Tom Sawyer Visualization, Java Edition

Release 9.2.0

Overview

This release provides all of the documentation in HTML format, with global search capability. Additionally, this release addresses the needs of several of our large network management customers.

New

Technology

• Added batch processing APIs for improved drawing creation performance

Layout

• All Layout Styles
  • Enabled treating certain child drawings as fixed during nested drawing layout

Documentation

• Added search capability across all documentation

Improvements

Visualization

• Added new Switch UI element
• Added option to preserve owner node position during nested drawing changes

Layout

• All Layout Styles
  • Enhanced node and edge embedding during incremental layout
  • Enhanced moveable connector placement when multiple edges are attached
• Circular Layout Style
  • Improved cluster spacing
  • Improved node spacing within clusters
  • Refined drawing fitting
• Symmetric Layout Style
  • Refined drawing fitting

Documentation

• Improved API documentation
• Converted all documentation to HTML format

Demonstration

• Enabled Apple Mac OS X global menu support

Requirements

• Dropped support for Apple Mac OS X 10.5

Fixes

• Drawing manager meta-edge APIs return consistent results when meta-edges are not viewable
• Drawing fitting is respected when arranging connected components in the orthogonal layout style
• Layout calculates optimal expanded node size when fixed connector labels are present
• Drawing canvas displays correctly in Apple Mac OS X
• Nesting border displays correctly at all zoom levels
• Top-justified text displays correctly at all zoom levels
• Rotation UI element behaves correctly when drawing object bounds are not set
• Layout properties margin spacing aligns correctly in Apple Mac OS X
• The demonstration application running as an Applet displays the Overview correctly
• Option enables exporting non-standard Type 1 fonts into PDF

Issues

• Every Java applet currently has serious issues with Google Chrome 10 and Firefox 4. These issues are expected to be addressed in a Java update.

Release 9.1.1

Overview

This release provides a number of improvements including enhanced layout animation of nested drawings, improved rendering precision, and refined automated drawing fitting.

New

• Added annotated image UI element class

Improvements

Licensing

• Simplified access to hosted licensing through a web proxy

Technology

• Enhanced support for Apple keyboards

Visualization

• Drawing Representation
  • Meta-edge compression can now disregard interdrawing edge direction
• User Interactions
  • Accelerated dragging speed for collapsed nodes

Layout

• All Layout Styles
  • Enhanced layout animation for nested graphs
• Circular Layout Style
  • Improved Drawing Fitting
  • Improved placement of movable connectors
• Symmetric Layout Style
  • Improved Drawing Fitting
  • Improved placement of movable connectors

Requirements

• No changes

Fixes

• Properties Inspector behaves correctly when set to read-only
• UI elements display correctly at all zoom levels in Print Preview and as exported images
• Enhanced redraw accuracy

Issues

• None

Release 9.1.0

Overview

In this release, the visualization and layout architectures have been optimized to improve performance. Layout speed has improved by twenty to sixty percent.

This release also introduces improved support for multi-threaded applications, an Overview window that responds dynamically, accelerated selection, and revamped documentation.

New

• Refined layout animation
• Dynamic Overview response
• New Eclipse SWT tutorial

Improvements

Installation

• Improved installation program
• Improved licensing setup

Technology

• Enhanced support for multi-threaded applications
• Improved support for the Apple Mac OS X user interface
• Improved support for Eclipse SWT applications
• Accelerated XML reading and writing

Visualization

• Drawing Representation
  • Text UI elements now support a maximum width
  • Data driven graphic examples show structural zooming
• User Interactions
  • Accelerated selection
  • Improved layout command usability

Layout

• All Layout Styles
  • Increased layout speed by twenty to sixty percent
• Circular Layout Style
  • Improved edge labeling with dense drawings
  • Enhanced clustering quality
  • Refined clustering options
• Hierarchical Layout Style
  • Improved edge labeling with polyline and orthogonal routing
• Orthogonal Layout Style
  • Refined labeling
  • Enhanced group constraint quality
• Symmetric Layout Style
  • Improved edge labeling with dense drawings
  • Enhanced handling of fixed point constraints
• Routing
  • Reduced edge crossings
  • Significantly enhanced routing with connectors
• Labeling
  • Increased quality

Documentation

• Revamped documentation

Requirements

• Added support for JDK 6.0
• Added support for these operating systems:
  • Apple Mac OS X 10.6
  • Microsoft Windows 7
  • Sun Solaris 10

Fixes

• Tutorials run more smoothly
• All layout options can be applied deeply
• Dialogs disable automatically during threaded layout
• Compressed SVG files now load by URL

Issues

• None

Release 9.0.0

Overview

This release introduces a new data-driven, scene-based graphics system with integrated expression language support. The new graphics system simplifies the creation of drawings with advanced graphics and behavior.

This release also introduces several improvements to the graphical user interface components. It introduces a layout progress indicator and provides a layout cancel facility. It introduces fade transitions, animation, and multi-threaded execution for the layout, routing, and labeling operations. Formatting options fit the drawing to the drawing canvas or the printed page. Further, this release contains many additional layout, labeling, and routing refinements.

New

Drawing Representation

• Data-driven, scene-based, drawing element user interface (UI) framework:
  • Drawing element scene hierarchies provide rich UI decoration
  • Runtime drawing element construction and manipulation
  • Expression language enables dynamic control of UI representation
  • XML representation of drawing element UIs
• Predefined drawing element UIs:
  • Industry standard shapes for Networking and UML diagrams
  • Expanded node UI displays a small summary of the collapsed node UI
  • Varying level of detail based on zoom level
  • Graphical badges enable drill-down, expand, and collapse actions

Display Components

• Interpolation and fade transition animation
• XML-driven drawing element palette
• XML-driven preferences dialog box

Layout

• Non-blocking layout threads
• Layout progress and cancel
• Drawing Fitting optimizes use of the drawing canvas or printed page
• Open and closed group constraints

Documentation

• Additional tutorials
• Reference page of available resources

Improvements

Layout

• Reduced number of edge crossings for inter-drawing edges when laying out nested drawings
• Refined options for minimum and maximum number of clusters for disconnected drawings with more than one component in the circular layout style
• Enhanced incremental hierarchical layout style results
• Reduced number of edge crossings in the hierarchical layout style
• Reduced local edge crossings in the orthogonal layout style
• Improved node placement when fixed connectors are present in both symmetric and orthogonal layout styles
• Enhanced multiedge routing in both symmetric and circular layout styles
• Increased labeling quality

Demonstration Application

• Reorganized toolbars and menus
• Redesigned graphical UI and icons

Documentation

• Enhanced Developer's Guide

Requirements

• Dropped support for JDK 1.4
• These operating systems have been added:
  • Apple Mac OS X 10.5
  • IBM AIX 5.3
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5*
  • Ubuntu Linux 8.0*
• These operating systems have been dropped:
  • Apple Mac OS X 10.3
  • HP-UX 11
  • IBM AIX 4
  • Microsoft Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
  • Sun Solaris 9

*The 32-bit compatibility layer is required for 64-bit Linux systems.

Issues

• Layout
  • The layout command option to invoke the layout operation in the current thread is missing. A workaround is available.

Release 8.0.2

Overview

This release addresses a license verification issue for users with limited access privileges.

New

• None

Improvements

• None

Requirements

• No changes

Fixes

• This release enables Tom Sawyer license verification in Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista when users have restricted access to their system.

Issues

• None

Release 8.0.1

Overview

This release improves support for internationalization.

New

• None

Improvements

• Improved internationalization support for Tom Sawyer Visualization dialog boxes.

Requirements

• No changes

Fixes

• Removed an unnecessary warning message in applets that use the Tom Sawyer Visualization deployment libraries.

Issues

• None

Release 8.0.0

Overview

This release introduces several user interaction refinements and layout improvements, in particular when working with large drawings. Hit-testing sensitivity at low zoom levels is improved, enabling users to select and locate specific nodes and edges more easily. Connectors can now be dragged to new locations, and export to GIF format is supported.

Further, this release introduces a new symmetric layout algorithm and improvements to each layout style. New tutorials demonstrate how to create a visualization application and add interactive features.

New

System

• Software licensing server and administration client

Drawing Representation

• Node shape selection from the Object Properties Inspector
• Dragable connectors

Printing and Exporting

• GIF export

Layout

• Symmetric layout style algorithm dramatically enhances performance with large drawings

Documentation

• Comprehensive tutorials for developers

Improvements

System

• Enhanced support for Apple Macintosh computers

User Interactions

• Enhanced hit-testing sensitivity for improved selection at low zoom levels
• Several link navigation speeds

Layout

• Reduced edge crossings in the circular layout style
• Enhanced polyline routing in the hierarchical layout style
• Improved orthogonal routing performance in the hierarchical layout style
• Refined edge routing with connectors in the orthogonal layout style
• Improved performance in the orthogonal layout style
• Improved performance with large graphs in the symmetric layout style
• Reorganized constraints
• Enabled constraint sharing among different layout styles
• Improved routing performance

Documentation

• Enhanced Developer's Guide

Requirements

• Added support for JDK 1.6
• Dropped support for JDK 1.3
• These operating systems have been added:
• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
• These operating systems have been dropped:
• Silicon Graphics IRIX
• Sun Solaris 7 and 8

Fixes

• None

Issues

• None

Release 7.0.0

Overview

This release introduces the circular layout style in pure Java. It also includes various improvements in layout algorithms, offering significant enhancements in layout quality and layout speed.

New

Rendering

• SVG image as drawing background
• Text anti-aliasing

User Interactions

• Enabled node drag and drop across nested drawings
• Pluggable interactive tool sets
• Secondary visual components can be shared by several canvases

Layout

• Option for placing labels over edges

Improvements

Display Components

• Improved memory usage for UI images
• Added options for customizing graphical badges

Layout

• Integrated nested layout
• Circular Layout Style
  • Accelerated performance
  • Enhanced clustering and node placement
  • Enabled group constraints
  • Automated labeling
  • Enhanced incremental layout
  • Added flexible spacing control
• Hierarchical Layout Style
  • Integrated labeling during layout with orthogonal routing
• Orthogonal Layout Style
  • Increased speed in draft mode
  • Enhanced constraint-based layout
  • Integrated labeling during orthogonal layout
• Symmetric Layout Style
  • Dramatically accelerated performance

Documentation

• Expanded content and source code examples

Requirements

• Added support for JDK 1.5
• Added support for integration with Eclipse SWT 3.0 or later
• Dropped support for Compaq Tru64

Fixes

• None

Issues

• None