WHAT'S NEW IN THIS VERSION

Version 2.00.

This version introduces the following major innovations:

Platform change.
The compiling platform has been changed from Alaska xBase++ to the cross-platform Open Source xHarbour compiler, which has several speed and memory advantages, and will allow to transfer the STAR32 program to the Unix and MacOS platforms.
    IMPORTANT: besides downloading the installer Star4win.exe you may now go to http://starling.rinet.ru/download and download the file star_hb.exe. This is always the very latest compiled version of Star4win which will work if placed into the BIN subdirectory of your Star4win installation directory. Star_hb.exe does not overwrite the standard Star32.exe and may be used concurrently. It is not an installer, but an executable file and will not work if placed in any other place. Star_hb.exe always contains the latest innovations and bug fixes, so before reporting a bug you may try it out: the bug may have been already fixed. On the other hand, star_hb.exe is automatically compiled on the Web server and is never sufficiently tested, so you should use it with caution and at your own risk.

Database registry
In this version you can add any DBF file to the central database registry - which is  by default stored as a database called BASES.DBF. If registered, any database file will be backed up automatically on a regular basis; the BASES.DBF registry can be also used as the repository for Web-based DBF publishing (coming up later). BASES.DBF and the backups are by default kept in the DATA subdirectory of the Star4win installation directory.

Hyperlinks
In this version we have tried to make the hyperlink system more user-friendly: e.g., if a file is already included into the list of local hyperlink databases for the one you are working with, and if it is open in an adjacent window,  the link menu will by default present you with that database name and its current record. Also, if you work with registered databases and change the order of records (by deleting, inserting, packing or sorting them) the hyperlinks in all databases concerned will now be rewritten accordingly.

Fonts
A large number of IPA letters and diacritics have been added to the standard font and keyboard layout. They constitute now the fifth standard keyboard register, reachable by pressing Alt + 5.

Procedures
Two converting procedures have been added to the Procedures->Convert menu: Converting Starling DBF files to standard DBF files (which converts variable length fields to standard character fields) and Converting Starling DBF files to ODBC  databases. The latter requires that an ODBC engine is installed on the computer; by default the databases are converted to the Excel spreadsheet format. Additionally, the "Converting DBF's to text files/delimited" procedure now has an option of storing text in Unicode format.
A procedure called "Accentuate" has been added which accentuates words in any Russian text file.
For technical reasons the procedure "Recover" has been renamed to "Recovery".

New functions
The procedures described above utilize some new functions that can also be independently used in scripts. Those are:
   dbfcopy(cDbfName, cTargetName, nMaxLength) - where cDbfName is the original file, cTargetName is the target file, nMaxLength is the maximum length of resulting character fields
  dlmcopy(cDbfName, cTxtName, cDelim, cParen, lUnicode, lShow) - where cDbfName is the original DBF, cTxtName is the resulting text file, cDelim specifies the chosen delimiter between fields, cParen specifies the chosen parentheses, lUnicode (may be .T. or .F.) specifies whether the resulting text should be in Unicode format, lShow (may be .T. or .F.) specifies whether the resulting text should be displayed after the procedure
   odbccopy(cDbfName, cTargetName, cDriver) - where cDbfName is the original file, cTargetName is the target file, cDriver is the chosen ODBC driver

Another useful new function added is any() (without parameters). It can be used e.g. in search or replace routines. E.g., a condition like "any() = 0" will search for any field with the value 0. If you use any()  in Replace conditions, make sure to check the box "Suppress errors" in the Replace dialog (by default a condition like "any() = 0" will cause an error if there are non-numeric fields in your database, so to make it work error handling should be disabled).

New command line options
Star32 may now be called with a /V switch. If specified, the /V option disables the quit confirmation dialog (so just pressing Escape closes the program). In this way Star32 may be set up as, e.g., a standard viewer for DBF/VAR files in your operating system environment.

Search enhancements
The search dialog now contains the "Word search" option which allows for wholeword searching (valid for Search and Locate routines).
During DBF Edit the found expression is now highlighted in any field.

File menu enhancements
The "Save as" option has been added. Now you can easily save the file edited (both text and DBF) under a different name.

Glottochronology and genealogy
The glottochronological and genealogical component of Star4win has been considerably enhanced.
One can now choose between three glottochronological methods: Standard, Swadesh and Experimental.
1. Standard.
    This is the original glottochronological routine as described in "Comparative Linguistics and Lexicostatistics" by S. Starostin. It is possible now to vary replacement rates (by default the rate is 5 words per millennium).
2. Swadesh
    This is the classic Swadesh routine (not available in previous versions). The standard replacement rate is 14 words per millennium.
3. Experimental
    This is a new method being tested right now. It is based on determining individual replacement rates for all cognates in every pair of compared languages, and an attempt to automatically determine the replacement rate individually for every set of cognates.
    In every case it is now possible to limit the set of compared words to the first n of most stable meanings (as calculated in "Determining the Vocabulary Stability" by S. Starostin). While doing it one can choose between the stability ranks within Swadesh's 100 and 110 lists (hopefully a 200 stability ranking will also be available soon).
    If you choose the "Two languages" option you will now be able to view the results of lexicostatistical comparison (a list of matches, a list of mismatches and a list of zeroes - i.e. words either absent or borrowed in at least one of the compared wordlists).
    If you choose the "All languages" and if the box "Show tree" is checked (which is the default option) the program will generate a -calc.dbf file and instantly generate a genealogical tree. If the "Show tree" box is unchecked the program will generate a special report file (e.g., for SLAV.DBF it will be SLAVRPT.DBF) and display it. The format of -RPT files is the same as of former -CALC files. The format of -CALC.DBF has been slightly modified: percentages for each pair of languages are stored as corrected values (so that percentages between ancient languages will be represented as values different from those actually observed); the values in the lower triangle now represent not the dates but replacement rates and stability indexes in the format "replacement rate * 1000"."stability index"; in case of Standard and Swadesh glottochronology the "stability index" value is actually the same as the respective percentage).

    In the "Genealogy" menu it is now possible also to vary between different replacement rate values, as well as specify the minimum time distance between nodes and the averaging / minimizing border (see the description of the functions quotient(), epsilon() and limit()).