ConEd Revisions 05/15/92 Version 2.8 release Switched compilers back to Microsoft. Seems to generate a smaller .exe file. This version is strictly a maintenance release. No new functionality, but some things have been cleaned up. Fixed the Scrolling window from showing garbarge (again). Fixed the 'FIND' and 'GOTO' functions. ConEd will now work correctly with Desqview Stealth, and other memory utilities of this type. 02/08/92 Version 2.7 release Bug fix - The delete routine was not stable in the previous release, this has been fixed. Occasionally, the configuration selections on screen would get trashed, this too has been fixed. ConEd now checks if a AUTOEXEC.XXX and/or CONFIG.XXX exists before trying to create them, this will prevent an overwrite of a configuration set with a duplicate name. Program does not allow for duplicate entries into the ConEd26.cfg file. Fixed 'insert' mode when editing configuration descriptions. This release was compiled with Borland C++ 3.0. I will be porting ConEd to an Object Oriented base. 11/06/91 Version 2.6 release Once again I have re-written the engine to ConEd. ConEd now dynamically allocates memory for configurations. What does this mean to you? Previously, ConEd allowed for upto 200 configurations. If you only had three configurations, ConEd would allocate memory for 200 configurations, not an efficient use of system resources. ConEd now only allocates memory for the amount of configurations you use. This means that if you only have 3 different configurations, ConEd will only allocate memory for those configurations. On the other hand, you can have as many configurations as memory will allow. During testing, I have had over 6000 configurations (yes, you read it correctly, six thousand!) loaded. Not that I expect anyone to have that many configurations, but ConEd will not limit you, nor will it waste memory on allocating for configurations you may not use. ConEd will operate in less than 200K of memory. When deleting a configuration, ConEd asks "Are you sure?". One more added security feature. Added the ability to Find a configuration by indicating the configuration extension you want to search for. Added the ability to Go to the current active configuration. Fixed a nasty bug that would lock up some XT class machines when ConEd was used. Screen changes 06/21/91 Version 2.5 release DOS 5.0 Compatible (it was before this release as well). Added the ability to start ConEd from any drive/directory provided that ConEd.exe is in your PATH. Added statement 'COMSPEC = ' to any AUTOEXECs created by ConEd. This will allow users who have thier command processor in a subdirectory, access to commands on boot. The ShareWare Library I use, TCXL, has been upgraded so ConEd has been upgraded to use this FANTASTIC C programmers library. Some machines were not able to issue the 'flush' command for use with a disk cache, this has been corrected. 12/19/90 Version 2.4 release Minor fix - ConEd did not allow certain ASCII characters to be entered into the 'flush' command box. While I was at it I, also increased the size of the array allowing for a path to be added to the flush command. With this fix, your cache program need not be in your path. Delay function was broke, now its working properly. 12/07/90 Version 2.3 release Changed the way ConEd handles the configurations. They no longer move to the top of the list every time you update the root directory. Instead, the highlighted cursor now appears on the current configuration when the program is started, and towards the bottom of the screen, in the center, the current configuration description is displayed. When you add a configuration, it no longer is added to the bottom of the bottom of the list, but to a position just below the highlighted configuration. With these two changes, you will now be able to keep your configuration list in the 'order' you desire, and not have the program arrange these configurations in a 'last used' order. I have added five more options to the setup menu. You can define if you use a caching program, and if so, what parameter(s) must be passed to 'flush' the cache buffers so that information is not lost during the reboot process. Some machines require a 'cold' reboot (a reboot where a memory check is performed) because of various reasons such as an old bios, or use of hardware that conflict with a software 'warm' reboot. You now have the ability to define if you want a warm or cold reboot in the setup menu. The fourth and fifth of these features allows you to add an alternate reboot command. This may be necessary if you have an add-in board that requires a specific machine instruction passed to it in order to reset itself and then reboot the pc. Or, this can be used if the internal ConEd reboot routine does not work properly with your machine, and you have an alternate reboot routine that does work. Added another feature to allow you to update the ConEd.xxx files with the root directory config files with the -U key combination. This will allow you to copy the current configuration in the root directory to the highlighted configuration in the ConEd directory. I have updated the windowing library I have been using CXL version 5.2 to TCXL version 5.5. This is another fine shareware product, and I highly recommend it to other 'C' programmers. 10/26/90 Version 2.21 release Fixed another reported bug, if you use an editor that adds a CONTROL-Z to the end of your file, the ConEd copy routine would not copy that character and, would always cause ConEd to notify you that the files do not match. I also added "Is this information correct" screens to two places, the Configuration Menu (F5), and The Edit Configuration option. After pressing the RETURN key in the last field of each of these forms, a window pops up and asks you if the information is correct. Simply press 'Y' if the information is correct, or N if it is not correct and re-edit those fields that require it. A very minor note, I changed my revision naming convention from NUMBER.NUMBER ALPHA to NUMBER.NUMBER NUMBER. Why? I think it looks better. 10/23/90 Version 2.2A release Had a problem with the -s option locking up some systems. My appologies. Fixed with no other 'bugs' reported. 10/21/90 Version 2.2 release MAJOR CHANGES - Most are behind the scenes programming changes, that provide me with a more flexible update path for future enhancements. Please, keep those letters coming. Over 80% of the enhancements to date are user requested. I rewrote the entire engine to the program. ConEd now allows for up to 200 configurations! The configuration file has changed format, therefore before running the new version of ConEd, please delete the old 'CONED.CFG' file. I realize this is an inconvenience, but at most, you will only have ten descriptions to type over. Because of the added configurations, I had to change the user interface. The user now has available Page UP, Page DOWN, UP Arrow, DOWN Arrow, HOME and END keys to maneuver thru all the selections available. F5, which used to be for Boot Drive identification, Editor selection, and configuration description input, is now used only for Boot Drive ID, Editor selection, and ConEd path information. A - Allows a user to ADD a configuration (up to 200 of them). C - Copy a configuration. This allows you to copy thehighlighted configuration to the boot drives root directory WITHOUT rebooting at this time. This allows you plan ahead for an upcoming system reboot. D - Deletes the highlighted configuration AND the associated AUTOEXEC.xxx and CONFIG.xxx files. E - Edit the highlighted configuration description. Registration Feature - There now exists the ability to input your name into the 'REGISTERED TO:' area on the main menu. Since there has been a VERY GOOD response to ConEd, I feel those users who have registered ConEd should have their own personalized copy. This feature is only available to users who recieve instructions after registration. Registration now includes phone support. All previously registered users will recieve information thru the mail. Delay Feature - Enhanced again to provide a window which displays the 'countdown' in seconds until the system starts. 09/15/90 Version 2.1a release I must appologize for such a quick release, but a bug was discovered, and I wanted this out as soon as possible. Bug Fix - fixed problem that would not allow for 10th configuration to be used. Memory Model - Enhanced code so that a smaller memory model could be used. 09/01/90 Version 2.1 release Compiler Change - I have upgraded to Microsoft C 6.0, and have recompiled and optimized the program, thereby reducing the size of the executable. Additionally, less memory is required to run ConEd. Source Code Revision - Optimized source code to perform loops more efficiently. Delay - modified the delay function to be completely user defined. The previous release had a mandatory 20 second delay when this function was invoked. Now, a user may select the amount of seconds to be delayed. 04/23/90 Version 2.0 release. Source Code Revision - Modified the source code to eliminate temporary files created by ConEd. Function Keys - Changed the function key assignment to reflect what many users suggested would be an easier, more 'universal' association. The 'F1' key is now the HELP key; 'F2' is Review DOS screen; 'F3' is edit AUTOEXEC.xxx; 'F4' is edit CONFIG.xxx; 'F5' is for the ConEd configuration menu; 'F6' is the ConEd information window; 'F7' reboots your computer; and, 'F8' will allow you to exit ConEd. Delay - added the '-d' option to the command line allowing for a twenty (20) second delay of invoking the current configuration. With this addition, a user can invoke ConEd in this manner: 'coned -d', this would start the current configuration 20 seconds after the program loads and allow for such things as a BBS, which may of had its power interrupted and then restored, to automatically restart the BBS without human intervention. File Creation - When in the configuration menu, and a user creates a new configuration, two files are created for ConEd. The first is "AUTOEXEC.xxx", and the second is "CONFIG.xxx", where xxx is the extension you assigned to a particular configuration description. The AUTOEXEC contains the following: echo off cd\coned coned cd\ prompt $p$g The CONFIG file contains: files = 20 buffers = 20 File Check - when selecting the current configuration, ConEd compares the file length of the current AUTOEXEC.BATand CONFIG.SYS files with the AUTOEXEC.xxx and CONFIG.xxx files to ensure they are the same file. If your AUTOEXEC or CONFIG files have been modified, ConEd will present a menu that will allow you to continue to exit, copy the AUTOEXEC.xxx and/or CONFIG.xxx file to the boot directory, or copy the boot directory AUTOEXEC.BAT and/or CONFIG.SYS to the ConEd directory with an extension that matches the current configurations extension. 04/12/90 Version 1.1 release. Review Screen - If you were using a Mono monitor, the Review Screen function F6 did not work properly. After exiting from the Configuration Menu F3, and a Review Screen was called, the screen which showed up was NOT the DOS screen, but the Configuraton Menu screen instead. ESC Key - Pressing the ESC key no longer allows a user to exit the program. To exit, a user must press either the return or enter key, selecting the highlighted configuration, or; by depressing F7 to exit ConEd. Mouse Support - Mouse support has been added for the convenience of those users who wish to use a mouse. Video Support - CGA, MONO, and BIOS video support are now included with the -c (CGA), -m (MONO), & -b (BIOS) parameters on the command line. 04/08/90 Initial release of CONfiguration EDitor Version 1.0