Release Notes for OpenLaszlo 3.4

OpenLaszlo 3.4 is a focused release that adds a two new features:

Status of this release

OpenLaszlo 3.4 is expected to be the last release on the existing code base. All future releases of OpenLaszlo will be based on OpenLaszlo 4. OpenLaszlo 3.4 has been extensively tested and is believed to be stable. However, it is not a fully qualified release and we do not encourage you to move to this release unless you need its capabilities. Rather, we encourage you to begin planning to move to OpenLaszlo 4, currently in Beta. Most OpenLaszlo applications based on 3.x will require at least some porting in order to run on OpenLaszlo 4.

OpenLaszlo 3.3 remains the last fully-qualified release.

For every release, we rely on the OpenLaszlo community to help ensure the quality of the platform release and to determine its future direction. We encourage you to report any problems, and to make suggestions for enhancements, through our JIRA bug tracking system.

The remaining portion of these release notes describe the changes in OpenLaszlo 3.4 since OpenLaszlo 3.3.

Here is a summary of what you will find in these notes:

New Features in OpenLaszlo 3.4

OpenLaszlo 3.4 includes two new features: limited CSS Support, and support for streaming media. Each of these is documented in a new chapter in the Developer's Guide.

CSS

This release includes partial support for some aspects of runtime CSS. Please see the documentation.

We are working on a fully-dynamic, integrated implementation of CSS for OpenLaszlo application development. An initial implementation with limited functionality and very little integration into the LFC or the Components is included in this release. Please note that this feature is in progress, and will not be available for use in typical OpenLaszlo applications until a post-4.0 release.

Support for Streaming Audio and Video

OpenLaszlo 3.4 includes new capabilities for audio and video:

Streaming audio and video in .flv and .mp3 formats are rendered in the specialized <videoview<>. (More limited audio and visual capabilities can be obtained by attaching audio and visual sources as resources to regular <view>s.)

OpenLaszlo video APIs give you access to the full functionality of media players such as the Flash Media Server and the Red5 media player. When your OpenLaszlo program is connected to a media server over a Real Time Media Protocol connection, you can not only receive and play audio and video (in mp3 and flv formats), you can also record your own audio and video locally and send it to the server, where it can be stored or shared in real time with other client programs.

See the documentation for more information.

Documentation Improvements

The documentation contains three new chapters: one on the use of color in OpenLaszlo applications, and one each on CSS and Streaming Media.

Keep in mind that the documentation is virtually always under development. For the most up-to-date version, you may want to consult the nightly build of the OL4 documentation hosted on OpenLaszlo.org. The latest documentation includes information pertinent to the next-following release (e.g. 4.0) and therefore will not necessarily be accurate for 3.4; however, it includes ongoing general improvements. No further improvements will be made to the 3.x documentation after this release.

Bugs fixed since OpenLaszlo 3.3

There have been many bugs fixed since the 3.3 release, listed below. Consult JIRA for complete information. Note: this list includes bugs that have been fixed in point releases since OL 3.3 as well as bugs fixed in OL 3.4.

Known Problems and Workarounds

Here is a list of issues that we're aware of in OL 3.4. Please see the individual bug notes for more information. Many of these issues will be addressed in OpenLaszlo 4, currently in Beta.

Known Issues