
                       THD ProScan Version 10m Beta
                       ----------------------------

     THD ProScan is still free, but please read "DONATE.PLS" as you may be 
able to help me out in a way other than sending cash donations.

     This version of THD ProScan is a "BETA" or "pre-release" of version 
10.0. It by no means contains the same features as the finished version 10 
is intended to. More accurately, it is a version 9.5 (version 9 with some of 
the changes intended for version 10 although it will identify itself as 
being among the "10" series, since all beta's after an official release will 
always announce themselves as the next version, or a subset thereof).
     In fact one of the reasons for releasing this beta(pre-release) is the 
belief that the next release is going to be considerably longer in coming 
than have past releases (it has already taken longer than most previous 
releases). Hopefully this will tide those impatient people <G> over until I 
can complete version 10.0..
     Most of the work put into this beta has been "behind the scenes", and 
very few "user noticeable" features have been added. The purpose to this 
point has been to improve the code internally and to fix a very few sore 
points. Not all points have been addressed, but functionally (if it works 
<G>) this version should exceed the reliability of version 9.1.

                              IMPORTANT
                              ---------
     Please keep in mind that this is BETA software, which means that it is
NOT FULLY TESTED. As with any release, I accept no responsibility for the 
actions of the program. Use of this or any product from PainSoft (past 
present or future) is done solely at your own risk.


     It is being released as an interim solution to a few minor (or 
potential) problems. As beta software, it is relatively untested (it has 
undergone the typical alpha and stage 1 beta testing without any reported 
problems). However, be warned that since it has not been fully tested, it 
may or may not react as specified or expected.
     Also note that the configuration format used by this beta has been 
significantly changed (internally) and may or may not be recognized by the 
official release. For these reasons it would be a good idea to keep your 
fully configured THDPRO.EXE from version 9.1 in a safe place until such time 
as the official release of version 10.0. (version 10.0 will recognize any 
"official" release's configuration from version 6.0 onward)

     Some of the things changed and/or repaired in this beta include...

     Changes to the search routines will hopefully fix the incompatibility 
with the OS/2 Service Pack. Testing on a few sites, indicates that problem 
has been solved.

     Version 9.1 sometimes did not add a file comment to the finished 
archive when conversion was completed.

     Users of RemoteAccess could not use THDPRO.EXE from RAMGR due to an 
incorrect filemode which caused THD to be denied access to necessary files. 
This same scenario caused problems on occasion when attempting to update 
the FDB in regards to description and/or filename after a conversion.

         ************************************************************
         ** It is important that SHARE (or equivalent environment) **
         **  be loaded when manipulating the FDB since RAMGR does  **
         **       leave the FDB files open upon exit to dos.       **
         ************************************************************

     THDPRO.EXE no longer attempts to send output to the comport if carrier 
is lost. On some systems this seemed to cause problems.

     Rejection of files based on "DATE" was not functioning correctly (any 
file later than the year 0019 was considered valid).

     A new addition to the THDOPT env variable switches. Use of THDOPT=SC2 
will change the commandline sent by THD ProScan to SCAN.EXE for 
compatibility with SCANV200. I STRONGLY recommend that you do not use the 
BETA version of scan for normal virus detection. This switch is for FUTURE 
use and not for use with the SCAN beta. (SC2 may be used in conjunction with 
any of the other THDOPT switches as outlined in the THDPRO91 docs.)

     Note that the switches used by this beta in "SCAN 2 compatible mode" 
comply ONLY with the version distributed by McAfee as "SCNR200A.ZIP". If 
McAfee changes their command line structure from that beta, THD may likely 
not remain compatible with future versions. In this event, contact David 
Muir at 1:259/423.0 fido_net for a "possible" solution. (No solution is 
"promised", but it is likely that unless a new release is scheduled soon 
after such notice, that a small utility will be created to change the 
configuration internal to THDPRO.EXE for compatibility with the new 
switches.)

     The planned "add-on" configuration in version 9.1 turned out to be 
incorrectly coded which resulted in it's inability to pass the needed 
information to the subprocess (not yet coded).

     Finished archive dates have been a real stickler. There are many 
different views as to what the finished file date "should" be. In an effort 
to expand on the two choices previously offered, this beta adds two more. 
These two options will only be applied to valid archives and not to GIF/TD0 
or other non archives. (Non archives will be left with their date at time of 
upload.)

NEWEST "DATE" Option
--------------------
     A new option to date the finished archive to the date of the newest 
file found inside of that archive has been added. It is recommend that this 
option be used if you wish the original file date and have a reasonable 
chance of having removed all BBS ads which might have been added to the 
archive. This date is calculated AFTER files are removed by THDPRO.EXE, so 
if all ads are removed, this will give a fairly accurate representation of 
the original file date.

BEST GUESS "DATE" option...
---------------------------
     This option, like the one above is intended to give an approximation of 
the original file date. This option should be used when BBS ads are not 
removed as a standard practice, as this will rarely give the newest date but 
will give a good approximation where there is a chance that files have been 
added after the original archive creation.
     It is a "best guess" at when the archive was "likely" originally 
created. Since there is no way to determine this "accurately", this option 
attempts a guess. The guess is based on an average date of the newest 5 (or 
fewer) files in the archive's main directory. 

     If you choose to use the "best guess" method, then the following will 
apply.

-  If no files are found in the "main" directory, the archive date will be 
set to match the timestamp it had at the time of upload.

-  If only a single file is found, that file's date will be used.

-  Where more than one file is located, the finished archive date will match 
the file who's date is closest to the average date calculated.

- Dates of files in subdirectories will not be used for this calculation. 
While I can never guarantee the original file date will be duplicated, this 
method will likely come close (or at least give a reasonable estimate). But 
it is only a guess.

Neither of these date options will currently update RA's FDB UNLESS other 
changes are made by THD in regards to the FDB. This will "likely" change in 
future to be done regardless of other needs to update the FDB.


Added 3 user definable conversion levels...
-------------------------------------------
     Three new conversion levels have been introduced. These "new" 
conversion levels are user definable based on a number of criteria (they 
are levels 4, 5, and 6 respectively). The following are the criteria on 
which conversion may be based, and any of these conditions may be true or 
false as selected by the THD user (all imbedded selections will default to 
false if conversion of imbedded archives is bypassed).

Convert Imbedded archives
Convert Self extracting archives (main archive)
Convert Self extracting archives (imbedded archive)
Convert files with incorrect names (main)
Convert files with incorrect names (imbedded)
Convert AV protected (Arj Secured) files (main)
Convert AV protected (Arj Secured) files (imbedded)
Convert archives of same type (both)

     Please note that if you choose to not convert archives of same type via 
this final option, then a "ZIP" will not be converted or expanded for 
conversion (if zip is the type to be converted to). As a result, if that 
file contains ARJ or other archives types internally, they will not be 
converted either.
     An "incorrect" name (for the purposes of conversion) is any extension  
other than "EXE" (for SFX archives) or the proper archive extension for the 
given type. (Compressed mail packets would fall into this category.)

Default command line options..
------------------------------
     THDINSTL now offers the option of setting some "default" switches.
You may default THD ProScan to...
CONVERT ONLY (/CO)
KEEP ORIGINAL (/KO)
Skip the modification of descriptions (/NODESC)
Choose a default archive type/level for conversion. (TO???#)

     in effect... If one configured THDINSTL with defaults of
CONVERT ONLY
KEEP ORIGINAL
TOZIP0

     then the result of running
THDPRO.EXE C:\TEST\TESTFILE.ZIP 2
would be identical to running
THDPRO.EXE C:\TEST\TESTFILE.ZIP /CO /KO TOZIP0 2

     These defaults will "ALL" be ignored if anything except a file 
path\name and a valid comport are sent on the command line. 

Major overhaul of LHA Handling...
---------------------------------
     And finally a major overhaul to the way LHA files are handled. This 
version will attempt to discern if the file is expandable on a dos based 
system (and if not simply CRC test it). It will also diagnose any attempt of 
an LHA file to make use of the root directory.
     If a file so attempts, THDPRO.EXE will create a "clone" of the file 
which does not make such attempts and test the clone instead (all files are 
kept intact, just path usage is modified). During conversion mode, the 
"clone" will be used as the basis for the conversion. (it will produce the 
same converted file since the other archivers abhor the use of the root 
directory).
     Any file which THD cannot successfully diagnose will be assumed to be 
valid and testing will continue as usual (since there are a number of 
variables which could affect the file without affecting the ability to 
properly extract the internal files). A note will be made in the log in 
these instances.

                               THDTERM 5.A
                               -----------
     Also included in this archive is a new THDTERM (it too is a beta). This 
version goes out of it's way to not test volume labels (version 4 could do 
this on some OS/2 systems). As well it now avoids the duplicate testing 
which was documented as "normal" with Version 4.0. Other than that it 
remains basically unchanged.

                This beta of THDTERM has one KNOWN problem.
                -------------------------------------------
    THDTERM 5.A will have difficulties when files are converted as the
    default action of THDPRO.EXE. It will be unable to find the original
    file (since it has been converted) and may report errors that are non-
    existent. Thereafter reporting "no problem" since THDPRO will exit with
    an errorlevel of "0". The problem lies in that THDTERM will "report"
    an error and not move the "converted" file to the correct location.


     This beta version contains no official documentation. Nor does it 
contain any of the files normally distributed/associated with THD ProScan's 
official releases. Persons desiring the files normally associated with THD 
ProScan, should look for THDPRO91.ZIP which was the last official release of 
the program.

     Generally, users of RemoteAccess should find this beta to run smoother 
than version 9.1. and it "should" run just a tiny bit faster (although on 
any given system, the difference would likely be unnoticeable). Note that 
due to the new diagnostic phase for LHA files, that it will in fact take 
longer to process these files than previous versions, but will do so in a 
more secure manner and help to avoid some types of failures eminent with 
the older versions.

     A great number of internal changes have been made which for the most 
part will be invisible to the usership. The operation should appear as it 
always has (with the exception of the LHA diagnostic/cloning process when 
needed).

          *******************************************************
          *   Any number of other fixes/changes may have been   *
          * implemented in this beta which are not listed here. *
          *******************************************************

     Sysops offering this archive for download are asked to please keep 
THDPRO91.* available so that users do have access to the last official 
release.
     Likewise, those offering THD ProScan by FREQ are asked to allow this 
archive by the magic name of THDBETA while leaving the official release with 
the magic name of THDPRO. Your co-operation in this respect would be greatly 
appreciated.
    Please keep in mind that this is not the "coming" THD ProScan Version 
10.0.. That version is still in the works (this is a partially completed 
version 10). As a result many of the suggestions on my three page list have 
not yet been implemented. Basically, this means that the expected version 10 
will likely contain a few new/useful toys that this and previous versions 
have not. This also means that it's not too late to have your suggestions 
incorporated into the next version.
     Suggestions and or comments should be sent to David Muir at 1:259/423 
(fido). Also note that some suggestions may not be implemented for any 
number of reasons. But all suggestions are welcome (and encouraged).
     If you experience difficulty with this version, I would also like to 
hear about it, so that I may endeavour to repair those problems in the 
official release.
     Thank you.

My thanks to the beta testers of this version of THD ProScan.

Mark Kerr          2:443/59
John Barton        2:257/168
Andrew McKay       unlisted
Erik Coolen        2:281/909
Kosta Berjitsky    3:712/539
Don Johnson        1:104/531
Bernie Schau       1:138/155
Vicki Fletcher     1:138/255
Mike Smith &
Rita Smith         1:208/409
Tim Strike         1:259/423
Eugene Chin        1:259/322
Neil Dempster      1:250/346
Scott Ferguson     1:300/603
Gary Hammer        1:355/24

     PainSoft
     David Muir... Author THD ProScan.
