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Text File | 1992-09-06 | 31KB | 612 lines

╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ╟─┐ ║ K E E P I N G I N T O U C H ║ │ ║ ═══════════════════════════════ ║ │ ║ SPITFIRE Monthly Support Newsletter ║ │ ║ for registered SPITFIRE Sysops! ║ │ ║ September 1992 ║ │ ║ Compliments of BUFFALO CREEK SOFTWARE ║ │ ║ Buffalo Creek's BBS * 515-225-8496 ║ │ ║ 38400/19200/9600/24400/1200 Baud ║ │ ║ 2 Nodes ║ │ ║ ║ │ ╚═╤══════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Edited by Jacque Shipley The Mother Board BBS - (515) 986-3464 - 19200 Baud Sysop Of The Month by Walt Crede Roam This Fertile Land - (515) 288-8755 - 2400 Baud Newly Registered SPITFIRE BBS List by Ann Woltz Other Contributions As Noted ╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Notes from the author of SPITFIRE! ╟─┐ ╚═╤═══════════════════════════════════════╝ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ SPITFIRE v3.3 Development Begins -------------------------------- I have started to develop SPITFIRE v3.3. I have some nice changes and additions planned for SPITFIRE v3.3. There are a number of things that will slow the development of SPITFIRE v3.3. I much prefer to write code than answer a bunch of messages, therefore: 1) Please do NOT ask to beta test. Testing is hard work and expensive. There are many who think that testing is simply running the latest and greatest. NOT so! There are many who think that testing gives them the opportunity to tell the author how to write the software or to get their own wants added to the software. NOT so! Testing is exactly what is says - testing! Testing is hard work and expensive with very few rewards. 2) Please do NOT tell me how to write my software. SPITFIRE is (hopefully) a small, fast, simple, get-the-job-done BBS software package. Now, we can junk it up with all kinds of neat stuff but we will soon have a huge, slow, complex BBS software package. There are already those kind of packages available and I simply will not ruin SPITFIRE by adding everything that everyone wants. I will surely listen to ideas but please (PLEASE) limit your ideas to practical, get-the-job-done suggestions. For example, ANSI messages won't make SPITFIRE work any better so please don't suggest it. These kind of junk suggestions will only cause me to spend my time answering messages rather than writing code. 3) Please don't ask when SPITFIRE v3.3 will be released. This will only cause me to spend my time answering messages rather than writing code. SPITFIRE v3.3 will be released once it is finished. Buffalo Creek Software UTI -------------------------- The Buffalo Creek Software UTI is finished and has been tested and there is only one small problem in the software that I am aware of. I am not going to release it until such time as the problems are worked out of Kip Compton's PostLink (new PCRelay software). I feel confident that if I released it now then it would get blamed for all of PostLink's problems. SFCHKUP Version 2.1 Released! ----------------------------- SFCHKUP (SPITFIRE's program to test the integrity of uploaded files) has been revised. Many shareware authors include a file named FILE_ID.DIZ in their programs. FILE_ID.DIZ is a text file which provides a description of the program. SFCHKUP now can be configured to utilize the contents of FILE_ID.DIZ for the file description in SFFILES.BBS. When configured to utilize this feature, SFCHKUP looks within an uploaded .ZIP file to determine whether such file includes a FILE_ID.DIZ. When FILE_ID.DIZ is found, then SFCHKUP uses as much of FILE_ID.DIZ as possible for the file description in place of the description the caller provided. FireNet ------- As most of you will recall, I announced that there would be a free mail system for SPITFIRE named FireNet. At the time I made that announcement, Bob Zimmerman was going to write the software (basically had it written). Since that time it appears that Bob has abandoned the project. I have left Bob a message asking if he plans to complete the project or abandon it. In the event he has actually abandoned the project then I will make my word good and write the software myself. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Let's Clean Things Up! ---------------------- We, at Buffalo Creek Software, are asking your help in cleaning up our registered SPITFIRE boards list. Please download SFBBSLST.TXT for our board and review the list. In the event we have boards listed that you know are no longer in operation or are operating different BBS software then please provide us with that information. We will then make SFBBSLST.TXT more accurate. Thank you. Also, if you know of any boards that are operating SPITFIRE illegally (beyond the 30 day trial period), then we will appreciate it if you will provide us with that information. Surely we want these boards to continue to operate SPITFIRE but we want them to operate legally. It is NOT fair to anyone (especially those who have registered SPITFIRE and me) for someone operate the software beyond the trial period. Quite frankly and truthfully, they are stealing from me. Further, while cleaning things up I would like to ask for more help from you. I suspect that there are a bunch of utilities written for SPITFIRE which have become obsolete or possibly they weren't good for much to start with. I would like you to take a look at our File Area #2 (SPITFIRE 3rd Party Utilities, Doors, Etc) and report any files which are no longer viable and should be erased. Additionally, please have a look at our File Area #4 (Door Programs, External Protocols, Etc.) and let me know of any files that should be erased. I would guess that there are programs in this File Area that have expired or simply aren't worth the disk space they require. Thank you so very much for your help with these matters. Thank you for your continued support and promotion of SPITFIRE. The SPITFIRE project continues to grow at a very nice pace. None of this would be possible without the help of many GREAT SPITFIRE Sysops. It hasn't changed - for the most part, SPITFIRE Sysops are top shelf folks. Thanks. Until next time, may God bless you... Mike, Ann & family ╒══════════════════════════╕ │ SPITFIRE UTILITY REVIEWS │ ╘══════════════════════════╛ Buffalo Creek Software has become synonymous with producing high quality SPITFIRE utilities at affordable (one might say "dirt cheap") prices. Mike Woltz, author of SPITFIRE realizes the expense Sysops face running a bulletin board system and attempts to offset the costs for SPITFIRE Sysops as much as possible. And, I, for one would like to extend my appreciation for his continued efforts! Costs are an important factor for the majority of Sysops. But even more important is the performance of the product. Mike, admittedly, has never been much for "bells and whistles" programming but when it comes to creating software that efficiently achieves its purpose, he is second to none. Another thing that deserves mentioning is file size. Disk space is an important commodity to Sysops as well. As a programmer, Mike is always conscious of coding tightly and keeping the size of files at a minimum for accomplishing the respective tasks. Why load your drive down with 100k files when you can achieve the same results with a 6k file? With the above in mind, the utility reviews for this month cover two of Buffalo Creek Software's latest releases, SFPCKMSG and SFPCKUSR. Both are high performance utilities that cost $1 to register and take less than 6000 bytes of disk space. SFPCKUSR -------- SFPCKUSR allows for a single command line parameter. The command line parameter must be a numerical value equal to or greater than 30 and less than or equal to 65535. An example of using SFPCKUSR with the command line parameter might be: SFPCKUSR 120 If the caller has not called within the number of days you specify on the command line, he/she will be packed from SFUSERS.DAT. In the example above, any callers who have not called the BBS within the last 120 days and who are not marked to not be purged would be packed from SPITFIRE's caller data file. In the event no command line parameter is included on the command line, SFPCKUSR will pack only those callers who have been marked for deletion. SFPCKUSR will either create or append to the existing SFPURGED.USR data file a list of all callers who have been purged during its execution. SFPURGED.USR contains the date and time of the purge activity, the caller's name, the security level of the caller and the city/state/province of the caller. SFPCKMSG -------- SFPCKMSG uses a number of command line parameter options which allow you to determine how and what message conferences will be packed. SFPCKMSG requires that you specify which conference will be packed. This can be done with /ALL which will pack all your SPITFIRE message conferences, /CONF1 which specifies a particular message conference to be packed or using /CONF1..5 which specifies a range of message conferences to be packed. All other parameters that are specified will be applied to the message conference(s) you define to be packed. If no other parameters are used only messages that are marked for deletion will be purged from your SPITFIRE message base. The remaining parameters determine which messages will be purged and which messages will remain intact. The /OLD=x will purge any messages older than x days old. The x represents a numerical value which should be substituted in the actual command line. For instance, if /OLD=60 were used, any messages older than 60 days would be packed from the specified message conference(s). The /SIZE=x will retain the newest x messages and purge all others. Again, x represents a numerical value which should equal the total number of messages you wish to keep online in the specified message conference(s). If /SIZE=200 were used, SFPCKMSG would keep the newest 200 messages and purge all others. There are two additional command line parameters which can be used with SFPCKMSG. The /POT allows old message threads to be purged and /POU allows old unreceived messages to be purged. Both these parameters are required to be used with the /OLD=x parameter. The /OLD=x parameter is needed to define how old the old message threads or old unreceived messages must be in order to be purged. It should be mentioned that both SFPCKUSR and SFPCKMSG can be executed automatically simply by setting them up as an event within SPITFIRE. Using SFPCKUSR and/or SFPCKMSG as an event eliminates the need for the Sysop to perform these maintenance routines manually. ╒═════════════════════════════════╕ │ QWK MAIL WITH SPITFIRE AND TNET │ ╘═════════════════════════════════╛ A number of Sysops have inquired about my setup for importing QWK mail into a SPITFIRE BBS. Needless to say, this is far from the optimum setup. However, until Firenet or JetNet (which will handle importing QWK mail packets into SPITFIRE's message base) are released, it does accomplish the task at hand. To use TNET with SPITFIRE requires a revision 2 UTI program. TNET will work with either Mike Woltz's BCSUTI or Bob Browne's SFUTI. Begin by unzipping TNET and the UTI program into a common directory. For example, C:\TNET. The UTI files must then be renamed to work with TNET. TNET requires the UTI file name to be prefixed with RLY rather than UTI. In other words, UTIEXPRT.EXE should be renamed RLYEXPRT.EXE; UTIIMPRT.EXE should be renamed RLYIMPRT.EXE, etc. If you have not already added your QWK mail message conferences in SPITFIRE you should do this now. Similarly, you should call your hub (the BBS through which you intend download the QWK mail packets) and configure which conferences to include in your netmail exchange. Setting up your SPITFIRE message conferences and defining your QWK netmail conferences on your hub are necessary in order to complete the TNET and UTI configuration for your particular set up. Each QWK netmail conference should be added to your UTI configuration. Regardless of which UTI program you elect to use, you will be required select the message conference you intend to import QWK mail into, provide a short name description for the conference and define whether or not the UTI should mark the message when exporting. Normally you will messages marked when exporting unless the conference is shared by more than one netmail network. Refer to the UTI program's documentation if you need assistance adding SPITFIRE message conferences to your UTI configuration. Next, you are ready to begin your TNET configuration. TNET uses two configuration files. The global parameters for TNET are defined in the TNET.CFG. It is here you define your work directory, download and upload directories, compression technique, Sysop name, hub Sysop name, import tagline and export tagline, etc. Most imperative in your TNET configuration is that the system parameter be set to equal UTI2. In other words, SYSTEM = UTI2 should be found in the TNET configuration. Another important parameter is the APPEND. It will be discussed in more detail later in the article. The other configuration file used by TNET is <HUBNAME>.CFG. Your hubname configuration file defines the relation between your SPITFIRE message conference and the corresponding hub conference by including the conference number of your SPITFIRE conference and the number of the conference on the hub. In addition, the <HUBNAME>.CFG defines whether the conference allows private messages, identifies the tagline that will be used when exporting or importing messages and the next message number. The next message number should be configured as 1 originally and then will be automatically maintained by TNET. A sample of a single conference configuration in your <HUBNAME>.CFG might look like this: CONF = 4 HUBNUM = 022 PRIVATE = N TAG = T NEXTMSG = 1 Each conference should be configured in this manner and included in the <HUBNAME>.CFG. One of the limitations you will encounter with TNET is that it is unable to handle the number of files required to be open if more than eight conferences are configured in your <HUBNAME>.CFG. This is not to say that you are limited to exchanging eight or less QWK conferences with your hub. However, to do so, takes some Sysop ingenuity with your configuration and your batch files. To configure more than eight QWK mail conferences, set the global APPEND parameter in your TNET.CFG to APPEND = Y. This allows your reply packets from each <HUBNAME>.CFG to be appended to one another. (If you are importing eight or less QWK conferences, you will probably want to set this parameter to APPEND = N). Next, create a <HUBNAME>.CFG file for the first eight or less conferences you will be exporting/importing into your SPITFIRE message base. Name this file <HUBNAME>1.CFG. Add the second set of eight or less conferences, naming this configuration file <HUBNAME>2.CFG, the third would be named <HUBNAME>3.CFG., etc. until all your QWK conferences have been configured and each configuration file contains eight or less conferences. If you are exchanging eight conferences or less, the sample batch files should serve you quite well. However, if you are exchanging more than eight conferences, your TNET import and export batch files must be a bit more creative! Whether importing or exporting, you must begin by renaming your <HUBNAME>1.CFG to <HUBNAME>.CFG. This allows TNET to perform the export/import functions against your first configuration file. After the export or import module has completed with the first configuration file, you will need to rename <HUBNAME>.CFG back to <HUBNAME>1.CFG. Next, rename the second configuration file, <HUBNAME>2.CFG to <HUBNAME>.CFG and again execute the TNET import/export module. Upon completion, you will need to rename <HUBNAME>.CFG back to <HUBNAME>2.CFG. Continue this process until each of the configurations have completed the export and/or import process. If you are exchanging more than eight conferences, you should begin your EXPORT.BAT file with a command which will delete your <HUBNAME>.REP file so as not to duplicate messages. The APPEND = Y parameter which is required for the multiple configurations will continue to add to the existing <HUBNAME>.REP if it is not deleted prior to beginning a new run. As explained earlier, when available, Firenet or JetNet should be much easier to setup and more compatible to SPITFIRE. However in the meantime, if you are interested in exchanging mail using the QWK format, TNET will do the job if you carefully configure its setup. TNET is available on Buffalo Creek's BBS and The Mother Board BBS. In addition, I have made my batch and configuration files for use with TNET available for download. If you would like to look at these, TNETCFG.ZIP can be downloaded from The Mother Board BBS as well. ╒════════════════════╕ │ SYSOP-OF-THE-MONTH │ ╘════════════════════╛ Steve Newman COLUMBIA SPITFIRE Warren, Oregon (Editor's Note: The copy Steve submitted to me does such a beautiful job of relating about himself as a SPITFIRE Sysop, my editorial pencil was rather inactive while putting this together. What follows is mostly Steve's own narrative.) ___________ The problem with writing about yourself seems to always be the problem of where to begin. I guess the beginning....well, almost the beginning...is the best place. So let's make the professional part of this diatribe the part of which I speak the least. I always had an interest in music and the arts. My father went for his Ham Radio license back in the mid 50's but Morse code wasn't exactly music to my ears. But I must say the broadcast part of all of this Ham Radio stuff did interest me. So how does one meld music and radio? You guessed it: Broadcasting. At the tender age of 13 I jumped on a bus and headed to downtown San Francisco and entered the city's first "Top-40" station and asked if I could watch the DJ's operate. They obliged and after a couple of hours with my nose pressed against the sound-proofed glass, I knew what I wanted to do. The rest is history and I've been doing the broadcasting thing ever since. Being a broadcaster has some side benefits. One of them is collecting the music. I have quite a collection. Oldies-but-Goodies we call them. When I moved from the hurried San Francisco Bay Area to the more sane Pacific Northwest in 1981, I decided I had to finally catalog this ever increasing inventory of music. How does one do this? With a computer, of course! Shall I go any further? <grin> So Steve gets a computer. An Epson XT! Wow, I was setting the world on fire. Then I was gifted a 1200 baud modem from a friend (this person is not my friend any longer!...no, just kidding). The idea of making a phone call and getting files for my computer was absolutely amazing. But it wasn't fast enough, so I stepped up to 2400 baud! Am I telling any of you anything you didn't know already? Probably not. One day I logged onto a Portland multi-node Bulletin Board: Random Access Information Network, R.A.I.N. for short, and started to look for bulletin board software. I downloaded Quick BBS. Quick ain't the word for it and 32,000 security levels evoked quite a loud belly laugh from within. I shelved the software and logged on the next day and found this lonely little file called SF27.ZIP. I download it and, as I've said before in this article, the rest is history. On May 5, 1990, Steve's BBS (original name, huh?) was born. Some of my local callers started to give me brilliant ideas for a name change. Such names as SPIT 'N FIRE and others I don't remember came my way. Finally after some thought the name COLUMBIA SPITFIRE came to mind. I live in Columbia County and overlook the Columbia River. I loved my new BBS package so it was a perfect name and one I thought one that could easily be remembered. I have a unique situation where I live. I'm 25 miles West/Northwest of Portland, Oregon. You guessed it. The phone calls are long distance. They've just recently discovered computers out here so the local business is picking up, I'm happy to say. I wanted a few more callers than I was getting when I first started the BBS, so I became--with the help of Frank Lech--a SPITFIRE support BBS and installed a high speed modem, the U.S. Robotics Courier HST 14,400 baud modem. I don't have to tell you how I thrilled at the sight of those download speeds! The SPITFIRE sysops started calling after the word spread that this crazy guy in the woods of Oregon carried all those nifty SPITFIRE utilities. This is where my friendships began. I loved helping the SPITFIRE sysops. I've helped a few over the last 2 years. The same guy who was responsible for letting me into the support circle also told me about a net mail package that had just hit the file areas of Buffalo Creek. CircuitNet was the name. To make the long story short, I'm now the National Host for that growing SPITFIRE network and have been almost from the beginning. I'm the 21st registered user of the software which at the present time is going thru many revisions. Well, as when 1200 baud wasn't fast enough, 1 node was no longer capable enough. So I added the second node about a year ago. It was ran under Desqview for quite sometime until I moved into the world of the LAN. I had just perfected Desqview when I made the change, so now I have a whole new set of challenges to face. What would we sysops do if it all just sat in the corner and purred like a kitten? Probably wouldn't be as insane as we are now, right? I must love the insanity of it all. I've always lived in the fast lane so I might as well continue. The area from where I operate looks more like a computer store than an office. I have plans for expansion but that's for another day. I want to thank all of the SPITFIRE sysops for their continued support and caring. I'd also like to thank Mike Woltz for putting up with me since I began beta testing with SPITFIRE 3.0. I've spouted some crazy ideas at times but he always has time to listen to me. Oh, and Ann Woltz! Can't forget dear Ann. We talk about the days when we were hippies! Those were the fun days but we do have to land with both feet on the ground eventually. I believe I have, and when I did I had a family waiting there for me. The SPITFIRE family...the best there is! ╒════════════════════════════════════╕ │ NEWLY REGISTERED SPITFIRE SYSTEMS │ ╘════════════════════════════════════╛ A hearty welcome is extended to the following, who have recently become public registered SPITFIRE Bulletin Board Systems: The Jolly Roger BBS..........................714-781-3987....2400 Baud Dave McPhail, Sysop..............................Riverside, California Genesis......................................319-263-0013...14400 Baud Briand Metcalf, Sysop..................................Muscatine, Iowa The Dark Fortress............................504-272-2130....2400 Baud Robert Canzonire, Sysop.........................Baton Rouge, Louisiana "A Space Oddity".............................312-477-0716...14400 Baud Barry Barr, Sysop....................................Chicago, Illinois Labyrinth BBS................................416-476-9172...38400 Baud Barry Dingle, Sysop...........................Keswick, Ontario, Canada Sagelink.....................................649-303-3090....2400 Baud Sean Dick, Sysop.................................Auckland, New Zealand The Hytech BBS...............................419-353-TECH...14400 Baud Bruce Frisco, Sysop................................Bowling Green, Ohio The Drive Inn................................713-839-1092...38400 Baud Gordon Davis, Sysop......................................Crosby, Texas Small BBS!...................................614-671-9980....2400 Baud Jim Richards, Sysop......................................Glencoe, Ohio The MOON * LIGHT BBS.......................82-051-801-7330...2400 Baud Patrick McKibbins, Sysop...................................APO Address The Pet Mart BBS.............................414-365-9127....2400 Baud Pet Mart, Inc., Sysop.............................Milwaukee, Wisconsin Altair IV BBS................................713-947-2253....2400 Baud Richard Bowers, Sysop..................................Pasadena, Texas KCYFC/KYFC-TV................................913-262-0220....2400 Baud Kansas City Youth For Christ, Sysop...................Westwood, Kansas Game World BBS...............................302-684-1504....2400 Baud Marshall Jackson, Sysop...............................Milton, Delaware Beauty and the Beast.........................302-325-9848....9600 Baud Ken Frost Jr., Sysop..............................New Castle, Delaware Thunder BBS..................................312-929-1581....2400 Baud Corneliu Caraba, Sysop...............................Chicago, Illinois The Brainstorm BBS...........................702-362-9534....9600 Baud Rodney Peeden, Sysop.................................Las Vegas, Nevada The Enforcer BBS.............................602-331-1641...14400 Baud Tony Posante, Sysop...................................Phoenix, Arizona The Farm BBS.................................206-264-4281...38400 Baud Perry Farmer, Sysop.................................Tenino, Washington The Candle Light BBS.........................207-897-6036....2400 Baud Rhad Davis, Sysop.....................................Readfield, Maine Chaser's Moon................................Phone Unknown...2400 Baud Denn Kupp, Sysop......................................Augusta, Georgia Dave & Jean's BBS............................707-554-3801...38400 Baud David Jones, Sysop.................................Vellejo, California Corona BBS...................................312-582-4657....2400 Baud Jesse Reyes, Sysop...................................Chicago, Illinois Gambol BBS...................................206-876-3602...38400 Baud Andy Sisler, Sysop............................Port Orchard, Washington Assistive Technologies of Alaska.............907-277-1399....2400 Baud Assistive Technologies of Alaska, Sysop..............Anchorage, Alaska Gateway BBS..................................907-376-7075....2400 Baud Erik Namtvedt, Sysop...................................Wasilla, Alaska The Graveyard BBS............................606-789-8751...14400 Baud Charles Perry, Sysop.............................Paintsville, Kentucky Autolink.....................................Phone Unknown...2400 Baud Mike Wipf, Sysop........................Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada The Lighthouse BBS...........................704-894-2231....2400 Baud Mark Hornbeck, Sysop............................Saluda, North Carolina The CAiCE BBS................................813-664-1276....9600 Baud AGA Computer Services, Sysop............................Tampa, Florida The Upper Room BBS...........................208-343-5817....2400 Baud Steve McNutt, Sysop.......................................Boise, Idaho Salina's Best BBS............................913-823-8651....2400 Baud Daniel Szatkowski, Sysop................................Salina, Kansas The Diogenes Club............................Phone Unknown..38400 Baud John Kaniecki, Sysop...............................Matawan, New Jersey Pipeline BBS...............................351-1-947-6084...14400 Baud Paulo Monteiro, Sysop..........................2830 Barreiro, Portugal Sprawling BBS................................519-474-0433...19200 Baud James MacIntosh, Sysop.........................London, Ontario, Canada C.K.P.C......................................206-698-9455....2400 Baud Central Kitsap Presbyterian Church, Sysop........Bremerton, Washington The Womb.....................................713-597-9662...14400 Baud Bill Choice Jr., Sysop..................................Houston, Texas In addition, there were 14 new private SPITFIRE BBS Systems registered. These private SPITFIRE BBS's included registrations from: Ansonia, Connecticut; Fort Scott, Kansas; Falmouth, Maine; Greenwich, Connecticut; Cheshire, England; Nevada, Missouri; Peoria, Arizona; Hamilton, Ohio; Omaha, Nebraska; Muskegon, Michigan; Langley, Virginia; Cairns Qld, Australia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Sacrmento, California. There were 21 registrations for whom registration information was incomplete. These included BBS's in: Seattle, Washington; Galesburg, Illinois; Iverness, Illinois; Newmarket, Ontario, Canada; Crowley, Louisiana; Northbrook, Illinois; Annandale, Virginia; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 2 in San Jose, California; Lostock, Bolton, England; Chicago, Illinois; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Metairie, Louisiana; Davistown, NSW, Australia; London, Ontario, Canada; Strathroy, Ontario, Canada; Hartford, Wisconsin; Houston, Texas; Windsor, Ontario, Canada; and Le Mans, France. The increase in registrations where information is incomplete is largely due to Buffalo Creek's Software's new policy of accepting on-line Mastercard and Visa credit card registrations. JUST A REMINDER...the newsletter is always looking for contributions! Please forward any articles in ASCII text to either Buffalo Creek's BBS or The Mother Board BBS.