POFFS v2.40 Released

[Don Ewald]

Greetings!

Over the last two years; I've been looking to release an update to the POFFS program that was coded by Börje Hagsten. I'm pleased to announce that I've added several features to the core functionality of POFFS. My coding skill is nowhere close to the ability of Mr. Hagsten's; but, I think that the changes are pretty solid and functional as I've been using the updated version for quite some time.

• POFFS is restricted to one instance and will bring the first instance to the forefront if executed again.
• The virtual list of topics, authors and dates is now scrollable using the mousewheel.
• Fixed bug pointed out by Jules Marchildon. The horizontal/vertical scrollbars of the EDM32 edit control were being sliced thin by the thick frame in Windows Vista.
• Added the ability to launch the current topic's URL in the default web browser. Right-click on the edit/message window and select Launch Link or press Ctrl-L.
• Added printing support using code from Clay Clear. Right-click on the edit/message window or press Ctrl-P. If you select some text it'll print the selection; otherwise, it prints the entire window.
• Added support for bookmarking messages. Press Ctrl-B or right-click to add your current message to the Favorites forum. Select a message under Favorites and you can press Ctrl-D or right-click to remove it.

I've updated the POFFS homepage with the changed executable or you can download the new file here (84 KB). Copy the new executable over the previous one in your POFFS directory and things should be good.

[Gary Beene]

Cool beans!

I've been using the wheel mouse in POFFS from day one (but, of course, it never worked - just force of habit). Thanks for that fix.

[Paul Squires]

Cool Thanks!

[Jules Marchildon]

It's off da hook & I'm stoked !

Thx.
Regards,
Jules

[Paul Squires]

We just need the updated data files now.

[Christopher Carroll]

Excellent Don, thank you.

The Favorites feature is my favourite!

A couple of suggestions which you may like to consider:

1. The ability to search in the 'Favorites' as can be done with individual fora from the top comboboxes.

2. The Search button can search only for the words entered as the initial criteria. My suggestion would be to add another search function so that other words can be looked for in the currently selected topic, independently of the initial criteria.

Much appreciated.

Christopher

[Eddy Van Esch]

Hi Don,

First of all, many thanks for all your work on Poffs !!

I just downloaded Poffs2.40 and copied it 'over' the old version.
When I run Poffs, the GUI looks a bit ... odd.
I added a screenshot.
I'm running it on Win XP SP3.

Kind regards

[Don Ewald]

Greetings!

First off, much thanks for everyone's thoughts and compliments.

@Eddy, that's not good at all. I'm running it on Windows XP SP3 as well and I'm not seeing that. Would you mind sharing your resolution and font size with me? I'll try to replicate it on my end.

[Eddy Van Esch]

Don,

- Resolution: 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Font size: "Normal"
- DPI setting: "Large size (120 DPI)" "125% Normal size"
That last setting might be the culprit. I have had a number of programs showing garbled GUI's because of the DPI setting being different from "Normal".

Also: Is the Poffs main window/dialog created in pixels or units?
DIALOG NEW PIXELS vs DIALOG NEW UNITS (or an SDK equivalent of this)

If the window or dialog is created in pixels rather than units, DPI settings might influence the position and size of its controls.
I usually try to use UNITS.

Kind regards

[David Warner]

The POFFS GUI looks ok to me with these settings...

- Resolution: 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Font size: "Large Fonts"
- DPI setting: "Normal size (96 DPI)"

Best Regards,

David

P.S. Many thanks for the update Don.

[Eddy Van Esch]

Don,

Changing my DPI settings to normal is enough to make Poffs 2.40 look okay!

DPI setting: "Normal size (96 DPI)"

Kind regards

[Don Ewald]

Greetings Eddy!

Yep, it appears the DPI setting is creating the conflict. I can successfully recreate that problem and I'll look into resolving it. I don't want to force folks to change their settings every time they'd like to use POFFS. I'm going to have to dig into the code to find the problem. I appreciate the bug report and the tips to fix it.

[Don Ewald]

Greetings!

We just need the updated data files now.

Though PowerBasic has graciously allowed Mr. Hagsten and I to update and publicly release the databases in the past, I no longer have that permission. I've previously reached out to them to ask for continued permission and I hope to receive their permission in the future.

[Rudolf Fürstauer]

Don, Thank you for your great work!

I hope Mr. Zale will be gracious, because for me Poffs is one of the most important tools to work with PB.

[Paul Squires]

Greetings!

Though PowerBasic has graciously allowed Mr. Hagsten and I to update and publicly release the databases in the past, I no longer have that permission. I've previously reached out to them to ask for continued permission and I hope to receive their permission in the future.

Well, that sucks. Having POFFS as an offline forum reference is a great resource and time saver when not having an internet connection. Time for me to send in another new feature suggestion.