Password Tracker 1.4
Sun Mar 01 2009
Password Tracker reaches version 1.4. This application keeps your passwords away from hackers by storing them in an encrypted database. It is a small, simple but extremely handy application. Since it is written in Java, it is cross platform. This is especially handy for users who work on multiple platforms but want use the password database on all platforms.
The file format has not been changed since the previous version, the 1.4 will work with previous versions of the password tracker. There are no upgrade issues.
The new password tracker requires java 1.6. We have got to move on, the JVM is already available since 2006. Note that the version is compatible with the previous one, so it is possible to use both applications at the same time.
Functional Changes
- The right-click-option menu now contains a list of URL’s that are scraped from the notes. This makes it easy for the user to quickly go to the associated website.
- A “stay on top” option was added, this keeps the password tracker on top of the window stack. If enabled, the user does not have to go hunting for the password tracker window during a uid-copy-paste pwd-copy-paste sequence.
- The search pattern will hilight parts of the entries in the table, so you can see immediately why where exactly the entry matches the search string.
Cosmetic changes
- The old-fashioned Sun icon set was replaced by a new one.
- The password tracker logo was improved, the looks of the application as well.
- The graphics in the embedded help are improved, they were ugly, I tried to remedy this.
- A list of shortcuts was added to the help files.
- The new features are documented.
Packaging changes
Install4J has become too expensive for me to use it to create the installers. The previous version of Install4J does not create installers that work well under Windows Vista. The Install4J does not offer enough additional value anymore. Therefore I changed the packaging policy of the application.
I will distribute the password tracker application in three versions: The first one will be a simple, runnable installer jar. A knowledgeable user can download this jar, make sure there is a JVM and run the jar. This will be the cross-platform version of the application.
The second package will be a windows installer and executable, windows-only. The functionality will be the same on all platforms.
The third one is an OSX package, which integrates nicely on the Mac.
Bug fixes
The <shortcut-key>-A was assigned to two actions, namely “save as” and “add new entry”. This was remedied by assigning a new <shortcut-key>-E to the latter action.