Announcing TiddlyWiki version 2.8.0 BETA 1

[Eric Shulman]

[note: the following is a re-post of a message I sent last week that
has apparently been ***eaten by GoogleGroups***, since there's no sign
of it anywhere! For those who have already seen this message, please
excuse the double-post. -e]

Greetings All!

I'm pleased to announce that TiddlyWiki Classic, version 2.8.0 BETA 1,
is now available for viewing/download, here:
http://www.tiddlywiki.com/beta

IMPORTANT: This revision is on an shortened release schedule and,
barring any reports of critical "show stopper" errors, will be
promoted to full release within the next two weeks

This revision includes the following changes:

* HTML5 "download" saving
TiddlyWiki version 2.8.0 introduces new fallback handling for saving
your changes when direct file I/O is not available. The new handling
permits HTML5-compatible browsers to ''"download" the current document
from active browser memory (including any unsaved changes)'' by
triggering the familiar "download a file" dialog(s) provided by your
browser. This process typically allows you to accept/deny the
"download" of your updated document file and, depending upon your
browser's settings, select the location (path and filename) in which
to save it, *** without requiring any special security permissions or
browser add-ons. ***

The new fallback method also works with TiddlyWiki documents that have
been posted online. When you select <<saveChanges>>, instead of that
infamously annoying message: "You need to save this TiddlyWiki to a
file before you can save changes", the online document -- including
any changes you've made -- is actually downloaded to your local
filesystem! Once downloaded, you can then open the local copy to
continue editing and update the local file using direct file I/O (if
enabled) or fallback "download" handling to overwrite the local file
if direct file I/O is not enabled.

* manual download saving
If direct file I/O is unavailable and the HTML5 "download" feature is
not supported by your browser (i.e, you are using an older browser),
~TiddlyWiki will display linked message text in the upper-right corner
"message area". This link contains the entire document content
(including your changes), encoded a special data:// URI. When you
right-click and select "save link as..." from the link's popup menu,
it triggers the same browser-provided "download a file" interactive
process outlined above, allowing you to save the encoded link content
as a file on your local filesystem.

enjoy,
-e
Eric Shulman
Lead Developer - TiddlyWiki Classic

[Chris Dent]

On Monday, May 27, 2013 4:39:20 PM UTC+1, Eric Shulman wrote:

I'm pleased to announce that TiddlyWiki Classic, version 2.8.0 BETA 1,
is now available for viewing/download, here:
    http://www.tiddlywiki.com/beta

This version is now available on tiddlyspace.com if you set things up to use the beta release with your space. To do so create or edit a ServerSettings tiddlers so it contains (on a line by itself):

twrelease: beta

and reload your space. 

 

[PMario]

what about:   external: true

which seems to be disabled for stable too.

-m

[cdent]

On May 28, 4:58 pm, PMario <pmari...@gmail.com> wrote:
> what about:   external: true
>
> which seems to be disabled for stable too.

See https://github.com/TiddlySpace/tiddlyspace/issues/1060 for more
info.

Basically alphas aren't being made anymore and the tiddlyspace code
has been updated to take advantage of externalized beta code.

I don't know if main releases are getting an externalized version.
Perhaps Eric can say?

(I'm not actually sure if I've understood your rather too brief
message. Have you answered your question?)

[Eric Shulman]

> I don't know if main releases are getting an externalized version.
> Perhaps Eric can say?

Currently, the main release doesn't generate an externalized version.
Exactly which file (or files) do you need me to create?

-e

[chris...@gmail.com]

For the alpha, the files we used to get were:

http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/empty.html
http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/tiddlywiki_externaljs_tiddlyspace.html
http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/jquery.js
http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/jQuery.twStylesheet.js
http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/twcore.js

Going forward what would be good is to be able to retrieve the
equivalent of those files for:

* whatever the most recent mainline release is
* whatever the most recent beta release is

Note that the file with the name `tiddlywiki_externaljs_tiddlyspace.html`
is "special" in the sense that the links it uses in the <script> tags
to reach the "external" resources are formatted to link to bags in the
tiddyspace system. This is a convenience, but isn't actually
necessary. If it is easier on the tiddlywiki build end to create a
generic HTML file, then we can adjust the script paths on the
tiddlyspace build end.

--
Chris Dent http://burningchrome.com/
[...]

[Eric Shulman]

>      http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/empty.html
>      http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/tiddlywiki_externaljs_tiddlyspace....

>      http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/jquery.js
>      http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/jQuery.twStylesheet.js
>      http://tiddlywiki.github.com/alpha/twcore.js
>
> Going forward what would be good is to be able to retrieve the
> equivalent of those files for:
>
> * whatever the most recent mainline release is
> * whatever the most recent beta release is

I think I've got this fixed up:

1) The tiddlywiki_externaljs_tiddlyspace.html file is built with a new
recipe that uses the "beta_*" prefix instead of the now obsolete
"alpha_*" prefix.

2) The externalized .js files are now being posted for the full
release as well as the beta.

-e

[Mat]

Stating the obvious here, but: Eric your work is fantastic!!!!

A little question. It readys "to save it, without requiring any special security permissions or browser add-ons." - does this refer to what tiddlyfox does, ie is tiddlyfox obsolete for this edition?

Thank you

<:-)

[PMario]

On Sunday, June 2, 2013 11:02:27 AM UTC+2, Mat wrote:

Stating the obvious here, but: Eric your work is fantastic!!!!

A little question. It readys "to save it, without requiring any special security permissions or browser add-ons." - does this refer to what tiddlyfox does, ie is tiddlyfox obsolete for this edition?

nope.
The external stuff is there to enable browser caching for parts of the TW core. Mainly used with TiddlySpace. IMO it makes no sense with file TWs, since you need to deal with several files.

I think, there will be no possibilities to save file TWs without TiddlyFox in the near future.

-m

[Eric Shulman]

Mat asked:

> > is tiddlyfox obsolete for this edition?
>

Mario replied:

> The external stuff is there to enable browser caching for parts of the TW
> core. Mainly used with TiddlySpace. IMO it makes no sense with file TWs,
> since you need to deal with several files.
> I think, there will be no possibilities to save file TWs without TiddlyFox in the near future.

His question wasn't actually about the external stuff.... rather it
was about the HTML5-based "download saving" functionality that is now
in TW2.8.0...

TiddlyFox still provides "direct file I/O" ability when running a
local TW in FireFox. This gives you the ability to save all four
target files: main file, backup, XML, and empty.html (depending upon
your AdvancedSettings, of course). However, if you don't install/
enable TiddlyFox, HTML5 "download saving" can still be used to save
your main file (though not the backup, XML or empty.html).

HTML5 download saving not only lets you save local TWs in FireFox
(v20+) without TiddlyFox, it also lets you save local TWs in Chrome
(v26+) or Opera (v15+) without TiddlySaver.jar... and, in addition,
HTML5 download also lets you save local copies of TWs directly from an
online source, without first downloading the file!

Try this:
1) go to http://www.TiddlyWiki.com
2) edit a tiddler (just add something to HelloThere)
3) press "save changes"

... instead of getting that annoying error: "You need to save this
TiddlyWiki to a file before you can save changes"... it 'downloads'
the document **from current memory**... including any tiddler changes
you've made, and gives you the opportunity to save that file locally.
Once stored on your filesystem, you can open the local copy to
continue editing and saving using either direct file I/O (if enabled)
or HTML5 "local download" handling.

enjoy,
-e

[Måns]

Hi Eric

> Try this:
> 1) go tohttp://www.TiddlyWiki.com

> 2) edit a tiddler (just add something to HelloThere)
> 3) press "save changes"

With IceWeasel (debian version of Firefox - 10.0.2) I get this error:

"The original file '\\tiddlywiki.com\' does not appear to be a valid
TiddlyWiki"

Google Chrome (v23.0.1271.97 on Debian) downloads a file :-)

Chromium (v25.0.1323.1 on Puppy Linux) works.

SeaMonkey (v2.13.1 on Puppy Linux) opens a dialog in the upper right
corner where you can download a file by right clicking a link.
You'll get different names for a file depending on where you cilck on
the text in the dialog. Alle names have *html.part as a suffix,
however they all seem to be a result of the same process as they have
the same content and seem to work fine, when downloaded...

Great job!!

Now it's possible to open a TW (v2.8) in (almost) any browser - use it
as a template - write things, create new tiddlers - and download the
results!!

Pretty amazing that is!!!

A couple of years ago I made my students download a TW taylored as a
CV. They had to download it it be able to fill out the forms.
There where problems depending on which browsers they used..

Now they can fill out the forms in the online TW and download it when
they are finished.
That is neat :-)

Thank you Eric...

Cheers Måns Mårtensson

[Eric Shulman]

> With IceWeasel (debian version of Firefox  - 10.0.2) I get this error:
> "The original file '\\tiddlywiki.com\' does not appear to be a valid
> TiddlyWiki"

hmm.... do you still have that file? Can you post it somewhere so I
can take a look at what it contains?

thanks,

-e

[Måns]

Hi Eric

> > With IceWeasel (debian version of Firefox  - 10.0.2) I get this error:
> > "The original file '\\tiddlywiki.com\' does not appear to be a valid TiddlyWiki"
>
> hmm.... do you still have that file?  Can you post it somewhere so I can take a look at what it contains?

No file is generated -> the error message: "The original file '\
\tiddlywiki.com\' does not appear to be a valid TiddlyWiki" is shown
immediately after clicking the "save changes" button.

Cheers Måns Mårtensson

[Mat]

(@Eric possible bug reported below)

Thanx both to pmario and Eric for replying to my question on if tiddlyfox was still necessary!

HTML5 download also lets you save local copies of TWs directly from an

online source, without first downloading the file! ... Try this: ...

Ha! That was fun!
1) Maybe GettingStarted or even HelloThere should reflect this, ie that the visitor can start editing directly (and that this won't break anything)?
2) I'm guessing it's intentional but mention it anyway - the file gets very cryptic names on save (16B4v_A3.htm)
3) I gave a tiddler a name with Swedish/German letters and clicked Done (no problem) > Save Changes > automatic download dialogue etc. Opening the saved file the umlaut letter is not correct (an o with two dots becomes ö )
4) When trying the direct online save in IE (ver 9, very old I guess), it does not open a (browser) save dialogue box but instead TW gives a message:

RIGHT CLICK HERE to download/save main TiddlyWiki file

Downloading/saving main TiddlyWiki file

...and what I'm questioning is that both of these lines are links. If this is intentional, it is a bit unclear for the user what to do. Or maybe it's just my old IE (v9)
Normally, I use FFlatest and Win7.

<:-)

[Mat]

Sorry, the above concerns 2.8.0 full release.

<:-)

[chris...@gmail.com]

On Sat, 1 Jun 2013, Eric Shulman wrote:

>> Going forward what would be good is to be able to retrieve the
>> equivalent of those files for:
>>
>> * whatever the most recent mainline release is
>> * whatever the most recent beta release is
>
> I think I've got this fixed up:

Awesome, I'll try to get this integrated with the tiddlyspace code in
the next couple of days. Thank you very much.

[Eric Shulman]

> 1) Maybe GettingStarted or even HelloThere should reflect this, ie that the
> visitor can start editing directly (and that this won't break anything)?

As noted in a different thread, documentation re-writes is near the
top of my list. Especially the parts related to downloading and
saving with various browsers. I should be able to work something in
there at the very least.

> 2) I'm guessing it's intentional but mention it anyway - the file gets very
> cryptic names on save (16B4v_A3.htm)

I don't see this on my system. Using Chrome, I get a default filename
of "download.htm"

> 3) I gave a tiddler a name with Swedish/German letters and clicked Done (no
> problem) > Save Changes > automatic download dialogue etc. Opening the
> saved file the umlaut letter is not correct (an o with two dots becomes ö )

This is a FireFox-specific issue. Downloading via Chrome preserves
international characters correctly. I think I have a general fix that
should avoid the problem. I need to do a bit of testing to confirm
that it will work.

> 4) When trying the direct online save in IE (ver 9, very old I guess), it
> does not open a (browser) save dialogue box but instead TW gives a message:
> RIGHT CLICK HERE to download/save main TiddlyWiki file
> Downloading/saving main TiddlyWiki file
> ...and what I'm questioning is that both of these lines are links. If this
> is intentional, it is a bit unclear for the user what to do. Or maybe it's
> just my old IE (v9)

There's only supposed to be the one message ("RIGHT CLICK HERE...").
The second message should only appear when "automatic" download saving
is being triggered (which is not supported by IE9). I've got a fix
for this, ready for the next build.

thanks for the bug reports.... keep 'em coming!

-e

[PMario]

On Sunday, June 9, 2013 9:18:02 PM UTC+2, Eric Shulman wrote:

> 2) I'm guessing it's intentional but mention it anyway - the file gets very
> cryptic names on save (16B4v_A3.htm)

I don't see this on my system.  Using Chrome, I get a default filename
of "download.htm"

 

Firefox creates a weired random name. I've seen an issue somewhere at mozillas bug tracker about this problem some time ago.  

-m

[Eric Shulman]

> > > 2) I'm guessing it's intentional but mention it anyway - the file gets
> > very
> > > cryptic names on save (16B4v_A3.htm)

> Firefox creates a weired random name. I've seen an issue somewhere at
> mozillas bug tracker about this problem some time ago.

I wonder if the "random" name is related to the locally-cached copy of
the remotely-stored file? When I open a local html file and then use
"download saving", I get the proper requested filename (i.e., the same
as the currently opened document).

In any event, I think this is just one of those browser-specific
"quirks" that we need to document, since there's nothing we can do to
fix it.

-e