-= FDUSER =-
FrontDoor Log file Analyzer/Reporter
Copyright(c) 1991:
Gordon E. Rasnick
Arctic Computer Services
2530 Sebring Circle
Anchorage, AK 99516
All rights reserved.
FIDONET (1:355/500)
CompuServe ID: 72007,417
FrontDoor is Copyright 1989-1991 Advanced Engineering sarl
All rights reserved.
*******************
FDUSER is a complete log file analyzer/reporter for version 2.01/2
(the non-commercial versions), and version 2.00 (commercial) of the
FrontDoor email package. FDUSER currently only works with these
versions, but a more generic package is in the works which will be
compatible with different versions.
FDUSER will produce more information about your email activities
than you probably care to know, but is configurable to the point that
you get only what you want.
Please read the documentation carefully. It is important that both
FDUSER and FrontDoor be set up correctly for this system to work
properly.
FDUSER requires at least 356k of free memory to run, and will use
any free EMS it finds. The more free conventional memory (0 - 640k)
it has, the faster it will run. During beta testing, FDUSER processed
FrontDoor log files of 750k in about 4 minutes on a 286/12mhz machine
with no EMS. On a 386-25mhz with 8megs of RAM, it processed the same
file and produced all the reports in less than 2 minutes.
This version of FDUSER is not crippled in any way. All the features
are enabled in this release. When you first start it up, you will be
asked to type in a random number to continue. It will then perform
without any further intervention. This random number step will occur
each time you run FDUSER until you register your copy and receive a
registration key code. See REGISTER.DOC for more information. Your
registration will disable the random number step, permitting you to
run it from your batch file during regular nightly maintainance events.
*******************
GETTING STARTED.
NOTES: FDUSER must be run from its own directory. It does not
search paths for the FDUSER.* files. Change to the FDUSER
directory before running this program.
FDUSER does not modify FrontDoors log file in any way. It
does however, expect the FrontDoor log file to contain
certain information. This may mean that you will have to
modify your setup in FDSETUP to accomodate this program.
This is explained in detail in the FDUSER.CFG file.
If you find that you aren't getting what you'd expect out
of this program, look in the FDUSER directory for a file
called FDUSER.ERR. It will be created if trouble arises.
1. Create a directory on your hard disk called FDUSER.
MD\FDUSER
2. Copy all the files from this archive to that directory.
COPY *.* \FDUSER
3. Edit the FDUSER.CFG file to set up the system for the
type of reports you wish to produce, and path and filenames.
FDUSER.CFG is heavily commented and serves as much of the
documentation for the program. Read it carefully.
4. At the DOS prompt type in FDUSER and press return. FDUSER will
read in your FrontDoor log file and store the data it will need
for your reports in a file called FDUSER.DBF. The FDUSER.DBF file
is not included in the archive, but will be created during the
initial run. Other misc files will be created from time to time.
Altering or removing any of them will bring unpredictable results.
5. You may now run FDUSER by passing command line parameters to
tell it which reports you wish to produce.
FDUSER 1:355/500=JOHN will produce a detailed report of the
traffic between you and John at node 1:355/500. Two reports
will be produced. JOHN.IN and JOHN.OUT. You may use any legal
file and path name you wish after the "=" sign, but use no
extension. FDUSER 1:355/500=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\JOHN would create
the report in the directory where you keep your bbs displayable
text files. (C:\BBS\TXTFILES\)
FDUSER -R will produce a single report of all the traffic between
you and all other nodes you have had contact with. You can specify
the filename of this report in the FDUSER.CFG file at the MAIL FILE
statement. The filename will always be the same and paths are
supported here also.
FDUSER -W will wipe out all stored data in the system, in effect,
giving you a clean slate. CAREFULL! There is no escape from this
switch. Since you want to be able to run it from your batch file,
No prompt will be given before the data is removed from the file.
Summary:
You will probably want to call FDUSER several times in a session,
first to process the latest FrontDoor log, then to create the reports.
I would recommend you use a public domain program I wrote called DAILY.
Daily will backup all your log files, including FDUSER data files.
You can FREQ it from me at 1:355/500 (HST) using the magic name DAILY.
(The latest release of FDUSER is also FREQable as FDUSER.)
A typical session in your batch file might look something like:
:FDU
CD\FDUSER
REM Read in the latest FD log info.
FDUSER
REM Produce a report of traffic to and from 1:355/1
FDUSER 1:355/1=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\PETE
REM Produce a report of traffic to and from 1:355/5
FDUSER 1:355/5=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\TODD
REM DITTO
FDUSER 1:355/500=C:\BBS\TXTFILES\GORDON
REM Produce a report for all mail traffic with other nodes.
FDUSER -R
REM Wipe out all data being stored by FDUSER.
FDUSER -W
REM Make backups of all log files.
DAILY
REM Start up BBS/FD again.
GOTO RECYCLE
The entire run above on a months worth of FD log data would only take
about 3 mins on a slow machine, but you'll probably want to run this
on a weekly basis, or more often if you have a busy system. Mine runs
every night, but without the call to FDUSER -W. I have that set up as
a seperate event occuring once a week, and I have sysop only menus to
read them all from a bbs logon.