Software Vault: The Diamond Collection/The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO/cdr37/jmod1002.zip/BUGSNEW.10

Text File | 1995-03-08 | 19KB | 352 lines

Juggernaut                                .11 expected release date: mid 1995


     These bugs and changes can all be found in the latest JMOD10xx.ZIP.


NEW to .11:

 * The source code has been ported from Basic PDS 7.x to Visual Basic for
   DOS 1.0.  This will now provide me a smooth path to a Windows version.
   Although the size of the .EXE shrunk, the RAM use increased by 35k (now
   reduced to 20k through other optimizatios).  FORMS.EXE was created to
   make use of VB's more advanced features, which, if used in JDRBBS.EXE,
   would add another 150k to the RAM requirements.
 ∙ The software can now use whatever EMS you want to give it to store its
   overlays so it doesn't have to repeatedly fetch them from disk.  Should
   provide better speed with multi-tasking/LANs as well.
 ∙ When auto-creating EchoMail areas, it now also updates the EchoMail
   Router information for that address.
 ∙ A <space> at WFC will now force an immediate events/Crash Contact check.
 * Passwords & Attributes is no longer necessary, as a more powerful
   EchoMail Router command does the same job.  Similarly, the very
   confusing "feeding/being fed" "Attribute 1" in EchoMail Router was
   also dropped.
 * Added inbound .TIC attachment support.  Not fully completed, but they are
   all tossed into your File Area #1, and run through the post-upload-
   processor.
 * Changed the pull-down menu stuff so that instead of only being able to do
   vertical pull-down menus in a single column, it will now let you jump all
   over the screen in whatever manner you like.  up/down (and left/right now)
   move according to the order you list the entries in the FX.TXT file.
 ∙ A face-character (ASCII 1 or 2) can be used in NOTEPAD.TXT to send a
   CR/LF.
 * Changed importing of internet mail to strip out the excess header lines
   (with an option to keep them if the sysop wants).
 ∙ Added a sysop toggle to control whether console/sysop/co-sysop users are
   to be timed-out at menus.
 ∙ When you have auto-create new echomail areas ON, it now also updates/add's
   an EchoMail Router entry for you for that address for that area.  Thus, the
   software will now do all "echomail joining" for you--just toggle ON
   "auto-add echomail areas" and it'll handle everything when your first
   packet arrives--creating new entries, configuring that net address, etc.
 * <del> now works to delete messages when reading the message (both normal
   read and when scan/listing.  It also works from the scan/list selection
   screen.
 * List/scan msgs now will try to anticipate which direction you're reading
   messages by exiting the message reader to the next message in the direction
   you last moved.  If you were moving down, it'll give you the next message,
   if up, it'll put the selection bar on the previous message.
 + Designated Message Area Attribute F to declare a Message Area an Internet
   area.  When ON, a second index is maintained for this area, and when using
   the scan/list messages command, it brings up a special Internet interface.
   When using this special Internet scan/list, <del> can delete a whole group
   of messages (or any one when viewing the menu or the message).  But <del>
   power is only available to the Sysop, Co-Sysop, and that areas Msg-Op
   (unlike the normal list/scan selection screen).
 + Created Robot Agents.  A script-like language to have the software "go out
   and get stuff" on its own.  So far it has the following commands: Waitfor,
   Send, Hangup, Patience, and Goto (with label support).
 + The system for doing pull-down menus now only uses the amount of width
   defined.  That is, formerly it would do "door1" and "big huge door" using
   the same sized selection box (that of the largest text string).  Now when
   used, it sizes the box to the string size.  So to do the previous effects
   one must append some spaces (eg. "door1" becomes "door1        "--DOORMENU
   needed such adjustments, but the sysop menus didn't).
   Basically, what this and the ability to use left/right now means is that
   you now easily creat horizontal (lightbar) menus.
   -The order the lines are placed in FX.TXT determines which entry we start
   at and the order we move between menu (pull-down or lightbar) options.
   -You can define multiple FXBAR's in FX.TXT--the pull-down/lightbar menu
   will use the first FXBAR after the ID= block for that menu.
   -These changes also allowed me to (and I wanted to) simplify the DOORMENU
   and sysop menu systems.  Such as dropping letting the numeric keypad also
   be used instead of arrow keys (really it just made the menus more
   confusing).
   -+/- no longer act like down/up with pull-down menus.
   -only those options in the FX.TXT ID= block that have a menu hot-key are
   used.  So you want to make sure you have a command for everything you
   call--even if its an option to just goto the current menu.
   -also changed doormenu/sysop menus to the "once you pull down a menu, they
   all show up as pulled down".  Did this because it reduces the number of
   menus by half--making the whole system easier to work with.
   -up/down left/right arrow keys defined as hot-keys override their pulldown
   uses.
   -if all the fx coordinates share the same horizontal line, then up/down
   will act like [enter].
 + The software should now give back unused time-slices when used under
   DesqView and OS/2.  [this still needs to be confirmed]
 + Import Internet Mail uses a bit of smarts to stop tiny garbage messages.
 + The software now uses your DSZLOG environmental variable for the DSZLOG
   pathname instead of an Alter Pathnames entry.
 + Added a [C]atchup command to Scan/List messages.
 + Added "-" to reverse direction (newest->oldest to oldest->newest etc.)
   to Scan/List messages.
 + A sysop command to remove duplicate entries from COMMENTS.OUT.


CHANGED in .11:

 ∙ Dropped <alt>p (port debugger) from WFC, and changed <alt>p (pure
   mode) when a caller is on-line to <alt>d.
 ∙ Instead of dropping to DOS when a serious error occurs (like can't open
   a file).  We exit to DOS, and restart the BBS.  The logic being: that
   the error may have been just with a single command or do to some weird
   memory corruption, and that it's better to go back on-line than wait
   for the sysop.
 ∙ Definitely dropped auto-detection of protocols when reading or posting
   messages.
 * <alt>d: replaced a bunch of the commands with a menu, and did some
   other changes:
      home/end/pgup/pgdn/f1/f2/f3/f4 all send out codes when hit.
      F8 no longer the same as <ins> (access notepad), now does nothing.
      <del> now brings up a menu where most things were put (upload,
      download, poll, etc.) but some commands are still hot-keyable.
      <alt>5 now does the 25/50 line toggling job.
      <alt>T now does the trap toggling job.
      The F10 help was dropped (the <del> menu does the same thing).
      The above keys will be confusing at first, but some (like <alt>T) will
      be adopted into the main BBS itself later--so learn to like them.
 ∙ Re-Incorporated BiModem and HS/Link into the normal protocol selection
   system.  Means that the "BiMd" and "HSLK" command have been dropped.
   Similarly, I dropped the "bidirectional SL" Setting, and the
   "Bidirectional day baud" setting that acted as a toggle.
 . The screen that shows which messages were imported from a net mail
   packet is now much prettier and more informative.
 ∙ Greatly improved the speed of adding message info to the EchoMail
   message dupe checker.
 ∙ Instead of not doing auto-file-discovery only for upload'able areas when
   multiple users are on-line, it is now ignored for all areas when multiple
   users are on-line.  So any files will only be auto-discovered when there
   is just one user logged in.
 ∙ <alt>k will now toggle the the kill-user status off if you hit it a second
   time.
 ∙ Modified Rumors to ignore duplicate rumors.
 ∙ Put the YooHoo net mail protocols into cold storage like the TSync
   routines.  I don't think anybody uses them anymore, and they're a big
   security hole.
 * In some places I was allowing the numeric keys to act as an arrow keypad,
   dropped that.  Also dropped use of <tab> / <bksp> to act as substitutes
   for arrow keys in some places.
 ∙ Changed the structure of the LONGADDR.DAT file.  The old data will still
   work.  This file stores long internet addresses.
 ∙ Whether (or not) to store deleted messages into DEL_MSGS.TXT was changed
   from a Toggle to an individual Attribute for each area.  Now called
   Historical Archiving of messages.
 ∙ The requirement for twice as much free drive space as your MESSAGES.*
   file size to pack messages was changed to only need drive space equal
   to the size of these files.
 + <alt>t now toggles trap on/off everywhere.  Used to be done by F1 and
   <pgdn>.
 + Message entry no longer allows users to input straight ANSI codes.  To
   do so they would need to upload the message.  Only people this should
   affect is those with ANSI codes in a macro.  Color codes are what they
   should use anyways.
 + <alt>o now sends a text file at WFC and when a user is on-line.  Used
   to be done by <pgup>.
 + Changed the save-user-record in User Maint from F10 to F4.
 ∙ Changed the "Forc" command:
       Forc _msgarea _msgto _subject
   from its confusing "if" rules to simply:
   if 1 parameter, it's the _msgarea
   if 2 parameters, it's the _msgarea and _msgto
   if 3 parameters, it's the _msgarea and _msgto and _subject
   in those orders.  It also no longer uses the msg-op's name if you
   left the _msgto field empty.
 + Dropped the <alt>d poll command's "what zone to use" question (it was
   usually unnecessary and added too much of a delay).
 + The file viewer (for such things as dTXT, Work on Zips, and the TXTF
   system) now recognizes ANSI image files better (vs. text files with
   ANSI codes).  However, it doesn't scroll it, just blasts it out.



BUGS FIXED:

 ∙ It would lock up when Inserting/Deleting/Swapping a Door, File Area, or
   Message Area when you had previously defined a Group of the entries
   (Door or area) which you are Inserting/Deleting/Swapping.
   That is, if you had defined a Group of Doors, and Deleted a door entry
   it would lock up.
 ∙ It was creating blank PCBOARD.SYS door-exit files for the PCBoard door
   exit-file types.
 ∙ Some problems with "permission denied" errors across a LAN and perhaps
   when multi-tasking.
 ∙ When importing (fido/qwk/internet) messages around 15k-16k it would crash
   with out of string space.
 ∙ Internode chat wasn't internode-chatting.
 ∙ Auto-create EchoMail areas wasn't updating ECHOS.DAT and so created the
   area new with each new packet.
 ∙ The Net Mail system will now automatically remove any duplicate addresses
   the sender may use (rather than send multiple copies of the message to
   each of the identical addresses).
 ∙ Importing a loose packet had a couple problems (didn't use the TEMP\ dir
   and didn't properly handle all sub-.PKT's sometimes--can tell if pkunzip
   stoped the process to ask you a question).
 ∙ The net mail dupe checker wasn't properly finding some dupes (those with
   Msg ID's in lowercase).
 ∙ The net mail system would improperly exit when unpacking a "compressed
   packet containing only compressed packets".  Such as a .ZIP of .TU1, SA2's
   etc. in which there were no .PKT's.
 ∙ Instead of just deleting one old message when at a max messages limit, it
   now deletes 10.  This will speed up importing of echomail, and gradually
   reduce any surplus messages already there.
 ∙ It would process "@ch<etc>" (as in [e-mail]) as "@0C" the color
   code.
 ∙ It would improproperly consider some lines < 30 characters to be the
   quoters name (and turn it red and put it with the brackets) for imported
   net messages.
 ∙ Fixed it so it handles some cases of quoted text (when broken up by a blank
   line) better with imported messages (it was making a quote box around each
   paragraph instead of the whole grouping).
 * When deleting files while in DOS, it would not update ALSO_GOT.LST with
   those file descriptions.  Now it does it (when packing).
 * Fixed it so that when you insert/delete/swap message areas that it also
   adjusts the Echomail Router entries.
 + The "J"ump to menu command in McEditor messes up the screen.  The 3 letters
   that make up the Menu IDs caused the menu system to think it squashed them
   so small that it had to use the selector bar system.
 + A big time bug: the JMOD1001 .EXE was compressing the messages, but not
   decompressing them.  Essentially making JMOD1001 useless.
 + When importing a bunch of packets, if one was bad it would stop doing them
   all.
 + When doing a password check, it would only test the first presented
   address.  Leaving open the oportunity to present a neutral address, and
   then later present a password protected address, and get their mail.

[note: a + is something new since JMOD1001 released]
[note: an ∙ means the docs for this change are also done (important to me!)]

Some changes in the unregistered version with JMOD1002:
  - The entire post-upload-processing system is now available for use.
  - Compression of messages and net mail packets is now available.
  - There is a 30-second nag screen when you restart the BBS.
  - Registered users can now use this version, although the registered
    sysop commands still require the registered .EXE.

NOT BUGS: last minute things I noticed:
  F1 help in <alt>d isn't done (the dialer help works though)
  "L"ist when editing msg areas, file areas, and doors was dropped--use "!".


Features lost in .11:
 -Bidirectional protocol-only every-other-day ability.
 -Auto-detection of BiModem and HS/Link uploads at the menus, and when
  reading/posting messages.  It was too powerful, and too confusing to
  harnass it.  Also just not used.
 -The ability to recover gracefully (without returning dup's) when a Net Mail
  packet from them is aborted after you already sent yours (next time they
  call, they'll get your's again).
 -Handling YooHoo net mail exchanges.

Features lost in previous versions (* means I want them back):
 -Avatar support BBS->user, and in the terminal program.
 *Searching of nodelist for a match when entering the net mail address when
  entering a message.
 -The terminal program's database (now dialer) could be accessed when reading
  messages.
 -BiModem and HS/Link had their own menu commands.
 -WFC used to show time till next event check and time till next modem reset.
 -WFC modem reset's used to mean sending a re-init string to the modem, now
  they just do event checks.
 -WFC used to show the countdown timer after connect was established until
  it resets the modem.
 *Sysop used to be able to do <alt>c from most anywhere.
 -Handling TSync net mail exchanges.



Note: FORMS.EXE must now be in your \BBS directory.  Also, for this to work
properly, you should have at least 160k free RAM when you shell to DOS.  If
you're below this, then use SHROOM, but also ask yourself which TSR's and
device drivers you don't need--since swapping with FORMS.EXE just makes its
use less enjoyable.

Note also: the new jdrbbs.exe will now work with any EMS memory you give it--
providing faster operations.  200k of EMS would be generous.  However, if you
are multi-tasking multiple nodes, remember that you can save this extra K by
putting jdrbbs.exe into a RAM drive (you work out whatever is best for your
situation).  Across LANs I would recommend more to reduce the amount of LAN
transfer activity.  Using EMS reduces disk drive activity when loading
overlays (which is done a lot).

Some errors/confusion/changes about registering:
  Voice Support is no longer an available option.
  It's a $100 registration fee for each computer running the software.  So
  multiple computers on a LAN that use it get registered individually.  While
  you only have to register once for as many multi-tasking nodes as you can
  get, in the next release I'll be going with a more "standard" 2-node,
  4-node, n-node, etc. type of system (possibly a straight +$50 for each
  node beyond 2 or 3).
  .11: the policy will change to $100 for every two nodes.


[future stuff for the above, but not quite ready (continuing non-trivial
projects)]:

notes about the file manager (|209):
  not done: f2 f3 f4 <ins>
  [enter] "locks down" that description line--so if it starts out > than the
  edit box, it truncates that extra stuff.
  With the exception of f2/f3/f4 menus, once a window pops up, hit any key to
  bring it back down.  f2/f3/f4 will use whatever (highlighted) key you type,
  and any invalid key will bring it back down.
  need to add: search for area, jump to area (select window),
               search for filename, search for wildcards.

Robot Agents:
  commands available (|010 _pathname):
    ::label
    GOTO ::label
    PATIENCE #
    HANGUP
    SEND string string string
    WAITFOR string string string
    ADDWAITFORLIST string ::label
    CLEARWAITFORLIST
    DOWAITFORLIST

Sample Robot Agent script (logs me into my internet account and begins RN):
SEND ATDT229-2953

WAITFOR Which system?
SEND alpha2

WAITFOR login:
SEND rohner

WAITFOR Password:
SEND <heh>

WAITFOR TERM = (unknown)
SEND vt102

WAITFOR (alpha2)
SEND rn

WAITFOR nothingstringsoicantypestuff
HANGUP

(note: the ASCII face characters become CR/LF's when sent.)


File Area Toggling: just need to modify paths.ini and a convert.exe'r
.TIC mapping/tossing: modify paths.ini and cleanup databaser database.
Remove lines of text: string block done, just do code.
User field lister: finish up form, code easy.
message header form: finish it up and do code.

In an ongoing effort to make the software easier to use (and more enjoyable)
by eliminating the "lots of attributes and have to hit [enter] for each field"
systems many routines use, I'm converting them to Forms.  The downside: these
can no longer be accessed remotely.  So far, the following have changed:
  EchoMail Routing addr info (but not area toggling)
  Message Header editing when reading messages
I will not change stuff I think would really be useful/necessary remotely.
But most things the sysop configures will be fair game.