ActivePython 2.1.0 build 211

[Paul Prescod]

ActiveState is pleased to announce ActivePython 2.1.0 build 211. This 
is an incremental improvement over the first build based on Python 
2.1.0 (build 210). Many build 210 users will not need to upgrade.

Users of Tk and/or Active Server Pages should upgrade because this
release fixes bugs relating to those environments. There are also minor
fixes to PythonWin and the win32 extensions. (see below)

If you are a new user to Python, this version is designed to make
ActivePython the most new-user friendly distribution of Python. It has a
new, more integrated help system, and better documentation for new
Python programmers. It includes Mark Pilgram's "Dive Into Python" and
Josh Cogliati's "Non-Programmers Tutorial For Python". In addition,
various forms of extended Python documentation (FAQs, HOWTOs, etc.) 
have been included.

As usual, ActivePython is 100% compatible with the reference
implementation of Python. It is designed to be an easier-to-use
distribution that supports more platforms than the reference
implementation. It comes with:

 * a rich library of pre-built, pre-installed modules such as Tkinter
(and Tk itself, on Windows), the Expat XML Parser and the ZLib
compression library.

 * an integrated repository of downloadable extensions to Python
including Numeric, PIL, PyXML and many more.

 * Red Hat, Debian and Solaris installers for easy package maintenance.

 * On Windows, support for COM, MFC, ASP, ODBC.

 * On Windows, the easy-to-use PythonWin IDE.

Along with the new-user features, this build fixes various bugs:

 * mixing resources (text, cursors) in Tk Windows
 * Tk radiobuttons not displaying
 * ASP engine not properly registering itself
 * PythonWin crash on long lines
 * Bug fixed in makepy for certain "dual" interface objects, and
gracefully handle some objects that don't follow the rules. Notably,
Lotus Notes 
 * Remove warnings in ActiveX Scripting regarding regsub module, and an
unhandled exception in __del__ 
 * Fix overflow errors when using methods that use 64 bit integers, as
well as in some security related functions 
 * win32clipboard handles bitmap formats correctly 
 * Fix thread-state errors in some win32gui and win32ui methods, and add
win32gui.SendMessageTimeout() 
* Other minor bug and documentation fixes 

It also adds some Windows-related features:

 * New file and session related methods in win32net module 
 * added win32file.GetDiskFreeSpaceEx() to correctly handle large drives 
 * Add new methods to win32print 

Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen side effect of the MSI packaging
scheme, ActivePython Build 210 must be removed before 211 may be
installed. Installed extensions and modules will continue to work
however. Future versions of ActivePython will upgrade over each other
without the uninstall requirement.

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