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What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 3.00 ──> Smaller Databases by 25-35%!!! CompuSlave Version 3.00 implements a new database structure that produces databases 25-35% smaller than those in version 2.x. While the database (.DAT) files are reduced by approximately 30%, the index (.IX) files are also reduced by about 5% over the old version. This will require that all CompuSlave databases be reorganized the first time they are opened. BEWARE... For large databases, this could take a significant amount of time. (Our largest database, with over 300,000 messages, took 6-8 hours to reorganize!) ──> Sort Messages By Date/Time! The new version of CompuSlave also allows messages to be sorted by the date/time fields. ──> Powerful Tag Range Feature! A new Tag Range feature has been implemented for message tagging. Messages may be tagged based on message number, date, section, from, to, and subject fields. Use this powerful feature to tag all messages within a range of dates in order to delete them from the database, or tag an entire section of messages and extract them to a new database, making searches much faster. Tag all records to or from an individual, and delete or print them. ──> Import WinCIM's *.PLX Messages! Now CompuSlave allows WinCIM's PLX messages to be imported. Although these are not forum messages, users have requested that we include support for this format. (All WinCIM PLX messages are assigned a message number of 1, so the Original and Response buttons will not work with these messages.) What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.23 ──> Maintenance Release... Two Problems Fixed. This version of CompuSlave fixes two problems reported by our users. The first problem was an occasional hang when importing OzCIS/OzWin message files. The apparent hang was caused when CompuSlave was attempting to parse a paragraph of text. If a line contained a single character followed by more than 79 characters of "white space" (spaces, carriage returns, line feeds, etc), the parsing routine would call itself recursively, giving an apparent hang. The second problem was incorrect parsing of the date and time fields when importing TapCIS message files. (This was broken in version 2.22, when we fixed the OzCIS/OzWin date/time parsing routines. Both import formats should work properly now.) What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.22 ──> Maintenance Release... Several Problems Fixed. This version of CompuSlave is a maintenance release only, fixing several problems found in the last version. The most noteable problems fixed included problems when storing the date and time fields in an OzWin II formatted .MSG file, a GPF if an OzCIS/OzWin import was cancelled, and a possible hang if Page 1 the first character on a message body line (in an OzCIS/OzWin import file) was a pound sign. See the file CSLAVEW.REV for a complete list of changes. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.21 ──> Now Import WinCIM, CSNav, and OzCIS/OzWIN Messages! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.21 adds the ability to import messages directly from the WinCIM/CSNav file cabinets (*.MSG and *.THD formats). CompuSlave also has an option to import OzCIS/OzWin message files. Look for these new options on the Import dialog box. ──> Minor Problem Fixes. This version addresses several problems noted in the previous version. The two most obvious were 1) extremely small print when printing a message to the printer and 2) clicking outside of the Search Results Status Window during a search operation would cause the status window to be hidden, making it virtually impossible to cancel the search until the operation was complete (problem introduced in v2.20). For a complete list of additions, changes, and fixes, see the file CSLAVEW.REV. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.20 ──> PKZip-Compatible Database Compression! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.20 contains a new option to compress the entire database, including .DAT, .IX, and .DIA files into a single PKZip-Compatible .ZIP file. Before a database is opened, CompuSlave will decompress a compressed database, and once the database is closed, CompuSlave can optionally recompress the database files. This offers disk space savings of 75% or more for each compressed database. ──> Enhanced Searching Capability! CompuSlave's searching capability has been expanded to allow users to specify up to 12 text strings in a combination of AND/OR/NOT statements. This allows you to specify a larger amount of criteria to determine which messages should be placed in your search results database. For a complete list of revisions, see the file CSLAVEW.REV. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.13 ──> New Database Browser! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.13 contains a new database browser with the following features: Column Dividers, Proportionally-Spaced Font, Sizeable Headings, Incremental Search Capability, and a Right-Click Popup Menu to allow users to change the column order, current sort field, and whether the highlighted record is tagged or not! ──> New Data Validation Feature! CompuSlave now performs data validation to make sure that messages are in the right format to be imported into the database. This is used as a precautionary measure, to make sure that incorrectly formatted text is not added to the Page 2 database as a normal message would be. See the Defaults section of the documentation or the Defaults dialog box for more information. ──> Many Other Great Improvements! Other CompuSlave improvements include customized import filters (see the Defaults screen), ability to print a "Range of Messages" by specifying a starting & ending message number, a file history list on the File menu (to quickly pull up the last database you were working on), enhanced reorganization features (for users who think they may have corruption in their database), and a few minor problem fixes. The documentation has been improved in the Questions & Answers section to provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to capture messages from CompuServe using WinCIM's terminal emulation. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.12 ──> STSI Establishes Internet Site! STSI is proud to announce that we have established an internet site where users can view information about our products, and download the latest versions. STSI's Home Page: http://www.stevetech.com Anonymous FTP...: stevetech.com E-Mail Address..: support@stevetech.com ──> New Message Tagging Feature! Many of our users will appreciate CompuSlave's new message tagging feature. To tag a message, simply click on the "Tag Message" check box, or press the space bar over a message in one of the browsers. Once a message is tagged, you can delete all tagged messages, print all tagged messages, or extract the tagged messages to a new or existing database. Options for tagged messages are available from the "Tagged" tab on the toolbar. ──> Improved Printing Options! CompuSlave For Windows v2.12 adds improved printing support. Now print either the current message, tagged messages, or all messages in the database. The font name, style, and size used by your printer can be changed using a new print font dialog box on the print options screen. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.11 ──> STSI Com Updated! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.11 includes a new version of STSI Com (version 1.01). This update to our communications program has a new phonebook that allows users to have a unique Com Port, Baud Rate, Parity, etc. for each entry in the phonebook. Login scripts are now supported, and STSI Com can even generate a default CompuServe login script, based on information provided by the user. Changes made to CompuSlave were relatively minor, since no bugs have been found and/or reported. Page 3 What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.10 ──> Batch Import Added! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.10 adds the ability to import capture files into their corresponding databases in batch mode. Rather than importing capture files on a one- at-a-time basis, CompuSlave provides this new option for "mass-import". Here's an excerpt from our documentation file that explains this feature: "At STSI, we maintain over 50 different databases containing the messages from various CompuServe forums. Each week (or more often in the fast-scrolling conferences), we capture the newest messages from CompuServe and import them into their corresponding database. Rather than open each database and import the capture files on a one-at-a-time basis, the batch import feature allows us to select all of the databases we want to update, and start the import process with as little user intervention as possible. The most likely cause for user intervention in the batch import process will occur if duplicate message numbers are found in a database, and CompuSlave needs to prompt you whether or not to add the new message to the database. The status bar on the bottom of the screen will inform you what CompuSlave is doing, and gives an indication of the number of messages being imported. Status bars are displayed to give a visual indication of the completion percentage, first for the current database, and also for the total batch import process." ──> Many New Features and Enhancements! This version of CompuSlave also adds several new enhancements and improvements: . New "CompuSlave Tip" screen for hints on using CompuSlave. . Expanded tool palette. Several new speed buttons have been added to the floating tool palette, such as New, Edit, Delete, Save, Cancel, and Hide Tools. . Improved help file and context-sensitive help. . Optional confirm on delete, so the user doesn't have to be prompted before deleting a message. . Option to beep when import is complete. . Sample database included with project (SAMPLE.DAT). What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.00 ──> New Database Structure! CompuSlave For Windows Version 2.00 contains an entirely new database structure. After an extensive review of the advantages and disadvantages of the Paradox-style database which was used in the previous versions of CompuSlave, we have decided that the database format used in CompuSlave For DOS (B-Tree by TurboPower Software) is much smaller and faster than the Paradox databases. Due to these facts, we have converted CompuSlave For Windows to the B-Tree databases. Following are some statistics to support our decision: Test Computer System...: Pentium 90 with 16MB RAM Page 4 Software Used..........: Windows 3.1 Import File Size.......: 1,982,854 Bytes Total Messages Imported: 2,864 Messages CompuSlave/Win 1.02 CompuSlave/Win 2.00 Results Importing Time: 14 min, 47 sec 2 min, 41 sec 550 % (887 seconds) (161 seconds) FASTER! Database Size: 5,521,408 bytes 3,173,456 bytes 43 % (Includes Indexes) SMALLER! Users of CompuSlave For DOS will now find that their databases are directly compatible with the new format. (CompuSlave For Windows can simply be installed in the same directory as CompuSlave For DOS, and each program will be able to open the same databases.) Many new features have also been added to this version of CompuSlave, and the interface is highly customizable. A Tool Palette is available for frequently used features. Speed-buttons can be changed to display the picture only, text only, picture and text, or they can be disabled entirely. Multiple databases can be open at the same time, making cross- referencing easier. A Find Next/Find Previous option is available to quickly locate the next or previous occurrence of user-specified text. A new Windows-based communications package has also been added to this release to assist users with capturing forum messages from CompuServe. See instructions in the documentation file for help with capturing forum messages. For a complete list of revisions, see the file CSLAVEW.REV. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 1.02 ──> Feature Enhancements! CompuSlave For Windows Version 1.02 adds several feature enhancements, including a Find option to find the next occurrence of a word or phrase in the message body, starting at the current message and continuing until the end of the database is reached, or the user selects Cancel. Also, a new "view" has been added to allow the user to view only the message body of the current message, providing a larger area to read the message text. A few fixes have also been added, including a fix for a GPF that would occur if the user tried to close the application with one or more databases still open. For a complete list of revisions, see the file CSLAVEW.REV. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 1.01 ──> Database Size Improvements! CompuSlave For Windows Version 1.01 changes the structure of the database slightly, greatly reducing the size of the databases that are created. (Saves approximately 500K per 2000 message database, based on internal testing.) A problem was also fixed where a modal message box would be displayed during an import if the number of messages in the Page 5 database reached 500, but since the status window was in the way, the message box could not be seen, making it appear that the application had hung. (Pressing Alt-F4 to close the modal dialog box would have solved the problem.) For a complete list of revisions, see the file CSLAVEW.REV. What's New in CompuSlave For Windows Version 1.00 ──> Initial Release of CompuSlave For Windows! STSI proudly announces the release of CompuSlave For Windows into the shareware market! CompuSlave imports CompuServe forum capture files into a database, converting them to individual messages. Add, delete, edit, and search the entire database for key words or phrases. Make those messages work for you! Create your own technical support resource. Ideal for power users, programmers, and network administrators. Network support is included. Easy-to-use Windows interface! Page 6