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ESS-Code 7.6 Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, Michel Forget Electric Storm Software The documentation for this archive is located in ESSCODE.TXT, which should be located in the same directory as this document. This list of bug fixes and changes made to ESS-Code is in chronological order; the new information appears at the end of the document. May 30, 1995: ESS-Code 6.4a [These problems have been solved.] BUG #1: ESS-Code 6.4 inserts an "extra" backslash in the filename of the program manager item created by the installation program. This would prevent ESS-Code from executing properly. BUG #2: ESS-Code does not prevent the user from executing the client modules directly. The only module that can be executed directly is "eshell.exe". June 4, 1995: ESS-Code 6.4b [These problems have been solved.] BUG #3: When things go wrong, they rarely do so in an insignificant way. ESS-Code would not operate properly on many system because it could not execute the server modules correctly. An extra backslash was mistakenly inserted into the filename at execution time, thus causing an error. This problem did not affect Windows95 users or OS/2 Warp users. For those that it did affect, though, ESS-Code would not work at all. July 2, 1995: ESS-Code 6.6 [These problems have been solved.] BUG #4: The status display was not being updated correctly. Old information, such as parts of words or numbers, was not being erased before the new information was drawn. BUG #5: The MIME-Decode file conversion method was capable of corrupting the address space of ESS-Code, which would cause a system crash. This problem did not seem to affect anyone, but it is now fixed. BUG #6: The "Split File" & "Join File" commands did not update the status display after completion. NEW: ESS-Code now allows the user to drag a file from the program manager (or explorer) and drop it on the ESS-Code application window. If such an action is taken, ESS-Code will display a dialog box asking how the file should be processed. July 7, 1995: ESS-Code 6.7 [These problems have been solved.] There are days when nothing happens the way it should; the days the previous version of ESS-Code was released was apparently one of those days. The drag & drop support did not work in the previous version, and there were a number of "empty" alert boxes in the installation program. This release solves those problems. I apologize for any inconvenience my error might have caused you. MIME-Encoding has also been fixed. This problem only affected the 16-BIT version, so users of the 32-BIT version were never troubled by it. July 25, 1995: ESS-Code 6.8 NEW: The Windows95 user interface has now been applied to ESS-Code. NEW: ESS-Code now has an installation wizard to automate the setup process. NEW: ESS-Code can now be uninstalled automatically by Windows95. July 27, 1995: ESS-Code 6.9 [These problems are now solved.] BUG #7: There were several small typographical errors in the setup wizard and the application itself. July 29, 1995: ESS-Code 7.0 (BETA) [These problems have been solved.] BUG #8: The CTL3D32.DLL dynamic link library was not being installed correctly for Windows95 Build #501 -- it worked fine for previous builds, apparently. August 5th, 1995: ESS-Code 7.1 (Release Version) [These problems have been solved.] [ESS-Code has now been tested with Windows95 b490c - no problems were found.] [ESS-Code has now been tested with WindowsNT 3.51 - no problems were found.] BUG #9: In some situations, ESS-Code would not be able to locate the second and subsequent segments of a multi-part UUEncoded file. BUG #10: The F1 key will now actually open the online help instead of generating a spurious warning. NEW: ESS-Code now allows you to view the LOG file. NEW: ESS-Code now allows you to print the LOG file. NEW: The setup utility has been improved. August 8th, 1995: ESS-Code 7.2 (Maint. Release) [These problems have been solved.] NEW: The ESS-Code LOG now shows the date and time of each entry. BUG FIX: The "Split File" function now works with Windows95/NT. When a file is split, an extension is appended to the end of the original filename. The original extension is not lost. EX: This Is A Long Name.ZIP = This Is A Long Name.ZIP.1 BUG FIX: The "Join File" function now works with Windows95/NT. BUG FIX: The "Split File" & "Join File" features now identify themselves correctly in the ESS-Code LOG. If you have any problems with ESS-Code, please contact mforget@planet.eon.net as quickly as possible. This application is a work-in-progress at all times, and will continue to be updated frequently as new features are added and problems are solved. The more quickly you make your problem known, the more quickly it will be resolved. ESS-Code has been tested with the latest builds of Windows95 & WindowsNT without any apparent trouble. September 17th, 1995: ESS-Code 7.3 [These problems have been solved.] BUG FIX: There have been various problems with the "Setup" module; this time, it the registry handling has been improved and error reporting capabilities have been added. There is also a manual installation method that you can use if the "Setup" module still does not work for you. October 24th, 1995: ESS-Code 7.4 NEW: ESS-Code now supports a complete batch language. This language is documented in the online manual included in this archive and is meant to act as an aid to system automation for users with specialized needs. NEW: The online manual has been revised; it now has a much more attractive "look & feel", in addition to providing more information than previous version of the online manual provided. BUG FIX: The ESS-Code LOG will no longer be corrupted as it is written. Previous versions of ESS-Code did very strange things to the formatting of the log file as it was being created. BUG FIX: Error messages will now be displayed properly on high resolution monitors; previously, message boxes would be extremely small. December 25, 1995: ESS-Code 7.5 NEW: The UUEncode file conversion method allows a destination name to be inserted into the encoded data. At the request of many users, I have enabled ESS-Code to automatically detect that name when decoding. If a destination name is found in the encoded data, it will be displayed in the "destination" field when you are asked to select a destination name. NEW: If you discover a conversion method that ESS-Code does not support, you can now incorporate it directly (and seamlessly) into ESS-Code through a new feature known as an extensible menu system. Extensions are menu entries that are displayed at the bottom of the file menu. There are two steps involved in creating an ESS-Code extension: 1) In the ESSCODE.INI file (located in c:\windows) add a new line using the following format: EXTENSION = <menu entry name>,<script> Example: EXTENSION = "View .&ZIP Contents",c:\viewzip.ess This command MUST be typed exactly as it appears, since case and spacing is expecially important. In the <menu entry name> field, you may specify a keyboard shortcut by typing a "&" immediately before the letter you want to be able to press to activate the menu entry. 2) Create an ESS-Code extension script that has the same name and location as the <script> specified above. An example script is shown below, followed by a detailed dicussion of all the script commands available. ' Extract .ZIP File USING PKUNZIP. ' This script could be improved by using the "ASK INPUT FILE" ' and "ASK OUTPUT FILE" commands. SET TEMPLATE C:\PKUNZIP.EXE %RESPONSE %RESPONSE %RESPONSE SET YES -d SET NO -e ASK YN Do you want to preserve the directory structure of the ZIP file? ASK INFORMATION What is the name of the ZIP file to extract? ASK INFORMATION What folder do you want to extract the ZIP file to? ASK CONTINUE Proceed? GO TELL The file has been extracted. Extension Script Commands ------------------------- Command Explanation ------- ----------- ' This is the symbol used for a comment. Any extension script commands or text that appears on the same line as this symbol will be ignored. SET TEMPLATE <text> This command is required. It describes what the final command line passed to the tool the script is being written for will look like. As the other extension script commands obtain information from the user, the "%RESPONSE" fields are replaced (from left to right) with the actual information supplied by the user. Several example templates are shown below: SET TEMPLATE c:\z.exe -%RESPONSE $RESPONSE In this case, the user might be expected to enter a one letter command switch, which ESS-Code would then insert immediately after the "-". SET TEMPLATE type %RESPONSE In this case, the user might be expected to enter the name of the file, which ESS-Code would then insert after the text "type " (including the space). The template is requried because it determines where the information will be placed on the command line. ASK CONTINUE <text> This command will cause a message box to appear containing <text>. If the user responds by clicking on the "No" button, the extension script will end. The most command use of this command is to ask the user "Do you really want to proceed with this operation?". ASK YN <text> This command will cause a message box to appear containing <text> (a question). The user can either click on the "Yes" button or the "No" button in response to the question. This command must be used in conjunction with the "SET YES" and "SET NO" commands discussed below. SET YES <text> This command must appear BEFORE the "ASK YN" command. It determines what text will be placed on the command line if the user clicks on the "Yes" button in response to an "ASK YN" command. SET NO <text> This command must appear BEFORE the "ASK YN" command. It determines what text will be placed on the command line if the user clicks on the "No" button in response to an "ASK YN" command. SET YES ABORT This command must appear BEFORE the "ASK YN" command. It will cause the extension script to end if the user clicks on the "Yes" button in response to an "ASK YN" command. SET NO ABORT This command must appear BEFORE the "ASK YN" command. It will cause the extension script to end if the user clicks on the "No" button in response to an "ASK YN" command. TELL <text> This command will cause a message box to appear containing <text>. it is used to inform the user of information that you feel they should be aware of. SET DISPLAY MODE <mode> This command is used to determine how the tool the script is being written for will look when it is executed. There are four display modes available: Mode Explanation ---- ----------- HIDDEN The tool will not be visible. This allows seamless integration with ESS-Code. MINIMIZED The tool will not be visible, but can be made visible by clicking on the desktop icon that represents it. BACKGROUND The tool will be visible, but only a a background window (portions of the window may be obscured by other windows). FOREGROUND The tool will be visible, and it will execute in the foreground (the entire window can be seen). ASK INFORMATION <text> This command will cause a dialog box containing <text> (a request for information) to appear on the screen. The user can type a response, which ESS-Code will insert into the template. ASK INPUT FILE <title> This command will cause the standard file selection dialog box to appear, with the title bar set to <title>. This command should be used to request the name of a file from the user. It should only be used for requesting source (input) files, since it requires that the file selected be a valid, existing file. ASK OUTPUT FILE <title> This command will cause the standard file selection dialog box to appear, with the title bar set to <title>. This command should be used to request the name of a file from the user. It should only be used for requesting destination (output) file names, since it does not require that the name selected be an existing file. GO This command instructs ESS-Code to execute the command line. This does not automatically end the script, but the only command that it would make sense to use after the tool has been executed is "TELL". April 26, 1996: ESS-Code 7.6 BUG FIX: The "Join File" command now works properly. ESS-Code will no longer cause an "illegal operation" error when this command is used. BUG FIX: When MIME-Encoding, the subject will no longer be placed in quotation marks. BUG FIX: The ESS-Code .LOG file will now format information written to it correctly. BUG FIX: The setup module has been fixed (yet again). This time, the problem was that it was overwriting the ctl3d.dll file instead of the ctl3d32.dll file. If you discovered in the past that one of your applications no longer worked after installing ESS-Code, you should be able to restore the application to good working order by: a) replacing ctl3d.dll with a known good copy b) installing the application in question again The second method may not always work, but the first method is guaranteed to work (if the problem you are experiencing was caused by ESS-Code). NEW: You can now decode directly from the clipboard. To do this, select "Decode From Clipboard" from the "File" menu, and (when prompted) select the appropriate decoding method. NEW: After a conversion operation, ESS-Code will now display a list of files that were affected. The list is composed of two sections, which are files read/opened and files created/written. This list will also be written to the ESS-Code .LOG file to make it easier to track information over time. NEW: ESS-Code now has a conversion wizard, which allows users to encode or decode a file using a wizard style interface. The user is asked questions, and then ESS-Code makes intelligent decisions about how to proceed. The conversion wizard is particularly useful for new users, because it makes decoding extremely painless and encoding very easy. To use the conversion wizard, select "Conversion Wizard" from the "File" menu. NEW: The menu layout and overall visual appearance of ESS-Code has been improved.