False positive virus in version 5.8.0 of Zator

March 19th, 2009

This morning, just to start the day, we received several news about viruses. The first, an update to the anti-virus used in our equipment: “Spyware Doctor with Antivirus” from PC Tools (version 6.0.1.440).

The second, a safety bulletin entitled “Uno al día” from Hispasec, an accredited IT security company who regularly publishes research on security and cryptography. After a quick review; download the mail, etc. We started at work. Of course we use our own application extensively to hold all kind of information, and when trying to start the latest version 5.8.0 of Organizator, published last 17, we met with that the anti-virus application prevents start with a message Warning: “Threat level risk suspect locked” in Heurengine.Packed.Themida.Rba.

Needless to say, the surprise/disgust has been tremendous. Specifically, that topic is one of the modules of the application that we use to protect the program against possible attacks or reverse engineering. We have not had time yet to check whether the alarm occurs with older versions, or other anti-virus, but in reality, for the reasons explained below we suspect that it can happen.

It goes without saying that the goal of Zator Systems is developing and selling software and of course is not our intention to make any virus, Trojan or backdoor of any kind, so we ensure that our application OrganiZator is completely free of viruses or spyware, assuming of course that the application is legitimate and has been downloaded from our website. It is important to note that so far, none of the major software distribution companies to which we have send the application has encountered any problem in it. For example, Softpedia, which has collected in its pages the new version, said:

Softpedia guarantees that OrganiZATOR 5.8.0 is 100% CLEAN, which means it does not contain any form of malware, including spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors.

The case had a prologue days ago, when the anti-virus noticed about an application for synchronizing files that we use for several years. In this case, since it is an old application, we chose to remove it while we thought of seeking for a substitute.

The point is that it appears to the anti-virus vendors have been started to go out of hand with the method of heuristic detection, so that they are beginning to bear positive even with original files from Microsoft!.  But better than our words, in the attached link from Hispasec, you can find a great article about the current situation, called “Anti-virus and false positive… a chaos” whose reading we advise (original is in Spanish, but as usual you can read it in English with Google)

We are working on eliminating this problem of false positives. Meanwhile, we reiterate our users that regarding Organizator, can absolutely rely on its safety in this latest version 5.8.0, as in the past and future versions.

New version 5.8.0

March 17th, 2009

It is available for download the version 5.8.0 of OrganiZator.  Recall that in www.zator.com/mUs/H6.htm you can get a detail on how to upgrade from previous versions.

* The new version represents a major step in the development schedule of OrganiZator. In addition to lead a review of minor inconsistencies in the user interface and bug correction, this version incorporate significant improvements in dBase, so we recommend upgrading to all users of previous versions.

* It has been incorporated a new field in dBase that we call Frame Holder (FH). Now, besides the Extended Data of each item, may be included a catalog of images or other resources -the kind of objects that are visible in the browser.- So, besides the other fields, may be attached photographs; Web pages; PDF documents and any other resources that are typically accessed in the Web. The resources shown in the FH may be external to the dBase (located anywhere, on the Intranet or in Internet) or internal, in which case they are stored in the Zator’s dBase. For example, a JPG image, a PDF document, Etc. The demo included with the installation contains several examples.

* It has improved the formatting of the Note/Memo fields of dBase. Along with the existing capacity of storing notes as plain text (without format), it is now possible to store, import and export these notes as formatted text (RTF), with the possibility of determining the character set (font); size and color of the text; background color; interlined and indentation.  Also is possible the use of underlining; bold; italic, etc. In addition to the above, it has included the ability of redo and undo movements in these fields.

* It has been eliminated an error who allow delete an item in the link’s windows (lower windows of dBase). When pressing the [Delete] key to delete the link, instead of remaining the item and delete the link, the item where removed. Now, the behavior is correct; according to the documentation, the link is erased but the item remains.

* Has been added the ability to qualify a previous anonymous link. In previous versions you could change the type of a link, or anonymous it -clear it’s type-, but once anonymous, could not be qualified again.

* It has been eliminated a problem of visibility in the Extended Data of dBase, presented when using a screens resolution of 1280×800 pixels. The application can be used with virtually all standard screen resolutions from 800×600 to 1440×900 and above.

New version 5.7.0

December 9th, 2008

It is available for download the version 5.7.0 of OrganiZator.  Recall that in www.zator.com/mUs/H6.htm you can get a detail on how to upgrade from a previous version.

In addition to being a thorough review of bugs and inconsistencies, this version adds new options, so we recommend the update to users of earlier versions. Among other improvements and fixes, this release include the following:

* The history of recent selections of Links (Source, Target and Type) have been expanded from the earlier 10 to 20 selections.

* The historic with the last-visited items, used in the options of undo; redo, and direct-jumping, has been expanded from the earlier 20 to 30 positions.

* Have been added two new buttons in the toolbar of dBase; Previous and Next Group. Along with the two buttons placed in the earlier version (Previous and Next item in the current group) make now possible to browse the item index without the need to return to the main view when in the view of Extended Data.

* It has improved the performance of the dBase interface.

* Has been added the possibility of checking and spell correction of the Memo/Note fields, on the basis of an external dictionary -Open Office style-. The installation program includes two dictionaries -English and Spanish languages- and has selected the appropriate language, but this selection can be changed by the user, or can use any other language dictionaries (see the manual on the matter –DataBase -> Note/Memo fields-).

* This release includes the version 5.2.0 of dBase, but it is backward compatible with earlier versions, in the sense that if there is not the field added in this version -to keep the path of the external dictionary-, it is created quietly, so that we can say that updates the version of the dBase that already has the user.

* In the options to create/modify items in dBase, the buttons [Date], [now] and [Now ss], allow to include the data in any position of the title (into the current cursor position) without the loss of the previous content of the field.

* In many points of the application has been improved the system for detecting errors and the message provided in such situations.

* In the accounting utilities of dBase, has been added the ability of calculating the accumulated Credit and Debit of a group -account- and a hierarchy, in two versions: for the whole period and between a couple of dates.

* Improvements have been made in many of the processes of introducing dates. Now the last date used are always remembered, so the processes of introducing repetitive dates, as in accounting, has been eased.

* In dBase and Agenda has been included a small window (to the left of the bottom line of status) with an indication of the access level permitted in the area. In addition, the indication that already existed in the main window is updated properly when changing the work area of the initial (main) zone.

* Explanatory tooltips have been added to lower windows of the main zone.

* Now the process of erasing added users, allows to view and clear the ones of external areas (assuming the user has an appropriate level of access).  At the same time, correcting an error for which the users who were shown in the menu, where always the ones of the local area, although it might be actually erase the ones of a remote area (the area connected at that moment in the main-zone).

* Improvements have been made in the dialog-boxes of Connection with external areas; Run commands, and Send messages. Has been included a contextual menu and a menu bar.

New version 5.6.7

November 4th, 2008

It is available for download the version 5.6.7 of OrganiZator

Note: see how upgrade from a previous version in www.zator.com/mUs/H6.htm

* This version resolves an error occurred while editing a item from the lower windows -of links- in dBase, when the represented link is a member -line- of a Logger.

* Fixed a fatal error -not recoverable- which occurred when trying to select as the source of an link a item of a Logger whose Description field is empty (has no content).

* The routine to Check the dBase Integrity has been enhanced.

* In the dialog box Creation/Modification of items of dBase, we have included two new buttons: [Now] and [Now ss] that allow the current date and time with and without seconds -formats YYYY-MM-DD hh: mm and YYYY-MM-DD hh: mm:ss-. The new buttons can be useful for those who use Zator as a record of events that require further discrimination that the plain date -year, month, day- of the event.

* The toolbar of dBase have included two new buttons: “Previous in Group” and “Next in group“, who let you change the currently selected item in the main -top- window. These buttons are particularly useful when is selected the views of Extended Data or Results, and the user want to move to the next/previous item in the group without having to return to the main view.

New version 5.6.6

October 6th, 2008

It is available for download the version 5.6.6 of OrganiZator

Note: see how upgrade from a previous version in www.zator.com/mUs/H6.htm

This version resolves a potential runtime problem in the earlier version, presented in those computers that do not have installed certain Windows libraries (the latest version of some MS Visual C++ runtime libraries). If necessary, the new installer includes them in the host system.

The new version also includes a significant improvement in the user interface, specifically in the modification of Extended fields (Name, Address, Town, etc.) of dBase. We believe that the new interface is much clearer than the previous one, and that will avoid confusion for the users.

Fail when starting the version 5.6.5

September 30th, 2008

In certain systems, while trying to run the application may appear an error: “This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect. Check the event log of the application for more details“.

Instead of the above, you can also get the message: “CreateProcess failed; code 14001“.

The problem is because in the host System missing some MS Windows libraries. These libraries should have been included in the Zator’s installation program, but do not have been due to a mistake that will be corrected in the next update.

The most immediate way to solve this problem is download and install the aforementioned libraries -Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86)-.  The installer is the file vcredist_x86.exe that can be found on the Microsoft site:

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package

Once downloaded the Vcredist_x86.exe file, you must run it to install the missing libraries, after which the version 5.6.5 should operate without problem.

New version 5.6.5

September 16th, 2008

The version 5.6.5 is available for download.

The reason for this update is to correct a problem in creating new entries in Data Base> Accounting, where in some cases, due to a rounding problem, after creating a entry is not possible to create another.

Although the record was created correctly, sometimes a problem in rounding lead to the new entry not be regarded as completely settled, so it was not allowed to introduce a new date and start another.

Nueva versión 5.6.5

September 16th, 2008

Está disponible para descarga la versión 5.6.5

El motivo de esta actualización es corregir un problema en la creación de apuntes en Data Base > Contabilidad, donde debido a un problema de redondeo, en algunos casos, después de crear un apunte no es posible crear otro.

Aunque el apunte se creaba correctamente, en ocasiones, un error en el redondeo motivaba que el apunte no fuese considerado como completamente saldado, por lo que no se permitía introducir una nueva fecha e iniciar otro.

Known problems in version 5.6.4

May 30th, 2008

* The window of the dBase does not behave properly when it does not occupy the entire Windows desktop as it is designed to stay maximized (at full screen).

* In some rare cases, an error occurs in the window of dBase, leading to the main (upstair) windows lost its horizontal alignment, so that the root window (first left) is not located on the left of the screen. This is the situation shown schematically in the figure.

It is possible to correct the aforementioned misalignment by clicking the mouse on the auxiliary window of the root window (indicated in the figure with an arrow).

Recall that clicking the mouse in this window doubles the width of the main windows, and that clicking again, return them to the default width.

New version 5.6.4

May 14th, 2008

The version 5.6.4 is available for download.

This release correct an inconsistency in the Notebook. There, when selecting “Cancel” after having made any changes, and re-invoke the Notebook, it appeared as if the changes were maintained, but actually that appearance was maintained only during the current session. When closing the application and re-enter, we can see that the changes had not been retained. The modification makes the behavior more into line with user expectations. Now, after some changes if you select “Cancel” and then comeback to the Notebook in the same working session, it is found that recent changes have not been preserved.