Beijing Paradise BBS Backup/PARADISE.ISO/software/BBSDOORW/VALL_100.ZIP/VIEWALL.DOC

Text File | 1993-09-02 | 7.0 KB | 200 lines

                                    VIEWALL v1.0
                           File viewing front end utility
                      For all DOOR.SYS compatible BBS systems!
                                  By Larry A. Paul
                               Midnight Express BBS!
                                   [phone]
                                     Flint,  MI



       DISCLAIMER

            This program is provided "AS IS" and it is WITHOUT warranty
            of any kind that it will work correctly in any or all
            situations. No liability shall be assumed for direct or
            consequential damage caused by the use of this software.
            The only claim I make is that there are no intentional bugs
            or fatal errors in any original copy of the program that you
            receive directly from Midnight Express BBS!


            VIEWALL was created with the SysOp of a DOOR.SYS compatible BBS
       system in mind,   While the SysOp is locally logged onto there board
       and would like to view a newly uploaded GIF file,  You used to either
       have to take the board down or drop to DOS,  find the file,  type in
       the proper command line to invoke your GIF viewing program.
            NOT ANY MORE!   With viewall,  Just use your normal BBS command
       used to view a file while online and VIEWALL will shell to the proper
       program and view it!   Currently VIEWALL supports,  *.BMP, *.GIF,
       *.JPG, *.PCX, *.TGA and *.TIF and will also play Autodesk Animator
       *.FLI files,  But hold on,   VIEWALL will also play *.VOC, *.CMF,
       *.WAV and *.MID files on your SoundBlaster (or SB compatible board).
       And we cant forget *.ZIP, *.ARJ's etc.   VIEWALL will shell to your
       normal archive viewer also.
            Here's how it all works,   VIEWALL reads your DOOR.SYS file to
       determine whether the user is on locally or is calling from remote,
       If the call is a remote user VIEWALL will just shell out to your
       normal archive viewer program (Aviewcom is highly recommended!)  and
       work as normal,   But when the call is local,   Most any file format
       can be viewed or played,   Even high resolution graphics!   No need to
       worrie about graphics viewer programs making your screen stick at the
       graphics file resolution either,   When done viewing the file,
       VIEWALL will make sure your board will be in 80x25 text mode,  The way
       it found it to begin with..   I have been running this program on my
       board for a while now with extremely good results,   I've used it to
       view (or listen to) every type of file mentioned above,  And have
       viewed everything from 320x200x16,  1024x768x256 and even 16.8 million
       color TGA's and JPG (JPEG compressed files)
            VIEWALL.EXE must be somewhere in your path (I recommend that you
       place it in your boards home path i.e. - C:\WC30 for Wildcat systems,
       But C:\WC30 must be accessible by your path!)   VIEWALL uses a short
       configuration file that MUST reside in your BBS home path (C:\WC30
       C:\PCB C:\GAP etc.) VIEWALL will get this information from your
       DOOR.SYS file and look there for its configuration file.












            To run the program set up your VIEWCOMP.BAT file as follows,

       @ECHO OFF
       CD\WC30\WCWORK\NODE%WCNODEID%
       VIEWALL %1

       Change the above as needed for your BBS software.  VIEWALL MUST be ran
       from the directory where your drop files are located  (drop files =
       DOOR.SYS,  USERINFO.DAT etc)   in order to read your DOOR.SYS file.
       VIEWALL will also re-write your DOOR.SYS file incase of a RIP caller,
       So theres no reason to use a door conversion program (Useful for your
       archive viewer program)
            VIEWALL's configuration file is a plain ASCII text file that can
       be edited with any text editor.  (See the configuration file provided
       for an explanation of its usage)     Here's the programs you'll need
       for VIEWALL to function properly,

       1  An archive file viewer (Aviewcom preferably)
       2  A GIF file viewer (HiColor versions are preferred, But your VGA
            card must support HiColor.  Cshows just fine if you don't have
            HiColor capabilities)
       3  A FLI file player,  (AAPLAY was the only tested player)
       4  A JPG file viewer (HiColor VGA cards & software defiantly produces
            the best results with JPG's)
       5  A TGA viewer (Again,  HiColor VGA hardware & software works best)
       6  A BMP viewer (Cshows the only one I know of that displays BMP's
            from the DOS command line)
       7  A TIF viewer
       8  A SoundBlaster (or compatible sound card)
       9  A VOC player program
       10 A CMF player program
       11 A MID player program
       12 A WAV to VOC converter program
            (All SB utility programs come with your SoundBlaster card!)
       13 A DOOR.SYS compatible BBS software program
       14 VIEWALL.EXE must be run on a 286 or higher cpu ONLY!

       Any or all functions can be omitted from running of the program if you
       so choose..

            The registered VIEWALL is completely invisible to remote as well
       as local users, It simply looks at the DOOR.SYS file to determine if
       the call is a local call or a remote user and then shells accordingly
       to the proper command to view the selected file (Remote users are
       ALWAYS placed into your archive viewer)  The unregistered version will
       display a short message when exiting (to the local screen only)
       stating that its a unregistered copy and pause for 10 seconds and
       beep!   This is there to remind the sysop that the program is there,
       Once registered,  You'll start viewing graphics & playing sound files
       & forget the programs running and just think its natural to display
       graphics & play sound files with your "View archive" command!


















            I'm not going to make a statement that says "You must register
       within 30 days"   You can test this program forever if you like,  If
       you can put up with the beep at 3 in the morning,  And the 10 second
       delay that makes your callers think the board died,  No problem,  Test
       the program forever.  <grin>   But if you find that annoying but like
       the program as much as I do,   Then fill out the ORDER.FRM file & send
       it with your payment.  Registration numbers will be released after I
       receive your check or money order in a private message to you on
       either my board or MSI HQ BBS,  Place this number in the VIEWALL.CFG
       file line 1 and the beep & delay is gone for good!  Future updates to
       the program will be free to registered users.