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Monster Media 1996 #15
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RGNSHOW.DOC
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1996-04-22
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RGNSHOW version 1.10
by
Charles D. Gaefke
Disclaimer
----------
The author of RGNSHOW is not responsible for any damaged, corrupted, lost,
or otherwise harmful occurrences which may occur from the use or inability
to use this program. This program has been tested and retested, and
debugged, by myself and others. To the best of my knowledge, RGNSHOW has no
bugs, and will not cause any corrupted or lost data on a properly configured
BBS. To the best of my knowledge, it will not do anything more than what is
documented herein. However, I guarantee NOTHING, except that this program
will take up hard drive space.
WARRANTY
--------
NO WARRANTY IS GIVEN, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE FUNCTIONALITY
OF THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM. BY USING THIS SOFTWARE, YOU ARE AGREEING NOT TO
HOLD THE AUTHOR, CHARLES D. GAEFKE, RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES EITHER
CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL, WHICH ARISE FROM YOUR ABILITY TO USE OR MISUSE
THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM. YOU ARE FURTHER AGREEING, WITH YOUR USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE PROGRAM, THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS ENTIRE DOCUMENT AND ARE FAMILIAR
WITH ITS TERMS AND AGREE TO EXEMPT CHARLES D. GAEFKE FROM ANY AND ALL
RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE EVENT OF ANY DAMAGES TO YOUR SYSTEM WHICH ARE CAUSED
EITHER THROUGH DIRECT OR INDIRECT USE OF THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM.
Shareware Concept/Grant of License
----------------------------------
RGNSHOW is a a fully-functional (non-crippled) Shareware utility. You are
granted a limited license to use and evaluate RGNSHOW for a period not to
exceed thirty (30) days from the date of your first use. Like all shareware,
you are expected to purchased a fully-licensed copy of RGNSHOW if you like
it, and wish to continue using it after the evaluation period. Registration
is only $5. Please see below for the registration form.
Use of RGNSHOW beyond the stated 30-day period from its first use without
purchasing a registered license to use RGNSHOW is a violation of this end
user license agreement, and a violation of the copyright held by the
author.
Distribution
------------
Feel free to distribute RGNSHOW among your sysop friends. However, I do
ask that do so only in unmodified format, in the distribution RGNS110.ZIP
archive, that contains the following files:
RGNSHOW.EXE
RGNSHOW.DOC
FILE_ID.DIZ
WHATS.NEW
Purpose of RGNSHOW
------------------
The purpose of RGNSHOW is to allow multi-node systems to show on the node
activity list in Renegade exactly what is going on in the background.
Common uses are "Mail Tossing", "Nightly Maintenance", and "Packing Mail".
But these are just examples. You can make it read whatever you want.
RGNSHOW is also commonly used to update the user activity for a user
playing a door game. RGNSHOW can show on the node activity list exactly
what the user is doing (via your parameters) without you passing all the
information for that particular user to RGNSHOW. All you have to do is
give RGNSHOW a node #, the path to your RENEGADE.DAT, and it will do the
rest. :)
The activity is listed in the Activity field in the node listing.
Requirements
------------
RGNSHOW requires Renegade version 04-05-96. Because RGNSHOW is commonly
used with door games, you must be familiar with how to setup door games on
your BBS. I have provided two example of how to use RGNSHOW, but your
needs may require more information than what I presented in the examples.
And, since BBS's are run by batch files, batch file knowledge is required
as well. As for hardware requirements, RGNSHOW requires a 80386 processor,
or better, to run.
RGNSHOW has been tested and it runs properly under DOS/Desqview and OS/2
Warp. Although RGNSHOW could work under other operating systems, such as
Windows 95, I can not guarantee it will.
Parameters
----------
C>RGNSHOW
Syntax:
RGNSHOW -R <Dir> -D <Activity> [-U <Name>] [-N x] [-A x] [-S M/F] [-# x] [-G/-I]
Parameters:
-R[enegade Directory] Location of the Renegade directory.
-D[oing] <Activity>) Activity.
-U[ser] <Name> User name; default = "The Computer". Optional.
-G[et] Uses user info from user online (for doors.)
Must be last command. Optional.
-N[ode] x Active node; default = 2. Optional.
-A[ge] x Age; default = 4. Optional.
-S[ex] M/F Sex; default = F. Optional.
-# User #; default = 1. Optional.
-I[nactive] Makes node inactive. Must be last command.
Parameter Description
---------------------
■ Renegade directory (-R)
This parameter IS required for RGNSHOW to know where your 'mult' and
'data' directory is located.
■ Activity (-D)
This parameter is also required. This is what is listed in the Location
field of the node listing. The ONLY time this parameter is not required
is when you are using the -Inactive option.
■ User name (-U)
Defaults to "The Computer". This is what is listed in the UserName
field of the node listing.
■ Get (-G)
When used, RGNSHOW reads the user's data from the node specified by the
-N parameter, and updates the user's node listing with the activity specified
by the -D parameter. Note that -N is REQUIRED if -G is used. All other
parameters (-A, -#, -U, -S), if specified, are ignored. This parameter
MUST be the last parameter, if used.
■ Node (-N)
Defaults to 2. This is the node that "The Computer" is listed as being
active on. In the evaluation version, this is limited to 2.
■ Age (-A)
Defaults to 4. This is the 'Age' of the "The Computer".
■ Sex (-S)
Defaults to Female. This is the 'Sex' of the "The Computer".
■ User Number (-#)
Defaults to #1. This option seems silly, but it is used in the
structures, so I threw it in. The only purpose I have found of this is that
if you are in the user editor while "The Computer" is active, this user
will have a little note above it "Note: This user is active on node #x".
■ Inactive (-I)
Makes the node inactive, essentially removing "The Computer" from the
node listing. This MUST be the last command if used.
Notes:
1) All these commands can be used in any order, except the Inactive option.
2) The parameters are case insensitive. That is, -i is the same as -I.
3) The parameters can be proceeded by a slash or dash. That is, /I is
the same as -I.
4) If there is a space in the string parameters (-D and -U) you MUST use
quotes. Example: -d "Nightly Maintenance"
5) There MUST be a space between the parameter and the option.
Example #1
----------
On my system, node 1 and 2 and for remote users, and node 3 is for local
users. Node 4 is what I use for "The Computer". When I run mail tossing
in the background, this is how I run RGNSHOW:
RGNSHOW -d "Tossing Mail" -n 4 -r c:\renegade
Now the node listing looks like:
──┬───────────────────┬────────────────────┬──────────────────┬─────┬─────┬───
N │User Name │Location │Activity │Avail│ S:A │Min
──┴───────────────────┴────────────────────┴──────────────────┴─────┴─────┴───
1 - - - - - -
2 - - - - - -
3 - - - - - -
4 The Computer Over here Tossing Mail No F:4 0
When mail tossing is done, this is executed:
RGNSHOW -n 4 -r c:\renegade -I
Which makes its node listing vanish.
Example #2
----------
When a user on node #1 enters a door game, such as Legend of the Red Dragon,
I have Renegade pass the node # with %N, like so:
1. Long descript :(L)egend of the Red Dragon
2. Short descript:(L)egend of the Red Dragon
3. Menu keys :L
4. ACS required :"s50"
5. Cmdkeys :DG
6. Options :lord.bat %N
Flags :None
and this batch file is executed:
@echo off
rgnshow -r c:\renegade -n %1 -D "Playing LORD" -g
cd \LORD
start.bat %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6
Now the node listing looks like:
──┬───────────────────┬────────────────────┬──────────────────┬─────┬─────┬───
N │User Name │Location │Activity │Avail│ S:A │Min
──┴───────────────────┴────────────────────┴──────────────────┴─────┴─────┴───
1 Mystic Dude Canonsburg, PA Playing LORD N M:19 31
2 - - - - - -
3 - - - - - -
4 - - - - - -
Time Estimation
---------------
RGNShow calculates the local time from the DOS environment variable TZ.
Most good BBS's should have this variable set already, since several
popular programs make use of it (such as Tick). If you do not currently
use TZ, and are not located in the eastern time zone (see note #2),
the TZ environment variable is not very difficult to add.
The TZ variable, is in the following format:
xxxNyyy
Where xxx is your time zone (ex: EST), N is the time zone difference between
your zone and Greenwich, and yyy is the your time zone initials if/when you
observe Daylight Savings time. The yyy is not necessary - if it is omitted,
it simply means you do not observe Daylight Savings time and the time
will not be adjusted.
Set the variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, by adding this:
SET TZ=xxxNyyy
substituting xxxNyyy with your settings, of course. For example, in my
AUTOEXEC.BAT, I have:
SET TZ=EST5EDT
Note 1: If you are unsure what the time zone difference there is between
your location and Greenwich, consider that the setting for Eastern Standard
Time is EST5EDT. If you live in California, you are three hours behind EST,
so you'd use PST8PDT.
Note 2: If TZ is not present, RGNSHOW assumes TZ=EST5EDT.
Registration
------------
RGNSHOW is Shareware. Shareware is based on the "try before you buy"
concept of software marketing. You may try RGNSHOW, and if you like it, you
are obligated to purchase a fully licensed copy. If you do not, you stop
using it and delete it from your system.
Until RGNSHOW is registered, it will display "UNREGISTERED" every time it
is run, and you will be limited to the use of 2 nodes ONLY.
Registration of RGNSHOW costs only US$5.00. Upon registration:
1) You will receive a registration key;
2) You will be supporting the shareware concept;
3) You will be encouraging me to write more utilities; and
4) All unregistered "features" will be removed.
To register, please print this form and mail it with your check or money
order to:
CHARLES D. GAEFKE
128 PLUM RUN ROAD
CANONSBURG, PA 15317
I will process your order for RGNSHOW upon receipt, and will deliver it
immediately using the method you have specified.
International orders welcomed! All personal checks, however, must be drawn
in US funds on a US bank. Canadian residents may obtain a money order in US
funds at their local bank or post office. Other countries please inquire at
your local bank or postal office about an International Money Order (IMO).
(cut here)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration form for RGNSHOW version 1.10.
Your REAL name:
Address #1:
Address #2:
City, State, Zip:
Country:
I can send you your registration key two ways:
1) I can crash it to you via Netmail if you have an address that I have a
nodelist for.
2) I can call your BBS and upload it (leave data phone #).
Preference:
These are not required, but I would appreciate you filling them out so I
know exactly what types of systems RGNSHOW is running on.
Hardware
CPU: RAM:
Enclosed is $____.
[ ] Check [ ] Money Order [ ] International Money Order (IMO)
By signing below, I agree that by registering this program, I am in no way
purchasing and am in no way granted partial ownership or rights to RGNSHOW.
I am paying for a non-transferable license to use RGNSHOW on my system
indefinitely and to support the author and the shareware marketing concept.
In return for my payment, however, I expect to receive a registration key
which will disable any unregistered "features" of RGNSHOW.
Signature: ______________________________ Date: __/__/__
Please make check or money order payable to Charles D. Gaefke.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bug Reports
-----------
At the present time, there are no known bugs with RGNSHOW. Hopefully there
will never be any. :)
In the event that a bug is found, however, please let me know! For me to
fix it, I will require as much information as you can give me. So, when
contacting me about a bug, please include:
Your operating system and version;
Version of Renegade you were using when the bug occurred;
Command line parameters used when the bug occurred;
Can you make RGNSHOW do this again? If so, how?
Any other information/comments you think will be helpful to me.
Miscellaneous Information
-------------------------
This is the second 'official' release of a program for me. My first was
GEMC, a program to keep a daily record of imported messages from GEcho.
There are more programs in the making, and still more ideas I haven't
started yet.
I am in no way affiliated with any group or company. I author alone.
RGNSHOW was compiled with Borland C++ v 3.1 creating 80386 code. That is,
RGNSHOW requires a 386 to run. If you are using a 286 or older, please,
for your sake, and your users, upgrade.
Source code is NOT available for sale or study.
RGNSHOW is coded for the Renegade 04-05-96 structures. As long as the
structures do not change, RGNSHOW will work for any subsequent upgrade. If
a release does come out with modified structures, I'll release an update of
RGNSHOW as soon as I get the structures for the upgrade. RGNSHOW will NOT
work with the 10-05-94 version of Renegade.
The latest version of RGNSHOW can always be FREQed as 'RGSNHOW' from
50:530/1 or 1:129/230.
Suggestions, Questions, and/or comments
---------------------------------------
Questions and comments about RGNSHOW, or any of my software, may be sent
to me via Netmail at 1:129/230@Fidonet.org or 50:530/1@RGSNet. Or, if
you prefer, you can snailmail me at
LOTL
c/o Charles Gaefke
128 Run Road
Canonsburg, PA 15317-9801.
-C. Gaefke