ftp.wwiv.com/ftp.wwiv.com.zip/ftp.wwiv.com/pub/BBS/EXE276G2.ZIP/GAMMA2.DOC

Text File | 1992-06-07 | 13KB | 282 lines

I hate writing docs ;-)  I've probably missed at least one or two of the new
features of 2.76 Gamma-2 in this write-up, if you find any new features that
aren't mentioned here please bring it to Rick Luquette.  Rick will be doing the
2.76 docs (Thanks Rick! ;-)

Please note that a GOLD key or a BRONZE key is required to run GAMMA software.
Also, this is not meant as a complete release, only the executables which have
been changed since 2.75 are included in this package.

IMPORTANT - you must run the 275TO276.EXE file from your QuickBBS directory
before this one will do anything interesting for you ;-)  If you run multi-node
with seperate QUICKCFG.DAT files in your node directories you must run 275TO276
in each of your node directories as well.

This GAMMA version has many enhancements over 2.75 and 2.76 Gamma-1, and it has
most of the features that will be in the final 2.76 release.  It also has a few
"features" that will not be in 2.76!  Also, the STRUCT.276 included with this
version should be the actual final structures of 2.76, but nothing is
guaranteed ;-)

The file transfer section has been almost rewritten, QuickBBS no longer uses
the Protocol Engine by Joaquim Homrighausen.  In place of the Protocol Engine
is the file transfer routines from Turbo Power Software's Async Professional
package.  Many thanks to Terry Hughes of Turbo Power for his assistance, and
for putting up with me on his beta team <grin>

There is now a file transfer status window on the sysop side.  Also, more
information about the file transfers is put into the system log.

Sealink is no longer supported as an internal protocol, it has been replaced
by Kermit.

A new option has been added to each file area in Qconfig to specify whether
that directory should be searched for duplicate uploads.

When a user enters a wildcard for a batch download, he is prompted for each
file that matches the spec.

New control file BAD-FILE.CTL implemented.  This is a flat ASCII text file
containing a list of file names you do not want uploaded to your system.
Wild cards will *not* work in this file - this is not a bug but rather the
way it was designed.

And another control file, FILE-OK.CTL.  This one (surprise surprise) contains
a list of the files that you will accept, by file extention.  The wild card
character is assumed, and should not be specified.  The dot, however, needs to
be there.

DUPEFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a dupe file
JUNKFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a file listed in
BAD-FILE.CTL
BAD-EXT.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a file with an extension
not in FILE-OK.CTL

Global downloads have been implemented.  If you specify optional data as 0
on a download command then all authorized areas will be searched for matching
files.

New menu type 55 will let you download any file on the system, this can be a
very powerful tool for the sysop, and an incredible security breach if
implemented at user level security ;-)  No optional data, it will prompt you
for the full path and file spec.

A new text file UP-DESC.A?? will be displayed before the user is asked to
describe their upload(s).  This is a good way to remind your users to put
useful descriptions on their uploads, instead of things like
ALICE.GIF  A Girl

A new text file PRE-UPLD.A?? will be displayed before a user begins an upload.
This is a good way to remind your users to upload only files which are public
domain or shareware.

Pressing any of the sysop keys will work while a file is being transferred,
but certain ones (like ALT-C) should be avoided.

It is now possible to attach a file to a message locally.  To do this,
configure one or more message areas to be of the new Fmail type.  On an Fmail
board, there is an extra setting that appears on the Qconfig area screen, you
can tie a file area to the message area and then users can attach files to
each other by uploading them to the selected area before entering the message.
If the file area is set to 0, only the sysop can attach a file, in this case
the file must already exist but may be anywhere on the system.

While I'm talking about file and message areas in the same feature, you may want
to see what ALT-G does while on a file or message area screen in Qconfig ;-)

New interface for Message Scan Selected, allows more functionality.

New look on the Message Read menu, more functions!

Quoted lines in message reader are different color then other text

You can now forward a message to a different area.

Quoting has been implemented in the internal line editor.

A group messaging feature has been added.  You can enter a global
message to all users or just to a certain group.  Messages can be written
in this way only by the sysop or by a user who has sysop access on the
appropriate message board.  To enter a message using this feature, put the
"magic" name **all in the to field (there can be no blanks anywhere in that
string, and no preceding blanks are allowed either.  Optionally, you can
narrow down the group by putting in security levels and flags.  Specification
of a security level is best handled by an example: S=100 will cause only users
with a security level of 100 to be in the group.  All the other relational
operators you might expect will work here as well, < <= > >= and <> but there
can be no embedded blanks within any relational expression.  In order for a
user to receive the message, he or she must meet ALL the criteria listed, so
that something like S<100 S>100 would select a NULL group, nobody could
possibly have a security level that was both less than AND greater than 100
at the same time!!  This would not be reported anywhere as an error, it just
plain won't work ;-)  Full flags are also supported, prefix a flag designator
with a + to make those with that flag a part of the group, or a - to group
only those who don't have the flag.  For example, a message to
**all S>=100 S<=200 +A1 -B2
would go to only those users who have a security level between 100 and 200,
AND who ALSO have flag A1 set and B2 not set.

A user with sysop access in the Netmail area can now enter a file reqest along
with a netmail message.  This is particularly handy with the netmail reply to
echo feature ;-)

New parameter on MailScan. -K controls whether the exported messages are
removed from the QuickBBS message base, the Kill/Sent flag is now ignored by
MailScan and merely passed along for the mailer to handle.

Netmail reply address can now be changed

Netmail reply to echo messages now available to any user who has netmail write
access

Users can no longer delete sent messages unless you have configured to allow
deletion of messages addressed to them.

A new option has been added to Qconfig to set the Archive/Sent flag in netmail
instead of Kill/Sent.

A ^APID has been added to netmail messages.

Putting /T=SYSOP on an enter message command will properly map to the sysop's
name.

/M= and /F= now work on a type 4 as well as 1 or 2

Consecutive calls by same caller displayed only once in type 51

Added alias trashcan file BADALIAS.CTL
BADALIAS.A?? is displayed if a user tries to use a forbidden alias

Changed timer routines for barefoot snake and page alert tone, should be more
  consistant and kinder to DV now!

SetSecurity statement in questionaire language now accepts a value of 0.  Be
  aware that if you do this then the user will be ejected from the system as
  soon as the questionaire is finished ;-)

There is a feature which has been around for quite some time now, but has never
worked properly and was thus undocumented and officially did not exist.  I
finally got around to fixing it so now it exists ;-)  Pressing a control Fkey
will display a text file called USERX.A?? where X is the number of the function
key.

Numerous additions to configuration

Swap file is now properly named if node number is overriden by -N

Hitting N or B while reading hidden lines should no longer leave the
  background red

"locked fields" are now displayed on the "change anything" message enter prompt

Forwarding a message now properly indicates what area it came from

New command line parameter -M allows you to pass the actual modem connect
  string, if the ARQ string (as configured in Qconfig) is not in the string
  then Ymodem-G file transfers can optionally be disabled.  In barefoot mode,
  MNP connects are automatically detected.  Also, standalone systems should
  inspect the modem connect string settings after running 275TO276.EXE.

Node Chat is now written in Pascal and available in overlay version.  It
  probably won't work properly (maybe even at all?) with the old MIXER.COM, so
  make sure you've loaded the new one that came with this beta before
  reporting any problems in this area.  If you have a network loaded you want
  to use NETMIXER, in any event the optional data for the type 61 has changed
  considerably (much simpler now! ;-).  The only optional data valid for type
  61 is a number between 1 and 63 indicating the conference to start off in,
  default is conference 1.

Fixed problem finding address for netmail reply on long messages

Fixed problem with unlisted nodes sometimes causing lockup

Fixed problem with replying to an unlisted node

Fixed problem when forwarding a message to a different area

Change to auto-ANSI detect, hopefully more reliable

MailScan no longer sets the Kill/Sent flag when it shouldn't.

It is no longer necessary to set the read-only attribute on the overlay file

Fixed problem with excessive more prompts

Fixed ", [+] Read reply" bug!

Fixed reply netmail bugs

Blank spaces in alias records no longer cause problems

External message editor command now allows *N for node number

Using /X on the optional data line of menu types 13, 51, 52, and 54
will hide the sysop from the list.  This allows you to be "invisible" from
either all users or just from some users (if you have 2 entries with the
same activation key on the same menu you can do all kinds of neat things,
especially if one has just a ; in the display field!

Fixed swap file collision problem

Quote buffer no longer "carries over" into another message

"New mail from <user> on node X" no longer shows up on messages to yourself

/S=<subject> is now supported on an enter message command

Automatic dash insertion when entering a date in file search cmd

Lower case characters in CRC no longer mess up IEMSI

Fixed problems with external programs at 14.4 Kbaud

There was a bug that caused events to exit with the wrong errorlevel, this has
been corrected.

A new menu type 51 has been added to display a list of today's callers.  By
default the alias names will be displayed, this may be overridden by using the
parameter /R in the optional data field.

The split screen chat now has an elapsed time display.

IEMSI has been added!  Be sure to configure your system location using the new
field in the general section of Qconfig.

Menu types 18 through 21 and 41 have changed slightly, they now are effective
only for the duration of the current call.  The new menu type 43 will save the
users settings for screen clearing, more prompting, ANSI graphics, external
editor, and screen length in the user record.
The text file metacharacters ^FV, ^FX, ^FY, ^FZ, and ^F1 have changed slightly,
they now display the settings in effect for the current call.  New metacharacters
have been added to display the settings as stored in the user record:
^F8 ANSI graphics
^F9 more prompting
^F0 screen clearing
^F! external editor
^F# screen length

New menu type 56: raw directory, no optional data, prompts for full path.

Fixed intermittent ANSI-detect problem (I think)

Fixed problem with CBV not disconnecting sometimes (I think)

The split screen chat no longer requires ANSI.SYS (or equivalent)

Another new text file metacharacter has been added, ^K3 gives the last
caller's alias.

The + will now appear as an option after replying to a message.

The user file is now checked when changing a to name in a local message.

Some newer .LZH files didn't get displayed properly by the view archive
contents command, this has been fixed.


Many thanks to Max Vonderhorst and the beta team for helping to make gamma
release possible!

                                Steve & Brenda
                                Pegasus Software