Surfulater Version 3.15.0.0 Released

The Surfulater evolution continues with the release of Version 3.15.0.0. This is another milestone release with major changes to the Surfulater code base to bring it in line with the latest Microsoft Development tools, in particular MS Visual Studio 2008 and the latest C++ Compiler. This makes Surfulater more robust and enables us to use the latest Microsoft technologies as we move forward.

I’ve also taken this opportunity to make substantial changes to the way the Surfulater code is packaged. In particular seven DLL’s have been completely removed and two more have been taken out of the Installation package. This code refactoring and repackaging removes problems caused by wrong versions of DLL’s and moves us closer to the possibility of a single .EXE file, potentially without any need for an Installer. Further it helps pave the way for a Portable USB Stick version of Surfulater. And finally it reduces the size of the Installer download file from 7.79MB to 5.67MB and the installed code footprint from 16.347MB down to 12.68MB. Substantial effort has gone into this, taking up much of our development time since the last release.

That is all below the surface, but there are good things happening above ground as well.

The most visual change in this release is how Tags are displayed in articles.

Tag Hyperlinks

They don’t just look a lot better, but they perform better as well, in that you can now click on Tag to jump to it, in the Tags Knowledge Tree and then see and work with all the articles with that tag.

The next enhancement is the ability to change the color of text using Set Text Color, which is in addition to setting its background color.

Set text Color Toolbar button  Set Text COlor Context Menu

Clicking on the button or choosing the right click context menu item changes the color of the selected text to the current color.

Set Text Color Context Menu

Clicking on the down arrow opens the color selection palette, which enables you to change the current color. Note that the current color is displayed below the A image. Restore to default is also new in this release and sets the current color back to its default value. This is also included on the Highlight Text color palette.

Another new feature is Set Title to selection which enables you to set the Title of the current article to the selected text. This is available on the right click context menu, when used on selected text.

Set Title to selection Context menu item

There are times when an Article Title is not what you want and this provides a quick convenient way to change it.

If you are observant you will have noticed Web Search on the menu screen shot above.

Web Search context menu item

This new feature enables you to perform a Google search using the currently selected text. Another handy time saver.

A subtle change we’ve begun in this release is the ability to make more changes to selected text without having to be in edit mode. For example the Add a Link and Remove this Link commands can now be used when not in content editing mode. As can the new Set Text Color.

Of course there is more; drag & drop can now be used during content editing to move text and images, and Copy and Paste as reciprocal ‘See also’ links can now be used in the Tags and Chronological Knowledge Tree views.

As always all of the new features and bug fixes are documented in the V3 Release Notes in the Help as well as in new and updated Help topics. Make sure you at least read the release notes.

The latest release of Surfulater is available from our Download Web page.

We’ve recently completed a major overhaul of the Surfulater home page and I hope it does a better job of conveying to people what Surfulater does and how useful it can be. Feedback welcome.

I’d like to dedicate this release to our friend and golfing buddy Neil Oram who sadly and unexpectedly passed away last Monday 20 Apr 2009. Neil was always a pleasure to be around and had many great games of golf left to play. He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.

11 Replies to “Surfulater Version 3.15.0.0 Released”

  1. Hi Neville. Thanks for the big update. Looks great! I need to get moving with my tags in SUL. The text color feature and the Set Title as Selected alone are enough to make me happy. 🙂

    Again, thank you for the hard work.

    Jim

  2. I use SF for legal research to gather,organize, mark up law cases using an online search tool. I like very much the “Set Title to selection”. This allows me to display case citation on the tree information on side display for quick recall. I was doing this by copy and paste but the new feature speeds up this process for me.

  3. Hi Bill, sometimes its the new little features that prove to be the greatest of value.

    If you haven’t investigated using Tags yet to help organize and locate information, you should give them a try.

    And if there are other things that would enhance your day to day use of Surfulater do let me know.

    Neville

  4. Hi Nevf – Great stuff; Surfulater gets better and better! I love the set title to selection feature and the new tag links. Maybe dragging and dropping file attachments is on the way (unsubtle hint)?

    Thanks for all your hard work!

    Joel

  5. I absolutely *love* the new release. Thank you for the amazing work 🙂 The tags’ new looks and improved function is a lovely enhancement. I wonder if it would be possible to rearrange tags in an article’s “tags” field in a drag-n-drop fashion?

  6. Joel & Michal, thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

    Joel, Where do you want to drag and drop attachments to. Another article I assume.

    Michal, rearrange tags using drag & drop has been added to our Issue tracking system as Item 215.

  7. Nice update to the program.
    It gets better and better.

    The integrated Websearch and “set as title” are great.

    I use Surfulator everyday and can’t live without it now, as it contains my whole knowledgebase 🙂

    – Nikolai

  8. Hi nevf

    Regarding drag and drop of attachments, I’ve just realised that what I’m after is already possible – a welcome discovery!

    Joel

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