Pathloss 3.0 - Revision history

Chrisg: /* Changes in the July 17, 1996 Release = */

2009-08-12T20:33:57Z

‎Changes in the July 17, 1996 Release =

Chrisg: /* = Changes in the July 05, 1995 Release */

2009-06-27T17:06:51Z

‎= Changes in the July 05, 1995 Release

Chrisg at 17:05, 27 June 2009

2009-06-27T17:05:48Z

Show changes

Chrisg at 16:51, 27 June 2009

2009-06-27T16:51:41Z

Chrisg: /* Setup program operation */

2009-06-27T16:49:17Z

‎Setup program operation

Chrisg at 16:47, 27 June 2009

2009-06-27T16:47:34Z

Chrisg at 16:44, 27 June 2009

2009-06-27T16:44:15Z

Chrisg: /* Activating the installation program */

2009-06-23T16:15:09Z

‎Activating the installation program

Chrisg: /* Step 1 - Download maintenance files */

2009-06-23T16:14:03Z

‎Step 1 - Download maintenance files

Chrisg at 16:12, 23 June 2009

2009-06-23T16:12:52Z

@@ Line 342: / Line 342: @@
 If a UTM bearing reference was selected in the southern hemisphere, the bearings were inverted north to south.
-=== Changes in the July 17, 1996 Release ====
+=== Changes in the July 17, 1996 Release ===
 ==== Area Coverage ====
 When processing CVG files, the program checks for duplicate radial bearings and that all parameters which affect the results are the same in all cvg files. This includes elevation, antenna heights, frequency, polarization, diffraction algorithm, K and the measurement units (metric/english) If a difference is detected, a "Parameter Conflict" error message is issued and process terminates. On some computers, this error caused a program crash.
 === Changes in the July 15, 1996 Release ===

@@ Line 610: / Line 610: @@
 Batch profile printing has been corrected to allow files located in different directories to be specified. The unique file name restriction remains.
-==== Changes in the July 05, 1995 Release ===
+=== Changes in the July 05, 1995 Release ===
 ==== Microwave Worksheet ====
@@ Line 618: / Line 618: @@
 Saving a lookup file could cause a general protection fault. The lookup table was correctly saved. This error did not occur in the microwave worksheet.
 === Changes in the June 5, 1995 Release ===

@@ Line 118: / Line 118: @@
 When the setup program starts it first checks the operating system. Different installation programs are used for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT. Note that all of these require the file INSTxxxx.EXE.
-=== Initializing Setup ===
+==== Initializing Setup ====
 Setup then creates a temporary directory on the first local hard drive with sufficient free space to hold the installation files. Setup will not create a temporary directory on a network drive. The temporary directory is named PLW30TMP0. If this directory already exists, the directory name will increment to PLW31TMP1, PLW32TMP2.. until a unique name is found. If the directory name reaches PLW39TMP9, Setup will fail on the following attempt.
@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
 The required files are copied to the temporary directory.
-=== Activating the installation program ===
+==== Activating the installation program ====
 When the files have been copied, Setup activates the installation program. The installation program first verifies that the correct Setup disk is being used.
@@ Line 140: / Line 140: @@
 On Windows NT, the Reset Hard Disk Lock menu selection is not available. A different security scheme is used and this feature is redundant. Disk optimization /defragmentation programs do not affect the operation.
-=== Cleaning Up ===
+==== Cleaning Up ====
 When the installation program terminates, the Setup program reactivates and will attempt to erase the installation files and temporary directory. This will fail on both Windows NT and Windows 95 if Windows has written any files into the temporary directory during the installation process. These are hidden files with the suffix "GID".

@@ Line 114: / Line 114: @@
 To solve this problem, a new OWL31.DLL is included in the self extracting file PLW_MU.EXE. The date on this file is January 1997. Note that the maintenance update feature in the Setup program will not copy this file to the Pathloss directory. You must do this yourself. You can also download this file at [[http://www.pathloss.com/owl31.zip]]
-==== Setup program operation ====
+=== Setup program operation ===
 When the setup program starts it first checks the operating system. Different installation programs are used for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT. Note that all of these require the file INSTxxxx.EXE.

@@ Line 164: / Line 164: @@
 == Version 3 revision history ==
-=== Changes in the January 03, 2000 Release ==
+=== Changes in the January 03, 2000 Release ===
 All computer generated dates have been removed from the program. In the print profile module, the date can be
@@ Line 263: / Line 263: @@
 The curved earth - curved axis profile display format will be revised to better fill the page.
-==== Changes in the December 11, 1996 Release ====
+=== Changes in the December 11, 1996 Release ===
-=== Terrain Data ===
+==== Terrain Data ====
-== USGS 7.5 Minute Data Base (30 meter grid) ==
+===== USGS 7.5 Minute Data Base (30 meter grid) =====
 Some files ordered directly from the USGS do not conform to the standard file naming convention. When converting from ASCII to binary, the program will determine the correct file name and prompt the user to change the name if it does not agree with the ASCII file name.
-== 7.5 Minute Terrain Data for Hawaii ==
+===== 7.5 Minute Terrain Data for Hawaii =====
 The boundaries of some maps for Hawaii do not fall on 7.5 minute boundaries. The main island of Hawaii is OK. The islands of Maui, Molokai, Lani and Kahoolawe have boundaries which are offset by 5 minutes north and west.
@@ Line 279: / Line 279: @@
 The boundaries for island groups of Oahu and Kauai do not conform to the standard; however, this will be corrected in a future release of the program.
-== EDX Version 8 File Conversion ==
+===== EDX Version 8 File Conversion =====
 Support has been added for EDX version 8.0 file formats
-=== Planned Additions and Changes ===
+==== Planned Additions and Changes ====
 Diffraction loss does not handle a range of trees
@@ Line 288: / Line 288: @@
 The curved earth - curved axis profile display format will be revised to better fill the page.
-==== Changes in the November 18, 1996 Release ====
+=== Changes in the November 18, 1996 Release ===
-=== Refection ===
+==== Refection ====
 The dispersion analysis screen could cause a program crash if the path was not line of sight.
-=== Planned Additions and Changes ===
+==== Planned Additions and Changes ====
 Diffraction loss does not handle a range of trees. The curved earth - curved axis profile display format will be revised to better fill the page.
-==== Changes in the October 30, 1996 Release ====
+=== Changes in the October 30, 1996 Release ===
-=== Print Profile ===
+==== Print Profile ====
 The "flat earth K on beams" profile display shows the Fresnel zones as a series of 's, measured from ground or from the top of a structure as applicable. A memory leak was detected in this module which may account for reported problems with this module under heavy usage.
@@ Line 305: / Line 305: @@
 Diffraction loss does not handle a range of trees The curved earth curved axis profile display format will be revised to better fill the page.
-==== Changes in the October 23, 1996 Release ====
+=== Changes in the October 23, 1996 Release ===
-=== General ===
+==== General ====
 This release includes the preliminary release of the French Language screen displays.

@@ Line 148: / Line 148: @@
 If you do not see the message "Cleaning Up" when the installation program terminates, the communication between Setup and the installation program has failed and you must manually erase the installation files and the temporary directory.
-==== Upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows NT ====
+=== Upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows NT ===
 If the Pathloss program has been installed on Windows 95 and the system is upgraded to Windows NT, no changes are required.
-==== Installing Pathloss on a dual boot system ====
+=== Installing Pathloss on a dual boot system ===
 If your computer is equipped with two operating systems (for example Windows 95 and Windows NT). The Pathloss program must be installed using Windows 95 to operate on both operating systems.
@@ Line 158: / Line 158: @@
 If you first install the program on Windows NT, then it will be necessary to reset the hard disk lock under Windows 95.
-==== Single user license on a network drive ====
+=== Single user license on a network drive ===
 In general a single user licensed Pathloss program will not operate on a network. This depends on the specific network, however the automatic network, backup procedures, will result in a hard disk lock failure.
-===== Version 3 revision history =====
+== Version 3 revision history ==
-==== Changes in the January 03, 2000 Release ====
+=== Changes in the January 03, 2000 Release ==
 All computer generated dates have been removed from the program. In the print profile module, the date can be
 manually entered in the title block dialog box.
-==== Changes in the June 8, 1998 Release ====
+=== Changes in the June 8, 1998 Release ===
 Changes have been made to allow installation without using safe mode on Windows 95
-==== Changes in the March 9, 1998 Release ====
+=== Changes in the March 9, 1998 Release ===
 Changes have been made to allow hard disk operation on Windows NT - NTFS formated drives
-==== Changes in the December 30, 1997 Release ====
+=== Changes in the December 30, 1997 Release ===
-==== Changes in the November 26, 1997 Release ====
+=== Changes in the November 26, 1997 Release ===
 Converting Grid ASCII files to the binary format could cause a program crash if elevations were encountered with more than 11 characters. This occured for elevations near zero which are expressed as 0.0002344553 for example.
-==== Changes in the November 5, 1997 Release ====
+=== Changes in the November 5, 1997 Release ===
-=== Microwave Worksheet - ITU rain calculations ===
+==== Microwave Worksheet - ITU rain calculations ====
 The effective path distance was calculated with the actual 0.01% rain rate. This version uses a maximum rain rate of 100 mm/hr for the effective path length
-==== Changes in the September 29, 1997 Release ====
+=== Changes in the September 29, 1997 Release ===
-=== Terrain Data ===
+==== Terrain Data ====
 Support for the DGM (German) terrain data base has been added.

@@ Line 130: / Line 130: @@
 On Windows NT, there are several conditions which may cause the verification to fail.
-  * You must have administrator privileges for the floppy disk drive containing the Setup disk. This is equivalent to saying that you are authorized to format a disk in this drive.
+* You must have administrator privileges for the floppy disk drive containing the Setup disk. This is equivalent to saying that you are authorized to format a disk in this drive.
-  * No other applications can be running when the Setup program is started. In particular, if there is a command prompt active the drive is set to the same as the Setup disk, the verification will fail.
+* No other applications can be running when the Setup program is started. In particular, if there is a command prompt active the drive is set to the same as the Setup disk, the verification will fail.
-  * The first attempt at verifying the Setup disk may fail without actually verifying the Setup disk due to timing issues. The "Key Disk Required" dialog box will appear immediately after the installation program starts. Just verify that the drive number is correct and click the OK button.
+* The first attempt at verifying the Setup disk may fail without actually verifying the Setup disk due to timing issues. The "Key Disk Required" dialog box will appear immediately after the installation program starts. Just verify that the drive number is correct and click the OK button.
 The Setup disk has a 720K format with three defective sectors on one side of track 79. The interrogation process reads these sectors. Windows NT is a high security operating system and tries very hard to recover the data on these sectors. The process can take some time and therefore operating the Pathloss program in the key disk mode is not recommended.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
-Download the following files from the CTE web site (www.pathloss.com) to a temporary directory on your computer:
+Download the following files to a temporary directory on your computer:
-[[http://www.pathloss.com/plw_inst.exe]] and [[http://www.pathloss.com/plw_mu.exe]]
+[[http://www.pathloss.com/plw_inst.exe plw_inst.exe]] and [[http://www.pathloss.com/plw_mu.exe plw_mu.exe]]
-These are both WinZip self extracting executable files. The file PLW_MU.EXE containsreplacement files for Program Disk 1. The file PLW_INST.EXE contains replacement files forthe Setup disks.
+These are both WinZip self extracting executable files. The file PLW_MU.EXE contains replacement files for Program Disk 1. The file PLW_INST.EXE contains replacement files for the Setup disks.
 Close all programs including Windows Explorer.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Version 3 support ======
+== Version 3 support ==
-===== Upgrading Pathloss version 3.0 =====
+=== Upgrading Pathloss version 3.0 ===
 ==== Pathloss version 3.0 update to the June 1998 build ====
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 This build corrects installation problems on certain computers running later versions of Windows95 and Windows 98. If your computer is unable to read the Setup Disk and continues to prompt to insert the Setup Disk in Drive A, the program must be updated to the June 1998 build. The update procedure modifies the files on Program Disk 1 and on the Setup Disks and reinstalls the program.
-=== Step 1 - Download maintenance files ===
+==== Step 1 - Download maintenance files ====
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 Close all programs including Windows Explorer.
-=== Step 2 - Upgrade program disk 1 ===
+==== Step 2 - Upgrade program disk 1 ====
 In this step, the existing files on Program Disk 1 will be overwritten with new files. Alternately you can use a blank formatted high density (1.44 Mb) floppy disk to create a new Program Disk1.
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 Click Unzip to update or create a new Program Disk 1.
-=== Step 3 - Upgrade the Pathloss setup disk ===
+==== Step 3 - Upgrade the Pathloss setup disk ====
 Place the Setup Disk in drive A and execute the program PLW_INST.EXE. Click OK on the "Pathloss 3.0 Setup Update - June 8, 1998" message box.
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 Complete the installation in response to the prompts.
-===== Key disk issues =====
+=== Key disk issues ===
 The usual causes of problems with Version 3.0 on Windows NT, 2000, ME are not having administrator privileges, conflicts with anti-virus software and trying to run Setup.exe from File Explorer. Please confirm that you have permission to install software on the computer, disable any anti-virus software and always run Setup.exe from the START - RUN window. Pathloss version 3.0 has never been tested on Windows XP and is not supported. Version 3.0 is a 16 bit program designed for Windows 3.1. Pathloss version 4.0 will operate on all newer Windows operating systems.
@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 Please declare the value of the disk as $0 and warranty return to avoid any customs delays.
-===== Hard disk lock problems =====
+=== Hard disk lock problems ===
 ==== Hard disk lock re-initialization required ====
@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 When the Pathloss program is started the following Message appears "Hard Disk Lock Re-Initialization Required", followed by a prompt to place the Setup Disk in Drive X.
-=== Cause ===
+===== Cause =====
 This problem usually appears after a defragmentation program has been run on the hard disk where the Pathloss program has been installed.
-=== Solution ===
+===== Solution =====
 Run the Setup program and select "INSTALL" followed by "RESET HARD DISK LOCK", the program will ask you to verify the Pathloss directory. When finished the Pathloss program will run normally. If the program returns with the message "HARD DISK LOCK NOT VALID" you must regenerate the Hard Disk Lock and reinstall the Pathloss program. If you have problems running the Setup program click here.
@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 ==== The Hard disk lock has been lost ====
-=== Cause ===
+===== Cause =====
 This can be caused by a number of things including a drive failure or moving the program to another drive.
-=== Solution ===
+===== Solution =====
 In the event that a hard disk lock is inadvertently lost, a password can be supplied to reactivate this feature. There are several levels of passwords. When you run the Setup program, The required level is shown at the bottom of the screen (Hard Disk Lock Installed (Level 3). Send the Setup disk serial number and the lock level to CTE with a description of the failure and a password will be supplied to reactivate the hard disk lock.
@@ Line 100: / Line 100: @@
 When the installation program starts you will be prompted to enter the password. Note that the password is case sensitive. All alpha characters must be capitals. Once the password has been entered, you must completely reinstall the program to regenerate hard disk lock. Note that the passwords are valid for one installation only. If your Setup program does not display a Level number or does not prompt you to enter a password when started as above, then you must update your program.
-===== Windows NT problems =====
+==== Windows NT problems ====
 ==== Hard disk lock now supports NTFS drives ====