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Cream of the Crop 1
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UTILITY
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RTPATCH.ARJ
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RTPATCH.EXE
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PATCH.TXT
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1992-04-25
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New Software Update Procedure
------------------------------
FlexSoft is inaugurating a new procedure for distributing minor
changes and enhancements to its products. As you may have noticed,
if there is a minor change to a program or release, it has been
necessary to download the entire product package. In the case of
changes to TAS, this file is about 290K. PML is itself about 140K,
and PDL is in the 100K range presently.
We realize that this has been a burden on you, the user, since the
cost of keeping current with the latest release has been to incur
long distance charges (up to 25 minutes for a release of TAS).
The new procedure involves using a product from PocketSoft called
".RTPatch". This program will apply a small "patch" file to your
existing version of the affected product, and make it identical to
the latest version. This "patch" file is, in general, many times
smaller than the complete package (tests indicate it is about 5-10%
of the package size).
In order to use this new procedure, you will need to download the
file RTPATCH.EXE from area K of the BBS. This is a self-extracting
version of .RTPATCH. The file size is 47,096 bytes.
Once downloaded, RTPATCH.EXE should be copied into a directory in
your DOS path. Once copied there, type "RTPATCH" while in that
directory. This will 'extract' the program "PATCH.EXE", the actual
.RTPATCH program. You can then delete RTPATCH.EXE, since it was just
used to convey the PATCH.EXE program to you in a compressed format.
Obtaining the Patch File
---------------------------------
Updates to products will be placed in area K, ".RTPATCH Updates"
section.
Patch Naming Convention
-----------------------------
The PATCH files will be named "pppff_tt.RTP" where
"ppp" is the product mnemonic, i.e., TAS, PDL, PML
"ff" is the last two digits of the "old" release, e.g PML502
would have "ff" equal to "02"
"tt" is the last two digits of the "new" release, e.g. PML503
would have "tt" equal to "03"
Applying a Patch
-----------------------------
1) Download the "pppff_tt.RTP" file to your system.
2) Make a backup of your product files or be sure you have the
original distribution file, such as TAS408.EXE.
3) Copy this file to your product directory. For example, if it is
PML02_03.RTP then you would copy PML02_03.RTP to the directory
containing *all* of your PML program and documentation files.
If you do not have all the files for the product in one
directory, then you should locate your original distribution
file (e.g. PML502.EXE or PML502.ZIP) and re-extract the files
into your product directory.
The reason you need to do this is that the PATCH program needs
to find the files in one directory.
4) While in the product directory (e.g. \PML)
type "PATCH pppff_tt" (e.g. "TYPE PML02_03")
This will begin the PATCH process. Once it is complete, your
product will be updated to the new level "tt".
If there are any errors during the PATCH, note them, and send me a
message on the BBS with the error messages. In the meantime, if you
have followed the instructions carefully, and it still didn't patch,
it is possible you either don't have the correct "old" version, or
there is a problem with the way the patch was built.
If you don't have the correct "old" version, don't bother doing the
patch this time, but just download the "new" version of the product.
This process has the potential for saving you a lot of money in phone
calls. It also has the advantage for us of making sure you are on the
latest release of the program. If you have any questions, please
contact me.
Martin Moore