Changelog

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

1.15.0 - (UNRELEASED)

Added

• Enhanced random number generation engine with new algorithms: simdTwister, combRecursive, philox, and threefry.

• randi: Generate uniformly distributed random integers.

• New functions for sparse matrix generation:

  • sprand: Generate sparse matrices with uniformly distributed random values.
  • sprandn: Generate sparse matrices with normally distributed random values.

• Search Text in Console and Text Editor.

• Type support: Expanded support for missing types, increasing compatibility across functions and data structures.

• imresize: Resize images by scale or to a specified output size, supporting both upscaling and downscaling.

• Variable Editor: Redesigned for improved usability and performance. Accessible via openvar or the GUI, it supports structured variables, tables, arrays, and nested data. Features include:

  • Dynamic table view.
  • Real-time updates from the execution context.
  • Enhanced performance for large datasets.
  • Copy-paste compatibility with Excel, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice.

• Continuation prompt: Context-aware prompts to enhance interactive command workflows.

• Expanded type support for missing types, increasing compatibility across functions and data structures.

• missing function: Create missing values for arrays and tables, improving data handling and interoperability.

• renameStructField: Rename fields in structures, simplifying data manipulation and refactoring.

• jsondecode(filename, '-file'): Added -file argument for direct reading and decoding of JSON files from disk.

• tdigest: Introduced t-digest algorithm for accurate quantile estimation with configurable compression parameters.

• crc32 builtin: Compute CRC32 checksum of a file or string.

• markdown: Added option to select output format (secure or advanced).

• fwrite: return also bytes count as second output argument.

• help: Help for functions in Command Window.

• macOS Tahoe 26: CI setup and platform support.

• Python 3.14 support.

Changed

• Help framework reworked for improved performance and usability:

  • Multithreaded builds for faster performance.
  • Enhanced search capabilities with extended functionality.
  • Improved maintainability using Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT).
  • Unified stylesheet for consistent appearance online and offline.
  • Removed internal usage of Qt help support.
  • Dark theme.
  • Added French language support for Help.
  • Introduced support for LaTeX formulas.
  • Replaced http:// links with https:// for secure connections.
  • Removed the help_browser module.

• jsondecode: Integrated simdjson for significantly improved performance and efficiency.

• fileread: Enhanced performance for reading large files, reducing memory usage and increasing speed.

• fwrite: returns the number of characters written for character data.

• i18nExtractor: Reworked for greater speed and modernized codebase, improving internationalization extraction reliability.

• Browser variable: Refactored for improved usability, reliability, and consistency in variable inspection.

• Third-party libraries on Windows: Updated support for HDF5, zlib, and matio, improving compatibility and stability.

• Qt: Upgraded to version 6.9.1 on Windows x64, providing better UI performance and compatibility with modern systems.

• Benchmarks: Updated bench_jsonencode.json to include larger datasets for more robust performance testing.

• xmldocchecker: Improved with XSD schema validation for XML files.

• #1458: Added support for Eigen 5.0.0 if detected.

• GitHub CI: Replaced MacOS Ventura with MacOS 15 Intel (#1457).

• Markdown renderer: Switched to the cmark library.

• External packages:

  • Installing a Nelson external package now switches to local embedded help.
  • External packages must be rebuilt with this version to use the new help format.

• Removed several dependencies on Boost to reduce build complexity and improve portability.

Fixed

• ans variable: Ensured ans is only created for expressions, preventing unintended variable creation in the workspace.

• jsondecode: Corrected parsing of arrays containing empty arrays, improving reliability and correctness.

• Julia engine works also with Julia 1.12.0

• #1462: fwrite without specifying precision did not work as expected.

• eye without input argument managed.

1.14.0 - (2025-05-30)

Added

• New functions:
  • imrotate: Rotate an image.
  • scatter3: 3D scatter plot.
  • colormaplist: List available colormaps.
  • arrayfun: Apply a function to each element of an array.
  • nelsonappid: Return the Nelson application ID.
• New colormaps:
  • nebula, flag, prism.
• New properties:
  • WindowState for Figure objects.
  • Units for UIControl objects.
  • DefaultFigureAlphamap, DefaultFigureColormap as root properties.
• Support for nix develop, providing a reproducible Bash shell preconfigured with Nelson’s build environment.
  See BUILDING.md for details.
• A justfile to streamline and standardize the build process across platforms.
• Support for:
  • Fedora 42.
  • Flatpak package distribution.

Changed

• scatter improvements:
  • Now returns a scatter graphic object (instead of a line graphic object).
  • Improved rendering precision for scatter symbols (pixel-perfect accuracy).
  • Supports alpha channel (transparency).
• scatter3 now supports alpha channel.
• spy now uses scatter instead of plot for better accuracy.
• Colormap handling updated to use the new DefaultFigureColormap root property.
• Improved error message when parsing invalid anonymous functions.
• Boost:
  • Now supports Boost 1.88 (#1378).
  • Minimum required version set to 1.71.
• Updated dependencies and platform support:
  • Qt 6.9.0 on Windows x64.
  • JSON for Modern C++ updated to v3.12.0.
  • Mozilla CA certificates updated (Tue May 20 03:12:02 2025 GMT).

Fixed

• #1413: axes function did not properly manage figure objects.

Technical Improvements

• Application ID changed to io.github.nelson_lang.Nelson.
• GitHub CI:
  • Now uses Windows 2025 for Windows builds.
  • Major workflow rework for improved reliability and maintainability.
• Build system:
  • Updated to latest Prettier version.
  • Added use of shared library suffix via a CMake macro.
  • Included CPU target name in Linux packages.
  • Minimized dependencies on SLICOT.

1.13.0 - (2025-03-29)

This release introduces performance improvements and new graphical capabilities while deprecating support for 32-bit Windows versions.

Changed

• Windows x64 Compatibility: Now requires the AVX2 instruction set.

• Windows 32-bit Support: Official distribution of 32-bit Windows binary versions has been discontinued.

• macOS Optimization: Builds for macOS with M-series chips now leverage native optimizations for improved performance.

• Plot Performance: Optimized plot and plot3 functions for increased speed. Example:

  tic(); plot(rand(300,300), rand(300,300)); toc();
  

• Dependencies Updated:

  • Upgraded fmtlib to version 11.1.3.
  • Intel Math Kernel Library (MKL) updated to 2025.0.1 on Windows.

• Internal Enhancements:

  • OpenMP multithreading macros have been reworked for better efficiency.

• SLICOT module incorporates SLICOT library 5.9, which is distributed under the BSD-3-Clause license.

  • SLICOT module available on all platforms by default.

• python 3.13.2 embedded on Windows

Added

• Double Buffering for Plots:

  • Implemented double buffering to enhance the smoothness and responsiveness of graphical plots.
  • Significantly reduces flickering during graphical updates.

• New Graphics Functions:

  • getframe: Captures an axes or figure as a movie frame.
  • movie: Plays recorded movie frames.
  • im2frame: Converts an image to a movie frame.
  • frame2im: Returns image data associated with a movie frame.
  • DevicePixelRatio: New figure property to handle display scaling.

• Graphics IO module:

  • imwrite: create gif animations.
  • imwrite, imread: pcx, tiff file formats managed.
  • imformats: Manage image file format registry.

• New Example:

  • Added an example for connecting ollama with Nelson:

    edit([modulepath('webtools'), '/examples/ollama/readme.md'])
    

• CMake Enhancement:

  • Introduced ENABLE_AVX2 CMake option for systems that support AVX2.
  • CMake dependencies reworked.

Fixed

• MacOs: Default terminal did not use monospaced font.

• Some warnings detected with PVS-studio

1.12.0 (2025-02-16)

Added

• Julia interface (part 1):

  • jlenv: Change default environment of Julia interpreter.
  • jlrun: Run Julia statements from Nelson.
  • jlrunfile: Run Julia file from Nelson.
  • Major types conversions are available.
  • CMake: Optional Julia engine detection.

• bar, scatter manage color name and short colorname.

• Github CI Ubuntu 24.04 arm64 (Cobalt 100 processor).

• Github CI Snapcraft build amd64 and arm64.

• Snapcraft arm64.

Changed

• Completion .m files allows execution without extension.
• #1342 Github CI - Ubuntu-20.04 hosted runner image removed.

Fixed

• #1346 [display] integer in cell are displayed as double and not as integer.

1.11.0 (2025-01-11)

Added

• #1321 mustBeSparse validator function.
• #1322 cmdsep: Command separator for current operating system.
• urlencode: Replace special characters in URLs with escape characters.
• docroot: Utility to retrieve or define the root directory of Nelson Help.
• ismodule: second input argument isprotected added.
• editor('editor_command', cmd) allows to change text editor in Nelson (for example: VS Code).
• NELSON_RUNTIME_PATH environment variable added by installer on Windows.
• --vscode command line argument added.
• NixOS 24.11 packaging (see BUILDING_Linux.md).

Changed

• Help Center: Access documentation in your system’s web browser. Previously, the documentation was opened in the embedded Help browser.
• CA certificate store update.
• fmt library dependency updated.
• BS::threadpool library dependency updated.
• Advanced terminal updated (common for all platforms without GUI, auto completion, search history).
• Python 3.13.1 supported.

Fixed

• #1324 Cell display could not be interrupted.

1.10.0 (2024-12-14)

Added

• detectImportOptions: Generate import options from the file’s content.
• readtable: Read table from file.
• writetable: Write table to file.
• readcell: Read cell array from file.
• writecell: write cell array to file.
• readmatrix: read matrix from file.
• writematrix: write matrix to file.
• csvread: Read comma-separated value (CSV) file.
• csvwrite: Write comma-separated value (CSV) file.
• dlmread: Read ASCII-delimited file of numeric data into matrix.
• realmin: Smallest normalized floating-point number.
• #1288 mustBeMatrix, mustBeRow, mustBeColumn validator functions.
• join: Combine strings.
• #1292 Large Table Display.
• #1290 VariableTypes property for table: Specify the data types of table in Nelson.
• hour, minute, second component of input date and time.

Changed

• narginchk, nargoutchk support for check only minimun arguments narginchk(3, Inf).
• Fedora 41 CI
• title: Visible property is inherited from the parent if not explicitly defined.
• i18n: migration PO files to JSON.
• dlmwrite: rework the function to be more fast and robust.
• strjust: rework the function to be more fast and robust.
• datenum: support ‘’ as format for compatibility.

Fixed

• #1303 datevec result must be normalized.
• #1297 some features have no help files.
• #1276 micromamba macos build.

1.9.0 (2024-10-26)

Added

• Table direct computation:

  • unary functions: abs, acos, acosh, acot, acotd, acoth, acsc, acscd, acsch, asec, asecd, asech, asin, asind, asinh, atan, atand, atanh, ceil, cosd, cosh, cospi, cot, cotd, coth, csc, cscd, csch, exp, fix, floor, log, log10, log1p, log2, nextpow2, round, sec, secd, sech, sin, sind, sinh, sinpi, sqrt, tan, tand, tanh, var, acosd, not.
  • binary functions: plus, minus, times, eq, ge, gt, le, ne, lt, rdivide, rem, power, pow2, or, mod, ldivide.

• end magic keyword can be overloaded for classes (applied to table class).

• #1250 head, tail functions for table and array.

• #1248 removevars, renamevars functions for table.

Changed

• #1259 Add macOS Sequoia and remove macOS Monterey CI support.
• Qt 6.8 LTS support (used on Windows 64 bits binary).
• Python 3.13.0 on Windows.
• Boost 1.86 on Windows.

1.8.0 (2024-10-04)

Added

• table Data Type:

  • Introduced the table data type, offering enhanced functionality for structured data manipulation.

  • Overloaded methods specific to the table data type:

    • disp, display for table display.
    • horzcat, vertcat for horizontal and vertical concatenation.
    • isempty to check if the table is empty.
    • isequal, isequalto for table comparison.
    • properties for accessing table metadata.
    • subsasgn for subscripted assignment.
    • subsref for subscripted referencing.

  • Conversion functions added:

    • array2table: Convert an array to a table.
    • cell2table: Convert a cell array to a table.
    • struct2table: Convert a structure to a table.
    • table2array: Convert a table to an array.
    • table2cell: Convert a table to a cell array.
    • table2struct: Convert a table to a structure.

  • Utility functions introduced:

    • width: Retrieve the number of columns in the table
    • height: Retrieve the number of rows in the table
    • istable: Check if a variable is of the table data type

• Resize - Resize figure property.

• #36 datenum format compatibility extended.

• #37 datestr Convert date and time to string format.

Changed

• CodeQL Github action updated.

Fixed

• fix ‘units’ refresh for ‘axes’ object.

1.7.0 (2024-08-28)

Added

• uicontrol Create user interface control (button, slider, edit, list box, etc.).
• waitfor Block execution and wait for condition.
• waitforbuttonpress — Wait for click or key press.
• im2double — Convert image to double.
• CloseRequestFcn — Close request callback for figure.
• CreateFcn — Create callback for all graphic objects.
• DeleteFcn — Delete callback for all graphic objects.
• BusyAction — Busy action for all graphic objects.
• Interruptible — Interruptible property for all graphic objects.
• BeingDeleted — Being deleted property for all graphic objects.
• KeyPressFcn, KeyReleaseFcn, ButtonDownFcn properties for figure.

Changed

• Refactor the internal implementation of the ‘system’ built-in function.

• Python 3.12.5 on Windows.

1.6.0 (2024-06-29)

Added

• unique: Unique values.
• ndgrid: Rectangular grid in N-D space.
• nthroot: Real nth root of real numbers.
• allfinite: Check if all array elements are finite.
• j as imaginary unit number is also supported. example 3+2j equivalent to 3+2i.
• FollowLocation option for weboptions
• oneAPI Threading Building Blocks optional dependency.
• Ubuntu 24.04 debian package.
• Ubuntu 24.04 CI

Changed

• sort: speed optimization.

• Windows dependencies updated and rebuild with minimal dependencies:

  • Qt 6.7.1,
  • Visual C++ 2022 Redistributable v14.40.33810.00,
  • boost 1.85,
  • Python 3.12.4,
  • Intel Math Kernel Library 2024.1.1,
  • Intel runtime,
  • SLICOT,
  • gettext 0.22.5,
  • cmake 3.30.0 rc3,
  • libsndfile 1.2.2,
  • portaudio 19.7.5,
  • taglib 2.0,
  • libzip1 1.3.1,
  • libcurl 8.8.0,
  • icu4c 74.2,
  • libffi 3.4.6,
  • libxml2 2.11.7

• Unicode® Standard, Version 15.1 support

• simdutf 5.2.8

• fast_float 6.1.1

• dtl 1.2.0

Fixed

• #1210 bode did not unwrap phase.
• #1206 balance yields wrong Transformation Matrix.
• #1205 diag may return wrong sub-diagonals.
• #1202 buildhelpmd does not generate SUMMARY as expected.
• #1201 Matrix Exponential expm might give wrong results.
• #1200 Matrix Parsing/Evaluation trouble.

1.5.0 (2024-05-31)

Added

• dictionary data type.

  • dictionary: Object that maps unique keys to values.
  • configureDictionary: Create dictionary with specified key and value types.
  • insert: Add entries to a dictionary.
  • lookup: Find value in dictionary by key.
  • remove: Remove dictionary entries.
  • entries: Key-value pairs of dictionary.
  • keys: Keys of dictionary.
  • values: Values of dictionary.
  • types: Types of dictionary keys and values.
  • numEntries: Number of key-value pairs in dictionary.
  • isConfigured: Determine if dictionary has types assigned to keys and values.
  • isKey: Determine if dictionary contains key.
  • keyHash: Generate hash code for dictionary key.
  • keyMatch: Determine if two dictionary keys are the same.

• bernsteinMatrix: Bernstein matrix.

• orderedfields: Order fields of structure array.

• Python interface (part 3):

  • #1160 Python operators in Nelson.
  • keyHash, keyMatch for python objects.
  • isa builtin support python types.
  • python dictionary to Nelson dictionary dictionary(pyDict)
  • conversion dictionary to python dictionary.

Changed

• help files generated sorted by name on all platforms.
• on windows, Qt libraries used are in debug mode.

Fixed

• #1195 strcmp({'a'},["a"]) did not return expected value.

1.4.0 (2024-04-27)

Added

• Python interface (part 2):

  • #1168 Run Python script file from Nelson.
  • #1141 Help about Managing Data between Python and Nelson.
  • #1149 python bytes, and bytearray types were not managed.
  • #1163 pyenv searchs python by version on Windows.
  • #1164 Embed python distribution on Windows.
  • #1167 Help about how to install Python package from Nelson.
  • numpy types support if numpy available.
  • pyenv: can use environment variables to set values.

• getenv: Retrieve the values of several environment variables.

• pyrun: Python code object allowed as first input argument.

• nelson --without_python starts nelson without python engine.

• skip_testsuite: allows to skip test suite dynamically on condition.

Changed

• Allow to call method of a variable of CLASS/HANDLE type like a function (currently, only plugged for python subtype).
• #1142 Github Actions updated.
• #1157 Qt 6.7 support (used on Windows 64 bits binary).
• copyfile, isfile, isdir, mkdir allow string array type as input.
• warning about ‘Matrix is singular to working precision’ for inv matrix.
• tests webtools skipped if connection fails or not available.

Fixed

• #1144 test_run markdown help file had a typo.
• #1143 Linux Snapcraft version did not allow to use python.
• #1148 pyrun(‘print(A)’,‘A’,‘A’,string(NaN)) did not return expected value.
• single(int64([1 2; 3 4])) returned a wrong value.
• py.tuple, py.list compatibility increased.
• pyenv did not manage python’s path with space on Windows.
• Matio 1.5.27 compatibility on ArchLinux.
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS support.
• #1178 Fedora 40 support (CI).
• #1134 [CI] MacOS X Ventura restored.

1.3.0 (2024-03-30)

Added

• Python interface (part 1):

  • CMake: Optional Python3 detection.
  • pyenv Change default environment of Python interpreter.
  • pyrun Run Python statements from Nelson.
  • Major types conversions are compatible (numpy in the next upcoming version).

• ArchLinux packaging (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nelson-git).

• contour Contour plot of matrix.

• contour3 3-D contour plot.

• shiftdim Shift array dimensions.

• xcorr2 2-D cross-correlation.

• deconv Deconvolution and polynomial division.

• vecnorm Vector-wise norm.

• normpdf Normal probability density function.

• #310 gammaln Logarithm of gamma function.

• #1112 gradient Numerical gradient.

• #1126 isspace Determine which characters are space characters.

Changed

• #1110 Eigen master branch (352ede96e4c331daae4e1be9a5f3f50fff951b8d) ready to use.
• #1134 [CI] MacOS X Ventura disabled (Install dependencies fails)
• struct supports scalar string array as field name.

Fixed

• #1110 add help about build and use C/C++ on fly.
• #1124 unexpected result from long statements on Multiple Lines.
• #1127 Nelson could crash if an mxn characters is displayed in the variable browser.
• #1125 Unsupported colon operator with char operands.
• Missing ‘zoom in’, ‘zoom out’ icons for help viewer in linux package.
• gcd without argument returned wrong error message.
• #1133 [CI] [ARCH LINUX] Warning about MPI.

1.2.0 (2024-02-25)

Added

• Recursive completion on Graphic handle, struct, handle, class (properties, methods).
• Adding links between documents about mex and supported compilers.
• GitHub CI for macOS Sonoma (Apple Silicon) support.
• Export to ... context menu for console and text editor as pdf.
• CTRL + Mouse wheel or CTRL + +/- to zoom in/out on console, editor, help.
• Toolbar for figure with print, zoom in, zoom out, rotation, pan, restore axes.
• zoom , pan , rotate3d functions.
• MenuBar, ToolBar figure properties.
• Window menu on graphic window, list all others available windows.
• feature builtin (undocument features, debug, tests, …) content can change with next releases.
• GridAlpha, GridColor, View properties for Axes.
• CTRL+C in help viewer, copy selected text.
• checkupdate function and check update menu.
• isScalarStringArray iinternal API C++ method.

Changed

• Clicking on an axis automatically sets it as the current axes object.
• Clicking on an figure automatically sets it as the current figure object.
• saveas exports the figure as a PDF page with centered alignment.
• Default color of grid for axes.
• Default figure size updated.
• Default MarkerFaceColor value for compatibility.
• view function returns azimuth and elevation values.
• Camera view reworked.
• Minimal screen resolution supported 800x600.

Fixed

• Change directory with file browser line editor did not work as expected.
• Template to create a function with file browser was wrong.
• Do not allow to select multiple variable in workspace browser.
• File browser checks if files with the extension “.m” have a valid name before enable ‘run’ context menu.
• Paste in editor with multiple tab.
• Starting the Nelson desktop was taking longer than necessary.

1.1.0 (2024-01-29)

Added

• Nelson Desktop environment: file browser, command history, workspace browser, desktop layout.
• #1074 Roadmap v2.0.0
• #1044: LU matrix factorization.
• #1080 LineStyle, LineWidth properties were not implemented for surface objects.
• sky, abyss colormaps.

1.0.0 (2024-01-04)

Nelson 1.0.0 has been released.

Nelson is an interactive, fully functional environment for engineering and scientific applications. It implements a matrix-driven language (which is largely compatible with MATLAB and GNU Octave), with advanced features such as 2-D 3-D plotting, image manipulation and viewing, a codeless interface to external C/C++/FORTRAN libraries, native support for various C types, and a host of other features.

Features

• Types managed by Nelson:

  • double and double complex: scalar, vector, matrix 2D, N dimensions array, sparse matrix.
  • single and single complex: scalar, vector, matrix 2D, N dimensions array, sparse matrix.
  • logical: scalar, vector, matrix 2D, N dimensions array, sparse matrix.
  • character array (UNICODE supported).
  • string array (UNICODE supported).
  • integers 8, 16, 32, 64 signed and unsigned: scalar, vector, matrix 2D, N dimensions array.
  • handle objects.
  • anonymous functions,
  • all types can be overloaded.

• OpenMP and SIMD extensions used.

• 2D and 3D plotting with high-level plot commands.

• Parallel Computing Module.

• Fast Fourrier Transformation functions based on FFTW and MKL wrapper.

• SLICOT (Subroutine Library in Systems and Control Theory) interfaces (optional).

• Control System module.

• Message Passing Interface (MPI): functions for parallel computing.

• JSON decode/encode data support.

• HDF5 high-level functions I/O,

• HDF5 used as default data file format (.nh5) load/save workspace,

• MAT-file compatible load/save workspace,

• Foreign Function Interface C/Fortran.

• Interfacing C/C++ or Fortran with Nelson (build and load external code on the fly).

• MEX C API compatibility.

• Nelson Engine API for C (compatible with MEX Engine). Call Nelson from your C code as engine.

• RESTful API web service.

• Inter-process communication between Nelson’s process.

• The QML engine enables nelson programs to display and manipulate graphical content using Qt’s QML framework.

• Component Object Model (COM) client interface: binary-interface standard for software components on Windows.

• Write/Read xlsx files on Windows using COM.

• Embedded Nelson code editor.

• Help engine:

  Generate help files using Nelson dedicated functions. View your generated help files as html, markdown, pdf, gitbook or directly in Nelson help viewer.

• Tests engine:

  Validate your algorithm using Nelson dedicated functions. Export the test results under the xUnit reports format.

• Profiling and Code coverage tools for Nelson’s language:

  Nelson has a built-in profiler that is very useful to profile your code and find out what script or function is taking the most time.

• Nelson cloud: Instant access to Nelson anywhere from an web browser.

• Module skeleton to extend Nelson available here:

  • template macros and builtin,
  • basic template macros only.

• Nelson Modules Manager (nmm) : package manager for Nelson

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