Bears on the Loose

Release Notes: August 29, 2010

Changes since 1.3.2 (released October 2, 2009)

• New versioning feature triggers points in time creation when files are changed.  The user can configure which file extensions can trigger  the creation of a point in time.  Exclusions using wildcards are available.   Two versioning policies are available.  Track changes to files of interest'  policy creates a point in time each a file of interest is changed.  A file of interest is a file with an extension that is configured for versioning.  'Track sessions of changes on files of interest' creates a point in time:
    
  
  1. After a configurable number of changes have been made to files of interest or,
     
     
  2. After 60 minutes of changes to the files of interest or,
     
     
  3. After a configurable period of quiet time after some changes have been made to files of interest 
     
      
  The Change Tracking page, part of the configuration form, is used to configure the versioning policy and the files of interest.
  
  
• The default configuration is no schedule and 'Track sessions of changes on files of interest' using the following parameters:
   
  
• Checkpoint after 20 changes
  
  
• Period of inactivity is 30 minutes
  
  
• Time traveling can now be achieved by clicking on time ticks on thetimeline.  Dragging the time cursor still works.
  
  
• The time ticks on the timeline now have tooltips that describe when, why and what created them.
  
  
• The time ticks on the timeline now have context menus containing:
  
  
• A restore action for the Explorer selection either file or folder.  Restore operations are atomic: the folders or files are either restored entirely or not at all.  TimeTraveler guarantees the atomicity of its restore operations.  Furthermore the restore operations support all types of links: hardlinks, junctions and symbolic links.
  
  
• A comparison action for the Explorer selection to show differences between the point-in-time version and the current version.
  
  
• A point-in-time selection action for comparison.  If a point-in-time isselected for comparison, a new menu item is added to other points-in-time offering to compare versions from both points-in-time.
  
  
• A system restore action if the point-in-time is a system restore point identified by a green tick.  This operation brings Windows back at a prior point in time without affecting the user's files.
  
  
• The comparison program can be configured per file extension through the comparison page, part of the configuration form.  'file' and 'folder' can be used in place of file extensions to configure the comparison program for files and folders respectively.
  
  
• The timeline now has a zoom in feature. Zoom in is achieved by selecting a rectangle containing two or more points-in-time.  When zoomed in the timeline displays a zoom out button to its top-right location.  Zoom in feature is recursive; a zoomed in area can be zoomed in again.
  
  
• The background of the Windows Explorer list view is gray when traveling back in time.  This is intended as a visual clue that Explorer is set on a prior point- in-time.
  
  
• The shadow copy list, part of the configuration form, now:
  
  
• Shows the size of each shadow copy
  
  
• Has a context menu with two items:
  
  
• 'Storage usage' displays a graph depicting the amount of storage used by the selected shadow copy over time
  
  
• 'Delete' replaces the delete button and a confirmation dialog has been added
  
  
• Displays the system restore points in green
  
  
• Uses Explorer-like selection
  
  
• The activation form is now accessible from the general configuration page rather than from the activation button that used to be located to the bottom-left of the timeline.
  
  
• TimeTraveler has a new 'Now' button that allows the user to quickly select the current point-in-time.  The button icon shows a green arrow.
  
  
• The TimeTraveler configuration form is accessed from the new configuration button showing a little tool icon.  The TimeTraveler auto-load toggle has moved from the left of the timeline to the general configuration page.
  
  
• No longer show TimeTraveler when Windows Explorer is navigating a non-filesystem object or a remote filesystem.
  
  
• The timeline scale shows seconds when its span is less than one hour.
  
  
• Fix: TimeTraveler can now safely be installed in any directory other than the default.  Under certain conditions the help file would not get displayed.
  
  
• Fix a schedule timeout problem when more than 2 schedules fired at the same time thus preventing the shadow copy from being created.
  
  
• Improve configuration form responsiveness and error reporting.
  
  
• A series of TimeTraveler optimizations have been implemented.
  
  
• TimeTraveler opens only one configuration form at a time.
  

• Fix a bug that was preventing TimeTraveler from running on OS using a language other than English.  TimeTraveler has been successfully tested with French and German OS.
  
  
• Changing the Explorer address bar from a folder at a point-in-time to a folder at current time brings the time cursor to the current time, the rightmost position on the timeline.
  
  
• The timeline now displays a tooltip intended to help the users who first use TimeTraveler to travel back in time back by sliding the time cursor on the timeline.
  
  
• The TimeInformationService now immediately closes the connection to the activation server after using it.
  
  
• The TimeInformationService now has a description.
  
  
• The activation form has been modified to allow copy and paste of the product key.
  

• Re-design the configuration form to fit in a 800x600 resolution screen.
  
  
• Eliminate the dependency on .Net 3.5 SP1.  TimeTraveler now depends on .NET 3.0 which ships with Vista.  It also works with .Net 3.5 SP1 which ships with Windows 7.
  

• File versions (dark markers) computation for Windows Explorer selection is now performed for any point-in-time.
  
  
• Windows Explorer selection is displayed on the top-left corner of the timeline once the file versions are computed.
  
  
• Time markers for file version times are added at the top of the timeline.  The feature is disabled by default. It can be enabled by pressing Control-Alt-V when TimeTraveler has the focus.
  

• TimeTraveler title is the current time instead of 'Now'.
  
  
• Optimizations and minor bug fixes.
  
  
• Comparison programs always present the earliest version on the left hand side of the window.
  
  
• Major overhaul of the Help manual.
  
  
• The busy indicator can now be clicked to bring the snapshot configuration form.