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The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2
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The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO
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dman_300.zip
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HISTORY.DOC
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1992-11-15
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20KB
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392 lines
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ UPDATE HISTORY ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
Version 1.10 (2-12-92)
The first released version. Had a couple of minor bugs <grin> but they
were taken care of before too many copies got out.
===========================================================================
Version 1.20 (2-17-92)
Added "Command Stacking" enabling users to specify up to 5 doors in any one
category to enter in sequence. Between doors, they are presented with
their time left and the number of doors left in the sequence, then asked
whether to (C)ontinue or (A)bort. Saves time in that they do not have to
go back to the menu each time.
This is a prime example of "User Suggestion Implementation"! A Special
Thanx goes out to Mike Turner.
Added "Door Sponsorship" capability. If you enter a "Sponsor" for a door
in DoorEdit, then each time the door is entered, a "This door sponsored by"
message is displayed in place of the "Please Wait".
Made a few cosmetic alteration to DoorEdit. Basically, got rid of the
annoying green screen when editing doors!
Still working on a way to reduce the memory requirements! Might have a
solution. Watch for v1.30!!
===========================================================================
Version 2.01 (3-20-92)
What happened to 1.30? Well, I made soooo Many changes in this version, I
thought it deserved a 2. Here are the changes. All changes ending with
(USF!) were "User Suggested Features"!
Fixed the "Time Bug"! The door now keeps track of the user's time like
it's supposed to. This includes the "Time Limit Exceeded" message if you
entered the door with 999 minutes left!
Added a configureable "Max Time In Door" for each door! (USF!)
Added an option to show which doors are registered in the menus. (USF!)
Added a global toggle for the option above in case you don't want your
users to know which door are registered. (USF!)
Fixed the bug causing DoorMan to display "sponsored by ". It
will now omit the message completely like it's supposed to!
Added an Exit option at the Door Menu level. Users no longer have to abort
to the Category menu in order to exit. (USF!)
Did a MAJOR overhaul on DoorEdit! Try editing some doors, I think you'll
like it!
Upped the limits to 15 categories of 15 doors each for a grand total of
225! (USF!)
As a result of the last change, the menus now display "faster" since the
title box is no longer displayed.
Did a MAJOR overhaul on Setup! You can now edit config files as well as
create them, and you can use your arrow keys!
Fixed the "Empty Graph" bug in DoorStat! This one is kinda like a
double-edged sword however. If you weren't keeping a "verbose" log up till
now (DOORMAN.LOG) you will have to scrap all your old data. This is due to
the fact that the format for DOORMAN.DAT was changed completely. There is
no way to convert the current file to the new format <sorry>. However, if
you were keeping a .LOG file, I have included a utility to read it and
create a new DOORMAN.DAT file from it. Simply put LOG2DAT.EXE in your
DoorMan directory and run it. I will overwrite any DOORMAN.DAT file
already there. In the process of the conversion, it will purge any entries
that do not have a corresponding entry in the .CAT file. In other words,
any entries for doors you have deleted, and any "Viewed Graphs" entries.
They will still be in the .LOG file, but they won't be in the .DAT file
since DoorStat has no need for them. This should only have to be done
once, but I do recommend you keep the .LOG file for a while until the new
format has been fully tested. I actually never figured out what was
causing the .DAT file to get scrambled, but I think I have a good idea and
I think/hope/pray it's fixed!
With the exception of Category #1, all the category selections are now
"Hot-Keyed". Category #1 will also be if you have less than 10 categories.
All letter responses are now "Hot Keyed". These include (E)xit, (A)bort,
(C)ontinue, and (V)iew Graphs.
The program now generates the title screen. Therefore, the DMTITL.???
files are no longer needed, you can delete them.
The Menus are now "abortable". If a user hits a key, any key, while the
menu is being displayed (or before), it will be aborted and go straight to
the prompt. However, if the user aborts the menu by accident, the can hit
Enter and the rest of the menu will display.
Last but most certainly not least, the memory requirement for DoorMan has
been reduced by a whopping 83K! The door now requires only 32K of memory.
This was accomplished by going to a loader. Thus, you now have DoorMan and
DoorMenu in your directory. DoorMan is now simply a loader to load
DoorMenu. You need not change anything in your BAT files!!! Leave them
alone, they will work fine!
===========================================================================
Version 3.00 (11-15-92)
This version is almost a complete and total re-write! Just about
EVERYTHING has been changed!
The memory requirements have been reduced another 8K or so due to the fact
that the "loader" is now compiled using PDS 7.1 instead of QB4.5.
In fact, with the exception of the door itself, all other programs in the
package are now written in PDS 7.1. The author of the communications
library used to develop the door is currently working on a version for PDS,
when he finishes it, the door will also be written in PDS. This should
GREATLY improve the speed of the program and GREATLY reduce the size of the
DoorMenu.Exe file!
Added support for PCBoard.Sys. Actually, it was there all the time but
undocumented due to the fact that I had no way of getting the caller's
security level. Why? It's not included in the PCBOARD.SYS file. In the
process of writing the Caller Info File conversion routine, I acquired the
knowledge on how to read the PCBoard.Dat file and Users database to get the
user's security level. Therefore, the door will now work with PCBoard.
Added the Caller Info File converter. Now, when adding a door to the
menus, you simply tell DoorMan what info file the door is set up to use.
When the door is run, DoorMan will read whatever file your BBS creates and
write whatever file the door wants! This has been EXTENSIVELY tested on my
system and is working flawlessly! However, if you have any problems with a
door, let me know so I can figure out why and fix it! The doors you're
most likely to have trouble with are those written for PCBoard ONLY. That
is, running those doors on something other than PCBoard. Reason: some of
those doors require more than the PCBoard.Sys, PCBoard.DAT and Users
database that DoorMan will create.
Added the Bat File creator. When adding doors, you now specify the
commands to run the door within DoorEdit. When the door is run, DoorMan
will create a bat file containing all the necessary directory changes and
the commands you have told it are needed to run the door. If you are
running a Multi-node system, there are a number of "symbols" available
to replace node specific commands in the Run Commands. If you are
converting from v2.01, the DMV2-V3 utility will read the bat file names
from your current DoorMan.Cat file and convert the Bat files also! (USF!)
Added scoreboards and a configurable security level for viewing scores.
When adding doors, can specify both ansi and ascii files for each door.
The user then simply points the cursor at a door and hits "S" for Scores.
DoorMan will first look in the Scoreboard directory you have defined for
the appropriate file. If it doesn't find it there, it will then look in
the door's directory. Wherever it finds the file, it will display it to
the user and wait for them to press a key. (USF!)
Added support for Multi-taskers. DoorMan will now auto-detect what
environment it is running under (ie DOS, DV, TopView, Double Dos, or
Windows 3.x). If DoorMan detects that a multi-tasker is in use, it will
give up it's time slices when doing nothing but polling the keyboard. This
will result in about a 50% increase is system speed when setting at the
menu prompt! At least that's what it did on my system running under
DESQView 2.41.
Added Security Level based access for categories. (USF!)
Added the Hidden flag to both categories and Doors. If flagged as Hidden,
the door or category will not show up in the user's menu if they don't have
access based on their security level. This is how it was in version 2.
However, if *NOT* flagged as Hidden, the door or category *WILL* show up in
the menu but will have a red X at the end of the description. If the user
attempts to enter it, they will be informed that they do not have access to
it and not allowed to enter it. (USF!)
Added a 9600+ flag for each door. Don't know if there's a need for this
yet or not. It's mainly in preparation for future Bland Software doors.
My next endeavors are going to be 9600+ specific doors. In other words,
LOTS of graphics and animation! These doors will be unplayable at 1200,
unbearable at 2400, nice at 9600, good at 14,400 and Excellent at 16,800
and above!
Added 6 new menu styles and Random. Each category now has a configurable
Menu Style. If you set it to one of styles, that one will be displayed
each time the category is displayed. If you set it to Random, DoorMan will
choose one of the styles each time the menu is displayed (including a
Refresh command!) Talking about messing up users! More menu styles will
be added in the future! If you have one you'd like to see in there, send
me an ANSI screen and I'll see what I can do!
Added defaults in DoorEdit. Now, when you go to add a door or category,
DoorEdit will bring up the defaults you have entered as a starting point,
should save a LOT of time when adding new items! (USF!)
Added context sensitive help to DoorEdit and DoorStat. From just about ANY
prompt in either program, you can hit F2 and get a help screen.
Added a cursor instead of entering numbers to choose doors and categories.
Added support for ALL arrow keys to move the cursor! Try it, you can use
the grey arrow keys, the white arrow keys with Num Lock off, the white
arrow keys with Num Lock on and the 2 and 8 keys at the top of the
keyboard! This should please just about everyone!
Added a Refresh command for each menu to handle excessive line noise.
Added a Time Left command at each menu. (USF!)
Added the About command. Basically, this is a place for the (C)opyright
notice. However, it's also a good place to advertise my work :)
Added opening screens for each door. If you define a screen name in that
field, when a user selects the door, DoorMan will display the screen before
it runs the door. Good place to advertise contests, ask for sponsorship,
give instructions, etc... (USF!)
Added support for Wildcat's UserInfo.Dat file. If you are running Wildcat
3.x and have doors which modify the users time or time bank, you can now
put those doors into DoorMan. Each time the user enters the door
(including when they return from a door) DoorMan will read in the
UserInfo.Dat file (USF!)
Added support for function keys to change the users time. If you're running
a Wildcat 3.x system, DoorMan will write any changes to the users time to
the UserInfo.Dat file before it exits therefore, any changes you make will
be reflected when the user exits back to the board.
Added a Chat Mode. Actually, there was one there all the time, all you had
to do was hit Alt-C. However, that is internal chat in the communications
library and it contains a bug! The author of the comm library swears he
can't find it, but if you let it word wrap a couple of times, you WILL get
an Error #5 and the program will exit! The chat that's there now is one
I've written and it will word wrap just fine! I am thinking about making
it a Split Screen chat for those with ANSI, however, it'll only be done if
someone else wants it. If you want a split screen chat, let me know!
(USF!)
Added a function key to Shell to Dos. This gives about a 186K shell or so.
Should be adequate to go out and look at some files or something like that.
If a bigger shell is needed, I'm working on making it swap to disk (or EMS)
when it shells. (USF!)
Added a function key to Hang Up on really obnoxious users! This comes with
a configurable message to send before hanging up also.
Added a key to DoorMan. For those of you who don't like keys, sorry.
Here's the deal, DoorMan has been out there for quite some time now, I've
received in excess of 100 calls, messages, and Netmails telling me how good
the program is, it's been downloaded (at last check) 300+ times from the
Wildcat Sysop BBS alone, and I've received about 20 registrations.
Something's wrong here, dontcha think? Therefore, ALL programs coming from
me will be keyed!
Added a key to DoorStat. Out of the 20 or so registrations I've gotten for
DoorMan, only 2 have included registration for DoorStat. Therefore, the
utility is either not wanted, or people are using it unregistered. This
will no longer occur. If it is not registered within 32 days, it will
simply cease to function. The user will be informed if the key has
expired, or if the program is not there at all. Therefore, if you don't
want it, just delete it, it won't cause any problems.
Added SysOp definable Title and Goodbye screens. The default title screen
is GONE! But, there is a place where you can define one of your own if you
want one displayed. Same goes for a Goodbye screen, if there's a file name
in the config and DoorMan finds the screen, it will display it and wait for
a keypress. At present, these screens are *NOT* abortable, if you'd like
them to be abortable, let me know. All I have to do is go in and change
"" to " " in the command that sends the screen. (USF!)
Added the user's Security level and the environment to the status line.
Added the ability to move doors between categories, position doors within a
category, position categories in the menu, and show all doors in just about
any order you could want. (USF!)
Added security level checking to the graphs. What good is it to hide some
doors just to have them show up when a user creates a graph? Now, they
will not show up if the user doesn't have access to them!
Added user names to the Log file. Actually, I replaced the category with
the user name. You know what category the doors are in, why list it in the
log file? (USF!)
Added a Shell to Dos feature to DoorEdit. (USF!)
Added support for an Alias in DoorEdit and DoorMan. If you have an alias
defined in DoorEdit, DoorMan will use it whenever it wants to display your
name in the door instead of your Real Name. (USF!)
Added the ability to define more than one node as usable by a door. In
previous versions, you could only tell DoorMan that a door could either be
used on a single node or All Nodes. Now, you can have a list of nodes the
door is valid on and All Nodes.
Added the ability to exclude SysOp's door usage from the stats. (USF!)
Changed the format for the .DAT file. The net result is a decrease in the
number of bytes for each entry. Therefore, your DoorMan.Dat file will be
smaller and the amount of time needed to gather data when creating a graph
will be smaller. There is a utility to convert your current .DAT file to
the new format, however, I'm not shipping it with the door in order to keep
the archive a little smaller. If you want to save your old data, you can
simply download the utility from me. I'm in the process of writing a Log
and Dat file management utility. This will do the above conversion, allow
conversion from the Log file to the Dat file, allow purging of either file
based on date (kill anything over xx days old, allow cleaning up of the
file (delete entries for doors that are no longer on the system), and
anything else I can think of.
Change the X = Exit command so that it will abort the menus and IMMEDIATELY
exit the program! (USF!)
Fixed the bug which wouldn't allow you to delete doors and categories!
Actually, since DoorEdit was completely re-written it's more of a case of
didn't add the bug back in :)
Fixed the bug causing DoorStat to create a graph with nothing but the
Y-axis. If no data is available it should either exit without creating a
graph, or create a full size blank graph.
Fixed the user inactivity routine. You should no longer come in to find
that a user has been setting in DoorMan for hours! It will now warn them
after 90 seconds of inactivity, then boot them after 120 seconds!
Fixed the bug with security levels on Remote Access systems. In previous
versions, security levels were treated as integers, therefore they were
limited to a range of -32768 to 32768. Was just fine for most systems,
however, the SysOp security level on Remote Access systems is 54000.
Therefore, DoorMan DIED! Security levels are now treated as Long Integers
and have a range of -2 million something to 2 million something!
Fixed the bug causing doors to be shown as "In Use" when they really
weren't. Now, every time DoorMan is run it will look for any files
relating to the current node and delete them before it enters the door.
There should be no files for the current node if it's just starting up.
This will kill any "use" files for that node and hence keep things cleaned
up. There is still one condition which will cause an erroneous "in use"
message. Let's say a user calls on Node 1, goes into DoorMan, then on into
a door. While in the door, an error occurs and the user doesn't return to
DoorMan (therefore the "use" file doesn't get deleted). If a user comes in
on any other node and attempts to use that door *BEFORE* someone else comes
into DoorMan on node 1 again, they will get an erroneous message. However,
the next time someone enters DoorMan on node 1 the file will be deleted and
all will be back to normal. Haven't found any way to eliminate this one!
Well, that's about it for changes and additions to this version, seems like
there are more, but I can't think of them right now, if you find them,
you'll know they're there.
==========================================================================
Up Next!
Support for "Sub-Categories" within each category. The net effect will be
an unlimited number of doors supported! This may or may not happen, not
sure yet? Any need for it?
User definable utilities in DoorEdit. Instead of a shell to dos, why not
have a place to put say, Norton Commander? Just hit a key and boom you're
in Norton Commander, or TheDraw, or any other utility you care to use.
Sysop Definable Graphs in the door. In other words, when the users chooses
"G" for Graphs, they will first be given a menu of graphs you've already
set up plus a "Roll Your Own" option.
Get the size of the DoorMenu.Exe down!!!! The thing's getting outta hand!
As soon as the PDS version of the comm library is completed, I'll be able
to do this!
Support for more nodes. The current limit is 9, I have a way to increase
this to at least 36, but don't know if there's a need. If you need it, let
me know!
More menu styles! If you've got one you like, send me an ANSI screen and
I'll get it in there! The only real limitations are that the screen can be
no more than 20 lines long (need 3 lines at the bottom to display the
commands plus 2 lines for the status bar) and that the area for the choices
be a box at least 73 characters wide and 16 lines. This is not including
the area for the Title. This is just the space where the doors or
categories will be inserted. Other than that, anything goes!
Specific support for Other BBS types. On the drawing board now is the
option of creating bulletins using Renegade color codes. If your BBS reads
a file back in when it returns from a door (like Wildcat's UserInfo.Dat),
let me know the specs and I'll have it supported. Same goes for color
codes in the bulletins, send me the specs!
Anything else you would care to suggest!!!