
This file documents recent changes to MRBackup.  Changes are listed in
reverse  chronological/version  order.   The  MRBackup  version number
scheme follows these conventions:
    
    The first digit is the version level. Changes in the version level
    indicate major functionality changes and possible incompatibilities
    with previous versions.

    The second pair of digits following the period constitute the revision
    level. Revisions generally indicate added or changed functionality
    while maintaining upward compatibility.

    If the revision level is followed by a letter (a-z), this indicates a
    bug-fix release.

***************************************************************************
* Don't forget to assign MRBackup: to the directory where MRBackup lives! *
***************************************************************************

01/23/93 V1.13a

=============
Bug Fix:
=============

Version 1.13 changed the algorithm which calculated the Ratio value so
it  would  be  consistent  on  Restore and Backup.  Unfortunately, the
change introduced a divide-by-zero situation.  This resulted in a GURU
when  attempting  to perform a Rebuild Catalog.  This release corrects
the problem.


01/04/93 V1.13

=============
Enhancements:
=============

MRBackup  1.XX  is  slowly acquiring as much 2.04 capability as it can
without  sacrificing  1.3  compatibility.   One recent change involves
MRBackup's  custom  screen.  When opened under 2.04, MRBackup's screen
is  now public.  This means that other programs can open their windows
on MRBackup's screen.

MRBackup  will  now  use the new ASL file requester when running under
AmigaDOS version 2.04 or above.  AmigaDOS 1.3 users will still see the
ARP file requester.

HELP  is here!  MRBackup is now supplied with a set of AmigaGuide (tm)
documentation  and Commodore's AmigaGuide (tm) hypertext documentation
browser.   Depressing  the  Help key in any of MRBackup's windows will
activate  a  new  window  containing documentation appropriate for the
current MRBackup window.  Under Workbench 1.3, this window will always
come up on the Workbench screen.  Under Workbench 2.04 and beyond, the
window  will  open  on  MRBackup's  custom  screen  (if MRBackup is so
configured).    You   will  notice  raised  "buttons"  throughout  the
documentation.   Clicking  the  mouse on any of these will take you to
another,  related  portion  of  the document.  Each document "segment"
includes a button which will take you to the top level of the MRBackup
documentation from which you can browse any topic.

This ability to read a document in a non-linear fashion is the essence
of  hypertext.   Over  time, MRBackup's online hypertext documentation
will   be  streamlined  and  enhanced  to  include  a  glossary,  more
references, etc.  As it is currently implemented, the HELP function is
resolved  only to the window level.  From that level, you can navigate
the document to obtain information on a specific feature.  Eventually,
a finer level of resolution will be provided.

MRBackup  has a new installation program/procedure.  MRsoftware is now
licensed to distribute Commodore's new Installer program which you may
have  already  used  with  other  commercial  software.  The Installer
provides  MRBackup  with  a  much  nicer  (and  smarter!) installation
procedure  than the CLI scripts used previously.  Just double-click on
the  Install-MRBackup  icon  and  follow  the  instructions as they're
presented.  The Installer also has built-in help to assist you in each
step of the installation process.

The  Compressor  has  been  updated to V1.05 and has been rebuilt with
SAS/C  6.1.   Also,  debugging information inadvertently left in V1.03
has  been  removed,  making  the  program file much smaller.  Separate
versions  of  the  Compressor  are  now  available for 68000 or 68020+
CPU's.   The  Installer  will prompt you for the option to install the
advanced CPU version.

========
Changes:
========

It is possible to specify the backup/restore catalog file name from an
ARexx  script  with  the 'setcatalogname' command.  This facilitates a
fully- automated backup or restore, eliminating the need to prompt you
for  the  catalog file name.  Prior to this release, the MRBackup.init
file  also  supported  a  'catalog' keyword which would accomplish the
same  thing  whenever  MRBackup loaded a preferences file containing a
valid catalog specification.

Unfortunately,  this  could  result  in some unwanted side-effects.  A
catalog  name  specification,  set  by a previous invocation of ARexx,
could  later  be saved to a preferences file (without your knowledge).
The  next  time you performed a backup with that preferences file, the
catalog   specification   would  be  automatically  (and  most  likely
erroneously) be used.

MRBackup  no  longer  supports  the catalog keyword in its preferences
files, though, for compatibility purposes, its presence will not cause
an  error (the specification is ignored with a non-intrusive warning).
The  catalog  name  specification  established  via  ARexx is now only
effective   when   an  ARexx  script  is  in  control  (i.e.   between
takecontrol/releasecontrol commands).

During  a  backup  with Set Arc.  Bits enabled, the archive bit is now
set  in  the  backed  up  copy  of  the  file.  Thus, when the file is
restored, its archive bit will be automatically set.

==========
Bug Fixes:
==========

When  using  the  file  requester to specify the Backup Path, only the
volume/directory  component  was retained.  In order to do a Fast Disk
backup  to  a  file, you previously had to type the file name into the
Backup Path string gadget.  This has been fixed.

When  restoring  files, the home volume may fill up before the restore
is  done.  If you're restoring to removable media or if you can remove
unwanted files to make room, MRBackup is designed to allow you to take
appropriate   action,  then  continue.   Something  got  lost  in  the
implementation :-).  This update corrects the problem.

There  was  another error also related to the disk full condition when
restoring  with  decompression  enabled.   If  the disk full condition
occurred  while  decompressing a file, you would get a bogus "I cannot
format  that  drive"  message.   This  was  due to an overlap in error
message  definitions  -  the  wrong  error  message was being reported
(obviously :-).

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

11-14-92 V1.12a

============
Enhancement:
============

A new ARexx command, "getresult", has been added to MRBackup's command
set.   This  command will retrieve a numeric value which indicates the
completion  status  of  the  previous ARexx command.  A non-zero value
indicates that the command terminated with an error.  The result codes
returned  will  often  be  1  or -1 which indicate "Abort" or "Invalid
parameter".  Other codes map directly to AmigaDOS return codes such as
205, "Object not found", 212, "Object is the wrong type", etc.


==========
Bug Fixes:
==========

MRBackup  was  not returning a useful error code (ARexx variable 'rc')
in  certain  situations.   This  has been corrected.  The rc variables
will now receive one of the following standard values:

    0  ==> no error
    5  ==> warning
   10  ==> serious error
   20  ==> fatal error

Warning  errors  indicate  that  there  was  a  minor problem that was
recoverable.   Serious errors usually indicate that an unreasonable or
incorrect  value or insufficient parameters were supplied to MRBackup.
Fatal  errors indicate a total nervous breakdown and are not currently
issued by MRBackup.

You  should  note  that many of MRBackup's "set" commands normally set
the  'result'  variable to indicate the value of the option being set.
This is not true when 'rc' is set to a non-zero value.

In certain low memory situations, MRBackup would attempt to notify the
user  with  an  error  recovery  requester.  This often resulted in an
immediate  crash.   I  have  made  some changes to help alleviate this
problem.   During  backup  and  restore, should a low-memory condition
occur,  the  message  "*** Out of memory!  ***" will be flashed in the
Status  gadget and all screens will be flashed periodically.  MRBackup
will  sleep briefly, then retry the allocation.  During this time, you
may  attempt  to alleviate the problem by closing unnecessary windows,
CLI's,  quitting  unnecessary  programs,  etc.   You  may  also  abort
MRBackup's retry attempts by clicking on the STOP button in the Status
window.

The philosophy behind this change is that the low memory condition may
only  be  transient  and  MRBackup  might  be able to recover from it.
Certainly  it  would  be a shame to lose all of the time invested in a
backup  due to a momentary problem.  You are expected to be reasonable
in  your  use  of  multitasking while using MRBackup, however.  Though
there  are lots of additional "tricks" which could be employed to make
low memory recovery even more bulletproof, I don't plan to spend a lot
of time in this area.

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

10-23-92 V1.12

=============
Enhancements:
=============

There's  a  new  gadget  in  the Options window labeled "Forced Copy".
This is a cycle gadget which has the range of values "Never", "Always"
and  "Prompt".  It is relevant for restoring files which have the same
or  older  creation/modification  date as an existing file of the same
name  on the home device.  Prior to this release, MRBackup would NEVER
replace  a  file  which  had  the same or later date stamp as the file
being  restored.   Now  you have the option to unconditionally replace
("Always")  or  selectively  replace ("Prompt") existing files on your
system.

PLEASE  NOTE:   When  either the NEVER or PROMPT options are selected,
MRBackup  must check for the existence of each file prior to restoring
it.   This  incurs  a  significant  performance  penalty.   If you are
restoring to a known empty volume, you can select the ALWAYS option to
achieve a much faster restore.

There  are  two  new ARexx commands to provide access to this setting:
getforcedcopy  and  setforcedcopy.   The setforcedcopy command takes a
single parameter which is one of the values listed above.

Because  this  is  considered to be a "dangerous" parameter, it is not
saved with the preferences file and will always revert to "Never" when
MRBackup is restarted.

The backup listing generator has been modified to incur less overhead.
To achieve this, file comments are no longer output to the listing.

MRBackup  has  been rebuilt with the new SAS/C 6.0 development system.
This has resulted in a smaller, faster program.

==========
Bug Fixes:
==========

AmigaDOS  formatting  was pretty flakey.  I've modified the FormatDisk
script (and its invocation in MRBackup) to provide better behavior.

The   file   requester  is  a  little  smarter  about  default  values
(especially where the catalog was concerned).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
09-12-92 V1.11b

=============
Enhancements:
=============

Include  the  current  disk number in the disk change requester prompt
when asking the user to insert a diskette.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
09-12-92 V1.11a

==========
Bug Fixes:
==========

The  new  disk  change requester lost its ability to speak!  Now, it's
better  than  ever.   If  you're quick, you can unload/load a disk and
never  hear  a request.  However, after about 5 seconds you'll get the
first  spoken  request.   After  that, you'll be nagged about every 15
seconds.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
09-11-02 V1.11

============
Enhancement:
============

MRBackup  is  a  little  smarter  (not  brilliant) about disk changes.
During  a backup or restore, you are only prompted to remove or insert
a  disk  if  you  have  not  already done so.  Though this is a little
'unsafe', it seems to be what the majority of you want.  Enjoy!

A  planned  change  for  version 2.0 is a disk "status bar" which will
indicate  the  current  state  (e.g.   Empty/Busy/Done/Ready)  of each
floppy drive.
