v1.8.0 Release #577

jjw24 · 2021-07-19T04:44:02Z

jjw24
Jul 19, 2021
Maintainer

Release Notes

Breaking Change

Plugin API (Flow.Launcher.Plugin) upgraded from .Net Core 3.1 to .Net 5

Users:

If you are on a version prior to 1.8.0, you will no longer recieve plugin updates or newly added plugins. You can still continue to use your existing plugins and download all plugins released prior to Flow v1.8.0 release.

We recommend you upgrade to v1.8.0 to continue to receive new plugins and updates, plus the below features and fixes.

Plugin Developers:

We have added new functionalities in API v2.0.0 (.Net 5 requirement) which includes features such as saving settings via the API- you do not need to write your own code to save your plugin settings anymore.

Features

General

Install Flow via WinGet: WinGet install "Flow Launcher"
New documentation page!
Press F5 in query window to reload all plugin data
Automatic Python installation for Python plugins
Added documentation usage tips link in the Settings About tab
Optimized exception handling and logging
Remove top and bottom margin of General tab (Settings)
Added the option to enable or disable auto hiding of the settings window scrollbar
Increased the Settings page's default width and allow user to resize the window

Performance

Improved flow's download efficiency
Optimized result list queuing and updating, this means results return faster
Reworked result score bumping mechanism to allow more accurate score bumps for frequently used results

Plugin

Enable Flow's saving mechanism to be used by plugins via direct API call to save their settings
Added logging, save and load settings json files to IPublicAPI for plugins to use
IPlugin interface now inherits from IAsyncPlugin
Optimize plugins manifest downloading behavior
Updated JSON-RPC model to async
Added copy command via context menu for Shell plugin
Enabled saving of Shell plugin's commands history, with option to set the display number of most used commands in result list
Add API error msg handling method
Add tips, UserData and Log location commands for Sys plugin
Run Shell plugin cmds as admin with ctrl
Ctrl + enter/click opens Plugin's url in the plugins download list
Copy the bookmark's url to clipboard via BrowserBookmarks's context menu
Multiple UX/UI enhancements to WebSearch plugin
Implemented the option to disable program description
For Explorer plugin, in addition to the main search action keyword also added action keywords to separately search for directory paths and indexed files and folders
Allow Quick Access Links to be searched using part of the string instead of the word starting with

Bug fixes

General

Fixed issue causing Flow to turn into a vertical black line after waking from hibernation
Fixed the Settings window freezing after locking computer screen (Win+L)
Fixed some minor debuging issues
Fixed query window's shadow margin not appearing at top and bottom, as well as being cut off at the corners
Fixed Context Menu bug where when no item is selected going to the context menu results in weird UX
Fixed the Query Box Is Not Focused When HotKey Invoked when using Shell plugin's Win+R shortcut
Fix flow's hotkey not working correctly or responding after changing in settings

Performance

Fixed progress bar animation, which should drop cpu usage when hidden while query is running
Fixed settings window doesn't show back up when minimized in taskbar

Plugins

Fixed win32 app loading for Program plugin:
- Now able to retrieve the correct file path for programs in the start menu that have LNK extension
- Fix the issue where type 'cmd' does not get you Command Prompt
- Remove ShObjldITIb.dll used for Win32 loading, we now directly use the code
- Remove duplicate lnk program pointing to the same exe with the same description
Removed AppxPackagingTlb.dll used for UWP loading
Fixed a bug related to operation timeout issue for Flow's version updater and WebSearch plugin
Updated json response usage in WebSearch plugin
Fixed WebSearch plugin's action keyword:
- Changed the WebSearch's google search action keyword to global as the default
- Fixed ordering of the plugin's result so non global action keyword matches will appear above global action keyword matches
Re-added missing Google Scholar action keyword sc
Fixed the issue where indexing would need to finish before Flow could continue loading the rest of startup
Fixed exclusion of Windows Index search, making it effective also for searches via file/folder names or file contents
Optimized BrowserBookmarks and Calculator plugins' startup speed
Remove redundant QuickAccess folder nickname path
Added/updated Slovak translation for plugins
Added and corrected Chinese translation
Fix Plugin Indicator when more than one query term is typed
Fixed Win32 & UWP's AppxManifest.xml leak
Fixed loading when no action keywords present for a plugin in user plugin setting
Fixed duplicate query searches from same global action keywords
Fix unparsed property when using Python plugins
Changed sequence of loading for Shell plugin to avoid null reference
Fixed JSON-RPC model issues
Fixed a potential issue with querying after loading a Python context menu
Fixed PluginsManifest constantly updating in the background when queried
Removed empty entries when specifying program suffixes
Fixed missing disposable call that allows plugins to do something before flow exits