home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ │
- │ ▄▀ ▀ █ █ │
- │ █ █▄▄ ▄ ▄ █▄▄ │
- │ █▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ █ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ █ ▄ ▄ │
- │ █ █▄▄▄ ▀▄▄▄ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ │
- │ █ █▄▄▄ ▄▄▄█ █ █ ▀▄▀ █ █ ▀▄▄█ │
- │ █ │
- │ Version 2.0 █ │
- │ ▀▄▄▄▀ │
- │ 2nd Generation of CC-Holiday │
- │ │
- │ Automated Holiday and Events │
- │ Message Maker For The BBS │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ Created by │
- │ David Tym, Copyright 1994 │
- │ │
- │ In Association with │
- │ Xcelled Tek-Nologies & CyCom Quality Programs │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Made In Canada
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Table of Contents │
- │ Section Name Area │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- * = What you must read
-
- What is Festivity? ...................................................... 1
- What if your not a SysOp? ......................................... 1a
- Warranty and disclaimer ................................................. 2
- Using Festivity (SetUp) ................................................. 3
- * Real quick installation ............................................ 3a
- Detailed installation .............................................. 3b
- ANSI, ASCII, and RIP; what's that? ........................... 3c
- What if I don't support ANSI, ASCII, or RIP? .................. 3d
- Festivity necessary files ............................................... 4
- Registration information ................................................ 5
- Credits ................................................................. 6
- Support sites ........................................................... 7
- Help! I'm stuck (Trouble Shooting) ...................................... 8
- What's new .............................................................. 9
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ What is Festivity? 1 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- Festivity, simply put, is an automated holiday or event message maker for the
- Electronic Bulletin Board System. It is geared to make the life of the SysOp
- easier so he/she can perform other, more important functions towards the BBS.
-
- This program will generate attractive ANSI, ASCII, and RIP style screens, and
- output them in the form of bulletins; or what ever you want! As well you can
- tell Festivity the path and names of your ANSI, ASCII and RIP screens,
- allowing for total flexibility!
-
- Screens will be generated during holidays such as Labour Day, Thanksgiving,
- Christmas Day, New Years Day, etc... once this program is set up. Festivity
- it is completely self powered, so the SysOp doesn't have to check up on it
- constantly. Basically this program will generate holiday bulletins, and the
- SysOp doesn't even have to lift a finger. Until the year 2020 that is. This
- version of Festivity will continue to make bulletins until January 1st 2020.
-
- - CC-Holiday is the predecessor to Festivity -
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
- │ What if your not a SysOp 1a │
- └───────────────────────────────────┘
-
- Festivity does not require a BBS to run. If you want to use it out of the BBS
- environment you can. Just follow the instructions, in section 3 on how to set
- up the program. The only difference is you will not be using any BBS style
- events.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Warranty and Disclaimer 2 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- This product is provided "as is" without a warranty of any kind. The
- entire risk as to the results and performance of this program is assumed by
- you. The authors and any other people mentioned do not warrant, guarantee, or
- make any representations regarding the use of, or the results of the use of
- the program, and you rely on the program and results solely at your own risk.
- The authors or others mentioned can not accept responsibility for system
- damage, either directly or indirectly from the use of this product.
-
- The authors and any other people mentioned are in no way responsible for
- any damages sustained either directly or indirectly from the use of Festivity.
- Also if the file has been modified in any way the author or anyone else
- mentioned will take no responsibility for it. The .EXE file(s) and all other
- files have been tested on several machines, from XT's to 486's and have worked
- perfectly on all. If you should have any problems with this file please see
- sections 7 and 8 in this manual.
-
- - Vandalism is not wanted -
-
- You may not edit, or change this program, graphics, or documentation in any
- way, shape or form without written permission from David Tym.
- Failure to do so, will result in prosecution.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Using Festivity (SetUp) 3 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- The set up of Festivity is fairly simple and should take no more than 5
- minuets (Famous last words eh?).
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Real Quick Installation 3a │
- └───────────────────────────────────┘
-
- 1. Put all Festivity files into a directory. The directory can be anything.
- Example = C:\FEST
-
- 2. Run FESTCFG.EXE (a simple to understand setup program).
-
- 3. Edit your BBS so that it runs FEST.EXE as an event EACH DAY.
-
- That's it for the quick installation. If you find that you are having
- problems, or the above does not explain enough, see section 3b, Detailed
- Installation.
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Detailed Installation 3b │
- └───────────────────────────────────┘
-
- Simply put all Festivity files into its own directory. Perhaps you want to
- put it in your route (C:\FEST) or perhaps somewhere close to your display
- files (C:\BBS\DISPLAY\FEST). The point is it does not matter where you put
- Festivity; it can even go in with your display files.
-
- Once you have found a spot for it run FESTCFG.EXE. This is a simple easy to
- understand program that sets up a configuration file needed by FEST.EXE. When
- you run this program you will see a menu much like this...
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Enter path/name for the ANSI file : C:\BBS\FILES\FESTVT.ANS │
- │ Enter path/name for the ASCII file : C:\BBS\FILES\FESTVT.ASC │
- │ Enter path/name for the RIP file : C:\BBS\FILES\FESTVT.RIP │
- │ Clear Screen before displaying file? Y │
- │ Registration Code : 0 │
- │ Your full real name : Your Name │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- The first line will be hi-lighted and you will type in the path and name of
- the ANSI file (The example C:\BBS\FILES\FESTVT.ANS is provided). After
- pressing ENTER, the hi-lighted bar will move to the next line. Enter the path
- and file name to your ASCII file (don't have to include a path, can just be a
- file name). Finally enter the path and file name to your ANSI and RIP files
- (See section 3c and 3d if you do not support ANSI, ASCII, or RIP files).
-
- Next you are asked if you would like screen clearing. YES will clear the
- screen before the holiday or event bulletin is displayed. NO will not clear
- the screen before the bulletin is displayed.
-
- Now that you have entered Y or N for screen clearing you move onto the
- registering option. This is where you put the registration code if you
- register this fine piece of software (See section 5 for more information on
- registering).
-
- Last but not least is typing in your FULL name. It is case sensitive, so what
- you type is what you get. It does not matter if this program is registered or
- not, please type your name.
-
- Once you save your changes, Festivity is configured for your system (That
- wasn't so bad, was it).
-
- Now for the crazy part! You have to make Festivity run as a daily event.
- If this is your first time making an event, then your probably going to scream
- at me for this next line. Refer to your BBS documentation for more
- information on creating events. Unfortunately because every BBS system is
- different, I can't put descriptions of how all BBS events are set up.
- However, I will give you a short example of how SpitFire events look.
-
- For SpitFire systems, edit your SF.BAT file to look something like this:
-
- Event_A
- REM Event for Festivity
- CD\SF\DISPLAY\FEST 'Path to Festivity
- FEST.EXE 'Execute Festivity
- CD\SF 'Return to SF directory
- GOTO LOOP:
-
- Chances are, if your BBS uses BAT files to run events, then yours will look
- something like this. That's it for the set up!
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
- │ ANSI, ASCII, RIP, What's That? 3c │
- └───────────────────────────────────┘
-
- ASCII - Files that contain text. Almost all computers support ASCII as it is
- the American Standard Code Of Information Interchange. This document
- is an ASCII file.
-
- ANSI - Similar to ASCII, with the exception that ANSI has certain codes that
- allow for colour, centering of text, screen clearing, etc.
-
- RIP - Also similar to ASCII and ANSI, RIP files (short for Remote Imaging
- Protocol) are 16 colour VGA text files.
-
- ┌───────────────────────────────────┐
- │ I Don't Support RIP, etc... 3d │
- └───────────────────────────────────┘
-
- If you can't support RIP or one of the other file formats, then simply leave a
- blank space where FESTCFG.EXE asks for your path and file name.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Festivity Necessary Files 4 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- FEST.EXE -> The main excitable file (Run this as an event)
- FESTCFG.EXE -> The set up program (Run this to set up FEST.EXE)
- FESTIVTY.DOC -> This documentation (Read this and be enlightened)
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Registration Information 5 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- If you plan on registering you will receive the following:
-
- - A registration code by mail
- - The annoying reminder will no longer be present, as well as the loud beep
- during the event.
-
- It is recommended that you pay by check or money order. Cash is sometimes
- lost by our glorious mail system. I can not be responsible if I do not revive
- the necessary funds for this product. To register this version of Festivity
- please send seven Canadian dollars ($7) to the address stated below.
-
- - Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery -
-
- Please fill out the following form and mail it to:
-
- David Tym
- 1144 Maidstone Cres.
- Oakville, Ontario
- Canada
- L6M-1C3
-
- ------------------------------------- cut -------------------------------------
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Festivity │
- │ Version 2.0 │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ Legal Name: ______________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- │ Address: _________________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- │ City/Province: __________________________________ Postal Code: ___________ │
- │ │
- │ Voice Phone Number, With Area Code: _____________________ │
- │ │
- │ BBS Name: ________________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- │ BBS Phone Number: ______________________ │
- │ │
- │ You have enclosed a registration fee of: ________________________ dollars. │
- │ │
- │ Comments: ________________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- │ __________________________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- │ __________________________________________________________________________ │
- │ │
- ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ S David Tym │
- │ E T 1144 Maidstone Cres. │
- │ N O Oakville, Ontario │
- │ D Canada │
- │ L6M-1C3 │
- ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ Thank you for registering │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- ------------------------------------- cut -------------------------------------
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Credits 6 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- Festivity, its initial concept, programming, graphics and documentation were
- produced by David Tym.
-
- Festivity would not have taken on its new look without the helpful advice of
- Simon Shelson.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Support Sites 7 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- - Components BBS -
- (905)827-6284
- Oakville, ON
- Canada
-
- We can also be reached by mail at
-
- 1144 Maidstone Cres.
- Oakville, Ontario
- Canada
- L6M-1C3
-
- If you have telepathic abilities, I can be reached on a higher Psychic plain.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ Help! I'm Stuck! 8 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- Q: Why do I get an "Error 1 - ...." message?
- A: You haven't run FESTCFG.EXE, or you incorrectly set up the program.
- A file named ERRORS.DAT was created, please refer to that.
-
- Q: Why doesn't the ANSI, ASCII, & RIP screens show up on my BBS, even after
- they have been made and are sitting in my display directory?
- A: Make sure the graphic file names and directories are correct. Run
- FESTCFG.EXE to change the graphic file names. Your BBS software must be
- able to recognize the name you enter. For SpitFire systems, it is
- recommend that ALL.BBS for the ASCII file, ALL.CLR for the ANSI file
- and ALL.RIP for the RIP file are used.
-
- Q: Why doesn't the RIP screen show up on my BBS?
- A: Make sure your BBS software support RIP graphics. If it does, run
- FESTCFG.EXE and make sure you have entered in the correct directory and
- file name.
-
- Q: Why should I register this program?
- A: So you can raise your CyCom programers self esteem, as well as ensure the
- continual development of products like this.
-
- Q: It wont run as an event!
- A: Check your BBS's documentation on correctly setting up programs as events.
- In your event configuration, make sure everything is spelt correctly.
- Please refer to section 3b for more information.
-
- Q: It just wont work, why?
- A: If your having major problems, please call/mail the support site mentioned
- in section 7
-
- Q: Why do I get an "Error 2 - ...." message?
- A: Check and make sure your computers clock is set to the right date.
- Festivity only makes bulletins up to January 1st 2020. Considering this
- version of Festivity was first published in 1994, and if its now 2020, it
- may be wise to upgrade this software since 26 years of passed.
-
- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ What's New 9 │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
- CC-Holiday v1.0 production finished (April 20th 1993)
- - ANSI/ASCII bulletin support
- - Main setup program created
- - Main event program created
-
- Festivity v2.0 production finished (June 11th 1994)
- - Program name changed
- - ANSI/ASCII/RIP bulletin support
- - Rewrite of configuration program
- - Upgrade of main event program
- - RIP Graphics added
- - Specific ANSI/ASCII alterations
- - Detailed Error message generator
- - Bulletin date bug corrected
- - Bulletin creation date extended to 2020
-
- Festivity v3.0 production to be started in the near future!
- - Addition of American holidays