Automated Network/Conference Listing Generator v2.6 PCBoard 14.5/15.x by Al Lawrence Sunrise-80 BBS (404) 256-9525 (Data) (404) 705-9104 (Data) (404) 256-9518 (Voice, 9am-9:30pm EST) Fido 1:133/410 DESCRIPTION ___________ The Automated Network/Conference Listing Generator (ACNFN) is a utility that creates the conference display file. Most Sysops use an editor to create the conference listing, more commonly called CNFN. As you add/change/delete conferences you end up spending hours trying to realign and colorize the display. If you happen to add a whole network, you could very well spend more time fixing the conference listing, than creating the conferences themselves. This utility does not create any extraneous files on disk and uses the CNAMES file as input. There is no need to create a second file for the colorized listing, as the program uses the @X variables made available in PCBoard v14.5/15.x Just about everything is configurable, from verbage to colors. R E S T R I C T I O N S ----------------------- In the UNREGISTERED version of ACNFN, ALL conferences will be PROCESSED, but only the first 50 conferences will be displayed. INSTALLATION ____________ Installation is fairly easy and straight-forward. The following steps and examples should have you up and running in a very short period of time. (1) Create a Configuration file named ACNFN.CFG (2) Run the program using the following command line: ACNFN CONFIGURATION FILE __________________ Line 1. Sunrise-80 BBS Line 2. Al Lawrence Line 3. 00000000 Line 4. INPUT=C:\PCB\MAIN\CNAMES Line 5. OUTPUT=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN Line 6. SORT=N Line 7. NUMCOL=LEFT LINE 8. NDESC=RIM:RIME Line 9. NETCONF=RIM:2:100:P Line 10. CONF=LOC:Sunrise Doors:1:1:p Line 11. XCNF=@X06 Line 12. XTYP=@X0C Line 13. XCFN=@X0A Line 14. XHDB=@X1A Line 15. XBBS=@X1F Line 16. XNET=@X57 Line 17. XBBG=@X1F Line 18. XMRE=@X8C Line 19. BLINE=R = Restricted Line 20. COLUMNS=4 Line 21. SEPCNFN=N __________________________________________________________________________ Line 1. Your BBS Name. Will Display on Heading and is mandatory Line 2. Sysop's First and Last Name. Does not display, but is mandatory. Line 3. Registration Number Line 4. Full Pathname\Filename of the CNAMES file. This entry is mandatory. Line 5. Full Pathname\Filename of the output file that will contain the conference listing. This entry is mandatory. Line 6. This entry indicates the SORT sequence for the conference displays. N = Display conference's in conference NUMBER sequence. A = Display conference's in conference NAME sequence. This entry is mandatory. Line 7. This entry indicates where you would like to have the conference number displayed. LEFT = Display it to the LEFT of the conference name RIGHT = Display it to the RIGHT of the conference name. This entry is mandatory. Line 8. This entry assigns a UNIQUE 3 character ID and description to each Network on your system. The format is| NETWORK ID:NETWORK NAME The Network name will appear in the header, displayed at the top of each column of the listing for that network. One NDESC entry is required for EACH Network you carry. The maximum size of the Network Name is 17 characters. The program will support a maximum of 99 Networks. At least one is mandatory Line 9. This entry describes the conference numbers to be associated with each of the conference descriptions you have defined above. At least one is mandatory. Format| NETWORK ID:STARTING CONF. #:ENDING CONF. #:CONF. TYPE NETWORK ID = Must match one of the IDs in line 8. STARTING # = First conference # in a range comprising the network ENDING # = Last conference # in a range comprising the network CONF. TYPE = P for Public Conferences, R for Restricted/Reserved or F for conferences that contain files Note: This applies to ALL the conference numbers in the range indicated. Use multiple NETCONF entries if you have a mixture of Public and Reserved. For example: if your RIME conferences covered numbers 1-100 and #35-37 were Reserved and all others were Public you would use 3 NETCONF entries. 1-34 would have a CONF TYPE of P, 35-37 would have a CONF TYPE of R and 38-100 would have a CONF TYPE of P. You can use any number of NETCONF entries to fully describe your conference to a maximum of 500 ! Line 10. This entry is used to assign a conference to more than one NETWORK. This is mostly cosmetic and is NOT a required entry. In future versions this entry will be used by non-PCBoard systems. Optional. Format| NETWORK ID:CON. NAME:CONF. #:CONF. TYPE NETWORK ID = Must match one of the IDs in line 8. CON. NAME = Conference name up to a maximum of 12 characters CONF. # = Conference number up 3 digits CONF. TYPE = Same as Line 9 above ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Next 8 Entries Control the Colors For Each Section of the Listing --- ---------------------- Uses @X Color Codes ------------------------------ -------------------- Registered Version Only ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Line 11. Conference Name Color Line 12. Conference Type Color Line 13. Conference Number Color Line 14. Heading Color (box) Line 15. Heading BBS Name Color Line 16. Network Name Color Line 17. Bottom Line Color Line 18. "More" Color, on Bottom line (both ends) Line 19. With this entry you can define what appears on the bottom line. By default it will show "R = Restricted", in registered version. Maximum length is 70 characters. Optional. Requires Registration! Line 20. This entry will allow you to define the number of columns to be used to display the conferences. Your choices are 1, 3 or 4. If you define 4 columns and the program determines that you have more than 9,999 conferences, the number of columns will be reduced to 3. Line 21. This entry will allow you create separate CNFN files for each network you have defined. The file name for each of the CNFN files will be the same as the 3 character network ID you assigned in the NETCONF lines above. In addition to the individual CNFN files an all encompassing CNFN will also be created. __________________________ E X A M P L E ____________________________________ To help make all this a little clearer (it is really very simple), I will describe the conferences/Networks of my BBS and what the Configuration file would look like. Sunrise-80 BBS has 4 Networks and Local conferences. The Networks are RIME, City2City, SmartNet and L&Lnet. Conference numbers are assigned as follows: Rime : 2-23, 25-70, 94 (all are Public except 29,30,35) City2City: 73-93 (all are Public except 75,84,86) FidoNet : 1, 71-72, 95-97 (all are Public) SmartNet : 98-112 (all are Public) Local : 0, 24 (all are Public) In addition I display my Sunrise Doors conference (conf # 1) in Local area as well as the FidoNet Network. I also use all the default colors and a special bottom line. All has been included in the example CFG. The ACNFN.CFG file would look like this: _______________________________________ Sunrise-80 BBS Al Lawrence 00000000 INPUT=C:\PCB\MAIN\CNAMES OUTPUT=C:\PCB\GEN\CNFN SORT=N NUMCOL=LEFT NDESC=100:R I M E NDESC=200:City2City NDESC=400:FidoNet NDESC=300:SmartNet NDESC=500:L O C A L NETCONF=200:73:74:P NETCONF=200:75:75:r NETCONF=200:76:83:p NETCONF=200:84:84:r NETCONF=200:85:85:p NETCONF=200:86:86:r NETCONF=200:87:93:p NETCONF=100:2:23:p NETCONF=100:25:28:p NETCONF=100:29:30:r NETCONF=100:31:34:p NETCONF=100:35:35:r NETCONF=100:36:70:p NETCONF=100:94:94:p NETCONF=400:1:1:p NETCONF=400:71:72:p NETCONF=400:95:97:p NETCONF=500:0:0:p NETCONF=500:24:24:p NETCONF=300:98:112:P CONF=500:Sunrise Doors:1:p XCNF=@X06 XTYP=@X07 XCFN=@X0A XHDB=@X1A XBBS=@X1F XNET=@X57 XBBG=@X1F XMRE=@X8C BLINE=R = Restricted [AVAILABLE FROM: Sunrise Doors/Utility Software] COLUMNS=4 Hints/Tips/Other Ramblings __________________________ (1) The sequence in which the networks appear, is controlled by the NETWORK ID field. The program will sort on this field, therefore it is important to assign values to each network that will place them in the proper sequence. As you can see from the Example Sunrise CFG file, above, I use 3 digit numbers. (2) The first three(3) entries in the CFG file are required to be in that sequence. All others may be in any sequence. (3) This version will handle up to 99,999 conferences (NON-Registered only handle 50). (4) Be sure to use the ':' to separate fields within each Entry. (5) I really do not like to do documentation and therefore there may be some errors or omissions in this document. I would appreciate any feedback you wish to give relative to the program itself or the Docs. TROUBLESHOOTING --------------- (1) If you are running this Door on a 486 system and encounter errors such as ERROR 6.... OVERFLOW Error ERROR 5.... ILLEGAL Function Call (may be associated with other problems) KEYBOARD Timeout after 5 minutes You may have to put the following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET NO87=ON (2) If you encounter an Error 62 (Input Past End of File), BEFORE you see the opening screen of the Door, your problem will more than likely be associated with the CFG file. The error 62 means that you do not have enough entries in the CFG. Compare your CFG file with the CFG definition in the DOC file. (3) If you encounter an ERROR 70... Permission Denied, this will more than likely mean that you DO NOT have SHARE loaded. SHARE is a DOS file that comes with your version of DOS. To load it type the word SHARE at the DOS prompt. To load it permanently type the word SHARE on a line by itself in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, any place prior to the loading of your BBS software. There have been numerous reports that loading SHARE high causes some problems, so to be on the safe side, do not load it high. Should you have any questions or problem, please do not hesitate to call voice for immediate help... 404-256-9518 (9am-9:30pm EST) any day! LEGALITIES __________ THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THE CREATION AND PRODUCTION OF THIS PRODUCT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF ANY USE THEREOF OR BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY. DISTRIBUTION ____________ You may make this file available for downloading from your BBS or you may upload it to any BBS of your choice, provided that you do not make any changes to the contents of the archive (ZIP file). The archive and its individual contents may not be used by any service that charges any money whatsoever, without the written permission of the author. REGISTRATION ____________ Registration and the subsequent insertion of the registration number into your configuation file, allows for the display of your BBS name on the opening screenand its display in the heading of the listing, reduction of delays, and the ability to change certain values in the configuration file. To register your copy of ACNFN, please fill out the registration form (REGISTER.FRM) and mail it along with the registration fee to the name and address on the form. Once a door is registered, any changes to registration information (Sysop name or BBS Name) will require the doors to be re-registered. Download or File Request a file named CHANGE.FRM from our BBS, complete the form and follow ALL instructions in the document! Registration fees are subject to change at any time. The most current registration form is always available on our BBS. You may download or File Request REGISTER.FRM at any time. Be sure to use the proper upper/lower case when filling in your name and BBS name, as they MUST match the way you entered them in the configuration file. ^^^^ Based upon information supplied on the registration form, I will pre- register you on my BBS. You will then be able to call SUNRISE-80 and pick up your registration number. MISC ____ The latest version of ACNFN and other fine SUNRISE DOOR programs are always available for download from SUNRISE-80 BBS. Remember, should you have any problems, questions or suggestions, be sure to drop me a message on Sunrise-80 or in the RIME network (BBS_Doors, PCBHints, SYSops), SmartNet (SN_Sysops), City2City, FIDO (Sysops, PCBnet, Sysop18), DoorNet or GeniusNet