Softpedia >Windows >Security >Security Related >Data Digester >  Changelog

Data Digester Changelog

What's new in Data Digester 1.6.15 Build 967

May 12, 2015
  • Added Connect/Disconnect Toolbar Icons:
  • Two new toolbar icons have been added for the connect/disconnect functions of the network files docking window. If a connection is currently established the disconnect icon becomes active. If a connection is currently disconnected than the connect icon becomes active. Both buttons exactly follow the states of the corresponding menu item found in the Network menu.
  • Connect/Disconnect Menu Items Work Properly:
  • The menu items in the Network menu to connect/disconnect a remote file system from within the network files window did not work in previous version of the software. This was due to an internal bug introduced unintendedly when the new (quite similar) database functionality was added.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that network connections may be connected/disconnected properly.
  • Installers For Windows/Mac OS X Now Signed:
  • As required since Mac OS X 10.8 the DMG installers now are signed with an official certificate from COMODO. Also the Windows installer executables are now signed with this certificate so that annoying messages do not appear any longer during installation.
  • The JAR/WAR resources e.g. used for the Web Start software versions are now signed, too. Former security warnings generated by the Java platform may thus be avoided.
  • Uninstall From Running Program:
  • If the Data Digester software has been installed using an installer (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) then it may be directly uninstalled from the running program. There is no need to use the operating system specific function for deinstallations like the Windows Control Panel to do this.
  • Since the Web Start versions of the software already provided support for this feature you can simply open the Setup -> Web Start -> Uninstall menu item for installed versions, too.
  • Separate Docking Windows Restored In Dock:
  • If a docking window of an application has been closed using the window decoration function (e.g. red X under Windows) it had been restored into the dock afterwards. This was not OK since the user specified within the preferences that closing a separate window shall close it completely. For the options to move closed separate windows into the dock this behaviour would be OK.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that closed separate docking windows are restore properly as separate windows again if the preferences are configured to close separate windows completely.
  • Managing Database Sequences:
  • In addition to the new function to manage the tables of a database another similar feature to manage also the sequences has been introduced. Database applications like Battery Manager provide a special submenu to launch the new function (e.g. "Database" -> "Manage Sequences").
  • The dialog shows the current connection data for the selected session tab on top. The list in den center position displays the sequences found in the database. The "Current Value" column shows the current sequence value used to create new datasets while the "Max. Value" column denotes the maximum value used in the associated database table.
  • Main goal of the new management function is to detect errors that may arise due to unproper sequences. Invalid sequences are highlighted with a special red background. Such sequences may then be repaired by setting proper current sequence values. Invalid sequences may be generated if backups are being restored from file. If a current sequence value is smaller than the maximum value used in the associated database then no new datasets can be created.
  • Network URL Address Parsing Not Functional:
  • The network connections dialog provides the functionality to specify network connections to reach servers via protocols like FTP/SFTP. Due to a bug in the standard Java API (URI class!) the parsing of fully specified URLs like ftp://kernel.org:21/pub went wrong. The port (here: ":21") was not recognized properly as separate part of the URL address but as part of the server name (here: "kernel.org:21"). This caused the other methods like getPort() returning false values, of course also components like the connection dialog then displayed these wrong values.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that network URI addresses may be edited properly.
  • Exceptions After ComboBoxes Have Been Populated:
  • In rare cases the program raised ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException's e.g. if a print preview was created the second time. The reason could be found in the code responsible for loading values into JComboBox components. This has to be done using the Java event dispatch thread. Afterwards the program must wait before any action on the new items could be performed.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that such exceptions will not be raised any longer.
  • Closing And Restoring Separate Docking Windows:
  • If docking windows in separate windows were closed using the "Close windows completely" setting and the windows were restored into the dock then an inconsistent configuration has been generated. The windows could then not be closed from the dock again but had to be set into separate window mode again to be closed properly.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that closing and restoring separate docking window works.

New in Data Digester 1.6.14 Build 960 (Dec 3, 2014)

  • Sync: Digest Files Not Transferred For New Source Files:
  • If a directory e.g. on the local computer were defined as source for a sync template and a new file was added to that directory, then the source digest files in this directory have not been transferred as well. Although the synchronization was successful since all source files (except the digest files) have been transferred properly, this behaviour caused the new files to be transferred again during the next synchronization action.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that digest files are being transferred also if new source files are added.
  • Remove Incomplete Files After Sync Interruptions:
  • If files/directories were synchronized with Data Digester and the action was interrupted for example due to a lost network connection then the transferred target file could not be deleted afterwards. It worked again if the software was closed and started again.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that any data streams are closed properly here.
  • Task Dialog While Deleting Files/Folders:
  • Local files and directories may be deleted using the file system window, while network files and directories can be deleted using the network files window. If large files have been deleted then the application freezed for some seconds in earlier versions. This behaviour has now been fixed by utilizing the task dialog which shows the current operation and progress. Also, the deletion process may be cancelled from here.
  • Sync Of Multiple Directories Functional Again:
  • If multiple source/target directories were specified to be synchronized then an error was reported saying "Source/target entries are invalid". This message was displayed due to an error in the parameter checking routine also, if the chosen directories were valid.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that multiple directories can be snchronized properly.
  • Directly Execute Energy Saving System Commands:
  • The system commands to be executed if background tasks like copying files have been finished may now be directly executed for test purposes. The software preferences provide support for various system commands like log-off, standby, or system shutdown. If the appropriate button to the right of the respective preference setting is clicked, then a dialog appears where the selected action can be cancelled for a certain time period.
  • The new execute buttons should be used with care since the user is logged-off or the computer is turned off!
  • New Option To Control Scrolling Behaviour Of Lists:
  • Data lists like the files table found in the file system docking window can be refreshed. Previous software versions set the scroll position of the knob on the right side automatically to the top position. Especially for large lists with many entries it is useful that the list be scrolled to the previous position again, so that renamed files can be identified quickly.
  • In order to support this requirement, a new preference setting for data lists has been added. You can find the setting on the Miscellaneous main entry. In addition to the "Always scroll to top of lists" mode the setting "Restore previous scroll position" can be deposited here. Currently, the file system window, the network files window, and the database session tab provide support for this new setting (additional lists may follow).
  • Setting Default Number Of List Items:
  • The number of items shown by new database session lists can now be configured globally for all sessions. The Preferences -> Session Window options unit provides the new setting "Default number of list entries" which can be set to the same values as the navigations at the bottom left corner of the database lists.
  • Still, each table stores its item count separately and can hence to configured individually. If a new item count is configured manually using the table navigation the user is asked to transfer the new setting to other lists. If this is accepted here then also the new global option "Default number of list entries" is overridden here, too, so that new lists will display the item count automatically.
  • Improved Support For Oracle DBMS Including Express Edition (XE):
  • In order to support the Oracle DBMS optimally some new connection settings have been added. The Oracle connection now provides support for the "Connect As" feature where the specified user (e.g. SYS) can login to the Oracle DBMS using a certain role such as SYSDBA or SYSOPER. This is especially useful for the Express Edition (XE) if only the default user SYSTEM has been configured with a password. One can connect easily with the logon user SYS and the new feature "Connect As" = SYSDBA here. For Oracle 11 XE connections also the schema mapping needs to be changed here to SYSTEM (e.g. for both BATTMANDATA and BATTMANSYS application schemas used by the Battery Manager software).
  • If a concrete Oracle server uses a service instead of a SID then the new "Service" connection setting can be used here. You can specify either a SID or a service identifier, but not both.
  • Another interesting Oracle specific setting is the new "Encryption" connection setting. Here, the supported encryption algorithms like SSL or AES256 can be specified. The data transferred to the Oracle DBMS and back is then encrypted using this algorithm so that eavesdropping by third parties is very unlikely to happen. Remember that only a few algorithms can be used here out of the box (e.g. RC4_256) while others have to be setup on the server side first (e.g. AES256).

New in Data Digester 1.6.13 Build 957 (Dec 3, 2014)

  • Expanding File System Directories With Handles:
  • Due to to an internal issue during file resolving the file system window did not list subdirectories in the overview tree on the left side properly. This behaviour could be seen if a directory in the tree was expanded using the entry handle (plus symbol under Windows, arrow symbol under Mac OS etc.).
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that expanding directories works properly this way again. For older application versions it is possible to circumvent this situation by navigating into subdirectories with the double-click mechanism instead of clicking the handle.
  • License Not Valid:
  • Due to a timezone issue found in the license engine used by Leisenfels both license types for evaluation and commercial have been rejected in certain situations. For example if a U.S. customer obtained a license at 10 p.m. then the license was generated being valid from the next day. The license could not be used immediately in these rare cases.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that licenses are valid from one day before the license is obtained.
  • License Not Valid:
  • Due to a timezone issue found in the license engine used by Leisenfels both license types for evaluation and commercial have been rejected in certain situations. For example if a U.S. customer obtained a license at 10 p.m. then the license was generated being valid from the next day. The license could not be used immediately in these rare cases.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that licenses are valid from one day before the license is obtained.
  • Rarely Occurring GUI Hangs Avoided:
  • If dialogs were displayed right after the application main window showed up on the screen the program got stuck in rare cases. This was due to an internal calling scheme for dialogs. The program had to be terminated by the Windows Task Manager to solve this situation.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that such hangs should not take place any longer.
  • Connection Combo Properly Displayed:
  • Sometimes the connection combo box in the toolbar has been displayed too small so that the item texts couls not be read properly. This behaviour has been corrected so that the items are readable.
  • Setting Upload Content Length Only When Required:
  • Some time ago a new method for setting the S3 upload content length has been introduced to VFSLib (see release note #11 written 2014-02-03). As this works perfectly for the Amazon S3 provider this settings MUST NOT be used for SFTP connections when large files are being transferred. For example if a 2 GB video file is to be transferred via SFTP then a 2 GB array is allocated internally by the SFTP driver. Normally this leads to OutOfMemoryErrors of the Java VM which then has to be terminated by force (e.g. using the Windows Task Manager).
  • To avoid this unwanted side effect programmatically the method VFSUtils.isContentLengthRequired() has been added to VFSLib. It checks if the VFSLibConstants.ATTR_CONTENT_LENGTH attribute is required for a given VFS network file. Currently only the Amazon S3 provider requires this attribute.
  • Subdirectories Not Listed:
  • Due to unnecessarily raised internal exceptions during file resolving the file system window did not show subdirectories in the overview tree on the left side under Linux. Changing into a subdirectory was not possible with previous program versions.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that listing and changing into subdirectories works properly.
  • Help System Callable From Window Tabs:
  • Docking windows like the new database session window are capable of displaying multiple tabs. Previous versions of the so-called tabbed windows were limited to display context sensitive help only if a reference was deposited for each tab which was never the case.
  • This behaviour has been precised by implementing a failsafe structure now. If a help system reference is set for the surrounding tabbed window then this is used instead. This works for the many tabbed windows like output window, search result window, or database session window.
  • Dummy URL Adresses Suppressed:
  • Applications based on the Commons framework often use hyperlinks to navigate to certain program features like a certain configuration. If the hyperlink target is not a real Internet address often "dummy://test" is used as placeholder. This worked out with most operating systems on the market.
  • Windows 8 opens a dialog to specify an app in such cases. It has been reported that also some Linux/UNIX systems create unwanted dialogs here, too. This behaviour has now been fixed by a code modification so that such placeholder URLs are not browsed by the operating system any longer.

New in Data Digester 1.6.12 Build 948 (Apr 17, 2014)

  • Window Buttons Automatically Updated:
  • The Generate and Refresh buttons of the Generate docking window and the Check button of the Check docking window are automatically updated (enabled/disabled) when the window gets the active docking window. For example if a file has been deleted with the file system window and the generate options become active then the buttons are enabled now so that the generate and/or refresh functions can be called straight away.
  • With previous versions the selected folder had to be deselected and selected again to get these buttons enabled again.
  • Network Session Not Updated After Refresh:
  • If checksums have been refreshed for a directory selected on the network session window then the session was not updated automatically afterwards as expected.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that the network session is automatically updated.
  • Checksums Not Written In Refresh Mode:
  • Checksums have been generated for a directory, a summary.digest file for all files in this directory has been written. If a new file has been added to this directory and the refresh functionality has been called then only the checksums for the new file were written into the updated summary.digest file. The expected behaviour is that both the existing and the new checksums are contained in the updated summary.digest file.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that the refresh functionality can be used properly again.
  • Adjusting Memory Size Under Windows 7:
  • The memory size to consume can be adjusted comfortably from the running program. Under Windows 7 operating systems this could fail due to erroneous file names used by the program. If the memory size has been changed with previous program versions under Windows 7 then a message was displayed on the status line but the application has not been restarted. This behaviour has been observed for the installer variants only.
  • Due to restrictive file permissions under Windows 7 the vmoptions file may not be editable by the users. Please edit the file manually in these cases or ask your administrator.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that the memory size can be adjusted properly under Windows 7.
  • Docking Framework: Separate Windows Revised:
  • Some unexpected behaviour of docking windows displayed by separate windows has now been fixed. In rare cases separate windows could have been displayed twice due to incorrect code found in the core components of the docking framework.
  • Users who have experienced unexpected behaviour of docking windows in separate windows could do the following
  • 1. Install the most recent version of your software 2. Call the Window -> Reset Windows menu entry
  • The application will then reset all docking windows to their initial states. Please remember that the settings used by the docking windows may be reset, too. For example the Data Digester generate options including the managed templates will be lost. If this might turn out to become a problem for you then do not reset the windows.
  • Hex Editor Exception With Nimbus Look & Feel:
  • The hex editor component shipped with the Commons framework raised an exception in combination with the Nimbus look & feel. This was due to a missing font reference which is not available for Nimbus.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that the hex editor component is properly initialized.

New in Data Digester 1.6.11 Build 942 (Mar 20, 2014)

  • Generate Wizard Without Function:
  • The generate wizard dialog which is presented at the very first start of the Data Digester software produced an internal error (NullPointerException). Creating checksum files did not work then. This behaviour has now been fixed.
  • Please keep in mind that the generate options of the current template are used for the wizard.
  • Preferences Dialog Did Not Show Up:
  • Previous application versions had a problem showing the preferences dialog multiple times. This was due to an internal problem which appeared when the preferences dialog has been called twice or more times and the release timeout had been reached. In order to save memory space many application dialogs are cached and released automatically after a certain period of time that the dialog has not been used.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that the preferences dialog may be called again properly.
  • Out Of Memory Due To Large Clipboard Data:
  • Previous application versions based on the Leisenfels Commons Framework sometimes hung without an obvious reason. This behaviour may have been caused by large data portions on the clipboard of the operating system. For example if a full screen shot is taken the image data is large especially for dual (or more) screen displays. Applications regularly access the clipboard data to show an indicator icon whether the clipboard is filled or not.
  • This behaviour has been fixed so that large clipboard data is not a problem any longer.
  • Improved Database Connection Dialog:
  • The dialog to configure database connections now checks edition specific requirements. Underlying applications will show some indicator that unallowed connections cannot be used. In general the dialog has been restructured so that any database connection for the available drivers may be setup. If the application edition is switched then the previous connections are being kept.
  • Like invalid network connections also invalid database connections are shown with indicator now instead of hiding them completely.
  • Install Updates For Java Web Start Applications:
  • Applications like Data Digester provide a new menu item Setup -> Web Start -> "Check for Updates...". This new function is only available if the application has been started using Web Start (JNLP). If the new menu item is clicked a dialog checks for newer application version compared to the running application. One or multiple update candidates can then be selected for update.
  • The button "Update" can be used to install the selected version(s) while the current version is kept on the system. The other button "Update & Remove" can be used if the current version shall be replaced by the newer version. The configuration directory is not deleted by default.
  • This new feature allows for an easy update of Web Start based applications and replaces the always problematic auto-update feature of Web Start.
  • Table Selection For Nimbus Look & Feel Displayed Properly:
  • If the Nimbus look & feel was active and a table row has been selected then the white background color was displayed instead of the green Nimbus selection color. This has been fixed so that selected rows are displayed properly now.
  • GUI Hangs Avoided:
  • In certain situations the window of an application may freeze due to resources being accessed by multiple programs simultaneously. This behaviour has been straighened out by implementing a more lax internal synchronization.

New in Data Digester 1.6.10 Build 941 (Feb 6, 2014)

  • Network Check Context Menus Optimized:
  • Especially for slow network connections like DSL/ISDN a convenience feature has been disabled in order to get a better performance for context menu display (right mouse button). For the file system window it is possible to select a regular file e.g. sample.txt. The context menu to check digests/signatures checks for any of the configured digest/signature file extensions and enables checking if at least one appropriate file is found (e.g. sample.txt.md5).
  • This is fast for local file systems but is not for slow network connections (may take >10 seconds). This feature has been disabled for the network files window. The check menu now is fast but has the disadvantage that a digest/signature file must be selected directly to start checking. Selecting the above mentioned sample.txt file will deactivate the check menu items no matter if a sample.txt.md5 file exists or not.
  • Open Amazon S3 Object Multiple Times:
  • Due to a limitation in the Amazon S3 API a workaround has been implemented for the S3 provider so that a S3 FileObject may be opened multiple times. This is necessary for example if digests are calculated once for MD5 and for SHA-1 using multiple threads. The S3Object.getObjectContent() method returns a previous input stream if it has not been closed in the meantime. So if it is still in use the same reference is provided which produces application errors. The workaround clones the S3Object and lets the clone open the new input stream instead.
  • Data Digester Now To Support VFSLib:
  • The Data Digester software now is shipped with the current VFSLib component and therefore supports all file systems including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3. Currently these features are only available for the Data Digester Enterprise Edition (EE) which comes with network support. Please download an installer appropriate for your computer. The software may be evaluated for 30 days. Please request an evaluation license which is possible also directly from the running application (Internet connection required).
  • Added Content Length For Uploads:
  • As required by the Amazon S3 API the content length for uploads can now be specified. If a file is uploaded to Amazon, Dropbox, or Google this is done with web requests. This kind of transfer technique requires that prior to the transfer the overall length of the transmitted data is specified.
  • All current providers have been modified the way that it is now possible to set the content length easily. Before an upload output stream is requested with getContent().getOutputStream() the length should be set with getContent().setAttribute(VFSLibConstants.ATTR_CONTENT_LENGTH, length). If this attribute is not set for the cloud providers then uploading small files may work but uploading large files > 10 MB will certainly fail. Please check out the modified example classes for details.
  • Improved Cloud File System Support:
  • In order to provide optimal support for the new cloud file system providers several additions and changes have been applied to the Data Digester network functionality. The Dropbox provider now requests access to the user's Dropbox using the "Data Digester" identifier instead of "VFSLib" (underlying component).
  • Updated To Dropbox 1.7.6:
  • The current VFSLib is now shipped with Dropbox for Java API version 1.7.6.
  • The access token is now only valid for the Java session it has been requested for. For the ExampleDropbox.java and ExampleDropboxOptimized.java classes this means that the -token parameter is not longer supported. The access token MUST be requested each time the script is restarted, copied from the Dropbox website and inserted into the dialog input field. This is a little less convenient but surely the token security benefits from this change.
  • As for the earlier Dropbox versions also the new one has some limitations e.g. when uploading large files. Uploading files using the Java API is still slow compared to the Dropbox desktop application. According to forum posts at Dropbox this is the programmed behaviour. For large files users should use the Dropbox desktop client or switch to other cloud file system providers without this kind of limitation.
  • New Option "Use bucket URI":
  • For the Amazon S3 provider a new protocol option has been added: "Use bucket URI". By default the host name aws.amazon.com ist used to assemble the URI for Amazon S3 connections as for the traditional file systems like FTP/SFTP. Since bucket names are globally unique IDs by design it is now possible to configure VFSLib so that URIs like s3:// [email protected] can be used internally.
  • This is only a display feature which does not influence the internal behaviour of the Amazon S3 provider that comes with VFSLib. It may be changed at runtime.
  • Save Token/Secret Key Feature Fixed:
  • Like for the traditional VFSLib file systems also for the new cloud file systems Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3 it's now possible to save secret options like the access token or secret key. Applications like Data Digester provide a check box flag to configure the program behaviour for the configured network connections.
  • The previous version of VFSLib always stored the secret options, the flag did not work. This has now been fixed so that VFSLib applications may now "forget" about secret options. Remember that the secret options are still remembered while the application is running but not if it is restarted and the save flag has been disabled before.
  • File System Options Validation:
  • The file system options to be configured with the various FileSystemConfigBuilder classes are now checked for proper required values. For Dropbox and Google Drive the access token must be configured to operate properly. For Amazon S3 the access key ID, the secret key, and the bucket name are required options now.
  • Applications like Data Digester will show some indicator if one of these options are missing for the configured network connections.
  • Improved Network Dialog:
  • The dialog to configure network connections now checks protocol specific requirements. For Dropbox and Google Drive the access token must be configured to operate properly. For Amazon S3 the access key ID, the secret key, and the bucket name are required options now. If any of the required parameters are missing, an appropriate message is being displayed by the dialog. Underlying applications will show some indicator that such misconfigured connections cannot be used.
  • The Amazon protocol panel of the dialog provides a new option "Use bucket URI" to assemble the overall URI address of the connection based on the bucket name instead of the host name. See the VFSLib component for more details.
  • The German translation of this dialog has been completed.
  • Show Files/Folders In File System Window:
  • In many situations an application may want to display the location of a file using the file system window. For example this is a nice feature for the application log file if it shall be sent via e-mail and its exact location in the file system is not by hand. The output docking window provides a special button to display the log file location as do many of the other docking windows and dialogs.
  • Please remember that the file system window is only automatically shown on the screen here if the automatic mode is enabled (see the context menu by clicking the docking window button with the right mouse button).
  • The same functionality is implemented for the network file system.

New in Data Digester 1.6.9 Build 930 (Jan 14, 2014)

  • VFSLib Now to Support Amazon S3 (Amazon S3 Edition):
  • As third cloud file system provider the Amazon S3 Edition has been added to VFSLib. Please register a valid Amazon Web Services (AWS) account first. All necessary parameters for the Amazon S3 provider including the keys are provided by the Amazon S3 system.
  • Like the Dropbox provider also the Amazon S3 provider supports all standard VFS operation as there are creating files and folders, renaming, deleting, downloading, uploading etc. Remember that versioning is not supported by the original Commons VFS and so VFSLib doesn't.
  • Added Google Drive To VFSLib (Google Drive Edition):
  • As second file system provider Google Drive has been added to VFSLib.
  • Developers need a Google Drive account and their application setup on the Google website. Once an application token has been generated (you must allow your application to access your Google Drive files first) then the VFSLib Google Drive provider can be configured with a few steps.
  • Like the Dropbox provider also the Google Drive provider supports all standard VFS operation as there are creating files and folders, renaming, deleting, downloading, uploading etc. Remember that versioning is not supported by the original Commons VFS and so VFSLib doesn't.
  • First Official VFSLib (Dropbox Edition):
  • The release of the first official VFSLib for Dropbox (Dropbox Edition, aka DBE) is now likely to be published in the next few weeks. This initial version comes with a VFS provider implementing the functionality to access the Dropbox network file system.
  • Developers need a Dropbox account and their application setup on the Dropbox website. Once an application token has been generated (you must allow your application to access your Dropbox files first) then the VFSLib Dropbox provider can be configured with a few steps.
  • The first available VFSLib edition will be the Dropbox Edition (DBE), additional VFS providers e.g. to access Amazon S3 will be released in Q4/2013. Finally an Enterprise Edition will be published which contains all available VFSLib providers for an attractive price.
  • Hint Dialog On Network Session Close:
  • If one or multiple network session tabs shall be closed then a hint dialog is displayed now. Here the user may cancel closing the tab e.g. if the close action was performed by mistake. As usual this dialog can be disabled permanently by setting the "Do not show again" flag. The dialog may be reactivated at any time by adjusting the preferences.
  • Log Messages Minimized:
  • The Data Digester 1.6.8 produced too many log messages (exeption stack traces). If multiple network connections were opened the log file grew quickly so that the application ran out of memory in certain situations. This behaviour has been fixed so that the log file grows normally again.

New in Data Digester 1.6.8 Build 913 (Nov 29, 2013)

  • Faster OpenPGP Key Generation:
  • Due to optimizations of the PGPLib library from DidiSoft Ltd. the generation of keys with size 4096 is much faster compared with the previous Data Digester versions. On a system with Intel Core2 Quad 3.0 GHz a new key is being generated in ~3.5 minutes. Key generation with smaller key sizes is much faster (few seconds).
  • Generated Digest/Signature Files For Digest/Signature Files:
  • The Data Digester 1.6.7 release generated digest/signature files for source files which are digest/signature files themselves. The generate option "Ignore digest/signature files" has not been applied in certain situations. For example it created *.digest.digest files and so on. This behaviour has been corrected so that digest/signature are properly recognized again.
  • Reconnect to Servers Properly:
  • The "Connect" menu item did not reconnect the network connection properly. This behaviour has been fixed so that restored connections at startup time can be reconnected properly. Keep in mind that a valid password may be required for the connection which must be edited manually for each connect or stored permanently for the connection.
  • Connections to Empty Root Directories:
  • For network connections an empty root directory may be the case. The previous versions of the Data Digester connected properly but could not list the root properly. Instead of showing the single "/" root node, the network files window displayed the "Reading..." placeholder entry indicating that the directory on the left side is currently being listed. This bug has been fixed so that empty root directories like Dropbox may be listed properly.

New in Data Digester 1.6.7 Build 895 (Sep 3, 2013)

  • Support For Multi OpenPGP Keys Files:
  • A library has been updated to a newer version so that it is now possible to import key files with multiple OpenPGP keys. Such key files are used e.g. by Apache Software Foundation to bundle their many OpenPGP keys. You can find an example key file by clicking the link below.
  • Better Network Performance: Connection Pools:
  • Connections for stateful protocols as there are FTP, FTPS, and SFTP are now managed by pools. Existing idles connections from the pool are automatically reused. This may increase the performance for accessing server systems significantly since new connections have to be created only if there are no idle connections available.
  • By default the connection pool function is enabled for FTP/FTPS/SFTP connections. A new menu item to release unused connections from the pool has been added.
  • Direct Checking of Network Files Deleted Contents:
  • If digests or signatures were being checked directly on a network server using the network files window the target file contents have been deleted in some situations. The target files had zero-length afterwards. This behaviour has been fixed so that network files are left untouched during checking.
  • Network Expert Setting Removed:
  • The network expert setting "Automatically reconnect to dead peers" has been removed. Lost connections must be reconnected manually.
  • Network Files May Be Moved On The Server:
  • Previous version of the Data Digester software provided a copy & paste function to copy files and directories locally or from one server to another. This works well for small files but is too time consuming for large files like backups since the whole file must be transferred first. Network files may now be moved directly using the FTP/SFTP connection features (please check support). Like pasting entries from clipboard also the new "Move" feature has been integrated into the context menues of the file system and the network files docking windows. Just copy the source entries into clipboard, then select the target directory and call the new "Move" context menu. The optimizations described above are applied where possible, in all other situations the files are copied and the sources deleted afterwards.
  • Network Connections Optimized:
  • The network functionality of the Enterprise Edition has been optimized in several ways. Now the user's home directory is not longer the root directory by default which means that any absolute path on the connected system may be used as server path as long it may be accessed by the user (please check permissions). This modification is valid for FTP, FTPS, and SFTP network connections.
  • Especially on systems with slow connection like ISDN only the current folder may be refreshed instead of refreshing the whole folder tree. To achieve this an arbitrary entry shown by the table on the right side if the network file system window can be selected, then press F5.
  • After refreshing the network file system window the tree showed truncated entries sometimes ("..."). This behaviour has been cured so that the full folder names are always being displayed.
  • A new option has been added for the configuration of FTP connections: passive or active mode.
  • Command line URL addresses to be checked, generated etc. may be processed now also if username and password are omitted (like sftp://teiresias.company.com:22/home/user/steps.png.md5). This works if an appropriate network connection including the required credentials (username and password) has been setup with the GUI version of Data Digester. Missing credentials for command line URL arguments are automatically applied if available.
  • Auto-update Web Start Version No Longer Available:
  • Due to problems with Oracle's Java Web Start technology shipped with their runtime environments Data Digester is not longer available as auto-update version. Customers wishing to use Web Start must use the fixed versions now which are never updated automatically like the installer versions.
  • One of main problems of Java Web Start is that new libraries cannot be added without a complete reinstall and this makes the auto-update version obsolete. Adding new libraries or even updating to the latest library versions from time to time is common business for software developers and necessary e.g. to workaround security issues.
  • Find File and URL Duplicates:
  • Especially for collectors of audio files like MP3 or AAC it is a useful for Data Digester to scan directories for duplicates. These can be deleted in order to save storage space. This can be easily done with message digests since digests are fingerprints of files and every file maps to exactly one digest value per algorithm.
  • The Data Digester context menu found in both the file system and network file system window can be used to identify duplicate files. You simply can select one or more files or directories and let the program generate SHA-512 (or one of the other algorithms) in the caluclate-only mode. The tab showing the calculation results (message digests) has a new context menu "Find Duplicates...". The duplicates are finally shown by a tab where you can easily delete unwanted duplicates directly.
  • Shutdown Computer After Tasks Have Been Finished (Auto-off):
  • In order to implement as many green features as possible the auto-off functionality has been added. Once time consuming tasks like generating message digests for whole directory trees have been finished it is now possible to do the following actions afterwards: * Exit program * Standby mode * Log off user * Reboot computer * Shutdown computer
  • While tasks are being executed the new status bar icon (I/O symbol) is enabled. When clicked with the left or right mouse button an context menu with the options listed above is presented. The "Normal Operation" item may be used to reset a previous setting. If all tasks have been finished regularly (not cancelled) then the chosen action is being executed automatically. If the user is logged off or if the computer is hibernated, rebooted or turned off (shutdown) then a dialog is displayed where the user may cancel the auto-off function within a number of seconds.
  • For the log off, standby, reboot, and shutdown functions the system runs special commands which may be configured from within the options dialog. The new "Energy Saving" unit has been added to achieve this. Here you can enter the various commands which strongly depend on the used operating system. Commonly used commands for major platforms have been preset. The dialog to cancel the chosen auto-off feature may be configured here by setting the number of seconds to wait (countdown).
  • The dialog to inform the user that tasks are being executed if the program is up to be closed also displays the new functions listed above to be called directly from here.
  • External Help System Links Opened With System Browser:
  • The external links to http:// addresses are now displayed by the default browser of the operating system. Earlier versions of the help system opened such links directly which resulted in poor display quality due to the limited HTML capabilities of the used Java components. Normally, external links are indicated with a special trailing icon to be recognized easily.
  • Default Window Size Now 1024 x 768 Pixels:
  • The default size of the main window has been raised to 1024 x 768 pixels (was 800 x 600) due to bigger screens available for the mass market. The application may still be operated with 800 x 600 pixel resolution.
  • The new menu item Windows -> Resolutions has been added to adjust the main window size.
  • Performance Improved:
  • When the GUI application was started sometimes the application seemed to be frozen if time consuming tasks like listing large directories in the file system window were executed. This behaviour has been improved so that the GUI is being created more fluently. It can be easily recognized by watching the digitial clock on the right side of the status bar: in earlier versions the clock was not updated for seconds, now it is in sync.
  • Window Check/Generate/Refresh Callable from Context Menus:
  • The context menues of both the file system and network file system window allow users to check, and generate digests or signatures for single selected files. Three new menues have been added to allow for checking, generating, and refreshing on a per directory basis. Now it is possible to select local directories or network folders and process them recursively. The new generate and refresh functionality starts its work on basis of the template that is currently being selected in the generate options window. You'll find the template name displayed in round braces.
  • Data Digester Now Shipped With Java 1.7:
  • The installer versions if the Data Digester software are now shipped with the JRE 1.7 instead of the JRE 1.6. The main advantages of the current JRE 1.7 are the improved web security and the better performance especially of the GUI components.
  • Displaying Nimbus Under Java 1.7:
  • Since Java 1.7 the Nimbus look & feel is official part of the Swing packages of Java. The class path switched from com.sun.java.swing.plaf.nimbus.NimbusLookAndFeel to the new value javax.swing.plaf.nimbus.NimbusLookAndFeel. The application checks for Java since 1.7 and uses the new package automatically then.
  • If you are switching from Java 1.6 to Java 1.7 to run the Data Digester software and if you have the Nimbus look & feel activated then it may be necessary to activate Nimbus again when the application is started using Java 1.7 the first time.
  • Calculate-only Required PGP Key Selection:
  • If message digests should be calculated only (no file generation) then a PGP key had to be selected in the list, too, if one of the PGP enabling options had been selected. In other words, it was not possible to calculate-only MD5, SHA-1 etc. without selecting a PGP key in such cases. This behaviour has been fixed.
  • Write Digester XML For Read-only Files:
  • If checksums for files on read-only mediums like CD or DVD have been generated it was not possible to write the data as Digester XML to a writable directory. This has been fixed so also digests/signatures for files on read-only file systems may be stored now.
  • Restoring Docking Windows:
  • Due to missing internal configuration some docking windows (e.g. text editor window) could not be restored properly. If the docking window had been closed the last time this window were being displayed again the next time the application has been started. This works fine now.
  • Preferences Import:
  • Preferences of the Data Digester software may be exported from one instance and then imported also on other platforms to move the configuration. The target directory had been cleared before the import and some or all extracted files from the export ZIP were removed, too. This was due to a timing behaviour in the directory clearing routine. Some or all extracted resources were missing then including the license file etc. This behaviour has been fixed so that the target import directory is not cleared before the ZIP import. Existing files are simply overwritten by the ZIP resources while additional resources created by the user are kept now.

New in Data Digester 1.6.6 Build 823 (Jul 16, 2013)

  • OpenPGP Signatures And Intermediate Digests:
  • Until version 1.6.5 the Data Digester software miscalculated OpenPGP signatures if XML files including intermediate digests had been generated simultaneously. The data blocks where the intermediate digests were generated were ignored for signature calculation.
  • The OpenPGP signatures generated with Data Digester until version 1.6.5 must be recalculated if the signatures were generated under the conditions described above.

New in Data Digester 1.6.5 Build 819 (Jul 16, 2013)

  • Fixed bug: Web Start Error:
  • The first two Web Start releases of Data Digester were based on changing resource names. This caused the application not to start if the auto-update version has been installed and the application was updated from version 1.6.3 to 1.6.4.
  • Users with auto-update versions 1.6.3 or 1.6.4 are recommended to manually uninstall the Web Start version of Data Digester and relaunch the application version 1.6.5 or newer.
  • New feature : Get Evaluation License Directly From Application:
  • Evaluation licenses can be easily requested with the online web form. The license key is sent via e-mail immediately. This procedure requires some steps to perform.
  • In order to make the evaluation process more convenient a new dialog has been added to the software. If the program is started the first time then an "Evaluate..." link is being displayed at the bottom of the register dialog. The program opens a dialog where the required personal data can be edited. With the "Submit" button the Leisenfels server is requested which then sends a new evaluation license directly to the application.
  • You will need an Internet connection for this new functionality.
  • Fixed bug: File Chooser Lists Directories:
  • The operation system specific file chooser component lists directories properly now if a specific file filter is selected in the combo box at the bottom. This was only possible before the fix if the "*" file filter had been selected.