Jason Aller Floppy Collection/196.img/WWIV412.ZIP/README.412

Text File | 1990-08-19 | 8KB | 169 lines

This file describes some of the new features in WWIV.  I may have missed
a few of the things, so don't be surprised if you find a few other
changes.  Since I've split up quite a few of the source files in order
to support overlays, I can't simply run the source files through a
'diff' program to find the changes.

/****************************************************************************/

WWIV v4.12:

Turbo C++ is now being used to compile WWIV, which supports overlays.
Many sysop and seldom-used functions are now in overlays, so you should
see about 55k more free than before.  Also, if you are in WWIVnet and do
not have the 'free36k' mod installed, you should see (gosh) about 36k
additional memory free (actually, more than that now).

an upload event may now be specified in init.  Replacement parameters
are %1 = chain.txt, %2 = path of file, %3 = filename of file.  For
example, "type %2%3" will type out the file (very worthless, but you get
the idea).  If the file is deleted by the program, then the upload is
aborted.  This is meant to be used for such things as virus checkers and
archive checking.

zmodem batch download - in the external protocol section of init, hit B
for batch.  My command line is "dsz port %2 speed %1 sz @%3" - the @
means to use a file list instead of specifying the filenames on the
command-line.  Once you've set the batch string, all the batch stuff
works the same, except at batch download time, the user has the option
of using zmodem batch instead of ymodem batch.

When extracting a message to a text file ('E' at the mail or scan
prompt), you now have the options of: "O)verwrite, A)ppend, N)ew name,
Q)uit", which should be pretty self-explanatory.

The /b parameter to the BBS did not work in v4.11.  That has been fixed.

In keeping with the new structure of WWIVnet, costs for network traffic
are no longer printed anywhere.

Validation of network posts before they are sent out on the network is
now an option in //boardedit.  If you set the network validation option
on a networked sub, no messages will be sent out on the network on that
sub until a sysop, co-sysop, or lcs (for that sub) validates the
messages (or removes them).  It works about the same as normal message
validation.

If you have a 'welcome.ans' file, the BBS will automatically detect if
the user supports ANSI, instead of asking the user.

The post/logon ration restriction should now work.

You can now specify a directory to be "archive only", in which case,
only files that have an extension matching one of those specified in
INIT will be allowed.

If the string "!-@REMOTE@-!" is received at the NN: prompt, the BBS
tries to run the program "remote", passing the modem speed like "/B2400"
(the com port speed should be left as is).  This is to allow an off-line
reader to hook into the BBS.

A new substitution parameter, %4, is available for external protocols
(and dsz batch download).  It is replaced with the actual modem speed,
as specified in init, to allow you to put in "estimate 0 %4" in your dsz
command-lines.  Also, the allowed lengths of the command-lines has been
increased a bit so it will maybe fit.

/****************************************************************************/

WWIV v4.11:

//pending from the main menu prints out network traffic pending
transmission.

the /c option from the main menu has been moved to the defaults section,
closer to where it should be.  Setting the extra colors causes the
transfer section to be printed out more colorfully.  In future versions,
the message base section may also get more colorful with this option
set.

Shrink for terminal program is now an option in init.  It should be
self-explanatory.

Free format phone is now an option in init.  If this is set to 'Y', a
new user may enter his phone number in any format he wants, up to 12
characters.  This is useful for non-US callers, where their telephone
format does not fit the ###-###-#### structure.

Using the shrink feature for on-line programs in v4.10 didn't always
work.  That is fixed now.

In v4.10, you could only //load messages up to about 25k and have it
work.  Now, the full 32k for messages is supported.

When you A)utoreply to email in v4.11, the mail is deleted only AFTER
you have replied, so that if you abort the reply, you will still have
the letter sitting there to re-read and perhaps re-reply to.

When using v4.11 and net18 or later, and a net update is received, the
BBS will shrink out to run network2.  Previously, there had been a
memory problem, and receiving net updates might cause the system to
hang.

When using the / option at WFC, you can now call out to any system
listed in your callout.net file.  If the BBS would not normally call the
system you specify at that time, you will get the question "Are you
sure?".

40 column messages work, finally.  Apparently they never worked in v4.xx
before, and noone has noticed until now.  I guess 40 column machines
really are dying off.

Moving files with extended descriptions in v4.10 would cause the BBS to
not correctly free up some memory.  This is fixed.

"ASK" in the transfer section for files that don't exist on disk is now
"N/A"

The user is now asked to enter an extended description for a file before
he uploads it.  This makes much more sense, and is actually a move
toward allowing batch uploading and a bimodem interface.

In v4.10, if the user ran a program requiring the BBS to shrink before
posting, the caller number would not really be incremented correctly.
That has been fixed.

A "post/call ratio" may now be specified.  It restricts the user from
downloading if he doesn't meet the post/call ratio.  The up/download
ratio is still applied, so a user must meet both ratios in order to
download.  Obviously, if both are 0, there is no downloading
restriction.

An all-new uedit search routine has been implemented, allowing much more
generalized searches, somewhat like you might use to search a real
database.  There is a reasonable help file for it in the help.msg file,
so be sure to install the new help.msg.  Go into uedit, hit / to get to
the search options, then hit ^O for on-line help, and it will describe
how the new search works.

New "region" listing available for posts/email on the From: line.  Make
sure you copy the 'regions.dat' file into your data directory to enable
this.

There is a new 'anony' option for message bases - "Real Name".  This is
kinda funky, and not really implemented fully yet, but if you are
registered and have the source code, you can add onto it.

Mailing lists are now supported for the multi-email option.  The files
*.mml in the data directory contain a listing of the users in that
mailing list, one per line, by name or number.  Such as, if you had a
file 'people.mml' in your data directory that had the numbers 1, 2, 3,
4, and 5 in it, one per line, you would have a mailing list.  The
mailing list is GLOBAL, ie, everyone has access to it.  When a user
specifies that mailing list, every user specified in it is added to the
destination list for the multi-email.  A user may then add another
mailing list, or delete people out of it.

"Optional lines" can now be specified in the default section.  This is
>NOT< the same as the extended description setting in the xfer default
section.  This is used to allow users to filter out optional lines in
messages, such as the much-too-common "tag lines" in WWIVnet posts.  A
setting of 0 (the default) will print out all optional lines, while a
setting of 10 prints out none of them.  Since this is a new feature, it
won't have any effect at all until people who make mods to the BBS start
supporting it.  Look for more info on how it works on WWIVnet in the
next few weeks.