Connection Keeper Revision History Version 9.1 (4/12/2010) - Added the F5 hotkey for issuing a query. - Added the F6 hotkey for killing popup windows. - Fixed: the installer was not requiring administrator elevation on Vista/2008/7 (since 9.0). Version 9.0 (3/24/2010) - Added the ability to query DNS records. - Added the "/min" switch, which will cause the main window to be minimized. - Added the ability to "comment out" a line in the Sites list by placing a semi-colon at the beginning of the line. - Most icons have been replaced or improved. - The "Log Errors To File" feature now maintains the log in CSV format. It will also include the error code and error message. - If an error occurs when querying a URL, the query interval will start over after the error window is closed. - A query error will now format the current date/time using the computer's locale settings. - Improved the installer's appearance. - Fixed: while minimized to the tray, choosing "Keep Connection Alive" from the context menu was causing the tray icon to revert to a taskbar button. Version 8.1 (8/31/2009) - The controls on the Settings tab are now organized into groups. - Only one instance of Connection Keeper is now allowed to run. - Numerous skin improvements. - The installer is now digitally signed. - Fixed: the Minimize To Tray feature would fail if no other windows are open. - Fixed: the "Auto-minimize on startup" option was sometimes not working during system bootup. Version 8.0 (4/2/2009) - Added to the Popup Killer the ability to send a series of keystrokes to a window, or a WM_QUIT or WM_CLOSE message. - Added the "Ignore" column to the Popup Killer. - Added the "Kill Popups" button to the bottom of the Popup Killer Table. - The executable is now digitally signed. - Numerous interface improvements. - Numerous improvements to the installer. - Restored support for Windows 95. - The "Max Query Time" setting was renamed "Query Timeout". - Fixed: URL's containing https:// were not working correctly. Version 7.4 (8/21/2008) - Balloon help has been totally revamped. - The help file has been reviewed and improved. - Fixed: rare installer crash (since 7.3). Version 7.3 (5/20/2008) - Numerous user interface improvements. Please press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F5 to reset System­G, then reload your preferred skin. - Improved icons and icon rendering. - Added the "Metal" skin. - The installer will now warn if it does not have admin rights. It will also attempt to loosen the security settings on the installation directory (to prevent problems with Vista). - All API calls into WININET.DLL are now made within an exception trap so that they cannot crash Connection Keeper. - Fixed: the "Log errors to file" field's Browse tool will now allow the user to specify a non-existent file. - Fixed: possible crash on Vista when enumerating DUN connections. - Fixed: selecting and copying text in the help file did not always work properly. Version 7.2 (7/31/2007) - The version number as reported on the About window was incorrect. Version 7.1 (7/11/2007) - Numerous user interface/skin improvements. The "Default" skin has been redesigned to match the appearance of Windows XP. - Fixed a possible crash on launch. - The ability to specify a port number in the Sites List is now documented. Version 7.0 (11/6/2006) - Added SNMP statistics to the "Status" folder. - All interface fonts are now antialiased by default. The setting to control this is located at: System-G Menu > Configuration Editor > Controls > Font > Antialias. - Improved and added skins (please reload your current skin). - Numerous user interface improvements. - Eliminated the need for GHELP.EXE. The main application executable will now handle displaying the help file. This reduces the size of the installer by about 500 KB. Version 6.3 (4/19/2005) - Added to the help file a description of the "Options" menu. - Button icons now have a transparent background. - Made some changes to the tray context menu. - Numerous user interface improvements. - Lower CPU utilization. Version 6.2 (5/24/2004) - Added various menu and button icons. - Added to the "List Windows" tool the ability to alphabetize the list of windows by caption or class. - Updated to System-G version 2.3. - There is no longer a default Sites List. Version 6.1 (10/15/2003) - In the event that a query fails, the operating system error code and error message are now reported. This also applies to the "Email Errors To" feature. - The "Auto-Reconnect" feature will now be ignored if the user manually disconnects, or if the "Limit keep alive duration" setting causes a disconnect. - When the user instructs Connection Keeper to connect, the "Limit keep-alive duration" setting will now start over. - When the user alters the "Limit keep-alive duration" setting, the keep-alive period will now start over. - Numerous minor improvements. - Updated to System-G version 2.1. Version 6.0 (1/7/2003) - Added the "Email Errors To" feature. - Added the "Run at startup" feature to the "Options" menu. - Added the ability to enter a range of numbers in the "Query Interval" field so that you can specify your own random interval. - Added support to System-G for interface "skins". We strongly recommend that you try some of the new skins on the "Skins" submenu of the "System-G" menu. - Added a new Help file system. This system has the following advantages over the old Windows Help System: - The entire help file can be printed at once, instead of by topic only. - When printed, the page number that a hyperlink is pointing to will be printed. - Unprecedented control over how the document is printed, including base font size and margins. - Hyperlinks to web pages and email addresses are now supported. - The keyword search supports full search expressions, such as: "mail server" and (smtp or pop3) and -dns - Added the "FAQ's" and "View Revision History" options to the Help menu. - The window caption icon and taskbar icon will now change appearance when a query is being issued. - Numerous improvements to the System-G interface. - Fixed a problem with the tray context menu not disappearing when the user clicks on another window. Version 5.0 (3/7/2002) - Added the "Connect", "Disconnect", and "Query Now" options to Connection Keeper's context menu. This menu is displayed when the user right clicks on the Window Caption, Taskbar button, and System Tray icon. - Added the "Disconnect After Time Limit" setting to the Query folder. - Added the "/d" command line switch which will download a web page and report any errors. - Added the "/f" command line switch which check for the existence of a file and report any errors. - Added the "Save settings" option to the file menu. - Added to the "Check For Update" feature the ability to automatically download and install the new version. - Previously, to add a System-G setting, source code had to be written in about 25 different locations. New settings can now be added by writing just 2 lines of code. The bad news is that old .SGC and .GCS files are no longer compatible with the new scheme. The good news is that the new .SGS files that replace .SGC and .GCS files are plain text, not a proprietary binary format. This means that .SGS files can be easily edited using Notepad. To prove that these changes are worthwhile, the following settings have been added: - Enhanced 3D borders - Borderless checkboxes - Borderless radio buttons - Show balloon help on captions - Minimize on double click - Sizable window border thickness - Static window border thickness - Black window edge Version 4.2 (6/1/2001) - Added the ability to close a popup window from the command line. - Added the "Log Errors" option to the Settings folder. - The tray icon will now show a solid bar while a query is being issued. - Numerous System-G improvements. - Connection Keeper is now careful not to issue a query or try auto-reconnecting while the system is shutting down. - Fixed a problem with the tray context menu not disappearing. - Fixed a problem with the "Ordered URL" Query Mode not cycling through the web sites properly. Version 4.1 (7/7/2000) - Added the "List Windows" button to the bottom of the popup killer table. This feature now recursively enumerates all child windows in addition to top-level windows. - Numerous improvements to the System-G interface. - The dial-up connections are now properly enumerated under Windows NT/2000 for the "Use non-default connection" setting. - Connection Keeper now randomizes its own window class to prevent detection. As a result, you can now run more than one instance of Connection Keeper. Also, the taskbar icon will not contain any text (to avoid detection). - Fixed a potential fault when Connection Keeper is terminated. Version 4.0 (1/7/2000) - Major upgrade to the System-G Interface. - Added the "Use non-default connection" option to the "Query" folder. This allows you to make Connection Keeper use a different DUN connection. - Added the "Keep connection alive" option to the "Query" folder. It permits you to temporarily disable the keep-alive feature. Right clicking on the taskbar tray icon can also control this setting. - Added the "Initial query delay" option to the "Query" folder. This allows you to control how long Connection Keeper waits before issuing its first query. - Added the "Connect" and "Disconnect" options to the context menu that appears when you right click on Connection Keeper's tray icon. - Added the "Window Class" column to the popup killer table. This allows you an alternative to identifying a window by its caption. - Added the "List all windows" option to the "File" menu. This lists the caption and class of all windows that are currently open. You may then select a window and have it automatically added to the popup killer. - Added the "Limit keep-alive duration" option to the "Query" folder. This allows you to stop Connection Keeper from issuing queries after a specified time limit. - When the "Disconnect" option is selected from the "File" menu, the "Auto-reconnect" box will now automatically be unchecked so that Connection Keeper doesn't immediately try to dial back in. - You are now permitted to include the "http://" prefix in the Sites List, even though it is not necessary. Version 3.3 (8/26/1999) - Fixed a bug that would prevent the system from shutting down if Connection Keeper was open. - Fixed a possible protection fault when Connection Keeper is shut down. - Added the "Auto-disconnect on exit" option in the "Options" menu. - You can now enter fractional values for the Query Interval. Version 3.2 (6/4/1999) - The auto-reconnect function was not reconnecting after the first time (OOPS!). - After discovering that the DOS "start" command is not consistent between Windows NT and 9x, another method is being used to send feedback and go to the Gammadyne Homepage. Version 3.1 (6/1/1999) - Added the default lists for the popup-killer. We need your feedback to expand these lists for commonly encountered popup windows. - Fixed problem with saving settings when the operating system is shut down. - Various improvements made to System-G. - System-G now has a help file. - Added the "Disconnect" option. - The Auto-reconnect function now has a safeguard that prevents it from creating a dial-up connection window more than once. - There is now a 15 second delay after Connection Keeper is started before the Auto-reconnect feature will attempt to dial in. This gives the system time to finish booting up if Connection Keeper is automatically started during bootup. Version 3.0 (4/8/1999) - The "Auto-minimize on startup" option was added. - The "Ordered URL" Query Mode was added. - The "Popup" folder and all its functionality was added. - There is now a 10 second delay before Connection Keeper issues its first query, giving you time to change settings. Version 2.0 (3/16/1999) - Added the "Max Query Time" option. - Fixed bug that could cause the "Check for update" option to crash or hang. - Added the "Animate tray icon" option. Unchecking this option will save a small amount of CPU time. - New features have been added to the System-G menu. These features do not affect Connection Keeper directly. - Added the "Trust Connection Status" option. - Connection Keeper is no longer statically linked to WININET.DLL, it is now dynamically linked. If WININET.DLL does not exist, instead of the worthless operating system error message, Connection Keeper will report to the user that they need to install either the latest operating system service pack or the core components for Internet Explorer 4.0. - If Report Errors is checked and an error does occur, Connection Keeper will try to force itself to the foreground. - The "Load Default Sites" option was added. - Editboxes now have an "undo" option. Version 1.2 (2/18/1999) - Improved help file. - Added the "Report errors" option. - Tool tips and combo boxes will now respect the taskbar's space. - Added the "Window" menu. - Added the "Status" folder. - Added the "Auto-Reconnect" feature. Version 1.1 (2/15/1999) - Added the Query Mode, Read Entire Page, and Sites List. - Added the Query Now button. - Connection Keeper will now work on machines that are connected via a proxy server, even though there is no reason to do so. Connection Keeper should only be run on the machine that has the modem. - Added the help file. Version 1.0 - Original release 2/10/1999.