As you can see, another bevy of announcements all bunched up in one. Did you feel like it was time to unwind? Nope. Me neither!

First off, an announcement that I put off while other things had to be wrapped up: Apokalypse Software Corp. has acquired the rights and the code to bitShifter, the file encryption utility initially developed and marketed by MemSculpt and then ForgEdit. As with prior acquisitions, the current licensees’ purchases will be honored, updates will be made, etc. I’m still trying to understand what some of these licenses were (perpetual what, now?), but they won’t be problematic as the key is in gaining more licensees rather than bleeding the current userbase dry with the nickel-and-dime tactics I despise so much.

However, the name and logo will need to be changed, as the original developer cannot relinquish them…or something. (bitShifter is vague and ambiguous or too techie sounding, anyway.) It is being revamped, and will be re-launched shortly as an Apokalypse product. The price will likely remain $99 USD if I can figure out what type of license that bought. (Perpetual what, again?)

Now that Apokalypse has encryption technology, I’m putting Mori 1.7 out with encryption ASAP. Unfortunately, this means some of the really cool features I originally planned to incorporate in the release will be delayed until 1.8, including enumerated entries, and continuous text. What’s still in? LinkBack, customized labels, font settings for source & entry views, better keyboard navigation, outlining improvements, self-downloading updates, and now encryption.

I’ve also gone over the features of quite a few of Mori’s competitors, and realize how undervalued Mori is. So I’ll be creating a version with fewer capabilities at the current price to stay at the lower end, and the price of the full-featured version will be raised to $99.95 USD. On top of that, a Pro version will be released at $199.95 USD. Mori licensees will automatically be bumped up to the Pro license when the update is released; so as I promised you before, you won’t have to pay extra for the 1.7 upgrades. In fact, as I’m still planning to put out a 1.8 release, current licensees won’t have to pay for any 1.X upgrades.

Next on the list is the big project I had been working on when I purchased Mori and Clockwork from Jesse. It’s a programming system based on the Smalltalk programming language and it’s called Cocoalogue. What’s so special about it? It’s an interpretive system, with programs written in a shebang-prefixed text file like most scripting languages available on UNIX-like platforms. The Smalltalk-based syntax is virtually identical to Smalltalk-80 with extensions for declaring classes, methods and data types (with strong- and static-typing). It supports dynamic run-time features including blocks, automatic garbage-collection and data translation. And it has, as the name Cocoalogue would indicate, a bridge to Mac’s Cocoa frameworks. I’ll go into greater detail on these features and Cocoalogue’s current limitations in my next post. This product hasn’t been released yet, and will be priced at $129 when it is.

But I’m making the announcement now for a very good reason. You’ll be able to get a licensed copy of Cocoalogue today before it’s made available anywhere else, including the Apokalypse website, through the PMC Software Build Your Own Bundle program. Seth Dillingham, another indie Mac developer, has put together a special bundle where you can purchase Cocoalogue, Mori, Clockwork or a family pack at discounted prices. You could even get a discount on over 120 other fabulous programs from Mac indie developers as well! Not that you want to.

So go on to the bundle site, remembering that it’s the only way to get in on Cocoalogue now, and for the substantial savings you’ll get on Mori Pro 1.7 by getting a Mori license today.

And don’t forget: these sales are going to fund cancer research and treatment, so please don’t be stingy on what are already terrific deals. A lot of folks are counting on you!

The Mac developer scene is loaded with a lot of helpful and supportive developers out there, sharing ideas, code and encouragement with one another. I’ve benefitted from the development community, as have the Mori and Clockwork code. I say this not only as one who’s currently putting new code into them, but seeing the comments Jesse left in the code before me!

So I’d like to drop an idea into your lap you might find useful for the right type of application. As there are different types of software one can develop, e.g., operating systems, utilities, paint programs and the like, they have particular usage characteristics that they encourage. Some, like digital notebooks and desktop timers for example *cough*, tend to remain in operation while the user is logged into his account. Usually, this isn’t a problem for the user. Unless, of course, the user is also someone further developing said software. Then several questions have to be answered, such as, “How do I run unit tests on builds while still running a stable version of my app?” and “How do I try out the latest build without affecting the files which are currently open in my app?”

On operating systems based on more primitive process management, it isn’t troublesome because each built application is fairly independent of others, and often multiple invocations of a single app can be run concurrently. It wasn’t problematic on the Mac either back on MacOS 9 and earlier, and even in the early MOX releases. But now with Launch Services, running test versions of apps you run on an all-day basis can be problematic. It’s best to give that test version some different signature so its defaults and file changes don’t corrupt your normal environment.

Note that this tip doesn’t prevent two versions from munging the same files; even two unrelated apps can mess up a data file if they’re updating it at the same time. What this tip does is provide an alternate identity, if you will, for test builds so MOX doesn’t try to hand it the same data set it gives the release builds of your app. You mustn’t try to open files in the test build that are currently opened by a release build.

Here’s how I do it:

1. In the Info.plist file, use the C pre-processor’s conditional compilation directive to give your app its normal metadata when a release build is made, but a special set of metadata for all other build configurations:

#if defined(Release)
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.apokalypsesoftware.Mori</string>
#else
<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
<string>com.apokalypsesoftware.Mori-debug</string>
#endif

Update: I forgot to mention that Xcode 3 and later versions now use specialized editors for the Info.plist files. To override this editor selection, bring up the file’s Info window (by selecting the file and pressing cmd-I) or the Inspector window and change the File Type setting from “text.plist.whatever” to “text”. Once you add the conditional to Info.plist you can change File Type back and access Info.plist in its raw form from its target’s Properties tab. That way, you can view it in either mode within Xcode. However, making any changes in Xcode’s plist editor will wipe out any conditional directive in the file, so use it only for reviewing current settings, not for actual editing!

2. In the Target Info window (brought up via the ‘Project > Edit Active Target “Mori”‘ menu item), select the Build tab, specify “All Configurations” for the Configuration pop-up menu, and enter “plist” in the search toolbar widget to bring up the relevant setting items.

3. For the “Info.plist Other Preprocessor Flags” setting, enter -traditional as the value. While not needed to support the test version twin, it will help to prevent any URLs included in the Info.plist from being swallowed up by the pre-processor and possibly causing you sleepless nights because neither MOX nor the Xcode build system have the slightest idea of what the proper format for URLs are, but will behave erratically when it isn’t just so. So it’s best to make it a non-issue from the start. (No charge for that and other tips related to usage of the pre-processor you can find in Technical Note TN2175. Incidentally, TN2175 says to use “-traditional”, but I use “-CC”. Use whatever works for the version you’re on.)

4. For the Info.plist Preprocessor Definitions setting, enter $(CONFIGURATION). Xcode will change the display to read <multiple values>, but that’s okay because the value will vary according to the current build configuration. It will define a value that matches the build configuration that the pre-processor will test against in the Info.plist. (Try switching the setting in the Configuration pop-up menu of the Build tab to watch the value change to match the current setting.) This is what will direct the pre-processor to output the correct value for CFBundleIdentifier.

5. Check the Preprocess Info.plist File checkbox so Xcode invokes the pre-processor on the Info.plist before copying it to the application.

When built, you’ll be able to run the app concurrently with the release version, and without causing conflicts with data files in use by it. Of course, you won’t have your preferences set up, but that’s only a problem until you save preferences for the test version. (Remember, if you try to get around that problem by copying the release version’s defaults file that it also holds the recently opened files. Purge, close or what-have-you as appropriate!)

One of the extra things I attempted to do in this technique was to provide an alternate name for the private builds or test versions so they would be distinctly named for testers. We used to use naming conventions such as “Mori 1.7β3” when distributing such versions back in the pre-MOX days, but including the metadata keys CFBundleExecutable, CFBundleName, and CFBundleDisplayName don’t have any noticeable effect. Any tips in this regard would be greatly welcomed.

I had also attempted to get the pre-processor to generate the bundle identifier with “Mori-$(CONFIGURATION)” that fit whatever build configuration was in effect automatically, which would’ve avoided the use of the #if defined directive. Unfortunately, because the macro expansion would generate Mori-Release that method proved ineffective.

A corresponding idea is to use an alternate icon (via the CFBundleIconFile specifier) to represent the test version of your app. It helps you and your testers realize when odd behavior is due to running the wrong build just by looking at the dock or application-switcher. It’s also fun to double-click a document only to realize the test app is opening vital data meant only for the stable version. Hilarity is sure to ensue. But I’m a professional, don’t you kids try this at home!

If you don’t have the construction guy handy, you can resort to the technique I used before I discovered Info.plist processing: MOX’s own stamping of missing dock files makes for a handy visual guide to your test app. To try it yourself, add the debug version from within your build/Debug folder to your dock items. That’s right, the debug version (or whatever you use for test builds). Now delete it and empty the trash. (You will be building new ones, won’t you?) Now click on the app icon you just added to the dock. It adds a big fat ‘?’ to your lovely icon, doesn’t it? (At least it should if you deleted the correct icon.) Now rebuild your app and run it from within Xcode.

Now bring up the application switcher (cmd-tab). What do you see? A big fat ol’ ‘?’ emblazoned on the debug version of your app! Oh, you don’t? You see the normal icon? Yeah, you’re on Leopard, aren’t you? This trick doesn’t work as well on Leopard because MOX validates the file state more often than Tiger did. Such as, starting the test build from the Dock instead of only within Xcode. On Leopard, clicking on the dock icon when there’s a built debug version of your app in the debug folder will restore its unstamped icon. But anytime the question mark goes away, just delete the debug version, empty the trash, and click on the dock icon again.

Have fun, and keep ‘em flying!