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1990-12-15
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The Wall of Last Words
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) 1990 John Buetefuer - Midnight Innovations
This program is gauranteed to do nothing except take up drivespace. It
works on my system as detailed below and should also on yours. But I
accept no responsibility for any damage that may have been caused by
this program. If left unregistered it is not designed to harm your
system or stop working, you just miss out on all the great features it
has to offer, and for only $10 I think it's a fair deal.
A short(?) description of what it does and run-down of features
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Wall of Last Words (The Wall) is a log-off note door for Remote
Access compatible BBS systems (any bbs that can create the dorinfo1.def
file that RA/QBBS/RBBS creates). I have seen and used many other log-off
note doors in the past but have found them all to be lacking in
configurability and flexibility. So, The Wall was created.
TheWall may be configured to allow users to use an external full screen
(QuickBBS/RA compatible) editor, or they may use TheWall's internal line
editor. A quote last message function is also available with both the
line editor and full screen editor. The maximum length of messages
entered by users may also be selected by the sysop (between 1 and 99).
! TheWall DOES NOT allow users to enter control codes in messages, so !
! therefore there need be no worry about users entering such nasties as !
! ^KX's and ^X's into log-off notes. !
! Valid characters are those with ascii codes 32 through to 255 !
Files included in this package
------------------------------
THEWALL.EXE The program that runs.
THEWALL.DOC This file you are looking at
THEWALL.BAT An example batch file of how to run it
WALL.CFG Example configuration file.
PAUSE.ASC Ascii file used in example config.
PAUSE.ANS Ansi file used in example config.
TOPTXT.ASC Ascii file used in example config.
TOPTXT.ANS Ansi file used in example config.
HELP.ASC Ascii &
HELP.ANS Ansi line editor user help text files.
Running TheWall
---------------
TheWall has only one command line parameter, which is the full path and
filename of the configuration file.
eg
THEWALL C:\RA\DOORS\WALL\WALL.CFG
An exaple batch file is included in this archive to give you the general
idea on how to run it. All you need to do then is have the BBS shell out
and run the batch file. (I use an RA menu type 7 command on my system).
Running Multi-Node
------------------
If you wish to use TheWall in a multi-line system the method I recommend
is the following. Set up your batch file similar to:
cd\ra\doors\wall
TheWall c:\ra\doors\wall\wall%1.cfg
exit
Then, when calling the batch file, pass the node number as parameter one
ie "THEWALL.BAT 2" (node 2) and have a separate WALL.CFG made for each
node. So for a 2 line system you would create WALL1.CFG for node one and
WALL2.CFG for node two. This allows you to personalise each node, but,
more importantly tell TheWall where to get the information files for
each node.
The Configuration file
----------------------
The config. file may take any name you desire, and may contain normal
text providing that any COMMAND WORD does not appear as the first word on
a line unless what follows are the correct parameters for that command.
COMMAND WORDS are words, that when used as the first word in the config.
file tell TheWall to use the following information on that line to carry
out a particular function. What follows is a complete list and
description of commands words.
NOTE: All functions marked with a (*) are available only when
registered. For registration information, see the end of this file.
InfoFiles
The "InfoFiles" command word gives the path to DORINFO1.DEF and (but not
necessary) path to EXITINFO.BBS
DORINFO1.DEF is REQUIRED by TheWall, but EXITINFO.BBS is NOT required
for operation, thus making TheWall operable on other BBS systems that
support the DORINFO1.DEF standard.
eg.
InfoFiles C:\RA
Key 0
This keyword passes your registration key number to the program which
enables TheWall's features that are not available in UnRegistered mode.
These features are marked with an asterisk (*). For information
regarding registration, see section at then end of this file.
BBS
After this command word the name of your BBS is expected to appear,
this name MUST be exactly as you request when you register TheWall,
otherwise the key will not work.
eg
BBS Midnight Calller
Sysop
The sysops name is expected to appear after this command word, it must
be exactly as you request when you register TheWall otherwise the key
will not work.
eg.
Sysop John Buetefuer
FSE
The first parameter for the "FSE" command can be either
1. ASK : Will ask ansi users if they wish to use line editor or full
screen editor.
2. ANSI : Will give ALL ansi users the FSE if it is available.
3. EXIT : Will give ansi users the FSE to enter messages ONLY if they
have their FSE flag set in the EXITINFO.BBS file. If
EXITINFO.BBS is not available then TheWall defaults to ASK
mode.
The second parameter is the FULL PATH AND FILENAME to the Remote Access/QBBS
compatiable Full Screen Editor, if not given, or the editor is not found
then TheWall defaults to the line editor and will not ASK ansi users.
NOTE: the configuration files needed by the FSE may need to be in the
current directory, such is the case with QuickEd.
eg.
FSE Ask c:\ra\quicked.exe
SaveName
"SaveName" passes the name to save the completed note to, it should NOT
be given an extension as two versions are created name.ASC (ascii file)
name.ANS (ansi file) these files are then displayed by the BBS software
according to how the sysop sets up his/her system. For information
regarding Remote Access display files, consult RA.DOC.
eg.
SaveName C:\RA\TXTFILES\WELCOME1
will save the note as WELCOME1.ASC and WELCOME1.ANS in the
C:\RA\TXTFILES directory.
TopTxt (*)
This passes the name of a text file to be added to the TOP of the saved
note, before note text is inserted. No extension is given as TheWall
will look for .ASC and .ANS versions (ascii & ansi respectively) of the
file. If this file is NOT found, the default header text is added to
the top of the note. Remote Access/QBBS style control codes may be used in
this file with ^FA begin expanded to the users full name, ^FB the users
location, ^KI the current time in the system clock and ^KJ todays date.
If you wish other control codes to be added to the four above, please
contact me.
eg
TopTxt C:\RA\TXTFILES\TOPTXT
will add the text in TOPTXT.ASC to the top of WELCOME1.ASC and text in
TOPTXT.ANS to the top of WELCOME1.ANS. Message text then follows.
BottomTxt (*)
This is the same as TopTxt but the text in the file specified is added
to the end of the saved note, after the message text.
eg.
BottomTxt C:\RA\TXTFILES\PAUSE
will add the text in file PAUSE.ASC to the end of WELCOME1.ASC and text
in PAUSE.ANS to the end of WELCOME1.ANS. By putting a ^A at the end of
this file it will make RA/QBBS pause and wait for the user to hit the
enter key, allowing the user to read the message. If no file is
specified the default text will be put on the bottom of the note.
HelpTxt (*)
This command tells the line editor where to find both ascii and ansi
versions of the line editor help file. No extension is to be given as
TheWall will use the .ASC or .ANS version appropriately.
eg.
HelpTxt C:\RA\DOORS\WALL\HELP
will make the editor display HELP.ASC to ascii users when they request
help, or HELP.ANS for ansi users.
Log (*)
This enables the saving of messages entered to a log file of which the
name you specify after the command word LOG. The users name, and
date/time of message creation is also placed with the message text.
eg
Log THEWALL.LOG
will create a log file called THEWALL.LOG in the current directory.
Quote (*)
This command enables the previous message quoting function of TheWall.
If this function is enabled, each time a user enters a message and
saves it, a file called QUOTETMP will be created in the current
directory containing the text of the message, and the sysop selected
"quote string" appearing before each line of quoted text.
The Quote String is expected to preceed the Quote command word, it may
contain any characters you wish, but may not exceed 5 characters in
length. If spaces are required in the quote string, the quote string
may be enclosed in " characters (thus the only character unable to be
used in the quote string is the " char.). If a @ is found in the quote
string it is converted to the users initials.
eg.
Quote "[@] "
will produce a quoted line similar to :
[JB] Quoted text appears here
MaxLength (*)
This sets the Maximum number of lines of MESSAGE TEXT that the user can
enter into the note. If user is using the line editor, it won't allow
them to enter more lines than this number. If using the FSE, only the
first <MaxLength> lines are saved in the note file. The maximum length
possible is 99 lines.
eg.
MaxLength 15
will only allow the user to enter 15 lines of text into the note.
NOTE, this function is unavailable in the UnRegistered version, the
maximum note length in the unregistered version is 10 lines.
The following command words allow the sysop to modify the colours of the
editor and colour of saved text (in the ansi file). All colours are
represented by numbers, the numbers corresponding to each colour are the
same as used in TheDraw(ansi file editor). NOTE, in the UnRegistered
mode colours may not be altered, and the defaults are used.
0 - Black 4 - Red 8 - Dark Grey 12 - Light Red
1 - Blue 5 - Magenta 9 - Light Blue 13 - Light Magenta
2 - Green 6 - Yellow (Brown) 10 - Light Green 14 - Light Yellow
3 - Cyan 7 - Grey 11 - Light Cyan 15 - White
TextClr - Colour of text entry in line editor default =
MenuClr - Colour of menu text in line editor default =
HotKeyClr - Colour of hotkeys on line editor menu default =
CreditsClr - Colour of LineEd (c) John Buetefuer etc etc default =
InfoClr - Colour of info regarding number of lines etc default =
SaveTextClr - Colour of text saved in ansi version of note default =
LineNumberClr - Colour of line numbers in line editor default =
PromptClr - Colour of prompts in line editor default =
Thats it for the configuration file, all command words are explained in
the sample config. file included to make things easier to set up. The
TopTxt and BottomTxt files mentioned above are also included so you can
get the idea of how they work.
REGISTRATION
------------
This program is ShareWare. I let it loose into the world, someone finds
it useful and pays me a small amount for registering it. To register
TheWall (and get access to all those other features that allow you to
personalise it) it will cost you only $10 Australian. This way it's not
going to hurt anyones wallet and I get some cash to help keep my BBS
going.
REMEMBER, send me the name of the Sysop AND BBS that TheWall is being
registered to.
All registration monies to be sent to:
John Buetefuer
6 Karyn cres
Brahma Lodge
S.A. 5109
Australia
Cheques should be made out to John Buetefuer, and should be in AUSTRALIAN
DOLLARS ONLY, as I'm not sure if my bank will exchange it for me.
If you have any questions or suggestions about TheWall I can be
contacted by mail on the above address, or NetMail on one of the
following addresses.
FidoNet 3:680/818
SigNet 28:6100/101
MultiNet 9:8546/1
DragNet 23:810/1
end of documentation.