1. INFLD TYPE i (invisible field) no longer outputs spaces in the field position.
2. (UNIX) The test to see if the emulator is ZTERM is now delayed until you actually use the SET TITLE command. This should eliminate most problems with typeahead at the start of a session intermingling with the characters being exchanged between A-Shell and ZTERM (which was not only interfering with the ability of A-Shell to recognize ZTERM but was causing unwanted garbage characters to appear on the screen, and also interfering with your typeahead.) Note that the problem could still occur if your startup command file started with a SET TITLE command and you were typing ahead of that.
3. (LINUX) MOVE.LIT 1.0(101) fixes a syntax problem which was preventing it from working with LINUX. The new version works on all UNIX platforms.
28 November 2000: Version 4.6(756)
1. (UNIX) MOVE.LIT now available. Acts like COPY.LIT and uses the same syntax, except that it uses the underlying UNIX mv command to "move" the file rather than copying it. This will be faster than COPY for large files, and also possibly more convenient than COPYing and ERASEing. Note that because it uses the UNIX mv command, the possible variety of error messages and conditions is quite large, and thus should be used with caution. Note that the UNIX mv command is normally silent, unless there is some error or warning. Any such message output will be printed, as is, on your terminal, but it may require some interpretation, given that it will surely reference native UNIX pathnames and possibly UNIX-specific error conditions.
Here are some example uses of MOVE.LIT:
MOVE X.Y=X.Z MOVE X.*=Y.*/NOD MOVE =BAS:X.Y MOVE "/tmp/junk.lst"=DSK0:JUNK.TXT[7,6]
The last example above illustrates the use of a native filespec. MOVE, like other wildcard commands, supports native filespecs as long as they are quoted. Note, however, that when using native filespecs for either the input or output, you must specify fully qualified paths for both input and output. This is because the wildcard processor within A-Shell does not understand native wildcards and thus you can end up with some nasty unexpected results. For example, MOVE="/tmp/junk.lst" or MOVE JUNK.*="/tmp/junk.*" will both fail to work (at best) and probably cause your input file to disappear.
2. XCALL XDEFLT,STRING implemented; forces contents of STRING into the typeahead buffer, where it will be retrieved automatically by the next input operation(s).
3. The -e command line switch to ashell/ashw32 (exit automatically) no longer exits if XCALL JOBCMD,CMD$ had been used to force a non-null command to be executed whenever the job returns to the monitor prompt. This fixes a problem with premature exits when using -e in conjunction with the SHL (A-Shell implementation of AlphaMENU.)
4. The BasicPLUS GETKEY(x) function no longer processes function key translations unless the optional function key translation file argument is specified. (Previously, it was incorrectly returning IFX translations if no 2nd argument passed.)
5. (WINDOWS) The PASSTHROUGH printing logic has been rewritten using a newer set of Windows API functions to provide better compatibility across the range of W9X to NT to W2000 platforms. In particular, this fixes a problem in which it was impossible to eliminate an unwanted trailing formfeed under Windows 2000. It also eliminates the need to worry about setting the spool format to RAW, or even the need to use the Generic / Text driver for PASSTHROUGH printing. One ideosyncracy of the new method is that it is not practical to change the printer driver properties to output to a file rather than a printer. However, since this mode should not perform any filtering of your file (except for the possible addition or subtraction of a trailing or leading formfeed based on the STRIPFF & FF/NOFF switches) there isn't much point in running it through the printer driver just to get the output as a file. Instead, you could use the DISK: pseudo-device (DEVICE=DISK: or DEVICE=DISK:), to get pretty much the same effect.
6. Fix a bug in INFLD in which the cursor was not remaining off when TYPE i: (invisible field.) This is basically the same patch as edit 376 of the AMOS version of INFLD.SBR.
7. Close up a window of opportunity for wierd garbage to show up in PRINT.SBR output if the print lines had no trailing null.
8. MacDonald catalog API functions (MPSCOM.SBR opcodes 200+) now available in the AIX version.
9. ASTAT.LIT 2.1(126) fixes a minor problem with the time display.
