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READ.ME
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1991-01-27
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-------------------
Last Minute Notes
-------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 JAN 91 FIX 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o I rewrote the bagging procedures so that I could add a feature that
people have been wishing to get for a long time. A new user option
off the [C]onfig screen asks whether or not the user wants to bag
messages from the first part of the base or the last part of the base.
Bagging from the first of the base is default, and it wha t BGPCK has
done ever since BGPCK 0.0. If messages range from 1..400 and the
user last read 100 and can bag a maximum of 200 messages, messages
101..301 will be bagged. (302..400 will be picked up on the next
visit). If the user is in "last" mode, messages 200..400 will be
picked up. 101..199, however, will never be bagged for the user.
This is one of the reasons I resisted this feature, but now you have
it, you figure out what to do with it.
o Another new option appears on the [C]onfig screen. Maximum size of
packet in kilobytes. The default is 1024K (1 MB).
o A bug was found that was causing less than the maximum number of
messages to be bagged in some cases. For example, if a user bags a
maximum of 20 messages per area and there was a mixture of public and
private messages in one area, sometimes only a few messages would get
bagged. No messages were skipped, they just did not get transferred
until the next time. The bug is now fixed and the only thing that can
stop it from bagging all messages it should is if the packet reaches
the maximum size while bagging that area.
o A new option has been added, "w", wave goodbye. This option will only
work when used with the "h", allow hangup, option. The wave goodbye
option tells BGPCK to display the GTBYE.CBS screen if a user selects
[G]oodbye off the BGPCK menu.
o If the user is using "auto unattended download" mode AND the sysop
allows the use of the "goodbye" command, when the download is
finished, a message will appear on the screen saying the user will be
logged off in 60 seconds unless they press ^K (^C and ^X also work).
Pressing "H" will automatically cut them off then and there, just like
PC Board.
o Lines longer than 78 characters are now truncated. Long origin lines
were causing problems with printers on the BGRDR end.
o In the [C]onfig screen, options that were boolean (TRUE/FALSE) now
display as (YES/NO).
o The indicator that was added in the last FIX that tells the user how
many messages in the packet were addressed to them was reporting the
number of messages left by them. Fixed.
A new BGPCK.HLP file is included that covers the changes in the door.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 JAN 91 FIX 5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o PCKFIX4 seemed to be a complete disaster. Everyone has been calling
me telling me of weird errors. Some of them have been traced to
programming and some have been traced to the DIET compressor. From now
on, all EXE's will be compressed with LZEXE until further notice.
Turbo Pascal 5.5 will be used in the mean time rather than TP 6.0.
o Background colors where being included in a users packet even if they
were not using 2.0 style bags. That has now been fixed.
o When bagging is done, a message is displayed telling the user whether
or not they have any personal mail in their packet.
o A major bug was fixed. Users that had "applied" for an "application
area" and had not yet been "accepted" where still getting mail from
that conference. Now, a message saying "Access Pending" will be
displayed and no messages will be bagged for that area.
o Due to popular demand, BGPCK again creates a log file. It is rather
simplied at this time, and may get more complex later.
o When BGPCK is locating PKZIP.EXE, PKUNZIP.EXE, DSZ.COM (or DSZ.EXE),
and if DOORWAY mode is active, DWREDIR.COM, a message will be
displayed on the screen if it cannot find the file rather than going
on with the door. The log file will also contain the message.
o In BGRDR 2.0 compatibility mode, packets are no longer called *.#?#.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 DEC 90 FIX 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o The only difference between PCKFIX4 and 4A is that the EXE's in 4A are
compressed with the new file compressor DIET rather than LZEXE. They
make the files slightly smaller. If you are using PCKFIX4, there is no
need to install these EXE files unless you just want to.
o I think the problem with the private message bug has finally been
fixed. What was happening was that the message would think it was
being bagged, but would not actually get bagged if it was not in the
first MES file that BGPCK opened in that area.
Thanks go to Jerry Hook for helping me identify this pesky problem.
o If a user has SY authorities, all messages (public and private) will
be bagged for a given area.
o A second command line parameter may now be used. I was informed that
sometimes people use ramdisks for their work directories and the door.
If you need to specify a specific disk to put the work directory on,
put the drive letter and a colon as the second parameter. Example:
bgpck dhmg f:
...would make bgpck create the BG$WORK$.0 directory on F: drive. If
the second parameter is omitted, the current drive will be used.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 DEC 90 FIX 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o BGPCK has now been compiled with Turbo Pascal 6.0. Notice that a
BGPCK.EXE and BGPCK286.EXE are included. The 286 version will work on
both 286 and 386 machines. I will let you guys be the judge as to
whether the 286 version is any faster. On my machine, a Tandy 1000
with an 286 8mhz express board, I did not notice much difference. If
that is the case in all situations, I may not include the 286 version
in any other version.
o There have been quite a few changes in the way parameters are handled.
First, a slash-character-space is no longer used. Rather than saying
BGPCK /G /M for Ymodem-G and MobyTurbo options, you need only to type
BGPCK GM. The order of letters does not matter, and it is not case
sensitive. This was changed, because there are many parameters now
and people with long DOORWAY.EXE command lines may have had trouble
fitting everything in.
The 'E' option has changed defintion. Formely, it meant to use
DSZ.EXE rather than DSZ.COM. That is now taken care of automatically.
The 'E' option now uses a crude method of encryption for your message
area pathnames. Some sysops were concerned that users might get
trigger happy knowing the pathnames of some of their message bases.
Please note that this option should only be used if all the characters
in your message base pathname have an ascii value less than 128.
A 'T' option is now available. When used, the door will run in test
mode, which means no message pointers are changed. THIS SHOULD NOT BE
USED UNDER NORMAL DOOR USE.
A 'L' option is now available. When used, new door user information
is obtained from the USER.CTL file in the LAN path rather than the
GTPATH.
Examples of valid command lines:
bgpck gmhlsed bgpck286 gmhlsed bgpck GDEShmT etc...
o Several changes need to be made to the BGPCK.CNF file. The work
directory entry can be taken out. The PKZIP/UNZIP directory entry can
be taken out. The DWREDIR.COM entry can be taken out. Now, only four
lines should be remaining in the CNF file.
The first line should be the BOARD ID. The second line is the SYSOP
NAME. The third line is the MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MESSAGES PER
CONFERENCE, and finally, the fourth line is the MININUM NUMBER OF
KILOBYTES FOR DOOR TO OPERATE.
As long as PKZIP.EXE, PKUNZIP.EXE, DSZ.COM (or DSZ.EXE), and
optionally DWREDIR.COM are located in the DOS PATH, everything should
function normally.
o Messages that had a message number that was a multiple of ten had
their last line chopped off. This bug has been fixed.
o A crude chat mode is now available. Press Ctrl-P to enter and Ctrl-Z
to exit. No word wrapping is provided. It is designed for quick and
dirty talking only.
o There are a few cosmetic changes that you may notice. When an
incoming message is being posted to the message base, the phrase
"Message Routed to Net/Node 0/0" will no longer appear. The amount
of time a user has available in the door is now displayed when the
door is first opened. Please note that it only displays the time,
it does not make sure they stay past their time YET.
o A temporary work directory is now created on the root of the current
drive. It's name is BG$WORK$.xxx where xxx is the PID number. If no
PID number is found, the extension if NUL or 0.
o Please note that an option in the [C]onfig menu has been inserted as
choice 'B'. It asks if the user wants to make BGRDR 1.2 style message
packets. This defaults to TRUE.
If this option is set as FALSE, BGRDR 2.0 style bags will be produced.
There are three differences:
Message packets will be named *.#A# to *.#T# rather than *.MSG.
This will allow BGRDR to keep up to 20 bags for one board.
Background colors, if any, on your board will be inserted into the
packet data.
CRLFs will be changed to ascii-227 (the pi symbol).
If you are interested in beta testing BGRDR 2.0, please leave
inquiries on my board. It will be available shortly.
o I have not yet found the reason why SOME private messages are not
being sent. The fix may be in the next FIX. As you can see, I have
been quite busy working on FIX3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 OCT 90 FIX 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
All BGPCK.* files may now be placed in the alternate BBSPATH directory
as specified in the GT.CNF files. The four files that may be placed
their are BGPCK.CNF, BGPCK.CTL, BGPCK.HLP, and optionally BGPCK.ID.
BGPCK searches the GTPATH directory before attempting to search the
BBSPATH directory. This feature is provided for people that do not like
to clutter up their GTPATH directories.
Thanks to Jerry Hook and Michael Arnett for discoverying the problem in
the dates when the month was greater than 9. This was also indirectly
related to the net/mail adderess problem Jerry discovered. I also
noticed that the time was even being corrupted! I have attempted to fix
all three problems now, so let me know what happens. When a netmail
message is now uploaded, it will say on the screen "Message Routed to
Net/Node: xxx/yyy" to let us know its working properly.
A new option has been put into the CONFIG menu. It is "perform
unattended zmodem download". When set to TRUE, BGPCK will not ask the
user whether they want to download the packet or not, it will
automatically start the transfer. This feature is provided so that
users of GT and Telix that have auto-start features need not wait by the
computer while its packing mail so that they have to answer "Y" to the
download question.
A new command line parameter has been added, /H. Adding /H will add a
new command to the main menu, "[G]oodbye". This command will work much
like that of "[Q]uit", but it will drop carrier. This is so that users
need not QUIT, then have to wait for GT to return to hangup. Using the
/H parameter may do unexpected things like reboot the computer
depending on what kind of door watch software you use. If you are using
a multitasking program, I would try to stay away from it. Have a user
call when BGPCK is using the /H parameter and see what happens when they
try the "[G]oodbye" command. If it works, that's great. If not, don't
use it. This command works only on certain systems.
A BGPCK.HLP file is provided that covers the new changes for the users.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 OCT 90 FIX 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This release is strickly for Beta testers of GT Power 16. If you are
not running GT Power 16, if you try to install these programs, your
message bases will become corrupted.
Included with this file is BGPCK.EXE. Copy BGPCK.EXE over the BGPCK.EXE
that is already in your directory. Two new parameters are also included
with this file. You no longer have to include the com port as the first
parameter on the line. BGPCK now gets it from the GT.CNF file.
BGPCK /S - Uses DSZ handshake slow for our friends in the UK.
BGPCK /Q - For our friends in OZ running FidoNet, /Q will change any of
the high bit quotes to low bit. Example:
BG▐ This is how the quotes appear now. Using ASCII byte 222 for the
▐ display.
BG| This is how the quotes appear when the /Q parameter is used. This
| function is provided so that FidoNet does not shout.
If a board uses a color of zero, since BGRDR does not display background
colors, BGPCK now translates black into white so it can be displayed on
the user's computer without the BGRDR /C command.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B.J. Guillot
2611 Rushwood Circle
Houston, Texas 77067-1941
Voice: (713) 893-9123
Board: (713) 893-9124
------------------------------------------------------------------------