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Text File | 1993-09-17 | 18.4 KB | 338 lines

-------------------------------------------------------------------- QReader Revision History -------------------------------------------------------------------- QReader (C) Copyright 1991-1993 Yandell Computer Services This file describes the new features in recent QReader releases. Please refer to QREADER.DOC for a basic description of QReader. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ QReader 3.1 New Features 09-17-93 ]------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * If you have an earlier version of QReader installed, you must follow the directions located in UPGRADE.DOC in order for QReader 3.1 to function. * QReader now recognizes the RIP designation in DOOR.SYS files as a valid screen mode. When encountered, QReader will act as if the caller is in regular color mode. * QReader will detect if the caller is using a RIP capable communications program. If so, QReader will clear the caller's RIP screen and set it to 25 line mode. This is needed for QReader's 'Full Screen Reader' which is designed to be used on a 25 line screen. * The MENU, HELLO, and HELPx files in QREAD31.ZIP have been updated with a modern look. If you are using the default versions of these files from earlier versions of QReader, you might want to give these a try. * QReader now allows the use of multi-port hardware (via FOSSIL) on some nodes and not on others. QReader 3.0 introduced FOSSIL support and a single FOSSIL setting in the MAIN configuration file which meant QReader used FOSSIL i/o on ALL nodes (if set). Now you may place a command line switch of /NOFOSSIL in QReader door batch files on nodes that do not use multi-port FOSSIL communications. This is only needed on those nodes if you answered YES to "Use a FOSSIL driver" in the MAIN configuration. * In Wildcat mode, QReader will now use the Wildcat environment variables WCBASEID and WCIRQID for non-standard com ports (when used). Previous versions of QReader required any non-PCBoard BBS to use QReader specific variables called QRBASE and QRIRQ, which are now only needed when using QReader in 'generic DOOR.SYS mode'(BBS type #3 in QRSETUP.EXE). * SEND.BAT now accepts the modem's locked DTE rate for external protocols that need it fed implicitly to them. %7 = locked DTE modem speed. See See QREADER.DOC and SEND.BAT for details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ QReader 3.0 New Features 02-05-93 ]------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * QReader's "non_full_screen_reader" now features "PageUp" and left-right scroll that are similar to the capabilities of the "full_screen_reader". - The command to PageUp in the non_full_screen mode is "P" (for PageUp) and is available at the "More?" prompt while reading text. - The commands to scroll the screen left and right for text longer than 79 characters are "<" and ">" and are available at the "More?" prompt while reading text in the non_full_screen_reader. * FOSSIL driver support added. If your BBS uses a FOSSIL driver you may now have QReader use the FOSSIL driver also. You may also need to use this feature if your BBS software supports Multi-port serial cards and permits FOSSIL redirection to these cards through the use of special TSR software. To enable FOSSIL communications, run QRSETUP.EXE and select option #1 to edit the MAIN configuration file. Answer the question "Use a FOSSIL?" with a Y for YES. * Added support for extended IRQ use (above IRQ 7). Previous versions of QReader provided non-standard COM support with IRQ 1 through 7. The IRQ value may now be 1 thru 15. This is handled automatically in the PCBoard mode. In the Wildcat and DOOR.SYS modes, the environment variables must be set as outlined in QREADER.DOC for nodes using non-standard ports. * The enclosed QRFSHELP (without cursor arrow characters) should be used. Some communications programs do not correctly handle these characters when displaying them to the remote caller. QRFSHELP is located in the QReader directory with QREADER.EXE. * The 'text file number' may now be selected from QReader's main menu. The numbers from the "text file menu' may now be placed on the QReader main menu if desired, bypassing the need to press "R" and then viewing the 'text file menu'. This is particularly helpful in QReader configurations where there are only 2 or 3 text files installed. * Several configuration parameters such as the BBS name, the registration number, the type of BBS software, etc. have been moved from each of the separate text configuration (.CNF) files to one "MAIN" file called QREADER.@@@. This file will be created automatically when following the upgrade instructions in UPGRADE.DOC or when installing QReader for the first time. It is edited with QRSETUP by selecting the QRSETUP main menu option #1. * A 'Fast Load' option has been added. It speeds up the loading of larger configurations, either when initially loaded or when (S)elected from the QReader main menu. "Larger configurations" would be those which contain 100 or more individual text files. This parameter is set in the new QRSETUP MAIN configuration screen (see the above paragraph). -NOTE: Use of the new Fast Load option disables the @FILEDATE@ macro and @FILEDATEx@ macros. This is how the faster loading is obtained, as QReader will not check every text file's date (while it is loading a configuration) to determine the value of these macros. See QREADER.DOC for a description of these macros. * Added the ability to read the PCBDOOR environment variable passed by PCBoard. This will be read ONLY if the door being opened is opened with SELECT.CNF in the door batch file command line. For example, if the caller enters: QREADER USA at the PCBoard prompt and the batch file for QReader is QREADER.EXE SELECT.CNF etc., QREADER will immediately load the USA.CNF configuration (the .CNF extension is automatically loaded). The reason for the necessity of SELECT.CNF is: If the caller's "command line parm" (i.e. USA) does not exist, or if the caller does not have security for the "Security to select" setting, the SELECT menu will be displayed instead. If you run PCBoard and do not wish QReader to behave in this manner, place /NOPCBDOOR in the QReader command line. * All finds are now highlighted in the non_full_screen_reader (if caller is in color mode). * All finds in a single line are now highlighted in the full_screen_reader (color mode only). * Removed underlined finds in both readers when in non-color mode. When text is found in non-color mode it will be capitalized. Arrows will be displayed on the right of the line with found text (if room permits). * Files shorter than 20 lines in length were not displaying properly in the full_screen_reader. This has been corrected. * By popular request, the QReader title which appears at the top of the full-screen_reader pop-up help window has been changed to a solid line and contains no text. * The QRSETUP install program which came with version 2.0 was not allowing security levels higher than 255 to be entered. This is the maximum for PCBoard and was fine for QReader 1.0, but not with QReader 2.0 and the additional BBS types now supported. * Added support to calculate QReader download times for newer (yet lesser used) connect rates such as 12000 (twelve-thousand). Earlier versions of QReader expected standard connect rates, such as (300,1200,2400,4800, 9600,14400,19200) for calculating download times, and an error would occur if a download was attempted under other circumstances. * While earlier versions of QReader were DESQview aware and behaved, some performance degradation was discovered when using "virtualized" screens with DESQview-386. QReader's performance is now improved under these conditions. * The parameters passed to SEND.BAT for downloading with the DSZ "portx" option for non-standard COM ports are now passed properly. * If using PCBoard and logging caller log entries to a printer, QReader's printer routines have been made more generic. * Three command line parameters have been added. These are not likely to be needed by most Sysops, but if you need them, you REALLY need them. Adding them to configuration file is not planned since they should rarely be used: /NOBEEP - QReader follows the local alarm (beep) setting found in any door information files which provide it. If you have your BBS software set to beep LOCALLY at caller input errors, etc. but you do not want QReader to beep at similar events, add this to the command command line as shown below. /NOCALLER - QReader writes appropriate entries to the current node's caller file or activity log (PCBoard and Wildcat modes only). Please see QREADER.DOC for a complete list of entries. If you do not want QReader to echo these events to the log files, add this to the the QREADER.EXE command line as shown below. /NOLPT - QReader follows the printer toggle in PCBoard. If you do not want QReader to also echo caller log activity to the printer, add this to the QREADER.EXE command line as shown below. To add any of these toggles, edit the QReader door batch file(s) as shown: QREADER.EXE SELECT.CNF D:\PCB\ /NOLPT /NOBEEP /NOCALLER All three are shown in the example above for illustration purposes only. You may enter one, two, or all three of them, in any order desired. Again, it is recommended to use these toggles only if they are REALLY needed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ QReader 2.0 New Features 01-24-92 ]------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * NEW (Z)ippy search command for extremely FAST text searches in files. - After selecting (Z), caller will be asked for the text to search for. - Caller will then be prompted where (which items) to search, and they may choose (L)ist (show the text selection menu) at this prompt. - The caller may enter any of the items by number, such as 1 2 3, or enter (A) to Zippy search ALL of the text files in the configuration. - If the text is found, the line containing the text is displayed. The caller may then press (Enter) to display the file, (C)ontinue the search in the current item, (S)kip the current item and resume the search in the next item selected, or stop the search. - If the caller presses enter to display the found text, the item will be displayed starting with the ENTIRE page that contains the found text, with the found text highlighted or underlined in the middle of the screen! - If the caller displays an item after a Zippy find, then quits the display, and if there are more items in the Zippy search "cue", the caller may opt to continue the Zippy search in the remaining items. However, if the caller displays during a Zippy search, then (S)elects a different item while viewing the first, it is assumed the Zippy chain is no longer desired and the caller will not be asked to continue the Zippy scan, even if there would have been items left in the Zippy "cue". * The new (Z)ippy search command supports up to three boolean [OR] separators per search field. The separator is the | key. For example: Text to search for? (USR | HAYES | MODEM ) would search for USR or Hayes or Modem in the text items selected. * NEW ability to place nested SELECT???.DAT type files in SELECT.DAT. This allows unlimited branching to different selection menus for different categories of text file configurations. QREADER.DOC contains examples and instructions for using this feature. * QReader 1.0 allowed 99 text files in each configuration's text data (.DAT) file. This has been increased to 500 files per configuration. * QReader is now compatible with these three BBS environments: (1) PCBoard 14.5x (2) Wildcat 3.x (3) "generic" DOOR.SYS * NEW Wildcat 3.x support: - Updates Wildcat ACTIVITY.### logs with QReader activity! - Updates user's record with regard to download counts, bytes, and time as per Sysop's choice. - Follows "Allow (G)oodbye" setting (allows callers to say (G)oodbye and log-off while in QReader). - Wildcat color macros may be used in text files. * Added an INTERNAL editor for editing text .DAT configuration files in QRSETUP. In version 1.0 these had to be edited with a text editor. * QReader text data (.DAT) configuration files may contain two additional fields for each text item. - One field is a short description of the particular text item. This is displayed when doing a Zippy scan. If USA Today is being searched: Searching Item (1) Advertising Searching Item (2) Banking and Economy Searching Item (3) Bonus Section etc... - The second new field is a very short "notes" field which is only used by the Sysop to place a small note about a particular item. This is never displayed anywhere other than in the QRSETUP .DAT file editor. NOTE: it is NOT mandatory to update version 1.0 text data (.DAT files to the new format. * Text files installed in a configuration's text .DAT data file may now contain a path. While it is recommended that all files in a particular configuration be located in the location specified for them in QRSETUP, this ability allows more flexibility if needed. If a file in a .DAT file contains a path, the "location of text items" parameter in QRSETUP will not be used for THAT particular file. * Added multi-language file capability. This applies for every displayable file used by QReader, unless an extension is specified for the file in a QReader configuration or data file. PCBoard mode only. * QReader supports "security specific" files. If a MENU file specifically for level 90 callers is desired, create a file called MENU90 (MENU90G if using the ANSI "two file" method). * Added support for nodes greater than 99 in the new PCBoard /X software. * NEW "free download" toggle added to QRSETUP which allows each QReader configuration to be installed differently if needed (PCBoard and Wildcat modes only). Download Settings are: (0) Charge caller d/l count, bytes, and d/l time. (1) Charge caller for d/l time, do not charge d/l count or bytes. (2) Do not charge caller for d/l count, bytes or time. (3) Charge caller d/l count and bytes, do not charge for d/l time. QReader 1.0 followed PCBoard's FSEC and PWRD for determining if a file was downloadable a caller. The above new toggle replaces this method and adds much more flexibility between different QReader configurations. * Added support for Non-DSZ - DSZLOG compatible protocols. QReader is now more flexible when reading DSZLOG files from protocols other than DSZ. * New parameter in PROTOCOL.DAT allows placement of QReader status line during transfers. For each protocol choice the Sysop may select whether to place the QReader status line at the Top or Bottom of the screen depending on what works best with the protocol selected. For instance, DSZ works best with the door status line at the top of the screen, where its graphical counterpart GSZ works best with the door status line at the bottom of the screen. * SEND.BAT now accepts non-standard com port parameters from QReader for use with DSZ or GSZ: %5 = base address (hex) for com port (use with DSZ portx option). %6 = IRQ for com port (use with DSZ portx option). See QREADER.DOC and SEND.BAT for details. NOTE: The rest of the version 2.0 enhancements below deal with the display text files used by QReader: MENU, HELLO, HELP, SELECT, etc... * Added support for Wildcat 3.x color macros in text files. QReader will automatically use either PCBoard or Wildcat color macros when either are found. The text files contained in QREAD20.ZIP use PCBoard color macros. Run USB-CONV.EXE to convert the enclosed PCBoard color macro files to Wildcat macros if you wish to use them instead. * The ANSI text file handler has been greatly improved. Sysops who are not familiar with (or not wanting to use) the PCBoard or Wildcat color macro type files now have more flexibility with the plain Ascii and ANSI "two file" method. Run USB-CONV.EXE to convert the enclosed PCBoard macro files to Ascii\ANSI files if color macro files are not desired. * In QReader 1.0, some Sysops had difficulty editing the multi-paged text files such as HELP. QReader now supports the linking of files together, by specifying the "next" filename in the file currently being displayed. This is done by placing a "%" (percent) in the LEFT-MOST (column #1) position of the 24th line of the current file. The % must IMMEDIATELY be followed by the filename you wish QReader to append, such as %HELP2. This allows the Sysop to edit each page separately. See QREADER.DOC for complete details and instructions.