Over 1,000 Windows 95 Programs/Over 1000 Windows 95 Programs (Microforum) (Disc 1).iso/0440/history.txt

Text File | 1997-04-02 | 7.9 KB | 209 lines

V8.10 - January 1997
--------------------
This is a maintenance release, that also introduces a number
of new commands;

1. TOUCH - to change the date/time stamp of a file/filespec
2. SAVEDATE - to save the system date and time, in a file called WCL.DTE
   in the WCL home directory
3. RESTOREDATE - to restore any saved date and time from WCL.DTE
4. WCLFORMAT - now uses a GUI interface under win95


V8.00 - August 1996
-------------------
This is a new hybrid 16-32 bit version - it calls some
32-bit functions when running under Win95 or Windows NT.

Apart from several internal enhancements, there are these
new features;

1. Environment variables can be used from commandline
   - e.g. dir %temp%
   - restriction - must be preceded and followed by a space

2. Extension of wildcards; if the last character in a file specification
   is a "*", it will be expanded to "*.*" - this is for compatibility
   with the Win32 API (Windows 95 and NT) which will do this
   automatically.

3. New setting in WCL.INI - "COMMAND-SEPARATORS"
   This can be used to specify the separator(s) for multiple commands;
   The default is to use the semi-colon (";") - but you can specify
   alternatives here (up to a maximum of 5). Note that you must be
   careful to specify only characters which you will not normally use
   in commands, AND characers which do not have a special meaning for
   WCL - otherwise there will be real problems (and maybe even
   a disaster!). You have been warned!

   Note: EACH character after the "=" sign (including a space) will be
   taken as a separator;

   e.g., to use ";" and "&" as separators, do this :=
    COMMAND-SEPARATORS=;&

   other examples;
    COMMAND-SEPARATORS=&
    COMMAND-SEPARATORS=|ú[

4. "DIR /B" = for bare format display

5. "Less" - a command for viewing small text files (may be scrapped)

6. "ED"   - a command for editing small text files (may be scrapped)

7. No limit on the size of batch files

8. "/date=" can now be "/d:"  (for "copy" command)

9. alias commands maximum number increased from 50 to 255

10. command line history increased from 30 to 64

11. "unix-mode" (in WCL.INI ini file) - to turn to quasi-unix mode in
    INI file (e.g., UNIX-MODE=1) - the main effects of this are, that
    the prompt is shown with "/" instead of "\", and that users will
    have to insert a space manually to separate switches ("/", '<",
    ">", "|"). This has a significant effect on how parameters are
    handled. So please do not turn this feature on unless you are sure
    of what you are doing. You have been warned!

12 "unixmode" (command) - to turn to quasi-unix mode from command line

13. length of command line increased from 80 to 150 characters

14. icons can be used in "usermenu" for the icon toolbar - check MENU-B.WCL
    and MENU-S.WCL for examples. This depends on the existence of a DLL with
    numbered bitmaps, called WCLTOOLB.DLL
    NOTE: you can use the buttons, or just text - not both. An attempt to
    use buttons for some menu items and text for others will only result
    in a very ugly screen.


15. drag and drop support from file manager

16. scheduler - can now be used to schedule a program to run
    daily - by putting "!!!" before the command
      e.g., timed-run 12:35 !!!backup.exe
      - needs Windows to be running continually
      - at midnight, the schedule is renewed

17. Calls the 32 bit functions for some purposes when running
    under Win95 or NT

18. Long filename support under Win95 and NT (for DIR, and COPY commands).
    - not available for COPYTREE command.
    - while long filenames may normally contain spaces, it is
      recommended that user do NOT use spaces in their long filenames.
      Doing this may confuse the WCL parser in some cases.
      ** Please NOTE this restriction!

19. "DIR /Y" - to stop short filenames from being listed (under Win95
    and NT)

20. "DIR /Z" - to stop long filenames from being listed (under Win95
    and NT)

21. Because of "features" in the Win32 API, file operations should now
    contain the full path names of the files (e.g., COPY and DEL), when
    running under NT or Win95.

22. BWCC.DLL has been removed, in favour of CTL3DV2.DLL

23. If you want to change to a directory with spaces in its name (under
    Win95 or NT), put the name in quotation marks.

24. New command (for Win95 only) - "SETENV" - to set or
    change an enviroment variable.

25. New command (for Win95 or NT only) - "ADDPATH" - add a new
    directory path to the current path statement.

26. New entries in WCL.INI
    "BIGWCL-SHOW-DRIVES"   and   "WCL-SHOW-DRIVES"
    If set to 0 then the drives will not be shown in the toolbar
    - else they will be shown.

27. New bitmapped buttons for the drive letters

28. Descriptions can now be attached to the user menus and buttons
    on the toolbar (see MENU-B.WCL for examples). The descriptions
    are shown beside the window title when you click on any of the
    buttons

29. Aliased directories can now be used in the COPY command - but
    only as the DESTINATION DIRECTORY for the file copy. To do
    this, you put an exclamation mark ("!") before the name of the
    alias.

    e.g., if you have a directory alias "SRC=C:\DELPHI\SOURCE\RTL70"
    you can copy a file to SRC=C:\DELPHI\SOURCE\RTL70 by doing;
    COPY *.PAS !SRC

30. New command "LZEXPAND" - to expand files which have been compressed
    with Microsoft's COMPRESS.EXE

    Syntax= LZEXPAND <source> <target>

31. New command: "REBOOT" - to reboot the system.

32. New entries in WCL.INI -
     "MAX-LONGDIR-LENGTH.BIG"  and
     "MAX-LONGDIR-LENGTH.SMALL"

    these should contain a number which is the point at which long
    filenames on the command prompt will be reduced to the short
    filenames. This is useful for Win32 only. By default, the number
    is set at 67.

    This is only to help in cases where the WCL prompt might otherwise
    be too long (if you use long names for your directories).


    e.g., MAX-LONGDIR-LENGTH.SMALL=30

33. New entry in WCL.INI - "MANUAL-SPACES"

    If turned on, this will disable the WCL feature of automatically
    inserting a space before certain "switch" characters (e.g., "/",
    '<", ">", and "|"). In these cases, you will have to insert a space
    yourself every time you use a switch (either in a batch file, or
    at the command line). Turning this feature on WILL significantly
    affect how parameters are handled - so please do not use it unless
    you are sure of what you are doing. You have been warned!

34. New entry in WCL.INI - "USE-WIN32"

    This is only useful for Win95 and NT. In those environments, 32-bit
    functions are turned on automatically. However, if you don't like
    those features (e.g., long filenames) then you can use this setting
    to turn the 32-bit functions off  (USE-WIN32=0). Note that this
    disables ALL 32-bit functions.

35. New command "USEWIN32" - to turn 32-bit functions on/off at the
    command line. This also makes the necessary entry into WCL.INI
    (see above).

    Syntax=
     USEWIN32 OFF,   or
     USEWIN32 ON

   If no parameter is supplied, it displays the current state of the
   32-bit facilities.

36. THREE New network commands
    NETMAP   - to connect a local device to a network resource
         - the connection (if successful) is persistent
    NETFREE  - to disconnect a local device from a network resource
    NETINFO  - to return the name of the network resource
           associated with a local device

   * Run each of them with no parameter to see the syntax

37. New command: "SENDCLICK" - to send a mouse click to a button via
    its window ID. You have to obtain the window IDs manually by liberal
    use of the "CW" command. Some buttons have no window ID at all.

38. The SENDKEYS command will NOT work for Win32 programs under Win32 (NT or Win95).