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1992-07-25
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RBBSQUOT Documentation
Copyright (C) 1992 by Kevin Day.
What is RBBSQUOT?
RBBSQUOT allows you to add a 'Quote-of-the-day' to RBBS, Wildcat! or any other
BBS program(as long as it can either run a daily maintance program, or run
RBBSQUOT.EXE after each caller)
Requirements:
At least 256K of RAM... (who doesn't have at least 640 any more?)
Hard drive STRONGLY recommended (or you will get to sit there forever waiting)
About 192K of drive space
A 286 is recommended, although it will work just fine on an 8088
FILES=15 or higher in your config.sys
MS-DOS 3.1 or higher(sorry 2.11 fans)
A twisted sense of humor to understand some of my quotes(optional)
Features/Supports:
------------------------
o Works on RBBS
o Wildcat!
o PCBoard
o Spitfire
o Unsure about TBBS(if anyone tries, let me know)
o Unsure about MajorBBS(shouldn't work unless you are using Desqview)
o *Enhanced* Desqview support
o MS-DOS 5.0 Support
o PC-DOS support
o QEMM/386 Support
o Uses CON instead of writing directly to the screen(for multitasker support)
o Novell Netware support
o Lantastic support
o Netware/Lite support
o ANSI support
o Supports 7 bit callers
o Takes about 5 seconds to run
(test conducted on my 386DX/33 under DesqView with two background nodes)
o Drive/path selectable
DISCLAIMER ABOUT INCLUDED QUOTES;
I will not be held liable for any irate barbs flung by
users at SysOps! If their minds are *that* closed,
perhaps the SysOp should shut them out...
(kinda stole that from james pariseau, if he complains, i'll take that out)
How to get started....
1) Make sure you have all the files in the same directory somewhere....
2) Type RBBSCNF (configuration program for RBBSQUOT)
(make sure BRUN45.EXE is somewhere in the current path, I included a copy)
3) Read the nice message when it loads....
4) Print out the registeration form. Option 1.....
5) Select 2, to setup the program.
6) You are presented with a list of options. Number 1 is to select the path of
the QUOTE file..... All you should ever need to change is the path, the
QUOTE file comes named RBBSQUOT.QUO. You should rarely need to change this.
Ex. If you unzipped this in the D:\RBBS directory, you would change it to
D:\RBBS\RBBSQUOT.QUO simple, eh?
7) The next option you need to be concerned with is 4. It asks if you wish to
have the date that the quote is made on included with the quote. If you
choose Y it will look like:
We have a equal opportunity Calculus class -- it's fully integrated.
Quote created on: Wednesday, April 22, 1992
* RBBSQUOT 4.01 * SN: XXXXX * Some BBS Out there *
Copyright (C) 1991-1992 Kevin Day * All Rights Reserved Worldwide
if you choose N, it will look like
We have a equal opportunity Calculus class -- it's fully integrated.
* RBBSQUOT 4.01 * SN: XXXXX * Some BBS Out there *
Copyright (C) 1991-1992 Kevin Day * All Rights Reserved Worldwide
8) Now you need to decide if you want date information included with the quote
if you choose yes, the quote will look like:
We have a equal opportunity Calculus class -- it's fully integrated.
Information on: 04-22-1992 It is the 113 day in the year
It is the 33715 day of the century. Christmas is 246 days from now!
* RBBSQUOT 4.01 * SN: XXXXX * Some BBS Out there *
Copyright (C) 1991-1992 Kevin Day * All Rights Reserved Worldwide
9) Select save, then exit the program.
10) Now you need to setup the RBBSQUOT.FIL file. This is the only tricky part
of the program. This file shows RBBSQUOT where your welcome files are and
what to do with them.
*************************************************************************
RBBS INSTRUCTIONS:
a) RENAME your WELCOME, WELCOMEG, and WELCOMEC to WELCOME.Q,WELCOMEG.Q, and
WELCOMEC.Q (You could use any name you wanted to, this is just what I
use.)
b) Now use your favorite text editor, edit the WELCOME.Q and WELCOMEG.Q and
the WELCOMEC.Q, and where you'd like to have the quote
displayed insert the line @QUOTE@ (If this conflicts with something,
I can't see why, but if @QUOTE@ is used somewhere else in the file, go
ahead and use something else, just change it in the RBBSQUOT.FIL too)
ex.
Before: Welcome to the xxxxxxxx BBS!
blah, blah, blah
blah, blah, blah
After: Welcome to the xxxxxxxx BBS!
blah, blah, blah
{FN, your quote today is:
@QUOTE@
blah, blah, blah
get the idea?
c) Now use your favorite text editor again and create a file called
RBBSQUOT.FIL. RBBSQUOT.FIL is a comma-delimited ASCII file with
this format:
SOURCE,DESTINATION,STRING TO REPLACE,FILE TYPE
Source represents the file you have edited and put the @QUOTE@ string
in(WELCOME.Q in our example). DESTINATION is where RBBSQUOT puts the new file,
(WELCOME in our example). STRING TO REPLACE is @QUOTE@ . File type is:
0 to include low ascii only.. (letters, numbers and symbols)
1 to include all 256 ascii chars. (fancier symbols)
2 to include ANSI also.
ex. (my RBBSQUOT.FIL file)
D:\RBBS\WELCOME.Q,D:\RBBS\WELCOME,@QUOTE@,0
D:\RBBS\WELCOMEG.Q,D:\RBBS\WELCOMEG,@QUOTE@,1
D:\RBBS\WELCOMEC.Q,D:\RBBS\WELCOMEC,@QUOTE@,2
This file tells RBBSQUOT to read in WELCOME.Q, look for @QUOTE@ and insert
a quote using low ascii only, and write it to WELCOME.... understand?
*************************************************************************
Wildcat! instructions:
Follow the above, but where WELCOMEC is mentioned, use WELCOMEx.SCR
and where WELCOME is mentioned, use WELCOMEx.BBS, ignore references
to WELCOMEG...
(the x represents a number)
*************************************************************************
Now add a line in your nightly maintance batch file to run RBBSQUOT.... that's
all!
TO USE RANDOMIZED QUOTES:
If you would prefer to have RBBSQUOT select quotes randomly instead
of going through them one by one, here's what you do:
go into option 2 of RBBSCNF and change option 2 to Random instead
of Sequential. Save it, then select option three to rebuild the
index file,(YOU MUST rebuild the index file EVERY time you change
the file).
That's it!
Need more help?
Call or write or BBS or FAX me at:
Kevin Day
2116 Market Lane
Norfolk, Nebraska
68701-4500
USA
Voice: (402)379-1606
Modem: (402)371-1472
FAX : (402)371-2663
******************************************************************************
What do you get when you register?
o A Printed, Bound manual for RBBSQUOT listing ALL of it's features,
and more ideas on how to use it, etc.
o The >LATEST< version on disk(sometimes even before released on BBS's)
o A registeration code to stop that annoying 'REGISTER' message after
each message...
o FREE 6 month subscription to the bbs
o FREE 6 month subscription to the kevin bbs newsletter, containing news
about RBBSQUOT. (12 issues)
o A catalog of all products sold by me
How much does registering cost?
$20 for the standard registeration, with everything above.
******************************************************************************
Files included in .ZIP:
RBQREG EXE 6982 04-22-92 6:20p Program used after registering
RBBSCNF EXE 12318 07-25-92 2:53a Configuration program
BRUN45 EXE 77440 09-28-88 1:43a Required program to run
MESSUP BAS 451 01-12-92 2:39p Fun Example of a QB bug
RBBSQUOT QUO 129754 07-25-92 3:17a Quote file
RBBSQUOT DOC 12379 07-25-92 3:23a This file
RBBSQUOT EXE 17864 07-25-92 3:21a Main RBBSQUOT EXE file.
FIXSHIFT COM 690 10-06-87 10:49a May fix probs with OLD AT keyboards
PATCH87 EXE 4206 07-01-88 3:03p May fix DOS 3.20 bug
******************************************************************************
Don't forget to send in your registeration money!
******************************************************************************
RBBSQUOT history:
1.0 ??/??/91 Only two people ever saw this release. Very primitive
2.0 ??/??/91 First public release of RBBSQUOT. Three registerations.
3.0 ??/??/91 Never released, major enhancements to 2.0 but was lost
in a hard drive failure and backups were destroyed....
4.0 04/22/92 Although 5 months behind schedule, finally released.
Second public release of RBBSQUOT. Added date info.
4.01 05/04/92 Fixed CR/LF bug, thanks to Don Rowe for reporting...
Seems that if you had all date info shut off, it would
'forget' to add a CR/LF..... Fixed now...
Added DEBUG support in case of error, and more error
checking. Trapped error if RBBSQUOT was registered but
RBBSQUOT.REG was erased...
4.02 06/29/92 Fixed bug about incorrectly reporting an error about
a 0 byte file. Added more Desqview support. Added
compatibility test to RBBSCNF which will show if
RBBSQUOT won't work or not on your system.
Added FIXSHIFT.COM to archive. May fix some problems
with old AT keyboards and RBBSCNF.
4.02A 07/16/92 Added PATCH87.EXE to the archive, fixed problems
with MS-DOS 3.20.... (didn't think anyone still used
it!) Fixed another TEENSY problem... Forgot to add
A CR/LF after each line on multi-line quotes!
4.03 0?/??/?? Thanks to Will Kaberline for reporting a mistake
in RBBSQUOT.DOC... Also fixed problem of it
incorrectly reporting errors. Also removed some
unneeded modules in the source code, shrunk the size
from 28K to 22K...(not bad)... Added error checking
that improves error detection extrodinarily, and
only adds 1K to the program size. Added ability
to use Random quotes as well as sequential. Fixed
bug where it claimed to 'detect' desqview even if
you weren't using it. (would detect version -1).
Added another 60K of quotes to file.
Registered Users:
Name Numbr BBS Name Type Phone
Don Rowe 00001 Threshold of Origin RBBS 509-453-3283
John Houck 00002 The Temples of Syrinx RBBS 509-452-1868
Del Bice 00003 Sigma Iotia ][ RBBS 509-965-0467
Eddie Rowe 00004 HOTLine RBBS RBBS 318-254-0019
Tim Sawchuck 00005 The Nasty Old Lady Wildcat! 805-528-7341
Ryan Strayer 00006 Software Connection RBBS 712-274-1851
Stephen McClymo 00007 Stealth Systems RBBS 817-862-5500
Where can you find RBBSQUOT?
Authorized RBBSQUOT distribution sites:
Name Number Rate/modulation Sysop
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Kevin BBS 402-371-1472 14400 HST/V.32bis Kevin Day(me)
Stealth Systems BBS 817-862-5500 2400 Stephen McClymont Jr.
Sigma Iotia ][ 509-965-0467 14400 HST Del Bice
Acknowlegements:
I would like to thank Don Rowe for being the first person to register ANY
of my programs, and for writing the ONLY(as far as i know) Chat door for
RBBS. I also would like to thank Del Bice for his INCREDIBLE patience for
the registered version of RBBSQUOT, he has waited long enough for this. Also,
these people have played a part(although some indirectly, such as creating
'taglines' which i converted into quotes):
Emily Spicer Johnna Hartz Tim Sawchuck John Houck
Gary Matteson Eric Schomaker Alan Davenport(for giving me a pastime! YT!)
Gianluca Attura (for letting me compile some routines on his 486!)
All the wonderful people at Microsoft who put all the little bugs into
QuickBasic 4.5 to make programming interesting(See MESSUP.BAS included)
Minos Tsaussis for giving me a forum to babble on.
Thanks Minos, where ever you are. If you're ever in the
area stop by...... We're all thinking of you.