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1995-05-21
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Automated Network/Conference Listing Generator
v2.6
PCBoard 14.5/15.x
by
Al Lawrence
Sunrise-80 BBS
(404) 256-9525 (Data)
(404) 705-9104 (Data)
(404) 256-9518 (Voice, 9am-9:30pm EST)
Fido 1:133/410
DESCRIPTION
___________
The Automated Network/Conference Listing Generator (ACNFN) is a utility that
creates the conference display file. Most Sysops use an editor to create the
conference listing, more commonly called CNFN. As you add/change/delete
conferences you end up spending hours trying to realign and colorize the
display. If you happen to add a whole network, you could very well spend
more time fixing the conference listing, than creating the conferences
themselves. This utility does not create any extraneous files on disk and
uses the CNAMES file as input. There is no need to create a second file for
the colorized listing, as the program uses the @X variables made available
in PCBoard v14.5/15.x Just about everything is configurable, from verbage
to colors.
R E S T R I C T I O N S
-----------------------
In the UNREGISTERED version of ACNFN, ALL conferences will be PROCESSED, but
only the first 50 conferences will be displayed.
INSTALLATION
____________
Installation is fairly easy and straight-forward. The following steps and
examples should have you up and running in a very short period of time.
(1) Create a Configuration file named ACNFN.CFG
(2) Run the program using the following command line:
ACNFN
CONFIGURATION FILE
__________________
Line 1. Sunrise-80 BBS
Line 2. Al Lawrence
Line 3. 00000000
Line 4. INPUT=C:\PCB\MAIN\CNAMES
Line 5. OUTPUT=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN
Line 6. SORT=N
Line 7. NUMCOL=LEFT
LINE 8. NDESC=RIM:RIME
Line 9. NETCONF=RIM:2:100:P
Line 10. CONF=LOC:Sunrise Doors:1:1:p
Line 11. XCNF=@X06
Line 12. XTYP=@X0C
Line 13. XCFN=@X0A
Line 14. XHDB=@X1A
Line 15. XBBS=@X1F
Line 16. XNET=@X57
Line 17. XBBG=@X1F
Line 18. XMRE=@X8C
Line 19. BLINE=R = Restricted
Line 20. COLUMNS=4
Line 21. SEPCNFN=N
__________________________________________________________________________
Line 1. Your BBS Name. Will Display on Heading and is mandatory
Line 2. Sysop's First and Last Name. Does not display, but is mandatory.
Line 3. Registration Number
Line 4. Full Pathname\Filename of the CNAMES file. This entry is
mandatory.
Line 5. Full Pathname\Filename of the output file that will contain
the conference listing. This entry is mandatory.
Line 6. This entry indicates the SORT sequence for the conference displays.
N = Display conference's in conference NUMBER sequence.
A = Display conference's in conference NAME sequence.
This entry is mandatory.
Line 7. This entry indicates where you would like to have the conference
number displayed.
LEFT = Display it to the LEFT of the conference name
RIGHT = Display it to the RIGHT of the conference name.
This entry is mandatory.
Line 8. This entry assigns a UNIQUE 3 character ID and description to each
Network on your system. The format is| NETWORK ID:NETWORK NAME
The Network name will appear in the header, displayed at the top of
each column of the listing for that network. One NDESC entry is
required for EACH Network you carry. The maximum size of the Network
Name is 17 characters. The program will support a maximum of 99
Networks. At least one is mandatory
Line 9. This entry describes the conference numbers to be associated with
each of the conference descriptions you have defined above. At
least one is mandatory.
Format| NETWORK ID:STARTING CONF. #:ENDING CONF. #:CONF. TYPE
NETWORK ID = Must match one of the IDs in line 8.
STARTING # = First conference # in a range comprising the network
ENDING # = Last conference # in a range comprising the network
CONF. TYPE = P for Public Conferences, R for Restricted/Reserved or
F for conferences that contain files
Note: This applies to ALL the conference numbers in the
range indicated.
Use multiple NETCONF entries if you have a mixture of Public and
Reserved. For example: if your RIME conferences covered numbers
1-100 and #35-37 were Reserved and all others were Public you would
use 3 NETCONF entries. 1-34 would have a CONF TYPE of P, 35-37 would
have a CONF TYPE of R and 38-100 would have a CONF TYPE of P. You can
use any number of NETCONF entries to fully describe your conference
to a maximum of 500 !
Line 10. This entry is used to assign a conference to more than one NETWORK.
This is mostly cosmetic and is NOT a required entry. In future
versions this entry will be used by non-PCBoard systems. Optional.
Format| NETWORK ID:CON. NAME:CONF. #:CONF. TYPE
NETWORK ID = Must match one of the IDs in line 8.
CON. NAME = Conference name up to a maximum of 12 characters
CONF. # = Conference number up 3 digits
CONF. TYPE = Same as Line 9 above
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Next 8 Entries Control the Colors For Each Section of the Listing ---
---------------------- Uses @X Color Codes ------------------------------
-------------------- Registered Version Only ----------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Line 11. Conference Name Color
Line 12. Conference Type Color
Line 13. Conference Number Color
Line 14. Heading Color (box)
Line 15. Heading BBS Name Color
Line 16. Network Name Color
Line 17. Bottom Line Color
Line 18. "More" Color, on Bottom line (both ends)
Line 19. With this entry you can define what appears on the bottom line.
By default it will show "R = Restricted", in registered version.
Maximum length is 70 characters. Optional. Requires Registration!
Line 20. This entry will allow you to define the number of columns to be
used to display the conferences. Your choices are 1, 3 or 4. If you
define 4 columns and the program determines that you have more than
9,999 conferences, the number of columns will be reduced to 3.
Line 21. This entry will allow you create separate CNFN files for each
network you have defined. The file name for each of the CNFN files
will be the same as the 3 character network ID you assigned in the
NETCONF lines above. In addition to the individual CNFN files an all
encompassing CNFN will also be created.
__________________________ E X A M P L E ____________________________________
To help make all this a little clearer (it is really very simple), I will
describe the conferences/Networks of my BBS and what the Configuration file
would look like. Sunrise-80 BBS has 4 Networks and Local conferences. The
Networks are RIME, City2City, SmartNet and L&Lnet. Conference numbers are
assigned as follows:
Rime : 2-23, 25-70, 94 (all are Public except 29,30,35)
City2City: 73-93 (all are Public except 75,84,86)
FidoNet : 1, 71-72, 95-97 (all are Public)
SmartNet : 98-112 (all are Public)
Local : 0, 24 (all are Public)
In addition I display my Sunrise Doors conference (conf # 1) in Local area
as well as the FidoNet Network.
I also use all the default colors and a special bottom line. All has been
included in the example CFG.
The ACNFN.CFG file would look like this:
_______________________________________
Sunrise-80 BBS
Al Lawrence
00000000
INPUT=C:\PCB\MAIN\CNAMES
OUTPUT=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN
SORT=N
NUMCOL=LEFT
NDESC=100:R I M E
NDESC=200:City2City
NDESC=400:FidoNet
NDESC=300:SmartNet
NDESC=500:L O C A L
NETCONF=200:73:74:P
NETCONF=200:75:75:r
NETCONF=200:76:83:p
NETCONF=200:84:84:r
NETCONF=200:85:85:p
NETCONF=200:86:86:r
NETCONF=200:87:93:p
NETCONF=100:2:23:p
NETCONF=100:25:28:p
NETCONF=100:29:30:r
NETCONF=100:31:34:p
NETCONF=100:35:35:r
NETCONF=100:36:70:p
NETCONF=100:94:94:p
NETCONF=400:1:1:p
NETCONF=400:71:72:p
NETCONF=400:95:97:p
NETCONF=500:0:0:p
NETCONF=500:24:24:p
NETCONF=300:98:112:P
CONF=500:Sunrise Doors:1:p
XCNF=@X06
XTYP=@X07
XCFN=@X0A
XHDB=@X1A
XBBS=@X1F
XNET=@X57
XBBG=@X1F
XMRE=@X8C
BLINE=R = Restricted [AVAILABLE FROM: Sunrise Doors/Utility Software]
COLUMNS=4
Hints/Tips/Other Ramblings
__________________________
(1) The sequence in which the networks appear, is controlled by the
NETWORK ID field. The program will sort on this field, therefore
it is important to assign values to each network that will place
them in the proper sequence. As you can see from the Example
Sunrise CFG file, above, I use 3 digit numbers.
(2) The first three(3) entries in the CFG file are required to be in
that sequence. All others may be in any sequence.
(3) This version will handle up to 99,999 conferences (NON-Registered
only handle 50).
(4) Be sure to use the ':' to separate fields within each Entry.
(5) I really do not like to do documentation and therefore there may be
some errors or omissions in this document. I would appreciate any
feedback you wish to give relative to the program itself or the Docs.
TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
(1) If you are running this Door on a 486 system and encounter errors such as
ERROR 6.... OVERFLOW Error
ERROR 5.... ILLEGAL Function Call (may be associated with other problems)
KEYBOARD Timeout after 5 minutes
You may have to put the following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
SET NO87=ON
(2) If you encounter an Error 62 (Input Past End of File), BEFORE you see the
opening screen of the Door, your problem will more than likely be associated
with the CFG file. The error 62 means that you do not have enough entries
in the CFG. Compare your CFG file with the CFG definition in the DOC file.
(3) If you encounter an ERROR 70... Permission Denied, this will more than
likely mean that you DO NOT have SHARE loaded. SHARE is a DOS file that
comes with your version of DOS. To load it type the word SHARE at the DOS
prompt. To load it permanently type the word SHARE on a line by itself in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, any place prior to the loading of your BBS
software. There have been numerous reports that loading SHARE high causes
some problems, so to be on the safe side, do not load it high.
Should you have any questions or problem, please do not hesitate to call
voice for immediate help... 404-256-9518 (9am-9:30pm EST) any day!
LEGALITIES
__________
THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS"
WITHOUT WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ANYONE INVOLVED WITH
THE CREATION AND PRODUCTION OF THIS PRODUCT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT,
SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF ANY USE THEREOF
OR BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY.
DISTRIBUTION
____________
You may make this file available for downloading from your BBS or you may
upload it to any BBS of your choice, provided that you do not make any
changes to the contents of the archive (ZIP file). The archive and its
individual contents may not be used by any service that charges any money
whatsoever, without the written permission of the author.
REGISTRATION
____________
Registration and the subsequent insertion of the registration number into
your configuation file, allows for the display of your BBS name on the
opening screenand its display in the heading of the listing, reduction of
delays, and the ability to change certain values in the configuration file.
To register your copy of ACNFN, please fill out the registration form
(REGISTER.FRM) and mail it along with the registration fee to the name and
address on the form.
Once a door is registered, any changes to registration information (Sysop
name or BBS Name) will require the doors to be re-registered. Download or
File Request a file named CHANGE.FRM from our BBS, complete the form and
follow ALL instructions in the document!
Registration fees are subject to change at any time. The most current
registration form is always available on our BBS. You may download or
File Request REGISTER.FRM at any time.
Be sure to use the proper upper/lower case when filling in your name and
BBS name, as they MUST match the way you entered them in the configuration
file. ^^^^
Based upon information supplied on the registration form, I will pre-
register you on my BBS. You will then be able to call SUNRISE-80 and pick
up your registration number.
MISC
____
The latest version of ACNFN and other fine SUNRISE DOOR programs are
always available for download from SUNRISE-80 BBS.
Remember, should you have any problems, questions or suggestions, be sure
to drop me a message on Sunrise-80 or in the RIME network (BBS_Doors,
PCBHints, SYSops), SmartNet (SN_Sysops), City2City, FIDO (Sysops,
PCBnet, Sysop18), DoorNet or GeniusNet