Collection of Tools & Utilities/Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso/bbsutil/bbs10.zip/BBS.DOC

Text File | 1988-07-10 | 9KB | 181 lines

                                BBS.DOC
                                7/9/1988


           Welcome  to  BBS.BAS a small  but  efficient  GW-BASIC
     program  which will allow you to maintain a database of  the
     file directories of the bbs systems you normally check into.
     It will also allow you make off-line searches of all or  any
     one of the bbs system's files.

                          History of BBS.BAS
          Several  months ago I became very frustrated trying  to
     find  a file which I was looking for among the 20 or so  bbs
     systems  in my local area.  I only had two options,  looking
     through the paper listings or going on-line and looking with
     the  -where is- function of the bbs.  Neither of these  were
     very  efficient so I tried to set up a data base file  using
     one of the shareware data base programs.  This did not  work
     very well either because of the many different formats  used
     by  my local bbs systems.  This left me only  one  option...
     write my own program.
          I  decided to write the program in GW-BASIC because  it
     is  a language easily understood by most programmers.   This
     will  make it easy for anyone to modify the program to  suit
     their  own needs.  You are free to make any changes  to  the
     program  because  I  am releasing  this  program  as  PUBLIC
     DOMAIN.

                            Using BBS.BAS
          To use BBS.BAS place the program in a sub-directory  of
     it's  own.  The program will create several files  with  the
     extension .BBS which are the data base files for the various
     bbs  systems.  It will also create a file named  BBSLIST.BBS
     which is the master index of bbs system files.  These  files
     must reside in the same directory as the main program.
          The  program  is distributed in ASCII  format  to  make
     listing  and modification easier but this makes the  program
     load  much  slower.   To  speed up  the  loading  process  I
     recommend  that you first rename the program to BBS.TXT  and
     then  run  GW-BASIC.  After the GW-BASIC  prompt  type  LOAD
     "BBS.TXT",  then when program is loaded type SAVE  "BBS"  to
     save  the program in tokenized format.  Then for normal  use
     of the program type GW-BASIC BBS to start the program.

                         Program Options Menu
          After  starting the program the first screen  you  will
     see is the title and Options Menu.

     The options are:
          (1)  Search for String.
          (2)  Add new BBS file to the data base.
          (3)  Update existing BBS data base.
          (4)  Delete BBS data base from list.
          (5)  Send list of files to printer.
          (6)  Quit and exit to DOS.
                        Description of options

     (1)  Search for String:  This option will search one or  all
     of the data bases for a user defined string.  First BBS will
     display  a  list of the available directory data  bases  and
     will ask which one to search.  Enter the number or  [RETURN]
     for  a  search of all.  Then BBS will request  a  string  to
     search  for. To see all records in a file enter "." .   Then
     BBS  will ask if the output should be sent to the screen  or
     to  the  printer.  If sent to the screen  the  listing  will
     pause  when the screen is full and when all records  of  the
     current  data  base  have been searched.   If  sent  to  the
     printer the matching records will be printed but the  output
     will  not  pause until all data bases  have  been  searched.
     Only  data  bases  which  have a  matching  record  will  be
     displayed or printed.


     (2)  Add new BBS file to the data base:  This is the  option
     which allows you to add new bbs systems to the data base.
          In  order for the program to process the  catalog  info
     from the bbs system you must first capture the bbs  system's
     listing  to an ASCII file.  See you  communications  program
     literature for details on how to capture text.

     NOTE:  This program will only work on systems using the  one
     line per file format  E.g. -

     DUMMY.ARC     12337  06-03-88  This program looks  busy.

          Then  you need to strip the file of any text  which  is
     not  a file entry (See above.)  The file must  contain  only
     file info. I suggest that you use the name of the bbs system
     as the file name and the extension of ".CAT" but this is not
     mandatory.
          When the file is ready, run BBS and select option  (2).
     The  program  will prompt you for the name of the  file  you
     just  prepared. Enter the filename and extension.  Next  BBS
     will  ask  you for the name of the bbs system  the  file  is
     from.  The default name is the filename used on the  catalog
     file.  Press  [RETURN] to accept that or enter a  valid  DOS
     filename (no extension).
          Next, BBS will display a "ruler" across the top of  the
     screen  and  will display the first five  entries  from  the
     file. The ruler looks like this. -

     12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789
     DUMMY.ARC     12337  06-03-88  This program looks  busy.
     GAMES.ARC    231900  04-23-88  Collection of basic games.
     MUSIC.ARC     56223  06-11-87  Plays several songs.


          After displaying the "ruler", the program will ask  you
     to enter column, description.
          What the program wants is a description of the  various
     fields of data in the ASCII file. E.g. - Filename,Bytes,Date
     and Description.  It also needs to know what column to start
     these descriptions at.

     NOTE: MAXIMUM number of fields allowed is four (4).

          To enter the description of a field, use the ruler line
     to determine the starting column.  Column 1 is the left most
     position and column 79 is the right most column.  Enter  the
     column number then "," and a description of that field which
     is not longer than the field itself. E.G.- 1,Filename.   You
     must enter the fields from lowest (Left) to highest (Right).
     After entering the last description, enter "79," to tell the
     program you are finished.  This info will be stored and will
     be displayed when you search through the file.
          After the final entry BBS will read the ASCII file  and
     convert it to records. During the conversion, all lower case
     letters  will be changed to upper case. The reason for  this
     is  Basic's search function is case sensitive. I decided  to
     do  this  at  conversion time rather  than  at  search  time
     because  the conversion to upper case takes a long time  and
     really slows down the search.

     NOTE: The conversion process will take several minutes for a
           long file so be patient.

          After  conversion,  BBS  will ask you if  you  want  to
     delete the ASCII file.  Normally you should delete the  file
     as it is no longer needed and takes up disk space.


     (3)  Update existing BBS data base:   This option will allow
     you  to add new files to one of the databases.  All  of  the
     file preparation rules of option 2 apply to an update  file.
     I normally use the extension ".UPD" for update files.
          When  you select option 3, BBS will display a  list  of
     all of the data bases and will ask you to select the  number
     of the one you wish to have updated.  Then you will be asked
     to enter the filename and extension of your update file.  If
     the  file  exists, it will be converted in the same  way  as
     option 2. After conversion you will be asked if you wish  to
     delete the ASCII file.     (4)   Delete BBS data base from list:  This option  normally
     is  used when the bbs service does not have a  "what's  new"
     function  to  allow  you  to  updat