Magnum One

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Magnum One / Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso / d8 / qwkm010b.arc / QWKMERGE.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-05-01 | 29.3 KB | 826 lines

QWKMerge A .QWK Packet File Merging Utility Version 0.06ß April 1991 Licensed Material. Unauthorized distribution is prohibited. (c) Copyright Mike King 1990-91. All rights reserved T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S __________________________________________________________________________ Copyright/License/Warranty ......................................... iii Getting Started ...................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................... 1 Overview of QWKMerge ............................................. 2 Installation ..................................................... 3 Using QWKCfg ......................................................... 4 Main QWKCfg Menu ................................................. 4 Paths Menu ....................................................... 4 Colors Menu ...................................................... 6 Message Packet Configuration ..................................... 7 Using QWKMerge ...................................................... 10 QWKMerge Registration ............................................... 12 ii QWKMerge User's Guide Copyright, License and Warranty __________________________________________________________________________ QWKMerge is a copyrighted, user-supported program. It is not in the public domain. Individuals may use and distribute QWKMerge according to the restrictions detailed below. You may use the program and give it to your friends, but it may not be sold nor used in a business or otherwise used for profit without obtaining a license. See the last page for information about licensing. QWKMerge is not copy-protected. It may be copied and distributed to others providing that it is supplied in its original, unregistered and unmodified form, including this documentation. The keyfile which is used to register QWKMerge is not to be copied nor distributed. No fee may be charged for copying and distribution of the QWKMerge program other than a minimal fee covering the cost of the copying medium. Any alterations of the code are expressly prohibited. No one may modify the QWKMerge programs or related materials for any reason, in any way, including decompiling, disassembling, reverse engineering, or copying, except as stated herein. No warranty, either expressed or implied, is granted regarding the programs and related materials, their fitness, their quality, or otherwise. The copyright owner shall not be held liable for any damages, including any lost profits or other incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of use of or inability to use the software. By using the software, you agree to this. The copyright owner reserves the right to make any changes to these programs, related materials, or documentation at any time without prior notice. Note: QWKMerge and QWKCfg are trademarks owned by Mike King. EZ-Reader is a trademark owned by Eric Cockrell. Any other brand or product names mentioned in this documentation are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. QWKMerge User's Guide iii Getting Started ______________________________________________________________________________ Introduction QWKMerge allows you to combine a number of .QWK message packet files from any one BBS into one .QWK packet. The combined .QWK may include all the conferences in the individual packets, any one conference, or a selection of conferences. Messages may be limited by age. QWKMerge has the ability to store multiple configurations for a single BBS. QWKMerge will automatically delete ("kill") any duplicate messages encountered while merging the packets. In addition, QWKMerge will "untrash" .QWK packets that have been altered by an offline reader. Unregistered copies of QWKMerge are subject to certain limitations. The default settings are merging 200 messages per conference, including all of the conferences, and including messages with a maximum age of 30 days. Unregistered versions allow this default as well as "packing out" a conference so that no messages are saved. Registration of the program allows adjustment of configuration options to any user-specified values compatible with your offline reader software. QWKMerge is registered via a keyfile available on IDC BBS 10 days after receipt of a personal or company check or 24 hours after receipt of a cashier's check or money order. You may reach IDC BBS at 415-865-7115. Complete registration instructions and a mail-in order form are in the file REGISTER.FRM. The following is formatted for use in file directory listings when uploading QWKMerge to a BBS: QWKMerge allows combination of several .QWK packets from any one BBS into one packet. Automatically deletes duplicate messages in merged packets and "untrashes" .QWK files altered by offline readers. A keyfile available upon registration enables extensive user-specific configuration of the merging process. Shareware by Mike King. Page 1 QWKMerge User's Guide: Introduction Getting Started ______________________________________________________________________________ Overview of QWKMerge Extensive on-line help is available in both QWKCfg and QWKMerge. To obtain help at any time, press [F1]. To leave help, press [Esc]. Before merging source .QWK files into a single destination .QWK file, a configuration must be specified. QWKCFG.EXE is used to configure the paths, colors, and conference selections for any BBS. (You cannot combine .QWK files from two different boards!) You must specify four paths: the path to the destination .QWK file, the path to the source .QWK files, the path to the working directory, and the path to the configuration files. You may also customize the QWKMerge colors. The information about paths and colors is stored in a new file, QWKMERGE.CTL, which is created by QWKCfg and placed into the current directory. Once the paths have been specified, you may configure conference selections for the message packets to be merged. Multiple configurations may be maintained for any one BBS. Two parameters are set in the message packet: the maximum number of messages to be saved and the maximum age (in days) of messages to be saved. The information about conference configuration is stored in a BBS-specific file which is created by QWKCfg and stored on your disk in the subdirectory path you requested for configuration files. After a configuration file has been created using QWKCfg, your selected .QWK files are merged using the QWKMerge program itself. All that needs to be specified in this program is the destination .QWK file, the source .QWK file, and the name of the configuration file you wish to use. When you have given this information to the program, all you have to do is select [Begin] and then sit back and watch the merge happen. Enjoy the program! QWKMerge User's Guide: Overview Page 2 Getting Started ______________________________________________________________________________ Installation To install QWKMerge, unZIP the .ZIP file into a directory in your DOS path. Your reader directory may be used or you may put QWKMerge into a directory of its own. If you want to run QWKMerge from a directory that is neither the current directory nor on the DOS path, you can use the "SET QWKMDIR=" DOS command to tell the program where to look for its help and configuration files. i.e. SET QWKMDIR=C:\QWKMERGE. You may type this at the DOS prompt to set the environment variable, or use it in a BATch file. Two of the programs in the .ZIP file are necessary for operation. These two files are QWKMERGE.EXE and QWKCFG.EXE. See "Overview of QWKMerge" for the functions of each of these programs. A third necessary file, QWKMERGE.CTL, will be created by QWKCfg in the current directory. This file saves the configuration data on paths, colors, and so forth. Conference configurations are saved in BBS-specific configuration files found in the path where you told QWKMerge to put configuration files. It is good practice to make a backup of any file before performing data manipulation. For instance, it is wise to back up a hard disk before defragmenting it. For this reason, it is recommended that you back up your .QWK files before executing a merge process. Page 3 QWKMerge User's Guide: Installation Using QWKCfg ______________________________________________________________________________ Step-by-Step Instructions You may press [F1] at any time for on-line help. Before using QWKMerge, you must set up at least one configuration file for each BBS from which you wish to merge .QWK files. 1. Change to the subdirectory containing QWKCFG.EXE and enter "QWKCFG" (without the quotation marks) at the DOS prompt, then press [Enter]. You will see the title page for QWKCfg. This will automatically erase in a few seconds. 2. In the unregistered version, you will next see a screen advising you how to register the program. Registered users will not see this message. If you are using the unregistered version, press the indicated function key to exit the screen. 3. The main menu for QWKCfg looks like this: ┌──────────────────────[ QWKCfg Main Menu ]─────────────────────────┐ │ Help Paths Colors Message Packets Quit │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Selecting "H" for Help or pointing and clicking on "Help" with your mouse brings up a copyright page that reminds you that [F1] brings up context-sensitive help and that [Esc] exits the help screens. You may exit this or any other help screen by pressing the [Esc] key or pointing and clicking on the word "Quit" with your mouse. 4. From the Main Menu, select "P" for Paths or point and click on "Paths" with your mouse. ┌─────────────────────────────[ Paths ]─────────────────────────────┐ │ Destination QWK Path: DEST\ │ │ Source QWK Path: SOURCE\ │ │ Working Dir Path: WORK\ │ │ CFG Dir Path: CFG\ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Fill in the information for each of the four paths that must be specified. It is not necessary to enter the trailing forward slash; the program will do it for you if you forget. QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Page 4 Using QWKCfg [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ You may move around in the listing by using the arrow keys or your mouse. Press [Enter] after the CFG Dir Path entry to save your entries and return to the Main Menu. The program will prompt you to create any directories that do not currently exist on your disk. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Pressing [Esc] from the Paths menu will exit without saving! │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Please note: - The "Destination QWK Path" tells QWKMerge where to look to find the master or destination .QWK files (files into which other QWK files will be merged). This is also where QWKCfg will look to find .QWK files for conference configuration. - The "Source QWK Path" tells QWKMerge where to look to find new QWK files to merge into the master .QWK files. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ It is entirely possible, but not necessary, to use the same path │ │ for the source and destination .QWK files. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - The "Working Dir Path" should be a "scratch" directory for QWKCfg and QWKMerge to use for temporary file storage during processing. It need not exist beforehand as the QWK Utilities will create and remove it during processing. Do NOT use your root directory for this path. The working directory may be located on a RAM disk providing there is sufficient space available. The space necessary for processing is approximately twice the size of the uncompressed destination .QWK file, or the total size of the uncompressed destination and source .QWK files, whichever is larger. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ The working directory should NOT be one used by any other │ │ program. IT WILL BE REMOVED BY QWKCFG AND QWKMERGE UPON │ │ COMPLETION OF PROCESSING. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ - The "CFG Dir Path" should be a new directory solely for the storage of the BBS-specific conference configuration files created with QWKCfg. QWKMerge will look here for these configuration files. Note that you may have more than one configuration file tailored to a given BBS. You will have the opportunity in QWKMerge to select the configuration file that you wish to use. Page 5 QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Using QWKCfg [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. From the Main Menu, select "C" for Colors or point and click on "Colors" with your mouse. ┌─────────[ Colors ]──────────┐ │ Frame │ │ Title │ │ Text │ │ Bar │ │ Select Char │ │ Non-Select │ │ Error Windows │ │ Lines │ └─────────────────────────────┘ Selecting one of the first 6 items on the color menu brings up a color grid. Use the arrow keys or your mouse to move around the grid, then press [Enter] or click with your mouse to select the foreground and background colors desired. Selecting "Error Windows" brings up the following sub-menu, from which colors are selected similarly to the Colors Menu: ┌───[ Error Window Colors ]───┐ │ Frame │ │ Title │ │ Text │ └─────────────────────────────┘ Selecting "Lines" brings up the following sub-menu, which allows you to select line style by typing the capital or highlighted letter: ┌──────────[ Lines ]──────────┐ │ all Single │ │ all Double │ │ horiz single, Vert double │ │ Horiz double, vert single │ │ heavy Lines │ │ No lines │ └─────────────────────────────┘ QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Page 6 Using QWKCfg [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ 6. From the Main Menu, select "M" for Message Packets or point and click on "Message Packets" with your mouse. ┌────D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\*.Q??────┐ │ 1BIGTREE.QWK 1IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 4IDCBBS.QWK 5IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 6IDCBBS.QWK 7IDCBBS.QWK │ │ ICSMAIL.QWK IDCBBS.QWK │ │ SALTAIR.QWK │ The message packet menu lists the .QWK files found in the Destination QWK Path. The search is for *.Q?? so that files with extensions such as .QW8 will not be missed. To make a configuration for a given BBS, select any .QWK file from that BBS. It does not matter which .QWK file you use, as long as it is from the BBS for which you want to create a configuration file, and it has messages in the conferences you want to select for merging. It is not necessary to create a configuration for each .QWK file, but rather at least one configuration for each BBS. 7. QWKCfg ignores renaming and names the configuration file with the original .QWK filename as a default. Thus, selecting 1IDCBBS.QWK brings up: ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ Use CFG\IDCBBS.CFG Y │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────┘ Press "Y", or if you would like to use a file name other than the default, press "N" at this prompt to edit the configuration file name. ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Note that all configuration files MUST use the CFG file extension. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 8. After selecting or naming a configuration file, you must set up the configuration to be stored in that file. You may view the conferences in your selected .QWK file either numerically or alphabetically. ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Sort conferences alphabetically? Y │ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ Sorting alphabetically takes a few seconds. The conference pick list appears as follows. (If you decline alphabetical sorting, the conferences are listed in numerical order.) Page 7 QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Using QWKCfg [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ ┌──────────────────────────────[ IDC BBS ]──────────────────────────────┐ │ 76 - 1-2-3-B 127 - 3Bs-B 95 ■ 4DOS-B │ │ 374 - 4DOS-C 466 - ACOA-C 510 - AD&D_Chat-E │ │ 138 ■ AI-B 134 - ANSI Draw-B 191 - ANSI-ART-A │ │ 359 - ANSI-C 160 - AST-B 139 - AT&T-B │ The ■ character indicates that you have messages in that conference in the .QWK packet. In the example above, there are messages in conference #95, 4DOS-B and conference #138, AI-B. 9. Use the mouse or cursor arrows to select a conference you would like to configure. For each conference, you will be asked to configure the maximum number of messages to save in a single merged packet [default: 200] and the maximum age in days [default: 30] to allow in the packet. ┌────────────[ 359 - ANSI-C ]────────────┐ │Maximum Messages: 200 │ │Maximum Age in Days: 30 │ └────────────────────────────────────────┘ Note that you may configure a conference whether or not it contains messages in the specific .QWK packet you chose. You are creating a configuration profile for the BBS, not the specific .QWK packet; the packet is used mainly to obtain an ordered list of the conferences carried by that BBS. If you wish to "pack out" a specific conference, that is, to keep NO messages in the merged .QWK file, enter "0" for either or both values. You may reset the defaults for maximum number of messages and maximum age in days by pressing [F3] to obtain the Bulk Setting Menu: ┌──────────[ Bulk Set Maximums ]─────────┐ │Maximum Messages: 100 │ │Maximum Age in Days: 10 │ └────────────────────────────────────────┘ In the above example, all the conferences would be set to a maximum of 100 messages and a maximum of 10 days old. You can use this option to "pack out" all of the conferences, then set specific parameters for only the conferences in which you want to save messages. QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Page 8 Using QWKCfg [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Note that the unregistered version of QWKMerge will ignore settings │ │ than the default of "200/30" or a "packed out" value of "0/0". The │ │ registered version will use any values you specify. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 10. When you are finished configuring conferences, press [Esc] to exit the conference configuration and save the configuration. That's it. You are now ready to merge your .QWK packets for this BBS. Page 9 QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKCfg Using QWKMerge ______________________________________________________________________________ Step-by-Step Instructions You may press [F1] at any time for on-line help. It is recommended that you back up your .QWK files before merging. Now that you have a configuration file, you are ready to use QWKMerge to merge two .QWK packets from the same BBS into one. 1. Change to the subdirectory containing QWKMERGE.EXE and enter "QWKMERGE" (without the quotation marks) at the DOS prompt, then press [Enter]. You will see the title page for QWKMerge. This will automatically erase in a few seconds. 2. In the unregistered version, you will next see a screen advising you how to register the program. Registered users will not see this message. If you are using the unregistered version, press the indicated function key to exit the screen. 3. The main menu for QWKMerge looks like this: ┌──────────────────────────[ QWKCfg Main Menu ]──────────────────────────┐ │ Help BBS Cfg Destination QWK Source QWK Begin Quit │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 4. From the Main Menu, select "C" for BBS Cfg or point and click on "BBS Cfg" with your mouse. ┌─────J:\QWKMERGE\CFG\*.CFG────┐ │ BIGTREES.CFG ICSMAIL.CFG │ │ IDCBBS.CFG SALTAIR.CFG │ │ │ The BBS Cfg menu lists the configurations you created using QWKCfg. Use the cursor arrows or your mouse to select the configuration file you want to use. 5. From the Main Menu, select "D" for Destination QWK or point and click on "Destination QWK" with your mouse. ┌────D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\*.Q??────┐ │ 1BIGTREE.QWK 1IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 4IDCBBS.QWK 5IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 6IDCBBS.QWK 7IDCBBS.QWK │ │ ICSMAIL.QWK IDCBBS.QWK │ │ SALTAIR.QWK │ QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKMerge Page 10 Using QWKMerge [continued] ______________________________________________________________________________ The Destination QWK menu lists the .QWK files found in the Destination QWK Path. Use the cursor arrows or your mouse to select the .QWK file you want to use AS THE DESTINATION FILE for this merge operation. The source .QWK file will be merged INTO this file. 6. From the Main Menu, select "S" for Source QWK or point and click on "Source QWK" with your mouse. ┌────D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\*.Q??────┐ │ 1BIGTREE.QWK 1IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 4IDCBBS.QWK 5IDCBBS.QWK │ │ 6IDCBBS.QWK 7IDCBBS.QWK │ │ ICSMAIL.QWK IDCBBS.QWK │ │ SALTAIR.QWK │ The Source QWK menu lists the .QWK files found in the Source QWK Path. Use the cursor arrows or your mouse to select the .QWK file you want to use AS THE SOURCE FILE for this merge operation. This source .QWK file will be merged INTO the destination .QWK file specified above. 7. You have now specified all the parameters necessary for the merge operation: a configuration file, a destination .QWK file, and a source .QWK file. You are now ready to begin the QWKMerge. From the Main Menu, select "B" for Begin or point and click on "Begin" with your mouse. For the example which follows, the configuration file IDCBBS.CFG is found in the J:\QWKMERGE\CFG\ subdirectory. Both the destination file, 7IDCBBS.QWK, and the source file, IDCBBS.QWK, are found in the D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\ subdirectory. ┌───────────────────────[ Ready to start QWK merge ]────────────────────────┐ │ Using J:\QWKMERGE\CFG\IDCBBS.CFG │ │ to merge D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\IDCBBS.QWK │ │ into D:\EZ-RDR\MAIL-I\7IDCBBS.QWK │ │ │ │ Is this correct? Y │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 7. Verify that these are indeed the files you want to use for the QWKMerging process and press "Y" or [Enter] to proceed with the merge. If you should notice that this is not what you had intended to do, pressing "N" or [Esc] will abort the merge process and allow you to make the necessary reselections. Page 11 QWKMerge User's Guide: Using QWKMerge QWKMerge Registration Form ______________________________________________________________________________ Name _______________________________________________ Company _______________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Date _______________ Registration ____ ($15) Diskette size ____ 5 1/4 ____ 3 1/2 (add $5 for latest version on disk) Total enclosed ____ Current version _________________________________ BBS User name _________________________________ (to download key file) BBS Password _________________________________ Comments: _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Please enclose cash, check or money order, and make payable in U.S. funds to Mike King, and mail to the following address: Mike King P.O. Box 4020 Alameda, CA 94501-0420 After receipt of your payment, I will set up a user account on my BBS where you can download the latest versions of QWKMerge and your key file to enable the extended features of the program. Support is available in the QWKMerge conference (#36) on: IDC BBS (415) 865-7115 QWKMerge User's Guide: Registration Page 12