BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/qbbs/ovr275b0.zip/BETA10.DOC

Text File | 1991-04-09 | 27KB | 625 lines

Beta 10

We are testing a new system of evaluation keys in this beta.
The evaluation key for this version is 2109997539, and will work regardless of
your system name or your name.  This evaluation key expires on 4/29/91,
please help us with our testing by using this key (don't lose your regular beta
keys though ;-)

Fixed ansi/nokill problem in USEREDIT

Status bar no longer goes to screen 4 after type 15

List user command no longer displays deleted users

Cleaned up file search commands, *F works properly now

You can now use the *N metacharacter to put the node number (Multi-node, not
FidoNet) anywhere in the menu text.  You can also create custom names for .A??
files by using *N - just like the *M and *F work in earlier betas.

Page Bell should work properly again

Beta 9

This should fix most of the bugs in Beta-8, and will hopefully be recompiled
as Gamma-2 - but that's really up to you guys ;-)

 Cost accounting in netmail has been fixed!  See QNODE.DOC for details...

 UserEdit no longer shows everybody [Deleted] on mono systems

 Events should be working properly now - in QCONFIG too!

 Board name now displays properly when reading <S>elected

 Xmodem uploads no longer cause an error 100

 Fixed word wrap on FILES.BBS display

 Reversed order of home and data numbers for new user logon

 New text file! DATAPHON.A?? is now displayed before asking for data number

 Free form phone number entry now demands at least 5 digits

 Control Z in text file is now treated properly.

 Templating now works on type 38

 ALT-B no longer does anything, scroll lock disables page bell.

 Cosmetic fixes in full screen chat.

 Fixed 103 bug in barefoot mode (thanks Nick!)

 Fixed ", user off line" in system log (I think)

2.75 Beta-8

Here we go again!  As I expected, Beta 7 had it's problems, but overall I am
still rather pleased at how it went and I think we are getting real close to
Gamma 2 now!  Biggest problem I currently know of that *still* isn't fixed is
the netmail cost section, I'll have to get that in the next beta.  Meanwhile,
there were 2 "mystery features" in Beta 7 and you guys have only found one of
them so far (ALT-E).  I really thought that the other would have surfaced by
now ;-)  Also, there has been 1 new feature added in this release, and I'm not
telling what it is - let's see how many of you are on your toes <grin>

Anyhow, here are the bug fixes in this release:

The message area name trash has been fixed.

The chat problem with an EGA card/CGA monitor is gone (I think).

Activating ALT-J from chat no longer turns the whole screen blue.

The nodelist listing problems are gone!

There was a minor problem with TRASHCAN.CTL when one word names were allowed
and there were blank lines in the file - fixed.

The background color problem is gone!

The error 201 bug that turned up on certain ANSI screens is dead.

The selection menu on the Move Message has been cleaned up.

The message base locking code has been completely re-written, it should now
work properly with third party programs like Gold-Ed and the multi-node ZmailH
(if it ever comes out...)

Questionaire SetFlag and SetSecurity should be faster now.

ANSI mode is now properly set after the new user logon question.

The new password is on longer displayed when you do a password change.

The birthday and sex questions are now double spaced at new user logon.

A "hole" in the file area setup no longer aborts a file search.

The questionaire commands to change security and flags should be faster now.

All the items in QCONFIG should be working properly now, if you find any that
aren't please let me know.  I have done some general cleanup in QCONFIG, fixed
the problem with 9 flags in the new user setting, fixed the problem that made
it push flags to the right (and off the end), and made the escape key work more
consistently.  Pressing escape will undo the edit only for the field the cursor
was on when you pressed it, all the other fields will be saved.  Also, the
way the numeric fields work now makes more sense.

By popular demand, Add and Delete functions have been added to USEREDIT!

Finally, I lied - there is one new feature of this version that I will document
here - putting a *C in a menu text item will center it.  This may cause some
bizarre results when used with the ; but I'm not sure what to do about it...

That's it for this time, stay tuned!

                    Steve and Richard

2.75 Beta-7

Wow, I never thought it would take that long to write a "little" program like
QCONFIG ;-)  Anyhow, we're baaaaack!  There are quite a few new features in
this one that should stand right out, and a couple that you're gonna have to
look for.  <evil grin>

Full mouse support has been added to the user editor.

The blank alias bug in the user editor has been fixed.

When entering a message the default is public, unless you are replying to a
private message.

The problem with listing the nodelist not working after you've Stopped it
once should be gone.

The line wrap in line chat mode works right now - even on the first line!  And
if for some reason you want use line chat instead of split-screen, hold down
either shift key while entering chat mode.

The problem with the help option on the protocol menu is fixed.  For the
historians out there, this bug appeared to have surfaced in 2.04 - it's amazing
that it has lived this long ;-)

A new questionaire command has been added, LogEntry works just like a menu type
47

The verifier's failure messages have been cleaned up.

The search string in message <R>ead <S>elected now appears in mixed case.

Turning off online messages no longer removes the user from the online list.

Removed the 5 minute nonsense from event checking.  That's a hangover from Adam,
and I never could figure out why he did it so...

And last (but definitely not least) File Templates have been added!  Their use
should be almost obvious for those of you who are already using message
templates, but there are 3 different ways to specify a file path now:
For a backward compatibility mode, all the menu commands that want a file path
can just have the full path specified.  Doing this deprives you of all control
specified by the QCONFIG file area selection so you will probably want to
change your menus to point to areas by number.  Finally, you can use *F to
specify the current template area.  The *F will also display the name of the
area in a menu.  Menu type 50 selects the file area.


I am confident that this version will have bugs ;-)  In fact, I know of
several options in the new config that are "broken".  If it wasn't so long
since the last beta, I probably wouldn't be letting it out like this.  Other
than the bugs, this is what 2.75 will be.

2.75 Beta-6

This is the slimmest trimmest version ever!  I had it running in a 204K
DesqView window, and Manifest showed it actually taking up only 185K of RAM!
Obviously there have been a lot of changes to the overlay management to make
this happen, and for that reason there is no non-overlay version of this beta.
I want to make sure I didn't break anything in the shuffle ;-)  Also, included
in this package is the first beta version of the all new user editor, currently
the only user editor available which is capable of editing the extra fields in
the Beta and Gamma versions.  Also included in this package are the new mail
utilities, version 2.66a.  Please distribute them freely!

Some of the changes from Beta-5 to Beta-6 are already in the Gamma version you
are currently running, but for completeness here they are again:

Birthday and sex information are now stored in the user file.  This information
may be requested from the user via menu type 44, optional data B to get
birthday, S to get sex, or BS for both.  Along with this come the new text
file commands ^F6 to display the users age, ^F7 for their birthday.
BIRTHDAY.A?? is now displayed at logon if the caller happens to call on their
birthday, a sample BIRTHDAY.ANS is included (complete with ANSI music!).

The problem with type 22 and the logon mail check is history.

You can now put a *M in the filename for menu types 5, 40, and 45.  Thanks to
Ed Grinnell for the great suggestion that was the forerunner of this idea.

There was a small bug in the verifier that would cause the system to hang if
a user ran out of time or dropped carrier at an inopportune moment.

The number of tries at entering a name at logon has been limited to the number
of password tries you have configured.


Now for the totally new stuff:

The problem with reading back the EXITINFO.BBS from a type 7 is *finally* gone
(I hope ;-)

FIX-15 is no longer required on any type 7, even those programs which need it
if you run them as a type 15.  Note that if you use such programs as a type 15
you will still need FIX-15.

Turned out that the little bug in the verifier had a twin brother in the message
section, at the [A]ccept... prompt - I killed it too!

The LOCAL flag is now set when a message is forwarded.

Messages with a null to: field no longer flagged as belonging to the first user
who calls after they are tossed.

Used to be that when reading messages nonstop, the system took that a bit too
seriously and even pounding the S key wouldn't make it stop - fixed.

Entering a 65 or 66 line message in an echo area with the internal editor
(how's that for a hard to find combination) will no longer cause an error 201.
Also, a blank line has been added between the message text and the tear line
to make it more pleasing to the eye, again this affects only the internal
editor as it was already done with the external editor.

The internal editor will no longer let you enter a null message.

The [B]ack command now works properly while reading [S]elected messages.

Random garbage no longer appears on page 5 of the status line while a new user
is logging on.

There was a problem with the system bombing out if you recieved an online
message while you happened to be reading a text file, that won't happen any
more.

The Quick-Scan message feature now works properly.

Nested IF statements in questionaires work correctly now.

An ELSE capability has been added added to the IF statements in the
questionaire language.

The ASK statement in the questionaire language now allows a minimum response
length to be specified, just add the minimum length to the end of the statement.

You can now put a /R on the optional data line on a type 13 to cause the users
real names to be displayed instead of alias.

An option has been added to delete a user's alias, put a /D on the optional data
line of a type 42 command to make this happen.

Have a happy new year, and don't drink and drive!

                    Steve and Richard

2.75 Beta-5

Nothing really earthshaking in this one, and still the same mystery feature as
Beta-4 - nobody seems to have found it yet!  I thought it was a pretty easy
one but... ;-)

Anyhow, first and foremost, the error 201 while reading messages is finally
gone (I hope).

Saying N to the more prompt while reading messages behaves properly once
again.

The ~ character in menu displays has been fixed.

Quick now supports -B38400 on the command line.  Several people have asked
about this and I *still* don't understand why it is necessary, but now it's
there...

Private messages to an alias are now properly recognized.

A small bug in the point addressing has been fixed - I thought there was
supposed to be a : on the FMPT or TOPT kludge but it turns out that I was wrong.

Finally, a long standing bug has been removed - the [B] key now works properly
when you are reading your new mail at logon!


2.75 Beta-4

The mystery feature in the last beta was too easy ;-)  Actually, it's pretty
obvious in this version too, I wanted to make it templates but decided that
the use of those things required a bit of explanation...



Yes, templates have been added in this beta!  Messages only (so far), but the
file menu templates should be here soon.  Heres the scoop:

On a menu type 1 or 2 you can use /M=<number> to set the current message area.

You can also use /M=- and /M=+ to increment or decrement the area.

On types 23, 24, 25, and 27 you can use *M instead of an area number to
indicate that the current message area is to be used.  *M also will work on a
type 47 or in menu text - in these places the name of the current
message area will be substituted.

The symbol *1 used on a type 7 will be substituted with the number of the
current message area.

Menu type 49 allows the user to pick the message area they want, from a menu
similiar to the type 28

New control codes have been added to the textfiles:
^KY Name of currently selected message area
^K0 Number of messages in currently selected message area
^K1 Number of currently selected message area


A clear screen is now forced when the verifier is activated.

On-line nessages no longer mess up the colors of a menu they interrupt.

The Private prompt on the move message works properly now.

Users can no longer exploit a bug to delete messages or perform other
unauthorized functions.

I made another attempt to fix the nodelist locking problem, let me know Gary!

The first time I heard of this problem I thought somebody was seeing things
but there really was an R being stuffed into the receive buffer by the
auto-ANSI detect - fixed!!!!!!

Another text file code - ^F5 for the user's alias name.

The swap for the external editor is now configurable, add a *M to the command
line in QCONFIG to activate the swap feature.  Thanks Ken!

The bug with the soft CR character appearing in the message text is gone.

Point support has been added in the netmail section.

You can now display a different message at logon for each node in a multi-node
system by making a NODExx.A?? file.  It will be automatically displayed right
after SECxxxxx.A??

The problem with type 7 time oddities etc should be history

Finally, the "bright mode" bug with Auto-ANSI is gone.  I'm sure the dull gray
colors will be easier on the eyes of Don's blind users ;-)

An overlay version is available for those who may want it - f'req OVR275B4.ZIP
from 363/1701, 363/1071, or 363/34.  I daresay Max will probably have it on
his system too...

QECHO266.ZIP and MSGPK266.ZIP should be available by the time you get this
file, so please grab a copy and spread 'em around!

                    Thanks
                    Steve and Richard


2.75 beta 3

IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE

You *must* run ALIASFIX.EXE even if you don't plan on using the alias
support in Beta-3.  Failure to do so will guarantee a whole bunch of
fatal system errors!!!!  See ALIASFIX.DOC for details...

IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE  IMPORTANT NOTICE

OK, now if you haven't already figured this out ;-) alias support has been
added in this version.  The new menu type 42 allows your users to pick one
"registered" alias each.  Once a user picks an alias in this way, nobody else
on the system is allowed to use it until it's owner decides to start using
a different one.  Any mail addressed to an alias will be picked up on a new
mail scan in addition to mail addressed to the user's real name.  In addition,
the alias may be used to log onto the system instead of the user's real name.
When a user logs on in this way, everything will be exactly as if he had
used his real name with the exception that both names will appear in the log.
Once a user has an alias, all the commands which allow other users to see his
or her name will display the alias instead.  The status line seen by the sysop
will continue to show the user's real name, optionally the F5 key may be used
to see the alias.  The message base alias selection now has a third option
which is not supported by the older versions of QCONFIG.  Until v2.75 of
QCONFIG is ready, you can use the ALIASCFG.EXE program to set up the alias
capabilities of each of your message areas.  Use of ALIASCFG is necessary only
if you want to use the third option, the other 2 are fully backward compatible.
The three options available are:
NO  - works just like earlier versions, aliases not allowed.
ASK - works like YES used to in earlier versions, with the exception that
      the system will fill in the user's preferred alias for him when it
      presents the prompt, this may be either accepted by the user or
      cleared with a control-X in the usual way.
YES - this is the new one, and is the only one that can't be set up using the
      current version of QCONFIG.  If the user has selected an alias using a
      menu type 42, then it will be used for all messages entered in that
      area, no questions asked.  If the user does not have an alias, his or
      her real name will be used for all messages entered in that area, again
      no questions asked.  This allows the use of aliases to be completely
      transparent!

Auto-ANSI detect has been added.  If the user is using a supported terminal
program (Telix, Qmodem, Telemate, and Front Door are several that are known
to work with this feature) then they will be able to use their ANSI color and
graphic capabilities as soon as they connect to your BBS!  As a result of
this, text files such as LOGO.ASC which previously didn't have a .ANS
counterpart now do - you will probably want to whip out The Draw and create
a couple more of those ANSI files ;-)  Also, users who have ANSI capabilities
but choose to turn their graphics mode off for whatever reason will now be
able to use the full screen editor and split screen chat, as long as the
auto-detect is activated.

The bug where garbage sometimes would appear as the "default" for a prompt
has been eliminated.

The callback verifier now updates the user's time properly.

When replying to a message, you are no longer asked whether you want to quote
the original text.  If you don't want to, simply don't use the quote feature
of the editor.

The capability to change the destination or subject of a message has been
completely revamped.

Repeated use of type 53 no longer cause a problem.

Proper time credit is now given while the sysop has shelled to DOS.

The cosmetic problems associated with using ALT-J while in split screen chat
should be gone!

The capture mode in the split screen chat has been cleaned up a bit - your
CAPTURE.LOG files should look better now.

There have been a couple of reports of the nodelist files being locked by
other nodes, I have not been able to duplicate the problem but I think I
have fixed it anyway - please let me know...

The swap to disk on a type 7 is now configurable.  Putting a *M somewhere in
the optional data will cause the swap to take place as in previous versions,
otherwise the shell will execute faster but have less memory available.

I think there may have been a problem finding the nodelist when the FD
environment variable was used to point to it, and I think I fixed it.

The multi-tasker time slice code has been changed a bit, this *should* make
Quick run a bit faster in a DesqView or DoubleDos environment without
affecting other tasks significantly - let me know!

ALT-G has been changed a bit thanks to a code snippet provided by Ed Grinnell,
it should be more realistic looking now.

Several new control codes have been added to the text files:
^F2 will display the current setting of the "do not disturb" flag
^F3 will display the user's download ratio
^F4 will display the user's download K ratio
^KW will display the node number, as determined by the -N parameter when
    you fire up Quick as a multi-node system

The first beta release of the new QNODE program is included in this version.
It is no longer necessary to use the Australian program and rename the files
it creates ;-)

Finally, since we had so much fun with the undocumented feature last time, I
have done it again.  Treasure hunt time!  Let's see how many of you can find
it ;-)   For those of you who haven't figured the last one out, it was the
little message that popped up when Quick first started, saying that had
detected ANSI on the remote system.  The "featured feature" this time is a bit
more subtle, and much more useful.

We're getting pretty close now to what 2.75 will actually look like, the only
notable feature that's missing so far is menu templates.  This will probably
appear in Beta-4 or Beta-5, then we will settle into a bug-fix only mode.

Have fun!

---

2.75 beta 2

First, one thing I left out of the beta 1 doc is the file names which are
displayed if a user tries to exceed his download ratio.  RATIO.A?? for the
count ratio, and RATIOK.A?? for the K ratio.  If any of you notice other
features I miss here, please let me know as having a complete change list
will be helpful to our documentation writer.

Second, there is one "feature" in beta 2 that I'm not documenting here - yet!
Right now, it doesn't do anything useful but the potential opened up by it is
really incredible - let's see how many of you find it! ;-)

Now, what else is new?  Well...

Page 4 of the status line has been fixed, the total number of system calls now
displays correctly.

There is no longer a problem with defaults on prompts.

The garbage on the first line of message editor has been eliminated.

The "Exec error" that showed up in the system log was a phantom non-error -
it's completely gone now.

The local screen is now saved when you ALT-J, and restored when you return.

Also, when you ALT-J, the prompt now reminds you that you are in a QuickBBS
shell.

Capture mode in the split screen chat has been cleaned up a bit, and when you
initiate capture mode everything currently onscreen is written to the file.
This is great for when you decide "after the fact" that you really wanted to
save the conversation you were having.

The wierd little color problem in the split screen chat is gone.

Entering a null password to get back to the user name prompt now works only
in local mode.

Passwords are now case insensitive.

QuickBBS now reloads the EXITINFO on a type 7, you should no longer have any
need for a type 15!

Two new menu types have been added.  57 (change home/voice telephone number)
and 58 (change business/data telephone number).  It is recommended that
access to these commands be permitted only to users who haven't been verified
yet.

By popular demand, we now have an ALT-G key.  If you don't know what it does,
try it and see ;-)

Long lines in FILES.BBS are now displayed with proper wrap.


Well, that's it for this one!  Let's see what y'all can break ;-)

---

2.75 beta 1

Where do I begin?  OK - this one *is* multi-node!  I've been running multi-node
alpha for a couple of weeks, and only lost my message base once - and that was
due to a batch file error <blush>.  If you're going to run multi-node either
with two phone lines, or just a local node for your own echo reading pleasure,
make absolutely sure to load SHARE and to keep all other programs from
accessing the message base when one or more nodes are active.  The
configuration file is going to have to be changed to properly support multi-
node, for right now you need a copy of CONFIG.BBS in each of your node
directories.  This will happen as soon as we get the new Qconfig done.  To set
up multi-node, create a directory for each node other than the first and copy
your CONFIG.BBS to it.  Make changes as you feel appropriate in each config,
particularly (of course) the comm port.  Set an environment variable QUICK to
point to your main QuickBBS directory - e.g. SET QUICK=C:\QUICKBBS and run
each node from it's own directory, using the -N parameter to set the line
number.  Avoid using the same line number on different nodes, this can have
"interesting" results ;-)

Several commands have been added for multi-node, they are:
52 Show list of users currently on line
53 Toggle "do not disturb" flag
54 Send online message to other node

Press ALT-C for a neat little surprise, there is now an internal split-screen
chat.

An internal callback verifier has been added, the verifier configuration
will be part of the new QCONFIG.  In the meantime, use the configuration
program that comes with S-VER092 which you probably already have.  If you
don't have it, you can get it here.  The S-VER092.ZIP also contains a full
set of ANSI and ASCII text files which you can place in your text files
directory and modify to change the look of the verifier, if you don't use
these files or make your own then Quick provides default messages.  Menu
type is 60 to activate this feature.

The status bar has been enhanced, and now includes 4 screens.  Press F9 for
help, or F1-F4 to select which one you want to see.  The status bar will now
continue to be updated even when a user is transferring a file, and may also
be changed via the F-keys while a file transfer is going on.  Response in this
case may be a bit sluggish as it only happens between blocks, but it's better
than nothing ;-)

Internal file ratio support has been added, and the format of the LIMITS.CTL
file changed slightly to accomodate this - but it's backwards compatible so
don't worry about it if you don't want to use this feature.
S T 300 1200 2400 4800 9600 # K
is the new format of the file, where everything after the T is optional.  If
you don't specify a download K limit for all speeds, the highest one you specify
will apply to all higher speeds.
S = security level
T = time
300,1200,2400,4800,9600 = download K limits for various speeds
# = download ratio
K = download K ratio

The format of the nodelist files has changed completely, I liked the RA format
better so ... <grin>  Nodelist compiler isn't quite finished yet, so use RANODE
in the meantime.  It will create NODEIDX.RA and NODEINC.RA files which you need
to rename to *.DAT for Quick.  They must be in the same directory as your raw
nodelist.  And, so Quick can find them, you need to set an environment variable
of either DB or FD (convenient, eh? ;) to wherever they are.

Prompts with a default value now have a slightly different look, examples are
ALT-S, ALT-T (modify user's time left), and the new user screen length thing.
You'll see - I think it's pretty neat.  Press ^X to erase the default if you
want to enter something else.

Quick now swaps itself out to disk or EMS on type 7 shells, ALT-J, and for the
full screen editor.  Please don't suggest that I make this configurable - it's
already forthcoming but just not in this version.

There is now a feature that allows you to perform shell commands from a text
file.  Beware of utilities that could potentially allow users to change any
of your text files, as there is not any configuration option to turn this
feature off (yet).

There's probably a couple of things I've forgotten, but I'm sure they'll turn
up ;-)  Welcome to the beta team, and enjoy!