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Welcome to:
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╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═════╝
Version 10
Software by Simon Avery
FidoNet 2:255/20.1
FidoNet 2:254/255.29
Email: savery@mercury.zynet.co.uk
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Contents: │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
SYNOPSIS
DISCLAIMER
CONDITIONS OF COPYING
WHAT'S NEW? (See HISTORY.TXT)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
FILE LIST
QUICK START
CONFIGURING TAG-O-MATIC
USING TAG-O-MATIC
USING TAG-O-MATIC WITH TerMail
USING PERSONALISED MACROS
TAG-ADOPTION
FILTERING
TAGFILES
DUPE-CHECKING
REFORMATTING TEXT
USING SIGFILES
UPGRADING
PROBLEMS
WHY REGISTER?
TECHNICAL STUFF
CREDITS
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SYNOPSIS │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Program Name : Tag-O-Matic
(Previously called Tag-Nabbit)
(Previously called TAG-TAG)
(Confused? You will be...)
Ware : FreeWare
Purpose : Superior TagTool and SigTool
Language Used : Borland Turbo C v.3.0 DOS
Release Date : As in HISTORY.TXT
Why?
Because when I changed from Bluewave OLR, I found that none of the
point programs had very much in the way of tagline support. Ok, there
are other tagtools around, but none suited my needs.
They were either;
VERY slow, needed their tagfiles compiling, limited the number of taglines,
were pigs to setup, needed registering, needed environments set, used Hi-Ascii,
had non-standard precursors, didn't have sig-support or just plain didn't work!
I started with Tag-Tag, it evolved and became Tag-Nabbit which in turn
evolved into Tag-O-Matic. I'm reasonably happy with it now, AFAIK it's the
fastest and most fully-featured tag-tool around and it's all mine!
Oh yes, I apologise for the docs. They've gotten quite convoluted as T-Matic
has been updated so often. All the information is there (I think), but it's a
bit disjointed. If you can't figure something out, please netmail me.
There's also the chance that some of the less-often used features may have
bugs in 'em. Despite the best efforts of me and beta-testers. If you find
one, let me know and I'll either tell you you're doing it wrong, or I'll
try and fix it. I tend to concentrate on the features that I use myself,
and forget about others. Let me know if that's so.
A big thankyou to Kevin W. Kelly for beta testing and a seemingly endless supply
of good ideas!
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DISCLAIMER / CONDITIONS OF USE │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This program is designed to do a job. Whether it does or not depends a lot on
you, but it should do provided that the system requirements are met by your PC.
I don't guarantee that it does, has ever done, or will ever do anything but take
up a chunk of disk-space.
As far as software support goes, you're looking at it. (Although a friendly
Netmail is usually answered)
On my system, it works perfectly, which is saying something, since a lot of
programs won't. On a 386-sx25 it's fast, and should be acceptable even on an XT.
On a DX4-100, it's VERY fast. As with all programs, it's only as fast as your
computer. It significantly out-performs all other tag programs I've tried.
(Addendum: The more complex T-Matic grows, the slower it works by
neccessity. I can't and won't change this, even if it does mean that some
straight-forwards tagtools are quicker. If you are obsessed with speed and
don't like the new features, then grab an earlier version of T-Matic. The
earlier ones, basic they may be, are certainly quicker then later ones.
V.10: This doesn't hold true now, especially for large tagfiles since the
introduction of the FAST tag picking routine in T-Matic 10
Despite any claims in the FILE_ID.DIZ, it won't make the tea for you, won't
give you a back-massage if you're feeling stressed or snuggle up to you on a
cold winter's night.
It does do taglines though. And sigs. It does them both pretty well (IMO).
Oh yeah, more legal stuff.
This program shall not be reverse-engineered in any way.
You *may* give copies of this program to anyone, provided all the
files in the "Files List" chapter are also supplied.
You *may* distribute this program in any archive or compressed format,
provided all the files in the "Files List" chapter are contained.
The .ZIP format is encouraged, but not forced. Only use .RAR if you must.
By running this program, you are agreeing to this notice. If you don't
agree with this notice, then delete these files and never run the program.
(You'll never know what you missed...)
You may NOT bundle this program with any other program without written
permission of the author. (Ie, please have the common decency to ask!)
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CONDITIONS OF COPYING │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Well... You can copy this program as much as you want. PROVIDED, all files
in the FILE LIST are enclosed in the archive, and that none of these files are
altered. You can add a file or two should you wish, such as a BBS
advertisement or new tagfiles. If you do do this, please add it as a seperate
file, not onto the end of the supplied tagfile. Also please enclose a READ.ME or
similar file saying who you are, and what you've done.
One thing you may not do is charge for copying or duplication in
any way, other than a "reasonable" copy fee in the case of disk vendors. If
you're unsure what I call a "reasonable fee", please contact me, as it's
liable to change with the economy.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Minimum req's:
A PC.
DOS 3.1 or later.
Up to 5 free file handles. (FILES=5 plus whatever is already being used)
Recommended:
A hard disk. (Fast, if you want to use huge tagfiles)
Colour monitor.
A fastish pooter (if you intend using big tagfiles)
A sense of humour.
Tested with:
DOS v.5 through 6.2
Windows 3.1
Windows 95
Termail
cPoint
PPoint
Bluewave
Timed
Golded
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FILE LIST │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FILE_ID DIZ Sysop Stuff
T-MATIC DOC This file.
HISTORY TXT Text file giving version information.
T-MATIC EXE Tag-O-Matic, the program.
TAGLINES TAG A sample tagfile of tags.
LONGTAGS TAG An example of long taglines. (Also used by the /L option)
T-MATIC TEM Example template file for Termail's group function.
T-MATIC NAM Example of a "twit file"
T-ADOPT BAT Example batch file for adopting to alternative file.
Extra Files (Not supplied) :
============================
(Warning! Don't create files with these filenames, or they might get lost!)
T-MATIC.CFG Created by T-Matic automatically.
T-MATIC.DAT Data file created and used by Tag-O-Matic. Keeps note of the
number of taglines in a file, and the current tagline and sig-
file it is at. (For non-random selection)
T-MATIC.DIT Created by the /G option. Deleted after T-Matic picks a tag.
PROCESS.TAG Created when adopting new files. Contains new taglines.
NOT-DUPE.TAG Temp file created when sorting tagfile for dupes.
T-MATIC.$$$ Temp file created when doing various things.
{tagfile}.IDX Index file created automatically for {tagfile}
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ QUICK START │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If you're familiar with the concept of taglines and seperate tools, then just
run T-Matic. Since this is the first time you've run it, it will jump straight
into the Setup screen. Toggle things on and off until you're content, then just
read the file "INSTALL.TXT" which will tell you how to add it to your
mailer so it works automatically. If you get stuck, or can't figure anything out,
then read the rest of the docs. If you're still stuck, drop me a netmail.
Here's a screen-shot from my current config...
Tag-O-Matic V.9.01b (c) Simon Avery Jan 21 1996 British Freeware
───────────────────────────────────┤ Setup ├────────────────────────────────────
TAGID: Tag-O-Matic V.9.01b Freeware
... This is a tagline!
--- Tag-O-Matic V.9.01b (558 Taglines) [Quoted: 0%]
╒═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│ Show Message Info [Yes] Use Macro's [Yes] │
│ Check for Dupes [Yes] Words in date macro [Yes] │
│ Use Registration Info [No] Use macro's in Sigs [Yes] │
│ Use Tagline Total [Yes] Use Tag-Location [Yes] │
│ Use TAGID Kludge [Yes] Use Quoted % [Yes] │
│ Use Trailing CR [No] Use Extended Info [Yes] │
│ Use Lottery Numbers [No] Show Countdown [No] │
│ Prompt [Yes] Filter Hi-Ascii [No] │
│■ Number of Sigs to use [ 9] Adopt to seperate file [Yes] │
│ Edit Reg. String Use fuzzy checking [Yes] │
│ Edit 2nd line Prefix Trim trailing spaces [Yes] │
│ │
╘════════════════════════╡ Tired Dog Software ╞═════════════════════════╛
Number of Sigs to use. (0 if none)
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Use Arrow keys / END / HOME and Space to Edit. ESC to save and quit.
The four lines underneath the -[Setup]- bar change to represent what would
be added to the message.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Configuring Tag-O-Matic │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The first time Tag-O-Matic is run, and can't find T-MATIC.CFG, it will default
to the config screen. (You can do this at any time by typing T-MATIC /C)
Use the up and down arrows to select an item, then space or left and right to
change it. You can use HOME/END to skip to the beginning or end of the
selections.
The options are thus:
1. Show message info (Toggle)
If toggled, T-Matic now pops up another window with some message
details. Number of words, quoted words etc.
It also has a quote-meter. Useful if you're always being nagged to cut down
on quoting. This changes colour according to the percent of quoted text,
and flashes yellow if greater than 80% This works on words rather than lines,
so gives a more accurate reading.
Note that on slow systems this may effect operation speed, since it has to
read the message. On most systems, the delay will be negligible however.
2. Check for Dupes (Toggle)
Change to Y if you want T-Matic to scan for dupes when adopting taglines.
This also filters taglines, using the file TO-KILL.TAG if available.
3. Use Registration Info? (Toggle)
Change to Y if you want "Registered to: Your Name" added to the message.
(Small hint here, this is all you need to do to register Tag-O-Matic...)
4. Use Tag Total? (Toggle)
Change to Y if you want "(n) Taglines" added to message. (Where 'n' is the
total number of taglines if your tagfile. (In case you want to boast.))
5. Method of identification.
You can toggle this to one of three settings:
Tearline: Just adds the tearline, plus anything else you've toggled on.
TAGID: Adds the TAGID kludge to the top of the message.
Both: Does both.
For most purposes, the tearline is suitable. The TAGID is not FTSC
complaint, and some moderators have been known to moan about such things.
Personally, I think they're being petty-minded, but they're entitled to
their opinion.
6. Use trailing CR?
Will add a trailing newline character after it's message. Some mailers
have problems otherwise.
7. Use Lottery Numbers (Toggle)
Just select it from the Configuration menu and it'll add the following line:
-$- Use these Lottery Numbers : 3 15 21 27 33 41
The six numbers will be generated on the fly. BTW, if this program generates a
winning number, you are of course encouraged to break the Freeware concept and
send me lots of money!
8. Prompt
This will pop-up a small menu when running to give you the chance to
either:
A) Accept current tagline.
B) Pick another random tagline.
C) Manually enter your own tagline.
D) No tagline at all.
E) Kill this tagline.
F) Toggle alternative sigfile.
G) Use another tagfile
H) Search for string
I) Edit this tag.
(More on these in "Using T-matic")
9. Number of Sigs? (Number from 0 to 255)
If you don't want to use sigs, then leave this at 0. Otherwise, change it to
the number of sigfiles you want to deal with. More on sigs later.
10. Right Margin (From 30 to 80)
This sets the right margin to start reformatting both long taglines and
text.
11. Edit Registered String (Edit)
If you don't like the "Registered to: Nobody " string, you can change it here.
12. Edit 2nd line Prefix. (Edit)
If you don't like the "--- " prefix used on the second line by Tag-O-Matic,
change it here. Note that only four characters are used. (Including space)
You could change it to ^!^ or ~~~ or --- Whatever. Note that you can't
change the tagline precursor from "... ". This is deliberate and follows the
most common tagline specs.
13. Use Macros (Toggle)
Toggle this for personlised taglines. See section on "USING PERSONALISED
MACROS" for more info.
14. Words in Date Macro (Toggle)
If you want the date converted to words. (ie, "Sat 12 October 1995" instead of
"12/10/1995" then toggle on.
15. Use macros in Sigs (Toggle)
This extends macro support to your sigfile. See "USING PERSONALISED MACROS"
for more info on this. Bear in mind that this will slow down operation, so
if you aren't using them, you'll get more performance by toggling off.
16. Use tag-location (Toggle)
This allows you to place a tagline at a position other than at the end of the
message. To use, place the line:
@TAG_HERE
anywhere in your message. T-Matic will scan through the file, locate that line
and replace it with the tagline. If it's not found, T-Matic will append in the
normal manner. Note that with this, the lottery and second lines are not
appended, but the TAGID kludge is forced on.
17. Use Quoted % (Toggle)
If enabled, this calculates and adds the amount of quoted text to the second
line of T-Matic. Ie, with it enabled, the 2nd line could look like:
--- Tag-O-Matic V.n.x [Quoted: 42%] Registered to: Fred Bloggs
18. Use Extended Info (Toggle)
Pops another small info box onto prompt, giving filenames etc.
19. Show Countdown (Toggle)
Pops a box when searching for the randomly picked tagline. It gives
the current tag number, the total tag number, the chosen tag number and the
number of tags to go. Beware that using this will slow down operation by
around 3 to 4 times, but can be handy so you know it hasn't gone to sleep.
20. Filter Hi-Ascii (Toggle)
Will replace high or low ascii characters and replace with an
asterix (*). Helps moderator's blood-pressure.
21. Adopt to seperate file (Toggle)
When adopting from JAM message bases, will create or append to a
file called PROCESS.TAG. It will still use the tagfile supplied on the
command line for dupe-checking (if enabled), but new tags are saved into
this file. Then you can edit them prior to adding them to the tagfile.
22. Use fuzzy checking (Toggle)
When checking for dupes (globally, not when adopting), T-Matic
can check for "Near enough" dupe-checking. If toggled on, T-Matic will
only compare the alphabetical characters in the tagline. All punctuation,
capitalisation and numerics are ignored. If you check your tagfile,
chances are you'll have two or more tags that are very similar, but are
missed by normal dupe-checking since they may have one character that's
different. (An extra space, a capital letter or anything) Switch this on
if you would like to remove these - there's a minimal speed difference,
but it's really not worth worrying about.
23. Trim trailing spaces (Toggle)
When dupe-checking, T-Matic will remove trailing spaces from all
taglines. If a tagline has lots of spaces after it, then it will confuse
T-Matic and it will often "wrap" it, forcing a second tagline which
contains nothing. Best to leave it on.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ USING Tag-O-Matic │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Command-Line Options: (These must be added as the first argument, ie, before
filenames.)
T-MATIC
Runs config if no .CFG file is found, otherwise just shows the help
screen.
T-MATIC /?
Shows a complete list of arguments and syntax.
T-MATIC /C
Forces Tag-O-Matic to go into the config screen. See above.
T-MATIC /T letter.txt
Text reformatting. See section "REFORMATTING TEXT" for more info.
T-MATIC /L tagfile
Sort through the tagfile. It removes any taglines longer than nn
characters and places them in the file LONGTAGS.TAG (appending if already
present). A backup file OLDTAGS.TAG is created of the original tagfile.
The length of the tagline is set by the right margin in Setup, this ensures
that the tagfile contains no tagline that will wrap onto another line,
ensuring the tagfile only contains taglines that will fit on one line.
T-MATIC /S letter.txt tagfile.tag
Puts Tag-O-Matic in thief mode. It will scan letter.txt and any taglines
it finds will be appended to tagfile.tag. See TAG ADOPTION for more info.
This can be used on certain non-JAM mailbases to globally steal taglines.
T-MATIC /D tagfile.tag
Checks tagfile for dupes. See DUPE-CHECKING for more info. Also does /K.
T-MATIC tagfile.tag letter.txt
Chooses a random tagline from tagfile.tag and appends it to letter.txt.
This is the normal command you'd use.
(If Sigs are used, it will do that as well)
T-MATIC /J tagfile.tag echo_dir
JAMbase thief-mode. T-Matic will scan the directory "echo_dir" for all jam
.JDT files, and will append any taglines it finds into "tagfile.tag". If dupe-
checking is turned on, it will also dupe-check and filter incoming taglines.
T-MATIC /G (!GROUP)
To be run before the message. Will use the file T-MATIC.TEM for reference
and match the !GROUP macro (supplied by Termail) to indicate sigfileSets and a
tagfile. See below for more info.
T-MATIC /W (!MSG)
A stand-alone function. Will generate stats for that message.
Usage T-MATIC /W messagefile or the !MSG macro if calling from Termail.
T-MATIC /A (tagfile) (Otherfile)
Will append the contents of (otherfile) onto the end of (tagfile)
quickly. Does not delete (Otherfile) when done.
The format for the finished tagline is thus:
Line 1: The randomly chosen tagline from the tagfile, with a "... " prefix.
Line 2: Program banner, and if found, registration stuff.
An example:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Line 1:
... "Bother," said Pooh, as Christopher Robin shut the washing machine door.
^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
└ Tagline prefix. └ The tagline
Line 2:
~~~ Tag-O-Matic v.?.? (115) Taglines Registered to: Simon Avery
^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | |
| Program ID. ^ ^ Optional registration string.
└Prefix. └ Number of lines in tagfile (If selected)
If Lottery is enabled, then Line 2 will become line 3, and the lottery
line will replace Line 2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are using sigs (more on this later), Tag-O-Matic will choose a random
sigfile and append it to your message file before it does the tagline.
If you are using a big tagfile, there will be a short pause whilst Tag-O-
Matic counts the lines in it. However, the pause is quite short compared
to some tagtools. If the tagfile hasn't been changed since the last time T-Matic
was run, it doesn't need to re-count all the taglines. With 8.5, T-Matic uses a
seperate index file for each tagfile. These are created automatically, and
updated whenever the tagfile has been changed.
Ie. A tagfile of 12000 lines, running on a 386sx25 and picking, say, line 5000,
would take around 4-5 seconds. Bluewave's internal tagline selector takes
approximately three times that.
With FAST tag picking, it's actually quicker on a large file. On a
smallish file (say, lesser than 100 taglines) it'll be slow and it's recommended
you use SLOW tag picking for that.
You can list all options by typing T-MATIC /?
Use: T-MATIC tagfile.tag letter.txt
Where "tagfile.tag" is your ascii file of taglines.
And "letter.txt" is the letter you want to add a tag to.
If sigs are to be used, they will also be added.
See the enclosed file: INSTALL.TXT for more info on installing T-Matic.
Long taglines.
V.9.0 Tidies up T-Matic's approach to long (greater than 70 char)
taglines. It will split each line and output it with the tagline precursor,
wrapping words etc.
To use this, each tagline should be on a line of its own in the
tagfile, and should be less that 510 characters long. (We have to have some
limits) An example tagfile: LONGTAGS.TAG is supplied. Multi-lined taglines are
banned from most Fido echo's.
T-Matic cannot steal multi-line taglines, unless each line has
its own tagline precursor "... ". If so, then you will have to reformat each
tagline manually.
The Prompt Menu:
With v.7+, there's a rather fancy prompt menu that is displayed at the
time of execution (if enabled in Setup). Scroll through the options with
the arrow keys and select with SPACE or ENTER.
The options are thus:
A) Accept current tagline.
You're happy with the displayed tag, so press and it'll use that tagline
in the message.
B) Pick another random tagline.
As it says, it'll select another tagline.
C)* Manually enter your own tagline.
if you want a tagline that fits in with the message, or you want to
add a pithy one-liner at the end in the guise of a tagline, then select
this. You can then type in your tagline (up to 76 characters).
D) No tagline at all. (Or press ESC)
No tagline, no tearline and no TAGID will be added to the message (just
as if T-Matic had never been run). Useful if you are writing Areafix netmails
or serious letters.
E) Kill this tagline.
If the randomly selected tagline is rude, unsuitable or quite simply
unfunny and you don't want it in your tagfile, select this. It will remove
the tagline (and any duplicates) from your tagfile.
F) Toggle alternative sigfile.
Switch between SIGFILE.nnn and ALT_SIG.nnn. See "Sigfiles" for more info.
G) Use another tagfile
Prompts for the filename of another tagfile. Could be useful if you have
separate tagfiles for different areas, and have a tagfile specifically suited
to the topic of an echo. Once changed, T-Matic will use that tagfile for it's
random selections.
H) Search for string.
Prompts for a string. Type in the word or phrase to look for, and T-Matic
will search the tagfile for any tagline that has that phrase in it. No longer
Case-Sensitive, and will keep picking up the next match until you're happy. If
it reaches the end of the file before it finds a match (or the next match),
it'll use the catchy tagline: "Error getting tag from tagfile!"
I)* Edit this tagline.
You can edit the currently selected tagline.
J) Reverse tagline.
Simply converts the current tagline so that it reads backwards.
* Denotes that with these selections, a box pops up asking whether you want
to save this tag to the current tagfile. No dupe-checking is done at this
point.
Here's a screen-shot from an example run. (Less pretty colours)
┌╒═════════════════════════════╡ Message Info ╞═════════════════════════════╕──┐
││ Tot. Lines : 2 Tot. Words : 6 │ │
││ Quoted Lines: 0 Quoted Words: 0 │ │
└│ New Lines : 2 New Words : 6 │──┘
T│ File Size : 37 bytes Quote Pct : 00% │
M╘══════════════════════════════╡ Tag-O-Matic ╞═════════════════════════════╛
Using index file: TAGS.IDX
F╒╡ TAGID: Tag-O-Matic V.9.01b Freeware ╞══════════════════════════════════╕
H│... "I am Popeye of Borg. Prepare to be askimiligrated." │
│--- Tag-O-Matic V.9.01b (558 Taglines) [Quoted: 0%] │
│ │
│ Fine with you? ╒╡ Current Settings ╞══════════╕ │
│ Care for another? │ 558 to choose from! │ │
│ Enter your own tagline? │ ;~~,__ │ │
│ You'd rather go without? │ :-....,-------'`-'._.'│ │
│ Remove this horrible tagline? │ `-,,, , ,'~~' │ │
│ Which SigfileSet? [Std] │ SIGFILE ; ,'~.__; / │ │
│ Change tagfile? │ TAGS.BW :| :| │ │
│ Search for string? │ `-' `-' │ │
│ Edit this tag? ╘════════╡ Tired Dog Software ╞╛ │
│ Reverse Tagline? │
╘══════════╡ (c) Simon Avery. Press ESC to abort. F10 for Setup ╞═════════╛
╒═════════════════════════╡ Name found in message ╞════════════════════════╕
│ "Simon Avery " │
╘═════════════════[ Ooh! Somebody's sending me a message! ]════════════════╛
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ USING PERSONALISED MACROS (V.8.2+) │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If "Use Macros" is toggled on in Setup, T-Matic will search the selected tagline
for certain codes, and will replace them with a person's name.
The codes are:
@F First name
@L Last name
@N Full name (first and last)
@D Current Date. (In numeric or alpha format, depending on the toggle in Setup)
@T Current Time. (hh:mm:ss)
@R The registered string.
Note that even if "Use Registered To" is toggled off, then these
will still appear.
@Q Quoted Pct. (Expands into "nn%", the amount of quoted text in the message)
@X Name of the sigfile.
If used in a tagfile, it expands into the filename
of the sigfileset selected. If used in a sig, it also includes the
full filename and extension.
@Z Name (Full path) of the tagfile used.
@P Number of tags in the tagfile. (Expands to number only)
Eg. A tagline saved as and used on a message to Fred Bloggs:
Howdy, @F! Do you like my tagline?
Would be translated to:
Howdy, Fred! Do you like my tagline?
Now, you need to make some changes to your template so that when the message is
saved by the mail editor, it puts the person's name on the very first line. T-
Matic reads this line, and deletes it from the message. If the first word is NOT
"~NAME" then T-Matic will not delete that line, although it will attempt to take
the name from the line anyway. It will print a warning, but won't abort. This
may make any personalised tags incorrect, so keep your eyes peeled?
So, in Termail for example. If you template was:
MsgStart Howdy @F!
Change it to:
MsgStart ~NAME @F @L@CRHowdy @F!
(~NAME First name, last name, new line, normal greeting.)
(Please also check out INSTALL.TXT for more info)
If your mail editor doesn't allow for this, and you want to use personalised
tags, then you must enter the person's name manually when you edit the message.
If this is the case, you might find it better to do without macros.
NEW! Version 8.3 extends Macro support to sigfiles. All the macro's above are
available in your sigfiles. Just toggle "Use Macro in sigs" on in Setup, and
experiment.
Here's an example of a raw sigfile.
.-. To: @N
.-. | First Name: @F
.-. | | Last Name: @L
| | | | ___ Time: @T
| | | |/ _ \ ___ Date: @D
| /o\_'| |.' o `. Registered String: @R
| \=/ /| | `___'
\ ___/ / \
\____/ (`__')
When processed, T-Matic will change it to something like: (In a message to
Fred Bloggs)
.-. To: Fred Bloggs
.-. | First Name: Fred
.-. | | Last Name: Bloggs
| | | | ___ Time: 18:42:35
| | | |/ _ \ ___ Date: Fri 29 Dec 1995
| /o\_'| |.' o `. Registered String: Registered To:
| \=/ /| | `___'
\ ___/ / \
\____/ (`__')
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ USING Tag-O-Matic with Termail │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Please see the file INSTALL.TXT for full details.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TAG-ADOPTION │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Although primarily designed for Termail, I see no reason why T-Matic won't
adopt tags from other programs provided they allow for a macro and also
export the current message when allowing for an external program to be run.
NB. T-Matic only adopts "standard" taglines. Ie, those with the most common
tag-precursor: "... " Note that when T-Matic successfully adopts a tag,
it will strip the first four characters (ie, the "... ") before appending
it to your tagfile. It works in a very similar method to Bluewave's
internal tag-stealer.
T-Matic will also check your tagfile for a duplicate of the tagline it's
currently stealing, and if found, will not add it to your tagfile.
Use: T-MATIC /S tagfile.tag letter.txt
Where "letter.txt" is the ascii file containing the taglines you want to steal,
and "tagfile.tag" is the file you want them to end up in.
Configuring Termail for auto tag-steal:
---------------------------------------
(See INSTALL.TXT)
JAM message bases
=================
With version 8.0, T-Matic adds multiple tag-stealing from multiple JAM
message bases. Automatically! This means, that rather than manually adopting
likely-looking tags from your messages, you can run T-Matic in "Klepto" mode
once a week, or whatever, and it will steal all the taglines in your message
base!
To run, simply type:
T-MATIC /J {tagfile.tag} {echo_directory}
tagfile.tag is simply the name of your tagfile.
echo_directory is the echo that houses your JAM message base.
Eg. My echo base is in C:\TERM\TERMAIL\ECHO, and my tagfile is TAGS.BW.
I'd run:
T-MATIC /J TAGS.BW \TERM\TERMAIL\ECHO
(Note that full path is not needed, but easier to explain)
T-Matic will search every file in that directory that has the .JDT file
extension (message text) and grab any tagline that looks likely.
With Termail, you'll probably have two or three directories, such as
ECHO, NETMAIL or SAVEAREA. You'll have to run T-Matic three times to
grab all these.
NB. if T-Matic is configured to "Check for dupes", then it will do this
when mass-stealing. Note that this can slow down operation by a huge amount
(with big tagfiles especially). If you have a large tagfile, then it could
be wise to copy the tagfile onto a ramdrive, or have a large disk cache
to soak up all the searches of the tagfile. I've no intention of loading
the entire tagfile into memory to speed it up, since that would make things
complicated to the user, and reduce the simplicity of T-Matic. If you don't
like it, tough! It also scans TO-KILL.TAG and filters any taglines containing
any strings found in that. (Swearwords, Blue Wave, etc)
BTW, test on my DX4-100, with a 5000 line tagfile, and scanning 85 jambases
(around 10,000 messages), and WITH dupe-checking on, T-Matic took around
2 minutes.
Without dupe-checking, it took around 20-30 seconds.
If you toggle (Adopt to alternative tagfile) then instead of appending the
new taglines onto the tagfile supplied on the command-line, T-Matic will
create or append a file called PROCESS.TAG with all the new taglines.
I'd recommend using dupe-checking unless you have a very slow computer,
or are just trying to get a tagfile started.
With V.8.2, the file TO-KILL.TAG is also checked. If any of those strings
are contained in the new tagline, it is discarded. See FILTERING for more
info on the TO-KILL.TAG file.
Remember that you can always sort and dupe-check your tagfile afterwards!
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FILTERING │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
V.8.9
(Option now covered by /D, but left in 'cos it explains about the TO-
KILL.TAG file.)
Usage:
T-MATIC /K tagfile.tag (/K no longer supported. See /D)
This feature will allow you to delete taglines with certain words in them.
These could be swearwords or whatever. To do this, you need to create a
separate file with your text editor with the words on them.
Enter each word on it's own line, and make sure there are no trailing spaces.
There's a maximum of 20 words/lines.
Eg:
----------------
Flip
Heck
Blue Wave
----------------
(Obviously, I don't want to use proper swear-words here...)
Save this file as TO-KILL.TAG
Now, run "T-Matic /k tagfile.tag". T-matic will search every tagline and if
it contains one of the words in TO-KILL.TAG it will be rejected. Other tags
are retained.
The file TO-KILL.TAG is NOT deleted after use, so you can periodically
check your tagfile for the same words by macro, if you want to.
Also, with V.8.2, this file is checked when adopting taglines (provided
"Check Dupes" is enabled). This screens any new taglines. Also used with
dupe-checking, so the /K switch is almost reduntant - the /D switch does
both dupe-checking and filter-checking.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TAGFILE │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
T-Matic uses "Raw" tagfiles. That is, one tagline = one line of text. The line
can be up to 1024 characters long (any more and they'll be chopped)
and can contain any ascii (hi,lo or mid) characters. See the
enclosed files (TAGLINES.TAG and LONGTAGS.TAG) for examples.
Maximum Tagfile Size
--------------------
Your tagfile can be any size. Theoretically, it can contain up to 4 billion
taglines. However, in version < 9.92b, any taglines higher than 32,000 wouldn't
be picked. They still won't be picked unless Fast tag-picking is enabled.
Big Tagfiles.
-------------
Presently (2 February 1996) my main tagfile is around 1.3Meg in size,
containing over 27,000 non-duplicated taglines. You probably won't want such a
large tagfile, but if you do, T-Matic can evolve to suit you.
As of v.9.3, there is an added option: Fast Tag Picking. Turn this on for any
large tagfiles. It's randomness isn't as unpredictable as the normal method,
hence it's not recommended for small tagfiles. (<500 tags) However, on large
tagfiles, the time difference between this method and the normal method is
huge, so it is recommended.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DUPE-CHECKING │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
T-Matic will automatically check newly entered taglines for duplicates when
it adopts them. (If enabled in Setup).
However, if you already have a large tagfile and it contains some dupes,
then T-Matic can help you out.
This feature is not as developed as it could be (for size reasons), but
works well, PROVIDED you have sorted the file into alphabetical order first.
Sorting the tagfile, prior to checking it for dupes:
----------------------------------------------------
Dos contains a utility called SORT. (Run HELP SORT for more info)
This is fine for small files, and is run with the syntax:
SORT <TAGFILE.TAG >SORTED.TAG
This will create the file SORTED.TAG which contains all the taglines from
TAGFILE.TAG but in alphabetical order.
On large files, SORT runs out of memory. There are other tools around,
notably CUSORT, which can cope with much larger files and it might be
worth seeking these out if you intend to sort a large file. Some word
processors also allow alphabetical sorting of text files too.
Once sorted, you can run T-Matic.
Usage: T-MATIC /D tagfile.tag
This will check every line against the previous one. If they match, the
later version is discarded. It's fast, but it's not particularly clever.
It works, though. It also scans tags for "filtered" words, contained in the
file TO-KILL.TAG, see the above section for more info.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ REFORMATTING TEXT │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
With version 9.9+, T-Matic will now reformat text prior to (or after)
editing.
You may have noticed (and if you've used Termail, you can't have failed to)
that some mail programs, when they create the dropfile when you reply to a
message they wrap long lines messily.
Eg. A paragraph from a message. Prior to reformatting.
SA> This is a long line that's been mutilated by the message editor and
SA> makes
SA> it very hard to read, if you see what I mean.
After reformatting, it'll read something like this:
SA> This is a long line that's been mutilated by the message editor and
SA> makes it very hard to read, if you see what I mean.
Much nicer.
I've only seen one other program that does this, TmNice. However, that
reformats all the text, and needs templates to stop it reformatting your
header and sig. T-Matic, on the other hand, ONLY reformats quoted
paragraphs, so you don't need to worry about templates or anything like
that. This also means you can re-edit a message without the formatter
scrunching what you've already done.
Of course, it's not infallable. Some text, such as Ascii drawing, or
source files are best left unformatted. So, when T-Matic reformats a
message, it creates a file of the original.
Ie, a message called TM.MSG would be reformatted, and the original saved
as TM.BAK
Then, if your message is too scrunched, just load in the original.
Of course, if you're running a decent editor, you can edit the mailer
program so that it calls the editor and loads both the original and the
formatted copies.
See INSTALL.TXT for details on running.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ USING SIGFILES │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
What is a sigfile? Stands for "SIGnature" or "SIGn-off". Basically, you can put
it at the end of your email.
It could be a short one like:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yours sincerely,
Joe Bloggs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or it could be a long one like:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.,:;. .,:;***%***%***%***%*;:,. .,;..:,. .,:;*%***%***%**;:,. .,:;,.
.,:;)o .,ad88888ba,. o);:,. .,:;)o
.,:;(o .,ad8888888888888a, o(;:,. Better to burn out .,:;(o
.,:;)o d8P"""98888P"""98888b, o);:,. than to fade away. .,:;)o
.,:;(o 9b .. d8888, `9888B o(;:,. -Kurt .,:;(o
.,:;)o ,d88aaa8888888b,,,d888P' o);:,,,,... .. . .. ...,,,,:;)o
.,:;(o d8888888888888888888888b o(;:,. Sean Green .,:;(o
.,:;)o d888888P""98888888888888P o);:,. .,:;)o
.,:;(o 88888P' 9888888888888 o(;:,.internet address here .:;(o
.,:;)o `98P' 9888888888P' o);:,. .,:;)o
.,:;. .,:;***%***%*`"9888P"':,. .,;..:,. .,:;**%**%***%**;:,. .,:;,.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Thanks Sean...)
Tag-O-Matic allows up to 255 separate sigfiles, and each one should be
contained in it's own file.
For example, say you had three sigs you wanted to use on a random basis.
Save them as SIGFILE.1, SIGFILE.2, SIGFILE.3 (etc) and type
T-MATIC /C to enter the config screen. Change "Number of Sigs" to 3.
That's it. Now, whenever you run Tag-O-Matic to add a tagline, it will pick a
random sigfile between 1 and 3 (or whatever) and append it to your message
file.
N.B. I take no responsibility for you getting an official warning from an echo
moderator. Extended sigs are banned from a lot of the Fido echo's, so check
first. (Yeah, right!)
NEW! (With v.4.0)
Tag-O-Matic now supports an alternative set of sigfiles. I found this
necessary when using the same copy of Tag-O-Matic with various networks of
which some allows extended sigs, and some did not. Hence...
When run, Tag-O-Matic now searches for a file called "DO_ALT.SIG". This is
still supported in V.7.0, but you can also specify alternative sigs from
the prompt menu.
If found, it will change into Alternative sig mode. The normal rules for sigs
apply, but the new set uses the filenames "ALT_SIG.n" rather than "SIGFILE.n".
This can be quite useful if you are using the one copy of Tag-O-Matic for
various echo's, and some of them allow for extended sigs. The best way to use
this feature in practice is to define a macro in your Word Processor (Protext is
ideal). Ie, ALT-S to save normally. And ALT-Z to save with extended sigs.
Ie. ALT-Z does:
SAVE TM.MSG (change to suit your mailer's dropfile)
SAVE DO_ALT.SIG (Save the same file as DO_ALT.SIG, just so it exists)
QUIT (Reverts back to batch file/mailer which calls Tag-O-Matic)
Tag-O-Matic, if it finds DO_ALT.SIG will change into that mode, and delete the
file when it has finished. Hence, it is very important you don't put anything of
value into that file.
With version 8.4, T-Matic can now be run before the editor to correctly
set your tagfile and sigfile for that group.
A new file is supplied, T-MATIC.TEM, a sample template file for this feature.
Have a look at it, it's fairly self-explanatory.
Edit it in the format:
Groupname (Max. 8 chars) SigfileSet Tagfile Comment
Eg:
%─Group┬─Sigfiles──┬─────Tagfile─────────────────┬──Comment (Unused)─────────┐
B_BAR BAR-SIG BARNET.TAG BarNet from BackYard
S_FIDO SIGFILE TAGS.BW Fidonet from Satellite
The first is the name of the group. This MUST be in capital letters, as Termail
will export it that way.
The second is the filename (Note, no extension - allowing for random sigfiles
means that the numerical extension (1 to the limit set in Setup) is added
automatically, along with the "." seperator.
The third is the name of the tagfile for that group.
The forth is simply a comment so you can remember which is which.
Now, you must again edit TM.CFG. Hunt through for the BeforeEdit string.
Change this to:
BeforeEdit T-MATIC /G !GROUP
T-Matic will search the template file, T-MATIC.TEM for a match to the supplied
group. If it finds it, it will create a small file; T-MATIC.DIT containing the
new sigfileSet and tagfile names. This will be loaded when T-Matic is run after
the message and will default to the new names, over-writing any supplied tagfile
on the command line. T-MATIC.DIT is then deleted.
Also worth remembering, since this feature was added-on as an after-thought,
there must be an equal number of sigfiles of each type. So if you set your
number of sigfiles up as 10 in the config screen, there must be 10 SIGFILE.n's
and 10 ALT_SIG.n's. If you don't like this, you can get a complete refund of all
monies received by you for the use of this program...
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ UPGRADING │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If you're already using an older version of Tag-O-Matic, then upgrading is
fairly simple. Read the HISTORY.TXT file to see what new features you've
now got, and these docs for further enlightment.
Now, run T-MATIC /C
(If an older, non-compatible config file is found, it will ask you if it's
Ok to delete and start anew)
Toggle on anything that looks fun and ESCape to save and quit.
You might want to test T-Matic on a small dummy message just to see that it
does what you want.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PROBLEMS │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
T-Matic has proved reasonably popular, and a few people have asked for help.
I'll try to outline one or two of the most common problems, and their solutions.
Q. Why do I get a space before the tagline pre-cursor?
A. Your message ends, not with a newline character, but with a space. Since
T-Matic appends to the very end of a message, the last character should be a
newline. If you are using Sigs, then your sig could have the trailing space.
Version 7.0 stopped this problem.
Q. T-Matic appears to work, but nothing seems to be added to the message.
A. 1. Is it appending to the correct file?
2. Your editor is appending the ascii character 27 (common amongst older
editors that couldn't use an End-Of-File character). Sometimes this stops
message-viewers dead, and anything below that is ignored. Change editors or
find a way to stop it doing that.
Q. When I change a message, T-Matic keeps adding taglines each time.
A. It doesn't any more. V.6.5 fixes it.
Q. When I change a message, T-Matic doesn't add another tagline, but does add
the TAGID kludge.
A. Version 7.0 fixed that.
Q. T-Matic takes too long picking a tagline.
A. Are you kidding? T-Matic is probably the fastest raw-tagfile taglines
selector around! Compare it to other tagtools and stop moaning!
Q. T-Matic doesn't have twirly tagline selectors, why?
A. Because it's not John Hancock and never will be. It was designed to
be automatic and _FAST_, something JH can never claim to be. JH is pretty,
fun to play with but tends to get annoying after a short while. It's also
shareware. Another point for T-Matic...
Q. T-Matic appends my entire tagfile to the message before I even get
a chance to edit it!
A. Kevin, you set it up wrong in Termail...
Q. The macro's don't work!
A. Check the message has "~NAME (Their name)" on the very first line.
If it doesn't then play around with your templates again. Enable "Macro"
in Setup, and if it still doesn't work, drop me a netmail with the relevant
bit from your TM.CFG file. (Ie, the templates, and the "BeforeEdit" and
"AfterEdit" bits.
Q. The macro string "~NAME ..." gets munched, or disappears.
A. Are you using TmNice? That can confuse things mightily. Also, make sure
you have changed all the templates. It is NOT recommended that you use
TmNice with T-Matic, since T-Matic now has it's own text reformatter which
doesn't scrunch unquoted text.
If you have a genuine problem, drop me a netmail at one of the above
addresses and I'll do my best to help you out.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WHY REGISTER? │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Well, cos basically it costs you nothing, and you can do it in a few seconds...
How to register Tag-O-Matic in three easy steps:
1. Type T-MATIC /C
2. Change the user name to your own name.
3. Toggle option 1. (Use registration Info?), ESC to save and quit.
That's it! When Tag-O-Matic runs it will now add "Registered to: Yourname"
at the end of the banner. Simple huh?
You can also change the "Registered to: " string if you want to. Something like
"Owned by:". Or, if you really want to be nice, you could change both so that
they read "The Best TagTool around!"....
You don't need to send me any money, but I would appreciate a netmail to
say you're using it. Send to 2:255/20.1 or 2:254/255.29 (Simon Avery). You
can also send any bug-reports or new ideas to those addresses.
Another way you could show your appreciate :) is to upload T-Matic to a BBS
or FTP site, or even onto a filebone.
After all, what's the point of writing a program if nobody's going to use it?
'Course, that's not to say that if you feel strangely compelled to send me
money, I won't turn it away...
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TWIT FILE │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
There's a file included in the archive called T-MATIC.NAM. What this does,
basically, is setup specific tagfiles and sigfileSets for use with certain
people. Useful if you want to goad someone with a particular setup.
This only works if "Use Macros" is enabled, and you've got your mail
software correctly setup so that T-Matic can grab the user's name.
Unlimited entries, just keep to the template.
%─F Name─┬─L Name──────┬─Tagfile──────┬─Sigfile────┬──Comment────────────────┐
Simon Avery BESTTAGS.TAG HI_SIMON For the author of T-Matic!
For this example, if you wrote a message to me, T-Matic would use the
tagfile "BESTTAGS.TAG" and use the sigfileSet HI_SIMON.nn (if defined).
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TECHNICAL STUFF (AND BOASTING!) │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Tag-O-Matic has been tested on tagfiles up to 17000 lines in length
(17000 tags) and works considerably faster than most tagtools.
Tag-O-Matic will successfully (I hope) be able to use tagfiles up to
4,294,067,295 lines long. It's very unlikely that you'll ever get that big a
tagfile, because even if there were that many taglines in the world, and even if
your hard disk was big enough, you'd probably fall asleep before Tag-O-Matic got
to the end of the file... (It's fast, but it's not *that* fast!)
How it works
============
(Not telling you!)
Other bits.
If any programmer wishes to incorporate the code for T-Matic into their
own program, then Turbo C source code is for sale. Netmail me for more
details.
If any programmer wishes to recommend T-Matic for use with their mailer
or similar program, please netmail me first. I'll probably be extremely
happy to permit this, but I'd like to know first. Note that T-Matic can
NOT be bundled with software unless written permission from me has been
given.
All code, executables and document files are copyright 1995 by Simon
Avery. No changes can be made in any way, shape or form without WRITTEN
permission from me.
Simon Avery 26 February 1996
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CREDITS │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Borland International Ltd for their excellent C/C++ compiler.
Arnor for their perfect word processor, Protext.
Me, for writing the bloody thing.
Those nice chaps in Fidonet's C_ECHO for answering my questions, and not once
telling me to shut up!
Some bloke in the Barnet echo's for the idea of the Lottery thing.
Junichi Uekawa for the idea of remembering how many taglines in a file.
Kevin W. Kelly cos he'll moan if he's not mentioned. He also found a bug in 6.5
and suggested improvements for V.7.2 through to 8.5. Beta tested these
versions, so blame him.
Mike Garner for a couple of suggestions, used in 8.4.
Richard Downer for the idea of putting the "Quoted %" on the tearline. 8.5
<EOF>
