Cream of the Crop 20/Cream of the Crop 20 (Terry Blount) (1996).iso/disk/rep128.zip/REPLICAT.1/REPLICAT.REV

Text File | 1996-05-20 | 37KB | 736 lines

                         Replicator Revision History


05-20-96 ■ Version 1.28

         . Build 12 - Added a "Working Directory" field to the Defaults
           screen.  This field should contain the path where Replicator
           will decompress the compressed image files, in order to write
           the image to a diskette.  (Previously, the decompressed file
           was created in the same directory as where the compressed file
           existed.  Internally, however, we have placed most of our
           compressed image files on CD-ROMs, making the "working
           directory" feature a necessity.)

         . Build 11 - Added a check to make sure the user cannot recreate
           any diskettes if he is using an unregistered version of Replicator
           and has more than 10 records in the database.  (This situation
           should usually not occur, since the unregistered version is now
           limited to 10 total database records.)

         . Build 10 - Implemented support for a specific CD-ROM vendor to
           create Replicator Image Files for customers, burn them on a CD-ROM,
           and distribute Replicator with the CD-ROM.  (This requires that
           Replicator be installed to a hard drive prior to use.)

         . Build 9 - Updated copyright notices for 1996.

         . Build 8 - Changed several of the variables written to the
           REPLICAT.INI file to be written as YES/NO instead of TRUE/FALSE.
           (The reading routines will recognize the values in either format.)

         . Build 7 - Changed the number of database records allowed in the
           unregistered version of Replicator from 25 to 10.  (This was
           suggested by one of our users.)

         . Build 6 - Updated the vendor's library for the database engine
           and database browsers.  This update includes only minor changes.

         . Build 5 - Implemented a file locking system for the file
           REPLICAT.INI to ensure that 2 users on a network or multitasking
           system cannot attempt to read or write to this file at the
           same time.  (This process uses atomic lock files.)  If this
           file cannot be read during the initial execution, Replicator
           will terminate.

         . Build 4 - Implemented a fix in a vendor's library for the
           compression routines used for the compression and decompression
           of Replicator's image files.  STSI regrets to report that we
           found a data-corruption bug in our previous vendor's compression
           library.  After reporting the bug and waiting several weeks, the
           vendor was finally able to fix the problem.  We recommend that
           all current users obtain a copy of the latest version of
           PKUNZIP.EXE, and test any compressed files for possible errors.
           The data corruption bug appears to be somewhat obscure, and would
           have been present in Replicator For DOS versions 1.00 through
           1.27.  (In our case, we found 5 verified problem files in a total
           of 700 disks.)  If you have a bad compressed file, PKUNZIP will
           report a CRC error on the file.  In this case, you will need to
           locate the original disk and recreate the image.  We apologize
           for any inconvenience to our users.

         . Build 3 - Changed the wording of an error message that can occur
           if an attempt is made to open a database with a corrupt or missing
           index file.  Previously, the error message stated that the
           database was missing.  The new error message indicates that the
           file is either missing or corrupt.

         . Build 2 - Added a special error message to report cases where
           the selected network type could not be initialized.  Replicator
           now instructs the user to remove the "NetworkType=" line from
           the REPLICAT.INI file.  This will make the database initializa-
           tion default to "No Network", allowing the user to enter the
           program, and reselect the correct network type.

         . Build 1 - Fixed a problem where the database initialization
           routine was always reporting "Insufficient memory for page
           buffer" if ANY error occurred when attempting to initialize the
           database.  Changed routine to check the database error number
           and report the accurate error message.


09-18-95 ■ Version 1.27

         . Added browse buttons to the virus scanner screen to allow
           users to browse their hard drive for the virus scanner(s)
           of their choice.

         . Changed the date field when a new record is added from the
           Database Management screen to automatically insert today's
           date, instead of Jan-01-1600.

         . Changed the behavior when deleting a record so that Replicator
           does not prompt the user to delete the file associated with
           the record if the file does not exist on the disk.

         . Replicator now updates the "Total Records" counter in the
           upper right corner of the Database Management screen after
           a record has been saved or deleted.

         . Fixed an intermittent problem where Replicator would attempt
           to read a disk during the Create Image From Disk process,
           and would immediately terminate the process without issuing
           any error messages.  This was due to Replicator's inability
           to access physical information about the disk in the floppy
           drive.  Replicator now issues an error message when this
           condition occurs.  (This is usually due to a bad disk.)

         . Added a reading and writing retry loop when creating and
           restoring diskette images.  The retry loop will report any
           errors to the user and give him/her the option of retrying
           the operation.  The user can decide at what point to stop
           retrying the current operation, rather than having Replicator
           immediately terminate the operation, as it did in previous
           versions.

         . Added a "drive ready" check to the Create Image From Disk
           routine.  This loop simply checks the disk in the disk drive,
           and if it cannot retrieve the correct disk type (the drive
           check will return "Unknown Disk" if the drive is not ready),
           Replicator will prompt the user "Unknown Disk Type or Drive Not
           Ready, Retry? (Yes, No)".

         . Changed the behavior of Replicator on the Create Image From
           Disk screen.  Now, the cursor is automatically placed at the
           end of the "File To Create" field, where users can enter the
           filename immediately following the preset path.  Also changed
           the description lines to be cleared on the first character
           the user types (unless it is a non-printable character, such
           as a navigational key).


08-29-95 ■ Version 1.26

         . Fixed a potential problem where a read-lock was not being
           removed from a database immediately after a search was
           completed.  (Only if Fast Search was enabled.)  Previously,
           the read-lock was only removed after a user was done
           viewing the filtered records.  Now, the read-lock is removed
           immediately after all of the records have been searched.

         . Renamed the options on the menu and the corresponding screens
           from "Copy Disk To File" and "Copy File To Disk" to "Create
           Image From Disk" and "Create Disk From Image", respectively.

         . Changed the layout of the Copy File to Disk screen.  This
           screen will now only allow the creation of images that are
           catalogued in the database.  To create a disk from an image that
           is not contained in the database, a new "Other" button has been
           created.

         . Increased the length of