旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � Trademarked names are the property of the respective owners � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Copyright (c) 1989-1991, FM de Monasterio Licensed Material - All rights reserved V I Z What is new in version 4.16 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Added further routines for support of HERCULES (HGC and HGC+) cards. Fixed harmless error in the ANSI module that resulted in error message if switch /A+ was issued before switch /A- after the installation of the module. The updating of resident parameters was improved. Added more video support for 14-line (VGA) or 12-line (EGA) screen displays. Fixed mouse bug introduced in version 4.12. What is new in version 4.15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corrected assembler (phase?) error which resulted in a wrong memory segment override, an error that had unpredictable effects on the DOS shell when the accelerator module alone was resident. ** USERS WITH VERSION 4.12 OR HIGHER NEED TO UPGRADE EVEN IF PROBLEMS WERE NOT EXPERIENCED ** Acceleration module optimization for the 486 version. Corrected apparently harmless error in the nonresident component (cursor position update). Fixed bug affecting the proper updating of screens with more than 25 lines. Added 12-line, 28-line and 35-line screen fonts via switch F, which now accepts a 2-digit decimal number between 12 and 50 (/Fn) and can be used to enforce a given font size. Corrected (486) CPU flags error when testing for processor type with 286+ machines, which affected behavior when an invalid switch was selected. Added switch S2 to enable/disable the combination (the key in PS/2s and COMPAQs) that can crash a LAN if pressed on a LAN server. Switch S1 now enables/disables the key, which can also crash a system if the printer is not on line when this key is pressed. The default condition of switch N is now /N- (nonfatal messages are displayed); this change can be neutralized by selecting /N+ on installation. Corrected error in the status display for switch S1 (old switch S) in the status/Help panel. Byte or word OUT commands can now be tested by entering 'VIZ /?H' to see if the cursor appears at the screen center; this service supersedes the TESTOUT.EXE utility. What is new in version 4.14 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANSI module optimization for the 486 version. Corrected pointer error that trashed part of the Status display in video modes other than 80 columns and corrected display of the current video mode. The Status/Help display panel attributes in MCGA/VGA monochrome mode were adjusted to improve readability of the text. What is new in version 4.13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The self-loading into high memory has been improved for a faster processing when dealing with the XMS manager. The user can now request a minimum high- memory bound above which the program should load itself (if an upper-memory block is available above the limit). This helps to avoid high-memory areas that have slow a memory access time. (The utility TIMEM.EXE can be used to measure access times.) Real mode 486 version introduced. What is new in version 4.12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Usage/Status/Help panel was reorganized for clarity; mouse support was added to facilitate the various displays. On-line Help text was added and some non-resident video display routines were improved. What is new in version 4.10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Resident was changed to permit use of self-modifying code to increase video acceleration performance, including the ANSI filter. Both resident and non- resident routines have also been improved for faster operation in 086, 286, and 386+ processors. What is new in version 4.03 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The DOS environment variable 'VIZ' can now be directly updated or created in the (master) DOS environment by means of switch /E. Unlike the SET command, which modifies the default environment block (whether it is the global [i.e. that used by the initial copy of COMMAND.COM] or a local one [i.e. that used by a secondary copy]), switch /E always modifies the global DOS environment. This allows to modify the environment variable even when 'shelling out' from any application, in which case the SET command would not be useful to modify the environment block. Resident and non-resident 386-specific code has been tightened in the 386 release. A minor bug in single-digit octal input (/Bn) has been fixed. ANSI performance has been improved a little more. What is new in version 4.02 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Direct high-memory loading introduced. Switch /L allows the resident code to be installed directly in high memory (i.e. at conventional memory between 640 kb and 1,024 kb [1 Mb]). This avoids not only the initial load sizing of the program by some (386) memory managers, but also the need to have available up to 64 kb of free high memory to install a resident of less than 1 kb. An EXE format has been reintroduced as it provides better file compression. What is new in version 4.01 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Further resident code tightening to improve acceleration performance in 32-bit bus 386+ machines. What is new in version 4.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Real mode 386 version introduced. See VIZ.DAT for comparisons with 16-bit and 32-bit bus machines. Fixed problem in cursor positioning when first installed without initial scrolling of the screen. What is new in version 3.72 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Modified the way that the BIOS alternate print-screen service is selected when the card is a VGA or EGA. Switch /S+ or /S-, or just /S, must be requested at installation time for the alternate service to be selected. (Some EGA cards do not work properly when this BIOS service is selected.) Fixed cursor shape when changing from a 25-line screen to 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA) line displays. Switch /V- enforces an invisible cursor until the cursor module is inactivated (/V+), or the whole resident is inactivated (/Q) or uninstalled from memory (/U). ANSI filter acceleration factors have been increased considerably. See VIZ.DAT for actual values and comparisons with other accelerators. What is new in version 3.71 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Only minor changes have been introduced. Confirmation is not required anymore before the program will uninstall itself from high-DOS memory. What is new in version 3.70 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Resident code was restructured to permit also control of the frequency (pitch) of the speaker's beep with fixed duration, a faster handling of DOS output via switch /Z+, and a slightly faster handling of BIOS services. The resident size of the accelerator module has been increased only by 30-odd bytes. Switch /X� (versions 2.41 through 3.63) has been removed. For other code changes, please read the file VIZ.DOC. Benchmark data are now listed in the file VIZ.DAT. What is new in version 3.63 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Additional small increase of acceleration obtained by the use of machine opcode instructions in the resident component. Resident size has been decreased in the 086+ version. ANSI filter efficiency has been increased by a factor of about 3 with respect to that of ANSI.SYS (the size of the resident ANSI filter has been reduced). When the DOS command line is empty, VIz searches the DOS environment for a string containing configuration switches ('VIZ=/switch1/switch2...') that are implemented if VIz is executed from the DOS command line without arguments. What is new in version 3.62 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Minor changes were introduced in both resident and nonresident code. There is a further (small) increase of video acceleration in 286+ machines, especially for DOS video output. Resident size remains unchanged. What is new in version 3.61 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two small changes were introduced in the resident code, 286 version, for better implementation of fast screen scrolling. Removed some redundant data registers in both versions, but resident code reduction is less than the 16-byte rounding off used for TSR allocation, so resident size appears unchanged in memory maps. A bug affecting updating of switch /V in version 3.60 has been fixed. What is new in version 3.60 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nonresident code has been reduced by not including buffer areas involved in the displays generated by switch /? and /C?. Memory allocation is now requested for such areas when these switches are selected. A bug in a macro affecting the display for /C? (in the BBS-distributed version only) has been fixed. Added /X and /Z switches to BBS release. What is new in version 3.50 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some C utilities produced a 64-kb display when encountering an invalid argument in the command line upon Z-revectoring with version 3.40; this is caused by the improper setting of a CPU register by these utilities, and has been compensated for in version 3.50. Nonresident display services have been improved. What is new in version 3.40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOS text output to the screen can be further accelerated by revectoring int 21h function 40h ("write to device") for DOS handle #1 ("stdout") to VIz via switch /Z+ (which can be enabled if the ANSI driver is not installed); however, such a revectoring conflicts with the revectoring of most DOS output to the NUL device or to a file, unless switch /Z- (the default condition) is used. Z-revectoring produces DOS output acceleration at least as large as that of X-revectoring and DOS "raw" mode combined (without CLS conflicts). What is new in version 3.30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIz is back to the its previous COM format due to problems found when trying to load into high-DOS memory the .EXE format of versions 3.10-3.21, which confused some high-memory loaders. After the high-memory installation of its residents, VIz now updates resident parameters without having to use such high loaders (or to open the high memory), so that the residents can be updated even when enough high-DOS memory is not available for the operation of a high loader. What is new in version 3.21 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bug making VIz versions 2.30-3.20 to fail to provide complete video font data after a call to interrupt 10h, function 11h/subfunction 30h has been corrected. The resident video page code was changed to decrease time waste imposed by some higher-language utilities that make repeated, and often unnecessary, video page (re)settings to the same page number. All changes based on software-timer data. What is new in version 3.20 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Added an independent, small resident module (ca. 100 bytes) that can be used to force displaying either an alternating block-and-line cursor, whose alternation rate can be adjusted between about 55 milliseconds and 5.5 seconds (in steps of 55 ms), or a continuously present block cursor. The alternating cursor display makes it quite easy to locate the cursor in laptop screens. What is new in version 3.11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Syntax/Help display now uses its own EGA/VGA color palette; the old palette contents are restored upon exiting from the display. Non-fatal error and other operation messages are not displayed (default or switch /N+) unless switch /N- is selected. Errorlevel codes have been implemented (see VIZ.DOC). What is new in version 3.10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The code has been realigned so that nearly all resident program procedures, and all non-resident procedures start at memory addresses that are a multiple of 4. This increases execution performance in 286 and, especially, 386 computers. VIz now uses a compressed, scrambled .EXE file format. What is new in version 3.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The code has been optimized using a software timer to select those instructions providing faster execution time in situ, so as to correct for the time required to fetch instructions from memory, independently for the 086 and 286 versions. VIzMARK benchmarks (version 1.62) have been modified. What is new in version 2.51 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bug making VIz versions 2.41-2.50 to fail the cyclical redundancy check when some EGA adapters were detected has been fixed. (Benchmarks remain the same as those of version 2.50.) What is new in version 2.50 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Both the resident and the non-resident code have been reduced in size. Video IO acceleration has been improved. A bug that made VIz ignore any further switches after switch S has been fixed. VIzMARK video benchmarks are included in the VIz distribution files. What is new in version 2.44 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A version 2.41-2.43 bug generating an incorrect version message for DOS version 3.00 through 3.09 and 4.00-4.01 has been fixed. The non-resident code has been compacted a bit to reduce the size of the program. The acceleration of CGA-VIz has been improved by resident code changes. What is new in version 2.43 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bug was fixed in an error message routine of version 2.42, that could produce improper stack restoration upon returning to DOS. Part of the non-resident code dealing with switches whose implementation clears the video has been changed. A fully CGA-oriented version (CGA-VIz) is now available. What is new in version 2.42 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VGA palette control via switch /C is enabled when using the VGA monochrome mode (as opposed to MDA or HGC emulation modes, which are disabled). This allows for the reassignment of color codes to 3 monochrome levels. A bug was fixed in the bell service of version 2.41, that could result in erratic display changes when switch /X+ was in use. The 086-version resident size has increased slightly to allow for code more compatible with 8088 machines. What is new in version 2.41 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOS text output to the screen can be further accelerated by revectoring int 29h to VIz via switch /X+ (which is available if the ANSI driver is not installed); however, such a revectoring conflicts with the CLS command unless switch /X- is first used, or 3 bytes of COMMAND.COM are patched as shown in the file VIZ.PAT. Alternatively, a utility such as CLR. COM (see VIz distribution package) can be used to clear the screen. Read section on interrupt revectoring of VIZ.DOC. The use of switch /X+ and /R+ increases DOS video output by a factor of nearly 3 or more. What is new in version 2.40 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The acceleration of some video outputs was improved by reducing the size of the resident accelerator code. The mechanism of operation of switch /A- has changed (see VIZ.DOC). A subtle bug in the window scroll down code, sometimes scrolling additional lines, has been fixed. The resident accelerator uses 784 bytes (286) while both the resident accelerator and ANSI driver use 1456 bytes (286). A new window filling switch /Wn:n has been added to generate fast, colored windows of the type displayed when the VIz status is requested. What is new in version 2.34 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was a missing instruction in the resident of version 2.33 that produced a color change during changes of video mode; version 2.34 corrects this error. What is new in version 2.33 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using switch F with a VGA, version 2.32 toggled between 50 and 28 rows, instead of 50 and 25 rows. Upon font changes (load font and reprogram controller), the BIOS now loads the font into the internal font pages of the character generator (for MCGA video cards). Version 2.31 would report a CRC error when executed in some monochrome systems; version 2.33 solves that problem. What is new in version 2.32 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part of the nonresident code has been tightened for faster execution. There are no changes in the resident operation. What is new in version 2.31 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The resident code was optimized for prefetch queue operation. This has resulted in a slightly faster video input/output acceleration. A bug in the ANSI driver has been fixed. What is new in version 2.30 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since VIz is not likely to be useful with CGA-based displays (for that you need CGAVIZ.COM), the color implementation of VIz has been changed to take advantage of the EGA/VGA color palette. Switch /C now allows to remap the Red-Green-Blue mixture of the palette registers to generate 16 colors of your choice out of 64 possible colors in the EGA and EGA-compatible modes of the VGA. This remapping can be implemented from the DOS' command line, or from a display of the palette registers and their contents. Type VIZ /C? for an example of this display. Read the VIZ.DOC file for more details of the changes. The resident size of VIZ has been increased only minimally by these changes and remains at 832 bytes for the 286 version. [END]