****************************************************************
* *
* Before you run the Wildcat! program, first run the *
* configuration program MAKEWILD to set up your data files. *
* If you are upgrading from a previous version of Wildcat! *
* you should follow the directions in the Upgrade section *
* *
****************************************************************
Version 4.10 of Wildcat! BBS incorporates many new features and changes.
For a detailed description of new features, please refer to the Version
4.10 Addendum booklet, shipped with this update.
This file contains information that became available after the manual
was printed. Please review it carefully.
UPGRADING FROM WILDCAT 4.0 TO 4.10 ONLY
=======================================
Version 4.01 and 4.10 have a minor structure difference in the
conference flags from version 4.0, and we have provided a program called
CHKCONF that will check and update these flags if necessary.
You only need to run this program if you are upgrading from version 4.0
to version 4.10 -- if you have already run it for the 4.01 upgrade, you
do NOT need to run it again.
To run CHKCONF, change to your Wildcat! home directory (normally
C:\WILDCAT) and type
CHKCONF [Enter]
Allow up to a few minutes for this program to complete its operation. It
will report successful completion when it is done.
Wildcat! 4 Sysop Guide, 7/1/94 printing only.
---------------------------------------------
- page 384 contains an incorrect filename for the batch file used to
import descriptions from uploads. The correct filename is
FILEDESC.BAT (not descfile.bat), and is listed incorrectly in the
discussion and the example text.
- page 504 contains two descriptions for the FILEDESC.BAT file, one
immediately following the other. Only the second is correct. Please
remove the first description given for the FILEDESC.BAT file.
- page 261 indicates that the @CALLID@ variable can be imported to a
user record using the questionnaire facility. This is incorrect (at
this time). The variable can be displayed and is placed in the
activity log.
Later printings of this manual correct these errors.
The 11/1/94 printing of the Wildcat! Sysop Guide has full information on
using wcPACK while the system is running. This information was inadvertently
omitted from previous versions of this readme file. Here is an overview of wcPACK
operation:
wcPACK
Message management tool
When to use wcPACK
Wildcat!'s message files require only minimal maintenance about once a week or so, to
purge old and deleted mail from the message files and keep them from growing too
large.
The program wcPACK comes in two versions: a "real mode" version for 8088 and
higher PCS, called WCPACK.EXE, and a "protected mode" version for 80286 and
higher PCs known as WCPACKX.EXE. The protected mode version is able to use all
the available memory on your system for fastest possible operation.
wcPACK is designed to help you manage your message files. You can run this program
from the DOS prompt, or from a batch file during a system event.
Special considerations for multi-line operation
wcPACK can be run with other nodes up for most operations, provided that it has its
own unique Node ID. You can also run it when nodes are down or in maintenance
mode. However, since Conference 0 is used for system-generated messages as well as
caller messages, wcPACK will not pack confernce 0 unless all nodes are down. Also,
you cannot renumber messages unless all nodes are down, because wcPACK needs to
access the user database as well as the message files for this function.
You can use the /S "set timeout" command line switch to set a maximum number of
minutes to wait for a conference to become available for packing.
wcPACK creates lock files for the conferences you ask it to pack, and checks every
few seconds to see if all users are out of the conference before it begins packing. When
a conference is locked, Wildcat! displays a message to the caller that the conference is
currently unavailable.
Synchronizing mail tossing and mail packing
Mail tossing by wcGATE, wcMAIL and wcECHO can take place during message
packing, even when wcPACK is processing an echomail conference at the same time
one of the other programs is tossing mail into it. The mail tosser will create a
temporary directory under your WILDCAT home directory called MSGLOCK, and
creates temporary message files into which it imports messages.
When wcPACK releases the message data file, you will need to merge the temporary
message tossing file back into the freshly-packed message data file. When message
tossing has completed, use the /N command line switch in wcPACK to update message
data files with the new messages.
Command line options
Like most other Wildcat! utility programs, wcPACK displays a list of command line
options when you type
WCPACK /? [ENTER}
Here is a list of wcPACK command line options:
Switch Operation
/A Process all conferences
/B Create renumber backup files
/C:[name] Configuration file for automatic packing
/D ### Delete messages older than ### days
/E Kill private received messages
/I Display rebuild statistics
/K:##### Keep ##### messages
/L Last messages read repair mode
/N Toss saved messages to system
/R Renumber and pack specified conferences
/S:### Set wcPACK timeout in minutes
/T Kill received file attachments
Examples
Deleting messages by number
wcPACK will trim the size of the message data file by deleting old mail. For instance,
if you want to trim message conferences 1 through 5 and keep only the newest 500
messages in each one, use a command line like this:
WCPACK /K:500 1-5 [Enter]
or
WCPACK /K:500 [Enter]
Deleting messages by days old
Another way to use wcPACK is to delete messages based on age. If you want messages
in conferences 1, 2 and 3 to have a lifespan of 30 days, try the following command
line:
WCPACK /D:30 1-3 [Enter]
Saving your commands in a configuration file
Instead of typing the command line each time, you can save your command lines in a
configuration file. wcPACK will process each command in order. The configuration
file can have any name you want.
Here is an example of a wcPACK configuration file that performs several operations:
1 Pack conference 1
2 Pack conference 2
30-40 /t Pack conferences 30-40, and delete received attachments.
/R 0 Pack and renumber conference 0
Load the configuration file like this:
WCPACK /C:FILENAME.CFG
Renumbering
Wildcat! can store a maximum of 65520 message numbers in each conference area
before the message file fills up ù at that point Wildcat! can't add any more records to
the message file and will report an error.
If, for example, the range of message numbers in a conference goes from 62531 to
64362, you can reset the starting and ending message numbers from 1 again by
renumbering the messages. The Renumber command switch is /R.
Safety backup mode during renumber
Ordinary message packing procedures rarely cause problems, since the affected
message data file can easily be rebuilt using wcREPAIR. Renumbering, however, also
affects your user database files ALLUSERS.DAT and .IX, and USERCONF.DAT.
You should not renumber your message data files until there is a clear need to do
so. Daily or weekly renumbering increases the likelihood that a system error
could corrupt your user and message data files. A power failure or disk error
during renumbering can cause serious data corruption. We strongly recommend
making a backup of your user data files before renumbering.
wcPACK has some additional command line options you can use during message
renumbering that will create backup files during the operation, and report errors or
inconsistencies when the renumbering has been completed. Both options require
sufficient additional disk space for the backup files.
/B ù Create renumber backup files
When wcPACK renumbers messages, it must also reset the high message number for
each user record, in each conference. To do this, wcPACK creates a temporary file as it
renumbers messages with the name of the message data file and the extension .REB,
and uses this temporary file to update the user file.
/L ù Restore user message pointers from .REB files
If for some reason wcPACK is unable to complete the process, one or more .REB files
will be left on the disk. You can restart the user record update without having to go
through the entire renumbering process by using the /L command line switch. wcPACK
will clean up its temporary files when it successfully completes the job.
Recovering from a system crash
If a system error or power failure interrupts wcPACK, some temporary files may be left
behind that can prevent callers from accessing certain conferences. To recover from a
system crash, follow this procedure:
Change to the MSGLOCK directory below your WILDCAT home directory, and
delete all the .LCK files.
Run wcREPAIR on any message data files that were being packed or renumbered at the
time your system went down.
If you were renumbering, run wcREPAIR on your user data file as well.
If you used the /B command line switch when renumbering, your callers' message
pointers for each conference will be stored in temporary files ending in .REB. Start
wcPACK again with the /L command line switch to update the callers' high message
pointers properly.
Wildcat! 4.10 fixes
-------------------
- Questionnaires now use @LOGOFF@ correctly.
- Fixed a problem with turning on the capture file in a wcCODE app.
- Wildcat! will now lower DTR when it is in auto answer mode, for
improved support of X.25 and other systems.
- You can now only kill message attachments that are yours or if you are
a Sysop.
- Fixed a problem with overwriting files when uploading into an area.
- Wildcat! now notes the conference number in the error log when it can
no longer add messages to a conference.
- Fixed a problem with marking files using stack commands that would
only mark the first file.
- Wildcat! allowed users to do non-stop file listings past their time
limit. Fixed.
- Fixed a problem with doing a previous on an IFSEC command in a text
file.
- Fixed a problem with uploading a file and there are duplicate files,
if you were prompted for a list and hit Q to quit Wildcat! would go
ahead and process the upload.
- Fixed a problem with the full screen editor making the edit window too
large when a user in RIP mode had his lines per page set high.
- Internal Zmodem now sends the batch information if the caller is using
GSZ.
- Wildcat! sometimes reported file attachment successful even when there
was a problem. Fixed.
- Wildcat! counted blank entries in a group list when sending group
mail. Fixed.
- Fixed a problem with NODEINFO sometimes getting locked and not letting
go.
- Fixed a problem with Wildcat! showing a user as being the 9999th
caller and logging the caller as 9998.
- Fixed a problem with Wildcat! reporting an error when you attached a
file to a message that had a previous attachment deleted.
- Wildcat now copies the file attachments when you send group mail, this
prevents the problem of one user deleting the attachment and no one
else begin able to get it.
- Fixed a problem with RIPscrip incorrectly counting lines ending in a
\.
- Message reading prompt now handles stacked commands.
- Changed the command for sending a menu file so that if the user
chooses a command to send a menu file it is sent regardless of their
security setting
- Fixed the problem with some prompts not being erased when using a
display file for certain prompts.
- Wildcat! now allows you to enter messages without a subject in an
Interment E-mail conference.
- Fixed problem with some wcCODE files not specifying the home Wildcat!
path.
- Found and fixed the problem with changing a user's security profiles
and then Wildcat! setting their time left to a high number.
- Fixed a problem with user pages getting a garbage character at the end
of the page.
- Added a time stamp to the routines that log modem errors.
- Wildcat! sometimes reported an error opening LANGDESC.DAT file. Fixed.
- Fixed a problem with the double file listings that would cause some
files to put an extra space in the display.
- When Wildcat got within 5 minutes of a soft event it would start
checking the event file continuously, causing unnecessary file access
on LANtastic systems. Wildcat! now checks every 30 seconds if a soft
event is scheduled to go off in 5 minutes or less.
- Changed some of the prompt handling code to deal with long path import
files.
- Fixed a problem with Wildcat! showing the wrong ratio when a user is
over their KByte ratio.
- Fixed a problem with conferences not being available and Wildcat! not
cleaning up the display.
- Fixed the problem with read/scanning messages backwards and the last
read pointer being set.
- Fixed Wildcat! so that if you lockout the DEFAULT user it does not set
that flag when a new user logs in.
- When typing in filenames for downloads, if you got the first file and
not the second and then the third, Wildcat! would put one file in the
mark list twice. Fixed.
- Fixed Wildcat! so that when printing a message no longer sends LF
after the form feed.
- Fixed the routine that displays CONFLSTn.BBS and FILELSTn.BBS so that it
will send them regardless of the users expert level.
- Fixed a problem with marking files and then uploading where Wildcat!
would lose the marked files.
- When specifying a file area to list in MAKEMENU, Wildcat! defaulted to
a single line display. Fixed.
- Two line file listings no longer split the descriptions at the wrong
location and break up words, also if a file does not have extended
info, the description will not be chopped for the Info flag.
- When jumping to a user record from the Sysop/file menu Wildcat!
sometimes lost the user's access (or just lost the user). Fixed.
- Fixed a problem with upgrading a user's security in chat and their
time on-line getting set out of whack.
- Fixed the problem with Wildcat! not sending a POSTRIP.RIP when it was
a RIP version of PRESRCH did not exist.
- Fixed a problem with Snoop mode not being set from MAKEMENU.
- Fixed the Write to user in file info so that if the user does not
leave a message no note is added to the activity log.
- Fixed QUESDATE and QUESCLOSE to show POSTRIP.RIP in rip mode.
- Fixed a problem with message thread that would sometimes drop the node
to DOS.
- Fixed problem with menu system allowing menu access even if the caller
does not have menu access.
- Found a problem that would cause #100 errors in NODEINFO or CONFDESC
after a user came back from a door or DOS shell.
- If you had access to a menu through a secondary profile and then
shelled to DOS (or a door) you would lose your access. Fixed.
- When you entered a number of filenames and then uploaded, Wildcat!
would stop with a continue prompt.
- Found and fixed a problem with users being allowed overwrite access
even when they have all overwrite options turned off.
- Found and fixed the problem with Dynamic Rip Menus getting the font
size incorrect if you used RIPterm.
- Fixed a problem with LOGON1 and LOGON2 WCX files not being executed if
you terminate on your doors.
- Found and fixed the problem with a user being logged out twice in the
activity logs.
- Fixed a problem with killing messages always killing messages in
conference 0 no matter what conference your are joined to.
- Fixed a problem with monthly events wrapping over to the next year and
hanging the system.
- Fixed a problem when giving a user a secondary profile it would report
the Sysops name and not the user's.
- Fixed a problem with No Network setting losing file handles in doors.
- In some situations the capture file would not close, and lost file
handles. Fixed.
- Fixed a problem with users logging in with a #255 character in their
name.
- Fixed a problem with Wildcat! hitting a CD ROM changer even if the
device was in the drive table.
- Fixed the problem with names like 'OS/2' not being inserted in the
search index.
Changed the following prompts:
Prompt #125
ANSI: @0E@[@0F@~6@0E@]~@0B@Last~message~read~~~~@0E@:~@0E@@SUB1@
RIP: ^B|c0B|@9I4N@SUB1@
Prompt #126
ANSI: @0E@Edit~command~[@0F@1..6@0E@]?~
Prompt #241
ANSI: @0E@[@0F@~5@0E@]~@0B@Packer~format~~~~~~~@0E@:~@0F@@SUB1@~@0E@ [@0F@11@0E@]~@0B@Show~script~commands~~@0E@:~@0F@@SUB2@
Prompt #242
ANSI: @0E@[@0F@~6@0E@]~@0B@Export~private~mail~@0E@:~@0F@@SUB1@
RIP: ^B|c0B|@5M3R@SUB1@
Prompt #245
ANSI: @0E@Edit~[@0F@1..11@0E@],~[@0F@H@0E@]elp?~
Prompt #331
ANSI: @0E@Record~#:~@0B@@SUB1@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@0E@Group:~@0B@@SUB2@
Prompt #349
ANSI: @0E@[@0F@G@0E@]roup,~[@0F@S@0E@]earch,~[@0F@N@0E@]ext,~ [@0F@F@0E@]ind,~[@0F@R@0E@]ead,~
Prompt #350
ANSI: [@0F@M@0E@]atch,~[@0F@D@0E@]elete,~[@0F@P@0E@]rev,~ [@0F@J@0E@]ump,~[@0F@V@0E@]iew,~[@0F@C@0E@]opy,
Prompt #351
ANSI: ~[@0F@U@0E@]ser,~
Prompt #352
ANSI: [@0F@Q@0E@]uit,~[@0F@1-25@0E@]~?~
Prompt #720 (RIP)
RIP: ^B|Y00000100|1B00000201EU020F000F080300000F07000000| 1UEQ88H88O2B00<>Stop<>S^M
Prompt #930 (RIP)
RIP: ^B|1B00000201EU020F000F080300000F07000000| 1U6C7H8A7X2900<>QUIT<>Q^M
Prompt #1081 (RIP)
RIP: <<prm#1081.rip
Prompt #1082 (RIP)
RIP: <<prm#1082.rip
Prompt #1102
ANSI: @0E@Enter~password~for~file~@SUB1@?~
RIP: @0E@Enter~password~for~file~@SUB1@?~
Prompt #1107 (RIP)
RIP:
Prompt #1199 (RIP)
RIP: ^B|1B00000201EQ020F000F080300000F07000000| 1U3W886Y8O2F00<>Write~Author<>W^M
Prompt #1200 (RIP)
RIP: ^B|1B00000201EQ020F000F080300000F07000000| 1U7888AA8O2D00<>Update<>U^M|1UAK88DM8O1W00<>Delete<>D^M
Prompt #1201 (RIP)
RIP: ^B|1B00000201EQ020F000F080300000F07000000| 1UDW88GY8O2B00<>Sysop<>S^M
Prompt #1202 (RIP)
RIP:
Prompt #1217
ANSI: [@0F@L@0E@]ist~file~areas,~[@0F@H@0E@]elp,~[@0F@Q@0E@]uit,~ [@0F@ENTER~=~All~file~areas@0E@]?~
Prompt #1281
ANSI: @SUB1@~is~currently~offline.
RIP: @SUB1@~is~currently~offline.
Prompt #1282
ANSI: Would~you~like~to~make~the~file~available~at~a~ later~time@YNDEF@?~
RIP: Would~you~like~to~make~the~file~available~at~a~ later~time@YNDEF@?~
Prompt #1331
ANSI: @0E@List~[@0F@a@0E@]ll~areas,~[@0F@L@0E@]ist,~[@0F@H@0E@]elp,~ [@0F@Q@0E@]uit,[@0F@ENTER~=~Start@0E@]?~
RIP: <<prm#1331.rip
Prompt #1448
ANSI: [@0F@X@0E@]fer,~[@0F@H@0E@]elp,~Fr[@0F@e@0E@]shen,~ [@0F@A@0E@]dd,
Prompt #1519 (RIP)
RIP: CD-Rom~~~~~~
MAKEWILD
Changes
- If you copy a conference or file area, MAKEWILD will now give you the
option to copy all the security settings as well.
- Fixed a problem with toggling the global security flags for
conferences and file areas.
- Fixed a problem with MAKEWILD sometimes getting error 100's when
resizing USERCONF.DAT.
MAKEMENU
Changes
- Fixed a bug with the characters picklist not allowing you to choose
selection keys that were used on previous menu commands that now don't
exist.
wcDRAW
Changes
- updated WCDRAW.DAT for new display and help files
- Fixed Paste bug in file editor
- Fixed bug where menu file names could have an embedded space.
wcREPAIR
New features
- Added selection list for multiple file databases.
MAKEQUES
Changes
- Fixed a bug related to adding new secondary profile change value.
- MAKEQUES now displays whether a question has an import file or chains
to another questionnaire while in Test mode.
wcCHAT
Changes
- You can now place a UserID in the moderator field. Previously, you
could only place an actual name.
wcMAIL
Changes
- Message lines starting with << that weren't valid .IMP lines were
being omitted from the QWK packet. Fixed.
- When downloading a QWK packet, wcMAIL will now refresh the cached mail
waiting flags so it will get any new messages that have just appeared.
- Fixed problem with reporting wrong error when the node was taken down
for maintenance.
- Fixed problem with the ability to add/drop conferences if the user did
not have "write" access to the conference.
- Fixed problem with detailed logging toggle not working correctly.
- Fixed runtime error when entering conference numbers that were too
large.
- Fixed problem with renaming local packets so it won't try to create a
file with a .QW[ extension (which causes PKZIP to have a bad day).
- Fixed the /download switch so if you also specify /overwrite or
/rename, the ask prompt will be skipped.
- Fixed a problem with requesting files attached to messages ù if there
were no other messages to download, you would not get a packet.
- The packet size is now displayed before the download starts.
- The wcMAIL file listings now match Wildcat's listings in color and
formatting. Also the first character in the long description is no
longer truncated.
- Carrier is now monitored when setting message pointers by date (this
can sometimes take a while and users are bound to hang up on it now
and then).
- When running wcMAIL directly from the command line, an invalid user
name is now logged to the activity log instead of the error log.
- The line "CONTROLTYPE = CONFIG" is now written to DOOR.ID so QWK
readers will know that they can use "CONFIG" style control messages.
- You can now no longer start wcMAIL from the command line with a user
name if there is currently somebody logged into the node. This
prevents problems where a Sysop would shell out and run wcMAIL prescan
for somebody else, which would overwrite the Sysop's information in
the NODEINFO.DAT file and cause all kinds of problems.
- Files in the file database now have their download count incremented
when they are requested through wcMAIL.
- Fixed a problem where if you went into wcMAIL with a bunch of stacked
commands from Wildcat, it would still give you a -Pause- prompt.
- Capture is now properly supported in wcMAIL, including when creating
the SESSION.TXT file.
MAKEECHO
Changes
- When deleting a Tagline from the picklist, MAKEECHO will now update
the QWK conference settings appropriately. Also fixed a whole bunch of
tagline deletion issues.
wcFILE
- A new program AREPAIR is designed to rebuild groups database in the
event it becomes corrupted. Run AREPAIR in your Wildcat! home
directory (normally C:\WILDCAT) if your error log indicates a damaged
groups database.
wcECHO
Changes
- Fixed a bug with incoming translations and there being more than one
translation for the same name.
- Fixed a problem with reporting 0 messages imported due to duplicates.
- Fixed a problem with appending to an existing REP packet with an
ATTXREF.DAT file already existing.
- wcECHO will no longer delete an empty ATTXREF.DAT file from a REP
packet.
- Fixed a problem with attachments in rep packets.
- This version checks whether it is reading the correct version of
MAKEWILD.DAT and will halt with an error if it is running with an
incorrect version of MAKEWILD.
- Fixed a bug with receiving an error 105 when exporting a QWK packet
and your attach limit was set to 0. The error said it was unable to
write to the MSG file.
- Fixed a problems when lines are exactly 79 characters.
- Fixed translation problems with importing and the translation had
apostrophes in it.
- Tearbar detection now counts the number of contiguous hyphens at the
start of the line. If the number of -'s at the start of the line is
not 3 then it assumes the line is not a tearbar.
- Fixed a bug with alias conferences in QWK.
- wcECHO will now broadcast messages using Netwares broadcasting
features to users who receive mail.
WC4UTI
Changes
- Fixed a bug reading MAKEWILD under certain conditions.
Wildcat! v4.01 additions and fixes, not in the manual
-----------------------------------------------------
New Features
- Added the ability to run wcPACK while the system is operational and
taking calls.
- Added the ability for Wildcat! to look for .WCX files BEFORE running
.BAT files such as THMBNAIL.BAT or LOGON1.BAT etc etc. This also applies
to all doors and menu hooks. It allows substitution of .WCX code for
every system batch file.
- Wildcat! now creates dynamic clickable RIP menus if custom RIP menus
are not found. In this case Wildcat! will first display a background
file with the same name as the current menu with the extension .RMB
instead of .RIP. For instance, if your menu is MAIN.RIP the program
will look for MAIN.RMB to display as the background, it also uses the
menu extension the same way as the regular menus.
- Added new RIP settings in the new Makewild. You can once again turn rip
completely off.
- Added a /R command line option that allows you to run WCX files
directly from the command line, the format is as follows:
/R PROGRAM.WCX [PARAMETERS]
- Added a /U command line option that allows you to login with a username
and password.
- Added a new wcCODE file called PRELOG.WCX that runs just BEFORE the user
is asked for a name and password.
- Wildcat! now logs the Caller ID Number for illegal logon attempts,
for password and for birthdate and phone information.
- Changed the way Wildcat! deals with batch files that are run as
events. If you do not specify a path to your batch file, Wildcat!
will look in the Batch directory for the file, if you do specify a
path then it is picked there and run.
- Added the ability to change the WILDCAT! MAIL ROOM text by placing it in
the prompt file, one word of caution though: if you change it you will
invalidate some message because Wildcat! looks for that specific text when
handling wcMAIL messages.
- Added a new @ code called @FAX@ that displays the users fax number.
- Added a new drop file for internet e-mail called INETENTR.BAT, this works
EXACTLY the same way that FIDOENTR.BAT works except for the name.
- Added a new environment variable called WCPROMPT, it is the path where you
want Wildcat! to look for the WILDCAT.PRM and WILDCAT.MNU files. So for
example
SET WCPROMPT=D:\LANGUAGE
will make Wildcat! look on device D for the prompt and menu files, this
allows you to place them in a RAM drive.
- Added a new feature so that when you are listing files and the user presses
'D' to download and they are asked for a filename they can type in the
file number and it will be added to the list.
- Changed the login routines so that you can now use a comma to separate names
and passwords.
Changes
-------
There are several program fixes that we view as significant. In
addition there are many less important changes relating to minor
anomalies and cosmetic operation that are listed as well. The main
operational problems that were addressed include:
- Fixed the upgrade program in several areas to ensure the best conversion
- Fixed a problem with changing secondary access in doors.
- Fixed a problem with secondary accesses being lost on the return from a
door under some situations.
- Fixed a problem with Wildcat! leaving the BadNames file open in certain
cases.
- Fixed the long info on a file so that if the system cannot find the
uploader it does not offer the [W]rite option.
- Fixed the problem with uploads losing memory during FILEDESC.BAT
processing.
- Fixed the update conference routine so that it is as fast as possible,
it is at least 20 times faster than it was before.
- Fixed a problem with uploading duplicate files and using the allow
dupes setting.
- Fixed the problem with new users logging in with a different language
and Wildcat! not keeping the language through the newuser login.
- Fixed a problem with users being able to select internal protocols
when they did not have access.
- Fixed a problem that sometimes allowed users incorrect access to
conferences.
WcMail 4.01
-----------
- Fixed tagging problem when downloading net-status packets.
- Fixed problem with yes/no characters when using languages other than
English.
- Now only updates last-new-files date after a successful download.
- Network sysops will now properly get attachments.
- Now updates last-read pointer when downloading personal only mail
(even though it is not necessary).
- Now properly handles Daily Download and Daily KByte set to 0 when
processing file requests.
- When selecting a particular conference number, the conference list
display will be updated to show the conference just changed.
- Now properly shows autologoff status when uploading a REP packet.
- Fixed problem with adjusting a user's time within the door.
- The version reported with @VER@ is now just '4.01' without 'MP'.
- Fixed problem with accepting some messages longer than 150 lines.
- Dupe checking no longer includes taglines in the message body. This
will eliminate many of the dupes
- Fixed infinite loop problem with long file descriptions.
MakeMenu 4.01
-------------
New Features
- MakeMenu will now let you print from the menu tree picklist.
- MakeMenu can now edit up to 65520 lines in the Menu Tree. This means
you could conceivably have 65520 menus defined.
- MakeMenu has a new option 'F7' on the menu tree screen. This new option
allows one to insert a default menu system over the current menu system.
This new menu system is the same as the one on the production diskettes.
Fixes
- Added the @INCHAT@ variable to the Test Menu mode.
- Added support for the language directories in the bulletin/questionnaire/
display/help file paths.
- MakeMenu is now overlaid. The reason for this is simply memory
requirements. MakeMenu utilized much more memory than it should have
if you had a fairly complex system.
- MakeMenu will no longer do strange things in the test mode if you have a
command to display text file and it doesn't have any parameters.
- MakeMenu will now let you edit up to 40 characters for the text file name
in the display text file command.
- Under display text file, you can include a full path and filename.
WcRepair 4.01
-------------
Fixes
- Fixed a bug related to having 18 or 19 conferences defined in makewild.
- Fixed a bug related to the doors in use flag.
Wildcat! v4.0 additions not in the manual
-----------------------------------------
- Additional command line switch, added /D for DEBUG mode, displays memory
available and stack available in the lower right of the status line.
- An additional field was added to MAKEWILD Modem Settings. We now
allow you to control how many characters are TRANSMITTED (during
caller downloads) with each interrupt if a 16550 UART is in use.
Previously only the RECIEVE FIFO was configurable to prevent UART
overuns during uploads. The new transmit FIFO setting can be changed
from the default of 1 (the v3 standard) to increase performance in
many systems. It is absolutely required for operation under Windows
and OS/2 (see additional notes later in this document), and we
encourage you to experiment with settings of 1, 4, 8 and 14 on your
system. DESQview systems using 16550 UARTS may not operate as
efficiently with a setting of 14.
Trigger level for receive FIFO buffer : 4
Trigger level for transmit FIFO buffer : 1
- There is now an option to encode user passwords so that no one can
view them, from within Wildcat! or by looking at the ALLUSERS file on
disk. Encoding is a ONE-WAY process. Once you have encoded your user
passwords you will not be able to return to un-encoded passwords
without having all users log on again as new users! This option is
specifically for installations where the user record file is
accessible by a number of individuals, and the sysop does not want
them to be able to know the passwords of everyone on the system. If
encoded passwords are enabled the sysop can change any user password
but cannot view the password.
- There is now an option to allow duplicate user names in the system.
Every user name is associated with an internal user ID, allowing
duplicate names, if desired. However, duplicate names cause
significant problems for mail notification on QWK-based echomail
networks and support for QWK echomail is removed if duplicate names
are enabled. If you want to use any QWK-based echomail do NOT turn on
duplicate name support!
- Added an option to force the BBS to stay in RIP mode when it has been
detected at logon rather than change back to ANSI or TTY if the
caller's settings are not for Autodetect or RIP. Enabling this option
is encouraged if you make use of the custom RIP prompts since it
forces the caller into Novice mode (so that he can see the menus),
turns off keep header in the message bases, turns off hot keys and
enables the Full Screen Editor. These settings are NOT made a
permanent part of a user record, but are in effect for a single RIP
call only.
- The HELP files that are sent to callers end in the extension .BBS and
are located in the directory for help files as indicated in the manual.
Do not confuse these files with those ending in .HLP which are the
program help files when the F1 key is pressed, and belong in the same
directory as the program files to which they belong.
- Changes were made in the display files for wcCHAT to be consistent
with the wcMAIL display file operation. CHAT.BBS is the display file
that is sent immediately when a caller selects the wcCHAT program,
before he enters the program. WCCHAT.BBS is the display file that is
sent by wcCHAT.EXE when a caller actually gets into the program.
The wcDRAW program properly references these changes, however the
display file table in the manual is not correct for these two files.
- Changes were made in the display files for wcMAIL to be consistent
with the wcCHAT display file operation. MAIL.BBS is the display file
that is sent immediately when a caller selects the wcMAIL program,
before he enters the program. WCMAIL.BBS is the display file that is
sent by wcMAIL.EXE when a caller actually gets into the program.
The wcDRAW program properly references these changes, however the
display file table in the manual is not correct for these two files.
- Added a new program to replace WAIT! and WAITFOR!
wcWAIT
The functionality of this program has increased. It now performs all
the tasks of both WAIT! and WAITFOR!, as well as acting as a 'check'
program to determine when all nodes have come down for maintenance.
The new command line options are:
Usage: wcWAIT [options]
Options are:
/R:n Wait "n" minutes for nodes to report MAINTENANCE mode.
/R:F Wait forever for nodes to report MAINTENANCE mode.
/S:n Wait "n" seconds before continuing.
/T:hh:mm Wait until "hh:mm" before continuing.
/? Display this help screen
Errorlevels returnd are as follows:
0 - Exit normal, all nodes cleared with /R, /S:n expired or /T reached.
1 - Exit because of a keypress
2 - Exit because /R:n time reached before nodes cleared (/R only).
With the /R switch wcWAIT polls continuously to open the Wildcat!
configuration files in EXCLUSIVE mode, which will only be successful
after all nodes have either been taken down or are at the MAINTENANCE
prompt. It is designed to be used in a batch process to continue some
activity after all nodes have come down. For example, an event batch
file might look like this:
WCNODE /R /A ; take all nodes to maintenance mode
WCWAIT /R:120 ; wait for them all to go down, or 2 hrs.
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO SKIP ; timeout exit with level 2, skips PACK
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO STOP ; keypressed exit with level 1, exits
REM It's ok to pack now! ; success exits with level 0
WCPACK [pack options]
:SKIP ; here if it didn't get clear to pack
WCNODE /A /W ; starts them up again
:STOP ; exits w/o starting up again on keypress
- Added a new program CNVUINFO.EXE used to convert the new USERREC.BIN
to the v3 format of USERINFO.DAT. This is a one-way conversion for
doors that cannot use the new USERREC.BIN or DOOR.SYS. If used, it
should be located in your home directory where it was installed, and
run from the node work directory where the user data file is located.
Placing the command in the door batch file just before calling the
door program will work just fine.
- Note that the DOORTEST program can only be used on serial ports 1-4,
not digiboards, fossil or other com ports.
- Note that the TIMEOUT program can only be used on serial ports, not
digiboards, fossil or other com ports. It will accept any valid com
port number.
- The DOORWAY program itself is only distributed with the MultiLine
Platinum version of Wildcat!. It will work with serial ports,
DigiBoard ports or Fossil drivers. It uses the same basic commands as
the commercial release direct from the author, except that the port
command line argument is disabled. Our release of DOORWAY gets the
port information from the DOOR.SYS file, and must also have one of the
following command line arguments, depending on the TYPE of port being
used:
SYS - for standard serial ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYS [other command line arguments]
SYSD - for DigiBoard ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYSD [other command line arguments]
SYSF - for fossil driven ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYSF [other command line arguments]
LOCAL- for local access, no serial port, i.e.,
DOORWAY LOCAL [other command line arguments]
See the manual for full documentation.
- Windows
Microsoft Windows can be used as a multitasking environment for both
serial port sessions and DigiBoard sessions. Windows does not
multitask as well as DESQview from Quarterdeck Office Systems but can
handle multiple sessions. The number of lines that can be
successfully run depends on the speed your PC hardware, memory, and
connection speed. Most 486/33 systems are capable of handling up to 4
lines. Beyond 4 lines system performance begins to deteriorate and
become noticable to callers above 9600 baud, unless a faster CPU and
other hardware are installed.
The following settings within Windows are needed for either Serial or
Digi configurations:
BOTH SERIAL & DIGI
CONTROL PANEL/386 Enhanced options - Set Device Contention to NEVER
WARN, and Scheduling to 20 each for Forground and Background. Set
Minimum Timeslice to 22 on most systems. The Minimum Timeslice can
be lowered to 10 on faster systems such as 66 MHz models.
For EACH NODE you must create a .PIF file. Set the paths correctly
for each file and configure the Advanced Options as follows.
Under Multitasking Options for Forground Priority and Background
Priority, set them equal at 20 each. Do NOT select Detect Idle
time!
Under Memory Options only select Lock Application Memory.
Under Display Options do not select any options.
Under Other Options you can select Allow Fast Paste but should not
select Allow Close When Active. You do not need to reserve any
shortcut keys.
Do not set ANY Windows applications to EXCLUSIVE, even non-Wildcat!
programs.
The settings above are needed for all Windows operation.
SERIAL (under Windows)
Serial port sessions are limited to 2-4 per PC and require a very
fast CPU to avoid slowdown of the communications sessions if multiple
nodes are installed. A 486/33 or faster is suggested. We strongly
recommend using Windows v3.11 (Windows for Workgroups) because of the
enhanced serial port drivers included with that version. If you use
version 3.1 you may need to replace the Windows communications
drivers with an aftermarket product such as TurboCom or KingCom.
Serial port operation can be enhanced by adjusting the FIFO trigger
levels in MAKEWILD.
Trigger level for receive FIFO buffer : 4
Trigger level for transmit FIFO buffer : 1
The TRANSMIT FIFO is especially important under Windows and should be
tried initially at a value of 14 or 8 if Windows is being used. If
running under DESQview you may need to leave this set at 1. Depending
on your hardware configuration this option can have a pronounced
effect on performance.
DIGIBOARD (under Windows)
Digiboard includes a Windows driver with the newer PC/8e and PC/8i
boards which should be installed according to the instructions. The
DigiBoard is capable of handling additional lines under Windows, but
performance falls off between 4 and 6 lines, depending on the speed
of the CPU and other hardware.
If your machine already has serial ports installed you should set the
START PORT NUMBER to the highest numer already in your system. For
example, if you already have both COM1 and COM2, set the starting
Digi port to 2 (Digi assigns your serial COM1 as port 0 and your
serial COM2 as port 1). This is done to allow other communications
programs to take advantage of all ports, both serial and Digi.
Review the section in the Wildcat! manual for DigiBoard setup under
DOS as the same precaustions about memory addresses and IRQ settings
apply.
The Port Setup screen is where you configure each line of a multiline
system. Under Windows the intelligent DigiBoard cards can be
addressed through the internal Digi Int 14 interface (Wildcat! must
be set to DIGI) or they can be set to be addressed as standard serial
ports if each port is given a unique I/O address. In fact, you can
use a combination approach and have Wildcat! address the ports
through the Digi interface and have all other doors, etc address
ports as if they were standard serial ports.
The PORT SETUP determines how the card is used:
Digi Windows Virtual Base Virtual CHR Alt
Port Port I/O Address IRQ Ready Pin
---- ------- ------------ ------- ----- ----
1 COM3 3E8h 5 ON OFF
2 COM4 2E8h 5 ON OFF
3 COM5 3E0h 5 ON OFF
4 COM6 2E0h 5 ON OFF
5 COM7 disabled disabled ON OFF
6 COM8 disabled disabled ON OFF
7 COM9 disabled disabled ON OFF
The Windows Port column is only used by Windows applications to
address the port. QmodemPro for Windows will make use of this
setting.
The Virtual Base I/O Address column can be disabled if you are
setting Wildcat! to use DigiBoard as the port type. Serial Doors
will not be able to talk to the port if this setting is disabled. If
you want to allow DOS programs to talk to the port as if it were a
standard serial port you must enter an available I/O address for each
port in this column. The DigiBoard documentation contains a list of
available I/O address ranges. Likewise, the Virtual IRQ can be
disabled unless you want to address the port as a standard serial
device from DOS. For standard port addressing you should enter the
same IRQ used by the board for each channel (shared IRQs). We
recommend that you set each port manually and do not use the Auto
Enumerate option.
The bottom section of the Port Setup screen is used to set the
Virtual ports for DOS. Check the box only if you want to enable the
ports in DOS and want to set up the proper Virtual Base addresses and
IRQs.
- OS/2
SERIAL (under OS/2)
In order to operate Wildcat! under OS/2 you must make use of
replacement communications drivers. Install the latest SIO drivers
from Ray Gwinn, available for download from the MSI HQ BBS. The
standard OS/2 COMM drivers will not handle high-speed connections
correctly.
Edit your CONFIG.SYS file (OS/2 version) and make the following
changes/additions. Note that the last line is an undocumented
setting and MUST be included:
MAXWAIT=1 ;the default is 4
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO ;the default is YES
PRIORITY=ABSOLUTE ;undocumented(!)
Next, modify your DOS boxes options, found under Settings/Session
for the BBS as follows:
DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION=ON
DOS_BREAK=ON
DOS_FILES=30
DOS_HIGH=ON
EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION=32
EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=2048
HW_ROM_TO_RAM=OFF
HW_TIMER=ON
IDLE_SECONDS=10
IDLE_SENSITIVITY=75
INT_DURING_IO=ON
If you need to run a FOSSIL driver in a DOS box for other programs
add the following (from SIO):
DOS_DEVICE=C:\OS2\MSDOS\VX00.SYS
Finally, edit the CAT.BAT file, or the batch used to start Wildcat! 4 and
add the /T command after Wildcat in the batch file like this:
WILDCAT /T
This enables OS/2 time slicing code which makes running OS2SPEED or TAME
unnecessary.
DIGIBOARD (under OS/2)
Although some PCs are capable or initializing the DOS DigiBoard driver
multiple times under OS/2 (once in each DOS session), there are many
hardware configurations that are not capable of doing so. We do not
recommend operating the DigiBoard under OS/2 until an OS/2 driver is
made available that can be addressed from DOS sessions.
- X.25 PAD support
Wildcat! 4 can be operated with a packet switched network using many
packet assemblers/disassemblers (PADs). The configuration of each PAD
is different depending on the manufacturer. The Wildcat! manual
contains information about the signaling needed for PAD operation and
this section contains very specific product settings for installing
the Microtronix CSI-X.25 PAD. For additional information contact
Microtronix at:
Microtronix
200 Aberdeen Drive
London, Ontario N5V 4N2
CANADA
519-659-9500 voice 8:30-5pm EST
519-659-8500 FAX
What follows is some brief information related to the setup of the
Microtronix CSI-X.25 PAD for operation with Wildcat!.
For customer service and additional questions about setup contact
Microtronix Customer Service at the number listed above, x225 or x226.
Each port can be configured identically for the various port
parameters. Examples follow each command shown.
PORT # 3
PROTOCOL=USER, SPEED=9600, PARITY=ASIS, ENCODING=NRZ, DUPLEX=FULL
FLOW=SIGNAL, MODEM=11, MTIMER=1, DEBOUNCE=10, STATUS=ENABLE
In order for the asynchronous ports to pass data transparently, a
default profile HOST is copied to the ports that will be used.
HOST = 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:3 5:1 6:0 7:21 8:0 9:0
10:0 12:1 13:0 14:0 15:0 16:127 17:24 18:18 19:1
20:0 21:0 22:0 40:0 41:0 42:0 43:0 44:0 45:0
46:0 47:0 48:0 49:0 50:0 51:0 52:0 53:0
A second profile, created by the user, overlays the first to adjust
for such things as signal flow control and idle timer. It also sets
the Microtronix extended parameters to issue commands on call connect
and parameters that allow I/O transparent mode.
MUSTANG = 4:5 5:2 12:0 41:160 50:128
The final parameters for the HOST ports should look like this:
TERMINAL # 3
1:0 2:0 3:0 4:5 5:2 6:0 7:21 8:0 9:0
10:0 12:0 13:0 14:0 15:0 16:127 17:24 18:18 19:1
20:0 21:0 22:0 40:0 41:160 42:0 43:0 44:0 45:0
46:0 47:0 48:0 49:0 50:128 51:0 52:0 53:0
A parameter change on the remote DTE is required when the call
connects and is accomplished using a command to send a profile named
X29.
X29 = 2:0 3:2 4:4 9:0 13:0 21:0
TERMINAL # 3
RPROF=X29 AUTOCALL= LFPAD=0 CRPAD=0 LDSP=18 LDEL=24 CDEL=127
EDIT=OFF WIDTH=0 TABS=OFF ECHO=OFF ECHOMASK=0 TYPE=TTY PUBLIC=OFF
MBIT=OFF PAGEWAIT=0 CTEXTEND=0 CTATEMPT=0 CTIMER=0 LINK=0 LOOPBACK=OFF
All ports are configured and ready to accept all calls via the routing
table. One entry is entered at the end of the routing table.
Name Match Route to
---- ----- --------
RC Data=RC_PASSWORD RC,CLEAR /reverse
TO_NMC Data=NMC NMC /reverse/strip
TO_202_217 In on port=0 data=2 1 /reverse/strip
FROM_2 In on port=1 0 /reverse
TERM_2 Data=02 2 /reverse
TERM_3 Data=03 3 /reverse
...
MUSTANG 2,3,4,5,6,7,8