VEDIT E-mail Newsletter - March 07, 2003 ---------------------------------------- Table of Contents: * New on-line customer status (Please try it) * New VEDIT 6.10 * More about serial-registration numbers * Download latest VEDIT * Recent enhancements * Upcoming VEDIT Pro64 (Special offer) * Planned enhancements * Software Subscription Plan (SSP) * SpamStopsHere.com - Anti-spam & Anti-virus service * From the President Summary: The flexible new "Project" support in VEDIT 6.10 is perhaps our most useful enhancement ever. With the long list of new features, we are confident you will be very pleased with this new version. And updating is easier than ever. "I love the new Projects feature. After using it for half a day, I don't know how I survived without it!" Bryan Ashby, Monterey, CA "I have updated to VEDIT 6.10 and what a great product it has turned out to be. Congratulations and thanks to you and your team." Ian Davies, New Zealand New On-line Customer Status (Please try it.) --------------------------------------------- Your serial number is: %2 Your support expires on: %3 Your customer ID is: %1 You can now easily check your VEDIT customer status from the "Login" link on our website, or directly from: https://secure.vedit.net/vedit/customers/customerlogin.asp Enter your serial number and customer ID as listed above. You will then see your customer information, including: * Your complete address. You can change it. * Your email address. You can submit an additional one. (We automatically remove "dead" ones, please email us to remove an existing address.) * A list of all VEDIT licenses, including the most recent version number and complete serial-registration number. For each license which is not up-to-date with SSP, you can order an update and/or SSP (Software Subscription Plan). Please log in soon to check and update your email and mailing address, telephone number, etc. New VEDIT 6.10 -------------- Note: The previous "VEDIT PLUS" is now named just "VEDIT". VEDIT 6.10.2 dated 03/06/2003 is now available for download. Here is a brief listing of enhancements in 6.10. For a complete list including bug fixes, see the file: http://www.vedit.com/download/veditlog.txt VEDIT LOG (veditlog.txt) --------- 03/06/03 6.10.2 New Projects support in {FILE, Project} sub-menu New "Proj" tab in File Selector New - Open files which are also open in other programs; Controlled by new {CONFIG, File handling, Lock files} New {FILE, Wysiwyg conversion} saves file as seen on screen New {FILE, Open more} "Open file at cursor" and "Open URL at cursor"; These functions also added to Right-click context menu New {FILE, Open more, Preview current file in Browser} New {EDIT, Conversion} "Binary to hex" and "Hex to binary" functions New {EDIT, Insert, Form-Feed} for easy insertion of Form-Feed char New {MISC, More macros, Hexdump} creates mainframe-style hex dump New {MISC, More macros, Linefilter} filters all lines by search string New {USER, Convert 1-line to para} converts long lines to paragraphs New {VIEW, Options, Customize toolbar} New - Toolbar buttons for {TOOLS} and {USER} menu New - Status line font and font size can be changed (right click) New - Click status line fields to change line #, enable word wrap, etc. New - Word-wrap dialog box accessed by clicking on status line {FILE} "Buffer switch", "Next buffer", "Previous buffer" moved to new {FILE, Buffer} sub-menu. Note: changes default keyboard layout {WINDOW} menu moved to just left of {HELP} Improved {BLOCK, Copy to cursor} can copy block from other buffers Improved {GOTO, Line #} selects line and column, has history Improved {MISC, Wildfile wizard} can extract lines Improved {MISC, More macros, Wildfile} can extract lines Improved macro execution speed - most macros run about 15% faster {EDIT, Formatting, Format paragraph} now works with highlighted blocks Switching to a buffer now displays all attached windows "on top" Switching to a window now "normalizes" a "minimized" window Minor - Status line displays column numbers for columnar blocks Minor - CTAGS.VDM enhanced to support C, Assembler and Fortran Minor - "Backup files" = "4" appends .BAK to existing extension Minor - PADLINES.VDM macro can now be run from batch file More About Serial-registration Numbers -------------------------------------- We have extended the support period for many of our customers: * The support period for all new purchasers of VEDIT+ 6.0 was extended until Dec. 2002 to make you eligible for VEDIT+ 6.03.4. * The support period for all SSP purchased since VEDIT+ 6.00 was extended until Sep. 2003; it will likely be extended again since this SSP includes version 7.0. To check your support period, run VEDIT and select {HELP, About}. If the support period mentioned at the top of this e-mail is longer than that reported by VEDIT, select {HELP, Register VEDIT} and enter the new serial-registration number (at the top of this email). You can now check on your support period and retrieve your full serial-registration number from the "Login" link on our website. Note that the first 5 digits of your serial number do not change and can be found by selecting {HELP, About}. Download latest VEDIT --------------------- NOTE: If your support period expired on 02-2003 or earlier, you will not be able to install 6.10 unless you purchase an update and/or the Software Subscription Plan (SSP). You can download the latest VEDIT from these links: www.vedit.com/download/vpa-prod.exe (Win, DOS & .PDF, 5.5 Megs) www.vedit.com/download/vpw-prod.exe (Windows only, 1.8 Megs) www.vedit.com/download/vpd-prod.exe (DOS only, 1.0 Meg) Since the {HELP, VEDIT User's manual} and {HELP, Macro Language Reference} functions open the VEDIT manuals in Adobe Acrobat, you may want to download the complete vpa-prod.exe file. Notes: If you prefer .ZIP files or need instructions, please go to our download page www.vedit.com/proddownload.htm Recent Enhancements ------------------- This is a brief description of some of the recent enhancements in VEDIT version 6.10. For details, see the file: http://www.vedit.com/download/whatsnew.txt Projects Groups of files that you regularly edit can now be organized into Projects. Projects can be created, opened and closed from the {FILE, Project} submenu and the new "Proj" tab in the File Selector. A project includes a list of files and the complete "state" of the editor, including open files, cursor position in each file, window arrangement, text registers and all settings. File As much as possible, VEDIT now edits with "unlocked" Locking files. You can have the same files open in VEDIT and e.g. Visual Studio. When a file changes outside of VEDIT, you are prompted to Reload or Ignore it. "Log" files can also be viewed (and even edited). VEDIT can automatically "Append" the new portions of the log file, without reloading it or prompting you. Wysiwyg The new {FILE, Wysiwyg conversion} saves the current Conversion file under a new name and converts it to the format as currently displayed on the screen. In other words, it performs a "Save as" with conversion. Currently, it can convert from ASCII/Binary to hex, EBCDIC to ASCII, and fixed-length records to normal text with "newlines". Copy blocks The improved {BLOCK, Copy to cursor} and {BLOCK, between Move to cursor} can now directly copy/move a files highlighted block from another file (buffer) to the current cursor position. In other words, if the current file does not have a highlighted block, these functions scan the other currently open files for a block. The block can be of any (huge) size. Extracting The improved {MISC, Wildfile wizard} makes it easy to Lines extract all lines that match a search string, from an entire group of files. The extracted lines can then be viewed, printed, or saved to a file. Filtering The new {MISC, More macros, Linefilter} deletes all Lines lines in the current file which either match or don't match a search string. For example, you could delete all lines that contain "www.domain.com", or leave only those lines that contain "ERROR:". Status line (Windows only) The status line font can be changed by right-clicking the mouse on the status line and selecting "Change font". You can now click in most status line fields to bring up a related dialog box. For example, clicking in the "Line number" field brings up the dialog box for jumping to any desired line number. Format Multiple paragraphs, or even an entire file, can now Paragraph be re-formatted by highlighting the paragraphs and selecting {EDIT, Formatting, Format paragraph}. Upcoming VEDIT Pro64 -------------------- We will release an enhanced version of VEDIT called "VEDIT Pro64" this summer. By performing all internal calculations with 64-bit accuracy, it can edit files much larger than VEDIT's current 2 Gigabyte limit. In detail: * Edit huge files of 100+ Gigabytes * Runs on standard Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP * Runs on any Pentium I or equivalent machine Our announcement in the Jan. 2003 newsletter caused some confusion. (Sorry about that.) Hopefully this clarifies it: * VEDIT Pro64 will not replace the regular VEDIT. It will be a "superset" product that includes both regular VEDIT and VEDIT Pro64. * We will continue to develop and enhance the regular VEDIT. However, some future advanced EBCDIC and data file editing features may only be available in the Pro64 version. We may also remove the EBCDIC conversion and multi-key sorting from regular VEDIT and include it only in VEDIT Pro64. Tentatively, VEDIT Pro64 will be priced between $185 and $295; and its Software Subscription Plan will be $100 per year. However, by taking advantage of our special offer, you can receive VEDIT Pro64 (and regular VEDIT) at no additional charge. ===========> SPECIAL OFFER - Expires Mar. 31, 2003 <============== If you are on the regular VEDIT Software Subscription Plan (SSP) by March 31, 2003, you will receive VEDIT Pro64 at no additional charge. AND, as long as you remain on the regular SSP, renewing it when it expires, it will include all updates for VEDIT Pro64. (This will save you $100 for the upgrade and about $50 per SSP renewal; conceivably saving you $500 over 10 years.) To again clarify some confusion from the Jan. 2003 newsletter: * If you have already purchased the SSP thru version 7.0, you do not need to purchase it again. This offer is valid until March 31, 2003 or until VEDIT Pro64 is released, whichever is later. Please consider this your last chance. Planned Enhancements -------------------- Planned enhancements for VEDIT 6.11 - 7.0 include: * Send email support - ability to send email messages from within VEDIT. (Already partly implemented, but not yet ready for release.) * Built-in "ftp" support so that you can directly edit any file on the Internet that you have read/write access to. * "Splitter" windows for a Windows-standard way of splitting a window into two views. (MS Word (tm) has a horizontal splitter window.) * Enhanced macro language with symbolic names for numeric and string variables. (Don't worry, we are not radically changing the macro language; current macros will still work.) * Auto-compiling of macros for faster execution. * A print preview that shows the page boundaries. * Color printing that corresponds to the color syntax highlighting. * Support for more colors within VEDIT. * Progress bar to show VEDIT's progress when manipulating huge files. * Improved file comparison with better re-synchronization. * Custom menu system - you will be able to configure the entire menu system. Delete any unused functions and add as many new functions and sub-menus as desired. * Full integration with our Website for automatic updates, access to FAQ, macro libraries, additional on-line help and more. Software Subscription Plan (SSP) -------------------------------- The least expensive way to benefit from our continuous VEDIT development is by purchasing the Software Subscription Plan (SSP). The SSP benefits currently include: * All updates (via downloading) for a minimum of 18 months. You can download and install updates at any time, without having to contact us. Our email newsletters will notify you of significant new versions; or check our Website. * VEDIT 7.0 is included. Therefore, your SSP runs for 18 months or thru 7.0, whichever is longer. * A CD-ROM can be ordered at any time for $4. * Free, unlimited (within reason) technical support during the SSP period. * Access to beta-test versions. This is the best way to influence the final product. If you currently have VEDIT 6.0, you can purchase (or renew) the SSP for only $59. If you have an older VEDIT, the price of an update with SSP is $99. SPECIAL OFFER: You must order the SSP by Mar. 31, 2003 to get a free upgrade to VEDIT Pro64. Better yet, for as long you stay on the regular SSP, renewing when it expires, it will include all updates to VEDIT Pro64 and regular VEDIT. You can purchase the SSP by logging it at: https://secure.vedit.net/vedit/customers/customerlogin.asp Alternatively, you can purchase the SSP with this link: www.vedit.com/ssp.htm If you currently have VEDIT 5.x or older, you can purchase an update (with or without SSP) with this link: www.vedit.com/u5xto60.htm -OR- You can call us at 1-800-458-3348 or (734) 996-1300. -OR- A printable order form is available on-line at: www.vedit.com/Orderform.pdf SpamStopsHere.com - Anti-spam & Anti-virus service -------------------------------------------------- As you may know, we started an Anti-spam service last November: www.SpamStopsHere.com The service has been successful and is very well liked by our customers. We now filter spam for several thousand email addresses. Since November, we have greatly enhanced it with optional anti-virus filtering, option to use SpamAssassin (tm), ability to blacklist or whitelist by IP address, e-mail address, domain or content, on-line statistics and more. In summary: * Filter 95-98% of spam. (Over 99% for our vedit.com domain.) * Each customer (domain) chooses filtering methods: * Block entire countries notorious for sending spam * Filter using six well-know realtime black lists * Database of URLs (links) and phone numbers found in spam * Optional SpamAssassin(tm) with Razor(tm) spam database * Personal blacklists can be created * Global whitelist ensures delivery of national newsletters that are often blocked by other anti-spam methods * Personal whitelist ensure important clients can always reach you Whitelist any email which contains your product names * Spam can be fully blocked or rerouted to a "spam" mailbox * Ultra-reliable with redundent servers and auto-rollover * Works with most business and family domains. (You must have your own domain name to use this service.) Most significantly, our default service DOES NOT use error-prone filtering based on simple context words or phrases. We therefore achieve a very low error rate (mistaking legitimate mail as spam). While SpamStopsHere is a "sign up and forget" service, it does have a very flexible web-based control panel. You can take a picture tour or run it "live" with a demo account and demo domains: www.SpamStopsHere.com\p-account.htm www.SpamStopsHere.com\demotour.htm Our pricing now starts at only $19/month for a business domain with 10 mailboxes. We also offer family domains for only $99/year. You can now sign up for a 30-day free trial. Warning: The free trial is highly addictive; no one has yet cancelled our service after trying it. :-) From the President ------------------ The new VEDIT 6.10 was released about a month ago. Many of you have told me that the new Project support is the best enhancement ever. Well, I have found it so useful myself that I am sorry we didn't implement it earlier. We started working on it at the beginning of last November and I figured it would take 3 weeks. "Only" 3 months later, it was done. I'm sure most of you estimate the time to complete projects (no pun intended) better than I do. Please don't overlook the new "Wysiwig conversion" function. It basically saves a file exactly as you see it on the screen. For example, let's say you open a binary file and view it in hex with 16 bytes per line. By selecting {FILE, Wysiwig conversion}, you can save the hex codes to a file, as you see them. (The new {EDIT, Convert, Binary to hex} performs a similar function.) I previously mentioned that my youngest brother Phil is now working here. Besides implementing the entire SpamStopsHere service, he has been automating the business using SQL. The new customer "Login" on our website is just the first step. I hope you will login soon to check that your address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. are all up-to-date. Please, please, login when your e-mail address changes. After each e-mail newsletter, my office staff spends over 40 hours chasing down new e-mail addresses from all the rejected ones. We plan on implementing SQL-driven "FAQ", "Tech support" and "Suggestion" pages on our website. This might even replace the under-utilized "User Conference". This way you can quickly check what suggestions have been made, how we have prioritized them, and add your own comments. We will soon have extensive "Picture" tours on our website which explain how to perform common editing tasks with VEDIT, hex editing, EBCDIC conversion, sorting and much more. If your business or family domain is receiving excessive spam, I hope you will consider SpamStopsHere. While other anti-spam options use only one or two anti-spam techniques and often use error-prone filtering based on words or phrases, our service now makes all the best anti-spam options available in one flexible and inexpensive service. If you are in a business, please encourage your IT manager to visit our website and to give us a call. Personally, my older daughter Jodi is a Junior at the University of Wisconsin, majoring in Education and English. My younger daughter Cheryl is a Freshman at Penn State where she is on the track team. (She got a 1st and a 5th in two events at the Big-10 championship last week.) So far, the excessive snow in Michigan has made for "sub-optimal" bicycling conditions for me. (Forcing me to spend more time on VEDIT.) I always tell people in the South and in California that Michigan is a great place to get work done in the winter. Perhaps you should consider it. ;-) Well, that brings you up-to-date with things here. Thank you again for your support. Hopefully everything is going well for you too. Sincerely, Ted Green ----------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail is being sent to our VEDIT customers. 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