PC Gamer (Italian) 24/PC Gamer IT CD 24 2-2.iso/UTILITY/vern/CHANGES.TXT

Text File | 1997-05-05 | 18KB | 398 lines

-----------------------------
Bug Fixes & Feature Additions
-----------------------------
Ver. 1.6c : May 5, 1997
   - windows were still cycling automatically if switching too
     quickly -- fixed
   - fixed the hide off screen option

Ver. 1.6b : April 30, 1997
   - computers without the file msvcrt.dll in the windows system
     directory were unable to load vernhook.dll.  This has been
     fixed.

Ver. 1.6a : April 26, 1997
   - fixed problem with auto activate and ignore minimised
   - fixed z order problem
   - fixed cycling windows problem

Ver. 1.6  : April 24, 1997
   - fixed lots of stuff, mostly to do with mini window updates
   - rewrote the help file and added more context sensitive help
     to the Properties dialog
   - updated registration information
   - cell update properties were removed since they don't make any
     difference with the new version

Ver. 1.5h : April 8, 1997
   - fixed the problem of April 3rd that wasn't quite fixed
     (mini window updates on Vern are NOT instantaneous since
      it is possible for Vern to *miss* a destroy window message,
      if this happens the mini window will be destroyed at the
      next window paint or mouse over).
   - fixed the Z-Order problem

Ver. 1.5g : April 3, 1997
   - fixed problem with hidden windows showing up on Vern.

Ver. 1.5f : April 2, 1997
   - fixed a minimising problem under Windows NT (the windows
     would always return to the top cell but shifted over to
     the right)
   - fixed mouse capture problem -- when switching vern
     cells, the mouse could get captured and trapped
     under certain conditions
   - fixed a couple of potential crash problems
   - Added "Kill process!" option to the Priorities menu.
     This option replaces the 'Real Time' option (which was
     deemed too dangerous).  Note that the use of Kill may
     leave a program in a partially closed state (that is,
     DLL's of the process are not notified of its termination.
   - Added a Track Desktop Colours option.  This is similar to
     the Track Desktop Bitmaps option.  Open your display
     properties dialog and change the colour of your desktop.
     Repeat for each of your Vern cells.  When you're done (and
     you have the track Desktop Colours option toggled on)
     you should see a different coloured desktop for each
     vern cell.  Note that this option works better on WinNT
     boxes but is bearable under Win95 on a P5-100 or better.

Ver. 1.5e : April 1, 1997
   - fixed problem with mini windows being visible when
     Vern is autohiding.

Ver. 1.5d : March 28, 1997
   - Fixed a problem where Vern could spontaneously kill
     himself.  This didn't cause any real problems other
     than the fact that the program closed without warning.
     (Moral: Always be sure to initialise your variables!)
   - Added 'Hide off screen' option which hides windows that
     are not on the current Vern screen.  This also removes
     the buttons from the task bar and the icons from the
     Alt-Tab Task menu

Ver. 1.5c : March 24, 1997
   - Vern could be started more than once.  If this happen,
     especially under Win95, the results are certainly
     catastrophic.  Exporer crashes and the system freezes.
     Vern now prevents multiple instances.
   - Auto Activate was broken since 1.5 was released.  This
     has been fixed.

Ver. 1.5b : March 23, 1997
   - a few more bug fixes connected with the major changes at
     1.5, like stacking of mini windows, activation of
     mini windows, movement of mini windows, etc etc.
   - fixed problem with dragging vern mini windows on the
     mini window borders.

Ver. 1.5  : March 20, 1997
   - many many changes to numerous to really go into
   - the main changes involve the internal method for dealing
      with the mini windows
   - with the track bitmap option (in the options menu) turned
     on you can specify a different bitmap for some of all vern
     cells.  Open the Display Properties dialog (right click on
     the desktop) and change the background bitmap.  Then move
     to a new vern cell and try another.

Ver. 1.4e : March 14, 1997
   - nasty bug fix for System Crash in Win95 when using Alt-Tab to
     switch tasks <ugh>
   - repaints are faster
   - system colours are now used for flyouts
   - icons look much nicer on vern now

Ver. 1.4d : March 12, 1997
   - fixed mouse switch (broken at 1.4)
   - updated Glue dialog Tab.  One can now glue either window
     classes, or window titles (or fragments of titles) -- previously
     glued windows will have to be reglued (sorry)
   - added 'Lock cells' options menu item.  This prevents the
     vern window from being resized or moved.
   - brand new method for window movement (VB 4.0 now handled about
     as well as one could expect)
   - when autohiding, vern now covers only the edge of the screen
     along its own dimension.
   - many other little internal changes

Ver. 1.4  : February 28, 1997
   - this version includes a rewrite of large parts of the hook
     functions in Vernhook.dll.  You must replace any old version
     of this file with the new version.  The old hooks caused the
     system to become unstable if a program crashed.  The new
     hooks are much more stable and have eliminated these problems.

Ver. 1.3f : February 6, 1997
   - removed Nag screen
   - made another tweak to the continuing VB saga
      - VB forms are displayed on Vern
      - if no form is visible VB is not seen on Vern
      - VB will return to the vern cell in which it was opened
        if a form is closed and vern cells change

Ver. 1.3e : January 29, 1997
   - refined the Visual Basic 4.0 fix
   - fixed problem with a certain class of window that wasn't
     being moved or displayed in vern (this was related to the
     VB4 fix of Jan 28

Ver. 1.3d : January 28, 1997
   - fix for Visual Basic 4.0 (still not perfect but better)
   - fixed up the code responsible for window placement in
     vernspace

Ver. 1.3b : January 10, 1997
   - changing the cell width/height in the properties dialog cell
     tab now respects the Proportional resize option
   - cell labels are shown in the caption bar (if the caption is
     being displayed) for the current cell under which the mouse
     is pointing
   - changed systray Label from Vern95 to Vern 32
   - fixed startup problem

Ver. 1.3 : January 8, 1997
   - added caption with labels for each vern cell
   - hit Ctrl-L on specific cell to set label
   - modified auto-hiding to take up entire edge when hidden
   - fixed some re-painting problems related to Win NT 4.0
   - Vern responds now to screen resolution changes by rescaling to
     the new screen resolution

Ver. 1.2a  : November 22, 1996
   - renamed program from vern95.exe to vern.exe to remove Win95 bias
   - updated help file and renamed it vern.hlp
   - added auto hide option to allow/disallow auto hiding
   - if vern is auto hiding and you are moving icons around on vern
     vern will not lose focus when you drop the mini icon
   - icons painting has been refined
   - text is now displayed if icons are not being shown
   - fixed maximised window bug.  On certain systems vern was having
     trouble moving maximised windows.  This was mostly due to the
     fact that a maximised window is now less than the screen height
     (if the Task bar is displayed on the top or bottom.)  Well, actually
     it was a mistake on my part, I admit it.
   - regrouped options on option menu and properties dialog option tab

Ver. 1.105 : November 11, 1996
   - some windows with a dialog border were behaving strangely, this
     had to do with some code I'd written to speed up window moves.
     This has been fixed.

Ver. 1.104 : November 8, 1996
   - Properties dialog options where not being set properly
   - 1.103 Properties dialog caused crashes on some systems (fixed I think)
   - Vern jumped around in NT 4.0 and mini windows didn't drag properly
     due to an integer conversion error, fixed

Ver. 1.103 : November 7, 1996
   - hold Ctrl to reverse freeze option while resizing
   - hold Ctrl before displaying priorities to set priorities for
     non-movable windows (systray, invisible, zero area, etc)
   - redesigned properties dialog box
   - added 100ms delay to autohide (doesn't jump out so easily)
   - fixed glue bug
   - can now force delete of glued items by selecting the class
     in the dialog box and hitting the delete Key

Ver. 1.101 : October 24, 1996
   - added options to the Cells Tab of the properties dialog box to
     control how vern is repainted
   - added register.exe program to distribution.  Use this program to pay
     for Vern with a Credit Card

Ver. 1.100 : October 18, 1996
   - vern can now be made to hide on an edge.  If you have a horizontal
     vern with 10 cells and your Task bar is at the bottom of the screen
     slide vern up to the top of the screen and let go.  Selecting another
     program hides vern.  Move your cursor over the area where vern is
     hiding to restore Vern.
   - made vern aware of blanch
   - can add a startup folder icon from the main context menu
   - the Nag screen now times out after 8secs.

Ver. 1.026 : October 15, 1996
   - added show Systray toggle to add/remove vern icon from sys tray
   - added show 3D toggle to display mini windows either flat or 3d
   - added show icon toggle for mini windows

Ver. 1.025 : October 8, 1996
   - prevent screen switches when screen saver is active
   - added flyout font select button to Options tab of properties
     dialog

Ver. 1.023 : September 25, 1996
   - added help files and cheque/money order registration information

Ver. 1.022 : September 23, 1996
   - fixed lost vern problem.  Vern could be moved off screen which made
     it difficult to negotiate vernspace.  This only happened when moving
     vern and releasing the mouse button off screen (something which I
     had been unable to do but which was pointed out my an alert user).
   - changed hotkey from Alt-Cursor (used by some programs) to Ctrl-Alt-Cursor
     (which seems to be rare).
   - fixed problem where a window would not be raised to the foreground if
     it were selected in Vern while in the current vern screen.

Ver. 1.019 Final Beta V : Later on June 4, 1996
   - Fixed the xmouse problem (finally)

Ver. 1.018 Final Beta IV : June 4, 1996
   - Fixed Visual Basic Problem.  The main Visual Basic window (parent)
     is given coords of (0,0)-(0,0) so it was not being moved.  I've
     added a hack to move this window around properly (as much as I've
     tested without my own copy of VB) throughout vern space.
   - If the 'Freeze Cells' option was selected it was possible to make
     vern so small that it was impossible to make it bigger again.  This
     has been fixed by ensuring that the width and/or height of an
     individual vern cell is at least 8 pixels.

Ver. 1.017 Final Beta III : May 15, 1996
   - Can Move Vern Without holding the Ctrl key down
   - If vern was laid out horizontally and mouse switching was selected
     then scrolling could lead to unwanted mouse switches.  This has been
     eliminated by ignorning mouse switches when the Left Mouse button
     is down.
   - Fixed double click option which somehow got broken while featurising
   - Moved the priorities menu from the options menu to the main menu.
     Someone pointed out that when using Mathematica (or one of the math
     packages, I'm going from memory) it ran 3 times faster when set with
     a *high* priority!  This is much more convenient.

Ver. 1.016 Final Beta II : May 9, 1996
   - Fixed a painting problem (mostly cosmetic)
   - Fixed a problem with toolbar type programs (like the
     MS Office Toolbar, Appbar, ...)  These programs are no longer,
     and should never have been, movable.
   - Still haven't been able to find a fix for Xmouse other than
     making sure that Xmouse is loaded AFTER vern.
   - Still don't know why Eudora Pro doesn't work.  In the interrum
     I suggest 'Gluing' Eudora to the Vern desktop so that it is
     not Movable.

Ver. 1.015 Final Beta : May 3, 1996
   - Fixed a weird problem which was introduced in ver 1.014.  If
     one were to switch back and forth between two windows really
     quickly the program would continue switching between the
     windows ad nauseum.  Nausiating, yes.
   - The icons are now BIGGER and easier to identify.
   - dragging the little windows works better
   - Changed home site to http://www.cam.org/~oneguy
   - there a still a couple problems with repaints but other than
     that this is almost certainly the final beta before the official
     release

Ver. 1.014 beta : April 20, 1996
   - Fixed (I hope) a problem where a window would be flagged being
     restored (ie., not iconic) and yet still have the coordinates
     of a minimised window.  I'll have to check the fix for various
     resolutions (it works at 1024x768)
   - removed the windows check timeout from the cells tab of properties
   - replaced with hooks for activation, creation, destruction as
     well as min/max and move/size.  Much cleaner.
Ver. 1.013 beta : April 18, 1996
   - Fixed (again, argh) the owned popups problem.  The popups would
     appear properly only if the window was *NOT* maximised (since
     I rarely work with maximised windows this one slipped by me)
     I pray to the good laird above that this has finally fixed
     the bloody problem.
   - Occasionally, if Auto Activate and Mouse Switching were both
     activated, a program window would be positioned at apparently random
     locations when *restoring* (that is, un-minimising) the app.  I've
     taken steps to prevent this (I believe it occurs when a mouse
     switch event occurs while a window is being restored, I'm not
     sure if this is licked but with this version I've minimised and
     restored several applications many times and it hasn't happened
     to me yet.  Keeping my fingers crossed.
   - The first item on the Switch To menu was not responding.  This is
     definitely fixed!

Ver. 1.012 beta : April 16, 1996
   - Fixed problem where windows would occasionally jump around
     and the active vern cell would spontaneously change
   - Removed 'vernhook.dll not found' message (you can use vern without
     vernhook.dll but will loose the ability to do screen switching with
     the mouse)
   - Added sensitivity menu for mouse switching

Ver. 1.011 beta : April 13, 1996
   - fixed the owned popups problem *again* (silly me)

Ver. 1.010 beta : April 13, 1996
   - this is the last beta release, I'll be releasing the help
     files with the next version.  I'm still looking for a way
     to accept payment and a new service provider.
   - more changes to the Properties dialog
   - added code for registering software
   - fixed some annoying bugs
   - changed the registry entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER to 'Software\One Guy Coding\'

Ver. 1.009 beta : April 10, 1996
   - fixed problem with Microsoft Office Toolbar
   - rearranged menus
   - Added a single properties dialog with Tab controls
   - added a proportional resize option for the 'freeze cells' option
   - added a 'none' button for the hotkeys tab in the properties dialog
   - fixed a bunch of other niggling little bugs here and there

Ver. 1.008 beta : April 8, 1996
   - mouse switching now works on task bar and window borders etc
   - fixed 'lost captures' while dragging
   - added mouse switch toggle in Options menu and properties dialog
   - added wrap toggle in Options menu and properties dialog
   - added hidden toggle in Options menu and properties dialog
   - window is properly activated if clicked on in vern cell
   - raise vern by right clicking on minimise, restore buttons
     or child window caption bars

Ver. 1.007 beta : April 6, 1996
   - Changed 'Ctrl-Cursor' hotkeys to 'Alt-Cursor' hotkeys.  Somehow
     I'd forgotten that I use 'Ctrl-right', etc about 4000 times per
     day while editing text!  Still configurable in the Hotkey dialog.

Ver. 1.007 beta : April 5, 1996
   - Added mouse based screen switching and vernhook.dll
      If the cursor is moved along one of the borders (unfortunately
      this does not work on the taskbar border) vern will automatically
      switch to the next cell.  Eventually this will be configurable.

   - Snazzed up the web page

Ver. 1.006 beta : April 5, 1996
   - Added 'Ctrl-Cursor Key' hotkeys (Ctrl-Up, Ctrl-Left, ...) to raise
     and navigate between vern cells (configurable in hotkey dialog)
   - cleaned up multiple repaints
   - active vern cell doesn't change now until the left mouse button
     is released

Ver. 1.005 beta : April 4, 1996
   - Added 'ignore Minimised' to not auto switch to minimised windows
   - Added 'snap to desktop' to snap windows onto screens when dragging
     them around in vern space
   - Fixed hotkey fiasco
   - Fixed vern lost when display resolution changed
   - Fixed problem where windows slightly off the top of vern space
     were jumping around in real space

Ver. 1.004 beta : April 3, 1996
   - Fixed ontop reset between sessions
   - Active vern cell is coloured 'darker'
   - Added 'Freeze cells' to the Options menu
       checked: cells are added when resizing
       uncheck: cells are resized without adding/deleting cells

Ver. 1.003 beta : April 3, 1996
   - moved Vern into the SysTray on the Task bar
   - changed the behavious of the flyout descriptions
   - fixed the raise vern hotkey
   - fixed xmouse behaviour problem

Ver. 1.002 beta : April 2, 1996
   - added ability to set all three hot keys in the hotkeys dialog.

Ver. 1.001 beta : April 2, 1996
   - fixed priorities menu
   - added auto activate for taskbar/tasklist selections
   - added window check timeout to properties dialog