TextSoap 6

Release Notes

TextSoap 6 requires OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
TextSoap 6.3 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Upgrades from previous versions: $24.95.

Version 6.3.2 (751)

[Bug Fixes]
  • Addresses problem with BBEdit plugin under BBEdit 9.3.

Version 6.3.1 (750)

[Bug Fixes]
  • XML documents would not open correctly under Snow Leopard.
  • Other text documents might not open correctly under Snow Leopard.
  • Under Snow Leopard, disables deprecated Scripting Addition when updating.
  • Scripting Addition plugin moved to the plugin list.
  • Removed deprecated warnings in console under Snow Leopard.
  • Additional tweaks for Snow Leopard were made.

Version 6.3 (745)

[New Features]
  • Snow Leopard compatibility
  • New scripting command: makePlainPasteboard allows you to strip style information from the specified pasteboard. If no name is specified, will strip style information from main clipboard.
[Snow Leopard Support]

  • Automator actions (in general)

    TextSoap Automator actions have been updated to support 64-bit + Garbage collection. This is a new requirement in Snow Leopard's Automator. Earlier versions of TextSoap's automator actions will not work under Snow Leopard. The new actions will also work under Leopard (10.5).

  • GetTextSoapText/SetTextSoapText Automator actions

    When using an Automator workfow inside of a custom cleaner, the workflow's initial input is the text to work with and its final output is returned to the custom cleaner for continued processing. These two actions are no longer needed in TextSoap 6.3 and now just return the input unchanged. You can remove these actions from any workflows called from within a custom cleaner.

  • The Scripting Addition

    The Scripting Addition commands are deprecated. Use the textsoapAgent scripting instead. textsoapAgent scripting has been available since 6.1, with some minor additions in 6.2 and 6.3.

  • The Contextual Menu Module

  • Eudora plug-in

    These two technologies plugins are deprecated. The improved OS X Services support in Snow Leopard will replace the need for Contextual Menu Modules (CMMs) and Eudora app plug-in. Apple does not support CMMs in 64-bit apps. You can still use them in apps running in 32-bit mode (via Finder's Get Info). The Eudora plugin is also being deprecated. It relies on the a much older binary format (CFM) which has become more difficult to support with each passing year.

    Both these implementations will be superseded with the OS X Services, which will contineu to offer similar functionalty.

  • OS X Services

    Under 10.6, Service names no longer are prefixed with numbers to maintain order. Under 10.6, The "Push Services to the top of OS X Services menu" option is hidden as it no longer applies.

    Under 10.6, it is recommended that you limit the items in a group as it will clutter up the Services menu if you have 20 or 30 items in it. For best results, select 5-10 common cleaners. You can easily change groups in the app's preferences if you need more.

    TextSoap 6.3 will display a cautionary note at the bottom of the preference panel if you have more than 10 items in the group associated with Services.

    Once TextSoap 6.3 has updated your service items (on first launch under 10.6), OS X Services should work without issue.

  • Note: There are several references to features/implementations being deprecated. What does that mean for you? Right now, not much. Nothing changes for TextSoap 6. The deprecated notation just services as a notification that those features / implementations will not be carried forward in the future (such as a new major version).

[Other Changes]
  • Trial limit warning alert displays less frequently.
  • During trial, users can now process up to 3K of text at a time (previously 1K).
  • TextSoap now uses the Automator framework directly to handle a workflow action (vs. using the command line in the background). This should improve performance for such actions.

Version 6.2.2 (735)

[Bug Fixes]
  • OS X Services now supports processing rich text with attachments (images).
  • New Agent Scripting commands no longer mismapped through the Scripting Addition, caused several issues.
  • tsPickCleaner was incorrectly using older dialog.
  • Additional Support Options - added option to force reset application (re-installs all various plugin components)
  • Remove Style from Text no longer sets a Font and color of the text, resorting to default values from your editor.
  • Removed incorrect hexadecimal code syntax reference from Regular Expression Help.
  • Changing zoom could cause a problem under some circumstances.
  • Find Dialog's Ignore case option now correctly works when searching with regular expressions.
  • Fixed issue where some rich text formatting could prevent text from being processed.

Version 6.2.1 (730)

  • Clipboard workspace border style option. Find it under General Preferences: Dark, Medium, Plain.
  • Text, including scaled text, now wraps to the window (ie. no more horizontal scrollbars).
  • Combined Ask a Question, Report a bug, Send Feedback men items into a single "Send Feedback" menu item under Help.
  • Fewer 1K limit alerts, esp. on heavy usage of cleaners during trial.
  • The custom cleaner editor no longer limits some of actions you could use during trial mode.

Version 6.2 (725)

[New Features]
  • Entourage 2008 Script (Preferenes > Plugins). Installs into your scripts menu in Entourage 2008.
  • New Cleaner: Smarten Quotes in HTML Text - applies smartens quotes to text in an HTML file, ignoring quotes within tags.
  • New cleanPasteboard script command, a more flexible command allows you to optionally specify which pasteboard to work with.
  • New preference to increase size of recently used menu list
[Bug Fixes]
  • BBEdit palette did not disable group popup menu when textsoapAgent was not available
  • BBEdit palette did not update when textsoapAgent is launched or changed
[Other Changes]
  • pickCleaner scripting command now has a keyboard friendly interface (no mouse needed). cmd-G to access groups, tab between list & filter field, cmd-. to cancel, return accept
  • Check for updates now defaults to on for all new users
  • BBEdit palette height is now limited to 4096 pixels (vs. previous 800)

Version 6.1 (700)

[New Features]
  • Make Paragraphs cleaner now keeps most repeating character separator lines
  • Make Rich/Plain Text menu item toggles clipboard and text documents between rich format and plain format
  • General Preference option to disable warning when switching from rich to plain text

  • Added scripting commands to textsoapAgent. These new commands offer easy access to the new agent via AppleScript, making it easy to tightly integrate TextSoap into any app that supports AppleScript.

    Use: tell application "textsoapAgent"

    • groupNames returns a list of groups (limit to "all"/"built-in"/"user")
    • groupItems from "name" returns cleaners from name group (as tokens yes/no)
    • tokenizeCleanerName "name" returns the internal token of the cleaner (if found)
    • textualizeCleanerToken "token" returns the human readable name of the token (if possible)
    • cleanClipboard with "cleaner name" applies cleaner to clipboard contents
    • cleanText "Text" with "Cleaner" applies cleaner to "Text"
    • textEncodingList (returns a list of text encodings available)
    • isValidTextEncoding "encoding name" (returns whether provided name is considered a valid text encoding)
    • cleanFile file with "Cleaner" supports rtf, rtfd, text
      • optional parameters readEncoding, writeEncoding for plain text files lets caller specify text encoding, like "Unicode (UTF8)"
      • optional parameter extensions ("markdown plist") used to recognize files with those extensions even if they don't match support text type. Files are considered plain text.

  • Automator Action "Clean Text Files" now supports defining encoding for both read and write and providing list of extensions for files to allow (as plain text) as well as known text formats.

  • Speak Text toolbar button added. Click to start speaking, Opt-Click to stop speaking.
  • Custom Cleaner Action - Extract # of characters from beginning of text (think LEFT$)
  • Custom Cleaner Action - Extract # of characters from end of text (think RIGHT$)
  • Custom Cleaner Action - Extract # of characters from middle of text (think MID$)
  • Custom Cleaner Action - Convert Rich Text Hyperlinks to Text using user-specified pattern
  • Additional built-in groups (:Case Conversion, :Email, :Quoting, :Markdown) added
[Bug Fixes]
  • Custom Cleaner Editor now keeps last selection between launches
  • tsCleanClipboard now handles Human readable cleaner names better. Left in for compatibility. Use textsoapAgent scripting.
  • Bulk Find/Replace action layout problem (bug introduced in 6.1b3).
  • EOL popup for plain text clipboard and documents.
  • When a custom cleaner is deleted, it is now also removed from any group that contained it.
  • Using older mechanism to specify Services to better support Carbon apps like Eudora and Mariner Write.
  • Fixed a problem where Services might not work in some cases. May require log out/in to take effect after TextSoap components are updated.
  • Selecting a cleaner while in compact view in BBEdit palette would not correctly apply cleaner.
  • In Group Editor, adding or removing group would change selection to first MyList group.
  • In Group Editor, removing last item from group would move selection to first item.
  • Capitalize with Title Case could fail to work with ALL CAPS text.
  • A badly formed regular expression in the Find Dialog could cause application to freeze up.
  • Find Dialog would sometimes fail for options other than "Contains" in Textual Mode.
  • Find Dialog would not match some valid regular expression finds if textual option "Contains" was not previously selected.
  • Plugin options could be disabled due to old licensing restrictions under some circumstances.
[Other Changes]
  • Contextual menu implementation for MSWord, Entourage, AppleWorks no longer requires Scripting Addition be installed.
  • SCRUB cleaner now also uses new Make Paragraphs to support repeating character separator lines
  • Displays image of action when dragging actions into custom cleaner editor work area
  • Improved animation when reordering actions in custom cleaner editor
  • Group popup menu is now a pull down menu
  • End of Line option is now a popup for plain text
  • End of Line indicator is disabled (rather than hidden) in Rich Text mode
  • Made Rich/Plain Text action undoable
  • Show Ruler preference is used when "making rich text" to determine if should show ruler
  • Pasting in Custom Cleaner Editor now pastes actions after current selection or at the end if no selection.
  • textsoapAgent has a new bundleIdentifier (com.unmarked.textsoap.agent)
  • com.unmarked.textsoap.helper.plist is automatically renamed to com.unmarked.textsoap.agent.plist to maintain any prefs.
  • tsGetCleanerList removed from Scripting Addition. It was never implemented and is superseded by textsoapAgent scripting.
  • tsPickCleaner AppleScript command updated to use new palette design. Left in for compatibility. Use textsoapAgent scripting.
  • tsPickCleaner AppleScript command sets focus to front app when finished
  • Title Case now included in ":Standard" group.
  • Reordered some of the items in the Help menu.
  • Removed newsfeed option Help Menu & Preferences.
  • Updated online help. A few more topics including scripting textsoapAgent.

Version 6.0.2 (648)

[New Features]
  • Added HTML: Tag Strong cleaner
  • Added HTML: Tag Emphasized cleaner

Version 6.0.1 (647)

[New Features]
  • Clipboard Workspace Show Statistics state remains persistent between launches
  • Clipboard Workspace Show Invisibles state remains persistent between launches
  • Non-breaking space is now displayed as a separate invisible character when Show Invisibles is set.
  • Word Count and Show Invisibles buttons now reflect their state.
  • Reduced console logging, new option enables previous, more verbose, logging.
  • Added show word count option for "New Documents" preferences.
  • Build release notes are now displayed with Help menu option.
  • Extras Preference Tab
    • Set color of invisibles
    • Make toolbar items grayscale
    • Quit textsoapAgent when App quits.
[Bug Fixes]
  • Bulk Action add and remove button images were removed in 640.
  • Adding an action would cause a scroll to top of action list.
  • App would check for news even if option was not selected in preference.
  • App would not recognize some textSOAP 3 serial numbers.
  • Agent would incorrectly limit the cleaners available to plugins.
  • "Check for updates" would include beta releases even when preference option was unselected.
  • BBEdit palette would initially flash in upper left corner before moving to its last size and position.
  • Left in debug-only option that kept find/replace action from working as expected.
[Other Changes]
  • BBEdit palette close button now enalbled and works as expected (thanks to Jim Correia at Bare Bones Software)
  • Updated the word count display for the clipboard workspace.
  • Updated Coda plug-in to work with Coda 1.6. Plugin now requires 1.6 or later.

Version 6.0 (629)

[Bug Fixes]
  • URL problem with the web store caused a web store slow down.
  • Some plugins would sometimes not get installed.
  • Problem where the license wasn't sticking after it was entered.
  • Bug in textsoapAgent that could cause a runtime error and prevent it from successfully launching.
  • Bug in textsoapAgent could cause a runtime error and prevent it from successfully launching.
  • A build problem prevented runtime error fix from being included in last build (628).
  • When entering in license information, avoids accepting a bad license that keeps user in trial mode.
  • BBEdit plug-in
    • Correctly responds to init message.
    • Keeps hidden window synced with palette as much as possible.
    • Disabled close button (use Tools menu to toggle) on palette for compatibility.
[Other Changes]
  • Renamed "Contextual Menu" to "Shortcut Menu" in Plugin preferences.
  • The updater code now uses build numbers to indicate version changes. This should allow for easier updating even within the same official version.
  • Changed how app resets the agent when a license# is updated.
  • Now uses license #'s instead of license files. TextSoap 5.8 will be able to recognize these license #'s for non-Leopard users.
  • Added License dialog which allows editing and clearing of license #.
  • About dialog tweaked (since License dialog does heavy lifting)

Version 6.0 (620)

[New Features]
  • Text zooming from 125%-800%
  • Cleaners are now attached to each window, providing better access
  • Word count is now per window, shows count for entire document or selection
  • Grammar Check support added
  • Command-\ toggles between editor and cleaner palette search.
  • New in Group Editor
    • Colorize cleaner names or labels
    • Re-order groups in popup

  • New Custom Cleaner Editor

    • Single window design
    • Quick reference for Regular expression help
    • One click preview lets you easily test your cleaner
    • Support for Subroutines (conditional cleaning)
    • Cut, Copy, Paste actions between cleaners
    • Collapse actions
    • Add notes to individual actions
    • Apply action titles now show cleaner names
    • Two export options: Drag cleaner item from list or click export
    • Sort custom cleaners option added
    • Toggle action descriptions
    • Filter on action names or descriptions

  • New and Improved Actions

    • All Find and Replace actions now support Starts With, Ends With, Whole Words for textual finds
    • Bulk Find and Replace simplifies multiple find and replace tasks.
    • Title Case with Options

  • New and Improved Cleaners

    • Capitalize with Title Case
    • Internet Friendly cleaner now converts em-dashes and en-dashes.

  • Plugins

    • BBEdit, TextWrangler plugin now support colorized text in palette
    • Shortcut plugin now tries to preserve formatting with MSWord when possible
    • Added option to place OS X Services at the top of Services menu
    • New Automator Action "Clean Text Files" adds support for cleaning Text, RTF, RTFD files
    • Improved MSWord support, tries to keep formatting when possible