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** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ******** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ******** ** ** ******** ********** ****** ** ** ******** ********** (c)1994 1995 WALU Software presents #### #### ## ###### ######### ######### ######## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ##### # # # # # # ######## # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ##### # ######### ######## (c)1994/1995 What A Lovely Utility Software ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ THIS PRODUCT IS SHAREWARE ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright ~~~~~~~~~ Copyright of this document and the programs and files to which it relates remains with WALU Software. The source code, executable program and all associated files remain the property of the author. Reverse engineering or modifying executable program files is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the copyright holders. Conditions of distribution and Use ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This version of MasTic and MasRep are released as Shareware and as such it may be freely distributed on Bulletin Board Systems and by PD Labraries provided that all the original files remain with the program. Your are free to try MasTic for 30Days after which time you should either delete it from your system or send your registration fee of 10 ( ten UK pounds) to WALU Software at the address at the end of this doc file. The documentation maybe translated into any language but any such translation must include Walu Software contact addresses and the original English versions of the Conditions for use and distribution and of course the copyright notice. It may NOT be included on cover discs, magazine discs or included in Value added products, Nor may it be distributed on CD rom compilations without specific prior written consent of the authors. The use of this product for commercial purposes at any time is prohibited without the prior written consent of the copyright holders. For further details write to WALU Software at the address given at the end of this document. Disclaimer ~~~~~~~~~~ The authors specifically disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose with respect to defects in the software and documentation. In no event shall the authors be liable for any loss of profit, or other damage, commercial or otherwise, whether caused directly or indirectly by use of this product. Contents of MASTIC archive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following five files should have been in the MASTIC archive. MASTIC.PRG The main executable program. MASTIC.CTL An example .CTL file. MASTIC.DOC This text file :-) TEMPLATE.ALL An example Template file. TEMPLATE.ADD An example Autoadd Template file. If any of these files are missing or corrupt in any way please contact the support board for the latest version. What is MasTic ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MasTic is the latest generation TIC processor for use with the Atari Range of computers, being written entirely in 'C' and in complience with the latest FTSC standards you are assured that compatability with new software and old will enable your system to operate with the minimum of fuss and the maximum amount of automation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Overview of Functions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With no command line MasTic will search the netmail area for control messages to itself and reply where necassary, also making changes to its control file to link in/out areas in response to requests from your downlinks. Following the netmail search MasTIC will then search your inbound folders for *.TIC files. After validation the associated files will be sent to your download folders and any reports you have defined will be written. Downlinks connected to the file area concerned will have the files put on hold for them via a .FLO file except of course points who will have the files sent via .HFT files. By using command lines you can make MasTic write reports to your downlinks and also hatch files into the network yourself. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Control File Structure ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The control file [ MASTIC.CTL ] should be located in the same folder as MasTic itself. For users of Autofile we have made the switch to MasTic as painless as possible, just rename your Autofile.CTL to MASTIC.CTL then run MasTic with the command line REPORT and MasTic will rewrite the file stripping all non required information. All command words must start at the begining of a new line and are case insensitive. Comments although ignored by MasTic will be stripped out when MasTic has to change the control file to reflect the effects of any control messages recieved from your downlinks or where new areas from your uplinks are autoadded. Fixname ~~~~~~~ This tells MasTic what names it should respond to in netmail control messages. The first name you supply is used as the default name when MasTic writes messages. You must define at least one fixname. You may define a maximum of ten Fixnames each with a maximum of 9 Characters. ie: Fixname MasTic Inbound ~~~~~~~ Informs MasTic where to look for *.TIC files. You must define at least one of these. A maximum of ten inbounds may be defined. ie: Inbound D:\PINBOUND\ Netmail ~~~~~~~ Defines the mail area you use for netmail and must only define the path and stub of the area with no extension. This must be defined. ie: Netmail D:\MSGS\0192 TicDir ~~~~~~ Defines where to place any TIC files that need to be generated when passing files through the system. This must be defined. ie: Ticdir D:\TICS\ Statuslog ~~~~~~~~~ Defines the file to be used for logging any activity that occurs, including errors. This must be defined. ie: Statuslog D:\LOGS\MASTIC.LOG Stopdup ~~~~~~~ Defines the folder where the dupe checking file is to be held. This must be defined. ie: Stopdup D:\DUPES\ Reparea ~~~~~~~ Defines the area where MasTic will write reports about incoming files and also specifies the template file to use. There are some optional parameters for this keyword. Format : Reparea mailarea groups template options Where : mailarea is the path to the mail area stub A maximum of ten areas may be defined. groups are the letters of the groups for which the report is valid. template is the full path and filename of the file to use to write the report. Options : [To xx] [From xx] [Subject xx] ie: Reparea D:\MSGS\REPS ABfg D:\TEMPLATE.ALL [To All] An example TEMPLATE.ALL file is included in the MasTic archive and use of the provided template will result in MasTic writing a message like the example below. Msg #43 / 1-43 Time: Sat 22 Oct 06:10 From: MasTic File Manager To : All Subj: Network Files Activity ---------[CBBSFILE]----------------------------------------------- The latest files from the Networks Area : FAN.APP.DEMO FileName : OBURSTDM.LZH Desc. : Demoversion of OutBurST! Size : 25295 bytes Date : 22/10/94 Time : 06:09 ------------------------------------------------------------ Area : FAN.APP.DEMO FileName : RECIO_DM.LZH Desc. : Demo of a font editor Size : 63273 bytes Date : 22/10/94 Time : 06:09 Temp ~~~~ Occasionally MasTic writes temporary files and then deletes them before exiting. This keyword defines where those files should be written. A ramdisk is ideal for this purpose. This must be defined. ie: Temp P:\ Hatch ~~~~~ This enables MasTic to hatch a file into the network simply by passing a command line instruction . If you type in Hatch on a command line it will search for ALL hatch statements in the control file and hatch the file where possible. If on the command line you put HATCH AREANAME then it will only hatch in that area if possible. Hatch is followed by the name of the file to hatch and then further information is provided in the following formats. [Area xx] : Defines the area in which the file should be hatched. This must be defined. [Desc xx] : Describes the file being hatched. This must be defined. [Replaces xx] : Defines the file that is to be replaced by the hatched file. Wildcards are supported but you MUST be carefull when specifying files to be replaced. [Magic xx] : Defines the magic name associated with the hatched file. [Log xx] : Defines any comment that is to be passed with the file. This is not seen by the end user, only by the system operators. Magicfile ~~~~~~~~~ This describes the path and filename of the file you use to keep the magic names in - When using semper this file is usually called REQUEST.SMP NewMagics [On/Off] ~~~~~~~~~ If defined as OFF this will disable the automatic updating of your magics files. ie: NewMagics Off Replaced ~~~~~~~~ Defines the folder that is used to keep any files that are removed from your download areas when they have been replaced by an incoming file. Wildcards [On/Off] ~~~~~~~~~ If defined as OFF then any 'replaces' lines in TIC files that contain wildcards will be ignored ie : Wildcards Off Zone ~~~~ Defines your mail network addresses. A maximum of 40 may be defined. ie: Zone 90 D:\NEST.05A\ Address ~~~~~~~ Defines your addresses on the networks. A maximum of 40 may be defined. ie: Address 90:102/162 SortAddresses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If used this will cause the Fix addresses and AutoAdd addresses to be sorted numerically when MasTic 'rewrites' its control file. Fix ~~~ Defines the addresses,passwords and flags of your downlinks. A maximum of 50 may be defined. ie: Fix 90:102/162.0 PASSWORD GROUPS FLAGS Where : PASSWORD is the default password expected on control messages. If the first character is '*' then the password on inbound Tics from this link will be ignored. GROUPS is the list of groups that a user has access to on this address. FLAGS are the defualt flags used for connecting this user to an area after a request has been recieved. Flag 'R' is used to specify wether or not this user gets an automated report when you tell Mastic to generate one Flags L/Z/A/J select the default archiver to use for ?IC compressed files, these being LZH,Zip,Arc and Arj where a flag has not been added, Mastic will default to LZH Flag '!' forces compression for that link. Autopath ~~~~~~~~ Defines the path were new folders will be created when a file arrives that is valid for auto adding a new file area. Remotes [On/Off] ~~~~~~~ Enables or diables remote control messages from other systems, default is on, using this makes it easier to keep upto date file areas with anyother system that also uses MasTic, when an area is removed by using the command line option then messages are sent to your downlinks informing MasTic at those systems that an area change has occurred. Autoadd ~~~~~~~ Defines which uplinks are valid inputs for autoadding new file areas and also defines which downlinks are to be added to any new areas. A maximum of 25 may be defined. Autoadd 90:102/162.0 GROUP x I PASSWORD NAME This line sets 90:102/162.0 as a valid uplink for autoadding areas to GROUP x, the PASSWORD is the only one accepted within a TIC file that will allow this user to add a new file area. The NAME parameter is simply used to make the new area report look nicer. Autoadd 90:102/163.0 x O PASSWORD This line sets your downlink 90:102/163.0 for autoconnection to any new areas in group x, he/she will be added with the password defined on this line. Addfile ~~~~~~~ Addfile G:\MASTIC\TEMPLATE.ADD G:\QBBS\FLSEARCH.CTL Path and name of template file and path and name of flsearch.ctl This line will cause your FLSEARCH.CTL (or any other defined text file) to be updated with autoadded area information. The template file eg : %PATH 20 %AREADESC contains two Keywords %PATH will be replaced with the full path to the new area. %AREADESC will be replaced with the Area description as read from the TIC or a dummy description if the TIC was produced by an old style Tic processor. The template file can be as long as you like, blank lines are ignored. anything except a Keyword is copied verbatim. ExtZip D:\ARCS\ZIPJR.TTP -x -mt ~~~~~~ ExtArc D:\ARCS\ARC.TTP x ~~~~~~ ExtLzh D:\ARCS\LZH.TTP x ~~~~~~ ExtArj D:\ARCS\UNARJ.TTP e -jy+ -~pe- ~~~~~~ Read FILE_ID.DIZ ~~~~ Read BBS_DAT.INF ~~~~ These commands are used to enable Mastic to locally replace any file descriptions with the named files that may be found within archives, if you use multiple 'Read' commands then the first one detected will be used, obviously only files with the extentions .ZIP, .ARC and .LZH will be searched. A maximum of 10 'Read' definitions can be used. ArcZip D:\ARCS\ZIPJR.TTP -a ~~~~~~ ArcArc D:\ARCS\ARC.TTP a ~~~~~~ ArcLzh D:\ARCS\LZH.TTP a ~~~~~~ ArcArj D:\ARCS\ARJBETA.TTP [ No command line currently needed ] ~~~~~~ These commands are used for [Z/A/L/J]ic file passing, the default archiver used for archiving is LZH, this will be made configurable at a later date, and so it is recommended you define all three archivers for now. Area [path to area folder] [area name] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Defines the file areas that are available. Both the path and area name must be present. Each area must have the same format. Any line that is not recognised by MasTic will be treated as an end of area marker. A maximum of 200 may be defined. ie: Area F:\DTP\ FAN.UTIL.GDOS Localgroup F Localdesc Gdos tools/utilities 90:102/0.0 UPLINK IC 90:102/164.0 DOWNLINK OT Valid command words are : Localgroup + Where + is a group leter a-z or A-Z allowing upto 52 groups to be defined. Localdesc describes the file area in plain text. Any line starting with a number within an area definition is deemed to be a network address of either a downlink or an uplink. The number must be followed by that links PASSWORD and then the FLAGS for that area. Valid FLAGS are : I Link can Input to area O Files are sent to this link T Tic files are sent with each file to this link M Mail is sent with each file to this link C Tic/File compression on for this link The .TIC and File.* are archived into one compressed file. Refresh ~~~~~~~ For use in non ST screen modes on the Falcon. Advanced options : GATING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gating a file area involves a simple modification to your AREA definition, but you must know what you are doing !! Example : Normal definition ; ;----------------------------------------------------------- Area J:\GENERAL\ EST_APPS Localgroup T Localdesc Applications software 90:106/153.0 PASSWORD IOT 90:106/200.0 PASSWORD IOT ;----------------------------------------------------------- This simply defines an area (EST_APPS) that is recieved from 90:106/153 and is sent to 90:106/200 and vica-versa For Gating ; ;----------------------------------------------------------- Area J:\GENERAL\ EST_APPS Localgroup T Localdesc Applications software 90:106/153.0 PASSWORD IOT [APPS_EST] 90:106/200.0 PASSWORD IOT ;----------------------------------------------------------- This new definition (APPS_EST) causes the following to happen : A file from 90:106/153 in area APPS_EST is sent to 90:106/200 as if it came from area EST_APPS, so far so good ! if 90:106/200 sends a file into EST_APPS then it is sent to 90:106/200 as if it came from APPS_EST - make sense to you ? Note : despite 90:106/153 having gated information, it is still able to send files into the original area, EST_APPS, but 90:106/200 can only send into the original area. Obviously you are able to gate one area to many others by simply adding the new optional parameter to the end of the link, and you can easily gate into other networks simply by using different addresses. A word of warning though, DO NOT allow a feed into a gated area access to filearea fixing, these new optional parameters must be added manually, and so any change to the link by netmail will probably result in you losing the gated area name, of course, if your link understands which areas not to link out of then there should be no problem, but, you know what _other_ people are like :) Gating limits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Upto 100 links may have the gating information added, as usual, if this is too small a limit then let me know, we cater for bigger systems .... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Writing Control Messages ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your downlinks can fix in/out of file areas and get information about thier status by sending netmail to MasTic. They can also alter thier settings and passwords. Note that if a downlink uses a control message to alter his/her password whilst connected to areas then the new password will only apply to any new areas added and not to those already linked in. MasTic has an integral Help file which can be requested by sending a netmail to MasTic with a subject line containg the users password followed by H. Below is an example control message requesting the MasTic help file. Msg #436 / 1-438 Time: 22 Oct 94 16:04:28 From: Martin Stacey on 2:255/80.1 To : MasTic on 2:255/80 Subj: password -H ---------[MAIL]----------------------------------------------- A message requesting the MasTic help text. Note the space between the password and the optional parameters. MasTic will return a netmail containing the help file. (see below) From: MasTic on 2:255/80 To : Martin Stacey on 2:255/80.1 Subj: Control message reply from MasTic ---------[MAIL]----------------------------------------------- Help file for MasTic ... When writing a message to MasTic you must place your arranged password on the subject line, and address your message to the address of the network that you wish to access - these details are available from the sysop of this system. To obtain lists of areas that are available to you, you may place the following letters after your password on the subject line, but remember to have at least one space after your password : L - Provides you with a complete area list C - Provides a list of areas you are connected to U - Provides a list of areas you are unconnected from H - Provides you with this help file You may also change the default flags that you connect to areas with, to do this the following may be used : %Tics On - Enables tics with files %Tics Off - Disables tics with files %Mail On - Enables mail attached files %Mail Off - Disables mail attaching You may also change your password by simply using %Password newpassword %Reports On - Controls automatic reports to you %Reports Off %Compress On [L/Z/A/J] - enable compressed files, and select default archiver (LZH if none selected) To connect or disconnect a file area you need to know the area name, you get these from the previously discussed lists, the following formats are supported, if you make a mistake, or use an unknown area name then you will receive a message about it ... Area : FISHLISTS - This will connect you into the area if available FISHLISTS - This will do the same. -Area : FISHLISTS - This will disconnect you if you are connected -FISHLISTS - As will this. Connecting to an area you are already connected to (!) will update your flags with your default settings, that you may have changed, however to change the password for a particular area you must first disconnect and then reconnect which can be done within the same message All commands are case-insensitive, the only thing you cannot change with a message to MasTic is Input access to an area - the SysOp at this system must allow that manually for security reasons... ***** End of Help Message ***** The example control message below would link you into the areas FISHEY,FISHLISTS and the area PICTURES but at the same time disconnect you from the areas TEXTFILES and BASIC, also switching automatic reports on. From: Martin Stacey on 2:255/80.1 To : MasTic on 2:255/80 Subj: password ---------[MAIL]----------------------------------------------- +FISHEY Area : FISHLISTS PICTURES -Area : TEXTFILES -BASIC %Reports On --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Command line Parameters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite Mastic accepting command lines, it should never be renamed to either a .TOS or .TTP application, it requires GEM for the windows to be used. Rewrite ~~~~~~~ This causes Mastic to rewrite it's control file, you can use this to check that anything new you have added to the control file is recognised. Remove [area_name] ~~~~~~ If used without the optional area name then you will be presented with a GEM dialogue box where you select the areas to be removed. Removing an area causes MasTic to write a netmail to any affected links. If its a downlink and they are running MasTic the area will be removed from thier .CTL file. If its an Uplink then you will be removed from that area in thier control file but the area will not be removed from thier .CTL. This will only occur if the link has remotes enabled. This causes Mastic to completly remove an area definition from the control file, but nothing else, Fix's are not changed. Report ~~~~~~ This causes Mastic to write connection reports to any Fix'd addresses that have the 'R' flag enabled Hatch [Area/Hatch_file] ~~~~~ We have three possibilities with this command line, if you simply enter 'HATCH' then Mastic will bring up a dialog box for to locally hatch files out onto the networks, but if you follow the command with an area name, then the hatch statements in the control file will be searched for a match and hatching will take place. The third option is that if the word after the hatch command is not recognised as an area name then it will be taken as the name of a hatch file (!), i.e. if you have a file named 'HATCH' in the same folder as Mastic and you start Mastic with the command line 'Hatch Hatch', it will use the file for the information required to hatch any files. Should Mastic use a hatch file but for some reason cannot hatch the file, it will create a file called 'HATCHED.NOT' which contains the original information supplied to it, this can be used to check what went wrong ! The hatch file is a pretty standard format ascii file : Max.Len. parameter -------- --------- 40 chrs Complete path and filename of file to hatch 40 chars (!) Area name 340 chrs Description 13 chrs [Magic xxxxx] 13 chrs [Replaces xxxx.xxx] 80 chrs [Log xxxxx] --- The '[ ... ]' lines are optional, Mastic recognises 'Magic','Replaces' and 'Log' (Without the brackets !) and places the information into the TIC files. Each hatch command is seperated by the '---' seperator, you can have as a many hatch blocks like this as you wish. It is recommended that you do not include wild cards in the 'replaces' command, although Mastic supports it, it appears that Falcons don't like, and also make sure that any file you do replace is one that you should, not many people would like 'replaces *.*' as this could be a little annoying ! General notes on operation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Should any problems occur when validating incoming TIC files the tic will be renamed to *.TBD and will subsequently be ignored by MasTic. All command words and flags are case insensitive. Groups are case sensitive. MasTic will attempt to create any folders defined in MASTIC.CTL if they do not exist. All new folders created or any errors will be reported in the log file. When a file is added to a download area the FILES.BBS of that area will be updated with a '[0]' after the filename denoting that it has yet to be downloaded. A maximum file description length of approx 1K can be drawn from any tic file. Safety First ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mastic now communicates with MOUSELOK !, that well known rodent trapper, should you have the mouse locked and Mastic receives the command line 'HATCH' with no further parameters, local hatching will be disabled with a suitable comment in the log file. MouseLok V4.0 and above is required for this trivial feature ! WARNING WARNING WARNING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Archiver functions are carried out using a hidden screen to keep the main display tidy, if something goes wrong with your archiver and it expects a key press you will not be able to see it !!!!!!! In the event of the system 'hanging' and apparantly doing nothing try hitting the 'n' key, if the program then progresses you know there is a fault with the archiver command line, or the archiver could not [de]archive the file properly. Restrictions ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Should you find you have more areas than are currently processed by MasTic [ around 200 ], or perhaps you are getting an error message about too many other definitions then please contact WaluSoftware who may be able to help you with a larger model of the program. When locally hatching files (with the dialog box) an extra 60+k of memory is used, and when searching for FILE_ID.DIZ etc, an extra 30k + whatever your dearchiver needs is used, if you do not have enough memory available then Mastic will try to continue, but be prepared for really strange screen displays :)) REMEMBER : When hatching files, files are MOVED into the download folders, and so NEVER try to hatch a file from your download folder, always hatch it from somewhere else. Bugs & Updates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bugs should in the first instance be reported to the support board, where you will recieve prompt attention ! or in the F.SUP.WALUSOFT conference area which is carried by all good BBS's :-) Updates will be made available from usuall WALU Soft numbers. Special Thanks & Recognitions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTOFILE is (c)Mark Thomas Special thanks to Rob Hall for his extensive and very useful help in debugging MasTic, he threw us a few good bugs to find, and found the worst one himself !! Also thanks to Mas for his bug testing, he tested loads of 'em, and said he liked them very much :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Online Support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Holodeck Sbbs Chameleon BBS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NeST 90:102/162.0 90:102/161.0 Atarinet 50:502/122.0 50:502/121.0 Fishnet 777:777/0.0 777:200/0.0 +44 (0)1454 880267 +44 (0)1454 881095 24 Hours also on Internet martin.stacey@cbbs.conqueror.co.uk dave.meaker@cbbs.conqueror.co.uk martin.stacey@cbbs.centron.com dave.meaker@cbbs.centron.com mstacey@rdl.co.uk SEND YOUR SHAREWARE REGISTRATION TO : Walu Software F.A.O. Martin Stacey Dept CBBS 37, Sandy Lodge Yate, Avon. BS17 4HE England, U.K.