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OS/2 Help File
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1996-06-21
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29KB
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862 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Readme First ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
QFB Readme First
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Files in the archive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Files in the original archive:
File_Id.Diz The standard archive description
Qfb.Exe The executable
Qfb.Inf The Inf hypertextual Manual
Readme.1st This file
Whatsnew.Txt Changes and additions
Qfb.Doc The user's manual
Dos Only
Dos4Gw.Exe Dos Extender (major releases only)
If you have a maintenance release of the program,
the dos extender will not be included, to avoid
unnecessary distribution costs.
The OS/2 Inf manual is provided with other versions too,
since there are INF viewers under Dos. For example, the very
nice viewer by Damir Ujcic: VIEW01.ZIP, available for F/R from
2:332/504@fidonet: it contains a text mode viewer in both OS/2
and Dos versions.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Whatsnew ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Whatsnew
If you are using an older version of the program, please read
WhatsNew.Txt before using this version.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. How to contact the author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
How to contact the author
If you have suggestions, bug reports, observations about the
docs, please feel free to contact me at the following
addresses:
Alberto Pasquale of 2:332/504@fidonet
alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it
2:332/504@fidonet +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16
2:332/524@fidonet +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16 FAX
Alberto Pasquale, Viale Verdi 106, 41100 Modena, Italy
IMPORTANT: if you call crash and require an answer, please state
whether you want it routed (might not be reliable) or ON HOLD
(in which case an answer should be available in 48h maximum,
apart from the holiday periods).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Support ECHO ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Support ECHO
I am originating an international support echo for all my
programs. If you are interested, please ask your echo feeder to
find a suitable link for the APWORKS area. In addition, I
regularly read the international OS2BBS echo.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. TIC distribution ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
TIC distribution
All my BBS related programs are distributed via a TIC file area.
If you want to join, please ask your file feeder to find a
suitable link for the APBBS (OS/2) and/or APBBSDOS (Dos/NT)
area.
Beta versions are distributed without restrictions in
APBBSBETA and APBBSDOSBETA respectively.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. APWorks Programs and Support Areas ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Where to look for
APWorks Programs and Support Areas
In North America the APWORKS support echo should be easily
available, since it is on the Zone 1 backbone.
The following systems carry the ApWorks echo and file areas:
Author's
APWORKS
Alberto Pasquale, Modena, Italy
alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it
2:332/504@fidonet +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16
2:332/524@fidonet +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16
File requests could be declined between 23:00 and 06:00 GMT.
Request APFILES for a (short) list of APWORKS files only.
Europe
ApWorks_Germany
Roland Schiradin, Eltville, Germany
degr9tr9@ibmmail.com
2:2454/169@fidonet
Cyberia/2
Harald Kamm, Bamberg, Germany
2:2490/3045@fidonet
McBears Cave
Jens Holm, Skanderborg, Denmark
2:238/888@fidonet
MufNet HQ
Paul Bergquist, Hollviken, Sweden
2:200/146@fidonet
paul.bergquist@moderat.se
paulb@sbbs.se
The BackRoom/2 BBS
Martin Davies, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
gbear@backroom.baynet.co.uk
2:442/617@fidonet
Air Applewood
Vince Coen, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, United Kingdom
2:257/609@fidonet
PULSAR BBS
Branko Radojevic, Dubrovnik, Croatia
branko@pfdu.hr
sysop@pulsar.fido.hr
2:381/124@fidonet
North America
COMM Port OS/2
Bob Juge, Sugar Land, TX, USA
bob@juge.com
1:106/2000@fidonet
The CrossRoads
Dave Reed, Puyallup, WA, USA
dreed@aa.net
1:138/135@fidonet
Eclectic Lab 1
Mary-Anne Wise, New Westminster, BC, Canada
1:153/831@fidonet
Filebone: MaxFDN
Available via Planet Connect, PageSat, Filebone,
paonline ftphub and the Filegate Project.
Australia
Tardis BBS
Malcolm Miles, North Balwyn, VIC, Australia
3:633/260@fidonet
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6.1. File Areas on the Internet ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
File Areas on the Internet
UK
ftp.enterprise.net
/apworks
ftp.baynet.co.uk
/pub/apworks/os2
/pub/apworks/dos
/pub/apworks/beta
USA
ftp.juge.com
ftp.oeonline.com
/pub/Maximus
ftp.wilmington.net
/bmtmicro
Only the public release versions of programs that can be
registered via Bmt Micro.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Latest Versions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
How to Request the
Latest Version of APWORKS Programs
The following magics are honoured by APWORKS and some of the
support sites:
Magic Name Description
APFILES ApFiles.Lst List of Programs by Alberto Pasquale
FASTLST FLST???.RAR OS/2 The ultimate v7 Nodelist processor.
Fully automated processing and
maintenance, no need for clumsy batch
files. Can report to Squish or *.MSG
areas, multitasking friendly, many
options.
FASTLSTD FLSTD???.RAR DOS
FASTLSTW FLSTW???.RAR NT
FASTLSTG German Docs by Roland Schiradin
Available on 2:2454/169
NEF NEF???.RAR OS/2 TIC file distribution and
announcement for Binkley-style
outbound and *.MSG or Squish message
base, file-Areafix included with
FileBone support, full multitasking
aware (BSY, file sharing etc.),
exceptionally flexible Multi-Aka
support.
NEFD NEFD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender.
NEFW NEFW???.RAR NT
NEFG German Docs by Roland Schiradin
Available on 2:2454/169
FLM FLM???.RAR OS/2 File List Manager for Maximus,
very flexible way of compiling
many different lists at a time.
Internal file base support
(no need for FBP).
FLMD FLMD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender.
FLMW FLMW???.RAR NT
NMFW NMFW???.RAR OS/2 Multi-Robot: netmail forward to
Sysop's point, Maximus user and file
management via netmail messages,
areafix for squish, point routing to
their boss if no phone number for
them in the nodelist, etc.
NMFWD NMFWD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender.
NMFWW NMFWW???.RAR NT
QFB QFB???.RAR OS/2 Substitute for FBP.EXE
Generates a separate file-request
index with no duplicates.
QFBD QFBD???.RAR DOS 32 bit only, w DOS4GW extender
QFBW QFBW???.RAR NT
QFBG German Docs by Roland Schiradin
Available on 2:2454/169
SQPRV SQPV???.RAR OS/2 Local area (private/public) forward
to points for Squish. The (Co)SysOp
points can receive the whole area.
SQPRVD SQPVD???.RAR DOS
----- SQFM100.RAR OS/2 Allows to change the "from address"
of PKTs before they are compressed.
To be used with Squish.
For example, it is useful to Hub
coordinators who want to continue
processing mail with their primary
address for current links while
processing with the administrative
address for their uplink BackBone.
FreeWare.
----- SQFMW100.RAR NT
----- SqSetAll.Rar OS/2 Sets renum limits in all Squish Areas
taking the parameters from
Squish.Cfg.
----- SqSetDos.Rar DOS Dos version.
----- AdjFDate.Rar OS/2 Changes by +-N days the File Date.
Can choose between Creation and
Modification dates on HPFS.
Show and Touch options.
----- AdjF_Dos.Rar DOS Changes by +-N days the File Date.
Current versions (June 21st 1996): NEF 2.35, FastLst 1.32
(1.33 for OS/2), FLM 1.35, NMFWD 2.05, QFB 1.09, SQPrv 1.04.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.8. Bug Reports ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Bug Reports
If you find out a real bug, I will do my best to fix it and make
the new version available in a few days. To do that, I need your
cooperation: when you find a strange behaviour, double check
your configuration and the manual to be really sure it's not
your fault, then study the conditions in which the bug appears
and, in the end, send me your detailed report about the bug
together with your config file and all the stuff necessary to
replicate the problem. I can fix a bug only if I am enabled to
reproduce it !
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.9. Wish List ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Wish List
To help me provide a better and better program, please let
me know your problems and your wishes about future versions.
Please let me know your opinion:
Alberto Pasquale 2:332/504@fidonet
alberto.pasquale@mo.nettuno.it
BBS: +39-59-246112 ISDNC V34+ VFC V32T H16
BBS/FAX: +39-59-246113 ISDNC V34 VFC V32T H16 FAX
Viale Verdi 106
41100 Modena
Italy
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Whatsnew ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
QFB
Changes and Additions
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. 1.09 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.09 Jun 21 1996
- Added -q switch.
- Improved doc.
- New NT version.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. 1.08 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.08 Mar 31 1996
- The logic of the "-s" switch has changed: now ALL areas
except the "slow" ones are processed and the global
indexes are updated (not re-built) when this switch is
used.
Previously the "-s" switch only caused slow areas to be
skipped, so that they were usually removed from the
global indexes.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. 1.07 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.07 Feb 29 1996
- Added "-d" switch to avoid multi-line descriptions in
FILES.DMP, the file where Maximus looks for the file
descriptions when using the filebase (Locate and NewFiles
commands).
When multi-line description support is enabled, QFB
outputs the entire description string (line feeds
included) to the FILES.DMP, so that the Maximus Locate
and New Files commands respect the original formatting.
Unfortunately there is a side-effect: the continuation
lines are aligned at left, and this is not appreciated by
some SysOps.
When the "-d" switch is used, QFB changes the linefeeds
to spaces, so that the DMP description is made of a
long unique line: the original formatting is lost but the
description will be aligned and word-wrapped by Maximus
when the Locate or NewFiles commands are used.
- To disable multi-line description support, you can now
use the "-c" switch alone. Previously you had to use
"-c-1" and that was not documented.
- Added INF documentation.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. 1.06 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.06 Restricted Beta
- OS/2: Problem with remote (LAN) directories fixed.
The C stat function had problems: substituted with
direct OS/2 API calls.
- Improved multi-line support.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. 1.05 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.05 - Support for multi-line descriptions (see Qfb.Doc).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.6. 1.04 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.04 - New "out of memory" handler and exit errorlevel.
Previously an out of memory error could result in
strange behaviour.
- Some internal changes in the filebase routines to
improve consistency with Max 3.00
- New ApWorks addresses and phone numbers
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.7. 1.03 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.03 - Update to support Max 3.00;
Max 2.0x is NOT supported.
- The specification of a path in the files.bbs to include
a file that resides in a directory other than the
default "Download" is now allowed.
- The specification of an alternate files.bbs in
"FileList" is now allowed with any extension (previously
the .BBS was required).
- The files that are not found are now included in the
filebase and marked as "OFFLINE".
- If an area is marked of "Type CD" and you do not specify
an alternate "FileList", the local DAT/DMP/IDX files are
not generated.
- The DateAuto/DateManual/DateList are now fully supported
(previously DateAuto was assumed).
- New -n switch to allow the update of the filebase by
compiling all the areas that have a files.bbs newer than
the files.idx. CD areas skipped.
- QFB and other ApWorks programs that update the filebase
generate a "FileBase.Bsy" flag in the Maximus system
directory to avoid concurrent writes to the same
filebase. There is no need to manually delete this flag
in case of power failure or abnormal termination.
- The command line syntax has been modified to be
consistent with that of the Max 3.00 FB/FBP.
Switches -x and -r not implemented.
Wildcards are more flexible (? and * in the OS/2 way).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.8. 1.02 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.02 - Fixed bug that caused some dupes not to be removed
from UniFiles.Idx.
- Separate "/t /b" flags in FILES.BBS are now recognized.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.9. 1.01 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.01 - Now more CD-ROM / MO friendly.
QFB does not abort in case of path not found,
drive not ready, read only dir, write protected unit.
When QFB cannot write local DAT/DMP/IDX files it simply
skips: if you do not really need these files, you can
avoid copying files.bbs to a hard-disk directory.
- More informative output.
- New -g command line switch to avoid generation of local
DAT/DMP/IDX files.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10. 1.00 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
1.00 - First public release.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. About QFB ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
**************************************************************
* *
* *
* ***** ******* ****** *
* ** ** ** * ** ** *
* ** ** ** * ** ** *
* ** ** **** ***** *
* ** ** ** * ** ** *
* ** ** ** ** ** *
* ***** * **** ****** *
* *
* *
* A Quick File Base Builder *
* v 1.09 for Maximus 3.xx (*) *
* *
**************************************************************
* *
* (C) Copyright 1995-1996 by Alberto Pasquale *
* *
* A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D *
* *
* F R E E W A R E *
* *
**************************************************************
* Maximus is a trademark of Lanius Corporation
(c) Copyright 1995-1996 by Alberto Pasquale
F R E E W A R E
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. License ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
LICENSE
You may copy, distribute and use this program freely, provided
you do not modify the original archive and Copyrights.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Disclaimer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
DISCLAIMER
You are entitled to use this freeware program "as is". No
guarantee can be given on the performance of the program. The
author will not be liable for any damage or loss related to the
use of this program.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Overview ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Overview
QFB is a substitute for the FB (Dos) or FBP (OS/2) program by
Scott J. Dudley for building a Maximus 3.xx file-base (Maximus
is a trademark of Lanius Corporation).
Main characteristics:
- Generates UniFiles.Idx in addition to the standard
MaxFiles.Idx; UniFiles.Idx is an index file like MaxFiles.Idx
but with no duplicates (in the case of dupes, the file in the
first defined area is kept in the index).
You can use UniFiles.Idx as a file-request index for your
mailer (e.g. BinkleyTerm (c) Bit Bucket Software)
- Support for multi-line descriptions.
Usually the description of a file in the FILES.BBS is
contained in a single physical line: Maximus will word wrap
and align when displaying it to the user.
The problems come when you import the multi-line file_id.diz
descriptions into the FILES.BBS in order to make Maximus show
them to the user keeping the original formatting.
As a matter of facts, Maximus (partially) supports
"continuation" lines that begin with '|' or '+' (second or
greater column). However many people like using NO
continuation character: they add multi-line descriptions one
line after another, indenting the subsequent lines so that
Maximus shows them aligned (but it does not recognize them in
the case of hurl, kill etc.). File management programs are
then used to correctly manage the areas.
QFB supports a user-defined continuation character and
position, which default to the space ' ' and 31 (columns)
respectively (see the -c command line switch).
QFB adds continuation lines to the FILES.DMP without loosing
formatting. You can verify this by using the L)ocate or
N)ewfiles command of Maximus. FB/FBP, on the contrary,
concatenate all the lines together (when they area recognized
as continuation lines...).
There is a side effect, though: The L)ocate and N)ewfiles
commands show the continuation lines aligned at left.
Since this behaviour is not appreciated by some SysOps, the
"-d" command line switch allows to output a unique-line
description to FILES.DMP: original formatting is lost (as with
FB/FBP) but the entire description is word-wrapped and aligned
by Maximus.
- Very fast update operation (when a list of areas is specified
on the command line or the -n switch is used).
- Fast operation even in the full-build.
- The -n switch allows to update the filebase by compiling only
modified areas, even if you do not have a list of area names
available.
- Area names can be specified using the '?' and '*' wildcards as
per the OS/2 rules. E.G. "*OS2*" includes all areas whose name
contains "OS2".
- Can be used with CD-ROMs with no need to copy the FILES.BBS to
a hard-disk directory, provided you don't really need the
DAT/DMP/IDX files for the area: the global indexes
(MaxFiles.Idx and UniFiles.Idx) will contain the data for
these areas so that File-Request, Global Download and Upload
Dupe Check will work anyway.
- Does not abort nor prompt user in the case of "drive not
ready" or "write protected" errors.
- Retries for many seconds in case of a sharing violation.
Please note that in the case of protracted inability to open a
DAT/DMP/IDX file for write, QFB could report a "Write
Protected" area instead of the sharing violation. It will
proceed anyway as if the unit were write protected.
- All ApWorks programs that access the FileBase use a
"FileBase.Bsy" flag in the Maximus system directory to avoid
concurrent writes to the same filebase. There is no problem in
the case the FileBase.Bsy flag is not deleted due to abnormal
terminations or power failures, so you do not need to delete
it in the startup.cmd/autoexec.bat as with other programs.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Usage ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Usage
The command line parameters are the same as with FB/FBP, with a
few exceptions:
QFB [<switches>] [<area> ...]
If no command line parameter is given, the help is shown. If no
<area> is given and the -n switch is not used, all areas are
compiled.
-a
Compile all areas.
This is the default, but the switch is needed when no
other switches are used (QFB shows help on an empty
command).
-c[<nn>[<c>|#<nnn>]]
The default for continuation column/character is 31/' '.
That is, if a line that starts with 31 spaces is found
after a description line in the FILES.BBS, then it is
taken as a continuation line. Empty lines are also taken
as continuation lines, in order to allow correct
processing of file_id.diz descriptions that contain
blank lines.
You can disable multi-line description support by using
"-c" alone.
e.g. -c (disables multi-line support)
You can override the number of blank columns required by
using "-c<nn>" where <nn> specifies the number of spaces
needed at the start of a line to consider it a
continuation line.
e.g. -c34 (34 spaces required)
If you want to use some special character (not the
simple space) as a continuation character, then you must
specify it in the -c switch after the <nn>. You can
either specify the character directly (<c>) or by its
ASCII code (#<nnn>). Please note that the '|'
(frequently used) is the symbol for pipe, so it CANNOT
be used on a command line: you must either specify its
ASCII code or prefix it with an escape character.
e.g. -c29+ (the continuation lines start with '+')
-c29#124 (124 is the ASCII code for '|')
-c29^| (OS/2 escape sequence for '|')
Since the continuation lines usually have a space after
the continuation character, QFB skips it if present.
Example:
TEST.ZIP This is a long description
| for the file test.zip
|
| Author: <author>
| Shareware US$30
Note: the <nn> number of spaces is essential when the
continuation character is not specified (simple
space). On the contrary, it is not currently
really meaningful when the continuation character
is different from space (the only difference is
between 0 and >0).
For example, if you use "-c29#124", QFB accepts as
continuation lines all those whose first non-space
character is '|', provided it is NOT in the first
column. To make QFB accept a continuation
character in the first column you must specify 0
as <nn> ("-c00#124").
-d
Output Unique-Line descriptions to FILES.DMP.
Avoids multi-line descriptions in FILES.DMP, the file
where Maximus looks for the file descriptions when using
the filebase (L)ocate and N)ewfiles commands).
When multi-line description support is used, QFB outputs
the entire description string (line feeds included) to
the FILES.DMP, so that the Maximus L)ocate and N)ewfiles
commands respect the original formatting.
Unfortunately there is a side-effect: the continuation
lines are aligned at left, and this is not appreciated by
some SysOps.
When this switch is used, QFB changes the linefeeds to
spaces, so that the DMP description is made of a long
unique line: the original formatting is lost but the
description will be aligned and word-wrapped by Maximus
when the L)ocate or N)ewfiles commands are used.
-f<file>
Use <file> as farea.dat.
This overrides the information from Max.Prm.
-g
Compile global index only.
The DAT/DMP/IDX files of each area are not generated.
Do not use this switch if you are not really sure you do
not need these files.
-n
Compile areas with new Files.Bbs.
All areas that have a Files.Bbs newer than the Files.Idx
will be compiled and the MaxFiles/UniFiles.idx updated;
areas marked as "Type CD" are skipped.
This switch is meaningless when the -g switch has been
used (files.idx not generated).
-p<file>
Use <file> as the Maximus .prm file.
Overrides the MAXIMUS environment var.
The .prm extension is added if no extension is given.
-q
Quiet mode.
QFB reports errors only.
-s
Skip slow areas marked as "Type CD".
The indexes are updated after scanning all non-slow
areas.
-u
Scan upload paths.
This switch is used by Maximus in RunFB.Cmd (.Bat for
DOS) when the update of upload areas is needed.
The Upload paths for the listed areas are scanned
instead of the download ones, provided the upload path
is in a defined Maximus area.
<area> can include wildcards ('?', '*') in the OS/2 way.
Errorlevels:
7 Out of memory
6 Timeout waiting for a busy FileBase
5 FArea.Dat not found
4 Max.Prm not found: either MAXIMUS environment variable or
-p<file> command line switch must point to a valid Max 3.xx
PRM file.
3 Abnormal termination
2 Error
1 Help requested
0 OK
IMPORTANT NOTE for the Dos version:
QFB is a 32 bit application: it requires the Dos4GW.Exe
dos extender in your path.