The TitanSwitch Readme
======================

Avolites Titan (see http://www.avolites.com) is a system of hardware 
and software to control lighting fixtures (usually for the entertainment
market). While the hardware products - the lighting consoles - allow
for switching between versions, the Titan PC suite installs only one 
version per machine at a time. 

TitanSwitch is an approach to overcome this limitation of the Titan
PC suite, by toggling between versions without requiring a full uninstall/
install. The target group for this is mainly betausers and support personnel
who need to match the version the respective client is working with.

TitanSwitch does not interfere in any kind with the code of the Avolites
software, nor is it an Avolites product. TitanSwitch is hacked by
Sebastian Beutel, s.beutel[at]avolites.de, February 2017. This is version 2.1 
of TitanSwitch, November 2021, which includes some changes to allow for 
Titan v15.1. See the detailled history below.

TitanSwitch runs only if Titan is installed on your system, and if Titan 
is not running. TitanSwitch then checks if the current version of Titan
is already in a special repository, and if not, prompts you to copy it
there. By successively installing various Titan versions and running
TitanSwitch after each install you build your own repository of Titan 
versions. TitanSwitch finally allows you to switch between these versions 
with just some button clicks.

Licence Tokens and the Fixture Library are not affected by TitanSwitch.
Hence, the licence is not invalidated, and the standard procedure for 
updating your fixture library can be performed at any time.

TitanSwitchTray is an additional program which can run in the tray. It allows 
to quickly check the currently active Titan version and to call TitanSwitch.

This software does not come with any warranty, nor will the author accept
any liability. Use it at your own risk. Feedback at s.beutel[at]avolites.de
is higly appreciated.

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Licence notice:
The icon is created by Rawnly, see http://coloraiz.webe.io/
Licence: Creative Commons licence (Attribution 2.5 Generic)

It is available at 
https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/1282965/connection_download_switch_upload_icon

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History:

0.97, feb. 2017: first pre-release
1.0, mar. 2017:  small cosmetic changes, first release. We have Titan v10.
                 TitanSwitch is tested to switch versions from 7 through 10.
                 USB Expert is not switched as this would prevent DMX output
                 (I am hesitant to interfere with services and registry at 
                 this time - this leads to some dirty workarounds)
1.1, oct. 2019:  also switches USB Expert. Does not switch versions before v9 
                 (USB Expert seems to be incompatible).
                 does not bring USB Expert into older repositories which may 
                 cause problems.
1.2, oct. 2019:  Titan One has been renamed to Titan Go.
                 When installing TitanSwitch USB Expert from v11 is copied into 
                 older repositories.
                 Comes with TitanSwitch Tray.
1.5, nov. 2020:  ready for Titan v15 (big changes in Titan, we go 64 bit etc.)
                 - two-column version list
                 - curr. version is now retrieved from Titan Mobile (was read 
                   from Titan before but this is no longer possible)
                 - accomodate for 32bit/64bit folders
                 - also switches Authenticator and Titan Health Check which 
                   are new
                 - Macros have moved to another folder too
                 - added bat files to start programs no matter which version 
                   (32/64 bit)
                 - re-register services, re-write registry, which are deleted  
                   by v15 installer
                 This was a rather dirty hack as the changes in v15 were not 
                 that obvious and needed to be implemented 'on sight'.
                 Titan v15 was finally launched in April 2021.
2.0, apr. 2021:  bigger changes to better implement previous band-aids
                 - also adds Titan Manual which is now its own program
                 - now the registry is exported when a version is put into the 
                   repo. This is the cleanest way but requires a rebuild of the 
                   repo.
                 - also services are now stored (when importing) and switched 
                   correctly.
                 - Ai registry hives are temporarily saved when switching
                 - upon installation older versions without reg/serv can be 
                   removed
                 - registry is cleaned from remains of previous TitanSwitch 
                   versions
2.1, jan. 2022:  This is for versions until Titan v15.1
                 - Titan Mobile is now integrated in Titan Go
                 - curr. ver. is retrieved from Simulator
                 - fix for Fixture Library from previous versions of TitanSwitch
2.1.1, may 2022: This is for versions until Titan 15.1 (and maybe beyond):
		 - now the date of the latest library update is retained when switching
		 - the last dialog of the installer defaults to 'No' in order to 
		   prevent people from accidently clearing the registry which 
		   would require Titan to be reinstalled