Showman - Bug Fixes and Since January 2006

If this print button doesn't work, try 'File', 'Print' from your Browser's menu Bar. You can also use 'Save As' to Save this page to your PC.

Earlier Upgrades

• Please return to the Showman 'Main Page' and click the link to the earlier changes and bug fixes

December 2009 - Major Revision

Showman now split into two versions

Version 2.6 for use on Windows 95,Windows 98 and Windows Me

Version 2.8 for Windows 2000, Windows Xp, Windows Vista and Windows 7

Both of these versions have ALL OF the Modifications and Fixes described in the two 'Bug Fixes' Topics accessible from the Showman Main Page.

At the time of writing both versions have identical features. The only difference is in the locations where user data Files and Configuration Files are stored.

Apart from 'Bug Fixes' no further DEVELOPMENT will be done on Version 2.6.

All main pages of the web site modified to explain the changes and to permit users to access the relevant Downloads and Information

Changes and Bug Fixes Since January 2009

Early 2009 modified Entries code to allow up to 99 entries in By Person - previous code had a bug.

4-3-09 Modified Empty.Mdb and Address to allow 50 chars in 'phone field.

16-7-09 Modified Editor Printing code as, sometimes, printer threw a blank page.

16-7-09 Modified Trophies page to add option to throw page after each Trophy printed in 'All Trophies'

3-12-09 Modified code in most modules - removed code to preset Printer to Portrait, and also modified ADDRESS module to stop presetting Orientation depending on MEDIA (eg Landscape if Envelope set.)

3-12-09 Modified several TipsFiles to explain need to PRESET the Default printer.

Changes and Bug Fixes from January 2006 to January 2009

• Consult the Help file, FULL manual and ‘Brief Manuals’ for more information on the any of the following items.

Major Changes

Printing

• The following applies to all printing except printing from the Editor, where you can see the items to be printed as they will be printed.

All printing from ShowMan is now handled by a new control which provides the following main advantages.

a) The print preview page displays a ZOOMABLE preview of the items to be printed so that you can see exactly how your output will look – this is especially useful in the case of Address labels and Class Cards, as you can check for accuracy of your Label or Card setup, placement of data, and go back to revise settings when necessary

b) In the case of Labels and Class cards, you can preview (and print if you wish), these items with a BORDER line so that you can see how close items to be printed will lie to the edges of your labels/cards.

c) Once you are satisfied with the layout, and are ready to actually print, the new printer handling software prints on a PAGE by PAGE basis, so you can print just ONE PAGE, the WHOLE LOT, or a selected number of pages, easing ink and paper handling problems.

d) The print preview page will display information as to the currently selected printer, page size and orientation. You can exit and adjust the settings if necessary.

e) You can improve the 'preview' situation even more if you install a '.pdf pseudo printer'. You will be able to see if the print run has printed exactly the pages you wanted, without using any ink or paper.

A '.pdf' pseudo printer is a programme that adds an item to the list of printers installed on a machine, as if it were a REAL printer, but when you print to it, it will set your printed pages up in readiness to be saved as a '.pdf' document. You can view these pages and then either save as a '.pdf' document, or cancel, and if all was OK, print to one of your REAL printers. Suitable 'pdf' pseudo printers quite frequently appear on the CD's/DVD's on Computer maagazines, or can be found on the internet - look for 'pdffactory' or 'jaws pdf'.

Printing Analyses Results

Most of the more detailed printouts (other than Labels and Class Cards) created by ShowMan are designed to be imported into the editor for viewing, editing and printing. Smaller analyses are designed for IMMEDIATE printing. These analyses are for One Person, or One Trophy. You can now set up the printing column positions for these items (previously they were preset)

Special Prizes

Previous versions of ShowMan did not handle this very well. The new version has much greater scope for handling Specials and producing reports.

This new feature needs a new database to support it, so the Database Maintenance routine now has an extra page to handle this new database.

Backup

With the greatly increased (and cheap) storage available in modern devices (USB drives in particular) floppy disk drives have become redundant (as well as being rather unreliable) – many computers now come without a floppy drive. The Backup Routine has been revised, and now, with ONE COMMAND, backs up ALL Data Files and ALL Files containing User Data and Setups, (for All Sections, where the Show is a multi-section Show). It also backs up the Registration file. You must enter the name of the DRIVE and BASE folder you want to use. It is suggested that you create a folder with a name that reflects the DATE and/or time the backup was made – eg; ShowBak 11-12-08 – this will make it easier for you to locate any particular backup.

Restore

This routine is now much more sophisticated, and you can restore the whole of a multisection Show with ONE mouse click.

If you need to do so, you can also use 'Advanced' options to carry out other operations.

When this routine starts, it opens displaying the drive and folder of the LAST Backup you made, but you can easily select other locations.

Minor Changes

There have been many minor changes and bug fixes, too minor to be described here. Some of the changes only affect the appearance of the screens or the placement of controls. In other cases the WORDING of Controls, Labels and 'Info' messages have been altered to make their meaning more clear.

Enter and Manage Class Entries

By Class Page

Some options have been removed to make the screen less complex and cluttered. For consistency, the 'Renumber Classes' button has been moved to the 'Numbering' page.

General Setup - Messages

ShowMan can display a number (5 in total) of pop-up reminder/warning messages when you initiate certain actions.

You can choose to turn these messages ON or OFF, and one place to turn OFF a particular message is on the pop-up message panel itself. In earlier versions of ShowMan, you could opt to turn each message ON or OFF from one common location – this was a page in the General Setup routine. In ShowMan 2.6, the facility to activate or dectivate a message has been moved to the ‘User Options’ page of the routin to which the message relates.