Monster Media 1994 #1

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--------------------------- FILE DOWNLOAD COUNTER --------------------------- Version 4.0 February 10, 1994 Written by: Brandon M. Bachman Distributed By: The Salt City BBS 801-359-1820 (Intel V.42Bis) PCRelay routable -> SALTCITY Copyright (c) 1990-94 by Brandon M. Bachman -------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- General ----------- Overview ..................................... 1-1 Program Features ............................. 1-2 Registrered and Unregistered Versions ........ 1-3 Why Should I Register? ....................... 1-4 Disclaimer ................................... 1-5 License ...................................... 1-6 System Requirements .......................... 1-7 Files in the FDC Archive ..................... 1-8 -------- How? -------- How FDC Operates ............................. 2-1 Installation ................................. 2-2 A Configuration File ......................... 2-3 Starting New with FDC ........................ 2-4 Removing FDC Entries ......................... 2-5 Log File ..................................... 2-6 Word Wrapping ................................ 2-7 Formats For Recording Download Count ......... 2-8 ----------------- Configuration ----------------- The Configuration File ....................... 4-1 Sample Configuration File .................... 4-2 -------- Why? -------- Operational Details .......................... 5-1 Examples of Command Line Arguments ........... 5-2 Common Questions and Answers ................. 5-3 --------- What? --------- Technical Support ............................ 6-1 ------------ OVERVIEW 1-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDC will edit the descriptions in PCBoard's DIR files with the number of times the file has been downloaded from your BBS. FDC makes it easy for you and your users to see instantly which files are the most popular, and give you an idea of what software you should keep online or download and which programs are "dead wood" to be removed. PROGRAM FEATURES 1-2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ■ Automatically finds new downloads since the last date FDC was run. ■ Process any size DOWNLOAD.TXT files. (extremely large) ■ Counts as many as 2 billion downloads of a single file. ■ Auto word wraps the description lines to *any* column you would like leaving the "Uploaded by:" line undisturbed with word wrapping. ■ Log file to monitor the program, compatible with PCBoards log file. ■ Designed to run in your nightly event. ■ Popular with users and SysOps as a guide to good programs. ■ Creates a database of all files not found to retry on future runs, therefore making the download count 100% accurate. ■ Written in Borland C++ v4.0 for fast compact code. REGISTERED AND UNREGISTERED VERSIONS 1-3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "File Download Counter" is not Public Domain or Free ware. Unregistered versions are 21 day evaluation copies only, after which they should either be destroyed or a license agreement purchased. Registration is only $15 so please register your copy today. Read 'REGISTER.DOC' included with this archive for more information. WHY SHOULD I REGISTER? 1-4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ■ Unregistered versions only count up to 25 downloads in the DIR files Registered versions will continue to count as high as 2 million. ■ Free technical support via the Salt City BBS. ■ Lifetime free updates of all future versions guaranteed. ■ Help support future updates and development of FDC. ■ Support the shareware concept. DISCLAIMER 1-5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The authors make no warranties or representation of any kind, expressed or implied, with respect to "File Download Counter", or its quality, reliability, or performance, or its merchantability or fitness for any purpose. The user assumes the entire risk as to the quality, performance and reliability of the software and documentation. LICENSE 1-6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The "File Download Counter" ("The Software") is COPYRIGHT 1990-94 by Brandon M. Bachman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE. A license grants you a nonexclusive, nontransferable license to use "File Download Counter" software on a single central processing unit at any one time. You may NOT engage in, nor permit third parties to engage in, any of the following : A) Sell, rent, sub-license, lease, or grant other rights of this software to others. B) Attempt to disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer the software or the files it generates in any way. C) Make alterations of any kind in the files of this software, except as noted below. D) Collect fees for distribution of the software. The authors of the software grant you a license to use this software as long as you meet the above conditions. Any violation of the above conditions will result in the termination of your license to use this software. Upon termination of this license for any reason, you must stop using the software and destroy all copies of it in your possession immediately. The author(s) of this software are not liable for damages suffered as a result of the improper use, proper use, or inability to use this software. This type of disclaimer is prohibited by law in some states, and is therefore void in those states. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 1-7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To run "File Download Counter" you will need the following: 1. IBM PC/XT/AT, PS/2 or 100% compatible machine. 2. Color or Monochrome Graphics adapter. 3. MS-DOS 5.0 or higher. 4. PCBoard BBS Software. FILES IN THIS ARCHIVE 1-8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "File Download Counter" is distributed as a archival file "FDC-XXX.ZIP" You must have PkZip v2.04g or later to extract the files listed below. PkZip v2.04g is Shareware and is available on many computer bulletin boards. Files in the archive include: FDC.EXE - The "File Download Counter" program. SAMPLE.CFG - Sample configuration file. FDC-400.DOC - This documentation file. REGISTER.DOC - Information on registering your copy. README.DOC - Important information for new and old users. COMMENTS.DOC - List of comments from other users of FDC. Sysops are free to distribute uregistered versions of FDC as a complete unaltered archive only. HOW FDC OPERATES 2-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDC will read the DOWNLOAD.TXT file created by PCBoard, and count all recently downloaded files since the last time File Download Counter was executed successfully. It then searches your PCBoard DIR files for a match. Upon finding a match in your PCBoard DIR files FDC inserts the number of times the file has been downloaded with the file description in your PCBoard DIR file. There are 3 styles of editing your PCBoard DIR files that FDC supports. They are outlined below with samples of each style. You may choose the style you would like FDC to use by changing the STYLE= parameter in the configuration file. Sample of Style #1 and #2 ------------------------- FILENAME.ARC 35252 06-27-90 <23> This is the description of the file. FILE-TWO.ZIP 213445 06-23-88 <11> This is another description. NEXTFILE.ZIP 243536 06-21-90 <14> This one has been downloaded 14 times, | and the description is auto word-wrapped. FILEFOUR.LZH 246246 05-12-90 <13> File Four v3.3, description. With | this entry word wrapped, the "Uploaded by:" | line is not disturbed. | Uploaded by: Brandon Bachman The only difference between Style #1 & #2 is that Style #2 will truncate the first line of the description after it inserts <##>. Style #1 will word wrap long descriptions to the next line. Sample of Style #3 ------------------ FILENAME.ARC 35252 06-27-90 This is the description of the file. | Downloaded 23 times. FILE-TWO.ZIP 213445 06-23-88 This is another description. | Downloaded 12 times. NEXTFILE.ZIP 243536 06-21-90 This one has been downloaded 14 times, | and the description is auto word wrapped. | Downloaded 1234 times. FILEFOUR.LZH 246246 05-12-90 File Four v3.3, description. With | this entry word wrapped, the "Uploaded by:" | Uploaded by: Brandon M. Bachman | Downloaded 233 times. Style #3 inserts an additional line to each file description. You can customize this line by editing the TEXT= option in the configuration file. INSTALLATION 2-2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To install "File Download Counter" you must have the PKZip program available, then create a sub-directory for "File Download Counter" on your hard disk. Enter the sub-directory and un-Zip the files. Here is an example of how you might do this: E: (Go to E: drive) CD\ (Go to the root directory) MD FDC (Create E:\FDC sub-directory) CD FDC (Go into the E:\FDC sub-directory) COPY A:\FDC-400.ZIP (Copy the program from drive A:) PKUNZIP FDC-400.ZIP (UnZip the program into the directory) CONFIGURATION FILE 2-3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you complete the installation you must then edit the FDC.CFG file included in this archive to your needs. Read the "Sample Configuration File" and "Operational Details" sections below for instructions. STARTING THE DOWNLOAD COUNT 2-4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- First time users should initialize FDC by making sure the LAST_RUN_DATE= configuration option is a date in history older than first download from your BBS. In others if your BBS has been online for 10 years make sure the LAST_RUN_DATE is set back to at least 1984 the first time you run FDC. This ensures that downloads prior to the current date are counted the first time. STRIPPING FDC ENTRIES FROM PCBOARD DIR FILES 2-5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like to remove all entries made by FDC in your PCBoard DIR files you may do so by using the /STRIP command line argument. At DOS this command would be "FDC /STRIP" This is useful if you decide to switch from one style of editing your DIR files to another. (ie., STYLE=1 and you would like STYLE=3). Note: Once you have STRIPed entries made by FDC from your PCBoard DIR files you will want to reset the LAST_RUN_DATE= in your configuration file to be a date earlier than the first download from your BBS. See section 2-4 above for more information. LOG FILE 2-6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To create a log file of all FDC's activities use the argument LOG= in your configuration file. This is the complete path and file name of the LOG file. The format of the LOG file is compatible with PCBoard CALLER log. This way you can specify the LOG file as the CALLER log created by PCBoard. Doing so will help cut down on many logs files clogging up your systems. WORD WRAPPING 2-7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Word Wrapping only applies if you have STYLE=1 or STYLE=2 in your configuration file. (Word Wrapping is not an option on STYLE=3). FDC handles word wrapping in two ways. If a file description requires word wrapping, FDC first searches for the "|" character in the secondary line of your file description, and when found will word wrap to the space following the "|" character. However some sysops like to have all their secondary lines of the descriptions lined up on columns other than the default of the 32nd column by PCBoard. You can change the default by using the argument CHAR=xx, where xx is the column or number of characters to word wrap to. FDC will not edit the "Uploaded by:" line when word wrapping. THREE FORMATS FOR RECORDING DOWNLOAD COUNT 2-8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDC supports three different formats for recording the number of times a file has been downloaded. The first is the default which will put <##> in the first few characters of the first line of the files description in the DIR file. The second will do the same as the first, however it will not word wrap but truncate all descriptions which exceed 79 characters. The third will insert a separate line at the end of the secondary lines of the description but before the "Uploaded by:" This line will look like this: "| Downloaded 45 times." If you perfer a differnet wording you may change the format to anyway you would like to editing the TEXT= parameter in the .CFG file. By default FDC will insert this line starting at the 32nd column, however if you would like it to be inserted at another column simply use the CHAR=xx option specified section 2.9. To implement one of the various format of recording the number of times downloaded use the STYLE=x option, where x is the number of the style you would like. For samples of the 3 different styles please see section 2-1 above. CONFIGURATION FILE 4-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDC daily operations are determined by the way you setup the FDC.CFG file. The configuration file must be called 'FDC.CFG' and be in the directory from which you run FDC.EXE. It is critical that you take care in setting up this file, instructions for doing so are found in the "Sample Configuration File" section below and the above sections. If you wish to have mulitple configuration files you may use the /CFG= command line argument. If you wanted to use the configuration file FDC-01.CFG you would execute FDC with the command line "FDC /CFG=FDC-01" FDC will automatically apend the .CFG, .P and .T to the file names for the configuration file and data files. SAMPLE CONFIGURATION FILE 4-2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please refer to the SAMPLE.CFG file for a sample confgiuration file. You may use any standard ASCII text editor to edit the SAMPLE.CFG file found in this archive, or to create your own. Change the data in the SAMPLE.CFG to your needs and then rename SAMPLE.CFG to FDC.CFG OPERATIONAL DETAILS 5-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you have your FDC.CFG edited to your needs then type "FDC" and watch the wiz-bangs fly! FDC will let you know if your FDC.CFG file may have errors. NOTE: If it is the first time you have run FDC see "Starting the Download Count" above (section 2-4) for more information. To update your recent downloads every day, put FDC in your EVENT.SYS file. FDC is designed to run in your nightly event. If there is an error, FDC will sound a beep, record the error in the LOG= file, pause 10 seconds and then exit. EXAMPLES OF COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS TO RUN FDC, AND THE RESULTS 5-2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. FDC This runs FDC using settings in the FDC.CFG file. This is the most common way to run FDC. 3. FDC /STRIP This will run FDC and have it strip out all entries in your DIR files that FDC made. This is useful if you need to start the the count over for FDC. 4. FDC /CFG=FDC-02 This will run FDC using the FDC-02.CFG, and FDC-02.T filenames for the configuration file, and the data files respectfully. COMMON QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 5-3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. I am a new user with File Download Counter and I it is not counting any downloads from the PCBoard DOWNLOAD.TXT file. A. Make sure when you first run FDC to set the LAST_RUN_DATE= in the configuration file. See secction 2-4 "Starting a New Count" above. Q. When I register FDC will I need to call your BBS to obtain future registered updates, and will there be a fee for upgrading. A. FDC is self registering for all future versions, you can simply download a copy from a distributor BBS. There is and never will be and additional fee for upgrading FDC even if prices do increase, once you have are a registered user you may upgrade for free. TECHNICAL SUPPORT 6-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest version of "File Download Counter" software and technical support are available from: The Salt City BBS Join the Support (1) Conference 801-359-1820 (Intel V.42Bis) to download the newest versions, ask PCRelay routable -> SALTCITY questions, and offer suggestions. Or write to: Brandon M. Bachman 261 S. 800 E. #10 Salt Lake City, Utah 84102 For INSTANT access on the Salt City BBS type "ACCESS" at the MainBoard Command Prompt. (it will not be on the menu) Then when prompted type in the code "FDC". Your security level will automatically be upgraded and you will also be registered for the Support (1) Conference. Then, you can flag the newset version of FDC for download by typing "FDC" at the MainBoard Prompt. Then type "D" to download the file. Please leave all messages regarding FDC in only the Support (1) Conference.