ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 …eeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)/ProfitPress-MegaCDROM2.B6I/WINDOWS/COMM/WQVT43.ZIP/RELNOTES.43X

Text File | 1990-07-02 | 17.9 KB | 410 lines

            Release Notes for WinQVT version 3.8x - 4.x



52. Support for user-selectable colors has been added. Colors may be
    selected either interactively, from the 'Setup' menu, or within
    a config file, using the 'forecolor' and 'backcolor' directives.
    Colors available are those shown in the 'Colors' dialog box.

53. Support for a 'maximized' window has been added. In this mode,
    WinQVT will provide a display window containing up to 48 lines,
    and up to 132 columns. Note that some host programs, such as
    GNU Emacs, will support windows of this size if the proper values
    are placed in your 'termcap' entry.

54. WinQVT now supports the IBM 'ANSI' escape sequences for on-the-fly
    color changes.  These sequences are frequently used by PC bulletin
    boards and other software that communicates remotely with IBM
    PC's.

55. With version 3.83, WinQVT uses an improved mapping of the four
    'PF' keys.  They are now mapped across the top of the numeric
    keypad (PF1=NumLock, PF2='/', PF3='*', PF4='-').

    This functionality is available only on machines which are
    equipped with the 101-key 'Enhanced' keyboard, and whose BIOSes
    are written to support this type of keyboard.  The KBTEST
    program will tell you whether or not your computer meets this
    requirement.

    If KBTEST indicates that your computer does NOT have the enhanced
    keyboard BIOS, then you must disable the PF key mapping by entering
    the statement 'keyboard=unenhanced' into your .VT files.  This will
    result in the four PF keys being mapped to keys <F1> through <F4>,
    as in previous versions of WinQVT.  Also, the 'Hold Screen' key is
    mapped to <ScrollLock> instead of <F1>.

    Even if KBTEST reports that you have an 'Enhanced' keyboard, if
    you experience problems with WinQVT's default mappings, you can
    use 'keyboard=unenhanced' to fall back to the 'safer', vanilla
    mappings.

56. If you are using a video card which provides 16 or more colors under
    Windows, WinQVT will use the intermediate shades in some situations
    to provide a more readable screen.

57. Some versions of Windows 2.1x have a faulty comm driver that misbehaves
    when asked to perform XON/XOFF flow control.  Version 3.83 of WinQVT
    remedies this by performing its own flow control.

58. The 'Hold Screen' functionality has been improved. Specifically,
    messages are not blocked while the screen display is frozen.

59. The 'Terminal Reset' function now resets the video attribute back
    to normal (no inverse, bold, or underline).

60. When a new config file is loaded (using the 'Open' menu item), if that
    config file contains a phone number, the 'Dial' dialog will be initiated
    immediately after the config file has been processed.

61. Support has been added for the ANSI character set. On some displays,
    especially EGA-type systems, the font used for this character set
    may be too wide to allow for 80 columns.

62. A bug has been fixed which caused Windows to 'hang' when exiting
    WinQVT from the 'maximized' window setting.

63. WinQVT now allows the user to 'program' the 12 top-row function keys,
    with the exception of F10, which is taken over by Windows as a menu
    activation key. A program string can be associated with a key by
    placing a statement of the form:

        Fn=<string>

    in the config file. In this statement, 'n' is the number of the key
    to be programmed, and '<string>' is the string which is to be trans-
    mitted when that key is pressed. The string may include control char-
    acters, notated in the form '^x', where 'x' is the ASCII character
    associated with the control character. In this notation, <Ctrl-C>
    would be rendered as '^C'.

    In the initial release, key program strings are limited to 20 characters.

64. WinQVT now allows the user to specify a default protocol on a per-host
    basis. This is done by filling in the 'Protocol' field on the 'Save As'
    dialog box. Valid entries are: 'Kermit', 'Xmodem', 'Ymodem', and
    'Zmodem'.

    The default protocol is activated by pressing <Ctrl-PageUp> for
    uploads, and <Ctrl-PageDown> for downloads.

65. If WinQVT is launched by double-clicking on a .VT filename, and that
    config file contains a phone number, the 'Dial' dialog will be
    initiated immediately following the completion of the configuration
    process.

66. The WinQVT script language now supports the following new functions:
    dialing and hanging up; transferring files with Kermit and XMODEM;
    keeping a log of an unattended session; minimizing the WinQVT window
    for the duration of the script; and shutting down WinQVT after the
    script is completed.

67. Support has been added for the Microcom 'reliable' result codes. If
    you have a Microcom-compatible modem, and extended result codes are
    enabled, WinQVT will report when a 'reliable' connection is made.

68. You may now choose whether the six dedicated 'editing' keys will be
    mapped physically to their DEC equivalents (the default), or to the
    closest reasonable IBM equivalent. With the IBM mapping, 'Home' maps
    to 'Find', and 'End' maps to 'Select'.

69. You may now place up to 10 phone numbers into a single config file.
    A number can be selected from this list using the new 'Number' option
    on the 'Modem' menu. If no number is selected, WinQVT will dial the
    first number on the list.

    In addition, you may now append a short description to a phone number.
    The description should be separated from the number by a colon; the
    number plus the description should not exceed 20 characters (this
    limit will be extended in a future release).

70. Support has been added for the Ymodem-G protocol.

71. An option has been added to all of the file transfer dialogs which
    allows you to specify that the modem connection is to be broken
    immediately after the file transfer is successfully completed. If
    the file transfer is not successful, the request to disconnect will
    be ignored.

72. When the 'Screen Image' menu option is selected, a filename will
    be generated automatically, based on the name of the current
    configuration.

73. A font is now available for the 'Super VGA' display, with a resolution
    of 800x600. This font is provided to registered users on request.

74. QVT's configuration process has been modified to take account of the
    distinction between 'global' and 'session' parameters. The difference
    between the two is that global parameters are set just once, at startup
    time, and remain constant throughout the runtime of the program. Session
    parameters, on the other hand, are those that may vary from host to
    host.

    The following items, therefore, have been taken aside and identified as
    global parameters:

        init            modem initialization string
        dialmethod      tone or pulse dialing
        dialprefix      non-Hayes dialing command
        dialsuffix      dialing command terminator
        hangup          hangup method: drop DTR or use commands
        keyboard        keyboard type: enhanced or unenhanced
        keypad          DEC or IBM key mapping for 'editing' keys

    These items are placed in a separate file - 'QVT.GLB' - which is
    processed at startup time only. The QVT.GLB file may be either in the
    current directory, or in the directory named by the VT_DIR environment
    variable.

    This change is backward compatible in the sense that the presence of
    these items in existing QVT config files is not harmful; the values
    contained in any such files will be ignored. Even so, we recommend
    that you remove these lines from your present set of .VT files.

    NOTE: the QVT.GLB file is NOT overwritten when you save a configuration!
    If you want to change a value in QVT.GLB, you must edit the file
    directly, using a text editor such as NOTEPAD.EXE.

75. A clock timer has been added to the file transfer dialog boxes.

76. The file transfer and 'Dialer' dialog boxes have been modified to
    allow for minimizing WinQVT AFTER the file transfer or dialing
    session has started. The 'Start' pushbutton will be relabeled as
    'Minimize', and clicking on it will minimize WinQVT.

77. A bug has been fixed which caused excessive delays when initiating
    a ZMODEM download.


Version 4.0x
------------

78. Support has been added for the CompuServe B-Plus protocol. In order
    to get proper results, you should change your CompuServe user profile
    so that it specifies 8 bits, no parity, NOT 7 bits, even parity.

79. A dialog box has been added to support the programmable function
    keys.  You can now define keyboard macros from within WinQVT, rather
    than having to directly edit your .VT files.

80. The 'default protocol' is now selected using radio buttons, rather
    than direct keyboard entry.

81. Xon/Xoff flow control performance has been improved.

82. As of version 4.0, many of the workarounds which relate to the bugs
    in some versions of the Windows/286 comm driver have been deleted.
    This means that WinQVT 4.0 WILL NOT WORK with the defective comm
    driver. A correctly functioning comm driver is included in the
    WinQVT package, for those who require it. Please read the document-
    ation which is included in the COMMDR.ZIP package for information on
    whether or not you need the new comm driver, and how to install it.

83. The file-transfer dialog boxes now use the visual device of a 'filling
    rectangle' to indicate the progress of the transfer, rather than simply
    a numeric display of the percent transferred.

84. The 'F12' key is now mapped by default to the 'Do' key.

85. In version 4.02, a bug is fixed that sometimes caused an aborted ZMODEM
    transfer to hang the system.

86. The modem initialization string may now be up to 63 characters long.
    Note that each 'encoded' control character counts as two against this
    limit.

87. Phone number strings may now be up to 30 characters long.

88. When the 'Log File' menu option is selected, a filename will be
    generated based on the root part of the current config file, with
    the extension 'Lnn', where 'nn' is a number between '00' and '99'.
    WinQVT will use the lowest available number each time.


Version 4.1x
------------

89. The method for selecting files to be uploaded has been improved. You
    now have the option to enter an arbitrary filespec - including wild-
    cards - rather than using the file selection dialog. This is efficient
    where you have only a single known file to upload, or perhaps a group
    of files all with the same extension.

    When any of the batch upload protocols is invoked (i.e., Kermit,
    Ymodem, or Zmodem), the main dialog box for the protocol will be
    displayed immediately. You can enter a filespec and begin the transfer
    directly, or click on the 'File' button to bring up the file selection
    dialog. If you choose to key in a filespec, we recommend that you
    enter the full pathname, including drive letter.

    Note that once you have used the file selection dialog to build a
    list of files, you are committed at that point; you cannot choose to
    enter an arbitrary filename instead. Similary, once you begin to
    type in a filename, the 'File' button will be disabled. In this
    case, however, you can re-enable the 'File' button by erasing the
    contents of the 'Filename' window.

90. WinQVT's 'Cut' and 'Paste' functionality has been improved. You may
    now use the mouse to select an arbitrary block of text from the
    screen to be copied to the Clipboard. The procedure is as follows:

    1. Position the mouse cursor to the first character in the block
       that you want to select;

    2. Press and hold the LEFT mouse button;

    3. DRAG the mouse cursor rightward and downward to select the
       entire block that you want to copy; the selected text will be
       highlighted. You cannot select text which is above the initial
       starting point, only text which is to the right and/or below
       the starting point.

    4. When the desired text is selected, RELEASE the mouse button.

    5. If you want to copy the selected text to the Clipboard, you
       should now either invoke the 'Copy' menu item, or simply
       click the RIGHT mouse button.

       If you want to 'de-select' the selected text WITHOUT copying
       it to the Clipboard, click the LEFT mouse button.

    To transmit the current contents of the Clipboard to the host, use
    the 'Paste' menu option, or click the RIGHT mouse button. Note
    that the 'Paste' menu option is disabled if the Clipboard is
    empty.

91. WinQVT now waits longer after transmitting the modem initialization
    string before dialing, in order to accommodate certain modems which
    require a considerable period of time to process long initialization
    strings.

92. A bug has been fixed in the handling of Kermit uploads by the
    script processor.

93. Support for the DEC 'display controls' mode has been added.

94. The 'Dial' dialog box now displays, and allows changes to, the
    'timeout' parameter (i.e., the number of seconds that the dialer
    will wait for a connection before giving up). As a dial attempt
    is progressing, the number of seconds remaining will be contin-
    uously updated.

95. WinQVT now will abort file transfers gracefully if the phone
    connection is broken during the transfer.

96. A new dialog box has been added for entering and updating phone
    numbers. Up to 10 phone numbers may be placed into a single config
    file using the new dialog.

97. The PC 'F10' key now equates to the DEC 'F10' key (as it should).
    The 'F11' key on the PC Enhanced Keyboard is now mapped to the
    DEC 'Help' key; 'F12' remains mapped to the 'Do' key.

98. A bug has been fixed in the processing of escape sequences while
    in printer-controller mode. Specifically, escape sequences are
    NOT processed; they are passed directly to the printer.

99. A bug has been fixed which caused problems when a partially occluded
    WinQVT window is scrolled.

100. Support has been added for the DEC 'print-formfeed' and 'print-extent'
     modes.

101. The 'if_noerr_goto' statement has been added to the script language.

102. 132-column mode is now supported when in 'Small Window' mode.

103. Kermit 'aborts' have been cleaned up.

104. A bug has been fixed which caused WinQVT to 'freeze' following
     completion of an XMODEM download.

105. WinQVT now supports the 'blink' video attribute (when the DEC
     character set is selected).

106. A bug has been fixed which caused files created by XMODEM or YMODEM
     downloads to have the 'read-only' attribute.

107. WinQVT will now restore the 'underline' attribute when repainting
     the screen (e.g., after a restore from the minimized state).


Version 4.2x
------------

108. WinQVT's behavior when printing transparently to a locally-attached
     printer has been improved substantially.

109. The 'autobaud=' config directive has been added to specify whether
     or not WinQVT should adjust its baud rate to the connect rate
     reported by the modem. The default value is 'on'; 'autobaud=off'
     is specifically intended for use with modems which maintain a
     constant speed at the serial port regardless of the transmission
     speed of the phone connection.

110. WinQVT now supports Kermit 'attribute' packets. This means that you
     don't have to select a transfer mode when downloading files with
     Kermit. You still must do so for uploads, however.

111. The 'boldcolor=' config directive has been added to allow you to
     select a color to use for displaying bold text which is distinct
     from the regular text color. Available selections are the usual
     eight IBM PC colors.

112. WinQVT will now allow the use of a standard COM3 port where
     present and supported by DOS.

113. A bug has been fixed which occasionally caused double-wide characters
     to be displayed at inappropriate times.

114. The backward-scroll capability has been repaired.

115. WinQVT will now support up to 60 text lines in a maximized window.
     The previous limit was 48.

116. The efficiency of file uploads has been improved somewhat.

117. A bug has been fixed which caused the wrong font to be selected
     when performing small-window -> large-window transitions while in
     132-column mode.


Version 4.3x
------------

118. WinQVT 4.30 has been converted to work under Windows 3.0. It will
     NOT WORK under Windows 2.x!

119. Transparent printing performance has been improved.

120. A bug has been fixed in the 'restore cursor' function which sometimes
     caused a DEC font to be enabled even thought the ANSI or IBM char-
     acter set was selected.

121. The 'printerport=' config directive has been added. Valid entries
     are 'LPTn' or 'COMn', where 'n' is the number of a parallel or
     serial port to which a printer is attached.

     WinQVT printing does not go through the Windows 'Print Manager',
     so you will not be able to print through WinQVT if there is a
     print job already running.

122. The DEC 'Enter' key (numeric keypad) is now mapped to the <Enter>
     key on the keypad of the IBM Enhanced keyboard. The keypad '-' is
     now mapped to the keypad <Plus>, and keypad ',' is now mapped to
     <Ctrl-Plus>. See the READ.ME file for a complete key map.

123. WinQVT is now a medium-model application. As a result, it is now
     possible to load more than one instance of WinQVT.

124. The 'Transfer' menu is now a hierarchical menu. You first select
     "Upload" or "Download", then the transfer protocol. Note that
     there are two entries for the Kermit protocol; one for regular
     downloads, and one for server downloads.

6/30/90