EnigmA Amiga Run 1996 February/EnigmA AMIGA RUN 04 (1996)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1996-02][Skylink CD III].iso/earcd/comm2/thrashbr.lha/ThrashBar/Tbar.Guide

Amigaguide Document | 1993-05-22 | 17KB | 325 lines

@REMARK .-------------------------------------------------------------------.
@REMARK |   Thrash-Bar, HyperText document written by Thrash of ANTHROX!.   |
@REMARK |  If you don't have Multiview (OS3) or AmigaGuide (OS2) installed  |
@REMARK | in your system, I suggest you do so, because they're brilliant!.. |
@REMARK | If you cannot you'll just have to read these in any ASCII viewer! |
@REMARK `-------------------------------------------------------------------'
@NODE MAIN
@TITLE "ThrashBar: Contents"
                __/\  _____________/|___  ________/\/\  /\
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                / _  \  /  \/  |_/  _   /  _/ __/    \  /
               /  \   \/   /   |/   |  /   \   \    //  \
               \___\  /___/\___|\___|__\___|\  /\   / /\ \
              - -- -\/=-==-===> PRESENT <===-\/-=\_/\/- \/
             T-Bar Version 1.01,
1992-1993 Thrash/Anthrox!
         Top Bar-Chart utility for the AmiExpress BBS Software
  @{" Introduction     " LINK INTRO} ...................... Introductory Note.
  @{" Features         " LINK FEATURES} ...................... Brief OutLine Of Features.
  @{" Installation     " LINK INSTALL} ...................... How To Install T-Bar.
  @{" Text Display     " LINK DIRECT} ...................... Where you want the output.
  @{" Command Line     " LINK CMDLINE} ...................... T-Bar Command Line.
  @{" Optional Extras  " LINK EXTRAS} ...................... Extras options available
  @{" Program History  " LINK HISTORY} ...................... When & Where.
  @{" Contact          " LINK CONTACT} ...................... BBS To Contact Me.
  @{" Greetings        " LINK GREETS} ...................... Hi to a few people.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE FEATURES "ThrashBar: Main Features"
    Basically, Tbar is a multiple chart-displayer for use with any
Version of Ami-Express. Use it to compile upto 6 different types of chart,
(ansi or non-ansi), which display information on any amount of users on
your bulletin board in a bar-chart format that is easy to read. Noteable
features built into it are:
 o 100% Assembly Language. (Each Chart only takes about 1 sec. to compile)
 o Top Byte @{" Uploaders Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Top Byte @{" DownLoaders Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Top File @{" Uploaders Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Top File @{" DownLoaders Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Top @{" Message Writers Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Top @{" Callers Chart " LINK CHART}.
 o Overall status of bulletin board users.
 o Configurable @{" Ratios " LINK RATIO} for calculation of elite/normal/leech guys.
Optional Features:
 o @{" Ansi mode on/off " LINK ANSI} (yes - you can still see the bars in non-ansi!).
 o Individual @{" logos/headertexts " LINK LOGOS} for each chart.
 o @{" Excluded Users " LINK EXCLUDE} file (for people you dont want shown in charts). This
   will handle security levels as well as names.
 o One of upto 255 @{" Random Lines " LINK RANDOM} will appear underneath your chart.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE INTRO "ThrashBar: ForeWord"
        Before you throw this util into that bottomless pile of crap
utils that get released for Ami-Express. STOP! .. Dont even go to the
bother of setting it up. Included in the archive you will find some
example outputs for you to view. They are all ansi versions so make
sure to view them through an 8 colour workbench to see them in their
full glory. If you're happy and i have managed to grab your attention
then continue reading. If not, then stick to the lame C or AREXX util
you're currently running that wastes 30 seconds of your logoff script!
        Lets face it, the main problem about Ami-Express utils is that
there are so bloody many of them! Some are really great but I'd say that
about 80% arent worth shit. Even those that are really good, sometimes
fall down on the fact that they LOOK crap. This is one thing I hope to
have eliminated from my /Xpress utilities. The original ansi design was
done by Pot-Noodle and most sysops seem to agree that it is one of the
best and easiest to look at. I hope you agree!
    If you think of a good feature this program doesnt include,then
please fell free to contact me. Without any comeback from sysops i cant
do shit!!  If you dont contact me then dont fuckin' moan about it!
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE HISTORY "ThrashBar: Program History"
T-BAR History And Development:
 Version      Date              Comment
 -------     ------             ------
  V0.05        08/11/92   (
eta)    First
eta version to testers.
  V0.08        25/11/92   (
eta)    Added logo selection,random lines
                                and excluded file to options.
  V0.09        01/12/92   (
eta)   Exclusion file will now handle
                                security levels.
  V1.00        15/01/93            First public release.
  V1.01        12/04/93            Hanging Loop bug fixed. Number calculation
                                extended to 10 digits. THIS VERSION!
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE CONTACT "ThrashBar: Contact Me!"
    Well, thats about it!.. All thats left is to leave you with a list
of bulletin boards whose sysops have been a great help during production.
Remember you can reach me on these boards, so if there's sommit you wanna
see in a future release or get off your chest, then leave a message to
either me or the sysop.
    C.A.L        [phone]    Sysop - Pot-Noodle/ATX!
    BurgerBar    [phone]    Sysop - Ice D/Indy
    EnterPrise    +01-4122332611        Sysop - Picard/ATX!
    Synergy        [phone]        Sysop - Sigma7/Abandon
    HyperSpace    [phone]        Sysop - Thargoid/ATX!
    Bad Dreams    [phone]    Sysop - DreamWarrior/Indy
    Arcadia        [phone]    Sysop - Beast/Qtx
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE INSTALL "ThrashBar: Installation"
INSTALLATION ?:
==============
    In its very simplest form, Tbar requires NO setting up at all.
However, if you spend the time to study these documents fully, I'm sure
you'll find all the options that most sysops require nowadays.
    To see an output before you install please refer to the example
texts you will find within the original archive.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE DIRECT "ThrashBar: REdirection"
RE-DIRECTION OF TEXT:
====================
    The form of T-Bars command line is quite simple. Firstly please
remember that T-Bar itself, will NOT create a file of the text displayed.
Why write the routines when Commodore have done it already? Yeah, you
guessed it. You yourself will have to re-direct the file to the appropriate
bulletin text. This redirection will obviously have to come BEFORE any of
the commandline options of TBar itself. In case you haven't done this
before (your kidding me?), here's a quick example.
TBAR >BBS:CONF1/BULL100.TXT.GR
    If you type this line into your cli window the text display
will be output to a file called BBS:CONF1/BULL100.TXT.GR rather than
the normal cli display.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE CMDLINE "ThrashBar: Main CommandLine"
TBAR COMMAND LINE SEQUENCE:
==========================
    The command line must always come in the order stated below. If
it fails to find a file that it requires or runs out of memory it will
ALWAYS return a DOS error code. (Note this would be in the re-direction
file if used!)
TBAR @{"[CHART]" LINK CHART} @{"[USERDATA-PATH]" LINK DATA} @{"[USERS-TO-DISPLAY]" LINK AMOUNT} @{"[RATIO]" LINK RATIO} @{"[ANSI OFF]" LINK ANSI}
    Simple eh??
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE CHART "ThrashBar: Charts Available"
WHICH CHART YOU WANT:
=====================
    The chart option must ALWAYS be the FIRST command in a command-
line sequence. There are six charts to choose from and simply changing
the FOUR letters at the beginning will tell TBar what chart you want to
be displayed. Those available to you are:
    UPLD    -    Top byte uploaders
    DNLD    -    Top byte downloaders
    UPFL    -    Top file uploaders
    DNFL    -    Top file downloaders
    MESG    -    Top message writers
    CALL    -    Top callers chart
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE DATA "ThrashBar: Your UserData File"
YOUR USERDATA FILE:
==================
    The FULL path and name of your userdata file must ALWAYS be set
after the TBar has been told which chart you want. If you are a person
who has changed the userdata filename to something like "USER DATA" for
safety reasons, then you will have to make a copy of it into ram: or some
where as TBar will not (at this time) handle filenames with spaces in them.
Maybe in the next version eh!
NOTE:    A few people reading this will know that if I had wanted to, I could
have discovered the name of the userdata file by loading up the ACP.STARTUP
file. The problem with this is that so many people DONT know how to use the
ACP file correctly and just use it for starting the nodes. Maybe in a future
version of /Xpress, when people HAVE to use the ACP correctly, I will add
this simple feature.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE AMOUNT "ThrashBar: Amount Of Users To Display"
HOW MANY USERS TO DISPLAY:
==========================
    Tbar determines the amount of users to display in the chart by the
three (T*H*R*E*E,3) digit figure that must ALWAYS follow the userdata file
in the command line. If the amount of users to be displayed is less than
100 then padding zeros MUST be used. Here's a few examples.
TBAR UPLD BBS:USER.DATA 010 5        Display top 10 byte uploaders
TBAR MESG BBS:USER.DATA 025 5        Display top 25 message writers
TBAR UPFL BBS:USER.DATA ALL 5        Display ALL users sorted in files
                    Uploaded format.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE RATIO "ThrashBar: Users Ratio Calculation"
RATIO CALCULATION:
==================
    The Ratio is used in a quick calculation to determine if that
particular user has leeched or benefitted your bbs. It works exactly the
same way as the ratio in the users statistics. The ratio number must
ALWAYS be a number between 2 and 9 and must ALWAYS follow straight after
the amount of users to be displayed. IE
TBAR UPLD BBS:USER.DATA 010 3        Top 10, ratio 3/1 calculation
TBAR UPLD BBS:USER.DATA 010 7        Top 10, ratio 7/1 calculation
NOTE:    The calculation is always performed on the uploaded and downloaded
    BYTES. Ie if you choose UPFL (uploaded files chart), then the ratio
    calcualtion WILL NOT be performed on the FILES uploaded. If people
    want this though it could be changed.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE ANSI "ThrashBar: Ansi Graphics On/Off"
NON-ANSI MODE:
==============
    Some sysops may want this utility to be displayed to ALL users
when they logon. The problem is that they may logon to the bbs in non-
ansi mode and if the normal chart is displayed in non-ansi there are
just a load of blank spaces where the bars are normally displayed. As
far as I know, most other (if not all) barchart displayers haven't taken
this into account and so sysops just dont bother to run barcharts. This
all stops from NOW!
    If, at the end of your command line, you place a "-A", all
coloured spaces within the barchart section will be replaced with a "#"
so that ANYBODY can see the chart. You would obviously need to run TBar
twice in your logff script. Once for ansi ON and another time with Ansi
OFF. Here's an example of a logoff script:
TBAR >BBS:CONF1/BULL100.TXT UPLD BBS:USER.DATA 010 3 -A  (Ansi-OFF)
TBAR >BBS:CONF1/BULL100.TXT.GR UPLD BBS:USER.DATA 010 3  (Ansi-ON)
    NOTE: I have noticed that quite a few boards run the non-ansi
verison on ansi text as well. This is fine cause ami-express has a built
in ansi stripper and I must admit that I prefer it. (i think!).
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE EXTRAS "ThrashBar: Optional Extras"
 T-Bar has a number of optional extras that the sysop may want to use
 in order for his chart to look different from others. These extras
 will grow as they are requested.
  @{" Logos/Headers     " LINK LOGOS} .................. Display your own header texts.
  @{" Exclude Users     " LINK EXCLUDE} .................. Exclude certain users from chart.
  @{" Random Comments   " LINK RANDOM} .................. Humourous(?) random comments.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE LOGOS "ThrashBar: Optional Extras - Logo/Header Texts"
DISPLAYING LOGO/HEADERTEXTS:
============================
    Tbar will simply use the four-letter chart option to get a logo or
headerfile from your S: directory. If the file isn't found - it wont get
displayed!
    CHART        TBAR SEARCHES FOR
    =====        =================
    UPLD        S:TBARUPLD.HEADER    <- UpLoaded Bytes Logo
    DNLD        S:TBARDNLD.HEADER    <- DownLoaded bytes Logo
    UPFL        S:TBARUPFL.HEADER    <- UpLoaded files Logo
    DNFL        S:TBARDNFL.HEADER    <- DownLoaded Files Logo
    MESG        S:TBARMESG.HEADER    <- Top MessageWriters Logo
    CALL        S:TBARCALL.HEADER    <- Top Callers Logo
    It doesn't matter if the texts are ansi-coloured as Ami-Express has
a built in stripper if the user is in non-ansi. If you find this method of
logo detection too restricting then please feel free to let me know and in
a future release I will possibly change it.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE EXCLUDE "ThrashBar: Optional Extras - Excluded Users"
EXCLUDED USERS FILE:
====================
    This is where I've heard some people felt that TTOP fell down.
The file Tbar searches for is called "S:TBAR.EXCLUDES". This is simply
a file of people you DO NOT want included in the following charts:
    UPLD    -    Top byte uploaders
    DNLD    -    Top byte downloaders
    UPFL    -    Top file uploaders
    DNFL    -    Top file downloaders
The names in the file must be EXACTLY as they are written in the userdata
file and each one MUST end with a return.
    These people are not actually excluded from the chart altogether.
All TBar does is zero their uploaded bytes/files and their downloaded
bytes/files. If you use the "ALL" option they WILL get displayed but
obviously they will be at the bottom of the chart. It is upto the sysop
to place the correct number in the commandline so that these people do
not get show on the wrong chart!
UPDATE:
======
    Thanks to the suggestion of Sigma7/Abandon, you can now also
exclude people by their SECURITY LEVEL. Simply use the following line
in the file "S:TBAR.EXCLUDES".
Sec_Level XXX
    Note that as in the main command line, the XXX must be a THREE
digit figure corresponding to the security levels you want excluded. If
the security level is less than 100 then PADDING ZEROS MUST BE USED!
Sec_Level 010    - exclude people whose security level is 10.
NOTE:    These peoples up/downloads WILL NOT be included in any chart in
    the OVERALL stats line that appears at the bottom.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE RANDOM "ThrashBar: Optional Extras - Random Comments"
RANDOM LINES:
=============
    This is a nice feature that I first saw used in Amilog coded by
Retaliator/Anthrox so cheers to him and Pot-noodle for being so inventive!
    After TBar has displayed both the logo/headertext and the main
chart itself, it will search for a file called "S:TBAR.LINES". An example
file is included in this archive so check it out! The file is simply a
text file of upto 255 one liners. TBar will randomly select one of these
and place it underneath the chart. Simple but effective. Each line MUST
NOT be longer then 76 characters and MUST end in a return (otherwise TBar
wont find the required line!). If you put more than 255 lines these will
be ignored. Once again, if TBar fails to find the file it DOESN'T MATTER.
It simply wont use a random line.
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]
@NODE GREETS "ThrashBar: Hi Guyz!"
Greets :- As usual in my laziness means they are in no sheep-shagging
          order!
Anthrox    - Pot-Noodle - /X\arvin - Picard - Ice - ManxyBabe
    - Thargoid - TGR - Retaliator - Graffiti - DreamScape
    - RockWorm - Shredder - Fido - Dream Warrior - Sprog!!
    - and all the other guyz I forgot!!
Others    - SigmaSeven - Dan! - Marigold - Ice D - Solo - MyMurth
    - Vindex - The Black Cat - Astropath - Beast - Skol -
    - Groo - Samir
      If I missed you out and you think you should be here then
          gimme some shit and maybe Ill remember next time!
THANK YOU for taking the time to at least look at this utility!! There's
too many lazy fucker SysOps out there who just let the best utils slip by
them coz they don't bother to look at the new stuff... If you liked this
or any other Anthrox util, why not spread the word, and get the world
running our Good Looking and FAST utils, and rid the modem world of Ugly,
Badly designed, and SLOW (Like C and Basic and ARexx) Utils!! Only the
BEST will do!
            Thrash!    1993
@ENDNODE
@REMARK [*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*][*]