[josm-dev] Dynamic start up message

[David Earl]

I've released a change that I mentioned I was going to do some time ago 
whereby the JOSM startup screen content is dynamic rather than built in 
to the program.

Once people get this or later versions of JOSM (and everyone will 
presumably get a new one when API0.6 arrives) it will be possible to 
make announcements about major and forthcoming JOSM and OSM changes to 
those users who don't subscribe to the mailing lists or study the wiki 
intently.

The announcements are constructed from the JOSM wiki (like the Help 
already is). The top level message, which is always displayed, can be 
found on the JOSM wiki at MessageOfTheDay. This then references other 
wiki pages named in the style MessageOfTheDay<123 where the symbol can 
be <, <=, >, >= and the number is a JOSM revision number. The message is 
only included if the version being run is earlier or later than the 
number according to the condition. (Any other wiki references will 
display as ordinary links and not be substituted).

In this way we can tell people "there's something new and exciting in 
the most recent version of JOSM so you might want to update" or "you'll 
soon have to update because there's an incompatible change heading your 
way next month" (and the message goes away when they do), and for those 
who get a new version we can tell them what major changes they will see.

< and <= messages remain until upgraded to a later version; and > and >= 
messages are suppressed once they've been read once.

The prospective revision number for any changes is shown when you commit 
a change, and it is also on the About dialog for already built versions.

The Trac wiki for JOSM already produced pretty conservative HTML, but 
Java is pretty picky, so keep it simple.

It can include links to the JOSM wiki, the OSM wiki or indeed anywhere 
else, so messages can be brief with a link to more information (not 
least, hopefully, how to actually upgrade if that's what is being 
suggested). Since the obvious reference to detail of new features is a 
link to a Help page, this might encourage changes to be documented in 
the Help as well.

Also, I'm sure it will get annoying if this is overused or used used 
frivolously, so please don't abuse it. This wiki is completely open to 
the world to change, so it is protected entirely by obscurity at 
present. If it starts getting vandalized, I guess it can be protected by 
a login.

David