AXON Release Notes

  Axon2010 Releases:
    R2.21 Final (Jan 13, 2010) Latest
    R2.20 Final (Nov 30, 2009)
    R2.12 Final (Oct 31, 2009)
    R2.00 Final (Sep 15, 2009)
    R1.10 Beta (Sep 7, 2009)

  Previous Versions:
    Axon2009 (Aug 2008)
    Axon2008 (2007)
    Axon2007 (2006)
    Axon2006 (2005)
    Axon2005 (2004)
    Axon2004 (2003)
    Axon2003 (2002)
    Axon2002 (2001)
    Axon2001 (2000)
    Axon2000 (1999)
    Axon99 (1998)
    Axon98 (1997)
    Axon5.0 (1997)
    Axon4.0 (1995)
    Axon3.1 (1994)
    Axon3.0 (1993)
    Axon2.0 (1993) DOS
    Axon1.0 (1992) DOS

1. Whats New in Axon2010

2. Changes from Axon2009

3. Changes made to Beta R1.10 (Sept 7, 2009)

4. Changes made to Final R2.00 (Sep 15, 2009)

5. Changes made to Final R2.12 (Oct 31, 2009)

6. Changes made to Final R2.20 (Nov 30, 2009)

7. Changes made to Final R2.21 (Jan 13, 2010) Latest

8. Known Problems

1. Whats New in Axon2010

The main enhancement to Axon2010 is a true 3D interface for expressing and visualizing ideas in a more natural environment.

1. OpenGL is used for the 3D View.
2. A panoramic FPS (first person shooter) interface.
3. Ability to rotate a view and look from various cardinal view points.
4. Both 2D and 3D views are maintained and switcheable.
5. A 3D Toolbox for navigation, object manipulation and timer control.
6. A 3D Object can be moved, rotated and scaled independent of its 2D position.
7. Links are shown in 3D and can be animated to show the flow direction.
8. 2D Shapes can be displayed in 3D.
9. A Timer is used to create animations.
10. Oscillation enables depths to be easily observed.
11. Display complex 3D (Picture) Objects using Wavefront(tm) files (.obj and .mtl).
12. 3D Objects can be linked or embedded.
13. 3D Objects can all rotate to "face me".
14. A 3D background (Picture in Sphere) can project a picture on the inner side of a rotating sphere.
15. Directional (i.e. diffused) light can be positioned at various locations, or made to rotate.
16. Ambient light of various colors can be set.
17. Fog effects can be set for realism.

2. Changes from Axon2009

1. The Overview window is now removed.
2. Vertical and horizontal scrollbars are removed.
3. One Level always equate to 100 units in Z direction (not configurable).
4. The Statusbar is now toggled from the View menu (not in Preferences).
5. Clicking on an Object in the Sequencer will always center the Object (no customizable actions).
6. The Statusbar autoclose feature is removed.
7. The Palette can no longer be turned off.
8. Zoom|Pan is now removed.
9. Object|Same Position As is removed.
10. Status text line shows either mouse command or position (no other variations).
11. Preferences|Textwindows|"Open Textwindow if mouse over Obj" is removed.
12. Release 1.01 corrected some problems with "float divide by zero" and marking of links, as reported by Keith Gardner.
13. See Axon2009 Release Notes.

3. Changes made to Beta R1.10 (Sept 7, 2009)

1. The 3D view now displays by Level, similar to the 2D view. Level related features are now available in 3D.
2. Added an option (in Options|Entities|Links) to show arrowheads in the middle of a Link.
3. Stopping the 3D timer will freeze rather than reset the 3D oscillation.
4. The 3D toolbox now auto-hides.
5. Link Shape can be set during an Import.
6. More background line patterns are added for 3D.
7. If running Axon from a USB, the license key will not be updated in the Windows Registry.

4. Changes made to Final R2.00 (Sept 15, 2009)

1. Corrected some problems with Undo.
2. A list of Undo steps is displayed in the Statusline when the mouse is over the undo button.
3. Disabled the 3D equation editor in the Lite Version.

5. Changes made to Final R2.12 (Oct 31, 2009)

1. For 3D view, can use Sh+Drag (with left or right mouse button) to perform scrolling or spinning about the origin.
2. User-defined Icons can now be displayed in 3D.
3. Improved some Icon drawings such as the globe icons.
4. The hot key (Alt+F9) toggles the Statusbar.
5. The Statusbar, when turned off, will still show minimal status about level and scale.
6. Codepage support (in Text|Font and Size) is added to fonts in 3D view.
7. Corrected problem when installing thumbnail files over existing files marked as hidden+system.
8. Corrected memory problem using Icon Browser.

6. Changes made to Final R2.20 (Nov 30, 2009)

1. Corrected some Undo problems related to objects/links creation.
2. Icon Object with ID on right now displays correctly in 2D and 3D.
3. The 3D Z position range is increased to [-25000,25000].
4. Tooltip is now displayed more smoothly.
5. The View|Customize Toolbar menu is now removed. Use the Toolbar context menu instead.
6. The Axon file at http://web.singnet.com.sg/~axon2000/Cyberspace.xon can be opened using the action Open:Axonfile or the main menu File|Open.
7. The Lite version file size limit is revised from 30 to 20 entities.
8. The Clusters function is removed in the Lite version.
9. A Getting Started Tutorial is added to the Help file.

7. Changes made to Final R2.21 (Jan 13, 2010)

1. Corrected problem with hidden & system thumbnail files giving error messages upon installation
2. Improved the Setup process for Windows 7 and Vista.
3. Corrected problems which occur when clicking on Simulator trace window.
4. Provided more detailed explanations in each Simulation demo file.

8. Known Problems

1. To install on Win2000, the .zip version is needed. You will also need to download the gdiplus.dll from Microsoft and copy it to the same location as Axon. Also ensure that the Lucida Sans Unicode font is installed.
2. If you have a problem accessing the Help (from the Help menu), it is likely that your latest security patch from Microsoft has prevented it. To correct this problem, doubleclick on the Axon2010.chm file in the Help subfolder. Then uncheck the option labelled "Always ask before opening this file". For more details see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902225/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358/
http://blog.crowe.co.nz/archive/2007/04/13/719.aspx
http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/tamir/archive/2007/05/03/
3. Droptext having the Richtext format is printed without text formatting.
4. An Axon file containing Random Pictures as background cannot be saved as .emf.
5. If using a pen-cum-tablet and running Vista, do not (in 'Pen and Input Devices') substitute 'press and hold' for a right-click. Also the pen input tab should be docked to the bottom of the screen to avoid crashing the pen (which is a Vista bug).
6. Some Axon files in Unicode format cannot be displayed in 3D (using Axon2010).
7. Right-to-Left (RTL) display is not supported in 3D view for Object IDs and Link Labels.