libplasma 3.0 / KDE 4.2

libplasma

Features
- Symbol Versioning: limit loading of plugins to those that match the libplasma version
- NEW: ToolTipManager for Plasma style tooltips
- NEW: Wallpaper plugins for Containments
- NEW: Context for coordinating and publishing Context information, such as the current Activity or phsyical location
- Applet
  - sizeHintChanged() signal. A containment (such as a panel) can adjust its size based on changed sizehints of an applet
  - ContextConstraint events and access to the current Context object
  - NEW: Plasma::Extender and Plasma::ExtenderItem, allowing visual, relocatable extensions to Applet
  - NEW: PopupApplet, which switches between an icon with a popup in a Horizontal/Vertical containment (such as a panel) and the widget directly on the canvas in a Planer containment (such as a desktop), the icon can be replaced with custom graphics or widgets by the implementation
- Containment
  - Support dropping of arbitrary data if the mimetypes are supported by an applet
  - Activity naming and Context support
  - Toolbox can be positioned in any corner or edge
- Corona
  - addOffscreenWidget/removeOffscreenWidget: manage canvas items that should not appear in a primary view (e.g. Extenders)
- Package system
  - PackageStructure supports arbitrary URIs (in addition to auto-discovery for package) structure description files.
  - Package removal
  - Package browsing interface can be provided by the PackageStructure plugin, allowing for 3rd party widget collectionsto offer online browsing and fetching customizations
- PanelSvg
  - setting the margins via in-SVG hints
  - paintPanel API additions to make it more like QPainter and Plasma::Svg
- Runners
  - TryExec key in .desktop file now supported, allowing runners that rely on an external application to be conditional loaded at runtime
- Service
  - Allow enabling/disabling of operations at runtime
  - Associate widgets with operations
- Theme
  - Support compressed SVGs (*.svgz)
- Widgets
  - NEW: Plasma::Slider based on QSlider
  - NEW: Plasma::TabBar (usable with both QWidget and QGraphicsItems)
  - NEW: Plasma::Frame used to visually group widgets
  - NEW: Plasma::TreeView used to put tree views or simple list in the canvas
  - Plasma::PushButton is svg-themed
Significant Fixes
- WebContent painting update synchronization (fixes, among other things, scrolling)
- Prevent crash when Containment that AppletBrowser is associated with is deleted
- Applet handles work with all icon sizes (user system settings)
- Fix View so that when a new activity is added, don't move more than necessary; fixes dragging lock
- Dramatically fewer full paints by properly watching the exposed rect area, which for full screen Containments or large/complex Applets is quite significant in terms of performance
- Fix on-exit crashes related to focus handling issues in QGraphicsView

Developer Documentation

Design documentation
- NEW: dataengine
- NEW: tooltips
- NEW: wallpaper
- NEW: widgets
Tutorials
- NEW: Extenders http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials/Plasma/UsingExtenders

Desktop Theme

NEW: widgets/button for theming pushbuttons
NEW: widgets/frame for theming Plasma::Frame used also in other widgets
NEW: widgets/scrollbars to theme Plasma::ScrollBar and views scrollbars in libplasma
NEW: widgets/configuration-icons: little icons used for configuration purposes across Plasma
NEW: color role for buttons text and background
NEW: Plasma::Slider follows theme
NEW: Applet handle all svg-themed

Plasma Desktop Shell

Features
- Desktop
  - New Containment configuration for all desktop containments: wallpapers, activity type, theme
- Panel
  - Resizes itself when an applet changes its sizehint according to its maximum and minimum sizes
  - Autohide and windows-cover-panel options
Significant Fixes
- Reposition toolbox when zooming out/in to avoid panel overlap
- Draw the missing part of the toolbox when repositioned because of a panel
- MS Windows compile fixes

Other Shells

NEW: plasma-mid, a shell for mobile internet devices

Tools

Plasma Engine Explorer
- Remove/update sources via context menu
- NEW: Plasma::Service interaction UI, using DataEngine::serviceForSource

Plugins/Addons

Features
- Plasmoids and Containments
  - NEW: Calendar
  - NEW: Character selector
  - Now Playing media player controls
  - Notes
    - Custom colors
    - Export notes to file
  - Clocks
    - Custom colors for digital clock
    - Standardized multi-timezone support in libplasmaclock
  - Folder view
    - Filtering improvements: mimetype and exclusion based.
    - Sorting options, options for locking the icons in place and/or forcing grid alignment.
    - Uses a top-to-bottom icon arrangement when used as a containment.
    - Remembers icon positions.
    - No longer blocks the GUI when loading large folders.
    - Shows a busy animation while loading folders / laying out icons.
  - Default desktop containment
    - Wheel mouse == switch desktop
    - Creation of widgets on desktop containments puts them in empty areas, avoiding overlap
  - Comics
    - Respects web proxy and other relevant KDE settings
    - Improved mouse interaction (middle mouse zooms, context menu, etc)
    - NEW comics supported: Doonesbury, The Boondocks, Extralife, Unshelved, Ctrl+Alt+Delete, NichtLustig, Calvin and Hobbes, Shit Happens
  - NEW: Lancelot
    - Parts applet
    - Contacts section
    - Configuration interface
    - Drag 'n' Drop support
    - KRunner integration
- DataEngines
  - NEW: Network engine
  - NowPlaying
    - Plasma::Service for controlling media players
    - supports MPRIS
  - Powermanagement
    - Added a new source for managing PowerDevil profiles
- ScriptEngines
  - NEW: Google Gadgets
  - NEW: Python Plasmoids
- Runners
  - NEW: Spellcheck runner
  - NEW: Konqueror history runner
  - NEW: Konqueror sessions runner
  - NEW: Konsole sessions runner
  - NEW: KFilePlacesModel (as seen in dolphin, file dialog, kickoff, etc) runner
  - Converter runner now does speed, masses and nautical distances; conversion code moved to a shared lib
- Wallpapers
  - NEW: Image, Slideshow and Color plugins, based on previous code
  - Directories recursed for images in Image and Slideshow plugin
  - Slideshow images are randomized
Significant Fixes
- Various clocks ported to AppletClock for calendar and timezone consistency
- Pager crash fixes
- MS Windows compile fixes
- Taskbar shows thumbnails of windows on hover (4.1 regression)
- TwitterEngine respects web proxies and provides a proper Plasma::Service
- Kickoff
  - proper menu size restoration
  - Hide Shutdown and Restart options when those actions are not possible.
  - Make Sleep and Hibernate entries appear and work
  - use Plasma::Theme to improve visual harmony with the rest of Plasma

KRunner

Features
- Plasma Screensaver: Plasma widget overlay for screensavers
- D-Bus autoactivation, so even if it has perma-crashed, selecting Run Command from Plasma will resurect it
Significant Fixes
- Screensaver activation fixed to compensate for system clock changes

Platforms

Compile and runtime fixes for Microsoft Windows and Maemo