Information About tIRC4.0 ace 6/19/2005 This document has no point whatsoever. It is simply a rant; however, it may give the user an idea of what to expect in the next major release of tIRC. We have a lot of things in store. Brief Version History Well, coding on tIRC first started at the beginning of June 2002. I had been thinking of doing something like this months before that but just hadn't gotten to it until then. I was inspired by the Kickchat$cript which was the script for KickChat's network. the 1.x branch of the script only had one version--1.0. I didn't really think much how I wanted the version system to work before I started. At first, I was going to go from 1.0, 2.0, and onward but these were too large of version leaps. Starting with version 2.0, which was basically a continuation from 1.0, I had come up with a version number scheme. IT is even more set in stone today. The 3.x branch, which is the current generation of tIRC, was when I decided to get a bit more serious about my tIRC coding. I recoded a lot of the script's features and components as well as resolved a lot of problems. First to go was the speech system--it required a complete overhall. We were relying too much on the built-in Microsoft Agent code of mIRC and needed to script everything from scratch. As I said in an earlier changelog entry, "it will take ages for the speech system to be perfect." I must rephrase that. The speech system will never be perfect. A good example of this is the latest release, 3.5. We just now introduced JFW interfacing support and this required some major modifications to the tIRC speech core. What's with these codenames? Haha. I will not explain each and every one of the code names here. It is just a nicer way of referring to that particular version or, as we like to call it, codebase of the script. If you really must know what each code name means, I might tell you if you find me on IRC. Don't prod and probe me about it, though. Version 4.0? Version 4.0 (no codename yet) will be the next major version of tIRC. In this version, we plan to totally modulise the features and make it easier for users to decide which features they would like loaded and which ones that they would not like loaded. This will also provide the ability for users to write third-party modules for tIRC. Mind you, it is already possible since we are only coding in mIRC scripting; however, it will be easier for them to be loaded and accessed. Aladdin from the Freedom Chat IRC Network will be greatly involved in this new version and will help enhance the visual look of the script. Plus, he is coding the module system along with me, of course. Do not ask us when tIRC4.0 will be released. It will undergo a beta phase before we hit final release stage. You can probably anticipate Beta1 before the end of the year; however, do not count on it. The 3.x branch will be in development until we feel that 4.0 is ready for normal use. Thanks for reading this document! -ace ace@freedomchat.org