README for MSM-Workstation 2.0.0

April 1998

Copyright 1998, Micronetics Design Corporation. All rights reserved.

Please review this entire document BEFORE installing the software. This README file is provided on the distribution media as README.RTF and in plain-text format as README.TXT.

After reviewing this README, run SETUP.EXE on distribution diskette 1, or in the product's directory on the CD.

This file contains the following sections in the order listed below:

Requirements
Installation
Notes for Existing Users
New Features
Known Issues
Feedback and Support

Requirements

This software is designed to work with Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT Version 4.0 for Intel. With NT, we recommend use of Service Pack 3.

Although use of Windows 3 by the developer is not supported, you may be able to develop an end-user application capable of running on Windows 3.1x by restricting the MSM-Workstation Version 2.0 facilities you use. The end-user system will require Win32s 1.30c. However, this is the final Workstation version that will be capable of running end-user applications on Win32s.

Installation

If MSM-Workstation is already installed on your system, be sure to read the next section before proceeding.

The installation path is restricted to a maximum of 42 characters in length so that adding “\program\explorer.mbj” to the path will not produce a path that exceeds 63 characters in length (see Known Issues).

Notes for Existing Users

Version 2.0 can co-exist with Version 1.0 on the same system but the two must be located in different directories.

If you use MSM-Workstation Version 2.0 to work in a database that contains existing MSM-Workstation Version 1.0 development, you will need to recompile all windows, modules, and applications. Consequently we recommend you do not work in a Server-hosted remote database concurrently with Version 1.0 users.

If you prefer to replace a previous version of MSM-Workstation we recommend that you first use Control Panel to uninstall that version. Otherwise the installation directory structure will contain obsolete components. Note that an uninstall of a Workstation 2.0 beta version may delete database moniker definitions from the registry. If necessary, record details of your monikers and the databases they reference before doing the uninstall.

The Explorer database files, explorer.m and explorer.mxs, are over-written by the installation process, and are deleted by the uninstall process.  If there is development work within this database that you want to save, copy it to another location before you proceed.  To preserve individual components, export window definitions into VEX files, and save routines and globals using %RS and %GS. Alternatively move/copy the explorer.* files from the program directory to a safe location. Note that some previous installations do not include the file explorer.mxs.

Activation keys used for MSM-Workstation Version 1.0 or for beta versions (Beta C or earlier) of Workstation 2.0 cannot be used with Version 2.0. The uninstall process does not remove the license.msm from the previous installation's Program directory because it was not created by the install script. Deleting this file manually will permit you to use the product in Unregistered mode. Contact your supplier to have your Version 1.0 key updated.

New Features

When compared with Version 1.0, MSM-Workstation Version 2.0 provides many new features. Consult the online documentation for details.

Known Issues

1.  Norton CrashGuard 1.x has a bug that makes it incompatible with MSM-Workstation. To work around this incompatibility, either turn off 16-bit protection or upgrade to CrashGuard 2.0.

2.  After installing Microsoft Automation, you may receive the message, “Your computer must be restarted for the changes to take effect.”  Due to a bug in the Microsoft Automation Setup program (OADIST.EXE), clicking OK to restart your computer will not work.  You must manually restart your system and then rerun MSM-Workstation Setup.  If you do not, you may encounter the error message, “Unable to register COMCTL32.OCX” during the MSM‑Workstation installation.  If this happens, reboot your system and rerun MSM-Workstation Setup.

You only need to install Microsoft Automation once. After it has been installed, click No when the installation program prompts you to indicate whether or not you want to install Microsoft Automation.

3.  A bug in the MSFlexGrid ActiveX control (shipped with Visual Basic 5.0) makes it consume increasing amounts of file space every time it is loaded and saved. This can result in your .MXS file becoming very large. To prevent this from happening or to recover the wasted space, visit the second tab on the control’s definition dialog every time you open a window that uses the control, exiting the dialog using the OK button. This control is derived from an early version of VSFLEX from Videosoft. A later version, VSFLEX 3, is available from http://www.videosoft.com
 and does not suffer from this bug.

4.  An MSM-Server 4.3 system will fail to allow connections from Workstation if the 4.3 system has been configured in SYSGEN to use Version 2.0 Error Trapping by default. This is a server bug that is resolved in 4.4.0. See the January 1998 Technical Bulletin item 9-2 at http://www.micronetics.com/.

5. Some mouse sequences cause program errors when renaming monikers on the System Browser. (100619)

6. Problems have been observed when using the IP loopback address 127.0.0.1 on systems where Microsoft Proxy Client is running. These problems are not confined to MSM’s use of the address. However, the Socket Sample on the Explorer demonstration database uses it to connect between the client process and the server process. You may be able to work around this problem by altering the Action Logic of the window SampleSocketC so that your PC’s actual IP address is used instead.

7. Attempts to mount the Explorer database fail if the path to the database exceeds 63 characters.  For this reason, the installation path is restricted to a maximum of 42 characters in length to ensure that adding “\program\explorer.mbj” to the path will not exceed the 63-character path length limit. (100626)

8. When an EXE's embedded database is more than 2047 blocks in size, the icon specified on the Make-EXE Options dialog does not appear as the default icon for the application's windows when running on Windows 95. We have determined this to be a Windows 95 bug. It appears to be fixed in Windows 98. The only workaround it to set the Icon property of your GUI windows to refer to a standalone .ICO file, and to distribute this with your application. There is no workaround available for CHUI windows.

9. When using cursors from .CUR files with the "F,"-notation, Workstation currently only supports monochrome cursors. To use a color cursor, use a third-party tool to place it in a resource file and use the "R,"-notation. (100962)

10. If an EXE is to be placed in the same directory as an installation of MSM-Server for Windows it must be configured to ignore the license.msm file to be found there, otherwise a license violation will be reported at startup. Select the Always Used checkbox within the Embedded License group on the Licensing tab of Make EXE Options.

11. When relative paths are used in specifying filename properties such as Icon, Picture and Pointer, then at design-time these will be relative to the home directory of MSMWS.EXE, and at run-time they will be relative to the home directory of your application's executable. Locate your design-time resources accordingly. 

12. Under certain conditions the CHUI-mode editor accessed via Tools/Routines/Editor (%G) does not display long lines correctly near the bottom of the display. Use PgUp/PgDn to refresh the display. (101195)

13. When a resizeable window's controls occupy an area whose size in either dimension is less than 100 pixels, and the window is sized so that a scrollbar appears in that dimension, then the scroll-buttons have no effect. Scrolling can still be performed using the scroll-thumb. (101390)

14. In SDI mode only, the Filter dialog accessed from events on the Window Browser incorrectly has a white background. (101424)

15. Changes to the Message property of an MDI Child window do not display immediately. (101459)

16. If a Timer control's timer event occurs while a popup menu is displayed, the event is lost. As a result the timer will not be restarted automatically. (101465)

17. In the syntax-highlighting editors, if the Insert key is used to switch to Overtype mode, the first character typed after moving to a different line is inserted rather than overwriting an existing character. (101475)

18. If the Window Browser is used to create a new action logic section for an object's event, and then the Definition dialog is opened for the object (for example, by double-clicking on the object in the design window), after which the Editor button is used to access the logic, then the code will not be displayed. To work around this problem, use the Save button before opening the Definition dialog. (101500)

19. In some circumstances, switching between maximized MDI child windows does not update the menubar. (101504)

20. When a Workstation application runs on an NT system that is set NOT to adjust its clock automatically for daylight saving changes, then $HOROLOG is incorrect at some times of the year. This is caused by a bug in a Microsoft C library function. (12105)

21. The Command Window does not recognize the Delete key. Use the Backspace key instead. (12356)

22. If Microsoft Visual Basic 5 is installed on a PC after MSM-Workstation, the VB install procedure fails to grant design-time rights to ActiveX controls that are already present on the system. The result is that some controls cannot be used in design mode, even though possession of VB should permit this. This has been acknowledged by Microsoft as a bug. Visit http://support.microsoft.com/ and find article Q181854 for details of a workaround.

Feedback and Support

We welcome your feedback on this product. However, please note that support is only available to registered users covered by a maintenance agreement. Such users should quote their product serial number and version in all correspondence. This information can be obtained from the Help/About dialog.

Customers of the United States office:

By e-mail to support@us.micronetics.com or by fax to (301) 840-8943, marked "WS2." 

Customers of European offices:

By email to support@uk.micronetics.com or by fax to +44 118 989 1483, marked "WS2."