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1990-11-22
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WC Fields - version 1.1
WILDCAT! user data field duplication checker
February 2, 1990
Revised November 22, 1990
(C) Copyright 1990 Judson McCranie. All rights reserved.
Judson S. McCranie
Software Solutions
2406 Orlando Drive
Valdosta, GA 31602
Ph: (912) 242-1405
The latest version of the program and support are available
through:
Land of Confusion (WILDCAT! BBS)
300/1200/2400 (MNP 5) 8,N,1.
Sysop: Guy Tyson
(912) 241-0591 (after 6/1/90)
NOTE: If you call the above number and don't get the board call
one of us a voice line (programmer: Jud McCranie 912-242-1405,
sysop: Guy Tyson 912-242-3792) for the new number.
This program is distributed on a "shareware" (try-before-you-buy)
basis. You are free to copy it and to distribute copies at cost.
You may not alter the program (or its documentation) or sell it
for profit. If you continue to use this program past a 30 day
trial period, you must register it by sending your name and
address along with the program name and version number with a $5
registration and license fee to me at the address above. You
will receive support for the program, announcements of new
versions of this program, and information about several other
programs. Please send any inquires, comments, or suggestions to
me at the address above. Even if you are not a registered user,
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.
INTRODUCTION:
This program reads your WILDCAT! user data fields and tests for
possible duplicate users (trying to get more time on the board,
etc). The program checks to see if any two users have the same
phone number, same birthdate, same or *similar* passwords, or
same or *similar* names.
The most unique feature of this program is the ability to
recognize slight variations of names and passwords. For
instance, using my own name as an example, the program recognizes
all of the following as being similar: "McCranie", "MCranie",
"McCrane", "McCraney", "McCrany", "MeCranie", "MeCrane",
"MeCrany", "MeCrani", and even "Macaroni". Additionally, the
program recognized all six variations of my password I tried as
being "similar". In practice, the program errs more in thinking
different names or passwords are similar more frequently than it
thinks similar names or passwords are different.
Of course, the program will make errors in both directions. It
cannot catch all such variations of a name or password, and it
will flag two names (or passwords) as being similar when they are
actually different.
Naturally, some "similarities" will be just coincidences. There
may be more than one user in a household giving the same phone
number. There is a surprising chance that birthdates will be
duplicated. For instance, many people are familiar with the
apparent paradox in which there is a greater than 50% change that
in a group of 23 people at least two will have the same birthdate
(generally different years). With 57 people, the chances of a
coincidence are over 99%.
The above considers birthdays regardless of the year. The result
is even more startling if the year is taken into account. If you
are looking for coincidences of the same birthday in the same
year some assumptions must be made. Assume that the ages of the
users are uniformly distributed throughout a 30 year period.
Then if you have 125 users then there is a greater than 50%
chance of a coincidence of birthday and year. With 300 people,
the chance of a coincidence is nearly 99%.
Actually, I don't see that asking for birthdate or phone number
at a WILDCAT logon provides much security unless it is done on
each call. If a person were able to guess or obtain someone
else's password then if they logon as that other person and are
not asked for verification then they can simply go to the User
Settings and obtain that person's phone number and birthdate, and
use it if they are ever asked.
It may be best if this program is known to sysops only. If
potential security breakers know that you are using it then they
can be more clever in their attempts to masquerade as more than
one user.
FILES:
You should find the following files in the archived file.
WCFields.EXE executable program
WCFields.DOC this documentation file
WCFields.XMP example of output
ORDERBLK.DOC registration form
OTHER .DOC other programs by this author
The program will generate the following file in the current
directory if any suspected duplicate users are found:
WCFields.DUP list of suspected duplicate users
EXECUTION:
WCFields must be in the same directory as WILDCAT's USERFILE.DAT
file, and that directory must be the current directory in order
to run. It will generate a file called WCFields.DUP in the same
directory which will list the suspected duplications.
The program opens the file USERFILE.DAT in "Share Read-only" mode
so there should be no problem when running it in a multiuser
system.
LIMITATIONS, ETC:
The program requires 192K available memory to run.
The program is currently limited to 10,000 different users. Note
that the program will work with over 10,000 users, but the
statistics will be compiled for only the first 10,000 users.
If you want to use this utility, then register your copy by
sending the registration fee of $10 to me at the address above.
Registration entitles you to future upgrades and support through
the following bulletin board:
Land of Confusion (WILDCAT! BBS)
300/1200/2400 (MNP 5) 8,N,1.
Sysop: Guy Tyson
(912) 241-0591 (after 6/1/90)
The latest version of WCFields should always be available on this
board.
If you like this program you may like my other WILDCAT! BBS
utilities - WCTop40 and WC-B-Day:
WCTop40 generates over a dozen top user bulletins and is very
flexible. Its most unique feature is a weighted point system
where the sysop can assign different point values to the number
of calls, uploads, downloads, messages, etc made by each user and
generates a list of the best users.
WC-B-Day generates bulletins listing users with birthdays this
week or month. This should be popular with the users.
WCFIELDS VERSIONS:
Alpha - 2-2-90. Alpha test.
1.0 - 2-3-90. Initial release.
1.01 - 2-5-90. Slight revision of output format.
1.1 - 11-22-90. Faster file access, smaller EXE file.
PLANNED ENHANCEMENTS IN FUTURE VERSIONS:
Command line options
Option of checking only the newest users
Better matching of similar passwords and names
Faster execution
Unlimited number of users
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Thanks to the users who sent in suggestions and the users who
have registered the program.
WILDCAT! BBS is by Mustang Software.
Thanks to Guy Tyson for being a tester and for letting the "Land
of Confusion" be the home board for my WILDCAT! utilities. This
program was written in Turbo Pascal 5.5 from Borland
International. The Turbo Professional 5.0 package by Turbo Power
software provided routines for screen editing in the setup
program, as well as a few other useful functions.