• Fixed problems blessing system volumes after complete erasure.
• Fixed problems with ethernet addresses containing D7.
• Improved handling of pre and post scripts.
• Improved handling of pre-mounted volumes (espcially via IP).
• Fixed Kangaroo garbage bug.
• Fixed problems with partition sorting.
• Upped memory partition to 700k
• Moved group list to the edit entry dialog.
• Improved “folder "????" not accessible” error message.
• Added AppleEvent support for script-displayed messages.
• Various other minor changes and bug fixes.
What’s New in 2.0.1?
• Single log file on the system disk.
• Fixed problems with Alias resolution.
• Fixed the balloon help.
• Fixed import database to work with 1.x databases.
• Fixed bugs with Quick Add and group lists.
• Changed memory allocation in Assimilator to something sensible.
• Various other minor changes and bug fixes.
What’s New in 2.0?
• Powerful new customization features.
• Handle multiple partitions.
• Restrict to portions of volumes.
• Support AppleShareIP over TCP/IP.
• Support assimilation from CD and local volumes.
• Execute protected scripts and applications.
• Fixed several bugs.
New Features in 2.0
Assimilator 2.0 comes with many new features to enhance the power and configurability, while at the same time keeping the same ease-of-use that users have come to expect from our software. If you have used previous versions of Assimilator, you should be able to continue with the new version without any changes to your setup, however if you have found a need for more customizations, then chances are the new version will solve your problem.
The new features include:
• A powerful customization feature called ‘Groups’. Lab computers can be added to a group and files in the source folder tagged using a suffix, after which the files will be selectively downloaded according to coincident group membership.
• A new label action has been added, called ‘Follow This Alias’. Aliases labelled with the Follow This Alias colour are resolved, and the alias destination is substituted for the alias (similar to a symlink in Unix). This allows you to make many different versions of the source folder without using much additional disk space on the server. This is especially useful when combined with the ‘Groups’ feature.
• New controls over the destination, including multiple partitions and volumes as well as restricting to only a portion of the volume.
• New controls over the source, including using AppleShareIP servers using TCP/IP and assimilating from a local volume (for example a CD).
• An option to prevent the machine restarting at the end of Assimilation, particularly useful if you are assimilating only a portion of the volume.
• A ‘protected execution’ phase where Assimilator will run scripts or applications while blocking user access to the programs. There are two stages to the protected execution phase: the first waits for the scripts to complete, the second simply executes them and then Assimilator quits.
• The Database of Deviancy has been extended to include a Default machine which provides default database settings for machines which are not in the Database.
• A protective hopping Kangaroo has been added to Assimilator to distract simple minded users from fiddling with the computer. More intelligent users will appreciate the esthetics of the pattern and will also not fiddle with the computer.
Bug Fixes and Enhancements
We have also fixed several bugs and misfeatures:
• Assimilator now uses Open Transport to read the Ethernet (MAC) address when it is available. Assimilator will fall back to the old method when Open Transport is not available. (Open Transport is always available on all the machines which displayed the Ethernet bug.)
• Locked files are treated correctly. Previously, they may have had “#1” appended to their name.
• When Adding a machine in the Database, but not using Quick Add, Assimilator now includes the computer’s information. This was deliberately omitted, to prevent Administrators from including their own machines and encourage people to use the Quick Add method, but in the balance it was probably more confusing than necessary.
• When correcting aliases Assimilator provides much more meaningful and less concerning messages in the log file.
• TCP/IP preferences and configuration files are now found by creator and type, rather than name, for foreign language compatibility.
• Assimilator (as a startup extension) avoids crashing the Finder when the desktop database needs to be rebuilt (The Finder crashes if an application asks it to quit while it is rebuilding the desktop database). This is accomplished by launching Assimilator instead of the Finder at the end of boot time. Assimilator runs, and then launches the Finder.
• The Wastebasket has been added to the list of special files. Special files which are folders are treated correctly and Assimilator will not recurse into them.
• The Documentation has been significantly expanded and moved to HTML, which supports better indexing of the material.
General Comments
Make sure you are running System 7.0 or later, 7.6 or later recommended.
Please send any questions or comments to <support@stairways.com.au>.
Also, please remember to pay your shareware fee (use the Register program and send the output to Kagi Shareware <shareware@kagi.com>, or <http://www.stairways.com/register/topay.html>). The upgrade is free if you purchased your copy of Assimilator after January 1, 1998. Otherwise the upgrade is 50% of the normal price.
