Monster Media 1994 #1

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Remote Access Sysop's Information Service ──═══════ Configuration Program ════════── SETUPSIS 1.06 - OPERATIONS MANUAL - (C)Copyright 1993-1994, Rand Nowell - RaLin Enterprises "Putting Bits Together" (tm) - All Rights Reserved - - Worldwide - Table Of Contents Legal.................................1 Important!............................1 Multiple Config Files.................1 Start Up............................1,2 Main Screen/Menu....................2,3 File Paths.....................3,4,5 Print Codes....................4,5,6 Options..........................6,7 Messages.........................7,8 Sysop Info.........................8 Password Protection................9 Quit..................................9 SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 1 ┌───────────┐ │LEGAL NOTE:│ └───────────┘ This program and documentation, are Copyrighted 1993,1994 by the author, and the sections: COPYRIGHT and DISTRIBUTION, contained in the file RASIS.DOC apply to this program, as stated therein. This program may not be distributed except as a part of the RASIS distribution file. ┌──────────┐ │IMPORTANT!│ └──────────┘ Never attempt to edit RASIS.CFG with a text editor, corruption and failure of RASIS to run properly will result. Always modify the configuration file with SETUPSIS.EXE. ┌──────────────────────┐ │MULTIPLE CONFIG FILES:│ └──────────────────────┘ While the concept of RASIS is based on ONE configuration file, for one BBS setup, some Sysops may maintain separate sets of menus, language files etc. It is possible to create and use multiple CFG files for this purpose. The way to do this is, create a default CFG, to place in a path directory, one that can be used from anywhere. Now copy this file to the directories where your other Menu, Language etc files exist. Then execute SETUPSIS with the desired directory name as a parameter, Setup will change to that directory and execute, if it finds a RASIS.CFG in that directory, it will load and use that one, else it will load and use the first one found on the Dos Path. Modify it as needed, then when you run RASIS, specify the same directory, and RASIS will use the config file found there. ┌─────────┐ │START UP:│ └─────────┘ IMPORTANT! When Setup starts, it checks the registration code in RASIS.CFG, if this is a first time start, or you are NOT registered, and have upgraded, the code will be 0 (zero), and Setup will report "Invalid Code"..... ignore this and do NOT change the 0 in the code field. When you exit the Sysop Info box it will again report an error, ignore it. The reason for this is, when RASIS fires up, if the Reg Code is 0 it will simply run in UnRegistered Mode, no beeps, warnings etc. If the code is anything other than zero, it does a code validation, and if not correct, will display error messages and warnings. Bunch of bother ya know? So if you are NOT registered, make sure to leave at 0 (zero)! Setup does accept several commands at startup. To run setup, type SETUPSIS at the Dos prompt, if you wish to force mono mode, include the switch /m, upper or lower case. Setup does NOT check for Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 2 mono mode, without the switch it will run in Color mode. You can also specify a directory for Setup to change to, before it executes. Upon termination, Setup will return to the directory from which it was called. Listing your RASIS.CFG - You can now dump RASIS.CFG to a text file, to easily check on your current settings. Type SETUPSIS "dump" (without the quotes) Dump may be upper or lower case. Your settings will be writen to a file name SISCFG.DMP, in a nicely formatted form. As with actual configuration, this report will be on the RASIS.CFG in the current directory, if it exists, else in the first one found on the Dos PATH. This will be available in all future setup versions also, which will make it simple to keep a copy of your old configuration, should have need of going back a version. (heaven forbid!!) NOTE: When dumping the RASIS.CFG, Setup will not print the actual High Ascii characters you entered for the printer commands. If it did, and you tried to print it, the printer would react to those commands, changing your typestyle, resetting the printer etc. Plus, they would NOT print out. So the DUMP writes them as Chr(##) Chr(###) Chr(##)..... where the ## is the number of the High ascii Character, ex: Chr(27) Chr(120) Chr(1). Startup in Editing Mode - Setup will load the main screen, and display a small box saying it is searching for RASIS.CFG. Setup will first search the current directory, then it will search the Dos PATH, for an existing copy of RASIS.CFG. If RASIS.CFG cannot be found, Setup will ask if it can create a new, default file. Press Y or N for Yes or No. If you have previously entered a password to be used, Setup will prompt for it, you have three tries to enter the correct password, before Setup will dump you. ┌─────────────────┐ │MAIN SCREEN/MENU:│ └─────────────────┘ On the top line of your screen, to the right of the Program Name, Setup will display the full pathname of the config file, just for informations sake. On the bottom line of your screen, will be displayed a Help line, for each main menu item, and for each data field in the various data entry boxes displayed. When you exit a Data Entry box, Setup will automatically place you on the next main menu item, in a logical setup direction. Pressing Q or selecting Quit, at any time, when NOT in a Data Entry box, will prompt to Save Changes, and Exit Setup. See QUIT, below. Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 3 You may also press ESC from the Main Menu bar to exit Setup. Data Entry Boxes contain a list of keys available for saving or aborting the data entry, some explanation is needed though. The Ctl-U key (UNDELETE) will restore a fields previous contents, if you change your mind about a change. This will ONLY work up to your pressing of ENTER while in the field. The normal HOME, END L/R Arrow keys work as you would expect in the field. Enter or Down Arrow on the last field, Saves and Exits, as does the Up Arrow if in the first field. ┌───────────┐ │FILE PATHS:│ └───────────┘ This Data Entry box allows you to specify locations for various RA system files needed, plus Report Storage, and an external viewer. For directory names, do NOT supply the trailing backslash, RASIS will take care of that! If you do, RASIS will strip it anyway. Some validation is performed on the paths and filenames you enter. INVALID PATHS: If the directory name you specify contains a trailing backslash, Setup will strip it from the field. Then, once the is in an acceptable format, Setup will verify that it is a Valid "Existing Directory", if not, you will be given the option to create it. If Setup cannot create the directory, a message will display informing you of the fact. Usually an invalid drive, or invalid characters in the directory name will cause this to happen. System Dir: Complete path to your RA system directory, ie: C:\RA Menu Dir : Complete path to directory where your Menus are stored. File Base : This is the path to the directory of your file database HDR directories. An example would be: D:\FILEDATA {filebase dir specified in RACONFIG} │ ├── D:\FILEDATA\HDR {files used by RASIS} ├── D:\FILEDATA\TXT └── D:\FILEDATA\IDX So, D:\FILEDATA would be your entry. Usr/Msg : Complete path to the directory containing your message base, and/or USERS.BBS. IF you are not using the Hudson, but all JAM, then this needs to be the directory containing USERS.BBS and MSGINFO.BBS etc. THIS IS CHANGED FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS..... You do NOT want to include "USERS.BBS" at the end of the directory name. If you do, setup will ask if you want it to Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 4 "create" the directory, even if you say YES, it will report an error, as it cannot create a directory with the same name as an existing file. Reports : If you want any reports that are sent to file, stored in a specific directory, name it here. If this is left blank, reports to file will be written in the "current" directory. Templates : Directory to store RASIS message template files. (*.RMT) This can be a dedicated directory or your RA directory. File Attach : This must be the name of the directory you specifed in RACONFIG as the attach directory. When you attach a file or files to a message in RASIS, the program creates a uniquely named directory under this specified "ROOT" directory. File Areas : This should be the "ROOT" directory, off from which your file directories for downloads exist. Given the directory structure in the following example.... D:\BBSFILES ├───── RAUTIL - RA utilities ├───── WORDP - Word Processor Stuff └───── DOSUTIL - General Dos Utils Your entry would be D:\BBSFILES When you press the F5 key when the Attach File Name window is displayed, it will present a picklist, starting in the specified directory, and allow you to move through the directories, to find and select the file you want. See RASIS.DOC for instructions on using the picklist. Viewer : Specify a text file viewer that can be called from RASIS. This MUST be a full pathname, and must include the program files extension. ie: C:\UTIL\TVIEW.EXE You can supply program parameters if desired, such as the directory where your reports are created. If you would like to always fire up the viewer in your "Report" directory, then give the directory as a parameter. EG: if reports are going to C:\Reports you can enter C:\UTIL\TVIEW.EXE C:\REPORTS... make sure there is a space before viewer parameters/filenames ***BATCH FILES ARE "NOT" SUPPORTED FOR THIS CALL!*** Editor : This is for the Editor to be used to create/edit messages. It can be an external editor, or you can use the RASIS internal editor, which is a full featured editor, text import, block commands and more. * External - Enter full Drive/path/filename.extension and Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 5 any startup parameters needed. * Internal - Leave BLANK, to use internal message editor. The internal editor has advantages over external, when writting/posting a new message on the fly.... Text Viewer, is checked to see that you supplied a full drive and pathname. You could still enter an invalid name, in this case RASIS will report an Error (Dos Error #2, file not found). If you leave it blank, the Viewer call is disabled. Editor is validated same as Viewer, if you enter data for an external editor. For the internal editor (blank field) no validation is required. ┌────────────┐ │PRINT CODES:│ └────────────┘ Pretty easy, you enter the escape+char sequences required to set your printer to the mode requested. Up to 40 characters can be entered, allowing for Laser Printer code strings. These are used for the PRE and POST print codes for Mailing Labels, and some of the reports. NOTE: Some reports force compressed mode, see RASIS.DOC Entering the ESC char, Ctl-Key chars etc. is accomplished by first pressing CTL-P, then pressing the ESC, CTL+KEY combo, =or= the Alt+Numberpad key combo. cpi= characters per inch cpl= characters per line * Stnd.On : Set standard PICA 10cpi/80cpl print mode. * Comp.On : Set compressed, 17cpi/137/cpl print mode. * Comp.Off : Turn OFF compressed mode. * Elite.On : Set Elite Mode, 12cpi/96cpl print mode. You can use Stnd.On to turn off Elite. Of course you can enter in any code string for any print mode you desire, for these settings. Refer to your printer manual. LQ.On : Set Letter Quality Print On. LQ.Off : Set Letter Quality Print Off. The default settings for RASIS are: PRE: Elite.On POST: Stnd.On LQ : Off * Reset Printer: (NEW) Code to reset printer. This is handy if your printer has a problem changing codes on command. NOTE: All suppled print commands are for EPSON LQ850 compatible printer, which includes the Panasonic 1224i Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 6 * Printer Port: This is the LPT? port your printer is attached to. Used for testing printer availability, sending codes etc. May be from 1 to 3. Default is 1. ┌───────────┐ │OPTIONS: │ └───────────┘ The Options box is where you get to create your own MENU list, for the call to your User and File Maintainence programs, also where you tell RASIS whether to force use of the User name from the record when printing labels, and what format to write the label text. Display: is what will be displayed in the menu, limit of 15 characters input, less the highlighting flags, gives you a total of up to 13 characters for the menu display line. The HOT key highlight chars are the [ and ]. Surronding a letter with these will cause it to be in the highlighted color, and will also be the HOT key for the menu item. Look at the default items created by 104TO106, and run RASIS, with the new config, without changing these, to see how this works. Then you can modify to use any third party utility you wish, or leave as is to use RA's RAMGR.EXE program. * User Program Display: This is what will be displayed in the menu for the USER maintainence program menu item. * User Program Command: The full drive/path/filename with any parameters, to run the User program. * User Program Help: Here you enter the help text you want displayed on the RASIS Help Line. * File Program Display: Same as the User setup above. * File Program Command: Same as User. * File Program Help: Here you enter the help text you want displayed on the RASIS Help Line. * Optional Program Display: Can be another program to run, or if you use RAMGR, this can be the command to run RAMGR in menu mode, where you can choose either from withing RAMGR. * Optional Program Command: Same as previous two. * Optional Program Help: Here you enter the help text you want displayed on the RASIS Help Line. Now...... you "can" actually run RAMGR for both user and file maint, and add two other external programs to this menu. Simply choose one for RAMGR, and put the other two in the other slots. When setup saves changes, it parses out the HOTKEY for the changed/new menu item. For this to work, and for the HOTKEY to be highlighted, you MUST surround it with the [ and ] characters. If you do not, the menu command WILL NOT WORK! Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 7 * Use Font: This allows you to permanetly disable the Special Font used by RASIS when a VGA monitor is detected. Set this to No if you experience problems. You can also disable the font, for the current RASIS session, by using the /NF switch when firing up RASIS. * Force User Name: Previous versions had this in the Sysop setup, it causes RASIS to "always" use the name in the user record for the first line of the Mail Label. * Label Format: Tells RASIS how to print the label text. 1. Proper Case (DEFAULT): Prints all words with the first letter in uppercase, the rest lowercase. 2. Upper Case: Prints all words in uppercase. 3. As Is: Prints all words as they exist in the user's record. ┌───────────┐ │MESSAGES: │ └───────────┘ This section is where you set up the default values for Posting Messages in RASIS. These values are used for posting of "template" messages, already created by you. Some can be over-ridden at posting time, some cannot. In un-registered mode you may only post to the Hudson Message Base, upon registration posting to JAM areas is activated. * Message Base Type: Enter "H" for Hudson, or "J" for JAM {+} This value cannot be changed at post time. * Hudson Board #: Enter the board number to use, when posting to a Hudson Message Base. Numbers must be zero padded, and can range from 001 to 200. A number MUST be entered, though it is ignored if you have specified JAM above. Only used when posting to HMB. This cannot be changed at post time. * Message Base Path: This field specifies the path to either the Hudson Message Base directory, which should be the same as that entered in File/Directory PATHS, or the path to your JAM message file. Explanation below... Validation of this entry is dependant on what was entered for Message Base Type. HUDSON: The entry is checked for a valid directory path name, and should be pointing to your Hudson Message Base directory. Example - D:\RA\MSGBASE - in which RASIS expects to find the MSGBASE file. JAM: The entry is not validated as a directory path, in fact, NO validation is done. Setup ASSUMES, that you have, or will, create this message file with RACONFIG. Lets assume you want a JAM message area.... General Messages, in Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 8 RACONFIG you would set up the area as JAM, with a PATH to the file area, Example: D:\RA\JAM\GENERAL..... what this specifies is that In the directory D:\RA\JAM RACONFIG should create a message file, and index files, for a message area called GENERAL. It will create four files for the General Messages area: GENERAL.JDT GENERAL.JDX GENERAL.JHR GENERAL.JLR So, in effect, when the message base type is set to J, for JAM, this field points to a "FILE", or series of files, (GENERAL.*). When the message base type is H, for HUDSON, this field points to a "DIRECTORY". Is this all as clear as mud? <grin> When you go to post a message in RASIS, the data window displays where the message is being posted to, For HUDSON it displays - Posting To: Board # 001 D:\RA\MSGABSE For JAM it displays - Posting To: D:\RA\JAM\GENERAL ..... based on the examples given....... * Default From: This value will be placed in the From field at post time, usually this will be "Sysop" or your Name. This can be changed at post time. In the future, there may be a couple more options that may be set up here. ┌───────────┐ │SYSOP INFO:│ └───────────┘ This is where you enter System and Sysop name, and Registration Code. System Name : Your BBS/Company name, as you wish it displayed, and listed in Reports. Sysop Name : As you wish your name displayed, also, this MUST match the Sysop Name as supplied for your Registration Code. Registration Code: Enter your Registration Code as received from RaLin. If you are NOT registered, leave it at 0, (numerical zero), else an error will be generated in RASIS, code and name are also verified just after exiting the Sysop Information box, if it's invalid, two messages will be displayed, one by the Validation routine, as done in RASIS, and one by Setup. We want to make SURE you know if the information is not correct! <smile> Registered Mode is determined in Setup immediatly after the code is entered, so once a valid registration code is entered, any fields that you were previously unable to modify, should become available to you the moment the code is proved valid. Where do socks in the dryer go anyway? SETUP RASIS Configuration - Manual - Ver 1.06 Page 9 ┌─────────┐ │PASSWORD:│ └─────────┘ The password you specify, is saved as a CRC value, the same as RA saves your User Passwords. Should you forget your password, if it has been assigned, you will not be able to access Setup to fix it. Your only choice will be to erase RASIS.CFG, and start from scratch again. If you enter a password here, it will be required to access both the Setup program, and RASIS. In both cases, you are given three tries at entering your password, before being booted out. We CAN NOT tell you what your password is either, so don't call asking for me to figure it out!! If you forget it, you will have no other choice but to delete RASIS.CFG and start over. Pressing ENTER on a blank field, disables Password Protection. Entering a password here will Create or Change the password CRC value. If none exists, it will be created, if one exists, it will be changed. NOTE: If you enter a password, during the current Setup session, the password will be visible in this field, should you wish to double check the string before Exiting Setup. Once you have saved the configuration, this string will never be shown again, it is NOT saved, only the CRC value of the string. ┌─────┐ │QUIT:│ └─────┘ ESC may also be pressed instead of "Q". If Setup detects that changes have been made, it will prompt you to save them, (Y/N), you can press ESC to remain in the program. Pressing N will discard any changes made and exit normally. Pressing Y will update the config file currently being used, with the new settings. Remember, even if you made changes in a data entry box, if you pressed ESC any time before normal exit, the changes were discarded. In this case, as far as Setup is concerned, No changes were made. Upon termination, Setup will display a message, telling you: 1. No Changes...Configuration Not Saved 2. Configuration Saved to: Path+Filename Depending on what has been done. <eof SETUP.DOC> Where do socks in the dryer go anyway?