
                       The history of The Star Commander

  Here is the list of the phases the development of  the  Commander  has  gone
through. The fact that the public releases of the Commander were beta versions
and their version number is still below 1.0 does not mean that they  are  full
of bugs or the functions in it do not  work  properly.  I  just  hate  version
numbers like 12.3 or 1.2.34 and until the Commander does all you and I want it
to, the version numbering will remain the same - only the full, final  release
is going to be called Version 1.0. However, I hereby  warn  you  that  I  will
finish my university studies in mid-1998 and so will lose my Internet  access.
Before that I'm going  to  release  The Star Commander, Version 1.0  and  will
probably release nothing for a long time after that! Don't  hesitate  to  send
your reports to me as soon as possible so that Version 1.0 can really  be  the
final release.

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  The Star Commander, Beta Version (SC_BETA.ZIP, Summer 1994):


  The first public release, only supported disk  and  tape  images,  the  left
panel was always a CBM panel, the right one always remained in  DOS  mode  and
there was no online help at all. I started coding it in  Turbo Pascal 7.0  and
Turbo Vision 2.0 because I saw how buggy, slow and hard-to-use X1541, DISK64E,
C642C64S and the other copy and converter programs were and that there was  no
program that would have the copy  and  conversion  functions  all  in  one.  I
uploaded it only to ftp.funet.fi and even I don't have it  anymore  because  I
deleted it for some stupid reason when the next release came out.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #2 (SC_BETA2.ZIP, 08-24-94):


  In this release I created the online help by  manually  copying  the  online
help of The Volkov Commander sentence by sentence into a formatted  text  file
which was then compiled into the  help  file.  The  functions  to  access  the
external Commodore 1541 drive were already there, only they didn't  work  yet.
There was no history in the documentation  and  I  don't  remember  any  other
changes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #3 (SC_BETA3.ZIP, 10-16-94):


  CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #2:

- fixed the 'multi file copy to image file' bug when the directory was  messed
  up sometimes

- the redundant configuration option "Real 1541 drive connected" is discarded

- a new configuration option named "BAM disk copy" appeared

- the image file name of the last session is not saved in  the  setup  so  the
  "<image file> not found" won't drive you crazy

- the online help window does not flicker when changing topic

- the PC-1541 connection is now more or less complete and turbo mode  is  also
  implemented - that's what you've been waiting for for a long time!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander Calibrator (SC_CALIB.ZIP, 10-20-94):


  Since Beta Version #3 was still not  capable  of  calibrating  the  transfer
routines, I released an external calibrator some days after the release of the
Commander. You had to feed the integer number displayed by the  calibrator  to
the Commander as a command line parameter.

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  The Star Commander, Beta Version #4 (SC_BETA4.ZIP, 12-18-94):


  CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #3:

- the CBM and PC fix mode panels  transformed  into  multi-mode  panels  which
  means that you can copy now directly from any format to another

- the reselection of selected files when rereading the directory is now fixed

- changing the labels of image files didn't work - now it does

- two new configuration options and some other changes for comfort

- no need to connect the 2-15 pins of the parallel port and you won't see  the
  "Interface not found" error anymore

- no need to press Enter when changing drive

- all DOS names are turned to uppercase while you are typing them

- a new external calibrator routine inside the release package (run it  before
  the Commander!)

- the LED on the connected 1541 blinks at every transferred block

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #5 (SC_BETA5.ZIP, 02-12-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #4:

- when checking  the  date  input  of  the  "Set attributes"  dialog  box  the
  Commander exchanged the day and the month

- the Commander placed the backup of the image file in the  current  directory
  and not into its original path

- when copying from a DOS mode panel to a CBM mode panel the file names  could
  be converted incorrectly sometimes

- the Commander couldn't copy a file longer than 256  blocks  to  a  connected
  1541 drive

- the Commander didn't check if  a  file  already  existed  on  a  disk  in  a
  connected 1541 drive when tried to copy another one with the same name (nice
  noises!)

- the file type of all the files copied to a disk in a  connected  1541  drive
  was changed to program file

- the "Copy" and "Copy disk"  progress  indicator  that  displayed  the  block
  number or the track and sector being copied was flickering

- the "Copy disk" worked only in turbo mode - in normal speed it froze

- pressing ESC while reading/writing in turbo mode  from/to a  connected  1541
  drive froze the Commander most of the time - it SEEMS to be fixed


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #4:

- the extended and fast 1541 routines are now inside the executable  file  and
  not as an external data file

- the Commander uses the load path passed by DOS to locate its  files  instead
  of searching for the file SC.EXE

- manual calibration is moved to the "Configurations..." menu and it is not to
  be entered as a command line parameter

- the new calibrator routine displays a delay value VERY  NEAR  the  best.  It
  seems that it cannot be modified in such a way that  it  displays  the  best
  delay value an all kinds of PC's

- you can select the address of the LPT port to be used

- you can optionally save the paths of both panels in the setup file

- you can select the sort order for files in DOS mode panels (do you think  it
  should be enabled in CBM mode panels, too?)

- when entering DOS file names letters are automatically turned to uppercase

- all files with unknown  extensions  (not .SEQ, .USR, .REL, .D64 or .T64) are
  assumed to be program files

- the Commander makes backup only once when copying or deleting a sequence  of
  files to/from an image file

- the Commander reports back if a file on a connected 1541 drive  was  deleted
  successfully or not

- a new button named "All" appeared in the confirmation boxes with  which  you
  can confirm the operation for all the selected files

- selecting/unselecting all the files in a  panel  is  moved  from  the  "All"
  button in the dialog box to Shift + Gray+/Gray-

- the function key bar has been rewritten so that the items are separated with
  only one space instead of two and so the original function names are used

- you can move around the items in dialog boxes using the cursor keys as well

- the point marking the selected item doesn't follow the highlight bar in  the
  RadioButton items of dialog boxes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Beta Version #5A (SC_BET5A.ZIP, 02-28-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #5:

- the Commander didn't display the help for "Save setup" correctly

- the Commander couldn't copy a non-program file from a disk  in  a  connected
  1541 drive (the main reason why this intermediate version was released)


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #5:

- the help dialog doesn't flicker anymore - the display changes only when  the
  next help item is successfully read

- the external calibration routine not only tests your machine in a  loop  (if
  you use the /L option) but also can use the connected  1541  drive  to  fine
  tune the calibration (if you use the /Fxy option where x is  the  number  of
  the LPT port and y the device number - warning: this handles no  errors,  it
  might lock up your system if false values are entered)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.60 beta (not released):


  This version was never released officially, a tester put  it  onto  his  FTP
site by mistake.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.61 beta (SC061.ZIP, 05-22-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE BETA VERSION #5:

- the Commander didn't display the help for "Save setup" correctly  (fixed  in
  Beta Version #5A)

- the Commander locked up if you changed the screen mode in DOS shell

- the Commander couldn't copy a non-program file from a disk  in  a  connected
  1541 drive (fixed in Beta Version #5A)

- you couldn't extract the last file from a full tape image

- the file sizes in tape images weren't displayed correctly if over 256 blocks

- the ".." DOS link in image files was selected by '*' and  similar  wildcards
  if it wasn't on the screen at the time of the selection

- the Commander didn't display the ".." up-directory  when  viewing  a  remote
  drive in a Novell network (now it displays a dummy ".." up-directory)

- the bugs that arise with the use of a write  protected  PC  disk  have  been
  mostly eliminated

- the mouse cursor didn't reappear when asking for a file name or confirmation
  during a multi-file copy or delete from or to a connected 1541 drive

- the Commander locked up if you tried to delete a splat file or if you  tried
  to validate a disk image that contained a splat file

- the side sectors of relative files in a disk image were not allocated during
  validate or freed during delete


  OTHER CHANGES FROM BETA VERSION #5:

- the version number and  the  file  name  of  the  distribution  package  has
  changed: the version number is now x.yz (where x is the major and yz is  the
  minor version number); similarly the file name is now SCxyz.ZIP

- warp transfer mode (about 5-6 times faster) introduced for copying disk from
  or to a connected 1541 drive

- no /F option  in  the  external  calibrator  routine  (the  delay  value  it
  displayed was absolutely wrong)

- the help dialog doesn't flicker anymore - the display changes only when  the
  next help item is successfully read (changed in Beta Version #5A)

- the Commander can be also run on monochrome VGA, CGA and Hercules monitors

- the Commander displays the letters of valid PC drives when changing drives

- the Commander can optionally display file sizes and capacities in  DOS  mode
  panels in bytes instead of in blocks

- the Commander can optionally display all files with  invalid  file  type  as
  programs in tape images

- the Commander can optionally append the extension of  the  PC  file  to  the
  converted C64 file name if not .PRG or .SEQ or .USR and append the DOS-style
  "extension" of C64 files (e.g. "diskcopy.lnx") to the converted PC file name

- many things were changed to match  the  standards  of  The Norton Commander:
  most of the colors and dialog boxes; the outlook and behaviour  of  buttons;
  the upper line of panels; you can hide the menu bar and win  an  extra  line
  for panels

- each panel can hold a maximum of 1024 entries instead of 512

- the sort mode of panels can be set from the menu bar instead of a dialog box

- the scrolling of panels and the online help with mouse is slowed down - they
  scroll only a single line and not a whole page

- frozen files in tape images are displayed and can be extracted

- you can stop the file copy between  panels  of  any  mode  at  any  time  by
  pressing Escape

- when copying files a progress indicator will show you the amount of the copy
  already done - when you copy files from or to a  connected  1541  drive  the
  number of copied blocks is displayed

- you can copy a disk image to a disk in a connected 1541 drive not only  from
  the DOS directory but also when viewing the disk image itself

- you can enter a new name for files copied between panels of any mode

- you can enter wildcards when copying a DOS file into a  DOS  mode  panel  or
  when renaming a DOS file

- you can't use the Tab and Shift-Tab keys to move around  dialog  boxes;  use
  the cursor keys instead

- you can also use Cursor Left and Cursor Right to jump  to  the  top  or  the
  bottom of the panels

- you can also use Space to select or unselect files

- you can't use Alt+key combinations to jump to the menu

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.70 beta (SC070.ZIP, 10-29-95):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.61 BETA:

- the Commander didn't separate double clicks

- I've mixed up the Hidden and System attributes in  the  "Attributes"  dialog
  box


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.61 BETA:

- the calibrator is now inside the Commander and is  semi-automatic - it  will
  activate if there is no setup file or it is corrupted; you  can  re-run  the
  calibration by selecting "Recalibrate" in the "Advanced options..." menu

- the file copy, rename and deletion system has been rewritten  from  scratch;
  you can specify the source files and the destination path or image file, now
  you are not limited to copying files from the active panel to  the  inactive
  one but are able to copy or move practically anything anywhere

- the enhanced "Rename" command, "Rename or move" allows  you  to  delete  the
  source files at the instant they were successfully copied

- introducing the command line with history capable of storing a maximum of 19
  recent commands

- introducing warp transfer for file copy (only  the  CBM -> PC  direction  is
  implemented with no error handling yet)

- introducing disk editor for disk images and disks in a connected  CBM  drive
  also in turbo mode

- introducing a new smart shelling system that allocates less than  25  KBytes
  for the Commander while executing DOS commands (that is  if  you  start  the
  Commander through the loader SC.EXE)

- introducing the Brief mode which displays twice or three times more files in
  the panel than the Full mode

- the Commander can optionally run with the C64 character set (only on EGA/VGA
  video cards) - you can change it in the "Advanced options..."  menu  and  by
  pressing Shift+Control and Shift+Alt when no dialog box is on the screen

- the "Configurations..." menu is split into two parts because there were  too
  many options to stuff into it; there is a "Configuration..." menu (mostly PC
  related options; assigned to Control+F9) and an  "Advanced options..."  menu
  (rather C64 and CBM drive related options; assigned to Control+F10)

- an external ZipCoder is inside the Commander distribution package

- with the "Filter" menu you can disable the  display  of  Hidden  and  System
  files and you can also make the Commander show you only executable or  image
  files

- you can create your own user menus for DOS panels

- you can view and edit DOS files with external viewers  and  editors - you'll
  have to create extension files first (read the online  help  on  how  to  do
  that)

- you can associate commands with file extensions (e.g. start a word processor
  if you press Enter or double click on a file with the extension .DOC)

- the Commander can now handle tape images with more (or less) than 30 entries

- the Commander now has a screen saver with adjustable screen blank delay

- you can start typing a file name to make the cursor bar jump to  a  matching
  file in the panel (you have to press the Alt key with the first letter)

- the scroller bars of the panels and the online help are removed - they  were
  the ugly remnants of the original Turbo Vision routines and had  nothing  to
  do with the environment of the other Commanders

- you can retry or skip reading or writing bad sectors during disk copy

- the disk copy CBM -> PC direction has been sped up by 10 seconds

- you can stop the reading of the directory and the validation of disk  images
  by pressing Esc (it can help if there's a loop in the sector chain  although
  you should fix that as soon as possible)

- all the four possible device numbers of connected CBM drives  are  displayed
  in the "Change drive" dialog box; if you have a single floppy drive in  your
  PC, it will not be displayed as a phantom second drive

- you can change the soft sector interleave for disk images  and  disks  in  a
  connected CBM drive

- the "Volume label" command is moved from Alt+F4  to  Control+F4 - Alt+F4  is
  now reserved for the internal editor (in one of the next releases)

- the Insert key now repeats just like any other key

- you can press Control+Alt+Insert to  reset  all  connected  CBM  drives  and
  Control+Alt+Delete to exit the Commander immediately  (emergency  exit - use
  it only as a last resort)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.71 beta (SC071.ZIP, 03-04-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.70 BETA:

- when copying a file or disk from a connected Commodore drive to  the  PC  in
  normal transfer mode the last byte in some of the sectors or the  last  byte
  of the file could sometimes get lost

- you couldn't copy sequential and user files from a connected Commodore drive

- if you started SCMAIN.EXE and launched a standard viewer or editor while the
  C64 character set was  enabled  then  garbage  would  be  displayed  at  the
  original DOS output screen after returning from the external program

- if you started the Commander through SC.EXE and executed a DOS command  when
  one of the panels was an external panel then a strange path would be offered
  when you tried to copy a file to the external drive and the manual file name
  conversion box would give you a blank file name

- when both panels were off and you tried to re-read a  panel  with  Control-R
  then nothing happened but the clock disappeared

- user menu entries without any commands and commands prepended with '@'  were
  handled incorrectly

- if you typed anything on the command line after returing  from  an  external
  viewer or editor then the previous contents of the command line disappeared


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.70 BETA:

- introducing a new synchronization that uses the hardware system  timers  and
  therefore is not machine dependent

- the infamous problem that made the Commander unable to work in  turbo  modes
  on certain PC's has at last been eliminated

- introducing an external setup  program  that  allows  you  to  set  all  the
  settings of the Commander - only  the  important  settings  can  be  changed
  inside the Commander and so the configuration menus are not  as  stuffed  as
  before

- from now on the external setup program and the Commander itself will be able
  to read the setup file created by the previous version - no need to set  the
  options that were unchanged in the new version

- introducing an external Lynx/unLynx program that can build archives  out  of
  multiple DOS files or the contents of disk images and extract archives  into
  DOS files or disk images

- introducing an external program that collects multiple  file  images  (files
  with the extension '.P00'/'.S00'/'.U00' created by PC64) into tape images

- from now on I will maintain a mailing list for those who would like  to  get
  the future releases of the Commander as soon as possible (you just  send  me
  an E-Mail and you'll get a uuencoded package on the release day)

- a World Wide Web homepage of the Commander is being under construction - you
  will be able to download the latest release and read about  changes  in  the
  upcoming version

- the type of column mode (brief or full) and the mini status box (off,  brief
  or full) can be set separately for the left and right panel  and  separately
  for DOS and CBM panel  mode - however,  the  original  options  'Brief'  and
  'Full' in the 'Left' and 'Right' menus and 'Mini status'  in  the  'Options'
  menu were kept for comfort and compatibility

- critical errors are reported in a nice dialog box instead of that  ugly  red
  message overlaying the last line of the screen

- standard viewers and editors are informed about the screen mode  (black  and
  white, color or laptop) and the mouse mode (present or not,  right  or  left
  handed) the Commander is using and they work with these parameters (provided
  that they support the way of passing parameters of The Norton Commander)

- Star Zip asks you for overwrite confirmation if the destination file already
  exists

- you can overwrite an already existing disk image when copying a disk from an
  external drive to a disk image

- if the inactive panel is off then the command "Rename or Move" will  default
  to renaming the file under the cursor bar

- emergency exit is assigned to Ctrl-Alt-Ins and external Commodore drives can
  be reset with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace (no dangerous Ctrl-Alt-Del anymore)

- only 16 commands are stored in the history since a history  of  19  commands
  could not be displayed aesthetically  on  a  25  line  screen  anyway - this
  lowers the amount of memory used by the loader program, too

- the menu of available commands in the disk editor pops up when you press  F2
  instead of 'M'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.72 beta (SC072.ZIP, 05-20-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.71 BETA:

- you were not prompted for overwrite confirmation  when  copying  an  already
  existing file from the PC to the connected Commodore drive

- empty files are now copied properly between panels of any mode

- saving the settings in the external setup while the Commander is resident in
  the memory does not create a corrupt setup file

- some mouse handling problems before and after  executing  DOS  commands  and
  calling standard viewers and editors have been fixed

- invalid track and sector numbers are not allowed in the disk editor

- if the functions ^[ and ^] would cause the command line to overflow (locking
  up the computer), you will not be allowed to use them


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.71 BETA:

- introducing an internal viewer for DOS and Commodore files with wrap/unwrap,
  text/hex display,  adjustable  end-of-line  mark,  text/hex  search,  ASCII/
  PETSCII/screen code  display  and  C64  character  set  -  this  program  is
  physically  external  (SCVIEW.EXE)  so  that  the  memory  required  by  the
  Commander does not increase

- all the interactive external programs (currently the external setup and  the
  viewer) can be also shut down by pressing Control+Alt+Insert at any time  in
  case they lock up for some reason

- introducing a full color  setup  for  all  palettes  (black & white,  color,
  laptop and monochrome) in the  external  setup - there  are  sample  palette
  files included, too

- introducing a FAQ - frequently asked questions about the  Commander  and  my
  answers

- the Commander and all related programs abort with an error message if run on
  an XT

- on any error during finding a viewer or editor for the file to be viewed  or
  edited (extension file does not exist, there is no appropriate entry in  the
  extension file or the standard viewer or  editor  in  that  entry  does  not
  exist) the Commander will try to load the standard viewer SCVIEW.EXE or  the
  standard editor SCEDIT.EXE - until the internal editor of the  Commander  is
  done, you can rename your favorite editor to SCEDIT.EXE

- you can recursively delete non-empty directories

- the symbols '!', '!.!', '!:', '!\' and '!@' used in menu and extension files
  for the active panel have the equivalents of '%', '%.%', '%:', '%\' and '%@'
  for the inactive panel

- a new C64 character set was designed for and only for the 80x25 screen mode

- the Commander doesn't display  "Invalid disk image"  for  disk  images  with
  error info at their end, it just ignores the error info instead

- if a disk error occurs during warp file copy CBM->PC direction then  instead
  of aborting the copy the Commander will allow you to retry the bad block

- there is a new option called 'Copy full track 18' that  allows  you  to  BAM
  copy disks that have unallocated but useful sectors  in  the  directory - in
  this case track #18 will be fully copied no matter what the BAM contains

- if you try to BAM copy a disk with an invalid BAM you are asked if you  want
  to copy the full disk

- the disk copy dialog box also contains the 'BAM disk  copy' and  'Copy  full
  track 18' options which default to the value  in  the  'Advanced options...'
  menu but you can override them temporarily for that particular disk or  disk
  image

- if a disk error is encountered during disk copy in either direction you  can
  skip the whole track, as well

- when finishing copying a disk from a connected Commodore drive to the PC  or
  you abort the process, the Commander will only re-read the DOS panel

- pressing Escape will no more stops  reading  the  directory  in  disk  image
  panels, only in external panels

- pressing F6 while the inactive panel is off or pressing Control+F6  pops  up
  the 'Rename or Move' dialog box in rename mode  offering  you  the  original
  file name instead of a destination path

- you can assign commands to F1 and F10 in the user menu - this will  override
  'Help' and 'Quit' on the function key bar

- there is a clipboard in the disk editor that allows you to copy data  chunks
  between sectors

- if you run the Commander through SC.EXE then you can enter a DOS command  as
  a parameter to be executed before the Commander starts

- you are not allowed to copy, rename or move deleted files  (files  with  the
  file type 'DEL') - you can only delete them

- the 'Mini status' option in the 'Options' menu changes the mini  status  for
  both panels

- the 'Clean' function deletes the garbage in the last block of files, as well

- the color attribute of characters in the shadow has been changed  from  dark
  gray on black to light gray on black

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.73 (SC073.ZIP, 09-30-96):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.72 BETA:

- if you select 'Executable files' or 'Image files' in the Filter  dialog  box
  of a panel, directories will still be displayed

- if you press 'B' in the menu of the disk editor then  the  BAM  editor  will
  come up and not the sector editor

- when you pop up the online help above the user menu, the cursor keys will be
  handled by the online help and not the user menu below it

- if you press cursor left or right in a Brief panel, the cursor will not jump
  to the first or last entry

- if you press Alt+A to select 'All' in the manual file name  conversion  box,
  the Commander will not lock up after copying the file

- the automatic file name conversion now works correctly for non-program files
  having dots in their names

- if you enter an empty search string, the viewer will not lock up

- the Commander now finds standard viewers/editors in its home directory if no
  path was specified in the extension file


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.72 BETA:

- the Commander is not called "beta" anymore - it is just a matter  of  naming
  to please worrying people because the public beta releases have always  been
  just as complete and bugfree as any other non-beta program

- from this release on the Commander is giftware: it can be  freely  used  but
  registering it is encouraged - please, read REGISTER.TXT for more details

- the delay values are now multiplied by 4, the default is 48 - this makes the
  delay value scale finer, helping you with setting the correct value

- only the executable files of the  external  utilities  are  in  the  archive
  SC_ARC.ZIP in the Commander package, the full packages of the Star Utilities
  are in a separately distributed archive named SUxyy.ZIP (where x.yy  is  the
  version number)

- the maximum number of files displayed in the panels is reduced to 512,  this
  way the Commander needs 50 KBytes less memory for execution - similarly, the
  maximum number of entries in the 'Make tape image' function  is  reduced  to
  99, the value in C64S, since you can't see 1499 entries in a panel anyway

- introducing full read and write support for the file images (files with  the
  extension '.P00'/'.S00'/'.U00') of Personal C64; press Enter or double-click
  on a file image to view its contents and  check  'Into file images'  in  the
  'Copy' and 'Rename or move' dialog boxes to copy/move the source files  into
  file images

- introducing support for 40 track disks and disk images - you can format such
  disks and create such disk images, copy them between the PC  and an external
  Commodore drive and copy files into or out of them

- introducing support for the error info attached  to  disk  images - although
  most parts of the Commander ignore it, you  are  given  the  opportunity  to
  collect read errors during disk copy in any mode into an  error  info  block
  and you can edit the error info of disk images in the disk editor

- introducing the capability of the viewer to  display  files  inside  images,
  there is even a file selector for you to view other files in the image

- introducing Star LHA, an external archiver than  can  create  Commodore  LHA
  archives out of disk images, list their contents and extract them into  disk
  images (it uses LHA for DOS for compression and decompression so remember to
  put it into your path) - it can even  display  archive  comments  (only  the
  PETSCII control codes $0D, $0E and $8E are supported)

- introducing  Star Arkive,  an  external  archiver  than  can  create  Arkive
  archives out of disk images, list their contents and extract them into  disk
  images

- introducing a new panel mode: Info panels show the total and free memory and
  some info about the other panel like total and free capacity, volume  label,
  number of files in the current directory and the capacity they use

- introducing a history file containing all the changes made since  the  first
  release of the Commander

- introducing a command line for external drives in  the  User Menu - if  your
  Commodore drive has special commands over the normal 1541 commands, you  can
  type them there

- lots of more C64 graphical characters are displayed in PC character set mode
  so that the directories of demo disks look a bit better

- the configuration menus of the main program  and  the  external  setup  were
  again rearranged

- the sample menu and extension files have been expanded to  handle  Commodore
  archives using the external archivers

- if you copy or move multiple files into a disk or tape image with the option
  'Backup image files' checked and an error occurs then the image file is  not
  overwritten with the backup so that the previously  copied  or  moved  files
  won't disappear

- if you press Escape or F10 during disk or file  copy  while  data  is  being
  transferred from or to an external Commodore drive, you are optionally asked
  for confirmation before the copy is cancelled

- there is an option to display start info in the panels (the track and sector
  number of the files in disk images and the start address of programs in tape
  and file images)

- you can set the number of automatic  retries  on  disk  errors  during  data
  transfer between the PC and the external Commodore drive

- you are warned if you copy a too big file onto a disk or into a disk image

- the Commander now warns you if the destination PC disk gets full during file
  copy - it allows you to continue with the next selected file but  it  always
  deletes the partly copied file

- you can save the BAM in the BAM editor with F2 instead of 'W'

- when the Commander is running idle, it executes INT 28h - for example,  disk
  caches can write data back faster in the background

- if the environment variable TEMP  is  defined,  the  panel  list  files  are
  created in the directory it points to

- the viewer opens a warning window to inform you when  there  is  not  enough
  memory to view the file

- the "NULL" line feed of the viewer has been changed into "User LF" - you can
  define any one byte code for a line feed mark

- all the external utilities recognize 40 track disk images  and  disk  images
  with error info

- Star Zip can create and extract "filepacked" ZipCode  archives  (files  with
  the name pattern A!*.*, B!*.*, ... plus a "directory" file X!*.*)

- Star Zip can create diskpacked ZipCode archives out of 40 track disk images,
  in which case a fifth archive is created; similarly, if this  fifth  archive
  is found while unzipping diskpacked ZipCode archives, a 40 track disk  image
  is created - note that the fifth ZipCode archive will not be  recognized  by
  ZipCoder programs running on a Commodore machine

- Star Lynx now creates archives out of disk images by  default  and  extracts
  archives into disk images; to lynx and unlynx multiple DOS  files  you  must
  put the option 'D' right after the command

- Star Zip and Star Lynx will allow you to extract, skip or rename the current
  file if a file with the same name was encountered in the destination image

- you can add and extract phantom files (they start at  the  sector  18;0  and
  usually have the length of zero blocks) into and out of Lynx archives

- you may prepend a dash to the commands of the  external  utilities,  if  you
  want

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.80 (SC080.ZIP, 05-26-97):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.73:

- now the Commander does run with only 500 KBytes of free conventional  memory
  just as the documentation states (I forgot to  change  the  check  for  free
  memory at startup)

- the Commander can create backup files under Windows'95, too

- the Format menu item in the user menu for tape images now works OK

- the automatic file name conversion  works  correctly  if  you  use  wildcard
  characters or change the file extension  in  the  Copy,  Rename or move  and
  Delete file name input dialog boxes

- the device number of both panels is remembered correctly in the setup

- the keys PgDn, PgUp, Home and End don't change  the  active  button  in  the
  online help index of the viewer and the external setup

- the "Next" and "Previous" items in the online help don't  skip  the  section
  "Memory allocation"

- the 'Write block' item at the bottom of the disk editor menu is not hidden

- when 'Full screen' is off, the speed search dialog box is still  sticked  to
  the bottom of the panel

- if you save the setup when one of  the  panels  is  an  external  panel  and
  restart the Commander then the "Change drive" dialog box will show  you  the
  correct default drive number for that panel

- the 'Color' palette color of the numbers in the  function  key  bar  at  the
  bottom is light grey on black instead of cyan on black

- the sample Commander screens in the palette setup of the external setup have
  been changed according to the new features  (I  should  have  done  that  in
  Version 0.73)

- when viewing or editing files inside images, always the internal  viewer  or
  editor is called

- the viewer scrolls  upwards  in  a  smarter  way  in  files  containing  Tab
  characters

- the viewer displays Commodore file names with graphical characters correctly
  in the upper status line

- the viewer works properly if you specify the name of the file to  be  viewed
  and the active panel is an image panel

- Star LHA now omits the path  stored  in  LHA  archives  and  only  uses  the
  file name itself when displaying or extracting the contents

- Star Lynx doesn't create corrupt archives out of more than some 130 files

- Star LHA now doesn't display the option 'V' for the command 'L' in its usage
  info because such an option doesn't exist at all


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.73:

- introducing a file editor for DOS files and Commodore files  inside  images:
  handles files up to amount of free conventional  memory,  ability  to  mark,
  copy, move and delete text and hexadecimal  blocks,  adjustable  line  feed,
  optional PETSCII and screen code display, built-in C64 character set

- introducing built-in support for Lynx, filepacked ZipCode, LHA,  Arkive  and
  TAR archives - you can enter them, copy files into and out of  them,  rename
  and delete files inside them, even File Info and the Info panel  works  with
  them (note that the Commander needs LHA 2.14 or newer in order to be able to
  extract files properly)

- introducing the XP1541 parallel  cable  that  speeds  up  transferring  data
  between the PC and the external Commodore drive even more

- introducing the warp file copy PC->CBM direction

- introducing Star Library, yet another external  utility  to  handle  Library
  archives

- the Commander, the external setup, the viewer and the editor all  check  the
  version number of the resident Commander/loader

- the description of the X1541 interfaces has been moved to the docs from  the
  online help

- you are warned if you try to access an external drive under a  multi-tasking
  system via the X1541 cable, you try to use the X1541 cable on an EPP or  ECP
  parallel port or try to use the XP1541 parallel cable  on  an  SPP  parallel
  port

- the delay value defaults to 80 on Pentiums and to 48 on earlier CPU's

- you can sort files in CBM panels, too

- you can press the right mouse button on the key bar at  the  bottom  of  the
  screen to access the Alt functions

- the maximum number of entries in tape images has been raised to 500, it  was
  unnecessary to decrease it to as low as 99

- the Commander and all the external programs give up their time  slice  under
  DESQview and in the DOS shells of OS/2, Linux and any Windows  when  waiting
  for input

- the Commander takes the "COUNTRY=" settings in your CONFIG.SYS into account,
  it displays numbers and displays and inputs dates and times accordingly; you
  can view these settings in the menu  item  "Country info"  of  the  external
  setup

- by checking a  new  option,  'Verify write',  the  Commander  verifies  data
  written onto disks in the external Commodore drive during warp disk copy

- the process of copying files from an external panel in warp  mode  has  been
  sped up a bit by reading 256 blocks of data in one go instead  of  track  by
  track

- "22,READ ERROR" and "23,READ ERROR" errors are also retried as many times as
  the option "Number of retries" specifies during warp disk and file copy

- you can format the destination disks during disk copy

- when you press Enter or double-click on a  DOS  file,  the  Commander  first
  reads through the extension file  to  find  a  command  specified  for  that
  extension - this way you can override the normal action  of  entering  image
  and archive files

- it is now possible to specify file name patterns besides extensions  in  the
  extension files

- you can specify the same commands for a sequence of  name  patterns  in  the
  extension files by listing the patterns in subsequent lines or by separating
  the patterns with semicolons

- now you can use the  "<imagetype>:<path>\<imagename>\<filename>"  file  name
  format (used in the Copy dialog box) in the View and Edit  dialog  boxes  to
  view or edit files inside images

- the PETSCII to DOS file name conversion now includes stripping  off  leading
  and trailing underscores of the file name and the extension

- it is now possible to  change  the  file  type  of  files  being  copied  by
  appending ",<file-type>" to the file name pattern

- now you can set the Filter to display only archive files

- the Commander doesn't read the error channel of the external drive if  there
  were no errors while reading the directory, which speeds up the process

- if you delete the image file displayed in one of the panels then that  panel
  turns back to DOS mode and no error message is written onto the screen

- the disk image cleaner is much faster than before

- the confirmation option 'Write block' has transformed into the option  'Disk
  editor' and now it controls all confirmations in the disk editor

- a new confirmation option, "Abort data transfer" tells whether the Commander
  should ask for confirmation when aborting data transfer between the  PC  and
  the external Commodore drive or not

- with two other new confirmation options you can control the  warnings  about
  possible transfer and file size problems

- another new  option, "Auto unselect files" allows  you  to  control  whether
  processed files are automatically unselected or not

- the option 'Wipe scratched files' allows you to  clean  up  the  sectors  of
  files being scratched in disk images

- another new option, 'Orig format pattern' controls whether empty sectors are
  filled up with zeros or the original 1541 format pattern

- you can copy frozen files out of tape images as programs and File Attributes
  can turn files in tape images into frozen files

- there is no label displayed in file images

- if you allocate or free a whole track in the BAM  editor,  the  cursor  will
  jump a column to the right, helping you with allocating or freeing the whole
  disk

- now you can also use the clipboard of the disk editor to copy  data  between
  different disks and disk images

- if the screen height allows, the lower part of the disk editor screen  shows
  the current contents of the clipboard

- pressing Escape doesn't stop reading the directory in any panel mode

- if you press Space on the selected item of a radio  button  group  then  the
  selection and the cursor will jump onto the next item

- the Commander informs you if an invalid sector link is found in  the  source
  disk image during file copy

- you can select multiple disk images and copy them one by one onto  disks  in
  an external drive

- the "Configuration..." menu of the external setup shows you the current mode
  of the LPT ports

- the viewer and the editor are now able to read and write uncompressed (Lynx,
  Arkive) archives

- since you can use the viewer and the editor with other  programs,  as  well,
  neither of them display registration info in the online help

- when in text mode, the Goto function in the viewer and the  editor  ask  for
  the number of the line you  want  to  jump  to,  jumping  to  an  offset  is
  available only in hexadecimal mode

- a new line feed mode in the viewer and the editor allow you to have a  fixed
  line length

- an empty line within the selected block is marked with a  phantom  space  by
  both the viewer and the editor so that you see the block has not ended yet

- the viewer now scrolls much faster when you press PgDn or PgUp

- the viewer is a bit more tolerant, it won' t  lock  up  when  viewing  files
  inside damaged disk images

- the viewer and  the  editor  write  no  messages  onto  the  DOS  screen  if
  everything is OK - this way you can use them under  other  programs  without
  that annoying screen jump

- the viewer and the editor now scan the first 4 kilobytes of the  input  file
  to autodetect the line feed and whether to switch Tab translation on or off

- you can switch the display of special characters (Space, Tab and  line  feed
  marks) both in the viewer and the editor

- the viewer and the editor put a "$" sign before the hexadecimal number input
  line of the Goto and User Line Feed dialog boxes

- Star Arkive, Star LHA, Star Library,  Star Lynx  and  Star Zip  display  the
  names of files being skipped during extraction

- when renaming a file during extraction,  Star Arkive,  Star LHA,  Star Lynx,
  Star Library and Star Zip offer you the original file name and you  can  use
  the cursor keys, Home and End to move around the file  name,  Backspace  and
  Delete to delete characters and Control+Backspace  to  delete  the  complete
  file name

- Star LHA lets you extract files even if  another  one  with  the  same  name
  already exists in the destination disk image

- Star LHA recognizes file names longer than 16 characters in LHA archives

- with a new command of Star LHA you can prepend the SFX header to an  already
  existing LHA archive or strip it off of an SFX archive

- Star List is now capable of listing file images, Lynx,  filepacked  ZipCode,
  LHA, LHA SFX, Arkive and TAR archives

- Star List now displays the total number and size of files at the end of  the
  file list of the current image or archive file

- some of the archive checks were changed in Star Lynx to  make  it  recognize
  more Lynx archives

- Star Tape can handle list files created by the '!@' option of the Commander

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Star Commander, Version 0.81 (SC081.ZIP, 11-30-97):


  BUGS FIXED SINCE VERSION 0.80:

- the pin assignment of the VIA#1 chip was incorrect in the documentation

- verify is working in warp BAM disk copy PC->1541 direction

- you can again copy files in turbo mode onto a Commodore disk

- turbo and warp mode is again working on 1571 drives

- the parallel turbo file copy to the PC lost the last bytes of  many  of  the
  sectors

- the parallel warp file copy from the PC often damaged the last byte  of  the
  BAM sector and the directory sector holding the file entry

- if a new directory sector was opened for the entry  of  the  file  currently
  being copied in warp mode, PC->1541 direction, then it was left unallocated

- you can again skip the whole track during warp disk copy 1541->PC

- the turbo disk copy continues properly if you press 'Retry' on a bad sector

- there are no strange problems anymore when you  try  to  delete  files  from
  write-protected PC floppy disks

- the X1541 and the XP1541 cables can be connected to the same port,  if  it's
  in PS/2 mode

- only parallel ports between the addresses $0200-$0400 are  accepted  by  the
  Commander and the external setup

- when copying a disk into a disk image in normal mode, you won't get a  false
  alarm about errors during the disk copy

- when copying a disk into a disk image with BAM disk copy, the  BAM  is  read
  from the disk prior to the actual disk copy

- the fast transfer routines have been modified to be able to seek back to the
  extra tracks after a head rattle

- you are warned if there are more entries in the current directory  than  the
  Commander can handle

- very long directories are sorted correctly

- files are created on Novell network drives properly

- when deleting phantom files, the directory blocks remain allocated

- when deleting the first file in an LHA or TAR archive,  the  archive  itself
  won't be deleted

- there are a lot less error messages when you want  to  process  files  on  a
  floppy disk but the drive is empty

- the Commander won't  lock  up  when  trying  to  read  the  directory  of  a
  disconnected network drive, it will change to the path of the opposite panel
  instead

- when a directory sector is damaged on the disk  or  becomes  damaged  during
  warp directory read, you are warned with a read error

- the Commander finishes reading the directory in turbo and warp  mode  if  it
  encounters an invalid sector link

- the floppy drive is accessed properly  for  both  letters  on  single  drive
  systems

- the Commander returns to 80 column text mode from any graphical screen  mode
  upon startup and when finishing DOS shell

- there is really no snowing on CGA video cards if you switch 'Snow check' on

- the annoying screen flickers upon entering and exiting DOS shell are gone

- 'Make disk' and 'Make tape' gives you an error if there's no room to  create
  the image

- when copying a file into a disk image is aborted,  no  splat  file  remains;
  leaving splat files in disk images and copying other files over  them  later
  can cause crosslinks to appear

- the file copy will not lock up when copying a file from  an  external  drive
  into a disk image with an invalid BAM

- the file copy is aborted automatically when the directory of the destination
  disk image is full and the last entry is not corrupted either

- files with the names "." and ".." are properly handled in image and  archive
  files but, in change, you have to specify ".\" and  "..\"  if  you  want  to
  extract files, as DOS files, into the current or the parent directory

- when deleting a subdirectory of the current directory, the cursor won't jump
  to the top of the panel

- the keyboard buffer is not flushed during the copy, rename, move  or  delete
  process

- Alt-Shift toggles the lowercase/uppercase and  uppercase/graphics  character
  set on all video cards

- if you click on a disabled menu item, the menu will cancel itself

- when in the menu, only those commands displayed  in  the  current  pull-down
  menu will work

- Control+letter codes are working with national keyboard drivers

- pressing Control+Backspace or Control+W at the beginning of  an  input  line
  won't press the first button in the file name input box

- the panels don't flicker when copying files into LHA archives

- the sample Commander screens in the external setup have again  been  updated
  to show the same display as in the Commander

- the viewer doesn't display a length of -1 and the  editor  doesn't  lock  up
  with files whose first block is completely empty

- the viewer and the editor displayed incorrect load addresses  in  image  and
  archive directories

- the editor doesn't scroll the screen far to the right sometimes when copying
  text blocks

- the text cursor of the editor follows the mouse cursor correctly

- binary replace in  the  editor  works  in  PETSCII  and  screen  code  modes
  correctly

- the item "--- Next ---" is not displayed in the "Convert" dialog box of  the
  editor

- the LHA conversion routines in the Commander and Star LHA  are  now  working
  under Novell DOS and Norton DOS and they still suppress  messages  from  LHA
  under Windows '95

- Star Tape is working again

- the Star Utilities recognize bad track or sector links while  reading  input
  files inside disk images

- Star LHA converts ASCII underscores to  PETSCII  spaces  instead  of  Shift-
  spaces

- renaming a file inside a Lynx archive to a name longer  than  16  characters
  will not cause archive corruption

- the option P in Star List is working properly again

- Star List couldn't list Lynx and Library archives and it displayed incorrect
  file sizes in tape images


  OTHER CHANGES SINCE VERSION 0.80:

- the documentation, being a plain text and no formatted  document,  has  been
  renamed back to SC.TXT, as it has been in Version 0.71 and before

- the file README.1ST had been deleted

- all text files in the Commander package have been changed to a 78  character
  per line format

- there is a lot more information about different  cables  and  parallel  port
  modes in the documentation, helping you with selecting cables easily

- the transfer routines have been restructured, all delay values below 80  are
  automatically raised by 8

- introducing support  for  Windows '95-style  long  file  names:  the  panels
  display long file names and paths under  Windows '95  and,  when  processing
  files and directories, long file names are used

- introducing a new panel mode besides Brief and Full to show as much of  long
  file names as possible

- you can select, copy and move DOS directories

- introducing the XH1541 hybrid cable that gives the best performance  on  SPP
  parallel ports

- introducing the XE1541 extended cable that substitutes the  X1541  interface
  on all kinds of parallel ports

- introducing an auxiliary utility that extracts the online help into  a  file
  or prints it out

- added detection for PS/2 (bidirectional) parallel ports

- you can launch programs in emulators right from the  Commander  by  pressing
  Enter on a file inside an image and selecting the emulator from a menu

- introducing full support for directories in LHA and TAR archives

- introducing full GEOS support for disk images: disks are validated and files
  are scratched properly and files are converted to and from  sequential files
  using the Convert file format - however, you can't view or edit VLIR files

- introducing Star ARC, an external utility that lists and extracts  Commodore
  ARC archives and Self-Dissolving (SDA) archives

- there is a new panel mode similar to 'Quick view'  in  The Norton Commander,
  assigned to Control-Q: the contents of the image or archive file  under  the
  cursor are displayed in the opposite panel

- the Commander now always deletes the file under  the  cursor  in  image  and
  archive files rather than the first file with the same name

- the menu 'Advanced options' has been renamed to 'Drive options'

- 'Wipe scratched files' has been renamed to 'Wipe deleted files'

- the configuration items 'Alternative charset' and 'All PRG's in a tape' have
  been deleted, both defaulting to checked

- you can switch GEOS support off with the option 'GEOS file support' so  that
  GEOS file types are not displayed in the panels and Convert  files  are  not
  created or processed during file copy

- 'Win'95 long names' allows  you  to  switch  support  for  Windows '95-style
  file names off so that you can work the same way as under plain DOS

- in connection with the Windows '95-support, there are new symbols to  insert
  the long form of file names into the command line and into list files

- you can associate several DOS  command  sequences  to  the  same  file  name
  pattern

- you can insert the path of both panels and the  current  file  name  of  the
  active panel into file name input lines, too

- the destination file is only opened after having read  the  first  block  of
  data from the source file during file copy

- you can copy several phantom files of the same name into disk images,  Lynx,
  filepacked ZipCode and Arkive archives

- you cannot specify the file type while copying or moving files into image or
  archive files but, in change, you can copy files whose names contain commas

- you can now append the source files to existing DOS files during file copy

- empty files copied into disk images become phantom files

- when copying files from  a  CD-ROM,  the  read-only  flag  is  stripped  off
  automatically

- the Commander will recognize when a file is being copied  or  moved  from  a
  SUBST'ed drive to its real location and will abort the file copy

- when copying or moving files into image files or native Commodore  archives,
  the manual file name conversion box limits your input to 16 characters

- DOS file names are turned into lowercase while being converted to  Commodore
  format; you can switch this off with the option 'Keep uppercase chars'

- you can make the Commander extract files inside PC64 file images during file
  copy by checking 'Extract PC64 file images'

- the PC->1541 direction part of the warp disk and  file  copy  routines  have
  been modified to run near full speed on 286 and 386 machines

- you can copy multiple  disks  into  disk  images  with  an  automatic  index
  generation in the destination file names

- the fast transfer routines now support the disabling of  the  retry  on  the
  adjacent halftracks and the head bumping

- by pressing Control+Enter in the History you can copy  the  current  command
  into the command line without executing it

- when in images and archives, Control-Enter pressed in the  file  name  input
  line inserts the name of the image or archive

- because of new functions using Control+Shift+key combinations, Control+Shift
  alone doesn't toggle the C64 character set anymore, use Control+Tab instead

- Shift+Gray plus/minus now (un)select files and directories and  Control+Gray
  plus/minus are the ones to (un)select all the files in a panel,  furthermore
  Shift+Gray star inverts all the files and directories in a panel

- you can  enter  multiple  file  name  patterns,  delimited  with  commas  or
  semicolons, into the 'Select' and 'Unselect' dialog boxes

- the asterisk wildcard now works a Unix-like way under Windows'95,  e.g.  you
  can select all files containing the letter 'a' with "*a*"

- external and disk image panels are not sorted anymore

- the panel display can be sorted in reverse order

- the panel contents are not reread when you change the sort order

- if you eject the media from a removable drive and then reread the panel then
  you'll get an error message

- you get an error message if there was not enough memory  to  execute  a  DOS
  command

- you can swap the clipboard with the block in the disk editor, too

- the 'Format disk' dialog has  an  option  'Extended disk'  to  override  the
  original setting

- the 'Make disk' and 'Make tape' functions don't offer  you  a  default  file
  name

- system and/or hidden files are not displayed with a capital first letter

- load address is displayed for all file types, not only programs

- you can no longer even select files with invalid file  types  in  image  and
  archive files

- if you change the directory in the DOS shell with the active panel being  an
  image or archive panel then it will  change  to  a  DOS  panel  showing  the
  directory you changed to

- switching 'Detect extra tracks' on makes the Commander detect  the  presence
  of extra tracks on disks

- a new option, 'Head movement speed' allows you to change the  speed  of  the
  stepper motor in the external Commodore drive

- you can pop up the menu bar by tapping Alt; you can switch this off  in  the
  setup

- there is an option to control the 'Escape toggles panels' feature

- the option of 'Number of retries' behaves a bit  differently,  now  you  can
  switch retry on the adjacent halftracks and the head bumping on and off

- if you press Ctrl-BackSlash in an Info panel, it will be redirected  to  the
  opposite panel

- when run under the Commander, the external setup only changes those settings
  in the setup file that can be set in the external setup, settings  that  can
  only be set inside the Commander are left alone

- the Commander remembers all options of the viewer and the editor,  that  are
  not set automatically, throughout sessions

- the viewer and the editor don't even display an error message  when  loading
  an empty image or archive directory

- if the viewer or the editor cannot open the file selected from the directory
  list of an image or archive file then they return to the file selector

- when symbols are on, the viewer and the editor mark the end of the file, too

- all non-alphanumerical characters in the lower half of the  ASCII  character
  set are considered as word separators in the editor

- when finding a string or byte sequence in the editor, the  cursor  jumps  to
  its beginning

- you can press F3 twice in the editor to select the whole line the cursor  is
  standing in

- the editor allows you to enter wildcards in the 'Save as...' box

- when replacing byte sequences in the editor, the length of the file  doesn't
  change

- a new option in the Star Utilities makes them assume 'Yes' to  all  queries,
  good for running them from batch files.

- by specifying another  option  you  can  have  the  Star Utilities  ask  for
  confirmation about extracting each file

- similarly to the Commander, the Star Utilities also  allow  you  to  add  or
  extract files whose names contain commas

- Star Arkive, Star LHA and Star Library now accept archives  with  extensions
  other than the default, too

- Star List can list directory structures recursively

- Star List can list Commodore ARC and SDA archives, too

- the DOS file handling routines have been deleted from Star Lynx

- Star Zip ran endlessly when extracting filepacked ZipCode  archives  and  it
  created DEL files

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
