Tools en Utilities

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

/ Tools en Utilities / CDASS_5.ISO / shell / communic / maxd10.arj / MAXDIR.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-01-04 | 72.9 KB | 1,648 lines

█ █ ▀█▀▀▄ ██▄██ ████ █ █ █ █ █ █▀▀█ Version 1.00 █ █ █ █▄▄█ ▀█▀ █ █ █ █▄▄█ █ █ █ █ █▀▀▀█ ▄█▄▄▀ █ █ █▄ By Wayne Boyd, Fidonet 1:153/763 Internet Vswami@ship.net FreeWare Software (c) by the Hare Krishna Temple (ISKCON) of Western Canada ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Sorts your FILES.BBS files for SysOps of Bulletin Boards │ │ and also creates a sorted AllFiles list all in one pass. │ │ Creates a FREQ list, a NewFiles list, and also │ │ can be made to adopt "orphaned" files, │ │ and a bunch of other stuff too. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Users Manual MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.2 Here's what some SysOps have said about MaxDir: "MaxDir works great even with files on an HPFS drive." Derek Rodger, The Corner Store BBS Fidonet 1:153/255 "I've never seen a freeware program do so much, and so quickly! It's cut our maintenance routine times in half; three cheers for MaxDir!" Tod Maffin, member support VisionMedia Online Systems Fidonet 1:153/817 "MaxDir's looking great. I was previously using Febbs to do my maintenance but MaxDir is much faster and more streamlined. Keep it up! :-)" Don Dunlop, The Red Point BBS Fidonet 1:153/7060 "The best utilities for a BBS are the ones you can forget that they are there. MaxDir is one of those. Just plug it in and let it run. But don't blink, or you'll miss watching it run." Karl Pollak, Canadian Infomaticon BBS Fidonet 1:153/965 "Tried all the rest and went back to the best - 'MaxDir' by Wayne Boyd!" Pat Reilly TimeLine BBS Fidonet 1:140/89 And finally -- my favourite: :-) "MaxDir - can't run a BBS without it. (and if you could, why would you want to??)" Derek Rodger, The Corner Store BBS Fidonet 1:153/255 MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.3 Table of Contents MaxDir Echomail Support................................................ 4 What it Does ── A Summary.............................................. 4 MaxDir is a stable, tested program..................................... 5 FreeWare Notes......................................................... 5 Standard Disclaimer (I'm sure you've seen it before somewhere)......... 6 OS/2 Support........................................................... 7 Running MaxDir from DOS................................................ 7 Wildcards and Mecca Tokens in FILES.BBS................................ 8 Notes on Sorting....................................................... 9 Command Line Switches................................................. 10 Adopt Orphan Files.................................................... 10 Configuration File.................................................... 11 AdoptAvoid (All BBS users).......................................... 11 AdoptDescription (All BBS users).................................... 11 AllFiles (All BBS users)............................................ 12 Archive (All BBS users)............................................. 12 AreaNumbering (All BBS users)....................................... 12 Barricade (Maximus BBS only)........................................ 13 BBSHeaderFiles (All BBS users)...................................... 13 BBSName (All BBS users)............................................. 13 BotInclude.......................................................... 14 CapStyle (All BBS users)............................................ 14 ClrScr (All BBS users).............................................. 14 Colour Configuration................................................ 14 CountryCode and DateDelimiter (All BBS users)....................... 15 Exclude (All BBS users)............................................. 16 Exclude MaximusKey (Maximus BBS only)............................... 16 ExcludeWithout (Maximus BBS only)....................................16 ExpandHeader (All BBS users)........................................ 16 FileSize (All BBS users)............................................ 17 FlagChar (All BBS users)............................................ 17 FlagNew (All BBS users)............................................. 17 FLSEARCH (Non-Maximus BBS users).................................... 18 HeaderFlagChar (All BBS users)...................................... 18 LogFile (All BBS users)............................................. 19 KillOffline (All BBS users)..........................................19 MaxAreaFile (Maximus BBS only)...................................... 20 MaximusKey (Maximus BBS only)....................................... 20 NewFile (All BBS users)............................................. 20 NoAccess (Maximus BBS).............................................. 20 NoAccess (Other BBS users).......................................... 21 NoComments (All BBS users).......................................... 21 NoDescription (All BBS users)....................................... 21 NoDispSize.......................................................... 22 NoDispDate.......................................................... 22 NoOffline (All BBS users)........................................... 22 NoSort (All BBS users).............................................. 22 NoSound (All BBS users)............................................. 23 OffLine (All BBS users)............................................. 23 OLR (Maximus BBS only).............................................. 24 StripAreaName (All BBS users)....................................... 24 StripDescription (All BBS users).................................... 24 Style (All BBS users)............................................... 25 TopInclude.......................................................... 25 TopOfFile........................................................... 27 MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.4 Totals (All BBS users).............................................. 27 Truncate (All BBS users)............................................ 27 Viewer (All BBS users).............................................. 28 Whirlygigs (All BBS users).......................................... 28 Wrap (All BBS users)................................................ 28 FIDONET FILE REQUEST LIST (All BBS users)............................. 29 AddFreq (up to 200 lines allowed)................................... 29 AddFreqFile......................................................... 29 Freq Everything..................................................... 30 Freq Public......................................................... 30 FreqFile............................................................ 30 FreqWildCard........................................................ 30 Notes and Quirks...................................................... 30 Reporting Bugs........................................................ 31 Acknowledgements...................................................... 31 ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ MaxDir Echomail Support │ └─────────────────────────┘ There is a Fidonet support echo for MaxDir, called, appropriately enough, MaxDir. This echo, as of writing, is not on the Fidonet backbone, but may become a backbone echo in the future. If you are interested in carrying this echo, you can netmail me at 1:153/763 and perhaps I can direct you to someone near you who carries it. I also have a BBS, "Sita and the Ring BBS" in Vancouver, Canada (604)431-6260 (1200-14,400 bps, v.32bis). ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ What it Does ── A Summary │ └───────────────────────────┘ MaxDir can be used with the Maximus BBS system by Scott Dudley as well as many other popular BBS systems (like QuickBBS) that use (or can use) FILES.BBS files for displaying available files for downloading to callers. MaxDir reads your Maximus FILEAREA.CTL file in your BBS directory, or a FLSEARCH.CTL file that you create for other Bulletin Board Systems, and then sorts (if you want) each FILES.BBS file for each download directory so your BBS users will see all your files in alphabetical order. (You can choose NOT to sort specific FILES.BBS files if you don't want them sorted, or you can choose not to sort any of them. You can also choose not to have your AllFiles list sorted if you don't want it.) If there are files separated by comment lines in your FILES.BBS listings, MaxDir will sort them, but not move them outside of their commented area. It simultaneously produces an AllFiles list (of any name you choose), which is a listing of all files available on your BBS for downloading, as well as an optional NewFiles list, a File Request List (for Binkleyterm, Frontdoor, etc.), and a NewFiles.dat list (for your offline mail readers). You have complete flexibility to select which file areas you do not want displayed in your listings based on security levels, Maximus keys, FileBarricades and even those you name specifically. Areas which, for security reasons, do not get displayed in the AllFiles listing, will still be sorted in the FILES.BBS listing (if you like). MaxDir can, if instructed by you, also create headers for your individual FILES.BBS files, and, if instructed by you, put MECCA colours in the headers so your BBS callers, when listing your files, will see a very MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.5 beautiful listing while on line. MaxDir can use an archive program like PKZIP and archive your listings automatically when it's done. It does all of this (and a bunch of other stuff too) in just one pass. And above all ── it's fast! There's more ── MaxDir doesn't mind if you have compiled MECCA tokens (for Maximus BBS) in your FILES.BBS files, nor will it place the '/bt' switches (if you have any) in your file descriptions into your AllFiles list. MaxDir understands fully qualified paths\filenames in your files.bbs lists. But wait ── There's more ── MaxDir has a whole other "mode". Starting MaxDir with the -A "switch" you can use MaxDir to adopt orphan files into your FILES.BBS lists. An orphan file is a file that is on your disk but not in your FILES.BBS. You can tell MaxDir what files to filter out so that it doesn't think it is an orphan file. If MaxDir finds an orphan file, you can "adopt it" it into your FILES.BBS (along with a description you are prompted to enter), "kill it" (delete the file from your disk), "move it" (move the file to a different directory and/or drive), "view it" (see the contents of the archive file) or ignore it. Previous to the days of MaxDir, you usually had to have at least two or three programs to perform these functions (if at all). Now it's all combined in one program. It's designed as a full-blown competitor to many other similar utilities, yet MaxDir generally has more features than other programs, is fast, stream-lined and efficient. MaxDir can be run in your nightly batch file for producing an Allfiles list, or in Adopt Orphan Files mode, you can manually use it to move files around on your computer. Best of all ── MaxDir is NOT shareware or commercial. It's free. It won't cost you anything, zilch. In French: Gratuit. In Sanskrit: Haribol. Ain't that nice? ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │ MaxDir is a stable, tested program │ └────────────────────────────────────┘ There's an old addage, never use something that says "version 1.00". MaxDir is not like that. Previous to this public release version 1.00 there were literally scores of beta test versions which were hashed over by some of the best beta testers in the business (see acknowledgements at the bottom of this document). So although MaxDir says "version 1.00", it's a well tested and proven program, long before it ever was unleashed. It's also been tested on gigabyte CD drives and works great even with such huge file bases. ┌────────────────┐ │ FreeWare Notes │ └────────────────┘ This program is FreeWare. That means it's free for you to use. I don't expect or want any money from you, and you may freely distribute and use unlimited copies of it as long as you distribute only the original archive in it's unaltered state. It's OKAY to use MaxDir on commercial BBS's. This is not one of those programs that are "Free unless you have a commercial BBS". This is a free program. Period. Nice, huh? MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.6 FreeWare does not mean that you "own" the program. This program is copyright by the Hare Krishna temple of Western Canada (ISKCON). All rights are reserved. However, by "FreeWare" we mean that you don't have to pay anything for the program, which is different from the concept of "Shareware". (It's my answer to Joho Homrighausen for going Shareware with a certain well-known mailer program.) So relax, and enjoy it. I borrowed the following disclaimer from RABITLOC.DOC, a fossil unlock program for RandomAccess BBS, which, by the way, you don't need with this program and isn't relevant to this discussion in the least. ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Standard Disclaimer (I'm sure you've seen it before somewhere) │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This product is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. List each check separately by bank number. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Postage will be paid by addressee. Subject to CAB approval. This is not an offer to sell securities. Apply only to affected area. May be too intense for some viewers. Do not stamp. Use other side for additional listings. For recreational use only. Do not disturb. All models over 18 years of age. If condition persists, consult your physician. No user-serviceable parts inside. Freshest if eaten before date on carton. Subject to change without notice. Times approximate. Simulated picture. No postage necessary if mailed in the United States. Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement. For off-road use only. As seen on TV. One size fits all. Many suitcases look alike. Contains a substaintial amount of non-tobacco ingredients. Colors may, in time, fade. We have sent the forms which seem to be right for you. Slippery when wet. For office use only. Not affiliated with the American Red Cross. Drop in any mailbox. Edited for television. Keep cool, process promptly. Post office will not deliver without postage. List was current at time of printing. Return to sender, no forwarding order on file, unable to forward. Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error or failure to perform. At participating locations only. Not the Beatles. Penalty for private use. See label for sequence. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Do not write below this line. Falling rock. Lost ticket pays maximum rate. Your cancelled check is your receipt. Add toner. Place stamp here. Avoid contact with skin. Sanitized for your protection. Be sure each item is properly endorsed. Sign here without admitting guilt. Slightly higher west of the Mississippi. Employees and their families are not eligible. Beware of owl. Contestants have been briefed on some questions before the show. Limited time offer, call now to insure prompt delivery. You must be present to win. No passes accepted for this engagement. No purchase necessary. Processed at location stamped in code at top of carton. Shading within a garment may occur. Use only in well-ventilated area. Keep away from fire or flame. Replace with same type. Approved for veterans. Booths for two or more. Check here if tax deductible. Some equipment shown is optional. Price does not include taxes. No Canadian coins. Not recommended for children. Prerecorded for this time zone. Reproduction strictly prohibited. No solicitors. No alcohol, dogs, or horses. No anchovies unless otherwise specified. Restaurant package, not for MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.7 resale. List at least two alternate dates. First pull up, then pull down. Call toll free before digging. Driver does not carry cash. Some of the trademarks mentioned in this product appear for identification purposes only. Record additional transactions on back of previous stub. This supersedes all previous notices. ┌──────────────┐ │ OS/2 Support │ └──────────────┘ MaxDir runs fine on OS/2 systems formatted either with FAT or HPFS. Before releasing MaxDir on the unsuspecting public, I had a team of beta testers screw around with it for weeks and months. Some of those beta testers are OS/2 SysOps (I also run OS/2). Even the OS/2 fanatical purists <g> among you will appreciate the usefulness of MaxDir. Try it in a DOS box. You'll wonder how you ever got on without it. Future versions _may_ be in native OS/2 code. ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Running MaxDir from DOS │ └─────────────────────────┘ You can run MaxDir simply by typing from the DOS command line: MaxDir But before you do... The MAXDIR.CFG configuration file is a plain ASCII file that you have to edit with your favourite ASCII editor. You might as well look at it now. Before you edit MAXDIR.CFG, however, be aware that MAXDIR.CFG does not contain complete documentation. All of the features available in MAXDIR.CFG are described more fully here, in MAXDIR.DOC (the one you are reading now.) After you edit the configuration file, you can copy the configuration file into any directory on your fixed disk that you like, as long as it is within your DOS path. Or, if it's in the directory where you run MaxDir from, it doesn't have to be in your DOS path. You can also have multiple copies of the configuration file. Although MaxDir does not require any command line parameters to run (it can be run just by typing MaxDir from the DOS prompt), you can also specify a different configuration file from the command line with the -C switch (case is not important). For example, suppose you have two configuration files, one called MAXDIR.CFG and the other SPECIAL.CFG. To cause MaxDir to read the SPECIAL.CFG file, you would run MaxDir with the following DOS command line: MaxDir -CSPECIAL.CFG or if in a directory \DIR on your D: drive, then you would type: MaxDir -CD:\DIR\SPECIAL.CFG MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.8 When you run MaxDir, if all goes well, it will process your entire file base in fairly quick order, and upon completion the screen will clear and MaxDir will archive the output allfiles list using whatever compression utility you specified in MAXDIR.CFG. After MaxDir shells out and runs the compression program to archive the allfiles list, MaxDir will again clear and restore the screen to complete it's run and finish reporting to your screen what it did. And if you have logging to file enabled in MAXDIR.CFG, it will also record what it did in a log file. This quick clearing of the screen and restoring the screen happens very quickly and some people incorrectly think that MaxDir did something wrong, but actually it's all perfectly normal. If any errors were encountered, they will be reported at the termination of MaxDir both to screen and to log file. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Wildcards and Mecca Tokens in FILES.BBS │ └─────────────────────────────────────────┘ This program supports the use of Wildcards (MAX*.ZIP, etc.) in your FILES.BBS files. It also supports the use of compiled MECCA tokens in your FILES.BBS files. For that matter, you can even have a fully qualified file name with a different path\directory in your FILES.BBS file, and MaxDir will handle it seemlessly. Therefore I have the following in one of MY FILES.BBS files: MAX*.ZIP /b MaxDir: Sorts FILES.BBS files for BBS's This is displayed as follows in my AllFiles list: MAXD098C.ZIP 36649 10-03-93 MaxDir: Sorts FILES.BBS files for BBS's Notice how the wildcarded MAX*.ZIP" expanded to "MAXD098C.ZIP". Notice also the funny little character "" next to the file date. This indicates the file is a new file less than 30 days old. You can change this funny little character to any character you like in the configuration file. Also significant, is that in FILES.BBS there was a Maximus switch "/b". These switches are discussed in MAX_OP.PRN which came with your copy of Maximus and have to do with free download times for your callers. But obviously you don't need to have this put in your AllFiles list, so it isn't. If you run another BBS software other than Maximus, check your BBS documentation before inserting wildcards in your FILES.BBS listings to see if your BBS supports it in the same way that Maximus and MaxDir do. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.9 ┌──────────────────┐ │ Notes on Sorting │ └──────────────────┘ In your FILES.BBS files, you have lists of files with descriptions. You can also have COMMENT lines. Comment lines in FILES.BBS files begin with the hyphen (-) in the far left margin. For greater usefulness, ── and this is an important point ── in addition to a line beginning with a hyphen, MaxDir will recognise a line as a comment line if the *FIRST* character of the line is a space or a highbit ASCII character (as you might have if you drew a box around some text). Blank lines are also counted as comment lines. Therefore: - - This would be a comment line in FILES.BBS - This is a Maximus convention, used also by many other BBS systems, including QuickBBS, SuperBBS and others. Similarly: This is also a comment line in FILES.BBS because these lines begin with a SPACE. Blank lines are also counted as comment lines. So the blank line above and below this paragraph would also be counted as a comment if included in a FILES.BBS listing. It is possible to have files sandwiched between comment lines, and separated from lists of other files by comment lines. As an example, see the list below: - - NEW UPLOADS - FILES763.ZIP List of all files available for downloading on this BBS. RUNFD.BAT My batch file that runs frontdoor. - - OTHER FILES - GOOSE.ZIP zaxxon clone. lotsa fun & good graphics ISOPAN Sri Isopanishad. Describes the Supreme Proprieter of all things. KRISHNA.ZIP All about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna. NODISC.FIL UTIL.ZIP Whereis and Hot Directory Util Pakage WINCUBIC.ZIP Rubic's Cube for windows XLAX_254.LZH Fidonet nodelist processor. Very good. The above list is already sorted by MaxDir. Notice that the two files between where it says "NEW UPLOADS" and "OTHER FILES" are sorted alphabetically, as are all the files below where it says "OTHER FILES". MaxDir sorts the files between the comment lines, without moving the file name and description outside of the commented areas. Notice also the file NODISC.FIL. This file has no description, but MaxDir will insert the string "<<DESCRIPTION NOT AVAILABLE>>" in the AllFiles listing at the time of running. What MaxDir puts as descriptions to files that have no descriptions can be configured in MAXDIR.CFG. When MaxDir completes running, it produces an AllFiles list, which also has information about the file size and date of each file listed. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.10 ┌───────────────────────┐ │ Command Line Switches │ └───────────────────────┘ Although you can run MaxDir with no DOS command line "switches" simply by typing MaxDir from the DOS prompt, you can also cause MaxDir to function in special ways with command line switches. A command line switch begins with a hyphen (-) and is followed immediately by a letter of the alphabet. There must be at least one space between where you typed MaxDir and the command line switch. Each command line switch must be separated from other command line switches by one or more spaces. MaxDir -? or just MaxDir ? Causes MaxDir to display a brief message about available options and command line switches. MaxDir -C<d:\path\filename> Allows you to load an alternative configuration file other than the default MAXDIR.CFG. Example: MaxDir -CSPECIAL.CFG will cause MaxDir to read the configuration file called SPECIAL.CFG. MaxDir -A Causes MaxDir to enter in the "Adopt Orphan Files" mode. (see below) ┌────────────────────┐ │ Adopt Orphan Files │ └────────────────────┘ You can also use the "-A" switch on the command prompt to cause MaxDir to enter into the "Adopt Orphan Files Mode". Example: MaxDir -a Used in this mode, MaxDir will search all of your directories defined in your FLSEARCH.CTL file (or FILEAREA.CTL file for Maximus users) and display any file found on your disk, but not found in your FILES.BBS file. You then have the option to insert this file into the FILES.BBS file, ignore the file, or delete the file from your disk. If you choose to adopt the file (insert it in your FILES.BBS file), MaxDir will prompt you for a description of the file. You can leave this blank if you like, or you can leave a description. This field description takes up to 4 lines, and has word-wrap enabled. Do NOT press ENTER at the end of each line that you type in the description. MaxDir will wrap the line for you automatically. When you are done writing the description, pressing ENTER will store the information you typed in your FILES.BBS file. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.11 Another alternative to the "-A" switch is that you can specify a specific directory to search for orphaned files, rather than search ALL the directories. This is done by specifying a specific directory after the -A switch. Example: MaxDir -ac:\max\file\uploads Whatever directory you specify here *must* contain a corresponding FILES.BBS file for your BBS callers. Used in this fashion, MaxDir will ONLY search the given subdirectory for orphan files, and no other directory. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Configuration File │ └────────────────────┘ The configuration file is named MAXDIR.CFG. It is a straight vanilla ASCII file, with no high-bit characters and each line ends with a hard carriage return. You must edit it on your own with an ascii file editor of your choosing. Most word processors support ASCII files. Many people in the BBS world like to use Qedit by SemWare, available on most BBS's. The options in the configuration file are explained in detail below. The configuration file is not case sensitive and entries can be made in upper or lower case or any combination thereof. This is very easy to setup, and fun to "tinker" with to improve the way your AllFiles listing looks. The configuration file contains "KeyWords" that cause MaxDir to behave in different ways. They are explained below. AdoptAvoid (All BBS users) ────────────────────────── AdoptAvoid allows you to specify which files you do not want MaxDir to ask you about in Adopt Orphan Files mode. For example, almost invariably you will have a FILES.BBS file that you do not want to be asked about again and again if you want to adopt it. You can specify up to 50 files that you do not want MaxDir to ask you about using the AdoptAvoid keyword below. Adopt Avoid supports the use of wildcards as in the examples below: Example: AdoptAvoid FILES.* (Avoids FILES.BBS, FILES.DAT, FILES.BAK, etc.) AdoptAvoid *.LST (Avoids NEWFILES.LST, ALLFILES.LST, etc.) AdoptAvoid *.BBS For more information on wildcard use, consult your DOS manual. AdoptDescription (All BBS users) ──────────────────────────────── When you run MaxDir with the -A switch, it goes into Adopt Orphan Files mode. When you use this mode, if there are any files on your disk that are NOT in your FILES.BBS, MaxDir will ask you if you want to add it. If you say yes, then MaxDir will prompt you for a description. If you choose not to put a description manually, you can have MaxDir automatically insert the string from NoDescription (see below) by enabling the AdoptDescription keyword. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.12 Example: AdoptDescription (Use string from NoDescription if you do not bother to enter a description manually yourself). AllFiles (All BBS users) ──────────────────────── Specifies the name of the AllFiles list you want to create, which will contain the list of all of the files for downloading on your BBS. You can also specify a drive and path as part of the name, if you like, if other than the directory from where MaxDir is run. Default name is "AllFiles.LST" Example: AllFiles c:\max\file\FILES763.LST Archive (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── You can tell MaxDir to archive your finished AllFiles and NewFiles lists using the Archive keyword below. Make sure the archiver you select below is within reach of your DOS path statement. Type the word "PATH" (without quotes) from DOS to see your DOS path. Example 1: Archive Arj a -eiy Example 2: Archive LHA a /mn Example 3: Archive PkZip -a Note: You should specify only one archiver. If you specify more than one, only the last one will be used. AreaNumbering (All BBS users) ───────────────────────────── Sometimes areas are "numbered" with Alphanumeric letters of the alphabet with Maximus in your FILEAREA.CTL file. Such as "AREA UP" or "AREA DOWN" and so on. You can choose to replace this with either numbers or letters of the alphabet. For example, "AREA UP" might become "AREA 1" with numeric numbering, or "AREA A" with alphanumeric numbering. This is configured with the keyword AreaNumbering as described below: AreaNumbering SYSTEM <─── Inserts it from FILEAREA.CTL AreaNumbering NUMERIC <─── 1, 2, 3 etc. AreaNumbering ALPHA <─── A, B, C etc. Only the first three letters of these words are significant, i.e. AreaNumbering NUM is the same as AreaNumbering NUMERIC. As usual, case is not significant, and it can be in upper or lower case letters. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.13 This option is automatically DISABLED if StripAreaName is active. The first option, i.e. AreaNumbering SYSTEM, is not available if you are using FLSEARCH Example: AreaNumbering NUMERIC Barricade (Maximus BBS only) ──────────────────────────── If you are using FileBarricade in your filearea.ctl (see your Maximus technical reference manual for details), do you want to not show this area in your AllFiles listing? Put Barricade YES if you want to Barricade areas listed as FileBarricade, put Barricade NO if you DON'T want to Barricade these areas. Normally you would keep this set to YES. This works for both the BARRICADE and FILEBARRICADE Maximus Keywords. It has no relevance whatsoever to you if you do not use Maximus BBS. If you comment this out, it defaults to YES. Example: Barricade Yes BBSHeaderFiles (All BBS users) ─────────────────────────────── You can have MaxDir insert your area headers in your FILES.BBS files if you so desire by setting BBSHeaderFiles to YES or MECCA. Options are YES, NO and MECCA. The default is NO. Setting this to MECCA will insert some MECCA highlight tokens in your FILES.BBS header to make it look pretty for Maximus BBS. Compiled MECCA tokens are sometimes supported by other BBS programs, and sometimes not. If it doesn't work with your BBS, just set it to YES or NO and don't use the MECCA option here. Examples: BBSHeaderFiles YES BBSHeaderFiles NO BBSHeaderFiles MECCA Please note that if you have NoSort set for a particular area, MaxDir will NOT write anything to your FILES.BBS, area header included. NoSort overrides BBSHeaderFiles. BBSName (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── You should put the name of your BBS below. This is only needed if you use "Style Fancy" for the header boxes (see further down in the config file.) Please note, this particular entry, AFTER the keyword, IS case sensitive and will be used EXACTLY as typed. Note, if you comment this line OUT, then "Style Fancy" will put the area title without the BBS name, which may also be desirable, depending on your mood. Example: BBSName Sita and the Ring BBS MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.14 BotInclude ────────── Whatever filename you specify after BotInclude (if any) will be inserted at the END of your allfiles listing. The default is not to use BotInclude. CapStyle (All BBS users) ──────────────────────── Inside the header boxes at the top of each file area, MaxDir inserts the name of the area. You have three choices for the lettering in the headers of your file areas in AllFiles as described below: Available choices: CapStyle 1: ALL CAPS CapStyle 2: "As Is" from FileArea.CTL CapStyle 3: all in lower case This affects only the titles in the headers for each file area in your AllFiles listing. Example: CapStyle 2 ClrScr (All BBS users) ────────────────────── When set to YES, this will put a clear screen character at the top of your file headers in your FILES.BBS files. Colour Configuration ──────────────────── MaxDir allows you to control the colours of the headers in your FILES.BBS listings, the file descriptions, file size and date, and the file descriptions, if you choose to do so and if your BBS supports the colour codes that Maximus BBS does. These options have effect ONLY if you have selected "BBSHeaders MECCA" in your configuration file. Otherwise they will be ignored. Also note that if you have "BBSHeaders NO" in the configuration file, MaxDir will not add a header to your FILES.BBS files. The following are the colour keywords supported, compatible with Maximus: ClrRazz ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ClrBox ──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ClrTitle ────────────────────────────┐ │ │ ClrNum ───────────────────┐ │ │ │ ClrInfo ────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╒════╤═════════════════ │ ════ │ ══════ │ ══════════════════════╤ ═╕ │░▒▓█│ │ AREA 1: New Uploads │█▓▒░│ ╞════╧══════╤═══════╤══ │ ═══╤══════════════════════════════════╧════╡ │ File Name │ Size │ Date │Description │ ╘═══════════╧═══════╧════════╧═══════════════════════════════════════╛ The above is an example for Style Fancy. Some header styles do not have all of the colours available to Style Fancy. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.15 Each keyword is followed by a colour. Available colours are: Colours: xxx or xxx on yyy. Blinking colours: xxx blink black darkgray blue lightblue Foreground green Foreground lightgreen and cyan only: lightcyan Background: red lightred magenta lightmagenta brown yellow gray white Background colours are set as follows: ClrBox Yellow on Blue (This would cause the box to be yellow, on a blue background) To get something to blink: ClrTitle Yellow blink As an example, you could use this in your configuration file as follows: ClrRazz Magenta ClrBox Cyan ClrTitle Yellow ClrNum White ClrInfo BrightGreen The following allow you to set the colour of your files areas in your FILES.BBS if your BBS supports it. (Maximus does). ClrDesc ClrDateSize ClrFile CountryCode and DateDelimiter (All BBS users) ───────────────────────────────────────────── CountryCode determines how the date for the files listing is displayed. CountryCode UK will show the date in DD-MM-YY format as is done in England and many parts of the world. CountryCode USA will show the date in the format of MM-DD-YY and CountryCode CANADA will show the date as YY-MM-DD. DateDelimiter determines what single character is inserted between the year, month and day. Example 1: DD-MM-YY Example 2: YY.MM.DD Example 3: DD-MM-YY CountryCode USA CountryCode CANADA CountryCode UK DateDelimiter - DateDelimiter . DateDelimiter - Default is CountryCode USA and DateDelimiter - MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.16 Exclude (All BBS users) ────────────────────── In addition to access levels, file barricades, and similar methods, you can also specify specific areas not to show in your AllFiles list using the EXCLUDE keyword below. The proper method is EXCLUDE <path>, where <path> is the drive and path to the area you do NOT want displayed in FILES.BBS. You may have up to 100 areas that you can exclude in this way, each listed on a separate line. Example: EXCLUDE c:\max\file\private EXCLUDE c:\max\haribol EXCLUDE c:\max\freeware\MaxDir Exclude MaximusKey (Maximus BBS only) ───────────────────────────────────── Exclude MaximusKey is another way to exclude areas, if you use Maximus and filearea.ctl. Maximus allows you to put keys on the FILEACCESS line of filearea.ctl, such as NORMAL/1 or DISGRACE/D or whatever, where the /1 and the /D are the keys. MaxDir can detect these keys and exclude these areas. You may have up to 10 MaximusKeys here. If MaxDir finds this key on the FileAccess line of filearea.ctl, it will exclude this area from the allfiles listing. If you do not run Maximus, ignore this and comment it out. Examples are: EXCLUDE MaximusKey /1 (this will exclude any area with /1 on the fileaccess line of filearea.ctl) EXCLUDE MaximusKey /D (this will exclude any area with /D on the fileaccess line of filearea.ctl) ExcludeWithout (Maximus BBS only) ───────────────────────────────── Another flavour for excluding areas is the ExcludeWithout keyword. This allows you to exclude areas that don't have certain keys. Suppose, for example, you want to exclude everyone from seeing an area EXCEPT if that area has a NORMAL/1 key for the fileaccess level in FILEAREA.CTL. You would use the following line in your configuration file: ExcludeWithout /1 (this will exclude all areas EXCEPT those with the /1 key.) ExpandHeader (All BBS users) ──────────────────────────── YES/NO Specifies whether or not to expand the file headers. At the top of each file area in your AllFiles and NewFiles lists, there is a header with a description of the area. Using Style 1 through 9 determines what kind of box or decoration around the header you would like to have. Normally MaxDir defaults to making the size of this box just slightly larger than the description of the area it surrounds. However, if you enable ExpandHeader YES, then MaxDir will expand the size of the header to reach MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.17 out towards the edges of the monitor. As an example, using Style 5 headers, with ExpandHeader YES, the header might look like this: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ AREA 10: Turbo Pascal Programs ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ With ExpandHeader NO, the same header displays like this: ╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ AREA 10: Turbo Pascal Programs ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ FileSize (All BBS users) ──────────────────────── FileSize tells MaxDir in what format you want to list the size of your files. Options are Bytes and Kbytes. Bytes will report the filesize in bytes, and Kbytes will report the size in Kilobytes. The default is Bytes. Example: FileSize Kbytes FlagChar (All BBS users) ──────────────────────── Specifies what single ASCII character would you like to use to flag a new file. You may have only one of these in your configuration file. The one thing you must NEVER use, however, is a Ctrl-Z character, as this will TOTALLY screw up the program You don't have to use the predefined ones. You can use any ASCII character that you like. Example 1: Example 2: FlagChar FlagChar * FlagNew (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── MaxDir can flag files who's DOS dates are newer than a certain amount of days which you specify here. In other words, if you specify a value of 30 here, MaxDir will put whatever character you specify in the FlagChar keyword before each description of every file newer than 30 days old. This is useful to quickly inform your callers which are the newest files on your system. The number must be a positive number between 0 and 120, where 0 will disable flagging entirely. This is also used when creating a NewFiles listing. Example: FlagNew 30 MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.18 FLSEARCH (Non-Maximus BBS users) ─────────────────────────────── If you use another BBS system that uses FILES.BBS files for directory listings, you need to use a FLSEARCH.CTL type file. Such a file MUST be of the following format: ╒═══ field 1 ═══════ field 2 ═ field 3 ══════════╕╒══Optional field 4══╕ c:\max\file\uploads 10 New_Uploads c:\max\file\modem\ 10 Modem_Related_Files d:\bbs\files.bbs c:\max\file\Util\ 10 IBM_Utilities c:\max\file\BBS\ 10 BBS_and_Fidonet c:\max\file\games\ 10 Useless_Games c:\max\file\private\ 30 Private_Area c:\max\file\hamradio\ 10 Amateur_Radio c:\max\file\yoga\ 10 Yoga_and_Reincarnation Field one is the drive and path to your FILES.BBS files. Field two is the "security level", which is arbitrarily chosen by you. This must be a number between 0 and 32767. Field three is the name of the area. Notice that field 3 must not contain ANY spaces If you have an area called "Amateur Radio", for example, the space between the words must be replaced by an underline character _. Thus it becomes Amateur_Radio. This underline character will be replaced by a space by MaxDir at runtime. If you have a files.bbs file in a directory other than that where the files are located then you can specify the location of the files.bbs file in an optional 4th field. Each field must be separated from the other fields by one or more spaces. Comment lines are not permitted in FLSEARCH.CTL. It is not necessary to have them in neat columns as in the example above, but it sure makes it easier to read and look at later on if you do. The FLSEARCH keyword in the configuration file identifies the file name and location of your FLSEARCH.CTL file. This does not apply for Maximus BBS users. Example: FLSEARCH c:\bbs\flsearch.ctl Also, note that it is perfectly okay to setup a FILEAREA.CTL file rather than a FLSEARCH.CTL file if you want, even if you do not run Maximus. It's up to you. HeaderFlagChar (All BBS users) ────────────────────────────── If you have MaxDir put headers in your FILES.BBS listings (BBSHeaders MECCA or BBSHeaders YES) then MaxDir must put a "flag character" as the last character in each line of the header. This "flag character" informs MaxDir where the header begins and ends so that you can change the header style anytime you like. There are several options. The best choice is to choose the MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.19 NULL character for your "flag character" (ascii #0). This tells MaxDir to put a null character at the END of each line in your FILES.BBS which is part of the header that MaxDir creates. The other options is to use ASCII #250. The advantage of the null character over ASCII #250 is that the Null character is invisible and cannot be seen by your BBS callers when they view your file listings. The disadvantage is that some TICK processors and EDITORS written in the C language will see the null character at the end of the line and strip it off. This will cause MaxDir to think that no header is present, and MaxDir will then insert a double header. There have been known cases of people using MaxDir to have many more than double headers for each area processed by TICK. You can stop this problem in one of two ways: 1) Tell MaxDir to use ascii #250 rather than ascii #0 to terminate the lines of the header, or 2) use ascii #0 and tell TICK to put the description of the new files in a temporary JUNK.BBS file. Then append the JUNK.BBS file to the end of your FILES.BBS with the batch file command: "COPY /b FILES.BBS + JUNK.BBS". This will append JUNK.BBS to the end of your FILES.BBS, and the null characters will be untouched. An example of this follows: If not exist JUNK.BBS goto continue COPY /b FILES.BBS + JUNK.BBS del JUNK.BBS rem Simpler if you used "HeaderFlagChar ALTERNATATE" in maxdir.cfg :continue [... more stuff...] The following keyword controls what flag character MaxDir uses to terminate the headers in your FILES.BBS. Note, this has NO EFFECT if BBSHeaders NO is set. Options are two only: NULL and ALTERNATE, where NULL will put an ascii #0 and Alternate puts an ascii #250 (·). HeaderFlagCharacter NULL HeaderFlagCharacter ALTERNATE These are the ONLY options presently supported. LogFile (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── If you enable the LogFile keyword with a corresponding filename, MaxDir will log all of it's activities to disk. Example: LogFile c:\max\file\MaxDir.LOG KillOffLine ─────────── Sometimes you may have a situation where you have many files appearing in your allfiles list which are listed as <<on floppy>> or "offline". These are cases in which a filename and description was found in a files.bbs list, but MaxDir did not find a corresponding file on disk. Inserting the keyword KillOffLine (no parameters are used with this keyword) in your MaxDir.CFG file will cause MaxDir to delete these useless filenames and descriptions from your files.bbs lists. Therefore you can go on a deleting file frenzy sometime, and the next time you run MaxDir with this keyword in the configuration file, MaxDir will clean up all of the file descriptions from files no longer on your disk. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.20 KillOffline is compatible with wildcards. In other words, suppose you have a file listed as NODELIST.A* in your files.bbs. As long as a match is found on your disk (i.e you have a file on your disk which matches NODELIST.A*) then this description will not be deleted, because a match was found. So it's sure that no file name and description will be deleted if a match is found on the disk, even a wild card match. The only thing that KillOffline will delete is file names and descriptions that are genuinely "offline" and no longer present on your hard disk. MaxAreaFile (Maximus BBS only) ────────────────────────────── This is where you specify the location (and filename) of your FILEAREA.CTL file (Maximus BBS only). This file is where you've defined your Maximus file areas. This must be a fully qualified name, i.e. including the drive letter, and path of the file. Example: MaxAreaFile c:\max\filearea.ctl MaximusKey (Maximus BBS only) ───────────────────────────── MaximusKEY is another way to exclude areas. Maximus allows you to put keys on the FILEACCESS line of filearea.ctl, such as NORMAL/1 or DISGRACE/D or whatever, where the /1 and the /D are the keys. MaxDir can detect these keys and exclude these areas. You may have up to 10 MaximusKEY lines in the configuration file. If MaxDir finds this key on the FileAccess line of filearea.ctl, it will exclude this area from the AllFiles listing. Examples: EXCLUDE MaximusKey /1 (this will exclude any area with /1 on the fileaccess line of filearea.ctl) EXCLUDE MaximusKey /D (this will exclude any area with /D on the fileaccess line of filearea.ctl) NewFile (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── If you have a NewFile line in your configuration file, MaxDir will create a list of new files on your system since a given DOS date, and store it in the file specified on the NewFile line. If you do not have a NewFile line, MaxDir will not create a list of new files. Example: NewFile c:\max\file\NewFiles.lst NoAccess (Maximus BBS) ────────────────────── Provided you have placed a Maximus "FileAccess" level for your Maximus file areas in filearea.ctl, MaxDir can screen out areas that you don't want to be listed in your AllFiles listing. For more information on "FileAccess", consult the Maximus technical reference file, called MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.21 MAX_REF.PRN that comes with Maximus. If you have a file area with a FileAccess of SysOp, and you tell MaxDir that SysOp areas should not be displayed in the AllFiles listing, they won't be. This is done with the MaxDir NoAccess keyword. You can specify as many NoAccess keywords, one below the other, as the access areas you want to restrict from displaying in your AllFiles listing. Access Levels NOT to be shown in the AllFiles listing should be uncommented. Available options are as follows: NoAccess Hidden NoAccess SysOp NoAccess AsstSysOp NoAccess Clerk NoAccess Extra NoAccess Favoured NoAccess Privil NoAccess Worthy NoAccess Normal NoAccess Limited NoAccess Disgrace NoAccess Twit NoAccess (Other BBS users) ──────────────────────── Non-Maximus BBS systems: If you are running a BBS other than Maximus, you must use a FLSEARCH.CTL file. In your FLSEARCH.CTL file you have specified a numeric security level for each of your file areas. By use of the NoAccess keyword, MaxDir will not display any area which has that level or HIGHER. For example, consider the following: NoAccess 20 This single line will allow any area with level 19 or lower to be displayed in the AllFiles listing, but any area 20 and above will not be listed in the AllFiles listing. Security levels for each area is configured in your FLSEARCH.CTL file for non-Maximus users. You should only have one of these lines in this configuration file, and only if you are using FLSEARCH.CTL. NoComments (All BBS users) ────────────────────────── Sometimes your FILES.BBS listings may have comment lines. You may not want to have these comment lines put in your AllFiles listings. You can leave out comment lines if you like. The default is to include the comment lines. Example: NoComments NoDescription (All BBS users) ───────────────────────────── Sometimes a file may be listed in FILES.BBS which has no description, but just the file name. The NoDescription line tells MaxDir what you would like to put in the description for files like these. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.22 Example: NoDescription <<No description available>> NoDispSize ────────── When uncommented, will cause MaxDir not to insert the file size in the allfiles or newfiles listings. Why would you want to to do that? Beats me, but one of the beta testers asked for it :-) NoDispDate ────────── When uncommented, will cause MaxDir not to insert the file dates in the Allfiles listings. Note that even if this is uncommented, MaxDir can still generate a Newfiles and newfiles.dat file. NoOffline (All BBS users) ───────────────────────── Tells MaxDir not to display missing or offline files. Normally MaxDir will list files that are in your FILES.BBS list, but missing on your disk, in the AllFiles listing. But it doesn't have to be that way. Example: NoOffline NoSort (All BBS users) ────────────────────── NoSort allows for not sorting areas. You have four options. Option 1: Sort everything by commenting out any and all NoSort lines. 2) Sort the AllFiles output, but do not sort any of your FILES.BBS files. 3) Do not sort ANYTHING. 4) Sort your AllFiles listing, and some of your FILES.BBS files, but do not ort specific areas from your filearea.ctl file. See the comments on sorting in this documentation for details on sorting logic used by MaxDir. Options are: (Don't use NoSort) <─── Sort AllFiles output and all FILES.BBS listings. NoSort ANY <─── Don't sort anything. (ANY and ANYTHING both work) NoSort FILES <─── Don't sort any FILES.BBS (FILES and FILES.BBS work) NoSort AREA xxx <─── Don't sort area xxx (up to 250 areas allowed) Example: NoSort files Note: NoSort AREA xxx is used only with Maximus BBS. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.23 Suppose, for example, you have a Maximus area 61 with a FileInfo line called OLD Ham Radio Electronics, and you have decided that you don't want to sort it. In your filearea.ctl file it might look like this: Area 61 FileAccess NORMAL/1 FileInfo OLD Ham Radio Electronics Download t:\oldhelec Upload P:\UPLOADS End Area If you do not want MaxDir to sort Area 61, then you would put the following: NoSort AREA 61 It is important to note this is the area name in your Maximus FILEAREA.CTL file and will not work for FLSEARCH.CTL. Also, this is NOT the name that MaxDir gives to the area. This MUST be the name that YOU gave to the area in FILEAREA.CTL. MaxDir may change the name of "UPLOADS" to "1" with "AreaNumbering NUMERIC" set (see above). However, still, you must not use the name MaxDir artificially creates for your AllFiles list, and must use the FILEAREA.CTL name. Got it? Note that use of NoSort in this last way will cause this area not to be sorted in FILES.BBS and also this one area not to be sorted in AllFiles even if you have AllFiles configured to sort all areas. We talked about this a bit with our beta testers, and this is what we decided. The other option was to have it not sort the FILES.BBS, but to have the area sorted in AllFiles, but this didn't seem to make sense. Some notes about NoSort: If you choose not to sort your FILES.BBS files, but do sort your AllFiles list, on the whole, MaxDir will run slower on bigger systems than if you have everything set to sort. The reason for this is that MaxDir can detect if your FILES.BBS has already been sorted, and therefore there's no need to sort it again. However, if you never sort your FILES.BBS files then MaxDir will have to sort them each time it runs to produce a sorted AllFiles list. MaxDir's sort routines are fairly sophisticated and safe, and I would recommend you not to use "NoSort ANY", especially if you have a lot of files on your BBS, as this will cause MaxDir to run a little longer. NoSound (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── When enabled, turns sound off in the Adopt Orphan Files Mode. OffLine (All BBS users) ─────────────────────── Tells MaxDir what you want to insert in the decription in place of the file date and size if the file listed in FILES.BBS cannot be found on the disk. You have a MAXIMUM of 16 characters in length for this field. Spaces before and after are not counted. This has no effect if NoOffline is enabled. Example: OffLine <<On floppy>> MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.24 OLR (Maximus BBS only) ────────────────────── Tells MaxDir to create a NewFiles.DAT file for your QWK offline readers. Example: OLR c:\max\olr\NewFiles.dat This file is displayed to a QWK user (by the off-line mail reader) when that user requests a new file listing from your BBS. Please see the section entitled "QWK Mail Packer" in your Maximus MAX_OP.PRN documentation for more information. This file should be located in the \MAX\OLR directory. StripAreaName (All BBS users) ───────────────────────────── Each file area in Maximus's FILEAREA.CTL file has a name beginning with the word AREA. Usually you define these as AREA 1, AREA 2, etc. MaxDir precedes the description of the file area for each area with the area NAME. For example, a normal header might look like this (using style 9 boxes, CapStyle 3): ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ AREA 1: new uploads ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Where "AREA 1" is the name of the area, and "new uploads" is the description. MaxDir can leave out the "AREA 1:" (the name of the area) and only put the description, if you want. Uncomment the line below to have MaxDir leave out the area name. Comment it out if you want MaxDir to PUT the area name before the description. The default is that it puts it. If you are using another BBS program and the FLSEARCH.CTL file format, MaxDir will automatically put the word "AREA x:" before the name of each area, where "x" is a number for the area. This can be disabled with the StripAreaName keyword. Example: StripAreaName StripDescription (All BBS users) ──────────────────────────────── An alternative to StripAreaName (where MaxDir removes the "AREA x" and leaves only the description of the area) is StripDescription, which removes the description of the area entirely and leaves ONLY the "AREA x" message in the box at the top of each file area in your AllFiles listing. NOTE: If you have BOTH StripAreaName AND StripDescription enabled at the same time, then MaxDir will not put ANY boxes or descriptions at the top of your individual file areas in your AllFiles listing. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.25 Style (All BBS users) ───────────────────── You can choose the style of boxes that MaxDir draws at the top of your file areas in your AllFiles and NewFiles listings. There are several varieties to choose from to make your AllFiles look pretty. You must choose a style type from 0 to 9. See the next page for examples of box styles. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.26 "Style 0" header means NO box or decoration at all ░▒▓██████████████████████████████▓▒░ ░▒▓█ This is a "STYLE 1" header █▓▒░ <<── default ░▒▓██████████████████████████████▓▒░ ┌────────────────────────────┐ │ This is a "STYLE 2" header │ └────────────────────────────┘ ╒════════════════════════════╕ │ This is a "STYLE 3" header │ ╘════════════════════════════╛ ╓────────────────────────────╖ ║ This is a "STYLE 4" header ║ ╙────────────────────────────╜ ╔════════════════════════════╗ ║ This is a "STYLE 5" header ║ ╚════════════════════════════╝ +----------------------------+ | This is a "STYLE 6" header | +----------------------------+ --==<< This is a "STYLE 7" header >>==-- -------------------------- This is a "STYLE 8" header -------------------------- ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ This is a "STYLE 9" header ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Below is the "STYLE FANCY" format ╒════╤═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╤════╕ │░▒▓█│ SITA AND THE RING BBS : New Uploads │█▓▒░│ ╞════╧══════╤═══════╤════════╤═════════════════════════════════════════╧════╡ │ File Name │ Size │ Date │Description │ ╘═══════════╧═══════╧════════╧══════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Style Fancy is a dynamic, or "intelligent" header which changes if you enable NoDispDate or NoDispSize or both. So it will always look good, even if you tell MaxDir not to display the size of your files or the date of your files. Example: Style 9 or Style Fancy TopInclude ────────── Any file name that you specify after the TopInclude keyword will be inserted at the top of your AllFiles list. If you use BOTH TopInclude and TopOfFile, TopInclude will be inserted above what's under TopOfFile. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.27 TopOfFile ───────── Anything following the MaxDir TopOfFile keyword will be centred and placed at the TOP of your AllFiles list. This should be the LAST thing in your configuration file, as everything BELOW the word TopOfFile will be inserted into the top of the AllFiles file. Again, you don't need to centre anything here as it will be centred automatically by MaxDir. There *IS* a way NOT to have MaxDir centre a line. If the first character on the far left margin is an asterisk (*), then the asterisk will be deleted and the rest of the line will be inserted without centering. Example: TopOfFile Sita and the Ring BBS A Fantastic Place (604) 431-6260 Totals (All BBS users) ────────────────────── MaxDir offers you three options for displaying the total number of files and bytes in your AllFiles list. They are as follows: Totals ALL (Shows subtotals in each area, and grand totals at bottom) Totals BottomOnly (Shows grand totals only at the bottom of the AllFiles list) Totals None (Don't show any totals or sub-totals in the AllFiles list) The default is Totals ALL Example: Totals NONE Truncate (All BBS users) ──────────────────────── The Truncate keyword, when uncommented, tells MaxDir to truncate the description at the 79th column, regardless of whether or not you have enabled Wrap. Truncate over-rides Wrap, and when this is uncommented, the program will NOT wrap, but will Truncate the description. MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.28 Viewer (All BBS users) ────────────────────── If you have a program like SHEZ (or equivilant) you can enter the drive:\path\filename of your viewer program. This will allow you to view archive files before adopting them in Adopt Orphan File Mode. You MUST use a fully qualified name here, including the drive and path of the viewer. Whirlygigs (All BBS users) ────────────────────────── Whirlygigs are little spinning and pulsating characters that let you know MaxDir is doing something. This is a nice feature, but may slow the program down by a few seconds too, because of all the extra writing to the screen. You can disable this by setting Whirlygigs NO (default is YES). However, although MaxDir may run slightly faster, you may not like it without the Whirlygigs (especially on big systems) because you can't tell if the program is hung or not. It's up to you, but we recommend you keep Whirlygigs going until you see how MaxDir behaves. When you get used to it, if you want, come back here and turn them off. Example 1: Example 2: Whirlygigs NO Whirlygigs YES Wrap (All BBS users) ──────────────────── If the descriptions of the files are very long, you have several options for your AllFiles listing. 1) You can have the description scroll off to the far right up to 255 characters in length, or 2) you can have the description "wrap" to fit on the monitor screen when viewing the AllFiles listing, or 3) You can truncate the line at a certain length. If you want MaxDir to wrap the line, then use the Wrap keyword. Example: Wrap You may optionally specify an offset for Wrap in the range of 1 to 9. This means you can follow the word WRAP with a number, and this number is called the offset. If you set an offset of 6, for example, MaxDir will indent the second, third, and subsequent lines an additional 6 spaces. This is quite useful if you have a download stats reporter that inserts data into your FILES.BBS listings. For example if you have a program that inserts "[ 3] " (without the quotes) at the begining of each FILES.BBS line, you could use the offset value of 6. Example: Wrap 6 MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.29 FIDONET FILE REQUEST LIST (All BBS users) ───────────────────────────────────────── The next section deals with Fidonet File Requests. If you do not run a "mailer" program such as Binkleyterm, Frontdoor, D'Bridge, Portal of Power, Intermail, etc., then you can ignore this section and leave the area commented out on all the lines in the configuration file. AddFreq (up to 200 lines allowed) ───────────────────────────────── Specifies what lines you would like to ADD to your request list FreqFile. You may specify up to 200 lines. These will go at the beginning of your request file. Note that MaxDir will NOT append *.* to these lines even if you have FreqWildCard enabled. Example 1: (Frontdoor style) AddFreq c:\fd\file\ AddFreq c:\fd\nodelist\ AddFreq c:\max\file\ Example 2: (Binkleyterm style) AddFreq c:\bink\files\*.* AddFreq c:\bink\games\*.* You can use this option to identify "Magic File" name requests with Binkleyterm. Binkleyterm uses @ to identify "MAGIC FILE" name requests. Frontdoor requires a separate file for Magic File names (ALIAS file). Consult your Binkleyterm documentation for details. Example: AddFreq *D:\MAX\MAXFILES.IDX AddFreq @RUSH f:\rushnet\info\rushnet.zip AddFreq @RUSHNODE f:\network\rushnode.zip AddFreq @SLAVEDRIVER f:\mom\slv_demo.zip AddFreq @POWERCHORDS f:\pccompat\midi\powcho.zip AddFreq @NODELIST f:\network\nodelist.zip AddFreq @NODEDIFF f:\network\nodediff.zip AddFreq @BGFAX f:\suprafax\bgfaxb05.zip f:\suprafax\zfax223.zip AddFreqFile ───────────── There are some programs that you can run independently of MaxDir which will generate a file request list, and you may not want MaxDir to destroy what that program creates. So, you can have that program create a different file name and "read it in" with MaxDir using the AddFreqFile keyword. Follow this keyword with the path and filename of a file which has your FreqList (file requestable list). Example: AddFreqFile c:\bink\myfreq.lst MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.30 Freq Everything ─────────────── All file directories File Requestable, even the ones that did not display in AllFiles because of being too high a security level, file barricaded, or whatever. Example: Freq EVERYTHING Freq Public ─────────── Only those directories listed in your AllFiles list should be Requestable. Example: Freq PUBLIC FreqFile ──────── The name and path of your OKFILE request file to be used by your mailer. Example: FreqFile c:\fd\freqlist FreqWildCard ──────────── In your FreqFile, Binkleyterm generally uses the format of a directory name, followed by *.* such as c:\bink\*.* whereas Frontdoor usually has simply the directory name, but no wildcards. If you want MaxDir to append *.* to the end of each line in your request file, use the FreqWildCard keyword. Example: FreqWildCard ┌──────────────────┐ │ Notes and Quirks │ └──────────────────┘ The MaxDir beta testers found that you should not attempt to have an area NAME (In Maximus this is your FileInfo line in filearea.ctl) more than about 70 characters long. Now who's going to have a file area name THAT long, right? Anyway, just thought I'd mention it. If you have a really long file area name, MaxDir doesn't handle it well, so don't do that either :-) 70 characters or LESS. Usually it should be like: NEW UPLOADS or IBM UTILITIES and stuff like we all have :-) If you want to do something really dynamic with MaxDir and you are a Maximus Sysop, try this for fun: 1) Go into all of your FILES.BBS files, one by one, and if you have put a header at the top of it, remove it (Let MaxDir put it in for you!) and make sure there are no BLANK lines above the first file description. 2) In the configuration file for MaxDir, enable the following two lines: MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation p.31 Style Fancy HeaderFiles.BBS Mecca What you should NEVER do: Never put an ASCII #250 (·) [small dot] as the first character of any line in your FILES.BBS or MaxDir will delete this line. I doubted you would ever do this. That's why I use it as a MaxDir control character used in the generation and removal of headers in your FILES.BBS files. You will also notice, if you have MaxDir create headers in your files.bbs, it also puts an ASCII #250 (·) as the first character of each line of the header. This is unavoidable, unfortunately, and is used by MaxDir as a marker to know the size of the header for changes in colour and style. ┌────────────────┐ │ Reporting Bugs │ └────────────────┘ If you find a bug, I would like to know about it. Please report all bugs and suggestions to me personally at Fidonet 1:153/763, my BBS at (604) 431-6260, or Internet e-mail at Vswami@ship.net. Thanks. ┌──────────────────┐ │ Acknowledgements │ └──────────────────┘ I had this idea to write this program on my own, because I didn't have a program that did the job that I needed. However, I could not have developed the program to it's present state without help from the following SysOps who acted as beta testers in the many pre-release versions of MaxDir. They found the bugs, tolerated minor mishaps to their systems in the early stages of development, and relentlessly "twisted my arm" (in a friendly sort of way) to get me to keep adding features. Many of the features of MaxDir are there because of the direct participation of these persons. Dallas Hinton, Fidonet RC17 1:17/0, 1:153/715 Tod Maffin 1:153/817 (604)244-7456 Matt Ion 1:153/7040 (604)732-4446 Derek Rodger 1:153/255 (604)464-0231 John Otsuka 1:153/410 (604)929-6183 Ken Kavanagh 1:153/7070 (604)944-6479 David Bowerman 1:153/290 (604)469-0264 Karl Pollak 1:153/965 (604)275-9579 David Nyquist 1:153/959 (604)930-0715 Shanta McBain 1:353/375 (604)545-8068 David Appleby 1:153/970 (604)597-4990 Dale Becker 1:124/2126 (214)821-7732 The above list was NOT sorted by MaxDir (It would have done a better job of it.) -Wayne Boyd, author [END of MaxDir v.1.00 Documentation]