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1992-09-26
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│ Procomm Plus Log Analyzer │
│ v1.0 │
│ │
│ Written by: Don MacElrath │
Legal BS
────────
This software package is released under the FREEWARE concept. I don't believe
in SHAREWARE (or TRY BEFORE YOU BUY). This package is fully functional.
It may not be offered as an incentive towards the purchase of another product.
It may not be distributed by any organization that requires a fee.
This program can be distributed as long as it is made available to everyone
FREE OF CHARGE.
Although I have tested & use this program personally, I will not be held
responsible for any damages that may occur by use of this program.
I will also not be responsible for any misleading information that this
program may provide. Use this program at your own risk.
Why PCPLA?
──────────
The purpose of this program is simple, to keep tack of the amount of time you
spend on a BBS in a 1 month period. It should help to reduce the
"PHONE BILL SHOCK" syndrome. Although Procomm Plus keeps a log of all the
boards that you call, it doesn't add up the total time you spend on each board.
That is an extremely valuable bit of information.
Suppose you are registered with the phone company and their SELECTIVE CALLING
PLAN (or SCOPE). Wouldn't it be nice to know if you were approaching your 20
hour limit?
Or suppose you wanted to make "JUST 1 MORE LONG DISTANCE PHONE CALL".
Thinking to yourself that you really haven't made that many long distance
calls this month, you decide to go for it. This process does have a way
of repeating itself. Well, now you will know just how much time you spent
calling out. NO MORE EXCUSES WHEN YOU GET YOUR MONTHLY PHONE BILL! *grin*
* SPECIAL NOTE ON THE SELECTIVE CALLING PLAN.
The Selective Calling Plan is not available in all states. What it allows you
to do is add a group of TOLL exchanges to your LOCAL calling area. There is a
monthly fee for this service (couple dollars, not much at all). It will
let you call those exchanges FREE OF CHARGE (There is a 20 hour limit per
month). Check with your local telephone company and see if it is available
in your area. I know it is available in Southern NJ.
Requirements
────────────
1) A computer (yes, you do need a computer to run this software).
2) Procomm Plus v2.01 or any version of Procomm Plus should work.
I don't think DataStorm changed the format of the PCPLUS.FON file
when they updated PCPLUS. If you have an older version of PCPLUS
and this program doesn't work, I guess I was wrong.
* This program will also work with any communications package that
uses the PCPLUS.FON format. See the section about PCPLUS.FON.
Optional Equipment (For PEAK Performance)
1) 5 Gigabillion Megabyte Hard Drive.
2) 1,423 Megs of RAM.
3) ZZGA Video Support.
4) 7 High Density Floppy Drives (required for the Install).
5) Asprin and/or Beer.
Getting Started
───────────────
1) Place each of the files in your Procomm Plus Directory.
NOTE: you can use whatever directory you like, but the 2 files
PCPLA.EXE and PCPLA.CFG must be in the same directory!
2) Type: PCPLA /SETUP <ENTER>
Just answer the questions and you're all set. Enjoy!
NOTE: The file PCPLUS.FON is a file that is generated by Procomm Plus
and contains all the information that PCPLA needs. This file should
be in your Procomm Plus directory. I don't think you can change its
location or turn the logging process off from within the PCPLUS setup
utility. IT SHOULD BE THERE!
PCPLA Setup Help
────────────────
Name and Location of the PCPLUS.FON file.
This is the log file that Procomm Plus generates each time you log on and off
a bulletin board. This file is usually in your PCPLUS directory and is called
PCPLUS.FON.
Select Output.
You have a choice to send the results of PCPLA to the screen or to a text file.
If you choose to send the info to a file, you will be prompted for the output
location and filename.
PCPLA Output Explanation
────────────────────────
There isn't really much to explain. It should be self explanatory. The only
thing that I would like to point out here is the 2 time columns. One is labeled
ELAPSED and the other is labeled FIX.
ELAPSED 1: This is the actual time that you spent on a BBS.
This field contains hours, minutes and seconds.
ELAPSED 2: Since the phone company charges by minutes and not
seconds, the ELAPSED 1 field isn't very useful.
If you called a board and spent 25 seconds on it,
the phone company will charge you for a full minute!
This field takes that into consideration and rounds
the results. The time is displayed in hour:minutes.
There can be a large difference between the 2 ELAPSED fields.
It isn't uncommon for me to get results that vary by as much as an hour!
All those seconds rounded up to the next minute really add up!
NOTE: I DON"T HAVE A CLUE AS TO HOW THE PHONE COMPANY GETS THEIR INFORMATION.
No matter how much I try to keep track of my calls, the phone company
seems to always have some unique figures on my phone bill. At least
this program should give you a ballpark idea on your phone calls.
Much better than actual guesswork (or figuring it out by hand!).
Invalid PCPLUS.FON Entries
──────────────────────────
There will be times while you are ONLINE and your computer locks up (or some
other odd thing happens like a power failure). This will leave blanks in
the PCPLUS.FON file in the ELAPSED & OFFLINE fields (see the example .FON file
below). Since there is no way to determine the actual time you spent on the
board, these entries are skipped. All of the invalid entries will be displayed
to you at the end of the program. That information could be important,
especially if you have 10 invalid entries to 1 long distance board. That's at
least an additional 10 minutes of LONG DISTANCE calling!
Sample PCPLUS.FON File
──────────────────────
NAME NUMBER DATE ONLINE OFFLINE ELAPSED
Bogus Board ?-???-???-???? 09/24/92 19:39:09 19:42:13 00:03:04
Just Another Board ???-???? 09/24/92 20:31:11
Just Another Board ???-???? 09/24/92 21:08:02 21:09:47 00:01:45
The Bar ???-???? 09/24/92 21:11:14 21:12:31 00:01:17
John Doe's BBS ???-???? 09/24/92 22:45:18 22:45:43 00:00:25
Computer BBS ???-???? 09/24/92 22:58:54 23:09:42 00:10:48
Bogus Board ?-???-???-???? 09/24/92 23:21:31 23:24:57 00:03:26
John Doe's BBS ???-???? 09/24/92 23:26:16 23:27:51 00:01:35
John Doe's BBS ???-???? 09/24/92 23:28:17 23:43:08 00:14:51
John Doe's BBS ???-???? 09/24/92 23:46:17 23:48:49 00:02:32
NOTE ENTRY #2. This is an example of an invalid entry. This could have been
caused by the user rebooting while online, or perhaps there was a power
failure. Obviously, it isn't good to have this kind of entry. Shit happens.
If your communication package outputs a file similar to the one above, then
you should be able to use this package. Just change the info in the first
question when you run SETUP.
Miscellaneous Stuff
───────────────────
The large your PCPLUS.FON file is, the longer it will take to process.
You might want to consider deleting the PCPLUS.FON file at the beginning
of every fourth month or so.
When entering a date to calculate, you must provide a number that is 5
characters in length. 1/92 is not acceptable, 01/92 is the proper format.
If you have a habit of changing the board names (or the phone numbers),
they will are appear as separate entries in the PCPLA output.
For Example, lets say 1 entry in your dialing directory is JOE'S PLACE,
but you realize that the actual bbs name is JOE'S BBS. Naturally you change
it. The PCPLA output will show both names! When you change the name in the
PCPLUS dialing directory, the DIALING DIRECTORY gets updated, not the
PCPLUS.FON file! Remember that. That's why the output shows the BBS name
and Phone number - to clear up any doubts as to why there might be 2 entries
for the same bbs.
If you choose to output a text file, the length of each line of text will
be over 80 characters. So, if you want to print this file you should set
your printer up in landscape mode (or 132 column mode). See your printer
manual for instuctions on LANSCAPE printing. See your DOS manual for
instructions on printing a DOS TEXT FILE (look under the TYPE command).
If enough people like this program - LET ME KNOW! (see below). I would be
happy to make changes or improvements in it and release another version.
I could even be persuaded to include other communication packages. *grin*
Tired
─────
I'm getting tired now. I'm sure I have overlooked some things, but a little
common sense should help you get through whatever problems you might have.
I can be reached via ILINK in the Procomm Plus conference. Or which ever
conference might be more appropriate. We don't want to upset the conference
moderators. (Be careful when you spell my name or I won't get the message).
History
───────
9/92 - Initial release of PCPLA (v1.0)
Cleaned up the program & made some quick docs so that the
public could benefit from using it.
Praying that no one gets a runtime error or finds a bug! :)
Last Words (I promise!)
───────────────────────
Consider becoming a member of an Environmentally Aware Organization, such
as Green Peace. We all have to live on this planet and I would prefer
to live in a clean environment. Thanks.
Happy Modeming!
- Don MacElrath