[dot] KOffice 2.0 Alpha 7 Released

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1210273570/

From: Inge Wallin <>
Dept: another-alpha-tech-preview
Date: Thursday 08/May/2008, @12:06

KOffice 2.0 Alpha 7 Released
============================

   The KDE Project [http://www.kde.org/] today announced the release of
KOffice version 2.0 Alpha 7
[http://www.koffice.org/releases/2.0alpha7-release.php], a technology
preview of the upcoming version 2.0. This version adds a lot of polish,
some new features in Kexi and KPresenter and especially better support
for the OpenDocument format. It is clear that the release of KOffice 2.0
with all the new technologies it brings is drawing nearer.

     This is mainly a technology preview for those that are interested
in the new ideas and technologies of the KOffice 2 series.

     The Alpha 7 release is a work in progress.  This release introduces
improvements in almost all the components as well as in the common
infrastructure. All the applications saw big changes, both bugfixes and
new features.


  I. ONGOING POLISH

     The release notes for Alpha 6 noted the addition of snap-guides
that will guide the user when he or she is placing objects near other
objects in any direction, Alpha 7 adds a bounding-box snapping option
for even more powerful snapping options. This release has also added the
option for users to configure shape-shadows in the form of a new dock
widget.


 II. REPORT GENERATOR FOR KEXI

     There is a whole new set of features in Kexi, the most important of
which is a new report generator. This allows the user to create a
document based on the data in the database with features like charting
and scripting.


III. NEW FEATURES IN KRITA

     Krita has received a lot of attention e.g. general polish and
bugfixing. Krita has additionally received a new plugin type which will
allow both KOffice developers as well as 3rd party developers to create
new pixel-generator filters, such as clouds or fractal generators.


 IV. DEVELOPER FOCUS ON KPRESENTER

     The KOffice developers decided to focus their efforts to make
KPresenter an application that will be released in the 2.0 suite. This
has given KPresenter a lot of page-effects in this release, but has
managed to do more work on master page editing as well. Much of the work
on the KOffice libraries have been specially selected because it
benefits KPresenter in particular.


  V. IMPROVED OPENDOCUMENT SUPPORT

     This release is the first to see some results of the OpenDocument
Format testsuite being imported into KOffice.  The testsuite exists from
a lot of little documents that each show one feature in ODF.  Automated
testing of loading those documents will allow developers to keep on
working on the code without fear of breaking the already working code.
This is known as regression testing.

     In this release already 23 tests are added into KOffice and the
results are visible in much better loading of text documents in KWord.
KWord is also one of the target applications for 2.0, and NLNet has
sponsored a developer working on that application.

     KOffice 2 is still under heavy development. It is not meant as
something to be used for any real work and can crash at any point. 
However, here are some of the highlights of the upcoming KOffice 2
series. Note that not all of the new technologies will be fully
implemented in the first release, 2.0.0.