KGRUBEditor Version 0.7

After almost 2 months of development, I am proud to announce version 0.7 of KGRUBEditor. Most changes are new features, as can be seen from the not-too-explanatory changelog:

v.0.7
-----
*ADDED: Install/Restore GRUB either on a Hard Disk or on a Floppy.
*ADDED: 'Get Hot New Stuff' for GRUB splash image downloading.
*ADDED: Splash Image chooser with previews.
*ADDED: Automagic Kernel List support(found in Debian[-derived] distros)
*ADDED: Tree-like view of the entries (in place of the old list).
*ADDED: 'Move To..' action buttons next to the entries list.
*ADDED: Entry actions at the bottom of the entries list.
*ADDED: Auto enabling/disabling of actions that are entry-related (such as 'Copy Entry') when no entry is selected.
*ADDED: The 'Tools' menu, where 'Install/Restore GRUB' and 'Manage Backups' reside.
*FIXED: Replaced the implicit save (save upon modifying something) with the classic *Save* Button.
*FIXED: Improved the 'Create Splashimage' feature.
*FIXED: Some minor bugs.
*REMOVED: The 'Show/Hide Menubar' action since it is useless.
*REMOVED: The statusbar.
*REMOVED: The 'Actions' and 'Backup' menus (these actions are accessible elsewhere).

Let's see in detail what has happened:

What's New?

1. Redesigned main UI (probably it will soon change again in order to become even more usable and user-friendly).


As you can see there have been some major changes:

1. The old separated-in-two approach was removed to be replaced by a tree-like one, which covers the whole area.
2. The Actions menu was removed and the actions which resided under that menu can now be found next to the entry list. The arrows next to the entry list are the Move To... actions whereas those buttons at the bottom of the entry list are the Add/Edit/Copy/Remove Entry actions as can be seen. The reason for these changes was that soon there will be a module for the KDE System Settings. And guess what :-) modules have no menu bar so all the functionality should be on the GUI.
3. The backup menu also got removed! The backup functionality is now to be found under the menu Tools or alternatively on the tool bar ("Manage Backups").
4. The status bar got removed! (Wtf? Did I leave anything? ;-) ). In view of the module it is useless. It didn't help much either so...
5. The Open action also got removed (Oh God...). Since its functionality was also accessible under the Settings Dialog there was no need for duplicate functionality which could confuse the user.
6. Finally, the old implicit saving system was replaced. See Bye, Bye implicit saving... for more details.

2. Tools Assistants (they are 2):
Install Assistant:

Video on Blogger (.mp4)
Original Best Quality Video (.ogg 7MB)

The video is self explanatory. Use this Assistant to install GRUB on a Hard Disk (either on the Master Boot Record of a drive or on a partition's boot sector) or on a Floppy. You may also use it to restore GRUB, when for example GRUB gets deleted for some reason. Simply choose to install GRUB where it was previously installed. Simple, huh?

Backup Assistant:


The old backup utilities are all under one Assistant. No new features in this Assistant.

3. Get Hot New Stuff functionality:

As you may see, KGRUBEditor acquired Get Hot New Stuff functionality and you are now able to download splash images from kde-apps.org to enhance the appearance of GRUB. In the next release the same functionality will be available for Gfxboot screens.

4. Splash Image Previewer/Selector:

Now you won't have to select every splash image and press Preview. A small preview will be next to every splash image for your convenience.
The only drawback is that splash images are shown only if they reside under /boot/grub/splashimages. If you specify an external splash image the application won't be able to create a thumbnail and thus Unknown Splash Image will be the selection in the previewer.

5. Automagic Kernel List Support

Last but not least, this release closes bug #192756. Automagic Kernel comments are now recognised and won't get deleted. There are some disadvantages though: you shouldn't delete or move Automagic protected entries because this could cause unwanted results. That's why the user is prompted upon starting the application if AUTOMAGIC is detected:


Conclusively, (K/X)ubuntu/Debian users feel free to use KGRUBEditor!


What's Next?

In a few days I will release v.0.7.1 which will contain translations and if any bugs are found, their fixes.

In the next major release there will be....hmm....I'm not sure yet. Mostly fixes and not many new features unless you ask me for something special which I haven't already though of. Probably the System Settings module will be ready...Who knows?!? ;-)

That's all folks!!! (at least for now)

Bye, Bye implicit saving...

Dating back to the first releases of QGRUBEditor the system which was used to save changes was implicit saving. That is, whenever the user modified a setting, the file was updated to reflect the change. The advantage of this system is pretty clear: you need not to worry about saving. It is automatically done upon modifying something.

However, it seems that it is not the best system. Many users have been complaining that it was not clear when the changes were saved (although a "File Updated" message appeared in the status bar) and that the old classic "Save" button/action would be better.

So in view of the Systemsettings module of KGRUBEditor that will be created sometime in the next months and due to user request, the implicit saving system in KGRUBEditor was replaced with the classic "Save" button, as can be seen in the screenshot:


As you can see the Save action and button is currently disabled (as expected since no changes have occured) and whenever the user changes something, they get enabled.

Lastly, there is a confirmation message box which pops up when the user has modified something and tries to quit the application:

Just to note that some UI changes that have happened lately (like the Move Entry buttons being next to the entry list) have occurred merely for the imminent Systemsettings module.

First Post!

Woohoo!

My very first blog! Let's see what I can make out of this thingy called blog...