Well, despite my earlier blog post, I'm done with Bram 2.0! Obviously it's been a while since the last release, so you're probably wondering what changed. Well, not to disappoint you, but nothing functionality-wise.

In terms of small changes, I've changed the apply options button so it's more obvious, I've fixed some bugs relating to the Start number selector for dynamic numbering when creating new names, and I've optimized my code some to improve performance when navigating and displaying items.

The biggest change is the listview. Now it may seem to some of you that it isn't that important of a thing, but because of how it works, it is. As it was, I was extremely unhappy about the way Bram worked using the default listview that comes with Visual Studio 2010. So I looked into an alternative, called an ObjectListView (Or OLV for short). The OLV was created by a cool guy named Phillip Piper, and it provides a plethora of improvements over the regular listview, not to mention it adds a ton of features. Now usually, more features = slower, but the OLV is actually much faster than a standard listview due to the difference in how the two handle items in code. But enough of my babbling.

Without further ado, I give you Bram 2.0! I hope you all enjoy it, and remember to contact me with any suggestions or bug reports you may have!
Here's the changelog for Bram.

(I'd also like to point out that Bram has already received a few awards and reviews, as you can see on its page!)

    As stated before, I won't be providing feature updates yet, so going to the Bram page won't be of much help to you as of now. But I will say here that this update took a long time because I wanted to be able to actually show a significant increase from the last beta.
    Now I know it might not look like I added much since the only new things are under the listview, but the amount of code has grown by about 1000 lines, so I have been busy.
    You'll notice that while you can preview things, you can't actually apply them yet. (Therefore you can't undo anything yet either.)

    I've yet to write the code for either the applying process or the undoing process. Once I do those two things and test it for a while, I'll release a stable build. So there might be one more beta, or there might not be.

    I've already got a decently sized list of features I plan on adding in the future after the first stable release, but now that you can see things coming together a bit better, I'd love to hear any suggestions you may have!
    In addition, there are currently only a few reasons for me to pick up my Folder Axe code once I've released a stable Bram build. Keep sending in those suggestions!!
    For both, as always, use the Contact Form. Have a great day!

...Well really there isn't much more to say about it that I didn't already say in my last post and on the Bram page. Have fun! :)

Alright, well it's been a while since my last release, the release of Folder Axe 7.0. I have good news and (semi) bad news. Bad news is that since I release Folder Axe 7, I haven't even touched the Folder Axe code. The good news is that I've been steadily working on Bram's code. Due to school, life, and the fact that I'm self-taught, the progress has been slow, but it has been steady.

I'm debating whether or not to release a beta version of Bram to the public. There are a few things I'd like to make clear about a possible beta:

1. It would only be released on my website, not on download sites. If I find any other copies of the beta releases on the internet I will promptly stop offering them.
2. The first few betas wouldn't have much functionality other than to test basic routines for bugs, later ones would be better.
3. The program's updater would still function so it would notify you of new beta releases.
4. Any users of the betas (Mainly the later ones) will agree that they understand they are using a pre-release version of the software and therefore any negative impacts it may have on their computers are not my responsibility, BUT I would appreciate if they would report such problems if they occur so I may fix the next beta release.
5. Due to the nature of the first number of betas, the overall purpose of the program may not be clear as I haven't implemented major portions of the code yet. But feel free to ask questions.
6. The later betas will have clearer purposes, and suggestions will be appreciated, though they likely won't be implemented until after I release the first stable version. But, I will keep a list, and I will still reply to all suggestions.

Now, this is all assuming I do decide to release beta versions. I'm leaning more towards doing so, but again, it all depends on the amount of time I have available. But, luckily, I have a three day weekend coming up so hopefully I'll manage to get one out.

That being said, though I haven't worked on Folder Axe, I haven't abandoned it, I've just set it aside for now. I still encourage you all to send feedback and suggestions. If the suggestions are things that I can quickly implement, I might do so. If they aren't I'll add them to a list for later.

I'd obviously like to start by apologizing for the lack of a new release this past weekend. Life decided to throw lots of things into my path last week, and probably will again this week from how it looks right now, so in short, I don't want to give, nor do I have a good idea about, a definitive date for the next release of Folder Axe or the unveiling of Bram. (More after the break)