======== ====== ======= == == == === == == === === == == == === == ====== ======= ======================================= The DeAdZoNe Utilities for RemoteAccess ======================================= D-UseR ANS/ASC Userlist Bulletin Generator for RemoteAccess Version 2.00g March 11, 1993 (C) Copyright James FitzGibbon 1992-93 All Rights Reserved What is it? ----------- D-UseR is a program that replaces the built-in User List for RemoteAccess BBS's. D-UseR will create bulletins using either the users' real names or their handles. D-UseR provides a listing of the user's name ( or handle ), their location, their last date called, A calculated ratio of posted messages per call, and the number of uploads and downloads they have made. Features -------- * Creates both an Ansi and Ascii version of the D_USER bulletin file, ready to be used with RA's type 45 menu option. * Built-in Menu Configuration makes setting up D-UseR a snap. For first time installations, as much information as possible is taken from your CONFIG.RA file. * Custom Colour Configuration lets you select your choice of colour for each item in the bulletin. Full background/foreground colours are supported. * D-UseR will optionally include the SysOp's name in the bulletin header. * Configurable use of Handles or Real Names * D-UseR automatically excludes locked out users ( security level 0 ), users who are pending deletion ( i.e have been deleted but will not be removed from your userfile until you perform a pack ). * You have the option to include or exclude the SysOp from the bulletins, and to honour the "Hidden" Attribute in the RA Userfile. * Supports an external "bad user" file, which allows you to exclude up to 100 userscertain users from the userlist. IMPORTANT: D-UseR v2.00 is written for RemoteAccess 2.00/gamma-1 and will not work properly on prior versions of RA. Although I don't expect Andrew Milner to change the structures when the shareware version of RA comes out, it may be necessary to release an update if any changes that affect D-UseR are made. How much does it cost? ---------------------- This utility is FREE! If you like it you can continue to use it for as long as you like free of charge! If you do decide to use it, I would be excited to hear from you !! I encourage you to send me a postcard at the address listed below (see the end of this text file), or a message via netmail. It will cost you practically nothing, and will let me know you're enjoying the program. It will also give me incentive to keep improving the program and make it even better! Configuration ------------- To configure D-UseR, type: DUSER /C This will bring up the configuration screen. Following is a description of the available options : SysOp Name The name of the SysOp of the system. This is used in the header, and by the sysop include/exclude feature. BBS Name The name of the BBS system. Path to USERS.BBS The path where D-UseR will look for your USERS.BBS file. This is your RA messagebase directory. Textfile path Path where D-UseR will create the D_USER.ANS and D_USER.ASC bulletins. Use Handles Setting this to YES will force D-UseR to use handles instead of real names in the bulletins. Include SysOp in Setting this to YES will include the SysOp in the userlist Bulletins bulletins. Note that the setting of the "Honour Hidden Attribute" switch and the use of the external "bad user" file override this setting. Include SysOp in Setting this to YES will add a line to the bulletin Header header containing the name of the SysOp as defined in item [A] of the configuration screen. Use Exclusion File Setting this to YES will make D-UseR search for the file DUSER.BAD. If found, it will compare all user names and handles against this file, and reject any matching users. Honour Hidden Setting this to YES will make D-UseR honour the "hidden" Attribute attribute in the userfile. This is helpful for excluding Guest accounts without putting them into the exclusion file. Custom Colour Choosing this option will bring up the colour Configuration Configuration screen. Here you can choose the foreground and background colours for different bulletin items. Foreground items are limited to colours 0-15 and background items are limited to colours 0-7. * If the RA environment variable is set, D-UseR will try to read the "SysOp Name", "BBS Name", "Path to USERS.BBS" and "Textfile Path" directly from the CONFIG.RA file. * Whenever presented with an input prompt, hitting enter on a blank line will retain your previous selection. Generating Bulletins -------------------- In order to generate the userlist bulletins, run D-UseR with the /G switch : DUSER /G * D-UseR will handle up to *10000* users in the users file. If this number is exceeded D-UseR will abort with an error message. * You can either generate the userlist bulletins once per night, through a nightly batch file, or every time the option is chosen from the menu. To run D-UseR from a menu, create a new menu which consists of three menu lines : 1 - Call DUSER as a type 7 or 15 exit 2 - Display the D_USER textfile to the user 3 - Return to the menu from whence you came Exclusion List -------------- D-UseR supports an exclusion list which allows you to specify up to 100 users which you do not want included in the bulletins. This is useful if have users (or co-sysops) which you want to "hide" from the bulletins. In order to use this feature you must create a plain ASCII text file called DUSER.BAD and simply list the name or handle of the user which you want excluded (one entry per line). You must also enable "Exclusion File Checking" in the configuration menu. * It is not necessary to specify both a user's real name and their handle as separate entries, one or the other will suffice. * The entries in DUSER.BAD are *not* case sensitive, so if you have "John Smith" in your DUSER.BAD file, and the user's name is actually spelt "JoHn SmItH", the name will still be properly excluded. * If you have more than 100 entries in DUSER.BAD, D-UseR will simply ignore any entries above #100. Example of DUSER.BAD: John Smith Jane Smith The Punisher Location of Files ----------------- D-UseR can be run from any directory. On your first time configuration, the configuration file DUSER.CFG will be created in the current directory. During bulletin generation, D-User will search for necessary files ( DUSER.CFG and DUSER.BAD ) first in the directory where the executable is stored (not necessarily the current directory), and then in directories specified in your path statement. To speed up the process, keep your DUSER.EXE, DUSER.CFG and DUSER.BAD files in the same directory. * D-UseR does *not* write to any RemoteAccess files at any time. * During your first time configuration, D-UseR will try to grab as much as it can from your CONFIG.RA file, but only if the RA environment variable has been set to point to the directory CONFIG.RA is in. Bulletins Created ----------------- D-UseR creates the following bulletins in the directory you have specified as the Textfiles directory: D_USER.ANS (Ansi bulletin) D_USER.ASC (Ascii bulletin) Legal Stuff and Disclaimer -------------------------- "D-UseR" refers to the executables and documentation in the original distribution archive. D-UseR is copyrighted material by the author, James FitzGibbon. All rights are reserved. The author grants you a licence to use this software free of charge. The program is provided "as is", without warranty or guarantee of any kind, either expressed or implied, as to its quality or performance. The author will not be held liable to you or anyone for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages, including but not limited to any lost profits, or lost savings which may result from the use or inability to use this program. The author is in no way obligated to provide future versions of this software. Your use of the program constitutes your agreement to these terms and to this disclaimer. All mentioned products are copyrighted by and trademarks of their respective holders. Credits ------- Thanks to Victor Magdic for getting me started in Turbo Pascal programming, and for letting me release D-UseR under The DeAdZoNe utilities label. Also thanks to Nathan Locklin and Jonathan Rapoport for beta testing D-UseR on their systems. Updates ------- Please see the enclosed file DEADZONE.TXT for information on how to obtain the latest version of D-UseR. Suggestions always welcome! --------------------------- If you have any suggestions for improvement or wish to report any bugs, you can reach me via netmail: The Flight Deck BBS James FitzGibbon FidoNet: 1:250/302 IMEX 89:480/222 NaNet 41-65-20 (81:416/520) or by writing to: James FitzGibbon 300 Alton Towers Circle #903 Scarborough, Ontario M1V 4X9 CANADA (please note that the above address is not valid until April 10th, 1993. If you have correspondance to send me, please hold it until that time to avoid having it returned by the current tenants of the above address) ------------------------------------------------------------------ end