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1989-07-03
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//////////////////////////////
// SMALL SYSTEMS SOFTWARE //
// //
// PRESENTS //
// AN //
// EVENT RATING //
// //
// UTILITY FOR //
// //
// PCB 14 //
// (SSS-RATE) //
//////////////////////////////
(c)1989 Small Systems Software
SSS-RATE is a utility that reads a configuration file
created by the sysop. This file (SSS-RATE.CFG) contains 11 vital
pieces of information.
1. The name and version number of SSS-RATE.
2. The name and pathway location of the USER file.
3. Should the user file be backed up? (y or n)
4. The name and location where the USER file is to be backed up.
5. The name and pathway of the RATIO file (SSS-RATE.RAT)
6. The path and filename of the caller log
7. Should the program log it activity to a file? (y or n)
8. The path and filename where for activity log.
9. Whether SSS-RATE is to use a BYTE or FILE ratio.
10. Is SSS-RATE to run on a network? (y or n)
11. The GRACE BYTES if a BYTE ratio is used
SSS-RATE.CFG is an ASCII text file and is created when the program is
first run. DO NOT use a text editor to alter this file except as noted below.
It is CASE sensitive and must be created by SSS-RATE.
The authors of this program make no warranty, either
expressed or implied, as to the fitness of this software for any
purpose, and assume no liability for any damages, either loss of
data, hardware failure, inadaptability for use, or any other
circumstance which might arise from it's usage.
The software contained herein is Copyright 1989, Small
Systems Software. No charges may be accessed for distributing the
program, other than circumstances outlined below:
On a SUBSCRIPTION BBS, the ONLY charge which may be made for
this software is a USAGE charge for time on the system. Those
systems which charge on a file by file or byte by byte basis must
either adjust their charges to reflect the FREE downloading of
this product, or refrain from it's posting.
This does not mean that this program is free. On the
contrary, this IS a copyrighted program, and a contribution ($15
suggested) is requested. Anyone contributing at least $15 will be given access
to a special conference on EXCALIBUR BBS [(904) 751-3970] for user
support of our products. A registration fee of $20 will allow
you to download updates to this program. Contributors that send $35
or more will also be able, for a period of 2 years, to download
additional programs which will allow multiple scripts to be read,
for things such as SPECIAL CONFERENCE ADMITTANCE, SPECIAL
SECURITY LEVELS, etc., as they become available.
FILES INCLUDED IN SSS-RATE
-------------------------------
SSS-RATE.EXE <===> THE MAIN PROGRAM
SSS-BYTE.CFG <===> SAMPLE BYTE RATIO CONFIG FILE
SSS-FILE.CFG <===> SAMPLE FILE RATIO CONFIG FILE
SSS-SMPL.RAT <===> SAMPLE RATIO FILE
SSS-RATE.DOC <===> THIS FILE
USING SSS-RATE
---------------
Examine the auxillary files, SSS-BYTE.CFG, SSS-FILE.CFG and
SSS-SMPL.RAT with any text editor or simply use the DOS 'Type' command.
Decide if you would like to rate your users by File or Byte. Make a list
of all the user levels that you wish to include in the Ratio file.
It is not necessary that you include ALL the user levels BUT only
those levels that you wish SSS-RATE to evaluate. User levels higher
and Lower than those listed in the RATIO file are automatically
excluded from evaluation. That is, if you desire to rate users
from level 30 to level 60, then level 70 or level 25 users are
excluded since they lie outside the parameters of the RATIO file.
BUT you may ALSO exclude a level 45 user if that level is omitted
from the RATIO file.
Next, using any ASCII text editor, create your own RATIO
file. Be sure to review your PWRD file so as not to include a level
in the RATIO file that does not exist in the PWRD file. Doing so will
cause any user given this new level to be allowed 10 minutes per day with
0 download bytes. A typical RATIO file based on number of FILES might look
like this: (The data following the '<===" is not to be typed in.)
-50,30 <=== User lowered to level 30, dnld/upld ratio => 50:1
-40,35 <=== User lowered to level 35, dnld/upld ratio => 40:1 & < 50:1
-30,40 <=== User lowered to level 40, dnld/upld ratio => 30:1 & < 40:1
-20,45 <=== User lowered to level 45, dnld/upld ratio => 20:1 & < 30:1
0,50 <=== Normal user level, 0 - 19 downloads, 0 - 4 uploads
5,55 <=== User raised to level 55, upld/dnld ratio => 5:1 & < 10:1
10,60 <=== User raised to level 60, upld/dnld ratio => 10:1
A RATIO file based on number of BYTES would look like this also, but, in
order to figure how the ratios will actually be calculated, you have to take
the GRACE BYTES parameter into account as well. The GRACE BYTES are the MAXIMUM
number of UPLOAD CREDITS given to a user during the run of the program
IF AND ONLY IF:
1: Their ACTUAL UPLOADS are LESS THAN that figure and
2: Their ACTUAL DOWNLOADS are GREATER THAN that number.
Otherwise, should their UPLOADS exceed GRACE BYTES, they have NOTHING
added to their UPLOAD count. If they have made uploads, but have LESS THAN
GRACE BYTES in uploads, their UPLOAD count will be increased IF their DOWNLOADS
are GREATER than their uploads. If they have no UPLOADS, their UPLOAD count
will increase to a maximum of GRACE BYTES, or DOWNLOADS, whichever is the
lesser. The following chart illustrates this point.
|GRACE BYTES<DOWNLOADS|GRACE BYTES=DOWNLOADS|GRACEBYTES>DOWNLOADS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRACE BYTES | | |
< | Nothing added | Nothing added | Nothing added
UPLOADS | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRACE BYTES | | |
= | Nothing added | Nothing added | Nothing added
UPLOADS | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRACE BYTES | | |
> | UPLOADS=G. B. | UPLOADS=G. B. | UPLOADS=DOWNLOADS
UPLOADS | | |
In other words, the UPLOAD credits will NEVER exceed either GRACE BYTES or
DOWNLOADS unless they are ACTUALLY GREATER than those values. That way, a user
who has downloaded 500 bytes and uploaded 0 will only get credit for 500 bytes
of uploads, even though GRACE BYTES may be set at 75,000. This means that the
BEST a user can do on FREEBIE credits is a 1:1 transfer ratio, rather than the
15:1 that would be achieved if GRACE BYTES were added without taking the ACTUAL
DOWNLOADS into account.
The ratio/GRACE BYTE limits you set are figured by taking U/L-D/L ratios
you to establish, and the number of bytes you wish to allow a user to download
before being penalized. If you want the first break to be at a 10:1 download
ratio, and not have anyone penalized before they have downloaded 500K, you
would plug in the values into this formula:
ALLOWED DOWNLOADS/RATIO=GRACE BYTES
Using these values you would get:
500,000/10=50,000
Setting GRACE BYTES to 50,000 with the ratios set at 10:1, 20:1 and 30:1
would mean that the user would hit his/her first drop in level at 500,000
bytes, the second at 1 MEG, and the third at 1.5 MEG.
************ NOTE ON USING THE GRACE BYTES PARAMETER ************
The GRACE BYTES parameter is ONLY used internally
by the program. This value is NEVER written to the
user file, therefore, the users statistics are NEVER
altered by the use of this product!!!!!
Also, this parameter, and THIS PARAMETER ONLY may be
adjusted with a text editor to keep from having to
go through the entire SETUP procedure repeatedly. BUT,
due to the fact that ALL OTHER INFORMATION is sensitive
to CASE and STRING LENGTH, we **STRONGLY** recommend
that you **DO NOT** edit anything OTHER THAN THE G.B.
PARAMETER with a text editor!!!!!
Now that you have created the Ratio file, you are ready to
run SSS-RATE and create the CONFIG file. Copy SSS-RATE.EXE and
the RATIO file to a subdirectory of your choice. Type SSS-RATE
and it will look for the CONFIG file. When it does not locate
it in the same subdirectory, it will prompt you for the information
to include in a new CONFIG file. Simply answer the questions
as they appear on screen. At the end of this procedure, it will
ask you if the information is correct. If you answer 'N', then
it will repeat the procedure. If you answer 'Y', it will save
the information to SSS-RATE.CFG, and then exit to DOS. Now you
will need to run SSS-RATE again and watch the results of the
evaluation.
Please be sure that you have SSS-RATE save the USER file to
a backup the first time that you run it to create the CONFIG file.
This is just a precaution but a wise one since you may not be prepared
for some of the results. If they don't meet your expectations, simply
copy the USER backup file to the original and edit the RATIO file
if needed. If the CONFIG file needs to be changed, delete it and run
SSS-RATE again. DO NOT TRY TO EDIT SSS-RATE.CFG WITH A TEXT EDITOR!!
(Other than outlined above.)
If you have chosen to use BYTE rather then FILE for evaluation,
then you may want to consider using GRACE byte quantities. This is only
available if you choose BYTE when creating the CONFIG file. GRACE byte
quantities are like UPLOAD bytes that a new user is given until their
total upload byte quantity is equal to or exceeds the GRACE byte quanity.
You may want to experiment around with this AND the BYTE RATIOs to achieve
a more balanced evaluation that meets your expectations.
USING SSS-RATE IN THE EVENT
-----------------------------
To run SSS-RATE in your EVENT, all that is needed is to change to
the subdirectory where SSS-RATE is located and tell the event to run it.
cd\pcb\main <=== Change to proper location
SSS-RATE <=== Run SSS-RATE
cd\pcb <=== Change back to what ever area you wish
SSS-RATE expects to find SSS-RATE.CFG in the same subdirectory where
SSS-RATE.EXE is located. You may use any area for these files BUT they
MUST be located together.
You can also run SSS-RATE manually at any time, simply by typing
SSS-RATE while located in it's directory.
NETWORK USERS
--------------
This program supports RECORD-LEVEL locking on the user file. If it
cannot successfully lock a record on the first attempt, it will keep trying
for a short period of time, then print a message to the caller log telling
you which record it could not access, and continue running. This is so that
having a user online in another node will not stall the program until that
user logs off. However, you may wish to review the stats for that user
manually to insure whether or not they should have had their access level
adjusted during the run. The MAXIMUM number of users that this will affect
is one less than the number of nodes that you are running. If you are using
PCB 14 E/3 with all 3 nodes available than the maximum number of users that
would not be rated is 2. For E/9 that number would be 8. Review the caller
log for the record numbers of the unadjusted users (if any).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
QUAN ITEM US/CND COST
_____SSS-RATE Registration..................$15/$20 $________
(Registration, User support by BBS ONLY)
_____SSS-RATE Download status.on BBS........$10/$13 $________
(Registered users ONLY)
_____SSS-RATE Registration/Download status..$20/$26 $________
(Registration & latest version on BBS)
_____SSS-RATE EXTENDED Registration - 2yrs..$35/$46 $________
(EXTENDED Registration, User support, Dnld Status)
Note: User support allows downloading of
code revisions to the same version of Sub-total $________
SSS-RATE as the user has registered.
Download status allows for downloading Fla. residents:
of new versions as they become available 6.5% TAX $________
as well as the standard user support.
TOTAL $________
Check or money orders ONLY please!
DO NOT send cash in the mail!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Name:____________________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
City:______________________________ State:_______ Zip:___________
Phone(voice):_______________________ (work):_____________________
PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE AREA CODE
BBS Name:________________________________________________________
BBS Phone:_________________________ Baud rate(s)________________
Hours of operation:__________________________
If 24HR, put "24"
Comments, suggestions, etc.....
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Mail to:
Small Systems Software
1452 Menlo Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32218