The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2 / The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO / lan / netpak23.zip / A2T.DOC next >

Wrap

Text File | 1992-10-06 | 17KB | 364 lines

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░║ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ║ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░║ │ ─ │ └─┐ ┌─┘ ║ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░║ │ ┌─┐ │ 2 │ │ ║ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░║ └─┘ └─┘ └─┘ ║ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ A2T version 2.3d copyright (c) Robert Kirby compuserve id 76620,2313 Disclaimer: Use this software at your own risk. No guarantees or warranties. File info: VALIDATE 0.3 Copyright 1988-89 by McAfee Associates. (408) 988-3832 File Name: a2t.exe Size: 15,904 Date: 1-2-1990 File Authentication: Check Method 1 - 49C6 Check Method 2 - 0A4F A2T.EXE --> executable program. A2T.DOC --> the docs. Introduction to A2T, the ASCII to Telix dial directory utility: This is a program to convert an ASCII file, such as a BBS list into a Telix dialing directory. The program is relatively fast and command line driven. I tailored the default configuration after a popular BBS list that we have here in Houston called "Judy's List", and the most common dialing directory settings for an IBM PC or compatible but these defaults can all be overridden with the config parameter. With A2T, I can set up all sorts of BBS lists that I download as a Telix dialing directory without having to type them up. A2T will compile up to 1000 BBS names and numbers from an ASCII BBS list. I have listed some configs for popular BBS lists towards the end of this file. Instructions for running A2T: 1) setup the bbs list - this is crucial for proper results. 2) if you plan to overwrite your current Telix dial dir, MAKE A BACKUP of the file named TELIX.FON! 2) run a2t At this time, A2T has 3 optional parameters. They are the input parameter, the output parameter, and the config parameter. The input parameter is the name of your BBS list in ASCII form. This must come BEFORE the output parameter on the command line. The output parameter if the name of the dialing directory file to be created. Both of these parameters are optional. If you leave the first one off, A2T will assume you are using an ASCII input file called INPUT.BBS and the output file will automatically be OUTPUT.FON. To take advantage of the second optional output filename parameter, you must enter the first parameter also. No suffixes are assumed, that is you must enter them (if you want them) in the filename parameters. You may enter paths for these parameters. The third optional parameter is the config parameter. This is how you control the compiling of your BBS list. The third optional parameter is preceeded by a forward slash, and then a code list to inform A2T what you want done with the BBS list. This parameter can appear anywhere on the command line, but you may have only one config parameter. Config codes can be strung together in the config parameter. If you enter no config parameter at all, you will be given a dialing directory that will use 2400bps, and the BBS list should use a '.' for the delimiter for the BBS name, and a ' ' for the delimiter for the phone number. This was the easiest way to compile Judy's list, but you can override these defaults with config parameters. The codes in the config parameter are listed after the forward slash and can be combined in various ways but they must have the proper syntax as described below. Note in the descriptions below, a COLUMN is the width of ONE character. Only the first 80 characters in each line of the BBS list can be processed. Here are the config parameter definitions: /? where ? = ? This simply displays a quick reference help screen. /B? where ? = 0, 1, 2, or 9 This is the Bps parameter code, and will define the bps rate that you want in your dial dir. Here are the code parameter definitions: 0 = 300 bps 1 = 1200 bps 2 = 2400 bps 9 = 9600 bps Note: you'll soon find that the B parameter should be the last one on your list. If added to the N or P it will terminate processing at that point, so make it the last one if you have more on the code string. /D? where ? = S or , or . or * or 0 This is Delimiter parameter code. When I first wrote A2T, I wrote it for Judy's list which contained a period for the first delimiter (which terminates the BBS name) and space for the second delimiter (which terminates the phone number). This strange case is still the default if you don't give a delimiter parameter, but if you give one, both the BBS name and BBS number delimiters become the delimiter that you specify. Here are the code parameter definitions: S = a space delimiter , = a comma delimiter * = a star delimiter . = a period delimiter 0 = no delimiter (you get the maximum characters for each field) /I? where ? = 0 through 9 This is the Ignore parameter code. This will skip a given number of FIELDS in the BBS list, before processing the BBS NAME. Note that each field is terminated by a delimiter. Since I originally wrote A2T for a case in which the two delimiters were different, the FIRST delimiter (a period) is used for the default case. This can be combined with the D config parameter to use a different delimiter. The delimiter given will only be for the BBS name. The default delimiter of a space will still be used for the number. I put the minimal amount of effort into the I parameter but will try to expand upon it in future releases. Also note that a delimiter consists of one character. For example, if you are using a space for a delimiter, and you have several spaces before the BBS name is to be processed, they are each a field skip and must be counted separately. A total of 9 fields can be skipped. Note: the following config codes must trail a name or phone number code, so that is why they are listed AFTER the N or P code. /N??d! where ?? = a 2 digit number, and ! = BBS name delimiter This is the BBS name parameter code. This will move to the Nth COLUMN on one line of the BBS list before proceeding to process the first field. This parameter shouldn't be combined with the I parameter. The ?? field must be a two digit number, and it specifies the Nth column to move to before processing the BBS name. The number must be two digits even if less than 10. i.e. 09 is OK but 9 isn't. After the ?? field is processed, a D (or L as described below) parameter code is looked for. In this way, you may specify a unique delimiter for the BBS name. The D parameter follows the same rules as the global d parameter, and if left off will default to a period. This code can be combined with the following P parameter, and used to specify the starting columns for both the BBS name and phone number, with unique delimiters for each. Either the N or the P must be the first parameter in the code list, i.e. the first character after the backslash. /P??d! where ?? = a 2 digit number, and ! = Phone Number delimiter This is the phone number parameter code. This will move to the Pth COLUMN on one line of the BBS list before preceeding to process the SECOND field, i.e. the phone number. This parameter shouldn't be combined with the I parameter. The ?? field must be a two digit number, and it specifies the Pth column to move over before processing the phone number. After the ?? field is processed, a D (or L) code will be looked for. Again, the ?? field must be a two digit number including numbers less than 10, so 08 is OK but 8 isn't. In this way, you can specify a unique delimiter for the phone number. The d parameter follows the same rules as the global D parameter, and if left off will default to a space. This code can be combined with the preceeding N parameter, and used to specify the starting columns for both the BBS name and phone number, with unique delimiters for each. Either the N or the P must be the first parameter in the code list, i.e. the first character after the backslash. NOTE: unless the P parameter is used, the default will be to look for the first occurance of digits after the BBS name delimiter or max length occurred. /N??L!! where !! = a 2 digit number. This is the length parameter code. This will specify the maximum number of columns that either the name or the phone field can occupy. This parameter can be added onto either the phone or name code but shouldn't be combined with the delimiter parameter. It is for the situation where you want to ignore delimiters and simply take a specified number of characters beginning at the starting column of either the name or the phone field. The L must be followed by a TWO digit parameter specifying the width of the field. It comes in very handy with bbs names that have spaces in the names but no delimiter to terminate them. If you go over the maximum of 25 characters for the name or 17 characters for the phone, then you will be given the maximum. Setting up the BBS list file: This is the most important part of the whole deal. As mentioned earlier, I tailored the program after a popular list here in Houston, and used the format of that list so that minor modifications to the list would render it usable. Three characters have special meanings in the ASCII text file. They are: ';' -----> the semicolon in the FIRST COLUMN of the line, is used to comment out the whole line. It is VERY important to comment out any line that is not going to be processed! '.' -----> (or the delimiter you gave on the command line) the period is used to terminate the NAME of the BBS. This worked fairly well with Judy's list, although I did have to add a terminating period to one or two names, and one or two or three names terminated early because they had periods in the name. Telix only allows 25 characters for a name, so it is wise to stay below this in your entries. ' ' -----> (or the delimiter you gave on the command line) the space is used to terminate the PHONE NUMBER of the BBS. Telix only allows 17 characters for a phone number, so it is wise to stay below this in your entries. ;BBS List setup Example: ; second is the number, variable length <= 17 (space terminates) ; Comment line v BBS Name.........212-111-1111 Maybe a comment could be here... ; ^ ; the name comes first, variable length <= 25 (period terminates) ; ; Note : this is the DEFAULT, you can override these settings with parameters The rest of the information in the ASCII import file will be discarded. There are some other givens that you should be aware of. These are the most common settings in a Telix dialing directory for an IBM PC or compatible user: Parity = NONE Data Bits = 8 Stop Bits = 1 Protocol = Zmodem Emulation = ANSI-BBS Script = Left Blank Password = Left Blank Command line Examples: A picture tells 2000 words (that is if you're in text mode) MSDOS_Prompt> A2T [D:path\file] [[D:path\file]] /config parameter (can appear ^ ^ anywhere on command line | | and consists of strings | | of codes) | | | | This is the optional input file This is the optional output file parameter. If left off, A2T parameter which is only accessible will assume an input file name by entering the input parameter. of 'input.bbs'. If left off, A2T will assume an output filename of 'output.fon'. Config parameter examples: Note: the default (with no config parameter) is 2400bps, a period for the first delimiter with processing beginning in the first column, and a space for the second delimiter with processing beginning where the numbers start. Judy's 80COL.TXT BBS list will compile fairly well with no parameters given. To override these defaults, use config parameters. /D,I4 use comma for delimiter, skip 4 fields first /B9DS use bps rate of 9600, use a space for the delimiter /B1DsI2 use bps of 1200, use a space for delimiter, ignore 1st 2 fields /n01L22p23 start at column 1, use a length of 22 characters for the bbs name, and start at column 23 for the phone number use the default phone number delimiter of a space. (a little secret : even though I wrote the program defaults with Judy's 80COL.TXT in mind, this results in a cleaner looking dial dir) /n01d0p52L08 start looking for the name in col one, with the max width for the field. next get the phone number at col. 52 with a length of 8 characters. This works nicely on Judy's 64COL.TXT BBS list. /n12ds start at the 12th column, use a space for a delimiter. This config works nicely on the PHOENIX Nodelist (with the NetHost Lines commented out). Do not leave this list in the Phoenix directory or you will have problems. /n59d0p01 start at the 59th column for the name and don't use a delimiter, start at the 1st column for the phone number, use (default) space for a delimiter.. this works nicely on USBBS66.LST (the eoln is used for the bbs name delimiter, and since it's such a big list, it will terminate at 1000 records.) /n17L20p38 start at the 17th column for the name and use a maximum length of 20 characters, then start at the 38th column for the phone number and use (default) space for a delimiter. this works nicely on WORLDBBS.LST. (although the format at the end of this list had to be commented out since it was very chaotic. --got most of it though.) Messages: The + and * will click off for every 25 records that have been processed. If you simply enter : MSDOS_Prompt> A2T Then a help display will scroll on your screen. (you get same with A2T /?) "Output file exists. Hit <ESC> to abort, any other key if OK." If the output file you give exists, you will be notified. You will be prompted to hit the <ESC> key to abort the compilation if you do not want your output file overwritten. If you hit any other key, the compilation will proceed. "<BEEP>Sorry, one of your config codes has an error, try again." The main causes for this message is you have a syntax error in your config parameter list. "<BEEP>Sorry, the input file you gave doesn't exist, try again." Self explanatory. "<BEEP>Sorry, your output/path has a problem, try again." Self explanatory. Version info: 1.0 - 12-24-89 This is it! The first version. I hope to add more enhancements very soon. 1.1 - 12-24-89 Corrected a problem that occurred when the user entered an incorrect bps parameter. 2.0 - 12-25-89 Added more parameter command line options and changed some. 2.1 - 12-26-89 Improved the record processing display. 2.2 - 12-27-89 * Added the N and P parameters and took away the M parameter since the N will do the same thing and more. * Improved the record processing display to display both reading and writing. * Added more error checking. * Changed the default output filename to 'OUTPUT.FON' 2.3 - 12-29-89 * Changed the default input filename to 'INPUT.BBS'. * added the help screen for the ? parameter or A2T w/ no parameters. * Added more error checking * Added the L parameter 2.3c 12-30-89 * a little better display of the processing * a little better display of help 2.3d 1-1-90 * not much change, just found a few minor errors in the help text.