502364] Fixed internal exceptions and other misbehavior that
would occur after deleting a customized AI chat API model that
had been set for use as the default or referenced by existing
worksheets.

*fin*

The package can be downloaded from our web server:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/BBSW-download/BBEdit-15.5_15C55.dmg

Enjoy,

R.

--
Rich Siegel Bare Bones Software, Inc.
<sie...@barebones.com> <https://www.barebones.com/>

Someday I'll look back on all this and laugh... until they sedate me.