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└───────────┬┴───────┘░░░│
│░░░░░░░░░░░░│
└────────────┘
*THE*
FileAreaManager
for
Remote Access 0.04a/1.00
Maximus 1.02
TubFile 0.92
Opus 1.10
QuickBBS 2.64
SuperBBS 1.06a
Copyright (c) 1990,91 by ShadowPlay Software & Patrik Sjöberg
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
█ █
█ To my Grandmother Birgit Lindström. █ ░░
█ █ ░░
█ I will always remember you !! █ ░░
█ █ ░░
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Disclaimer and Legal Stuff
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The FEBBS-Package is subject to the following license terms and
conditions.
* The FEBBS-package is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.
The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or
consequential, which may result from the use of the FEBBS-package.
* The FEBBS-package is a "shareware program" and is provided at no
charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your
friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without high
prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to
develop new products.
* The FEBBS-package, all programs, the documentation and support
files are copyrighted 1991 by Patrik Sjöberg. All rights are
reserved. You may copy this package for backup purposes. You may
also copy and share unmodified copies of the whole package,
providing that the copyright notice is reproduced and included on
all copies.
* You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the
product along with other products without written permission, nor
may you modify or remove the Copyright Notices from the programs or
the documentation files. User clubs, if they are NOT commercial,
are allowed to ask a small amount of money for distribution and
storage when they want to share this package amongst their members.
* It is forbidden to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer,
decompile and/or disassemble the software in the FEBBS-package.
Patching the medium at places that carry the software is seen as a
program change and is also forbidden.
* Non-commercial users can get a licence for the usage up to this
release of the FEBBS-package for a small amount of money. Look into
the details in HOWTO.REG. Previous registered users will receive a
big reduction to upgrade to the newer versions. These users should
also look into the details in HOWTO.REG. For Non-commercial users
there is a POSSIBILITY to submit to one of the special contracts as
explained in the same file.
* Commercial usage of FEBBS will cost somewhat more. Also, a so
called 'closed' Bulletin Board System (a system where the user must
pay direct to the SysOp to get full access) has to pay more than a
Non-commercial user. Usage of the Febbs-Packge on a BBS with 3
(three) lines or more is considered as 'closed BBS' usage also.
You'll find the details of all this in the file called HOWTO.REG.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 3
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
What is FEBBS ?
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FEBBS is a File Area Manager for your BBS. It will help you keep your
file areas in shape. How many times havent you edited those Files.Bbs
files, and how many times havent you been "running" around in your
directory-"tree" just to get to each of them. Copying files cross
drives just to forget to move descriptions as well.
This is where FEBBS comes in. Just sit tight and edit each and
everyone of the Files.Bbs files from a directory of your choice. No
more changing directories and unloading/reloading your editor. Hurl
files and decriptions easily between areas. Look inside your archives
to determine what's in them and much much more...
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 4
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Features in Febbs
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Theese are some of the Features found in FEBBS...
■ Support for Remote Access 0.04a and 1.00 / Maximus 1.02 /
TUBFile 0.92 / Opus 1.10 / QuickBbs 2.64 / SuperBbs 1.06a.
■ Edit All Your Files.Bbs from one spot.
■ Full Screen Editor with standard edit Commands.
■ Enter Avatar / control codes within the Editor.
■ Supports SAA in program layout.
■ Adopt Missing files to Files.Bbs.
■ Add GIF Info to the description Automaticly when adopting files.
■ Add DL Counters with a touch of a Key.
■ Add GIF Resoloution easily to files already in Files.Bbs.
■ Create Daily Filelist.
■ Create Daily News Filelist.
■ Create OverView of all Your Areas ASCII/ANSI Flawor.
■ Create a List over Frequable Directories for Your Mailer
■ Create a list over the 50 most downloaded files.ASCII/ANSII Flawor
■ Strip Avatar Codes from Filelists.
■ Tag files randomly ( not random tag though :-) ) in the editor.
■ Tag missing Files.
■ Tag dupe entries.
■ Delete Tagged Files.
■ Hurl Files to other areas. Description moved as well.
■ When Hurling place the Hurled files at Position you like in the new
Area, or if you wish hurl without changing area.
■ Hurl files to any directory you wish.
■ Rearange files and descriptions inside editor.
■ Sort tagged blocks inside editor.
■ Look inside all Major archives.
■ Look at Textfiles inside Archives.
■ Look at binary files inside Archives.
■ Look at GIF Files Resoloution.
■ Dosshell with built in swap to EMS, XMS or Disk.
■ Support for Internal viewers of Archives, Text- and Binary Files
■ Support for External viewers of Archives, TextFiles,
Binary files and GIF Files.
■ Delete missing files from Files.Bbs
■ Mouse Support.
■ Easily indent comments in Files.Bbs.
■ "Hotkeys" to select area to work on
■ Search for Files local and if Not found Local, Global.
■ Up to 5 text "macros" for commonly used strings.
■ Optionaly Display File-Size / -Date on Statusline.
■ Touch files to make your users notice "new" files.
■ Rename Files.
■ Delete File but leave description ( If your short on diskspace ).
■ Date Format Configurable in filelists and in editor.
■ 5 slots for any external support program.
And more ...
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
How to get Started
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1. Unpack the Archived file containing FEBBS.
2. Read all the doc files contained in the Archive.
3. Put FEBBS in a directory you fancy.
4. Fire up FEPPLA ( The Febbs Setup Utility ).
Feppla will now create a file called FEBBS.CTL. This file contains
the setup info needed for FEBBS.
If your upgrading from an version older than 1.00 of FEBBS you must
delete the old FEBBS.CTL then redo the Setup. This is allthough the
last time that this is necesary because i've redesigned the
controll file and put some "air" in it so the next time i need to
expand the control file i will use the "air" and you won't notice a
thing. But you must still take a walk through the setup to see
what has changed and what has been added. A common Error is that
some new Colour specification has been made availiable and before
you specify what colour you want, the colour might be anything from
Black on Black to White on White. Not that easy to read i might
say.
And if you wish to create different setup files for different
occasions just add the switch /S:<Name> to the Commandline and the
config file <Name> will be used instead. Just remember to do the
same with Febbs when you wish to use it later on.
The reason for this feature :
Imagine that You wish to create different lists for different
areas. Lets say you have One List containing PC programs and one
containing Amiga programs. Then in Your batchfile simply state...
FB N F : This one uses standard config Febbs.ctl
FB N F /S:Amiga.Ctl : This one uses the Non Standard Amiga.Ctl
And <Gasp>, you can create Different Filelists. Just remeber to
name them differently in the Config so that they doesn't use the
same name when creating the lists. More on the filelists later on
in this document.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 6
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Configuration
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Have a look at the magnificent entry screen (Made by Ludvig Norin) and
then press any key...
What you will see is this :
Febbs «» Febbs «» Febbs «»
» ┌────────────────────┐s «»
«»│ BBS Type ... │bs «
«│ General items. │bbs
s │ Toggle Flags ... │ebbs
bs│ Colours ... │Febb
bb│ List Setup │ Feb
eb│ Areas to List │» Fe
Fe│ Password Areas │«» F
F│ Xternal Support │ «»
» │ Text "Macros" │s «»
«»│ Registration │bs «
«│ Setup Exit. │bbs
s └────────────────────┘ebbs
bs «» Febbs «» Febbs «» Febb
■ The first question is the realy hard one :-) What type of BBS
Software do you use ? Remote Access, Maximus, TubFile, Opus,
QuickBBS or SuperBBS ? This menu option lets you tell FEBBS what
Area files it should be looking for. Either Config.Ra/Files.Ra for
Remote Access, Area.Dat for Maximus, Axaareas.dat for TubFile, a
Bunch of SystemXX.Dat files for Opus ( where XX is a Hexadecimal
Number ), FlSearch.Ctl for QuickBBS or Why not Flsearch.Bbs for
SuperBBS. Would have been nice with some sort of standard :-)
■ Next up is to tell FEBBS some different items that are for for
Febbs to operate properly
┌─[ General Items]────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Path to BBS Files : C:\RA\░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │
│ Adopted files : [0] (vDate) │
│ GIF Files : [0] │
│ DL Counter Style : [0] │
│ Date Style : 1 1 = Y M D, 2 = M D Y, 3 = D M Y │
│ Name of SwapFile : C:\FEBBS.SWP │
│ Indent to Column : 37 Legal values : 2 - 77 │
│ Name of Log file : FEBBS.LOG │
│ │
└─[ F2 - Save ]───────────────────────────────────[ Esc - Exit ]─┘
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 7
* Path to BBS files is where your area files reside. That is where
your Config.Ra/Files.Ra, Area.Dat, Axaareas.Dat, SystemXX.Dat,
FlSearch.Ctl or Flserach.Bbs resides. (Depending on if your BBS
software is Remote Access, Maximus, TubFile, Opus, QuickBbs or
SuperBbs)
* Adopted files is the comment that will be added to files adopted
to Files.Bbs by FEBBS.
An adopted file would look like this after it has been adopted:
┌─────────────────────┐
ANYFILE.ZIP [0] (vDate) └───────── Ordinary ZIPfile
└─────┬─────┘
└───────────── Comment choosen by You.
* GIF Files is the comment that will be added to adopted GIF files.
┌────────────────────────────┐
ANYFILE.GIF [0] (640*480*256) └─── Ordinary GIF File.
└─┬─┴─────┬───────┘
│ └──────────── Added by FEBBS
│
└──────────────────── Comment choosen by You.
* DownLoad (DL) counter you use is used when you add the DL counter
manualy inside the editor.That is if you use any. A press of
<Alt-L> inside the editor will add this to the description.
* Date style. To be able to make the whole world happy i have made
the date style configurable. Choose the style you fancy and all
lists and all dates inside the editor will look like that.
* Path and name of Swap file is there to let you place the Swapfile
that Febbs creates when swapping to a RAM disk or maybe a disk
that is fast to speed up the Swapping. Febbs has the ability to
Swap most of itself out of memory when accessing external
programs or just Shelling to DOS. If you have EMS or XMS memory
then of course it doesn't matter what you write on this line
since no physical swap file is generated. All swapping is done
via memory. Wich is also a whole lot faster.
* The Indent value is how many spaces that Febbs will pad to the
left of the description when you press <TAB> inside the editor.
More on this later.
* When you are running Febbs in batchmode to create your daily
filelists Febbs can keep a log file of what has happened during
this unattended event. This is very good if you wake up one
morning finding that your nightly events didn't work as you
thought they would. I have tried to keep the log file as trimmed
as possible so that it won't grow to much.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 8
■ Time to toggle some flags...
And the options to set on or off is :
* Exploding Windows
* Display FileInfo
* Keep *.Bak Files
* Noise When Explode
* Swap when Shelling
* Columns in Area list
* Delay When Explode
* In Arealist when start
* Virus Check when Start
* 43/50 EGA/VGA Mode
* Pause after DOS Shell
* First, Do you wish to use Exploding windows when inside Febbs ?
Just som estetic stuff, but nice for the Eye.
* Febbs has the ability to show date and size of the file on the
line that the cursor is on at the moment. The size and date will
be displayed on the statusline. This option sets the default
start value for this option. This can later on be toggled ON /
OFF from inside the editor with the <Alt-1> option that will be
described later on in the Editor part of this documentation.
* Do you wish to keep BAK files of your Files.Bbs. That is
Files.Bak of every saved Files.Bbs or not. FEBBS always creates a
BAK file when saving. This option only chooses wether or not to
delete that Bak file after completed save of the current
Files.Bbs. This option has no affect when you use Remote Access
1.00 new CD-Rom support since all Files.Bbs resides in the same
directory and is called the same except for the extension. So
when Febbs renames the current Files.Bbs to Files.Bak it
overwrites the last Files.Bak that was in the same directory.
* Noise when Explode will let you choose wether or not to use some
sound effects when exploding the windows onto the screen. This
flag has absollutely no meaning if the Exploding windows option
is set to OFF.
* Swap when Shelling is a very powerfull feature that Febbs has
that allows almost any program to be run in a DOS Shell from
inside Febbs. Here you decide if you wish to use this feature. On
an old machine with litle memory and a slow disk it can be
painfully slow to swap out Febbs. So if you know that you will
never use any large programs (The PAK and ARJ archivers are
considered to be large programs) you may turn this feature off.
* Columns in Area list. When chosing area from the File Area pick
list you can select how many columns that you wish to have
displayed on the screen at the same time. Possible values for
this item is 1-3.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 9
* Delay When Explode. When Exploding windows is set to true then
this item also effects the way this is displayed. You can fine
tune the way you wish your Windows to Explode. This is all
depending on how fast machine you have got. So try what settings
you prefer on your machine.
* Mostly you wish to end up in the Area Pick List when you fire up
Febbs. Set this option to ON and Febbs will push an enter into
the keyboard buffer and thereby leaving you in the Area Pick List
when you enter Febbs. This option has only been tested on AT
machines and upwards. It may not work on older machines.
* {+} Registered version ONLY. If you rest assure that no virus
will evere get near your machine You may want turn of the Virus
check at the startup of Febbs.
* 43/50 EGA/VGA Mode. Let's you choose if you wish to run Febbs in
a higher line mode then 25 rows. This only works on EGA/VGA
adapters and monitors. Febbs also supports other modes of Screen
length as long as you doesn't shell to DOS and reset the screen
to an other mode. If you do that you're on your own! Febb will
when exiting after completed task try to restore the screen mode
to what it was before you entered Febbs.
* Pause after DOS Shell. You may configure if you want Febbs to
pause before returning from a shell to let you see the last
screen of the program that you shelled to. This function however
does not affect the "look inside archives" function.
■ After this it's time to be creative.
Choose Colours, This is your change to get seasick :-) Have Fun.
Remember that if you are upgrading from 1.50 (or prior versions )
then you need to set the Colours of some new items. Otherwise these
will be black on black. Not to viewable i must say. If you wish to
temporarily use Febbs on a monochrome monitor and you have no wish
to change the setup then fire up Febbs with the parameter /M.
C:\> FEBBS /M
Will temporarily put Febbs in a monochrome mode.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 10
■ The Filelist setup.
┌─[ List Setup]───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Total List Name : FENRIS.TXT░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │
│ News List Name : FENRIS.NEW │
│ Condensed List Name : FENRIR.CND │
│ Days for News List : 30 │
│ Area Overview ASCII : FSTATS.ASC │
│ Area Overview ANSI : FSTATS.ANS │
│ Areas Dir List : │
│ Missing Files : ( It's Gone ) │
│ Best Download ASCII : BDL.ASC │
│ Best Download ANSI : BDL.ANS │
│ # items in the above : 50 Valid # 5-50 │
│ Freq Possible Msg : ( Matrix FileRequest Possible ) │
│ Password Freq Msg : ( You need a Password to FileRequest ) │
│ │
└─[ F2 - Save ]───────────────────────────────────[ Esc - Exit ]─┘
* Total List name is the name of the global filelist that will be
created for you when you either in batchmode ( se later on in the
docs ) or from the menu order a filelist.
* The same goes for Newslist. Allthough this is a list of New
files the past number of days.
* The condesed list is a mix between the News list and the Total
list. All files are included just like the Total list but only
the names and the descriptions after the names. Any descriptions
between two files will be omited.
* How old files should be included in the newslist ?
* The next list is a little overview of all your areas. Nothing
fancy but it still an overview. ASCII Version
* ... and the ANSI version. Maybe nice to have on display in
your bbs so that all thoose twit users will se how much files
there realy is and upload something (for a change) to get hold of
the other areas.
* Areas Dir list is a list containing the directories of all
your areas that is included in the filelist. This is to create a
directory over Frequable directories for your mailer. More about
this later.
* If a file is Missing this will be displayed instead of Date
and Size in the filelist. (or if a file has Zero length).
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 11
* When creating the Total filelist Febbs can also take a look at
what files that have been downloaded most. Nice to have online to
show your users what files that are the most popular. You can
create both an ASCII and an ANSI version of this list. The 50
most downloaded files on your system will be placed in this list.
For this to work you have to have a program that maintains
download counters in your files.bbs.
NICENICE.GIF [10] (640*480*256) Realy nice picture.
^^^^
That is the download counter and it has to start at position 14
in your Files.Bbs. Febbs can handle Download counters of a
variety of styles. [](){}<>0123456789 are all valid as download
counters. Note that also just numbers works.
NICENICE.GIF 10 (640*480*256) Realy nice picture.
The list is created when you run a total list and you havenamed
the ASCII and ANSI version in the Setup. Febbs does NOT do any
download counting on its own. You must use another program to
maintain your DownLoad counters. Febbs simply use them when it
creates this list.
* You can decide how many items you wish to appear in the "Best
Download" list. Values between 5 and 50 are valid.
* The messages that appear under the head in the Filelist is
configurable. The two messages the appear is linked with the
areas that you tag as password areas (below) and those that you
don't. It doesn't have to be solely for file request that you can
use these litle messages. It works just as well if you just want
to inform that this area is only for registered users or
something like that.
■ Areas to list will bring up a list of all the areas specified in
your areafile(s). Here you tag which areas that will be included in
the lists.
■ Password areas will let you tag those areas that needs a password
to be accessed. Either for Freq or On-Line. This will put the text
that You allready has specified above in the list setup under the
header of the filelists. If an area is tagged then the text from
the "Password Freq message" will be put under the header and if not
tagged then the "Freq Possible message" will be put there instead.
And as mentioned above you can put any message that you find
suitable there. There is no need for it to be a password message.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 12
■ Next up is the external support programs...
┌─[ Xternal Support Programs ]────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Archive Viewer : C:\AM\SHEZ.EXE░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │
│ Text File Viewer : │
│ Binary Viewer : C:\TP\FB\DP.EXE │
│ GIF Viewer : C:\SYSTEM\VPIC.EXE │
│ ZIP UnPacker : C:\AM\PKUNZIP.EXE │
│ LZH/LZS/AR UnPacker : LHA │
│ ARJ UnPacker : C:\AM\ARJ.EXE │
│ ARC/PAK UnPacker : C:\AM\PAK.EXE │
│ HYP UnPacker : C:\AM\HYPER.EXE │
│ Ctrl - F1 : MTA /@~@ │
│ Ctrl - F2 : │
│ Ctrl - F3 : │
│ Ctrl - F4 : │
│ Ctrl - F5 : │
│ │
└─[ F2 - Save ]───────────────────────────────────[ Esc - Exit ]─┘
All external programs can be accessed via the DOS Path. If a program
is in the path then simply write same command in the config as you
would from the dos command line. But if not in the path please state
full path and name! Ex. D:\PATH\PKUNZIP.EXE. Please read the part
about swapping and turn it on if you are accessing any large programs
from inside Febbs.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The external viewers │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The external viewers are accessed like this :
If You have specified an external viewer then that one will be loaded
when you press the apropriate key (see later on in this document). It
will be loaded with a commandline wich is the name and full path to
the file you where standing on inside the editor.
Ex. of CommandLine : C:\DIV\DP.EXE C:\FILE\FENRIS.ZIP
└──┬──────────┴────────┬──────────┘
└ Your Setup └ Part added by FEBBS.
If no viewer has been specified in the setup then Febbs will use the
built in viewer. This goes for all viewers except the GIF viewer.
The viewers to configure are.
* Archive viewer.
* TextViewer.
* Binary viewer.
* GIF viewer.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 13
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The Archive programs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Febbs has the ability to peek inside all major archive types to look
at the files that reside inside the archives. What Febbs can't do is
to unpack a file inside an archive that you wish to look at. This is
where the external archive programs comes in. If you do not want to
look at files inside archives then you won't have to configure any
archive programs. There is NO need for any parameters for the
Archivers. Febbs will, when executing them, supply the needed
parameters.
Febbs supports the ability to look at files inside the following
archive types.
Archive Type Version SFX
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~
PKZIP 1.10 Yes
LHA 2.05 Yes
LHArc 1.13d Yes
AR 0.20 Yes
LARC 3.30 Yes
Hyper 2.50
ARC 6.02
PAK 2.51
PKPak 3.61
ARJ 1.00 Yes
Please note that LHA 2.05 is used to unpack LHarc 1.13, AR 0.20 and
LArc 3.30 archives. And PAK 2.51 is used to unpack any ARC and PAK
files.
The Archivers marked with a 'Yes' on the SFX option can Febbs also
look inside the so called Self Extracting Archives that theese
archivers can produce.
Also take a look at the Swap option if you intend to use either PAK or
ARJ since both of theese packers require a lot of memory to operate
properly.
If you are missing an Archive type then please let me know. And if you
supply me with the technical info about archives i will be able to add
that archive type in a later release.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 14
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The free of choice external utils. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Five slots for external support programs installed. These programs can
be anything you like. They are assigned the <Ctrl-F1> to <Ctrl-F5>
keys. Just like all the other external programs these can be accessed
via the DOS path. And if not in the path please supply full path name.
The following meta strings are availiable on the command lines:
~C = Current directory
~P = Path and Name of Current files.bbs
~N = Name and full path to file on current line
~@ = Text list containing full names of all tagged files in area
~D = The description of the file on the current line.
~A = Areaname of current Area as found in areafile.
The first character in the meta strings is a so called tilde (#126).
The meta strings can occur more than once on the same line.
Ex1.
If Febbs is executed from C:\FEBBS with this commandline
MTA /@~@
Would execute MTA with a commandline looking like :
MTA /@C:\FEBBS\FBTAGG.TMP
The FBTAGG.TMP file is the file where Febbs puts the list of all
tagged files in the editor.
Make Them Anything (MTA) is an Archive converter by Rob Van.Hoeven
Ex2.
If your standing on a line looking like this:
FENRIR.GIF Nice Picture of Your SysOp.
And the Command line looked like this :
HATCH /cTIC.CFG /f~N /d~D
Then his would expand to :
HATCH /cTIC.CFG /fFENRIR.GIF /dNice Picture of Your SysOp.
Allowing you to easily hatch files into different File echos.
Hatch is a part of the FileEcho package called TICK by Bary Geller.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 15
■ Up next are the so called text macros. These texts will be inserted
at cursor position inside the editor. That is if you have pressed
the appropriate "HotKeys".
┌─[ Text "Macros" ]──────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Alt-F1 : (vDate)░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │
│ Alt-F2 : ( Description Missing ) │
│ Alt-F3 : Nr3 │
│ Alt-F4 : Nr4 │
│ Alt-F5 : Detta är ett Jättelångt Macro! │
│ │
└─[ F2 - Save ]──────────────────[ Esc - Exit ]─┘
■ If you decide to use Febbs after the trial period you must register
(see the HOWTO.REG doc) and this is where you enter the
registration Info after you have recieved your Serialnumber.
┌─[ Registration Setup ]─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Your Name : Patrik Sjoberg░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ │
│ Name of Your BBS : │
│ Your Serialnumber : 0 │
│ │
└─[ F2 - Save ]──────────────────────────────────[ Esc - Exit ]─┘
Your Name must be exactly as you spelled it in the registration form
and remember that it is case sensitive. The name of your BBS is the
Background that used in Febbs. This one can be changed after
registration without the need of a new Serialnumber.
■ You have now reached the final decision. To Save or Not to Save.
Do as you please but hurry up ! Febbs is Waiting to be tested :-)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 16
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Time to Enter FEBBS
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The Maintenance menu have been simplified from earlier versions of
Febbs. Gone is everything exept choose file area. Now all you have to
do is press Enter twice to find yourself in the first area.
If we look at the Choose Area list you will see a list of the areas
represented in your Areafile. (see above for info about the Area
file). From the list presented to you you can choose wich area to work
on. The choosen area will also be shown in the square in the lower
right of the main screen.
Use either your cursor movement keys (PgUp/PgDn/Arrows), the mouse or
press a number. If you press a number watch the lower left corner of
the window, Press for example 19 <Enter> to be transfered to area no
19. This will greatly improve the speed when choosing area if you are
at the bottom of the list and want to go to area 1. Then just press
"1" and enter. Sometimes, if you wish to go to an area that is in the
range 1 - 9 then maybe you need to press <AreaNumber><Space> so that
Febbs understands that you wish to go to area 4 and not to an area in
the range 40 - 49.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 17
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
How to Edit Your Files.Bbs
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
As said before, when you have chosen an area to edit then you will
find yourself inside an "ordinary" ASCII editor with your Files.Bbs
loaded in it. From here it's just plain old booring editing <Smile>.
If you are running FEBBS with a BBS package that supports Avatar codes
then perheps you use them in your Files.Bbs to increase the
viewability. Starting with v1.00 of FEBBS there is no problem with
theese. Just enter them in the editor as you did before in your old
editor.
Commands availiable
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below you will find a list of the availiable commands inside the
editor.
Alt-A ................ Adopt Missing Files to Files.Bbs
Alt-O ................ Tag Dupe Entries in the Editor
Alt-B ................ Binary Viewer
Alt-P ................ External GIF Viewer
Alt-V ................ Text Viewer
Alt-Z ................ External Archive Viewer
Alt-D ................ DOSShell
Alt-C ................ Copy Line, Current Area
Alt-M ................ Move Line, Current Area
Alt-G ................ Add GIF Info to Description
Alt-F ................ Look Inside Archive / GIF Info. Currentline
Alt-S ................ Switch Area. Fast Switch to New Area.
Alt-R ................ Remove Both line and File
F8 ................... Remove File but leave description in Files.Bbs
Alt-T ................ Tag Line for Hurl.
Alt-H ................ Hurl tagged Lines/Files to different Area
F10 .................. Same as Alt-H but No change of area
F4 ................... Move tagged Lines inside editor
Alt-L ................ Add DownLoad Counter as specified in setup
Alt-W ................ Sort Block. KeyUpd/KeyDown Block. Enter Sort
Ctrl-D ............... Remove missing files from Files.Bbs
Alt-Q ................ Tag All Missing Files
Alt-K ................ Kill All tagged Lines / Files
Alt-U ................ Global Unmark of tagged Lines.
TAB .................. Indent comment to position 32
Alt-E ................ Search for FileName
Alt-I ................ Continue Search
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 18
Alt-N ................ Touch File on Current line
Alt-F1,F2,F3,F4,F5 ... Text "Macros" as defined in Setup
Alt-F10 .............. Show "Macros"
Alt-1 ................ Toggle Display File-size / -Date on statusline
F6 ................... Rename File on Current line
Alt-X ................ Xpress way out of editor
Ctrl-F10 ............. Display the Xternal support programs
F9 ................... Memory Status
Ctrl-L ............... Copy description from line Above
Alt-F9 ............... Add Avatar colour codes
Ctrl-P ............... Add character literal
F5 ................... Display Files.Bbs as the BBS would
Ctrl-BackSpace ....... Delete Word to the left
Ctrl-End ............. Delete to the end of the line
Ctrl-LeftArrow ....... Word Left
Ctrl-PgDn ............ End of File
Ctrl-PgUp ............ Beginning of File
Ctrl-RightArrow ...... Word Right
Ctrl-U ............... Insert Line
Ctrl-Y ............... Delete Line
F2 ................... Save Current FILES.BBS
F3,ESC ............... Abandon Changes. FILES.BBS NOT saved
Home / End ........... Beginning / End of line
Insert ............... Toggle Insert mode ON/OFF
PgDn / PgUp .......... One Page down/Up
I will below describe the different commands that i think needs
describing. The elementary ones like " F2 - Save Current Files.Bbs "
will not be mentioned in this text.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-A - Adopt Missing Files to Files.Bbs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When you press <Alt-A> Febbs will then compare the files in the
current Files.Bbs with the files found in the directory connected with
the current Files.Bbs. Any file found on the disk and not inside the
current Files.Bbs will be added to the bottom of the Files.Bbs
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-O - Tag dupe Entries in Current Files.Bbs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
<Alt-O> will compare all file names in the Current Files.Bbs to see if
any Duplicate entries exist. If any, they will be Taged and you are
able to see wich are dupes and afterwards take apropriate actions.
See Also : Alt-K - Kill All tagged Lines / Files
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 19
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-B - Binary Viewer │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If You have specified an external binary viewer then that one will be
loaded when you press <Alt-B>. It will be loaded with the commandline
that exists of name and full path to the file you where standing on
inside the editor.
Ex. of CommandLine : C:\DIV\DP.EXE C:\FILE\FENRIS.ZIP
└──┬──────────┴────────┬──────────┘
└ Your Setup └ Part added by FEBBS.
If no Binary viewer has been specified in the setup then Febbs will
use the built in viewer.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-Z - External Archive Viewer │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This one works just like the binary viewer allthough the internal
Archive viewer is located on the <Alt-F> key sequence.
See Also : Alt-B - Binary Viewer
Alt-F - Look Inside Archive / GIF Info
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-V - Text Viewer │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Febbs internal textviewer has some limitations. It can only handle
2000 lines and it can only handle as much lines that can be stored in
memory. It can't wrap lines either. But it is in my oppoinion fully
functional for its purposes. The external text viewer works just like
the Binary.
See Also : Alt-B - Binary Viewer
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-P - External GIF Viewer │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Febbs has no internal GIF viewer so only the external is used if you
trigger the <Alt-P)eek> option.
See Also : Alt-B - Binary Viewer
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 20
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-D - DOSShell │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This option works just like any other shell, although the DOSShell
option will only load an extra copy of Command.Com (or whatever
command processor you use) into memory. No Commandline is passed. You
will find yourself inside the directory you where editing inside the
editor. To return to Febbs simply type EXIT at the DOS prompt and
press return. Febbs will also change the DOS prompt to remind you of
this. And as in all shell you are not allowed to load any programs
that doesn't release all memory after execution.
See Also : Alt-B - Binary Viewer
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-C - Copy Line │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Pressing <Alt-C> will Copy the line you are standing in to a buffer.
And pressing <Alt-C> again will transfer the buffer to line you are
standing on. A status indicator in the lower right of the screen will
indicate if something is in the buffer. This function only works
inside the current Files.Bbs. You can not use this one to copy text
between areas.
See Also : Alt-M - Move line
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-M - Move Line │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Move line works just like Copy line although the line you are standing
on will be moved to the buffer instead of copied. And the next time
you press <Alt-M> it will be transfered to the line the cursor was on.
Please note that if you move something into the movebuffer and then
switch filearea the line inside the buffer will be lost.
See Also : Alt-C - Copy Line
F4 - Move tagged Lines inside editor
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 21
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-G - Add GIF Info to Description │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If you are editing an area that has GIF files in it and you are
standing at a line with a GIF file that looks like this ...
NICENICE.GIF A Realy nice picture.
... and you press Alt+G you will get this...
NICENICE.GIF (640*480*256) A Realy nice picture.
That is, the Resoloution and how many colours will be added to the
description of that particular file. Nice if you have GIFs in your
Files.Bbs that where there before FEBBS Adopt function came along to
add the resoloution for you. This version of Febbs Supports both the
GIF87a Standard and the new GIF89a.
The (X*Y*Pal) value vill be inserted at cursor position but if you're
standing on the filename it will be inserted as the first text in the
description.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 22
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-F - Look Inside Archive / GIF Info │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Febbs has the ability too peek inside most of the major Archives that
are so popular on BBS systems. Archived files save both time when
Downloading and space on the System Operators disk. And in the same
time it sees to that all files in a package is kept togheter. That is
documentation and the Executables will never part.
When you press <Alt-F> You will see a window with the contents of the
archive you where standing on with the cursor. If the file is a GIF
file instead of an archive you will see an info-window containing
relevant info about that paticular GIF picture.
After Febbs has scanned the entire file you will be able to scroll
around inside the window just like when choosing a filearea. And if
you wish to look at a file inside the archive just press enter and
that particular file is unpacked and loaded into the either the
internal viewer or external. All depending on wether or not you have
configured any of these in the Setup. Febbs will load the Binary
viewer if the file has an extension of EXE, COM or OVR. And load the
texviewer if any other extension is found. Febbs will behave just as
when you use the viewers from inside the editor. Please note that for
this function to work you have to install the external archivers in
the Setup. Febbs do NOT do any unpacking of its own.
Febbs supports the ability to peek inside the following archive types.
Archive Type Version SFX
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~
PKZIP 1.10 Yes
LHA 2.05 Yes
LHArc 1.13d Yes
AR 0.20 Yes
LARC 3.30 Yes
Hyper 2.50
ARC 6.02
PAK 2.51
PKPak 3.61
ARJ 1.00 Yes
ZOO 2.01 Yes
The Archive programs with the SFX flag are Febbs also able to peek
into the so called SelF-Xtracting files made by these Archives
Please note that PAK 2.51 needs aptoximately 185 Kb to work properly.
And the ARJ Archiver is also a real memory hog so consider Febbs
abilitys to can swap itself out of memory if You plan to look at files
inside ARJ,PAK or ARC Archives.
When your looking at Files inside archives Febbs needs to extract the
File to be able to let you have a look at it. If you do not wish to
use the standard temporary directory that Febbs has hardcoded into
itself, then specify an environment variable called FBTMP and use the
DOS command SET to set it to a directory that Febbs will create and
afterwards delete. From the DOS command line type the following before
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 23
executing Febbs. or put it into your Autoexec.Bat.
SET FBTMP=C:\TMP\
The example above would force Febbs into using the directory C:\TMP\
as the directory where files that where temporarily unpacked would be
stored.
When you're looking inside archives Febbs will use the viewer that you
have defined or not defined if you wish to use the internal. If you
have installed an external viewer Febbs will, to make this operation
as fast as possible, create a BATCH file in its home directory and
from that batch file execute the programs. Both the Unpacker and the
viewer. Otherwise Febbs would have to shell twice and if you haven't
got any XMS or EMS memory then the swap operation can take a while.
See Also : Alt-Z - External Archive Viewer
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-S - Switch Area. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When you are inside the editor it would be very clumsy if you had to
leave it and return to the main menu everytime you wished to change
area to work on. Therefore Febbs has the ability to let you choose a
new area to work on from inside the editor. This function works just
like the choose area item from the main menu. Just cruise between your
areas and select a new one with enter. (or use the HotKeys ! That is
if you wish to go to area 19 simply press 1, watch the lower left
corner of the window, press 9 and press Enter. As fast as it can be)
You will upon selection be transfered directly to the new area. The
Files.Bbs you leave will automaticaly be saved if you have done any
changes to it. If you wish to discard your changes you will have to
choose F3 (or ESC) to abandon your changes. And take of from the main
menu for new adventures in Files Land.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-R - Remove Both line and File │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Pressing <Alt-R> will Delete the file and and description not only
from the list but from the disk as well.
FEBBS will ask you if you're sure when deleting files. No harm done if
you choose the wrong file. Alltough Febbs will not ask if the Files is
missing and its only a textline. Then <Alt-R> works just as if you had
pressed <Ctrl-Y> - Delete Line.
Reason: Why would you want to delete a file ?
Imagine, You have just recived the latest DSZ and now you have put it
in its apropriate directory. But there resides the old DSZ as well.
Now you can choose the add missing files function to make your
Files.Bbs up to date and then while your at it delete the old version
from inside FEBBS. Now there's no risk that you will forget to delete
the old files and therefore you save diskspace.
See Also : F8 - Remove File but leave description in Files.Bbs
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 24
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F8 - Remove File but leave description in Files.Bbs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Remove the file but leave the description. This one is to be used when
you are short of diskspace but wish to leave the description in the
list and thereby make it <MISSING> when your users view your
Files.Bbs.
See Also : Alt-R - Remove Both line and File
Alt-K - Kill All tagged Lines / Files
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-T - Tag Line for later action. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Tag line will simply tag the line you are standing on. It will change
colour to the colour chosen by you in the setup to indicate that it is
tagged. If the line is already tagged then the line will be
non-tagged. Simply a Tag-Toggler.
See Also : Alt-U - Global Unmark of tagged Lines.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-U - Global Unmark of tagged Lines. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This option clears all tags in the current Files.Bbs
See Also : Alt-T - Tag line for later action.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-H - Hurl tagged Lines/Files to different Area │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This option will let you hurl (move) the already tagged lines to a
different area. The select area window comes up again and all the
commands described in this window above is working. Then, when you
have chosen a area to hurl to the files will be moved there and then
the old files.bbs will be saved and the new one loaded. When the
chosen area has been loaded just move to the position you would like
to give the hurled files descriptions and press <Alt-H> again. The
descriptions will now be placed where you where standing when you
pressed <Alt-H>.
If the file areas you are hurling between is on the same drive no
physical moving is done. Only at directory level are the files moved.
This makes the Hurl process extremly fast.
Febbs is all the time trying to determine that enough diskspace is
left on the drive that you are hurling to. If one file doesnt fit then
Febbs will try the next until all tagged files have been tried. (maybe
the first was a 5Mb file and the rest only 5K files). But as allways
there can be things that might go wrong if youre getting short of
diskspace so try not to get into this dilemma.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 25
If a file that you are hurling already exists in the area you are
hurling to FEBBS will ask you if you wish to overwrite the file. If
you answer Yes the file will be overwritten but the description won't
transfered to the new area. This is to prevent dupe descriptions in
the area. FEBBS simply assumes that the description already in the
area is the correct and simply kills the new one.
To save memory, Febbs will now when hurling create a temporarily file
called FEBHURL.TMP. This file contains the descriptions from Files.Bbs
that are to be hurled. Creating this file has two advantages :
1) It saves memory when hurling. Because the descriptions are no
longer kept in memory.
2) It adds extra safety to the hurl. What if something happens
to your system before you have had a chance to place the
hurled files and you had to restart your computer ? The
descriptions would be lost forever. But now you can simply
look at the file FEBHURL.TMP in the home directory of Febbs
and there are the descriptions.
If you try to move a file to a path which does not exist, FEBBS will
ask if you wish to create the directory. Allthough the same
restrictions as the MD command in DOS must be observed, that is Febbs
can't create a whole path Ex: C:\FILES\PASCAL\ cant be created but if
C:\FILES\ existed already then the subdir PASCAL would be added.
See Also : F10 - Hurl Files descriptions Anywhere and without area
change
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F10 - Hurl Files descriptions Anywhere and without area change │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This version of the hurl will not let you place the descriptions in
the area that you area hurling to. That is when hurling you will NOT
be transfered to the new area. The descriptions of the files will be
placed last in the area you are hurling too. This behavior is nice if
you for instance is cleaning up your UpLoad area and all files goes to
different areas. Simply empty the UL-Area and then go to the separate
areas and arrange them later.
Also this version of the hurl will let you hurl files and descriptions
to any directory you wish. Tag as usual the files you wish to hurl and
then while browsing the areas of your areafile press <Ctrl-Enter>. A
new box will appear that let you type in the full path to where you
wish to hurl the files. If the directory doesn't exist Febbs will ask
you if you wish to create it first. Allthough the same restrictions as
the MD command in DOS must be observed, that is Febbs can't create a
whole path Ex: C:\FILES\PASCAL\ cant be created but if C:\FILES\
existed already then the subdir PASCAL would be added. Febbs will also
try to create a new Files.Bbs if one doesn't exist in the directory
your hurling to. All the descriptions will be placed in this
Files.Bbs.
See Also : Alt-H - Hurl tagged Lines/Files to different Area
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 26
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F4 - Move tagged Lines inside editor │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
<F4> Moves the tagged lines inside the editor. When you press <F4> all
the tagged lines in the editor will be moved to the line you are
standing on. Nice if you wish to move a number fo files. A bit too
much job to do that with <Alt-M>.
See Also : Alt-M - Move Line
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-L - Add DownLoad Counter as specified in setup │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If you press <Alt-L> a Download Counter will be addded first to the
description. You may specify the style of the counter in the setup. If
no counter specified the description will be justified at position 14.
A check to see if a DL Counter already is present is performed when
you try to add a DL Counter. The Check is very hard to do, due to all
the different styles of the DL counter. Hopefully it works
satisfactory most of the time.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-W - Sort Block. KeyUpd/KeyDown Block. Enter Sort │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This one will let you sort a block that you first mark with the
direction keys. The direction keys are Up-/Down-Arrow and
PageUp/PageDown. Please not that Febbs do not support sorting of
multiline descriptions.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ctrl-D - Remove missing files from Files.Bbs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When you press <Ctrl-D> Febbs will check that all the files in
Files.Bbs realy exists. If not the description in Files.Bbs is
removed.
See Also : Alt-Q - Tag All Missing Files
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-Q - Tag All Missing Files │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Maybe <Ctrl-D> is a bit too strong for you. You wish to have files
Off-Line" due to lack of disk space. But you do not wish to keep all
that junk lying around as Off-Line. Easy, Simply press <Alt-Q> and all
missing files will be tagged and then untag those you wish to keep and
the others use <Alt-K>
See also : Ctrl-D - Remove missing files from Files.Bbs
Alt-K - Kill All tagged Lines / Files
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 27
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-K - Kill All tagged Lines / Files │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Just as the header says <Alt-K> Kills all tagged lines (and the
associated files) in the editor. If a file is missing it simply works
as <Ctrl-Y> - Remove line.
See Also : Alt-R - Remove Both line and File
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TAB - Indent comment to position specified in the setup │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sometimes when descriptions of files that take more than one line it
is nice to be able to indent the following lines at a position that
will look nice when your BBS displays them. Pressing tab will do that
for you with the line you are standing on. If the line doesnt fit it
well be wrapped to the next line. Please not that you cannot indent a
file. So if the line you wish o indent is starting at position 1 then
Febbs consider that one to be a file. Inserting a space as the first
character on the line will let you indent it with <TAB>
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-E - Search for Filename │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
<Alt-E> will pop up an entry field where you enter a searc string to
look for. Please note, no wildcards or anything like that. If You wish
to find "NICEGIRL.GIF" just enter "GIRL". Then Press <Enter> to start
search. Febbs will first search in the current area for the name.
Starting at row below the cursor position and to the end. If Febbs
find "GIRLS.GIF" and stops at that but you know that one is not the
right one use <Alt-I> to continue Search. But if not Found then a
Question will pop up on the screen asking if you wish to search
Global. If you answer yes you will see Febbs strawl down all your
Areas looking for the file. Only Files listed in Files.Bbs is taken
into the search. After completed search or after you have pressed a
key to stop search You will se the found (if any) Files in a
Scrollable window just like the Choose area window. And if you
position yourself upon a File and press enter you will automaticly be
transfered to that file. If in another area, a new Files.Bbs will be
loaded. And the cursor will be placed on the File you wanted to go to.
See Also : Alt-I - Continue Search
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 28
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-I - Continue Search │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
As said pressing <Alt-I> continues the search after the first "hit"
with <Alt-E>. See "<Alt-E> - Search for Filename" for info about
global search.
Ex. A nice way to use search is like this.
You have just recieved the latest DSZ protocol by Chuck Forsberg and
wants to hurl it from the UL area to its appropriate area. But you do
not remember where the old versions area. Simply press <Alt-E> enter
the Search argument DSZ press enter and Febbs will start looking for
any DSZ files for you. When you see the old ones popping up in the
search window press any key to stop search. You Now see where the old
file is Whats it called and what area and area number. You remember
the number and presses Escape to abandon the Search completely. You
tag the New DSZ. Press <Alt-H> for Hurl. Enter the area number where
the old ones where. For example 15 and press Enter. You will find
yourself inside the Files.Bbs of area 15 at the top. Now to get to the
old DSZ files simply press <Alt-I> to Continue search and viola there
you are. Press <Alt-H> to "put down" the new DSZ and use <Alt-R> to
get rid of the old one. Simple and Fast. What more could you want.
See Also : Alt-E - Search for Filename
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-N - Touch File on Current line │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
If you press <Alt-N> the file on the current line will be stamped with
the current date and time. Nice if you have manualy copied in some new
files from floppy and wish to let your users now that these are new
files.
See Also : Ctrl-N Touch all tagged files
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ctrl-N Touch all tagged files │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
<Ctrl-N> Touch all tagged files. Works just like <Alt-N> that touches
the file on the current line, allthough this one touches all tagged
files. By touching i mean setting current date and time on the file.
See Also : Alt-N - Touch File on Current line
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-F1,F2,F3,F4,F5 - Text "Macros" as defined in Setup │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
These texts, that you have specified in the setup, will be inserted at
cursor position when you press the appropriate "HotKey".
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 29
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-F10 - Show "Macros" │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This will pop up a little box on the screen showing what macros you
have defined in the setup. Good to have when your memory isn't what it
ought to be :-)
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-1 - Toggle Display File-size / -Date on statusline │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This toogles the option to display size and date of file on current
line on the statusline. The default state of this toggle is allready
choosen in the setup.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F6 - Rename File on Current line │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When pressing F6 you will be able to Rename the file on the current
line.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ {+} F5 Display Files.Bbs as the BBS would │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When you execute this command Febbs will let you look at the Files.Bbs
just like the user would see. It displays the page your standing at in
the editor and it is aware of some Avatar codes. The Avatar codes that
it is aware of is discussed in the Avatar section later on in this
manual.
Please note that this function is only availiable to registered users.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ctrl-P Add character literal │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
<Ctr-P> Add character literal at cursor position. Press <Ctrl-P> and
then Any key (or use Alt-Keypad) to add any character to the
Files.Bbs. Even if it is occupied by a function usaly. Good to have
when you adding Avatar codes or some other Control codes that your BBS
supports. Some control codes can be added without you using this
functions but as more and more control codes are occupied by functions
inside the editor it is often easiest to use this one all the time.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 30
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-F9 Add Avatar colour codes │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Added an easy way to add some nice Avatar colours to your Files.Bbs.
Simply press <Alt-F9> and choose colour from the colour chart. Press
Enter and the Proper Avatar code is inserted at the cursor position.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ctrl-L Copy description from line Above │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This one Copies the description from line your standing on to file
below. Nice when youre adding the same description to multiple files.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ctrl-F10 Display the Xternal support programs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
A display of the Xternal programs that you have assigned in the setup.
<Ctrl - F10> displays a list of all the external supportporgrams in
the setup. Including the five DOS programs that you have a
possibillity to install.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ F9 Memory Status │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The former "Hidden" function F9 - Memory Status has been enhanced to
include disk status as well. Also a nice graph over the space left on
current disk versus total Size is Shown.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Alt-X Xpress way out of editor │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When youre in a hurry to leave Febbs use the Xpress way out of the
editor. When inside the editor and in editing mode a press of Alt-X
will transfer you directly to DOS. Allthough if you have made changes
then Febbs will ask you if you're sure.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 31
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Avatar Control Codes
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs is aware of some Avatar codes. Avatar stand for Advanced Video
Attribute Terminal Assembler and Recreator and is a <TM> of George A.
Stanislav. I will not go in to deep here on the Avatar codes but if
you wish to examine them closer i suggest you get hold of the
following FidoNet technical Standards documentations :
FSC-0025
FSC-0037
They should be availiable on most Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) but if
you can't find them contact me and i will supply you with them.
The Following codes are supported by Febbs.
^Y<Char><Repeat> - Repeat Character.
^V^B - Turn Blink on.
^V^A<Colour> - Change Colour.
Where ^ stands for Control (Ctrl). Press down Ctrl and then Press the
Character after ^ to create the Control character.
These codes are supported in both the viewer <F5> and when creating
lists.
When looking at the current Files.Bbs with the viewer Febbs will
translate the Avatar codes into proper colours, blinks and expand any
repeat char sequens.
And when creating the filelists Febbs will strip the Colour and Blink
codes and expand the repeat char sequens. That way your users will get
a filelist that looks just like the list they saw on the screen while
they where online. Well allmost anyway. There will be no colours...
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Runtime Errors
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Built into Febbs is an errorhandler for Runtime Errrors (God forbid
that there are any). Febbs will tell you what is wrong in English and
will also create a file in the current directory called FEBBS.ERR with
the same info. Please forward this file with a detailed explanation of
how you managed get the Error to the author. Otherwise i won't be able
to fix it. But before you report it to me see to that you can
reproduce the error on your machine. I can not correct any errors if i
cant reproduce them.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 32
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
What about the Filelists ?
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
A very Important feauture in Febbs is the ability to create filelists
for your daily maintenance. Febbs is able to create a variet of lists.
Thoose are :
* Total Filelist of all chosen areas.
* A Newslist of new files in all chosen areas.
* An Overview list of all chosen areas.
* A list over the physical directories that your areas resides in.
* A list over the 50 most downloaded files on your BBS.
These files can be created from the menu or by calling FEBBS with
commandline parameters. The Overview of chosen areas and the best
download list is availiable in both ANSI and ASCII flawor.
Avatar Codes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are running Febbs with a BBS package that handles Avatar codes
then maybe you use those codes in your Files.Bbs to increase the
viewability. Febbs will when run strip all Avatar codes from the lists
and expand any Repeat Char Codes. (See the Avatar part of this manual)
Thereby make the lists very viewable in text also. Gone is all thoose
happy faces that the users hate when they tried to read the lists or
even worse... Print them! Have you ever seen what Avatarcodes does to
a Printer? It isn't a pretty sight i might tell you. Well Febbs will
take care of it all, so Happy Filelisting and to your users Have a
Nice Reading!
General Stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Febbs wrapps the descriptions in the fileslists if they are to long.
This is done i all three list types (Full, news and condensed).
When running in batchmode Febbs has now the ability to create a
logfile. This log file lets you know a thing or two about your
unattended operations. If you do not want a log file then simply leave
the LogFile field in the setup empty. Today the logfile is in a
FrontDoor <Tm> style but if you feel that you need a different style
let me know.
The Directory list.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maybe the directory list needs a little explaining. The directory list
is meant to keep your Frequable directories up to date. That is this
file that is used by Your mailer to determine wich directories that
are frequable. Haven't you sometime redesigned the physical location
of your file areas? And did you, at that time, remember to modify to
modify the list over frequable directories?
The answer is most likely to be NO.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 33
Well, FEBBS will now take care of that for you. But maybe you got a
few areas that you do NOT want to be included in the filelist but you
wish to be frequable anyway. An exampel is my Beta directory where i
keep Beta versions of my software. I Still wish this directory to be
frequable but i do not wish to display to the public what is going on
here.
So therefore you simply create a file called FEBBOK.TXT !
This file will automaticly at creation time for the directory list be
added to the above mentioned list.
Mine looks like ...
C:\FEBBETA
... Nothing Fancy at all.
When, How, Where ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three files, Overview list, Directory list and most Downloaded files,
will automaticly be created when you choose the Total list from either
the main menu or via the commandline (Of course also the Total list
will be created). If you do not wish to create theese lists simply
leave them out of the setup. That is do not give them a name just
leave the input field blank.
The commandline parameters are "N", "F" and "C". Where "N" stands for
Newslist, "F" for Full list and "C" for the Condensed list.
Ex. C:\FEBBS> FEBBS N
Would create a newslist. And ...
C:\FEBBS> FEBBS F
Would create a Full list over all your areas. An overview list and a
directory list.
Of course can you do it like this ...
C:\FEBBS> FEBBS F N C
This is my recomendation if you wish to create both a Full list, a
news list and a consed list. Since all lists area created at the same
time. That way Febbs doesn't have to scan all your areas twice this
way.
Headers.
~~~~~~~~
But what is a filelist without some nice advertising in the beginning?
Yes let's have som nice info about your BBS in the beginning of the
Filelists. So simply create a header in a style you fancy.
Call it FEBBHEAD.TXT.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 34
You can put different headers into the Total list and the news list.
Still the Total list, and the condensed list,uses the files
FEBBHEAD.TXT as a header but the News list will use a file called
FEBBHEAD.NEW as header.
Put the header files at the same location as FEBBS.CTL, FEBBOK.TXT and
the rest of FEBBS and it will automaticly be inserted at the beginning
of your file lists.
Sample batch file.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now you're ready to start creating those nice lists that everyone just
loves to download. I would recomend that you somewhere in your nightly
maintenance add the command to create the lists and then simply after
creation Zip them up and copy them to your Filelist area. Maybe
something like this :
CD\FEBBS
FEBBS F N
PKZIP FENRIS FENRIS.TXT
COPY FENRIS.NEW D:\FILE\TEXT
COPY FENRIS.TXT D:\FILE\TEXT
COPY FENRIS.ZIP D:\FILE\TEXT
CD\RA
This is my batchfile for creating my lists. Nothing Fancy at all.
Different Filelists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But wait a second ! I want to create different lists for different
users. That is the PC users doesn't like to download filelist that
contain Amiga files and vice versa. Thats easy! Simply create a new
config file with Feppla like this.
FEPPLA /S:Amiga.Ctl
Set up the areas you wish to include and name the filelists.
Then Run ...
FB N F /S:Amiga.Ctl
and that Setup file will be used. For more info see the setup part of
this document.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 35
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Swapping and related items
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
When shelling Febbs has the ability to swap itself out of memory to
make room for other programs to run. When swapping, Febbs can swap to
Disk, EMS and XMS. FEBBS will check for the presence of EMS and use
that for the swap file. If there is no EMS or not enough free EMS,
FEBBS will try to allocate XMS memory, and if there is no XMS or not
enough Febbs will try to swap to disk.
You have the abilty to toggle swapping on or of in the setup. If
you're using a system with slow disks and no extra memory then it can
be good to turn of swapping to speed things up. Please keep in mind
that PAK for instance needs aproximately 185 Kb of memory to operate
and ARJ even more, so therefore check how much memory you have when
shelling from Febbs before you decide to turn swapping off.
FEBBS leaves only aprox. 12k resident when swapping. This will give
you maximum ram to do whatever you wish from within FEBBS. Please note
that you mustn't load any TSRs or other programs that doesn't give
back all memory when you are finished with them. And also be avare of
quirks that exists if you're using DesqView and have set the "Writes
text directly to screen" option to false. See the DesqView section of
this text for more info.
The path and name of the swap file that FEBBS creates is configurable.
Go into FEPPLA and select General Setup and set the full path AND
filename of the swap file. Just make sure you don't set it to a
filename that already exists on your drive or that file WILL be
overwritten.
A good place for the swap file would be a ram drive. This will speed
up the swapping process if you don't have any EMS or XMS, but be
advised that the swap file size is around 220k so set your ram drive
size accordingly.
If you have extended memory and wish to be able to use it as XMS
memory install the Device driver called HIMEM.SYS that MicroSoft
supplies with most of their programs. Edit the file called CONFIG.SYS
to look like this in the begining of the file
DEVICE=C:\HIMEM.SYS
And also see to that the HIMEM.SYS file is located in your root
directory (or change the path above to where the file is located). Or
if you own a 386 then you can use any other memory manager (QEMM,
386Max) to create XMS memory. But then you can just as well use the
EMS memory to swap. Febbs will check the memory like this: First EMS
second XMS and last DISK. Shelling to memory is a whole lot faster
then to shell to disk. Since i feel i must give my registered users
some value for their money i have decided to make the XMS swap only
availiable to those that have registered. The EMS and DISK swap works
just the same in both registered and unregistered version.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 36
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FEBBS Versus Viruses and LZEXE
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The versions before 0.06 of FEBBS was packed with LZEXE (c) 1989
Fabrice BELLARD. This to prevent the program from being attacked by
viruses since LZEXE performs a CRC check of the file upon execution.
But with the release of the unpacker for LZEXE this is not a reliable
method any longer. And also LZEXE isn't all that reliable on programs
that has to shell to DOS to execute other programs. Therefore FEBBS
scans itself upon execution and checks if any changes were made to the
EXE code. If there were FEBBS will halt with an error message. Please
note that due to the CRC check of the EXE file you can *NOT* pack this
program with LZEXE. And you can't alter the code in any way. (Wich the
license forbids you to any way).
Another reason why you can't pack Febbs is because it is overlayed to
save memory.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Commandline parameters
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
There are several command line parameters that Febbs accepts. Most of
them has already been discussed in the docementation but this is a
specification of all of them in one place.
/M - use the monochrome colour set of Febbs.
/S:<FileName> - Use <FileName> as setup file.
F - Create a Full Filelist
N - Create a News Filelist
C - Create a Condensed Filelist
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 37
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FEBBS, DesqView and Share
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs is DesqView-/Share-Aware. That means that Febbs will when
opening files try to allow others to access the Files at the same
time. All files except textfiles are opened in Deny Write mode. That
is, other programs are allowed to read but not write to files opened
by Febbs while Febbs is reading them. Febbs will never have a file
open longer than necesary to get the need information from it.
The Screen writes in Febbs is also aware about DesqView and asks
DesqView (DV) for an alternative video buffer. Thereby you can set the
Direct screenwrites option in DV to NO. But be aware that if You shell
from inside Febbs to a program that uses direct screenwrites, then
when you return to Febbs you will most likely not be able recognise
the program that you left. This is because the other program that you
executed from inside Febbs has fooled DV into changing vidoebuffer. So
in most cases i recomend that you have the Direct Screenwrites option
set to yes inside DV. And also that you assign at least 2 or more text
and graphics pages to the Window that you run Febbs in. Not that Febbs
needs it but if you shell to an external program it might.
How much memory you give to Febbs is all up to you but check the
memory status with <F9> when you decide how much to give to Febbs.
Please Keep in mind that every line in a Files.Bbs occupies
aproximately 162 Bytes of Memory inside Febbs Editor. So a 300 Lines
Files.Bbs occupies aprox 48,600 Bytes in memory.
Try be not to stingy when you assign memory to Febbs. Give the program
Elbow room to work ...
Febbs will also, when idle waiting for a keystroke, slice away CPU
time to other tasks running under DesqView. This has the advantage
that Febbs allows other tasks to execute faster and smother while
Febbs isn't doing anything in particular.
If Access is Denied to a Files.Bbs then Febbs will Wait for
aproximately 30 Seconds and then try again. If still access Denied
then Febbs will give up. Access Denied can occur on multiline systems
when several tasks try to access the same files. For this to work you
must have loaded Share.Exe before you start. Also if a Files.Bbs is
missing then Febbs will ask you if You wish to create it or not. Just
so that no one cries Virus when a Files.Bbs is missing/or Access is
Denied, Febbs will say that "Zaphod Beeblebrox has Stolen/Is holding
on to Your Files.Bbs". These are one of the famous personalities in
Douglas Adams - The hithchikers guide to the galaxy.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 38
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
FEBBS --- In the future.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
New functions are being implemented as soon as I have the time and get
some good idea that's worth implementing.
A good idea is this ...
■ Rewrite Feppla totaly.
■ Import text files into Files.Bbs
What would you like to see in FEBBS?
It is only my imagination that holds me back, and of course spare
time. I am not doing this for a living. If i would have done that i
would have starved to death by now.
So try to be realistic. I will not implement Fossil support and i will
not turn it into a complete BBS system! Yes, people have asked this of
me :-) But maybe, The name fits (FE-BBS) so who knows what will happen
<Big Grin>.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 39
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The last Request ...
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Any comments of what you think of FEBBS and suggestions of future
enhancements you would like to see can be sent via E-Mail or Ordinary
SnailMail to me. Or log on to my BBS, where you'll find a local
support conference for Febbs. Somehow there has never been a need for
a echomail support conference. Perhaps is the program as easy as it
can be to use...
The Telephone number to my BBS :
+46-26-62 80 57 FenrisUlven
E-Mail Adress : 2:205/208@FidoNet
27:5346/102@SIGNet
HST v42Bis/v32 Speed and 24Hr open.
My adress is as follows...
Patrik Sjöberg
Sörbygatan 69B
S-802 55 GEFLE
SWEDEN
And if you use Febbs, Please Register.
If you don't then this piece of SoftWare will come to a halt in
development. No one likes to put Hours, Days, Months, Years of work
into something and not getting something in return.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 40
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Copyright, Trademarks
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PKPAK, PKUNPAK, PKZIP and PKUNZIP are trademarks of PKWare Inc.
PAK is a trademark of NoGate Consulting.
ARC is a trademark of SEA inc.
LZH and LHarc are trademarks of Yoshi;
LZS and LARC are trademarks of K.Miki H.Okumura and K.Masuyama
ARJ is a trademark of Robert K. Jung
HYPER is a trademark of Peter Sawatzki and Klaus Peter Nischke
AR is a trademark of Haruhiko Okumura
ZOO is a trademark of Rahul Dhesi.
QuickBBS is a trademark of the QuickBBS group Inc.
Remote Access is a trademark of Continental Software
FrontDoor is a trademark of Joaquim H. Homrighausen
TubFile is a trademark of Jörgen Olsson
Opus is a trademark of Wynn Wagner III
Maximus is a trademark of Scott Dudley
Desqview is a trademark of Quarterdeck Systems
Qemm is a trademark of Quarterdeck Systems
386Max is a trademark of Qualitas
MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft corporation
MTA is a trademark of Rob Van.Hoeven
TICK is a trademark of Barry Geller
GIF is a trademark of CompuServe Inc.
Avatar is a trademark of George A. Stanislav
LZEXE is a trademark of Fabrice Bellard.
The FEBBS-Package is written in Turbo Pascal 6.0 and Turbo Assembler
2.01, with help of the Turbo Debugger 2.01 and makes use of Turbo
Professional v5.11, Object professional 1.10 and PSCF v0.04. Also
included are some routines of Anders Brink's fine tools called
ABUnit wich is Public Domain.
Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International
Turbo Debugger is a trademark of Borland International
ABUnit is a trademark of Anders Brink
Turbo Professional is a trademark of TurboPower Inc.
Object Professional is a trademark of TurboPower Inc.
PSCF is a trademark of Patrik Sjöberg
< End of Document >
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Febbs - The File Area Manager Page 41