WhereIsIt? version 3.26 Copyright (c) 1997-2002 Robert Galle All Rights Reserved PROGRAM HISTORY =============== Version 3.26 - 10. June 2002 ---------------------------- + Added two new thumbnail plugins handling Adobe Illustrator files (*.AI) and Canon EOS digital camera raw files (*.CRW), and a new description plugin for Adobe Illustrator files. + Optimized processing of certain combinations of compressed archive files and options used while scanning disk. For example, processing large solid archives while importing descriptions only and not cataloging archive contents is now a lot faster. + Added support for extracting from multivolume RAR archive files using the new .partxxx.rar naming scheme. + Improved themed user interface support, especially for the WinXP users using new XP style. Checkboxes in all lists and treeview are now displayed with theme-compatible check marks instead of default, painting buttons has been adjusted for better support for other third-party themes etc. + Catalog files (.ctf) on local disks known to be unavailable or deleted are now displayed as grayed on "most recently used" catalogs lists, like in the File menu or Open button's menu. + Improved support for handling menus with accessibility software, such as screen readers aiding visually impaired users. + Lots of other minor improvements and adjustments. * Build 615: Fixed a problem where under certain events some disk pictures and descriptions assigned to disk groups would get missing or corrupted. Version 3.25 - 10. February 2002 -------------------------------- + Added support for RAR 3.0 archive files. + Importing the description entry from ID3V2 tags in MP3 files has been re-enabled and uses a bit different approach to avoid problems with some invalid tags. + The HTMLHelp window is now no longer forced to stay on top of the main window, you can switch between the two freely. + Optimized processing of archive files during scanning. * Implemented a workaround for some Windows NT 4.0 systems which had problems dealing with custom icons. Saving a catalog containing certain kind of custom icons would fail under Windows NT 4.0. + Many other minor adjustments, fixes and changes all around the program, mostly transferred over from version 3.50 development. Version 3.24 - 12. January 2002 ------------------------------- + Added an option to choose version of the file format when exporting to Excel. You can choose between Excel 97/2000/XP file format, and Excel 5.0/95 files. If you have file compatibility concerns or problems with exporting localized characters, the older file format may be a better option. + Added a new thumbnail plugin, extracting attached pictures from ID3v2 tags in MP3 files, where available. + The CD-Text plugin was added SPTI support to be used instead of ASPI on the NT-line of Windows. This was the last part of WhereIsIt still using ASPI on those systems, so ASPI is now no longer used or required when running on Windows NT/2000/XP. + Added a minor extension to the DescAPI interface, all plugins now receive a handle to the appropriate parent window, in case they need to display modal dialogs or windows on their own. + The Quick Search page was added a help button next to the edit field, providing a quick link to the appropriate help file, explaining how to use quick search expressions and stating a few samples. * Adjusted support for handling audio CDs, allowing for some more unusual (typically home-burned) audio tracks to be recognized and handled as audio. * Fixed a problem with removing files from catalog, where both compressed files within archives and parent archive file were selected for removal. * A few other minor adjustments. Version 3.23 - 24. December 2001 -------------------------------- * Fixed a problem with some password protected catalogs ending up corrupted after being used in version 3.22. This build also contains recovery capabilities, allowing to read and properly save such catalogs. * Fixed a bug with missing tag name for the file name column in XML exports. * When exporting custom reports, some data types like dates and integers were exported as empty in certain cases, although data was available. Fixed. * Made a few changes and implemented a few additional checks to better handle failed save attempts, due to catalog files being opened in other applications, or by other users. Version 3.22 - 14. December 2001 -------------------------------- + Improved damaged catalog recovery capabilities. All catalog files saved with version 3.22 and newer now contain a small recovery record, which can help the program to salvage data from badly damaged catalogs. Catalogs with damaged basic structure were not readable in previous versions, while this addition allows the program to skip damaged parts, and salvage the rest of data. * Some systems were confirmed to have a problem with retrieving disk size and free space for remote network drives, if they were addressed by their UNC address. This problem was limited to Win2K/XP systems, and could also interfere with saving catalog files on network drives using UNC addressing. Fixed. * Addressed a certain scenario where a previous failed save attempt could leave the catalog corrupted the next time it was saved. * Fixed GPF errors when working with compare results window, and having description window undocked from the main window. Cosmetical error only, no effect on stability or data integrity. + A dozen minor changes and improvements. Version 3.21 - 18. November 2001 -------------------------------- + The new HTML Help file is now finally completed and included in this release, replacing the old and tired WinHelp edition. While most of the text inside has remained unchanged, the new help file system offers better design and functionality, and will be easier to maintain and translate. The new help file features heavily cross-linked topics through the "See Also" tags, directing you to related topics. Over 500 additional links have been added this way. While existing WinHelp files are still supported and will continue to work in WhereIsIt, all new help file development will now be in HTML help format. + Added support for switching active help file on the fly, while program is running. For example, if old WinHelp .hlp help file was used, and the new HTMLHelp file was just downloaded and made available, WhereIsIt will start using the new help file without restarting. + Added SPTI support. SPTI is Microsoft's alternative to Adaptec's ASPI, and is more reliable to use, avoiding the mess with different third- party ASPI drivers. WhereIsIt now always tries to use SPTI first, if possible. Note that SPTI is available on the NT line of Windows only (Windows NT, 2000, and XP), and you must be logged in with administrator privileges in order to use SPTI. If SPTI interface fails or is not available, WhereIsIt will still fall back to using ASPI. + Changed a few details about handling files compressed inside archives. Except in the main window, file path inside archive was moved from the file name and is shown appended to the Location column instead. + Language manager now automatically maps the default "MS Sans Serif" font to the newer "Microsoft Sans Serif" font, if it is available on the system. While both fonts look the same, the new Microsoft Sans Serif is an OpenType font and supports additional visual enhancements, like ClearType font smoothing in Windows XP. * Fixed a bug where items were shown in wrong categories in the view by categories mode under certain conditions. This was a cosmetical issue only, it did not affect catalog's integrity and all items are still assigned to their correct categories. * Transferring items with assigned custom icons between catalogs will now retain the custom icon setting. * Custom icons in 256 colors were sometimes stored in catalog as 16 color icons. Fixed. * A set of other minor changes and improvements. * Finally fixed the real source of problems with repainting listview column headers in Windows XP. All previous 3.2x releases contained a workaround for this issue, however the error has still surfaced on some rare occasions. Version 3.20 - 1. November 2001 ------------------------------- + Only a few minor and cosmetical changes were implemented since beta 3, and all known problems pending confirmation were reported as fixed. Debugging code was removed and version 3.20 is now released as final. * Added a new optional command-line parameter '-noASPI', disabling ASPI layer support in WhereIsIt. This switch is for troubleshooting purposes only, intended for users who are having problems accessing devices like CD-ROM drives with WhereIsIt. On some systems which have an ASPI layer installed, ASPI interface is not functioning properly, mostly because CDR software is installed and it uses non-standard third-party ASPI drivers. While reinstalling Adaptec's ASPI layer is recommended in such cases, you can also use this switch to set WhereIsIt to avoid using ASPI. Do not use this parameter if adding audio CDs to catalog, as ASPI is required for proper CDDB handling in special cases. Version 3.20 beta 3 - 27. October 2001 -------------------------------------- + Added hi-color icons for the Settings dialog's side bar, for all systems using 16-bit or more colors. More of those will follow in future versions. + Extended "Audio CD Track Files" plugin with option to include track number in assigned alias names. + Network drives mapped to a drive letter now show their original UNC address in the Add/Update dialog, in a form of tooltip displayed on the drive's button. + The scanning progress window now shows the name of the disk being scanned, and a few more details are available as a tooltip. + Optimized display thumbnails caching, browsing lists with lots of thumbnails is now faster as smoother. * Changed a few details about scanning thread settings in attempt to improve on scanning stability. While beta 2 worked fine for a vast majority of users, there a few reports about randomly occurring problems during scanning. * Fixed a GDI resource leak on Windows XP when displaying thumbnails. * Fixed extracting from RAR multivolume archives, where extracted file was split between volumes, and one of the volumes was missing. * Made a few changes to RAR and ARJ archive handling for better support of files using international characters in file names. * Improved support for international characters when exporting to XML. * The Time column in the compare results was showing file date instead of file time. Fixed. * Changed a few details about drag&drop support for setting up categories in the Catalog Setup dialog. * Columns and data in report generator were switched if report was generated from the categories view. Fixed. * Fixed sorting by the CRC column. * The timer measuring elapsed time during disk scanning now stops when scanning is interrupted using the Cancel button, and waiting confirmation whether to proceed or not. Version 3.20 beta 2 - 7. October 2001 ------------------------------------- + Added a new feature to copying/moving files with build-in file management functions. If target file already exists, you can now choose to copy new file under a different name, instead of just overwriting or skipping it. Generated file names use sequential numbering, i.e. "Readme[1].txt". + Two different options for exporting to XML are now implemented, one is classic XML, and one adjusted for XML DataPacket formatting. + Improved responsiveness to canceling media scanning in certain stages of the process. + Tweaked a bit message handling and thread settings for the media scanning process when running on Win9x/Me systems, resulting in faster scanning. * Fixed issues with GPFs occurring in the Report Generator and other windows containing listview controls. The problem was limited to Windows XP running with classic user interface. * Changed a few details in the XML exporting, and fixed a bug where field names in XML file were not matching exported data in some cases. * Field names used in XML and SQL exports are now fixed and no longer depend on currently selected language. * Fixed exporting to HTML, some tags like
were incorrectly converted. * Fixed a minor bug in CDDB processing, in some random cases data CDs were allowed to be queried for CDDB details, which is redundant. * A few minor cosmetical and user interface enhancements. Version 3.20 beta 1 - 30. September 2001 ---------------------------------------- + Support for Windows XP is now officially added in this release. WhereIsIt now supports true color icons and new themed user interface. + Exporting capabilities in the Report Generator have been considerably enhanced. New export destinations now include CSV files, SYLK text files, SQL script files, XML documents, as well as exporting to the clipboard in ASCII text format. + Most of the textual exported formats have been added preview possibility, where you check how exported file will look like. Preview support includes reports exported as ASCII, CSV, or SYLK files, SQL script files, and XML documents. + Exporting to Excel has been completely rewritten and now no longer utilizes DDE communication with Excel, but rather writes XLS files directly. This way, Excel is no longer required or used, exporting to XLS is faster, and there won't be any issues with changed DDE support in Excel like in the latest Office XP version. + There are some major changes in approach to archive file processing during media scanning. The new system is a bit faster, allows for better use of disk caching, and most of all, it allows one-pass archive file processing. The latter shows as a big performance improvement when processing files inside long solid archives and CAB files. Overall, about 25% average performance improvement in scanning time has been measured when processing archive files, and a lot more when dealing with solid archives. + The timer showing elapsed time during scanning is now more precise and running smoothly during the process. + Updated ACE archive support for ACE v2 files. Handled a few issues with extracting from solid multi-volume RAR archives. + The DescAPI plugins interface has been enhanced and updated to version 2.1. Two new plugin types have been introduced, allowing for additional operations, as described below. The DescAPI documentation has been updated accordingly. + The first new plugin type allows modifying a visual appearance of file and folder names being cataloged, namely allowing to adjust their character case. The ptFileNameFormatting plugins are given a chance to adjust file names before they are cataloged, and can do that according to user's settings, through plugin's configuration dialog. Accordingly, a new plugin has been added to the default plugins module, featuring a configuration dialog where you can select how should file and folder names be imported. + The second new plugin type handles automated importing and storing of custom icons to be used for disks or folders in catalog instead of the default system icons. These plugins could be used to provide customized icons for drive or media of specific type, assign special icons to folders found to be holding certain kind of data, etc. A new plugin of this category has been included in the DescPlugin module, importing custom disk icons based on disk's autorun information. + Added functionality targeted in preserving changed sorting order inside disk groups without having to re-save the catalog. + Cosmetical enhancements, such as shadowed glyphs on buttons and menus. + Alias names returned from plugins are no longer accepted and stored if they are the same as item's real names and therefore redundant. + Updated program's main icon with 16x16 and 48x48 256 colors icons. * Switched title and author information when exporting audio CD details to CDPlayer.ini; using default plugins settings on import, they were reversed. * Printer handling in report generator was adjusted for cases where printer drivers are installed, but the printer is remote and not available at the time, also resulting in limited printer driver functionality. * A few minor changes in the CDDB plugin's user interface, such as showing the horizontal scrollbar in the multiple hits dialog when necessary. * Updated the MP3 and WAV Audio Files plugin, certain small WAV files with no data information were confirmed to cause problems when handled by this plugin and could cause scanning to abort. + Bundled with the latest version of plugin modules, including updated MP3, Vorbis Ogg, and PDF plugins. + Countless other minor changes, improvements and adjustments, including performance improvements. Version 3.11 - 12. July 2001 ---------------------------- + Changed a bit the appearance of menus used in WhereIsIt, keeping up with the latest trends. Additionally, active buttons in dialogs are now painted a little bit brighter from the rest of the dialog. Note that both UI enhancements are only available on systems with 16-bit or more colors, users working on 256 or even 16 color displays will notice no change. + Added plug&play support for help system in newer HTML Help format (*.chm), while still retaining compatibility with current WinHelp (*.hlp) files. WhereIsIt is now capable of using help files in either of the two formats, whichever is found to be available. English help file is currently being translated to HTML Help, and will replace .hlp version in a near future. + A new description plugin has been added to the Main Description Plugins module, handling Windows Media Format files, including ASF, WMA, and WMV. + Updated the CDDB/freedb plugin to handle new level 5 protocol, introducing genre and year information to CDDB entries. + Two buttons were added to the Check for Update Wizard, allowing to quickly check or uncheck all items listed as available updates. + The state and order of columns in report generator will remain unchanged if selected report destination is changed. + Improved native mouse wheel support in item lists. Generally, mouse drivers handle the wheel better than Windows' native support, but if you are using a generic mouse driver, this one may come as an improvement. * Made a few cosmetical fixes for systems running in 256 colors mode. Version 3.10 - 2. July 2001 --------------------------- + The help file and the rest of documentation is now up to date for v3.10. * Fixed a problem on program's startup, appearing on some system using custom shell icons. Addressed in beta 2 build 626. * The virtual root folder setting in Add/Update Disk Image dialog was not working. Addressed in beta 2 build 626. * Fixed an error in compare functions, when trying to compare disk image against a very large drive (containing more than 32.767 folders). * Many other minor cosmetical changes. Version 3.10 beta 2 - 23. June 2001 ----------------------------------- + The CDDB plugin and CDDB posting in the main program have both been revised considerably to ensure proper CDDB/freedb support on both local and remove queries, as well as for posting new entries to freedb database. The CDDB plugin was also added support for multiple matches on local CDDB queries. WhereIsIt is now officially certified to be freedb compatible, thanks go to Joerg Hevers from freedb.org for extensive testing. + Drive and media type detection is now dynamic and in real-time, based on media change notifications. This should allow for better compatibility with drives that can change their media type in runtime, such as LS-120. + The method used to detect drive type under WinNT/2K was changed and should now be more reliable on systems with plenty of IDE and SCSI devices. + Detecting existing disk images in the Add/Update Disk dialog is now set to search in the entire catalog, not just in currently selected disk group. + A few minor changes for better WinXP compatibility. Note that WinXP is not yet officially supported at this time, although most of possible issues are expected to be cosmetical only. + Improved support for translations in some user interface areas. * Fixed a problem with folders appearing duplicated in very specific cases, such as combining search and compare functions over the same data in a certain way. * WhereIsIt is now more resistant to handling corrupted catalogs, and was added some new auto-repair capabilities on loading data. If you were dealing with damaged catalogs, chances are this version will be able to at least load and recover undamaged parts. In such cases it is still recommended to delete damaged or incomplete disk images from the catalog, and replace them with newly scanned data. Version 3.10 beta 1 - 11. June 2001 ----------------------------------- + This version features a largely redesigned compare functions, from both functional and user interface points of view. The new compare results layout concentrates primarily on files on the media, as they are most commonly handled after compare operations. At the same time, each same or changed file will show related cataloged files on the second file list, allowing for manual comparisons, inspecting changes, etc. + Added a new, fifth display mode "Thumbnails View", comparable to a similar feature available in Explorer. The size of displayed thumbnails is adjustable in program's settings. + Thumbnails display caching feature has been implemented, considerably speeding up scrolling and reducing screen flickering when working with item lists showing many thumbnails. + Extended quick search expressions capabilities. Quick searching now works in a manner similar to most web search engines, allowing to use both AND-type (space-separated) and OR-type (comma-separated) expressions. More details about forming quick search expressions with samples are available in the help file. + Columns used in Report Generator can now also have fixed, specified width besides the automatic width selection based on column data. When printing, previewing or exporting reports to RTF format you can optionally fix selected columns to specified number of units in mm, inches, or pixels, or set them to automatic mode as before. + All generated reports can now have their data custom sorted by one or more columns, as set up in the Report Generator dialog itself. You can select desired sorting when setting up report columns, or you can have report generator keep the existing order of items, as stated on source list. This is really nothing new in terms of functionality, you can have reports sorted in way you want as it is by properly preparing source data, but this way it is more obvious and easier to use. + Added a new ordering option to the Report Generator, items in report can now be sorted by categories and optionally equipped with category headers. + The Report Generator dialog was made a bit bigger, allowing for larger windows showing report columns and custom report settings. + Enhanced the Add/Update Disk dialog with a set of new options about updating disk images. Now you can select how existing descriptions, aliases and thumbnails will be handled when updating disk image - will they be kept, discarded, or replaced with newly imported versions. + The Properties dialog for multiple selected items was added a new page, containing functions for batch processing of descriptions and alias names of selected items. You can now find and replace parts of text, or insert additional text before or after existing alias names and descriptions. + The Advanced Disk Properties dialog was added a new tab, showing disk scanning statistics, including time needed for scanning, the number of imported descriptions and thumbnails, plugins used in scanning, etc. + It is now possible to manually assign a picture to disk image entries. Thumbnail plugins take care of providing support for graphics file formats, so you can add any kind of graphics that can also be imported as thumbnails. Pictures for disk images can be imported a bit bigger than regular thumbnails, up to 512 x 512 pixels. + The Program Settings dialog has been reorganized a bit to make space for some new options. + Added a new file list option for customizing columns width behavior. You can choose whether you want columns to auto-adjust their widths based on data displayed (as before), or you can have columns stick to the same width and manually adjust them as needed. + Double-clicking action can now be combined with the Alt key and can be selected from the list of available actions, the same as regular double- click. This way, you have two customizable double-click actions, one for just double-clicking file, and one for double-clicking with Alt button pressed. + WhereIsIt now supports posting audio CD entries to the freedb.org database. Both posting through HTTP and email is supported; as the latter is used through MAPI, it can be used to post offline as outgoing messages will be waiting in your email client's Outbox. Sending details for multiple CDs at once is supported, and you can and should manually edit or verify all data before it is posted to freedb server. + Moved all three CDDA related plugins (CD-Text, CDDB, and Generic Audio Track plugins) to a separate module. The CDDB plugin has gone through a major rewrite, it now supports local CDDB databases as provided by freedb (both Unix and Windows formats), and is in general much more configurable. + Both CDDB and CD-Text plugins have been added a new option to include track number to alias names, assigned to audio CD track files. This can also help with sorting track entries by their track numbers. + The CD-Text plugin features another new option for including performer info as a part of assigned alias names. + The SoundEx algorithm, used for sounds-alike searching, was slightly modified to ignore diacritic characters and use their base characters instead. This can help locating names and descriptions where diacritic marks were not used consistently in all items. + Improved or added UNC addressing support in a few different parts of the program. + Added two options in program's Settings dialog for enabling/disabling UNC network support and network browsing. Both options were available before as well, but as command-line switches only. + Updating existing disk image will now preserve its position in the catalog or disk group. Previously, updated disk image was added to the end of list if custom disk ordering was active in the parent catalog / disk group. + Added support for drives that can change their media type (such as LS-120) or for cases when a drive is dismounted from a drive letter, and a different type of drive is mounted on that same drive letter. + Improved support for custom icons with more than 16 colors. * The "Compare To Media" function had returned incorrect results when run on disk images which were cataloged through their UNC drive addresses instead of assigned drive letters. This issue was limited to comparing to remote network drives only, addressed through UNC address. Fixed. * Fixed searching by size criteria larger than 2 GB. * Fixed a problem with occasional missing folder icons after moving/copying folders through file management functions and updating target disk image. * The Audio Files Plugin in DescPlugins module can now better handle invalid or non-standard MP3 and WAV files. * Addressed a set of minor cosmetical user interface issues. * Lots of other minor changes, fixes, improvements... Version 3.03b - 19. March 2001 ------------------------------ + Added support for browsing and extracting from new and promising .bz2 and its derived archives, including .tar.bz2 and .tbz2. The later two combinations are handled as nested archives, the same as .tgz. + All disk images scanned with this version now include disk scanning statistics, such as time needed for scanning, the number of imported descriptions and thumbnails etc. This information will be available on request in the next version as a part of disk's Properties dialog. * When saving to a new, non-existent catalog file, a warning message would unnecessarily pop up. Fixed. * Occasionally the contents of newly scanned nested .tar.gz or .tgz archive was not saved correctly, resulting in empty archive file contents the next time catalog was loaded. Fixed. * Removing file extensions on file lists has incorrectly removed a part of filename for some files without extension and compressed inside archive files with nested folders. Cosmetical issue only, fixed. Version 3.03a - 12. March 2001 ------------------------------ + A very minor update only. + The main description module packed with the program has been updated to include the latest version of CDDB plugin, set to use by default the freedb.org database instead of cddb.com. * Addressed an issue related to Report Generator where the only available and default printer was a network one, and was not currently accessible. * Assigning flags in Properties and Description Assistant dialogs was disabled in certain types of catalogs, as if they were read-only. Fixed. + The dialog for editing disk descriptions was added a new button, which inserts at the place of cursor some scanning statistics details as a part of disk's description. * Changed a few details about updating target disk images after file management operations like copy an move. Version 3.03 - 4. March 2001 ---------------------------- + Added a new column to most file lists, showing file CRC values where available in catalog. The new columns are hidden by default, you need to specifically turn them on if interested in file CRCs. + CRC codes for individual files in catalog are now also shown in their Properties dialog, if available. + Changed a bit how disk space charts in Advanced Properties dialog are drawn, to better cover for special cases such as virtual disks, disks without content in catalog, etc. + Added a new command line switch for easier debugging of scanning problems, caused by one of the plugins. WhereIsIt now recognizes the "-debugplugins" parameter when started from a command line, resulting in all plugins activity during media scan being logged to the "Plugins.log" file. Inspecting the log file after failed scanning should tell you exactly which plugin was active at that time, and which file on the media was being processed by that plugin. More details are available in the help file. + Some restrictions about optional updating disk images after file operations like "Copy to..." and "Move to..." have now been resolved and are no longer necessary. If updating target disk image is selected for file operations, all disk images matching the target drive in all loaded catalogs will be updated accordingly, including disk images inside disk groups. + Optimized processing of nested .tar.gz archives, if importing descriptions for files compressed inside archive file is enabled. Note once again that enabling this option includes heavy performance impact by the definition of it, and should only be used where really necessary. + Thumbnail plugins are now set to be disabled by default in new program installations. Apparently importing thumbnails is commonly used by new users without any reason or need for it, and thumbnails only end up bloating catalog files considerably. * Adjusted handling for some .tgz files that do not include the name of .tar file compressed inside, processing the .tar file inside was skipped with such files. * Improved handling of archive files containing illegal file names, such as filenames reserved by OS for system devices (aux.*, prn.*, etc). * Under certain circumstances an "Index out of bounds" error message would appear when right-clicking on of the columns. Fixed. * In previous versions it was possible to add to user list the three root items from Browse by Categories mode ("Categories", "Flags", "Disk Locations"), which doesn't make much sense and could eventually lead to problems. Fixed. * When removing the contents of archive file from catalog and converting the archive file into a regular file entry, file size reported in catalog could end up a lot larger than it really is. Fixed. * A few other, mostly minor cosmetical changes. Version 3.02 - 2. February 2001 ------------------------------- + Nested .tar.gz files are now processed down to the .tar level, for both cataloging and extracting. While nested archives are not processed in WhereIsIt, this exception has been made as .tar.gz files are very commonly encountered in this combination. If a GZIP file is encountered with a single .tar file inside, the .tar file is temporarily extracted and processed. Support for .tgz files has now been added as well. + Rearranged and extended EXIF digital camera information retrieved by graphics description plugins. + The MP3 plugin will now calculate and display the average bitrate for VBR MP3 files, if calculating VBR play time is enabled in the plugin. + Extended support for large disks, mostly emulated or accessed through network, that may not provide sufficient details about the media organization. This version should be able to process most of such drives. Please note that in some rare cases large drives like hard disks may need to be updated in catalog if the above described change causes them no longer to be recognized against their cataloged image. + The folder tree under the Folder Limitations options now includes system or hidden folder as well, and makes them available to be excluded from scanning. + Adjusted and added keyboard shortcuts to controls in Search and related dialogs, allowing easier keyboard-only access. + Added default double-click item actions and keyboard shortcuts to several item lists in the program. + Moved the description text optimizing code from the program to a separate, user-adjustable formatting plugin. Previously, the program used to always remove empty lines, leading and trailing spaces etc. from descriptions, now this can be optional. * Extended the TIFF thumbnails plugin with support for TIF files based on JPEG compression, and included some additional safeguards for handling invalid TIF files. There are still suggestions that some rare TIFF files can cause problems to this plugin and interfere with scanning - if you have such file, please contact me for providing a sample. * Adjusted support for WMF files, some rare WMFs can take a lot of GDI resources while processing them, possibly causing the system to run out of resources and initiating all kinds of errors. The WMF thumbnails plugin now tries to detect such files in advance and skips them. * When trying to view or launch a file compressed inside archive file, the program needlessly reported an error in some cases, mostly when handling ZIP files. Fixed. * Addressed some issues with extracting whole RAR archives with embedded folder information. * When updating multiple disk images at once, certain combination of settings and events could lead to an GPF error. Fixed. * Fixed a problem with advanced search expressions, some expressions were incorrectly reporting missing closing parenthesis. * Fixed a possible problem that could in some cases cause catalogs to get corrupted when they are saved, if they are using disk groups and previous save operation has failed for some reason. * When moving disks or disk groups, some of internal catalog details were not updated properly in certain cases, causing the disk groups layout not being saved properly - disk groups were organized differently when catalog was opened the next time. Fixed. * Fixed a problem in the Update Disk dialog with one of the combo boxes displaying corrupted text. The problem was cosmetical only and only appearing if multilanguage support was disabled. * Adjusted handling of default scan settings used when updating a disk image last created with older version of WhereIsIt. All disk images created with version 3.00 or newer include information about settings used, and those are set to the same state when disk image is about to be updated the next time. Disk images created with older version have no such information though - the default scanning settings will now be used for these, as they are when adding a new disk image. * A set of other minor fixes and performance improvements. Version 3.01 - 30. December 2000 -------------------------------- + Opening large catalogs stored in the new 3.0 format with lots of disks inside is now much faster and comparable in speed to opening version 2 catalogs. + Support for extracting from solid archives and CAB archives during disk scan has been significantly improved in this release. This mostly only affects the option to import descriptions for files compressed inside archive files (this option is otherwise recommended to be off by default, which is probably the reason why you like to use it so much). The option requires that individual files are extracted from archives during disk scan as requested by plugins, and this is by definition a very slow process in large, solid archives. If there are a lot of files to be extracted, or solid archive file is a very big one, scanning can take extremely long. This release implements a prediction scheme for solid archives, so multiple files are extracted in one pass, expecting they will be later requested by plugins. While this approach requires some more temporary disk space available, processing solid archives is a lot faster, even up to 100 times. + Using plugins when updating existing disk images has been optimized and performance is now comparable to version 2.xx in most cases. Plugins in version 3.0 have tasks other than providing descriptions only, and they get to be used more often than in previous versions. + Sorting by names or extensions in file lists now takes into account alias names, when available and active. + WhereIsIt can now correctly catalog files larger than 2 GB. + The window showing media scanning progress is now movable. + Added a new option to enable CRC checking in the Compare to Media function. If this option is checked, all files in catalog that have a CRC available will be checked for matching CRC against the file on the media, before both files are pronounced to be the same. + Both "Compare to Media" and "Compare files to Catalog" functions are now equipped with Cancel button and progress dialogs, as processing with new CRC checks enabled can take notably longer as before. + Made a few changes to Zip archive support in an attempt to handle .zip files, created on operating systems other than Windows. Such files may be using file names that can appear different or even invalid when used on Windows. + Improved exporting audio CD details to CdPlayer.ini. + Improved report generator with better support for new disk groups. + The JPEG thumbnails plugin was enhanced to be more tolerant to partially damaged or incorrect files, and will also better handle badly damaged ones. * Version 3.00 had some compatibility problems with software that changes shell icons and replaces them with custom ones, resulting in a couple of error messages before the program was allowed to start normally. This release includes a workaround that prevents similar problems. * The "Compare files to Catalog" function did not in all cases carry out CRC checks against files on the media, even if the appropriate option was selected. Fixed. * Fixed a problem with some thumbnails missing in encrypted catalogs. * Some mostly WinNT/Win2000 systems with certain video drivers were experiencing very low quality of imported thumbnails, if using the default "resize" method ("resample" was much better). A workaround has been implemented. * The Query CDDB Server didn't always work on some systems. Fixed. * Fixed a minor problem in the JPEG thumbnails plugin, some JPG files with a bit unusual color encoding were not decoded properly and have appeared rather greenish. * Fixed a few minor cosmetical issues in the Check for Update Wizard and improved responsiveness to canceling download in progress. * Addressed a few issues with extracting files from multivolume CAB archives, when the file to be extracted was divided between two CABs. * Fixed a minor bug in MP3 that caused some MP3 files to be incorrectly recognized as far as their technical details are concerned (bitrate, sampling frequency). Very few MP3s were affected though, this issue went unnoticed although it was present in all 2.xx releases as well. * Implemented a few user interface optimizations, to better accommodate translations and reduce flickering/repainting. + Countless other small changes, fixes and improvements. Version 3.00 - 10. November 2000 -------------------------------- + Made a few user interface adjustments to accommodate translations. + The option to show thumbnails as icons is now only available on systems with more than 256 display colors, due to palette issues occurring when many different hi-color images are shown at once. + Fixed some archive file related issues, extracting from some archive files did not always work properly. * There were some cases where searching inside selected disk group did not work correctly. Fixed. * The 32-bit executables plugin has been rewritten for handling .exe files. There are some .exe files created by InstallShield's PackageForTheWeb product that are corrupted by design and cause problems during scanning. Those same files also crash Explorer if trying to inspect their version info through Explorer's Properties dialog. This workaround avoids using Windows functions for retrieving version information. * Many little internal optimizations and adjustments. Version 3.00 Release Candidate - 2. November 2000 ------------------------------------------------- + This version is now shipping with completed help file and the rest of documentation, and has multi-language support back online. Translations to other languages can now begin, the Slovene language file for version 3.00 is already available. + Added a new option in program's settings, for adjusting brightness of imported thumbnails. + Added a few minor details, such as popup hint on the Active Plugins button in Add/Update Disk dialog, quickly showing the number of currently active plugins of each type. + Changed a few pages in the Quick Setup Wizard. * The JPEG thumbnails plugin was found to have problems with some rare JPG files, created with some Adobe software, that were not complying with the JPEG standard themselves. In extreme cases, this could even lead to system freezing during media scan. The entire plugin has been replaced and now uses a different JPEG implementation that tolerates those faulty JPGs as well. * A couple of other minor changes, adjustments, and fixes. Version 3.00 beta 5 - 20. October 2000 -------------------------------------- + Added a new small button in the status bar of Add New Disk dialog, allowing you to locate in catalog existing disk image of selected media, if one available. + Improved 32-bit executables plugin with a config dialog and handled some other minor issues. + Help file is slowly getting there, too. Context-sensitive help is completed - all dialogs are now properly equipped with help popups, while the main, browsable part still remains to be handled. * Completely rewrote the plugin handling *.WMF files, in order to work around a GDI resource leak occurring inside Windows. The new plugin was designed to use a different approach and avoids buggy GDI function. This resource leak was also the cause for many scanning related problems in previous betas. * Addressed a thread synchronization problem where some users have experienced occasional random errors being reported during scanning in all 3.00 betas, mostly when working with large media as chances of error occurring increase with number of files handled. * Fixed a problem where items were sometimes missing on lists in the categories window, even though they have assigned categories, flags, or disk locations. * Fixed an issue with copying custom icons from one catalog to another in the Catalog Setup dialog. * Addressed a few other minor issues. Version 3.00 beta 4 - 9. October 2000 ------------------------------------- + Added support for recognizing supported removable drive types by name on Windows NT/2000 as well. This allows having drives like Iomega Zip and Jaz presented in catalog by name and special icon instead of generic "Removable drive". Windows 95/98/ME users have had this capability for a long time, since first WhereIsIt versions. + Added a new option to the Folder Limitations button, allowing to catalog disk entry only, without its contents (files and folders). + Replaced the questionable "Disk Info" button in the Add/Update dialog with more useful "Troubleshooting" button, giving some hints on how to handle media which fail on scanning, and how to locate the source of problem. + Added a "Copy From..." button to Catalog Setup / Custom Icons page, allowing to copy custom icons from other loaded catalogs. + Almost completely rewritten support for Open/Save dialogs, allowing for some extended options in Windows 2000/ME, and improved handling for sizing and centering dialogs. + Added the ability to extract icons from other application files, (such as *.exe, *.dll, *.ocx, etc.) when adding new custom icons to a catalog. + Added a new thumbnail plugin, extracting application default icons (*.exe) and storing them in catalog as bitmap thumbnails. + Enhanced the Adobe Acrobat (*.PDF) plugin, it now has its own config dialog and can optionally import the bookmarks index tree (index). + Fonts in Report Generator now include and honor the charset specification. This is a workaround for WinNT 4.0 issue where some users may not be able to see localized characters in some fonts. By default, font charset is set as system default and depends on system's input locale setting, however WinNT 4.0 has some problems with that. You can now instruct the program to use specified character set when selecting Report Generator fonts. + Added Word Wrap option to all edit windows in the program. + Added a new option to file management dialog when moving or copying single files, allowing files to be moved or copied under a different name. + Extended DescAPI 2.0 with a new optional function that allows plugins to set their default (enabled/disabled) state. * Addressed some issues in file management commands; attributes are now preserved when copying files and folders, moving or writing over files with system or read-only attributes is now better handled. * Fixed an issue on Win9x/ME only, where some disks (mostly hard disks) have remained locked and unaccessible from other programs after scanning them with WhereIsIt. Disks would become accessible again once WhereIsIt has terminated. This issue was only occurring if the option to eject media after scanning was selected on a media that does not support ejecting. * Fixed a problem when preparing catalogs to be sent by email was canceled. * Fixed sorting large (>2 GB) folders by size. * Many other minor changes, fixes, and improvements. Version 3.00 beta 3 - 11. September 2000 ---------------------------------------- + The last major addition, managing and storing user lists, is now finally activated and functional in this beta release. + Changed a bit how the description window works. When not docked to the main window, it can now accept and show descriptions from items in other windows as well, such as search results, user list, or compare results. + Added a new button in Catalog Manager for creating disk groups on the spot. + Added support for custom paper sizes in Report Generator. + Added new description plugin for handling Adobe Font Metric files (*.AFM). + Added a new option with file operations like moving or copying, to skip files on the disk currently waiting to be inserted. + Tested WhereIsIt in detail on Windows ME and added support to recognize Windows ME by name. No other adjustments necessary. - The PSP (Paint Shop Pro) thumbnail plugin has shown up to have insufficient support for different versions of PSP files, and only some of them are handled correctly. Until this issue is resolved in the third-party library that WhereIsIt uses for plugins, the PSP thumbnail plugin is excluded from the package. * Searching did not find any items if searching for disks was disabled. Fixed. * Fixed a problem when exporting details to CdPlayer.ini for multiple audio CDs at once. * Fixed a compatibility problem with loading catalogs, created with older WhereIsIt version 1.xx * Fixed a few details in description plugins handling graphics files. * Fixed a problem in thumbnails resampler where some extremely narrow or extremely tall images were not handled correctly. * A set of error messages may occasionally appear immediately after deleting a large number of items from a catalog. Fixed. * In some cases catalog files saved with version 3 beta 2 were notably longer than they were in previous versions, sometimes almost twice as long. Fixed. * Printing or using print preview did not work on some systems. Fixed. * Fixed some issues with moving disks between disk groups using Catalog Manager. * Fixed a problem with performing file operations on the Compare results / New files list. * Fixed a problem with assigning password access to catalog files. * Many other minor changes, fixes, and improvements. Version 3.00 beta 2 - 23. August 2000 ------------------------------------- + Added a new option in program's settings to display thumbnails as icons. + Improved the Generic Audio CD plugin. It can now handle CdPlayer.ini files larger than 64 KB, and is capable of setting disk name and alias names for *.CDA files, just like the CDDB plugin. + Added a new command to export audio CD details to the CDPlayer.ini file. + The behavior of reordering disks and disk groups with drag&drop was changed a bit to cover for some special cases, where it could be difficult to achieve the desired result. If you hold down the Shift key while an item is being dropped on a disk group, the item will be inserted in the place of target disk group, instead of inside it. Dropping disks in disk groups on catalog entry is now also allowed to move items to the top level inside catalogs. + The "Query CDDB Server" command is now also available in item's popup menus in search results and user list. + Exporting descriptions to media in HTML format can now optionally include links to referenced files on the media. + Sorting items by categories when switching to browse-by-categories mode is now much faster than in beta 1, and can run automatically in the background while the program is idle - the yellow status light in lower right corner serves as an indicator when program is busy in the background. * Fixed a Windows NT 4.0 compatibility problem where Open and Save commands were not responding. * Fixed a problem with loading catalogs that had categories or flags assigned to folders. * Fixed a resource leak, occurring while importing thumbnails during disk scan. * Fixed an error occasionally occurring with Edit / Catalog Manager command. * If the UNC disk address was manually entered with trailing backslashes, this could have caused some problems in accessing that disk. Fixed. * The "Show Grid Lines" setting was not always honored on all list views. Fixed. * The description for disk group in Properties dialog was not properly set up when the dialog was shown. Fixed. * Renaming a disk or editing alias name in list view could have resulted in disk name or alias being removed if editing was canceled. Fixed. * Pressing F2 (rename) when no item was selected resulted in an error message. Fixed. * Many small fixes and adjustments. Version 3.00 beta 1 - 15. August 2000 ------------------------------------- + Completed transfer of WhereIsIt project to the new Delphi 5. + Almost completely rewritten kernel and memory management functions - the heart of WhereIsIt - and redesigned catalog file format for version 3. Both together now allow handling larger data blocks in catalogs, providing base for allowing larger descriptions (the new limit is user-definable between 4 KB and 32 KB instead of current 4KB) and other associated binary data, such as thumbnails. + New in catalog file format are changed internal layout for optimized handling of larger objects, and optional compression for relevant parts of data. Since catalogs still need to function in real time, a lot of compression algorithms were tested for performance and efficiency, and two best choices were implemented and optimized in assembly code. Using compression on catalogs currently reduces the size of files for about 40% compared to v2, however this also introduces a notable performance penalty, especially on saving and searches. Using compression on catalogs or not is your call. Of course, WhereIsIt 3 can read all older catalog formats from previous versions as well. + WhereIsIt 3.00 introduces an entirely new mode of browsing catalogs. Normally, you would browse the contents of catalogs as they were cataloged, by disk images stored in catalog and folder structures contained on those disks - very similar as you would in Explorer. Alternatively, you can now browse items in catalog by their assigned categories, flags, or disk locations. This means that assuming you have your files, folders, and disk properly categorized, you can browse those items by their purpose, not just by their location. + A new item type was introduced to catalogs - disk groups. Now you can hierarchically group your disks in catalog, creating a tree structure similar to categories system. You can use disk groups to group disks that belong together (for example, multiple CD-ROMs of the same software package), or you use them to organize your disks in a concept similar to categories (for example, you can have a disk group "Shareware CDs", possibly further divided with additional disk groups). + Disk and disk groups order in catalog is now local to each catalog or disk group. Order is stored in a catalog file, and can be set to custom order as well. You can use drag&drop, or keyboard key combinations to reorder disks and disk groups in any way you want, or you can have them sorted by one of the columns, as before. Files and folders are still sorted the same way as in previous versions - by one of the columns, with setting being global for all loaded catalogs. + Thumbnails are here! Thanks to the new memory management and catalog file format in version 3, storing and handling thumbnail images in catalogs has become a reality. WhereIsIt 3.0 introduces additional new set of plugins that are in charge of importing bitmap images and allow WhereIsIt to store their down-sampled versions in the catalog as a reference. The size of thumbnails is user-defined from 32x32 to 128x128, using 24-bit colors and a fast, high-quality image resampling routine. A special attention was given to the way thumbnails are stored inside catalogs, trying to keep them as small as possible. An average thumbnail of 64x64 in size will take about 1.5 KB in catalog file, which is a nice enough result for storing a true-color image, but still about 10 times more than just having a detailed textual description included instead of the thumbnail. If you will be using thumbnails, expect your catalogs to grow considerably. + By using new alias names you can "internally" rename files and folders in catalog, only for browsing, searching, and reporting purposes. Program still remembers the original name of a file or folder as it is stored on the media, but allows you to use the alternate (alias) name in catalog instead. You can quickly switch between viewing aliases or real file names with available button on a toolbar, or you can have alias names color- coded on file lists to warn you those are not actual file names. + New templates for categories, flags, disk locations... User defined templates can be created, and a few the most common pre-defined are included as well. New catalogs can be created based on one of the templates. + The Check for Update Wizard was considerably improved in version 3.0. Besides checking for new available version of the program itself it can also check for new plugins, language files and help files. Checking is not all there is, either - if new or updated plugins, language files or help files are available, wizard can also automatically download and install selected updates. By the time you leave the wizard, you can have updated WhereIsIt up and running, without even restarting the program. + The How to Order Wizard has been changed considerably, according to changes related to registering the program since version 2.xx. There is a new e-commerce vendor available that expands on available options, or just makes existing ones easier to use, especially for the European customers. Pricing and currencies policy was changed as well. + There were some changes in handling audio CDs. The details necessary for a CDDB query are retrieved and stored in catalog, which allows retrieving CDDB information at later time without having the CD inserted - this also allows making a CDDB query for multiple audio CDs in catalog at once. Audio CDs are now stored as a separate media type and have their own media icon. Additionally, WhereIsIt 3.0 will now show available audio tracks on the media even if they are not visible in Explorer because data track is also present - processing mixed mode CDs is one such sample. + Added a new, dockable window to the main window providing quick access to item's description, either for preview or editing. + Each catalog can now hold a list of user-defined icons to be used for selected disks and folders in catalogs. You can mark any disk or folder in the catalog with your own custom icon. + On popular requests WhereIsIt can now calculate and store in catalog CRC codes for files being scanned on the media, to be later used with compare and duplicates finding functions. Since collecting CRCs prolongs scanning the media A LOT, even 10 times or more, and having CRCs available is only useful for certain tasks that not everybody need, use it on your own discretion. + A new option in program's Add/Update Disk Image dialog allows entering disk's description as soon as scanning the media completes. The dialog is also equipped with disk preview pane, allowing you to browse scanned disk image in catalog, check out imported descriptions and thumbnails, etc. + Scanning the media is now performed in a separate thread, separated from the rest of the program. This leaves the program execution control even while media is being handled outside WhereIsIt. In case of a major problem during media scan, for example due to a damaged media, program still remains fully responsive and allows you to cancel scanning in situations that would otherwise keep the program locked up in previous versions. + Added support for scanning cataloged disks and folders for viruses using an external anti-virus program. + Catalog Manager has been partly rewritten, to include support for new disk groups and manual disk and disk groups reordering. Some operations like moving or copying disks are also notably faster in certain cases. + The Rename function was added to the file operation functions as well. + The dialog showing progress of scanning media is now more entertaining, showing elapsed time, statistics, number of imported descriptions etc. + Added a new option to update all selected disk images in the catalog in one step. You can set it to handle available disks only or ask to insert the media as needed, you can have it optionally display the Add/Update Disk dialog for each disk that is about to be scanned, allowing you to adjust scanning settings, etc. + A new command is available for renumbering selected range of disk images or disk groups. Disks and disk groups can be renumbered with ascending or descending numbers, with options to skip selected disks that already have numbers assigned, or to skip disk number if it is already used on some other disk. + Disk images scanned with version 3.0 now also include information about settings used for scanning, such as archive files browsing, file CRC calculation, active description plugins at the time of scanning, etc. When updating disk image, those settings are set again as default for that specific disk only, allowing you to scan the media under the same conditions as it was originally scanned. This is especially useful for automated disk updates, such as through script files. + A new version of Description API has been defined, providing support for the next generation of plugins in WhereIsIt 3.0. DescAPI 2.0 retains compatibility with existing plugins, however new plugins complying to DescAPI 2.0 also have the ability to set disk names, set alias names for files and folders, etc. The CDDB plugin is the first such sample that can set disk name and audio track file names based on author/title details. + Description API 2.0 also includes a new plugin types. Apart from plugins for extracting descriptions there are now also new plugins for formatting it. The new plugins come into action after regular plugins have finished extracting description - formatting plugins are used to further adjust extracted descriptions, such as converting them to more appropriate character set, improve readability and layout, limit description text length, etc. Another new type of plugins in version 3.0 are thumbnail plugins, extracting images from picture files during media scan to be stored as thumbnails in catalog. + The internal file viewer in WhereIsIt can now also display images in their full size, apart from showing file contents in ASCII and HEX formats. Since the program uses thumbnail plugins to load images, available for viewing are all picture file formats that are supported for importing thumbnails during disk scan. + All description edit windows in Properties dialog can now be "maximized" inside dialog for easier editing and larger working area. + Columns in item lists can now be quickly hidden or shown by right- clicking on column header and choosing one of the new options in there. + New option in user interface settings allows that folders can be auto expanded/collapsed around currently selected node as you are browsing the catalog tree, allowing easier browsing and clearer display. + Catalog, disk, and folder headers in report generator now have options to force a page break before them, allowing you to select for each catalog, disk, and/or folder to start on a new page. + Descriptions in report generator can now be limited to specified number of lines only, cutting off long descriptions that span over multiple pages. + Added support to limit the size of exported HTML reports. If exported HTML file would be larger than specified, report is splitted into more HTML files. + Added new "Disk Location" column to Disks List in the main window. + Added two new options in the Open button's recently-used popup menu, to remove obsolete catalog files that no longer exist, and to remove all catalogs from recently used list. + Moved all user list related commands into separate submenu/button, and added a new command to manage user list items: Keep on User List (it does exactly the opposite as the Remove command, keeps selected items on user list, and removes all others). + A text box was added to the browse UNC network dialog, allowing user to type in an UNC address directly instead of having to browse to it in the network tree. Last eight used types UNC addresses are remembered and stored for quick access the next time. + The Search dialog now includes an additional page with a summary of active search settings. Those are available in a form of textual description, offering you a quick overview and easier troubleshooting if search results are not what you have expected. + Besides searching through open catalogs and existing search results list, search engine now also supports searching through items on the user list. + A new command is available in item's popup menus for performing a search, limited to the contents of selected item ("Find in This Folder / Disk / Disk Group / Catalog). + Another new search option was added to quickly search if selected file(s) already exists somewhere else in catalog (similar to searching for duplicates, just targeted to selected file(s) only). + Searching can now be limited to the first "n" folder levels only. It can be useful, for example, if you only need files or folders in the root of your media. + A new "Rebuild Catalog File" command in file menu was introduced to help out with damaged catalog files. It will read an existing catalog file and build a new one from it, filtering out all invalid or unreadable data in the process. The rebuild command can also be used when catalog's storage properties are changed, such as compression level used, or encryption. + A new "Mail to..." command in program's File menu allows you to quickly send selected catalogs by e-mail. Program will not only allow you to select any number of catalogs - or other files - to send, it can also save changes if needed, and optionally pack them to a zip file before the default email program is called up, with a new, empty message opened and selected catalogs already attached. + Supported exporting descriptions to Index_00.txt format. + Program can now be minimized to system tray and sit there quietly until needed again. It also tries to free as much memory and system resources as possible. + The "File / Catalog Info" option will now display a new, combined statistics dialog about all loaded catalogs rather than just currently selected one. Single catalog properties are still available by selecting catalog note and choosing "Properties" option from its popup menu. + Added new option to optionally show grid lines in list views. + Translatable "Ctrl" key name (i.e. "Strg" is used in Germany). + User List now closes on ESC + New splash screen for WhereIsIt 3.00. + New web support links in the Help menu. + New registration system and key files for version 3.0. OLDER 2.xx RELEASES =================== Version 2.16a - 23. March 2000 ------------------------------ * Minor maintenance release only. The package was updated with the latest set of description plugins, the program includes some minor performance optimizations and a few details that will allow easier upgrades to version 3 when available. Version 2.16 - 23. January 2000 ------------------------------- + New description module was added to the package, with a set of seven new plugins handling graphics files (BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, TIF, PNG, PSD). Some of the plugins also include extended details for exporting image information, such as digital camera support in JPG and TIF plugins, and IPTC-NAA record support in TIF and PSD plugins. + The main description plugins module was also updated with a couple of new plugins (Word Perfect and Quattro Pro files). + The Index.txt description plugin now better support Index.txt and similar files with tabs in it. + Improved multi-language support and localized font handling. * The "Ignore empty folders" was broken in the last version - fixed. * Updated documentation due to some recent changes (new mailing address). * Lost of minor internal optimizations, most of them resulting from findings while developing the new 3.0 version. Some of those got implemented in this release as well. Version 2.15 - 2. November 1999 ------------------------------- + The MP3 description plugin has now an option to allow play time calculation for variable bit rate (VBR) MP3 files. The default state is off. Use with caution, full processing of VBR files will have a very notable impact on scan performance. * The new MS Office plugin introduced in previous version was occasionally leaving some open files behind. Fixed. * Files compressed inside changed archive file usually did not keep their descriptions when disk image was updated in catalog. Fixed. * Selecting the option to update folder from the main menu instead of the usual popup menu was causing an error message. Fixed. * Occasionally disk numbers assigned to newly scanned disks would not be saved when saving the catalog. Fixed. * Setting the printing orientation for reports did not always work for all users if it was different than the default printer setting. Fixed. * There were a few reports about having problems with printing to network printers on Windows NT. While the problem could not be confirmed, this release includes some changes about handling printers that will hopefully resolve this issue. * A few other minor updates and fixes. Version 2.14 - 9. October 1999 ------------------------------ + When launching a file type without associated program WhereIsIt will now show the "Open with..." dialog, just like Explorer. This allows you to associate file types on the fly for future usage as well. + The Catalog Setup dialog is now made resizable and will remember its size and position between sessions. * If most recently used catalogs list was disabled, an error message may have occurred in certain cases when closing catalogs. Fixed. * If a catalog was saved as both password protected and encrypted, there could be problems opening it later. Fixed. * Other minor fixes and updates, such as adding shortcuts to dialog items. Version 2.13 - 25. September 1999 --------------------------------- * Minor maintenance release. + Files being moved on the same disk are now just renamed, resulting in faster operation and no additional disk space required. + Improved support for password-protected ZIP files, program will now ask for a password if one is needed to extract compressed file(s). + Added Ctrl-C shortcut to all item lists to copy the name of currently selected item (file, folder,...) to clipboard. * Fixed two more serious problems with Copy and Move operations in file management support. Copying or moving folder to one of its sub-folders would result a recursive operation that would eventually crash the program. Also, files or folders that failed to be copied to target location during "Move To" operation may in some cases still be deleted at their source location. Fixed both problems. * Searching for disks without location has also returned all files, even if the disk they were on had a location assigned. Fixed. * The "Open in Explorer" command did not always work correctly when used on folders. Fixed. * The date field in right top corner of generated reports has always used the default font setting. Fixed. * Updating more than one disk in a script file was causing error messages in certain cases. Fixed. * Opening and closing catalogs in script files used to affect the recently catalogs list in the program, usually resulting in removal of catalogs accessed through script files. From this release on, using script files no longer influences the recently used catalogs list. * A few other small fixes and changes. Version 2.12 - 3. September 1999 -------------------------------- * Maintenance release, just polishing it a bit. * Word wrap settings in internal viewer and Description Assistant will now be saved between sessions. * The categories and flags popup windows in Properties dialog have on rare occasions popped up on incorrect location. Fixed. * Fixed a printer problem in Report Generator. Trying to print a report from Report Preview window and changing selected printer there could result in an error message in certain cases. * If trying to use the Open in Explorer command on a file that does not exist on the media any more, some (newer) versions of Explorer may take it badly and crash. This is a bit of a bug in the Explorer, situations like that are not that unusual and should be handled better. WhereIsIt will now check if selected file does indeed exists before handing it over to Explorer. * The "How to Order" Wizard was in certain cases skipping the page selecting how to receive the product (e-mail / regular mail). Fixed. * Fixed some cosmetical issues and rare problems. Repainting of the default button in dialogs had some problems in very specific cases, many Win95 users had a black-only caption bar instead of gradient etc. Version 2.11 - 11. August 1999 ------------------------------ * Minor maintenance release. + Added a right-click menu with "What's That?" option to all controls in the program that have help accessible, and don't have a popup menu on their own. To access help about specific control, just right-click it and select the "What's That?" from its popup menu. + Made some changes to the Main Description Module. The CDDB plugin was adjusted recently to handle cases where descriptions for the last few songs were missing. New in the module is a TTF plugin, handling true type fonts and returning their name and type, copyright notice etc. + Addressing drives with UNC syntax is now also supported in the "UpdateDisk" command in script language. * In windows other than main window (search window, user list, etc.) the filename of currently selected item was not always displayed correctly in status bar. Cosmetical problem only, fixed. * Program will now better handle situations where printers are being added or removed on the system while program is running. * Addressed a few rare problems in Report Generator, only occurring when Report Generator is used for the first time after a fresh install. * Various other minor fixes, fixed some typos in the help file etc. Version 2.10 - 25. July 1999 ---------------------------- + Added a bunch of new tips for the "Tip of the day" dialog. + Changing system colors in runtime is now better handled, changes will properly reflect in the program. + Coloring items in WhereIsIt will now be disabled when system is using a high contrast coloring scheme (accessibility feature). * GZip support appeared to be broken in the last few releases. Fixed. * Made some changes to the How to Order Wizard to handle the new DigiBuy online ordering service instead of old PsL. All language files were updated accordingly as well. * Made some very minor and fixes adjustments in the program, that one problem I was still looking at was confirmed to be fixed in RC1 release already. Version 2.10 RC1 - 14. July 1999 -------------------------------- + The install/uninstall program has been slightly adjusted to fully comply with the official "Designed for Windows 98/NT Logo" requirements. Some additional details were also added to be used with upcoming Windows 2000. + Completely rewrote all drag&drop support, which is now based on COM technology instead of internal implementation. Apart as serving as a base for future extensions, the new system also supports auto-scrolling target window, and allows to use Ctrl and Shift buttons for Move/Copy operations. For example, you can now copy or move disks between catalogs by using drag&drop in the main window. + Added parameter support for external programs like external viewer, or external shell program. You can now use the %1, %2, etc. to combine selected item's file name or file path into command line for external program. + Open in Explorer command will now also move focus in Explorer's window to the file selected to be opened in Explorer. + Added "Alt+DoubleClick" shortcut to display item's Properties, just like in Explorer. * Fixed the Runtime Error 216 sometimes occurring on the exit. * Fixed a minor appearance problem in Options dialog, only visible with small fonts (96 dpi) screen setting. * Used a few different approaches in an effort to address a rare reported problem with the Options dialog and missing icons in Settings menu. Version 2.10 beta 3 - 5. July 1999 ---------------------------------- + Added additional network support for drives and servers with a share-level access. When browsing the network tree, program will now always try to connect to the selected server or network drive - this allows user to logon and connect to network resource in order to gain access to it. This will mostly be used to access network drives or servers that are password protected and user is not yet authorized to access them in current session. + Optimized searching for UNC drives on the network. Every drive that was cataloged as UNC network drive will now store its UNC name in catalog as well; the next time the actual drive is needed this UNC path will be checked first, before trying to browse the entire network to find it. Since in most cases drive will likely still be available on the same UNC name, it will be located much faster. Program is now also able to ask user to connect to the requested network drive first, using appropriate password if necessary. * Some other optimizations about handling the network were implemented, too. * Fixed a few problems regarding searching by file types in Advanced Search. * Fixed a few minor problems regarding program's settings when program is run for the first time after being newly installed. * The CDDB plugin may have displayed track time seconds in one digit only if there were less than 10 of them. It will now always display seconds in two digits, forcing a zero first if necessary. * The position of splitter bar in Description Assistant's window was not saved between session if window was maximized. Fixed. Version 2.10 beta 2 - 21. June 1999 ----------------------------------- + The Next and Previous buttons in Description Assistant have now assigned keyboard shortcuts for easier browsing through items list without having to move focus out from description window. + When moving selection one level up in the tree, either by double clicking the '..' entry or by using the Back One Level button, program will collapse currently selected branch in tree window. Data hidden by collapsing selected node is visible in the right window anyway, so this behavior should make browsing a bit easier. + Made a few optimizations regarding browsing the net, it will respond faster in some cases. * Search window did not allow itself to be resized below its original width. Fixed. * Selecting the drive button in Add/Update dialog with ALT + drive letter shortcut caused an error in some computers where the new network button was available as well. Fixed. * A few users have reported problems with Explorer when program is started for the first time - beta 2 includes some additional changes to hopefully avoid that. * Addressed some other problem reports that were more difficult to confirm. Version 2.10 beta 1 - 13. June 1999 ----------------------------------- + WhereIsIt now fully supports UNC addressing in network environment, no longer requesting for network drives to be connected to a local drive letter in order to be scanned - now you can scan a network drive by simply browsing the Network Neighborhood. Read more about the new UNC support in beta release notes, included with the program. + The Settings dialog has been completely rewritten in this version. While there are no visible changes to the end user, internally this part of the program has been redesigned for better performance and resource saving, resulting as well in noticeably faster program startup and shutdown. + The help support has been extended by adding in a searchable "How to..." section, giving tips on usage of most important and most frequently used parts of program. Recommended reading for all users to get the most out of the program. + The CDDB plugin was expanded to handle multiple and unreliable hits as well by asking the user to choose among possible returned results. Please note that this behavior can be disabled if program is not allowed to stop and wait for user feedback, for example during automated updates. + The Insert media dialog will now while waiting for you to insert the required media show not only media name and type, but disk location as well, if one is provided in disk's properties. + Improved multi language support, some critical sections in program's user interface where translated text often had trouble fitting can now better adjust themselves to translations. * Sorting disks by date or categories did not always work correctly, fixed. + *Many* other internal improvements, changes, optimizations,... while still preserving full compatibility with existing language files. Version 2.03 - 13. May 1999 --------------------------- + Description Assistant now allows you to set categories, flags, and disk locations for current item as well, not only the description. + Fine tuned the CDDB plugin, only confirmed Audio CDs are now checked with CDDB server to minimize false hits. MP3 plugin can now better handle unknown or damaged MP3 files with ID3v2 tags. + Index.txt-style description plugin now has user definable list of text files that will be checked to be imported as folder indexes. Index.txt and similarly formatted files contain a list of " " entries to describe the contents of folder they are in. + The "Check for update wizard" now allows you to download the new version of WhereIsIt from any available mirror site. + The four list view mode buttons on the toolbar (large icons / small icons / icon list / details) are now combined in one single button with popup menu, similar as they are in Explorer. This allows to shrink the toolbars a little, especially the main one. + Message boxes will now play appropriate system sounds when they are displayed, just as in other applications. Some have preferred it quiet, but it's better to comply with system standards and rather turn sounds off in system Control Panel. + HTML documents created with program now include character set meta names based on currently selected language. Previous versions have always set this to iso-8859-1, the western alphabet, which was not best choice for some languages. * Limiting search hits did not work in most cases. Fixed. * If Search window was marked to stay on top of other windows, its popup dialogs would be displayed behind it as well. Fixed. * A few other minor fixes or adjustments. Version 2.02 - 2. May 1999 -------------------------- * The SampleModule.dll was slightly modified and recompiled in order to avoid false virus alert in the latest Norton AntiVirus update. Thank you, Symantec, very much. + New CDDB description plugin! It can import information about Audio CD discs and their tracks (title, artist, disk/track length, comments,...) from CDDB servers on the Internet. + Further improved updating target catalog after file operations like copy and move. All types of items are now handled correctly and will keep all their properties during such operations, including compressed archive files that will keep their contents information. + Optimized a bit program's performance and resource handling, resulting in a few % faster startup time and lower resource consumption. * Further improved the MP3 description module to handle some more unusual ID3v2 tag implementations. * The file management menu was not updated properly when language was changed, it was retained in previous language. Fixed. * Addressed some details about storing window's state and position between sessions, some users had reported problems with those. * Fixed some other issues reported so far, not very commonly encountered, or just of cosmetic relevance. Version 2.01 - 20. April 1999 ----------------------------- + Improved MP3 support, added ID3v2.3 tags support in description plugins. + Added additional navigation tools to large categories and flags lists in Properties dialog, to help you find a category or flag faster. + When copying or moving files or folders and option is checked to update target location in catalog, program will now also transfer existing descriptions, as well as categories and flags settings if both source and target disk are in the same catalog. * Addressed a possible printer problem under Windows NT. * Fixed some problems with categories handling when there are more than 255 categories defined in a catalog. * Addressed a rare problem with password protected catalogs. * Cancel button in Properties dialog did not cancel all changes as it should, it was acting more like the OK button. Fixed. * A few minor adjustments, mostly user interface related. Version 2.00 - 31. March 1999 ----------------------------- + WhereIsIt has a new home on the Internet! Visit "www.whereisit-soft.com". + Reports will now always include a full list of assigned categories instead of "(multiple)" mark, otherwise displayed on screen lists. + Enabled support for printing only specified range of pages in Report Generator. * When updating selected folder only instead of whole disk, the new data for that folder was not always saved when saving the catalog unless there were some other changes in data of the same disk. Fixed. * Fixed automatic catalog updates, sizes for nested folders were not updated properly in their parent folders. * Made some adjustments to archive extracting function in order to detect and handle properly out of disk space situations. * Addressed some auto-save related issues, preventing for auto-save to kick in while manual save is already in progress. * Some other minor or rare problems have been addressed. Version 2.00 RC1 - 21. March 1999 --------------------------------- + Release-candidate version, only bug fixes from now on. + Catalog preview window in extended open dialog will now resize itself accordingly to current dialog size. * Importing descriptions from list-based sources such as Descript.ion, Files.bbs, Index.txt,... files was broken in beta 5. Fixed. * Transferring category and flags settings between catalogs when moving or copying disk from one catalog to another did not work correctly for categories and flags assigned to folders. Fixed. Version 2.00 beta 5 - 14. March 1999 ------------------------------------ + Released an additional description module, for importing user-definable text files as descriptions. This feature was high in demand, but there are a lot of reservations about how much sense this can really have. The new plugin is not included in distribution package (it can be downloaded separately) and is not officially supported as part of WhereIsIt - use on your own responsibility. + Extended Open Dialog with catalog preview has been optimized to be more responsive when working with large catalogs. Preview function should no longer interfere or cause delays while selecting catalogs to load, even with very large catalogs. + Implemented some minor changes in Description API interface to enhance some plugin functions, especially with run-time setup support. + Adjusted description import filter for MP3 files to handle new variable bitrate (VBR) MP3 files. Please note that file play time will not be calculated for VBR files due to performance reasons. * Fixed some problems with removing data from catalog, error messages could occur in certain combinations of items selected to be removed. * Extracting files from SFX archives did not always work correctly, except for RAR SFX and ACE SFX archives. Fixed. * Text in combo box in Compare Results dialog was not initialized correctly. * Lots of other small changes, improvements, and bug fixes. Version 2.00 beta 4 - 5. March 1999 ----------------------------------- + Searching for duplicates is optimized and noticeably faster in many cases. * Fixed a bug in Catalog Setup, where using "Copy from..." button to copy categories from another catalog didn't do its job correctly in some cases. * Fixed a nasty bug in loading/saving search expressions, causing problems to some users. This version should be able to correctly load most of your saved expressions, but if you still have problems, write and save your expression again. * Fixed a problem in Description Assistant. "Index out of bounds" message would appear when trying to edit description via Description Assistant for items located near the end of a long list (for example, a long list of files in the folder). * Fixed a few similar problems in "Compare to Catalog" as well, sometimes occurring when calling up this function the second or later time. * The "Compare to Catalog" function had some problems when scanning files on NTFS partitions under Windows NT, specifically with comparing files by date and time. Program has been adjusted accordingly. * Included a workaround for some STB, Diamond and other S3-based video cards that were exhibiting problems with images. * Adjusted a few details about handling multi-volume ACE and RAR archives. * Adjusted description importing priorities on disk scan. It appears that in some cases new, just imported descriptions would replace the current ones in catalog, even if option was set to preserve existing descriptions. * When running on Windows NT, "Move To..." and "Delete" functions deleted only files on source location, but did not remove folders. This problem did not exist on Windows 95/98. * "Copy To..." and "Move To..." operations have sometimes failed to update target catalog, even if so instructed. * Updated and fixed some issues about calling up the Search and Duplicates windows in different circumstances. * Archive files were still showing extension in their file names even if this was set to disabled. Fixed. * English language file was spell-checked and a few typos fixed. * Some minor changes in help file and the rest of documentation, including the FAQ.TXT. * As always, lots of other minor changes and adjustments to address other, not very common problems reported so far. Version 2.00 beta 3 - 21. February 1999 --------------------------------------- + Added new support for ACE archive format. Both browsing and extracting functions are supported, including in ACE SFX archives. + Support for browsing RAR archive files has been completely rewritten to avoid many problems with this archive type. Archives created with newer versions of RAR should be recognized correctly now, including all RAR SFX archives. + Top bar in main window will now show parent disk info while browsing files and folders. More details about the disk are available in associated tool- tip, and you can click it for quick selection in catalog. + Added a "Configure Plugin" button to plugin list in Add/Update Disk dialog. + When processing a file operation on a list of items from different disks, program will now first handle all items that are available for access, and later ask to insert appropriate disks to handle the rest. Previous versions have always handled disks in alphabetical order. + English help file is now completed and up to date for version 2.0. + Optimized main window's painting during resize events, reducing flickering. * Fixed a problem in Properties dialog - if changing categories, disks or flags with '...' button, item data in Properties dialog would be reseted to state when dialog was shown. * Fixed a few problems related to duplicates searching and "Index out of bounds" error messages in Search dialog. * Fixed a problem with searching for categories or flags. Some items in subfolders that were loaded as a result of search hit were missing their data about categories, disk locations, or flags. This could have some side effects in other parts of program, too. * Setting to search for files inside compressed archives was acting just reversed of what it should be. * Some items in Search dialog were not available for translation. * Fixed sorting files by disk numbers. * Some other minor fixes. Version 2.00 beta 2 - 13. February 1999 --------------------------------------- + Multi-language support is now enabled, and translations can begin. Only English language file is currently prepared for version 2.0. + Added a new option to hide file extensions in file names if extension column is also visible in list view. Some may not care much about having extensions displayed twice in both Name and Ext columns. + The dialog asking to save modified catalog(s) will now show a check box to apply the same answer to all other modified catalogs as well. + Modified a bit how searching by descriptions is performed. It should return less "false" hits due to spaces inside target text while retaining its flexibility. + Modified the items sorting in report generator, which will now display disks in the same order as they are in the main window, and file and folders in the same order as they are on source list. Previous versions have always sorted all items alphabetically. + Exporting descriptions has been extended with an option to add just created or updated description files in catalog. + The algorithm to find first free disk number was changed to return first free number after the biggest one used so far in current catalog. This should help if counting disks in catalog does not start with number 1. + It is now possible to search for items without assigned category, flag, or disk location. + Outlook bar in Program Settings dialog is now able to adjust its width according to text used for items inside - this will ensure that item text will not be stripped, and make translations easier. + Sound file to play after long operations is now user definable. + Help file has been updated, but is not yet completed. Most of major dialogs are now covered with correct context sensitive help, but there is still some work left to be done. * Fixed a problem with removing archive file contents. In most cases, this operation has caused an error message in beta 1. * Fixed importing descriptions from archive files where option was set to only import descriptions, but not archive file contents. Description was attached to parent folder instead of archive file. * Fixed some search expressions related problems. * Fixed the problem with searching inside archive files - the new search engine did not handle this setting correctly, it was almost always regarded as being turned off. * Fixed and improved some details in report generator. Duplex printing should now be OK, and it is possible to print range of pages (but only if printing from print preview). * Fixed some minor details in exporting descriptions to HTML format. * Fixed the option to disable showing disks in catalog when catalog is loaded, disks were always expanded. * Many other small fixes, adjustments and improvements. Version 2.00 beta 1 - 31. January 1999 -------------------------------------- + Completely rewritten search user interface and large part of search engine. The new user interface design is divided in two modes - Quick Search, and Advanced Search. Quick Search is capable of quickly finding items based on their names and/or descriptions, including searching by file masks, text included in item's name or description, file types etc. Advanced Search mode offers a complete search expression editor, allowing you to write, load, and save your own search expressions using full set of logical operators, and full set of WhereIsIt's search conditions, such as searching by name, description, size, date, time, attributes categories, flags, disk locations etc. + New Description API programming interface allows WhereIsIt to be extended with third-party description plugins, importing descriptions from other, currently not supported description sources. All existing description filters were rewritten according to Description API specification, and extended with some new filters (importing HTML titles as descriptions, for example). The pre-release version of Description API in Windows Help format, as well as a sample description plugin are included with the program for all interested in writing their own description plugins. + Program now uses new and enhanced catalog file format, capable of storing new features implemented in this release, and providing space to implement some new ones in next releases. Your existing catalog files will get automatically converted to the new format first time they are saved - you will also notice that new catalog format produces noticeably smaller files. + Added catalog protection. Each catalog can now have assigned read-only and full access passwords, and catalog file itself can be stored encrypted for additional security. + Extended categories, flags, and added new disk locations. There can now be up to 4095 categories per catalog, and up to 255 user-defined flags or disk storage locations. Categories can be organized in a tree structure, allowing some categories to act as subcategories (up to 16 levels). Disks are now also allowed to have categories assigned. + Add/Update Disk dialog has been renewed, to comply with Description API settings, as well as to improve some features and interface appearance. New feature is a Folder Limitations button, where you can visually select virtual root folder, as well as check/uncheck each folder on selected disk if it is to be included in disk scan or not. There is also a new checkbox available, allowing for Add/Update dialog to be redisplayed after scanning completes - useful when adding multiple disks to catalog. + A new tab in program's settings handles items to be skipped during disk scan. Apart from hidden files and folders you can now also choose to skip zero-sized files or empty folders, Recycle Bin folder, and provide list of file masks for files to ignore (for example "*.tmp, *.bak). + Due to popular requests, program now allows removal of selected files or folders from catalog. In addition, you can now also remove the contents of compressed archive files, if no longer interested in files inside. + In addition to "Copy To" command, program now also supports "Move To" and "Delete" commands to allow complete file management. Additional features are optional deleting to Recycle Bin, or automatic updating of cataloged data if destination disk is found in loaded catalogs. + Items in all lists can now be syntax-colored, according to their type, category, flags, or disk locations. All colors, file types etc. are user- adjustable, stored either globally (file types) or inside each catalog file. + File lists and the main tree window now support optional explorers one-click interface, with item underlining and click-less item selection. + Internal ASCII viewer has been improved with new HEX mode for binary files, auto-detection of ASCII/binary files, added is toolbar and a button to call up Quick View (Plus), if installed. + There are two new wizard dialogs available. The "How to Order Wizard" will advise and help you choose the most suitable way how to send in registration fee, and will either connect you with online ordering site, or print the already filled registration form based on your decision. The other wizard can check on the Internet if there is a newer version of WhereIsIt available for download. + ANSI/OEM conversion of imported descriptions is now optional. + You can optionally set the program to play a default system sound (a "ping" of some kind, usually) after a long (>10 sec) operation completes. This can bring back your attention when a complex search or disk update operation completes. + Sorting algorithm used in program has been rewritten. While it still supports stable sorting, it is noticeably faster especially on large lists. It does require some additional working memory though - WhereIsIt will try to detect if memory is very low, and use the old algorithm instead in this case. + The dialog for selecting folders has been completely rewritten, and it now supports some enhanced features used in different places in program (it is now able to detect changes in folder tree and update it automatically, display checkbox with folders, display drive or folder as virtual root...) + Description exporting has been enhanced with HTML description format. Similar to Files.bbs and Index.txt files, a HTML file is stored on original media in each folder, containing file descriptions in HTML format. + The Program Settings dialog is now better organized, with new setting groups available on the left side. Since more tabs are now available, settings have been re-arranged in a way that allows more space on form for translations. There are too many new settings available to be listed here, only some of them will be mentioned. + Added is a new option in program settings, specifying if folders are allowed to have extensions. If you are using long file names with periods for your folders, disabling folder extensions might be a good idea. + Catalog auto loading feature can now be set to load all opened catalog from the previous session when WhereIsIt starts. + The "Locate in Catalog" function was added to action list for mouse double- click. You can select it in program's settings. + The toolbar in main window provides some new features, such as extended buttons with pull-down menus (for example, the "Open" button has attached a pull-down menu with recently opened catalog files for quick access). + The Insert Media dialog is now able to auto-detect when the required media has been inserted in drive, and continue with operation without waiting for user to press the OK button. Auto insert notification must be enabled in Windows for drive in question for this feature to work. + The Search dialog is not yet replaced with a new version, but there are a few enhancements already available. Some of edit boxes in are now equipped with a history list, storing old search queries to be re-used if required. Searching by description supports a new feature - searching for items that sound alike, using the soundex algorithm. The Help and Stay On Top buttons have been moved to window's caption. + A new Properties dialog is now available for cases when more than one item is selected. The new dialog will show common properties for a group of selected items, as well as allow you to change description, categories, flags, or disk locations for all selected items at once. The Properties dialog for single items has also been added some new features, like setting the same categories and flags to all available subitems. + The work on new Report Generator is not completed yet, however some new features are available. Most notable are new, more friendly dialog layout, new HTML and RTF report exporting functions, new internal reporting engine, changes in Report Settings dialog for easier access etc. Report Generator will now allow to word wrap single-line descriptions, if space on page is critical. This way, description column will take less space, but multi-line descriptions will not be word wrapped to preserve text formatting. + Language support has been improved with some new language settings, like right-to-left reading. Support for languages using DBCS is planned for the final release. The use of language files can also be disabled in version 2.0, allowing the program to run faster if only using internal English language. + Version 2.0 is now much more DBCS-friendly, and Far-East users should be able to use the program with their own language with much better results. + The Compare Results window is no longer modal - user can now switch to other windows without loosing compare results data. Some heavy adjustments all around the program were needed to support this feature. + New script language has been added to WhereIsIt, mostly for automated catalog management (loading, updating, saving,...) Network administrators should now be able to schedule unattended catalog updates. The script language itself is only basic for now and will likely be extended in the feature. + The "Open Catalog" dialog was enhanced and is now capable of showing some catalog's properties without having to open the catalog in program. Some of available details are the catalog-tree preview, catalog description, a few details about stored disks, catalog's owner and protection state etc. + Improved mouse wheel support. + WhereIsIt now uses a new registration system - instead of typing four lines of user data, each registered user now gets a personal key file to register the program and unlock all capabilities. The new system allows me to implement some additional features, and is easier to use for end users. + MANY other improvements and changes were made in WhereIsIt 2.0 (I have to admit I lost track for some of them myself). Some more are still planned before the final 2.0 release will be completed. At a rough estimate, about 80% of code was modified or rewritten since the 1.2x release. Known Limitations And Missing Features -------------------------------------- * Multi-language support is disabled in this release. Only English language is currently up to date with version 2.0, and it is not time yet to start updating other languages, too - program will still change a lot, including in user interface. * Direct support for network drives using UNC addressing is not yet included in this release - you still have to assign a drive letter to network drive in order to access it with WhereIsIt. Program has been internally updated for UNC drives, though, this feature will be activated in later versions. * Help file has barely been updated so far - you are likely to find some new items displaying no or even wrong help text. Help file is usually the last thing to update before release is called "final". * Some improvements are waiting to be done in report generator as well, especially with printer settings and support functions. * Some new exciting features still planned to be included in WhereIsIt will likely have to wait for the next major release, probably version 2.5. Among them are support for printing labels and CD inserts, the new "folder" system similar to one used in many e-mail programs which is intended to enhance and replace user list functionality, and some others. Program has been internally prepared for many such features, but I can't implement everything at one, development of version 2.0 is already taking too long. OLDER 1.xx RELEASES =================== Version 1.26 - 18. September 1998 --------------------------------- + Probably the last release before the first 2.0 beta version. Version 1.26 should be and remain the most stable release for quite some time, at least until 2.0 is fully completed and tested. * Fixed a number of small or rare problems reported or found during the last month, including problems during disk scanning, searching being interrupted, sorting large disks by size etc. Version 1.25 - 16. August 1998 ------------------------------ + Implemented some minor changes how menus are painted, and improved some details about launching files with associated programs. + Included support for importing file info about *.CPL files. * Fixed some language-related problems when using a language other than English, especially in Search dialog. * Fixed a problem occurring with some removable drives when program tries to assign a new serial number to media. Version 1.24 - 19. July 1998 ---------------------------- + Added UNC filename support for saving and loading catalog files in network environments. Full UNC support is scheduled for version 2.0. + Improved some minor details about properly importing 4DOS description files. + Included some minor details for better support of Windows 98. * When using "Copy To..." or "Extract To..." commands, directory tree to select the destination sometimes appeared empty, and manual refresh was required. Fixed. * Fixed problem with Report Generator when running on Windows NT, after changing printer settings. This has been fixed before, but the buggy code has crept back in when I updated my development environment a few weeks ago. * A number of fixes and safeguards have been implemented in disk scanning procedure, to prevent some rare problems occuring during the disk scan. * Fixed a number of small problems or issues, either reported or discovered during development of new 2.0 version. Some portions of code from upcoming 2.0 release are also included in this release, to add small improvements in both functionality and speed. Version 1.23 - 4. June 1998 --------------------------- * Major service release. + Enabled option to allow case sensitive searching by file mask, both for normal searching and searching for duplicates. * Fixed and improved algorithm for searching for duplicate items. Previous versions had problems returning correct results if both name and size were not checked as duplicates criteria. * Fixed and improved importing existing descriptions on disk update. Program will now allow files that have changed, but remained on the same location to keep their current descriptions on update. This also includes better file recognition support, if more files with the same name but different descriptions exist in catalog. * Alt-F4 shortcut will now always close currently active window or dialog, not necessarily the application. * Improved importing information from WAV files. Some types of WAV files were not recognized properly in previous releases. * Adjusted a few minor problems with browsing data in the main window. In some rare specific cases, sorting in just displayed window was not set correctly, or sort arrow was missing in column header. * Fixed problem in report generator - exporting some very specific types of reports to ASCII file or to Excel could end with internal error message. + A few other minor enhancements were included, mostly user suggestions. Version 1.22 - 28. May 1998 --------------------------- * Service release. One bug was found after all in new searching routines, related to searching files in deep nested folders by descriptions. Sometimes program failed to find some of those files. * A few more changes were implemented to ensure support for new version 2.0, when it will be released. Version 2.0 will introduce new catalog file format to support some of new features, and new catalogs created by 2.0 version will not be readable by this release. Changes included here will recognize new catalog file format and act accordingly. Of course, your current catalogs will be supported by 2.0 version, and automatically converted to new format when saved for a first time. Version 1.21 - 25. May 1998 --------------------------- + Installation program has been improved and equipped with some special, custom made add-ons to provide additional functionality. Installation program is now able to detect location of previous installation and offer it as default, and it will now clear old program entries in "Add/Remove programs" list when re-installing or upgrading. Partial install is also supported, and a new sample catalog was added to present some of program's capabilities to new users. + Assigned Ctrl-Enter shortcut to act as a click on the OK button when editing a description (it now works in Description Assistant as well in item's properties dialog). + Improved changing serial numbers to handle 0000-0000 numbers on Windows 95, too. In previous versions, zeroed serial number could not be changed when running on Windows 95/98 (Windows NT users did not have this problem). + Improved media type detection. Now program will try to detect type of media inserted, not just type of drive. This could be useful in cases such as DD media in HD drive, or regular 3.5" floppy disk in LS-120 drive. + Added new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file to WhereIsIt package. * Fixed sorting in Search Results list and User List. Clicking on column sometimes did not sort items as it should. * Fixed and improved importing database from Floppy Master. Version 1.20 - 18. May 1998 --------------------------- + Right-clicking on drive button in Add Disk/Update Disk dialog will now show system context menu for that drive (the same one as if right-clicking drive icon in Explorer). The same context menus are also available when selecting a folder for some operation. + Added catalog file size information to catalog properties. + Changed a bit how sorting by disk numbers is handled for files and folders. * Auto-save interval in program settings was not preserved correctly. Fixed. * Importing descriptions from Files.bbs and similar was adjusted a bit, some descriptions could be skipped in previous versions. * A number of other small changes and adjustments. Version 1.20 beta 1 - 7. May 1998 --------------------------------- + Almost completely rewritten search procedure and internal catalog handling, resulting in much faster searching, and shorter shut-down times. Searching is now in average about 3-4 times faster, and in some special cases even up to 10 or 20 times. Actual improvements will largely depend on number of hits (fewer the better), and a bit on catalog data structure. + Added sort indicators to column headers. Headers are now by default a little wider than in previous versions, since some space is reserved for the arrow. + Added IntelliMouse support in Windows 95 (scrolling active window with mouse wheel). + Program will now remember last set "Copy to" folder. * Modified a bit how media is detected, to address problem with using catalog file on both Windows 95 or 98, and Windows NT. Problem occurs because each system reports slightly different details about media - result is that media added to catalog in Windows 95/98 is not recognized on Windows NT, and vice versa. Program now tries to tolerate those differences, especially when working with CD-ROMs. * Saved catalog files will now preserve their attributes, including the compression attribute on NTFS disks. * Fixed a few problems related to saving Search dialog's settings. * Fixed searching by file type, and searching for duplicates with file name filter turned on. Some new additions in previous versions broke this. * Fixed some problems in report generator, like always printing from default paper source. * When closing multiple catalogs with "Close All" command, there was some unnecessary flickering and redrawing. Closing is now faster and smoother. * Disk size for virtual disks was always reported as 0. Virtual disk size is now presented as used space by all files on virtual disk. * Fixed anomaly when scanning some specific CAB archives, and fixed extracting from archives with spaces in internal folders. Version 1.11 - 5. April 1998 ---------------------------- + Some internal optimization was done in this release, resulting in notice- able speed improvements, like faster list updates when scrolling. A few other speed optimizations are also prepared, but not yet included in this release, since some further testing is necessary first. + "Show context menu" button on Win95 keyboards now works in WhereIsIt, too. + Item lists will now show selected items even after window looses focus. + Added recognition support for Fujitsu M2531A MO drives. * When saving catalog failed for some reason (full disk, etc.), program could start incorrectly reporting catalog errors, or just crash in certain conditions. This has been fixed, and program is generally better protected against saving related problems. * Fixed extracting files from RAR archives when files were stored in sub- folders inside RAR. * When moving with PgUp/PgDn keys (in large steps) through tree view in main window, the right pane sometimes didn't update itself properly. Fixed. * Adjusted detection routine for detecting removable drives. On Win95/98, some removable drives could be sometimes detected as hard drives. * (De)selecting files via +, *, - buttons was very slow in 1.10 release. * Fixed anomaly when drawing popup menus (menu item's text was sometimes displayed too low). * Added a few other minor adjustments. Version 1.10 final - 20. March 1998 ----------------------------------- + Improved search capabilities when searching by name or description. Now you can specify more than one condition to search for, separated by commas. For example, to find all text and zip files, you can do this in single search by specifying '*.txt, *.zip' as a file mask. The same goes for text in descriptions. Program will search for items that match by at least one of specified condition. + Adjusted a bit how menu items are painted, text should be better aligned now for most systems. + When scanning disk with importing hidden files turned off, such files were also not checked for importing description. This has changed, descriptions will get imported from hidden files even if they are set to be skipped and are not appearing in the catalog. * Program will now remember and next time set maximized window state. Previous versions only remembered window size, but not state. * Fixed a bug with moving disks between catalogs (registered version only). Error messages could start poping up after or during disk is being moved. * Fixed a problem with normal search / duplicates search setting. * Fixed blank entries appearing in the most-recently-used catalog list. * Fixed a problem occurring with multiple printers installed on Windows NT. Version 1.10 beta 4 - 10. March 1998 ------------------------------------ + Installation program now supports German language, too. + Added a new button to put program in the background during disk scanning, minimizing application and allowing to use other programs at that time. Program will pop up again when disk scan is finished. + Search dialog will now remember not only window size, but also last used search settings and search type. This way, if your last search was by file name, the next time you press Ctrl+F search dialog will be already set to search by file name. + Added support for some file operations to Compare / New items list. + Added support for Java ARchives (*.JAR), quickly gaining popularity on Internet for Java packaging. They are handled as regular *.zip archives. + Added importing information for wave (*.WAV) and MPEG (*.MPx) audio files. ID3 tags are supported, too. + Changed "last opened catalogs" list size from 4 to 8 (this will be made user adjustable in the next major release), and modified a bit the logic how catalogs are added or displayed on this list. + Improved Windows 98 compatibility. + Added option to disable startup and shutdown logo (registered users only). + Add/Update disk dialog will now remember "Advanced >>" button state between sessions. + Added 'Add to User List' action to file double-click actions list. + Added recognition for "Deltis MOS320" and "Olympus MOS332" MO drives. * When updating disk image, old disk description was sometimes not preserved. Fixed. * Fixed searching by file mask for files, compressed inside archive files and with subfolder(s) appended to file name in the catalog. * Setting to browse inside archive files had some problems with its default setting in Add/Update dialog. Fixed. * Fixed error occurring when trying to use "Copy To" command on '..' folder. * Fixed a bunch of spelling errors in English language file. Version 1.10 beta 3 - 27. February 1998 --------------------------------------- + Added optional disk numbers to catalog, due to popular requests. Each disk can now have its own number, used mostly for reference purposes. Appropriate columns will appear when listing disks, files and folders, and relevant dialogs were updated to support this new feature. Catalogs remain compatible with previous versions, regardless of this new addition. + Added 'Save All Catalogs' command to main menu. + Added a new command line parameter, '/English', for forcing the program to start in English language, disregarding current language setting. You can use this to bail back to default language if you have mistakenly set a language you can't see or understand. + Added ability to rename disks and catalogs from their Properties dialog. + Added support for importing 00index.txt (and similar) files. + Improved on handling of Files.bbs files. Some additional new formats are now supported, and program is more robust to other, perhaps yet unknown formats. + Improved File_id.diz importing from compressed files. Program can now import File_id.diz files even if they are not in "root" of compressed file, and includes some logic what to do if multiple File_id.diz files are found inside single compressed file. + Added 'Item Time' column to User List and Compare Results List. Please note that for compatibility reasons, users of previous versions will find new columns at the right end of listview window; you can use the 'Customize Columns' option to reorder columns. + Added some special support for Seagate's Direct Tape virtual drives, to overcome problems caused by Direct Tape's not-exactly-perfect removable drive simulation. + Improved removable drive detection, and added support for detecting new "iomega Zip 100 Plus" drives. E-mail me for details if you have a removable drive and would like to have it detected under real name instead of generic "removable drive" label (functional in Win95 only at the moment). + Added support for detecting and recognizing LS-120 drives. + Added context sensitive help to Properties dialog, User List, and Compare Results List window. I think that about covers it now. + Made some additional changes to user interface, to accommodate new multi- language support. + Updated column auto-resizing behavior. You should no longer experience columns changing sizes by themselves to default value when manually resizing some other column, and there should be less flickering. * Finally fixed support for Novell NetWare network drives larger than 2GB. * When program is searching for media to match catalogued disk, it will now correctly handle situation where more than one drive is found to have the same properties as needed media. * Operations like View and Launch did not work correctly with files stored in internal subfolders inside RAR file. Fixed. * Fixed exporting reports to ASCII files, sometimes exported report was empty. * When changing active language, hidden columns and columns order settings were lost. Fixed. * On language change, order of items in Disk Image Setting / "Import description from the following sources" list appeared to be reset to default order. Fixed. * Removing temporary extracted files at program exit did not work correctly in 1.10 beta 1 and 2 if "Ask before delete" mode was selected. Fixed. * Fixed "List index out of bounds" error in Compare Results list, occasionally showing when switching lists. * Importing descriptions from Files.bbs and 00index.txt files could be slow in folders with a lot of subfolders, or archive files. This is much faster now. * Improved on general program's stability, compromised by introducing multi- language support a while ago. Especially the Report Generator had a tendency to force an error when being used for a while, and this should be fixed now. Version 1.10 beta 2 - 11. February 1998 --------------------------------------- + Added support for customizing font used in dialog boxes all over the program. This setting is now a part of language definition file, and includes font name, international character set to use, and font size. With this settings you can assign special font setting to each language supported in program. For example, to get Office 97 look & feel, select font 'Tahoma' instead of default 'MS Sans Serif'. + Language Editor has been updated to comply with new font settings, and will now show source text and your translation in appropriate fonts, as set in language files. * Fixed problem with no language being selected (English should always be default, but...) This bug showed as missing text in dialogs, column headers etc. Once you have selected the appropriate language yourself, everything has returned to normal. * Fixed importing File_id.diz files from compressed files, when "Browse only for descriptions" option was enabled. * Added some safeties to the new Language Editor, to prevent loosing most of your translations in case some critical error would occur. * Fixed a few other minor user-interface related bugs, and made some changes for better multi-language support. Version 1.10 beta 1 - 6. February 1998 -------------------------------------- + NEW! Complete multi-language support, with run-time language switching and built-in Language Editor for translating the program to your own language. English and Slovenian language files are included with this release, and there are many more under construction at this moment. + NEW! Support for exporting reports directly to Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program. Program uses DDE to communicate with Excel, and builds a new table with your report contents. From there you can save generated spread- sheet to .XLS or any other format supported by Excel. + Added support for extracting from self-extract (.exe) files. + When extracting archive files, type of compression is no longer assumed by file extension, but is recognized from the file itself. + Rewritten importing descriptions logic, preparing it for future upgrades. + Added optional version info importing from 32-bit Windows files (exe, dll, vxd, ocx...) during disk scan. Program is now able to import file description and version from manufacturer's signature. + Added simple description importing for Audio CD disks. Each track will be commented with track number and length, and if CD-ROM or track is already in Windows' CD Player's database, track or disk name will be imported from there. + Added 'Remove from User List' button and menu option to most windows, acting as a counterpart to old 'Add to User List' command. This new function will enable you some more detailed user list handling, like using search for finding items to remove from user list. All this is mostly preparation for the next major version which will allow you to save User List contents, giving a whole new dimension to your catalogs. + Changed some details about editing disk name in Add/Update dialog. Now you can enter disk name before clicking on the drive button (it won't get overwritten with default disk label any more if you typed it there). + Right clicking column headers now shows a menu, where you can either force columns to auto-adjust their width to currently visible data, or show a Columns Setup dialog as in previous versions. + After editing description or renaming an item is finished, columns will now auto-adjust their width to accommodate new data. + Added *,-,+ keys on numerical keyboard for list selection. '+' ('-') will select (deselect) items on list by file mask, while '*' will invert current selection. All three are acting the same way as in ever popular Norton Commander. + 'Export Descriptions' dialog will now keep settings inside current session. + 'Compare Files to Catalog' will now store last used settings to registry, keeping them even between sessions. + Replaced color selection combo in Report Settings with more powerful color button. * Fixed some problems with importing and exporting Files.bbs descriptions, mostly where long file names were included. * Improved file error handling in 'Copy To...' command. * When trying to change serial number on write-protected disk under Windows NT, disk scan would be aborted with error message. Fixed to ignore the error, leave the serial number alone, and continue with scanning. Version 1.02 - 21. January 1998 ------------------------------- * Fixed a problem with detecting drives (partitions) in size over 2GB. * Made changes to avoid reported problems with some network drives. * Fixed problem with band size when changing fonts in report generator. * A few problems reported with 1.01 were addressed and fixed in this release. Version 1.01 - 9. January 1998 ------------------------------ * This version fixes a few more or less rare problems that were reported regarding the final release, and adds some very minor enhancements. + Installation script was updated to ask for confirmation before executing Microsoft's Comctl32.dll upgrade installation program. + Browse for folder dialog now has a Refresh button, to allow updating the folder tree in case something changed (new drives available, etc.) + Context sensitive help was added in Search dialog, too. * Fixed problem in Description Assistant where program would sometimes report an error when accessing description files larger than 32kB. * Fixed problem in searching for duplicates, the "Don't search for files inside archive files" option did not work as it should. * Fixed searching by categories if more than one catalog with categories set was included in searching (returned results may have been incorrect). * Fixed updating disks where categories set were sometimes not correctly preserved for some items without description. * Fixed a "List index out of bounds" message that may show sometimes when disabling 'Show ".." folders' option in program's settings. * The "Autohide After..." checkbox in User Interface settings did not save its state correctly between sessions (it was just reverted). * Updated "View / Sort items..." menu to include some missing options. * If more than one folder was selected, "Copy To..." only copied the first one and skipped all others. Fixed. Version 1.0 FINAL - 31. December 1997 ------------------------------------- + Updated installation script to include the latest COMCTL32.DLL files for both Win95 and NT, and made possible for install program to update these files by itself, if necessary. + Finally added custom reports to report generator. You can visually select items to include in a catalog tree display - what is visible in tree, this will be printed. There are also a few macro commands to make selection easier, and you can save prepared report layout to file. + Added a new option to exclude items compressed inside archive files from searching. + Added new shortcut Shift-F10 to bring up item's context popup menu. * Finally located and fixed the problem where some descriptions in catalog were not preserved after updating disk data. * Fixed a nasty problem with new categories display from the previous release. For some catalogs, categories displayed in columns were not the right ones. * Fixed searching by Created and Last Accessed dates, which had sometimes incorrectly returned all compressed files. * Fixed a few problems on Windows NT, especially for those users running new Internet Explorer 4.0 with active desktop installed. * Fixed handling of Audio CDs on Windows NT. It seems that CD-ROM driver in Windows NT handles Audio CDs a bit strangely compared to Windows 95, and program is now adjusted to that behavior. * Fixed numerous small bugs I managed to find in the last week, mostly user-interface related that might show under certain conditions. Hopefully, program is more or less clean now. - Note to previous users of WhereIsIt: this final release will "upgrade" your existing catalogs, the first time they are loaded in the program. Each catalog will be marked as modified after loading, and rebuilt from scratch when saved. This is done to enable all of us a fresh start, filtering out all possible problems inside catalogs that could be left over from beta versions. Version 1.0 RC4 - 20. December 1997 ----------------------------------- + Added a new command: "Copy To..." With this one, you can copy one or more selected files and folders from the catalog to some other folder of your choice. Selected items don't have to have the same origin; you can select to copy items originating from different disks with one single command, and program will prompt you to insert appropriate disks during copying. Ideal if you have grouped items of interest in Search Results list or in the User List, and want to copy them somewhere else. + Added categories to be displayed as columns in most item lists. + Added option to disable auto-hiding descriptions shown as tool-tips. Until now, you could only set how long will it stay on screen, up to 15s. + Search window will now remember last expanded size, and will set it the same next time. + Report generator is faster and a bit smarter when generating reports. Sorting items by source is MUCH faster now, and is done only the first time when printing or previewing the report, not every time. + Provided are ways to cancel report generation, printing, or exporting it at any given moment, and added some additional progress indicators. + Made some small changes to how categories are handled, and improved a bit on associated dialogs. + Added ability to search for items without assigned category. * Fixed a few problems regarding printer settings in report generator. There were problems with printing to non-default printer, to printer with default paper orientation set to landscape, and printers set in Report Setup and Printer Setup dialog sometimes did not match. Also added more available paper sizes for your reports. * When printing reports, number of copies and collate printing now works correctly. * Fixed a problem with DiskInfo button in Add Disk dialog. * Fixed support for some disks (partitions) over 2.1 GB. Version 1.0 RC3 - 8. December 1997 ---------------------------------- + Reports had some major improvements in this release. Items in report can now be grouped by their origin (catalog, disk, folder), and printed with appropriate headings. Icons can be optionally included in report, adding some graphics to the printout. Report sections can now have customizable background color, allowing you to make color bands for titles etc, and some new sections were included (headings for grouped items). + Added possibility to use some external shell program instead of Windows Explorer with "Open in Explorer" command. + Added "Open Description Assistant" to available file double-click actions. + In full-screen print preview mode, status line is no longer displayed, in order to maximize visible page area. * Fixed repainting buttons in report preview toolbar after changing page. Version 1.0 RC2 - 26. November 1997 ----------------------------------- * Fixed loading position for dialogs like Search and User List that did not work correctly for some users of RC1 version. The RC2 will fix this problem, as well as prevent any problems resulting from this misbehavior in RC1. * Made some changes trying to prevent problems with saving files, as reported by one user. Saving should be more fail-safe now, and should at least report a problem if there is one. * Improved saving procedure when operating in low disk space condition, like when saving catalog to floppy disk, or a very full hard drive. The new procedure is much more robust, and will sometimes manage to get job done where older versions couldn't. * Fixed a problem with toolbar positioning when it is floating on program startup. * Fixed some broken links in the help file. Version 1.0 RC1 - 14. November 1997 ----------------------------------- + Closing catalogs is now about twice faster as it was before. This also affects the total shutdown time, cutting it to half. + Improved a bit on start-up time, and reduced program's memory consumption. + Exporting reports to ASCII files is done properly now, and few new options are now available when exporting (normal, tab-delimited or comma-separated columns to choose from) + Added a new option to display settings, to disable smooth scrolling while expanding or collapsing tree nodes in main window. Smooth scrolling is automatically active in entire Windows system if using a newer Comctl32.dll library, included with Internet Explorer 4.0, for example. + Added zoom cursor to report preview; left click on report area will perform zoom in, and right click will zoom out. + Removed some flickering in report preview when changing pages. + Description Assistant window will now save its size and position. * Prevented the '..' folder from appearing in reports. * Searching for duplicates did not find all duplicate files in some special cases. Fixed. * Fixed support for disks (partitions) larger than 2.1 GB. * Fixed a problem that may occur when printing report. If print job was canceled from Windows while program was still busy printing, WhereIsIt? had some major problems handling this situation in 0.99 version. * Fixed some problems with updating main window while moving or copying disks with Catalog Manager. - Custom reports will probably have to wait until the 1.1 release, there is just too much to do about them if I want to do it right. Version 0.99 - 6. November 1997 ------------------------------- + Brand new report generator with print preview is finally included in this release! It is not completely finished, some functionality is yet to come (custom reports), but you can get the general idea. Visual appearance of a report can be customized, and complete print preview is in there, with background page generation, zoom, full screen mode and all. Exporting to ASCII files is just basic at this stage, though, and there may be some minor problems left to solve later. A lot of fresh coding was done in a very short time for the new report generator, and some bugs are probably fair to be expected in this release. Let me know! Check the "reportg.txt" file for some more development details. + Extended "Compare Files to Catalog" option to compare not only to one whole catalog, but to allow user to select which disks or catalogs to include in compare (just like in Limit Search option). Also, added a "Cancel" button to interrupt the process if it takes too long. + Added a new feature in search by filename: if program detects that data to search for is in a file mask format (using '*' and '?' characters), it will automatically switch to 'Search by File Mask' mode, regardless of previous setting (default is 'Part of Filename' setting). + Improved handling of international characters in filenames. + Improved detection of multi-session CD-ROMs where Windows may return incorrect total media size (only the last track is counted). + Added Ctrl-PgUp to act the same way as a backspace, or a Back button, just like it does in popular Norton Commander. Also added Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDown shortcuts to switch tabs in Compare Results window. * Fixed disk properties dialog for users with small font setting. * Fixed a dialog for disk selection shown when at least two disks with the same parameters already exist in catalog when adding a new disk. For users with small font setting only, window with disks list was not resized properly, covering the buttons at the bottom completely... * Fixed searching by filemask. In some special cases, searching failed to correctly locate items. * Fixed some minor problems with extracting from RAR files when they are in the right pane of the main window. * Fixed some minor problems with recognizing some rare TAR files, and adjusted .Z and .GZ files handling. * Fixed some problems about importing descriptions from Files.bbs files. * Fixed disk properties dialog for users with small font setting. * Some other minor adjustements that came my way... Version 0.90.9b - 26. October 1997 ---------------------------------- + Added .Z (Unix compress) archive recognition, and .LZH extraction support. + Added small fancy tabs in Compare Results window, for easy switching between lists as well as better preview of compare results. + Added progress bar indicator when program is loading catalog data needed to search for files in that catalog ("Compare Files to Catalog" option). + Added new option in Display Settings to enable/disable showing keyboard shortcuts inside button tooltips. If this is enabled (default), tips will have shortcut information appended, f.e. "Open Catalog (Ctrl-O)" + Extended support for NTFS volume labels that can be up to 32 characters long (compared to 11 characters in (V)FAT, FAT32, or CDFS) + Added F4 shortcut in Search window and User List to access properties, and added Ctrl-I shortcut for ASCII Viewer. + When using external ASCII viewer, program will now always pass filename to view enclosed between two double-quotes. This should allow some applications proper long filename handling when spaces and other "invalid" characters are used in filename. Also, a new option was added to force using short filenames only when running external viewer program. * Extracting from RAR archives was broken in 0.90.9, now it's working again. * Quick-search introduced in previous version was not setup correctly for the new Compare Results window when new items were displayed. Fixed. * Fixed importing description priority order (archive comments always had priority over File_id.diz inside archive, whatever the settings was). * When updating disk data with "Quick scan" option on, folder sizes may have been calculated incorrectly. Fixed. * Importing descriptions like File_id.diz from inside compressed files sometimes did not work correctly if lower-case chars were used in the filename. Fixed. * Number of folders was sometimes reported incorrectly as 65535 for empty disks. Fixed. * If trying to open already opened catalog, exception error would show. Fixed. * Picture for disabled View button in Search window was displayed incorrectly. Version 0.90.9a - 22. October 1997 ---------------------------------- + Added a new option to check if files located somewhere on your drive are already stored somewhere in the catalog. As a result you will get three lists of files, telling you which files are new, which were found to be the same in the catalog and which were only matched by name, but not other properties, like size or date .Using this, you should be able to avoid storing the same files to many different places. + Added 'View File' command as a choice for double-click action. + Changed the 'Clear previous search results' in Search dialog to be checked by default. + Enabled quick search in all list windows: if you want to select a known item on the list (file, folder,...), just start typing its name - selection will be repositioned to the first item with name matching to what you have typed. + Introduced a small delay before updating the left window when moving selection through the treeview using your keyboard. This prevents unnecessary flicker (left list will be updated in 0.5 seconds after you stop moving). If using your mouse, however, left window will still be updated at once. * Fixed ASCII viewer settings, rich-text format parsing was active for all files, not only *.rtf (some rare text files would appear truncated). Version 0.90.9 - 19. October 1997 --------------------------------- + Help file has been dramatically improved, and more dialogs now have context-sensitive help available, including the options and main window. + New option to compare data in catalog against current data on media is introduced in this version. You can now compare the contents of any disk or folder in the catalog to its origin, in order to find files that are new, deleted, changed, or the same as in time of cataloguing this data. + The main toolbar can now be customized! You can rearrange buttons and separators, and select which buttons will appear on toolbar and which not. This became necessary since new version has even more available buttons and toolbar may simply get too big to see for some users. + New internal ASCII viewer can show you the contents of any (text) file right out from WhereIsIt. It is no longer needed to have certain file types registered with Notepad and launch them in order to see their contents. + Added Unix GZIP and UnGZIP support (.gz file extension) + Searching is about 25% faster and safer than before, due to optimized search thread settings. + Added ability to change disk serial number in Windows NT, too. + Added some safe-guards when ejecting disk under NT. This should allow to safely remove media from drive, without interrupting the system. + When program is already running, and user double-clicks catalog file in Explorer, or runs another instance of program with catalog filename as a parameter(s) to load, the running instance will be notified and will try load the specified catalogs. + Improved settings dialog. Tabs now have small images on them and a few pages have been changed and added to adjust for new options. + Extended Quick-Setup Wizard with some new settings. + Sizes for files and folders now have thousands separators for easier reading. Also, you can now set in program's settings if you want sizes displayed as numbers (i.e. 665.795) or formatted printout (i.e. 650.2 kB) + After returning to previous folder, by selecting '..' folder or pressing the Back button, previously selected folder is now selected by default. + Updating disk image with quick-scan option turned on and lots of compressed files in the same folders will be much faster now. + Removed all flickering on toolbar buttons in Search and User List windows when moving selection through items. + When creating a new catalog, program will now ask you for the name of the catalog (in previous versions, name was auto-assigned as 'CatalogNN', which is now only the default value in the edit box when you are asked). + Added option to create backup (.BAK) files while saving catalogs. + Added a default path to catalog files in program settings. + Improved multi-instance detection, now it's more fail-safe and robust. + Installation files like Setup.exe and Install.exe will now have a special icon, different from other .exe files. * Fixed a bug that may cause the catalog to become corrupted. This would only happen if updating disk image was canceled, you were using quick-scan option, catalog contained some archive files, and was later on modified and saved. Considering all this, most users should be on the safe side, but still, I am glad this bug is out. * Fixed a problem where a disk scan was sometimes terminated with explanation that error has occurred during disk scan. This was traced back to archive files with dates older that 1.1.1980 (only possible to find on some CD-ROMs, disks with NTFS, but not on disks formatted with FAT). Thanks to Mr. Richard Hieber for detailed analysis on this problem. * Fixed some problems when updating virtual disk image. * Fixed keyboard interface in Found List and User List. Keys like Enter, Alt-Enter, Delete, Shift-Delete etc. will now work properly. * If user would switch to User List or Search window in the same moment while program is busy closing catalog(s), program would crash. Fixed. * Fixed counting files on disk update. Archive files like zip, arj,... were not correctly counted in some cases when browsing inside archive files option was enabled. This caused that total files on disk or in catalog were displayed too low. * Fixed TAR support. Third-parity component used in WhereIsIt? for most compressed file support had a problem detecting valid TAR files. * If trying to autoload catalog that does not exist any more, program would report another error after correctly notifying the user about inaccessible catalog file. Fixed. * Many other minor improvements and fixes were added. Version 0.90.8b - 21. September 1997 ------------------------------------ + Changed Ctrl-X shortcut in main menu for program exit into more standard Alt-F4. Ctrl-X can be used for 'cut' operations where supported. Also added F3 shortcut to bring up Search dialog, and F4 to bring up item's properties. + ESC key will now work in Export Descriptions dialog as Cancel button. * Fixed problem with double-click on found list items. Item would stay selected from drag&drop operation. * Selected items will now be preserved after sorting. * Fixed error with exporting descriptions when program would report an error if subfolders checkbox was checked. Some last-minute changes before releasing the 0.90.8 broke this. * Fixed some other minor bugs I found in the process. Version 0.90.8a - 14. September 1997 ------------------------------------ + Added iomega JAZ drive recognition and icon (Win95 only). * Fixed a problem regarding updating removable drives stored in existing catalogs that are now recognized as zip or jaz drives. * Fixed a minor bug about preserving descriptions on disk update. + Some other minor improvements have been added. Version 0.90.8 - 12. September 1997 ----------------------------------- + Added option to export descriptions back to media, in either of three supported descriptions formats (File_id.diz, Descript.ion, Files.bbs). + Added drag & drop capability for adding to User List and moving disks between catalogs. Program is now also capable of accepting drag&drop catalog files from other programs (like Explorer), opening them in WhereIsIt as a result. + Added option to eject media after adding/updating it in catalog. + Added a new option to change disk serial number if the same is found on another disk in catalog. This will only work on Windows 95 at the moment, I still need some details for Windows NT on this. + Search and User List windows will now save their size and position, and they both have buttons to always stay on top of other windows if desired. + In Search dialog is a new checkbox to clear previous search results when starting a new search. + Extended archive file support with Unix TAR/UnTAR. + Archive file support can now be customized, by enabling or disabling each of supported archive types. This allows you to enable only those archives you are using, allowing some faster disk scanning. + Two new options are present in disk scan dialog: you can choose if you will allow quick archive file scan when it already exists in the catalog and has not changed, and you can choose to browse archive files only for descriptions, not their contents. + Disk scan algorithm has been optimized to reduce number of disk's head movements during an add/update disk operation. This should result in faster and smoother disk reading on slower devices. + Added iomega ZIP drive recognition (Win95 only). No more "default" removable-drive icon! For all other drives, I only need to have their signatures. If you have a removable drive, and would like to have it recognized by name and type, contact me by e-mail for simple instructions what I need to have from you. I am still looking for way to do the same in Windows NT. + Added some new options when launching EXE files from inside archive files. In many cases, exe files need to have all distribution files available to run properly, not only the .exe file. Program will now offer an option to extract entire archive to temporary folder first and run the exe file from there. This should be enough to enable running most installation programs right out of WhereIsIt?, even if they are compressed. + When first item is found while searching, focus is placed on that item, and list is scrolled so item is visible. This way, you can always see which items were added in current search, and which are left from before. + Folders from compressed files are no longer stored as separate items in catalog. Only compressed files will be analyzed. + Extracting from RAR solid archives is now faster and optimized. + Added total files/folders display to catalog's properties + Added F2 shortcut for renaming items (same as in Explorer) + Program's shut down time has been optimized, and it is now about twice as fast as before. + Screen updates were further optimized, resulting in faster browsing * Fixed RAR and CAB support. Browsing those files should now finally work properly. Due to fixed bug in multi-volume CAB support, updating disks with such files will be much faster now. * Fixed a few Catalog Manager problems, the worst of them sometimes missing files in root folder after moving disks between catalogs. * Improved unARJ support. Previous version did not support files compressed with -m4 method. * When trying to change category for item in the left tree pane, item was always marked as without category. Fixed. * Fixed a very inconvenient bug where sometimes disk descriptions were not preserved after updating the disk. * Program will now correctly filter out EOF characters from imported descriptions where present. - Extracting from CAB files was (temporary?) removed. It was not working as it should. Version 0.90.7a - 16. August 1997 --------------------------------- * Small bug-fix release. Importing from Floppy Master had some problems, and extracting files from compressed files during disk scan did not always work correctly. Some other minor fixes are there, too. * A nasty last-minute bug crawled in the new Catalog Manager, causing GPF on move and copy operations. Version 0.90.7 - 14. August 1997 -------------------------------- + Sorting and browsing is now about three times faster than it was before, and there is much less flicker. Sorting by Disk name and Location (folder, where you can find an item) is more than 15 times faster, with speed comparable to sorting by other sorting options. Also, now you can always cancel sorting with ESC key if you think it's still going too slow. + Added Catalog Manager, with ability to copy and move disks between two opened catalogs. Now you can arrange your existing catalogs as you wish. You can also rename, delete or access each disk's properties on the same spot. + Added virtual-root capabilities. You can create "virtual disks" in the catalog, with their root folder based on some existing folder other than "\" (much like DOS subst command). This way, you can break down your disk folder structure to more "virtual disks", or select only part of disk to be cataloged. + Added Quick-Setup Wizard to guide you through the most important setup settings. This is the easiest way to have program up and running without fear that you forgot to setup something important. During the process, you may also get to know some features of WhereIsIt? you were not aware of before. + Sorting dialog has a new user interface. Too many options available at once seem to be to confusing for some users, so program will now show only what is really needed for your selection. The whole procedure of selecting search criteria can now be completed faster, since program will auto-select the appropriate pages and place focus to control you will most likely need. + Added un-RAR support. Now you can extract files from RAR archives, too. + Lengthy file extractions from compressed files can now be canceled. + When updating disk, program can now (optionally) search for existing descriptions not only on the disk you are updating, but on all disks in the catalog. This means that if there is a file with description on any disk in the catalog, and that file matches the file currently updating, the existing description will be adopted by the new file (the same goes for folders, too). When adding a new disk, you may also enable searching through all other disks in the catalog for existing descriptions. + Optimized disk update speed. WhereIsIt? will now read only items that have changed since the last update in the catalog, noticeably speeding up the process. This is actually nothing new to WhereIsIt?, but in previous versions it was only enabled for registered users. + Improved disk selection dialog used when adding a new disk to catalog and there are already two or more disks with the same parameters. Now you can see details about each disk in selection list, sort disks and access their properties. + Added volume label column when displaying disk data. + Added standard popup menu to all multi-line edit controls (in Description Assistant, item's properties). There you have a quick access to Cut/Copy/ Paste/Delete/Select All operations. + Add/update disk dialog was equipped with context sensitive help, as an introduction to start working on the "real" help file (actually, this was a place to do some help related testing for me...) * Program will now ask to save changes in catalog if Windows shutdown has been requested. * Fixed some sorting problems when reverse sorting was on. * Fixed a bug when some descriptions from deep-nested folders were not correctly preserved when updating the disk. * Fixed a bug in searching by date. Some code used for testing made its way to the release version and searching by date didn't work as it should. * Disabled horizontal scroll-bar from appearing in the properties form's description window. In many cases it took up almost half of usable space in the already too small window. Vertical scroll-bar will still appear if necessary. * Importing descriptions from 4DOS/NDOS description file now correctly supports long file names with spaces. * Fixed occasional (and quite rare) problem with floating point error when trying to save catalog with one disk, and disk had no subfolders. * Fixed some other minor problems, and added some other improvements in program appearance (folders starting with '.' are no longer ignored, Esc key will act as Cancel button in most dialogs, Alt-Enter is available in tree view, too, some minor adjustments on how program behaves in some specific situations). Version 0.90.6 - 20. July 1997 ------------------------------ + Windows NT 4.0 (and newer) support is finally there. This version of WhereIsIt? was developed and tested on the NT and many problems regarding this platform have been resolved in this release. + NEW! Extracting files from many compressed files is now possible directly from WhereIsIt?. Program internally supports extraction from ZIP, ARJ, ARC, LHA, ZOO and some CAB compressed files, allowing you to extract one or more files to any folder, launch files with associated programs from within compressed files, importing files like file_id.zip from compressed files as descriptions and so on... Other formats will eventually be supported, too, at least by a possibility to use external programs for extracting. + Added support for self-extracting exe files. Those can be recognized as normal compressed archive files, showing their contents as folders. Most of previously supported formats are now also supported by their sfx version. + Added Column Manager; now you can select which columns you want showing and in what order when data is displayed in the details mode. Just right click on column header or select option from main menu. + Improved searching - now you can search for disks, too, not only files and folders. + Improved duplicate searching. "Search by Name or Type" tab in search settings is now available for duplicates searching, too. With this, you can search for all duplicate files that match the file mask or file type; for example, all duplicate ".doc" files. Searching for duplicate disks is now possible, too. + Improved description importing on disk scan. The routines have been almost completely rewritten, and now you can select priority for description files to import (if description for an item is available from more than one source, it will be imported from the source with highest priority). + Description Assistant can now take advantage of new extraction capabilities and load files with useful information even if they are compressed inside archive files like zip, arj,.. Also, there is a new checkbox present to enable/disable OEM-to-ANSI conversion filter on description files (making them more readable by filtering out unusual characters). + Added column with item's description in found items list and user list. + Added capability to setup catalog categories directly from item's property form (there is a new "Edit" button to access category management). * Progress bar flickering when searching for duplicates has been eliminated. * Selecting action for double-clicking an item now works in the find window, too (previously, it always brought up item's properties). * Fixed bug in searching for duplicates. Searching for files/folders setting did not work. There was also a nasty GPF if you were trying to close catalog while results of duplicate search were still listed in the search window. The algorithm used for searching for duplicate items was a bit too optimized for speed and sometimes missed some identical items. * Fixed bug in importing 'descript.ion' files on disk scan. Program would sometimes terminate and cancel disk scan if it found a file with that name and this file was invalid for importing file descriptions. * Launching associated programs with compressed files (zip, arj...) presented as folders in the catalog now works correctly. * Improved internal icon handling, faster and more compatible with Windows NT. * The reported bug about program using very small fonts in dialogs should be fixed now, but I have no way to verify that. If you notice anything weird about fonts it is using, please let me know... * Fixed a few other bugs. Selected item statistics in status bar reported wrong selected size if '..' folder was selected. When reversing sort order, '..' folder was incorrectly moved to the end of list. There were some problems with enabling/disabling options and buttons (menu option was enabled and button for the same operation was disabled, for example). About box was a bit modified and WWW link now actually works. Version 0.90.5 - 27. June 1997 ----------------------------- + WhereIsIt? was migrated to a new version of Delphi, and adjusted to the new environment. This resulted in some improvements, including more flickerless display, solved problem with large tool-tips etc. + Added new toolbars, hope you like them (they look just like MS Office 97) Also added saving position for user-list toolbar and fixed some minor problems about toolbars. Also, now you can have old-style buttons on the toolbars if you can't stand those new, mouse-active flat buttons. + Searching for duplicate files and/or folders is finally implemented. You can set yourself what two items must have in common to be handled as the same (name, size, date&time, attributes). + Added support for browsing inside CAB files while adding disks. + Added ability to launch files from WhereIsIt? with associated programs. This requires media to be present, similar to 'Open in Explorer' option. + Improved description importing. All imported descriptions are now checked for DOS graphics characters and converted to plan ASCII. This should result in more readable and eye-pleasing descriptions. + Improved disk updating. If more disks with the same properties (serial number, label, size,...) are found in the catalog, you are now allowed to choose which disk to update, or to add it as a new disk. + In search window, the found list can be maximized and search settings hidden to get more useful space out of search window. Also, searching has been updated to display found items at once, during the search. + Added another option in program's settings: you can choose what double- clicking on file means: nothing, show properties, open in explorer, or launch file. + Reversing sort order (like second click on already sorted column) is much faster now. Reversing sort order now works in user list and found list, too (just click again the column you wish to sort by). * Fixed problem with toolbar buttons sizes, introduced in 0.90.4. Only the first five buttons were adjusted correctly to applied size. * Fixed problem with disk media updating. if updating double-density disk in a high-density floppy drive, program would not recognize it as a compatible device. Version 0.90.4 - 6. June 1997 ----------------------------- + This one took a little longer, but it brings quite a lot, too. + Media detection was almost completely rewritten in this release, and adding/updating disks in the catalog has changed a lot, too. Too much stuff to cover everything here, check out for yourself. This should resolve all the serial numbers troubles from previous versions (media detection is now based on media type, serial number, volume label, and total space on media). However, note the separate menu option for updating disk, on disk's popup menu. + Added ability to auto-import FILE_ID.DIZ files as folder description when scanning disks. + Added a new font setting, for description tool-tips. This is nice thing to have if you are importing a lot of text formatted descriptions like those in FILE_ID.DIZ files. With proportional font it looks a bit messy, and you can set it larger or smaller if you wish. Font setting page in general is a bit more user-friendlier now. + Click on the column header in details view, with already sorted items by that column will now sort items in reverse order (the same as pressing the reverse sort button). + Added catalog auto saving, on user defined intervals. + The '..' folder now always has a description, saying what exactly '..' is. + Added a new option in the settings, allowing you to sort archive files (zip, arj,...) that act like folders either as folders or as files. + Added time of day to existing update disk date. Now you can see not only the day when disk was updated in catalog, but time also. + You can now select to ignore hidden files, hidden folders, or Recycle Bin while performing disk scan. + Help file is now closed when program exits. * Fixed a few bugs. Adding '..' folders to user list is not possible any more, and '..' folders were causing troubles when they were selected for category and flags setup. Category and flags setup had a bug involving saving categories, which were not always remembered as set. In Description Assistant, disabling search in subfolders for description files did not work right. Report generator sometimes went wild, too, skipping columns and every once a while repeating data. Version 0.90.3a - 29. May 1997 ------------------------------ * Bugfix release - took some time and fixed some minor bugs found so far. - Temporarily removed support for Windows NT. Some reports have indicated troubles running WhereIsIt? on the NT, so this will have to wait until I have a chance to take a closer look on it. * Improved install script should now take care of proper installing of the COMCTL32.DLL, the file causing many problems in the last few days. Also, program was modified so it can detect older versions of this file without crashing out with error messages. * Fixed bug on searching - after completed searching, most folders would show no contents at all until catalog was reloaded. * Fixed a bug on disk scanning, when old descriptions would be lost in some occasions even if an option to preserve them was checked. * Some other minor bugs reported have been fixed, and small improvements requested so far are now implemented. Version 0.90.3 - 28. May 1997 ----------------------------- * This version is out so early because of a bug found in a user interface. When fixing fonts in dialogs in the 0.90.2, I broke it even more for users with small font display settings. Much of text in the dialogs was displayed only partially or clipped away. This didn't show if you were using large font settings (I am, that's why I haven't noticed anything) + To avoid having out a new version on bug-fix basis only, I also added support for extracting comments from compressed archive files. If archive file supports comments (ZIP, ARJ, RAR and ZOO do), WhereIsIt? can import them as standard file descriptions. To avoid confusion: archive comment is the thing you can write with "pkzip -z" command for ZIP files... Version 0.90.2 - 26. May 1997 ----------------------------- * Fixed a nasty bug in the install procedure. File version checking did not work right, causing the comctl32.dll file being replaced even if there was a newer version already on the system. This could seriously impact Windows. Fortunately, the only known way to have a newer version of dll file installed is having Microsoft Explorer 4.0 in place before installing WhereisIt?. Thanks to Jan Libbenga (jali@worldaccess.nl) for reporting this. * There was a report of a very small font being used in the program dialogs, making it almost unreadable. I couldn't confirm that bug, but I did some modifications regarding this and I hope it is OK now... + Added a help file, but quite a basic one for now, just to get you started. Writing proper help files may be very time consuming, and my time is kind of short at the moment. There will be a full-scale help file in the final release, I promise... + Added Floppy Master database import. All previous users of Floppy Master will now be able to use their old catalogs with WhereIsIt?. Still, it is highly recommended to rescan disks with WhereIsIt?, since the new database has a lot more information and support for disks and files than Floppy Master ever had. + Added multi-choice support in the left pane. Now you can select multiple items at once to perform an operation on, like adding them to the user list or setting categories and flags. Status bar has been improved to show a small statistics for all selected items. + Now you can set category or flags for more items at once, either from left pane list, found list after searching or from user list. + Added previous instance checking - if program is already running when user runs it, previous instance will become active instead of running another copy of program. * The '..' folder is now always displayed on top, regardless of sorting. * Fixed disk usage graph for empty disks (display was wrong). Version 0.90.1 - 14. May 1997 ----------------------------- First public release on the Internet mid-April 1997 -------------- Field testing started, WhereIsIt? is released to limited audience for evaluation and testing purposes. January 97 ---------- WhereIsIt? development started