Frameset for Montage Help - Knowledge Base

<body >  <font face="Arial"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" bgcolor="#D3E9E9" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="middle"> <p> <font face="Arial"> <a href="../moconthh.htm"> <img border="0" src="../icon16.gif" alt="Montage Help Contents" align="absmiddle" width="16" height="16"></a> </font> <font size="4"> <a href="../moconthh.htm">Montage Help</a></font></p> </td> <center> <td> <p align="center"> <font size="5"><b> Knowledge Base</b></font></p> </td> </center> <td> <p align="right"> <font size="2"><a href="../moconthh.htm#mkb">Synch TOC</a> | <a href="frmsmkb.htm" target="_top"><b>Frame</b></a> | <a href="../mkb.htm" target="_top">Unframe</a> | <a href="#bottom" target="_self">Bottom</a></font> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <h3 align="center">Outline by category</h3> <p align="center">(Secondary category assignments are <i>italicized</i>.)<br> See below for <a href="#MKBTable">full list by MKB #</a></p> <ul> <li><b><a name="detection">detection</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00003">PRB: failure to recognize that some applications "open" by activating an existing window</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00002">PRB: application startup dialogs and splash screens may interfere with proper detection</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00010">PRB: applications that launch multiple windows may be mis-detected</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00004">PRB: on some systems, Montage may not detect and restore Explorer's Folders TreeView mode</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00021">FIX: empty target after drag and drop of Shortcut to current directory</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00018">PRB: occasional non-responsiveness to mouse clicks</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00014">PRB: drag-and-drop "Move" into Explorer actually performs a "Copy"</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00007">FIX: OLE IDispatch error after dragging and dropping a URL from IE into Montage</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00005">INFO: current limitations relating to Windows special folders</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="Explorer">Explorer</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00014">PRB: drag-and-drop "Move" into Explorer actually performs a "Copy"</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00004">PRB: on some systems, Montage may not detect and restore Explorer's Folders TreeView mode</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00005">INFO: current limitations relating to Windows special folders</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00018">PRB: occasional non-responsiveness to mouse clicks</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00007">FIX: OLE IDispatch error after dragging and dropping a URL from IE into Montage</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="help">help</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00008">INFO: integral Montage Help facilities may not work unless standard (full) setup is used</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00011">INFO: avoiding Montage installation problems on very old computers</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="installation">installation</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00011">INFO: avoiding Montage installation problems on very old computers</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00008">INFO: integral Montage Help facilities may not work unless standard (full) setup is used</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="metafiles">metafiles</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00017">FIX: mixed case montage names are not always preserved</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00001">FIX: the size of a Montage metafile grows too large after repeated use</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00020">PRB: initial use of the Ctrl+S menu hot key may not be detected</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00009">INFO: application characteristics that are saved and restored by Montage</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00020">PRB: initial use of the Ctrl+S menu hot key may not be detected</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00016">INFO: issues regarding the current implementation of Montage's built-in viewers</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00015">INFO: limits on length of Shortcut properties</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00006">FIX: occasional C00000FD errors on editing Shortcut title via Properties dialog</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="mouse">mouse</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00018">PRB: occasional non-responsiveness to mouse clicks</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00007">FIX: OLE IDispatch error after dragging and dropping a URL from IE into Montage</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></i></li> </ul> </li> <li><b><a name="restoration">restoration</a></b><ul> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00009">INFO: application characteristics that are saved and restored by Montage</a></li> <li><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00013">INFO: how Montage determines the sequence of state restoration steps</a></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00019">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00004">PRB: on some systems, Montage may not detect and restore Explorer's Folders TreeView mode</a></i></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <hr> <p><a name="MKBTableIntro"></a>The following table comprises the current Montage Knowledge Base (MKB) of known problems, limitations, bugs, points of confusion, issues needing further clarification, etc.  If you are reading this in a local copy of the <a href="../glossary.htm#MontageHelpFile"><i> Montage Help file</i></a>, be sure to occasionally check the online Montage Knowledge Base for the latest updates to this page.  New MKB Ids are assigned sequentially, with the latest additions listed at the top.  (Entries are listed in descending MKB Id order.)</p> <table border="1"> <tr> <th bgcolor="#C0C0C0" nowrap><a name="MKBTable"></a>MKB ID<br> Date Created<br> Date Updated<br> <font size="1"> </font><br> Category<br> <i>... Category</i></th> <th bgcolor="#C0C0C0">Title<br> Description<p>Status</th> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00021">mkb00021</a></b><br> 08/04/10<br> 12/28/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: empty target after drag and drop of Shortcut to current directory</b><br> When the <a href="../desktop.htm#RelativePaths">relative paths</a> option is enabled, creating a Shortcut to the current directory via <a href="../shortcuts.htm#Drag-and-drop">drag and drop</a> produces a result whose <i><a href="../glossary.htm#target">target</a></i> is blank, which is interpreted as "no target".  The result should have a target of ".", i.e. a single period character, which is the correct way to specify a relative path to the current directory.<p><b>Status</b>: this bug was fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel8">build 577</a>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00020">mkb00020</a></b><br> 08/03/10<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></i></td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: initial use of the Ctrl+S menu hot key may not be detected</b><br> The first time you use the key combination Ctrl+S to save the current <i><a href="../glossary.htm#montage">montage</a></i>, it may have no effect.  Pressing Ctrl+S again, however, should work, and there is no harm in issuing multiple successive save operations.  There is no such problem if you use the <a href="../menus.htm#SaveMontage"> File, Save Montage</a> command, instead of its equivalent <a href="../menus.htm#MainMenuHotKeys">main menu hot key </a>combination, Ctrl+S.  Normally, when you save a montage, a brief, transient <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#waitWindow">wait window</a></i> message flashes by.  If you don't see such a message, it may indicate that you have encountered this problem.  Simply press Ctrl+S again, and the problem should not recur in the current opening of this montage.<p><b>Status</b>: this intermittent problem appears to be due to a bug in a Microsoft runtime library.  The problem is easily remedied by a second key press, but it is important that you be aware of this issue to ensure that your Save Montage requests are effective.  If we discover a fix, we'll certainly make it, but there is no active, ongoing effort to eliminate this minor bug, since there appears to be no simple fix.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00019">mkb00019</a><br> </b>03/25/08<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#mouse">mouse</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#restoration">restoration</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#help">help</a></i></td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in Montage build 559, of 3/23/08<br> </b>Montage <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a> includes the following refinements and fixes relative to the previous <a href="../versions.htm#Rel6">build 526</a> release:<ul> <li> <b>drag-and-drop</b><ul> <li>fixed bug on dragging and dropping Shortcuts <a href="../shortcuts.htm#OutOfMontage">out of Montage</a> under Windows XP SP2</li> <li>fixed bug causing errors after drag-and-drop of a <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#URL">URL</a></i> into a montage (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00007">mkb00007</a>)</li> <li>fixed occasional mouse state confusion & hanging on close after <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#drag-and-drop">drag-and-drop</a></i> actions (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00018">mkb00018</a>)</li> </ul> </li> <li><b>Shortcut Properties</b><ul> <li>fixed assorted bugs pertaining to the use of<i> <a href="../glossary.htm#relativePath">relative paths</a></i> and <i><a href="../glossary.htm#environmentVariable"> environment variables</a></i></li> <li>fixed bug causing misinterpretation of trailing backslashes in some cases, under some versions of Windows</li> <li>fixed spurious change detection for the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Dir">Dir</a> field of the Shortcut Properties dialog</li> <li>enabled <a href="../menus.htm#EditingContextMenus"> editing context menus</a> on the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#LayoutPage"> Layout</a> and <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#AdvancedPage"> Advanced</a> pages</li> <li>improved choice of default directory and functions for picking <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Target"> target</a> and <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Dir"> initial directory</a></li> <li>fixed inability to revert a single <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Title">Shortcut title</a> change via <a href="../shortcuts.htm#RestoreConfiguration">Restore Configuration</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><b>display issues</b><ul> <li>display actual mixed case montage name in <a href="../desktop.htm">Desktop window</a> title</li> <li>fixed illegibility of <i><a href="../glossary.htm#ShortcutTip">Shortcut tips</a></i> due to <a href="../glossary.htm#waitWindow"><i>wait window</i></a> spilling off right or bottom edge of screen</li> <li>limited max width of Shortcut tips by automatically folding long <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#DescriptionPage">description</a> lines</li> <li>handle changes in layout of the <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsWorkspace"> Windows workspace</a></i> due to Taskbar and toolbar docking variations</li> <li>automatically <a href="../desktop.htm#CheckOff-Screen"> avoid off-screen window placement</a>, in case of reduced display space</li> <li>fixed occasional loss of <a href="../glossary.htm#statusBar"><i> status bar</i></a> prompt messages in narrow montage layouts</li> </ul> </li> <li><b>general</b><ul> <li>fixed to preserve original mixed case <a href="../metafiles.htm">metafile</a> names (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00017">mkb00017</a>)</li> <li>capture actual mixed case filenames and paths when picked in various contexts</li> <li>fixed occasional "MMAIN is not an object" errors on shutdown (an annoyance, but no actual damage)</li> <li>reduced clutter in the <a href="../menus.htm#MainMenu">main menu</a> and <a href="../desktop.htm#DesktopContextMenu">Desktop context menu</a></li> <li>provide cleaner, clearer failure messages for common errors, e.g. <a href="../glossary.htm#target"><i> target</i></a> not found</li> <li>improved support of Escape and fixed some places where it caused errors</li> <li>small refinements related to montage <a href="../metafiles.htm#MetafileVersions">metafile compatibility</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><b>miscellaneous</b><ul> <li>fixes and improvements to logic for global <a href="../menus.htm#Refresh"> Refresh (F5)</a> and individual <a href="../shortcuts.htm#Refresh"> Shortcut Refresh</a></li> <li>fixed to more accurately capture initial mouse position for <a href="../desktop.htm#NewShortcut">New Shortcut</a></li> <li>small refinements to <a href="../diagnostics.htm#CommandProcessor">Command Processor</a>, <a href="../diagnostics.htm#DiagnosticMessageDialog"> Diagnostic Message dialog</a>, and <a href="../diagnostics.htm#AboutMontageDialog">About Montage dialog</a></li> <li>fixed Montage Help file defect (in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel6">build 526</a> only) that caused <a href="../glossary.htm#HTMLHelp"><i>HTML Help</i></a> to crash upon closing</li> <li>changed to use a less obtrusive warning, not an error, if the<i> <a href="../glossary.htm#MontageHelpFile">Montage Help file</a></i> is missing</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><b>Status</b>: All of the preceding improvements are in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>.  See notes for <a href="../versions.htm#Rel6">build 526</a> regarding enhancements and fixes in that version relative to the last public release of the full, self-installing Montage setup, <a href="../versions.htm#Rel5"> build 521</a>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00018">mkb00018</a><br> </b>01/07/06<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#mouse">mouse</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a></i></td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: occasional non-responsiveness to mouse clicks</b><br> Under certain unusual circumstances, Montage fails to respond as it normally would to either a left or (mainly) a <i>right</i> mouse click.  In some cases you must click again, and in other cases you need to click the <i>other</i> mouse button.  The behavior indicates some sort of temporary confusion as to the current mouse state, due to an apparent bug in a Microsoft runtime library relating to OLE drag-and-drop.  Fortunately these flaky mouse behaviors are uncommon, and the condition can be rectified simply by clicking alternately on the left and right mouse buttons.<p>For example, after attempting to <a href="../shortcuts.htm#Drag-and-drop">drag and drop a Shortcut</a> onto a destination that disallows the drop (as indicated by the no-drop cursor symbol), the mouse might not respond to the next right click.  Another scenario is that of dragging a dropping a Shortcut (with the left mouse button depressed) from one montage to another, and then issuing a right click in the montage that was the source of the drag, or dragging a dropping a Shortcut with the <i>right</i> mouse button into <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer">Windows Explorer</a></i>, followed by a right click in the source montage.  Prior to <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>, the source montage would become non-responsive until a left-click was issued.  Another possible manifestation of this problem is that attempting to close the source montage might hang, until a left-click allows the closing to complete.  These problem cases have been fixed.</p> <p>A different scenario known to cause similar problems, which is fairly minor but has <i>not</i> been fixed, is that of resizing a <a href="../desktop.htm"> Montage Desktop window</a> by using the mouse to drag its "size grip" at the lower right corner.  (The problem does not occur if you resize the window by dragging one side at a time.)  If you resize a montage by using its size grip, a subsequent right click in that window may be non-responsive.  The simple workaround after resizing is to click the left mouse button anywhere in the montage before issuing a right click, or just follow a non-responsive right click with a left click.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: These problems appear to be due to bugs in a Microsoft runtime library, for which we have developed some program workarounds.  With the exception of the aforementioned size grip case, most problems of left/right mouse confusion and non-responsiveness have been fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>.  We will continue to investigate and fix any lingering cases as they may be discovered.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00017">mkb00017</a><br> </b>01/07/06<br> 03/24/08<p><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: mixed case montage names are not always preserved</b><br> Prior to <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>, mixed case <a href="../metafiles.htm">Montage metafile</a> names would occasionally revert to all upper case when the montage was saved.  In particular, this occurred when metafile <a href="../desktop.htm#Pack">packing</a> reduced the montage's size.  Filename case alteration doesn't affect meaning or cause errors, since Windows does not regard case as significant, but the loss of mixed case filenames can be an annoyance.<p><b>Status</b>: This problem has been fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>, which also includes a number of other refinements aimed at capturing, preserving, and displaying mixed case file names exactly as they are known to the Windows filing system.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00016">mkb00016<br> </a></b>01/04/05<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: issues regarding the current implementation of Montage's built-in viewers</b><br> As noted elsewhere, the current implementation of Montage's <a href="../viewers.htm">built-in viewers</a> is rather preliminary and incomplete, and for that reason viewers are not <a href="../desktop.htm#Built-inViewers">enabled</a> by default, and not documented in detail.  There is nothing fundamentally more "advanced" about internal viewers than Shortcuts to <a href="../glossary.htm#externalApplication"><i>external applications</i></a>, it's just that their somewhat arrested development has left Montage's built-in viewers in a rather limited and confusing state.  Nevertheless, the <a href="../viewers.htm#ImageViewer">image viewer</a> and <a href="../viewers.htm#TextEditorViewer">text viewer</a> can be useful even in their present form, and there is good reason to expect further improvements in this area.  We consider the following aspects to be the chief deficiencies in the current implementation of built-in viewers: <ul> <li><i><b>lack of symmetry between internal viewers and external applications</b></i><br> It should be easy to switch between different viewers (or external applications) against a given <a href="../glossary.htm#target"><i>target</i></a><i> </i>document.<br>  </li> <li><i><b>weak integration between Shortcuts, Shortcut Properties and built-in viewers</b></i><br> The current implementation, because it lacks symmetry, makes the connection between built-in viewers and <a href="../shortcuts.htm">Shortcuts</a> overly complicated, limited, and confusing.  For example, you must explicitly <a href="../menus.htm#CreateShortcut">Create Shortcut</a> for an internal viewer, whereas external applications always have a corresponding Shortcut.  Also there are very few properties of a built-in viewer that can be seen and adjusted through the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm">Shortcut Properties</a> dialog.<br>  </li> <li><i><b>the Open With... dialog should not be necessary</b></i><br> The <a href="../viewers.htm#OpenWithDialog">Open With... dialog</a> could be obviated by suitable extensions and generalizations of Shortcut Properties, which would make the overall design simpler, more versatile, and again, more symmetrical.<br>  </li> <li><i><b>viewer forms and viewer controls are not transparently integrated</b></i><br> The distinction between a viewer <a href="../glossary.htm#control"><i>control</i></a> and the <a href="../glossary.htm#form"><i>form</i></a> containing it is a technical detail that should be better hidden, making things simpler for users.<br>  </li> <li><i><b>viewer-specific commands and options are unpolished and undocumented</b></i><br> These simply have been neglected, because there's no point investing time on such details until the underlying architecture is overhauled.</li> </ul> <p><b>Status</b>: We regard these issues as important areas for further development, because internal viewers inherently are capable of being more efficient and much more controllable than external applications, and there is clearly a great deal potential for significant added functionality. </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00015">mkb00015<br> </a></b>01/04/05<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: limits on length of Shortcut properties</b><br> With the exception of the free-form <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#DescriptionPage">description</a>, all of the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm">Shortcut properties</a> that can be entered into a textbox field are limited to a maximum length of 255 characters.  This is generally more than enough room to specify any valid file or directory pathname, but there are some situations where an even longer limit might be desirable.  For example, it's possible (although highly unusual) that a very long command line <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Args">argument list</a> could exceed this limit.  A more likely (but still quite unusual) situation that could legitimately exceed the 255 character limit would be an extremely long <a href="../glossary.htm#URL"><i>URL</i></a> as the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Target">target</a> specification. <p>One possible workaround would be to create a Montage Shortcut that points to a Windows <a href="../glossary.htm#link"><i>link</i></a> file, although this might require unusual settings on the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#AdvancedPage">Advanced properties</a> page in order to function properly.  (We aren't recommending such a kludge, just noting its potential applicability, as a last resort.)  What would be better is for us to implement the necessary adjustments to the design of the Shortcut Properties dialog, to remove the length restriction by using scrollable editboxes instead of textboxes for fields where the 255 character limit might reasonably be exceeded, most notably the target (which could be a URL) and possibly the args field.  In any case, the maximum length of a <a href="../glossary.htm#dynamicShortcutProperty"><i>dynamic shortcut property</i></a> would still be no more than 255 characters, because of a separate limit on the evaluation of such expressions.</p> <p>Another workaround that applies to very long URLs would be to employ Montage's <a href="../helpintro.htm#DynamicInternetFetching">dynamic Internet fetching</a> mechanism.  Using this approach, a separate URL link could contain a very long Internet address, but the corresponding Shortcut would refer to the local copy of the downloaded file.  (If the file has not yet been downloaded, it will be retrieved automatically when needed.)  This would work well when the target is a single, static image, but it may not be satisfactory for an arbitrary web page, since only the primary web page would be picked up.  (Depending on how that web page was constructed, it might not be properly rendered when viewed as a local copy.)</p> <p><b>Status</b>: Since it's unlikely that the 255 character limit would be encountered under normal usage, we have no immediate plans to address this issue, although we would reconsider the matter if enough users indicate an interest. </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00014">mkb00014<br> </a></b>01/04/05<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i></td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: drag-and-drop "Move" into Explorer actually performs a "Copy"</b><p>While it may appear that you have the choice of either moving or copying a Shortcut when <a href="../shortcuts.htm#OutOfMontage">dragging out of Montage</a> into <i><a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer"> Windows Explorer</a></i>, e.g. to the Windows desktop, in fact the only operation currently supported is to copy the Shortcut.  I.e. if you right-click <i><a href="../glossary.htm#drag-and-drop">drag-and-drop</a></i>, and then choose Move from the context menu, the original Shortcut is copied, but not deleted as one might expect.  Because of what may be a bug in a Microsoft runtime library, it is not possible for Montage to determine whether the user's choice was to Move or Cancel in such cases.  (The Move operation <i>is</i> supported in the context of dragging and dropping <a href="../shortcuts.htm#WithinMontage">within a montage</a>, and Move is not currently presented as a choice when <a href="../shortcuts.htm#BetweenMontages">dragging and dropping from one montage to another</a>.)  The problem is minor (albeit misleading and somewhat inconvenient), since you can simply <a href="../shortcuts.htm#DeletingViaDeleteKey">delete a Shortcut</a> after copying it to achieve the same effect as a Move.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: We will continue looking for a better solution to this issue.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00013">mkb00013</a><br> </b>07/28/04<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#restoration">restoration</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: how Montage determines the sequence of state restoration steps<br> </b>When you restore a previous view by opening a montage or using the <a href="../menus.htm#RestoreView">Restore View</a> command, each previously open <a href="../glossary.htm#Shortcut"><i>Shortcut</i></a> is launched in a certain sequence.  That sequence is determined by the order in which those Shortcuts were last selected, which is not necessarily the same as the order of activating the <a href="../glossary.htm#target"><i>target</i></a> windows associated with those Shortcuts, since there are many ways to <a href="../glossary.htm#activeWindow"><i>activate a window</i></a> besides going through its Shortcut.<p>You can deliberately force a particular launch sequence simply by clicking once on each Shortcut in the desired order.  Generally the order of launching will also determine the external target window stacking sequence (<a href="../glossary.htm#z-order"><i>z-order</i></a>), i.e. the layering as to which window is in front of which other windows, which window is foremost, etc.  However, because of unpredictable timing considerations, the window stacking sequence for <a href="../glossary.htm#externalApplication"><i> external applications</i></a><i> </i>tends not to be perfectly reproducible.  (The stacking sequence of <a href="../viewers.htm">built-in viewers</a>, however, always <i>is</i> preserved.)</p> <p><b>Status</b>: We may add some features to provide more explicit control over sequencing, but there are no imminent plans in this area. </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00012">mkb00012</a><br> </b>07/24/04<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#detection">detection</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#restoration">restoration</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: summary of bugs and problems fixed in </b><b>Montage build 517, of 9/4/04</b><br> Montage <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a> fixes the following problems that existed in the previous release, <a href="../versions.htm#Rel2">build 373</a>:<ul> <li>excessive growth in size of <a href="../glossary.htm#metafile"><i> metafiles</i></a> after repeated use (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00001">mkb00001</a>)</li> <li>mis-<a href="../glossary.htm#detection"><i>detections</i></a> caused by preliminary popup dialogs and splash screens (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00002">mkb00002</a>)</li> <li>failure to detect cases of <a href="../glossary.htm#passOff"><i> pass-offs</i></a> to already opened applications (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00003">mkb00003</a>)</li> <li>occasional C00000FD errors on editing <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Title"> Shortcut title</a> via Properties dialog (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00006">mkb00006</a>)</li> <li>problems opening <a href="../glossary.htm#nestedMontages"><i> nested montages</i></a> and other applications that open grand-<a href="../glossary.htm#child"><i>child</i></a> windows (<a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00010">mkb00010</a>)</li> <li> failure to detect, save, and restore Explorer <a href="../glossary.htm#viewMode"><i> view mode</i></a> under Windows XP/IE6</li> <li>occasional problems with closing of <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer"><i> Explorer</i></a> windows under Windows XP and Windows 98</li> <li> failure to launch multiple Explorer windows in <a href="../glossary.htm#TreeViewMode"><i>TreeView mode</i></a> in some Windows 9X systems</li> <li>occasional failure to bring Montage to the foreground on zoom from minimized back to normal window</li> <li>occasional failure to repaint Montage <a href="../glossary.htm#desktop"><i> Desktop</i></a> on zoom to normal from minimized state</li> <li>improper saving and restoration of minimized and maximized <a href="../glossary.htm#zoomState"><i> zoom states</i></a></li> <li> external window activation fails to preserve maximized zoom state</li> <li>errors caused by long command lines, e.g. involving very long <a href="../glossary.htm#URL"><i> URLs</i></a></li> <li>improper resizing of certain applications that are exclusively responsible for their own resizing</li> <li> problems caused by transient off-screen window position during shutdown of some applications</li> <li> OLE <a href="../glossary.htm#drag-and-drop"><i> drag-and-drop</i></a> errors for some cases of <i><a href="../glossary.htm#shortcut"> Shortcuts</a></i> under Windows 9X and/or older versions of <a href="../glossary.htm#InternetExplorer"><i>IE</i></a>/<a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsScriptHost"><i>WSH</i></a></li> <li>small memory leak associated with <a href="../shortcuts.htm#Icons"> icon extraction</a></li> <li>default directory not properly changed after <a href="../menus.htm#SaveAs"> Save View As...</a> and <a href="../menus.htm#NewMontage"> New Montage...</a> commands</li> <li> inconsistencies as to usability of <a href="../glossary.htm#relativePath"><i> relative paths</i></a></li> <li>failure to force visibility of Montage for <a href="../glossary.htm#modal"><i> modal</i></a> dialogs and messages when minimized or not in foreground</li> <li> occasional "ghosting" of Desktop window contents upon state restoration, when <a href="../desktop.htm#PlaySound"> sound is played</a></li> <li> <a href="../menus.htm#RestoreView"> view restoration</a> sometimes does nothing immediately after occurrence of a prior error</li> </ul> <p><b>Status</b>: All of the preceding bugs have been fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00011">mkb00011</a><br> </b>01/13/03<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#installation">installation</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#help">help</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: avoiding Montage installation problems on very old computers</b><br> If you have an old Windows 95 machine without <a href="../glossary.htm#InternetExplorer"><i> Internet Explorer (IE)</i></a>, or with a very old version (IE 3.x), the <a href="../install.htm#QuickSetup">quick-install</a> procedure may not work, making it necessary to use the <a href="../install.htm#StandardSetup">standard setup</a>.  However, the standard setup will not finish cleanly if it is unable to install <a href="../install.htm#VFPRuntimeHelpSupport">VFP's HTML Help support</a>, which has certain prerequisites.  It is recommended that you have installed a reasonably recent version of Internet Explorer (IE 4.0 or later) before installing Montage, in which case you should not encounter any unusual problems. <p>If you do choose to go ahead and install Montage without having IE 4.0 or later, and you disregard the setup dialog(s) warning that certain <a href="../glossary.htm#HTMLHelp"><i>HTML Help</i></a>-related files can't be properly registered, you may actually obtain a usable installation of Montage, minus support for Help.  However, the setup will indicate that it failed, and you may be unable to use the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs facility to <a href="../install.htm#UninstallingMontage">uninstall Montage</a>.  (You could still do a manual uninstallation, of course.)</p> <p><b>Status</b>: Since few people are likely to encounter such problems, we don't expect to focus much more attention on this issue.  However, we are making every effort to provide a reasonable level of support for all versions of Windows, dating back to the original release of Windows 95.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00010">mkb00010</a><br> </b>01/13/03<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#detection">detection</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: applications that launch multiple windows may be mis-detected</b><br> Montage works best with <a href="../glossary.htm#wellBehavedApplication"><i>well-behaved applications</i></a> that open a single new, top-level window when they are launched.  If an application opens multiple windows when it is started, this could lead to mis-<a href="../glossary.htm#detection"><i>detection</i></a>, where Montage mistakenly associates the wrong <a href="../glossary.htm#externalWindow"><i>external window</i></a> with the <a href="../glossary.htm#Shortcut"><i>Shortcut</i></a> that was invoked. <p>As of <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>, Montage's general detection logic and <a href="../glossary.htm#applicationIntelligence"><i>application intelligence</i></a> have been improved, reducing the likelihood of encountering mis-detections, especially in the case of <a href="../glossary.htm#nestedMontages"><i>nested montages</i></a>.  (Previous restrictions against leaving open Shortcuts in a <a href="../glossary.htm#child"><i>child</i></a> montage<i> </i>have been greatly relaxed, but there are still potential cases of "weak" detection that could cause problems.  If you run into such a case, avoid leaving the offending Shortcut open when you close the montage that contains it.)  For cases where Montage fails to detect the proper window, <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#AdvancedPage">Advanced settings</a> may allow you to improve matters by manually overriding the default detection logic.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: This problem has been alleviated by changes in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>, and we will continue making application-specific refinements as necessary.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00009">mkb00009</a><br> </b>01/13/03<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#restoration">restoration</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: application characteristics that are saved and restored by Montage</b><br> Ideally, every aspect of an application that the user can alter should be something that Montage can <a href="../glossary.htm#stateSavingAndRestoration"><i> save and restore</i></a>, but in practice this is too difficult to accomplish.  At a minimum, Montage remembers the most general characteristics: which applications it launched, whether they were left open, and the last size, position, and <a href="../glossary.htm#zoomState"><i>zoom state</i></a> of their main windows.  (Also see <a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00013">INFO: how Montage determines the sequence of state restoration steps</a>.) <p> Beyond that, which additional settings Montage recognizes and remembers is application-dependent.  For the particular case of <a href="../glossary.htm#ShellExplorer"><i>Shell Explorer</i></a><i> </i>windows, Montage also saves and restores the <a href="../glossary.htm#TreeViewMode"><i>TreeView mode</i></a> and <a href="../glossary.htm#viewMode"><i>view mode</i></a>.  Additional Explorer attributes one might wish to preserve include, for example, the directory to which the Explorer window was navigated (after starting from an initial location, which <i>is</i> restored), "details" mode column widths and sort order, the current selection of files within the target folder, the position of the divider in split-paned mode, etc.  These properties are <i>not</i> currently saved and restored by Montage, but Windows' use of the <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsRegistry"><i>registry</i></a> covers some of them, to some extent.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">Build 517</a> added general support for saving and restoring zoom states.  We expect to add further aspects of <a href="../glossary.htm#applicationIntelligence"><i>application intelligence</i></a> on an ongoing basis, guided by user feedback as to applications and properties of greatest interest.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00008">mkb00008</a><br> </b>12/20/02<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#help">help</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#installation">installation</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: integral Montage Help facilities may not work unless standard (full) setup is used</b><br> If you performed a <a href="../install.htm#QuickSetup">quick-installation</a>, you probably will not be able to use Montage's <a href="../helpintro.htm#IntegratedHelp"> integrated Help features</a> unless you perform some additional steps.  Normally one should be able to access <a href="../glossary.htm#ContextSensitiveHelp"><i> context-sensitive help</i></a> by pressing <a href="../menus.htm#Help">F1</a>, using <a href="../glossary.htm#WhatsThisHelp"><i>What's This help</i></a>, or through various <a href="../menus.htm">menus</a>.  However, unless the supporting <a href="../install.htm#VFPRuntimeHelpSupport">VFP runtime Help libraries</a> have been properly installed, those integral Help features will not work, although no error occurs.  (<a href="../menus.htm#HelpMenu">Help menu</a> commands should be visibly disabled when the <a href="../glossary.htm#MontageHelpFile"><i> Montage Help file</i></a> is missing, but the Help commands simply don't function if the required runtime is not installed.)<p>For Montage Help to function properly you not only need to have <a href="../glossary.htm#HTMLHelp"><i> HTML Help</i></a> installed, but also you need to have installed the <a href="../glossary.htm#VisualFoxPro"><i>Visual FoxPro (VFP)</i></a> runtime Help support files, FOXHHELP.EXE and FOXHHELPPS.DLL.  You can easily tell if HTML Help is properly installed by opening the Montage Help file, MONTAGE.CHM, directly through <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer"><i> Windows Explorer</i></a>.  If that works, but F1 Help doesn't work under Montage, you can still create and use a <a href="../glossary.htm#shortcut"><i> Shortcut</i></a> to MONTAGE.CHM, but only a proper installation of the VFP runtime Help support libraries will allow you to use Montage's context-sensitive Help and related menu commands.  If HTML Help is installed, running the full, <a href="../install.htm#StandardSetup">standard Montage setup</a> should take care of properly installing the required VFP Help support files.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: Since manual setup of the VFP Help runtime is quite easy, and there are other simple ways to get to Montage Help, this should not present any serious problems, but we plan to continue streamlining and automating <a href="../install.htm">installation</a> procedures.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00007">mkb00007</a><br> </b>12/20/02<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#mouse">mouse</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: OLE IDispatch error after dragging and dropping a URL from IE into Montage</b><br> Prior to <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>, the following scenario would trigger an error (VFP Error #: 1429, OLE IDispatch exception code 0): <ol> <li>Create a <a href="../glossary.htm#shortcut"><i> Shortcut</i></a> by dragging the address <a href="../glossary.htm#URL"><i>URL</i></a> (or any <a href="../glossary.htm#hyperlink"><i>hyperlink</i></a>) from <a href="../glossary.htm#InternetExplorer"><i> Internet Explorer</i></a> into Montage.</li> <li>Drag the resulting new Shortcut back out to the Windows desktop.</li> </ol> <p>Before you could drop the Shortcut to the Windows desktop (i.e. while in mid-drag), the aforementioned error would strike.  This could leave Montage in a screwy state, with the mouse cursor still indicating a <a href="../glossary.htm#drag-and-drop"><i> drag-and-drop</i></a> in progress, and the error dialog not responding to mouse clicks.  Under Windows 2000 and XP, the Windows taskbar could be used to regain control of Montage, but Windows 95 systems required a Ctrl+Alt+Del to kill the Montage window.</p> <p>There was no such problem if the montage was closed and reopened: this bug only occurred immediately after a Shortcut had been created by dropping a URL into a Montage <a href="../glossary.htm#Desktop"><i>Desktop</i></a> window, i.e. in the same opening.  An even simpler workaround, short of closing and reopening the montage, was simply to <a href="../menus.htm#SaveMontage">Save View</a> and immediately <a href="../menus.htm#RestoreView">Restore View</a> after dragging one or more hyperlinks into a montage.  Note that this bug did <i>not</i> affect the more common usage of <a href="../shortcuts.htm#FilesFolders"> dragging and dropping files and folders</a>, or <a href="../glossary.htm#link"><i> links</i></a> (.LNK or .URL files) from <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer"><i>Windows Explorer</i></a> into Montage.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: This bug has been fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7"> build 559</a>.</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00006">mkb00006</a><br> </b>12/19/02<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#miscellaneous">miscellaneous</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: occasional C00000FD errors on editing Shortcut title via Properties dialog</b><br> When entering text into the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Title">Title textbox</a> of the Shortcut Properties dialog, one might occasionally (infrequently) encounter errors (Exception code=C00000FD) causing Montage to terminate instantly, without its normal, clean shutdown.  This bug did not affect the <a href="../shortcuts.htm#EditingTitle"> direct editing of captions</a> by clicking on a selected Shortcut. <p><b>Status</b>: This bug was fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>.  (An obscure side-effect of the fix is that multiple consecutive spaces are now automatically converted to single spaces in Shortcut titles.)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00005">mkb00005</a><br> </b>12/16/02<br> 08/09/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#dragAndDrop">drag and drop</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>INFO: current limitations relating to Windows special folders</b><br> Special <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsShell"><i> Windows Shell</i></a> objects, like the My Computer icon on your desktop, My Network/Network Neighborhood, Control Panel, etc. can be tricky to set up as <a href="../shortcuts.htm"> Montage Shortcuts</a>.  In most cases Montage refuses to <a href="../glossary.htm#drag-and-drop"><i> drag-and-drop</i></a> these from <i><a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer">Windows Explorer</a></i> into a Montage <a href="../glossary.htm#desktop"><i> Desktop</i></a> window.  If you create a Windows shortcut (i.e. a <a href="../glossary.htm#link"><i> link</i></a>) to such a special folder, Montage may allow you to drag and drop it into its Desktop window, but the resulting Shortcut will have a blank <a href="../glossary.htm#target"><i> target</i></a> and it won't open the intended special folder.  In some, if not all cases it may be possible to achieve the desired result by setting the <a href="../shortcutprops.htm"> Shortcut properties</a> manually, but this requires knowing the proper <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Target"> program to invoke</a>, and what <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#Args"> arguments</a> to pass to it. <p><b>Status</b>: Montage <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a> included some <a href="../metafiles.htm#SampleMontages">samples</a> illustrating the use of <a href="../glossary.htm#ClassID"><i>CLSIDs</i></a>, which are particularly useful for special folders.  As of Montage <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7">build 559</a>, special folder Shortcuts can be dragged and dropped between montages, but still not directly from Explorer into a montage.  We are continuing to look into ways of improving Montage's support for Windows special folders, as well as providing a larger variety of samples.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00004">mkb00004</a><br> </b>12/16/02<br> 12/31/10<p><a href="../mkb.htm#Explorer">Explorer</a><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#detection">detection</a></i><br> <i><a href="../mkb.htm#restoration">restoration</a></i></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: on some systems, Montage may not detect and restore Explorer's Folders TreeView mode</b><br> Montage has the ability to detect whether a <i> <a href="../glossary.htm#ShellExplorer">Shell Explorer</a></i> window is split-paned, with a collapsible tree of  Folders at the left.  Under some versions of Windows and <a href="../glossary.htm#InternetExplorer"><i>Internet Explorer</i></a> this feature may not work.<p>In Windows 98 and versions through Windows XP, <a href="../glossary.htm#WindowsExplorer"><i>Windows Explorer</i></a> allows the user to dynamically switch the <a href="../glossary.htm#TreeView"><i>TreeView</i></a> (folder navigation) pane on or off, and Montage is supposed to remember which state you left that Explorer window in, so it can be automatically restored.  Similarly, Internet Explorer (IE) up to version 6 supported a "Folders view" mode, which Montage could save and restore.  Newer versions of IE, however, have discontinued support of this feature.</p> <p>You can tell right away if Montage is properly recognizing the <a href="../glossary.htm#TreeViewMode"><i>TreeView mode</i></a> by launching an Explorer <a href="../glossary.htm#shortcut"><i> Shortcut</i></a> and seeing if its <a href="../shortcuts.htm#dynamicExplorerIcons"> icon</a> changes as you toggle the Explorer window's folder navigation pane on and off.  (Even if Montage is not detecting and restoring the TreeView mode, you may still be able to manually launch into this mode via the Shortcut's <a href="../shortcuts.htm#ExploreTarget">Explore Target command</a>.)</p> <p>Montage's support for TreeView mode is inherently limited by version-dependent restrictions in Windows and IE.  Some related Montage bugs were fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a> (see <a href="../mkb.htm#mkb00012">MKB00012</a>), but these fixes only pertain to Windows XP, IE6, and earlier versions.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: Montage will not support TreeView mode beyond version 6 of Internet Explorer, since Microsoft has discontinued this feature.  While newer versions of Windows Explorer (beyond Windows XP) do support a somewhat similar capability, it is sufficiently different to be incompatible with Montage.  We do not plan to revive Montage support of TreeView mode beyond Windows XP.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00003">mkb00003</a><br> </b>12/16/02<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#detection">detection</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: failure to recognize that some applications "open" by activating an existing window</b><br> When Montage launches an application, it waits for a new window associated with a new instance of that application.  Some programs, however, will activate an already open window instead of creating a new one, and Montage may time out waiting for the new window to appear.  Montage works fine when it opens the first instance of such an application, but it may not understand the special case of subsequent <a href="../glossary.htm#passOff"><i>pass-offs</i></a><i>,</i> which simply activate a previously open window. <p>The manifestation of this problem is that a <a href="../glossary.htm#waitWindow"><i>wait window</i></a> message is displayed, indicating that Montage is awaiting the appearance of the <a href="../glossary.htm#target"><i>target</i></a> window, when in fact the launch completed by activating a pre-existing window.  You can press the Esc key to cancel this opening, but Montage would then fail to realize that this Shortcut is open.  (The global <a href="../desktop.htm#WaitLimit">Wait Limit</a> setting, governs whether Montage will wait indefinitely, unless you Escape, or time out after a specified number of seconds.)</p> <p>As of <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>, Montage generally detects pass-off cases by making use of <a href="../glossary.htm#processID"><i> process IDs</i></a> to automatically recognize that there is no point in waiting for a new window.  In addition, Montage knows about a number of exceptional cases, e.g. various Microsoft applications that require special <a href="../glossary.htm#detection"><i> detection</i></a> logic.  <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#AdvancedPage">Advanced property settings</a> may also be used to assist Montage in recognizing any pass-off situations that it fails to detect automatically.</p> <p>A normal pass-off simply activates the existing target window, leaving the Shortcut <a href="../shortcuts.htm#Highlighting">un-highlighted</a>, because this Montage is not the real <a href="../glossary.htm#parent"><i>parent</i></a> of this application instance.  However, for certain pass-off cases, Montage supports an <a href="../glossary.htm#auto-detection"><i> auto-detection</i></a> mode indicating its recognition of the special connection between this Shortcut and its pre-existing target window.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: Problems with detection of pass-offs have been largely resolved in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>.  Further knowledge about special case exceptions will be incorporated into Montage's built-in <a href="../glossary.htm#applicationIntelligence"><i>application intelligence</i></a><i>, </i>as the need arises.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00002">mkb00002<br> </a></b>12/16/02<br> 02/12/06 <p><a href="../mkb.htm#detection">detection</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>PRB: application startup dialogs and splash screens may interfere with proper detection</b><br> When opening a <a href="../glossary.htm#shortcut"><i>Shortcut</i></a>, usually Montage will correctly recognize that a preliminary popup dialog is not really the main application window, but in other cases it may mistakenly treat the dialog or splash screen as the window in question.  In such cases cases of mis-<i><a href="../glossary.htm#detection">detection</a></i>, Montage behaves as though the application has been closed when the transient dialog is closed, and consequently fails to realize that the application is still running in a different window (its Shortcut should be <a href="../shortcuts.htm#openZoom">highlighted</a>, but isn't). <p>The likelihood of encountering these problems has been greatly reduced by changes in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>, which does a better job by automatically ignoring preliminary popup dialogs by default, with certain deliberate exceptions.  Also there is now a <a href="../shortcutprops.htm#AdvancedPage">page of Advanced launching and detection options</a>, which can be used to manually override Montage's default detection logic.  The remaining remedies are to find a suitable command line option to suppress the offending dialog, or simply avoid launching this particular application through Montage.</p> <p><b>Status</b>: This problem has been largely resolved in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>.  Further knowledge about special case exceptions will be incorporated into Montage's built-in <a href="../glossary.htm#applicationIntelligence"><i>application intelligence</i></a><i>, </i>as the need arises.</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" nowrap><b><a name="mkb00001">mkb00001<br> </a></b>12/16/02<br> 03/23/08<p><a href="../mkb.htm#metafiles">metafiles</a></p> </td> <td valign="top"><b>FIX: the size of a Montage metafile grows too large after repeated use</b><br> As of <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>, Montage no longer suffers from progressive <a href="../metafiles.htm">metafile</a> bloating, because it now supports an <a href="../desktop.htm#PackOnClosing">automatic metafile packing option</a> (enabled by default), as well as an explicit <a href="../desktop.htm#Pack">Pack</a> command.  The PACK operation recovers free space and keeps the size of a montage small and stable. <p><a href="../versions.htm#Rel2">Prior versions</a> of Montage did not automatically pack the metafile, so it would grow every time you saved the view, and no explicit Pack command was provided.  The only available remedy was to issue a <a href="../menus.htm#SaveAs">Save View As...</a> command, causing the resulting montage to be packed in a roundabout way.  Alternatively, with the <a href="../glossary.htm#VisualFoxPro"><i> Visual FoxPro</i></a> Development System, one could open the .MO3 file as a table and issue a PACK and a REINDEX command.  (An advanced user could actually do this directly through Montage, using its <a href="../diagnostics.htm#CommandProcessor">Command Processor</a>, but that approach would not be recommended.)</p> <p><b>Status</b>: This problem was fixed in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel3">build 517</a>.  Further changes to reduce metafile size were introduced in <a href="../versions.htm#Rel7"> build 559</a>, including the <a href="../desktop.htm#SaveCommandProcessors">Save Command Processors</a> option and the <a href="../desktop.htm#Zap">Zap</a> command.</td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#D3E9E9" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="33%"> <p> <font face="Arial"> <font size="2"><a href="../moconthh.htm#mkb">Synch TOC</a></font></font></p> </td> <td width="34%"> <p align="center"> <font face="Arial"> Next: <a href="../versions.htm">Version History</a></font></td> <td width="33%"> <p align="right"> <font size="2"><b>  </b></font><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><a href="frmsmkb.htm" target="_top"><b>Frame</b></a> | <a href="../mkb.htm" target="_top">Unframe</a> | <a href="#" target="_self">Top</a></font> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" colspan="3"> <hr> </td> </tr> </table> </font> <font face="Arial"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#D3E9E9" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="../moconthh.htm">Montage Help</a> page, last edited: 12/31/10 16:20 <br> http://ideaxchg.com/montage/help/_sys/frmsmkb.htm <br> Copyright © SpaceTime Systems 2003-2011</font><a name="bottom"></a></p> </td> </tr> </table> </font>  </body>