Build 470, released today, introduces beta support for VHDL.  E-mail support@scitools.com for instructions on how to enabble that support.

We are always on the lookout for new ways to represent source code. Word Clouds caught my fancy.

Here is one of our own source code showing the top 50 most complex functions in source tree.

We thought doing Classes by lines of code, Classes by Sum Complexity and Architectures by the same might also be interesting.

Q: Worth adding to Understand?

BTW: The Cloud was generated by Wordle.net.  We wrote a script that generates output that can be pasted into its text box.   I’ve attached it in case you want to try it on your own code.
File Attachment: wordart.pl.zip

At the beginning of July we released Understand 2.0. It represented the culmination of about 3 years of work where we maintained and improved Understand 1.4 while simultenously developing a brand new version of Understand.

Our goal for 2.0 was to make a tool that is a “must have” if you are maintaining code (and who isn’t??). 

(more…)

We will be exhibiting at the SSTC conference in Las Vegas, NV today and tomorrow.

Hope to see you there!

Ken N.

Recently we switched our download system so that downloaders are offered the Understand 2.0 beta ahead of Understand 1.4.  This is because we feel that even though not 100% feature complete, the beta is a better tool for what most of our customers use Understand for than 1.4.

That download page change reflects how close we are to taking Understand 2.0 off beta.  Remaining features we want to add before doing that are:

• external editor integration (for instance using EMACS as the source editor)
• external application control of Understand (permitting other apps to launch Understand views/graphs)
• user tools (permitting users to integrate with make, CM and other external system commands)
• poster / n-page printing of graphics

All of these are 2–3 weeks away… so the time is approaching.

Naturally most of our development effort is directed at Understand 2.0, but Understand 1.4 will not be ignored:

• we will continue to release new builds of Understand 1.4 for 4–6 months. These builds will include:
• all parser changes
• crash fixes
• no new features will be added except for parser and things common to 2.0, like the PERL and C APIs
• after 4–6 months, we will stop making new builds of 1.4 weekly. However, we can and will make new builds as we encounter and fix critical errors reported by users still depending on it.

Note that all current Understand 1.4 licenses will operate 2.0 as well. If you are under maintenance, enjoy 2.0. If you aren’t, give it a try and see if coming back under maintenance is worth the money. If so, e-mail sales@scitools.com to ask for a maintenance renewal quotation.  As usual, it is an honor system. We hope you understand doing things like 2.0 (and 2.1, 2.2, so forth) takes money and we hope you feel Understand 2.0 and our support efforts are worth the cost.

I hope this plan seems reasonable to you. None of this is cast in stone, so feel free to send concerns, compliments or suggestions  to support@scitools.com.

Regards,

Ken Nelson
President
Scitools