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Text File | 1993-02-05 | 19.1 KB | 323 lines

Here's an overview of changes made to the DOCMAKER and/or DOC interpreter from day one. Nobody's perfect and it's a big and complex project to tackle on your own. Version 1.0 : -The DOCMAKER and DOC interpreter saw the very first light of day. Version 1.1 : -When printing text, the text 'Printing' is now displayed on screen. -When printing multi-page texts, an out of paper error is no longer considered a fatal printer error. The DOC interpreter displays a message that the printer is out of paper and asks the user to retry or abort printing. -Had to change the heap compression routine to work with Turbo Pascal 6.0 (V1.0 was compiled with TP 5.5) -Fixed Epson FX80/IBM Graphics printer driver for graphics printing. Some printers left wide lines of white between each pass of the printer head. I used the normal linefeed (0Ah) to command the printer to do a linefeed. At the beginning I set the Linefeed step size obviously some epson/IBM compatible printers didn't allow this in graphics mode and skipped too much. The new routine uses (Esc 'J' [017h]) to make a linefeed. On some printers it still leaves a VERY narrow line, but it is much better now. -Fixed bug in the text file processing procedure. In Version 1.0, when an empty line followed a line containing a command, the DOCMAKER would return a 'Unknown Command in line xxx' error. -Fixed bug in Batch processing which put menu text in uppercase. -Small bug fixed in Batch processing which shortened the name of the menu name for pictures. -In version 1.0, some of the printer drivers got mixed up, in the BETA release, the order was different, when I released Version 1.0, I sorted the names in the menu but forgot to change the driver order, that's why the Epson FX 80 worked and the IBM Graphics didn't although it was THE SAME driver (but a different order). -Fixed bug in Printer driver for HP LaserJet and HP Deskjet. Low resolution pictures didn't print properly. Version 1.2 : -FormFeed is generated after printing. (texts and pictures) -It is now displayed on screen whether there is a next or a previous page in texts. -Fixed a bug in the Epson FX80/IBM Graphics and Epson LQ24/NEC P2200 drivers, which caused a very peculiar bug on some pictures. -Changed Epson FX80/IBM Graphics printer driver again. On some printers V1.1 still left blank lines. V1.1 worked fine on the Epson FX/IBM Graphics, but some "compatible" printers obviously aren't that compatible. -Changed routine to switch Hercules in graphics mode, It's now smaller, faster and hopefully better. Version 1.3 : -Fixed bug in routine to switch Hercules to Graphics mode. Version 2.0 : -Second public release. -Added a file selection menu. -Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del now correctly reboots the computer, this was not implemented in previous versions. Version 2.1 : -Pressing the Escape key will return you to the menu in most cases. -Now the DOCMAKER accepts PCX pictures as input for graphics files. -Corrected an intra-module error which was no problem in previous versions, but did give me quite a bit of problems when adding the new PCX module. -Some routines rewritten or simplified. -DOC interpreter now has video detect logic. -Added built-in virus checking. -Fixed bug in DOC interpreter. Previous version locked up if no printer was connected to the chosen printer port. Version 2.1 lets you choose valid printer ports only, If no printer port is valid, a message is displayed. -Fixed a bug in the text manipulation routine, in previous versions, starting a screen page with an empty line did not give the correct result. Version 2.11: -Fixed bug in PCX converter, previous version had problems with some very large PCX files. It seems that the PCX converter still has problems with some files, I've been going over and over the code because one PCX file kept reporting errors, but I couldn't find an error. Perhaps my documentation of the PCX format is faulty or incomplete. Still working on that one. Version 2.20: -Fixed bug in video detect routine which did not correctly identify the VGA with monochrome monitor when in MONO mode. -Added support for specifications of DOCMAKER & DOC Interpreter 3.0. This will probably be the last release before a major rewrite. Version 3.0α: -First test release. -MANY changes to both DOCMAKER and DOC Interpreter. I even considered calling it DOCMAKER PRO (PLUS, Deluxe...), but decided not to. This version of the DOCMAKER and DOC Interpreter is actually what Version 1.0 should have been, but wasn't. The DOCMAKER proves to be a major success seen the number of registered users. . -Formatted texts of previous versions can no longer be used with the new DOCMAKER because of the new formatting. New formatting allows for variable page size. -Due to Space Squashing (SS+) texts can now be larger and sometimes compress even better than PKZIP, LHA or ARJ. -New graphics routines are now even smaller and faster. This is mainly an effect of the new method for storing texts. -The DOC Interpreter no longer has the ability to disable disk writes. This lead to problems when running under multitaskers and/or taskswappers. And got me a lot of bug reports because of disk-cache problems. -Batch mode now *creates* a DOCs file, not just adds to one. -The menu in the DOC Interpreter has been changed. No longer are 'Next menu', 'Previous Menu' and 'Quit to DOS' required as menu items. Quit now is hard coded by pressing the Escape key. Switching to the other menu is done by pressing the F1 key. -Fixed bug in PCX processing which generated an 'out of data' or 'Line overflow' error on some correct pictures. Version 3.0ß :-Second Test release. -Fixed bug in configuration select. -Title models no longer supported, any title may be chosen. Version 3.0ß2:-Fixed bug in menu routine of DOC interpreter. -Changed 'Batch' mode to 'Script' mode. The 'Batch' term comes from the old mainframes where there are two kinds of programs, interactive programs (requiering user interaction) and batch programs (running completely without user interaction). It seems the term confused some of the PC users. -Fixed some of the timings, they were way to fast on very fast computers. -Some of the testers asked to have the remarks in the texts back. -Added the ability to have small pictures within the texts. Version 3.0ß3:-Screen capture utilities have been replaced with SavePCX, a very small (only 3Kb resident) screen capture utility which saves PCX files, all common video modes are supported. -Added Remote Registering. You no longer have to order a registered copy, you can register your own copy by paying for a key which enables all functions in the program. This allows for easier updates, just download a newer version and use the same key to register a new version. -Improved the Epson LQ24/Nec P2200 printer driver. Version 3.0ß4:-Fixed small bug in text display routine. -Added Formatting characters on command lines. Especially for the pictures this is important. -Fixed bug in menu. Version 3.0 : -Third public release. Version 3.01: -3.0 locked up if a program revectored the printer interrupt. Now displays an errormessage. Version 3.1 : -Added the ability to save texts to disk. -Improved the file picker. -Publicly released. Version 3.2 : -Changed the DOC Interpreter, to work under networking environments. Version 3.3 : -Fixed bug which would incorrectly process SAVETEXT entries in the script files. -Improved filepicker (New one comming up in 4.0) On the Queue. ------------- Here's an overview of features which could be added in the DOCMAKER and/or DOC interpreter. - Crunching : Although the crunching method used now is fairly good (a ratio of about 30%), I'm trying to find better algorithms. Main restrictions here are memory use (Maximum 44 Kb for local data for crunching as well as for decrunching) and speed (a 60 Kb text (de)crunched in less than 15 Sec. on an 4,77Mhz XT) -I'm experimenting with Huffman encoding, LZSS, and arithmetic crunching methods. The Huffman does not seem to be a viable contender due to low crunching ratio's and it's a lot slower than the current crunching method. The arithmetic crunching still needs to much memory. The LZSS does use less memory, but the gains are minimal, and it's also a lot slower. Maybe in the next version ? - More printers : I'm looking to support more printers. If there are printers that don't support an emulation mode for any of the printers currently used, let me know, I'll do my best to support those printers too. - VGA Docmaker : Because of the large amount of questions to have colour I'm planning on releasing a VGA DOCMAKER, running on VGA only with full 256 colour support. It'll have nice features like scrolls, user defined menu's, mouse support (?). Due to the complexity of the system, only script mode will be supported, most probably an interactive mode will not be supported. I'm still troubled by the fact that in 320*200*256 you can only manage 40 columns of text. So perhaps switching to VGA 640*480*16 might help ? The VGA DOCs will be released as a separate product, but registered users of the DOCMAKER will get a special price. Rejected Ideas. --------------- Here's an overview of features people have asked to incorporate in the new versions, for one or more reasons I have rejected these ideas. - Music : Although I originally intended to have music, I decided not to incorporate it. - AdLib music : When I bought my AdLib card, the sound was fantastic (compared to the standard PC's beep-beep). Now I have a SoundBlaster Pro card. Needless to say, the possibilities with that card are truly remarkable. It's even possible to play Amiga soundmodules. Because I've heard that kind of music now, the AdLib sound isn't that apealing anymore. Using SoundBlaster samples isn't possible, because a sampled piece of music easily needs over a Megabyte of storage. But... there may be hope, I'm working on a soundroutine to play MOD (NST) files. !! If enough registered users ask me to work on this feature, It'll be in as soon as possible. - Scrolltext : Some people asked for a way to have a scrolltext while in the menu. Two reasons why I'm not going to support this : - Smooth scrolling requires to wait for Vertical synchronization. You can't wait for VSYNC and accept keyboard input and act on it in a way that doesn't conflict from time to time. - The CGA has a much smaller character matrix (8*8) than the EGA or Hercules (8*14). - Color Pics : Sure, color pictures are nice but they take up considerably more memory to store. And incidently, how do you expect to show color on the Hercules. Or even how to print it on a non-color printer. The basic concept behind the DOCMAKER and DOC Interpreter is that it works for all adapters without many restrictions. If it works for the EGA, it must also work for the CGA and vice versa. Using a Dithering (color to grey-scale) method isn't easy too. It would take up too much memory and take too long to show. - VGA : Using the 320*200 256 color doesn't work, because with the standard 8*8 bit font, only 40 characters can fit on one line, The DOC Interpreter needs 80. Using the 640*480 16 color mode doesn't make much of a difference compared to the EGA 640*350 mode. (I tried it). If I would support this mode too, the DOC interpreter would also become larger. Perhaps I will support this mode one day. The DOC Interpreter has got VGA in the menu, but it uses EGA resolution, but uses a few extra features of the VGA. - Ansi support : A few people have asked to support ANSI codes for text files. Again, how do you expect to show colors, the CGA and Hercules only have 2 colors, Black and White. - Decruncher : Some people asked for a DOCs file decruncher, so if they loose their source files they will still be able to regain their texts/pictures. Read the part 'Why use the DOCMAKER', you'll understand why. If you do loose the sources, send me a copy of the docs file and I will decrunch them for you. BUT, since each DOCs file also has the serial number I'll know if you are trying to steal texts from somebody else. - Source code : There was one person who asked if the source for the DOCMAKER and DOC Interpreter is available. Again NO, see previous part about decruncher. However, I do licence some parts of the source, like the graphics and printing routines, the exploding windows routines and a lot more. But the source of the DOCMAKER or DOC Interpreter not. - TSR Docs : It was mentioned to have a pop-up feature in the DOCs interpreter so you could watch DOCs while playing the game. Due to the memory requirements for the DOCs this proves impossible. I've done some experimenting with a memory swapper RAM<->XMS/EMS/DISK, but even the simplest swapper (RAM<->XMS) was over 20Kb in size, and a minimum of 1Mb of XMS was required. (about 300Kb to store the DOCMAKER and about 700Kb to store the program swapped from and the screen contents. The complete swapper (RAM<->XMS/EMS/DISK) needed over 40Kb of memory. considering the massive amount of memory most games need nowadays, this was clearly out of bounds. If you REALLY need the DOCs while playing, consider using OS/2, DesqView(/X), Windows to manage the task swapping.