Open Window Software News Summer 2007 A Free E-mail Newsletter from Open Window Software Featuring Tips on Using the WinFlash Suite, HandyCards and Flashcard Exchange We don't usually send out a newsletter over the summer, but are doing so this time because we feel our most recent update to the WinFlash programs is important enough to bring to your attention. If you use or are planning to use graphics in your study files, please be sure to read Recommendations for Using Graphics in WinFlash as well. Contents: 1) WinFlash v10.1 Released 2) WinFlash Feature Highlight - Embedded web links 3) Recommendations for Using Graphics in WinFlash 4) Free Upgrades for Referring Your Friends 5) Study Tip - Keep Your Study Files 'Live' 6) Latest In-line Program Updates --------------------------------------------------- 1) WinFlash v10.1 Released V10.1 of the WinFlash programs includes several bug fixes and a couple of significant feature additions. The first new feature is that content can now be imported from Microsoft Word two-column table format and will retain any formatting present in the original document. Since MANY sources of information can be pasted into MS Word in table format, this is a big step forward in being able to handle complex formatting from outside sources. Another feature enhancement is the addition of shortcut keys for the most frequently used font effects. In the editor, simply select the text you wish to format and then type Ctrl-B to make it bold, Ctrl-U to underline it or Ctrl-I to make it italic. Note: there's a known issue with this new capability - you must open the right-click popup window in the editor one time after the first time you open the editor in the session to 'load' these shortcuts. We're working with the component developer to remove this inconvenience and, hopefully will be able to fix it soon. Lastly, we've added the ability to embed web links into the regular Q and A text - a handy feature for referencing web-based documentation in your answers. --------------------------------------------------- 2) WinFlash Feature Highlight - Embedded web links This feature allows you to insert one or more links to external targets - e.g. web pages - in your Questions and Answers. Here's how: 1.Position the cursor at the point you wish to insert the link and right click the mouse. 2. In the popup menu, click Hypertext Link... 3. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog's Text edit box, type the text you wish to appear for the link in the text - e.g. "Click Here". 4. In the Target edit box, type the link you want - e.g. http://www.openwindow.com if you wish the link to start your browser and go to the Open Window web site. However, links don't have to be just web pages - the target could be a Microsoft Word document on your computer - e.g. C:\WordDocs\mywordfile.doc. In this case, when the link is clicked, Word will open with mywordfile.doc loaded. Remember when using this type of link that it likely WON'T work if someone else uses the file on another computer - unless the target file is contained in the same directory as the .flu file. 5. OK the dialog and save the file in the editor as usual. This is a good way to include a great deal of optional information in your deck without actually having it as part of the deck. This can keep the deck fast and manageable while still having access to a huge amount of backup information if it's desired. --------------------------------------------------- 3) Recommendations for Using Graphics in WinFlash Graphics can be included in a study file in several ways: 1. Pasted into the regular text area of a Q or A 2. Pasted or inserted into an .rtf support file with optional text added 3. Pasted from the clipboard into an Editor-generated associated file using the editor's Associated Files panel 4. As an existing graphic file linked to a Q or A using the editor's Associated Files panel 5. Specified to be associated with ALL Q's or A's that do not otherwise have their own graphic associated with them The method used in the Bring On The Multimedia tutorial segment is the fourth in the above list and the Add an Intro and .RTF Support File tutorial segment illustrates the use of the second method. While the first alternative may seem attractively simple, we STRONGLY discourage its use except when the file will contain only one or two graphics entered in this way. Using this approach for files containing many graphics causes the .flu source file to become enormous and can slow editing operations to a crawl. If you want to use graphics by pasting them into the program, we suggest using either methods 2. or 3. If you don't have other reasons for using the .rtf support file, method 3. is probably the best one to use: With the editor open to the pair to which you wish to add the graphic, select the Associated Files panel. Place the graphic you wish to add on the clipboard and click the Paste from Clipboard button in the Associated Files for Question or Associated Files for Answer areas. If you're planning to use already-existing graphics files you can use the fourth method. We suggest putting copies of the graphics files you're going to use in the source file's directory and using a separate directory for each source file. This way you can simply copy the directory anytime you wish to move the project to a new machine. To link a graphic to the given Q or A just browse for the file in the appropriate Associated Files for Question or Associated Files for Answer areas. Lastly, if you'd just like to associate a graphic with each Q and/or A that doesn't have a specific graphic of its own, use Options|View's lower area to browse for or type in filenames for the qraphic(s) to associate with these pairs. --------------------------------------------------- 4) Free Upgrades for Referring Your Friends Quite a few of you earned free upgrades to v10 by referring your friends to us! Have a friend that could use WinFlash? You can earn a free upgrade to the next release of your version of the program (v10 if you haven't upgraded yet or v11 when it comes along if you're already at v10). Just have your friend mention your name in the Comments section when they place their order. A great way to help out a friend and get the next major release gratis! --------------------------------------------------- 5) Study Tip - Keep Your Study Files 'Live' Consider the construction of your study file just the beginning. Even if you have a fixed set of data you're trying to learn, you can enrich the file by adding new interrelationships and associations while you study. You know the feeling - you're looking at the question for a pair for which you know the answer, but you think "Yeah, but what about the case where...". While you have that thought fresh in your mind, just type the shortcut Ctrl-I or right-click on the Question dialog's text and select Insert New Q&A Pair After This One. This will bring up the editor and allow you to add a pair that contains the refinement that you've just conceived. Click Save, then close the editor and continue with your study session. --------------------------------------------------- 6) Latest In-line Program Updates The 10.10.00 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. Disabled ShowMyAnswer button when displaying the answer for Standard Pairs 2. Enhanced the Import from Windows Clipboard mode to handle Unicode and font effects 3. Corrected issue where an overwrite of a file by imported data did not correctly remove some of the support files that had been associated with the overwritten pairs 4. Fixed problem that caused imported text to be difficult to select and edit 5. Fixed similar problem with files created by the Create Composite Source File tool 6. Corrected problems with the server version caused by Vista 7. Fixed problem where a pasted table in Q or A text didn't restore/display properly 8. Fixed crash in Basic and Scholar when creating .fls (old source format) file 9. Fixed problem in filter where the deselected field(s) referenced the wrong attribute 10. Corrected problem in returning from an Open In Editor session in a Leitner-mode file 11. Enabled hyperlinks in regular text for Q and A 12. Fixed the installer so it doesn't remove the uninstall for previous versions of the program 13. Added shortcut keys to toggle Bold, Italic and Underline in editor The 10.00.06 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. Corrected problem on some systems where the internal program menu links to Help items and Demo items were non-functional 2. Fixed problem where the Q number did not always match the A number on the first pair displayed after returning from an editing session The 10.00.05 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. Corrected problem with saving the audio file associated with the introduction 2. Fixed problem with running study files located on CDROM's 3. Fixed 'Can't locate v10.jpg' error when new file was created immediately after viewing the Unicode demo file 4. Corrected conflict between the Bullets and Numbering dialog and having skins turned on 5. Modified right-click popups in the Editor so that they are consistent, adding the Thesaurus function that was missing from most of them The 10.00.04 update to all WinFlash versions addresses the following issues: 1. No longer need to have an 'actual character' in the Q or A - a stand-alone graphic or object will now work correctly 2. Locked out redisplay of Intro when AutoPilot is running 3. Added 'possible delay' warnings when the advance statistics button is pressed and when a print preview is being generated 4. Printer setup can now be called from Produce Printed Test 5. Open to Editor Find and Replace "no more matches" message corrected 6. Modified filtering so priority pairs can be extracted 7. Changed defaults for table/card printing 8. Modified directory usage to run properly on Windows '9x --------------------------------------------------- Need Help? Have A problem? Check out our online listings of the latest releases and the problems that they've solved: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/wfprobs.htm If your issue isn't covered there, please send e-mail to support@openwindow.com and we'll do our best to resolve your problem. --------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: Send e-mail to service@openwindow.com with SUBSCRIBE as the Subject. UNSUBSCRIBE: Simply send an email to service@openwindow.com with REMOVE as the Subject. This newsletter is a free service of Open Window Software and is Copyright © 2007 Open Window Software. All worldwide rights reserved.