Release 1.7A was completed on 05/09/98. The following are enhancements, changes, and fixes that occurred after Release 1.6A was made available.
Enhancements / Changes
The ProcParse command now accepts 24 parameters. The prior limit was 12.
The maximum length of the search pattern operands for locate-type commands has been increased from 48 to 72.
The CursEndSess command has been changed to not only move the session position to the end-of-session line, but to also position the end-of-session line at the bottom of the session display area. If such positioning causes the top-of-session line to be positioned after the top-most postion of the session display area, the view is then adjusted so that the top-of-session line is displayed at the top of the session display area. The CursEndVert command is also affected by this change as it calls CursEndSess
The CursHomeSess command has been changed to not only move the session position to the top-of-session line, but to also position the top-of-session line at the top of the session display area. The CursHomeVert command is also affected by this change as it calls CursHomeSess
The ExcludeAll command now adjusts the view so that the top-of-session line is positioned at the top of the session display area.
The Qualify command now adjusts the view so that the top-of-session line is positioned at or before the top of the session display area if the line where the cursor was positioned did not satisfy the Qualify.
Sessions can now be closed even when a selection is active. The edit was deemed unnecessary.
If a command is entered on the command line, and the %EditEscape command is invoked (normally by pressing the Escape key), causing the command line to clear, the command is now logged to the Command Log.
If, while the command line is blank, the environment is switched so that the typing cursor is active in the session area, the Command Log position is now reset to the tail position.
BIM-EDIT/XP normally establishes three communications sessions between the PC side and the host side. However, this is not possible for Windows 3.1 systems, and may not be practical at a given site due to the availability of LUs. Since BIM-EDIT/XP was notified of pending mail through the second session, notification of mail was not available for those sites running single communication sessions. In addition, if the communication session was terminated for some reason other than a logoff, the user was not informed of the disconnect, and was unaware of it until some later process attempted communication with the host. An option has been added that causes BIM-EDIT/XP to query the host for pending mail at user-specified intervals. A byproduct of this feature is that a communication disconnect will be reported if an error occurs during the query mail. Note that this feature requires that BIM-EDIT/XP server (a.k.a. BIM-EDIT) be at release 5.2A or greater.
The McbUpdLi variable was created to control whether List sessions are updatedable (though not saveable). Default is Off. This provides equivalent function to the BIM-EDIT DISPLAY and DISPLAYD commands.
The McbUpdDg variable was created to control whether an 'Updates not Allowed. Do you wish to allow updates?' dialog box appears when attempting to update Display and List sessions. Default is On.
The FILTER operand was added to all of the Find Commands. With FILTER you can eliminate unwanted hits in a search operation. For example, if the search string is "DATE" and the FILTER string is "(UPDATE,VALIDATE)", occurrences of "update" and "validate" in a file will not satisfy the search.
If an attempt is made to invoke BIM-EDIT/XP after an instance of BIM-EDIT/XP is already active, rather than display an error message, the original instance of BIM-EDIT/XP will display.
BIM-EDIT/XP now accepts a file path value as a parameter at startup time. After startup, an Edit session of this file is created. This feature allows BIM-EDIT/XP Edit sessions to be created from other products. For example, you can set Windows 95 options such that clicking on an icon for a .TXT file causes an BIM-EDIT/XP Edit session of the file to be created.
The Host ROUTEP (VSE) command command is now available to sites running BIM-EDIT 5.2B.
For Windows 95, Windows NT, and OS/2 systems, this release in conjunction with BIM-EDIT release 5.2B, allows the connection between the workstation and host to be made using one of the following implementations of TCP/IP:
TCP/IP for VSE (Connectivity Systems)
Open Connect Systems TCP/IP
MVS TCP/IP release 3.1 or greater
For workstation directories, the FileLibrary command now shows both files and directories within a given directory, thus facilitating navigation through the file system hierarchical directory structure. The DIR operand was added. If DIR is specified as "No" or "Off", only file entries are not displayed.
Context-sensitive popup menus have been added for most sessions. Pointing at an object and pressing mouse button two activates the popup menu. The menus are defined by a set of members of the form POPxxxx.CTL. Most popup menus can be customized by placing an updated POPxxxx.CTL file in the site or user directory. See Popup Menu Definition Table.
The FileCopy command can now be used to copy a file from one BIM-EDIT system to another. By default, both the audit trail and stamps are copied. Other attributes are always copied.
The "(Lc)" prefix is no longer displayed for workstation files.
The McbClrBg (if McbClrBU is set on) now specifies the background color for session windows. McbClrBg is specified as an RGB value in the following format rrr-ggg-bbb, where rrr, ggg, and bbb are values 1 through 255. McbClrBg is only used if McbClrBU is set on.
The format of the system information line has changed slightly. The "Lc", current-host, attached-local-dir, and attached-host-dir fields have been condensed into an attached-local-dir and an attached-host-dir field with the system prefixes. The system/dir that is current is always underlined. Clicking on the non-current system causes it to become current. Double-clicking on a system causes it to become current if not current and to display a listing of the directory contents. Clicking on a system with the right mouse button presents a popup-menu of choices.
The CalcTotal command will now ignore a leading dollar sign ($).
The EditShift command ZONE operand default for a session with sequence numbering on has changed slightly. If the sequence number column range is at the beginning of the current zone, the ZONE default now begins at the column just after the sequence number column range. If the sequence number column range is at the end of the current zone, the ZONE default now ends at the column just before the sequence number column range. This allows shifting without affecting the sequence number.
A new entry type has been added to the Command Definition Table. If type is specified as 'S', the logical command will invoke a specified command string.
The CursHomeData now bypasses sequence numbers at the beginning of a zone.
The FileDownload command has been added. This command causes a specified file to be copied from a host system to the currently attached workstation directory. An extension is added to the workstation file name based upon the control file DFNDWNL.CTL.
The ContextDownload command command has been added. This command causes the files referenced by the selection or cursor context to be downloaded. For each item referenced, ContextDownload invokes FileDownload.
The FileUpload command has been added. This command causes a specified file to be copied from the workstation to the currently attached host directory. The workstation file extension is removed from the host name based upon the control file DFNDWNL.CTL.
The ContextUpload command command has been added. This command causes the files referenced by the selection or cursor context to be uploaded. For each item referenced, ContextUpload invokes FileUpload.
On VSE systems, 'ALL' is now accepted for the JobLibrary complete job operand. If 'ALL' is specified, it is replaced with "*.*", thus causing all jobs in all queues to be displayed.
Fixes
The SessionCompare command failed to update the session line and column number values. Fixed.
If an 'H'-type entry exists in the site or user command table that matches an entry processed at a higher level, a 3820/0200 error occurs when loading the command table. Fixed.
The FilePrint command fails to print the file name in the page heading. Fixed.
On the Windows 3.1 platform, when using a Netware for SAA communications link, mouse operations that caused the view to change vertically (a.k.a., selection by dragging) caused various problems if the PC side was waiting for data from the host. Fixed.
On the Windows 3.1 platform, a 1381/0200 error occurred. Theoretically, the error and other similar errors could have been triggered by a number of events. In practice, the error appeared during Qualify or SessionShowExcluded operations.
For MAPF screens, the cursor position is not correctly set when typing causes an automatic skip to the next field. This causes subsequent cursor movement commands to misbehave. Fixed.
The SessionCompare command functioned correctly only if all lines for both sessions were present at the PC. Fixed.
If the session sequence column range is changed by the SessionAlter command, and an Undo operation subsequently backs out the change, various editing errors, including 1405/0100 or 1401/0200, may occur. Fixed.
If a grid or column selection is active, and if a subsequent deselect mode is entered and passed through the selection such that no columns are currently selected, the entire scale line was then displayed in reverse video. That was as it should be. However, when the selection was inactivated, the scale line remained displayed in reverse video. Fixed.
Undo of a column or grid selection left the grid marker reversed from its correct video status. Fixed.
If a grid or column selection is active, and if a subsequent deselect mode is entered and passed through the selection such that no columns are currently selected, and if the Undo command was pressed to reactivate the selected columns, the full scale line rather than just the selected columns was displayed in reverse video. Fixed.
The SessionDownload command downloaded only lines in the current logical session that were not excluded. Fixed such that all lines for both the text and the audit trail are downloaded.
The EditUndo command failed to back out TabHorizontalSet operations. Fixed.
The EditUndo command failed to correctly position the cursor in certain cases for the non-current views. Fixed.
The EditUndo command failed to back out ZoneIgnore, ZoneBegin, ZoneEnd, ZoneContract, ZoneExpand, and ZoneSet operations. Fixed.
The SessionAlter command ZONE parameter was not functioning. Fixed.
The SessionAlter command TCOL parameter was not functioning. Fixed.
If the DeselectAll command was invoked when no lines were selected, it activated a selection. Fixed. If the DeselectPattern command was invoked when no lines were selected, it activated a selection. Fixed. If the ZoneEnd or ZoneSet command is invoked to set end-zone off for a column where the cursor is positioned in an "after" state, the cursor remains in an "after" state after end-zone is set off. Fixed, so that the cursor is returned to a normal state.
Under the Windows platforms, BIM-EDIT/XP could not be installed to or run within a directory name composed of two parts. For example, you could not install to a directory of name "C:". Fixed.
If typing is attempted on an updateable but protected session, the "update attempted" dialog is displayed. If the "allow updates" option is selected, typing is then allowed. If the EditUndo command is used to reverse the typing, the session protection flag is not restored. Fixed.
The ZoneBegin and ZoneEnd commands were defaulting to SKIP=ON. Per the documentation, the default should have been OFF. Fixed.
If the clipboard, either application or system, is being listed when BIM-EDIT/XP is shut down, BIM-EDIT/XP will abend on restart. The only option then is to delete the session checkpoint file. Fixed.
When a ClipList session of the system clipboard is ended, memory associated with the session is not freed. Fixed.
The iSessionAlter command dialog box failed to indicate the default Insert Mode value. Fixed.
If a Host file is being edited, and if a group of lines, but not all of the lines, are deleted such that the lines are not all downloaded to the PC, and if lines are subsequently inserted into the session, and if a Qualify, DeselectPattern, SelectPattern, IntegratePattern, or ExcludePattern is then entered, a 1454/0100 error occurs. Fixed.
If a ViewRotate ViewOpen, or ViewClose command is entered while in selection or deselection mode, the mode was not closed before rotating the view. Fixed.
If a 0-length value is entered for the OSTR operand of the EditChange command, EditChange uses the last referenced search pattern as the OSTR value. Fixed so that a 0-length value is rejected.
If a single backslash (\) is entered for a search-type operand, the backslash is interpreted as the start of an extended search pattern. Fixed so that a backslash entered alone is treated as a standard string.
If a 0-length value is entered for the search pattern operand of a search-type command, the operand defaulted to the last-referenced search pattern. Fixed so that a 0-length value is interpreted as a single blank.
The values that define the existence and size of the session table are not being checkpointed and restored. Fixed.
The PutClipboard command with FCT=1 and DEL=YES advances the cursor one line too far when ShowDeleted mode is active and the line being copied/deleted is a line added to the session. Fixed.
If the EditUndo command is used to reverse the deletion of a new line, the line stamp is not restored. Fixed.
If no sessions are active, a left-mouse click on the command line will not allow the cursor to be moved horizontally within the command line. Fixed.
OS/2 seems to corrupt session titles beyond 59 in length. BIM-EDIT/XP was changed so that titles are truncated at a length of 59.
The FileCopy command allowed a member to be created in BIM-EDIT with a name containing lower case characters. Fixed to prevent this.
The FileCopy, FileRename, and FileCatalogue commands failed with a 565/0100 error if the destination file name were specified in the form "dir.", that is, if the name portion of the full path was null. Fixed.
If session lines have been deleted, and ShowDeleted mode is active, the SessionSave command does not adjust the session cursor position to account for the physical deletion of the deleted lines. Fixed.
The SessionRotate command was not setting the last reference file and last referenced job values. Fixed.
The SCOPE operand of the JobLibrary command was being ignored. Fixed.
The file propagate character (*) was not working. Fixed so that commands such as 'copy temp *-back' work correctly.
Backward GOTOs were sometimes being rejected as invalid. Fixed.
The VarExamine abended. Fixed.
When deleting a Netware server file from the Windows platforms, it appears that Netware and/or Windows does not return proper sense information for a file-in-use condition or a security access condition, thus causing BIM-EDIT/XP to indicate that the file was deleted when in fact that it was not. BIM-EDIT/XP was changed such that it reports a generic error in this case.
The last referenced member type was not getting set properly on a SessionRotate command. Fixed.
The procedure processor was not reexamining lines for variable replacement. Fixed.
The FileLibrary command fmt=os2 display was not being sorted correctly. Fixed.
The FileCopy command fmt=sysin and fmt=binary converted multiple x'20' characters to an equivalent number of x'40' characters. Fmt=Sysin and fmt=binary should not translate anything. Fixed.
On the Windows platforms, attaching to the parent directory of a workstation directory by specifying "att .." worked, but the attached directory displayed in the information line was not reduced to the parent directory name. Instead, it contained the original directory plus a backslash following by the two periods. Fixed.
If a line updated by the EditResequence is later updated by any of a number of commands, the stamp does not get displayed. Fixed.
Certain combinations of update operations following a EditResequence operation can cause stamps to be incorrectly set. Fixed.
If the Power Lib display ORIGIN/DEST field is blanked out and saved, the field is rejected as invalid. Fixed.
If a selection is made with the PC-method, i.e., Shift + one of the cursor movement keys, if an additional selection is made via the mouse, all lines between the keyboard selection and mouse selection are selected. Fixed.
The CursAbsolute command limited the COL value to four digits. Fixed.
Procedure recursion caused an abend. Fixed to limit nesting to a depth of 12.
If an MAPF window gets resized, data previously entered on the panel will be lost when the MAPF completes. A 3258/0100 abend may occur. Fixed.
LABELs within the scope of a text-following mode were not being found by the GOTO statement. Fixed.
The FileProcess and FileCompile commands provided a misleading message when an included member was not found. Fixed.
The a host file for which syncing is active is edited or listed, and if /XP is then shut down and restarted, when the session is ended, the workstation copy of the file is stamped with an incorrect date. This causes the workstation file to be considered invalid when the next list or edit of the host file occurs. Fixed.
On the Windows platforms, type-ahead logic ignored duplicate characters. That is, if the string "hello" is entered in type-ahread, the second "l" will be lost, and /XP will process "helo". Fixed.
The SystemAttach command was not functioning as documented. The System operand was being ignored, thus always performing a toggle between the local and remote systems. Fixed.
On the Windows platforms, dialog boxes were being created in such a way that if the user clicked on the parent window, the dialog box would be hidden. BIM-EDIT/XP would then wait for the dialog box to complete, but the user would not see the dialog box. The impression was the BIM-EDIT/XP was hung. Fixed.
Update of a PWR JobLibrary display for the destination user was always rejected. Fixed.