Monster Media 1994 #2/Monster Media No. 2 (Monster Media)(1994).ISO/renegade/rgep261.zip/FIN.EXE/FILEIN51.EXE/FILEIN!.DOC

Text File | 1994-05-15 | 17KB | 324 lines

       FileIN! 5.1 Copyright 1994 by Chris Roberts and Patrick Spence
                            All Rights Reserved.


General Notes
─────────────
    FileIN! is the answer to file importing problems with Renegade. This
    utility will correctly import a TICK FILES.BBS to the appropriate *.DIR
    file(RG directory). This extremely quick utility has many features that
    make it the ideal addition to any Renegade system.

    It will check for dupes and make sure that the file to be imported does
    reside in the currently directory. It will update extended descriptions
    over 45 characters with a word wrap. BIOS writes can be forced over the
    default direct video ram writes for certain multi-tasking environments.
    It can optionally NOT purge the FILES.BBS file, if you wish to have
    more than one BBS system use the same file directories, this option is
    for you, as certain BBS systems read the FILES.BBS for the file
    description info. It can also be used on a CD-ROM to import
    descriptions.

    For users of Allfix, you do not need to have the description shoved all
    on one line any longer. FileIN! will read the multi-line FILES.BBS, and
    import up to 5 lines into the Renegade dir. 10 line importing will be
    added as soon as Renegade supports it.

    FileIN! is intended for use by EXPERIENCED Renegade sysops. It is
    possible to destroy data(incoming TIC files) now with improper setup of the
    archive configuration. If you don't know what your doing, ask someone who
    does. Patrick and I may be able to help, the number to Patrick's system
    is at the end of this document.

Usage
─────

Usage is very straight-forward as follows:

FILEIN <path to FILEIN.CFG> <-I>

A -I in the commandline invokes IGNORE mode. More on this later.

Configuration
─────────────

Run FILECFG.EXE, and it will create a setup file in the current directory,
filename is FILEIN.CFG. You can put this CFG file anywhere, however you are
required to load filein from your main renegade directory.(ie, c:\renegade)

Hit P for path setup. There are two paths to enter, a swap path(when running
FIN.BAT) and a path for the main renegade directory. Pretty simple so far eh?

Option T is the toggle setup menu. The rest are pretty straightforward.
The menu is as follows:

(A) Swap(run FIN.BAT) <-FIN.BAT is described below, toggle this to YES
                        if you wish to use a FIN.BAT
(B) Purge FILES.BBS   <-If you wish to keep your FILES.BBS, toggle this to
                        No, if its yes FileIN! will not delete it after
                        finishing the current base.
(C) Use BIOS for Video<-Pretty self-explanatory. BIOS writes are SLOW however.
(D) Scan CD-ROM bases <-Normally, this should be NO, as CD-ROM drives are
                        typically slow. You can turn this on to import the
                        FILES.BBS of a rom disk you purchased.
(E) Keep a Log Files  <-The log file contains start+stop times, and general
                        info on the file bases and the files imported to those
                        bases. The log now follows a binkley-style format.
(F) Convert Archives  <-Info below, toggle yes if you wish to have them
                        converted.
(G) Custom Scan list  <-When toggled to yes, you can select which bases you
                        want FileIN! to scan, which means faster runs. See
                        below for instructions on how to set this up.
(H) Files Uploaded by <-This can be "Sysop", your real name, or whatever you
                        like. When you list files in renegade, it can display
                        who originally uploaded the file. This text is placed
                        in that field.
(I) Registered to     <-Your name as it appears on the card with your serial
                        number(assuming you've registered)
(J) Serial Number     <-Your serial number(which you receive when you
                        register.)

Option A is the archive conversion setup. You CAN put the archivers in this
menu, however FileIN! will not attempt to convert any archives unless you
have a valid serial number(which you get by registering).

Working on Archive Entry #1

Remember: %F=Complete path+filename+extension
          %W=Work Directory created at runtime
          Success Errorlevel is generally zero.

(A) Extension ID:   <--This is the 3 char extension, ex: ZIP,ARJ,ZOO,SDN etc
(B) Decompression Commandline: for Arj it would be 'ARJ E %F %W' or
                               for an SDN it would be 'GUS %F %W'
                               You MUST have GUS installed 'SDN' files.
                               Do NOT insert a path here, the renegade
                               archivers path is added automatically!!
(C) Compression Commandline: again, for arj 'ARJ A %F %W'
                             Do NOT insert a path here, the renegade
                             archivers path is added automatically!!
(D) Success Errorlevel: Zero for everything except PKPAK to my knowledge.
                        For PAK/PKPAK set it to -1(ignore).

You can install up to ten archivers. Renegade has a maximum of eight, the
extras are so you can convert the pointless *.SDN files that you receive in
certain networks to a identifiable archive type(such as a ZIP or ARJ file).
To setup the conversion of SDN's is very simple. You create an archive type
with the extension ID of SDN, and the decompresssion commandline "GUS %F %W"
You must have GUS(General Unpack Shell) to accomplish this. The compression
commandline may be left blank, as it is usually unused for this type. You
SHOULD use the /N(ignore imbedded directories) when using GUS, as if the
archive is allowed to extract to a different directory, FileIN! will not
find the files that were in the archive and the conversion will abort.

*** FileIN! converts archives to the type specified in the base setup inside
    Renegade. If you (M)odify a file base inside renegade, it is option 8.
    SDN's are converted by extracting with GUS as shown above, and then the
    files are re-archived using the type you specified in your file base.

*** FileIN! does not change to the temp directory when creating an archive.
    What this means is, your archive could end up with a directory structure
    of 'D:\REN\FILE\ITCSDN\!FILEIN!.TMP\SAMPLE.XXX' on each file. To disable
    this, add the appropriate option to the compression commandline. This is
    one of those "Read the Docs" type things. For ARJ tho, put a -e in the
    commandline.

FileIN! will convert an archive BEFORE it runs FIN.BAT, that is so you can
convert the archives to whatever format you like, then extract the .DIZ and
.SDI comment files(if any) from the archive, scan it, and add your bbs
advertisement/comment to the archive.

FileIN! will NOT attempt to convert archive types on CD-ROM flagged bases.
To futher that point, if you try to convert archives that are on a CD-ROM,
unpredictable results could occur. I have done my best to check for things
like this, but without a CD-ROM I can't be sure. I would highly suggest
you NOT try it.

To go a bit further on CD-ROMs. If you have a CD-ROM that you are importing
for the first time, you need to toggle "Scan CD-ROM bases" in Filecfg to YES.
You will need to make a custom FIN.BAT that will extract the comment files
to the UPLOAD path of the cd-rom base on your harddrive, not the current
directory as you would normally do. If a file base is set with the CD-ROM
flag, after running FIN.BAT it will search there for comment files. CD-ROM
bases are passed a third paramater. %3 is the upload path for the current file
base with a trailing '\', use that to extract comment files. %3 is ONLY
passed when you are scanning a CD-ROM base.

When using a FIN.BAT or archive conversion, you should have the commandline
that runs the archiver instuct it to assume YES on all queries. This is to
prevent something like "File XXXX.XXX exists, overwrite?" from happening
when FileIN! is spawned out, which would most likely hang your system all
day.

FileIN! fully supports 4dos's memory(.BTM) batch files, just rename your
FIN.BAT to FIN.BTM and make any necessary changes(4dos has many batch file
enhancements).

Option M is the message posting setup. The menu is as follows:

(A)Message Posted by   : <-Typically sysop's name or "The Anonymous Announcer"
                           etc.
(B)Message Posted to   : <-All, My Users, etc etc
(C)Message Subject     : <-"Newly Imported Files" or whatever.
(D)Message Base Name   : <-This is the name of the .HDR and .DAT files of the
                           message base you wish to have the messages posted
                           in. The filename can be found by (M)odifying a
                           base in the renegade message base editor.
                           Do NOT include the extension(HDR/DAT)
(E)Path to PIN.EXE     : Do NOT put the PIN.EXE name on the end, trailing '\'
                         is optional. Ex "D:\RG\UTILS\RGE"
(F)Posting Active      : <-Toggle to YES to enable posting.

The message itself is slightly configurable on this release. The two text
files, HEADER.TXT, and FOOTER.TXT, go in the \MISC or \AFILES directory
(if you dont know what this is, its in your renegade system config). You may
edit these messages as you like, both support only TWO mci codes, time(%TI)
and date(%DA). HEADER.TXT is imported before FileIN! begins scanning bases,
FOOTER.TXT is imported just before the final tear line.

Option B is the custom scan list toggling. When you type E, you will be
presented with a screenful of file bases with a scrollbar that lets you
flip thru the list. HOME,END,PGUP,PGDN, and the arrows let you move around.
Hit space on each base you wish to have scanned, and a box marker will appear
next to its name. Turn on only the bases you need scanned (ie, your SDN
bases, cdrom bases etc) and then turn option G(custom scan list)
on the misc options/toggles menu to yes. At this point, FileIN! will scan only
the bases that you marked in this list, which means FileIN! will run faster
in most cases.


FIN.BAT
───────

    Well, major addition to the flexibility of FileIN!. You can now scan
    inbound SDN files for virii, insert BBS comments, and import the
    FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI inside an archive if it exists.

    Setting it all up is quite simple. You make a batch file, filename is
    FIN.BAT, and use that to perform all desired operations. Two parameters
    are passed to FIN.BAT, %1 is the complete path+filename and extension.
    %2 is the extension only. %1 is used for the DIZ file extraction, you
    can do something like this in the batch file.

if %2=ZIP then pkunzip %1 FILE_ID.DIZ DESC.SDI
if %2=ARJ then ARJ e %1 FILE_ID.DIZ DESC.SDI

    etc etc. You can add as many archivers as you want.

    You may also run SCAN, TBAV or THDPRO on the archive, and if it contains a
    virus, you may delete it by simply doing a DEL %1. After FIN.BAT has
    finished, if the file no longer exists it is skipped and operation continues
    as normal. Two sample batch files are included, one requires THDPRO to be
    installed on your system. If you DON'T have THDPRO, consider installing it,
    it's an excellent package!  Remember that even though the sample batch
    files are named SAMPLE1.BAT and SAMPLE2.BAT, you will STILL need to
    name your batch file FIN.BAT (or FIN.BTM for 4dos or nDos users).

Restriction on FIN.BAT
──────────────────────
    When extracting .DIZ or DESC.SDI files, they MUST be extracted to the
    current directory. You can use the lines above in your batch file, or,
    if you have GUS you can do this

    GUS %1 FILE_ID.DIZ DESC.SDI

    As far as scanning is concerned...if you delete the file(del %1) when
    filein returns from running the batch file, it will skip the entry if
    the file no longer exists.

    FIN.BAT or FIN.BTM(4dos batch) must exist either in the current
    directory or in a directory in your PATH statement. Swapping to run
    FIN.BAT is disabled if toggle 'Run FIN.BAT' is no in the options menu, or
    the swap path you specified cannot be located.

    You need to give filein as much ram as possible. Certain compressors,
    like ARJ, require large amounts of ram for initialization. If you
    decide to run THDPRO in your batch file, you'll need even more. FileIN!
    does swap, however I'd say 200k at the absolute minimum, more(around
    420+) would be ideal. The swap routines have been known to blow up if
    they run out of ram, so if filein locks, try to free up more memory.

    Minor Glitch fixes, etc etc. Overall, its much more stable than before.


Special Precautions
───────────────────
    FileIN! is now fully multi-node capable. I have been able to run it under
    DesqView/X with 3 windows open, two running renegade, with no problems.
    However, you should still make freqent backups of crucial data
    (the \DATA or \GFILES directory is of utmost importance).

Bugs + Suggestions
──────────────────
    I have tested FileIN! to the best of my ability, however with my
    fairly rushed schedule I'm not going to promise that its perfect. I
    haven't had any problems reported by the testing sites, but if you do
    come across a problem, document it including if applicable the runtime
    error number, and the address, ex 0000:FFE7.

    Runtime errors are now trapped in a file called FILEIN.ERR. If you have
    a runtime error, send this file to Patrick, his BBS #/network addresses
    are at the bottom of this document.

    I owe a LOT to many people for testing, particularly Patrick
    Spence(gave me the idea for FIN.BAT), Steve Zapatka(loyal tester), Dan
    Jones, Joe Farrell, Richard Rector, Frank Ward, Fred Cohen, and
    countless others who have expressed interest and have helped test the
    beta versions. Thanks to all.


Legal Stuff
───────────
    FileIN! is *FREE*. Yes, something for nothing, like all my utils. I am
    not under ANY circumstances responsible for damage to ANYTHING that
    results from the use or misuse of FILEIN.EXE. Please read REGISTER.DOC,
    but your only investment will be a postcard. You NEED to send that
    postcard if you plan on using the new features, as this version of
    FileIN! will only run fully with a valid serial number.

    FileIN! is Copyrighted material by Chris Roberts and Patrick Spence,
    you are given permission to reproduce and distribute the main ARCHIVE
    (ZIP, ARJ, or whatever format it's in) as long as the original contents
    are NOT altered in ANY way. You may NOT charge for the distribution of
    this file other than a disk duplication/postage charge. You may NOT
    add, remove, or modify files from the original archive created by Chris
    Roberts. You may NOT place FileIN! in a collection of utilites being
    sold for profit(example, placing FileIN! on a CD-ROM for sale to sysops)
    without prior written consent by Chris Roberts or Patrick Spence. My
    address is in UPDATE.DOC, contact me if necessary. Permission for this
    type of distribution is not a hassle and can usually be faxed out to you
    within a day of receipt of your request.

    Renegade is Copyrighted by Cott Lang. (Like you didn't know that) :-)

    This program uses a customized version of Ralf Brown's SPAWNO routines
    to minimize memory use while running other programs or shelling to
    DOS.

    Special thanks to Patrick Spence of Hawk's Aerie, Fred Cohen of
    DemoSoft, and Steve Zapatka of Crazy BBS for testing the program and
    reporting bugs.

Bug Reports
───────────
    Bug reports should be sent to Patrick Spence.  Various methods of
    contact are:
        BBS:                Hawks Aerie! 1-602-873-2755
        Front End Mailer:
                            ITC Net @ 85:823/0
                            Fido Net @ 1:114/252
                            RG Support Net @ 50:220/4
                            Candy Net @ 42:1002/5
                            God Net @ 143:602/2873
                            Strange Net @ 84:84/1
        Echos:
                            ITC Net RG support echo
                            Fido Net RG Support echo
                            RG Support Net (all echos)

    -OR- You can call my BBS at [phone]
         ITC (85:823/813), 28.8k arriving shortly.

And keep in mind, our netmail box is always open and waiting for suggestions
and problem reports.