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WHATS.NEW
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1992-09-11
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What's New For Version 1.5
Overview
--------
Version 1.5 represents a significant re-write of the script logic the program
generates. When I released version 1.0, I had a good idea how to write the
program, but my knowledge of how Icom's script language REALLY works was
limited.
Thanks to the torture testing of the version 1.0 users, I was able to finally
understand how the script should be written. It turns out that my first attempt
was more or less (probably more) wrong. As a result, I threw away the old
code and re-wrote from scratch. Here are briefly the major changes.
Bltcap Does Windows
-------------------
For systems with high speed modems, there was a tendancy for bltcap 1.0 to
scroll bulletins to the screen faster than Windows could handle it. As a
result, captures would often become garbled.
This has been fixed in version 1.5. Bltcap can now capture a bulletin one
screen at a time, with a short delay between each screen. These parameters
can be tweeked in the bltcap initialization file to capture a bulletin as
quickly as your system will handle it.
The parameters that control this are: nomc, lcmd, delay, and timeout. To
use bltcap safely under Windows, set nomc="Y" and lcmd="%" (this works for
PC Board, others might differ slightly). The delay parameter controls how
long the delay loop is for each screen. The default is 20 (2 seconds); you
can change this to a lower value if Windows can handle a shorter delay.
Note that bltcap always generates the delay logic in the custom script. This
was done as a safety measure in the event that you inadvertently capture a
bulletin which gives you a "More" prompt. The previous script would hang on
this.
Read bltcap.txt if you want more detail on these parameters, or try toggling
them to different values and check the generated script to see where these
parameters have effect.
Bltcap Does Doors Too!
----------------------
The previous version of bltcap always required that you be at the main board
prompt. Version 1.5 now handles conferences, mail doors, time deposit doors,
and will keep bashing away until a main board prompt is reached. This makes
it possible to run bltcap anywhere in your job.
NOTE TO QMAIL USERS!!! - the standard BIF parameter for a Qmail door is
mmnp="<COMMAND>". While more or less correct, bltcap will not see this
prompt. This is because Qmail issues a second prompt, "Qmail Command? "
immediately following the <COMMAND> message. Running bltcap in a job
following a mail run will not work unless you set mmnp="Qmail Command? " as
this is the only prompt the script can see.
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Bltcap Handles Conference Specific Bulletins
--------------------------------------------
The previous version couldn't really handle conference specific bulletins
without a LOT of tweaking. Version 1.5 now handles them with ease, through
the "include" parameter in the bltcap initialization file. This is best
swown by example:
include="5 10 13:1 13:2 27:5"
Given the above include line form bltcap.ini, bltcap will capture main board
bulletin #5, main board bulletin #10, conference 13 bulletin #1, conference
13 bulletin #2 and conference 27 bulletin #5.
In other words, just add conference specific bulletins to your include list in
the form conference:bulletin.
This generates some very complex script logic. For CRS users, try 13:1 if you
want to see the script code that gets created.
Bltcap No Longer Kills Icom
---------------------------
Version 1.0 would issue an exit code of 1 if it failed. MISTAKE! Only later
did I discover that Icom would hang up if it received a non-zero return code.
Even though I'd like to signal an error, I'm forced to return 0 to Icom to
keep it happy. You'll have to read the comment that bltcap adds to your
icom.use file to see if it was successful or not.
Well, that's about all that's new. I've yet to crash the new version (challenge
to all torture testers! ;-) ). But then again, version 1.0 was perfect when I
released it as well...
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