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WHATSNEW.DOC
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1995-05-20
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* EZ-ROM 2.10 Public Release May 31, 1995
* Copyright 1992 - 1995 Michael N. Robinson, all rights reserved.
WHAT'S NEW IN EZ-ROM 2.10
This is a drop-in replacement. Just use the new EZROM.EXE. This version
honors all the old file formats and commands. Many of the improvements
are automatic. Some do require configuration changes, but only if you
wish to activate the new feature. This version uses about 30K more
memory. EZ-ROM now requires a total of about 300K of free conventional
DOS low memory. Maximum limits increased to 152 disks and up to 700 file
areas per disk.
This version includes these improvements:
1. AutoMenu. Optional. Ability to automatically construct the main disk
selection menu of all disks on-the-fly. EZ-ROM will create and display
the main menu which indicates which disks are online, request, or
offline. You can continue to use your own menus (MAIN.CLR, MAIN.BBS) and
EZ-ROM will operate as it has in the past. To enable this feature,
simply put this command in EZROM.MAS:
AutoMenu ON
EZ-ROM will read the disk name from each EZROM.CFG file. For faster
operation, you can optionally put the disk name of each disk in
EZROM.MAS like this:
DISKS
1 ON >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK1\EZROM.CFG "Night Owl 15"
2 REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK2\EZROM.CFG "Pier 6"
3 REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK3\EZROM.CFG "So Much Shareware 5"
4 REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK4\EZROM.CFG "Cream of the Crop 6"
5 REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK5\EZROM.CFG "Arsenal Files 3"
DISKS
Note that the disk name is the last item on each line and it begins and
ends with a double quote symbol. If the disk name is given in EZROM.MAS
this will override the disk name given in EZROM.CFG. If there is no disk
name given in either file, then a default name of "DISK x" will be
assigned where x is the disk number.
If you use AutoMenu, then each disk will be assigned a number and this
number will be used to select the disk.
If you do not use AutoMenu, then EZ-ROM will display MAIN.CLR/BBS
exactly as it has done in previous versions.
See item 12 below to customize the appearance of the AutoMenu.
2. Disk Detection. Optional. Reads volume name of the disk in the drive and
sets disk online status accordingly. Once configured, you can simply
swap disks and make NO changes to any config files. EZ-ROM will do the
rest. It will read the volume name, set the correct status for each
disk, and display the status in the menu if you also use AutoMenu. The
use of this feature is NOT recommended if you run a multi-disk changer
such as a Pioneer DRM-60X because it will cause each disk to swap in and
out every time EZ-ROM starts.
To enable this feature, you must put this command in the EZROM.CFG
for each disk:
Volume NOPV11_194
This is the volume name for Night Owl 11. Use the correct volume name
for your disk. You can get the volume name by using the DOS VOL command.
Then change your EZROM.MAS to look like this:
DISKS
1 AUTO-REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK1\EZROM.CFG "Night Owl 15"
2 AUTO-REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK2\EZROM.CFG "Pier 6"
3 AUTO-REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK3\EZROM.CFG "So Much Shareware 5"
4 AUTO-REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK4\EZROM.CFG "Cream of the Crop 6"
5 AUTO-REQ >1 0 C:\CDROM\DISK5\EZROM.CFG "Arsenal Files 3"
DISKS
The command AUTO-REQ means that the disk will be set online if the
volume name of the disk matches the volume name configured in the
EZROM.CFG file for that disk. If the volume name does not match, then
the disk will be set as requestable. You can use any one of these status
commands in place of AUTO-REQ:
ON ( always online )
REQ ( always requestable )
OFF ( always offline )
CLO ( always closed )
AUTO-REQ ( online if volume name match, otherwise requestable )
AUTO-OFF ( online if volume name match, otherwise offline )
AUTO-CLOSED ( online if volume name match, otherwise closed )
AUTO-OFF means the disk will be set offline if no volume name match.
AUTO-CLOSED means the disk will be set closed if no volume name match.
Closed means callers cannot enter the disk and cannot view the lists. If
you use AutoMenu ON, then closed disks will not appear in the main disk
menu.
The AUTO part of the command is what enables the disk detection for that
disk. The volume name will not be read unless the command includes the
word AUTO. The autodetect status of each disk is independent.
Disk detection is independent of AutoMenu. You can use either, both, or
neither. If you do use disk detection, then AutoMenu is highly
recommended so that the menu will always match.
If a disk is set AUTO, but the volume command does not appear in the
EZROM.CFG then the disk volume name will not be read and the disk will
be set to the fallback status.
3. Support for Spitfire 3.5 extended multi-line list format with additional
description lines that begin with a "smiley" character (ASCII #02) in
position 1. You can also set a limit on the number of lines displayed
per file. So even though there may be 20 lines in the description, you
can set EZ-ROM to just show say just 5 lines per file. The caller can
change the limit in the utility menu. The sysop can set the number of
lines per file using this command:
LinesPerFile 5
The default is 5 lines per file. You can use this command in EZROM.MAS
and/or EZROM.CFG. I recommend that you set it once in EZROM.MAS as an
initial value, and then let the caller make any desired changes in the
utility menu. If you set a value in EZROM.CFG then it will force it to
this value every time the caller enters that disk.
4. File list download utility. Can construct, optionally ZIP, and send a
list of all files on a disk. It constructs this list on-the-fly by
reading the config files. Fully automatic. Built-in ZIP function, does
not require PKZIP. This feature is located in the utility menu.
5. New commands in the <U>tility menu:
Set Hotkeys ON/OFF
Change Max Lines Per File
Download File List
6. Callers can now delete requested files. Sysops can now spend the time
swapping disks and copying the requested files to the hard drive and
then sit back and watch the callers delete them. I suppose this is
preferable to getting annoying messages about requests that won't go
away and then having to manually delete the files.
7. Humor removed. You know, the "funny" messages were not viewed as such by
all Sysops. I was getting kind of tired of them, too. They were sort of
funny the first 10,000 times. During an auto-logoff, some callers
actually thought they were self-destructing the BBS or something. Go
figure. I was going to put in a command: Humor OFF, but I just took it
all out to save memory and simplify the program. Score one for the
humorless drones of this world.
8. The opening logo is now only 4 simple lines long and much more subdued.
Overall, more professional looking.
9. Improved text search operation and display. Try it. Much better. File
area numbers are displayed on one line and the search does not pause
until there is a page full of matches. So when there are few matches,
you don't have to press <Enter> a bazillion times. Strike any key at any
time to halt the search.
10. New commands
Limit OFF (download limits not enforced)
ReqLimit OFF (request limits not enforced)
MultiChar 02 (sets Spitfire multiline marker character ASCII #02)
11. Fixed bugs:
Slow operation in some multitaskers.
Busy flag was not being deleted in some cases.
Requests not deleted after copy in local mode.
Auto logoff after download of requested files did not work.
12. You can customize the appearance of AutoMenu using these commands:
AutoMenuTitle The title at top of AutoMenu goes here
AutoMenuColor TOP 12 15 15 15
AutoMenuColor ONLINE 15 14 11 15
AutoMenuColor REQUEST 7 14 3 7
AutoMenuColor OFFLINE 7 14 7 7
AutoMenu automatically uses a title at the top of the screen that looks
something like this:
* Your BBS Name - Files On CD-ROM *
It gets the BBS name from the key file. If you want to use a different
title, then use the AutoMenuTitle command to define your own title.
The AutoMenuColor commands specify the colors of each item in the menu.
The default colors are shown. See below for color codes. AutoMenuColor
TOP defines the colors of the title line at the top of the menu.
AutoMenuColor ONLINE defines the colors of disks that are online.
AutoMenuColor REQUEST defines the colors of disks that are requestable.
And so on. The colors are in order as they appear onscreen. So if you
use this command:
AutoMenuColor ONLINE 15 14 11 15
then an online disk will be displayed like this:
< 1> ONLINE- Night Owl 15
The brackets will be color 15.
The 1 will be color 14
The ONLINE- will be color 11
The Night Owl 15 will be color 15.
Black.......... 0 DarkGray....... 8
Blue........... 1 LightBlue...... 9
Green.......... 2 LightGreen.... 10
Cyan........... 3 LightCyan..... 11
Red............ 4 LightRed...... 12
Magenta........ 5 LightMagenta.. 13
Brown.......... 6 Yellow........ 14
LightGray...... 7 White......... 15
*****************************************************************
REGISTRATION: Print REGISTER.DOC and send it with $30 check to:
MICHAEL ROBINSON
PO BOX 831
SHELTON, CT. 06484-4386
Or call either BBS node for fast online registration using
Visa, Mastercard, Diners' Club, Carte Blanche.
* The Soft Parade BBS - Shelton Connecticut USA
* Sysop: Mike Robinson
* Home of the EZ-ROM, SF-ROM, and MultiMenu Doors
* Online Registration Visa/Mastercard/Diners' Club/Carte Blanche
* Node 1 203-924-5603 FidoNet 1:141/485 General Public Access
* Node 2 203-922-1794 FidoNet 1:141/486 Shareware Support Only
* File Request EZROM, SFROM, or MMENU for latest versions.
* File Request EZROM.NEW, SFROM.NEW, MMENU.NEW for small text file.
* Internet: Mike.Robinson@f485.n141.z1.fidonet.org