
Ŀ
 The History of DOSSBOSS 


DOSSBOSS was written in assembler and assembled using the rather impressive
shareware assembler, A86 V3.22 & debugger, D86 V3.22 (both copyrighted
1986-90 by Eric Isaacson). Thanks to Eric for a great development tool!

July 1994	- Beta Releases v1.0 and v1.01 and v1.1 of DOSSBOSS
		  (distributed to a few individuals who helped me work out
		   some bugs. Thx!)
August 12, 1994 - First General Release = v1.2
Sept.1-10, 1994 - Release of version 2.0
Dec.6,   1994   - Release of version 2.5
January  1995   - Totally reworked interface to make it more standardized,
		  and user-friendly. Generally whipped the whole product into
		  Shape!
February 1995	- Released version 3.0
April 1995	- Released version 3.1 (100% mouse compatibility finally!)
August 1995	- Released version 4.0


Details of Changes (by version number)


New in version 4.0

 * changed install procedure (see file SETUP.TXT)
 * Now the <BackSpace> key (instead of <Escape>) will move you to the parent
   directory when you are in the file window.
 * The jump and swap commands now work with the target directory as well as
   with the bookmarks.
 * you can now provide your own 'pause' routine.
 * new version of BOSSVIEW (allows help file to be viewed in multi-color and
   has added commands for printing and jumping quickly from table of contents
   to appropriate document sections).
 * new version of BOSSKEY which can now be used to clear the keyboard buffer,
   as well as stuff it.
 * you can now specify whether or not the screen is cleared before a tool runs.
 * rearranged tool-edit-screen command menu & some of its hotkeys.
 * can now call SYS_ALLDIRSx tools more than once from a tool. See manual
   for details on how this should be done.
 * DOSSBOSS now checks to ensure tool names don't include invalid characters.
 * DBFIX.EXE file added.

New in version 3.1

 * finally all screens in DOSSBOSS are 100% mouse compatible!
 * can now switch directories from the file window as well as the directory
   window.
 * new secondary line type for automatically jumping to end of tool after
   execution of a command
 * variable %i now can be up to 65 characters long. Also, when choosing what
   to over-ride %i with, more choice is now available.
 * added fast-find command for pages, and changed key stroke sequence for
  fast-find on tool list.
 * mouse usage changed, so that the mouse buttons can be used in a greater
   variety of ways (especially over the file window).

New in version 3.0

 * totally redesigned user interface, which has a more standardized approach
   to keyboard usage, is generally much easier to use, and looks better.
   Some of the more major changes include: shadowed windows on the main
   screen, switch from pull-down menus to one-key-stroke command menus,
   more standardized way of tagging/untagging files, more on-screen messages
   and improved on-line help facilities. Many other miscellaneous improvements
   which make it more pleasant to use.
 * improved support for monochrome monitors of the grey-scale variety.
 * improved mouse support!
 * Now there are 6 bookmarks which can be used (not just one). They can be
   viewed, set and jumped to (& they now also work across drives). You can
   also quickly copy/move files to the bookmark directories.
 * when sorting files by date or size, you can now choose between ascending
   or descending order.
 * added fast find command on tool list display.
 * frequently used DOS commands will now stay on the DOSSBOSS stack longer.
 * changed format of To-Do-List file, so that you can now print off your
   To-Do-List (tool is supplied to do the printing).
 * files pointed to by variables %1 & %2 can now be quickly jumped to in
   the file window.
 * changed way in which to over-ride tool input (%i) when tool launched.
 * remove ability to have personalized title below menu. This line is now
   used by DOSSBOSS to tell you when it is 'Busy Working...'
 * DOSSBOSS can now adjust the keyboard delay & repeat rate values for
   you (to make them a bit faster if desired).
 * allow delete of (or emptying of) non-empty directories
 * added command to FULLY expand all lower level branches of a directory
 * added ability to copy a partial directory tree (with OR without its files)
   into another directory.
 * enhanced tagging commands include ability to toggle all tags, or to
   tag all files having an extension similar to the currently selected file.
 * add ability to change attributes of a directory (eg. to hide directories)
 * Bug fixed - tool list was not displaying names correctly if the tool file
   was greater than 64K.
 * Bug fixed - collapsing root directory of LARGE directory tree could have
   caused the system to hang or act funny under a set of limited
   circumstances.
 * Bug fixed - only 256 tagged files were being processed at a time (when
   more then 256 files tagged).

New in version 2.5

 * New viewing utility: BOSSVIEW.EXE
 * If expanding directory near bottom of directory window, the directory
   window contents will now shift up if necessary to display the results of
   the expansion.
 * Allow delete and move of read-only files now (after warning the user).
 * Allow user to directly turn off repeating reminders when they popup.
 * Now allow user to switch any of a file's (or multiple files) attributes
   on or off (not just the read only attribute).
 * Allow copy/move of file(s) to be done to target directory (%t).
 * Added ability to import small batch files into tools.
 * Added command to edit the file Association Tool.

New in version 2.2

 * Upgrading was a problem because system tools were not being replaced.
   DOSSBOSS is now able to detect old tool files and update the system
   tools in them.
 * Bug fixed - Moving or copying a file onto itself was not being prevented
   in the root directory of a drive. Sorry about that one!