XSquawkBox

Version 1.0.3 of XSquawkBox has been posted. This version removes the expiration date.

Additionally, this version contains the following minor bugfixes:

• Fixed a bug that caused occasional crashes in the voice subsystem when X-Plane was quit
• When X-Plane was quit, the flight plan route was not being saved correctly. This is now resolved.
• Added syntax checking to COM frequency changes via the text bar (i.e. //125.8). This will now display a syntax error message if the input is not formatted correctly, rather than tuning the radio to some nonsense frequency.
• Reworded the text messages when leaving and joining voice rooms to make them less confusing.

I'm pleased to release version 1.0.3 beta 1 of XSquawkBox. You can download it from the downloads page.

This is a large release, containing many enhancements. A large chunk of the credit goes to Ben, who found time to do the COM2 implementation, most of aircraft labels, and the proxy support.

Please let me know of any problems in the various XSB help forums, such as on x-plane.org or vatsim.net.

Feature List:
Fixed issue with long flight plans getting cut off
Implemented voice tag menu in flight plan dialog box
Incorporated previously informally-released fix for "Windows Beep of Death" sound problem
Added aircraft labels as an option. Labels may show callsign, Type and Airline, or may be disabled
Implemented COM2 support for receiving (transmissions always go to COM1)
Implemented Proxy and client to allow traffic to be seen by those with multiple systems running in slave mode
Added Control-A as keybinding for beginning of line, control-E for end of line, control-B for back one character,
control-F for forward one character, and control-S for "Select all"
Added automatic downloading of the VATSIM server list
Fixed several bugs with the implementation of "reply-to last sender"
Culling code improved
Removed "feature" of not leaving voice room on disconnect
Added "Text Window Width" preference setting. This is intended for those using the Matrox Triple-Head solution
where their XSB window was spanning all three screens
Implemented ".wallop " command, which is used to summon a supervisor for help or to report improper
actions of another member.
Manual updated (more updates needed)

We've gone live with the new XSB website. It's not much to look at - basically we switched from some lousy HTML I hacked out five years ago to Drupal, so that Wade could update content without me having to push it to the site.

This marks a transition to Wade being the lead for XSquawkBox - he'll be building and posting releases. This is a logical streamlining; he has been the driver for features recently, while I haven't had time to do much. He has ideas on how to improve XSB's user experience, so I don't want to hold him up.

I am rebuilding the XSquawkBox website using Drupal, a content management system. The old (and now long-since disabled) forums are going away. The revised format should make it keep the site updated.