Documentation Update
Product: Comet2005Workstation359.exe Version: Comet 2005 Build 359 Date: September 16, 2005 1. For Windows printers, the default to skip initial formfeed is now TRUE. 2. A GPF that could have occurred during printing has been corrected. 3. A change has been made in determining the location of the CosW.ini file to accommodate the needs of Citrix users. 4. E99s were erroneously being reported as E00. This has been corrected. 5. A minor bug was fixed in comet Explorer that could have caused incorrect file types to be displayed. 6. The Delete Chain utility in Comet Explorer now properly displays the chain entries for legacy keyed files.
Changes in previous releases: Build 358 1. Corrected a problem that could cause Comet to crash when writing to a CFAM text file following a GetGlobal or SetGlobal. The error message displayed was: cosh crash at addr: 0005:2986. 2. Corrected a problem that could crash COSW when using blind mode in a small window (CreateWindow). 3. COSC will now shutdown ClibNetServe more quickly to avoid problems when restarting Comet. Build 357 1. Corrected a problem introduced in .355 that prevented W98 systems from running Comet. 2. Corrected a problem that could have included extraneous characters in the pdf filename created for output to a pdf printer. 3. Corrected a problem introduced in .355 that could have caused the CosW.ini file in the Windows folder to be superceded by a new one in the new "Documents and Settings" folder. This may have caused you to loose your custom settings. The original settings can easily be regained by deleting the new file. Build 356 1. A problem introduced in .355 that prevented the READIMAGE and REWRITEIMAGE verbs from compiling has been corrected. 2. A problem introduced in .355 that prevented the Email Printer from working properly has been corrected. 3. A problem introduced in .355 that prevented html and pdf documents from not being created in the correct folder has been corrected. 4. A problem supporting the Windows API changes in WDL 05.01 release has been corrected. 5. A change to the new, alternate location of CosW.ini has been made. Instead of <drive>:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\Signature Systems, the locations may be <drive>:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Signature Systems. To reiterate, this folder is automatically created when Comet is run, but we do not automatically move the file. If there is no COSW.INI on the system (new installation) it will be created in the Documents & Settings folder described above. Users will no longer require write access to the Windows folder. Build 355 1. Corrected a problem found in copying text from Comet to the Windows clipboard. 2. Corrected a problem that prevented html and text printers from working if no CFAM diretories were accessed. 3. Enhancements were added to support the latest Windows API changes (WDL 05.01). 4. New SetGlobal and GetGlobal verbs have been added to IB. This introduces a type of global memory that is specific to the partition. You can use it to store up to 8000 bytes of data, such as user identification information. The syntax is similar to an I/O statement using a format to define the layout of the data: SetGlobal (1,UserInfo) [,EXCP=9000] The syntax for GetGlobal is the same. In the above example, UserInfo is a FORMAT statement with a variable list. The 1 indicates that this is user information. We have reserved 0 in its place for system information. In the future, we may use this to return PSTAT-like information and only GetGlobal will be allowed (you may not "set" this information). For now, the only valid value for that first parameter is 1. Possible exceptions generated by the call are: E47 if the first parameter is invalid E51 if GetGlobal is done before SetGlobal for user information 5. Changes have been made to CFAM to improve read/write/run performance for type "C" directories. 6. CFAM and CLibNetServe will now shut themselves down if Comet abends. 7. CLibNetServe no longer needs to be registered. 8. Corrected a problem introduced in .344 with Windows, excp spool, ? printers. 9. Comet now has the ability to use COSW.INI from the Documents & Settings folder. The user must move an existing COSW.INI file from Windows (WINNT) folder to <drive>:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\Signature Systems. This folder is automatically created when Comet (355) is run, but we do not automatically move the file. If there is no COSW.INI on the system (new installation) it will be created in the Documents & Settings folder described above. Users will no longer require write access to the Windows folder. 10. Debugger Corrected a problem that reported the incorrect length and precision information for ROUNDed variables. By default, the Debugger will stop on the RUN or ENTER of a program. 11. Comet Explorer - KeyBuild now allowed for non-keyed file types - New File Find utility has been added - New utility to create a Comet directory has been added Build 354 1. Backed out OPEN speedup changes for CFAM and recent enhancements to CosC which were suspected of causing unpredictable results. Build 353 1. Corrected a problem that could have caused the following error to popup: CometLib: CoInitialize has not been called. 2. The minimal workstation install (for network workstations) is no longer installing all the Comet executables. It installs only the necessary .dlls.
Build 352 1. Corrected a problem that could have caused an Error 00 on an ERASE of a file where the directory was not specifed and all of the directories were CFAM. 2. Corrected a problem in CosP that could have caused an extra (FF) to be issued when using the (SetPrinterInfo) mnemonic. 3. Corrected a problem that could have caused a "Component Move Data Error" on one of the Comet .dlls when running the Workstation Install. 4. Corrected an problem in Comet.exe that could have caused a "Library not registered" error when starting Comet.
Build 351 1. Changes were made to improve the performance of OPENs done for CFAM files where no directory is specified. To get the benefit of this change, you must also be running CometServe version 5.05 or higher and all of your accessed directories must be CFAM directories.
Build 350 1. This is the first official release of Comet 2005.
Build 349 1. The drop-dead date for the Comet 2005 beta test period has been extended to April 1, 2005. 2. A problem was corrected that could have caused events for Windows programs to not be recognized. 3. The user's name will now be included in the DocMgr display for a document if you have either IDFILE or a security password file with information for that user.
Build 348 1. A problem introduced in version .343 that allowed configured DABs beyond 49 to be included in file searches has been corrected. Note: the DABs were being included even for password protected systems, which allow specification of only the first 50 DABs. 2. Changes were made in support of improved RUN performance for CFAM configurations. CometServe 5.03 or higher is required for this enhancement. 3. CosP now uses printer configuration information contained in CoswGlob.ini. No /INI= command override is available at this time. 4. When dialog boxes are displayed in a minimized Comet window, the window will automatically be restored. 5. A problem which could have caused an E31 if more than one user tried to OPEN "X00" has been corrected.
Build 347 1. The system font is now set for pdf printers. 2. The Comet Explorer Utility executable files are now released as part of the workstation install rather than as part of UTL. Here are the changes in this release: Comet Explorer is now available to Comet Anywhere clients. This requires REL version 05.02. The Comet Anywhere host must be an NT-based system (ie not Windows 98SE). At this time, the Comet Explorer Maintenance Utility may not be used for text files on a Comet Anywhere client. The count of the number of files displayed for a directory is now shown on the status line at the bottom of the Explorer window. In addition to the hyperlink provided in QMONITOR, you may either RUN or ENTER a new program called CometEx to do the launch. CometEx is released as part of REL. The temporary files created for output from the Comet Explorer utilities are now created in $(CATEMP) and no longer have qdir entries. Note: For best performance, CometServe version 5.01 or higher is recommended. Note: If, when trying to run comet Explorer on a Comet Anywhere client, you get an error message indicating that mfc71.dll or msvcr71.dll cannot be found, you will need to run the workstation install on this client. We intend to elimintate this need in a future release. 3. A new program will now be used to perform the Comet Anywhere client update. Called CAUpdate.exe, it will be released as part of the workstation install. It is launched by either CMONITOR or a new IB program called CAUPD which is introduced in the REL0502 release. CAUpdate.exe replaces CAUPD.exe. This new process no longer requires user intervention so it may be performed from an automated Comet session. Note: Due to a problem with the .344 version of CopyFile, clients running version .344 of CosW will not be able to do the automatic update. You will need to install another version of CosW first. Either an older version or a newer version will be sufficient. 4. A problem has been corrected that could have caused an error: "cosw: system error: The system cannot find the file specified" if the $(CATEMP) alias had not yet been created. 5. A problem has been corrected that could have caused a document sent to an html or text printer not to launch if a write was done to a type "S" file just prior to the printer close. 6. The device type for HTM and TXT printers is now forced to uppercase at startup. Previously, if the printer's configuration information specified the device type in lower case, QMONITOR did not properly recognize its type.
Build 346 1. Support added for new Document Archive and DocMgr utility. 2. Increased maximum luns to 100 (0 thru 99) WARNING: Comet systems prior to version .345 running programs compiled with constant LUNs > 49 will substitute LUN 0 for the LUN specified. This could cause unpredictable results!! (Beginning with version .345, Comet 2004 will generate an error 47.) 3. Corrected a problem introduced in .344 that would cause FSTAT of a type "L" file with no dir specified to report E11 when the file was actually there. This was only a problem if CFAM dirs were also present in the configuration. 4. Numeric values written to a CFAM text file with the (LM) mnemonic now properly include the minus sign. 5. Changes required for improved Comet Explorer performance when loading a directory of files. Also required for this enhancement is CometServe 5.01 or higher and UTL0501 or higher. 6. Added support for (Document=) mnemonic to html and text printer. 7. The full pathname name of the original document created for output to a pdf, html, or text printer is now always available by reading # buffer following a Close of the printer. Previously file information was only available if a DES program was being used. Note: Beginning in Comet 2005, the full pathname of the file is now returned, not just the file name. Furthermore, html and text printers will now direct their output to the Windows temp folder rather than $(CATEMP). This is a change from prior systems and may require a small change to applications using this information. (The destination for pdf documents is controlled through the properties of the printer.)
Build 345 1. Files opened with a DOS open call on CFAM directories are now properly closed upon an EXIT or run of QMONITOR if not closed by the application. 2. Corrected a problem using the (BZ) mnemonic on a variable with a value of 0 in a formatted write to a CFAM text file. The results were unpredictable and ranged from an E50 to a Comet crash.
Build 344 1. New pdf Printer and supporting mnemonic. This requires REL 04.09 or higher. 2. Cascading printers are no longer required to deal with an unavailable printer (E31) that is configured as type "W", "H", "T", or "P". The printer will appear to be available to the application automatically. 3. Internet Basic Debugger now works properly with 16.0 numeric variables. 4. Corrected a problem that could have prevented Comet.exe from successfully copying the Comet executables to the temp dir if they have read-only attributes. 5. CFAM now supports library object files. This requires CometServe 4.11 or higher. 6. A dos write of 0 bytes using CometLib now properly truncates the file at current position. 7. E99/02 no longer is issued for rename of a type "L" or "S" file if CFAM is running. 8. Corrected a problem that could have caused E99 or file corruption after an open of a type "N" or "L" file if the open count exceeds 255. Please be aware that open counts can inflate quickly in an application that does multiple levels of ENTERs because each level inherits all the files that where open at the prior level. 9. Corrected a problem that could have caused problems for users reading a device after doing I/O to a CFAM text file. One symptom is that sort driver users (the Reporter and Data Express) would only get one record returned. 10. Comet will now abort with an internal error #72 if the user memory becomes corrupted. It will also generate a file called C:\CometL.dmp. If you receive this error, please post this file to the support forum for our evaluation.
Build 343 1. Eliminated a possible crash caused by an unsupported spool mnemonic (SJ). 2. E44 is no longer erroneously issued on I/O to key-only CFAM file. 3. E44 will be issued if you try to exceed 1024-byte I/O to a legacy keyed file regardless of whether you have E44 reporting configured or not. 4. Eliminated a potential crash when doing dos read/write in a CFAM installation. 5. An attempt to use a ? printer where a previously used ? printer was no longer configured now properly pops up the selection dialog. 6. Spurious E30 when opening a Windows printer has been eliminated. 7. CosC no longer crashes if a file with an invalid Window's date was transfered. 8. For improved security, CFAM now will only connect to servers with non-routable IP addresses. 9. Drop-dead date for beta testing has been extended to February 1, 2005.
Build 342 1. A problem with drag-and-drop in Comet Explorer has been corrected so that it no longer crashes. 2. The beta test drop-dead date has been extended to December 1, 2004.
Build 341 1. New FSTAT layout to support extended keyed files. The key size is located at position 31 for 3 bytes and the key position is at 139 for 4 bytes. The file type for extended keyed files will be "K" (in the first byte returned by FSTAT). To distinguish between legacy keyed files and extended, a hexidecimal representation of the file type will be returned in position 143. For extended keyed files, this will be @24@.