Software of the Month Club 1996 January/SOFM_Jan1996.bin/pc/os2/fontfold/fontfold.new

Text File | 1995-12-05 | 10.3 KB | 233 lines

FONTFOLDER VERSION 2.0


NEW AND CHANGED FEATURES IN VERSION 2.0

* PRINTING

  Specimen Sheets   various text samples of single font

  Character Sets    characters for current code page for single font

  Font Catalog      one line samples of a collection of fonts

  Font List         file names and locations for a collection of fonts

Supports duplex printing, customization of margins, descriptive fonts,
text used in print samples.

* Changing the "Path to Font Cache" automatically copies the font
files for installed CDROM and network fonts to the new location and
updates both FontFolder and OS2.INI accordingly.

* Library menu reordered to put most frequently used items at top of
list

* FontFolder now comes in full and "Lite" versions. The difference is
that FontFolder Lite users are not authorized for printing. Current
Version 1.x users have free access to the Lite version of FontFolder
2.0. For full access they must upgrade their registration to the 2.0
level. The upgrade fee is $10. See Registration Information in the
On-line Help index or the LICENSE.TXT file for the details.


NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 1.2A

* The system font MARKSYM has been hidden so the user can not delete
it. MARKSYM is a valid Type 1 font, and has appeared on the list of
installed fonts in previous versions of FontFolder. However, it is a
special system font, really part of the operating system, and deleting
it has severe effects, causing apparently unrelated applications to
suddenly stop working. It no longer will appear on the FontFolder
list of installed fonts and can not be deleted with FontFolder. While
MARKSYM will still be listed in some previously constructed Libraries,
FontFolder won't "install" it since this would provide an avenue to
delete it. It is safe to remove it from these Libraries.

* FontFolder can now be registered via BMT Micro, which among other
things allows users to pay by major credit card. See the Product
Information panel or "Registration Information" in the Help Index for
details.


NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 1.2

* CDROM SUPPORT

FontFolder now allows the use of fonts directly from a CDROM instead
of having to copy the font files to a hard drive in order to use them.

In prior versions FontFolder treated a CDROM drive as a removable
drive, and all the fonts registered with FontFolder from that drive
had to be copied to the hard drive. Now FontFolder leaves the fonts
on the CDROM and uses them from there. FontFolder automatically
manages moving the font files to the hard drive Font Cache when the
fonts are installed in OS/2, and it erases the files from the Font
Cache when the fonts are uninstalled. The user gives each CDROM a
label which can be an arbitrary text string of up to 31 characters.
When FontFolder needs to access the CDROM it will prompt the user for
the correct CDROM using the user-supplied label.

Using the Multiple Library support described below, the user can
create a separate library for each font CDROM, making it easy and
efficient to manage the large numbers of fonts that can be included on
a CDROM.

The user also has complete freedom to create libraries that mix fonts
from different CDROMs; FontFolder keeps track of the CDROM volume id
of each CDROM font and prompts the user to mount the proper CDROM.


* MULTIPLE LIBRARIES

The single Master Library of version 1.1 has been expanded to allow up
to 100 Libraries in version 1.2. New menu commands in the Library
menu allow the user to create a new library, to open an existing
library (make it the current library) and to delete an existing
library. Libraries are given names by the user as they are created.
The version 1.1 library, known before as the Master Library, is given
the name Base Library when the user first starts version 1.2.


* LIBRARIES MAY BE IMPORTED AND EXPORTED

In addition to libraries that are created directly in FontFolder, it
is also possible to Import libraries created externally and to Export
libraries for external use. Import allows any valid FontFolder format
data file to be added to the list of available libraries. Export
prepares an existing library for importing on another system. An
exported library differs from an normal library only in that all CDROM
drive letter information has been removed (since this is
system-specific). CDROM drive letter information is added on import.
Import and Export facilities are primarily intended for use with font
CDROM's, although there are other uses (see Creating Specialized
Libraries below).


* PRE-REGISTERED CDROM LIBRARIES AVAILABLE (may be packaged
separately)

Version 1.2 ships with CDROM libraries for the Bitstream 500 Font
CDROM, the CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2 CDROM, and the October 1993 Hobbes
CDROM. These libraries may be imported into FontFolder using the new
Import facility, saving the user the trouble of having to create these
libraries. In addition to being "pre-registered", these libraries
have been screened to omit fonts that are known to cause problems in
OS/2. Users may use the Export facility to create and share
pre-registered libraries for other CDROM's. Zipped versions of these
libraries are available on Compuserve in OS2BVEN, Lib 1 as
filename.FZ2 files.


* USE FONTPACK EDITING FACILITIES TO CREATE SPECIALIZED LIBRARIES

The format of Library files and FontPack files is now identical,
facilitating the creation of specialized Libraries by first creating a
FontPack and then Importing it as a library. See the New Feature on
Importing and Exporting Libraries for a description of Importing.


* UTILITIES ADDED (for registered users)

Several utilities have been added to FontFolder that make it easier to
maintain FontFolder. These utilities are available to registered
users only.

- Edit CDROM Volume Information

This utility allows the user to update or delete the information
FontFolder keeps identifying font CDROMs. The user can change the
user label assigned to the CDROM, change the drive letter assigned to
the CDROM, or delete the CDROM information from FontFolder if desired.

- Map Drives

This utility gives the user an easy way to adjust font file drive
letters after a system change that has caused drive letters to change.
This can typically happen when the user adds an additional hard drive
to the system or repartitions the system. This utility will update
the font information in OS2.INI and in all of FontFolder's data files
to reflect the drive mappings specified by the user. (NOTE:  This
utility is for use when ALL the font files on a drive have their drive
letter changed to the new drive letter. It does not support changes
that involve moving only some of the font files to a new drive, or
changes that change the directory location as well as the drive).

* START MINIMIZED

FontFolder now will start minimized if it was minimized at the time it
was closed, or if "Start minimized" was specified in the Settings
Notebook or as part of a Start command.


CHANGES FROM VERSION 1.1

* BROWSING FONTS NOW WORKS FROM ANY FONT LIST

You can now open the Font Information Window by double-clicking on the
Installed Fonts and FontPack Fonts lists as well as the Library list.
Once the Font Information window is open, fonts can be selected from
any font list.

* FONTFOLDER BEHAVES DIFFERENTLY WHEN UNABLE TO REGISTER A FONT

Prior behavior when unable to register individual fonts, either
popping up a message for each such font or not providing any messages
at all telling the user of a problem, has been changed. When fonts
can't be registered, FontFolder puts up a message at the end of the
registration procedure informing the user that "n fonts out of N were
not registered" and directs users to a log file, REGFONTS.LOG. This
log file contains information on the source of the fonts being
registered and details on the fonts that failed registration.

* PROGRESS INDICATOR WHEN REGISTERING LARGE NUMBERS OF FONTS

A progress indicator is now displayed during the Register Fonts
operation when the number of fonts being registered is greater than a
threshold number. The indicator shows the percentage of the task
completed.

* NEW DATA FILE FORMAT

The format of the FontFolder data files has changed for both the
Library file(s) and the FontPack file(s). The first time version 1.2
is started it searches for and converts old format files to the new
format. New format Library files have filenames MLIBnnn.FF2 and
FontPack files are named FNTPKnnn.FP2. During the conversion, the old
format files are saved as MASTLIB.OLD and FNTPKnnn.OLD. Once you have
verified that your version 1.1 (1.0) Master Library and fontpacks have
been migrated successfully to version 1.2 you may delete these .OLD
files (NOTE:  Some versions of OS/2 have a bug where the name
displayed in the Workplace Shell does not change when files are
renamed. If you are using the Drives folder and do not see any
.OLD files, try looking at the FILES page of the settings notebook
for any MASTLIB.FF1 and FNTPKnnn.FP1 files you find. You should find
that these are the .OLD files even though the General page still shows
the FF1 or FP1 extension. These are the files to delete. Or use the
OS/2 command line to find and delete the files.)

* 1.1 BUGS FIXED

- Fixed hang that occurred if FontFolder was closed before
initialization completed. Attempts to close FontFolder before
initialization is complete are now postponed. FontFolder will close
once initialization is complete.

- Fixed bug in dealing with bad font entries in OS2.INI. Would find
them but not fix them if the file extension was .AFM or if the key and
key value did not refer to the same file name.

- Fixed bug where it was not possible to register fonts if FontFolder
was started with the current directory set to a root directory.

- Fixed bug in new installation where initialization code was not
adding \FFCACHE to the Font Cache path.

- Provided workaround for the OS/2 bug where a font won't uninstall if
it has been installed from an AFM file in the same FontFolder session.

- Fixed bug in redirecting ini path. Did not copy ini file so
information about fontpacks was lost if ini path was changed after
fontpacks were created. Now copies ini file if one doesn't exist in
the new path. If one exists in new location, that one is used.