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-
- Ezycom V1.01 Whatsnew?
-
- Commercial Customers Note:
- This version does NOT require an upgrade fee.
-
- The first version after release. Many features have been added
- to this version, it is not merely a bug fix. Only,
- a handful of bugs were found in the release version which was
- very gratifying. Please read this document completly before
- installing the new version. If, you do have problems understanding
- the "whatsnew", please read the documentation first, before querying
- us, as this is a cut down version of documentation. You must run
- CONFIG to update the configuration files, before running the new
- version.
-
- DO NOT RUN INSTALL if you are upgrading from a PREVIOUS EZYCOM VERSION,
- that will overwrite your current configuration if you do so!!!!!
- Anything you wish to get out of it, simply just copy it over after
- unarcing it.
-
- o 100TO101.EXE must be run to update group, menu and
- user information.
- Before any conversion, it is ALWAYS recommended that you
- backup.
-
- o If, 100to101.exe did not delete ONLINE.BBS or PROTOCOL.EZY, then
- you MUST delete these files, for V1.01 to function correctly.
-
- o The CONFIG must be run to rebuild PROTOCOL.EZY
-
- o FEdit can now view GIFs, JPGs, ARCs, PAKs, ZIPs, ARJs, LZHs,
- ZOOs and text files using the Alt-V command. Example Batch
- files are contained in SETUP.ARJ
- All examples for FEdit usage begin with FED, eg FEDGIF.BAT.
- Also, Swapping code has been added to FEdit to enable systems
- that are tight on memory, to run the batch files. It is
- configurable in Files Areas->Misc. As usual, the swapping code
- allows, None, DISK, EMS or XMS.
-
- o The file area configuration information can now be exported
- to FILES.TXT in the systempath using EZYUTIL -EXPORT -FILEAREA
-
- o Full Screen ANSI/AVATAR Chat implemented. To stop the chat from
- working, simply hold down the "Shift" key, while activating the
- chat. Eg Shift-Alt-C
-
- o Message Base Statistics generator now included in EzyUtil.
- Ezyutil -MBS -A<area>
- This will export message <area> to a text file STAT<area>. This
- could be possibly later imported with Ezyutil -import to place
- it in the message area.
- See "EzyUtil -?" for quick help, or the documentation for more
- substantial help.
- This is the same as "EMBS" utility.
-
- o A Comment Text File header can now be added to each file area.
- Simply place a "FILExxx.ASC" in file directory where the same
- file list is, where xxx is the file area number. For instance,
- for area 10 the filename would be "FILE010.ASC". If, a comment
- file is not present for a file area, then the default is
- displayed instead. Area 10 would typically be placed in
- C:\EZY\FILEBASE\AREA1\FILE010.ASC.
-
- o Added a new smart text code to display the file points the user
- has been awarded since the last time they logged on. That is,
- the filepoints they have earned from other users downloading the
- files they uploaded. The code is "Ctrl-F t". On logoff, this
- field is zeroed out.
-
- o Added a master list header feature to EzyMaint's master list
- generator. If, -H<filename> is used on the command line with
- -M<filename>, then the <filename> in -H command line will be
- inserted into the header of the master list.
- Eg: EzyMaint -MMASTER.LST -HHEADER.LST
-
- o It is now possible to share your outbound mail path with
- your mailers netmail directory. That is, EzyMail won't delete
- *.MSG or LASTREAD in your outbound path.
-
- o Added a kill null netmail feature, mainly for use with D'Bridge
-
- o When replying to messages that are private, ezycom will default
- to the private status
-
- o IEMSI, a protocol that defines a session between the terminal
- and Ezycom, has now been implemented. To turn it on, go to
- config, Misc->Logon->IEMSI.
-
- o Reply Via Netmail Implemented. In Message Security, there is a
- minimum security the user must have to reply via netmail. Then
- if the message being replied to has a MSGID line, and the user
- has write access in the netmail area for the origin address of
- the echomail area, then the user will be given the choice to
- reply via netmail. Only NEW messages tossed to your system after
- the installation of Ezycom V1.01 will have the correct return
- address for reply via netmail, so it is suggested to place the
- security to Sysop only at least for a week, to allow New EchoMail
- to arrive, before giving all users access.
-
- o Two new user attributes have been added.
- No Page Sound, where if the user pages the sysop, no actual page
- sound will be heard.
- Page at Logon, where if the user logs on and has this flag, then
- 5 short beeps will be played to the sysop to indicate a VIP has
- logged on.
-
- o The message areas can now be exported to a textfile using
- EzyUtil -Export -MessArea
- It writes a MESSAGES.TXT in the system directory containing the entire
- configuration for the message areas.
-
- o the /ADJUST option is no longer valid on menu type 50. It MUST be
- removed if you are using it. This is due to the groups
- implementation.
-
- o A Colour changer implemented.
- Ctrl-Kb<hex code> will change the current colour in the text file to
- that specified by <hex code>. <hex code> is a DOS compatiable colour
- attribute (in hexadecimal). If, you do not understand this, I suggest
- you read in the documentation on this feature.
-
- o File Grouping Implemented.
- This system allows you the sysop to divide your file areas into
- groups. Special menu commands, can then be used to allow operations
- to only work on a "Group" of files. For instance, you could group
- all the ibm file areas into Group I, and all the Amiga File Areas
- into Group A. Then using Option 50 (change file area), you can select
- which group will be used (/G=<group>). Eg /G=A would mean that only
- Amiga file areas would be listed. To change a file areas group you
- have to edit the file area in config. The FileGroup is the item you
- have to change. "*" is the default, which means that, that area is
- ALWAYS displayed. Valid groups are from A through to Z. The /G=<group>
- command can also be used in the goto commands, so you could restrict
- the /F=+ /F=- commands to only work on a particular group. Not only
- does it work on these commands, but also all the file searching commands
- such as new files list, etc. If, the /G= command is not present, then
- Ezycom uses the user default groups. As a new user, the user has all
- groups turned on. You can set up a Q-A to allow the user to change
- this via the user of questionnaire commands.
- SETGROUP <group> <switch>
- This will set <group> (A through to Z, or * for ALL) to the value of
- <switch>. <switch> is either ON, OFF, or TOGGLE. The TOGGLE switch
- is not available for the wildcard ("*") command. Once the user has
- selected the file areas that he/she want to view, then if no /G= commands
- is used, then the user will ALWAYS only be selecting items from these
- groups. With groups it is possible to have two totally seperate file
- areas, one for Amiga, one for IBM for instance. But, use the change
- file area, and goto /F=+ etc commands to allow the user to change
- between file areas without being shown file areas for other groups.
- This is a cut down version of the documentation on Groups, for more
- informtion, please read the documentation before querying the support
- sites.
-
- o Implemented another questionnaire command to display the status of
- a particular group Format: DISPLAYGROUP <letter>
- Eg: DISPLAYGROUP A
-
- o Ctrl-F/K smart text codes can now be used in the display of the menu
- commands display, as well as the prompt for the menu. Due to this,
- there is no need for @`~ to be remapped, so they are now no longer
- supported.
- An example of placing a users name in a menu display would be to type
- Ctrl-FA (No other keys are needed to add this)
-
- o It is now optionial to have a variable after the OUTPUTANSWER script
- command, that is OUTPUTANSWER "<text>" [var num]
- Eg OUTPUTANSWER "High"
- OUTPUTANSWER "High" 1
-
- o OutputAnswer and SetVars questionnaire commands now support the
- ctrl-f/k commands in the text part of their commands.
- OUTPUTANSWER "<text>" [var num]
- SETVARS "<text>" <var num>
- That is, where <text> is shown.
- The ctrl-f/k codes that change the current colour
- are not supported for these commands.
-
- o Turning off of the local display implemented for when a remote
- user is on-line. Generally this would be used as an automatic
- option. The miscdata line should contain ON (to turn display
- on), OFF (to turn display off), or TOGGLE (to toggle display).
- The Menu Type is Number 69.
-
- o The top menu, can now be defined for each user. If the users
- top menu field is blank, then it defaults to the configs
- top menu.
-
- o The ctrl-f/k smart text keys, can now be placed in the
- miscdata (optionial data) lines of menu commands.
-
- o Message Area Groups Implemented.
- They work exactly the same as the File Area Groups, but act upon
- the message areas. Note that the users groups, act on BOTH
- message and file areas.
-
- o SIGNATURES are now implemented.
- This feature appends a small text file to any message the sysop
- posts in local mode. It appends SIGNATUR.ASL (in the ascii 7 bit
- directory) to any message the sysop posts (when on locally) if this
- file is found. The message is only appended if the sysop posts the
- message with his/her real name.
-
- o System Stats can now be edited using Alt-X.
- Those stats included are
- ratio files, ratio kilobytes, next sysop, want chat, download limit,
- swap to dos, swap type, upload minimum space, number of pages,
- inactivity time, post/call ratio and page sound.
- It only changes these stats for the current session. (They are not
- permanent)
- The Page Sound flag is different to the users one, as it disables/
- enables paging for the current session only, and will not disable
- paging for the user after that session.
-
- o Ezycom now supports Request Receipt messages in LocalMail,
- AllMail and Netmail. The message return for the receipt should
- be RETRECPT.ASL and placed in the ASCII 7 bit dir. Without this
- file the function does NOT generate a reply. A message security
- option has also been made up to allow the sysop to configure the
- minimum security a user must have to request a receipt. When a
- user reads a message that has the Request Receipt flag turned on, a
- reply is automagically posted to the poster, telling him/her
- that the message HAS been read by the receiver. The
- RETRECPT.ASL file handles all smart text codes except for the
- change current colour ones (ctrl-k b). A Sample RETRECPT.ASL
- is contained in SETUP.ARJ.
-
- o The watchdog security feature now supports smart text in its
- text file.
-
- o The import message menu type now supports smart text in its
- text file.
-
- o Usercomp is now more buffered to speed it up by approximately
- 50%.
-
- o Ctrl-Home/End can now be pressed while editing file/message
- areas to move the current line being edited to the top/bottom
-
- o You can now set the topmenu name for the newuser.
-
- o New Questionnaire command SETTOPMENU <menuname>.
- Sets the users topmenu to <menuname>.
-
- o /TOPMENU can be used to replace the menuname in the Goto/
- Gosub/Goto clear menu stack menu options.
- Ezycom replaces /TOPMENU with the TOP menu filename. If
- the user has a topmenu, then this is used, else if they
- don't have one then the configs topmenu is used.
-
- o System Location has been added, to pass this information
- along in an IEMSI session.
-
- o The sysop can now send messages to another user even if their
- do not disturb flag is set ON.
-
- o Full Screen User to User Chat implemented when the remote user
- has Avatar enabled (NOT ANSI!). This chat works the same way as
- the local user to user chat does.
-
- o A few people were having problems correctly configuring the
- file areas, so a sample "FILES.EZY" and "FILEPATH.EZY" have
- been included in "SETUP.ARJ"
-
- o A new smart text code has been added.
- Ctrl-K c
- This displays the number of session failures the user has had
- since the last time they sucessfully logged on. On logoff,
- this value is zeroed out.
-
- o Users can now post a message to the sysop after a logon
- failure. The message board is configurable in Misc->logon->
- bad_logon_message_board. 0 disables the feature.
-
- o You can now define a password which the local user must have
- before they can get access to the Alt Keys. The keys are then
- free to use until the user logs off.
-
- o In removing single files from the batch, wildcards can now be
- used.
-
- o Incoming call bell sound implemented for the stand alone Ezycom.
- The times when the bell can operate are configurable in
- config->misc->sounds
- a time of 00:00 to 00:00 would mean 24 hours a day 7 days a week
- a time of 00:01 to 00:01 would mean no time at all.
- a time of 14:00 to 16:00 would mean 2pm thru 4pm only, 7 days week
- etc etc...
-
- o Ctrl-Y while entering a string now blanks it out (in Ezycom).
-
- o The Keyboard Stuffing buffer has been expanded to 256 characters.
-
- o Global Flag and Group changes can now be made from the user editor
- by pressing the F4 key in either view or edit mode. When editing
- the global flags, placing a "X" means to turn the flag on for all
- users, "-" means don't touch the flag and "O" means turn the flag
- Off.
-
- o a -NODELETE switch is now available in MSGCOMP to stop it from
- deleting msgs by days/recv/number of msgs/kilobytes. For instance,
- if you only wanted to LINK the msgbase. Note: It is faster to
- LINK and DELETE together though.
-
- o SETCOMMENT <var num>
- sets the user's comment field to the contents of <var num>
- Since the user's comment field is ONLY 40 characters long,
- if the variable is longer than 40 characters, then only the
- first 40 characters are set to the user's comment field.
- eg SETCOMMENT 1
-
- o The Change Colour Menu Command now MUST have either a + | -
- after it.
-
- o New Files are by default now Highlighted, and files that are not
- new aren't highlighted. By default, if an ASCII user logs on, then
- they will see the usual "*" since they don't get colours.
- These options are configurable in files->file_list
-
- o ALIAS.CTL implemented to allow the sysop to define a set of
- unacceptable alias names. It works exactly the same as TRASHCAN.CTL,
- but is for aliases.
-
- o The way seenby/export lists are displayed while editing the message
- area config has changed slightly, to make it easier to understand.
-
- o You can now globally change the check flag (conversion flag) for a
- file area, in FEdit. Ctrl-C or Alt-T activates the option. You can
- set it to On, so that conversion will not occur on any of those files,
- or set it to Off, so that conversion will occur on those files.
-
- o Nodelist viewing has been implemented as Menu Type 43.
- (Note: Not in actual writing of netmail messages in this version)
- See the documentation for help on setting up EZYNODE.CTL control
- file.
- The menu type can have 3 different (mutually exclusive) options.
- /M, which says, do the nodelist viewing for the current template
- message board. This views the nodelist for the current netmail
- or echomail area. As it is possible to restrict nodelist viewing
- for certain akas.
- <messageboard>, which is the same as /M, except that you specify
- the message board.
- /N=<network address>, specifies the network address which is used
- for the viewing. This allows you to restrict viewing for only
- the nodelists that are setup for this network address.
- (For more detail read the documentation)
-
- o When a user makes an error in the nodelist viewing, NODEHELP.A*
- can be displayed. This allows you to define your own help for
- the user. Default help is used if this file is not present.
-
- o Global Read New now supports scanning messages and listing messages
- as well as the standard reading messages.
- To List messages, place a /LIST on the miscdata of menu type 29.
- To Scan messages, place a /SCAN on the miscdata of menu type 29.
-
- o Reading messages now supports no pause after each message. Thus,
- enabling the users to capture the messages with their terminal
- program.
-
- o EzyMail now dupe detects on inboundmail, if configured to do so
- in Messages->Message_Misc
- It requires another 64K of ram to be available when EzyMail is
- running.
- The dupe detection ONLY works on messages with a MSGID line
- in them, and the message is being TOSSED to your message base.
- If the message is found to be a dupe, then it is NOT tossed to
- your message base, or any other links you may have. If the message
- is passthru only, then no dupe detection is performed.
- Approximately the 5300 messages (with MSGID) are stored in
- the dupe detection database.
-
- o Ezymail message tossing speed improved when you only have one
- link in your export list (generally you would be an end node).
-
- o Ezymail now supports the ^ARESCANNED kludge line to stop
- rescanned messages from your uplink, being tossed to your
- downlink(s).
-
- o EzyNet now conforms more to the fido fsc-0057 document for
- areafix processing. Additions included are
- %HELP
- %LIST
- %UNLINKED (Show list of conferences node not receiving)
- %QUERY
- %+ALL
- %-ALL
- %COMMENT
- %RESCAN (Request a Rescan of new echomail confs)
- and the message can now be addressed to "AreaMgr"
-
- o -U can be used to do %UNLINKED on the subject line of a message
- to echoarea if you do not like %UNLINKED
-
- o -R can be used to do %RESCAN on the subject line of a message
- to echoarea, if you do not like %RESCAN
-
- o If, there is no initial modem carrier, Ezycom now exits at
- errorlevel 9, instead of 3.
-
- o When importing messages into echomail areas, ezyutil -import now
- appends an origin line.
-
- o When doing local uploads, it now does NOT allow file(s) to be uploaded
- which are in the systempath or the currentpath. This was done to
- stop sysops going "*.*", and moving their entire system directory
- to an upload path. (Effectively deleting their system path)
-
- o Menu Type 10 (System Usage Graph) now has an optionial parameter to
- tell Ezycom which node you wish to view the usage graph for.
- Simply place the node number of the line you wish to see the graph
- for. No miscdata, or incorrect miscdata will result in the default
- of the current node.
-
- o You can now tell Ezycom to go to the last message and/or file area
- for a particular group which was accessed. This stops the problem
- of having two seperate message areas, and when you move from say
- IBM to Amiga, it will remain in the IBM message area, until one
- of the message area change commands was used.
- All this can be accomplished by the use of the /F= and /M= commands
- on the goto menu types.
- Placing the <group> after it, will tell Ezycom to go to the last
- area that was accessed for that group. As this information uses
- roughly 100 bytes of storage, the last area accessed for that group
- is NOT stored in the userfile. It will be reset everytime the user
- logs on and/or a type 15 exit occurs.
- eg: goto menu (menu type 2) miscdata FILEAREA /F=A
- goto menu (menu type 2) miscdata MESSAREA /M=B
- Only one group may be placed after the /F= or /M=, otherwise
- Ezycom will not know which area to goto.
- Please read the docs before querying us on this topic.
-
- o New Protocol Engine has been added to Ezycom. This one supports
- the fossil driver communications standard. Otherwise there
- is not much difference between this one, and the old one. The
- basic screen format has remained the same, except that a few
- "useless" peices of information were removed.
-
- o Ezycom now supports a "Guest" account. You can configure the
- name of the user (eg "Guest" or "Anonymous") in
- Misc->Access->Guest_Account.
- What happens is that you make up an account using the name
- configured (none turns it off), and when a user logs on with
- that guest name, they are not asked for a password, date of
- birth or phone number. Also, timeleft, todayk, etc are all
- reset. It is upto you, to make the account do what you wish.
- Remember, private messages could be read from anyone logging
- on under the guest account name/etc. This feature is used by
- Ezycom support sites to allow you to logon and download the
- latest ezycom version, without having to wait for a new account
- to be made up.
-
- o users can now NOT add multiple files with the same name to the
- batch of downloads.
-
- o You can now stop netmail being imported to the Sysops name/alias,
- by enabling/disabling "Import Netmail to Sysop" in
- messages->message_misc.
-
- o BADFILES.CTL added. This feature allows the sysop to make up a list
- of files, that are NOT allowed to be uploaded to his/her bbs.
- Full Wildcards are supported. So, to stop GIF files being uploaded,
- you would place a *.GIF in the badfiles.ctl. Only one filename per
- line.
- EG:
- *.GIF
- *.EXE
- Note: Placing a *.* in the file is not wise, as no one can upload then.
-
- o Added support for Disk Full on UPCONV.BAT and DOCONV.BAT for
- unzipping and unarjing files... (You will need to extract them from
- setup.arj)
-
- o speeded up change message areas (also with show new mail), and
- change combined settings.
-
- o MSGCOMP now has an option -CLEANUP to delete old message boards
- instead of automatically do it. This is because if you are using
- many message boards, it takes a while to check to see if they
- need cleaning up.
-
- o when under OS2, ezycom now can use direct screen writes!
-
- o EzyMenu now has a -L<menu name> parameter to automatically load
- up a menu of choice on execution.
- eg: EZYMENU -LTOP or EZYMENU -LTOP.MNU
-
- o A global seenby manager has been added to config. It's just
- the same as the global export manager, except that it works
- on seenbys.
-
- o when editing flags in the config, you now have to press enter
- on it to edit/view it, instead of it just popping up.
-
- o ezycom and utilities now require 64K free disk space to run.
-
- Bug Fixes
-
- o Fixed a bug when aborting a reply, using the change anything
- abort command
-
- o Fixed a bug which was generated when incorrect "miscdata" was
- placed in the "Upload Command".
-
- o Numerous corrections to the documentation
-
- o Fixed an error in Delete Messages Menu Type Command.
-
- o Fixed a problem with FastMail Check if you edited the message and
- changed whoto and the received flag
-
- o Fixed a few bugs which occured when Ezycom had no filebase
-
- o Fixed the DTR on Type 15 Exit bug
-
- o Ezycom now handles TABs in the Questionnaire language.
-
- o Fixed a bug with GotoXY in the questionnaire language
-
- o Fixed a problem when BiModem was run in the Ezycom Dir.
-
- o fixed the bug with global read new on XTs
-
- o keyboard stuffing now works on XTs
-
- o fixed the bug in ZModem Uploads when Front Door Terminal was
- being used.
-
- o fixed a bug with netmail exporting not handling Kill/Sent or
- CrashMail correctly.
-
- o Spelling errors in the sample menus fixed
-
- o fixed a bug in Ezymail if your node number was 0, ie 3:636/0
- would have the bug. 3:636/1 would not have the bug.
-
- o fixed a bug in events when the time of the event was greater than
- 6:00pm
-
- o fixed a cosmetic bug when you select "P" for area path for a file
- area, it incorrectly stated "Upload File Path". This confused
- sysops into thinking it is the upload file path for the upload
- file area, instead of the path for the current file area.
- The "Area Path" tells Ezycom that when a file is PHYSICALLY MOVED
- to this file area, this is where I want the files placed. It
- also tells Ezycom WHEN I UPLOAD files to this area (NOT WHEN
- THEY ARE DIRECTED TO ANOTHER FILE AREA), the uploads will
- go to this path.
-
-