4.621 Release Note

Date	File	Description
14 Feb 2004	All	4.621 is now available as a complete DP4 release. The install program has been updated and the new release incorporates a number of HTML applications that simplify DP4 configuration. The DP4 menu has been redesigned and is now similar to the new DP4 start menu.
14 Feb	syslibt.dll usrlibt.dll trmw32.dll tcpw.w32 syslibce.dll trmwce.dll tcpw.wce	These files implement a performance optimisation for the "named connection" network configuration: if a connection is local, the application will learn to pass requests directly to the database manager and will completely bypass the DP4 network requester apart from a few initialisation and termination calls. This optimisation has been implemented because although the overhead of the network connection is very slight on regular Windows it is quite noticeable on Windows CE. With this enhancement there is effectively no difference in performance from a stand-alone configuration. Please note the following points: All these files must be upgraded together - failure to do so will cause problems, especially if applications connect to Unix or Linux based servers, or if a 4.620 ADC is loaded. The new syslibt.dll is not compatible with earlier releases of 4.620 support for 16 bit Windows and DOS applications. New versions of the relevant components have been added to the 4.621 download and should also be used.
13 Jan	dp4res32.dll	Includes icons for further utilities. The missing icons have been added because the 4.621 system database has an improved DP4 menu.
13 Jan	dp4.ini dp4ini.inf	Some further use of use_viewer and refresh_interval with standard DP4 utilities.
13 Jan	dp4srvr	Empty commit units could cause unnecessary transaction log file entries to be written. This is a long-standing but very minor bug without any adverse consequences other than slight performance degradation.
12 Jan	makedb.exe setlink.exe System Database	SETLINK has a new option which makes it easy to get rid of secondary indexes that are switched on unnecessarily.
09 Jan	Most	dbrecov now has additional file buffering built into it, in order to make it run faster on Windows CE. It also now displays a progress indicator. reorgdb.exe,dbrecov.exe and dbcheck.exe all now automatically detect whether the database is local or not, so there is no need to use the -local command tail. The new versions use new interface functions and are not compatible with 4.620. Make sure all files are upgraded to the latest 4.621 before using these programs. srvwce now correctly displays a taskbar icon on Pocket PC. The old version did not because of a bug in Windows CE which we have now found a work-around for. A new version of errlog is provided. On Windows CE the old version did not successfully capture all DP4 diagnostics due to a problem with thread scheduling in Windows CE. The new version displays a horizontal as well as a vertical scrollbar when debug_echo is in effect. Also previous 4.621 releases wrote debug.out files that were not viewable in notepad. dp4srvr.wce now uses a somewhat larger amount of memory for file buffering by default (1024K instead of 256K. This has been done because solid state disks are usually slow, and so that 4096 byte buffers can be used instead of 512 byte buffers. You are recommended to experiment with using 4096 byte size index nodes on CE devices. See Advanced Database Properties in REORGDB. Windows CE executables now support the Explorer Version Tab when viewed on a Windows machine. Most have icons that work better on Windows CE than in previous releases. Autoload is slightly more reliable on Windows CE.
16 Dec 2003	auxdistr.w32	When auxdistr.w32 is loaded 4.620 sysdb program generated fail 11 error. A similar problem would occur running any program using a "file-only" type connection. This version is compatible with 4.620, and the bug will not be fixed in the 4.620 release.
3 Dec	syslibt.dll	The maximum number of programs using DP4 functions that could be run simultaneously on a single machine was previously limited to 128. This limit is now configurable via new max_programs setting in dp4.ini.
29 Nov	Windows CE	trmwce.dll now works correctly with ordinary userdata.sys file - i.e. one containing Windows Default colours. Error messages in dp4.ini have been adjusted to work better on Pocket PC format screens. view.exe now implemented and will be used for viewing print-outs to screen. New special version of system database supplied with 4.5xx and maps not used by DP4 for Windows CE removed and many maps adjusted to work better with Pocket PC format screen.
25 Nov	trmwce.dll tcpw.wce tcpmgr.wce	Support for controlling auto-suspend of Windows CE devices. See documentation of new keep_awake setting in dp4.ini.
21 Nov	usrlibt.dll	Attempts to clean up any DP4 process handles a program forgot to clean up itself. This is only effective when applications terminate relatively cleanly - it does not cater for programs that are terminated with TerminateProcess() or an exception.
21 Nov	srvw32.exe dp4.ini	If the DP4 Service was started with srvw32 -start and failed to start because one the programs terminated with an error code srvw32.exe displayed an inaccurate message box. The message has been changed to refer the user to the Application event log.
17 Nov	trmw32.dll	If a DP4 program failed to initialise and a second DP4 program failed to initialise before the fail message for the first program was dismissed then the second program reported an incorrect fail error about opening syslog.prn rather than the correct "failed to initialise message". This bug was introduced in 4.620.
10 Nov	progmake.exe mapmake.exe	Work better with -windows style userdata.sys.
28 Oct	dfprint.exe	Single-line Static Text controls with the Centre Justification property should be vertically centred as well. Previously DFPRINT did not respect this. Note that edit controls are NEVER vertically centred. Use an embedded data item in a static control if you want to vertically centre text dynamically.
27 Oct	auxdistr.w32	With AUXDISTR loaded a fetch on the @network table for table 0 (the default layout) could return incorrect data. Although this did not affect where data was read from directly it is possible that an application might post back a modified version of this record and thereby unintentionally alter the network layout. This incorrect read would happen whenever the @network table for table 0 was read immediately after an operation on a table that did not use the default layout.
27 Oct	load.exe	Now shows negative count while deleting records to provide feedback during deletion.
21 Oct	trmw32.dll dfprint.exe dfsetup.exe System Database dp4.ini	DFPRINT now has the ability to create files that can be viewed using Word, Word Viewer, or other applications, that contain a complete WYSIWYG version of the report including any graphics. For more details refer to Configuring DFPRINT PODs or Printing using DFPRINT. In addition HTML created by TRMW32.DLL no longer requires separate stylesheet files, and renders correctly with more browsers
04 Oct	dfsetup.exe System database	Allows slightly longer pathnames and bigger log file sizes
04 Oct	srvw32.exe	srvw32 -install creates service description
22 Sep	fail.exe System database	Can be run interactively with 5 digit OS error codes - old version was restricted to two digits.
22 Sep	tcpmgr.w32 tcpw.w32	Added -debug_connect option which includes -debug_error and connection related diagnostics.
11 Sep	auxdistr.w32	The typenr of the record responsible for a commit failure (fail_typenr) was not reported correctly when AUXDISTR was in use. This is a bug that from at lease 4.620 and most likely 4.617 and on though this has not been verified. The 4.621 version is compatible with 4.620, if the fix is required on a 4.620 based system.
8 Sep	srvw32.exe	No longer requires administrator privileges to autoload DP4 as a service. DP4 Service can be started and stopped using srvw32 -start/srvw32 -stop by "Power Users" on Windows 2000/XP. On Windows NT you would need to use the subinacl utility from a Windows 2000 Server Resource kit CD to allow non administrative users to start and stop the DP4 service. You can also use the same tool to configure who can control the DP4 service on Windows 2000/XP, or you can use a security template.
5 Sep	trmw32.dll mapedit.exe maped09.dll	Fixes bug with Radio Button processing when clearfirst is 2. trmw32.dll expected to find one radio button with "default button" property set, but mapedit did not allow this to be set up. trmw32.dll fixed to work with buttons groups without a default button, and mapedit fixed to allow "default button" property to be set.
19 Aug	progrun.exe progrund.exe progcomp.exe System database	New standard variable qsmart_position introduced - allows enhanced behaviour on Window access using non unique secondary indexes.
18 Aug	trmw32.dll	QAB G Fields only worked with display fields, and not in printing.
14 Aug	dp4ini.inf	inf file that can be used to upgrade customised 4.620 dp4.ini files to 4.621. To use: Copy the file to the directory containing dp4.ini Open the file with explorer, right click and choose Install To update a dp4.ini file using dp4ini.inf from a batch file use the following: `rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection dp4ini.inf,DefaultInstall` dp4ini.inf must be in the same directory as the dp4.ini to be updated.
14 Aug	syslibt.dll	Windows Error information in messages from srvw32.exe, ODBC and SQL was not as friendly as it should be.
14 Aug	srvw32.exe dp4.ini	Error message when DP4 service fails to start improved (uses new eventlog entry in [errmsg] section of dp4.ini) Also event log now uses service title rather than service name, so srvw32 -install is required.
6 Aug	progmake.exe	-no_message option added to disable automatic generation of messages
28 Jul	tcpw.w32	Added workaround for bug in Windows NT wsock32.dll (failure to report connection refusal).
28 Jul	auxdistr.w32	Method of selecting servers in duplex configurations changed to make non unique secondary indexes work well.
10 Jul	dp4srvr.w32	Enhanced to allow dynaback -copy to be used to back up a database when Transaction Logging is turned off. Previously this generated system error 77
10 Jun	trmw32.dll dfsetup.exe mappost.exe System database	Two useful enhancements to printing are now available: You can create multiple instances of the DFPRINT device, each associated with a different Windows printer. The printer name to be used can either be hard coded, read from an environment variable of your choice, or read from the DP4 configuration file. To use this enhancement create a new POD based on DFPRINT and then select the configure POD option and read the help message. See the attached HTML screen shot. In DFSETUP you can now configure a print device to force 4.500 maps to be used when printing. The latest trmw32.dll will revert to using 4.5xx maps when printing to such a print device, allowing you to continue to use maps that have colour information embedded in them to control underlining, bold text etc. You must install all the files mentioned for either of these enhancements to work correctly
21 May	trmw32.dll mapedit.exe	Run time help editing is now possible if help authoring is turned on. It is also possible to edit the map at the same time.
16 May	tcpw tcpmgr	tcpw now supports multi-threading and fast rerouting of calls to local server to improve performance of the named server configuration.
29 Apr	tcpw tcpmgr	tcpmgr now listens on all network addresses including ones created after it is loaded tcpw detects offline servers quickly.
28 Apr	QABUTIL	QABUTIL option to export differences from another database now works well even if the internal numbers on the two databases are different.
16 Apr	THUMB	DP4 for Windows CE is now supported on Intel XScale devices running CE.Net 4
14 Apr	Most	Print output to screen can be captured in a viewer program of your choice with use_viewer and viewer setting. DP4ED and VIEW can use full size of screen and are not limited to an 80*28 window as in earlier versions
10 Apr	trmw32.dll dp4.ini	Frequency of comfort output can be reduced to speed up batch programs using new refresh_interval setting
10 Apr	Help Files	Browse sequences did not work on XP/2000. DP4 Documentation is now installable using the DP4 install program - it correctly installs and registers the required ActiveX component for browse sequences.