ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º ÇÄ¿ º K E E P I N G I N T O U C H º ³ º ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ º ³ º SPITFIRE Monthly Support Newsletter º ³ º for registered SPITFIRE Sysops! º ³ º February 1995 º ³ º Compliments of BUFFALO CREEK SOFTWARE º ³ º Buffalo Creek's BBS * 515-225-8496 º ³ º 38400/19200/9600/2400/1200 Bps º ³ º 2 Nodes º ³ º º ³ ÈÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Edited by Jacque Shipley The Mother Board BBS - (515) 986-3464 - 57600 Bps Sysop Of The Month by Walt Crede Roam This Fertile Land - (515) 288-8755 - 14400 Bps Newly Registered SPITFIRE BBS List by Ann Woltz Other Contributions As Noted ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º Notes from the author of SPITFIRE! ÇÄ¿ ÈÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ As some of you are aware, I have recently revised my programs named SFCHKUP and MKSFFBBS. Both of these programs are in beta test and should be released in the near future. The purpose of the revisions is to utilize the complete FILE_ID.DIZ rather than just use four lines. Additionally, both programs write to SFFILES using a different format. This different format makes better sense than the file lines which could be up to 255 characters long. There are a few other Buffalo Creek Software products which will be upgraded to use the new SFFILES format. They are SFDIZ, FILES_SF and DIR_SF. SPITFIRE will also be changed to use the new format. Last, I am hopeful that I am finding and fixing the problems with the download side of SPITFIRE's zmodem. It is difficult to find and fix the problems because no one seems to be able to force the problems to occur. Thus, I am only able to guess at what the problem is, change it and then test it. It is a slow process. To the best of my knowledge, there are only 2 problems with SPITFIRE zmodem. Hopefully I will have them fixed soon. Thank you for your understanding and help regarding this matter. Until next time, may God bless you... Mike, Ann & family ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º Jesus saith unto him, I am the ÇÄ¿ º way, the truth and the life... º ³ º John 14:6 º ³ ÈÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SPITFIRE UTILITY REVIEWS ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SFMSGSNP v1.0 ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; In response to requests from Sysops, Mike Woltz recently released a new SPITFIRE utility, SFMSGSNP. SFMSGSNP is another no bells or whistles, get-the-job-done utility from Buffalo Creek Software that will update all messages in a SPITFIRE Message Conference, toggling each message as non-public. SFMSGSNP must be executed from the SPITFIRE Message directory and requires a single command line parameter which specifies the number of the conference to be updated. For instance, SFMSGSNP 2 would toggle on messages in conference 2 as non-public messages. SFMSGSNP is provided as a complimentary gift to all registered SPITFIRE Sysops. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ GHEADER v1.13c ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; One of the reasons Sysops are always encouraged to contribute articles for the SPITFIRE newsletter is that there are just some many utilities and programs being written to work with SPITFIRE that I simply am not able to try them all. So I know there are some good utilities and programs out there that other Sysops would benefit from if they were made aware of it. One such utility, which I discovered it by accident through a SFNET message and even though it was available on my BBS for download I had never taken a look at it. The utility I am referring to is GH113C.ZIP, or GHeader v1.13c. GHeader performs the task of several existing utilities. But in addition to combining their functions, GHeader also provides some new configuration options. GHeader can be used to create file list headers for SFFILES.BBS and SFFILES. with a choice of up to seven header designs. Such information as the name of the BBS, the name and number of the the file area, optional text which can be used to describe free file areas or CD-Rom file areas, and the total number of files and bytes which are available for download can be included depending on the header design selected. One of the headers even provides hints to callers on using SPITFIRE's file tagging feature. GHeader may optionally be configured to update the file size in the SFFILES.BBS and delete the file listing from the SFFILES.BBS if the file is not found. The Sysop can also use the configuration file to skip building headers in certain file areas, such as a file created for test purposes. It should also be noted that GHeader is designed to handle up to 9,999 file areas. GHeader can also make an all files listing for the BBS for callers to download. The configuration file provides several options here as well. The Sysop can define the name of the file to be created, whether to use ARJ or ZIP as the compression format in the file list archive, the file area the all files list will be placed into, the descriptive text that will be used for the all files list in the SFFILES.BBS, and any file areas which should not be included in the list. GHeader can also be used to create a list of the BBS message conferences and file areas, in other words, MGLST and FILST.BB/CLR. Like with the SFFILES.BBS, the Sysop has an option of seven header designs when creating these display files. The configuration file allows the Sysop to specify the security levels for which MGLST and FILST will be created. GHeader can be setup to use all of the above features or by simply toggling options in the configuration file the Sysop can designate which of these files GHeader will create. The documentation is very clear cut and easy to follow. The sample configuration which can be modified for use on your BBS has comment lines which offer instructions for each line. Also included are sample screens to assist you in selecting the header sign you prefer to use on your BBS. GHeader is written by Lon E. Green, Sysop of the Electronic Project BBS. Lon released the current version of GHeader in December of 1994 as a free program. Although, as mentioned in the documentation, contributions will be accepted as incentive to keep GHeader updated to provide support for future versions of SPITFIRE. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SFAME v.50 ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; Unlike GHEADER, I did not stumble across SFAME accidentally. Richard Lemaster contacted me in the late spring of last year and asked if I would consider beta testing SFAME during its development. The initial copy I received, though not fully functional, showed tremendous potential and I graciously accepted. It pleases me greatly to now be able to share SFAME with other SPITFIRE Sysops. SFAME, SPITFIRE Advanced Message Editor, is a full-screen message editor that interfaces directly with the SPITFIRE Message base. However, it also provides the BBS caller and the Sysop with numerous options which are not directly available from within SPITFIRE nor typically included with a full-screen editor. The Main Menu of SFAME gives the caller the option to Changing Message Conference, Changing Message Group, Listing Messages, Read Messages, Enter A Message, select the Sysop-configurable menu extension which uses Buffalo Creek Software's Lakota by default, Download Messages which have been saved to a QWK packet, Scan Your Messages, Alter Conference Queue, Alter Conference Group, Help With SFAME, Change Caller Settings, Quit To SPITFIRE or Goodbye and Log Off. For those not familiar with the term 'full-screen editor', perhaps some background information is in order. A full-screen editor allows a caller to move the cursor around the message body, editing the text in much the same manner as when using a text editor or word processor. The caller can easily position the cursor to the left or right, up or down using any number of options (by space, word, line, page, beginning, end, etc.). After placing the cursor in the desired location, the message text can then be edited to insert text, change the existing text or to remove the text. Lines can be inserted or deleted. Or, lines of text can be blocked for copying, moving or deleting from within the message body. SFAME gives the Sysop and the caller all the advantages of a full-screen editor when entering or replying to messages in SPITFIRE, but it also does much, much more. In fact, this review can not possibly provide a full report but instead will only touch on some of the more prominent features of SFAME. But hopefully, it will be enough to entice you to give SFAME a try. So to begin, each caller has the ability to configure their SFAME options. They can set such things as quote style, various SFAME display colors, taglines (macros), alias (provided the Sysop allows the use of aliases), and whether the message scan will include all conferences or their queued conference. The caller can readily receive help at any level of SFAME, from the caller configuration screen to the message editor. The caller may also choose to download SFAME's help file from SFAME's Main Menu. SFAME is specifically designed to be user friendly. Anyone who has used a BBS full-screen editor knows the confusion of trying to remember all the CTRL+ and ALT+ key command options. For the more advanced full-screen editor users, pressing CTRL+Z displays a help screen which shows each function of the CTRL and ALT keys. However, for the more novice messenger, SFAME greatly simplifies the process. By pressing CTRL+X a menu displays which allows the caller to select the task to be performed. It couldn't be easier! To mention just a few of the features available from this Menu (or by using the CTRL/ALT key commands), SFAME offers the following options to the caller: change the message subject, add to or delete from the carbon copy list, change the public/non-public status of the message, automatically insert the tagline macro or the name of the person the message is addressed to (or from) in the message text, quote the original message, route the message, perform a text search or upload a message (using protocols such as X, Y, or ZModem). A caller may also edit a saved message provided it has not already been received or a netmail message which has already been sent. SFAME also includes an entire array of features specifically designed for the BBS Sysop as well. From SFAME's configuration menu the Sysop can opt to use or not use SFAME's Message Conference Groups, Script Messaging, File Attaches, Alias Support, Main Menu Extension, Internet Address and/or Memory Swapping. (The length of this article prohibits explaining each of these in detail). The Sysop can also define the keystroke timeout delay, how the extension feature will appear in SFAME's Main Menu which the caller sees (if used), file name to use for the log file (if used), and whether the log record should be directed to a printer. The Sysop can use an asterisk (*) in the To: field of a message and the message will be sent to every caller on the BBS. Or using the * followed by up to five security levels (* 10 20 30) the message will be sent to each caller whose security matches that following the asterisk. The Sysop also has the ability to use many of SPITFIRE's default control character codes, which is extremely convenient when entering messages to all callers or callers of a specified security in the manner described above. The Sysop may toggle the message flags which indicate the netmail, public, deleted, and received status of the message. SFAME also uses many of the same function keys found in SPITFIRE to enter chat with the caller, add or take away time from the caller, log the caller off, etc. SFAME can be used locally from DOS, as well as while logged on the BBS either locally or remotely. SFAME may also be used to perform message scans (again either locally or from within SPITFIRE) by using the optional command line parameter, SCAN. It should be noted that SFAME is fully multi-node compatible, using Buffalo Creek's BCSHARE. Undoubtedly, something has probably been missed. However, I do hope this article provides an overview of Richard Lemaster's SFAME and its many features. SFAME050.ZIP was officially released in January 1995. The shareware version is completely functional with one exception, taglines will not be added from the TAGLINES.TXT file until registered. Registration is $15 in U.S. funds. The support from Richard has been second-to-none and he is very receptive to suggestions from Sysops. If you have any questions regarding SFAME, Richard can be reached through SFNET's SPITFIRE Utilities/Programs conference, through his Fidonet address: 1:170/260 or on his BBS (Over The Line BBS at (918) 250-0542). An updated version of SFAME is expected to be released in February. The revision will offer some fixes, a much faster screen display, the capability to extract a node ID from a SFNET Node List for routing purposes and the ability to steal taglines. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SFMKMSG v1.0 ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; SFMKMSG is a utility which gives SPITFIRE Sysops the ability to enter a message into any SPITFIRE Message Base as an event. Their are many reasons why a Sysop would want to use such a utility, and I would think that the most common use would be to enter a message in a SPITFIRE conference as a weekly event to insert a BBS Ad of your BBS (in the BBS Ads conference of a net). The use of SFMKMSG is very simple. It uses a text file which is has the following layout: Line 1 : Conference Number Line 2 : From Name Line 3 : To Name (Probably ALL) Line 4 : Subject Line 5 : Private (Y = Private N = Public) Line 6 : First Line Of Message ... And on until the end of the message ... Like my other utilities, SFMKMSG is freeware meaning that there is no fee required for the use of it. All updates of SFMKMSG will be available on my BBS (Hawk Eye BBS) or on Buffalo Creek BBS. Any comments or suggestions are welcomed! Article Contributed By John Kaye Sysop of Hawk Eye BBS * (416) 485-6052 ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SPITFIRE BOARD-OF-THE-MONTH ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; The Country Owl BBS Jim Walsh, Sysop SFNET Node A0519008 Hello SPITFIRE Friends. I was quite surprised to learn that The Country Owl BBS had been selected as SPITFIRE Board of the Month. Now, a little history about the board. I am married to a wonderful woman, and have 3 great kids and we live in the country with a few animals and lot's of room. In 1990, it became apparent to us that we would need to get a computer, even though I had said I would never want one of "those things" in our home. But, as our children were growing older it became clear we would need a computer to meet their academic needs. So, we brought it home, and plugged it in and then began my fascination with computers. It had a great big 20 meg hard drive, a CGA monitor, and printer. We thought we had hit the big time. In the back of my mind I was also wondering about a thing called a "modem". I bugged my wife until she agreed that we could purchase a modem and see what was out there. I bought a supra 2400 baud modem, and then began my amazement with bulletin boards, and online services. I was a member of AOL for a short time. Then, I began calling some of the boards in the city. Then I got the idea in my head that I would like to try and set up a BBS on my computer, even though we have a very small population base here, I thought I would try it. I found a copy of SPITFIRE 2.8 on a city BBS, and I unpacked it, and I was hooked. I began setting up all the file areas, and creating my display files. I didn't know what I was doing, and I was lucky enough to hook up with a couple of good fellows I should mention now. One fellow is Jim Skeffington, from Maine. Don't ask me how I ended up calling there, but I did, and he put me on to TheDraw, and a few other programs that helped me to get things looking better. Also, Henry Westbrook helped me a great deal by answering my many, many questions, often times when I was in a panic, thinking I must have "broken" something. Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the help you have given me. Anyway, I got the BBS set up, and I was ready to roll. I started in October 1993 and after a couple of ads in the local newspaper, I finally got a call. What a thrill it was for me. Eventually, I got more callers. I was certain many people in my area had a modem, but never had a place to call, so they just never bothered hooking it up. I was right, and today I have around 60 callers, which is a lot for this small area. One thing I was disturbed about was some of the things I saw on a couple of city boards in the early days. I am proud to offer a CLEAN board, one that parents can let their kids call and not have to worry what they may see. This is something I am very proud of, and I am really happy to have many children call my BBS. In fact, being in a rural area, we have whole families call, and play doors, and so on. Soon after SFNET was launched, I got the itch for NET mail. I had been on other nets before, but I never figured I would be able to have NET mail on my little country BBS. Well, thanks to Chuck Eisenmenger, and Henry Westbrook, I am now happy to report that SFNET is running well here in the boonies, and many of my callers are involved in SFNET. My children, and my bride are also contributors to SFNET. I am glad that there is a FAMILY net they can get involved in. One that cares about principles, and the family. Finally, I knew I would have to upgrade. I was running the BBS, and had net mail still all running on the old xt with the 20 meg hd. So, I went out and purchased a new 486, with a 210 meg hd, and a 14.4 USR. I am very happy with The Country Owl BBS. It has turned into quite a hobby. I have also met many friends through SFNET, and I am grateful for the opportunities I have had. I also am fortunate enough to be the moderator of the Men's Issues Conference. This is a topic I care much about. I would like to say a great big thank you to Mike Woltz at this time for all the help I have received from him. I have only used SPITFIRE BBS software because I KNOW that the quality, and the personal, down to earth support are second to none. Thanks Mike! And, thank you for selecting The Country Owl BBS as SPITFIRE Board of the Month, it is truly an honor. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ SPITFIRE SYSOP-OF-THE-MONTH ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; Timothy J. Ward The Ultimate House of Fun BBS (301) 870-9182 - Node 1 (301) 705-7115 - Node 2 (301) 870-9885 - Voice SFnet: A0301000, FidoNet: 1:109/813 CircuitNet: 169:301/0, XeroNet: 131:3010/100 MCPnet: 233:564/305, InterNet: tim.ward@ulti-house-o-fun.com I must say it is an honor to become a SysOp of the Month, but the only problem is having to write something about myself! As a few of the SysOps around the nets will tell you, I don't like to blow my own horn and really only talk when spoken too first so I'll just tell you the story of my BBS..... The Ultimate House of Fun BBS has been through some rough times lately, but is back up and running better than ever. The BBS started out as Tim's House of Fun BBS way back in December 1991 using SPITFIRE 3.0. I really didn't plan on running a BBS but really just wanted to see what one would look like from the SysOp's end. I looked at a Wildcat test drive but didn't like the limits it set or the way it ran, that is when I found SPITFIRE 3.0 and the rest as they say is history! When the BBS first started, it was running on a 386sx/16 with a 40 meg hard drive and a 2400 baud modem (that I thought I would never use). Over the years it grew to a 486dx 33 with a 1 gig hard drive, 14.4 modem, and a Pioneer 602x cd changer! Just six months ago I met up with another local SPITFIRE SysOp, Carl Blumenstein, and we decided to merge our two one node BBS's into one two node BBS. I picked up Tim's House of Fun BBS and moved it all to his house and merged with The Ultimate Domain BBS. The Ultimate House of Fun BBS was born! Well, after six months of sinking money into it Carl decided to pull out and that is why the phone numbers changed once again! To make this long story short right after Christmas the BBS was again taken apart and brought back home. The BBS is currently run on a Novell Network with 2 486dx and 1 386 machine, 2 14.4 modems, 1 gig hard drive, and the Pioneer cd changer. A big difference from December 1991! As many of you may know about a year ago I started programming for SPITFIRE and have many SPITFIRE utilities out there as shareware and freeware. I started writing these utilities just to make my board different from the rest and then decided to share them with other SysOps. A lot of the programs that I have created are Free or are priced very reasonable. The most expensive program that I have released is my first door that supports many BBS drop files, Pyramid Solitaire, which is $10.00! I got tired of shelling out $5.00 here and $12.00 there for small programs that only took me about a day or two to write, that is why you will see most of my programs priced below $5.00 (usually $1.00). As for the personal stuff, I am 24 year old programmer , just can't get enough of it! I am married to a very understanding wife, thankfully! As you can tell from the start of this little writing I am available on just about every mail network that I know of, plus I openly give out my voice number to anyone... I try to give the best support possible to my programs, therefore I should be very easy to get in touch with. Well, guess that took up enough of the newsletter, hope that didn't bore you all too much! Thanks to Mike for writing SPITFIRE. Thanks to all the SysOps that have helped me out while I was writing T&T Software, it would be too long a list and they all know who they are anyway! A very special thanks to those SysOps that have registered T&T Software, it is greatly appreciated. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ NEWLY REGISTERED SPITFIRE SYSTEMS ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; A hearty welcome is extended to the following, who have recently become public registered SPITFIRE Bulletin Board Systems: Condom HQ...................................33-1-4670-7562...14400 BPS O.M.J., Sysop...................................Ivry-Sur-Seine, France Sharky's BBS..................................414-332-2502...19200 BPS John Turner, Sysop............................Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin The 386th Precinct............................813-898-4003...28800 BPS George P. Crowell, Sysop.......................St. Petersburg, Florida Mellow Land...................................708-484-3778...14400 BPS Wayne Dean, Sysop...................................Stickney, Illinois Armageddon....................................908-323-8884...14400 BPS Doug Velting, Sysop................................Jackson, New Jersey OST'S BBS.....................................717-733-1979...19200 BPS Michael Weiler, Sysop............................Ephrata, Pennsylvania Byte Wize BBS.................................317-858-0343...28800 BPS Brandon Rogers, Sysop..............................Brownsburg, Indiana Light Crusader................................501-329-1690..115200 BPS John Cantabery, Sysop.................................Conway, Arkansas Life quest BBS................................909-425-0622...14400 BPS Farrell Hamill, Sysop...............................Patton, California Josh's Place in Travis' World................Unknown Phone...14400 BPS Travis McLemore, Sysop....................................Newton, Iowa The Lovelock Silver Mine......................702-273-0729...28800 BPS William Allen, Sysop..................................Lovelock, Nevada Terminatins Experience........................312-778-3287...14400 BPS Rodney Ulanowicz, Sysop..............................Chicago, Illinois Mega - Bytes BBS..............................334-712-2823...19200 BPS Michael Pogue, Sysop...................................Dothan, Alabama Info Board....................................717-957-4253...28800 BPS Doug Hilbert, Sysop...........................Marysville, Pennsylvania Grand Central................................Unknown Phone...14400 BPS William A. Pointer, Sysop...................Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Offline Online.................................812-279-2855..14400 BPS Will Wade, Sysop......................................Bedford, Indiana Buck's Ballistics BBS.........................907-372-4404...14400 BPS Michael Branam, Sysop..................................Eielson, Alaska The Inter-Galactic BBS........................319-264-5884...28800 BPS Bradley Lamb, Sysop....................................Muscatine, Iowa The Hack Shack BBS............................606-573-2054...14400 BPS William Daniels, Sysop.................................Smith, Kentucky In addition, there was 6 new private SPITFIRE BBS Systems registered. The private SPITFIRE BBS was registered to Sysops in Centralia, Washington; Marshalltown, Iowa; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona and Conway Springs, Kansas. There were 14 registrations for whom registration information was incomplete. These included BBS's in: Depew, New York; Tucson, Arizona; an APO address; Kennebunk, Maine; Alexandria, Louisiana; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Hanover, Pennsylvania; Houston, Texas; Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada; Cincinnati, Ohio and Las Vegas, Nevada. The increase in registrations where information is incomplete is largely due to Buffalo Creek's Software's policy of accepting on-line Mastercard and Visa credit card registrations. JUST A REMINDER...the newsletter is always looking for contributions! Please forward any articles in ASCII text to either Buffalo Creek's BBS or The Mother Board BBS.