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NWSFLASH.NEW
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1991-02-08
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┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
│▒▒ ▒▒│
│▒▒ ───────────────────────── N W S F L A S H ───────────────────────── ▒▒│
│▒▒ The NewsFlash Generator for QuickBBS ▒▒│
│▒▒ ▒▒│
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
W H A T ' S N E W ! ! !
2.31 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── The was a problem in converting from Stoppable to Forced. The problem
│ has been corrected and no longer presents a problem.
├── Problems with color coordination in the Nonregistered ANSI file was
│ corrected.
├── The biggest change this time around is the revision in the
│ registration number calculations. If you already have registered
│ NwsFlash, use CVTNWSQ to convert your current registration number to
│ the new number needed. This will create a backup of your original
│ control file and rewrite it. This program does not change the order
│ of the lines in the control file. If there are changes in the control
│ file itself, you must make them manually. CVTNWSQ will convert your
│ existing control file (NWSFLASH.CTL) to CONTROL.BCK.
│ ███████ See notes for Version 2.23 for new control ███████
│ ███████ file layout. CVTNWSQ only needs absolute ███████
│ ███████ information from the first 3 lines. ███████
├── The way the ANSI version of the news screen was clear the flashes
│ area was changed. It now should clear only the lines that had data
│ actually written to them.
├── I made a change in the ASCII file last time around and put the Enter
│ key code after the clear screen code. Well, that goof has been
│ corrected. (I guess that's what I get for working on source code
│ while waiting for another machine to do something.)
├── I added a new program to the NewsFlash distribution file, NWSCFG.EXE.
│ It was written to make configuring NewsFlash easier to do. To use
│ NWSCFG, just run NWSCFG at the DOS prompt in the NewsFlash directory.
│ Since this version has changes in the control file layout, you might
│ want to rename your existing control file to something else, write
│ your registration number down, and reenter the information back into
│ the control file via NWSCFG. There is an option to change the
│ registration number in NWSCFG. Once you have enerything keyed in
│ again, run CVTNWSQ to update your registration number.
└── The "send contributions" idea is a flop. This will probably be the
last release of NwsFlash under this concept. Supporting this software
is costing me more this time around and the "contributions" are not
flowing in like I had originally hoped. Granted, I knew that I would
not be able to quit my job and live off them. I expected a better
response than what I got. For those of you who did send a
"contribution", thank you very much and please ignore this paragraph.
The big reason for the registration was to allow me to see who was
actually using my programs. So much for that simplicity.
2.30 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── Forced Stories and Stoppable Stories use the same format now. As a
│ matter of fact, you can now have nwsflash convert Stoppable to forced
│ then back to stoppable. A program, CVTSTORY, will convert the
│ stoppable stories into the correct format for you. CVTSTORY works in
│ the same fashion as NWSFLASH in that it reads the flashes as it finds
│ them in the directory. It is highly recommended that you sort this
│ directory in the correct order that you wish nwsflash to read them.
│ Use a directory sorter like Norton Utilities DS.EXE (DS D-T-NES) to
│ do the job. If PCMagazine's TOUCH.COM is in the current DOS Path,
│ CVTSTORY will restore the Flashes original file date after it has
│ been converted.
└── Added another program to interface TODAY.EXE into NWSFLASH. Simply
execute NWSTODAY.EXE and it will create TODAY.ASC and FLASHES.S00.
The latter is used by NWSFLASH. The former can be displayed by
QuickBBS directly. NWSTODAY should be executed from NWSFLASH
directory. It will look for the \TODAY directory on the current
drive. The only parameter is <S>toppable or <F>orced. The story
created is FLASHES.x00, where the 'x' is S or F.
This program will also create TODAY.ASC which contains the same
information as FLASHES.x00, except that it can be displayed directly
by QuickBBS/RA.
└── Example command lines for NWSTODAY.
├── Forced story...... : NWSTODAY F
└── Stoppable story... : NWSTODAY S
2.23 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── Dressed up the screens a bit. The fashion that the screen was being
│ cleared/erased was changed so that the story area is cleared as the
│ next story is being written.
├── The control file was changed, again. Now you can configure the
│ messsages that are written out when there are no newsflashes to be
│ included. They are included on the two lines after the newsflash
│ title lines. If they are not to be used, leave the lines blank.
│ Line# 1: BBS Name
│ Line# 2: Sysop Name
│ Line# 3: Registration Number
│ Line# 4: NewsFlash Title #1
│ Line# 5: NewsFlash Title #2
│ Line# 6: No News Message #1
│ Line# 7: No News Message #2
│ Line# 8: ASCII File Name & Path
│ Line# 9: ANSI File Name & Path
│ Line#10: Tractor Feed Colors (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#11: Title Lines Colors (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#12: Story/Flash Title Lines Color (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#13: Story/Flash Author Color (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#14: Story/Flash Text Color (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#15: Press <ENTER> Message Color (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#16: Boldfacing Color (A;FF;BBm)
│ Line#17: Reverse Video Color (A;FF;BBm)
│
└─- Added additional controls in the ANSI text coloring. In addition to
regular screen coloring, there are now attribute controls.
~B -- Blinking
~L -- Bold
~R -- Reverse Video
~Z -- Reset to original attributes.
Usage:
This is an example of ~LBoldfacing~Z text, ~BBlinking~Z text
and ~RReverse~Z video.
See example FLASHES Files...
Remember on thing, the flashes file is displayed on the local screen
during the execution of NWSFLASH as it appears in the file.
2.22 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── Format of control file changed. The Second Title Line is now directly
│ under the first line. If you do not wish to use the Second Title
│ Line, just leave this line blank.
└── Continued cleaning up the screen addressing in the ANSI flavor of the
news file.
2.21 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
2.20 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── Removed the ADVGRAPHIC parameter. It's no longer used in the program.
├── Changed the way the "paper" was getting drawn on the screen. It is
│ now drawn on the screen using ANSI-specific commands. The text
│ information is then written over the "paper" via using ANSI-specific
│ commands. This will hopefully speed up the whole process ...
├── Since the presentation format of the ANSI screen was changed,
│ there is no longer any checks made on the lengths of user-provided
│ strings. If any given string "overflows" the "tractors", try
│ changing its length.
├── The Volume/Number routines were removed. I noticed that they did not
│ really do anything important. If you feel that this it not true,
│ please let me know. I can put it back in...
├── The Activity Log is now opened for writing in a different fashion.
│ It is now opened as a binary file instead of the text mode as
│ previously done. This was done to ease the reading of the log file.
│ The system date and time were also added to the log before the
│ activity for the current run.
└── Several internal functions were re-written to streamline program
operations.
2.13 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[10/03/90]──
└── Corrected oversight on the retrieving and formating the current
system date.
2.12 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── The largest improvment in this release is the migration of the
│ source code to Turbo C++. Some of the lock-up problems experienced
│ during program execution were removed just by changing compilers.
│ The string handling capacities of the new compiler were extended.
│ During the conversion time, several internal string handlers were
│ rewritten to completely remove the problems of lock-up.
└── Revamped the Registration Code methods.
2.11 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────[06/24/90]──
└── Cosmetic items were changed. There were a few items that did not
"look" right and needed to be corrected.
2.10 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└── Couple of cosmetic items were adjusted. There was a problem with
the ANSI screen. It was not staying on the screen correctly when
the story was longer that the allowable space on one screen.
2.07 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
├── Corrected some spacing errors in the headers for the ANSI and
│ ASCII screens. String functions were restructured for maximum
│ flexibility.
└── Started using a "What's New" file.