When I first started writing GlassCalc, I never imagined how many cool new features I would come up with later. With the way some parts of GlassCalc are written, it’s becoming harder and harder for me to add in some of the things I want to add, so I’ve decided that the next major version of GlassCalc will be a rewrite of much of the code.

I’ve just started planning GlassCalc 2, and there are a few other projects I want to finish up before I even start writing code for it, (in other words, don’t expect it any time soon) but here are some of the features I have planned:

UI Changes

• Notify of updates with native Win 7 notifications if available. Clicking on notification bubble will open regular update window.
• Replace separate constants,variables, functions views with a single block containing all three items. Maybe use an accordion style control like Opera 11’s mail panel. This should save some vertical space and not look ugly when it is taller than the window.
• Replace function references block with a dedicated function reference window. Access it from the help menu. This window could also show the info that is currently in quickref.txt. Functions will be sortable alphabetically, by type, (trig, probability, etc.) or by the extension that added them.
• When hovering over a variable or custom function, show an “x” button to delete it.
• Remove “Input” text from input box. Put an “=” button to the right. Text/icon inside this button changes depending on context:
  • If no text input, show “=”
  • If auto-evaluate is on and input is simple, show result of expression. Button should smoothly expand to fit text.
  • If auto-evaluate is on and input is complex (commands, multiple expressions) show “=”
  • If another expression is still being evaluated, show spinner icon
• Add button to header of the history view that toggles between the view’s regular styling and plain text. This will allow selecting multiple lines at once.
• Redesign settings window. Most likely, place categories in list on the left like in Visual Studio. Keep window the same size no matter which category is selected.
• Maybe add a code-completion tooltip that would show all constants, variables or functions starting with what you’ve typed. Could activate automatically or on Ctrl+Space.
• Add option to display bases as a subscript, like 100110₂

Internal Changes

• Separate parser/evaluator from the UI thread so that GlassCalc will not freeze while performing long calculations.
• Add an “auto-evaluate” mode which evaluates expressions and displays the results as you type.  Result of auto-evaluation will most likely appear to the right of the input box, though a dimmed result in the history view might work too.
• Replace slow, unfindable xml config files with an ini settings file at %AppData%\GlassCalc.
• Add extensions system. Extensions will be able to extend the default constants and functions and add scale factors. The user will be able to turn them on and off individually. Extensions will most likely consist of a single ini file with the extension’s name, author, and all the other info. If an extension requires a complex function that cannot be represented in a single GlassCalc expression, .cs scripts can be linked in. An xml file containing documentation can also be included.