* BKchem is developed on GNU/Linux. It was however successfully run under WinXP and MacOS X.
- 10.12.2007 - 0.12.0 is finally out:
The first stable release in the 0.12 series is finally out. It fixes several problem from the previous pre-release and although not every issue was resolved, it is much better than the last stable release 0.11.6.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 5.11.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre7:
Another iteration in the process of preparing perfect export plugins. This bugfix release should solve potential problems of BKChem getting stuck on some cairo-based exports (reported for SVG and EPS on Windows).
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 30.10.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre6:
In quick succession another preview release is out. This one adds two important Cairo based exports - PostScript and SVG. Both have the same high quality of Cairo exports as the older PNG and PDF plugins. The new SVG export is also compatible with the popular RSVG viewing and rendering program, which does not support all the SVG features used by the default SVG export.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 25.10.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre5:
This is a quick-fix release. In pre4 a file essential for the ODF plugin is not installed during the install process using setup.py. This results in ODF export crashing with "The manifest file not found in the plugin directory".
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 22.10.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre4:
This release adds support for different arrow types (retro, electron-transfer, equilibrium) and ODF (OpenOffice 2.0) export plugin.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 2.10.2007 - BKChem has a wiki now:
To give the users the possibility to share their experience with BKChem I have started BKChem wiki. Thanks to the effort of René Genz, there are already two articles on BKChem -> OpenOffice interaction. Please do not hesitate to contribute you tips, tricks and other BKChem related stuff.
- 17.9.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre3:
This release finally contains full support for spline arrows in SVG, PNG and PDF exports. It also contains fixes for several bugs. Although it is marked as preview release, I would encourage everyone to update because it is surely better than 0.11.6.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 4.4.2007 - preview release 0.12.0_pre2:
This release fixes a few of problems with 0.12.0_pre1. Unfortunately I did not have time
to fix all the reported problems, not speaking about new features. On the other hand, it is better
than nothing.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 26.10.2006 - preview release 0.12.0_pre1:
This release finally brings together all the changes that I had in my repository and the
online version. There are several bugfixes and many enhancements.
Not all the issues that were reported by users were fixed yet, but the ones that remain are
small. The main focus of this release is to publish the new code for review before Xmas.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 26.10.2006 - 0.11.6 is out:
This version is yet another bug-fix release of the 0.11 series. It fixes two major bugs,
one in the German translation, the other in OpenOffice Draw export. There are also a few other fixes.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 30.8.2006 - 0.11.5 is out:
After a long time of silence, I decided to publish an older snapshot of BKChem, so that at
least something new appears. In this release several bugs were fixed, German translation was
updated and the Windows package now includes Cairo
thus enabling high quality PNG export.
Also thanks to Jerome Pansanel I have a small howto on installation on MacOS X and a new Mac OS X screenshot.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 14.8.2006 - I aten't dead:
Because questions from users start to crop up if BKChem is still developed, I decided to
update the website even without a new release.
Unfortunately, I did not have much time lately to work on BKChem. Some progress has been made,
but I have no time for the boring and time consuming work needed to make a reasonably good
release. I am sorry for that, especially because there is a new German translation waiting
to be included and several bugfixes. Shame on me.
To do at least something for the users, I have updated the development sources page, because the howto was out of date and did
not work, and also the Arch build scripts.
I hope to make a release soon, but I can't promise anything.
- 23.2.2006 - 0.11.4 is out:
In this release several bugs were fixed and also some functionality added. The Cairo PNG
export now asks for resolution of the exported file, thus enabling creation of high
resolution exports. Also parsing of linear formulas was improved.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 14.2.2006 - 0.11.3 is out:
This bugfix release fixes problems with unicode path names on both Linux and Windows, problems with
corrupted preference file preventing BKChem to start and some other bugs.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 11.1.2006 - 0.11.2 is out:
This bugfix release fixes problems with privileges on Windows machines by writting bkchems config
files and user templates to the users directory instead of the install directory. Also French translation was
updated (I forgot the update last time :( ).
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 5.12.2005 - info for translators:
I have placed the .pot file needed for translation of
BKchem to the homepage, so that it is easily accessible for the translators.
- 5.12.2005 - 0.11.1 is out:
After a long time a new version of BKchem is out. It is mostly a bugfix release.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 4.10.2005 - BKChem site update:
I have changed the look of the BKchem site a little and updated some information in FNA.
- 29.9.2005 - 0.11.0-final is out:
The final release of the 0.11 branch is out. This release fixes one annoying bug in
coordinate generation that made BKchem crash when reading some SMILES or InChIs.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 26.9.2005 - 0.11.0_pre2 is out:
The second preview release of the 0.11 branch is out. This release focuses on improving the
InChI reading capabilities. BKchem can now successfully read 98.5% of InChIs generated from
the NCI database (about 120 000 compounds). More information about this feature can be found
here.
Also some minor bugs in other parts of the program were fixed.
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 8.9.2005 - 0.11.0_pre1 is out:
The first preview release of the 0.11 branch is out. It includes many enhancements as
well as bugfixes. There is for instance the ability to search a directory for BKchem files
containing specified molecular fragment (with use of free-sites, A,Q,X query atoms etc.), or a
simple support for creating brackets. As with all pre-releases, the number of bugs might be
slightly above average :)
As usually, more info is in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 1.9.2005 - news RSS feed:
I have created a RSS
feed for the BKchem news. You can use it to stay tuned to the BKchem development.
- 14.7.2005 - 0.10.2 is out:
This is a quick-bugfix release. I have found a bug that prevents reading of some files back to
BKchem. It occurs when there are some atoms with font size set to different value than is the standard.
I have also fixed an encoding related bug in dialogs in the localized build.
Because I have finished work on Cairo export plugin yesterday, I am releasing it
together with this release. It works only on Linux (as there is no Cairo for Windows) and you have to have
pycairo-0.5.1 installed (look here and
here for sources). It provides very nice PDF and PNG export
and supports (unlike the piddle based plugins) export of unicode strings.
As usually, more info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 30.6.2005 - 0.10.1 is out:
A bugfix release 0.10.1 is ready
for download. It contains several fixes in OpenOffice export and some other, more general fixes.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 23.6.2005 - Gentoo ebuild for BKchem-0.10.0:
I have created a BKchem ebuild for Gentoo Linux. I have submited an ebuild for the first
pre-release to Gentoo maintainers, however, probably due to lack of time, it was not added to
the portage yet. Therefore I publish the ebuild here.
You can download it here. You can either setup a
portage
overlay to use the script or copy it to /usr/portage/sci-chemistry/bkchem/. Then
you have to make
ebuild bkchem-0.10.0.ebuild digest
in the above directory as root. After this you should be able to emerge BKchem via portage.
emerge bkchem
- 23.6.2005 - 0.10.0 is out:
After two prereleases the final version of 0.10.0 is ready. I have fixed several bugs and introduced some
minor enhancements.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 8.6.2005 - pre2 is out:
Second preview release of BKchem-0.10.0 is out.
It fixes a serious bug that crashed BKchem on attempts to add mark to an atom. It also brings keyboard
shortcuts for formatting text in the edit area.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 7.6.2005 - Forgotten documetation:
Last time I completely forgot to mention two new short tutorials -
Creating custom plugins and
Batch mode scripts. These both are also available in the
doc directory of the distribution.
- 3.6.2005 - Back in black:
After a long pause, finally a new version of BKchem is out. It is the first preview release of the
0.10.0 version.
It brings a lot of new goodies - parsing of linear formulas (-CH2COOCH2CH3 and similar),
support for user written
plugins, nicer rendering of bonds, interactive positioning of marks, more marks of one type per atom,
new common groups, numbering support - just to name some. Because it is a preview release, bugs are surely
to be found, but hopefully not too many :)
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
NOTE: Files saved in this version of BKchem are unlikely to work with older versions, so be
cautious.
NOTE2: In this release I am shipping Pmw together with
BKchem as I had to fix a bug there and it seems that Pmw is not developed anymore.
- 16.2.2005:
I have added another category for retrieving bkchem arch sources. It is called
bkchem--alpha and contains sources that I have branched from my development line
as a relatively stable reference. They are not guaranteed (and meant) to run without problems, but they
should at least run :). More on this page.
- 14.2.2005:
There are big changes in BKchem, however the sources are not stable enough
to make a preview release and I have no time to stabilize it anytime soon.
Therefore I have at least made the arch mirror of my development archives work again,
so the brave can try the latest sources (they are not guaranteed to even work).
You can find the info on how to get them here.
- 20.12.2004:
Because I will not be able to release anything new this year, I would like to
wish Merry Christmass and Happy New Year to everybody. See you in the next year.
- 20.12.2004:
I have added an entry in FNA explaining the lack of
Linux binaries of BKchem.
- 2.12.2004:
0.9.0 final is out. A few issues were fixed and the UI was polished
a little.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 23.11.2004:
The second preview release 0.9.0-pre2 is out. One minor issue was fixed,
a shortcut key for marking a template atom (bond) was changed to C-t (was C-t C-1)
and the Windows builds were repackaged and should now (hopefully) contain everything
needed to run BKchem on completely python-free machines.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 19.11.2004:
A preview release 0.9.0-pre1 is out. It brings support for custom made templates
(read this to learn how to prepare them),
dash bonds, PDF and new PostScript export plugins and finally a possibility to load
bkchem from a script and manipulate it from outside (a small tutorial on this is
here). It includes also the usual load of bugfixes.
This new release also includes a partial distribution of Piddle
- a free library for handling of PDF, PS and other graphic formats. Because the project seems to
be dead for a few years, is licensed under GNU GPL and I do not want to have another dependency in bkchem I decided to
include it in the distribution. In case I make any major changes to the source code of Piddle I will
release it as a standalone version. All the credit for this library goes to its authors.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 8.10.2004:
A bugfix release 0.8.1 is out. Two Windows specific bugs were fixed
(program not responding after using context menu and crash on program exit) and an unfinished
submode "free rotation around single bond" was removed. Encodings were also included into the
Windows binary distros, so that it is possible to use different languages. See the FNA
page for more info on this.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 4.10.2004:
The 0.8.0 final is out. From 0.8.0-pre2 only one bug was fixed - the import of xpath
from xml which made bkchem dependent on the xml-plus package. As always there is a platform independent
source distribution and a
windows binary installer.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 30.9.2004:
There was a bug in the Windows binaries released yesterday - the INChI generation did not work right.
I have fixed it (it was a one character change) and released new windows packages. Those affected
please upgrade.
- 29.9.2004:
Second preview release of the 0.8.0 series (0.8.0-pre2)
is out. It contains a nice load of enhancements, bugfixes and changes. Context menu,
atom and reaction modes were added, INChI can be generated via an external program, last window geometry
is restored on startup, text of atoms can be changed by simply starting to type (no need to hit
Space anymore) and more... (see the progress.log).
Downloads on the download page.
Note: To use the external INChI program you have to have one :) and set the path to it
in the "Menu/Options/INChI program path"
- 26.8.2004:
First preview release of the 0.8.0 series (0.8.0-pre1)
is out. The main new feature of this
release is the possibility to open multiple files, copy between them etc..
The usual load of bugfixes is also included.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 25.8.2004:
I have prepared a windows installer for release 0.7.0.
I did not have a chance to test it thoroughly, however on my computer it works just fine.
I welcome any comments and suggestions.
Acknowledgments: The installer was build with help of
Inno Setup, a really great tool
for building windows installers.
- 11.8.2004:
Release 0.7.0 contained files with wrong permissions and therefore installation
after linux was corrupted for non-privileged users. This is fixed in release
0.7.1. As this is the only difference, there is no
binary release for windows (windows users should be unaffected by this bug).
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
Note: You may need to delete the dir "/usr/share/bkchem" (or generally
"prefix/share/bkchem") and run install again to update the permissions.
- 9.8.2004:
Release 0.7.0 is ready. The main difference
from the 0.7.0-pre1 release is improved scalability of several parts of the code,
meaning speedup of handling of larger molecules.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 31.5.2004:
A preview release 0.7.0-pre1 is ready.
It is the first release featuring OASA
- a free chemical library I have started to work on this year. It brings support for several
chemical formats (at present SMILES, Molfiles and IChI (reading only)). To be able to use
these features you have to have at least Python 2.3.
More info in progress.log,
downloads on the download page.
- 20.5.2004:
I added the FNA page, check it for some tricks.
- 9.5.2004:
The binary package for windows was updated.
It was broken (no icons, splash screen, templates and openoffice export) and worked only coincidentally on my
computer because the sources were lying around. I am sorry for this stupid bug :(
- 2.5.2004:
Final release of 0.6.0 branch is here. Several fixes and small enhancements
were added. See the progress.log for details and download from
the download page.
- 13.4.2004:
First preview release of the 0.6.0 branch, the 0.6.0-pre1, is available.
Lots of new goodies, such as stereo double bonds, transformation mode etc., is included
- see the progress.log. You can download
the sources from the download page. As always, all bugreports and
suggestions are welcome. (Windows binary release will be available for the stable 0.6.0 release).