home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Frostbyte's 1980s DOS Shareware Collection
/
floppyshareware.zip
/
floppyshareware
/
GLEN
/
ZLAB-18B.ZIP
/
WHATS.NEW
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-12-02
|
19KB
|
366 lines
NEW!! IN THIS VERSION *********************************************************
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.8b
* Changes to your configuration ARE required for this release!
* Several Sysops were having problems with ZipLab hanging or even
locking up their computers from time to time. This seemed to be
most evident when running the latest 2.41 version of DesqView, but
on a few systems, was independant of DV. The problem for these few
systems seems to have started with version 1.6 of ZipLab Plus, and
the major change in that version was the new serial routines I
introduced to allow for non-standard commport IRQ's. I have gone
back to the previous version of the routines at this time, and would
like feedback on whether or not this corrects the problem for those
systems which were hanging... If you in fact have a non-standard
IRQ for your commport, and ZipLab 1.8 is working ok for you, STAY
with that version. I hope to have the situation straightened out for
the next full version, so we can have the non-standard commports as
well as a stable product on as many machines as possible. If you
have had problems with ZipLab crashing, please give this version a
try to see if it corrects your problem.
* Other problems which some people are experiencing is that ZipLab
will return ERRORs 9, 5 or 6, will see all uploaded files as having
bad CRC values, won't replace the description with File_Id.Diz, or
or won't add the date information to the description. These are
almost certainly due to not having enough RAM memory free when
ZipLab is executing. If you are running under a multi-tasker
(DesqView, OmniView etc...) and are having the problems described
above, you MUST use the "SET PCB=/SWAP" command in either your
Autoexec.Bat or in each nodes Board.Bat. This will cause PCBoard to
get out of the way when SHELL'ing out to ZipLab, and you should then
have plenty of memory. If you are having ANY problems with ZipLab
Plus, please try the /SWAP setting above, and see if that corrects
them. ZipLab does require a fair amount of memory (like 160K), and
then ZipLab shells out to run PKUNZIP (another 80K or so).
* One other note. I have tried to build in as much error trapping as
possible, and will be looking to improve this for the next version.
Howver, if something gets by me, and you walk in to an "Error in
module PTEST at address xxxx:xxxx - Hit any key to return to system"
message, on your computer, PLEASE REBOOT at this time. If I am
unable to catch the error and exit through my error traps, your
serial port may not be left in the proper state. This almost
certainly will cause a "hang" at some point later on.
* Please re-run SETUP, or simply remove the second line from any of your
PTEST.CFG files. This line is in support of the IRQ number, and must
be removed for ZipLab 1.8b to function properly.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.8
* NO changes to your configuration are required for this release!
* The DATE CHECKING was moved up in the process, just after the CRC
checking of the file. This way, if a file is going to fail in any
case becuase it is old, no reason to wait for all the other testing
and modifications. I do need to at least CRC check first, as a bad
archive will at best cause my date checking routines to return the
wrong date, and at worst cause a program crash.
* Some other minor cosmetic changes, and some tightening up of the code
to improve speed.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.7
* NO changes to your configuration are required for this release!
* This version is primarily to fix some problems ZipLab was having with
file descriptions and ProDoor. All of the options for adding to the
file descriptions, as well as replacement with FILE_ID.DIZ (if desired)
are now fully supported in both PCBoard 14.5a and ProDoor 3.4. Sam Smith
is apparently considering changing from the current $DOOR.NAM method to
a more "PCBoard'ish" UPDESC.[node] method of storing file descriptions,
and if/when this happens additional changes will probably be required.
* The sample PTEST.CFG file which is included in the ZLABP_xx.ZIP archive
is now fully commented. This is to help those who wish to manually
change existing .CFG file(s), instead of recreating with SETUP.EXE. The
";" characters and the comments which follow can be left in the .CFG
file, or removed as is your preference. Please don't use the ";" character
in actual .CFG data (like your BBS name), or ZipLab will parse the .CFG
file incorrectly. The file created by SETUP.EXE will not contain comments.
* In testing the current version of ZipLab, It has been determined that the
memory requirements are between 146,052 and 159,480 bytes of RAM, depending
on the number of members in the archive. Keep in mind that you will need
this much free RAM, as well as another copy of COMMAND.COM when PCBoard
shells out to run PCBTEST.BAT. See the notes under "Quick Start" above
for some suggestions on managing memory with PCBoard.
* Several SysOps have expressed some confusion about the registration process
for ZipLab. There are NO "keys", "serial numbers" or "registered versions"
required for ZipLab. ZipLab as downloaded from any BBS is fully functional,
with no advertising, "beg screens", delays or registration reminders. It
is expected that you will register ZipLab if you are going to use it, and
when you do, you will be entered into my database for purposes of receiving
what I hope is quick and friendly support. Once registered for any 1.x
version of ZipLab, you are automatically entitled to run future versions,
but you will need to do so before I release version 2.0. Registration of
version 2.0 will cost more than the nominal $10.00 I have charged while
in the "development" 1.x version, and after 2.0 is released I will accept
no further registrations of 1.x.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.6
* Changes to your configuration ARE required for this release!
* Version 1.5 was opening the CALLER file in exclusive mode, which would
cause a conflict with PCBoard in the SHELL mode. I now open the
CALLER file in shared mode, and the "error 70" should be eliminated.
* ZipLab will now support non-standard commport IRQ addresses. I have
added a line to the .CFG file to allow you to set the IRQ for the
commport. ZipLab will get the commport itself by looking in
PCBoard.Dat. ZipLab will obey the IRQ setting you specify, but will
use standard Base Port addresses. If your commport has non-standard
IRQ AND Base Port addresses, ZipLab will most probably not function
properly. If you have a standard commport, and are using COM1-COM4,
please just enter a '0' (zero) in the field when prompted by SETUP.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.5
* You must run SETUP.EXE and create a new .CFG file for this version!
* A record of files which fail ZipLab's testing process will now be
written to the CALLER file for the current node.
* Users can now run the TEST command in PCBoard to check files before
downloading, but the files will not be moved offline if they fail
DATE checking. The user will be informed of any problems with the
file, and names of files which fail TEST will be written to the
CALLER file for the current node. A Change is required to your
PCBTEST.BAT file to support this feature!
@ECHO OFF
PTEST %1 C:\P2\PTEST.CFG %2
^^NEW!!
Note the additon of %2 at the end of the command line. PCBoard will
pass the word TEST as %2 when using the TEST command from the board,
and will pass nothing in %2 when testing an upload.
* The user was being displayed the name of the file including drive and
path when a file failed testing. This has been modified to show only
the filename, for security reasons.
* In order to allow maximum flexibility in using GIFTEST for testing
.GIF files, ZipLab will no longer make ANY assumptions about what
command lines need to be passed to GIFTEST.EXE. You should use
GTSETUP.EXE (from GIFTEST) to configure GIFTEST, and then use the
new item in the PTEST.CFG file to pass any additonal parameters you
require. Please run SETUP.EXE to effect the change required in the
PTEST.CFG file, and read the documentation for GIFTEST to see what
command line parameters you require.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.4
* A CONFIGURATION CHANGE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS VERSION!!! RUN SETUP.EXE!
* Added an entry in the .CFG file for the type of information to appear at
the beginning of the line added to the file description. The choices
are:
ENTRY: MEANING:
CRC The CRC32 value of the archive file.
FILES The number of files in the archive
NONE Insert only the date information.
Note that if you see two files with the same CRC32, they are the SAME
file, even if the names and dates are different. How you use this
information is up to you for now, although I plan for a future release
of ZipLab to have the capability to search a database of existing file
CRC32's on your system, and reject re-named duplicates.
Note as well that calculating the CRC32 will cause a momentary delay
during the "checking CRC" process. The delay will be a second or two on
a small file, and up to 15-20 seconds on a file around 1meg.
* Added an entry in the .CFG file which if "Y" will search the archive
for FILE_ID.DIZ. If FILE_DIZ is found, ZipLab will replace the
description left by the user with the description contained in
FILE_ID.DIZ. Set this to "N" if you do not wish this feature, but
I do strongly recommend it. FILE_ID.DIZ is a standard format file
containing the author's description of the archive contents. Why not
get the description from the "horses mouth"? Not all Shareware authors
are inserting FILE_ID.DIZ yet, but it is becoming increasingly popular.
* Please run SETUP.EXE to create the new .CFG file(s) for your system.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.3
* No configuration file changes required for this version.
* Corrected several things which were not working correctly.
1) If a file failed any test, ZipLab was doing everything it was supposed
to, but then exiting with an ERROR 76. Fixed.
2) A flag on ARJ was set wrong, so that imbedded files with the same
name as a file in the top level .ARJ would cause an "overwrite?" pause.
3) SCAN'ing for virus infestation was not working properly in "imbedded"
archives. ZipLab will now properly SCAN executables and overlays
contained in imbedded archives.
4) I broke CRC checking in archives and .TD0 files in the 1.2 version.
This has been fixed. Archives and .TD0 files inside the top level
archive will now be CRC checked properly.
5) I was previously only running SCAN against .EXE and .COM files in
the archive. I have added .OVL (which SCAN recognizes as executable).
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.2
* No configuration file changes required for this version.
* Fixed a tricky little problem with an ASM routine I use to RD directories.
The routine was not properly killing the directory if SET ZIPLAB= was used
to set the "work" directory to a RAM drive. This should now work fine.
There were other instances where some machines (or DOS') were having
trouble with removing the "work" directory. These are also fixed...
* Fixed a problem where PKUNZIP was stopping with a "do you want to overwrite?"
message (which we couldn't see), if a file had imbedded paths with files of
the same name in different paths. This should no longer be a problem.
* The LHARC program is now called LHA.EXE in newer versions. ZipLab will
work properly with either LHARC.EXE or LHA.EXE, but defaults to LHA.EXE.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.1
* No configuration file changes required for this version.
* I had left in a lot of "local" display of the testing process, so that I
could get useful debugging information back from my users. I have now
removed as much as possible of the local displays, and the process should
look a lot less jerky to the watching sysop.
* Added a the ability to use ".*" as one of the extensions which will be
passed without archive testing. If you put ".*" in using Setup.Exe, ALL
files will be passed. Files passed with this method OR by specifing
particular extensions in PTest.Cfg will still be SCAN'd for virus'.
* Fixed a problem where in LOCAL mode using wildcards, a directory which
contained a mixture of archive types (ZIP, ARJ, LZH) would cause problems
after testing the first type.
* Some users were having problems reassigning the "working" directory. This
is by default PTEST.DIR under the current directory (C:\PCB\PTEST.DIR\ for
most sysops), but can be changed to another directory with an environment
variable. In your Autoexec.Bat, the line "SET ZIPLAB=d:\path" will allow
any drive and directory to be used for the "working" directory. PLEASE,
remember that this directory will be used and DELETED when the process is
done. Several people tried to use C:\PCB or just C:\ and experienced
unfortunate effects. I have tested ZipLab PLUS with a ramdrive as the
"working" directory, and it seems to work fine. There may be a problem
with directories containing a "." in early versions of DOS. if you are
not running DOS 4.0 or later, and are having problems with ZipLab Plus,
you may want to try reassigning to another directory name.
* Descriptions will not be modified if you are not running PCBoard 14.5(a)
or later. Early 14.5 versions didn't save the descriptions in the same
location during the testing process, and ZipLab Plus won't find them.
ZipLab PLUS Version 1.0
* Configuration file changes required for this version! (from old ZipLab)
* This is the new ZipLab PLUS! A lot of hard work has gone into this and
earlier versions, and I will be requiring a *REGISTRATION FEE* with
this version. See REGISTER.DOC for details on how to register ZipLab
PLUS.
* ZipLab will now test .ARJ and .LZH files, as well as the .ZIP
format. You will need to have ARJ.EXE and LHA.EXE if you accept
these formats, and a change to the .CFG file is *REQUIRED* to tell
PTEST where they are. You must put them in the PTEST.CFG file, even
if you don't accept these formats, and don't have the programs...
Just lie to it.
* ZipLab now fully supports ProDoor as well as PCBoard.
* You may now run ZipLab while out of the bulletin board system and use
wildcards (* or ?) in the testing procedure. This will allow you to test
existing archive file(s) on your system. *NO* changes will be made to
existing descriptions. To enable this feature, place the word LOCAL at
the end of the PTEST command line.
EXAMPLE: C:\ZIPLAB>PTEST m:\pcb\dir1\*.zip ptest.cfg LOCAL
* ZipLab will now SCAN archives inside archives to test for virus
infestation.
* You may now have rejected uploads left in your private directory if you
prefer this setup. Set the "holding" directory to the location of your
"private" or "upload" directory (whichever you wish), and the file(s)
will remain there. The description(s) will be posted to your "private"
dir file. This corrects a situation where sysops trying to do this with
earlier releases of ZipLab would lose the rejected file.
* By default, ZipLab will use a directory called PTEST.DIR under the
current directory for unzip'ing and testing purposes. This directory
will be erased and removed by ZipLab at the end of the run. If you wish
to use another directory for this purpose (like a RAM drive to improve
speed), set the DOS environment variable "ZIPLAB".
EXAMPLE: SET ZIPLAB=E:\WORKDIR
* You may choose to add a file to the archive package, by adding the
appropriate information to the PTEST.CFG file. I am opposed to this
practice, but don't desire to tell anyone how to run their shop.
* The ORIGINAL file date of the archive file is now retained. Earlier
versions of ZipLab would set the archive file date to the date of the
newest member in the archive. This was required for age testing, but is
no longer.
* ZipLab will NOT leave behind "hidden, read-only or system" files
which were imbedded in archives. They will be tested, and properly
deleted when the tests are finished.
* ZipLab now uses GIFTEST.EXE to test .GIF files (if permitted). This
program by Dave Navarro will allow you to set up a GIFTEST.CFG file -
giving you even more control over .GIF testing. An addition to your
PTEST.CFG file is required to support this. Please read the docs with
GIFTSTxx.ZIP for details on how to best set up the GIFTEST.CFG file.
YOU MUST REGISTER GIFTEST TO USE IT!
* You may now put all BBS advertising file names into a text file, one
on each line. In PTEST.CFG, place an "@" before the name of this text
file, and ZipLab will delete all listed advertising files in one pass.
THIS IS MUCH FASTER for those with multiple advertising files to reject.
***********************************************************************************************
This program was written in QuickBasic 4.5, with some help from
Hammerly Computing's ProBas 4.01. I have also included a few utilities
which PTEST will use in the course of testing. These utilities are the
property of the authors, and you are strongly requested to register them
if you continue to use ZIPLAB PLUS.
Jeffrey S. Morley
The Interconnect BBS
(703)425-2505
PLEASE SEE REGISTER.DOC FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION
(C)Copyright 1989-1991 by Jeffrey S. Morley