EXECUTIVE HOST HISTORY FILE OF IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES I wish to thank all registered Executive Host SysOps for their suggestions and beta testing results that went into the development of this new version. John Wright, author Executive Host Conference support was added to the SysOp Filer and Utilities. If conferences are detected, Executive Host will now prompt the SysOp for the conference to work out of. Up to 999 individual conferences may be defined by the SysOp, each with its own message base, file areas, bulletins and doors. The message entry system has been improved and modified. Some changes in the maximum line length and internal structure of the message base were made, in order to bring RIMES and FIDONET compatibility to Executive Host. Look for UTI driver support for these netmail systems soon. The word-wrap feature was once again optimized, resulting in faster wordwrap for those slow XT systems. Also, the SysOp function keys are now active during message entry. However, some of these functions are still disabled during message entry, such as chat mode and drop to dos. Host and remote key entry are now simultaneously active during the message entry process. The (V)iew -> (T)ext File function of the Host was completely rewritten. The file TEXT.ZIP is no longer used for this purpose. SysOps wishing to make certain text files available to callers need only add the text.dir file to the DIRLIST menu file. The text files not be compressed, and be located somewhere in the download path of the Host. A result of the changes with the (V)iew -> (T)ext file function caused the removal of the (F)iles -> (T)ext option. SysOps wishing to display a text.dir file for callers must add this filelist to the DIRLIST/DIRLISTG filelist menus and the DIR.DAT file. The internal menus in MENU.SLC are now incorporated in two separate files, MENU1.DAT and MENU2.DAT. This was done for two reasons: 1. To make future menu changes easier to encode, and 2. To hopefully prevent SysOps from attempting to run these menu scripts independently from the Host (a definite no no). You can delete the file MENU.SLC, as it no longer serves any purpose. With the new menu data files come new SysOp Utility and Editor menus that match the Host's other menus. This was done to give the Host a more uniform (and professional) appearance and also to move some unnecessary code out of the main script. A new message scan routine has been implemented to alert callers to waiting mail in different conferences. Multiple conference message base capabilities have now finally been installed. Each individual conference now has it's own message base. The installation of this latest beta version should be seamless, with all that is necessary is to copy the files into the Telix directory. Remember, mail left in each conference, now may be read ONLY in that conference. IMPORTANT!!! - Subdirectories off of the Main download directory no longer are automatically in the Host's download path. Due to many requests for a more flexible configuration of paths, I have implemented the following: All valid paths on your system that you wish to use for the Host must now be listed in a file named "DOWNLOAD.LST". i.e. C:\MAIN\GAMES\ C:\MAIN\UTIL\ D:\HOBBY\ E:\001\ etc, etc.... If you wish to have different download paths (private file areas) in your conferences, then you must have a file of the same name located in each conference directory. If one is not found in the conference directory, the host will default to the Main download.lst file. The old method of using subdirectories off of the Main download directory is no longer used, and these files WILL NOT be found unless the paths are listed in the new file DOWNLOAD.LST. I hope that this will give all SysOps the flexibility they need to design the optimal setup for their needs. New feature on the main menu - A (N)ote to Sysop option has been added to the main guest menu. The function throws the caller directly into a private message addressed to the SysOp. Protocol menu changes - Due to several SysOps requesting this option, the Kermit and Telink protocols, already internal to Telix, will be made available to callers. A new protocol menu was designed to include these protocols and a new external protocol (Zmax). Conferences! Executive Host now supports up to 999 conferences, each of which can be setup with its own doors, bulletins, filelists, uploads and downloads directories, and message base. In addition each conference may have its own open/openg, news/newsg files for display when callers join the conference. Conference security is possible through the use of security levels. To improve the flexibility available to the SysOp, 2 additional security levels have been added. The new security levels are described in detail below: * = New, ! = Changed Level 0 - Caller is "locked-out" of the Host and will have no access. Level 1 - Callers may read mail, view bulletins and info screen, page the SysOp, or leave a private message to the SysOp. Level 2 - Same as 1, but may also view file directories and perform a text search on directories. Level 3 - Same as 2, but may also enter public messages and upload files. Level 4 - Same as 3, but has access to doors and may view files. Level 5 - Caller has full guest privilges including the ability to download files. ! Level 6 - Same access as 5, but higher conference security. * Level 7 - Same access as 5, except for time allowed online. If the SysOp is not giving all callers unlimited time, this level will always be given 60 minutes access. Also higher conference security. * Level 8 - Same access as 5, except this caller will always have an unlimited amount of access time. Also higher conference security. Level 9 - SysOp status. Caller has full access to all SysOp functions. Consult the user manual (MANUAL.DOC) for more information on setting up conferences. Message Menu Added to Host: A new message menu was added and contains four commands in this version. (E)nter Message, (R)ead Messages, (J)oin Conference, (Q)uit Conference. All of these commands are also available from the Main Menu, but are no longer listed. Improved Bimodem Interface: Increased Bimodem support was added, and the Host now passes the callers timeleft directly to Bimodem so the caller cannot download more than his available time. In addition, Bimodem is called with the /I switch, which tells it to write to a special log file. This log file will be used in later versions to update the NEW.DIR file with Bimodem transferred files. Make sure to use the new BIMODEM.BAT file to take advantage of this improved interface. Also, improved high-speed connection capabilities have been added. Executive Host now recognizes the following connect rates: CONNECT (300 baud) CONNECT 1200 CONNECT 2400 CONNECT 4800 CONNECT 7200 CONNECT 9600 CONNECT 12000 CONNECT 14400 /ARQ connections are recognized for all of the above link rates. In addition Executive Host will now display the locked DTE rate as well as the actual link rate when analyzing incoming calls. For example, the connect message: Determining Baud... Locked 38400 (9600) Shows the SysOp that the DTE rate (Telix terminal setup) is set at 38400. (9600) displays that the link rate was connected at 9600. This type connection is common when V32 compatible (Hayes) modems are calling into your US Robotics (Dual Standard) or other V32.bis modem. Addition of Stacked Commands: Executive Host callers may now stack commands for opening doors, reading bulletins, and joining conferences. i.e. "O 1" - Open door # 1 "B 2" - Read bulletin # 2 "J 3" - Join conference # 3 Addition of VIP and VIPG files that may be displayed to callers: These files will be displayed to all callers with access levels 6-8. They are displayed immediately after the NEWS/NEWSG files when a caller first logs on. These files are not available in conferences. The files DESCRIBE.SLC and ADDFILES.SLT were combined with some additional code into the file SYSMAN.SLC. Be sure and copy SYSMAN.SLC into your Telix directory and delete the old version files DESCRIBE.SLC and ADDFILES.SLC. Executive Host now uses the Telix auto-answer string so that SysOps may adjust the number of rings before pickup (S0 register). The status bar during up/downloads has been cleaned up and improved. status bar during up/downloads. The callers information is now displayed on the next line up, and the Telix status bar is restored on the very bottom line. This allows the sysop to view all important information concerning the caller during file transfers. The status bar is also now restored completely when exiting from the Host directly back to Telix (F3). Several registered users expressed the need for this feature, and so here it is. Fixed a bug when using only one filelist (main.dir). The Host Filer's Sort and Verify functions were locking-up. Fixed a bug causing the cursor to not be restored when exiting to DOS. Fixed a bug caused by a dirty variable that could corrupt the EXECMAIL.DAT file. A divide by zero error when locking baud rates with high-speed modems has been fixed. Fixed a problem with the Filer - Addfiles function that caused new files to have spaces padded after descriptions. This could cause filelists to become corrupted when using the FixDir utility. ****************************************************************************** SOME IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES IN VERSION 1.5: Hot New Menus! Executive Host gets a facelift, including new sysop, guest, and protocol menus. These menus are still encoded and will be displayed to callers unless the SysOp creates his own custom menus. Remember that the Host looks for custom menus first, so if you still have old menu files in your directory, the Host will not display the new ones until the old ones are moved. New SysOp keys: (F9 and F10) Two new Function keys options were added to the Host that may be used while a caller is online. The (F9) key toggles the Page switch on/off. If switched on, the caller will be able to page the SysOp for chat. If switched off, the caller will be instructed to leave a message. The (F10) key displays a full-screen help message for the SysOp. The caller is unaware of the help screen and is not interfered with. Improved the (t)ag file feature. File listing and tagging were improved through the addition of (h)elp and (c)ontinuous commands to go along with the (t)ag and (e)rase commands. Also, callers are now taken directly to the protocol menu if they have tagged files for download. Replies added to message base. A caller can now make a direct reply to a message immediately after reading it. The message is automatically directed to the sender of the original message. Logon.bat file may now be used to run an external program or door upon a caller logging on to the system. This feature is available for registered users only. Logoff.bat file may now be used to run an external program after a caller logs off of the system. This feature is also available for registered users only. Logon and Logong text files will be displayed to callers if found in the Host directory. They are displayed immediately after the news file, and may be used for "last on" or "what happened today" bulletins. Now when a caller selects "/p" for private upload, the description and file information is written to the file PRIVATE.DIR. The message base colors were again modified and improved. I think we have found the ultimate combination this time... but you never know. More internal support was added for the HST and other high-speed modems. The download time for each file is now calculated correctly when using high-speed modems with locked baud rates. More internal security was added to ensure continued system safety. Fixed a bug with the NEW.DIR file not being updated properly when a caller uploaded a file. Fixed a bug with the View Guest List option. A lock-up could be caused if only 5 users were registered. Fixed a bug with the View Zip File function. The "EDIT" Guest List option was taken off of the main menu and added to the (UTIL)ities option. "EDIT" may still be typed from the main menu to take you directly to the Guest List Editor. REMINDER: Although the (S)hell command was also added to the "UTIL" option, it may also be used directly from the main menu to speed up access to DOS. Also, don't forget the quick logon options that were added in version 1.3. The following options may be used to speed up access to the system from local or remote logon. Do you want ANSI graphics? -> y q x "q" means quick access and tells the host to skip the opening screen and the news file. "x" means turn xpert mode on. The Host will immediately go to xpert mode, and the menus will not be displayed upon logon. These commands may be in any order, any case, and spaces are ignored. SOME IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES IN VERSION 1.4: File tagging is Here! Thanks to popular demand, file tagging into a download batch queue has been added to the Host. Up to 5 files may be tagged for download while the caller is viewing filelists. The (T)ag function will add files to the download queue while checking for the existence of the file, and ensuring that the caller has sufficient time to download the file. The list may also be cleared with the (c)lear list function. Both of these functions are available while viewing filelists. Download batches of more than 5 files will be available as soon as Colin releases version 4.0 of Telix. A fundamental change in the Telix code is required to allow a larger batch. To better serve the new tag file feature, I have also added a new batch process that will allow callers without the use of batch protocols to tag multiple files and download them with a "batch process". For example, a caller who is not using Telix and has no batch protocols (poor soul), could tag up to 5 files, and then choose "D" to download. Executive Host would then send each file, one at a time, until all files have been sent. The caller is asked if he/she wishes to continue the batch download, between each file transfer. This in effect allows a caller to download up to 5 files without having to remember what they are. More Security: Callers are required to reenter their password upon coming out of any DOS shell activity. Password verification is performed when a caller returns from a door, and when the SysOp returns from a DOS shell. This feature adds more security by eliminating the possibility of a simultaneous disconnect/reconnect while a caller is in DOS. If the caller fails to enter the correct password, the caller is disconnected and the Host will recycle. The View Zip file function was slightly improved to give the proper message when a file could not be located. The Verify Dir File option was fixed. Some files that actually existed were being reported as missing. SOME IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES IN VERSION 1.3: NEW HOST SECURITY LEVELS: The Host secutity levels were slightly modified in version 1.3. The new levels are described below. Level 0 - Caller is "locked-out" of the Host and will have no access. Level 1 - Callers may read mail, view bulletins and info screen, page the SysOp, or leave a private message to the SysOp. Level 2 - Same as 1, but may also view file directories and perform a text search on directories. Level 3 - Same as 2, but may also enter public messages and upload files. Level 4 - Same as 3, but has access to doors and may view files. Level 5 - Caller has full guest privilges including the ability to download files. Level 6 - Same as 5, but no time limit is imposed on caller. Level 7 - Not used (same as 6). Level 8 - Not used (same as 6). Level 9 - SysOp status. Caller has full access to all SysOp functions. Callers with access levels below level 3 now have the ability to leave a private message to the SysOp. Slight modifications were made to the message entry code in order to allow the entry of extended ascii characters. This allows the entry of border characters, and also permits users to enter messages with letters such as , , , etc., which are common in the european languages. More color was added and other minor improvements and fixes were made to the public message base. Trailing spaces are now stripped out of caller's name in order to make the Host more strict during name/password entry. Caller's time left is now calculated from the door menu, eliminating the possibility of callers being allowed to stay on too long. Also, the time of day, and time left is now displayed at the door menu prompt. Some problems arising out of more than 100 registered callers were fixed. Added a new option for callers to auto-logoff after their download is complete. Logoff is performed only if transfer is successful. A new option was added to the configuration of Executive Host. The event time may now be set to any time of day the SysOp prefers. This new option may be also used in order to shut down the host at a certain time. For example, if you wanted the Host to shut-down at 6:00am, you could set your event to run at 6:00am, and make the last line of your event read: ECHO ~~~+++~~~ATS0=0 > COM1 ( OR WHICHEVER PORT YOU ARE USING ) This would tell your modem to no longer answer the phone, effectively turning off the host. One more new option added to the configuration of Executive Host. This one allows the Operator to "Lock" baud rates; useful with high-speed modems. When this option is turned on, the Host will lock the communications rate to the default protocol set in Telix. The (C)hange Colors option was removed from the SysOp menu and substituted with the (C)olor on/off option. This function was only taking up code space, and was never being used by most SysOp's. Custom color capabilities will probably be available again in version 2.0, and will most likely be added to the configuration options of the Host. CHANGES IN VERSION 1.2 Downloads are now checked against the caller's time remaining to ensure that the caller does not over-extend his\her time limit. The deletion of public messages is now allowed. Callers may delete messages written to them and also messages written by them. The SysOp may delete any public message. A message base "packer" is now included with Executive Host. This program strips out deleted messages from the MESSAGE.TXT file in order to reduce the size of this file, and to speed up the operation of the Host. The program is called PACK.EXE and comes with it's own docs (PACK.DOC). Descriptions of private uploads are now added to a file called private.dir. The Host Filer was fixed so that it would use the "Main.dir" file for certain functions if the SysOp was not using multiple description files. Callers are now returned to the doorlist menu instead of the main menu when coming out of a door. This feature was added by popular demand. Callers may stack door numbers when using the O)pen door option from the main menu - for example entering "O 2" will open door #2. A problem with the recording of callers' daily time has been fixed. Several other minor bugs and problems have been fixed. CHANGES IN VERSION 1.1 The new sortit.bat file is correct and contains no non-standard DOS commands. The Sort Dir Option in the Host Filer now executes the necessary command. The Verify Dir File Option has been modified so that it now finds all files correctly (if they exist). The Host no longer keeps the phone off-hook after returning from Utility and Filer screens, and when coming out of local mode. SysOp may now choose "0" in the time limit configuration to give callers unlimited access time (Callers were being logged off immediately). The files "doorlist.g" and "bulllist.g" may now be used as ansi color versions of the menu files "doorlist" and "bulllist". Color versions of bulletins (with the letter g added to the end) now are used correctly if the caller has ansi turned on. The dorinfo1.def file is created correctly if using com2 or in local mode. Auto-answer string should now work for all modems. The "Last Message Read" number is now displayed correctly. Option "S" in the file directories menu line has been removed since this option is available from the main menu (text search). The limit on number of registered users has been raised from 99 to 999. ** IMPORTANT NOTE: Version 1.1 uses a slightly different message base format. Therefore, it will not run properly with a message base and execmail.dat file created by version 1.0. If you do not want to lose your existing message base, there is a way that you can modify the key files to work with the new version. To accomplish this, follow the instructions below. 1. Edit the EXECMAIL.DAT file with your text editor, and change the following example file as shown. OLD FORMAT FILE 1;00000;00000 <-- Notice that there is a blank space before data 2;00000;00000 <-- numbers less than 10. 3;00000;00000 NEW FORMAT 001;00000;00000 <-- Notice that there are NO spaces in the new format! 002;00000;00000 003;00000;00000 2. You will also have to change your MESSAGE.TXT file, which contains the actual messages in your base. Each message data line (i.e.";;;01;01") in this file will have to have an extra zero added to it as shown below. Remember that ALL data lines in this file will have to be changed (one precedes each individual message). OLD FORMAT FILE ;;;00;01 To: ALL From: etc, etc, etc. NEW FORMAT ;;;000;01 <------- An extra zero in the first number group is all To: ALL that is required to be compatible with 1.1. From: etc, etc, etc. Now the conversion is complete! Of course another way to convert is simply delete ALL of your old version data files, including the user file EXECHOST.USR and re-install the Host, but this I will leave up to you. Keep in mind that if you choose this option, you will have to add all of your caller's names back into the new user file (accomplished with the "EDIT" guest list option), and therefore should print out your old user file before deleting it. If you decide to convert your old message base, your old user file is compatible with version 1.1, but if you delete the message base (along with EXECMAIL.DAT), you will have to delete the user file also, since the data numbers will not match up otherwise.