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-
-
- FIXBBS - a FILES.BBS maintenance utility for GT Sysops
-
-
- Revision history
-
- 24/4/90 - v3.20 - add multiple timeout dates
- - add ZIPDATE option
-
- 22/4/90 - v3.17 - minor bugfix for SETFBBS
-
- 20/4/90 - v3.16 - add "word highlight"
- - fix minor display bugs
- - fix new files problem
- - fix descr problem
-
- 20/4/90 - v3.15 - fix comment bug
- - fix "word wrap"
- - add timeout date select
- - add offline total option
- - fix directory check
- - add multiline descriptions on prompt
-
- v3.10 11/4/90 - Add colours for NEW files
- - add "timeout" for New files
- - fix date bug(s)
- - add OFFLINE option
- - fix various minor nasties
- - add more colour options
- - fix space check bug
- - made comment char configurable
-
- v3.02 24/3/90 - cater for new FILES.BBS format
- - add color to menus
- - seperate configuration program
- - add Total Files: line
- - improved menus
- - add /N parameter
- - Fix bugs in v3.00
-
- v2.01 24/12/89 - Cosmetic fix
- - Fix command stack bug with < 20 file areas
-
- v2.00 13/12/89 - Add sort overrides
- - Add Dest change on "process"
- - Modify GTDIR parsing
- - add area # to heading
- - fix multiple listing bug
- - add "validate after edit option"
- - add SHELL to DOS
- - increase NEW files
- - add file # stacking
-
- v1.92 12/11/89 - Fix bug in BATCH mode if bulletins
- ignored
-
- v1.90 5/11/89 - Add command stacking
- - Add "ignore bulletins"
-
- v1.80 1/11/89 - Rewrite validate for speed increse
- - Minor cosmetic bugfix
- - Add /A parameter
-
- v1.72 22/10/89 - Add check for destination room
- - Add check for NO FILES.BBS
- - Add L)ist command
- - Add support for 4DOS
-
- v1.71 21/10/89 - Add command aliases
- - Add selection at pause line
- - Add subdirectory verification
- - Add interactive "mark offline" prompt
-
- v1.60 18/10/89 - first NON-BETA release
- v1.00-v1.50 - BETA test code
-
-
- WHAT DOES IT DO?
-
- This program is for maintenance of your files.bbs and cbs
-
- some features -
-
- 1) automatically creates files.cbs when validating the .bbs
-
- 2) picks up the REAL file date and time during validation
-
- 3) allows you to break a files.bbs into "sub-groups" and sorts within
- sub-group.
-
- A "sub- group" is defined as a series of filenames between 2 comment
- entries or between a comment entry and the end of the file
-
- A comment entry is an empty line OR a line with a space in column 1
- and NOT a multi-line comment (see multi-line comments).
-
- 4) batch mode operation - no need for macro commands - simply put a /B
- on the command line and FIXBBS will validate ALL the areas defined in
- your GTDIR.BBS (or the list of files you designate).
-
- 5) If a new file (not in the files.bbs) is found FIXBBS will, if in
- interactive mode, prompt for a file description. If in batch mode
- it will supply a default description of "No description entered at
- upload". The upload date will be set to the current date
-
- 6) if you have a special "key line" in your files.bbs FIXBBS will insert
- all NEW files (those moved/copied to the area or those NOT in the
- files.bbs when validating) to a position after the "key line".
-
- The key line has the following format -
- " New files at"
- followed by TWO blank lines.
-
- *NOTE* - the "N" of new MUST start in column 2!!!!
-
- FIXBBS will append the current date to the key line and insert all
- new file descriptions after it (the insert is actually done
- between the two blank lines).
-
- 7) sort files by DATE or FILENAME in either ascending or descending
- order
-
- 8) optionally forces the current date into moved/copied files
-
- 9) optionally adds an archive comment to moved/copied ZIP, ARC, or PAK
- files
-
- 10) FIXBBS allows you to have MULTIPLE LINE COMMENTS on any file.
-
- 11) If you are using the 4DOS command shell, FIXBBS will optionally
- generate the DESCRIPT.ION hidden file that contains the
- descriptions displayed by the 4DOS dir command using the
- decriptions in the FILES.BBS
-
- 12) FIXBBS can be configured to IGNORE your system bulletins in the
- DEFAULT directory.
-
- 13) If you have " Total Files:" in columns 1-17 of ANY line in
- your FILES.BBS this will be replaced by the TOTAL number of files
- and total size of files in the area (exculding files.bbs etc).
-
- *NOTE* the format of this line is CRITICAL - columns 1-5 MUST be
- spaces, ONLY the initial letters can be uppercase and there MUST
- be a colon at the end!!!
-
- 14) In v3.10 (and later) there is a NEW "key line" -
-
- " Files older than xx days"
-
- Again the format is CRITICAL - the "F" *MUST* start in Col 2. and
- there must be TWO blank lines after it to denote the "sub-group".
-
- When a NEW file is older than the number of days specified by xx
- it will be moved to between the 2 blank lines.
-
- FIXBBS supports up to 10 "Files older than" lines - HOWEVER they
- MUST be in ascending order! e.g.
-
- Files older than 7 days
-
-
- Files older than 14 days
-
-
- Files older than 21 days
-
- 15) if you add a list of words to the end of your FIXBBS.CFG
- and one of them is found in a file description it will be highlighted.
-
- The words are NOT case-sensitive.
-
- *NOTE* this feature works on WHOLE words ONLY!!!
- e.g. putting "cat" the FIXBBS.CFG will ONLY match with "CAT" not
- "catalog" or any word which contains the FIXBBS.CFG word
-
-
- 16) with v3.20 the facility has been added to look inside ZIP ARC PAK
- and LZH files and set the date of the entire archive to the oldest or
- newest date of any file INSIDE the archive. This NORMALLY is only done
- on MOVED files but can be enabled for ALL files by the use of the /Z
- command line parameter.
-
- PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
-
- FIXBBS is BIG!! - you will probably need at LEAST 300k to run it.
- This is mainly due to the fact that it calls the various archive
- programs (PAK, ZIP, ARC) and your choice of editor.
-
- You will also need to have your GTPATH set and a valid GTDIR.BBS in
- the GTPATH directory.
-
- All archive programs, and your editor, must be in the DOS path.
-
- FIXBBS will create a FIXBBS.CFG in your GTPATH - DO NOT alter this
- file!
-
- ******************** W A R N I N G W A R N I N G *******************
-
-
- DO NOT USE *ANY* OTHER PROGRAM TO VALIDATE YOUR FILES.BBS AFTER USING
- THIS PROGRAM!!
-
- DOING SO WILL DESTROY *ALL* YOUR HARD WORK AS OTHER PROGRAMS WILL NOT
- RECOGNISE THE FORMATTING CONVENTIONS USED BY FIXBBS AND WILL REMOVE
- COMMENT LINES ETC.
-
-
- PROGRAM LIMITATIONS
-
- There are some INBUILT limitations to FIXBBS. These are -
-
- maximum of 800 lines per FILES.BBS
- maximum of 800 files per move/copy/erase operation
- maximum of 200 file areas
-
- *NOTE* - the figures quoted above are MAXIMUMS!! - depending on how
- long your file descriptions, comments etc. are you may NOT be able to
- get the 800 line figure.
-
-
- **NOTE** - If you are using DOS4.xx the "Check Diskspace on Move"
- option may not work!
- COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS
-
- FIXBBS has FOUR optional command-line parameters (REGISTERED users only)
-
- /B - Batch mode.
-
- If FIXBBS is run with this parameter it will validate
- ALL file areas as defined in your list of file areas
- (normally the GTDIR.BBS).
-
- /Axxxxxxxx.yyy - use a different list for the file areas.
-
- If this parameter is used FIXBBS will use the file
- named xxxxxxxx.yyy as the list of files it will work
- with. The file must be in the same format as the
- GTMDIR.BBS (that is contain a list of drive\pathnames)
- and must be located in the GTPATH.
- If not specified the list defaults to the GTDIR.BBS.
-
-
- /N - no CBS creation
-
- If specified NO FILES.CBS file will be created/updated
-
- /Z - update ALL compressed files with the internal dates
- *WARNING* this option will cause a MARKED SLOWDOWN in
- the operation of FIXBBS. ONLY USE IT IF YOU *HAVE TO*
-
-
- RUNNING FIXBBS
-
-
- The program is fairly self-explanatory but a few aspects of operation
- need to be elaborated on.
-
- MENU SELECTION.
-
- At the Main Menu and the Move sub-menu you may use either
- the number or first letter of the selection you desire.
-
- Note that "Q" and "X" are internal aliases for "R".
-
- COMMAND STACKING.
-
- For safety purposes MOST commands are NOT stackable - this
- is to prevent accidental erasure/moving of files. However,
- there are FIVE commands that MAY be stacked -
-
- 1) you can stack an area number after the
- C)hange Area command
-
- 2) you can stack an area number after the
- S)ource Area selection command
-
- 3) similarly you can stack an area number after the
- D)estination Area command
-
- 4) you can stack a line number after the
- L)ist area - the listing will start from the
- specified line.
-
- 5) a SERIES of file numbers may be stacked in the
- move/copy/erase command. Numbers are separated by
- any NON-numeric character, with the exception of
- the "-" character which is used to designate a
- range of numbers to mark/unmark.
-
- e.g.
-
- 5,7,8,11-15 would mark files 5 7 8 11 12 13 14 15
-
- Overlapping ranges WILL cause strange effects
-
- e.g.
-
- 1-4 3-7 will NOT mark files 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- but will mark files 1 2 5 6 7!!
-
- The reason for this is that the 1-4 DOES mark
- files 1 2 3 4 but the 3-7 toggles files 3 4 and
- marks files 5 6 and 7.
-
- (remember the the mark/unmark is a toggle - if
- you mark a file TWICE the second mark negates the
- first)
-
- If an out of range value is specified it will be ignored.
-
-
- ARCHIVE COMMENT. (REGISTERED users only)
-
- The Archive comment will be added to ANY ZIP, ARC, or PAK
- file that is moved to another area.
-
- If the FIRST TWO characters of the archive comment are
- "=F" (no quotes and uppercase F) the characters following the
- =F are treated as the Drive\path\filename.ext of a file that
- contains the archive comment.
-
- EDITOR NAME.
-
- This entry defines the NAME of the editor you wish to use
- for your FILES.BBS. *NOTE* your editor MUST be capable of
- accepting the filename to be edited as a command-line
- parameter.
-
- FIXBBS will automatically create a FILES.CBS when
- you exit from the edit function. Also, if required, FIXBBS
- will validate the area.
-
- NEW FILES. (REGISTERED users only)
-
- If a special keyline is included in your FILES.BBS FIXBBS
- will handle all NEW files (those currently not in the
- FILES.BBS) in a special way -
-
- FIXBBS will append your REGISTERED NAME and the current date to
- the key line and insert all new file descriptions after it.
-
- The key line has the following format -
- " New files at"
- followed by TWO blank lines.
-
- *NOTE* - the "N" of new MUST start in column 2!!!!
-
- The TWO blank lines are used to define a SUB-GROUP within
- the FILES.BBS.
-
- To convert a NEW file entry to a normal entry simply move
- it to the appropriate area somewhere else in your FILES.BBS
- with the Edit function.
-
- MULTI-LINE COMMENTS. (REGISTERED users only)
-
- Any file may now have more than one comment line associated
- with it. These multi-line comments are identified by the
- presence of a period (.) in column 26 of the FILES.BBS.
-
- All lines with a period are "glued" to the preceding file
- entry (which must NOT have a continuation mark!). A
- multi-line file may be manipulated (moved/copied/deleted)
- by FIXBBS as if it were a single entry.
-
- *NOTE* this "gluing" does NOT apply to EDITING a FILES.BBS
- - use the "block move" command of your editor to accomplish this.
-
- OFFLINE FILES.
-
- If an asterisk (*) is placed in column 26 of the FILES.BBS
- no check is made for the presence of the file in the
- directory.
-
- IGNORE BULLETINS.
-
- If the "ignore bulletins" mode is selected in the
- configuration FIXBBS will NOT check for the presence of the
- system bulletins in the FILES.BBS.
-
- A system bulletin is defined as a file with a file name of
- 1 through 99 and either NO extension or an extension of
- .CBS.
-
- *NOTE* if IGNORE mode is used and there ARE existing
- descriptions in the FILES.BBS FIXBBS will NOT remove the
- description - this will have to be done manually, but no
- NEW descriptions will be generated.
-
-
- VALIDATE AFTER EDIT.
-
- Normally FIXBBS will NOT validate a FILES.BBS that you have
- edited but merely re-writes the FILES.BBS/CBS.
- You can, however, elect to have FULL validation performed
- after an edit (as a safety measure).
-
- REGISTRATION.
-
- This program MUST be registered to be fully operational.
- Batch mode, multi-line comments, new file maintenance,
- alternate area lists, and archive commenting are disabled
- in unregistered copies.
-
- Please read the enclosed README.NOW file for registration
- information.
-
-
- FURTHER INFORMATION.
-
- May be obtained from the author -
-
- Ken Thompson
- 164 Lyons Rd.
- Drummoyne N.S.W.
- Sydney Australia 2047
-
- +61-2-81-4751
-
- or I may be contacted via my BBS
-
-
- The Black Hole
- GT Net/Node 302/003
-
- Modem +61-2-719-8161 (9600 CRASH!able)
- Modem +61-2-819-6971 (2400 NO CRASH!mail)
- Modem +61-2-719-8491 (2400 NO CRASH!mail)
-
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