What is new in WinBoard / XBoard 4.5.3?

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This version fixes some bugs found in 4.5.2. Below is a quick list of the changes. Note that the paging of the XBoard Game List (illustrated by the screenshot "archive2010.pgn") is a change that is really a bit more involved than what we would like to do in a stable version. But the bug was so severe that we decided to chance it.

  • Fixes of major bugs:
    • In the file-browse dialog . and .. no longer mask other files if they are non-first in the directory
    • Fix XBoard crash on showing an empty Engine Settings dialog, printing a message in stead
    • The XBoard Game List can now handle files with more than 1900 games, by paging through them
    • The state of the Move-History window is now remembered by XBoard even when the Engine-Output window is up
    • Fix crash on switching sounds in WinBoard under Windows Vista
    • Fix empty-string option values on XBoard command line (which were ignored)
    • Fix spurious vertical scrolling in XBoard Engine-Output window on clicking in it
    • Obey an engine's san feature when sending book moves to it
    • Fix XBoard crash when 'filtering' made Game List empty
    • Suppress clearing of Engine-Output window on automatic updates in analyze mode
    • Force Move-History refresh after loading/reverting variation
    • Fix closing brace, when joining two comments to same move
  • Fixes of minor bugs:
    • Suppress playing sounds when no -soundProgram is set
    • Fix display of last move of last match game
    • Update window title after last game of match
    • Never one-click move when legality testing is off
    • Suppress playing book move when total weigth of all moves is zero
    • Restore echo after ^C killed XBoard during ICS password
    • Fix default of -remoteUser, which could cause crash when playing remote engines
    • Fix recognition of separators between options in -adapterCommand command line
    • Fix button sizing in generic popup
    • Fix translatability of 'Spartan Chess' menu item WB
    • Remove some duplicates from WB language template file
    • Fix spurious 'Unfinished' sounds during ICS examining
    • Fix bug in handling of partner command in zippy-mode bughouse games
    • Create more space in some WB dialogs to accomodate translations
  • Improvements benefitting the speaking version for the visually impaired (WB):
    • Implement NVDA support in JAWS version
    • Fix translation of spoken composite messages
    • Fix JAWS reading of Engine-Settings dialog by removing group-boxes
    • Add tab stops in WB generic popup
    • Reorder controls in Engine-Settings dialog WB, so they are tabbed through in logical order
  • fixed compiler warnings/errors and portability:
    • Fix use of random function in XBoard shuffle dialog callback
    • Fix inconsistent type of the variable 'shuffleOpenings'
    • Silence warnings during rpm build
    • Fix warnings XBoard file browser
    • Fix some warnings and header-file improvement
  • misc:
    • Add -at and -opt options as alternative for @, as work-around for Windows shortcut bug
    • Make occurrence of unknown option in settings file non-fatal
    • Stale output no longer lingers in the engine-output window when a new game starts
    • Popdown (stale) Comment window on new game
    • Improved contrast of icon for dark backgrounds