Documentation update.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Overall application speed and performance has been greatly improved with faster
 * Ported modern-DE to the new theme engine and renamed it to modern-es-de
 * Added variant trigger (override) support to replicate the legacy theme engine automatic view style switching
 * Events are now parsed during startup which avoids issues with the OS thinking the application has hung when loading
+* Added an application updater that checks for new releases on startup (currently only provides notifications)
 * Replaced the NanoSVG library with LunaSVG for greatly improved SVG rendering capabilities
 * Added support for caching of SVG images
 * Added support for sizing SVG images arbitrarily (overriding the image aspect ratio by stretching and squashing)
@@ -294,6 +295,7 @@ Overall application speed and performance has been greatly improved with faster
 * Lots of general code cleanup and refactoring
 * (Windows) Added error handling to StringUtil::stringToWideString() and StringUtil::wideStringToString() to perform an emergency shutdown if needed
 * Updated the MAME index files to include ROMs up to MAME version 0.251
+* Added a program release number in addition to the version number
 * Changed tools/create_AppImage.sh to not include version information in the AppImage filename
 * Updated and improved the theming documentation
 

INSTALL-DEV.md

@@ -124,13 +124,13 @@ cmake .
 make
 ```
 
-To make a build specifically for the Valve Steam Deck, run this:
+By default the application updater will be built which checks for new releases on startup, to disable this functionality run the following:
 ```
-cmake -DSTEAM_DECK=on .
+cmake -DAPPLICATION_UPDATER=off .
 make
 ```
 
-This will change some Steam Deck-specific settings like increasing the default VRAM limit.
+Note that the application updater is always disabled when building for the AUR, RetroDECK, Raspberry Pi or BSD Unix.
 
 By default the master branch will be used, which is where development takes place. To instead build a stable release, switch to the `stable-x.x` branch for the version, for example:
 
@@ -1064,7 +1064,9 @@ You can use **--help** or **-h** to view the list of command line options, as sh
 --fullscreen-padding [1/on or 0/off]  Padding if --resolution is lower than display resolution
 --vsync [1/on or 0/off]               Turn VSync on or off (default is on)
 --max-vram [size]                     Max VRAM to use (in mebibytes) before swapping
+--anti-aliasing [0, 2 or 4]           Set MSAA anti-aliasing to disabled, 2x or 4x
 --no-splash                           Don't show the splash screen during startup
+--no-update-check                     Don't check for application updates during startup
 --gamelist-only                       Skip automatic game ROM search, only read from gamelist.xml
 --ignore-gamelist                     Ignore the gamelist.xml files
 --show-hidden-files                   Show hidden files and folders
@@ -1080,12 +1082,14 @@ You can use **--help** or **-h** to view the list of command line options, as sh
 --help, -h                            Summon a sentient, angry tuba
 ```
 
-_The --anti-aliasing option is not available if ES-DE is built using the OpenGL ES renderer._
+_The --anti-aliasing option is not available if ES-DE is built using the OpenGL ES renderer and the --no-update-check option is not available for builds where the application updater is disabled._
 
 As you can see above, you can override the home directory path using the `--home` flag. So by running for instance the command `emulationstation --home ~/games/emulation`, ES-DE will use `~/games/emulation/.emulationstation` as its application home directory. Be aware that this option completely replaces what is considered the home directory, meaning the default ROM directory ~/ROMs would be resolved to ~/games/emulation/ROMs. The same is true for the emulator core locations if es_find_rules.xml is configured to look for them relative to the home directory. So of course RetroArch and other emulators would also need to be configured to use ~/games/emulation as its base directory in this instance.
 
 Setting --resolution to a lower or higher value than the display resolution will add a border to the application window. The exception is if defining a lower resolution than the display resolution in combination with the --fullscreen-padding flag as this will pad the screen contents on a black background. This can be combined with the --screenoffset option for exact positioning on displays where bezels or similar may obstruct part of the viewable area.
 
+The --no-update-check option only disabled the application updater for the current startup. To permanently disable this functionality use the _Check for application updates_ option in the _Other settings_ menu. The command line option is primarily intended for the unlikely event that the application updater breaks the application and makes it impossible to start.
+
 Running with the --create-system-dirs option will generate all the game system directories in the ROMs folder. This is equivalent to starting ES-DE with no game ROMs present and pressing the _Create directories_ button. Detailed output for the directory creation will be available in es_log.txt and the application will quit immediately after the directories have been created.
 
 For the following options, the es_settings.xml file is immediately updated/saved when passing the parameter:

USERGUIDE-DEV.md

@@ -429,9 +429,9 @@ On macOS it's problematic to change screen resolutions on the fly or on a per-ap
 
 ## Advanced display configuration
 
-ES-DE supports a number of advanced settings to fine-tune the display output. By default the application will run in fullscreen mode at the native display resolution, but using the --resolution command line option it's possible to set this to any arbitrary resolution. By default this will change ES-DE into running in windowed mode, but if also using the --fullscreen-padding command line option the window will be fullscreen with the application contents centered, padded on a black background. This can be useful for displays where a bezel or similar covers parts of the monitor, and it can be combined with the --screenoffset command line option to adjust the positioning within the application window.
+ES-DE supports a number of advanced settings to fine-tune the display output. By default the application will run in fullscreen mode at the native display resolution, but using the --resolution command line option it's possible to set this to an arbitrary resolution. By default this will change ES-DE into running in windowed mode, but if also using the --fullscreen-padding command line option the window will be fullscreen with the application contents centered, padded on a black background. This can be useful for displays where a bezel or similar covers parts of the monitor, and it can be combined with the --screenoffset command line option to adjust the positioning within the application window.
 
-Tate mode (vertical screen orientation) is also fully supported including both running at a vertical resolution as set on the OS level, or to rotate the screen contents within the application window and keep the display resolution at its non-rotated default state. The latter is sometimes required as some emulators don't work well on rotated screen layouts. Screen rotation can be applied either via the --screenrotate command line option or it can be configured from inside the _Other settings_ menu.
+Tate mode (vertical screen orientation) is also fully supported including both running at a vertical resolution as set on the OS level, or to rotate the screen contents within the application window and keep the display resolution at its non-rotated default state. The latter is sometimes required as some emulators don't work well on rotated screen layouts. Screen rotation can be applied either via the --screenrotate command line option or via the corresponding setting in the _Other settings_ menu.
 
 Below are some examples. For consistency it's assumed that the display resolution is set to 1920x1080 although in practice it's perhaps more likely that a lower resolution CRT monitor is used for some of these scenarios.
 
@@ -2635,6 +2635,14 @@ This gives the choice of which key combination to use to quit the application. T
 
 The metadata for a game is updated by scraping or by manual editing using the metadata editor, but also when launching it as this updates the _Times played_ counter and the _Last played_ timestamp. This setting enables you to define when to write such metadata changes to the gamelist.xml files. Setting the option to _Never_ will disable writing to these files altogether, except for some special conditions such as when a game is manually deleted using the metadata editor, when scraping using the multi-scraper (the multi-scraper will always save any updates immediately to the gamelist.xml files) or when changing the system-wide alternative emulator. In theory _On exit_ will give some small performance gains, but it's normally recommended to leave the setting at its default value which is _Always_. Note that with the settings set to _Never_, any updates such as the _Last played_ date will still be shown on screen, but during the next application startup, any values previously saved to the gamelist.xml files will be read in again. As well, when changing this setting to _Always_ from either of the two other options, any pending changes will be immediately written to the gamelist.xml files.
 
+**Check for application updates** _Not available for some builds_
+
+By default a check for new ES-DE versions will be done on every application startup and a notification will be displayed if there is a new release available for download. Using this setting the frequency of these checks can be set to _Always_, _Daily_, _Weekly_, _Monthly_ or _Never_. This setting is not available on some platforms and package formats such as the Linux AUR release and the semi-official BSD Unix and Raspberry Pi releases where pre-built packages are not provided.
+
+**Include prereleases in update checks** _Not available (always enabled) for prereleases_
+
+For platforms and package formats where the previous setting above is available there is also the option of whether to include prereleases when checking for application updates. Note that this is always enabled when running an ES-DE prerelease so in this case the setting will not be available in the menu.
+
 **Hide taskbar (requires restart)** _(Windows only)_
 
 With this setting enabled, the taskbar will be hidden when launching ES-DE, and it will be restored when the application exits. This can make for a more seamless experience as the taskbar could otherwise flash by briefly when launching and returning from games.