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EAZENTR3.EXE V3.57
------------------
Front Door - Bulletin Program for EaziLink V3 and Eazihost V1
-------------------------------------------------------------
7th May 1990
Disclaimer
----------
This program is being put into the Public Domain and may be freely
distributed on the understanding that no responsibility can be
accepted for any problems arising from its use. To the best of our
knowledge, it is 'Bug free' and serves its intended purpose.
No charge, other than a nominal charge for duplication and postage may
be made for it and it should only be supplied as a single ARC, ZIP or
PAK file called EAZENTR3.ARC, EAZENTR3.ZIP or EAZENTR3.PAK, containing
the EAZENTR3.EXE, EAZENTR3.DOC and TEXTFILE.BAT files.
Included files
--------------
EAZENTR3.EXE - Program File.
EAZENTR3.MNU - Example Main Menu file.
*.MNU - Skeleton example menu files.
*.HLP - Sample EaziHost Help files.
*.NWS - Sample News files.
*.INF - Sample Information files.
*.BAT - Example Batch files to call doors etc.
Note: If you wish to use the sample files, it will be necessary to
edit them to change the name of the BB and also any paths, filenames
etc, which may differ from one installation to another.
Overview
--------
The main objective of this program is to enable the Sysop to bring
items to the callers attention before they get involved with the main
Bulletin Board. It may, however, be used in any situation where
EaziLink/EaziHost allows the running of door programs and its uses are
not just limited to providing help or news, as it can be used as a
means to run further door programs.
EazEntr3 is ideal as a means of notifying people of any system
changes, items of interest etc and also provides a means of offering
initial guidance to new users and detailed help with making the most
of the BB. It also provides a mechanism to offer a questionnaire to
new users, or, for that matter, any other program.
Lastly, it allows special access for people designated as Sub-Sysops.
Sub-sysop options on the menu are only displayed if the caller is a
Sub-Sysop. This can be used to run a program, shell out to DOS, or
lead to a further menu with a range of options.
The principle behind EazEntr3 is based on a main menu, with up to 16
options, from which either further menus may be called, files
displayed, or other programs run.
In addition, parameters may be specified to determine how, or even
whether, menu entries are displayed, depending on the status of the
caller.
Setting up EazEntr3
-------------------
It is recommended that all the files which are a part of this program
are placed into a sub-directory of their own, for convenience, but
this is not essential as long as EAZENTR3.EXE and EAZENTR3.MNU are in
the same directory.
Note: Some of the included files contain pathnames which may differ
from the names of the directories and drives on your set up, in which
case they will require editing.
EAZENTR3.MNU file
-----------------
Note: This file is required and the name MUST NOT BE CHANGED.
EAZENTR3.MNU specifies the entries to be displayed in the main menu
and the effects there selection will have.
Menus are displayed vertically and may consist of up to 16 entries.
The character used to select each option is also specified and the
Description should also contain the required character.
EAZENTR3.MNU serves two purposes.
Firstly, three optional special lines may be included, to specify the
text for the menu header, the prompt for input and a Sub-Sysop file,
containing the names of any Sub-sysops, if required.
Each is preceded by its own identifier:-
HOSTMAIN: - Required. Full path to Host Main Directory. Required if
error messages are to be appended to SYSTEM.ERR file used
by EaziHost. If this entry is omitted, a SYSTEM.ERR file
will be created in the current directory.
VERT: - Optional. The entry takes the same format as used in
EaziLink/Host VERTICAL.MNU file and allows customisation
of the way that the selection characters are displayed.
The default colours used in EaziLink/Host will be used
unless EaziLink pseudo codes are included in the entry.
HEAD: - Optional. A single line containing the required menu
heading.
The default colours used in EaziLink/Host will be used
unless EaziLink pseudo codes are included in the entry.
PROMPT: - Optional. A single line containing the required 'request
for selection of an option'.
The default colours used in EaziLink/Host will be used
unless EaziLink pseudo codes are included in the entry.
SUBSYSOP: - Optional. The full path and name of a text file
containing the First and Last Names of all sub-sysops.
The subsysop file entries should contain ONLY the First
and Last names, with one person per line.
Secondly, the remainder of the file may contain UP TO 16 entries to be
offered by the Front Door Menu. The 'X' and/or 'B' options are counted
as part of the 16 possible entries.
These entries take the following format:-
t; k; Descrip; Name; d
t - Type of entry. Options are:-
X - Exit from program. One entry of this type is REQUIRED
D - run a DOOR program
M - multiple entry - goes to a sub-menu
S - Single file to be displayed
B - jump straight Back to Main Menu from any Sub-Menu.
NOTE: This option is only valid in Sub-Menus
Note: One entry of type 'X' MUST be present in the Main
menu. Sub-Menus may contain either an 'X', or a 'B'
entry or both types of entry, but at least one or
the other is required.
k - Key character for menu selection. 'Q' for 'Quit' option
etc. Any single character. Can be a single digit, if
preferred.
Note: Each entry must be an exclusive character. If the
same character is used for more than one entry, it will
only be possible to select the first.
Descrip - Text description of entry to be displayed. EaziLink
pseudo codes may be included as long as the overall
length of the string is not more than 60 characters. If
no colour codes are included, EaziLink/Host default
colours will be used.
Name - This varies according to type of entry.
Paths may be included:-
With D - should be the full command line of the door
program to be called.
Certain EaziLink variables may be passed:-
%ver, %first, %last, %newuser, %ansi, %hotkey
Note: If a path is included, EazEntr3 selects
the specified directory and drive as the current
directory and drive before the program or batch
file is run and restores the original settings
on return.
With M - should be the name of the menu file containing
details of the entries in the Sub-Menu. Any file
name or extension may be used. (See SubMenu
below)
With S - should be the name of the file to be displayed.
With X - Leave blank, as it serves no purpose.
d - Used to determine how, or whether, the entry will be
displayed. Certain characters may be used in combination,
although normally only one will be required.
Valid characters are:-
F - flash entry if a First time user.
O - show Only if the person is a first time caller.
S - show only if a Sub-sysop list exists and the
caller is on the list.
U - flash entry if Updated or new since date of last
call.
Note for EaziLink Host Mode users:
Only the 'S' option has any relevance to EaziLink users
as the necessary variables to be checked for dates and
NewUser status are only implemented in EaziHost. If the
others are used, they will just be ignored.
Note: All semi-colons must be present even if entries are left blank.
The '^I' pseudo code (the TAB code) may be used to offset menus,
headers, prompts and the positioning of the selection characters
(using VERT:) to the right.
Note: Whilst the '^I' pseudo code is recognised by EaziHost as
standard, EaziLink does not recognise it and it will only work with
EazEntr3. Do not expect it to work in EaziLink V3!
Note: If NO colour codes are included in the 'HEAD:', 'PROMPT:',
'VERT:' and 'Descrip' fields, the default colours used in
EaziLink/Host will be used. If they are provided, they will be used
instead of the defaults.
See the EAZENTR3.MNU file for examples of entries.
If the 'U' option is specified, EazEntr3 will compare the date/time
stamp of the file specified for the entry in the Name field and if it
is the same as, or more recent than, the DateLastOn, the entry will be
marked '* NEW *' (or '* PLEASE READ *' in the case of a new user). Not
applicable for use with EaziLink V3 Host Mode.
Similarly, if the caller is a new user and the entry type is 'F' for
First time caller, it will be marked '* PLEASE READ *'. Not applicable
for use with EaziLink V3 Host Mode.
When ANSI mode is selected, the special markers will also flash.
Sub-Menu Files
--------------
Sub-menu files have exactly the same format as EAZENTR3.MNU, but may
be given any name. We use names with a '.MNU' extension for clarity.
Note: The 'HOSTMAIN:' entry is only required in EAZENTR3.MNU. If
included in other menus, it will be ignored.
Sub-Menus may be nested to a considerable depth, although this will
rarely be required. The precise depth is determined by the amount of
computer memory available, but is extremely unlikely to be reached in
normal circumstances. The program has been tested to a depth of 100
sub-menus, but if you do encounter strange results, try reducing the
depth of sub-menu nesting.
Note: The 'B' type (See 'EAZENTR3.MNU File' above) may be used to jump
straight back to the Main Menu from a sub-menu. This may be useful
when using nested sub-menus, as it removes the need to work back
through all the sub-menus. Both 'X' and 'B' types may be used in sub-
menus to provide a choice of 'backing up' through the menus, or
jumping straight back.
Setting up EazEntr3
-------------------
EazEntr3 is primarily intended for use with EaziHost, although it may
also be used with EaziLink. The following instructions describe its
use with EaziHost.
EazEntr3 runs as an 'EaziLink Type 2 Door' program and may be run
wherever EaziHost provides the facility to run a door. The most
natural place to run it is either via ENTRY1.HST or, perhaps,
ENTRY2.HST. It may also be useful to run it from the main
EaziLink/EaziHost Doors menu as well as from The ENTRY?.HST locations,
enabling callers to get extended on-line help whilst in the main BB.
The following is an example of a typical entry in ENTRY1.HST:-
0; Y; 2; Descrip; C:\ENTRANCE\EAZENTR3.EXE V%Ver H%HotKey A%Ansi
D%DateLastOn N%NewUser F%First L%Last CN
(Note: The two lines of the entry should really be one long line, with
the 'A%ansi' separated from the 'D%DateLastOn' by a space)
Note for EaziLink Users:
The %DateLastOn and %NewUser variables are only supported in EaziHost
and should be omitted from the line when used with EaziLink. %ver is
not supported by Eazilink V3, but may be included. The effect of this
is that it is not possible to make use of the 'F' and 'O' parameters
to flash new entries or display entries only to New Users, nor to
flash entries which have been updated since the last call with the 'U'
option.
0 - specifies an access level of zero, so all users can
access the program.
Y - Specifies that EaziHost's 'Soft re-boot recovery' should
be used if necessary.
2 - Specifies the program is a Type 2 Door program.
Descrip - Serves no purpose when used in ENTRY?.HST files and may
be blank, but should be the description to be displayed
when used in DOORS.HST or any other Doors which display a
menu of options.
The remainder of the line is the command to call EazEntr3 and the path
to the program should be included if the program is not in the current
directory, as well as the '.EXE' extension. The EaziLink/EaziHost
%variables are required to pass the necessary information to EazEntr3.
Note: Each %variable is preceded by a single character, with NO space
following and is required. The 'CN' suppresses the display of the
Copyright message.
Using a Batch file to call EazEntr3
-----------------------------------
In certain circumstances it may be necessary to call EazEntr3 via a
batch file, so that other tasks may be executed as well as EazEntr3
run. If so, the %variables should be passed to the batch file and then
passed on to the program from the batch file. It is also important
that the batch file changes to the directory containing EazEntr3,
before running it.
Example Batch file
------------------
Assuming ENTRY1.HST contains the following entry to run a batch file
called ENTRY1.BAT:-
0;Y;2;Dummy;C:\EAZIHOST\ENTRY1.BAT V%Ver H%HotKey A%Ansi D%DateLastOn
N%NewUser F%First L%Last
The batch file would contain:-
ECHO OFF
REM Do what you want here, such as run a Quote creation program
REM then change to \ENTRANCE directory
CD \ENTRANCE
EAZENTR3 %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 CN
REM Do whatever you want here also.
Error Messages
--------------
With the exception of error messages which occur through incorrect
parameters being passed to EazEntr3 (which will be picked up during
initial installation of the program), all system errors as a result of
incorrect paths, filenames etc are displayed on screen AND written to
the SYSTEM.ERR file in the Host Main Directory.
SYSTEM.ERR is created by EaziHost and provides a convenient way for
the Sysop to check on errors. If no SYSTEM.ERR file is found, a new
file will be created. The entry is in the same format as used by
EaziHost and includes the name of the program from which the error
originated, the current system date and a description of the error.
History
-------
3.50 - 05/01/90 - Initial pre-release Beta test version.
3.51 - 21/01/90 - First release version.
- includes a number of enhancements over the Beta-test
version, including 'nested' menus.
3.52 - 02/02/90 - System Errors are now written to SYSTEM.ERR file in
Host Main Directory, in line with EaziHost.
- Makes full use of COLOUR.HST and VERTICAL.MNU files
unless prompts have been re-configured in one of the
Menu files.
3.55 - 04/04/90 - Only minor changes, mostly as a result of modified
libraries to increase efficiency.
3.57 - 07/05/90 - Added facility to jump straight back to Main Menu
from any nested sub-menu. See 'EAZENTR3.MNU File'
and 'Sub-Menu Files' for details.
- Fixed bug which caused %DateLastOn and %Ver not to
be passed on to another program correctly.
David Foster
H.L.C. Services
High Leys
Crook
Kendal
Cumbria
LA8 8LF
END