Previous Version | Qedit for Windows News | Next Version

Changes in Qedit for Windows 4.7.05

New Features and Enhancements

Firewall Protocol to HP 3000 Hosts

The default connection protocol to HP 3000 hosts works for most installations. It is compatible with a lot of network security schemes. However, some sites are using firewalls to provide even tighter access control. In some cases, the default protocol could not pass through the firewall.

In this version, Qedit offers a different connection protocol which should work at these sites. The new protocol can be enabled on individual connections defined in the Connection List dialog box. Simply enable the Use firewall protocol option. This option is only available if it's an MPE-type connection.

The new protocol makes the MPE server work almost like the HP-UX server. You have to have a job running a Qedit server listener process. This process is waiting for connection requests received on a specific port number. If the job is not running, new connections will be rejected.

Free-format Cobol Source Files

So far, Qedit has been able to handle COBOL source files that closely followed Cobol standards. Line numbers had to be in columns 1 to 6, compiler directives and special characters (e.g. comments) had to be in column 7 and statements had to be coded in columns 8 to 72. These were required by HP compilers on MPE.

Some third-party compilers like AcuCobol allow more flexible formats. Qedit now offers the Cobfree Language. These files are free-format. Line numbers are optional, compiler directives and statements can now start in column 1. Lines can have up to 256 characters on MPE and 8,172 characters on HP-UX.

Directory Dialog Access

The Directory dialog can now be accessed from the Host Save As dialog box. This allows you to navigate the directory structure and change the current working directory where the file will ultimately be saved.

Controlling the Cursor Position

In earlier versions, the cursor position and behavior was controlled by the Scroll Lock key. There were some problems when other applications changed the key setting or when the key was hit by mistake. The cursor location is now controlled by the Move cursor when navigating option on the General page of the Preferences dialog box.

If the option is enabled, the cursor remains visible at all times while you move around in the file. If disabled, the cursor retains its location in the file i.e. it stays at the same "line,column" coordinates. In that case, the cursor might disappear if you move far enough to make the line scroll off the screen.

Opening Files in Other Directories

Using the Wildcards text box, you can get a list of files in different directories on an HP-UX host. These files appear with the absolute path notation. If you tried to open one of them, you would get an error because Qedit prepended a dot-slash (./) every time.

From now on, if the selected file already starts with a period (relative) or a slash (absolute), Qedit does not insert the dot-slash.

Pathname When Printing a Directory Listing

Qedit now puts the full pathname of the current working directory at the top of the page when printing the contents of the Directory dialog.

Problems Fixed

Auto-indent is now working correctly in all situations.