Release note of v1.2.1 tree

[Yutaka Sawada]

 This version contains some small update only. I don't want to change big part, while I am designing new PAR3 specifications. I didn't add some update into sample PAR3 client of old specifications, though I will maintain old PAR3 client for a while.


[ Changes from 1.2.0.5 to 1.2.1.0 ]

* Installer update
 Even when a user copied par3j.exe from "tool" folder, it will be deleted at next over-write install.

* GUI update
Improvement
 When GUI cannot parse output of clients at all, it shows error message and saves the output in log.
 When creating PAR2 files, initial block size may be calculated by considering efficiency.

* Client update
Improvement
 When creating PAR2 files, slice size will be adjusted for better efficiency.

New
 PAR2 client may find miss-decoded filename with non-ASCII characters.


[ Hash value ]

MultiPar1210.7z
MD5 : 907B186A1ECE8D29C4B1934F303C6E2E
SHA-1 : 48D18290EAF812500C4EA4E2F6A96B7A532ECAB4

MultiPar1210_setup.exe
MD5 : 14A8B27E932CD441AC5BEA50D4614CDC
SHA-1 : 7389C781F1F401E2CCEDF79E056DE31551DC27FC

[mictlan]

Just wanted to report that version 1.2.1.0 is working fine on Linux (Fedora) with Wine 1.5.3.
Thx

[Yutaka Sawada]

 While testing compatibility of new PAR3 file format, I found that my PAR2 client might crush when there are wrong MD5 hash values in PAR2 files. (when I failed to set proper MD5 in my PAR3 client 's sample output PAR2 file.) Though this happens only when a PAR2 client create invalid PAR2 files, I fixed this problem.


[ Changes from 1.2.1.0 to 1.2.1.1 ]

* GUI update
Bug fix
 Crush problem was fixed, when initial block size and preferred block size are same.

* Client update
Bug fix
 PAR2 client doesn't crush, even when verifying with wrong file hash in PAR2 file.
 Crush problem was fixed, when -sm option value is same as initial block size.


[ Hash value ]

MultiPar1210.7z
MD5 : BB4BE29892964A99B9ACA6FB767FA635
SHA-1 : 2151B979C5EA21B7F6F088AE38B1835DC2F4B1F8

MultiPar1211_setup.exe
MD5 : F26AF05299D48D3F01DC0555EEF66087
SHA-1 : D7E9CE15954B15C3C89E95F62EF481A6DA9BDEDC

[fooziex]

Thanks!

[Yutaka Sawada]

 There is a few minor update only. I changed compiler's CPU optimization option from G5 (Pentium) to G6 (Pentium Pro), because most users won't use so old PC anymore. This setting gives better performance on my PC (Pentium 3) rarely. I'm not sure there is difference on recent PC.


[ Changes from 1.2.1.1 to 1.2.1.2 ]

* GUI update
Improvement
 When "Sizing scheme" is "All the same size" or "Variable size", changing redundancy will update number of recovery files.

* Client update
Improvement
 SFV/MD5 checker can read/write checksum data in a NTFS "alternate data stream".
 It is possible to save time stamp in checksum file by SFV/MD5 checker.


[ Hash value ]

MultiPar1212.7z
MD5 : F4B68086043B6D668F5780D49CEE1B7A
SHA-1 : 7FDCA86E764892D099B7BEDFCBEA60A48FDFBE8F

MultiPar1212_setup.exe
MD5 : D8840DC9E0D16AB5FC63272BF14FD198
SHA-1 : FD5A0675026EEE7D1372CD3FF20E7E39D0964530

[Brat.T]

Thank you for the new vesion.

Regarding to the CPU optimization, my quick test shows that there isn't visible speed gain against 1.2.0.5.
I tested with a Intel Core-i3 2120 (2 cores 4 threads @ 3.3 GHz) on Windows 7. Command line used: par2j c /rn90 file. The file is around 680 MB.

[badon]

Thanks for this! I just noticed the number of views for this topic today is 595, and the number of downloads is 541 (171 for the 7z and 370 for the exe). That means almost everyone reading about MultiPar is downloading it. It's getting a lot more downloads than it did in the past, so the user base is growing.

[Yutaka Sawada]

It's getting a lot more downloads than it did in the past, so the user base is growing.

 While I public beta versions on this forum, I put final version on vector's official download site. Most people don't seems to use beta versions. (for example, I wait stable version of 7-Zip, hehe.) As a reference, I post a list of download count. Though I got monthly reports from vector.co.jp, some old mails were lost.

[ Analysis of download count ]

MultiPar version	Download count	Period (year/month/day)
1.1.4	85	2010/05/05 - 2010/07/20
1.1.5	609	2010/07/20 - 2010/10/12
1.1.6	201	2010/10/12 - 2011/02/03
1.1.7	2602	2011/02/03 - 2011/04/29
1.1.8	7220	2011/05/25 - 2011/11/14
1.1.9-zip	5696	2011/11/14 - 2012/02/29
1.1.9-exe	2619	2011/11/14 - 2012/02/29
1.2.0-zip	5634	2012/02/29 - 2012/08/31
1.2.0-exe	4602	2012/02/29 - 2012/08/31

 By a rough calculation, stable versions are 10 times more downloaded than beta versions. I don't know what is 'user base', but the number of possible users are increasing. If someone think MultiPar is useless, he won't download next version. Those who downloads later version again should be treated as a stable user. Only a few interested users seems to check website frequently and download each beta versions. Many casual users don't visit website nor ignore beta versions. As there are other unofficial download site which aren't counted, total download over the world might be more.

 The versions of 1.1.4 to 1.1.6 count Japanese users only. From count of later versions, there are much more foreign users than Japanese users. While I have publiced simple tools for over than ten years, I never got donation from Japanese users. As number of foreign users becomes many, I got donations more often in recent years. The total amount is around $120 now, thanks to contributors.

[Yutaka Sawada]

 Because some options on Create window are moved to Option window, users should confirm them, if they were not default setting. If a user have been checked "Restrict block size to multiples of preferred size" on Create window, or he changed items of "Preferred Block size" ago, he need to select proper item of "Preferred Block size" again.


[ Changes from 1.2.1.2 to 1.2.1.3 ]

* GUI update
Bug fix
 A failure of drawing non-ASCII characters of other languages on edit-box was fixed.

Improvement
 A check-box of "Disable MMX feature of CPU" on Option window was removed.
 An edit-box of "Limit of Recovery blocks per file" on Create window was removed.
 A check-box of "Restrict block size to multiples of preferred size" on Create window was removed.
 A drop-down combo-box of "Format" on Create window was moved to Option window.
 An edit-box of "Comment" on Create window was changed to push-button.

* Client update
Bug fix
 A fault in verification of additional/external small source files was fixed.


[ Hash value ]

MultiPar1213.7z
MD5 : C8E781B3A695582F0DD9830897E698A7
SHA-1 : 5029D1E81D9CA46C690D97C09BBA62C7620542D2

MultiPar1213_setup.exe
MD5 : 5D47DAFA38372A1B6C8B82AC0E74B311
SHA-1 : 7BF93AB720A46CA2D9426F464710F40E46E247A9

[Yutaka Sawada]

 I found a bug in calculating ideal number of recovery blocks to fit disk free space. Though I implemented some option/setting, I am hard to use/test all combination of them. If someone find a rare problem, please notice me on this forum or by e-mail.


[ Changes from 1.2.1.3 to 1.2.1.4 ]

* GUI update
Bug fix
 A failure of accepting files with sub-directory when creating PAR1 files was fixed.
 An error of setting recovery blocks for free space was fixed.

Improvement
 "Sizing scheme" option on Create window was moved to lower row.

* Client update
Improvement
 When supplied block size is larger than file size, it is adjusted to be max value.


[ Hash value ]

MultiPar1214.7z
MD5 : 7BD89F89C1C5D57DAFFFC9952F74DF82
SHA-1 : 7B2316025C3509E4D2A186C9ED43A6930F690502

MultiPar1214_setup.exe
MD5 : 5DCA97D907C5FA56A8CEF1B719FFAEC7
SHA-1 : 4033442AC6625BDE0C6BA2D49103E2756E1B995F