The Phoenix Rises… Again

It is very appropriate that the Deja IIx (aka Deja ][) project is code-named “Phoenix”. Just when you thought it was gone, it rises from the ashes once more.

A few of the to dos:

  • Move blog to its own domain: DejaIIx.com
  • Convert to 64-bit
  • Remove use of deprecated APIs
  • Improve performance
  • Update user experience
  • Support for macOS 10.15+
  • Add new features

The code hasn’t been touched in years, which presents its own challenges. The compiler is very unhappy (luckily, just warnings), it doesn’t support any of the modern language features which makes developing a lot easier.

Don’t hold your breath just yet. Deja IIx remains very much a side project, a labor of love. I can’t predict the how fast it will come along. but I will aim for spending an hour or two a week on it whenever I can.

Let me know in the comments how far back (older versions of OS X) you want me to try and support. Of course, I can’t make any promises.

2 Replies to “The Phoenix Rises… Again”

  1. Mark,

    It was nice to see that you haven’t forgotten about Deja IIx. I know that TextSoap keeps you busy.

    FWIW, I run version 2.0 (109) regularly on a Tiger (10.4.11) PPC Mac, so if you have it running under 10.14.5, that’s quite a range.

    Obviously, I know that it would not be realistic for you to support that far back with your new efforts.

    As for Deja IIx, I never really encounter any ‘bugs’, but I did once notice that in the Spreadsheet that there were some slight errors in amounts using some of the financial functions. Otherwise, it’s very nice.

    Your old download link still works, BTW:

    Thanks for keeping AppleWorks alive. It’s always been my favorite all-time computer program. Between macros, Inits and TimeOut applications, I’ve just never gotten bored with it.

    Hugh Hood

  2. Thanks. And if you count the original Deja ][ 1.0 for Mac OS 8/9, it’s a huge range.

    Unfortunately Deja IIx 2.0 (109) will mark the end of PPC support. The problem is that the newer development tools won’t build PPC apps anymore. But I will keep the files available.

    If you noticed any bugs in Spreadsheet, I’d love to see the underlying file (if possible), especially with later versions of Deja IIx. The AW Spreadsheet uses SANE to do its math. In earlier versions of D2, I was short circuiting AW’s 6052-based SANE and using the Mac libraries. But the Mac has deprecated SANE as well, so I switched to just letting the emulator do its work.

    It’s possible that there is a subtle bug in the emulator. If so, it would be good the track the bug down. If you see it again, please let me know.

    Yes, all the download links continue to work. I’ve had the underlying unmarked.com since near the beginning internet. ?

    Mark

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