home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
ftp.wwiv.com
/
ftp.wwiv.com.zip
/
ftp.wwiv.com
/
pub
/
MISC
/
TIDE110.ZIP
/
TIDE.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1997-10-16
|
39KB
|
939 lines
Tide version 1.10 Full Screen Editor
Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997 Errol Smith
All Rights Reserved
QUICK 2 MINUTE INSTALL:
Copy the contents of this archive to a directory of your choice,
eg. "C:\BBS\TIDE\"
Load your BBS's configuration program, change the Full Screen Editor
command line to: "[drive]:\[path]\TIDE.EXE -N*N *M" where *N is the
node number & *M enables memory swapping.
eg. For Ezycom, "C:\EZY\TIDE\TIDE.EXE -N*N *M" in Messages>Misc>Ext.Editor
For Ezycom BBS's, make sure that 'Old Style MSGTMP = NO'
Exit & save your BBS setup, and test run it. If you have problems,
read the detailed installation and/or FAQ later in this file.
Contents:
1 - What is Tide?
2 - Feature Summary
3 - License Agreement & Registration
4 - Installation & Hardware/Software requirements
5 - Command reference and Features in detail
6 - Command line parameters
7 - Problems & Frequently Asked Questions
8 - Credits
9 - Contacting the author.
======================================================================
1 - What is Tide?
======================================================================
Tide is a full screen editor (FSE) for use with Ezycom,
RemoteAccess, QuickBBS, SuperBBS and other BBS systems using the
QuickBBS style of external editor interface.
Tide was originally started because I felt there was a need for a
more reliable, more efficient editor than the ones currently
available, (especially for Ezycom) none of which seemed to work
very reliably.
I also wanted an editor that fully supported Avatar0+ and made full
use of its powerful scrolling commands, which were perfect for a
full screen editor.
After about 8 months of developing and beta testing, 'Tide' is the
result!
======================================================================
2 - Feature summary:
======================================================================
- Supports both AVATAR0+ & ANSI graphics commands, making extensive
use of Avatar's screen scrolling commands.
- Extremely efficient, even low speed users can use this editor! (-:
- Doorway mode for remote connections to enable 'extended' keys
such as page up/down, ctrl-home/end etc.
- Recursive word-wrap routines & automatic paragraph handling.
- Powerful paragraph reformat routine (Ctrl-D). Will even reformat
& re-quote quoted text, fixing the dreaded 'chainsaw' effect.
- Fast spell checking routine. (Ctrl-E)
- Multi-line cut/copy/paste buffer.
- When a user runs out of time, it gives them the option to save or
abort their unfinished message. A 10 second time-out will
automatically save the message if they do not respond.
- Reads the users screen length, and adjusts the editing/quote
window sizes accordingly. [ezycom only]
- General/User help. (F1)
- Sysop/Local help. (F2)
- Importing of text files. (F3) [local only]
- Exporting to a file. (F4) [local only]
- 'To:' field name/handle search. (F5) [ezycom only]
- Reads the users record for text/quote colours. [ezycom only]
- Gives away time slices when idle for multitasking systems.
Directly supports OS/2, DESQview, Windows & generic timeslicing.
- Alt-J shell to DOS from within editor.
- Allows user to change privacy flag & message subject [ezycom only]
- Support for forwarding of messages. [ezycom only]
- Sysop (local) macros. ALT F1-F12
- Built in full screen split sysop <-> user chat. (Alt-C)
- Alter users remaining time while in editor.
- Tagline support. (optional)
- Security lockout for local/sysop keyboard functions.
- No configuration program/files needed, and no need for an
environment variable.
- Only one copy of the editor & key is needed on your system. (but
you can have multiple copies on your system without problems)
- All help screens are built in to the .EXE file.
- Unregistered version not crippled. (all features are enabled)
- Written by a BBS user -for- BBS users.
======================================================================
3 - License Agreement & Registration
======================================================================
IMPORTANT: Please read this license agreement before using this
software. By using this software you acknowledge your agreement to
the terms of this license. If you do not wish to follow the terms
of this license agreement, you must remove this software from your
system. The only portion of the Software that you may retain is the
distribution archive itself which may be used solely for
distribution purposes.
Distribution of this package is encouraged, so long as no charge is
levied for the distribution. Commercial Software Libraries may not
include Tide in their libraries, without the written permission of
the author.
The distribution archive of Tide may not be tampered with in any
way, shape or form. Conversion to another archive format is allowed
but strongly discouraged. Adding comments, headers or extra files
to the archive, or the removal or modification of any files in the
archive is NOT permitted. Modifying, reverse engineering or
disassembling of Tide executables or key files is strictly
prohibited.
Distributing the registration key or otherwise making it available
to persons other than yourself is a violation of the licensing
agreement. Copies of the registration key may be made ONLY for
backup/archival purposes.
The use of tampered versions of Tide, or the use of keys not
distributed by official registration sites is an infringement of
International Copyright Laws.
'Tide' is supplied 'as is'. This product (including any and all
files included in the original distribution archive) has no
guarantees or warranties of any kind. Apart from the likelyhood of
it taking up disk space on your system, this product promises
nothing.
The author will not be held liable for any damages caused to you or
your system by this product, whether from use, misuse or any other
factor. Every effort has been made to make this product as 'safe'
as possible, but due to the nature of Bulletin Board Systems and
computers in general, there is always the chance of damage to system
files and/or any associated hardware/software.
Registration:
This editor is NOT free. This software is shareware, meaning you
MUST pay for it if you intend to use it beyond a 30 day evaluation
period. After expiration of the 30 day evaluation period, you must
either register or remove this software from your system.
When unregistered, the editor does have some restrictions, however
it is NOT 'crippled'. All functions are enabled, allowing you to
effectively evaluate the editor before you decide to register it or
discontinue using it.
However, the editor won't let you edit a message larger than 100
lines long. The editor will regularly remind you & your users that
it is only for evaluation, and occasionally put a message to this
effect on the end of saved messages. The number of useable taglines
is also limited to 10.
When registered, all these restrictions are removed.
Registration is A$25 (Twenty Five Australian Dollars) for a single
registration and less for group registrations (2 or more people
using one payment, eg. one cheque for 3 registrations).
See the accompanying registration form for details on how to
register Tide.
======================================================================
4 - Installation & Hardware/Software Requirements
======================================================================
The only requirements for this editor are that a FOSSIL be present
for remote connections. If you are running a BBS, then you will
most likely already have one loaded, so this isn't a problem. It
has been tested with both X00 by Raw Gwinn and BNU by David Nugent.
The editor should run on any hardware, even an XT, as long as it is
running some form of DOS (3.x or higher recommended), and has been
tested under OS/2 Warp, DESQview and Windows without problems.
It will also pass timeslices to these systems to help multitasking.
Typically, at least 200k of free memory is required. In most
cases, the editor will load without the BBS doing a memory swap.
Installation is easy. Simply extract the distribution archive to
a directory on your system, (eg. C:\BBS\TIDE) and modify your BBS
configuration appropriately.
This will generally involve changing the command line for the
external editor to "[drive]:[path]\TIDE.EXE -N*N *M"
BBS detection is automatic, looking at your environment variables,
but can be overridden on the command line if you have problems (for
example, you have more than one environment variable that the
editor recognises - see "/B" under command line options)
Order of detection is:
EZY
RA
QBBS
SBBS
Whichever one it finds first will be the default. (internally, all
modes except Ezycom are identical, so the editor will work with
QuickBBS even if it finds an RA environment variable first. However
I have included the separate options for future expansion, for
example direct support of each BBS's dropfiles)
If none of these is found, the editor defaults to the QuickBBS/RA
style of editor interface, using "DORINFO1.DEF" for the user/port
info, and "MSGTMP." for the quote & message text. "MSGINF." is
optional (contains message information). All these files must be in
the current directory. See the FAQ for more info.
Ezycom files are read from the Ezycom system directory as defined
by the "EZY" environment variable. If Ezycom mode is forced and no
EZY environment variable exists, the current directory will be used.
Ezycom Installation:
In Ezycom's CONFIG, go into 'Messages > Misc > External Editor'
And set it to:
[path]TIDE.EXE -N*N *M
eg. 'C:\EZY\TIDE\TIDE.EXE -N*N *M'
Make sure that 'Messages > Misc > Old Style MSGTMP' is 'NO'.
The -N*N passes the node number (See command line options), and
the *M tells Ezycom to do a memory swap.
RemoteAccess Installation:
In RACONFIG, go into 'Options > Messages > External Editor'
And set it to:
[path]TIDE.EXE -N*N *M
eg. 'C:\RA\TIDE\TIDE.EXE -N*N *M'
The -N*N passes the node number (See command line options), and
the *M tells RA to do a memory swap.
When you register, the KEY file should be placed in the same
directory where you installed Tide, your BBS system directory,
and/or in the current (DOS) directory that the BBS operates in.
The Key file is searched for in that order.
======================================================================
5 - Command Reference & Features
======================================================================
A summary of these commands is available in the online help. Press
ESC H or F1 for general help and F2 for sysop/local help.
Edit Window:
Command: Alternative: Function:
Control-A (Ctrl-LeftArrow) Moves the cursor to the first
character of the previous word.
Control-B Change the case of the word the cursor
is on. Order is lower case; upper
case; first char uppercase, remaining
chars lower case. ie:
hello -> HELLO -> Hello -> hello .....
Control-C (Page-Down) Go down one page of text.
Control-D Reformat and re-quote the current
paragraph. The paragraph is
reformated from the current line
downwards until a blank line is
encountered.
Lines longer than the right margin
(70chars) are word-wrapped to the next
line.
Lines that are shorter than the
margin will 'pull-up' words from the
next line. This effectively
'compacts' a paragraph.
If the line the cursor is on is
quoted (ie has a '>' in the first few
characters), then that quote prefix is
used in front of all lines in the
paragraph. Also, any quote prefixes
in following lines are removed. This
effectively re-quotes the paragraph.
This is an extremely powerful command
- when used on quoted text, it will
completely eliminate the dreaded
'chainsaw effect'. After getting used
to it, you will find yourself hitting
Ctrl-D on all your quoted paragraphs
when replying to messages.
It can also be used to 'quote' an
un-quoted paragraph by adding a quote
prefix to the current line and then
running it. Transversely, it can be
used to 'un-quote' a paragraph by
removing the quote prefix from the
current line before using it.
This is similar to the Qedit command
'WrapParagraph' (Alt-B).
Control-E Run/restart spellchecker. Useful
after editing misspelled words.
Control-F (Ctrl-RightArrow) Moves the cursor to the first
character of the next word.
Control-G Paste a "<grin>".
Control-H (Backspace) Delete the previous char, scrolling
the rest of the line left.
Control-I (Tab) Move the cursor to the next tab stop.
If insert mode is on, the text in
front of the cursor will be moved
along with it.
Control-J Centre the current line.
Control-K (Esc Q) Alternative to Quote (Control-Q).
Control-L (Esc R) Redraw the screen. This can be used
if the user receives line noise to
redraw the display.
Control-M (Enter) Move the cursor to the beginning of
the next line. This will also insert
a blank line. If the cursor was not
at or past the end of the line, the
rest of the line will be moved to the
next line.
Control-N Insert a new line.
Control-O (Esc) Alternative to ESC (Activate menu).
Control-P 'Paste' a line from the multiline
cut/copy/paste buffer.
This can be used to move and/or
copy lines of text.
Control-Q (Esc Q) Switch between the quote window and
the edit window. If the quote window
is not open, it will be opened. This
will have no effect if there is
nothing to quote.
Control-R (Page-Up) Go up one page of text.
Control-S 'Save' (ie. copy) the current line
into the multiline cut/copy/paste
buffer.
Control-T Delete the current word, regardless of
where in the word the cursor is.
Control-U Delete from the cursor to the end of
the current line.
Control-V (Insert) Toggle insert/overwrite mode.
Control-W Toggle quote window. This will open
the quote window if it isn't open and
close it if it is open.
Control-X (Esc A) Abort the message and exit. You will
(Esc Esc) be asked for confirmation.
Control-Y Delete/Cut the current line. The line
is stored in a multiline buffer. You
can 'undelete' the line(s) with
control-P. (paste)
Control-Z (Esc S) Save the message and exit the editor.
Control-[ (Esc) Activate the menu.
Control-\ Quote the current line as if from
the person the message is to.
Commands for Doorway mode & Local only:
F1 (ESC H) Help Screen(s)
Page-Up (Control-R) Go up one page of text.
Page-Down (Control-C) Go down one page of text.
Control-Home Top left of edit window.
Control-End Bottom right of edit window.
Shift-Tab Reverse Tab.
Alt-X Abort message without confirmation.
Quote Window:
The following keys are for the quote window. Function is similar
to the same keys in the edit window, except where detailed.
Use Control-Q, Control-K or ESC Q to access the quote window. The
option will not be accessible if there is nothing to quote.
Command: Alternative: Function:
Control-C (Page-Down) Go down one page of text.
Control-K (Esc Q) Switch between the quote window and
the edit window.
(Alternative to Control-Q)
Control-L (Esc R) Redraw the screen.
Control-M (Enter) Quote the current line - the quoted
line that the cursor is currently on
will be copied into the edit window.
If the quotemode is insert (default),
then the quoted line will be inserted
before the current edit line. If
quotemode is overwrite, then the
quoted line will overwrite the current
edit line.
Both the current quote line and edit
line will be advanced.
Control-O (Esc) Activate the menu.
Control-Q (Esc Q) Switch between the quote window and
the edit window.
Control-R (Page-Up) Go up one page of text.
Control-V (Insert) Toggle insert/overwrite mode for
quoted lines.
Control-W Close the quote window and return to
the edit window.
Control-X (Esc A) Abort the message and exit. You will
(Esc Esc) be asked for confirmation.
Control-Z (Esc S) Save the message and exit the editor.
Control-[ (Escape) Activate the menu.
Quote Commands for Doorway mode & Local only:
Page-Up (Control-R) Go up one page of text.
Page-Down (Control-C) Go down one page of text.
Control-Home Top of quote window.
Control-End Bottom of quote window.
Alt-X Abort message without confirmation.
Menu:
Press ESC or ctrl-O to access the menu. The uppercase letter of
each function indicates which key activates the command.
Menu Keyboard
Command: Alternative: Function:
Help ESC H Display the help screens.
Save Control-Z Save the message and exit the editor.
Abort Control-X Abort the message and exit. You will
ESC ESC be asked for confirmation.
Redraw Control-L Redraw the screen. This can be used
if the user receives line noise to
redraw the display.
Quote Control-Q Switch between the quote window and
the edit window. If the quote window
is not open, it will be opened. This
will have no effect if there is
nothing to quote, and the option will
not appear on the menu.
Private Toggle the privacy status of the
message on or off (if allowed in the
current message area). [Ezycom Only]
sUbject Change the subject of the message.
(if allowed in the current message
area) [Ezycom Only]
spElling Control-E Run spell checking routine.
Enter (or any other key) Exit the menu.
Local/Sysop commands:
F1 Display help screens.
F2 Summary of local/sysop commands.
F3 Import a text file into the message. If insert is on,
imported lines will be inserted before the current line. If
insert is off, imported lines will overwrite lines starting
from the cursor. Imported text will be word-wrapped to the
right margin.
F4 Export the message text to a text file.
F5 To: field name/alias search. This will search the BBS user
base for any user who's real name or alias matches who the
message is being posted to, and display both. This is
especially useful if handles are used on your BBS. For
example, this command will tell you who someone called
'Freddo' really is. [Ezycom Only]
ALT F1-F12
Sysop macros - see the section on sysop macros below for more
information.
Alt-C Chat to the remote user. This will put you into a split full
screen chat mode. What you type and what the user types will
be in separate windows. Press ESC to exit. The users screen
will be automatically redrawn on exiting chat so don't be
afraid to use it! (-:
Alt-J Shell to DOS. Note: This may cause problems if when the
editor loads there is not much free memory.
Alt - Decrement users remaining time
Alt = Increment users remaining time
Sysop Macros:
Sysop macros are accessed by holding the ALT key and pressing
function keys F1 through F12. The macros are defined in a text file
called 'TIDE.MAC' which should be placed in the same directory as
TIDE, or the BBS system directory. The file is a simple text file
where each line corresponds to a macro key. ie the first line in
the file is the macro for ALT-F1, the second line for ALT-F2 and so
on until the 12th line for ALT-F12. The vertical bar '|' (pipe
symbol) is used to define a carriage return.
Example: the macro: 'Regards,|Errol Smith' (without the quotes) will
produce an output like...
Regards,
Errol Smith
...in the message. Use the sequence '|/s|' to save the message with
the macro. eg 'Regards,|Errol Smith|/s|' would do as above but also
save the message automatically.
Taglines:
Taglines are optional. If the file 'TIDE.TAG' exists in the Tide
directory, the BBS system directory or the current directory, a
random quote will be taken from it & added to the end of message
text. Taglines look something like:
... This is a tagline. Please steal me!
If you don't want taglines added to your messages, then simply
delete (or don't create in the first place), the file TIDE.TAG.
The file uses a custom format to store taglines, and I have
supplied a utility with the editor to convert normal ascii text
files into the format used.
The usage is dead easy:
TIDETAG.EXE [inputfile] [/E]
With no options, it will give you a little reminder of how to use
it. The default input file is straight ascii, one tagline per line.
It will also convert the Ezycom 'RUMOURS.BBS' format. To do so,
put a /E on the command line after the filename.
eg. TIDETAG RUMOURS.BBS /E
The output file will always be TIDE.TAG in the current directory.
If it already exists, it will be overwritten.
Notes:
- The "... " prefix is added by the editor, and should NOT be
part of the input text file.
- When the editor looks for TIDE.TAG, it looks in the directory
Tide was loaded from, then the BBS system directory
(as defined by the appropriate environment variable),
then the current DOS directory. This should mean only one
copy of TIDE.TAG is needed on your system.
- Input lines longer than 65 characters will be ignored.
======================================================================
6 - Command line parameters
======================================================================
Command line parameters must begin with either a '/' or a '-'
followed by a letter to indicate the option, then (in most cases) a
parameter. There must be at least one space between separate
command line parameters. Case is NOT sensitive.
eg. to define node 3 all the following will work:
/n3 /N3 -n3 -N3
All command line parameters are optional. Defaults are listed
where applicable.
- /N#
This defines which node the editor is on, '#' being the node
number:
eg /N2
This will normally be on the BBS config line as '/N*N'
Default is 1. This option is MANDATORY for multiline systems.
- /B#####
Define BBS type. This will override automatic detection
(see installation)
Where ##### is:
EZY - Ezycom
RA - RemoteAccess
QBBS - QuickBBS
SBBS - SuperBBS
OTHER - Other (QuickBBS/RA style editor interface)
Only the first letter is required, all others are ignored.
eg. /BE /BEZY /bEzy (force Ezycom mode)
This will usually only be required if you have more than one
environment variable that Tide recognises (eg. you have both EZY
& RA variables and you want the editor to load up in RA mode)
- /S[ecure]
This will disable local sysop functions such as shell-to-dos,
import, export & changing users time. This would normally be used
as a security measure in places where the BBS software is used for
local logins (eg schools), or is in a public area and you don't
want users accessing the operating system or otherwise being able
to 'hack' your system. Typically this would be used in
conjunction with similar security inside the BBS, such as the
'Keyboard Password' in Ezycom.
eg. /S /Secure /SECURE
- /V
Turn off video mode changes. Tide will by default attempt to
switch to a bigger video mode to accommodate remote users with
long screen-lengths that won't fit on the current screen mode.
(eg 50 rows). Local logins always get the full current
screenlength, regardless of their user setting.
If your BBS is already in 43/50 row mode when Tide loads, or if
none of your users have more than 24 lines then you are unlikely
to notice. Only Ezycom passes the screenlength, so other BBS
systems will have no need for this switch.
This switch would generally only be used under a multitasker.
(eg. Desqview may switch to graphics mode to accommodate large
windows, which can get annoying)
- /H
Disable high ascii. (ascii codes > 127 decimal) This will stop
users entering high ascii in messages. The default is to allow
high ascii.
(Under Ezycom, high ascii is not allowed if the user has ibm
extended chars off. However other BBS systems have no way of
'telling' the editor whether to allow high ascii or not.)
- /F########.###
If you are using a BBS system that uses a filename other than
"MSGTMP." to contain the message text, then this can be used to
override the default ("MSGTMP." for RA/QuickBBS, or "MSGTMP.nnn"
for Ezycom, where nnn is the nodenumber)
eg. /Fmsgtxt.xyz
- /R##
This defines the maximum number of rows available for editing.
ie the maximum length of the message in lines.
eg /R20 will limit all messages to a maximum of 20lines.
- [filename]
Putting a filename FIRST on the command line will override
everything else and bring the editor up in local mode, with the
[filename] loaded into the quote window.
This will enable you to use the editor with an offline reader,
for example BlueWave. (in theory (: )
eg. TIDE message.txt
======================================================================
7 - Problems & Mini F.A.Q.
======================================================================
The editor won't load!
Double check your BBS setup. Make sure that the command line is
correct, and that you are enabling the memory swap. (eg. *M)
Also make sure that the editor actually IS where you tell the BBS
it is. (eg if you are loading the editor from a ramdisk, make sure
that the .EXE is there and that your startup copies the editor
.EXE to the ramdisk)
The editor loads, but I get "WARNING!! CAN'T FIND 'MSGINFO.nnn'" or
"WARNING!! CAN'T FIND 'EXITINFO.nnn'" (possible Ezycom problem)
- The editor thinks you are running under Ezycom when you aren't -
Force the BBS type with the /Bx command line or get rid of your
EZY environment variable.
- Your EZY environment variable doesn't exist, or contains the
wrong path to your BBS system directory.
- The node number is not being passed to the editor properly.
Check you have the /N*N command line parameter. This would be
indicated by the extension of either filename not being the
correct number for that node.
- You're running Ezycom, and haven't set:
'Messages > Misc > Old style MSGTMP'
to "NO" in your BBS configuration. Fix it!
I'm using Ezycom, and the editor appears to work, but the message
doesn't get saved properly, and/or there is no text to quote.
You haven't set 'Messages > Misc > Old style MSGTMP' to "NO" in
your BBS configuration. Fix it!
The editor only works on node 1.
You aren't correctly passing the node number to the editor. Make
sure that you have the /N*N parameter on the editor command line.
Alternatively, you have incorrectly setup the command line for
your other node(s).
I get a run-time error when I try to do a shell-to-dos (alt-J) from
inside the editor.
There is not enough free memory to do a shell after the editor has
loaded. If you want to shell to dos, exit the editor first &
shell from within your BBS software. (remember to save the users
message first..) Alternatively, enable the memory swap when the
editor is loaded (if you haven't already).
The paragraph reformat routine (Ctrl-D) leaves some of the quote
prefix (usually the initials) in the paragraph when I run it on
quoted lines; or the reformated paragraphs don't line up with
unformated ones.
The quote prefix has a space between the initials and the ">", or
is missing a space before and/or after the quote prefix. Go to
your BBS setup and change the quote prefix to: " @> " or " > "
ie. a space, the initials (optional), a greater than sign, then
another space. This is the (unofficial) fidonet standard as
defined in FSC-0032.TXT.
There aren't enough lines available for editing big messages, and it
occasionally puts annoying 'unregistered' taglines on my messages!
Simple solution. Register!
Why is it called 'Tide'?
'tide' is 'edit' backwards. Get it? (-:
Can I use it with a BBS system other than Ezycom, RA, QuickBBS or
SuperBBS??
Yes, if your BBS software uses the RA/QuickBBS system of external
editor handling.
That is, 3 files in the CURRENT directory:
DORINFO1.DEF - standard drop file containing line/user info
MSGTMP. - (no extension) An ascii file. If it exists when the
editor loads, it will contain the quoted text.
When the editor exits, this file will contain the
saved message (or not exist if message aborted)
(The name of this file can be overridden on the
command line - see /F in command line parameters)
MSGINF. - (no extension, optional) A text file containing
message information:
line 1: Who the message is FROM
line 2: Who the message is TO
line 3: Message subject
line 4: Message number } Where message is being
line 5: Message area } posted. (not used in editor)
line 6: Private flag ("YES" or "NO")
If your BBS software does not support this method of using the
external editor, there may be 3rd party utilities to make your
system 'emulate' them.
Of course it will also work with other BBS systems using Ezycom's
advanced FSE handling, but I don't know of any at the moment! (-:
I want it to load faster! -
- Put the editor in a RAMDisk. Even over a network, this will
usually decrease load time significantly. Putting it in a local
ramdisk on each machine on your network will make the most
difference. The editor doesn't care where it gets loaded from,
so you can have multiple copies on different machines.
Alternatively, if you don't want to/can't have a RAMdisk on each
machine in your network, then having a copy on each machine's
local hard drive will still speed things up.
- Try disabling the memory swap when the editor loads. (this
usually involves removing the *M from the command line). This
will make a noticeable difference especially if your system
swaps memory out to disk.
This may or may not work, depending on how much memory your OS
& BBS software uses up. Try it, and if the editor runs
reliably, then leave it that way!
In most cases, Tide WILL run without a memory swap. However, a
Dos-shell from within the editor when the BBS is not swapped out
will not leave much memory for the shell. You have been warned!
======================================================================
8 - Credits & Support/Beta sites
======================================================================
Many thanks go to the following people for beta-testing, bug
hunting, many suggestions & general hassling:
Dave Chapman (The Web BBS)
Peter Davies (Author of Ezycom)
Darren Gibbs (Way Out West BBS)
Simon Phillips (Zzap BBS)
Scott Farrell (Blue Marlin BBS)
Phillip Dean (Eagle's Nest BBS)
Robert Wilson (Restless BBS)
Alistair Simpson (Satellite BBS)
Neil Lees (Altered Reality)
Support/Beta test sites -
The latest version of Tide should be available from any of the
following BBS systems. It should also be available on any other
Ezycom support site. It is also being distributed via the Ezycom
file distribution network.
The Web 61-2-528-5941 (Dave Chapman)
Way Out West 61-2-628-8888 (Darren Gibbs)
Restless 61-45-76-6185 (Robert Wilson)
Blue Marlin 61-47-76-1211 (Scott Farrell)
Altered Reality 61-3-887-2115 (Neil Lees)
======================================================================
9 - Contacting the author
======================================================================
If you have any suggestions or comments about Tide, then feel free
to contact me.
If you are having problems with it, PLEASE read the Problems/FAQ,
and check your setup. I don't like to tell people to RTFM! (-:
When reporting a problem, please give me as much information as
possible, including the version number that you are using. If the
problem results in a run-time error, please tell me the error code &
procedure name that are displayed by the error handler. Telling me
only "It doesn't work!" is not very helpful in fixing the problem!
I can be contacted as 'Errol Smith' in the Ezycom_Utilities,
Ezycom_Support & Ezycom_Development fidonet echoes. The
Ezycom_Utilities echo is the preferred echo. Please do not post in
the other areas unless you do not receive the Utilities echo.
(Utility support is technically off-topic in the other echoes).
Netmail/crashmail to my point address: (preferred)
Errol Smith, The Web BBS, 3:712/523.5 (fidonet)
Or netmail/crashmail to 'Errol Smith' at The Web BBS:
Line 1: 61-2-528-5941 (v34, Mailer, Crashmail)
FidoNet - 3:712/523
Adventure - 169:3005/2
WorldNet - 61:9600/350
E-mail:
errol@ros.com.au
World Wide Web:
http://www.ros.com.au/~errol/tide.html
Or via snail-mail (post) to:
Errol Smith
PO Box 119
Round Corner, NSW, 2158
Australia