
Updates                 Wordwrap to 80 columns
-------


Since version 0.60 (first beta release - 27th Feb 96)
-----------------------------------------------------

 Now checks for the menu file before trying to load it! This stops a silly crash if it had been renamed, moved or deleted.  If the file is missing it copies the file "SimpleMenu" as "Menu" and prints a message.

 After speaking with my tester in Acorn Computers' software engineering department (Homer :-) I changed the way that files are loaded via the "Run" dialog.  Instead of doing a Filer_Run on the file entered, a simple WimpTask is used.  This allows star-commands to be entered. For example, *MODULES now works OK whereas it crashed the program before.

 Split the !Run and !Boot files into logical sections.

 Removed the need for the !Run file to be open all the time that !Start is loaded. The "tidying up" lines are done inside the program code now.  This has the added benefit of a) being able to have more than one copy of !Start loaded at one time and b) not hanging the machine if the Start$Running system variable became corrupted.

 !Start's boot and run files now set the &101 filetype to "ScriptFile".  This filetype is still rather dodgy as it's a PD filetype and is probably already used by another program.

 Standardised the header files in each legible section of code (eg. !Run, !Boot, PCheck and !RunImage)

 Changed the MS Windows icon into a little Acorn :-)

 Removed procedures that weren't used from the library.

 Went through the code and checked that there wasn't any surplus (ie: unused) variables and arrays.  Found a few and removed them.

 Important!  Due to the stripping down of the program PROCs and variables/arrays the wimpslot could be reduced to just over half of what it was (112K to 64K on an Arc).  This is quite surprising.  Perhaps a "Too many nested structures"  error will rear its ugly head after the program's been loaded for a while .. testers!!!

 No messages or crashes should be experienced when you click on a menu entry that isn't meant to load a program. ie: clicking in "Programs" won't crash the program.

 The PROCtry_file and PROCtry_directory now checks to see if the file being loaded actually exists before attempting to run it.  This has the benefit of making the program more stable.

 Finally got around to removing the duplicate procedures from the code.

 Risc PC version now uses 80K.

 The high resolution application icon is "fatter".

 The menu now pops up in a more centralised position in  relation to the mouse pointer on the recommendation of Doormouse.

 Got the code into the Find function but it doesn't work yet.



Changes since verion 0.61 (second beta release)
-----------------------------------------------

 Emailed the archived version off to Acorn User for their comments.  Cash pleaseeeee!!

 Sorted out the files into a resources directory.

 Began work on the configurer/setup program that will be supplied with the registered version. Currently called !StartSU but will hopefully have a name change ..!


Changes since 6/3/96
--------------------

 After experiencing a "Too many nested structures" error after opening lots of directories the wimpslot is now 80K.

 The banner sprites are now masked so on the Risc PC the texture will show through like Acorn intended ..


Changes since 7/3/96
--------------------

 The script running code now just does a Wimptask on each line instead of doing a WimpTask Filer_Run.

 Recently-used-directory list now works perfectly.

 Added the "colour mode".  At the moment apps are coloured 8 but this will become configurable in the future via !StartSU.

 Altered the !Help file to suit new changes, inaccuracies etc.


Changes since 8/3/96 (0.63)
---------------------------

 Removed the registration, OwnerData files. Changed the !Run file to get rid of Set Owner$File..

 Shutdown now calls "TaskManager_Shutdown" which does a beast of a shutdown (the full monte).

 !Run file now decides what version of RISC OS is being used so the program knows where the "ROM" apps are. They're on disc on version 3.5 but back on ROM in 3.6. 

 There is a new system variable called Apps$Location that is set and unset in the !Run file.

 The "you have none of the .." warning message works properly now.

 The banner sprites are now loaded with a *iconsprites command. This should reduce the memory requirements (8K to play with).

 Tidied up the loading banner.

 The Find function sort of works now. It still needs a lot of work though.

 The iconbar icon is now transparent so it looks nice with TheMoog's !FinalLook as well as the Risc PC texture. I'm using !FinalLook to check what the menus and windows would look like on a Risc PC.

 No more "Syntax error" when you try to run Settings or Help.

 No more "Unknow or missing variable" when you try to run a script file.

 Rewrote the !Help file along the lines and structure of the MovieFS application. Robin certainly seems to know a  good structure when he sees one.

 Added a bit of code that is supposed to deal with full stops and spaces in menu titles. It takes the "Keymap" file and uses its translation table to map "bad" characters to "good" ones. Doesn't work though. Dunno why. Something to do with the GET$#F line I think because a truncated version of a bad string is being passed into the FNadjust function. I think I'll write the keymap codes into the program when I get the code working properly as the loading time increases every time I introduce a new file. It's getting to be a !Printers kind of application :( Not good :-((

 Created a messages file but due to the program needing more memory if this "internationalisation" took place I have decided to leave it out. Pity.

 The script files are only coloured red if you have the colour mode turned on.

 The Run window has a Clear button that just wipes all the text in the writable icon.

 Added a "Task window" option to the Run window. This opens a task window with the current date as the title when the command given is issued. Flashy and perhaps some use so some people will be pleased .. but I wonder who?

 Renamed a few procedures that had silly long names to shorter ones. Saved a few bytes in the process. _Tony_ will be pleased ;)

 Renamed lots more procedures too. Removed all the Wimp_ prefixes so that should spare a lot of memory. Also, common routines have had their names truncated more so they're easier to type. For example, PROCWimp_IconPutText() has become PROCWriteIcon().

 Stuck the version number and a beta sign in the code header (woo!).

 I wonder if it's possible to remove the need for a three-dimensional array? By reducing pathname$(2,20,20) to pathname$(1,20,20) I could save some memory that really _is_ needed as Start now needs to be shoehorned into a 64K wimpslot.
This reduction would require a lot of program changes and isn't a task to be taken lightly.

 The configuration side of !StartSU is now up and running perfectly. Now all I have to do is coax the menu section into life.

 Icons overhauled. The text in the icon is now in Homerton.Medium because it looks better on a medium res screen. The high resolution icon looks pretty convincing.

 Pressing any "odd" key in the Run window doesn't produce the "Nothing to do!" message. This now only appears when you press RETURN or ENTER and there's nothing in the writable icon.

 Fixed the "Not a procedure" problem.

 Files dropped onto the Start icon and added to the directory list can now be run from the directory list. This wasn't allowed before as Start produced a "Start cannot open objects which aren't directories"

 Start now does a user-defined action on any applications listed in the directories menu (via the user dragging apps onto the Start button icon). This is set via !StartSU and can be either a Filer_Run (Run) or Filer_OpenDir (Opened).

 Mailed the latest version, 0.63, off to Carol to see what she thinks.

Changes since 12/9/96
---------------------

 Phil mailed me an altered version that puts the banner in the middle of any desktop screen. Cheers Phil :)

 Added support for desktop saving.

 Medium/high resolution icons are loaded correctly so the banner looks cool despite the mode you're in. RiscPC textures show through due to the use of a sprite mask in the banner icons ('banner' and 'acorn').

 Deleted the 'LeftToDo' file. It was getting depressing ;)


----------------------------------------------

These changes were prompted by an email from Uniqueway on 21st November asking whether they could put a copy of Start on the new RISC Disc (vol.3). Unfortunately the version that was updated with these changes could not be submitted for testing in time so it was not included - an earlier version was instead. I decided that it was time for a new version number so we get 0.65 beta.

 Updated !Help file with new email addresses, new home page URL and other downloading information.

 Operating system is now detected properly but it requires user intervention with the !Run file. A few lines of code lifted from Justin's !JFShared library.

 Menus are now copied properly and filenames switched around to match the operating system detection routines.

 Dotted lines can be inserted into the menus by putting a single - on a line within the menu file.

 Start still doesn't send the Menu file to Edit properly :-(  Dunno why. I'm using the <Start$Dir>.Menu pathname but StrongED insists on loading it as Start:Menu. It's probably a little bug somewhere that's doing it... I shall endeavour to track it down.

 The correct applications are loaded from the Settings menu. If Boot:!Run cannot be found on startup, it is disabled in the menu.

 Disabled the Find function as it wasn't working properly. The code is still there though.

 The Updates, Version, KnownBugs and other files are now stored inside !Start.Docs.

 Setting the final bit of the configure file to 1 makes the banner display the version number.

 Thought: It's be nice if when you double-clicked a script file, it loaded !Start and was then executed. Someone could write a module to do that, perhaps...

 Recoded the Find function. When finished, it will be able to find a named file, a file of a given size, a file roughly a given size and files of a given type.

 The program can now deal with floppy discs properly. This means that if you're asked to insert a disc and you responded 'Cancel' the program no longer quits. Which is nice.

 Added another function. After trying to load !Calendar I found that it loaded without an icon ie: its !Run file didn't do an iconsprites on its own icon. If you enable the feature (see line 16 in configure file, use a 0 to disable or a 1 to enable) Start will Filer_Boot all applications before running them.

 Removed the '' from the script file window and fixed a small bug in the script file running procedure which attempted to write to an non-indirected icon, thus crashing the program.

 You can now put spaces, punctuation etc. in a menu header. So 'Start 0.63' is a valid menu title. It used to be truncated to just 63 and sometimes just 3 by FNGetFileFromPathname().

 Thought: This program is getting scarily stable. The 'KnownBugs' file is empty!!

 Added new bugs by developing the Find function more.

 Re-wrote the !Help document.  Put new version on web, alongside an HTML version of the help document.

 Working on a feature that will ignore the drive name of an entry if it is regarded as invalid when the user attempts to load a file or application. The full (ie: drive name included) pathname is tried first, and if that fails then the drive name is dropped in favour of a user-defined (in Menu file you put IGNORE,<drive number>) value.



Changes since 09/01/97 - new beta version 0.66
----------------------------------------------

 Clicking ADJUST on the icon will now update the menus and then pop up the main menu.  Better than quitting and reloading any day!

 Program now checks for presence of ArcFS module every 5000 centiseconds and enables/disables the ArcFS section of Find window accordingly.

 After a nice holiday at home and a scare from Michelle I came back here and fixed a bug where the updating only happened when the icon bar handle was 8.

 Redesigned the web page for Start - it now uses tables and looks ace :-)

 Removed the code for the Find function and redesigned the template for the Find dialog. The Finder didn't work reliably, and sometimes just didn't work at all. Start now uses the standard Acorn find function. I'll get around to putting in the much-vaunted proper find function one day.

 Removed superflous files from the Resources directory.

 Updated the Help documentation accordingly.


Version uploaded to web site on 25th February 1997 and advertised on Oaktree.


Changes since 30/03/97 - new beta version 0.67
----------------------------------------------

 Added support for star commands in menus.

 The '|' symbol is now used for comments in menus.

 Cut the !Help file to a bare minimum. It's guesswork for the betatesters now! :-(

 Fixed bug that meant banner window was always opened even if configured off.

Changes since 03/04/97 - new beta version 0.68
----------------------------------------------

 Redesigned the icon. The old 'Start' one was looking tired and too big for comfort. It's now based around my hard disc icon so it matches the furniture on my desktop even if it doesn't yours :-P

 Icon now appears on far left of the icon bar.

 Added proper text underneath the icon.

 Added another line to the configure file. Set line 17 to 0 or 1 depending on whether you want 'Start' to be printed underneath the icon or not.

 Added support for the execution of commands whilst the menu file is being parsed. Just stick a + as the first character in the line and then a command after it and it'll be carried out each time the menu file is read. For example:
 +Filer_CloseDir IDEFS::Photek.$ 

 Program now warns about and misses out lines containing '>'

 'My Computer' and 'Desktop' should now run the correct apps. Change the !Run file settings if you prefer other programs.

 Menus are now updated if you put the mouse pointer at the bottom left corner and leave it there for 10 seconds.  The updating continues until the pointer is moved away from 0,0.  The menu is no longer updated on an ADJUST-click. Remove the remark from the line (currently @ 965) if you want the ADJUST-click to work again.

 Fixed blank menus so they work properly.

 Removed error window that reported solely the error number.

 Removed the use of FindHelp.


 Uploaded to internet on 3rd April 1997.





--
Tim Wiser, alias Mit

Email		mit@thepentagon.com
Homepage	http://www.cowgate.demon.co.uk/mit/
