AbiWord Weekly News #113, (2002, week 41, released 2002.10.15)

Welcome to issue 113 of the AbiWord Weekly News.

      Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

      This issue prone to errors*.

      Hello, Abi-Users, who are receiving their first email notice.

In this issue:

• Discussion
• Development
• Bug Update
• Release HackDown
• Special Interest

Editor(s) of this issue:  E. A. Zen

      If you're interested in using AbiWord for the first time, receiving a more uptodate version, any particular version or special release, feel free to visit the new  Latest Releases page.

*errors:   I won't go into it, because I look really bad, but an attempt to do nifty bug reports stuff broke it, so, that massive list for the resolved bugs really is by hand.

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Discussions

Traffic on the developer mailing list has settled at about 200-400 postings per week.

This week, interesting topics on the developer list included:

1. Bulgarian translation is unusable :( :   Iassen Pramatarov, the Bulgarian translator for Abiword, is unable to use a common Bulgarian font of choice, cp1251.   Joaquin steps in to investigate, and learns that cp1251 is a terminal-type font, not a scalable wysiwyg type of font, i.e. type1, truetype and opentype (think freetype).   Iassen will look into the matter further to locate issues that may occur with scalable Bulgarian fonts.

2. Sad news ... Thomas unsubscribes :   Thomas Fletcher, an original worker on the QNX/Photon port of AbiWord announces that he's unsubscribing to the list.   Not having had time to commit any new work in nearly a year, he cites the enormous traffic generated by the list as his reason for leaving.   The consensus among the developers is that his work has been appreciated, he will be missed and they hope he'll return again, someday.

3. Build broken with barabarisms link error. :   Martin finds that his latest version of CVS head has a build error due to the barbarisms implementation.   Hub quickly guesses, quite correctly, that it is due to the disabling of ispell (as a default option); shortly thereafter, he releases a patch onto the list to the ispell source.   Jordi confesses that his decision to use ispell conventions for locale was the problem, and Dom suggests then enables Jordi to move the localities to UCS-4 (Abi's supported string class).

4. the GNOME HIG and AbiWord :   Sam, yes! sam th!, has announced, as part of class-related work, he'll be applying the  GNOME Human Interface Guidelines to AbiWord, using  4142 as a meta-bug. Like people need an excuse hack!?   You also get to see why not all bugs get reported as closed ;-)   Most importantly, Sam, I'll be watching, and quite possibly, reporting your progress!

5. adding support for missing languages :   Jordi made his  list, and he checked it twice, and AbiWord has more naughty than nice...in languages.   In open source, you would think there would be mind-blowing  linguistic support; however, Abiword lags behind its big brother, OpenOffice, and its evil step-uncle, Microsoft Word.   Karl notes that "localization" of a language often unfairly stamps it not merely in a geographical locale, but often a single country.   Andrew is quick to chime in, temporally speaking, about the locality chosen for Renascence Latin, which is placed in Italy.   I made several suggestions for languages that no one speaks natively anymore; however, my non-standard compliant ideas conflicted with a certain ISO format--just wee bit....   Oh, hey, anyone out there speak Assyrian, Script Kiddy or Klingon?

This week, interesting topics beyond abisource included:

1. FootNotes:  fribidi build problem: fribidi_types.h :   No one in particular is having issues building with fribidi.   No one in particular informs no one in particular that the included fribidi is for Windows.   For Linux users wanting AbiWord with fribidi, you may download fribidi at  sourceforge.net/projects/fribidi

2. FootNotes:  Re: AbiWord 1.1.0 released :   Someone who may be named Janne believes that when AbiWord II: The Wrath of Dom is released, Open Office may become unnecessary for some people.   More interestingly, someone who may be named Janne points out two bugs, one which is fixed in CVS head and another that Marc fixes--only thirteen hours later.   Any other questions about why we like open source?   If hacking interests you, why not join us at #abiword on irc.gnome.org or try a  pow?

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Development

CVS Stats

      Track who put in how much and why.   And, while you're at it, consider whether you'd like to keep your own cvs build as well.   Tables...ooh....

CVS checkins 2002.10.07 - 2002.10.13
Who	Commits	In summary
msevior	17	RTF(import-mostly work towards fixing bug 4111), tables(breaking over pages debugging), tweaks for abitable by Joaquin
hippietrail	13	Polish strings and updates from Andrzej Pruszyñski, added even more .cvsignores, treat RTF keyword \noproof same as setting language tag to "none", and bug 3275.
fjfranklin*	9	configure exits with error message & info on SF download, fix DocBook export, update autogen.sh framework, noticed the difference between the word "stable" and the word "static"... coincidentally, --disable static works now.
hub	8	Changed (updated?) the CHANGELOG, mac toolbars correctly displayed, mac messages now use the new localization
uwog	7	tables(formatting, context menu)
jordimas	5	move from ispell, barbarism link fixes
dom	4	fix crash on printing and bug 4145
phma	3	languages (French update by Gilles Saint-Denis, Norwegian Nynorsk update by Karl Ove Hufthammer)
sam	3	remove useless role setting, formatting changes and bug 4144
biesi	1	update german translation
plam	1	fix to uwog's caret bug
rms	1	fix for preventing improper loading of plugins

*phearbear:  system-related work is QNX unless stated otherwise
*jordimas:  system-related work is Windows unless stated otherwise
*fjfranklin:  summaries are usually by frank, because he does a really good job at it (want mine? ;-).   The last one is mine..."hillariously 'evil' " is half right;-)   I have used four ;-)'s today...too much news about AOL on CNN today, or something.


POWs

      The concept of a "Project Of the Week" is to single out tasks of major interest that outside developers might be interested in providing assistance to.   Until a "best way" of listing POWs come to mind, they shall be listed in a short description.   Any user interested is welcome to assist in tackling these POWs.   If you know someone who's interested, you can link directly to a POW, in order, they're pow3 (at the top) through pow1 (at the bottom).   Reminder to developers, I can't post them if you don't submit them.   Additionally, feel free to announce if one of these is finished (in case you don't mention it on the list or in the cvs)

Name:  Style and/or Diction Plugins (bug 3281) (do either/or or both!)
Description:  build a plugin to allow Abiword to check style and diction
Advertisement:  me got no grammar fixer, help mes can't you?
Recommended Outline:  Create a plugin for AbiWord that allows the checking of style and diction.  The source code for the gnu style and diction tools is available here: http://www.gnu.org/software/diction/diction.html
      As a prototype you might be able to hack something using the AbiCmd plugin to wrap the style and diction tools.  The AikSaurus (Thesaurus) plugin should also be a helpful guide.
      When you get the basics working you could try to get Abiword to display green squiggle underlines to mark errors, or otherwise work on a good user interface.
Comments:  A great way to start playing with the AbiSource
System:  Any OS will be fine.
Challenge level:  ***.. 3 stars out of 5
Current Hero:  The mastery of Kung Fu has yet to appear.

Name:  Fix Windows printing boogs (bug 3239)
Description:  Tackle some or more of the various bugs that cause issues in attempting to print under Windows
Advertisement:  ????????????????????????????? (no, that's really the ad!)
Recommended Outline:  You must become magical to know how to fix this.
Comments:  "The problem is that printing on Windows is broken with several brand of printer drivers (see dependent bugs). It appears that with standard PostScript driver it does not happen. It appears also that version 0.9.6 had less problems than 1.0.1 so we might find out where the regression is bu diffing.
    "Please, be sure to read all the bug reports. Even partial fix are accepted.
    "Fixes must be done against STABLE tree and possibly ported to HEAD (the later can be done as a second step)."
      This comes from Hub
Notice:  This may already have been fixed with the libiconv upgrade, stay tuned!
System:  Windows
Challenge level:  ****. 4 stars out of 5
Current Hero: Not one MoFo yet has had the Huevos for this POW

Name:  More Windows Maintainers
Description:  Jordi could always use help
Advertisement:  Help free people from the oppression of MSWord today!
Recommended Outline:  You must become magical to know how to fix this.
Comments:  Wouldn't be a bad idea to start with the printing bug...
System:  Windows
Challenge level:  ****. 4 stars out of 5
Current Hero:  Jordi Mas

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Bug Update

Bug Statistics

I'm leaving the link, guys; you put it up!

Bug Votes

      These are the week's Top 20 Bugs in the categories problems and requests for enhancements.   Influence next week's results by casting your own votes.   Ah, another release, another change of what bugs are on the "Most Wanted" list.

Top 20 Problems
ID	Votes	Milestone	Summary
3269	120	---	Crashing on printing
3171	115	1.0.x	rtf sets top and bottom margins to 0
3525	90	---	font incorrectly printed and spaced
376	80	2.0	File assosciate problems for all file types with Win32Slu......
1406	61	1.0.x	xhtml documents fail to open: "Bogus html document" msg
1747	42	2.0	background colour of text selection is always grey
1194	39	2.0	alt+xxxx does not insert special symbols
3808	35	Future	Microsoft Word .doc files may crash Abiword
2362	30	---	AbiWord only prints across half of page
4046	30	---	The spellchecker has gone gonzo since upgrading from 1.0.......
4049	30	---	Crash on open file from floppy or network drive.
4057	30	---	Thesaurus Shift+F7 keybindings shortcuts consistancey
3778	29	---	Hanging indent setting ignores units
2868	25	2.0	character widths are not calculated correctly for some fonts...
2421	20	2.0	TM, Bullet, Euro, Smart Quotes and other symbols originat......
1394	17	2.0	on-screen landscape actually prints portrait in Win95
3216	16	1.0.x	tabstops can't be set in second (or third) column
2299	15	1.0.x	Prints incorrect margins with split page.
2924	15	---	printing abw documents defaults to black pages

Top 20 Requests For Enhancement
ID	Votes	Milestone	Summary
1261	528	2.0	Need to support footnotes and endnotes
2321	256	Future	[RFE] Maths/Equation Editing, as a plugin maybe?
2183	229	Future	Fully Support OpenOffice's XML file format
2365	100	Future	AbiWord needs 'view codes'
1374	96	Future	[RFE] print odd and/or even pages only (for front & back ...
1950	87	Future	Wish for automatic Table of Contents
2463	79	Future	support embedded objects
1144	67	Future	Improve KWord import/export filters
1929	41	Future	Hyphenation is missing in Abiword
2565	41	Future	Add true MS Word .doc export capability
2186	30	Future	The insert page break setting is lost for custom styles
3657	30	Future	Rapid Document Production, Insert File
2219	27	Future	AUTONUM wanted in [ Insert/Field/Number ] menu
515	25	Future	columns change should only affect selected text
2296	25	Future	doc import: footnotes
2169	24	Future	Line numbering
2360	23	Future	Resizing bitmap images
3668	21	---	Support for window tabs instead of separate windows
3233	20	2.0	New Language preference menu

Resolved Bugs

      In the past week, the following Bugs have been verified as fixed.   The listed Bugs have all been put in RESOLVED mode as either FIXED or WORKSFORME and have then been verified by the people listed below.   Other causes of resolving a Bug (e.g. as INVALID) are not tracked since they usually do not represent a fixed problem.   INVALID and DUPLICATE bugs will be tracked separately starting next week, probably....

WARNING!

      143 bugs is a lot...to do by hand.   If there's an error you can contact me at my mailing list address, or if Alan (not Horkan) fixes roogroup.com's stuff, that might work to. Now, what you're about to see is not a hallucination--it really is that long.

Bugs Resolved This Week
Bug ID	Description
206	Document window (with mouse grab) does not receive mouse ...
808	Tables not imported from RTF
991	Can't find words with quotes or apostrophes when smart qu...
1099	cursor still blinks in presence of modal dialog
1402	Can not use other than original type1 fonts
1474	libiconv Korean broken
1686	command line processing code should be refactored
1724	[RFE] Document Propertie
1766	[RFE] Keyboard short cuts for Zoom
1822	paste/undo with apostrophe loops
2083	[RFE] Export WordPerfect format files
2106	COMPOSE KEY doesn't work inside AbiWord
2217	Font Information Incorrectly Displayed
2288	save as web - margins are too small
2342	Language listing out of order in tr-TR locale
2348	Cut & paste don't work at all - AccelX/Linux/KDE
2359	Menu localizasion error
2422	adding new fonts on UNIX platforms is too clumsy
2447	Clipboard does not work externally to abiword or abiword ...
2529	Latex export of symbols
2563	Wepage Shortcut icons aka favicons
2573	Save reverts "Encoded Text" to "Text" file type.
2598	Abiword installs bogus fonts of dubious heritage
2599	Gnome Icons apear for spelling suggestions with the icon ...
2603	Exporting doc with pagenumbers to HTML leaves last pagenu...
2631	Copy as HTML (Plain)
2698	Hyperlinks' status bar message lingers after mouse-over
2734	DocBook export page break as ^L
2750	.doc file crash in OLEDecode
2754	Copy and pasting large amounts of text is slow
2777	[RFE] Cannot paste images from clipboard
2845	Selecting most languages in set Language dialog works inc...
2856	Win32-style drag and drop tries to insert a hyperlink
3031	help doesn't poperly matches AW function
3095	multiple entries on font path makes unstable
3109	Smart Insert Hyperlink, check to see if selected text is ..
3122	Abi refuses to add misspelled, hyperlinked words to dicti...
3127	Spelling hashes have no naming convention
3155	Red Hat RPM's shouldn't warn about failed adding fonts
3158	LaTeX export does not do hyperlinks
3163	RFE: Autodownloading and installation of abispell packages
3180	gdict plugin can not be built because of autoconf incompa...
3187	JPEG import failes with 'racing page count'
3195	Abiword systematically crashes on specific MS-Word document
3201	SDW file does not import (on big endian machines)
3228	Password dialog causes GTK Assertion
3240	Print to PDF writes weird symbols
3248	compilation in separate directory doesn't work
3251	Crash when inserting second endnote
3270	Charset not specified in the saved file
3275	[rfe] display the spell checker language in the status ba
3288	Export document as image
3301	Bad fo:page-sequence tag, extra /fo:block endtag with Sav..
3323	Cut/Copy and Paste problems
3330	abi-detect-platform.m4 forces gcc-isms into WARNING_CFLAGS
3333	XML_CFLAGS set incorrectly when using included expat
3334	C++ comment in psiconv C source file.
3335	configure check for inline causes problems in C++ mode
3339	crashes with empty 'find' dialog
3349	configure.in, configure.ac & libpng prefix from command l...
3351	Bidi support buggy?
3352	Frequent crashes of Abiword in Mac OS 10.1.4, failure to ...
3355	Help Index link is broken
3356	AikSaurus from download page doesn't work
3357	Abiword crashes when Panel "Format/Bullets and Numbering....
3368	this applix word file crashes abi
3396	UCS4 conversion is broken.
3425	Asserts when scrolling
3473	AbiWord can not find local font files
3477	Instructions needs to list popt
3482	microsoft fonts
3486	Abiword refuses to paste text containing colons correctly
3492	Failed install on AbiMagick plugin
3494	Crash while start by user.
3507	Abiword prints screen colors
3514	ABIWord will not start due to font error
3522	abiword doesnt compile on OSF/1 4.0D
3537	crash, document(s) with header and footer
3538	Dictionary not loading for non-root user
3539	past pictures from clipboard.
3546	Typo - extra 't'
3571	wv autogen.sh fails and other autotool problems
3581	splash screen claims to be Abiword v0.7
3582	hyperlinks that span multiple lines don't display correctly
3589	Keyboard Shortcut for Paste Unformatted
3592	xap_UnixEncodingManager.cpp prefers setenv() over putenv().
3602	AbiWord link fails when libwv.a requires external symbols...
3604	xp/ie_imp_T602.cpp overruns the array boundary for fps[] ...
3610	pointer truncation in four spots in ap_UnixDialog_Paragra...
3612	pointer truncation in ap_UnixDialog_Options.cpp on LP64 s...
3615	pointless test for length >= 0 in pt_PT_ChangeSpan.cpp
3616	pointless comparison of iPage with 0 in fl_SectionLayout.cpp
3617	more pointless comparisons with 0 in fl_BlockLayout.cpp
3663	pfa2afm's GNUmakefile.am uses the wrong construct to forc...
3684	Duplicate Alt-A menu shortcut in french
3688	Suspicious compiler warnings
3695	Dies after entering 2 or more non-whitespace characters f...
3701	Applixware Words 5.0 export error
3703	Printing to a white background, while maitaining colored ...
3719	user Templates should be in .Abisuite
3722	abiword bidi crashes when main direction is rtl
3731	Camel Caps should be renamed "Initial Caps" or Headline C...
3746	copy and paste won't carry over internal default font
3757	CVS HEAD does not use correct language in _custom_ scheme
3759	Only 1 image is allowed in footer
3767	cvs update broken on abiword-plugins
3776	Cannot open this word document
3780	Applying custom styles in footer crashes Abiword
3800	Lost printing capabilities after upgrading to 1.0.2 from ...
3802	Export - XSL-FO - incorrect attribute names for page geom...
3820	AbiWord doesn't do copy-and-paste with qt3 and OpenOffice
3840	Loading World.abw crashes AbiWord
3843	printing a file causes text printed on top of other text
3844	pkg.m4 should be included in ac-helpers
3848	Spell checker is broken.
3860	import Simplified Chinese xhtml Document error
3889	Yiddish is not a listed language
3897	Can only run as root user
3916	can't delete tabs
3922	Segfault when printing with 1.0.2
3932	Abiword crashes when selecting text
3949	Setting the start of a list to a number > 6 crashes abiword
3952	Assert opening find dialog
3955	Format -> change case shoots CPU usage to 100%
3971	cursor blinking "feverishly" when inserting lines in larg...
3973	copy any text and Abiword crashes
3987	Problem with Bugzilla
4006	Perlbindings won't compile using autoconf build system
4011	crashes on copy
4019	Linking to GTK2 requires fiddling with Makefiles
4047	Solaris x86 installs wrong dictionary
4053	Doesn't copy to X selection, e.g. can't paste AbiWord sel...
4061	abiword crashes when loading .doc file
4066	Header/Footer entry in RTF format
4081	Data base access error
4082	When using with a MANIFEST file for Visual Styles, some a...
4111	RTF file with table crashe
4112	RTF file crashes AbiWord
4126	Disable building of the fribidi module on *nix
4140	RFE: toolbar button for table and way to graphically 'dra...
4144	remove titles from alert dialogs
4145	button order wrong on quit confirm dialog
4158	"About AbiWord": Out of date reference

This Week's Most Active QA Helpers:
Verified	Name
35	Sam Th
31	Dave Null*
19	F. J. Franklin
16	Martin Sevior
14	Dom Lachowicz
6	Hubert Figuiere
4	Joaquin Cuenca Abela
4	Mark "l'bitsch" Gilbert
2	Andrew Dunbar
2	John L. Clark
2	Marc "I'm not Mark, so, please don't hurt me" Maurer
2	tomabi
1	Alan Horkan
1	Christian Biesinger
1	frodol
1	Jared Davis
1	Jordi Mas
1	Patrick Lam

*Dave Null:   For the clue impared, Dave Null is /dev/null.   Dave Null is the li'l alias for bugs-owner, which can be anyone of five people, or just technically unassigned.   It's hard to ego-trip if you don't take credit, kids!

      To get your name in neon, help QA the Bugs.   It's also great experience if you're working your way to a POW!   If you want your name rather than your email address to appear or vice versa, drop me a line.

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Release HackDown

      This is an AbiWord Weekly News original concept:  The Release Hackdown.   In the table below, you can watch what bugs are being fixed in preparation for the very next release.   Check the key at the bottom to understand formatting.

      No pressure, guys, I'm sure only 2000 or so people will be watching to see what you do weekly.   That breaks down to about 285 people daily and 12 people hourly, so, it's like being peeked at once every five minutes, literally.   "Isn't that veird!?"

HackDown to 1.0.4
Bug ID	Description
2223	cannot open psiWord files (re-opened)
3008	Cursor not initially in hyperlink dialog
3109	Smart Insert Hyperlink, check to see if selected text is a hyperlink
3171	rtf sets top and bottom margins to 0 (re-opened)
3239	[META] Windows printing bugs
3453	Crashes repeatably while attempting to edit header
3488	Weird crash when editing
3489	Crash when deregistering plugins
3561	Crash on embedded AbiWord in Evolution
3625	Multi Substitution waste memory
3632	editing the numbering style of a roman numeral list hangs/crashes
3645	Page setup has a problem with margins in millimeters
3678	[STABLE]Crash when editing this Word document
3686	XAbiword version for bundle not properly set.
3697	[crash] blank abiword document viewed as text (View Source)
3755	AbiWord crashes during import of this MS Word document
3766	Dvorak Keyboard
3840	Loading World.abw crashes AbiWord"
3858	export wrong content when choosing export to "Simplified Chinese GB_2312-80" encoded text
4039	Too Many Curly Brackets in Exported LaTeX (duplicate)
4046	The spellchecker has gone gonzo since upgrading from 1.0.2 to 1.0.3
4068	Crash when mouse leaves selected header
4070	[META] crash on load bugs
4093	Program Terminates on Open
4097	Save dialog file extension weirdness
4125	.doc file does not import correctly (BiDi issues).
removed from list:	3324 and 4068
*Strike-out bug numbers and greyed text are resolved. *Bold bug numbers and bold text are assigned. *Italicized bug numbers and italicized text are unconfirmed. *Removed bugs are a sign you're being screwed.

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Special Interest --

      From time to time, this section will contain essay-style text about various special interests of the AbiWord development.

SPECIAL NOTICE:   If you're working on a project that is related to, affects the development of or is affected by AbiWord, feel free to contact me

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In order to donate money, you must have a PayPal account. If you do not already have one, the links above will allow you to open one. Please consider putting cinamod@hotmail.com in the "Referral ID" field, which results in a one-time $5 donation from PayPal to AbiWord development if you verify your account. Note that only donations of $3 or more are of interest. Sorry, this is due to the fees imposed by credit card companies and PayPal.