New Version of Dojo JavaScript Toolkit Available

JavaScriptSearch
Tuesday, October 31, 2006; 09:29 AM

Version 0.4 of the Dojo Toolkit is now available for download.  The 0.4 release contains many new features, closes 529 bugs, includes the initial release of a documentation tool, with inline API documentation that will continue to improve with follow-on releases. The development team said these improvements will make Dojo appealing to entirely new audiences and will bring Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) applications to a new level of acceptance as a first-class user environment.

The Dojo JavaScript Toolkit is an open source development framework, released under the terms of either the BSD License or the Academic Free License.  Dojo's most prominent feature is its packaging system, which eases the separation of functionality into individual packages and sub-packages.

Some of the highlights for the new release, as listed on dojotoolkit.org, include:

• dojo.a11y: the foundation for accessibility (a11y), implemented in some of Dojo’s widgets in 0.4 with more to follow in 0.5. Dojo strives to provide keyboard function as well as integration with high-contrast mode and screen readers for the visually impaired.
• dojo.charting: A charting engine to implement a variety of chart types using vector graphics
• dojo.gfx: a 2D vector graphics API which renders natively to browsers as SVG or VML
• dojo.i18n: a follow on to the translation support in 0.3.1, there is now build support for collecting localized resources in a single file as well as support for localized date and time formatting. More formatting types and more localization to come in 0.5.
• dojo.lfx: major improvements, such as chainable animations
• dojo.namespaces: support for extensible widget namespaces and an automatic widget manifest loading feature.
• dojo.widget: new widgets like Clock, FilteringTable, ProgressBar, plus enhancements to Editor2 and the AccordionContainer. Also localization of some widgets, such as DatePicker.
• AOL’s contribution of a linker for Javascript, not yet integrated into the build.