My-RIP v5.0 - By Robert Holmes and Jeanne Breit Release Date: 06-20-95 My-RIP are RIP menus for RBBS 17.5. They work on my BBS with my setup. They can work on yours too, you may need to change the command names in Config, names of menus, locations of the menus, and the commands within the menus to make'em work for you. The easiest way to edit will be with a RIP menu maker. There are many abound but most of us haven't a clue as to how to use them and may do more damage then good. So, for the sake of simplicity, you can use any Text editor and i'll show you how. By using a simple Text editor (EDIT, Qedit, BOXER, etc.) you can change the name of the menus, their commands, and what-nots. All of the menus, Screens, and Icons ARE made by us at the Racers net. So please if you use these menus, give credit where credit is due. To Jeanne Breit and Robert Holmes. Jeanne is Co-sysop of The Racers Net and she has spent many hours making, Coding Graphics and testing these menus. Robert has spent many hours designing, coding commands, and testing. So please, when you see the stuff about who and where the menus were made, leave'em be! Thats all we asked for payment, and maybe a post card.... My-RIP is distributed as FreeWare. Back when RIP was introduced to RBBS i started looking around from RIP screens, add-on's, enhancements, and so on and found very little, like none at all! Meanwhile BBS software like PCboard, Wildcat and a few other "BBS-in-a-BOX" software packages were comming out with all kinds of RIP support. So after trying to adapt their RIP menus and such without knowing much about it, and having a heck of a time, My-RIP was born. The first was v1.0 and it was anything but great. But it was an improvement to RBBS so i tried again. Hence v2.0, but it to was lacking something. Seems there just was to many problems with clearing, text in wrong areas, and much more. So we tried again and that was a complete failure. Didn't make it out the Door although you might find a copy somewhere if you really tried, but why? So then came v4.0 and it was pretty good, text cleared when it was supposed to, Commands worked all the time, and everything seemed pretty good. But there was one thing that seems to always bother me. SPEED!!!!! Guess it's in the name, Racers Net. So Jeanne and I started on developing faster methods of transferring RIP code to the remote, and wala! v5.0 has arrived. v.5 uses more Icon and less Code that needs to be sent then ever before. So whats to come, well all the past versions have been made for v1.54 RIP code. But now with the introduction of RIP 2.00 we are now working on the newest My-RIP, v6.0. This should be the most awsome Screens to date (if it works). It will have Sound Embedded in the menus, this will give you .WAV sound on your end via stereo Soundblaster. Can transfer .GIF and .JPG right to your screen, and most Icons are now .BMPs. There is a Built in Icon converter with the New Ripterm that will handle the format change for you. Plus there is much more to come, so brace yourself..... Keul huh? Expected release date: Fall of 1995 Thanks,,,, Robert Holmes & Jeanne Breit The Racers Net BBS, Lake Tahoe, Ca. USA Now to the Greasy Gooie stuff.... Now then, before we start. If i were you (and i'm not) i would perform a Complete backup of your system like me (and your not), unless you like, well,,,, 'feel brave'? Carry on!!!! You are going to want to put these menus into the places necessary such as C:\RBBS\TEXT, C:\RBBS\HELP or whatever Drive and path you have set for their equivalent. Use the description below for a reference point to start with. Your system may and most likely will differ. To make things Easier, DO NOT COPY TO LOCATIONS YET! AUTOOFFR.SMN <- Add to the Directory containing your .SMN screens BLTR.RIP <- Add to your BULLETIN Dir. (see BLTR note) CONFR <- Add to your Conference directory. (See CONFR Note) DIRR .RIP <- Add to Directory with your DIR.DIR. (see DIR.DIR note) DNMSGR.HLP <- Add to your Help directory EPILOG.ZIP <- Additional screens you can add to your BBS. FILE_ID .DIZ <- File description "duh" FILESCAN.RIP <- Add to the Directory containing your .SMN screens HELPR .HLP <- Add to your help directory ICON-TRN.ZIP <- Icons necessary for for these menus. (see icon note) KICKOFFR.MSG <- Add to your Help directory LG10R.DEF <- Usable example of greeting screen LOGOFFR .SMN <- Add to the Directory containing your .SMN screens MENU1R <- The Sysop menu, add to your menu Dir. MENU2R <- The Main menu, add to your menu Dir. MENU3R <- The Files menu, add to your menu Dir. MENU4R <- The Utility menu, add to your menu Dir. MENU5R <- The Doors menu, add to your menu Dir. MENU6R <- The CD library menu, add to your menu Dir. MENUAR <- The Questionaire menu, add to menu Dir. (See note MENUAR) MMGRRIP1.ZIP <- File containing Chip Morrow & Doug Wilsons MailMgr screens NEEDSYSR.MSG <- Add to your Help directory NEWMAILR.HLP <- Add to your Help directory NOAVAIL.ICN <- Special Icon for your system. (see note ICONS) PAGER.TXT <- The sysop Page notice, add to your menus Dir. PERSR .SMN <- Add to the Directory containing your .SMN screens PRELOG.ZIP <- Additional screens you can add to your BBS. README.TXT <- The File you're reading now, 'maybe?' RGXPIRDR.HLP <- Add to your Help Directory RGXPIRER.HLP <- Add to your Help Directory UPMSGR .HLP <- Add to the Help Directory WELCO3R <- Sample welcome screen (See note on Welco) WILDR .SMN <- Add to the Directory containing your .SMN screens Now that you know where they all have to.. "et hum" proper locations, go through and make the Changes you know are different (i.e Edit the Doors, main, conference, page.txt, bla bla bla). Got-it? Ok, copy them to the proper "et hum" locations as you Edit them. Now call in and test away! You can have a Text Editor on the menu in question making your changes as you go along if they dont work right and of course you are running under DV, OS/2, Windoz, or any other multitasking environment. Otherwise, you might Print out your plain Ascii version and use it to edit your commands, names, bla bla bla... You will be looking for both Command and Name changes of Doors and maybe Text throughout your editing process. You will add some, you will remove some. But be careful not to move any code or the whole thing may come un-glued. ok? On to understanding the RIP commands, sorta! Mouse commands, how are they done? Mouse commands are sent with a ^M and any word or letter before that is the command Field. Anything in the Mouse Field will show on the Remote end as text and the command is what follows. Although in this version they do not use much text in the Mouse Fields. It is mainly Icon and commands. Here is an Example of what i'm telling you. Like so: Please note, nothing is in the mouse field. No text is sent. <><>G^M| ^ ^ ^^ | | || This is a mouse field --' | || This is the Command sent -------' || This is the command sending Return'| This Ends the Command line---------' Please note, this mouse field has a "Goodbye" in it. This would show up i the Mouse field/button. But you must have a Button Large enough to handle the lenght of this text. Do not use Text in a Mouse Field that uses an Icon. <>Goodbye<>G^M| ^ ^ ^ ^^ | | | || This is a mouse field'--' | || This is the Command sent ---------' || This is the command sending Return--'| This Ends the Command line-----------' Please note, here is an example of the typical RIP code. Look carefully as to the way it is setup. Do you see the ICONDOOR before the mouse field? This would be the location to Edit the name of the Icon if you wish to change using a Text editor. This is Code level--. 1UD025ED3I0000ICONDOOR<><>D ICON^M| ,^ ,^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ From here back is Color, Location,icon --' | | | || (DO NOT MOVE CODE!!!!) | | | || This example is to open a Door via a .bat file'-'--' || || This command is sending the Return'| This Ends the command line-----' Kinda vague but i think you'll get it.... Have a beer, will ya! So, again,,, Go through all your screens and check to make sure you have names of areas, doors, commands, etc. all changed to your liking. Do the Easy stuff first, then go from there. Take your time, Tahoe wasn't Built in a day. Note: The use of Macros on Command lines works but is NOT Suggested!!!!! Strange things can happen when you least expect it. Try to always use Complete command lines when adding commands the screens. The following are special notes..... BLTR: O-the famous Bulletin area. The Bulletin area seems Easy enough. No doubt you MUST edit this area. This may be one of the last screens you will want to deal with. There may not be enough buttons for some of your systems bulletins will differ. Please Deal with it...... We can make a Bigger one for you if necessary but we will never know without a post card (hint hint). BBS's have such a large difference in the amount of bulletins that we felt this was a good number for all. Good candidate for NOAVAIL auh huh.... CONFR: This is the Conference menu. It WILL have to be edited to your liking and this is based on your Conference menu being called "CONF". So you may have to change the name of your Conference menu, and make sure if you do to change the name in RBBS#.DEF also (Parameter #74). DIR.DIR: DIR.DIR is the File showing directories for the File sub-system. Take the file DIRR.RIP and copy to the directory (usually \RBBS\DIR) and have the file DIR.DIR append to the DIRR.RIP. I use Brandon Carnahan's DIRMENU program and every night during maintenance i have the DIR.DIR appended to the DIRR.RIP making the file DIRR.DIR. An example of the .BAT file would be like so: cd\rbbs\dir copy dirr.rip+dir.dir dirr.dir ICONS: You will find the ICONS for these menus in a file called ICON-TRN.ZIP. They are NOT compatible with older versions of MY-RIP. You may rename this file (icon-trn.zip) to what ever you please. Also included is an Icon that is called NOAVAIL.ICN. Use this Icon in areas that are not available. Just edit the Icon name in the menu, add the new name (noavail). Dont forget to remove the command field. NOTE: You MUST post these Icons for Download on your BBS. (see MAJOR NOTE) MENUAR: This is the Menu for Questionnaires. You WILL have to Edit this to your liking. Add to the location of your MENUA or what ever you call it (parameter #75). PRELOG: Also included is a logon screen. Look closely as to how this is done and you too can adapt them to your BBS. Check out "README.DOC" in the file PRELOG.ZIP for this.... WELCO: The welcome screen is a great place to add RIP to your system. Now RBBS supports what is a Rotating Welcome screen (WELCO#%). This can be done with a Batch file but the geniuses that make the code have chosen to make three, plus the original bringing this to the wonderful number of four. So you can add RIP to these the screens as follows. What i like to do is add different Rip outlines, borders, funny stuff and so on. Here's how it's done. Enclosed is a copy of one of mine, not intended to be used here but as an example. It's called WELCO3R, check it out. Heres my bat file as an example. Get the picture? cd\bla_bla COPY ADD1.RIP+TIPS.ANS+ADD1+LOGON1.RIP WELCO1R. COPY ADD2.RIP+TIPS.ANS+ADD1+LOGON2.RIP WELCO2R. COPY ADD3.RIP+TIPS.ANS+ADD1+LOGON3.RIP WELCO3R. Do this with any combination of the various screens you can find, make, or pilfer. O-BTW, this goes in the area of parameter #69 of config. LG10R.DEF: The LG##R.DEF is another screen you may want to have as a RIPed screen, its the login greeting screen. It is security specific so you will need one for every Security level you wish (the ## is the security level per this caller). I feel this is the area to show off the theme of your BBS and i like to having Highly Graphical Screens on this area. Check out the LG10R.DEF i included. This is a great screen, but is Way to LArGe to send to the remote user. So using this one is unlikely, but if you play around with a Rip editor, or find some nice screens somewhere, this may be the place to post'em. Small Note: You can add Smart Text to your screens if you like. They should (in most cases) show up, but again, NEVER edit a screen with a RIP editor and have the Smart text in it. Things can change for the worse! Remove the Smart text first. Just make a field for the area you wish to add the Smart text and then follow up later by adding it with a simple text editor. OTHER SUGGESTED UTILITIES: Other utilities i use on my system are Mail Manager from Makai software. There are support menus for the new 4.+ versions with RIP graphics in the file called MMGRRIP1.ZIP. You can find more info on Mail Manager by downloading it from the many fine BBS's out there or by contacting Chip Morrow or Doug Wilson on the internet at: chip@infinet.com or fdw@infinet.com or on their BBS at 614-837-0739 MAJOR NOTE!!!: Another utility i strongly suggest you get is ICONUPDATER by Ryan Anderson. This utility is so cool and it really works too! When a caller using RIP calls for the first time onto your System, they MUST have your Icon pack (icon-trn.zip included). I left one button on the main menu (menu2r) that is fully functional without Icons. Use this Button to gain access to Icon-updater via a Door .BAT so that the caller can have his/her system scanned for missing icons, and download the necessary Icons to complete their Icon Library. ICUPD324.ZIP is the Current version of Iconupdater at the time of writing these Docs. Freqable from me at 8:919/23 or call Ryans BBS@ 513-745-0159. Tell'em i sent'ya NEWS FILES: And for a neat News file generator Yaser Behbehani makes a News file generator that makes all four flavors and is very easy to use. The current file name is MYNEWS25.ZIP available here or on Small Time BBS at 516-579-7929 or RBBS 8:954/272 Yasers 'Free Kuwait BBS' numbers are (965) 252-1974 or (965) 252-6502 or RBBS 8:954/920 A FEW LAST NOTES: If you try to View these menus with a file like DEADVIEW (or others) you will have problems. Some of these menus may contain special RBBS Codes that play Havoc with a RIP viewer or Editor. What you might do is remove the {NS or any other smart code from the menus, then when your done replace it. If there are menus you dont use, or have, or aren't ready to have functional, then dont put them in the directory with the other flavors of the pertaining menu and/or the typical locations of these menus/screens. Then later you may or may not add them. I have tried to make these Docs as understandable to all but what one person reads, another interprets differently. So please keep an open mind while reading and setting these screens up. Then, onto the Icons. I'm sure Some of the Icons you will see will either not match what you want then to do, or just flat out wont work for your application. So there are to things you can do. Then best thing to do would be to Edit the Screen in Question and change the name of the Icon to a new Name of the Icon of your choice. This would make the most sense. The other would be to change the name of your new Icon to the same name as the one in Question but this could have some major draw-backs as one can guess. I guess you could just Deal with it eh? Anyway, you can do this with either a Simple Text editor or use a RIP Graphics editing program. But remember all that stuff i keep telling you about Smart text. Good luck and have fun!!! LEGAL MUMBO JUMBO: Jeanne Breit and myself are not responsible to your use of these Menus and any misuse that leads to damage to your BBS, computer, relationships or anything that you or you lawyer can think of.... O-BTW, if you do need help with your setup or have problems getting the can of worms going, give us a Jingle! ENDING: Any suggestions, comments, bugs please address them to Jeanne or Robert. And one other thing. If you like what you see, whether you use them or not. Please send us a Postcard from your location. Like some of us BBS sysops, we like to know where the Software ends up, who uses them, and if its worth while going any further with the development of RBBS/RIP. Thanks and enjoy!!!! Robert Holmes & Jeanne Breit The Racers Net Po Box 251 Tahoe Vista, Ca. 96148 USA (916) 546-2095, 546-9113, 546-9106 Internet: holmes@sierra.net BUSIlink: 10:108/3 RBBSNET: 8:919/23 WCNET: 82:24/1