RE: Is there a more stable version than 0.88.1?

["Rob Campbell" <rob campbell att net>]

I use Dia for UML, too.  If you don't want to read all of my long response,
be sure to read the part about Dia's file format.

> I downloaded the cvs version, and got it to compile after fixing a
> couple of things.

The latest version I use is the 0.89 Windows pre-release, so YMMV.

> Setting fonts per class probably isn't the best idea. If you could set
> fonts which applied to all classes, then that would be great,
> but fonts
> per class is just annoying. No one will want to go and set fonts
> manually for each class.

I agree.

> When drawing the class, it should get the font metrics and
> actally work
> out how much space it really needs rather than making the class box so
> huge!! There is a ridiculous amount of empty spaces for long member
> functions (pages!)

I've never noticed anything this extreme in 0.89 or earlier.  A problem
often occurs when I shorten the longest member of a class, e.g., by removing
some parameters of a member function.  In this case, the class box doesn't
resize properly.  It is too long (often much too long) for the text.  I
thought this was discussed on the list and that a fix (or at least the
infrastructure for a fix) was in place.  Can one of the developers comment?

> Also class member functions default to virtual - bad choice. When
> loading my classes from 0.88.1, they come up as virtual, even though
> they weren't in 0.88.1.

Yes, this would be a problem. In fact, there should be no default for such
attributes. There should be an absolute value - true or false; public,
private, or protected; et cetera.  If anything is assumed, it should be
changed to an absolute setting.  That way, it would not be possible for
values to change from release to release of the program or file format.
Data should never change unless the user changes it.

> many, many hours of work. Shame.
> If only the dia save format was XML - I could have done it
> with a script or something. Are there any plans to change the dia save
format?

Dia's default format is compressed XML (Gzip, I think).  But the compression
can be turned off.  On the user interface page of the preferences dialog,
toggle "Compress saved files" to "no".  Save your imported v0.88.1 files,
then edit them as necessary.

Of course, the problem you reported should be fixed so that no attributes
have default attributes.  That way, it would not be possible for values to
change from release to release of the program or file format.

Rob Campbell
rob.campbell@att.net