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1991-01-01
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4KB
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90 lines
MSYSINDX.EXE -- A PROGRAM TO INDEX MSYS MESSAGE FILES
(c) Copyright 1990 by W8GRG -- Public Domain, not for resale.
Version 1.04 -- January 1, 1991
*****
To run, type MSYSINDX.EXE and <Enter>; use a drive and path
before the command if the program is not on the drive on which
you are logged in.
You will be asked for the file where the message backup files you
want to edit and save are located. The program assumes this is
MSYS\MAIL.BAK -- type <Enter> if this is correct; if not, enter
the correct drive and path.
You will then be asked where you want the indexes and saved
messages to be put. Default is drive A; type <Enter> to accept
this, or enter a drive and directory. If the directory exists the
program will use it; if not, it will create it if possible. In
either case, the new files will be written to a subdirectory with
the same name as the MAIL.BAK subdirectory. This is done to
permit editing several MAIL.BAK directories at one session. If
you try to store the output in a root directory (such as A:\) DOS
won't permit much over 100 new files.
At the prompt asking for the directory name, enter the MSYS
subdirectory title, such as MSG123, that you want to screen. At
the next prompt, enter the message type to be selected such as T
for Traffic messages, P for Private messages, or B for bulletins.
T will copy all traffic-type messages, and prepare an index file
titled "MSGxxx-T.NDX". (xxx are the digits such as 123 from the
MSGxxx file).
P will do the same for Private (personal) messages.
B works differently -- instead of copying all the bulletins,
message headers are displayed one at a time, and you are given
the choice to save or skip each one. This permits the user to
discard For Sale, Wanted, and other bulletins of no lasting
value. Only the messages you save will be copied and listed in
the index file.
Index files consist of the header lines of the messages --
number, type, size, to, from, @, date, and title. To locate a
particular message, screen the index files of the appropriate
type visually or with a search utility program.
The .NDX files created are ASCII table-type files, which can be
imported directly into most databases and spread sheets for
sorting or consolidation. Each line is a message header which
becomes a database "record". The "fields" are:
Name Type Width (char)
MSGNUM Numeric 5
TYPE Characters 2
SIZE Numeric 5
TO Characters 6
FROM " 6
ALPHA " 6
DATE Numeric 6
SUBJECT Characters 40
Fields are separated by a single space; there are no commas or
other punctuation marks used between fields. To insure uniform
field length all hierarchical forwarding instructions
(.OH.USA.NA, etc.) are stripped off of the @BBS entry in the
message header. This makes the header format in the .NDX files
the same for all message types.
Transferring the index files to a database simplifies locating a
specific message, since it can be searched by message number,
origin, destination, alpha, or subject, or a combination of these
entries.
Comments and suggestions will be welcomed. Please send them to
Pat Shreve, W8GRG @ W8GRG.#CLE.OH.USA