# Next Release
#### Visual Environment
- [Statusbar reports connectivity issues][1316]. IDE maintains a connection to
the Language Server. If this connection is lost, any unsaved and further work
will be lost. In this build we added notification in statusbar to signalize
that the connection was lost and IDE must be restarted. In future IDE will try
to automatically reconnect.
- [Visualization can be extended to the whole screen][1355] by selecting the
node and pressing space twice. To quit this view, press space again.
- [Visualization preview on output port hover.][1363] There is now a quick
preview for visualizations and error descriptions. Hovering a node output will
first show a tooltip with the type information and then after some time, will
show the visualization of the node. The preview visualization will be located
above other nodes, whereas the normal view, will be shown below nodes. Errors
will show the preview visualization immediately. Nodes without type
information will also show the visualization immediately. You can enter a
quick preview mode by pressing ctrl (or command on macOS), which will show the
preview visualization immediately for any hovered node output.
- [Database Visualizations][1335]. Visualizations for the Database library have
been added. The Table visualization now automatically executes the underlying
query to display its results in a table. In addition, the SQL Query
visualization allows the user to see the query that is going to be run against
the database.
- [Histogram and Scatter Plot now support Dataframes.][1377] The `Table` and
`Column` datatypes are properly visualized. Scatter Plot can display points of
different color, shape and size, all as defined by the data within the
`Table`.
- [Many small visual improvements.][1419] See the source issue for more details.
- The dark theme is officially supported now. You can start the IDE with the
`--theme=dark` option to enable it.
- You can hide the node labels with `--no-node-labels` option. This is useful
when creating demo videos.
- [Added Heatmap visualization.][1438]
- [Add backgrounds to the project name and status bar][1447]. Both now have a
background with drop shadow for better readability.
- [Image visualization.][1367]. Visualizations for the Enso Image library. Now
You can display Image type and string with image encoded in base64. Histogram
visualization has been adjusted, allowing to display the values of the
precomputed bins, which is useful when the dataset is relatively big, and it's
cheaper to send the precomputed bins rather than the entire dataset.
#### Visual Environment
- [Not adding spurious imports][1209]. Fixed cases when IDE was adding
unnecessary library imports when selecting hints from node searcher. This
makes the generated textual code easier to read and reduces likelihood of
accidental name collision.
- [Hovering over an output port shows a pop-up with the result type of a node]
[1312]. This allows discovering the result type of a node which can help with
debugging and development.
- [Visualizations can define context for preprocessor evaluation][1291]. Users
can now decide what module's context should be used for visualization
preprocessor. This allows providing visualization with standard library
functionalities or defining utilities that are shared between multiple
visualizations.
- [Fix issue with multiple instances of the IDE running.][1314] This fixes an
issue where multiple instances of the IDE (or even other applications) could
lead to the IDE not working.
- [Allow JS to log arbitrary objects.][1313] Previously using `console.log` in a
visualisation or during development would crash the IDE. Now it correctly logs
the string representation of the object.
- [Fix mouse cursor offset on systems with fractional display scaling][1064].
Instead of there being an offset between visible cursor and cursor selection
this works now with any display scaling.
- [Disable area selection][1318]. The area selection was visible despite being
non-functional. To avoid confusion, area selection has been disabled until it
is [correctly implemented][479].
- [Fix error after adding a node][1332]. Sometimes, after picking a suggestion
the inserted node was annotated with "The name could not be found" error.
- [Handle syntax errors in custom-defined visualizations][1341]. The IDE is now
able to run properly, even if some of the custom-defined visualisations inside
a project contain syntax errors.
- [Fix issues with pasting multi-line text into single-line text fields][1348].
The first copied line will be inserted and all additional lines will be
ignored.
- [Users can opt out of anonymous data gathering.][1328] This can be done with
the `--no-data-gathering` command-line flag during the startup of the IDE.
- [Provide a theming API for JavaScript visualizations][1358]. It is now
possible to use the Enso theming engine while developing custom visualizations
in JavaScript. You can query it for all IDE colors, including the colors used
to represent types.
- [You can now start the IDE service without window again.][1353] The command
line argument `--no-window` now starts all the required backend services
again, and prints the port on the command line, allowing you to open the IDE
with a browser of your choice.
- [JS visualizations have consistent gestures with the IDE][1291]. Panning and
zooming now works just as expected on trackpad and mouse.
- [Running `watch` command works on first try.][1395]. Running the build command
`run watch` would fail if it was run as the first command on a clean
repository. This now works.
- [The `inputType` field of visualizations is actually taken into consideration]
[1384]. The visualization chooser shows entries accepting the node's output's
type only.
- [Fix applying selected node output to the expression of new node][1385]. For
example, having selected node with Table output and adding a new node with
expression `at "x" == "y"` the selected node was applied to the right side of
`==`: `at "x" == operator1."y"` instead of `operator1.at "x" == "y"`.
- [`Enso_Project.data` is visible in searcher][1393].
- [Geo Map visualization recognizes columns regardless of their name letter
case][1392]. This allows visualizing tables with columns like `LONGITUDE` or
`Longitude`, where previously only `longitude` was recognized.
- [It is possible now to switch themes][1390]. Also, theme manager was
integrated with the FRP event engine, which was a long-standing issue in the
IDE. Themes management was exposed to JavaScript with the `window.theme`
variable. It is even possible to change and develop themes live by editing
theme variables directly in the Chrome Inspector. Use the following command to
start: `theme.snapshot("t1"); theme.get("t1").interactiveMode()`.
- [The active visualization is highlighted.][1412] Now it is clearly visible
when the mouse events are passed to the visualization.
- [Fixed an issue when projects containing certain language constructs failed to
load.][1413]
- [Fixed a case where IDE could lose connection to the backend after some
time.][1428]
- [Improved performance of the graph editor, particularly when opening a project
for a first time.][1445]
#### EnsoGL (rendering engine)
- [Unified shadow generation][1411]. Added a toolset to create shadows for
arbitrary UI components.
#### Enso Compiler
If you're interested in the enhancements and fixes made to the Enso compiler,
you can find their release notes
[here](https://github.com/enso-org/enso/blob/main/RELEASES.md).
[1064]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1064
[1209]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1209
[1291]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1291
[1311]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1311
[1313]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1313
[1314]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1314
[1316]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1316
[1318]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1318
[1328]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1328
[1355]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1355
[1332]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1332
[1341]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1341
[1341]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1341
[1348]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1348
[1353]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1353
[1395]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1395
[1363]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1363
[1384]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1384
[1385]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1385
[1390]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1390
[1392]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1392
[1393]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1393
[479]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/issues/479
[1335]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1335
[1358]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1358
[1377]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1377
[1411]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1411
[1412]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1412
[1419]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1419
[1413]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1413
[1428]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1428
[1438]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1438
[1367]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1367
[1445]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1445
# Enso 2.0.0-alpha.2 (2020-03-04)
This is a release focused on bug-fixing, stability, and performance. It improves
the performance of workflows and visualizations, and improves the look and feel
of the graphical interface. In addition, the graphical interface now informs the
users about errors and where they originate.
- [Learn how to define custom data visualizations in
Enso][podcast-custom-visualizations].
- [Learn how to use Java libraries in Enso, to build a
webserver][podcast-java-interop].
- [Learn how to use Javascript libraries in Enso, to build custom server-side
website rendering][podcast-http-server].
- [Discover why Enso Compiler is so fast and how it was built to support a
dual-representation language][podcast-compiler-internals].
- [Learn more about the vision behind Enso and about its planned
future][podcast-future-of-enso].
#### Visual Environment
- [Errors in workflows are now displayed in the graphical interface][1215].
Previously, these errors were silently skipped, which was non-intuitive and
hard to understand. Now, the IDE displays both dataflow errors and panics in a
nice and descriptive fashion.
- [Added geographic map support for Tables (data frames).][1187] Tables that
have `latitude`, `longitude`, and optionally `label` columns can now be shown
as points on a map.
- [Added a shortcut for live reloading of visualization files.][1190] This
drastically improves how quickly new visualizations can be tested during their
development. This is _currently_ limited in that, after reloading
visualization definitions, the currently visible visualizations must be
switched to another and switched back to refresh their content. See the [video
podcast about building custom visualizations][podcast-custom-visualizations]
to learn more.
- [Added a visual indicator of the ongoing standard library compilation][1264].
Currently, each time IDE is started, the backend needs to compile the standard
library before it can provide IDE with type information and values. Because of
that, not all functionalities are ready to work directly after starting the
IDE. Now, there is a visible indication of the ongoing background process.
- [Added the ability to reposition visualisations.][1096] There is now an icon
in the visualization action bar that allows dragging the visualization away
from a node. Once the visualization has been moved, another icon appears that
can pin the visualization back to the node.
- [There is now an API to show Version Control System (like Git) status for
nodes][1160].
#### Visual Environment
- [You can now use the table visualization to display data frames][1181]. Please
note, that large tables will get truncated to 2000 entries. This limitation
will be lifted in future releases.
- [Performance improvements during visual workflow][1067]. Nodes added with the
searcher will have their values automatically assigned to newly generated
variables, which allows the Enso Engine to cache intermediate values and hence
improve visualization performance.
- [Minor documentation rendering fixes][1098]. Fixed cases where text would be
misinterpreted as a tag, added support for new tag types, added support for
more common characters, properly renders overflowing text.
- [Improved handling of projects created with other IDE versions][1214]. The IDE
is now better at dealing with incompatible metadata in files, which stores
node visual position information, the history of chosen searcher suggestions,
etc. This will allow IDE to correctly open projects that were created using a
different IDE version and prevent unnecessary loss of metadata.
- Pressing and holding up and down arrow keys make the list view selection move
continuously.
- The shortcuts to close the application and to toggle the developer tools at
runtime now work on all supported platforms.
- [The loading progress indicator remains visible while IDE initializes][1237].
Previously the loading progress indicator completed too quickly and stopped
spinning before the IDE was ready. Now it stays active, giving a visual
indication that the initialization is still in progress.
- [Fixed visual glitch where a node's text was displayed as white on a white
background][1264]. Most notably this occurred with the output node of a
function generated using the node collapse refactoring.
- Many visual glitches were fixed, including small "pixel-like" artifacts
appearing on the screen.
- [Several parser improvements][1274]. The parser used in the IDE has been
updated to the latest version. This resolves several issues with language
constructs like `import`, lambdas, and parentheses, whereupon typing certain
text the edit could be automatically reverted.
- [The auto-import functionality was improved][1279]. Libraries' `Main` modules
are omitted in expressions inserted by the searcher. For example, the `point`
method of `Geo` library will be displayed as `Geo.point` and will insert
import `Geo` instead of `Geo.Main`.
- Cursors in text editors behave correctly now (they are not affected by scene
pan and zoom). This was possible because of the new multi-camera management
system implemented in EnsoGL.
- [Fixed method names highlighted in pink.][1408] There was a bug introduced
after one of the latest Engine updates, that sent `Unresolved_symbol` types,
which made all methods pink. This is fixed now.
#### EnsoGL (rendering engine)
- A new multi-camera management system, allowing the same shape systems to be
rendered on different layers from different cameras. The implementation
automatically caches the same shape system definitions per scene layer in
order to minimize the amount of WebGL draw calls and hence improve
performance.
- A new depth-ordering mechanism for symbols and shapes. It is now possible to
define depth order dependencies between symbols, shapes, and shape systems.
- Various performance improvements, especially for the text rendering engine.
- Display objects handle visibility correctly now. Display objects are not
visible by default and need to be attached to a visible parent to be shown on
the screen.
#### Enso Compiler
If you're interested in the enhancements and fixes made to the Enso compiler,
you can find their release notes
[here](https://github.com/enso-org/enso/blob/main/RELEASES.md#enso-026-2021-03-02).
[1067]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1067
[1096]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1096
[1098]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1098
[1181]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1181
[1215]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1215
[1160]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1160
[1190]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1190
[1187]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1187
[1068]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1068
[1214]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1214
[1237]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1237
[1264]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1264
[1274]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1274
[1279]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1279
[podcast-java-interop]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcpOEX1x06I&t=468s&ab_channel=Enso
[podcast-compiler-internals]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BibjcUjdkO4&ab_channel=Enso
[podcast-custom-visualizations]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFkh5LgAZTs&t=5439s&ab_channel=Enso
[podcast-http-server]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYUAL4ksEgY&ab_channel=Enso
[podcast-future-of-enso]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF8DuJPOfTs&t=1863s&ab_channel=Enso
[1312]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1312
[1408]: https://github.com/enso-org/ide/pull/1408
# Enso 2.0.0-alpha.1 (2020-01-26)
This is the first release of Enso, a general-purpose programming language and
environment for interactive data processing. It is a tool that spans the entire
stack, going from high-level visualization and communication to the nitty-gritty
of backend services, all in a single language.
#### Anonymous Data Collection
Please note that this release collects anonymous usage data which will be used
to improve Enso and prepare it for a stable release. We will switch to opt-in
data collection in stable version releases. The usage data will not contain your
code (expressions above nodes), however, reported errors may contain brief
snippets of out of context code that specifically leads to the error, like "the
method 'foo' does not exist on Number". The following data will be collected:
- Session length.
- Graph editing events (node create, dele, position change, connect, disconnect,
collapse, edit start, edit end). This will not include any information about
node expressions used.
- Navigation events (camera movement, scope change).
- Visualization events (visualization open, close, switch). This will not
include any information about the displayed data nor the rendered
visualization itself.
- Project management events (project open, close, rename).
- Errors (IDE crashes, WASM panics, Project Manager errors, Language Server
errors, Compiler errors).
- Performance statistics (minimum, maximum, average GUI refresh rate).