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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ File Library Manager (FLM) by Derek Bryant (c) 1992 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Copyright (c) 1992 by Derek Bryant All Rights Reserved The Total Filebase Manager for RA/QBBS/SBBS Bulletin Board Systems Shareware Edition Documentation Release 2.10 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ TABLE OF CONTENTS ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Chapter 1 - License and Registration License Registration Warranty Chapter 2 - Introduction and Installation Preface Introduction Installation Subscription System Chapter 3 - Configuration Menu File Storage File Lists Menu Protocols Archivers Externals System BBS Options BBS Colours Allfiles Lists Chapter 4 - Viewer/Editor Area Lists Global Lists The Record Card Moving/Copying/Deleting Files Block Marking Deleting The ScrapList Adding Newfiles Chapter 5 - Utilities Adopting Files Verifying File Information Re-Sorting Alphabetic Verifying Counts Automatic Check For Virus Sorting Area Lists Creating Allfiles Lists Creating Newfiles Lists Creating ANS/ASC Reports Exporting to Files.bbs Chapter 5 - Running FLM in BBS Mode List Viewing File Searching Newfiles Listing Downloading Uploading Support ANS/ASC Files Chapter 6 - Statistics Upload Sessions Uploaders File Download Sessions Downloaders File Usage Statistics Filebase Information Chapter 7 - Credits Chapter 8 - Appendix A - Extended use of FLSEARCH.CTL File B - FILES.BBS description files ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ LICENCE ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FLM2 is SHAREWARE, user supported software. FLM2 is made available for a free 30 day trial period. If you find the program of use and wish to continue using it, you are obliged to purchase a personal license. FLM2 is copyrighted software, and all rights are reserved. FLM2 may not be changed or modified in any way except by the author. FLM2 is SHAREWARE, and may be freely distributed without permission, as long as it remains in its complete form with all support and documentation files. No files may be added or taken away from the original Archived form in which FLM2 is distributed. Regardless of how the copy is obtained, it is requested that all users comply with the licensing and registration provisions if they continue to use FLM2 after an initial 30 day evaluation period. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ REGISTRATION ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Registration of FLM2 provides you with the License to continue using FLM2 after the 30 day Evaluation period. Registration of the SHAREWARE Edition costs UK Stg 19.00 See accompanying file REGISTER.TXT for a registration form and payment details. There is a Professional Edition of FLM2 with many more features and enhancements than the SHAREWARE Edition. The Professional Edition IS NOT Shareware, it is a fully commercial product only available direct from the Author or approved Vendor sites. The Professional Edition costs UK Stg 39.00 and will not work without a Personal Registration Code. Users who have previously registered the Shareware Edition can upgrade to the Professional Edition for UK Stg 20.00 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ WARRANTY ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The author makes no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, implied warranties or merchantability, and fitness for any particular purpose with respect to both the software and the documentation included in this package. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIM. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ PREFACE ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There were three prime objectives for writing FLM. 1) a system where I could interrogate the files in my filebase, be able to describe files, and manage the lists and location of each file quickly and easily. 2) Provide an easy and fast system for my users, so they could locate the files they wanted and download quickly. 3) Provide a system that could be built on, with adaptation to new storage medias, such as CD-Rom and offline tape streamers, etc. In all respects, I think we have surpassed all expectations. For me FLM is a angel from heaven. Now I have 25,000 files and spend less time managing the filebase than I did when I only had 1,000 files. Safe in the knowledge that the files have all been Virus checked, and put into the format I like. I hope FLM allows you to manage your filebase equally as well, leaving you more time to provide a quality service for your users. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ INTRODUCTION ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FLM is both a file 'Door' for your BBS and a manager for your filebase. The system operates independently of any existing file systems you have already setup on your BBS, but routines are provided to install FLM from what you have. FLM2 works on the basis that a filebase consists of : a) Storage Areas where files are actually stored, whether they be directories on your Hard Disk, or CD-Rom, or floppy disks or Tape Streamers. Flm2 provides for upto 65,000 different Storage Areas, with a security system against each. b) File Lists are displayed to the user. FLM provides powerfull facilities for editing these lists so that users can see what files you have. FLM allows you to have upto 65,000 lists, thay usually are linked to a particular Store, but they don't have to be. For instance, you could define 50 file stores covering files you have on 50 floppy disks, but could list them all on just the one list. c) Menus - which give a structure to your filebase. FLM allows upto 250 different Menus, and each menu can have upto 200 different options on it. So you could contain your existing RA/Qbbs filebase all on one Menu. d) Security - determines what a specific user is allowed to access from your filebase. FLM has security systems to govern what a user is allowed to see, download and upload. The idea of defining Lists and Storage Areas as separate objects may seem over the top, but it does provide FLM2 with features not previously available to a BBS filebase. Take the example of a Sysop who has aquired a CD-ROM disc for his BBS. The disc contains thousands of programs he didn't previously have, but at the same time it contains many files which the sysop now has newer versions. The sysop could setup separate file areas for both the CD-ROM and his existing directories, in which case his users would then have to look in two separate but similar file areas for the files they want. Alternatively with FLM2, you could show the users just one List even though files are stored in different directories. Having just the one List, as sysop you would then be able to see where duplications exist and delete the duplicate files from your Hard Disk, or delete the record in the FLM database for the older versions on the CD-Rom disc. Please note, having 4 sets of security levels to set can get a bit confusing, so to emphasise what governs what here's a brief breakdown. - The Security Levels set for a Storage area govern whether the user will be allowed to download or see the file. - The Security Levels set against a List, govern whether that List will be offered as an option on a Menu. - The Security Levels set against a Menu, govern whether that Menu will be offered as an option to the user. Whether on multi or single line systems, FLM2 uses a central database stored usually in a directory \FLM2DATA Each line however has it's own configuration file FLM2CFG.DTA stored in the directory from which the program is run. With this briefly in mind, lets now go on and actually get FLM installed. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ INSTALLATION ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Having now un-archived the distribution archive, locate the following files into the directory where you have your BBS software, alternatively locate them somewhere in your DOS path. FLM2.EXE FLM2.OVR FLM2HELP.LBR Now create a data directory for FLM, say \FLM2DATA. Locate in this directory the following files: ARCHIVER.FLM PROTOCOL.FLM FLM2 is designed to work on both Single and Multiline systems, but you will need to allow FLM2 to create a config file for each line. This file FLM2CFG.DTA will reside in the directory from which FLM2 is run for that line. It contains the paths to your various directories and most important the path to FLM2's central database. On initial installation the config input screen will show, but you are able to later make any changes to it by running from the DOS command line FLM2 editcfg The Paths Definitions window asks you to enter the following: FLM Data Path : a directory where all of FLM's datafiles are stored. when using FLM on a multiline system, have each config pointing to the same directory. BBS Type : the options are R for Remote Access S for SuperBBS E for EasiHost BBS Syst Path : the directory where your BBS system files are stored. at the moment, the only file FLM will be looking for in here is the USERON.BBS file. TXT File Path : the directory where FLM is to locate the ANS/ASC reports MSG Base Path : - not used - Work Drive : the drive FLM is to use for all intermediate work. don't set this to a RAM drive. Log Format : Logfile style that FLM is to create. There are 3 options N - FLM will not log anything O - FLM will create a Opus style log F - FLM will create a FrontDoor style log Log Filename : fully qualified filename for the logfile Use UserOn : on a multiline system, FLM will update the USERON.BBS file to indicate what each user is doing as they use FLM There are 3 options, but only 2 are operable: N - don't update USERON file Y - do update it Use Drive Redirection : set to No for the moment. This is described fully later. For other command line options, run FLM2 help or FLM2 ? You could now just run the program and FLM would create blank files. You would then go to the configuration menu, and setup your filebase details from scratch. But I expect you already have a filebase, so let FLM install from that instead. To get FLM to auto install, you will need a FLSEARCH.CTL file in the current directory and FILES.BBS files in each directory. (see Appendix A for a further description of these files and enhancements to read from CD-ROM discs) If you don't have FILES.BBS files in each directory, FLM will ask for an alternative list to use. Included in the distribution file, is a utility to create a FLSEARCH.CTL file from the FILES.RA file. This utility is provided by Peter Burnett, Piston Popper BBS and is free to use. Simply now run the program, with the command line parameter INSTALL ie. FLM2 install (case is not important) FLM2 reads your FLSEARCH.CTL file obtaining all of the directory paths, security levels and file area descriptons. FLM then imports all of the files in each directory adding them to it's database, then reads the FILES.BBS files grabbing the descriptions and creating a File List out of the FILES.BBS. Finally FLM creates a Menu based on the file areas you have. If at any stage you need to re-install, delete all the files FLM2 has created and start from scratch. Possible problems that may occur, most likely will stem from the format or size of the FILES.BBS files which FLM2 will import from. FLM2 is unable to import descriptions longer than 250 characters and will possibly run out of buffer memory if there are many lines which have file descriptions longer than 96 characters or many comment lines. Don't panic as I myself have many lists with 1500 files on the 1 list. If all goes well, simply now run FLM2 and go into the Configuration Menu and alter things to your liking. FLM also being a 'Door' program for your RA Bulletin Board, would normally be run from the directory from which you run the BBS software. In a single line system this would be the \RA directory, on multi-line systems this would be say \RA\LINE1 Add to your TOP menu, either a Type 7 or Type 15 option. On a RA system I use the command line *M flm2 bbs *P *N where *M tells RA to swap itself to disk before loading FLM *P is substituted by with the COM port number *N is the Node number on Multi-Line systems. Set to 1 if using on a single line system. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ SUBSCRIPTION SYSTEM ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── FLM2 provides facilities for a Subscription System to be operated on files downloaded from your BBS. The system works on the basis of an amount being charged to the user per Megabyte or part actually downloaded. As an example I charge users 100 pence per Megabyte, ie 1 pence per 10k The system can be enabled in the BBS Mode Configuration screen, and each storage area can be marked as being a Subscription Area or not. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── These are the command line parameters that can be used when running FLM2. We list here only brief details for each, they are covered in detail further into the manual. FLM2 HELP FLM2 ? displays a Help screen detailing the Command line options available. FLM2 BBS <ComPort> <NodeNumber> to put FLM2 into the BBS mode of operation. FLM2 EDITCFG to edit the file FLM2CFG.DTA, which contains the directory paths to the central database and BBS directories FLM2 INSTALL to Install FLM2 for the first time. FLM2 VERIFYCOUNTS maintenance routine where FLM rechecks the Lists On counts and the number of files and sizes per list counters. FLM2 SORTFILEBASE maintenance routine where FLM re-sorts Index file FLM2 RENUMBER routine that purges and renumbers the filebase FLM2 SORTLISTS routine that sorts the File Lists so that files are listed in Alphabetical order on the filename FLM2 ADOPT to adopt unknown files in the selected directories, adding them to the default lists as set for the Storage Area. FLM2 ADOPTALL to adopt unknown files from every directory, and add to the default Lists of the Storage Area. FLM2 ADOPTOLD to adopt unknown files in the selected directories, but marking the upload date as the system date of the file. FLM2 FILECHECK <nnn> rechecks the file size and date of files in Store # nnn FLM2 FILECHECK ALL rechecks the file size and date of files in every Storage Area FLM2 FILECHECK rechecks the file size and date of files in all Storage areas, except those marked is being ReadOnly areas with the three systems above, an additional parameter can be added to the command line. /D will force FLM2 to update the Description and Upload date of the file, if the System date of the file is newer FLM2 DELETEAWAY will delete records of 0 byte files. ie, those indicated as being 'away' FLM2 SCAN <minutes> start the Automatic Virii detection system, and run for the number of minutes specified FLM2 CONVERT <minutes> start the Automatic Archive Converting system, and run for the number of minutes specified FLM2 BANNER <minutes> start the automatic Bannering of Archive files, and run for the number of minutes specified FLM2 AF <Number> to create the Allfiles List specified by <Number>, if set to 0 then all of them configured are created. FLM2 AREALISTS to create nicely formated filelists in each directory FLM2 TOP20 to create an ANS/ASC display of the Top 20 files downloaded, and a summary of all the files for each Storage Area. FLM2 WKLYGRAPH to create the ANS/ASC graphs of the number and size of files added to the filebase over last year. FLM2 NEWFILES to create a list of all the Newfiles added to the database over the number of days configured FLM2 MASTER creates an alphabetical list of every file in database, formatted with all details listed FLM2 EXPORT creates FILES.BBS lists as configured FLM2 EXPORTFLSEARCH creates an FLSEARCH.CTL file of the Storage Areas configured FLM2 EXPORTFILESRA creates/updates FILES.RA from Storage Area information in FLM ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ CONFIGURATION MENU ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Whenever an external program is called by FLM2, it is usually called with FLM2 still occupying memory in your computer. With some smaller programs that don't need say more than 100k of memory to run this is fine. If more memory is required to run an external program, FLM2 has the facility to swap itself out of main memory to either EMS/XMS or Disk. To enable this feature, simply add a + character as the first character of the command line. ▒▒ FILE STORAGE ▒▒ Before files from a directory can be added to the filebase, you need to create a record for the storage directory/area where the files are kept. Each directory normally has a default List linked to it> These are created in the config/Lists. Ammend the options available on this screen to suit your setup. Store Tag Name : a 20 character name for this store, used as a short descriptive name. This TagName isn't fully used yet but is reserved for future enhancements. For the moment it is used to identify the area on some of the reports. Storage Path : full path to the directory where files are stored in this area. FLM2 will check that the directory exists and offer to create it if needed. The Storage area is expected to be a directory, not a path to the Root of the drive. Is Media Online : Yes or No. If you specify No, then any operation requiring access to files in this Store will be denied. Is Media ReadOnly: Yes or No. If you specify No, then copying files to this store, or changing the files already in this store will be denied. Download SecL : Specify the security level the users are required Download Flags : to have to be able to download files stored in here. Viewing SecL : Specify the security level the users are required to Viewing Flags : have to be able to see the files stored in this area. Adopt files from : if Yes, then this Store will be checked for unknown this area : files and any new ones added to the database. Export to : if Yes, FLM will create a standard format description Files.BBS file. This file is not physically required by FLM2, but is required by other programs that need to access the files in your filebase. Ie. your mailer. Default List No : set to the List where the files in this Storage Area would normally be listed. This is primarily used when FLM2 is adopting files, it needs to know which List to put the files on. Subscription Area: set to No if you're not using the subscription system. Include on Report: if set to YES, then the files in this area will included in the Newfiles and Top20 reports. Preferred Archive: after you've defined the ARChive programs you have available, set this to the one preferred for the files stored in this Area. Throughout this screen, the following Keys are available to you: ESC - quits from this screen and saves the information as currently set. F1 - brings up a Help Screen for the area. F2 - brings up a Pick List screen, showing all the Storage Areas so far defined. Use your cursor keys to move to another Area, press Return and FLM2 will immediately bring that Area onto the screen. F6 - allows you to define a new Storage Area to your filebase. F8 - allows you to delete this Storage Area from the FLM2 filebase. F10 - makes FLM2 scan through the files stored in this Area, and add unkown files to the database. ▒▒ FILE LISTS ▒▒ Having defined the Storage Areas where your files are kept, we can now create Lists which are actually displayed to the user. List Tag Name : a 20 character short description for this list. This TagName is used on the reports to identify this List. List Title : a longer description or Title for this List. This Title is used as the header at the beginning of the list. List SecL : this is the security levels the user needs to have List Flags : before this List will be offered to them as an option on a Menu. Default Store : set to the Storage Area this List is linked to. This is used by FLM2 when you are editing the Lists and moving files from List to List. The default Store defines what Storage Area is used. After defining a List, you need to initialise or create it from an existing FILES.BBS file by pressing the F10 key. You'll notice after doing this that the Title line appears on a line in the second half of the screen. This is the description now used as the Title to the list. You can alter this by pressing the F8 key. Throughout this screen, the following Keys are available to you: ESC - quits from this screen and saves the information as currently set. F1 - brings up a Help Screen. F2 - brings up a Pick List screen, showing all the Lists so far defined. Use your cursor keys to move to another List, press Return and FLM2 will immediately bring that List onto the screen. F5 - allows you to define a new List. F8 - allows you to alter the List Header Title, shown in the lower half of the screen. F10 - makes FLM2 create & initialize a new List. When creating a new file area, first setup a Sorage Area then enter the details above for the List. After the two have been linked using the default Store / default List fields press F10 in the Lists Config screen. Flm2 will create a blank List file. If you have defined a Files.BBS file in the associate Storage Area, and that file exists, FLM2 will read through it and create a List based on it, adding the listed files to the database. ▒▒ MENUS ▒▒ Here you are able to setup the Menus which provide users with the options to select which Lists to view. You can have upto 256 different Menus, and 200 options are available on each Menu. If you use an existing RA/Qbbs file system, then you could have the entire RA file system on one Menu. Creating a Menu structure with Sub-Menus enables you to split up your filebase as shown to the user. Sub-Menus work in a tree like style whereby a Sub-Menu always provides access back to the Menu from which it was called. When a Menu is defined all options will be available to you as sysop in the Viewer/Editor section on FLM2, but when the user is accessing the Menu the options are only available if the users Security Level matches that as specified in the List of the option. The numbering of the options are re-calculated everytime the Menu is shown to the user, so although Option 1 might be List 1, if the user doesn't have security access to List 1 then Option 1 will then become the first List defined that the user does have access to. An example of the Config Screen: ╔════════════════════════════ Menus Configuration ══════════════════════════╗ ║ Menu Number : 0 File Library Manager List Menu ║ ║ Menu Security Level : 5 ║ ║ Menu Security Flags : A -------- B -------- C -------- D -------- ║ ║ Customized Display : No number of Screens : 3 ║ ║ Dual Display : Yes Vertical numbering : Yes ║ ║ ║ ║ L 1L 13L 25L 37L 49L 61L 73L 85 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 2L 14L 26L 38L 50L 62L 74L 86 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 3L 15L 2╔════╗────────────────────────────────╖ 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 4L 16L 2╟L 40║ indicates List 48 ║ 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 5L 17L 2╚════╝────────────────────────────────╜ 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 6L 18L 30L 42L 54L 66L 78L 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L ╔════╗──────────────────────┐ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L ║M 2║ indicates Sub-Menu 2 │ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L ╚════╝ ─────────────────────┘ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 10L 22L 34L 46L 58L 70L 82M 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 11L 23L 35L 47L 59L 71L 83 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ ║ L 12L 24L 36L 48L 60L 72L 84 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ║ First create the options which will be available on this Menu. These are defined in the bank of 200 options which initially are set to 0, ie no option specified. Each option can be set so that either a List or a Sub-Menu is displayed to the user. These states are represented by the letters L or M next to the number. To configure the Menu, move the Highlight Bar to an option, then to set the option to a List, you would press F5 to bring up a Pick List of all the Lists. From here, select a specific List and then press Return. This will then set that option to the List that you chose. To create a Sub-Menu, then press F7. This will bring up a fresh Blank Menu, you will notice that the Menu number will have automatically been chosen to be the next one available. You would configure this sub-menu as you like. After finishing, press ESC and you will be returned to the previous Menu. The keys available when cursor is in one of the 200 options are: ESC - quit from the screen and save the Menu. F1 - a Help screen F2 - a Pick List of all the Menus so far setup, and you can jump to any directly. F5 - sets this option to a List, and brings up a Pick List of the defined Lists for you to choose which one. Alt+F5 - to setup all the options to all the Lists you have. F7 - sets this option as a Sub-Menu. If it is already defined as one, then that Sub-Menu is brought onto the screen, otherwise the next available Menu number is used and a Blank Sub Menu is displayed. A link is made between the calling Menu and the Sub-Menu so that a route back is available. F8 - brings up a list of the Sub-Menus already defined so that you can select one for this option. InsKey - inserts blank option at this position. DelKey - deletes the Highlighted option. F9 - enables you to edit the description given to that option F10 - enables you to select the colour of the description line. FLM2 will create it's own screen which is displayed to the users, however you are able to create your own ANS/ASC screens and have FLM2 display these instead. To use your own self designed screens, set the Customised Display question to Yes. You can also specify the number of screens you have desinged to cover the number of options on this 1 Menu. Then locate in the \FLM2DATA directory the ANS/ASC screens that you have created. Keep the displays to less than 23 lines so as not to mess the screen up. The files will need to be named very strictly to the following system: Filenames are to be in the form M-xxx-yyy.A?? xxx represents the Menu Number with no leading 0's yyy represents the Screen Number with no leading 0's so as an example, if you specify that Menu 0 (the Top Menu) is customised, and that there is only 1 screen. Then you will need 2 display files available. M-0-1.ANS and M-0-1.ASC When creating your own screens, remember that you will need to show all the options that FLM2 will physically make available. Particularly be carefull with the numbering of the options. FLM2 re-calculates the option numbering for each user depending on the secuirty level of the user at the time of loading the Menu. I have included as an example, the screen I have been using on my BBS here. You are free to use these screens for yourself, just change the name of the Bulletin Board. ▒▒ PROTOCOLS ▒▒ FLM2 uses third party protocol engines for downloading and uploading. My personal favourite is DSZ.COM, which provides the Xmodem, Ymodem and Zmodem protocols. You can configure up to 30 protocols, and FLM2 has been designed to allow the use of any of the different programs available. Because the protocols are external to FLM2, there has to exist methods for FLM2 to tell the program it's calling what files need to be transfered either Received or Sent, and likewise there need to be methods for FLM2 to determine whether the files have indeed been sent or received correctly. Effectively, all protocols are given instructions what to transfer either via the Command Line when calling the program, or by the use of a Control File. On return, all protocols either exit with an ErrorLevel to signify a successful transfer or by creating a Logfile which indicates what was transfered. FLM2 can operate with any of these methods. When setting up the protocols for your system, PLEASE read the documentation of the protocol you are using. They all have different command line directives, and you'll need to be familiar with their operation in order for transfers to be succesfull. Enclosed in the distribution archive is a file PROTOCOL.FLM Locate this file in the \FLM2DATA directory. These are the configurations for the protocols I currently use on my BBS. They have been tried here and seem to work Ok. You can use the same if you like, but you may need to change the path to the one where you have your protocol programs located. Please note, the command 'restrict' in the U/L command lines for the DSZ protocols, is only available to registered users of the DSZ program. Remove it if you are not yet a registred user of DSZ. It's action is to prevent remote sites from specifying which directory the files are to be received into, this being an important security measure. Selection : is the character the user needs to press to choose Character this protocol Description : give a 30 character description for the protocol U/l command : specify the full path and name and command line to invoke line the protocol program in receiving files from the remote site. D/l command : specify the full path and name and command line to invoke line the protocol program in sending files to the remote site. in the command line, the following codes can be inserted and will be substituted by FLM2 with the relevent information at the time *P will be substituted with the COM port number currently being used *F will be substituted with the path and filename of the file to send *D will be substituted with the directory name FLM2 wishes any received files to be stored. FLM2 creates a unique upload directory for each user, based on the record Number of the user. The directory names are of the form FLMnnnnn.RCV where nnnnn is the users record number. This allows the situation of failed uploads being able to continue for that user. Use Control File : if set to YES, FLM2 will create a file for the protocol program, listing the files which are to be transfered. Control File : specify the filename of the Control File FLM2 is to Filename create. Normally this filename is also listed on the command line when calling the protocol. U/L Control : some protocols, in addition to the list of files, String require a Control String to be added before the filename. ie: SEND c:\files\Filename.zip add to this field the Control String required to invoke the protocol in receiving files from the remote. Note that DSZ doesn't need it, so you can leave it blank. D/L Control : the Control String required to invoke the protocol to String send files to the remote site. Batched transfers: some protocols such as Zmodem, can send more than 1 file on each call, this is termed Batch Transfers. Set to Yes, if it applies to this protocol, and FLM2 will list more than file on the command line or Control File, if the user has requested more than 1 file to transfer. Use Log File : if set to NO, then FLM2 will require that the protocol Exit with an Errorlevel to indicate that the transfer was successfull. If set to YES, then FLM2 will read the log file specified to determine which files have been transfered Ok. Log filename : the complete path and name of the Logfile that the protocol will create. You can also get FLM2 to obtain the filename if you have already specified it in an environment variable required by the protocol. To do this, simply put a '*' as the first character, and then the environment variable. ie. *DSZLOG to enable DSZ to use the same, you would have set this is your startup batch file. ie SET DSZLOG=c:\DSZ.LOG The next two options specify a string sequence FLM2 is to look for at the beginning of each line in the logfile, that indicates the success of the transfer. Case is important. U/L Keyword : set this to a string sequence which FLM can use to recognise an Upload was performed succesfully. From the logfile shown below, Z would be used. D/L Keyword : set this to a string sequence which FLM can use to recognise that a download was successfully done. The next 2 options specify which word number from the Logfile, FLM2 can find the filename transferred, and the speed of the transfer. An example of a DSZ logfile is shown. I've indicated with the numbers 1 to 12, how the logfile is split up. The word number referred to above, would be one of these numbers. In other words, which column FLM2 can find the information it needs. Word Numbers: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Z 46532 38400 bps 3324 cps 0 errors 66 1024 DSZ.COM 1177 Z 124087 19200 bps 1880 cps 0 errors 6 1024 MXY.TMP 1177 │ │ └ Efficiency (ie word 5) │ │ └ U/L or D/L Keyword Keyword for Filename │ (ie word number 11) ┘ Keyword No. : this field requires a number, which indicates the for Name column in the logfile where FLM will find the filename of the file transfered. Keyword No. : this field requires a number, which indicates the for Efcy: column in the logfile where FLM will find the transfer rate achieved. The result is expected in CPS. Two-way : set to YES, only if this protocol can do transfers bi-directional transfers. such as HSLINK and BiModem. Efficiency % : set to the approximate efficiency of the protocol. FLM will use this field, with the current baud rate, to calculate how long the transfer will take. If you specify not to use the logfile, then FLM will ask for an Exit Errorlevel to look for from the protocol to determine the success of the transfer. It's usually not a good idea to use this method with protocols that can do Batch transfers. Note, that the example included, PROTOCOL.FLM, was designed for my multi-line BBS. If running on a single line, you'll need to change the Logfile name, by removing the *N. Most failed transfers exist because the filename given to FLM2 doesn't match up with the one your protocol is creating. You will see that this is recorded in the FLM2 Logfile, so you can help resolve an problems. ▒▒ ARCHIVERS ▒▒ You can specify up to 30 Archiving systems. First specify the Extension that FLM2 is to look for to recognise that this file is an ARChived file. Then specify the command lines to use for each of the 5 situations listed. Pack Command Line : command line to Pack Up file, without directory pathnames. Pack Command Line : command line to have archiver Pack Up files with Paths including recursing into directories and storing path names in ARChive. UnPack Command Line : command line to have archiver Unpack files, without creating any directories stored in archive. UnPack Command Line : command line to have archiver UnPack files, with Paths including creating directories stored in archive. Delete from Archive : command line to have archiver delete files Command Line from archive. Finally, you have the option of specifying a Command Line to Banner an archive. on each of the command lines, you can specify the following control codes, which FLM will substitute with the required information when called: *F will be substituted with the full path and filename of the archived file. *L will be substitured with the files or list of files that are to be packed, unpacked or deleted. I have included an example setup, ARCHIVER.FLM, however you can change this to suit your preferances. ▒▒ EXTERNALS ▒▒ FLM2 provides you with the ability to specify upto 10 external programs to run on any file in your filebase. These are used be pressing the Shift+F? keystrokes, where ? is the Function Key number, when the file is highlighted in the Viewer/Editor. Specify the Command Line to use for this external program. The following control codes are available and substituted when called with the appropriate information. *P the complete path to the file in your filebase (NB. a trailing Backslash is not provided) *F the Filename only. - therefore if you want to specify the complete path+filename use *P/*F You can specify the Extension the file has to have before this external is called. This is more usefull on say image files which can only be called with a certain image viewer. ▒▒ SYSTEM OPTIONS ▒▒ This set of options, don't quite fit into any of the other config screens. Newfiles Filename : FLM2 can create a list of the newfiles added to your filebase. Specify here the name of the file FLM should create. Days back for New : and specify how many days back FLM is to report on. Files Not : you can list up to 9 files, Wildcard specification is to Adopt: acceptable, which FLM will not adopt to the filebase if you have these files in the directory of the Storage Area. As a default, we have set it to not adopt FILES.BBS *.BAK and *.DIR files. Extensions to : These are the extensions files must have before FLM2 Convert will attempt to convert them into another archive format. Extensions Not : FLM2 has the facility to convert archive formats at a to convert keystroke. However, there are some files you may not want converted. Specify upto 10 file Extensions which FLM2 is not to attempt to try convert. Counts on : if YES, Flm2 will add download counters to the Files.bbs Files.bbs when it is asked to export the filebase details to these files. Upload Store : specify the Storage Area that uploaded files will be put. ▒▒ BBS OPTIONS ▒▒ Minimum : specify in bytes, the minimum Disk space that must be Disk Space: available on the local drive to enable FLM to allow an upload to go ahead. Max files to d/l : specify the Maximum number of files a user is allowed to download in one call to the protocol. This is mainly of use to limit users who attempt to specify downloading *.* as a default it is set to 100. Ul Time : after a user has uploaded files to you, this ratio is Ratio Credit: used to award the time spent uploading back to the user. Check upload : there are three options available, toggle each by dupes: pressing the Return key. 'ask user' - FLM2 will ask the user whether they would like to check whether the file they are going to upload is already in the filebase. 'don't check' - FLM2 will proceed with the upload without checking if the file being uploaded is a duplicate. 'force check' - FLM2 will ask the user for the filename they are uploading, and check to see if it is already in your filebase. Withold : if YES, Flm2 will re-check to see that the files Credit/Dupes received are not already in your filebase, and will not credit the user if they are. Use Charging : if YES, this will enable the subscription system System built into FLM2. also specify the Charge per Meg downloaded, the Credit per Meg for uploads and the description of the unit being used. I've defaulted the unit to pence, but you could change it to points to enable a ratio type system on your board. Allow : if YES, then before download transfers start, FLM Auto-Logoffs will ask the user if they would like FLM to automatically log them off when the transfer has finished. Upload Security Lev : specify the security level the user must have before Upload Security Flgs: they will be allowed to upload to your system. You can also configure the descriptions and selection keys to use on many of the menu options available to the users. Use the TAB key to move from the selection Character to the Description of that Option. ▒▒ BBS COLOURS ▒▒ You can configure the colours used by FLM2 in many of the text lines displayed to the user. Use the PageUp and PageDown keys to move up and down the text prompts. To alter the colour, use the Colour Selector, moving around the available colours with your cursor keys. To select the colour, press the Enter key. If all doesn't go well, you can always go back to the default by pressing F1 function key. ▒▒ ALLFILES LISTS ▒▒ You are able to specify upto 20 Allfiles Lists which FLM can create for you. These Allfiles Lists are usually made available for users to download and view offline. Being able to create 20 varieties means you can have subsets of your filebase, say one for all the Windows Files, another for all the Games. The specification of what to have on the Allfiles List is exactly the same as the specification of your Menus. You are able to have upto 200 areas on each Allfiles List. First, specify a TagName. This TagName is used to identify a Header file which is simply a text based file, say a logo for your BBS, which can be added to the beginning of an Allfiles List when it is created. If there is a file in the FLM Data Directory of the same name as the TagName specified and with the extension .HDR, then this file will be added to the top of the Allfiles List created. Then specify the Path and Filename of the file to be created. And then the age of the files to be included in the report, specified as days old. The bank of 200 options are used to define which of your File Lists are to be used to make up this Allfiles List. Initially all the options are set to 0 indicating no List specified. In the same way that the Menus are created, highlight one of the options and press F5 to select from one of your File Lists. To quickly set up an Allfiles List, press Alt+F5 to set all the options to all the File Lists. As required, you can delete or insert File Lists by using the Delete and Insert keys. The actual creation of the Allfiles Lists is done by running FLM2 with the command line AF ie: to create Allfiles List No. 1 then the command line would be FLM2 AF 1 or FLM2 AF 0 to create all of them ▒▒ DRIVE REDIRECTIONS ▒▒ FLM has the facility of altering the Drive letter in the Storage Path If you're running the BBS on a network with multiple servers, you may have configured your Network so that the Workstations use different Drive Letters as to the Host machine. In this situation, when using FLM's central database the Drives letters on the host would be different to those on the workstations. To have FLM redirect, or think it is to use a different drive letter, simply set the drive letters that are to be used by the workstation. This is set, by running FLM2 editcfg on each of the workstations, and set the drive letters that apply for that workstation. This redirection of drive letters is only applied by FLM2 to the Storage Area paths. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ VIEWER/EDITOR ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The Viewer/Editor section of FLM is the core of your management and viewing of your filebase. There are two parts to it, the Global Lists and the File Lists. The Global Lists show every file in your filebase, either in alphabetical or numerical order. The numerical order is usefull as it's also the order in which the files are added to the filebase, thus if you want to see quickly what the latest files are, they will always be at the bottom of the numerical list. In both sections full facilities are provided to inspect and manage the files in the filebase. Most keystrokes are similar in both the Global List and File List, although there are some subtle differences on some. The selection of any of your File Lists is done by moving the highlight bar to that List then pressing Return, or by typing the number of the list. Selecting the Global Lists is done by pressing: F1 - for the Alphabetical List F2 - for the Numerical List If you have setup up Sub-Menus for your filebase, you will notice that those options are displayed in Yellow, and selecting a Sub-Menu option takes you to that Sub-Menu. Pressing the ESCape key, will always exit the current screen to the previous Menu or screen. We'll now introduce you to each of these sections, note that most of the keystrokes described in the Area Lists are also applicable in the Global Lists. So we'll only cover the differences in that section. Then we'll briefly describe how to perform some of the usual operations one normally does to manage your filebase and Lists. ▒▒ AREA LIST ▒▒ After selecting a list to view, from the Menu Selection screen, the List selected is displayed on the screen. The Top Line shows the List Name and a count of the files and size of the files on that list. The second line shows the headings of the information being displayed at the time. A Help screen is available at anytime by pressing F1 There are currently, six screens available for you to view all the information known on each file. You can select these six screens by simply pressing the numbers 1 to 6, or you can circle thru the displays by using Ctrl+RightCursor or Ctrl+LeftCursor keystrokes. All six screens will show the FileNumber and the Filename and the Tag indicator if the file has been tagged. In addition, the six screens show the following: Display 1 : FileSize in Kilobytes, File Description. This screen is exactly the same as would be seen by your users in the BBS mode. Display 2 : Archive Explosion, a blue window will show on the right side and the program will show the contents of the file if an ARChive, or detailed Size, Time and Date details if not. Display 3 : FileSize in bytes, Date of the File as per DOS, the date the file was added or uploaded to the filebase and the Directory in which the file is stored. Display 4 : The Name of the person who uploaded the file, or 'Sysop' will show if the file was adopted. The number of times the file has been downloaded, and the last date that the files was downloaded. Display 5 : The status of the three control Flags. Initially 'Untested' and 'Unbannered' will show, but as you use the facilities to Virus Check, Archive convert and Archive Banner, then these displays will change to show what operations have been done on the files so far. Display 6 : Download History, shows the name, Date & Time, Download Length and CPS rate for every occasion that this file was downloaded. Each line displayed is either a Comment Line or a File Line. Using your cursor keys, you are able to move the Highlight Bar up and down your list. UpArrow - move up one line DownArrow - move down one line. if you attempt to move down beyond the bottom of the list, Flm2 will ask if you want to add a Blank line to the bottom. PageUp - move upwards one complete screen PageDown - move downwards one complete screen Home - move cursor to the top line of screen End - move cursor to the bottom line of screen Ctrl+Home - move cursor to the Top of the List Ctrl+End - move cursor the last line of the List To Edit any line, press the RETURN key. The highlight bar and cursor will move to the beginning of the text to be edited. Press the RETURN key again to finish the editing of the text. Initially, you are always put into an Overwrite mode where all characters typed will overwrite any that were there before. You can change into the Insert mode, by pressing the INSert key, and a large block cursor will show. Pressing the END key will move to the end of the text, likewise the HOME key will move to the beginning. You are able to define the colour of a comment. While editing the comment line, press F10 and a colour selector will show. Choose one of the colour combinations and select it by pressing the RETURN key. The following keys are available to edit the List. I - insert a Blank line at the current position D - delete current line. FLM2 will ask if you want to Physically delete this file. If you say 'No', then FLM will move the deleted line to the ScrapList. The bottom of the screen will indicate the status of the ScrapList, and the last file copied or deleted will show on the status line. C - copy current line to the ScrapList. R - restore the current line in the ScrapList indicated at the bottom of the screen, into the List at the current position. W - switch the display to the ScrapList. yo'll notice that the display at the bottom now becomes the List you were previously looking at. To switch back, simply type W again. When the ScrapList is on screen it behaves like any other list. Thus all the keys are available, although it's safer not to use the Delete, Copy fuctions as they will simply copy and delete files to your proper List. + - mark the start of a block - - mark the end of a block * - if current line is on a file, then a block will be marked of all the files upwards until a comment line and downwards of all files until a comment line Ctrl+D - delete the block to the ScrapList Ctrl+C - copy the block to the ScrapList Ctrl+R - restore a block in the ScrapList to the current position. Ctrl+N - delete the ScrapList Return - will allow you to Edit the current Comment or first line description of the File. F10 - if on a file, this will bring up the record card for that file, and you can then edit the second line description and other details. It will also show you most of the details recorded about each file. T - tags a file for possible deletion in the Global lsit. U - removes the Tag. F3 - to search for a keyword in the file descriptions of the files in the List. Alt+F3 - to continue the keyword search started with F3 When editing a Comment Line, you could specify that the comment is actually an extended description of the file above. This is done by making the first character a > FLM will indent the line to match the description of the file above, both on the current List displayed and also to the users in the BBS mode. Note, no checking is done as to the length of the comment line. The following keys allow management of the file: Ctrl+F5 - to rename the file. Ctrl+F6 - to use McAffee's SCAN to do a Virus Check on the file. after doing so, the results will be noted for future use Ctrl+F7 - to convert or archive the file to the compression type specified. Also, this is noted so future conversions won't be done again. Ctrl+F8 - to banner the file using the program specified in the Archiver/config F9 - to copy the file somehwre. You are prompted to enter a destination path. Alt+F9 - to copy the file to the A: drive. In doing so, FLM2 also increases the download counter by 1, as also creates a file on the A: drive called PACKING.LST which details the files that have been copied there listing dates, size and file description. Alt+F10 - shows a list of other files the user who uploaded this file has uploaded. P - toggles the 'Private' status of the file. On marking the file, the filename is displayed in a low intesity Brown instead of yellow. As soon as the file is marked as Private, users are unable to access the file regardless of their security status. F - toggles the Freefile status of the file. If marked as 'Free', then users will not be charged for downloading this file. N - so you can mark file as having a replacement version. This option brings up a Pick List of all the files Alphabetically close, where you can select one which replaces this current file. The following keys allow you to look at the file highlighted: Shift+F? - ? being one of the Function keys 1 to 10, will invoke the external program you have defined in config/externals. F5 - invoke the archive manager SHEZ on the file. Alt+F5 - unpack or copy the file to the \FLMWORK directory and invoke a DOS shell located to that directory. Here you can then run the program or look at it in some other way. F6 - invokes the excellent file browser LIST on the file F8 - invokes the GIF viewer VPIC Alt+F8 - invokes the ANSI file viewer A_TYPE on the file ▒▒ GLOBAL LIST ▒▒ There are two Global Lists available all the time, Alphabetical and Numerical. Each you will find as you use them has their different benefits. We'll try to identify some for you here. First though, we'll talk about the extra key functions available. Alt+N - switches to the Numerical List, placing the cursor on the first file. Alt+A - switches to the Alphabetical List, placing the cursor on the first file. W - switches to the other List (either Numerical or Alphabetical) at the position in the other List where the currently highlighted file is located. Ctrl+D - deletes all the TAGGED files. FLM" will ask you to confirm that you want to proceed. F2 - searches for a file. Enter the filename or part, and FLM2 will locate to that position in the Alphabetical List. You will find that it auotmatically switches to the Alphabetical list. Alt+F2 - searches for a Part Filename. ie if you are looking for say a .EXE file. F3 - searches the file descriptions and filenames for a Keyword. After being prompted, enter a keyword to search for and FLM2 will locate you to the first match. If there are no matches, the cursor will stay on the current file. If found, you are switched to the Numerical List. Alt+F3 - continues the keyword search starting at the next file. X - to use you will need to be located on the Alphabetical List. FLM2 will search for the first set of files with identical filenames, and locate you to that position. You will notice that FLM will always put the 2 sets of identical filenames at the top of the screen, and locate the cursor on the second of these. This is used to locate possible duplicated files on your system. Bear in mind that the match is only against filenames, so you do need to identify if the files are in fact the same. ▒▒ THE RECORD CARD ▒▒ Every file has a data record, with various bits of information recorded for each file. The File Record Card screen is reached by pressing F10 whenever your cursor is located over a filename. On entry to the screen, the cursor is located over the 1st line of the file description. This screen is the only place where you are in fact able to edit the second description line. The fields that you are able to alter are: The 2 descriptions lines. Public file status, or 'Private' status. if Public is set to No, then no user will be able to download or see this file listed. This field can also be toggled by pressing P from the full list screen. A file may also be marked as 'Private' by FLM, is it finds that the file contains a Virus during it's Virus check system. Free file status, which determines whether users will be debited for the download of the file. I usually mark all the Allfile Lists or the Archiver files to being Free, thus users won't be charged. FLM will still update the download counter for the file, and log the download in the transfer tracking logs. Passworded and Detailed Description fields are not yet implemented. Lists On, refers to the number of Lists where this file is listed. This counter can unfortunately be messed up with some operations, but it is used to determine whether FLM offers the option of 'Physically Delete File' when you select to delete a line from a List. ie FLM only offers this option if the Lists On counter is set to 1. You wouldn't under normal use alter this field, but it's available to force FLM into allowing a file to be physically deleted even if it is listed more than once. Expiry date isn't yet used, but future use will mean that FLM would automatically delete a file that has passed it's expiry date. Upload Date, as it's name suggests is the date when this file was adopted to the filebase or uploaded by a user. Times downloaded, as it's name suggests, is the number of times this file was succesfully downloaded by your users. Last Access, is the date of the last download of the file. Who Uploaded, contains the record number for the user who uploaded this file. All adopted files are given the record number 1, which is set to being the Sysop. Replacement Id, is an interesting feature of FLM, and will possibly be under used. It is used to indicate to users that a newer version of a file is now available. To set this field, either enter the file number of the replacement file, or use one of the two Pick Lists to select it quickly. F2 - offers a Pick List of all the files in Alphabetical order. Usually a replacement file would be next in Alphabetical order, so this Pick List is the quickest in finding it. F3 - offers a Pick List in Numerical order, but lists the files with their descriptions. When a file has this Replacement Id set, the user will be notified and offered the option of downloading the replacement file instead. Use this feature on all those files that seem to get updated each week, and your users will certainly appreciate it. File Status 1, is used as a control flags for FLM's various test processes. ie Virus checking, Archive converting and Bannering. File Status 2, is not used in the Shareware Edition of FLM2 File Attributes, are those of the file from DOS. ▒▒ MOVING/COPYING/DELETING FILES ▒▒ Moving or copying a file from one List to another is done by using the ScrapList (List No. 999) in a kind of 'cut and paste' method. First highlight the file you want to move. Then, if you want to duplicate that line onto the other List, select C to copy the line to the ScrapList, or select D to delete it from the Cuurent List to the ScrapList. Note, when delete is selected you will be asked if you want to physically delete the file, to which you would answer 'No'. Then, locate your cursor to the New List where you want the file and select R to recover the line from the ScrapList. On doing so, and if the default storage area for this list is available and is not ReadOnly, you will be offered the prompt of whether you Physically want to move the file to the new directory. To this you would answer Yes, if your intention was also to move the file to the List's linked Storage Area. In a similar fashion, you can delete files from the filebase altogether. After highlighting the file, press D, and then FLM will prompt you to confirm that you want to delete the file physically. On selecting 'Yes', FLM will delete the file and mark it's record that file is deleted. FLM doesn't physically remove it's own record until you purge the database using the renumbering facility. ▒▒ BLOCK MARKING ▒▒ Using the Scraplist, you are able to copy/move many files at once. We have provided the facility of marking a Block of files to make the process easier. To block a set of lines, first locate to the first line and press + then locate to the last line and select - Once done, you will see that the lines are now shown in a light background. To move this block to the ScrapList, again use similar keys as above: Ctrl+C to copy the block to the ScrapList, or Ctrl+D to delete them from the Current List to the ScrapList. If you select to Block Delete them, you are then asked if you want to default to NOT deleting the files. Select 'Yes', by selecting 'No', you will be asked to confirm the deletion of each file that FLM wants to physically delete. FLM has another feature of marking a Block of files. You can select the * key, and a block of files will be marked from the first comment line above to the first below the currently highlighted file. The effect is to Block all files listed next to each other. ▒▒ DELETING THE SCRAPLIST ▒▒ The ScrapList will often get full of lines you no longer need, and therefore you'll want to delete it. This is done by first bringing up onto the screen any of your Lists, and then with the ScrapList status line at the bottom indicating that there are files in the ScrapList, select the keys Ctrl+N. FLM deletes the ScrapList, which is actually List No. 999, and clears the status line. ▒▒ ADDING NEWFILES ▒▒ Newfiles are added to FLM's database during the adopt procedure. First FLM2 scans the directory looking for any files it doesn't know about, and any found are first added to the filebase and then added to the default list for that storage area. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ UTILITIES ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There are a collection of utilities/functions available to you. Some are available from the Utilities Menu, and others available on specifying a command line parameter. ▒▒ ADOPTING FILES ▒▒ You have the choice of doing an Adopt of only the storage areas marked to be checked, this is specified in the config/storage options, or of adopting file from every Storage Area. FLM first scans all the files in the Storage Area and checks to see whether it is known, adding them to the filebase if it doesn't. As it finds new files in the directory, it will check the Files.bbs description file to see if there is a description it can grab. After this, FLM2 adds the file to the appropriate List for that Storage area. If the Storage area has a default List setting of 0, the file is not added to any List. ▒▒ VERIFY FILE INFO ▒▒ This process can take some time if you have a large collection of files. On selection, FLM will re-check the file sizes, dates it has recorded for every file you have in your filebase. It doesn't skip the files you have marked as being in ReadOnly Storage areas. Although FLM records any changes in file sizes and dates in processes it performs, it doesn't know of changes that have been made externally. If you have a small filebase, then running this once a week is fine, if you've got a large collection, run say once a month or if you have made any major changes to the files external to FLM. ▒▒ RE-SORT ALPHABETIC ▒▒ Hopefully you won't need to run this routine often, but it's purpose is to re-sort FLM's database into the correct alphabetical order. The process also seems to tidy up the filebase. If you notice that FLM is having problems finding files, then run this routine to clear it up. ▒▒ VERIFY COUNTS ▒▒ As mentioned earlier, FLM maintains a record of the number of times a file is listed, and it's only when a file is Listed once that FLM offers you the facility to delete a file physically. However, when deleting files from one of the Global Lists, FLM doesn't also delete the corresponding pointer from any of the Lists. So, you need to run this routine if you have done some major deletions in the Global Lists. As well, as re-checking the number of times each file is Listed, FLM also cleans up the Lists removing any references to 'Deleted Record'. In addition, FLM re-checks the number and total bytes of the files listed in the Lists. ▒▒ AUTOMATIC CHECK FOR VERII ▒▒ FLM has three automatic systems of looking after your files. The first is to SCAN each file looking for Viruses, for which it uses McAfee's SCAN system. You can manually SCAN a file by using the Ctrl+F6 function in the Viewer/Editor, but here with this option a system of automatically checking all the files in your filebase is started. After selection, you will see that FLM has started to check the files from the last added to the first. It knows which ones have already been checked, so it skips those. The system only checks files with the extensions of .EXE .COM .SYS or .OVR. Having copied or extracted files to the work directory, SCAN is invoked, and the result analysed. You will see a progress indicator both in how long FLM has been checking and how many file have been checked. These factors bear more importance when the Virii checking system is run from the Comamnd line, as you are also able to tell FLM how long to run this routine for. To run from the comamnd line: FLM2 scan <minutes> FLM will start the system, and run for the number of minutes specified. If you don't specify a time period, it will just continue running until it's finished checking all your files. The way I use this, is by having FLM scan the files for 20 minutes each night in an Event. As FLM notes which it has already checked, it only continues with files it hasn't looked at, and as it always starts at the last files uploaded, it very quickly checks all the recent uploads during the day. If a VIRUS is found, FLM marks the file as 'Private' and changes the first line of the description to ' VIRUS VIRUS VIRUS' and also beeps the same message on the screen. When you want to re-scan all your files using a New version of SCAN, you can reset the control file using the 'Reset Control Flag' option. This causes FLM to forget the files which it has already checked, thus forcing it to start again. If you run the Virii Checking System in a nightly event for a period of time, you'll find that FLM eventually will have re-scanned all the files again. How many nights obviously depends on the number of files you have. For me, when I get a new version of SCAN, I change the time I give it to 2 hours, and find that after about 10 days it's re-checked them all again. (ready for another version :-) ▒▒ AUTOMATIC ARCHIVE CONVERTING ▒▒ This second automatic system which is used in exactly the same way as above, will attempt to convert files into your prefered ARChive format. This option is also available from the command line as: FLM2 CONVERT <minutes> ▒▒ AUTOMATIC ARCHIVE BANNERING ▒▒ This is the third automatic system, and causes all the ARChived files to be bannered. For files to be bannered, you will need to have configured the ARChives as such. This option is also available from the command line as: FLM2 BANNER <minutes> The flags which control these three automatic systems can be reset using the either of the three 'Reset' options. ▒▒ SORTING LISTS ▒▒ Most BBS's like to have their file lists sorted Alphabetically or even in date order. The Shareware Edition of FLM only offers this former method. By running the Sort Lists option, either from the Utilities menu, or from the command line, FLM will go thru each list identifying blocks of files listed together, and then sorting those blocks into Alphabetic order. By sorting the blocks, FLM doesn't put out of place any comment lines you have placed in the Lists. To run from the command line: FLM2 sortlists As FLM sorts the lists, it indicates the List, and the block it is currently doing, in the Progress Window. ▒▒ CREATING ALLFILES REPORTS ▒▒ The Allfiles reports are configured in the config/allfiles section. One done, you are able to create them from the command line, as: FLM2 AF <nnn> <nnn> refers to the record number of the Allfiles List you want created. Setting this to 0, will force FLM to create all of them specified. ▒▒ CREATING NEWFILES REPORT ▒▒ FLM is able to create a list of all the Newfiles uploaded/adopted to the system within a period. Configure the filename and period to report on, in the config/system section. To run from the command line: FLM2 newfiles ▒▒ CREATING ANSI/ASCII REPORTS ▒▒ There are four .ASC/.ANS reports that FLM can create for you, which you can use on your BBS to show users of the state of your filebase. All these reports are located in the TXT File Path specified. From the command line, run : FLM2 top20 - this will create 2 of them, the first showing a list of the Top 20 files downloaded from your system. The reports name FLMTOP20.A?? the 2nd, is a list of all the Storage Areas you have defined with some interesting stats for each area, like the number of files, size, number of downloads etc. The reports name FLMLISTS.A?? FLM2 wklygraph - create the other 2 reports, which are actually a visual graph of the quantity of files and kilobytes being added to your filebase over the last year. The two reports are FLM#NEWF.A?? and FLM#NEWB.A?? ▒▒ EXPORTING TO FILES.BBS FILES ▒▒ FLM can export all it's information to standard Files.BBS format files. If required, the filenames will have been specified in the config/Storage section. To run from the command line: FLM2 export ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ RUNNING IN THE BBS MODE ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── As previously mentioned, FLM2 is also a 'door' or external program for your BBS. In an RA/QBBS/SBBS environment, it can be called using either a Type 7 or 15 exit. Please refer to your BBS manuals for information on the use of doors and how they are called. The most important factor for FLM2 to operate in the BBS mode is it's requirement for the file EXITINFO.BBS to be located in the current directory. This file, as previously stated. is created by RA/SBBS on exits, and contains the Users Record so far. FLM2 on exit will update it with any changes the user has selected, most importantly updates of the users download and upload statistics. The command line I use with my RA system is: *M c:\ra\flm2.exe BBS *P *N - BBS is a parameter to FLM, to take it into the BBS mode. - the *M forces RA to swap itself to Disk before calling FLM - the *P is substituted with the COM Port number being used - the *N is substituted with the Line or Node number. Normally used only by Multi-line systems, but please set to 1 if you are running FLM on a single line BBS. Note, that if FLM is called with the BBS parameter and you have an old EXITINFO.BBS file in the directory from a previous user, it will read it and most likely detect that that user has now hung up, and FLM will subsequently close and return to the DOS command line. All communication with the COM port is done via a fossil driver, both BNU and X00 have been tested and found to work reliably with FLM. It doesn't matter to FLM whether the COM port is locked, as it follows the speed as set by the fossil. FLM will honour the users settings as for the screen size and settings prefered, ie use ANSI or ASCII displays. As yet, FLM does not utilise AVATAR screen codes. If FLM finds that the user has logged onto your BBS less than 5 times, it will display the FLM introduction screen FLMINTRO.A??. This screen was created to introduce the newish user to your file section, and inform them how quick and easy it is to use your file areas. Then, the main menu will be displayed. Note, you can customize the default screens that FLM displays, by altering your Menu and BBS options configurations. The layout of the menus displayed will be those exactly as you have defined, and FLM will check at each stage that the user does have security access to the Lists, or Files as you have set. You will see that there is a Status Line at the bottom of the screen, which updates once a minute showing slightly different information on the user currently online. While the user is online, you can see everything that the user is seeing, and can type into the keyboard just as the user can. Characters received from the COM port however, are limited to the options available on the screen at the time, and never allows characters above ASCII 127. From the Sysops keyboard, the additional keystrokes are available: Alt+C - forces user into Chat Mode with the Sysop. Alt+J - allows the Sysop to drop to a DOS shell. You must type EXIT to return to FLM. When invoked, the user is informed to Wait as you have dropped to DOS. Ctrl+J - as above, but FLM swaps itself to EMS/XMS or Disk before opening the DOS shell, giving you more RAM. Alt+E - FLM updates the EXITINFO.BBS file, and then calls the User Record Editor FLMUSER. See separate documentation for this program, written by Andy Williams. - increases the users Time Limit by One minute - decreases the users Time Limit by One minute PageUp - increases the users Credits by One unit PageDn - decreases the users Credits by One unit Ctrl+RightArrow - scrolls the Status Line to the next display. There are three of these lines, each with different information. Ctrl+LeftArrow - redisplays the Status Line. ESC - takes you as Sysop into the Viewer/Editor section of FLM. you must return by selecting the BBS Mode option from the screen there. ▒▒ LIST VIEWING ▒▒ After the user has selected an option from the main menu, the configured List will be displyed. If the user has the Page Pausing option set, the first screen full will show and then a Prompt asking whether the user wishes to continue. The Prompt offers the following options: Yes to continue showing the List No to skip to the end Back to redisplay the previous screen page TagFile prompts the user for a Filename or Number, thus adding that file to the users Download selection ViewArchive prompts the user for a Filename or Number. FLM2 will then examine the file selected and display the ARChive contents in a prioritised order whereby Textfiles are displayed first in Yellow. In most circumstances, all the document or textfiles are listed first. The ViewArchive section provides the user with facilities to read textfiles contained within the ARChive, and to extract for download any individual file. DisplayFile prompts the user for a Filename or Number. FLM2 will then check if the file is an archive. If it is, the user is prompted to use the ViewArchive option instead, otherwise the file is displayed. If the file selected has the extension .ANS, then FLM2 will display the it without the Page Pausing enabled. Once the end of the list is reached, FLM2 also offers the options: + switches to the previous List offered from the Menu. - switches to the next List offered from the Menu. ▒▒ FILE SEARCHING ▒▒ We are sure that your users will most benefit from FLM2's extremely fast Searching section. The user is offered the option of searching either for a Filename or for Keywords. The filename search, is done using a fast binary search and therefore any files found will be displayed almost instantaneously. Some users are fooled by the speed when FLM2 doesn't find any files and shows 0 files found, the users believe the search hasn't actually been done ! The Keyword search looks for the existance of the Keyword entered, either in the filename or the file descriptions. As the search progresses, the users are shown the progress by displaying the file number of the last file in the block of files just checked. The speed is maintained because FLM2 checks 250 files at a time. ▒▒ NEWFILES LIST ▒▒ On selecting this option, the user is asked to specify the number of days back FLM2 is to report. The date used is that of the Upload Date in the Files Record Card. If you want a specific file to always be shown, then simply change it's upload date to somewhere in the future. ie if you want your Allfiles Lists to always be shown as new. The user is offered the option of pressing RETURN, where FLM2 will then search from the last date the user was logged on. ▒▒ DOWNLOADING ▒▒ The user is first asked for a protocol method, with Quit being an option available. Then FLM2 will display any files which have already been Tagged, and prompt the user to enter any further ones. If you are using the subscription system, you will see that FLM2 also displays the amount the user will be charged for each file. After the user has completed entering the files to be download, a check is made that the files selected are within the Time and Download Limit and Credit Limit you have set. After the user selects to start the download, FLM2 will if configured ask the user if they wish to be automatically logged-off after the download. The protocol selected will be started. On return the logfile created or ErrorLevel set determines the success of the transfer. FLM2 is very exact with the success of the download, indicating to the user the number of files that have been transfered correctly, and offering to continue with those that weren't transfered fully. FLM2 does update it's database immediately, so you'll find that your users won't get away with supposed free downloads if they deliberately hang up in the middle of the download. If you are having problems with failed transfers, check the setup of the protocol, particularly that the log filename is correct. ▒▒ UPLOADING ▒▒ You can disallow uploads to your system in the config/BBS Options section. On the basis that uploads are allowed, the user is asked to select from one of the protocols. After selected the protocol, the next question to the user depends on whether you have configured FLM2 to check for duplicate uploads. If you have configured for 'Force Check', the user is asked for the filename of the file they are about to upload. An input of a Wildcard or a input whish is obviously false is disallowed and the user will be prompted again to enter a valid filename. FLM2 then checks the filebase and if any matching files are found, these will be listed and the user asked to confirm that the file they are going to upload is not a duplicate. Before starting the protocol, a 'Receive' directory is created by FLM2 uniquely for this user, and then FLM2 loads the protocol from that directory. On return, FLM2 checks the directory for received files and asks the user to describe each of the files uploaded. After this, then moving the files to the Upload Storage Area, and adding the file to that List. ▒▒ SUPPORT ANS/ASC FILES ▒▒ The following .ASC/.ANS files can be located in the FLM Data Directory, and FLM2 will display them as indicated: FLMINTRO.A?? - is displayed to users who have logged onto your BBS less than 5 times. This can introduce them to your filebase and indicate the best way to use it. FLM#nnnn.A?? - the nnnn represents a List Number. This file is appended to the Top of List nnnn, as it is being displayed and replaces the normal Header display that FLM2 shows. FLM#DEF.A?? - this file is appended to the Top of all Lists except lists with their own FLM#nnnn.A?? file. CHARGES.A?? - if you are using the subscription system, this file is displayed to the users who attempt to download more than their current Credits. Use to inform them how to they can get their account back into credit. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ FILEBASE STATISTICS ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ FILE TRANSFER TRACKING SYSTEM ▒▒ Every download and upload is logged within FLM2, and the first four menu options gives access to these logs. Uploads and Downloads are treated independantly, and there are no links between the user who has uploaded against the same users downloads. Upload Sessions, will show starting from the last file uploaded, a record of every file either adopted or uploaded. The log shows the Date & Time the file was added, the User who Uploaded and the time it took to upload to your system. You are able to scroll through the log by pressing the RETURN key. Any files which have subsequently been deleted will show as 'deleted', and any records which have now been removed will show as a null line. Uploaders Records, will initially show the Uploading log for the 'Sysop'. Pressing the F1 key will enable a Pick List of all the Uploaders and from this window, you can select a user whose record will then be displayed. Download Sessions, will show starting with the last file downloaded, a record of every file downloaded. The log details the Date & Time together with the Time Taken and CPS rate attained and the users name who made the download. You can continue to scroll down the log of downloads by pressing the RETURN key. Downloaders Records, indicate the downloads performed by each user. Press the F1 key to enable a Pick List and select from any of the users names shown. The users names are added to the database after they have performed their first download, therefore the newer users will be listed last. ▒▒ USAGE STATISTICS ▒▒ The 3 statistics screens display the amount of Usage your users are making of the FLM2 filebase. With data recorded over five time periods. Each column is headed with the time period it represents, also the date the time period started is shown. Each of the pages are accessed by pressing the PageUp or PageDown keys. ▒▒ FILEBASE INFORMATION ▒▒ On selecting this option, an initial scan through all the database records is done. This should only take a moment. On completion, FLM2 displays a summary for you to review. There are 3 further displays, each enabled by pressing : F1 - Extension List A complete record of all the file extensions used in your filebase with a count of the number of files, total size and number of downloads recorded for each extension. The list may extend over several screens and FLM2 will prompt you to continue. F3 - Dates Analysis The screen details the age of all the files in your filebase. The dates are split into 17 year periods, and for each year there are counts of the number of files, the sizes and the percentage of the filebase. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ CREDITS ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RemoteAccess is a trademark of Andrew Milner & Continental Software SuperBBS copyright Risto Virkkala and Aki Antman FLMUSR - Files Library Manager User Editor, by Andy Williams RAFI2FLS - RemoteAccess Flsearch.ctl Generator, by Peter Burnett PKZIP - copyright PkWare Inc ARJ - copyright Robert K Jung LHA - copyright Haruyasu Yoshizaki DSZ - copyright Omen Technology BIMODEM - copyright Erik Labs HSLINK - copyright Samuel H Smith SHEZ - copyright Jim Derr VPIC - copyright Bob Montgomery A_TYPE - copyright Ron Huiskes / Intersoft Credit due to the many BETA testers, and continual encouragement offered by them and users of the 1.xx series. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ APPENDIX ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▒▒ A - Extended Use of FLSEARCH.CTL ▒▒ On installation from an originally setup system, FLM2 utilises the file FLSEARCH.CTL to obtain the directories of your filebase. FLM2 can use and extension of the normal format for this file, allowing installation of CD-ROM discs much easier. This extension is purely the fourth column of information, an alternative description file to read. Normally FLM2 would look for a FILES.BBS file in the File Area directory, but with the additional column you can get round this with CD-ROM discs that don't use this normal method. The extended format is. Directory Security Area Description Alternative Files.bbs ------------ -------- --------------------- --------------------- u:\010a 5 Window_Demo's e:\text\dir10 u:\011a 5 Personal_System Utils e:\text\dir11 u:\012a 5 Windows e:\text\dir12 u:\012b u:\012c u:\013a 5 Windows_Games e:\text\dir13 u:\014a 5 CAD_Programs_&_Utils e:\text\dir14 In this case, the text file dir12 is a list of all the files in directories 012a, 012b, 012c. FLM2 will create Storage Areas for each of the directories, but only create Lists for the Lines where there is an Area Description. If you haven't specified an Alternative files.bbs then Flm2 will look for one in the Storage Area directory, if one isn't found then it will finally ask for you to enter a name of one, or you could leave it blank. ▒▒ B - FILES.BBS description files ▒▒ If you're not already familiar with the FILES.BBS files, you soon will be as Sysop. They are text based files, usually located in each directory where your files are stored, and form a kind of directory of each file in the directory, with a description to what that file is. The format is simply: FILENAME.EXT This is the description to this file FILE2.ZIP Another descriptive file. each line contains a filename, and then the description. You can also have lines containing comments, which normally need to be indented by one or more space characters. FLM's use of these files is purely to build your filebase initially, and then subsequently to obtain the descriptions for files adopted to the filebase. You'll find that many file based programs either maintain or make use of FILES.BBS files. For example, your Mailer (FrontDoor/D'Bridge etc), will use them to obtain the descriptions of files being file requested from your system. Also programs like TICK will add descriptions to it when files are imported to your system. FLM will maintain a FILES.BBS file for you, by using the EXPORT command, but doesn't itself use them.