                         Tadzio's File Compare
                         =====================

                               Version 2.23 **Beta 3**

               (c) 1997-1999 Daniel Schroeder (tadzio@tadzio.com)
               portions (c) 2001 Seb Tomasini (visystems@europe.com)


This document written by Seb Tomasini, December 2001.

Please consult TFC.TXT for a description of TFC, its revision history,
and an explanation of how to use it.

The timing of this release is designed to coincide with the forthcoming new
release of the excellent ZtreeWin file manager, with large console support.
TFC can be used with or without ZtreeWin.

For further information about ZtreeWin please visit http://www.ztree.com

**IMPORTANT**
**Version 2.23 Beta 3**
This program, TFC, has been released open-source under GPL (GNU General Public
License). I have modified sections of the original code base, to feature-
enhance the product. Upon general release, my source for this program will
be made available. Until that time, the product is in ongoing beta test 
development; if you are interested in obtaining the source prior to official
release, you should email visystems@europe.com and I will endeavour to make it
available on a per-request basis.

For more information about GPL, see http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html

What's new
~~~~~~~~~~

Version 2.23 Beta 3 (released 20/12/2001)
- Added: Alt-F8. Dynamic widescreen behaviour that behaves like Ztree. Cycles
  80/100/120/140/XX columns, where XX is the original X dimension of the
  TFC window if >140 columns.
- Added: -a command line switch now of the format -aYY[,XX]. YY and XX can be
  2 or 3 digits, up to the maximum Ztree limits of 200 rows by 400 cols. Either
  can be omitted so -aYY -aYY,XX and -A,XX are all valid. In conjunction with
  Ztree at version 1.48i2 and later, this should help to resolve issues
  launching TFC from big Ztree consoles, especially under Windows 9x/ME.
- Change: Alt-F9 behaviour now behaves like Ztree: Cycles 25/50/60/70/XX
  rows. The fifth cycle of XX occurs if the starting window dimension is >70
  rows. [T]all command behaves as before for backwards compatibility.
- Change: Dynamic hexmode behaviour has been further enhanced and improved.
  The address offset (left hand portion) will never exceed 8 digits (2gig).
  The hexdump and character dump areas intelligently widen and fill the space
  available in both split modes and at any console width.
- Fix: Progress indicator now goes right to the end in either split view.
- Fix: 2nd filename, if not prefixed with drive/dir caused TFC to get confused.
  Intelligence of 2nd filename "shortcuts" improved. Now behaves as indicated
  in interactive help (page 2; *.old example).
- Fix: other hexmode issues on very wide consoles resolved.

Version 2.23 Beta 1 (unreleased)

- Alt-F8 and Alt-F9 introduced, but not extending to original console width as
  a last cycle option, in the case of big starting consoles.

Version 2.22 Beta 1 (released 17/12/2001)

- Added: big console support of up to 400 by 200 characters ("widescreen")

Further information: 
- TFC will "inherit" whatever console you run it in. Run from Ztree, TFC will
  inherit Ztree's console dimensions.
- TFC's horizontal and vertical display modes have been enhanced to work
  properly in any screen dimensions and fonts.
- The colour setup and help-system screens now work at any console dimension,
  and have had some cosmetic improvements as well.
- The hex-view/compare mode has been enhanced with dynamic display behaviour..
  the width of the address offset (left), hexdump (middle) and character dump
  (right) all grow dynamically with regard to the screen width and font size.
  The view mode (horizontal or vertical split) is also considered when sizing
  these areas.

Future developments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am *considering* further development of TFC, including a memory-mapped file
scheme for working with HUGE files, enhancement of the binary comparison
mode, reintroduction of some original JFC features that were lost along the
way, and more..

If you feel strongly about TFC and want to see it develop further, email me.
If I receive enough emails that might just provide some extra motivation ;)

Bugs and problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you find a problem with TFC, in the first instance you should determine
whether the problems relate to my modification of TFC (v2.22 or later) or the
original program by Daniel Schroder, the last version of which is v2.21a. This
release of TFC is based on the v2.21a code base.

The first step is to ensure the problem is repeatable. The 2nd step is to
attempt to reproduce the problem in the previous version of TFC, v2.21a. To do
this, download version 2.21a from http://www.tadzio.com, and replace the 2.22
executable file TFC.EXE with the 2.21a executable.

If the problem shows up in either version, it lies with the original code. In
that case, you should *not* contact me in the first instance, but contact
Daniel. Instructions for how to do this are in section 11 of the file TFC.TXT,
enclosed with this release.

If the problem is ONLY apparent in v2.22 or later, but does not manifest in
v2.21a, then please contact me at visystems@europe.com, with a description of
the problem and steps to reproduce it.


Enjoy :) Seb Tomasini, December, 2001
