Gen IT Network Configuration Generator

Taking the 'Work' out of Networks.

Release Notes

Release 3.0.617

2018-06-20

Changes

  • Changed menu options to allow either included or excluded Include statements to be shown
  • Changed output text to show actual text excluded if option is enabled.

Known Issues

  • Memory leak when running multi-threading

Release 3.0.552

2018-06-06

New Features

  • IncludeLines statements now support an ELSE option.

Release 3.0.536

2018-06-03

New Features

  • Added template specific variables.

Release 3.0.500

2018-05-04

New Features

  • Added memory cleanup functions

Release 3.0.385

2018-04-20

New Features

  • Added project configuration option to sort device names.
  • Added project configuration option to set the summary device ID.
  • Added ability to reload template files only.
  • Added ability to do double increment on IP variable.
  • Template lines starting with the ‘ignore’ character (Default is ‘;’) are not loaded.
  • New template variable feature prepends the specified text to all variables of a template on a per template use basis.
  • Numeric variables can now be incremented, similar to incrementing an IP variable.
  • New optional IncludeLines identifier.
  • Global variables may be placed in multiple columns of a single worksheet.

Bug Fixes

  • A number of minor GUI fixes and changes.
  • Fixed an issue where excluded IncludeLines did not detect END statement.
  • Corrected an error in the saved output path where folder name/file name was incorrectly used.

Release 3.0.13

2018-01-03

Bug Fixes

  • Corrected an error in the saved output path where folder name/file name was incorrectly used.

Release 3.0.11

2017-08-31

New Features

  • Added new IP Variable function to calculate IPv4 CIDR subnet broadcast address, and optionally decrement by a specified value.
    • <$<<CIDR_IP_Variable>>,BCAST,<<Integer_Value_to_decrement>>$>
    • <$<<CIDR_IP_Variable>>,BCAST,[Integer]$>
    • Licensing updates

Version 3.0

(2018-04-20)

New Features:

  • Added project configuration option to sort device names.
  • Added project configuration option to set the summary device ID.
  • Added ability to reload template files only (Beta).
  • Added ability to do double increment on IP variable.
  • Template lines starting with the ‘ignore’ character (Default is ‘;’) are not loaded.
  • New template variable feature prepends the specified text to all variables of a template on a per template use basis.
  • Numeric variables can now be incremented, similar to incrementing an IP variable.
  • New optional IncludeLines identifier.
  • Global variables may be placed in multiple columns of a single worksheet.
  • Major change to Variable, Include Statement and Compound Template logging.
  • Multithreading support while processing devices and templates.
  • New project load logging.
  • Clicking on the ‘Request License’ button now passes the ComputerID and Domain info into a pre-populated web form.
  • Added ‘ID’ consistency check when loading each worksheet.
  • Font sizing can now be set per template line.
  • Multithreading support can be enabled or disabled.
  • Added Include Statement variables options to ProjectIniFiles, previously IS’s/CT’s used same delimiters.
  • Added option in project settings to set MaxIncludeLines.
  • Ability to select the information added to the project summary
  • More than 5 levels supported for processing Compound Templates and Include Statements.
  • Multithreading support can be enabled or disabled, up to 8 threads supported.
  • Device/Template settings:
  • Per device save format (xlsx, text or rich text format).
  • New processing counters added.
  • Per device summary now displays more information.
  • New Red/Green error indicator in the device selector drop down box.
  • Per device save format can be set via the XLS file

Changes:

  • Major internal changes to allow for future planned functionality.
  • Debugging can now be enabled via a simple check box in Preferences.
  • Timer logging can be enabled via a check box in Preferences.
  • Minor GUI changes to a number of dialog boxes.
  • Modified a number of error massages for consistency.
  • Complete rewrite of the IP Variable functionality, improved performance and consistency of results .
  • Include Statement now treat missing variables differently to variables with no data.
  • IP Variables no longer support the Ipv6 or Ipv4 options. They are no longer required as the IP version is auto detected.
  • Minor changes to variable lookups and matching.
  • Fixed some variable/template usage count inconsistencies.
  • Updated text highlight text functionality to use threads.
  • A number of other under the hood changes and checks.

Version 2.9

(2016-09-13)

New Features:

  • Each project can now load data from up to 10 Excel files (Enterprise feature only).
  • A new extended load log will show error found while loading a project.
  • A variable/template usage summary can be added to the end of the generated device output (enabled by default).
  • A summary ā€˜deviceā€™ can be added for each ā€˜siteā€™ (enabled by default).
  • An output path may be specified which overrides the set project paths.
  • Environment variables are supported in project output paths and filenames.
  • A device specific variable may now be used on multiple devices as required.
  • A new ā€˜Load Tablesā€™ tab has been added to the ā€˜Data Tablesā€™ window which shows data where data is loaded from.
  • Added context menus to the output windows. Rick click on the output window to view the context menu.

Changes:

  • Some menus have been updated to support new features.
  • License filename should be ā€˜Gen.ITv2x.licenseā€™.
  • Some licensing tweaks to allow more flexible licensing options.
  • Numerous error message and debugging message updates and improvements.
  • Increased the number of lines that can be included by Include Statements to 1000.
  • Numerous GUI and dialog changes.
  • The local help file is now automatically displayed on startup after performing an update or new installation. This can be disabled in the Help menu
  • Improved handling of spreadsheet errors when loading a project.
  • When using Include Statements, Variables may be compared to blank values.

Bug fixes:

  • Fixed some issues found when checking for updates.
  • Fixed some incorrect variable usage reporting errors.
  • Fixed some errors in Include Statement processing.
  • Numerous minor bugs fixes.

Version 2.8.1034

(2015-12-01)

New Features:

  • Added ā€˜Save as Excelā€™ option
  • Added Enhanced variable debugging
  • Added option to save text using LF instead of CRLF
  • Templates can now be stored in either or both the data and template Excel files
  • Added a new option in the application preferences to stop the Category box opening automatically
  • Added ability to specify encoding used when saving in text format.

Changes:

  • Some cosmetic improvements
  • A number of internal code improvements and rewrites
  • Improved IP variable handling
  • Improved Include Statement handling
  • Improved control of template and variable naming
  • Some speed improvements over the previous beta version

Bug fixes:

  • Unable to sort site list by ID column
  • Fixed crash when loading incorrect variable definition.
  • Fixed backup process
  • Fixed XLS file reload problem
  • Fixed XLS backup problem

Version 2.7.527

(2015-06-01)

Major Changes:

  • Added new Globals variable option/spreadsheet tab.

Other Changes:

  • Some cosmetic improvements
  • Include Templates have been renamed as Include Statements

Bug Fixes:

  • none

Version 2.7.463

(2015-04-01)

Major Changes:

  • Added Beta ‘Create Project’ feature to quickly get started with new projects.
  • Templates can now be stored in their own Excel file..
  • Added IPv6 address calculation support ā€“ limited beta functionality.
  • Itā€™s now possible to specify the default folder where excel data files are located. (Settings -> User Preferences). The default folder where Excel data files are kept is ā€˜%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\Gen.ITā€. If a ā€˜DataFolderHere.iniā€™ is located in the application folder, then the application folder will be used as the default data folder.
  • The license file can now be stored in the main application folder or the default data folder

Other Changes:

  • Updated licensing ā€“ All customers will need an updated license file to use this new version.
  • Updated Installer.
  • Updated IPv4 address calculation functions.
  • Some logging improvements.
  • Log files are now stored in the ā€˜%LOCALAPPDATA%\Gen.IT\logsā€™ folder
  • Updated ā€˜Check for Updatesā€™

Bug Fixes:

  • A number of GUIĀ fixes are included.

Version 2.6.2019

(2014-10-19)

Major Changes:

  • Beta feature – Added Beta ‘Create Project Wizard’ to quickly get started with new projects.
  • Added a new variable option. A variable may be be defined as ‘DD:Variable:<DeviceID>’This allows a variable used within a template to contain different values depending on the device ID for which the template is used.Within templates, the variable may be referenced as:
    • <<Variable>>
    • <<Variable:DeviceID>>

Bug Fixes:

  • A number of minor fixes are included.

Version 2.6.1838

(2014-07-18)

Major Changes:

  • The format of the ID column has changed. All ID’s specified in the ID column must be in the format of ‘ID:[0-9]’. Any rows/columns not containing ID’s in this format will be ignored. Users or v2.5 or below will have to update the spreadsheets to support this new format.
  • Added support for CIDR formatted variables. Just add your supernet (e.g. 10.0.0.0/8) as a variable and add references to it in the template.

Other Changes:

  • New Features:Added template IP Variable option to allow extraction of subnet mask/length from a IP variable
  • Added template IP Variable option to allow IP calculation when working with a IP variable that contains a subnet length.

E.g. Where IPAddress is <Subnet>/<Length>
IP Subnet : <<IPAddress>>
Add 11 to IP Address <$<<IPAddress>>,11$>
Add 11 to IP Address <$<<IPAddress>>,IPV4,11$>
Subnet Length <$<<IPAddress>>,LEN$>
Subnet Mask <$<<IPAddress>>,MASK$>
Subnet Wildcard <$<<IPAddress>>,IMASK$>

  • Added Include Template option so a Include Template definition can be used to specify how many lines folowing the statement should be included or excluded.

Ā Ā Ā  E.g. <%IncludeLines:2,<<IncludeTemplateB>>==”1″%>

  • If a cell containing <%IncludeLines:END%> is found before the specified line count is reached, then IncludeLines processing is ended.
  • Compound Template and Include Template processing order can be customized, and Gen.IT now supports up to 5 levels of processing.
  • Updated file save name/path options:

File Path/Name Options : %X, %C, %S, %I, %L, %i, %N, %D, %T
X-XLS Filename, C-Category, S-Selected Category, I-ID, L-List Selection, i-Device ID, N-Name, D-Date, T-Time

  • An option has been added to the variable usage dialog box to the Variable Usage Window to copy missing variables to the clipboard.

v2.5 Upgrade:

Changes to Excel Files : Gen.IT now looks for device ID’s int the ID column in the format ‘ID:[0-9]’. Any ID’s not matching this format will be ignored.

Version 2.5.1194

(2014-05-19)

New Features:

  • Major New Feature – Added ability to use columns instead of rows within excel when defining devices and variables.
  • Excel macros support new vertical format.Added ability to use columns instead of rows within excel when defining devices and variables.
  • Added menu shortcut keys.
  • Added a support license expiry notice.Excel macros support new vertical format.
  • Added option to enable/disable Category Selection Box.
  • Added items to Options Menu to Enable or Disable Devices.
  • Added items to Options Menu to Enable or Disable Templates.
  • This update includes some minor user interface and speed improvements.

Bug Fixes:

  • A number of minor fixes are included.
  • Fixed a problem when checking for updates.

Version 2.4.565

(2014-02-24)

New Features:

  • This update includes some minor user interface and speed improvements.
  • Esc key can be pressed to cancel large processing jobs.
  • Added option to open last used data file when starting Gen.IT.
  • Added option to rename a data file.
  • Added auto-update checking.
  • This update includes some minor user interface improvements.
  • Added some additional spreadsheet error checking.
  • Added function to remove blank rows from data and device sheets.
  • Updated the spreadsheet macro’s and added some additional explanation fields to the example spreadsheets.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed a problem detecting the .Net version installed.
  • Fixed a url problem when saving.

Version 2.4.87

(2013-11-10)

New Features:

  • Highlighting text or double-clicking a word will highlight the selected text in a color wherever it is found.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed a problem where the last template found in the spreadsheet could be loaded incorrectly.

Version 2.4.23

(2013-10-24)

This version contains a large number of new features, interface changes, and internal optimizations.

Changes:

  • Devices must now be defined within ‘Device-‘ tabs. Data variables must be defined within ‘Data-‘ tabs. NB! Please see the notes later in this section.
  • Gen.IT settings and user preferences are now stored within the registry. NB! Please see the notes later in this section.
  • A number of user interface changes have been made to the ‘Settings’ sub menus and related forms.
  • Fixes to the detection of the windows domain and licensing.
  • Improved Include Template options and processing. Some Include Templates definitions may need to be modified.
  • Improved error/value checking when changing spreadsheet settings.
  • Gen.IT no longer allows the use of the same variable delimiters for multiple variable types. e.g. ‘##’ cannot be use as variable start and end delimiters.
  • Debugging improvements.
  • Speed improvements.

New Features:

  • A scroll bar has been added to the Compound Template debugging window to allow you to quickly locate error conditions.
  • It’s now possible to have up to 10 ‘description/heading’ rows at the top of the spreadsheet.
  • It’s possible to specify how many data rows to load. The last X rows will be loaded from the spreadsheet.
  • Up to 2 levels of Compound/Include template processing. Order or processing is Include->Compound->Include->Compound
  • Added a new (xls specific).ini file editing interface.

Important information related to changes to Gen.IT.ini files

Gen.IT no longer stores application settings and user preferences in .ini files. These settings are now stored in the users registry.
To import your existing selected Excel files into the registry, run the included utility “Gen.IT-ini2reg.exe” from the directory that contains your Gen.IT.ini file.
The utility only imports the Excel files, any user settings will be lost.
Excel file specific settings are still stored with the corresponding .ini file – No changes have been made here.

Important information related to changes to Gen.IT Excel Files
Gen.IT now looks for device definition data columns (DN:, DF:, DR:, DA:, DT:) in spreadsheet tabs named ‘Device-<description>’. If these columns are defined in any other named tabs, they will be ignored.
Variable definitions (DD:) will only be read from ‘Data-<Description>’ tabs.

Version 2.3.13155.0

(2013-06-03)

New Features:

  • New : Copy spreadsheet option added to file menu.
  • Interface improvements.

Version 2.2.676.0

(2013-05-10)

Changes:

  • New : Installer

Version 2.2.498.0

(2013-04-18)

Changes:

  • New : Added menu item to check for application updates.

Version 2.2.132.0

(2013-03-28)

Changes:

  • New : Include Templates can now refer the to the device name to determine whether or not to include text or a template.
  • NB! The text delimiter for the 1st field of a Compound Template has changed. This field should now look like ‘T:<template Name>’ instead of ‘%<Template Name>%’

Version 2.1.0.1

(2013-03-20)

Changes:

  • New : Ability to save individual configuration files

Version 2.1 – This isĀ  a major update!

(2012-10-29)

Changes:

  • New : Individual text lines can be included/excluded from a template based on a lookup value.
  • New : Whole templates can be included/excluded from within a template based on a lookup value.
  • New : Individual text lines can be highlighted in color, bold or italic.
  • New :Style templates can be defined and assigned to individual template text lines.
  • New : Custom file save paths are supported.
  • New : New look interface.
  • As always, Compound Templates remain a key feature of Gen-IT, but with improved debugging.
  • Interface changes and improvements
  • New : You can now specify that device configs be appended to existing files when saving.
  • New : Customizable file save paths and file names.

Version 2.0.4.2

(2012-09-20)

Changes:

  • New : Updated the IP Variable template feature to allow a variable lookup for the increment value.
  • New : Updated application to support Excel .xlsm files.

Version 2.0.3.1

(2012-06-10)

Changes:

  • New look interface!
  • IP Address calculations may now be done within templates
  • New feature which scans a spreadsheet for unused variables and templates
  • Multitasking/performace improvements.
  • Minor bug fixes and interface changes.

Version 2.0.1.6

(2012-04-20)

Changes:

  • Users can add shortcuts to frequently used commands to Gen IT’s menu.
  • Templates may be disabled within the Gen.IT application.
  • Message queuing for messages displayed to user.
  • Multitasking/performace improvements.
  • Gen.IT now allows us to 3 description columns to be displayed.

Version 2.0.0.3

(2012-03-31)

Changes:

  • IP addresses may now be used as variables within Compound Templates. The IP address may be incremented in the same manor as other variables.
  • Added enhanced logging option for Compound Templates.
  • Changes: Performance improvements.

Version 2.0.0.2

(2012-03-14)

This is the first release made available to the general public.