POINT Software Programming/PPROG1.ISO/misc/psedit42/psedit.hst

Text File | 1994-07-20 | 16.6 KB | 374 lines

Version 2.3 modifications:


1.  Allow up to 32-byte character search strings (16-byte hex).

2.  Get the number of screen rows from the BIOS instead of fixing at 25.
    This allows users of larger screen sizes to take advantage of all of the
    lines being displayed.  The nature of the application demands that the
    row width remain at 80 characters.

3.  Make the TAB key swap between hex and ASCII edit mode.  This is more
    consistant with general usage conventions of other software.  For those
    who are used to the F10 key, or just like it better, it retains its
    original swap functionality as well.  I don't guarantee that it will
    retain this function, so get used to using TAB.

4.  Set the F7 key to toggle case-sensitivity for character searches.
    Display current state on top screen line.


Version 2.4 modifications:


1. Version 2.3 displayed the cursor in red (and cyan on the opposite screen
   side).  Although it had a flashing underscore cursor, this evidently didn't
   appear on some plasma screens.  Some screens (also plasma) do not even show
   highlighted text as do most b/w monitors.

   I added a /B switch to the command line that invokes balck and white
   (monochrome) mode. In this mode, I changed the main display to light-gray-
   on-black with balck-on-light-gray (reverse video) cursors.  I also added an
   indicator on the top line that tells whether you are editing in hex or
   ASCII mode.  This is to assist those who cannot see the flashing underbar
   on the active cursor.  The active cursor flashes if the video system
   supports the blink attribute.

2. It is too easy to save a file by pressing F2.  You can write over a file
   when you are not ready if you hit F2 by mistake.

   I added a prompt when F2 is pressed that makes you confirm the save and
   allows you to back out.

3. More than one user has said that I am not asking enough for BEDIT.  Since
   I feel that I have made the modifications and met the demands of most
   who have contacted me, I am going to raise the price to $15.  I think
   this is still very affordable.  At Parity Solutions, we want to offer the
   best products at affordable prices so that you don't have to be a Fortune
   500 comapny to use good software.


Version 2.5 modifications:

1.  Although the delay after the registration screen seemed to be very
    effective at bringing in registrations.  It was also very effective
    at bringing in complaints.  As a computer person, I am aware that
    nothing bothers you more than sitting and doing nothing, even if it
    is only for a few seconds.  I replaced the wait with a keyboard input
    command that requires you to press a key, then continues with no wait.
    I refuse to make it any easier to use BEDIT than this until it is
    registered.  The notice goes away when you register.

2.  Despite a heavy dose of warnings in the documentation, some people
    seem to blame me if they use BEDIT to corrupt their data.  They claim
    I make it too easy.  I have also had several users tell me not to
    clutter up their directories with .BAK files.

    Now when you select Save (F2), you will see a dialogue box appear
    with the file name in an input area.  This gives you a chance to
    modify the name and not save over the original file if so desired.
    If the file already exists, you will be prompted for overwrite.

3.  I have also had several requests for me to change the way you exit
    BEDIT.  Everyone seems to want to get out fast, but not by accident.
    Everyone seems to have a different preferred solution, so I a
    basically leaving it the way it is except for one small change.

    Currently you are prompted to "Exit to DOS?".  If you reply with
    anything other than "Y", BEDIT returns to edit mode with the cursor
    at the start of the file.  In 2.5 you will be returned to the location
    where the cursor was at the time you pressed ESCAPE.

4.  An international client requested access to the international character
    set.

    Specifying the /I switch allows displaying, entering, searching and
    printing of ASCII codes 128 through 168.

    Although this clutters the screen considerably for English-language
    users, it is absolutely necessary for many international users.


Version 2.6 modifications:

1. A user reported a problem when inserting data.  The remainder of the file
   beyond the insertion point was shifting too many bytes.

   The problem was in the shift calculations when the block of data shifted
   exceeded 32k.  Since EMS works within 16k page frames, no blocks over
   32k were shifted, and the problem did not occur when EMS was in use.  If
   data was inserted outside the last 32k of the file and EMS was not in use,
   the error always occurred.

   This problem has been corrected.

2. Changed screen writes to directly access the video memory unless BIOS is
   specified in the SET BEDIT= environment variable.  The makes screen writes
   four times faster.  The only area effected is the hex and ASCII edit area.

3. Rather than use the old process of specifying command line switches to
   configure EMS usage, international character set, and monochrome mode,
   the SET BEDIT= environment variable will now be used.  The switches
   will be used to reverse the effect of either the default or whatever is
   specified in the SET statement.  See the documentation file for details on
   the SET BEDIT= statement.

4. Use conventional memory when possible.  If the file fits in conventional
   memory, it will be loaded in conventional memory. This greatly improves
   performance.

5. Many calculations have been streamlined to improve performance, especially
   when EMS is in use.

6. A spelling error on the help screen has been corrected.

7. Added file size, date and time to top line of display.

8. Added ALT-X quick program exit.

9. Changed the registration nag menu to pop-up in a window after a file is
   successfully loaded.  This way you can see errors such as "file not found"
   with being nagged.  I'm such a softie!

10. Changed the "Unable to open for input" message to display the file name
    on a single line.  This prevents screen wrap on long paths.

11. When you sel F5 to print, the number of required pages will be displayed
    and you will be given a chance to abort at this time.

12. During print, you may press ESC to terminate the print job, excluding
    pages already sent to the printer or spooler.  The printing will stop
    at the end of the current page..

13. ALT-F6 now allows you to supply a starting and ending address range to
    print.  The actual pages printed will probably not start and end with
    the adresses you provided.  Rather the pages (as if you had printed
    the entire file) that contain your starting address through your ending
    address will be the only pages printed.

14. The page heading on printed output now contains the file size, date and
    time.

15. When you hit F9 (Search Next) when the cursor was at the end of the file,
    the page configuration shifted to just display the last 4 or 5 lines
    of the file.  Now it does nothing at all.

16. Overwrite verification was not functioning.  Fixed it.

17. For the sake of a modicum of consistency, I changed all pop-up windows
    to have no border and all but the exit window and help windows to be the
    same color.


Version 3.0 modifications:

    Version 3.0 adds a major enhacement to BEDIT, the clipboard.  You can now
    mark data to be cut or copied to the clipboard.  The clipboard contents
    may then be pasted anywhere in the file as many times as you like.

    You can also block data to be deleted or filled with a character of your
    choice.

    This brings new ease, power and capabilities to BEDIT not available in
    versions 1.x and 2.x.

    The F10 key can no longer be used to swap between the HEX and ASCII
    cursors.  Use the TAB key for this function.  F10 displays the status of
    the clipboard and marked data.


Version 3.1 modifications:

1. If you type PSEDIT without specifying a file name (you can include
   switches), you will get a pick list of all files in the current directory
   from which you can select the file you wish to edit.

2. The /G switch, GRPH SET command option and ALT-G key were added to
   allow you to display graphics characters as well as U.S. English and
   international characters.

3. The ALT-I and ALT-G keys now let you change the active display from
   U.S. English only to include international (ALT-I) and graphics (ALT-G)
   characters.

4. PSEDIT had trouble when a zero-length file was loaded or all bytes were
   deleted.  Now a single x00 byte will always remain in the buffer.

5. The name of the program was changed from BEDIT to PSEDIT to avoid
   confusion and confilict with another shareware program that was already
   using the name BEDIT.  PSEDIT still recognizes the BEDIT= SET statement
   and the BEDIT.SER file for the sake of compatibility.


Version 3.2 modifications:

1. When you enter PSEDIT /? for the command line help display, it flashes
   briefly, then the screen is cleared.  Fixed.

2. Changed keyboard management routines which could have been causing some
   problems for those without 101-key keyboards.

Version 3.2a:

   We are moving.  Updated registration screen and documentation to show new
   address.  No functional changes.


Version 3.3 modifications:

1. the Print feature caused a blank page between pages on a 60 line-per-page
   printer.  Fixed.

2. The wrong page number was displayed for the page being printed. Fixed.

3. If you invoke PSEDIT without a file name you are presented with a
   pick list of file names.  When you exited PSEDIT you went straight to DOS.
   Now you will first return to the pick list.  ESC will then take you to
   DOS if you don't want to edit another file.

4. The number of bytes deleted or inserted was limited to 9999 when the
   insert and delete function keys were used.  You may now enter up to
   32,767, the limits of the program.

5. Hex-to-decimal and deimal-to-hex conversion dialogue boxes are now
   available.  Use ALT-H and ALT-D respectively.

6. A hex/decimal calculator pops up when ALT-C is pressed.

7. The help display now allows paging back and forth with PgUp/PgDn.


Version 3.4 modifications:

1. Due to pulling pieces together from various sources, I ended up quoting
   three different prices in the program and documentation.  This has been
   corrected.

2. When you returned from the editor to the file pick list, the help line on
   the bottom of the screen was still being displayed when it should have
   been cleared.  Fixed.


Version 3.5 modifications:

1. If you entered PSEDIT /? to get the help screen, the cursor disappeared.
   This has been fixed.

2. Modified to use pre-compiled subfunctions from a library, rather than
   included source.  This has no bearing on PSEDIT's functionality.


Version 3.5a modifications:

   PSEDIT v3.5a is functionally equivalent to v3.5.  The documentation has
   been updated to reflect a change of address and phone number for Parity
   Solutions.


Version 3.6 modifications:

   Added the PECOLOR environment variable which allows users to customize
   their color scheme.


Version 4.0 mofifications:

  1. PSEDIT now uses my virtual memory manager engine (VMM) to utilize
     conventional memory, EMS memory, XMS memory and disk space to allow
     editing files up to 64 Mb in length.
  2. The /N command line switch and EMS evironment variable setting are
     now ignored.
  3. The PSEDIT.INI file has been created to allow user configuration
     parameters to be supplied.  Environment variables, if provided, override
     the INI file values.  Command line switches override both the environ-
     ment variables and the INI file.
  4. The flashing during screen redraw has been eliminated.
  5. The clipboard maximum size has increased from 4k to 48k, and can be set
     in the INI file, defaulting to 16k.
  6. There is now 64k of room for expansion of the file, instead of 32k.
     Can be increased up to 256k via the INI file.
  7. Using six hex bytes to display the displacement of each line, previous
     versions were able to hanble files up to 8 megabytes in length (one bit
     used for sign).  By going to an 8-byte display and VMM, vou can now
     edit files up to 64 megabytes long (due to other limitations).  This
     assumes you have enough memory and free disk space for VMM to load the
     file.
  8. Since Borland's C++ 4.0 no longer supports 8086/8088 output, PSEDIT will
     now run only on 286 and newer Intel CPUs.  Versions prior to PSEDIT 4.0
     support the older 8086/8088 CPUs.
  9. PSEDIT now displays the current cursor location in decimal:hex on the
     right side of the top border.
 10. The search argument maximum length has been increased from 16 in hex
     mode or 32 in ASCII mode to 30 or 60 respectively.
 11. The file size on the top bar now shows the CURRENT size of the file,
     after any insertions and/or deletions.  Previously it showed the size
     of the file at the time it was loaded.
 12. A file pick list now appears any time the specified file was not found.
     Previously it appeared only if you did not specify a file path/name in
     the command line.


Version 4.1 Modifications:

1.  Rather than automatically querying for permission to exit PSEDIT,
    it now checks to see if the file has been modified since the last
    load or save.  If the file in memory has been modified, you are
    queried as to whether the file should be saved.  If you reply N
    you are exited without saving.  If you reply Y, the save process
    is invoked.  If you press ESCAPE, you are returned to the editor.
    Any other keys are ignorged.

    The same processing occurs whether you exit via the ESCAPE key or
    the ALT-X keys.

2.  The ALT-F8 keys will now initiate a search with replace.  You will
    be prompted to enter a search argument and a replace argument.  At
    each occurance of the search argument you will be asked whether or
    not to replace the data with the replace argument.  Optionally, you
    may turn prompting off.

    The only non-obvious thing about the search/replace operation is that
    you must terminate the replace string with a double quote (") if you
    want any number of trailing blanks in the search or replace string.
    If you want the last character to actually be a double quote, you
    must place two double quotes at the end of the string.  Example:

    ABC""   = [ABC"]
    ABC  "  = [ABC  ]
    ABC     = [ABC]

    This holds true only in ASCII mode, in hex mode, you specify exactly
    the hex characters for which you are searching or with which you are
    replacing.

    Leading spaces and quotes are retained exactly as entered.

3.  Added a parameter to the PSEDIT.INI file called OtherWindowsColor,
    This is the color for the miscellaneous informational, query and
    prompting windows that can pop up occasionally.

4.  Added a backup feature.  Two PSEDIT.INI parameters control the feature.
    if BackupMode=Prompt, you will be prompted after the file is loaded to
    determine if you want a backup saved.  This is the default.  If
    BackupMode=Always, the backup takes place any time a file is loaded.  If
    BackupMode=Never, backups are not performed by PSEDIT, but are the
    responsibility of the user.  You may, of course, create a backup at any
    time by selecting F2 (Save) and saving with a path and name of your
    choice.  The backup file name is the same as the loaded file name
    with .BAK as the extension.

    The BackupPath configuration parameter determines where backups will
    be saved.  Specify the path, without a file name, where you want
    backups kept.  The trailing backslash can be included or omitted,
    unless you specify a root directory, in which case it is required.

5.  The PSEDIT and PECOLOR environment variables are no longer supported.
    Use the PSEDIT.INI file instead.

6.  Prior releases required PSEDIT.SER to be on the path or the current
    directory.  Now it will be found if it is in the same directory as
    PSEDIT.EXE regardless of whether or not it is on the path.  The path
    and current directory are searched first.  If not found it tries the
    directory from which PSEDIT.EXE was loaded.  If still not found, the
    "Not registered" prompt appears.