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OS/2 Help File | 1996-02-29 | 26KB | 781 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Readme First ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ QFB Readme First ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Files in the archive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Files in the original archive: File_Id.Diz The standard archive description Qfb.Exe The executable Qfb.Inf The Inf hypertextual Manual Readme.1st This file Whatsnew.Txt Changes and additions Qfb.Doc The user's manual Dos Only Dos4Gw.Exe Dos Extender (major releases only) If you have a maintenance release of the program, the dos extender will not be included, to avoid unnecessary distribution costs. The Inf file (OS/2 manual) is provided with the DOS version too, since there are INF viewers under Dos. For example, the very nice viewer by Damir Ujcic: VIEW01.ZIP, available for F/R from 2:332/504@fidonet: it contains a text mode viewer in both OS/2 and Dos versions. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Whatsnew ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Whatsnew If you are using an older version of the program, please read WhatsNew.Txt before using this version. DOS: If you do not have the DOS4GW.EXE dos extender, please get the last major revision archive. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. How to contact the author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ How to contact the author If you have suggestions, bug reports, observations about the docs, please feel free to contact me at the following addresses: Alberto Pasquale of 2:332/504@fidonet alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it 2:332/504@fidonet +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16 2:332/524@fidonet +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16 FAX Alberto Pasquale, Viale Verdi 106, 41100 Modena, Italy IMPORTANT: if you call crash and require an answer, please state whether you want it routed (might not be reliable) or ON HOLD (in which case an answer should be available in 48h maximum, apart from the holiday periods). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Support ECHO ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Support ECHO I am originating an international support echo for all my programs. If you are interested, please ask your echo feeder to find a suitable link for the APWORKS area. In addition, I regularly read the international OS2BBS echo. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. TIC distribution ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ TIC distribution All my BBS related programs are distributed via a TIC file area. If you want to join, please ask your file feeder to find a suitable link for the APBBS (OS/2) and/or APBBSDOS (Dos) area. Beta versions are distributed without restrictions in APBBSBETA and APBBSDOSBETA respectively. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. APWorks Programs and Support Areas ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Where to look for APWorks Programs and Support Areas In North America the APWORKS support echo should be easily available, since it is on the Zone 1 backbone. The following systems carry the ApWorks echo and file areas: Author's APWORKS Alberto Pasquale, Modena, Italy alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it 2:332/504@fidonet +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16 2:332/524@fidonet +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16 File requests could be declined between 23:00 and 06:00 GMT. Request APFILES for a (short) list of APWORKS files only. Europe ApWorks_Germany Roland Schiradin, Eltville, Germany degr9tr9@ibmmail.com 2:2454/169@fidonet Cyberia/2 Harald Kamm, Bamberg, Germany 2:2490/3045@fidonet McBears Cave Jens Holm, Skanderborg, Denmark 2:238/888@fidonet The BackRoom/2 BBS Martin Davies, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom gbear@backroom.baynet.co.uk 2:442/617@fidonet North America COMM Port OS/2 Bob Juge, Sugar Land, TX, USA bob@juge.com 1:106/2000@fidonet The CrossRoads Dave Reed, Puyallup, WA, USA dreed@aa.net 1:138/135@fidonet Eclectic Lab 1 Mary-Anne Wise, New Westminster, BC, Canada 1:153/831@fidonet Australia Tardis BBS Malcolm Miles, North Balwyn, VIC, Australia 3:633/260@fidonet ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6.1. File Areas on the Internet ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File Areas on the Internet ftp.juge.com ftp.baynet.co.uk /pub/apworks/os2 /pub/apworks/dos /pub/apworks/beta ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Latest Versions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ How to Request the Latest Version of APWORKS Programs The following magics are honoured by APWORKS and some of the support sites: Magic Name Description FASTLST FLST???.RAR OS/2 The ultimate v7 Nodelist processor. Fully automated processing and maintenance, no need for clumsy batch files. Can report to Squish or *.MSG areas, multitasking friendly, many options. FASTLSTD FLSTD???.RAR DOS FLSTBETA OS/2 FastLst public Beta, if any. FLSTDBET DOS NEF NEF???.RAR OS/2 TIC file distribution and announcement for Binkley-style outbound and *.MSG or Squish message base, file-Areafix included with FileBone support, full multitasking aware (BSY, file sharing etc.), exceptionally flexible Multi-Aka support. NEFD NEFD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender. NEFBETA OS/2 NEF public Beta, if any. NEFDBETA DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender. FLM FLM???.RAR OS/2 File List Manager for Maximus, very flexible way of compiling many different lists at a time. Internal file base support (no need for FBP). FLMD FLMD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender. NMFW NMFW???.RAR OS/2 Multi-Robot: netmail forward to Sysop's point, Maximus user and file management via netmail messages, areafix for squish, point routing to their boss if no phone number for them in the nodelist, etc. NMFWD NMFWD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender. QFB QFB???.RAR OS/2 Substitute for FBP.EXE Generates a separate file-request index with no duplicates. QFBD QFBD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender SQPRV SQPV???.RAR OS/2 Local area (private/public) forward to points for Squish. The (Co)SysOp points can receive the whole area. SQPRVD SQPVD???.RAR DOS ----- SQFM100.RAR OS/2 Allows to change the "from address" of PKTs before they are compressed. To be used with Squish. For example, it is useful to Hub coordinators who want to continue processing mail with their primary address for current links while processing with the administrative address for their uplink BackBone. FreeWare. ----- SqSetAll.Rar OS/2 Sets renum limits in all Squish Areas taking the parameters from Squish.Cfg. ----- SqSetDos.Rar DOS Dos version. ----- AdjFDate.Rar OS/2 Changes by +-N days the File Date. Can choose between Creation and Modification dates on HPFS. Show and Touch options. ----- AdjF_Dos.Rar DOS Changes by +-N days the File Date. ----- UR2_100B.EXE OS/2 UnRar decompressing program, freeware. Current versions (February 29th 1996): NEF 2.30, FastLst 1.31, FLM 1.31, NMFWD 2.01, QFB 1.07, SQPrv 1.04. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.8. Bug Reports ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Bug Reports If you find out a real bug, I will do my best to fix it and make the new version available in a few days. To do that, I need your cooperation: when you find a strange behaviour, double check your configuration and the manual to be really sure it's not your fault, then study the conditions in which the bug appears and, in the end, send me your detailed report about the bug together with your config file and all the stuff necessary to replicate the problem. I can fix a bug only if I am enabled to reproduce it ! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.9. Wish List ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Wish List To help me provide a better and better program, please let me know your problems and your wishes about future versions. Please let me know your opinion: Alberto Pasquale 2:332/504@fidonet alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it BBS: +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16 BBS/FAX: +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16 FAX Viale Verdi 106 41100 Modena Italy ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Whatsnew ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ QFB WhatsNew -------------- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. 1.07 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.07 Feb 29 1996 - Added "-d" switch to avoid multi-line descriptions in FILES.DMP, the file where Maximus looks for the file descriptions when using the filebase (Locate and NewFiles commands). When multi-line description support is enabled, QFB outputs the entire description string (line feeds included) to the FILES.DMP, so that the Maximus Locate and New Files commands respect the original formatting. Unfortunately there is a side-effect: the continuation lines are aligned at left, and this is not appreciated by some SysOps. When the "-d" switch is used, QFB changes the linefeeds to spaces, so that the DMP description is made of a long unique line: the original formatting is lost but the description will be aligned and word-wrapped by Maximus when the Locate or NewFiles commands are used. - To disable multi-line description support, you can now use the "-c" switch alone. Previously you had to use "-c-1" and that was not documented. - Added INF documentation. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. 1.06 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.06 Restricted Beta - OS/2: Problem with remote (LAN) directories fixed. The C stat function had problems: substituted with direct OS/2 API calls. - Improved multi-line support. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. 1.05 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.05 - Support for multi-line descriptions (see Qfb.Doc). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. 1.04 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.04 - New "out of memory" handler and exit errorlevel. Previously an out of memory error could result in strange behaviour. - Some internal changes in the filebase routines to improve consistency with Max 3.00 - New ApWorks addresses and phone numbers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. 1.03 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.03 - Update to support Max 3.00; Max 2.0x is NOT supported. - The specification of a path in the files.bbs to include a file that resides in a directory other than the default "Download" is now allowed. - The specification of an alternate files.bbs in "FileList" is now allowed with any extension (previously the .BBS was required). - The files that are not found are now included in the filebase and marked as "OFFLINE". - If an area is marked of "Type CD" and you do not specify an alternate "FileList", the local DAT/DMP/IDX files are not generated. - The DateAuto/DateManual/DateList are now fully supported (previously DateAuto was assumed). - New -n switch to allow the update of the filebase by compiling all the areas that have a files.bbs newer than the files.idx. CD areas skipped. - QFB and other ApWorks programs that update the filebase generate a "FileBase.Bsy" flag in the Maximus system directory to avoid concurrent writes to the same filebase. There is no need to manually delete this flag in case of power failure or abnormal termination. - The command line syntax has been modified to be consistent with that of the Max 3.00 FB/FBP. Switches -x and -r not implemented. Wildcards are more flexible (? and * in the OS/2 way). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.6. 1.02 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.02 - Fixed bug that caused some dupes not to be removed from UniFiles.Idx. - Separate "/t /b" flags in FILES.BBS are now recognized. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.7. 1.01 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.01 - Now more CD-ROM / MO friendly. QFB does not abort in case of path not found, drive not ready, read only dir, write protected unit. When QFB cannot write local DAT/DMP/IDX files it simply skips: if you do not really need these files, you can avoid copying files.bbs to a hard-disk directory. - More informative output. - New -g command line switch to avoid generation of local DAT/DMP/IDX files. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.8. 1.00 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.00 - First public release. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. About QFB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ************************************************************** * * * * * ***** ******* ****** * * ** ** ** * ** ** * * ** ** ** * ** ** * * ** ** **** ***** * * ** ** ** * ** ** * * ** ** ** ** ** * * ***** * **** ****** * * * * * * A Quick File Base Builder * * v 1.07 for Maximus 3.xx (*) * * * ************************************************************** * * * (C) Copyright 1995-1996 by Alberto Pasquale * * * * A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D * * * * F R E E W A R E * * * ************************************************************** * Maximus is a trademark of Lanius Corporation (c) Copyright 1995-1996 by Alberto Pasquale F R E E W A R E ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. License ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ LICENSE You may copy, distribute and use this program freely, provided you do not modify the original archive and Copyrights. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Disclaimer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ DISCLAIMER You are entitled to use this freeware program "as is". No guarantee can be given on the performance of the program. The author will not be liable for any damage or loss related to the use of this program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Overview ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Overview QFB is a substitute for the FB (Dos) or FBP (OS/2) program by Scott J. Dudley for building a Maximus 3.xx file-base (Maximus is a trademark of Lanius Corporation). Main characteristics: - Generates UniFiles.Idx in addition to the standard MaxFiles.Idx; UniFiles.Idx is an index file like MaxFiles.Idx but with no duplicates (in the case of dupes, the file in the first defined area is kept in the index). You can use UniFiles.Idx as a file-request index for your mailer (e.g. BinkleyTerm (c) Bit Bucket Software) - Support for multi-line descriptions. Usually the description of a file in the FILES.BBS is contained in a single physical line: Maximus will word wrap and align when displaying it to the user. The problems come when you import the multi-line file_id.diz descriptions into the FILES.BBS in order to make Maximus show them to the user keeping the original formatting. As a matter of facts, Maximus (partially) supports "continuation" lines that begin with '|' or '+' (second or greater column). However many people like using NO continuation character: they add multi-line descriptions one line after another, indenting the subsequent lines so that Maximus shows them aligned (but it does not recognize them in the case of hurl, kill etc.). File management programs are then used to correctly manage the areas. QFB supports a user-defined continuation character and position, which default to the space ' ' and 31 (columns) respectively (see the -c command line switch). QFB adds continuation lines to the FILES.DMP without loosing formatting. You can verify this by using the L)ocate or N)ewfiles command of Maximus. FB/FBP, on the contrary, concatenate all the lines together (when they area recognized as continuation lines...). There is a side effect, though: The L)ocate and N)ewfiles commands show the continuation lines aligned at left. Since this behaviour is not appreciated by some SysOps, the "-d" command line switch allows to output a unique-line description to FILES.DMP: original formatting is lost (as with FB/FBP) but the entire description is word-wrapped and aligned by Maximus. - Very fast update operation (when a list of areas is specified on the command line or the -n switch is used). - Fast operation even in the full-build. - The -n switch allows to update the filebase by compiling only modified areas, even if you do not have a list of area names available. - Area names can be specified using the '?' and '*' wildcards as per the OS/2 rules. E.G. "*OS2*" includes all areas whose name contains "OS2". - Can be used with CD-ROMs with no need to copy the FILES.BBS to a hard-disk directory, provided you don't really need the DAT/DMP/IDX files for the area: the global indexes (MaxFiles.Idx and UniFiles.Idx) will contain the data for these areas so that File-Request, Global Download and Upload Dupe Check will work anyway. - Does not abort nor prompt user in the case of "drive not ready" or "write protected" errors. - Retries for many seconds in case of a sharing violation. Please note that in the case of protracted inability to open a DAT/DMP/IDX file for write, QFB could report a "Write Protected" area instead of the sharing violation. It will proceed anyway as if the unit were write protected. - All ApWorks programs that access the FileBase use a "FileBase.Bsy" flag in the Maximus system directory to avoid concurrent writes to the same filebase. There is no problem in the case the FileBase.Bsy flag is not deleted due to abnormal terminations or power failures, so you do not need to delete it in the startup.cmd/autoexec.bat as with other programs. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Usage ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Usage The command line parameters are the same as with FB/FBP, with a few exceptions: QFB [<switches>] [<area> ...] If no command line parameter is given, the help is shown. If no <area> is given and the -n switch is not used, all areas are compiled. -a Compile all areas. This is the default, but the switch is needed when no other switches are used (QFB shows help on an empty command). -c[<nn>[<c>|#<nnn>]] The default for continuation column/character is 31/' '. That is, if a line that starts with 31 spaces is found after a description line in the FILES.BBS, then it is taken as a continuation line. Empty lines are also taken as continuation lines, in order to allow correct processing of file_id.diz descriptions that contain blank lines. You can disable multi-line description support by using "-c" alone. e.g. -c (disables multi-line support) You can override the number of blank columns required by using "-c<nn>" where <nn> specifies the number of spaces needed at the start of a line to consider it a continuation line. e.g. -c34 (34 spaces required) If you want to use some special character (not the simple space) as a continuation character, then you must specify it in the -c switch after the <nn>. You can either specify the character directly (<c>) or by its ASCII code (#<nnn>). Please note that the '|' (frequently used) is the symbol for pipe, so it CANNOT be used on a command line: you must either specify its ASCII code or prefix it with an escape character. e.g. -c29+ (the continuation lines start with '+') -c29#124 (124 is the ASCII code for '|') -c29^| (OS/2 escape sequence for '|') Since the continuation lines usually have a space after the continuation character, QFB skips it if present. Example: TEST.ZIP This is a long description | for the file test.zip | | Author: <author> | Shareware US$30 Note: the <nn> number of spaces is essential when the continuation character is not specified (simple space). On the contrary, it is not currently really meaningful when the continuation character is different from space (the only difference is between 0 and >0). For example, if you use "-c29#124", QFB accepts as continuation lines all those whose first non-space character is '|', provided it is NOT in the first column. To make QFB accept a continuation character in the first column you must specify 0 as <nn> ("-c00#124"). -d Output Unique-Line descriptions to FILES.DMP. Avoids multi-line descriptions in FILES.DMP, the file where Maximus looks for the file descriptions when using the filebase (L)ocate and N)ewfiles commands). When multi-line description support is used, QFB outputs the entire description string (line feeds included) to the FILES.DMP, so that the Maximus L)ocate and N)ewfiles commands respect the original formatting. Unfortunately there is a side-effect: the continuation lines are aligned at left, and this is not appreciated by some SysOps. When this switch is used, QFB changes the linefeeds to spaces, so that the DMP description is made of a long unique line: the original formatting is lost but the description will be aligned and word-wrapped by Maximus when the L)ocate or N)ewfiles commands are used. -f<file> Use <file> as farea.dat. This overrides the information from Max.Prm. -g Compile global index only. The DAT/DMP/IDX files of each area are not generated. Do not use this switch if you are not really sure you do not need these files. -n Compile areas with new Files.Bbs. All areas that have a Files.Bbs newer than the Files.Idx will be compiled and the MaxFiles/UniFiles.idx updated; areas marked as "Type CD" are skipped. This switch is meaningless when the -g switch has been used (files.idx not generated). -p<file> Use <file> as the Maximus .prm file. Overrides the MAXIMUS environment var. The .prm extension is added if no extension is given. -s Skip slow areas marked as "Type CD". -u Scan upload paths. This switch is used by Maximus in RunFB.Cmd (.Bat for DOS) when the update of upload areas is needed. The Upload paths for the listed areas are scanned instead of the download ones, provided the upload path is in a defined Maximus area. <area> can include wildcards ('?', '*') in the OS/2 way. Errorlevels: 7 Out of memory 6 Timeout waiting for a busy FileBase 5 FArea.Dat not found 4 Max.Prm not found: either MAXIMUS environment variable or -p<file> command line switch must point to a valid Max 3.xx PRM file. 3 Abnormal termination 2 Error 1 Help requested 0 OK IMPORTANT NOTE for the Dos version: QFB is a 32 bit application: it requires the Dos4GW.Exe dos extender in your path.