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HISTORY.MSI
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1991-08-29
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MSI RELEASE HISTORY:
-->> VERSION 1.54 Changes: Released August 29, 1991
See the file, WHATS.NEW.
______________________________________________________________
What's New for Version 1.53: Released August 10, 1991
Bug fixes:
* A bug was introduced in v1.52 that made defining new Sub-
Menus impossible.
* The logic was reversed on the the Unlock Menus prompt.
Answering Yes locked the menus and answering N unlocked them.
______________________________________________________________
What's New for Version 1.52: Released August 1, 1991
The main purpose of this release has been to provide a
reliable method of running Windows from MSI for those using a
Serial Mouse.
Bug fixes:
* If the DOS Shell (CTRL-F1) was used and afterwards the user
Quit MSI without executing an Action first, the wrong code was
being returned and the last Action executed was being
repeated.
New Features!
!-> I've redesigned the Shareware screen to emphasize that MSI
can be registered for only $15, and that you WILL receive a
copy of the latest version, also.
!-> I've added a new batch file for those Serial Mouse users
wanting to run Windows from MSI. The file is ALTRUN.BAT and
is used IN PLACE OF RUNMSI.BAT. You may need to edit the call
to "mouse" to load your driver instead, and you will need to
locate the following:
:Window
mouse /u
c:
cd \win
win
cd \msi
goto Reload
and edit it for your Windows installation. PLEASE contact me
through one of the support boards if you need help editing
this file.
To execute Windows from MSI with the new ALTRUN.BAT, press
ALT-1.
ONLY USE THIS BATCH FILE IF YOU ARE USING WINDOWS WITH A
SERIAL MOUSE!
!-> You may now Clear ALL defined menus in the Menus Editor by
pressing CTRL-F10. Use this feature with Caution! A warning
window will ask for verification first.
!-> The F10 key will now only delete Items that DO NOT select
sub-menus.
!-> CTRL-F9 will now delete an Entire Menu IF there are no
valid sub-menu items on the menu.
IMPORTANT: Menus created with pre-1.5 versions of MSI may not
delete, even though there aren't any sub-menus available from
the menu. In this case, change all Items that select 'Menu'
to "Selects: Action", then you can delete the Menu.
!-> For special Applications, MSI will now return values 1 to
8 when the ALT-1 through ALT-8 keys are press respectively.
The new batch file, ALTRUN.BAT, provides ERRORLEVEL testing
for these values. This feature has been provided for
Experienced DOS programmers and Consultants ONLY.
______________________________________________________________
What's New for Version 1.51: Released July 29, 1991
Bug fixes:
* When moving a menu item (F3) inside the Menus Editor, any
password defined for the item was being left behind.
* Menu item Passwords of less than 7 characters were
occasionally being padded out with asterisks (*). Since this
was not always visible, it would appear as if the Password was
no longer working.
* Menu Item strings that were too long after re-alignment
were wrapping to the beginning of the line. MSI now displays
only as much of a string as will fit on the menu item line.
* If MSI was started from outside the installation directory,
an empty STAMP.DAT file was being left in the calling
directory. This wasn't actually hurting anything, but could
cause confusion if you didn't know where the file was
appearing from.
New Features!
!-> The Installation Utility can now identify conditional IF
and GOTO statements in AUTOEXEC.BAT. If found, you will be
asked if the PATH and MSIPATH commands should be inserted at
the top of the file, but after an @ECHO OFF or ECHO OFF
command.
!-> Help is now available at the main Menus Editor screen, the
Action command and the Help screen editing windows, by
pressing F1.
!-> Importing and Exporting of Action Commands to and from DOS
text files. You can read in Action Commands from a DOS text
file, for instance, a batch file, by pressing F2 in the Action
Command window and entering the filename. The commands will
be inserted into your Action window, beginning at the cursor
line. Inserted text will appear as blue letters.
Action commands may now be written to a DOS file by pressing
the F3 key in the Action Command window and entering the name
of the file to be written to.
!-> A larger Action Commands window.
!-> Memory required to store menus data has been reduced.
This means smaller MSI.DAT files (up to 65% smaller!) and
more RAM available for additional menus.
!-> I've included a questionaire, FEEDBACK.MSI, to allow MSI
users to send me their evaluations and comments on MSI and its
features.
!-> Three new Regional Support and Distributors:
StarTech BBS Diamond Bar, CA (714) 861-8366 FidoNet 1:103/355
Quig's T&T Hayward, CA (415) 582-4598
The Midas Touch Chicago, IL (312) 764-0591
!-> One new MSI Distributor:
AMVETSNET BBS Glen Burnie, MD (301) 761-3406
-->> VERSION 1.5 Changes: Released July 14, 1991
NOTE: MSI is now started with the command: RUNMSI
Bug fixes:
* 'Prompt Line' is now handled correctly when defining a
Prompt string. When the Prompt command key P is pressed,
'Prompt Line' will be set to 'Yes' and the menu will be
configured to leave room for the Prompt at the bottom of the
menu window. After editing, the string will be checked for
valid characters and 'Prompt Line' set appropriately.
* It is no longer possible to change menus after selecting an
item to to Move (F3) in the Menus Editor.
* BACKSPACE, INS and DEL will no longer cause extra spaces to
be left on the end of a new or edited menu item string.
* Using the BACKSPACE, INS and DEL while entering a Password
will no longer allow part or all of the user entry to appear.
* The Text Editor has been updated to more intelligently
select colors for highlighting lines being edited, and to
work more efficiently with formatted menu items.
New Features!
!-> OnLine Support! Regional Support BBS's are now being
established across the country. See the file SUPPORT.MSI.
The ABSCO EMBASSY, (714) 465-1549 HST D/S, carries a local
support Conference for MSI ShareWorks. Direct support, help
files and official releases are all available. The ABSCO
EMBASSY is also a member of the RIME computer network. Both
public and private messages may be addressed to me, Larry Rice,
through the Shareware or Common Conferences. Routed and R/O
mail is sent via ->EMBASSY.
!-> Screen Blanking. This has been the single most
requested upgrade feature. The delay time is set by pressing
F3 in normal menu mode. Use the Cursor Up & Down keys to
change the time in 5 minute increments. The default time is
five minutes without keyboard activity. Changes in delay time
are stored as part of the MSI data file.
!-> A Home directory can now be specified as the environment
variable, MSIPATH, using the DOS 'SET' command. This allows
MSI to locate important data files, regardless of the current
directory.
SET MSIPATH=Drive:\FullPath
!-> An MSI Installation Utility. This utility will
automatically run the first time you use MSI, IF the file
HOME.DIR is not found. Shared copies of MSI might include
HOME.DIR. If you DON'T see the Installation Utility when you
first run the program, enter the Menus Editor (F5) and press
CTRL-F6. This allows you to re-install MSI.
This first part of the utility will establish the Home
directory; that is, the drive and directory where your MSI
files have been placed.
The second part of the utility WILL MODIFY YOUR AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. IF you don't want this to happen, press N at the
'Continue? (Y/N)' warning prompt.
If you do modify AUTOEXEC.BAT, both PATH and MSIPATH will be
set for you. Also, you will have the opportunity to install
the menus so that they appear each time you start or re-boot
your system. Your original AUTOEXEC will be saved as
AUTOEXEC.BAK. If AUTOEXEC.BAK already exists, your old
commands will be found APPENDED to the bottom of the file.
!-> Pressing CTRL-F6 inside the Menus Editor allows you to
re-install MSI, should you ever move your files around.
!-> LifeTime Owners may now upgrade with shared or downloaded
copies of new MSI releases.
!-> ESCaping from the Main Menu now lets you Quit MSI,
rather than executing a DOS Shell.
!-> CTRL-F1 executes a DOS Shell. MSI remains Resident.
!-> The Menus Editor screen has been redesigned. ALL Menu
configuration options are now available on a single screen!
The original window to the left has been expanded to hold all
General Menu Settings. Settings which apply ONLY to a
highlighted menu item now appear in a window above the menu.
!-> Many of the configuration settings can now be set with a
single keystroke. The following only have two settings.
Pressing the command key will immediately change the current
setting, and update the menu window. The command keys are
shown enclosed in ().
1. (T)ype - A top window option of Normal or Text Only
2. Prompt (L)ine - Yes or No
3. Sha(d)ow - Yes or No
4. (C)ursor (Bar) - Yes or No
5. St(e)pped - Yes or No
!-> A new "Selects:" type has been added, RSIDNT. RSIDNT
executes Action Commands with MSI still Resident in Memory.
Unlike DUAL, however, there is no sub-menu or second set of
Action Commands. See the technical note at the end of the
file.
!-> 'Peek-through' window shadows added. While mostly
aesthetic, this does allow the clock to be displayed and
updated in the shadow of the new window in the Menus Editor.
!-> 'Registered to:' credit may now be removed. Registered
MSI owners will receive instructions for removing the credit
line if they so desire.
!-> A Control Key help line has been added to the normal
operating mode. This will appear in place of the Copyright
notice when a Control Key is pressed.
!-> The Copyright line can now display the current drive and
directory. Pressing CTRL-F2 toggles this display mode.
!-> MSI.DAT is now tagged with a version code. This allows
future upgrades to include changes to the data format which
MSI can 'silently' incorporate into earlier data files without
intervention on the part of the user.
!-> The Sample Menus are now distributed in SAMPLE.DAT. See
the file README.1ST.
!-> M.BAT has been renamed to RUNMSI.BAT.
!-> PRINTQWK.BAT to print the files, WHATS.NEW, README.1ST
and README.DOC, and MANUAL.BAT to print the manual files.
!-> The SUPPORT.MSI file. Lists the Online Regional Support
BBS's and Official Distribution BBS's for MSI.
!-> The README.1ST file.
!-> This (WHATS.NEW) file!
TECHNICAL NOTE:
Earlier versions of MSI implemented ACTION and DUAL Action
Commands in different ways. The ACTIONs were written to the
batch file, ACT.BAT, which was then executed by DOS. The DUAL
Actions were issued individually as system commands.
MSI now offers three different ways of executing Action
Commands, and they all work alike. I discovered that in the
Resident modes, DUAL and RSIDNT, executing the commands
through the ACT.BAT file saves about 6,000 bytes of RAM. Not
a lot, but with the applications appearing today, every little
bit helps.
The Action Modes are; (i.e. "Selects:" is set to:)
ACTION:
MSI is NOT in Memory. 160 bytes of RAM will be used by
DOS due to batch file use, but otherwise MSI is
completely removed.
Advantages: More Memory available for large applications.
Disadvantages: Slower return to menus since the program
must reload. You will always return to the Main Menu.
RSIDNT:
MSI remains in Memory. Approximately 115,000 bytes of
RAM are used since a second copy of DOS is also loaded.
Advantages: You will be returned to the same menu that the
RSIDNT item was called from, and you will be returned
much faster.
Disadvantages: Some very large applications may not have
enough memory available to execute.
DUAL:
MSI remains in Memory (See RSIDNT). The DUAL lets you
define a set of Actions to execute, then a sub-menu to
display, and a second set of Actions to execute when the
returns from the sub-menu. I originally designed this
option to help control the configuration and use of a
TSR.
Advantages: Same as RSIDNT in that the menus are still in
memory, giving better control. Also, better control when
using TSRs.
Disadvantages: Some very large applications may not have
enough memory available to execute.
-->> VERSION 1.4 Changes: Released May 10, 1991
Several changes have been made and a few new features
introduced with this version. First, though, a couple of
minor bug fixes.
* When exiting the Menus Editor (ALT-Q), if the Cursor Bar was
highlighting a 'Text Only' selection line, the line remained
highlighted. This bug has been corrected.
* When the Cursor Bar first highlighted a selectable line, the
spaces on each end of the string were displayed in an opposing
color. This bug has been corrected.
* This really wasn't a bug, but when a Prompt line was
displayed, MSI added a space between the defined string and
the cursor. This apparently wasn't too desirable so the space
is now gone. If you would like to pad one or more spaces
between the string and cursor, add them to the end of the
Prompt string.
New Features!
!-> When defining selection strings (F2) in the Menus
Editor, 'Text Only' lines were being aligned with the
selectable strings. This has been changed to allow 'Text
Only' lines to operate independently, both from the selectable
options and from each other. This allows you to indent or
otherwise format Text Only strings for easy identification and
improved readability.
!* NEW COMMAND *!
!-> The background color used behind the menus and other
windows is now selectable. At the Main (first) menu, press
ALT-B to change the background color. There are 8 colors
available and pressing ALT-B lets you cycle through each of
them in turn. ALT-B works only when the Main Menu is
displayed. Your choice is saved and used again after non-
resident Actions and DOS Shells.
!* NEW COMMAND *!
!-> Registration Forms can now be printed from the
introduction screen or within MSI itself, by pressing F2. Make
sure your printer is ready first. This command sends the file
PRINTREG.MSI to the printer. This file must be in the current
directory for the command to work properly.
NOTE: This command is the same as typing the following at a
DOS prompt:
> copy printreg.msi prn: (RETURN)
!-> A Registration status line has been added to the top of
the basic MSI screen.
!-> The introduction (Shareware) screen has undergone a
facelift. Primarily I wanted the text a little clearer both
as to what will be received at each registration level and to
make it more obvious that sharing copies of MSI is encouraged!
!-> The middle registration level ($25 U.S.) has been
changed slightly to let you choose between receiving the
printed and bound MSI User's Manual OR Unlimited Telephone
Support. Be sure to indicate your choice on the Registration
Form.
!-> An important new file has been added, LICENSE. Read
this file. It details the terms and conditions for the use of
an unregistered copy of MSI. (Users registering at $25 U.S.
or more will receive a new LICENSE file with their upgrade
disk. Users registering below that level will not receive an
Upgrade disk but will receive a new License by mail.)
-->> VERSION 1.3 Changes: Released April 21, 1991
Two significant changes prompted V. 1.3; the addition of a
Shareware introduction screen and a progressive Registration
fee schedule. There have also been some minor, typo type
changes in this and the MSI.DOC file. I have also added the
installation instructions (above) to this file. Be sure to
read the section 'Modify RUNMSI.BAT.'.
VERSION 1.3 DOES NOT include any functional changes to MSI.EXE.
The help screen for the main sample menu incorrectly indicated
that the menus could be unlocked by pressing F5. This should
have been CTRL-F10. The help screen has been corrected in
this release.
The new Registration fees are: (All amounts in $ U.S.)
(NEW) $15.00 - Simple Registration of software and inclusion in
our notification list of upgrades and new products.
(NEW) $25.00 - Technical Support Registration. You will receive a
Registration number giving you access to UNLIMITED
technical support, including support by telephone,
plus notification of upgrades and new products.
$45.00 - Full Registration. This includes:
* The latest version of MSI.
* Printed & bound User's Manual.
* Unlimited Technical Support.
(NEW) * Unlimited FREE upgrades (as available)
* New Product Notices
-->> VERSION 1.2 Changes: Released March 25, 1991
Password protection has been extended to Action and Dual menu
options. The original Password only protected options calling
a sub-menu (Selects = MENU). By request this has been changed
so that each selectable option on a menu may now be
individually Password protected, regardless of the action of
the option.
THIS WILL REQUIRE A FORMAT CHANGE FOR YOUR OLD MENUS.
Included with this upgrade is a program called OLD2NEW.EXE.
If you have one or more MSI.DAT files created from the
Original MSI program, this utility will convert them to the
new, extended Password, format. To do this:
1. Type 'old2new [filename]', where filename is the name
of your menus file to convert. If no filename is given
the old2new will look for MSI.DAT.
2. Repeat for other menu files you might have.
IMPORTANT:
If your original menus had one or more Password protected
menus then old2new will MOVE the Password, assigning it to the
PREVIOUS MENU OPTION used to select the menu.
For example:
Menu #1 contains:
1. Option #1
2. Option #2
3. Sub-Menu #1
Sub-Menu #1 was originally Password protected with 'Pword'.
After old2new conversion:
Menu #1 contains:
1. Option #1 (no Password)
2. Option #2 (no Password)
3. Sub-Menu #1 (Password = Pword)
Sub-Menu #1 contains no Passwords.
Defining Passwords is now done from the Selections Options
menus. The Password is assigned to the currently highlighted
menu option.
BUG FIXES:
Menus that did not have any selectable options defined (i.e.
all options on the menu were 'Text Only') would sometimes have
a 'ghost' option available if Cursor Bar = Yes was defined
for the menu. In this instance pressing the ENTER key would
occasionally cause a Password window to appear, and at other
times less savory things would appear. This has been
corrected.
END OF FILE: README.DOC