Release Notes for GT POWER 17.00
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Release Notes for GT POWER 17.00
October 25, 1991
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o Binary message upload has been implemented using only internal protocols.
To use the message upload feature, the caller begins a message in the
usual way, but hits RETURN on the first line, or wherever the upload is
to begin. Then the caller selects (U)pload from the message sub-menu.
The filename is not asked for, but goes automatically to a temporary
work area. The uploaded message is tested for text and/or graphics and
is rejected if found to be improper for inclusion in the message base.
If the file is okay, it is appended to the text already entered (if any)
and the message is stored.
The uploaded message can contain any sort of ANSI graphics and may
contain lines up to 255 characters in length (counting cr/lf pairs
at the end of each line).
o The phone directory must be converted to a new format. The new format
includes a field called "Dial Prefix Override". Normally, ATDT or whatever
you have in your Modem Dial Prefix is adequate, but sometimes a special
prefix is required (for example to use a special Xn value). Like this:
ATX5DT
Which would enable X5 for this particular call. Use the new GT_UTIL.COM
to convert your directories.
o The SYSOP.BBS file has undergone considerable changes. Please be careful
when installing it.
o File tagging. Whenever the caller lists files, using (F), (W), (I)
or (L) commands, the option to tag files for later download is offerred.
Tagging can be done by positioning the cursor and pressing [Enter], or
the (F)ilename can be entered manually. The file database is used to
lookup files, in case they are not in the current area.
The main menu has a new command, ET, which will let the caller review
that list of tagged files and delete files from the list. This is
helpful if the caller has been over zealous in his tagging operations.
If not enough time to download all tagged files occurs, GT will offer
the ET command automatically.
o The scheduler has been enhanced, so that times between midnight and
1am *may* now be specified as 00:xx. Please note that many 3rd party
programs may not support this format.
Also note, the old format, i.e. 24:xx, is still usable. In any case,
the schedule must be presented in numerical order in the SCHEDULE.BBS
file. But the two styles should not be mixed. Decide which you wish
to use, either 00: or 24: and stay with it.
o New CLASS permissions for the GTPASSWD.BBS file.
NN ... No name uploads. Users that have this permission will not
have the name recorded in the FILES.BBS when they upload a
file.
NX ... No expert mode. Users that have this permission will not
have access to the 'expert' mode.
RC ... Require Credit. Netmail credit is required for all netmail
messages, when users have this permission
This is introduced to help nets that are spread out over a
large chunk of real estate and calls are mostly long distance
(toll calls).
BP ... Bypass logon. This permission allows callers to bypass all
the steps between logon and main menu. In effect, a shortcut
logon procedure.
BO ... This option should NOT be specified by itself. This option
modifies the meaning of the BP option and should only be
specified with it. The BO option caused only bulletins to be
bypassed during the logon procedure.
o New ^U substitutions have been developed:
DT = Amount downloaded, so far today, in thousands.
DL = Daily download limit, in thousands.
TB = Time Bank total.
TW = Time Bank daily withdrawal limit.
TD = Time Bank daily deposit limit.
XD = Expiration date
XP = Past expiration date, number of days
XU = Until expiration date, number of days
XL = Warning interval, number of days
o Work has been done on the ASCII transmit feature, Alt-A command, in
terminal mode. It works somewhat more smoothly, and a potential loss
of interrupt bug has been located and fixed. But I have a general
observation, when transmit and receive baud rates vary a great deal, i.e.
38,400 for transmit and 300 for receive, or other widely different rates,
it would be wise to use a delay factor per character and per line.
In this example, I would suggest about 33 ms for the per character
delay, and perhaps 100 ms per line. Makes things go much more smoothly.
And, since 300 baud is the receive speed, there is not much to be gained
by going faster.
o It is now possible to address a message, personally, to everyone who
calls your system. Simply list the following as the TO: address:
^UN
Those of you familiar with the ^U entries will recognize the 'N' as the
substitution variable for the caller's name. In effect, this message
would appear, for all practical purposes, to be addressed to each
caller personally.
Again, this will not work well in net/echomail, since other GT host
systems will not know what to do with the substitution. In effect, on
those systems, the message would appear to be addressed to N, as the
^U will be stripped out.
Please note that ^U is just the symbol for the Ctrl-U character... do
not put the characters ^ and U, put the Ctrl-U character.
o It is now possible to embed ^U lines into messages. For example you
could begin a message like this:
^U"Hello "F":"
Those of you using ^U entries are familiar with this, I believe. All
substitutions are available for message entry. However, please note,
these lines will not work well in net/echomail, since other GT host
systems will not print the ^U line at all.
In effect, this allows you to customize messages, just like you could
customize bulletins, etc.
Please note that ^U is just the symbol for the Ctrl-U character... do
not put the characters ^ and U, put the Ctrl-U character.
o A new .BBS file is included with this release: TAGWARN.BBS
It is displayed prior to logoff, if the caller is departing with
some files left tagged, but not downloaded.
o The DIAL family of script command that accept the REDIAL option
are now capable of accepting a limiting number to the redial attempts.
Here is an example:
DIAL 897-9549 WITH 50 REDIALS
The 'S' on the word 'REDIALS' is optional.
o The personal mail check, at logon, has been sped up considerably.
This mail check now uses a field in the USER_MSG files to record
the highest message scanned. So that previously scanned messages
are not re-scanned during subsequent logons. This should reduce the
very long series of '......' that usually appear on the screen. It
will take at least one logon to get the highest scanned message
number recorded, but after that, it should kick in nicely.
o The pre-event wait is now sysop configurable. It is accomplished via
a new command line option for GT, "/PE". For example:
GT1600 *xxxx-xxxx /PE03:OFF
This would specify a 3 minute pre-event wait and have GT
take the phone offhook during the wait.
GT1600 *xxxx-xxxx /PE08
This would specify an 8 minute pre-event wait and the phone
would not go offhook during the wait.
Please note, to enable this feature to work, the sysop should have the
hook control strings under Alt-I properly setup for the specific modem.
Normally: Offhook ...... ATH1|
Onhook ....... ATH0|
o Also, some of the timing changes in the terminal dialing procedure
have cause some surprises. Most of them effect the dialing status
displays, and may be corrected by adding an ~ to the dial post string.
Many folks use simply '|' for the dial post string, but certain modems
may benefit, now, from "|~" as the dial post string.
o The Ymodem and Ymodem-G header blocks have been corrected. Prior versions
of GT used (or attempted to use) local time in these header blocks for the
file creation date/time. That was incorrect and incompatible with the
Omen Technologies standard, i.e. GMT time is called for in those header
blocks. You must correctly set the TZ environment variable to enable
correct GMT calculation (as described above).
o The TZ= enviroment variable must be set by everyone due to the requirement
of the Ymodem and Ymodem-G header block. These two protocols require that
the time be passed in GMT. The GMT time can only be calculated with the
aid of some information indicating the current offset from GMT. The
TZ= variable does this. As follows:
set TZ=EST5EDT
Whese: 'EST' stands for Eastern Standard Time. 5 is the number of
hours behind GMT that the time zone normally is. 'EDT' means
that daylight saving time is in effect, i.e the 5 will be
reduced by 1 hour automatically. If the time zone was not
currently on daylight time, then this would be required:
set TZ=EST5
That means that this set needs to be changed twice a year.
Here are some other "set" statements:
set TZ=GMT0
This is for the UK and other countries operating in the GMT
time zone.
set TZ=EUR-1
This would be for a European time zone that is 1 hour ahead
of GMT.
set TZ=PST8PDT
This would be Pacific Standard Time, 8 hours behind GMT and
currently on daylight savings time, i.e. the actual difference
is 1 hour less.
o A daily download limit has been introduced. The limit is specified in
the GTPASSWD.BBS file within the [...] on the CLASS and password entry.
As follows:
E1 [0:10,3/1000,2:00] CLASS UP,DN,MS,KL,PR
^^^^
Please notice the new field following the number of calls per day. On
the CLASS card you see "3/1000", this means 3 calls per day and 1000k
per day download limit. The number is an integer from 1 to 32767 and
is measured in "k" or thousands.
o The Time Bank has been introduced. It allows a caller to gain time
credits (minutes) for uploading file and leaving messages. Deductions
are taken for downloading files. Also, the caller can manually withdraw
time from the accumulated total, allowing him to download more files or
read more messages. The feature is implemented by a permission on the
CLASS entry, in the GTPASSWD.BBS file, as follows:
E1 [1:00,5/300,2:00,C:\UP] CLASS UP,DN,DR,MS,TB=01/02/03/04/03/00/05:060/060
Notice the TB= entry at the end of the permission list. Each field is
of a fixed length, as shown. Fields may NOT be omitted from the list,
however they may be zeroed out, if not wanted. The fields are defined
as follows:
uk = Upload time bank credit per 100k uploaded. If possible, this
amount is rounded and pro-rata for lesser uploads. For example
if "uk" is 2, then a 50k upload would get a credit of 1.
uf = Upload time bank credit per file uploaded.
dk = Download time bank deduct per 100k downloaded. If possible,
this amount is rounded and pro-rata for lesser downloads (as is
done with "uk").
df = Download time bank deduct per file downloaded.
me = Message entry time bank credit per message entered.
mr ... credit given for reading a message.
mk ... deduction taken for killing a message.
dl = Daily limit on time bank deposits (credits).
wl = Daily limit on time bank withdrawals (deducts).
From the main menu, the caller may select the TB command and convert
time bank credits into netmail credits. The TB command will also allow
callers to withdraw credits and have the time added to their current
connect limit. Consideration of scheduled events is made.
o Thanks to Ken Thompson of the Black Hole in Sydney, the DV chat feature
is now ready. Ken has written a customized version of DOORMAN to use with
DESQview, which allows multiple sessions of GT to use the CB Simulator,
much as it done when GT operates on a LAN.
In order to use this feature, you must setup each copy of GT as if it were
pretty much on a separate machine connected by a LAN. The LAN Parameters,
option #37 under Alt-I, must be filled out. Especially important is the
LAN PATH, that is where the PID_FILE and the USER files will be stored.
The PID_FILE is used by the CB simulator to tell who is on the system,
so the LAN PATH should point to a shared area, i.e. all pids should have
the same LAN PATH. Each pid should have a unique pid number, from 0 to 31,
but the pid name is pretty much an individual creation. Each host batch
file should designate a unique GTPATH for each DV window, and each host
batch file should load DVDOOR for each DV window. Sample screens for the
CB mode have been included.
It is important that DVDOOR is loaded after DESQview, for each window
running GT, otherwise it just won't work. Also, it would probably be
wise to use SHARE, but I am not sure when or how that should be loaded
under DESQview.
Here is a sample of the batch file I used to test the feature:
cd \
c:
cd \gt1
set GTPATH=c:\gt1
set TZ=MST7
dvdoor
:host1
Gt1700 *xxxx-xxxx /T5 /MN /S /Q /V:ED /L1 host.scr
if errorlevel 255 goto host1
if errorlevel 4 netmail
cd \
c:
cd \gt1
This is pretty much the exact file I used, with small modifications,
on each DV window. The changes are pretty modest, but here is an example
for window #2:
cd \
c:
cd \gt2
set GTPATH=c:\gt2
set TZ=MST7
dvdoor
:host2
Gt1700 *xxxx-xxxx /T5 /MN /S /Q /V:ED /L1 host.scr
if errorlevel 255 goto host2
cd \
c:
cd \gt2
Notice that netmail is only run in window #1. And that directory names
have been changed to GT2... I setup a new directory for each window I
ran GT in. Pretty minor changes, just common sense stuff.
Remember (Z) is the command key a caller uses to start the CB Simulator!
Thanks, Ken, for all the good work you did to produce the driver for this
new feature!
o Most of the bulletins and screens, including messages, can temporarily
be placed into non-stop mode by answering "ns" to the "More? " prompt.
o DTR is now dropped during the pre-event wait. Thus making sure that
the modem does not answer during that period.
o Full screen editing is now possible. When entering a message, in the
past, you had to (E)dit the message, then enter the line number, then
type the old string and the new string. Now you can simply arrow up
and change the information. This can be done while at the message
entry sub-menu, while sitting at the "More?" prompt while listing a
message, prior to storage, and of course, anytime while typing in the
message.
Note: Callers that do not use fully ANSI compatible terminal programs
*WILL* have a problem with these new message features.
o The (I)nsert option from the message entry sub-menu now allows
multiple lines to be entered, until you enter a empty line. The
usage of the arrow keys is allowed during all (I)nsert operations.
The arrows will sometimes appear to jump across areas of the screen
that do not have message text.
o The BPLOGON.BAT file will be executed as a logon door for callers that
have the BP permission --- if the caller answers "y" to the bypass
prompt. If the BO permission is specified, the BPLOGON.BAT file
will not execute.
o Every attempt is now made to log verbose result codes that are
returned by the modem. For some cases, such as "Dialling Scripts",
this is not currently possible. But, in host mode and normal terminal
mode, GT will log the verbose result codes (the word ANSWER is still
used in host mode, but the particulars following it are reported
verbatim).
o The security of private netmail has been increased.
o The [S]can function has been reworked. A two line format has been adopted,
so that more message headers can be shown per screen.
o The handling of duplicate file reception, via external protocols, has
been improved. Improved diagnostic information is now logged. However,
I am a bit sanguine about whether this is an improvement. Hopefully, it
will help troubled users to find solutions.
o Netmail Reply. Users that have netmail credits will now be given the
option to send reply messages via netmail. This should be very handy.
But, of course, is only available if your system is connected to the
GT Network.
o The netmail reply mechanism can be denied on a message base level.
The "#" character is used to accomplish this. Place it in front
of the pathname in the GTMDIR.BBS file. Like this:
E #^C:\GT\BASE1 General message area
The "#" will disallow netmail replies when callers are reading in
this conference.
o The message checking functions, like the "RG" command and the logon
mail check, have been modified so that the Ctrl-K and Ctrl-C keys can
be used to abort the search during a long sequence of "**********".
o File and message areas may now be grouped into boards. The idea is to
group file/message areas together in some logical manner. In the
GTMDIR.BBS and GTDIR.BBS files, a group is denoted by a group header,
like this:
.Z GENERAL General Board
Z #^C:\GT General message area
Z ~C:\MAIL Netmail area
.D DEVELOP Development Board
Z ^D:\BETA_ECO BETA Test Echo
Z ^D:\GT_ECHO GT POWER
.=D NETWORK GT Network Sysop Board
Z ^C:\SYS GT Network Sysops
Z ^D:\NODE_ECO The NODELIST
Z ^D:\ECHO_ECO The ECHOLIST
.D PROGRAMMING Programming Support Board
Z ^D:\C_HELP The C Help Line
Z ^D:\PRG_HELP Programming Langauages
In the above example, there are 4 goups. Each group begins with a
group header. A group header is identified by the first character on
the line being a '.' character. The 2nd character on the group header
is usually an access level -- the minimum required for access to the
group. But note the 3rd group, the group header begins ".=D", this
denotes a group reserved for the 'D' access level only. After the
access level there is a blank, then the group-name, followed by a blank
and then the menu description for the group. The message base entries
following each group header belong to that group, until a new group header
is encountered. The group-name should be unique in the first 8 characters,
but may be up to 30 characters in total length.
There is something special about groups as far as mail checks go. The
first message base in a group controls whether or not the group will be
scanned for mail. This affects the "RG" command, as well as the logon
mail check.
Oh! I almost forgot. "Groups" are optional! GT will continue to be
able to handle GTMDIR.BBS and GTDIR.BBS without groups!
o The SYSOP.EXE program has been upgraded to process "groups" (had to
change it to avoid the entries with a '.' as the first character), and
the expire date can now be entered and used to purge callers.
o Concerning the new expiration date, the sysop can specify a warning
interval. This is under Alt-I, the miscellaneous options, at the very
bottom, #19 I believe.
When a caller is within this "warning interval" of the expiration date
he/she will receive a warning that the expiration date is near and the
XWARNING.BBS file will be displayed.
When a caller has an expired account, GT will notify him/her of that
fact and will display the EXPIRED.BBS file. Also, GT will automatically
lower the caller's access level to 'z'. Lowercase 'z'. It would be
extremely wise if sysops have a CLASS entry in the GTPASSWD.BBS file for
the 'z' access level. 'z' is the lowest possible access level.
In the event that no 'z' CLASS record is located, GT will give 10 minutes
and 2 calls per day. No file transfers authorized, just message services.
However, IT IS IMPORTANT to note that the default message and file areas
should be given a 'z' access, otherwise these callers will find themselves
looking at your pathnames. Try it, you'll see what I mean.
o The length of time that GT waits for the modem to init in host mode
has been lengthened from 7 to 9 seconds.
o The DG command now may be aborted. GT will give the caller 15 seconds
to press [ESC] to cancel the automatic logoff. A count down display is
given to the caller. The caller may also hang-up immediately by pressing
the [H] key.
o When using batch protocols to upload messages to the message base, the
caller must be careful what filename is used. That is, GT.CNF and
SYSOP.BBS may not be legal names. Use a name like "MESSAGE.TXT" or
something else that does not conflict with internal GT filenames.
Also, it is necessary to avoid filenames that already exist on the BBS.
When single file protocols, such as Xmodem, such restrictions are not
required.
o CD-ROM support is being introduced - the first version of such support,
at any rate. <GRIN>
The format of the GTDIR.BBS file has been altered to allow for CD-ROM
users to specify a different location for the FILES.BBS. As the FILES.BBS
cannot be put onto the CD-ROM!
Here is an example:
Z C:\GT\OBJ,,C:\GT\FILES\F2.BBS Home GT directory #2
E E:\GTBBS\GENERAL General file area
Z C:\GT,,C:\GT\FILES\F1.BBS Home GT directory #1
E E:\PRIVATE BBS Private Area
Notice that the 2nd and 4th lines are in the original format. So it
is possible to mix the old and new formats. Also, since upload areas
cannot be placed on CD-ROM drives, the upload descriptions will always
be placed into a FILES.BBS *in* the upload directory, even if an
alternate FILES.BBS is listed for the upload directory.
Note the 1st and 3rd lines are in the new format. The pathname field
has been expanded with two new fields. The 2 fields are:
A. Pathname for the file area.
B. Alternate FILES.BBS pathname --- full pathname, including the
filename. Please observe that there are two commas between
these pathnames. A tag field is intended to go here in a later
version. For now, the two(2) commas are required.
A new version of FILES_DB.EXE has been included in this beta release
to handle this new format. Additionally, the FILES_DB.EXE program has
been changed to handle fewer file areas, only 450 areas maximum now.
And the program processes duplicate filenames faster.
o Maximum message length has been expanded from 70 lines to 99 lines.
This is pretty much the maximum, since the line numbers on screen are
limited to two digits.
o GT is now able to distinguish between more uart devices. The following
types can be detected:
8250B ....... Standard PC type uart.
16450 ....... Standard AT type uart.
16550 ....... Faulty chip found in some PS/2 computers.
16550A ....... Good chip, replaces 16550, full FIFO.
o The modem result code table has NOT been expanded, but GT can now
handle CONNECT results that have odd baud rates, i.e. 7200, 12000, etc.
This is a feature of the "smart result code handling".
o Inline editing has been added, i.e. the Left/Right Arrow, the [Ins], [Del],
[Home] and [End] work as expected. However, the [Ins] key uses an escape
sequence not properly handled by old versions of GT.
Regards,
Paul Meiners
10-25-91
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