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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Maximus Copyright 1997 │
│ User Documentation cooke@playcom.com │
│ Editor Written by: Larry Cooke │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
As much as I have tried to make this program usable without docs, it
has become necessary due to the complexity of the beast. As they say,
documentation is the worst part for a programmer and I guess I'm no
exception to this saying... Hopefully I'll cover the basics without
boring you too much.
There are five files in this archive, MUE.DOC, MUE(p).EXE, MUE.HLP,
MUEDESC.ZIP, and HISTORY.TXT. The MUE.HLP file is a text file that you
can edit to suit your needs. This file is what's displayed when you
press the F1 key in MUE.
MUEDESC.ZIP contains a sample Mex and Mecca file that allows you to
utilize the add description feature (/a#). If you have a need to add
a description to users on your system automatically then check this
archive out.
MUE can be ran from any directory, however you must either have the
MAXIMUS environment set or provide the path and file name to your
MAX.PRM file with the command line switch /M. MUE's logic when first
loading is to use command line switches with priority over the MAXIMUS
environment setting, if no command line switch is specified then it
looks in the current directory, lastly it will use the MAXIMUS
environment. The bottom line is MUE must know where your MAX.PRM file
is, with out it MUE will just waste disk space. :-) The same logic
applies to the USER.BBS file (or whatever name you use.)
MUE will look in the current directory for the MUE.CFG and MUE.HLP
files. If they don't exist there, then it will be assumed they are in
the same directory as your USER.BBS file. For those that don't want
them in the \MAX directory, or where ever you keep the USER.BBS file,
you'll need to start MUE in the directory where you want them stored.
Make a backup copy of your USER.BBS and USER.EXT files prior to running
MUE! I have done a lot of testing with this version to be sure it
won't harm anything, but as usual, your mileage could vary. Keep one
thing in mind, if you decide to delete a valid user you will wipe out
his last read pointers and his MTag file (the message tag list for the
OLR.) I recommend appending a new test user and then playing with that
record.
──────────────────────────── Licensing: ───────────────────────────────
Use of MUE follows the same guidelines as Maximus. It's free for non-
commercial users, if your are a commercial user then you must register
this program. Registration fee's are $25.00 for site licenses. Contact
me at cooke@playcom.com or 1:300/53 on how to obtain a license.
───────────────────── Key Presses and their uses: ─────────────────────
For the most part this section is a long winded version the MUE.HLP
file included in the archive. However some keys may not be listed in
the help file and perhaps some more detail on the keys and uses may be
of help here.
= (equal) - Toggles the displaying of user passwords. Note that
sysop level user passwords are not displayed. This
is a minor security attempt for prying eyes. In all
cases (except when encrypted passwords are used) the
password is displayed when editing a password.
^P or | - (Control-P) Packs/Purges the user base.
^R - (Control-R) Restore purged users.
^S - (Control-S) Sort the user base.
ALT-(Key) - This toggles the current users (key). Example ALT-K
toggles the K key.
ESC - Toggles the main menu.
F1 - Displays the MUE.HLP (help) text file.
PageDn - Jump/decrement 10 users down from the current user.
PageUp - Jump/increment 10 users up from the current user.
Dn or Rt - Display the next user record.
Up or LF - Display the previous user record.
1 or Home - Jumps to the first user record.
A - Change the current users access level.
C - Change the current users compression method.
D or DEL - Toggles the Delete flag for the current user.
E - Edit non hotkey fields.
F - Change the current users flags.
G# - Go to user #.
H - Change the current users Help Level.
J or END - Jumps to the last user record.
K - Change the current users keys. Using this option will
display the key values as set in the Configuration >
Key Labels menu option. Keys can also be toggled by
pressing ALT-(key). See ALT-(Key) above.
L - Change the current users Language.
N - Change the current users Nulls.
P - Toggle the current users PERM flag.
R - Change the current users Message/File Area.
S - Search menu.
T - Change the current users Transfer protocol.
V - Change the current users Video Mode.
W - Change the current users Password.
X - Change the current users EXpiration settings.
──────────────────────── Command Line Switches: ───────────────────────
First off, you can run MUE and pass the /H switch for the command line
switch help. This yields basic help/instructions for the different
switches.
/a## f Adds a description to user. This only works when the user
is online. The ## is the node number, if running multi-node.
MUE will search for a LASTUS##.BBS file and if found it will
add the description from the f text file (file name must be
passed after the /a## value with at least one space!)
PLEASE NOTE that this option will overwrite any description
in the users description, it does not allow you to append!
Example: MUE /a00 USERDESC.TXT or MUE /a USERDESC.TXT
Above will add the text from the USERDESC.TXT file to the
user in the LASTUSER.BBS file.
Example: MUE /a01 USERDESC.TXT
Above will look for LASTUS01.BBS and add the text from the
USERDESC.TXT file.
Notes: Text is limited to 165 characters, text beyond the
165 characters length are truncated (ignored.)
If the text is on one single line in the file, MUE
will word wrap lines longer than 55 characters.
On the other hand, if you have multiple lines of
text in the file, then MUE will ignore text after
the third line. Try to think in terms of how the
text is displayed while in MUE.
Sample 1:
This is all on one line in the text file passed to MUE(p).
Above would be displayed in MUE like this:
┌──────────────────────┤Description:├─────────────────────┐
│ This is all on one line in the text file passed to │
│ MUE(p). │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sample 2:
This is the first line of info.
This is the second line.
This is the third line.
This is the fourth line.
Above would be displayed in MUE like this:
┌──────────────────────┤Description:├─────────────────────┐
│ This is the first line of info. │
│ This is the second line. │
│ This is the third line. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Note that the fourth line is ignored. As well, word wrapping
doesn't occur. However, if one of the lines were longer than
55 characters, then word wrapping would occur. It's possible
the third line could be (partially) truncated depending on
which line was longer than 55 characters. Some experimentation
is on order if you're trying to get fancy here.
For some examples on how to utilize this feature, check out the
MUEDESC.ZIP file.
/b This runs MUE in Monochrome mode. Essentially Black & White.
Example: MUE /b
/c Configuration file switch. This allows you to specify a path
and file name to your .CFG file. Useful for having multiple
configuration files or keeping the .CFG file in a directory
other than the \MAX directory.
Example: MUE /cD:\MAX\MUE02.CFG
/g### Go to user ###.
Example: MUE /g201
/m Maximus .PRM switch, default is the MAXIMUS environment
variable. Use this to override or replace the MAXIMUS
environment variable.
Example: MUE /mD:\MAX\MAX.PRM
/p Purge the USER base. This will purge users based on settings
in the Global > Purge Settings menu as well as users marked
deleted. This switch as well as the pack/purge commands
within MUE also pack the USER.EXT file. Useful in nightly
maintenance batches.
Example: MUE /p
/sm[s] Sort the user base. This switch will sort the user base and
SAVE it that way. Useful in nightly maintenance batches.
*********READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU USE THIS SWITCH!*********
When saving the user base after sorting it, the USER.IDX
file MUST BE DELETED! MUE will do this automatically,
however, if you sort the user base in a temporary directory
and move it manually, you must delete the USER.IDX file.
Failing to delete this file will yield mixed results when
Maximus is ran. Typically Maximus will only see YOUR record
and the second record in the user base. Deleting the USER.IDX
file will not harm anything as Maximus recreates it the next
time it is ran.
The m field is the Major sort option and [s] is the optional
secondary sort option. Keys for these are simply the hotkey
characters used within the Sort menu as shown below:
1 = 1st Name M = Message Area
L = Last Name B = DOB
A = AccessLvl I = AlIas
C = City S = LaSt Call
P = Phone # # = # Calls
T = DaTa # D = DnLoad Kb
F = File Area U = UpLoad Kb
For example: MUE /sal
Will sort the user base by Access level and then by last name
as a secondary sort within the access levels. Note that you
may have mixed results with the secondary sort option. Some
major sorts don't lend well to secondary sorts. This was
implemented mostly for sorting by names within the Access
Level sort.
/u User base switch. Use this to override the MAX.PRM setting.
Useful for testing purposes more than anything else.
Example: MUE /uD:\MAX\USER.BBS
────────────────────── Files created/used by MUE: ─────────────────────
First of all MUE requires a Maximus version 3.0x USER.BBS file, second
it requires your MAX.PRM file. Due to the flexibility of Maximus 3.0x,
the MAX.PRM file is an absolute necessity for MUE. For this reason, you
must have an environment variable set for Maximus or you need to pass
the path and file name to your MAX.PRM file. See the command line
switch, /m, on how to pass it to MUE.
Other files created/used are MUE.CFG, MUE.HLP, USER.BAK, USER.EXT,
USER.EXB, and USER.PRG.
MUE.CFG is where your configuration settings are stored.
MUE.HLP is a flat ASCII text file that is displayed when F1 is pressed.
This file can be custom configured to suit your personal needs, the
only limitation are the file cannot exceed 21 lines or have lines
longer than 80 characters. Any text outside of these limits are simply
truncated.
USER.BAK is created when packing or purging the user base. It's simply
a backup of your USER.BBS file prior to packing/purging.
USER.EXT is where MUE stores any user descriptions. This file is
compatible with UEDIT, so if you used it with UED then you'll still
have your descriptions.
USER.EXB is simply a backup of the USER.EXT file prior to packing/
purging users.
───────────────────────── Configuration Menu: ─────────────────────────
Color Options:
This option may be misleading, you cannot actually set colors per se,
rather you can only choose predefined color settings. Mono is the
choice for monochrome monitors. Color1 or Color2 are of course for
systems with a color monitor.
Date Format:
Here's where you choose your date format for any displayed date field.
Choices are MM/DD/YY, DD/MM/YY, or YY/MM/DD.
Key Labels:
Here's where you can define the purpose of the keys as used on your
system. The definitions are displayed when you choose the 'K' Keys
hotkey while viewing a user record. They're displayed in the Expire
field (above the Keys field).
Log File Name:
Specifying a file name here will turn on logging when packing/purging
the user base.
Show Password:
This option toggles whether or not passwords are displayed while
viewing user records. This can be toggled via the '=' key as well.
Note that Sysop level users passwords are not displayed. This is a
minor attempt at security for any prying eyes. If you really need to
view a Sysop level users password then you need to edit it using the W
hotkey. You can of course just press ESC to abort any changes after
viewing it.
1Sort Ascend/Descend:
Toggling this will determine whether or not the Major sort is ascending
or descending.
2Sort Ascend/Descend:
Toggling this will determine whether or not the Secondary sort is
ascending or descending.
SOund:
This option toggles sound, some pop-up boxes beep if on.
SaVe Settings:
Save your settings to the MUE.CFG file. All settings in the
Configuration as well as the Global > Key and Global > Purge Settings
menus are saved via this option.
────────────────────────────── File Menu: ─────────────────────────────
Append Record:
This menu choice allows you to add a new user record. It defaults to a
user name of "New Record Created by MUE". Default settings via Maximus
are also set, such as Message area, File area, and Access level. It's
up to you to fill in the blanks beyond this.
Pack User File:
Pack/Purge the user base file. Settings in the Global > Purge Settings
are also processed with this choice.
Restore a User:
Have you ever deleted a user and wished there a way to put them back?
If so, then look no further! :-) You now have the ability to do it
assuming you used MUE to delete/purge it.
Choosing this option loads the USER.PRG file and allows you to TAG
user(s) to restore. After tagging (pressing the space bar), press
escape and you'll be prompted to restore them. Keep in mind that any
descriptions you may have had for the user(s) were lost in the pack/
purge process and cannot be restored.
───────────────────────────── Global Menu: ────────────────────────────
Key Settings:
This menu choice allows you to do a mass/global change on users keys.
First you need to choose which access levels to act on, second is the
keys you want to turn on or off.
It should be straight forward for the access levels, either they're ON
or OFF. ON means they're processed, OFF are not.
Key settings are -, ON, or OFF. Key(s) set to '-' are ignored, keys
set to ON are turned on for all access levels set to ON, and keys set
to OFF are turned off for access levels set to ON.
Once you make your choices, pressing control-P prompts you to process
them.
Purge Settings:
This menu is where you set the purge settings. Access levels set to
NO are not processed.
If an Access level is set to YES then MUE looks at the number of days.
Users that have called less than number of DAYS are purged unless
they have exceeded the number of CALLS.
Note that values of 0 for DAYS or CALLS are ignored. Here's some
examples:
ACS = NO This level is ignored completely,
regardless of DAYS or CALLS.
ACS = YES DAYS = 0 CALLS = 0 This level is ignored completely,
because DAYS are set to 0 and
CALLS are also set to 0.
ACS = YES DAYS = 10 CALLS = 0 Callers in this level are purged
if they haven't called for 10
days or longer regardless of how
many times they have called.
ACS = YES DAYS = 30 CALLS = 10 Callers in this level are purged
if they haven't called for 30
days or more and have only called
10 or less times.
Save As Sorted:
************READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU USE THIS MENU CHOICE!************
When saving the user base after sorting it, the USER.IDX file MUST BE
DELETED! MUE will do this automatically, however, if you sort the user
base in a temporary directory and move it manually, you must delete the
USER.IDX file. Failing to delete this file will yield mixed results
when Maximus is ran. Typically Maximus will only see YOUR record and
the second record in the user base. Deleting the USER.IDX file will
not harm anything as Maximus recreates it the next time it is ran.
This option is only available if the user base has been sorted. This
will save the user base as sorted.
Sort User File:
Here's where you can sort the user base. This does a sort of the base
in memory, if you want to save the base as sorted then you need to use
the Global > Save As Sorted menu option.
There is an option to sort on a secondary field. Highlight the field
you want to sort as a secondary basis and press the space bar. This
will mark the field with >< characters to indicate your choice.
Highlighting a field and pressing enter will sort the user base based
on the field highlighted. This is the major sort, in other words the
entire base is sorted on the field you press enter on. Secondary sorts
sort within the major sort. For example, if you choose Last Name for
the secondary sort, and do the major sort on AccessLvl, the the entire
base is sorted by the AccessLvl. The users within the AccessLvl's are
then sorted by their last name.
There are options that determine whether or not the sorts are done in
ascending or descending order. These can be set from within the
Configuration menu, look at the 1Sort and 2Sort options.
─────────────────────────────── Credits: ──────────────────────────────
Before I forget, I have to give credit to Gary Zarzycki for a lot of
the nuts and bolts in this program. There are too many to list here,
but suffice it to say that were it not for him this program wouldn't
be where it is now (if ever), thanks Gary!
For the second color option, I thank Gary Gilmore. I liked it so much
I bought the company! :-) Okay I just implemented the colors, but I
do like them more than my original choice. See the COLOR2 option in
the Config Menu > Color Options for his suggestion.
There are lots of others that have contributed and I apologize for not
mentioning their names here, though a lot of them are mentioned in the
history.txt file. Thanks guys!
And of course I can't forget Scott Dudley for creating and maintaining
Maximus, thanks Scott!