Handy Address Book
 
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Revision History for Handy Client

If your current Handy client license has a purchase date more than 1 year prior to the release date of the current version, there would be an upgrade fee required to use the new version.  You can check your purchase date within Handy under "Help / About...".  The release date for the current version is shown on the Handy Client download page.  To upgrade your Handy Client license visit the purchase upgrade page.  Licensed users of older versions may download their version here.

January 29, 2024: Version 11.2

Online field names are now user-adjustable
Improvements to the Notes details pane, for larger capacity and a new Paste menu command
Setup program now offers the choice to launch the program upon completion

March 7, 2023: Version 11.1

Fixed bug where current age could be displayed incorrectly

February 21, 2023: Version 11.0

Added ability to resize the 2 halves of the details section
Made entering of the year for birthday and anniversary optional

May 7, 2022: Version 10.0

Updated for Windows 11 compatibility
vCard importing improvements

January 10, 2022: Version 9.10

Added check and error message when adding too many categories to a contact.  Category string is limited to 255 characters in length, so the sum of all category names cannot exceed this.

July 3, 2021: Version 9.8

Minor cosmetic improvements

April 15, 2021: Version 9.6

Changed the action when double clicking on regular, non-hyperlinked text in the Details windows.  Now, when double clicking on regular text the word is selected.  If you double click on an empty area, the contact is opened in the address editor.  Previously the address editor was always opened when double clicking on regular text.  This change is designed to make it easier to copy text out of the Details windows.
Improved the formatting of non-US addresses

October 23, 2020: Version 9.5

Added option to customize the size of the dialog boxes shown throughout the program (File / Options... / Options)

December 18, 2019: Version 9.4

Added support for inserting links to files with spaces

December 12, 2019: Version 9.3

Added ability to link contacts to any number of files

February 20, 2019: Version 9.2

Improved display of alphabet filter bar by offering different button sizes

February 15, 2019: Version 9.1

Improvements to appearance, including support for high resolution displays and adjustable toolbar button sizes
New "File / Save As..." command for saving local books
Variety of other minor improvements

June 5, 2018: Version 9.0

Made the toolbar user-adjustable to add/remove buttons for commonly used commands
Increased number of available custom fields to 8
Variety of other minor improvements and bug fixes

August 7, 2017: Version 8.3

Made several dialogs re-sizable
Bug fix that could cause program to crash

January 23, 2017: Version 8.2

Improved security/speed by building with latest compiler
Fixed issue where dialogs would sometimes not display properly

May 6, 2016: Version 8.1

Improved Print Preview that shows page numbers
Improved Envelope printing, including the ability to add an image next to the return address
Updated user interface for more modern look
Miscellaneous speed improvements

July 31, 2015: Version 8.0

Windows 10 compatibility updates

May 27, 2015: Version 7.7

Fixed issue where main window could sometimes start off the screen

March 7, 2015: Version 7.6

Fixed bug where booklet printing could omit the last line under some conditions
Improved reliability of the setup program

November 25, 2014: Version 7.5

Fixed bug where license key would not be remembered when in portable mode

November 22, 2014: Version 7.4

Added "Current Age" to display in Details view for Birthday and Anniversary

October 13, 2014: Version 7.3

Added "Advanced" mode to allow customizing text on labels and delivery address for envelopes
Added a new option on the Print dialog to specify which pages to print
Added "Copy" button to the call log dialog to copy the full call log to the clipboard

May 1, 2014: Version 7.2

Added ability to add any image to printed labels
Added support for printing contact's photo in the Details print style. Image size is determined by resolution stored. See the "Advanced..." button when setting a contact's photo to adjust the stored resolution.
Improved .ABK import such that category definitions are also imported
In "Booklet" and "Small Book" print styles, if both the "Default" address/email/phone and the specific field assigned as the default were selected for printing, the same field would be printed twice. Changed this so it now only prints once.
Accessibility improvement: Added keyboard shortcuts for dialing phone numbers and Skype address ("Actions / Dial Phone" menu commands)

February 5, 2013: Version 7.1

Bug fix relating to contact photos

January 30, 2013: Version 7.0

Added support for contact pictures.  Requires the use of Handy Address Book Server 3.0 or later, or a local address book.
Windows 8 compatibility

August 6, 2012: Version 6.0

Added support for dialing with Skype and tracking a contact's Skype Name
Improved several minor details in printing
Prevented the list view from accidentally being resized down to zero size, making it hard to figure out where the list view went
Several bug fixes

September 4, 2011: Version 5.5

New search option to maintain selected addresses across multiple searches
Improved vCard importing support
Several bug fixes

March 9, 2011: Version 5.4

Fixed compatibility issue with Windows 7 SP1 relating to the tray icon

September 7, 2010: Version 5.3

Several bug fixes, and changed list view sorting on birthday/anniversary to only sort by date within current year

August 21, 2010: Version 5.1

Improved vCard importing support
Added support for Ctrl+V shortcut to paste when editing notes in the main details window
Bug fix: Small Booklet print style was not honoring specified booklet size.  It was always printing the largest booklet that would fit on the specified paper size.
Bug fix: Editing notes in the main details window would lock up the program when using a book on the Handy Address Book Server
Other minor improvements

April 23, 2010: Version 5.0

Added new "Small Book" print style. Creates a compact double sided, folded book suitable for carrying around in your wallet or purse. The pocket book is made by printing both sides of the paper in 2 passes, and then you cut the papers in half, stack them all together, and fold. Handy walks you through the process when printing. This new print style offers flexible customization options, including which fields to include in your book, fonts, formatting, and book size.
New automatic backup feature. Backups can be made automatically when the program exits. You can customize how many backups to keep, and where to store them. See "File / Options... / Backup".
Notes for a contact can be edited directly in the main window. The right hand side of the Details Window displays the notes, and you can now edit them directly in this window. Previously you had to open this contact up in the address editor to make changes. This feature can be enabled/disabled under "File / Options... / Options".
When using the Find Addresses command the search text will be highlighted in the Details Windows. Options are available to enable/disable this highlighting, the highlight color, and whether or not the highlighting remains persistent until the next search. When the highlighting is set to be persistent, the search text of newly selected contacts continues to be highlighted as you change to any other selected contact. See the new "..." button in the Find Addresses dialog to adjust these options.
New options to have the E-mail commands only copy the address(es) to the clipboard. Intended to be used with web based e-mail accounts. Most web based e-mail accounts do not support Simple MAPI, so e-mails cannot be originated from Handy Address Book. Using this new option allows you to easily copy/paste the e-mail addresses when composing a new e-mail. See "File / Options... / E-mail" for these new options. Copying can either include the display name or not, and you can also optionally have a dialog display the details of what has been copied to the clipboard.
New "Compact Format" option for the Booklet print style. When this option is used any phone numbers are printed on the right hand side, instead of on their own lines. Helps reduce vertical space used, making the book more compact.
When adding a new contact that would not be displayed due to current alphabet or category filters, these filters are automatically turned off so that the just entered new contact can be displayed.
Importing of a file that is currently opened for edit in another application is now supported. Previously any file being imported could not be open in another application at the same time.
Improved importing from a custom CSV or TXT file. Import mapping choices made while importing a CSV or TXT file are remembered from your most recent import. Importing another file with the same fields will cause the field mappings to default to what you used during your last import.
Significant speed improvements in exiting the program while using "Portable Mode".
Accessibility improvement: Added support for the context key to bring up the right mouse menus. In addition to the context key you can also use Shift + F10 to bring up the right mouse menu.
Bug fix: Return addresses for the envelope print style were not being stored/recalled properly when running in portable mode.

February 18, 2010: Version 4.6

Added new "Portable Mode" option

December 9, 2009: Version 4.5

Fixed issue where in some cases the desktop and start menu shortcuts would not display the program if it is already running and hidden in the tray.

October 26, 2009: Version 4.4

Windows 7 compatibility
Bug fix, exporting a .abk file from the server would not create a valid address book file
Bug fix, program would exit after attempting to open a corrupt address book file

July 13, 2009: Version 4.3

Bug fix, fixed a problem communicating with Handy Address Book CGI
Increased timeouts when communicating with Handy Address Book Server or CGI

July 7, 2009: Version 4.2

Bug fix, fixed a problem with the quick search inadvertently introduced in version 4.1
Added ability to use spaces, commas, and periods in quick search string (not at the beginning though)

July 7, 2009: Version 4.1

Significant speed improvements, especially when working with large address books
Bug fix, program could crash in some cases based on category filter settings

February 2, 2009: Version 4.0

Encrypt and password protect local address books (not available on shared address books).  New option saves data in an encrypted format, making Handy Address Book suitable for storing passwords and other sensitive information.  Uses industrial strength AES encryption. See "File / Options... / Privacy" to enable.
Vista x64 support
Added ability to put a "Title" on the List, Details, and Booklet printouts.  The title font, color, and contents can all be customized.  Specify the left/center/right title text and optionally add in available fields like page number, book name, etc.
Added ability to customize footer text when printing List, Details, and Booklet styles. New "..." button in the Page Setup dialogs allows you to customize the left/center/right footer text.  Choose from a variety of available fields to insert, such as the page number, book name, etc.
Added capability to specify starting row and column when label printing "displayed" or "selected" addresses.  Previously you could only specify the starting position when printing a single label.
Added ability to define new, custom, envelope sizes.  See "File / Page Setup / Envelope Style... / Paper / Size / Custom Size...".
User specified Delivery and Return address offset preferences are now memorized separately for each envelope size
Added new envelope printing option "Printer Requires Paper Size Exactly Match Envelope Size" for printers with a paper size sensor that will only print on exact envelope size specified. See "File / Page Setup / Envelope Style...".
Improved task tray icon robustness. If Windows Explorer crashes, Handy will replace its icon back into the tray.
Bug fix: Selecting a large number of categories (but not all) for display could cause the program to crash
Bug fix: Importing from .ABK files when "Ignore Duplicates" was selected was not properly filtering duplicates
Bug fix: Publishing to web could cause program to crash under certain conditions

September 3, 2008: Version 3.9

Updated Print Preview for Vista SP1 compatibility
Improved Page Setup dialogs

May 11, 2008: Version 3.8

Updated Print Preview for Vista SP1 compatibility

January 29, 2008: Version 3.7
(effective license release date remains at November 30, 2007)

Bug fix: Permission problems under Vista when publishing an address book

January 1, 2008: Version 3.6
(effective license release date remains at November 30, 2007)

Bug fix: Booklet printing could cause program to hang under certain conditions

November 30, 2007: Version 3.5

Added "File / Options... / List Display..." dialog to customize colors and fonts for the address list view.  Separate settings are available for even/odd rows.
Added address list view 'Templates' to memorize and recall list view field preferences.  Useful when you want to have different views easily available.
Can now customize which fields are available in the address search dialog

July 20, 2007: Version 3.4

Add "File / Properties..." menu command
Increased maximum notes for each contact to 1MB
Added keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + S) for selecting which address/email/phone field is being edited in the Address Editor dialog
Windows Vista update

July 10, 2007: Version 3.3

Added printing options to insert a page break between alphabet groups for the List, Details, and Booklet printing styles.
Search results list improved so that multiple selections can be made using Ctrl and Shift keys.  Enables selecting multiple search results in the main list view.
Added keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + S) for selecting which address/email/phone field is being edited in the Address Editor dialog
Changed default location for new user's address book from installation folder to "My Documents \ Handy Address Book"
Bug fix: "Browse..." buttons were not working under Windows 98

April 9, 2007: Version 3.2
(For licensing purposes the release date of 3.2 remains the same as version 3.1 (April 7, 2007) since this release is strictly a maintenance release.)

Bug fix: Program could crash when a contact had a category assignment manually entered that had categories longer than 15 characters

April 7, 2007: Version 3.1

Updated for Windows Vista. Fixed several compatibility/display problems under Vista.
Added support for Vista's "Default Programs" feature.  Use Default Programs to assign Handy to be the default program for vCards (*.vcf) and Handy Address Book files (*.abk).
Handy is now supported on Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista.
Improved note printing by adding optional word wrap.  When "File / Options... / Options / Word Wrap Notes" option is on, notes longer than one line will be word wrapped when printing Booklet and Details styles.
Bug fix: Program could crash when importing certain files
Bug fix: When a contact was assigned to a single category, the category assignment could not be removed using the "Categories..." dialog

December 8, 2006: Version 3.0

New "Booklet" printing style
Printing option to print all, only even, or only odd pages.  Helpful for doing 2 sided printing.
Printing option to print multiple copies at once
Ability to define your own custom labels for printing
Option to choose which fields are printed with the envelope printing style
Store multiple return addresses for the envelope printing style
Export field order and selection status are now memorized and initialized as defaults for subsequent exports
Minor bug fixes and online help updates

July 20, 2006: Version 2.2

Word Wrap option for the Notes field in the address editor and in the details view
Alphabet filter option to filter on Name, Company, or either one
New installation program
Improved import wizard  by displaying a progress bar during import
Minor bug fixes and online help updates

September 24, 2005: Version 2.1

Removed option to overwrite an address book that couldn't be opened because it was created with a future version of Handy.  (Attempting to help prevent accidental data loss.)
Improved appearance of installation program
Bug fix: When using shared address books the "File / New..." command was not initiating a logon, so if you weren't already logged on the shared option was always disabled.
Bug fix: Program could crash under some circumstances when publishing to the web

July 31, 2005: Version 2.0

First release of Handy Client for the Handy Server