BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/rbbs_pc/messutil.zip/MESSUTIL.DOC

Text File | 1986-07-11 | 11KB | 318 lines

MESSUTIL  Version 1.1                                      July 11, 1986


TO BEGIN WITH --

This program represents the rough draft of a message utility program
that Louie and I had in mind.  If your board has a lot of conferences
like mine has, you will quickly see how this can be useful, especially
if you have users who enter messages into the wrong message base, kill
messages you wish they had not, or can't spell when they enter subject
headings, etc.

As I said, this is the rough draft.  I wrote most of this based on many
ideas that Louie and I had tossed around.  After we had used it awhile,
Louie began a new version that is MUCH more powerful and slick than this
program.

However, after hearing some rumors that RBBS is going to be changed
quite a bit, including some major changes to the message base structure,
we decided not to work on it any more until we find out what is really
going on.  Instead, we thought we would go ahead and release this
version.  Perhaps you will find it useful until whatever is supposed to
happen happens.

The program, as a rough draft, assumes that you know how to use a
computer and a program.  Ie, the error checking is minimal.  We have
used this program for a long time now, and haven't had any problems.
But that is not to say that we have thoroughly tested every conceivable
possibility.  Let's put it this way:  I trust the program enough to use
it on my actual message bases, but I don't recommend that you do so
until you have had some experience with it.  MAKE BACKUPS BEFORE YOU
MESS WITH YOUR RBBS FILES!!

The copyright notice asks for a contribution.  That would be nice since
this represents a lot of work.  But if RBBS is going to change as
drastically as we have heard it might, the program may be obsolete soon.
So whatever...
                                                  Vance Esler





























MESSUTIL  Version 1.1                                      July 11, 1986


                         MESSAGE UTILITY PROGRAM

                               For RBBS-PC


MESSUTIL is a program that will now let you edit and maintain your RBBS
message bases independent of RBBS.  Some of the features include:

    o  Allows you to print one or more messages to a line printer.

    o  Allows you to write one or more messages to a textfile.

    o  Allows you to scan through messages by various criteria to select
       the ones you want to view, edit, or print.

    o  Allows you to edit the message headers to change protection,
       password, subject, and active/killed status.

    o  Allows you to transfer messages from one message base to another.

    o  Allows you to switch between message bases.

    o  Allows you to pack a message base without using Config.



INITIAL PROMPT

First you are prompted to indicate whether you will be working with your
main message base or a conference file.  If it is the main base, then
you will be asked for the actual file name.  If you indicate conference,
then you will be asked for the name of the CONFERENCE (not the file).

Note: You can 'fool' the program.  If you want to use an .OLD file, just
enter the name of the file under the M)ain option.

ENTERING MESSAGE BASE NAMES

When prompted for a message base file name, enter the name of the file
including any extents.  Examples would include MESSAGES or RBBS-PCM.DEF.
Note that this is the name of the FILE, not the name of the conference.

When asked for a conference name, note that the conference should have
already been created using Config, and the name should be between 1-7
characters long.

Next you are prompted for the drive on which the file is found.  Enter
A,B,C, or whatever.  (Note:  MESSUTIL does not handle path names at this
time.  We could have, but we didn't.  Therefore the program will need to
reside on the default subdirectory if using hard disc, or the root
directory of a floppy drive.)












MESSUTIL  Version 1.1                                      July 11, 1986

MAIN MENU COMMANDS

After you have entered the message base name, MESSUTIL will examine the
file then display the header information for the first message in the
message base.  At the end of the scan, you will briefly see how many
messages have been entered and how many are allowed.  Example:  28/100

The name of the message base currently being maintained is displayed in
the lower right-hand corner of the screen, and the menu options appear
in the lower left corner.

C)hange -- This will allow you to change from the current message base
    to another.  This also takes you to the Pack Current Base option.

D)isplay -- prints the actual message to the screen.

E)dit -- takes you to the Edit Menu.

P)rint -- takes you to the Print Menu.

N)ext -- gets the next message and displays the header.

#) -- allows you to retrieve a message by the message number if known.

S)can -- takes you to the Scan Menu to allow you to scan by certain
    criteria.

Q)uit -- ends the program.


PACKING THE CURRENT MESSAGE BASE --

The Pack routine works like Config.  It creates a backup file and
deletes killed records from the file.  You are then offerred the option
to save or kill the old message base.  The backup will be created on the
same disc on which the current message base resides, so make sure you
have enough room on the disc you are using for two message base files to
avoid a disc full error.



EDIT MENU COMMANDS --

The Edit Menu allows you to change some of the header information and
otherwise manipulate the messages.

A)ctivate -- changes a message from "Killed" to "Active"
K)ill     -- marks a message as killed.  It does not erase it.
P)rotect  -- change the message protection.
    K)ill     -- changes the message to Kill Protection so that it can
                 only be killed by the sender or receiver.
    R)eceiver -- changes the message to a private message that can only
                 be read by the sender and receiver.
    P)assword -- allows you to change the password to whatever you like.
                 If the message was originally public, it will NOT be
                 changed to private.  You can do that by using the
                 Receiver option too.  If the message was a private
                 message, it stays private.






MESSUTIL  Version 1.1                                      July 11, 1986

    N)one     -- removes any passwords or protection, and makes the
                 message a public message.
    R)eturn   -- returns you to the Edit Menu.

    NOTE:  Changing passwords or protection does NOT change the
    killed/active status of the message.

S)ubject  -- allows you to change the subject to whatever you like
T)ransfer -- allows you transfer the message to another message base.
    MESSUTIL will check to make sure that there is room in the target
    message base before making the transfer.  As the message is
    transferred, it will be given a new number to correspond with the
    numbers of the target message base.  Then the message will be marked
    as killed in the current message base. (You may reactivate it if you
    want the message to remain active in the current base also.)
R)eturn   -- exit the editing routine


PRINT MENU COMMANDS --

The Print option allows you to print message information to either a
text file or a line printer.  You will be asked which.  If you specify
text file, then you will be prompted for the name of a file.  If it is a
new file, MESSUTIL will create a new one, provided it is a valid file
name.  If the file already exists, the information will be appended to
the file.

You also have the choice whether to just print the header information,
just the message portion, or both.

You are also asked whether to print just the single message or all
messages at once.  If you specify all messages at once, MESSUTIL will
print all messages from the current one to the end of the file.
Pressing the space bar will cancel the printing.


SCAN MENU COMMANDS --

The scan option allows you to select messages by certain criteria.  Once
the criteria are set by you, MESSUTIL will find the records that meet
the criteria and display the headers one at a time.

When searching for strings, MESSUTIL will look to see if any part of the
search string is contained within the target field.  Thus if you are
looking for SYSOP as the sender, you only need to enter "SYS", for
example.  MESSUTIL will find any record in which the letters "SYS" are
contained in the sender field.

P)riv   -- select public messages or private messages
F)rom   -- select by who the message is from
T)o     -- select by who the message is to
D)ate   -- select messages entered on a certain date.  Again, you can
           scan by partial strings so that you can scan for a month or
           day.  The whole date does not need to be entered.
S)ubj   -- select by subject.  This is useful for selecting messages on
           a certain subject for transfer to another base.  Replies will
           be included in the scan.







MESSUTIL  Version 1.1                                      July 11, 1986


A)ctive -- select active or killed messages
R)eturn -- return to main menu


SCAN MODE

While scanning, another menu appears:

D)isplay -- displays the actual message contents
E)dit    -- goes to the Edit Menu
P)rint   -- goes to the Print Menu
N)ext    -- finds the next message in the scan
R)eturn  -- stops the scan and returns to the scan menu.




REGISTRATION --

If you have found this program useful, we would ask that you consider
becoming a registered user.  This will entitle you to support, but more
importantly entitles you to fixes and future releases (at no further
cost).  To register please send us the following:

Name
Address
City, State,  Zip
Area Code and Phone where you can be reached during the day
Any other useful info

Your contribution may be commensurate with how useful the program is to
you.  Any kind of contribution is acceptable, including ideas, a trade
of neat programs you use, etc.  However, if you decide to contribute
money, please make your check out to:

Panhandle Sysops Group
1600 Coulter Ste 102
Amarillo, Texas  79106

We can be contacted at:

Louie McCaw   Data : 806-371-8900 (Sofboard)
              Voice: 806-371-8000

Vance Esler   Data : 806-352-5646 (Crossfire!) Nights & Weekends
              Voice: 806-352-5645