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Text File | 1987-09-10 | 14.8 KB | 358 lines

SCREEN FORM SYSOP ___________________________________ ___________________________________ for OPUS & FIDO version 6.6 Copyright (c) 1987 by Mark W. Buse _____________________________________________________________________ COMMAND SYNTAX: C>sf_sysop [ /CFHLNS ] filespec Description of command options: C - CLEAN RECORDS Option causes the program to clean up the NAME, CITY, and PASSWORD string fields as the data file is loaded. F - FLICKER If used, the program will perform a port check for CGA display modes when doing screen writes to prevent hashing and snow; and the display writing will be slightly slower. This option is relevant only when the STANDARD I/O option is not used. H - HIDE PASSWORDS Passwords may be hidden when the program starts with this option. They may then be revealed and/or hidden again by pressing the 'H' key. L - LAST-NAME-FIRST This option controls sorting order. If used, user records will be sorted on a last-name-first basis. The normal sorting mode uses the whole name when determining order. N - NO PROTECTION The program will normally ingore keypresses which would make inputs syntactically incorrect. This option allow the user to remove that protection from string inputs. In that way, certain specialized control records can be created or modified. S - STANDARD I/O If this option is used, all program display will be done through standard DOS I/O. That will give the program compatibility with generic MS-DOS. Standard I/O may also be redirected to a serial port by using the CTTY command or by executing the program as follows: >SF_SYSOP /S <COM1 >COM1 7 - SEVEN-BIT I/O Non-IBM remote sysops can use the program when this mode is active because standard text characters are used for the display form's borders rather than IBM graphics characters. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Interractive program commands not listed in the menu: R - Locate a specific RECORD by relative record number. ctrl-R - Refresh the display. _____________________________________________________________________ Program operation description: - This program simply will not allow you to foul up your data file. You may notice, when running the program, that you simply cannot enter strings that are too long or number amounts that are too large or small. For numbers that would become to large if the next numberic character was accepted, that keypress will be ignored. If a number is too small, the enter key will be ignored until the number is either large enough, or the input is blank. - For blank inputs, the previous value of the field that would have been changed is generally assumed. In that way, if you mistakenly start out to change a field, the return key will get you out of the change immediately. Rubbing out new data and pressing return will also work (try a few experiments to see how it works). - Sorts employ the shell sorting algorithm to rearrange POINTERS to the records that are in memory - not the records themselves. That way, you can sort a huge user file almost instantly because the program has moved only the few bytes of memory taken up by the pointer array. _____________________________________________________________________ Improvements as of 6.6 (9/10/87): - Direct-to-memory string writes improved. - Better standard I/O method coded. - Preparations for translation to Turbo C. Improvements as of 6.5 (8/5/87): - 7-bit display mode with '/7' command line option. - Passwords may be hidden from sysop view with '/H' command line option and 'H' interractive command. - Standard I/O performance improved slightly. - Cursor movement keys may now be used to select records. Improvements as of 6.3 (6/22/87): - Standard I/O has been functionally perfected (hopefully) - Netmail user records with names beginning in 'ecHO' will always be sorted to the beginning of the user file and will never be marked for deletion by the DELETE OLD USERS command. Other specialized records can be handled in the same manner. If you know of other such types, please let me know. Improvements as of 6.1 (5/19/87): - SF_SYSOP is one program again with a command switch option "S" to allow the user to select STANDARD I/O mode. When this mode is active, the program will use only universal DOS calls for its display and keyboard input. These are both redirectable allowing the user to operate the program remotely as well. Additionally, the both DOS call and direct-video sections have been improved slightly for better performance. Improvements as of 6.0 (5/18/87): - A second program (SF_TTY.COM) has been added for use with serial ports and systems not 100% PC-compatible. The second program employs standard console I/O through DOS function calls. The original program (SF_SYSOP.COM) retains its direct-to-screen-RAM display procedures (untouched) for speed. Improvements as of 5.6 (3/13/87): - "C" command option now causes user records to be cleaned as they are loaded from problem user files. - All data input points now show the maximum size of the input values that will be permitted through the use of graphics characters. - Bug popped up in integer displays due to improvements made in version 5.3. Improvements as of 5.3 (3/3/87): - new "L" command option controls the way in which the record sort will operate. If /L is used, the program will sort on a last-name-first basis. - With command option "L" in place, the user is not prompted for a sort-type decision every time that function is used. - Sorting, purging, and searching functions have been improved through significant reductions in program procedure overhead. Improvements as of 5.2 (3/2/87): - New copyright notice & mailing address page - CTRL-R menu option allows the user to refresh the display if it has been disrupted. - Correction of a bug in version 5.1 which caused the program to ignore the last record in the file that it was loading Improvements as of 5.1 (2/27/87): - Fixup of section which outputs the user file in a text format - Recombination of Opus and Fido versions - "N" command option added to allow users to turn off string fixing. This will now allow network user records to be created for Opus. - "F" command option allows users with old-style CGA-type cards to avoid display hashing and snow - /NF or /FN enables both options Improvements as of 5.0 (2/26/87): - Full protection from errors which occur during user file writes is now in place. The program will prompt for an alternative file name if the original file could not be written to disk completely. Pressing return at the filename prompt indicates that you wish to try the original file again. In any case, the aborted file will be closed to preserve as much information as possible if a total program abort becomes necessary. - The work file may now be specified as a command line parameter. For example "sfs_opus C:\user.bbs" and "sfs_opus test." may both be used. - Fields in bad file records are either corrected automatically or easier to fix. Even though most numeric inputs default to their original value, that will not be the case for existing values outside the acceptable range. Improvements as of 4.3 (2/25/87): - Extraneous spaces cannot be entered into string inputs. The program will ignore all extra spaces. - Implementation of a better version of the Shell sort should improve performance slightly. The change should not be noticable. - The program will not bomb if it cannot properly write to the text file specified for user file table output. - More cosmetic changes - removal of unecessary prompts. Improvements as of 4.2 (2/24/87): - Display widths up to 132 columns are now allowed. - Display lengths as small as 8 lines and as large as 255 lines are now allowed. Its is unlikely that the page length for any display device will exceed 255 lines. Therefore if one does, the user should simply turn off the MORE option in his account. The Fido user file record format provides only one byte to store the display length parameter. Therefore, it is impossible to provide for page lengths greater than 255 without kludges in the BBS program itself. For example, OPUS could decide that values greater than 240 would correspond to a table of very large page sizes like 1000,1500,2000, etc. Not a worthwhile prospect in my opinion. Improvements as of 4.1 (2/23/87): - Area at screen botton is now highlighted. - Screen form attributes are applied to the screen memory before the form is displayed for a cleaner start-up look. - More internal efficiency improvements. - Minor changes were made in the sort algorithm. The user file will now be ordered primarily by USER NAME in ascending order. Also, if the user file being viewed still exists after the reorganization, the program will move to its new location after the operation is completed or the first viewable record if it has been deleted. Improvements as of 4.0 (2/18/87): - Full protection from heap memory overflows - the program will now bar the insertion of new records beyond its capacity given the memory provided to the program. The largest user file I have tested was over 256k. - Complete control over OPUS user flag extensions for ANSI graphics and formfeeds has been added with two new commands. - The text file table which can be produced from the user file now includes most user record fields. A few items which tend to be irrelevant for OPUS management and change daily were excluded. Improvements as of 3.3: - Fix of a fault which cropped up in the integer keyboard input routine. Part of the problem was due to the way that Turbo Pascal handles intermediate numeric values in IF-THEN statements. Improvements as of 3.2: - User name and user location fields have been expanded to the full field size of 36 characters (only 20 previously). This should help sysops who need a closer match to the original Fido sysop utility. - User access level names have been returned to standard Fido values (TWIT, DISGRACE, NORMAL, PRIVEL, EXTRA, and SYSOP). OPUS values ASSTSYSOP and HIDDEN have also been added. - The screen format has been cleaned up to accomplish these ends. Improvements as of 3.0: - The display controller status register for CGA-compatible displays is now checked for display-enable. This has the effect of eliminating the irritating snow that the program previously caused on some CGA display systems. - Memory deallocation handling has been improved. Past versions of the program did not free up memory that had been allocated to purged records. In theory, the program could have bombed after a great number of record deletions and insertions. _____________________________________________________________________ STILL ON THE WISH LIST: - Maybe full screen editing of fields using cursor keys to move the cursor between fields - depends on interest in the program _____________________________________________________________________ Suggested contribution: At the very least, please send me a note with your comments about the program. If you believe that this program has helped you to operate your Fido or Opus BBS more comfortably and effectively, I ask that you please send a $15 contribution to show your appreciation for my efforts. Mailing address: Mark Buse 240 Bridgeway Everett, WA 98201 Voice phone: 206-259-1953 Data phone: 206-259-5070 (equipment online currently only if pre-arranged by voice contact) Remember that any response is appreciated. I will try to acknowledge all mail. I usually call contributors to send them the latest version. Thankyou for taking the time to read this document.