FastScripts 3.0.3 is now available on the FastScripts home page, or by selecting “Check for Update” from the FastScripts menu.

This update changes FastScripts’s script execution to be a bit more consistent with the way Apple’s own Script Editor, and Late Night Software’s popular Script Debugger, run scripts. Specifically, scripts are now run on a separate thread from the main thread of the script running application.

One of the major changes in FastScripts 3.0 was to move execution of scripts from the FastScripts app itself into separate script runner processes. Because the script processes were unique for each script, I assumed there would be no advantage to putting scripts on their own thread within that application. However, some subtle performance issues turn out to be possible when the script is running on the main thread.

Because Script Editor and Script Debugger both run their scripts on separate threads, I think that most script authors are probably well-accustomed to the implications. Because most of the behavior of scripts is the result of sending events to other apps, there aren’t too many risks to running in a separate thread. The main thing to be aware of is if a script uses Cocoa frameworks directly, it needs to take care to run custom UI on the main thread.

The update also includes some other performance and usability improvements:

FastScripts 3.0.3

• Changes to script execution to make behavior more consistent with Script Editor’s behavior
• Improvements to event handling performance in Cocoa UI presented by scripts
• Fixes for bugs that prevented some changes to script folders from being reflected in the menu
• Asking for the “count” of args in script’s run handler now works without error
• Fix a bug that prevented the “Create Scripts Folder” items from working in some cases

If you enjoy FastScripts, please consider spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.

MarsEdit 4.5.6 is now available on the MarsEdit site and has been submitted to the Mac App Store.

This release addresses a few small but annoying bugs. If you’ve noticed open documents getting marked as “edited” before they should be, or seen an endless “Refreshing” status update in the main window’s status bar, you’ll be glad to get this update! It also fixes a few even less noticeable issues:

• Fix an issue where an unedited document might be marked as edited
• Fix a crash that could happen when configuring a blog with an invalid URL
• Fix a crash that could occur when refreshing a WordPress blog with ICO format images in library
• Fix an issue where the main window’s refreshing progress indicator could get stuck
• Fix an issue where the specified author of a post was not saved/restored on local drafts
• Revise the style of prompts in the post editor to use a more standard format
• Avoid a hang in the app when trying to publish a post to an improperly configured blog

If you enjoy MarsEdit, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter, and of course, writing about the app on your own blog! Thanks for your support.

FastScripts 3.0.2 is now available on the FastScripts home page, or by selecting “Check for Update” from the FastScripts menu.

This update should provide a dramatic improvement for folks with a large number of scripts in their script library, as it includes a change to the way FastScripts checks for updates to items in the Scripts folder. Previously it would make a quick scan of the whole Scripts folder every time you click the menu bar icon, but as of this update it subscribes for change notifications from macOS and updates the content of the menu proactively so that it will be ready as soon as the icon is clicked.

The update also includes a few bug fixes and enhancements inspired by reports I’ve received since 3.0 was released. Please keep the feedback coming! Here’s the complete list of changes in this update:

• Performance improvements for users with large script folders
• Fix an issue that caused consecutive scripted alerts to get hidden from view
• Improved keyboard navigation and text editing in the search field
• Fix a rare crash that could occur after moving FastScripts’s location on disk
• Fix an issue causing custom colored menu bar icons to appear enabled on secondary screens
• Script progress now updates immediately even if the script blocks on a modal panel after updating it

If you enjoy FastScripts, please consider spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.

FastScripts 3.0.1 is now available on the FastScripts home page, or by selecting “Check for Update” from the FastScripts menu.

Response to the major 3.0 update last week has been fantastic! Thanks so much to everybody who has downloaded and started using the new version. This update corrects a few of the larger issues that were discovered and reported so far:

• Fix the color and contrast of the app icon
• Fix a crash at launch affecting users with cyclic aliases in their Scripts folder
• Fix a crash that could occur when using arrow keys to navigate in search field
• Restore text layout in display message panels with custom bounds
• Improvements to the first-launch introduction panel

If you enjoy using FastScripts, please consider spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.