What's New on the APE

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Version 3.1.6

Updated MPlayer binaries to latest SVN versions.
Updated ffmpeg binaries to latest versions.

Version 3.1.5

Added MPlayer binaries for playing movies. This includes the mencoder binaries.
Added ffmpeg binaries for converting and playing video.
Added GIMP image manipulation package.
Added VLC media player version 0.9.8a.

Version 3.1.4

Added Subversion source control utilities.
Updated Ruby to 1.8.6.
Python 2.5.2 replaces the old version.
Updated to Java JDK 1.6.0 update 7.

Version 3.1.3

Updated to Java JDK 1.6.0 update 2.
Added UPX executable packer.
Added XnView version 1.91.1 and NConvert.
Replaced Ethereal with its successor, Wireshark Network Protocol analyzer, version 0.99.6.
Updated ImageMagick utilities to version 6.3.5-2-Q16, and added PerlMagick integration.

Version 3.1.2

Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 11. This includes 2007 Daylight Saving Time fixes.
Updated to Java JDK 1.4.2 update 13. This includes 2007 Daylight Saving Time fixes.
Updated to Java JDK 1.3.1 update 20. This includes 2007 Daylight Saving Time fixes.
Updated a bunch of Perl packages.
Updated PuTTY and its documentation to version 0.59.
Added highly experimental port of gcc 4.3, including gcj, from Mohan Embar's site. This can be enabled by running /scripts/gccexp.bat. Distribution is in the /thiscool-gcc folder.
Updated Ethereal Network Protocol analyzer version to version 0.99.0.

Version 3.1.1

Updated gnupg (the GNU Privacy Guard) to 1.4.6.

Version 3.1.0

Java JDK 1.6.0 is now installed and is the default when running Java executables, and is the default for commands like javaapi and javadocs.
Java Cryptography Extensions unlimited strength policies installed for JDK 1.6.0.
Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 10.
Updated to Java JRE 1.5.0 update 10.
Replaced SysInternals individual files with new suite. This should provide updates of many tools.
Fixed say program (/scripts/speak.pl) to handle changes in word source.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.20. (Still not MULE-capable, though.)

Version 3.0.0

ActiveState Perl updated to 5.8.8. Many Perl packages were also installed (but some from the old distribution may be lost.)
Added all of my Frink sample programs to /frink/samples. A further description of these is available from my website on the Frink Sample Programs page.
Updated MinGW compilers and tools to current versions. This includes the compiler collection to version 3.4.2.
Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 7.
Updated to Java JRE 1.5.0 update 7.
Updated JavaMail API to version 1.4.
JDEE (Java Development Environment for Emacs) upgraded to 2.3.5.1.
Updated XEmacs and associated Sumo Tarball to 21.4.19. (Still not MULE-capable, though.)
Added Autoruns from SysInternals.
Upgraded a lot of Perl libraries.
GraphViz updated to version 2.8.

Version 2.9.6

Updated to Java JDK 1.4.2_10.
Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 6.
Updated RetroGuard Java code obfuscator, to version 2.0.5, in javalibs\retroguard.
Added Xming XWindows server for Windows. Use xlaunch to run.
The ActiveState distribution of Python 2.4.2 replaces the old version.
Added pythondocs script to start Python documentation.
Updated PuTTY and its documentation to version 0.58.

Version 2.9.5

Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 4.

Version 2.9.4

Updated Mozilla Firefox installer to 1.0.3 release, which fixes a few security bugs.
Updated to Java JDK 1.5.0 update 3.
Fixed hard-coded paths to J2EE executables so that J2EE binaries will run off the CD.
Set CVS_RSH variable to allow remote CVS connections to work over SSH tunnels using Putty.
Added J2ME Wireless toolkit version 2.2. in /j2me directory.

Version 2.9.3.2

XMLbeans - An XML-to-Java mapping framework, version 1.0.3 in /javalibs/xmlbeans.

Version 2.9.3.1

Added Xbeans - An XML processing framework for Java, version 2.0.0 in /javalibs/xbeans.

Version 2.9.3

Improvements to docsrv.pl when files not found.
Added J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) components to /J2EE 1.4/ directory. These include the API documentation bundle and the Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8.1 2005Q1.
Added j2eeapi script to launch J2EE API documentation.
Added log4j Java logging framework, version 1.2.9 to /javalibs/log4j .
Added Apache Struts 1.2.4 in /javalibs/struts.
Added JUnit Java unit testing framework version 3.8.1.

Version 2.9.2

Updated Java SDK to version 1.4.2_07.
Added Apache Ant build tool version 1.6.2. [Local Docs]
Added UMLGraph 2.10 in /javalibs directory. [Local docs]
Updated gnupg (the GNU Privacy Guard) to 1.4.0a. Executable is \bin\gpg.exe .
Added iconv / libiconv 1.9.1 utility for converting character encodings. [download location].
Added nXML-mode for GNU Emacs. This is another XML mode that handles XML schemas.
Updated lots of XEmacs packages.
Updated GNU Emacs to 21.3.
Added Ethereal Network Protocol analyzer version 0.10.9 and winpcap dlls.
Added XnView image/movie viewer and editor.
Added Castor Java data binding framework in /javalibs/castor [Local Docs]
Added Oracle JDeveloper - An Integrated Development Environment for Java projects, version 10.1.2. Type jdev to start.

Version 2.9.1

Updated Mozilla Firefox to version 1.0.
Updated Java SDK to version 1.4.2_06 to fix an important security bug.

Version 2.9.0

Java updated to the newly-released JDK 1.5.0 (which the marketing weasels at Sun call version 5.0 for no good reason.) This is now the default that is placed into your path.
Updated Mozilla Firefox to version 0.9.1.

Version 2.8.9

Added FreeTTS Java-based text-to-speech library.
Added Oracle Instant Client libraries in /oracle directory and added them to the path.
Updated Mozilla Firefox to version 0.9.1.
Updated enscript to version 1.6.3.
Added drivers for Oracle 10g to /oracle directory.
Added Java drivers for MySQL to /mysql directory.
Added Stinger minimal anti-virus scanner to /stinger directory. You can run this by typing stinger.
Updated Java SDK to version 1.4.2_05.
Added Java 1.5.0 beta 3 build 58, but it's not the default until it's out of beta.

Version 2.8.8

Moved most of the Java documentation into docsrv. This compresses the documentation to save space and file count.
Updated PuTTY and its documentation to version 0.54.
Gnuplot updated to version 4.0.

Version 2.8.7

Updated Java SDK to 1.4.2_03.
Added Java SDK 1.5.0 beta 1, although it's not the default until it's out of beta.
Updated Frink starter scripts. Frink can now also be started in AWT GUI mode by double-clicking the /Frink/frink.jar file.
Added GraphViz - A tool for laying out graphs.
Added Mozilla Firefox if your CD is lucky enough to have room for it. This is the browser formerly known as "Firebird." Type firefox to run it. (This batch file has been updated and renamed from the old "firebird" batch file.)

Version 2.8.6

Added Mozilla Firebird if your CD is lucky enough to have room for it. Type firebird to run it.
Fixed /scripts/speak.pl to use new sound source. This is a program I wrote that implements a basic voice synthesizer. Just type "say" to run it.
Added a Frink mode for Emacs. If you have a directory called c:/prog/frink/tools/emacs, the default .emacs file will try to load your working version from there first, and failing that, load the latest version shipped with the APE.

Version 2.8.5

Added snow.exe steganography tool to hide messages in plain text files. [Local Docs]
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.13.
Updated lots of XEmacs packages.
JDEE (Java Development Environment for Emacs) upgraded to 2.3.2.
Ruby updated to version 1.8.0 with lots of extra stuff. This takes a lot more space, so I'm going to have to find something I can eliminate to fit on a CD.
Updated Java SDK to version 1.4.2_01.
Added new version (2.2) of Java Generics compiler to javalibs/newgenjava. This is necessary to get sinjdoc to run.
Added sinjdoc jar to javalibs/sinjdoc directory. This is a version of javadoc that works with generics.

Version 2.8.4

Updated Java SDK to version 1.4.2.
Updated Java Runtime Environment to version 1.4.2.
Updated Java documentation to version 1.4.2.
Updated lots of links and programs to use Java 1.4.2.
Updated Java Cryptography Extensions to full.

Version 2.8.3

Finally got off my butt and created a program to create shortcuts to an APE command prompt. To create a shortcut, simply double-click the apesetup.vbs program in the root directory of the CD. This requires that Windows Script Host is installed and set up to run files with the .vbs extension. This also runs apesetup.bat which was moved to the \scripts directory.
Updated a bunch of XEmacs packages, and added a couple like OCaml mode and pgg which is a nifty interface to encryption/decryption using GNU Privacy Guard.
Added a WML 1.1 DTD to the XEmacs installation. You may need to explicitly change to XML mode to make this work.

Version 2.8.2

Ghostscript interpreter upgraded to version 8.00.
Ghostview PostScript viewer upgraded to version 4.4.
Updated gnupg (the GNU Privacy Guard) to 1.2.2.

Version 2.8.1

Java SDK 1.4.1_02 replaces the earlier 1.4.1_01 release.

Version 2.8.0

Updated lots of XEmacs packages.
Updated lots of Perl packages.
Updated new version of HTML Tidy, an HTML Validator. [Local Docs]

Version 2.7.9

Updated BeanShell - an interpreted Java scripting environment - to version 1.2b7 to fix the problems of not running correctly with Java 1.4.1.
Added PuTTY telnet/Secure Shell (SSH) clients, consisting of several programs. [Local Docs]
- PuTTY (the Telnet and SSH client itself)
- PSCP (an SCP client, i.e. command-line secure file copy)
- PSFTP (an SFTP client, i.e. general file transfer sessions much like FTP)
- PuTTYtel (a Telnet-only client)
- Plink (a command-line interface to the PuTTY back ends)
- Pageant (an SSH authentication agent for PuTTY, PSCP and Plink)
- PuTTYgen (an RSA key generation utility).

Version 2.7.8

Updated new version of HTML Tidy, an HTML Validator. [Local Docs]
Changed /home/.emacs file so that C-mode (and thus C++ and Java mode) doesn't automatically insert newlines after semicolons.
Added JFlex mode for emacs.

Version 2.7.7

JDE (Java Development Environment for Emacs) upgraded to 2.2.9 final. Also updated required components Semantic Bovinator, Speedbar, and eieio.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.10.

Version 2.7.6

Updated several packages from SysInternals.

Version 2.7.5

Updated gnupg (the GNU Privacy Guard) to 1.2.1. Executable is \bin\gpg.exe .

Version 2.7.4

Updated a bunch of XEmacs packages. Downloaded new PSGML DTDs and created local catalog in /emacs/etc/psgml-dtds/ directory. This allows better editing of XML documents.

Version 2.7.3

Updated Tomcat server to version 4.1.12. Painfully configured it to be able to run from read-only media.

Version 2.7.2

Added NcFTP, a nice text-mode client for FTP.

Version 2.7.1

Java 1.4.1 replaces 1.4.0.

Version 2.7.0

Default C/C++ compiler is now the MinGW compiler. This allows easier building of stand-alone Windows executables that are not ports of UNIX programs. This is a port of GCC 3.2, so it's considerably newer than the Cygwin port.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.9.1.

Version 2.6.8

Updated Java JDK to release version 1.4.0_01. This is now the default.
Added PuTTY secure shell (ssh) client.

Version 2.6.7

Added gnupg 1.0.6-2 (the GNU Privacy Guard). Executable is \bin\gpg.exe .
Added a new md5sum program for verifying signatures.
Upgraded jad java decompiler to 1.5.8e.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.8.
Updated lots of XEmacs packages.
Updated lynx browser to 2.8.4pre5. Compiled executable was obtained here.
Revised some URLs to point to new locations.
Added Xalan XSLT Stylesheet processor for Java in \javalibs\xalan.
Added Xerces XML parser (version 2.0.2) for Java in \javalibs\xerces.
Changed .emacs file to work better with XML and XSL.

Version 2.6.6

JDE (Java Development Environment for Emacs) upgraded to 2.2.9 beta 9. Also updated required components Semantic Bovinator and eieio.
Improved APE documentation server to send out more MIME types.
Added compressed XEmacs user's guide.
Updated BeanShell - an interpreted Java scripting environment - to version 1.2b5.
Made XEmacs package updating work again! Woo hoo!
Updated a bunch of XEmacs packages.
Updated Palm Emulator to 3.5.

Version 2.6.5

Updated documentation for Generic Java compiler.

Version 2.6.4

Installed release 1.2 of Sun's Generic Java compiler.
Added documentation links for generic compiler.
Improved APE Documentation Server to eliminate race condition on startup.

Version 2.6.3

Added "What is the APE?" section to documentation.
Enhanced APE Documentation Server to work around bug in Winsock that wouldn't let us detect if another process was already listening on the same port. This prevents multiple copies of the documentation server from being started.
Enhanced APE Documentation Server to allow extraction from RAR files. This would allow documentation to be compressed even more highly (reducing the size of the JDK 1.4.0 documentation from 30 MB (zipped) to only 12 MB (RAR with solid archive),) at the expense of a (perhaps intolerable) speed tradeoff. If space ever becomes the most critical factor, documentation will be distributed in solid archive RAR format.
Added rar.exe executable to allow command-line RAR decompression without installation of the whole WinRAR program.
Patched the generic Java compiler to give the right line numbers for compilation errors. Finally! Thanks to Neal Gafter for providing the patch. Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease.

Version 2.6.2

Important: To save over 110 MB of space on the APE, beginning with APE version 2.6.2, the JDK 1.4.0 documentation is saved in compressed format. To use the documentation, you must launch the APE Documentation Server by typing docsrv at an APE command prompt. Alternately, docsrv will automatically be started if you type either javaapi to go straight to the API javadocs, or javadocs to bring up the JDK 1.4.0 documentation homepage. docsrv is a little Perl script that I hacked together that acts as a web server, listening on port 9000 of your machine for requests for documentation. When a request is found, the file is decompressed and returned. This is a major step forward and will allow much more to fit on the APE. All documentation may be compressed in the future.
The APE documentation server saved so much space that you can now easily ship Java source along with the distribution.
Added new version of java2html.
Now that we can ship Java source, added a very cool "Source" button to the APE Java QuickSearch (which you can get to by typing javaapi). This decompresses the requested source file from src.zip, syntax-highlights it using java2html, and pops it up in a new browser window. The APE Documentation Server ROCKS.

Version 2.6.1

The APE has changed homes! The APE is now being burned on a new computer running Windows 2000. The images used to build the APE were moved in whole using the APE ZIP archives. This initially appears to reduce some of the instability I'd been having (well, to get as stable as Windows gets,) possibly at the expense of testing on multiple platforms (I do all my testing on Windows 2000 now.)
Updated Java JDK installer and documentation to release version 1.4.0. JDK 1.4.0 is now the default.
As the documentation for JDK 1.4 is getting so ridiculously large and annoying, I'm experimenting with writing a Perl script to reduce the size by eliminating stupid and redundant HTML. I've managed to reduce the size of the API javadocs by 30 megabytes, without any change in functionality. I'm trying to come up with ways to leave this compressed on the CD, and decompress on demand, which will involve writing a little HTTP server.
Added unlimited-strength cryptography policy files for JDK 1.4.0.
The APE speaks! A little hack I put together to say words or phrases with proper pronunciation and impeccable diction. Just type say [phrase] or say [filename] or just say for interactive mode.
Changed Tomcat server to log to c:\tomcat\logs instead of trying to write to CD.
Added password for manager account for Tomcat in tomcat-users.xml so that you can run the manager application from the CD. Don't deploy this way.
Added cygsort, cygfind, and times batch files to give you easier access to a real sort, find, or time command, and not the brain-dead versions that Windows provides (that you can't even delete in Windows 2000.)

Version 2.6.0

Updated GNU Emacs to 21.1.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.6.
ActiveState Perl updated to 5.6.1, build 631.
I think I actually got ImageMagick and PerlMagick utilities to work for the very first time in the APE's history. I downloaded precompiled binaries of version 5.4.2.1 and used the associated PPM file to install the Perl utilities. Me so happy.
Updated Filemon to version 4.34.
Cleaned up HTML in Java API search.

Version 2.5.9

Worked to improve accessibility of HTML documents using the Bobby document checker.
PrintFile upgraded to version 2.1.5.
Updated PrintFile links.
Cleaned up stylesheets.
Added bshi.bat shell script to start BeanShell in text mode without a graphical console.
Java JDK install updated to 1.3.1_02. This version is horribly bigger than 1.3.1 for no apparent reason.
Webscan executable to detect security problems in your Web servers. This is rather old and Microsoft-centric so don't think that your server is secure just because it passes these tests.

Version 2.5.8

OROMatcher, a regular expression library in Java, has been updated to version 2.0.4. (In javalibs/OROMatcher)

Version 2.5.7

JFlex upgraded to 1.3.5. For me, this primarily fixes buggy and incorrect documentation that caused me some confusion.
Moved a better which program earlier in the path. The Cygwin one is annoying.
Added RetroGuard Java code obfuscator, version 1.1, in javalibs\retroguard, if you have something to hide.

Version 2.5.6

Added anagram.exe to generate anagrams. Best used with the Moby dictionaries on the APEX CD. (I wish I could fit the Moby dictionaries onto this CD, I really do...)
Added "APE Airy" stylesheet for a different look, if you're using a browser that allows you to choose between multiple stylesheets.
Made "APE Airy" the default stylesheet. You'll probably want to use an alternate stylesheet if printing (the "Compact" stylesheet works well for this.) You can always select the "APE Classic" stylesheet if you want a bit of nostalgia (or a display with less wasted space.)
Removed dead, unsupported, buggy JSWDK servlet development kit from Sun and replaced it with the Jakarta-Tomcat engine, version 3.2.3, the latest production version. (See next note.)
After installing Tomcat 3.2.3, replaced it with 4.0.1 (Catalina), which is in production status but may not be as stable or mature as 3.2.3.
Tweaked default Tomcat web.xml file minimally to allow it to run from a read-only device (by setting the scratch dir for the JSP compiler).
Added /scripts/tomcat.bat script to start or stop Tomcat engine.
Java Servlet Specification updated to version 2.3.
Java Server Pages Specification updated to version 1.2.
A version of Microsoft's QBASIC was downloaded from Microsoft's web site in case you have those old BASIC programs from Sky & Telescope that you want to run.
Added Ruby 1.7.2 to give you more programming languages.
Added and somewhat configured ruby-mode for Emacs/XEmacs.
Changed Emacs/XEmacs HTML mode to reindent on enter. This may be problematic if the HTML is invalid or ugly.
Fixed a couple of ugly colors in XEmacs.
Changed Emacs/XEmacs startup .emacs file to defer loading of JDE (Java Development Environment) until required. This improves Emacs start-up speed significantly for non-Java files.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4.5.

Version 2.5.5

Added Python mode settings to .emacs file.
JDE (Java Development Environment) for Emacs/XEmacs upgraded to 2.2.8. This does not require upgrade of the other associated tools for a change.
Added \scripts\jtags.bat to build [X]Emacs TAGS file for use with Java. This necessitated patching the \emacs\site-lisp\jde\lisp\jtags file (shipped with JDE) to use /usr/bin/find instead of the indestructible, irregular, and useless find command that ships with Windows.
Upgraded CVS To 1.11.1p1.
Updated Palm Emulator to 3.3.
Added the latest version of Frink, a programming language I'm developing. For the latest documentation, visit the "About Frink" link on my homepage.

Version 2.5.4

Installed an early-release version of Sun's Generic Java (JSR014) compiler and libraries. This is an attempt to bring a modicum of type-safety and code reuse to the Java language. I pray for the day that this facility makes it into the Java language (maybe 1.5?)
Added \scripts\genjavac.bat script to start Generic Java compiler.
Added Java CUP parser generator in \javalibs\javaCUP . This is a yacc-like parser for LALR(1) grammars in Java. [Local Docs]
JFlex, a Java lexer generator in \javalibs\JFlex . This is compatible with javaCUP. [Local Docs] | [Local FAQ]
BigDecimal - IBM's replacement for Java's stinkaroo BigDecimal class in \javalibs\decimal . [Local Docs]

Version 2.5.3

Updated ImageMagick utilities to version 5.3.6. [Local Docs]
Changed ImageMagick environment variables to match new scheme. This may have damaged the PerlMagick stuff.
Made the compact stylesheet even more compact.

Version 2.5.2.1

Added additional environment variables in ape.bat to allow ImageMagick to work properly.
Moved ImageMagick before cygwin in path set by ape.bat to give precedence to ImageMagick's convert program.
Removed some obsolete, commented-out options from ape.bat.

Version 2.5.2

Java JDK install and documentation upgraded to 1.3.1. Updated documentation, links, and API search.
Fixed up some more so-called symbolic links in the cygwin distribution.
Updated GNU wget - a tool for fetching files or whole web sites via HTTP or FTP - to version 1.7.1-pre1.
Updated lynx browser to 2.8.4dev17.
Added documentation about the lynx browser which had been hiding in obscurity since day 1. Thanks to Brian "Mad Dog" Bauer.
Added cURL - another program for command-line downloads from the Web, including FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, GOPHER, TELNET, DICT, FILE and LDAP. Includes SSL support (via libssl32.dll and libeay32.dll in \bin.)
Added Yabasic, a lightweight BASIC interpreter with graphics support, added to the \bin directory. [Local docs]

Version 2.5.1

JAXP - The Java API for XML Parsing in \javalibs\jaxp upgraded to version 1.1. [Local Docs]
JEL - the Java Expression Language library updated to version 0.9.7. [Local docs]
OROMatcher, another regular expression library in Java, upgraded to 2.0.3. (In \javalibs\OROMatcher.)
JDE (Java Development Environment) for Emacs/XEmacs install upgraded to 2.2.7.1. Also updated required components Speedbar, Semantic Bovinator, eieio, and elib.
Updated BeanShell - an interpreted Java scripting environment - to version 1.1a12.
Updated Palm Emulator to 3.2.
Updated Cygwin installer. Downloaded new versions of many cygnus-supplied programs. Painfully got the C++ compiler working again and fixed a bunch of the wacky symbolic links that won't work on a CD-ROM. Somebody shoot me if I ever update Cygnus stuff for no good reason again.

Version 2.5

ActiveState Perl 5.6 and a ton of packages were installed. This is a complete and total reinstall of all Perl executables and third-party packages, with many new packages added and hopefully few lost. The local documentation has been completely regenerated, eliminating some of the problems of older versions of the APE.
Updated XEmacs to 21.4. This is somewhat experimental.
The ActiveState distribution of Python 2.1.0 replaces the old version.
Updated Palm Emulator to 3.1.

Version 2.4.7

Java JDK upgraded to 1.3.0_02.
Winamp upgraded to 2.72.
Added mdbpassw.exe, a tiny little program that lets you get or set the password in an Access 95/97 database. If you hit the "info" button it even tells you how passwords are encoded.

Version 2.4.6

New versions of utilities from Sysinternals.com:
- dbgview - displays debug information
- diskmon - monitors disk usage (NT/2000 only)
- filemon - monitors file accesses
- handleex - shows the handles (files, directories, registry keys, DLLs) that a process has open. Now supports Windows 9x/Me.
- nthandle - shows processes using specific files (NT only)
- pmon - process monitor (NT only)
- portmon - COM/LPT port monitor
- pstools - A suite of programs to list and modify processes (NT/2000 only):
  - PsGetSid - display the SID of a computer or a user
  - PsKill - kill processes by name or process ID
  - PsList - list detailed information about processes
  - PsLoggedOn - see who's logged on locally and via resource sharing (full source is included)
  - PsLogList - dump event log records
  - PsService - view and control services
  - PsShutdown - shuts down and optionally reboots a computer
  - PsUptime - shows you how long a system has been running since its last reboot
- regmon - displays registry accesses.
- sdelete - Secure delete--really deletes and overwrites a file.
- tcpview - Graphical TCP connection monitor.
- tdimon - TCP and UDP monitor.
- tokenmon - NT/2000 security token activity viewer.
Added \SysInternals directory to PATH, although many programs have to be run with this as the working directory. Use si.bat to launch Windows Explorer in this directory.
Updated PilRC, a Palm resource compiler, to version 2.7a.
Updated links in Palm section to point to the various homepages of the different projects.
Updated Palm Emulator to 3.0a8.
Updated OROMatcher, a regular expression library in Java, has been updated to version 2.02. (In \javalibs\OROMatcher) [Local Docs]
Waba SDK, a Java environment for creating Palm Applications, has been supplanted by SuperWaba.
Updated JavaCC, a Java parser Generator, to version 2.0.

Version 2.4.5

Upgraded XEmacs to 21.1.13. I think shell mode works again! Yeesh.
Upgraded GNU Emacs to 20.7.1.
Made BeanShell work better in both versions of Emacs.
Added csscheck.bat to validate Cascading Style Sheets, or use the web-based version.
Upgraded wget - A program to grab files via HTTP or FTP, to version 1.6.
Updated nqc compiler for Lego Mindstorms to version 2.2r2.

Version 2.4.4

Added some more useful links.
Downloaded and compiled new version of HTML Tidy, an HTML Validator. [Local Docs]
Compiled and added tab2space executable.
Added TidyGUI, a GUI-based HTML validator.
Improved some wording on documentation pages. Or so the Germans would have you believe.
Upgraded a bunch of Perl packages (after Perl's package manager ppm managed to delete them for me.)

Version 2.4.3.1

Brought back the old version cvs in \bin because the cygnus version doesn't work well. I'm liking this new cygwin crap less and less.
Improved APE Java API search ergonomics.

Version 2.4.3

Added Perceps - a system for generating documentation from comments in C/C++ code.
JDE (Java Development Environment) for Emacs/XEmacs install upgraded to 2.2.5. Also installed required components Speedbar (0.12), Semantic Bovinator (1.2.1), and elib (1.0).

Version 2.4.2

Added mingw libraries to allow C/C++ programs to be linked without using the cygwin .dll files. Even tested it somewhat.
Documented use of mingw libraries.
Added ldd.bat to simulate the ldd command with cygcheck.

Version 2.4.1

Copied some symbolically-linked files to fix linking problems in cygwin's wacky linking scheme.

Version 2.4

The cygwin 1.1.6 package has been added and replaces Cygwin 20.1b. This has allowed replacement of many ragtag executables, and has updated tons of utilities in one fell swoop. Now let's hope it still functions with Windows.
Revised ape.bat to accommodate the new executables, structures, and cygwin mounting requirements.
Added KVM and CLDC packages for programming the Palm in Java.

Version 2.3.7

Added PalmVNC utilities.

Version 2.3.6

JET Java-to-native compiler upgraded to version 0.70 beta.
CVS updated to 1.10.5

Version 2.3.5

P5-Palm perl utilities for processing Palm .pdb files added.
Fixed up documentation on starting servlets.
Fixed links on index.html page.
Added JAXP java libraries for XML parsing.
Sets JAVA_HOME environment variable in ape.bat script.

Version 2.3.4

JET Java-to-native compiler version 0.68 beta added. Hope it works.

Version 2.3.3.1

Added /scripts/enscriptps.bat to print using enscript directly to a PostScript-capable printer.
Fixed up documentation on Java Servlets.

Version 2.3.3

Added ImageMagick utilities for converting and manipulating images.
Fixed Java Servlet Engine startup files and added additional documentation.
Fixed paths to Palm utilities and documentation.

Version 2.3.1

Added links to Palm development tools.
Added Waba environment for Java on Palm.

Version 2.3

Added a ton of utilities for Palm development.

Version 2.2.1

Winamp updated to version 2.64

Version 2.2

Java 1.3 upgrade from pre-release to final release.
Java 1.3 documentation package installed.
JDK 1.2.2 source removed from CD. The 80 megabytes were better spent elsewhere. The JDK 1.3 distribution includes source files.
JDK 1.2.2 docs removed from CD. The 95 megabytes were better spent elsewhere. The JDK 1.3 distribution includes doc files.
Special APE javadoc search refitted to work with version 1.3.
First burn on my new computer and CD-ROM burner. Hope everything made the transition okay.

Version 2.1.7

Comprehensive install for Python 1.5.2 added. The languages just continue to flow.
Python for Win32 libs added.
New TCL 8.0 installation replaces installation in cygnus directory.
Changes to ape.bat for Python and TCL.
Several new batch files (idle, pythonwin) to start Python.
TRS-80 Emulator moved to APEX because it didn't run from CD.
Upgraded JDE to version 2.1.6beta23.
Added state and postal batch files to look up states or postal codes. Uses \etc\states.txt and \etc\postal.txt

Version 2.1.6

NTEmacs upgraded to version 20.6.1.
I set my own e-mail address in the .emacs file. Sorry.
Several Perl packages upgraded.
GhostScript 6.01 replaces 5.50.
GSView 2.9 installed.
Fixed lots of batch files to use new GhostScript.
Blat e-mail program upgraded to 1.8.5b.
JavaCC upgraded to version 1.1.
Country codes (in \etc\country-codes.txt) now contains 2-and 3-letter ISO codes.
Fixed a few batch files to work under NT.

Version 2.1.5.1

Upgraded JDE to version 2.1.6beta20.
Added tags.bat script to produce tags for JDE.
Fixed printing with prfile in .emacs.
Winamp upgraded to version 2.6.
Upgraded XEmacs to 21.1.9. (Or so the Germans would have us believe.)

Version 2.1.5

Installed/updated several XEmacs packages.
Added minitar.exe to XEmacs path so package manager could install.

Version 2.1.4

Upgraded jad java decompiler to 1.5.7d
Added "randword" batch file to generate random words.
Added \scripts\lensort.pl to sort lines by length.
Upgraded Java Development Environment (JDE) for emacs to 2.1.6beta16.
Configured XEmacs to use JDE 2.1.6beta16. (Which fixed continued comments in XEmacs.)
Fixed arguments to prfile command from within Emacs so wacky buffer names wouldn't cause errors.

Version 2.1.3

Added lots of Perl packages of questionable utility.
Fixed CPerl indentation for XEmacs.
Perl untabified on save in Emacs to preserve spacing.
Fixed up documentation for moved packages.
Revised Perl directories and packlists.
Upgraded several Perl packages.
Up.Sim removed (installs moved to APEX) because programs could not run without write access to directory.

Version 2.1.2.1

Emacs and XEmacs now print through prfile.
Start calendar in Emacs by hitting F5.
HTML untabified on save in Emacs to preserve spacing.
AudioGrabber moved to the APEX CD.

Version 2.1.2

UP.Sim HDML/WML development environments added.
unix2dos and dos2unix file converters.
splitz - Image splitter.
PrintFile - a file printer/spooler.
java2html converter.
si.bat batch script added (it got lost somehow.)
EMACSPACKAGEPATH environment variable corrected which eliminates "already loaded" error on startup of XEmacs.
Fixed XEmacs problem where new files get created with UNIX style linefeeds.
Due to its increasing usefulness, XEmacs now default when running em.bat.
Copied libstdc++ to appropriate location so linking would work right (and damn Windows for not having symbolic or hardlinks of any kind.)
Added ability for diary entries in Emacs by setting DIARY environment variable to point to the file (otherwise defaults to c:\diary.

Version 2.1.1

XEmacs 21.1.8 installed. The most comprehensive installation you've ever seen. Still has some configuration bugs to work out.
\home\.emacs file revised to work with both XEmacs and GNU Emacs.
sp - a general SGML parser added. [Local docs]
Useful Links page added (which is not so useful yet.)
browse.bat starts Windows explorer in the APE root.
Roadmap link added to index page.
jad java decompiler upgraded to 1.5.7a.
Fixed path to cygnus utilities which broke sometime.
Removed unneeded gcc setups from ape.bat.
AlanSphere7 WhiteCap visualization improved in WinAmp. Dig it.
country - look up a country code. Uses /etc/country-codes.txt.
service.bat to look up known UNIX services. Uses /etc/services.
down - shuts down a computer.
scacl - View and modify the security settings of NT services [Local docs]

Version 2.1

Command-line pkzip.
newsid - SID changer.
rhostname - forward/reverse DNS lookup added.
A couple more AlanSphere WhiteCap visualizations added to WinAmp.
JDK 1.3 beta installed (default is still JDK1.2.2)
jad - a Java decompiler.
Java Language Specification added.
Java VM specification added.
Various helpful utilities from Sysinternals.com:
- dbgview - displays debug information
- diskmon - monitors disk usage (NT only)
- filemon - monitors file accesses
- handleex - shows the handles (files, directories, registry keys, DLLs) that a process has open (NT only)
- nthandle - shows processes using specific files (NT only)
- openlist - shows open files on your system.
- regmon - displays registry accesses.
- pmon - process monitor (NT only)
- portmon - COM/LPT port monitor
- pslist - Process list (NT only)
- tcpview - Graphical TCP connection monitor.
Java API search frame now has method search.
ape.bat now executes additional arguments as a command.
Winamp shortcut added.
TRS-80 emulator shortcut added. (trs80.bat)
Oracle 8.05 JDBC drivers added in \javalib\jdbc\oracle8.05

Version 2.0

Separation of APE into 2 CDs has begun due to space constraints. Programs which can no longer be run directly off of the CD will be moved to the companion APEX CD.
JDK 1.2.2 source in \jdk1.2.2\source directory
TRS-80 emulator in \emulators directory.
JavaMail package installed.
Environment variable CDPATH changed to APE.
Winamp now runnable from CD (try out the AlanSphere WhiteCap visualization mode.)
Enhancements to perl-mode in .emacs file.
Perl upgraded to ActivePerl 522.
Upgraded several Perl packages.
Blat e-mail program added.
Updated Java Development Environment to 2.1.6beta13.
emsh.bat added to start emacs in shell-mode.

Version 1.8.4

GCC C/C++ compiler upgraded to 2.95.2
Install for ActivePerl build 522 in ActiveState directory. The version of Perl running on CD is still 520.
CRT Telnet version 3.0 install.
Further fixes for batch files for cross-platform compatibility.
Netswitcher 2.98h added which is compatible with Netscape 4.7.
Audiograbber 1.60 build 3 (free version) runnable from \audiograbber directory. Can be run by \scripts\rip.bat

Version 1.8.3

Batch files which start documentation now work under Windows NT.
iishack removed because virus sniffers whine about 'em.

Version 1.8.2

xearth installed.
Emacs java-mode settings moved to C/C++/Java common mode.
Auto-fill enabled in C/C++/Java and HTML modes.
Lots of little changes to the .emacs file. It is fast becoming a large, unwieldy blob that nobody but me could possibly love. I'm trying to keep it from getting too silly, though.
Added link to JSP and servlet documentation.
Updated Java Development Environment to 2.1.6beta10. Directory structure is now much cleaner.
Beanshell 1.0 installed.
JDE upgraded to use BeanShell 1.0
Beanshell URLs in documentation updated to www.beanshell.org

Version 1.8.1

vnc and vncview now start in background.
Changed apedocs and javaapi to use file urls.
Fixed continued comments in emacs' C/C++/Java mode.
DirectX 7.0 install replaces 6.1
Improved roadmap of commands.
Added vnckill command to stop VNC server.
Boatloads of new Perl packages installed including Image-Magick.
Perl upgraded to ActiveState Perl 5.20
Install for ActiveState Perl 5.20
weather.bat shortcut to display weather for a city/zipcode.
whatsnew.bat displays this page.
Netscape Communicator 4.7 install.
javaapi.bat now brings up the Java API documentation with a nice little search window.
A crappy sendmail program added to path.

Version 1.8

This "What's New" file is new, for one.
VNC, for remotely controlling a machine.
ctelnet - A command-line telnet client.
Emacs w3 web-browser mode now opens up APE documentation by default.
Added links to documentation for JDE and bsh.
Netcat nc multipurpose socket client/server program added.
JEL, the Java Expression Language library added to /javalibs.
AntiC.exe and jlint.exe C++/Java checkers added to \bin.
A start at a roadmap of commands.
The hts and htc http tunneling programs.

Back to APE documentation

Comments or questions to Alan Eliasen: eliasen@mindspring.com