1 Change Log for Dev-Editor
2 =========================
4 Version 3.x.x (200x-xx-xx):
5 ===========================
7 Removing multiple files:
8 ------------------------
9 In the directory listing, there are now checkboxes for selecting files and a
10 button for removing them.
12 Better distinction of objects in directory listing:
13 ---------------------------------------------------
14 For a better distinction of the objects in directory listing, every second
15 object has a grey background now.
17 Prefilled form fields:
18 ----------------------
19 If you want to copy or rename/move a file or a directory or save a file using
20 a different name, the form field for the new filename is prefilled with the
21 old one. Additionally, the entered path is no more relative to the directory
26 When the new configuration option "hide_dot_files" is set to 1, every file or
27 directory beginning with a "." is not shown in the directory listing. But you
28 can still access the file / directory by typing its name into the "Go to
30 This option is also available in the user-dependent configuration.
34 In the header of each file, there is a now a copyright note and a reference to
37 Template class updated:
38 -----------------------
39 The template class was updated to version 2.0.
41 Version 3.0.1 (2005-11-10):
42 ===========================
44 Accessing files above the virtual root directory:
45 -------------------------------------------------
46 It was possible to access files and directories above the virtual root
47 directory beginning with the same string as the root directory.
49 If your root directory is "/var/www/user1" it was possible to access
50 "/var/www/user10", "/var/www/user11" and so on.
52 Version 3.0 (2005-10-18):
53 =========================
55 Editing function changed:
56 -------------------------
57 - The concept of locking the file for other users before editing it is not very
58 good, causes some problems and makes it difficult to add new features. So I
60 - When Dev-Editor shows the form for editing a file, it calculates the MD5
61 checksum and places it in the editing form. Before saving the file, the MD5
62 checksum is calculated again and compared to the submitted one. If the two
63 sums don't match, Dev-Editor does not save the file and shows the editing
65 - In the edit dialogue, there is also a new submit button allowing to continue
66 editing the file after saving it.
67 - Removed the possibility of encoding ISO-8859-1 HTML entities when saving a
68 file. I don't know if anybody used this function.
72 Dev-Editor is now able to copy a directory.
76 The administrator may now define a list of files the user is not allowed to
79 Individual configuration:
80 -------------------------
81 Now, Dev-Editor is able to switch some configuration values depending on the
82 current HTTP Auth user.
83 This is controlled by a separate configuration file containing sections like
84 Windows INI files (thus the configuration file parser is now able to parse
85 files containing sections in square brackets).
86 You may overwrite the following configuration values:
89 - forbidden (you may also clear the default "forbidden" list)
91 Configuration files renamed:
92 ----------------------------
93 The extension of the configuration files is "conf" now.
95 Names of error messages changed:
96 --------------------------------
97 I changed the names of some error messages:
99 cmd_unknown -> command_unknown
100 dir_read_fail -> dir_read_failed
101 create_ar -> create_above_root
102 not_exist -> not_found
104 File names containing a "+" sign:
105 ---------------------------------
106 If a file name contained a "+" sign, Dev-Editor was sometimes not able to
107 access the file, because the "+" was interpreted as a space.
111 Before changing the permissions of a file, Dev-Editor now checks if the user
112 entered a valid octal number.
114 Encoding of HTML entities:
115 --------------------------
116 - All HTML in output is now properly encoded
117 - HTML::Entities is a little bit slow and does currently not support very much
118 encodings. Now, we just encode the HTML control characters (<, >, & and ").
119 This also means that Dev-Editor now does not require any CPAN module.
121 Template class updated:
122 -----------------------
123 The template class was updated to version 1.5.
127 - Don't show the "Copy" link if a file is not readable
128 - Added checkboxes in the "Copy" and "Rename" dialogues for immediately
129 overwriting an existing file
130 - Preserve the directory listing filter if the user changes the directory using
131 the input field at the bottom of the directory listing
133 New in version 2.3.2 (2005-04-23)
134 ---------------------------------
136 Copying a file out of a directory:
137 ----------------------------------
138 Fixed a really strange bug occuring only on Windows systems.
139 Dev-Editor was not able to copy (or move) a file out of a directory if the
140 path, the user entered in the corresponding dialogue, was beginning with "../".
142 Empty root directory causes incomplete HTML table:
143 --------------------------------------------------
144 Dev-Editor now does not create an incomplete HTML table if the root directory
145 is completely empty or no files are matching against the current wildcard.
147 move() instead of rename():
148 ---------------------------
149 Dev-Editor now uses the move() function from the File::Copy module to move or
150 rename files and directories. move() is more reliable than the rename()
153 No error message if reading of a directory failed:
154 --------------------------------------------------
155 If reading of a directory failed, no error message was shown. I thought this
158 Template class updated:
159 -----------------------
160 The template class was updated to version 1.4a.
162 New in version 2.3.1 (2005-02-19)
163 ---------------------------------
165 Handling of symbolic links changed:
166 -----------------------------------
167 For security reasons, I completely changed the handling of symbolic links:
168 Symbolic links are now treated as files, no matter where they point to. The
169 user is just allowed to see the path where the link points to, he is allowed to
170 delete the link, to rename it and to overwrite it by renaming an other file.
171 Nothing else is allowed.
172 Accessing a symbolic link pointing to a directory caused also a very strange
173 effect: It was possible to access this directory, but you could not access
175 I had to do it in this way because of the very stupid behaviour of abs_path()
176 from the Cwd module: This function is just able to detect the absolute path of
178 Hard links are not affected by this, because it is not possible to detect them
179 (at least I don't know how to detect them).
181 Root directory must not be a symbolic link:
182 -------------------------------------------
183 Now, the root directory must not be a symbolic link.
184 Sorry for this, I really would have liked to allow the root directory to be a
185 symbolic link, but if I would allow this, Dev-Editor would not be able to
186 create files in the root directory. I'm looking for an alternative...
188 Use Greenwich Mean Time:
189 ------------------------
190 You may now use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT/UTC) in dates instead of the local
192 I don't know if anyone needs this, but it could be useful.
194 Handle errors produced by File::UseList:
195 ----------------------------------------
196 - Check if unlocking of the list of files in use was successful
197 - Check if a file could be successfully added to the list of files in use
198 - Check if a file could be successfully removed from the list of files in use
200 Saving to non-existing files:
201 -----------------------------
202 The file saving process was aborted if the user wanted to write text data using
203 the edit function into a file that does not exists.
204 The reason was that Dev-Editor thought that this non-existing file was a binary
207 Template class updated:
208 -----------------------
209 The template class was updated to version 1.4.
210 This fixes the problem of the infinitive loops produced by incorrectly nested
215 - Files locked with the flock() function are now unlocked by the close()
216 function due to security reasons (see
217 http://forum.de.selfhtml.org/?t=101375&m=622582)
218 - Changed the names of two error messages:
221 - Fixed various small errors in some template files
222 - The regular expression used by file_name() and upper_path() to detect Windows
223 drive letters was not case-insensitive
225 New in version 2.3 (2005-01-08)
226 -------------------------------
228 Filter directory listing:
229 -------------------------
230 Dev-Editor is now able to filter the directory listing using DOS-style
232 I think that is a little bit incomplete, Dev-Editor should be able to
233 "remember" the filter wildcard during the actions.
234 The code for parsing DOS-style wildcards is from the File::DosGlob module by
239 Dev-Editor now uses flock().
240 flock() is called using a wrapper function which checks if it is really
243 check_path() broken on Windows:
244 -------------------------------
245 On Windows systems the check_path() routine was heavily broken (this routine
246 checks if someone tries to access a path above the virtual root directory). It
247 was possible to access files above the root directory by accessing a path with
248 "..." or "...." or something like that as the last path component. This bug was
249 caused by the rewrite of check_path() in Dev-Editor 2.2.
251 "." or ".." as end of a path:
252 -----------------------------
253 If you enter a path with "." or ".." as the last path component, Dev-Editor
254 showed a really strange behaviour by allowing to enter a path like
255 "something/." or "something/..". This was also caused by the (poor) rewrite of
256 check_path(). The problem is fixed now.
258 Paths beginning with "/../" caused problems:
259 --------------------------------------------
260 When composing the temporary virtual path for a new file, don't call
261 clean_path(). It is unnecessary and it also caused a problem if this path would
262 begin with /../, because on UNIX systems, canonpath() removes /../ at the
263 beginning of a path. So if a user wanted to create the file /../file.ext (but
264 he wasn't allowed to), he created /file.ext.
266 Deny changing file properties in some cases:
267 --------------------------------------------
268 - Do not allow to change the properties of the root directory
269 - Do not allow to change the properties of a file in use
271 Deny overwriting files:
272 -----------------------
273 - While processing a file upload, check if the user wants to replace a
274 directory or overwrite a write-protected file
275 - If the user wants to copy or rename a file, check if he wants to overwrite a
277 - Do not allow to upload a file if a file with the same virtual name is
280 Validate file uploads:
281 ----------------------
282 Dev-Editor now tries to validate a file upload by checking the handle created
285 Improved configuration file parser:
286 -----------------------------------
287 - The parser now ignores lines like that:
289 Such lines could lead to properties with empty keys in the configuration
291 - Allow configuration options with empty values
292 - If a option is defined twice, the line number of the second one is shown in
297 - More encoding of HTML entities
298 - In directory listing, the "Edit" link of files in use were not greyed (very
300 - Show the name of the lock file in error messages even if it has not been
301 defined in the configuration file
303 Small internal changes:
304 -----------------------
305 - The file saving process is now completely centralized in File::Access
306 - When generating a redirection header, check if we really have to create a
308 - Fixed a bug occuring if the "curdir" CGI parameter had no trailing slash and
309 the "newfile" parameter had no leading slash
310 - Dev-Editor now takes more care of Windows drive letters
311 - Trying to increase speed of the script by surrounding static values by single
315 New in version 2.2a (2004-11-29)
316 --------------------------------
318 File uploads did not work:
319 --------------------------
320 Dev-Editor normally tests if it has enough permissions to upload a file to a
321 directory. But the condition was missing and so Dev-Editor always aborted file
322 uploads and didn't even display the dialogue.
324 New in version 2.2 (2004-11-27)
325 -------------------------------
327 `chgrp` system command and numerical group names:
328 -------------------------------------------------
329 When changing the group, Dev-Editor is now using the `chgrp` system command.
330 This allows to use numerical group names. Before, Dev-Editor handled numerical
333 Checking root directory:
334 ------------------------
335 Dev-Editor now checks if the root directory exists and if it may be accessed.
336 This fixed also bug where it was possible to access the physical root directory
337 if Dev-Editor could not enter the virtual root directory.
339 Checking directory permissions:
340 -------------------------------
341 Dev-Editor does some simple checks of directory permissions now:
342 - Inaccessible directories are greyed in directory listing. You cannot access
343 them, but the actions are not disabled, because they may work.
344 - Actions needing write access to a directory are aborted if Dev-Editor has no
347 Access a directory structure similar to the root directory:
348 -----------------------------------------------------------
349 The path the user wants to access must now BEGIN with the root directory. The
350 old check made it possible to access a directory structure outside the root
351 directory similar to the root directory.
353 Changing mode of a directory with mode 000:
354 -------------------------------------------
355 It was not possible to change the mode of a directory with mode 000.
357 Upload only to directories:
358 ---------------------------
359 Dev-Editor now checks if the user really uploads a file to a directory.
361 Improved About dialogue:
362 ------------------------
363 - Dev-Editor now only shows the main group ID of the process user.
364 - Dev-Editor also shows the current umask of the process.
365 - Special chars in most values are now encoded to entities.
369 For a better usability in some browsers, I added <label> tags for the
370 checkboxes and radio buttons in file edit and file upload dialogue.
372 Directory links in error messages:
373 ----------------------------------
374 Some error messages generated by the main program now contain a link to the
377 Bugs in HTML generation:
378 ------------------------
379 - If Dev-Editor could not read a directory, it did neither display an error
380 message nor a directory link.
381 - Some error messages had problems with {DIR} variables. Thus the variable in
382 error.htm which will be replaced by a back link is now called "{BACK}".
383 - When viewing a file, Dev-Editor inserts the contents of the file into the
384 viewfile.htm template file AFTER parsing the "editable" {IF}-block, because
385 Dev-Editor showed a very ugly behaviour when viewing this template file.
389 I tried to clean the source code of Dev-Editor a little bit. Some parts of the
392 New in version 2.1a (2004-10-22)
393 --------------------------------
395 Changed file saving error handling:
396 -----------------------------------
397 Now we already unlock the file saving process, because if an error occurs
398 during this process, the file keeps locked.
399 This is not a perfect solution, there are still problems. I have to figure out
402 New in version 2.1 (2004-10-14)
403 -------------------------------
405 Overwrite files during file upload:
406 -----------------------------------
407 In file upload dialogue, there is a new checkbox which allows to overwrite
408 files during file upload if they already exist.
410 Improved file saving:
411 ---------------------
412 The process of file saving has been improved:
413 - Saving even works if the file has to be created first.
414 - Dev-Editor is now checking if the user wants to write text data into a binary
416 - If the user just entered spaces as filename (detection works for other
417 commands using the "newfile" CGI parameter too), we use the original
420 Don't copy a directory:
421 -----------------------
422 Dev-Editor now denies copying a directory.
424 Check before manually unlocking:
425 --------------------------------
426 Dev-Editor now checks if the file is really locked before displaying the
427 dialogue for manually unlocking a file. If it is not locked, Dev-Editor returns
428 to directory view. Dev-Editor also behaves in this way if it is trying to
431 Wrong error messages:
432 ---------------------
433 Something definitely went wrong when I remade the copy and the rename
434 functions: They printed a wrong error message if the destination already
435 existed and if it was a file.
437 New in version 2.0 (2004-08-10)
438 -------------------------------
442 Dev-Editor is now able to process HTTP file uploads. The files may be
443 transferred in ASCII or binary mode (similar to FTP).
445 Change mode and group:
446 ----------------------
447 Dev-Editor is now able to change the mode and the group of a file or a
450 HTTPS support and non-default ports:
451 ------------------------------------
452 Dev-Editor is now able to detect a HTTPS connection and if the web server
453 doesn't listen on the default ports (necessary for reloading Dev-Editor).
455 Do not allow removing or renaming the root directory:
456 -----------------------------------------------------
457 Dev-Editor now denies removing or renaming the root directory.
459 Renaming files outside the root directory:
460 ------------------------------------------
461 There was a bug which caused Dev-Editor not to rename files outside the root
462 directory if they already exist.
464 Improved file editing:
465 ----------------------
466 When the user wants to save an edited file using a different file name,
467 Dev-Editor now unlocks the original file and checks if a file with this
468 different name already exists and if it is locked.
470 Improved file creating:
471 -----------------------
472 The routine which creates empty files had a race condition which could set
473 files to 0 if they already exist.
475 Maximum size for files:
476 -----------------------
477 The administrator may now define a maximum size for files in the main
478 configuration file. If the user wants to view or edit a file larger than this
479 defined size, Dev-Editor denies file access (but the file can still be copied,
482 Form for creating new files or directories:
483 -------------------------------------------
484 In directory listing, when clicking on the buttons next to the fields for
485 creating new files and directories without entering a file or directory name,
486 the user got an error message which is a little bit strange.
487 Now, the user will see a form for creating new files or directories.
489 Newlines are converted while reading:
490 -------------------------------------
491 Whenever Dev-Editor now reads a file for output, it converts any line separator
492 to the system specific one.
494 Case-insensitive commands:
495 --------------------------
496 The commands are now case-insensitive, so the command "ShOw" is the same as
501 There is now a small "About" screen which shows some more or less useful
502 information about Dev-Editor and the system.
504 Improvements for user interface:
505 --------------------------------
506 Made a lot of improvements for the user interface:
507 - The directory listing is now built using tables.
508 - When editing a file and the user wants to save a file using a different file
509 name, the checkbox for saving the file using a different file name is
510 activated using JavaScript.
511 - In directory listing or when viewing a file, there is a new field for quickly
512 jumping to a file or to a directory.
513 - Separated "Work with directory" and "Work with file" into different options
514 in directory listing ("Copy", "Rename", "Delete", "Unlock"). The options also
515 have their own dialogues.
516 - In directory listing, there is a new link for viewing a file or a directory
518 - When viewing a file and if the file is editable, there is a new link to edit
520 - Files and directories in directory listing are now sorted case-insensitively.
524 The settings of Dev-Editor are now stored in extern configuration files: There
525 is one file for general settings, one for the error messages and one for the
526 paths to the template files.
530 The output of Dev-Editor is now controlled by template files. The source code
531 became much cleaner :-)
533 New in version 1.2 (2003-12-29)
534 -------------------------------
536 Removing directories:
537 ---------------------
538 Dev-Editor is now able to completely remove a directory.
540 "Work with directories":
541 ------------------------
542 In directory listing, next do a directory, there is a new link called "Work
543 with directory". When you select this link, you get a form to remove or
544 rename/move the directory.
545 Additionally, the link "Do other stuff" was renamed to "Work with file".
547 Overwriting existing files:
548 ---------------------------
549 If you want to copy a file, and the destination file already exists, you will
550 be asked to overwrite the file. If the destination points to a directory,
551 copying will be aborted completely.
552 If you want to rename a file or a directory, and the destination file already
553 exists, you will be asked to overwrite the file. If the destination points to a
554 directory, renaming will be aborted completely.
556 Confirmation for removing files:
557 --------------------------------
558 If you want to remove a file, a confirmation dialog will be displayed first.
562 It seems that some systems don't support the FILEHANDLE,MODE,FILENAME version
563 of open(). Now we don't use it any more.
565 Default permissions for mkdir():
566 --------------------------------
567 Set the permissions for mkdir() to 0777. I thought it is optional (as described
568 in "perlfunc"), but some systems need it.
570 New in version 1.1 (2003-11-15)
571 -------------------------------
573 Newlines are converted:
574 -----------------------
575 Any line seperator will now be converted to the system specific line seperator
576 if you save a text file.
578 File permissions are checked:
579 -----------------------------
580 Dev-Editor now runs some simple checks on the file permissions when it creates
581 a directory listing, tries to view or edit a file and when it copies a file.
583 Tool tips for file status:
584 --------------------------
585 In directory listing, when a file cannot be viewed or edited, a tool tip on the
586 "View" or "Edit" link will show the reason why it is so.
588 File permissions are saved:
589 ---------------------------
590 When the user saves a text file, the file permissions were destroyed. The
591 reason was that a temporary file was used, which was renamed to the originally
592 file. Now this is fixed, but if saving of the file now fails, the file could be
595 Links in error messages:
596 ------------------------
597 Some error messages now contain a link to go back to the directory containing
598 the file which caused the error.
602 There were a lot of typos in the output, the comments and the ReadMe file.
606 The dates of the last modification in the head comment of the files had the
607 wrong format. They had the format MM-DD-YYYY, but they should have YYYY-MM-DD.
608 Sorry, that was VERY embarassing...
610 New in version 1.0 (2003-10-08)
611 -------------------------------
613 First public release:
614 ---------------------
615 This is the first public release of Dev-Editor.
617 ------------------------------------------------
619 (C) 1999-2000 Roland Bluethgen, Frank Schoenmann
620 (C) 2003-2009 Patrick Canterino
622 E-Mail: patrick@patshaping.de
623 WWW: http://devedit.sourceforge.net/