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1992-11-30
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The BBS Ponder Point
version 1.1
by Michael Wilson
The Village
408-229-0706
USR Courier HST Dual Standard
1200/2400/9600/16.8K
24 hours / 7 days
CONTENTS
════════
I. Introduction
a. Overview
b. Background
c. Tools
d. Restrictions in the unregistered version
e. Benefits of registering
f. Support
II. The Configuration File
a. Execution of the program
b. Multi-Node operation
III. Customization
a. THOUGHT.DAT
b. HEADER.ANS and HEADER.ASC
c. FOOTER.ANS and FOOTER.ASC
IV. Random Thoughts
a. Sample Data files
V. Compufax Software
VI. Registration Information and Form
VII. Bug report form
VIII.Revision History
INTRODUCTION
════════════
Overview
────────
Thought of the Day is a utility that will create an ANSI color and ASCII
non-color bulletin or hello screen for a BBS, network system, autoexec
file, or most any other application. It will read sequentially through a
"quotes" file, and create a 3D color file, and a plain non-color file.
The color file will have its frame color rotated with each execution of
the program. Thought of the Day has the following features:
* Quotes file is plain text, and can be added to or edited
* You create the header and footer lines
* Support ANSI color header file
Background
──────────
The idea for this utility came from David Clifford of the Haunted Castle
BBS. He desired a utility that would display and rotate advertisements
for doors and little used features of his Bulletin Board. This utility,
however can display any text, of nearly unlimited lines to your callers,
for any purpose.
Tools
─────
Language and Compiler: Borland C 3.1
Editor: Multi-Edit 6.10aP
Version Control: Sage's PVCS
Beta Test: The Haunted Castle BBS (Spitfire)
408-226-1052
The Village (Wildcat)
408-229-0706
Tea: Earl Grey, Hot (Bigelow)
Restrictions in the unregistered version
────────────────────────────────────────
This utility will be fully functional in the unregistered version to give
you a chance to try it out for as long as you wish before purchasing or
deleting it from your system. However, the following restrictions apply:
1. An unregistered notice is tagged on to the end of the created
files
2. Usage of the keyword FILE and use of HEADER.* and FOOTER.* is not
permitted.
Benefits of registering
───────────────────────
1. All delays and reminders are removed.
2. All future updates FREE, downloaded from The Village BBS.
3. Ability to use the keyword FILE and HEADER.* and FOOTER.*
Support
───────
Snail-Mail: Compufax Consulting Services
7145 Aptos Beach Court
San Jose, CA 95139
BBS: The Village
408-229-0706
USR Courier HST Dual Standard 16.8k
Leave comment for the SYSOP in the Main Conference [000]
Voice Mail: 408-496-9045 (24 hours/day)
CompuServe: 76207,1673
Please include all available information including copies of your
THOUGHT.CFG files.
The latest version will always be available on the following boards:
The Village:
408-229-0706
USR Courier HST Dual Standard 16.8k
Michael Wilson, sysop
The Haunted Castle BBS:
408-226-1052
USR Courier HST Dual Standard 14.4k
David Clifford, sysop
CompuServe: IBM BBS Forum (GO IBMBBS), Doors Library
CONFIGURATION FILE
══════════════════
THOUGHT knows what type of system you are using, and what to do
through a configuration file. The configuration file can have any legal
DOS filename. It consists of 11 lines as follows:
line 1: The Village
line 2: Michael Wilson
line 3: 0000000000
line 5: And now a word from your sponsor
line 6: Now, on with the show
line 7: thought.dat
line 8: HELLO3.SCR
line 9: HELLO3.BBS
line 10: YES
line 11: 0
line 12: 1
NOTE: The line numbers are only listed for clarity. Your configuration
file will have no line numbers listed
LINE 1: This is the complete drive letter, path and filename of your
BBS door system file. This can be either DOOR.SYS,
CALLINFO.BBS or PCBOARD.SYS.
LINE 2: This is the name of your BBS. It must EXACTLY match the name
of the BBS you put on the registration form. Upper and lower
case make a difference here. This name will be displayed
EXACTLY as entered here when the door is registered.
LINE 3: This is the name of the sysop. This name must EXACTLY match
the name entered on the registration form. Upper and lower
case make a difference. This name will be displayed as the
sysop when the door is registered.
LINE 4: The registration number obtained when you register.
LINE 5: This is the opening remark that is displayed to your callers
before they see the Thought for the day. In the registered
version, you can use the keyword FILE here. If you do, then the
contents of the files HEADER.ANS and HEADER.ASC will be used for
the opening statement.
LINE 6: This is the closing remark displayed to your callers right after
the Thought for the day. In the registered version, you can use
the keyword FILE here. If you do, then the contents of the files
FOOTER.ANS and FOOTER.ASC will be used as your closing statement.
LINE 7: This is the complete drive/path/filename of your Thought for the
Day file.
LINE 8: This is the complete drive/path/filename of the ANSI color output
file.
LINE 9: This is the complete drive/path/filename of the ASCII non-color
output file.
LINE 10: YES or NO. This tells Thought is you want to automatically
center each line in the window. YES centers the lines, NO does
not center the lines.
LINE 11: This needs to be 0. It is a counter for the program, and will be
changed each time you run the program, but must start as a 0 the
first time you run the program.
LINE 12: This needs to be 1. This is a counter for the program, and will
be changed each time you run the program, but must start as a 1
the first time you run the program.
Program Execution
─────────────────
To make Thought of the Day do what it was written to do, do this:
THOUGHT THOUGHT.CFG
You, of course, can call your config file anything you want, but that is
the basic idea. Run it once, and see if the bulletins were created, and
what they look like, then either tell me what needs to improve, or
register!
Wildcat sysops can put Thought in their POSTCALL.BAT, or in a nightly
event. It depends on how often you want the THOUGHT to change.
CUSTOMIZATION
═════════════
THOUGHT.DAT
───────────
You may call your quotes data file anything you want, and specify the name
on line 7 of your config file. For the purpose of this explanation,
however, I shall call the data file THOUGHT.DAT.
THOUGHT.DAT is a text file that contains the text displayed by Thought of
the Day. The format is:
line
line
line
space
line
space
line
line
space
line
Thought of the Day will read all lines until it reaches a blank line. It
will consider that the end of the quote. The next time it is run, it will
take the next quote until a blank line is found. Quotes can be as many
lines long as you want.
Each line cannot be more than 45 characters long. If you wish to center
your lines on the screen, you need to add spaces in from of the line.
Experimenting with your added quote lines is the best way to see how they
will be displayed.
Any line beginning with a semi-colon (;) is a comment, and ignored.
HEADER.ANS and HEADER.ASC
─────────────────────────
In the registered version, you can enter the keyword FILE on line 5 of the
configuration file. If this word is found, the file HEADER.ANS will be
place before the quote text in the color bulletin, and HEADER.ASC will be
used in the non-color bulletin. The file is put there in its entirety,
including special BBS control codes, clear screen command, etc. You can
draw a picture with THEDRAW, and have it displayed before each quote.
FOOTER.ANS and FOOTER.ASC
─────────────────────────
Footer files work the same way as Header files, except that they are
displayed after the quote.
Multi-Node Operation
────────────────────
If Thought is running on a multi-node system, you must load share. This
will prevent Thought from reading and writing the same bulletin at the
same time.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
═══════════════
The purpose of Thought is for you to make a set of announcements or
encouragements for your callers, and display them in a colorful way. The
initial concept was not for a large data file of several hundred quotes to
be displayed to callers as random bits of wisdom. However, Thought of the
Day could easily be used for that purpose. Wildcat Quotes.bbs files use
the same format as this program, but their line length is usually too
long. Modification of these files, therefore, could give your BBS a quote
for the day, if it does not already have one.
If you create a rather lengthy or clever THOUGHT.DAT file, upload it to
me. With your permission, I'll begin including such files as part of the
release zip file.
With this, the initial release, I include a sample of a THOUGHT.DAT just
so you get the idea. This file is not designed to be used on your board,
but you may if you wish.
Sample Data files
─────────────────
The following Thought for The Day data files are included for you use:
LAWS4U.TXT: Some common sense, and funny laws
SMTOWN.TXT: Ways to know that your from a small town
BADDAY.TXT: How you know your having a bad day
Replace line 7 of your config file with the name of any one of these
files to try them out.
COMPUFAX SOFTWARE
═════════════════
Compufax Software is a division of Compufax Consulting Services. We
specialize in getting the right computer and software for your needs. All
of our work is custom and created just for you.
We started writing door software with a program called BUY&SELL Door.
After reviewing dozens of For Sale Doors, we could not find one to meet our
needs, so we wrote one. That is what we do. We find a need, and write a
door to fill that. You won't find us writing 30 card game doors that all
look the same. Each door is individually designed to meet a need.
Currently, we have 5 BBS door programs:
Food Fight
Buy & Sell
UNIPAGE
QDMENU
THOUGHT of the Day
We will not cripple our doors. We'll just put in a few seconds reminder
that this copy is unregistered. We will never write a door that expires.
We have over 60 doors on our board, and sometimes it is month before a
door is fully tested. We won't force you to download a demo key every few
weeks either. Everything you need for full operation of our doors is
included in the distribution zip. No runtime modules, no keys, nothing
extra, nothing more to download.
All of our doors have a simple to use Local mode. You can see the program
before you put it online.
Your registrations are forever. When we give you a registration number,
you will never need to buy anything ever again. Each new version will use
the same number, and you're registered for life.
You can receive free technical support even if you are not a registered
user. Because of my schedule, I cannot be available for voice support,
but I'll answer every message on my BBS and Compuserve. If you need to
talk to me voice, I'll be happy to make an appointment and call you.
We're tired of poorly programmed, boring BBS Doors. We are here to change
all that. We may not have 30 doors, but the few we have are the best!
REGISTRATION
════════════
When you register THOUGHT, your registration number will be posted on
The Village BBS (408-229-0706), in a private message to you. You
should allow 1 week from the time you send your check before the
message is posted. Other options include sending you the number and
sending you the latest version of the program with the number.
NOTE: The latest version may not be later than the one you have, and no
version number verification will be performed..
THOUGHT REGISTRATION FORM
═════════════════════════
Your BBS Number (so I can call and see):_________________
Name: ___________________________________________________
(Your name here must match EXACTLY with the name entered
on line 3 of the config file. Upper and lower case make a
difference here. Print or type clearly.)
BBS Name: _______________________________________________
(Your BBS name here must match EXACTLY with the BBS name
entered on line 2 of the config file. Upper and lower case
make a difference here. Print or type clearly.)
If this is not run on a BBS, enter your company name or the
word NONE in all capital letters.
The name you have used or wish to use to log into The Village BBS:
_________________________________________________________________
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ If you do not have a login to my board, and wish me to set ║
║ one up for you, supply the following information: ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ Phone number (with area code): __________________________ ║
║ ║
║ Birthday: _______________________________________________ ║
║ ║
║ Password: _______________________________________________ ║
║ ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
If you wish me to send you the registration number of the latest
version of THOUGHT, fill out the following:
Address:____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Mail To: Compufax Consulting Services
7145 Aptos Beach Court
San Jose, CA 95139
Select which option you would like to register THOUGHT:
Basic Registration.
Includes lifetime registration number posted
to The Village BBS in a private message to you....$10.00 _____
Mail Number.
Includes lifetime registration number mailed
to you at the above address.......................$12.50 _____
Mail Diskette.
Includes lifetime registration number mailed
to on a diskette, along with the latest version
of this software..................................$17.00 _____
Type of diskette: *5.25" High Density _____
5.25" Low Density _____
*3.5" High Density _____
3.5" Low Density _____
*If you choose a High Density diskette, you will get
sample of other Compufax Software on the same disk
Total Enclosed: __________
Payment method:
[ ] Check made payable to Compufax Consulting Services.
[ ] VISA [ ] Master Card [ ] Discover [ ] Carte Blanche
[ ] JCB [ ] Diner's Club
For Credit Card Purchases:
Number:________________________________Ex Date:_________________
Name on card:___________________________________________________
Statement ______________________________________________________
Mailing
Address:______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Home Phone:_____________________ Work Phone:____________________
Signature:______________________________________________________
R E G I S T E R O N L I N E
═════════════════════════════
You can register this software On-Line on the Village BBS. From the main
menu, Choose [Q]uestionnaires, and choose questionnaire number 6. Have
your charge card ready.
We accept VISA, Master Card, Discover, Diner's Club, Carte Blanche and
JCB cards.
Due to the nature of your purchase, your registration number will be
available within 12 hours of you completing the questionnaire.
BUG REPORT
══════════
Please report any and all bugs to my. Include as much information as you
can. If I think I have fixed it, I will send you the new version
for free, for testing.
You may use the form below to report any bugs, or use your own form.
Please send the form to me, or upload it to my BBS.
Explain the bug:____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
(use another sheet of paper if needed)
Your BBS number:____________________________________________________
Version of THOUGHT:________________________________________________
DOS Date and time of THOUGHT.EXE:__________________________________
BBS Software and version:___________________________________________
Describe your machine:______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Describe your multi-tasking, if any:________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Is this multi-node? (how many)______________________________________
Please include copies of your THOUGHT.CFG, and THOUGHT.DAT.
REVISION HISTORY
════════════════
November 25, 1992 Version 1.0
Initial Release
November 30, 1992 Version 1.1
Fixed a hang if the destination file does not exit