What's Coming In RAP V2.00
==========================

A few months back, my system suffered a catastrophic hard disk failure.
Unfortunately, one of the victims of this failure was my RAP source
code.  Thus, the next version of RAP is going to represent a complete
rewrite of the program.  It will *PROBABLY* be incompatible with the
current version as far as file structures are concerned, but that
shouldn't be much of a problem as there'll probably be a "converter"
program included.

In the time since RAP V1.01 was released, I've learned a lot more about
programming... both in the MSDOS environment and about QuickBASIC (and
Desqview) in particular.  Suffice it to say, there is a *LOT* of room
for improvement.  Here's what you'll hopefully see in V2.00:

- Faster disk access.  RAP V1.01 is doing a lot of extraneous record
locking and that slows things down, particularly across LANTASTIC
networks.

- Time slices... running under Desqview, it's a nice idea if
Desqview-aware programs will release "time slices" that are unused, to
make tasks in other windows run faster.  RAP actually doesn't use too
many slices so it should be possible to get a real speed boost here.

- Private chats.  I've had a few requests for the ability for any two
users to jump into a real-time private chat, a la SabreChat.  Instead, I
think I'll be going a different route... right now, all RAP
conversations happen in a single forum.  That is, all RAP users can
"see" each other and talk to each other.  One of the strengths of the
Galacticomm teleconferencing software, which RAP is based on, is the
ability to "change channels" and make channels either public or private.
Private channels would work fine as far as one-on-one chats are
concerned.  Some folks prefer realtime, but I'm trying to make RAP as
flexible as possible: it will work over a LAN *OR* under Desqview *OR*
both at the same time.  It'd be difficult to figure out exactly how to
run a REAL TIME chat under such varying conditions, especially since I
have access to only one flavor of LAN, and that is LANTASTIC.

- I actually had one fella complain that the 32-node limitation was too
low.  Sheesh!  I once had a total of five simultaneous logins here and
that was a whole lotta fun, but 32?  Eek!  Anyways, next version will
support up to 99 logins, just like RemoteAccess does.

- Many, many bugfixes and minor improvements that would have been fixed
long ago had I had the bloody source code.  :-)

Known problems with RAP:

- Occasionally a DOS ERROR 75 will appear.  This means the sysop hasn't
got enough FILES= in the CONFIG.SYS file.  Add more and this goes away.
You'll have to run MAKERAP CLEAN after an ERROR 75 abort.

- The PROFILE editor has a nice flaw.  You can go into it and then exit
it, and any traffic that "piled up" while you were outside of the main
interface will then be displayed.  However, if you SAVE ANYTHING while
in the PROFILE editor, you will lose the piled up traffic.  A minor bug
to fix *IF* you have source code.  For now, ask your users to send an
AFK (Away From the Keyboard) action before going into the PROFILE
editor.

- The documentation bites.  Actually I've had some compliments on the
CONTENT, but man, it sure is badly formatted.  That's what you get when
you write docs with a text editor instead of a word processor.  :-)
Next version will be WordPerfected.

                              -=-

I've been getting a steadily-growing amount of positive feedback on RAP.
To be honest I never thought it would "catch on" as well as it has.  To
be equally honest, I didn't think there were that many multi-line
systems around.  Guess I was mistaken.  Anyways, how does RAP compare
against other programs like SabreChat and RAMChat?

They are fundamentally different.  Most others allow a real-time chat
but this limits the number of nodes that can use it.  Granted, most
multi-line boards are two or three nodes but if you're running more than
that, you can't use those programs.  RAP is line-based, which not only
allows for a lot more simultaneous logins but allows for "preprocessing"
of text strings sent by the user (see the documentation on ACTIONS,
TALKTYPES, the PROFILE editor, and the like).  That in itself, in my
opinion, makes a line-based chat program one helluva lot more fun.  RAP
ain't the greatest program and I ain't the greatest programmer, but I do
believe that RAP is the best online chat program available *BECAUSE* it
is the only one (that I know of as of this writing) that is line-based.
Programs like SabreChat are particularly well-done... but I like mine
medium-rare, thankyouverymuch.  :-)

How to contact the author: as you may have noticed, my 1:134/55 FidoNet
address as listed in the last RAP documents no longer exists.  I can
therefore be reached at my good friend's BBS at 1:134/42.  The latest
version of RAP can usually be found on both boards, in File Area #2.

Squornshellous Zeta BBS                 Telekon BBS
(403)-226-0866 (14.4K HST)              (403)-226-1157 (9600 HST/V32)
                                        (403)-226-1158 (2400 MNP5)

FidoNet 1:134/42                        WorldNet 55:6000/55 & 90
MetroNet 201:5500/42                    GoodEggNet 99:9305/55 & 90
                                        MetroNet 201:5500/55 & 90