IMPORTME.TXT                                         05/02/91

        *************************************************************
        *   A PROPOSAL FOR A TIME AND EFFORT SAVING STANDARD FILE   *
        *   FORMAT THAT SPECIFIES A TEXT FILE TO BE INCLUDED WITH   *
        *   SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTED FILES TO ALLOW THE EASY IMPORT    *
        *   OF THOSE FILES AND THEIR CATALOG DESCRIPTIONS INTO A    *
        *   BBS OR OTHER FILE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM.                     *
        *************************************************************

        Hi All:

        Being a SysOp myself, and from time to time getting very large
        volumes of files that contain programs with lots of very nice
        things that need to be said about them, I had a thought...

        Right about the time I typed in file description number fourty
        I wondered why there was not a simple included file in those
        archives that I could ask my BBS software to import and add in
        that data for me!

        All I really needed was a good description for the file! A few
        words from the same author who mentioned twenty times that he
        spent a year writing the program would have saved me a LOT of
        time! I had an idea that since no such thing existed, it was a
        good time to propose it. That is the purpose of this letter.

        What I am proposing is a simple text file that is constructed
        like this:

        Filename: IMPORT.ME

  MYFILE.ZIP   <- (line 1) Original archive name
  04/02/1991   <- (line 2) Archive date
  MYPROG.EXE   <- (line 3) Actual product or program name
  This program is great! d/l and send $$$!   <- (line 4) Short description
  This is a great program! Really! Its one   <- (line 5) Description line 1
  that you simply have to get even if you    <- (line 6) Description line 2
  have to go into debt to get it! There is   <- (line 7) Description line 3
  just NO way to get by without it!!!        <- (line 8) Description line 4
  ^---------------------------------------^
   [description lines limited to 40 chars]

        The short description line is to accomodate BBS systems that
        are limited to single line file listings, and the forty char
        limit is for the same purpose.

        I know it is more fun to make nifty binary file types with all
        kinds of gnarly pointers and stuff, but the text file is easily
        readable by most all high level languages, and can be read by
        any editor with a minimun of fuss. Also, you can peek in at it
        anytime you like with a dos TYPE.

        The author or another interested party should type up the file
        at the time he released his work, and include this inside the
        distribution archives with a standard filename of IMPORT.ME
        The value of this data would depend on the acceptance of the
        format, and support for the IMPORT.ME file by BBS authors and
        door program writers.

        This can be expanded on. Validation data and all sorts of legal
        threats and stuff can be included in there, but to keep it easy
        and simple, I propose what you see above. Take a look at my own
        'prototype' IMPORT.ME file that accompanies this document. I am
        a complexity-animal, but this one needs to be simple to make it
        work.

        I hope that there is some acceptance of this, and indeed pray it
        becomes a standard. Or at least something like it does! I know a
        lot of SysOps who could use the help.

                                          Daniel J. Karnes
                                          The Cutting Edge
                                            603-888-9634
                                          300-9600 V.32/42
                                               24 hrs.