This topic contains the release notes that document the new features, improvements and bug fixes that were included in the various releases of Q++Studio in 2000.
See also: release notes of the current year and release notes of other years.
December 1st, 2000
•A new option is available to leave Master Pages in the output file, or to strip them out (QuarkXPress 4 only). This can be done on the fly (in the Execution Options dialog) or as a property of any Script's pre-processing script line.
November 4, 2000
•A most-recently-used scripts sub-menu has been added to the scripts menu, allowing you to easily reopen any recently used scripts, on your PC or another user's.
•The Scripts Explorer has been adapted to recognize all types of network drives.
October 23, 2000
•BUG FIX: a bug whereby changing the name of a scanned Template would cause corruption of the templates database has been fixed.
•New compiler release and macro language extensions. More detailed error messages.
•Week numbers in Minicalendars can now have font, color, replacement text and shade attributes.
•The processing of Minicalendars has been optimized.
•Preferences are now backed-up with scripts, and can also be restored (you need to download and install the update to Q++RestoreBackup.EXE).
•The warning "DayValue of X on page Y" now shows the token which triggered the message, also the message is either a hint or a warning depending on the token ([d] ...).
•The section name is now automatically added to the OPF name when using Physical sections flow. The way the "Default Filename" option works is changed and should now be the default.
•You can now add a list of personal dates and holidays to be displayed in the main window's calendar. Go to the PREFERENCES/Calendar dialog to select that holidays Set. In that Holidays Set, if you check the Show Holidays Watermark checkbox, the holidays will appear as thick ovals, otherwise as thin ovals. This is useful to differentiate between personal dates (anniversaries) and legal holidays.
•The validation which occurs whenever you change the list of Holidays Sets of an a-e-i-o-u Holidays list, has been greatly accelerated.
•The access to scripts has been made more secure (for example you cannot access another user's scripts until he/she has run the most recent Q++Updater).
•The Q++Paginator is finally here. It is updated automatically by the normal Q++Updater, but you should install it for the first time from here.
September 24, 2000
•The message "this document needs minor repairs" is now automatically cleared between diary generation and Sara processing, as well as before viewing errors in QuarkXPress. This fix, for the moment only works with QuarkXPress 4.x, but we are still trying to fix it for QuarkXPress 3.3x as well.
September 18, 2000
•The Macro Language now allows you to specify input variables for each macro. You can then, in each DiaryGridLine decide what input values you will pass on to the selected macro. For example, you may have a macro which checks if the is a holiday on n_TokenDate, for a given holidays list. However you would not specify which holidays list it is in the macro, you would just specify sCurHolList as an input variable. Then in each DiaryGridLine you could set the input value of sCurHolList to match the particular DiaryGridLine's requirements.
•You can also override the run-time parameters of any macro used, for each individual DiaryGridLine.
•Added the INCLUDE_HOLIDAYS_LIST pre-compiler directive which speeds up the design-time verification of scripts and their properties (ie. each change in property in the Main Window will be processed faster).
•Improved the Holidays Manager interface.
•Fixed an erroneous design-time message where a message might be generated pertaining to the "Current Minical" property of a yearly DiaryGridLine, even though only "Other MiniCals" are defined for yearlies.
•The multi-user reliability of the Q++Broker has been improved.
September 11, 2000
•A linker has been added to the new compiler to optimize the ASM code. This means that any macro which uses IF-ELSE statements will run faster, and any macro using FOR or WHILE loops will now run considerably faster.
•The Date Ranges holidays type is now completely implemented.
•The user interface used to edit/modify Arbitrary Dates holidays has been improved.
•Holidays generation has been optimized (again).
September 1st, 2000
•You can now search for text throughout all macros.
•The main window calendar now allows you to go to any date, while clearly displaying the fact that the date is not today's date.
•The new Macro compiler is finished.
•This has led to an improved user interface, as well as the possibility of recompiling macros without opening the macros editor.
•More importantly, the new compiler allows for a much richer macro language allowing expressions to be written is more "obvious" ways.
•Q++Studio issues a warning when launched, if the Q++Studio Server is not running.
•The Q++Studio Broker has been improved for busy networks.
•Holidays can have an "Abbreviated Holiday" denoted by the fâ..fû tokens.
•The last remaining problems (GPF when Macro debugger appeared) using Q++Studio under Windows 2000 are now solved. Q++Studio is now totally compatible with Windows 2000, and indeed Windows 2000 is now the recommended platform.
•Improved error logging.
•Some problems which occurred when opening the old-style scripts Manager, while a property was being edited, are now fixed.
August 13, 2000
•Most of last month was spent on QuarkXPress 4 porting. Scanning with QuarkXPress 4 is now completely operational. Generating with QuarkXPress 4 is now 90% operational; most scripts work flawlessly, but we are still working on some oddball cases, and on optimizing the page copying speed. Saras now seem to work without problems under QuarkXPress 4.
•You can now rescan a Template from within the Script Editor.
•An "X" now appears, in the Macros Sets editor, near macros which are not compiled.
•You can now re-compile all macros at once, using the "Build All" functionality.
•The Macro Language will soon get a new compiler which will allow for more natural macro language, and some additional language features (switch statements, ranges, ...). A beta of the new compiler should be out by the end of the month.
•The Macros Sets Manager has been entirely overhauled. You can now open a Macro from within the Macros Sets Manager, which now also shows a preview of the selected Macro. The Macros Sets Manager, now also remembers the last Macro and Macro Set used and returns to it when it opens again. Finally, when the new compiler is finished, you will be able to re-compile Macros from within the Macros Sets Manager, and even from the Main Window.
July 23, 2000
•Added a Q++Studio Loader to improve the reliability and user-friendliness of the shift from Q++Studio to the stand-alone modules (and back). The Q++Studio Loader is part of the QppUpdater.
July 11, 2000
•QuarkXPress 4 porting is advancing. Scanning can now be done with either QuarkXPress 3.3x or 4.x.
•The Macros property editor interface has be redone and improved.
•Improved the automated backup server tool.
•The GridTemplate property editor now has the same user interface as the redone Templates Explorer. This means you can rescan a Template (or scan a new template) within the GridTemplate property editor.
June 11, 2000
Q++Studio is now fully compatible with Windows 2000.
The visual interface of the moon phases manager has been improved to speed its redrawing and better show what can be moved to where.
The scripts preview has been improved in redraw speed by 150%.
June 5, 2000
•Templates Explorer and Grid Templates property editors have been redone from scratch.
•Faster loading times.
•More information at your fingertips.
•Search capabilities on all fields.
•Possibility of Scanning a new Template directly from the main window, without opening the Templates Explorer.
•Ability to rescan and/or modify a template while selecting it as the property of a script line.
•Integrated with the Network Mappings (see below).
•The PackDb and BackUp server tools now verify that all users are logged off before attempting their nightly procedures, and issue a clear message in the nightly email notification.
•The Restore from Backup now verifies that all users are logged off.
•The year of the current script now appears in the Book Format script line.
•The size and loading speed of the Templates database has been improved.
•The Q++Studio IDE is now ready for the upcoming QuarkXPress 4 compatible XXT (fall 2000). You will be able to select which version of QuarkXPress to use to scan, generate or sara, independently of each other.
•Fixed minor, not yet reported, bugs in the scripts Manager and improved the speed in copying or moving scripts.
•Started work on Network Mappings. This allows you to refer to other users' templates and Quark Files on the network.
May 10, 2000
•There is now a hyperlink from the Slogans property editor and the Holidays List property editor to their respective data managers, which allows you to modify Slogans and Holidays rules at the last minute.
•The Macros editor now displays non-fatal hints and warnings.
•The Macros editor now has a list of the most-recently used macros for direct access to them from the file menu.
•All the individual output files coming from the various sections of a script are now available from the Templates menu.
•Memory model optimization.
April 16, 2000
•The Restructure Databases function now backs up the databases to be restructured, prior to restructuring.
•The Restructure Databases function now can be used as a stand-alone program (Q++RepairDb.EXE). It has also been improved to help you recover better from a QuarkXPress crash.
April 3, 2000
•New Restore from Backup Wizard makes sure all Q++Studio files, or only some are restored properly, without any risks.
March 26, 2000
•Added a series of tools on the right of the main window (calculator, clock, calendar) which are fully personnalizable for each user. Nothing earth-shattering, but nice and useful.
•The Macros Editor now remembers its size, state and position.
•Important update to all the Q++Studio Server Tools. You should update them all (they are dated March 26, 2000).
March 20, 2000
•Added a button to create a new folder in the Scripts Explorer.
•You can now inspect plain Quark Files that are located on your desktop.
•Vastly improved the interface for saving of new macros.
March 13, 2000
•The non-essential colors of a template are now created as "modifiable" in the output file.
•Corrected a bug in the Macros property editor, whereby a change in one of the Macro tokens' settings may, under certain circumstances, affect the settings for another Macro token.
•Added 8 new Macro functions.
March 2, 2000
•Updated Q++Studio, the Q++Server and Q++Notify to display various warnings if the Q++Server is not running (which prevents you from scanning). You shpuld download and update all 3 programs.
February 28, 2000
•Fixed a bug in the scripts Manager whereby copied/moved scripts would lose their blob properties (such as Physical Sections or Macro Actions).
•Fixed a minor glitch in the Moon Phases manager whereby the displayed list of moon phases for the current month would be truncated.
•Fixed a bug whereby a script generation would be halted if the translation for a token was not found.
•Optimized Saras so that a Sara which belongs to a Physical Section which is inactive, will not be called.
•Minor fixes to the Languages Data Manager.
•Minor fixes to the Macros compiler and Macros properties editor.
February 20, 2000
•You can now export Slogans, Recurring Holidays, and One-Time Dates as RTF (Rich Text) files to be able to proof-read all the rich-text attributes.
February 17, 2000
•(Major new feature) Slogans can now include all the same rich-text (RTF) attributes as Holidays.
•By inserting a &s or &c at the end of any Slogan line, you can force Q++Studio to insert either a "soft" or "hard" return. By default, if you do not put anything, carriage returns are assumed to be "soft".
February 13, 2000
•(Major new feature) Macros can now call one another. So, for example, a macro could check if the current date belongs at a or e or i holidays and replace the current token by a different macro in each case. When this is done (using the new INCLUDE_MACRO directive), the list of Macro Tokens in the property editor is automatically updated.
•Macro language syntax has been augmented to allow for more natural logical tests. For example, in the past one had to write:
• if EqualN(nDate, nFirstOfMonth)
•Now you can simply write
• if nDate == nFirstOfMonth
•without worrying about the type of the variables. Other operators are: <, <=, >, >=, <>.
•Improved the Macros Sets Manager. From within it, you can now sort Macros, rename them, delete them, and even use drag and drop to move them from one Macros Set to another.
•Added 2 button to the Macros Editor to toggle the bottom and right panes.
•Fixed an annoying glitch of the Macros Editor whereby the hidden Messages Pane (at the bottom) would reappear if you resized the window.
•Fixed a problem with rich-text holidays which end with a carriage return.
•Fixed a glitch where an Access Violation would occur if you tried to set the Preferences "Multi-Holidays Options", while a Script was open.
January 30, 2000
•(Major new feature) Macros are now split into the code (which is still saved in a common database) and the actions to be taken depending on the value of bRESULT which are part of the Script. This way you can now re-use, for example, one single "check if date is a Holiday" macro in multiple scripts where the actions may be totally different (shade the textbox in red, or change the color of the token text to blue, ...).
•New Macro function GetHolidaySymbolsFromTable() allows you to have total control od the layout of holidays within a macro (to create a recap table of holidays at the back of a diary, for example).
•The function GetHolidayNameFromTable() has been vastly improved to take into account the new rich-text holidays (see release notes of Dec 29, 1999 below).
•Macros can now be imported and exported as plain text files.
•Fixed a minor glitch whereby the correct Template would not be pre-selected in the Templates Explorer, depending on the sort criterium.
•Fixed a minor glitch whereby a minor Access Violation would occur if you deleted a script line while on of it Properties Editors was in edit mode.
January 22, 2000
•(Major new feature) Introduced "Physical Sections" which allow you, from a single script, to output multiple Quark Files of varying sizes. For example you may have the first 2 and last 2 pages as "liner" slightly larger, then one signature as a 4-color output and the rest as "main body". Saras also operate on these physical sections, and you can preview them in the Script Preview window.
January 10, 2000
•Introduced global variables in macros which allow you to "generate" complex GridTemplates from another GridTemplate. For example you can create a basic texbox with all token DayValues set at 1, and then Q++Studio will generate a GridTemplate with DayValues ranging up to 588. An enormous time-saver for multi-month diaries.
•Prototype for the new "Physical Sections" feature.
•8 new macro functions.
•10 new warning and error messages.
•More speed improvements in opening scripts and verifying them.
January 1, 2000
•Improved the speed at which scripts are opened and saved.
Other Years
See also: release notes of the current year and release notes of other years.
Topic 167200, last updated on 21-Apr-2022
