Automata Lab 1.2.0

Automata Lab 1.2.0
Released 7 September 2026
Chart authoring and application appearance

Appearance and layout

• Wrap release notes at 79 characters with 79-character release separators.
  Widen About to show 80 monospace characters without horizontal scrolling on
  desktop while fitting smaller screens.

• Use black outlines, text, transitions, indicators, and grip outlines in Light
  charts while preserving light interiors and gray state-selection halos. Give
  state height resize grips 2-pixel borders in both themes, matching state
  borders.

• Choose Blue, Gray, Green, Teal, Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, Black, or White
  independently for Title Bar Color, Application Buttons, and Console Message
  Buttons in Application Settings -> Appearance -> Application Colors.

• Default application buttons to Blue with 1-pixel black borders. Use slightly
  darker, muted pastel button colors, except for lighter theme-specific Gray.
  The retained manual Console color defaults to Gray; Console title-bar Clear
  uses the application color.

• Enable Match Console Message Color by default for first-time users,
  preserving existing saved choices. Enabling it uses the shared Green message,
  Blue warning, and Red error palettes, including darker hover and pressed
  shades, in both themes and disables the Console color dropdown while
  retaining its selection. Unchecking restores that color.

• Keep menu items, settings group and other list items, tab-page tabs,
  Transition Table dropdown controls, and Chart Palette tiles independent of
  button colors. System colors take precedence in forced-colors mode.

• Use white text on Dark-mode Console inline buttons, with a subtle dark text
  edge on manually selected Yellow/White fills for readability. Matched
  severity buttons use white text and icons without a shadow.

• Add Title Bar Color, default Blue, for the main application and every modal
  title bar, with darker palette shades in Dark mode and readable title text.

• Remove the master Model tree close button and retire its saved hidden state,
  restoring navigation and the Editor workspace while retaining responsive
  region switching.

• Distinguish active tab pages with a slightly lighter tab in either theme.

• Reduce panel and modal close controls by 20 percent to 24 by 22.4 CSS pixels,
  right-aligned with equal top, right, and bottom insets. Transition Table
  dropdown controls match panel close-control sizing and margins.

• Allocate one third of the combined Name/Description width to Name and two
  thirds to Description in States, Events, and Actions; preserve the
  independent States page splitter.

• Add a Palette title bar matching the State Chart header height and color.

• Keep the Chart Palette vertical beside the Canvas and size it to its longest
  unwrapped icon label plus 4 pixels on each side. Restore its original theme
  appearance.

Chart authoring

• Restore keyboard focus after routed Chart elements finish rendering.

• Use circular transition endpoint grips matching the state fill independently
  of button colors, 4-pixel outer gray state-selection halos that use lighter
  gray in Light and darker gray in Dark while preserving normal state borders,
  and doubled 6-pixel selected-transition strokes that retain their normal line
  color in Light mode.

• Remove horizontal resize lines and enlarge selected-state grips by 4 pixels
  in each dimension. Mirror the top grip above the state while retaining the
  bottom position.

• Create a self-transition by selecting a state and Shift-selecting it again,
  including with Shift+Enter.

• Attach draft transition endpoints in either order, including to the same
  state. The second attachment opens configuration; Cancel keeps both
  connections.

• Keep attached endpoints connected as states move or resize. Save/Open and
  Undo/Redo preserve unfinished connections.

• Detach an existing transition into free space while retaining its event and
  remaining connection. Reconnect it to restore the transition automatically;
  conflicting connections leave the previous model and draft unchanged.

• Use the same routing, boundary grips, parallel lanes, and self-loop geometry
  for drafts and configured transitions. Selected drafts use a thicker curve
  without a rectangular selection border.

• Drag smooth 32-pixel Palette glyphs with matching icon-only feedback.

• Preserve pan and zoom during editing, Palette placement, and navigation away
  from and back to Chart. Fit once on the first Chart visit after Open or
  Server Pull; Automatic Layout and Fit Chart also fit explicitly. New empty
  files start at 100 percent.

• Default to a 50-pixel grid, 300-by-100 collapsed states, and 300-pixel
  expanded width with a 100-pixel minimum height. Existing valid saved
  preferences remain in effect.

Files and output

• Read strict file formats 1.0.0, 1.1.0, and 1.2.0. Save uses the minimum
  version required by draft attachments or remembered events.
• Include retained draft state names and events in Chart Projection reports,
  and use the document's required file version in print metadata.

Known limitations

• Endpoint jumping during obstacle routing remains under investigation.
• Dense charts can still take longer to route.
• Opera may not render the Light theme correctly. Use Dark theme, Chrome, or
  Microsoft Edge until this is corrected.