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Volume 3, Number 36 22 September 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1. Copyright (C) 1986, by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES HELP!!! Copyright Violation OUTER is here! A new program for the "O" command Pittsburgh Area BBS Picnic Sweden and their Vikings! An Unsolicited Testimonial Shareware Authors: Under Attack?! Who Reads FidoNews? 2. COLUMNS MS-DOS Directory Trees Computer Industry Spotlight FidoUtil ver 1.10 review 3. FOR SALE DataCare Hard Disk Utility Public Domain Software Library Sale!! 4. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack ListGen warning! Pixie and Sched update Fidonews Page 2 22 Sep 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= By: Brian Walsh Sysop 109/640 COPYRIGHT VIOLATION ------------------- MOVBASIC.COM,MOVBASIC.ARC I have recently noticed a program called MOVBASIC.COM and I also noticed that it was very similar to a piece of commercial software that my company is currently beta testing. I then downloaded the file MOVBASIC.ARC. When I unarced it and checked it out I relized that it was the beta test version of our package with the messages changed a bit. I then called all the people that we had beta testing and asked them about it and I found that one person had inadvertantly uploaded it to a RBBS-PC system. I was given a copy of the message left to the sysop of the Board after he relized what he did but couldn't "kill" the file. I will list it below. (Names Changed for our security) TO:SYSOP FROM:John Doe Subj:PAKBASIC sysop, Please delete the file PAKBASIC.COM From your file listing and you hard disk as in it was mistakenly uploaded and is a beta test version of a commercial package that I am testing. Thank You VERY much! John Doe The Sysop Did delete it but somewhere someone must have gotten it before he could delete it. The Only Thing I ask Is that All Fido Sysops PLEASE delete it from your board and put in you files.bbs: MOVBASIC.ARC NOT P.D. Commercial Software I Thank You For This and Hope that you will call out BBS Soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 22 Sep 1986 OUTER is here! A new program for the "O" command There has been a program floating around for some time now called OUTSIDE that was a "mini BBS" and could be used in conjunction with the "O" command from FIDO's main menu. The problem was that OUTSIDE was unreliable - it would occasionally cause the system to hang up, and it was hard to use. Upon contacting the author, I found out the program was written in what he called "an antiquated language" and he was not willing to release the source. I realized it was time to re-write the whole thing. Jim Fullton did most of the work, and I've been making fixes and small improvements from the beginning. The program is called OUTER, and we believe that it will soon replace OUTSIDE. From Grant Fengstad (134/0) Alberta Fido Coordinator: DATE: 10 Sep 86 23:32:12 TO: Ron Bemis SUB: Howdy Hi Ron. I recently rec'd your Outer program and I must say "Fantastic". I had used Outside previously, but your program puts it to shame... The comments are rolling in, and the program hasn't even been released yet! Some of the advantages: o Single keystroke execution of commands o SysOp-selectable access by privilege level - no passwords o Built-in watchdog timer/carrier detect monitor o Control-C and Control-Break disabled o Absolute security when used with IBMAUX o Checks SCHED.BBS so a user can't "over-run" an event o Displays "time left" each time a user sees the menu o Easy to understand and set up command file for control o Optional help and welcome messages may be displayed o Complete accountability of user activity The program can be downloaded from file area #5 on Fido 151/104 Nibbles and Bytes. A first-time user can download it. C source code is available for "registered" users. Oh, and for the folks that got the program before it was released - we're now in version 1.15 and there are quite a few goodies in the ARC that you probably don't have. Ron Bemis Fido 151/104 (919) 942-9267 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 22 Sep 1986 Clay Zahrobsky FIDO 129/26 Sounding Board Pittsburgh, Pa. Pittsburgh Area BBS Picnic Recently the Pittsburgh Area BBS SysOps got together and organized the 1st BBS picnic for all FIDO users in the area. Before the SysOps had SysOp picnics but they decided to have one that involved everyone. A nearby picnic area was chosen and directions and info was distributed through out the net. Not being a SysOp (Hoping to be one soon) I was excited about this type of gathering. I was wondering about the people I would meet. Would they meet my expectations that I have associated their messages with their personality? Then the day came, and to say the least I was not disappointed!!! It was very interesting to meet all the people that I have typed to and have had discussions (sometimes arguments) with. Some met their type of messages and some even over my expectations. All day people ate, drank, played and of course talked SHOP. SysOps gave info on how to run FIDO more efficiently and correctly. Some also brought defective equipment to see if anyone could figure out how to fix it. There was one Tandon Hard drive that even Tandon would not want to fix. I would advise all other nets and such to try to organize something of this nature. All the users that showed up did not go home disappointed. This is a great way to get people closer together and to make new friends. I can't wait for the next one. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 22 Sep 1986 By Joaquim Homrighausen Sysop at Future Hacker Central 501/4609 September 7th, 1986 at 3:49 am! Hello all people out there. This should be an unusual place to receive an article from. Here in Sweden, things are growing rapidly, and as times goes by it gets colder. But what the heck we're vikings right?! And we're born from a packet of ice with a label on it telling wether it's a female or a male. Let's get serious. The main reason for this article is to let people (mainly FIDO sysops of course) listen to the voice from this part of the foreign world. And don't worry, Tjernobyl has not poluted these bytes in which this letter resides! But anyway, I've just finished a "hot" dispute with my fellow sysop (or co-sysop). And we've come up with some (from a "poor" guy like me) interesting facts. Fido started all up as a Public Domain and there weren't any problems opening a new BBS because it was all free. Sure great, I can just download the CORE files and then open a FIDO BBS of my own, and then eventually join the net. Sounds good to me, except for the terrifying "news" from the "good-old-US" (yes, I've been working at both Apple, Commodore, and IBM in the United States of America, so I'm not a total outsider) that Fido probably won't be "Public Domain" anymore. What's this (my co-sysop said BULLS??? about it), we're getting greedy aren't we? OK, let's look at it from this angle. How many hours do you think people have spent all over the world creating new FIDO utilities to make life easier for users/sysops of a FIDO BBS? Several (me included), and how many hours compared to that do you think the developer(s) of FIDO have spent? About a ten to one ratio would be very close. So let's start charging all users/hosts and sysops all over the world so we could get something in return for all the work we have put in to it. THINK (yes with those gray things called cells)! WHY do "we" have to start charging people for this GREAT service? Huh? This is not IBM nor is it DEC, or IS IT? Since when did Public Domain BBS go off the market? Well, I guess it started with a program called FIDO, or something like it uh? This is really a "John Cleese" (M.Python) classic. I mean BE SERIOUS. Well, I'd like to have some FEEDBACK on this, my Net/Node number was at the top of this article, so start typing. And to the author(s) of FIDO I'd like to dedicate this last line. If a machine isn't anything without good software what good is the core of an apple without the "goodies" around it? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 22 Sep 1986 Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14(0) SEAdog, I Love It! This is an unsolicited testimonial. I have no financial interest in SEAdog or in S.E.A. I have never met Thom Henderson or any of his S.E.A. cohorts. I am writing this to encourage other Sysops to become SEAdog capable (XP:) and make their systems much more flexible. SEAdog is a stand-alone, E-Mail processing program. It sells, on the open market, for $100.00. It is designed to provide a method for corporate users to automate their message and file handling between branches or offices during regular business hours or after the offices close for the day. It allows corporate users to get more value from their computer installations by making them work nights when they might otherwise be idle. SEAdog has an added benefit for Fido system operators. In addition to its mail and file handling abilities, SEAdog can invoke a BBS by setting a command line and executing a batch file. When run in front of a Fido board, SEAdog becomes a 24 hour, mail handling system and allows your system to send or receive mail at any time. With SEAdog on-line, you are no longer restricted to the National FidoNet window for message or file transfers. The SEAdog package comes with several utility programs that further enhance the operation. Included are two powerful file handling utilities; GET and SEND. With these programs, it is possible to send or request files to or from other SEAdogs at any time. The MAIL program also allows you to request updates of files you already have and the files will only be transferred if the remote SEAdog has a NEWER version of the file than you do. If you are in a hurry, you can send mail or make file transfers immediately by invoking a CRASH event. The MAIL program is also a sophisticated message editor that allows you to FORWARD messages to other Nodes, operate under different Net/Node numbers (useful for Hosts and private Net participants), print messages, write messages to files, send 'Carbon Copies' of messages to other Nodes while writing the message to one Node, enter messages by entering the name of the person you are sending it to while SEAdog adds the appropriate Net/Node number, and many other features. This Node has been operating under SEAdog 3.80 for several months and the support from S.E.A. has been terrific, both by telephone and by Net mail. I have had several weird problems in fully implementing SEAdog due to my peculiar hardware and Thom has been patient with my myriad questions and helped me at every turn. I've also received a lot of help from the IBM HELP, SEADOG HELP and MODEMS EAST HELP Nodes in resolving some of the more arcane problems. Fidonews Page 7 22 Sep 1986 SEAdog is available to Fido Sysops for the ridiculously low price of $50.00. This is a special offer to Fido Sysops only. SEAdog requires an IBM or compatible computer and a Hayes or compatible modem. There is a DEC version in beta-test on 1/0, even as I write. I suggest you send for the program as soon as possible. You will find it much more valuable than the fifty dollars it costs and your system will be tied into the growing number of SEAdog capable Nodes and become a 24 hour NetMail system. Your system's efficiency and capabilities will be dramatically enhanced. I love it. If you are into NetMail, you will too! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 8 22 Sep 1986 From: Mark J. Welch, Fido 161/459 [WelchNet, Berkeley, CA] Shareware Authors: Under Attack [Even if you skip the article, please read the request at the end.-mjw] I have just been notified that PC-SIG's attorney is sending threatening letters to a number of firms engaged in the business of selling disks that contain Shareware and public domain programs. For those who don't realize, PC-SIG is not a user group. It is a profitable business, owned by an individual. It has a rapidly-growing staff of paid employees, and is planning to release a CD-ROM disk soon with its entire library on it. Its main business is selling disks with MS-DOS Shareware and public domain programs on them for $6 each. I have not yet seen the letter, but was told it makes the following demands: a) The recipient firm must cease using the PC-SIG numbering scheme. (Trivia question: where did PC-SIG get its numbering scheme?) b) The recipient firm may not include the PC-SIG disk summary files on disks being resold or in their own catalogs. PC- SIG is claiming copyright ownership of that text, despite the lack of any copyright notice on the disk or file. c) The recipient firm is ordered to put a notice in its newsletter or other brochures advising all its customers that it is not PC-SIG, does not represent PC-SIG, and including PC-SIG's address and phone number. Several firms, not having the financial resources to investigate their legal options or resist this intimidation, have complied with the first two demands, adopting new numbering schemes and creating their own "disk summary" files. In my opinion, these letters are intended to intimidate legitimate individuals and companies who wish to assist Shareware authors and their customers, and who usually want to make a few dollars from that enterprise. The immediate effect is that several such companies have pulled GAGS and other programs from their software libraries until they can review the disks to create their own summary files. In other words, fewer copies of GAGS are being sold, and PC- SIG is thus attempting to monopolize the market for my program (and others). [This is not to say that all of the folks out there selling Fidonews Page 9 22 Sep 1986 disks are good guys. Many are themselves selling GAGS (and other programs) illegally, since they haven't requested my permission to do so, as required in the documentation. But at least one firm that properly asked for my permission was later forced to pull the disk while he re-did the summary file.] I would like to gather as much information about all of this as possible. REQUEST: I am trying to gather information on the facts and legal issues surrounding all of this. 1) Please send me the names and addresses of any organization (commercial or non-profit, user group, individual, or business) which sells disks containing public domain and Shareware programs. 2) Please let me know if you, as a Shareware author or vendor, have been treated in an unexpected way by any vendor or author. (In other words, have any authors been screwed over, or vendors received threatening letters? Also, has anyone been exceptionally nice to you?) 3) Please point me to any legal authorities, articles, or such, which discuss the legal issues involved in Shareware. Have there been any legal actions yet? 4) Please let me know of other authors who have placed a price-per-disk restriction on PC-SIG's right to sell their programs. (Their CD-ROM disk will sell for considerably more than the $8 maximum I allow.) PLEASE: Don't assume that "someone else" will provide me with information you know about! Every little piece of information will help! Thanks. I will try to gather the information together and will summarize the results in a future issue of FidoNews. Mark J. Welch P.O. Box 2409 San Francisco, CA 94126 (415) 845-2430 [voice: Berkeley CA] Fido: 161/459 [private] BIX: 'mwelch' [Disclaimer no longer needed: as noted earlier, I no longer work for InfoWorld or BYTE. I am now a law student and freelance writer. -mjw] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 22 Sep 1986 Robert A. Rudolph FIDO 109/628 Who Reads FidoNews out there? A few weeks ago I wrote an article for FidoNews enthusiastically praising a product I know and have come to love, DataCare. I did this because I thought it to be a good, worthwhile product, and had learned that not many people out there in FidoLand have ever heard anything at all about it, good or bad. So I wrote this article, and it appeard, and I looked at it, found a misspelled word and asked myself, "If I read this, would it interest me?", and myself replied "It sure would!". The reason for the rhetorical question that is the title is that the author of the product read the review (he probably got it off my board, wlthough I am not sure) and left me mail thanking me for my effort, as he had not known of my intentions to review his product. HE liked the review. He also found the misspelled that I thought nobody would find. I ran into him at lunch today and asked "Have you had any feed- back from that review?", expecting that he had been inundated with inquiries as a consequence of having had his product re- viewed in FidoNews. He responded that he had had ONE inquiry. So I thought I would write this article soliciting FidoMail from anyone reading it, just to see if the response I get is about the same in quantity as the inquiry volume he got. Please do not misunderstand - I look forward to each new issue of FidoNews - I really enjoy reading them, and just made the dumb assumption that everyone else did. With the number of Fidos that we know about, the network connections, the number of potential users and readers, FidoNews readership should be eclipsed only by the readership of the Wall Street Journal. I will continue to write articles to FidoNews as long as they continue to be published. I would like to think they were being read, but most folks who write would, as I do, write for their own amusement only if there were no other audience. But I would like to hear from folks out there in FidoLand, as to who reads FidoNews, and what they seek in it. We have a very powerful vehicle here for the dissemination of ideas and information - an idea and medium that exists nowhere else in the (known) universe - a totally unorganized network, amorphous in topology, largely unmanaged, that actually works. FidoNet sets historical precedent on a daily basis. With the vehicle of FidoNews there is not any excuse for us not to be informed about any issue that impacts our precious BBSes. But two things are needed - 1. Someone's gotta write the stuff; 2. Someone ELSE has got to read it. Fidonews Page 11 22 Sep 1986 is anybody out there??? s ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 12 22 Sep 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= CLIMBING TREES By Bill Ross The only advantage to the study of history is that it might allow us to learn from past mistakes. In this regard, MS-DOS is the child of CP/M. Like most children though, it does things a little differently than its parent. And in many cases, a little better. For some of us, one of the greatest irritants to CP/M is the limitation of 64 floppy disk directory entries, even on a double sided disk. If we keep copies of short correspondence, such as letters, on a disk, we usually run out of directory space long before we exhaust disk file storage capacity. MS-DOS is a little better; a single sided disk provides 64 directory entries and a double sided disk allows 112. The availability of hard disks muddied the water. Although there was no longer a realistic problem on directory space, they presented another problem: how to keep track of so many directory entries. For CP/M somebody, I'm not sure who, finally wrote LIBRARY, a program that allows you to keep track of numerous files under one directory space. And for hard disks, CP/M resorted to User Areas. These are both good solutions, with only minor flaws. LIBRARY is a program external to the operating system and User Areas are awkward and still limited. MS-DOS utilizes a combination of both ideas. Technically, it's called pathing but most of us commonly refer to it as Trees. The term trees comes from the fact that the main directory of a disk under MS-DOS is, in fact, only the root of a potential structure of inumerable subdirectories that spread out much like the branches of a tree. Each directory space may be utilized to build a completely isolated "user" area with as many files as necessary to fill its particular needs. The advantages of such a system are immediately apparent. We now can have as many "user" areas as we are allowed directory entries on a disk (SS-64, DS- 112, or Hard Disks-512), and the size of the area is limited only by the total capacity of the disk on which it resides. As an illustration, let us suppose that we might wish to place all MicroPro programs in one area utilizing a root directory name of STAR. Each program would then be listed under the root as follows: WORDSTAR DATASTAR CALCSTAR REPORTSTAR These programs would not, in actuality, lie one under the other Fidonews Page 13 22 Sep 1986 of course; each would be directly acccessible from the root as in the following illustration: STAR WORDSTAR/ DATASTAR/ \CALCSTAR \REPORTSTAR and the subfiles under these programs would reside in a similar manner: STAR / / \ \ WORDSTAR DATASTAR CALCSTAR REPORTSTAR / \ / \ / \ / \ WS.1 WS.2 DS.1 DS.2 CS.1 CS.2 RS.1 RS.2 The subfiles above might include any of the program files required to make the named programs functional (i.e. WSMSG.OVR, WINSTALL.COM, etc.) and were limited to two here just to illustrate the tree like structure that pathing generates. For those of you who fail to see any semblance of a tree, turn the page upside down. Pathing is accomplished with the aid of three internal MS-DOS commands: MKDIR (MAKE DIRECTORY), CHDIR (CHANGE DIRECTORY), and RMDIR (REMOVE DIRECTORY). More commonly used but fully functional short forms for these commands are MD, CD, and RD. They are relatively simple to use. Let's generate the pathway directory structure of the previous illustration. Utilizing MD we first generate the STAR subdirectory listing in the disk root directory. A>MD STAR(Return) We can view the results by calling up the disk directory. A>DIR(Return) DOS shows the file STAR: Volume in drive X has no label Directory of X:\ STAR <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a 1 File(s) 360448 bytes free If we want to view the contents of a subdirectory we address it specifically: A>DIR STAR(Return) Fidonews Page 14 22 Sep 1986 and will see the following: Volume in drive X has no label Directory of X:\star . <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a .. <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15A 2 File(s) 360448 bytes free Even though we just created this subdirectory, it would seem that two files all ready exist in it. These <DIR> subdirectory file entries are reference files only and are generated for the use of the subdirectory functions. For the moment, note their presence but don't worry about them. We can, if we desire, now copy each of the programs we want into the subdirectory, but in this case it would not be a good idea. The reason for this is that each program is composed of multiple files and, after we transfered them in, they would be listed amongst the files of the other programs, as well as any working files we might generate as we use them. Gad! how confusing. No, the purpose of this system is to maintain order so let's go one step further by generating additional subdirectories for each of the programs to occupy. In this way, we can actually provide each with its own private "user" area in which to reside and work. We do that in a similar manner in which we made the first one. The primary difference is that these subdirectories will reside at a lower level and we must use specific instructions to MS-DOS so they will appear where we want them. In this case we want them all to reside within the area commanded by STAR. In order to place them there, we give the command: A>MD \STAR\WS(Return) This command instructs MS-DOS to (MD) Make a Directory (\) below STAR (\) under the name WS. Since we still physically reside in the Root Directory, we utilize these \ (reverse slash) marks to show the PATH to the place in which the new subdirectory is to be generated. We generate subdirectories for each of the other programs by repeating this procedure with appropriate titles and, to save space, will not repeat it here. and, if we perform a DIR STAR, we will then see: Volume in drive X has no label Directory of X:\star . <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a .. <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a WS <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a DS <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a CS <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a RS <DIR> 07-23-85 8:15a 6 File(s) 358304 bytes free Fidonews Page 15 22 Sep 1986 Well now that we have this orderly layout of directories under which to organize our programs, how do we get the programs in them so that we can utilize them? We simply use the same commands that we have always used, except that we add Path directions. For the purposes of illustration, we will assume that we have generated STAR on the Drive B. In order to copy our WordStar program and its supporting files into the WS subdirectory, place the disk with these files in Drive A and issue the command: A>COPY *.* B:\STAR\WS/V(Return) and MS-DOS will echo each file as it copies and then state how many files were copied. We can check our work by requesting a directory listing of the WS subdirectory. Using path directions we enter: A>DIR B:\STAR\WS(Return) and MS-DOS displays the following directory: Volume in drive B has no label Directory of B:\star\ws . <DIR> 07-23-85 8:23a .. <DIR> 07-23-85 8:23a WS COM 21375 01-01-80 11:02a WSOVLY1 OVR 41216 03-16-84 8:02a WSMSGS OVR 29056 03-16-84 8:02a 5 File(s) 7726496 bytes free And of course we repeat this procedure for each of the programs. All right, now that we have everything where we want them, how do we use them? Up to now, we have done everything from the root directory. We have generated subdirectories, copied files into them and examined the directory listings without moving ourselves at any time. This is all well and good for disk maintenance and the like, but things become very awkward if we try to use subpositioned programs from such a lofty position. To begin with, program functions seldom recognize the path instructions that would be necessary under such conditions. So, if the mountain can't come to Mohammad, then Mohammad must go to the mountain. Our magic carpet in this case is CHDIR or, more simply, just CD. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 22 Sep 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 Computer Industry Spotlight on: COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION -- CSC is one of the world's largest, most diversified information service companies. Clients range from NASA to FORTUNE 500 companies around the world. CSC experts are responsible for the analysis, design, and implementation of large-scale communications and management information systems for government and commercially based clients. There are ongoing entry-level positions for programmers, systems analysts, computer scientists, and customer service representatives. There is also tuition reimbursement for company-approved courses. Contact: Corporate College Relations, Computer Sciences Corporation, 650 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 22 Sep 1986 Jerry Hindle 123/6 In this article i will attempt to give you a synapse of the features of FidoUtility version 1.10. This program was written by Benn Mann and Marshall Presnell of Fido 151/10 and 151/2. I found the first version of this amazing utility on the Region 18 coordinators system and after toying around with it for a few days I decided to go ahead and send the message to the author (sneaky wasn't he). I discovered that the first version used a hidden read- only file as the key to testing for the message send prompt. He has since changed this. Ok on to the good stuff. In version 1.10 he has implemented the following utilities: Killsrvr Lastuser Twituser Bounce Ricochet Killto Killfrom Waittime Month Userlist Wait Weekday Killrobt Status Password Setpriv Adopt Twix Robot Sched Although all of the programs reside in this utility, some are limited in scope (and in my opinion, use). Marshell and Benn have done an admirable job of implementing those that are there however and they are to be commended for their efforts. I will take the utilities one-at-a-time from the top of the above list. Killsrvr -------- This will follow the fidomail message path and kill ALL messages generated by server whether they have been sent or not. If you run server on your system then you can run this as a scheduled event after sending the messages to insure that the same message is not sent twice. This program has limited application in that it is NOT selective as to which server messages it kills. An improvement here would be to add the ability to kill only those messages that have been sent, or all messages, selectable by switchline command. Lastuser -------- This will tell you the name of the lastuser and print it to the standard output device. While there may be a need to know this information sometime I find no valid use for this program as all the system operator need do it TYPE the "lastuser.bbs" file to see who was the last one on the system. The authors do however make provisions for generating an errorlevel if the lastuser on the system matches a name entered on the command line. The only use I can think Fidonews Page 18 22 Sep 1986 of for this would be remote triggering of a non-standard event by the sysop by placing a call to the system. One could have the RUNBBS.BAT file trap an errorlevel 2 and if the last user to call before a specified time was in fact the sysop (or some other user specified on the command line) then this errorlevel could trip a non- standard event to run. Twituser -------- This is useful for those of us who like to "lurk" on our side of the keyboard. I have occasion to have to RAPIDLY twit a user if they are the type that likes to call right before midnight use up all their time and log off at 23:59, only to call right back at 00:01 to go to it again. This type person can be taught a QUICK lesson by simply breaking out of Fido typing the command to TWIT him and re- booting Fido. When the user calls back they are surprised to find they can do little other then get off. The command line again contains the name of the user (exactly as shown in the userlog) to twit. Bounce ------ This sends the message back to it's originator, why I don't know. If a person sends a message to me that I do not care to get I simply kill it when I read it. Why bother (not to mention the cost) to send their own message back to them. I find this utility totally useless, and will not go into any detail here on it. Ricochet -------- This one is GREAT. Kind of like call forwarding for messages! The command line contains the net/node to forward to and if applicable the name to send it to. If no name is specified then it is sent as a message to ALL. The only flaw with this utility is that if the message being forwarded is from out of town then the REPLY link is broken since the from line in the header is changed to read FIDOUTIL RICOCHET and the net/node number is changed to read your net/node number instead of the original senders. I suggest the authors change this to keep the original senders name and net/node number. Killto & Killfrom ----------------- These utilities will kill any messages either to or from the username specified on the command line. You must also specify the area # to kill messages in. This is handy for cleaning up after a user has gone berserk and left illegal (or profane) messages all over your system. You simply kill them all with one fell swoop. I suggest that the author make a switch to kill messages either to or from a user in ALL areas at one time (very handy). I also suggest that you TWITuser immediately after running this utility. Fidonews Page 19 22 Sep 1986 Waittime & Wait --------------- These two do just what the names imply. Waittime will stall a batch file until a specified time and then resume execution, while wait (if invoked without any switches) will wait till the next minute. If Wait is invoked with a number after it (ie WAIT 15) then it will stall that many seconds and then resume. This is nice for those 1 minute events that actually take 15 or 20 seconds to execute, thus keeping Fido from cycling thru the same thing over and over till the next minute when the window closes. Month ----- Month if used in conjunction with the runbbs.bat file will return an errorlevel based on the month of the year (ie 0 for January and 8 for September...etc.). While this may be useful for certain things, I have yet to find any of these to use this particular item on. Userlist -------- This one is used to get a listing of certain information from the userlog. It will list either: Username, password, times called (command switch "/p") Username, last date on, times called ( " "/d") Username, Privilege level, times called ( " "/r") Username, Fidomail credit, times called ( " "/$") With no command line switches it will list the username, city, and times called. Handy for a quick printout. Weekday ------- Like month this will return an errorlevel based on the day of the week. I find this one more useful the month since I run different things on different days at odd hours. Killrobt -------- This one acts like Killsrvr and kills any messages from ROBOT found in the network message area. Again I suggest a switch to kill only SENT messages. Status ------ Probably the BEST status report layout and information content I have ever seen! This utility is GREAT. The information it lists is EVERY system?.bbs file you have showing the path for u/l and files and messages and privilege, etc. It also list the info set with the 4 command (ie net/node # , alt net/node #, etc). It will also list out Fidonews Page 20 22 Sep 1986 the schedule file showing all events you have whether enabled or disabled. The whole program is worth it for this utility alone. I forgot to mention it will also list out your route?.bbs files and what they contain. A GREAT UTILITY guys ! Password -------- This one as the name implies allows you to change a users password. You invoke it with the NEW password and the username on the command line, in that order. Handy for changing the sysop password easily. Setpriv ------- This will allow you to change the privilege level of any user from the command line. You use the first letter of the privilege and the username to change. Handy for reversing Twituser. Adopt ----- Allows you to adopt those orphan messages for a retry at sending them out. Simple straightforward and easy to use. Twix ---- Works exactly like the free-standing utility. This will list to the printer messages that are NEW. It is also able to list to the screen. Robot ----- This is a limited use version of Thom famous automated file transfer utility. The author of FidoUtil says it operates in the interactive mode. I say it operates PERIOD. It does what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it. Sched ----- This one allows you to change the scheduler from outside Fido. While this is not a bad idea I think most of us dummies would like to have a printout on the screen to look at while we make the changes needed. As it is not you must either use the status to get a hard copy printout and work from that, or go into Fido to make the changes, or use some other utility. Suggestion here is to add a switch to list the entire scheduler to the screen, then allow the sysop to change as he needs. There are a number of other things about FidoUtil that make it nice. These are the savings in disk space as mentioned by the authors, due to the smaller size of the file as opposed to the size Fidonews Page 21 22 Sep 1986 of the combined utilities. Also this program has a config file that takes the place of the config files of the other programs that make use of one. This file is also smaller then the config files of the rest combined. The authors have gone to great trouble to put EXTENSIVE help files into the setup for each utility involved with such info as the syntax for the command line, what switches are available, and the version number of the individual utility involved. They have also done a good job on the documentation included in the ARC file of their program. I commend them for a job well done. I also say that they continue to do the job as they are making every effort to ad at least one new utility a month to the package. Pretty soon we can use one program to do it ALL. The authors request that any bug reports be sent to Fido 151/10. Although I haven't as yet found any I will pass this info along. The latest version of FidoUtil is available from either 151/2 (the authors system) or mine (123/6). Again I take my hat off to these two men for an excellent job. (Benn and Marshall....I believe bows are in order here gentlemen) Jerry Hindle 123/6 (901)353-4563 300/1200/2400 24hrs 365 days ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 22 Sep 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= Ellicott Software Fido 109/628 DataCare, a PC Magazine choice in its recent review of hard disk products, is available at a new low price - $49.95, down from $129.95. This is the same product that has been favorably reviewed. The price is for a limited time only. This product is used by a number of Fido BBS's in net 109, and has found favor with many people that are not SYSOPS in the Baltimore - DC - Virginia area. Three-week trials are available from any user of the product. The review can be read in the PC magazine issue that had as its emphasis EGA boards. A review has also appeared in FidoNews Volume 3 Issue 29, written by the Sysop of Fido 109/628, the Reindeer Shed in Reisterstown, who uses and loves the product. DataCare is published by: Ellicott Software, Inc. 3777 Plum Hill Court Ellicott City, MD 21043 (301) 465-2690 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 22 Sep 1986 Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!! Public Domain collection - 550+ "ARC" archives - 20+ megs of software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When unpacked, you get approximately 28 megabytes worth of all kinds of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... Over 66 DS/DD diskettes!! This collection is the result of more than 15 months of intensive downloads from just about 150 or more BBS's and other sources, all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This is the answer!!! To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check, postal money order or company purchase order) to: Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 166/1 Post Office Box 4296 200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296 Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order. Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines, running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting, cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what we charge for the service... The following format choices are available: - IBM PC-DOS Backup utility - Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility - DSBackup - Fastback - ACS INTRCPT 720k format (Requires a 1.2m floppy drive and PC-DOS 3.2) - Plain ol' files (add $50) Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges. California residents add 6% tax. For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 22 Sep 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I.P.R. Echomail ( Interpersonal Relationships ) Are you interested in the discussing the moral,social, and ethical issuses of our time? I have had quite a bit of success offering such a message sig on my B.B.S. It has encouraged a great deal of intelligent interaction. Have several issues often passed through your board on today's controversial subjects like Euthinasia, Divorce, Abortion, public aide programs, Genetic Engineering Etc.? Well then you may be interested in hooking your users into I.P.R. National Echomail. This forum is assured to spur users to engage in stating the various viewpoints in an interesting fashion that will get all involved. It is an enjoyable sig for everyone. For information on how to hookup please Netmail a note to: Randall Kobetich 150/130 Wilmington, Delaware ----------------------------------------------------------------- The ListGen program, used to translate node lists into Fido- usable form, currently has a limit of 1400 node list entries. As of next week, the FidoNet node list will be too large for ListGen to handle. You are advised to make other arrangements for translating your node list. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I've recently received several notes from people who are using old versions of these utilities. Because of this I think an update notice is in order. Fidonews Page 25 22 Sep 1986 Pixie's latest version is 1.31. This is much faster than older versions and depending on the version you have may have several new features, as well as a few bug fixes. This will be the last major release in a while as major changes are planned for Pixie. The latest version of Sched is 5.0. This version allows completely initialization of a file and specification of the filename to work on. Both of these changes were made to facilitate Sched's use with a stand-alone scheduler which is currently on the back burner here at the Ark. Both of these utilities may be File Requested or downloaded from node 137/19. Pre-registration is required if you come in person so send me a password first. Wes Cowley Ark Tangent Fido/SEAdog 137/19 -----------------------------------------------------------------