Revision: a03144e3f451
Author: Pekka Klärck
Date: Mon Jul 25 14:49:22 2011
Log: copied pre-release notes to new place, first version of final
release notes
http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/source/detail?repo=wiki&r=a03144e3f451
Added:
/FinalReleaseNotes26.wiki
/PreviewReleases26.wiki
=======================================
--- /dev/null
+++ /FinalReleaseNotes26.wiki Mon Jul 25 14:49:22 2011
@@ -0,0 +1,290 @@
+#summary Release notes for Robot Framework 2.6 series
+
+<wiki:toc max_depth="2"/>
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Preview Releases =
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 is a new major release with loads of bigger
+and smaller enhancements and bug fixes. It was released after several
+[PreviewReleases26 preview releases] on Tuesday 2011-07-26.
+
+Questions and comments related to the
+release can be sent to the [MailingLists mailing lists] and possible
+bugs submitted to
+the [http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues issue tracker].
+
+== Downloads and installation ==
+
+Installers and otehr packages are available on the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/downloads/list download page].
+
+You can follow the normal [Installation installation instructions]
+when installing RF 2.6 releases. If you have an earlier Robot version
installed
+it should be safe to install over it. Removing the old version first is
always
+safer, though, and should always be done if installation fails somehow.
+
+== Compatibility with RIDE and Mabot ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 should be fully compatible with the earlier
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-ride/ RIDE] and
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-mabot/ Mabot] releases.
+
+== Compatibility with outputs generated with RF 2.5 ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 can read and process outputs generated by
+2.5.x. releases. This allows testing the enhanced log and report (see
+below) also without executing tests using 2.6. All you need to do is
+getting the output file (such as `ouput.xml`) and generating logs and
+reports based on it with `rebot`.
+
+= Most important enhancements and new features =
+
+== Better log file performance ==
+
+The biggest enhancement in this release is making the performance
+of the log files better when the amount of test cases and test data
+increases (issue 360).
+
+This enhancement is implemented so that when you open the log file it is
+not loaded into the browsers memory fully but generated dynamically using
+Javascript (and wonderful [http://jquery.com/ jQuery]) as you drill down to
+more details. This both makes the log files' size on a disk much smaller
+(in one case a log file that used to be 120MB is now 9MB) and also reduces
+browsers' memory consumption dramatically (the earlier log file performed
+flawlessly on a browser).
+
+Creating the log files dynamically allows also interesting enhancements
+in the future. Ideas we have had include test cases search and setting
+log level. In RF 2.6 the log files should look pretty much like the ones
+we all have got used to in previous releases, though.
+
+== Transparent log splitting ===
+
+A common problem when the amount of test cases increases is that log
+files gets too big. They do not open nicely into browsers anymore and
+if they are on a remote machine downloading them takes too much time.
+
+In RF 2.5 and earlier this problem was solved with a functionality to
+split both log files and output files (`--splitoutputs` option) from a
+predefined level. This
+[#Splitting_outputs_is_not_supported_anymore functionality was removed]
+early during 2.6 development because it never worked that well and it
+was incompatible with the new log generation system discussed above.
+
+Although the new logs are orders of magnitude smaller than earlier,
+some log splitting functionality was still needed with very large test
+suites. The new approach introduced in RF 2.6 (issue 898) is splitting
+the log into smaller files that can be loaded dynamically when
+needed. This approach has two huge benefits:
+
+ * Main log file size stays small (log from Robot Framework's own
acceptance tests with 2000+ tests is about 0.6MB).
+ * Because the data is loaded dynamically, users do not see any
difference compared to the situation where logs are not split.
+
+The main drawback is that the overall size taken by the log file
+increases. In practice this should not matter too much because not all
+the data needs to be loaded into a browser, disk space is pretty cheap,
+and the logs in 2.6 are otherwise so small compared to the old logs.
+
+Another drawback is that copying log files or otherwise manipulating
+them after the execution gets a bit more complicated because you have
+lot of small files. Technically data from each test and suite
+setup/teardwon is written into a separate Javascript file and the
+number of files grows when the number of tests grows. The files have
+name in format `'log-42.js'` where `'log'` changes depending on the
+actual name of the log file and `'42'` is a growing index.
+
+The new mechanism is transparent for users viewing the log file but it
+still needs to be enabled with `--splitlog` option when tests are run
+or results post-processed with `rebot`.
+
+== Enhanced and better performing report ==
+
+In RF 2.6 also report files are generated dynamically and are thus
+smaller and have better performance than earlier. In addition to that,
+reports have also got some new functionality.
+
+The smaller size (in one case from 9MB to 0.4MB) and faster opening
+time are due to reports not showing test cases automatically but instead
+having an easy way to select what you actually want to see. Old test
details
+by suite and test details by tag tables have been removed and replaced
+with dynamically generated tables that show the same information (issue
849).
+In addition to these views being accessible from the statistics table
+like the removed tables in earlier releases, you also have drop-down menus
+where you can select which suite or tag to show.
+
+A totally new functionality in reports is having a view where
+all tests or all critical tests can be seen (issue 863). Tests in these
+views are sorted so that failed tests are first (similarly as when viewing
+tests by tag) so it is very easy to see all failed or all failed critical
+tests in one place. These views are also accessible from the statistics
table.
+
+The screenshot below is from the
[http://robotframework.googlecode.com/hg/doc/userguide/RobotFrameworkUserGuide.html#report-file
User Guide]
+that also contains a live version of the same report.
+
+http://robotframework.googlecode.com/hg/doc/userguide/src/ExecutingTestCases/report_passed.png
+
+
+== Keyword teardown functionality ==
+
+Robot Framework has always had test and suite level setups and teardowns,
+but nowadays also individual user keywords can have their own teardowns
+(issue 711). The mechanism of this new feature is very simple, the keyword
+teardown is executed both when the keyword passes and when it fails.
+
+Keyword teardowns allows, for example, splitting a large test teardown
+into more fine-grained teardowns that are executed closer to the activity
+that needs to be cleaned up. Another good use case is with test templates
+(a new feature in [ReleaseNotes25 RF 2.5]) where
+the system should be in a known state after every repeated step.
+
+Using keyword teardown and test templates is illustrated by the example
+below. It shows a different approach to create invalid login cases from the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-seleniumlibrary/wiki/Demo
SeleniumLibrary demo]:
+
+{{{
+ ***Settings***
+ Test Setup Open login page
+ Test Template Login with invalid credentials should fail
+ Test Teardown Close browser
+ Resource common_resource.txt
+
+ ***Test Cases***
+ Invalid login
+ ${VALID USER} invalid
+ invalid ${VALID PASSWORD}
+ invalid invalid
+ ${VALID USER} ${EMPTY}
+ ${EMPTY} ${VALID PASSWORD}
+ ${EMPTY} ${EMPTY}
+
+ ***Keywords***
+ Login with invalid credentials should fail
+ [Arguments] ${username} ${password}
+ Input user name ${username}
+ Input password ${password}
+ Submit credentials
+ Welcome page should be open
+ [Teardown] Navigate to login page
+}}}
+
+Notice that keyword teardown functionality is currently not supported
+by [http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-ride/ RIDE].
+
+== New logging APIs and other logging enhancements ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 has its own Python API for logging
+(`robot.api.logger` module) (issue 339) and it also supports Python's
+standard [http://docs.python.org/library/logging.html logging] module
+(issue 455). These APIs make both make logging cleaner than using the
+standard output and also provide nice functionality such as accurate
+timestamps. They are explained more thoroughly, and with examples, in
+the
+[http://robotframework.googlecode.com/hg/doc/userguide/RobotFrameworkUserGuide.html#public-logging-api
User
Guide].
+
+Another logging related enhancement is that libraries can embed
+accurate timestamp into the messages logged through stdout/stderr
+(issue 456). Python based libraries are probably better of using the
+new logging APIs, but this enhancement adds timestamp support also for
+Java based libraries as well as for libraries that utilize the
+[RemoteLibrary remote interface].
+
+Finally, messages logged during library initialization are nowadays
written into the syslog (issue 892).
+
+= Backwards incompatible changes =
+
+== Viewing logs and reports requires a modern browser ==
+
+Logs and reports nowadays use Javascript and CSS styles that only work
+well in modern browsers. Firefox 3.5, IE 8, or equivalent is required,
+but newer browsers are recommended. Most notable IE 6 and IE 7
+are not supported at all.
+
+Newer browsers, such as Firefox 4 and Google Chrome 12, have blazingly
+fast Javascript engines and they can easily view even very large log
+files. Upgrading your browser may thus be a good idea even if you can open
+logs and reports with your old browser.
+
+If your company policy prevents you from upgrading IE or using
+alternative browsers, you can always keep on using older Robot
+Framework versions.
+
+== !IronPython is currently not supported ==
+
+Unfortunately Robot Framework 2.6 does not work with
+[DotNetSupport IronPython].
+You can use Robot Framework 2.5.7 with !IronPython until we manage
+work around the incompatibilities listed in issue 917.
+
+== Splitting outputs is not supported anymore ==
+
+The earlier explained big
+[#Better_log_file_performance log file performance enhancements]
+unfortunately completely broke the old output splitting functionality
+(issue 861). Fixing splitting so that it would work like it worked
+earlier would have been a really big task.
+
+Outputs have been split mainly to make log files smaller by splitting
+them into pieces that should not grow too big. Because the old
+approach never worked too well (see e.g. issue 386 and issue 862), a
+decision was made to rather implement new
+[#Transparent_log_splitting log splitting approach].
+
+In RF 2.6 using `--splitoutputs` option gives you a warning and in RF
+2.7 the option will be removed altogether. New `--splitlog` option
+should be used instead.
+
+== Summary reports were removed ==
+
+As explained above, reports in Robot Framework 2.6
+[#Enhanced_and_better_performing_report do not have tests open when you
open them]
+and in practice they look a lot like the old summary reports. Because
reports
+are generated dynamically, their size is also very small.
+
+Because summary reports did not provide any value anymore they were
+removed (issue 864).
+
+== `testdoc.py` tool does not work ==
+
+Unfortunately
[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/wiki/TestDataDocumentationTool
testdoc.py tool] is not compatible with RF 2.6 (issue 908). Hopefully this
useful tool can be fixed already in 2.6.1.
+
+== Many internal APIs have changed ==
+
+There are lot of internal changes in a big release like this and some of
the changes may affect libraries or tools that are dependent on the
internal APIs. The most important changes are listed in issue 907.
+
+== Other backwards incompatible changes ==
+
+All potentially backwards incompatible issues are
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list?can=1&q=target%3D2.6+label%3Dbwic
labeled
with `bwic` label in the issue tracker].
+Why these changes may cause problems will be explained thoroughly
+later when these release notes are improved.
+
+= Deprecated features =
+
+There are not too many deprecated features in this release, but the ones
that
+have been deprecated are
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list?can=1&q=target%3D2.6+label%3Ddepr
labeled
with `depr` label in the issue tracker].
+Why these features were deprecated will be explained thoroughly
+later when these release notes are improved.
+
+
+= Acknowledgements =
+
+Very big thanks to the
+[http://sourceforge.net/projects/jsxgraph JSXGraph]
+project for creating and releasing the
+[http://jsxgraph.uni-bayreuth.de/wp/2009/09/29/jsxcompressor-zlib-compressed-javascript-code
JSXCompressor]
+module.
+One reason new logs and reports are so small is that all larger
+strings are compressed using the [http://zlib.org zlib] algorithm
+and then uncompressed on-demand in the browser using this great module.
+
+Special thanks to Alfred Wassermann for making JSXCompressor available
+also under the Apache 2 license so that it was easier for us to
+include it.
+
+Big thanks also to all [http://jquery.com/ jQuery] developers for
+making Javascript development a joy.
+
+Thanks to Imran for providing a great patch to issue 897 and for actively
+testing the preview releases. Thanks also to all others who have tested
+alphas, betas, and release candidates!
=======================================
--- /dev/null
+++ /PreviewReleases26.wiki Mon Jul 25 14:49:22 2011
@@ -0,0 +1,463 @@
+#summary Robot Framework 2.6 pre-releases
+
+<wiki:toc max_depth="2"/>
+
+*NOTE:*
+
+ [ReleaseNotes26 Robot Framework 2.6] final was released on Tuesday
2011-07-26.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Preview Releases =
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 is a new major release with loads of bigger
+and smaller enhancements and bug fixes. Before the final release there
+will be some alpha, beta, and release candidate releases in order
+
+ * to make the already implemented features available to users,
+ * to get feedback about the new features and enhancements, and
+ * to allow users to test the new version on their environments.
+
+Please submit possible bugs you encounter with the preview releases to
+the [http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list issue tracker]
+and send general comments and questions to the [MailingLists mailing
lists].
+
+== Downloads and installation ==
+
+The latest pre-release is always available on the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/downloads/list download page].
+
+You can follow the normal [Installation installation instructions]
+when installing RF 2.6 releases. If you have an earlier Robot version
installed
+it should be safe to install over it. Removing the old version first is
always
+safer, though, and should always be done if installation fails or running
+tests always fails mysteriously.
+
+== Compatibility with RIDE and Mabot ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 should be fully compatible with the earlier
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-ride/ RIDE] and
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-mabot/ Mabot] releases.
+
+== Compatibility with outputs generated with RF 2.5 ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 can read and process outputs generated by
+2.5.x. releases. This allows testing the enhanced log and report (see
+below) also without executing tests using 2.6. All you need to do is
+getting the output file (such as `ouput.xml`) and generating logs and
+reports based on it with `rebot`.
+
+*NOTE:*
+ Processing split outputs (generated when using `--splitoutputs` option)
+ is not supported in relase candidate 1 or earlier.
+
+== Compatibility with !IronPython ==
+
+Unfortunately Robot Framework 2.6.0 does not work with !IronPython.
+You can use Robot Framework 2.5.7 with !IronPython until we manage
+work around the incompatibilities.
+
+= Most important enhancements and new features =
+
+== Better log file performance ==
+
+The biggest enhancement in this release is making the performance
+of the log files better when the amount of test cases and test data
+increases (issue 360).
+
+This enhancement is implemented so that when you open the log file it is
+not loaded into the browsers memory fully but generated dynamically using
+Javascript (and wonderful [http://jquery.com/ jQuery]) as you drill down to
+more details. This both makes the log files' size on a disk much smaller
+(in one case a log file that used to be 120MB is now 9MB) and also reduces
+browsers' memory consumption dramatically (the earlier log file performed
+flawlessly on a browser).
+
+Creating the log files dynamically allows also interesting enhancements
+in the future. Ideas we have had include test cases search and setting
+log level. In RF 2.6 the log files should look pretty much like the ones
+we all have got used to in previous releases, though.
+
+We are highly interested in feedback related the new log files. We are
+especially looking forward for comments about the performance with large
+test data sets but let us also know if something in the logs does not work
+as well as it used to. You can add comments to issue 360 directly or send
+them to the [MailingLists mailing lists].
+
+== Transparent log splitting ===
+
+A common problem when the amount of test cases increases is that log
+files gets too big. They do not open nicely into browsers anymore and
+if they are on a remote machine downloading them takes too much time.
+
+In RF 2.5 and earlier this problem was solved with a functionality to
+split both log files and output files (`--splitoutputs` option) from a
+predefined level. This
+[#Splitting_outputs_is_not_supported_anymore functionality was removed]
+early during 2.6 development because it never worked that well and it
+was incompatible with the new log generation system discussed above.
+
+Although the new logs are orders of magnitude smaller than
+earlier, some log splitting functionality was still needed with very
+large test suites. The new approach introduced in RF 2.6 (beta 3) is
+splitting the log into smaller files that can be loaded dynamically
+when needed. This approach has two huge benefits:
+
+ * Main log file size stays small (log from Robot Framework's own
acceptance tests with 2000+ tests is only 1.6 MB).
+ * Because the data is loaded dynamically, users do not see any
difference compared to the situation where logs are not split.
+
+The main drawback is that the overall size taken by the log file
+increases. In practice this should not matter too much because not all
+the data needs to be loaded into a browser, disk space is pretty cheap,
+and the logs in 2.6 are otherwise so small compared to the old logs.
+
+Another drawback is that copying log files or otherwise manipulating
+them after the execution gets a bit more complicated because you have
+lot of small files. Technically data from each test is written into a
+separate Javascript file and the number of files grows when the number
+of tests grows. The files have name in format `'log-42.js'` where `'log'`
+changes depending on the actual name of the log file and `'42'` is a
+growing index.
+
+The new mechanism is transparent for users viewing the log file but it
+still needs to be enabled with `--splitlog` option when tests are run
+or results post-processed with `rebot`.
+
+== Enhanced and better performing report ==
+
+In RF 2.6 also report files are generated dynamically and are thus
+smaller and have better performance than earlier. In addition to that,
+reports have also got some new functionality.
+
+The smaller size (in one case from 9MB to 0.4MB) and faster opening
+time are due to reports not showing test cases automatically but instead
+having an easy way to select what you actually want to see. Old test
details
+by suite and test details by tag tables have been removed and replaced
+with dynamically generated tables that show the same information (issue
849).
+In addition to these views being accessible from the statistics table
+like the removed tables in earlier releases, you also have drop-down menus
+where you can select which suite or tag to show.
+
+A totally new functionality in reports is having a view where
+all tests or all critical tests can be seen (issue 863). Tests in these
+views are sorted so that failed tests are first (similarly as when viewing
+tests by tag) so it is very easy to see all failed or all failed critical
+tests in one place. These views are also accessible from the statistics
table.
+
+We are also highly interested in comments about the new reports. Both
comments
+about the new features and about the performance are appreciated and can be
+submitted to relevant issues or sent to the [MailingLists mailing lists].
+
+*TODO:* Add a screenshot here when we have taken one for the User Guide.
+
+== Keyword teardown functionality ==
+
+Robot Framework has always had test and suite level setups and teardowns,
+but nowadays also individual user keywords can have their own teardowns
+(issue 711). The mechanism of this new feature is very simple, the keyword
+teardown is executed both when the keyword passes and when it fails.
+
+Keyword teardowns allows, for example, splitting a large test teardown
+into more fine-grained teardowns that are executed closer to the activity
+that needs to be cleaned up. Another good use case is with test templates
+(a new feature in [ReleaseNotes25 RF 2.5]) where
+the system should be in a known state after every repeated step.
+
+Using keyword teardown and test templates is illustrated by the example
+below. It shows a different approach to create invalid login cases from the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-seleniumlibrary/wiki/Demo
SeleniumLibrary demo]:
+
+{{{
+ ***Settings***
+ Test Setup Open login page
+ Test Template Login with invalid credentials should fail
+ Test Teardown Close browser
+ Resource common_resource.txt
+
+ ***Test Cases***
+ Invalid login
+ ${VALID USER} invalid
+ invalid ${VALID PASSWORD}
+ invalid invalid
+ ${VALID USER} ${EMPTY}
+ ${EMPTY} ${VALID PASSWORD}
+ ${EMPTY} ${EMPTY}
+
+ ***Keywords***
+ Login with invalid credentials should fail
+ [Arguments] ${username} ${password}
+ Input user name ${username}
+ Input password ${password}
+ Submit credentials
+ Welcome page should be open
+ [Teardown] Navigate to login page
+}}}
+
+Notice that keyword teardown functionality is currently not supported
+by [http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-ride/ RIDE].
+
+== New logging APIs and other logging enhancements ==
+
+Robot Framework 2.6 has its own Python API for logging
+(`robot.api.logger` module) (issue 339) and it also supports Python's
+standard [http://docs.python.org/library/logging.html logging] module
+(issue 455). These APIs make both make logging cleaner than using the
+standard output and also provide nice functionality such as accurate
+timestamps. They are explained more thoroughly, and with examples, in
+the
+[http://robotframework.googlecode.com/hg/doc/userguide/RobotFrameworkUserGuide.html#public-logging-api
User
Guide].
+
+Another logging related enhancement is that libraries can embed
+accurate timestamp into the messages logged through stdout/stderr
+(issue 456). Python based libraries are probably better of using the
+new logging APIs, but this enhancement adds timestamp support also for
+Java based libraries as well as for libraries that utilize the
+[RemoteLibrary remote interface].
+
+
+= Backwards incompatible changes =
+
+== Viewing logs and reports requires a modern browser ==
+
+Logs and reports nowadays use Javascript and CSS styles that only work
+well in modern browsers. Firefox 3.5, IE 8, or equivalent is required,
+but newer browsers are recommended. Most notable IE 6 and IE 7
+are not supported at all.
+
+Newer browsers, such as Firefox 4 and Google Chrome 12, have blazingly
+fast Javascript engines and they can easily view even very large log
+files. Upgrading your browser may thus be a good idea even if you can open
+logs and reports with your old browser.
+
+If your company policy prevents you from upgrading IE or using
+alternative browsers, you can always keep on using older Robot
+Framework versions.
+
+== Splitting outputs is not supported anymore ==
+
+The earlier explained big
+[#Better_log_file_performance log file performance enhancements]
+unfortunately completely broke the old output splitting functionality
+(issue 861). Fixing splitting so that it would work like it worked
+earlier would have been a really big task.
+
+Outputs have been split mainly to make log files smaller by splitting
+them into pieces that should not grow too big. Because the old
+approach never worked too well (see e.g. issue 386 and issue 862), a
+decision was made to rather implement new
+[#Transparent_log_splitting log splitting approach].
+
+In RF 2.6 using `--splitoutputs` option gives you a warning and in RF
+2.7 the option will be removed altogether. New `--splitlog` option
+should be used instead.
+
+== Summary reports were removed ==
+
+As explained above, reports in Robot Framework 2.6
+[#Enhanced_and_better_performing_report do not have tests open when you
open them]
+and in practice they look a lot like the old summary reports. Because
reports
+are generated dynamically, their size is also very small.
+
+Because summary reports did not provide any value anymore they were
+removed (issue 864).
+
+== `testdoc.py` tool does not work ==
+
+Unfortunatley
[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/wiki/TestDataDocumentationTool
testdoc.py tool] is not compatible with RF 2.6 (issue 908). Hopefully this
useful tool can be fixed already in 2.6.1.
+
+== Many internal APIs have changed ==
+
+There are lot of internal changes in a big release like this and some of
the changes may affect libraries or tools that are dependent on the
internal APIs. The most important changes are listed in issue 907.
+
+== Other backwards incompatible changes ==
+
+All potentially backwards incompatible issues are
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list?can=1&q=target%3D2.6+label%3Dbwic
labeled
with `bwic` label in the issue tracker].
+Why these changes may cause problems will be explained thoroughly
+later when these release notes are improved.
+
+= Deprecated features =
+
+There are not too many deprecated features in this release, but the ones
that
+have been deprecated are
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list?can=1&q=target%3D2.6+label%3Ddepr
labeled
with `depr` label in the issue tracker].
+Why these features were deprecated will be explained thoroughly
+later when these release notes are improved.
+
+
+= Acknowledgements =
+
+Very big thanks to the
+[http://sourceforge.net/projects/jsxgraph JSXGraph]
+project for creating and releasing the
+[http://jsxgraph.uni-bayreuth.de/wp/2009/09/29/jsxcompressor-zlib-compressed-javascript-code
JSXCompressor]
+module.
+One reason new logs and reports are so small is that all larger
+strings are compressed using the [http://zlib.org zlib] algorithm
+and then uncompressed on-demand in the browser using this great module.
+
+Special thanks to Alfred Wassermann for making JSXCompressor available
+also under the Apache 2 license so that it was easier for us to
+include it.
+
+Big thanks also to all [http://jquery.com/ jQuery] developers for
+making Javascript development a joy.
+
+Thanks to Imran for providing a great patch to issue 897 and for actively
+testing the preview releases. Thanks also to all others who have tested
+alphas, betas, and release candidates!
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Alpha 1 =
+
+The first RF 2.6 pre-release was releases on 2011-06-13. List of all
+issues included into it can be found below. We are eagerly waiting for
+comments!!
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 360 || Enhancement || Critical || Possibility to view log file
without loading it into memory fully ||
+|| Issue 861 || Defect || High || Splitting outputs is not compatible with
new logs and must be removed ||
+|| Issue 339 || Enhancement || High || Provide logging facility for
developers of Robot Framework Extension Libraries ||
+|| Issue 711 || Enhancement || High || Keyword teardown functionality ||
+|| Issue 849 || Enhancement || High || It should be possible to select
tests that are shown in report to make its size smaller ||
+|| Issue 863 || Enhancement || High || Not always easy to see all failed
tests and all failed critical tests in report ||
+|| Issue 822 || Defect || Medium || Cannot import two libraries with same
name using physical path ||
+|| Issue 827 || Defect || Medium || Dynamic keywords ignored if getting
documentation or arguments fails ||
+|| Issue 832 || Defect || Medium || Execution crashes if listener method
`message` fails repeatingly ||
+|| Issue 860 || Defect || Medium || Dry-run mode fails if embedded
arguments contain dynamically set variables ||
+|| Issue 109 || Enhancement || Medium || `Should (Not) Be Equal As
Numbers` and `Convert To Number` should take precision as an optional
argument ||
+|| Issue 455 || Enhancement || Medium || Support for Python standard
`logging` module ||
+|| Issue 736 || Enhancement || Medium || Uncatchable syntax errors should
be turned into normal failures when possible ||
+|| Issue 767 || Enhancement || Medium || avoid callling sys.exit() when
running Robot from a test-driver ||
+|| Issue 807 || Enhancement || Medium || It should be possible to disable
Remote servers' `Stop Remote Server` keyword ||
+|| Issue 808 || Enhancement || Medium || `Should (Not) Be Equal As
Integers` and `Convert To Integer` should accept also hex, octal and binary
numbers ||
+|| Issue 821 || Enhancement || Medium || Remove `critical` attribute from
opening `<test>` tag in XML ||
+|| Issue 829 || Enhancement || Medium || Add option to disable output.xml |
|
+|| Issue 835 || Enhancement || Medium || Integer variables should accept
`0b` (binary), `0o`, (octal) and `0x` (hex) prefixes like `${0xFF}` ||
+|| Issue 836 || Enhancement || Medium || `Convert To Binary/Octal/Hex`
keywords to `BuiltIn` library ||
+|| Issue 859 || Enhancement || Medium || Additional listener attributes to
differentiate suite/test setup/teardown from other keywords. ||
+|| Issue 844 || Enhancement || Medium || Possibility to get variable value
with default value to be used when it does not exist (`Get Variable Value`
keyword) ||
+|| Issue 506 || Enhancement || Low || Remove `deprecated_absolute`
argument from `List Directory` keywords ||
+|| Issue 507 || Enhancement || Low || Remove the deprecated `Create File
With Encoding` keyword ||
+|| Issue 680 || Enhancement || Low || Allow accessing JVM properties in
test data using format %{property.name} ||
+|| Issue 733 || Enhancement || Low || Deprecate old screenshot taking
keywords and remove deprecated `log_file_directory` argument and `Set
Screenshot Directories` keyword ||
+|| Issue 834 || Enhancement || Low || Integer variables like `${42}`
should create `int` type not `long` ||
+|| Issue 846 || Enhancement || Low || Tag stat links should be serialized
to XML ||
+|| Issue 813 || Documentation || Low || Document that Python libraries can
messages to console using `sys.__stdout__` ||
+|| Issue 839 || Documentation || Low || Online version of the Quick Start
Guide should explain how to get it ||
+|| Issue 848 || Documentation || Low || Document that if same variable is
given multiple times from CLI the last value takes effect ||
+|| Issue 850 || Documentation || Low || Document how to use list variables
with length related keywords. ||
+
+Altogether 32 issues.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Beta 1 =
+
+The most important fixes in this release are related to enhancing
+performance of the new [#Better_log_file_performance logs] and
+[#Enhanced_and_better_performing_report reports] with larger data
+sets. The table below lists other enhancements and fixes included
+into this release.
+
+RF 2.6 beta 1 was releases on Thursday 2011-06-23. All kind of
+comments, especially related to the performance and usability of the
+new logs and reports, are highly appreciated!
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 456 || Enhancement || Medium || Possibility to get accurate
timestamp when logging messages through stdout ||
+|| Issue 802 || Enhancement || Medium || Command line option
`--RunEmptySuite` to allow execution even if there are no tests ||
+|| Issue 875 || Enhancement || Medium || Always visible link from report
to log and from log to report ||
+|| Issue 873 || Defect || Low || Suite name from directory that has '.' in
name is parsed wrong ||
+|| Issue 883 || Defect || Low || Not possible to assign doc or links for
combined tag statistics ||
+|| Issue 307 || Enhancement || Low || Paths should not be case-normalized |
|
+|| Issue 877 || Enhancement || Low || Always show tag statistics and suite
statistics tables in logs an reports ||
+|| Issue 884 || Enhancement || Low || Tag stat link titles should support
replaced groups similarly as tag stat link urls ||
+
+Altogether 8 issues.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Beta 2 =
+
+The main motivation for this release was fixing compatibility with
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework-ride/ RIDE]
+that beta 1 accidentally broke. The most important new feature is
+the support for custom regular expressions when using the embedded
+arguments syntax (issue 854).
+
+RF 2.6 beta 2 was releases on Thursday 2011-06-29. All kind of
+comments are highly appreciated!
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 854 || Enhancement || Medium || Regular expression support for
embedded argument syntax ||
+|| Issue 889 || Documentation || Medium || Document that Easy Install by
default installs latest version even if that is alpha/beta/rc ||
+|| Issue 891 || Defect || Low || User keyword timeout is not shown in the
log ||
+
+Altogether 3 issues.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Beta 3 =
+
+This release contains one big enhancement compared to previous RF 2.6
+pre-releases and all RF releases in general: transparent log splitting
+(issue 898). This was the last large issue remaining before the final
+release.
+
+RF 2.6 beta 3 was releases on Thursday 2011-07-07. All kind of
+comments are highly appreciated!
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 898 || Enhancement || Critical || Transparent log splitting
option ||
+|| Issue 899 || Defect || Medium || Links from report are not guaranteed
to be unique ||
+|| Issue 864 || Enhancement || Medium || Remove summary reports because
they are not needed after enhancements to normal reports ||
+
+Altogether 3 issues.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Beta 4 =
+
+RF 2.6 beta 4 mainly fixes the `--splitlog` functionality that was
+introduced in beta 3 with custom log names. The release was done on
+Friday 2011-07-08.
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 900 || Defect || Medium || `Run Keyword And Continue On Failure`
does not work with user keywords inside FOR loop ||
+
+Altogether 1 issue.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Release Candidate 1 =
+
+RF 2.6 RC 1 has some nice enhancements and fixes listed below, but
+more importantly it fixes a lot of bigger and smaller problems in the
+earlier preview releases. This is the first RF 2.6 release that is
+considered to be ready for production use. No more code changes are
+planned before the 2.6 final release except for possible bug fixes and
+small cleanups.
+
+RF 2.6 RC 1 was released on Friday 2011-07-15. If there are no big
+surprises, the final release will be out on next Thursday. All kind of
+testing is naturally very highly appreciated at this stage. Findings
+can be reported to the [MailingLists mailing lists] and bugs
+submitted into the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list issue tracker].
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 894 || Defect || Medium || Docstrings with non-ASCII characters
don't work correctly (unless they are Unicode) ||
+|| Issue 892 || Enhancement || Medium || Messages logged by libraries when
they are imported and initialized should go to syslog ||
+|| Issue 896 || Enhancement || Medium || New !BuiltIn Keyword "Keywords
Should Exist" ||
+|| Issue 906 || Defect || Low || `metadata` attribute missing from
`end_suite` listener method ||
+|| Issue 905 || Enhancement || Low || Add `critical` attribute to
`start/end_test` listener methods ||
+|| Issue 893 || Documentation || Low || Document that libraries should
communicate with the framework only from main thread ||
+
+Altogether 6 issues.
+
+= Robot Framework 2.6 Release Candidate 2 =
+
+Enough problems were found with RC 1 (for example a
+[http://bugs.jython.org/issue1775 memory leak when running on Jython])
+that a second, and hopefully final, release candidate was needed. In
addition
+to fixes, this release contains two enhancements listed below.
+
+RF 2.6 RC 2 was released on Friday 2011-07-22. Final release is now
targeted
+for early next week. All kind of testing is still appreciated and findings
+can be reported to the [MailingLists mailing lists] and bugs
+submitted into the
+[http://code.google.com/p/robotframework/issues/list issue tracker].
+
+|| *ID* || *Type* || *Priority* || *Summary* ||
+|| Issue 897 || Enhancement || Medium || Add name of the possible template
to `start/end_test listener` methods ||
+|| Issue 909 || Enhancement || Medium || Add option to `Collections.Lists
Should be Equal` to name indices ||
+
+Altogether 2 issues.
