1.2.1 -- March 1st, 1999. The following items were added, changed, or fixed:
• Fixed the main dialog popup menus to resolve a problem that could cause intermittent hard crashes. I was letting the popups load their own 'MENU' resources, which, if I've read Apple's completely schizoid documentation on the subject correctly, is now not recommended.
• Fixed compatibility problems with the Appearance 1.0 extension and control panel. I was using control data tag constants in a couple of spots which were only available in the 1.0.1 API of Appearance. This caused machines running the 1.0 API (i.e., machines running straight Mac OS 8) to gag.
• Fixed a genuine case of non compos mentis in the list box N3C displays when more than one Netscape Preferences file is present. This version now confirms that a list click is within the data bounds of the list. Prior versions would crash if the user double-clicked in a blank area of the list box. I take full responsibility for this silly oversight.
• Added a versioning system to N3C's preferences files. Nothing fancy, but it does insure that N3C's preferences file corresponds to the current version of the application.
• Removed the "Register..." menu option from the Apple menu. Registration can now only be done from the registration reminder or expiration alert.
• Added the ability to copy registration keys to the clipboard to the registration reminder and expiration alert. This should make it easier to work with the registration keys.
• De-modalized every dialog and alert except the about box and error alerts.
1.2 -- February 15th, 1999. The following items were added, changed, or fixed:
• This is nearly a complete rewrite of the application. A number of latent bugs which existed in 1.1.1 were exterminated. Some of these bugs were obscure, but quite significant. Therefore, use of versions 1.1.1 and earlier is no longer recommended, and support for versions 1.1.1 and earlier (except for registered users who are unable to upgrade) is terminated.
• Expanded the auto-find search path to include the Preferences folders on all local, unlocked drives, and the folders which contain either the Navigator or Communicator applications. This expands the search path to include virtually all legal locations for Netscape Preferences files. There is one legal location for Netscape Preferences files that NavCom Cache Control will not find, but remedying that would require a general search of every volume. That would be major overkill.
• Redesigned the dialog which is displayed when more than one Netscape Preferences file is found. The new dialog is much prettier, and clearly identifies the location of the files found.
• Removed the option of allowing the user to continue when NavCom Cache Control detected a potentially corrupt Netscape Preferences file. Users are now notified of the problem, and only allowed to quit.
• Absolutely, positively fixed, once and for all, the line-truncation bug which has existed, in one form or another, since version 1.0.
• Moved all of NavCom Cache Control's documentation to HTML. Since NavCom Cache Control is a utility for users of Netscape browsers, it seemed like a safe bet they would have a browser to view the docs. :) This also allows the documentation to placed online.
• Regrettably implemented a seven-day registration lock on the software. There are 17,000+ copies of NavCom Cache Control in circulation, but less than a hundred registered users. That fact speaks for itself.
1.1.1 -- January 21st, 1999. The following items were added, changed, or fixed:
• Modified the routine which inserts cache lines into a file which previously did not contain them. NCCC now does a full-length text compare (using CompareText) for the insertion point instead of an ASCII string compare. There was a fairly rare situation where the ASCII string compare could result in the download directory preference line being truncated. Because of the encryption Netscape uses to mask the actual location of the the disk cache and download directories, these lines could be longer than 255 characters.
• Throttled back the version check for the Appearance Manager. NavCom Cache Control now runs on any system which can support the Appearance Manager, System 8 included.
1.1 -- January 20th, 1999. The following items were added, changed, and fixed:
• Auto-find is b-a-a-a-a-c-k! Instead of kludging around with FSMakeFSSpec calls to figure out which directories existed, I took matters into my own hands with PBGetCatInfo. NCCC now looks for "Netscape ƒ" and "Netscape Users" in the Preferences folder of the startup drive. If it finds either of them, it will do a recursive search for Netscape Preferences files, using the following criteria:
File name: "Netscape Preferences"
Creator: "MOSS"
File type: "pref"
Data fork length > 0
If more then one file meeting those criteria exists, NCCC gives users a dialog box to select the file they want to work with. If no files are found, NCCC will let users know, and give them the option to manually search for the files. If only one file is found, it is loaded and the cache options dialog is presented.
• NCCC now scans the Netscape Preferences data before doing anything with it. The scan checks for 1.) at least one well-formed preference line, and 2.) properly terminated lines. If problems are found in either of these areas, the user is warned and given the choice to continue (at their own risk) or quit.
• Fixed a major brain fart in the routine that parses the preferences data prior to saving the new file. In certain degenerate cases, NCCC would hang while trying to find a location for the cache lines in the new preferences file. My analysis indicates that this occurs in preference files which are not well-formed, or are empty (i.e., were corrupt or orphaned). In any event, NCCC doesn't lock up in these situations anymore. The screening mentioned above should help, too.
• Compartmentalized the code considerably, cutting the number of data-related globals down to three. It should be much easier to debug and maintain in the future.
1.0.2 -- January 15th, 1999. The following items were added, changed, and fixed:
• Removed the auto-find feature (bug?). With Communicator's use of individual user profile folders, the auto-find process became quite complex and error-prone (i.e., this was the likely cause of the silent termination problem). Auto-find may return, but only after I've worked out all its kinks.
• Simplified the routine which checks for the presence of Appearance Manager. I thought this might have been a cause of silent termination. It wasn't, but I cleaned things up anyway.
1.0.1 -- January 14, 1999. The following items were added, changed, and fixed:
• Modified startup routines to allow manual file selection when the Netscape Preferences file can't be found in the standard path.
• Refined the logic in the initialization routines to clarify error conditions. This will, I hope, address the silent termination issue noted above.
