home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
BBS Toolkit
/
BBS Toolkit.iso
/
wildcat
/
sortconf.zip
/
SORTCONF.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-07-02
|
8KB
|
156 lines
S O R T C O N F
+ + + + + + + +
Version 1.13 July 2, 1992
by
Michael A. Conley
[Requires BRUN40.EXE anywhere in the path]
A public domain utility for Wildcat! version 3.x SysOps
from the Charlatan's Cabin BBS
(213) 654-7337
WHAT IT DOES:
=============
SORTCONF reads your Wildcat! version 3.0 data files and its own configuration
file to produce a listing of your conferences. You may group conferences in
a variety of ways ... for example, you could create a group of all of the
computer software related conferences from multiple networks ... and then you
could create another group for each network. The possibilities are endless.
(Actually you can create 20 groups ... not quite endless, but how long a
bulletin do you think they're gonna read??) You may also choose whether to
sort an individual group by ascending number or by alphabetical sequence
based on the name.
SORTCONF can write multiple output files, so you could use the display as
a bulletin as well as using it as CONFLIST.BBS in your display file area.
See below for setup options.
THIS VERSION:
=============
Reduces overall memory requirements, fixes a bug which could cause it to
hang if it ran out of memory.
SETTING UP:
===========
STEP 1: Place SORTCONF.EXE and SORTCONF.CFG in the same directory where
your MAKEWILD.DAT resides. SORTCONF will search the DOS PATH
for these files if it needs to, but it's a good idea to keep
everything together.
Be sure that you have BRUN40.EXE available in the path. This
Microsoft runtime module is required for the program to run.
If you don't already have it, it's probably available on the
BBS where you got this program, or you may call the Charlatan's
Cabin BBS. See below for details.
STEP 2: Edit the SORTCONF.CFG file to suit your preferences.
Here's a sample of the configuration file format.
SORTCONF.CFG is also included in this .ZIP file.
OUTFILE=C:\WC30\DISP\CONFLIST.BBS /CLS /COLOR
OUTFILE=C:\WC30\BULL\BULL18.BBS /CLS /COLOR
OUTFILE=C:\WC30\CONFLIST.CCB
GROUP=Listing of Local Conferences /INCLUDE=0-3
GROUP=Listing of Computer Software-related Conferences /INCLUDE=101-103, 201, 204, 330-335, 410
GROUP=Listing of Non-Computing Hobby Conferences /INCLUDE=104-110, 121, 123, 205-220, 306-310, 415-418, 422
GROUP=Listing of SmartNet EchoMail Conferences /SORT /INCLUDE=201-230
GROUP=Listing of Intelec(tm) Network Conferences /SORT /INCLUDE=301-340
GROUP=Listing of Pet Net EchoMail Conferences /INCLUDE=351, 352, 355-360, 370-380
The above lines are a sample configuration file for SORTCONF. Only one
of each type of line is required ... additional groupings are optional,
as explained below.
OUTFILE= There may be 1 to 10 of these lines.
This is the complete drive and path and filename of
each output file. If you use CONFLIST.BBS and place
it in your display directory, then Wildcat! will use
it whenever a caller asks for a list of conferences.
Two optional switches may be included.
/CLS places a clear screen code in front of
the file.
/COLOR places Wildcat! @-codes in the file to
produce a color display.
GROUP= You may include 1 to 20 of these lines.
The text immediately after the label (GROUP=)
will be used as a header for that section of
the list. There are two switches:
/SORT ... if this is present following the group
name, the section will be sorted in alphabetical
order. If it's not found, the section will be in
ascending numerical sequence.
/INCLUDE= ... This is a required switch, and it
contains the list of conferences you want to
include in that section of the list.
You may list individual conferences, or specify
one or more ranges of conferences, as shown in
the examples above.
IMPORTANT: You MUST separate individual conferences
with commas, and use a hyphen to link ranges of
commas.
NOTE that you may select conferences for a group
based on any criteria, such as computer software,
and group together conferences from several networks,
then later make a group of all the conferences from a
particular net without regard to topic.
STEP 3: SORTCONF will check the directory where it is run for text files
to import into your display file. One of these can appear at the
beginning of the display. If SORTCONF finds "SORTCONF.000" it will
include it at the top of the display. If it's NOT found, then
SORTCONF will display the name of your BBS in a color box. You may
include Wildcat! 3.x color codes (@xx@) in the header file or in
any of the other comment files and they will be passed to the display
file.
Before EACH group, after the Header (see the configuration file) you
may also import comments. Create a text file for each group, named
as SORTCONF.001, SORTCONF.002, etc. The contents will be imported
to the display file immediately before the sorted listing of con-
ferences. You may choose to include Wildcat! 3.x color codes (@xx@)
these files and, if color is specified in the display file, they will
be passed to the display file. Otherwise, they will be stripped out.
RUNNING THE PROGRAM:
====================
After the configuration file is prepared, you can do a trial run by simply
typing SORTCONF at the DOS command line. Remember that the included text
files, if you use them, must be in the same directory where SORTCONF is
started, usually the WC30 startup directory. SORTCONF will search the DOS
path for its own configuration file and for MAKEWILD.DAT and CONFDESC.DAT.
Both of those are created and maintained by MAKEWILD, and are required for
SORTCONF to look up the names & numbers of conferences to display.
PROBLEMS, SUGGESTIONS:
======================
SORTCONF is public domain. I don't seek or accept any donations for this or
any of my other Wildcat! utility programs, including TODAYBBS, FLOP, MSTAT,
USTAT, and others.
I welcome suggestions, and will try to help (no guarantees) if there are
problems.
You may contact me at The Charlatan's Cabin BBS (213) 654-7337. Mention
your Wildcat! registration number in the comment and you'll be upgraded to
membership without the usually required registration by mail.
You may also leave a message via CompuServe (70250,220).
Please, NO VOICE CALLS. This isn't meant to be unfriendly, but with
the price of public domain software these days ... I just can't afford
to be "on call." I WILL respond to your questions via my BBS or CompuServe,
or via the Mustang Software registered SysOp BBS.