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Text File | 1993-06-15 | 91.4 KB | 2,130 lines

┌────────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌────────────┐ │ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ │ │ ┌───┐ │ │ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──┘ │ │ ┌┘ └┐ ┌┘ └┐ │ └───┘ │ ┌┘ └┐ ┌┘ └┐ └────┘ └────┘ └─────────┘ └────┘ └────┘ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Message-O-Matic v2.00 - CopyRight 1992-93 by Eddy Matthews & Ivan Trifonoff ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Table of Contents ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Table of Contents ................................................ 1 Dedication ....................................................... 2 Credits .......................................................... 2 Legal disclaimer ................................................. 2 What is MOM? ..................................................... 3 Upgrading from v1.10 ............................................. 5 Configuring MOM for your system .................................. 7 Configuring MOM Setup (General) .................................. 8 Configuring Mom - LOGS ........................................... 9 Configuring MOM - Messages ...................................... 10 Configuring Mom - N Messages ..................................... 13 Configuring Mom - Statistics screens ............................. 15 Installing Mom into your BBS batch file .......................... 17 MOM command line switches/parameters ............................. 19 Examples of command line switch usage by MOM ..................... 24 Metastrings used by Mom .......................................... 25 Bug reports, contacting the author ............................... 29 Future developments of MOM ....................................... 30 Beta test sites .................................................. 31 -1- A final few words ................................................ 31 ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Dedication! ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ To my grandmother Ivanka. Pochivay v mir. This program is dedicated to the memory of Ivanka the dear grandmother of Ivan Trifonoff who sadly passed away during the development of Mom. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Credits (Thanks guys!) ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ I would like to thank the following guilty people for the creation of this program. In no particular order: Eddy Matthews -- He is the one who initiated this project. Once he said: "I have a few ideas about a utility"... And that WAS the beginning... Thank you for the inspiration, ideas and for the Rum. "EM> One day I'll find something you can't program." Bob Garbutt -- For his permanent support, kindness and (polite :-)) suggestions. "BG> I wonder if I've found a buglet!" Clifford Cook -- Our first registered beta tester for his bravery!. Thank you for your attention, Ivan Trifonoff. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │▓▓▓ Legal Disclaimer ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Now to the boring bit! This program is NOT free, it is shareware. Any use of this program after an initial 30 day trial period requires you to register your copy with the author. Details on how to register are given at the end of this document. Unregistered distribution copies of MOM are released with a limited (180 day) run time demo key. This key will expire 180 days from the date of the program release, NOT 180 days from the first time you run the program!! Should you obtain a copy of this program that has an expired demo key, you are advised to -2- contact the authors or one of the support BBS's listed at the end of this document for a later version. Please remember shareware programs can only continue to develop if they have YOUR support, failure to register will ONLY end in this and other shareware programs being abandoned which in turn will mean you have a reduced choice of cheap well written programs. This program and its accompanying documentation are guaranteed to do nothing other than take up space on your drive. The author and his agents will not accept any liability for any consequential loss or damage arising from your use or inability to use MOM or any of the information provided, including, but not limited to, economic or financial loss, damage to peripheral equipment or products, loss of use, productivity or time. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure its reliability and functionality you use this program entirely at your own risk and no warranties of any type are given, either expressed or implied. The program and the associated documentation on disk may be freely distributed on the following conditions 1) No changes whatsoever are made to the program, its documentation or any associated files. 2) Anyone wishing to charge a fee for distributing MOM must have the written consent of the author. No charge will be made for this consent but I need to know who is distributing it so that I can send out updates - Apply in writing to the address at the end of this document. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ What is MOM? ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Message-O-Matic, hereafter referred to as MOM, has been developed as the ultimate automatic message system for Sysops of RemoteAccess,SuperBBS and ProBoard bulletin board systems using FrontDoor or D'Bridge as their front -end mailer. N.B. Support for QuickBBS, and Binkley will follow in a future release. All major releases will be announced in the RA_UTIL echo and also various RANet echo's. This version has support for RemoteAccess v2.0g1 but has NO support for the new JAM message base.... It will ONLY work if you are using the Hudson message base! MOM will fully automate all of those tedious messages that Sysops need to post to users. It needs only a minimal setup to get it going and can be -3- up and running in a matter of minutes, though to get the best out of MOM it is recommended that you take time to study all of its features in some detail. In addition MOM will generate Ascii and Ansi screens giving details of your systems activity which you can display online to your users and it will also add the last BBS caller into your Front-end mailers waiting for call screen and into the inbound history file. The Inbound history file will be cleared of BBS callers in your midnight event to ensure it doesn't grow too large. MOM can automatically send the following messages to your users: - Welcome to new users - Thankyou for uploading - Subscription expiry (configurable for # of days before expiry to send message) With this type of message it is possible to send messages warning users of their imminent subscription expiry, and also to optionally downgrade their access once their subscription has expired. - Happy birthday (automatically generated on users birthday) - N'th caller to system (send message to N'th caller to your system - fully configurable) i.e. 1000th caller, 2000th caller etc.. - Send a message to users after every N'th call he or she has made to your system. i.e. send a message after every 10 calls made by a user (fully configurable) - # Times user has called (send message when user has called # times - fully configurable) - Carrier Drop - send message to users that drop carrier. Mom will now work correctly with MOST doors that allow a user to logoff without returning to the BBS as you can now specify a string that is inserted by the door into your log file and if this string is found by Mom it will NOT send a carrier drop message. - Download message - send those troffers a message :-)) - Membership message - automatically send a message to users that have called 'x' times. (Times On message) - Watchdog Messages - post a message to a user if he/she exceeds the number of times he/she is allowed to attempt to enter the correct password. This message will also list any passwords that were tried! - KeyWord messages - A VERY powerful feature which will tell MOM to search your log files for a keyword or phrase you have defined and send the appropriate message (fully configurable) -4- - MOM can also send messages based on a host of other sysop defined parameters. For example it is possible for MOM to send a message to a user, or group of users, based on security level, flag settings, User group, User language etc etc. See MOM command line switches for more details. In addition to those above, MOM can also send messages to the Sysop: - Daily Report - details of daily system usage and MOM's daily activities. - Weekly report - as above, but weekly stats MOM will also send Netmail and Echomail/local messages on behalf of the Sysop: - SysopAway - reply to the sender of a Netmail/echomail/local message when the Sysop is away. (see example text file) - The Regular Post type of message allows you to fully automate those regular echomail messages such as BBS advertisements, echo rules etc. MOM can be configured so that it will show details of the last BBS caller on the main Front-end mailer screen, and will also append these details in the inbound history file giving the date and time of the call and showing the amount of files downloaded for this particular call in bytes. IMPORTANT NOTE! when MOM posts these messages it is also capable of changing a users security and/or flag settings, and it can also be setup so that messages will ONLY be sent if a user meets certain criteria defined by you i.e. Security level, flag settings, user group etc etc. When posting a message to a user, Mom will use the users REAL name unless the message area it is posting into has been set to FORCE the use of an Alias, in which case the users ALIAS will be used. If the message area allows the use of EITHER real or alias names, then Mom will use the REAL name of the user. These features are described in detail later in this document. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │▓▓▓ Upgrading from v1.10 ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Those of you that have been using Mom v1.10 will need to follow these -5- instructions to upgrade your configuration to that of v2.0. If this is your first attempt at using Mom, please ignore this section and proceed directly to 'Configuring MOM for your system' Because of the many changes made to Mom's data structures, configurations used in v1.10 are NOT compatible with v2.0. Most of these alterations will be handled by MomSetup, but because LOTS of additions have been made to the configuration file you will need to manually edit some parts of the config yourself. IMPORTANT !! Firstly, to upgrade your current configuration file, make a backup of your current version of Mom BEFORE attempting to upgrade. IF YOU ARE STILL EVALUATING MOM, PLEASE REMEMBER TO RENAME 'EVERYONE.KEY' TO MOM.KEY AND PLACE IT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY AS MOM.EXE. IF YOU HAVE REGISTERED YOUR COPY OF MOM, SIMPLY COPY THE REGISTRATION KEY YOU RECEIVED WHEN YOU REGISTERED INTO YOUR MOM DIRECTORY. Then follow these steps: 1. Copy all the files in the v2.0 distribution archive into your MOM directory This does mean ALL files! As even the message text files have been greatly modified and most of the metastrings used in these files have been changed and added to. 2. Included in the archive is a MOM.CNF (configuration) file. This is a basic setup file for v2.0. You may either edit this file to suit your system, or replace it with your MOM.CNF from v1.10 and upgrade that to use with Mom. If you decide to use the example Mom.Cnf file supplied in the version 2.0 release archive, load it into MomSetup and then jump to the section of this document entitled 'Configuring MOM for your system' - Otherwise move to step 3. 3. To upgrade your existing Mom configuration file, place YOUR configuration file from v1.10 (Mom.Cnf) into the Mom directory and run MomSetup.Exe 4. Once MomSetup has been run, it will automatically expect you to load in a VALID Mom.Cnf file... However, since you wish to upgrade from v1.10 YOUR current Mom.Cnf is NOT VALID, so choose the 'CANCEL' option to quit from loading the Mom.Cnf file. 5. Once you have successfully entered the MomSetup program WITHOUT loading in your Mom.Cnf, select the 'Upgrade' sub menu from the 'Utils' menu and load in your Mom.Cnf file. Mom will then upgrade it to be compatible with v2.0 data structures. This is an automatic procedure and the ONLY requirements are for you to select the filename to load. MOST IMPORTANT!! Press F2 to SAVE the new configuration!! 6. Mom will upgrade everything it can from your v1.10 configuration, but it will NOT enable any screens OR messages! You MUST step through each part of the NEW config to enable any messages and/or screens you want Mom to produce. There will be very little that you need to alter, but you should make a point of stepping through EVERY menu and sub-menu to check that all is correct for your system and as stated above, ENABLE any messages/screens you wish to use. To enable a message or screen, select the appropriate menu and press [Space] over the 'enable/disable' field, an 'X' indicates that the message or stats screen is enabled or active.... a blank indicates that the option is disabled or inactive. -6- DO NOT FORGET to press F2 to SAVE any changes you may make BEFORE you exit MomSetup. You will NOT be asked to save any changes when you exit the setup program!! You have been warned!! 7. PLEASE step through the various chapters of this document about configuring Mom for your system to ensure everything is entered correctly. Failure to do this could result in Mom either working incorrectly or NOT working AT ALL!! You have been warned!! ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM for your system ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ You will find the following files inside the distribution archive: MOM.EXE - The main executable file MOMSETUP.EXE - The setup program used to configure Mom MOMSETUP.DAT - Data file used by MomSetup.Exe MOMSETUP.HLP - Online help file used by MomSetup.Exe. This can be called up anywhere within MomSetup by pressing F1 (Function key F1) DEFAULT.PAL - The default color file used by MomSetup. These are the colors used within MomSetup, and have NO effect on the screens generated by Mom. The colors used in the stats screens can be modified from within MomSetup. CYAN.PAL - Alternative color file for use in MomSetup ROSE.PAL - Alternative color file for use in MomSetup EDITPAL.EXE - Program to allow you to create your own *.Pal files. NO further explanation is given on this program... Use it at your peril! :-) MOM.DOC - Documentation for Mom (what your reading now!) REGISTER.MOM - Registration document for all countries which do not have a registration site for your country REGISTER.SWE - Registration document for systems in Sweden REGISTER.SUI - Registration document for systems in Switzerland REGISTER.USA - Registration document for systems in USA REGISTER.RSA - Registration document for systems in South Africa WHATS.NEW - List of new features added to Mom since v1.10 SUPPORT.MOM - List of support boards for Mom SAMPLE.ZIP - Sample text files for use with Mom (see the section on meta strings for more info) EVERYONE.KEY - Limited run time demo key. Use this if you are an unregistered user, or replace it with your own key if you have already registered your copy of Mom. If you are evaluating Mom, you MUST RENAME this from Everyone.Key -> Mom.Key and place it in the same directory as Mom.Exe. Mom will NOT OPERATE without this key or a valid registration key. MOM.CNF - Example configuration file which you can edit by using MomSetup.Exe PLEASE NOTE!! This example configuration file has EVERYTHING disabled and you will need to enable the features you wish to use. Running Mom without editing this file will result in NO messages or stats screens being posted/created. -7- !! YOU MUST EDIT THIS FILE TO SUIT YOUR SYSTEM !! IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS SECTION AND THE SECTIONS ENTITLED 'CONFIGURING MOM' + 'INSTALLING MOM INTO YOUR BBS BATCH FILE' TO GET THE BEST OUT OF THIS PROGRAM. SPENDING 10-15 MINUTES READING THESE TWO SECTIONS WILL SAVE YOU HOURS OF HEAD SCRATCHING LATER.... To configure Mom for use with your system, you need to run the configuration program MomSetup.Exe and enter all of the information for your system. It is important that you step through each screen in turn and enter the details in a logical order.... Trying to rush through the setup will only result in errors which will cause problems later. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE LOGICAL STEPS TO ENSURE SUCCESS! IF YOU ARE UPGRADING FROM VERSION 1.10 PLEASE SEE THE SEPARATE SECTION OF THIS DOCUMENT WHICH EXPLAINS THE UPGRADE PROCEDURE IMPORTANT !! IF YOU ARE STILL EVALUATING MOM, PLEASE REMEMBER TO RENAME 'EVERYONE.KEY' TO MOM.KEY AND PLACE IT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY AS MOM.EXE. IF YOU HAVE REGISTERED YOUR COPY OF MOM, SIMPLY COPY THE REGISTRATION KEY YOU RECEIVED WHEN YOU REGISTERED INTO YOUR MOM DIRECTORY. 1. Ensure that all the files from the distribution archive are placed in a separate directory (C:\MOM is advised and is assumed from now on) 2. Run MOMSETUP.EXE. Press [Enter] after the opening screen. You will then be asked to load in the Mom.Cnf file for editing, Press [Enter] twice to accept the default filename of MOM.CNF and load it into MomSetup. 3. Now that you have loaded the default Mom.Cnf file which was included in the distribution archive you may start to edit it to suit your system. 4. Press Alt-S to enter the Setup menu. Here you have two choices, 'General' and 'Logs'. Move the highlighted bar over 'General' and press [Enter] This is where you tell Mom about your general system, i.e. BBS type, Mailer etc etc.. 5. If you are uncertain of what you need to enter on any of the fields, pressing 'F1' (function key F1) will bring up context sensitive help for the field in question. 6. Because the setup program has a built in 'Help' system, we will only explain very briefly what is required as most of it should be very straight forward. The only parts that will be explained in detail are those that may cause confusion when first configuring Mom. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM - SETUP ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 7. Edit the various fields to suit your particular system. Everything should -8- be fairly obvious, but a couple of things may need extra explanation. (a) To move between the various fields, press your TAB key (b) To move between options within a particular field, use the cursor keys (c) Before each option you will see a ( ) or [ ], these options are activated when they contain either a period '.' or an 'X'. To activate an option in a ( ) simply move the cursor over the option you want enabled and then press TAB to move to the next field. The option will show it is enabled by changing from ( ) to (.) The options within [ ] brackets work slightly differently. Here you should move the cursor to the desired option and then press [Space] this will show the option as active by changing from [ ] to [X] (d) Default Message settings: Board: Here you can specify a message board number to be used as a default this area will ONLY be used if no message area is specified in the relevant settings for a particular message type, or if no message area number is given on the command line. Specifying a message area in the other message settings menus will override this area. It is ONLY used if NO area number is specified elsewhere. Who From: Again, this is a default setting that will ONLY be used if you do not specify the name of the message sender. Normally this field would contain the Sysops name. Subject: The default subject line for a message. This will be used ONLY if no specific subject is given for a message. This will be placed on the subject line of the message. It will be overridden if you have specified a different subject line for a particular message either in the setup for that message, or from the command line. You may use metastrings in this field which will make the subject more personal. See the section of this document about metastrings for more information. 8. Once you have entered the information in this menu, select 'OK' and press [Enter] if you are happy with the changes you have made. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM - LOGS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 9. Press Alt-S again and select the 'Logs' menu 10. Here you must enter the full path and file names of the logs you wish Mom to scan. You MUST enter at least ONE log file for Mom to work correctly! i.e. C:\RA\RA.LOG You can enter up to 10 log files for Mom to scan. Don't forget if you are running a multi-node system that you will need to specify the path and filename for each of your nodes. 11. Select 'OK' when you are happy with your selections. PLEASE NOTE!! !! QUICK SETUP FOR NEW USERS !! The sample Mom.Cnf file that is supplied in the release archive only needs -9- minimal changes to get Mom to work.... Follow the steps outlined above, then ENABLE any messages and statistics screens you wish Mom to create and save the Config file by pressing F2 from within MomSetup. The default settings supplied in the example file will work perfectly well for most systems, but you MUST remember to ENABLE the messages and screens you want to use otherwise NO messages or stats will be generated!! Once you have entered your BBS and log file details and saved these changes, you only need to add Mom into your BBS batch file for it to run. Please see the separate section of this document for instructions on how to include Mom in your batch file. After editing your BBS batch file to include Mom, that's it! When you have got Mom running you may want to try altering the configuration to take advantage of all the features Mom has to offer. We would advise that you use Mom as it is supplied until you have had time to read and FULLY under- stand all of the things Mom can do and how to set it all up. Because Mom has been deliberately programmed to be as flexible as possible you may find some of the more advanced features difficult to grasp at first... but Fear Not! The following sections explain in more detail what is required for each part of Mom's configuration. Don't forget, we have a large number of support sites that are always willing to explain things if you get stuck, and there is also a MOM_HELP echo available from any of the support sites that you can link into to get help directly from the programs authors should you wish to. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM - MESSAGES ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 12. MomSetup has two different basic types of messages, Messages and N Messages Here we will deal with Messages... N Messages are more advanced and will be explained in the next section. 13. Select the 'Messages' option. You will now be presented with a sub-menu showing the various messages Mom can send. Briefly they are: Daily report: Posts a daily report of your systems activity. Weekly report: Sends a weekly report of your systems activity. Welcome: Welcomes new users to your system. Thank you: Sends a thank you message to users that have uploaded files. Watch dog: Sends a message to a user if he/she has exceeded the maximum number of password attempts for your system. This message will include a list of the passwords that were tried. Birthday: Posts a message to a user on his/her birthday. Carrier drop: Sends a message to a user that has dropped carrier without logging off correctly. 14. Most of these messages are very similar in their setup, so we will only discuss the bits that may cause confusion. Select each message in turn -10- starting with Daily report. Active: An 'X' indicates this message is active. That is it will be sent by Mom at the appropriate time. The message can be enabled/disabled by pressing the [Space] key. Filename: The filename of the message to be posted by Mom. If you wish to have your message text files in a different directory to Mom, you MUST also include a path to the file. Board: The message board number that this message should be posted into. If this field has 0 as the message board number Mom will use the 'Default' message area as defined in the 'General' setup. Who from: The name to be placed in the 'From' field of the message. Again, if this is left blank, Mom will use the default name specified in the 'General' setup. Subject: The subject line to be used for this message. If left blank, Mom will use the default setting specified in 'General' setup. You may also use metastrings in this field to personalize your messages. See 'Metastrings' later in this document for a list. Attributes:The attributes that Mom should assign to this message. See your BBS or front-end mailers docs for a more detailed description, or press function key F1 for a brief outline of the particular types of attribute. Attributes2: More advanced attributes that can be set for certain message types Condition: Here you can specify that Mom will NOT send this message UNLESS the user meets certain conditions. If the user does NOT meet these conditions Mom will NOT send the message. Understanding this option and the 'Action' option (explained later) will allow you to make the best possible use of Mom's flexibility. This is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of Mom to grasp, but spending a little time getting to understand these two features will pay handsome dividends in your ability to make the best use of Mom. Conditions are checked BEFORE sending message, and actions are performed only when a message has been successfully sent. The format of the condition field is: ('|' means or): condition ::== <cond> | <cond>','<cond> - conditions are separated by ',' cond ::== <flagsetting> | <securitysetting> | <groupsetting> | <languagesetting> -11- flagsetting ::== <flagpresense><flagname><number> flagpresense ::== '-' | - flag is clear '+' - flag is set flagname ::== 'A' | 'B' | 'C' | 'D' securitysetting ::== <relation_or_s><number> relation_or_s ::== <relation> | 'S' - security is equivalent to relation ::== '=' | - security is equivalent to '<' | - security is less than or equal to '>' - security is greater than or equal to groupsetting ::== 'G'<number> languagesetting ::== 'L'<number> example: -a1,+b2,<5 In this example, Mom would ONLY post this message if flag A1 was off, flag B2 was on, and the users security level was less than or equal to 5. If ANY of these conditions weren't satisfied, Mom would NOT send the message. example: +d8,s10,g6 In this example, Mom would ONLY post the message if flag D8 was on, the users security level was 10, and they were in user group 6. If ANY of these Conditions were NOT satisfied, Mom would NOT send the message. Action: As with the Condition field, the Action option allows Mom to be VERY flexible in use. If a particular message is sent to a user, after checking that he/she meets the conditions (if any) for a message, Mom can optionally perform certain 'Actions' on a users record.... This can be anything from raising/lowering their sec level, changing user flags, changing user group etc etc.. Again, this will probably seem confusing at first. The easiest way of getting to understand these two options is to experiment with them. The basic parameters Mom expects to find in the Actions field are: action ::== <act> | <act>','<act> - actions are separated by ',' act ::== <flagset> | <securityset> | <securitycondition> flagset ::== <whattodo><flagname><number> whattodo ::== '-' | - clear flag, decrease security '+' | - set flag, increase security -12- '!' - toggle flag, set security flagname ::== 'A' | 'B' | 'C' | 'D' securityset ::== <whattodo>'S'<number> securitycondition ::== <relation><number> relation ::== '<' | - change security if less than or equal to '>' - change security if greater than or equal to example: -a1,+b2,-s5,<50 In this example, Mom would clear flag A1, set flag B2, set Security to Sec-5 but ONLY if Sec was equal to or less than 50, otherwise the sec level would NOT be altered. 15. Once you have stepped through each of these messages and enabled the ones you wish to use (after configuring them) it is time to move onto the more advanced messages that Mom can send. Select 'OK' and exit the Messages setup. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM - N MESSAGES ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 16. Press Alt-M to select the Messages menu and then select the N Messages sub-menu. Here is where you can configure Mom's more advanced message types. You will see the following types of message to choose from: Keyword: Allows you to configure Mom to search your log files for a particular keyword or phrase and send an appropriate message if that keyword or phrase is found. Nth Caller: Posts a message to the 'Nth' caller to your system. Every Nth call: Sends a message to a user after EVERY 'Nth' calls he/she has made to your system. Times On: Posts a message to a user that has made 'X' number of calls to your system. Expires: Sends a reminder message to users telling them that their subscription will expire in 'X' days. Regular post: Posts a message on a regular basis. Useful for posting a BBS advert, rules for an echo area etc etc. Sysop away: Allows Mom to automatically reply to any message sent to the Sysop. Very handy if you are away on vacation! 17. You can configure up to 10 of each type of message. For example, in Keyword #1 you may get Mom to search for 'Sent' (without the quotes) in you Front- -13- Door log and send a message to the sysop whenever FD sent a file. Then in Keyword #2 you could have Mom scan for some other keyword and send a totally different message etc... This is true for ALL N Messages EXCEPT for Sysop away. The Sysop away message only has ONE message that can be configured by you. Again, step through each message and alter them to suit your require- ments. We will now explain some of the options which may at first glance be confusing: Most of the various options in these messages are exactly the same as they are in 'Messages'. Please refer to the previous section for details. Again, these messages can be VERY flexible by using the 'Conditions' and 'Actions' associated with each message. 18. The Only difference in the setting up of these messages concern the Keyword messages which has an extra option 'String' and most of the others which have the option 'Value'. The Sysop away messages are also handled in a different way to the others.... These differences are explained below: In Keyword messages, the field labelled 'String' is where you enter the text that Mom should scan for in your log files. It is important that you enter the EXACT string as it appears in the log, CASE IS IMPORTANT !! This can be a single word, or a phrase which Mom will look for. If Mom finds the string you have specified the then the message you have assigned to this Keyword will be posted (if the user meets the conditions) In most of the other message types, you will find a field called 'Value' This varies slightly in its use depending on the message concerned, but basically you need to enter either a number of calls before a message will take effect, or a number of days. Pressing F1 in the various messages will give you help on what is expected exactly. Sysop away messages are handled differently to normal messages in three respects. Firstly, the message board number you specify is the message board that Mom will search. NO other message board will be scanned, and the reply will be posted into the same message area that was scanned by Mom. Secondly, the 'From' field of the message is also treat in a very similar way in that the name specified here is the name that Mom will scan for in the 'To' field of any messages AND use as the name to be used for the 'From' field in any replies Mom may send. Lastly, if you leave the 'Subject' line blank, Mom will quote the subject line of the message it is responding to. Entering a 'Subject' line will disable this feature. Once you have setup the message you wish Mom to send, you can also edit the Ascii text files included in the Sample.Zip file in the release archive and personalize them to suit your system. The example messages will be fine for most users, but you are free to tailor them to your needs. Please see the section of this document for details of the metastrings used in the various messages. Now we can move onto the Statistics screens which Mom can create... -14- ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Configuring MOM - SCREENS ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 19. Press Alt-C to go to the Screens menu. Here you can select the various statistics screens that Mom can generate. Again, step through them one at a time enabling the ones you wish to use on your system. The screens available are: Most active callers: Creates an Asc/Ans screen showing the most active callers to your system by number of calls. Best downloaders (k): Creates an Asc/Ans screen of the best downloaders on your system by the number of Kb downloaded. Best downloaders (times): Shows the best downloaders on your system by the number of files downloaded. Best uploaders (k): Same as Best downloaders (k), only for uploaders. Best uploaders (times): Same as Best downloaders (times), only for uploaders. Best message writers: Creates a list of the most active message writers on your system. Most active message area: Shows the most active message areas on your system by number of messages in each message base. Last callers: Creates an Asc/Ans screen showing the last callers to your system. Files activity report: Creates a screen showing file activity on your BBS. System activity report: Generates an activity report of system usage. Happy birthday screen: Creates a list of users that have a birthday in the next 'X' days. Inbound echomail history: Shows inbound echomail activity for your system. Outbound echomail history: Same as Inbound echomail history, only this time it shows Outbound calls made by your system. 20. Enable any screens you wish Mom to create by pressing [Space]. The screens Mom generates will be placed in your BBS text file directory, as defined in your BBS configuration, and can be displayed to users in the normal way. 21. The filename should be the name of the screen you wish to create WITHOUT an extension. Mom will automatically generate an Ascii and Ansi screen and add the required extension. DO NOT include the extension in the filename!! The filename MUST be a VALID Dos filename. i.e.NOT more than 8 characters, and should ONLY include valid filename characters. See your Dos manual for more information. -15- 22. A 'Condition' can be specified for screens in a similar way to that used in the messages. For example, specifying a Condition of '<100' without the quotes, would only list users of sec level 100 or less on the screen generated by Mom, users above this level will NOT be included. You can use ALL of the various conditions exactly as they are shown in 'Messages' 23. The 'Title', 'Sub title', 'Text' and 'Bottom line' are strings of text that you can define for most screen types. The exceptions being Files activity report, System activity report, Inbound and Outbound echomail history... These four screens are hard coded into Mom and cannot have their layout altered. All the other statistics screens can be altered by you to suit your own tastes/system. There are various text handling commands that are understood by Mom to give you the flexibility to create your own screens... An explanation of each of the lines you can alter and the text handling commands are as follows: Screen title - This is the title line shown on the stats screen created by Mom Sub title - The text to be placed on the sub-title line of the screen Text - The text to be placed in the main body of the screen Bottom line - Text to be placed at the end of the screen (Press [Return] for example) In the example Mom.Cnf (configuration) file provided in the release archive, a basic setup is provided to get you started and it will generate ALL of the various statistics screens available in Mom. Once you have FULLY understood the layout of these commands you can then edit the various fields to create statistics screens which are unique to your system. The general format of metastring usage and text formatting is: '%'metastringname['#'<arguments>'#'][':'[<justification>]<length>]'%' items in '' are typed as is WITHOUT the quotes, items in [] are optional, and items in <> are substituted. <metastringname> is one of ANY of the metastrings listed in the documents <arguments> are metastring arguments if any (e.g. drive letters in drivesize kbdrivesize free etc.). <justification> is 'l'eft, 'c'enter or 'r'ight (default left). <length> is justification length (default 79). if the line in message text begins with a '|' it is treated as a justification parameter. In general the text line format is: ['|'[<justification>]<length>'|']text text text... <justification> and <length> have the same meaning as in the metastrings formatting but with the addition of the line of text. You can specify title, subtitle, text and bottom line contents. -16- metastrings are valid. In text lines the user name can be obtained by %toname% and other %to...% metastrings. Once you have FULLY understood the usage of these commands you can then edit the various fields to create stats screens which are unique to your system. You can also alter the colors that Mom will use in the various screens it creates. Simply step through the colors for the various parts of the screen and select the ones that you like. BE CAREFUL NOT to select a background and foreground color that are the same... i.e. Black on Black as this will cause Black text on a Black background... In effect giving a blank screen when it is viewed! YOU MUST REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR EDITED MOM.CNF FILE BY PRESSING 'F2' BEFORE EXITING FROM MOMSETUP. IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS NO CHANGES WILL BE MADE TO THE MOM.CNF FILE AND YOU WILL NEED TO START AGAIN !!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !! Phew!! That's it!! All that is left now is to add Mom into your BBS batch file. I realize this may seem like a LOT of work, but it should only take 15 minutes or so to go through all of the various setup menus and configure Mom to do exactly what you want. As stated earlier, The setup program is the heart of Mom and it is certainly well worth the time taken to get it correct FIRST time! ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Installing MOM into your BBS batch file ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Installing Mom into your BBS batch file is quite easy, just follow these steps: N.B. If you are upgrading from an earlier version, please read the section of this document about upgrading FIRST!! 1. Create a directory on your hard drive and extract all the files from the distribution archive into this directory. C:\MOM is recommended and is assumed to be the directory you have created. 2. Read the document file!! (okay I know you are already :-)) 3. Run MOMSETUP.EXE to configure Mom so that it sends the messages you require for your system. You should have done this already as explained in the previous chapters on configuring Mom. The MOMSETUP program has a built in help system which will explain what is necessary in each field in some detail so you can easily configure Mom for your needs. Pressing function key F1 will cause a pop up help window to appear which will remind you of the information and format required by each field. -17- N.B. It is IMPORTANT that you should move through each part of the setup program in a careful and methodical way to ensure that you DO NOT miss anything thereby causing unnecessary problems for yourself later! If you are in any doubt, READ THE SECTIONS EXPLAINING HOW TO CONFIGURE MOM! 4. Edit your BBS batch file so that it will run Mom after each user logs off your system. This is simply so that Mom can keep certain user stats up to date and send any messages required. It should be noted that *MOST* messages will ONLY be generated when Mom is run in your nightly event, i.e. Don't worry if a user uploads to your system and Mom doesn't post a thankyou message as soon as he logs off... The message will be posted in your midnight event! N.B. Mom requires the -U parameter when running after a user has logged off. This tells Mom to run in User just logged off mode which will keep Moms history and control files up to date. i.e. edit your batch file to include: <Your BBS batch file> <Error levels> Goto MOM :MOM CD\MOM MOM -U Goto Start <batch file continues> As stated above, this MUST be in a section of your batch file that will be executed EVERY time a user logs off. Running Mom -U is VERY quick and will not unduly delay your BBS from re booting. Do NOT forget to use the -L switch if you wish Mom to create its log file in a different directory or use a different log file name. By default Mom will use the filename MOM.LOG and the current dir- ectory for its log file. You may also specify the -O switch if you prefer to use the 'Old' style headers on the screens Mom creates. Try running Mom with AND without the -O switch to see which you prefer. (see Command Line section of this document file for more info) 5. Edit your BBS batch file so that Mom will run once daily without any parameters. It is suggested that you include this in your mid- -18- night event - you do have one, don't you? i.e. edit the part of your batch file that is executed in your midnight event to include: <Your BBS batch file> <Midnight Event> CD\MOM MOM <batch file continues> This will allow Mom to send any messages it may need to your users and also send its daily and/or weekly reports and Ascii/Ansi screens if you have enabled them in your configuration. Do NOT forget to use the -L switch if you wish Mom to create its log file in a different directory or use a different log file name. For example MOM -Lc:\logs\mom.log. By default Mom will use the filename MOM.LOG and the current directory for its log file. As with running Mom between calls, you may also specify the -O switch if you prefer the 'Old' type headers on the screens produced by Mom. (see Command Line section of this document file for more info) MOM requires approximately 80-90Kb of free memory to run! Thats all there is to it!! Mom is now ready to take over all those boring messages that a busy Sysop needs to send on a regular basis...... After configuring Mom to your needs and running it for the first time the following files will be created: MOM.CTL - Control file used by Mom. This will be placed in the directory Mom was run from. MOM.HIS - History file used by Mom. This will be placed in the directory Mom was run from. MOM.LOG - Log file of Mom's activity. This will be placed in the directory Mom was run from, but you can specify the directory of your choice by using the -L switch. Please see the section of this document about command line switches for more info. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ MOM Command line switches/parameters ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ To make MOM as flexible as possible in its use, there are a number of command line switches you may use to instruct Mom to run differently from the 'Norm' -19- It should be noted however, that it is ONLY necessary to use these switches when you want Mom to do something different from it's normal routines. As explained in the chapter about installing Mom, it is normally ONLY necessary to run MOM after each user has logged off (i.e. MOM -U) and in your nightly event (MOM - without parameters! apart from perhaps -O and -L) Please read the section of this document which explains Mom's installation if you are unsure of the above! Because of the HUNDREDS of different ways of using these command line switches it is only possible to give a brief idea of their usage. The best way to get to grips with them fully is to try them! To use these switches Mom expects them to be prefixed with either / or - For example to use the ? switch so that Mom will display a short help file you would enter one of the following commands: MOM /? or MOM -? ? or H - Display command line switches with a brief explanation of their use. C - Specifies the use of a DIFFERENT configuration file for Mom to use. The default is MOM.CNF This could be used in a multi-line system so that Mom will operate differently on different nodes. format: -Cfilename.ext. example: -Cnew.cfg will read new.cfg as config file. Anum - Force Mom to use a specified message board (num) to post the message into. 'num' should be replaced by the number of the required message board. If this parameter is omitted MOM will use the board number specified in MOM.CNF, or if that is not defined it will default to message board 1. Ffilename.ext - Use specified filename (filename.ext) as text file to send as a message. format: -Ffilename.ext example: -Fmessage.txt will insert the text in message.txt into the message generated by Mom. T[*|$|#]xxx[,yyy...] Send message to.... -20- With the -T switch you have a LOT of options open to you. The basic format is as shown above: where * = Read ALL user names directly from your user base. $filename = name of file to use as input for user names. #filename = name of file to use as export file. Mom will read the user names from your user base and output the names that match any conditions you have given to the export filename you have given. This can then be used by the -T$ option for input. Please note, you cannot use the '<' and '>' symbols as Dos will assume you are trying to redirect output! xxx = name of user to post message to yyy,... = conditions that must be met before the message is posted. These options will be explained in greater detail in the section of this document that explains the usage of the various command line switches. With the -T switch you can also instruct MOM to send messages to a node number that you define. The format of this feature is: -T<User_Name>[@[Zone:][Net/][Node][.Point]] examples: @.11 -- your point 11 @123 -- node 123 in your net @456/123 -- node 456/123 in your zone @7:456/123 -- addr 7:456/123 @7:456/123.11 -- full 4D @123.11 -- point 11 of node 123 Ssubject - Send a message with the specified subject text (subject) which will be inserted into the 'Subject' field of the message. As with the 'T' switch, all spaces should be replaced by an '_' underscore (without the quotes) If this parameter is not supplied MOM will insert its own default subject line into the message header. Buser_name - Tells Mom to use 'user_name' as the name of the message sender. As with most of the other switches spaces should be indicated by using an underscore character. The default -21- is the name of the Sysop as defined in Mom.Cnf. format: -Buser_name example: -BEddy_Matthews In this example, Mom would post the message you tell it to using 'Eddy Matthews' as the name of the sender. P - Post a message instead of normal run, by default Mom will send the message to 'Sysop', but you can tell it to send the message to anyone on your system by using the 'T' option. You also need to tell Mom which message to send by using the 'F' option. You also have the following options with the -P switch: If you want to send a private msg, add 'P' after the '-P' switch i.e. -PP. When using the -P switch, you may also include any of the following message attributes K(ill/sent), S(ent), C(rash), H(old), R(equest Receipt), A(udit Request), (Ret)U(rn Rec- eipt), D(irect), I(mmediate), L(ock), co(N)firmreq, E(rase /sent) and T(runc/sent). Erase/sent and Trunc/sent are valid only with FREQs U - Run in 'User logged off mode' this is required for Mom to keep track of certain user and system details etc such as the number of calls made by a user.... N.B. This switch MUST be used in your BBS batch file, and Mom HAS to be run in this mode after EVERY user log off otherwise it will not keep a correct track of user activity. D - Force Mom to run its normal 'Daily' procedures. Instead of its normal run to produce daily reports etc.. This option is NOT normally required as Mom will post it's daily/weekly report messages automatically when it is run in your midnight event. The switch is included only for completeness W - As with the 'D' parameter, but this time it will force Mom to run its 'Weekly' procedures. As with the 'D' switch, this option is NOT required for normal usage as Mom will send the weekly report automatically on the day you have configured in Mom.Cnf when it runs in your midnight event. The switch is included only for -22- completeness. X - Executing MOM with the X switch will stop MOM from appending its tag line to any messages it sends which will make the messages even more user friendly since users will then be unaware that the message has been generated automatically. the X switch will ONLY work if you have registered your copy of Mom! L Mom will normally generate a log file (Mom.Log) in the directory from which MOM was executed, should you wish MOM to use a different directory or a different file name for its log file you will need to use the -L switch when running the program. i.e. MOM -LC:\LOGS\MOM.LOG would tell Mom to place its log file in the C:\LOGS directory and to name the file MOM.LOG MOM -LC:\LOGS\RA.LOG would tell Mom to place its log file in the C:\LOGS directory and to name the file RA.LOG. If this file already exists Mom will append to it, it will NOT overwrite it. So you can instruct Mom to add its log entries to a file that is created my some other prog, RemoteAccess in this instance. O Instructs Mom to use the 'Old' style headers when gener- ating the Ans/Ascii stats screens. Try running Mom with AND without this switch to see which type you prefer. xyyy Set metastring VARx to yyy (x = 0..9) Using this option you can create your own metastrings for use in messages generated by Mom. See the section which gives examples of command line switch usage for more details. PLEASE NOTE! MOM will automatically send a message once a week to unregistered users asking them to consider registering the program and showing when the limited run time demo key will expire! Once this key expires (6 months from the date of the program release) -23- unregistered users will need to obtain the latest version of the program since it will NOT run after this key has expired. Users that feel they need more time to evaluate the program can obtain a demo key which will allow a further 3 months use by contacting Eddy Matthews (2:252/51) by direct Netmail. Another demo key will be placed on 'Hold' for you to collect within 24 hours. Only ONE extra demo key will be supplied per user/node number and this key will expire 3 months after the date it is generated. Of course the preferred option would be for you to register the program! Now we will go through a few examples of possible command line options in order to clarify them a little.... ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Examples of command line switch usage by MOM ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Mom will automatically send most messages once it is configured using momSetup and then installed into your BBS batch file without the need for any inter- vention from the sysop. But because Mom is so flexible in its usage, it can also do LOTS more!! It is almost impossible to include a list of ALL possible ways of using the various command line switches, so this is only a VERY quick list of SOME of the ways of using them. LOTS more combinations are possible, and it is up to you to play around with them. This is the ONLY way you will get used to the full flexibility of Mom. If Mom will not do something you require by using it's basic configuration as set up in MomSetup, you can usually force it to do what you require by using the command line switches. If you have difficulty getting Mom to do something you particularly want it to do, try contacting one of the many support sites to see if they can help. If it still proves to be impossible to do what you want, contact the program authors and they will endeavor to add a new feature if it is at all possible. Below are listed a few examples of command line switch options for Mom, and a brief description of their effect: Example 1. MOM -A25 -Fhello.txt -TEddy_Matthews -SRules_on_%BoardName% This would cause Mom to post a message into board 25, and send the message text in file Hello.Txt. The message would be addressed to Eddy Matthews (note- the underscore between the first and last name!) and the subject of the message would be - Rules on %BoardName% (again note the underscore between the words- in the subject switch) the meta string %BoardName% would be replaced by your BBS name. See metastrings for a full list. Example 2. -24- MOM -A10 -SPlease_support_%FirstSys%_and_upload! -Fupload.txt -TEddy_Matthews In this example, Mom would send the message contained in Upload.Txt to message board number 10. The username to send the message is specified by using the -T switch, in this case 'Eddy Matthews'. The message subject would be - Please support %FirstSys% and upload! the meta string %FirstSys% would be replaced by the Sysops first name as defined in your Mom configuration file. Example 3. When using the T command line switch the following options are available to enable you to generate a message either to ALL users, or only to selected groups: -T*,A1 -- Send a message (which must be defined) to all users with flag A1 set -TUser_Name -- Send a message to User_Name. Any spaces in a users name MUST be replaced by an '_' underscore character. -TUser_Name,A1 -- Will send msg to User_Name ONLY if flag A1 is set -T$d:\usr\users -- Send msgs to users listed in the merge file d:\usr\users i.e. send a message to every user listed in the merge file 'users' This file can be manually created by you and must be a plain ascii text file which contains ONE user name on each line, OR you can get mom to create the file for you by using the '#' command in conjunction with the -T switch.... see next example. i.e. John Smith David Jones Martin Adams etc etc. -T#sec10,S10 -s%%toname%%,%%security%% will create file "sec10" of all users with sec level 10, consisting of their names and sec level separated by ',' i.e. Ivan Trifonoff,10 Eddy Matthews,10 etc. -T#a1b2c3s5,a1,b2,c3,s5 -s%%toname%%,%%nocalls%% will export user names and number of calls of users with flags A1, B2 and C3 and sec level 5 to file a1b2c3s5 The files created by the two examples above can then be used as 'Merge' files to post messages ONLY to certain user groups/securities/flags etc etc... The possible combinations and usage is only limited by your imagination! When using the T switch to 'Post' a message to a user or groups of users, you MUST tell MOM which message to send by using the F switch, see the command line switch section of this document file for more information. ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Meta strings used by MOM ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ -25- In the file SAMPLE.ZIP you will find some example text files for Mom to use. These files are examples only and you are free to edit them as you wish so they are more compatible with your system. The files are plain ascii text, and are used by Mom to generate its various messages to users/sysop etc etc. If you examine these files you will see they contain lots of meta strings, such as %BoardName% , these strings are automatically read by Mom and are replaced by your systems/users details. In the example given (%BoardName%) Mom would insert the name of your BBS as entered in your BBS configuration file/s. See the text formatting commands in the section of this document entitled 'Configuring MOM - SCREENS' for information on how to get Mom to correctly format text either in a message, or in the various statistics screens Mom generates. The following is a list of all meta strings currently available in Mom. They are NOT case sensitive, so entering %bOArdnAMe% is just as valid as entering %BoardName% You may use any of these meta strings in any text files you create for use with Mom. !! IMPORTANT !! Metastrings MUST be enclosed by % signs in order to function, i.e. Program must be entered as %Program% in any message you wish to use it in.... The same is true for ALL other metastrings. Entering a metastring without enclosing it by % signs will mean Mom will NOT translate the string concerned. %Program% - Program name (Message-O-Matic) %Version% - Version number of Mom %KeyExpiryDate% - Date that demo key will expire %Day% - Day of month (1-31) %Month% - Month of year (1-12) %StrDay% - Day of week in short form (Mom,Tue,Wed etc) %StrMonth% - Month in short form (Jan,Feb,Mar etc) %Year% - Year (1993,1994 etc) %DayOfWeek% - Day of week in full (Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday etc) %BoardName% - BBS name in full %FirstSys% - Sysop's first name %LastSys% - Sysop's surname %SysName% - Sysop's name in full %TotalCalls% - Total calls received by your system to date %AreaName% - Name of message area used to post current message %AreaNumber% - Message area number used for current message %FirstTo% - Users first name... Mom will read this from your log file automatically, or you can force the message to be sent to a particular user by using the -T command line switch (see command line switches) %LastTo% - Users last name (surname) %ToName% - Users full name %ToAddress% - Full Netmail address of system you are sending this message to %ToZone% - Zone of system you are sending message to %ToNet% - Net of system you are sending message to %ToNode% - Node of system you are sending this message to -26- %ToPoint% - Point of system you are sending this message to %FirstFrom% - First name of message sender (normally sysops name) %LastFrom% - Surname of message sender (normally sysops name) %FromName% - Full name of message sender %FromAddress% - Full network address of sending system %FromZone% - Zone of sending system %FromNet% - Net of sending system %FromNode% - Node of sending system %FromPoint% - Point of sending system %UploadedFiles% - Names of files uploaded by user %NrUploadedFiles% - Number of files uploaded by user %SizeUploadedFiles% - Size of files uploaded in bytes %KbUploadedFiles% - Size of files uploaded in Kb %S% - Adds an 's' to the word 'File' if the user has uploaded more than one file %BadPasswords% - List of passwords entered if a user is denied access because he/she has exceeded the maximum number of password attempts allowed by your system %DriveSize% - Shows the size of the specified drive in bytes. You must tell Mom which drive by including the drive letter enclosed by # (hash) signs embedded in the metastring. For example %DriveSize#C#% would display the size of drive 'C' in bytes, %DriveSize#D#% would show the size of drive 'D' etc etc... %KbDriveSize% - Shows the size of the specified drive in Kb. Refer to %DriveSize% to see how to specify the drive required. %Free% - Shows the amount of free space available on the specified drive in bytes. See %DriveSize% for info on specifying the required drive %KbFree% - Shows the amount of free space available on the drive in Kb. See %DriveSize% for info on how to specify the required drive %PFree% - Shows the percentage of free space available on the drive you specify. See %DriveSize% for info on how to specify the drive you require %Location% - Users location as entered in his/her user record %DataPhone% - Users data phone number as entered in his/her user record %VoicePhone% - Users voice phone number as entered in his/her user record %LastTime% - Last time the user was online %LastDate% - Date the user was last on your system %NetCredit% - Amount of netmail credit the user has left %NetPending% - Amount of Netmail pending for this user %MsgsPosted% - Number of messages posted by user %Security% - Security level for this user %NoCalls% - Number of calls made to your system by this user %Uploads% - The number of uploads made to your system by this user %Downloads% - The number of downloads made by this user %UploadsK% - Amount of uploads made by user in Kb %DownloadsK% - Amount of downloads made by user in Kb %Handle% - The users Handle %Comment% - Comment as stored in the user record %FirstDate% - Date of users first call to your system %Birthdate% - The users birthdate as stored in his user record %Subdate% - Date of users subscription expiry %Password% - Password of user as stored in the user record. -27- N.B. Because of the CRC32 encryption used by RA 2.0g1 Mom will NOT be able to translate the suers password! It will however work correctly with earlier versions of RA and with other BBS systems %Forwardee% - Name of the forwardee for messages posted by this user %DlUlRatio% - Users upload/download ratio %KbDlUlRatio% - Users upload/download ratio in Kb %TotalToday% - Total number of messages posted by Mom today %DailyReportToday% - Number of daily report messages sent by Mom today %WeeklyReportToday% - Number of weekly report messages sent by Mom today %WelcomeToday% - Number of Welcome messages sent by Mom today %ThankyouToday% - Number of Thankyou messages sent by Mom today %WatchdogToday% - number of Watchdog messages sent by Mom today %BirthdayToday% - Number of birthday messages sent by Mom today %CarrierDropToday% - Number of Carrier Drop messages sent by Mom today %KeywordToday% - Number of Keyword messages sent by Mom today %NthCallerToday% - Number of Nth Caller messages sent by Mom today %EveryNthCallToday% - Number of Every Nth Call messages sent by Mom today %TimesOnToday% - Number of Times On messages sent by Mom today %ExpiresToday% - Number of subscription expiry messages sent by Mom today %SysopAwayToday% - Number of Sysop Away messages sent by Mom today %RegularPostToday% - Number of Regular Post messages sent by Mom today %InboundCallsToday% - Number of Inbound mail calls received today %OutgoingCallsToday% - Number of Outbound mail calls made today %HumanCallsToday% - Number of BBS callers today %MailSessionsToday% - Number of completed mail sessions today %FailedSessionsToday% - Number of failed mail calls today %NrReqFilesToday% - Number of requested files today %NrSentFilesToday% - Number of files sent today (mail calls + file requests) %SizeSentFilesToday% - Size of files sent today in bytes %NrRcvdFilesToday% - Number of files received today %SizeRcvdFilesToday% - Size of files received today in bytes %TotalThisWeek% - Total number of messages posted by Mom this week %DailyReportThisWeek% - Number of daily reports sent by Mom this week %WeeklyReportThisWeek% - Number of weekly reports sent by Mom this week %WelcomeThisWeek% - Number of Welcome messages sent by Mom this week %ThankyouThisWeek% - Number of Thankyou messages sent by Mom this week %WatchdogThisWeek% - Number of Watchdog messages sent by Mom this week %BirthdayThisWeek% - Number of Birthday messages sent by Mom this week %CarrierDropThisWeek% - Number of Carrier Drop messages sent by Mom this week %KeywordThisWeek% - Number of Keyword messages sent by Mom this week %NthCallerThisWeek% - Number of Nth Caller messages sent by Mom this week %EveryNthCallThisWeek% - Number of Every Nth Call messages sent by Mom this week %TimesOnThisWeek% - Number of Times On messages sent by Mom this week %ExpiresThisWeek% - Number of Subscription expiry messages sent by Mom this week %SysopAwayThisWeek% - Number of Sysop Away messages sent by Mom this week %RegularPostThisWeek% - Number of Regular Post messages sent by Mom this week %InboundCallsThisWeek% - Number of Inbound mail calls received this week %OutgoingCallsThisWeek%- Number of Outgoing mail calls made this week %HumanCallsThisWeek% - Number of BBS callers this week %MailSessionsThisWeek% - Number of mail sessions completed this week %FailedSessionsThisWeek% Number of Failed mail sessions this week %NrReqFilesThisWeek% - Number of files requested this week %NrSentFilesThisWeek% - Number of files sent this week -28- %SizeSentFilesThisWeek% Size of files sent this week in bytes %NrRcvdFilesThisWeek% - Number of files received this week %SizeRcvdFilesThisWeek%- Size of files received this week in bytes %Var0% - Set variable metastring 0. See below for details %Var1% - Set variable metastring 1. %Var2% - Set variable metastring 2. %Var3% - Set variable metastring 3. %Var4% - Set variable metastring 4. %Var5% - Set variable metastring 5. %Var6% - Set variable metastring 6. %Var7% - Set variable metastring 7. %Var8% - Set variable metastring 8. %Var9% - Set variable metastring 9. N.B. You can use these 'variable' metastrings for setting your own strings in messages. They should be specified on the command line. e.g. running: MOM -1Hello -0Just_say -2and -3u_r -4welcome! and using: %var0% %var1% %var2% %var3% %var4% somewhere in your message will result in: Just say Hello and u r welcome! in the message text... %AreaCount% - Number of messages in the message board this message was posted in %LastLine% - Last line used by user when logging onto system %LastBaud% - Baud rate of last call %LastLogon% - Time of last callers logon %LastLogoff% - time of last callers logoff ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │▓▓▓ Bug reports, contacting the author ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Should you find any bugs, undocumented features (future enhancements :-) ) or if something doesn't appear to work as it should :-( Please contact the author at the following address: To: Ivan Trifonoff Netmail: 2:359/110@fidonet E-mail: ivan@virbus.bg itt@bgearn.bitnet nikolov@bgearn.bitnet itt%bgcict@atgbox.edvz.un1-linz.ac.at Snail mail: acad. George Bontchev street block 8, room 104 Sofia 1113 Bulgaria Europe Voice: +359-2-719212 Data: +359-2-737483, 300-9600bps, V32, V42b -29- Or alternatively contact: To: Eddy Matthews Netmail: 2:252/51@fidonet 73:7441/101@RANet Snailmail: 32 Whitley Road Thornaby Cleveland TS17 9HZ England Voice: +44-642-764245 (8am to 9pm GMT) Data: +44-642-764245 (9pm to 8am GMT) 300-9600 bps, V32bis, V42bis (not HST) Problems can also be referred to your countries registration site if you have one. Please see the relevant Register.??? file for info. If you do not have a registration site in your country, either choose the closest one to you, or send your message to Eddy Matthews (2:252/52) Applications for registration of Mom should be sent to the registration site of your choice. Please see the various Register.??? files for info on the current registration sites available. If you are in any doubt about which site to use send your registration to InfoSoft BBS (2:252/51) - Address is included in the registration document. SEE PLANNED FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS FOR DETAILS OF FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS TO MOM'S SOFTWARE SUPPORT ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │▓▓▓ Planned Future Developments of MOM ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ We would like to develop MOM so that it supports most popular BBS and Front-End mailer software. To this end,we currently have plans to include support for QuickBBS and Binkley In order to develop these versions fully we will require beta testers that use the above mentioned software and would be grateful if any Sysops that are interested in MOM would contact us at one of the registration sites with details of their software/hardware configurations so that these enhancements can be implemented. Anyone that wishes to become a beta tester for these future versions has to pay the normal registration fee, and link into a private beta text echo area (MOM_BETA). They will also be required to call one of the (increasing) number of support boards to obtain new beta releases of MOM on a weekly basis. With your support and help, MOM will develop into the BEST automatic message -30- utility there is for a whole range of BBS/Frontend mailer setups! Even if you do not run RemoteAccess/SuperBBS/ProBoardFrontDoor or D'Bridge, please consider supporting MOM so that with your help we can create newer versions that WILL support your chosen software. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Beta test sites ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The following is a list of registered beta testers for Mom who have aggreed to act as support sites, this list is correct at the time of writing this document. Should you have any problems with Mom, please feel free to contact your nearest support site for help. Juan J. Achutegui * Polaris 2:344/7 +34 (42) 281756 Tony Brookes The Castle BBS 2:442/10 +44 (244) 548114 Paul Carroll The Crypt BBS 2:250/412 +44 (602) 445307 Vince Coen Air Applewood 2:440/103 +44 (279) 792300 Bob Corby The Exchange BBS 2:258/54 +44 (91) 383-1358 Steve Deakin The F-Stop BBS 2:442/606 +44 (222) 513047 Chris Elsden The Wolf's Den 2:257/701 +44 (953) 453700 Bob Garbutt Infotel 2:252/206 +44 (737) 766027 Nigel Hardy Arkham 2:252/151 +44 (71) 738-5596 Graham Jenkins D.S.B. 2:440/23 +44 (795) 590170 Clive Jones C.A.L.M. BBS 5:7101/14 +27 (11) 900-1118 Mikael Larsson Virus Help Centre 2:205/204 +46 (26) 275710 Glynn Littleton Cape Fear BBS 1:3628/7 +1 (919) 458-7999 Eddy Matthews InfoSoft BBS 2:252/51 +44 (642) 764245 Eric McDowall Raymond Fast Mail System 1:358/19 +1 (403) 752-3584 John Morrow NIBBS 2:258/79 +44 (662) 247291 Anders Naeslund MakerBBS 2:204/465 +46 (11) 125248 Joseph O. Oliveira Vision BBS 1:324/279 +1 (508) 670-0934 Araken Salamene MPCBBS 4:801/31 +55 (192) 526547 Iain Sherrit Phantom BBS 2:259/29 +44 (224) 709833 Steve Shooter Ultimate BBS 2:258/55 +44 (642) 565936 Graeme Slogrove Fast! BBS 5:7101/47 +27 (11) 706-1749 Ivan Trifonoff Virus Busters BBS 2:359/110 +359 (2) 737484 Paul Urmston The Music Studio 2:253/151 +44 (926) 407881 Simon Williams York's Best Price 2:258/37 +44 (904) 679758 Mikael Winterkvist Computer Security Center BBS 2:205/505 +46 (910) 52214 The beta testers are a great bunch of guys (and gals!... Hi Bonnie!) and will certainly help you in any way they can. However, should they be unable to solve a particular problem they are all in regular contact with the program authors and will normally be able to get an answer on any problem within a few days. ╒════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ A few final words ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓│ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ We hope you find MOM to be a useful program, and are always willing to listen -31- to any ideas you may have for improvements. If you have any suggestions, please contact one of the beta sites, leave a message in RA_UTIL or in the MOM_HELP echo (if it is available to you) The MOM_HELP echo has only just been set up and any BBS that wishes to gain access to it may do so by contacting Infotel BBS (2:252/206) or InfoSoft BBS (2:252/51) and details of the nearest link will be given.... We are still looking for kind souls to import this echo into various countries! <hint> --------========End Of File========-------- -32-