04/19/93 NOTE: You NEED to run GAPSETUP on each of your Nodes in order to save out the new configuration. GAPSETUP On the 3rd Miscellaneous Screen, there is a new field called "Return To Door Menu". If set to Yes, GAP will stay at the Door Menu when a user returns from a Door. This only applies to Doors that are invoked with the Open or Door Commands. The Modem Reset, Init, and Off Hook strings were moved to a new Configuration Screen and are now called "Modem Commands". On the Port Configuration Screen (used to be Modem Configuration Screen) there are 4 new fields where you specify the Communications Port Interface GAP should use and the DigiBoard Specific options if you are using an Intelligent DigiBoard. Following is an explanation of the new fields: Interface : The Com Port Interface to use: Standard - Normal COM Interface. Same as what GAP has always used. DigiBoard - Direct DigiBoard Interface. Int14/EBIOS - DigiBoard Interface via Interrupt 14 Enhanced BIOS calls. DigiBoard Memory Window : The High Memory Address you have the DigiBoard configured to use as the communications area between the Board and the Host Computer. Must be one of: C000, C800 D000, D800. DigiBoard I/O Port : The Port you have the DigiBoard configured to use. Must be one of: 100, 110, 120, 200, 220, 300, 320. DigiBoard Channel : The Communications Port Number on the DigiBoard to use for this instance of GAP. For the DigiBoard Interface, this is normally 1 - 8. For the Int14/EBIOS Interface, this is normally 4 - 11. If you do not have a DigiBoard installed, you should select the Standard Interface. GENERAL GAP now supports the DigiBoard COM/Xi series of Intelligent Serial Communications boards. These boards contain 4 or 8 serial ports along with their own on-board processor to control the ports. These boards are actually a single-board computer dedicated to handling serial port I/O. By moving the serial I/O functions from the Host Computer to the DigiBoard, the IRQ and Interrupt Latency bottleneck that plagues Multi-Tasking users is eliminated. GAP supports the DigiBoard in two ways: Direct Programming and INT14/EBIOS calls. Direct Programming is the fastest because it eliminates the need for costly software interrupt calls to a slower BIOS. In addition it does not require the presence of a Device Driver which basically performs the same functions as the Direct Programming method. INT14/EBIOS requires that a Device Driver be loaded (this driver is supplied by DigiBoard). Serial Port I/O is performed by issuing software interrupts (Interrupt 14). Whether or not to use the Direct Interface or the Int14/EBIOS Interface depends on the external programs you are running. GAP and any Door program written with GAPCDR or GAPQBDR will work with the Direct Interface without problem. This Interface is faster and more reliable than the Int14/EBIOS Interface. However many Door programs will simply not work at all, no matter which interface you choose and those that will work with the DigiBoard require that the DigiBoard Device driver be installed. In that case, the Int14/EBIOS Interface must be used. The Direct Interface requires that you use the program RESETDIG.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that the DigiBoard is properly initialized each time you boot your computer. This program is needed in order to properly establish the communications channel between GAP and the DigiBoard. It need be run only once when the computer is first booted. NOTE: Do NOT use RESETDIG.EXE if you have elected to use the Int14/EBIOS Interface. If you do, you will essentially put the Device Driver to sleep and since GAP uses Enhanced BIOS calls, the communications routines will fail. When using the Int14/EBIOS interface and the DigiBoard supplied Device Driver, it is not necessary to turn on the "Character Waiting" flags for each of the ports. GAP does not use these flags as they basically defeat the purpose of using a multi-port board in a multi-tasking system. To use these flags an IRQ must be dedicated to the DigiBoard. If the flags are not used, the IRQ need not be set. Imagine running 8 ports under a Multi-Tasker where all 8 ports are in use. As characters are received by each of the 8 ports, an interrupt is generated. The Device Driver must service the interrupt request and since the driver runs on the Host Computer, it will be spending a lot of precious time figuring out which of the ports generated the interrupt and updating its "Character Waiting" flag for that port. By disabling the "Character Waiting" flags and not utilizing the IRQ, the Host Computer will not know it has 8 serial ports running at high speed at the same time. If, however, the the IRQ and Character Waiting flags are enabled, no harm is done. GAP simply will not utilize the flags. The Character Waiting flags are provided because making Interrupt 14 calls takes longer than simply checking a memory address (which, by the way, is what the Direct Programming interface does). When Invoking a Door Program or when shelling to an External Protocol Driver, GAP will pass COM 1 as the Port Number to use. This Port Number should be ignored and your batch files should be configured so that each Node runs a Door or External Protocol based upon your DigiBoard Configuration. These configuration options for the door or protocol basically depend upon your DigiBoard Channel Number. In order to run a Node in Local Mode, you have always needed to set the "Communications Port" to 0. The same still applies. If you run 4 or 8 nodes with a DigiBoard but one of those nodes is a Local Only Node (i.e., no modem is involved), then for THAT node, select the STANDARD Interface and set the Port to 0. The Maximum Baud Rate for a DigiBoard Node should be no higher than 38400. Some of the newer boards (the 2 Port Board for instance) are capable of 115200 bps but we do not suggest setting the Channel that high. The COM/Xi supports speeds up to 57600 but suffers from the "CRC Syndrome", meaning, it looses characters. If you experience lost characters and/or see a lot of CRC errors during File Transfers, then your Port Speed is set too high. But just because you are using a lower Port Speed doesn't mean things have slowed down. Remember that the DigiBoard is handling the COM Port I/O. NOTE: If using the Int14/EBIOS interface and you have the February 1993 release of the XIDOS Device Driver, you MUST call the DigiBoard BBS and download the patch to this driver since the 2/93 release has a bug that will cause all File Transfers and Attached Files to fail. 03/21/93 Released GAP Communications Version 6.2 The communications routines were modified to support the DigiBoard COM/Xi series of Intelligent Communications Boards. These boards come with either 4 or 8 Serial Ports and include an onboard Micro Processor. GAP programs the board directly, meaning no Device Driver is needed and best of all, no Interrupts are generated to the Host computer. This is a boon under a MultiTasking environment since the MultiTasker will no longer have to switch tasks everytime a character arrives at one of the serial ports. Each Port is programmed to use an a 8k Receive and an 8k Transmit Buffer. DigiBoard support will be available in all versions of GAP from Single Node to 99 Node at no extra cost. Although the Communications routines support the DigiBoard, it is not available in the 03/21/92 release except in GAPCom which is still in Alpha Testing. GAPSETUP The Phone Template now allows you to enter an 'X' in the character positions. An 'X' tells GAP that anything is allowed in the field. This is necessary for some European countries. If you do decide to allow any character in a Phone Number, you need to disable 'Force Registration' so that GAP won't attempt to validate the phone number. GAPFILE During Importing, GAPFILE will no longer allow a description to overflow into the Password field. This was fixed several years ago but somehow got broken again. You may Globally change any and all Passwords to a password of your choosing or no password at all. To do this, enter an '*' in the Old Field, and the new password (or blank) in the New Field. You may now include files that are in the Root Directory of a drive in your FileBase. To do so, leave off the trailing slash. For instance, a file in the Root Directory of Drive C: would have a 'Where' Field of 'C:'. GAPPACK The ISAM Pack routines were not closing the original Data File after the packing process was completed. For some NetWare Lite users, this was preventing GAPPACK from renaming or copying the Data File to a Backup File. 03/09/93 GAPBBS Added support for GAPCom (soon to come) so that GAPBBS and GAPCom can talk to each other behind the scenes. More support to come in future releases. When writing a DOOR.SYS file, GAP will no longer write all of the Forums a user is a member of. Instead, GAP will just write a 0 (for the Main Board). This should NOT present a problem since we do NOT know of ANY DOORs that use the FORUM Membership line in DOOR.SYS. If you have a Door that DOES use this info, speak up now or we will leave it as it is. The above change was made for those who have a LOTS of Forums configured. Reading the MEMBER file while writing DOOR.SYS slows these systems down tremendously. Fixed the TimeCredits while Uploading so that the credits are in effect while entering the Descriptions. It seems users with a 1 to 1 Upload Credit (no time lost, no time gained) were being logged off for 'Expired Time' after they spend several minutes filling out the Descriptions. (Whatever time they gained during the actual uploading was being lost filling out the Descriptions). Local Downloads are implemented. The process is automatic. If you or a user are on locally, GAP will prompt you for the path to copy the file(s) to. 02/07/93 GAPCALL Fixed a problem with GAPCALL and running from the Command Line. Seems it would sometimes (or all the times, depending upon who was running it) produce a Divide by 0 error when exiting. GAPFILE Fixed a problem with the Move Files Utility Function. If you were moving more than 200 files, the last file on the screen was causing problems with the first file. To tell GAPFILE to NOT create a DOS Window when using the Stray Files command, a new toggle was added to the Stray Files Menu. You can toggle the window on and off by checking the "Use DOS Window" prompt on the Menu. Note that in order to "remember" this toggle, we had to add a new field in the GAPFILE.CNF configuration file. This means any previous defaults you had set up for the Utility Menus will be lost. GAPBBS Fixed a problem with sending files using Zmodem. Because of the change Microsoft made to the time routines in the C Library, the Zmodem dates were off. We implemented a work-a-round. QWK/GAPNET/UTI Fixed a problem with messages that have lower case names in the TO and FROM fields. This was causing the New Mail flags to not be updated. 01/25/93 Fixed a problem with GAPSETUP and editing the DOORS files. 01/17/93 GAPFILE On the Utility Menu there is a new function that allows you to merge one FileBase with another. Using this utility, you can take a FileBase and merge all of its files with your current FileBase. One use of this new feature would be if you just purchased a CD and the CD came with its own FileBase. Instead of loosing your existing files or having to export them and then re-import them into the CD FileBase, you can simply merge them with the files from the CD. To use this feature, you will need a FILES.DAT from your old FileBase. It should be renamed to FILESOLD.DAT or something similar. You won't need the .IDX file or the FILEKEY.DAT and .IDX files. GAPFILE will merge all of the files in the FILESOLD.DAT with the files in your current FILES.DAT. Any duplicates, that is, any files in the FILESOLD.DAT that are already in the current FileBase will not be merged. Their names along with the Area and Subject where they are located will be written to the IMPORT.LOG file. GAPBBS The Overlay Manager was patched so that it opens GAPBBS.EXE using shared attributes. You should keep in mind that if you share your EXE files between your nodes, you still need to set the EXE's to Read Only. Even though the Overlay Manager will open the EXE in shared mode, DOS continues to open and load files using exclusive access mode. This means that if two nodes try to run GAPMENU, GAPBBS, or any of the other EXE files at exactly the same time, only ONE Node will be given access rights to the EXE. The only inconvienence of setting your EXE files to Read Only is forgetting to reset the attribute when you install new updates (you won't be able to copy the updated EXE on top of the old file). The workings of the ARCREAD.BAT have been modified slightly. You will need to change your ARCREAD.BAT or use the supplied file. GAP will now pass as the first parameter, the full path of where the file to be read should be extracted to (which will be one of your Work Directories). The other 3 parameters remain the same but they've been moved up one (for instance, the old parameter 1, Name of Archive to Process, is now parameter 2). Your batch file needs to be modified so that it extracts the file to be read into the work directory. GAP will then display the extracted file from your work directory. After displaying it the file will be deleted. 01/10/93 GAP is now compiled with Microsoft C version 7.0. We have not yet utilized any of the advanced features of the new compiler (such as Dynamic overlays, and optimum code generation), but will work into that in a future release. The new compiler changed the base date for time calculations. As such, any program that accesses GAP's message files will show incorrect message dates until that program installs a work-a-round. Fixed a problem with the View/Change Stats menu where users were being allowed to select the number of a field that was not displayed and change the information contained in the unseen field. We think we may have finally caught the Phantom Sysop and locked him up. Only time will tell since he isn't a regular visitor. GAPSETUP On the Files System Screen, there are two new options. These are: 'Copy Files From Drives' and 'To Drive'. These options enable GAP to copy files from a CD-ROM to a hard drive. This is necessary when working with very slow CDs or 'juke boxes'. Copy Files From Drives - You enter the letters of the Drives that GAP is to copy files from. You may currently enter up to 18 drive letters. If you leave this field blank, GAP will not copy any files. To Drive - This is the Hard Disk drive that GAP copies the files onto. GAP will create a work directory off of the root of this drive and copy the files into that directory. After the files are downloaded, GAP will delete the files and remove the directory. Although this feature is designed primarily for CD-ROM's, it can also be used to copy files from a slow hard drive to a faster hard drive, or from a Network drive on the Server to a local drive on a Workstation. GAPBBS Due to popular demand, GAP now supports the viewing and reading of any Archive file format, including self contained archives (EXE or COM files). GAP internally supports the viewing of ARC's and ZIP's and externally supports other compression formats via a batch file. The internal support for the reading of a text file within an ARC or ZIP has been removed. This is now performed externally via a batch file. When a user selects the Archive View Command, if the archive is not an ARC or ZIP, GAP will shell to a batch file called ARCVIEW.BAT. This file goes in your Default Directory. A sample batch file is included. It handles ARC, ZIP, and LZH formats. This batch file must invoke the compression program so that it creates a listing of the archive. The listing is redirected to a file called ARCVIEW.TXT, which must be placed in your Default Directory. GAP will delete this file after it has displayed it to the user. When a user selects the Archive Read Command, GAP will shell to a batch file called ARCREAD.BAT. This file goes in your Default Directory. A sample batch file is included. This batch file must invoke the compression program so that it extracts the file specified by the 3rd parameter passed to it. The file must be extracted into your Default Directory. GAP will rename this file to ARCREAD.TXT and display it to the user. After displaying the file, GAP will delete it. GAPFILE GAPFILE was modified to support the new PKZIP compression format. The next release will support the ARCVIEW and ARCREAD batch files so that it will support any archive format and allow reading of a text file from within an archive. 11/15/92 LOGON.BAT and the Sysop Defined Menu Items are no longer credited against a user as a Door Opened. Fixed a problem with Zmodem Uploads where a single error could cause the entire transfer to be aborted. When Moving Files using the Move Files Utility Menu option in GAPFILE, if there are more than 200 files in the directory, you may now move files beyond the 200th file. 200 files will be displayed at a time. You will process the group of 200 files in the normal fashion (i.e., tag the files to be moved and press F9 to move them). After the files are moved the next 200 files will be displayed. If there are no files in the group to be moved, you may press PGDN to bring up the next group of 200 files. You may also include only those files that are older than so many days. For instance, if you want to move only those files that are older than 30 days, you may specify 30 in the new Menu Option field for Move Files and any files less than 30 days old will not appear in the list of files. Keep in mind that while filtering files, the displaying of any files found will be slower since GAPFILE has to check the date on each of the files. If you don't want to filter files by their age, simply leave the "Older Than" field at 0. Also, during the Move Files utility, you may now press F6 to see an Enhanced Description of the current file (the file where the cursor is). This will allow you to see who uploaded the file, how many times it has been downloaded, the last access date, etc. Remember that the Active Function Keys are ALWAYS explained by pressing the F2 key. If you need to see what key does what, don't forget the F2 key! 11/08/92 Any file that fails the upload integrity check will now be written to the caller log. When UnRegistering users in a Forum or a Range of Forums, GAPUSER will no longer loop thru each User Record. Instead, it will simply delete any Member Record that belongs to the Forum(s) being unregistered. This will speed up the process of UnRegistering users but it also means that User Names cannot be displayed, just User Numbers. If running a Subscription board and a user's subscription is expired, when unregistering the user in private Forums, GAP will no longer go through every Forum to see if it is a Private Forum and if so, delete the user from the Member record of that Forum. Instead, GAP will now index through the Member File for just that user and delete any records that belong to a Private Forum. This should speed up log ons for users who's subscription is expired. When replying to a message, you may now reply to the person that the message is for (the To Person in the message header). To do so, you simply append a 'T' after the Reply command in the message disposition prompt: R - Reply normally (to the person who left the message) RT - Reply to the person the message is To (if the message is to YOU, then you will reply to yourself). For instance, if Bob Jones leaves Sally Smith a message and you issue a RT at the prompt, you will reply to Sally Smith instead of Bob Jones. When replying to a message, you may now delete the message you are replying to (providing "Allow Deleting of Messages" is turned on or you have Sysop level). To do so, simply append a 'D' after the Reply command in the message disposition prompt: R - Reply normally RT - Reply to the To person of a message RD - Reply normally, delete message after reply RTD - Reply to the To person of message, delete after reply When reading messages and invoking the user editor to edit the record of the person who left the message (the To user), using the 'F' command, you may now alternatively edit the record of the person the message is To. To do so, simply append a 'T' after the 'F' command: F - Edit user record belonging to the person who left the message. FT - Edit the user record belonging to the person the message is To. If you are using LOGON.BAT to simply create a DOOR.SYS file you may remove that file since GAP will now write a DOOR.SYS file when a user Logs On. DOOR.SYS won't be created when the Sysop logs in locally (Sysop In or Sysop In Quick). If you want GAP to write a LOGON.BAT file, then on the Third Miscellaneous Screen in GAPSETUP there is a new option down at the bottom where you tell GAP to write the file. When Joining a Forum, if there is a LOGON.BAT in the Forum's Default directory, GAP will run the batch file. As with the regular LOGON.BAT file, this will not occur if it is the Sysop on-line or if an Event is pending. The 5 Node version has been replaced by a 6 Node version. The 10 Node version has been replaced by a 99 Node version. GAP now consists of the following versions: Single Node - $ 79.00 3 Node - 159.00 6 Node - 259.00 99 Node - 359.00 On the 2nd Miscellaneous Info Screen, there is a new field, below the "Node Number" field, where you may tell GAP how many nodes you are actually using. This option is used during WHO and CHAT displays and when using the "Network Monitor" Window in GAPMENU. If you are running the 99 Node version and are only using 15 Nodes, you can set this field to 15 and GAP will only display 15 Nodes when showing the WHO-CHAT-NETMON screens. Similarly, if you are running the 6 Node version and are only using 4 nodes, you can set this field to 4 and GAP will only display 4 nodes while using those functions. This field needs to be set to the highest number of Nodes in your system and should be the same for ALL Nodes in that system. Meaning, you need to edit the configuration for each of your Nodes and set this field to the same number. Fixed some problems with messages addressed TO the Sysop and the Sysop being told he has no mail to read. GAPBBS will recognize a Quick LogOff (G Q), and NOT display the ENEWS file if the user knows how to issue the command. The Quick Log Off will NOT be allowed if the Quick Log On is NOT Allowd. If you have a FAX Modem and your Modem returns "CONNECT FAX" or returns FAX anywhere in the CONNECT String when there is a FAX on the other end instead of a Modem Caller, GAPMENU will shell out to a file called FAX.BAT (in the DEFAULT Directory for the Node). If the file doesn't exist, nothing will happen - except for GAPMENU recycling. If the file IS Present, then the FAX.BAT file can run your FAX Software to retrieve the incomming FAX transmission. YOU are responsible for creating the FAX.BAT file which will call your FAX software to retrieve the FAX. Once the FAX is received, GAPMENU will regain control and bring the BBS back up. GAPBBS will now strip leading spaces in front of any command that it expects to receive. OFF, LOGOFF, BYE, GOODBYE, and any combination thereof will be recognized as a legitimate Log Off Command. In GAPUSER, there are two new fields. These fields relate to QWK Networking and if you are not a HUB for a QWK Network, you can simply ignore these two fields. The two new fields are at the bottom right hand side of the screen and are: QWK Network Status Allow Non Echo Forums QWK Network Status allows a user to send messages to your BBS using a QWK Mail Door (or internal QWK) where the messages are not FROM the user. If you run a QWK Network HUB, you will want to set this field to Yes for ANY user that is a "node" off of your HUB. By setting this field to Yes, you are allowing the user to UPLOAD messages that do NOT have his/her name in the FROM field of the message. This field is used by GAP's QWK/REP Modules. The second new field, "Allow Non Echo Forums" goes with "QWK Network Status". If a user has Network Status, then you can optionally allow the user to have access to your non Echoed Forums. With other systems, your QWK Network Users are required to use two separate accounts on your BBS. One for Network Mail and one for personal Mail. By setting this flag to Yes, you are allowing the QWK Network User to have access to the Forums you have that are NOT ECHOED (Same as if the User were just using a Mail Reader). If you prefer that the Netmail Node have two separate accounts on your BBS, leave this field set to NO. With this field set to NO, the Node will have to call back using a different Name and import/export non-echoed Forums in the normal manner (where he/she has to read the messages with an off-line Mail Reader). If you have insurances from your Netmail Node that he/she will place the messages from your Non-Echoed Forums into private Forums where only the Sysop has access to those Forums, then you can set this field to YES. If you do NOT understand the differences between allowing a Net Status User access to NON Echoed Forums, then DEFINATELY set this field to NO. You should NOT set this field to YES unless you KNOW for a FACT, that the Node has set up restricted access to the Forum where he is importing your non-echoed messages (on his/her board). We will have a separate manual for those who use the internal QWK modules to implement QWK Networking. Fixed a problem with Read Only Forums and not being able to Read Mail or Import Mail. Any Marked files will now be displayed with the word "Marked" in the date field (condensed listing). GAP will no longer say a user is Available for Chat when a user has his/her Chat Availability turned off.