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Page 1
PREUSR Version 4.0
Copyright 1991 - 1993 by Gary Glueckert
State University of NY at Farmingdale:
FIDONet 1:107/270
RBBSNet 8:954/270
BUSILINK 10:110/2
The Small Time BBS:
FIDONet 1:107/272
RBBSNet 8:954/272
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Previous User Version 4.0 Documentation
Program Description
Previous User creates screen displays of user logons. The displays
contain the previous callers name and several SysOp configurable
fields. The SysOp has the option to display the users city/state,
date of logon, time of logon, and length of session (in mins.).
Displays may be created in the three "flavors" typical of RBBS
or you may output one file containing smartext.
The latest Version of Previous User is FREQABLE from
The State University of NY with the magic name of PREUSR.
Page 2
Registration -
This program is NOT public domain. Previous User (PREUSR) is
copyrighted and all rights for this software are reserved by
the author. You MUST register this software if you intend to
use it on a continuing basis.
SysOp's of hobby type BBS' may use this software free of charge but
a donation of $5.00 is suggested. This donation is used to help
offset costs and support the development of Previous User. Donators
will receive free upgrades to minor revisions of the software (no
major revisions are planned for the future) and will receive complete
support via BBS or voice telephone. Donators also will have access to
the latest beta versions of Previous User.
** PLEASE NOTE **
If your system is in some way a commercial/institutional enterprise
or somehow supports a commercial enterprise then a registration FEE
IS REQUIRED.
Non-Commercial Hobby Registration
To obtain a registration use the order form provided in
REGISTER.DOC and mail with your donation to the address
provided on that form.
No money (really)? Send the author a post card along with the
registration form. Be sure one side contains a nice picture or
photograph that reflects where you live. Make sure that the other
side includes the following information:
- Your name (First and Last names)
- Your return address (where the reg is mailed to)
- Your BBS Name (as you wish it to appear to your users)
- Your BBS Phone number (in case I want to call you)
Mail your registration forms and cards to:
Gary E. Glueckert
PO Box 961
Levittown, NY 11756
If you have included a donation your registration will be mailed back
to you within a few days of receiving your registration. If you are
requesting registration without a donation you will have to call one
of the BBS' below to receive your registration.
If you wish to receive your registration number ASAP you may leave a
message on one of the following BBS' requesting that the registration
number be left there for you to pick up after we receive your card.
* The SUNY BBS 516-420-0818
* The Small Time BBS 516-579-7929 - leave message to Gary Glueckert
Why require registration? To get input from YOU. Previous User is
what it is because of the suggestions I get from other SysOps.
Registrations also give you full support and the option to beta
test the very latest versions.
Commercial registration
Fill in the form found in the REGISTER.DOC file. Follow the directions
and mail to the address indicated in the directions. Do not forget to
enclose the registration fee.
Page 3
Upgrading to Previous User 4.0 -
Previous User Version 4.0 is NOT "plug compatible" with earlier
versions of PREUSR. It is advised that you REINSTALL the new version
from the begining to avoid the incompatibilities.
Installation - A sample installation.
- READ THE DOCUMENTATION FIRST!!! Save yourself some grief.
- Create a directory off of your RBBS directory to hold the PREUSR
files. In our example installation we will use C:\RBBS\PREUSR.
From your RBBS directory type MKDIR PREUSR. Now change to that
directory (CD PREUSR) making it your current directory and unzip
the files in the PREUSR40.ZIP archive into this new directory.
- Run PUCTL.EXE and choose "configuration filename" from the menu.
Type in the filename of the sample configuration included in this
archive (PREUSR.CFG). The information contained in this sample file
should load into PreUsr Control. Change the filename if you wish.
- Go through all of the menu items found in PUCTL and change them to
reflect your system configuration (directory structure) and your
personal preferences.
- Set RBBS-PC Parameter 163 to SYSTEM recycle. This will allow you
to run PreUsr after each caller logs off of the system.
- Edit your RBBS.BAT batch file and add the lines as illustrated
by the sidebars (|) in the lines below:
ECHO OFF
CLS
REM THE NEXT TWO COMMANDS SHOULD BE PLACED IN EACH AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE
REM AND REMOVED FROM THE RBBS.BAT FILE
IF %node%. == . SET node=1
SET DSZLOG=XFER-%node%.DEF
:START
c:
CD .\.
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RBBS%node%TM.DEF DEL NODE%node%\RBBS%node%TM.DEF
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RBBS%node%F1.DEF DEL NODE%node%\RBBS%node%F1.DEF
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RCTTY.BAT DEL NODE%node%\RCTTY.BAT
RBBS-PC.EXE %1
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RBBS%node%F1.DEF GOTO EXIT
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RBBS%node%TM.DEF RBBSTIME.BAT
IF EXIST NODE%node%\RCTTY.BAT NODE%node%\RCTTY.BAT
| IF EXIST NODE%node%\RCTTY.BAT GOTO START
| CD\RBBS\PREUSR
| PREUSR40 /C:PREUSR.CFG /G /R /L
| CD\RBBS
REM WHEN YOU WANT RBBS-PC TO AUTOMATICALLY RECYCLE,
REM REMOVE THE "REM" FROM THE NEXT LINE
| GOTO START
:EXIT
- These changes to your batch file will allow PREUSR to run after
a user logs off of your system but will not allow PREUSR to run
when RBBS comes back from a door. A sample RBBSPU.BAT file is
included in this archive.
- Be sure to tell RBBS where your output files are via config.
Configuration file details
If you prefer, the configuration file may be edited using your
favorite ASCII text editor. You may place commented lines in the
configuration file by begining those lines with a semi-colon ";".
All of the parameters in the configuration file are "key-worded"
and must appear as "keyword=paramater" (without the quotes). Where
keyword is one of the keywords listed below. The "=" must be present.
Page 4
List of Configuration file Keywords:
Reg= The registration number for your copy of PREUSR
Name= Your BBS Name as you wish it to appear to your users
OutPut= Output filename or if preceeded with "@", a LIST of filenames
Title= The title as you wish it to appear in your displays
CLS= The RBBS Clear-screen Smartext that you are using
TitleColor= The color of your title in either ANSI or Smartext
NameColor= The color of the names you want in your displays (style 4)
CityColor= The color of the City/State field (style 4)
DateColor= The color of the Date in the display
TimeColor= The color of the Time in your displays
BoxColor= The color the box will be in the display
ColorOff= ANSI or Smartext to turn color off
Pause= The RBBS Smartext for Page-Break
Blanks= The number of trailing blank lines (CR/LF) at end of display
Style= The display style 1 through 4
City= Display City and State Field? 1=YES 0=NO
TopLeft= Ascii code of the top left-hand corner of the box.
TopRight= Ascii code of the top right-hand corner of the box.
BottomLeft= Ascii code of the bottom left-hand corner of the box.
BottomRight= Ascii code of the bottom right-hand corner of the box.
Horizontal= Ascii code of the horizontal lines of the box.
Vertical= Ascii code of the vertical lines of the box.
Plain= Ascii code of the border of the box for plain vanilla files.
Users= The number of users to display for style 4 output files.
Be sure to take a look at PU_CFG.HLP. This is a PreUsr configuration
file with added comments to help clarify the keywords. Keep this
file handy as a reference. At the end of this file you will also
find a list of ANSI codes to help you design your color output files.
Command Line Options
Usage: PREUSR40 [/C:x /A:x /P:x /S /R /G /N /?] </D /M /B /L>
[optional parameters] - use in any combination
/C:x - Drive:\Path\Filename of configuration file.
/A:x - Drive:\Path\Filename of file to append as
suffix file to output file(s).
/P:x - Drive:\Path\Filename of file to append as
prefix file to output file(s).
/S:x - Drive:\Path\Filename of file containing list
of users to exclude from display.
/G - Use color screen output.
/N - Minimal display for screen output.
/R - Prevent repetitive display of user (style 4).
/T - Generate only plain vanilla files containing smartext.
/? - Display help.
<replaceable parameters> - use only one of the following (style 4 only)
/D - Display date field in Multi-user displays.
/M - [Not yet available]
/B - [Not yet available]
/L - Display Length of user's session (duration).
Page 5
Append Files
Other text or Ansi files may be appended to either the begining
or the end of your display. In this way, you can make PreUsr
display at the begining of your news file OR at the end of your
welcome file. It's up to you! There are two ways to do this
depending upon how much flexibilty you need.
- Command-Line switches
The easiest way is to use the command-line switches to append a
file to the PreUsr output (display) file(s). The special command
line switches
/P: - Will attach (append) a file to the begining of the display.
/A: - Will attach (append) a file to the end of the display.
The ":" is mandatory and should be followed by the name of the file
you want appended. Eg: /P:BBS.TXT will append whatever is in the file
BBS.TXT to the begining of the PreUsr display and /A:LG5.DEF will
append the file LG5.DEF to the end of the display.
- OutPut File Lists and Append Files
The most powerful and flexible way to use append files is by using
a list of files for output which I will refer to as an OutPut
FileList. The OutPut FileList is simply a LIST of files you wish
PreUsr to create as the PreUsr display. You specify this list of
filenames by preceeding the filename used with the configuration
keyword "OutPut=" with the "at" sign (@).
Eg: OutPut=@C:\RBBS\PREUSR\PREUSR.LST
You may also specify unique appendfiles for each file in your list
by using a + or - sign. Filenames preceeded with the + would be
appended to the begining of the display. Filenames preceeded with a
- would be attached to the end of the output file.
Sample template for OutPut File Lists:
LG1.DEF +Prefix1.txt -Suffix1.txt
LG2.DEF +Prefix2.txt -Suffix2.txt
LG3.DEF +Prefix3.txt -Suffix3.txt
LG4.DEF +Prefix4.txt -Suffix4.txt
LG5.DEF +Prefix5.txt -Suffix5.txt
LG6.DEF +Prefix6.txt -Suffix6.txt
LG7.DEF +Prefix7.txt -Suffix7.txt
LG8.DEF +Prefix8.txt -Suffix8.txt
LG9.DEF +Prefix9.txt -Suffix9.txt
LG10.DEF +PrefixA.txt -SuffixA.txt
In this example, the LGx.DEF files are used as the OutPut Files.
The appropriate PREFIXx.TXT file is attached to the begining of
the display and the appropriate SUFFIXx.TXT file is attached
to the end of the display. PREUSR will also make the necessary
LGxG.DEF and LGxC.DEF (graphics and color) displays and will
use PREFIXxG.TXT, PREFIXxC.TXT, SUFFIXxG.TXT, and SUFFIXxC.TXT
(graphics and colors) files if they are present.
If you are still not sure about how this works, take a look at the
PREUSR.LST file included in the PREUSR40 archive.
Page 6
- More on Append Files
When you create your append files you may create color graphics,
graphics, and plain vanilla versions. Just as in RBBS, PreUsr will
use these files for the Color Graphics, Graphics, and "plain vanilla"
versions of the PreUsr display. Remember to end the filename
prefix in "C" for color and "G" for graphics. PreUsr uses the same
conventions as RBBS for these filesnames.
Exclusion Lists
You may exclude certain users from being displayed by using the
/S: command-line switch. When using this switch you must specify
the filename of a file which contains a list of users you do not
want included in the display.
Eg: /S:PU_EXC.LST
Each username should be followed by a carriage return / linefeed
combination and should be in ALL CAPS. To stop the SysOp from
being displayed specify SYSOP. A sample PU_EXC.LST file is
included in the PREUSR40 archive.
OutPut Styles ("Style=" Keyword)
There are four different styles of displays which PreUsr can
create. They are:
1 - Single User Single-Line Display
2 - Single User Multi-Line Display
3 - Single User Multi-Line Boxed Display
4 - Multi-User Boxed Display
Style four is by far the most popular. For a sampling of each
output style see the SAMPLER archive included with the PREUSR40
archive.
The Title ("Title=" Keyword)
For Styles 1-3 this title will appear right before the users name.
Keep it short if you are using styles 1-3. Eg: Last User:
For style 4 the title will appear in the top of the box above the
list of users. This title can be a bit longer but keep in mind
that the width of the box is always changing to accomodate the
longest record. If the length of the title does exceed the width of
the box it will default to something generic.
If you use a percent sign in your title (%) it will be replaced
by the number of users in the display. This comes in handy after
your callers file is deleted and you are only displaying 2 or 3
users because that is all that have been on since. Most of the
time this value matches that of the Keyword "Users=".
The Alternate Color Display
You can get an interesting 2 color display for the style 4 output
by commenting out (not using) the CityColor=, DateColor=, and
TimeColor= Keywords. This creates a display where the two remaining
ANSI colors alternate with each users name. This is how PreUsr used
to work way back when and I left this in because some SysOps
prefer the way this looks to the new 5 color displays. Try it!
Page 7
Using Smartext with PreUsr
PreUsr has a command-line switch so that the SysOp can use
RBBS-PC's Smartext exclusively. This is incorprated within PreUsr
as a space-saving feature. Instead of creating 3 versions of
each of your display files you can create one file using smartext
to display both color and non-color screens.
To use the /T command-line switch make sure that the colors you
specified in your configuration file are smartext characters and
NOT Ansi codes. This particular feature works very well with the
STUNY Mods which support 8 colors of Smartext rather than the
RBBS standard 4 color smartext support.
Which text files?
You can name your output files to be any of the text files that RBBS
displays. Some good suggestions are the PRELOG file, a BULLETIN file,
your WELCOME file, or your LGx.DEF files. You can easily use your
LGx.DEF files by specifying that there is a list of output files to
be created. This is done by adding a "@" (at) sign to the begining
of the output filename. See the example file included.
Multitasking & MultiNode Operation
Previous User 4.0 is DESQView aware and will use the appropriate
network and file sharing at all times. It is suggested that the
DESQview window(s) in which you run RBBS and PreUsr is set to
"Virtualize" text/graphics. This will prevent "bleed-through" from
one window to another.
PreUsr does not (yet) create an output file with the logons from
all nodes in one file (future enhancment). The best way to make
a multi-nodal display is to use different configuration files and
naming them with the NODE environment variable in mind. You can then
use a command line like the one below to invoke PREUSR from the
RBBS batch file:
PREUSR40 /C:PREUSR%node%.CFG /S:PU_EXC.LST /G /R /L
You can then have multiple configuration files for different nodes.
For instance you can name your config files PREUSR1.CFG, PREUSR2.CFG,
PREUSRx.CFG (where x=node). You can also have different output filelists
listed in your configuration files which will make it easy to append
each nodes output files to each other... making one display for several
nodes.
Page 8
Example multi-node istallation with configuration files:
Node 1: Node 2:
PREUSR1.CFG PREUSR2.CFG
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Reg=000000000 Reg=000000000
Name=SUNY at Farmingdale Name=SUNY at Farmingdale
Callers=C:\RBBS\NODE1\CALLERS1 Callers=C:\RBBS\NODE2\CALLERS2
OutPut=@PREUSR1.LST OutPut=NODE2.TXT
Title=The Last % Callers - Node 1 Title=The Last % Callers - Node 2
CLS={CS CLS={CS
TitleColor=
TitleColor=
NameColor=
NameColor=
CityColor=
CityColor=
DateColor=
DateColor=
TimeColor=
TimeColor=
BoxColor=
BoxColor=
ColorOff=
ColorOff=
Pause={PB Pause={PB
Blanks=1 Blanks=1
Style=4 Style=4
City=1 City=1
TopLeft=214 TopLeft=214
TopRight=183 TopRight=183
BottomLeft=211 BottomLeft=211
BottomRight=189 BottomRight=189
Horizontal=196 Horizontal=196
Vertical=186 Vertical=186
Plain=42 Plain=42
Users=5 Users=5
Note that in this installation for two nodes that node 2 only
outputs one file that is appended to all of the output files
each time node 1 recycles as shown below.
PREUSR1.LST
~~~~~~~~~~~
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG1.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG2.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG3.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG4.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG5.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG6.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG7.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG8.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG9.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\TEXT\LG10.DEF -NODE2.TXT
C:\RBBS\BULLETIN\BULLET4 -NODE2.TXT
This is only a very basic multinode installation. Using your
imagination you may be able to come up with some very inventive
ways to get multi-nodal displays from PREUSR40. Future enhancements
will include the ability for Previous User to handle more than
one CALLERS file per configuration.
Page 9
Limited License
You are free to use Previous User for a reasonable period of
time to evaluate it's usefulness to you or your users. This
"reasonable period of time" may depend on your particular set of
circumstances. I would consider a period of three weeks to be in
excess of a reasonable time frame for evaluation. After this time
period you must either stop using Previous User or register it.
You may NOT engage in, nor permit another party to engage in, any of
the following:
- Making alterations of any kind to this software,
documentation, or file archive containing this software.
- Attempting to disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer
all or part of this software; including the files it
generates.
- Grant a license or sub-license or any rights in the software
to others.
You may distribute Previous User and post it for download on Bulletin
Boards given these restrictions:
- The program shall be supplied in it's original and
unmodified form, which includes this documentation.
- No fee is charged.
- For profit use is prohibited without registration after
a reasonable period of evaluation.
- The program may not be included with other goods or
services.
The author of this software grants you a license to use this software
as long as the above conditions are met. Any violations of the above
conditions will result in the termination of your license to use this
software. Upon termination of this license, for any reason, you must
stop using this software and destroy all copies of it in your
posession. In addition the author reserves the right to cancel your
license at any time for any reason that he sees fit.
Page 10
Disclaimer
The author disclaims any warranties either expressed or implied,
including, but not limited to, the applied warranties of
mercantabilities or fitness for a particular purpose. All liability
for all possible damages which may be incurred from the use, or
mis-use, of this product is solely with the user.
Problems
If for some reason you have a problem getting PREUSR40 to run properly
first check to see if the file PREUSR.ERR exists in the current
directory. This file is created when the program encounters an error
and it will contain information which may help you solve the problem.
Most difficulties encountered involve the path and filenames listed
in the configuration file and the filelist file. Check these first
to be sure that the files and/or paths that you specified in these
files actually exist.
If you are still encountering problems feel free to contact me
by calling:
The SUNY BBS (516-420-0818)
The Small Time BBS (516-579-7929)
Be sure to include the information contained in the file PREUSR.ERR.
Please report any bugs you find in the same manner.
Previous User Version 4.0 Support
Thanks to the following people / BBS':
For Beta testing version 4.0, and for all of thier suggestions
on how to make PREUSR a better utility for RBBS. Many of their
suggestions are included in this version of PREUSR. Feel free
to contact them if you need help with PreUsr.
* Benny Carr -
The New Woodstck RBBS
(215)750-6670
* Steven Greenfield -
SMP Systems
(516)785-1557
* Richie Molinelli -
The Small Time BBS
(516)579-7929
* The State University of New York
(516)420-0818
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