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Text File | 1994-01-06 | 22KB | 536 lines

TagDude Version 0.83 Copyright 1993 Sword Software Programmed by Travis Griggs (FidoNet 1:3807/304) WHAT IS IT? ─────────── TagDude is a utility dedicated solely to the management of echomail taglines. TagDude will allow you to insert taglines into virtually any message editor that allows you to "read" or upload ASCII text files into the current message or document. But it doesn't stop there! You can also "steal" taglines as you're reading mail and insert them into a single tagline storage file. TagDude can also sort the data file and search for duplicate taglines! If you're already collecting taglines have no fear, TagDude can import your collection and add it to the data file or you can start a new collection. However, TagDude comes complete with a collection of 200 great one liners that should keep you ROTFLOL for quite some time...!! SHAREWARE NOTICE ──────────────── TagDude is shareware, not freeware. If you find this program useful and want to continue using it longer than 30 days you must register it. Registration is only $10.00 (US Funds) and is "one time only". Your support will help to insure updates to this program. Please read REGISTER.FRM for more information. Thanks for trying TagDude! DISCLAIMER ────────── TagDude is guaranteed to do nothing but take up space on your hard drive. In no event and under no circumstances will the author of this program be held liable for any damages including but not limited to hardware, software, lost profits and/or savings, or any other consequential damages arising out of your use or inability to use this program, or for any other claims by another party. PACKING LIST ──────────── 70TO80.EXE --- Converts TAGDUDE.CFG to the new config format CONTENTS.DOC - The packing list. REGISTER.FRM - Registration form and information. TAGDUDE.DOC -- What you are reading right now! TAGDUDE.EXE -- Main executable program file. TAGDUDE.HIS -- History of TagDudes evolution. TAGDUDE.TLN -- Binary data file containing 200 taglines. UPGRADE.DOC -- Upgrading to TagDude 0.80 and future TagDude features INSTALLATION ──────────── TagDude was originally written for use with Front Door so it is referenced throughout this installation section although TagDude can be used with almost any editor or term program. Other setup examples are included later in this document. I. Initial Installation and Configuration ────────────────────────────────────────── Copy the above files into the directory of your choice. You are now ready to crank up TagDude...! Run TAGDUDE.EXE. When you run the program for the first time it will automatically go into the configuration menu. Anytime TagDude does not find TAGDUDE.CFG in the current directory, it will go into the config menu. Here's an explanation of the options with their default values: Taglines Filename : TAGLINES.TLN Import Tagline Filename : Q. Export Tagline Filename : T. Highlight Effect Speed : 20 Ripple Effect Speed : 20 Direct Video Writes : Yes Check for Snow : No Advertisement Under Tagline : Yes Show Number of Taglines : Yes Duplicate Detection : Yes Monochrome Display : No (1) Taglines Filename: ────────────────────── This is the name of the file where the TagDude taglines are stored. The *.TLN file can store an unlimited number of taglines. The *.TLN file is stored as a binary file so you cannot edit it outside of the program. NOTE: Pre existing ascii text files can be uploaded into the *.TLN file from the maintenance menu which is covered later in this document. (2) Import Tagline Filename: ──────────────────────────── This is the name of the file TagDude will automatically look for whenever the program is run, to upload "stolen" taglines that you have accumulated since last running TagDude. This topic is covered in more detail later in this document. If this filename is changed from the default of "T." you'll need to change any reference of this filename to the new filename. (3) Export Tagline Filename: ──────────────────────────── This is the name of the file TagDude will export the selected tagline to. You can then import this file into your message. (4) Spotlight Effect Speed: ─────────────────────────── This variable controls the speed at which the "spotlight" effect moves. The higher the number the SLOWER the cursor spins and visa versa. You can disable the spinning cursor by setting the speed below 1. (5) Ripple Effect Speed: ──────────────────────── This is the speed at which the "ripple" effect moves from side to side. As on the spinning cursor, the higher the number the slower the effect will be. Setting this variable to below 1 will disable it. (6) Direct Video Writes: ──────────────────────── The program defaults to DIRECT screen writes. Unless you are running a multi-tasker such as DesqView, you should leave this as is. (7) Check for Snow: ─────────────────── If you are seeing "snow" on your screen, turn this option on. The default setting is OFF and should work with most newer monitors. You should only need this option if you're using an older CGA monitor. (8) Advertisement Under Tagline: ──────────────────────────────── This option will turn OFF/ON the advertisement for TagDude that appears under the imported tagline. The default is ON and cannot be changed unless you REGISTER THIS PROGRAM. (9) Show Number of Taglines: ──────────────────────────── This option will turn OFF/ON the bragging about the number of taglines you have. For example: Show Number of Taglines ON: ... What's a tagline? ___ TagDude 0.83+ with 9356 taglines Show Number of Taglines OFF: ... What's a tagline? ___ TagDude 0.83+ (A) Duplicate Detection: ──────────────────────── This option will turn ON/OFF the dupe detection feature used when "stealing" tagline. When importing "stolen" taglines, this option will scan your existing database file to make sure you're not importing a tagline you already have. (B) Monochrome Display: ─────────────────────── Turns ON/OFF support for monochrome monitors. The default is OFF. II. Command Line Parameters ──────────────────────────── TagDude has many command line parameters. You may use them any order you like. TAGDUDE -ADD1 TIMED.MSG This will cause TagDude to add a tagline to a text file. This is used when TagDude is used with a message reader that uses an external editor. The file to add the tagline to must follow right after the -ADD1 parameter like shown above. This parameter is fully explained later in the documentation. -ADD1 is the first step to the adding of a tagline to a text file. -ADD2 is the second step of adding a tagline to a text file. TAGDUDE -CONFIG Pulls up the configuration menu for TagDude. TAGDUDE -C:TAGDUDE1.CFG TAGDUDE -C:C:\OTHER.CFG TagDude will use the filename specified after -C: for the config instead of default filename TAGDUDE.CFG. TAGDUDE -DUPE TagDude will remove duplicate taglines from the database then terminate. This can be used to have TagDude remove duplicate taglines from inside an event from a mailer. TAGDUDE -MONO TagDude will use monochrome colors. This overrides what is set in the config. TAGDUDE -NOASK This causes TagDude to not ask you if you want to pick your own taglines. TagDude picks a random tagline instead. TAGDUDE -NOSIG TagDude will not import the signature file, TAGDUDE.SIG, even if it exists. TAGDUDE -SORT TagDude will sort the tagline database then terminate. This is mainly used for setting this up in an event on a mailer. TAGDUDE -T:C:\TAGDUDE\TAGLINES.TLN TAGDUDE -T:TAGLINES.TLN TagDude will use the the file specified after -T for the tagline database instead of the database specified in the config file. Here's a few examples: TAGDUDE -ADD2 TIMED.MSG -T:TAGDUDE2.TLN -NOASK TAGDUDE -DUPE -SORT -T:TAGDUDE2.TLN TAGDUDE -NOASK -T:TAGDUDE2.TLN -NOSIG TAGDUDE -T:TAGDUDE2.TLN -NOASK -C:TAGDUDE2.CFG III. Setting Up TagDude To Work With Your Editor ──────────────────────────────────────────────── TagDude will work with almost any editor on the market. Quite a few of the offline message readers use external editors to write messages. If you have setup TagDude on a program that I don't have listed below please send this setup information to me. The end of this document shows how to get into contact with me. Below are a few examples... For External Editors (TimEd, etc.) ────────────────────────────────── For this example we are using QEDIT for the external editor, which is called from the offline mail reader. Configure your mailer/offline mail reader to call QE.BAT as the editor. Below is the QE.BAT file: @ECHO OFF TAGDUDE -ADD1 %1 Q %1 TAGDUDE -ADD2 %1 Thats all there is to it. When you finish writing your message it will automatically add a tagline to the end of it. If there is a tear line and/or origin line TagDude will add the tagline above either of the two. TagDude will also scan the message to make sure there is not a tagline already there. If it finds one, it will abort and you'll be on your way. If TagDude sees the message hasn't changed then a tagline will not be added to the message. The above configuration SHOULD work with almost ANY offline message reader that uses an external editor. For FrontDoor's Editor ────────────────────── As stated earlier, this program was originally written for use in FrontDoor's message editor. Go into the FDSETUP program and pick the Editor option. From there choose the Keyboard Macros option. Setup a macro as follows: File Global Mailer Editor Terminal Modem Manager ═════════════════════════╒═════════════════╕════════════════════ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Miscellaneous │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ Keyboard macros │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒╒═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕▒▒ ▒│ │▒▒ ▒│ │▒▒ ▒│ F1 ~ETagDude;~It;~# │▒▒ ▒│ F2 │▒▒ ▒│ F3 │▒▒ ▒╘═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ NOTE: For this setup to work configured exactly as shown above, you must have TagDude in your FrontDoor directory. If you don't, then you will need to add the path to the macro. Now all you have to do is call the macro when you're ready to save the message in FrontDoor's Editor. Also, if you have option (9) in the configuration set to YES then TagDude will automatically save the message after importing the tagline into it. For TerMail (Terminate's Point System) ────────────────────────────────────── Use the same setup as the external editor section but change the "%1" to TMAIL.MSG. For Renegade BBS Software ───────────────────────── TagDude can also be used with the Renegade BBS Software. It can only be used on the SysOp's side. Create a batch file named GLOBAT1.BAT in your main RG directory. Below is the GLOBAT1.BAT contents: @ECHO OFF CLS TAGDUDE Go in the System Config of Renegade under D. System variables. Create a macro that contains the following: /ut.<ENTER> Don't type the <ENTER> just press ENTER. The macro should turn into "/ut.^M". It's that simple. When you are done writing a message press ALT-1 which will call GLOBAT1.BAT to select the tagline. After it gets back to Renegade press ALT-F1 (this will be different if you used a another macro) which will import the tagline into the message. IV. NORMAL OPERATION ───────────────────── You basically only have 2 options when running TagDude under normal operation. They are: Type of Tagline Selection: User Selected │ Randomly Selected If you choose "Randomly Selected", TagDude will randomly select a tagline from the database file and write it to the export file (explained earlier in this document) which in turn will be uploaded into your message. If you choose "User Selected", which is the default option, the Tagline Selection Menu will come up. From this menu you can scroll through the taglines in your database file and select the one you want. The options for the Tagline Selection Menu are as follows: (E)dit tagline - This option will allow you to edit the current highlighted tagline. (D)elete tagline - This option marks the current highlighted tagline for later deletion. (U)ndelete tagline - This option unmarks the current highlighted tagline. (S)earch for tagline - Prompts you for the text to search for in your tagline database file. (R)andom tagline - Jumps to a randomly selected tagline in the database file. (A)dd tagline - Allows you to manually insert a tagline into the database file. (G)o to tagline # - Prompts you for the number of the tagline to jump to. (M)aintenance menu - Takes you to the Maintenance Menu (explained next). (C)onfiguration menu - Takes you to the Configuration Menu (explained earlier in this document). Maintenance Menu ──────────────── The Maintenance Menu will let you make changes and update your tagline database file. Below are the options and their functions. (1) Sort tagline database - Uses a fast sort to sort the taglines in the current tagline file. (2) Search for and remove duplicate taglines - TagDude will sort the taglines first. TagDude will then make *ONE* sweep to flag the duplicates for deletion. TagDude will then remove the flagged taglines. During the duplication removal TagDude uses a fuzzy logic duplication removal routine. For example all of the below taglines TagDude will consider them duplicates: Hey! I have 5000 taglines! Hey, I have 2445 taglines. HEY!!! I have 2485239 taglines...... Hey. I have 2 taglines. And so on.... (3) Remove deleted taglines from tagline database - This option will delete any tagline you "marked" (see option "D" in the Tagline Selection Menu section) earlier. (4) Import text file into tagline database - This option allows you to import any ASCII text file into your tagline database file. (5) Export tagline database to text file - This option will output an ASCII text file format of your current tagline database file. V. OTHER USEFUL OPTIONS ──────────────────────── How To Steal Taglines ───────────────────── TagDude does not actually steal taglines. You must first copy the message with the tagline in it you want to steal, to the file you defined earlier for IMPORT FILENAME. There is no limit to the amount of actual messages you can put in this file before running the program. When you run TagDude, it will look for the file defined under the IMPORT FILENAME options in the configuration menu. If it finds such a file, it will then search the entire contents of that file for taglines. After TagDude searches the "import file", it then prompts you with a listing of all the taglines it found and you have the option to keep those you want and throw away those you don't. TagDude will automatically delete the "import file" when it is through with it. Auto Signature ────────────── TagDude can even sign your name to the message as it uploads the tagline. When TagDude is ready to create the "export file" it will look in the current directory for an ASCII text file named TAGDUDE.SIG. If found, TagDude will insert it's contents above the tagline and then create the "export file". This is useful for defining a signature you want to appear on every message you write (and use TagDude on...). Suggestions and/or Comments ─────────────────────────── For any questions or comments send netmail to 1:3807/304 or write a letter to the address below. If desired, you may use routed-netmail. I'm a mail only system so please send direct netmail between 3am-6am Central Time. Travis Griggs 3528 Linda Lane Lake Charles, La. 70605 Where to get the latest version of TagDude ────────────────────────────────────────── The latest version of TagDude can be retrieved by logging on to one of the below bbs's: Center of the Universe 1-(603)-435-7771 14.4k V.32bis/V.42bis Ice Castle 1-(509)-736-0976 14.4k V.32bis/V.42bis Lyons' Den (Node 1) 1-(318)-582-6411 14.4k V.32bis/V.42bis Lyons' Den (Node 2) 1-(318)-582-3509 14.4k V.32bis/V.42bis Sox! Bbs 1-(305)-821-3317 DS/HST 16.8k V.32bis Stargate Oregon 1-(503)-756-3887 9600 V.32/V.42b └──> 9 PM to 9 AM Daily PST If you have a FidoNet mailer then File Request with the magic name of "TAGDUDE" (without quotes) from one of the below nodes: 1:132/233 - SysOp: Jeff Casey, 14.4k V.32b/V.42b 1:3807/100 - SysOp: Todd Lyons, 14.4k V.32b/V.42b 1:3807/101 - SysOp: Tony Lyons, 14.4k V.32b/V.42b 1:135/71 - SysOp: Ronnie Toth, USR DS/HST 16.8k V.32b/V.42b 1:3407/10 - SysOp: Randy Weaver, 14.4k V.32b/V.42b 1:356/3 - SysOp: Les Lemke, 9600 V.32/V.42b (9PM-9AM PST) Special thanks to the following individuals ─────────────────────────────────────────── (in alphabetical order) Bob Huth - The first person that ever asked for TagDude - He helped me realize that people actually wanted TagDude. If it wasn't for Bob, I would have selfishly kept TagDude for myself. (everybody give a big applause for Bob!) Bob assisted in testing TagDude in it's early stages. Thanks Bob for your creative suggestions. Les Lemke - Suggested I write TagDude to insert taglines into text files for use with other mail readers. Les helped test this added feature and also gave some excellent suggestions. Todd Lyons - Provides a place for TagDude to be file requested 24 hours a day (which helped out a lot!). Thanks for the help in alpha/beta testing TagDude. James Richardson - Helps me alpha/beta test TagDude and nags me to convert to C++(in his dreams<grin>!). He let me borrow his monochrome XT to implement monochrome support in TagDude. James Surles - Helped me include a very fast sorting routine in TagDude. David Wynn - Provides a place for TagDude to be file requested 24 hours a day. And also, for writing these excellent docs so you wouldn't have to figure it all out for yourself! Alpha testers ───────────── William Barzee - 1:260/366 Jeff Casey - 1:132/233 Bob Huth - 1:356/5 Les Lemke - 1:356/3 Todd Lyons - 1:3807/100 James Richardson - 1:3807/304.304 James Surles - 1:3807/307 Randy Weaver - 1:3407/10 David Wynn - 1:3807/300