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Auction Sentry version 2.2.1 ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** *** IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THOSE USING SOFTWARE BASED FIREWALLS: *** *** -------------------------------------------------------------- *** *** If you just updated from a previous version and Auction Sentry *** *** no longer updates or lets you add auctions it is probably *** *** becauseyour firewall is blocking the new version of Auction *** *** Sentry. If you experience this problem you need to configure *** *** your firewall to allow the newer version of the program *** *** AuctionSentry.exe to access the Internet. *** ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** Release Notes: Version 2.2.1 (07/07/2003) -------------------------- - Updated to account for the changes that eBay moved into the US site today. Personally, I liked the old look more but Meg doesn't listen to me... - FINALLY fixed the problems with the Mass Add from Watch Page. - Added eBay Belgium to the list of eBay sites you can open pages in. - Added a check box to the Time Synchronization tab of the Options screen that can be un-checked to prevent Auction Sentry from adjusting for Daylight Savings Time when synchronizing the PC's clock. This is for Windows 98 users who live in locations that do not observe DST. This should fix the problem that users in Arizona and Hawaii were having with their time being off by an hour under Windows 98. - Fixed a bug that caused Auction Sentry to confuse June and July on French installations of Windows. Version 2.2.0 (06/01/2003) -------------------------- - I raised the price on the software from $9.95 to $14.95. Everyone kept saying I wasn't charging enough so... - Added automatic update checking at regular intervals. The next time there is an update you will know about it without having to restart the program or click the Updates button. I STRONGLY suggest you do not turn off this feature. - Added a check to alert the user when an author changes their item's end date. - Added an alert to prompt the user before executing a snipe as a result of the PC's system date being altered. A bug in Windows 98 causes the system date setting to be changed when the user opens the Windows Date and Time Properties screen and advances the date (even if they don't click the OK or Apply buttons!). Now when you open the PC calendar and advance the date a month it won't result in all of your snipes being automatically executed. - I've put out a new version of the updater.exe utility which is used to download and install automatic updates. Please download the new version from http://www.auction-sentry.com/updater.exe and place the new version in the Auction Sentry application folder (the default is c:\Program Files\Auction Sentry\. This new version should fix the "File\Path Error" and "Access Denied" errors which happens when you have more than one instance of Auction Sentry running during an update. Now all instances of Auction Sentry are automatically shut down during an update. - I've updated the help file. You can get the latest from: http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/129949-R1MP/AuctionSentry.chm - Fixed problem that didn't show an item as outbid if you didn't bid on them through Auction Sentry. - Updated to remember the filter option you last used for the grid the when you start the program. - If you have alerts turned off changed items are now displayed with a blue font until the next refresh. - Added print time to the report heading. Version 2.1.5 (05/20/2003) -------------------------- - Sorry for two fixes in two days! There was one other problem caused by eBay's changes on the 19th that I didn't account for in yesterday's update. If a snipe failed either due to the bid amount being too low or the snipe coming in too late the reply from eBay wasn't recognized by Auction Sentry resulting in an "Unknown Error" message. This ONLY happened with version 2.1.4 if the snipe didn't go through. It was a problem reporting the bid result, not a problem placing the bid. This release fixes that. Version 2.1.4 (05/19/2003) -------------------------- - Quick fix to correct a problem preventing bids from being placed due to a change on eBay's site today. Version 2.1.3 (04/08/2003) -------------------------- This is a fix to combat a problem eBay is having reporting items as ended before they actually end. The problem has been going on for two days despite eBay's assurance that they are working on it. Rather than wait any longer for a fix on eBay's side I'm releasing this fix to force a triple-check whenever eBay says an item has just ended. I apologize for yet another update. This one is eBay's fault. Version 2.1.2 (04/06/2003) -------------------------- Time synch issue fix. My apologies for yet another glitch! Everyone should be correct now regardless of where you live. Version 2.1.0 (04/02/2003) -------------------------- - Fixed to correctly determine Daylight Savings Time (Summer Time) for European users since the US and Europe don't change over at the same time. Non-US users need to go to the Time Synchronization tab of the Options screen and specify which country they are in. The default is United States so US users don't need to do anything. - Added the ability to print out the auction information displayed in the grid. Finally. Version 2.0.1 (03/11/2003) -------------------------- Quick fix to correct a problem with time synchronization that started just this evening when eBay made a change to their site. Version 2.0.0 (03/02/2003) -------------------------- We are finally up to version 2.0! This release will have some bad news for some. Yahoo! Auctions is no longer supported by Auction Sentry. A change was recently made to the Yahoo! Auctions site which broke Auction Sentry's ability to place bids there. Yahoo! has been declining as an auction venue in the past 18 months. They have closed down their UK auctions site and are no longer adequately policing their US site resulting in the US site becoming a haven for many scammers. I was unable to get any help from Yahoo! on fixing the problem Auction Sentry was having interfacing with their site and I have not been able to find a fix. For these reasons I have decided to discontinue support for Yahoo! Auctions. More important changes: - Added ability to Mass Add from your eBay "Item's I'm Watching" page. - Removed auction site icons since only eBay is now supported. Added new "Notes" icon which is displayed on lines that notes have been entered on. No more guessing "Did I leave notes on that one?" - Added ability to export your auction information to a file readable by Excel or any other spreadsheet application. Select "Export for Excel..." from the File menu. - Updated to accommodate new fee pricing structure for items with start dates on or after March 4, 2003 (Meg, has it been a year already?). - Fixed bug in profit tracking that charged extra for pictures even when the Picture Pack was purchased. - Added Scheduled Listing and Gift Icon fees to profit tracking. - Corrected the "Listed in two categories" calculation. - Added the following countries to the list of default eBay sites to use for opening auction and Bid History pages: Italy, Austria, France, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland. - Improved Auction Sentry's ability to work on non-English installations of Windows. Should work for all of the European languages now. - Added support for auctions conducted in Swiss Franks (CHF). - Changed "Synch at Startup" option to "Synch at startup and at regular intervals. - Added warning when setting up a snipe without first having all of the time synch features turned on. - Fixed bug that was incorrectly determining seller ID (not a visible bug to user but it was driving ME nuts!). - Made "Private Auction aware". Auction Sentry can't tell who the winner is on a private auction so it now ASSUMES you are the winner if your bid goes through. - Fixed the false winner alert that was displayed if user was the seller on a fixed price listing. - Fixed Winning Bidder alert to use the correct currency type for non-US Dollar auctions. - Placed limitation against bidding at or above $15,000 US. eBay requires more than just an ID and password to place bids in such high amounts. - You can now paste URLs from the non-US eBay sites into the Add Auction box and Auction Sentry resolves the item number correctly. - Added "Register" option to the Help menu so you don't have to close and restart Auction Sentry to register. - Fixed problem with Mass Add by seller ID when "All" option not selected. - Added ability to turn off auto-refresh completely - just set the value to zero. - New help file available (the old one was seriously out-dated!). You can download the new help file at the following URL: http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/129949-R1MP/AuctionSentry.chm Version 1.9.2 (12/26/2002) -------------------------- My apologies again for yet another update! eBay is trying to drive me insane for Christmas. And to think I didn't think to get Meg a thing... - Fixed the empty "Time Remaining" entries that were being displayed after fixed price listings closed. - Fixed problem preventing some eBay Motors listings from being added until after they had at least one bid on them. Version 1.9.1 (12/17/2002) -------------------------- SORRY FOR TWO UPDATES IN TWO DAYS! I keep telling Meg to consult with me before making changes to her web site but I never hear back from her... The last update fixed problems for US Dollar auctions but did not fix mulitple problems eBay's last round of changes created for non-US Dollar auctions. This version should make all you European users happy again. Version 1.9.0 (12/16/2002) -------------------------- LOTS OF IMPORTANT CHANGES - PLEASE READ ALL: - Fixed bug causing false alerts. Bug was caused by a change on eBay's site. - Fixed bug that occasionally caused a snipe to come in late due to a second time synch right before snipe time. - You can now filter the grid to display only open items, only closed items or all items. - Made more changes to allow Auction Sentry to work on non-English installations of Windows. HELLO ALL MY NEW GERMAN USERS! - When an alert is displayed the relevant font color for the relevant item is now set to blue until the next refresh after the user clicks the OK button on the alert. No more "Now which one was that that changed?". - The font color used to display a row is now set to gray if there was a problem updateing that item's information. - Time synching now corrects the PC's date setting as well as the time setting. No more accidentally setting your date into the future and kicking off snipes early! - After a snipe is executed ONLY the item sniped is updated instead of every item in the grid. If a snipe is scheduled to be executed right after another then the refresh after the first snipe is skipped. This speeds up snipes for when you have one snipe following another close together. - Added option to have auctions opened all in the same browser instance or in separate browser instances. See General tab of Options screen. - Fixed bug that was causing the Mass Add eBay feature to exclude some fixed-price listings. - Fixed bug that causes passwords with non-standard characters to be rejected. - Fixed way AS was getting the final units sold for fixed price listings after they close (and eBay removes the count!). - Updated to understand "blacklisted user" response from eBay when a bid is placed. - Added "Refresh" to system tray popup menu. - Alerts now include the date as well as time. - Suppresses the alert that used to be displayed with the first refresh after a fixed price listing is added. - Shift+F5 now only updates the selected row instead of all rows. - Added "View Auctions's Bid History Page" to the Action menu. - Limitied the minimum re-synch interval on the Time Synchronization tab of the Options screen to every 5 minutes (.08). And NOBODY should need to re-synch more often than every 15 minutes (.25)! - Clicking OK on the Options screen only triggers a refresh of the grid if appropriate (such as changing the color coding settings). - User can now enter a negative amount in the "Your cost" box of the eBay Sales Options screen (to off-set variations like free gallery listing day). - User can now override the "Units Sold" box on the eBay Sales Options screen after an item closes. - Fixed bug preventing you from changing the wave file for alerts more than once without having to reopen the Options screen to do so. - Ctrl+; now resolves current date and time just as it does in Microsoft Excel and Access. Yeah, I know. Only me and Bill Gates care about that feature. Version 1.8.0 (10/8/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed time synchronization problem caused by a change on eBay's site in the past day. - You can now load eBay "Fixed Price" item listings (non- auction listings). Sellers will be happy about this. I know I am since I'm using that listing option now. You can not bid through Auction Sentry on such a listing since these items don't accept "bids" per se. And why would you want to snipe a fixed price item anyway? - Fixed a bug that was causing registration number to be forgotten if hard drive was reformatted or Windows was reinstalled. Unfortunately your current registration number will be lost if you reinstall Windows but the replacement number it generates should be permanent. So those of you who reinstall Windows every other day should be VERY happy. - Deleting auctions now generates a confirmation prompt. The Delete key delete perfroms deletions now so you don't have to reach for the mouse. You can turn this confirmation off on the General tab of the Options screen. - Speaking of the Options screen, it's been redesigned some. The default setting for checking for updates on startup is now in the General tab instead of the Startup tab. And that's a good thing since the Startup tab is now gone! It's been replaced by a Time Synchronization tab. - You can now set a default to re-synchronize the clock with eBay 5 minutes before a snipe is executed. See the Synchronization tab of the Options screen. - You now have the option to have Auction Sentry figure out the time difference between eBay West Coast and your location automatically (as it always has ) OR you can specify the time difference manually (for those of you in locations that for some reason Auction Sentry calculates the time for difference incorrectly). If time synchronization sets your clock incorrectly then you can now fix that by changing this setting. - The Alerts tab of the Options screen has been updated to allow you to suppress ALL alerts INCLUDING the alert that is currently displayed after a snipe is executed. Personally, I think that suppressing this is a bad idea since one can have an incorrect password stored and never know why his snipes keep failing. But I was badgered into adding this by a new user (you know who you are). As a compromise the snipe result message is saved to an auction's Notes setting if the snipe alert is suppressed AND if there are no existing Notes on the given auction. Hover over a row in the grid to see the notes on the item pop up (if there are any notes on the auction that is). - Now when you open the Bid, Open, Save As, Profit Tracking, Mass Add or Options screens the refresh countdown is put on hold to prevent a refresh from being performed while you have a screen open. This will NOT affect snipe execution. - Fixed bug that was computing non-vehicle eBay Motors auction fees incorrectly. - I expanded the user ID and password boxes for those of you with REALLY long user IDs and/or passwords. - User ID is now displayed in the Bid Status display when you check the status on a pending snipe. - Now works on systems with non-English language setting in Windows. Version 1.7.2 (9/6/2002) ------------------------ - Fixed another bug caused by a change on eBay's site that I missed yesterday. Sorry for two updates in two days! This bug wasn't as severe. You got an "Unknown Error" message if your bid failed due to the snipe amount being below the minimum acceptable bid or the snipe being placed too late. In either case the bid would have failed regardless but the "Unknown Error" message created confustion as to why it failed. Version 1.7.1 (9/5/2002) ------------------------ - Fixed a bug that was preventing Auction Sentry from being able to place a bid. This was caused by a change on eBay's site. I have several updates I wanted to roll out this month (including a fix to the forgotten registration bug) but had to get this one out right away. Look for a new release later this month. Version 1.7.0 (6/16/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed a bug that prevented some users from adding non-US dollar eBay auctions. This bug was caused by a change on eBay's site. - Added New Auction Notes feature! Select an auction and click on the new "Create/Edit Item Notes" button to enter free-form notes you want to keep on the auction such as payment date, ship date, etc. Once you have entered notes you can hover the mouse over the item in the grid to see the notes displayed in a pop-up balloon. - By popular demand I've made the pending snipe warning that is displayed on program shutdown optional. Go to the General tab of the Options screen to change this setting. - For Non-US users: you can now specify which eBay or Yahoo site Auction Sentry is to use when opening auctions in your browser (US, UK, Canada, etc.). Go to the General tab of the Options screen to configure this setting. - You can now specify any wave files you wish to be used for alerts. See the new Alerts tab of the Options screen to specify. - Minor improvement to speed up the process of deleting several auctions from the grid at once. Version 1.6.0 (5/29/2002) ------------------------- - Added support for Yahoo UK & Ireland, Canada and Singapore Auctions. - Fixed a bug that was keeping some alerts from being displayed. - Fixed a bug that was preventing the Sales Options screens from remembering the user's preferences. - Fixed a bug that was failing to suppress "eBay Store" listings when using eBay Mass Add feature (bug was caused by a change to eBay's site). - Fixed minor bug that was failing to correctly resolve the "%" symbol in auction titles. Version 1.5.2 (5/9/2002) ----------------------------- - Fixed problem with Yahoo bidding caused by a change on the Yahoo site. - Fixed minor bug that prevented a few eBay auctions from loading. - A few people reported a "File/Path Error" when they took the last upgrade. If you had this problem when you upgraded to this release please email me the log file as an email attachment. The log is named "AUCTIONSENTRY.log" and resides in the Auction Sentry installation folder (the default location for the log file is "c:\Program Files\Auction Sentry\AUCTONSENTRY.log"). - Jesse, if you find a typo in this Release Notes entry I owe you a lunch. Version 1.5.1 (5/2/2002) Doh! ----------------------------- - *** IMPORTANT NOTICE TO YAHOO BIDDERS *** DUE TO A CHANGE IN THE WAY THE YAHOO SITE WORKS AUCTION SENTRY IS CURRENTLY UNABLE TO PLACE BIDS FOR YOU ON YAHOO. I AM WORKING HARD ON SOLVING THIS PROBLEM ASAP BUT FOR THE TIME BEING YAHOO AUCTIONS CAN ONLY BE TRACKED - NOT BID ON - WITH AUCTION SENTRY. I'M VERY SORRY ABOUT THIS AND WILL RELEASE A NEW VERSION AS SOON AS I HAVE THE PROBLEM LICKED! THIS PROBLEM DOES NOT AFFECT EBAY USAGE. - Fixed a bug that was causing Auction Sentry to place bids for a quantity of one in eBay dutch auctions even when user specified two or more. - Added check to suppress refresh after placing a snipe when another snipe is scheduled to go off right away. You can set multiple snipes to be executed at the same time or close to the same time but keep in mind that they will still be executed at least 2 seconds apart (as opposed to several seconds apart as in previous versions!). Version 1.5.0 (4/30/2002) PLEASE READ. LOTS OF FIXES + NEW FEATURES ------------------------------------------------------------------- - Neat new feature: You can now paste an item's URL into the Add Auction box to add an auction. Also, you can right-click on a link to an auction in your browser, select "Copy Shortcut" (That's the command in IE - I'm not sure about NetScape) and then paste it into the Add Auction box. - Added 2 wave file sound effects. - User can now specify a default snipe time to be saved. - Cleaned up appearance a bit for Windows XP users. - Fixed bug that kept users outside US from loading and bidding on auctions in their own currency. - "My Proxy" column now displays in currency used (for international). - Fixed bug that reported auctions as ended when they were not. - You can now specify quantity when bidding on Yahoo dutch auctions. - Fixed bug that was displaying closed auctions in red after user "outbids" themself. - Fixed bug that was picking up eBay Store items when mass-adding eBay auctions. - User is now alerted if their snipe is outbid by another person before it is placed. - Fixed bug that sometimes selected wrong row when user right-clicks on a row that isn't the current highlighted row. - Fixed bug that assumed an auction that ended before snipe could be executed must have ended with "Buy It Now". - Automatic refreshes are now suppressed when a snipe execution is imminent. - Automatic refresh is suspended while the one of the Sale Options screens is open. - Bid screen now alerts user when they set up a new snipe on an item with an existing pending snipe that only the new snipe will be executed. - Program now warns user before when shutting down if they have a pending snipe. - When the Bid screen is redisplayed (after an instant bid that falls below reserve) the minimum bid is updated. - Improved time synch logging. - Improved time synching to try up to 3 times to get a fast response from eBay. - Fixed overflow error created when refresh rate was set too high. - Extended log size to better facilitate debugging. - Sales Options screens now require minimum bid to be specified. Version 1.4.2 (3/19/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed a problem with adding eBay Motors auctions. This problem was caused by last week's changes on eBay's site. - Fixed problem with adding international auctions. This problem was caused by my general fix in the last update (oops!). - Fixed problem with trial period. If you ran it for the first time in the AM it told you your trial was expired already! It began behaving correctly later after PM of the first trial day. Sorry to all the new users who were confounded by that glitch! Version 1.4.1 (3/13/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed to account for a change on eBay's site. This one was a hot fix so if I missed anything PLEASE email me at Dan@Auction-Sentry.com and let me know what I missed. THANKS! Version 1.4.0 (3/6/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed bug that limited dutch auction tracking to auctions with a quantity of 999 or less. Who knew? - Changed registration process. The program now can be used for 10 days before the user must pay for and register the software. Now customers can "try before they buy". Tell your friends to download and try it out at http://www.Auction-Sentry.com/Download Version 1.3.0 (2/28/2002) ------------------------- - By popular demand: Now allows you to specify a quantity when bidding on eBay dutch auctions (Yahoo dutch auction multiple item bidding to come in next release). - By popular demand: Now supports non-US eBay dollar auctions (Yahoo non-US dollar auction support coming in next release). - Updated how eBay final value fees are calculated to accommodate change on eBay. - Fixed a bug from last version that kept changing the Time Remaining column width after being minimized and restored. - Fixed bug that was returning an error when sniping eBay Motors auctions (bug was caused by a change on the eBay site). Version 1.2.0 (1/30/2002) ------------------------- - The window and columns are now resizable. - Updated profit tracking to account for new eBay fee pricing. - Fixed bug in Yahoo Mass Add that was caused by a change on Yahoo's site. - Added Web Help. From Help screen select "Auction Sentry Help on the Web" to open the problem resolution page of AS web site. The help page is currently identical to the Trouble Shooting topic in the program's help file but it will be updated shortly. Version 1.1.9 (1/12/2002) ------------------------- - Fixed bug that was causing program to incorrectly store passwords that begin or end with a lower case "b". ***************************************************************** IMPORTANT! IF YOUR PASSWORD CONTAINS A LOWER CASE LETTER "b" THEN YOU MUST RE-ENTER IT IN THE OPTIONS SCREEN OR THIS FIX WILL CAUSE YOUR PASSWORD TO BE STORED INCORRECTLY. YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO THIS ONCE. ALSO, CANCEL ANY PENDING SNIPES YOU HAVE AND SET THEM UP AGAIN AFTER YOU HAVE RESET YOUR PASSWORD. ***************************************************************** - Updated logging to make it easier to debug time synching problems. - Fixed bug in eBay auctions that showed seller as a winner when his dutch auction closed. - Fixed Yahoo Login to recognize home pages returned in Spanish. - Disabled OK button on Options screen when passwords don't match. Version 1.1.8 (11/29/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed bug that was causing won Yahoo auctions to be displayed as outbid. Bug was caused by a change on Yahoo. - Fixed similar bug that was causing some won dutch auctions on eBay to be displayed as outbid. Bug was caused by a change on eBay. Version 1.1.7 (11/24/2001) -------------------------- - Updated to reflect new fee structure on Yahoo auctions. - Improved speed with which dutch auction information is retrieved for Yahoo dutch auctions. Version 1.1.6 (11/15/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed to accommodate change in way Yahoo performs logging in. A change in Yahoo's site was preventing Auction Sentry from placing bids and updating auctions correctly. Version 1.1.5 (11/04/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed bug preventing color coding to work correctly with Yahoo dutch auctions (this bug was also caused by a change in Yahoo's web pages). Version 1.1.4 (11/02/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed bug with Yahoo Mass Add function (bug was caused by a change in Yahoo's web pages). - Fixed a bug with setting up snipes on dutch auctions. - Changed the default on the Bid screen from "Place Bid Now" to to "Place Time Delayed Bid". Version 1.1.3 (10/31/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed eBay dutch auction profit computing bug that was created by a change on eBay's site. Version 1.1.2 (10/28/2001) -------------------------- - Fixed time synchronization bug. Version 1.1.1 (10/27/2001) -------------------------- - Bug fix for profit tracking on eBay dutch auctions (was basing profit on number of bids but now basis profit on number of items purchased). Version 1.1.0 (10/14/2001) -------------------------- - Added Mass Add feature for Yahoo auctions. Now you can add all the Yahoo auctions that a particular seller has listed. Version 1.0.2 (10/13/2001) -------------------------- - Fix for eBay Mass Add (by seller) function to account for a change in eBay's site. This fixes the duplicate entries bug. - Fixed a problem that was keeping the window from being restored when the user clicked the eye icon in the system tray during a long refresh cycle. - SOON TO COME: Look for the addition of the Mass Add by seller function for Yahoo auctions as well. Should be out within a couple weeks. Version 1.0.1 (10/6/2001) ------------------------- - Minor fix for tracking profit on eBay and Yahoo dutch auctions. - Changed how button bar is drawn (the change is invisible to end users). Version 1.0.0 (9/28/2001) ------------------------- - This is the commercial release. The beta period is over but all beta testers who registered the program before 10/1/2001 will continue to get free updates just as paying users will. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP BETA TESTERS!!! - Improved the Updater.exe utility so that it will never replace the program executable unless it has downloaded the complete file. Also, added a progress display to show how much has been downloaded and how much is left. - Added help file. Check it out - I think you'll like it. - Added a special surprise for all my beta testers. If you open the "About Auction Sentry" window and click on the eye logo you'll get a special message from me. Version 0.2.1 (9/12/2001) ------------------------ - New home on web for Auction Sentry: http://www.Auction-Sentry.com The new web server should solve all the download problems people were having trying to download the setup program as well as problems upgrading. - Fixed bug that kept "Restore" menu option from working when application was reduced to the system tray. - When an alert is shown the application is restored to the top-most window position on screen so that you will never miss an alert. - Fixed bug that was keeping application from detecting a live internet connection for one of the DSL testers. - Fixed profit tracking to ignore Final Value Fee when there are no bids. - Added 100k of filler to LRECL for future expansion. Version 0.2.0 (9/8/2001) ------------------------ - Restored system tray functionality. When you minimize the program shrinks down to an icon in the system tray. - Fixed profit tracking bug for Dutch auctions. - Fixed bug that was causing some outbid notices to not be displayed. - Fixed bug in update process (sometimes failed to shut down program while updating). This version won't have that problem when it updates itself. - New installation program now used for full installs (not upgrades). Now new users can download one file (setup.exe) and run it to install program. Version 0.1.9 (9/2/2001) ------------------------ - Added a button bar to make most commands easier to access. Tell me what you think of it! If a button's function isn't clear from its icon just the mouse over it and a balloon hint will be displayed. - Stored passwords are now scrambled for increased security. - Added option to have Auction Sentry re-synch your clock at regular intervals. This is for users that leave Auction Sentry running for days on end but have PC clocks that lose or gain time rapidly. - You can turn off those "Do you want to track profit on this auction" screens that pop up every time you add an auction. - You can now update profit tracking information on an option after the fact. Just select a row and click on the dollar sign button. - Fixed bug that wasn't recognizing when the user was a high bidder in a dutch auction. - Program now tries to detect if your computer is connected to the internet before going to eBay or Yahoo. Should work well for dial-up users but LAN users (DSL, cable modem, T1) not so well. For those users it still needs to actually try to connect to a site to determine if connection is really working (if it isn't this can take 30 seconds to a minute). - Warns user if a Yahoo auction that they are setting up a snip for is an auto-extend auction. - Fixed updater to only replace the old program version if it successfully gets a new version larger than 500k (this should eliminate the problem of getting a corrupted version due to a bad download). NOTE: This newer version of Updater.exe will only be loaded with a full install. Version 0.1.8 (8/22/2001) ------------------------- - Added multiple file access. Now you can save your auctions in to a specified file name! If two users want to use Auction Sentry on a single computer they can keep their auctions separate this way (though if you instruct Auction Sentry to remember your user ID and password it will continue to use that information as defaults when the Bid screen is opened). - Flagging rows (clicking on the auction number to toggle Bold on and off) works correctly again. - Changed how upgrade instructions are determined. Version 0.1.7 (8/17/2001) ------------------------- - Fixed to display appropriate message when a snipe attempt falls below the minimum needed bid. Version 0.1.6 (8/16/2001) ------------------------- - Re-did the way Yahoo auctions are bid on. Much faster now (as with eBay). - Removed glitch that made AS blink in the task bar or display main window whenever auctions were automatically refreshed. - The setup utility (used the first time AS is installed - not with with automatic updates) no longer generates error message "An error occurred while registering the file "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSHTML.TLB:" Version 0.1.5 (8/16/2001) ------------------------- - Slight change to mass-add feature. Screen doesn't automatically close when no auctions are found (giving user another chance to re-enter information. - Fixed this ReadMe file (last one wasn't very readable). Version 0.1.4 (8/15/2001) ------------------------- - Added ability to mass-add auctions. If you want to load all the auctions by a particular seller ID or all the auctions that a particular user has bid on select "Mass Add Auctions..." from the Action menu. This feature currently only works for eBay auctions (Yahoo is next...) - Added ability to select multiple rows in the grid for deletion or updating. Version 0.1.3 (8/13/2001) ------------------------- - Fixed bug that allowed Auction Sentry to attempt to place bids on auctions that had already ended early with a "Buy it Now" purchase. - When a snipe fails for any reason a window now displays a message explaining why it failed (Auction ended early, bad password entered, etc.). - Fixed bug that appeared to be locking up program when it was started after a pending bid was supposed to have been placed (i.e. snipe set for 8am on 8/13 but computer was shut down the night before and program was restarted on 8/13 AFTER 8am). Did I explain that clearly? I didn't think so... Version 0.1.2 (8/09/2001) ------------------------- - Quick fix of bug I made in 0.1.1 that could have confused grid color coding. Version 0.1.1 (8/08/2001) ------------------------- - Speeded up how fast the grid is redrawn when sorting rows. - Added more logging to help debug problems. - If a snipe attempt fails for some unknown reason, the item's row in the grid now displays with a bold red font to indicate that it tried to place a bid and failed for some unknown reason (small comfort I know). - If a snipe attempt fails for an unknown reason Auction Sentry writes out a file to the application's folder containing the HTML document that eBay returned when the attempted bid was placed. The document is named in the following manner: BidProblem[auction number]_[date and time snipe attempted].htm Example: if an attempt was made to place a snipe bid on auction #123456789 on 8/8/01 at 10:05:15 PM the following file would be written to the Auction Sentry folder: "BidProblem123456789_2001-08-08_22.05.15.htm" If you were to double-click on that file it would open in your browser and you would see what response eBay gave to Auction Sentry when it tried to place the snipe. IMPORTANT: If a snipe fails for some unknown reason please email me both the "BidProblem" file described above AND the program log. If there is no BidProblem file then just send the log. Version 0.1.0 (8/05/2001) ------------------------- - Completely changed the way Auction Sentry communicates with the Internet. Specifically, completely changed the way it places bids with eBay (Yahoo is next on my list). Bids are placed 6 to 7 times faster! Hopefully it will be much more reliable now! - Removed feature that allowed Auction Sentry to run minimized in the Windows System Tray. This may have been causing problems with some users' machines. - Cleaned up how titles are displayed in grid to account for special characters. - Displaying more information in status bar at bottom of main screen so that user knows what's happening (refreshing, placing bid). Version 0.0.9 (8/02/2001) ------------------------- - Fixed a bug that was causing problems entering bid time on the Bid Entry screen when setting up a pending bid for an auction that was close to closing. - New feature: Auction Sentry now runs from the Windows System Tray rather than the Task Bar. When minimized it shrinks down to an eye icon at the lower right corner of desktop. To restore just click on the eye or right-click and select "Restore" from the pop-up menu that appears. - Corrected misspelling of "Copyright" on Splash and About screens. Version 0.0.8 (8/01/2001 - Late!) --------------------------------- - Fixed a MAJOR bug that was causing morning snipes to fail! Program was storing auction end date wrong while still displaying "Time Remaining" correctly. Thanks SO MUCH to beta tester Barb for discovering that it was sorting the "Time Remaining" column incorrectly! - Added sort on "My Proxy" column. - Extended max length of log file from 500k to 1 meg. Hey, hard drive space is cheap these days, right? Version 0.0.7 (8/01/2001) ------------------------- - Added column to grid to display user's proxy bid amount if a bid is placed using Auction Sentry. The maximum bid is the amount displayed. Version 0.0.6 (8/01/2001) ------------------------- - Improved Splash screen display to inform user what is happening while the application starts. Version 0.0.5 (7/31/2001) ------------------------- - Added option for sellers to save the settings on the Profit Tracking screen. Version 0.0.4 (7/29/2001 - Late) -------------------------------- - Fixed another bug that was killing the stored auctions file. Version 0.0.3 (7/29/2001 - It's been a busy day!) ------------------------------------------------- - Fixed clock synchronization bug that I actually made WORSE in last build! - Fixed bug that was causing previously saved auctions to disappear (at least ONE of the causes of this). - Fixed bug that kept you from adding auctions that had closed with a "Buy It Now". Version 0.0.2 (7/29/2001) ------------------------- - Fixed bug that synchronized clock incorrectly for areas that don't observe Daylight Savings Time - Expanded user ID and password fields from 20 to 50 characters Version 0.0.1 (7/28/2001) ------------------------- This was the initial Beta release of Auction Sentry. Thank you for being a beta tester! To report a bug please send an email to either Auction-Sentry@Home.com or dhite64@Yahoo.com and include the following information: - A detailed description of bug / problem - Include the program log file as an attachment (located in the installation folder the default is C:\Program Files\AuctionSentry\AuctionSentry.log) - A screen shot if it will help illustrate the problem. To create a screen shot follow these steps: - Press the "Print Screen" function key (third button from the right on the top of the keyboard). - Open the Microsoft Paint utility that comes with Windows. To do this click Start, Programs, Accessories, Paint. Once MS Paint is opened, from the Edit menu select "Paste". - Once you have pasted the image into MS Paint, save it by clicking on the Save option under the File menu. Include the file you save as an attachment in your bug report email. - Be sure to include in your report what kind of computer you have. Give the CPU type and speed, how much memory your system has, what operating the system is (Windows95, 98, ME, NT, 2000), how you connect to the Internet, and any other relevant information.