Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/WINDOWS/PMCPL574.ARJ/PMCCAT.EXE/CHANGES.DOC

Text File | 1992-04-29 | 22KB | 488 lines

This file references the changes made in PM-Cat Plus since MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
took over the programming of PM-Cat Plus...... Versions are now referenced by
the version number in the upper left of the title screen....

Version numbers are related as follows:

              X.X.X
              │ │ │
 Major    ────┘ │ │
 Minor   ───────┘ │
 Fix    ──────────┘

If the code is beta or alpha then it is followed like so

                     X.X.X.ln
                     │ │ │ ││
Major          ──────┘ │ │ ││
Minor          ────────┘ │ ││
Fix            ──────────┘ ││
alpha/beta α/ß ────────────┘│
test number    ─────────────┘

Users that have obtained this code from BBS systems or friends should not have
any alpha/beta code unless approved by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) as an Alpha or
Beta test site. PLEASE we would like to keep track of who does the testing of
this program in order to provide quality shareware that is bug free!

The Following is a history of fixes that occurred before MegaSoft SoftWare(tm)
took over the programming of PM-Cat Plus:

The Date of the original release is November 1, 1989.

Nov 1, 1989 (1189.001) first release of PmCat PLUS (PmCat 5.0)

Nov 12, 1989  (002)
  Fixed minor bugs in mouse activated portions of the MASK and PRINT
  configuration menus. (The <ENTER>, 'C' and 'U' options did not work
  with a mouse.)

Nov 13, 1989  (003)
  Added ability to change color of MenuBar selector.

Nov 19, 1989  (004)
  Mainly cosmetic improvements in the interface.

Nov 30, 1989  (005)
  Fixed volume label feature to allow spaces in label.
  Added ability to define current catalog name, def file name and
   default ASCII file name on the command line invoking PmCat PLUS
  Changed pick list colors to correspond to window color definitions
   (making them configurable in the process ... no longer just black
   and white).
  Changed Print Menu window to match window colors (cosmetic change) and
   fixed message when printing ASCII file to disk to display properly.

Dec 15, 1989  (006)
  Set default colors as black, white, blue, yellow and lightgray, to
   work OK on monochrome monitors and still look good on color.
  Fixed bug in mouse routines when help line being used.

Dec 21, 1989  (007)
  Concerning only the distribution copies, a closing screen and some
   other things were added which are displayed only in the distribution
   copies.
  Added Soundex search capability for filenames.  Using it for comments is
   simple to implement, but it is quite useless at present for that purpose.
  Set InfoWindow to be present at all times. No longer need to toggle on/off.

Jan 15, 1990 (008)
  Changed titlescreen to reflect correct registration fee of $15.
  Fixed error trapping to show an error when extraction or lister file not
   found or other invalid stuff goes on.  It isn't perfect yet, but it lets
   you know the general area of the problem without bombing the program.

Jan 19, 1990
  Fixed problem with infowindow attempting to display while deleting volumes.

Jan 30, 1990 (010)
  Maint. update to kill previous bug which wasn't completely eradicated.

Feb 3, 1990  (0290.001)
  version 5.2, first release.

Feb 12, 1990 (0290.002)
  Cosmetic changes to title screen to clear up confusion about version
   numbers.

Feb 15, 1990 (0290.003)
  Added feature so volume date reflects last date volume was updated.
  Fixed bug in printing routines (I hope) which showed/didn't show VOLUME
   as the column heading when printing a list of volumes.

Feb 16, 1990 (0290.004)
  Cosmetic changes to Info Window to make aesthetics better and reading more
   clear.

Feb 19, 1990 (0290.005)
  Added ability to store the CATEGORIES to .DEF file.

Feb 24, 1990 (0290.006)
  Fixed bug that can corrupt data files.  The bug occurred when the user
   changed a default category, used that category to catalog a file and
   saved the file to disk.  The data file was then unreadable beyond the
   entry with the new category name.
  Added ability to save printer setup string to DEF file.

Feb 25, 1990 (0290.007)
  Fixed bug that kept printer setup string from being saved and reread
   properly, i.e, it wouldn't reread it so it appeared not to be saved.

Mar 1, 1990 (0290.008)
  Fixed bug that occurred when all files of a directory were deleted and
    then the catalog saved to disk.  The catalog was no longer properly
    accessible when this was done. All is well now.

Mar 14, 1990 (0390.001)
  Minor cosmetic changes;
    To better report certain types of errors.
    Moved CATEGORIES window so filename could be seen.
  Added automatic sorting and save to disk (to .DEF file when exiting
    PmCat) for CATEGORIES.
  Fixed *DEEP* bug (Yaaay!) in PmCat dealing with some pretty technical
    stuff. If you have experienced intermittent and odd problems with PmCat
    over the last 12 months or so, this bug fix will take care of it.

April 8, 1990 (0390.002)
  Fixed problems with reading ZIP files containing comments.

April 9, 1990 (0390.003)
  Added feature to retain CATEGORY names. (update will no change category)

April 14, 1990 (0490.001)
  Added ability to sort on Disk Number or Category.
  Fixed bug that didn't update categories of files on a disk.
  Added feature to allow changing or retention of disk numbers in catalog.

April 20, 1990 (0490.002)
  Cosmetic improvements to interface regarding detection of disk numbers.
  Fixed minor bug deep in pattern matching routines. (rare problem not serious)

June 6, 1990 (0690.001)
  Fixed problem that caused corrupted data structures when an archive file was
   deleted from PmCat. Added undocumented timestamp feature.

June 9, 1990 (0690.002)
  Fixed small bug that caused display of volume name in filename list in
   version 5.5a (0690.001).

July 5, 1990 (0790.001)
  Fixed bug which caused serious problems when deleting archived files that
   had been cataloged with ARCHIVE reading ON. This problem caused machine
   lock-up and/or corruption of data files.  Now fixed.
  Cosmetic enhancements on catalog name entry.
  Small bug fixed in AUTomatic numbering of disks (volumes) as cataloged.
  Fixed problem with MASK function.
  Added routine to print summary of hardcopy at end of printout to disk or
   printer.
  Fixed bug that prevented date volume was last updated from being correctly
   recorded.

September 24, 1990 (0790.002)
  Fixed problem that caused updated disks to have files assigned volume's
  category. Old category is now retained.

January 4, 1991 (0790.003)
  Fixed small bug that added two '00's to automatically generated volume
  labels when number exceeds 255.

February 14, 1991 (0790.004)
  Fixed bug that would not allow changing of disk label from Update Window
  when Volume was found to exist in catalog.

June 24, 1991 (0790.005)
  Modified line editor so it now accepts extended ASCII characters.  This
  is needed by many European languages for the umlauted and accented chars.



January 21st, 1992 MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) took over the support and programming
of PM-Cat Plus

Fixes have been made to portions of the code and new features have been added.
The new features can be found in the file WHATSNEW.TXT this file only records
fixes made in alpha/beta code and fixes that were missed!

 Version 5.7.0 α1-12 (First release by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm) )

 1 . Fixed the <SPACE> to view archives function so that it now works!

 2 . Fixed the use of Letter keys on the Update Catalog menu!

 3 . Added back the Info Window function giving the user the ability to
     turn off the information window when just wanting to browse files!

 4 . Fixed the screen display on the comments section!

 5 . Fixed a bug that caused lockups when shelling to dos using the O-Sys
     command!

 6 . Fixed The menus display and Printer set-up menu to be cleaner and easier
     to understand!

 Version 5.7.0 α13- (New fixes and changes since first Alpha/Beta testing)

 1 . Fixed the Mouse routines (Actually relocked the mouse until scroll window
     can be set up and used)

 2 . Okay this time for sure Fixed the <SPACE> to view archives routine...
     This routine caused a BAD COMMAND OR FILENAME no matter what you used
     in your def file..... I also changed the Shell to dos routine to
     change the prompt while shelled to show your normal prompt and [PM-CAT]
     this helps remind users that they are in PM-Cat already.

 3 . Okay I said I was going to put the new features in a seperate file BUT
     I kept forgetting so now I am putting them here and then will make a
     smaller file for pointing them out..

      a. Added the ability to create a BAK file when the catalog has changed
         this is not yet configurable and may not be unless requested.

      b. Changed the KILL command to delete the file from the disk it is on,
         added the R>emove Command in place of the old KILL function.

      c. Added the Delete Duplicates code to PM-Cat it's self.

  4 . What else have I done? Well it will come to me as I look for changes
      myself.... Oh yes improved the speed of the Display by changing it
      to Assembly code....

  5 . While working late night <Ain't that the life of a computer user?>
      Made the Allow (Ignore) duplicates selection a part of the Definition
      file. This makes it so that people like me can set it and forget it!

 Version 5.7.0 α14

  1 . Just waitin around for addition of ARJ reading ability and playin
      with some routines noticed some bugs (Cosmetic) in the Set-Print
      under the Defaults menu that I fixed.

  2 . Errors reported during the <SPACE> to view archive are no longer
      being reported the way they were... (I may change back to the old
      way) However the difference is that if a program is not found or
      and invalid path is specified then it will appear during the
      operation and not anywhere else... If you get a bad command or
      filename then check your defaults file for proper path and filename!

  3 . Added the Display file time option back into the code and added
      the ability to set this feature during the Set Defaults function!

 Version 5.7.0 α15 and α16

  1 . Removed the tiMe menu letter from Menu 1 because of the problems it
      created with the vieW command (Had no room for it).

  2 . Added the vieW command since I was mistaking what the <SPACE> command
      was used for. It now works the way it was meant (The <SPACE> command)
      and vieW is for viewing the contents of the highlighted
      archive file.

  3 . Do to Mr. Jungs un-understandable TECHNOTE.DOC file in the ARJ program
      and being unable to define the proper header file for reading inside
      ARJ files we have scratched that idea for now.... If you want support
      for ARJ files please let us know in a letter or message on the Malange
      BBS....  If enough users of this program want it then we will contact
      (Somehow) Mr. Jung and find out the size of the comment area and other
      undefined bytes of the header for proper formats.

  4 . A few cosmetic changes done to the error reporting routines and menus..
      I think I am ready to put this pup out for ßeta testing and release
      in a few days <HOPE HOPE HOPE>

  5 . Fixed a small problem with the Comments command while viewing the files
      the problem occured when you had Info Windows off and then used the C
      command to work with the comments. The window would not be displayed.

  6 . Wrote PMLIST in C++ for use as the file viewer... This is no longer
      R.COM renamed it is Copyrighted (c) 1992 by MegaSoft SoftWare(tm).
      Note that there is a limit at this time to file sizes that do not
      exceed 50000 bytes.

  7 . IMPORTANT...... You must delete your old DEF File if you are going to
      upgrade to PM-Cat 5.7.0 as I have defined completly new fields in it
      and made some changes and if you do not delete this file you will no
      longer see any screen displays.....

      I may write a conversion program for any future changes to the DEF
      file if it is requested by enough users... This way things you hate
      to type over and over again will remain and then the defaults can
      be placed in for the new items....

  8 . Well the assembly code did not pan out and caused lock-ups so I
      switched back to the normal display method.....

  9 . Cosmetic changes to the opening screen and the ending screen in the
      distribution code....

  10 . Boy a whole lot of changes in this one Hmmmm could I be getting
       carried away?
       Added a count funtion to the distribution code that will show a
       user that they have used the program xx times and ask if they are
       ready to register it......

      Well this is all I am going to work on now... It is time to fine
      tune this program and get the update going.... Beta Testing here
      we come.....

 Version 5.7.0 α18

  1 . Removed the count function and added an encoding method that allows
      users to register any copy of PM-Cat provided they are registered and
      know their serial number. This helps users that want to download
      the registered versions from other BBS systems.

  2 . Well there has not been much to change all runs well in the alpha
      stages here is my only change other than the above I added the
      ability to use EMS for the overlay portion. This regained the
      10,000 bytes of RAM I lost in adding some of the other functions!

      If you want this configuable let me know!

 Version 5.7.0 ß2

  1 . Well if the only problems I have are cosmetic then I am doing better
      than I could ever imagine.... Ha Ha Ha! Fixed an error in the Find
      Free Space display that caused half the word Required to be chopped
      off.

  2 . This was not a bug reported but I regained some memory by optimizing
      some of the functions and count loops that were in straight Pascal
      by removing some unnecessary Integers that had also been defined
      globally.


      If I had read the Pascal Newsletter by Pete Davis prior to starting the
      Beta test stage I would have done this in the Alpha Coding. Many thanks
      to Pete for his great Newsletter.... If you program in Pascal get it
      and help support it.


      Remember I took this program over after it had been worked on for
      several years by others. This makes it hard to jump right in and
      find areas that can be improved on.... Over time I hope to rewrite
      and improve the entire code.

 Version 5.7.1

      Well I thought I released a bug free version when I posted 5.7.0 but
      we all know there is no such thing as DEBUGGED in this world, anyway
      this is really minor. I found after posting Beta 3 that I had a sort
      problem when users used disk numbers in their catalog, PM-Cat would
      sort the names 1st and then sort the Disk Number after words which
      kept PM-Cat from displaying anything in proper order..... See minor
      little thing that could have been major.

      Well now that my beta testers have reported several bugs that I was
      not aware of (Thank God for Beta Testers) I have fixed the following
      problems.

      1 . When using the vieW command PM-Cat would not properly identify
          the drive and path of the file if 1. You were trying to view a
          file on a hard disk, 2. You were trying to read a file inside
          the ZIP which is for the <SPACE> command not vieW.

      2 . The Default Target Drive was not being displayed when using the
          <SPACE> command, vieW command, Kill command and a few others.

      3 . Major and unacceptable problem while reading in disk. PM-Cat
          was going really slow. Fixed by removing some new units I had
          added.

      4 . Well not really a problem but I changed the mouse cursor back
          to the normal type. A problem occured when hitting ESC the
          letters would disappear.

      Okay Beta testers here comes a new test.

      Beta 3 02/26-02/27 1992

      1 . Mostly cosmetic to start with. Fixed the shell to Dos prompt,
          Help lines on Info Window and Kill Volumes, the Kill Volumes
          will now show that the files is expected to be in the default
          drive.

      2 . Well after getting the reports about the last errors I began
          looking into some other possible bugs that related to the functions
          that had the noticable ones. The Following is what has been
          found and corrected.

            a : When attemping to read a file inside an archive that was
                on the hard drive in a sub directory if the sub directory
                was another sub i.e. C:\ZIPS\TEST then the function would
                not work correctly, the reason was that the file passed
                to the EXEC function would be (if the Archive was DAVES.ZIP)
                C:\ZIPS:\TEMP\DAVES.ZIP\FILETOREAD
                This would cause an error PKUNZIP cannot locate file
                C:\ZIPS:\TEMP\DAVES.ZIP
                If you have experienced this is the past this fixes it.

            b : On the above the same would happen for Kill, and vieW.

      3 . Added an error handler for the vieW so that when a user tries to
          view a non-archived file it is reported that the file is not an
          archive or the file is not found.

      4 . On the above error if the file was not an archive vieW would some
          times drop to DOS this is now handled correctly by the above fix.

      5 . Fixed a small cosmetic bug in the update catalogs function that
          delt with a disk already existing.

      6 . Fixed a small error in PMLIST.EXE that was leaving line 25 reading
          whatever was displayed when the function was being performed. Only
          cosmetic.

      7 . Addressed a problem with the Kill file function (Was Reported as a
          problem with the Remove file function) the problem occured when the
          file was not found or a disk was not inserted in the drive and you
          attempted to delete it the data base would show as »DELETED« even
          though the file was still on the disk.

           Well these are all there are I hope. Maybe? Lets see what happens!

 5.7.1    Released March 3rd, 1992


 5.7.1    Release Date of 03-07-92 Fixes the Set-Print Defaults function
          where if you set a field or column that overlaps another it
          will send an error signal and wait for a key press, you then
          need to reset the fields that are wrong.

 5.7.1    Revision date of 03-14-92 Fixes a problem with the vieW command
          repeating after a view. If the file was on drive A or B then
          after executing the command it would repeat with a Can't find
          file FILENAME even after it had viewed the file.

 5.7.1    Revision date of 03-18-92 Fixes a couple of problems with the
          viewing of volumes with Autosort on. The sort was sorting the
          old view and not displaying the proper order of disk. It now
          displays disk numbers in sorted order properly.

          INSTALL.EXE 1.0.3

          Install has been re-written to take care of a couple of problems
          1st : When a user would supply a different drive for one of the
          defaults and not the other it would result in a Runtime error
          103 while trying to create the directory.

          2nd PMCPL571.EXE is now compressed with ARJ instead of PKZIP.
          I will change this back as soon as PKZIP 2.0 is released and
          I register it with Mr. Katz. I personally would have liked to
          stayed with PKZIP but am not yet licensed and the requirements
          to use PKZIP as I was was a violation of Mr. Katz's request and
          therefore until I do register and license PKWare for use in
          a commercial enviroment I will honor his request.


 5.7.1   Revision Date 03-20-92. An error in the Set-Print Defaults was
         reported and corrected. This error mainly was do to the lines
         per page field. However no matter what a user entered the Verify
         print defaults would report that a field was overlaping. This
         version also adds a new INSTALL.EXE file to the package.

 5.7.2   Revision Date 04-08-92. Well on the above error with the Print
         defaults there was still some problems. We have corrected these
         we hope.

         Added menu definition names that can be used for reference points
         when reporting bugs, finding commands etc...

         Now compiled under TP 6.0 for faster and tighter code. This also
         added better Heap management however that subject is of a Technical
         nature so I won't go into any detail on it....

         Fixed a few small cosmetic items that were becoming eye sores for
         my-self.... <Grin>

         Version numbers and filenames now reflect the release more closely.

 5.7.3   Revision Date 04-29-92. This release fixes a MAJOR bug that occurred
         when using the Find-Duplicates function with the Remove or Kill
         function. The BUG would destroy the catalog contents when the user
         exited. I also updated PM-LIST.EXE to show the command for exiting
         and changed the vieW command to shell the contents into a temp
         file and then run PM-LIST for viewing this file.

         I hope this covers the nasty little bugs that have been destroying
         the catalog file.