---------------------------------------------------------------------- USBBSDOR Revision History ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This file describes the new features in recent USBBSDOR releases. Please refer to USBBSDOR.DOC for a basic description of USBBSDOR. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [ USBBSDOR 5.3 New Features 12/23/93 ] ------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * USBBSDOR now recognizes the RIP designation in PCBoard, Wildcat!, and DOOR.SYS modes. When encountered, USBBSDOR will act as if the caller is in regular COLOR mode. * If USBBSDOR detects a RIP communications program, it will clear the caller's RIP screen and set it to 25 line mode. This is needed for USBBSDOR's list display screen which is designed to be used on a 25 line screen. * QSUSBBS, the off-line USBBS list searcher and viewer, has several new features: - At the QSUSBBS.EXE input prompt, the user may now enter an "A" alone (without the quotes) to display a list of area codes by state. An "S" may be entered alone to display a list of state code abbreviations. - If no USBBS list file name is given on the QSUSBBS.EXE command line, QSUSBBS will search for the newest file name matching USBBS???.LST in the current directory, and use one if found. - QSUSBBS will add the extension .LST to the command-line list filename (USBBSxxx.LST) if not included during startup. - The filename has changed for separate QSUSBBS distribution and is now QSUSB20.ZIP (QSUSB20.ARJ, etc.). * A command line switch was added for users of intelligent multi-port serials cards (requiring a FOSSIL driver) on some nodes, and regular serial ports on others. This switch is /NOFOSSIL and should be used on the nodes not using a FOSSIL (and only when FOSSIL mode has been turned on in USBBSDOR's configuration screen). This switch would be placed in the door batch files on the nodes where needed. * The AREA files reflect the new 610 area code in Pennsylvania. * USBBSDOR now contains an internal ANSI emulator for those folks who still use the old fashioned "one ASCII file for mono, one ANSI file for color" method for menu, hello, help, etc. files. While ANSI.SYS has never been needed on the host to utilize USBBSDOR's screen move- ment or any of the menus, etc. done with color macros, it was needed for local display if the menus, etc. were ANSI files. * USBBSDOR's use of the popular DOOR.SYS file is now documented in the USBBSDOR.DOC file. This is to assist Sysops whose BBS software does not create the standard 52 line DOOR.SYS or any of the other formats supported by USBBSDOR. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [ USBBSDOR 5.2 New Features 4/9/93 ] --------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * This version of USBBSDOR is a minor maintenance release. * The enclosed MODEM text file (displayed when scanning for high speed modem types) has been updated. It now includes all of the new modem designations recently added to the USBBS list. * Added PKZIP 2.04+ support to the "(V)erify contents" function which appears in the protocol selections when downloading the USBBS list. * A "minimum connect speed to download" parameter has been added. Many BBS packages now include this capability, and this parameter allows USBBSDOR to use this same "protection" for downloading the USBBS list. This parameter may be set on the USBBSDOR installation screen. * All of the display text files (menus, helps, etc.) in USBDOR53.ZIP have undergone some very minor cosmetic changes for a slightly more modern appearance. These are files in USBDOR53.ZIP which do not have extensions on the file names. * QSUSBBS.EXE, the enclosed off-line USBBS list search utility, should now run properly when used in OS/2 DOS sessions. * The colors used for displaying the list in QSUSBBS.EXE have been changed, greatly improving both appearance and readability. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [ USBBSDOR 5.1 New Features 11/14/92 ] ------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * NEW COMMAND: (R)ead USBBS news. Periodically, a "news" file will be distributed with the USBBS list called USBBSxxx.NWS (the xxx matches the version number of the list). If a USBBSxxx.NWS file is located with a corresponding USBBSxxx.LST, the (R)ead command will display this file. The "news" file will be inserted periodically in the USBBS list distribution file by the USBBS editor to highlight timely information about the USBBS list. * NEW COMMAND: (W)here to update\add to the list. Each release of the USBBS list contains a file called USBBSxxx.TXT where xxx matches the version number of the list. This file lists the places where updates can be made to the USBBS list, as well as USBBS distribution points. If a USBBSxxx.TXT is located with the corresponding USBBSxxx.LST, the (W)here command will display this file. * NOTE on the above commands: If using USBBSDOR's auto-new-extraction feature (registration required), when a new USBBS distribution file is detected USBBSxxx.NWS and USBBSxxx.TXT will be extracted also. * FOSSIL driver support added. If your BBS uses a FOSSIL driver you may now have USBBSDOR use the FOSSIL driver also. You may also take advantage of this feature if your BBS software supports Multi-port serial cards and permits FOSSIL redirection to these cards through the same driver used for the BBS software. There is a new toggle on the USBBSDOR local configuration screen to turn FOSSIL support on. Please see USBBSDOR.DOC for additional information. * ARJ is now supported for downloading the USBBS list from USBBSDOR. Due to the growing popularity of this compression utility, USBBSDOR will now use USBBSxxx.ARJ files (if downloading is allowed). For the purpose of downloading and "new list auto extraction" (registered feature), USBBSDOR always looks for ZIP files first, then ARJ if no USBBSxxx.ZIP files are found. The off-line QSUSBBS search utility may now also be downloaded from the door in ARJ format (same as USBBSxxx, the door looks for QSUSBBS.ZIP first). Please see USBBSDOR.DOC for additional information. * The MENU file reflects the new (R)ead and (W)here commands, and also compensates for the change in length of USBBS list file names when the version went from USBBS99 to USBBS100. * The HELP3 file reflects the new (R)ead and (W)here commands. * The AREA file reflects the new 909 area code in California. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [ USBBSDOR 5.0 New Features 7/6/92 ] --------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * As of this release, USBBSDOR has been updated and continuously supported for five years! (7/6/87 - 7/6/92) * Added support for a change in the USBBS list which affects the (N)ew command. The USBBS list uses an asterisk * in column 58 to indicate a new or changed entry since the last list. Effective 07-01-1992 an ampersand (@) will be used to indicate the new/changed status AND that the system was called and verified by the USBBS list editor. USBBSDOR now looks for either character for the (N)ew command. * Added support for extended IRQ use (above IRQ 7). Previous versions of USBBSDOR provided non-standard COM support with IRQ 1 through 7. The IRQ value may now be 1 through 15 and may be set in the non- standard COM setup parameter located on the USBBSDOR installation screen. * Added a new "listing separator line" choice. USBBSDOR now allows the Sysop to choose a double line (ASCII 205) to be used as a separator for each listing as it is displayed. This adds to the previous choices of dashes (ASCII 45), a solid line (ASCII 196), or none. * Added support for the very high security levels (65000+) used by some BBS packages. Previous versions of USBBSDOR did not allow these Sysops to set the (D)ownload security to these levels. * Added support to calculate USBBS list download times for newer (yet lesser used) connect rates such as 12000 (twelve-thousand). Earlier versions of USBBSDOR expected standard connect rates (300,1200,2400, 4800,9600,14400,19200) for calculating download times, and an error would occur if a download was attempted under other circumstances. * The AREA, AREA2, and AREA3 area code help files have been updated with changes since the last USBBSDOR release. The new Georgia 706 area code is now included as well as the pending (as of this writing) Texas 210 area code. * While earlier versions of USBBSDOR were DESQview aware and behaved, some performance degradation was discovered when using "virtualized" screens with DESQview-386. USBBSDOR's performance is now improved under these conditions. * If using PCBoard BBS software and logging to a printer, USBBSDOR's printer routines have been made more generic. * Three command line parameters have been added. These are not likely to be needed by most Sysops, but if you need them, you REALLY need them. Adding them to configuration file is not planned since they should rarely be used: /NOBEEP - USBBSDOR follows the local alarm (beep) setting found in any door information files which provide it. If you have your BBS software set to beep LOCALLY at caller input errors, etc. but you do not want USBBSDOR to beep at similar events, add this to the command command line as shown below. /NOCALLER - USBBSDOR writes appropriate entries to the current node's caller file or activity log (PCBoard and Wildcat modes only). Please see USBBSDOR.DOC for a complete list of entries. If you do not want USBBSDOR to echo these events to the log files, add this to the the USBBSDOR.EXE command line as shown below. /NOLPT - USBBSDOR follows the printer toggle in PCBoard. If you do not want USBBSDOR to also echo caller log activity to the printer, add this to the USBBSDOR.EXE command line as shown below. To add any of these toggles, edit the USBBSDOR door batch file as shown: USBBSDOR.EXE USBBSDOR.CNF D:\PCB\ /NOLPT /NOBEEP /NOCALLER All three are shown in the example above for illustration purposes only. You may enter one, two, or all three of them, in any order desired. Again, it is recommended to use these toggles only if they are REALLY needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [ USBBSDOR 4.5 New Features 1/24/92 ] -------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * Faster loading! Door batch files may now call USBBSDOR.EXE with the location in-line, without having to switch drives and cd\ to directories. For example: > echo off > d:\usbbsdor\usbbsdor usbbsdor.cnf d:\pcb > board.bat (if needed) The above results in faster loading (and exit) time since the door batch file does not have to move the default location around in DOS. USBBSDOR will still work fine with the "old" method. * Added support for Non-DSZ DSZLOG compatible protocols. USBBSDOR is now more flexible when reading DSZLOG files from non-DSZ and non-GSZ protocol logs for reporting successful and failed download attempts. * A new parameter in PROTOCOL.DAT allows placement of USBBSDOR status line during transfers. For each protocol choice the Sysop may select whether to place the USBBSDOR status line at the Top or Bottom of the screen, depending on what works best with the protocol selected. For instance, the DSZ protocol works best with the door status line at the top of the screen, where its graphical counterpart GSZ works best with the door status line at the bottom of the screen. * New Wildcat 3.x specific mode will update caller activity logs with downloads, etc. like the PCBoard specific mode. Requires changing the BBS type in USBBSDOR.CNF from #3 generic DOOR.SYS to #4 WC 3.x. The Wildcat 2.x CALLINFO.BBS file is no longer supported. * SEND.BAT now accepts non-standard com port parameters from USBBSDOR for use with DSZ or GSZ: %5 = base address (hex) for com port (use with DSZ portx option). %6 = IRQ for com port (use with DSZ portx option). See USBBSDOR.DOC and SEND.BAT for details. * QSUSBBS.EXE will now utilize a "destructive" backspace at its input prompt. The non-destructive backspace utilized in the first release could make input editing difficult. * NOTE: The rest of the version 4.5 enhancements below deal with the display text files used by USBBSDOR: MENU, HELLO, HELP, AREA, STATE, MODEM, and BRAND. Added support for Wildcat 3.x color macros in text files. USBBSDOR will automatically use either PCBoard or Wildcat! color macros when either are found. The display text files released in USBDOR50.ZIP use PCBoard color macros. Run USB-CONV.EXE to convert the enclosed PCBoard color macro files to Wildcat macros (for editing purposes). The ANSI text file handler has been greatly improved. Sysops not familiar with (or not wanting to use) the PCBoard or Wildcat! color macro type files now have more flexibility with the plain Ascii and ANSI "two file" method. Run USB-CONV.EXE to convert the enclosed PCBoard macro files to Ascii\ANSI files (for editing purposes). Previously, some Sysops experienced difficulty when editing the multi-paged text files such as HELP and AREA. USBBSDOR now supports the linking of files together, by specifying the "next" filename in the file currently being displayed. This is done by placing a "%" (percent) in the LEFT-MOST (column #1) position on the last line of the current file. The % must then IMMEDIATELY be followed by the file you wish USBBSDOR to append, such as %HELP2. This allows the Sysop to edit each page easily and separately, especially those wishing to use ANSI files. See USBBSDOR.DOC for instructions. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Very early versions are listed below with their version numbers and release dates only. The detail has been omitted to keep the size of this file lower. Contact the author if this detail is needed. Version 4.4 11-01-91 Version 4.3 09-01-91 Version 4.2 07-06-91 Version 4.1 04-26-91 Version 4.0 11-09-90 Version 3.0 - 03-18-89 Version 2.1 - 12-19-88 Version 2.0 - 08-20-88 Version 1.5 - 01-03-88 Version 1.4 - 12-06-87 Version 1.3 - 11-28-87 Version 1.2 - 11-07-87 Version 1.1 - 07-28-87 Version 1.0 - 07-06-87