Crawly Crypt Collection 1/crawlyvol1.bin/bbs/qbbs112/whatsnew.112

Text File | 1994-05-20 | 21KB | 495 lines

     ============================================================
     ====  Bug fixes and new features in QuickBBS ST 1.12    ====
     ============================================================

     Hay folks. Here is our newest version of QuickBBS ST.

     I don't have much free time, so don't be disappointed if I
     don't answer mail that fast. I also use Fidonet/NeST not
     that much anymore, all the wars in the Fidonet type nets
     have run me down over the last 7 years!

     I can be contacted via internet/usenet. I will send keys
     via internet too. My email address can however change in
     the future. The current email addresses are:

                      [e-mail]

                               or:

                      [e-mail]


     From 10-10-1995 almost all telephone numbers in the Netherlands
     will change. So will our numbers. They will be:

        Per 10-10-1995 [phone] will be [phone]
        Per 10-10-1995 [phone] will be [phone]

     Further I would like to thank all you guys (galls?) out there
     for all the idea's you have given me. As you will see I did
     implement almost all request (no, no Multiline yet :-)

     I still had some troubles on certain Falcon machines. It runs
     fine on my second line ([phone] HST/V32). But the USA
     machines seem to give a lot of problems. So any hints are
     welcomed.

     Also I would to mention Ton Ketting and Danny Terweij,
     they did a hell of a job testing things... (and all of
     they other betatesters too of course :-)

     Okido, here we go, no new docs for the time being though!

 Fixed and New in 1.12

    IMPORTANT! After reading this run BOTH QCONFIG and MCONFIG.

!!!!!!!!!    MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR BOARDS.BBS FIRST    !!!!!!!!!!

    Set the Maximum number of areas in Mconfig (Ctrl-S)
    Set the serial port number in Config (modem settings)
    Do look trough all options in Qconfig please!


 * Problems like crashing of qbbs on startup? Put -T on the commandline.
   This won't flush the RS232 buffer anymore at startup, it crashes
   on some machines (TT/Falcon/MSTE) if this is done.

 * Serial port support. QuickBBS now supports all Atari serial ports.
   Mind you on the Falcon you must use Modem 2. On the TT you can
   use both Modem 2 and Serial 2. Modem 1 and Serial 1 are supported
   but don't have CD/DTR support
   Rerouting of serial data is done via BconMap, so most doorgames
   should run too.
   Set the serial port in Qconfig.

 * Commandline option -M will disable the use of BconMap for other serial
   ports. Use this if you mailer already reroutes the RS232 (AUX) output.

 * First steps in CD-ROM support!.

   If your CD-ROM has FILES.BBS files in each area then you only need
   to add all areas to the flsearch.ctl. Just like normal. I did change
   however the adding of the downloadcounters. Your CD-ROM should
   show files to be READ-ONLY. Not all CD-ROM drivers do this.
   With ExtenDos (the best CD driver) you must specify R/O in stead
   of R/W in the ExtenDos config.

   Any idea's about future CD-ROM support are welcome. First thing on
   my mind is to reroute the files.bbs to HD.

   TIP: set the acces level of your CD to a very HIGH number, otherwise
   it will also be scanned when you do a newfiles scan, not very usefull
   with a CD I would think. This has no further effect as the acces level
   in the flsearch.ctl is only used for the newfiles scan.

 * Export message (when reading) would print the message to a printer,
   you can now choose between a printer or a file. The message is then
   save as an ASCII file, all ^A rubbish etc. is removed.

 * Mconfig, you can scroll up and down with the areas.bbs and
   you can edit the groupnames! Use Control-G in the main menu.
   The areas.bbs viewing is ALSO available when editting an area!
   Very usefull if you want to get the areaname right!

 * Reply with an external editor sometimes replyed again after you
   had saved the message. Dunno why exactly but I think it is gone now.

 * Minimum free diskspace need before upload or Online Archiver possible.

   Set in qconfig (screen 2) the minimum nr. of Kb's that have to be
   there to be able to upload or use the Online Archiver.

   It seems that a lot of Z-Modems etc. don't look at the free space
   themself. So you could end up with a messed up partition.

   I suggest setting the limit at least at 500 Kb.

 * Chat, Control D (download) sends a file, just like Control V views
   a file. The file is send with /RF (really free) so you don't have
   to bother with levels etc.

 * New menu option number 88, newfile search with filemarker.

   The marker looks a bit like the File Menu we alread have. However
   the user is asked to mark files after each area (if any are found).
   This is better then waiting until the screen is full, that would
   mean some very complex programming with multiple paths and a change
   of a LOT of bugs.

   Options like Previous/Goto etc. are not possible. It just runs
   down the flsearch.ctl.

 * No deleting of echomail by users. New toggle in qconfig option
   screen 6, gee we are _really_ running out of space here.

   Until now users could delete messages from or to themself in
   echomail areas. With this toggle you can deny them this
   option. This works only for areas setup as ECHOMAIL areas in
   mconfig.

   Do take a GOOD look as we need so many variables there is a good
   change that the delete option might be or not be available in
   other situations. If/Then structures in the message read code of
   QuickBBS are getting very complex now :-)

 * Mail areas list can also carry /ns on the optional data, just
   as the file area lister also can. The list will not be sorted
   in this case.

 * Internet areas also give out the errorlevel for entered
   echomail messages. Msgid etc. also set.

 * Removed 'One moment please.' before the running of a .DOR file.
   This annoyed some of you :-)

  * Reading VERY long messages (55 Kb or so) went wrong.
    I set the limit back to 16 Kb, a string can be 32 Kb but I need
    double the size to be able to wordwrap the entire message.

    Anyway it's a bad idea to sent such large messages around, even
    in Internet they split messages up.

  * Upload description of max 5 lines
    You can toggle in qconfig (option 6) if you want to use
    the new 5 lines description by uploads.
    The user will be presented with the editor that is also used for
    writing messages. He can enter max 5 lines of description for each
    file. The description will however be saved as 1 ! line. Extra
    spaces at the end of a line are deleted.

  * Mailscan option 22
    Until now you could only put an area number on the optional
    data line, or "ALL" for a mailscan to all. It could look like:

    22 "ALL"

    Scan area 22 for messages to all. This is still possible but
    we extended the options, you can also scan certain mailgroups.
    So you can disable the standard mailscan (toggles in qconfig)
    and make your own mailscan in your welcome.dor where you only
    scan you local (language) areas. Anyway I think you guys can
    come up with some other nice idea's.

    How it works, on the optional data you can place:

    "searchstring"          [groupnumber]

    You can add between the [] groupnumbers, 1,2 would scan group 1
    and group 2. 1-4 will scan 2 3 and 4. You can mix those too:

    [1,4-8] "ALL"

    Will scan groups 1 4 5 6 7 and 8 for messages to all.
    The name between "" can be ANY string you like. So you are not
    fixed to ALL. If you want to scan for the current user just don't
    use the "". You can use the normal *xx etc. options in the dor file
    to fill it with any string you like.

  * FILE_ID.xxx support. There is a new toggle for this in Qconfig,
    option 6 toggles.
    If set the BBS will ask a user before downloading if he wants a
    list of the files (with descriptions) of the files he downloads
    to be sent. This will only be done with batch protocols
    (Y-Modem batch, Z-Modem, Jekyll etc.)
    The file is an ASCII file called FILE.ID.xxx where xxx is a number
    which increases during the call if more then 1 file is send.

    FILE_ID.xxx contains the filename and discription of the downloaded
    files and the current date.

    You can also add some advertising at the beginning of the file. Make
    an ASCII file called FILE_ID.BBS in your CONF ! folder. If found
    this file is placed at the beginning of the FILE_ID.xxx.

  * Longer timeout on internal X-Modem 1K.
    If you lock the modem port the 1K block is send very quickly.
    But it still takes a while until the other side has it. That's
    why downloads with X-Modem 1K on a locked machine and a user
    at a low baudrate (<9600) went wrong.
    I think it should be fine, I set the timeout at 32 seconds max.
    as this is the time a 300 Bps user would take to recieve a
    1 Kb block.

  * QuickBBS now knows what machine it runs on:

    ST     : QuickBBS ST
    STE    : QuickBBS STE
    TT     : QuickBBS TT
    Falcon : QuickBBS FC



  * OARC (Online archiver) has been completely rewritten. So anything
    can go wrong, I am sure it will :-)

    You can define path and commands for several archivers in qconfig,
    option 0 (running out of numbers there).

    I suggest the following for extra and pack commands but if you
    have better ones please say so and state the version of the archiver.

    Type:           Extract command:        Pack command:
    ARC             xo                      m
    LZH             x -m                    m -m
    ZIP             -xo                     -am
    ZOO             e:                      a:m

    ARJ is supported but my ARJ only unpacks WITH paths. And that is
    something we can't use as we have to unpack to the OARC folder.

    I suggest you set the OARC folder at a partition with a lot of space.
    Users can unpack files troughout the session and pack it (in any
    flavour) in 1 go.

    Have a look at it, I think it will be clear enough. As you don't
    have to define what archive you use (ARC or LZH) it should be
    easier to understand it.

    OARC is cleared after loggoff. Though I would recommend to clean it
    up in your batch too. If Qbbs crashed for some reason the OARC might
    not be cleared. Just put in pcommand after qbbs:

    cd \qbbs\oarc
    del *.*
    cd \qbbs

  * As I was doing the OARC I noticed a small glitch in the verbose of
    ZOO. With long names the last character was missing. Fixed this now.

  * NEW down/upload dor file commands!

    FILELIST [path+name]

    If this is given all names of files to be download will be
    written in this file. Xyz and also Jekyll can read a filelist, you
    will have to tell xyz the filename with it -i parameter.
    Jekyll defaults to jekyll.flo in it's own folder.

    Advantage: You can download MUCH more files as the commandline
    can only take 127 characters, and if you mark and download from
    different path's this can cause some problems.

    NOERROR

    Don't check the errorlevel of the external protocol. Some
    protocols always give out an error level, so qbbs get confused.

    example ZMODEM.DOR for xyz:

    upload   G:\QBBS\XYZ.TTP -c *PATH
    download G:\QBBS\XYZ.TTP -U -ig:\qbbs\files.lst
    filelist G:\QBBS\FILES.LST

    example JEKYLL.DOR :

    upload   G:\QBBS\JEKYLL\JEKYLL.TTP -timl*T "-user*F *L" -recv*PATH
    download G:\QBBS\JEKYLL\JEKYLL.TTP -timl*T "-user*F *L" -recv*PATH
    filelist G:\QBBS\JEKYLL\JEKYLL.FLO
    noerror

  * Upload detection with Jekyll didn't work in all cases.
    I think I have found the problem. I also solved the problem that
    the upl-des.xxx file wasn't shown after an upload with an external
    protocol.

    IMPORTANT: Set in qconfig all protocols to FULL PATH if you have
    problems downloading from different folders at one go.

  * Colors in the 'show number of unread messages' and 'show number
    of files' where a bit wrong. They should be better now

   * Mark downloadmenu, sometimes the D and L of download and List
     didn't work. Fixed.

     You could also mark the same file more then once. If this
     happens now it just doesn't mark it again. You _can_ however
     add files with the same name from different paths. Only if
     the filename and the path are the same the file is skipped.

   * Free username format. This is a new toggle in qconfig, option 6
     toggles.
     If enabled the username format in QuickBBS is completely free.
     So no capitalisation no points(dots) and the name can be one
     word or several words.
     This is done at the lowest possible level inside QuickBBS, this
     means that also the question for a To: name and the input command
     in a dor file will

   * Sometimes the downloadmenu/marker missed some files.
     This was due to the fact that we now have wordwrapped descriptions.
     This makes it more diffecult to calculate the number of pages
     offhand.

     The problem should be fixed but do take a _very_ close look if
     there are still filles missing or send double, at the end of a
     page and then again at the beginning of the nexty page.

   * You MUST set the maximum number of areas in mconfig now.
     This is number is the highest areanumber QuickBBS ST will read.
     If you set this to 999 (maximum) the startup of QuickBBS ST will
     be slower and it requires more memory.
     Most sysops don't need all 999 areas so set it to the maximum you
     will require. You can always change it again.

     Use Control-S in mconfig to set it up.

   * Mailscan, option 22. If you put 1 area number on the optional
     data then all areas where scanned. Fixed

   * IMPORTANT: Run mconfig first! The format of boards.bbs has been
     changed! QuickBBS ST 1.12 can only use this format. This also
     means that other third party programs won't work! Specs
     on the new format wil be given ou to programmers if they ask me
     for it. It will also be explained in the new QSTRUCT.TXT

     Oke now for the best news, in mconfig you can now give a path
     and filename for every mail area. So you are not limited to:

                           K:\MSGS\0001

     You can set it up like:

                           K:\MSGS\SYSOP

     Mind you, no extension is allowed! as QuickBBS makes a .HDR and
     .MSG file. If no path + filename is given then the old format
     is used.

     I believe this is something a LOT of sysops where waiting for.

   * Message to each user. In mconfig you will have 4 options for the
     type of messages allowed:

     Public         Only non private messages allowed (no private flag)
     Private        Only private messages (private flag is set)
     Both           The user can decide wheter a message is private
     All            Messages are addressed to each user that logs in.

     Let me explain All, if you make an area only use All then their to:
     field is set to You!. If a user logs in he will see all messages
     in this area in the mailscan. If a message is read in this area then
     the to: field is replaced by the name of the current user.

     The best use for this it's a sysop write only area. The sysop can
     send messages this way to each and every user, without the need
     of several different messages.

     Do take care, the lastread pointer is SET if messages are read after
     a mailscan. For normal areas this is not the case. But it must be
     done here. The user would see the message everytime otherwise :-)

   * Internet support, in mconfig the message area type has 4 formats
     now: Local, Netmail, Echomail, Internet Newsgroup.

     If you use 'Internet Newsgroup' then it won't ask for a To: field
     and sets it to 'all'. Also no origin is written.

     If you want to write an Email you can use the netmail area, put
     the following on the optional data field for a menutype 27:

                       /F=2:282/301.0   /@


     /F= is the netnumber a message is send to, the user can't change
     this! This nodenumber should be your internet gateway.

     /@ forces the use of the @ delimiter, which is needed in internet.

   * Now supporting 999 areas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     BUT! There are NO lastreadpointers for areas above 200. We
     need a new lastread.bbs format, but this means that other
     packers need to be adapted too. So this will take a while.

     Anyway, most sysops didn't mind really, the 'normal' areas should
     be kept below 200. Use 200 and over for very large areas, like
     internet newsgroups.

     Make a backup of your BOADS.BBS first. The format has completely
     changed so be carefull.

   * The name field of an area is now max 50 characters in stead of 20.
     As we have _so_ many areas now we needed a longer description.

   * Read Marked messages, now 'forgets' the messages that are read.
     So you will only get each message once if you use read marked
     more then once during a session.

   * Support of BBSBATCH.BAT file format.

     Binkley and the new Semper both use the BBSBATCH.BAT file format
     It's used to pass parameters to other programs.

     IMPORTANT: In binkley you must use: BBS Batch
     Not BBS Exit ! In that case the file BBSBATCH.BAT isn't written.

     The advantage over the normail errorlevel is that the batch file
     has both the baudrate and the time to the next non-bbs event.

     If you setup the name and path of your BBSBATCH.BAT file in qconfig
     (option 2) it will be used.

     If a user calls and has more time then is allowed until the next
     event his time will be lowered until the time for the next event.
     This only applies to the current session.

     The user will be informed by this, you can also send him a textfile
     instead called EVENT.xxx (in the textfile folder)

     This will cure a lot of problems that sysops had with event overruns.
     It also makes QuickBBS ST more easier to use with Semper.

   * New toggle in qconfig (option 6) called 'Use events'
     With this you can dis/enable the checking for events in a bbsbatch.bat
     file, if you have this option enabled of course.


   * New mail scan, it count's down from max. to 1 now, a user
     can see better how long it will take this way.
     The areas are however searched from 1 to max. :-) so
     you can keep your local areas (sysop area) at the beginning.

   * Both the Browser and the filemenu are much faster now. Though
     hotkey response might be a bit slower, not that you notice that
     at 9600 or 14400..

     In you were in ASCII mode then the clearscreen with the browser didn't
     work, doesd now.

   * Marked files in the marked filelister are now global.
     That means that you can tag several files from different
     areas and download them in 1 go. QuickBBS will also remember
     the description when you use the List marked files option.
     Mind you, it only works for protocols that can download
     several files at on go, like Z/Y-Modem, Jekyll etc.

     You will also notice a small change in the marked filelister,
     just have a go.

   * You can disallow the replying to a message for each message
     area. In mconfig it's called 'Deny Reply'. If set the user
     (also the sysop) cannot reply to a message.

     This is of use for 'For Sale' areas where you should call
     the one who send the message and not reply into an echomail
     area. Mayby you can think up some other uses too.

   * Menutype 85, Mail arealister. The second parameter (menuname)
     should be optional. This didn't work, so you couldn't do an
     areachange option from the readmail menu. Fixed.

   * Verbose list of an .ARC file didn't list the filenames anymore,
     fixed. Also the prompt of the verbose was a bit long, fixed

   * Message uploading went wrong if the messagetext included non-ascii
     characters. You can toggle 8bit in mconfig, everything over char.
     127 is ignored if 8bit isn't allowed.

   * Option 36, search for filename. If you entered only return it should
     haved acted as *.* it didn't, fixed.