SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT THIS UPDATE:
This document covers all PX/WIN Version 10.0 Build 500.3 changes organized by component. For the main Wildcat! 500.3 change list see the Version 10.0 Build 500.3 notes in the AUP help system.
Changes, New Features and Enhancements by Wildcat! Component
PXONLINE (Platinum Xpress Online Controller)
- FIX: Large AREAFIX/FILEFIX Request Responses splits had the same ^MSGID When larger areafix or filefix request responses were split into multiple netmails, the splits had the same ^MSGID number. This can cause dupe problems. This update corrects the netmails to have different ^MSGID numbers. - FIX: A netmail whose file attachment could not be found was sent over and over again. If PX could not find the file named for attachment on an outgoing netmail, it still sent the netmail but was never able to mark it as sent. The netmail was therefore picked up again on the next mail scan and sent again, and this repeated indefinitely. The system on the other end received an unlimited number of identical copies and saw them as duplicates. PX now keeps track of only the files it was actually able to send, so the netmail is correctly marked as sent and is not sent a second time. A file that is not on disk when the mail goes out is a permanent problem, not a temporary one, so retrying can never help. When this happens you will now see a red warning on the node window and in the log: Binkp: file attach NOT FOUND, not sent:! Netmail #nnn sent WITHOUT its file attachment(s) The netmail itself is still delivered so that your message is not lost, but you should look at it -- the person you sent it to will not receive the file. See also the PXTOOLS entries below, which prevent the most common way of creating one of these messages. Reported by Terry Roati (3:640/238).
PXCONFIG (Platinum Xpress Configuration)
- NEW: Auto Cleanup option added to Nodelist Setup. PXCONFIG | Nodelist Setup now has an "Auto Cleanup (Delete Old Nodelist Files)" checkbox next to the existing "Auto Compile Nodelist" option. This is the master switch controlling whether PXNLIST /AUTO deletes old nodelist files after a successful compile; see PXNLIST below for the full behavior. Unchecked by default. If any of your networks already have "Delete Old Raw List" and/or "Delete New Diff" enabled in their Nodelist Definition (PXCONFIG | Nodelist Setup | Edit), Auto Cleanup is the new switch that must also be enabled before those settings take effect again under /AUTO. Prior to this build, that per-network cleanup only ever ran during an incremental diff update; see the PXNLIST FIX entry below. - FIX: Outbound TIC Flags -- "Kill File When Sent" could not be turned off, and was being turned on for you. For an outbound TIC link the correct, documented default is HOLD and DIRECT with NEITHER "Kill File When Sent" nor "Truncate File When Sent" selected. Until now, saving a node, running a Global Change, or creating a new node could quietly switch Kill back on for TICs even if you had deliberately cleared it, so the setting would not stay the way you left it. Clearing both now stays cleared. (To clear a selected Kill or Truncate option, double click it.) This matters because a TIC file is not private to one node -- the same file is passed to every node linked to that file echo. If it is killed or truncated after the first node collects it, the next node finds the file missing. That is why the help for this option warns against using Kill or Truncate unless you are certain no other node shares those files. Outbound MAIL BUNDLE flags are unchanged. There, having neither Kill nor Truncate set really is invalid -- the bundle is never removed from the queue and is sent again every session -- and PX still protects against it. Reported by Terry Roati (3:640/238).
PXNLIST (Platinum Xpress Nodelist Compiler)
- FIX: Old raw and compressed nodelist files were never cleaned up for networks using periodic full recompresses. The "Delete Old Raw List" and "Delete New Diff" options in PXCONFIG | Nodelist Setup | Edit have existed for some time, but the delete logic was only ever reached when a network was updated via an incremental FTS-0005 diff. A network that instead receives a full recompressed nodelist on each cycle (the common case) never had its superseded raw list or already-extracted compressed file removed, regardless of these settings. Old files accumulated in the nodelist folder indefinitely. PXNLIST now evaluates cleanup independently of how a network's nodelist was updated. A network's current raw list is only ever considered for cleanup once it is confirmed reflected in the compiled nodelist database; superseded raw files and already-extracted compressed files for that network are then handled per that network's own "Delete Old Raw List" / "Delete New Diff" settings, same as before. Reported by Terry Roati (3:640/238). - NEW: /CLEANUP command-line switch -- preview what nodelist cleanup would do, without deleting anything. Run PXNLIST /CLEANUP to see a report of every raw and compressed nodelist file that would be deleted or kept, per network, based on each network's current "Delete Old Raw List" / "Delete New Diff" settings. No files are touched. A summary count is shown on screen; full detail is written to pxnlist.log. A network whose most recent source-file preparation failed is skipped entirely by /CLEANUP (and by live cleanup) until that network updates successfully again, so cleanup never runs against a network in an uncertain state. - NEW: Automatic nodelist cleanup during unattended (/AUTO) runs, gated by a new sysop opt-in switch. A new "Auto Cleanup" option in PXCONFIG | Nodelist Setup (see PXCONFIG above) controls whether PXNLIST /AUTO actually deletes old nodelist files after a successful compile. This is a single master switch covering all networks; it is OFF by default for both new installs and upgrades from an earlier build. When Auto Cleanup is enabled, /AUTO deletes each network's superseded raw list and already-extracted compressed files exactly as shown by a prior /CLEANUP report, per that network's own "Delete Old Raw List" / "Delete New Diff" settings. When Auto Cleanup is disabled (the default), /AUTO compiles the nodelist as before and performs no deletion; a sysop who wants to clean up manually can review a /CLEANUP report and remove files at their own discretion. Note: enabling Auto Cleanup does not by itself cause any network to be cleaned up -- each network's own "Delete Old Raw List" / "Delete New Diff" settings still control what happens to that network. A network with both left unchecked is never touched, Auto Cleanup notwithstanding. - FIX: Compressed nodelist files sharing a base name with an unrelated archive were mistaken for the compressed nodelist. Some networks distribute an information file alongside the compressed nodelist under a very similar name (for example FSXNET.ZXX for the nodelist and FSXNET.ZIP for an unrelated info bundle). PXNLIST previously identified a compressed nodelist candidate by file content alone (any recognized archive with a matching base name), so the unrelated file could be picked up as if it were the compressed nodelist. PXNLIST now also requires the file extension to match the expected [archive tag][2-digit day] pattern used when compressed nodelists are produced (for example .Z19), which an unrelated file such as .ZIP does not match. Reported by Terry Roati (3:640/238).
PXTOOLS (Platinum Xpress Tools)
- FIX: A message could be given a Fido style AND a Wildcat! style file attachment at the same time, which stopped the file from being sent at all. There are two separate ways to attach a file to a netmail: Fido style Netmail Flags | File Attach (Fido Style). The Subject prompt changes to "File(s):" and you type the name of the file (or files) to send. Wildcat! style The Attach button, which asks you to pick a file. Only one of the two may be used on any one message. Until now nothing stopped you from turning on both, and the result was not obvious: PX tried to send your SUBJECT TEXT as though it were a file name, your real attachment was never sent at all, and the netmail was then re-sent over and over (see the PXONLINE entry above). The receiving sysop saw repeated copies of your message, each one saying a file was attached, with no file ever arriving. Turning on either style now offers to remove the other, so a message can only ever carry one kind of attachment. - NEW: The Fido style "File(s):" field is now checked before a message is saved. When File Attach (Fido Style) is turned on, the File(s) field must name real files. Saving is now refused, with an explanation, if the field is empty, if a file does not exist, or if a name is given without a drive and path. Always give the full path, for example: c:\pxwin\outbound\nodelist.zip A bare name such as NODELIST.ZIP is not enough. The message editor and the mailer do not run from the same folder, so a name with no path may be found by the editor and then not found later when the mail actually goes out. This check does NOT apply to a File Request. A request names a file on the OTHER system, so there is nothing to check on yours.