What is AxTools EasyPatch 2001?
What's new in FixPack3 for EasyPatch 2001
What's new in FixPack2 for EasyPatch 2001
What's new in FixPack1 for EasyPatch 2001
AxTools EasyPatch is a utility program that can be used to build and apply patches to single or
multiple files. Since the patch includes only the binary differences between two versions of a file (or files),
it means that you can greatly simplify your software distribution system by providing the latest updates to your users much
quicker and with minimum costs.
Example 1
Imagine you have a contacts database file, named (let's say) Contacts.dat. It has 45,000 contacts and is
35 MB in size. Also, you keep two copies of this file, one on your office computer and one on your computer at
home, because sometimes there is extra work you need to do at home.
Consider you are at the office and you add 45 more contacts to the database. After adding them there will be two
versions of the same database - a 'new' version (the one at the office, having 45 new contacts added) and an 'old' one (at
home). But tonight you were planning to prepare and print some reports at home - what can you do to have the latest
database there? Of course, since we are talking about databases there may be some specific solutions (synchronization,
adding those 45 contacts by hand into the database you keep on the home computer, etc.), but if we were talking general then
probably you would have to burn a CD. And all these for changes that represent just 0.1% and that may happen again
tomorrow!
Example 2
Consider you are a software developer and you (or your company) produce and sell an application that is available
by-download. The setup kit is 14 MB in size, the application is wonderful and you have hundreds of clients
- and most of them love you program.
Now, let's say that you are planning to release a service pack (a small fix). If you were to release the service pack as
a setup kit, packing all the files that were changed, you would end up with a service pack setup kit of 9.5 MB in
size - let's agree that many customers will not be pleased with this relatively big download for a handful of fixes. This is
neither elegant nor cost-efficient.
Conclusion
The natural question should be: isn't it possible to build a small file containing just the binary
differences (a patch), apply it to the old version of the main file and obtain the new version? Well, it is
possible, and the process is known as patching. However, computing the binary difference and applying it in an elegant
way needs a specialized toolkit - a toolkit like AxTools EasyPatch 2001.
Please click here for the EasyPatch 2001 feature list.
- The AxTools EasyPatch 2001 product installer corrupts existing AxTools CodeSMART 2003 for VB6 and AxTools
CodeSMART 2003 for VS.NET installations. Fixed.
- The splitter bar was automatically positioned close to the top of the main window and could not be moved.
Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Update Wizard couldn't be run on systems with an older version of the MFC42.DLL file
(especially on Windows 95 systems). Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Update Wizard tests the patch program for integrity, before starting the update operation.
-
Registering/unregistering ActiveX servers failed in certain conditions when applying a patch. Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Builder failed to read patch set files (.pts) with lines exceeding 255 characters. Fixed.
- An error was generated when trying to add files with numeric extensions to an existing patch set, using the
EasyPatch Builder. Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Builder's 'Save As' menu item was always disabled. Fixed.
-
Spanish is the sixth language available for the EasyPatch Update Wizard.
- Windows XP themes support was added to the EasyPatch Builder.
-
Add file-type patch items can be configured to overwrite without prompting in case the file already
exists.
- It is possible now to set a patch set global option in order to skip prompting for confirmation when a
read-only file is deleted (and no backups are created).
- The initial checked/unchecked state of the create operations log and create backup copies checkboxes
that appear on the Update Wizard dialog can be specified now.
-
Four more languages (besides English) are now available for the EasyPatch Update Wizard: Dutch,
French, German, and Italian.
- The backup files are now named after the FileName.easypatch.bak template.
- An Open the Output Folder menu entry was added to the Build menu.
-
Checksum validation failed errors happened in certain conditions when applying the patch. Fixed.
-
Failed opening the '\' file errors happened in certain conditions when applying the patch. Fixed.
- The rollback could not be performed for add file patch items. Fixed.
- A failure when adding or registering a file did not cause a complete rollback to be performed in case a
partial update was not allowed. Fixed.
- The labels on the wizard dialog header had wrong colors when certain color schemes were used. Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Builder did not correctly display long file name/paths. Fixed.
- In the EasyPatch Builder, setting the output path to a drive root or network folder caused errors. Fixed.
- Errors were encountered at the EasyPatch Builder shutdown in case the files in its home folder were
read-only. Fixed.
- The on-top splash window could not be dismissed in case it interfered with other windows (for example dialogs
belonging to Windows Installer). Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Builder did not display a detailed error when the AxPC.exe file was not found in its home
folder. Fixed.
- The generated patch could not be opened when it was launched from an e-mail message attachment. Fixed.
-
Registering/unregistering COM servers or typelibs caused memory leaks and leaded to GPFs. Fixed.
- The EasyPatch Builder window sized its controls incorrectly when non-standard system metrics were used. Fixed.
- Both the EasyPatch Builder and the Update Wizard incorrectly displayed application and version names containing the
& symbol. Fixed.