┌───────┬────────────────────────────┐
│ 15.20 │ Major sub-release │
└───────┴────────────────────────────┘
Several requests from users have been addressed in this release. Also
take some time to sort out the *.TEC files included (if any) that
cover special subjects more deeply.
■ Fixed a problem for non-registered usage where the MTA-childs would
all wait for a certain time (will work on most machines);
■ Fixed a problem for non-registered usage where the MTA under remote
operations would wait 90 seconds. This is reduced to 10 seconds;
■ MTA could be called twice (again within a DOS shell of MTA). This
is fixed for most configurations. Only MTA itself can call new
copies of MTA (child processing);
■ When displaying message remote (BBS under a door like FileDoor
<tm>) MTA would not restore the color to the original color before
MTA was called. This is fixed;
■ When MTA called the FOSSIL to init remote operations, the display
could be trashed if the FOSSIL reported itself. MTA will now save
and restore the screen before and after the call to the FOSSIL-init
routine;
■ When running under multi-taskers (Desqview etc.) MTA would still
try to change the video-mode if the VIDEOMODE option was used.
This is fixed. VIDEOMODE will have no meaning under multi-tasking;
■ Fixed a problem (enhancement) where +-comment lines were not moved
along with the original file-comment in the FILES.BBS alike file.
MTA will now move these +-comment lines;
■ GIF files were not touched (and kept their original date). When
TouchCur (also the new format, see later), TouchHig or TouchLow is
the default, GIF files are touched with the current date (or an
added number of days, see new TouchCur format);
■ Files that were marked in error (in the first 'TESTING' pass) were
not moved to the error-directory. This is fixed;
■ OverwriteDuplicates only worked for converted files. It will now
also work for moving (with overwrite) to the error-directory and
(if needed) the trashcan-directory;
■ Some users were reporing problems with the child-call. As a result
of the rather short command-line (110 bytes) under DOS, MTA could
fail with arc-in-arc files (child calls) because a longer parameter
was needed. Now MTA will pass the command-line parameters to the
child-MTA thru a file. The file is placed in the same directory
where MTA.EXE (MTAOVR.EXE) is placed OR will be placed in the
directory that is pointed to by the TEMP environment variable;
■ Added routines and coding to work with SQZ archives. MTA already
supports this archiver (like PKZIP 1.93a) to make testing rather
simple. As a result of this new archiver, the following options are
added to MTA.CTL:
- CompressionType SQZ
- CompressionType SQZSFX
- SQZPath
- SQZCompression
_ SSFCompression
Also the following command-line switches are added:
- /SQZ
- /SQZSFX
- /CS
- /CSS
They work the same as their counterparts for other archive programs
like ZIP, ARJ and LZH;
■ Added MAXPATHS option with same functions as RAPATHS and QBBSPATHS
but for Maxmimus <tm>;
■ Enhanced the RAPATHS option to work with RA 0.xx, 1.0x and 1.1x
releases of Remote Access <tm>. Also CD-rom areas for RA 1.1x
releases are detected and ignored by MTA;
■ Enhanced the QBBSPATHS option to work with pre 2.75 releases (the
MTA 15.10- situation) and 2.75+ releases of QuickBBS <tm>. The pre
2.75 format (FLSEARCH.CTL) remains the default for backward
compatibility with MTA (will be altered in a later);
■ Added the ExcludeDirectory option that can be used to exclude one
or more directories that come from RAPaths, QBBSPaths and/or the
new MAXPaths option;
■ Added an example in MTA.CTL to be used with the virus-scanner
(commercial) that is called GOBBLER <tm>;
■ Extended the usage of the FILEIDDIZ option. It is now possible to
let MTA use one of a set of files (not just only one);
■ Relaxed the testing of the FILE_ID.DIZ alike file. In previous
releases this caused many warnings. Because of the more dynamic
usage of comment-files (extended FILEIDDIZ option), MTA will now
store up to 20 lines with each having up to 128 characters, into
memory without giving any warnings;
■ Added command-line parameter /REMSIM to let MTA create a file that
can be TYPE'ed and will show the looks of MTA when it displays
messages remote. Can be used to check color-setup;
■ Added two remote lines when MTA is not used in SIMULATE mode and will
call a child of itself. The childs (arc-in-arc files) will not write
remote messages (yet);
■ Added the ReplaceComment option and the /REPLCOM toggle to make it
possible to overrule existing comments in FILES.BBS alike files
with the comment from a comment-file (like FILE_ID.DIZ);
■ Changed /C into /TOUCHC, /F into /TOUCHF, /L into /TOUCHL and /H
into /TOUCHH for compatibility reasons;
■ Added a new parameter to TouchCur (and the /TOUCHC command-line
switch) to touch files with the current date PLUS a supplied number
of days;
■ Enhanced the DelOldFiles option so it can work with a relative
number of days. The old format (with a fixed date) is still
possible;
■ Added VIRUSMASK option to make it possible for MTA to only call the
virus-scanners when matching files (extensions) are found;
■ Added ALTMTATEMPPath to make it possible for MTA to convert smaller
archives on a RAM-disk (or fast drive) and to swap to another drive
if there is not enough room on the RAM-disk (or fast drive);
■ Added WEEKEXTENSION option to make it possible to convert special
BBS-extensions (A10, J23) in a special way (f.i. from A20 which is
an ARC file to Z20, which is ZIP);
■ Added NOSUBSTTEST option for special environments like networks;
■ Added %NP and %NF macros for the SubstOn and SubstOff options. To
be used for networks;
■ All toggles (/STOSIZ, /STOCOM and /STONAM excluded) can now be
coded in two ways. The new format allows to use the /command+ or
/command- syntax to switch options on (+) or off (-);
■ Revamped the overlayed version. It will now run somewhat faster and
still uses around the same amount of memory. Also added a large
number of envrionment variables for the overlay mechanism so the
user can change the overlay mechanism to suit her/his own needs;
■ On general request, all new, changed and deleted options in
MTA.CTL can now be found in a special file MTA__xxx.CTL (xxx is
the version for which this file is meant). In the next releases I
will keep some of the older MTA__xxx.CTL files, so when you skip
from version 15.20 to 15.50 you can still use all MTA__xxx.CTL
files that were created in-between and you are still able to update
your own MTA.CTL in an easy way !