================================== Release Notes WinSPIRS v2.1 ================================== The following is a list of new features, operating hints and known bugs which may occur when using SilverPlatter's WinSPIRS v2.1. WinSPIRS can be configured to access CD-ROMS mounted locally, on an ERL Server, or both. These Release Notes apply to all WinSPIRS configurations. =-=-=-=-= Contents =-=-=-=-= The following information is available in this file: 1. New Features/Changes * Screen Views * Viewing Graphics * ERLedit * Supplying Customized Setup Files 2. Installation Tips * French, German, Spanish Language Interfaces * Shared Files * Choosing Display Fonts 3. Known Bugs * Index Collating Sequences * Copying MEDLINE to Disk * Inline Graphics in Tables * Language Support * Graphics Downloading 4. Contacting SilverPlatter * Technical Support =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. New Features =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The following features are new in WinSPIRS v2.1. For more about these features, see the document WinSPIRS v2.1 Differences from v2.0, available from the same source as the WinSPIRS software. Screen Views ------------ You can now navigate more easily between screens with buttons that enable you to choose among the search history, split screen, and full record screen views. Viewing Graphics ---------------- Graphics can now be viewed in the body of the record or in a separate window. Options can be set to include or omit graphic images when printing. ERLedit ------- WinSPIRS now includes the ERLedit program, a Windows-based utility you use to edit the erlclnt.cfg file. Supplying Customized Setup Files -------------------------------- On installation disk 1 these files are supplied in uncompressed form so they can be customized by system administrators: * erlclnt.dft - default version of the erlclnt.cfg file. * winspirs.dft - default version of the winspirs.ini file. * readme.txt - a readme.txt file you can edit. You can edit these files and save them (keeping the .dft extension) to installation disks for distribution. During installation, these files are assigned the apporpriate extension and copied to the WinSPIRS directory. Note: Installation does not overwrite existing configuration files. For the settings in the default files to take effect, you should first uninstall existing versions. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2. Installation =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The following section provides tips about installation and setup of WinSPIRS. Note: Users of the first Winspirs 2.1 beta version (2.1B1) must delete their old reconfig icon after installing this version of WinSPIRS. French, German, Spanish Language Interfaces ------------------------------------------- The WinSPIRS interface is available in French, German and Spanish. To install any of these languages: 1. Install the basic WinSPIRS (See Chapter 1 of the WinSPIRS User's Manual). 2. Locate the appropriate language files (if you are installing from floppy disks, each language file is on it's own disk). * german.z * french.z * spanish.z 3. Copy the files for the languages you want to install to: ..\winspirs\language> 4. Run the Add Language program: * Double-click the Add Language icon in the WinSPIRS program group or * Change to the ..\winpsirs\language directory and run setup.exe 5. Follow the screen instructions. At the Choose Components screen, make sure that the language interfaces you want to add are checked. Once you have added languages, you can set the default language interface in the Reconfiguration program, under Workstation Options, open the Language prompt. Shared Files ------------ Before you install WInSPIRS you should close all other applications WinSPIRS to avoid conflicts installing shared files. In this version of WinSPIRS, new versions of ctl3dv2.dll and cmdialog.vbx are included. During installation you can confirm the replacement of an older versions of the file. Older versions are saved as backup. If you get problems with shared files on installing, reboot and make sure that Windows Startup doesn't start any other Windows applications. Choosing Display Fonts ---------------------- If you are using databases with the ISO-Latin1 character set, you should select a suitable font for displaying databases. Standard Windows fonts (such as Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New) should display the accented characters in the ISO-Latin1 character set providing the point size is not too small. The default font (Courier LD) supplied with WinSPIRS does not display the accents on some characters in the ISO-Latin1 set, but offers a better set of line drawing characters used to display tables in some databases. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3. Known Bugs =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Index Collating Sequences ------------------------- Where several databases are selected that include languages with different alphabetic collating sequences, the index will not adjust for the collating sequence on a per-database basis. A warning box is displayed where the indexes have mixed collating sequences. In this case, we recommend that users select databases one at a time. Character Sets -------------- Records are downloaded using the DOS (PC437) character set, rather than the Windows (ANSI, ISO-Latin1 compatible) character set. The DOS character set does not contain all accented characters found in ISO-Latin1. In this case the character will be mapped to the nearest equivalent DOS character (e.g. the character without accent). Editors (e.g. Notepad) which assume the Windows character set rather than the DOS character set may show accented characters incorrectly, and this behaviour may be dependent on the font currently selected. Copying MEDLINE to Disk ----------------------- If you are installing MEDLINE magnetically (and are using the drives= mechanism), you must edit the .dir files to include the pathnames to the directory containing the database. Open the database's .dir file in a text editor and add backslashes. In this case, pathnames need to be placed in the .dir file, and backslashes in these paths will need doubling up. Inline Graphics in Tables ---------------------------- In some databases graphics appearing in a table may effect the display of the table. Turn off inline graphics in the Show Options to view the table with proper formatting. Graphics Downloading -------------------- Graphics are not downloaded into the same file as records, but can be downloaded separately from the graphics window. This release does not display a message to warn that graphics are excluded from the downloaded records. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4. Contacting SilverPlatter =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If you need further assistance please contact SilverPlatter's Technical Support Department. SilverPlatter Information, Inc. SilverPlatter Information, Ltd. 100 River Ridge Drive 10 Barley Mow Passage Norwood, MA 02062 Chiswick, London W4 4PH Phone: 800-343-0064 (US/Canada) Phone: 0800-262-096 (UK) 617-769-2599 +44-181-995-8242 Fax: 617-769-8763 Fax: +44-181-995-5159 Internet: info@silverplatter.com or support@silverplatter.com Web site: http://www.silverplatter.com