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CONFPPE.DOC
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1993-05-26
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Informative <J>oin a CONFerence PPE
FOR PCBOARD 15.0
written by Eric Leitner and Paul Waldinger
This utility requires PCBoard 15.0 or higher to operate. Written
in Clark Development Company's PPL (PCBoard Programing Language) this
utility is designed to be installed one or any of the various CMD.LST
files which you have created in the PCBSetup. (Consult the Clark
Development Company documentation for further details and instructions
on installing the CMD.LST files).
Why write a PPE to replace the <J>oin a conference command?
===========================================================
Systems which support many conferences and forums have devloped
conference menus for their users which quite frankly overwhelm the new
users when trying to locate a particular topic or subject. Boards with
1,000-3,000 conferences generate 20-30 pages of scrolling for the user
to review the conference offering.
CONF.PPE offers a simple solution for the user. They can use
conventional syntax such as "J 1" to join the first conference or "J WP"
to join the WordPerfect Conference as has always been available directly
from PCBoard. But suppose they were looking for all conferences that
support communications or protocols. You might have 8 or 12 of them.
Unless your users are able to scroll through all the pages of the CNFN
file, they will miss them.
Using the conventional "J S" syntax will only display the strings
within the CNAMES file that you have created, but not necessarily reflect
the conference topics or file selections. When using CONF.PPE, your user
will be able to SCAN your CNFN file as you have written it for the string
which they have entered, CONF.PPE will open your CNFN file and display
all lines that contain matches to the entry. Hopeful this will generate
a much more organized display for the user and one which will allow them
to make a more logical selection of conferences that they wish to join.
CONF.PPE will also display the complete CNFN file if the user
wishes to capture or view the entire conference offering as the PCBoard
<J> command always permits.
CONF.PPE also offers the user the option to enter the <N>ame or
<N>umber of the conference they wish to join from its menu if they happened
to enter the <J> command without an extension in error. This eliminates
some of the frustrations of the users from viewing a page of conference
names which they did not wish in the first place.
Well, now you have all the info on this little PPE program which
we are sure your users will enjoy. We have been alpha/beta testing the
program on SOM for 2-3 weeks now as of this writing. It has not failed
nor caused a user to get confused. Of course, it does not read nor write
to any user files so you can be assured of your USERS file integrity.
CONF.PPE will write to your node CALLERs log file what strings and
searches the user prompted. By writing these searches to your logs, you
will be able to capture what conferences and interests your callers have
and just what information they are looking for. We don't write the results
since you can imagine what would happen on systems running Internet if a
caller did a scan for all your Internet conferences. You might need just
a megabyte of space for that entry alone!
Included files for this PPE program.
====================================
The only additional file you should be finding in this .ZIP file
is a copy of CONF.CFG. CONF.CFG defines certain specific parameters to
your system. The file is a "short" file of three lines.
No additional files are needed at this time. Any
other files that you find within this archive were placed by various
sysops of various boards, usually ads. Hopefully, one is a Smartnet
Network system which we support. If not look for a copy of SMRT????.ZIP
on Salt Air or any large system.
File Locations
==============
Place both CONF.PPE and CONF.CFG in the same directory. If you
do as I have also done, then you would put them along with other active
PPE files for your system in the same directory. The path to these
files does not matter provided you define them properly in PCBSetup (as
described below).
CONF.CFG
========
Since no two PCBoard systems are alike, we have to create a specific
configuration file for CONF.PPE. The file is really quite small, and consists
of three short lines:
1. Number of lines in your header of the CNFN file
2. Path AND Name of the CNFN file
3. Number of screens that the user will see to view
the entire CNFN file
example:
8
M:\GEN\CNFN
16
Note that the number of screens is "approximate". This number
will of course vary depending on the page length defined by the user.
But we would assume you would define it based upon "23" lines to the
page.
Installing this PPE file on your system.
========================================
Before continuing, take a few moments to review the installation
of PPE files into the CMD.LST files in the PCBoard documentation.
The name of this PPE file is CONF.PPE. However, in your CMD.LST
file in the first column for COMMAND enter a "J"; nothing else just a J.
As noted in your PCB doc's this cmd will replace all entries made by your
users to the J command.
In the security column, give this command the same level you give
to all users to be able to join a conference. If you do not wish NEWusers
to be able to use this command, issue a level HIGHER than the new user
level to join a conference in the "Security Levels - User Levels" screen
under option "H"; Security Level "C" screen. Thus registered users or
only users with a security higher or equal to that defined in the CMD.LST
will be able to run the PPE. Users with a lower security level will
default the established "J" command and security checks of PCBoard.
Note: CONF.PPE passes all conference join entries back to PCBoard
so if a user attempts to join a closed conference to which they are not
registered, PCBoard will handle all security checks internally. The PPE
program is not designed to bypass the PCBoard security checks.
Finally, insert the path to the CONF.PPE files in the path
statement of PCBSetup. Do not rename the file. If you have a reason that
you have to give the file another name, please report this problem to us
in the Smartnet Conference. Save and Exit PCBSetup.
The PPE file is now installed and ready for your users to enjoy.
CNFN file display
=================
Since most of your users will enjoy this PPE for its search command
it should be noted at this point that your CNFN file should be set up in
a logical manner to yield informative results to the user. Here on SOM
we have it set up so that the first set of columns displays the conference
number; the second set displays the conference name; third set is 45
characters long and contains various KEYwords which reflect subjects of
the conference and finally the last set which is the associated network to
which the conference would belong.
CONF.PPE will ONLY read a CNFN file and not a graphics or RIPterm
version (should one exist). We support the PCBoard @X color displays which
eliminate the need for ansi and non-ansi versions.
Sysops who are using the RWCNF program to generate their
conference lists will find this program integrates very neatly replacing
the conference descriptions with keywords for scans.
Here is a sample of a few lines from our CNFN file:
@X0C│@X0E143 @X0C│@X0EAmiPro @X0C│@X0EAmi Pro Windows Word Processing @X0C│@X0E 22 @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E 73 @X0C│@X0EANSI-Drawings@X0C│@X0EAnsi graphic video drawings @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E 72 @X0C│@X0EApple @X0C│@X0EApple/MacIntosh SCSI computer @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E164 @X0C│@X0EASIA @X0C│@X0ESmartnet Asia Email - Reach the Orient! @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E 82 @X0C│@X0EAST @X0C│@X0EAST Users Support @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E111 @X0C│@X0EAstronomy @X0C│@X0EAstronomy star gazer science @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E 54 @X0C│@X0EAT&T @X0C│@X0EA.T. & T. Unix 6300 @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E 57 @X0C│@X0EAuto-Fix @X0C│@X0ENeed help with your Car? Here's the forum! @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
@X0C│@X0E177 @X0C│@X0EAviation @X0C│@X0EAirplane radio scanner travel @X0C│@X0E @X0C│@X0ESmartnet@X0C│@X07
BETA code
=========
While PCBoard 15.0 is still under its beta cycle, this code is
also considered to be beta. We have some further developments for this
PPE which we would like to develope. However, due to the restraints of
the PPLC compiler at this time, we are not able to implement them. We
have contacted CDC regarding these specific problems and they have
already been made aware of them. As new versions become available they
will be made available to download on SOM and the Florida Byte Exchange.
Check with us for any specific problems or modifications that you need
to this file and program.
File Distribution
=================
We provide this PPE for all systems to display to their users.
Smartnet sysops are invited to call SOM (the host of Smartnet) or the
Florida Byte Exchange any of the Smartnet hubs to obtain the latest
copies of this file.
Sysops that are interested in learning more about the Smartnet
Network are invited to call ANY of the hubs listed in the Smartnet Node
List Applications are readily available and there is no fee for
carrying this network.
Eric Leitner Paul Waldinger
Smartnet So. Florida Host Smartnet International Host
The Florida Byte Exchange SOM Premium Info Network
(305) 972-1901 (516) 536-8723
eof