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Monster Media 1996 #14
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Monster Media No. 14 (April 1996) (Monster Media, Inc.).ISO
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tbbs
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msgx10.zip
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MSGX.DOC
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1996-01-24
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Message Extraction Option Module (MSGX) Version 1.0
Requires TBBS 2.3 or higher in order to run
The MSGX Option Module is designed to help third party developers create
programs that can access information from the TBBS message base. Currently
TDBS programs cannot access the message base in any way that is meaningful.
MSGX allows real-time message base extraction of messages addressed to specific
users. This allows third party developers to create messages on one machine
(via the TBBS type=7 with Opt Data=/C:file) that can get sent to another
machine for processing. This powerful feature allows multi-system gaming,
shared databases, etc., but it is not limited to just that kind of
functionality. It is limited only by the creativity of the programmer.
MSGX has very little in the way of configuration. The configuration file is
called MSGX.CTL, it can be anywhere in the TBBSPATH, and it consists of lines
that are either configuration lines, or commentary lines (begin with anything
except a quote character). Configuration lines are all of the form:
"<username>" <directory> <extension (no dot)> [flags]
[flags] is optional, and as currently designed, only one flag exists. The D
flag tells MSGX to mark any messages extracted as "deleted" within the TBBS
message base.
For example:
"PROGRAM1 GHOST" C:\TBBS\PROGRAM1\DATA PG1
"POKER" C:\TBBS\POKER\DATA POK D
"SILLY GAME" C:\TBBS\SILLYG\INBOUND SG1
To install MSGX in your TBBS system, you will need to edit your MLTBBS command
line in your RUNBBS.BAT file. If you are currently not running any option
modules, you will need to add /O:MSGX to the end of the MLTBBS command line.
If you are already running option modules (ie, the /O: is already present and
followed by other program names), then you will need to add MSGX to the option
module list. To do this, add a comma and the name MSGX to the /O: string.
For example, if you currently have:
/O:TIMS,SYSOM
change it to:
/O:TIMS,SYSOM,MSGX
MSGX is an option module type=209 and needs to be started via CEDIT ghost
events as a type=209 on all days on line 254, with Opt Data being a number
corresponding to how many seconds MSGX should delay between checks for new
messages (default is to just run once if no time period is given). It can also
be started directly as a type=209 with Opt Data=<filename> for a file to use
as a configuration file to extract messages for one time. If a TDBS program
wishes to update the MSGX.CTL file while the system is running, it can do so
(the file is normally only read at TBBS startup). To tell MSGX to re-read the
file, a file named MSGX.FLG must be placed in the current TBBS directory. When
MSGX goes to do its normal scan if this file is found, it is deleted and the
current MSGX.CTL file is read from disk and used as the new MSGX
configuration.
MSGX will honor external events and exit properly. While it is running, every
X seconds (from the Opt Data line) MSGX will check each user in the
configuration file to see if there are any new messages waiting for that
user. If there are, the message will be extracted from the message base in the
format given below and placed in the defined directory with the defined
extension. The base name of the file will be a random string, so only the
extension can be used to locate the proper files for each user. The files are
extracted in the following format:
#: <message number> #: 32105
F: <from (including @node number if Fidonet)> F: SILLY GAME@1:104/23
T: <to> T: SILLY GAME
S: <subject> S: UPDATE RECORDS
D: <date> D: 01/11/96 01:12:10
E: <enclosure name>,<name on disk> E: UPDATE.DBF,C:\ENCL\EM32105
<blank line to separate header from text>
<message body text> Update these records