POPNOTE Copyright by G.Mike Raymond K5HUM 2008 Latest "Build and Bug fix" Log update SPECIAL NOTICES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It is highly recommended that you keep up with and read the "POPNOTE FAQ" available under PopNote's Help menu. In addition, some Browsers may be caching and displaying older copies of this document. To insure you are receiving the most current document from your Browser, do a force page update (typically done by holding the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking the Browser reload button). Would you like to join my Beta group? Send me a PopNote asking for the download link to the latest Beta and help me test new features before the Beta goes public. VERSION HISTORY 08/15/08 PopNote 3.1 New Feature Release (3.1 is in Beta and set for release in mid August) Anyone interested may Beta test this build before it goes public. You can download the current Beta at: http://arc.tzo.com/pn31b8.zip Remember, although every effort is made to ensure Beta builds are bug free there is no guarantee. When no bugs are reported after several weeks in beta, release candidate 3.1 will go public. See more details contained in the README_NOW.TXT within the Beta zip file. Build 3.1 incorporates split screen technology to allow the user to change the ratio of heights between the text dialog and send windows. Thus the user can set their personal preference in window sizes by dragging (up or down) the splitter bar separating the top dialog and bottom send windows. Note: at present any changes to the position of the Splitbar is not saved, so the splitbar will return to its static position when you rerun PopNote. The Splitbar was a frequently requested feature that I was finally able to find time to code. Reworked all code involving creation and updating of PopNoteD2.CFG (the program configuration file); so, if its ever missing, PopNote will "properly" rebuild a new one. NOTE: It is suggested that you overwrite the PopNoteD2.cfg file when "upgrading" using PopNotes distribution or "install" utility (PN_INSTALL.EXE). New installations are not affected. Otherwise, it is recommended you delete the "PopNoteD2.cfg" file before doing an online upgrade or a manual upgrade. PopNote 3.1 will recreate a new PopNoteD2.CFG file when its run again. You will have to re-enter your name/ID and any previous toggle preferences. Added Ctrl+Enter as an equivalent to Ctrl+S to assist touch typist on Laptops for ease of Sending. Removed the [-] or minimize symbol on the top right corner of the main form. Now the [X] Closes or minimizes the Window. To Exit or kill the program its still Ctrl+K or Main/Exit menu. Build 3.1 now creates a new configuration file titled PopNoteD3.CFG (the D3 denoting the change to build 3.1) There are numerous minor bug fixes, changes to start up message, minor cosmetic changes, as well as code re- writes to improve GUI start up display time and improve overall flow efficiency. In addition, to allow more time to read the start up messages, the time delay for the GUI to clear and auto minimize has been increased from 10 to 15 seconds. 06/06/08 PopNote 2.4.4 A maintenance and minor feature release. Moved the generation of an incoming popnote Status message (formerly in the receive loop) to the outgoing echo sub routine. This diagnostic change was to confirm PopNote is in fact sending out the echos. Also changed the status dialog from "Sender is XYZ at IP" to "Echo sent to XYZ at IP". Changed Ctrl-Q (a former equivalent hotkey to Ctrl-S or Send) to allow for a quick RESEND of the last outgoing popnote when its echo is in fact lost in route over the Internet. It should be noted that failure to receive an echo of what you send does not necessarily mean the recipient failed to receive your popnote. An echo just confirms receipt. Receipt of two or more identical popnotes from a remote usually means the remote resent the popnote after failing to get the first echo. Miscellaneous code improvements to streamline various subroutines in the send and recv modules. 04/25/08 PopNote 2.4.3 It was suggested that when a user has his Away message toggled on, and someone sends them a PopNote, it would be nice if the incoming PopNote was appended to the end of the outgoing Away message rather than just discarded. This has been done. In addition, another user suggestion was to have only three static user buttons and two dynamic instead of the current first four static and the last one dynamic. This has been done. Fixed a minor bug in Logs/AutoRecord menu option that prevented a user log from being created when an incoming PopNote had a User name containing a prohibited 8x3 file name character. 03/29/08 PopNote 2.4.2 When running non standard ports and doing an online upgrade, after upgrade completion, 2.4.1 would reload back to its default ports. This has been corrected in 2.4.2 so the non standard ports will be reused. Recoded the Away timer to run from 3 to 15 minutes. 02/23/08 PopNote 2.4.1 Corrected a bug in the "Add IP" operation under the "IPFile" menu that incorrectly invoked the Printer function. Do an online UPGRADE to get this 2.4.1 maintenance release. 02/15/08 PopNote 2.4.0 Fixed a minor bug introduced in build 2.3.9 when the copyright stamp was updated to 2008. This bug causes PopNote 2.3.9 to fail to notify the user if a copy of itself is already running and preventing the new instance from loading. This check was necessary to prevent port conflicts. That is, no two client/servers on the same PC can open the same ports without causing WinSock conflicts and subsequent error messages. Since some users enjoy running several instances of PopNote on ports other than the default of 54538 and 54539, build 2.4.0 will allow more than one copy of PopNote to run "IF" and only if different ports are used on each running copy. NOTE: When multiple copies of PopNote are to be run from ONE PC, each copy should be in its own folder. Furthermore, the copy running in default mode (ports 54538 & 54539) should be launched first; OR, both copies should use port command tails. For more details on using other ports, check a recent question in the FAQ. Changes were made to behavior of the AWAY message function. Previously when AWAY was ON and a PopNote came in, if you replied and or later sent a PopNote, this would automatically toggle AWAY to OFF, requiring you to manually reset AWAY back to ON when desired. The theory being that if you are now sending PopNotes, you no longer want the Away message going out but rather have your contact see his usual echos. This eliminated you from manually having to turn Away off. After all, isn't the idea of a computer to automate many of your tasks. However, that being said, I am always coming and going from my terminal, and when I leave I frequently forget to turn Away back ON. Therefore, now when AWAY is ON and you Send, the new code changes turns AWAY off (like before), BUT, if you don't send anything within the timers default setting (3 minutes), AWAY automatically turns itself back ON again (until you manually turn Away OFF from the Functions menu). In addition, this timer is reset to its current value each time you send a PopNote. To conclude, if you are replying or sending PopNotes within the timers expiration point, Away stays off until the timer expires without a send. If the default value of 3 minutes is not a long enough delay for your style of operating, click Ctrl-T to increment the delay in 2 minute steps up to 15 minutes then back. The Status Bar will indicate what delay is currently in use. PopNote will remember the delay you use for your next session. 12/28/07 PopNote 2.3.9 ----------------------------------- Changed a few error messages involved in manually adding either IP/ID or FQDN addresses to the drop down address window vi the two middle edit boxes, and disabled incoming popnote polling during these operations to prevent data collisions should a popnote arrive while making these address additions. A new (5th) PopToy sub menu titled "VOIP" was added for running any 3rd party P2P voice client/servers. You can rename your favorite VOIP program to PN_VOIP.EXE and put it in the same folder (directory) with PopNote. It will be called when you click on the PopToy sub menu choice, VOIP. With permission from Marko Vitez, the creator and author of the freeware Peer to Peer voice chat program PicoPhone, PicoPhone164.exe will be bundled with PopNote starting with version 2.3.9. The PopNote 239 installation utility will place "picophone164.exe" in PopNotes default folder. Then the installer will place a second copy of picophone164.exe and rename it to "pn_voip.exe". Special Note: PicoPhone does not require any dependency libraries (DLL's etc) and should run fine on any W98, XP or Vista systems that have a 32 bit sound card capable of concurrent (full duplex) sound functions. REMEMBER: Like any client/server program, PicoPhone will require you to "port forward" UDP port 11676 through your Modem - Router - Firewall setup chain. For more details on using PicoPhone, visit the authors web site at: http://www.vitez.it/picophone/ Any questions, contributions etc for PicoPhone should be directed to Marko. His email is: marko@vitez.it If for whatever reason (like you UPGRADED PopNote directly rather than using the new install utility) and you now need to get/download the PicoPhone client, you can get it directly from the authors web site at: http://www.vitez.it/picophone/PicoPhone164.exe Just remember to rename picophone164.exe to PN_VOIP.EXE after placing it in Popnote's folder. CAVEAT: When the PopToy VOIP program is called it may appear behind or under PopNote's main window depending on how your PopNote window is sized and or where it is located on your desktop, and or if PopNote's OnTop feature is ON. Minimize PopNote if you don't immediately see the VOIP GUI or temporarily turn the OnTop feature Off. Then MOVE the PicoPhone GUI to some convenient clear place on your desktop. In addition to PicoPhone, another small freeware VOIP program, VoiceChat.exe is available. VoiceChat is also a Peer to Peer based VOIP utility. VoiceChat uses TCP PORT 701 which must be port forwarded thru your Modem - Router - Firewall chain. Download VoiceChat from the authors site here: http://www.yazakpro.com/yazak/VoiceChat.exe Since I have been unable to obtain permission to bundle VoiceChat.exe with PopNote, its up to you to download and try it. There is no help available for VoiceChat but it is fairly easy and intuitive to use. VoiceChat.exe also requires the complete Visual Basic 6 run time (VB6) library to be installed and registered on your PC. All U.S. XP or Vista PC's should come with the VB6 library of DLL's etc pre installed. If not, you can download and install them yourself with this VB6 library upgrade utility: http://freecreed.com/downloads/yazak/VbRunDLLv3sp6.exe 12/07/07 PopNote 2.3.8 ----------------------------------- Added Ctrl-W, a new hotkey combination that restores a backup copy of the PopNoteA.cfg address file to the drop down IP address select window. This NEW backup file is created as PopNoteA.BU Note: At some point beforehand, Ctrl-N must be used to create the backups, which now includes the new PopNoteA.BU file. Ctrl-W will not be listed in the "Functions/HotKey" menu popup window as this is a diagnostic/repair tool rather than an everyday function. Fixed an old minor notification bug wherein doing a "Force IP Update" failed to properly inform the user if their WAN IP had changed, only what the current WAN IP is. Now if "Force IP Update" is used and the IP has not changed, you will be so informed. In addition, the Auto IP updater will no longer announce the WAN IP every 10 minutes but will only announce when a change in IP was detected and reset. And, when the "Auto IP Updater" is toggled on, the "Force IP" menu will be temporarily grayed out until Auto IP Updater is toggled off again. Improved the timeout cycle if the network is unable to resolve an IP or FQDN when selected from the "Network" menu. In addition the resulting screen messages will so state the condition. 11/16/07 PopNote 2.3.7 ----------------------------------- Introducing a new "Ban User" function under the IPFile menu. When chosen, this function (a toggle) will ban by IP address whatever user is currently showing in the pull down Address window including a null IP. A second click stops the Ban. This feature is being incorporated on a temporary basis and may later either be removed or expanded to allow for bans of multiple IP addresses. Modified Help>FAQ menu to access new PN_FAQ.PHP web file vi http://arc.tzo.com/ham/pn_faq.php Fixed a minor "User Button" bug in previous builds wherein clicking a populated user button when no text was entered into either the Chat or Send dialog windows generated the proper error message but also killed the receive polling loop. Introduced a LAG calculation (in msec) appended to the end of the "Echo from" message that appears in the Status Bar to the right of the running clock. Most RTT (round trip totals) or lags should average under 400 msec. Recoded numerous PopNote system status message functions to increase display speed. Reduced receive polling loop time to every 50ms. Added various coding changes to improve overall efficiency. 10/12/07 PopNote New Feature release 2.3.6 ----------------------------------- Recoded the "Print Chat" routines found under the main "Edit" menu. Now if the main (top) chat window is empty, choosing "Print Chat" will automatically cancel with an appropriate message in the Status Bar. Second, users will now have the option of selecting and using a LAN printer (if one exist) vi the standard Windows printer dialog box. Added a Status alert message/tone when using Ctrl-G to stop PopNote from auto minimizing on initial run. More dialog changes to various program Status messages. Example: after a Send, the original Status Bar msg was: "X bytes of UDP data sent - waiting on Echo"; and now: "X bytes of UDP data sent to 000.000.000.000 - waiting on Echo"; with 000.000.000.000 being the users IP address. One advantage to this (when using a valid and functional FQDN) is seeing the users resolved IP address if you fail to get an echo. Now when you exit or close PopNote, whatever user buttons were populated during your previous session will be saved to a new file titled PopNoteB.CFG Likewise, those User Buttons will be restored from PopNoteB.CFG the next time you run PopNote. NOTE: Obviously this new feature is more ideally suited to remote users who have static IP's. Formerly if all 5 user buttons were populated and a 6th user (other than any of the existing 5) sent you a popnote, the 5 buttons would clear. Now, just the 5th button will be cleared and set with that user. Created a new Menu topic labeled "Functions" and shifted several existing sub menu items from "PopToys" and "Help" to "Functions" for better clarity. Moved the "Print Chat" menu choice to "Logs" from under "Edit". Various verbiage and key letter changes only to several sub menus to facilitate cleaner keyboard control vi Alt functions. DNSUP (a POPTOY): Changed the wording vi the mouse "right click" popup menu in the DNSUP tool tray icon from "exit popnote" to "exit DNSUP". Thanks to Steve Sinclair, one of PopNotes original Beta testers, for new web based PopNote documentation. This new Doc is now available on line vi PopNote's menu: go Help>PopNote Help 08/30/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.3.5 ----------------------------------- This 2.3.5 build of PopNote is compiled with HotBasic's latest HB5.3a compiler and contains improved methods of delivering text to the PopNote chat window as well as how it sends internal program messages to the Status bar. It also incorporates better memory management and file I/O. This new build is much faster, uses less resources and is several k smaller in executable size. "Ctrl-D" (a hot key) for former direct-indirect screen writes was changed to become a new scroll to bottom function. Numerous new status and error messages. 08/17/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.3.4 (v2.3.3 was a test version and never released) ----------------------------------- Fixed a Bug reported by W1PI in the AWAY function that caused a crash when a custom away message was typed in manually. Minor Cosmetic changes. Fixed a minor bug in the PopToy VIEW.EXE that caused the File Browse dialog window to open behind the main view window. Added a new web page for PopNote users to have a central place to make their FQDN's known. Visit this page at: http://arc.tzo.com/HAM/FQDNLIST.PHP 08/03/07 PopNote New Feature & Maintenance release 2.3.2 ----------------------------------- Fixed a tiny bug in the Status bar wherein the first letter of the status message was deleted when the hour digit changed from a single digit (0/9) to a double digit (10/12). Split up the "Edit" menu. Created a new "Logs" menu and moved four items out of the "Edit" menu and into the new "Logs" menu. The "Logs" menu now contains, Show ChatLog, Auto Record, Save Chat and Save with Clear; which were formally contained in the Edit menu. Auto Record will now recall what state (on/off) it was left in. Moved "Print Chat" from Main Menu to Edit Menu. 07/20/07 PopNote New Feature & Maintenance release 2.3.1 ----------------------------------- The "Record" (i.e. Edit/Record) menu choice has been renamed to "Auto Record". In addition, this menu option now writes to the same SCREEN.TXT file as does the "Save Chat" and "Save Chat Clr" menu choices. Thus "Edit/Show ChatLog" (which displays SCREEN.TXT) will now show anything that was saved manually or automatically. In addition, "Auto Record" now date stamps the individual entries. The file "RECORD.TXT" (previously used by "Record ON") has been discontinued. With "Auto Record ON" any incoming (or outgoing) PopNotes will be automatically saved for later viewing - even up to the point of a power failure. BUT there's MORE as the TV salesman would say! With Auto Record ON, every chat will write to a unique text file whose handle will be the nickname of the person you are chatting with. Example: if you are chatting with a text file will be created called BERNIE.TXT with all chat between Bernie and you appended to that file. These files will be created in the same folder where POPNOTE.EXE is located. To view any of these new files, click on the "Edit/Open File" choice and select the appropriate TXT file. This new feature is ON by default. If you don't want the Username .TXT Logs, use Ctrl-O to toggle this feature OFF. I modified the current "Ctrl-N" backup hotkeys to backup the PopNoteD2.cfg file as well as append the existing contents of SCREEN.TXT to a new archive file known as SCREEN_DB.TXT, then truncate the SCREEN.TXT file to start it from scratch. This will help prevent screen.txt from growing too large with active use. To view the archive file, its only a matter of using "Edit/Open File" and selecting SCREEN_DB.TXT to view the archived database of past PopNotes. Added "Ctrl-1" (Ctrl key plus numeral 1 key). This hotkey activates a save of current "Send" text dialog to a memory buffer. Ctrl-U recalls the LAST item you sent and is LIFO oriented. Meaning the last send you saved replaces the previous. Therefore Ctrl-1 will now allow (for whatever reason you find useful) the ability to save a Send text message in a special memory buffer as long as PopNote runs; or recover it, or clear it. It works this way: if you wish to save a message you just typed in the Send Window, click Ctrl-1. The Status bar will reflect what action has just occured. To recover the saved text, first clear the "Send" window and then click Ctrl-1 (the message will reappear). To clear a saved message from the ram buffer, clear the "Send" window and then type "/CLEAR" less quotes, then click Ctrl-1 again. Clicking Ctrl-1 with any new text in the "Send" window will save that text and overwrite any previous text in memory. Added Ctrl-9 to advance scroll or line feeds in main chat window (aKa like a Page Down). Several minor cosmetic changes to menu choices. Fixed minor bug in Time - Status bar display. It now displays correctly and does not truncate or cut off Status messages. I am continuing my efforts to improve stability etc (as I learn new tricks) to use more efficient algorithms in place of slower blote code. 07/06/07 PopNote New Feature & Maintenance release 2.3.0 ----------------------------------- The UPGRADE.EXE utility is now built into PopNote as an embeded resource and will be copied out dynamically to the default folder when doing an Upgrade. This will insure the upgrade.exe utility is always current, and forever eliminate having to download any new versions. Added Ctrl-I hotkey to manually save the main configuration file (PopNoteD2.CFG) after making changes to your default settings. Added "Find" and "Find Again" choices to PopNote's "Edit" Menu (also added hotkeys F8 and F9 to duplicate same menu choices) The search string goes into the Send window. See PNHELP.TXT for more details. Fixed more timer re-entrance problems associated with "Force IP Update and Auto IP Updater" operations. Minor enhancements to enforce proper screen scrolling. Various cosmetic changes including a more prominent Copyright notice. Complete rewrite of PopNote's Help or Documentation file (PNHELP.TXT) SPECIAL NOTICE: The source code for any of my client, servers, or utilities is available for purchase. Contact K5HUM@ARRL.NET for additional information. 06/11/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.2.1 ------------------------------------ Several users reported an odd problem where PopNote starting upgrading on it own after clearing a few user buttons with the F1 thru F5 keys. I was able to duplicate the problem here and suspect this is another procedure re entrance problem so now each time any F key from 1 to 5 is used, PopNote will temporarily stop the receiving loop until the operation is completed, then the polling loop will immediately resume. 06/08/07 PopNote new Feature release 2.2.0 ------------------------------------ This is a highly recommended upgrade. You can now easily share the content of your populated user buttons with other users. For privacy reasons this new feature ("User Sharing") is OFF by default and turned ON by pressing the F7 key (which is a toggle). If you toggle "User Sharing" on (vi F7) and a remote user types "/USERS" by itself in a PopNote to you, they will receive back a list of all your current users and their IP's that are now populating "your" user buttons. NOTE: By first using F1 thru F5 and then Alt-G to selectively delete and populate the buttons, you can set which addresses to share if the current button populations are not what you want. Made minor changes to various Error messages. Finally squashed another hardly noticed minor bug in "Edit/ Open File" not always firing off with dialog display on first use. Legal Notice: With Version 2 PopNote became DonationWare; that is, essentially freeware for personal or private use. Meaning if you wish to voluntarily contribute to help offset future development costs, fine, but donating is not required. COMMERCIAL or Business use is another matter. Businesses or government entities who use PopNote on a LAN or INTRANET are obligated to negotiate a licensing agreement. Contact k5hum@arrl.net 06/01/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.1.3 ------------------------------------ Fixed a bug under the menu "Edit/Open File" that caused PopNote to crash when large files were opened for display. Added several fixes to continue improving overall stability and memory leaks. Several minor changes based on user request. PopNote will once again minimize and clear the main window in 10 second after initial startup unless the user presses Ctrl-G. If PopNote is unable to obtain your WAN IP it will so state and not minimize in 10 seconds. Updated the PN_FAQ.TXT file with the latest collection of tips. cHB52E 05/18/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.1.2 ------------------------------------ Chasing down a mysterious Bug: This odd bug only seemed to affect users who run PopNote for days at a time. It caused PopNote to quit receiving echos or just stop receiving after many menu operations over long periods of time. This fix modified all menu functions to first turn OFF, then after completion turn ON, the main receiving loop thus eliminating any potential reentrance conflicts that could scuttle the loop timer by corrupting the programs stack. This fix, according to my sources, could only improve the program stability, with no negative side effects. It is therefore a recommended upgrade. cHB52D 05/03/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.1.1 ------------------------------------ Fixed an intermittent problem with PopNoteA.CFG not being saved on program close. 05/01/07 PopNote Major feature upgrade 2.1 ------------------------------------ Added a new user requested feature to change your Away Message on the fly. After clicking the "Away" menu choice, a new popup window will appear. Here you type a new "away message" then click the "Use" button. To continue using either the hard wired away message (built into PopNote) OR a user created away.txt file, type nothing (leave the popup window blank) and click "Use". Then, by default the away.txt will be used if one exist, or the hard wired message if there is no away.txt. Note: a nicely appearing Away message should start with two CRLF's (hits on the Enter Key) with the ensuing message lines not exceeding 8 or 10 words and ending in two more CRLF's. Notice: ONLY the Clear button will guarantee removal of orphaned embedded text characters like TABS, SPACES and CRLFs. Added a new user requested "LAN Mode" choice under the Network menu to facilitate sending popnotes between terminals on a large Local Area Network (LAN). Note: In LAN mode you can still receive popnotes from the Internet but if they attempt replying to your echo, the remote would get your non route-able LAN IP and be unable to reply without first preselecting your FQDN or current WAN IP. Read pnhelp.txt for complete details. Added a running time clock to Status bar. Added a few Easter Eggs. Recoded network timers and window app message handling routines to enhanse stability over extended periods of operation. Reworked several areas where event handlers are invoked. hbc5.2a My DNSUP IP tickler is now available for download at: http://arc.tzo.com/ham/dnsup.zip This is a simpler (easy to use IMHO) replacement for DeeEnEs. 04/20/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.19 ------------------------------------ Recommended maintenance release. Fixed a bug in 20.18, when PopNote first runs and "if" it is unable to obtain your WAN IP, you will now correctly be advised. Removed the Version number from Caption bar and added the Version number to the PopNote "startup" screen and to a new "Help/About" dialog box. Numerous other code changes to enhance stability with Vista. Added a new choice to the "PopToys" menu titled "Run DNSUP". This will accomodate a new DNS tickler to be released soon. Meanwhile you could rename your existing DNS tickler (OR just about any application or utility) to DNSUP.EXE and this menu choice will launch it. 04/06/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.18 ------------------------------------ Recommended maintenance release. Originally, should a user button get populated and then that users IP changes and he popnotes again, the button for that user did not update to his newer IP. That has been corrected. Also, when PopNote first runs and if it is unable to obtain your WAN IP, you will be advised. Previously all that happened was the WAN IP did not show up above the start date and time in the chat window misleading a lot of new users. 04/03/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.17 ------------------------------------ Reworked the GUI form "message" hook code to more efficiently restore focus to the lower chat send window after using a menu choice. Fixed an old bug that was introduced when PopNote switched to a two port system involving the "Record On" dynamic chat record function. Now it will correctly record both the "local" (formally missing) and the remotes dialog. Ctrl-N now backs up the PopNoteA Address file to PopNoteA.BAK, as well as the previous save of the PopNote program. Fixed another bug that was recently discovered in the "Auto IP Update" choice of the Network menu. It now properly checks the WAN IP every 10 minutes when activated. If the WAN IP has not changed it will be so noted every 10 minutes in the Status window. 03/26/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.16 ------------------------------------ Added code to User Button properties so all buttons will proportionately expand as GUI is widened. Added graphic XP.manifest code to embellish GUI appearance on XP machines not operating in the optional so called Classic mode. Changed Ctrl-G hotkey (Populate User Buttons) to form wide hotkey Alt-G, fixing a focus problem. Recoded various file read-write functions. NOTE: It is always recommended you use Ctrl-N to backup your present copy of PopNote before you upgrade. c5.1f 03/02/07 *FTP_PN* Maintenance Release Version 2.0 - 2.1.1 ------------------------------------ More minor cosmetic and procedure modifications. Fixed a bug where if a Send was aborted, the chosen file to upload did not clear the internal selection buffer. 03/02/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.15 ------------------------------------ Fixed minor bug in User Buttons wherein if the fifth button was populated when a new Users PopNote arrived (with some other buttons vacant), all would clear. Now all buttons will clear ONLY if a) all buttons are populated AND b) next PopNote is from a user not already listed on a button. Thanks to Bill for spotting this one. 02/23/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.14 ------------------------------------ Added new hotkey, Ctrl-G. This allows manual population of the User buttons. First select a user's IP pair (NOT a FQDN) from the Address list then press Ctrl-G. The first blank button will be populated with that users IP/ID pair (although you don't see the IP). 02/10/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.13 ------------------------------------ Fixed Send bug when sending from top chat window. 02/09/07 PopNote Maintenance-Upgrade releases 2.0.12 ------------------------------------ PopNote automatically saves the memory address list to the PopNoteA.cfg (address file) when it closes. Several users reported losing house power and subsequently losing a lot of work adding addresses. Although the hotkey Ctrl-L already existed, I have once again added the ability to manually Save (and Reload) the PopNoteA.CFG file vi the IPFile Menu. Since the FTP extension module reads the current address file rather than the current address list in memory, calling the FTP extension from PopNote's "PopToys" menu now first saves the memory address list to the PopNoteA.CFG file before launching the FTP extension. Added a new hot key, "Ctrl-U", to mimic the "Recover Send" choice from the PopToys menu. Added a new hot key, "Ctrl-N" to create a backup copy of POPNOTE.EXE The backup file will be POPNOTE_####.OLD and it will be located in POPNOTE's default folder. The pound symbols (####) will contain the build or version number of the file being backed up so it can easily be identified. Several users asked if it was possible to clear just one of the five populated User buttons rather than all five. Therefore I coded the keys F1 thru F5 with a clear function for each respective user button beginning from left to right. While cobbling the code to clear the individual user buttons mentioned above, I experimentally added F6 as the trigger key that will attempt to broadcast your current popnote to all the current "user populated" buttons. At this moment I am not sure of the consequences of potentially up to five echoes inbound in a short time frame. In theory, and depending on Internet Lags, at least the last outbound popnote should echo back. When using the Broadcast feature, the popnote must be sent from the lower text window. The upper window will temporarily clear, the popnotes will be broadcast, then the text in the upper window will return along with the last echo. Consider this feature a work in progress and subject to changes! 02/05/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.11 ------------------------------------ Relative to a unique behavior with direct screen writes: Moving the vertical scroll bar in the main chat windows and clicking the mouse resets the virtual position of the cursor wherein the next direct screen write then assumes the current cursor position is at the end of the text in the window. The result is a popnote written to the screen but out of apparent order! To overcome this, I have introduced a "Forced Scroll" before the direct screen write occurs. This should fix those not happy with this phenomena. A new HotKey, Ctrl-D will toggle the Forced Scroll off or on (its ON by default). You should be aware that in Forced Scroll mode ON, this also means that if you scrolled up manually to read a previous popnote, and a new popnote comes in, the text will auto scroll to the end of all existing text where the latest popnote will arrive no matter where the cursor is. With Forced Scroll OFF you can also have the next popnote go to the end (and auto scroll) IF you do not click the mouse anywhere in the upper text! 02/01/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.10 ----------------------------------- Re wrote the code that sends popnote's and popnote echo's to the main dialog window. Now using direct screen writes versus text appends. Should be more efficient, faster. Changed the echo polling loop to every 200ms from 500ms. Compiled using HB51A. 01/24/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.9 ----------------------------------- Created a "Minimize to TaskBar" Toggle under Tools Menu. The default is minimize to Tool Tray. Also fixed a bug in the former Icon to ToolTray routine wherein the program would not always minimize to the ToolTray. The minimize choice setting will be saved. Added Printer Font capability with a new, built in, printer device driver. Now printer will emulate the currently selected display font choice. Recoded the print routine so new driver will automatically poll your local printer setup. Removed the clear screen on initial run and popdown. This was an overall user request. Reorganized the include files to prepare for the addition of the FTP operation. 01/12/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.8 ----------------------------------- Fixed minor bug when using encryption that toggled local echo on. A throwback to the 1.5 series. 01/09/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.6 - 2.0.7 ----------------------------------- Fixed Hot Key display not showing all hotkeys. Added Ctrl-J (to Jump or Skip a line in chat window). Optimized all file reading and writing procedures. Fixed a bug involving "Away" not turning OFF when any of the five new User Buttons were used to reply. Thanks to W1PI for reporting this one. Changed Status bar message to clearly indicate receipt of Echo from remote versus a normal incoming PopNote. Stopped inpop.wav from playing on receipt of a remote Echo; I changed it to use an alternate "echo.wav" file OR an internal speaker beep if "echo.wav" does not exist in PopNote's folder. This will help differentiate between a PopNote and an Echo of a PopNote. Removed redundant (extra) display ahead of message text (it is no longer required with the dual port system). Added the words "Echo from :" preceding an echo from a remote. Edited PopNote's main documentation file "pnhelp.txt" to correct errors, omissions and generally bring it up to date. 01/04/07 PopNote Maintenance releases 2.0.4 to 2.0.5 Fixed bug in /version check that prevented version echo when nic was in excess of 7 characters. Thanks to KC1RX for help in discovering this one. Changed "upgrade" connect (downloading) timing to prevent premature timeout and receiving the "Could not establish a connection - Aborting" message, when in fact, the upgrade web server is on line. Added code to restart Monitor mode if PopNote version is current. 01/03/07 Minor feature release 2.0.3 Added a version request. By sending "/VERSION" (less quotes) to a remote running 2.0.3 or later, the remote will send back its version number. 01/02/07 PopNote Maintenance release 2.0.2 Cleaned up the display code. Several users reported text being clipped or misplaced (sequence wise) in the main chat window while chatting with several users. Hopefully this fix will address that problem. 12/30/06 PopNote Maintenance release 2.0.1 Fixed Socket not closing properly when Monitor mode was turned off. Modified X to minimize PopNote, same as (-) Increased space between Addr window and Send Button on user request. SPECIAL NOTE: It is impossible to do a major rewrite of a sophisticated program like PopNote without introducing various problems affectionately known as BUGS. I am doing my best to correct problems as I am made aware of them. It is also a challenge to differentiate between real bugs and user cockpit problems. Please understand that these things take time. Visit my web site at http://ARC.TZO.COM/HAM/K5HUM.PHP for additional information. 12/25/06 PopNote Maintenance release 2.0.b4 thru b9 Fixed various bugs in the address file functions. Fixed bug in PopToys VIEW function. Added five User buttons that populate automatically as PopNotes come in, thus making it easier, to chat with and reply to, up to five users. 12/25/06 HoHoHo - Merry Christmas to all! BIG NEWS - the long awaited PopNote version 2.0 is available for upgrade! NOTE: after upgrading you will need to reset numerous toggles (sound, popups, wordwrap and screen position and size) Enjoy! 12/21/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.09 Fixed an omission wherein more than 13 characters could be entered into the Nic dialog box. Thanks to W1PI for spotting this one. 07/03/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.08 (minor cosmetics) 07/03/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.07 Fixed bug in Auto & Force IP updater not properly updating the entry in PopNoteA.CFG file. The bug caused only the Nick name to appear in the address file. Those not using these two features would not notice or be affected by this bug. 06/14/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.06 Maintenance release. Changed the "UpDate IP" menu description under the "Network" menu to "Force IP UpDate"; otherwise this option functions the same as it did previously. A new "Network" menu choice was added titled "Auto IP Updater". This Auto IP Updater feature is to assist the users of typical WiFi networks wherein the IP lease changes more frequently than non WiFi Internet Providers. This feature will automatically check your WAN IP every 10 minutes once it is activated. It is off by default. This new menu choice behaves like a toggle; one click to turn ON, another to turn OFF. While this feature is not a guarantee that the WiFi provider could not change your IP immediately after the last 10 minute auto update, its better than no checking at all. If you don't receive an echo and you know the destination is monitoring with PopNote, you can always do a manual Force IP Update. 06/14/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.05 Maintenance release. Changed "Get IP" menu descriptor to "UpDate IP" and removed the "Get IP" menu "gray out" while in Monitor mode. This is to accomodate LapTop users on WiFi systems with short IP leases and or IP changes over long periods of connectivity. Explanation: You start the PopNote program. After a period of connectivity your IP changes. You send a PopNote to another user. You receive no echo back of your outgoing PopNote. You know the user is online with PopNote and not in Cloak mode. This symptom strongly suggest your IP has changed. Fix: Click on "UpDate IP" under the Network menu and try PopNoting again. 05/19/06 FTP_PN Version 1.0.10 Maintenance release. Changed upload buffer size from 1024 to 8192 bytes. Recoded Send function to more rapidly open file browse window. 05/15/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.04 Maintenance release. Re coded FTP_PN launch menu so current IP showing in PopNote Address window also appears as first listed in FTP_PN address window. 05/13/06 WAV_REC Version 1.0.03 Maintenance release. 05/12/06 FTP_PN Version 1.0.09 Maintenance release. 05/11/06 WAV_REC Version 1.0.01 Completed writing WAV_REC. My own wave recorder and player. This will be the third extension available for PopNote under the PopToys series. PopNote Version 1.5.03 will enable this new extension, or if its not available, continue to run Windows built in wave recorder/player. Both are due out on 05/11/06 05/10/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.02 Maintenance release. Furthur refinments to encryption mode only. Blocked popdowns during encryption. Can be reversed with Ctrl-B if popdowns desired. 05/10/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.02 Maintenance release. Modified encryption routine to use local echo. 05/10/06 POPNOTE Version 1.5.01 NEW FEATURE RELEASE: Added a new Menu item under "Tools" called "Encrypt" with Off as the default state. This new encrypt menu selection behaves like an on/off toggle. In the OFF (default) mode, there is no encryption and everything behaves as it did in all the previous releases of PopNote. NOTE: Even if an encrypt bug or two slip through into this release, it will NOT effect normal or non encryption use. In "Encrypt ON" only the text (message) portion of the data stream is encrypted. The IP and Nic are still transmitted in the clear (although the IP never did show on the main chat screen). Currently, Encrypt uses the numeric IP addresses of the local and remote as the encode and decode keys. Credit for the IP key concept goes to KC1RX. Perhaps in later releases I will add the ability for users to create and add their own unique private keys. HOW TO USE ENCRYPTION: To use Encrypt, you must FIRST establish a connection and see your PopNote echoed back from the remote as connection confirmation. If the remote is in Cloaking mode this could be problematic. The initial contact gives you and the remote each others current IP addresses which encrypt/decrypt uses for keys. Next, you should invite the remote while still in the clear (non encrypt mode) to use encryption and they must concur. Encryption can be toggled "On" or back "Off" from the PopNote Tools menu, or the hot keys, Ctrl-Z. Note: If you are involved in an ongoing encrypted chat, and someone else also happens to PopNote you who isn't at the moment encrypting, you will receive gibberish. However, you will know who sent the new PopNote as the IPs and Nics are always transmitted in the clear. If you desire to reply, tell your current connection to hold for a few moments, then turn encryption off and PopNote the 2nd party as you would normally. TECHNICAL INFO: After establishing a normal connection, Client 2 receives Client 1's IP and vice versa. Both then switch to Encrption; Client 1 sends encrypted text to Client 2 using Client 1's IP as a KEY. Client 2 uses Client 1's IP (previously received) to decode the text sent by Client 1. Client 2 now replies with encrypted text to Client 1, using Client 2's IP as the KEY. Client 1 uses Client 2's previously received IP as a KEY to decode. The encryption/decryption is all non transparent to the users. If all is working correctly, all the users see is plain english text throughout the entire procedure. To see encrypted gibberish (jumbled text), someone would have to send encrypted text to you while your PopNote is in non encrypted mode. CAVEAT: This is by no means a strong encryption scheme, but rather only adequate to prevent network eavesdropping by the less sophisticated. NEW WAVE RECORD OPTION: Added another new Menu item under PopToys called "Record Wave". This menu choice simply runs a Wave recorder built into the Operating System. Since this is an internal windows utility, when launched by PopNote, it does not popup on top. There are two possible work- arounds for this limitation. 1) minimize PopNote (Ctrl- M) immediately after clicking "Record Wave" or 2) take PopNote out of stay "On top" mode until you have completed your recording task. This wave utility is both a wave recorder and a player. Since it is rather intuitive to use and also a native Windows operation, I will not go into "how to use" details here. Aside from the obvious, its an excellent quick test for an operational microphones and sound systems. 05/08/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.09 Maintenance Release: Replaced the download "Upgrade" sub routine with a more efficient algorithm that includes a timer if the connection is lost from the server. FTP_PN v 1.0.09 Added a new feature wherein if the PopNoteA.cfg file is not found a sample file, properly formatted, with a usable LOCALHOST address (127.0.0.1) will be created. Added a new feature wherein if a WAVE file is uploaded it will be played at the destination. Mofified the "Recv" button to behave as an "on/off" receive toggle. 04/28/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.08 Maintenance Release: Fixed bug with VIEW displaying default.jpg 04/27/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.07 Added "FTP Utility" choice to PopToys menu. This calls another new extension, FTP_PN.EXE With this FTP utility, users can transfer all types of files including picture files of the .JPG and .GIF type, which will also auto display using the VIEW.EXE extension if it is available. 04/23/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.06 Modified "Resolve FQDN" operation under Network Menu to show when operation is canceled or there is an error in procedural operation. The Status bar will now inform of errors or cancellation of operation. Suggested by KC1RX 04/22/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.05 Fixed an obscure bug wherein "if" PopNote is missing its configuration file {PopNoteD.cfg) at startup, it failed to set the default font to "System". Wrote the remaining Font code to store and recover Font Point Height, Weight and Italic in PopNoteD.cfg 04/21/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.04 Minor changes to several Menu titles. Recoded VIEW.EXE (now Version 1.1.02) to go ontop of all prior windows. Recoded PopNote's PicViewer menu loader so as to not turn PopNote's "OnTop" off when VIEW.EXE runs. Work on PNFTP progressing nicely, expect to have a beta within a week if all goes well. 04/20/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.03 Fixed PATH bug that was preventing the read of popnoted.cfg when run from windows start key on some builds of Windows XP. 04/19/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.02 Many users have requested a feature to make it easy to have PopNote automatically run when they turn on their PC (bootup time). Since many other respected programs offer this feature, I have elected to include the code to allow it in PopNote. There were several ways to accomplish this. Add code to create a shortcut in the StartUp folder (4K worth) rewrite PopNote to run as a "service" on XP machines, (too much work) or add code to set a new "run at windows start" key in the registry (480 bytes). I went with the latter. Of course if you are unhappy with changes to your registry, you can ignore this new menu option detailed below and manually create a shortcut to PopNote in its parent folder and then move or drag it into your StartUp folder. Or, if you have the skill to "customizie" the "Start" button's "properties", you can create the shortcut directly in the "StartUp" folder itself. A new selection has been added to the "Help" menu titled "Start Options". Clicking this option detects if PopNote is set to start when Windows starts. If it is, you are given the option to "not start with Windows" or cancel the operation. If PopNote is not set to start with Windows, again you are given the option to "start PopNote when Windows starts" or cancel the operation. The resulting "run key state" will be indicated in PopNote's status window (bottom left of main PopNote screen). This feature adds or removes a key Value in the "Run Key" that pre exist in EVERY windows machine. This Key is located in the registry hive under: LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ There are several minor implications to this. First, the user must have administrator rights to the machine PopNote is running on. Otherwise this option will fail. Second, BEFORE deleting the PopNote files from your machine, (assumming the unthinkable - that you tire of PopNote), the Key should be removed. Otherwise, you will get an "unable to locate xyz error" as Windows boots up. Even then, the annoyance is preventable by doing a Windows uninstall of PopNote or a manual key delete using the utility supplied with XP called REGEDIT.EXE Finally, the "run at windows start" option, no matter which method starts the program, is more suitable to users who are always connected to the Internet vi Cable or DSL or satellite services. Dialup users may have to manually "Get IP" after connecting. 04/14/06 POPNOTE Version 1.4.01 New Release introducing the first PopToys extension module. The first is VIEW, a module to display graphic images. VIEW is a tiny stand alone image viewer thats called by PopNote. If any picture file is renamed "default.jpg" and is placed in the same folder with PopNote (and view.exe), the picture will be displayed. Otherwise, View has a built in picture file Browser. If VIEW does not exist or is not in the same folder as PopNote, an error message to that effect will be displayed. 04/13/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.15 Maintenance release. Reworked the Font settings. For the time being, the following Fonts can be saved and restored at runtime: Courier, Fixedsys, System and Terminal. Most of the remaining Fonts can be used dynamically. 04/12/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.14 Removed the Ctrl-C hot keys and created Ctrl-E to avoid conflicts with Windows "Copy" hot key. Now Ctrl-E will Erase the dialog windows. Corrected a bug wherein the lower send window would not pick up the default font at runtime. Added a new hotkey, "Ctrl-F" to reset the lower Send window font to the default (Courier New) for those who prefer NOT to have the same font used in both dialog windows. To restore to the default after using Ctrl-F just run the Font menu choice and click Ok. Changed the "Toys" menu title to "PopToys" to use P as a unique menu hotkey. 04/10/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.13 FEATURE ADDITION: Added "Record Off/On" to Edit menu. This option automatically appends/records ALL incoming chat dialog to "record.txt", a standard text (ascii) file. If "record.txt" does not exist, "record.txt" is created, if it exist, new data is appended to it. The "Record" choice is a toggle. By default it is Off. 04/09/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.12 FEATURE ADDITION: Added "Recover Chat" to the "Toys" menu. This option restores the dialog you attempted to Send that was not echoed back (or successfully received by the remote) and was subsequently cleared from the lower or upper dialog windows. 04/08/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.11 Tweaks to upgrade.exe utility and PopNote Upgrade routines. This should eliminate the problem some were reporting with having to try upgrading twice to get the latest version. 04/08/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.10 Added a Double Space option to Print Chat 04/08/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.09 BUG Fix: Address Window not updating index. 04/07/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.08 Added new menu selection under "IPFile" titled "Copy2Clip". This facilitates selecting an IP address from the address window and copying it to the clipboard. Added Ctrl-H to display the available HotKeys. Disabled the Send button from triggering transmit when no text exist in the Chat and Send windows. 04/06/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.06 and 1.3.07 Minor tweak to how address file is updated when in "Cloak Off" mode (the default). Minor tweak to disable AWAY menu when Cloak is ON. This is because AWAY can only function when Cloak is OFF (that is, when PopNote can automatically echo messages outbound after receiving one). Added "Read FAQ" to PopNote's "Help" menu. This will open your default Browser and download the most "recent" copy on my server. Otherwise, the PN_FAQ.TXT is now also included in the PopNote distribution ZIP and can be viewed directly with the "Edit/Open File" selection. Formerly the FAQ appeared at the bottom of the PNHELP.TXT file. Renamed several menu choices for greater clarity. 04/05/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.02 thru 1.3.05 Various tweaks to Menu's, timing, focus and Nic IDs in Cloak Off mode. Hint: To restore focus to PopNote without using the mouse, try pressing the Alt&Tab key combination. 04/04/06 POPNOTE Version 1.3.01 This release of PopNote incorporates a feature many have requested; the acknowledgement that a transmitted message has been received by the remote. After spending an entire week thinking this over, and in keeping with my desire to keep things uncomplicated, and continue using UDP sockets, I have coded the echo operation as follows. By default PopNote will now echo (transmit) back to the sender whatever message it receives. You will no longer need to have local echo on, but you can if you wish. Leaving local echo on means your transmitted test will appear at least once (the local echo) and a second time if the remote echoed it back. "You" can decide what mode you want the local echo in. To reiterate, "IF" your outgoing message reappears back on the chat dialog screen within several seconds of sending it, this means the remote got it and automatically sent it back to you. In this case, it is a true echo. But, read on. If your message is not returned, you can assume that the remote is A) not online B) not running PopNote or C) running PopNote in Cloaked mode wherein it will not echo back received messages. Cloak "Off" or "On" is a new choice under the Toys menu. By default it is OFF, meaning PopNote will echo back to the sender. When cloaked you can still receive messages but the sender will not get the echoed verification. As much as I like to pride myself with always doing a through pre flight inspection, this new echo to remote procedure involved some critical logic and timers. So, it may still have bugs that escaped my proof of performance testing on my LAN. Therefore anyone who experiences problems beyond the scope of the above explanations, I would appreciate it if you would please report them immediately. Finally, a new "AWAY" message toggle under the Toys menu. This will allow the echo of a user selected away message (contained in away.txt) or a canned message. If the text file (away.txt) does not exist, the following canned message is used. "QST: Thanks for your message. I am currently away from my terminal. I will reply to your message as soon as I return. Thanks." When you are temporarily unavailable, and set Away ON, and someone sends you a pop note, they will get your "away" reply in lieu of an echo of the message they sent you. When you Send a message, AWAY is automatically turned OFF. 04/04/06 POPNOTE Version 1.2.03 User Request: PopNote now saves the Time Stamp toggle condition (on or off). 04/03/06 POPNOTE Version 1.2.02 I did some tweaking to the scancode capture routine that filters and selects the hotkeys. The changes were to increase the sensitivity to timing on keydown and keyup periods. 04/02/06 POPNOTE Version 1.2.01 Version 1.2 build 01 is the first non Beta release. No major bugs have been reported in over 30 days. From this point forward, minor embellishments will result in newer build numbers. Modest and major enhancements will result in appropriate increments in version numbers. The "Upgrade" choice of PopNote's Help menu will continue to detect and provide you with the most current release or inform if your version is the most current. For various technical reasons, the Upgrade feature could take between 15 and 30 seconds, or timeout, depending on Network traffic and server availability. Build 1.2.01 contains several minor changes and additions. The former Ctrl-X (close program) hotkey has been changed to Ctrl-K (kill) to distance its proximity to Ctrl-S (Send) on the keyboard. Ctrl-R was added to facilitate Reading the chat log vi a keyboard hotkey. The chat log "read" function now scrolls on screen to the end of the file. A new menu item has been added to the menu bar called "Toys". The first and only choice at the moment is to show the "HotKeys". Eventually this "Toys" menu will be populated with optional, special feature, add on modules or extensions. MAJOR UPGRADE: Version 1.3 build 01 is around the corner. This upcoming release will feature the ability to let you know if, in point of fact, that the remote user you just sent a Popnote to, received your message. It will do this by a sort of home rolled sudo Ping signal. That is, if a message is received, PopNote will detect what user sent it (something it already does) and reply to that user only, with a Ping. The originating user will then see a message in PopNote's Status window saying "Message successfully delivered!". If no such message is received within several seconds, it will be safe to assume the remote is either not online or not running PopNote. I have intentionally coded it this way in order to keep the process elegant and lean, and avoid having to rewrite the logic behind how PopNote operates in either of its two chat modes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/30/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.16b Added several new hotkeys: Ctrl-M, to allow minimizing program from keyboard as an alternative to the mouse. Ctrl-S, duplicates the operation of Ctrl-Q for those who prefer the "S" for its analogy to [S]end. Ctrl-B, Blocks the popdown (screen minimizing) when you Send and PopUps are activated. Ctrl-B is a toggle. Click again to restore normal operation. By default, Popdown will remain enabled when PopNote is Run/loaded and PopUp is on. A message in the Status bar will indicate the Popdown mode when Ctrl-B is pressed. Ctrl-X, Closes or Exits the Program. Ctrl-C, Clear both the Chat dialog and text Send window. In addition to the above, I rewrote and optimized the keyboard filter that traps the scancodes for faster response times. To avoid conflicts with other running applications, PopNote must have the focus for any of its hot keys to function. THINGS I AM CONSIDERING: A true UDP echo scheme (coming from the remote) that would indicate the outgoing message was received. Additional hot keys as user request etc warrant their creation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/29/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.15b After considerable reflection I decided to change WordWrap to be either ON (the new default) or Off. Now, whatever width you set the main form to, PopNote will wordwrap at the right border of either the Chat and Send dialog windows. PopNote will save whatever state (on or off) wordwrap is set to when you close the program. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/28/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.14b Fixed an obscure bug in the toggle of Monitor Mode wherein if toggled off then on, the UDP Send socket was not being correctly re initialized. Thanks to CLAY, W1PI for spotting and reporting this one. 03/26/06 News: SoftPedia gave PopNote their prestigious CLEAN software award. Read about it here: http://www.softpedia.com/progClean/PopNote-Clean-36611.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/27/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.13b Since more PopNote users with dynamic IP's are electing to get themselves a free sub domain address, I have decided to cobble out the code logic to incorporate the use of FQDN's in the IP address file (PopNoteA.cfg). Since a FQDN is in itself an ID, and to keep the coding logic simple, I have elected not to pair a Nic with a FQDN. The FQDN should be right padded out to 30 columns with the usual ASCII(32) or "space" characters just as the "IP plus Nic" is so padded. I have also added a new menu choice under the "IP File" main menu topic titled "FQDN Add". This will allow you to easily enter a FQDN into the IP address file. You only need type out the FQDN in the Send text window, (as an example: "arc.tzo.com") and the program code will correctly pad it out to 30 columns and insert it into the IP address file. THINGS YOU SHOULD REMEMBER. Your sub domain address is only good IF you keep it updated to your current IP (easily accomplished if you keep a sub domain updater utility running in the background whenever you are online). Your PopNoteA.cfg file should always be of a size in bytes that is evenly devisable by 32 (the padded line length of 30 plus a carriage return and a line feed). Once a contact is established, AND a reply is received, the top (index 0) listing in the address combo box will still reflect the remotes IP address (which can then continue to be used with that remote). Finally, the TOP (index 0) address in the combobox will always be that of the LAST person who sent you a PopNote (if one did). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/25/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.12b Minor functional change to menu option "Network/Resolve FQDN" routine. Now the resolved IP (aside from appearing in the main dialog window) will overwrite the FQDN in the Send window (correctly pre padded, and with ?Nic?). This facilitates adding the IP to your IP address file. You only need change ?Nic? to the correct user Nic, then from the IPFile menu, select "IP Add" to enter that IP into the address file. This feature more readily accommodates those who subscribed to a free sub domain DNS service such as offered by www.dyndns.org Of course if a users IP has not changed then there is no need to add it to your IP address file. 03/19/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.11b Another two user requested feature. Under the Edit menu. There is now a "Save and Clear" choice. It saves whatever dialog exist in the main chat window, then clears the window. Otherwise it operates identical to the "Save" function. There is also a new Edit/"Read ChatLog" choice. This quickly puts the content of screen.txt in the main window for review. 03/17/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.10b Added code to prevent PopNote from running multiple instances of itself. 03/14/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.09b Another user requested change. PopNote now stores the closing "Local Echo" state in PopNoteD.cfg 03/13/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.08b Squashed a reported bug in the "Save" routine under Edit. Previously, when using "Save", the routine truncated the exiting "screen.txt" file rather than appending new screen text to it. I have had several request to do two things. Allow PopNote to automatically minimize to the tooltray when it loads (either by a command tail switch or a menu option) and, have the opening Logo text in the chat screen clear after so many seconds. I have decided to do both, but rather make it dependent on the state of the PopUp toggle, which I believe is both logical and elegant. In other words if PopUps are ON, the PopNote window will both minimize AND clear 10 seconds after loading. If PopUps are toggled OFF, the PopNote Window will remain on the DeskTop and not clear until you manually clear or minimize. This will help those wishing to auto load PopNote from the Startup folder. 03/11/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.07b Changed Echo default status to ON at runtime. Also fixed a minor bug in echo toggle. 03/10/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.06b Added the ability to convert a FQDN to an IP vi the Network menu. The FQDN must be typed into the Send window before the menu call. Obviously the spelling of the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) must be accurate. For this, block-copy and paste works best. 03/09/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.05b Added Yes/No options to several IPFile menu choices. Added Yes/No options to ToolTray Icon right click Close option. Increased UDP read socket buffer from 1024 to 8192 bytes. Added the ability to run PopNote on a port other than the default port of 54538 vi a standard command tail argument. Example: POPNOTE.EXE 54500 03/08/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.04b Added code so that if PopNote's configuration file (PopNoteD.cfg) is missing, the screen color will default to the color of sticky notes or pale yellow. Re coded the format of the IP Address file (PopNoteA.cfg) and changed the width of the IP address window. Now both the IP and of the person sending an instant message is displayed in the Address box and saved. The layout of the new PopNoteA.cfg file is as follows. Each line starts with the IP number right padded with Spaces (ascii 32) up to a total of 15 columns, this is immediately followed by the which is also right padded with spaces to total 15 columns. This means each line should be 30 characters (columns) in total length, terminated by a CRLF (carriage return [ascii 13d], line feed [ascii 10d]). Therefore each line should be a total of 32 bytes in length. Examples: (scale is hex 0-E; S = a space for illustration) 0123456789ABCDE01234567890ABCDE 127.0.0.1SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS 255.255.255.255SSSSSSSSS 168.192.123.100SSSS 68.114.113.188 S 03/07/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.03b Added new option under Tools called Time Stamp, which appends the time a transmission occurs to the Nic. Disabled the Form's X close button (top right) to avoid an accidental mouse click that could inadvertently close the program when trying to minimize. Use PopNote's Main menu "Exit" selection to terminate the program. Put a 1 meg file size limit on the Chat dialog window. This may change as circumstances dictate. Added key event code to trap Ctrl-Q when main chat window has focus. Now Ctrl-Q should fire in either Chat dialog or Send dialog window. Increased width of Nic window by 30%, however it should be noted that Nic's are internally limited to no more than 15 characters. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/05/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.02b Complete rewrite of PNHELP.TXT, PopNote's documentation. Added a new selection in Help Menu to download this file, the PopNote Build and Bug report. Added ability to resolve an IP to a FQDN vi Network menu, i.e. Resolve IP. Fixed several bugs in the Pick IP address box algorithm. Re coded the Send routine. Now if Send window is left blank and you reply in the Chat window, the entire content of chat window will be transmitted with the Send button or Ctrl-Q, (aKa Bote). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/04/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.01b Fixed an ommission in the Main menu, the Print selection. (I neglected to call the print subroutine from the Print menu choice vi an OnClick event. Added a new feature called HotLinks thanks to Alex for his code examples. Fixed several bugs in UPD send and recv. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 03/04/06 POPNOTE Beta Version 1.00b released. It can be downloaded at http://arc.tzo.com/ham/popnote.zip PopNote's build n bug file is also available at http://arc.tzo.com/ham/pnbnbug.txt NOTICE: I have had several request to produce a self installer for PopNote to accomodate friends with minimal technical skills. I have therefore made available POPNOTE_SE.ZIP on my web site. HTTP://arc.tzo.com/ham/popnote_se.zip This ZIP contains POPNOTE_SE.EXE, a self installing suitcase that will also create a shortcut on the desktop. ---------------------------------------------------- NEW UPGRADE UTILITY Due to a sudden surge in the interest of PopNote and a subsequent increase in frequency of upgrading, an old problem is being reported again wherein two upgrade trys are occasionally required to complete a successful upgrade. If this applies to you, continue reading. I wrote a new UPGRADE.EXE utility trying to address this problem. It can be downloaded here: http://arc.tzo.com/ham/upgrade.zip After you download the ZIP file, unzip it and move upgrade.exe into the same folder where popnote.exe exist. You may wish to backup or rename the original upgrade.exe first, otherwise just overwrite it. Hopefully this new upgrade utility will fix the the double upgrade problem. For those interested in HOW the upgrade utility works, you can read all about it here: http://arc.tzo.com/ham/pn_tech_up.txt -[30]-