Pencin@kentucky.UUCP (11/04/87)
Finally ! The latest version of the Public Bulletin Board System ( PBBS) is now available from several systems nation wide. It may be obtained from the official release point system The Dallas Connection in Mt.View, Ca. by calling (415) 964-4356 ( 3/12/2400 baud). Following is an excerpt from the update file in the PBBS-04.LBR. Name Length Method Date CRC Comments ============ ====== ======== ========= ==== ==================== ACKNOWLG.PZS 2.00k Crunched 01 Nov 87 8231 Acknowledgements BDOSHDR .MZC 1.50k Crunched 01 Nov 87 F965 Time and date interface PBBS04 .MZC 73.62k Crunched 01 Nov 87 E026 Pbbs 4.0 main module PBBS04 .UZD 3.62k Crunched 01 Nov 87 C6FD Pbbs 4.0 updates PBBSHDR .MZC 16.37k Crunched 01 Nov 87 CDD0 Pbbs 4.0 definition modul PBBSUBS .REL 6.00k -- 01 Nov 87 D100 PBYE04 .MZC 24.00k Crunched 01 Nov 87 36BA Pbbs 4.0 signoff module PCHAT04 .MZC 5.62k Crunched 01 Nov 87 E583 Pbbs 4.0 chat module PMNT04 .MZC 33.12k Crunched 01 Nov 87 2D73 Pbbs 4.0 maintenance modu PNOTE04 .MZC 14.12k Crunched 01 Nov 87 93FB Pbbs 4.0 note module PBBS version 4.0 Changes from Previous Versions This release fixes all known bugs in version 3.0. PBBSHDR: ZCPR3 compatiblity/enhancements from Ron Hilgert and others. Added equates to support the DISKLOG feature of BYE510. This also requires a new location in low memory (DSKFLG:) to allow the DISKLOG to be turned on and off. A new flag (DSKLOG:) was added to allow the sysop to disable the disklog code if he is not using it. Added DSPCLR flag to allow/disable displaying the last 13 callers when PBYE logs the caller off of the system. Only 13 callers are displayed, since this is all that will fit on the screen with the rest of the messages between callers. Added support for separate DUs for new CP/M and MS-DOS uploads. If the MSDOS: equate is yes, then the system will ask each user (level 3 and up) which operating system he prefers. Then, when he jumps from PBBS to CP/M, he will be sent to the appropriate DU. This question is only asked one time. Added equates to allow the BULLETIN.PBS file to be displayed at login (BULTIN:) and to allow a different welcome file for each user level from 2 to 7 (WELCUM:). Added equate to allow the sysop to display system usage stats at each login (DSTATS:). See PBBS section for details of stats. Sysop may now choose whether he wants to ask each user for comments at signoff by setting the EXCMT equate. Added equate to allow 2 methods of displaying messages during a READ comand (SKPHDR:). Sysop may choose whether to show the header and the message at one time or to show just the header and then ask the user if he wishes to read the message. Added necessary EXT's to header to take advantage of new PBBSUBS routines suggested and provided by Ian Cottrell. Added new hash table to more closely follow the normal distribution of last names throughout the alphabet. PBBS: Included the "U" by user level into the standard command. Any user may scan users by access level - up to own level only. Fixed the YAK problem of loosing unlimited time users when Yakking. Fixed the message pause counter problem seen when listing a long message during the message entry/edit section. Added the capability to ask for NEW+ or N+ and get a non-stop dump of all of the new messages since you were last on. New auto wrap routines during message entry, thanks to Irv Hoff. When a user uses the WHATSNEW feature to view new uploads, the system now shows him where in the list his last log-in occurred. Super new routines from Dick Roberts. PBBS now uses a new hash routine to improve the effectiveness of the user lookup routines. System now prompts new users for a desired screen width (from 39 to 78) and uses this width when displaying messages, etc. From Irv again. Dick Roberts added routines to keep track of the number of users and total active time for the system each day. The number of users for the current day and the percentage usage of the system for the current day and the previous day may optionally be displayed to each user at login. Syste deposit users into the appropriate area when they leave PBBS. Each time the [more] prompt is displayed, users may enter a space (space bar) to advance the screen 1 line (and display the [more] prompt again). Entry of any other character causes another full screen to be displayed. Changed the prompts on the message headers to R)ead, P)revious, N)ext or E)xit. Changed the prompts after a message display to ......... PMAINT: Added a feature that was submitted by Terry Pinto that displays the record number of the user next to his name when displaying user records from PMAINT. Defeatured the (8) command to only show the users that are going to be deleated on the next PBYE user purge. I did this to allow you to recover from catastrophic clock failures without destroying your user and message bases. Ian Cottrell added the complete sort routine for the user rehash selection. Now there is no need for an external program to do this. Thanks IAN. New hash routines also used here. When the sysop renumbers the message base, each user's previous high message counter is translated to the appropriate message in the new numbering scheme. Users no longer lose their place in the message base whenever the messages are renumbered. PBBSUBS: In the process of cleaning up some code in PBBSUBS, I discovered that they have never checked for DISK FULL condition when writting to the disk. I suppect that much of the strange behavior that was un-trackable was in fact due to this problem. Please use only the new version of PBBSUBS.REL from now on. The error messages have been expanded to give you a better idea of what may have caused the problem. All hardcopy support routines have been moved to the SUBS, and eliminated from the PMAINT program. Several routines were re-coded to take advantage of new techniques for moving data - Thanks Ian. Added several new routines and cleaned up much of the code to streamline the 'subs' routines. ALL OTHERS Added necessay code to take advantage of new PBBSUBS routines and new flags in PBBSHDR. Installation Notes for PBBS 4.0 All previous PBBS utilities are obsoleted by this release. None of them will work after installing this system. All of the PBBS message and users files are fully compatible, BUT, you must pack the message base using your old PBBSMNT prior to installing the new system. You MUST use the new PBBSUBS.REL file provided. INSTALLATION: 1) Using your old PBBSMNT, pack the message base to remove all deleted messages. The old way of deleting messages is incompatible with the (R),(D) flags. 2) Go through the PBBSHDR.MAC file and set the equates for your system. All previous hdrs are obsolete and cannot be used. Then assemble and link all PBBS 4.0 files. NOTE: If you decide to use the WELCUM equate, you will need to build text files for user levels between 2 and 7. These files are named WELCOM#.PBS, where the # is replaced with the user's level. 3) Rehash your users file with the new PBBSMNT. This will set the new hash order and allow the rest of the programs to function. Russ
W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA (Keith Petersen) (11/05/87)
The new version 4.0 of Russ Pencin's PBBS program for CP/M computers is available via standard anonymous FTP from SIMTEL20. Filename Type Bytes CRC Directory PD:<CPM.PBBS> PBBS-04.LBR.1 BINARY 184704 A95CH PBBSUP-4.LBR.1 BINARY 91264 656DH PBBSUTL4.LBR.1 BINARY 8320 ED4EH These files are also available on my RCP/M and on GEnie's CP/M RoundTable. --Keith Petersen Arpa: W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA Uucp: {bellcore,decwrl,harvard,lll-crg,ucbvax,uw-beaver}!simtel20.arpa!w8sdz GEnie: W8SDZ RCP/M Royal Oak: 313-759-6569 - 300, 1200, 2400 (V.22bis) or 9600 (USR HST)