Release Notes

Blockpad 0.9.2186 (2019-03-13)

Highlights of this release
  • Numerous improvements to tables and spreadsheets, including:
    • Copying and pasting cells with formatting
    • Applying styles to large ranges, including whole rows and columns
    • Formula references in A:A format
  • Circles and arcs now available for drawing
  • New units
  • New functions
  • Table of Contents block
    • To insert, click Insert Block (or ctrl+shift+B), choose Docs library on the left, then click Table of Contents (on right side). On next page, you can leave the default formula for all headings in the document, or you can change it to apply only to a single frame, such as =Report1.GetHeadings().
    • In upcoming releases, this will be improved to include cross reference links and more options.
  • Improvements to copying and pasting formatted text, including copying and pasting equations in math layout to other programs (as images)
  • Save to PDF tool
    • Note: As of now, this feature supports text, equations, tables, etc., but does not yet support drawings.
  • Frame folders
    • To insert a frame folder, insert a Folder as if it were a frame (through + sign on left tab list, or through Insert tool). To insert the first frame into a folder, right click the folder, click Insert Inside, then choose a frame type.
  • Duplicate Frame tool
  • Static Expressions
    • To insert a static expression, click Insert (or ctrl+K), then choose Static Expression. Static expressions are just like dynamic expressions, in that you can type a formula to appear as an equation. The difference is static expressions do not calculate. They are for display only.
  • Improvements to update process (will take effect for future updates after this one)
  • Misc usability improvements, performance improvements, and bug fixes
Notes and known issues
  • Inside multiline text cells, up and down keys do not always behave as expected
  • Page up / down / home / end keys do not always behave as expected
  • Several paragraph properties are provided as placeholders, but they do not yet affect document layout (namely, First Line, Keep Lines Together, Keep with Next, Line Height, Page Break After, Page Break Before, Spacing After, Spacing Before, and Widow and Orphan Control)
Upcoming features
  • Top-level blocks
  • Unit groups in tables and spreadsheets
  • Sorting and filtering
  • Example engineering blocks
  • Merging and splitting table and spreadsheet cells
  • In 2d drawings, Bring to Front and Send to Back tools
  • Internal links within Blockpad files
  • Tool to embed external references into file
  • Equation solving for non-linear equations
  • Saving Blockpad files as Word documents, and reopening them with formulas intact