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Text File | 1995-07-04 | 20KB | 500 lines

─════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─ - NodeMsg 1.01 - (c)Copyright 1995, Rand Nowell - RaLin Enterprises Another bit of "Cowboy Software!" ─═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════── * Table of Contents * First Things First..................1 System Requirements.................1 Installation........................2 Registered Only Features............2 What's It Do?.......................3 Startup Commands....................3 Message Editing Window..............4 Importing A File....................5 Sending The Message.................6 Message Format......................6 Who's Online Mode...................7 Questions/Support...................7 Credits.............................8 Goodbye.............................8 Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 1 ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── FIRST THINGS FIRST - LEGAL ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── NODEMSG is released as a functional Shareware program, this is the Evlauation version. The only items that are not available in UnRegistered mode are 'NICE TO HAVE FEATURES'. You are encouraged to distribute this copy of NODEMSG to other locations. You do not have the right to Hack, Corrupt, reverse engineer the programs code, nor modify the documentation. The author is in no way obligated to release further versions, nor obligated to implement requested features in any version. You are freely given the right to USE this version, you are not given the ownership of the program. No warranties are expressed or implied, you use it at your own risk, if it in any way damages files or system, you and you alone are responsible, and own the whole shootin match. Your use of NodeMsg implies your consent to the above terms and conditions. That being said, NodeMsg should not cause you any problems. * * * * * * * * * * Version 1.0 was released mainly to preview what would be available with the upcomming RASIS 2.02 release package. I decided to release version 1.01 to the public, in evlauation format, you can register it as a seperate program, or receive the Registration Code 'FREE' when you register RASIS. !!!! Currently registered RASIS users can obtain the NODEMSG registration code either FREE, or at a substanial savings, depending on which RASIS version you registered. See NODREG.INF * * * * * * * * * * ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── NodeMsg requires about 75k of free memory at runtime. More is better. The RA environment variable must be set, this is used to find the location of CONFIG.RA, from which the location of your semaphore Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 2 files is taken. A color monitor is highly reccomended, but it should work ok on mono. Multi-Tasking envronments are supported. NodeMsg has been developed and tested under DOS 6.22, DesQview 7.5, RA 2.02 and 2.5/Beta, FD 2.20mL, all multi-tasking under Windows 4 WorkGroups 3.11. A Windows PIF file, and ICON have been provided if you wish to use them. You should load and edit the NODEMSG.PIF to suit your system. * * * * * * * * * * ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── INSTALLATION ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── TO USE NODEMSG YOU SHOULD FILL IN THE SEMAPHORE PATH IN CONFIG.RA, EVEN IF YOU ARE RUNNING ONE NODE, OR EVEN IF YOU NORMALLY HAVE IT BLANK, TO USE THE RA SYSTEM DIRECTORY. !!!! At present NodeMsg does not do any "smart" interpetation of the CONFIG.RA semaphore path, please fill it in, or the results may be less than satisfying. NodeMsg should be placed in a PATH directory, so it may be called from anywhere. The import files HINEW and HOLDON must be placed in the same directory as NODEMSG.EXE NodeMsg gives up TimeSlices to OS/2, Windows, DV... so you should be able to run in these Multi-Task environments. * * * * * * * * * * ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── REGISTERED ONLY FEATURES ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── The following features are only available when running in Registered Mode: 1. Who's Online - <G>oto Node 2. Command Line: Send <node> <file> and Send <ALL> <File> 3. Editor: F3: Import Specific File Once you receive your Registration Code/File, these features will be unlocked. ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── WHAT'S IT DO ? ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 3 NodeMsg will allow you to send an online message to a user on any node. An editing window is presented, where you enter the message. After typing you are asked what node to send to. Messages may also be imported into the editor via Function Key Commands, 2 predefined filenames, and one for importing any file. Messages can be sent from the DOS prompt, it can be run from Windows, DV, or most any other multi-tasking environment. Below is a walk through of the procedure. It writes a file to the defined Semaphore Directory in CONFIG.RA, these files would be named NODE###.RA where # can be from 1 to 255, and is given by you when prompted for the node to send the message to. A little explanation on Semaphore Files: If you're not familiar with this procedure, RA scans the defined semaphore directory every few seconds for specific files. When one of these is found, RA takes certian action, depending on what file is found. Some are 0 byte files, and RA just checks if they exist, if they do it performs an action, or closes down. In the case of the above mentioned files, it reads it for content, then displays that content to the user on the specified node. When RA fires up, any existing NODE*.RA files (for the starting node) are erased. This is why you can use the NODEMSG SEND ALL <filename> even if say only 3 nodes out of 6 actually have callers. NodeMsg will create 6 files, but of course only the three active will see them. But the next time ANY of the 6 nodes fire up, RA will delete that nodes Online Message File. So you don't have to worry about the wrong user(s) getting the old message. ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── STARTUP COMMANDS ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── NODEMSG ? - Display help screen NODEMSG - Alone puts you in the Who's Online screen. You can scroll through the nodes, Send message, Quit. NODEMSG WHO - Same as above. NODEMSG TEST - Goes through all the motions of sending a message, but does not actually send it, rather dumps it to the screen. Only the message TEXT is dumped. NODEMSG SEND - Puts you directly into the message editor. NODEMSG SEND <node> <filename> {+} Will post specified file to specified Node. NODEMSG SEND ALL <filename> {+} Will post the specified file to ALL avaialble nodes. Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 4 Command Line Use - Send to one or more Nodes. With NodeMsg you can send an online message from the DOS prompt, or from a batch file, using variations of the SEND command. This is a Registered Only function. ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── MESSAGE EDITING WINDOW ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── NodeMsg allows up to 3800 characters, or about 25 lines of 70+ characters to be entered. You will see in the upper right corner, a counter, showing you how many characters are left that you can enter. When you press ENTER to move down to the next line, it's TWO characters stored in the buffer (carriage return + linefeed). If your lines are less than 70 chars, you can get more lines in a message.... Editing Keys: This particular "editor" is rather limited. There is no Up/Dn cursor movement, no Home/End etc. The BackSpace key is honored <on the current line>, if you make a mistake, be sure its corrected before you move to the next line. Backspacing will NOT move up to the previous line... (yet) The TAB key inserts 8 spaces, tabbing to the right. The ESC key tells NodeMsg you are done editing, and will prompt you for the node to send to. If called from the Who's Online window, the default will be the node you were viewing. Pressing ESC again, or entering zero (0), or pressing ENTER on a blank field, will abort sending the message. If no message text has been entered, pressing ESC will immediatly return to the Who's Online window. Word Wrap - A very SIMPLE word wrap is included, if you type a space within a certian column number range, the cursor will move down to the beginning of the next line. But you can continue typing right up to the windows border, and it will move down, but you will have no automatic splitting of words...... Like I said, a very SIMPLE editor. You can use ANY key on the keyboard, you can also enter in RA text, user, etc. codes..... For instance, to enter in, and have displayed, the users first call, you would want the code ^F4, you would enter that by pressing Ctl-F then 4. When RA displays the msg to the user, it will expand the code into the date of first call. Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 5 Keep in mind that RA code expansion will move message text to the right when displayed. Allow room for the expansion. You can also enter RA color codes in the message, they are activated when RA displays the message. Help: At the moment, no online help is available. Only a couple of ways to go, you should have no problem memorizing the keys quickly.... ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── IMPORTING A FILE ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── When the editor fires up, it checks the FIRST key you press, if it's an Import Command key, it will proceed as such. If not, it goes into Edit mode. The command keys are displayed at the top of the window, they are removed when a key is pressed. Beacuses of checking for an import key, the first keypress in the editor is NOT typed to the screen, or buffer. So if you do NOT want to import a file, pressing the SPACEBAR is reccomended. The Import Command Keys: F1: Will import a file named HINEW (no extension) it must be located in the same directory as NODEMSG.EXE F2: Will import a file named HOLDON (no extension) it must be located in the same directory as NODEMSG.EXE {+} F3: Will prompt for a filename to import, same as previous versions. You can specify a full path+filename. Or, if the file to import is in the same directory as NODEMSG.EXE, you can simply provide the filename itself. If you create a text file for import, remember, you should have no more than 54 lines (of 70 chars, less chars = more lines). Each line should be 70 characters or less, and should end with a Carriage Return. See the sample files provided. No editing of, additions to, the imported file is allowed. (not yet anyway) NOTE: If you have created the import file in an ascii editor, and included RA color/info codes, the message may display a bit sloppy in the window, but it will display correctly to the user, at least tests show that it does. Try importing, and sending to a node that does not exist, then view the NODE###.RA file in the semaphore directory. Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 6 Other than being out of alignment due to the inserted RA codes, it should appear normal. A better test, is logon locally, shell out (ALT-J), run NodeMsg, send message, to the local node, exit back to the board, and see what it looks like. For messages that are longer than 20 lines, you should include a <Press Enter> prompt or two, else it will scroll right past the users screen. Use the RA Ctl-A "Wait for Enter" macro after the prompt. It is fully supported in these OnLine messages.... Remember, NodeMsg adds about 3 lines BEFORE your message, and about 2 lines AFTER. "Paginate" your LONG messages accordingly. ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── SENDING THE MESSAGE ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── Once you have imported a file, you are taken right to the "Send to Node:" prompt. When manually entering a message, press ESC. You will be prompted for the node to send to. Acceptable node numbers are from 1 to 255. NOTE: If you have entered the message editor from the Who's Online screen, then.... Part of the Who's On screen remains visible, showing the node callers Name and Handle, and the Node Number, that was being displayed when you chose Send. Just to help you remember who you wanted to send to.... <g> You are also placed at this prompt if while importing a file, or typing a message, the message buffer becomes full. * * * * * * * * * * ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── MESSAGE FORMAT ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── The message sent to the user follows the below format, by default, the text you enter is in Green Color, unless you use a ^K[## RA code to change it in the message. The Header and Prompt colors are defined in the program, and cannot be changed. Message To: <UserName> from The Sysop via NodeMessage 1.0 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Your message to user goes in here..... And so on..... Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 7 And so on..... And so on..... « Press ENTER » ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── WHO'S ONLINE MODE ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── When you use the WHO command, or no command, at Startup, you are taken to the Who's Online display. Information for Node 1 caller is displayed. Quite a bit of info is displayed, and as of Version 1.01, support is included for USERDOES files. These files are created by some Door programs, giving extended information about the users current activity. If this file, for the currently viewed node, is found, its contents are displayed, in Wrapped Format, on the last two lines of the Who's Online window. NodeMsg first checks the defined Semaphore directory, then the System directory. If no USERDOES file is found for the node, it displays a message to that effect. If no one is one that node, it will say ** Waiting For Call ** You can move through the nodes, using the HotKeys provided. <N>ext - will display the next Node information <P>revious - will display the previous Node ** Arrow keys will also move through the nodes. Displayed on screen. ** {+} <G>oto Node - will prompt for a node to display. <S>end - will put you in the Online Message Editor <Q>uit - will exit the program to Dos. When you choose <S>end, the current Node Number being displayed is stored, and when you are ready to actually send the message from the editor, the prompt field will already have that number in it. Simply press ENTER to send out to that node. * * * * * * * * * * ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── QUESTIONS/SUPPORT ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── I can be reached at FIDO 1:215/70, you will need to POLL for your reply. No crash returns. (unless Registered) Also you can message me in the RA_UTIL echo, or logon and leave me a message. BBS: The RaLin Software BBS - 510-226-7731 Send It! NodeMsg Version 1.01 - Sysop Manual Page 8 I can also be reached Voice at 510-651-6177, if Im not in, and you request a return call, and you are not registered, it WILL be collect!! ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── CREDITS AND SALUTATIONS ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── I wish to thank Bob DaCastello of LlanoWare, for some great suggestions. Also thanks to Mike Elhert for running ver 1.01 through a few tests. RemoteAccess : Andrew Milner - Wantree Programmed under TP/BP 7.0 - Borland Any other programs mentioned are (c)Copyright by their respective authors. Coding and Documentation by Rand Nowell - RaLin Enterprises Home of "Cowboy Software!" ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── GOODBYE! ──═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─── Watch for RASIS 2.01 - Stuff you have to see to belive. <G> Enjoy NodeMsg, been fun here!