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Text File | 1991-05-27 | 15.6 KB | 419 lines

Recent Revision History ----------------------- This file contains a list of changes to the current release and also to several recent releases. If you have used {COMMO} before, please make sure you are caught up on all the changes and improvements. ------------ ------------ {COMMO} 4.54 May 20, 1991 ------------ ------------ Support File changes since last release --------------------------------------- No changes are required to any of the support files. Bugs Fixed ---------- If carrier dropped while a macro was running and the "r" parameter was specified in a prior MACLoad function, macro processing would continue at an unpredictable location. The reload will now wait until macro processing has STOPped (also, the reload is cancelled by another MACLoad). Scrollback was refusing to display past an EOF character (ASCII 26). This caused part of the buffer to be unviewable at times. Internal Editor --------------- You can now split lines and join lines in the Internal Editor! To split a line at the cursor, just press Enter when Insert Mode is on. To join two lines, just press Del when the cursor is at the end of the line. Or press Backspace when the cursor is in column 1. Dialing Directory ----------------- Due to the public outcry concerning the change to the DIAL function, I have added a third parameter. This allows the function to behave as it did in releases prior to 4.53. Writing: ... {dial ,,c} ... will cause the Linked Macro to be started with a CALL instead of a GOTO. The final RETUrn will transfer control back to the DIAL function, resuming Multi Number Dialing if any more systems are marked. PUSH and POPS are not necessary when the "c" parameter is used. Macro Processor --------------- It is no longer necessary for the Selector Bar to be positioned on a macro-id to start a macro. Processing will start at the first macro-id or function on the selected line. This makes it a lot easier to test macros by starting at various locations. Also, macros in menus no longer require dummy macro-id's. The SETLook parameters (LOOKfor timeout, prompt response) are now reset to no timeout and no prompt response whenever macro processing stops. This will prevent undesired actions when the next macro is started. The split/join addition to the Internal Editor should make it a lot easier to write and maintain macros (see above). A string may now be specified in the MACRo function. The line on which the string appears will be displayed as the top line when the Macro Processor window is opened. This is intended for creating menus. For example: {nf6} {macro menu1} {} will search for the first occurrence of "menu1" and display from there. Macro errors are now reported in the Macro Processor window. The offending line is under the Selector Bar at the top of the screen. General ------- The opening Shareware advertisement will automatically terminate after 60 seconds if the key is not pressed. This will allow testing of unattended macro runs with the unregistered version. The Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys may now be used to scroll the screen when the Selector Bar is active (in addition to F3 and F4). This change applies in the Dialing Directory, Macro Processor and Scrollback windows. ------------ -------------- {COMMO} 4.53 March 29, 1991 ------------ -------------- Bugs Fixed ---------- The "other copy of {COMMO} running" check was causing a QEMM exception report on some Compaq 386 machines. The terminal emulation "insert mode" (ANSI-BBS, VT102) was not moving characters to the right as new characters were typed. This would sometimes cause {COMMO} to crash. The blinking message with the alarm was not always seen under DESQview. A "\" was being added to the upload path in the ASCII Upload window even if there was no path or only a drive designator. In an effort to reduce the number of erroneous {Off} log entries, I have stopped writing them unless an {On} entry has been made first. This will help modems with carrier detect "bounce." Macro Processor --------------- IMPORTANT: The DIAL macro function has been changed. When there is a Linked Macro in the Dialing Directory, {COMMO} will now do a GOTO instead of a CALL to the Linked Macro. A RETUrn at the end of unattended macros no longer goes back to the DIAL function. If there is nowhere to return to, the macro will STOP. Here are some details (see COMMO.DOC for more): o To continue dialing automatically these macros should end with (or GOTO) the following sequence (or variation thereof): ... {setlook 60} {lookfor ^jNO CARRIER^m} {dial ,} {} o This means that you can now call more than one system automatically when you: 1) Use Dialing Strings on the command line. 2) Mark numbers manually and press Alt-U. New function (see COMMO.DOC for details): IFCArrier This function will test for the presence of carrier detect. There is no longer a restriction on when COMMO.MAC can be reloaded when using the "r" parameter of the MACLoad function. If you are in a file window (including the Macro Processor), it will reload when the window is exited. Some of the macros in MACROS.TXT have been updated. In particular, the Generic Login Subroutine will now handle more boards. General ------- The Auto Receive feature has been improved. There is no longer a time period following a trigger when another one is disallowed. Instead, the serial port input buffer is cleared when returning from an EXECute-type function (during the trigger macro only). The Capture Mode can now be changed manually in the Capture File Options window. A Status Line message will be displayed during SEND functions that have any (~) delay characters. ------------ ------------- {COMMO} 4.52 March 2, 1991 ------------ ------------- Bugs Fixed ---------- A few users were having a problem with output data being sent repeatedly. The program had to be terminated to get out of it. I was unable to recreate this myself (I suspect flaky hardware). I have changed the transmit logic to accommodate more conditions and I would appreciate hearing from anyone who had this problem. The prompt timer in the LOOKfor function was expiring early when a beep was sounded. This caused difficulty in PCBoard login macros, for example, causing an "n|" to be sent too soon. The timer for the modem init string at program startup was beginning before the string was sent instead of after, leaving very little time for the modem to settle before dialing began. -------------------- Support File Changes -------------------- Configuration File ------------------ This release uses the same configuration file as 4.5 and 4.51. Dialing Directory ----------------- The [M] command, Manual Dial, no longer makes an entry in the Directory. Instead the number last entered is displayed when you press [M] again. [N] is no longer an option. Sorry, but this feature was incompatible with some of the recent changes and had to be sacrificed. Macro Processor --------------- Macro Processing has been streamlined to make execution of long macros even faster. The macro error window will now show the closest macro-id prior to the errant function. Now you can have as many as 15 GOLOoks plus the LOOKfor, for a total of 16 strings that can be scanned for at one time. New functions (see COMMO.DOC for details on these functions): STATusline This function will turn the Status Line on or off at any time. PUSHstack This will save a macro location to the macro stack. It is primarily useful for turning GOLOoks into subroutine calls. POPStack Removes an element from the macro stack. Used when a return from a GOLOok is not needed. General ------- Now you can press the [Spacebar] in ASCII Upload to get things moving when {COMMO} is waiting for a pacing character that won't come. This helps when you have specified the wrong pacing character or if you intentionally want to manually pace the output, line by line. A new key has been added in the Scrollback window. Pressing [C] will let you change the Screen Image pathname without leaving the window. Doorway Mode will now use the number of text lines on the display (instead of forcing 25 lines). This means that you must set the display correctly before starting {COMMO}. Most Doorway applications require the normal 25 line display, but {COMMO} will now handle more lines if required. The Status Line may now be turned on while in Doorway Mode. See the details under "Doorway Mode" in COMMO.DOC. Also, the DOORway macro function no longer has a y/n argument. It was too easy to get stuck in Doorway Mode! VT102 terminal emulation has been improved by holding the cursor in column 80 when 80 column lines are displayed. This will prevent double spacing when linewrap in on (linewrap now defaults to ON when you switch emulations). A message will be displayed for several seconds at startup if another copy of {COMMO} is running. This warning is intended to reduce the chance of losing support file data when files are saved at program exit (does not seem to work between DESQview windows, however). ------------ ---------------- {COMMO} 4.51 February 3, 1991 ------------ ---------------- This release is primarily a bug-fix, plus several new features have been added. Bugs Fixed ---------- There was a problem with memory allocation on startup that aborted the startup under very rare circumstances. "Sorry, out of memory" would be reported when loading the Macro File. When using the Color Chart in the Internal Editor, changes made to the file would mysteriously disappear. The changes were actually recorded in the file and would reappear when the file was redisplayed. Configuration File ------------------ Item 50. {COMMO} will now automatically detect the number of display columns (as well as the number of rows) if this item is "yes." Up to 127 rows and up to 255 columns are supported. Remember, the display mode MUST be set before starting {COMMO}. The "/L=" switch is no longer supported. Macro Processor --------------- New functions and improvements to existing ones (see COMMO.DOC for details on these functions): EXED Execute a program without using the command processor. This gives faster execution with less memory used. It also allows a return code to be tested. The complete pathname of the program must be specified. IFERrorlevel Test return code after an EXED function. UNMArk This function has been improved to allow selective unmarking of Dialing Directory entries. Now you can MARK multi-node systems, then when one connects you can UNMArk all of the nodes. IFEXist A hitherto undocumented feature of this function is the ability to use wildcards in the filename. The "exist" branch will be taken if any files match the specification. General ------- A new key-id has been added to the list of keys supported on the enhanced keyboard: Pressing [Alt-,] will activate the key-id "al<". The "<" is used because the comma is a dilimiter in macro functions. ----------- ---------------- {COMMO} 4.5 January 12, 1991 ----------- ---------------- Bugs Fixed ---------- Pressing Esc to exit a window would cause a macro to terminate (if one was running). There was a problem with timers expiring early at the stroke of midnight, This caused the "Holding until ..." message to go away, the PAUSe function to terminate early, etc. The DISPlay function would write some unwanted characters when used only to position the cursor. Major Changes ------------- {COMMO} now has Scrollback! Just press Alt-K from the Terminal Screen. The Capture File feature now offers two new modes: Filter and Raw. Use these when you need to capture data as it comes from the serial port. Chat Mode and Doorway Mode have been enhanced (see below). -------------------- Support File Changes -------------------- Configuration File ------------------ The Configuration File has a new (and very fast) processor. The file is processed at startup and then released from memory. Pressing Alt-G reads it in for editing and re-processing. It will stay in memory until the space is needed for something else (like Shell to DOS). This frees up almost 5k for other purposes (the file is saved automatically whenever necessary). The editing command, Alt-Q, no longer applies to the Config File since it is inconsistent with these changes. A number of new items have been added. Please take a few minutes to edit the new sample file to your own needs. The simplest way is to print your old file, then edit the new file using the printout as a guide. You will NOT be able to start {COMMO} using your old Configuration File. New items: Item 34. Startup pacing character. This allows you to specify an initial ASCII Upload pacing character without having to use a macro. Item 39. Startup Capture File Mode. SCREEN captures data as it appears on the screen. RAW captures data as it comes from the serial port -- with ANSI control characters, etc. FILTER is like raw, but filters out ANSI control sequences -- useful for data with lines longer than 80 characters. Item 46. Scrollback Buffer size in kilobytes. This allocates memory for the Scrollback buffer. 0 will disable the feature. Item 50. Obtain number of screen lines from DOS. If this is "yes" {COMMO} will automatically adjust to the number of screen lines currently set in DOS. You no longer need to use the "/L=" command line switch. Item 51. Number of lines in upper Chat Mode window. This allows customizing the Chat Mode split. Item 52. Send when Enter is pressed in Chat Mode. Set this to "yes" to use a "CB Simulator" or other host that echoes what you type. Macro Processor --------------- New functions: CAPMode. Allows the Capture File Mode to be set via macro. SCROllback. Displays the Scrollback buffer. A new EXECute parameter "%m" has been added. This variable contains the speed from the modem connect message and may be used to pass the modem connect speed to external protocols for time estimation. General ------- A color chart is now available in the Internal Editor. Use it to set the colors in the Configuration File or for the DISPlay function in the Macro File. Just press F10 at any time to pop it up. The screen is no longer cleared when Doorway Mode is entered. Also the terminal mode parameters are not reset. If needed, these can be done with a macro. See "Doorway Mode" in COMMO.DOC for details. -end-