CD Shareware Masterblend/cdsharewaremasterblend.iso/communic/tapcis/changes.tap

Text File | 1990-09-29 | 24KB | 569 lines

=================================================================
TAPCIS 5.3 CHANGES FROM 5.2a
=================================================================

This document covers the changes from TAPCIS version 5.2a to the
current version 5.3. You will find that the changes are
evolutionary, and users of 5.2a should have little problem
installing and operating 5.3.

If you do hit any problems, FIRST READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT. You
will probably find that a small change has been made that affects
your setup (for example, your modem no longer hangs up, or your
command line options no longer work right). But if you do get
stuck, stop by the TAPCIS Forum and leave a message to Sysop asking
for help.

ORDERING

You can get TAPCIS 5.3 from the TAPCIS Forum Library 1 (TAP.EXE and
TAPDOC.EXE) where it can be downloaded for connect charges. Or drop
a Mail message to 74020,10 or call Support Group at 800-USA-GROUP
and get TAPCIS 5.3 with a revised and expanded manual and the
program on disk for only $20.

THANKS!

We'd like to thank all of you that have supported TAPCIS over the
years. Your registrations and referrals keep the program moving
forward. We have many exciting plans for TAPCIS, and we invite all
of our registered users to stay tuned to Section 9 of the TAPCIS
Forum for discussion of future versions.

Richard Wilkes 76701,23
President
Support Group, Inc.

------------------------------
Backup

Please take a moment and backup your TAPCIS directories before
installing 5.3. In particular the PARAMS.CIS file will be modified
by 5.3 and become unusable with 5.2a in the unlikely event that you
must return to that version.


------------------------------
Temporary Registrations

If the registration number on your main menu ends with a T, that is
a temporary registration number. TAPCIS 5.3 will tell you that fact
each time you start the program. Be sure to enter your permanent
registration number following the directions in the manual under
Recording Your Registration. Drop a note to 74020,10 if you never
got your permanent registration number from Support Group.


------------------------------
CompuServe Mail

TAPCIS 5.3 uses CompuServe Mail, the replacement for Easyplex. The
;OLDM you added to your userid for 5.2a will be automatically
removed by 5.3. Mail operates identically to Easyplex except for
changes in prompts.

The name of the files TAPCIS uses have been changed from EASYPLEX.*
to MAIL.* (e.g., MAIL.MSG). Binary mail messages are stored in
MAILn.BIN files rather than EPLEXn.BIN (the maximum size of binary
files has been increased to 512,000 bytes). And, outbox messages
show Fm: MAIL. You will need to get new versions of any third party
programs you use (e.g., TAPLEX) that are coded for EASYPLEX or that
are codes for the 5.2a PARAMS.CIS format.

>POSTAL support has also been added, and 5.3 accepts INTERNET
addresses up to 78 characters. See >POSTAL below for more details.

You can use the command line option ! (e.g., TAPCIS !) to have
TAPCIS upload your mail messages using the error-free B+ protocol.
This is somewhat slower than the normal message uploading but
guarantees that no line noise will be introduced into your mail
messages. (Only applies to CompuServe mail, not forum messages).

------------------------------
Address Book & User Names

When searching for an address in your USERID.CIS file, TAPCIS will
now stop the search as soon as you make your selection by letter or
cancel the search by pressing space.

The format of the USERID.CIS file has changed. In order to support
comments for >FAX and >INTERNET addresses, we've added a delimiter
between the address and the comments:

Richard Wilkes >FAX: [phone] |(RWFAX) Richard's fax number

The <space>| is the delimiter. The space is required. If TAPCIS has
trouble with any of your existing addresses in USERID.CIS, edit
that file (E>dit F>ile USERID.CIS) and add the delimiter. For
example, you will need to change any FAX or INTERNET addresses you
added in 5.2a that included a comment. Edit the address and put
<space>| before the old comment.

Note the (RWFAX) in parens in the comment. If you were to enter
\rwfax as the address book search, TAPCIS 5.3 will pull up this
entry without a confirming letter choice. So, if you have an
address book entry like:

Joan Friedman 76701,145 |(Joan)(JoanF) TAPCIS Forum Sysop

you could select this address using \joan or \joanf. Case is not
important but the match must be exact. You can set up a user name
when prompted for the comments after the A>ddress command when
reading a message or when editing the USERID.CIS file. If you have
user name but need to search for that name anyway, put a space
after the name (e.g., \joan<space>) and the user name will be
ignored.

------------------------------
>POSTAL

Postal offers you the option of sending a letter printed on a laser
printer in one of five locations around the country. The charges
start at $1.50 for U.S. addresses and $2.50 for international ones.
Messages are limited to 60 characters per line and 279 lines (5
pages) per message.

Before you can use postal, you must go online I>nteractive. GO MAIL
and at the Mail! prompt type the "ADDRESS NAME" command:

Mail! ADDRESS NAME

Enter your name and say Yes to entering your return address. Supply
that information (which is needed for the printed letters). Then
logoff.

In TAPCIS address your message To: >POSTAL and press return. You
cannot send postal messages to multiple addresses at this time.
TAPCIS will ask you for the full address of your recipient. When
prompted for the state, you must enter the 2-letter state
abbreviation (i.e., if you enter Calif instead of CA, the message
will not be sent). If sending to an address outside the United
States, press <enter> at the state prompt and answer the country
and postal code prompts. Note for Canadian Addresses: you must
press <enter> at the state prompt for this to work, even though the
CompuServe online prompt is State or Province code. If you want to
put in the province code, include it in the City line (e.g.,
Montreal, PQ).

TAPCIS automatically sets the editor width to 60 columns. If you
load any text using Shift-F10 be sure to reformat the individual
paragraphs with ^B (control B) before sending or it will not work.

------------------------------
NAMES.BAT

A small DOS batch file has been included that renames your EASYPLEX
and PC Magnet files to the new names supported by 5.3. You can run
NAMES in your TAPCIS storage disk path. It can be deleted
afterwards.

------------------------------
Multiple Parameter Files

TAPCIS 5.3 supports multiple PARAMS files. You use the Alt-F
command from the main menu or forums selection screen. TAPCIS will
show you information about your current PARAMS file and let you
switch files or create a clone of the current one by pressing X.
The name of the new file can be 1-3 letters or numbers.

Each PARAMS.* file contains not only the list of forums but also
your user ID, password, and all other settings from the P>arameters
screen. Be sure to set up the main PARAMS.CIS first with your
registration number, user ID, and password and then use Alt-F and
the X> copy option to create new ones.

You can use an alternate PARAMS files to change forum sets, support
more than 20 selected forums, or switch COM ports and modem for
laptop use. For example, I have a PARAMS.WP that has the two WPSG
forums selected and that uses a different storage and download path
than my "normal" PARAMS.CIS (the default name).

You can select the PARAMS file directly from the command line by
enclosing it in parentheses. If you use any other command line
options, separate those from the PARAMS extension with a space:

TAPCIS (WP) GNX

The above would start TAPCIS using the PARAMS.WP file, globally
capture everything that happens online to the file ONLINE.LOG,
execute the N>ew command as soon as TAPCIS is loaded, and exit
TAPCIS as soon as N>ew completes.

TAPCIS now stores the status indicators in th