Magnum One

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Magnum One / Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso / d8 / toes114g.arc / TOES.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-05-21 | 45KB | 1,005 lines

████████████████ ████████████████ ████████████████ ████████████████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██████████ ████████████████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ Telix ██ OPUS ██ ██ Express Script ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ████████████████ ████████████████ ████████████████ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ ver *- 1.14 -* May 1991 │ └───────────────────────────┘ Originally written by Ken Ironside of 5:491/1 Currently maintained by Allan Marillier of 5:491/1 I N D E X --------- CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD .................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................... 1 DISCLAIMER ............................................ 2 FILES DISTRIBUTED IN THE TOES PACKAGE ................. 2 UPGRADING FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPT ........ 2 COMPILING THE SCRIPT FILES IN PREPARATION FOR USE ..... 3 CUSTOMISING THE BATCH FILES ........................... 3 CONFIGURATION ......................................... 4 Telix ............................................ 4 Opus ............................................. 4 Silver Express on the BBS side ................... 4 TOES ............................................. 5 USING TOES ............................................ 6 USING TOES_CFG ........................................ 8 USING TOESREQ ......................................... 9 GENERAL PROBLEMS - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS .............. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................... 12 DETAILED BUG/ENHANCEMENT HISTORY ...................... 12-17 TOES v 1.14 - Page 1 CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD -------------------- Version 1 - Ken Ironside, July 1990. TELIX_SE.ZIP. Version 1.11 - Allan Marillier, September/October 1990. TSF111AM.ZIP. Version 1.12 - Allan Marillier, January 1991. TSF112AM.ZIP. Version 1.13 - Allan Marillier, January 1991. TSF113AM.ZIP. Version 1.14 - Allan Marillier, April 1991. TOES114.ZIP. INTRODUCTION ------------ Toes is a script written in SALT (Script Application Language for Telix). The script came about as a result of Dave Pedler, SYSOP of the Golden City OPUS, at 5:491/1 introducing the use of Silver Express on his BBS. A need was seen to automate the process of connecting to the BBS, proceeding to the Silver Express menu, uploading an existing reply mail packet, and downloading a new mail packet. The original script was written by Ken Ironside of 5:491/1, and was named SXP. During the course of the development of the script, numerous changes have taken place, many changes have been made, bugs fixed, and plans for enhancements put into action. The script has also undergone a few name changes. Originally known as SXP, the package consisted of three files, SXP.SLT, LOGON.SLT and a brief manual named READ.ME. These were distributed in .ZIP form, as a file named TELIX_SE.ZIP. The script name remained unchanged, but the .ZIP file name was later changed to TSFxxxAM.ZIP, to indicate : Telix Silver Express Fido, version numbers (from 111 to 113) and AM being the initials of the person releasing the new version. As the file naming convention was not entirely accurate, it has now been changed to TOESxxx.ZIP - which indicates Telix OPUS Express Script. The version numbers will remain unchanged, to indicate the logical progression of the script. The names of the scripts themselves have also changed, and a number of supporting files have been added. While this script (and related files) have been specifically written for OPUS, anyone with sufficient time, and inclination could easily modify it to work with any other BBS. Note also that while this script is OPUS specific, it is also dependent on which front-end is used on the BBS and any other programs used by the SYSOP of the OPUS BBS. Please be aware, that you are receiving RAW source code. It MUST be compiled before it can be used. Contrary to the normal order of events, when receiving a pre-compiled program and you immediately run the program to configure it, you must FIRST compile all source files, and THEN configure TOES before use. Please read the section COMPILING THE SCRIPT FILES IN PREPARATION FOR USE before attempting to use any part of the TOES package. TOES v 1.14 - Page 2 DISCLAIMER ---------- These files have been tested fairly thoroughly, in my environment, as well as on a few tester's systems. They work for me. There is no guarantee that they will work for you. However - any problems, bug reports, and requests for changes will be catered for - time and resources permitting. FILES DISTRIBUTED IN THE TOES PACKAGE ------------------------------------- TOES consists of the files as listed below. Please note that only uncompiled .SLT script files are distributed - it is expected that you the user compile the scripts yourself, enabling you to make any minor changes as necessary, without the need to download a new copy of the package in order to fix simple bugs. TOESMAKE BAT - a simple batch file to compile the scripts TOESRUN BAT - a simple batch file to activate TOES via Telix using the supplied Telix config file, which has the status line turned off TOESDGET BAT - a batch file used to activate DSZ for download TOESDSND BAT - a batch file used to activate DSZ for upload TOESPGET BAT - a batch file used to activate PCZ for download TOESPSND BAT - a batch file used to activate PCZ for upload TOES DOC - this manual TOES SLT - the main TOES script (source code) TOES_CFG SLT - the TOES configuration program (source code) TOESDIAL SLT - the TOES logon script (source code) TOESREQ SLT - the TOES request file generator (source code) PR BAT - replacement general use download batch file for PCZ PS BAT - replacement general use upload batch file for PCZ UPGRADING FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPT ---------------------------------------------- Previous versions of the script, known as SXP, had a total of five files : SXP.SLT, SXP.SLC, LOGON.SLT, LOGON.SLC, READ.ME These files should be copied to a backup location, just as a precaution, after which they should be deleted. The file TOES.ZIP should be copied to a backup location, then "unzipped" into your Telix directory. Please note that in previous versions of the script, you were required to make certain changes to both files SXP.SLT, and LOGON.SLT before compiling. This is no longer necessary. Please read the section TOES CONFIGURATION below. TOES v 1.14 - Page 3 COMPILING THE SCRIPT FILES IN PREPARATION FOR USE ------------------------------------------------- This version of the script assumes the use of Telix v 3.12, 3.15 or greater. Note that earlier versions of Telix will not support some of the functions used in the script. Some bugs evident in v 3.12 have been fixed in v 3.15 - which may make some small differences to the script. The most notable of these is the frename() function - used in making a backup copy of the mail packet if required. Under v 3.12 the function would rename the mail packet to the current directory, and NOT to the one specified. This is apparently fixed in v 3.15. As all script files are distributed in source code form, they need to be compiled before use. A batch file named TOESMAKE.BAT is provided to do this for you, but you can compile each of the four scripts manually if you prefer. CS TOES <Enter> CS TOES_CFG <Enter> CS TOESDIAL <Enter> CS TOESREQ <Enter> After this, provided you have copied the original source files to a backup location, the four .SLT files as well as TOESMAKE.BAT may be deleted to conserve disk space. CUSTOMISING THE BATCH FILES --------------------------- The batch files named TOESDGET.BAT, TOESDSND.BAT, TOESPGET.BAT and TOESPSND.BAT will very likely require some modification. They are used by TOES if you require the use of an external Zmodem protocol, for whatever reason. I have configured them to work on my system, but they may need some changes depending on the speed you lock your comms port at, and on which comms port you are using. The batch files named TOESD??? are for use with DSZ, while those named TOESP??? are for use with PCZ. I assume the use of DSZ, or PCZ, but for that matter, any other external Zmodem protocol may be used. In this case it is up to you the user, to read the relevant manuals, and replace the DSZ / PCZ syntax with whatever is required by the program of your choice. You may also need to change the path and file names of the mail and reply packets if they are different from the way I've configured it. I find it logical to store all my Silver Express files in a directory named XPRESS, with my mail directory as \XPRESS\MAIL, and reply directory as \XPRESS\REPLY. As for external Zmodem programs, my personal recommendation is to use PCZ rather than DSZ, as it appears to be more flexible, and is a little faster in returning control to the script than Telix' internal Zmodem. TOES v 1.14 - Page 4 CONFIGURATION ------------- Telix ----- Telix can be left in it's normal configuration as you prefer to use it. Any configuration options that specifically need to be changed will be done so automatically by the script at run time. The one setting that is required though, is in your Telix dialling directory. It is expected that you will have already configured your dialling directory with the relevant telephone numbers, BBS names, passwords, modem speeds etc. The only extra requirement for TOES, is that you configure Telix to use the script TOESDIAL as the script to be run after connection. Press Alt D, <Enter> to display your dialling directory. Point to the directory entry to be changed, press E. Fill in all details as necessary, making the entry "Linked Script" TOESDIAL. Note that you will usually also have placed your password in the dialling directory entry. The script will read a password from the configuration file, and if so configured will use that password in place of the one in the Telix dialling directory. This requirement came about from a user whose password is longer than that allowed in the Telix dialling directory - which has some merit. If you intend using Telix's internal Zmodem protocol, you must also set Automatic Zmodem downloads on. This is done by pressing Alt-O, T, N and selecting "On". Remember to save the configurations of both your dialling directory and the Telix configuration. Opus ---- You must select the Zmodem file transfer protocol as the default. Set your Configuration as follows: Help........REGULAR Nulls.......0 scrn.Width..80 scrn.Length 24 Tabs........NO More?.......NO Video mode..TTY IBM Chars...YES Please take special note of the More option - it is important. Silver Express on the BBS side ------------------------------ Set Zmodem as the default file transfer protocol. Set the following parameters as indicated: [G].........Graphics Mode. - OFF [M].........Menu Hot Keys. - OFF [X].........Expertise Level. - EXPERT TOES v 1.14 - Page 5 TOES ---- Remember, all the script files must first be compiled before they will be capable of running. TOES will check for a file named TOES.CNF in the directory from which it is activated. If it is missing, it will automatically execute the script TOES_CFG in order to create one, and allow you to customise it. This will then be saved for future use. A list of user configurations is shown below, with default settings. Once you have made your changes, those will be recorded for future use. Please note that the file TOES.CNF is in Ascii format, and you CAN change it with any editor you like, but be very careful to keep uppercase throughout, and not to change any ordering, or write any strange characters to the file. Unpredictable results may occur. To build in complex error checking is not worth the effort, and you assume responsibility for any problems caused by "fiddling:. A: Colour Display : No B: Dialing Directory Entries : 1 2 C: User Name (as defined to BBS) : Jan Pierewiet D: Mail File Name : GCOBBS.OPX E: Reply File Name : GCOBBS.REP F: Mail Directory : C:\XPRESS\MAIL\ G: Reply Directory : C:\XPRESS\REPLY\ H: Date Named Backup : No I: Z-Modem - Internal, Dsz, Pcz : Internal J: Automatically Destroy Existing .OPX : No K: Read TOES Config file for password : No L: BBS Password : Choose_a_password:-50_chars W: Exit and save changes to disk. X: Exit without saving changes. Any options not correct may be changed. Please also be aware that no error checking is done to prevent irresponsible setting of configurations. If you want to be silly and use an alias - that's your business. Likewise - if you enter dialling directory numbers other than real, valid ones - the script will not work correctly. Mail and reply directories MUST have the trailing \ on the path. Lucky you - if you don't put it in, the script will do it for you. These options will be described in more detail in the section on running the TOES_CFG script. TOES v 1.14 - Page 6 USING TOES ---------- Remember, the script TOES must first be compiled before it will be capable of running. TOES is a very complex script, which automates a number of tasks for you. As with any script being run by Telix, it may be invoked from the command line : TELIX STOES from the batch file TOESRUN.BAT (please edit/check that your directory path for Telix is consistent with the batch file's), or from within Telix, by pressing Alt G, and then typing the name TOES. Once execution starts TOES will initialize itself, and check for a configuration file named TOES.CNF. This contains certain information needed by TOES and TOESDIAL to connect you to the BBS, and perform your file transfers, placing the files in the correct directories. If the file is missing, TOES_CFG will be invoked, after which control returns to TOES for further processing. (Note that you may also run TOES_CFG independently of TOES). TOES will pause to ask if a delayed start to polling is required. You also have the option at this point to abort execution of the script. If no response is received within twenty seconds, TOES will proceed to attempt a connection. If you choose to delay the start, TOES will display the current date and time, then prompt you for the time at which polling should begin. The time is validated, and must take the form HH:MM. These can be any values from 00:00 through to 23:59. If a time given is BEFORE the current time, it will be interpreted to mean start polling at that time the following day. As an example - it may now be 15:17. I want polling to start tomorrow morning at 04:00. I simply set the start time to be 04:00. In an effort to save your screen from burn-in, (you could turn it off, or turn the brightness down) - TOES will clear the screen, and display a moving character to indicate that it is still executing. There is just one problem - the Telix status line cannot be cleared like this. If you want to use this facility, I suggest you create a second Telix configuration file, with Status Line set OFF. Activate Telix with that configuration file. If at any time during the delay you choose to abort, or proceed immediately, press any key. You will be presented with a list of options - Abort, Continue to delay, Proceed immediately. Your choice will then be acted on. There is one minor problem with this - choosing abort calls the Telix function exittelix(); which is supposed to abort Telix, and return to DOS. For some reason this is not working properly, and re-runs the script. Choosing another delayed time, and then Aborting a second time works perfectly. This will be fixed as soon as possible. TOES v 1.14 - Page 7 If you have requested use of an external Zmodem protocol, TOES will turn Zmodem auto file downloading off, to prevent Telix's internal Zmodem from interfering and attempting a second file transfer. The upload and download directories will be set to the mail and reply directories as configured in TOES.CNF. A log file will be created, in which all activity will be recorded to allow you to later check and see that all was well with the connection. This log file is named according to the date in the form YYMMDD.LOG. Note that only ONE log file is created per day. These may be deleted immediately after viewing if necessary. A check is made to see if any reply packets exist, as well as to see if any old mail packets are still in the mail directory. If Automatically Destroy Existing .OPX has been set to YES, then the old file will be deleted. If not, you will be prompted (for 60 seconds) whether to ignore the file, make a backup copy, delete it, or abort the script. If you don't respond within that time, a backup copy is automatically made, and processing continues. Please be aware at this point, that the frename function is used here. If using Telix 3.12, the backup copy will be "moved" to your current directory. If using Telix 3.15, the function is claimed to have been fixed, and the backup copy will be in the correct mail directory. TOES will then cause Telix to dial the numbers as configured, until one of them makes contact. At this point, provided you configured the correct linked script in your Telix dialling directory, TOESDIAL will take control, and log you in to the BBS, leaving you at the Bulletin menu prompt. At one time, Dave chose to make use of a program named GOOSE, to force password changes at frequent intervals, in the interests of security. I made allowance for that by adding a facility to test for GOOSE requesting a new password, and if required to read it from a file named PASSWORD.NEW. The first line of the file would be read. The first word would be taken as the new password, and the remainder treated as a comment. The file would then be deleted, and a warning message written to the log file to remind you to change your password in your dialling directory. (See - the log file DOES have it's uses !) Dave no longer uses GOOSE, but the facility is still intact, just in case. Control will now return to TOES. TOES will now proceed via the main menu to select the Express option. Once in Silver Express, TOES will initiate an upload, if a reply packet exists. When complete, a download will be requested to determine whether or not any new mail exists. If it does, a download will be initiated. Note at this point, that TOES has a simple form of error recovery. If an error is detected in a Telix internal Zmodem file transfer, TOES will automatically retry the transfer using the batch files TOES?GET and TOES?SND. No test is made to see if the external Zmodem program as set in the batch files exists. This is your responsibility. TOES v 1.14 - Page 8 If you have configured TOES.CNF to indicate that a date named backup is required, a copy of the downloaded mail packet (if any) will be made to a file with a name in the form YYMMDDnn.OPX. This file will reflect the date, as well as the number of the connection. The first backup file will be named YYMMDD00.OPX, the second YYMMDD01.OPX and so on. Please also remember at this point, that Telix's internal Zmodem has some advantages, as well as potential dangers. If Zmodem crash recovery is on, Telix will attempt to append new packets to any old ones. This causes corrupt Silver Express .OPX data files. If Zmodem crash recovery is off, Telix on seeing an existing .OPX file, will automatically rename the NEW one to ?????.OPn, where n is the next available number. Once file transfers are complete, TOES will return from Telix to the main menu on the BBS. At this point, Dave at one time, configured OPUS/Silver Express to require the password to be re-entered. I added a facility to test for the password being requested, and to submit it as necessary. When Dave chose to remove that nice < :-( > feature, I left the facility intact for possible future use. At this point, you will be returned to the OPUS main menu. TOES will now test for the existence of a file named TOES.REQ. If it is found, all embedded commands will be submitted to OPUS to allow configuration changes, Statistics reports etc. as well as file uploads and downloads. Note that as of 9 April 1991 this is still under testing and development. After use, this file will be deleted. This also allows for access to Silver Express to perform simlar tasks. Once processing is complete, TOES will log off the system properly, and return you to the DOS prompt. USING TOES_CFG -------------- Remember, the script TOES_CFG must first be compiled before it will be capable of creating the configuration file. TOES_CFG is a script used to create and edit the file TOES.CNF, used in passing user configurations to TOES. All configs used to be defined as variables within the script, but this was unwieldy, and insecure, in that it required the user to modify the script sometimes. As with any program, maintenance is best left to the programmers/maintainers. It was also something of a nuisance, requiring the user to recompile either SXP (now TOES) or LOGON (now TOESDIAL) whenever any changes were made. TOES_CFG will be automatically invoked by TOES if the file TOES.CNF is missing, but may also be run as a stand alone script. It will also be useful for editing the user configurations. On being invoked, the following screen is displayed : TOES v 1.14 - Page 9 TOES Configuration Script A: Colour Display : No B: Dialing Directory Entries : 1 2 C: User Name (as defined to BBS) : Jan Pierewiet D: Mail File Name : GCOBBS.OPX E: Reply File Name : GCOBBS.REP F: Mail Directory : C:\XPRESS\MAIL\ G: Reply Directory : C:\XPRESS\REPLY\ H: Date Named Backup : No I: Z-Modem - Internal, Dsz, Pcz : Internal J: Automatically Destroy Existing .OPX : No K: Read TOES Config file for password : No L: BBS Password : Choose_a_password:-50_chars W: Exit and save changes to disk. X: Exit without saving changes. These options are all self explanatory, and will not be discussed any further. Making any changes involves nothing more than selecting the letter preceeding the required option and pressing Enter. In the case of the four options with Yes or No facilities, only a Y or N may be entered as a response. Other options take any input, including the dialling directory entries. Be careful of this one. It must be a string which reflects the dialling directories as you have configured them in Telix. Any other unrecognised garbage will cause the script to hang, attempting to get Telix to dial the incorrect entries. USING TOESREQ ------------- Remember, the script TOESREQ must first be compiled before it will be capable of creating the request files. TOESREQ started out as a humble project, with an intention to create a facility for users to simulate the OPUS and Silver Express menus, on the BBS side, watch user keystrokes, and write them to file to be automatically submitted by the script. This humble task turned into a massive project, resulting in a script of over 2500 lines of source code. This source code is distributed as part of the TOES package, to allow you to customise it if necessary, but this should be done with great caution. TOESREQ itself is basically self explanatory, but a short description may be in order. It is expected that it will be run stand alone, with the DOS command line TELIX STOESREQ. The script will then create an OPUS emulation, which will appear to leave you at the main menu. From here - exiting is achieved by pressing Esc, a message to this effect is also displayed. All menus now behave like OPUS menus, with some of the options even displaying real output as captured from a live session. All keystrokes are recorded to file for later processing. TOES v 1.14 - Page 10 Some of the menu options are not supported, and these will be indicated by a message to that effect. Examples of these are reading on-line help, requests to read messages on line, requests to do a Silver Express message up/download etc. They are not supported because they are already catered for by the use of Silver Express, or simply because they are not considered necessary. Please note that the only exit point (as intended) is from the OPUS main menu. This is so that upon completion of processing requests, the script will be returned to a point from which it can log off the BBS correctly. As soon as the TOES.REQ file has been processed by TOES, it is deleted. Please also be aware of a few things. TOES and TOESREQ make quite a few assumptions. It is not practical to test for every possible silly mistake you may make, and between running TOESREQ, and TOES you may make some changes yourself. If you choose to upload a file - ensure that it really exists in the directory you have instructed TOES.REQ to find it in. If you choose to download a file, ensure that it doesn't already exist in the directory where it will be downloaded to. Zmodem crash recovery is turned off by TOES at start of execution, to avoid appending new Silver Express message (.OPX) files to old. It is NOT turned back on again. Different Zmodem implementations will behave in different ways here - Telix' internal Zmodem will create a new file, with an extension where the last character is replaced by a number. eg TOES114G.ZI1 - instead of .ZIP. DSZ though, will fail, with a message that a file exists and may not be over-written. Remember also that unless you register your copy of DSZ, it will dump the file in the CURRENT directory, and ignore any path you may request. PCZ will download to a defined path, but I can't find any mention in the manual of what will happen if a file already exists when a download attempt is made. I also can't get PCZ to work properly. :-( TOES v 1.14 - Page 11 GENERAL PROBLEMS - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ---------------------------------------- DSZ - or any other external comms program behaves erratically, doesn't initiate the file transfer ... waits with an error message : o Check your environment space. DSZ needs to find itself on the DOS path, or to have enough free environment space to add itself to the path. o Check that you have the syntax of the program correct. DSZ particularly, is case sensitive. o Check that you have enough free memory to shell from Telix out to the external program being used. o If using DSZ with a US Robotics modem, check that you have handshake both in your batch file, or numerous timeouts and other funny errors may result. o Files downloaded through the file TOES.REQ don't end up in the expected directory - DSZ won't allow re-directing of a downloaded file in an unregistered copy of the program. It will dump downloads in the current directory. TOES hanging, or getting stuck : o Check that prompts haven't changed, or that DSZ or any other external programs actually are in the directory from which TOES is run. o Wait a litle while before assuming that TOES is stuck - returning from a call to an external file transfer program such as DSZ or PCZ can be a little slow, causing TOES timing to get out of synch with that on the BBS. Twenty to thirty seconds may on (rare) occasions be necessary. TOES v 1.14 - Page 12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------- No decent manual is complete without a list of acknowledgements - Special thanks are due (in random, not favourite order) to : Hector Santos for Silver Express Colin Sampaleanu for Telix Dave Pedler for making them available Ken Ironside for creating the original script Mimi Milstein for constantly testing, and bleating about problems, as well as proof reading and paginating this manual Tim Jackson for constantly testing, and bleating about problems Pat Verner, Lester Hanger and others for criticisms and suggestions (which will be implemented one day, if not already done !) Finally - no charge ever has been, or ever will be made for the use of this package. Knowledge of the size of user base, and the level of satisfaction is interesting - and I would appreciate knowing a few details. You may send me NetMail at 5:491/1, or post to P.O. Box 6490 Westgate 1734 Please let me know who you are, where you got your copy of TOES, which version you have, which BBS you use, and whether you have any problems, and suggestions for improvements. TOES v 1.14 - Page 13 DETAILED BUG/ENHANCEMENT HISTORY -------------------------------- ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// September 1990 Modifications by Allan Marillier : SXP.SLT 1) Modified it to check if a trailing backslash appears in the path pointing to the upload / download directory, to allow the script to correctly find the reply file. If a trailing backslash is NOT present, it will be added, before the name of the reply file is appended to the path. This in both functions, check_upload_dir and check_dnload_dir 2) Function check_dnload_dir : I fixed a typo - if the mail file (.OPX) was found, it prompted to rename to .BAT, but actually renamed to .BAK. There appears to be a bug in the SALT frename function - as it renames the file, to the current directory, and NOT to the configured download directory. This is not a serious problem. 3) I added to the menu to inform where the .BAK will be, when a .OPX file exists. 4) I added a simple message to the effect that no .OPX file was found to exist - mainly for info. - debugging 5) I added a constant variable to hold Ken's colour scheme - as his calculated color was wrong, according to the comments - presumably later modified for a mono screen. 6) I have added a global constant, user settable, for whether the screen can show colour or not. 7) If a mail packet is found to exist, I cater for no user input - ie. after 60 secs of no manual intervention, assume ignore, and set crash recovery off, as Z modem will create another file anyway. eg. .OPX will be followed by .OP0, .OP1 etc. 8) I added a test for OPUS's Select: prompt appearing due to instant return from Silver Express, now that Dave has decided not to request the password on returning. BUT - the test for the password is still intact, so that if Dave decides to enforce password entry, it's automatically catered for. 9) I added a line of code to delete the reply packet AFTER a successful upload. 10) I removed some code that displayed a message, and gave some sound effects if too many messages are found when attempting to download. This will be logged in the cap file anyway - and it is expected that all users will check the cap file after a connection to verify that all went well. This MAY be re-introduced as a possible enhancement, to sound an alarm, open a window asking if the script should be aborted to allow manual re-configuration etc. At the moment, I see no need for it. TOES v 1.14 - Page 14 LOGON.SLT 1) Added a few lines of code to send a second Enter to Golden City, as Dave added the use of the YMS (Your Mail Sir) program, subsequent to Ken's release of the script. This indicates the presence or lack of messages in areas 1 and 3, then requires an Enter. This caused the script to fail. 2) Added some code to cater for Dave's use of the program GOOSE, which requires password changes at pre-determined intervals. This code will watch for a message requesting a password change. When detected, it checks the CURRENT directory for a file named PASSWORD.NEW. If found, a single read is performed to see if a password can be found. The length of the password required by the sysop must be set in the variable new_word_len. Dave currently requires 6 characters. This may change in the future. If no file is found, a message is written to the log file, and the script aborts. If less than 6 characters are found, a message is written to the log file, and the script aborts. If 6 or more characters are found, the word UP TO the first space char is used. This word will then be passed to the BBS, once as a new password and then again for the verification. An informational message is written to the log file, the file PASSWORD.NEW is renamed to PASSWORD.OLD, and the script proceeds as normal. REMEMBER - the password must still be changed in the dialling directory. Note that by checking for characters up to the first space found, the balance of the line can be used as a comment. As an example, the file PASSWORD.NEW could be created as follows : COPY CON PASSWORD.NEW <enter> sample_password This is now treated as a comment : 26 September 1990 Ctrl Z <enter> What this achieves is that the new password will be sample_password. The remainder of the line is ignored, and can be used to remind yourself what the file is, and what it's for. GENERAL I have made a lot of changes to the code itself - removed some code, replaced some, and generally "tidied up" both my, and Ken's programming styles. After uploading version 1.10, I found that I had deleted a few lines which send a keystroke when first entering SE, when required to press any key twice to enter. This (v 1.11) is a bug fix for that. TOES v 1.14 - Page 15 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// January 1991 Modifications by Allan Marillier SXP.SLT 1) I added 2 new variables, and code to make Telix to upload and download to the user's defined mail/reply directories 2) I changed the log file to a YYMMDD.LOG format, Pat Verner's suggestion 3) I added a facility (user changeable by a variable) to make a copy of the .OPX file, immediately after download, with the name in the format YYMMDDnn.OPX 4) I discovered, and fixed a bug in a previous addition - to check for trailing backslashes in the up and download directory names This is caused by a bug in SALT's substr function. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// End of January 1991 Modifications by Allan Marillier SXP.SLT 1) Dave is now using a NEW version of Express on his side. There is a new item in the menu S, which stopped the script from seeing that the menu was waiting for input. 2) The prompt to download files has changed in the BBS side of SX 3) The prompt to upload files has changed in the BBS side of SX 4) I added code to check for not enough memory when attempting to make a backup copy of the mail packet, and advise accordingly, in the log file ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// End of February 1991 Modifications by Allan Marillier SXP.SLT 1) I added code to check for a file named OPUS.REQ, which should contain valid instructions to OPUS, and send the codes until end of file. eg. F (file menu), A (area change), 1, T (type), F491-001.NEW (new files list), Q (quit to main menu) This will automatically be captured to the log file. TOES v 1.14 - Page 16 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// April 1991 Modifications by Allan Marillier SXP.SLT - now known as TOES.SLT From the last release until now, I have been working on the utility script, TOES_REQ.SLT, which emulates the OPUS and Silver Express screens, to create the files OPUS.REQ and XPRESS.REQ, which will be used by the script to automate almost any function available on the BBS. 1) I fixed a bug that was causing date named copies to be created only for sessions 0, and 1. 1 kept being overwritten with new. 2) I added a facility to choose to use an external Zmodem protocol, or internal Zmodem. 3) I renamed the script from TSFxxxAM to TOESxxx 4) I shortened the delay required by the waitfor("Successful Transfer after uploading from 3600 to 15 seconds. This caused a problem with DSZ. Problem is, DSZ still doesn't return to the script quick enough, so I can only check for Successful Transfer if internal Zmodem is used. With DSZ we have to take a chance and assume that if it returns to the script, then it was OK. 5) I added a new variable to allow auto deletion of old OPXs, or to allow prompting before deletion. Note that with DSZ it is necessary to get rid of old OPXs even if auto zap is not set. To do this, if DSZ is set, and an old OPX is found, then it is renamed (which will then appear in the current directory, because of bugs in the frename function). Note that under Telix v 3.15 the bug in this function has been fixed. 6) I added code to test for successful up/downloads using Telix' internal ZModem. In event of aborted transfer, the script will immediately try again using an external protocol - eg. DSZ or PCZ if either is present, using the supplied batch files, TOES?SND and TOES?GET. If the carrier signal is lost, the script writes a message to the log file, and exits gracefully 7) I added code to read configurations from a file named TOES.CNF. A complimentary script file, TOES_CFG is used to create/edit the configuration. This eliminates the need for a user to make any changes to the main TOES script, or to recompile it each time any configuration changes are made. 8) Total rewrite of the manual. 9) I changed the scripts so that no more user customisation is necessary for config changes. That is all done via a config file. 10) I added a facility to delay start of polling the BBS for up to 24 hours, with a screen save facility built in. 11) I added a facility to choose Abort, Continue delay, or Proceed immediately to the delayed connect facility TOES v 1.14 - Page 17 12) I added sample batch files for use with both PCZ and DSZ. They can be easily copied to TOES?SND.BAT and TOES?GET.BAT. I also added a Telix config file, to turn the status line off, for use with the delayed connect screen save facility. 13) I fixed a few minor bugs in the TOES_CFG configuration script. 14) I built in a test for more than one page of news in Silver Express on the BBS side. If the "More" prompt appears, this should be handled correctly. 15) I added an option to the prompt, whether delayed start of polling is required or not. You may now also enter an A to abort the script. 16) I changed the configuration again - you may choose from Internal Zmodem, Dsz or Pcz. It is not necessary to copy batch files around, just to keep the 4 main ones TOESDGET, TOESDSND, TOESPGET and TOESPSND. These will be called directly by the script if you select an external protocol. 17) I changed the configuration to optionally allow sending the password as stored in the config file, and not the Telix dialling directory. This is specifically to suit users whose password is longer than that allowed in the dialling directory entry. 18) I modified the code to test for file transfer failure (within Silver Express), search for PCZ, and use that if found, else to search for DSZ and use that if found. 19) I added code to write $FINISHED$ at the end of the TOES.REQ file, as the end of file test wasn't working properly. 20) I fixed problems with TOES doing the uploads, and downloads, using both Internal Zmodem, as well as DSZ and PCZ. 21) I added code to make TOES reset the upload and download directories to the way they're configured in Telix, so that downloaded files will appear where they're expected to.