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Text File | 1993-04-08 | 19.9 KB | 358 lines

Orpheus v1.53 COMPATIBILITY NOTES: (versions prior to 1.50) Those who have used programming commands should note that message() is now the much more powerful text() command. There are also slight changes to play(), jump(), and jumplist(), and hotspots will have to be redrawn (again) to conform to the new standard. See below and the entries for these commands in MANUAL2.DOC. Versions prior to 1.30: As of version 1.30, compiled books created with earlier versions of Orpheus are no longer compatible with the Orpheus Reader. Uncompiled books are however compatible with OH.EXE, and can simply be recompiled. If you have created Graphic, Init, or Action links, you will need to update them to use the Orpheus Command Language, as detailed in Part II of the User's Guide, MANUAL2.DOC. See especially Chapter 3, "Converting Old Commands". Version 1.53 (April 8, 1993) FIXES: - I've completely rewritten the FileView window, shrinking both the code and the amount of RAM it takes, and eliminating the bugs that used to appear with some files and not others. - Certain optimizations performed as of version 1.51 resulted in erroneous machine code in OH.EXE. This caused a variety of glitches on different computers, including one on mine that nobody else encountered. With this release I've tweaked out those optimizations, leaving the executable slightly larger but more dependable. (This is a normal part of software development.) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.52 (April 5, 1993) FIXES: This release fixes two bugs that had crept unnoticed into version 1.50: - After using Change Linktype, one of the Edit windows would have material from another card superimposed on the original contents. - Using Split At Cursor resulted in lost data when there were embedded links in the text being moved to the new card. OTHER CHANGES: - Back by popular demand: the mouse interface in Boxdraw. (Next time I'll _ask_ before removing a feature I think nobody uses!) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.51 (March 18, 1993) NEW FEATURES: - If a script contains the quit() command and processing in Check Card reaches it, OH.EXE simulates a quit instead of continuing through the script. FIXES: - In OH.EXE the mouse misbehaved if you clicked on Open or Search. Fixed. - In some circumstances the Reader could break out of graphics mode with a divide by zero error. Fixed. - Better error handling (though not yet ideal) when the Reader can't find a graphic. - A change to the delay code in the Reader made it impossible to break out of a tour using Alt-T. Fixed. OTHER CHANGES: - Streamlined the Color Dialog in both programs, reducing code and making it easier to use. - This is the first version in which the release copies of both OH.EXE and the Orpheus Reader were produced using the Microsoft C7 Optimizing Compiler. This makes for significantly smaller executables and faster performance. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.50 (March 12, 1993) NEW FEATURES: As promised, I've got plenty of goodies for those who enjoy working with programmable cards. (New users please note, you don't *have* to program in Orpheus. However, the Orpheus Command Language makes it easy to achieve special effects with both text and graphics. These features are explained and illustrated in MANUAL2.DOC. - The text() command replaces message(), letting you display up to 23 lines of text with a maximum length of 74 characters in a temporary window. Parameters give you control over the location and appearance of the window, even how long it remains onscreen. This is ideal for those small notes that you don't want to place on a separate card, or for things you want to display side-by-side with other text. - The lookfor() command lets you check to make sure the user has a required file. Sets a flag to "okay" or "failed" accordingly, which you can test and respond to the same as with trymode(). - The gbox() command lets you draw a filled rectangle in any graphics mode, in the color of your choice. Coordinates can be given in pixels or character cells (like text mode). Gbox() is ideal for setting up a window in which to display graphics text; it can also be used to draw boxes around small images. - The gtext() command lets you display text in any graphics mode. Currently only the hardware (ROM) characters are available -- the same as you see in text mode -- but in a few weeks we'll have a choice of bit-mapped fonts as well. - Multiple graphics can be displayed simultaneously by using the set() command to turn off fadein and fadeout. You can even set the video mode, draw a graphics box with gbox(), then call graphic() to display an image inside the box. - The load() command lets you load a whole new book! For example, you could have a trilogy of electronic novels, and in each one include a little menu with Action links through which the user can go directly to one of the others. - The jump() command now accepts a number representing the card from which you can "pretend" to have jumped, useful if repeatedly returning to a Contents or Menu card where you would like the last-used linkword to be hilited on return. - Now ansi screens can have hotspots! The rules are the same as for putting hotspots in real graphics; see MANUAL2.DOC for details. - The FileView window now offers a super-fast way to import text from long external files. Selecting "AutoMark" instantly marks a full 23-line block. The prompt then turns to "AutoMORE", and if you select it again, Orpheus automatically appends a More link to the card in the current Edit window, jumps to it in the background, and copies in the block from FileView. In other words, pressing <A> twice grabs a 23-line chunk and adds it to your work in a brand new card. (You could do the same thing with a macro, but this is faster.) AutoMark even lets you grab only as much as you want by resizing the block with the Up/Down and PgUp/PgDn keys. FIXES: - In multi-card procedures (like Split) where OH.EXE used an extra Edit window for working, a non-updated copy of a card that had been changed could be "restored" to the work window when the procedure was finished. This little logic error caused the "card not found" syndrome that especially bedevilled new users. Fixed. - If Split Above was used when the original parent card's link to the current card was through a More link, the More link wouldn't be updated to point to the card inserted between them. Now it does. In some circumstances it was possible for an updated card to be deleted on the assumption that its name had changed; fixed that too. - In the Reader, the mouse would be temporarily hidden if you accepted a jump to the auto bookmark. Also, on some displays there was a problem with ghosting of the mouse pointer on graphics. Both fixed. - Better handling of the graphic titlebar in 2-color modes. - Unlinked cards weren't being removed from the project list. Fixed. - As a protection against running out of disk space during a compile, the compiler checks for a previously compiled version of the project (in the current directory only), and if one is found, deletes it. It then makes a generous estimate of the amount of disk space it will need and compares this with the free space on your hard drive; if there might not be enough it says so and aborts the process. - Tabbing now goes to the correct location instead of one column too far right. While correcting this I noticed that pressing Shift-Tab to do a backtab didn't work correctly, though Ctrl-H did. Fixed. - With 25-line cards in the Reader, the "quick menu" that comes on automatically when the mouse pointer is in the upper left corner was not being cleared when the pointer moved away. Fixed. - Though no one complained about OH.EXE freezing on a system without a mouse, it must have been happening. Fixed. - In the Reader, the default setting for a new user should have been Auto-Bookmark ON. Additionally, if a new book was opened with built-in colors the user should have seen them. Both were little things that hadn't been hooked up; now they are. - If you marked a block in FileView, switched to an Edit window, then returned to FileView without doing anything, the block would no longer be displayed as marked. Now it is. - The Project Menu was losing a bracket. Fixed. OTHER CHANGES: - Formerly you couldn't make an Init off an intended Homecard until you had made at least one other link. Now you can. - Compiler no longer makes a .CMP file. If you have any files with this extension in your Orpheus directory you can delete them. - The play() command now requires that the music string be enclosed in quotation marks; this is to make usage coherent with other commands, and to facilitate some upcoming enhancements. - The hotspot() command also requires that the data string be enclosed in quotation marks, but some other changes make it *imperative* that you redraw all hotspots and let Orpheus enter the new data for you. MANUAL2.DOC explains how to convert painlessly. - The jump() and jumplist() commands now receive card numbers in decimal form as shown on the File Menu, and the list is now preceded by a comma (like other parameters), rather than by an "=" sign. - On the Split Link submenu, the default selection is now the most common one, "Below This Card". - OH.CFG now records your favorite mouse-marking configuration, as set by moving the mouse pointer to the space to the left of the title on the statusbar. (Remember to open the Options Menu and select "Save Configuration File".) - The waitfor() command now accepts a mouseclick as well as a keypress, but only if either (a) the delay parameter is at least 54 (3 seconds), or (b) no delay parameter is given. - The directory picklist in FileView now remembers the previous drive/ directory you were in. Additionally, you can now change drives with a click of the mouse. (The keyboard method is to press Ctrl with the drive letter.) - In the Reader, the Notepad dialog now displays "Alt" on the prompt line to indicate that the command letters are given in combination with the ALT key. - Removed the mouse interface from BoxDraw. It was hard to use and a waste of code. - The FileView window no longer has its own menu, since all functions are now on the command bar for speed. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.41 (February 3, 1993) NEW FEATURES: - The Reader now has a Tour mode (accessed through the File Menu). Gives a self-running tour of your complete book. Options include time delay between moves (1-99 seconds), random/sequential order, advance after delay or after keypress or either one. Once started, Tour mode only stops if you press Alt-T. (Self-running tours are great for lobbies, store windows, and other public displays.) Tour Mode does not access Init and Action cards, since they could contain commands that would interrupt the tour. - Reader options now include ability to ignore the Auto-Bookmark when you re-open a book. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.32 (January 21, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - The Orpheus Command Language lets you write command scripts (similar to batch files) in any Init, Action, or Graphic card. Scripts can test conditions (such as the user's hardware) and take alternate branches. The language is designed to be easy to use yet swift in performance, and easily extended: new commands will come in forthcoming releases. A complete guide to OCL is given in Part II of the User's Guide, in the file MANUAL2.DOC. - Orpheus now looks for graphic files first in the current directory, then in a directory specified with the ORPHEUS environment variable and a /g switch. The following DOS command (given either at the DOS prompt or in a batch file) would tell Orpheus to look in the c:\art directory: "SET ORPHEUS=/GC:\ART". Both the environment variable and the switch may be in uppercase or lowercase. (This feature applies to both OH.EXE and the Orpheus Reader. - Now you can display ANSI files from Orpheus, and the user's system does not have to have ansi.sys installed. Files are located using the same method as for graphics described above. - Now you can load a file into the FileView window from the command line, using the "/v" switch. For example: "OH TEST /VMANUAL.DOC" would load both the "Test" project in the Edit windows and MANUAL.DOC in the FileView window. The command "OH /VMANUAL.DOC" would do just the latter, leaving the Edit windows empty. - Added Alt-S as a hotkey to the Search Dialog in the FileView window. (In Edit windows, this pulls down the Search Menu.) - If you close a book and then re-open it later, the Reader now returns automatically to the last location you were in (or rather gives you the option to do so after first displaying the Homecard). - Added Nordic characters to the support for foreign languages. See online help, Using The Keyboard -> Inserting Accents. - Added "Edit Init" to the Link Menu, which is rearranged to group the programmable card types. - Added two debugging tools available through the Tools Menu, which now has submenus under "Repair" and "Jumplist". - Additional color options, including ability to compile a book with your colors built-in. The end-user can still set his own colors, but he sees yours first. To make this more manageable the menu system in the Orpheus Reader now has 2 pulldowns, "File" and "Options". You can choose the default colors, your own, or the author's. (The "Paint" colors are intended for use with a script command, to be added later.) - Reader options now allow you to turn off sound. This will become more important as the Command Language grows. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.24 (November 22, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - Opening the menu system with the mouse, or with Esc, now pulls down whichever menu was used last. To open the menus with the mouse you now click the left button on "Esc:Menu" (not the right button). - Now you can mark all text in a card in one stroke with Ctrl-F5; good for all block operations except reformat. - At last! Complete mouse support for all block operations! The right button marks in your choice of stream, line, or column modes; clicking the right button clears an existing mark. Clicking the left button performs your choice of pasting, moving, or framing a block; if framing is selected and you mouse-mark in column mode, the Frame dialog pops up automatically. To select mode and action, slip the mouse pointer to the message area on the statusbar, to the left of the title. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.23 (November 9, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - New on the Print Options submenu of OH.EXE: you can enter a printer setup string for Orpheus to send to the printer before a global print or every one-card print. This is also on the Print submenu of the Orpheus Reader. Additionally, both programs let you choose between removing and not removing control codes (see below) from the print stream. - New characters! Instead of reserving all 31 control codes (characters with an ascii value of 1-31), Orpheus now lets you use 18 of them in your text. Characters include: the card suits, musical notes, male/ female symbols, true arrows, etc. The complete list is shown in the Ascii Table (Alt-A). - Music! Play() command lets you play music from an Init or Action card. For music to play automatically when the reader enters a card, place the Play() command in an Init; for music to play only when the user selects an Action link, place the command in the Action card. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.22 (October 30, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - The Orpheus Reader is now network-friendly: a user can be on one drive-directory, the Reader and its help file on another, and the book to read on yet another. The user's personal configuration, bookmark, and notepad files are saved in his own directory. - Also in the Reader, the directory dialog now lets you look for HTX files anywhere on your system. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.21 (October 9, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - Now you can launch a program or batch file from within OH.EXE (not just from the Reader). See Action Links on the Link Menu, and read Help on Programming Hypertext. - Special support for users working in languages other than English. Read online Help on "Using the Keyboard"->"Inserting Accents", or open the Options Menu and select "Keyboard". - Added Delete Word Left (Ctrl-Backspace) to OH.EXE's internal word processor. - Added an Ascii Table displaying all characters with their ascii values, from 32 (space) up to 255. (Values below 32 are control codes reserved for use by Orpheus.) Any character on the table can be inserted by clicking on it, or by selecting it with the arrow keys and pressing Enter. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 1.20 (October 2, 1992) NEW FEATURES: - Instant macros with keyboard recording. Record up to 500 keystrokes in up to 10 keystroke macros and assign to the keys of your choice. See "Macro" on the Tools Menu. - All cards in a book can now be displayed within a "frame" (box), using the style of your choice. See "Frame" on the Project Menu. - The Edit Menu now includes Column Marking, and all block ops can now be performed on column blocks, including deleting, pasting, moving, and moving a block with embedded links to another card. - Instant boxes! Mark a column block and then press Ctrl-F9: the Frame Dialog pops up with a choice of 6 styles. Want to change the the style of an existing box? -- Easy: column-mark it and hit Ctrl-F9, then just pick a different style or select "None" to remove the box entirely. See "Frame Block" on the Tools Menu.