Functional Changes Prior to V6

Media Assets

Video and Image Media Assets - NewsBoss can now manage video and image media assets along with audio assets. NewsBoss Audio Libraries are now referred to as Media Asset Libraries (MALs). MALs can be configured to manage audio, video and images. Only media types (audio, video or images) matching those configured for a MAL are listed in media asset lists. Selecting a video or image asset shows an appropriate viewer window in the Browse tab. Functions suitable for the media asset type are available. Video and image media asset links can be inserted into stories in the same manner as audio asset links. Video assets are linked with a "VidID:" tag and image assets are linked with a "PicID:" tag. Video and image media assets linked in a story can be previewed by right-clicking on the link and selecting Preview from the context menu.
Video and image media assets can be exported in the NewsBoss export functions (transmitters, automatic queue export etc). (V5.13e.1)

NewsBoss

Story Slug, Headlines and Byline now indexed - The NewsBoss word indexer now indexes the story Slug Headline and Byline fields. New options in the Search Database dialog allow these fields to be selected when searching. (V5.12a.1)
Cut Duration in h:m:s - Audio cuts information in stories now shows the duration in h:m:s. (V5.12d.1)

Prompter

Improved QuickStarts - The QuickStart buttons have been improved with the addition of these functions (V5.12d.1):
    - Buttons can now be laid out in a single proportionally spaced row, or a grid of up to 10 X 10 buttons.
    - Multiple QuickStart button sets can be defined and loaded.
    - Pre-set buttons can be created and used to quickly re-define a button.
    - Buttons can be configured with different colors.
    - Buttons can be configured to a larger height.
    - QuickStart buttons can be configured while a QuickStart is playing.

Audio

MP2 Support - NewsBoss now fully supports MPEG-1 Layer 2 (MP2) audio files. (V5.12d.1)
Automatic Open in Read-Only mode - If an audio file is locked, Audio Editor will prompt to open the file in Read-Only mode. (V5.12d.1)
Play Gauge on Countdown Timer - Audio player countdown timers now have a play gauge showing the play position. (V5.12d.1)
Archive Audio in Different Formats - Audio can now be archived in formats other than MP3. Use the Archive settings in NewsBoss Tools on the server to set the desired format - Wave PCM, MP3, MP3 Wave, MP2, MP2 Wave. (V5.12d.1)
SCOT support - Ability to save audio files with a "scot" header chunk. (Must be enabled in the Advanced Configuration Utility) (V5.12i.1)

Wires

New setting in receiver driver configuration to force a minimum priority level for stories received on a wire. Use this setting to allow notifications from a wire receiver when the receiver would normally set a lower priority for stories. This setting is particularly useful to enable notification from email and RSS receivers. (V5.12e.4)

NewsBoss

Three Audio Players - NewsBoss can now use up to three Audio Players. The former Main player is now Player 1, and the former Alt player is now Player 2. In addition there is now a third player, Player 3 available. (V5.11a.5)

Audio Editor

Audio file Title field added to Save Cut and Cut Information dialogs - The Title can now be explicitly set as opposed to being set automatically from the file name. Title will still default to the file name if left blank. (V5.11c.1)

Wires

Queue Export now includes pictures - The Queue Export function now optionally exports pictures contained in stories. (V5.11c.1)

General

Open Log folder menu command - Added Open Log folder command to Help menus to help locating NewsBoss application log files. (V5.11c.1)

NewsBoss

Auto. Rundown TX - Rundown Queues can be configured to automatically concatenate all contained stories into a single story which is then placed into a transmit queue. (V5.10a.1)
End of Cast - Rundown Queues now have an optional End of Cast position. When enabled, an "End of Cast" line is shown in the rundown story list. Stories positioned after the End of Cast line are not included in the total rundown time. In Prompter moving past the End of Cast line displays a pop-up "End of Cast" message and the story counter background turns red. (V5.10a.1)
Extended [Time: ...] Field format - [Time: .... ] fields in stories now accept hours and minutes along with seconds.
Examples:
[Time: 1:10:15] or [Time: 1h 10m 15s] = 1 hour 10 minutes and 15 seconds,
[Time: 10] or [Time: 10s] = 10 seconds
(Note: If stories are to be distributed to NewsBoss systems prior to V5.10b.2, restrict the field to use seconds only.)
Story Browse Toolbar Button - The toolbar button now has a button to display the story Browse tab. (V5.10c.1)
Roster/Futures/Assignments/Ideas List printing - The lists can now be printed. (V5.10c.6/V5.11a.5)
Rundown List Printing expanded content- If the story list is expanded then the printout will contain expanded content also. (V5.10c.8/V5.11b.2)

Prompter

Story Updated Indicator - If a story that is loaded in Prompter is updated in NewsBoss, Prompter will display the story with red bars on the sides of the window until the story is reloaded. (V5.10a.10)

Wires

Application X button behavior change - Application Close button (X on top-right corner) now closes Wires rather than minimizing it. (V5.10a.1)
Email sender is now placed in story Byline field. (V5.10a.16)
NewsML handles .mp2 - NewsML receiver now downloads .mp2 files and converts them to .wav files. (V5.10b.5)

License Manager

NewsBoss License Manager - NewsBoss License Manager replaces the use of HASP and NetHASP for NewsBoss license management for new installations. HASP and NetHASP licensing will continue to function for current installations but may be converted over to the NewsBoss License Manager. (V5.10b.1).
TCP/IP keep-alive monitoring added (configured in the Advanced Configuration Utility - LicenseServer - DetectBrokenLink/BrokenLinkTimeout) (V5.10b.9)

Remote Server

Dead and Inactive Client Detection -Remote Server now incorporates connection keep-alive and inactive client detection. Keep-alive monitors the state of the TCP/IP connection. If the TCP/IP connection is broken for more than 60 seconds (default - enabled/configured in the Advanced Configuration Utility - Remote Server - DetectBrokenLink/BrokenLinkTimeout), the session is closed. Inactive Client Detection will close sessions that have been inactive for longer than 60 minutes (default - configured on the server in the Advanced Configuration Utility - Remote Server - NBRemoteTimeoutMinutes. Set to 0 to disable.).(V5.10b.9)

Tools

Multiple selection of PC names to add to Faircom server -Multiple PC names can now be selected using the second browse button when adding PC names to Faircom. (V5.10c.1)
License details in About Dialog - License details can now be seen in the Tools - About dialog. About dialog is now re sizable (applies to all applications). (V5.10c.4)

NewsBoss

My Scratch Pad - My Scratch Pad is a text window that auto-saves and loads on logout and login. It can be used for holding any text, audio cut links or hyper-links, etc., that the user desires. A new button on the toolbar is available for showing or hiding it.
Sortable Story Lists - Story lists can now be reordered by Slug and Modified date (rundown queues excepted). The sort order is reset to the default queue order when the queue is reloaded.
Improved display of Contact and Organization details - Also Created/Updated date/time and by information is now recorded. New or modified records display Created and Updated information at the bottom of the details window.
Remote Contacts, Organizations and Futures - Access to remote Contacts and Organizations, and Futures by selecting the Site in the respective dialogs. The Sites are configured in Wires by the NewsBoss administrator.
Rosters, Futures, Assignments and Ideas WYSIWYG Editor - Rosters, Futures, Assignments and Ideas editor is now a WYSIWYG editor. Right click in text for menu options including character formatting and tables.
Recurring Futures and Assignments - Futures and Rosters can now be configured as recurring items.
Editor Tables - Story editor (including My Scratch Pad) now has tables. Right-click in the text for the Table menu.
Unread Messages on Login - System option added to display unread messages on login.
Futures Templates - Futures now has Template items which can be copied to a date range or used for the selected date. (V5.9a.7)
Styles - Paragraph and character styles can be set using Ctrl+Alt+0 to 3. Styles are pre-set and cannot be edited as yet. (V5.9a.7)

Prompter

Clock - Digital clock added to the left control bar (V5.9b.1).

Audio Editor

Single Track Volume Envelope - Allows visual level cut, boost and fade. Waveform displays in single track and multi-track dynamically change as the volume envelope is adjusted (Volume Envelope now included in undo/redo from V5.9a.10).
Drag/Drop from Audio Editor into a Story - Drag/drop from a selection within the waveform or from segments in Audio Editor directly into a story within NewsBoss to create a new audio clip.

Archiver

Audio Archiving - Audio linked to stories is now archived. The Archive must be configured to enable audio archiving and to specify the Windows folder where audio will be archived to. Audio files are archived in high quality mp3 format with unique file names to prevent multiple instances of the same audio.

NewsBoss/Prompter

Improved rundown synchronization between clients to prevent rundown lock delays in Prompter and NewsBoss.
Audio icons in story lists now automatically update with the audio status when stories are changed or added to a queue.

Prompter

"Last Audio Played" icons in the story list. These icons allow the user to easily find the story that audio is currently playing from.
Other Prompter positions now displayed in Prompter. (V5.8a.10)

Wires

Can now specify the audio library where audio cuts are saved in NewsBoss ANPA TX/RX. (380)
IRN UK filter now downloads audio (.mp2) files associated with stories. The audio files must have the same file name as the story files. (V5.8a.15)
Email receiver now automatically decodes attached .m4a audio files (from iPhone, iPad etc.) into PCM .wav files ready for NewsBoss. Cut links are added to the received story as for .wav and .mp3 files. Requires Wires to run on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. (V5.8a.15)

Auto Recorder

File names can now use date/time for rotation part instead of rotation number. (328)

Audio Editor

File open dialog now defaults to both .wav and .mp3 files. (378)

Installer

The Hasp device driver is no longer installed by the installer. It is installed as required if Local Hasp is selected when the Configuration Wizard is run. It is also installed if a NetHasp license manager service is detected. (V5.8a.4)

NewsBoss

Added "top-of-line" filter bar to the story lists. See Help for details. (333)
Added "top-of-line" filter bar to the audio lists. See Help for details. (293)
Added automatic audio confirmation when a queue is loaded. Also a button at the bottom of the story lists to manually confirm all audio cuts in the story list. (344)
Added Queue and Queue right-click context menu option to load the selected Queue into Prompter. If Prompter is not already running then it is started, and logged in with the current NewsBoss user credentials, and the selected Queue is loaded.
Added drop-down travel history menus to Web Browser Back and Forward navigation buttons.
Added "Yes to All" dialog for certain functions. For example, when removing edit locks on multiple stories. (297)
Added support for detecting and processing RSS 1.0 (RDF) files. (307)
Added an audio cut context menu to update the cut details from the actual file. (303)
Audio Manager dialog now remembers the audio library loaded in the bottom pane. Also applies to Audio Editor. (326, 334)
Added XML export for Normal type queues. (327)
Numpad-5 is no longer assigned to playing audio in the Alt audio player. It is now fully disabled. (357)
Added configuration options in NewsBoss to enable the Main and Alt. audio players. (363)
Added "other user editing" warnings to Rosters, Futures, Assignments and Ideas. The user now must click the Edit button to edit one of these items. If another user is currently editing the item, then a message is displayed warning the user that the other user may lose changes if the operation is continued without the other user first saving their work. When an item is being edited, the input fields are now displayed in green. The user must click Save or respond in the affirmative to the warning message for any changes to be saved. (V5.7h.9)

Prompter

Prompter now displays the "Alt." audio player if configured. Configuration is user-dependent. (349)
Open NewsBoss button added to the Prompter toolbar.

Wires

Added indication of hourly purging in the status message list. (298)
Added the HL3 to a second <SubHeadLine> tag. (307)
Added error reporting when FTP upload audio conversion fails. (324)
Added filter for CNN. (343)
Web Interface now allows keep-alive sockets, greatly improving connection and data transfer efficiency. (346)
Added support to download included audio using FTP. This is only enabled for NewsML type receivers. (361)
Added support for XHTML data within the NewsML filter, (specifically for the PR Newswire). (363)
The POP3 email receiver now supports SSL connections on port 995. (352)
The POP3 email receiver now has optional deletion of read email from the server, including time to leave on the server before deleting. Previously emails were always deleted from the server after being read.
Added NewsML G2 Wires receiver driver to handle Reuters text data. (V5.7h.15)
Added audio purge options to NewsML receiver driver. (V5.7h.17)

Audio

Improved the speed of loading audio cut lists, particularly noticeable with libraries containing large numbers of files. (V.7h.16

Version 5.7g was not generally released.

NewsBoss

In the Queue Properties - General dialog, the Reader selection combo box now lists surname and given name rather than username.
De-sensitized the initiating of the story tab drag/drop action. Also the message box advising that unsaved stories need to be saved before dragging the tab has been changed to an auto-closing message that does not require the user to press OK. (315)

IPC Server

The NewsBoss Inter Process Communication (IPC) service now configures itself for automatic restart.

NewsBoss Server Services

The names of all NewsBoss XLE server services in Windows Service Manager have been changed from the form "NewsBoss Unicode ..." to "NewsBoss XLE ...".

No functional changes.

Wires - Rundown Export

The rundown export .xml file that is produced for rundown queues that have the Rundown Export option enabled, now includes extra information...
- The HL3 story field is included in a second <SubHeadLine> element. (307)
- A new custom element <nbrdexp:Story> within each story <NewsComponent> element. This element includes the elements <S_ID>, a unique story identifier, <Slug>, <HL1>, <HL2>, <HL3>, <Byline>, <Category> and <Selector>.
A check is now made for updated audio cut files. Previously, if an audio cut to be exported already existed with a .mp3 extension in the export folder, the cut was not exported again. Now, the audio cut file is checked to determine if it has been updated. If it has been updated since any existing .mp3 file with the same file name in the export folder, then the existing .mp3 file in the export folder is deleted and a new .mp3 file is created. Third party utilities that read these audio files should check the file date/time as required to determine if they need to process audio files with a name that has already been processed. (308)

NewsBoss

New right-click menu item "Update Cut Information" for audio cuts within a story. This function updates the audio cut information (Duration, Description, Outcue etc.) from the actual audio file. (303)
It is now possible to select and delete multiple Contact and Organization entries.

Wires

Advanced Configuration option added to disable reporting of Queue remaining story counts during purging.

NewsBoss

The NewsBoss user interface (UI) has been updated. The new UI has a more modern appearance with less clutter. (285)
In the Web Browser, RSS feeds specified in web page <head> sections are now detected and a button on the toolbar indicates their presence. Pressing the button allows the user to subscribe to the feed(s). (281)
The Message Bar scroll has been improved to be smoother. Also the message can now be dragged left and right with the mouse. (286)
Switching between tabs in the Queue window(s) can now be done using Ctrl(+Shift)+Tab. As a reminder, switching between panes is done using Ctrl(+Shift)+F6. (291)
When selecting a story in the story list(s), if the Story Browse Tab is open it will be made the active story tab. This functionality is consistent with NewsBoss versions prior to V5. This functionality can be disabled on a per PC basis using the NewsBoss Advanced Configuration Utility by disabling the setting NewsBoss - AutoShowBrowseTab.

Prompter

The rendering of cuts in the scroll window has been further improved. (287)

Wires

The status information now indicates when hourly purge is selected - e.g. "Purge Time: At 10 minutes past every hour". (298)

Audio

The speed of loading cuts in the Browse Cuts dialog and cut list windows has been improved. (276)
When the Audio Manager dialog is displayed for the first time, the library for the lower list is no longer pre-selected. (278)

Note: V5.7a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded at the same time.

Note: From V5.7 NewsBoss cannot be installed on Windows 2000.
The minimum Windows versions required are Windows XP with SP2 or Windows Server 2003 with SP2 .

NewsBoss

A new field called "Display order" has been added to the Queue Properties dialog General tab. The Display Order setting controls the relative position of sibling queues beneath a parent queue. The smaller the Display Order setting, the higher in the list the queue will be displayed. Sibling queues with the same Display Order are sorted alphabetically as before. (211)
Queue names in the hierarchical queue list are now trimmed of spaces before being displayed. Leading spaces in queue names, used to force queues into a particular alphabetical order, are still effective for this purpose, but are not displayed in the queue list.
Queue Properties - Apply to Sub-Queue improvements. The Apply to Sub-Queues check box has been moved from the General tab to the main dialog, allowing it to be visible when any tab is selected. If the Apply to Sub-Queues box is checked, then when the queue settings are saved a secondary dialog is displayed that allows the user to select precisely which settings are to be applied to the sub-queues. (210)
New "Synchronize Queue" button added to the Story edit pane next to the Queue Name field. Pressing this button synchronizes the Queue pane with the open story, causing it to display the queue that the open story is from and also highlighting the story in the Story List pane.
Added ability to close a Story tab by clicking anywhere on the tab with the middle mouse button.
LED tab icons are no longer used to display the focus window pane when the User Preference - Display Colored Tabs is not selected. Instead, the tab background is set to a light orange color on the focused pane. Modified stories are indicated by setting the tab font to red. This provides a clearer indication of the focus pane and is consistent with other applications. Also there is a significant saving in screen space, especially when several stories are open.
HASP network configuration is now obtained from the file NBNetHasp.ini located within the NewsBoss program folder. Settings from existing nethasp.ini files will be migrated to the NBNetHasp.ini file when the NewsBoss Configuration Wizard is run after the NewsBoss Installer. Using NBNetHasp.ini from within the NewsBoss program folder will resolve possible conflicts occurring with NetHasp configuration files from different software vendors.
Formatting options have been added to the audio cut context menu (the menu displayed when the user right-clicks on an audio cut within a story). The text formatting of the cut information can now easily be changed if desired.
Entry fields added for Username and Password in the RSS Subscription Wizard and the Configure RSS Channel dialog. (269)
The NewsBoss Web Browser now displays a lock icon in the address bar to indicate when a secure connection is operating. Clicking the lock icon displays the connection security certificate information.

Prompter

Logged-in Prompter users can now re-arrange an open Rundown order in the story list pane. (252)
New keyboard accelerator Tab added to switch focus from the story list pane to the main story display pane. (252)
New keyboard accelerator Ctrl+L added to show or hide the story list pane. (252)
Improved scrolling and text display using Direct2D (requires Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2, or Windows Vista or Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Platform Update. This feature can be disabled in Prompter Setup - Local Settings.
Optionally display a vertical scroll bar on the right side of the scrolling window. This is useful for reviewing long stories.
Optionally use smooth starting and stopping of scrolling motion (available only when Direct2D is in use on Windows 7 or Vista).
Audio cuts now display as a graphic within the Prompter scrolling window. The graphic displays the cut Title, Description, In-cue, Out-cue, countdown time and a play progress bar. The color of the graphic is set to indicate the state of the cut (loaded, playing, pause or error). The graphic can be clicked on to load, play, pause and stop the cut. When the cut is playing, clicking the cut will pause the playback. If the Ctrl key is pressed when a playing cut is clicked on, the playback will stop. The mouse cursor changes to indicate the action that will happen if the mouse is clicked on the cut graphic. (255)
"Start of Queue" and "End of Queue" messages now display in an enhanced message box which does not lock the user interface while displayed.

Wires

IPTC7901 driver updated for compatibility with AP WebFeeds data files.
New receiver for the iPhone VeriCorder app added. NewsBoss can now ingest text and audio files authored within VeriCorder iPhone app.

NewsBoss Server Services

The NewsBoss Installer now creates a special Windows user account, NB_DCOM_USR (NBW_DCOM_USR for NewsBoss XLE), when any of the NewsBoss server services (NewsBoss Archive Service or NewsBoss Indexer Service) are installed. This user account is added to the DCOM security settings on the server. The NewsBoss client applications use credentials for this user account when accessing these services via DCOM. This greatly simplifies the configuring of authentication settings for DCOM on the server and client PCs. There is no longer a need to add the Everyone or Anonymous groups to the DCOM Launch and Activation Permissions with remote permissions.
Note: The password for this user must not be changed. If the password is changed NewsBoss must be removed and re-installed on the server. (205)

NewsBoss Configuration Wizard / NewsBoss Advanced Configuration Utility

These applications now require Windows Administrator credentials to run under Vista and Windows 7. Normal Windows users will be prompted with the Windows UAC Credentials dialog to supply Administrator credentials. Administrators will be prompted with the UAC Consent dialog. Note that this behavior depends on Windows local policy settings. (267)
The NewsBoss Advanced Configuration Utility interface has been updated to improve its layout and make it high DPI aware.

NewsBoss

The User list box in the Users dialog (from menu Setup - Users) now selects the logged-in user when first displayed. (225)

No functional changes.

Note: V5.6a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded at the same time.

NewsBoss and Prompter

New command line options to specify Username and Password. (187)
e.g.
NB.EXE -U=<username> -P=<password>

If a <username> parameter is specified but the <password> parameter is not specified, then the normal NewsBoss Login dialog will be displayed with the Username field pre-filled with the specified <username> parameter, allowing the user to then enter a password.

Note: If the <username> parameter is present then these settings will override any AutoLogin setting specified in the Windows registry.
Quick Message delivery optimized to reduce excessive simultaneous access to database MESSAGE(W) table, reducing network traffic and application interruptions. (186)

Wires

Purge Log format altered. Purge log is now created before attempting to connect to the Archive Server. Archive Server connection messages are now added to the log.(195)

Tools

Rebuild Word Index modified to always drop and recreate WORDREF(W) table. (182)
Purge report format changed to put queue information last. (185 and 195)
Add DODA update to table Repair function. (188)
Allow opening of corrupt (error 14) tables for repair.

Installer

Print button added to the License Agreement page. (199)

FairCom Server and Database Libraries

NewsBoss application now support the FairCom Server V9.

NewsBoss

New "Save audio file to NewsBoss Library" function in the NewsBoss web browser. Right clicking on an audio file link displays a context menu with this function. (52)
Improved the speed of loading the cut list in the Browse Cuts dialog and Audio Library windows. Also applicable to the Audio Editor Browse Cuts dialog. (152)
Browse Cuts dialog now shows cut count and available space for the open library. (157)
Audio Manager dialog now contains an Audio Player to preview audio cuts. (178)
Audio Library Manager dialog now displays the file system path for each library. (176)
Audio Library Properties can now change the files system path for an audio library. (176)
Roster/Futures/Assignments/Ideas performance improved. Also added the ability to sort using any column and in increasing or decreasing order. (131)
Story list layout preferences now auto-save after the user adjusts column order or width. (171)
Tool-tip field information is now displayed for list box rows or cells that are not fully visible. (170)
The Windows "new" Browse For Folder dialog is now used throughout all NewsBoss applications. This dialog allows the user to type the name of a folder as well as selecting a folder from the folder list.

Prompter

Added Clear button to Quick Start Properties dialog. (181)
Improved the story list performance during updates to the rundown. The story list now updates more quickly and with minimal flicker.

Web Interface

Major update to the Web Interface. Changes include...
- A new Upload Audio function to upload audio files directly to NewsBoss without needing to submit a story. (52)
- A new Edit Story function. The Web Interface now includes a new ActiveX control to edit existing stories and create new stories in an edit window similar to the story edit window in the NewsBoss application. Audio cuts from NewsBoss Audio Libraries may be inserted into stories. (51)
- The ability to browse and play cuts from NewsBoss Audio Libraries.
- The Web Interface user interface has been updated to provide a more consistent look.

Wires

IRN (England) driver renamed to IRN- UK (Obsolete - use NewsML). (151)
New receiver for CBS Radio Network. (172)

Database

Improved database access speed, resulting in 20% to 50% improvement in many operations. (140)
Removed pre-allocated database file sizing, resulting in smaller backup sizes. Use the Tools application Repair with Compact function to decrease the sizes of existing tables. (125)
Support for FairCom Server V9. Non-client/server installations use FairCom ctree V9.

Installer

Installers updated to use the Windows Installer Enhanced User Interface - the Custom dialog now uses check boxes instead of drop-down menus. (150)

No functional changes.

Note: V5.4a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded.

NewsBoss

Configurable columns and background colors for Story Lists and Audio Lists.
Columns can be selected, removed and re-ordered. (48)
The background color for each queue can be selected to help highlight particular queues or queue types. (61)
The settings can be saved as system defaults for each list type, as system defaults for a particular queue, or as an individual user preference for a particular queue.
Typed URLs in the text editor are now recognized without a leading "http:" or "www". (45, 57)
New "Insert New Script" function added. Allows inserting a new blank script at a specific location within a rundown queue. (46)
New script fields "Anchor" and "Assigned" added. These fields are used to select the users to be assigned as the script anchor and assigned editor. (47)
Story read time calculation again counts individual '.' characters as a whole word. This is the same behavior as versions prior to V5.2f.

Prompter

New options to set the text and reference marks offset from the top of the reading pane added. (114)
New option to set whether the story slug is displayed at the top of the reading pane. (114)

Wires

Native audio transfer in NewsBoss TX/RX links. (93)
The NewsBoss transmitters and receivers can now be configured to transfer audio that is linked to stories being transferred. The audio is transferred as out-of-band ANPA data. The following restrictions apply...
- Supports NewsBoss native audio only. - - Supports NewsBoss native audio only.
- When the audio file is received it is placed into the default library directory (Usually the directory for CARTS library).
- If a file is already present with the same name, and the received file is the same, then the received file is discarded.
- If a file is already present with the same name, and the received file is different, then the received file is renamed with an increasing number. For example "fred_1.wav".
- If a file is renamed, then the file name is adjusted in the following story, so fred.wav would become fred_1.wav.
- If the file is transmitted in a different format, i.e. mp3, then the received file will be named with the new format, and the file name in the following story will be adjusted accordingly.
- The library part of the CutID in the story will not be adjusted, so both sites must have the same library names (usually CARTS).
- Maximum size of audio file in the transmitted format (e.g. mp3) is about 150MB.
This feature is configured in the transmitter configuration dialog and the ANPA NewsBoss receiver driver configuration.

POP3 receiver now has separate server and port fields. (112)
Previously, the POP3 server was specified by appending an @ followed by the server name to the username. The whole field was limited to 35 characters. Now, there are separate user and server fields, each with a maximum length of 80 characters.
Also the POP3 server port can be configured if required.
Option added to the Associated Press (AP) Wires receiver to extract text from the story to use as the Headline 1 (HL1) field. The receiver looks for the first non-empty and non-homogeneous line after the first line of the story body as received. The extracted text may not always be suitable for the Headline 1 field and should be checked before publication. (116)

Wires

Sky News Radio RSS receiver updated to include new categories NEWS-I, NEWS-R and NEWS-V. To add the new categories to an existing SKY-SNR receiver, in Wires, select Action, New Receiver, select the Sky News Radio RSS pre-defined wire service, and click on OK. The new categories will be added to the existing receiver and appropriate queues will be created.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

The NewsBoss Web Browser toolbar has been re-arranged slightly. The navigation Back and Forward buttons are now placed before the address entry field to more closely resemble the layout of Internet Explorer. The "Address" label has also been removed from the toolbar.
Enabled AutoComplete in the NewsBoss Web Browser. AutoComplete will now be available if the AutoComplete option is enabled in Internet Explorer for the current Windows user login.

Wires

SNR RSS wire driver updated.
- Now includes automatic purging of old SNR audio files. Purging can be configures based on age of file or total number of SNR audio files allowed.
- Now updates downloaded audio files MP3 ID3 header to set the cut description and out-cue from the contents of the story that linked the cut.
New menu command - Action - View RSS Log - to view the RSS log file. The menu command is only enabled if the PC is the designated Wires RSS PC.

Tools

Word Indexing Settings dialog functionality changed. If the Enable NewsBoss Word Indexing state is changed, the WORDREF(W) table is completely cleared, and all story records pending deindex/delete are deleted immediately. Also, the NOISEWORDS(W) table is cleared of all automatically added noise words.

All Applications

Application icons have been updated for improved display on Windows Vista and XP. The new application icons have been designed using a consistent theme, with colors indicating the individual application or application group. Also, most application toolbar images have been updated to improve the application appearance on high resolution displays.
Log files are no longer split into two files. The NewsBoss Installer will automatically remove any files matching the pattern "*_1.txt" or "*_2.txt" from the Log Files folder.

Note: V5.3a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded.

NewsBoss

New Rundown Export functionality added. Rundown queues may now be set to export the stories in the rundown as a NewsML file. The file is exported to a specified folder each time the rundown is changed. Wires is responsible for the actual export operation.

Wires

New Sky News Radio RSS receiver added. This receiver downloads the SNR RSS feed and creates NewsBoss stories from the content, as well as automatically downloading related audio files, and linking them within the downloaded stories.

All

Default log file sizes increased from 64KB to 1MB.

Wires

To aid the diagnosis of purging problems, the purge log (usually C:\Program Files\NewsBoss (XLE)\Log Files\Wires Purge Log_#.txt) now includes a full list of queues with all information relevant to purging.
New menu command - Action - View Purge Log - to view the Purge Log. The menu command is only enabled if the PC is the designated Wires Purge PC.

Installer

The NewsBoss Configuration Wizard now includes a page to enable the Wires Loader and Remote Server Loader services (if Wires and/or Remote Server are installed).
After this version, the installer will re-register the Wires Loader and Remote Server Loader services if already registered.

NewsBoss

Double click on text in text editor will now highlight blocks of punctuation characters. Also, the apostrophe character is now considered as part of a word, and double clicking on a word with an apostrophe will highlight the whole word including the apostrophe and characters before or after the apostrophe.

Audio Editor

Can now open and save audio files in standard Windows folders. Standard file open and save toolbar buttons added.
Now accepts a normal audio file name as a command line parameter.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

The Find Story dialog now defaults to Search Selected Queue Only rather than Search All Queues.
Spell Checker engine upgraded to V5.16.

NewsBoss Configuration Wizard

Now includes option to set the Main Dictionary Language.

NewsBoss

Queue properties "Secure Copy/Move to this queue" and "Confirm Copy/Move/Edit for this queue" moved from the Queue Properties - General tab to the Attributes tab.

Wires

New wire service Business Wire using a NewsML variant driver added.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Added "Refresh" command to audio cut list context menu. This allows the list of audio cuts to be refreshed without changing to another queue and back again.

Tools

Added success message after activating MP3.

Wires

For POP3 receivers, Wires now places the full email Subject in the story Header 1 field.

NewsBoss

New Print Style property "Keep paragraph lines together". Previously, if print line spNew Print Style property "Keep paragraph lines together". Previously, if print line spacing was other than single space, keep paragraph lines together would be set automatically. This is now configurable for each print style.

NewsBoss

New queue attribute "Confirm Copy/Move/Edit for this queue" added to the Queue Properties - General tab. When checked, users are prompted to confirm that they want to move, copy or edit a story in the selected queue. This function is useful to prevent unwanted updates to live or export queues.

Wires

The NewsML wire filter has been updated to support the Australian AAP FTP feed.
New registry setting - Wires/FaxPrefetchCacheSize - added to set the size of the fax prefetch cache. Access this setting using the NewsBoss Advanced Configuration Utility. The default value is 1000, and should only be changed if more than 1000 faxes are stored in the fax server incoming archive folder. In this case the value should be set larger than the number of faxes in the folder.
Workaround for Microsoft fax client memory leak implemented. The Microsoft fax client has a memory leak when accessing faxes on a fax server. The problem is present on XP and 2003 Server. Vista does not have the problem. Wires uses the Microsoft fax client to read faxes from fax servers into the NewsBoss database. This workaround will only work if the fax server is running on the same PC as Wires. To enable the workaround, set the registry setting HKLM/Software/Desktop Technologies/NewsBoss/Wires/FaxMemoryLeakWorkaround to (DWORD)1. Alternatively, run Wires on a Vista PC. This problem is currently under investigation by Microsoft.

Audio Editor

New setting "Save all files as MP3 by default" added to Audio Options - Audio Editor Specific tab. If checked the "Save as MP3" checkbox in the Save Cut dialog will be selected by default regardless of the type of file opened. This options is intended for use by sites that prefer to save all audio as MP3.

Wires

Wires File receiver now supports the specification of multiple sub-folders using wildcard characters and date specification strings.
CNA/CNS filter changed to support new format from 2008/01/01.

All NewsBoss Modules

All NewsBoss modules now create Windows minidump files when an unrecoverable exception occurs. The user is presented with a dialog prompting them to enter a return email address, and a brief description of the action taken prior to the exception occurring. The zipped up minidump file, along with other NewsBoss log files, can then automatically be emailed to NewsBoss Support.

Note: V5.2a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded.

NewsBoss

RSS Aggregator - Added RSS Aggregator functionality to NewsBoss.
Contacts and Organizations System - An extra category field (Category 2) has been added to both the Contacts and Organizations records. The new category field can be used for further refinement of filtering which contact or organizations are displayed in the lists.
Contacts and Organizations System - Find has been changed to Search, which produces a result list rather then selecting the first match in the list. Find Next has been removed as it is not longer required, and a new button Reset Search added which resets the lists to all items.
Contacts and Organizations System - Category filtering selection mechanism has been changed from a single drop down combo box to configurable buttons.
Story List - Writer/Sub now displays users Username rather than Surname and Firstname.

Wires

New filter for Bernama Malaysia added.

NewsBoss

Changes to print header, Header 8.

NewsBoss

New print header (Header 7) added.

Database

WORDREF(W) table removed from transaction control. This significantly reduces disk i/o and improves indexing/deindexing performance. On upgrading to V5.1g from V5.1a-V5.1f, the WORDREF(W) table must have the "Fix Mode" and "Repair" operations performed on it using the NewsBoss Tools application. In the event of a database recovery using ctrdump.exe, the WORDREF(W) table should be repaired and the word index rebuilt.

NewsBoss

If the indexing server could not be connected to, clients (NewsBoss and Wires) would index stories directly. This is very inefficient and has now been removed. The indexing server is now an integral part of the NewsBoss system, and should always be running. Deindexed stories will be indexed once the indexing service has been configured and started.
Web browser now goes to users Home page if set.
Added option for 1.5x line spacing to print styles.

AutoRecorder

Delayed load removed from schedule Open/New functions. The user is now prompted to stop the schedule if an event is running. If the user does not stop the schedule, then Open and New abort.

No functional changes.

Prompter

Per-user and no user Prompter screen location and state now saved between sessions.

Inter-Process Communication Server

New Inter-Process Communication (IPC) Server - manages communication between NewsBoss applications.

NewsBoss Remote Server port change

NewsBoss now uses a set port for communication with the NewsBoss Remote Server. Previously, NewsBoss would use any port from 1024 to 5000, requiring these ports to be opened on any firewalls. Now NewsBoss uses a configurable port number, defaulting to 5107. This can be changed using the NewsBoss Advanced Configuration Utility by setting the NBRemoteChannelPort setting on the Remote Server tab. This setting can be different on all PCs, but you must open any assigned port on the firewall.

Note: V5.1a requires a database upgrade, so all PCs must be upgraded.

Index Server

New Feature, manages the search index for the NewsBoss database.

NewsBoss

Story Text search and Queue search now have their own toolbar buttons.
Changes to the Queue search dialog to allow searching using the NewsBoss index system.
Added a dedicated search results queue.
Added 'previous' and 'next' queue navigation buttons.
Added prompter position indication capability.
Added print styles to allow user customization of printing.
Improved support for Windows Themes.
Removed the ability to shred stories in the wastebasket queue unless the user has Edit rights.

Prompter

Added a dockable story list that displays the current queue position.
Added a read rate slider to the Right control bar.
Added the ability to store preferences for the logged-in user.

Audio Editor

Added ability to save in MP3 format.
Added ability to play cuts at twice normal speed.
Added ability to zoom in/out on a waveform using the mouse wheel.

AutoRecorder

Added the ability to retain multiple configurations for each audio device.
The AutoRecorder event file AREvents.are has been replaced with an XML format file, AREvents.xml. When AutoRecorder V5.1a is run the first time, any existing AREvents.are or AREvents.evt file will be converted to the new XML format. Existing AREvents.evt or AREvents.are files must be in the C:\Program Files\NewsBoss\Data Files folder to be converted.

Wires

Simplified the application interface.
Added ability to receive faxes.
Added FTP Receiver capability.
Added support for audio links in ANPA wire feeds.
Added NewsBoss Messages to the Web Interface.
Various improvements to update the look of the Web Interface.
Purging and backup are now configured through Wires options.
Added warning message if purging is not configured.

Tools

Added ability to configure the new Indexing Server settings.

Installer

Updated to a more streamlined installer interface using the MSI Installer model.
Added ability to open required firewall ports.

No functional changes

NewsBoss

Improvements to the creation and use of the Secondary edit pane. Double-clicking a story displayed in either story list will open that story for edit in the Primary edit pane. Double-clicking a story with the SHIFT key down will open that story in the Secondary edit pane. If the Secondary edit pane does not exist, it will be created. This rule also applies to the New, Rewrite, Edit, Read, Browse, and Copy & Edit functions. The Web Browser toolbar button will open in the Primary edit pane. Holding the SHIFT key down when clicking the toolbar button will open the story in the Secondary edit frame. If the Secondary edit pane does not exist, it will be created.
Added the ability to drag text between edit windows.rylist to create a new story.
Highlighting of multiple items in a story list has been improved so that the highlighted items are easier to locate.
Added a warning message to the Audio Editor for when an MP3 cut is saved as WAV.

NewsBoss

Changes to the behavior of the Browse Cuts window. The 'Browse Cuts' window (F12) will now remain open when the Insert button is clicked or the Enter key is pressed. The window will close and insert the audio cut when an audio cut is double-clicked.
Improvements to the layout of the Second Queue Window (QuImprovements to the layout of the Second Queue Window (Queue menu). Double-clicking a story displayed in the Second Queue Window will now open in the edit frame opposite the existing edit frame. Holding the SHIFT key down when double-clicking a story will open the story in the edit frame opposing the Story List. This rule also applies to the New, Rewrite, Edit, Read, Browse, and Copy and Edit functions. The Web Browser toolbar button will open in the edit frame associated with the First Queue Window. Holding the SHIFT key down when clicking the toolbar button will open the story in the edit frame associated with the Second Queue Window. The frame edge is now easier to locate when resizing a window.
Improvements to the usability of the queue list. The story list will now become the active window when a queue is selected, eliminating the need to TAB into the story list. Selecting the queue a second time will make the queue list the active window. The active window is now easier to determine through the use of a gray selection bar to clearly define the inactive window.

A new NEWSBOSS.INI setting has been added to provide more control over the audio caching feature.
The option is useful on older operating systems such as Windows 98 and Windows NT4 where hard disk performance can affect playback quality. The Automatic setting (option setting 2) will provide the best performance in most conditions.

[MCI]
CacheWriteThroughMode=2

0 = Off
1 = On
2 = Automatically detect the appropriate setting (default)

General

NewsBoss now uses a 32 bit installer.
When installing into an existing AudioVAULT system, the -av setup launch option is no longer required. Simply select AudioVAULT in the audio system selection dialog during setup.
A new option has been added to Audio Options that allows the 4.4 and earlier behavior of muting the WAV output channel to be turned off. Being able to disable this option is useful when NewsBoss is sharing an audio device with other audio software. The option is located on the General Tab and is named "Mute WAV Output Channel on Stop". This option should be disabled unless a low noise environment is required.

Prompter

The mouse scroll wheel can now be used to scroll the Prompter. Scrolling occurs one line at a time in the same direction which the wheel is scrolled. Holding down the Ctrl key while scrolling will move 5 lines at a time.
New setting - "Stop other deck on play" added to Prompter Setup. Controls the behavior of the Quick Start audio player when separate audio devices are available. If the option is disabled, the main audio deck will continue to play when a Quick Start is played enabling both audio cuts to be mixed together on air. This is the default. If this option is enabled, playing a Quick Start will stop the main audio deck.

The new newsboss.ini settings are as follows:
[Prompter]
StopOtherDecks=<boolean> Default 0
0 - Disable - Do not stop main deck on Quick Start playback.
1 - Enable - Stop main deck on Quick Start playback.
New INI setting - "StopConflictingDecks " added.. Controls the behavior of the Quick Start audio player when only a single audio device is available. If the option is disabled, and an audio device with internal mixing is employed, the main audio deck will continue to play when a Quick Start is played and both audio cuts to be mixed together by the internal mixer of the audio device. If this option is enabled, playing a Quick Start will stop the main audio deck. This is the default.

The new newsboss.ini settings are as follows:
[Prompter]
StopConflictingDecks =<boolean> Default 10 - Disable - Do not stop main deck on Quick Start playback. 1 - Enable - Stop main deck on Quick Start playback.

0 - Disable - Do not stop main deck on Quick Start playback.
1 - Enable - Stop main deck on Quick Start playback.

Multi-track Editor

Added ability to edit AudioVAULT files. AudioVAULT files may be opened, edited and saved back to the AudioVAULT. Any compressed file format supported by the AudioVAULT is automatically converted when opening and saving cuts. This option requires AudioVAULT Version 9.0 or later installed on the PC.

This capability requires the following newsboss.ini settings to exist:
[Database]
AVVaultName=<Vault Name>
[CartEditor]
EnableAudioVault=1
AVConfigName=<Audiovault device>
AVConfigNameAlt=<Audiovault device>

New Audio Settings for NewsBoss and Audio Editor

New setting - " StopOtherDecksOnPlay " added. Controls the behavior of the audio decks when separate audio devices are available.
If the option is disabled, then a active audio deck will continue to play when another deck is played enabling both audio cuts to be mixed together. This is the default.
If this option is enabled, playing another deck will stop any other currently playing deck.

The new newsboss.ini settings are as follows:
[MCI]
StopOtherDecksOn Play=<boolean>

0 - Disable - Do not stop active deck when another deck is played.
1 - Enable - Stop any active deck when another deck is played.
New INI setting - "StopConflictingDecks " added. Controls the behavior of the audio decks when only a single audio device is available. If the option is disabled, and an audio device with internal mixing is employed, the currently playing audio deck will continue to play when another deck is played and both audio cuts will be mixed together by the internal mixer of the audio device. If this option is enabled, playing another deck will stop any other currently playing deck. This is the default.
The new newsboss.ini settings are as follows:
[MCI]
StopConflictingDecksOn Play =<boolean>

0 - Disable - Do not stop active deck when another deck is played.
1 - Enable - Stop any active deck when another deck is played.
New INI setting "MuteWaveOutOnStop" added. This setting determines whether NewsBoss mutes the audio device when stopped.
[MCI]
MuteWaveOutOnStop=<boolean> Default 0

0 - Do not mute player when stopped.
1 - Mute when player is stopped.

Wires

Audio attached to an e-mail is now automatically linked to the script. E-mail from a reporter or stringer containing an audio attachment will now have an automatic hyper-link added to the script when downloaded by Wires. This enables users to quickly play and edit the cut from within a script.
Files attached to an e-mail are now hyper-linked in a script. The attachment folder path in Wires needs to be set to a full UNC path. For example: \\<ServerName>\<ShareName>\<FolderName>\
To reduce the potential for viruses, executable file types are now deleted when received by the POP-3 e-mail download capability in Wires. File extensions deleted are the same as for Microsoft Outlook. The current list of restricted file extensions follows.
File Ext File type
ade Access Project Extension (Microsoft)
adp Access Project (Microsoft)
app Executable Application
asp Active Server Page
bas BASIC Source Code
bat Batch Processing
cer Internet Security Certificate File
chm Compiled HTML Help
cmd DOS CP/M Command File, Command File for Windows NT
com Command
cpl Windows Control Panel Extension (Microsoft)
crt Certificate File
csh Script
exe Executable File
fxp FoxPro Compiled Source (Microsoft)
hlp Windows Help File
hta Hypertext Application
inf Information or Setup File
ins IIS Internet Communications Settings (Microsoft)
isp IIS Internet Service Provider Settings (Microsoft)
its Internet Document Set, Internet Translation
js JavaScript Source Code
jse JScript Encoded Script File
ksh UNIX Shell Script lnk Windows Shortcut File
mad Access Module Shortcut (Microsoft)
maf Access (Microsoft)
mag Access Diagram Shortcut (Microsoft)
mam Access Macro Shortcut (Microsoft)
maq Access Query Shortcut (Microsoft)
mar Access Report Shortcut (Microsoft)
mas Access Stored Procedures (Microsoft)
mat Access Table Shortcut (Microsoft)
mau Access View Shortcut (Microsoft)
mav Access View Shortcut (Microsoft)
maw Access Data Access Page (Microsoft)
mda Access Add-in (Microsoft),
MDA Access 2 Workgroup (Microsoft)
mdb Access Application (Microsoft),
MDB Access Database (Microsoft)
mde Access MDE Database File (Microsoft)
mdt Access Add-in Data (Microsoft)
mdw Access Workgroup Information (Microsoft)
mdz Access Wizard Template (Microsoft)
msc Microsoft Management Console Snap-in Control File (Microsoft)
msi Windows Installer File (Microsoft)
msp Windows Installer Patch
mst Windows SDK Setup Transform Script
ops Office Profile Settings File
pcd Visual Test (Microsoft)
pif Windows Program Information File (Microsoft)
prf Windows System File
prg Program File
pst MS Exchange Address Book File, Outlook Personal Folder File (Microsoft)
reg Registration Information/Key for W95/98, Registry Data File
scf Windows Explorer Command
scr Windows Screen Saver
sct Windows Script Component, Foxpro Screen (Microsoft)
shb Windows Shortcut into a Document
shs Shell Scrap Object File
tmp Temporary File/Folder
url Internet Location
vb VBScript File or Any VisualBasic Source
vbe VBScript Encoded Script File
vbs VBScript Script File, Visual Basic for Applications Script
vsmacros Visual Studio .NET Binary-based Macro Project (Microsoft)
vss Visio Stencil (Microsoft)
vst Visio Template (Microsoft)
vsw Visio Workspace File (Microsoft)
ws Windows Script File
wsc Windows Script Component
wsf Windows Script File
wsh Windows Script Host Settings File

NewsBoss

Added personalized Favorites system to the Web Browser. Favorites for each user are stored in the database and are available whenever the User logs in. Locally stored Windows Explorer favorites are also available.
Added personalized History system to the Web Browser. The History list for each user is stored in the database and is available whenever the User logs in.
Added an option in User Preferences to show the "phantom queue tab" in the Queue/Story list tabbed view. This feature creates a "temporary" tab for the last viewed Queue when in list view. The default setting for this option is 'disabled'.

Tools

Added FairCom Client Manager application. Accessed from the Manage Clients button in NewsBoss Tools, this utility replaces the complicated FairCom ctadmin.exe command line application. Using the simplified interface enables workstation names to be quickly added and deleted from the FairCom database.

AutoRecorder

The format of the AutoRecorder event file has changed and the file has been given a new extension (.ARE instead of .EVT). AutoRecorder will automatically convert the old AREVENTS.EVT file to the new format file with the name AREvents.are. The new file is in text format and may be modified with a text editor should the need arise, although this should be unnecessary.

General

Support has been added for FairCom Versions 7 and 8 as well as Version 6.
Added auto-detection of FairCom Server version.

NOTE: Version 4.5 was not generally released. Most customers will move directly from Version 4.4j or less directly to 4.6a or greater.

NewsBoss

Added integrated Internet Browser The NewsBoss Web Browser is an Internet Explorer Web Browser control integrated into NewsBoss.
Features of the NewsBoss Web Browser include:
- Multiple Web Browser tabs can be opened in each story window pane.
- Pop-up blocking.
- Individual "recently typed" lists for each NewsBoss user.
- Individual home page for each NewsBoss user.
- Auto-complete enabled for URL entry. The user can for example type "newsboss" into the Address entry field, press Ctrl+Enter, and the address will auto-complete to http://www.newsboss.com.
Revised Queue-list window.
Added display of Audio Libraries in the Queue List. Audio Libraries can now be displayed in the same manner as a standard Queue. This enables easier access to audio clips which can now be displayed on the same screen and dragged into an open script to create a link.

A new newsboss.ini setting controls this function:
[NewsBoss]
DisplayAudioLibsInQueueList=<boolean> Default: 1
0 - Disable - Do not display audio libraries.
1 - Enable - Display audio libraries.
Revised toolbar icons.
Capped the display of the audio '"description" field to 80 characters. The DAVID DigaSystem uses this field for long blocks of associated text. NewsBoss only displays the first 80 chars in a audio link in the script. The original data is not affected.
Removed '"current queue" tab from the Queue/Story list tabbed view. This feature created a "temporary" tab for the last viewed Queue when in list view. Many users found the appearance of this tab distracting and there was no easy way to "delete" it.
The colored tabs used in NewsBoss have had their colors changed to be less dramatic and easier on the users eyes. To enable colored tabs, select Setup|Preferences from the NewsBoss menu, select the Appearance tab, and check the "Display colored tabs" checkbox. Non-colored tabs have been changed to provide improved clarity of the selected tab against the other tabs and the background.
Preferences dialog is now displayed in a tabbed format.

General

Improved standardization of audio field labeling.

Not Released

NewsBoss

Added playback support for DAVID DigaSystem Linear-BWF format.
Display of "soft deleted" DAVID DigaSystem audio cuts removed from NewsBoss audio browse listing.

NewsBoss

Added David DigaSystem Play list Export.
Archive Search Results can now be sorted by clicking on the field titles in the results window.

Wires

Wires now minimizes to the System Tray.

General

New setting in the Modify User dialog to enable the Administrator to determine if the User can log onto the Web Interface.

Wires

NewsML tag "<contact>" now parsed by the NewsML driver. Added to improve support for the PR Newswire service.

Wires

New type of receiver added called "File". The File receiver works by monitoring a specified directory for new files. When configuring a File receiver, the type of file to monitor for must be specified, for example, "*.XML". If required, the File receiver can be configured to delete files older than a specified number of hours, preventing the directory becoming too full. Some wire reception agents (software) do this themselves, so this setting may not need to be turned on.
New wire filter "NewsML" added. This filter decodes NewsML format, a type of XML format. The NewsML filter is currently capable of decoding both NITF and HTML data content.
Support for PR Newswire web based delivery has been added. NewsBoss supports NewsML format files delivered via the PR Newswire "AMPS" application. NewsBoss Wires reads the files from a specified folder using the new File receiver option. (See above)

Specific Wires settings for the PR Newswire Web based feed are as follows:

Main Dialog
Driver: NewsML

File Receiver Configuration Dialog
Directory: URL location of the received PR Newswire files.
File Pattern: "*.XML"
Delete data files: Needs to be selected.
Set the hours as required.

For more information regarding this new service contact PR Newswire or go to the following web sites:

See the following link for information about the AMPS software: http://www.prnewswire.com/feeds/step3_amps.shtml

The AMPS software is available from the following location: http://www.prnewswire.com/feeds/nt_download.shtml
PR Newswire customers will need to obtain access keys to run the AMPS software. They need to be obtained before installation as they are easiest to enter during the installation process. Go to the following location and fill out the form: http://www.prnewswire.com/feeds/step4.shtml

NOTE: Delivery type is: "AMPS" Data Format Desired is: "NewsML" Please note that as we do not produce the AMPS software, installation and support questions regarding the PR Newswire service and AMPS software MUST to be directed to PR Newswire. The demarcation line is that PR Newswire must assist you to get the files to appear in the appropriate folder.
Support for the "EMNet" wire service added, along with an associated EMNet XML filter. EMNet uses a proprietary application which automatically downloads EMNet items and writes them as files in a specified folder. Wires reads the files from the specified folder using the new File receiver option. (See above)

Specific Wires settings for the EMNet Web based feed are as follows:

Main Dialog Driver: EMNet

File Receiver Configuration Dialog
Directory: URL location of the received EMNet files.
File Pattern: "*.XML"
Delete data files: Needs to be selected.
Set the hours as required.

For more information regarding this new service contact EMNet. Please note that as we do not produce the EMNet software, installation and support questions regarding the EMNet wire service and software MUST to be directed to EMNet. The demarcation line is that EMNet must assist you to get the files to appear in the appropriate folder.

NewsBoss

A new NEWSBOSS.INI setting has been added to disable Auto-logout on individual PCs. This is particularly useful for ON AIR workstations as auto-logout can occur while playing an audio cut, stopping the cut playing.
[NewsBoss]
DisableAutoLogout=<boolean> Default 0 Set DisableAutoLogout to 1 to prevent Auto-logout of NewsBoss on the PC.

Audio

Digigram Mixart sound cards can exhibit a problem that causes the last bit of a cut to not play, usually just a fraction of a second.

A new NEWSBOSS.INI setting has been added:
[MCI]
MixartDelayMS=<integer> Default 0

This can be set to provide a given delay in ms before the audio channel is closed after playing a cart. This setting should only be added if you have a Digigram Mixart card and are experiencing this problem.

AutoRecorder

Can now set duration to 999 minutes.

Prompter

Carts set to use the "Alt" deck are now loaded into the playback deck.

Wires

Two new filters added - Sage ENDEC, and TFT EAS911.

Multi-track Editor

Save function changed. - When saving a segment in an unsaved record buffer, and the "Save segments only" checkbox is enabled in the Save Cut dialog, the Save button will be disabled. This prevents accidental erasure of the recording buffer.
Logarithmic cross fade improved.

General

Functions formally called "EAS Alert" have been changed to "Priority Alert".

Audio

NEWSBOSS.INI setting...

[MCI]
EnableVortexFix1=<0,1> is now obsolete, and has been replaced by setting:

[MCI]
EnableVortexMuteFix=<0,1> default 0

This new setting should be set to 0 unless advised by NewsBoss support.

Audio Editor

Play and Loop-play buttons are now disabled in Assemble mode when there are no defined segments or selection.
New Audio Editor Specific option in Audio Setup. "Zoom-All on Record stop" - When this is selected, the wave display will zoom out to show the entire audio cut when recording stops.

NewsBoss

Improvements made to text editor to better handle non-Western character sets.
Altered Keyword Monitors to allow a NewsBoss Administrator user to take ownership.
Added NEWSBOSS.INI setting...

[NewsBoss]
FastStoryListDisplay=<0,1> - Default 1

Set FastStoryListDisplay to 0 to correctly display the extra text in the story list when it has been pasted from a Unicode source (for example, a web page). Generally, this setting should be left at 1 (default), as there is a significant overhead involved.

Audio Editor

Can now open audio files that have read-only access, for example, audio files on a CD/DVD or in a protected directory/share.
Edit waveform display improved. Faster rendering of selected areas, with better color rendition. Displays individual samples and a smooth waveform when zoomed in.
Improved Window management - now allows cart edit windows to be maximized within the cart edit MDI child.
When saving a record buffer with the "Save" button, the cart name now indicates the name of the file the record buffer was saved to.

Archive Server

DCOM Security relaxed on the ArchServer service to support work groups.

Wires

MP3 .wav added to transmitters. Enables MP3 audio linked scripts to play correctly at the RX end of the connection.

AutoRecorder

"Record channel" selection drop-down list in the Event configuration dialog now indicates the name of the audio driver and its status. Also the number of channels was increased from 4 to 8.

NewsBoss

NewsBoss Remote Server Port can now be specified in the Add/Modify Remote Connection dialog. This should be set to match the port that the NewsBoss Remote Server that you are trying to connect to is listening on. Normally, this setting should be left with the default setting of 5111.

NewsBoss Remote Server

The listening port can now be specified in the NEWSBOSS.INI file...

[NBServer]
NBServerPort=<port number> (default 5111)

If this setting is changed, remote NewsBoss clients will have to configure the port setting in their Add/Modify Remote Connection dialog to match this setting.

AutoRecorder

Removed the requirement for overlapping events to have a different COMM port.

Wires

Login time extended from 5 minutes to 30 minutes.

No functional changes.

Audio Editor

Multi-track Mixing - Multi-track mixing has been added to the audio editor. For an introduction to using the Multi-track editor, open NewsBoss Help by pressing the F1 key. In the Table of Contents on the right hand side of the Help screen, select "Audio Editor" and then "Quick Start - Multi-track"
Normalization - A level normalization tool has been added to the audio editor.

Prompter and Audio Palette

DigaSystem Support - Now requires a DigaSystem user "NEWSBOSS" with password "NEWSBOSS" to be created in the DigaSystem. See NewsBoss Help under "Audio Topics- General" / "Audio Connectivity" / "Connectivity with DigaSystem" for more details.

Wires

New Filter - "Deutsche Presse Agentur" (DPA).

NewsBoss

Audio Attachment Compression - Story-Send (i.e. email a story) now sends included audio files as MP3 compressed attachments in RIFF format (.wav extension) if MP3 compression is enabled, or otherwise uncompressed. This is valid for MAPI or SMTP email only. (i.e. NEWSBOSS.INI [NewsBoss]MailSendType=[MAPI or SMTP] only.)
Additional Rundown Print Fields - Rundown printout now includes Hit, Cume. and Back times.

Audio Editor

Improved Scrubbing Action - When selecting an area of a cut, the left and right edges of the selection can now be selected without holding down the SHIFT key. The mouse cursor changes when over the edge of the selection to indicate the selection edge can be "grabbed" by pressing the left mouse button.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss Web Interface

Improved Character Set Support - Support for certain non-Western character sets added.

Wires

Wire Driver Update - NetWriter driver updated to comply with new NetWriter ANPA feed.

Not released.

NOTE: MP3 support contained in Version 4.3 and later requires a one off system license activation. Please see First Time InstallationsFirst Time Installations OR Upgrading From A Previous VersionUpgrading_From_A_Previous_Version for details.

NewsBoss

Message System Hot Keys - Messaging hot keys have been changed to enable support for alternate character sets.

New combinations are as follows:
Ctrl-Alt-l is now Ctrl-Shift-l
Ctrl-Alt-m is now Ctrl-Shift-m
Ctrl-Alt-r is now Ctrl-Shift-r
Ctrl-Alt-s is now Ctrl-Shift-s
MP3 Playback Support - NewsBoss can now link and playback MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) files.

Wires

MP3 Encoding Support - Conversion of audio clips to MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) format for transmission in Wires is now supported.
NewsBoss Web Interface Server - New Web Interface Server added. The NewsBoss Web Interface enables users to access the NewsBoss database via a standard Internet Browser. All scripts and stories can be read and linked audio clips played on-line. New scripts and associated audio clips may also be submitted from the Web Browser. See NewsBoss Help under Connectivity Topics for further information.

Remote Server

MP3 Encoding Support - Transfer of story audio in MPEG Layer 2 (MP3) format added.

AirBoss

Modification to allow compatibility with AudioVAULT 8.3.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Storm Information Export - Now exports the address of the organization.

Wires

New "ASCII" Transmission Format - Enables transmission of scripts/stories in ASCII text format. The first line contains the Slug, and the subsequent lines contain the body text. Scripts/Stories are separated by a Form Feed character.
Audio Transmission - Can now be transmitted by File or FTP for transmitters other than XMLNews. This feature can be used to transmit audio included stories to a remote site along with the story text.

NewsBoss

Printer Default - Print Copies setting will now default to the setting made in the Page Setup dialog every time the print dialog is opened. The default Page Setup Copies setting will reflect the default setting for the printer in the Windows Printer Properties.

All

VU Meters in Windows 2000/XP - VU Meters now function in Windows 2000 and XP regardless of the audio card type. NOTE: A new NEWSBOSS.INI settings can force NewsBoss to use its own internal audio data buffers for calculating peak meter readings...

[MCI]
UseDevicePeakmeters=<boolean> Default: 1

Setting UseDevicePeakmeters=0 will force NewsBoss to calculate peak meter values rather than relying on the audio card driver.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Queue Rollover - Added the ability for Rundown Queues to rollover (copy all items) Scripts and Program Items. The one step function preserves the timestamps and the order of scripts when they are copied. See Rundowns/Rollover in the Contents tab of the main NewsBoss Help file for information on configuring this function.
Commercial Break Import - This function will import timing information from a specifically formatted ASCI file and create Commercial Break Items in a Rundown Queue. See Rundowns/Commercial Items in the Contents tab of the main NewsBoss Help file for information on configuring this function.
Queue Properties - Dialog has been changed to a tabbed property sheet.
DAVID DigaSystem Integration - Capability to drag and drop audio cuts from the DigaSystem Database manager into a NewsBoss script has been added. See Audio Topics/Audio Connectivity in the Contents tab of the main NewsBoss Help file for information on configuring this function.
Archive - Newscast Items in the NewsBoss Archive will now contain the Moved time for each script included in the Newscast. This enables easier searching for Newscast items if there is a delay in archiving the Newscast or if Newscast archiving is performed automatically at a time later than the Newscast is presented.

Wires

Transmitter Port Setting - A page has been added to the Options property sheet enabling the transmitter TCP/IP socket port to be specified. If the Transmitter Port is changed from the default value of 5000, then all receivers that try to connect to any of the transmitter services must also be re-configured to match the selected port.
EDIS Wire Service Support - Support has been added for the State of California Emergency Digital Information Service (EDIS) wire.
Metro Source Audio Linking - Conversion of included audio cut information in Metro Source wires into NewsBoss cut format has been implemented. See Audio Topics/Audio Connectivity in the Contents tab of the main NewsBoss Help file for information on configuring this function.
New NEWSBOSS.INI Setting - This setting stops the stripping of 8 bit characters if ANPA_OEM_TO_ANSI is set to 0. This setting may be used if problems arise when transmitting scripts with special 8 bit characters such as Polish scripts.

[DTWire]
ANPA_NOSTRIP=<boolean> Default: 0 0 - Strip 8 bit characters. 1 - Do not strip 8 bit characters.

All

Browse Carts Dialog - Now remembers the order for the carts on a per user basis. The Audio Manager dialog now orders carts when opened based on the currently selected order of the Browse Carts dialog.
HASP - Driver updated to V4.75.
AudioVAULT Audio Browser - If using AudioVAULT audio support, the AudioVAULT Browser will now use the Alternate deck if configured with the AVConfigNameAlt=<machine name) setting in the [NewsBoss] and [Prompter] sections of the newsboss.ini file.

All

Auricon - Support for level meters on Auricon audio card under Windows 2000 added.

NewsBoss

New Drag and Drop Capability - Drag-and-drop is now enabled to Queue Tabs and Story Tabs. A story or a script can be dragged from a Story List to a Queue Tab in which case a copy is added to the bottom of the Queue. A story or script can also be dragged into an open Edit Tab in which case the contents will be inserted into the edit window. Multiple stories and scripts may also be dragged and dropped in the same manner.
Delayed Message Delivery - NewsBoss Messages can now be given a delivery date. This is useful for sending users messages on a date in the future, for example, a reminder.
New Message Bar Behavior - New messages are now displayed in the Message Bar as soon as they are received, without the need for the user to acknowledge previous unread messages. Also, a new button has been added to the Message Bar to display the "latest unread" message.
New Message Keyboard Shortcuts

The following keyboard shortcuts have been assigned:

Send Message Ctrl+Alt+S
Read Messages Ctrl+Alt+M
Next Message Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow (MessageBar Only)
Prev Message Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow (MessageBar Only)
Latest Unread message Ctrl+L (MessageBar Only)
Reply to message Ctrl+Alt+R (MessageBar Only)
Message System - Other changes include: Both Read and Send Messages are now tabs of the same dialog. Ability to send a message with Subject only or Message only The text of the received message is now automatically inserted into the message field of the reply. Background improvements to remote message system
Rundown Printouts - Program Items are now printed in a bold font with a shaded background.
Rundown Printouts - Now print in the Custom Queue Font selected in the Queue/Properties dialog.
Assignments - A button has been added to the "Create Future, Assignment or Idea from a Story" dialog to enable selection of the User for an Assignment.
Modified Rundown Queue Re-ordering Behavior - Rundown Queue ordering is now locked while users change the order of stories, making sure that the current order as displayed on all terminals is consistent. If two users try and change the order of the same Rundown Queue at exactly the same time, the 'second" user will receive a pop-up message indicating that another user is currently modifying the order. If this happens, the second user should simply try again.
Number Pad Override..- There is now a new User Preference to enable the use of the Number Pad keys to control NewsBoss Cart Deck operations from the keyboard. The default is enabled. Users such as financial journalists may wish to disable this capability to enable use of the Number Pad for entry of numbers. Such users may still use the mouse to control the NewsBoss Cart Decks
Browse Cuts Dialog - Now defaults to sorting in descending date order the first time it is open. If the user changes the sort order the new order will persist until the next time NewsBoss is closed and re-opened, or the user logs out.
Temporary Queue Tab - There is now a "temporary" tab displayed on the Queue Tabs. This temporary tab is displayed when in Tab mode and a Queue is loaded, say with a Hot Key, and the Queue is not assigned to a permanent tab for the user.
Organization Details Printout - Now includes Street Address information and Storm Contact information.

Prompter

New Command - A "First Story" command and button has been added. Jumps to the first story in the open queue.

Wires

E-mail Attachments - POP3 e-mail receiver can now decode attachments including audio clips.
WebCaster Web Export - Support for Window Media Format (.WMF) audio encoding has been added.

Audio Palette

Play Meter - Each Cart button now includes a play position meter.
Individual Timers - A cart countdown timer is now displayed on each cart button.
Played Cart Indication - Cart buttons now display in a different color if the cart has been played at least once without re-loading the queue.
Selecting Carts - The next cart to be played can now be selected with the keyboard prior to the previous playing cart completing.

NewsBoss

Archive Initialization Changes - Delay in loading the Queue List on startup when using non-DCOM Archive on a slow network (10mb/s) improved. Archive initialization now occurs after the initial Queue List loading. The trade off is that Archive initialization may now take about 25% longer. If is unacceptable, the preferred solution is to use the NewsBoss DCOM Archive Server, which eliminates the archive initialization delay (except for when the Archive Server service initially starts).
Archive Initialization Setting - A new NEWSBOSS.INI setting can be set to control the block size that is read when loading archive files, which in turn affects the speed of the archive initialization. The default value has been found to be a good compromise between archive initialization time and network hogging.

[Database]
ArchiveReadBlockSize=<integer> Where <integer> is the number of bytes in the block Default = 4096

This setting should not be changed without consulting NewsBoss Support.

NewsBoss

Browse Window - Now only responds to the "active" story list.
Browse Window - Will now not update if it is the "active" window.
Contacts and Organizations - Dialog list box speed improved.
New Story Command - Queue selection dialog now has OK as default button.
Story Copy/Move Command - Queue selection dialog now has OK as default button.
Story List Behavior - Story selection no longer stays on top story in normal (non-rundown) Queues as new stories arrive. New behavior is that the selected story will move down the list as new stories arrive in the Queue.

Wires

New Filter for ANP Netherlands - New filter for ANP Netherlands added.

No functional changes.

All Programs

MailSlot Delay Setting - A new setting has been added to the newsboss.ini file:

[IPC]
MailslotWriteDelay=<milliseconds> Default: 5

This setting inserts a delay of the given number of milliseconds before writing mailslot notifications of NewsBoss synchronization events. Helps avoid mailslot messages failing to propagate correctly throughout the network, which causes other NewsBoss terminals to display incorrect story lists until they are refreshed. The default value of 5ms has been found to give satisfactory results in most circumstances without causing excessive delay. Increasing this setting will make mailslot messages more reliable, at the cost of slowing down some NewsBoss operations.
Changed RCPort Setting - The "RCPort" settings ("EBSRCPort" for Wires) previously defaulted to "2A8" for all IO card types. It now defaults to "2A8" if RCType (EBSRCType for Wires) is set to "ACL7125", and "300" if RCType (EBSRCType for Wires) is set to "ACL7225".

NewsBoss

Automatic Archive of Newscasts - Rundown Queues may now be automatically archived as a Newscast item in the NewsBoss Archive. Archiving occurs during the Purge cycle. Rundown Queues are only archived once in this manner unless changes are made. This option is enabled for a specific Rundown Queue by selecting "Archive Newscast" in the Queue Properties dialog for the Queue.
Alternate Cart Deck Keyboard Commands Added - Keyboard Commands have been added to control the alternate cart deck. Commands are as follows: Start/Pause: Numpad 4 and Numpad 5 Stop: Numpad 6 Previous Cart: Numpad 7 Next Cart: Numpad 9
Remote control for cart decks in NewsBoss added. - Remote control is only enabled for the main story window, not the alternate story window (the one that is displayed when the Shift key is held down when a story is opened). The IO card bit mappings are... Main deck functions for 8 and 16 bit cards 0 Previous cart 1 Next cart 2 Stop 3 Pause 4 Play Alternate deck functions for 16 bit cards only 8 Previous cart 9 Next cart 10 Stop 11 Pause 12 Play
Hidden test menu feature added. - To enable the hidden test menu, set: [NewsBoss] DisplayTestMenuTools=1 Extra test menu items will appear in the Tools menu within NewsBoss... "Test mailslot messages" This function can be used to test the reliability of mailslot notifications around the NewsBoss system. Mailslot notifications are used to communicate events, such as new stories arriving or story deletions, to other NewsBoss client applications. If mailslot messages are transmitted too quickly, some systems will lose the messages, resulting in other NewsBoss clients becoming unsynchronized with the database until they are refreshed. This function transmits 1000 mailslot messages, and then reports the number of messages received by other NewsBoss clients (if any are currently running). If any more than one or two messages are not received, the setting: [IPC] MailslotWriteDelay=<milliseconds> Default: 5 can be increased slightly to overcome the problem. (See above for more information about this setting).
Edit/ Insert Text File Command - Now remembers the last file that was inserted.
Assignments Module - Dialog behavior modified to enable the width of the list pane to change when the dialog is modified. This enables more of the Future or Assignment title to be displayed.

Wires

Purge of Program Items - Program Items not marked for Hold are now purged.

AutoRecorder

Window tiling modified - Minimize and maximize/restore buttons added to the title bar on the channel windows enables improved control of channel window layout.

Audio Editor

Audition Length Setting - A new setting has been added to the newsboss.ini file: [CartEditor] AuditionMS=<milliseconds> Default: 1000 Specifies the period in milliseconds of the start and end sections that are played in Audition mode. This setting applies to the local PC only.

All Programs

New Audio Delete Behavior - The Delete command in the Browse Cuts dialog and the Audio Manager dialog now places deleted files into the Windows Recycler, unless the <Shift> key is pressed when the Delete button is pressed, in which case the files will be destroyed permanently.
Mixer Enable Setting - This setting may be useful as a workaround for certain brand audio cards which do not have a mixer control. [MCI] EnableMixers=boolean Default: 1 If set to 0, this setting totally disables ALL mixer access, including meter level reading. Setting this setting to 0 also implies EnableMixerControl= 0.

NewsBoss

Quick Queue Selection. - Each User may now load NewsBoss queues using the Ctrl+1..0 keys. Up to 10 queues may be assigned. For example, to assign a particular queue to Ctrl+1, right click on the queue, and select "Set Quick Load" from the menu, then select which number to assign the queue to. If the number is already assigned, the assigned queues name will be next to the number. The Quick Queue selections are also available on the Queue menu. Using the Shift key in conjunction with the Ctrl+<number> keys will load the queue into the alternate queue view below or to the right of the primary queue view.
NewsBoss WebCaster - Automates the export of scripts and audio clips to the station Web Site. See NewsBoss WebCasterNewsBoss_WebCaster for more details.
Futures and Assignments - A brand new Roster, Futures, Assignments and Ideas feature has been added (see the NewsBoss "Tools" menu).
New "Tabbed Queue View" Option. - Pressing the button at the top left corner of the Queue list window switches the Queue display into a "Tabbed" view. Queues may be added to the Tabbed Queue View by right-clicking the mouse on a queue name and selecting "Add Queue To Tabs" from the pop-up menu. The Queues displayed in the Queue Tabbed View are saved individually for each NewsBoss or AirBoss user.
New Multi-Queue/Story Windows. By clicking on the button at the top right of the Queue window, or by selecting "Show Second Window" from the Queue menu, another Queue/Story window is displayed, making it possible to view the contents of two different queues simultaneously. Stories may be dragged from one Queue/Story list to another.
New Drag and Drop Functionality - Along with the implementation of Multi-Queue/Story windows, improvements have been made to Drag and Drop functions: Scripts and stories may now be dragged and dropped directly into a Story List as well as into a Queue List. In a Rundown Queue, the script or story will be placed into the Story List position indicated by the mouse cursor when the mouse button is released. This enables ordering a Rundown at the same time as scripts are moved into it. In all other Queues the script or story will be placed at the top of the Story List. If the Queue has the "Preserve Date and Time" flag is set, the script will be sorted to the correct location on the next Queue refresh. Dropping scripts or stories into the Queue List remains unchanged. In Rundown Queues the script is placed at the bottom and in other Queues, the item is placed at the top of the list.
Double Space Printing Override - The Print Options dialog now has a checkbox for overriding the default "Print Double Space" setting. This option is available only when printing is initiated from the Story Menu.
Read Time for Selected Text - The Read Time indicator can now indicate the time for the select portion of the text. If text is selected, the Read Time indicator will display the read time for the selected text only, in white text on black background. If no text is selected the Read Time displayed will be for the entire story, in standard colors.
Colored Tabs - Colored tabs provide better indication of the window with the keyboard focus. If the User Preference "Display colored tabs" is selected, the Queue/Story List windows or Story Edit windows with the keyboard focus, are highlighted with a bright yellow title background, while the non-focused windows will have a dark yellow background.
Improved Color Rendering - Support for 256 color display adapters has been improved. Non-standard colors will be displayed as solid colors rather than as dithered colors. NOTE: The colors may change when another application is selected, but will return when the NewsBoss application regains focus.
Auto Spell Check - Auto-Spell Check as you type has been implemented. Unrecognized words are underlined in red. Right-click the mouse on the word to display a menu of suggestions or add it to the user dictionary. This is a User based feature which may be activated or deactivated in User Preferences.
"Headline" Fields Added - Headlines are primarily used for scripts or stories which are to be published to a Web Site, providing a true long form headline rather than just a slug. This new feature is used in conjunction with new WebCaster script and audio export system for easily updating station web site news content.
Archive Path Setting Change - The following NEWSBOSS.INI setting is now obsolete. [Database] ArchivePath This setting is now stored in the NewsBoss database. The Archive Path is set using the NewsBoss Tools application. Note that the Archive Path must be set to a path that is common to all PCs on the network. Use of a full "UNC" path, such as "\\NEWS_SERVER\ARCHIVE" is preferred. Use of "mapped" network drives is NOT recommended as they may be inadvertently removed by a user if the network is disabled when a workstation is restarted. When the NewsBoss database upgrade is performed (from within the Tools application), and the above NEWSBOSS.INI setting is present on the PC running the Tools application, then it will automatically be saved to the NewsBoss database. It may still be necessary to alter the path as described above to make it accessible to all PCs.
New Story Option - A "New story in this queue" menu option has been added to Story List pop-up menu. Right click with the mouse within any Story List to display this menu.
Change in Default Queue Behavior - The User's "Default work queue" now only applies when creating new stories, new rewrites, or using the Copy and Edit function. When the user copies or moves a story, the destination queue is now remembered independently of the "Default work queue".
Multiple Message Delete - The "Read Messages" dialog now allows multiple selection of Messages for the purpose of deleting them.
Demo Mode Time Left Message - If the NewsBoss database has been activated in "Demo" mode, then a dialog message will be displayed after login stating the time remaining in the demonstration period.
Improved Wheel Mouse Support - The Story List now supports extending (loading the next 100 stories) when the mouse wheel is used to reach the bottom of the list.
Improved Scroll Bar Support - The Story List now supports extending (loading the next 100 stories) when the vertical scroll bar "scroll box" is used to reach the bottom of the list.
Insert Program Item Command - Has been moved from the Story Menu to the Queue menu

Wires

NewsBoss WebCaster - Automates the export of scripts and audio clips to the station Web Site. See NewsBoss WebCasterNewsBoss_WebCaster for more details.
Changed Connect Function - The Connect dialog has been removed. The Connect functionality is now provided in the Configure Receiver and Configure Transmitter dialogs.
New NEWSBOSS.INI Settings [NBWire] ANPAInsertHeaderInStory=0 or 1 (default 1) This setting turns on or off the insertion of ANPA header information at the start of the story text received by ANPA type wire filters. [NBWire] ANPA_G1TRANS=0 or 1 (default 1) This setting enables ANPA G1 character translation for all ANPA receivers. This setting should normally be set to 1, unless the wire service is not using G1 translations. This setting should only be used after contacting NewsBoss support. [NBWire] ANPA_OEM_TO_ANSI=0 or 1 (default 0) This setting causes characters received on any ANPA receiver to be translated from the OEM char set to ANSI. This setting should only be used after contacting NewsBoss support.
Obsolete NEWSBOSS.INI Setting [NBWire] EnableSocketPorts This setting is now obsolete and not required.
CTI-2 Computer/Temperature Interface Support - NewsBoss now has support for the CTI-2 Computer/Temperature Interface manufactured by Sine Systems Inc!ExecFile(http://www.sinesystems.com). The Wires module is responsible for taking temperature readings from the CTI-2 transducer via a serial port. Temperature readings are broadcast to NewsBoss and the Prompter, and are displayed on the status bar next to the date/time box. The temperature scale used (Fahrenheit or Celsius) is determined by the Windows Control Panel - Regional Settings - Number - Measurement System setting, in force for the current operating system user. The Prompter also has the option of displaying the temperature in a box at the top left corner in a larger font, suitable for "live" reading. Display of this box is controlled using the Prompter configuration dialog. See NewsBoss Help for more information on setting up the CTI-2.
Socket Connection Scripts - Receivers configured to connect using a TCP/IP socket connection (Network option) can now use a connection script. The connection script is processed when the socket connects. The script allows connections to text streaming servers that connect using different protocols.

The script allows the following keywords...

COMMAND=<command string> Sends the <Command string> to the server.
WAIT=<wait string> Waits for the <wait string> to be returned from the server.

Lines beginning with a ';' character are comment lines.

Examples: 1. Connection to Wires transmitters.

COMMAND=CONNECT <wire TX name> <this site name>
WAIT=CONNECTED

where <wire TX name> is the name of the remote transmitter, and <this site name> is the name of the receiver site that will appear on the remote transmitter connection list.

NOTE: It is NOT necessary to have a script to connect to Wires transmitters. Wires will default to using the above script with <wire TX name> set to the name of the receiver, and <this site name> obtained from the [NBWire]SiteName= setting in the NEWSBOSS.INI file. i.e. If you are currently using Wires to connect to other Wires using Network option, you do NOT need to create a script.

2. Weather Wire 2000 (NWWS 2000)

WAIT=WW_OI> COMMAND=log\<username>\<password>

where <username> is your NWWS username, and <password> is the corresponding account password.

NOTE: To receive the NWWS, in the receiver configuration dialog enter 131.131.7.200 for the Server, and 15000 for the Port. You must obtain an account with NWWS before the connection will succeed.
Selectable Category Priorities - Wires Receiver Categories can now filter on selected wire priorities. This make it easy to create a "Bulletins" only Queue. If an I/O card is fitted, an external alarm may be triggered when a matching wire is received. Setup is performed in the Wires Receiver Modify Category dialog. NOTE: The wire service must support Priority codes in the header of the wire story for this feature to function.

AutoRecorder

MDI Support - The AutoRecorder is now an MDI application (multiple windows) rather than using a standard dialog as the main window. All channels may be displayed simultaneously.
New Cart Controls - A manual cart control bar has been added to each channel window. These controls allow events to be manually started, paused and stopped, before or during their scheduled time period.
VU Meter Update - The VU meter style can now be changed by double-clicking on it.
SAS Switcher Support - Support for SAS Switcher control has been added. Each event can be configured to send a string of characters to a serial port. This can be used to trigger SAS routing switchers and any other switcher which supports serial command strings. (e.g. Broadcast Tools 8x2)
Broadcast Tools Mega-Coupler Support - Support for the Broadcast Tools Inc. Mega-Coupler MC-16 has been added. Using the MC-16, events can be controlled remotely via using a telephone touch pad. For example, a journalist can phone in, make a recording, and replay the recording - all using touch pad codes. See NewsBoss Help for more information on the setup and operation of this feature.

Audio Editor

Space Left Indicator - The "Save Cut" dialog now includes the "Room" left on the selected library disk in minutes.
Improved Cut Mark Behavior - The behavior of inserting a cut mark into a segment has changed. Previously, a cut mark was inserted at the insertion point, and the segment was split with the right end of the first segment and the left end of the right segment using the same inserted cut mark. Now two cut marks are inserted next to each other, allowing the segments to be positioned independently.
Modified Pause Command Behavior - Pause now releases the audio device, making it available for use. This will help prevent problems when the Audio Editor is used on the same workstation as the Prompter, and the user pauses play in the Audio Editor, and is then unable to play a cut in the Prompter when required.

Prompter

Quick Start "Record" Function - This function allows Quick Start buttons to be recorded directly within the Prompter. This feature is useful for last minute recording of Quick Starts, for example, the latest traffic report.
External Control Card Support - The Prompter may now be controlled using the ACL-7125, ACL-7225 or SEA-8004 IO cards. Input bit mappings....
Bit 0 - Prev Story
Bit 1 - Next Story
Bit 2 - Scroll Up
Bit 3 - Scroll Down
Bit 4 - Quick Scroll Up
Bit 5 - Quick Scroll Down
Bit 6 - Main Stop
Bit 7 - Main Play
16 bit cards- ACL 7225 and SEA-8004...
Bit 8 - QuickStart Stop
Bit 9 - QuickStart 1 Play
Bit 10 - QuickStart 2 Play
Bit 11 - QuickStart 3 Play
Bit 12 - QuickStart 4 Play
Bit 13 - QuickStart 5 Play
Bit 14 - QuickStart 6 Play
Bit 15 - QuickStart 7 Play

Tools

The NewsBoss database may now be re-activated to Demo mode, even if it has already been fully activated, or the current demo activation has not yet expired. If a NetHASP key fails, the database can be temporarily re-activated in demo mode while the key is replaced.

AirBoss

New NEWSBOSS.INI setting... [AirBoss]
CartType=AVInternal
This setting can be used to allow the AudioVault Browse dialog to be displayed for Note Associations, even when the NewsBoss CartType is something other than AVInternal. i.e. NewsBoss can be CartType=MCI and AirBoss can be CartType=AVInternal.

AirBoss

New NEWSBOSS.INI setting...
[AirBoss]
CartType=AVInternal
This setting can be used to allow the AudioVAULT Browse dialog to be displayed for Note Associations, even when the NewsBoss CartType is something other than AVInternal. i.e. NewsBoss can use CartType=MCI and AirBoss can use CartType=AVInternal.

No functional changes.

New export feature added to Contacts, Organizations and Storm Information dialogs. Enables export of data in comma delimited text format with a ".CSV" extension. The exported data may be imported into any program capable of importing comma delimited data such as Microsoft Access or Excel etc.
Archive Cache priority changed - The thread priority of the Archive Cache has been lowered to idle to allow the NewsBoss interface to be loaded and active more quickly at startup. This has been a problem at sites with large archives. It may now take a little longer for the Archive to be available when NewsBoss is first started. This will be addressed in a future release which will incorporate a separate Archive Server application.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Story Printing - Modified to not use the Windows Clipboard internally. This avoids possible Clipboard errors. This is a background modification and there are no changes to the user interface.
Text Editor Updated - The text editor code has been updated to improve stability. This is a background modification and there are no changes to the user interface.
Story Export - Now allows "Any" type. When "Any" is selected in the "Save as type" box, the story is exported with only the contents of the story in the file (no slug inserted at the top), and no default file extension is appended.
Drag and Drop of External Files - Files with the extension ".STB" may now be dragged and dropped into a NewsBoss Queue as is the case for ".TXT files.
Export as HTML - The format of the Export as HTML output has been modified slightly to improve readability.

Wires

New Wires Driver - "CBS InfoLink Starguide" added. Stations currently receiving CBS InfoLink with the CBS InfoLink driver or an ANPA driver may be required to switch to the "CBS InfoLink SG" driver.
New Wires Service - Support for the "Farm Dayta" wire service has been added.
Hardware Handshaking - A hardware handshaking option has been added to the Configure Transmitter dialog. This allows hardware handshaking to be enabled in situations where the connected equipment requires handshaking to prevent buffer overflows.

Auto Recorder

Log - Extra information has been added to the AutoRecorder log file to assist in troubleshooting problems.

No functional changes.

All Programs

Changed NEWSBOSS.INI Setting - The following setting now applies to all NewsBoss audio applications.
[MCI]
EnablePlaybackDevices=<number> (default 255)
EnableRecordDevices=<number> (default 255)
These settings can be used to disable record or playback devices that are not to be used, such as Voice Modem devices. The <number> represents a "bitfield" of the devices that are to be enabled. For example, if your PC has 4 playback devices and you want to only use devices 0 and 1, set the value of EnablePlaybackDevices to 3 (binary 00000011). If you only want to enable device 1, set EnablePlaybackDevices to 2 (binary 00000010). Normally there is no need to alter these settings.

NewsBoss

New NEWSBOSS.INI setting. [NBServer] HostReplyAddress=<IP address> This setting specifies the IP address of the NewsBoss remote Server that inter-site messages replies should be to. When a user sends a message to another site, this setting is appended to the users name so the remote NewsBoss knows where to reply.
Custom Queue Fonts - NewsBoss Queues can now be assigned custom fonts. These are set in the Queue Properties dialog. By selecting an appropriate font and character set, this feature may be used to provide a type of multi-lingual support. The custom fonts (normal and tabular) are used as the default fonts for stories (and AirBoss Copy) in the Queue. Note that once a story is modified and saved, the font is assigned permanently to the story - moving the story to another Queue will not reset the font. To change a font once a story is saved, use the menu option Format - Fonts. If the Prompter is used to read stories from a Queue with custom fonts assigned, by default it will NOT use the custom font. You must check the "Use custom queue fonts" option in the Prompter Setup dialog to enable the use of custom fonts within the Prompter. Note however, that the Prompter assigns the one font (custom queue or default) to the whole of the text, ignoring any fonts set manually within the story.
Contacts and Organizations - The list searching speed has been greatly improved.
Cart Browse dialog - "Extra information" in the cart list now fills the displayed carts before filling the rest of the list in the background. This improves the speed of loading the list.
New user preference - "Display colored story tabs" Displays the story tabs in red, green or cyan, depending on the status of the story. Green is used for an un-altered or saved story or script. Red is used for an edited story or script which has not been saved. Cyan is used for the "Browse" tab.

Audio Editor

Improved Browse Cuts and Audio Manager dialogs. "Description" field has been changed to "Title" to bring it into line with other audio editing software.
Changed .WAV meta information storage - Meta Information is now stored in the "cart" extension RIFF chunk to be compatible with other audio editing software (ENCO DADPro, AudioVAULT). This allows the Audio Editor and NewsBoss to load and display .WAV files recorded with these other systems.

All Programs

Root Directory Path Enabled - Audio and Archive directories can now be specified as a root directory.
Vortex Audio Chipset - Work around implemented for "fade-in" problem on Vortex sound cards (Montego II etc). Stops muting of the main volume control and midi (synthesizer or wavetable) lines which seems to prevent the fade-in occurring. These cards are NOT recommended. To implement add the following line to the [MCI] section of the newsboss.ini file: EnableVortexFix1=1

NewsBoss

Remote Messages - It is now possible to send a message to a user on a remote NewsBoss system across a TCP/IP connection such as a WAN.
Requirements are:
1. NewsBoss Remote Server must be running on a PC at each site.
2. A TCP/IP connection between the sites. A WAN is the best way to do this.
3. The following setting must be added to the newsboss.ini file of the PC running NewsBoss Remote Server:
[NBServer]
HostReplyAddress=<IP address>
Where <IP address> is the IP address of the local PC running NewsBoss Remote Server.
This setting specifies the IP address of the NewsBoss Remote Server that inter-site messages replies should be sent to. When a user sends a message to another site, this setting is appended to the users name so the remote NewsBoss system knows where the reply is to be sent.

For example, assume two NewsBoss systems located at Sydney and Los Angeles:
The PC running NewsBoss Remote Server in Sydney has an IP address of 192.168.17.10

The newsboss.ini file on this PC requires the following line:
[NBServer]
HostReplyAddress=192.168.17.10

The PC running NewsBoss Remote Server in Los Angeles has an IP address of 192.168.17.223
The newsboss.ini file on this PC requires the following line:
[NBServer]
HostReplyAddress=192.168.17.223

Procedure:
When the user writes the message in the Send Message dialog, they click on the Send to Remote User button. The Remote Connection dialog is displayed, the required connection name (location) is selected and OK is clicked. A remote connection is established and the list of users at the remote site is displayed. The required User is selected and the message is sent. See Setting Up NewsBoss Remote MessagingSetting Up NewsBoss Remote Messaging for more details.
EBS Disable - The EBS alert may now be disabled on specific workstations by setting the following line in the newsboss.ini file:
[NewsBoss]
DisplayEBS=0
The values for this setting are :
0 do not display EBS dialog; and
1 display the EBS dialog.
The default for this setting is 1

Audio Editor

Audio Buffer File Path - The path for temporary audio files (record buffers) can now be specified using the Setup|Options|General dialog. In cases where workstation disk drive space is limited for some reason, it is advisable to set this path to a disk or partition other than the Windows system disk in order to avoid filling up the system disk and bringing Windows to a halt.
Setup/Options/Levels Property Page - The "Line In" for playback is now called the "Monitor" line, and is selectable, and the "Line In" for record is now called "Input" and is also selectable. The line selections can usually be left on the "Auto" setting (Auricle and SoundBlaster 16), in which case the first line of either "Line in" or "Auxiliary" type will be selected. On some cards this process will select an inappropriate line such as Telephone or Video. The correct line can now be selected.
New Menu Option to Display Toolbar - Added to the Setup menu.

Auto Recorder

Logging of Events - A new newsboss.ini setting allows logging of AutoRecorder events to assist in debugging of AutoRecorder schedules.
[AutoRecorder] LogEvents=0 or 1 or 2

0 = Log nothing
1 = Log main events (shows when recording started and stopped)
2 = Log all events (shows all internal events)

Log files are written to the c:\newsboss folder: "AREC1.log" and "AREC2.LOG" (the #1 file is the latest).
AutoFill Behavior - If the "Stop time" field is cleared it will now fill automatically with the Start time + Duration.
Library Error Indicators - Green and Red indicators have been added to the main schedule dialog to indicate a problem with the Audio Library. If the required Library is deleted for some reason, a red X will be displayed, instead of a green check.

Wires

Improved Transmitter Robustness - The robustness of the Wires transmitting logic has been improved. In the past if a user, on a PC that had the time incorrectly set in the future, moved a story to a transmit queue, the transmitter would transmit that story then stop transmitting until the time on the Wires PC caught up with the time on the future-dated story. To rectify this the Wires program would need to be stopped, the post dated story deleted, and the Wires program restarted and the transmitter manually reset. This would effectively stall the transmitter until the manual intervention. Transmitters now check the times of stories and will not transmit stories with the date/time set into the future (based on the Wires PC clock). Note however, that this does not guard against the possibility of the Wires PC clock being set into the future. Transmitters also now check their transmit queues on startup and reset for stories that have date/time stamps later than the current time on the Wires PC. Any stories found with a date/time stamp that is later than the current Wires PC time will be re-stamped with the current time. This is to allow transmitters to reset if a story is placed in a transmit queue from a PC that has its clock incorrectly set into the future. To ensure the smooth operation of Transmitters, it is essential to keep the date/time/timezone on all PCs synchronized.

NewsBoss

Remote Connect Dialog - This dialog has been significantly reworked to make setting up a remote connection easier and more logical. Click the Help button in the dialog for

All Programs

Audio Manager dialog - Copy and Move functions now display a progress dialog, allowing the user to view the progress of large file operations or cancel the operation if desired. Also, "Rename" buttons have been added to allow the user to rename audio cuts if required.

NewsBoss

Shred Function Shredding of stories in WASTEBASKET queue now allowed.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Dual Cart Deck Capability - Ability to insert a cart to be played using an "Alternate Deck". The Browse Carts dialogs now have a button "Insert Alt". When the story is loaded into NewsBoss, any carts inserted with the Insert Alt button will be loaded into the alternate deck.

To enable the alternate deck, the following settings need to be included in the NEWSBOSS.INI file:
[NewsBoss]
EnableCartDeckAlt=1
CartTypeAlt=MCI

The options for these settings are the same as for EnableCartDeck and CartType. This option is only useful on PCs equipped with multiple play channels, otherwise, each deck will stop the other deck playing when it is started.
Rundown List Field - "Moved" field is now included in rundown story lists.
Story List - Columns positions within the story list window are now persistent for the duration of the user's NewsBoss session.

NewsBoss

Drag and Drop - Added mouse click debounce code to prevent a drag/drop destination queue being selected when performing a drop operation.

Audio Editor

Remote Control of transport commands added using ACL-7125 or ACL-7225 card. Uses the following NEWSBOSS.INI settings.

[CartEditor]
RCType=ACL7125
RCDebounce=50
RCBoard=0
RCPort=2A8
IOCmdMapMode=1

There are two input bit mapping modes, selected by the IOCmdMapMode setting:

Mode 1: Mapped so that the main functions (Stop and Play) are available for four audio devices with the 7125 IO card. Requires a 7225 card if extra functions (Record and Pause) are required.

Bit 0 - Device 0 Stop
Bit 1 - Device 0 Play
Bit 2 - Device 1 Stop
Bit 3 - Device 1 Play
Bit 4 - Device 2 Stop
Bit 5 - Device 2 Play
Bit 6 - Device 3 Stop
Bit 7 - Device 3 Play
(ACL 7225 card only below)
Bit 8 - Device 0 Record
Bit 9 - Device 0 Pause
Bit 10 - Device 1 Record
Bit 11 - Device 1 Pause
Bit 12 - Device 2 Record
Bit 13 - Device 2 Pause
Bit 14 - Device 3 Record
Bit 15 - Device 3 Pause

Mode 2: Mapped so that all functions (Stop, Play, Record and Pause) are available for two devices (0 & 1) with the 7125 IO card. Requires a 7225 card if extra devices (2 & 3) are required.

Bit 0 - Device 0 Stop
Bit 1 - Device 0 Play
Bit 2 - Device 0 Record
Bit 3 - Device 0 Pause
Bit 4 - Device 1 Stop
Bit 5 - Device 1 Play
Bit 6 - Device 1 Record
Bit 7 - Device 1 Pause
(ACL 7225 card only below)
Bit 8 - Device 2 Stop
Bit 9 - Device 2 Play
Bit 10 - Device 2 Record
Bit 11 - Device 2 Pause
Bit 12 - Device 3 Stop
Bit 13 - Device 3 Play
Bit 14 - Device 3 Record
Bit 15 - Device 3 Pause

All Programs

Interface Update - The interface has been updated to give all of the toolbar buttons the latest "look and feel". Minor changes have been made to other interface elements to improve functionality.

NewsBoss

Archive Feature - The NewsBoss Archive enables users to store and retrieve important stories and scripts. A unique feature also allows a whole newscast to be saved as a single story and retrieved at a later date. Features:
A separate file system from the main NewsBoss database to keep the main database to a manageable size.
The Archive file system uses a automatic multiple file system with a maximum size for each file. This makes static backup simple and fool proof.
Manual archive of stories on demand from within NewsBoss.
Automatic archiving of selected Queues overnight.
Single step archiving of a complete newscast for later reference.
Fast searching of the archive by keywords and dates.
For more details please take a moment to read the Archive topic of NewsBoss Help. Select Help Topics from the Help menu in NewsBoss and then select Archive.
New Rundown Timing - Rundown Queues have a new Story List layout with enhanced timing information to assist in running longer news programs with NewsBoss. Columns for "Hit Time", Cume and "Back Time" have been added. In particular, the "Hit Time" enables longer programs to determine if they are running to time.
Program Items in a Rundown Queue - It is now possible to insert "Program Items" into a Rundown Queue. Program Items can represent a network news, commercial break or some other programming element. The Items are different color than the normal scripts and have built in timing to enable a newscast or news program to be timed accurately. Program Items are also "held" by default so that all scripts may be deleted or purged and the Program Items left as a skeleton for the next program. Program Items are added by selecting Insert Program Item from the Story menu.
Improved Contacts Features: Contacts can now be assigned a Category. The Contacts dialog can now select contacts by Contact Category via a combo list box. Contacts dialog "Find" button now searches Title, Firstname, Surname, Keywords and Comments. Contacts dialog is now re-sizable. Organizations dialog "Find" button now searches Name, Keywords and Comments. Organizations dialog is now re sizable.
Message Bar - A new Message Bar option has been added to the bottom of the NewsBoss screen. The Bar is a user option which displays messages in a single line format at the bottom of the screen without the need to open the Read Messages dialog. Buttons are provided to enable scrolling of long messages past the window as well as moving from one message to another. Other buttons initiate a reply and display the Read Messages dialog to enable deletion of old messages. To enable the Message Bar when you are logged in, select Preferences from the Setup menu and check the Show message bar box in the Preferences dialog.
3rd Party Application Launch - 3rd party applications such as Cool Edit Pro or a Web browser can now be launched form within NewsBoss. NOTE: Customers must arrange their own Licenses for 3rd party products. For more information select Help Topics from the Help menu in NewsBoss. Then select Menus, Tools Menu and User Applications.
Spelling Support - NewsBoss supports spell checking for the following languages: English - English - USA Spanish Brazilian Portuguese French German To install spelling support for a particular language, run Setup on each workstation and select the correct spelling option.
Remote Connectivity - Allows Users to connect to the station database remotely. A Pop-up Queue/Story List enables on-line browsing of Queues and Story slugs at the station. Stories may be copied either way between the two databases by the "drag and drop" method.

Audio Editor

Multi Channel Play/ Record - If multiple sound cards or a multi-channel sound card is fitted, more than one cut may now be played at the same time. Automatic and manual channel assignment is supported through the use of channel buttons on the lower left hand corner of each edit screen or via the Options dialog.
32 kHz Record Support - The Audio Editor now supports the 32kHz sampling rate.
New NEWSBOSS.INI Setting to (dis)enable playback audio devices.
Contact NewsBoss Support if you want to alter this setting.
[MCI]
EnablePlaybackDevices=<number> (default 255)
Set to 255 to enable all devices.
New NEWSBOSS.INI Setting to (dis)enable record audio devices. Contact NewsBoss Support if you want to alter this setting. [MCI] EnableRecordDevices=<number> (default 255)
Set to 255 to enable all devices.

Prompter

Archive - Newscasts may be archived to the NewsBoss Archive from the Prompter. For more details see the Archive section above.
AutoLogin - A new newsboss.ini setting enable the Login feature to be bypassed. The following setting now applies: AutoLogin=<login name> <password>
Default: (none)
Disables the log in requirement for various functions in NewsBoss Prompter by automatically supplying a login name and password to be used. The username and password must be an administrator. This feature can be used to disable the security for the Prompter program in small stations where security is not an issue. WARNING: Disabling the Prompter security in this way will also reduce the security for NewsBoss because a valid username and password is contained in the .INI file. For example, to set up a login name of boss and a password of topman, specify: AutoLogin=boss topman

Wires

Driver Sorting - The Driver combo-box in Wires Configure dialog is now sorted alphabetically.
New Filter - A new filter for AFP Espa-ol has been added.

Audio Programs and Audio Editor

Improved Audio Card Support - Support for Sound Blaster PCI64, PCI128 and PCI512 improved. NOTE: The PCI512 is NOT recommended.
Improved Scrub - Scrubbing while in Pause implemented in the Audio Editor.

Prompter

Improved Caching - Background audio data caching added. This improves the response to playing an audio cut, reducing possibility of short delay between pressing Play and when play starts. This feature is enabled by default.
To disable this feature, set...
[MCI]
DisableReadCache=1 (default = 0)

NewsBoss

Manual Selector Code Entry - Selector code can now be manually entered into combo box, allowing original wire feed selector code to be preserved when a story is edited.

Wires

ANPA Transmit Filter Change - The Wires transmitter now always includes optional ANPA selector code as some newsroom software receivers do not correctly allow for selector code to be missing.

NewsBoss

Contacts List - Printing the Contacts list now includes the Organization name. The columns have also been re-formatted.
Improved Searches - Searching of Contacts by Keyword now includes the Comments field as well as the Keyword field.
Audio Editor
Enhanced Setup Dialog - More control over the Windows Mixer is now available. Option to disable control of the mixer. Muting of Line-In from the Playback channel. Automatic selection of unused channels when available.

NewsBoss

New NEWSBOSS.INI setting: [NewsBoss] AutoSaveRundown=boolean Default 1 Set this to 0 to disable the automatic saving of Rundown queue order when moving/deleting/copying stories in a rundown queue. Note that if a Prompter is active, it will not be aware of changes in the rundown order until the SaveRD button is pressed. This setting can be disabled if rundowns are ordered prior to going to air allowing quicker interface response on slower PCs.

Audio Editor

Extended Sample Rate Support - 32kHz sampling is now supported.
New Command - A "Clear all Segments" command has been added to the Audio Editor Segments menu..

NewsBoss

Browse Tab Shutdown Warning - From Version 3.4b the Browse tab will display a message when an attempt is made to close it. This is designed to prevent inadvertent closing of this window.
NBStoryViewer - New mode for this background feature to allow connectivity to other applications.

Audio Editor

Position Counter - A position counter has been added to the audio editor to indicate the cursor position in the audio track.

Prompter

Load Queue Expansion Memory - The Load Queue dialog now "remembers" the expansion state of the Queue List.

All Programs

Improved Database Reconnection - Improvements have been made to the ability for NewsBoss programs to reconnect to the database after a server or network failure. This reduces the downtime for workstations and in most cases does not require a restart of the workstation.
Dynamic Updates of Rundowns - Rundowns now dynamically update on all workstations, Prompter and the Audio Palette. As soon as the change is made all it is reflected across all workstations which are viewing the rundown. Clicking the "Save RD" button is no longer required.

NewsBoss

New Screen Layout Option - Users can now select between the existing layout with the story tabs on the top and the Queue/Story list on the bottom OR a new layout with the story tabs on the right-hand side and the Queue/Story list on the left hand side of the screen. To change modes, click on the Setup menu and select Preferences. In the Preferences dialog, check the "Edit panes on right side" box to select the new option. The new mode is particularly efficient on higher resolution screens.
New "Browse" Function - A Queue may now be browsed in a special Browse tab by selecting Browse from the Story menu or the right click menu in the Story List.. The currently highlighted story in the Story List will then be displayed automatically in the Browse tab which has a "leaf" icon. Users can automatically display the Browse tab when logging on by checking the "Start Browse on log-in" box in the Preferences dialog. The Preferences dialog is reached by selecting Preferences from the Setup menu.
Audio Preview in Stories - A cart deck has been added to the Story windows. The deck will automatically load the first cut in the story which can be then be played by clicking on the cart deck controls. Playing the first cut to the end will load the second cut just as is the case in the Prompter. A specific cut may be loaded in the deck by clicking on the first line of the cart information (i.e. the "Cart No:" line) The cart deck may also be operated from the keyboard by using the Number Pad keys on the right hand side of the keyboard. This requires Num Lock to be active (On). When this is done the Ins key will Play and Pause, the Del key will Stop and the 1 and 3 keys will move between cuts if there is more than 1 cut.
New Queue List Behavior The Queue List has changed so that only a single mouse click is required to "log" a queue. Keyboard users can still scroll through the Queue List as before, but pausing will automatically log the Queue without having to press the Enter key.
Improved Drag/Drop Interface - Users can now "drag and drop" from NewsBoss to Microsoft Word and Word Pad. A story can also be dragged into Explorer where an .RTF format file will be created. Files in .TXT and .RTF format can be dragged and dropped from Explorer into a NewsBoss Queue and a story will be created.
Search and Keyword Monitor - It is now possible to include a spaces in the search strings for either the Search function or the keyword monitor function.
Storm Information - Faster sorting of Storm information. Clicking on the title bar will sort information by the field which is clicked. Sorting is done alternatively in ascending or descending order.
Printing Rundowns - A rundown list may now be printed from the Queue menu or from the right click menu in the Queue List..
Security - To enhance edit security in the Prompter, User queues and System queues can no longer be defined as Rundown Queues.

Prompter

Enhanced Log on - The log on requirement in the Prompter has been enhanced to improve security of stories in NewsBoss. Logging on now ensures the same queue edit access rights as the main NewsBoss program. Users who do not log on will still be able to load Rundown Queues. However they will not be able to perform last minute edits. The Login Dialog is now the same one which is used to log on to NewsBoss. NOTE: Logging on to the Prompter DOES NOT use a NewsBoss license.
AudioVAULT QuickStarts - The QuickStart buttons can now play AudioVAULT cuts.
New Dialog - The QuickStart setup dialog will now display an "out of Rang" message when an attempt is made to create more than 9 QuickStarts.

Wires

New Drivers:
Sky Australia
The Sports Network (TSN)
Shadowtraffic

Audio Palette

A brand new on air presentation module is the Audio Palette. The Audio Palette can be loaded with all of the audio cuts in a NewsBoss Queue. This is ideal for stations which wish to read paper copy but still make use of the digital audio system. Cuts can be loaded in Queue or alphabetical order. The Palette is simple to use and has comprehensive screen customization of layout and colors.

Audio Editor

New Color - The waveform color has been changed to provide better contrast. This has been changed at the request of many users.
Timer display - The timer display is now located in the upper left hand corner of the waveform display. It has also been enhanced to display the total time of selected segments.
Position Counter - A position counter has been added to the audio editor to indicate the cursor position in the audio track.

No functional changes.

NewsBoss

Improved Drag and Drop - Stories can now be dragged from the Story List into an open edit window. The text of the story will be inserted at the cursor point.
Automatic SMTP e-mail dialing. - Ability to automatically dial when sending e-mail by SMTP added. The following settings are required in the NEWSBOSS.INI file on each workstation. [NEWSBOSS] MailSMTPUseRAS=<0 or 1> MailSMTPRASEntryName=<entry name> e.g. News Dialup MailSMTPRASPassword=<password> Note: These settings, and the other mail settings in the NEWSBOSS.INI file will soon be modified within a NewsBoss dialog.

AutoRecorder

Variable end delay for VOX activation. - Adjusts the time between the end of the audio and the termination of recording activity.
Rotation advance checkbox. - Selects when to advance to a new rotation.
Wires
New POP3 Email Wires driver added. - In the Wires Configure Receiver dialog there is now the option of setting the receiver to POP3. The POP3 settings are then entered in the Pop Configuration dialog as follows: POP account: POP3 account name. E.g.; news@mail.newssite.com Password: POP3 password. Use dialup connection (RAS): Check this box to use a modem dialup rather than a LAN or WAN. If the modem is not currently connected, then it will be dialed automatically. Phonebook entry name: The name of the dialup connection. In Windows NT this is the phonebook name. In Windows 95/98, this is the name that appears below the desired dialup connection icon in Dialup Networking.

All Programs

Exception Error Handling - Exception information is now logged to the file NBEXCEPT.RPT in the NewsBoss program directory (usually C:\NEWSBOSS). If an exception occurs, a message box will be displayed which asks the user to forward this file to NewsBoss Support. In the case of Wires, a restart is initiated automatically and the message is displayed in the Wires dialog. - See below.

Wires

Improved Re-Starting - Wires will now re-start itself if it fails due to an un-handled exception (for example an access violation error). Wires will restart in about 60 seconds, and a red message is displayed on the Wires dialog.
Starting via a service in Windows NT4.0 - Wires may now be started by the new Wires Loader NT Service. The service is contained in the file NBWILOAD.EXE located in the NewsBoss program directory (C:\NEWSBOSS). To install the service, execute NBWILOAD with the -i switch: C:\newsboss\nbwiload -i To un-install the service use the -u switch: C:\newsboss\nbwiload -u For other switches use -? After installing this service, Wires will start automatically when NT boots, without requiring a user to be logged in.

All programs

New Database Interface - NewsBoss database access is now provided via COM interface in a DLL for each type of database (multiuser/client-server). This has reduced the number of NewsBoss executables to a single version for each module rather than a version for each type of database, saving considerable installation disk space and quicker downloads for updates.
Year 2000 Compliance - All NewsBoss and AirBoss software has been checked, formally tested and is now certified "Year 2000" compliant. Although NewsBoss software will not cause any problems, customers need to be aware that their computer BIOS and operating systems will also need to be checked to ensure trouble free transition into the new century.

NewsBoss

The Queue List has been changed so that only a single mouse click is required to "log" a queue. Keyboard users can still scroll through the Queue List as before, but pausing will automatically log the Queue without having to press the Enter key.
Since the introduction of the "tab" style windows for open stories, a number of customers have asked to be able to have two stories open side by side to allow rewrites from multiple stories. From Version 3.3 it is now possible to do this. Holding the Shift key down while opening a story will cause it to be "tiled'" in the left hand side of the screen. If such a "shifted" story is open and then a story is opened in the normal manner without the use of the Shift key, the second story will tile in the left hand side of the screen.
Open stories now have Details button which displays a dialog to allow the insertion of a standard ANPA category or selector codes into the story header. This enables stations with wide area networks or stations acting as a source for a wire service to use these codes to sort stories at the remote end.
The Export function has been enhanced to allow easy selection of the target directory and it is now possible to export stories as .HTM or .TXT formats.
Audio Indicator Icon added to story list. Stories that have audio inserted display and Audio Icon in the story list. A new function Story | Confirm Audio can be used to confirm the presence of the included audio file.
New "Local" story notification function added. The User may select a story and send a story notification to a user or user group. The notification is received via the new story notification mechanism.
Any NewsBoss Queue can now be set to print every story which is added to it by checking the Auto print box in the Queue Properties dialog.
Any NewsBoss Queue can now be set to preserve the date and time stamp of stories added to the Queue by checking the Preserve date/time box in the Queue Properties dialog.
Storm Information columns can now sort in reverse order by clicking the title.
Storm Information dialog now loads only Organizations which are marked to be shown (in Modify Organization dialog), so the list of Organizations in the Storm Information dialog will now load much more quickly.
Messages can now be printed.
Support for sending stories by e-mail using MAPI, SMTP, or I-Mail servers.

Audio Editor

Multiple level Undo/Redo support added.
Improved "scrubbing" action added.
New Audio Editor launch icon added to the Tool Bar in NewsBoss.
Support for the AuricleTM card added.

Auto-Recorder

New application for automatic recording of audio feeds into NewsBoss cut libraries. Supports timed recording, VOX start and external contact starting via NewsBoss I/O Control card.

Prompter

Ability to edit the loaded story added.
"Quick Start" buttons added. Each button may be configured to play a particular audio file.
Dual audio card support for Quick Start buttons.
"End" button added to move to the end of the displayed story.
Story Notifications can now be received in the Prompter, including Local notifications.
Function to identify the current Prompter User for Local notifications added.
Open Queue button moved to top level toolbar.
Added Scroll Up button and enabled Up Arrow key to scroll up.

Wires

A new I/O Control Card is now supported for the wires external alarm function. This card replaces the BE GPI card which was previously supported. The card supports 8 opto-isolated inputs and 8 relay isolated outputs. The new card will be NewsBoss specific and will not require installation of any BE software or creation of special .INI files. Customers currently using a BE card for the EBS External Alert function will be swapped for the new card at no charge.

AirBoss

Client/Server AirBoss support now available.
NBCopyViewer ActiveX control now supports "Jock Notes" mode in AVAir.
Type, Start date, Kill date, Client, Advertiser and Description have been added to the printout header.
New start/kill date selection controls.

NewsBoss

Manual "Insert Cut" dialog modified to close dialog after cut is inserted into a story.
Find dialog now allows non ASCII chars.
PCMCIA Hasp now supported.
Username can now use non ASCII chars.
Edit locks and "Hold from Purge " flags can now be removed from stories in the Wastebasket queue.

Wires

Ability to transfer AirBoss Copy items via Wires to other AirBoss systems added.
NPR-DACS filter updated to changed NPR-DACS format.
New NEWSBOSS.INI setting added [NBWire] TransRecheckPeriod=<seconds> default 10 Sets the number of seconds that transmitters scan back in queues to check for story/copy items that have not been transmitted. This setting is used to compensate for differences in the clock times of different PC's that put story/copy items in transmit queues. Ideally, all client PC times should be synchronized.
ANPA driver modified to support the ANPA G1 character set. Now allows stories with G1 coded Spanish chars to be interpreted correctly.
Ability to select less common baud rates added (e.g. 110 baud).
ANPA (Reuters) driver added.
PAP - New categories added. Improved tabular story detection.

Prompter

Top of story is now initially offset by three lines and the reference marks are located at this position.
Fast scroll fixed to scroll at 10 times the set scroll rate for the loaded queue.
"End of queue" and "Start of queue" messages boxes which previously required the user to press the OK button now display for 1 second and close automatically.

No Functional Changes

Wires

Serial ports reception is now performed asynchronously using overlapped I/O, providing greater throughput of reception, improved interface response, and greatly reduced chance of receive buffer overflow.
Wires socket transmitters now release a connection to a stalled receiver if the socket blocks for more than 60 seconds. This prevents the stalled receiver from suspending transmissions to other receivers connected to the transmitter.

NewsBoss

Multi-user (non-client/server) mode database backup function added to the Compactor. After the Compactor rebuilds the QUESTORY index file, and if the rebuild finished successfully, then a database backup will proceed if the following NEWSBOSS.INI settings are present: [Database]
DBDoBackup=1 Default 0 (no backup performed)
DBBackupPath=<path> Default <DBPath>\BACKUP
The path specified by DBBackupPath must exist prior to the backup.

AirBoss

AirBoss Copy printout - added Type, Start date, Kill date, Client, Advertiser and Description to printout header.

NewsBoss

Editor improvements... Improved Undo and new Redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z) function. Insertion of jpeg format images as well as bmp and Windows metafile. "Too-fast scrolling when selecting text with the mouse" problem fixed. "After releasing mouse outside window when selecting text scrolls out of view" fixed.
Spell check dialog now opens in bottom right corner of screen so as to not obscure the text.
Audio editor now creates temporary audio files in local PCs temporary directory rather than in the audio directory. This results in quicker closing of files when contents of audio clipboards are not discarded.
Added message to Audio Editor when open fails because file is open by another application.

Wires

Serial ports transmissions are now performed asynchronously, providing greater throughput of transmissions and improved interface response.
Several buttons removed from dialog and replaced with a Menu button, providing more room for status messages and a less cluttered appearance.
Added Count and Buff % columns to Receivers list. Count shows the number of stories received by the receiver since it was started or reset, and Buff % shows the % buffer currently in use and the peak percentage buffer used since starting or reset. These figures can be used to monitor for potential buffer overflow problems and assist with system setup.
Transmitter log files changed. Each transmitter can log transmissions if the NEWSBOSS.INI setting: [NBWire]
LogTransmissions=1
is set. Now each transmitter will log to its own log file with the name TX_<service name>#.TXT. e.g. If a transmitter is named "BROADCAST", it will log transmissions to the file TX_BROADCAST1.TXT. When this file grows to 65k, it is renamed to TX_BROADCAST2.TXT and TX_BROADCAST1.TXT is cleared and reused.

Contacts and Organizations interface improvements.

No functional changes.

Wires

Added NEWSBOSS.INI setting [NBWire] LogTransmissions=<0 or 1> Default is 0 If set to 1, transmissions from the Wires program are logged to the files TXLOG1.TXT and TXLOG2.TXT.

AirBoss

Added AirBoss Editor Hasp checking.

All programs

Support phone numbers altered to new Australian area codes and international numbers added.
Error logging and purge logging is now on by default. The log files can grow to 64kB. They are then renamed with a "2" appended to the file names, and then cleared. The error log files are now called NBLOG1.TXT and NBLOG2.TXT. The purge log files are now called PRGELOG1.TXT and PRGELOG2.TXT. The shortcuts to the Error Log and Purge Log in the NewsBoss program group have been adjusted to point to the renamed files.
Users can now be added with the same Username as previously deleted users. When a user is deleted from NewsBoss, the users information is not deleted. This is because stories still in the system may have the deleted user set as the writer (editor). Rather, they are marked as inactive, and their Username is appended with a number (e.g. FRED~1). Similarly, the user's work queue is now appended with a number rather than being prepended with a #. The Tools Upgrade procedure adjusts User names of inactive users presently in the system.
Client/Server file modes changed to full transaction processing allowing better dynamic data backup and restoration with roll-forward from the backup.
Setup switch /BE changed to /SLAVE. This switch prevents the Reboot dialog being displayed.
Setup switch /AV added. Indicates that NewsBoss Setup is being run from AudioVAULT Setup.

NewsBoss

Setup of following NEWSBOSS.INI file setting altered.
SkipManualCartInsert=boolean
Default: none
0 Display Cart Insert dialog
1 Do not display Cart Insert dialog
Setup sets this to 0 if no audio support or AudioVAULT support is selected during setup. If .WAV support is selected during setup, this parameter is set to 1. If you want the manual cart insert dialog to display if you are using .WAV audio support, set this setting to 0.
Confirmation message is now shown for 1/2 sec when an AutoClip is performed.
LED indicator added to Queue/Story list window to indicate focus.
LED's on story editor tabs dim when not focused. A modified story is indicated with a red LED. The AutoClip destination story is indicated with a paper clip next to the LED.
Added menu commands for switching between editor tabs and between edit window and queue/story list window.
Added keystroke (Ctrl+Tab) to switch between edit tabs when focus is on the tab edit window.

Wires

Wires drivers are now provided in a DLL module, allowing new wire drivers, and alterations to existing drivers, to be supplied by shipping just a single DLL file rather than requiring a complete NewsBoss version release.

AirBoss

Changes and bug-fixes to AirBoss Editor, including:
All references to "Story" changed to "Item"
Non-applicable items removed from menus and dialogs.
Story counter fixed.
Progress bar problem fixed.

All programs

AudioVAULT integration re-added.
All cart Browse dialogs now support inserting multiple carts into one or more stories without the dialog closing. For the AudioVAULT Browse Carts dialog, its cart data is maintained for the entire NewsBoss session. The AudioVAULT Browse Carts dialog now uses the AVFileBrowser, and thus requires AVScan to be running on the system.
If audio support is installed (either Wave or AudioVAULT) the manual Insert Cart dialog is skipped, and the cart browse dialog is shown immediately. This behavior is controlled by the SkipManualCartInsert setting described below.
The following NEWSBOSS.INI settings have been added.
[NewsBoss]
AVEnableFileBrowser=boolean Default 0
Set to 1 if AudioVAULT is the selected audio system, or AirBoss support is selected during setup.
SkipManualCartInsert=boolean Default 1
Set to 0 if no audio support is selected during setup. If you want the manual cart insert dialog to display if you are using integrated audio support, set this setting to 0.

NewsBoss

When printing from an open story or copy item, the Print dialog will not be shown unless some text is selected.
Story date/time added to print headers.
Now, when logging on to NewsBoss/AirBoss, the only window displayed is the Logon dialog, which can be minimized.
Error 450 (LUID_ERR) displays a more meaningful message.
All multi-line edit fields now accept the Enter key without closing the dialog.

Wires

Wires transmitters have been modified to ensure transmissions are not missed. Previously, the Wires program was notified that a transmission was required via the Mailslot mechanism, which can be unreliable if network traffic is high or several items are copied to a transmission queue at one time. Now, each transmitter monitors the transmission queues for updates. A single mailslot message notifies the Wires programs that items have been added to a queue, and the Wires program then checks the queue for items that have not been transmitted. The Wires program will also check the transmission queues every minute in case any mailslot messages are missed.
Socket transmitters and receivers can now be connected to a specific PC via the Wires Connect dialog. Any existing receivers and transmitters will need to be connected after installing this upgrade.
The Wires configuration item "PCId" is no longer required. This setting is a number that was previously used by Wires to determine which PC was responsible for each Receiver or Transmitter. From this version, the PCs computer name is used. For existing installations, the PCId setting should be left as is in the NEWSBOSS.INI file as it is used in an automatic re-configuration process when Wires is run the first time after installation.
Added transmitted story feedback detection to prevent unmodified stories being saved back to the source database after being transmitted.
FRN Data-Link wire filter added to Wires program.

NewsBoss

New NEWSBOSS.INI setting added
[QuickMessage]
CheckPeriod=seconds Default 60
NewsBoss is normally notified of Quick Messages via a network message when the Quick Message is sent. Under conditions of heavy network traffic, NewsBoss may miss the notification. NewsBoss checks the MESSAGE table every CheckPeriod seconds for any messages that it may have missed.

Wires

TCP-IP communications added. Allows data to be transferred from one NewsBoss database to another automatically across a TCP-IP network connection (see settings below).
New NEWSBOSS.INI settings added
[NBWire]
EnableSocketPorts=boolean Default 0
Enables the use of socket (TCP/IP) transmit/receive connections in the Wires program.
ServerSocketPort=integer Default 5000
Port used to establish a socket connection.
SiteName=<name> Default none
The name of the NewsBoss site. Displayed in Wires socket receivers and transmitters.
SitePassword=<password> Default none
Password for a client site to connect to a transmitter socket.
SocketConnectTimeout=milliseconds Default 30000
Time in ms that an Active socket will wait for a Wire Service connect confirmation before resetting.

[Debug]
DebugSockets=boolean Default 0
Enables the display of socket debug windows.

All programs

Setup now supports a switch -BE to prevent rebooting in silent mode.
Setup silent mode now has a dialog which asks for the NewsBoss database path.
Hasp Release 4.0 incorporated. - If you are using a NetHASP, please download the new NetHASP server software (NHCUST.EXE) and update your NetHASP server application.
Setup silent mode now has a dialog which asks for the NewsBoss database path.
Setup now supports a switch -BE to prevent rebooting in silent mode.
References to CopyBoss/StudioBoss changed to AirBoss (some still to go).

NewsBoss

When a rundown order is changed, the "SaveRD" button flashes red until the new order is saved.
User is now required to save the rundown order if changed before editing stories in a rundown queue.
When a new message arrives for the user, a "Messages" button on the status bar flashes rather than displaying a message dialog.
Old received messages can be saved or deleted manually as desired.

All programs

NewsBoss fully converted to 32 bit code and now requires Windows 95 to install.
Windows NT support for alternative code pages added.

NewsBoss

Open stories are now displayed in a tab format. This allows all open stories be displayed with a larger text area.
Story list column order changed. Status column removed and replaced with a padlock icon and a push-pin icon in the Slug column.
Spelling Checker added.
Text editor updated with right mouse button cut, copy and paste functions
Text editor updated with widow/orphan control, page numbers and headers on all pages.
"Convert to Upper case" and "Convert to Lower case" functions added.
"Delete line under cursor" function added.
HTML export utility added.
New + and - buttons to allow on the fly changes to the Story List displayed text lines to be altered on the fly.
Contacts and Storm Information list boxes can now be sorted by clicking on the list box titles.
Quick Message system added.

Wires

Conversion to tab style interface.
Wire filters added for:
Polish Press Agency (PAP)
Australian Radio Network (ARN)
Reuters (Poland)
Learfield (MoNET)
Contel Weather Service (Contel)

No functional changes.

All programs

NewsBoss is partially converted to 32 bit code and now requires Windows 95 to install.
New Installation program for NewsBoss using InstallShield.
Whats New Help file is added.
Hasp client driver now auto installs.

NewsBoss

Audio Editor added to NewsBoss. Allows recording and editing of audio actualities for use on the Prompter.
AudioVAULT cut list is now cached to the local hard disk to speed up loading.
Removed the default protection for the Cart information in a story.
Queue Options is now Queue Properties.

Wires

Wire driver for Reuters/CANA added.
Changed the default for PurgeDaily to 1. This will default purges to once a day in the middle of the night.

All programs

[Database] WaveFolder INI key is now redundant and replaced with the wave library settings. See above or the on-line help for further details.

No major functional changes.

Conversion to C-Tree Plus V6.6A2
NetHASP utilities included in NewsBoss Setup Disk 4

Hasp information removed from About dialogs in all modules except NewsBoss.

No major changes to functionality.

Wires

SKY driver modified to strip leading spaces.

All programs

Portuguese language support added. Use the following setting in the NEWSBOSS.INI file to select language
[Localization]
Language=<language>
Where values for <language> can be:
English
Portuguese

Wires

Netwriter wire driver altered to allow for null characters in data stream.

NewsBoss & Prompter

INI setting added to avoid a possible error in some MCI drivers that causes an audio file to begin playing when the file is cued for play. This setting should be used if audio begins playing without the user pressing the play button. [MCI] MCIDontCue=<n> Where <n> 0 (Default) or 1(Fix)

NewsBoss

Contacts/Organizations System: A simple, yet complete contact system designed for news people. Easy entry, editing and sorting. Large (up to 10kB) comment fields for both Contacts and Organizations. User definable categories and search keywords.
Storm Management System Complete storm closure and delay management system. Integrated with the Organizations database, provides quick entry of storm data and status. May use a password to check authenticity. Sortable by organization, status, category. Storm information can be printed.
System Wide Wire Notification. Allows wire notification to be set up on a system-wide basis by the NewsBoss administrator. Combines with user-specific wire notifications.
Wire notification from multiple queues. Can now have up to 11 wire notification queues for each user, and 10 for system-wide notifications.
"New story notification" message on status bar now appears as a button.
Auto-save of the Queue/Story list separator bar position. Separator bar position is restored to its previous position when NewsBoss User logs in.
Ability to print selected text when printing from a story edit window.
Improved cart browse facility when using AudioVAULT. Scans "Cuts" only.
"Type" field no longer displayed in cart browse list (served no purpose).
"Artist" and "Date" added to cart browse list.
Available categories can be set in the NEWSBOSS.INI file to restrict the type of cuts displayed. See NewsBoss on-line help for setting under [NewsBoss] and "AVLoadCategories".
Ability to browse and play WAVE (..WAV) audio files when inserting carts into a story.
Improved Queue list box behavior.
Improved Queue selection in dialog boxes using list boxes with check boxes for each item.
"READ ONLY MODE" indicated on NewsBoss title bar when in read-only mode.
Function key added for command "Story|Set clip story" - Ctrl+F11.
Spanish resources added (not complete yet).

Wires

Wires Password. A Username and Password are now required to perform various Wires functions. This feature can be disabled if required. See NewsBoss on-line help for settings in [Wires] and "AutoLogin".
Wiredump to disk. Wire data may now be dumped directly to a file on disk as raw data as it is received. This facility has been added to allow NewsBoss customers to capture raw wire data to pass on to the NewsBoss developers to help provide new and improved wire service drivers.
Clearing of overflow data is now faster.
UPI and NPR-DACS wire drivers added.

Prompter

Ability to play integrated WAVE (.wav) files added.
Prompter read position reference marks may now be displayed. See the Prompter Setup dialog.
New setting added to control the AudioVAULT Monitor function. For example, the following setting can be used to allow automatic switching from say a microphone to the cart and back by specifying:
[Prompter]
AVMonitor=Auto

Further information may be found in NewsBoss help under the NEWSBOSS.INI setting [Prompter] and "AVMonitor".

Wires

Warning message added when re-installing a wire service that is already installed.

NewsBoss and Wires

Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) support added to Wires and NewsBoss. An EBS monitor can now be established using the "Keyword monitor" command in NewsBoss. When the Wires program matches a keyword flagged as an EBS, it will automatically print the story and display a dialog containing the story. It will sound the PC's bell (optional via INI) and can trigger an output on the BEI RC board (INI setting). Wires also broadcasts a network message to NewsBoss workstations. NewsBoss will display a similar EBS dialog containing the EBS story. Wires also has an EBS test facility to check that the EBS support is functioning correctly.
Print header file path is now stored on each workstation rather than in the NewsBoss database to allow each workstation to have a different path to the print header file. Before this change, each workstation had to have the same network drive mapping to use the same print header file.

All programs

NewsBoss Activation security feature added. NewsBoss can now be activated for a "live trial" of up to 28 days.

NewsBoss

Clip Story is indicated in the story title. e.g.: "Editing clip story in ..."

All programs

Database upgrade to C-Tree V6.5A
Messages added when programs fail to open lock file on startup or login to tell user probable cause of error.

Wires

Purging speed improved.

NewsBoss Tools

Tools program re-written to provide information about the status of all the database files.

No functional changes.

All programs

Database changed to use Faircom C-Tree Plus instead of Borland Paradox Engine.

NewsBoss

Ability to run in "read only" mode (does not require hardware key).
Number of open stories restricted to 10.
If a story is open for Read, and the user attempts to open the story again, then the window containing the currently open copy of the story is activated instead of opening the story in a second window.
Now only reads first 100 stories of queues until user scrolls down to bottom of story list and presses down arrow to read a further 100 (except for rundown queues which are read entirely)

Prompter

Ability to display or hide control buttons added. Use INI file setting to control on each PC:
[Prompter]
ShowButtonLabels=0 or 1 (Default is 1)
Ability to change orientation of control bar from horizontal to vertical. Use INI file setting to control on each PC:
[Prompter]
ControlBarOrientation=0 or 1 (Default is 0 or Horizontal)
Variable scroll rate selectable by INI file setting:
[Prompter]
VariableScroll=0 or 1 (Default is 0)

Wires

ABC wire driver added.
No longer stops on errors.
Overflow fail-safe file system added See NewsBoss Help for details.
Transmitter output format adjusted to allow to be fed into serial printer.

Wires

Netwriter driver added.

All programs

NEWSBOSS.INI file setting LogErrors (default 0) added to allow logging of error messages to file NEWSBOSS.LOG. This setting may be added to the [NewsBoss], [NBWire], [NBTool] and [Prompter] sections to affect each program individually. Should only be used for debugging as file is always appended to. It is the administrators responsibility to ensure the NEWSBOSS.LOG file (in the NewsBoss program directory) is reviewed and cleared at regular intervals.
NEWSBOSS.INI file setting ReportErrors (default 1) added to enable error messages not to be reported to the user. This setting may be added to the [NewsBoss], [NBWire], [NBTool] and [Prompter] sections to affect each program individually. This setting may be used with the Wires program to avoid the Wires program stopping when an error is reported, however, there is no guarantee that the program will continue. If this setting is set to 0, then the LogErrors setting should be set to 1 if the Wires program experiences continuous unresolved crashes, enabling any errors to be reviewed (see previous item).

NewsBoss

Ability to import a text file into a story added (Edit|Insert text file)
NetHASP support added.

Wires

Transmitters added.
STORY and QUESTORY table access optimized to reduce disk overhead.
NEWSBOSS.INI file setting

[IPC]
WiresQueueSize now defaults to 10 (was 1)
NEWSBOSS.INI file setting

[NBWire]
StoriesPerPurgeCycle setting added to allow more than 1 story to be processed per cycle.

Previously, fast/continuous wire services could out-pace the purger. This setting should only be changed under advice from Desktop Technologies.

Prompter

First release of the Prompter including non-serial integration with AudioVAULT.

NewsBoss

Support for browsing an AudioVAULT for audio files added to Insert Cart dialog when inserting a cart into a story.
Support for Previewing an audio file from AudioVAULT added to Insert Cart dialog when inserting a cart into a story.
Button added to toolbar for inserting a cart into a story (same function as Edit | Insert cart... or F12).
Ability to hide Queue/Story window without closing it added New button added, Queue | View menu option changed to check state.
Ability to Rewrite story in vertical split screen mode added and menu options "Window | Vertical split edit" and "Window | Horizontal split edit" items added which are saved in the users options.
"Prompter font" button removed from "System Options" dialog.

NewsBoss

IPC functioning changed, the following items being added to the NEWSBOSS.INI file: NewsBossQueueSize WiresQueueSize
The following items have been removed from the NEWSBOSS.INI file. StoryInsertQueueSize StoryRemoveQueueSize KeywordUpdateQueueSize

NewsBoss

Speed of opening story windows improved.
Opening of queue/story list window improved.
Ability to print an open story added.

NewsBoss

When creating a new queue directly under the root, the default sort order is set to "Modified Date/Time Descending".
Default number of story delete mailslots reduced from 500 to 300.
Default number of story insert mailslots reduced from 500 to 200.

Tables

ICT table no longer used.

NewsBoss

IPC (Inter Process Communication) now uses network rather than ICT table.
Option added to 'Edit Queue' dialog to apply options to all sub-queues of the queue being edited.
Story opening improved.

Wires

IPC now uses network rather than ICT table.
Purging is now done at 12:15am by default (i.e. once a day).

This can be controlled by NEWSBOSS.INI file settings under the [NBWire] section -

PurgeDaily=0 or 1 (Default 1)
PurgeHour=n (Default 0) Hour in which purging will start if PurgeDaily = 1
PurgeMinute=n (Default 15) Minute of hour in which purging will begin.

NewsBoss

Save, close and print function added.
Click on Flash gadget to open flash story (same as Read Notified)
Clock gadget added to status bar and NUM and CAPS lock indicators removed.
Added "Story Copy" while in read only mode in the editor window.
Date/time format changed to "dd/mm/yy hh:mm:ss".
Changed size of message bar windows to allow complete message to be displayed in 640x480 mode.
Tool bar order changed.
Search fixed to highlight found text in story after finding in the story list.
Queue list loading optimized.
Remove queue optimized.
"Users" dialog list box Username added to list and list sorted by Username.
Version info removed from banner logo.
About dialog set to use VERSIONINFO from resource.
Added memory and resource information to About dialog.
"Protection Lock" removed from "Format" menu.
"Protect" moved from Format|Fonts menu to Edit menu.

Wires

Purging optimized.
"Configure Wire" dialog Categories list expanded to the right and buttons moved to below list.
Associated Press (AP) wire handling added, including support for selector codes.
"Insert Cart" dialog title changed and "Cart No." field width expanded.
New dialog "Install Wire Services" added to individually select which wire services to install. Can be used at any time after database creation to install wire services.
Read file delay option added.
Changed the way story distribution works:
Default Wires.ALL distribution removed;
Default Wires.[SERVICE] distribution removed;
Stories only distributed if:
The stories category code matches a category set up for the service, in which case the story is distributed to the queue[s] specified for the category (as long as the selector code for the category/queue matches or the category/queue has no selector code specified);
If a keyword monitor matches the story is distributed to the specified queue;
If either of the above, or the story does not have a category code, or the wire service does not have any categories set up, then the story is put into the Wires.[SERVICE] queue.

For AP stories, some story header information added to the first line of the story to allow searching on selector codes etc.
Main Wires dialog changed:
Buttons re-arranged to right side;
"New" button added;
Wire Data window added that shows the data being read from the highlighted service;
Last Story date/time added to services list box strings;
Clock added;
"About" button and dialog added.
Version info removed from dialog.
About dialog added.
"Install wire service" function moved from Tools module.
Ability to create custom wire service added.
"Service Category" dialog title changed to either "New Category" or "Modify Category", and widths of "Codes" and "Name" fields widened and prompt for "Codes" field changed.

NewsBoss Tools

Wires.ALL queue removed from installation.
Version info removed from dialog.
About dialog added.
"Install wire service" function moved to Wires module.
Abort program if "Create database" is not executed when a table not found removed as sometimes a corrupt table will cause table not found to be indicated when it is actually there and just needs repairing.
Check boxes added to "Repair Database" dialog to allow selection of which tables to repair.
Check boxes added to "Re-index Database" dialog to allow selection of which tables to re-index.