SPServices v0.6.0BETA1 Released

Tonight I released SPServices v0.6.0BETA1. The v0.6.0 release is a significant one even though it doesn’t contain ant major new functions.

Much of the code has been refactored so as to pass (as much as is possible) the JavaScript tests at JSLint. We all learn how to code better over time (at least we should!) and I wanted to clean up as many of my bad practices from the past as possible. I made many, many changes, from moving to strict comparisons (e.g., == to ===), to improved array referencing, to tightening up selectors, etc. The JSLint tests are for JavaScript, not jQuery, so I didn’t try to get every single test to pass. However, if you pass v0.5.8 through JSLint, it will only scan 4% before it shuts itself off due to too many bad practices. With v0.6.0BETA1, the scan is 100% and there are only a handful of suggested changes, each of which I’ve reviewed and decided should remain.

So what does all of that mean? Well, there are major changes in this release, so I want to go through a beta period, which I haven’t done with any prior release. As of this writing, there have been 93 downloads of the 8 alphas of v0.6.0 I’ve posted. I’d like to see a few dozen downloads of the beta and have folks (you, yes, you!) do some regression testing before this becomes the current release.

Of course, there are some improvements and added features in this release as well. I’ve fallen behind on the release notes because there are so many, in fact. Codeplex imposes a limit on the number of characters in the release notes, so I can’t even get everything in there. Instead, I’ve tried to be far more clear and organized in the Issue Tracker for this release.  If you follow that link, you’ll see all of the changes included in this release. I will, of course, be updating the documentation as the beta period comes to an end.

One good thing which comes out of all of this refactoring is that minifying this new version, even with all of the additions and improvements, doesn’t give us an increased file size. SPServices will still weigh in at about the same size (give or take).

So if you are an SPServices fan, please download this beta and do any testing you can. Everyone in the community will benefit from your help. If you do some testing, let me know, and I’ll publish a list of everyone who helps when I do the actual release. Thanks in advance!