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Text File | 1995-04-09 | 27.4 KB | 599 lines

LightChat History File ====================== This file documents changes that have been made to LightChat over the various releases of the software. For the most recent changes, please refer to the WHATSNEW file. LightChat v0.23/beta (1st August 1994) -------------------------------------- + Macro command SWAP implemented. Switches caller's input to other chat window. + Added ability to include text in macros as well as macro commands. + Added optional files to display:- before the page; when the Sysop aborts the page; when the Sysop doesn't answer; when a user is blacklisted; when LightChat is running on another node. Included default text if these files don't exist. + Added multi-line semaphore support. LightChat can inform the user if the SysOp is chatting on another line, or try to page regardless (configurable). Configurable semaphore directory. + Implemented BEEP macro command. + Implemented 'local' mode. Rather than simply printing 'No carrier!' when running with no user online, LightChat now runs, but doesn't provide any carrier detection or modem I/O. + Made LightChat look for it's compiled configuration file in the directory containing the program, rather than the current directory. ! Fixed problem with BACK macro command. BACK was sometimes deleting the wrong user's text, because the cursor wasn't being repositioned. ! Fixed above problem also occuring with string-expansions. ! Fixed similar cursor positioning problem for text in macros. ! Fixed problem in macro parser that hung LightChat if an unimplemented macro command was called. Unimplemented commands are now skipped. ! Fixed potential problem with internal AUX_GOTO macro - ANSI 'goto' command contained a typo (that didn't appear to cause any problems). ! Fixed apparent colour-switching problem at user's end. Colours at user's end were erratic due to inconsistent implementations of ANSI 'save' and 'restore' commands. LightChat now uses 'goto' commands instead. ! Fixed problem where, if the user pressed a key other than Ctrl-K during the page, subsequent pressing of Ctrl-K had no effect. LightChat now looks out for Ctrl-K throughout the page. ! Fixed potential colour switching problem after displaying an ANSI screen. ! Fixed problem where LightChat was becoming so low on memory that it was unable to open any more files. When allocating memory to line buffers, LightChat now reserves a 4K safety margin. LightChat v0.24/beta (3rd August 1994) -------------------------------------- + You can now find out what options you have left unconfigured by typing 'LIGHTCNF UNUSED' when compiling your configuration. + LightChat should now be twice as fast and half as memory hungry, thanks to scrapping the 'four buffer' idea. Most of the code has changed considerably as a result. + Finished CRLF macro command. Now it inserts a line and redraws the window appropriately at the current cursor position, instead of only at the end of the text in a window. CRLF macro now performs the CR AND linefeed itself, so you no longer need to use the macro command HOME directly after it. ! Allocation of four buffers (one for each window) was scrapped. This was being done so that you could have completely different sized windows, but this also meant a lot more memory was needed, and all word-wrap etc. had to be done twice (because windows might have been different widths). After realising this would affect editing if the SysOp's window at the SysOp's end was a different width from the SysOp's window at the user's end (and vice versa), it was decided to make a restriction that each user's window must be the same WIDTH at both ends (height can still be different). That way, word-wrap and other functions only need to be done once (which they now are), which speeds up the program and requires half as much memory. You can still have one window a different width to the other, so long as you ensure that each user is in the same width window at either end. (e.g. Top window is 50 wide, bottom is 78 wide. SysOp goes in top window at BOTH ends, which means the width is the same.) ! Fixed problem where LightChat crashed under certain circumstances if a trigger word was used and there was not enough room on the line for the replacement string. Replacement string is now wrapped under all circumstances when there is insufficient room. ! Fixed slight bug where cursor could always be moved down to the next line after typing in the current line. You now have to have typed, or pressed Return to get onto a line. ! Fixed bug where part of the old date was left on the screen if the date changes whilst in LightChat (if the new date was shorter). ! LightChat no longer crashes if you quit with both users in the same window (after one has switched windows). At the moment though, you must still make sure both users are in separate windows before switching modes. LightChat v0.25/beta (4th August 1994) -------------------------------------- + Implemented 'Flat Chat' - aka Chat Mode 0. This mode will automatically be entered for ASCII users, but can be switched to when running in ANSI mode too. LightChat will not let you enter Modes 1, 2 or 3 if you are chatting to an ASCII user. 'Macro' words and word-wrap still work in this mode of course, but macro commands such as 'swap window', 'up cursor' etc. have no effect. If flat chat is used in ANSI mode, colours will be assigned to each user's input. These can be defined in LIGHTCHT.CFG. + Implemented a simple status bar. It will probably change quite a bit, but it's a start - at least you can now see who's paging you! + LightChat now adds extensions to certain filenames (such as those to be shown when the sysop is busy) depending on whether LightChat is in ASCII or ANSI mode. If the file cannot be opened, some default text will be used instead. + Changed numerical 'attribute' keywords previously used to define colours for chat windows etc. to easier mnemonic form. (e.g. 'M1ClockColour LightBlue') ! Fixed problem where LightChat would crash/become unstable if it could not load the screen file for a particular mode, and reverted to another mode instead - it wasn't adjusting the line buffers. ! Resolved some cursor positioning problems, mainly resulting from the implementation of 'flat' chat. LightChat v0.26/beta (9th August 1994) -------------------------------------- + Colours are now used in flat chat mode even if the LightChat is running in ASCII mode - colour codes will not be sent to the user, but will be sent to the local screen. + LightChat now takes notice of whether the page bell is active or not. If it is disabled (by using the Scroll Lock key), LightChat will page you 'quietly'. + LightChat can now (optionally) create a USERDOES.nnn file in your RA system directory, to tell compatible 'Who's online' programs that you are chatting to the user. If you don't use a USERDOES file (configured by keyword 'UserActionFile'), LightChat will set RAs system files to show 'Sysop Chat' when using a 'Who's online' command from RA. If a USERDOES file is used, LightChat will set it to show 'Is paging the Sysop' during a page, so that other users don't think they are in chat/still browsing the BBS. If for some reason LightChat can't create the USERDOES file, it will revert to setting RA to show 'Sysop Chat'. + Changed the LightChat semaphore filename from LC_BUSY.nnn (where nnn is a 3-digit 0-prefixed node number, e.g. 'LC_BUSY.001') to LC_BUSY.n (e.g. 'LC_BUSY.1') for no good reason other than other things seem to do it this way and it knocks 8 bytes off the program size(!). ! LightChat was changing the colour unnecessarily in flat chat when using ANSI mode - it now changes once per user when necessary. ! When attempting to switch to an ANSI chat mode from flat chat, with an ASCII user online (which fails) after the status bar displayed the error message, sometimes the cursor returned to the wrong place. The cursor now gets replaced properly. ! As well as the cursor being positioned in the wrong place, the status bar showed that you were in the mode you attempted to switch to, even though LightChat had not switched because it was an ASCII user. Now stays set to 'Mode: 0'. ! Fixed problem where some of the ANSI screen was being blanked out after switching modes, because the date string was being padded out too much. ! If the user's name was longer than 24 characters or their location was longer than 19 characters, the name/location was displayed incorrectly on the statusbar, and sometimes caused a crash. ! Fixed all (hopefully) of the cursor positioning problems, that were occasionally causing printing errors. ! Fixed word-wrap problem where text wrapped to next line but did not 'disappear' from current line. Instead it got 'squashed' off the end, or remained stuck in the window when scrolling. ! Added some code to prevent some unnecessary ANSI codes being sent when word-wrapping. ! LightChat used to crash if you switched modes with both users in the same window (after SWAPWINDOW macro had been used). You can now safely switch modes whilst swapped - LightChat will restore both users to their respective windows when entering a new mode. LightChat v0.27/beta (18th August 1994) --------------------------------------- + Added a configuration keyword 'USERDOESPath' to specify where the USERDOES.nnn file should be created/looked for, rather than forcing you to use the RA system directory as before. + You can now use 'data codes' in certain places in LightChat, such as .ANS/.ASC files, macro strings, automatic greeting strings, word-macros etc. See LIGHTCHT.CFG for a list of data codes currently supported by LightChat. + Added code to use automatic greetings and goodbyes, with simulated typing option. Several new configuration keywords added to take advantage of these new features - see LIGHTCHT.CFG for details. + Added 'excluded user' feature. You can configure whether you should be paged silently when such a user tries to page, or whether to show a file (filename configured in UserExcludedFile). This option is configurable with the keyword ActionIfExcluded. + Added a complete RA user editor. New macro command added (command '{'), to call this feature. Added two configurable strings to show to the user before and after calling the user editor (UserEditMsg and DoneUserEditMsg). You can shell to DOS from the user editor at any time with Ctrl-Z. You can use this temporarily in place of the DOS macro command until that gets implemented. Carrier checking is NOT performed whilst in the user editor, but will resume as soon as you leave it. + Made some functions 'registered-verson only', and added some restrictions in several places if LightChat is unregistered. This is to prepare for initial beta releases. + Added some code to (attempt to) detect an earlier LightChat crash, and if found, clear up redundant files to prevent LightChat from thinking you are still chatting to another user. It's doubtful that this function will be of any use because of the way RA works, but it's there just in case. Please contact us if it does activate itself on your system, otherwise it might be removed later. + An interactive registration and beta-test application program has been written and will be enclosed in the LightChat distribution as of this release. LightChat v0.28 (29th August 1994) ---------------------------------- + LightChat now sets the 'Wants chat' indicator in RA *on* if it exits for any reason without you having chatted to the user. If you HAVE chatted to the user, it sets the 'Wants chat' indicator *off*. + LightChat can now optionally ask the user for a reason for chat. In the registered version, you can also specify a .ANS/.ASC file to show before asking the user for their reason, so you can change the appearance of the prompt. A hard-coded prompt is used in the unregistered version. + LightChat can optionally show a .ANS/.ASC file if the reason for chat given by the user is too short (configured by MinReasonLength). + The position and colour of text to be used when the user enters their reason for chat can now be configured to match positioning/colours in your reason prompt file. + Added configurable 'maximum length of reason' so that the user's reason doesn't overwrite any right hand border in your reason prompt file. + You can now configure how many lines LightChat should scroll each window. This will be used when at the bottom of a window, or when using the cursor keys to scroll backwards/forwards through text in the window. + Added two new control codes - Ctrl-A (ASCII 1) waits until [Enter] is pressed. Ctrl-W (ASCII 23) waits for 1 second. (These control codes are the same as those used in RemoteAccess). + Added REDRAW macro command. This command will redraw the ANSI screen, the users' names, date, time, and text in both windows. + Added FREEZE macro command. This command will temporarily cause LightChat to ignore any input from the remote user. If the FREEZE macro command is recalled, LightChat will no longer ignore input. + Added page tune support. LightChat will now randomly select a file in your page tune directory (configured by PageTuneDirectory) and play it. 'PageCallType' must be set to 'Tune' for tunes to be played. + LightChat modes are now numbered 1 through 4, for clarity. + LightChat no longer complains if your specified excluded-user list does not exist. + LightChat will no longer exit if EXITINFO.BBS is not found. Instead, the user editor will be inaccessible. + LightChat will no longer exit if DOOR.SYS is not found. Instead, it will switch to local mode. ! The cursor was not being returned to the correct position after text contained in a macro string was inserted, which caused some display errors. Fixed. ! When jumping to DOS from the user editor, a message was printed on screen saying 'Type EXIT to return to the Test Program'! Now suggests you return to LightChat instead :) ! Fixed two display problems that made the cursor go below the bottom of a chat window. In word-wrap, this meant part of the text was being inserted on the wrong line. ! Fixed slight problem with DOS shell from the user editor. Now uses a little less memory. LightChat v0.29 (30th September 1994) ------------------------------------- + LightChat now uses paging hours (defined in LIGHTCHT.CFG). + LightChat can now 'backspace over lines'. + LightChat now logs its activity. The log-file and style are configurable with two new keywords ('LogFile' and 'LogType'). + LightChat now has a built-in Macro Manager. Macros and their associated keys can be changed whilst chatting by invoking the macro manager. Macro definitions have now been removed from the .CFG file. + New command-line parameter 'MACROS' added to LIGHTCHT.EXE to edit/ define macros without going into chat mode. + New macro command 'DEL' added, which deletes the character to the right of the cursor. + Added a page 'bar' that represents the time elapsed/remaining in the paging process. Works in ASCII and ANSI modes. Configurable colours, position, and length of bar. 'Dots' can still be printed instead if you prefer. + LightChat can now be configured to get paging hours from RemoteAccess, in which case, LightChat's paging hours are ignored, and you can override the paging hours using Alt-O in RA. + Added configuration option to set whether or not 'beeps' should be sent to the user's terminal or not during paging. + LightChat now allows ASCII characters 127 through 255 to be used in chat (allowing UK pound sign, European language characters etc.) + You can now define up to 3 alternative names that LightChat can use for the local operator - these could be used for pseudonym's, Co-SysOps, or other people who are likely to be answering pages on your system. Each alternative name has an associated configurable 'chat key' that can be used to answer a page. Additionally, when using the FORCE option (to bypass paging), a parameter can be passed to specify which user to use as the local operator. ! Improved word-wrap routines. ! Increased speed of screen update when word-wrapping. ! LightChat was not reporting a missing fossil driver when running in local mode like it should. ! CTRL-K was not being read from the local keyboard to abort the page. ! Chat mode 1 (ASCII) suddenly decided to stop word wrapping properly for no apparent reason. This *may* not be fixed, please get in touch if it still occurs. ! USERON.BBS was being 'damaged' slightly when running LightChat in local mode (without dropfiles present). ! Major problems with chat mode 1 (ASCII) not word wrapping at the user's end were fixed. ! Semaphore file was being set before paging and before the SysOp answered, meaning that a user on another node received the 'SysOp Chatting' message when in fact they weren't. Semaphore is now only set once the SysOp has answered/forced the page. ! LIGHTCNF and LIGHTCHT programs now restore the screen to the mode they were in when loaded. ! User's sex was being displayed incorrectly in the user editor. If edited, it was also slightly corrupting user-file. ! The Macro Manager, User Editor and Registration Program were not allowing the '=' character to be entered. ! Fossil driver is no longer needed when running LightChat in local mode. ! User Editor and Macro Manager messages were being displayed in the wrong place locally, and subsequent typing overtyped text already on the screen. ! Page tune player was measuring seconds incorrectly - although tune sounded correct, dots and beeps sent to user were appearing at irregular intervals. As a result, local and remote keyboards weren't being checked as regularly as they should. ! Page tune player now checks local and remote keyboards constantly during the paging process, instead of once a second. ! Paging screen was being overwritten locally by program information and page progress, and cleared completely at the user's end. ! User's name was being looked up in exclude list (and the user was then chucked out) even when using LightChat in forced mode. ! LightChat now has it's own ANSI interpreter, and no longer requires ANSI.SYS to be loaded. ! The status bar is now cleared off the screen before LightChat exits. ! User's name is now displayed on status bar along with reason for chat, so that the SysOp can see who is paging. ! When line buffer was full, the Redraw macro was redrawing text in the window and filling up any unused lines with old text. LightChat v1.00/beta-1 (2nd February 1995) ------------------------------------------ + LightChat now has a menu-based setup utility. The old script configuration and compiler has been removed. + LightChat's registration program has been removed in favour of a simpler-to-use text-based form (REGISTER.FRM) + LightChat's documentation has been completely re-written. + LightChat now makes an entry in the log file if the SysOp is chatting to another user on another node. + LightChat can now optionally detect if the user has chatted to the SysOp before in the same call, and if so, not send another automatic greeting. + LightChat now has a 'message-to-SysOp' facility, with a built-in fully configurable message editor (see LIGHTCHT.DOC for more details). + LightChat now comes with an AutoInstall facility - you no longer even need to install and configure LightChat yourself to get it running! LCSETUP will read essential information from RA's configuration, alter its own paths according to where you have extracted LightChat, and install itself into your RA system. + Path-checking was added to LCSETUP, to ensure directories exist, and offer the option of creating them for you. + The *N option can now be used in log file paths for use with multi-node systems. + The LCHATxx tag in the LightChat log file was changed to LCxx. + The now redundant 'MACROS' parameter was removed from LightChat, as LCSETUP can be used instead. + LightChat can now optionally display a screen if the user has paged the SysOp a (configurable) number of times. + LightChat can now auto-add a user to the exclude list if they have paged a (configurable) number of times. In this case, the optional screen to display (see above) is used as a warning screen instead. + LCSETUP's path-creator could previously only create directories one- level deep. It can now create directories recursively. + Comments can now be used in the excluded user list (must be preceeded by a semicolon). + LCSETUP's AutoInstall feature can now create, as well as update, GLOBALRA.MNU. + Made various enhancements to AutoInstall's ability to add itself to GLOBALRA.MNU. + Internal macro editor was removed to make the program a little smaller - LCSETUP can be used to edit command macros instead. As a result, the macro command MACED (|) no longer exists. + New macro command 'DOS' (q) has been added. This command will shell to DOS from LightChat, which will be swapped out to EMS/XMS, or Disk. + LCSETUP now comes with an on-line help facility, providing context- sensitive help and search facilities. Press F1 to bring up the help screen at any time. ! LightChat could crash if the configuration file was invalid. Fixed. ! Sharing violations/crashes were occuring on LIGHTCHT.MAC when LightChat was operating in a multi-node system. ! If LightChat was run in local mode (without a DOOR.SYS file present), and was configured to use RA's paging hours, it would ALWAYS think the SysOp was not available. ! When LightChat was running on a multi-node system and a user paged whilst another was already chatting, data codes 'e', 'f', and 'g' (other user's details) were being set to the same as codes 'a', 'b' and 'c' (the first user's details). ! The paging hours in LCSETUP were displayed in the wrong order. ! Colour of chat text was being changed after a word-macro replacement, if something of a different colour had updated on the screen just before the word-macro trigger character was used. ! LCSETUP would produce a device error if you used it whilst LightChat was running. ! Major flaw with remote macro-key reading was fixed. ! LCSETUP was not backing up GLOBALRA.MNU if GLOBALRA.OLD already existed. ! LCSETUP's AutoInstall feature was not adding the 'FORCE' parameter to the 'External chat' command-line in RACONFIG. ! The 'Notes' field in LCSETUP's Macro Manger was slightly too long, which would cause the program to crash if completely filled. ! LCSETUP produced a Device Error if run whilst LightChat was running under Netware. This was due to a file-sharing problem with the macro file, LIGHTCHT.MAC. LightChat v1.00/beta-2 (12th February 1995) ------------------------------------------- + Support for the JAM message base format was added. This was achieved using the JAM API, although we had to amend it to fix some major problems with pointer addition in the original API code. + LCSETUP AutoInstall now attempts to locate your local To/From SysOp message area from your RA configuration, and configures itself appropriately. + Added new macro command, 'HANG' (y). This command will attempt to disconnect the user directly from LightChat. + Added new macro command, 'LOCK' (z). This command does the same as HANG, except it first sets the user's security to zero. + Added two new macro commands, 'STATL' and 'STATR' (} and ~ respectively). These commands 'rotate' the status bar to show different information about the user (only available if EXITINFO.BBS is present). + Changed default answer to 'Would you like to leave a message?' to 'No'. ! LCSETUP exited without any error message if the LightChat data files were corrupt. ! Word-macros were being triggered even if *parts* of words matched, rather than whole words. For example, if 'ra' was set to expand to 'RemoteAccess', typing the word 'extra' would cause LightChat to replace it with 'extRemoteAccess'. LightChat now requires that one of the configured trigger characters is before the current word, as well as after it. ! LightChat did not tell ASCII users of the message editor to press ESC for the menu, which caused some confusion! ! LCSETUP AutoInstall set the LightChat menu entry's flags to those of new users (taken from RACONFIG), but these flags are often unset after users have been 'validated'. For this reason, LCSETUP now sets NO flags as 'required' for paging the SysOp in the menu entry. [EOF]