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1996-10-14
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W...W
W.W.W
.W.W.
WaterGate
Message processor for FidoNet & Internet/Usenet
Patching instructions
(c) Copyright 1993-1996 Waterline Software Development
All Rights Reserved
14 October 1996
This document explains how patch files for WaterGate work, how you
can get them and how to apply them.
About patches
-------------
If a small bug has been fixed in for example wtrgate.exe, then I
don't have to release a new version and I neither have to send
everybody a new executable of over 300kB.
Instead, I create a so call "patch" file that can be used to upgrade
wtrgate.exe to the new version. The patch file must be applied with
the program UNDIF.EXE that can be found in the distribution archive.
The patch file is a binary file with the extension .DIF. It contains
a list of all the changes that have to be made to the current
wtrgate.exe to get the new one. This is basically a list of "copy
this part, modify that byte, move this here, move that there" and
so on.
The patch file must always be applied to the correct version of the
executable. I always state in the upgrade.doc that accompanies the
.DIF file to which .exe file you have to apply the patch. Most of
the time this will be the latest version. If I release patch 1,
you have to apply it to the .exe file from the distribution archive.
If I release patch 2, you have to apply it to the patch 1 executable.
The patches are called P1, P2, P3 and so on and the version numbers
change accordingly: from 0.92 to 0.92.p1, 0.92.p2 and so on. The
distribution archives for the patches are names wg<version>P<patch>,
for example wg091p1.zip for patch level 1 for WaterGate version 0.91.
The files inside the patch archive are always called wtrgate.dif for
wtrgate.exe, wtrutil.dif for wtrutil.exe and so on.
The patches not always upgrade all the executables. Some only upgrade
wtrgate.exe other upgrade wtrconf.exe and wtrutil.exe as well.
Special patches for WtrConf, wtrUtil and WtrTest are named wc, wu
and wt instead of wg. For example wu090p8, which only upgraded
WtrUtil. Patches can upgrade the helpfile (wtrgate.hlp) as well.
This patch is mostly call wtrhelp.dif. The .ovr file has wgovr.dif.
Where can I get the patch files?
--------------------------------
You should be able to find the patch files in the same place where
you found WaterGate. Check getnew.doc for the hottest places on
earth. People having WaterGate on-line for file request are kindly
asked to allow the patches to be requested by their original
filename.
As a last resort, you can always get the patches from me via e-mail
by sending a message to <patch archive name>-req@wsd.wline.se, for
example wg090p1-req@wsd.wline.se. Sometimes the patches are so big
that I do not appreciate it if loads of people request it over
my UUCP dial-up connection. If the patch is small, I don't care.
How do I know there is a new patch?
-----------------------------------
Subscribe to the announcement mailing list WaterGate. Send a message
to listserv@wsd.wline.se and put nothing in the body except
"connect watergate" (without the quotes) and you are certain to get
an e-mail when I release a new version or a patch.
How to apply a patch
--------------------
When you have received a patch, you unzip the archive and find at
least two files: one upgrade.doc which you must read very carefully
and one or more .dif files.
Read the upgrade.doc to find out which executables to upgrade and
copy these in a new directory. Also copy the .dif files and the
program undif.exe into that same directory. Then, type the following
command to start the patching process:
UNDIF *
The undif program will now search for all .DIF file, check the
executable for the correct version and then apply the patch. The
executable is not renamed but keeps its original name. No backup
is made either.
When all executables have been patched successfully, you should
not just copy them in place and run them. First make a backup
of your WaterGate directory. Make sure to backup the executables
and the database file, so you can always return to an older
version if the need would arise.
When you have made the backup, then copy the new executables into
the WaterGate directory.
Upgrading databases
-------------------
Some patches come with an upgrade.exe program which upgrades your
database files (*.tdb) as well. If so, you have to run this program
first before you can use the new executables. If you run more than
one configuration (in different directories), then make sure you run
upgrade.exe in each of these directories to upgrade all the
database files.
Before you continue, go back to upgrade.doc to see if the changes
made to the executables or databases might impact your system and
you perhaps need to make other changes.
You are now ready to run the new executables. First run each of
the executables to make sure they function and don't crash your
system.
If everything seems OK, then start to test the new changes that
were made. You have successfully patched your WaterGate system!
Mail me if you have any questions or comments to this document.
Ramon
ramon@wsd.wline.se
ramon.vanderwinkel@ecs.ericsson.se