PCBForum v.94c - [ STRAiGHT jACKET ] - [PWA] -------------------------------------------- DESCRIPTION: PCBForum is an replacement for the normal PCBoard 1 menu format, having several different menus that are similar to many forum software packages. After comparing commands with that of PCBoard and forum bbs programs, PCBForum was established. If you are a PCBoard die-hard fan this software is not for you, and you shouldn't have downloaded it. If you are a FORUM HACK fan, you may find PCBForum to your liking. So to learn how you can setup this software, continue reading the DOC file. Try to ignore any possible SPELIngi eRors :) Requirements: ------------- i. USER NOTES PSA CAN NOT BE INSTALLED. ii. USER COMMENT #2 MUST ALSO BE FREE. iii. MULTITASKING! - PCBForum takes up about 100k or more of memory to run, so each window should have a little extra than normal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Files that PCBForum v.94c Uses - you really don't need to read this ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the PCBFORUM root directory the following files should/may be present. DONATION.PCB - This file is optional. PCBFORUM.PPE - This is the actual program. PCBFORUM.CFG - The main config. file. PCBFORUM.DOC - The documentation file. TEXT.PCB - List off all the menu sets. In the DAT directory the following files should be present. These files can be edited VIA setup.exe which should be located in the PCBFORUM root dir. BBS.DAT - Where all the BBS entries are stored. CNFMSG.DAT - Where all the Message Conferences are stored. CNFMSG*.DAT - Corresponding with CNFMSG.DAT -- The '*' represents the number of a conference. For each conference there is a different CNFMSG*.DAT which contains all of the message areas which are in the that conference. For example Conference #2 which was is defined in CNFMSG.DAT would be named CNFMSG2.DAT - in this file the names and information of the messages areas would be stored here. * NOTE: PCBoard doesn't have messages areas within a a conference. PCBForum message areas are actually MESSAGE CONFERENCES. CNFXFER.DAT - Where all the Files/Xfer Conferences are stored. RUMOURS.DAT - Where all the Rumour entries are stored. SPECIAL.DAT - Where all the names and information of the EXTERNAL PPE's are stored. In the TEXT* directories the following files should exist unless stated. BBSH.PCB - BBS listing header. BBSM.PCB - BBS listing menu. CNFMSGH.PCB - Message conference header. This file may not exist in some of the TEXT* directories. CNFXFERH.PCB - XFER/File conference header. Like the CNFMSGH.PCB, this file existance is optional. COLORS.CFG - Text/Config file containing the default colors for that menu set in that TEXT* directory. FILEM.PCB - Files menu. FILESTAT.PCB - File stats - displayed to user after joining XFER conference. MAINM.PCB - Main menu. MSGAREAH.PCB - Message areas header. This file is also optional. MSGH.PCB - Message header. Intirely different from MSGAREAH.PCB. MSGM.PCB - Message menu. MSGSTAT.PCB - Message stats - displayed to user after joining MSG conf. NEWSM.PCB - News room/Bulletin menu. PCBFORUM.PCB - Where all the TEXT prompts etc. defined. RUMOURSH.PCB - Rumours header. RUMOURSM.PCB - Rumours menu. SPECIALH.PCB - Special menu header. This is also a optional file. SYSOPM.PCB - Sysop menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PCBFORUM.CFG - Main Config file ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00000 The BBS Sysop Name NONE @X03 100 999 Y 50 10 10 10 10 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y PWA PCBForum v.94c Config File ------------------------------ Line 1: Registration Code Line 2: Board Name Line 3: Sysop Name Line 4: Voting PPE location Line 5: Text Color Line 6: Access level need to enter SYSOP menu Line 7: Maximum number of BBS enteries - 999 maximum number Line 8: Allow Anonymous Rumours Y/N Line 9: Security to leave a Anonymous Rumour Line 10: Access Level required to Join Message Conference Line 11: Access Level required to Join XFER Conference Line 12: Access Level required to enter Rumours Menu Line 13: Access Level required to enter BBS Listing Menu Line 14: Display rumours at main prompt Line 15: Display rumours at file prompt Line 16: Display rumours at message prompt Line 17: Display rumours at news prompt Line 18: Display rumours at rumours prompt Line 19: Display rumours at bbs prompt Line 20: Display rumours at batch prompt Line 21: Display rumours at special prompt Line 22: Display rumours at sysop prompt Line 1: Registration Code ------------------------- Without the registration code there will be a register nag above your main menu prompt. To disable this you must call THE CREED OUTWORN and run the REGISTER.EXE program at the NORTON COMMANDER MATRIX. The number is: (403)256-8357 ... Have your CREDIT CARD number ready, just joking! BTW: If you called and registered the 911 PCBForum, your reg number will not work.. sorry! Line 2: Board Name ------------------ Enter the name of your board on this line. It is important when you do register PCBForum that the board name you enter when registering is the same as the board name you enter here. Line 3: Sysop Name ------------------ Pretty self-explanitory. Line 4: Voting PPE location --------------------------- Location and name of your VOTING BOOTH PPE, when you are at the main menu prompt and you press 'V', it will execute the ppe that you have entered here. Line 5: Text Color ------------------ Default text color - Don't use background colors, it will look pretty lame. Line 6: Access level need to enter SYSOP menu --------------------------------------------- To access the sysop menu you would press '%' at the main menu, this line would have the security level need to access the sysop menu. Line 7: Maximum number of BBS enteries - 999 maximum number ----------------------------------------------------------- Enter the maximum number of BBS names/numbers that are allowed to be entered to this BBS list. The maximum value that can be placed here is 999 Line 8: Allow Anonymous Rumours Y/N ----------------------------------- Allow anonymous rumours to be posted. Line 9: Security to leave a Anonymous Rumour -------------------------------------------- The security level required to post an anonymous rumour, if line 8 equals 'Y'. Line 10: Access Level required to Join Message Conference --------------------------------------------------------- From the main menu, the security level required to access the message menu. Line 11: Access Level required to Join XFER Conference ------------------------------------------------------ From the main menu, the security level required to access the file menu. Line 12: Access Level required to enter Rumours Menu ---------------------------------------------------- From the main menu, the security level required to access the rumours menu. Line 13: Access Level required to enter BBS Listing Menu -------------------------------------------------------- From the main menu, the security level required to access the bbs listing menu. Line 14 - 21: Display rumours --------------------------------------- On each line starting with 14 and ending with line 21, if you wish for that to display a random rumour at that menu prompt, simply put a 'Y' on that line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE CONFERENCE SETUP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment: A nice thing about using PCBForum is that you don't use the PCBoard join command. PCBForum, allows you to display only the conferences that you want to display. Not all of your PCBoard conferences have file areas in them, and it is pointless for a user to join a conference to just find out that conference has the same files as the main board, if any files at all. PCBForum allows you to specify which are your file conferences. Edit CNFXFER.DAT which is located in the \DAT directory. The sample file should look something like this: Sample File Conf. #1 0 10 Sample File Conf. #2 1 10 Sample File Conf. #3 2 10 First Line.: Name of TRANSFER Conference Second Line: Actual PCBoard Conference Third Line.: Security Level needed First Line ---------- This line is basically the name of the conference. This line doesn't even have to match up with the actually PCBoard conference name. Second Line ----------- This line is where you enter the actual PCBoard conference number. For example, you would enter a 0 for main board and a 1 for conference number 1. Pretty hard eh? Third Line ---------- Security level needed to actually see that this conference even exists. If the users security is lower than the security specified here, PCBForum will just simply not display the conference name. Additional Comments: You can in theory have as many file conferences as you like, but its important that each conference you add uses the same idea described above. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MESSAGE CONFERENCE/AREA SETUP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment: One thing alot of people using PCBoard have complained about is not being able to have message areas within a message conference. Many PPL authors have written some pretty lame conference grouping utilities, and some have written excellent, I've only seen the lame attempts. But anyways, to make PCBForum a true forum, I incorporated message areas. You can now group PCBoard conferences into PCBForum message areas. For example, if you had a specific net, lets call it COOL-NET, and COOL-NET had 25 different message topics, and you had another NET with 10 or more, you would be able to make it look as if you only had two message conferences. PCBForum neatly groups your message conferences/areas, instead of every time you press J from the PCBoard main prompt, displaying over 100 message conferences. For some people, the PCBoard method suits them just perfect, but if you are one of those people who like to have things neat and tidy, you may enjoy this feature of PCBoard. By simply pressing [A] from the message menu you are given a list of all the message areas that pertain to that particular conference. Edit CNFMSG.DAT which is located in the \DAT directory. The sample file should look something like this: Sample Message Conference #1 10 Sample Message Conference #2 10 Sample Message Conference #3 10 First line : Name of MESSAGE Conference Second Line: Conference Security First Line ---------- This line is basically the name of the conference. Second Line ----------- Security level needed to actually see that this conference even exists. If the users security is lower than the security specified here, PCBForum will just simply not display the conference name. NOTE: If you had 5 PCBForum MESSAGE conferences you would have to have 5 CNFMSG*.DAT's, eg. CNFMSG1.DAT = Message Conference 1 (which is described on line one of CNFMSG.DAT) In the CNFMSG1.DAT the actual msg areas for Message Conference 1 would be kept there. These msg areas are actually PCBoard Message Conferences, but grouped like forum message areas within a message conference. Additional Comment: If you figured out how to setup the file conferences, editing each message conference file shouldn't be much harder. Just read the simple comments in each file. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL MENU SETUP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments: If you have any external PPE's that you like to run, such as a timebank, user stats, ansi gallery, whatever the ppe may be, you can neatly store them here. You must have the PPE's listed in your CMD.LST before you install them here. To disable the special menu, simply delete SPECIAL.DAT. Edit SPECIAL.DAT which is located in your \DAT directory. The sample file should look something like this. Sample PPE name #1 PPE1 10 Sample PPE name #2 PPE2 10 LINE 1: PPE NAME LINE 2: What appears in CMD.LST LINE 3: SECURITY NEEDED TO RUN PPE Line 1 ------ What the name of the application is. Line 2 ------ What the command is in the CMD.LST Line 3 ------ The security level needed to execute the ppe. If the users security level is lower than the security level specified, PCBForum wont even display the PPE, so if you had a CO-SYSOP utility that you needed to run, you could do that from here, no problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDING MENU SETS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment: It is quite likely that there will be additional menu sets available as soon as this version is released. And you will probably be wondering how you can add them to your setup of PCBForum. Well follow these short easy steps. 1) Edit TEXT.PCB add a new line to the bottom of the file. Each new additional menu set that will be release will most likely have the name of the person who released the menu set and some personal 1 line stats about him self. You would enter that here. Make sure after adding the name of the new menu set that there is a free blank line at the bottom of the file, no more no less, just one blank line. 2) Make the new TEXT directory and unzip the new menu set into that directory. For example: if you had 6 menu sets and you were adding a 7th you would make a TEXT7 directory and copy the new menu set into that directory. Pretty complicated :) If you wish to make your own menu set, unzip PCBFMNU3.ZIP which was included in the original zip of PCBFV94C.ZIP. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q & A ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: How come when I bring up the message areas when using PCBForum, the message areas are all gimped up? A: Probably because your description for your message area are to long, try making the short - I know this is a hassle, but I was just to lazy to fix this minor problem this version. Thats what future versions are for I guess? Q: Does it cost anything to register PCBForum? A: Not really, It may cost you 30 cents to call and reg it from the login matrix, but I don't charge anything for my services. I get enough out of knowing that my work is appreciated. If you are a person who has cash, I sure wouldn't mind a donation for my efforts. But if you are a cheapo person, don't worry about it -- I'm cheap my self. Q: Is there a way for the users to decide if they want PCBForum as there menu system? A: Actually there is, keep an eye out for it. The program will let you choose if you want to run PCBForum, the pulldowns, or pcboard. Q: How do I access the sysop menu? A: Well from the main menu simply press '%' Q: How come you are so cool? A: :) NEXT! - What a lammer eh? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon to be released: PCBForum Util/Add On package - Some nifty little add ons that will maximize your PCBF setup. Pulldown Menu System v3.0 - Menu interface with highlight pulldown bars. Menu System Selector v1.0 - Allows the user to choose which menu system he/she wishes to use, PCBForum/Pulldowns/PCBoard Default. This is for the system with a wide range of likes and dislikes. This will benefit you system greatly. Norton Command Login Matrix v1.0 - Norton fans may find this novelty useful. A login matrix in the form of Norton Commander. Call my board to get a glimps. I'm not sure if anyone has done this yet, but what the hell eh? Problems or concerns: Contact me @ (403)256-8357 - The Creed Outworn - my board or AttitudeNet/PPENet lata [ STRAiGHT jACKET ] - PWA 'If you are going to do it, do it with an attitude' Installing PCBForum v.94c ------------------------- Comments: Well this installation process, which was originally planned to be done by a INSTALL.EXE, is now unfortunately a manual installation. With the toss up of finding a group to release this version under, a INSTALL.EXE didn't happen. But anyways, I've tried to make the installation process as simple as possible. Maybe next version someone will willingly volenteer to do a simple INSTALL.EXE. Please follow the following directions carefully. [ STRAiGHT jACKET ] - [PWA] Installing ---------- 1) Make yourself a directory where you would like to store PCBForum. For example: D:\PCB\PPL\PCBFORUM NOTE: If you are running a BETA of PCBForum or a previous version delete it and then re-install PCBFORUM. 2) Copy PROGRAM.ZIP into this directory. Unzip PROGRAM.ZIP using the -d command. For example: PKUNZIP -D PROGRAM.ZIP 3) Delete PROGRAM.ZIP! 4) Copy GEN.ZIP into your PCBoard display directory, or in other words your \GEN directory. First!!! Backup your menu files, BRD*.* to some place safe, just incase you don't like PCBForum. Second - Unzip GEN.ZIP. Third - Delete GEN.ZIP. 5) You may also want to delete Record # 412 & Record 328 from your PCBTEXT. which should be in your \GEN directory. Deleting these two files is highly optional. If you can't figure out why I would even suggest deleting them after you have been running PCBForum for a while, don't even bother. Please don't get confused! That should be it! - Now to set up PCBForum - Read PCBFORUM.DOC which is located in your PCBFORUM directory.