BBS Toolkit

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ BBS Toolkit / BBS Toolkit.iso / gt_power / trac153.zip / TRACKER.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1990-06-16 | 19KB | 406 lines

| Tracker! | Statistical User Information Utility | | Copyright 1989, 1990 by Cory Wright | | For use with GT Power v15.00, 15.01, and 15.50 | Supports 1 node systems only | | Part of the POWERTools Utility Collection from | TRC Development and The Rising Connection BBS | | June 16, 1990 Purpose and Objective --------------------- Almost every program is designed with a purpose in mind and has a goal to acheive. Tracker is multi-faceted and has more to offer than meets the eye. It keeps up with user information, board activity, callers today and yesterday, and mail waiting for users. Once the batch files are set up, Tracker is self-maintaining and will carry out its daily and weekly duties on its own. Once a week, you will get a board activity summary in your sysop message base, so you'll always be in touch with Tracker! Let's take care of this legal stuff first. STANDARD DEMO LICENSE --------------------- Tracker is a Shareware program. I encourage everyone to upload and share the code. Several limitations must be set forth, however: 1) This software is not in the Public Domain. It is owned and copyrighted by the author. 2) Under no circumstance should the code be modified or distributed in any other form than in that which it was originally supplied (the original is ZIPPED, but it may be distributed in other forms so long as the de-compressed form of the program remains the same). 3) Tracker may not be redistributed in any other manner than by electronic file transfer except in cases approved by the author. Receiving money for the Tracker program itself is absolutely forbidden to anyone but the author, except for telecommunications / service charges. No fee of more than $5.00 shall be collected in such an instance. Tracker may be run for a period of 30 days to facilitate a full testing of the software. If, after running the code for one month, you do not purchase the registration license (cost is $15.00 US) then this license is terminated and you must remove all working copies of Tracker from your system. Tracker may be distributed on ANY bulletin board system anywhere. The demo version may not be "hacked" or modified in ANY manner, including but not limited to modifications leading to the enabling of the extended features outlined in this document which are labeled as being available only to those systems running Tracker with an authorized Tracker registration number. 4) Under no circumstance may anyone use a registration number in use by another individual. The Standard Demo License as outlined above may be withdrawn by the author of Tracker at any time without exception. REGISTRATION LICENSE -------------------- Users that decide to purchase a Tracker registration number receive several benefits as outlined below. 1) Once purchased, the registration license is non-refundable. However, please note that the registration license is guaranteed for the life of the individual purchasing the license. All future releases of Tracker that are written by Cory Wright, its present author, will be compatible with any registration license and Tracker registration number sold. If this agreement is not satisfied at any time, the author shall be liable for no more than $15 and only in the event that an honest attempt to contact the author and resolve the situation was made and the situation remained unresolved. 2) The registration license authorizes use of all features marked in this documentation as "Registered Version Only." 3) The registration license entitles the holder to free access to The Rising Connection BBS, a support BBS maintained by the author, so long as the holder of the license adheres to the policies of said BBS. Note that Cory Wright may not be held liable in any manner for not supplying said access unless a request was made and access was knowingly and purposely denied without probable cause. 4) The registration license is non-transferable. The name of the bulletin board registered may be changed if evidence is given that such a change will take place. It is expressly forbidden to use the old registration number once a new one is issued. 5) The registration license is a single user license. The registered copy of Tracker may be used only on the node it is registered to and may not be operational on more than one computer concurrently. Site licenses are available and further information is available on request from The Rising Connection BBS or in writing at my address at the bottom of this document. If you are running more than one node or computer, or wish to have concurrent copies of the program running on computers you own, you may wish to look into purchasing a Site License as discounts are offered for quantity purchases above 2. 6) As a registered user, your needs will be given priority. You have access to voice technical support, beta testing privileges if you desire, as well as priority on bug fixes, adjustments, and new code additions. DISCLAIMER ---------- The author of this software, Cory Wright, is not liable for any lost funds, equipment, or data due to the use of this program under any circumstances. BETA TESTING ------------ Each version of Tracker is extensively beta tested on my system and others, not to mention other bulletin board systems choosing to beta test my software throughout the world. Basically, I try to make sure that when you get a copy of the 'released' version that there is nothing in there that could possibly go wrong. Please realize that, though every effort is made, some things may slip through. If this is the case please notify me immediately - despite all the legal garbage at the beginning of this file I'll be glad to take care of any problem you might have. If you are interested in becoming a beta tester for future releases of Tracker, please let me know via The Rising Conn. All that is required is that you run the latest Tracker version available to you and that you check in with The Rising Connection regularly to obtain upgrades and report on how well things are running. Tracker Warnings and Pitfalls ----------------------------- Do not redirect Tracker. It has built-in communications routines and monitors carrier. If carrier is lost, Tracker exits gracefully. DO NOT use GATEWAY, DOORWAY, or any other program to redirect the output of Tracker or monitor the carrier!! Tracker is not approved for use on a LAN at this time. Tracker does not pick up the DCE speed as of yet. Operation --------- Of course, your GTPATH should be set like this: SET GTPATH=<gt dir> Tracker can be a bit complicated to set up, but we can do it with about 10 minutes of your decidated time in front of these instructions. Please place the following lines in the designated batch files: GTLOGON.BAT <and/or GTNLOGON.BAT> ----------- TRACKER <command line options> GTLOGOFF.BAT <and/or GTNLOGOF.BAT> ------------ TRACKER END <In nightly maintainence> ------------------------- TRACKER NULL TRACKER INIT TRACKER SCAN (only if you want to scan for mail. WARNING: This may take an extended period of time!) Now, you'll need to run TRACKER CONFIG to set up the appropriate data files. Browse through the menus and set things up like you want them. Only 3 things should need much explaining: (P) Set path to temporary files: This must be a NON-EXISTANT directory! Tracker will create this directory, use it while it is scanning for mail, then delete it! SO BE CAREFUL! (O)ther Options: This menu allows you to deny callers based on their baud rate. All options should be set to (Yes) if you want to allow everyone to log on. Also, all 4 DROPDTR?.EXE programs that accompany this package should be in your GT directory along with TRACKER.EXE. (L)evels for ratio exemption - use to prevent the ratio warning from appearing to access levels after the colon. Access levels are, of course, case sensitive. If the current caller's level matches one of the ones in this string of characters & are below the ratio you've defined, the ratio line will not appear. Example: ABdEf93 will exempt levels 'A', 'B', 'd', 'E', 'f', '9', and '3'. ** Exceptions to the rule can be made! For instance, if you have a friend, John Dolittle, who only has a 300 baud modem, but you still wish to deny access to 300 baud callers, you may create a file called ACCEPT.TRC in your GT directory that has this format: ACCEPT <baudrate> Example: ACCEPT 300 caller 1 John Dolittle caller 2 END caller 3 etc... END There can be up to 4 sections. ACCEPT 300, ACCEPT 1200, ACCEPT 2400, ACCEPT 4800. The list of names are for people who you want to accept a call from that would otherwise be disconnected due to their baud rate. If you are accepting calls from all baud rates, you do not need this file at all. I believe everything else in the configuration is self explanatory. If you are having major problems, feel free to netmail me at GTPN 070/002, or write me at my address at the end of this document. Information on the (T)ext Configuration section is further on in this document. <other command line options> - each must be separated by a space on the command line. For your general information, Tracker knows when the sysop logs on and will be transparent to the other users. Unless the OVERRIDE switch is included on the command line, the sysop's name will not be stored as the 'last user' for the next caller, nor will the call be added to the total calls or the calls for the day. It is very important for TRACKER to be run EVERY TIME A CALLER LOGS ON. To skip running Tracker will be counterproductive and is highly, highly discouraged. QUPDATE - 'QuickUpdate' to the TRAK.BBS file. No output. This function is good for those who wish to have the convenience of the super index function of PowerTools that allow The GTGap, GTAccess, and others to speed up their operation, but not use Tracker itself. If you are running these utilities and for any reason stop using Tracker, be sure to delete the TRAK.BBS file. Using this parameter does not output anything to the communications port. CONFIG - allows you to configure Tracker's output and operations. SCAN - scans for mail waiting on all users. This may take a long time depending on the speed of computers and the number of messages in the bases. NULL - Always run NULL before INIT in your maintanence so that the dates won't get mixed up and you won't miss having your caller file bulletins updated. OVERRIDE - When coupled with INIT, Tracker counts all users' calls that are level 0 (SYSOP level). - When running in the logon batch file, it adds the sysop to the call count and 'last user on' fields Text Configuration ------------------ Tracker allows you to define every line of its output via the CONFIG option and the (T)ext Configuration menu. Of course, defaults are provided, but you may want to modify the output. The following are codes you may include in the text. Examples are given on that screen... Power variables --------------- The following variables can be substituted in the (T)ext configuration from the main menu of the TRACKER CONFIG option. When using any of the variable substitutions, Tracker will automatically change from the current color to the HIGHLIGHT color, print the variable, and then change to the TEXT color. If you wish to keep a line red, for instance, you need to be sure to make it red at the first of the line, and immediately AFTER *EACH* variable you use. For a prime example, look at my "Ratio Caution line". Informational Variables Color Variables ----------------------- --------------- @F@ - first name of user @Y - yellow @L@ - last name of user @G - green @W@ - whole name of user @R - red @DK@ - number of kilobytes downloaded @H - highlight color (from config) @DF@ - number of files downloaded @I - general information color (config) @UK@ - number of kilobytes uploaded @X - text color (from config) @UF@ - number of files uploaded @LVL@ - access level of user @D@ - current date (always in the form, XX-XX-XX) @T@ - current time (always in the form, XX:XX ?m) (ex: 1:43 pm, 12:12 am, 8:30 pm) @B@ - current baud rate (DCE rate if using /OZ and WhoDis) @C@ - city of current user @P@ - unformatted phone number of current user @M@ - time left in minutes @LD@ - long date (ex: Saturday, December 23, 1989) @LO@ - full name of last user on @LC@ - city of last user on @CN@ - caller number of current caller @TC@ - total calls 'to date' to the BBS @N@ - code for "calls today" by user. For example: "John, you've called @N@ times today" or "John, this is call #@N@". The best way to get a feel for these is to print out the (T)ext Configuration screen and run TRACKER /NULL and gaze at the screen to see and compare how the variables relate to the colors, etc. For example, to keep this line yellow with highlights on the variables, I need to do this: @YHello, this line is yellow - your name is @W@@Y - back to yellow! ^^ ^^^--- goes back to yellow. │ │ changes to yellow changes to highlight and BACK to text Again, you'll get the hang of it.. then again, you may just want to play around with the (C)olor Configuration and not mess with anything. * Sysop Announcement feature. In (T)ext Configuration, the (S)ysop Announcement line is configurable. I use it to say something nice to the users like: @GMerry Christmas! to print a line of holiday cheer in green. Use your imagination! General hints and tips ---------------------- The Tracker beta log is being included in this archive for your benefit. There is the possiblity I have not documented every feature in Tracker. If you wish to read the file, it may answer questions you may have. It is in reverse chronological order (meaning you should read it from the bottom to the top) as TRACBETA.DOC. Registration ------------ Use the enclosed PREG or POWERREG file to print out a custom registration form to submit your registration. Mail all registration, comments, and suggestions to: Cory Wright 8726 Farmington Drive Knoxville, TN 37923-1633 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Rising Connection BBS 615-531-8789 HAYES ULTRA V.32 A Word on User Supported Software --------------------------------- User supported software is an attempt to provide quality software at low cost to both the provider and the user. The cost of a software offering through conventional channels is very large, resulting in high prices and the inability of independent authors and small companies to develop and promote new products. User supported software is an attempt to develop a new, low cost, marketing channel for software distribution. If the user supported software concept works, then everyone will benefit. The user will benefit by receiving quality products at a low cost and by being able to throughly evaluate the product before buying it. The author benefits by being able to enter the software market without the high front end costs and risks. Unfortunately, this concept can only work if all software users honor the author's request for support. If you, as a software user, benefit from a "shareware" program then it must be worth something to you. If so, you should send a contribution to the author. Without contributions, good software authors will not be able to supply and support the high quality software that you demand. Your Rights as a User --------------------- The author provides this software, as is, with no warranties express or implied including the warranties of MERCHANTABILITY and fitness for the specific purpose intended by the user. It is expected that most users will inspect and use the software prior to making any payment to the author. The medium that the software is supplied on is not warranted by the author. If the medium was received directly from the author and is not readable, please return it and a replacement will be supplied. You may freely copy and distribute this software, as well as make a sufficient number of backups for yourself. Please be sure that all copies that you distribute are complete and unmodified. If you are having any difficulty with the software, please write to me, and I will make every attempt to clarify and correct the problem. Priority will be given to the correction of errors reported by registered users. * Special thanks to Jim Kreyling and Curtis Kowalski for excerpts on policy, procedure, and explanation of the Shareware concept. I have mutual feelings on both subjects and my policies, though modified.