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Monster Media 1994 #1
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PCBOARD
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RIPKT100.ZIP
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CONCERN.DOC
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1994-04-01
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Concerns / notes of interest of the RIPKit package
=============================================================================
There are items and situations in the RIPKit package you need to be aware of.
First of all, you must understand that RIPScrip simply provides a graphical
user interface over a standard text mode application. Also keep in mind
that RIPScrip is intentionally generic so it can be used by numerous
different host/BBS programs.
This documentation file outlines situations you may run into on your system
and may need to modify. It also discusses some items which could not
easily be covered with RIPscrip.
You will see items labeled as either a NOTE or a CONCERN. A NOTE is an item
which nothing could be done about but you should be aware of--these are NOT
bugs. CONCERNS are things you should be aware of in your system
configuration and how they apply to the RIPKit. There is only so much you
can do with an INSTALL.BAT so read this section with great interest.
******************************************************************************
* PCBoard software is extremely flexible. As such, we cannot cover every *
* concern or snag you may run into while adding the RIPKit to your system. *
* Our desire to keep this document up-to-date with problems and solutions *
* you run into. If you want to share your experiences with us so we can *
* update the document file it would be greatly appreciated. Send any *
* comments to SYSOP on Salt Air. *
******************************************************************************
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN: NEWUSER display file (PCBSetup | File Locations | Display Files)
After the NEWUSER file is displayed, PCBoard displays the
"Do you want to register with us" prompt. With the RIPKit, this
prompt has been turned into a two button object. This object
will pop-up at the bottom of the display.
The only time you will run into a problem with this is if your
NEWUSER file is more than 25 lines. If your screen is longer
than 25 lines, the "Do you want to register" box will be printed
over the top of your NEWUSER screen which would impede on the
caller's ability to read it.
The easiest solution to this problem is to put an @WAIT@ at the
bottom of your NEWUSER file. This could be undesirable though
because it affects your callers who do not call in using RIPmode.
If you want to only add the @WAIT@ for your RIP callers, add the
following line to the bottom of your NEWUSER file:
%%PCBRIP%\RIPENTER
This will display a "Press ENTER to Continue" prompt only if the
caller is in RIP mode. Thanks to PCBoard's ability to display
language specific versions of display files, this will only
affect callers who select the RIP language and not your
regular callers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN: Potential logon problems ($$LOGON.BAT, Logon Questionnaire, Login
Security Files, Conference Intro Files).
Between the time the user enters his password and the time the
news file is displayed four activities could occur:
* A logon questionnaire could run
* $$LOGON.BAT (if it exists) will run
* A logon security file could be displayed (if found)
* The conference introduction file could be displayed (if found)
The first two items may or may not display noteworthy information
to the caller. If so, you need to find a way to reset the graphics
and text windows so they can see this information.
The RIPKit has been designed to reset the screen after the user
enters their password. Remember, PCBoard is flexible enough to
allow them to type in their login name and password all at the
first name prompt. In this case, the screen would not be cleared.
One thing you can do to force the screen to be always reset is
to put the following text at the beginning of your logon
questionnaire:
%C:\PCB\RIP\CLEARRIP
This line will display a file called CLEARRIP.RIP located in
your RIPKit subdirectory. Why did we specify CLEARRIP when
the filename really is CLEARRIP.RIP? Remember, PCBoard supports
language specific displays when displaying files and with
RIPscrip, the user has selected (or had selected for them)
the .RIP language. If you did not install your files to
C:\PCB\RIP\, do not forget to specify the right location. For
those that are curious, the CLEARRIP.RIP file simply sends the
following RIPScrip sequence:
!|*|#|#|#
Since this is such a generic file, you can use it in other
areas of the system where you want to clear the screen.
CONCERN: Conference INTRO files and the screen clearing
With the RIPKit, the screen is normally cleared right after the
INTRO file is displayed. Unless your callers can read *extremely*
quickly, they are going to have a hard time seeing your intro
screen. How can you easily modify the INTRO files to pause
for your RIP callers but not for your other callers (because
their screen will not clear)? On Salt Air, we simply added
the following line to all of the conference INTRO files:
%%PCBRIP%\RIPENTER
Like the LOGON questionnaire situation, we created a RIPENTER.RIP
file in the \PCB\RIP subdirectory. If the caller has selected
the .RIP language, PCBoard will display the RIPENTER.RIP file.
Otherwise, nothing will be displayed to the caller.
By the way, a quick way to edit all of your INTRO files is to
use a utility like SST: the Supersonic Search Tool by Keith
Ledbetter. Using this utility you can change to the drive
where you INTRO files are and type:
SST -c"edit &f" INTRO.*
This will find all of the INTRO files on the current drive and
edit them using the EDIT program. We managed to update all 21
conference INTRO files on Salt Air in about 10 minutes using
this method.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN: Additions to your system
Because the RIPscrip system is a face-lift of your current
system, you want to be keenly aware of any software or features
you have implemented on your system which do not come in the
default configuration of PCBoard. We have tried to be as
thorough as possible in making the RIPKit easy to install
for the customers we were targeting. There are tens of
thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of way to configure
PCBoard and not all could be accounted for.
The best thing you can do is to call into your system and
thoroughly check every feature the user can select. This will
help ensure your users will be presented with a clean system
to work with.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERN: NEWASK Questionnaire
To reset the graphics and text windows at the beginning of your
NEWASK questionnaire, add the following line to the beginning
of your questionnaire:
C:\PCB\RIP\CLEARRIP
If your RIPKit directory is not in C:\PCB\RIP\, do not forget to
specify the appropriate directory.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Viewing a file from the file menu
When you view a file from the file menu, PCBoard reprints the
"(H)elp, (1-xx), File List Command?" prompt. I know this
prompt may confuse some of your callers but there is really
no easy solution that we see for getting rid of that prompt.
Our initial attempts hinged around stuffing the keyboard to get
out of that but let's just say that broke other things in the
system. For now, recognize this as a limitation with RIPKit.