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QWKSPC12.ARJ
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NDX.TXT
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1992-01-01
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Format of Index files
Index files are named XXX.NDX (where XXX is the conference
number padded with leading zeros to make it three characters
long. There is one *.NDX file for each conference chosen that
contains messages in the MESSAGES.DAT file.
The *.NDX file contain records five characters long that point
to each message in that conference.
NdxRecord = Record
MsgPointer: BasicReal
Conference: Byte;
End;
The BasicReal is a four byte number in BASIC MKS$ format.
The following is a sample program unit for TurboPascal that
converts between BasicReal format and LongInt format.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit BasicConvert;
Interface
Function BasicReal2Long(InValue: LongInt): LongInt;
{Convert Basic Short Reals to LongInts}
Function Long2BasicReal(InValue: LongInt): LongInt;
{Convert LongInts to Basic Short Reals}
Implementation
Function BasicReal2Long(InValue: LongInt): LongInt;
Var
Temp: LongInt;
Expon: Integer;
Begin
Expon := ((InValue shr 24) and $ff) - 152;
Temp := (InValue and $007FFFFF) or $00800000;
If Expon < 0 Then
Temp := Temp shr Abs(Expon)
Else
Temp := Temp shl Expon;
If (InValue and $00800000) <> 0 Then
BasicReal2Long := -Temp
Else
BasicReal2Long := Temp;
If Expon = 0 Then
BasicReal2Long := 0;
End;
Function Long2BasicReal(InValue: LongInt): LongInt;
Var
Negative: Boolean;
Expon: LongInt;
Begin
If InValue = 0 Then
Long2BasicReal := 0
Else
Begin
If InValue < 0 Then
Begin
Negative := True;
InValue := Abs(InValue);
End
Else
Negative := False;
Expon := 152;
If InValue < $007FFFFF Then
While ((InValue and $00800000) = 0) Do
Begin
InValue := InValue shl 1;
Dec(Expon);
End
Else
While ((InValue And $FF000000) <> 0) Do
Begin
InValue := InValue shr 1;
Inc(Expon);
End;
InValue := InValue And $007FFFFF;
If Negative Then
InValue := InValue Or $00800000;
Long2BasicReal := InValue + (Expon shl 24);
End;
End;
End.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A quick and dirty conversion (handles positive numbers only) is possible
with the following expression:
MKSToNum := ((x AND NOT $ff000000) OR $00800000)
SHR (24 - ((x SHR 24) AND $7f));
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The number contained in the MsgPointer is the record number
(128 byte records - starting numbering from record 1 not 0)
of the message header. Note that since the 1st record contains
packet header, the lowest MsgPointer that can exist is 2.
Some message readers will reformat the *.NDX files so that the
MsgPointer becomes a LongInt fileseek position (using a record
size of 1). To determine which type of index you are reading
you should look at the size of the number. Any BasicReal will
appear as a huge number that would unlikely ever be a byte
seek positon.
An additional file PERSONAL.NDX is also optionally added to the
QWK archive. This file has the same record format as the other
*.NDX files. It contains index records pointing to messages to
the caller from all conferences (ie it is used by the mail reader
to do a quick search for personal mail in all areas).