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1994-03-30
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────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
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█ █ █ █ █▀▀▀ Dykstra
█ █ █ ▀▄▄▄▄ Software
█ ▀ █ ▄ █
▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ █ (C) Copyright 1993, 1994 William J. Dykstra
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Online
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▄▄ ▄▄ rchive ▄▄ ▄▄ aster
version 6.0 Public Gamma 3
(C) 1993, William J. Dykstra
─────────────────────────────────
version 6.0 is designed
Exclusively for RemoteAccess 2.0x
─────────────────────────────────
If you are upgrading...
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■ ■
■ *** REMOVE THE FIRST THREE LINES FROM YOUR CONFIGURATION FILE *** ■
■ ■
■ The SysOp name, BBS name, and Registration code fields are no longer ■
■ used! REMOVE THESE LINES FROM THE CONFIGURATION FILE! ■
■ ■
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What is it?
──────────
Online Archive Master is a program that allows a user on a BBS to
view the contents of archive files while online. Many archives are
very large, and may take upwards of 30 minutes to download. By
using this program, a person can read the documentation included
with a file to help determine if they would like to spend that much
time downloading it.
This program will display the contents of the archive to the user.
The user may then choose to read a file or files within the archive,
or to extract individual files to download separately.
There are several programs similar to this one available, however
most only support one archive method (namely, ZIP). Online Archive
Master supports ZIP, ARJ, LZH, LHA, ARC, SQZ and PAK formats. Any
file(s) that are extracted are stored in ZIP format.
Versions of Online Archive Master up to and including version 3.8
should run on any BBS that supports DORINFO1.DEF. Version 4.0+ is
EXCLUSIVELY for RemoteAccess BBSes, and will not run on any other
BBS (as far as I know).
Version 6.0 is the first release that supports the RemoteAccess 2.0x
File DataBase. Version 6.0 will NOT work with RemoteAccess 1.11.
Online Archive Master 6.0 can be used in two ways. First, it can be
used as a door, which users should be able to access from your file area
menu whenever they wish to view the contents of an archived file.
Second, it may be used as your EXTERNAL ARCHIVE VIEWER, as defined in
RACONFIG.
X00 FOSSIL DRIVER IS RECOMMENDED, AS BNU tends to lockup with some
versions. If you load BNU.SYS instead of BNU.COM, then you may be
able to run Online Archive Master.
Online Archive Master has the following features:
- Allows users to view contents of archive files
- Users may read files within archives
- Users may extract files for separate downloading
- Supports Nested Archives!
- Fully aware of time limits and carrier detection is enabled.
Keyboard inactivity is also tracked.
- Uses the RemoteAccess 2.0x file database.
- Allows users to view file area listings for each file area and
group that they are allowed to access.
- Status bar shows who's online (NOTE: STATUS BAR is NOT shown when
the sysop is on locally)
- Supports ZIP, ARJ, PAK, LHA, LZH, ARC, and SQZ
(ARJ files with the .SDN extension are also supported.)
- ALL RemoteAccess limits and security settings are checked.
* File passwords are enforced. A user may not view an
archive that is protected with a password unless s/he
knows the password.
* Files flagged as OFFLINE may not be viewed.
* Files flagged as DELETED or UNLISTED will NOT be shown
in the file listing, and may not be viewed.
* Files flagged as Not Available MAY be viewed, but users
may NOT extract files from them for downloading.
* The user's security level is compared to both Download
and List security levels for each file area. The download
and list flag settings are also checked. If a user does
not have List security to a file area, that area will not
be made available to them. If they DO have list security,
but do not have Download security to an area, then they will
be able to view the files from that area, but they will not
be able to extract files for downloading.
(Note: both normal and NOT flags are checked.)
Disclaimer (and some other blab...)
───────────────────────────────────
This is where I say I will not be held responsible for any
damages incurred by the use of this program, etc etc etc.
I'll skip all that legal blab... What I'm saying is, USE
THIS PROGRAM AT YOUR OWN RISK. If it chews your harddrive,
fries your RAM, sizzles your video card, makes your favourite
team lose their ball game, or in any other way makes you hate
me or my program, IT IS YOUR PROBLEM AND NOT MINE!
The program works very well on my system, so hopefully it will
also work on yours!
WARNING: Due to the nature of this program, files are frequently
archived and unarchived into temporary directories, which are
created on-the-fly by the program, and removed when no longer
needed. Because of this, files are often deleted from the temporary
directories. I have gone to great lengths to try to be as sure
as possible that the files being deleted are files that SHOULD be
deleted, but there is always the very remote possibility that the
program will screw up somewhere, and delete a directory that you
really wanted to keep! If something like this was ever to occur,
it would most likely happen to either the root directory or the
directory directly below the Archive Master directory. Where
possible, KEEP A BACKUP of your files!
Again, I've used and tested the heck out of this program, and the
only time I nuked a directory that I shouldn't have was early in
the program's development. That was due to a very serious
programming flaw on my part, and I almost lost 2 years worth of
source code because of it. I've never had any problems since this
incident, and this nearly fatal accident forced me to be extra
careful in checking that it will never happen again.
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■ NOTICE: Some extra checks were added to ensure that the wrong ■
■ files do not get deleted. It seems that the only time an error ■
■ did occur, it nuked the root directory, so I've added code to ■
■ be sure that this can NOT happen again. ■
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Now that I've probably scared the heck out of you and you're about
to delete the thing, please read on before doing so... :)
I think your users will love having this program online, as
it can save them a LOT of time in wasted downloads if they
check out the file BEFORE they download it. With this
program they can do just that... they'll love you. What
will it cost you for this extra step towards being sysop of
the year? NOTHING! That's right, this is FREEWARE!
I hope your users get a lot of use out of this program.
Some of the users on my BBS check out just about every file
thoroughly (read the docs, etc) before downloading them. A
few people even paged to ask where the door was when I was
working on some enhancements. I know this isn't the only
door of its kind floating around, but this is the only one
that I know of that is FREE while having all the features
that this one has.
Thanks for using Online Archive Master!
--Bill
DISTRIBUTION
─────────────────────────────
You may distribute Online Archive Master on your BBS, include it
on your Shareware disks, CD-ROMs, and so on, as long as no fee is
charged for the program itself. Companies that sell CD-ROMs of
shareware may include the file on the CD-ROMs. Generally anyone
can distribute this thing any way they wish, as long as no fee
is charged for the program itself.
Only ORIGINAL copies of the archive may be distributed! If any
modifications are made to the archive, it will FAIL the PkZIP
authenticity verification (-AV). Modified versions of the archive
MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED. Period.
When you unzip AM_60.ZIP, you should see a -AV flag beside each and
every file that is unzipped. You should also see this message
when all files have been unarchived:
Authentic files verified! #VLC187
William J. Dykstra
If you do not see this message, then the archive has been tampered
with or corrupted, and you should obtain an original copy from the
author or some other reliable source.
Oh, by the way... I HATE reading documentation, but I REALLY
hate writing the stuff. I'm also not that great a technical
writer, so I hope I've kept things as brief and as clear as
possible. If you have trouble figuring things out, please
let me know, and I'll try to get the problem solved.
INSTALLING Online Archive Master
────────────────────────────────
Online Archive Master (also referred to as AM) should be installed into a
separate directory. A temporary working directory is also required. The
temporary directory is used for storing unarchived files temporarily.
General Installation Steps:
(1) Create a directory into which you will place the AM files.
(2) Copy (or unarchive) the AM files into the directory you just created.
(3) Create AM-CONF.DAT, the configuration file. (See below for details)
(4) Setup the proper menu option to allow users to use the door.
(5) Using RACONFIG, define the EXTERNAL ARCHIVE VIEWER with the following
command line: *C /C ARCMAST.BAT *N /F:@ *M
or if you only have one node: *C /C ARCMAST.BAT /P:D:\RA /F:@ *M
This assumes you use ARCMAST.BAT as your batch file (see sample below).
(6) Create ARCMAST.BAT (or whatever name you want to use).
Sample ARCMAST.BAT file (for multinode):
@ECHO OFF
CD\RA\AM
AM_60.EXE /P:D:\RA\LINE%1 %2
CD\RA
Sample ARCMAST.BAT file (for ONE node systems):
@ECHO OFF
CD\RA\AM
AM_60.EXE %1 %2
CD\RA
You must be sure to run Archive Master from the CURRENT
DIRECTORY. Be sure that your batch file changes into the
Archive Master directory before running the program.
Parameters Supported:
/P: path to EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF
This allows you to specify where EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF
are found. This makes it very easy to use the program with
multinode systems.
You *MUST* indicate where the proper EXITINFO.BBS file is.
/C: Configuration filename
This allows you to use a different configuration filename (and
path) if you need/want to. By default AM-CONF.DAT is used, in
the current directory.
/F: Full path and filename of file to view
This option is used to immediately view a file when running AM.
This is used by the External Archive Viewer option in RA. The
menu of choices (change area, view archive, etc) will NOT be
shown when this option is used. Instead, the program will
immediately view the archive specified on the command line.
examples: AM_60.EXE /P:D:\RA\ /F:D:\RA\FILE\NEW\AM_60_G1.ZIP
- EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF stored in D:\RA\
- Immediately view the file D:\RA\FILE\NEW\AM_60_G1.ZIP
AM_60.EXE /P:C:\RA\
- EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF stored in C:\RA\
- Program runs and displays menu, not in immediate view mode.
AM_60.EXE /P:C:\RA\ /C:CONFIG.DAT
- EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF stored in C:\RA\
- Program runs and displays menu, not in immediate view mode.
- Use the file CONFIG.DAT from the current directory as the
configuration file, rather than using AM-CONF.DAT.
AM_60.EXE /P:C:\RA\ /C:C:\RA\LINE2\CONFIG.DAT /N:2
- EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF stored in C:\RA\
- Program runs and displays menu, not in immediate view mode.
- Use the file CONFIG.DAT from the D:\RA\LINE2 directory as the
configuration file, rather than using AM-CONF.DAT.
- If a user extracts a file, AM_002.ZIP will be created rather
than EXTRACT.ZIP, because we specified NODE 2 (/N:2).
(7) You may optionally add an entry to your filebase for EXTRACT.ZIP.
This file is created when a user extracts a file or files. If you
do not create an entry in the specified area, then one will be
created by Online Archive Master. Once the entry is created you
may want to change flag settings, etc, if you want the file to be
tagged as free, unlisted, etc.
(8) Try it and hope it works!
To Disable the EXTRACT Option:
─────────────────────────────
Set line 3 of the configuration file (the Extract area number) to
ZERO (0). This will disable the extract feature. When this feature
is disabled, the (E)xtract option and the (C)ontents of EXTRACT.ZIP
option will NOT be displayed.
NOTE: If you disable the extract option, you should probably modify the
help file (AM_60.HLP) and remove all references to the extract option,
so as to not confuse your users.
The AM-CONF.DAT Configuration file:
I store all my RA files in D:\RA\.
I created D:\RA\AM for the Archive Master files.
This configuration file has 6 lines.
*** NOTE IF YOU ARE UPGRADING *** REMOVE the first three lines of your
configuration file! The BBS name, Sysop name, and registration code
fields are no longer used!
Line 1 is the path to and filename of the log file to be used.
Line 2 is the path to your RA system files. (CONFIG.RA, FILES.RA)
Line 3 is the AREA NUMBER of the area where extracted files will be
placed. This area must be defined in RemoteAccess.
*** TO DISABLE THE EXTRACT OPTION, SET THIS VALUE TO ZERO ***
Line 4 is for optional extra command line switches for PKzip. These
are used when a user extracts a file, and PKzip builds the
extract file. For example, to add a comment to the ZIP file,
this line in the config file might be: -Z < D:\RA\COMMENT.TXT
where COMMENT.TXT would contain your ZIP comment.
Leave a blank line if you don't want to use any extra switches.
Line 5 is the version of PKunzip you are using. If you use PKunzip
version 1.10, then the line should be 110. If you use version
1.93 or HIGHER the line should be 193.
Line 6 is the version of ARJ you are using. This should be 210 if you
use ARJ 2.10, and it should be 230 if you use ARJ 2.30.
Sample configuration file:
D:\RA\AM.LOG <- Log filename
D:\RA\ <- path to RA system files
2 <- file area where EXTRACT.ZIP is stored
-Z < D:\RA\COMMENT.TXT <- Extra PKZip switches
193 <- PKunzip version (110 or 193+)
230 <- ARJ version (210 or 230)
Once you have correctly modified this file, save it (as an ASCII file).
If you do not have a registration code, leave it set to zeros. Any
incorrect value will simply be ignored.
To run the program, run AM_60.EXE with either one or two parameters.
NOTE: If you pass a filename on the command line (the second parameter)
then Online Archive Master will skip the opening credits and the main
menu, and will immediately show the contents of the specified file (if
available). This is useful for using Online Archive Master as your
external archive viewer (RACONFIG).
Usage: AM_60.EXE /P:PathToExitInfo /F:FileToView /C:ConfigFileName
(See explanation of parameters above)
Set AM up as a TYPE 7 program in your RACONFIG menu selection.
I RECOMMEND THAT YOU USE THE SWAPPING FEATURE (*M). The program MAY appear
to work without swapping, but ARJ requires a lot of memory, and it might
not view ARJ files properly if you do not use swapping. On my system,
sometimes the ARJ files simply would not display. I found that there
was not enough memory for ARJ to unarchive the files. Using the *M
feature fixed this problem.
The following programs MUST be available to the program at all times.
Be sure these programs can be found in a directory that is in your
PATH statement:
PKZIP.EXE (any version) (for ZIPing extract file)
PKUNZIP.EXE (ver 1.10 or 1.93) (for UNpacking ZIP files)
ARJ.EXE (ver 2.10 or 2.30) (for UNpacking ARJ files)
PKUNPAK.EXE (ver 3.61) (for UNpacking PAK files)
PKXARC.EXE (ver 3.4) (for UNpacking ARC files)
LHA.EXE (ver 2.11) (for unpacking LZH and LHA files)
SQZ.EXE (ver 1.08.3) (for unpacking SQZ files)
If the program cannot find these files, then it will NOT work.
If you don't have ANY .LZH or .LHA files, you can do without
the LHA.EXE program. If you don't have ANY .ARJ files, you don't
need ARJ.EXE. If you don't have ANY .ARC files, you don't need
PKXARC.EXE. If you don't have ANY .PAK files, you don't need
PKUNPAK.EXE. If you don't have ANY .ZIP files (ya right!) then
you won't need PKUNZIP.EXE.
If the program crashes when you try to view an archive, odds are it could
not find the required UNarchiver in the path, so it was unable to
unarchive the required file!
UPDATE: PKUNZIP v2.04g. If you are using PkUNZIP 2.04g, please set the
configuration file for version 1.93. This will work. If you set Online
Archive Master for version 1.10, it will probably not work with 2.04g.
**IMPORTANT NOTE**
When a user extracts files, the file(s) they extract will be stored in
EXTRACT.ZIP. This ZIP file will be placed in the file area that you
specified in the configuration file. MAKE SURE THIS IS NOT A CD-ROM
AREA! Online Archive Master must be able to write to this file area.
SUGGESTIONS:
───────────
The program will NOT delete the extract file! (obviously, as the user
will want to be able to download it!) You should delete after the user
logs off, or it will be left there and may confuse other users when
they log on and use the program. (they will get a chance to delete it,
though).
My batch file has something like this:
REM after_RA is run after the user logs off the BBS
:AFTER_RA
IF EXIST D:\RA\FILE\REQUEST\EXTRACT.ZIP GOTO KILLIT
GOTO NOKILL
:KILLIT
RAFILE KILL EXTRACT.ZIP 2 (assuming area 2 is where EXTRACT.ZIP is)
:NOKILL
.
.
.
etc..
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Registration:
────────────
Registration of this program is no longer required. The program has
always been free (and always will be) but I used to require registration.
I would love to hear from you - postcards would be GREAT, but ordinary
mail or e-mail are fine too!
NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS:
This program is also freeware for commercial systems, however, if you
use this program on a commercial system you MUST inform the author that
you are doing this. The name and "function" of the business would be
appreciated.
Thank you for using Online Archive Master!
Bill Dykstra
Online Archive Master 6.0 is compiled with Borland Pascal 7.0.
Support BBS:
The BillBoard BBS
(905) 898-2443
Newmarket, Ontario Canada
Fidonet 1:250/932
Internet: bill.dykstra@canrem.com
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
▀█▀▀▀▄ ▄▀▀▀▀▀▀
█ █ █ █ █▀▀▀ Dykstra
█ █ █ ▀▄▄▄▄ Software
█ ▀ █ ▄ █
▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ █ (C) Copyright 1993, 1994 William J. Dykstra
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────