home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
BBS Toolkit
/
BBS Toolkit.iso
/
qbbs
/
race160e.zip
/
RACEREAD.ME
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-04-26
|
12KB
|
275 lines
┌────── WARNING ──────────────── WARNING ─────────────── WARNING ──────┐
│ │
│ THIS IS A BETA VERSION! This BETA version of RACE has been │
│ released to the general public under the following conditions: │
W W
A 1: You accept FULL responsibility for any and all damage A
R this software may cause to your system because of bugs R
N or any other unforseen problems. N
I I
N 2: You should not expect bug fixes or updates with any N
G regularity nor should you expect elaborate docs or G
│ packaging. │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└────── WARNING ──────────────── WARNING ─────────────── WARNING ──────┘
DO NOT use this software if any of the above bothers you. At this point in
time, RACE v1.60 is largely untested. It seems to work ok for me, and I
made every effort to insure the quality, but stuff happens.
RACE v1.60e - 4/26/92
fixes
-----
If you used ALT-D to delete a set of answers for a user that RACE
reported "this user doesn't exist", RACE would duplicate record number 0
(the Sysop's record) over record number 1. All ALT keys, templates and
anything else that modifies a user record is now correctly disabled if a
non-existant user's answers are on screen. <V>IP, <T>rash, <M>ark and
<P>ick are usable.
Using <V>alidate then left-arrow (as opposed to Ctrl-V validation) would
sometimes cause a lock-up or display of a set of answers consisting of
nothing but trash.
RACE would, under certain conditions, generate an error when entering
validation. The RACE.ERR file would indicate that there were too many
files open.
RACE v1.60d -
Somehow (couldn't possibly have been my fault! :-)) the old message posting
code got into the new validation routines and support of the ^F codes for
imported messages was lost. FIXED.
Fixed a bug that caused RACE to error out under certain conditions when
running an external pack from the RACE <U>tils menu.
Use of <V>alidation without an answer file was disabled in the previous
version. Fixed.
Added <M>ark to validation. This will allow you to toggle a set of
user answers DELETED in the index. This will not affect the status
of the user, only the answers. The answers will only be removed after
running eRACEm v0.7 with the -A switch. Note that ALT-D toggles the
answers in addition to toggling the user's deleted status so it is only
necessary to use <M>ark if you want to delete a set of answers without
deleting the user or vice versa.
"DELETED" appears at the top of the answer text window when a set of
answers is marked deleted. This DELETED indicator only refers
to the current answer set and in no way reflects the state of the
user record DELETED flag.
See the eRACEm v0.7 ERACEM.NEW file for info on packing the answer file.
RACE v1.60c - 03/22/92
WHOOPS!
------
The Whoops! function has been changed to support eRACEm 0.6's writing
of the users extra info (subdate, birthdate, etc.) to a USERSXI.OLD file.
If you use the Whoops! function in RACE v1.60c, full support will only be
achieved by using eRACEm 0.6 or above. By saving ALL the user info,
restoring a user with Whoops! will be a bit more useful.
Validation BUG FIX
------------------
User subscription dates were not properly updated (again) when using a
template to upgrade a user. Fixed.
VALIDATION
----------
Validation routines are in the process of being changed. If you use
validation regularly as many RACE users do, I suggest you keep the current
release copy of RACE until you are sure this version is working to your
satisfaction. This =IS= a beta copy!
There have been some major changes to Validation. RACE now creates and
constantly updates an index file for the answer file. This file will have
the same filename as the answer file and an extension of .IDX and it will
be created in the RA system directory. There will be one .IDX file for
each answer file you view with validation. Each record in the .IDX file
(one for each set of answers) consumes 9 bytes of disk space.
Creation and updating of the index is done automatically. RACE parses the
answer file and updates the index each time you go into validation or when
you <P>ick a new answer file from within validation.
RACE also does a simple test of the index before parsing. RACE reads the
last index record and attempts to go to that position in the answer file.
If that position does not exist (such as when you deleted the answer file
but not the index) then RACE will rebuild the index from the start.
The above test will not account for all possible problems. If, for
example, you manually edit answers out of the file then allow RA to add new
answers before ever running RACE, the test may past but the last old
entries in the index may not actually point to the start of a set of
answers. If in doubt, delete the .IDX file and allow RACE to rebuild it.
It only takes a few seconds on average sized answer files.
This index file contains a 'last read' pointer so that RACE knows where
you left off on validating during your last use of CTRL-V type validation.
This is the first record in the index. The remaining records contain a 32
bit CRC of the user name (for searching), a long integer that contains the
exact byte offset of the user's answers in the answer file and an attribute
byte that allow flagging a set of answers deleted when you delete the user.
RACE currently sets this deleted flag but at this point in time there is no
packing util to get rid of the deleted answers nor does RACE handle those
records in any special way. I do plan to create a packing util for the
answer file.
You may now allow your answer file to constantly grow and not have to
put up with RACE starting at the beginning each time you go into
validation. Keep in mind that the 'last read' is wherever you were when
you quit last time not the highest record number you viewed. If you jump
to the first record then quit, RACE will start at the first record on your
next entry to validation.
You now move forward AND backward through the answer file using the right
and left arrow keys. You may also use HOME and END to jump to the first
and last set of answers respectively. RACE no longer uses <N>ext.
FIND
----
F)ind will still allow you to find other answers the currently viewed
user may have but you will now be prompted "Search Forward?". <Y> or
<ENTER> to this prompt will search forward otherwise hit <N> to search
backwards. Once the search has begun AND answers are found, you may move
back and forth to the various answer sets of that user by using the arrow
keys. Once you are at the last set of answers for that user (in either
direction), RACE reports no more answers found and the find command is
toggled off.
SEARCH
------
S)earch will allow you to search for a specific user's answers. Since
RACE searches the index file for a CRC match and not the answer file, it
will only find EXACT matches. Your input is converted to uppercase and
then a CRC is calculated on the name. RACE then searches the index for a
match. Because of this method, partial names will never score a match since
the CRC will never be exactly the same.
VIP & TRASH
-----------
V)ip and T)rash have been added. These will insert the currently
viewed user name into the VIP.CTL or TRASHCAN.CTL file as the command
letter indicates. Removing the user names from those files is still
done by the old manual method.
ANSWER FILE
-----------
If you do not care to keep your answer file around, remove the index file
when you remove the answer file. In other words, if you remove the
NEWUSER.ASW, also remove the NEWUSER.IDX file. As mentioned above, RACE
attempts to handle invalid indexes but it is possible to confuse it.
The "Storage file" is no longer supported in RACE. Because of the indexing
method and RACE's ability to start where you left off, it was felt that
this was redundant. The actual answer file may now be used as storage.
This makes it easy to review a particular user's answers at any time while
in RACE.
INDEX STRUCTURE
---------------
For those that may have some use for the answer file index that RACE
creates, or if you are just curious, here's the structure.
AnswerIdx = Record
Position : Longint; {byte position of start of answer text}
NameCRC : Longint; {32 bit CRC of uppercase name}
Attribute : Byte; {bit 0 set = deleted}
End;
Record 0 in the index file contains (in AnswerIdx.Position) the index
record number of the last answers viewed when you quit validation.
A name CRC was used in place of the actual string for space savings. While
the full name would have made searching for partial matches possible, I
felt that the extra space required for the index on large answer files
would have been detrimental.
RACE uses the answer start position to find the desired answers AND then
looks at the next index record to get the start of the next set for the
purpose of determining where the desired answers END. So you can see that
manually editing the answer file could confuse matters if you don't force
RACE to re-index.
RACE v1.60b - 02/14/92
Corrected a bug in the REPORTS portion of the code. Going into reports
and then answering 'N' to "Continue with report" would generate an error.
RACE v1.60a - 01/24/92
Totally rewrote the message posting routines and improved the handling of
the imported text. RACE also now supports most, but not all, of the ^F
text control codes that RemoteAccess provides. The ^F codes are the
individual user information codes. The codes may be used in any text that
RACE places in the RA message base. This includes manually typed messages
using RACEEDIT or welcome messages in validation.
All valid text control codes are listed at the end of this document.
Fixed <A>dding of months in validation. previously, if one selected <A>dd
(as opposed to <R>estart) the date would have the correct number of months
added but the day of the month was usually wrong.
Added option for user name format in lists. You may choose whether or not
you want names to appear as "Lastname, Firstname" or "Firstname Lastname".
This is active in REPORTS, and the 'usered' style user list screen. Go
into RACECFG => Miscellaneous to toggle this option to your desired setting.
Packing and sorting have been removed from RACE. This is now handled by the
external 'eRACEm' utility provided with RACE. See the eRACEm docs that
accompany that file. <W>hoops! for restoring users packed out by eRACEm
is still available. This option has replaced <K>eys in the main menu.
The following control codes are active:
^FA = user's full name
^FB = user's location
^F3 = user's handle
^F4 = Date of first call
^F5 = date of birth
^F6 = Subscription date
^FC = Password
^FD = Data phone number
^FE = Home phone number
^FF = Date of last call
^FG = Time of last call
^FL = NetMail credit
^FM = Total messages posted
^FO = Security level
^FP = Total calls to the BBS
^FQ = Number of uploads
^FR = Kilobytes of uploads
^FS = Number of downloads
^FT = Kilobytes of downloads
^FU = Minutes used today
^FW = user's first name
^F? = User's file ratio in number of files.
^F@ = User's file ratio in Kilobytes
If you are not familiar with how these codes work, see the RemoteAccess
documentation. RACE handles the codes in exactly the same manner.