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Text File | 1992-07-26 | 15KB | 369 lines

Lucidity Version 2.00 By Greg Spurrier Released July 26, 1992 Introduction ============ Lucidity is, simply put, the only RemoteAccess log file utility that you will ever need. In its interactive and automatic system event modes, it allows SysOps to scan the log file for the information which they wish to see--be it message posts, uploads, downloads, dropped carriers, etc.--and view it by itself. No more hunting through cluttered RA.LOG files using a text editor or MORE, Lucidity gives you the information that you want, when you want. About this Manual ================= My philosophy of software development is that the programmers should spend their time programming quality, easy to use software packages rather than spending their time writing an extensive manual to explain their complicated program. Lucidity is a perfect example of this. It is extremely easy to use, in fact, the menu- driven mode requires little or no explanation--you will probably never need to refer to this manual for it. The configuration file and the automatic system event are slightly more complicated and therefore have more detailed instructions. I suggest that you follow the instructions in the next section to set up your configuration file now, and then play with Lucidity for a little while. Once you have seen what it can do, refer back to the manual on how to set it up to run as an unattended system event. Configuration ============= Before Lucidity can be run, the file LUCIDITY.CFG must be created. I have included a sample one with this distribution, so all that needs to be done is to edit it so that it matches your setup and that the options which you want are enabled. There are two types of information which go into the LUCIDITY.CFG file--those which affect the menu-driven mode and those which define the behavior of the automatic system event mode. The latter are described in the Automatic System Event section of this manual. The following is a list of all the options which affect the menu-driven mode of Lucidity. All commands are case-insensitive, so 'AsKdatE' would work just the same as 'ASKDATE' or 'askdate.' Commands must be entered one per line and may be no more that one line long. Blank lines and lines starting with semi-colons are ignored. LOGFILE= ------- ** This is the only required line in the LUCIDITY.CFG file. It tells Lucidity where the log file is located and what its name is. Be sure to include the drive, the full path, and the file name: LOGFILE=C:\RA\RA.LOG PRINTER= ------- Use this line to specify your printer if it is other than LPT1: PRINTER=LPT2 ASKDATE ------- Since some Sysops keep their logfiles for a week or longer, Lucidity has the option of starting any of its menu-driven scans at a certain date within the log file. If this line is added to the LUCIDITY.CFG file, the SysOp will be prompted for a date before each search. Hitting enter at this prompt will select the last date entered. BIOS-VIDEO ---------- ** Lucidity defaults to using direct writes to the video memory for screen output. The benefit of this is much faster screen output. Unfortunately, this may cause problems with very old CGA cards or if Lucidity is run under DesqView or Windows. If you experience any problems, such as monitor snow or lock ups, add this line to your configuration file. CLIP-FILE-LINES CLIP-SCREEN-LINES ----------------- ** This pair of options affect the way that Lucidity deals with lines which are longer than 80 characters wide. By default, it will wrap them. If you would prefer that it truncate the lines to 80 characters, which makes for neater displays, simply include one or both of these lines in your LUCIDITY.CFG file. CLIP-FILE-LINES controls the line clipping all output files, whether from the menu-driven mode, or the automatic system event mode. It will also affect the output to the printer. CLIP-SCREEN-LINES only modifies the output to the screen. LINE-NOISE ---------- ** This option is included for SysOps with users who experience line noise problems. If this option is included in the configuration file, Lucidity will filter out logins which contain line noise in the user name. It does this by scanning the login line of a user's session for ASCII characters with values greater than 127. For this reason, users who have high-bit characters in their username will also be excluded from the list of User Logins. NO-LOCAL -------- ** Since the SysOp generally will not be interested in viewing when he/she logged into the BBS locally, there is an option to suppress the displaying of all logins which occurred locally. Note: ** This option also effects Lucidity's behavior in the automatic system event mode. The Main Menu ============= The heart of the Lucidity's menu-driven mode is the main menu. The options available are highly self-explanatory, so only a brief explanation of the functions are given. Please note that at any name prompt, be it Username or Filename, you may enter partial names. For example, if you just entered 'Greg' for the name, it would show the logins of anybody who had Greg somewhere in their name. [U]ser logins ------------- This option will allow you to view the logins of all users, or just of the user you specify. If ASK-DATE is included in your configuration file, you will be prompted for a date to search from after you have entered a name to search for. [N]ew users ----------- This option lists all of the new users, or allows you to search for when a certain user first logged in. As with User logins, you will be prompted for the date if ASK-DATE is included in your configuration file. [F]ile Transfers ---------------- Yup, you guessed it, this one shows all the file transfers. You can specify uploads, downloads, or both and can specify the file name and the username as well, if you like. ASK-DATE causes date prompting on this function too. Note that if you are using an external file door, it is likely that this function will not work since it is designed to operate with RemoteAccess's built in file transfer functions. If you are using a file door, give this option a try, and if it works, Great!, if not, oh well.... [P]olyScan ---------- [New with Lucidity 2.00] This is the most powerful feature on the menu. PolyScan allows you to do a customized scan of the log file searching for what *you* want to see. After PolyScan is selected, another menu will pop up on which you select the scan criteria. Simply type the first letter of an option to turn it on or off. Once you have selected all the options you want, press enter to perform the scan. You will then be prompted for a name, and, optionally, a date. [O]utput Select --------------- Use this function to change between screen, disk, or printer output. If you select Disk, you will be prompted for a file name. If the file exists, you will be given the option to append to the end of the file, to overwrite the file, or to cancel the output switch. [Q]uit ------ Hmmm.... I wonder what it could be.... [B]ad Passwords --------------- This function will list all of the people who have been unable to provide their password in the number of tries allowed. You will be prompted for a name and optionally a date. [D]ropped Carriers ------------------ Same as above, but with dropped carriers instead. [T]ime Exceeded --------------- Searches for those who were booted off of the system because they used all their time up. Optionally prompts for date to start scanning from. [I]nactivity ------------ Scans for people who got kicked off because the inactivity timer ran out. Date prompting is optional. [S]tatisitcs ------------ [New with Lucidity 2.00] The statistics option will scan the log file and generate a report providing statistics such as the number of logins, message posts, downloads, etc. Date prompting is optional. There, sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it is! Go play with it for about five minutes and you'll have it down. Automated System Event ====================== One of Lucidity's most advanced features is its ability to run in an automated mode for use as part of your system events. This allows you each night, each week, or whatever interval you like, to compile different lists of the happenings on your BBS. Setting up for this capability is relatively simple. All that is required is an addition to your LUCIDITY.CFG file and then running Lucidity with the /AUTO command switch: LUCIDITY /AUTO For each file which you wish to be created during the system event, a statement block beginning with OUTFILE= and ending with END OUTFILE must be included in your configuration file. Between those two statements the information you wish to have in your file is specified. The following is a list of the accepted statements between the OUTFILE= and the END OUTFILE statements: USERS -- All of the user logins [1] UPLOAD -- Uploads made to your BBS DOWNLOAD -- Downloads made by your users MESSAGE POST -- Messages posted BAD PASSWORD -- Users unable to give their password DROPPED CARRIER -- Dropped carriers TIME EXCEEDED -- Users whose time ran out INACTIVITY -- Users kicked off for inactivity NEW USER -- New Users NEW-TO-OLD -- Make output file in reverse order [2] OVERWRITE -- Do not append to existing file Notes: ----- [1] When USERS is selected, all other parameters except for NEW- TO-OLD and OVERWRITE will be ignored. [2] NEW-TO-OLD is an exciting new feature which allows the output file to be arranged so that the newest information is at the beginning of the file. This way, even when your file grows very large (maybe all downloads over the past six months), you can still view the newest information by using DOS's MORE command, or your favorite text editor/viewer, and read the first few screens and then breaking out when you have seen the new information. This sure beats hunting through a 100k file searching for where the old information ends and the new information begins. Examples: -------- OUTFILE=C:\RA\FILETRAN.LOG NEW-TO-OLD UPLOAD DOWNLOAD END OUTFILE This would create a record of all uploads and downloads in a file called FILETRAN.LOG. It would be kept in new to old order and any new information would be appended to the old file (since OVERWRITE is not included). OUTFILE=C:\RA\BADGUYS.LOG OVERWRITE BAD PASSWORD DROPPED CARRIER TIME EXCEEDED INACTIVITY END OUTFILE This one would keep a daily list of who had committed 'offenses' on your board in old to new order. Since the OVERWRITE parameter is included, a new file would be created each day, and the old one would be deleted. OUTFILE=C:\RA\LOGINS.LOG NEW-TO-OLD USERS END LOGFILE Getting the hang of this yet? This one keeps a new to old list of all the users who logged in to your board. You will be included there too, unless you have specified NO-LOCAL somewhere in your logfile. Please note that you can have as many different OUTFILE= END OUTFILE blocks in your LUCIDITY.CFG file as you wish. This way, you can create as many files as you wish simply by invoking Lucidity in automatic mode once per event. Registration Information ======================== Lucidity v 2.00 is *not* public domain or freeware. Lucidity is shareware and must be registered. You are entitled to a two week trial period to see if Lucidity is useful to you, and after that you are morally, ethically, and legally compelled to register your copy with its author. By registering Lucidity you: are registering for all future versions of Lucidity, are supporting the shareware concept, are legally able to use Lucidity, get a good feeling knowing that you are helping out a poor college student, will be put my mailing list so that you will receive announcements of other shareware products be me, and your conscience will be clear of software theft (at least for Lucidity). Registration is simple. Just fill out the form contained in REGISTER.DOC and mail it, along with a check or money order for $15 US one of the following addresses: September - May June - August --------------- ------------- Greg Spurrier Greg Spurrier 32 Hereford St. 7450 S. Indianapolis Boston, MA 02115 Tulsa, OK 74136-5910 The reason for the two addresses is that I am a (poor) college student and am not at either address full time. No matter which address you send your registration to, I will eventually receive it. Sending it to the correct address for the time of year that it is will insure that I get it quickly and will be able to send your registration key to you as soon as possible. Warranty ======== Lucidity 2.00 comes as is and has no warranty. I assume no responsibility for what it might do to your system, and guarantee only that it will occupy space on your hard drive. Lucidity works fine on my system and on my beta testers' systems, but I still can not guarantee that it will work for you (although I am confident that it will). Special Thanks ============== A Special Thanks is in order to my Beta testers who were willing to keep on trying Lucidity v 2.00 and find the bugs and make suggestions: Chris Prater, Quantum Leap Chris was the original beta tester for Lucidity 1.00 and suggested many of the features which were in it, and are continued in Lucidity 2.00. Without him and his willingness to test and suggest, Lucidity would still be a tiny little utility which just lists User logins. Tim Winters, Big Dreams Tim joined the Beta team toward the end of the development cycle of Lucidity 1.00 and gave it quite a work out with his log files which had practically more information in them from third party utilities than it did from RemoteAccess. It was his suggestions which prompted Lucidity 1.02 to be released soon after 1.00. He has also been responsible for suggesting many of the improvements which have been incorporated in Lucidity 2.00. Brad Kester, The Earth Foundation Brad began his Lucidity beta testing with some of the earlier betas of Lucidity 2.00. He was always eager to find Lucidities bugs and make suggestions at the same time. Among other things, you can thank him for the displaying of aliases with message posts. Thanks Guys! Lucidity never could have come this far without you.