_ _ __ __ _ | \ | | _____ _____| \/ | __ _| | _____ _ __ | \| |/ _ \ \ /\ / /_ / |\/| |/ _` | |/ / _ \ '__| | |\ | __/\ V V / / /| | | | (_| | < __/ | |_| \_|\___| \_/\_/ /___|_| |_|\__,_|_|\_\___|_| v1.25 by Case of Energy Telecommunications =============================================================================== Documentation Blueprint: 1. What's it DO!?!? 2. Requirements 3. Installation 4. Operation 5. Editing of Defaults 6. Version Information 7. Bug Reports/Comments 8. Legal Stuff 1. WHAT'S IT DO!?!? This program is written for the lazy SysOp (like myself) who still wants people to *THINK* he really is on top of things. Basically, in a nutshell, it writes News Files for you in a standardized form and keeps a record of what has happened to your system. You can decide what goes in the records and what doesn't, if your news gets posted or just slapped into the record, and some other stuff that might come in handy to some of you out there. Thanks to some helpful feedback from the users of this program, I have added some things to this version that I am sure you will find useful. 2. REQUIREMENTS This program requires C-Net v3.04 or higher to operate correctly... It might work with 2.96 and higher but I'm not totally sure... So, if it doesn't work, it's yet another reason to upgrade to the latest version. You also need to make sure that Arexx is installed and operating on your system before this program can be executed. Also, make sure the CLI commands "JOIN," "COPY," and "DELETE" are somewhere in your command path. If they aren't, you probably aren't running much of anything anyway!!! 3. INSTALLATION The installation part is pretty straightforward, so here it goes.... Step 1: Edit your BBSMENU file and add the following command under ALL THE OTHERS in News/Gfiles/Pfiles: News '30-31 | {#1PFILES:BBS/NewzMaker.rexx} | ====== /|\ / | / The infamous CONTROL+Q combo!!! / These access groups should represent your SYSOP LEVELS. If your SysOp level is 23, for example, change this to '23. This is VERY important to make sure only SysOps can access this file! Step 2: Copy the file NewzMaker.rexx to PFILES:BBS/ or to whatever path you keep your non-game-type pfiles. If you DO change it to another path, be sure to reflect the change in your BBSMENU file as well! Step 3: Free up the 655k of RAM this program uses --- JUST KIDDING!!! All you have to do now is go to the pull-down menu of C-Net's Control Panel, and select TEXT/MENU RELOAD!!! That's it for the installation!!! 4. OPERATION Whenever you wish to create a News File for your callers, just enter the News area as you normally would. Now, just type NEWS (Or 'N' or Ne or New -- You get the idea!) and NewzMaker will pop onto the screen. The first time you run the program, it will create the necessary files for you automatically. If you ever want to restart your NEWS HISTORY, you can just delete the file and NewzMaker will start it over for you. This file is stored at "GFILES:NEWZ.HISTORY" so make a mental note of that. Next you will be asked for a NEWS TITLE. Enter the title of your bulletin here, you have about 60 characters. This title will appear entirely in capital letters once the bulletin is completed, so you can't use lowercase at all when making the title. Don't worry about going too far - you are restricted to the maximum limit through the prompt. Hitting return here without entering ANYTHING will exit the program. After this, according to the default setup, you will be asked if you would like to add this News Bulletin to the history file. This allows you to put only important events (Like "NEW HARD DRIVE DESTROYED BY ALIENS") in your permanent record. The permanent record saves the NEWEST entry on the top of the file, so news is from most recent to the oldest when the file is read. Lots of bulletin board systems have news from their system for months and even years in the past. This is a VERY good way to do this without a lot of hassle and forgetting things. NewzMaker automatically attaches the date to the news files, so you get a down to the day record for your users that has no real limits. Next, you get dumped into the C-Net editor that you have chosen by default. Here you will write the news file you would like the users to see. You are free to use MCI and such, but DON'T use clear screens or that type of thing. The way the records are stored, it will make things look sloppy on your end. If you REALLY want to go ahead, but honestly the BEST method to use on this file is just to enter the text PLAIN... Try a couple fantasy ones to see how it outputs the text (eg "ADDED ANOTHER 20 NODES TODAY") and you will understand why keeping the MCI to a minimum is important. One of those new features in version 1.25 is the preview. After you save the bulletin, you will be shown what the finished product will look like to your users. You then have the opportunity to decide if it's okay or not. If you don't like the way it looks or something like that, just hit NO. A second prompt will appear in this case, asking if you want to edit the bulletin again. Hitting yes here takes you back to the C-Net editor and allows you to make some touch up work, while slamming no exits the program entirely. Moving right along, after you like your bulletin, NewzMaker will go ahead and copy and append and do that program thing for a few seconds. (By the way, temporary work is done in RAM: and everything gets cleaned up afterwards!) If AUTOPOSTING is enabled (it is by default) C-Net will go right ahead and adopt the file into your News directory. If all goes well (and it should) all you REALLY need to do is hit return from the VDE and your bulletin is done. However, you might want to change the description of the file to something a little more interesting... That's basically all there is to it for the simple operation, although there are a few more things to remember... o If you have ALREADY created a Newz Bulletin and attempt to create another one with NewzMaker, it will rename the file to fit in your NEWS directory. This feature is also new for v1.25, so you can create as many newz files as you would like without having to manually rename the old one first. o You can still use C-Net's internal posting abilities for full screen news items and that sort of thing. Just do it the way you used to before, by type Post or Adding a new item into the area. o NewzMaker stores it's creations under CNET:News/System_NewsX... If you can't create another bulletin and you can't figure out why, CHECK to see if a file of this type is in the directory and wasn't adopted. BTW, 'X' above is a number, starting at 0 and working it's way up depending on how many you have in your news directory. o Simultaneous usage is a no-no! Since the files are stored in RAM: and are not saved in any port-specific manner, things could get messy if two remotes start a newz at the same time. Odds are against this ever happening, but if you are multiline it should be noted anyway. The files you should be aware of: CNET:NEWS/System_NewsX The bulletin that NewzMaker creates. CNET:GFILES/newz.history Your Newz History (Add as G-file) RAM:NewzMaker.Temp Temporary files - cleaned up afterwards. RAM:NewzMaker.Temp2 | RAM:Newz.Temp | RAM:Newz.Back | 5. EDITING OF DEFAULTS There are three default settings you can change in the file itself. They are commented and are at the very top of the file, so changing them should be no problem for anyone with a text editor. AUTOPOST (Defaults as = 1, which is 'ON') This setting determines if NewzMaker will attempt to start adopting the file it creates into your C-Net news area. If set to zero, you must manually adopt the file each time it is created. HISTORY (Defaults as = 2, which is 'PROMPT' =1 is ALWAYS, =0 is NEVER) This changes the way NewzMaker interfaces with your history file. By default, you are prompted about making additions to the history file. If you want this turned off, you can set the history on or off automatically. DELETE (Defaults as = 0, which is 'OFF') This allows you to DELETE the SYSTEM_NEWS file immediately after it is created. This feature is to be used to create entries into the HISTORY file without needing the individual files. For example, suppose you have all that has happened to your system on a calendar and want to add them into the Newz History... Turning this ON automatically disables AUTOPOST... 6. VERSION INFORMATION Version 1.0 * 29-Jul-94 : Initial public release Version 1.25 * 28-Jan-95 : Second public release - Added preview function w/re-editing possible - Automatically detect previous newz files to allow multiple newz files in the same directory - Defaults noted on prompt lines 7. BUG REPORTS/COMMENTS I appreciate all comments and bug reports for this program. I'll try to fix them as quickly as I can. Version 1.0 has proven to be quite popular (more so than I originally thought it would be!) so continued developement will be fine be me, just lemme know what you want to see added! :) Thanks for all those who made suggestions for this new version! Contact me at: case@energytele.com Internet mail (Preferred) Case@1:129/265 FidoNet Mail Case via E-Mail on FUTURE WORLD (C-Net HQ!) Energy Telecommunications (Now Six Nodes!!!) |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| |412-339-0590 (Zoom 24.0k) Registered C-Net v3.05c| |412-339-0591 (Zoom 24.0k) Circle-MUD v2.20 | |412-339-1092 (Supra 14.4) C-Net SysOp Support | |412-339-1086 (Supra 2400) FidoNet 1:129/265 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. Legal Stuff This program is released as Suggest-O-Ware, which means that if you use it frequently (as in install it on your BBS!) you are required to drop me a line letting me know so. Do this via FidoNet mail or over Future World, but please let me know. Feel free to edit the program as you see fit, but you are only permitted to distribute the ORIGINAL archive. If you want permission to use this program as a basis or part of your own program, drop me a line! Permission is granted for this archive to be distributed with public domain packages, provided any cost charged does not exceed the cost of material and labour for copying this archive. Permission is also granted for release on AmiNet or any other Internet site. Use this software at your own risk, I will not be held responsible for any damage or financial hardship because of some flaw in this program. -eof