*** VIEW Version 13.4 October 1997 *** Recent history VIEW Version 12.0 ================= Improved "quick mode" (set by /q command line switch) so that if it is set on and a file is to be converted or printed directly, without being displayed, only the first 22 lines are written. Added a new feature for visually-impaired users. See the separate documentation file visual.doc VIEW Version 12.0a ================== Fixed broken "Home" function in scroll mode. Minor improvement to algorithm to detect "unknown format" files. Added option to view Word 6/7 files called with /c or /C command line. VIEW Version 12.1 ================= Added new function - "print using file's form feeds" (shift-F9). With this you can control where page breaks occur when printing. Form feeds are equivalent to embedded bookmarks, so to force a page break in the printed document just press Ins while viewing a file to insert a bookmark. Pure text files that contain form feed codes will also print with page breaks intact as they are converted internally by VIEW to bookmarks. Changed the configuration file so that you can now set the left margin indentation for printed files. VIEW Version 12.1a ================== Improved error message handling when converting a file directly. VIEW Version 12.2 ================= Corrected error in displaying MS Publisher files, introduced inadvertently in version 12.0. (Sorry for any inconvenience!). Enabled direct conversion or printing of Word6/7 files. This means that all formats that VIEW can handle can now be converted directly. VIEW Version 12.2a ================== Minor change for compatibility with error message in BATCHCNV program. No functionality change. VIEW Version 12.3 ================= Added a new print function (Ctrl-F6) to allow file to be printed quickly without having to answer questions such as "include lie numbers?". The full functionality is still available through F6. Exchanged Shift-F6 and Shift-F9 functions to make all print functions related to F6. Moved the "w" function - re-read ASCII file - to "r", and added to "r" a re-read Word 6-7 function and re-read Wordperfect 5-7 function. Note that "r" is a toggle. Its effect will remain in effect for subsequent reads until it is pressed again. Thus, when a file has been read, pressing r will have the following effect: If the file is ASCII, it will be re-read with a different line wrap default. The two possibilities are use the file's line wrap and use VIEW's line wrap. If the file is Word 6 or 7 it will be re-read and decoded with an alternative algorithm. Use this if the initial read does not produce a display or if the file does not appear to have been decoded correctly. If the file is Wordperfect it will be re-read and text that has not been displayed because it has the "strikeout" has been applied will now be displayed. Alternatively, if the toggle is such that this text has been displayed, it will now be hidden. VIEW Version 12.3a ================== Added functionality to detect Wordperfect highlighted text and display it in UPPER CASE. (This was introduced in WP 7 for text saved in version 6 format). VIEW Version 12.4 ================= Added viewer for Wordperfect 7.0 files, which are in a new format. This is very complex, and some files may not decode correctly. Removed the function that calls hlp2doc to convert Windows 3.1 help files on the fly. Windows 95 files cannot be decoded with this utility. The hlp2doc program is still available in the freeware.zip file sent to those who register VIEW, and also at the web site (http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/~mdrury/shware.html). VIEW Version 12.5 ================== (Incorporating changes made to interim releases 12.4a and 12.4b) Improved viewer for Wordperfect 7.0 files. This is still an experimental viewer, and some files may not decode correctly. Improved decoding of Word 6/7 files. The /6 command line switch is no longer used. Added basic support for ClarisWorks text files. They may display some "garbage" but you will be able to read them. Improved display of HTML files. In particular, VIEW no longer tells you that it has detected HTML formatting errors if it sees a long string of text, such as JavaScript code, between the < and > tags. Corrected a problem with changing display from ASCII to ANSI/UNIX character set. Added the ability to convert the Mac character set to ASCII. Improved the functionality for saving files in ANSI or UNIX formats. See the documentation file under command line switches /a and /u. The /w switch has been removed as it is no longer needed. Rationalized the function keys for changing the display or the way files are decoded. All such functions are now built around the F10 key. - the r and h commands are no longer used but have been replaced with Ctrl-F10. - F10 converts the character set from ANSI/UNIX to ASCII - Shift-F10 converts the character set from ASCII to ANSI/UNIX - Alt-F10 converts the Mac character set to ASCII (replaces the m command) - Ctrl-F10 rereads the file being viewed using alternative defaults. The effect depends on the type of file being viewed: - Word 6/7 - the file is reread with a different decoding algorithm. Use if the display does not look right. - Wordperfect 5-7: the file is reread and text formatted as "strikeout" is displayed. - HTML or XYWRITE: the formatting tags are toggled on/off. Added an F11 function. If you press F11 while viewing a file the program ends and sets errorlevel to 2. You can use this feature in a batch file for optionally passing control to another function. VIEW now resets toggles such as "view Wordperfect strikeout text" to their default values when exiting a file. Rationalized the /a and /u command line switches, and added /d. From the command line, using /a forces the use of the ANSI/UNIX character set, and /u forces the output of files converted directly to use the UNIX line feed convention. The /d switch forces the use of the DOS character set (code page 437 or 850). These switches provide a powerful way to convert among DOS, Windows and UNIX files. Note: build 2 of VIEW 12.5 corrects a problem with displaying HTML files that contain comments. VIEW Version 13.0 ================= Added support for Rich Text Format (RTF) files. Please see also trouble.doc for a note on these. Also in this version I have added a "save configuration" function to the configuration program, viewcfg. This will allow you to configure future versions of VIEW without having to re-enter the configuration parameters. VIEW Version 13.1 ================= Added a function to display a user-prepared file VIEWHELP.CST. You can edit this file in your preferred language to display an alternative help file. It is called from VIEW (while viewing a file in non-scrolling mode) by pressing Shift-F1. There are four rules for the format of the file. 1. Lines must be less than 80 characters long. 2. Lines must end in a hard return. 3. There must be no more than 22 lines. 4. The file viewhelp.cst must be in the root directory of your C drive. Tidied up the function key arrangement in the file selection help menu. Moved the grey + and - key functions, in order to accommodate visually-impaired users whose speech synthesis software needs these keys. To move to the next bookmark (if any) press 'd" (for down); to move to the previous one, press "u". Note: version 13.1a has a minor change in the way Wordperfect 5.0-5.2 files with right-aligned text are displayed. There are no other changes. Note: version 13.1b has an improved algorithm for detecting Microsoft Publisher files. There are no other changes. VIEW Version 13.2 ================= Added a command line switch /w to allow you to override the line wrap used as a default by VIEW when viewing ASCII or ANSI files (which contain hard return codes at the end of each line). The default can be set using] VIEWCFG.COM. There are two possibilities: use the file's line wrap, or use VIEW's line wrap. Normally you would use the file's hard returns, but if the file contains lines longer than 80 characters you might wish to use VIEW's setting. Note that you can switch between the two while viewing a file by pressing Ctrl-F10. /w can be used in conjunction with /lnnn to control the appearance of files that you convert or print directly. VIEW Version 13.3 ================= Improved viewing of customised help file VIEWHELP.CST, which must be in the root directory of your C drive. There are no longer restrictions on the file size or type - you can edit it and save in any format that VIEW supports. ASCII is recommended, as these files are much smaller than those in native word processor formats. All the normal functions of VIEW are now available when you view this file. Enabled VIEW to incorporate bookmarks you have added as form feeds in saved files. When you read such files, the embedded form feeds are interpreted as bookmarks. This gives you a way to save bookmarks. Added a "quick save" function - Alt-F6 - to allow you to save a file in the same format as the on-screen display. There are no options to save as DOS or UNIX, include line numbers etc. with this function. You are asked to provide a file name; if you just press enter a default name of myfile.sav is used. The saved file is in your c drive root directory. VIEW Version 13.3a ================== Restored F11 (exit with error level 2) function, which somehow got lost along the way. VIEW Version 13.4 ================= Added decode routine for Word97 files. Note that this may not work for all such files because of their complexity. Minor improvement to Wordperfect 7/8 files. Note that thse may also not dispaly correctly because of their complexity. (END OF DOCUMENT)