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1992-09-08
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11KB
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266 lines
┌─────────────┐
│ LASTRUN.EXE │
└─────────────┘
Last Mail Run Bulletin
Tom Kellen
ßETATech Computer Consulting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PURPOSE: This simple utility will create both mono and color
bulletins with your BBS name and the date and time of the
last successful PCRelay, PostLink, FireNet, CircuitNET or
other network Mail Run. It will make this bulletin with
the information on up to 8 different networks. This
program should work with any BBS software as you specify
the file name of the bulletins.
INTRODUCTION:
The PCRelay and Postlink programs create a one line text file listing
the date and time of the last SUCCESSFUL mail import it does. This
is a nice feature, but I wanted a way to make a nice bulletin so that
my user's would know exactly how current the RIME messages on board
were. Hence the birth of LASTRUN.EXE. LASTRUN will create a
monochrome and a color bulletin with the file names you supply it.
This bulletin will have your BBS name and the Date and Time of the
last successful PCRelay import. If you are connected to several
different networks and are using PCRelay for all of them, it will
create this bulletin showing the information on one to eight different
networks. In version 1.8, I've added support for PostLink's
LASTTIME.TXT files. PostLink is Kip Compton's follow up program to
take PCRelay's place. The LASTTIME.TXT files are in a slightly
different format, but LASTRUN will automatically work with them.
Earlier versions of LASTRUN supported CircuitNET transfers using a
program called STAMPER. With version 2.0, I am dropping support for
STAMPER files as the same can be accomplished with the included LTFAKE
utility.
INSTALLATION:
Installation of LASTRUN is very simple. Place LASTRUN.EXE and
LTFAKE.EXE into any directory that is on the PATH. LASTRUN.EXE needs
a configuration file called LASTRUN.CFG to also be in this directory.
I have included a sample one in the ZIP that you can edit to add the
specifics for your BBS.
This configuration file should be created with an ASCII editor (like
QEdit). The configuration file uses a series of "key words" to
identify each option. Each "key word" ends with an = sign and should
be followed immediately the value for that "key word". A semi-colon
can be used to add comments to lines in the configuration file. Any
text after a semi-colon will be ignored.
Here is a sample LASTRUN.CFG:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
BBSName=The Paradigm BBS
MBulName=C:\SF\DISPLAY\ALL.BBS
CBulName=C:\SF\DISPLAY\ALL.CLR
DisMoreP=Yes
MoreP=Yes
Clear1st=Yes
Net1Name=RIME
Net1Dir=C:\PCRELAY1
Net2Name=Local Net
Net2Dir=C:\PCRELAY2
Net3Name=CircuitNET
Net3Dir=C:\SF\CN3
Net4Name=PostLink
Net4Dir=C:\POSTLINK
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The first "key word" is BBSName=. This should be followed immediately
by your BBS's name. This can be up to 40 characters long and will
show up on the first line of the bulletin.
MBulName= is the full file specification for the mono bulletin.
CBulName= is the full file specification of the color bulletin. Line
The next several options enable some Spitfire BBS display control
codes. If you use the key word DisMoreP=Yes LASTRUN will disable the
MORE prompt by placing a ^B at the beginning of the bulletins. If you
put No after this key word the ^B will not be placed in the bulletin.
SysOps of other BBS types, if ^B is not the same code for disabling
MORE on your BBS place No after DisMoreP=.
Using MoreP=Yes will re-enable the MORE prompt and force a MORE by
placing a ^E and then a ^P on the last line of the bulletins. Putting
No after MoreP= will omit these codes from the bulletin.
Clear1st=Yes places a ^L on the first line of the bulletin. Spitfire
BBS recognizes this as the code to clear the screen before displaying
the bulletin. Some other BBS's may also recognize this code as it is
the code for a form feed. Using Clear1st=No will keep this code from
being put into the bulletin.
The next several codes tell LASTRUN what the names of the networks you
use are and the directories where their LASTTIME.TXT files can be
found.
Net1Name= would be followed by the name of the first network. Network
names can be up to 30 character's long.
Net1Dir= would be followed by the directory where LASTRUN will find
the LASTTIME.TXT file for that particular network.
LASTRUN can handle up to 8 networks so you can specify names using the
codes Net1Name= through Net8Name= and their directories by using
Net1Dir= through Net8Dir=.
That is all there is for the configuration file. Next you will need
to edit the batch file that does your PCRelay or PostLink mail import
and add a line calling LASTRUN right after the line that call's
IMPORT. This will assure you that the bulletin is created with the
most up to date information. Here is an example of my PCRelay mail
run batch file.
:EVENT_H
REM RIME Network Mail Run
CD\PCR
EXPORT
CD\TC
TELIX SMAILRUN
CD\PCR
IMPORT
LASTRUN
CD\SF
That is all there is to it. IMPORT creates the LASTTIME.TXT file in
the PCRelay subdirectory with the date and time of the last successful
message import. LASTRUN.EXE reads this file and creates a bulletin
that looks like this:
╒═══════════════════════════════════════════════╕
█ │ The Paradigm BBS's │
█ │ │
█ │ Last Successful RIME │
█ │ Transfer Was At 21:01 On 09-08-92. │
█ │ │
█ │ Last Successful LocalNet │
█ │ Transfer Was At 21:02 On 09-08-92. │
█ │ │
█ │ Last Successful CircuitNet │
█ │ Transfer Was At 10:03 On 09-08-92. │
█ │ │
█ │ Last Successful PostLink │
█ │ Transfer Was At 21:04 On 09-08-92. │
█ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════════════╛
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
The size of the bulletin varies with the number of networks you run.
OPERATION:
If you have placed the call to LASTRUN into your Net-Mail batch file,
operation is totally automatic, and the bulletins will be updated
every time you do a mail transfer.
LTFAKE:
LTFAKE.EXE creates a clone of the LASTTIME.TXT file created by
PostLink. It will create this clone LASTTIME.TXT in the current
directory or you can specify the directory it should use on the
command line. LTFake will use the current date and time in this file.
This program can be used in your FireNet or other network batch files
to create a fake LASTTIME.TXT when you've had a mail run. To make
this more accurate, I would suggest using a command that checks for
the existence of your incoming mail packet. Something like this:
IF EXIST PARADIGM.FN LTFAKE C:\FIRENET
This would ensure that LTFake is only run on a successful mail run.
EPILOGUE:
This utility is being distributed under the Shareware principal. This
means you get to try this utility before your buy it. If it is useful
to you, pay the author for it, otherwise, delete it. I am trying to
create quality, low cost software so any and all contributions are
welcome. Send what you feel the utility is worth to the address below
(suggested registration is one dollar). Thanks for supporting
Shareware and keeping this type of distribution alive.
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Problems, solutions, kudos and ideas are welcomed. I can be reached
at the following:
The Paradigm BBS ßETATech Computer Consulting
404 / 671-1581 P. O. Box 566742
1200-38,400 Baud 24 Hrs/Day Atlanta, GA 31156-6013
DISCLAIMER:
Use of this program acknowledges this disclaimer of warranty: "This
program is supplied as is. ßETATech Computer Consulting disclaims all
warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, the
warranties of merchantability and of fitness of this program for any
purpose. ßETATech Computer Consulting assumes no liability for
damages direct or consequential, which may result from the use of this
program."
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
My thanks to Mike Woltz for his fine Spitfire BBS Software and for
providing sample Turbo Pascal source code for us novice programmers.
This program uses Buffalo Creek's BCShare Turbo Pascal File Locking
and Sharing routines. Thanks to John Newlin for being my mentor and
for being an inspirational programmer and providing excellent
shareware to the computing public, and to Sammy Mitchell for his
superb QEdit text editor, how can anyone do without it?
REVISION HISTORY:
23-AUG-1990 v1.0 Initial Release.
17-SEP-1990 v1.1 Added support for up to 4 different
networks.
20-SEP-1990 v1.11 Minor fix to screen info.
27-SEP-1990 v1.2 Added support for up to 8 different
networks.
29-SEP-1990 v1.3 Fixed Bug in reading 5-8 LASTTIME.TXT
04-OCT-1990 v1.4 Added support for CircuitNET & STAMPER.
11-NOV-1990 v1.5 Added Spitfire MORE display control codes.
18-NOV-1990 v1.51 Recompiled with BCShare v0.7 to correct some
error checking.
01-DEC-1990 v1.6 Recompiled with Turbo Pascal v6.0.
01-FEB-1992 v1.7 Changed the way the control characters are
entered in the bulletins to work better with
Spitfire 3.2. Added LTFAKE.EXE utility.
05-SEP-1992 v1.8 Added support for PostLink's LASTTIME.TXT.
08-SEP-1992 v2.0 Dropped internal time and STAMPER support.
Optimized code and changed configuration
file for more flexibility. Added Spitfire
Clear Screen command.