Important

For the initial release of Squirrel 1.6 exported projects will only work when they are accessed via a web server. This means that unlike previous version it will not be possible to run a Squirrel project exported from 1.6 by double clicking on “index.html” of a project stored on a file store. We plan to release an update in the near future which will restore this capability.

 

We’ve added 2 new components; Data Table and Hotspot.

Data Table lets you pull the formatting from your spreadsheet through into the table component on the canvas. That means cell-based formatting!!

Hotpsot is an invisible component that allows your project to respond to “mouse over” and “mouse out” events. This means your project can now respond as the user drags their mouse across the screen, perhaps to provide a pop-up help bubble or to change a related aspect of the project elsewhere on the screen.

We’ve also made significant improvements to the line component which now easily allows horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines to be added to a project.

 

• added the ability to optionally turn off the tooltip on a slider
• added number formatting for the slider
• added an “ALL” option to a multi-select listbox
• stopped containers from blocking mouse interaction with components underneath them.

 

It is very frustrating when Squirrel encounters an issue which means that you have to restart the designer potentially losing work you have done on your project. To counter this we have fixed over 30 issues which lead to this situation and in addition, we have added an autosave feature which will recover your project if the designer needs to be restarted. No action is required on your part, if the designer does need to restart then after it does you will be prompted with a message asking you if you want to recover the latest version of your project.

 

We have added support for a couple of new spreadsheet functions, namely, IFERROR, IFS and LOG and overhauled spreadsheet date handling. Additionally, we have made enhancements and fixes to a number of others, including:

TODAY, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND, DATE

OFFSET

VLOOKUP

IFERROR, ISERR, ISNA, IFNA

SUMIFS

LEN

MID

 

To make working in the Squirrel spreadsheet more natural and closer in operation to other spreadsheets we have added a number of enhancements which should make things flow more smoothly, including:

• Cursor keys can be used to create formulas
• Cursor keys are now active when binding cells in the spreadsheet
• Hitting the return key now actions a bind operation
• Cut and paste of cells and insertion and deletion of rows and columns updates dependent formulas and component bindings
• Ctrl-r and ctrl-d will respectively copy the first cell across or down a selected range
• Holding down the control key modifies the cursor keys to move the selected cell to the beginning or end of the next block of data (this also works whilst holding down the shift key to extend the selected range)

 

To help save you time in the designer we have added the following enhancements to streamline your workflow:

• ability to select multiple objects in the canvas using click and drag
• ability to size a component as you place it on the canvas
• shift-click and ctrl-click selects multiple components in the object browser
• multiple objects can be moved together in the object browser
• holding shift when dragging objects on the canvas constrains their movement to horizontally or vertically
• holding shift when re-sizing a component on the canvas maintains the ratio of height and width
• menu items on the “Arrange” menu to move components backwards and forwards on the canvas.

 

Prior to 1.6 the fullscreen scaling option when applied to exported project meant that the project would anly scale if the browser window was larger than the original project canvas size. From 1.6 onwards scaling will also happen when the browser window is smaller than the original project

 

 

 

Larger projects’ outputs could take a while to load. We’ve made some big changes to the way we are generating the exported/published content. As a result, any newly generated outputs should load in the browser much quicker now.

And for those really huge projects, a loading indicator has been added so that the user knows something is still happening.

 

We’ve made some changes to the way percentages are handled. With number formatting set to percentage, we now insert the value as a decimal instead of a whole number. This makes sure we are handling percentages consistently across all our components and prevents the need to manipulate the value (by dividing by 100) in the spreadsheet.

Note: Projects that were created with Value Input (formatted as a percentage) may function differently as a result. Consider undoing any workarounds you had in place to handle percentages.

 

Timer is our latest small but powerful function. It can be used to loop something a set number of times or until a certain condition is met. It also allows you to insert a ‘delay’ into your project by deferring data insertion by the number of milliseconds specified.

 

 

 

The new Web View component is a versatile component. First and foremost, it allows you to embed web content into your Squirrel project; secondly, multiple people can work on one project at the same time; and thirdly, you can create reusable components that can be used in multiple projects.

 

We’ve added outbound parameters. So, you can now send and receive data using the external parameters function. This opens up a world of possibilities for passing data into, and out of, your projects.

 

You can now type directly in the ‘Select your range’ field when binding. It’s a small enhancement that should make your binding workflow a bit easier. You no longer have to click and drag to select the range each time which means you can make small adjustments easily to your copy and paste ranges.

 

Following feedback, we’ve removed XLF migration from the core product. We’d love to hear from you if you need this feature still.

 

 

 

We’ve added another way to copy and paste: you can now grab the fill handle and drag it over the range that you want to copy to. It will fill based on the active cell and will automatically insert formulas with relative references. It just makes it a bit easier to work with the spreadsheet.

We’ve also enabled the option to export your spreadsheet so you can take it out of Squirrel and do what you want with it.

 

No more scrolling around to see your canvas at design time — Simply zoom in or out using the zoom level dropdown. It’s soooo much better!

 

To help you line things up, you can now switch on (and configure) a grid overlay. It’s visible in Design mode to really help you get the pixel-perfect layout you’re after.

 

We’re always looking to give you more control over your components: this month we’ve added more functionality to charts, including sorting options on Column and Bar. We’ve also fixed some bugs along the way.

Looking for a way to display data with start and end dates or times? The new Schedule component is just the job! It’s a Gantt ‘style’ chart allowing you to plot date and time ranges against categories or tasks. It’s a useful component that could, for example, help you visualise task/project management or resource allocation.

 

Simply add the relevant component and select one or more ranges in your spreadsheet to allow users to export the data as a .xlsx or generate a PDF at the click of a button.