This page contains the revision history and known bugs and fixes for the Virtual Tablet Interface by version and component. Fixes or workarounds are included with each problem unless otherwise noted. If you are experiencing problems with the Virtual Tablet Interface drivers, utilities or applications and don't find the answer here, please contact us via email at support@vtablet.com or by voice at 425-868-3246 during technical support hours if you are a registered user.

Version 6     Version 5    Version 4    Version 2    Version 1

VERSION 3.11

(May 20, 1996)

Drivers

Button assignments for Numonics Series digitizers when used with a stylus or four-button cursor. If you have a sixteen-button cursor and had previously configured these units as four-button devices, you can now change to the new devices and get additional cursor support.

Button assignments for Wacom Super Digitizer Series digitizers running in non-pressure mode.

Button assignments for Hitachi C, D, and E Series digitizers when used with a stylus or four-button cursor.

Button assignments for Hitachi S and T Series digitizers when used with a sixteen-button cursor.

Switches to and from a partial DOS window are now more efficient by selectively resetting the digitizer (Win9X only).

Samples

A template for AutoCAD LT is now supplied which is fully compatible with the standard Autodesk tablet menu from Releases 12 and 13.

VERSION 3.10

(March 30, 1996)

Drivers

Support for sixteen-button cursors has been added for those applications (principally CAD) which allow assigning macro functions to extended buttons. Existing functionality of the Virtual Tablet Interface’s primary buttons (numbers 1-4) remains unchanged with exception that multiple button states (holding down two buttons at the same time) are no longer supported.

Button tracking support has been added. This feature enables the automatic generation of button events based on distance moved. A Windows action is generated each time the trigger condition changes, i.e. the button is pressed and released, or upon movement of the specified distance moved in the X, Y, or X and Y axis while the trigger button is held down.

Audible buttons can now can be programmed for the frequency and also corrects a problem on certain machines which could hang with very long tone lengths.

Task switches and tablet resets have been optimized for higher performance.

Kurta XLC series digitizers no longer require a power reset after Windows starts.

GTCO AccuTab series digitizers resolution problem noticeable under MapInfo.

Summagraphics SummaSketch II and III devices are now supported based on whether you have a four or sixteen-button cursor. If you have a sixteen-button cursor and had previously configured these units as Microgrid II or III, you can now change to the new devices and get additional cursor support.

Manager

Button tracking has been added to the Buttons Tab. See Drivers for details.

The Movement and Pointer Tabs have been combined and a new Driver Tab added separating the previous device and driver features resulting in an easier to use layout.

The Template Tab has been redesigned and now supports a browse button and better long filename support. In addition, DDE servers are now updated automatically.

The Button Tab now allows specifying the Audible frequency in addition to the length of the tone on button presses.

Loss of online help availability directly from within the Manager by pressing the F1 key or Help button (Win9X only).

Editor

A new Guides option is available which disables coordinate rounding on region and combination moves and/or re-sizes which made tracing existing templates difficult.

A new General option is available which disables inflation of combinations which facilitates precision graphics placement for combined regions.

Faults when doing control-selections on more than one uncombined region.

Style sheet merging to a new style sheet (existing style sheets not affected).

Errors opening imported graphics files (Picture command) are now reported on the Status bar.

Choosing Cancel when importing a Picture now correctly clears the current image.

Setup

Setup now correctly uninstalls a Virtual Tablet directory containing user created templates.

Setup now asks for confirmation before removing Editor template files and subdirectories when uninstalling the product.

VERSION 3.03

(February 20, 1996)

Drivers

Support has been added for Pen Windows 2.0 (Win9X only). Pen Windows 1.0 is still supported (Win31 only).

A bug in which under certain circumstances tablet task switching was missed.

Summagraphics FX and SummaPad, CalComp 9500 Series and Kurta XGT.

Support for older (1.xx) Virtual Tablet applications has been improved.

VERSION 3.02

(January 31, 1996)

General

This release contains a number of minor changes and improvements in order to satisfy the Windows 9X Logo requirements. Also, it contains an updated version of MUSCROLL.DLL (Win31 only) which previously could cause problems with other applications using this library.

Drivers

The maximum pressure range supported is now 255 levels (versus 128).

The drivers now detect an invalid virtual mouse driver (Win9X) caused by some digitizer manufacturer’s uninstall programs.

Circumstances in which an applications’ previously saved properties are incorrectly set upon startup.

Support has been added for the CalComp DrawingSlate II and DrawingFlex; Wacom UD II and ArtPad II; GTCO Rollup II; and Summagraphics Summa Expression, SummaPad and Microgrid Ultra digitizers.

Manager

The Manager now optionally displays iconic active templates in the notification area of the task bar (Win9X only). To enable or disable this feature, check or uncheck “Show Active Templates on Taskbar” from the Manager Tab.

Editor

Long filename support (Win9X) has been improved and long template names now appear fully on the start (file) menu and dialog boxes.

“Send Mail” support has been added allowing templates to be electronically mailed over MAPI compliant systems (e.g. Exchange) from the File menu.

VERSION 3.01

(January 1, 1996)

General

This version fixes a number of minor bugs under Win9X and adds several new features.

Manager

Template execution of 32-bit applications or 16-bit applications under Win9X.

Erroneous reporting of certain 32-bit applications as Tablet Tasks under Win9X.

Erroneous database entries for 32-bit applications under Win9X.

Template execution has been accelerated and can now process keystrokes as fast as Windows will allow (Win 3.1 and 95).

Editor

A problem printing templates to certain printers under Win9X.

A problem printing imported encapsulated postscript images under Win9X.

The wizard no longer sets template target filenames to the Editor under Win9X.

A problem zooming templates with certain SVGA drivers at 800x600 under Win31.

Setup

Setup now uses the Win9X registry for registering icons, file classes, etc. and works with the Add/Remove Programs option in the Control Panel which requires the original path for the setup program.

VERSION 3.00

(November 12, 1995)

General

In addition to Windows 9X compatibility, this release represents a major architectural change to the device drivers and utilities designed to improve product usability in addition to introducing significant new features in digitizer interfaces. The most important of these changes are as follows:

A new multi-tasking capability which allows the designation of digitizer properties on a task-by-task basis along with automatic task-switching by the drivers and utilities.

32-bit driver support (Windows 9X only) for both native Virtual Tablet Interface and Wintab compatible applications.

A new Tablet Manager which provides full multi-tasking capability and exposes existing and new driver features on a task-by-task basis.

Many new features for non-digitizer aware applications such as AutoCAD LT including on-screen calibration and registration through the digitizer.

Improved integration of digitizer templates into applications including a new template wizard which makes creating and executing templates for any application just a single-click.

Expanded documentation to include the Virtual Tablet Manager, Virtual Tablet Editor, and application notes on diagnosing and tuning the device drivers along with how to use the Virtual Tablet Interface with non-digitizer applications.

Drivers

The device drivers are fully multi-tasking under all versions of Windows allowing task-specific digitizer configuration and auto-switching of task properties each time the task is created, activated or destroyed.

Additional functionality is now provided with features including on-screen cropping areas, audible buttons, pressure ranging and locking.

The drivers can run off on a timer instead of an interrupt in cases where there are no free interrupt lines or a conflict with another adapter exists.

32-bit drivers for the Virtual Tablet Interface (VTABLT32.DLL) and Wintab compatibility (WINTAB32.DLL) are now installed automatically for Win32 systems, e.g. Windows 9X.

Support has been added for the following digitizers: Numonics GridMaster 8511 and Kurta XMT and XGT Series.

Support for Standard mode under Windows 3.1 has been dropped.

Manager

A new tablet manager (VTMGR.EXE and VTMGR32.EXE) now replaces and integrates the Control Panel Applet (VTCTRL.DLL) and Virtual Template Loader (VTLOAD.EXE).

Tabbed dialogs offer access to each driver feature including Tasks, Coordinates, Buttons, Movement, Template, Pointer, Pressure, Driver, Status and Manager.

Clipping and cropping areas can now be picked directly from the digitizer and display, respectively, instead of entering them manually.

The manager stores digitizer settings in a task database and automatically restores settings each time the application starts.

Editor

A template wizard that can automatically build, save, compile, print and execute a template for any Windows application, whether digitizer-aware or not.

A style bar has been added which saves time in modifying an object’s style properties.

Drag & Drop support has been added for imported graphics files - just drop meta files, bitmaps, etc. on the Editor’s window to import them to the selected objects.

Support for enhanced metafiles (EMF) has been added (Windows 9X only).

Imported files are now copied by default to the template directory.

Tool tips are now supported on the tool bar and style bars.

Editor window and workspace options have been consolidated to a single tabbed dialog under the Tools Menu.

Custom menus, exported graphics files, and template comments have been dropped.

Setup

A Setup.Log file is automatically created containing copies of system files, etc. for diagnosing installation problems.

Setup speed has been enhanced and simplified for driver installation.

Documentation

The printed user’s guide has been significantly expanded and enhanced and now contains chapters on using the Virtual Tablet Manager and Virtual Tablet Editor; along with application notes on diagnosing and tuning the device drivers and how to use the Virtual Tablet Interface with non-digitizer applications like AutoCAD LT.

Online help has been expanded and now contains graphical topic trees for quick access to any help topic.

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Last modified: March 04, 2008