Night Owl 6

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Night Owl 6 / Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso / 033a / msg_200.zip / PCB-MSG.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-08-24 | 16KB | 584 lines

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ ╓──╖ ╓──┐ ╓─╖ ╓─┐┌─╖ ╓──┐ ╓──┐ ║ ║ ╟──╜ ║ ╟─╨╖ ═══ ║ └┘ ║ ╙──╖ ║ ─╥ ║ ║ ╨ ╙──┘ ╙──╜ ╨ ╨ └──╜ ╙──╜ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ Version 2.00 ║ ║ ║ ║ Copyright (c) 1991 Mark Klaamas ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Table of Contents ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 How Program Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Use of PCB-MSG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Structure of the PCB-MSG.DAT File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Set-up for file to write to ( no time ) . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Set-up for file to write to ( with time ) . . . . . . . . . . 4 Appendix A ■ Files Used from PCBOARD . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Appendix B ■ License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Appendix C ■ Caution: The News File . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Appendix D ■ Registering PCB-MSG . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Contacting the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page ii DISCLAIMER: Use this program at your own risk. Even though all the precautions have been taken to ensure reliability, make a backup first! This program does not physically write or modify any of the files it uses. Under NO circumstances am I to be held at fault for anything the program might have done. PCBoard is a trademark of Clark Development Company System Requirements: ------------------- - DOS based computer, version 2.0 or higher. - PCBoard software 14.x - 15k of free ram. - 20k of free disk space Purpose: -------- To count the number of messages on any PCBOARD SYSTEM(14.x) and place the result in a user-defined place. How Program Works: ----------------- This program will look in the PCBOARD.DAT file and find out where the CNAMES file is. Or the file with the conference information. It then goes to each message file and reads the number of active messages. It then sums all the answers for the conferences and writes the final to one or more specified files. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 1 IMPORTANT THIS PROGRAM ONLY READS THESE FILES, IT IN NO WAY WRITES TO THE PCBOARD FILES!!! The file(s) the program writes to are ONLY the files defined by the user. The file(s) are only written to in the place where you have defined the program to place the number of messages in. The Command Line: ----------------- If you load the program with a /p then the program will create a log file with a list of conference numbers and names, and the number of active messages in the conference. This file is called PCB-MSG.LST and will be placed in the directory from which the program was run from. If you load the program with a /T the program will look for and update a line with the time the program was run. Use of PCB-MSG: --------------- WARNING: This program can not be run if PCBOARD has locked the files using SHARE.EXE. This only occurs when running a network. This will cause the program to break out because it can not access the PCB files. Although this program could be written to use a network, it has been decided that this program was meant to be run during an event and it was not necessary to write a network version. Also, having a NON-Network version makes the program safer to run. If a file was being updated while PCB-MSG was reading/writing it, a problem could occur. Furthermore I have no network to do testing on. This program can be anywhere. It does not have to be in any particular directory. If you load the program from the DOS prompt it will assume you have a data file created called PCB-MSG.DAT, in the current directory. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 2 How to Use Colour: ------------------ The only way to include colour is to put a PCB @ colour code on the line before or the line after the message from this program. At present this program can not handle changing the colours in the message line. If demand warrents it, the ablility to uses color could be added. Structure of the PCB-MSG.DAT File: ---------------------------------- Line 1: Location of PCBOARD.DAT (full path and name) Line 2: The name of the BBS, to be used for writing data Line 3: The first file you want to write to. (full path and name) Line 4: same as line 3. The rest of the lines can be defined as files to write to. Set-up for file to write to ( no time ): ---------------------------------------- The first time you set up your file(s), you have to enter the prompt, as explained below. When you add your prompt, put in a dummy number of messages. About 12 characters, as the following example shows. First Time editing file example: -------------------------------- There are xxx,xxx,xxx messages on Mark's Test Board These x's will be replaced the first time you run the program. They are just there so that the program can get control of that part of the file. The prompt can occur anywhere in the text file as long as it has it's own separate line. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 3 This program looks for the words There are (in any case) and then the name of the BBS at the end of the line. Sample Output: There are 29,050 active messages on Mark's Test Board The program will place a line similar to this in the spot where it found the old one. Therefore, if you want the text centered you have to center it before you run the program. If this line does not exist nothing is done to the file. The only words that you can change on this line are the BBS Name which is at the end of the line. But, this BBS Name has to be the same as the BBS Names in your PCB-MSG.DAT file. See sample NEWS.TXT file for an example of how to use this program. Set-up for file to write to ( with time ): ------------------------------------------ Remember you have to load PCB-MSG with the /T switch for it to update the time. The first time you set up your file(s), you have to enter the prompt, as explained below. When you add your prompt, put in a dummy number for active messages and time as the following sample shows. First Time editing file example: -------------------------------- There are xxx,xxx messages on Mark's Test Board as of xx:xx pm today. These x's will be replaced the first time you run the program. They are just there so that the program can get control of that part of the file. The prompt can occur anywhere in the text file as long as it has it's own pair of lines. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 4 This program looks for the words There are (in any case) and then the name of the BBS at the end of the line. And for the time line it looks for AS OF (in any case) at the beginning of the line and the word TODAY. (in any case) at the end of the line. Sample Output: There are 29,050 active messages on Mark's Test Board as of 3:45 pm today. The program will place lines similar to this in the spot where it found the old ones. Therefore, if you want the text centered you have to center it before you run the program. If this line does not exist nothing is done to the file. The only words that you can change on this line are the BBS Name which is at the end of the line. But, this BBS Name has to be the same as the BBS Names in your PCB-MSG.DAT file. See sample NEWS.TXT file for an example of how to use this program. Appendix A ■ Files Used from PCBOARD -------------------------------------- PCBOARD.DAT - where the conference information file is. CNAMES.@@@ - to get the conference info. (path and name of msgs file) Every MSGS file - Reads the 8th to 12th bytes in the file for the number of active messages. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 5 Appendix B ■ License Agreement -------------------------------- If you have any suggestions, hints or god forbid bugs please contact me. This program has been released into SHAREWARE. You maybe copy and use this file in any way you see fit. This means that if you use this program on a regular basis, you have to pay for it. I feel a 30 day trial period should be more than sufficient to test if the program is worth while or not. At the end of the trial period you should either register the program or stop using it. You CANNOT modify this file or distribute it without the proper documentation. Appendix C ■ Caution: The News File -------------------------------------- If you edit your news file with a text editor that erases trailing blank spaces, make sure that you put in two trailing spaces after each prompt line. If the current line is expanded when the program runs, the text file will lose the next few characters, which might be the signal for the end of the line. Make SURE that there are trailing spaces on the lines with the prompts on it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 6 Appendix D ■ Registering PCB-MSG ---------------------------------- Why Register? The only reason you have to register this program is to fulfil the agreement of shareware. There are no disks sent out and no added features are available in a registered copy. The ONLY copy of the program is the one in the ZIP file. In my opinion, registering a program should be done because the author spent his time to create the program. If you register, it shows your appreciation to the author. What you get. The only thing you get from registering PCB-MSG is a sense that you have supported the SHAREWARE concept. As well, any suggestions you make will be looked at very carefully by myself. There is no DISK shipped with your registration. The only thing you would get is a letter of thanks from myself. How to Register. I can not except credit cards. Payment should only be in the form of a money order or check. Remit to: Mark Klaamas 13 Apollo Court Halifax, NS Canada B3M 1G9 The registration fee for this program is $5.00. Please include your name, mailing address. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 7 Contacting the Author: ---------------------- I can be reached, on various networks. The best places to find me are: NA-NET IBM Conference NA-NET COMM Conference U'NI-NET TECH Conference U'NI-NET Shareware Conference ILINK Shareware Conference I do follow different conferences but these are not appropriate conferences for questions related to PCB-MSG. Alternatively, you could send me a letter at the above address. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PCB-MSG Version 2.00 Copyright 1991 Page 8