Januari 2002 issue.
A copy of the earlier issues can be requested by email.
Dear user,First of all, we'd like to hand you our best wishes for the new year 2002 and we hope it may live up to your expectations.
Thank you for using our software products. With this newsletter, we would like to inform you about the progress that these projects have made over the last year and about our future plans with them.
We'd like to bring following items to your attention:
- MCBase V3.3 released
- Planned add-on functionality and developments for MCBase
- PictureBook V1.4 released
- SQLBox V1.0 released
- Preferred data backup solutions
- Website domain relocated
- Other new developments at Doldersum.com
On November 27th, we released MCBase V3.3. This new release is suitable for the Microsoft Windows95 operating system (or higher releases) and has following new features and improvements (for a full listing, see our Product Revisions page):
- All graphic memo's have been extended with a full screen viewer, zoom functions, import and export functions and a (configurable) coupling to work together with a image editing program.
- Previously, when adding new songtitles to the database system, the MCBase system always requested you to confirm the copying of the current songtitle relations to the next new songtitle. (If declined, all fields for the new song remain empty).
This behaviour is now made completely configurable, by setting your preferences on the "Special functions" tab page in the "Preferences" dialog.
- Added an option to the Sound Memo's, to enable the use of external media players to play sound clips, instead of using only the standard Windows sound system. After this function has been activated on the "External functions" tab page of the "Preferences" dialog, this function can be invoked by clicking the button with the "speaker" icon (which will then have taken the place of the Windows sound system controls).
- Added "hotkeys" for all menu commands, in order to provide the user with more flexability in accessing the functions required.
- Added popup menu's for the information, remarks and graphics memo's. These can be invoked by right clicking your mouse on the memo's editor.
- Added a function to MCBase's main window to open a "Collection Notes" document (the new button with the notepad icon). By default, no document is attached. Use your preferred editor or wordprocessor to create a document to hold your collection's notes, in any shape or form that you would prefer. Then access the "External functions" tab page in the "Preferences" dialog box and enter your new notes document in the "Collection notes - set preferred document" field. Executing the "Collection Notes" function will then open the configured document, using the application that is associated with the document's file extension.
- Corrected a bug in the MCBase listboxes. When working with an empty listbox, it could occur (under rare circumstances), that a user could instruct the listbox to issue a search command for an "empty" record. The routine to prevent this event from occuring, occasionally let such an erratic instruction pass through, instead of intercepting it. This functionality has now been improved.
- Modified the format of the text memo fields from fieldtype "formatted memo" to (standard) "memo", in order to improve compatibility with other database programs.
The utilities MCBaseGenerate.EXE and MCBaseRepair.EXE have been modified to provide and handle this functionality. The next time that you invoke the repair function (or create a new database), the memo field formats will be converted automatically.
Following add-on fuctions have been on our wishlist for quite a while now. Due to our busy development agenda they haven't been completed as yet, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about them. We would still very much like to implement following functions and we really would like to see these implemented in 2002:
- Data Import - Functions will be included to import data from other collection systems, by making use of the "Parsing" and "Comma (read: character) delimited file" concepts. These data interchange concepts have been around since the 1980's and are highly reliable. Apart from these general functions, some specific import converters will be included also, as for instance the capability to import a flat-file dBaseIII database . (Most programs are capable to handle a dBaseIII format - which makes it very suitable as a transfer format).
- Data Export - Exporting data to a flat-file dBaseIII database file (for general data export purposes) will also be added in the coming time.
If you - our MCBase user - would like to see certain new functions added to MCBase's palette, please let us know (preferably by using our User Response Form).
On November 18th, we released PictureBook V1.4. This new release is suitable for the Microsoft Windows95 operating system (or higher releases) and has following new features and improvements (for a full listing, see our Product Revisions page):
- Added a function to set the currently displayed image as a centered desktop wallpaper (menu command: "Image" - "Set as wallpaper").
- Added a function to execute your system's imaging software (for scanners and the like) from PictureBook. By default, the standard Windows utility "Imaging" will be selected for this task, but you may alter this to any other preferred application, by selecting and activating the program of your choice on the "External functions" tab page in the "Preferences" dialog.
- The bitmap editor function, introduced in PictureBook version 1.2, has been altered, to allow you to select a preferred bitmap editor over the one currently selected as the default bitmap editor on your system. (This external bitmap editor facility uses a temporary bitmap (.BMP) file). By default, the standard Microsoft Paint utility will be selected for this task, but you may alter this to any other preferred application, by selecting and activating the program of your choice on the "External functions" tabpage in the "Preferences" dialog.
- Modified the database design and memo data handling slightly, in order to improve compatibility with other database applications, where preferred. We changed the "Information" memo field from a type "Formatted memo" to normal type "Memo" and also added an option "Use only plain text..." to the "Preferences" dialog (on the "Special functions" tabpage). This will allow you to switch the memo editor to use only plain text, instead of "Rich Text Format" (RTF) style text. This too, is done in order to make the actual "Information" memo field contents compatible with those database applications, who do not support the use of "Rich Text Format" within memo fields.
- Added "hotkeys" for all menu commands, in order to provide the user with more flexability in accessing the functions required.
- Added a slide show function, that will display your images in a full screen view, one at a time, each during a certain amount of time. The user can set the preferred default image display time on the "Special functions" tab page of the "Preferences" dialog, expressed in milliseconds. During a slide show session, the display time can also be dynamically adjusted. A user can use image browse buttons, to skip back or forward during a slide show session. A pause function is included, during which image stretch mode and zoom functions will be active. If a search filter is active, the slide show will display the images within the active selection only.
On November 14th, we released our new product: SQLBox - "the SQL assignment processor". Using SQLBox, you can retrieve, edit or otherwise modify large amounts of database information with a single assignment. Once you grasp the concept of SQLBox and, of course, Structured Query Language, you'll appriciate this little "Box" - it's simple, quick and easy.
Any viewable result data, is instantly displayed on a view grid. The contents of both the tab pages (the assignment and it's result) are instantly printable, by using the print assignments (through a preview window, allowing you to judge your page before actually printing it).
SQL assignments are entered in the SQL editor on SQLBox's "SQL editor" tab page, which is opened at startup. Once entered (or retrieved from a previously saved .SQL assignment file), an assignment can be executed using the menu command "Assignment - Execute assignment" (or the appropriate toolbar button). Any viewable result data, collected after execution of a valid SQL assignment are displayed automatically on SQLBox's "View grid" tab page. (If the result of a particular assignment is not expressed in viewable data, you will be notified about this by SQLBox). Some examples, on how to compose an SQL assignment, are included in the helpfile and online manual.
The contents of both the tab pages (the assignment and it's result) are instantly printable, by using the print assignments. Also included with SQLBox is a built-in User Report Designer (URD), which will allow you to review and query your data in a fully user definable report layout. The URD reports to both screen and printer.
SQLBox is a very powerful database management tool and, by working with the Borland Database Engine (BDE), supports a wide range of database file types. (SQLBox ships with BDE version 4.0 and is therefor compatible with the Microsoft Windows95 operating system, or higher releases).
The most often question we get asked, is - in either one way or another - related to the implementation and regular use of a reliable data backup procedure. In order to emphasise the importance of such a backup procedure and express the value it will have for you as a user, we would again like to draw your attention to that topic.
For your conviencence, we have added a special new and permanent page to our website, where we try to explain why we think that you need such a backup procedure. We have also tried to make some recommendations on what might be a good solution for you. Please take the time to read through this page and consider if it is something on which you would need to take action.
Please see: http://www.doldersum.com/backupdata.html
Creating a frequent and reliable backup is highly recommended, but is the responsability of the user. At this moment, backup software is not part of our product lines.
Due to various circumstances, we needed to relocate our website to a location that would give us better opportunities for future expansion and growth. Therefor, on November 11th, 2001, we moved our website and domain name from the Tripod servers (our domain name was still an "alias", up until that time) to our OWN and now REAL "Doldersum.com" Internet domain, hosted by PowWeb.com. Using PowWeb's features, we now have a full blown Internet presence, with sufficient webspace, bandwidth, email facilities, download facilities and more.
The Internet support pages, included with our applications (the pages that are executed when clicking on the button with the "globe" icon), do not need any change - since they called to our domain name only. Any visits to our previous pages on the Tripod server, will redirect you to the main entry of our new website location. Please update your bookmarks?
At this moment, we are investigating the possibility of producing a dedicated data backup tool to assist our customers in keeping their data safe. This development is currently too early to explain in depth, but (since CD-Roms are limited to a capacity of some 600MB), we'd be looking to make something like a script controlled datacompression tool, that would be able to write it's archive to multiple volume CD's.
Please note, that it is not sure, if we will be releasing this as a final product - we are only investigating the idea (and we would appriciate your input). If we would find that a good implementation of such a function already exists for a reasonable price, we might cancel our project. If we persue this project, then we expect to do the first internal tests somewhere in march or may of this year.
Wishing you all the best,
Harry Doldersum,
http://www.Doldersum.com