RELEASE NOTES – SENTINEL v5.06.00
26 January 2009
Table of Contents
Third
Party Components and Files
Compatibility with Other TEKLYNX Software
Software Protection Mode and Data Execution
Prevention
The
SENTINEL software protection mode requires the following configuration to run
on systems supporting Windows Data Execution Prevention (DEP) mechanisms.
All
following executable files must be added to the DEP list of exceptions.
Configuration Details
1.
In
the Start menu, right-click My Computer
and select Properties.
2.
Click
the Advanced tab, or on Windows
2008, the Advanced System Settings button.
3.
In
the System Properties window, click the Settings
button in the Performance section.
4.
In
the Performance Option window, click the Data
Execution Prevention tab.
5.
Click
Add to add the following executable
files to the list of exceptions:
<windows>\<syswow64>\TkxKernel50.exe
<Program files>\Sentinel\Sentinel.exe
<Program
files>\Sentinel\Dongle\upgrade.exe
Operating System:
· Windows 2000 SP4
· Windows XP SP3, SP2 x32/x64
· Windows Server 2003
·
Windows
· Windows Server 2008 x32/x64
Components:
· Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and up
· Microsoft MDAC 2.8
Tip: These components are installed automatically during the installation of CODESOFT 8.51. So it is more convenient to install CODESOFT before SENTINEL.
Installation requires administrator’s privileges.
5.06
·
The
CODESOFT Printing plug-in will now automatically restart the print engine if it
was unloaded from memory for any reason. This feature is enabled by default. It
can be disabled by modifying the TKXCS.xml plug-in
file in the General section by setting the RestartPE node to 0 instead of 1. This
feature was introduced to avoid the propagation of error from one failing
sentinel to the other sentinels through a defective print engine. After a print failure, the error was
correctly reported for the sentinel trying to print but after that, other
sentinels would get the hanged shared print engine and would also fail.
·
When
issuing many print commands for a single label, the printer can waste some time
in communication and memory management (that is, half a second) between printing
each label. If you are printing many labels, the overall printing time increases
greatly. A new option in the CODESOFT Print plug-in allows buffering all the
print orders of one job (same incoming file, same label on same printer). The
group of print commands is sent in one message to the printer. To test if this
option can speed up your printings, modify the TKXCS.xml
plug-in file in the General section by setting the JobBuffering node to -1 instead of 0.
·
A
new option for the File Capture plug-in allows sorting files by name instead of
sorting them by date. This is useful if file groups are created so rapidly that
they have the same creation date and time. To use this option, the generated
file names must follow a strict convention. For example, they could use a
counter on 8 digits (with padding zero) like 0000001.txt, 0000002.txt, and so
on. To activate the alphabetical sort, open the TKXINPUT.xml
file and set the SortAlpha node to -1 instead of 0.
·
New
control variable: @PAGE_BREAK. By
setting a value in the @PAGE_BREAK control variable, the next print job will be
followed by an End of Page command. It allows reproducing of the side-effect of
the @FORMFEED control variable that was part of previous versions of SENTINEL.
·
In
Sentinel Backup Server (SBS), when the communication between the two SENTINEL
servers was lost due to network failure (not server failure), the backup server
correctly switched to primary mode. But on returning to the network, it would
stay in this mode, leaving two primary servers running. Now, the backup server
continues to test the main server to detect the return of network
communications. When the main server is detected running in primary mode, the
backup server automatically returns to secondary mode. When the main server is
detected running in secondary mode, the backup server stays in primary mode
until manual action is taken. While network communication is down, the backup
server displays that it is in backup primary mode instead of primary mode.
5.05
·
SENTINEL
is now certified for the Works With Windows
Server 2008 designation.
·
In
the Mapper Test window, the control variable @JOB_NAME has now its own column. It
is no more mixed with dynamically generated values in the column labelled *.
·
During
data mining, the control variable @JOB_NAME now always retains its value across
blocs. This overrides the Keep Value
setting.
·
The
control variables @OFFSETX and @OFFSETY now accept relative values: if the
value begins with a plus sign, the value is added to the print offset saved in
the label. Without a + sign, the offset is absolute and overrides the print
offset saved in the label. For example, if a horizontal print offset of 100 is
saved in the label:
o
a
value of 20 for @OFFSETX gives a final offset of 20
o
a
value of +20 gives a final offset of 120
o
a
value of -20 gives a final offset of -20
o
a
value of +-20 gives a final offset of 80
5.04
·
SENTINEL
is now compliant with the Windows Vista security system. No user file or
setting is written in Sentinel program file folder. All settings are stored in
the Document folder common to all users.
·
The
MAPPER conversion method "replace string" has been extended to allow
for multiple replacements. If the search string starts with ((list;))=
it defines a list of strings separated by a semi-colon. To use another
separator, modify the character following the "list" keyword. For
example, ((list+))=
uses the + sign as separator. The idea is to use a character that never appears
in the listed strings. To do multiple replace, use the list keyword in the
'search string' parameter and a plain string in the 'replace with' parameter.
o
Example
1:
- Search ((list,))=\,:,<,>
- Replace with _
> Means: characters 'back slash', 'colon', 'less than', 'greater than' are all
replaced by an underscore.
To do
parallel replace, use the list keyword in both parameters.
o
Example
2:
- Search ((list,))=à,â,ä,é,è,ê,ë,î,ï,ô,ö,û,ü,ÿ
- Replace with ((list,))=a,a,a,e,e,e,e,i,i,o,o,u,u,y
> Means: accentuated characters are replaced by their non-accentuated form.
o
Example
3:
- Search ((list:))=commande:archive:client:€:{EOF}
- Replace with ((list:))=order::customer:$:<END>
> Means: French word 'commande' and
'client' are translated to English. The 'archive' word is replaced by nothing
(dropped). The euro sign is replaced by the dollar sign. The end of file is
replaced by the string <END> (i.e. the string is appended to the end of
file).
To
achieve a string swap, you have to use a temporary string (not appearing in
your data). For example, to swap characters ‘a’ and ‘b’ use the setting:
- Search ((list,))=a,b,????
- Replace with ((list,))=????,a,b
5.03
·
The
CODESOFT printing plug-in is able to connect to LABEL ARCHIVE Server. You can
then print the labels that are stored into the central database of the LABEL
ARCHIVE Server and keep track of the printing history of your labels. Note: The SENTINEL process consumes 5 user
licenses on the LABEL ARCHIVE Server. If you intend to use the new image output
feature of SENTINEL, one additional user license will be consumed on the LABEL
ARCHIVE Server.
·
New
control variable: @JOB_NAME. The
@JOB_NAME control variable gives a name to the transaction or group of
transactions executed by the process plug-in.
If the variable is not explicitly assigned, the file name will be used as the
job name. This information is used for the archiving system’s print history log
to help you to quickly find and retrieve a print job.
·
New
control variable: @PRINT_IMAGE. A
new feature of the plug-in allows generating a bitmap image of your labels
using the data provided by the analyzing process. This feature can be used for
example to display the image of the label into your application before it is
printed. Warning: This feature slows
down the SENTINEL printing process and is not recommended in massive label
production environments. To activate this feature you need to assign a filename
to the @PRINT_IMAGE variable. In addition you may also modify the sentinel
settings in the TKXCS xml file to define how the image generation should work.
Here is the description of the settings:
o
<ImagePath>C:\Output
image</ImagePath>
Allow to specify the default directory where to store
the images if the control variable @PRINT_IMAGE doesn't provide this
information.
o
<ImageName>0</ImageName>
0: The image filename uses the value in @JOB_NAME variable followed by date and
hour.
1: The image filename uses the value in @LABEL_NAME followed by date and hour.
16: The image filename uses the value in @JOB_NAME variable only (files are
overwritten if the Job Name is identical between two image output).
17: The image filename uses the value in @LABEL_NAME. The same label always output
the same image filename.
o
<ImageMode>0</ImageMode>
0 (auto): The sentinel outputs an image if a value is assigned to @PRINT_IMAGE.
If this variable is not set, then the sentinel works normally and prints a label.
1 (both): The sentinel prints a label and outputs an image according to its
settings or/and the @PRINT_IMAGE variable.
2 (image): The sentinel never prints any label but only outputs images.
3 (print): The sentinel always prints a label and does not use image settings
or the value of @PRINT_IMAGE.
·
New
control variables: @OFFSETX and @OFFSETY. The numerical values in these
variables will introduce a print shift in tenth of millimetres (the value for
one inch would be 254). Allowed values range from -32768 to 32767. Note: These variables may not be
available depending of your label design software.
5.02
·
A
new setting can be set for the File Capture plug-in. It introduces a delay
between file detection and file opening. This is useful when several files are
dropped in the watched folder. Without this delay, the first copied file is
open before the end of the copy and then the order in which files are processed
does not follow date and time.
This setting is only accessible by edition of the TKXINPUT xml file by adding a
node called Retention in the
sentinel node. The value is in milliseconds. Example: To wait 1 second: …<Retention>1000</Retention>…
·
A
new setting can be set for the File Capture plug-in. It uses a temporary file
naming to avoid locking the original file name. In detail, the incoming ready
file is renamed to <sentinels name>.tmp
before processing. That way, the sending application can reuse the same
filename without having to wait for the file to be deleted at the end of processing.
This setting is only accessible by edition of the TKXINPUT xml file by adding a
node called UseTemp in the sentinel node. Value is 0 for Off
and 1 for On. Example: …<UseTemp>1</UseTemp>…
·
A
new setting can be set for the File Capture plug-in. It forces continuous
processing of the same file data until a new file is received (then the
printing can be remotely controlled from the printer ‘online’ button). If the
newly received file is 3 or less characters long (like the word END), the processing
stops. This setting is only accessible by edition of the TKXINPUT xml file by
adding a node called NonStop in the sentinel node. Value is 0
for Off and 1 for On. Example: …<NonStop>1</NonStop>… Note: This setting only works if the UseTemp setting is activated.
·
A
new setting can be set for the CODESOFT Print plug-in when using direct mode
printing (serial, parallel or TCP/IP). It defines a timeout delay for aborting
printing.
This setting is only accessible by edition of the TKXCS xml file by adding a
node called PrintTimeout in the sentinel node. Value is in seconds.
Example: …<PrintTimeout>30</PrintTimeout>…
·
A
new setting can be set for the CODESOFT Print plug-in. It allows for a
designated printer to override the label orientation saved in the label file.
This is useful when printing the same label on printers physically facing
different directions. This setting is available for each printer in the printer
list of the plug-in dialog box.
|
Version |
Defect ID |
Description |
|
|
|
|
|
5.06 |
|
|
|
|
16304 |
In the
Manager, after validating one sentinel’s settings, clicking New Sentinel,
then closing the dialog box from the control box (X button), an Evaluation Mode
message was displayed. |
|
|
|
Activation
of the newly installed software protected SENTINEL is now possible from a
remote console. The console must be started with the command that get the
already open server session (not creating a new session). To do this, run: Mstsc /console, or Mstsc /admin (under Windows XP SP2 and later) |
|
|
16272 |
In the
Mapper, when switching language with a map already open, some global settings
like input file conversions were lost. |
|
|
16240 |
When
SENTINEL is uninstalled and reinstalled to a different path, plug-ins are
unavailable. |
|
|
16230 |
In the
Web Manager, it is possible to set the same alias to more than one printer. |
|
|
16194 |
When
starting the service from the tray icon and quitting right away, the
executable sentinel.exe stays locked in memory. It cannot be restarted
without terminating the task or closing the Windows session. |
|
|
16155 |
It is
possible to input a negative value in the Interval field of the File Watch input plug-in. |
|
|
16150 |
It is
possible to input only separators ( ; ) in the Filter field of the File Watch input plug-in. |
|
|
15423, 15577, 15578, 15579 |
See new
feature: Restart Print Engine. |
|
|
15250 |
Mapper freezes
when opening an XML map without a work file. |
|
|
15253 |
SBS runs
with two primary servers when a network issue happens. |
|
|
15254 |
Execution
error N°5 with Mapper. |
|
|
15266 |
Mapper and
field selection after modifying a parameter is lost. |
|
|
15380 |
Execution
error N°11 with Mapper. |
|
|
15383 |
Execution
error N°9 with Mapper. |
|
|
|
The
control variable @FORMFEED is no longer supported in Sentinel 5. See new
feature: @PAGE_BREAK. |
|
|
|
When using
the TCP/IP plug-in as input and report with several clients connected to
receive reports, the plug-in would enter an infinite loop and keep processing
the same data over and over again. |
|
5.05 |
|
|
|
|
|
CODESOFT
Printing plug-in: Having two labels with the same name in two different
folders would give unpredictable results if they also had different variables
(one could be re-used instead of loading the other). |
|
|
|
The print
offset was set to zero when no value was passed to control variables @OFFSETX
and @OFFSETY (overriding offset saved in the label). |
|
5.04 |
|
|
|
|
|
If the
assistant is cancelled during a substructure definition, the zone containing
the current substructure will be removed. |
|
|
|
An empty
zone name is no longer allowed in the New Zone Assistant. |
|
|
|
In the New
Map Assistant, the filename is checked. It cannot be empty, point to a folder
instead of a file, contain invalid characters, or be located in an
unreachable/read only folder. |
|
|
|
Under some
rare occasions, while creating a new sentinel, the Print Image option introduced in version 5.03 would be set by
default and then image files would generate during prints. |
|
|
|
In some
case, a new incoming job would not be detected. It was processed only when
another job would trigger the job detection mechanism. |
|
|
|
In some
case, the plug-in was using 100% of the CPU time while waiting for new jobs.
It was resuming normal wait state after a new job was processed. |
|
5.03 |
|
|
|
|
|
Some
memory leak has been detected on the 5.02 version that could lead to the
instability of the label printing system in the long term. |
The installation of SENTINEL may
update your system with third-party components and files.
These third-party files are not yet
Windows Server 2008 compliant and might lack information such as company name
or version number, or they may be missing a digital signature. These files are
produced by Macromedia (InstallShield items), and
Microsoft (Visual C++ items).
InstallShield Files:
C:\Windows\Installer\{40C1E969-D0FD-4E01-A782-8E282A47E591}\ARPPRODUCTICON.exe
Microsoft Files (‘…’ stands for a 50 characters long serial number):
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.atl_...\ATL80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_...\msvcm80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_...\msvcp80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.crt_...\msvcr80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfc_...\mfc80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfc_...\mfc80u.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfc_...\mfcm80.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfc_...\mfcm80u.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80CHS.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80CHT.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80DEU.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80ENU.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80ESP.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80FRA.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80ITA.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80JPN.dll
C:\Windows\WinSXS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfcloc_...\mfc80KOR.dll
SENTINEL is compatible with the following TEKLYNX software packages:
·
CODESOFT 8.50 to 8.51.01
·
LABEL ARCHIVE 2.05
Copyright 2009 Braton Groupe sarl. All rights reserved. TEKLYNX and its products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Braton Groupe sarl or its affiliated companies. All other brands and product names are the trademarks of their respective owners.
This release notes document is for informational purposes only. Product specifications are likely to change.