Shareware 1 2 the Maxx/sw_1.zip/sw_1/BBS/WWIV421.ZIP/README.421

Text File | 1992-02-24 | 10KB | 210 lines

This file lists only the differences between the current version of WWIV
and previous releases.  Please also read through the 'read.me' file, as
it contains additional information.

/****************************************************************************/

WWIV v4.21:

You can now have a file "NNALL.NET" in your data directory instead of
lots of little NN*.NET files.  You have two columns of data in it, the
first being the sub type, the second being the host system.  Anything
after the second column is ignored.  Note that if you use this, and are
using net26 or earlier, the net feedback may give incorrect info about
"unknown system X in NNALL.NET".

If you're using net29 or later, when you change the sub type in
//boardedit, you will have the option of sending an automated sub
add/drop request (so you will not need the 'REQ.EXE' program).  The BBS
will now also update your nnall.net file when you subscribe to a
subboard.  The BBS checks the subs.lst file (and subs.1, etc, if any) to
find the host for the sub in question.

The list of disallowed filenames (CON, LPT, etc) are taken from the
system device list instead of being hard-coded, for added security.  ^
(caret) from the xfer main menu lists out the devices found.

In addition to .ZIP, now .ARC, .ARJ, and .LZH files are checked for
invalid filenames/paths before extraction is allowed.

Interrupt handling has been completely re-done.  Instead of using 3
interrupt vectors, the BBS now only uses one, and the vector used is not
hard-coded, but an unused vector is dynamically selected.  This should
fix problems with SCSI drives, networks, etc.

Bi-directional file transfers are now supported, using hslink.  If you
want to use bimodem, source code modifications are required.  The hslink
bi-directional commandline is:

hslink -p%2 -e%4 -@ @%3

You can now forward mail (from the mail read prompt) over the network.

, (comma) from the main menu allows the sysop to print out the
netdat*.log files.

/z from the main menu does a newscan of all dirs (the equivalent of a
Z), saves it to a file, zips it up, and allows the user to DL it.

/s from the xfer main menu creates a list of all files the user has
available, and adds it to the temporary archive.

Users can now close their mailbox.

Type 2 messages (in subboards or email) now support >1MB dat files (in
the msgs\ directory).  Previously, if all the posts added up to over
1MB, things would start getting screwed up.  net28 and later support the
>1MB files.  (For <1MB files, it is completely compatible with previous
versions.)

A co-sysop now has the option of purging mail from a specific user.  If
you get a lot of junk-mail from the same user, hitting 'P' at the mail
read prompt will allow you to delete all mail waiting for you from that
user.

The newuser routines have been re-done to support ANSI.

The xfer sections that a user has access to are searched for duplicate
filenames before an upload is allowed.

If you have a chain that does not need DOS intercepts, and shrinks,
return.exe will no longer be loaded.  The only overhead you'll have for
the program is bbs.com (about 1k) and command.com (about 3k), for a
total of about 4k overhead.  This is only for SHRINKING WITHOUT DOS
INTERCEPTS.

To enable flow control when running the BBS when a user is already
logged on (from a front-door type program, where you usually use the /b,
/o, etc parameters), pass /C to the BBS also.

/****************************************************************************/

WWIV v4.20:

The source code has been cleaned up quite a bit.  Consult the source
docs (wwivsour.doc) for more info, if you are registered and have the
source code.

A few of the file formats have changed; run the init program once to
convert any WWIV v4.12 or earlier data files to the v4.20 format before
running the BBS.

As always, lots of little bugs and oversights have been fixed.

Additional security has been added in to the temporary extraction
area in the transfer section.  It will now find the full path name of
pkzip/dsz/etc when executing any program (so it won't run a 'pkzip.bat'
file out of the temp dir).  Also, before allowing a user to extract any
files out of a .ZIP file, the BBS first scanns the .ZIP file to see if
it has anything like ".." or "\" or ":", or "command" in it.  If it
finds anything questionable in it, it will tell the user, and not allow
him to extract anything out of the file.  This prevents a user from
extracting a file "..\config.dat" or "c:config.dat" from a .ZIP file.  I
do not believe this is a problem with other archivers (arc, pak, lzh,
etc), but I do not know for sure.

The transfer section newscan has been speeded up, for the case when
there are no new files in a directory.

The message base newscan/quickscan has been speeded up also, for the
case when there are no new messages on a sub.  You will see the
"< Nothing new on General 1 >" in this case.

The modem handling routines have been completely done.  The modem
info/result codes section in init has been replaced with a simple
'select your modem' menu.  If your modem isn't listed, or the modem
isn't handled correctly, consult the 'wwivmodm.doc' file.

A new command-line option has been added to the BBS, /S.  If a user is
connected at 14400/HST/HST/V.42bis (thus the modem speed is 14400, but
the com port baud rate is 38400), then you would say "BBS /B14400
/S38400 /O" to say that the modem speed is 14400, the com port speed is
38400, and to quit the BBS when the use loggs off.  NOTE: You will only
need to use this if you are running a front-end program to the BBS.

You can say "//NET=5250" from the main menu to start the net listing at
a specified system number.

//rsort from the dl main menu will reverse-sort the entire xfer section
by date.  This is to allow you to easily remove old files.

UARTS with buffers now have the buffers enabled by the BBS.  The init
program automatically detects buffered UARTS.

The BBS now supports dos-macros.  Create a file in your data directory
called "macros.txt".  The format of the file is one char then a DOS
command-line.  For example, if you put "d dir" in the macros.txt file,
then whenever you hit ALT-D while in the BBS, the BBS will shell-to-dos
and run the "dir" command (running "dir" is fairly useless, but you get
the idea).  I use it for editing WWIVnet message files, having entries
such as "n q data\n*.net", which runs qedit on all the n*.net files when
I hit alt-n.

The baud rate the user is logged on at is displayed on the boarder line
for the top-of-screen info.

For WWIVnet email/posts, the &,%,^ indicators (for NC, GC, AC) are
displayed in the message only if the email/post is from user #1 on the
system.

When people reply to a post (via the 'W' command in the messagebase), in
addition to the "RE:" line, a "BY:" line is saved, indicating who posted
the message that the reply is in reference to.

When extracting out posts/email using the 'E' command, the title is now
written out along with the post/email.

When receiving source-verified net-email, a line on the message now
indicates that it is source-verified, and who it is from.

Batch downloads have been expanded, and batch uploads are now supported.
Any protocol that writes to the dszlog can now be used as a batch
protocol (for upload or download).  The files to up or download are
passed to the protocol in the "@c:files.lst" method, where a file
listing the files to transfer is passed to the protocol.

The appropriate lines for DSZ (minus any flow options you may need) are:
Batch Send: "dsz port %2 speed %1 est 0 %4 sz @%3"
Batch Receive: "dsz port %2 speed %1 est 0 %4 restrict rz"

Any unexpected files that are uploaded with batch upload will simply be
deleted.  When selecting up/download or batch up/download, only the
protocols available for that function will be listed.  Protocols can now
be restricted to error-controlled (ie, LAPM, MNP2-4) connections only.

There is now a batch upload directory, which defaults to your temp
directory.  You may want to change this to be a directory on the same
disk where most of your uploads are, for increased performance.

BIMODEM is >NOT< supported currently.

The upload event is now run anytime a file is uploaded (including
//upload, //uploadall).  A "Please wait..." message is displayed, and
the output is NOT re-directed to the com port, as it was in v4.12.  This
ensures that the upload event will completely run, even if the user
hangs up while it is running.

File searches (by date, filename) can now be aborted more quickly by
hitting a spacebar, even if there is not anything being printed out to
the user at the time.

The users SL is now always saved and restored when you use F9 to make
the user a temp-sysop, even if you use //dos to shell to dos.

A bit more info is printed out in uedit about a user, including their
birthdate, where their mail is forwarded to, and their WWIV reg num (if
any).

The user-search now includes the ability to search based on number of
logons, ie, "LOGONS<[2]" to find any user only logged on once.

You can now import file descriptions from other BBS formats (such as
QBBS, RBBS, PCBoard).  First, ensure that you have the DOS directory set
correctly in //boardedit (to point to the directory which the files are
in).  Then, in xfer section, go to the correct directory, and type
//uploadfile.  It will first ask you for the file format, then the file
name for the file which holds the file names/descriptions.  This command
runs pretty much the same as //upload, except it takes the descriptions
from the text file instead of prompting the user for the descriptions.