Virtual BBS 7.00 NOW SHIPPING!

Existing VBBS registrants are eligible to obtain the VBBS 7.00 upgrade
disks. The cost of the disk set for previously registered sysops is $10.
The upgrade can be purchased only from Virtual ComTech International, Inc.
directly:

Virtual ComTech International, Inc.
4246 Elisabeth Ave
Holland  MI  49424

Toll-Free Ordering     800-308-7381 VISA/MC
Tech Support/Info/Fax  616-399-8934
Business Hours         MON-FRI 11AM-5PM Eastern Time

Note: If ordering by mail or fax, please be sure to include a note with
your VBBS registration number. If ordering by voice, please have your VBBS
registration number accessable.
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Over the last 4 weeks we have processed a mountain of new and upgrade
orders for Virtual BBS 7.00. The mountain, however, is shrinking fast now,
and we anticipate being all caught up by this weekend (Jan 20). If you
waited for the STAMPEDE to clear before placing your VBBS-DOS or VBBS-OS2
7.00 new or upgrade order, then now is the time for you contact us and
order either voice or online.
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The Virtual BBS 7.00 rev 000 3-disk set includes the following:

    Virtual BBS 7.00
    VBBS-AUX 7.00
    VQWK 7.00

    VME 6.15
    VNET 6.15
    VUUCP 1.10

    VSTRING 1.00
    VCOM 7.00
    VCONFIG 7.00

    VCDROM 1.10
    VCDROM 2.00
    FLBCVT 1.20
    FLBCVT 2.00

Notes:

VBBS 7.00 is the long-awaited Virtual BBS official release. Too many new
features to list here, so these are listed in a separate file.

VBBS-AUX 7.00 is the companion EXE to VBBS.EXE, supplying some of the
auxiallary functions of the BBS such as teleconferencing, text bulletins,
voting booth, and so on.

VQWK 7.00 is the QWK Mail Door. New to this version is elementary
QWK-networking.

VME 6.15 is the bridge between VBBS and the network utilities. New for 6.15
is faster tossing.

VNET 6.15 is the VirtualNET network interface software.

VUUCP 1.10 is the latest VUUCP hot off the compiler. New to this version is
4 to 5 times faster tossing speed, gating, better bang path handling, and
better "Shere" detection (a problem that plagued a small percentage of
sysops).

VSTRING 1.00 is the VBBS string compiler.

VCOM 7.00 is the latest script compiler.

VCONFIG 7.00 is the companion configuration utility for VBBS and its
components.

VCDROM 2.00 is a totally new rewrite designed to make uploading a
FILES.BBS-based CD a plug'n'play operation.  Generates databases and
modifies database configuration automatically if desired. Other options
include date format and FILE_ID.DIZ-checking. (VCDROM 1.10 included for
compatibility with older CDs ONLY.)

FLBCVT 2.00 is a complete rewrite designed to handle many different kinds
of FILES.BBS formats. Automatically strips commas from file sizes and
handles multiple-line file descriptions if they exist.
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What's New for Virtual BBS for DOS & Virtual BBS for OS2 v7.00

1. Function Blocks now capable of multiple character commands.
   The only stipulation is that the command must start with a "/"
   character. For example: /WHO, /QWK, /CHAT. It should be noted
   that the backspace key be used during input, and that ENTER
   is not required at the end of the input -- the command will
   be rcognized automatically when complete.

2. Automatic FILE_ID.DIZ detection/extraction at upload time
   a. ZIP file is checked for presence of FILE_ID.DIZ
   b. If exists, FILE_ID.DIZ *only* is extracted from the ZIP to the
      channel's private temp directory
   c. The contents of the FILE_ID.DIZ are read into memory and the
      first few lines are displayed on the screen for the user to see.
      (In case he/she forgot or doesn't know whats in the file.)
   d. The short description defaults to the first line read in from
      the FILE_ID.DIZ file. The user can simply press ENTER to accept
      that default, or he/she can type in a new short description.
   e. The long description defaults to the entire contents of the
      FILE_ID.DIZ file, max 20 lines of text. When the user hits the
      "Edit Long Decription? Yes/No/Enter=No" prompt, he/she can
      edit the long description before saving the record. If they
      don't want to edit the long description, they can simply hit
      ENTER to proceed, since "No" is the default response to that
      prompt.
   f. This makes entering the description to a properly FILE_ID.DIZ'ed
      ZIP file a simple "[Enter][Enter]" operation, while allowing the
      capability to edit before saving if needed.
   g. This new functionality works for both remote uploads and local
      (sysop) uploads.
   h. FILE_ID.DIZ importation for ZIP files is handled by Virtual BBS
      at upload time. FILE_ID.DIZ importation for non-ZIP files is
      still handled by the Upload Scanner, which is part of
      VBBS-AUX.EXE.

3. File Listings
   a. In previous versions, users had the choice of either single-line
      or double-line file listings. Now, they will have a third
      choice: Double-line with extended descriptions. This is
      user-selectable from the Account Defaults menu.
   b. Ability added for RIP users to tag files for download by
      using the mouse to point and click

4. Added capability to edit the long description for a file.
   (Necessary because of improvement #3.)

5. Updated built-in Upload Scanner (VBBS-AUX.EXE) for the newer series
   of SCAN now being produced.

6. Changed VQWK.EXE so that it requires significantly less
   database-locking during QWK packet building. (Makes use of the
   channel's private directory.)

7. Enhanced VQWK visual display and increased performance of QWK
   tosser

8. Fixed wildcard filename input prompt logic so that entering an
   empty input (ie...just pressing ENTER without typing anything)
   doesn't always default to *.* as it had done in the past.
   Defaulting to *.* is great for the List and Search All Dirs
   functions, and VBBS still does that.

   However, defaulting to *.* for the Download (by filemask) function
   and for the Local SysOp Uploads function was kind of annoying.
   Entering an empty input for either of these two functions now
   aborts the function and returns one to the menu.

10. Fixed the waiting-for-call function so that network polling would
    work properly even if your VirtualNET node number is configured
    as 0.

11. Fixed netlotime/nethitime so that no remote logins of any kind are
    allowed during the defined time interval. Local console logins by
    the SysOp are still permitted.

12. Added recognition of +FCO for incoming fax calls. I was told this
    would fix a problem for certain adaptive-answer-capable faxmodems.

13. New Waiting For Call screen
   a. In previous versions, VBBS-DOS and VBBS-OS2 had different WFC
      screens. VBBS-DOS and VBBS-OS2 now have the same WFCscreen and
      functionality.
   b. System Stats are displayed in a box on the upper-right portion
      of the screen.
   c. Drive size and free space are displayed in a box on the
      lower-right portion of the screen. Greater than 10% free
      displays in green, between
      5% and 10% displays in yellow, and less than 5% displays in red.
   d. A "Help" box is displayed in the lower-left portion of the
      screen.
   e. A real-time all-channel system status display is located in the
      upper left portion of the screen. This system status monitor
      operates in one of threes modes, selected automatically based
      on your Number of Active Channels setting (VCONFIG, Main).

      Mode     Number/Active     Description
                  Channels

        1           1-8          Displays who's online and what
                                 they're doing; covers channel 0
                                 to channel 8 on a 9(h) x 2(w) grid.
        2           9-17         Displays who's online; covers channel
                                 9 to channel 17 on a 9(h)x2(w) grid.
        3           18+          Displays who's online; covers channel
                                 0 to channel 62 on a 9(h)x7(w) grid.

   f. This is a real-time WFC which updates itself one per 7 seconds,
      unless it has been blanked by the built-in screen blanker.
      Screen information updated in real-time: System Stats, Drive
      free space, and the all-channel system status display.
   g. This new real-time WFC can be accessed for system monitoring
      purposes, when logged into channel 0, as VBBS internal command
      LOCALWFC. Update interval: 5 seconds.
   h. "Initializing", "RING x" (x=RING count), "Answering" added to
      activity display. What this means is that you'll be able to see
      modems going thru their paces on all the channels from the
      real-time WFC display.

14. Extended Channel Configuration CHANNELX.CFG
   a. Extended Channels configuration allows for definable init
      strings, off-hook string, answer string, and dial string for
      each channel.
   b. VBBS, VNET, VDM, etc have all been modified to use the new
      CHANNELX.CFG configuration.
   c. Because older utilities RELY on CHANNELS.CFG for configuration
      information, VCONFIG 7.00 supports both. That is to say, as you
      modify and update CHANNELX.CFG from VCONFIG, CHANNELS.CFG is
      also automatically updated as applicable. Third-party developers
      are encouraged to use the newer CHANNELX.CFG file. Contact
      Virtual Comtech for details.

15. Message base Read (S)earch function now also scans message text
    for desired string. Makes it very easy to find what you are
    looking for. For example, searching biz.comp.hardware (Hardware
    Sales) for every occurence of the word "CD-ROM" or "486."

    **  This feature has also been expanded to include EMAIL and
        FILE LISTINGS.

16. Added Account Expiration Date to User Record
    a. Allows you to set a date when the account will expire.
       (YYMMDD format)
    b. Allows setting up accounts which will never expire -- just
       leave the field blank.
    c. If a user tries to login after their account has expired,
       they will be set to new user security level, with a time limit
       of two minutes -- presumably enough time for them to leave
       a quick note or use the "subscription door" to buy more access.

17. File Area Databases marked as CD-ROM are now skipped in the New
    scan. Once you've "uploaded" a CD-ROM to the board by creating the
    VBBS databases, what is going to change? You can't add any files
    to a CD-ROM, so why New scan it every single time? I can see where
    this will dramatically increase the New scan speed of boards that
    use a lot of CD-ROMs.

18. VCONFIG changes
    a. CHANNELS.CFG/CHANNELX.CFG changes mentioned earlier.
    b. "Idlemodem" and "Dial string" settings removed, as those are
       now handled by the new CHANNELX.CFG.
    c. Built-In Modem String Help System. You select the modem from
       a list, and your 6 modem strings (init1, init2, init3, offhook,
       answer,dial) are automatically configured. (Modem data comes
       from a text file MODEMS.CFG which can be modified and updated
       as neceesary without the need to change the software.)
    d. Selecting the configuration of any FIDO type network
       runs VFIDO /E NETWORKID=<net you selected>.
    e. Adding databases is now faster and easier. The ability to place
       a new database at the end of a group has also been added.

19. Download Files/Batch Functions now merged into one easier to use
    command. Now similar in operation to other softwares.
    (See String File changes #26a)

20. VQWK changed to support a VQWK.MNU/VQWK.RIP file for its menu.
    (See String File changes #26b)

21. VQWK now includes rudimentary QWK networking support.

22. When doing a text search (message bases and email) the highlighted
    text will show in red when you display the message.

23. Added Definable Rooms and Moderators to the Teleconference.
    a. A room can be either named or unnamed.
    b. A room can have a specific moderator, or anyone can be
       moderator.

24. Added an option that allows the BBS to ignore the extension
    during new upload duplicate checking. IE.. ROLAND.ZIP would
    considered a duplicate of ROLAND.ARJ. This is useful if you have
    callers that like to "repackage" ZIP files and re-upload in order
    to get credit for uploading.

25. Added Sysop-Definable ACTION commands to the Teleconference.

26. String File (DEFAULT.S) changes
    a. Reworked strings 82,83,84 to conform to new batch download
       function.
    b. String 377 that used to be the VQWK menu and prompt is now
       merely a prompt. Menu comes from VQWK.MNU/VQWK.RIP.

27. Fixed DORINFOx.DEF so that channel 0 creates DORINFO0.DEF,
    channel 1 creates DORINFO1.DEF, channel 2 creates DORINFO2.DEF,
    and so on.

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