Meal-Master Version 8 Release History

Version 8.06 - Maintenance Release.

Meal-Master has been changed from "shareware" to "freeware." All features previously available in registered version 8.05 are included, except for printed documentation and support services. Individuals and non-profit organizations are hereby granted a limited license to use the software at no charge. All others, including companies, corporations, government agencies, and other for-profit organizations must contact Episoft Systems for a licensing quote and terms agreement. All rights are retained and reserved by Episoft Systems, and no other entity may sell or otherwise charge for distribution, copies, or rentals of the software.

Version 8.05 - Maintenance Release.

Fix: When importing more than 32,767 recipes from a single import file, the import statistics screen sometimes displayed incorrect numbers. This has been corrected.
New: The CONVERT program has been revised to tolerate a leading space in the unit of measure field when converting MasterCook format recipes.

Version 8.04 - Maintenance Release.

Fix: After certain combinations of operations, a low memory condition could be created which sometimes caused a lockup or even loss of servings information from recipes being imported. This has been corrected.

New: Updated registration forms to accommodate credit card orders! You can now order by Credit Card!.

New: Added support to CONVERT program for MasterCook format recipes with "Key Home Gourmet" title.

Fix: Under very low memory conditions, Import could freeze if the database had recipes flagged for deletion. This has been corrected.

Fix: Version 8.03 added the ability to view the category and unit tables from within the import editor, but the menu text showed the incorrect command letter. The menu text has been fixed.

Fix: Category names with trailing numbers or special characters would sometimes have those numbers or special characters truncated during import. This has been corrected.

Version 8.03 - Maintenance Release.

Fix: The Title and Category index would sometimes incorrectly report the database as empty. This has been corrected.

Fix: When the database became full (65,534 recipes), the program could not be started, and instead reported a "database full" message and returned to DOS. This has been corrected in MM itself and the registered utility programs.

Fix: Previous versions allowed leading blanks in recipe titles. Leading blanks will now be automatically eliminated when adding, revising, or importing recipes.

Fix: Import sometimes exited to DOS with an error while processing large (about 3,000 recipes) import files. This has been corrected.

Fix: When searching for ingredients or directions, a recipe with exactly 100 ingredients or exactly 100 directions could cause a lockup or exit to DOS. This has been corrected.

Fix: When starting MM in a new directory, or changing the Filepath to a new directory, the Catfile.mme file was created even if the database creation was canceled. Now the program will not create any files if the database creation is canceled.

Fix: When rebuilding a database where a large number of recipes have been "flagged for deletion", the summary at the end of rebuild displayed incorrect numbers due to arithmetic overflow. This has been corrected.

Fix: The file view option (U-Utilities, V-View File) incorrectly displayed files which contained sequences of multiple linefeed characters. This has been corrected.

Fix: Entering (6) category names into the Category Search criteria could cause a run-time error and exit to DOS. This has been corrected.

New: The first character of the "yield unit" field is now automatically capitalized.

New: A "/NOCLOCK" command line switch has been added. When used, this will prevent the main menu clock from being constantly updated, which can cause problems with the speech synthesis programs typically used by customers with impaired vision.

New: A "/?" command line switch has been added. When used, this will display a list of all available command line switches.

New: Searching for a category of "none" (without the quote marks) will now find recipes which have no categories.

New: Searching for an ingredient of "none" (without the quote marks) will now find recipes which have no ingredient lines.

New: Searching for a direction of "none" (without the quote marks) will now find recipes which have no direction lines.

New: Importing of ingredient lines has been enhanced. Previous versions required that the quantity, unit of measure, and name fields of an ingredient be in specific columns. MM will now attempt to automatically align the columns. In addition, the program works harder to determine exactly where the ingredients section ends and the directions section begins, thus eliminating most of the "ingredient after direction" errors caused by direction lines containing numbers and spacing similar to an ingredient line.

New: Support has been added to the Convert utility for conversion of recipes in Chef's Accountant format.

New: During Import, the Import screen now includes a "percent complete" indicator to show how much of the import file has been processed.

New: The CHGCAT utility can now add and delete categories from the "Valid Category Table" by using the "Alt-T" (Table) command. Previously, this table could only be maintained from within the main Meal-Master program.

New: The CHGCAT utility now includes "empty" categories from the valid category table. Previously, categories on the table but not found on any recipe were not displayed in CHGCAT.

New: Recipes which do not contain at least one body line (i.e., either an ingredient or directions line) are now identified as an error during import. In other words, a recipe must have at least one valid ingredient line OR at least one valid direction line.

New: The Rebuild function can now continue under most corrupted file conditions. If parts of a recipe cannot be retrieved because of damaged files, the program still attempts to recover any undamaged portions. An error message providing the number of errors and an explanation of how to locate the problem recipes is displayed at the end of the Rebuild process.

New: The Search and List functions can now continue under most corrupted file conditions. When errors are encountered, an attention beep is issued, and the words "Disk Error" are displayed in place of ingredient or directions information which cannot be retrieved.

New: The "Find Flagged" and "Undefined Category" searches can now be interrupted, then continued or exited, by pressing any key during the search. Previously these functions continued to the end of the database and could not be stopped.

New: The Install program now automatically lists the "readme!" file at the end of the installation process. Also, for users of 360k disk drives, the Install program can now automatically handle multiple source diskettes.

New: In the CHGCAT program, pressing the Delete key in an empty "replace with" field will automatically emit the "Delete" tag so that it does not have to be typed.

New: Convert is now able to handle more mis-formatted MC-II recipes, enabling it to continue processing where previous versions simply stopped and advised of an error in the MC-II file. Also, long ingredient names are now converted into continuation lines rather than being truncated.

New: A new option on the Maintenance menu (L-LPTn) allows selecting LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 as the printer port. (Using serial ports is still possible using the DOS Mode command to redirect LPT output).

New: The default export format is now "MMMMM" rather than "Normal" when Meal-Master is first installed. Most import/export seems to be done in conjunction with electronic transmission over on-line services and bulletin board systems, and the MMMMM format is more compatible with such systems. (This will not affect existing settings, only new users installing the program for the first time.) Note that since the MMMMM format shortens direction lines during export, setting the "Reformat Directions" option to "YES" is recommended when Importing so that the lines will be returned to their original lengths.

New: A batch import feature has been added, which allows operators of BBS and Internet list servers to import recipes in an automated process. Batch import mode is selected by starting MM with the /BI command line switch. Batch import always imports from a file named Batch.imp, o the recipes to be imported must be in this file prior to starting a batch import. Type "MM /?" to see a full list of batch import options and their default values. (Note that batch import cannot be fully utilized in an unregistered copy of MM, because keyboard intervention is required to clear the initial title screen. In a registered copy, the /BI switch will allow the program to start, import recipes, and then exit, all without any keyboard input.)

New: When using Manual Import, pressing Alt-U or Alt-C while editing the import file will display the table of valid units or table of valid category names, respectively.

Version 8.02 - Maintenance Release.

Adds leading title on "BB" export format for compatibility with Prodigy(tm)'s "note preview" function. Further relaxes import rules. Adds Directions Search to the Search menu!

Version 8.01 - Maintenance Release.

Corrects memory consumption problem in CHGCAT utility, enables searching by fifth category name, relaxes import rules in directions section, eliminates cursor "ghosts" in view/list modes.

Version 8.00 - Major Release.

Major new features include: Capacity expansion to 65,534 recipes per database (registered version), with continued support for multiple databases; Improved handling of recipes 'flagged' for delete; "Whole-word" title search capability; Multiple category search, with "and" and "or" connectors; New "Yield" field to replace the "servings" field and a new "Yield Units" field allow entering recipe yields like "3 pints" or "2 loaves"; Expanded category file that allows 150 categories; Search option to find recipes which contain categories not in your personal category list; Ability to mark up to 1,000 recipes for batch operations, A directory "pick list" to easily switch between multiple databases; The ability to create a new database without leaving the program; A command-line switch to set the current database directory; Improved accuracy in quantity storage; Selection of Export format on Export menu, in addition to the Maintenance menu; File viewer capacity increased to handle very large files; Revision to "MMMMM" format to provide better line length compatibility with more BBS systems; Improved handling of Import Errors; New super-fast duplicate search to speed Imports; Automatic deletion of old import files, and conversion support for MasterCook-PC and MasterCook-II export files.

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