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BShow 1.21
by
Ben Sandee
08-08-93
Table of Contents
=================
License, disclaimer, etc.................................... 1
BShow Features.............................................. 2
BShow Operation............................................. 3
Command line parameters..................................... 4
Configuration File Options - Global......................... 5
Configuration File Options - Unique to each Utility......... 7
Menu options in BShow....................................... 9
Adding Compression Utility Interfaces.......................10
Credits and copyrights......................................12
1
LICENSE, DISCLAIMER & MISCELLANEOUS INFO
========================================
You are free to use BShow in any way you see fit, provided you follow
the following rules:
A) Distribute copies of BShow with it's original archive contents
intact. This means NO ADDITIONAL FILES! You may repack the
archive with any archiver you wish, provided the original
contents are not disturbed.
B) You may not SELL BShow. (w/o previous written consent of
the author. You won't get my consent tho, so don't even
bother... ;)
C) You may DISTRIBUTE BShow on disk provided you obtain prior
written consent AND charge no more than $3 per copy to cover
media and production costs. If you plan on charging more
than $3 per copy, don't even waste my time with a letter
of permission.
The author of BShow may not be held responsible for ANY damage BShow
may do to your system or data loss caused by its use. BShow has
been extensively tested on a number of systems and SHOULD work on
yours. However, the author cannot guarantee that it will work on
your particular setup.
The Author may be contacted for questions or requests via the above
mail address, or on the JW-PC DataFlex.HST BBS at (608)837-1923 at
1200/2400/9600/12200/14400/16800 HST/V.32bis, Fidonet 1:121/8 and
RBBS-net 8:972/2 or at 1200/2400/9600/12200/14400/16800/19200
ZYX/V.32bis, Fidonet 1:121/88 and RBBS-Net 8:972/3. The author may
also be reached via echomail in the RBBS-PC Conference on either
RBBS-net or Fidonet. The latest version of BShow may also be FREQ'd
via magic name BSHOW at either of the above net addresses.
All products mentioned in this documents are property of their
respective owners/companies.
2
BShow Features
==============
BShow is a file viewer that is somewhat revolutionary
incorparating these features:
- BShow will support virtually any compression utility! A
simple change in the configuration file is all that is
necessary.
- BShow is not limited to compressed files alone! It will
view any file it is given, in one way or another.
- BShow will display ASCII and binary files! ASCII viewing is a
simple listing of the file, while binary mode offers a full
two-column hexadecimal dump. With this feature, even
proprietary word processing formats may be read to some
degree!
- String searches may be employed in either ASCII or
hexadecimal modes! In hexadecimal mode, the ability to
search for either a hexadecimal string or a text string is
available.
- BShow is shipped configured for ZIP, LZH, ARJ and PAK compressed
files. But keep in mind, a new viewer is no longer
necessary whenever a new compression utility revision
becomes available!
- BShow includes built-in support for viewing nested compressed
files! It's as easy as viewing a normal file!
- BShow features easy BBS integration, and was in fact
designed to be used on a BBS system!
- BShow supports the use of a Fossil Driver
- User definable work drives offer increased speed, with the
ability to use a RAM drive!
3
BShow Operation
===============
BShow may be operated from either the DOS command line or a batch
file. The examples in this document will assume BBS usage via a
batch file, but keep in mind that it can be operated from the DOS
command line with equal ease. There is purposely an overlap between
the command line switches and the configuration file, so that the
user may decide what is desired to be flexible and passed on the
command line, and what is desired to be static and hardcoded in
the configuration file.
In order to use BShow, the sysop will need the following files:
BSHOW.EXE The executable program. (Included)
BSHOW.CFG A sample configuration file.
RBBSBATS.ZIP Series of RBBS batch files to View compressed files
FORCE.BAT FORCE batch file to View compressed files
PKZIP.EXE -+
PKUNZIP.EXE |
LHA.EXE +- Compression utilities as desired, user furnished.
ARJ.EXE |
XYZ.ETC -+
SPWN13.ZIP Optional PD Desqview window spawning utility.
(Included)
Note SHROOM, or current version SHROM18G.ZIP, may give you all the
memory you need for ARJ, without DesqView, but it has not yet been
tested with BSHOW. If you try it, let us know of the results. SHROOM
is a shareware product by Davis Augustine, of Cambridge, MA.
Authentic BShow files will come packed in an -AV stamped ZIP file,
packaged by JW-PC Consulting.
4
Command Line Parameters for BShow
=================================
Conventions: Required items labeled REQUIRED, defaults labeled
DEFAULT; if parameter is skipped, default is taken.
Square brackets surround user-supplied data, and
should NOT be included in batch or cfg files!
Filename.EXT « REQUIRED. BShow uses ext to determine compression
format.
/p[port] « REQUIRED for remote operation. If local BBS node
passes 0 for port, baud is ignored and local
operation is default.
[0=LOCAL=DEFAULT]
/wx:\workdir « Uses work directory on drive x: (optional) and uses
directory "WORKDIR", for processing. You may specify
a RAM drive for extra speed. You will need enough
space to hold the largest file within a compressed
file, plus a couple kilobytes.
[DEFAULT=CURRENT]
/m[#] « Maximum number of minutes in BShow.
Note: The LESSER of either the command line OR the
config file will be used by BShow.
[0=NO LIMIT=DEFAULT]
/t[#] « maximum number of seconds of idle time.
[0=NO LIMIT=DEFAULT]
/l[#] « maximum number of lines total to be displayed per
session. (prevents user from doing massive ASCII
downloads)
[0=NO LIMIT=DEFAULT]
/i[#] « number of lines per page.
[23=DEFAULT]
/o[file.ext] « points to configuration file.
[BSHOW.CFG=DEFAULT]
/f[ext] « forces bshow to use config option for extension ext.
5
Configuration File Options
==========================
See sample BSHOW.CFG in distribution package for specific examples and
suggested order of commands. Brackets appearing in BShow.CFG should
be removed before running and sample data replaced with actual.
Global options which apply to all of BShow:
-------------------------------------------
/ ; * « if in first column, each designates a comment...
del_dir=# « where # is the del directory mode. If it's zero,
it leaves the work directory in place, otherwise,
it deletes it. Note that if a work directory
is specified with full path, it may be left in
place without worrying about having multiple
directories created.
0=OFF=DEFAULT=LEAVE. NOT ZERO=ON=DELETE.
directvideo=# « force BIOS (0) or direct (1) screen writes
Note: If BShow detects DESQview, it will default
to BIOS screen writes, otherwise direct
screen writes are the default.
fossil=# « selects fossil driver usage OFF (0) or ON (1)
lines=# « the number of lines per page. This determines the
number of lines between page breaks.
max_blanks=# « the maximum number of consecutive blank lines to
display. Documents often begin with several pages
of blank lines, and this feature cuts down on
display time.
max_idle=# « the maximum idle time in seconds to allow user
max_line=# « the maximum number of lines per file to display
to a user. Good to prevent users from "viewing"
a 300K text file to save a download credit.
max_time=# « designates the maximum amount of time to allow a
user to be in a BShow session. The LESSER of
either the command line OR the config file will
be used by BShow.
example: max_time=10
nested=# « limits the number of levels deep a user can go into
nested archives. Setting this to zero disables nested
archive viewing. To have no limit, set it to 30000.
Then tell me if anyone reaches that. :)
6
swap=# « where # is the swapping mode.
0=OFF=DEFAULT. NON-ZERO=ON.
When BShow shells out to the unpacker/lister, it can
either do one of two things:
1) It can shell to DOS by running a second copy of
COMMAND.COM (leaving all of BShow in memory) and
then run the unpacker/lister.
2) It can take the BShow code in memory, and
copy it to EMS/XMS/HMA/Disk, freeing up that
memory for use by the unpacker/lister. When
the unpack/lister is finished, BShow is
reloaded into conventional DOS memory, and
execution resumes.
The default is off because there have been certain
compatibility problems between BShow and some
ill-behaved programs. BShow will also function
faster with swapping off, so if possible, DON'T SWAP!
Additional note: SWAPPING may also be included as a
local parameter for a specific archive type.
work_dir= « same function as the command line parameter.
7
Format options unique to each compression utility
=================================================
end « ENDS the series of options started by the previous
"format_xxx" command.
format_xxx « BEGINS compression-program-specific-section series of
options used only if target file extension is ".xxx" .
example: format_zip
unpack=pkunzip %file% %filespec% > %listfile%"
list=...
end
header1= « the string to display once per screenful of data,
while viewing the files.
header2= « the string to display once per screenful of data,
right after header1.
list= « string containing the path and parameters used to
run the lister. This should give a list of the
files in the archive.
You can put several different variables that are
replaced by Bshow with parameters originally
passed from the command line. These include:
%file% - the archive name
%filespec% - in unpack mode, this is the file to
unpack, in list mode, it's the
filespec for lists.
%listfile% - the listfile used by Bshow.
Examples:
list=spawn /m:160 /w "lha.exe l %file% %filespec% > %listfile%"
unpack=spawn /m:160 /w "lha.exe e -y %file% %filespec% > nul"
or
list=lha.exe l %file% %filespec% > %listfile%
unpack=lha.exe e %file% %filespec% > nul
Note the positioning of the quoted strings used
when SPAWN is used for DESQview operation.
offset1= « number of characters to strip off the beginning
of the string read from the list of the files in
the archive.
8
offset2= « number of characters to strip off the END of the
string read from the list of the files in the
archive.
Offset1 and 2 are used to strip certain characters
off the string, to make it fit into 80 columns.
offset3= « which column the filename starts in each line read
from the file listing.
waitfor1= « the string to watch for, to signal the beginning
of the file list.
waitfor2= « the string to watch for, to signal the END of
the file list.
unpack= « string containing the path and parameters used to
run the unpacker.
For examples see the included example files or BSHOW.CFG.
9
Menu Options in BShow
=====================
From the Main prompt:
[Main] <L,#,?=Help,[Enter]=Exit>: ?
'L' - relists the directory with the SAME filespec.
# - the number corresponding to the file you wish to view.
(NOTE! This includes nested archives!)
[name] - the name of the file you wish to view.
(NOTE! Same as above!)
[wildcard] - relists the directory with a NEW filepsec.
[enter] - exits BShow.
From within the directory listing:
[Dir] <A,C,L,M,N,Q,#,?=Help>:
'M' or
[enter] - Continues file listing with next page.
'N' - Quits listing files, and goes directly to main prompt.
'L' - Relists the directory from the beginning.
'C' - Enters continuous text viewing mode, without these prompts
Note that you may press any key to abort continuous mode.
# - The number corresponding to the file you wish to view.
(NOTE! This includes nested archives!)
[name] - The name of the file you wish to view.
(NOTE! Same as above!)
[wildcard] - Relists the directory with new filespecs.
'Q' or 'A' - Exits BShow RIGHT NOW!!
From within a Text or Binary listing:
[List - 32% done] - <A,B,C,M,N,S,Q,?=Help>: ?
'M' or
[Enter] - Lists next page of file.
'C' - Enters continuous viewing mode. This will eliminate all
prompts. Note that you can enter normal mode again by
pressing any key.
'B' - Backup one page, and list it (view previous page).
'S' - Starts a string search in either text or binary modes.
'T' - Toggles between normal view mode and hex dump mode.
'N' - Returns to directory list mode.
'Q' or 'A' - exits BShow RIGHT NOW!!
10
Adding Compression Utility Interfaces
=====================================
BShow has been designed so that as compression programs are created
or improved, they may be utilized by the sysop.
This is a sample archive listing, generated by LHA 2.13 using the
"lha l test.lzh" command. This is the straight listing, no comments.
-=-=-=-=- LISTING STARTS BELOW THIS LINE -=-=-=-=-
Listing of archive : TEST.LZH
Name Original Packed Ratio Date Time Attr Type CRC
-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- -------- ---- ----- ----
SOURCE.C 2779 1203 43.3% 91-09-29 14:47:42 a--w -lh5- 1D2E
SOURCE.OBJ 8066 2438 30.2% 91-09-29 03:07:40 a--w -lh5- 4B91
SOURCE.EXE 1368 447 32.7% 91-09-24 21:02:48 a--w -lh5- 659C
OTHER.FIL 4478 1285 28.7% 91-09-29 14:46:16 a--w -lh5- 0A02
MORE.FIL 5275 1460 27.7% 91-09-29 14:44:32 a--w -lh5- 18B5
JUNK.EXE 3312 1039 31.4% 91-09-05 09:47:44 a--w -lh5- 0378
MISC.COM 2152 812 37.7% 91-09-29 14:42:06 a--w -lh5- EE1A
HELPME.DOC 5780 3516 60.8% 91-09-29 14:47:48 a--w -lh5- C5DE
READ.ALL 12348 7358 59.6% 91-09-29 03:27:32 a--w -lh5- 323E
HANGON.TOM 2216 1417 63.9% 91-09-29 03:27:34 a--w -lh5- 5CB9
FORGET.ME 7139 4271 59.8% 91-09-29 14:47:26 a--w -lh5- D415
MORE.C 6414 3797 59.2% 91-09-29 14:44:40 a--w -lh5- 08C0
TEST.FIL 3219 2188 68.0% 91-09-29 14:42:36 a--w -lh5- 777F
-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- --------
13 files 64546 31231 48.4% 91-09-29 15:25:20
-=-=-=-=- LISTING ENDS ABOVE THIS LINE -=-=-=-=-
What follows is the same text file - with comments. They describe
what each parameter in the configuration does to process this file
listing, as well as all others generated by LHA. Follow this procedure
with any similar compression program, and BShow should work with it.
"//" designates a comment line, and starts in what represents the first
column of the listing.
11
-=-=-=-=- LISTING BEGINS BELOW THIS LINE -=-=-=-=-
Listing of archive : TEST.LZH
//This next line is the format1= line. First line of every page.
Name Original Packed Ratio Date Time Attr Type CRC
//
// This next one is the format2= line, AS WELL AS, the waitfor1= line.
// BShow reads until it encounters this string, and then everything from
// then on are file listings.
//
-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- -------- ---- ----- ----
// notice that the offset1=2 means which column the file names start in.
// In LHA, they start in column 2.
SOURCE.C 2779 1203 43.3% 91-09-29 14:47:42 a--w -lh5- 1D2E
SOURCE.OBJ 8066 2438 30.2% 91-09-29 03:07:40 a--w -lh5- 4B91
SOURCE.EXE 1368 447 32.7% 91-09-24 21:02:48 a--w -lh5- 659C
OTHER.FIL 4478 1285 28.7% 91-09-29 14:46:16 a--w -lh5- 0A02
MORE.FIL 5275 1460 27.7% 91-09-29 14:44:32 a--w -lh5- 18B5
JUNK.EXE 3312 1039 31.4% 91-09-05 09:47:44 a--w -lh5- 0378
//
// Two other parameters, the offset1, and offset2, delete spaces, or
// characters from the end of strings. This is to clarify things.
// Offset2=1 will delete 1 character off the beginning of the line,
// just before displaying it. offset3=1 will chop one character off
// the end of the string. If lines take up two lines, because they
// are too long, you can use these options to trim them down.
//
MISC.COM 2152 812 37.7% 91-09-29 14:42:06 a--w -lh5- EE1A
HELPME.DOC 5780 3516 60.8% 91-09-29 14:47:48 a--w -lh5- C5DE
READ.ALL 12348 7358 59.6% 91-09-29 03:27:32 a--w -lh5- 323E
HANGON.TOM 2216 1417 63.9% 91-09-29 03:27:34 a--w -lh5- 5CB9
FORGET.ME 7139 4271 59.8% 91-09-29 14:47:26 a--w -lh5- D415
MORE.C 6414 3797 59.2% 91-09-29 14:44:40 a--w -lh5- 08C0
TEST.FIL 3219 2188 68.0% 91-09-29 14:42:36 a--w -lh5- 777F
//
// This is the waitfor2= line. If it doesn't find this string anywhere,
// it keeps reading, line by line, until it encounters EOF.
//
-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- --------
13 files 64546 31231 48.4% 91-09-29 15:25:20
-=-=-=-=- FILE LISTING ENDS ABOVE -=-=-=-=-
12
Credits, Copyrights, and Thanks
===============================
This documentation has been prepared by Jim Wargula, Sysop of JW-PC
DataFlex.HST RBBS, where Alpha and Beta testing of BShow, modem
distribution, and modem support are based. Please feel free to comment
on any documentation errors or omissions. The docs are slowly being
improved and ways of expanding them for more clear explanations will
be explored...
This documentation has been edited by Tim Sandee and Ben Sandee.
BShow is Copyright (c) Ben Sandee, 1991, 1993 and may not be distributed
as part of any other package or by any commercial enterprise without
the express knowledge and consent of the author. BBS systems are
given permission to distribute BShow in the Shareware version.
Utility programs called by BShow are copyrighted by their respective
authors and should be registered as required.
Thanks to:
Jim Wargula - alpha tester, beta tester, support,
documentation.
John Fox \
Ken Geen \
Roy Jacobs ---- Beta testers, ideas, support.
Ron Mainguth /
Mark Simmons /
Tim Sandee - documentation, ideas.
All the SysOps out there who make BBS'ing more enjoyable.
Document revision 1.21, 08-08-93