Release history

0.8.2 (2023-11-19)

Improved connection arrangement algorithm. Rules are now propagated along routes instead of just being applied at independent points. Performance hurt but only slightly.
Adapted project so that development with Guix is more convenient.

Made Python 3.8 a requirement. No API changes.
Loading of DDF dependencies is now done using a simple queueing algorithm instead of solving constraints.
Offsets of bundles are now calculated using graphs instead of the constraint solver.
Fixed minor bug in routing code.
Eliminated dead code and tidied up a bit.

Fixed bug: distance between connections did not take into account the orientation of labels.
Improved performance of routing.
Changed project status to beta.

Introduced labels at the start and end of connections.
Fixed bug: connection label distance was previously applied in half, which is now fixed. Had to halve the default value. This change may affect the appearance of diagrams created with previous versions in mind.
Fixed bug: null connection labels in DDFs are now properly recognized. They were previously rendered as “None”.
Reorganized cases directory. Added more cases.

Made changes that may affect the output of some diagrams, so bumped version number appropriately.
Put connection arrows inside block margins to avoid overlaps.
Spacing between connections is now increased when necessary to avoid overlaps of wide arrow heads.
Drawing of connection labels now takes into account arrow size to avoid label - arrow overlap.
Added cases to visually check the above.

Added the ability to include files in DDFs. Useful for sharing styles between diagrams.
Added the ability to define the diagram layout grid using a CSV file. It is now possible to manipulate the layout using a spreadsheet.
Internal change: using the constraint solver for refinement instead of graphs. Made code much clearer at the cost of a slight performance degradation.
Internal change: refactored code; replaced a few convoluted inheritance patterns with composition; added representation strings to most objects.

Added optional constraints to prevent block boxes from growing unnecessarily large.

Major new feature: connections can now have labels.
Switched from SVG to PNG output using the cairo graphics library. Needed to be able to calculate the dimensions of labels. Breaking DDF and API changes.
Colors are now sequences of numbers instead of strings.
Removed the now irrelevant stretch attribute.
Added the scale attribute.

Stopped depending on dominant-baseline SVG attribute; Firefox now centers text correctly.
Minor aesthetic change: replaced empty string with tilde character in examples.
Corrected some errors in the documentation. Reversed the order of releases in the history section.

Significant breaking changes all around.
Adopted more mainstream terminology of block diagrams. “Blocks” instead of “terminals”, “connections” instead of “links”.
Introduced the ability to define overlapping blocks.
Eliminated the drawing_priority attribute. Drawing order is now definition order.
Content of the blocks section in the definition file is now a sequence instead of a mapping. Program relies on definition order.
Replaced start_bias and end_bias attributes with entrances and exits attributes.
Removed column_margin and row_margin diagram attributes. Added margin_* block attributes.
Replaced padding diagram attribute with padding_* attributes.
Got rid of the pins key in row definitions.
Added autogeneration of blocks.
Made diagram center in the drawing area.
Improved the refinement engine.
Updated the documentation. Added the Gallery section.
Added a few more examples.

Introduced the ability to create shapes spanning multiple rows and columns.
Major API breaking changes: Replaced nodes with terminals and pins in order to facilitate the expansion of connected objects. Both API and diagram definition files affected.
Added the text_orientation attribute.
Updated the documentation to reflect the changes. Added the acknowledgments and release history sections.

API breaking change: renamed convert_ddf() public function to the arguably more user friendly translate().
Added the arrow_aspect and arrow_base attributes.
Fixed bug when buffer_width is not set.
Updated the documentation to reflect the changes and correct a few errors; made the stability warning a bit less scary.
Added the scripts.