Hello all,

Yep! It's true! b8 is here!! You didn't think I'd leave you with an expired
version of everyone's favourite piece of utility software, did you???

Get the new version from this page:

<http://homepage.mac.com/ugtech/files/index.html>

Read the new docs here:

<http://www.chac.qld.edu.au/~smacdonald/sw/labhand/beta/b8docs.html>

LabHand b8 will expire at the end of May, 2002. That's in three months'
time. If I can't manage to get a new version out by then, I give someone
permission to whip me.

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What's New in b8???

I fixed a bug that prevented locked items from being deleted when LabHand
was trying to delete files (eg when deleting the Users folder, deleting
preferences, etc)


I've also added a new feature, "Set IE Cache".

This option will make LabHand set the location of the Internet Explorer
"cache.waf" file for each user that logs in to a machine. To get it to work,
you need to set the location in System Access to somewhere, like this:

€ Log in on your machine
€ Open Internet Explorer
€ Open the Preferences window
€ In the "Advanced" section, click the "Change Location..." button in the
"Cache" box, and specify that you want it in the "Application Support"
folder of the local System Folder.

You might have to go around to each machine and manually do this, or you
might be able to copy the "Internet Preferences" file from this machine to
each of your other machines (using something like Network Assistant).

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Updating

LabHand is quite happy to do the hard task of updating itself. If you use
the "Client Updating" feature, you'll have a folder called "LabHand Updates"
on your update volume. Just put the b8 "LabHand Extension" in this folder,
and the next time your clients connect to the update server, they'll
download the new version and install it.

Keep in mind that each new version of LabHand will delete the old version's
preferences, so make sure you use LabHand Prefs Editor to correctly set up
the extension before you put it on your update server.


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I've been absolutely swamped at work this year, so some emails have probably
gone unanswered. I've tried my best to reply to each and every email I get,
but I'm sure I've missed some. If you send me an email, and you don't get a
reply within a few days, just send it to me again.

I'm currently rewriting LabHand from scratch. This is because the current
version is a BIG mess, and it's very hard for me to maintain and update. I
want to get a re-written version done before the current version gets too
out of hand, and becomes impossible for me to update.

The final version will be based on the rewritten code (in theory), and I
hope to have it done soon (within the next month or so).

My plan is to release one more beta, based on the re-write, and then release
the final version.



Feel free to join the LabHand/File Blaster mailing list:

<http://www.chac.qld.edu.au/~smacdonald/sw/fb/list.html>





That's about it...




Best regards,

Stewart
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| Stewart Macdonald | Cannon Hill Anglican College |
| Computer Guy |Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA |
| <http://homepage.mac.com/tiliqua/>| <http://www.chac.qld.edu.au> |
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