What’s new in daily builds?

12 March 2016

What’s new in daily builds?

Even though we just released a new public build, the Corona engineering staff continues to forge ahead. Since the public build, over 45 features and bugs fixes have been implemented in just four daily builds. Let’s look at some of the more noteworthy among these:

Native alerts on Windows

On Windows, native.showAlert() has been upgraded:

• Ability to include more buttons (maximum of 5)
• Text no longer clips; instead it sizes to fit the bounds
• Alerts are fully modal
• On Windows Phone 8 skins, buttons are now ordered like they are on a device
• Ability to show multiple alerts at once
• Simulated alerts now have a cancel button

Folder path support

The Corona Simulator and Corona Debugger can now take a project folder path instead of just the main.lua file within the project folder. You can also drag-and-drop a project folder onto the Corona Simulator icon to start the project.

Mac retina support

Initial support for Mac retina displays (Corona Simulator) was added in daily build 2016.2837.

Protection against case-sensitivity

The Corona Simulator for both OS X and Windows will now issue warnings if you attempt to reference a file with a case-sensitivity mismatch. Remember that iOS and Android are case-sensitive operating systems while Windows and OS X are not, so if you attempt to display an image like this…

…but the file name is actually mypic.png (lowercase “png“), the image will load fine in the Simulator but not on an actual device. Now, you will get a warning about case mismatches to help you identify and debug these issues.

More HTTP verbs for network.request()

HTTP servers can recognize more “verbs” than just GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, and DELETE, but Corona SDK previously supported only these five. You can now use any verb that your server supports, such as PATCH in the network.request() call. Be aware, however, that we only help manage the header and body tables for the five common verbs. If you choose to use an add-on verb, it’s your responsibility to provide the right headers and body constructs, along with ensuring that your server supports it.

New json.decodeFile() function

A new function has been added to the JSON library. You can now call json.decodeFile() to simply read a file of JSON data and load it into a Lua table.

Improved tvOS remote handling

In daily build 2016.2837, we improved the handling of the tvOS remote control. A new relativeTouch event now exists to help you handle touch events. In addition, a new "buttonZ" key event type has been added. This event will be triggered when the touch pad is tapped but not clicked. In summary — along with existing axis controls, absolute touch events, and accelerometer support — you should be able to handle almost any tvOS remote interaction.

Excluding files on tvOS

You can now exclude files from your tvOS build, just like you can for other platforms. Just use the tvos key-value pair in the excludeFiles block of build.settings.

Removed Nook support

With Barnes & Noble closing the Nook app store for 3rd-party developers on March 15, 2016, we’ve started to remove Nook features. As of daily build 2016.2835, you can no longer select Nook as a target store when performing an Android build.

Base directory support for display.newEmitter()

The display.newEmitter() API now supports finding particle information from directories other than the default system.ResourceDirectory (the core project folder). The new syntax allows for an additional base directory parameter as follows:

Conclusion

As you can see, our work at Corona Labs is never finished. Remember to periodically check our daily builds page to see what’s new!