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* RADLab(tm) Version 1.04 *
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* By: Ron A. Dilley & David Andersen *
* RADSoft. 1992 *
* August___1992 *
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Compile Date: 08-16-1992
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RADLab(tm) Is not a freeware product. David and I have spent many
months on this program, and we intend to keep improving and adding to it to
keep it at the top. RADLab(tm) is a shareware ( try-before-you-buy )
program. Please register this product if you like and or use it! For
registration information, call either of the BBS systems listed at the
end of this file. We will be glad to send you a registration form, and the
newest version of RADLab(tm). Registration is only $10.00, a small price
for the quality, and time spent making and improving this package.
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Disclaimer:
I hate doing these, but it would seem that the nature of this
program forces me to. This package deletes, renames, edits, and in general
messes with files. So we are not responsible for any problems with this
program, or problems caused by this program. We have taken a lot of time
making this program stable, but we offer not warranty expressed or implied
on this package. Use it at your own risk, and if you have a problem give us
a call and tell us what happened. We want you to use and enjoy this package,
so we want to fix any problems or incompatibilities that are found.
Features:
RADLab will test the following archive formats.
ZIP'd, ARJ'd, LHA'd, LZH'd, ARC/Crunched, ARC/Squeezed,
ARC/Crushed, PAK-Distilled, Self-Extracting ZIP's,
Self-Extracting ARJ's, Self-Extracting LHA's and
Teledisked files for errors.
RADLab will test GIF's for errors & extra data blocks.
RADLab will compress any non-compressed GIF Files.
RADLab will scan all files contained in any of the above archive
formats for virii using McAffe's Scan.
RADLab will remove ZIP comments & replace them with personalized
comments.
RADLab will take wildcards in the filename argument. Allowing whole
directories to be checked.
RADLab is ONLY 41k, and requires 90k to run!!!!!
RADLab will test for any/all archives contained inside of another
listed archive type.
RADLab writes the status of every run to a file called RADLAB.LOG.
RADLab adds a comment to the description file when using PCB or
ProDoor to let all users know that their files are being
tested.
RADLab has been in beta test for the last 4 months on Boolean's
Rebellion. Our goal is to make this the simplest & most
stable and reliable archive tester that can be found.
RADLab allows control of uploading of old files.
RADLab will move failed, old, and infected files into a holding
directory.
RADLab will re-compress an archive to an archive type specified by
the user via the config file.
RADLab supports PCBoard.
RADLab supports ProDoor.
RADLab supports PCBoards "TEST" option.
RADLab supports FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI description inserts
RADLab supports fossil port control. Allowing remote users to see
what is happening to the files that they upload.
Features in the planning stage:
RADLab will soon support WildCat.
RADLab will soon support Telegard.
Why we are making this product:
I have been running a BBS for about two years, and I realized as I am
sure you have that file integrity is very important to the reputation of
a BBS system. People don't call systems that are known for having bad
files on them. And we are all paranoid about the chance of passing or
contracting a virus. So I decided to install an automated file checker
on my PCBoard system. I looked around and found ZIPLAB(tm). And I installed
it, and it ran twice. It worked great for those two runs, but it was pretty
useless after that. After spending about two weeks trying to get the program
to work more than twice, I gave up in frustration, and talked David into
working with me to produce this package. A package that was needed in the
world of BBS's because if I was having problems, then there must be others
that were having the same problems. Then we spent some time looking at what
ZIPLABs faults were. We had no intention of making the same errors that
we thought Jeff Morley had made. ZIPLAB, a great program for what it was
was too big, required too much ram, and did not test archives to the degree
that us paraniod folk would be comfortable with. Plus I found ZIPLAB
hard to install and run ( I could not get it to run ). So this is
what we have made to give ZIPLAB a run for it's money. I hope you are all
satisfied with this product, and if you are not, then please get in touch
with us! We will be glad to hear from you, and listen to your ideas.
Files Included in this Archive:
RADLAB.EXE This is the program
RADLAB.CFG The Config File for RADLab
RADLAB.DAT Data for RADLab
RADLAB.DOC This document
REGISTER.DOC A Registration form
INSTALL.EXE RADLab(tm) Installer
INSTALL.DAT Data for RADLab Installer
BBSAD.ASC An example comment file
FILE_ID.DIZ Description File
DESC.SDI Description File
PROUT1.BAT ProDoor Batch File
PROUTEST.BAT ProDoor Batch File
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PKUNZIP.EXE These files are portions of
ARJ.EXE products written by other authers
PKXARC.EXE please register these products
LHA.EXE if you intend to continue to use
TDCHECK.EXE RADLab, or if you continue to use
GIFTEST.EXE any of the other programs included
GIFLITE.EXE in this archive. Programmers
SCAN.EXE spend alot of time making programs
RECOM.EXE work the way you want them to.
PKUNPAK.EXE
PKZIP.EXE
DIDTEST.COM
X00.EXE
System requirements:
RADLab is approximately 41k in size in this version, And requires
about 90k to run. I will in the future try to shrink this size down, but
for now, 90k is small enough. PKUnZip requires about 80k so in most
situations, 170k is the most free ram you will need over all. A far cry from
the 240k of free ram that ZIPLAB(tm) requires, and that does not include
the ram that the archive utilities require. So with ZIPLAB(tm) you are
looking at needing about 320k of free ram just to run the program. You will
also need several programs to run RADLab(tm), these programs are listed below.
NOTE:
I have included a tweek of PKUnZip 1.93 for one reason and one reason
alone. There are people out there using this hack. So, I have included it
for UnZipping only. PKZip is version 1.1 ( There is a method here to my
madness.) If someone uploads a file using the hack ( or the non-standard
version of PKZip, RADLab(tm) will de-compress it, and do all the testing,
Then RADLab(tm) will re-compress the file back to PKZip version 1.1. This
will weed out the files uploaded to your system with this non-release version
of PKZip.
PKUnzip(tm) ZIP Files
PKZip(tm) ZIP Files
PKXArc(tm) ARC Files
PKUnpak(tm) PAK Files
ARJ(tm) ARJ Files
LHArc(tm) LZH Files
TDCheck(tm) TD0 Files
GIFTest(tm) GIF Files
GIFLite(tm) GIF Files
McAffe's Scan ALL Files
RECommenter(tm) ZIP Files
X00 Fossil Driver
All of these programs are shareware, and require a registration fee
separate from RADLab. I have provided the files in this archive for
simplicities sake. Please register these programs, they are high caliber
and the programmers deserve the recognition.
Setting Up RADLab(tm) for PCBoard:
If you run PCBoard you will need to replace your existing
PCBTEST.BAT file with the example below.
@echo off
radlab %1 PCB %3 %2
where %1 is the full path to the file to be tested, PCB is the bbs
type that you are using ( PCBoard ), %3 is the full path to your updesc.1
file, and %2 is the status argument passed from PCBoard (UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD/TEST).
If this argument is "TEST" then RADLab will not move files that fail the
date check, and there will be no editing of your updesc.1 file.
Setting Up RADLab(tm) for ProDoor:
If you run ProDoor, you can use the three files included in this
archive that have been provided by Bill Thomson, SysOp of our first beta-test
site.
PROUT1.BAT
PROUTEST.BAT
DIDTEST.COM By: Dave Navarro
Running RADLab(tm) from the command line ( or a non-supported BBS system ):
If you are using RADLab from the command line you simply need to
pass the file name ( or path with wildcards. Or, if you want to bypass
date checking, pass the file name ( or path ) and "TEST". Syntax is listed
in RADLab if you ommit any command line information.
RADLab Command Modes:
Mode Syntax to run in mode Features
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LOCAL RADLAB <fname> Tests all files, checks
file dates.
TEST RADLAB <fname> TEST Tests all files, does not
check file dates.
PCB RADLAB <fname> PCB <descfile> Tests all files, checks
file dates, writes PCBPass
or PCBFail text file, edits
desc file ( adds status line )
PCB RADLAB <fname> PCB TEST Test all files, writes PCBPass
or PCBFail. No Date check or
editing of desc file.
PRO RADLAB <fname> PRO <descfile> Tests all files, checks
file dates, writes PCBPass
or PCBFail test files, edits
$DOOR file ( adds status line )
WILD RADLAB <fname> WILD ( Not implimented yet )
LSD RADLAB <fname> LSD <descfile> ( Not Implinented yet )
RADLab(tm) Configuration File:
RADLab also uses a config file called RADLAB.CFG. The file format
is as follows.
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f:\files\sysop\ * Line #1 is the full path to the dump directory where
f:\files\sysop\files RADLab will place failed files. BE SURE TO INCLUDE
01-01-91 the '\' at the end of the entry!
pkzip -$ -d * Line #2 is the full path to a list of all failed
.ZIP files in the failed file sub. ( Not Implemented
recom -o -s %s in this version ).
e:\ * Line #3 is the minimum file date that will be allowed
YES on the system.
YES * Line #4 is the command line for the execution of
2 the archiver you wish to use to re-archive all
2 archived files on your system. ( Not Implemented
38400 in this version ).
0 * Line #5 is the extension that the re-compressing
8 program uses to specify it's file type ( i.e. PKZip
1 uses .ZIP ).
* Line #6 is the command string to use for re-compressing
the archives that are tested by RADLab(tm).
* Line #7 is the full path to your working directory.
A ram-drive for example. I would recommend a
ram-drive in excess of 3 megs just to be on the
save side.
* Line #8 is the re-archive switch. YES turns
re-archiving, NO turns it off.
* Line #9 tells RADLab(tm) if your system is currently
using a FOSSIL, if you select NO then RADLab(tm)
will load a fossil for you, and then unload it
when RADLab(tm) has finished it's run.
* Line #10 0 = Hardware ( CTS/DTE ) or 1 = Software
( XON/XOFF ) flow control or 3 = Both Hardware and
software flow control.
* Line #11 Communications port 1 = COM1, 2 = COM2,
3 = COM3, 4 = COM4.
* Line #12 Port Speed ( 300 - 38400 )
* Line #13 Parity ( 0 = No Parity, 1 = Odd Parity,
2 = Even Parity )
* Line #14 Number of data bits ( 5 - 8 )
* Line #15 Number of stop bits ( 1 or 2 bits )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RADLAB.CFG and another data file RADLAB.DAT MUST be in a directory
listed in your path statement to be found by RADLab. All of the files that
RADLab uses must also be in a directory that has a refrence in your path
statement.
RADLab returns error levels, 0 if successful, 0 if there is a
software problem, and 0 if there is some other problem. This stops your
BBS from trashing the file if the software takes a dump. RADLab writes
the error & location to an error log file when it occurs. RADLab returns
error level 1 for any known problem with the file that is being tested
( i.e. Error Level 1 if the archive is bad, if the archive is old, or if the
archive contains a virus ). These are the only time that RADLab(tm) will
pass an error level other than 0.
RADLab also will create a file called PCBFAIL.TXT or PCBPASS.TXT
depending on whether or not the file passed. This file is used by PCBoard
to determin if the external file tester passed or failed the file. These
files will be written to the directory that RADLab was executed in, and if
executed from PCBoard will be deleted by PCBoard automatically.
If the file fails when RADLab is being run through PCBoard, the file
will be moved to the private sub, and the description will also be moved
into that directory. If you are running RADLab from the command line, or
from another BBS system, RADLab will move the file to a pre-specified
location.
Notes on FOSSIL Support:
I have added fossil support to RADLab(tm) Version 1.03 and higher. If
you wish to use the fossil support to send information to the remote users
then you will need to select YES in the RADLAB.CFG file for FOSSIL Support.
If you already have a fossil driver loaded when RADLab(tm) is executed,
RADLab(tm) will detect it and start its run. If you do not have a fossil
installed when RADLab(tm) starts it's run, it will detect the lack of fossil
support, and load "X00.EXE"(tm) and then run, and at the end of the run,
will remove "X00.EXE(tm) from memory. I will in time ad support for
non-fossil serial communication, but to get it to run faster than 9600 baud
will require alot of time on my part, the fossil for now is the quick fix to
the problem of users not knowing what RADLab(tm) is doing.
In Closing:
David and I have spend many months working on this progam, we found
that one of the big failings of ZIPLab is that it is very unstable
and "sometimes works, sometimes doesn't", We don't want to hear people
saying that about RADLab, so please if you come across a glitch, or an
incompatibility with this program then please make an effort to get back to
us and report any errors, problems, or ideas to myself or David. All the
ideas and help will be greatly appriciated, and if we add something to the
program that you thought of, then we will include you in the list of
contributing users.
All Beta-Test systems will get all the new updates of RADLab free,
with no Registration required. We reserve the right to choose, terminate
any or all Beta-Test sites.
The Plug:
The Bauhaus
619.670.3969 DS/14.4k
Supporting: FIDONet
SysOp: David Andersen /aka Dimensional Beast
Boolean's Rebellion
619.465.1305 DS/16.8k
619.465.1357 HST/14.4k
619.465.2417 HST/14.4k
619.465.5118 HST/14.4k
1.6 Gigabytes On-Line ( HD's )
1.1 Gigabytes In CD-Roms
Home of RADSoft. 1992
Supporting: OOFNet (99:700/102)
SysOp: Ron A. Dilley /aka Motivator
Beta Test Sites:
The File Cabnet
619.426.0740 HST/14.4k *Private*
619.426.7760 9600/Compucom
Running: ProLogon/ProDoor
SysOp: Bill Thomson
The CLICK BBS
619.633.1288 DS/14.4k ( 3 Lines Auto Ring-Down )
2.5 Gigabytes On-Line ( HD's )
CD_Rom Support
OOFNet/*PremiereNET*
Latest Version of LSD BBS!
SysOp: Hackster
If you have any questions, problems, suggestions, or ideas, please
call and put in your two cents worth. We are always looking for new ideas!
Ron A. Dilley
Problem Reports:
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This is a new section of this doc file to help you if you are having
problems getting RADLab(tm) to work with your system. This list is compiled
from all bug reports and their situations ( to the best of my knowledge ).
PROBLEM: User reported a problem when the program runs, the program throws
garbage all over the screen, but the program runs just fine.
SOLUTION: As best I can tell the problem the user had was that the RADLAB.DAT
file was not in a directory that was listed in the path statment, or the
file did not exist. Make sure that all files dealing with RADLab(tm) are
listed in the path statment for RADLab(tm) to work.
PROBLEM: User reports that when running RADLab(tm) on a hercules compatible
mono system, RADLab(tm) does not switch video pages when it spawns to any
de-compressor. Has tried it on two machines with the same problem. Program
runs just fine, simply messes up the screen.
SOLUTION: Well, to date I still don't know what is going on with this users
systems. RADLab(tm) has been tested on several herculese compatible systems
with no errors. The page switching routine uses a bios level call to switch
pages, and there are no known incompatibilities. So I have no solution for
this, I would look for TSR's that are running on the system that might be
modifying the page switching interrupt, or perhaps something that configures
the bitmap address. I have heard of that interrupt causing problems.
PROBLEM: Two users report that no fossil output is occuring on their system,
though the program is running just fine.
SOLUTION: I look kinda funny on this one, found out what the problem was.
I wrote the program to default to local mode if only one command line paramiter
is passed to RADLab(tm). Was a great idea for me in my situation, My system
uses the enhanced features of RADLab(tm) requiring more than one command line
paramiter. So I re-wrote the code so it does not default anymore. Problem
fixed in this current version of RADLab(tm). Compile Date: 08-16-1992.
History:
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Version 1.04
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Finished FOSSIL support, ready for the public after a long period of
testing ( about a week ). I have been gettign so much positive feedback
about the program, not to mention demands for the fossil support version to
be made avaiable, that I put it out. I added an installer to the archive
to make installation of the program easier. Yell if there are any problems.
Version 1.03
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First attempt at FOSSIL support, spent a long time getting my fossil
library to work correctly, re-wrote several of the routines to get more
speed at less memory cost. Lots of small tweeks to get the new fossil
support working 100%
Version 1.02
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Fixed a problem with running re-compression & the recommentor. Added
PRODoor support for desc. file(s). Added a config switch to disable/enable
recompression. Added support for PCBoards internal "TEST" option. Added
FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI support by request.
Version 1.01
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Fixed a problem with dealing with stackspace. Version 1.0 would not
test wildcard files without running out of stack space, so I turned the
"tiny" model off and went back to "small" model forcing RADLab to use a
stack of it's own. Made the program take up 20k more, but at lease if worked
now. Added a temp working directory for using a RAM-Drive to increase speed
of decimpression, scanning and re-compression.
Version 1.00
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A quick release to fix a problem in the software that i had not
found running it on the system. Unfortunatly, rushing this release out
ended up putting the rpogram out with more bugs that I had not found in
testing, decided to take more time testing any version before I put it out
to better save face.
Beta Versions .01 to .14
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There were MANY betas of this program as David and I fooled around
with the code to make it go fast, and take up as little space as possible.
I don't think it is important to mention any special events during the beta
phase of this programs development. Lets just say that the program has
been much improved in the past 6 months.