I was able to fix the bug which caused IC 1.2 beta 1 to crash. As a consequence of the IC 1.2 beta 1 disaster, I decided to move from an open beta test, to a closed on. This seems to be the more promising concept.

I had to remove the beta version of InfiniteCanvas 1.2. There is a severe bug which crashes the application when publishing to Flash. I’ll upload an updated version within the next couple of days.

I updated the documentation to IC 1.2. There are only slight changes. I removed the tight integration of the documentation into the website. Keeping the online documentation and the documentation, which is shipping with the app, consistent has been a very time-consuming task.

I’m surprised, the beta has been downloaded 64 times. Thanks to everybody who passed on the news. Unfortunately I got zero feedback. I hope this is a good sign and you like the Flash Viewer ;-) If this is not the case, please let me know. I can’t improve the app/viewer with zero feedback - no feedback is worse than bad feedback.

I uploaded a first beta version of InfiniteCanvas 1.2. It’s available on the Beta Downloads page. Please beta test this version with focus on the Flash Viewer and report bugs within the next couple of days! Thank you!

The source code of this release is available on the new Source Code page.

Although the Flash Viewer is still missing some features, I think it’s ready for prime time. Within the next 7 days I plan to release a beta of IC v1.2 with a final release scheduled for the end of the month. I attached two lists of features, which are missing in 1.2, to this post.

This is a list of features which will come back in the next major revision (1.3).
- free-navigation mode
- curved trails
- trail dash styles
- trail arrows
- panel rotation
- panel transparency
- tile panel

This is a list of features which may not come back. There are several reasons why I plan to drop this features, but everything is open to discussion.
- crop panel
- panel border
- dive-in transition
- fade transition
- customizable splash image

I just installed yesterdays Mac OS X Update and it broke Safari and InfiniteCanvas. Safari crashed every time during startup, but I was able to fix that - I removed the AcidSearch PlugIn. The problem with IC persists, it crashes when using Preview. Apple updated it’s Java Runtime in 10.3.9 and I think this is causing problems. I’ll try to examine this issue and post a fix as soon as possible.

UPDATE: I’m also experiencing crashes when loading Java Applets (also my Applet) in Safari.

UPDATE #2: I fixed the Java Problem by reinstalling Security Update 2005-002. I found this hint on MacFixIt.

UPDATE #3: Apple released a Java Update for the mentioned 10.3.9 Java Problem. You can download the Update with SoftwareUpdate or from Apple Support.

I updated the FAQs with some Flash Viewer related questions. Do you miss a question?

I created a really simple Flash movie. I placed a bitmap on the stage and wrote a short action script to move it from one point to an other. Surprisingly even this simple animation was jerky. Why didn’t I try this earlier??? This could have saved me a lot of time. In the last week I rewrote the animation part of the Flash viewer several times hoping to gain a performance boast.

So what does that mean?

1) I’m very frustrated.
2) I’m not sure if I should continue development of the Flash Viewer.
3) I need a holiday :-)