PBWiz 2.1, 09/06/94: final shareware release. This is the final shareware release of PBWiz-- or actually, the final release of the formerly-shareware PBWiz. I will not be updating this library again, nor will I provide support or source code. PBWiz is becoming a full-fledged commercial library, which will be available from: Information Management Systems, Inc. 1165 North Industrial Park Drive Orem, UT 84057-2807 Information Management Systems may also be reached through the following phone numbers: 800-750-6390 Order Desk 801-226-6390 Order Desk 801-226-6291 Fax 801-226-6392 BBS Pricing for the initial commercial release is expected to be $99.95, plus shipping and handling. A reduced rate of $50.00 will be available for those good people who had registered earlier versions of PBWiz. Please call Information Management Systems for the latest details. They take MasterCard, Visa, and American Express... PBWiz 2.0, 04/10/94: maintenance release. The registered version of PBWiz now comes with a complete printed manual. The registration fee has been raised to $35. My thanks and a free upgrade to Mark Phillips for his help in tracking down assorted PBWiz problems. Removed references to Spectra from various files. PowerBASIC is now marketed by PowerBASIC, Inc. Fixed online help function lookups for PowerBASIC 3.0c. PB was having trouble handling functions that end with ! or # type-declaration symbols, so the type def symbols have been removed from the help for such functions. Similar problems continue to plague other PBWiz routines for no apparent reason-- seems there may be a few bugs left in the PowerBASIC help system or help system generator. If a Ctrl-F1 lookup doesn't work, use Shift-F1 to access the PBWiz index. AnsiPrint didn't handle blue backgrounds correctly. Fixed. The various ShowBMP routines still required you to set the OPTION BINARY BASE to 1, due to PowerBASIC's inconsistent handling of file offsets for different file modes. This has been fixed, using the PB internal value pbvBinBase to figure out the current file offset origin. PBWiz 1.9, 12/30/93: maintenance release. PowerBASIC 3.0c is incompatible with earlier versions of PB when it comes to fixed-length strings and assembly language routines. Be aware that fixed-length strings are no longer strings, as far as asm routines are concerned. They call it a "bug fix", although it's not clear that any actual bugs were involved. Support for versions of PowerBASIC prior to 3.0 is no longer available, since I have had no requests for it. If you don't have PowerBASIC 3.0, especially 3.0c, it's time to upgrade! The MatchFile routine was case-sensitive. It isn't any more. The ScreenSave and ScreenRestore routines were broken in the last release. They are fixed now. Neither PBLIB nor LIBUPD handled replacements of existing modules with newer versions very well. LIBUPD has been fixed to properly delete the older version of the module within the .PBL library before adding the newer version. PBWiz 1.8, 08/25/93: **** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION *** ATTENTION **** ------------------------------------------------------------- PBWiz now takes full advantage of the capabilities of the new PowerBASIC 3.0 compiler. This will require a few adjustments to your programs if you have used earlier versions of PBWiz. The BYVAL keyword is now used where applicable. This means you will need to change the DECLAREs for many routines. Also, the granularity of the PBWiz modules has been improved. These changes result in smaller and faster code. Full online help is now provided for PBWiz routines! Just copy the PBWIZ.PBH file to your PowerBASIC directory. It will be loaded automatically when PB starts up. You can search for PBWiz routines with Ctrl-F1 context-sensitive help, follow cross-references, and import syntax examples directly into your code! Press Shift-F1 repeatedly to get to the index. The archive handler has been updated to support the new ARJ and PKZIP 2.0 self-extracting archives. The equation solver apparently can't handle nested functions. This will be corrected in a later version. Two new functions have been added: AscM, which combines ASCII and MID$ into one convenient package, and NumProc, which tells what numeric coprocessor is installed (if any). PBWiz 1.7, 06/21/93: Revised the BASIC files and documentation to take advantage of the seamless external syntax (implicit CALLs). The old CALL format is also still supported, of course. The Archive routines now support ARJ self-extracting .EXEs. Added joystick support, telecomm handling, and SoundBlaster support (via the SBSIM driver). Added new demos MINITERM.BAS and PLAYVOC.BAS for the latter two units. PBWiz 1.6, 02/25/93: This version of PBWiz requires PowerBASIC 3.0. If you have an earlier version of PowerBASIC, either upgrade it or use PBWiz 1.5. This release of PBWiz makes extensive use of the new PowerBASIC features, including libraries (.PBL files)-- no more .OBJ and .PBU files to have to remember! Added several utilities to help manage libraries. These are shells which require PBLIB.EXE to do the real work. Their function is to make PBLIB more powerful. Type the name of the utility with no parameters for a help screen. LIBADD add modules to a library LIBUPD update modules in a library LIBLIST list the contents of a library The .EXE form of the demo programs is no longer included, to help keep the library a reasonable size for downloading. The CREATE.BAT program will create the demos for you. Added a demo which shows how to use the XMS routines for array storage. XMSDEMO uses an array of long integers, but the technique is applicable to other data types as well. Fixed a bug in the GN5GetPel routine. Altered PopWindow to avoid a bug in some versions of PowerBASIC: ELSEIF Frame AND 1 THEN was being evaluated incorrectly. Adding parens fixed it: ELSEIF (Frame AND 1) THEN The graphics routines have been greatly improved: - Get and set the palette in 256-color modes - VESA support for wide SuperVGA compatibility - Read and write 256-color pictures in .BMP format - Improved VGADEMO.BAS shows use of .BMP viewer - Added VESAINFO.BAS to show info about SVGA modes - Sped up the G#Write and G#WriteLn routines The math extension unit has been expanded with additional trigonometric functions. Added a short description file, DESC.SDI, for the BBSes that support it. This complements the longer FILE_ID.DIZ. The order form has been renamed from REGISTER.TXT to ORDER.FRM, since that seems to be a more common convention. The archive scanner now supports the new PKZIP 2.0 format "deflated", and can scan the self-extracting .EXE files created by ZIP2EXE. PBWiz 1.5, 10/05/92: Added support for 256-color SuperVGA modes on any adapter with the Tseng 4000 chipset (most SVGAs). You can use any mode supported by your adapter and monitor. The unit has been tested with modes from 640x350 to 1024x768 resolution. PBWiz 1.4, 09/02/92: PBWiz can now be registered online by CompuServe members (use GO SWREG). PBWiz is registration I.D. #209. Added the DIRMGR unit, which lets you scan disk directories. You can specify search attributes and filenames with full path and wildcard capabilities. For matched files, you can obtain the file name, attribute, time, date, and size. Directory recursion is also supported. The archive scanner can now scan self-extracting .EXE files created by LHARC in addition to the usual archive formats. The expression evaluator now supports the constant PI and a variety of functions: ABS, ACOS, ASIN, ATAN, COS, FRAC, INT, LOG, SIN, SQR, TAN A command-line calculator has been added to show off the expression evaluator. See CALC.BAS and CALC.EXE. The Processor% function can now tell 80486s from 80386s. The VARCDEMO program has been renamed to ARCVIEW. PBWiz 1.3, 06/30/92: Added a unit for ANSI emulation. This unit allows you to use ANSI codes without requiring ANSI.SYS or a similar display driver. Functions which return the number of serial and parallel ports installed have been added to the equipment unit. A special fast print routine has been added to the video unit. It skips spaces rather than displaying them, making it easy to overlay existing text. Ceiling and floor functions have been added to the math extensions unit. If you're using the excellent 4DOS command shell, try the new ADD4DOS.BAT file. It will add directory descriptions to the PBWiz files-- no more guessing about file names! PBWiz 1.2, 03/01/92: Inexplicably, I managed to leave many of the DECLAREs for the MOUSE unit out of the previous releases. There was also an error in one of the DECLAREs for the equipment unit. These have been fixed. I've added a demo to show the use of the equipment and video unit. Type "DEMO" to take a look. I've also added a demo for the archive viewing routines. Type "VARCDEMO filename" for a plain list, or add the "/V" option for a detailed view of the archive. The various $INCLUDE files have been gathered together into a single file, PBWIZ.INC, for convenience. I've also added a quick reference of the routines, PBWIZ.REF. A display unit has been added. This includes scrolling in any direction, DOS/ANSI output (print, cls, color, locate), save/restore any part of a screen, fast and flexible string displays, recoloring of selected areas, and pop-up windows. The EXTMATH.PBU unit has been split in two: EXTMATHA.OBJ & EXTMATHB.PBU. This allowed me to add a number of assembly-language routines to the math unit, including bit shifts and rotatations. The EQUIPMEN.OBJ unit has been extended to return the BIOS date and PC type information. It can now also tell you whether DR DOS is being used instead of MS-DOS. There have been some changes to WHERE.BBS. Of particular note to PowerBASIC users is that The Bard's Lair (Dave Navarro's board) is gone. Dave has moved to The Consultant BBS, as have I. See the WHERE.BBS file for more info. PBWIZ 1.1, 01/10/92: The documentation has been reformatted. Ample room has been left for margins in case you'd like to create a bound manual. A brief demo program has been added to demonstrate the use of PBWiz. It shows the 256-color graphics modes in action. Type VGADEMO to try it out. Two sets of memory routines have been added, giving you access to EMS and XMS memory. The older EMS 3.x and EEMS standards are supported as well as the current EMS 4.0. Comprehensive keyboard control has been added. Get the states of any alt, control, or shift key; get or set CapsLock, Insert, NumLock, ScrollLock; access 101-key "enhanced" keyboards; put a string into the keyboard buffer; speed up the keyboard; take control of the PrintScreen key; see what a key is without actually getting it; more. PBWIZ 1.0, 12/03/91: This is the initial release of The PowerBASIC Wizard's Library, featuring extended math support, a numeric expression evaluator, mouse support, string handling, equipment information routines, time/date manipulation, viewing archives (ARC, ARJ, LZH, PAK, ZIP, ZOO), and VGA graphics (320x200 and 360x480 in 256 colors).