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Text File | 1993-07-15 | 32KB | 561 lines

07/15/93 [v3.0] ************ NOTE ****** WARNING ***************************** You MUST run CL30CVT.EXE to convert the ADS database. We have added new fields to handle changes incorporated in this release as well as preparing the files for future changes. Be sure to read the README.1st file!!!!!! ************************************************************** There has been a report of an INPUT PAST END OF FILE Error #62, when running the Classified maintenance program (CLPURGE). Based on what I found wrong, I am surprised that others have not had the same problem. Perhaps that is attributable to the fact that the CLPURGE program normally runs in a nightly event. On the Download menu, when selecting option 1, the caller was not being returned to the Download menu, but was rather placed in a loop, redisplaying the same prompt. This in effect made option 1 non-functional. Fixed a problem whereby a user whose security level was greater than the security level you assigned to MODIFY (in the CFG file), would not be able to modify their ad. If the security level was equal to the one in the CFG they could modify the ad. This problem has existed for a while and just surfaced recently. When caller first uses the door, their last-date-on will be set to 010180, instead of to the current date. Setting it to current date was confusing and when viewing ads they would take the default date (current date) and not see any (or very few) ads. The EXCHANGE file name in the config file is now a maximum of 6 characters in length. If you are using the Classified Exchange option, you will now be Exchanging MESSAGES as well as ADS!! Added an entry to the CFG file to give the Sysop 25 characters of data that will be tagged onto the line containing the ORIGIN BBS name. This is optional, however I would suggest you use it to show your BBS telephone number. This would be very helpful if you are participating in the exchanging of databases with other BBS'. Externalized all the Compression types and Protocol types. This means you will be able to use ANY protocol you wish. All you would have to do is add it to the PROTOCOL.DAT or COMPRESS.DAT files and create a small batch file for each and you are all set. See the Docs for more information about this option. We have supplied sample PROTOCOL and COMPRESS.DAT files as well as smaple batch files. All keyboard input will require that you press ENTER to signal a complete entry. Prior versions used a 'hot key' concept, but we received overwhelming feedback that it was best to go the ENTER key route. Less confusing for the users and less susceptable to line noise acting as an ENTER key press. Increased the size of the COST field to 25 characters. You now have the option to change from displaying everything in COLOR or Non-Color. There is an option on the menu to accomplish this. The User record will carry the COLOR/Non-COLOR choice, thus the setting will carry from logon to logon. Added a CLEAR SCREEN at the start of the bulletin created to be displayed on your BBS system. Removed the 2 compression options (ARJ & ZIP) from the configuration file, since the compression choices are now defined by the Sysop via an external file. Added an option to the main menu to allow caller to download the Classified Ads Offline Ads Reader CLREADER directly from the Classified Ads Door. You must ensure that CLREADER.EXE and CLREADER.DOC exist in the directory, individually. We will compress it using the callers choice of compression method! The screen that displays the summary of all ads, has been modified to remove COST field. This will make it easier to read (less cluttered). When modifying the description portion of an Ad, the description lines will now be numbered. When an Ad was entered into a PAY category, the person entering the Ad was not permitted to view, delete or modify it. This has been corrected, provided the caller has the proper security level to access the MODIFY/DELETE options as defined in the Configuration file. As the SYSOP, you can now enter Ads for others, by logging on normally and using Main Menu option #3. You will be prompted for the Poster's name. The rest of the data entry is the same for all callers. If the door does not detect you as the Sysop it will insert the name of the caller as the Poster. "Registered" will no longer "flash" on the opening screen. Any errors encounterd in the Category file will be identified by a line number and an Error number. The Error number will be explained in the DOCS. Displaying the categories to callers was becoming a long process due to the number of categories that you could potentially create. If you had 100 categories it would take a number of screens to present all of them. To help alleviate this task we have developed a higher level of categories called TOPICS. You will now be able to group all your categories into TOPICS. The TOPICS will be presented to your callers whenever they choose to display Categories or whenever he program deems it necessary (ie: Entering an AD). When they choose a TOPIC only those categories that you have grouped under that TOPIC will be displayed. You will have to create the TOPICS file AND add the appropraite TOPIC number to each category line in the CLASSIFY.CAT file. In prior versions all ads were purged based on a 'number of days to keep ads' value in each category definition in the CLASSIFY.CAT file. With this version we will use the 'number of days...' value to calculate an Ad Expiration date for all FREE categories. The Ad Expiration date will be calculated by adding the number of days specified in the Category file to the current date. This date is then carried with each Ad and all purging will be based on the date in each ad and not the category to which it is associated. In the case of ads that are added in PAY categories, the caller will be presented with a choice as to the length of time they wish to have the ad displayed. The choices will be (W)eekly, (M)onthly, (Q)uarterly and (Y)early. The program will automatically set the Ad Expiration based on the choice (W=7 days, M=30 days, Q=90 days and Y=365 days). The calculated date will be carried in each Ad same as it is in the FREE ads. Added a secondary detail screen to each ad so as to allow caller to leave descriptions of up to 30 lines. The caller gets 10 lines on the main screen and 20 lines on the secondary screen. All detail lines will now accomodate 75 characters per line. When the "Message(s) Waiting" message is displayed, it will now indicate the number of messages you have waiting. When a caller leaves an ad in a PAID AD category, a message will be generated to the Sysop containing information about the ad. The message will be sent to the name you enter for the new 'Sysop Logon Name' entry in the CFG file. Any message waiting for you will be contained in the Classified Ads message base only. A new option has been added to the CFG file to allow or not allow any of the Downloading options to be used. Category limitation has been lifted. Will now handle UNLIMITED number of categories. You can now accept payment for ads in advance. Once payment is received you can update the PREPAID file so that when the caller decides to enter an ad in a PAY category, their Ad will become VISIBLE IMMEDIATELY, rather than having to wait for you to make it VISIBLE manually. A new maintainance program has been introduced to combine a number of separate programs used in prior versions of Classify. The Exchange program will only export Ads/Messages not previously EXPORTED. The Bulletin, if you chose to create one, will not be recreated unless an Ad is entered or deleted. It was being recreated for every caller. Added "time left" display to Main Menu prompt A check will now be made to ensure that only legitimate Classified Export files are being Imported by CLEXCH. If a file is invalid, an entry will be made in the CLEXCH.LOG file with the name of the file in error. You can now control the categories you want to Export. This will allow you to maintain Local categories along with categories that are part of a network. It will also allow you to participate in more than one network. The caller will no longer be able to send a message to themselves. The Exchange program (CLEXCH.EXE) will now allow you to use the EXPORT option multiple times. Prior versions would overlay an existing Export file and you would lose the previously exported ads. With this version CLEXCH will add 2, randomly generated, characters to the name you supplied in the CFG file. Added another option the CLASSIFY menu... an option to accept and process uploaded messages, created by the CLREADER program (offline ads reader) in response to posted ads. Upgraded CLREADER (offline ads reader) to allow caller to respond to downloaded ads and upload the resulting message file to the CLASSIFY Door. The DISPLAY option now has the option to choose the number of days, prior to the current date, from which to begin searching for new ads. CLREADER has been enhanced to allow the user to reply to an Ad and upload the message to the CLASSIFED ADS Door. It will also allow the user to print a hard-copy of any Ad they choose. The CLREADER Docs have been changed as well. When the DISPLAY option is selected, the caller will be able to enter the number of days back from the current date from which to begin displaying Ads. This is in addition to the 2 other options (entering a full date or using the last-date-on). The PROTOCOL.DAT file can now be made node-specific to accommodate using special information that is required for certain nodes and not for all nodes. The IMPORT function for CLEXCH was very slow at times, dictated by the number of Ads in the Database and the number of Ads being imported. I believe I have found a way to speed things up. Changed the Ad display prompt, "Caller Name" to "Posted By" and adjusted some colors in the ad header display. Added a new option to the CLMAINT program to check for and mark for deletion any duplicate ads found in the database. In the Message Center, if you logon as the Sysop and chose option 2 or 4, they acted the same in that they showed the Sysop EVERY message. A change was made to distinguish between the 2 options and only show messages the Sysop entered if option 2 was chosen and ALL messages if option 4 is chosen. This was the original intention of the 2 options but somewhere along the line it merged into one. New options added to CLEXCH.EXE if you are acting as a HUB in a Classified Ads network. Added support for the PCBoard /M version Re-vamped the Download section. Should make it a little easier by not requiring the caller to go thru a menu of things to do but rather the program will 'walk' them through it. Added an option to the CLMAINT module to allow Sysop to re-index the ADS and MESSAGES Databases. 01/05/93 [v2.0] Special temporary version .... 12/27/92 [v1.9] BRUN45.EXE no longer required! Added support for Fossil-based Multi-Port cards! When caller was required to enter a Category from the list presented, the program was allowing no input and defaulting to a random category. Now, if no Category is selected, the program will go back to the Main Menu. When displaying the available Categories, the program would not display any Categories that the caller was not allowed to access due to the Security level for that particular Category in the CLASSIFY.CAT. This has been changed to show ALL Categories, but NOT show the Category number for those the caller does not have access to. Certain places in the program did not stop displaying the Category files if the Categories were blank. It insisted on displaying all 340 Category entries. New option added to Main Menu... DOWNLOAD ADS. You can download ads from ALL categories or indivually selected categories. Options to select from last date called or from a particular date forward. This will require a CHANGE TO THE CLASSIFY.CAT FILE. You MUST ADD another field to the Category file to indicate if you want the ads in EACH category to be DOWNLOADABLE (Y) or not (N). Classified Ads supports either PKZIP or ARJ file compression. You must define which one or both in the CFG file. Please make the appropriate adjustment before running the door or you will encounter an Error 62 (Input Past End of File)... Added a SETUP program to help in the initial setup or editing of the Configuration file. Just type CLSETUP and supply the required information. When using the "Display All Ads" option off the main menu and you chose (S)hort display, the program would always return to the beginning of the ads list rather than pick up the display from the last ad you asked to see in detail. It will now pick up the list from the point of the last selection. With this release you can now define those categories that you want to make 'pay-to-advertise' categories. The category file requires a new parameter to be added to each category listed. If you want a category to accept paid advertising then use a Y else use an N. If you declare a category to be a 'pay category' the caller may post his/her ad, but the ad will remain INVISIBLE until you make it VISIBLE thru the NEW maintenance program (CLPAYMNT.EXE). In addition you can have a file displayed to the caller if they choose a 'pay category'. You may have one display file that will be displayed for every 'pay' category chosen OR you can create an individual display file for each 'pay' category. This is defined in detail in the CLASSIFY.DOC file. A new program has been included in this version that will make it a little easier for your callers to read the downloaded ads offline. After downloading the selected ads, the caller uses CLREADER to read the ads, one at a time. The caller must first unarchive the file and then use the resultant file as input to CLREADER. The first iteration of this reader is rather simple in functionality, and will be expanded in the future. Place CLREADxx.ZIP on your board for Download by your users. It contains a FILE.DIZ descriptor file. 10/12/92 [v1.8] Added support for TRIBBS software. We now access the TRIBBS.SYS system file directly! Now supports the shorter version of DOOR.SYS. However, it's use is NOT recommended, especially in a multinode environment. After a CHAT or DROP-TO-DOS the game screen will now be restored to its original state. Made the name of the CLEXCH EXPORT file name configurable by adding it to the CFG file. See DOCS! CLEXCH will now IMPORT all files it finds in the current directory, with an extension of .EXP. It will import ALL of them during one execution of the program. This will help those that have set themselves up as a HUB. Prior versions of CLEXCH required each EXP file to be imported individually during separate executions of the program. Added another COMMAND line option, IMPEXP, to CLEXCH. This option will signal CLEXCH to do an IMPORT of all .EXP packets and follow it automatically with an EXPORT of the updated database. All IMPORT and EXPORT transactions are now recorded in a file called CLEXCH.LOG. If the file exists it will append the information, if not it will create the file and add the information. Thus you are free to delete it at any time. We wish to thank the Sysop of Window In Time BBS for the working example of a Classified database exchange Batch file and associated documentation. You can find it in the Classified docs at the end of the Classified exchange explanation. Please feel free to contact the Sysop at the FIDO and/or BBS number supplied for further help!! Expanded the maximum number of CATEGORIES from 34 to 340 ! Made the WELCOME and GOODBYE filenames configurable, by allowing the Sysop to define them in the CFG file. Introducing a FOUL LANGUAGE checker. With this version you can have CLASSIFIED check for words you deem offensive. The program will check the MESSAGES, ALL description lines, Cost line, Contact line and Item line against a list of words you supply, in ASCII format, in a file called TRASHCAN. If a match is found the offending word(s) will be changed to asteriks (*). TRASHCAN can contain a maximum of 100 words. 09/17/92 [v1.7] Reported "OVERFLOW" error in CLPURGE. Seems as though there was some null records in the CLASSIFY.DAT file. I added some code to check for this and mark it as being deleted. Not sure where or how it came to be, but I will be doing some ongoing testing. CLEXCH was exporting null records instead of records that reflected the database. Therefore the file size looked as though it was correct, when in fact it was not. Fixed some screen display problems in CLEXCH. Screen should now restore after CHAT is engaged. 09/02/92 [v1.6] Well, v1.5 slipped out with a bug in it so we are forced come out with 1.6... If security levels for DELETE and MODIFY, as defined in the configrations file, were lower than the caller's security level, the callers were denied access to those functions. It would only work if you were the Sysop or if you left it at 0 in the configuration file. 09/01/92 [v1.5] A reported problem relating to Sysop not being able to access the MODIFY, ADD, DELETE functions if the config file contained a security value other than 0 for those options. Made some changes to reduce the delay present when displaying the opening screen. This change will affect registered versions. Non-registered will still have a slight delay. File structure changes made to CLPURGE to correct the Error 62 problems. In the unregistered version the Sysop was not able to change the security levels for the ADD/MODEIFY/DELETE options. This was an oversight on my part as I left code in the program while testing. With this version your callers can now leave and receive messages, independant of the BBS software message base. CLASSIFY now has its own message database. Callers are notified of any pending messages when they open the door or they can choose option #7 from the main menu and then option #1 from the Message Center menu to check for mail. They can also reply to any messages they read. This also ---> requires an ADDITION to the CFG file to control the minimum security level that can access the message base. With this version the ADOPT-A-DOOR option, as well as the recognition of anyone that has helped register the Door has been removed. This was required to make room for the code necessary to implement the new message capability. A new option has been added as part of the MODIFY command to change the Category of the ad being modified. Available only as a sub-option of the MODIFY command. ---> YOU MUST DELETE LINE #6 FROM YOUR CONFIGURATION FILE!!!!!!! (THE LINE FOLLOWING THE REGISTRATION NUMBER) Changed CLPURGE to pack the Message database. It will purge all deleted messages found. 08/09/92 [v1.4] If you were trying to turn off the ADOPT-A-DOOR option thru the configuration file, it was not working. I was forcing it on in unregistered versions. Fixed! The Short display was showing the cost of an item, even if the category was setup to not show the cost field. It was picking up the cost from a prior record. You now have a choice as to whether you want the dates in the American (MMDDYY) or European (DDMMYY) format. This is configurable in the CFG file. Expanded the number of categories to 34. Changed the message presented to a user that did not seem to have ANSI loaded. The old message referred to CLASSIFY as a game, the new message refers to it as a Door. With this version of Classified Ads we are making available the ability for you to setup a network of BBS' to share or exchange Classified Ads databases. You will have to run a conversion program and make a change to your CFG file to choose whether you want to display the name of the BBS that the Ad was originated on. Note: To import/export the databases requires an optional program, called CLEXCH and requires a separate registration. Added several options to the Configuration file related to the Database Exchange feature. You must make the changes regardless of whether you will be using the Exchange feature. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | You MUST run the conversion program, called CLCONVRT | | regardless of whether you will be using the Exchange feature. | | To execute the conversion program, enter the following after | | changing to the directory containing the CLASSIFY database: | | | | CLCONVRT CLASSIFY.CFG | | | | If you use a different name for the CFG file, substitute that | | name for CLASSIFY.CFG. | | | | THIS CONVERSION PROGRAM IS TO BE RUN ONLY ONCE! | | | | BACKUP CLASSIFY.DAT and CLASSIFY.INX first !!!!!!!!!!! | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------| The DELETE option will now display all ads entered by the caller (or ALL if Sysop is logged on) in the short format and allow caller/Sysop to pick the one they want to DELETE. It will then display the ad in deltail and ask if you wish to delete it and then ask a second time to avoid problems. The MODIFY option will now display all ads entered by the caller (or ALL if Sysop is logged on) in the short format and allow caller/Sysop to pick the one they wish to MODIFY. The ad is then displayed for modification. When MODIFYing the (L)ong Descriptions the program would not accept a 2 digit line number. Therefore if you tried to Modify Long Description line 10 it would place you on line 1. |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Expanded the Category file to include another field. This | | will allow you to set a security level for each category. If | | the caller's security level is less than this security level, | | they will NOT be able to enter or view an ad in that category.| | A category security level of 0 allows anyone to have access. | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| If the program finds a file called WELCOME, it will display that file after the opening screen and before the main menu screens. WELCOME must reside in the same directory as CLASSIFY.EXE If the program finds a file called GOODBYE, it will display that file when the caller exits the program. It will display prior to displaying the file called ADOPT.SYS (if you have created it). GOODBYE must reside in the same directory as CLASSIFY.EXE |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Added 3 options to the Configuration file to give Sysop | | control over which Logon Security Levels can access the | | Add, Delete and Modify options. | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| Added another option to display the Categories from the Main Menu. 06/18/92 [v1.3] There has been a number of requests (more like pleas <g>) that I do something about the display and acceptance of the date entered when the caller is in the Display option. I do hope that this meets with everyones acceptance. 06/14/92 [v1.2] CLPURGE would not recognize a registered copy of CLASSIFY if you were running GT Power and pointing to GTUSER.BBS on the first line of the config. New CLPURGE.EXE enclosed. 05/31/92 [v1.1] In unregistered version, the program would not allow the user to enter a cost amount and would show the Want Ad category as deleting messages after 0 days. Added a word-wrap routine to the program. It will be in effect when a caller is entering the Long Description. It will not be in effect when you are modifying a single line in the Long Description nor for any other input area. The text in the Long Description will no longer be converted to upper case. It will remain as the User inputted it. 05/22/92 [v1.0] Initial release