Grasshopper 0.8.0051 available for download

Version 0.8.0051 is now available for download from the usual location.

Note that you need the most recent Microsoft Runtimes to be able to load Grasshopper in Rhino4. You can download the latest runtimes from the Microsoft Website, and be sure to get the 32-bit ones (vcredist_x86.EXE).

This release mainly features bug fixes and small tune-ups. The only major addition is a second solver for Galapagos, modelled on the Simulated Annealing stochastics/meta-heuristics approach.

Here's a full list of new features since 0.8.0050:

• 2000+ LolCats.
• Added Toggle Enable menu item to the Solution menu.
• Toggle Preview shortcut is now Ctrl+Q, shortcuts for Preview On and Preview Off have been removed.
• Toggle Enabled shortcut is now Ctrl+E, shortcuts for Enabled On and Enabled Off have been removed.
• Added a Description output to the Null Item component that provides additional information regarding invalidness.
• Show All Components menu item has been renamed to Show Obscure Components.
• Obscure components are now always stacked along the right edges of panels and groups.
• When the Grasshopper tool panels are too narrow to show all icons, obscure components are now hidden first.
• Re-organized the Mesh Tab.
• Added Mesh Face Circles component (Mesh.Analysis panel).
• Added Mesh Face Normals component (Mesh.Analysis panel).
• Added Mesh Cull Faces component (Mesh.Util panel).
• Added Mesh Delete Faces component (Mesh.Util panel).
• Added Triangulate Mesh component (Mesh.Util panel).
• Added Quadrangulate Mesh component (Mesh.Util panel).
• Added Stack Data component (Sets.Sequence dropdown).
• Added Contour component (Intersect.Mathematical dropdown).
• Added Contour (Ex) component (Intersect.Mathematical dropdown).
• Added Curve Contour component (Curve.Division dropdown).
• Added Curve Contour (Ex) component (Curve.Division dropdown).
• Added Rectangle 2-Point component (Curve.Primitive dropdown).
• Added Shift Path component as per Studio Mode request (Sets.Tree dropdown).
• The Mesh Face Parameter is now available on the Params.Geometry dropdown.
• The Mesh Face Parameter can now hold persistent data.
• Added persistent targeting mode to the Data Viewer window (this is the default).
• It is now possible to open more than one Data Viewer window.
• Selected Data Viewers now draw pink cones around their targets.
• Pressing MMB for the Radial menu now always selects the object underneath the cursor.
• Radial menu and Legacy menu are now both active all the time.
• Radial menu no longer closes when the MMB is released within the bounds.
• Radial menu now also pops up on SpaceBar, provided the cursor is above the canvas.
• Galapagos no longer has a Maximum Iteration Limit for the Evolutionary Solver.
• Galapagos now has optional time-based limits for all solvers.
• Galapagos now has a second solver, modeled on Simulated Annealing stochastics.
• Galapagos options UI has been redesigned, Mutation editor is gone for now.
• Galapagos numeric settings now change colour to indicate sensible value ranges.
• Galapagos numeric settings now have presets (in pop-up menus) for most scrollers.
• Galapagos Genome Parameter menu has been beefed up.
• Cursor wrapping during panning drags now takes both the Canvas and the Screen edges into account.
• Groups now have an Ungroup menu item.
• Groups now have an Add To Group menu item.
• Groups now have a Remove From Group menu item.
• Operator and Function components now try to do a better job of handling Text inputs.
• Added AssignDataToParameter() method to the Grasshopper RhinoScript object.
• Added BakeDataInObject() method to the Grasshopper RhinoScript object.
• Added RunSolver() method to the Grasshopper RhinoScript object.
• Volume components now have warnings for non-solid geometry.
• When a Grasshopper group is baked, the resulting objects are also grouped in Rhino.
• Radial menu now always selects only the object under the cursor.
• Version History windows now uses HTML formatted text.
• Added Zoom to Preview button to Canvas toolbar zoom icon.
• Timers now have a 'Remove Target' menu item.
• Timers should now only fire when their own schedule expires.

And a list of bug fixes:

• Galapagos object tooltips did not reflect newest features, this is fixed.
• Expressions that contained string literals starting with operator symbols would fail, this is fixed.
• Data viewer automatic targeting was very fragile, this is fixed.
• Output Parameter names were drawn too close to the Component, this is fixed.
• Expressions were missing from output parameters, this is fixed.
• Toggle Preview menu item didn't do anything, this is fixed.
• Ribbon Layout Editor would not include components that were on the dropdown only, this is fixed.
• Curve output parameters did not have the Normalise menu item, this is fixed.
• Surface output parameters did not have the Normalise menu item, this is fixed.
• Value Tracker object did not display correctly, this is fixed.
• Legend Object layout was totally hosed, this is fixed.
• Script inputs that used a System.Guid type hint would not convert from referenced geometry, this is fixed.
• Path Wrapping with the Relative Tree item components did not work correctly, this is fixed (fingers crossed).
• Extreme tags in the Quick Graph were drawn in the wrong rectangle, this is fixed.
• Digit Scrollers would not repaint on MouseUp, this is fixed.
• Restoring states would recompute for every slider, this is fixed.

And as always, let's be careful out there.

--

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia