THD ProScan Version 13.0
for DOS and OS/2
FEATURES
This document lists many of the features available in THD ProScan Version
13.0. Please note that this is not necessarily a complete listing, but an
attempt to outline the most basic features and to explain the most
misunderstood features.
Below are listed the features which are explained in this document. You
can search for the titles of the feature later in this document to find the
details. Where applicable you will be referred to another document for a more
detailed explanation.
The document itself is divided into sections.
1 - Features available only in the registered version.
- Wildcards
- /SUB
- Re-Archiving to external archive types
- Language files
- editing
- Using an alternate language file (/LF=)
2 - Those features unmodifiably inherent to THD ProScan.
- Support for ARC/ARJ/GIF/HYP/LHA/PAK/RAR/SQZ/TD0/UC2/ZIP file formats.
- The sysop can cause the program to pause prior to returning from a dos
process (to allow then time to view the output of the dos process).
- Two testing methods.
- Intelligent processing of LHA files.
- Complete logging of file testing.
- Logging of heuristic testing only when suspicious code is found.
- 100% share aware and compatible (share.exe is not a requirement)
- Identifies all archives by their internal signatures.
- Including self extracting archives.
- Support for remote ansi or ASCII as determined by auto ansi detect.
- Protection for archives which have a valid "AV".
- Strips comments from all archives before any processing is done
- Recreates full directory structure "from" the temporary directory,
- Does not allow the "overwrite" option on any of the archive types.
(stops some forms of "hacking")
- "Intelligent" installation which will attempt to do as much of the
installation for you as is possible.
- Online help during the installation.
- Dos shell from the installation.
- Will Virus scan all file types regardless of types configured.
- THD ProScan also supports a "fall back" to the original processing
- No Known ways to "alter" the operation of your BBS through it's use.
- Long filenames in OS/2
- CRUSH extraction
- The configuration of THDPRO.EXE (from ver 6 or higher) can be used
automatically.
3 - Features inherent but modifiable.
- Secure Mode
- Disk Image testing
- Allows the use of UNP.EXE to expand compressed executable files
- Sysop can opt to NOT test files if they are too large.
- Testing can also be limited based on free disk space, time or expanded
size.
- Insert your file comment
- File descriptions can be directly imported into the file data bases.
- Allows the sysop to use any combination of (scanners)
- Supports "heuristic" testing for suspicious code using F-PROT.EXE
or TBSCAN.EXE.
- Optionally pass or fail files which contains suspicious code found
by the heuristic testers.
- The file after testing can be time stamped with one of four date
selections.
- Allows files to be rejected based on the dates of the files inside the
archives.
- Suppression of remote output through the use of "comport 0".
- Suppression of remote output through the use of a user defined comport.
- Will use one of as many as three drives to test files by searching in
order to find enough available space on one of them.
- Remove unwanted files from the archives tested (using name and/or CRC).
- Option to hang up on users who upload viruses. [DOS only]
- Option to reboot after a viral detection. [DOS only]
- Set default actions
- Add loaders to the main archive.
- select date format
- Solid archives
4 - Features controlled by the command line
- /ID switch
- /OV switch
- /SUB switch
- CRC mode
- Dupe checking
- Priority levels under OS/2
5 - Features controlled by external files or variables
- Optionally display a "changed" internal interface.
- Allows the sysop to supply up to 9 user side "interfaces" .
- Can reject files by name using a "hack list" (HACK****.COL and IDX
files can be read directly as well as BADFILES.CTL type files).
- Insert a specific comment depending on the location of the file.
- Configurable file specific text in file comments.
- USE of THDEXARC.DAT file can allow use of additional scanners and
archivers.
- Skip files
Features...
1 - Features available only in the registered version.
The features listed in this section are available only with the
Registered version of THDPRO.EXE. For details on registering the program,
please see the REGISTER option from the main menu of THDCFG.EXE.
- Wildcards
THDPRO.EXE (when registered) will accept DOS style wildcards on the
command line. That is to say that "?" will match any character in it's
position and "*" will match any group of characters in that position. The
actual comparison will only compare (currently) the standard 8.3 DOS
convention. The use of wildcards will remove the need to supply a
directory for the subject file(s). That means that you can run
THDPRO.EXE *.* (without a path) but you run cannot THDPRO.EXE TEST.ZIP
(without a path).
- /SUB
Putting /SUB on the command line for THDPRO.EXE (Registered version only)
with or without a wildcard will cause THDPRO.EXE to search the supplied
path and all subdirectories for files matching the filespec supplied
(wildcard or otherwise).
- Re-Archiving to external archive types
The registered version of THDPRO.EXE can convert to externally defined
archive types. In order for this to work, you must create (or import) an
archive definition in the Archive Editor (in THDCFG.EXE). Archive
conversion to these externally defined types is accomplished by using the
"/TOEXT" command line switch. The format for this switch is..
/TOEXTxxx# (no spaces) where "xxx" is replaced by the archive extension
for the archive type to convert to (as defined in the archive editor) and
"#" is the conversion level. The "#" is optional and all conversion
levels match exactly those used by the /TOxxx# switch for converting to
internally defined archive types. (See THDPRO.DOC for details on the
/TOxxx# switch.)
- Language files
- EDITING -
THDPRO.EXE (version 13.0+) uses a language file. With the registered
version you have the option to use alternate language files and/or to
modify the default language file. Once registered you can edit a language
file by selecting Language Editor from the main menu in THDCFG.EXE.
Supply the name of the file to edit (or create) and you will be taken
into the editor with the existing settings (or the default if the file
was just created).
- USING AN ALTERNATE LANGUAGE FILE (/LF=) -
You can select to use a language file other than the default (with the
registered version) by supplying the path to that file on the command
line using the "/LF=" switch. If no path is supplied then THDPRO.EXE will
search only the directory in which it resides for the file. Only files
created/edited while THDPRO.EXE is Registered can be used in this manner.
2 - Those features unmodifiably inherent to THD ProScan.
- Support for ARC/ARJ/GIF/HYP/LHA/PAK/RAR/SQZ/TD0/UC2/ZIP file formats.
THDPRO.EXE can be configured to test all of the above file types. Support
for the various archive (or other) tools is built into the program.
Please see THDPRO.DOC for details as to the tools required (and supported
versions of those tools) for the support of the individual file types to
be activated.
- Identifies all archives by their internal signatures.
- Including self extracting archives.
All of the archive types support by THDPRO.EXE are recognized by their
unique internal signatures. This avoids problems encountered by misnamed
archives or archives which are intentionally named with other than their
normal extension. Self extracting archives are also identified this way.
TD0 files are recognized only by their extension.
- The sysop can cause the program to pause prior to returning from a dos
process (to allow then time to view the output of the dos process).
by pressing the "P" key, the sysop can cause THDPRO.EXE to Pause prior to
continuing past an external execution. This allows the sysop to view the
dos tool's output prior to continuing with the test. Pressing any key
once paused will return to normal running of the program.
- Two testing methods.
THDPRO.EXE uses two distinctly different approaches to test files.
The normal method is to expand all files and all embedded archives
prior to running the virus scanners. This method is considerably faster
than the Fallback method but can require significantly more disk space
for the test to complete (depending on how many internal archives exist).
The second method (Fallback) expands one archive at a time and tests
each archive individually. This method is designed to utilize less space
but does require more time to complete.
Normally THDPRO.EXE will start off in Normal mode and move to
fallback mode if expansion of an embedded archive fails. If this happens
THDPRO.EXE assumes the problem is due to disk space and falls back to
testing one archive at a time.
- Intelligent processing of LHA files.
LHA has the ability to store 'exact' file paths and the options used my
many processors would cause LHA to extract the files using the internally
configured paths. THD avoids this by creating a 'clone' of the original
file which contains all of the information of the original archive except
for the hardcoded path. This allows THD to properly expand and test these
files without having the resulting files create directories off of the
root which might cause the scanner to be unable to locate the proper
files to test.
- Complete logging of file testing.
THDPRO.EXE logs all of its action in THDPRO.LOG. The maximum size of this
file can be configured in THDCFG.EXE. Before asking me to check why
something happened it might be a good idea to check the log files to see
if it contains the answer to your questions. Logfiles created are
THDPRO.LOG (the current log file), THDPRO.OLD (the most recent
non-current log file) and HEURIST.LOG (scanner logs). The location of
these logs is configured in THDCFG.EXE
- Logging of heuristic testing only when suspicious code is found.
The output from the scanners is not saved unless a failure occurs. This
helps to save disk space and makes it easier to locate the reason why any
particular file failed the virus scan.
- 100% share aware and compatible (share.exe is not a requirement)
THDPRO.EXE uses share compatible code for file sharing. In cases where
access to a file might be denied THDPRO.EXE will continue to attempt
access until access has been denied for 30 seconds or until access is
gained. If access is not gained THDPRO.EXE will exit.
- Support for remote ansi or ASCII as determined by auto ansi detect.
THDPRO.EXE attempts to determine if the remote caller supports ansi. The
time allowed for this detection is configurable in THDCFG.EXE. If ANSI
support is detected THDPRO.EXE will send ANSI screens (much more pleasant
to view) to the remote, otherwise ASCII (normal text) is sent to keep the
user informed of the testing progress.
- Protection for archives which have a valid "AV".
RAR, ARJ and ZIP security options are recognized by THDPRO.EXE and it
will avoid making changes to these files if their verification or
security features are enabled. This avoids corrupted archives caused by
some packages which ignore these features.
- Strips comments from all archives before any processing is done
Although THDPRO.EXE does redefine the screen to a console which does not
support ANSI sequences, the comments are also removed from the archive to
avoid the displaying of these comments from activating the less
than desirable affects some ANSI bombs are otherwise capable of. This is
done because on 'some' systems the protective console created by
THDPRO.EXE ay not be allowed to activate. In this event the stripping of
the comment is will stop an ANSI bomb from being displayed.
- Recreates full directory structure "from" the temporary directory,
When THDPRO.EXE expands archives for testing it recreates the directory
structure inside the archive (if such a structure exists) and builds that
structure off of the temporary directory created by THDPRO.EXE. This
ensures that all files are expanded and duplicates do not occur. This
also enables THDPRO.EXE to do accurate file conversions while maintaining
directory structures which may be necessary for proper installation of the
contained program(s).
- Does not allow the "overwrite" option on any of the archive types.
THDPRO.EXE does not allow any of the supported archivers to automatically
overwrite existing files. This was once used as a popular method of
corrupting the host system. Any normal archive which is expanded with
its directory structure should never need to overwrite an existing file.
If such an archive is encountered it should be considered "at least"
suspicious.
- "Intelligent" installation which will attempt to do as much of the
installation for you as is possible.
- Online help during the installation.
- Dos shell from the installation.
The Installation of THDCFG.EXE is designed to make installation as simple
as realistically possible. It searches for any file it asks for by name
and allows you to shell to the operating system if you should need to
find anything it can not. Online help is available for most options and
where applicable suggested default settings are also offered.
- Will Virus scan all file types regardless of types configured.
All files are virus scanned so that files which are simply renamed will
not be bypassed for scanning.
- Long filenames in OS/2
Long filename support for OS/2 exists. If you wish to use long filenames
with external archivers and or scanners, be sure to enclose the file and
directory entries in " (quote) marks as required by the operating system.
By default THDPRO.EXE does not use the quote marks for external programs
since it also supports DOS programs which are not supportive of the quote
marks on the command line.
- CRUSH extraction
Expansion of CRUSH archives is internal and automatic with THDPRO.EXE.
The configuration used by THDPRO.EXE internally can help to avoid
potential problems with extraction with the standard uncrush utility.
- The configuration of THDPRO.EXE (from ver 6 or higher) can be used
automatically.
If you have a copy of THDPRO.EXE which is already configured, you can
use THDCFG's Installation to extract that existing configuration and use
it as the configuration for your current installation. See THDCFG.DOC for
details.
3 - Features inherent but modifiable.
- Secure Mode
SECURE MODE IS NOT INSURANCE THAT FILES HAVE NOT BEEN MODIFIED. It is an
added step to help to avoid running virus infected or otherwise corrupted
files. It is by no means intended to replace proper virus scanning and/or
integrity testing.
Selectable as an option from the third of the final screens if the
installation, secure mode offers "limited" protection from changes to the
programs used by THDPRO.EXE. If Secure mode is active, then you MUST run
THDPRO.EXE /SEC to have THDPRO.EXE record the CRC' of the various
utilities you have configured it to use. From this point onward,
THDPRO.EXE will CRC check every file before it is run (with the exception
of THDPRO.EXE itself which will be checked immediately following being
loaded). This will enable it to offer a very limited insurance that the
files it runs are the ones present at the time you ran THDPRO /SEC.
- Disk Image testing
Using IMAGEX.EXE (distributed with the archive) you can have THDPRO.EXE
test "some" disk images. The number and types of disk images which can be
tested are controlled by IMAGEX. See IMAGEX.DOC for details.
- Allows the use of UNP.EXE to expand compressed executable files.
UNP.EXE version 4.11 can be used to expand compressed file prior to virus
scanning. While this can significantly increase the odds of viral
detection in compressed executable files it may also have some
drawbacks. See UNP.TXT for details.
- Sysop can opt to NOT test files if they are too large.
The sysop can configure THDPRO.EXE to skip testing of files if they are
larger than a given size. See THDCFG.DOC for details on configuring the
size. If selected the sysop will be prompted for a keypress to continue
testing. If no key is pressed within 5 seconds the file is skipped.
- Testing can also be limited based on free disk space, time or expanded
size.
Among the numerous limits THDPRO.EXE can put on it's test process, you
can opt to abort testing if expansion of files will exceed a given
period of time or a specific usage of space. You can opt for THDPRO.EXE to
always ensure it leaves a minimum amount of free space when extracting
file (configured in THDCFG.EXE) as well as limiting the actual amount it
may use to expand files or to limit the amount of time it may use to do
this. You might find these limits useful if you're low on space or in
some cases to avoid 'bombs' (files similar to mail bombs which contain
extremely large files in extremely small archives). Normally I recommend
you set the maximum amount of space to use to some unusually large number
which should never be exceeded by a normal archive.
The 'limits' are checked after expansion of each imbedded archive
and processing is aborted if they are exceeded. Except that in the case of
the file types diagnosed by THDPRO.EXE in which case the file sizes are
checked and files which will cause your limit to be exceeded are never
expanded. File types diagnosed for this purpose included LHA, ZIP, ARJ
and RAR (other file types may be partially supported by this feature).
All of these limits can be set in THDCFG's installation/configuration
option.
- Insert your file comment
THDPRO.EXE can insert a file comment into tested archives. This
can be handy if you wish to keep a record of whether or not the file has
been tested as well as when (by using the customizable comments
discussed later in this document).
- File descriptions can be directly imported into the file data bases.
THDPLUS.EXE can be used to 'update' existing entries in some file
data bases. BBS'es supported by this function vary depending on the
version of THDPLUS being used. Please see THDPLUS.DOC for details.
- Allows the sysop to use any combination of virus scanners
THDPRO.EXE support a 'virtually' unlimited number of scanners.
Three are supported internally (McAfee's SCAN "or" SCANPM as well as
F-PROT and TBSCAN). Other scanners can be added using the archive editor
in THDCFG.EXE. Please see THDCFG.DOC for details on adding scanners (and
archivers).
- Supports "heuristic" testing for suspicious code using F-PROT.EXE
or TBSCAN.EXE.
- Optionally pass or fail files which contains suspicious code found
by the heuristic testers.
Files tested by TBSCAN or F-Frot can fail due to two different types of
viral infections. Real 'known' viruses and those which raise heuristic
flags. Known viruses will always cause THDPRO.EXE to fail the file being
tested, however you have the option to configure how heuristic failures
are treated. If you wish files which raise heuristic alerts by these two
scanners can be treated as virus infected and failed, or you can opt to
simply log these occurrences and pass the file(s). Note that older
versions did not distinguish between a known virus and a heuristic
failure as do the newer versions. This option is configured in THDCFG.EXE
and can be modified at any time.
- The file after testing can be time stamped with one of four date
selections.
After testing of a file is completed you can opt to have THDPRO.EXE
modify the timestamp of the file tested to one of four settings. You can
opt to have THD use the time of testing, The date and time that the file
had when THD started testing, The date of the newest file within the
archive or let THD 'guess' (an educated guess) based on the files inside
the archive as to when it was 'likely' created. This option is available
from the final screen of the configuration portion of THDCFG.EXE.
- Allows files to be rejected based on the dates of the files inside the
archives.
File can be rejected (not tested and counted as failed) based on the
dates of the files contained in the archive. You can limit this date by
age (how many days/weeks/months old the files are) or by date (using the
dates of the files within the archive). This option is configured in
THDCFG.EXE. Please see THDCFG.DOC for more.
- Suppression of remote output through the use of "comport 0".
Supplying THDPRO.EXE with a comport of "0" either internally (see
THDCFG.DOC) or on the command line (THDPRO.DOC) will cause THDPRO.EXE to
avoid attempting to send any output to the remote system. You can use
this if you have a user online and do not wish THDPRO.EXE to send output
through the communications port.
- Suppression of remote output through the use of a user defined comport.
Remote output can also be suppressed by requesting output be sent to a
user-defined "local comport". This is a comport which otherwise would be
a remote comport, but for some reason is used to avoid sending remote
output. Sometimes used by a BBS which has no support for a purely local
mode. This will be needed by 'almost' no one, and is available because a
few users with an antiquated BBS software found it to be useful. Almost
everyone should set this to "0" in THDCFG.EXE when asked. However if your
communications program cannot send a comport of "0" and THDPRO.EXE is set
by default to send to a given comport, you could configure THDPRO.EXE to
treat com4 (for example) as a local comport, then have your BBS send com4
as the comport when local only testing is required. THDPRO.EXE upon being
told to use com4 (which you have configured in THDCFG as your local
comport) will not send remote output to any comport.
- Will use one of as many as three drives to test files by searching in
order to find enough available space on one of them.
THDPRO.EXE will check the drive space available to it on each of the
drives allowed for testing (see THDCFG.DOC). If enough space is found on
the first drive it will be used. Otherwise THDPRO.EXE will check the
other two drives in the order which you have them configured in THDCFG
in order to find a drive which will be able to hold the expanded files.
When configuring this in THDCFG.EXE be sure to remove any 'readonly'
drives and any drives on which you do not want testing to be performed.
At least one drive must be available for testing purposes.
- Remove unwanted files from the archives tested (using name and/or CRC).
THDPRO.EXE can be configured to remove files from archives based on their
name, their 32 bit CRC or by 'either' (referred to as both in
THDCFG.EXE).
Removal by name is the most common and can be configured in THDCFG by
selecting the appropriate option and typing the name(s) of the files to
remove when prompted. If you have more filenames to remove than can be
typed in the available space, you can opt instead to remove files based
on a 'list' of files. Such a list would contain one filename per line and
as many lines as you wish. no blank lines may be contained in the lost
file or THDPRO.EXE will assume the end of the file has been reached.
After selecting the appropriate option in THDCFG enter the full path and
filename of the list.
Removal by CRC is not the simplest of options. Essentially
THDPRO.EXE can perform a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) on each file
extracted from the archives and if the size of the file and the CRC
calculation match THDPRO.EXE can be configured to remove that file from
the archive. This feature is useful if you regularly get files which you
want removed but where the filename may change but the contents remain
the same (a number of BBS'es add comment files and change the name if the
file already exists within the archive). Using the CRC method of removal
will allow you to remove these files regardless of their name. If you
select either of the options which use the CRC removal method you will be
asked to supply the name of a directory in which THDPRO.EXE should place
the THDPRO.CRC file. The THDPRO.CRC file is a text file which is created
and maintained by THDPRO.EXE. A complete explanation of the file format
is available in THDPRO.DOC. Essentially you can add files to this list by
running
THDPRO.EXE CRC {filename}
This will cause THDPRO.EXE to check the CRC of this file and add those
specifications (name, crc and size) to the THDPRO.CRC file for later
comparison to the expanded files. If a match is found (and removal by CRC
is selected) then the file which matches the CRC and size recorded will
be removed from the archive.
- Option to hang up on users who upload viruses. [DOS only]
In the DOS version you have the option to hang up (drop carrier) on
users who upload virus infected files. Normally I recommend against this
as the users often won't realize that the file is infected. This option
is controlled by the fossil driver.
- Option to reboot after a viral detection. [DOS only]
In the DOS version you have the option to reboot your system if a
virus infected file is found. In almost all circumstances I recommend
against this. Rebooting serves no useful purpose in this respect since
files scanned by THDPRO.EXE are never executed and cannot cause an
infection during the testing process.
- Set default actions
Some of the default actions of THDPRO.EXE can be set in THDCFG.
These options include the file type to convert to, the level of
conversion, the convert-only option, and the "nodesc" option. The various
conversion options are covered in detail elsewhere in this document. The
nodesc option is covered in THDPRO.DOC (see "switches" - "/NODESC")
Default options are ONLY used if no options are supplied on the
command line. Supplying only the filename and comport on the command line
will be considered as no options supplied (for this purpose). Any command
line switches aside from the comport will automatically override these
defaults.
- Add loaders to the main archive.
THDPRO.EXE can add a file (or files) to each and every archive it
tests. Normally it's considered bad etiquette to modify an author's
original files, but the demand for this option was extreme. Please do not
modify original authors archives using this feature. Entering the full
path and filename(s) of the file(s) to add when prompted will cause
THDPRO.EXE to add the(se) file(s) to each archive tested as long as the
archive is not protected by a security envelope of any kind. Files are
not added to archives with security provisions to ensure they remain
uncorrupted.
- select date format
THDPRO.EXE allows you to select from a number of date formats to be
used. The formats themselves are outlined in the appropriate selection
screen in THDCFG.EXE. This date format will be used in the logs created
by THDPRO.EXE as well as the comments (if configured). Simply select the
format (according to its letter) which best suits your needs.
- Solid archives [with RAR only]
When rearchiving using the RAR format you can opt to have RAR files
archived using the "solid" option. To do this simply put
"SET THDOPT=SOLID"
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT (or the batch file which runs your BBS). Note that
this option can be combined with other THDOPT options (see THDPRO.DOC for
details).
4 - Features controlled by the command line
Please note that not all command line switches are explained here. For a
complete list of command line switches please see THDPRO.DOC.
- /ID switch
The "/ID" switch when supplied on the command line with a filename or
wildcard causes THDPRO.EXE to only determine the archive type of the
matching file(s) and report that information to the screen. Note that the
"/SUB" switch does not work with this switch. Output from this switch is
redirectable using the pipe or other redirection symbols of DOS.
- /OV switch
Using the /OV switch on the command line causes THDPRO.EXE to ignore all
internally configured time, age, date, and space limitations. Use this
switch to test files which fail your restrictions. This switch is
provided so you can manually test files which fail due to these
restrictions which you may want enforced when you are not present. Using
this switch also causes THDPRO.EXE to ignore the possible existence of
SKIPFILE.THD (used to skip testing of certain files)
- /SUB switch [Register Version Only]
This switch is explained above in the section labelled...
"1 - Features available only in the registered version."
- CRC mode
CRC Mode is a special mode for people who have enabled removal of files
by CRC. Entering
THDPRO.EXE CRC {filename}
on the command line will cause THDPRO.EXE to calculate the CRC's of the
file (or files if a wildcard is supplied) and record the CRC's, name and
size in a file called THDPRO.CRC. The location of this file is configured
in THDCFG (from the first of the three final screens select option
"K-- Files to remove").
- Dupe checking
Duplicate checking as applies to THD ProScan means allowing
THDPRO.EXE to skip testing of files which it has already tested. A useful
feature if you want to scan only the new files in a directory. In order
to use this feature you must have enabled Dupe Checking in THDCFG.EXE by
setting option...
"P-- Create Dupe File" to "TRUE" (the last of the final screens of
THDCFG.EXE).
This will cause THDPRO.EXE to create a file caused THDPRO.DUP (in
THDPRO.EXE's home directory) which will contain the size and CRC of every
file tested by THDPRO.EXE (from the time this switch is activated).
Even then duplicate testing is "off" by default. In order to skip
duplicate files (files already tested) you must supply the /DC switch on
the command line (in addition to the usual command line).
- Priority levels under OS/2
In the OS/2 version of THDPRO.EXE you can modify the priority with which
THDPRO.EXE will run. You do this using the command line switch /PR###
where "###" is replaced by a number from 1 to 256. The number represents
the priority level where 1 is "VERY" low priority and 256 is "VERY" high
priority. Most spawned OS/2 session will use this priority level (some
utilities may redefine their own priority levels). The default is to use
whatever priority level is active at the time THDPRO.EXE is called.
5 - Features controlled by external files or variables
- Optionally display a "changed" internal interface.
- Allows the sysop to supply up to 9 user side "interfaces" .
The sysop can opt to change the screen seen by the user when
THDPRO.EXE runs. This can be done by the creation of files called
THDPRO.AN? or by creation of files called PAINSOFT.AN? (where ? is
replaced by a digit 1-9). Using the screens described above the sysop
'adds' to the selections THDPRO.EXE can make at run time. THDPRO.EXE
selects (randomly) either one of the internal screen images or one of the
filenames as above to display to the user. This allows for up to 21
possible screens for the user to see when the testing takes place.
THDPRO.EXE searches for these files in numerical value and stops
searching when the next number in sequence is not found (so be sure the
screens are numbered sequentially).
Alternately the sysop can opt to always force the same screen to the
user view. This is done by creating a file called PAINSOFT.ANS. If this
file exists all random selection is bypassed and the PAINSOFT.ANS file is
used.
It is important to note that these files have restrictions on their
content. See THDPRO.DOC for details for file content.
- Can reject files by name using a "hack list" (HACK****.COL and IDX
files can be read directly as well as BADFILES.CTL type files).
THDPRO.EXE can automatically fail files if they are contained in a
"hack list". Usually this is used to avoid acceptance of files which are
known hacks or known to be virus infected.
This feature was originally designed to support the now extinct
"hacklist". It still supports the original Hacklist "*.COL" and "*.IDX"
files, but the preferred method is the convention used by the
BADFILES.CTL file used by many BBSes. Essentially this is a list of files
(with no blank lines) with one filename per line and as many lines as you
like. All filenames should be upper case and standard DOS style wildcards
are supported.
This feature is activated by creating a hack list (file as above)
and supplying THDCFG.EXE with the full path and filename of that list
(first of the three final screens, option "N-- Hacklist Path").
- Insert a specific comment depending on the location of the file.
Simple file comments are recommended for the weak of heart. For the
more adventurous of you, you can opt to insert specific comments
depending on where the archive resides at the time of testing or
alternately to select a comment randomly from a list of comments. If you
wish to use this option, the first thing to do is to create the comment
list the format of this file is described in detail in THDPRO.DOC (see
"COMMENT LIST"). Once the file has been created you can configure its use
in THDCFG. From the first of the three final screens, select option "L--
Comment File" then select option "2" (the random list option). Supply the
full path and filename to the list file you have created.
- Configurable file specific text in file comments.
You can insert certain keywords into a file comment and THDPRO.EXE will
replace these keywords when it adds the comment with information obtained
at run time. The keywords and some examples are supplied in THDPRO.DOC in
the section called FILE COMMENTS.
- USE of THDEXARC.DAT file can allow use of additional scanners and
archivers.
The Archive Editor option of THDCFG.EXE allows you to add external
definitions for virus scanners and archive types not supported internally
to THDPRO.EXE. The archive editor is explained in detail in THDCFG.DOC.
- Skip files
The testing of some files can be skipped. The skipping of testing for
these files is accomplished by the presence of a file called SKIPFILE.THD
(fully explained in THDPRO.DOC). The general idea is that you can skip
the testing of certain files (embedded or main files) by properly
configuring this file. This will allow you to accept untested uploads by
having your users apply a specific filename to the files in question.
...end of document...