ADDSxx.TXT v5.40 (updated 24-Aug-97) The AUTHOR DIRECT Distribution Service. Author Submission Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for your interest in participating in this venture. We feel that it provides a very valuable distribution service for our authors. The use of this service is currently restricted to ASP, ESC and STAR members. First of all, let us make one thing absolutely clear before wasting any of your valuable time: This is *NOT* an ASP or ESC Sponsored project. It is a private endeavour, and not officially sponsored or funded by the ASP, ESC, or STAR in any way. REQUIREMENTS ------------ The author submission requirements for participation in The Author-Direct Distribution Service are fairly minimal and straight forward. While they are simple, they are also necessary and strictly enforced. 1) Your file must submitted be in archived format. While you are free to use any of the standard archive formats (ZIP, ARC, ARJ, LZH, etc), be advised that the network processing *will* convert your archive to PKZIP v2.04g format. (NOTE: If your ZIPd files contain a valid PKZIP Authenticity Verification stamp, we will *not* rearchive the files, thus leaving your AV stamp intact). 2) Your file must contain a valid, properly formatted FILE_ID.DIZ file. (A straight text file, up to 10 lines long, 45-characters/line). 3) Your file must contain a valid VENDINFO.DIZ file. The tools required to create the VENDINFO.DIZ file can be obtained from Ram's Island Software: CompuServe: 76244,324 FidoNet: 1:104/333 Internet: support@ramsisle.com WWW: http://www/ramsisle.com 4a) You must send your files on floppy disk to the HQ site. If you are paying via credit card, you must include a hard copy printout of the completed submission form (ADDSxxx.FRM), and the credit card section at the bottom must be completely filled out and signed. See instructions below. -or- 4b) Files may be submitted electronically, provided that the author has established an electronic submission ID in advance, and follows the instructions contained in the file ESUBMIT.TXT. Your submission must include an electronic copy of the completed submission form (ADDSxxx.FRM, renamed to .FRM to match your ZIP filename) according to the instructions in ESUBMIT.TXT. 5) Your submission must include the necessary processing and distribution fees. There is a "basic" fee of $20 per program, which covers the processing and virus testing of the file, plus additional fees for any optional services that you select (see details below). Credit Card payments (VISA/MasterCard/Discover) are accepted. If you wish to use this form of payment, simply fill out *and sign* the credit card information block at the bottom of the form. Be *sure* that you fill in the "TOTAL AMOUNT FOR CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION" portion of the form, so there is no confusion about the amount that will be charged to your credit card. ------------ RESTRICTIONS ------------ Authors who submit products for distribution via ADDS (Author-Direct Distribution Service) must be aware that our services have the potential of being distributed internationally. Do not submit programs or materials that are restricted in distribution by the United States Government or restricted in distribution by copyright laws. By submitting your products to ADDS, you assume the responsibility of your products being distributed so widely and freely throughout the world. The submitting author is responsible for insuring that submitted files do not violate any of the following restrictions or requirements: 1) All ASP-Member files must be ASP Compliant. All ESC-Member files must be ESC Compliant. All STAR-Member files must be STAR Compliant. 2) NO Pornography (pictures or text). 3) NO Government restricted encryption. 4) NO Marketing schemes for retail products or services masquerading as 'shareware'. 5) NO Shareware products which are marketed as "retail" products in other countries. 6) NO Programs or information intended for illegal uses. ------------------- THE SUBMISSION FORM ------------------- We realize that many of you may be thinking that this is yet another needless submission form. However, we feel that the form is necessary in order to provide a proper audit trail of all submissions, as well as being necessary for the various distribution permissions (and signatures) required for some additional services. Please accommodate us by completing the form. Think of it this way - by your editing, printing, and submitting of this single form along with your file, your file will be posted for downloading by virtually thousands of online services, BBSes, and vendors throughout the world. AUTHOR INFORMATION SECTION: --------------------------- The Author information (name, address, phone number, etc) must be provided so that we have a way to contact you in the event of a problem. Please be sure to list your complete mailing address. All of the address and phone number infor- mation will be for ADDS use *only* and will be considered confidential. If you have a CompuServe account that you use regularly, then you should include your CIS ID (don't list a CIS ID if you do not use that account on a regular basis). Likewise, if you have an Internet email address, you should include that as well. If you provide both, please indicate your preferred contact address by placing an X in the appropriate [_] box. SUBMITTED FILE(S) INFORMATION SECTION: -------------------------------------- This section describes the program, and its associated distribution files. The first item is for the actual "BBS" distribution archive filename. IMPORTANT: The BBS filename *must* include the version number of the product being distributed. This is due to a standard BBS requirement that each and every filename be unique. Unlike Compuserve, each file distributed via normal BBS channels must have a unique filename. This filename must be different from that of a previous release, or the processing software will interpret it as a duplicate of the previous file. Also, be aware that the filename you use for this distribution can never be used again in the future. In order to accomodate this requirement, the Author-Direct Distribution Service *requires* that the BBS filename must include the version number of the product being distributed. Following that is a section which allows you to define the associated 'generic' filename for your product. This generic filename will be used for uploading to the PCNET (formerly known as IBMNET) and/or ZENITH forums on CompuServe, and/or the ZD Net system. This generic filename will also be used as the filename for the ADDS/Internet FTP site, as the requested 'label' tag for America Online uploads, and various other services that can utilize it. 1) The filename used for this option *must* be generic (i.e. it can *not* include any reference to the product version number. Also, the generic filename should not include any non-alpha characters (such as "-" or "_" characters). 2) If you have submitted a previous version of the same product to us, you should use the same generic filename that was used before. We will do some checking in this regard, and will change this filename if necessary to match the generic filename that was used previously. The entire purpose of the 'generic' filename is that it remains the same from 1 release to the next. 3) For various reasons, this 'generic' filename is limited to 6.3 characters rather than the normal 8.3 characters. If you submit a filename that is longer than 6.3, we will simply change it to an appropriate 6.3 filename. As such, it is to *your* advantage to supply us with an appropriate 6.3 filename yourself, so that you have control over the consistency. If these requirements and restrictions present a problem for you, or if you don't agree with this policy, then simply say "N" to these distribution options, and upload to those services directly. The next portion provides information which will be used to create an online file description for use by the automated processing software. This information will be provided to the BBS system (via software) to allow for unattended processing and immediate online availability of your file. This particular description is provided as a benefit for those systems which do not make use of the FILE_ID.DIZ description file. The online description will be created by combining the information from fields A, B, and C, and will automatically include an member indicator. Here is a sample of the format that will result from combining the information from fields A, B, and C: MY PROGRAM v1.2 - A unique utility that clears hard drive space. The software is somewhat limited in total description length, and the network coordinators may edit your description accordingly if the combined length of the fields exceeds their software limitations. We realize that this short description may be inadequate to fully describe your program, but we emphasize that this description is *only* provided for those systems which can *NOT* make use of FILE_ID.DIZ. Be sure to actually *describe* your program, as opposed to *advertising* it (i.e. don't "hype" the program in the description). Following that is a field for you to list the minimum operating system that is required for your product. This should be listed simply as DOS, Windows xx, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2, etc. Do not attempt to include any additional system 'requirements' such as memory, drive space, video, etc. Following that is a field for you to provide KEYwords for your product. These keywords should be separated by spaces, and not commas. The next field is for the filename (BBS Filename, which includes the version number) of a previous version of the product, which is to be removed from distribution. You *MUST* legally own the rights to any filename that you list here. In some cases, the file listed here will be automatically removed by the software, if the sysop has enabled such an option. You must specify only the distribution archive filename of the file that you want removed (i.e. the software can only handle filenames, not program names). This filename *MUST* be different from the filename that you are submitting for distribution, and can not contain "wildcards". (NOTE: the current processing software will only process a *single* filename, so be sure to list only your most recent version to be removed). ------------------------ BASIC NETWORK SUBMISSION ------------------------ The 'basic' service includes automatic distribution to: 1) the Planet Connect satellite system, which distributes the files to BBS subscribers in North America, and 2) the FidoNet Filebone system, which distributes files world-wide to BBS systems via FidoNet Network. You must select a product category for your program. See CATEGORY.LST *or* CATEGORY.EDU for the various categories available. You may only select ONE category for your product -- you can not select a category from each list. The ADDS Service will not be responsible for selecting the category for you. However, we do reserve the right to change a category if we feel an alternate category would be more appropriate for the file. ------------------------- OPTIONAL SERVICES OFFERED ------------------------- We offer a variety of additional distribution services that you may optionally select. Most of these additional services will require additional fees. Please note that these additional services are "optional", and do not affect the basic distribution of your files via the Author-Direct Distribution Service in any way. You can choose to participate in any of them, all of them, or none of them, and still use the 'basic' portion of our service. Be aware that the selection of these optional services implies that the author is granting blanket distribution rights to those services. If any author has any problem with granting such distribution rights, they are free to negotiate directly with the providers of these services. If you don't want to provide such blanket distribution rights, simply don't select these services. Our intention here is to simply make it easy for authors to submit their files to numerous distribution services while only mailing a single disk to a single distribution point. 1) Submission to the ADDS INTERNET FTP/WWW Site ----------------------------------------------- If you select the Internet option, we will place your file on our Internet ftp site. Once placed, your file will be available to anyone on the Internet, via annonymous ftp request, or via a scrollable file listing on our ADDS World Wide Web site. You can provide download links to these files from your own Web pages, so that our ftp site takes the throughput hit rather than your site. If you select the AD/Internet FTP option, you can also choose to have your files mirrored/submitted to other Internet-based download sites: A) The world-famous Simtel.Net system. NOTE: be aware that the Simtel.Net file collections are also marketed to the public on retail CD-ROM discs -- so if you have a problem with that, or if you have contracts which prevent you from placing your files on retail CD-ROM collections, you will need to skip this option. There is no additional charge for the Simtel.Net mirroring option. B) CNet's DOWNLOAD.COM service. There is no additional charge for the DOWNLOAD.COM option. C) The JUMBO.COM service. There is no additional charge for the JUMBO.COM option. D) Our Vendor Notification Service. This feature sends an email notice to all participating vendors, advising them of your new release. The notice includes a brief description of the product, and a download link to our ADDS ftp site. The author may optionally provide for blanket distribution rights for vendors if they so desire (so that the vendor doesn't have to contact the author for permission to actually distribute the file they are being notified about). All participating vendors will be ASP members, or will agree to abide by ASP standards for vendors. 2) Submission to the ASP CD-ROM Project --------------------------------------- If you select this option, your file will be delivered to the producers of the ASP CD-ROMs for inclusion on the next available release. All files submitted via this optional service must fully comply with any and all existing ASP requirements and restrictions as they pertain to those CD-ROM projects. NOTE: The ASP CD-ROM delivery option no longer requires the submission of a .DOZ file. However, this should not be confused with the still existing requirement that the distribution .ZIP file must contain a valid vendinfo.DIZ file. Please be aware that for this option, "BBS" filenames will be used (which includes the version number). This is because the CD-ROM discs are widely used by BBS operators. In order for proper file library maintenance to take place, the version-specific filenames are necessary for users of the CD-ROMs, rather than any "generic" filenames. 3) Submission to the ASP Forums on the Microsoft Network (MSN) -------------------------------------------------------------- If you select this option, your file will be delivered to the administrator of the ASP Forum on the Microsoft Network (MSN). (Note that the ASP CD-ROM is also used for feeding files to the ASP Forums on the Microsoft Network. If you are sending your file to the ASP CD-ROM, then you may not need to select this option unless you want to get your file onto the Microsoft Network prior to the next issue of the the CD-ROM) Please be aware that for this option, the "BBS" filenames will be used (which includes the version number). 4) Submission To PsL's "The PsL Monthly CD" ------------------------------------------- If you select this option, we will notify P(s)L that you have granted them permission to distribute your file on their CD-ROM projects. PsL will obtain the file either from the ASP CD-ROM submissions, or via the FidoNet network. Since we are not physically delivering the files for this specific option, this is a free service. In order to use this optional service, you must be willing to grant CD-ROM distribution rights to PsL for your files. These distribution rights are implied by your selection of this option, and will supersede any contrary restrictions listed in your standard documentation. Please note that selecting this optional service does *not* guarantee that your program will automatically be included on the PsL monthly CD. This merely makes them aware that your new release exists, and they have permission to include it if they so desire. 5) Upload to the America Online software libraries. --------------------------------------------------- If you select this option, we will upload your file to the America Online 'general' file areas. The filename used for this file upload service will be the "BBS" filename. The file will be uploaded to the most file appropriate area. If your product is more appropriate in another area, the AOL sysops will move it there automatically. 6) Upload to the PCNET (formerly IBMNET) Forum Libraries -------------------------------------------------------- If you select this option, we will upload your file to the appropriate PCNET forum libraries on CompuServe. The filename used for this file upload service will be generic (i.e. it must not contain a reference to the version #). 7) Upload to the ZENITH Forum Libraries --------------------------------------- If you select this option, we will upload your file to the ZENITH forum libraries on CompuServe. The filename used for this file upload service will be generic (i.e. it must not contain a reference to the version #). 8) Submission to the ZDNet Services ------------------------------------ If you select this option, we will send your file to the ZDNet "Author Upload Center" for processing and potential distribution via their various online and catalog vending services. The filename used for this service will be generic (i.e. it must not contain a reference to the version #). --------------------- SUBMITTING YOUR FILES --------------------- Your files may be submitted to ADDS either on floppy disks, or electronically (see details included in the ESUBMIT.TXT file). Floppy disks should include the distribution ZIP file(s) and the ADDS submission form (xxxxxxxx.FRM) files. You may include more than one program/ file on a disk if space permits. All files should be placed in the root directory of the floppy disk (i.e. NO subdirectories). Your submission must also include a check or money order for the processing fees according to the submission form. Checks/Money Orders are to be made payable to "RMH Computer Services" and are to be in US funds. Credit Card payments (MasterCard/VISA/Discover) are also accepted. To charge the processing fees to your credit card, simply fill out the Credit Card block at the end of the submission form. The address for mailed floppy disk submissions is: Author-Direct Services Richard Holler PO Box 657 Beech Grove IN 46107-0657 The addresses and details for electronic submissions are contained in the ESUBMIT.TXT file, included in the ADDSxxx.ZIP package. Should you need additional information regarding anything, please contact Richard Holler: 317-782-9903 [voice] CompuServe 73567,1547 INTERNET: rholler@iquest.net