Version 4 Beta-2
December 3, 2007
Size 1.69 MB

Back to version 3.3

Thank you for testing AZZ Cardfile.

This is a beta version; therefore it is intended but not guaranteed to be bug-free. Please be prepared for possible unexpected crashes; so please make sure to back up your files frequently.

Please note, that in this beta version the help files are incomplete.

If you have never used AZZ Cardfile before, I recommend downloading and trying the stable release version 3.3 (www.azzcardfile.biz/download.htm)

What is New

Version 4 is made as a new application – I almost didn’t use the code from previous versions. That’s why it has taken so much time to create. Although the program’s appearance is similar to the previous version (I’ve tried to make it as simple as possible), the functionality is highly improved.

File Format

Instead of RTF heap (versions 3.x), modern XML standard was applied. This will let simplifying import-export functions; however, safety reasons are more important. In case of file damage (after computer breakdown or whatever), data restoring is easier than before, because card content is represented as a plain text in an XML file. By the way, MS Office 2007 applications also use compressed XML files to store documents.
No more temporary files are created during file opening, using and closing. All these procedures take place in computer memory.

File Locations

A new folder “\My Documents\My azzCardfile Files” is created after AZZ Cardfile installation. Sample.azz file is located there. I recommend keep your all azz files in this folder.

Program and help files are located in “\Program Files\azzCardfile”. It is not recommend to change anything in this folder (especially using Windows Vista system).

In a version 4 all settings are moved from the Windows Registry to “.ini” files. They are located in “…\Application Data\azzCardfile” folder. You can import or export AZZ Cardfile settings from “Tools | Options” dialog.

Grouping of Cards

This most-wanted feature has finally been implemented. Grouping is realized by vertical tabs located on the left side of the cards list. You can manage groups by selecting the menu item “Card | Groups” or just right-clicking on the group tabs. After creating a new Cardfile, two tabs are visible – “all” and “new”. Really these tabs don’t represent groups - they are controls for viewing all cards or creating a new group. Assign selected cards to the group by dragging them to the group’s tab or by selecting “Assign to group” in the list’s popup menu. The program doesn’t keep cards in groups, as files in folders. A group consists of a list of links, not real cards. Therefore, if you remove a card from the group, it will remain in the file and you can see it by selecting the “all” tab.

If you don’t use grouping, you can hide the group tabs by deselecting “Groups” in the “View” menu.

Card Icons (New in Beta-2)

I have been frequently asked to make it possible to highlight individual cards by color or font. This is not easy to implement using a standard Windows list box, so my solution is to show icons of the cards. This new feature is disabled by default, because I think most users will not use it. If you want to activate card icons, right-click on the card list and select “Show Icons”.(Or select this on the “Card” menu.) Then select a suitable icon in the task pane and click “Apply”. (Or just double-click the icon.)

Cards Editor

Many new features have been implemented in the version 4: enhanced Font and Paragraph formatting, borders and backgrounds, lists, and more. Now you can create and format tables, using default or custom styles. You can use the ruler to change indents and tabs.

Header

You can change the style of the Card Header (selected card title above the card) by selecting formatted text in the card and then selecting “apply style to header” in the card’s popup menu. This allows applying all text and paragraph formatting possibilities not only to the application screen header, but also to the printed page headers. See some header samples in “Sample.azz” (card "Header styles").

Task Panel

This docked window helps you to perform some common tasks as searching, working with styles, etc.

Dialing

Modem selecting and configuring now is possible. You can create dialing hyperlinks (see below).

Hyperlinks

Together with standard hyperlinks (“http:”, “mailto:”, “file:”, etc.), new special hyperlinks have been implemented: “dial:” and “card:”. You can dial a phone number or go to a specific card by clicking on these hyperlinks.

Searching

I have received many requests to make a more advanced search possible. The Advanced Search procedure (task panel) has been implemented for that. You can add prefixes “+”, “-“, quotes and brackets to the search criteria. The cards matching the entered search criteria will be placed in a special results group.

USB flash drive support

A wizard will help you to place the AZZ Cardfile application and your data on a USB flash drive, iPod, or a portable hard drive and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind. You can run this wizard by selecting menu item “Tools | Flash Drive”.

Text file importing (New in Beta-2)

When selecting a text (*.txt) or coma separated values (*.csv) file in the “File | Import” dialog, a wizard helps to convert a plain text file to AZZ Cardfile cards. With this wizard you can easily import MS Outlook Express Address Book files, Outlook Contacts, or any other application data previously exported to delimited text.

BACKUP YOUR AZZ FILES BEFORE TESTING.

Installation

You don’t need to uninstall existing AZZ Cardfile application before installing version 4. A new version will not change older settings; therefore, both versions can coexist in the same system. You can even open azz file with different program versions by selecting “Open With” in Windows Explorer popup menu.

However, after you save a file with version 4, you can’t open it with earlier version (backup file “.version3.azz.bak” will be created).

If you decide return to version 3 after making changes in your data files, you should export them back to version 3 format: select “File | Export“ in menu and select “AZZ Cardfile version 3...” in “Save as type”. After that you can uninstall version 4 and continue to use version 3.

 What's Next?

There are still some issues that are not fixed, and some constructive suggestions not yet implemented.

Of course, I'm still working on them, but I don't want to make you wait forever!

So I will leave further development for the next version (4.1).

I'm now concentrating on finalizing version 4: Help files, manuals and other documentation, web site, new icons, etc. During such not so pleasant but necessary work (I prefer coding), I will continue to fix any serious bugs, if you report them.

I also plan to change the AZZ Cardfile 4 registration method. Instead of registration codes (Serial Number and User ID), I am thinking about sending a digitally signed license text file.

I am also thinking about raising the price to $25, because I need more time for proper support of AZZ Cardfile. (I need to resign from some other freelance programming projects.) However, I haven't finally decided this yet.
I'd really appreciate your opinion about this.

Later (version 4.1) I intend to implement the USB flash drive U3 standard and the spell-check possibility for different languages, and to improve the printing choices.

I also regret that the much-requested possibility to use the Cardfile on various hand-held devices is not implemented yet; I would like to assure you that I am working on this, and one day there will be a Hand Held AZZ Cardfile.

I would like to thank all the beta testers for their efforts and invaluable feedback, which has been helping to keep the Cardfile as good as possible.

I do apologize to those testers that do not receive my immediate replies: please be assured that all your comments are being carefully considered.

Antanas Zdramys LY1DL
author of AZZ Cardfile

Download version 4 beta for testing...

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