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Text File | 1995-08-01 | 19.8 KB | 417 lines

This is a list of changes from previous versions (latest changes last). If you're new to QPV/386, please read QPV.DOC. Missing versions were only internal revisions, distributed only to a very small number of people, or revisions with a small number of changes. Versions prior to 0.5b were beta versions, released only to a small number of people. QPV/386 0.5b ~~~~~~~~~~~~ First official release. I still call it beta, since some drivers are not tested and may not work. QPV/386 1.0c ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * No beta version, but not a final release either. I guess there will never be a "final" release. * Added support for Yh1v1 upsampled color images. Suggested by Tom Lane (IJG). QPV/386 should now be able to view any JFIF compliant JPEG file, and even some non-JFIF files. * Switching back to text mode on exit now restores the same mode that was used before starting QPV/386. Suggested by Lutz Kotoll. * Added GIF support. Suggested by thousands of users :-) * Added TBH logo. Suggested by me :-) * Added ability to delete and copy files. Also suggested by many users. * If the preview's height is smaller than 61 pixels, its size is doubled. In other words, pictures with an original height of more than 480 are scaled down by a factor of 8, otherwise by a factor of 4. * The executable (QPV.EXE) is smaller. * Added ability to switch greyscaled display on/off ('$' key). * Added dithering routines for hicolor modes. Now hicolor looks almost like truecolor. * Added initialization file (QPV.INI) for user changeable defaults: - video mode - file information on/off - preview on/off - beeps on/off - hicolor dithering on/off - greyscaled display on/off Most of these settings can be changed within QPV/386. * Fixed problems when viewing greyscaled images in hicolor or truecolor modes. * Fixed preview code which caused errors on some VGAs. The preview should now work on _ANY_ VGA graphics card. * Changed ATI driver. I'm not sure if it's fixed, since I can't test it. * Fixed VESA driver. * New driver for DELL S3 graphics cards. Thanks to Lenny Lim! (If it doesn't work, try the VESA driver.) QPV/386 1.0d ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * QPV/386 now works with the VESA driver (both needed to be fixed). * Changed the ATI driver (once again). * English and German documentation. QPV/386 1.0e ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Driver for Diamond SpeedStar 24X. Thanks to Jan van Loenen! * Driver for NCR 77C22 chipset. Thanks to Peter van Sebille! * The executable (QPV.EXE) is considerably smaller. QPV/386 1.0f ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Doesn't lock up anymore on corrupt JPEG files. * Slightly improved accuracy (this fixes a bug that caused a checkerboard texture on extremely bright areas). * Supports interlaced GIF files. * Supports Adobe Photoshop JPEG file format (non-JFIF). QPV/386 1.1c ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Changed directory structure: directory ENGLISH for English documentation, directory DEUTSCH for German documentation. * QPV/386 FAQ. * Fixed NCR configuration. QPV/386 1.2d ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Changed registration system. * Changed status window. Press F1 for help. * Fixed bug (blank screen when zooming very fast). * Fixed bug in Cirrus driver file for 1280x1024x16 mode. Thanks to Ben Jos Walbeehm! * Driver for Realtek chipset. Thanks to Christopher L. Tumber! * Supports 64K hicolor modes (16 bit) using 65536 colors. * Option for automatic video mode selection (depending on the image size), see QPV.INI for details. QPV/386 1.2e ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Fixed bug (white areas occured when decoding high quality JPEG images). * Fixed bug (QPV/386 didn't recognize write protected GIF files, for example on CD ROMs). * You can select images with the space key (tagging), then use shift+enter to view the selected images only. QPV/386 1.2f ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Tagging bug fixed. * Targa files are recognized (but not displayed yet). * Truecolor modes (16M) work now with Diamond Viper and VESATRUE.CFG. * Various bugs in the documentation fixed. * There's a QPV/386 support BBS for fidonet and modem, see QPV.DOC. QPV/386 1.3c ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Displays Targa (TGA) files! It supports: - truecolor TGA, greyscaled/monochrome TGA and TGA with palette, - uncompressed TGA and rle (run length encoded) compressed TGA, - any TGA type can be displayed in any video mode (just like JPEGs), - TGA display is F A S T ! * Increased maximum number of video modes from 25 to 40. * Total rewrite of the general graphics routines, adding new formats (PCX, BMP, PBM/PNM etc) is now much easier. * Mouse support! Your mouse driver must be Microsoft compatible. If you have a Genius mouse driver, it should be at least version 9.06, otherwise you'll have to disable mouse support (see QPV.INI). * Supports up to three mouse buttons. * Freely configurable mouse buttons: the mouse buttons can be programmed to do anything which can be done with the keyboard. See QPV.INI. * Changed AUTO_MODE options in QPV.INI. * The video driver (*.DRV) needn't be copied to the QPV/386 directory anymore. * Fixed truecolor mode with Diamond Viper (once again). * Fixed another truecolor bug (VESA configuration) which caused previously displayed images not to be cleared correctly. * Now you can specify a drive or directory on the command line, and QPV/386 will start up in that directory. * QPV/386 gives the following error levels for command line viewing: - 0 : ok (no error), - 5 : at least one file is no valid graphics file, - 20 : fatal error, e.g. unknown command line option, error in configuration file etc. Those error levels can be used for batch file processing. * You can use Shift+Del to delete all tagged files at once. * You can use Shift+Inst to copy all tagged files at once. * Another ATI driver (ATI-3.DRV) for ATI VGA Wonder 18800. Thanks to Yaron Keren! * Fixed several bugs. QPV/386 1.3f ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Fixed sccolling bug. * Updated documentation. * The Diamond Viper / VESATRUE combination definitely works now. * Fixed bug which caused the second image to be distorted when using the VESATRUE configuration. * Driver for Tseng Labs ET4000-W32, supports up to 4 Mb of video memory. Thanks to German c't Magazine! * /K command line option causes QPV/386 to exit immediately without clearing the graphics screen. Mainly for use in batch files. Works only in the registered version (because the shareware reminder must be displayed in text mode). * /C command line option just clears the screen and switches back to text mode. Pretty much the same as 'MODE CO80'. Mainly for recovering from a previously used /K option. * Fixed bug: TGA display with RGB truecolor graphics cards. * Fixed bug: Enter key didn't view next image if "file info" was switched off. * You're now able to tag non-image files. * You can use your mouse to pan across images. * More detailed memory information in the status window. QPV/386 1.3j ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Doesn't lock up anymore on corrupt GIF files. * Fixed some bugs related to mouse control. * Supports PCX images with 1, 4 or 8 bit, or 24 bit truecolor. * Supports BMP images (Windows format compressed and uncompressed, standard OS/2 format and multi image OS/2 format) with 1, 4 and 8 bit, and 24 bit truecolor. * QPV/386 also detects and uses a 486 processor. Note: a 486DLC (by Cyrix) is not a real 486, but an improved 386. * Driver for Compaq graphics cards based on QVision/AVGA chipsets (not yet tested). * Now you can still use the cursor keys if Maus_Follow=On in QPV.INI. * Fixed bug related to image rebuild. QPV/386 1.3n ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * New install program (English and German) which hopefully works now. * Fixed scrolling bug (only affected commandline viewing). * You can't change to non-existant drives anymore. * New keyboard functions: - 'A'-'Z' and '0'-'9' move the cursor bar to the next file which starts with that letter or digit. - To change to another drive, hold down the shift key and press the corresponding drive letter ('A'-'Z'). * More features for QPV.INI: - Pan_Immediately=On/Off Affects behaviour of panning (if you have a slow machine, it's recommended to switch this option on). - Pan_Step_X/Y=... Selects the step size for panning, either in pixels or in percent of current screen size. - Sort_Order=... Sort order for directory listing. - File_Filter=... File masks for directory listing (by default '*.*'). For detailed information please refer to QPV.INI. QPV/386 1.4a ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Driver for Ahead graphics cards based on Ahead chipsets (A or B) (not yet tested). * Fixed several problems in configuration files (not yet tested). * Now gives a warning message if you try to delete a read-only file. * Now you can assign the key '+' to a mouse button, e.g.: View_Mouse_Button_Left=+ #(in QPV.INI file) * New key functions while viewing an image: 'I' Display informationen about the image (name, type, size). 'R' Refresh the display and clear any text. * More features for QPV.INI: - View_While_Loading=On/Off On: The image is displayed while it's being loaded (like previous versions). Off: The image is displayed when loading is completed, till then the previous image is kept on the screen. - Fit_To_Screen=On/Off On: If an image is larger than the screen, it's shrunk to the size of the screen. Off: Images are not shrunk. Therefore very large images may not fit on the screen completely, thus making it necessary to pan/scroll using the mouse or the cursor keys. - Image_Description=... You can specify which information to display while an image is loaded. For more information please refer to QPV.INI. * New command line option: /Iname 'name' specifies the filename of an initialization file (including drive and directory if necessary). If this option is not present, QPV/386 uses the file QPV.INI which is in the same directory like QPV.EXE (just like previous versions). QPV/386 1.4d ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Available now: QPV/386 on MO disk (magneto optical, format 3.5", 128 Mb capacity). The remaining disk space is filled with lots of images (more than 1,000 images of different kinds). See REGISTER.FOR. If you have special wishes, please tell me. I may be able to help you due to my large image archive. * Also available: QPV/386 and images on streamer tape (type DC 2120, format QIC-80). * Fixed bug in VESATRUE (only occured with truecolor modes on cards using 4 bytes per pixel). * Fixed bug with "View_While_Loading=Off". * Some optimizations for Pentium processors. * PicDex interface, i.e. QPV/386 can read and process PicDex' index files (*.IDX). See PICDEX.DOC. QPV/386 1.4e ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Command line option for slideshow mode: /Ssecs turns on slideshow mode. Each image is displayed for 'secs' seconds, then the next one is loaded. If 'secs' is omitted (i.e. '/S' only), each image is displayed for 10 seconds (like '/S10'). * Command line option for script files: /@name takes image file names from the file 'name' and displayes them, just as if they were specified directly on the command line. You can use several '/@' commands on the command line. * Fixed bug with incorrectly stored monochrome PCX files. QPV/386 1.5a ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Fixed Ahead driver, should work now. In case it still doesn't work, there's a special Ahead B driver which definitely works (tested). * New driver for Chips&Technologies cards. Not tested. * Command line option /n (select graphics mode) works again. * New features for QPV.INI: - Interface_256_Colors=On/Off Off: Use graphics mode 640x480 with 16 colors for user interface (directory screen), just like previous versions (greyscaled). On: Use graphics mode 640x480 with 256 colors for user interface (directory screen), which is more colorful. Also fixes some problems with mouse pointers in 16 color modes. - File_Exclude=... The opposite of 'File_Filter'. You can specify which files not to display in the directory listing. - Create_Descriptions=On/Off Specify if QPV/386 should use DESCRIPT.ION files to store information. See QPV.INI for more information. 'On' is recommended. * Support for 4DOS/NDOS description files (DESCRIPT.ION): - If there are any descriptions, they're displayed in the right hand window, provided that 'File info' is switched on. - Press Alt-E to edit an existing description, or to create a new description. There is a maximum of 200 characters per description, though QPV/386 only displays the first 39 characters. Note: You needn't have 4DOS/NDOS to be able to use that feature. QPV/386 1.5b ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Updated documentation. The program itself has not been changed. * New: official support BBS in the U.S.A., see UPDATES.DOC. QPV/386 1.5e ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Minor changes and bug fixes * New official support BBS in the U.S.A., see UPDATES.DOC. * New configuration file for V7 Spea Mercury. Thanks to Michael Seewald! * New VESATEST utility which checks for VESA support, VESA version and supported VESA modes. * It is now possible to specify multiple INI files ("/I" option). * QPV/386 now doesn't create DESCRIPT.ION files if there are no graphics files in the respective directory. Description files are created and updated only in one of the following cases: - There's already a description file. - There's at least one graphics file. In either case, QPV/386 creates them only if "Create_Descriptions=On". Existing description files are always updated if necessary, regardless of the "Create_Descriptions" setting in the QPV.INI file. * Fixed serious bug with BMP and RLE files. * Fixed code for Pentium (586) detection. * New graphics format: IFF/ILBM. Supports 1 to 8 and 24 bit images, uncompressed and ByteRun-1 compressed. Also supports PBM files created by Deluxe Paint II enhanced. Due to lack of test images there's currently no support for HAM and other Amiga specific modes. QPV/386 1.6a ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Fixed bug which caused the PC to lock up on empty disks/partitions. * QPV.INI will always be loaded, even if other INI files are specified on the command line. You can force QPV/386 not to load QPV.INI with the command line option "/I-". * You needn't use QPV.CFG as configuration file anymore. There are two possibilities to specify a different file: - With this entry in one of the INI files which are loaded: CFG=filename - With this command line option: /Ffilename If you use both, then only the command line option will be recognized. The extension ".CFG" can be omitted. If no directory is explicitly specified, then the file is first searched for in the directory which holds QPV.EXE, then in the subdirectory "CFG". * DOS shell: Alt-D (currently in the directory listing only). * You can (temporarily) jump to another image by pressing the 'F' key when viewing an image. Then enter the file name (+ extension), or press the Esc key to cancel. * New driver and configuration file for "Video 7 VRAM II". Thanks to Kosmas Einbrodt! * Completely new JPEG decoding routines. About 25% faster on 486, about 45% faster on Pentium. The QPV.DAT and TBHGLOGO.RLE files aren't needed anymore (you can delete them if they still exist). * "F" key (load image by file name) now works when QPV/386 has been invoked without file selection screen. * Supports PNM image file format (PBM, PGM, PPM). * Supports Photo-CD (PCD) image file format! * Supports the new PNG ("ping") format. QPV/386 1.6c ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * A new name: "Quick Picture Viewer" (QPV). * The DOS shell finally works now! * Options window which enables you to change some of the settings of the QPV.INI file while QPV/386 is running. Press Alt-O while the directory listing is displayed to invoke the options window. * QPV's support for PNG files ("ping") now fully complies with the recommendations of the PNG specification (draft #9, 7-March-1995), including interlacing, alpha and transparency. * The PNG support has been optimized considerably: QPV now displays PNG images faster than GIF images! IMPORTANT REMARK: I recommend that everybody who has got GIF files to convert them to the PNG format. PNG files are displayed faster, and they take up less space on your hard disk. * Slideshow mode can be switched on/off in the options window. * Default slideshow delay is 5 seconds (former 10 seconds), can be modified with /s option. * New versions of SETUP and VESA2CFG. QPV/386 1.7a ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Several bugfixes and enhancements, too many to mention here. * Supports PostScript printers. Please refer to the "Print_" sections in the QPV.INI file for more information. You'll probably have to modify some of the settings in QPV.INI to adapt it to your requirements. * The COPY function (Inst key and Shift-Inst) has been completely rewritten. You can now specify a file name which may include wildcards ("?" and "*"). If the extension is omitted, the new file will have the same extension as the original file (append a single dot "." to specify an empty extension). QPV/386 will ask for confirmation before overwriting any files. * New: MOVE function (Alt-M). You can use it to rename a file, or to move it to a different directory (or both). When renaming files, wildcards may be used ("?" and "*"). If the extension is omitted, it will not be changed (append a single dot "." to specify an empty extension). Note that you can move files between different drives. You can move/rename all tagged files at the same time by pressing Shift-Alt-M. * You can now delete files while viewing them. Use the Del (Delete) key, just like in the file browser. * You can disable QPV's confirmation question when deleting files. Please refer to the QPV.INI file, section "Confirm_Delete". * Free cursor movement and improved edit functions for editing descriptions and filenames. * You can call an external program or batch file by assigning it to one of the these keys: Ctrl-A to Ctrl-Z and Ctrl-F1 to Ctrl-F10. For example, you can call a graphics converter or a sound player, or you can call a batch file that moves a file to a specific directory. Please refer to the QPV.INI file, section "Control_Key", for an example and detailed description. My to-do list is still long, so I will keep on developing and enhancing. Send any bug reports, comments, wishes, ideas etc to me. But please note that I am a student, and that QPV/386 is not my full-time job. Unfortunately I can't spend as much time on enhancing QPV/386 as I'd like to do. It's all a matter of time.