Platform - Release Notes
Version 2.20
September 15th, 2023
Notable new features:
Two new permissions can be given when sharing models with other users:
“Download” permission: allow users to download the Grasshopper file used to create the model.
“Desktop clients” permission: allow users to interact with the model using desktop clients.
It is now possible to interact with desktop clients from the model edit page. In particular, this allows to set default geometry for inputs from clients.
It is no longer necessary to enable backend access to use desktop clients. In particular, this means all paying users (from Designer accounts and above) now have access to desktop clients.
Improvements:
Improved style and content for the feedback given after models are denied.
The table UI elements over the platform were refactored.
Free users get warnings in notifications when they receive shared models.
The viewer settings sections have been reorganized in planning for a brand new section (coming next release).
Bug fixes:
Multiple display issues were fixed in the context of using desktop clients.
Version 2.19
August 8th, 2023
Notable new features:
Embedded models can now be protected by a strong authorization protocol, making use of JWT (JSON Web Tokens). This provides increased security for models with embedding or backend API access enabled.
The protection can be enabled per model in the embedding section of the model edit page.
The protection can also be enforced at your account level for all models in the Embedding section of your account settings.
For organizations, administrators can enforce the protection of all models in the organization.
Strong authorization is supported in embedded iframes.
Protection using JWT was already available for developers and is documented in the geometry backend section of our help center.
It is now possible to import the sharing relationships of an existing model to another one.
Users of an organization that uses SSO can now register and login to ShapeDiver without being explicitely invited.
The “Export JSON Parameter values” feature of the model view page now includes the model ID. This will soon be used by the Grasshopper plugin to allow importing values directly in the parameters of a Grasshopper document.
Improvements:
Information and warning messages have been upgraded and extended throughout the whole platform.
Explicit warnings are included in the upload page when users are attempting to upload to a backend running Rhino 6.
In the Augmented Reality settings, a warning is displayed in case the size of the bounding box is very big or very small.
Better feedback is given when trying to open models in Augmented Reality on devices which do not support it.
Users invited to Organizations no longer need to fill in the full registration form.
The validation of numerical parameters entered in the text boxes of slider inputs is more robust with respect to the different types of number inputs (integers, floating numbers with various precisions, input boundaries).
When updating the slug of a model, better feedback is given in case the slug is already used by another model.
Various improvements regarding the loading of model view and edit pages, as well as for saving models in the edit page.
All platform pages now have explicit titles in web browser tabs.
Technical information about models regarding their backend system is now only shown to model owners.
In the global analytics section, displayed metrics have been updated to clearly separate between general usage and credit consumption.
Bug Fixes:
The load button from the Computations section of the model view page now also works if the model contains hidden inputs.
Names of parameters that were updated in the model edit page now display correctly in the model view page as well.
Viewer buttons now adapt to the background color of the viewer.
Exports now work again for anonymous users interacting with public models.
The layers menu is no longer shown in the model edit page.
Version 2.18
May 25th, 2023
Summary: This release does not include major new features but several much-requested improvements and bug fixes.
Viewer version: 2.9.0 (release notes)
Improvements:
Model view page:
Attribute visualization for numerical and string attributes now comes with a legend panel.
The parameters context menu is now available for everyone (including non-authenticated users).
New style for the parameter validation mode, improving lisibility for pending parameters.
Model edit page:
Parameters and viewer settings can now be imported from all available models (including public models).
It is now possible to rotate the environment map, as well as update its intensity and blurriness.
Global analytics: model filtering is now possible for both “Models” and “Credits” categories
Organizations: new workflow simplifying authentication of users for organizations that use the Single Sign-On feature
Bug fixes:
In attribute visualization mode, several bugs have been fixed related to layer visibility and gradient visualization of attributes.
Various bugs related to loading pages of the platform including the viewer have been resolved, improving performance and avoiding error states.
Version 2.17
April 18th, 2023
Summary: Besides small improvements and a few bug fixes, this release mainly features a new way to communicate directly between the ShapeDiver platform and desktop clients. The list below describes the various elements added to the release, but an overview of the feature and how to connect to desktop clients is available here.
Notable new features:
New “Desktop clients” section in the model view page, which allows to explore and select a desktop client to communicate with.
New UI elements for each geometry input defined in Grasshopper, which can be used to select geometry from the active client.
New UI elements for each geometry output defined in Grasshopper, which can be used to bake geometry in the active client.
In the model view page, the context menu of the parameters panel now has a new option to reset all parameters of the model to their default value. Read more about this feature here.
Improvements:
When opening a URL associated with a saved state (see https://help.shapediver.com/doc/saved-states, section “Direct Link to a State), the page now switches the right panel to the Saved States section in addition to loading the corresponding state.
Bug fixes:
The UI for AR settings now reflects the fact that the scaling factor cannot be smaller than 0.001.
The file extension for file exports is no longer appended to the name of the file.
Version 2.16
March 27th, 2023
Summary: This small release focuses on fixing several UI and UX issues, in particular regarding light settings. It also improves the attribute visualization mode by separating layers from the attributes panel.
Improvements:
The layers dropdown menu of the Attributes panel is gone, replaced with a new layers button in the lower left corner of the viewer, only available when “Attribute visualization” is active. Read more about including layer attributes in your models here and how to interact with layers in the platform here.
More details about geometry backend systems are now available (Rhino version, Grasshopper version, ShapeDiver version, improved details for installed third-party plugins).
Improved layout for the error screen when model uploads are denied.
Bug fixes:
Forwarding after the login page to authenticated platform pages now works as expected.
All properties of spot lights can now be updated.
Fixes various issues with the 3D light controls in the viewer.
The display of data output values now updates correctly after parameter updates in the edit page.
Fixed the layout of the empty library page.
Version 2.15
February 10th, 2023
Notable new features:
Fine-grained global analytics: manually select one or several models from the global analytics screen to explore analytics related to the selection.
Backend information: a new section in the account settings gives detailed information about the backend system used for uploads, including the list of all supported plugins on the system. If your account allows it, this screen also includes the option to switch backend systems.
3D light controls are back! Go to light scenes section in the model edit page and select any light to activate a 3D handle in the canvas to conveniently move around the position (and optionally target) of the active lights in the scene.
Improvements:
More intuitive and flexible controls for environment maps.
New users can be invited to organizations using only their email. They are not required anymore to already own a ShapeDiver account prior to the invitation.
Min and max values for visualized attributes can now be locked through parameter updates.
Various locations link to our new video explaining the basics of uploading for new users: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4XLitFUMwU
Bug fixes:
The camera button now works in full screen mode.
Version 2.14
December 12th, 2022
Notable new features:
Some data outputs are now displayed in the model view page, using the new data button on the top left of the viewer canvas. The outputs are updated for each parameter update. Read more here about restrictions regarding which data outputs can be displayed using this new feature.
It is now possible to empty cached assets associated with ShapeDiver models. From the model edit screen or from the library page, click on the “Clear cache” button and choose which assets should be cleaned from the cache between outputs (display geometry and data), exports (file exports previously triggered) and textures. Emptying cached assets will force the model to recompute new solutions instead of pulling them from our caching system. Read more about this feature here.
The AR feature now generates QR codes from desktop devices.
The “Download” functionality, which previously let users download back the Grasshopper definitions they uploaded, now also includes an option to export the scene currently active in the viewer as a glTF 2.0 file, which is compatible with many CAD software and other online viewers.
Improvements:
The feature for importing and exporting json files containing parameter sets is now included in iframes.
The graphs for audience analytics (model view page and global account analytics) now come with a legend and precise visualization of each data point.
The available period for audience analytics has been increased from the past 6 months to 18 months.
User slugs can now be updated. The slug is used to identify a user in some places and for the url of the profile page.
The links (website and any link included in the user description) are now displayed correctly in profile pages.
Bug fixes:
Deleting users from the saved state sharing table now works.
The login and sign up buttons now become active after filling the forms.
The display of integer parameter values has been fixed.
Version 2.13
November 10th, 2022
Improvements:
Notifications now display a timestamp.
The layout of the upload page was improved and clearly shows which backend system is currently active for the user.
The embedding and backend tickets are displayed again in the model edit page as wells as the model view page.
The organization visibility is now an available option in the table view of the library pages
The settings page now shows which identity provider was user during registration.
The sharing and transfer dialogs for organization users now show members of the organization first, then public users.
Bug fixes:
The primary color is now applied to range sliders in embedded iframes.
Parameter validation buttons are now sticky in embedded iframes.
Version 2.12
October 3rd, 2022
Notable new features:
Table view for the library: on top of the card view, the “My models” and “Pending” sections of the library now allow to switch to a table view which allows to quickly browse models and makes it more convenient to perform several types of operations directly from the library page:
Rename models from the table
Update the visibility of one or several models at the same time
Update the embedding and backend access settings of one or several models at the same time
Copy embedding and backend tickets from the table
Delete multiple models at once
Users with Designer plans and above now have the ability to save and load parameter values using the new context menu in the parameters section of the model view page and iframes. Save the current values of parameters in a json file that can be downloaded locally and then later use the same file to load the state of parameters once again in the model. This provides an offline alternative to the Saved States feature that already exists within the platform.
Users with Designer plans and above can now update on their own which Geometry Backend is used for uploading. In particular, Designer and Business users are still assigned to the Rhino 6 shared system by default but can choose to switch to Rhino 7 any time they want to.
Improvements:
The model view page now reports more detailed feedback about computation and output exports (timeouts, output size limitations…)
The embedding and backend tickets, as well as the model view url, are now directly accessible in a new “Developers” section of the model view page, instead of being only accessible on the model edit page.
A new setting in the “Billing” settings page allows users with credits to decide whether they want to block their premium features when the credit limit is reached, or keep all features working and get an invoice for the excess credits
The fullscreen button for iframe provides better feedback in case going fullscreen is not possible within the hosting page or device.
For organizations, the credit progress bar of the Billing section now shows the credits for the entire organization.
The Analytics section (for both individual users and organizations) now allows differentiating credits that were spent during sessions longer than 10 minutes.
Bug fixes:
The AR button is now correctly displayed on the iframe, and snackbars show feedback during the generation of AR assets.
The wrong feedback displayed when changing models' visibility is now fixed.
Members of organizations can now set their profile to the “Organization” visibility level, which means every member of their own organization can find them on the platform, but they are hidden from users external to the organization.
For organizations, the domain form is now correctly re-enabled after domains are deleted from the list.
Sharing settings during model transfers now work as expected.
Various backend and maintenance fixes
Version 2.11
August 24th, 2022
New notification system: use the bell to open the notifications tab and check the latest activity linked to your account (models shared with you, pending models accepted or denied, organization invitations…)
New camera preset options: define preset cameras in the Edit mode and let viewers switch between the preset views with the new camera button in the viewer. By default, uploaded models will have a set of standard presets (default perspective and orthographic views)
Model transfers: transfer ownership of your models to other ShapeDiver users using the new Transfer button on the model cards of your library. When transferring a model, request that the target user shares back some access to the model if you need it.
Re-organization of the Settings section, including new fine-grained settings regarding email notifications.
Improvement of the behaviour regarding scrolling and viewer interactions (rotating and zooming) for touch devices.
Many, many bug fixes…
Version 2.10
August 3rd, 2022
Saved States Sharing
Direct links to preloaded saved states
Interactive attribute explorer
Optimized range control for slider inputs
Improved searching functionality for sharing models and importing settings (filtering and ordering)
Parameter validation buttons are always visible in non-committed state
Improved layout of the model view and edit pages (refactored sharing functionality, new organization of bottom sections)
Multiple styling improvements
Version 2.9
July 8th, 2022
Embedding domains improvements:
Add and remove multiple embedding domains at the same time.
Embedding domains of the form *.local:* and *.localhost:* are now counted as local domains.
Some wildcard domains are now enabled (for example *.csb.app for CodeSandbox)
Organizations administrators can restrict model sharing to the members of their organization
Better handling of registration errors
Saved states now come with a direct link to models with a preloaded saved state (state owners only)
Fine-grained saved state editing
Business users now have access to the platform API tokens for secure development using the platform backend API.
Fixed search by model ticket
Search models in the gallery by user name
Various security improvements
Version 2.8
June 13th, 2022
Saved states! You can now create private saved states associated with any model on the platform you have access to. For your own models, you can also create pblic states that anyone can access on top of private ones. Sharing saved states is not possible yet but will be in an upcoming release.
Third-party registration and login: connect your Google, Apple or McNeel IDs with ShapeDiver for faster authentication and improved security.
New styling for the parameter panels.
Import parameter values from previous models.
Performance improvements for analytics charts.
The slug part of the model view pages url can now be updated in the model settings.
Download button on the model view pages: download again the uploaded Grasshopper definition.
Various improvements regarding authentication (UI/UX, error-handling).
Improved UI/UX for the attribute visualization panel and support for more attribute types.
New filters on several listing pages.
Version 2.7.1
May 5th, 2022
Improved context menu on model cards, including a download button for the corresponding Grasshopper definitions
Improved feedback regarding export errors
Restructured resources menu
Free users can now see models shared with them if they are public
Improved layout for the public profiles
Grasshopper “Dial” knobs are now supported as inputs
Improved layout for several dialogs
Bugfix: the expiration date and time for subscriptions is now correctly displayed
Version 2.7
April 25th, 2022
First version of the Organization feature:
Designer and Business users can create or join an organization
Invite other members to join an organization
Four different organization roles: Owner, Administrator, Manager and User
New visibility level for models to share with other organization members
User profiles now have a visibility option: profiles can be “Public”, “Private” or limited to the “Organization“ of the user.
New option to add an email link to the user profile
Bufix for the text import component: .xml and .csv files can now be imported
Various fixes to documentation links
Bugfix: the platform no longer freezes on Firefox
Version 2.6.1
March 22nd, 2022
Local domains are not counted towards the domain limit anymore
Various admin panel fixes
Updated options in the registration form
Improved feedback for search results in the library
Version 2.6
March 17th, 2022
Color themes applied more consistently throughout the iframe layout
Hide the ShapeDiver logo or specify a custom logo while loading iframes
Iframes give explicit feedback when embedding domains are missing
The model edit page now lets users update and save model settings in the version 2 of the viewer
Library page updated with a search filter for all sections
AR settings improved with more intuitive scaling according to various standard units
Upload errors now contain the model IDs of the failed upload. Make sure to give this information when requesting support on the forum..
Improved feedback and pointers to documentation for each feature section
Parameter validation is now possible using the Return key
Uploading files with brackets in the name is now possible (“[“,”]”)
Layout improvements for mobile listing pages
Only show the * on the pending tab if there are pending models
Model descriptions have an increased character limit
Version 2.5
March 1st, 2022
New platform landing page with models featured by the team
Refactored rendering settings
Preset HDR maps for the viewer
Hidden export buttons are now also hidden in iframes
Bugfix in parameter grouping logic, in case of a single parameter group
Model cards styling fix
Layout fix for the analytics screen on mobile
Alpha value is now taken into account when updating color inputs