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- March 27, 1993
-
-
- new for BANKER.EXE
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
- there are 2 new options, and if you decide to use either or both
- of these new options then you'll have alter your commandline when
- running BANKER.EXE. You'll need to add the correct switches before
- the various filenames in order for Banker to function correctly.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- typeing "BANKER ?" at the DOS prompt shows this brief help screen.
-
- BANKER v2.14ß a MaxiBank utility. Adjusts TimeOnToday.
-
- Usage: BANKER /B<bankfile> /U<userfile> /L<logfile> @<textfile> $
-
- /B<bankfile> = path/filename of the MaxiBank data file.
- defaults to MAXIBANK.DAT
- /U<userfile> = path/filename of the Maximus USER file.
- defaults to USER.BBS
- /L<logfile> = path/filename of a Maximus CBCS style log
- file NO default.
- @ = global function NOT to subtract withdrawal
- from User's TimeOn Today.
- @[textfile] = Check TEXTFILE for a list of user names to
- apply the @ option.
- $ = REFUND unused withdrawal amounts if TimeOn
- Today is less than withdrawal amount.
-
- Note: the v1.02 commandline "Banker <bankfile> <userfile> <logfile>"
- is still valid, but to access the new IGNORE withdrawal option
- or the REFUND option requires you specify the correct switches.
-
- eg: "Banker @banker.bad /lmax.log $" look up bad names in banker.bad,
- if match found then IGNORE withdrawal, log good users in max.log.
- Refund unused withdrawal, use defaults for "/B" and "/U".
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Just a note about the new "@" option to ignore Withdrawal amounts.
- When a user withdraws time from their account, Banker always was and
- IS subtracting this amount from their TimeOn Today value. (The only
- place this was ever mentioned was in section 2. of the MaxiBank.Hlp
- file. I've changed that to say "MAY Reduce ...") I figured that
- since the time was probably deposited on some previous day BANKER
- should not charge the user for that time today. The result can be
- a user logging on, withdrawing the maximum amount, only using the
- withdrawal time and logging off. Banker will then reduce their time
- of previous calls today to zero. The user can keep calling all day,
- repeating this procedure till they have an empty bank account. Sysops
- can control this by having small withdrawal amounts and small bank
- account limits, but since that requires a real concentrated effort...
-
- Banker can now be instructed NOT to subtract withdrawal amounts
- from the user's TimeOn Today value in the User.Bbs file. Banker now
- uses 2 methods. A global option and a TEXTfile that lists BadUser
- names. One User name per line with no comments. If configured to use
- the "@<TextFile>" option, Banker will NOT subtract the withdrawal
- amount if the name of the withdrawer is found in the <TextFile>.
- The global "@" commandline option causes Banker.Exe to NEVER subtract
- any withdrawal amounts fron the user's TimeOn Today. The GLOBAL option
- is a little extreme. The TextFile option should be used, it's real
- easy to spot a chronic abuser and add their user name (or Alias if
- applicable) to a badusers <textfile>. They might get away with it
- once, but not twice... You decide if you want to banker to STOP
- subtracting withdrawal amounts from your user's timeon today values.
- Globably or selectively it's up to you. The default is to subtract
- the withdrawal amounts from the TimeOn Today value. If you use this
- option then NO logfile entries will be created, because the user's
- TimeOn Today value will remain unchanged.
-
- The other new option "$" will refund any time a user may have
- withdrawn but did not use. If the user withdraws 30 minutes and
- remains online 10 minutes then the remaining 20 minutes will be
- returned to their bank account. If you are allowing withdrawal
- amounts to reduce the TimeOn Today value then this will work all
- day. But since Maximus stores the user's total time on the system
- not the amount of time per logon session in the user.bbs file it
- would be very unlikely that a user would get any refund if they
- did not use all withdrawal time on their second or third call and
- you do NOT allow withdrawal amounts to reduce their daily logon
- time (TimeOn Today). The default is NOT to refund any unused
- withdrawal time. If this option is used then any REFUNDS will be
- noted in any "/L<logfile>". If used in conjunction with any
- "@<textfile>" options then Banker will also write a log entry
- showing the withdrawal amount and the TimeOn Today value. I highly
- recommend this option because if Maximus was started with a "-T#"
- option restricting the users time because a NON Bbs event is pending
- and you do not have a corresponding EVENT in MaxiBank.Cfg, users will
- be allowed to withdraw an amount that would be greater than the value
- of the "-T#" parameter. Maximus will terminate their online session
- when the "-T#" of minutes expires, regardless of the time the user
- thinks they have left online. Also if your users lose carrier (for
- whatever reasons) I think it is a nice idea to refund them any
- excessive withdrawal time.
-
- Banker v1.02 did not have the ability to check for user Alias',
- although MaxiBank was capable of using them, oops. Now Banker checks
- both the user's name and alias when searching the user.bbs file to
- add or subtract time (if applicable) from the User's TimeOn Today.
-
- Banker NEVER alters the first record of User.Bbs, the Sysop's user
- record.
-
- Maybe Banker needs it's own BANKER.DOC file? I don't know...
-
- New for MaxiBank.
- -----------------
-
- Although it was never stated anywhere, ANSI.SYS or equivalent
- must be loaded, MaxiBank does not write directly to the screen.
- All colours seen locally are ANSI colours. Maxibank is a MSDOS
- program, it is not aware of any multitasking operating systems.
- Use at your own risk!
-
- MaxiBank now supports AVATAR colours graphics for remote users.
- Maxibank now supports useage of numeric colour codes as well
- as ANSI codes in it's COLOUR# statements. Use COLOURS.EXE to
- view the various (all 256) ANSI colour codes to select the
- numeric colour codes. MaxiBank Converts the colour codes to
- ANSI. If MaxiBank cannot convert your ANSI colours to AVATAR
- (your users will have to tell you about this since AVATAR codes
- are never used locally) then use the numeric codes instead of
- your ANSI codes.
-
- I fixed a BUG which would not allow a user with Maximum time
- in Maximus set to unlimited (0) to withdraw time. Previously
- (in v2.13) if this was set the user could not withdraw anything
- ever. Now it is working as designed. NOTE: setting this value
- to unlimited allows the user to overrun declared events. After
- all, unlimited online time means exactly that, UNLIMITED. I would
- suggest you avoid the use of unlimited amounts and instead use
- a large amount like 1440. (a whole day of minutes). Unlimited
- time in maximus will not allow a user to withdraw time in a
- deposit only event, but at any other time an unlimited setting
- allows the user to withdraw as much time as they have in their
- account. Maximus will still honour any -t<amount> command line
- parameter, the user will be disconnected when that amount of
- time has elapsed regardless of what time the user has remaining.
- Banker can be instructed to refund the unused withdrawal time.
- You've been warned.
-
- Added a logfile entry that will inform you if a Deposit_Only event
- is underway. Added a logfile entry to show the next EVENT and
- maximum withdrawal amount if withdrawal restrictions are in effect.
- Also if a user's online time remaining is greater than the time
- till the next event MaxiBank will make a note 'Online at EVENT
- start?'. This means that the event in question is not a "forced
- non BBS event", the kind of event when a Mailer will pass the
- exact time remaining till the event to Maximus. This also means
- that the user can renter the bank after the event occurs and will
- probably be allowed to withdraw time. This is not a BUG, MaxiBank
- has no way of forcing events to occur. It can only restrict
- withdrawal amounts before an event occurs.
-
- You may now have multiple Deposit_Only events, previously you
- could have multiple Deposit_Only events but MaxiBank would always
- report to the user the times of the last one found in the .cfg file.
- Now it reports the times of the actual Deposit_Only event. You might
- use multiple deposit_only events to restrict withdrawls instead of
- using non forced EVENTs as described in the above paragraph.
-
- Spiced up the MaxiBank.Hlp file a little bit, in hopes that it
- will make operation more understandable. You can edit this file
- as you please, try to keep linelengths less than 80 characters.
- If you don't allow users to transfer time to others then delete
- section 5.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- May 17, 1992
-
- MaxiBank now stores the users privilege level in the bank files
- Using this information, MaxiBank now will not let users
- transfer time to other bank accounts that are FULL, will not
- let users overfill others account, and now you cannot overfill
- a bank account while in Editor mode.
-
- If you are upgrading from versions prior to v2.13 then
- I've included a little program (FIX_PRIV.EXE) that will scan
- the bank data file for user names and then get the users'
- privilege level from user.bbs. It may be a little slow to
- execute if you have lots of bank accounts. Everytime a user
- makes a deposit, withdrawal or transfer their privilege level
- is updated, and all privilege levels in any old bank data file
- are set at disgrace levels. You can run FIX_PRIV or not, it is
- up to you. Type FIX_PRIV ? for more instructions. FIX_PRIV will
- compare bank file names against both USER.BBS names and alias'
- so it should work even if you are using ALIAS names.
-
- payable Interest amounts can now be decimal numbers or fractions,
- small numbers like 0.0274 (10/365 = 10% per YEAR) are just as valid
- as 2% per day. If you do select a SMALL number then remember to also
- raise the number of DaysOfInterest accordingly. If you are only paying
- 10% per Year then you could allow 365 DaysOfInterest, or more.
-
-
- April 30, 1992
-
- MaxiBank can now sort a maximum of 2500 bank accounts. Previous
- versions had a maximum number of 500. These new sort routines
- can be accessed direct from the command line! A new parameter
- `/S' (for sort) has been added. You can sort by DATE, NAME
- or AMOUNT. Prefixing the option with a minus sign (-) will
- sort in the reverse direction. Control returns to DOS after
- the sort function finishes. the name of the MaxiBank data file
- is obtained from MaxiBank.Cfg (as well as other important
- information)
-
- eg. Maxibank /sDATE ---- sort by date (oldest is first)
- Maxibank /s-DATE ---- reverse sort (newest is first)
-
- Maxibank /sNAME ---- sort alphabetically by lastname
-
- Maxibank /sAmount ---- sort by amount (largest is first)
- Maxibank /s-Amount ---- sort by amount (smallest is first)
-
- these examples assume MaxiBank.Cfg in current directory.
-
- if maxibank.cfg not in current directory then specify where with the
- `/c<filename>' parameter.
-
- eg. MaxiBank /cc:\max\maxibank.cfg /sDate
-
- etc...
-
- Note: this sort command line option is not mentioned in the HELP screen
- or the MaxiBank.Doc text file :-)
-
- other cosmetic enhancements, nothing major though.
-
-
- April 26,1992
-
- Added two new command line options, the first allows you to specify
- a MaxiLog option ovverride on the command line. `/L<filename>', where
- `filename' is the logfile to be updated. The second command line
- option is `/D#'. The `/D' means DELETE accounts older than `#' days.
- `/D30' would delete inactive accounts older than 30 days. The Maximum
- days to be deleted is 9999 days. Same as while in the online editor
- PURGE function. The first new command line option must come before the
- second if you want to specify a different logfile than any defined
- in the Maxibank.Cfg. Control retruns to DOS after execution. Perfect
- for routine maintenance in daily run batch files.
-
- examples.
-
- 1. Maxibank /D30
-
- delete accounts older than 30 days, report any deletions in any
- logfile as declared in the default MaxiBank.Cfg. If none defined
- then no record of the deletions will exist. Bank data file name
- will be obtained from MaxiBank.Cfg.
-
- 2. Maxibank /LBank.Del /D30
-
- delete accounts older than 30 days, use BANK.DEL as MaxiLog file to
- record the deletions. MaxiBank.Cfg MaxiLog option is ignored and
- Bank data file is obtained from MaxiBank.Cfg.
-
-
-
- April 15, 1992
-
- RAFware CBCSystem has shut down it's BBS, and no longer has any network
- addresses.
-
- Added a new feature. Users' can transfer time from their accounts to
- any other users accounts. A maximum of 60 minutes per day can be
- transfered by each user. This can be configured to a a value of
- anything between 1 and 60 minutes. It can not be greater than 60.
- Improved the logging function. Memory requirements may have increased.
-
-
- March 5, 1992.
-
- RAFware CBCSystem has a new address, 1:153/703 (also IMExnet 89:683/109)
-
- Operating hours are from 6 p.m. till 8 a.m.
-
- Here we go again, Maximus v2.01wb has been released, Scott Dudley has
- 'fixed' the time Online Today problem but his method was unexpected
- and so MaxiBank is now broken again. There is a new .CFG option (another
- KLUDGE) "Version Max2.01". This informs MaxiBank to act is a special
- way so as not too confuse Maximus. If you are using v2.01wb (and hopefully
- all future versions of Maximus) include the line
-
- Version Max2.01
-
- somewhere in Maxibank.Cfg.
-
- Also added another new .Cfg option, "MAXILOG Filename.Ext", this enables
- a logging function. You can use a new command line option "/NL" to shut
- off logging when running in local mode. The logfile can be pointed to
- your Max.Log if desired. This may not be advisable on Multi-Node systems
- with a common CBCS log file. Maxibank will Report who the user is, their
- relevant information and any time/byte bank transfers.
-
- see the sample MAXIBANK.CFG for more details on these new .CFG options
- and for complete instructions on all .Cfg options.
-
- If you have any problems you can Netmail me at my new location. Please
- include an appropriate LOGFILE segment for debugging purposes. Good Luck.
-
-
- February 13, 1992
-
- Moved from Ottawa, Ontario to Vancouver, B.C.
-
- I am no longer at address 1:163/126, and have not applied for
- a new address. Not sure if I will be getting another address
- or not. Time will tell.
-
- Added support for users with hotkeys active. Previous versions of
- MaxiBank always used hotkey interface, but now users without hotkeys
- active will have to press return after making their selections. Lots
- of non hotkey users where getting confused by the automatic hotkey
- feature. Hotkeys are always active in editor mode.
-
- Moved the sort function to the main editor menu, instead of it's
- previous position in the E)dit menu.
-
- Added a few more .CFG options.
-
- MONO will shut off all ANSI colour.
-
- Presently MaxiBank uses only seven ANSI colour codes. You can now
- specify your own ANSI colour codes. At present if you specify a
- different ANSI colour sequence for one of the defaults, then all
- occurences of the old colour will be replaced with your choice.
- If this causes weird effects, let me know, and I might be able to
- expand the original 7 colour options to as many as are required.
-