Release History

Here you find an overview and the history of all released (and unreleased) versions of the TiDisk-Manager. The releases are ordered by date. For each released version you'll find a direct link to a download and a list of new features / improvements / bug fixes which are implemented in the corresponding version.
There are many versions that are not released and not listed here, because they are not versioned through a version control system like subversion or git. So that is one reason why the history starts with version 2.7.14.

For an overview and a summary of my plans for future features, take a look at the roadmap.

Version 2.9.3

Not yet released, currently in development status

This version extends the import function, which is the last in the series of version 2.9.x, with the import of image files.
Much of the work has also gone into the Python interface of the updated xdt99-wrapper. Since Apple removed Python as an integral part from macOS, the missing part has now been integrated into the application. As a result, TI-Disk Manager now occupies 10 times more memory, it increases the size of the program by more than 48 MBytes.
In addition, compatibility with macOS 12 has been established. To ensure that TI-Disk Manager can also be used for recent operating system versions in the future, the minimum requirement for macOS is increased to 10.15. With that change the TI-Disk Manager now uses modern Swift and SwiftUI code. Under the hood, more and more code will be translated to Swift over time.

Note: If you still work with the interactive Disassembler of TI-Disk Manager 2.9.2b, your Disassembly-Sessions will get outdated and cannot be read with this and future versions.
Before using the new version, I strongly encourage you to convert all your sessions! This can be achieved by opening and closing the Disassembler window with each of your existing sessions once. Do this with one of the more recent releases of 2.9.2 (use 2.9.2c to 2.9.2e) of the TI-Disk Manager.

Newly implemented topics:

New feature: Import of any graphic files (jpeg/tiff/png/bmp) and save them as DIS/FIX 128. A user interface helps to import by choosing the correct file format (TI-Artist or MyArt/YAPP) and graphics format by selecting the maximum resolution (512x424 or 256x424 for RLE coding and 256x192 for a VDP dump) and color reduction method (black&white, dithering).
New feature: Update service. You can now check for new versions of the TI-Disk Manager automatically or manually from the new application menu entry. New versions will be downloaded like usual as a .dmg image file into your Download folder. If you want to check periodically for updates, you should check the corresponding option in the settings.
Update: New version of the xdt99-wrapper framework that depends on the actual release of the TI 99 Cross-Development Tools (xdt99).
Update: Due to the changes for the xdt99-wrapper and the fact that Apple no longer maintains Python and ships it as an integral part of macOS (since macOS 12), the requirement for the smallest macOS version for TI-Disk Manager increases. To additionally enable the use of Swift, the minimum requirement is raised to macOS 10.15 (formerly macOS 10.8)!
Improvement: Rework on the Disassembler Editor. A large part of the Code is rewritten using Swift. Remove of the deprecated Drawer that displays the lists of Symbols and Labels. As well as UI adaptations to current guidelines.
Improvement: Compatibility with macOS 12.
...
and other smaller fixes related to sector handling, as well as some more minor changes in the UI.

Version 2.9.2e

Released: Dec. 24, 2020 [Download]

(Note: This is the sixth update release of version 2.9.2 with important bugfixes and some smaller improvements. The previous released versions 2.9.2 to 2.9.2d are outdated and are replaced by this update version 2.9.2e! Changes are listed separately, see below.)

This version extends the import features of the previous versions. With this release you'll have a comfortable way to import binary Mac files where you can specify the format (PROGRAM or DIS/FIX, INT/FIX, with its record length etc...) in which the file will be stored on a TI-Disk image.

Newly implemented topics:

New feature: Import of binary Mac files (files with the extension '.bin') and save them as any file format the TI-99 supports. The new user interface lets you select the file type and adjust the final record length.
Bugfix: Generating PROGRAM files; the 'last bytes on sector' information is now calculated correctly.
and other smaller fixes...

Additional fixes included in 2.9.2a and 2.9.2b

Improvement: The binary import respects its own name convention of reimported binary files to set all options automatically. (The file export adds a special extension to each TI file in the form of filename.INT-VAR254.bin)
Improvement: You can decide to include the record length byte within binary exported data.
Improvement: Some tool tips for export menu items are updated.
Improvement: You can now relocate the code in the Disassembler Editor. The Options menu in the Disassembler Editor window has a new item which lets you specify a new start address of the assembler code. (Useful for memory image files without header information.)
Improvement: Disassembler knows additional opcodes for the special Macrostore RTWP variants. (Each of them will have the same mnemonic.)
Improvement: The Disassembler Editor will inform the user if the amount of bytes, which are needed to convert CODE from a DATA block, is insufficient.
Bugfix: Fix odd behavior with discarding changes on a disk image.
Bugfix: Fix bug where the Disassembler Editor has empty content after opening a previous started session (and the first line is a comment).
Bugfix: Corrected action 'Convert to Code' in the Disassembler Editor. It does not recognize the selected CPU type.
Bugfix: Corrected action 'Convert to Code' in the Disassembler Editor to handle double word opcodes correctly.
Bugfix: Due to an incorrect opcode decoding some TMS99110 Mnemonics are displayed as DATA.
Bugfix: Corrected behavior for menu item "Show Disassembler Editor with last Session".
Bugfix: Make disassembler sessions work better with macOS 10.8 by replacing Cocoa methods which were only available for later macOS versions.

Additional fixes included in 2.9.2c

Improvement: The Disassembler Editor has now a contextual menu in its window titlebar which contains all Groups defined in the disassembling session. Selecting an item (by right-clicking in the window title) jumps to the position of that corresponding Group.
Improvement: New option menu entry in Disassembler Editor for toggling between PC relative and absolute addresses for jump instructions.
Improvement: The configured options in the Disassembler Editor are stored within the session.
Improvement: Improved Basic program file detection. Additionally of that, the number of reserved file buffers (CALL FILES) is shown in the header row in the preview panel.
Improvement: Opening text previews (or disassemblings / Basic listings) and reports of disk test results also possible in BBEdit or TextWrangler if configured (not only TextEdit, for more see "Services" -> "Services Preferences" in the "TI-Disk Manager" menu).
Improvement: Rework xdt99 installation check. Now you don't need to restart the App after installing xdt99 for using it.
Bugfix: Fixed problems pasting write protected files from the pasteboard. While pasting, the Command Key is pressed and TI-Disk Manager interpreted this like a move operation during Drag&Drop instead of a copy operation.
Bugfix: Discarding changes to a disk image will crash.
Bugfix: Fix broken Drag&Drop and Copy&Paste for TI files inside of the disk manager.
Bugfix: Fix exception on displaying invalid GIF files. GIF data from invalid/damaged TI files are not shown anymore in the Info Panel.
Bugfix: Fix decoding and displaying NOP instruction.
Bugfix: Adjust indenting multiple DATA lines in export result of Disassembler Editor.
Bugfix: Correct decoding of Basic Tokens, i.e. the Filenumber (after # tag of Input and Print Basic tags) can be noted with parenthesis.

Additional fixes included in 2.9.2d

Improvement: Modifications for Sierra's tabbing and Mojave's new dark mode, so the TI-Disk Manager looks well on the 'dark side of the Mac'.
Improvement: New contextual menu for graphics in the preview of the File Info window. So you can copy all graphics into the clipboard, if you want.
Bugfix: Automatic correction of macOS file names that have a '/' in their name before they are used as TI file names. Since the '/' character is reserved as a path separator, a ':' is used instead of the slash.
Bugfix: Fix and improve decoding of RLE graphic files.
Bugfix: Fixed an Out of Bounds Exception in TDMFileNameFormatter while creating a substring with a wrong calculated range.
Bugfix: Memory leak for the Label List Drawer in Disassembler Editor.

Additional fixes included in 2.9.2e

Improvement: Services menu activated in the context menu for graphics in file info.
If there are services registered for the system that can process TIFF formats, they can now also be used from the File Info window.
Improvement: Correct user interface behavior for read-only or inconsistent files.
Improvement: Added handling of Apple's privacy mechanism for files and folders with Catalina.
If you placed your disk images in your private folders, the Documents folder for example or on your Desktop, access was denied by the system for the previous version of TI-Disk Manager since macOS 10.15. This caused the program to crash. Now a dialog box is shown that allows you to grant or deny access. If access is not granted, all files in the folder are not loaded and are removed from the list.
Improvement: Updated version of XDTool99 (the XDT99 wrapper classes) to 0.5.rc4. A number of fixes and improvements have also been implemented here.
Improvement: Revision of the GUI infrastructure with a focus on introducing a better localization workflow and reducing hardcoded strings.
Bugfix: Fixed crashes while deleting files.
Bugfix: Fixed the dialog for restoring deleted files.
Bugfix: Even better recognition of MyArt graphic formats.
Bugfix: Remove a strange behavior after finishing alarm dialogs.
Bugfix: Fixed a NPE for charge bar observers when no disk image is selected.
Bugfix: Some more NPE and memory leak were fixed.
Prepare for changing the minimum requirement for TI-Disk Manager to macOS 10.12. The next larger version change may only work with macOS Sierra (10.12) and later.

Version 2.9.1a

Released: Jan. 20, 2018 [Download]

(Note: The previous released version 2.9.1 is outdated due to a bugfix and is replaced by version 2.9.1a! Changes are emphasized.)

This version gets on with implementing import features and is mainly dedicated to one new feature: Importing source code files (like Assembler, GPL or Basic) from Mac OS as TI executable files into a disk image.
To get this feature working, I decided not to reinvent the wheel. Instead I took the TI 99 Cross-Development Tools (xdt99), which provides command line tools to generate those executable file contents. To integrate the xdt99 into the TI-Disk Manager seamlessly, I had to develop an extra xdt99-wrapper framework, which makes it able to use the xdt99 Python script files in an Objective-C environment.
There is no special user interface element which provides this new feature. You just have to use the File menu entry "Import File Content to...". After selecting the file to import, TI-Disk Manager automatically detects the file as a Assembler or Basic source file and, depending of the selected file, a modal dialog came up where you can adjust the compiler options.

Implemented topics:

New feature: Import of source code files (Assembler/GPL/Basic) and save them as compiled executables.
Improvement: Creating new text files (DIS/VAR 80) through importing texts by dragging selections from any application to a TI disk. Is is also possible to 'paste' a new file from the clipboard into the current selected disk or directory.
Improvement: Opening/adding files by double clicking them in the Finder or dropping a bunch of files onto the application icon now implemented.
Improvement: The Help menu now gets some entries which lets you get easily to the Wiki-, Release-, Download- and the Issue-Page on Bitbucket.
Bugfix: Display of the number of tracks is now corrected in the main window. It was displayed counterintuitive.
Bugfix: Improved TI-Artist and YAPP file detection.
Bugfix: Decoding VDP dump graphics format.
Bugfix: Fix an issue with the Disassembler Editor, where the editor window does not appear.
Fix several issues in combination with the file info panel.
and other smaller fixes, as well as some more minor changes in the UI.

Version 2.9a

Released: Nov. 8, 2016 [Download]

(Note: The previous released version 2.9 is outdated due to important bugfixes on November 8th 2016 and is replaced by version 2.9a!)

This version is released before its completion, so it contains mainly one new feature: Importing contents of Mac text, RTF and GIF files. These files can be imported in an intuitive way, like you use to do it on Mac OS, by dragging them to the file list or onto a disk image entry, or by importing using the import dialog.
The other bigger change is that the project is moved to the new XCode 8.0 and with that, the new static code analyzer found some new important memory issues. So a bunch of leaks are also fixed.

Currently implemented topics:

New feature: Import of any GIF files and save them as DIS/FIX 128, regardless if this file can be opened and displayed by an application of the TI-99/4A.
New feature: Import plain and formatted text files (with file extensions '.rtf', '.txt') and save them as DIS/VAR 80.
Improvement: Menu item for importing TiFILES file now is more generic and respects all file types that are importable.
Improvement: File menu has now a submenu where all "New..." items are summarized.
Improvement: New decodable graphics file format: GraphX
Improvement: The preview for PrintCAD files can now show the drill hole list by displaying a white dot for each hole.
Improvement: Speed of rendering/decoding graphic images for all format types is increased by factor ten.
Improvement: Program internally create classes for custom image representations for a seamless integration of custom TI graphics formats into the Cocoa framework and easier access for graphics import/export.
Bugfix: Correct decoding RLE graphics formats, so all YAPP and MyArt graphics can be displayed now.
Bugfix: Broken GIF preview works again.
Bugfix: Several important memory leaks fixed: Null pointers and concurrency problems.
some minor layout changes in preview panels and DisassemblerEditor
and other smaller fixes, and some serious refactoring work for implementing the infrastructure that makes importing possible.

Version 2.8.1

Released: Feb. 4, 2016 [Download]

This release will contain all features which are already implemented in the non released versions 2.7.23 and 2.8 from Aug 17, 2015 and Jan. 26, 2016 (see below).

New feature: Creating, erasing or renaming directories inclusive drag&drop or copy&paste files into them.
New feature: New directory from selection.
New feature: Compacting files on disk for preventing fragmentation.
New feature: Add new file tests:
- The number of used sectors have to be a multiple of the size of an allocation unit.
- Check if an file info record entry begins at the start of an allocation unit
Improvement: Rework for several features to handle disk images with directories.
Improvement: Over-work Copy&Paste as well as Drag&Drop, due to directory structures and overdue refactoring.
Improvement: Now it is possible to drag TIFILES files from Finder onto the list of the disk content to import these file types.
Improvement: Importing TIFILES with the import dialog, you now can select multiple files.
Improvement: Merging branch "Repair and Test Tools" into the main branch is finished, so new features from the sub branch now handles allocation units which are larger than one sector.
Bugfix: Disk images are now inserted at the position in the list where they are dropped, not at the end of list anymore.
Bugfix: Due to the nice TI Basic test unit files, I found on the interesting thread on AtariAge, I could fix a bunch of bugs within the Basic decoder.
Bugfix: Text (or source code) files with special control characters can now be exported.
and other smaller fixes, code refactoring, as well as some minor changes in the UI.

Version 2.7.23

Released: Jan. 26, 2016 [internal used, not published]

This release is mainly a bug fix release, which corrects a bunch of issues with the TI Basic decoder. The Basic decoder now passes most of the test cases found on a thread on AtariAge.
Because the changes are made on a different branch than the main development branch, it was too difficult to merge them, so this bug fixes aren't released. But the next public release will have all changes integrated.

New feature: TI Basic Merge file format can now decoded
New feature: TI Basic Long file format can now decoded
Bugfix: A bunch of bugs era fixed, too many to list them all.
Improvement: Header information of Basic files shows line numbers instead of a checksum.
and other smaller fixes, and many refactoring work

Version 2.7.22

Released: Sep 6, 2015 [Download]

New feature: Disassembler Editor opens ROM dump files and decodes its headers automatically (i.e. the sources of DSR-ROM or cartridge ROM dumps has a better pre formatted output provided with labels to lists and program entries).
New feature: Disassembler Editor and the file preview now disassembles opcodes from various CPUs: TMS9900, TMS9995, TMS99110, TMS9980, TMS9940
New feature: Converting selected track dump image to sector dump images.
Improvement: Restrictions to disk images with less than 1600 sectors is dropped.
Improvement: Rework on track dump images made. Reading and writing track images is now more reliable.
Improvement: Behavior of preview tab in the file info panel is changed to improve speed.
Improvement: Internal improvements made by rework on internal data structures and refactoring. (Results in less memory usage etc.)
Improvement: Main window shows the amount size of all selected files.
Bugfix: Correct disassembling the XOP instruction.
Bugfix: Format for hexdump of record based files was corrected.
Eye candy: No candy this time.
and other smaller fixes, as well as some minor layout changes in preview panels

Version 2.8

Released: Aug 17, 2015 [internal used, not published]

With this release, test and repair features are now implemented. This is an internal release, developed on a different branch, because this release needs more extensive testing. All tools are working on standard (with a TI-Controller) formatted disks with sector count less than 1600.
Before this version can be released, this branch must be integrated into the main branch. This could be a difficult job, because all new features have to be adapted to non standard disk controllers to handle directories and allocation units which represents more then one sector.

New feature: Undelete deleted files. The disk image is scanned for file information sectors which are not listed in the file index sector and shows the user a list of these files which are potentially restorable. The user can select individual files which to be restored.
New feature: Check if all used sectors of each single files on a disk are correctly marked in the allocation table. If not, you can repair the allocation table for the incorrect files.
New feature: Reactivate "Bad Sectors". With this tool you can reactivate physically unreadable bad sectors, which are mapped out in the allocation table to prevent them for regular use.
New feature: Check for disk integrity. This checks if sectors of one file are used by other files.
New feature: Checking the count of used sector of files with their entries in their file cluster lists.
New feature: Generating test reports. This report tests a disk with all tests listed above and generates a text file which is automatically opened in TextEdit after it is done testing.
New feature: A kind of hardware protection is implemented for damaged disk images or those which are write protected in the Finder.
Improvement: Every time, a new disk image is added to the list, it will be checkt against issues listed above. If something odd is found, the system will give you the choose to repair (if possible), open a report in TextEdit and add the defect file readonly (so you can repair that image later) or not to add the odd file. You can determine in the user settings if these tests will run automatically every time, when the program starts or only by adding new disk images.
Improvement: A new sub menu in the disk menu which contains all possible test. There you can find also all already known tools (like defragmenting and erasing unused sectors).
and other smaller fixes, as well as some minor layout changes in preview panels and some more class refactoring and enhancement in the class model.

Version 2.7.21

Released: Aug 8, 2015 [Download]

This time, the change list is a bit larger:

New feature: Add "New Disk with Selection" to File menu and context menu for TI files. So you have an convenient way to copy files to a new disk. The size of the new disk is calculated automatically to the smallest possible size.
New feature: Add new button to preview panel for opening its contents in external programs. This will directly open picture files in the Preview application and text, basic or disassembled files in the TextEdit application.
New feature: Add "Show in Finder" to File menu and context menu for disk images. So you can resolve the location of disk images easily.
New feature: Add status bar at the bottom of the main window. It gives you additional information about the selected disk image:
- A path control showing the location and the whole name of the disk image. By clicking on the control segments the clicked location is opened in Finder.
- A charge bar informs you about the amount of the used sectors respectively loaded sectors in memory.
- Information about the type of disk image (track or sector dump format).
Improvement: Support of older operation systems. Now Mac OS X 10.8 (aka. Mountain Lion) is the minimum requirement to run with.
Improvement: New sheet for creating new disks. Now it is additionally possible to specify the name and the location of the image file.
Improvement: Make better file copy. Copied files are less fragmented.
Improvement: Speedup launching application and saving memory due to lazy loading. Disk images read partially. Only those datas read in memory which are needed at the moment to perform tasks. Thanks to this technique, some internal tasks runs much faster (but not really noticeable to the user). First tests (launching TI-Disk Manager with about 100 disk images) shows that on start up 90% time is saved and 70% less memory is used.
Improvement: Speedup program execution while file info panel is present.
Improvement: Add warnings due to data loss when erasing or formatting disks.
Bugfix: If directory is full, and the user wants to add an additional file an alert presents the error.
Bugfix: Odd behavior with modal dialogs. Asynchronous alerts don't await the response from the user. Program is redesigned to handle that correctly.
Bugfix: When changing from one Object Code file to an other, the previously selected view type in the preview panel is restored.
Bugfix: Calculating used sectors and therefore erasing disk does not worked correctly.
Bugfix: Segmented files are now read correctly. There was a bad implementation of a sector enumerator.
Bugfix: Since version 2.7.20, the picture preview was broken for some graphic file formats.
Bugfix: In the Basic decoder, Multiple variables in assignment and dim statements, separated by comma, are now decoded correctly.
Eye candy: There is a new image in the file info panel. (It has some little easter eggs.)
and other smaller fixes, as well as some minor layout changes in preview panels

Version 2.7.20

Released: Jun 25, 2015 [Download]

New feature: The tool tip now shows additional informations about a specific instruction in the Disassembler Editor:
1. clock cycle counts and timings
2. manipulated or tested status flags
Improvement: In the listing of the Disassembler Editor, the line comments are now listed in a new column and you can modify them directly.
Improvement: You can modify the cycle calculating in the Disassembler Editor by toggling the CPU in native mode (where memory and registers are 16 bit) or if no native mode is selected, you can configure the registers are in 16 bit (like in the scratchpad RAM)
Bugfix: Fix TIFILES header which contains file names containing '\0' characters.
Bugfix: Issue on opening missing files on startup is fixed.
Bugfix: Missing files are not shown in the disk image table view anymore.
Eye candy: Exported TIFILES encoded files have their own finder icon
and other smaller fixes

Version 4.0

Unknown release date [currently in development, no download]

From the release of version 4.0 on, the TiDisk-Manager gets the option to use a serial interface for future features like MESS's Serial Bridge or using Fred Kaal's HDX-Protocol.
A way to use a serial connection on a Macintosh is to apply a USB/RS232-Adapter (i.e. GMUS-03 with a PL2303H controller chip from Prolific Inc.). For that, you have to install additional third party drivers.

New feature: Implement a Serial Bridge, a protocol that is already implemented in the TIImageTool. So the TiDisk-Manager can now also act as a bridge between a real iron TI and a emulated TI with MESS (you don't have to run different tools at the same time).
Improvement: New menu items which can establish a connection to MESS and add a drawer to the main window to show the status of the connection.
and other smaller fixes

Version 2.7.19a

Released: Mar 4, 2015 [Download]

(Note: The already released version 2.7.19 is outdated due to important bugfixes on March 7th 2015 and is replaced by version 2.7.19a! Changes are emphasized.)

New feature: Import and export for TiFiles encoded files.
Improvement: Rename menu items for import end export. I'll try to clarify the difference between an export for contents of TI-files (such as pictures, disassemblings or text) and export of a TI-file itself (such as hexdumps, binary oder TIFILES).
Improvement: Tagged object code has a new representation in its view. Users can switch between a raw and an interpreted display.
Improvement: Preview for text files now displays in its header word and line counts.
Improvement: Percentage of file fragmentation is displayed now in the file info panel.
Improvement: On file exports you can now choose between binary or a textual hexdump.
Bugfix: Fixed issues with importing TIFILES:
1. Better header decoding for incomplete TELCO files
2. Import process respects handling insufficient space on disk or replacing duplicate files
3. Imported file names are now uppercase
Bugfix: Fix issue with filenames shorter than 3 characters for TiArtist.
Bugfix: Smaller bug with formatting disk images.
and internal refactoring and fixes of various smaller bugs made.

Version 2.7.16

Released: Feb 25, 2015 [Download]

Bugfix: Resolved issue #1 that includes:
1. Allowing larger sizes for disk images than 180KiB. The maximum size is anyhow limited by the allocation table and the size of the allocation unit, which allows currently up to 1600 sectors.
2. Improving user interface for the new disk dialog by informing the user of false configuration.
Bugfix: Handling with unrecognized object code tags fixed.
and reduce memory usage through redesign and refactoring.

Version 2.7.14

Released: Feb 24, 2015 [Download]

The first official public release.