Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Indigo Rose Corporation.
All rights reserved.
| Product Name: | Visual Patch 2.0 |
| Version: | 2.0.4.0 - (what has changed?) |
| Release Date: | April 20, 2006 |
| Distribution: | Unauthorized distribution prohibited. See License.txt for details. |
Contact Information
Getting Started
Key Features in Visual Patch 2.0
What's New in Visual Patch 2.0
Release History
Copyright & Trademark Notice
Contact Information
http://www.indigorose.com/site/contact.php
Technical Support
http://support.indigorose.com
Thank you choosing Visual Patch 2.0! To get the most out of this software, we recommend that you start by reading the User's Guide. We’ve included hundreds of pages of instruction and tutorial in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. It’s a great place to start.
You’ll find a shortcut to the User's Guide on the Start menu under Start -> Programs -> Indigo Rose Corporation -> Visual Patch 2.0. Or, if you’d prefer to have this in physical book format, you can either print it out yourself, or order the professionally bound and printed book from OnDemandManuals.
We also provide a number of other helpful resources to get you up to speed. Look for them on the Help menu within the software. You’ll find a complete help system, tips & tricks, command reference material and web links to our online user discussion community and technical support system.
We’d love to hear what you think of Visual Patch 2.0. Please stop by
our online forums and tell us what you think. You’ll find links and other
product information at http://www.indigorose.com or http://www.visualpatch.com.
Visual Patch 2.0 makes it easy to manage your software releases. You can quickly and easily add, remove and organize product versions, and see all of the important details about your files. The toolbars, columns, sort-order, color-coding and other interface elements are fully customizable, allowing you to view only the information that is important to your workflow.
Visual Patch 2.0 features state-of-the-art binary differencing and compression algorithms. This ensures you smaller and better performing software patches. The algorithms used by Visual Patch 2.0 were developed specifically for their impressive speed characteristics. Whereas software patching was once a notoriously slow and cumbersome process, companies choosing Visual Patch 2.0 have a distinct advantage.
With Visual Patch 2.0, you have full control over which versions of your software can be patched with a single executable. While some vendors will choose to include only a single version update, others may offer a patch that can update any version that has ever been released. Visual Patch can handle either extreme, or anything in between. Unlike some other products, Visual Patch’s full-history patching ability can update any version of your software to the latest release. By only having one file to download, Visual Patch brand patches are much more user friendly. Your users won’t have to worry about finding multiple patches and applying them in the correct order as they would if you used other, less sophisticated patch builders.
Smaller and faster means a better experience for your customers, and Visual Patch 2.0 delivers. Compare our tiny ~500 KB runtime overhead to the competition and see for yourself. Patches created with Visual Patch 2.0 are faster to initialize and install than those created by competitive tools. What’s more, our Publishing Wizard walks you through the build process with a few easy steps. The single-file patch executable (patch.exe) is perfect for distribution by web, email, LAN, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
You can rest assured that patches are only applied to files you’ve specified. Using a combination of 128-bit MD5 hashing, CRC-32 checksums and industry standard data encryption protocols, Visual Patch 2.0 helps you keep your applications and data safe from unauthorized use, transmission errors and other threats.
Visual Patch 2.0 makes quick work out of locating your target application. Using a flexible combination of starting-point techniques (registry keys and file/folder searches) and key-file identification, Visual Patch 2.0 can quickly locate the application files and folders on the system that require patching. Definitively identifying the target folder greatly simplifies the patching process and is a key requirement for ensuring that your software is updated quickly and correctly.
Featuring a library of over twenty different screen templates, Visual Patch 2.0 makes it easy to control your project's user interface. There are pre-built layouts to handle just about any task your can imagine, and it's easy to adjust them to fit your needs exactly. You'll find everything from check boxes, radio buttons and edit fields to popular screens like license agreements and folder selection. The Screen Manager allows you to add and remove screens at will and adjust the sequence with a simple drag-and-drop motion. Each screen features a real-time preview so you can see the results of your changes as you work.
Visual Patch 2.0 supports the creation of both fully-interactive “wizard based” patches or completely automatic “silent” patches that operate without displaying user interface dialogs, prompts and other messages. You can choose to dynamically enable the silent mode through a command line switch, or configure the patch to always run in this unattended mode. Either way, patches made with Visual Patch 2.0 are suitable for use in both consumer/standalone applications and corporate/network patch management solutions.
Visual Patch 2.0 includes an incredibly powerful free-form scripting engine, giving you unprecedented control over your software patching system. This easy to understand scripting language features everything from “for, repeat and while” loops, to “if/else” conditions, functions, variables and arrays. Paired with the built-in action library, full mathematical evaluation and Boolean expressions, there’s simply nothing you can’t achieve. We’ve also built in an Action Wizard so even complete novices can create powerful projects that handle the most demanding patching tasks.
To make the most out of Visual Patch 2.0’s new scripting engine, we’ve included a library of over 250 high-level actions. With everything from registry editing to file copying to web file downloads, this complete scripting environment contains everything you need to automate complex tasks and handle even the most sophisticated software and system patching requirements. No other tool can match it!
Visual Patch is an integral component of software lifecycle management. For a complete and fully integrated end-to-end solution, we’d recommend using Visual Patch in conjunction with Indigo Rose’s Setup Factory (software installation) and TrueUpdate (automatic updating/patch delivery); however you’re certainly not locked into doing so. If your company has standardized on other tools for software installation, patch deployment and patch management, Visual Patch will still add significant benefit, being a best-of-breed solution.
Visual Patch 2.0 isn’t just for software vendors. It’s also an extremely valuable tool for use in corporate, government and educational IT departments. Visual Patch 2.0 helps you get the most out of your network patch management and software management/SMS infrastructure. As a network administrator responsible for keeping hundreds or thousands of computers and servers up to date, being able to create your own bullet-proof software patches is invaluable. Simply add them to your patch deployment solution of choice (TrueUpdate, SMS, etc) and manage them just like any other OS or application patch used on your network.
Thousands of companies trust Indigo Rose software tools. In fact our products, such as Setup Factory, TrueUpdate and AutoPlay Media Studio, are used to distribute and manage software on millions of customer and client systems around the world. Additionally, all of our products are backed up by world-class technical support services.
Visual Patch 2.0 features an unbeatable development environment that puts you in control of your files. Each point release gets its own version tab – then you simply drag and drop your files and folders onto the project window and you’re ready to build. Visual Patch is smart enough to maintain your folder structure, automatically query version resource information, determine what has been added, changed or deleted and ensures 100% data integrity with reliable MD5 hashing and CRC-32 checksums.
Visual Patch 2.0 now features a cutting-edge binary differencing engine. By way of a sophisticated byte-granular analysis of your file data, Visual Patch 2.0 is able to extract only the “delta” between one file version and the next. Rather than having to distribute a full copy of changed files, Visual Patch 2.0 will only package up the parts that have changed. The result is a significant reduction in patch sizes, more security, reduced transmission time and lower bandwidth costs.
Spend five minutes with Visual Patch’s easy to use Project Wizard and come away with a complete and ready to build project. You’ll be walked through each option so you can get your project started as quickly as possible. The new wizard helps you to add versions, associate your files, configure the user interface, and much more.
Visual Patch 2.0 is considerably more customizable than before. Included are over twenty different screen templates — easily adjustable to fit your particular needs — that handle just about any task your project requires. There's everything from check boxes, radio buttons and edit fields to popular screens like license agreements, folder selection and many more. The Screen Manager allows you to add and remove screens at will and adjust the sequence with a simple drag-and-drop motion. Each screen features a real-time preview so you can see the result of your changes as you work.
Visual Patch 2.0 now includes the same scripting engine as Setup Factory 7.0, TrueUpdate 2.0 and AutoPlay Media Studio 5.0. Based on the popular “Lua” language, this all-new and incredibly powerful free-form scripting engine gives you unprecedented control over your software patching system. This easy to use language features everything from “for, repeat and while” loops, to “if/else” conditions, functions, variables and associative arrays. Paired with the built-in action library, full mathematical evaluation and Boolean expressions, there is simply nothing you can’t achieve. We’ve also built in an “Action Wizard” and “Quick Scripts” feature so you can get right up to speed creating powerful projects to handle even the most demanding tasks.
Visual Patch 2.0 includes a built-in library of more than 250 powerful, yet easy to use actions. There are high-level actions to handle everything from text file editing to system registry changes. You can execute programs, call DLL functions, query drive information, manipulate strings, copy files, enumerate processes, start and stop services, interact with web scripts, display dialog boxes and much more. Whatever you need your software patch to do, Visual Patch 2.0 can make it happen!
You don’t have to be a wizard to create powerful patching systems with Visual Patch 2.0. We’ve built the wizard into the software! Simply choose the action you want from a categorized list (complete with on-screen interactive help), fill in the requested information fields and the wizard does the rest. You don’t have to know anything about scripting or programming — just fill in the blanks, and you’re done! Making changes is just as easy. Click on the line you want to change and press the “edit” button to go back to the original form. It’s really that easy!
If you’ve outgrown the Action Wizard interface or simply want to get the most out of the Visual Patch 2.0 scripting engine, we’ve got you covered. The Visual Patch 2.0 action editor features all of the professional features you’d expect. There’s color syntax highlighting, code completion, function highlighting, as-you-type action prototypes, Ctrl+Space function listings and even context-sensitive help. If you’re used to programming in Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C++ or any other modern development language, you’ll be right at home.
Once you’ve got your project ready to go, the Publishing Wizard will help you package it up into a compact single-file executable. Compare our tiny ~500 KB runtime overhead to the competition and see for yourself — patches created with Visual Patch 2.0 are smaller and faster than ever before. What’s more, the single-file patch executable is perfect for distribution by web, email, LAN, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Choose from dozens of pre-made themes (skins) for your screens or even make your own. It’s as easy as viewing a live dialog preview and picking your favorite style. You can configure everything from fonts (face, color, size, style) and banner images to body/background graphics, control colors (buttons, check boxes, radio buttons) and more. If you like, you can even customize the desktop background with gradients, images, color washes, headlines and footer text with 3D effects.
Visual Patch 2.0 supports the creation of both fully-interactive “wizard based” patches or completely automatic “silent” patches. Silent patches operate without displaying user interface dialogs, prompts and other messages, making them perfect for use in corporate networks and managed infrastructures. New options let you enable silent operation via a command line switch, or even configure the patch to always run in unattended mode. Visual Patch 2.0 patches automatically return command line status codes and are ready for use in automatic deployment processes and corporate patch management consoles.
Visual Patch 2.0 includes a variety of features designed to help you manage access to your software, including the ability to ask for a serial number or password. Visual Patch 2.0 automatically restricts use of your patch files through the use of binary differencing, key files and sophisticated message digests calculations.
Visual Patch 2.0 can be easily expanded with Action Plugins. These add on modules can extend the product in infinitely powerful ways, such as adding support for databases, XML, data encryption and FTP file transfers. Tight integration with the design environment, including IntelliSense style code completion and syntax highlighting, makes Plugins just as easy to use as built-in actions. Plugins are available through Indigo Rose as well as third-party developers thanks to Indigo Rose’s freely available plug-in development kit.
Visual Patch 2.0 gives you everything you need to support your customers and clients around the world. Patches created with Visual Patch 2.0 can automatically determine the language of the client operating system and adjust the display of screens and messages appropriately. Whether you need to support English, French, German, Spanish, Italian or any other language recognized by Windows, simply provide the text and Visual Patch takes care of the rest!
Now it’s easier than ever to make sure that typos don’t creep into your projects. Just about anywhere you can type, you can perform a spell check to ensure error-free text. Dictionaries are available for over a dozen languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Croatian, Czech, Polish and Slovenian.
Keeping track of the essential details of your patching project is now just a couple of clicks away. With improved HTML-based project reports (featuring CSS formatting) and text-based run-time log files, you’ll have an accurate record of everything you need. New options let you control the level of detail being logged, including options for recording errors and script execution details.
Visual Patch 2.0 fits seamlessly into your automated build processes. Software development teams and network managers will appreciate features such as build constants and pre/post build processes. You’ll find that Visual Patch 2.0 projects integrate right into your daily builds.
Patches created with Visual Patch 2.0 work just fine on every Windows operating system from Windows 95 to XP and beyond. Compare that to competitive tools and you’re sure to be surprised at their requirements. If you need to support legacy systems, your choice is clear!
Visual Patch 2.0, the Visual Patch 2.0 logo and all related files and documentation are Copyright © 2001-2006 Indigo Rose Software Design Corporation. All rights reserved.
Visual Patch 2.0 is a trademark of Indigo Rose Software Design Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.