WHOS-IN 2000 Updates

Update 2002-05-26 - Download (194KB)

The following updates and bug fixes have been made to WHOS-IN 2000 with this release.

USER - Updates:

The previous version of WHOS-IN 2000 automatically scanned the hudsoft.com web site to determine if there was a newer version of itself available. This caused some problems for some sites with FireWalls installed  -  For example, some could not allow a 'pass-through' so WHOS-IN could access the web site.  Also, some NetAdmins were concerned that WHOS-IN was passing information 'back' to hudsoft.com (which was not the case).

Web scanning has now been removed entirely from WHOS-IN, and the ''update'' file it was looking for on the web site has also been removed (preventing the previous release from connecting).

To those sites that had issues with the above, please accept our apologies. No harm was intended, in fact the opposite - we were attempting to make updates automatic, reducing the workload for the WHOS-IN adminitsrator.

BUG FIX:

This version also fixes a bug which appeared when all 'DueBack' entries were deleted by the administrator.

NOTE: This is likely to be the LAST update to WHOS-IN 2000 due to the impending release of WHOS-IN 2002 (unless additional bugs are encountered - in which case they will be fixed).

Update 2001-06-23

USER - Updates:

1.  Modified System Tray action so Left Mouse Double-Click restores the screen to normal size.

2. Added 'minimize' as an option to the System Tray right-mouse click menu.

3. Added code to System Tray to disable menu item for current 'Window State', meaning that if WI2000 is Maximized (for example) then the Maximized menu option is disabled.

4. When WI2000 is minimized, it no longer disappears into the SysTray, it remains on  the TaskBar.

5. Added code to automatically switch tasks to an already running copy of WI2000 *IF* the username matches. This will prevent 2 identical copies (with the same user name) running on an individual PC.

6. Removed Shutdown screen for 5 user Freeware version.

7. Modified About screen graphic to the same as the Welcome 'splash' screen.

8. Modified Group Tabs to display multiple lines/tabs. This eliminates the need to scroll the Tabs to see Groups that were 'off the screen'.

USER - Bug Fixes:

NONE. 

ADMIN - Updates:

1. Removed the 'Red Dot' from the main screen and replaced it with a Yellow Triangle to better indicate the 'Active' status of a user. The Red Dot was being confused with the OUT status, and this change helps to eliminate this confusion.  Status Bar text also modified.

2. Added 'Reset Active Flags' menu item to Tools menu. This allows you to manually reset ALL active flags, however this should be used with caution, as one or more of the 'Active' users MAY have the database 'locked' open. The active warning is there to assist Network Administrators locate potential server 'locks', and should not be reset without care.

3. Added Reset Active Flag checkbox to Modify User screen.

4. Removed restriction on ONE MINUTE polling. This option is now available to users at all access levels. This has been implemented for two reasons. 1. Several people asked for it, and 2. It means those people who did want it, no longer need to give all users HIGH access.

ADMIN - Bug Fixes:

1. OK button on Register screen failed to close the form. Now fixed.

Update 2001-04-25

USER - Updates:

1.  Added System Tray functionality, with additional options to change YOUR status.

2. Replaced date field on Status Bar with a countdown timer indicating how many seconds until the next Auto-Refresh is triggered. This timer is reset when any of the other conditions that cause a refresh are met.

3. Modified the order in which double clicking on the main listview works. Previously, the program looked at the Group first, to determine if the user was allowed to change anyone's status. Now, it looks at the item being double clicked, and if it's the default user, displays the change your status screen - no matter what the user access level or group security level.

USER - Bug Fixes:

1. Fixing the height resizing bug in the last update caused a new bug to appear... The screen was not refreshing when resizing from minimized to Normal or Maximized. Now fixed.

Update 2001-03-23

The following updates and bug fixes have been made to WHOS-IN 2000 with this release. (All previous updates are included in this release).

USER - Updates:

1. The printed Phone List font changed to BOLD (making the list easier to read), and the number of characters printed has been increased to 40 for each column.

2. Added a small search-as-you-type 'find' textbox to the ToolBar. This feature allows you to quickly locate any user or item on screen. The 'find' function operates on the SELECTED column (indicated by the blue arrow).

3. Updated 'Welcome' screen to a fixed size. This prevents distortion on screens running 640x480 mode.

4. Print option now allows selecting by Group / Department.

USER - Bug Fixes:

1. Code added in SP7 to force WI2000 to return to the 'home' server when exiting the program, also reset the 'last Group accessed' to the Everyone Group. This caused an error on the next restart by 'forgetting' the last Group the user was looking at.

2. When starting WHOS-IN 2000, if the Desktop Icon had the 'Run Minimized' option set, restoring the screen from the taskbar to normal size produced an error in the Height of the form (it was larger than the 'saved' height in the database).

ADMIN - Updates:

1. Updated 'Welcome' screen to a fixed size. This prevents distortion on screens running 640x480 mode.

ADMIN - Bug Fixes:

1. Adding or removing a user from a Group reset the Group Management setting for all users in that Group. The fix involved a complete re-write of the SQL query & associated code & now operates correctly.

THANK YOU to those people who have taken the time & effort to report bugs & offer suggestions.
Your continued vigilance contributes to a better working environment for all.

02 Dec 2000 - Service Pack 7

The following updates and bug fixes have been made to WHOS-IN 2000 with this service pack.

USER - Updates:
1. The printed Status List can now be sorted by Name or Status.
     (handy for those people using WI2000 for fire evacuation drills).

2. The font size for the printed lists has been reduced to allow more information to be printed.

3. Updated several ToolBar icons with 'Transparent background' property.

4. Added error checking for corrupted database when changing status. (Error 3709)

USER - Bug Fixes:
1. Printing Status List & Phone List buttons were reversed - fixed.

2. If AutoLogOut was enabled, and a username was selected from the ListView, pressing the Exit button updated the Transaction Log with the Selected user name, not the Default user name - fixed.

3. If AutoLogOut was selected, and you were connected to a Remote Server, and you were not a listed 'user' in the remote database, exiting the User program caused a Runtime Error 3021 (No current user). The program was attempting to updated the status of a non-existent user in the remote database. This error has been fixed by forcing the User program to return 'Home' before updating the database using the AutoLogOut function.

4. If the option to display the 'Change' screen when pressing the ToolBar 'Out' button was selected, AND a username was highlighted on the main screen, pressing OK on the Change Screen updated the default user instead of the selected user. This bug has been fixed by forcing the 'Group Change' screen to appear instead of the 'Change YOUR Screen' if any user name is selected on the Main Screen.

ADMIN - Updates:
1. Added Print option to Transaction Log, allowing printing of the complete Log or selecting an individual user.

ADMIN - Bug Fixes:
1. Entering a Status Type, and selecting the checkbox to add it to the ToolBar caused an error in the User program if the Status Type chosen matched one of the existing 'Command' buttons (Change, Group, Home, Help etc.). These 'reserved words' are now excluded.

31 Oct 2000 - Service Pack 6

SYSTEM & USER SECURITY:
Due to the massive feedback from our last user survey, we have now included 2 new options to control System Access, and individual User Access. Each has 3 levels:

System Security level HIGH:
   Global Access Users can change anyone.
   Group Managers can change other members of a Group.
   Normal Users can't change anyone at all (except themselves).

System Security Level MEDIUM:
   Global Access Users can change anyone.
   Group Managers can change other members of a Group.
   Normal Users can change other members of a Group (that they are a member of).

System Security Level LOW:
   All users have the ability to change any other user/item in any Group.

SPECIAL CASE:
A Group created by the Administrator, and suffixed with an asterisk (*) can now be modified by anyone, irrespective of their access level. This allows special Groups to be set up (' Vehicles * ' for example) which could then be marked as In or Out by anyone (without requiring a system wide security level set to LOW - which could be undesirable).

USER - Updates:

Custom (Administrator) designed buttons (for Status Types) now appear on the user ToolBar.
Added In, Out & Busy items to system menu. This allows quick status changes by using the right mouse button when WHOS-IN 2000 is minimized to the taskbar. This feature can be switched On or Off from the users 'Options' screen.
Added error checking for 'Unrecognized database format'.
Changed default Print option to 'All details'. (previously Phone List)
The 'Last Modified' column now stores the date/time in yyyy-mm-dd format (bypassing user settings). This change now allows column sorting 'by date' (previously unsorted).
Added code to automatically clear DueBack & Comments when selecting 'In' from the Change Screen or Group Change Screen (if the Auto Clear Comments option is selected). This previously only worked during StartUp or when pressing the toolbar 'In' button.

USER - Bug Fixes:
Transaction Log error 3314 fixed.

ADMIN - Updates:

The WI2000 administrator can now create and modify their own user defined set of custom buttons/status types (which will appear on the users ToolBar.)
Added code to examine & apply patches to the database automatically.
Added error checking and automatic repair for 'Unrecognized database format'.
Added code to select 'most current' 500 transactions in the Transaction Log. This prevents the MS ListView control from being 'overloaded' with too much data, giving unpredictable results. 'Most current' is based on the new yyyy-mm-dd format date storage system in the 'Last Modified' column.
The Transaction Log now contains the users 'Network Logon ID' (where possible). This has been added to assist the administrator identify people logging in to WI2000 as someone else, then changing their status. Several sites have reported that people have logged in as their Manager (or whatever), and entered stupid comments. We do not want to go to the extent of requiring passwords to use WHOS-IN 2000, so this is the 2nd best alternative.
Moved 'Compact Database' and 'Database Path' menu items from File Menu to Tools Menu.
Added 'System Security Levels' screen to Tools menu.
Updated 'Modify User' screen to include all the latest options including Group Management.

ADMIN - Bug Fixes:
NONE

28 Sept 2000 - Service Pack 5b

SP5b supercedes SP5a released 26 Sept 2000.
User - Bug Fix - When moving the mouse around the ListView, if a 'null' value was read from the database (which should not normally happen) a Runtime Error 35600, Index is Out of Bounds occurred. This error has been fixed by ensuring a blank string("") is stored in the cell instead of 'nothing'.

SP5a superceded SP5 released 24 Sept 2000. Due to an error on our part, some
debugging code was left in place which caused the 'Refresh' to operate incorrectly. 
This problem has been rectified with the SP5a release.

Service Pack 5:

User - Update - When selecting a single user to modify (using Group Change) the users previous status information is now displayed on screen. (Not available if multiple users are selected).
User - Update - The toolbar has now been set to 'wrappable' meaning that when the listview (main screen) is resized smaller, the icons are displayed on 2 (or more) rows.
User - Update - Several people have commented that since moving from the old WHOS-IN to the new version, they can no longer see 'long' comments without resizing the column. This is due to the microsoft listview control not supporting 'column wrapping'. The column displays the first few characters, then an ellipsis (...). This problem has now been addressed so that the listview displays the contents of a 'cell' in the tooltips as the mouse moves over each item. This feature can be switched on / off in the Options screen.
User - Update - Link to WYWO (While You Were Out) added to toolbar. This button is grayed out if WYWO is not running. (WYWO is sold separately). Don't have WYWO yet? You can download a FREE 3 user version from the downloads page.
User - Update - The Options Screen now has an extra item allowing the red OUT button on the toolbar to optionally display the Change Status Screen.
User - Update - Error checking added to detect network failure due to a dropout, or if the program is running on a NoteBook PC which is not connected to the LAN.
User - Update - Quick search/find feature added. Simply enter a keystroke, and WI2000 will now search for, find, and highlight the first occurrence of a matching NAME in the ListView. e.g. Entering 'g' (case insensitive) will find 'Greg Hudson' in the name field IF Greg Hudson is the first name in the list beginning with 'G'. Note: All other selected items are cleared.
User - Update - Added keyboard switching between the ListView and the Group List Tabs by pressing the Tab key.
User - Bug Fix - Error encountered verifying remote server serial numbers - Fixed.

Screenshot displaying 'Wrapped' toolbar, and 'cell' tooltips.

Admin - Bug Fix - Modify DueBack section not working. Fixed.
Admin - Bug Fix - Modify User Help button not working. Fixed.

01 September 2000 - Service Pack 4

Admin - Bug Fix - Modify & Delete Menu items displayed incorrect (inverted) screens.
Admin - Update - If the WI2000.INI datapath is blank, the Application path is now the assumed database path. (This now allows use by sites that are not UNC path 'aware').

User - Update - Added code to detect LOGO.GIF image in Application Path. This allows you to install your own Company Logo as the background for the main WI2000 'user' screen.
User - Update - Removed screen redraw flickering when moving screen to new location.
User - Update - If the WI2000.INI datapath is blank, the Application path is now the assumed database path. (This now allows use by sites that are not UNC path 'aware').
User - Bug Fix - Double clicking an empty Group caused 'Runtime 91' error.
User - Bug Fix - Added missing Tooltips for Help & About buttons.
User - Bug Fix - Attempted to fix random lines appearing on main display area failed. The bug appears to be in the MS ListView control itself.
User - Bug Fix - Transaction Log error incorrectly reported a blank field.

LOGO USAGE:
To install your own logo, you will need to overwrite the sample logo.gif with your own. The filename MUST remain as logo.gif
CAUTION: The logo should be used like a 'watermark' - using very soft pastel type colors so that it does not interfere with the text that is overlaid on top of it. If you keep it similar  to the Hudson Software logo you should be OK.
If the logo.gif file is missing from the Application folder, WI2000 will default to using the built-in Hudson Software logo.
Note: No error checking is performed on the GIF file (to ensure it is actually a GIF) so please ensure the image file is the correct format before adding to to your server WI2000 folder.

14 August 2000 - Service Pack 3

Admin - Update - 'Guest' user can now be deleted if desired.
Admin - Update - Removed WEB SCAN option due to incompatibilities with Internet Explorer 4 (MSINET.OCX).
Admin - Bug Fix - CSV files now imported correctly. (Phone numbers were missing)
Admin - Bug Fix - Added error trapping for unexpected 'deleted' users.

User - Update - 'Guest' user has been removed as the 'default' user if no name is entered on the command line.
User - Bug Fix - Updated the 'Tab Order' on the change status screen to correctly jump from item to item.
User - Bug Fix - Added error trapping for unexpected 'deleted' users.

WSSETUP - Update - Removed references to WININET.DLL & MSINET.OCX to help eliminate incompatibilities with Internet Explorer 4.
WSSETUP - Update - Added HDK3CTNT.DLL (Used by the new Help system.)

Admin.HLP & User.HLP - Updated to indicate latest changes.

WIN NT Workstation BUG:
It has been brought to our attention that attempting to send an email message to many people fails if the total number of characters in the 'To' field exceeds 260. This is a BUG in Win NT Workstation, and does not appear to exist in Win 95, 98 or 2000. Full details of the bug are available at the following page:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q269/2/72.asp

28 July 2000 - Service Pack 2

Admin - Update - Removed calls to HTML (browser based) help & replaced with WinHelp format file Admin.hlp due to problems encountered with Win NT.
Admin - Bug Fix - Added code to prevent 'Guest' user from being renamed.

User - Update - Removed calls to HTML (browser based) help & replaced with WinHelp format file User.hlp.
User - Update - Removed the 'Auto add Status Types to Global Status Types List' to prevent users clogging the status list with hundreds of status types.

17 July 2000 - Service Pack 1

Admin - Update - Added command line option to allow unattended over-night 'repair' of database.
Admin - Update - Dialog box displayed when data path is blank now indicates that the message is 'normal' (not an error) on first use.
Admin - Update - Added error trapping for damaged UserName indexes.
Admin - Bug Fix - Entering too many digits into the serial number caused an error. Now limited to 12 digits.
Admin - Bug Fix - Calling Help from the Transaction Log screen now works correctly.
Admin - Bug Fix - Pressing 'Clear' on the Transaction Log screen now erases both the entries in the database and updates the screen.

User - Update - Moved 'Scan web for updates' into Admin.
User - Update - Group Tabs now sorted alphabetically.
User - Update - Added code to prevent crashing if Admin deletes a user whilst the user is still logged in.
User - Bug Fix - Selecting a blank Group, then pressing the 'Out' button on the toolbar produced a Runtime 91 error. Fixed.
User - Bug Fix - Stripped trailing semicolon from mail list to eliminate error in Novell GroupWise.
User - Bug Fix - 'Stop' error encountered when choosing sort order. Fixed.

Installation Instructions - Updated to include extra step informing users to close down Internet Explorer before running WSSETUP.
Installation Instructions - Moved IconMake to step 3.

Zip file - Replaced PKUNZIP format file with WINZIP format file due to errors encountered unzipping the help files into their correct locations.

Known issues (Bugs yet to be fixed)

Although not strictly a WHOS-IN 2000 bug as such, (the problem below is actually caused by bugs in the Microsoft ListView control) the end result is something that 'appears' to be a WHOS-IN 2000 bug. We can reproduce the problem at will, but have been unable to find a resolution to date (and we are still searching).

The problem lies with the drawing or 'painting' of the ListView during program loading. WHOS-IN 2000 saves the screen position, size, and ListView column widths into the database when it shuts down, and reloads those values when it restarts. If a combination of the form width and column width leaves the bottom scroll bar almost touching the right-hand edge, multiple copies of the text and grid are drawn on-screen.

Screen shot of problem area

At present, the only solution we know of is to 'refresh' the screen (by hitting the refresh button on the toolbar, minimizing & restoring, or moving the mouse around on the toolbar so that the tooltips are displayed - there may be others as well).

To prevent the problem, try to ensure that when you exit WI2000, the bottom scroll bar is either not visible, or not close to the right hand edge.

This is not a situation we are happy with, and we will continue to try to resolve the issue by whatever means possible. Microsoft has been informed of the bug, and hopefully it will be fixed in Visual Basic version 7 (VB Net).

WHOS-IN 2000 updates are supplied FREE for a period of 12 months after initial purchase. Thereafter, a $1 per user per year maintenance fee applies. We will advise each client when the maintenance fee is due.