SFTEXT Version 1.0 Shareware from Bob Zimmerman Table of Contents _________________ OVERVIEW..............................................2 INSTALLATION..........................................2 SFTEXT Start Up Parameters............................4 DESCRIPTION OF FILES..................................4 REGISTRATION..........................................5 -1- SFTEXT Version 1.0 Shareware from Bob Zimmerman OVERVIEW -------- SFText is a simple door program that allows you to "organize" any .TXT files so callers can view them on-line. If you have several "bulletins" that are more like .TXT files, and you would like the callers to be able to read these files from an extended menu or the door menu, SFText will do it. INSTALLATION ------------ This program can be run from a number of different menus. It may be setup as a Sysop Configurable Option from the Main, Message or File Menus. It may also be setup as a door program, or an option from one of the Extended Menus (SFMENUEXT.ZIP). I am not going to detail every type of installation. Check the Spitfire manual for that. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on the Mainframe. For installing this door, place a single copy of SFTEXT somewhere in your path or in an 'SFTEXT' directory. Create your .TXT files that you want the callers to be able to display. Place them in a sub-directory. I recommend you create a directory for SFTEXT and place all of these files in it. In addition, place the SFTEXT.EXE program in it. The final step is creating the menu file SFTEXT will use. The menu file can be called anything you like! For our example, let us say I call it MENU.DAT. Create this file with an ASCII editor and format each line of this file as follows: Menu Option, Non-color file, Color file where Menu Option and Non-color file are required fields. The following describes the format for the menu file: -2- SFTEXT Version 1.0 Shareware from Bob Zimmerman Menu Option: is the text you want listed on the menu. For example, if you have a file that describes the rules for paging the sysop, you may want to label the menu option as 'Rules for Paging the Sysop'. Non-color file: This is the name of the file that is displayed to the caller, if they logged on without ANSI Color Graphics. Color file: This is the name of the file that is displayed to callers logged on with color. If this parameter is not given, then the Non-color file is used. If this file is not found, then the Non-color file is used. You may place up to 16 options on a single SFTEXT menu file. The FINAL step is hooking this into a door or Sysop Configurable Menu option. Check your spitfire manual for details, but to install this from a menu, for example, the Main Menu, create SFMAIN.BAT with the following lines: COPY SFMAIN.DAT C:\SFTEXT where C:\SFTEXT is your SFTEXT directory containing all of the .TXT files. C: CD\SFTEXT SFTEXT MENU.DAT where MENU.DAT is the menu file you want to use. -3- SFTEXT Version 1.0 Shareware from Bob Zimmerman SFTEXT Start Up Parameters -------------------------- When invoking SFTEXT, there are several start up parms on the command line. The first parameter which is required is the name of the MENU file you created. The next parameters are all optional. The /BBSCLR switch tells SFTEXT to support some of the Spitfire control codes in the .TXT file. This includes ASCII 2 to inhibit the MORE prompt, ASCII 3 to disable the caller from breaking out, ASCII 14 to allow a caller to interupt the display (undo an ASCII 3) and ASCII 16 to undo an ASCII 2 and re-enable the MORE prompt. These are described in the Spitfire manual. Without the /BBSCLR switch, these codes are ignored and treated as text. The only other parameter is the /PRE: parameter. If specified, this specifies the name of a file that will be displayed to the caller, before presenting the menu. For example, it may be an introduction to the menu and it's purpose. It is NOT displayed every time the menu is displayed. Only the one time when the door is started. DESCRIPTION OF FILES -------------------- SFTEXT.EXE The actual program SFTEXT.TXT The documentation (this file) SAMPLE.MNU A sample menu file -4- SFTEXT Version 1.0 Shareware from Bob Zimmerman REGISTRATION ------------ A free copy of SFTEXT is supplied to any sysop registering SpitMail. I will try and help anyone trying to use this utility. If you need ongoing support, registration is required. Remember, I get suggestions from many folks! My registered users can tell you that I almost always put in their requests as soon as time allows. Registration will keep me writing software like SpitMail an SFFILES and will keep it going for you. All questions, support issues and registrations should be directed to the following BBS and mailing address: Bob Zimmerman, Sysop: The Mainframe BBS Data: (708) 364-0425 9600/2400/1200 CompuServ 72371,1700 MCI 386-4706 The Mainframe BBS PO Box 1387 Arlington Hts, IL 60006 The above mailing address must be used for registration! For the current version of SFText (1.0), registration is $5.00. When this is received, a ZIP file containing your registered software will be made available on The Mainframe BBS so you can download it. You will use option O of the File Menu and then option A. If you want me to send you the disk add $5 for 5 1/4 inch disk or $7 for 3 1/2 disk. If you prefer, your package can be delivered via EASYPLEX of COMPUSERV. Add $5 to your registration fee for this type of delivery. -5-