Hi, in one fo my past posts you mentioned AT3 is tentatively scheduled for Q3 '08 - any guessimates on when you expect to have the new version out?
Thanks, TJ
Hi Tim
I’m hoping for next month, it is close but we are still resolving some issues resulting from us merging source code branches. In the past we had separate branches in our version control for Automise and FinalBuilder, however that often resulted in bug fixes and changes only being applied in one branch when developers forgot to merge the changes to the other branch. AT3 is built from the same branch as FB6, so it will be updated more frequently. We are short a few developers at the moment (we are trying to recruit at the moment), and we have people taking holidays this month so I’m not going to push to get it out this month. We may get a beta out this month though once the source code merge is sorted out.
Any update on a AT3 release date?
TJ
Hi Tim
We hope to have a short beta release starting next week with a release at the end of the month. It’s ready (was just before xmas) but I wanted to wait until all our staff return from the xmas break.
Can you give us an idea on what new functionality has been added?
TJ
Brent is working on the website update at the moment, this is what he has so far, (subject to change) :
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New in Automise 3
Core Improvements
Windows PowerShell & IronPython
PowerShell and IronPython are now supported alongside VBScript and JavaScript as Automise scripting languages. This means that any action can be extended with PowerShell or Python script events, and it is also possible to create PowerShell and Python based custom actions with ActionStudio.
Action Logging
Action log output is now tagged and color-coded according to Errors, Warnings, Success and Information. It is possible to filter the log display in the IDE according to these output tags (for example, to show only Error & Warning output.)
Hierarchical Logging
Actions now produce hierarchical log output, so related messages are grouped together in the log tree.
Performance
Automise is now faster to start up, and runtime performance has dramatically improved. Live logging performance has also increased markedly over previous versions.
Improved Output Quality
All frequently used actions have been visited and revamped, with a view to improving the quality and usefulness of log output.
Automatic Descriptions
Automatic descriptions for all commonly used actions have been revisited and improved. This make it easy to create a self-documenting project.
Action Output Monitors
The new Action Output Monitor feature allows you to watch for particular patterns of log output from an action. The action's behaviour can be modified depending on the output, or specific messages can be captured or suppressed from the action log.
Error Dialog Monitor
This new feature allows you to monitor a third party application for error dialogs popped up while running an action. Dialogs can be automatically dismissed, as appropriate. This is useful when working with poorly-written third party tools that display dialogs when running in an automated mode.
New user info file
The various user-specific .fbd,.fbw,.fbp files used in previous versions have been converted into one common .fbpinf file, with all user-specific data for the project. This file also contains information on the current layout of the project tree, which makes the project file more version-control friendly.
IDE Improvements
IDE Action Types and Options Filter
The IDE Action Types view has been heavily revamped with a new, smarter, search system. This makes it easier to find the action that you're looking for. The same new view has been added to the Options dialog.
IDE Welcome Page
The new Welcome Page provides quick and easy startup, introductory information, and quick navigation to commonly used starting points.
IDE Redesign
The layout of the Run Status and Run History tabs have been rearranged for improved usability and performance. It is now possible to watch the Run Status and the project layout at the same time.
Live Logging Improvements
Enabling live logging while the project is running now shows any existing output from the current running action.
Validation
Action validation errors are now hyperlinks to the source of the failure (action or option pages.)
Easy Scripting of Action Properties
Selecting any action property in the Properties tab (formerly called the Action Inspector) now automatically displays the fragment of script used to access that property from an action script event.
Project Author and Notes
The Project Tree has new fields for project author and any notes about the project. These fields are displayed in the Project Information node, as well as on the Welcome Page in the recent projects section.
Project Information in Project Tree
The Project Tree now includes a project information node that provides detailed information about the current project. The information exposed is: Project Name, Project Path, Created Date, Modified Date, Successful Runs, Failed Runs, Total Runs, Success Ratio (expressed as a percentage), Last Run Date, Last Run Result, Action List Count, Action Count, SCC provider, Log File Size, Project Author, and Project Notes.
Variable Groups
Variables can now be grouped for easier management.
Variable Suggestion
Press F12 while editing any action property field to automatically see a list of suggested variables to substitute for hard-coded strings. This feature makes it much easier to create a robust and maintainable automation process.
Global Script Editor Enhancements
Find and Replace has been added to the Global Script Editor as well as many other usability enhancements like better resizing of the window, works with dual monitor setups better, and if no changes are made to the script then Escape and Cancel will close the window without prompting.
Batch Project Upgrade
For Automise users that have dozens or even hundreds of projects in older formats, the new batch project upgrade dialog will enable you to upgrade old projects automatically.
New Actions
SFTP actions
New actions are now available for transfering files securefly over SFTP.
CSV Field Iterator
Iterate the fields of a CSV (or similar) file.
IIS 7 Actions
New actions for managing Application Pools and websites on IIS 7 servers.
Web Service Actions
New actions for querying and receiving data from Web Services.
Simple Math Action
An action to perform simple maths as part of your project, including addition, subtraction, modulus, factorial, logarithm and sine etc.
Improved Actions
Run Action as User
All actions now have a "Run Action as User" field to allow you to run each action as a specific user.
Export Log Action
Can now export a log fragment instead of a whole log.
ActionStudio
Custom Action Property Sets
Custom actions defined in ActionStudio can now define their own Property Set types. It is also possible for custom actions to access built-in Property Set types.
Custom Action File Sets
Custom actions defined in ActionStudio can now access File Set information and file lists.
New .NET Custom Action API
Automise 3 ships with a new API for creating .NET custom actions. The new API makes it quicker and easier than ever to create custom actions with ActionStudio and .NET
Find & Replace
Find & Replace has been added to ActionStudio in the script editor to easily search for and replace text.
Windows PowerShell
PowerShell has been added to ActionStudio as a scripting language for developing custom actions.
IronPython
IronPython has also been added to ActionStudio as a scripting language for developing custom actions.
Search Keywords
Actions can now define extra search keywords which is used by the Automise IDE when a user searches for actions. For example, a action called "Delay" could define keywords "Wait" and "Pause" for easier searching.
Iterator Actions
A third type of action, Iterator has been added alongside Standard and Execute Program. The Iterator action type allows the development of Iterator actions that run multiple times (including their child actions) for each value in a list.
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Sounds great, I’ll look forward to its release, thanks for the update… TJ
Hi TJ,
The Automise 3 beta is now available, you can d/l from here: https://www.finalbuilder.com/downloads/automise
We look forward to your feedback.
Brent