
                       The history of The Star Commander

  Here is the list of the phases the development  of  the  Commander  has  gone
through. The fact that the public releases of the Commander were beta  versions
and their version number is still below 1.0 does not mean that they are full of
bugs or the functions in it do not work properly. I just hate  version  numbers
like 12.3 or 1.2.34 and until the Commander does all you and I want it to,  the
version numbering will remain the same - only the full, final release is  going
to be called Version 1.0. However, I hereby warn you  that  I  will  finish  my
university studies in mid-1998 and so will lose my Internet access. Before that
I'm going to release The Star Commander, Version 1.0 but will probably  release
nothing for a long time after that! Don't hesitate to send your reports  to  me
as soon as possible so that Version 1.0 can really be the final release.

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version (SC_BETA.ZIP, Summer 1994):


  The first public release, only supported disk and tape images, the left panel
was always a CBM panel, the right one always remained in DOS mode and there was
no online help at all. I started coding it in Turbo Pascal 7.0 and Turbo Vision
2.0 because I saw how buggy, slow and hard-to-use X1541, DISK64E, C642C64S  and
the other copy and converter programs were and that there was no  program  that
would have the copy and conversion functions all in one. I uploaded it only  to
ftp.funet.fi and even I don't have it anymore because I  deleted  it  for  some
stupid reason when the next release came out.

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #2 (SC_BETA2.ZIP, 08-24-94):


  In this release I created the online help by manually copying the online help
of The Volkov Commander sentence by sentence into a formatted text  file  which
was then compiled into the help file. The  functions  to  access  the  external
Commodore 1541 drive were already there, only they didn't work yet.  There  was
no history in the documentation and I don't remember any other changes.

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #3 (SC_BETA3.ZIP, 10-16-94):


  CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #2:

- fixed the 'multi file copy to image file' bug when the directory  was  messed
  up sometimes

- the redundant configuration option "Real 1541 drive connected" is discarded

- a new configuration option named "BAM disk copy" appeared

- the image file name of the last session is not saved  in  the  setup  so  the
  "<image file> not found" won't drive you crazy

- the online help window does not flicker when changing topic

- the PC-1541 connection is now more or less complete and turbo  mode  is  also
  implemented - that's what you've been waiting for for a long time!!!

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

  The Star Commander Calibrator (SC_CALIB.ZIP, 10-20-94):


  Since Beta Version #3 was still  not  capable  of  calibrating  the  transfer
routines, I released an external calibrator some days after the release of  the
Commander. You had to feed the integer number displayed by  the  calibrator  to
the Commander as a command line parameter.

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #4 (SC_BETA4.ZIP, 12-18-94):


  CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #3:

- the CBM and PC fix mode panels transformed into multi-mode panels which means
  that you can copy now directly from any format to another

- the reselection of selected files when rereading the directory is now fixed

- changing the labels of image files didn't work - now it does

- two new configuration options and some other changes for comfort

- no need to connect the 2-15 pins of the parallel port and you won't  see  the
  "Interface not found" error anymore

- no need to press Enter when changing drive

- all DOS names are turned to uppercase while you are typing them

- a new external calibrator routine inside the release package (run  it  before
  the Commander!)

- the LED on the connected 1541 blinks at every transferred block

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #5 (SC_BETA5.ZIP, 02-12-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #4:

- when checking the date input of the "Set attributes" dialog box the Commander
  exchanged the day and the month

- the Commander placed the backup of the image file in  the  current  directory
  and not into its original path

- when copying from a DOS mode panel to a CBM mode panel the file  names  could
  be converted incorrectly sometimes

- the Commander couldn't copy a file longer than 256 blocks to a connected 1541
  drive

- the Commander didn't check if a file already existed on a disk in a connected
  1541 drive when tried to copy another one with the same name (nice noises!)

- the file type of all the files copied to a disk in a connected 1541 drive was
  changed to program file

- the "Copy" and "Copy disk" progress indicator that displayed the block number
  or the track and sector being copied was flickering

- the "Copy disk" worked only in turbo mode - in normal speed it froze

- pressing ESC while reading/writing in turbo mode  from/to  a  connected  1541
  drive froze the Commander most of the time - it SEEMS to be fixed


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #4:

- the extended and fast 1541 routines are now inside  the executable  file  and
  not as an external data file

- the Commander uses the load path passed by DOS to locate its files instead of
  searching for the file SC.EXE

- manual calibration is moved to the "Configurations..." menu and it is not  to
  be entered as a command line parameter

- the new calibrator routine displays a delay value  VERY  NEAR  the  best.  It
  seems that it cannot be modified in such a way  that  it  displays  the  best
  delay value an all kinds of PC's

- you can select the address of the LPT port to be used

- you can optionally save the paths of both panels in the setup file

- you can select the sort order for files in DOS mode panels (do you  think  it
  should be enabled in CBM mode panels, too?)

- when entering DOS file names letters are automatically turned to uppercase

- all files with unknown  extensions  (not .SEQ, .USR, .REL, .D64 or .T64)  are
  assumed to be program files

- the Commander makes backup only once when copying or deleting a  sequence  of
  files to/from an image file

- the Commander reports back if a file on a connected 1541  drive  was  deleted
  successfully or not

- a new button named "All" appeared in the confirmation boxes  with  which  you
  can confirm the operation for all the selected files

- selecting/unselecting all the files in a panel is moved from the "All" button
  in the dialog box to Shift + Gray+/Gray-

- the function key bar has been rewritten so that the items are separated  with
  only one space instead of two and so the original function names are used

- you can move around the items in dialog boxes using the cursor keys as well

- the point marking the selected item doesn't follow the highlight bar  in  the
  RadioButton items of dialog boxes

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

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #5A (SC_BET5A.ZIP, 02-28-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #5:

- the Commander didn't display the help for "Save setup" correctly

- the Commander couldn't copy a non-program file from a  disk  in  a  connected
  1541 drive (the main reason why this intermediate version was released)


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #5:

- the help dialog doesn't flicker anymore - the display changes only  when  the
  next help item is successfully read

- the external calibration routine not only tests your machine in  a  loop  (if
  you use the /L option) but also can use the connected 1541 drive to fine tune
  the calibration (if you use the /Fxy option where x is the number of the  LPT
  port and y the device number - warning: this handles no errors, it might lock
  up your system if false values are entered)

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.60 beta (not released):


  This version was never released officially, a tester put it onto his FTP site
by mistake. If you come across it then, please, delete it immediately.

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.61 beta (SC061.ZIP, 05-22-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #5:

- the Commander didn't display the help for "Save setup"  correctly  (fixed  in
  Beta Version #5A)

- the Commander locked up if you changed the screen mode in DOS shell

- the Commander couldn't copy a non-program file from a  disk  in  a  connected
  1541 drive (fixed in Beta Version #5A)

- you couldn't extract the last file from a full tape image

- the file sizes in tape images weren't displayed correctly if over 256 blocks

- the ".." DOS link in image files was selected by '*' and similar wildcards if
  it wasn't on the screen at the time of the selection

- the Commander didn't display the ".."  up-directory  when  viewing  a  remote
  drive in a Novell network (now it displays a dummy ".." up-directory)

- the bugs that arise with the use of a  write  protected  PC  disk  have  been
  mostly eliminated

- the mouse cursor didn't reappear when asking for a file name or  confirmation
  during a multi-file copy or delete from or to a connected 1541 drive

- the Commander locked up if you tried to delete a splat file or if  you  tried
  to validate a disk image that contained a splat file

- the side sectors of relative files in a disk image were not allocated  during
  validate or freed during delete


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #5:

- the version number and the file name of the distribution package has changed:
  the version number is now x.yz (where x is the major  and  yz  is  the  minor
  version number); similarly the file name is now SCxyz.ZIP

- warp transfer mode (about 5-6 times faster) introduced for copying disk  from
  or to a connected 1541 drive

- no /F option in the external calibrator routine (the delay value it displayed
  was absolutely wrong)

- the help dialog doesn't flicker anymore - the display changes only  when  the
  next help item is successfully read (changed in Beta Version #5A)

- the Commander can be also run on monochrome VGA, CGA and Hercules monitors

- the Commander displays the letters of valid PC drives when changing drives

- the Commander can optionally display file sizes and capacities  in  DOS  mode
  panels in bytes instead of in blocks

- the Commander can optionally display all files  with  invalid  file  type  as
  programs in tape images

- the Commander can optionally append the extension  of  the  PC  file  to  the
  converted C64 file name if not .PRG or .SEQ or .USR and append the  DOS-style
  "extension" of C64 files (e.g. "diskcopy.lnx") to the converted PC file name

- many things have been changed to match the standards of The Norton Commander:
  most of the colors and dialog boxes; the outlook and  behaviour  of  buttons;
  the upper line of panels; you can hide the menu bar and win an extra line for
  panels

- each panel can hold a maximum of 1024 entries instead of 512

- the sort mode of panels can be set from the menu bar instead of a dialog box

- the scrolling of panels and the online help with mouse is slowed  down - they
  scroll only a single line and not a whole page

- frozen files in tape images are displayed and can be extracted

- you can stop the file copy between panels of any mode at any time by pressing
  Escape

- when copying files a progress indicator will show you the amount of the  copy
  already done - when you copy files from or to  a  connected  1541  drive  the
  number of copied blocks is displayed

- you can copy a disk image to a disk in a connected 1541 drive not  only  from
  the DOS directory but also when viewing the disk image itself

- you can enter a new name for files copied between panels of any mode

- you can enter wildcards when copying a DOS file into a DOS mode panel or when
  renaming a DOS file

- you can't use the Tab and Shift-Tab keys to move around  dialog  boxes;  use
  the cursor keys instead

- you can also use Cursor Left and Cursor Right to  jump  to  the  top  or  the
  bottom of the panels

- you can also use Space to select or unselect files

- you can't use Alt+key combinations to jump to the menu

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.70 beta (SC070.ZIP, 10-29-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.61 BETA:

- the Commander didn't separate double clicks

- I've mixed up the Hidden and System attributes in the "Attributes" dialog box


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.61 BETA:

- the calibrator is now inside the Commander and  is  semi-automatic - it  will
  activate if there is no setup file or it is corrupted;  you  can  re-run  the
  calibration by selecting "Recalibrate" in the "Advanced options..." menu

- the file copy, rename and deletion system has been  rewritten  from  scratch;
  you can specify the source files and the destination path or image file - now
  you are not limited to copying files from the active panel  to  the  inactive
  one but are able to copy or move practically anything anywhere

- the enhanced "Rename" command, "Rename or move"  allows  you  to  delete  the
  source files at the instant they were successfully copied

- introducing the command line with history capable of storing a maximum of  19
  recent commands

- introducing warp transfer for file copy  (only  the  CBM -> PC  direction  is
  implemented with no error handling yet)

- introducing disk editor for disk images and disks in a  connected  CBM  drive
  also in turbo mode

- introducing a new smart shelling system that allocates less  than  25  KBytes
  for the Commander while executing DOS commands (that  is  if  you  start  the
  Commander through the loader SC.EXE)

- introducing the Brief mode which displays twice or three times more files  in
  the panel than the Full mode

- the Commander can optionally run with the C64 character set (only on  EGA/VGA
  video cards) - you can change it in the  "Advanced options..."  menu  and  by
  pressing Shift+Control and Shift+Alt when no dialog box is on the screen

- the "Configurations..." menu is split into two parts because there  were  too
  many options to stuff into it; now there is a "Configuration..." menu (mostly
  PC related options; assigned  to  Control+F9)  and  an  "Advanced options..."
  menu (rather C64 and CBM drive related options; assigned to Control+F10)

- an external ZipCoder is inside the Commander distribution package

- with the "Filter" menu you can disable the display of Hidden and System files
  and you can also make the Commander show you only executable or image files

- you can create your own user menus for DOS panels

- you can view and edit DOS files with external  viewers  and  editors - you'll
  have to create extension files first (read the online help on how to do that)

- you can associate commands with file extensions (e.g. start a word  processor
  if you press Enter or double click on a file with the extension .DOC)

- the Commander can now handle tape images with more (or less) than 30 entries

- the Commander now has a screen saver with adjustable screen blank delay

- you can start typing a file name to make the cursor bar jump  to  a  matching
  file in the panel (you have to press the Alt key with the first letter)

- the scroller bars of the panels and the online help are  removed - they  were
  the ugly remnants of the original Turbo Vision routines and had nothing to do
  with the environment of the other Commanders

- you can retry or skip reading or writing bad sectors during disk copy

- the disk copy CBM -> PC direction has been sped up by 10 seconds

- you can stop the reading of the directory and the validation of  disk  images
  by pressing Esc (it can help if there's a loop in the sector  chain  although
  you should fix that as soon as possible)

- all the four possible device numbers of connected CBM  drives  are  displayed
  in the "Change drive" dialog box; if you have a single floppy drive  in  your
  PC, it will not be displayed as a phantom second drive

- you can change the soft sector interleave for disk  images  and  disks  in  a
  connected CBM drive

- the "Volume label" command is moved from Alt+F4 to Control+F4 - Alt+F4 is now
  reserved for the internal editor (in one of the next releases)

- the Insert key now repeats just like any other key

- you can press Control+Alt+Insert  to  reset  all  connected  CBM  drives  and
  Control+Alt+Delete to exit the Commander immediately (emergency exit - use it
  only as a last resort)

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.71 beta (SC071.ZIP, 03-04-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.70 BETA:

- when copying a file or disk from a connected Commodore drive  to  the  PC  in
  normal transfer mode the last byte in some of the sectors or the last byte of
  the file could sometimes get lost

- you couldn't copy sequential and user files from a connected Commodore drive

- if you started SCMAIN.EXE and launched a standard viewer or editor while  the
  C64 character set was enabled then garbage would be displayed at the original
  DOS output screen after returning from the external program

- if you started the Commander through SC.EXE and executed a DOS  command  when
  one of the panels was an external panel then a strange path would be  offered
  when you tried to copy a file to the external drive and the  manual  filename
  conversion box would give you a blank filename

- when both panels were off and you tried to re-read  a  panel  with  Control-R
  then nothing happened but the clock disappeared

- user menu entries without any commands and commands prepended with  '@'  were
  handled incorrectly

- if you typed anything on the command line after  returing  from  an  external
  viewer or editor then the previous contents of the command line disappeared


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.70 BETA:

- introducing a new synchronization that uses the hardware  system  timers  and
  therefore is not machine dependent

- the infamous problem that made the Commander unable to work in turbo modes on
  certain PC's has at last been eliminated

- introducing an external setup program that allows you to set all the settings
  of the Commander - only the important settings  can  be  changed  inside  the
  Commander and so the configuration menus are not as stuffed as before

- from now on the external setup program and the Commander itself will be  able
  to read the setup file created by the previous version - no need to  set  the
  options that were unchanged in the new version

- introducing an external Lynx/unLynx program that can build  archives  out  of
  multiple DOS files or the contents of disk images and extract  archives  into
  DOS files or disk images

- introducing an external program that collects  multiple  file  images  (files
  with the extension '.P00'/'.S00'/'.U00' created by PC64) into tape images

- from now on I will maintain a mailing list for those who would  like  to  get
  the future releases of the Commander as soon as possible (you just send me an
  E-Mail and you'll get a uuencoded package on the release day)

- a World Wide Web homepage of the Commander is being under  construction - you
  will be able to download the latest release and read  about  changes  in  the
  upcoming version

- the type of column mode (brief or full) and the mini status box  (off,  brief
  or full) can be set separately for the left and right  panel  and  separately
  for DOS and CBM panel mode - however, the original options 'Brief' and 'Full'
  in the 'Left' and 'Right' menus and 'Mini status' in the 'Options' menu  were
  kept for comfort and compatibility

- critical errors are reported in a nice dialog box instead of  that  ugly  red
  message overlaying the last line of the screen

- standard viewers and editors are informed about the screen  mode  (black  and
  white, color or laptop) and the mouse mode (present or  not,  right  or  left
  handed) the Commander is using and they work with these parameters  (provided
  that they support the way of passing parameters used by The Norton Commander)

- Star Zip asks you for overwrite confirmation if the destination file  already
  exists

- you can overwrite an already existing disk image when copying a disk from  an
  external drive to a disk image

- if the inactive panel is off then the command "Rename or Move"  will  default
  to renaming the file under the cursor bar

- emergency exit is assigned to Ctrl-Alt-Ins and external Commodore drives  can
  be reset with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace (no dangerous Ctrl-Alt-Del anymore)

- only 16 commands are stored in the history since a  history  of  19  commands
  could not be displayed aesthetically on a 25 line screen anyway - this lowers
  the amount of memory used by the loader program, too

- the menu of available commands in the disk editor pops up when you  press  F2
  instead of 'M'

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.72 beta (SC072.ZIP, 05-20-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.71 BETA:

- you were not prompted for overwrite  confirmation  when  copying  an  already
  existing file from the PC to the connected Commodore drive

- empty files are now copied properly between panels of any mode

- saving the settings in the external setup while the Commander is resident  in
  the memory does not create a corrupt setup file

- some mouse handling problems before and  after  executing  DOS  commands  and
  calling standard viewers and editors have been fixed

- invalid track and sector numbers are not allowed in the disk editor

- if the functions ^[ and ^] would cause the command line to overflow  (locking
  up the computer), you will not be allowed to use them


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.71 BETA:

- introducing an internal viewer for DOS and Commodore files with  wrap/unwrap,
  text/hex  display,  adjustable  end-of-line  mark,  text/hex  search,  ASCII/
  PETSCII/screen  code  display  and  C64  character  set  -  this  program  is
  physically external (SCVIEW.EXE) so that the memory required by the Commander
  does not increase

- all the interactive external programs (currently the external setup  and  the
  viewer) can be also shut down by pressing Control+Alt+Insert at any  time  in
  case they lock up for some reason

- introducing a full color setup for all palettes (black & white, color, laptop
  and monochrome) in the  external  setup - there  are  sample  palettes  files
  included, too

- introducing a FAQ - frequently asked questions about  the  Commander  and  my
  answers

- the Commander and all related programs abort with an error message if run  on
  an XT

- on any error during finding a viewer or editor for the file to be  viewed  or
  edited (extension file does not exist, there is no appropriate entry  in  the
  extension file or the standard viewer or editor in that entry does not exist)
  the Commander will try to load the standard viewer SCVIEW.EXE or the standard
  editor SCEDIT.EXE - until the internal editor of the Commander  is  done  you
  can rename your favorite editor to SCEDIT.EXE

- you can recursively delete non-empty directories

- the symbols '!', '!.!', '!:', '!\' and '!@' used in menu and extension  files
  for the active panel have the equivalents of '%', '%.%', '%:', '%\' and  '%@'
  for the inactive panel

- a new C64 character set was designed for and only for the 80x25 screen mode

- the Commander doesn't display "Invalid disk image" for disk images with error
  info at their end, it just ignores the error info instead

- if a disk error occurs during warp file copy CBM->PC direction  then  instead
  of aborting the copy the Commander will allow you to retry the bad block

- there is a new option called 'Copy full track 18' that allows you to BAM copy
  disks that have unallocated but useful sectors  in  the  directory - in  this
  case track #18 will be fully copied no matter what the BAM contains

- if you try to BAM copy a disk with an invalid BAM you are asked if  you  want
  to copy the full disk

- the disk copy dialog box also contains the 'BAM disk  copy'  and  'Copy  full
  track 18' options which default to the value set in the 'Advanced options...'
  menu but you can override them temporarily for that particular disk  or  disk
  image

- if a disk error is encountered during disk copy in either direction  you  can
  skip the whole track, as well

- when finishing copying a disk from a connected Commodore drive to the  PC  or
  you abort the process, the Commander will only re-read the DOS panel

- pressing Escape will no more stop reading the directory in disk image panels,
  only in external panels

- pressing F6 while the inactive panel is off or pressing  Control+F6  pops  up
  the 'Rename or Move' dialog box in rename  mode  offering  you  the  original
  filename instead of a destination path

- you can assign commands to F1 and F10 in the user menu - this  will  override
  'Help' and 'Quit' on the function key bar

- there is a clipboard in the disk editor that allows you to copy  data  chunks
  between sectors

- if you run the Commander through SC.EXE then you can enter a DOS command as a
  parameter to be executed before the Commander starts

- you are not allowed to copy, rename or move deleted  files  (files  with  the
  file type 'DEL') - you can only delete them

- the 'Mini status' option in the 'Options' menu changes the  mini  status  for
  both panels

- the 'Clean' function deletes the garbage in the last block of files, as well

- the color attribute of characters in the shadow has been  changed  from  dark
  gray on black to light gray on black

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.73 (SC073.ZIP, 09-30-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.72 BETA:

- if you select 'Executable files' or 'Image files' in the Filter dialog box of
  a panel, directories will still be displayed

- if you press 'B' in the menu of the disk editor then the BAM editor will come
  up and not the sector editor

- when you pop up the online help above the user menu, the cursor keys will  be
  handled by the online help and not the user menu below it

- if you press cursor left or right in a Brief panel, the cursor will not  jump
  to the first or last entry

- if you press Alt+A to select 'All' in the manual file  name  conversion  box,
  the Commander will not lock up after copying the file

- the automatic file name conversion now works correctly for non-program  files
  having dots in their names

- if you enter an empty search string, the viewer will not lock up

- the Commander now finds standard viewers/editors in its home directory if  no
  path was specified in the extension file


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.72 BETA:

- the Commander is not called "beta" anymore - it is just a matter of naming to
  please worrying people because the public beta releases have always been just
  as complete and bugfree as any other non-beta program

- from this release on the Commander is giftware: it can  be  freely  used  but
  registering it is encouraged - please, read REGISTER.TXT for more details

- the delay values are now multiplied by 4, the default is 48 - this makes  the
  delay value scale finer, helping you with setting the correct value

- only the executable files of  the  external  utilities  are  in  the  archive
  SC_ARC.ZIP in the Commander package - the full packages of the Star Utilities
  are in a separately distributed archive named SUxyy.ZIP (where  x.yy  is  the
  version number)

- the maximum number of files displayed in the panels is reduced to  512,  this
  way the Commander needs 50 KBytes less memory for execution - similarly,  the
  maximum number of entries in the 'Make tape image' function is reduced to 99,
  the value in C64S, since you can't see 1499 entries in a panel anyway

- introducing full read and write support for the file images (files  with  the
  extension '.P00'/'.S00'/'.U00') of Personal C64 - press Enter or double-click
  on a file image to view its contents  and  check  'Into file images'  in  the
  'Copy' and 'Rename or move' dialog boxes to copy/move the source  files  into
  file images

- introducing support for 40 track disks and disk images - you can format  such
  disks and create such disk images, copy them between the PC  and an  external
  Commodore drive and copy files into or out of them

- introducing support for the error info  attached  to  disk  images - although
  most parts of the Commander ignore it,  you  are  given  the  opportunity  to
  collect read errors during disk copy in any mode into an error info block and
  you can edit the error info of disk images in the disk editor

- introducing the capability of the viewer  to  display  files  inside  images,
  there is even a file selector for you to view other files in the image

- introducing Star LHA, an external archiver  than  can  create  Commodore  LHA
  archives out of disk images, list their contents and extract them  into  disk
  images (it uses LHA for DOS for compression and decompression so remember  to
  put it into your path) - it can  even  display  archive  comments  (only  the
  PETSCII control codes $0D, $0E and $8E are supported)

- introducing Star Arkive, an external archiver than can create Arkive archives
  out of disk images, list their contents and extract them into disk images

- introducing a new panel mode: Info panels show the total and free memory  and
  some info about the other panel like total and free capacity,  volume  label,
  number of files in the current directory and the capacity they use

- introducing a history file containing all the changes made  since  the  first
  release of the Commander

- introducing a command line for external drives in  the  User  Menu - if  your
  Commodore drive has special commands over the normal 1541 commands,  you  can
  type them there

- lots of more C64 graphical characters are displayed in PC character set  mode
  so that the directories of demo disks look a bit better

- the configuration menus of the main program and the external setup were again
  rearranged

- the sample menu and extension files have been expanded  to  handle  Commodore
  archives using the external archivers

- if you copy or move multiple files into a disk or tape image with the  option
  'Backup image files' checked and an error occurs then the image file  is  not
  overwritten with the backup so that the  previously  copied  or  moved  files
  won't disappear

- if you press Escape or F10 during disk or file copy while data is transferred
  from or to  an  external  Commodore  drive,  you  are  optionally  asked  for
  confirmation before the copy is cancelled

- there is an option to display start info in the panels (the track and  sector
  number of the files in disk images and the start address of programs in  tape
  and file images)

- you can set the number of  automatic  retries  on  disk  errors  during  data
  transfer between the PC and the external Commodore drive

- you are warned if you copy a too big file onto a disk or into a disk image

- the Commander now warns you if the destination PC disk gets full during  file
  copy - it allows you to continue with the next selected file  but  it  always
  deletes the partly copied file

- you can save the BAM in the BAM editor with F2 instead of 'W'

- when the Commander is running idle, it executes INT 28h - for  example,  disk
  caches can write data back faster in the background

- if the environment variable TEMP is defined, the panel list files are created
  in the directory it points to

- the viewer opens a warning window to inform you  when  there  is  not  enough
  memory to view the file

- the "NULL" line feed of the viewer has been changed into "User LF" - you  can
  define any one byte code for a line feed mark

- all the external utilities recognize 40 track disk  images  and  disk  images
  with error info

- Star Zip can create and extract "filepacked" ZipCode archives (files with the
  name pattern A!*.*, B!*.*, ... plus a "directory" file X!*.*)

- Star Zip can create diskpacked ZipCode archives out of 40 track disk  images,
  in which case a fifth archive is created; similarly, if  this  fifth  archive
  is found while unzipping diskpacked ZipCode archives, a 40 track  disk  image
  is created - note that the fifth ZipCode archive will not  be  recognized  by
  ZipCoder programs running on a Commodore machine

- Star Lynx now creates archives out of disk images  by  default  and  extracts
  archives into disk images; to lynx and unlynx multiple DOS files you must put
  the option 'D' right after the command

- Star Zip and Star Lynx will allow you to extract, skip or rename the  current
  file if a file with the same name was encountered in the destination image

- you can add and extract phantom files (they start  at  the  sector  18;0  and
  usually have the length of zero blocks) into and out of Lynx archives

- you may prepend a dash to the commands of the external utilities, if you want

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

  The Star Commander, Version 0.80 (SC080.ZIP, 05-26-97):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.73:

- now the Commander does run with only 500 KBytes of free  conventional  memory
  just as the documentation states (I forgot  to  change  the  check  for  free
  memory at startup)

- the Commander can create backup files under Windows'95, too

- the Format menu item in the user menu for tape images now works OK

- the automatic filename conversion works correctly if you use joker characters
  or change the file extension in the Copy, Rename or move and Delete  filename
  input dialog boxes

- the device number of both panels is remembered correctly in the setup

- the keys PgDn, PgUp, Home and End don't  change  the  active  button  in  the
  online help index of the viewer and the external setup

- the "Next" and "Previous" items in the online help  don't  skip  the  section
  "Memory allocation"

- the 'Write block' item at the bottom of the disk editor menu is not hidden

- when 'Full screen' is off, the speed search dialog box is  still  sticked  to
  the bottom of the panel

- if you save the setup when one of the panels is an external panel and restart
  the Commander then the "Change drive" dialog box will show  you  the  correct
  default drive number for that panel

- the 'Color' palette color of the numbers in  the  function  key  bar  at  the
  bottom is light grey on black instead of cyan on black

- the sample Commander screens in the palette setup of the external setup  have
  been changed according to the new  features  (I  should  have  done  that  in
  Version 0.73)

- when viewing or editing files inside images, always the  internal  viewer  or
  editor is called

- the viewer  scrolls  upwards  in  a  smarter  way  in  files  containing  Tab
  characters

- the viewer displays Commodore filenames with graphical  characters  correctly
  in the upper status line

- the viewer works properly if you specify the name of the file  to  be  viewed
  and the active panel is an image panel

- Star LHA now omits the path stored in LHA archives and only uses the filename
  itself when displaying or extracting the contents

- Star Lynx doesn't create corrupt archives out of more than some 130 files

- Star LHA now doesn't display the option 'V' for the command 'L' in its  usage
  info because such an option doesn't exist at all


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.73:

- introducing a file editor for DOS files and Commodore  files  inside  images:
  handles files up to amount of free  conventional  memory,  ability  to  mark,
  copy, move and delete text and  hexadecimal  blocks,  adjustable  line  feed,
  optional PETSCII and screen code display, built-in C64 character set

- introducing built-in support for Lynx, filepacked ZipCode,  LHA,  Arkive  and
  TAR archives - you can enter them, copy files into and out  of  them,  rename
  and delete files inside them, even File Info and the Info  panel  works  with
  them (note that the Commander needs LHA 2.14 or newer in order to be able  to
  extract files properly)

- introducing the XP1541  parallel  cable  that  speeds  up  transferring  data
  between the PC and the external Commodore drive  even  more  (see  the  cable
  specifications in 'THE X1541 INTERFACES' section above)

- introducing the warp file copy PC->CBM direction

- introducing Star Library, yet another  external  utility  to  handle  Library
  archives

- the Commander, the external setup, the viewer and the editor  all  check  the
  version number of the resident Commander/loader

- the description of the X1541 interfaces has been moved to the docs  from  the
  online help

- you are warned if you try to access an external drive under  a  multi-tasking
  system via the X1541 cable, you try to use the X1541 cable on an EPP  or  ECP
  parallel port or try to use the XP1541 parallel cable on an SPP parallel port

- the delay value defaults to 80 on Pentiums and to 48 on earlier CPU's

- you can sort files in CBM panels, too

- you can press the right mouse button on the key bar  at  the  bottom  of  the
  screen to access the Alt functions

- the maximum number of entries in tape images has been raised to 500,  it  was
  unnecessary to decrease it to as low as 99

- the Commander and all the external programs give up their  time  slice  under
  DESQview and in the DOS shells of OS/2, Linux and any  Windows  when  waiting
  for input

- the Commander takes the "COUNTRY=" settings in your CONFIG.SYS into  account,
  it displays numbers and displays and inputs dates and times accordingly - you
  can view these settings in the menu item "Country info" of the external setup

- by checking a new option, 'Verify write', the Commander verifies data written
  onto disks in the external Commodore drive during warp disk copy

- the process of copying files from an external panel in  warp  mode  has  been
  sped up a bit by reading 256 blocks of data in one go  instead  of  track  by
  track

- "22,READ ERROR" and "23,READ ERROR" errors are also retried as many times  as
  the option "Number of retries" specifies during warp disk and file copy

- you can format the destination disks during disk copy

- when you press Enter or double-click on a DOS file, the Commander first reads
  through the extension file to find a command specified for  that  extension -
  this way you can override the normal action of  entering  image  and  archive
  files

- it is now possible to specify filename patterns  besides  extensions  in  the
  extension files

- you can specify the same commands for a sequence  of  name  patterns  in  the
  extension files by listing the patterns in subsequent lines or by  separating
  the patterns with semicolons

- now you can use  the  "<imagetype>:<path>\<imagename>\<filename>"  file  name
  format (used in the Copy dialog box) in the View and  Edit  dialog  boxes  to
  view or edit files inside images

- the PETSCII to DOS filename conversion now includes stripping off leading and
  trailing underscores of the filename and the extension

- it is now possible to change the file type of files being copied by appending
  ",<file-type>" to the filename pattern

- now you can set the Filter to display only archive files

- the Commander doesn't read the error channel of the external drive  if  there
  were no errors while reading the directory, which speeds up the process

- if you delete the image file displayed in one of the panels then  that  panel
  turns back to DOS mode and no error message is written onto the screen

- the disk image cleaner is much faster than before

- the confirmation option 'Write block' has transformed into the  option  'Disk
  editor' and now it controls all confirmations in the disk editor

- a new confirmation option, "Abort data transfer" tells whether the  Commander
  should ask for confirmation when aborting data transfer between  the  PC  and
  the external Commodore drive or not

- with two other new confirmation options you can control  the  warnings  about
  possible transfer and file size problems

- another new  option, "Auto unselect files"  allows  you  to  control  whether
  processed files are automatically unselected or not

- the option 'Wipe scratched files' allows you to clean up the sectors of files
  being scratched in disk images

- another new option, 'Orig format pattern' controls whether empty sectors  are
  filled up with zeros or the original 1541 format pattern

- you can copy frozen files out of tape images as programs and  File Attributes
  can turn files in tape images into frozen files

- there is no label displayed in file images

- if you allocate or free a whole track in the BAM editor, the cursor will jump
  a column to the right, helping you with allocating or freeing the whole disk

- now you can also use the clipboard of the disk editor to  copy  data  between
  different disks and disk images

- if the screen height allows, the lower part of the disk editor  screen  shows
  the current contents of the clipboard

- pressing Escape doesn't stop reading the directory in any panel mode

- if you press Space on the selected item of a  radio  button  group  then  the
  selection and the cursor will jump onto the next item

- the Commander informs you if an invalid sector link is found  in  the  source
  disk image during file copy

- you can select multiple disk images and copy them one by one onto disks in an
  external drive

- the "Configuration..." menu of the external setup shows you the current  mode
  of the LPT ports

- the viewer and the editor are now capable of reading and writing uncompressed
  (Lynx, Arkive) archives

- since you can use the viewer and the editor with  other  programs,  as  well,
  neither of them display registration info in the online help

- when in text mode, the Goto function in the viewer and the editor ask for the
  number of the line you want to jump to, jumping to  an  offset  is  available
  only in hexadecimal mode

- a new line feed mode in the viewer and the editor allow you to have  a  fixed
  line length

- an empty line within the selected block is marked with  a  phantom  space  by
  both the viewer and the editor so that you see the block has not ended yet

- the viewer now scrolls much faster when you press PgDn or PgUp

- the viewer is a bit more tolerant, it won't lock up when viewing files inside
  damaged disk images

- the viewer and the editor write no messages onto the DOS screen if everything
  is OK - this way you can use them under other programs without that  annoying
  screen jump

- the viewer and the editor now scan the first 4 kilobytes of  the  input  file
  to autodetect the line feed and whether to switch Tab translation on or off

- you can switch the display of special characters (Space, Tab  and  line  feed
  marks) both in the viewer and the editor

- the viewer and the editor put a "$" sign before the hexadecimal number  input
  line of the Goto and User Line Feed dialog boxes

- Star Arkive, Star LHA, Star Library, Star Lynx and Star Zip display the names
  of files being skipped during extraction

- when renaming a file during  extraction,  Star Arkive,  Star LHA,  Star Lynx,
  Star Library and Star Zip offer you the original filename and you can use the
  cursor keys, Home and End to move around the filename, Backspace  and  Delete
  to delete characters and Control+Backspace to delete the whole filename

- Star LHA lets you extract files even  if  another  one  with  the  same  name
  already exists in the destination disk image

- Star LHA recognizes filenames longer than 16 characters in LHA archives

- with a new command of Star LHA you can prepend the SFX header to  an  already
  existing LHA archive or strip it off of an SFX archive

- Star List is now capable of listing file images,  Lynx,  filepacked  ZipCode,
  LHA, LHA SFX, Arkive and TAR archives

- Star List now displays the total number and size of files at the end  of  the
  file list of the current image or archive file

- some of the archive checks were changed in Star Lynx  to  make  it  recognize
  more Lynx archives

- Star Tape can handle list files created by the '!@' option of the Commander

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