Monster Media 1996 #14/Monster Media No. 14 (April 1996) (Monster Media, Inc.).ISO/os2/fm2_240.zip/HISTORY.TXT

Text File | 1996-02-11 | 28KB | 565 lines

New stuff's at the bottom.  This list isn't necessarily comprehensive.


2.00:

 o A whole new look for FM/2 -- the same thing, only more so.  Some
   things were enhanced, some dropped, some replaced or superceded.
   Still, if you used 1.x you should feel at home.

[lazy bum skipped a few...]

2.06:

 o In the Collector's Seek-and-scan dialog, the All HDs button now skips
   removable drives (like CD-ROMs) for convenience.
 o Quick tree works around the OS/2 DosFindFirst bug that prevents FAT
   root drives from being found.
 o Added "separator" attribute for tool buttons -- causes a small amount
   of space to be added after the button with the attribute, for
   appearance (grouping of buttons).
 o Added ability to turn on titles below bitmap buttons in toolbar (it'll
   have to be short and sweet) and grouped all toolbar toggles under a
   Toolbar conditional cascade submenu.

2.07:

 o Added "View Bookshelf" and "View Helpfiles" utilities.
 o Fixed bug in Quick Tree added while fixing the last one...
 o VTree now saves its size and position on desktop (Ron Gawer wanted
   that).  VDir doesn't, as you can have several of them open at once
   and it would be somewhat irritating to have them all on top of each
   other.

2.08:

 o Added "must have" attributes to Filter.
 o Fixed Undelete dialog so selecting a new drive from the combobox
   causes the listbox to be refreshed for that drive, and so a missing
   DELETE environment variable for the selected drive doesn't cause the
   dialog to abort unless you select Cancel in the information box (so
   you can pick a different drive).
 o Added limited optional logging for some simple but critical
   operations (copy, move, rename, delete).
 o Documented "start minimized" command line argument.
 o Added "don't save/restore state of dir windows this time" command
   line argument.

2.09:

 o Changed things so the little notification box doesn't steal the
   focus when it comes up.  Duh.
 o Added "Backup Profile", "Change System Profiles" and "Replace System
   Profiles" to the INI viewer.
 o Fixed some glitches in new mask "must have" attribute processing.
 o Found and fixed bug in Collector's Seek & Scan that could cause FM/2
   to trap.
 o Added a Settings notebook containing global toggles and such.
   Slower than the menus, but Ron Hester asked for it, and I allus do
   what Ron says...
 o Return of the weirding ... but that'd be telling.
 o Added optional split status line.

2.10:

 o Added Undo buttons to Settings notebook pages.
 o Fixed bug wherein Save state of dir windows toggle was ignored.
 o Put in some comma formatting to prevent an untimely death.
 o Fixed bug wherein Doubleclick Opens toggle was ignored.
 o Added a couple more Settings pages.
 o Made appropriate Settings pages available to standalone modules.
 o Tweaked a few menus for a more consistent appearance.

2.11:

 o Fixed odd bug in second status line in Directory Containers.
 o Fixed rename buglet that caused rename from menu/button to
   give funny default drive.
 o Added drag and drop to INI Viewer to allow moving and copying
   data between different INI files.
 o Added FM2PLAY.EXE to allow playing multimedia files (via MMPM/2)
   from FM/2 easily.  Usage:  FM2PLAY.EXE <file> [<file> <file...>].
   There's a menu item for it.
 o Added "associat.txt" containing recommended associations for use
   with FM/2.  Please send your ideas for this list.
 o Enhanced the Bookshelf Viewer.

2.12:

 o AV/2 will now ignore an association if it contains the string
   "AV2.EXE" in the command line (meaning it might call itself).
 o Fixed "Lowercase name" bug.
 o Worked over the context menus again, added a couple more
   accelerator keys.
 o Hooked Help button in Child Window dialog to some help.

2.13:

 o Added ability to set type of selection used in some containers (in
   the Settings Notebook on the "Windows" page).
 o Selecting "Settings Notebook" in the FM3.EXE monolithic app, even
   from container context menus, will always bring up a full settings
   notebook.
 o Slightly reduced memory usage for HPFS drives (ah, another reason
   to use HPFS...).
 o Fixed bug in SetIcon.
 o Did some more work on FM2PLAY.EXE to make it more eye-appealing and
   maybe a bit more functional.
 o Shortened tasklist title for registered users.

2.14:

 o FM/2 will now detect that a CD-ROM drive which didn't have a disk in
   it or had a music disk in it when FM/2 was started is a CD-ROM drive
   when accessed later with a data disk in it, and change the icon
   accordingly.  This also applies to hard drives that were locked when
   FM/2 started, by happy coincidence, and should work on other
   removable media drives.
 o Hints given in error popup for some access errors (for example, when
   clicking on an empty diskette drive).
 o Install.cmd will not change the parameters field of objects that it
   creates if the File Manager/2 folder already existed.  It will still
   update the paths.
 o VTree honors drive exclusions like it should have in the first place.
 o VTree will delete a directory if the Shredder refuses for some reason.
 o Added VTree->WPS folder toggle.
 o Shortened VTree tasklist title for registered users.
 o FM/2 will attempt to fit smaller files onto diskettes when a larger
   file in the list to be moved/copied won't fit before prompting you to
   change diskettes due to a disk full condition.
 o Help for toolbar buttons shows up when mouse passes over them --
   figured out how to implement without excessive message passing (IOW,
   to my satisfaction).

2.15:

 o Added "Collect list in file(s)" command.
 o Added "Collect from a list file" command.
 o Added "Select List" command.
 o System VIO fonts have been renamed, jumping between "System" and
   "System VIO", a couple of times now.  To top it off, when the name
   changes, the sizes do, too (i.e. 7.System == 5.System VIO, more or
   less).  Warp is now GA and uses "System VIO" again, so I've changed
   it back to that.  If some fonts don't look right on your 2.11 system,
   I'm sorry, but I'm trying to hit a moving target.  Don't shoot me,
   I'm just the piano player.
 o Did some other stuff, but forgot to write it down and have now
   forgotten what it was.  Old age is hell.

2.16:

 o Added "Update objects" command.
 o Added "Optimize" command.  Be sure to read the online help on this
   one (under "Context Menus").
 o Added toolbar changing buttons (buttons that automatically load a
   new toolbox into the toolbar).  See comments in online help under
   "Toolbar->Add Tool."
 o Hmmm...Warp has broken the DM_DROPHELP message within an application
   -- the passed DRAGINFO structure is inaccessible (apparently already
   deallocated).  An appropriate error message will be displayed, and
   the code's still there so that when IBM fixes it it'll automagically
   start working again.

2.17:

 o Optimized for speed:  Quick trees, tree sizes.
 o Dug the names of the new color palettes out of Warp's INI files.
   Under 2.x both color palette commands (one new) load the same object.
   Under Warp they load the two different palette objects available.
 o Added swapfile/memory watch when Drive Tree is active window in FM/2.
 o Added HPFSOPT.EXE program to optimize HPFS drives.

2.18:

 o Added ability to use the undocumented DosQProcStat API in the Process
   Killer.  While this will enable the Process Killer to work without an
   English version of PSTAT.EXE being present, DosQProcStat is an API
   subject to change by IBM, so beware.
 o Added FATOPT.EXE program to optimize FAT drives.  THIS IS A BETA
   PROGRAM AND USES LOW-LEVEL DRIVE ACCESS -- BACK UP BEFORE USING!
 o Tweaked the online help, adding more hypertext links and detail.

2.19:

 o Added "Ideal size" System Menu command and titlebar button -- an
   alternative to maximizing.
 o More work on help file hypertext links using suggestions from a
   registered user.  Added a labelled bitmap showing the layout of FM/2
   windows.
 o Worked around weird bugs in Sizes and deleting toolbar buttons that
   shouldn't be bugs but nonetheless cause problems on some machines.
 o Added some one-line help fields to some dialogs to guide the user
   along.
 o Added the "Close" checkbox to the Edit Associations dialog, to allow
   executing an association to shut down FM/2 (or a VDir window, mainly
   for use by folks using FM/2 to replace the Drives objects).
 o Added "Start Minimized" and "Start Maximized" buttons to the Windows
   page of the Settings notebook.  FM/2 starts normal size then adjusts
   (that lets it size all its windows right first, and gives you something
   to return to from the maximized state).

2.20:

 o Fixed stupid bug that made FM/2 freak out on restart if you turned the
   toolbar off and left it off (duh).
 o Move-drag onto archives allowed now (if you have the archiver for that
   archive type configured to allow moving files, of course).
 o Fixed bug in longname<->shortname conversion (FAT<->HPFS).
 o Found a nasty way to get Warp's printer objects to recognize FM/2's
   D&D.
 o Extract dialog can be told to remember its settings (extract directory,
   masks, "with directories") distinctly from those set in Archive
   Containers.
 o Added a few pictures to the online help for extreme novices.
 o Added new "Compare Select" submenu with commands that can make
   selections based on comparing unfiltered files in all open Directory
   Containers.  Powerful stuff.
 o Added "Hide objects" command (selective individual object filtering).
 o Fixed bug -- drag to toolbar quit working when toolbar code rewritten.
 o Slight modification to ARCHIVER.BB2 -- -1 for filename position means
   to use the last "field" of an archive listing for the filename.
 o FM/2 is compiled with optimization turned off now -- caught it
   generating bad code in the new Compare Select module and don't trust
   it (again).

2.21:

 o Shift and CTRL modifiers for double-clicking objects in Drive Tree,
   Directory Containers and Collector implemented.  Shift causes new
   FM/2 window to open (directories; direct to View for files), CTRL
   causes default WPS open.
 o More stuff in the help file (sheesh -- this has gotta stop).  The
   online help should now make a rather complete manual when printed
   together with the READ.ME file (see READ.ME for suggestions).
 o INSTALL now makes an object for the online help so that it can be
   viewed without starting FM/2 (using SEEHELP.EXE, included).
 o Added Filter "Always show directories" toggle.
 o Ideal size button supports a psuedo-restore operation, allowing
   toggling between two sizes (mine and yours).
 o Other stuff I forget.

2.22:

 o Additional detail and options are presented when FM/2 can't figure
   out how to list the contents of an archive (ARCHIVER.BB2
   misconfigured or archive bad) via new dialog.  This should make
   determining what the archive problem is much easier when the
   inevitable problem arises.
 o Added duplicate file finder to Seek-and-Scan dialog.  Finds files
   with same name and/or size and filedate.

2.23:

 o Enhancements to potential dupe finder per user requests and other
   stuff I thunk up all by my lonesome.
 o Placed "Seek and scan" on the Utility pulldown.  All it does is
   start the Collector and post it a WM_COMMAND message as though you'd
   clicked Seek and scan on its context menu.  Maybe even folks who
   don't read the help can find it now (who knows?).

2.24:

 o Added "Remote bug" toggle since network FSD developers can't seem to
   consistently produce working DosFindFirst/Next code to save their
   lives.
 o Undelete enhancements.

2.25:
 o Added "Edit" and "Refresh" to Archive Containers per user request.
 o Added Drag and drop dialog and corresponding toggle per user request.

2.26:
 o Fixed stupid new bug in moving files from HPFS->FAT with long
   filenames.
 o Fixed bug in RemoteBug fix that conflicted with another fix for
   remote FSD bugs.  I'm getting sick of working around remote FSD
   bugs -- think I'll just let the LAN folks fix _their_ stuff from
   now on...
 o Made titlebar of Drive Tree containers respond to request for context
   menu as if it were container whitespace per user request.
 o Added "Min on dir open" toggle -- a more elegant solution to a taste
   thing (IMHO) than a user requested feature.
 o Chord on status windows brings up window dialog like it does on
   client window whitespace.
 o Added "Append to clipboard" command to internal viewer/editor's
   Edit menu.
 o Moved "Write block" command out of Edit->Blocks submenu of internal
   viewer/editor to the main Edit submenu as "Copy to file" so it's
   accessible in readonly (viewing) mode while I was at it.
 o Added informational tweaking to viewer/editor's Edit->Undo menu
   command.
 o Added "Walk" button to Seek and scan dialog.
 o Added special FM/2 Association command line "<>" to indicate that the
   default WPS view should be opened for matching files.

2.27:
 o Added "Move & rename" and "Copy & rename" commands per user request.
   This extends into the drag and drop dialog (said dialog is now on by
   default, BTW).
 o Many tiny tweaks that no one will ever notice (for instance,
   filenames containing "&" are now quoted on command lines where they
   weren't before).
 o Added EXAMPLE.CMD to archive as an example of how REXX scripts can
   manipulate files listed in listfiles created by FM/2.  This allows
   Commands to circumvent the apx. 1000 character limit of OS/2 command
   lines.
 o Made notification window look more homogenous.

2.28:
 o Added optional user directory list dropdown box on main window
   (maintenance of the list is still performed in the Walk Directories
   dialog).
 o Added Drives submenu on Drive Tree's views context menu -- select a
   drive from it and the tree scrolls to show it and makes it the
   current object.
 o Restricted filename quoting in command lines to absolute essentials
   -- some programs are broken and choke on quoted filenames.  We
   absolutely cannot have LIST choking if it can be avoided.
 o Double-clicking a directory in the Drive Tree container will cause an
   existing Directory Container looking into that directory, if one
   exists, to come to the foreground rather than opening a new one; if
   the existing window is minimized, it'll be restored. Ditto for new
   userlist dropdown.
 o FM/2 can now launch Windows apps seamless -- maybe.  Sheesh, I'd
   use a DOS app first...

2.29:
 o Added "Topic" entry field in Bookshelf Viewer dialog.
 o Added "Quick arc find" toggle in Settings notebook; can speed up
   drag and drop operations on floppy/network drives.
 o Worked around PM bug in custom frame controls.
 o Added "Directory Container state" saving and restoring in a dropdown
   list (turned on with "Toggle quicklists" under Config menu).
 o Fixed drag and drop bug (couldn't move, duh).  Smartened up drag and
   drop while I was at it; no sense offering options not really
   available due to media type (i.e. can't copy to a CD-ROM).
 o Added "Launch" button to drag and drop dialog.
 o Added quick-help for dropdown lists (in status box 2).
 o Added ability to drop onto userlist dropdown to add a directory.
   Also added popup maintenance menu (add and delete directories to/from
   list).

2.30:
 o I forget.

2.31:
 o Added "Minimize to databar" toggle, also accessible as a standalone
   miniapp.
 o Tree remembers directories, once expanded.
 o An individual drive may now be rescanned in the Drive Tree (related
   to the above).
 o More keyboard shortcuts for the rodently challenged.
 o Drag from recessed text fields in Directory and Archive Containers
   now possible (drags the directory or archive, respectively).
 o Default Commands command (Do it yourself) added.
 o Extract path can now be assigned "*" meaning "use directory in which
   the archive resides."
 o More menu compaction (well, you think of a term for it).
 o New "See all files" window (still under construction, but already
   much faster and very functional, without the standard listbox
   limitation of 32767 maximum items).  Loads, sorts and displays
   15,792 files from two local fixed drives in 18 seconds on my
   486/66DX2 with normal (for me, of course) background load.
 o Fixed buglet in Archive Container status display.
 o More user suggestions implemented.

2.32:
 o See all files window fleshed out.
 o Added "Viewer outside," "Arcboxes outside," "INI viewer outside" and
   "Collector outside" toggles to Toggles2 page of internal Settings
   notebook.
 o Added "Save" button to Directory Sizes dialog
 o Sort type can now be changed in Details view by holding ALT and
   clicking the title of the field to sort on (assuming titles are
   turned on and the field is one for which sorting is available,
   of course).
 o Added toggle to allow user to select default delete type.
 o Added "toolbox" dropdown to user lists.
 o Added sample toolboxes to archive.
 o Info and EA dialogs now include listbox, lets you scroll through all
   objects instead of popping up for each selected object.  EAS.EXE
   mini-app inherits this; now accepts multiple filenames.
 o Check list dialogs now allow calling up the Info dialog for files in
   the list.

2.33:
 o Added new internal viewer -- loads files at least five times faster
   than the old viewer (which is still available via a toggle in the
   internal Settings notebook).
 o See all files window retains settings, is a bit slicker.
 o Fixed bug -- rename box came up for each file moved/copied.
 o Fixed bug -- FM/2 didn't start right with toolbar turned off.  Weird.
 o Worked around Warp bug -- PM locks up if you select a codepage that
   hasn't been prepared.  This should be ignored as in previous versions
   of OS/2, but crashes the system instead (sheesh).
 o Warp apparently still has a 64k limit to what the clipboard can hold.
   While I could limit what you send to the clipboard, this is (hopefully)
   one of those limits which will vanish with further updates to OS/2
   itself, so I'll just caution you about it.
 o Colors are adjustable in See all files windows.
 o Several fonts are available in See all files windows (all fixed width).
 o See all files window allows entering multiple keys to find a file if
   the keys are entered within one second of each other.
 o System info command made somewhat more human-readable.

2.34:
 o Added "Tile backwards" toggle, but don't use it (it's a DOS-think
   knee-jerk thing to do).
 o Viewer won't "restore" the container that called it when it closes if
   the container is maximized.
 o Filtering speeded up when Autoview window is open.
 o Show a little patch of color beside color names in Colors dialogs.
 o Added "Folder after extract" toggle.
 o Added ^F3 close monolithic app toggle (command id 1111 if anyone's
   interested).
 o More commands in INI viewer (rename, copy appname/keyname) and
   enhanced existing Add/Edit INI record commands.
 o Changed method of storing a few things so that they're both easily
   human editable (for power users) and so they allow me to
   "preconfigure" some things (for new users).  If you're upgrading from
   previous versions, there's a CONVERT.EXE that'll copy your old
   settings to the appropriate format and get rid of old baggage.
 o Added "Userlist switches" toggle to internal Settings notebook.
 o Added "%r/%R" to metastrings.
 o Added "Extract" to drag and drop dialog.
 o Height of autoview window can be changed.
 o More info displayed in drive info dialog.
 o INSTALL is a bit smarter.
 o Added two new buttons on status line -- different behaviors depending on
   whether you click with B1 or B2 and the shift state.

2.35:
 o Performance tuning.
 o Implemented "minor" user suggestions.
 o Added "Recent Dirs" toggle -- automatically adds temporary
   directories to UserList as you change directories.  You can make them
   permanent by Adding them as usual.
 o FM/2 may handle DOS archivers now (actually, it does -- I tested with
   ARJ); however, you'll have to set them up for yourself and I won't
   support them.  Don't forget that DOS archivers don't support EAs.
   AVOID WHENEVER POSSIBLE OR YOU'LL GET BURNED.
 o If you have GBM.DLL on your LIBPATH or in the FM/2 directory, FM/2
   will use it to display GBM-supported raster file types when they're
   double-clicked.  GBM currently supports most OS/2 and Windows
   bitmaps, .GIF, .PCX, .TIF, .TGA, .IFF, .VID, .PGM, .KPS, .IAX, .XBM,
   .SPR, and .PSE files.  And it's free.
 o Changed some icons around for a fresher look, added some for display
   when you aren't loading icons from disk (for scanning speed).
 o Added "Settings" button to Info dialog.

2.36:
 o Added "Rename existing" button to Rename dialog -- allows you to
   rename (move) an existing target file system object out of the way
   before moving or copying another file system object to that name.
 o Fixed "obscure" bug (reporting user's words :-) causing FM/2 to
   enter a loop when "Views" cascade was selected from the action
   bar menu when an internal Archive Container was the current window.
 o Tutorial section added to online help.
 o When a bitmapped graphic file is viewed, the window is sized to fit
   on the screen even when the image is larger than the screen.
   Proportion is maintained for the initial window positioning.  You can
   stretch the size of the window.  The bitmap is scaled to fit. GBM is,
   of course, still required to directly view images in FM/2.
 o Changed toolbar button help to "bubble" style, added toggle to disable.
 o Added Directory Compare (DirCmp:) field to Files/Dirs page of internal
   Settings notebook.
 o Added %d and %D metastrings for Commands.
 o Percentages in Directory Sizes dialog more accurate (to nearest
   thousandth).
 o "Include subdirectories" toggle in Directory Compare dialog.
 o Fixed bug in 2.35a's INSTALL.CMD.  Can you say "duh?"  Apparently I can.
 o As usual, many little things no one will notice.

2.37:
 o Added "Autoview comments" notebook toggle (page 2) and Config menu
   items for same.  You can have FM/2 autoview file contents _or_
   .COMMENTS EAs -- handy for looking at files that were downloaded by
   a package that puts the file description in that EA.  You can also
   get to that EA on the third page of a WPS object's File page or via
   FM/2's Edit EAs dialog, BTW.
 o CTRL + Shift + B1 doubleclick opens an object's WPS Settings notebook.
 o You can now link-drag a root directory (drive) from the Drive Tree.
   For cryin' out loud, BE CAREFUL!
 o Credit card registrations via BMT Micro are now available.
 o Directory Containers can now have independent sorts if you DON'T use
   the "Immediate Updates" toggle.  When you set a sort (or filter) in
   the internal Settings notebook, you're setting a default for
   subsequently created Directory Containers.  When you set a sort (or
   filter) using the popup menu of a Directory Container, you're
   changing only that container.  States will now also save the type of
   view (Icon, Details, etc.), sort and filter settings for each open
   Directory Container.

2.38:
 o Walk Directories dialog will now display non-writeable drives unless
   the directory selection is for an action that requires writing to the
   selected directory (for example, copy or move, set extract directory,
   etc.).
 o Filtering in Drive Tree now available, per user request.  NOTE:
   filtering is performed _after_ expansion; therefore, it is possible
   for the Tree to "lie" to you until you expand a branch (i.e. indicate
   that other directories are available, but remove the "+/-" when you
   attempt to expand the branch.  If it's important for you to know what
   the entire tree of a drive looks like with filtering applied, use the
   Expand/Collapse->Expand command from the Files menu or a popup.  You
   can thereafter collapse and expand the tree as desired.  Tricks can
   be played with the filter mask; for instance, "/C:\OS2*;/C:\MMOS2*;
   /C:\TCPIP*;*" will exclude some system directories on drive C: and
   show everything else.
 o Got rid of the annoying (to me, anyway) extra refresh when the
   "Immediate Updates" toggle is not used (more cheating).
 o Windows will now be created with the WS_ANIMATE style if "Animate"
   toggle on internal Settings notebook's Windows page is checked.  Of
   course, system animation must still be turned on to see any effect.
 o Keyboard input of "standard" characters now performs a text search
   to find the closest matching file system object in the container.
   You can get the old (OS/2 default) behavior (move to nearest object
   starting with the pressed letter) by holding down the shift key.
 o When a background task that FM/2 is waiting on takes more than about
   two seconds to complete its job, FM/2 will switch it to the
   foreground.  This means that if an archive is encrypted (passworded),
   you'll get the oportunity to enter a password without having to
   resort to the Window List to manually bring the window to the
   foreground.

2.39:
 o Fixed weird bug -- apparently IBM changed the behavior of
   MLM_QUERYFORMATTEXTLENGTH in Warp.  This change may only take effect
   at FP10+ levels.
 o Added Open Directory Container button to Drive Tree titlebar -- only
   shows up when FM/2 is run as a monolithic app.
 o Added "Directory" attributes to Filter dialog per user request --
   lets you exclude directories from Directory Containers, or show only
   directories.  NOTE:  if you are upgrading, you may need to go into
   the Filter and turn on the Directory attribute -- it's on by default
   for new installations.  Use the internal Settings notebook to
   activate the Filter dialog (DirView and ColView pages) by setting the
   focus to the Filter: entryfield, so that the "general" filter is
   changed.
 o Help file improvements (a neverending saga).

2.40:
 o Added "All" button to Filter dialog.
 o Added more optional buttons to main window.
 o Added %u/%U metastrings.
 o Added hex/ASCII + drag-me window to bottom of new internal text
   viewer.
 o Added %! metastring.
 o Added default archiver setting.
 o PM uses several ALT + F? accelerators to control frame windows.
   However, this applies to the current frame window, which can be
   within the main FM/2 window when run monolithically.  Add Ctrl to
   these accelerators to affect the main window in that case.  I don't
   change the system menu text to reflect this as it may be in a foreign
   language, and I'm an ignorant, ugly one-language American.
 o Added "Separate parameters" toggle.
 o Added "Treetop on expand" toggle.
 o Windows pulldown now lists external FM/2 windows, as does a submenu
   on the container popup in VTree, VDir and AV/2 windows.
 o Fixed some minor bugs in Commands menu generation.
 o Fixed bug in Collector -- unshifted double-click didn't work on
   directories.
 o VDirs, external Archive Containers and Viewers now retain their last
   set window size -- position is still determined by the Shell (PM).
 o Lots of little tweaks no one but me will ever notice.