AxiomCoders LANProtector 2 Release Notes


Version:	2.1.6
Date:		2009-09-02

LANProtector Manager:
- Added support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, both x86 and x64

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed incorrect detection of local adapter MAC address which may result in failed IP address reservation when Server is residing on Windows Vista or newer operating system
- Added support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, both x86 and x64


Version:	2.1.5
Date:		2009-07-20

LANProtector Manager:
- Improved support and purchase links to now be direct and LANProtector specific

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed server service not starting up on some Windows 64 bit versions

LANProtector:
- EULA is updated


Version:	2.1.4
Date:		2009-06-22

LANProtector Manager:
- Fixed online URLs for product details and purchase
- Fixed inability to view Network Activity Scan if the scan contains at least one Wildcard Mask Rule

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed trial expiration event causing Server service to stop - currently it will only deactivate the Server
- Fixed updating to newer version always loading previous version settings on Server service restart

LANProtector:
- Setup now has an additional option during LANProtector Server install to "Add an Exception to the Windows Firewall" which will automatically add LANProtector Server to the white-list of the Windows Firewall allowing both inbound and outbound connections, checked by default
- Setup additional tasks groups are now divided into two groups only: LANProtector Manager and LANProtector Server
- Setup will now make Windows service startup timeout value to be 90 seconds instead of default 30 seconds when installing LANProtector Server to workaround some extreme cases when service didn't startup properly after system reboot


Version:	2.1.3
Date:		2009-05-29

LANProtector Manager:
- Fixed Server always remaining deactivated after a new project has been uploaded to it; now it will be automatically reactivated after a successful project change
- Fixed Manager settings not being automatically updated when upgrading application from a previous version
- Fixed an exception happening randomly when deleting the first Rule from the Ruleset
- Fixed commands Edit Rule and Clone Rule always staying enabled after deleting the last Rule in the current Ruleset
- Fixed enter key in grids in dialog forms not clicking the default OK button on the dialog
- Fixed an exception triggered in the main window when deleting the last Ruleset from the project when there are no selected Rulesets in the Rulesets grid and no selected Rules in the Rules grid
- Fixed all grids double click behavior to properly accept a double click action on existing rows only and with the left (main) mouse button only
- Fixed project dirty status not being refreshed after a successful save to file or commit to Server during a save / commit operation initiated with a "Would you like to save..." questions but later cancelled
- Fixed possibility to duplicate Server names based only on case difference in Connect to LANProtector Server dialog, Server drop-down field
- Fixed inability to enter 0 and 255 for the first and last byte of the Subnet Address and Subnet Mask fields in Subnetwork Rule editing dialog
- Fixed Save and Open LANProtector Project dialog default file filter names
- Fixed slowdown on each UI operation after a connection to the Server is broken but Manager still reports as connected
- Fixed possibility to deselect the last selected row in any grid
- Fixed different font used in Status Bars on Main Window, Rules list and Server Event Log
- Fixed Rule dialog caption to distinguish between Clone and New operations and corrected dialog caption
- Changed the Server Log grid context menu command order to match the order of the corresponding toolbar buttons
- Changed all grids behavior when enter key is pressed not to move to the next row
- Changed main window project groups positions; Rulesets and Adapters are now next to each other and above the Rules group
- Changed the project configuration property "Use Local MAC Address for Gratuitous Replies" to now describe each Ruleset individually instead of being fixed on the project level; also correspondingly moved to the Ruleset properties dialog
- Changed the name of the project configuration property "Reply Interval" to "Reply Packets Send Interval (ms)" and the default value from 200ms to 500ms
- Changed the name of the project configuration property "Reply Duration" to "Denied Host &Blocking Time (s)", time units from ms to seconds, the default value to 60s and the limit is now between 2s and 600s; this option will now affect only replies to existing hosts on the network
- Changed Dry Test icon
- Changed Ruleset creation to open the more advanced dialog containing all Ruleset properties
- Changed single-letter keyboard shortcuts for Add and Remove buttons in the Associated Network Adapters main window group
- Changed main window minimum allowed size to be 640 width and 480 height, smaller than before
- Changed the Report Exception button functionality on the unhandled exception report dialog to open the default e-mail client instead of e-mailing the details in the background silently
- Changed single-letter keyboard shortcuts assignment in New/Edit Rule and Project Properties dialogs
- Changed Main Window Status Bar Server active state panel to always use bold font instead of toggling bold depending on the Server active state
- Improved textual description of a Rule's condition by adding the assigned MAC address condition text and the main condition text prefix
- Improved visually Select a Network Adapter dialog
- Improved error messages to be more user friendly for errors occurring in Server Log during log retrieval, Server Log during log saving and Licensing window while opening the purchase license link
- Improved visual appearance of all grids
- Improved captions of the main window Rulesets grid context menu commands
- Improved the unhandled exception report details to include software versions details and more details about the exception itself
- Improved the unhandled exception report dialog visually and enhanced the caption
- Improved the About dialog by adding the product icon and making the Close button completely visible
- Improved Connect to LANProtector Server dialog by providing auto-completion for the Server drop-down field
- Improved Connect to LANProtector Server dialog to always move the last used Server name to the top of the list
- Improved all main menu and context menu commands in the application to have "..." caption suffix if they are opening or executing an action in a new or external window
- Improved caption of Open and Save LANProtector Project dialogs
- Improved detection of broken connection to the Server with automatic disconnect from the Server when the connection is dead
- Removed MAC status and MAC address columns from the Rules list as they are now part of the descriptive Rule Condition text
- Removed Auto-Refresh from the Server Log as it could impact the LANProtector Server performance if the log is too big and the refresh too frequent
- Removed Project Properties group from the main window
- Removed Ruleset Properties group from the main window
- Removed liability disclaimer from the About dialog
- Added automatic refresh of the Server Log upon opening the window
- Added confirm yes / no question before committing a project to the currently connected Server
- Added information message after a successful project upload to a Server
- Added up to two Create New Rule context menu commands for Server Log grid based on Packet Accepted / Denied and Node Blocked log entries
- Added validation of Server version after establishing the connection and enforced version compatibility between Manager and Server
- Added single-letter keyboard shortcuts for Server Log context menu commands
- Added Network Activity Monitor - the passive network activity scan functionality per Server Ruleset, accessible via View Network Activity toolbar button or main menu Tools -> View Network Activity (F11) from the main Manager window
- Added Project Properties dialog accessible via main window Edit Project Properties (Ctrl+E) File menu command and File toolbar command button
- Added new project level advanced configuration option "Reserved IP Blocking Time" specifying how long new unauthorized IP address requests will be replied with the address reservation replies; ranging from 1000ms to 4000ms, 2000ms default
- Added configurable panel dividers on the main window horizontally between Rulesets and Adapters groups and vertically between Rulesets/Adapters and Rules groups
- Added Edit button to the Rulesets group which will act the same as if a Ruleset is double-clicked in the grid and open the Edit Ruleset Properties dialog
- Added support for keyboard manipulation of the main window Rulesets grid using the Insert (Add Ruleset), Delete (Delete Ruleset) and Enter (Edit Ruleset) keys
- Added support for keyboard manipulation of the main window Associated Network Adapters grid using the Insert (Add Adapter) and Delete (Remove Adapter)
- Added several new commands to the main window Rulesets grid context menu: Activate, Deactivate, Edit Ruleset and Default Action changing sub-menu
- Added several web links menu commands under the main menu Help -> AxiomCoders Online -> (AxiomCoders Website, LANProtector Website, LANProtector Support and Purchase a License)
- Added Release Notes menu command under the main menu Help to directly open the release notes file
- Added Help button to Connect As, Connect to LANProtector Server, Dry-Test Current Ruleset, Server Log Filters, LANProtector Server Licensing, Network Activity Filters, New LANProtector Project, Project Properties, New/Edit Rule, New/Edit Ruleset, Select a Network Adapter and Select Server Active Ruleset dialogs with some minor UI modifications to accommodate the new button
- Added LANProtector Help Contents and LANProtector Help Index main window Help menu commands
- Added main window Help toolbar with Help Contents, Help Index and Main Window Help commands
- Added Help toolbar button to Server Log
- Added ability to interpret the first command line parameter as a LANProtector project file path and open it immediately on startup
- Added license expired notification into LANProtector Server Licensing dialog Licensed To information box when a Server license expires

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed Server settings and the license not being automatically updated when upgrading application from a previous version
- Fixed networking engine exceptions not being relayed to connected LANProtector Manager correctly resulting in no error description and details
- Fixed crash when discovering multiple nodes to block on the network in a short time period
- Fixed Server service exceptions not categorized as Errors in the Server Log
- Fixed crash when disabling a Network Adapter while Server is using it for listening the network
- Changed core Ruleset processing logic to always process each detected network packet against all defined Rulesets with assigned corresponding Network Adapter instead of processing the packet only against the first found corresponding Ruleset and ignoring the rest
- Changed handshake protocol with LANProtector Manager and broke off backwards compatibility with previous versions
- Changed / swapped MAC Bridge reply address with the MAC Bridge Alternative reply address
- Changed Server Log messages to now refer to Network Adapters by their descriptive names instead of their system names
- Changed Event Logging to be performed to a dedicated 16MB limited "LANProtector" System Event Log
- Changed the initial Trial period to 30 days
- Changed Server service description
- Improved Packet Accepted / Denied and Node Blocked logging messages to separate IP and MAC addresses better
- Improved caching algorithm resulting in minor speed increase on larger networks
- Added corresponding Ruleset name in Packet Accepted / Denied logging messages
- Added Server Log error message if a Network Adapter was not found or couldn't be activated successfully

LANProtector:
- Setup will now require administrative privileges for the installation process
- Setup won't throw an error on update or reinstall of the Server but will instead stop and uninstall the old Server service before overwriting the executable file
- Setup will no longer create the LANProtector Server | Start (Stop) LANProtector Service shortcuts
- Setup now has an additional option to "Associate with LANProtector Project Files (*.lpproj)" which will associate LANProtector Manager with "LPPROJ" file extension system-wide and directly open all LANProtector Project files in LANProtector Manager, checked by default
- Fixed incorrect casing, spelling and grammar in release notes, Setup and both applications
- Improved application icons and applied AxiomCoders new standard graphics in Setup and both applications


Version:	2.1.2 (Beta)
Date:		2009-03-07

LANProtector Manager:
- Fixed detection of local Server connection (and menu and toolbar commands enabled state) which wasn't detected if Server -> Connect (F2) -> "localhost" was used instead of Server -> Connect Local (F3)
- Fixed Rule manipulation toolbar commands above the Rule grid being all enabled after application restart even if there are no Rulesets or Rules defined
- Changed the connected Server name displaying to the real Server computer name instead of the raw IP address / resolve name / "Local" used for initiating the connection to the Server
- Improved the default file name offered when saving the Server Log (F2) to include the Server computer name, date and time of the last log refresh
- Improved visually how About dialog looks when the display mode is set to large fonts or 120 DPI font resolution

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed the Server Service not starting up automatically on system startup on Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server systems
- Changed the initial Trial period to 7 days


Version:	2.1.1 (Alpha)
Date:		2009-02-23

LANProtector Manager:
- Fixed error trying to add a wireless Network Adapter to a Ruleset when that Network Adapter has been just turned off but not disabled on the Server
- Fixed not showing Network Adapter's first IPv4 address in the list of Server-side Network Adapters if that Adapter also has an IPv6 address assigned
- Added Windows-credentials based logon dialog when trying to connect to the remote Server if the Manager can't access the Server directly over the Domain or doesn't have the corresponding Server-side account for impersonation in Workgroup networks
- Complete UI overhaul to make all the available options directly accessible through the main window

LANProtector Server:
- Fixed the Server Service not starting up automatically on system startup
- Improved Server logging of Remote Access Connect messages to include both the name of the Manager's computer, user name and the Connect As user name if different than the default Manager logon credentials
- Added licensing engine and implemented 5 Trial days time prior to requiring a license for activating the Server
- Complete engine overhaul, now using WinPcap 4.0.2, with major speed increase when working on a large network including internal caching to improve performance when testing against a large Ruleset


Version:	pre-2.1.1 (Custom development project)
Date:		2006-04-08