BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/qbbs/am210.zip/AUTOMSG.DOC

Text File | 1990-09-08 | 19KB | 341 lines

    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 1





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                          [ S/e/m/a/j Communications ]

                                  * Presents *

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        ·──── An Automatic Message Generator for RemoteAccess BBS ────·

                              Program Revision 2.10
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    There was a minor bug that we discovered in version 2.00, and due to the
    confusion caused by one of the beta-testers accidentally releasing v2.01
    we have called this release v2.10. The only change to the program is the
    fix to this bug.

                              Program Revision 2.00
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Too many new features too list here - Check the main docs! They include:

                * Flashy Windows etc

                * Support for FrontDoor log format

                * Control file so easier to use

                                                        and much, much more!
    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 2

    STANDARD DISCLAIMER (I'm sure you've seen it before somewhere)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This product is meant for educational purposes only.  Any resemblance to
    real  persons,   living  or  dead is purely  coincidental.   Void  where
    prohibited.  Some assembly required.  List each check separately by bank
    number. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use
    only  as directed.  No other warranty expressed or implied.  Do not  use
    while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Postage will be paid
    by  addressee.  Subject to CAB approval.  This is not an offer  to  sell
    securities.   Apply only to affected area.  May be too intense for  some
    viewers.   Do not stamp.  Use other side for additional  listings.   For
    recreational use only.  Do not disturb. All models over 18 years of age.
    If condition persists, consult your physician. No user-serviceable parts
    inside.   Freshest  if eaten before date on carton.   Subject  to change
    without  notice.   Times  approximate.  Simulated picture.   No  postage
    necessary  if  mailed in the United States.  Breaking  seal  constitutes
    acceptance of agreement.  For off-road use only. As seen on TV. One size
    fits all.  Many suitcases look alike.  Contains a substaintial amount of
    non-tobacco ingredients.  Colors may,  in time,  fade.  We have sent the
    forms which seem to be right for you. Slippery when wet.  For office use
    only.  Not affiliated with the American Red Cross.  Drop in any mailbox.
    Edited for television. Keep cool; process promptly. Post office will not
    deliver without postage. List was current at time of printing. Return to
    sender, no forwarding order on file, unable to forward.  Not responsible
    for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from
    any defect,  error  or  failure  to perform.  At participating locations
    only. Not the Beatles. Penalty for private use. See  label for sequence.
    Substantial penalty for early withdrawal.  Do not write below this line.
    Falling rock.  Lost ticket pays maximum rate.  Your  cancelled  check is
    your receipt.  Add toner.  Place stamp  here.  Avoid contact with  skin.
    Sanitized for your protection.  Be sure  each item is properly endorsed.
    Sign  here  without  admitting  guilt.   Slightly  higher  west  of  the
    Mississippi.  Employees and their families are not eligible.   Beware of
    owl.  Contestants have been briefed  on  some questions before the show.
    Limited time offer,  call now  to  insure prompt  delivery.  You must be
    present  to win.  No passes accepted  for this engagement.  No  purchase
    necessary.   Processed  at location stamped in code at  top  of  carton.
    Shading  within a garment may occur.  Use only in  well-ventilated area.
    Keep  away  from fire or flame.  Replace  with same type.  Approved  for
    veterans. Booths for two or more.  Check here if tax  deductible.   Some
    equipment shown is optional.  Price does not include taxes.  No Canadian
    coins.  Not recommended  for  children. Prerecorded  for this time zone.
    Reproduction strictly prohibited.  No solicitors.  No alcohol, dogs,  or
    horses. No anchovies unless otherwise specified. Restaurant package, not
    for resale. List at least two alternate dates.  First pull up, then pull
    down. Call toll free before digging. Driver does not carry cash. Some of
    the  trademarks mentioned in  this  product  appear  for  identification
    purposes only. Record additional transactions on back of previous stub.

                      This supersedes all previous notices.

    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 3

    CREDITS!
    ~~~~~~~~
    DOCUMENTATION:                     Stuart Henderson ■ dataMatrix! Design
    Standard Disclaimer:             James found it hanging around somewhere
    Program Code:                         (C) S/e/m/a/j Communications, 1990
    Design, Realisation:              James Berry ■ S/e/m/a/j Communications
    Support BBS:                         S/e/m/a/j ■ 0303 862415 ■ 2:254/199
    Compiler:                   TopSpeed C, Jensen & Partners, International
    RemoteAccess from:                                  Continental Software
    PKZip (preferred distribution format) from:                  PKware, Inc

    Introduction to S/e/m/a/j Communications
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    S/e/m/a/j  Communications  basically writes really neat little  programs
    generally  intended to help sysops out.  If you have a great idea for  a
    program  then  please send a message on to one of the beta  testers  who
    will  forward  it  via the SEMAJ.BETA echo to the author.   If  you  are
    interested  in  becoming a beta tester,  please send  James  Berry  (the
    author)  a  netmail message to 2:254/199,  or better still,  ring up the
    board and YELL for him. If you are accepted, you must be able to pick up
    the SEMAJ.BETA echo from any existing beta-test site.

    Copyright
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Although  these programs are distributed freely,  it does not mean  they
    are in the public domain.  You may use them for a trial period until you
    have  decided  whether  or  not  to  register  them.   For  details   on
    registration,    please  see  the  enclosed  SEMAJ.REG  file  for   more
    information.  This program is part of the special discount  registration
    scheme detailed in that file, as are most other S/e/m/a/j Communications
    products (£20, which is approximately $35, for all current and future £5
    registration  S/e/m/a/j  Communications  programs.  Even now  there  are
    already  more  than  4  programs at the £5  fee so you  can  save  money
    already!) Commercial users *must* pay after six days of testing AutoMsg.

    CONTENTS!
    ~~~~~~~~~
    The  distribution  archive  is in "PKZip"  format.  It  should  only  be
    distributed  in  that  format.  The files in the archive should  be  the
    following, and ONLY the following. If there are any other files added to
    the archive, you should inform S/e/m/a/j Communications. Adding files to
    the archive constitutes altering the program.

    The  following list just  contains the filenames you should  find  here.

    ■──────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ AMUTIL.EXE   │ The AMUtil program to run after each call.            │
    │ AUTOMSG.CTL  │ The sample control file for AutoMsg.                  │
    │ AUTOMSG.DOC  │ The documentation file; You're reading it.            │
    │ AUTOMSG.EXE  │ The main program; This is what you run.               │
    │ SEMAJ.LST    │ Registered user, betasite and support board list      │
    │ SEMAJ.REG    │ Registration form                                     │
    │ THANKYOU.AUM │ The sample "Thank-You" file to send to uploaders.     │
    │ WELCOME.AUM  │ The sample "Welcome" file to send to new-users.       │
    └──────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 4

    What AutoMsg Does, And Why It Exists
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    AutoMsg  does  exactly  the same as a lot of other utilities  -  namely,
    sending a message to your new users and uploaders.  However,  there  are
    several things that the other utilities don't do.

    The other utilities are designed to work with a variety of BBS systems -
    but AutoMsg is the *FIRST* that will run properly with RemoteAccess BBS.
    Also,   the   other   utilities will force you  to  use  something  like
    "Thanks  for uploading  the  following file (or files)".  No longer will
    you  have  to have a ridiculously long line,   for AutoMsg will let  you
    use "Thanks for uploading the following file"   for single file uploads,
    or  "Thanks   for uploading the following files"  if there is more  than
    one. Neat, huh?

    You can also be made "Information Messages"  telling you what's happened
    on the system,  and you can post messages based on the number of times a
    user  has called your system,  and you can post messages to the  message
    base from text files. Neat eh?

    AutoMsg   will  first read your RA.LOG file starting from the last  date
    it  checked for (note that if you have previously used an old version of
    AutoMsg,  you must delete AUTOMSG.CTL,  the file that the date is stored
    in),   and will then send the messages to users.

    The  messages are taken from the files "THANKYOU.AUM"  for the uploaders
    message,  and "WELCOME.AUM" for the new users message. Both files should
    be  in  plain  ASCII,   and should contain not much more than  about  65
    characters per line. You can use the following "keywords" to personalise
    your messages.

    %FNAME    is replaced with the user's first name,
    %LNAME    is replaced with the user's last name,
    %FILE     is replaced with the list of uploaded files,
    %S        is replaced with a  "s" if more than one file is uploaded,  or
              left blank if there is just one file.

    Naturally, the file-related commands (%FILE and %S) can't be used in the
    messages to new users.

    These  can be used in any of the messages including the messages  posted
    from  text files,  so if a text file you post includes "%FNAME"  then it
    will be replaced with the recipient's first name.

    The  .AUM files you supply must start with the subject line as the first
    line in the file, and the following part of the file is the message text
    to use. Keywords are accepted in the subject line as well.

    How do you run AutoMsg?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    By  typing  in  one simple command (or putting  it in a batch  file)   -
    AUTOMSG.   Not  too  difficult eh?  If you want to  enable  the  special
    messages after certain numbers of calls,  you must also run AMUTIL after
    each call. You can also post text files as messages - same format as AUM
    files is required. Macros are accepted. To do this, you type AUTOMSG and
    follow this on the command line by the filename then the user name in ""
    marks (ie AUTOMSG POST_ME.TXT "Stuart Henderson").

    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 5

    An alternative way of listing user names is by using a "response file" -
    specify @FILENAME.EXT instead of the user name (ie:

    AUTOMSG POST_ME.TXT @SEC15.LST

    where "SEC15.LST" is a straight text file containing names of the users,
    who you want to send text to. If  your favourite user utility can create
    a list of all users  with a certain security  level, you can send a note
    to all of them - If you want a utility made to do this, netmail James!).

    However,  you will also need to create AUTOMSG.CFG which will be  looked
    for  in the current directory and if it can't be found there,   the  one
    pointed to by the SEMAJ environment variable will be checked.

    LogStyle [Opus/FrontDoor]

    Selects the style of log file you use.

    Log RA.LOG

    This is the file that will be used when the log is read:  RA.LOG is  the
    default for this parameter.

    MsgBase E:\RA\

    NOTE THE TRAILING BACKSLASH! This is the path to your RA/QuickBBS-format
    Message Base.

    AumDir E:\RA\

    NOTE  THE TRAILING BACKSLASH!  This is the directory where AutoMsg  will
    look for your .AUM files (welcome.aum, etc)

    Thankyou: Enables THANKYOU messages.
    Welcome:  Enables WELCOME messages.
    Info:     Enables INFO messages.

    Scan DEFG

    This tells AutoMsg to scan drives D:, E:, F:, and G: for the InfoMessage
    free disk space report. Choose which drives you want.

    SysName Stuart Henderson

    This is used to define the name used for sending messages. The one above
    will send all messages from "Stuart Henderson".

    MsgBoard 200

    This is where you say where you want the new messages to go.

    Message MEMBER!  10 10 100
    Message 100CALLS 100 1 64000

    This will send a message to all users with a security of between ten and
    one hundred after their tenth call (MEMBER!.AUM),  and another one  will
    be  sent to all users after their hundredth call.  To enable this,   you
    must also run AMUTIL (don't worry, it's very quick) after each call.

    S/e/m/a/j Communications AutoMsg                                  Page 7

    AutoMsg will create a file, called AUTOMSG.CTL, so it knows where in the
    log file to start searching from.  Delete this file if you want to  scan
    from the start of the log-file. Do NOT delete this file if you don't.

    Guarantee (you must be joking...)
    ~~~~~~~~~
    If  AutoMsg doesn't work,  you get to keep all the pieces it ends up in.
    It  may take your message board with it as well - you can keep that too.
    Neither   S/e/m/a/j  Communications,   nor  anyone  else  even  remotely
    connected with this project,  can take any responsibility at all for the
    actions  of the program.   The maximum liability is the price  S/e/m/a/j
    Communications   received  for  the  registration  of  the  program  (if
    registered).

    Other Bits
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    The latest version of this,  and other S/e/m/a/j Communications Products
    can be found on the following BBS, amongst others:

    dataMatrix BBS [14400 HST, v32]     [phone]              2:255/13
    S/e/m/a/j [v21 v22 v22bis v23]      [phone]            2:254/6000
    Julliet BBS [9600 HST]              [phone]             2:286/315

    Amongst others (some of which are in the betatest group) dataMatrix! and
    S/e/m/a/j  are also RA R.25  Support Group Nodes and may be able to help
    with RA-related problems.  dataMatrix!  is also a FastChat  Distribution
    point.  S/e/m/a/j and dataMatrix! will have the latest RA for FREQ/Dnld.

    Other Major S/e/m/a/j Products
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    FSUMM 3.20  -  The File Summary Utility: This  does basically everything
    you  need to your FILES.BBS  files.  It makes a list of all the files on
    the  system,   lists the most recent files by number of days,  the  most
    popular files,  makes a statistics listing of how many files you have in
    each area and so on,  creates headers at the top  of your FILES.BBS that
    let  your  users  know about that particular file  area  (including  the
    number of downloads  reported  in  the filescounters,  size of the area,
    number of files and so on) and much much more. It has support for CD-Rom
    type  devices (it can either ignore all areas on a certain drive or  use
    RA's Path To Files List parameters) and even more. FSM320.ZIP.

    RA  BitLoc 1.02  -  This utility will unlock your COM-port if you use  a
    Courier HST,  etc, to run your doors. For example, a  few doors will not
    support  locked  speeds of more than 9600bps (mainly the ones in  BASIC)
    and many will not support 38400bps.  However,  for a good throughput you
    really  need  the  COM-port at 38400bps.  Before RA BitLoc,   you  could
    either  chose the doors or the throughput.  This utility will unlock the
    COM-port from whatever speed you like (38400,  19200,  whatever)  to the
    connect  speed.  This is read from DORINFO1.DEF so many systems  can use
    it. All that is used from DORINFO1.DEF is the speed and port, so you can
    probably make one  fairly easily from the files any system that supports
    doors can create. RAB102.ZIP.

    RA_Receive  -  Goes  through  the message base  looking  for  unreceived
    messages  to  anyone with a certain flag set in USERS.BBS in  the  areas
    defined by you. It then marks them received. This is a great help if you
    have  sysops  calling  your board who have loads  of  echomail  to  wade
    through before getting to local messages and so on.