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Sysop Tools - GT Power Host Utilities (C)Copyright P & M Software Co. 1988. (C)Copyright Chris B. Smith 1987, 1988. All rights reserved. Version 1.10 DisclaimerDisclaimer Sysop Tools, and this manual, are provided AS IS without anyAS IS warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. P&M Software Co. and Chris B. Smith specifically DISCLAIM all warranties. IN NO EVENT SHALL P&M DISCLAIM IN NO EVENT SHALL P&M SOFTWARE CO. OR CHRIS B. SMITH BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF SOFTWARE CO. OR CHRIS B. SMITH BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. FROM THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. This manual was produced with Sprint: The Professional Word Processor. Sysop Tools is a trademark of Chris B. Smith. GT POWER is a trademark of P & M Software. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. ContentsContents Introduction 1 Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features of Sysop Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapter 1 Getting Started 4 1.1 Backing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.2 Batch Files & Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.2.1 GTLOCAL.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.2.2 GTREMOTE.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.2.3 Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.3 Generic Tool Interface (GTI) . . . . . . . . 6 1.4 Navigating in Sysop Tools . . . . . . . . . 6 1.4.1 Local Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.4.2 Remote Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Chapter 2 User File Maintenance 8 2.1 Change User Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.2 Scan/Edit Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.2.1 Name Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.2.2 Access Level Scan . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2.3 Sequential Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2.4 Banned Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.2.5 Deleted Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.3 Add New User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.4 Delete Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.4.1 Inactive Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.4.2 User Name Delete . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.5 User File Sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.6 Global Class Change . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.7 Pack User File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Chapter 3 Message Area Maintenance 13 3.1 Compress Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.2 Renumber Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.3 Delete Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.4 Validate Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Chapter 4 File Area Maintenance 16 4.1 Change File Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4.2 Add Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4.3 Validate Files.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 4.4 Move Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 i Chapter 5 Reports 18 5.1 User Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 5.2 Message Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Chapter 6 Other Functions 19 6.1 Archive GT Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6.2 Unarchive GT Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 6.3 Shell to Dos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 6.4 Dos File Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Chapter 7 Editor 22 7.1 Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Appendix A Crash Recovery 23 Appendix B Editor Commands 24 ii IntroductionIntroduction GT POWER, the brainstorm of Paul Meiners has grown tremendously during the past few years. It has evolved in size and function from a simple terminal program to a complete bulletin board system supporting Netmail, Echomail and an enhanced terminal program. Several utilities have been written to assist the GT POWER Host Mode sysops in maintaining their systems. None of the utilities developed to date utilizes pull-down menus and pop-up windows. Today's sophisticated user has come to expect these features. It is for these reasons Sysop Tools was developed. We hope you find Sysop Tools to be as enjoyable and easy to use as GT POWER has been over the years. Like GT POWER, Sysop Tools will continue to be in the state of "becoming", with enhancements based on user input. Please keep us informed of any suggestions, gripes or compliments (everyone likes those) you may have. Without your input Sysop Tools will become dormant and will fail to fulfill your needs. Technical Specifications Technical Specifications Any system successfully operating as a GT POWER Host is compatible with Sysop Tools. Sysop Tools as well as GT POWER 14.00 have support for Expanded Memory (EMS), specifically the Lotus, Intel, Microsoft (LIM) specification. Running the overlaid version of either of these programs with EMS memory, will cause the overlay files to be loaded into expanded memory saving anywhere from 40 - 120k of conventional memory for use by other software such as memory resident programs! Sysop Tools offers three major modes of operation. First there is the direct video mode with pull-down menus and pop-up windows. This mode utilizes direct video access. Support for a Microsoft compatible mouse is included in this mode of operation. This mode is accessed by typing STOVL at the command line. Secondly, there is a BIOS mode. Some multitasking software may require this mode to work properly. This mode is accessed by typing STOVL /BIOS at the command line. Thirdly, there is a DOS mode. This mode can be used to do system maintenance from a remote terminal. This mode is accessed by typing STOVL /DOS at the command line. If you are using the unoverlaid version of Sysop Tools substitute STUNOVL for STOVL in the examples above. Features of Sysop Tools Features of Sysop Tools o 43 line EGA Support o 50 line VGA Support o Expanded Memory Support o Crash Recovery o Full Remote Maintenance o Built in Wordstar(Tm) compatible Editor o Full Backup & Restore o Generic Tools Interface (GTI) Compatible o File Base Maintenance o Message Base Maintenance o User Record Maintenance o Limited Reporting Capability o DOS File Maintenance Credits Credits I would like to thank the following people for their help and support during this endeavor. First comes my wife. She has put up with not spending any time with me for over four months now. For that reason I hereby dedicate this program to her. Without her patience and understanding none of this would have ever come to pass. I would also like to thank Mr. Paul Meiners. Without his patience, understanding and guidance the last few weeks would have been one heck of a lot worse. Oh yeah, without GT I would not have a program to write this program for. Mr. Dave Steinman was instrumental in the initial testing of Sysop Tools. He has put in many hours (not to mention the phone bills) in getting Sysop Tools to its present state. He also wrote - 2 - 90% of this documentation. If the documentation is bad - blame him. If the program is bad - blame me. Mr. John Perry has put in many hours of testing. Without his help several bugs would have been released with this code. You all need to give him a pat on the back. Mr. Rick Kunz has also put in many hours testing and benchmarking. He has been very patient with me. For that reason I owe him more than I will ever be able to repay. There are many others too numerous to name here who have helped in one way or another. Some gave moral support. Some gave of their time. Some just showed interest and therefore made it all worthwhile. Technical Support Technical Support If you need technical support, please use one of the following methods of contacting me. I plan to support and, with your help, enhance this product for a long time to come. o The Private Sector BBS GT Net/Node 001/002 (713) 664-7679 300/1200/2400 N-8-1 24hrs o GT NET Echomail Conference Sysop Tools - E00/033 o Compuserve I.D. 76120,41 o Genie Mailbox C.Smith18 o Voice Number: (713) 661-9359 - 3 - Chapter 1Chapter 1 Getting StartedGetting Started 1.1 Backing Up 1.1 Backing Up I can hear it now, "I hate backing up. It takes too much time. Besides, nothing will ever happen to my computer." You can come up with a million and one excuses why you do not need to backup. I can only come up with one excuse as to why you should. Here is the bottom line. If you find you are in a situation where you need the backup and you do not have it you are in a heap of trouble. If you never need the backup at least you had some insurance. We are all plagued with the misfortune of data loss from a hard disk from time to time. Specifically with the operation of a bulletin board, data is written to and deleted from a disk frequently; fragmenting and cross-linked clusters are not uncommon. In other words, if the information contained on your disk is important to you - something you couldn't re-create in a flash, backing up as often as possible may save you many hours of unneeded work and aggravation. In the case of operating GT POWER with Netmail and/or Echomail, Full backups are required for at least the \MAILOUT, \MAILIN and each message directory including each \GTMSGS, the directory containing the actual message files. Incremental and differential backups are not recommended. These methods for backing will restore files that were otherwise deleted intentionally by the Netmail software. This is something you want to avoid. Sysop Tools' archive function allows you to "take a picture" of your GT POWER Host at a point in time. This coupled with the unarchive function eases the pain of keeping current backups. Be sure to use the archive function on a regular basis. Its use is outlined in section 6.1, which begins on page 19. - 4 - 1.2 Batch Files & Paths 1.2 Batch Files & Paths 1.2.1 GTLOCAL.BAT 1.2.1 GTLOCAL.BAT Sysop Tools requires a minimum of two batch files for proper operation. The first, STLOCAL.BAT, is executed by ST when used locally via a macro key in conjunction with the GTI. GT will instruct ST to use direct screen writes and the pull-down menu structure. This batch file should look something like this: ECHO OFF { Batch commands not displayed } CLS { Clears the screen } STOVL { Executes Sysop Tools in direct video mode } 1.2.2 GTREMOTE.BAT 1.2.2 GTREMOTE.BAT This batch file is used for executing ST remotely via a sysop macro key and tells ST to use DOS writes for redirection out the communications port. When using ST remotely, GT is no longer resident in memory thus a 'watchdog' is not present. Without such a 'watchdog' there is no protection against loss of DTR which will cause your system to remain off-line should you disconnect improperly. Doorman, another utility I have written for GT, monitors DTR when a user is in a door. If DTR is dropped, doorman will reset GT automatically. STREMOTE.BAT should look something like this: ECHO OFF { Batch commands not displayed } CTTY GATE1 { Redirects output via Gateway } CHEKTIME ON { Turns doorman on and watches for drop of DTR } STOVL /DOS { Executes ST (overlay version) with DOS writes } CHEKTIME OFF { Turns doorman off } CTTY CON { Redirects output to the local console } 1.2.3 Paths 1.2.3 Paths Two paths need to be setup for proper execution of Sysop Tools. The first should already be done for use with GT POWER - GTPATH. This path points to the directory containing the GT POWER executable file(s). The second path is for the Archive and Unarchive Files options of Sysop Tools and is called STPATH. Archived files will be placed in this directory for storage. To setup these paths place the following commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or other batch files: o SET STPATH={ ST pathname } o SET GTPATH={ GT pathname } NOTE: Never shell from GT to DOS remotely and execute one of these batch files. This will execute the CTTY command twice. The - 5 - system will hang when you try to return to GT. This is a problem with MS-DOS. DOS seems to lose the first pointer when 2 CTTY commands are executed back to back. This is just another example of the re-entrancy problems with MS-DOS. 1.3 Generic Tool Interface (GTI) 1.3 Generic Tool Interface (GTI) The Generic Tool Interface (GTI) is a new feature of GT POWER beginning with version 14.00. This function allows utilities written for GT to take advantage of this feature to be executed directly from a macro in local or remote modes. When this occurs, GT POWER is removed from memory giving all available RAM to the called program. Upon the program's completion, it is removed from memory and GT POWER is reloaded. It is IMPERATIVE that you do not rename the GT1400.EXE file at any point and time. Renaming of this file will not allow the GTI program to find GT for reloading and will leave you stranded at the dos prompt. In order to utilize ST remotely, a macro key must be setup in the ALT F1-F10 range. Remotely, they correspond to 0-9. The macro will call GTREMOTE.BAT and should like something like this: {@/}C:\GT\GTEXEC.EXE| (See the GT manual for help with macros) The GTEXEC.EXE file should be placed in the GTPATH directory. This is the interface between GT and utilities created with GTI capabilities. A similar macro may be created to enable local execution of ST, in any function key excluding ALT F1-F10. Local macro execution using the GTI interface will call GTLOCAL.BAT. Note: Be aware when ending remote maintenance with ST, you will be returned to GTSYSID.BBS after a brief pause, and the entire log-on sequence will once again be necessary. It is recommended that you leave remote system maintenance to the last thing you do before terminating your remote session. 1.4 Navigating in Sysop Tools 1.4 Navigating in Sysop Tools 1.4.1 Local Movement 1.4.1 Local Movement The movement from one menu to another and from one option to another can be accomplished several different ways, allowing you the user to choose the one you feel more comfortable with. - 6 - HIGHLIGHTED CHARACTERS may be pressed for the option of your choice. This will automatically bring up the menu item without additional key presses. MENU BARS may also be used to select items simply by moving the cursor with the [UP] or [DOWN] arrow keys, followed by a [CR]. [LEFT] and [RIGHT] arrow keys are used to choose items from the main menu. [ESC]ape always brings you back to the previous sub- menu. A Microsoft compatible mouse may also be used to move around in ST. The left mouse button coincides with the enter key. The right mouse button coincides with the escape key. The current cursor keys available for movement are always displayed on the bottom of the screen for reference. 1.4.2 Remote Movement 1.4.2 Remote Movement Moving around in ST remotely is a bit different than using it locally since the cursor keys are not supported. Menu items are selected by alphabetic characters followed by a carriage return. When scanning users in the user editor, a simple press of the return key will bring up the next user, and a [MINUS][CR] will bring up the last user. More detailed navigation will be given as we explore each of the menus of Sysop Tools. - 7 - Chapter 2Chapter 2 User File MaintenanceUser File Maintenance Every time a User File Maintenance menu option is chosen, the user area currently being maintained will be displayed on row one beginning in column three of the screen, and will contain 64 characters of your description. This will disappear upon exiting from the User Maintenance menu. 2.1 Change User Area 2.1 Change User Area The change area option pulls down a window containing the first 15 message areas listed in your GTMDIR.BBS file. You may move through the window with the [UP] and [DOWN] arrow keys. To select the next page of message areas, press [PgUp] or [PgDn] and again move through the window with the [UP] and [DOWN] arrow keys. The default area selected (the area automatically chosen by ST) is the directory pointed to by your DEFAULT MESSAGE BASE PATH statement in the GT POWER setup menu [ALT-I]. This area contains information about EVERY user that logs onto your system. Logically, this is where you will spend most of your time maintaining user records. One exception to this rule is the Netmail message area. Only in that directory can you issue credit to yourself or your users for creating and transmitting of messages within the GT POWER Network. 2.2 Scan/Edit Users 2.2 Scan/Edit Users The Scan/Edit option allows the user to modify user information in several different ways - by scanning for a particular name, scanning for users of a particular access level (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), scanning users in sequential (numerical) order, scanning for users who have been banned (great for updating private conferences) or scanning for users who have been deleted. 2.2.1 Name Scan 2.2.1 Name Scan Once you have selected to edit a user by scanning for the name, you may scan for any part of a name. For example, scanning for "Rich" would display "John RICHard", "RICH Smith", "Sam eRICHson", etc. - 8 - After ST scans the user file for names matching your input, it will display the first one it comes to. If that is not the one you are looking for, pressing the [RIGHT ARROW] will bring the next user record to the window. You may continue displaying each record that matches your criteria by pressing the [RIGHT ARROW] to see the next record or by pressing the [LEFT ARROW] to see the previous record. Once you have found the record you wish to edit, press [F2] to move the cursor into the window. You may move the cursor from field to field sequentially by pressing the [RETURN] or [TAB] keys, by pressing [Shift-TAB] to move from field to field in reverse, or by pressing the [UP] or [DOWN] arrow keys to move the cursor vertically in the current column. After editing the the user record, press [F10] to save your changes or press [ESC] to abort your changes without saving them. At this point you will once again be prompted to enter data to scan for. If you are finished scanning for records by name, press [ESC]ape again to close the current window and return to the menu. 2.2.2 Access Level Scan 2.2.2 Access Level Scan After selecting scan/edit users, picking "access level scan" from the sub-menu will allow editing user records according to their access level. GT POWER Host supplies the sysop with a "three tier" access level scheme. The three levels in order of priority are 0-9, A-Z and a-z. To avoid confusion, it is recommended that the lower case series of access levels not be used. After choosing the access level you wish to scan for, ST quickly builds an index of those users matching your criteria. As each record appears, you may elect to edit any of the fields by first pressing [F2] to move the cursor into the record. After editing, press [F10] to save your changes or press [ESC] to abort the changes. You may scan through other records by pressing the [LEFT] or [RIGHT] arrow keys to move forward or backwards. Press [F2] to edit a record or press [ESC] to abort editing. Once exiting the user record window you will be prompted for another access level to scan for. You may continue to search by access level or press [ESC] again to backup to the previous window. 2.2.3 Sequential Scan 2.2.3 Sequential Scan Scanning the user file sequentially very simply allows you to search for user records in a numerical sequence starting at any record number you choose. The same steps are used to edit fields as for the other scans. - 9 - Upon terminating the scan by pressing [ESC] you will be prompted for another user record number to start a sequential scan from. At this point you may enter another number, or press [ESC] again to back out of the sequential scan window. 2.2.4 Banned Scan 2.2.4 Banned Scan 2.2.5 Deleted Scan 2.2.5 Deleted Scan Banned and deleted scans are very similar, in that they both search the user file for records which have been marked as deleted or banned. After finding the records you wish to edit, simply edit them as you would when scanning for name, access level, or in sequential order. As always [ESC] backs out of the current window. 2.3 Add New User 2.3 Add New User If you wish to prearrange access for a user prior to their first call, the add new user option comes in very handy. ST will prompt you for the user's name, city/state, password desired, phone number and access level. NOTE - adding new users should be done in the DEFAULT message area if the record is being created for a first time caller. If you simply want to add a user to another message area, simply change to that area and create the record. 2.4 Delete Users 2.4 Delete Users From time to time it may become necessary to delete users from your system due to inactivity or users abusing your system. This option will assist you with that task. Sysop Tools provides the option of deleting users by inactivity or on an individual basis. The delete function does not physically remove the user from your system but merely "raises" the user record delete flag. To remove the user record from your control file you need to pack the appropriate control file. See section 2.7 for an explanation of the Pack User function. NOTE: Only deleting users from the default message base path set in the GT Host configuration file will prevent users from logging on again. Only after packing the control files will the user be permanently removed from your system. - 10 - 2.4.1 Inactive Delete 2.4.1 Inactive Delete The deletion of users from your system may be accomplished by removing them from the current area, all areas or by picking specific areas from a pick list. Users may be deleted according to the last time they visited your system. Some sysops hold a strict 60 day connect policy. If a user has not logged onto the system within a period of 60 days they are removed from the system records. The above example is easily accomplished by first pulling down the delete user window. After selecting inactive delete you will be prompted for the number of days of inactivity and the number of log-ons to override. The number of log-ons to override allows you to omit deleting users that have not logged on for x number of days, but have called y number of times. Press [F10] to start marking the records as deleted. If you have made a mistake or changed your mind simply press [ESC] to back out of the window. 2.4.2 User Name Delete 2.4.2 User Name Delete It may become necessary to delete an "unruly" user from your system. This option will allow you to do that by entering the user's complete name. If you do not spell the entire user name correctly the delete will not occur. A user can be deleted from the current message area, all message areas or from areas you pick from the pick list menu. If the user is deleted from the default message area (set in the GT configuration file) he will not be able to log-on to the system again. However, if a user record is deleted from any area other than the default, he will be able to log-on on his next call. The pick list allows marking of individual areas for user record deletion. This option can be used to remove records from areas the user does not wish to have the host system's mail scan check for waiting mail. 2.5 User File Sort 2.5 User File Sort The user control file(s) maintains users in the order of initial log-on. Users listed towards the end of the control file will experience a longer log-on sequence than a user list closer to the beginning. You may want to expedite the log-on for more frequent users. This is one of a few uses of the user file sort. - 11 - In the example above, sorting the user control file by number of log-ons is one of 5 different sorts available. Other sorts are date of last log-on, first name, last name or by access level. Each of the sorts may also be done in ascending order (low to high) or in descending order (high to low). I sort users by number of log-ons in descending order. This gives my frequent callers a faster quicker log-on. 2.6 Global Class Change 2.6 Global Class Change Changing access levels for a group of users is made simple with this option. This allows the system operator to change the structure of the GTPASSWD.BBS file. After selecting the global access change window, enter the access level of the users you wish to change and the new access level they will be changed to. Once you are sure of your entries, press [F10] to accept and execute the change or [ESC] to abort. 2.7 Pack User File 2.7 Pack User File Users flagged for deletion remain in the user file and can be toggled until that user file is packed. Once packed, the user is permanently removed from the system. To pack a user file(s), select either the current file area, all file areas or multiple areas from the pick list. Once selected ST will ask you if you are sure the options you chose is what you want. If not, select no and redo the settings or press [ESC] to exit the user editor window. - 12 - Chapter 3Chapter 3 Message Area MaintenanceMessage Area Maintenance More time has been dedicated to the development of this section of Sysop Tools than on any other. Coding and re-coding has been done to optimize the time required for managing message areas - local, Netmail and Echomail. Because of the popularity of Echomail it is possible for a conference area to increase in size by several hundred messages or more during any given event. The larger the message area the longer it will take to do group deletions, renumber and compressing. Much of the delay in message area management is the cause of DOS' handling of multiple files. NOTE: It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that backups be done prior to maintenance of the message areas. Crash Recovery (see Appendix A) has been implemented to help prevent problems during maintenance however nothing is 100%. Please take the time to protect yourself and the valuable information contained on your system by BACKING UP FIRST. 3.1 Compress Messages 3.1 Compress Messages Compressing a message area removes records from the FRONT of the control file. Example: Let's take a message area containing numbers 1-10. If messages 1,2,3 and 10 were killed, compressing this area will remove records 1-3. The next time a user displays that area, it will show that messages 4-10 are available for reading. If messages have been killed from locations other than the front of the control file using the renumber messages option will take care of those messages including records at the front. Once you have decided to compress a message area, you will be prompted to compress the current, all or any combination of areas from a pick list. A final prompt to be sure you are ready will appear. If you are unsure of your choices simply select "no" and you will be returned to the message area maintenance menu. - 13 - 3.2 Renumber Messages 3.2 Renumber Messages Renumbering messages removes "dead" space in a message area by compressing and renumbering each message. Example: Let's take a message area containing message numbers 1-10. If messages 1,2 and 8 were marked as killed, renumbering this area will remove records 1,2 and 8 and renumber 9 to 8 and 10 to 9. The next time a user displays that area, it will show that messages 3-9 are available for reading. Once again, just like compress, selecting renumber will prompt you for the current, all or any combination of areas from a pick list. A final prompt to be sure you are ready will appear. If you are unsure of your choices simply select "no" and you will be returned to the message area maintenance menu. NOTE: Renumber serves a dual duty as renumber and compress. Since renumber will scan the entire area for messages to renumber this option will consume quite a bit more time than compress. It is recommended that renumber be done less frequently than a compress especially following a delete. IMPORTANT: In case of power failure during a renumber, see Appendix A beginning on page 23. A very simple method of recovering from such a hazard is outlined there. 3.3 Delete Messages 3.3 Delete Messages Two options for deleting groups of messages are available in this release of Sysop Tools. Both options allow the user to delete messages in the current, all or a combination of areas chosen from a pick list. Electing to delete old messages will prompt you for the number of days to retain. Sysop Tools will delete all messages older than that date after you press F10. If unsure, [ESC] will back out of the delete window. Unconditional delete will remove all messages accept for the number you wish to retain. Again, pressing F10 will proceed with the deletion and [ESC] will back out of the window. Since both unconditional and deletion by age removes messages from the front of the message area, a compress will be the fastest way of removing the header records from the control file. Renumber is only necessary when a number of messages have been deleted in the middle or at the end of the area. - 14 - 3.4 Validate Messages 3.4 Validate Messages Validating a message area will ensure that every header record has an accompanying message file, and every message file has an accompanying header record. If either condition does not exist, one of the following will occur: o A header record without a message file will be marked as deleted. o A message file without a header record will be logged to a file called VALMSGS.LOG. It is your responsibility to determine what action you want taken. o A message file with a header record marked as deleted will be deleted. You will once again be prompted to validate messages in the current, all or a combination of areas selected from a pick list. After choosing one of the options, validation will ask you to verify wanting to proceed. Answer yes to continue or [ESC] to back out of validate window. Headers marked deleted during validation will be removed once a compress or renumber is executed. - 15 - Chapter 4Chapter 4 File Area MaintenanceFile Area Maintenance 4.1 Change File Area 4.1 Change File Area Nothing too technical about this feature. Selecting change file area from the file maintenance menu will display a window with all directory paths listed in the GTDIR.BBS file. Move the cursor bar to the directory you wish to work in and press [RETURN]. 4.2 Add Color 4.2 Add Color Each file directory contains a files.BBS file. This is the default listing of file names and descriptions shown to all users. However, if a user is using ANSI they will have a files.CBS displayed for them if it exists. To create the files.CBS with color, select add color. You will be given the option of adding color to the current area, all areas or a combination of areas chosen from a pick list. In the true spirit of GT POWER 14.00, the following color combinations from the GT control file (GT.CNF) will be used in creating the files.CBS: o File Name - GT Window colors. o File Size - GT Option Hi Light colors. o File Date - GT Option Lo Light colors. o File Desc. - GT Dialing Directory highlight bar colors. 4.3 Validate Files.BBS 4.3 Validate Files.BBS Validate Files.BBS builds a new Files.BBS containing all the files in the current directory. If a description exists it is retained. If a description exists but no matching file the entry is deleted. If a file exists but no description an entry is created for editing later. FILES.* are ignored. - 16 - 4.4 Move Files 4.4 Move Files This function allows you to move, copy or delete files and their descriptions from the current file area. Initially a window is displayed with the current FILES.BBS in it. You can pick a series of files and then press [F6] to copy them to another area, [F7] to move them to another area or [F9] to delete them all together. After you have finished with your file maintenance you must use the Validate Files.BBS function (preferably the All option) to resort all the updated Files.BBS. - 17 - Chapter 5Chapter 5 ReportsReports 5.1 User Report 5.1 User Report The User Dump report creates a report named USER.RPT and places it in each user/message area it is executed in. These reports may be created for the current area, all areas or a combination of areas chosen from a pick list. The report is created in the current sorted order of the user control file. If you would like to create a report in a different sorted order, first use the global user sort option from the user maintenance menu. By first doing this, reports by number of log- ons, date of last log-on, first name, last name or access level may be created. 5.2 Message Report 5.2 Message Report The dump message report shows the status of each message as to the subject and the person it is addressed to. Like the user report the output report (MSG.RPT) is placed it each user/message area it is created for. The report may be created for the current area, all areas or a combination of areas chosen from a pick list. - 18 - Chapter 6Chapter 6 Other FunctionsOther Functions 6.1 Archive GT Files 6.1 Archive GT Files As mentioned in the getting started section, backing up is an important function in maintaining any system but is even more important in ensuring the integrity of a bulletin board system. Sysop Tools provides the sysop with the ability to backup their system by means of archiving the files with Phil Katz's PKARC and PKXARC. Both these archive utilities have proven to be the fastest and easiest to use among all archive software. After selecting the archive option, ST will prompt you for your choice of message areas to archive, either the current, all or a combination of areas selected from the pick list menu. Regardless of which option you choose, the GTMDIR.BBS from the GT main directory (pointed to by GTPATH) will always be archived. The unarchive function will use the GTMDIR.BBS in your GT directory to determine where the message files originated. The directory pointed to by the GTPATH will be archived when you choose a full archive. Files in that directory which will be archived are .CBS, .BBS, .BAT, .CNF, .DIR, .KEY, .LOG and all routing files. Because of this, it is highly recommended that you choose to archive all message areas. As ST archives these files, a log is also generated and placed in the STPATH directory along with the archives themselves. This log is called ARCHIVE.LOG. Archives are named using the following naming conventions: YYYYMMDD.DIR o YYYY = year o MM = month o DD = day o DIR = directory number - 19 - The directory number corresponds with the order of your GTMDIR.BBS file. The first directory listed will have an archive extension of .001, the second .002 and so on. The directory pointed to by GTPATH will have a file extension of .GTB. NOTE: Due to the methods used in archiving these files, message areas can only be restored by Sysop Tools' unarchive option. 6.2 Unarchive GT Files 6.2 Unarchive GT Files In case of data loss or user error, Sysop Tools includes the ability to unarchive files previously archived with ST. You may choose to restore to the current area, all areas or a combination of areas from a pick list. If all, or areas from a pick list are chosen, the unarchive can be stopped by pressing any key. The process will end after the current directory is unarchived. 6.3 Shell to Dos 6.3 Shell to Dos Forget to check something? Need to make a quick adjustment? This option will allow you to quickly shell out to dos leaving ST resident. To return to ST type EXIT at the DOS prompt. - 20 - 6.4 Dos File Maintenance 6.4 Dos File Maintenance This option allows you to maintain your file areas without leaving Sysop Tools with these options: o [F5] CHANGE DIRECTORIES - Either move the highlight bar to the directory you wish to change to and press [RETURN], or press [F5] and enter the FULL pathname to the directory you wish to move to. o [F6] COPY A FILE - Highlight the file you wish to copy and press [F6]. Enter the full pathname of the destination for the file. o [F7] MOVE A FILE - Highlight the file you wish to move and press [F7]. Enter the full pathname of the destination for the file. If the file is being moved from directory to directory on the same drive a true move is executed. If the file is being moved across drives, the file is first copied and then deleted from the source location. o [F8] RENAME A FILE - Highlight the file you wish to rename and press [F8]. Enter the new filename and press [RETURN]. o [F9] ERASE A FILE - Highlight the file you wish to erase and press [F9]. ST will verify that you are certain the highlighted file is to be deleted. - 21 - Chapter 7Chapter 7 EditorEditor 7.1 Editor 7.1 Editor A long tutorial on the use of this editor would prove to be fruitless and long winded as it would be a manual in itself. This editor uses the same combination control key functions of Micropro's Wordstar(Tm) and Borland's Sidekick(Tm). A listing of editor commands can be found in Appendix B, which begins on page 24. When prompted for a filename, if you use wild-cards a highlight list of the matching files in the current directory will be displayed. If you want to display an entire directory, end the pathname with a backslash and press [RETURN]. To select a file for editing merely place the highlight bar on the file's name and press enter. The editor is limited to files with a size of 63K or less. It's intention is to give you easy access to a small Wordstar(Tm) compatible editor to use on your routing and .BBS files. - 22 - Appendix AAppendix A Crash RecoveryCrash Recovery Crash recovery has been implemented for Renumber Messages. In the event that you have a loss of power during a Renumber you must immediately (after your local electric company gives you back some juice) initiate a Renumber in the area that you were in when it crashed. ST will sense that a crash occurred and resume the Renumber at the point it left off. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE DONE IMMEDIATELY! Otherwise, a user may lose his last read message pointer etc. - 23 - Appendix BAppendix B Editor CommandsEditor Commands Character left Ctrl-S End block Ctrl-K-K Character right Ctrl-D Mark current word Ctrl-K-T Word left Ctrl-A Toggle block display Ctrl-K-H Word right Ctrl-F Copy block Ctrl-K-C Line up Ctrl-E Move block Ctrl-K-V Line down Ctrl-X Delete block Ctrl-K-Y Scroll up Ctrl-W Read file from disk Ctrl-K-R Scroll down Ctrl-Z Write block to file Ctrl-K-W Page up Ctrl-R Print marked block Ctrl-K-P Page down Ctrl-C Set marker 0 Ctrl-K-0 Cursor to left side Ctrl-Q-S Set marker 1 Ctrl-K-1 Cursor to right side Ctrl-Q-D Set marker 2 Ctrl-K-2 Top of screen Ctrl-Q-E Set marker 3 Ctrl-K-3 Bottom of screen Ctrl-Q-X Jump to marker 0 Ctrl-Q-0 Top of file Ctrl-Q-R Jump to marker 1 Ctrl-Q-1 Bottom of file Ctrl-Q-C Jump to marker 2 Ctrl-Q-2 Top of block Ctrl-Q-B Jump to marker 3 Ctrl-Q-3 Bottom of block Ctrl-Q-K Find pattern Ctrl-Q-F Last cursor position Ctrl-Q-P Search and replace Ctrl-Q-A New line Ctrl-M Repeat last find Ctrl-L Insert line Ctrl-N Tab Ctrl-I Toggle insert mode Ctrl-V Toggle autoindent Ctrl-Q-I Delete line Ctrl-Y Toggle fixed tabs Ctrl-O-T Delete to end of line Ctrl-Q-Y Save file and exit Ctrl-K-D Delete right word Ctrl-T Save file and resume Ctrl-K-S Delete current char Ctrl-G Abort edit Ctrl-K-Q Delete left character Ctrl-H Restore line Ctrl-Q-L Begin block Ctrl-K-B Insert control char Ctrl-P - 24 -