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1994-06-23
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The What's Up status system
Another creation of Arthur Ward
Version 1.01
================================================================================
| Introduction |
================================================================================
The What's Up status system is an attempt to create a fairly portable
status program for sysops. Why? Because nobody else thought to make ONE
program to handle the status of ALL of the BBS at once. That's why.
As currently designed, there are two basic modules; the status engine
that is used in every copy of What's Up, and the interface. This allows
modifications to the search engine without having to make tweaks in all of
the interfaces. When finished, I hope to have good working DOS and Windows
real-time interfaces. (and I'm already halfway there! :-)
================================================================================
| Setup - Care & Feeding |
================================================================================
DOS notes:
The executable (whatsup.exe) and the configuration file (whatsup.cfg)
must be in the same directory (but not necessarily the current directory).
What's Up will always use the config file located in the directory the EXE
is stored in, ignoring any config in the current directory. You cannot
select an alternate configuration file.
Setting up the configuration file:
I think the sample configuration is commented & organized well enough
that you should be able to just read through my comments. Each piece of
software has it's own divider section, so you can look for those when
flipping through. Just remember that in order to enable a particular
software AT ALL, you must have the entry for your software's name (or
phrase resembling it :-) uncommented.
================================================================================
| DOS: Using What's Up |
================================================================================
A VERY simply interface is used:
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ What's Up/DOS - Version 000.00 - Copyright 1994 Arthur Ward │
├─Name─────────────────────Status───────────────────────────────────┤
│ [name] [status] │
│ 1/3 screen here 2/3 screen here │
└─Quit─commands...──────────────────────────────────────────...info─┘
At the top, the name of the program & copyright info, etc. The left
column is the "name" for a status entry, the right column is the "status".
At the bottom, is a subtle hint on how to get out (Quit; note capital Q :),
and depending on the width of your screen, other things may show up.
Generally speaking, commands are on the left, informative stuff is on the
right.
On the bottom left, next to Quit will be listed all the available
status searches that you have configured. When first starting, all statuses
default to on (yellow), but each search can be toggled at will, generally
with the first capitalized (see below). If you butchered the example
configuration file, this is a simple way to tell if you at least have all
the right verbs in the configuration for your software.
Throw your wildest somewhat-standard text mode screen at What's Up, and
it should adjust name/status to keep their approx. divisions along the
first third of the screen. Likewise, if it can't fit things on the bottom
line, it will drop items from there (ends are drawn first; names of search
routines (ie. BinkleyTerm, Maximus) will be abbreviated up to 1 letter
before being dropped).
Active keys in the real-time DOS interface:
Q Quit
B Toggle BinkleyTerm on/off } The corresponding label will
M Toggle Maximus on/off } switch between yellow/brown to
indicate active/inactive
Note on use in Windows:
I find that setting a PIF for What's Up to use priorities of 100/100
(or your own normal foreground setting) for both entries provides best
performance as a whole. What's Up releases all the time it can, so the high
priority allows the brief scan for flags to remain brief instead of
dragging out like at 100/50.
When being used in a window, VGA Effects (ie. the passive screen saver)
do not show up because Windows is trying to keep the palette under control
for the rest of the screen. Switch it to full-screen and Windows restores
control over the palette back to me and the saver works.
================================================================================
| Just little scraps of information about the features... |
================================================================================
BinkleyTerm status: Supports 4D outbound structure using .BSY flags,
TASK.xx, BTRESCAN.xx, and BTEXITxx.yy.
Maximus 2.x: All I'm doing is reading the name & status from the IPC files
in the IPC directory (and appending the task number to the name). This
should be the same as the Who's Online command or chat menu header in
Maximus.
Passive Screen Saver: I call it "passive" in that the screen is not blanked
or otherwise changed, but you can still read it while it is saving. Colors
are restored normally on a non-error exit, but if there's a sharing
violation or other type of screwup that causes it to barf and not shutdown
correctly, your palette will be hosed. Speed of change depends on your
delay setting and your system's particular text mode palette. If you want
to see the fade at maximum speed, set delay to 0, comment out your status
verbs (BinkleyTerm, etc.), then run.
================================================================================
| But, but, how could you possibly leave out SuperWidget? |
================================================================================
I know this by no means covers all the software out there, so I need
your help to gather up information on the status flags for other software
that I don't use. If you want your software to be included, send me
everything you can find on how to obtain the status through flag files and
status files. Also, the programmers out there might want to look at
newmods.txt.
================================================================================
| Waiter, there's a bug in my status! |
================================================================================
Bugs? Let me know!
Try to determine what flag (or flags) caused the problem, and/or total
number of flags that were currently being checked, and any other
information you think (or don't think) to be relevant. Send it all to me
through one of the channels listed at the end of this document.
================================================================================
| Credits |
================================================================================
Max Campos . Came up with the RemoteAccess 2.00 structures in C (!)
Sherwood Forest . Bugged me to death with bugs. :-) (good job!)
1:106/6073
================================================================================
| What's Up with Money |
================================================================================
I ask for no payment for this version of What's Up, but I do reserve
the right to change this in future versions.
However, I do ask, that if you find that What's Up is useful, and feel
that it would be worth paying a few dollars for, go ahead and donate that
small amount to me. US currency only, no foreign money, please, as that
will only go into a coin collection.
================================================================================
| Contact |
================================================================================
U.S.nail Mail: | via. the _REAL_ information superhighways:
Arthur Ward | 1. FidoNet: 1:106/321
11212 Sagecountry | 2. InterNet: f321.n106.z1@fidonet.org
Houston, Texas 77089 | 3. BBS: Squeak!: 1-713-485-0321, 2400bps
(United States of America) | Online 24 hours/day except 3-4am CST.
^ last resort please ^ |
BBS note: I use a callback system, and cannot do long-distance validations.
One-way messaging can be achieved by logging in (*quickly*!), logging off
and leaving a comment for me during the logout. Replies won't be possible. :(