BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/pc_board/wgmcnf16.zip/WGM-CNFN.DOC

Text File | 1992-03-03 | 13KB | 327 lines

                              WGM-CNFN v.1.6

                       Conference Menu (CNFN) Builder
                          for PCBoard(tm) v.14.5

                         written by Wayne G. Maas


    Introduction
    ────────────

    This program was written because I needed an easy way to re-create my
    CNFN file after adding/moving/deleting conferences on my system.  I did
    not want to spend time updating it when I knew there could be a way of
    having it done for me.

    I looked into several other utilities that did what I wanted but none
    of them created an end result that I was happy with.  So after coming
    up with nothing, I wrote this small utility.

    There is only one thing that is needed by you, the sysop, to do before
    running this utility and that is to modify the configuration file that
    came with this utility.  After editing the file, you only need to run
    this utility any time you modify your conferences.


    Configuration
    ─────────────

    To run WGM-CNFN correctly, you will need to modify the configuration
    file that came with the program.  The file is the one with the ".CFG"
    extension.  The name of the configuration file is completely up to you.
    The items contained in the text file will be described below.

    * Please note that most of the configuration keywords have changed
      since version 1.4.


    BBSNAME=WGM Computer Consulting BBS

      This keyword is the name of your BBS System as you want it to appear
      at the top of the CNFN file.


    PCBDAT=C:\PCB\PCBOARD.DAT

      This keyword is the location and name of PCBoard's PCBOARD.DAT file.
      This option can be up to 65 characters and can include an optional
      drive and/or path.


    CNFN_FNAME=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN

      This keyword is the name of the PCBoard CNFN file that WGM-CNFN will
      create. This filename can be up to 65 characters and can include an
      optional drive and/or path.  If you are using the MAXSEC= option, you
      can create security specific CNFN files by indicating the appropriate
      name here.


    CNFN_SORT=1

      This keyword is the sort order you want to use when sorting the
      conferences. There are currently 2 valid options and they are:

      1 = This will sort the conferences by the conference number.
      2 = This will sort the conferences by the conference name.

    CNFN_LIST=1

      This keyword is the method to use when writing the conference
      information to the CNFN file. There are currently 2 valid options and
      they are:

      1 = This will write each conference entry to the CNFN with the
          conference number before the conference name.

      2 = This will write each conference entry to the CNFN with the
          conference name before the conference number.


    CNFN_ECHO=E;@X0F

      This keyword allows you to change the default character and color of
      the flag that will be used when a conference is echoed.  The format
      of this line is the flag character followed by a ; then the PCBoard
      @X.. color code to use.  If this entry is left out or commented out
      and a conference is echoed, a default character of 'E' will be used.


    CNFN_PRIVATE=P;@X0E

      This keyword allows you to change the default character and color of
      the flag that will be used when a conference is private.  The format
      of this line is the flag character followed by a ; then the PCBoard
      @X.. color code to use.  If this entry is left out or commented out
      and a conference is echoed, a default character of 'P' will be used.


    CNFN_FILES=*;@X0D

      This keyword allows you to change the default character and color of
      the flag that will be used when a conference contains additional file
      directories.  The format of this line is the flag character followed
      by a ; then the PCBoard @X.. color code to use.  If this entry is
      left out or commented out and a conference is echoed, a default
      character of '*' will be used.


    CNFN_MAXSEC=0

      This keyword will determine which conferences will be included in the
      CNFN file. Setting this value to anything other then a 0 will tell
      WGM-CNFN to look at the "Required Security Level" in each conference
      and include only those that are less then or equal to this value.
      Leave this value to 0 if you want to include all conferences.


    The next six keywords are necessary if you wish to display the CNFN
    file in color. To color your file, you will need to be familiar with
    the PCBoard "@X.." color codes. If you do not wish to use color, either
    comment the lines out by placing a ; in front of the line or just leave
    these options blank.

    CNFN_FRAME=@X1A

      This keyword will contain the color to use for the box characters
      used in creating the CNFN file.

    CNFN_BBSNAME=@X1F

      This keyword will contain the color to use for the BBS name specified
      in the BBSNAME= keyword.

    CNFN_TEXT=@X1F

      This keyword will contain the color to use for other text in the
      header and footer of the CNFN file.

    CNFN_NAME=@X0E

      This keyword will contain the color to use for the conference names
      used in creating the CNFN file.

    CNFN_NUMBER=@X0C

      This keyword will contain the color to use for the conference numbers
      used in creating the CNFN file.

    CNFN_BRACKET=@X0B

      This keyword will contain the color to use for the brackets that
      surround the conference flag characters used in creating the CNFN
      file.


    CNFN_NETKEY=LEGEND.TXT

      This keyword is the name of the text file that WGM-CNFN will insert
      into the top of the CNFN file.  WGM-CNFN will calculate the number of
      lines contained in the text file and adjust the screen accordingly.
      This file can be as small or large as you want.


    CNFN_NET=R;@X0D;1-100

      This keyword is used to indicate that a particular conference belongs
      to a specific message network. If you do not specify any networks,
      WGM-CNFN will default the echo flag for all echoed conferences to 'E'
      otherwise the echo flag will indicate the letter of the network.

      This entry consists of 3 parts.  The first is the character you want
      to use as the conference echo flag.  The second part is the PCBoard
      @X.. color code to use in the conference flag.  The last part is used
      to indicate what conferences to use this echo flag for.  The
      conferences are entered individually seperated by a comma or a range
      indicated with a hypen. An example would be 0,1,2,3,4,5 or 0,2-5.

      When setting up network names, you can specify up to 255 networks.


    Running WGM-CNFN
    ────────────────

    After you have created the configuration file, you are know ready to
    run the utility. As a precaution, WGM-CNFN will backup the original
    CNFN file prior to creating the new one.

    To execute the utility, at the dos prompt, enter:

            WGM-CNFN

    If you have used a filename other than WGM-CNFN.CFG then you will need
    to use the command line option (/c) to tell WGM-CNFN the filename you
    want to use.  For example, you create a configuration file to create a
    CNFN screen for a security level of 60 and the filename is CNFN60.CFG.
    You would indicate this filename by executing WGM-CNFN as follows:

            WGM-CNFN /cCNFN60.CFG


    That's all there is to it.

    I have included some sample files that I have created using WGM-CNFN.
    They should help you decide if you want to run this utility or not.


    Security Specific CNFN files
    ────────────────────────────

    To create security specific CNFN files, you need to indicate a security
    level in the CNFN_MAXSEC= keyword in the configuration file. If you
    specify a value greater then 0, WGM-CNFN will check each "Required
    Security Level" of each conference before including it in the CNFN
    file. With this option you can include only the conferences that you
    want each level of users to see.

    Example:
    ────────

    To create a security specific CNFN file for users of a security level
    of 60 do the following:

      1) Specify in the CNFN_FILE= keyword the filename of this specific
         level. Enter, CNFN_FILE=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN60 (or what ever your
         filename is).

      2) In the CNFN_MAXSEC= keyword, specify the value of 60 by entering
         CNFN_MAXSEC=60.

    When you run WGM-CNFN including these two settings, a CNFN60 file will
    be created and will only include the conferences that are a level 60 or
    less.


    Registration
    ────────────

    This program is being released under the concept of "Freeware".  That
    is, if you like the program, you DON'T need to register it.  You can
    use it as long as you wish without feeling guilty.  However, if you
    feel you want to contribute something to future programming efforts, by
    all means I'll take what ever contributions I can get.  The only thing
    I do want is for you to let me know if you like it or dislike it in
    anyway. If anything goes wrong at anytime or if you have a way to make
    the program better, please let me know.


    Technical Support
    ─────────────────

    This utility as with any other utilities I release will be supported on
    my BBS, WGM Computer Consulting BBS. The number is [phone] using
    a US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem.

    For those sysops who are members of the RIME Network, I am the
    conference host of the WGM Software conference and the number is #184.


History
───────
03-03-93  ■ Released verison 1.6
            ∙ This release fixes the pressing enter twice problem that
              sysops have when viewing the CNFN file locally.
            ∙ Fixed the FILE FLAG being incorrectly displayed if the
              DIR.LST was left blank.

02-28-92  ■ Released version 1.5.
            ∙ Jeez, didn't realize the last release was in July '91.
              Where does the time go?!
            ∙ Completely rewrote the utility using Turbo Pascal 6.0.
            ∙ Changed most of the keywords used in the configuration file.
              Please see the configuration file for the items that have
              changed.
            ∙ Added the ability to indicate up to 255 message networks.
            ∙ Added the ability to change the default flag characters and
              colors.
            ∙ WGM-CNFN no longer creates the legend key line in the CNFN
              header.  You tell WGM-CNFN what file to insert into the CNFN
              file.  It is up to you to create the key.
            ∙ Also changed the way the number of rows and columns are
              calculated.  If you do not have any message networks defined
              and comment out the CNFN_ECHO, CNFN_PRIVATE and CNFN_FILES
              the program will create a 4 column CNFN using just the names.
            ∙ Utility no longer uses a .DBF and .FDX files. You can delete
              then from your directory.

07-27-91  ■ Released version 1.4.
            ∙ Fixed bug that displayed garbage in the CNFN file if you were
              using the MAXSEC= option with a value greater than 0 and the
              conferences to display were less than 36.
            ∙ Added a new color option that will allow you to change the color
              of the brackets that surround the conference flags.

          ■ This should be the last update for this utility unless a major bug
            develops. The next release will contain new features.

07-25-91  ■ Released version 1.3.
           ∙ Fixed bug that distorted display when a conference didn't have
             any files, wasn't an echoed conference and wan't flagged as a
             private conference.  This has been fixed.
           ∙ A major bug was found in the file read routine that I was using
             to read the PCBOARD.DAT file. If an ascii character with a value
             greater than 127 was encountered, it was treated it as a carriage
             return and screwed up my line counter that determined the
             variables needed for the utility.  This has been taken care of.

07-23-91 ■ Released version 1.2.
           ∙ Fixed bug in logic when creating the CNAMES.DBF datafile.
             This now looks at the "Max # Confs" set in PCBSetup.
           ∙ Added new config file option, MAXSEC=.  WGM-CNFN can now
             create security specific CNFN files.  Thanks Randy.
           ∙ Added two fields in the CNAMES.DBF datafile that will help
             in yet another utility I thought of.

07-20-91 ■ Released version 1.1.
           ∙ Program was completely rewritten using FORCE.
           ∙ Added SORT and LIST options to control the way conferences
             were displayed.
           ∙ First utility to use a common datafile that all utilties
             released by myself will use (or try to).

04-09-91 ■ Released version 1.0.
           ∙ Program written in Turbo Pascal 6.0.