Introduction |
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Introduction |
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Introduction |
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Introduction |
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ContentsWhat's New in Visual Patch
One of your most asked for features is finally here. You now have the freedom to create your own custom dialogs from scratch! Start off with an empty wizard dialog and then drop whatever controls you require onto it. Resize them, reposition them, call script code and much more. It's fully featured and totally visual. When one of the built-in dialogs doesn't get you where you want to go, the new visual dialog editor is sure to fit the bill. To use this exciting new feature, look for the "Custom" screen type in the screen gallery.
Visual Patch's design workspace and generated patches are compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, including a configurable "requested execution level" setting for the patch's manifest. Other features enhanced for Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 include: System.GetOSName, System.GetOSVersionInfo, System.GetUserInfo and File.Run actions, and file OS conditions.
Visual Patch allows you to use your own product icon and provides full control of the version information that you want written into the patch's resources.
Protect the integrity of your company and products by code signing your patches with your own certificate during the build process.
Visual Patch now includes Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 in the list of file OS conditions.
Reduced the loading time of the Visual Patch design environment and added additional memory preferences for the build process.
Made several enhancements to the HTTP actions for wider compatibility and increased stability.
Visual Patch 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 features a cutting-edge binary differencing engine. By way of a sophisticated byte-granular analysis of your file data, Visual Patch 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 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 is extremely customizable. 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 includes the same scripting engine as Setup Factory, TrueUpdate and AutoPlay Media Studio. 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 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 can make it happen!
You don't have to be a wizard to create powerful patching systems with Visual Patch. 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 scripting engine, we've got you covered. The Visual Patch 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 extremely small and fast. 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 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 patches automatically return command line status codes and are ready for use in automatic deployment processes and corporate patch management consoles.
Visual Patch 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 automatically restricts use of your patch files through the use of binary differencing, key files and sophisticated message digests calculations.
Visual Patch 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 gives you everything you need to support your customers and clients around the world. Patches created with Visual Patch 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 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 projects integrate right into your daily builds.
Patches created with Visual Patch work just fine on every Windows operating system from Windows 95 to Windows 10. 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!
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