DirectSOFT v5.1 is the first version of our PLC programming software that contains links to 'DirectSOFT on the Web'. When you select this link, the software will retrieve - you guessed it - the 'DirectSOFT on the Web' page from the Host Engineering web site. We will use the contents of this page to keep you informed of what's going on at Host Engineering. New products release information, product update information, technical support tips, etc. will all be retrieved from our web site and displayed for your viewing pleasure.
Our goal is to open a communication channel with all of our customers, and if you didn't know that you are one of our customers, we'd like the chance to introduce ourselves to you. We thought about an Email newsletter, but they offer only one-way communication, and there's too much Email already, plus managing all that subscribing and unsubscribing is a little too old school for 2007 and beyond. So we opted to enhance a feature that was already in DirectSOFT and let it fetch the information we wanted to present to you.
There are two ways to have DirectSOFT5 fetch the latest DSPotw page:
From DSLaunch, simply left-click the 'DirectSOFT on the web' selection at the top of the left column. The DSPotw page will appear in the right-hand pane of DSLaunch.
From DirectSOFT5 - Programming, click Help-> DirectSOFT on the Web (or optionally click the 'www DSP' toolbar icon). The DSPotw page will appear in a dialog box.
This is an archive of all the
06/10/10 Windows Vista & Windows 7 - Editing Ds300.Ini, DS400,Ini &
DS500.Ini (redux)
- If you are using DirectSOFT on a PC running Microsoft's
new Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating systems and you need to edit the DSxxx.INI file
(where xxx is 500, 400, or 300), the security measures of Vista & Window 7 present some
interesting issues. We have an FAQ (FAQ0204)
that covers these issues in depth, with solutions that fit the various ways
Vista & Windows 7 PCs may have their security settings configured.
01-23-08 LookoutDirect & DLPlus - Updated versions to run with DirectSOFT v5.2 - If you are currently using LookoutDirect or DLPlus on the same computer as DirectSOFT version 5.0, 5.1 or 5.2, then you may experience a problem if you start DirectSOFT v5 AFTER you start LookoutDirect or DLPlus - if you start DirectSOFT v5 first, you should not see any problems. This issue stems from the fact that LookoutDirect & DLPlus share the communication server and the element server with DirectSOFT. The first product to get started on the PC will start these servers running and the remaining products will use the servers that are already running when they start up. As long as the products are all built with the same version of the servers everything is fine. But when these products are built with different versions of the servers, the product with the latest version needs to be started first. To remedy the potential problems, we rebuilt LookoutDirect and DLPlus with the latest communication and element servers (v5.2).
06-28-07 Windows Vista - Updated DS500.Bat
- If you are using DirectSOFT
v5.0 or v5.1 on a PC running Microsoft's new Windows
Vista operating system, clicking the DS500.Ini entry in DSLaunch does not
edit the proper DS500.ini file. The existing version of the file edits the
copy of DS500.Ini that is installed in C:\Windows, but the UAC (User Access
Control) measures in place under Windows Vista will not let you make changes
to the file - for the gory details, check out the Tech Tip from 04-10-2007.
To fix this problem, we've published updated .Bat files that are
'Vista-aware'. You can download an updated copy of the appropriate .Bat file
and replace your existing copy that's located in the C:\Windows folder.