Display List Editor Finished

The Display List Editor is now complete. Users can visually design a display list and then at the click of a button, save it for later use, insert it directly into the source, preview it or copy the generated code to the clipboard.

This should help Atari developers, particularly those who are starting out with coding custom Display Lists.

I still have to add some extra functions in the main program itself regarding this editor, but the will also impact on other areas. One of the functions I want to add is a drag and drop functionality that will allow resources to be dragged from the Project Manager directly into the source. If that item being dragged is a binary file (character set or player missile set), then a binary include function will be inserted into the source. However, because it is not as straightforward to include the display list as a binary source, if you drag the Display List file into the source, then the program will decode the display list and embed the actual source code of the display list into the program source file. Dragging a normal source file into the source will generate a source include function to be inserted.

Hopefully, this will make things that little bit easier for people.

I have also managed to reduce most of the flicker issues I was getting in the Windows version of the IDE. This means that as I am coding this in Real Studio from RealSoftware, I should be able to release the Windows version at the same time as the OSX version.

I have been receiving a lot of positive feedback from the AtariAge community regarding this project, and it is great to see people taking an interest. I am also getting a number of suggestions to help improve the IDE, some of which I have included into the Display List Editor. Some these include an editor to allow the user to edit BASIC files and the facility to export the resources for other languages (such as C, Action!, Quick, etc.). I am excited about putting these functions in, however, I would like to get this to at least beta release by the end of next month, so some of the suggestions may have to wait until version 2, and if the reception the program gets is as good as I think, then there will definitely be a version 2.