Post by George on Jun 26, 2013 11:53:00 GMT -5
Version 7.0 has finally been released. Pasted in below in the text of the announcement letter sent to those who are on our mailing list.
For those of you who are not on our mailing list, but would like to be, simply send us a quick email note to spflite@gmail.com and we'll be happy to add you.
As always, send us any and all comments you may have, we love to hear from you.
George / Robert
______________________________________________
Hello to all SPFLite users,
We are pleased to announce SPFLite V7.0.
This version introduces a number of new features, the most significant of which is programmable macros.
Programmable Macro Support
SPFLite finally offers a true programmable macro capability, far better than the simple SPM macros available in the past. This allows you to create new Primary and Line commands to accomplish custom editing functions. The macro engine we chose is called thinBasic (www.thinBasic.com). thinBasic is an excellent tool, and the macro support we have been able to provide will prove capable, simple and easy to use. There shouldn't be any macro task you have in mind that thinBasic can't handle. We have included a wide variety of sample macros to demonstrate its capabilities, and to provide models to help you in your own first attempts to write macros.
The former SPM macros are no longer supported, but we have provided a conversion script called SPMConvert.MACRO, to help you migrate these to the new format. See Command Macro Support in the Help for details.
Primary-command changes
Direct Script Execution: This provides for simple execution and testing of scripts (BAT files, Rexx execs, Perl scripts, etc.) directly from the Edit window without requiring you to SAVE, Open a Command window, and then enter the scripts name and parameters. A simple RUN command will perform this task. Any operands entered with RUN are assumed to be script parameters and are passed through to the script as operands. If you have a mainframe ISPF background, think of RUN like it was a "submit" of a script. You can "submit" scripts right from your edit session - even scripts with unsaved changes - just like you would submit a job with the SUBMIT command. The previous RUN command, which simply executed a command string in a Windows Command prompt, has been renamed to CMD to better represent what it does. Both RUN and CMD allow you to control whether the Command window is automatically closed with new options on the Options => Submit panel.
Data Shift option for CHANGE: Previously, SPFLite only supported a default “Data Shift” mode for the CHANGE primary command (compatible with that used in ISPF), which affects how data on a line is handled when the search string and the change string are of different lengths. This release adds a new “Column Shift” mode ability. The difference between these two kinds of data shifting operations is comparable to the difference between the ) and the > line commands. (Tritus SPF had a comparable feature, but accessing it required the use of a separate Edit Profile panel. The SPFLite approach is controlled directly from the edit screen, and is much easier to use.) See Effect of CHANGE Command on Column-Dependent Data for details.
Edit / Browse Profile Override: There are times when you may need to Edit or Browse a file using a Profile other than the one implied by the file's extension. ISPF has long had the ability to specify an overriding profile name on its Edit Entry Panel. This capability is now possible in SPFLite, on the Edit and Browse commands as well as via the File Manager selection list. See the Edit and Browse commands, and Working with File Manager, for details.
Edit / Browse / Copy / Clone Clipboard Filename: These four commands will now accept a simple * asterisk in place of the filename operand, to indicate that the desired filename is currently sitting in the Windows clipboard. This is convenient when you have copied a file name from outside SPFLite and then wish to edit it, and especially so if the file name is long and/or contains embedded blanks.
Persistent Text Selection and Supporting Command Line Arguments: When a text area is selected, either via the mouse or by shift-arrow keys, the boundaries of the selected area are remembered and can be used again later. The area can be quickly reselected with a mouse-click or a single keyboard key. In addition, the line and column range can be referenced on Primary commands through the use of special text selection operands. This simplifies entering line and/or column range operands on those commands which support them. See Working with Line Labels for more information.
Primary Command & prefix to retain command: To be compliant with standard ISPF usage, if the primary command is prefixed with an &, the command is not cleared from the command line after command completion. This allows the command to be repeated by pressing Enter. You would normally use & when you had some command you wanted to repeatedly perform but also wanted to frequently change.
Profile Display Revision and new QUERY command: The display output from the PROFILE command has been revised to be clearer and easier to read. In addition, to enable quick display of an individual setting, a new QUERY (Q) command is available to display individual settings. For example, the command Q HILITE will display the current HILITE status. These commands may be of primary interest to macro writers that wish to capture the current profile attributes of an edit session.
Profile PAGE Support: A new Profile option - PAGE - is available for use when the EOL=AUTO or EOL=AUTONL setting is active. These EOL settings provide an automatic page formatting cleanup when Editing/Browsing SYSOUT print files. The PAGE option extends this support so that the screen display will show only the lines for a single Page at a time. Short print pages will display short (aligned at the top of the screen with blank space at the bottom), and will not be followed by lines from the next page. This makes browsing SYSOUT files more naturally page-oriented. In addition, the LOCATE command has been extended to support a LOCATE PAGE nnn option to go directly to a specific page.
User-defined Aliases for Primary Commands: You can now define alias names for primary commands (either primary edit command or File Manager primary commands) by defining them with the SET command.
Line-command changes
DLMS support converted to WORD support: Previously, the DLMS command required you to determine all possible characters which were considered to be non-word delimiter characters. That required specifying a long list of non-alphabetic characters, and if you missed something, "word" strings might not be recognized the way you wanted. Version 7.0 has reversed this whole process.
The DLMS command is gone, replaced by a new WORD command. So, instead of trying to define a word string by what it's not (that is, "not a delimiter") you now just define was a word is. This serves basically the same purpose, but is much simpler to understand, and more reliable to set up. See Working with Word and Delimiter Characters for details. A coordinated change was made to the Picture string characters & and %. See Specifying a Picture or Format String for details. Basically, the semantics of these Picture codes are precisely defined in terms of whether a character is (&) or is not (%) a WORD character. However, the essential purpose of & and % remains the same as previously.
Comparable to the DLMS command, WORD settings are Profile-specific, based on file type.
When you begin using SPFLite version 7.0, you will get a default WORD specification, which you will see displayed when you issue a PROFILE primary edit command. This default defines WORD characters as A-Z a-z 0-9. If you had previously modified a DLMS setting, will now have to alter this default WORD setting to what you need. We would have like to have offered more assistance in migrating this for you, but there’s no good way to reliably automate the conversion, so setting this to a reasonable default seemed to be best.
File Manager changes
New File Manager commands for Open File List: When displaying the Open Files file list, the File Manager will now accept the following line commands which will be processed against the selected Open File tab:
END to terminate the Edit/Browse
SAVE to save the tabs data
CAN to Cancel the Edit/Browse session
DEL to issue a CANCEL DELETE for the session
PUR to issue a CANCEL PURGE against the session
Extended File Pattern Support: File Patterns used in File Manager may now include exclusion masks in concert with normal inclusion masks to better support custom file lists. See Working with File Manager for details.
New Primary command DIR: The DIR command, when issued in an Edit or Browse tab, will switch to the File Manager and display the contents of the folder which contained the file being edited or browsed. The DIR command may also be issued as a Line Command within File Manager to switch the display to the folder containing the file on the selected line. (If you are familiar with searching for files in the Windows Explorer, think of the context menu you get when you right click on a file name. One of those items will say, "Open Containing Folder". The SPFLite DIR command is just like Opening the Containing Folder.)
MAKELIST Improvements: The MAKELIST command now supports REPLACE and APPEND operands. This allows for replacement of the contents of existing file lists and alternatively, to merge the current list of files with an existing FILELIST, and also acts to prevent inadvertent overwriting of an existing file list.
Other changes
File Last Modified Date/Time Display: When the cursor is not located in the data area or on a line-command field, the current file's last-modified date and time (when lasted saved to disk) will be displayed in the Status Bar box normally used for Line/Column display.
Alternating Screen Background: File Manager has, for a while, used alternating background colors to assist in maintaining your eye's horizontal position when browsing lists. (Long-time mainframe users are familiar with computer printout paper with alternating backgrounds of green and white, which was often called Green Bar paper. George likes to call this "banding" - RH) This optional feature has now been extended to the Edit and Browse screens as well. The specific color used for the alternate background is now a user-selectable option under Options => Screen. The Color SCHEME statement in colorize AUTO files has also been extended to allow specification of this alternate color.
Cross-hair Cursor Option You may now request a full cross-hair cursor, like the hardware option on the later 3270 terminals. This option draws faint, full height/width lines on the screen to intersect at the cursor location. See Options -> Screen for instructions on activating this feature.
MEDIT processing has received some internal improvements to enable it to handle larger numbers of files at one time.
For a complete list of what’s new, you can read the SPFLite Version 7.0 Change Log at:
sites.google.com/site/spflitev5/Home/change-log
Or, if you're convinced already, you can go download it here:
sites.google.com/site/spflitev5/Home/licensing-download/download-install-optional-files/SPFLite.V7.0.3177.zip
The new version will automatically migrate your V6.2 customizations to V7.0 to make this upgrade as painless as possible. And your V6.2 version will remain fully useable after V7.0 is installed. If you choose to do this, simply rename SPFLite.EXE in the install folder to an alternate name before running the installer.
These new features are extensively covered in the online Help. With 7.0 we have continued to make a concerted effort to fully document each feature as it was being planned and developed, so that what you read in the Help is as complete and accurate as possible.
If there are any points you aren't clear on, please let us know.
The distribution has been checked by the Virus Total web site to ensure that no false virus reports are triggered. The distribution passed through all 47 AV checks on the Virus Total web site without incident.
Because software is written by mere mortals, some bugs will undoubtedly turn up, despite our best efforts. Don't worry – just provide us with as much detail as possible so we can stomp them out.
Thanks for using SPFLite. Download a copy of SPFLite Version 7.0, and try it yourself.
George Deluca
Robert Hodge
SPFLite@gmail.com
For those of you who are not on our mailing list, but would like to be, simply send us a quick email note to spflite@gmail.com and we'll be happy to add you.
As always, send us any and all comments you may have, we love to hear from you.
George / Robert
______________________________________________
Hello to all SPFLite users,
We are pleased to announce SPFLite V7.0.
This version introduces a number of new features, the most significant of which is programmable macros.
Programmable Macro Support
SPFLite finally offers a true programmable macro capability, far better than the simple SPM macros available in the past. This allows you to create new Primary and Line commands to accomplish custom editing functions. The macro engine we chose is called thinBasic (www.thinBasic.com). thinBasic is an excellent tool, and the macro support we have been able to provide will prove capable, simple and easy to use. There shouldn't be any macro task you have in mind that thinBasic can't handle. We have included a wide variety of sample macros to demonstrate its capabilities, and to provide models to help you in your own first attempts to write macros.
The former SPM macros are no longer supported, but we have provided a conversion script called SPMConvert.MACRO, to help you migrate these to the new format. See Command Macro Support in the Help for details.
Primary-command changes
Direct Script Execution: This provides for simple execution and testing of scripts (BAT files, Rexx execs, Perl scripts, etc.) directly from the Edit window without requiring you to SAVE, Open a Command window, and then enter the scripts name and parameters. A simple RUN command will perform this task. Any operands entered with RUN are assumed to be script parameters and are passed through to the script as operands. If you have a mainframe ISPF background, think of RUN like it was a "submit" of a script. You can "submit" scripts right from your edit session - even scripts with unsaved changes - just like you would submit a job with the SUBMIT command. The previous RUN command, which simply executed a command string in a Windows Command prompt, has been renamed to CMD to better represent what it does. Both RUN and CMD allow you to control whether the Command window is automatically closed with new options on the Options => Submit panel.
Data Shift option for CHANGE: Previously, SPFLite only supported a default “Data Shift” mode for the CHANGE primary command (compatible with that used in ISPF), which affects how data on a line is handled when the search string and the change string are of different lengths. This release adds a new “Column Shift” mode ability. The difference between these two kinds of data shifting operations is comparable to the difference between the ) and the > line commands. (Tritus SPF had a comparable feature, but accessing it required the use of a separate Edit Profile panel. The SPFLite approach is controlled directly from the edit screen, and is much easier to use.) See Effect of CHANGE Command on Column-Dependent Data for details.
Edit / Browse Profile Override: There are times when you may need to Edit or Browse a file using a Profile other than the one implied by the file's extension. ISPF has long had the ability to specify an overriding profile name on its Edit Entry Panel. This capability is now possible in SPFLite, on the Edit and Browse commands as well as via the File Manager selection list. See the Edit and Browse commands, and Working with File Manager, for details.
Edit / Browse / Copy / Clone Clipboard Filename: These four commands will now accept a simple * asterisk in place of the filename operand, to indicate that the desired filename is currently sitting in the Windows clipboard. This is convenient when you have copied a file name from outside SPFLite and then wish to edit it, and especially so if the file name is long and/or contains embedded blanks.
Persistent Text Selection and Supporting Command Line Arguments: When a text area is selected, either via the mouse or by shift-arrow keys, the boundaries of the selected area are remembered and can be used again later. The area can be quickly reselected with a mouse-click or a single keyboard key. In addition, the line and column range can be referenced on Primary commands through the use of special text selection operands. This simplifies entering line and/or column range operands on those commands which support them. See Working with Line Labels for more information.
Primary Command & prefix to retain command: To be compliant with standard ISPF usage, if the primary command is prefixed with an &, the command is not cleared from the command line after command completion. This allows the command to be repeated by pressing Enter. You would normally use & when you had some command you wanted to repeatedly perform but also wanted to frequently change.
Profile Display Revision and new QUERY command: The display output from the PROFILE command has been revised to be clearer and easier to read. In addition, to enable quick display of an individual setting, a new QUERY (Q) command is available to display individual settings. For example, the command Q HILITE will display the current HILITE status. These commands may be of primary interest to macro writers that wish to capture the current profile attributes of an edit session.
Profile PAGE Support: A new Profile option - PAGE - is available for use when the EOL=AUTO or EOL=AUTONL setting is active. These EOL settings provide an automatic page formatting cleanup when Editing/Browsing SYSOUT print files. The PAGE option extends this support so that the screen display will show only the lines for a single Page at a time. Short print pages will display short (aligned at the top of the screen with blank space at the bottom), and will not be followed by lines from the next page. This makes browsing SYSOUT files more naturally page-oriented. In addition, the LOCATE command has been extended to support a LOCATE PAGE nnn option to go directly to a specific page.
User-defined Aliases for Primary Commands: You can now define alias names for primary commands (either primary edit command or File Manager primary commands) by defining them with the SET command.
Line-command changes
DLMS support converted to WORD support: Previously, the DLMS command required you to determine all possible characters which were considered to be non-word delimiter characters. That required specifying a long list of non-alphabetic characters, and if you missed something, "word" strings might not be recognized the way you wanted. Version 7.0 has reversed this whole process.
The DLMS command is gone, replaced by a new WORD command. So, instead of trying to define a word string by what it's not (that is, "not a delimiter") you now just define was a word is. This serves basically the same purpose, but is much simpler to understand, and more reliable to set up. See Working with Word and Delimiter Characters for details. A coordinated change was made to the Picture string characters & and %. See Specifying a Picture or Format String for details. Basically, the semantics of these Picture codes are precisely defined in terms of whether a character is (&) or is not (%) a WORD character. However, the essential purpose of & and % remains the same as previously.
Comparable to the DLMS command, WORD settings are Profile-specific, based on file type.
When you begin using SPFLite version 7.0, you will get a default WORD specification, which you will see displayed when you issue a PROFILE primary edit command. This default defines WORD characters as A-Z a-z 0-9. If you had previously modified a DLMS setting, will now have to alter this default WORD setting to what you need. We would have like to have offered more assistance in migrating this for you, but there’s no good way to reliably automate the conversion, so setting this to a reasonable default seemed to be best.
File Manager changes
New File Manager commands for Open File List: When displaying the Open Files file list, the File Manager will now accept the following line commands which will be processed against the selected Open File tab:
END to terminate the Edit/Browse
SAVE to save the tabs data
CAN to Cancel the Edit/Browse session
DEL to issue a CANCEL DELETE for the session
PUR to issue a CANCEL PURGE against the session
Extended File Pattern Support: File Patterns used in File Manager may now include exclusion masks in concert with normal inclusion masks to better support custom file lists. See Working with File Manager for details.
New Primary command DIR: The DIR command, when issued in an Edit or Browse tab, will switch to the File Manager and display the contents of the folder which contained the file being edited or browsed. The DIR command may also be issued as a Line Command within File Manager to switch the display to the folder containing the file on the selected line. (If you are familiar with searching for files in the Windows Explorer, think of the context menu you get when you right click on a file name. One of those items will say, "Open Containing Folder". The SPFLite DIR command is just like Opening the Containing Folder.)
MAKELIST Improvements: The MAKELIST command now supports REPLACE and APPEND operands. This allows for replacement of the contents of existing file lists and alternatively, to merge the current list of files with an existing FILELIST, and also acts to prevent inadvertent overwriting of an existing file list.
Other changes
File Last Modified Date/Time Display: When the cursor is not located in the data area or on a line-command field, the current file's last-modified date and time (when lasted saved to disk) will be displayed in the Status Bar box normally used for Line/Column display.
Alternating Screen Background: File Manager has, for a while, used alternating background colors to assist in maintaining your eye's horizontal position when browsing lists. (Long-time mainframe users are familiar with computer printout paper with alternating backgrounds of green and white, which was often called Green Bar paper. George likes to call this "banding" - RH) This optional feature has now been extended to the Edit and Browse screens as well. The specific color used for the alternate background is now a user-selectable option under Options => Screen. The Color SCHEME statement in colorize AUTO files has also been extended to allow specification of this alternate color.
Cross-hair Cursor Option You may now request a full cross-hair cursor, like the hardware option on the later 3270 terminals. This option draws faint, full height/width lines on the screen to intersect at the cursor location. See Options -> Screen for instructions on activating this feature.
MEDIT processing has received some internal improvements to enable it to handle larger numbers of files at one time.
For a complete list of what’s new, you can read the SPFLite Version 7.0 Change Log at:
sites.google.com/site/spflitev5/Home/change-log
Or, if you're convinced already, you can go download it here:
sites.google.com/site/spflitev5/Home/licensing-download/download-install-optional-files/SPFLite.V7.0.3177.zip
The new version will automatically migrate your V6.2 customizations to V7.0 to make this upgrade as painless as possible. And your V6.2 version will remain fully useable after V7.0 is installed. If you choose to do this, simply rename SPFLite.EXE in the install folder to an alternate name before running the installer.
These new features are extensively covered in the online Help. With 7.0 we have continued to make a concerted effort to fully document each feature as it was being planned and developed, so that what you read in the Help is as complete and accurate as possible.
If there are any points you aren't clear on, please let us know.
The distribution has been checked by the Virus Total web site to ensure that no false virus reports are triggered. The distribution passed through all 47 AV checks on the Virus Total web site without incident.
Because software is written by mere mortals, some bugs will undoubtedly turn up, despite our best efforts. Don't worry – just provide us with as much detail as possible so we can stomp them out.
Thanks for using SPFLite. Download a copy of SPFLite Version 7.0, and try it yourself.
George Deluca
Robert Hodge
SPFLite@gmail.com
