~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

                           wbiff!  v1.5

                      mailbox flag for Windows

                            12/05/1999

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
                                       Copyright  1999 by F. Sadaghiani


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------

wbiff! is a very small 32-bit internet application that automatically 
checks your e-mail and notifies you if any new e-mail has been received.
Its small size, customisablity and screen presence make it the perfect 
application for those of you who don't like to keep bulky e-mail readers
constantly running.

Please visit the wbiff! web site for more information (see contact info
section for the URL).


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distribution
------------------------------------------------------------------------

wbiff! is avialable in two different editions, one for Windows 95/98 and
one for Windows NT. Please see the web page for information about these 
different editions.

  --------------------------------------------------------------
  File listing  
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  wbiff.exe       Main program executable (32 KB)
  settings.exe    Settings program executable (188 KB)
  readme.txt      This file
  default.bmp     Default skin file - image
  default.wbs     Default skin file - initialization script
  flagdown.ico    Default skin file - flag down icon
  flagup.ico      Default skin file - flag up icon


The program "settings.exe" is run automatically by wbiff! whenever you 
modify the program settings; there is no need to run this program
yourself. Separating the wbiff! from the settings program allows wbiff!
to run with less overhead by consuming less system resources and memory.



------------------------------------------------------------------------
History
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
06/09/1999 - v1.0 
 - Initial release

07/13/1999 - v1.1
 - Added
  + multiple e-mail account support
  + enabled/disabled modes
  + animated task tray icon & audio notification
  + easy to use settings interface
  + better error reporting
 - Bug fixes
 - Updated skin file format (new format is backward compatible)
 - Windows 95/98 support

07/20/1999 - v1.2
 - Enabled registration system
 - Support for region information in skins
 - Bug fixes

07/25/1999 - v1.3
 - Bug fix: settings program. There were problems on systems
   with multiple users.
 - Bug fix: skin format. The popup menu that appeared when 
   clicking the "System" button always appeared at the coordinates
   x,y = 5,5. The menu now appears in the corner of the actual
   button
 - Bug fix: menu. Windows 98 users would see a horizontal bar 
   in the wbiff! window without the custom text. The custom 
   text now appears.
 - Added new region mechanism. See skins section of for more
   information.
 - On error no longer says "No new messages"

08/02/1999 - v1.31
 - Added: Process priority automatically switches from idle to 
   normal when the window is restored. This may have caused 
   drawing problems for people with slower computers.
 - Bug fix: Selecting an invalid skin would cause the program 
   window to not repaint itself.
 - Updated: Skin selection interface has been updated.
 - Bug fix: Newly selected skins would not update the main window.

09/27/1999 - v1.4
 - wbiff! window no longer pops up after modifying the program 
   settings.
 - Added advanced options page: process priority and startup options.
 - Last updated time now in local user time format (not 24-hour 
   time format).
 - Tray icon stays in "flag up" state after new mail is received (if 
   the option is selected).
 - Customizable tray icons.
 - Added new skins (see web page for details).
 - Fixed bug that caused wbiff! to erroneously report missing settings 
   information during startup. This would only occur if user was using 
   Windows 95/98 and did not have networking protocol(s) installed.
 - Removed code that dynamically adjusted thread priority based on 
   wbiff! usage. You can change the process priority on the 
   Settings->Advanced property page.
 - Added about box (reports program version number).

12/04/1999 - v1.5

New features in this release:

- Two new skins added: Green Stripey and Apple OS8
- Mailbox summary window displays e-mail headers (from, date, and
  subject fields for each message).
  - Option to display headers after checking for new e-mail
- User-programmable hot keys for selected actions: toggle main
  window, toggle summary window, obtain e-mail count and launch
  e-mail client.
- Easy move window mode (i.e. drag the window from any point rather
  than just from the caption).
- Customizable window font face and font size. Note that specifying a
  font size will only take effect if a font face is specified in the 
  selected skin file. Currently, only the Apple OS skin specifies a
  font face -- Arial.
- Always on top toggle option.
- Better error reporting (display server responses along with error).
- Added "Clear Flag" option: clears the mailbox flag. The flag won't be
  reset until more e-mail is received.

Bug fixes:

- Choosing "Run Client" from the menu now correctly resets flag
  and icon states.
- Tray text and window text are now fully syncrhonized. In the 
  previous version the tray would only update itself after a 
  manual check for new e-mail; the updates now occur automatically 
  with the rest of the program.
- Fixed redraw problem that would occur when new e-mail was received 
  while the window was minimized -- only the flag rectangle was visible.
  Now, the entire window properly paints itself.
- Several minor bugs.
   
Other (mostly minor changes):

- Settings information is stored in the Windows registry rather than 
  the SETTINGS.INI file.
- Added missing accelerator hot keys in settings.
- Interface changes: "Run Client" menu option located at the bottom of 
  the menu for easier access from system tray.
- Added "Summary" menu option to toggle visibilty of Summary window.
- Added "Clear Flag" menu option to toggle clear the mailbox flag.
- Better button user interface in main window & summary window.
- Skins tab now shows skin name & author instead of skin file name.
- About box (initially menu->wbiff!->About) is now a "version" box that 
  reports the program executable version & relesae date. "About"
  information can be found in the settings dialogs.
- New default flag up & flag down icons for system tray.
- Changed the window text format. Text now reads "No new messages; checked 
  at X" instead of "No new messages (checked @ X)" where X is the last 
  time checked.
- Tray icon now uses specified Icon_FlagDown variable in skin instead of 
  the program icon.
- Modified the "Mailchecker" skin's font rectangle definition; it was
  too small.
- Adding/Removing/Modifying an account in the settings resets the state of 
  the mailbox(es) to unchecked.



------------------------------------------------------------------------
License Agreement
------------------------------------------------------------------------

wbiff! is copyright  1999 by F. Sadaghiani 

The author (F. Sadaghiani) grants a free 21 day license for use of this 
software (wbiff!), starting from the date of receipt, after which time 
said software must be registered with appropriate compensation and 
registration forms. You may not use this software beyond the free 21 day
licensing period unless the previously stated conditions have been
satisfied. You must purchase a separate copy of the software for each
computer on which it is used. 

The author does not grant permission to distribute the software for 
profit in any form, including but not limited to, CD distribution 
whether commercial or otherwise, or bulletin board distribution. 
Non-profit distribution through electronic means (e.g., FTP 
download/mirrors) is permitted. 

The author is not responsible for any damage to the purchaser's computer 
system or data and in no event will the author be responsible to the 
purchaser for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages 
(including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption,
loss of business information and the like) arising out of the use or 
inability to use this software, even if the author has been advised 
of the possibility of such damages.



------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact information
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please contact me with any bugs, (modest) feature requests or comments.

  web:   http://members.home.net/fsadagh/wbiff/index.html
  email: fsadagh@home.com (place "wbiff" in the subject line)





