Updating Punch! Content

It is a fiendishly difficult job creating data like the Punch! content. There are a huge number of files to be marshalled, checked out, and packaged for use. It is very easy for errors to slip in, and occasionally, such has been the case with Punch! content over the years.

While the few errors in the content have been largely ignorable, ThistleKeep is concerned about these errors, as it is creating new PowerTools that manipulate the content, and errors can cause unexpected results. ThistleKeep has undertaken to locate, catalog and provide corrections for the errors that it has found. TKE is publishing a series of updaters which will correct the problems found in Punch! content for all the versions of Punch! software that are Powertool-Enabled, so that new PowerTools do not have to provide their own fixes for the problems.

These updaters have been tested against newly installed Punch! editions to assure their completeness and accuracy. As a legal matter, since these are provided for no charge, the user downloads and applies these updaters at his or her own risk; neither Punch! Software nor TKE will be responsible for the results of using these files. These are made available on an as-is basis, with no warantee; however, if problems do occur, TKE wants to hear about them, and we will support problem solving with the use of these files via e-mail.

The updaters assume that the content it is updating is in pristine (newly installed) condition. If the updater says it cannot continue the update, check first to make sure you have the correct updater, and if that checks out, uninstall and then re-install your Punch! program before applying the updater again.

There are also updaters for some of the Punch! Updater libraries that some Punch! packages (version 10 and above) can download from Punch! and use. If the user has downloaded and installed an updated library which is listed below, then that library update must be corrected as well as the base version library.

There are many kinds of errors that can occur, and the fixes also vary. Used in these updaters are mainly the following methods:

• A missing file may be added. These are usually description files which can be fairly easily implemented.
• A file may have to be renamed. Spelling errors, unfortunately, seem to be part of the human condition.
• A file may be deleted. This is usually the case when a sample (image) file is missing, and therefore we delete the related description and thumbnail files, since we do not have a replacement for the missing image.
• A file is replaced. This usually is caused by a desciption file not being in a recognizable format, or a simple syntax error in the description file, and so the description is replaced with a corrected copy.

The instructions here tell the user how to use the updaters. At this point in time, there are updaters for all versions of Punch! at versions 6.0 and above (except for Platinum-10, which has not yet been reviewed), and for the 2D Symbol Library Update 1.0.

Home || E-Mail This page last updated on Fri Nov 03 2006 This page, and all contents except as noted, are Copyright©1999-2006 by ThistleKeep Engineering. "Punch!" and other titles of Punch! operations, such as PhotoView, PowerTool and 3D Custom Workshop are trademarks of Punch! Software L.L.C.