 Saturday, July 5th, 2019 saw the release of Catznip R12.2.
With two major releases on the horizon from Linden Lab – Bakes On Mesh (BOM) and the Environment Enhancement Project (EEP) – R12.2 is intended to be primarily a maintenance and “quality of life” release. |
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In this, Kitty notes that starting with R12.2, she hopes to de-couple these smaller “maintenance” style of release from those containing major new features and capabilities, and to be able to make this style of release on a more regular basis as a result.
The following notes cover the key improvements seen with R12.2. For a full breakdown of the release including all improvements and bug fixes can be found in the Release Notes.
Maintenance Releases Transition Times
Kitty also notes that with these maintenance releases, there will be a shorter transition period before they become mandatory for all users. For R12.2, this means that it will become the default download from around July 19th. Therefore, if you experience any problems with R12.2, the request is that you contact the Catznip team sooner rather than later, or offer feedback via the viewer.
Linden Lab Updates
Catznip R12.2 brings the viewer up to parity with the (at the time of writing) current Linden Lab viewer – version 6.2.3.527758, formerly the Rainbow RC viewer dated June 5th and promoted on June 18th. This version specifically contains a Windows 10 fix for some Nvidia users, where on exiting Second Life, the system video is distorted. It was this update in particular that encouraged Kitty to release Catznip 12.2.
Quick Preferences Updates
Worn Items
With R12.2, Quick Preferences adds a further button to the Worn Items display. This uses the same shirt icon as the top-level buttons on the Quick Preferences panel, and when clicked, will open the Wearing tab of the Appearance floater.
See: CATZ-475: Add button to open wearing panel to the ‘Worn Items’ QuickPrefs panel.
Inventory Folder Button
Similarly, if you have a folder set for the Quick Access inventory button, there is a new button (again using the same suitcase icon) that will open the corresponding folder in your inventory.
See: CATZ-476: Add button to open the selected folder to the ‘Quick Access’ QuickPrefs panel.
Inventory Improvements
Catznip R12.2 includes a number of improvements to inventory.
Show In Inventory
Ever wanted a quick way to locate a worn attachment in your inventory – particularly if you have multiple links to it scattered through your Outfits? Well, Catznip has the answer: Just right-click the worn item and then select Show In Inventory from the Context Menu.
See: CATZ-501: Add ‘Show in Inventory’ to the worn attachment context menu.
Clear Inventory Filter on Close
Inventory filter are useful – but can be annoying if you forget to clear them; if you do, you can re-open inventory and be confused as the last filter is still active. Catznip 12.2 solves this problem by adding an option to the filters selection panel that, when checked, will ensure any set filter is reset when you close inventory.
See: CATZ-494: Option to reset the inventory filter when closing the filter floater.
Collapse All Folders and Collapse To Folders
The Collapse All Folders button has been available for a while. When clicked it will collapse all open folders and sub-folders back to their root folder(s), With Catznip 12.2, a new option is added – Collapse TO Folders. This will not collapse everything back to the root folder level – allowing you to continue to see the folders themselves.
Both Collapse TO Folders and Collapse All Folders can be accessed in one of two ways:
- Via the drop-down arrow to the right of the Collapse All Folders button.
- Via the inventory gear icon menu, shown below, right.
See: CATZ-491: Additional inventory collapse option that closes folders containing only items.
Name Tag Hover Offset
This is a simple, but convenient improvement. A slider in the General tab of the Preferences floater allows you to adjust the height at which name tags hover over the heads of avatars. Moving the slider to the right increases the height at which the tags float, moving it back to the left reduces the height.
- This applies to all avatars in your world view.
- The left-hand end of the slider is the default height for the name tag; you cannot go below this.
Feedback
To be honest, I’ve not really had time to play with Catznip R12.2, other than in preparing these notes prior to the release. This being the case, I cannot comment on stability or performance. However, running through the updates and fixes, I didn’t come across anything unexpected.
Of the new features, I can say that they are a well-rounded set of quality of life options that once again presents Catznip with abilities that set it apart from other viewers and which do offer some good tools to assist ease-of use with the viewer.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
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