///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // // M . u . d . d . l . e . s ! ! // // // ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 'Muddles' is the Metro Userlog & Download Directory List Examining System By Peter Deane Written in GFA-BASIC - V3.51E Version 4.3 - 14-Nov-94 Manual $VER: 2.01 (25-Nov-94) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ History ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Muddles started as the "Metro Upload/Download Directory List Examining System" and was an alternative to the Sysop Maintenance section of the Metro BBS program. The old Metro file operations were fine - except if you had to work on more than about 3 or 4 files! Muddles came about to provide some power for manipulations of MULTIPLE files. It first hit the streets in mid-1991 as a crippleware version, but by the end of the year, a shareware version was released with all features enabled. I've been adding features to Muddles as required (and in fact, removing a few functions no longer needed). It's grown to be pretty powerful over the years, and something I've been using frequently. Currently, Muddles is the SOLE sysop maintenance program for the OzMetro BBS package. It contains all the necessary file and userlog operations to run your BBS, in a convenient point-and-click/menu selection manner. Hence the name change to "Userlog and Download List" - the acronym remains the same, only the words used needed changing! I plan a Sysop Door for the OzMetro BBS shortly, BTW, with standard DOS commands and BBS maintenance available, but for now, remote sysop access isn't possible, all the behind-the-scenes work has to be done from the host machine itself. This is a distinct security ADVANTAGE, incidentally - a remote caller cannot do anything other than write messages, transfer files and play games, even if they are the world's most ingenious hacker! There's nothing to hack into (at the moment). I imagine the Sysop Maintenance door will be available around early December, keep watching for it :-) So, as part of the first OzMetro distribution archive, here is your copy of Muddles! Use it wisely :-) Note: most of these docs were originally written in 1991, and often refer to the way the OLD Metro program does things. I've tried to upgrade them to be correct for the new OzMetro program, but may have missed a few points. Please make allowances for this when using the program. [Any comment made in retrospect in this revision will be put in square brackets, like this. My observation that we may not be using Amigas come 1999 just might prove to be false! Let's hope so, anyway!] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Setup ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Copy the files 'Muddles', 'Muddles.info' into the same directory. This help file is optional. If you are a CLI man, then the icon is optional as well - just type "Run Muddles" from the shell to launch it. I haven't used the icon in years! This file ('Muddles.help') should be copied to your BBS:Textfiles1 directory, although since a file requester is loaded when the Help feature is invoked, it can be elsewhere. It's just that the file requester will default to looking for a file TEXTFILES1/Muddles.help when you choose the "Help" option. You can, however change this filename from the file requester. Muddles knows where everything is by reading your Metro.cfg, so there is no need for you to do anything else. Muddles uses a few other programs, which all must be in either your c: directory, the current directory or any other directory in the search path that Muddles was launched from. Fortunately, OzMetro itself also uses them, so it probably won't involve you in additional work. These programs are called at various stages: Copy Protect PkaX Booz LhA UnArj UnZip A Text Editor The COPY and PROTECT are mandatory. I don't think the program would get too far without them. The archivers are used for listing archive contents simply to give you more information as to whether to keep the file or not, and so may do without them, particularly if your BBS, like mine, is almost exclusively '.lha'. All you'd really then need then is a copy of LhA in your c: directory, which I think is a pre-requisite of being sysop anyway. These archivers (with the exception of LhA of course) are included in the OzMetro distribution archive, so you shouldn't have to look far for them. Muddles now can also spawn your favourite text editor without you having to type its name (like before). The default name of the editor is "ED", however if you are using something different, add a line to your s:Metro.cfg file which reads something like: EDITOR AZ or maybe: EDITOR wb:Editors/GEd ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Starting the program ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MUDDLES runs more comfortably with a stack size of 10,000 bytes. It will NOT work real well with the default stack of 4,000 bytes. The only symptom of this is it will guru. So make sure you set your stack up from the default before you run it. By the way, running the program from the CLI/Shell will make for much faster operation. This is because if run from the workbench, every time a DOS command is executed, GFA will open a small window on your workbench screen in preparation for any possible output (eg command has failed) from that DOS command. If run from the CLI it won't need to, as any message will go to the window you started Muddles from. You can really see this when you use the 'PROTECT FILES' feature. Run it from workbench, flip Muddles's screen to the back and watch what's going on while each file is protected. A window is opened and closed for each file. [PS: I gotta fix this, and soon, by not using the DOS protect command, but I NEVER run this from workbench, anyway...] CLI/Shell: Type 'Stack 10000' Then it's just a matter of 'run Muddles' WorkBench: Double-click on the supplied icon. The icon will set the stack to 20000 for you itself. By the way, I setup enough stack space for Metro in my startup-sequence (20,000 bytes), so the STACK command may not be needed on your system. Simply typing 'stack' will report how much has been reserved. ************************************************************************ * DO NOT RUN THIS AT THE SAME TIME THE BBS HAS A CALLER LOGGED IN! * ************************************************************************ If the user tries to list files from Metro, and you are using the files from Muddles, then you will almost certainly induce a file conflict at some stage. You can run the program when the BBS is idle, but if someone logs in, stop all file operations (eg Browse, File Lengths, etc) immediately and try to quit before they get to the files menu on the BBS!! Best to just take the BBS off-hook when using Muddles and then you'll never be in this precarious situation. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ General Tips ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I have tried to amiga-tise the program as far as possible, although you will definitely see the influence of door-writing in this program for the text-based I/O. However, there are pull-down menus with hotkeys (RightAmiga-Key style) and the program is interrupt driven from the main menu. The program makes use of three features built into GFA BASIC, the Alert Box, the FORM INPUT and the File Selector. If you haven't used them before, take the time to gain some familiarity with them now: File Selector: -------------- The File Selector box is a little bit primitive, but I'm sure you'll come to terms with it. Don't forget that you can enter in any valid path or filename to the file-requester with the keyboard - you don't HAVE to select the file with the mouse unless you want to. If you are going to be entering a directory name at ANY time, you need to add a trailing slash (or colon) at the end The file selector box is usually called with a default pathname already in place, which will often be just the right one. The box sorts the filename list according to CASE as well, so that a listing like the following IS in alphabetical order as far as it's concerned: MAinSuff MUDDLES Metro Yackety-yak ZZZInquestor.pad muddles.doc myfile 'm' (lowercase) is after 'Z' (uppercase) in the ASCII chart, it seems. I can call the file selector box with 1 line of code, so I hope you can understand WHY I'm using it. Alert Gadget: ------------- The Alert box is a simple gadget requester (with up to 3 possible choices), and has a default gadget highlighted. IF you simply press when the alert box is displayed, the default will be selected without you having to leave the keyboard. I think I have sensibly chosen the default answers for you, so make use of this feature. It saves a lot of time having to grab the mouse if you are typing in details anyway. If you wish to select the non-default, you HAVE to use the mouse. If you wish to select the default answer you MAY use the mouse, it's up to you. As a tip, if you are consistently using one non-default option from the Alerts (say to NOT add a listing to the area) you can position the mouse over the area you are selecting a lot, and press the Left-Alt Left-Amiga buttons. This will click in the right spot for you without having to move your hands away from the keyboard. Form Input: ----------- I also use a command called 'FORM INPUT xx% AS yy$'. This is mainly used in the Browse section when you Edit a file. The advantage of this is I can print up the old contents of whatever you're going to edit and accept editing of the buffer rather than gettting you to type it all in again. You'll notice the cursor positioned at the left side of the old string. You can use the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor, and Shift-Left/Shift-Right will position it to as far to one side as it will go. You can use backspace to delete characters to the left of the cursor, and the delete key to remove characters to the right. You can also use the up and down arrows to get to the far left and far right of the text - pressing the Escape key clears whatever text may be there completely. On another note, the form input will only accept as many characters as we have room for in the field. So, for instance, if you are editing the date (which has a 10-character slot) you'll find it more convenient to scrub out what's already there before entering new stuff. You'll get the hang of it, I'm sure! Backups: -------- When Muddles does a major operation on a file area, OR you use the backup a file operation, the DOS 'copy' command is used to copy the file to filename.bak, just in case something goes wrong and you want to undo what Muddles just did. (This save me having to use the kernel AllocMem(), Open(), Read(), Write(), Close() and FreeMem() functions - I can do that, but I'm a little bit lazy considering there's almost certainly going to be a copy command hanging around on the drive!). So I just execute the DOS command COPY "filename" TO "filename.bak" from the program. The only problem with this is if you have a filename with a wildcard in it, the DOS copy command will fail. AmigaDOS wildcards are '?', '%' and '#'. So if you have a file area with those keypresses (eg '% - Misc Files') you will not be able to back it up from Muddles. The program still works fine, of course, but if you notice a warning "Cannot Rename to a Pattern" coming up in the CLI you ran Muddles from (or if running it from workbench, the window that GFA opens for you), then you'll know what the problem is. It will only mean you don't get a backup file, so don't panic. Muddles is pretty good, and you'll still have your new file area intact. It's just that you have to be careful to not make an error and wipe out a file area, or something, while using Muddles :-| If you are going to be a heavy user of this program, I might suggest that if you are using the keypresses '%', '#' or '?' for a file area, you go and edit UDFILES/file.areas to change the keypresses to something else. This way you'll ALWAYS get a backup before Muddles goes about its business. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Menu Descriptions ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ------------ PROJECT MENU ------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Browse Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 'Browse An Area' is Muddles's most powerful option, and really allows you to clean up your file listings in a workable way. After asking you which file area to examine, Muddles will go through your file area one file at a time (similar to Metro's Browse option). Note that you must enter the starting number yourself - is NOT good enough, you must enter '1' (or another number). There are two filescans done per browse. Once is the first browse where you can mark a number of files for later consideration. Nothing you choose here is permanent or destructive, except the Edit feature. Note that if you are using the Edit feature ONLY, it is NOT necessary to proceed with the second scan. The second scan is where the files you have marked are presented, and then you have the option of killing them from either or both the listing and the drive (& copying it elsewhere if you elect to remove the file from the drive). You can also chicken out and do nothing to the file if you have accidentally marked it in the first scan. The first thing that happens after you have selected an area is the old 'FileList_X' file is backed up. Should you ever wish to un-do an operation, all you have to do is delete the newly created 'FileList_X' file, and rename 'FileList_X.bak' back to 'FileList_X'. I NEVER clean up the '.bak' files from the UDFILES directory with this program. You may do so later yourself either using Muddles's delete function, a directory utility or from the CLI. From the CLI a suitable command would be: DELETE "BBS:UDFILES/FileList_?.BAK" First Scan: ~~~~~~~~~~~ The files in the area will be listed with complete details. After each file you have these options: [N]ext - [P]rev - [J]ump - [K]ill - [L]ist - [E]dit - [Q]uit Next, Previous & Jump --------------------- For moving around in the area. Jump will jump you to any file number you type in. If you attempt to move beyond the bounds of an area, that will terminate the browse and you will be asked whether you want to process the marked files. If you HAVE marked some files, and have accidentally jumped beyond the area, then you will probably then have to resign yourself to a partial process of the area, because if you don't process it now, you'll have to go back and mark them all again! Kill ---- This doesn't do anything for the moment, so use it with confidence. What it does is flag this file number for later consideration in the second file scan. It's better to tag it now if you MIGHT kill it rather than have to go through the area again later. The system is flexible, however, so it's no drama scanning an area twice to make sure you do clean it up correctly. If you select Kill on a file that is already marked for deletion, it will toggle the kill flag back to off. List ---- This will list the contents of a ZIP ARJ ARC ZOO LZH LHA file, so you can get a little more idea of what's in it. Also if the file is #?.DOC #?.TXT #?.LST or #?.ADS the file itself will be displayed. Support for more archivers, or possibly the automatic EXTRACTION of files are things I'm considering for later versions. Naturally, you'll need the relevant program in your c: directory to list the file. If the archivers aren't there, I'd say it will merely trigger a "file not found" error, and you'll continue on. Edit ---- Allows you to change any of the file details then and there. You have these options: Edit: Filename Bytes dAte Uploader Path Index Desc'n Save Cancel (Sorry about the dAte - its keypress is 'A'. 'D' was being used to edit the Description, which I think will be a more frequently invoked feature.) You can then edit any of the fields then and there. When you are finished, select Save, and the details as displayed on the screen will be written to disk immediately. (There is no need for you to process the area if all you are doing is editing items from the fields). If you select cancel, ALL the changes you have made will be cancelled (the actual record is read back from the disk), and you'll be back where you started from. If you chose to edit the wrong field, just press return, and by virtue of the FORM INPUT, the exisiting value will be re-set to whatever it was before. Please be careful to correctly enter the date if you are editing this field, as I do no checking on what you input. (This field is NOT a major one, it's only for the users' information, so it won't cause any problems, it will just look bad if you use the date conversion functions on it! In fact, you can enter any 10 character string in this field. All of my file listings entries, for instance, say 'Today', because they ARE updated in every midnight event. I also have the index figure set to about 9,999 so they will come up on everyone's new file searches). Quit ---- This is functionally identical to jumping beyond a file area's bounds. It breaks you out of the first scan and asks if you want to enter the second stage.... Second Scan: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are firstly asked whether you want to process the marked files. If you haven't marked any, or want to back out, then simply click on 'No' and you'll be returned to the main loop. Assuming you have told Muddles to proceed, then the file area is 'processed' a file at a time. Any file you haven't tagged will be written out as it appears in the old list. However, when we hit a file that has been marked for kill, the file details are printed up and you will have these options: Kill file from: [L]isting - [D]rive - [B]oth - [N]either Listing ------- Removes that file's entry in the 'FileList_X' file. Drive ----- Will firstly ask you if you want the file copied elsewhere. I imagine the main use would be to drop the old files on to a floppy or something. If you answer yes you will be prompted for the pathname of the destination. If you specify a directory destination, that directory MUST exist (and I check for this like crazy - this part is very safe - we don't want to lose files unintentionally). You'll probably be answering DF0: or similar in answer to the question, however if you wish to move the files to a hard drive partition, this would be handy as it's pretty slow writing to floppies. You could then move them from that directory on to floppies later with a directory utility or CLI command. Muddles will now NOT let you copy to a device which doesn't have room to hold the file. It will also report how much free space is on the destination drive before you attempt to copy the file over. However, it's up to you to answer 'NO' to the FINAL confirmation of delete question that will then come up. After the file has been copied, or you said you didn't want to copy the file elsewhere, Muddles will prompt you for a confirmation of the delete. This is your FINAL chance to back out (you've already had about 3 or 4 chances!). Even if the file is delete protected, it will still be deleted from the drive, so be sure you don't blindly answer 'YES' to this one! Both ---- Simply does both of the above functions. Neither ------- Forgets about all operations on this file and enters the details to the new files list. At the end of the second scan, the file listing is renamed and you are returned to the main menu. You will have a backup file remaining after the second scan: 'FileList_X.BAK' (where X is the keypress of the file area you just scanned). If you wish to undo the operation, don't forget you can restore the .BAK files to their original names with Muddles, the CLI or a Directory Utility. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add a File ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This will allow you to add one file to a file list. If the file doesn't exist in the correct directory, Muddles will still let you add it to the files listing. (You can then copy it over later or edit the listing entry, etc to enable BBS access to the file). If the file is not on the drive, then you will need to tell Muddles the file length. (It guesses 16k if you leave this information out). The file description allows upper/lowercase. The description will automatically be truncated to the first 76 characters only! The DEFAULT description for a file is 'Added by Muddles' if you just press return here. You can always edit it later if you like. Press the Escape key to clear the 'Added by Muddles' text, if you want to type in your own description. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Set Lengths ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a VERY useful function if you have altered the files on the drive (say by removing a few files from the archives, or maybe putting up a new version, but maintaining the same filename). I mainly use this for my file listings, which are generated in the midnight event, and have listings in the file areas enabling them to be downloaded. They are never the same length, but the filesize in the listing is probably a bit out. This feature goes through one or all file areas, examines each file in the list, and then checks to see how long the file actually is. It then 'touches' the file size in the file listing, making it completely accurate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File List ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was originally thinking that the Browse function covered this, but decided to add this as yet another feature. This is basically the same as Metro's Forward List command. You enter the starting number, and the same output as a user would see on Metro (except a little more colourful) is produced. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some info about registering the program, how to contact me, and so on. If your cursor has been turned off somehow, and you want it back again, then selecting this option will also turn it back on again. Also, the ANSI attributes will be re-set to none, black background, white foreground after an 'About', so if you've read a text that's set your ANSI all weird, then there IS a use for this option apart from seeing my name in lights! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Help ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This will open a file selector box, looking initially in the TEXTFILES1 directory for a file called 'Muddles.help' (you CAN change this, and it sorta reverts to a 'display a file' function). You can read any textfile (ANSI included) with this feature, but its main use (I envisage) will be to read these docs. I was thinking of chopping this out in, as it's not much use - the display a file function is basically the same thing - but I'll leave it in for now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quit ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asks you if you really want to quit, if so, it does! You can also quit the program by holding down both mouse-buttons at the same time, and answering yes to the requester. ------------- FILE OPS MENU ------------- All the file operations can work on ANY file at all, anywhere. The fileselector box will initially read your UDFILES directory, as we assume that most of the work is going on here. The program does NOT attempt to emulate a Directory Utility program, there are many excellent versions of these available for the Amiga. What it does do, however, is allow you to perform a few operations without having to leave the Muddles Screen. See the 'General Tips' section for info about using filenames with the Amiga wildcards '%', '#' and '?'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Backup ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Simply reproduces a file as 'FILENAME.bak'. The backup stays in the same directory as the original. If you should wish to COPY a file anywhere, I suggest you first use this Backup command, and then Re-name the backup to whatever you want. You should make a backup for any file area listing you are going to change BEFORE you hack it from Muddles, if you have any doubts about what Muddles will do. (Muddles will make backups of its own in several - BUT NOT EVERY - file operations). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Delete ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Deletes a file. Before the delete is performed, the protection bit is set to deletable, so this will even kill the files you have protected. Be careful! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rename ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This isn't really a DOS rename command. It simply copies the file to the path/name you specify (and thus it CAN go across devices eg from RAM: to DH0:), and deletes the original. When you enter in the name of the destination, you MUST include the full pathname as well. If a file of the same name exists, AmigaDOS is quite happy to over-write it. Again, be careful! If you 'rename' the file to the SAME filename as it already is, Muddles will now ignore the command. Also, the existing filename is taken into the form input that this uses, making it a lot easier for you to enter a filename with only a small change. ------------ GOODIES MENU ------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alphabetise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sorts the file listing into strict alphabetical order. You simply select the file area, or ALL file areas and Muddles goes about its business, very quickly, too I might add! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Move A File ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Moves a file and the file list entry from one area to another. You must know the file number and area of the file you are going to move before using this feature. Find it out from the search, list or browse or whatever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Multi File Move ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Moves a GROUP of files from one area to another, along with their listings. This works in a similar way to the file BROWSE. You select a file area to go through, and then you are presented the details of each file one at a time. After each file is displayed you have these options: [N]ext - [P]rev - [J]ump - [M]ove - [L]ist - [Q]uit Next, Previous and Jump are used for getting around in the file area, and Quit is for when you are done. If you should try to jump beyond the file area's bounds, this is functionally the same as Quit. List will list the archive contents to your screen, so you can quickly get a little bit of feedback as to what's in the file. (Provided of course the file is .ZIP .LZH .ARC .ZOO .ARJ .ADS .DOC .TXT or .LST - see the section on Browsing a file area). The Move command is the main one - if you select to move a file, you will then be shown a list of your file areas and you select which one you want to move the file to. If you (accidentally) select to move it to the same file area it's in, no action will be taken. You can move a file from the selected file area to any other file area you want. File 1 can go to area H, file 34 to area K, file 56 to area Z, etc, etc. It's very flexible. Don't forget that the file area selection is actually hot-keyed now, you don't have to wait for all your areas to print up (same as the BBS). After you've chosen which area you wish to move the file to, the file details will be re-listed, and the area it will be sent to reported. When looking at a file that has been flagged to be moved to another area, pressing 'M' again will toggle the flag for that file, and make it stay put. You can press M again to chose another area if you have typo'ed the area you want to move it to, for instance. Once you make it through the whole area, or chose Quit, we then go through the area a file at a time. Every file you have flagged to move will be shown, and you have another option to back out. It is at this stage the actual work of moving the files themselves and the listings is done. (There is now an option to perform the move non-stop without pausing in between each file). I don't backup the FileList_file with this function, simply because you can un-do what you just did by moving the files back to the old area at a later stage. By restoring a backup file here, you'd end up with duplicate file entries all over the place. Muddles will now not let you copy to a device which has insufficent room for the file in question. Be careful to note, however, that the actual file LISTING will be moved regardless. You can always note the filename and then copy it somewhere manually with a directory utility at a later stage. Apart from the obvious use of this function (to keep files in the right areas) there are a few other things you may like to use it for. For instance, say I'm short on hard drive space. But I have a heap of files that some users may want. So firstly I set up a new file area with the path name of 'DF1:'. The entry in File.areas looks like: 1 1 4 4 - GIF Pics DF1: Then I go through the areas and move all the GIF files into the Gif pics area. This is better than using the KILL function from the browse area, because what I'll end up with is a FileList_file for all the files. I can leave the file area up for selection, and all I have to do to make that area active, is ensure that the GIFs floppy is in DF1. I (used to) have a few other areas setup like this, including 1 big LONG area of requestable files. You could use this to your advantage by having a number of areas setup like this of 'requestable' files, or even leave a message up saying 'GIF files are online this week', 'IFFs A-H are online this week' and so on, cycling the different floppies. The only thing that limits you is the 856k worth you can fit on a floppy. In fact it's probably better to move the files to a new area you have setup rather than kill them outright, because then you will preserve the file descriptions in a UD file. Don't panic, you can quite validly move files into an area which has no files in it already. The FileList_X file will be created for you. All you need do is ensure you have a valid entry for this area in your file.areas file, and that the device or directory you have chosen actually exists. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No Listing Rpt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Has a look at your file directory, and ensures that each file in that directory does have a listing in the 'FileList_X' file. If not, it will produce a summary of the files you have in the directory that aren't available to the users. The summary can be printed to a file or the printer. If you want to get the program to add missing files to an area AUTOMATICALLY, this can be done from the 'Add From Dir' function. See the 'Add From Dir' notes for more info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Search Files ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Searches through the file areas for a certain filename or PART of name. Very similar to the file search already in Metro, however you can search any of the fields. You can also specify to search in more than 1 field. Metro's file search looks in the file description and filename field, but Muddles will also let you search for the date, index number, byte size and uploader's name fields as well. I don't know how useful some of the searches are going to be, but if you know the byte size you can even search for that! (??). When selecting which fields to search, naturally the search will be faster if you only select one or two fields to look at. Searching is NOT case sensitive, by the way. To actually enter a search field, all is required is that the number of the field you'd like to search appears in the search field string. It will default to fields 2 & 3, but you can easily erase a few '-' signs and add (or subtract) a digit or two. You don't HAVE to put the '-' signs in, I only do that to make it easier for you to see how many options you have. If you'd like a report produced that lists EVERY file, I'd recommend you search the date field for a '9'. You'll always find one there! Some other uses are searching the files for '.ARC' and '.ZOO' so you can get a list of files you know you can re-archive to save a bit of precious drivespace! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add from Dir ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This function serves two purposes: to get file listings for those files that are actually in the directories, but NOT listed in the file lists, and to make it very easy for you to add a HEAP of files at once. If you've got a few diskloads of new files you wish to add to your BBS, then first thing you should do is drag out a directory utility and copy the files into their appropriate download directories. Note which areas you have added files to. Once they are actually in the download path, you can then use this function to add them to your BBS. What you do now is select the Add from Dir option, and tell Muddles which file area you are looking at. It is essential you are NOT running Metro at the same time as Muddles when you do this, for the sake of both avoiding file conflicts. Muddles will then have a look at the directory, and list the files that are actually there. It will do a check to see if the filename is already in the file listing, and if not, it will note it. At the end of the scan, all the files NOT currently in your file list are presented, and you are invited to enter a description for them. Firstly you are asked whether you want to list the archive, in case this would jog your memory as to what's in the file. The alert requester for this defaults to 'No' however. The default description is 'Added By Muddles'. Simply pressing return will enter this, and in fact you can add files to the system extremely quickly by merely pressing return 3 times for each file. However, if you would like to add a proper description, delete the 'Added By Muddles' bit, and type in your own. [Note there is now a separate bulk-upload function that works in a similar way to this, adding files found in one hit without a pause between files. You can also set the default description to other than "Added by Muddles" for these files. See under "Quick Add Files"] After the description is added, Muddles asks you whether to add the file details or not. So if you don't want to actually add that file, you still have to enter a description firstly! (Pressing return does this). Also, I had to give you a way out of this. Perhaps you've added enough files already, and there are still 50 files that Muddles scanned for you not listed! Well, typing the letters 'QUIT' as the first four letters of the description (not case sensitive) will stop Muddles throwing up any more unlisted files and asking for a description. (The alternative is to press return for each one's description and then select the 'No' gadget on the alert for each subsequent file! It was murder, I can tell you!) Oh, and if you are going to be adding only a few files from the area, then the way to go is to position the mouse over where the 'No' option in the Alert Gadget comes up. Then press Return once to not list the arc, Return again for the description, and Left-Amiga/Left-Alt to activate the 'No' gadget on the alert to not add the file. Be careful to read the filename for each one in case you accidentally skip a file you SHOULD have added! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Set Index #s ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Allows the setting of file index numbers for a file or a group of files. You will simply be asked what index number you wish to use (default is the current index number), and then which file number to start at and end with. Note that to abort this operation, enter in a file number outside the range, and no action will be taken (eg starting number -1). There are many reasons why you may like to set the index numbers. Perhaps you'd like some files that are already in your directories to come up as New files on a new file search. Maybe you'd like some files to NOT come up as new. For instance, if you'd like all the files in one area to come up as new files for EVERY call, set their index numbers to some ludicrous value such as 99,999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Protect Files ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This function will allow you to set the protection for those files listed in your file listings. There is a definite advantage to setting the Delete bit in your files to off. The advantage is if someone uploads a file of the same name to the directory. If the file is delete protected, Metro will not overwrite or resume on to that file, but merely abort the upload before anything goes on. It's a nasty trick you could play on any Metro sysop: capture their file list and upload a dummy file of the same name on top of their old files. If you are using Ymodem, this would be quite feasible! They'd wonder why the hard drive sudenly had a lot more room on it than before! Fortunately, hackers have disappointed us all, and this has only happened to me once or twice by accident. No-one's actually overwritten files en masse. Anyway, you can avoid all that by setting the delete bit off in the downloadable files. This function asks you for a start and ending number for the protection, and then allows you three types of protection. The default is to just turn off the Delete bit, the second is to turn off the Delete and Write bits (even more protection) and the third is to actually turn ON the RWED, making the files normal again. Naturally, this function will not affect the Archive bits (used by hard drive backup programs), so use with confidence! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Change Dates ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the function to use for converting dates from one format to another. The old Metro uses the standard US format MM/DD/YYYY, but one of the first modifications I made to Metro when I finally got GFA was to change the format of the date to a more reasonable one to Australians. I have NEVER been able to adjust to seeing the month first in a date. I've deleted messages and users erroneously by entering the date in what I reckon is the correct format, but Metro had a different interpretation of! So I went and changed the date format to standard Fido format. IE DD-Mmm-YY. Percy has fielded things always allowing for 10 bytes for the date, Fido format only needs 9, and has three letters of the month completely avoiding any confusion even to US citizens. Say it's the 12th of January. In US format this looks like 01/12/1991. When I read that I say 'First of December, 1991'. However in Fido format it looks like 12-Jan-91. Even an American can understand that, surely? The only confusion may arise 9 years down the track when we reach the year 2000, but we'll probably not be running Metro at that stage, and not using Amigas! Anyway, I'll worry about a revision to this in 1999. [Hmmm, 1999 is getting ominously close] In Muddles, the date format will default to Fido Format. If you don't want to use that, then you should simply convert all the dates in your file listings to the old format, which is easily arranged. Of course you can also use this the other way (Australian Sysops will appreciate this) to convert the US date formats into Fido format! [Well, this function is now almost completely useless, OzMetro and Muddles uses the Fido format, you'd have to be crazy to use the US format at all, however it still works if you MUST use backward dates!] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add an Area ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This function simply allows you to add 1 file area to your file.areas file without having to edit file.areas with a text editor [or indeed now the File.areas editor of Muddles]. It will ensure you are not duplicating key presses, and the default download directory actually exists. In fact it's probably safer to add an area through Muddles than doing it manually because of this. However it just gets tacked on to the very end of File.areas, so may not appear in the menu as you like. Edit the file.areas later if you should wish to move it around. Don't forget the download path you specify MUST ALREADY EXIST before you add the file area. It's sometimes useful to add a dummy area so you can use the Mass Move feature into a temporary holding area, or maybe you figure you DO need a new file area while using Muddles. This saves a fair bit of work. After you've successfully added a file area, the file.areas file is read back in again, so Muddles keeps up with the change you've made. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Convert Case ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's yet another feature, added new for V2.0. The need for this is because Percy has modified Metro to allow for upper/lowercase in the file descriptions. I much prefer looking at mixed case than upper case, so it was a welcome change but the problem was, all the old descriptions were all uppercase, and looking at the older descriptions next to the newer ones was a bit weird! Converting from LOWER to UPPER case is easy in GFA. You simply go new$=UPPER$(old$). To go the other way, is difficult because there is no LOWER$() function. Besides, converting EVERY character to lowercase will make it look just as bad as all uppercase! So I settled on a compromise. Each byte of the string is inspected, and if the character preceeding it is an uppercase letter, OR the ' symbol (single apostrophe), then that letter is converted to lowercase. As an example: "THIS IS A FILE DESCRIPTION, ISN'T IT?" Gets converted to: "This Is A File Description, Isn't It?" Basically, it means the first letter of every word will be a capital, and all the rest lowercase. Only problem is 'GFA'->'Gfa', 'WWII'->'Wwii', and the like. But overall it works pretty well. You'll have more typo's in your file descriptions than unwanted changes from this function. It's also a credit to GFA-BASIC at how fast the conversion is done. I'm actually using peeks and pokes to do this, but even still, for EACH FILE, something like 200 lines are executed. GFA takes longer to print the details to the screen than do the work! (And that's the console.device's fault, not GFA's). I also added the feature to convert from lowercase back to all uppercase, as this only involves 1 line of code for each file description (yeah, VERY easy to add!). This doesn't quite un-do the first operation because if you have a file description like: "This is a file description, isn't it?" This gets converted to: "THIS IS A FILE DESCRIPTION, ISN'T IT?" Which is fine, but would then convert back to: "This Is A File Description, Isn't It?" With capitals begining EVERY word. Ah well, you can't win em all! [Again, this function is going to be pretty useless for OzMetro sysops, all the descriptions are in mixed case anyway now] ------------ SPECIAL MENU ------------ Here are a few functions that are useful, but don't seem to fit in elsewhere: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit Main.f.areas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are using FILEAREAGROUPS in OzMetro, you need a file in the udfiles/ directory called main.f.areas. This command simply launches your editor to edit this file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Display ANSI/ASCII ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you wish to display an ANSI (or ASCII) screen, use this. This uses the same routines that Metro uses, and so if a textfile would crash Metro, I don't error-check for it in this routine, and it will crash Muddles, too! This will remind you to edit the file! The ANSI display is quite good, and 100% Amiga ANSI, not IBM ANSI. Amiga ANSI doesn't support the SCP and RCP (esc[s & esc[u) functions of IBM ANSI, and some ANSI looks pretty weird when displayed on an Amiga, although working quite well on an IBM or a user's terminal. Make use of this function to display your menus, help screens, texts and so on, so you can see exactly what they'd look like if Metro was displaying them. I don't check what you display here (it's quite possible to select an executable or similar), so please use discretion when chosing a file to display. If you really DO wish to display binary files, then be warned that this section will probably crash at the end of file. Also, you may get a Shift-In character in an executable causing the rest of Muddles display to be in weird hi-ascii text. If this ever happens, you better quit and restart the program. Good luck reading the menus :-) Output is paged, and Alert boxes will come up during the read. You may select More, Continuous or No More at each screenful. If displaying a binary file, please abort it before the end of file, otherwise it will most probably crash the program (not dangerously) when it reaches the last screenful. Be careful when choosing 'Continuous' for large files. As the program stands, it is NOT possible to abort the read until the file has been completely output. If you wish to pause the display during a continuous read, then simply hold down the right mouse button, as this will freeze ANY program's output. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check for EOF ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Examines a file internally, and warns you if the EOF marker is misplaced. Does this sound handy? Please make use of this for all new texts, menus and so forth that you are going to be using on the BBS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spawn Editor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Runs the editor you have specified in the EDITOR line in Metro.cfg. You can add a filename (or more) to open into the editor if you like. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Run C: Prog ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opens a fileselector box looking in the SYS:C/ directory. Naturally, you can alter the path to select any other file. It then runs that program. Arguments are not possible. No checking is done on what you enter, except that the file exists, and is a file (not a directory). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Re-read file.areas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have edited your file.areas file in a text editor and removed or added areas, or changed keypresses and paths, etc, Muddles won't know about it. However, by selecting this option you can force it to re-read the file.areas file again. It is NOT necessary to use this after you use Muddles's Add an Area function, because it does it in this case by itself. And likewise after using Muddles File.areas file editor section. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Set User Path ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When using the rename, backup, delete, check EOF and view options, Muddles will open a file selector box for you. The directory the file selector box initially looks in is determined by the sub-menu item you chose for that function. You have three choices: the BBSFiles and UDFiles directories, and your own path. Use this function to set whatever you like for the file path. It will be initially set to 'RAM:' on startup, and will stay that way until you change it. It will remain whatever you set it until you quit or change it again. Note that I perform some pretty stringent checking on what you enter here. It MUST be a valid directory (and not a file). The trailing slash is optional. If you don't type one, Muddles will add one for you. ----------- EXTRAS MENU ----------- All these commands (and the next "Userlog" menu) have been added for the OzMetro distribution, and give you more power in Muddles! Any more file commands will be added under this menu. Basically, the order in which the commands are thought of is the way they've been added to Muddles :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quick Add Files ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This works in a similar way to the "Add From Dir" function to "bulk-upload" files to the BBS. Simply copy them into the relevant directory, and choose this function. The program will search for all files in the directory that are NOT already included in the OzMetro FileList_X file, and then proceed to add them to the FileList_X file. It will ask you for a default description (used for ALL files added this way), and will add ALL files not listed. If you only want to add a few files to the area, you'd be best using the "Add From Dir" function itself. Be aware this function may take a while to complete. Make sure you've taken the phone offhook so you don't get a caller if you want to add HEAPS of files. There's also no way of aborting the bulk add once you've started it (save rebooting). It was written in response to sysops who didn't like the "Add From Dir" function - too slow, they said. Well, here's what you get. I must admit that I use this function more than "Add From Dir" myself now ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Set FileNotes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Writes the file description from the FileList_X files into the filenotes of the online files. Having the descriptions in the filenotes is VERY handy. For a start, my File Request server includes the descriptions when producing a File Request report message if it can get them from the filenotes. They are also VERY handy for you to look at when inspecting files from a directory utility. It also means you may be able to move your files to another BBS platform with descriptions already in place. This function will work on either one file area or ALL file areas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trim FileLists ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Browse function can do this for you with a lot more control, but with more sysop effort. What this does is check every file mentioned in the FileList_X file to see if it exists. If it doesn't exist, the entry is removed permanently from the FileList_X file. This is an ALL or NOTHING affair, you can't leave some entries there and kill others (to do this, use the Browse function). So now, another way you can remove files from OzMetro is simply remove the files from the hard drive and run the Trim FileLists function. This may be a lot quicker than the Browse or Multi File Move functions. I find this really useful when receiving file revisions. Say you had Muddles42.lha and Muddles43.lha in your file area. Checking with a directory utility, you can easily see which one is the latest edition. So delete Muddles42.lha (or move it elsewhere if you're a bower-bird) and then run this function. Only the latest version will remain in your file listings. I also use this for the NodeLists file area, simply deleting anything other than the current list, and then when I remember, I run the Trim FileLists function and clean up OzMetro's listing for the area. (Hey! That reminds me, I haven't done this for a while - I just removed the entries for 23 non-existant files from my Nodelist file area). This function will work on either one file area or ALL file areas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit File.areas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a very nice little section of code - I'm starting to come to terms with the Mouse in programming now, and have developed some intuition coding here for you to use. Selecting this function will clear the screen and bring up the editor screen. You may like to review the notes on the File.areas file given in the OzMetro documentation before using this section. There the technical requirements for the file.areas file are outlined in detail enabling you to edit it in a text editor instead of using this function. At the top you will see four gadgets QUIT, SAVE, ADD, DELETE. Simply click on them with the mouse to use them. Quit and Save will do just that - Quit the editor part, or save the File.areas file. Quit does not check if you haven't saved the file.areas file, so make sure you have saved if you want your changes committed to disk. Add and Delete are used for adding or deleting file areas from the File.areas file. BEWARE! There is a maximum of fifty file areas available in OMetro. Muddles won't crash until you get to 55 areas, however OzMetro will the instant you have more than 50 areas. (As soon as you hit the Main menu). I suppose I should add some checking for this in here, but that can come later. There are then a set of movement gadgets along the top of the screen. These allow you to move through the file areas sections. |<< Moves you to the very first area <<< Is a kind of VERY fast "rewind" << Is like a normal "rewind" < Jumps you back one area > Jumps you forward one area >> Is like a fast forward >>> Is a VERY fast forward >>| Gets you to the very last area Just how far each gadget moves you (in number of area) is a proportion of how many areas you have. The area number you're actually at appears in between the forward and backward gadgets. If you're at the very end of the file, and select to go further, your movement selection will be ignored. You'll then see your file area details listed on an area basis in the rest of the screen. TWO file areas are shown, but you can only edit the FIRST one (in white text). The next one is for display only so you can see the details for the next file area you have. To edit any of the settings, click on the text you wish to change. You should see a cursor light up and you can use the commands listed above under the "Form Input" notes to change the setting. You MUST PRESS RETURN TO LEAVE A FIELD. If you click in another field when one is already highlighted, your mouseclicks will be ignored. When you're happy with the changes you've made, save and quit and the File.areas file will be re-written (and re-loaded by Muddles). BTW when you quit, you quit from the File.areas editor back to Muddles, not out of the program entirely :-) ------------ USERLOG MENU ------------ Here are the major functions you'll need to be able to edit OzMetro's userlog. It doesn't let you alter ALL the fields, but WILL let you edit the fields that matter. If you REALLY do need to change things that this section doesn't allow for, feel free to use a Hex editor. I don't ever envisage this will be necessary, however, the other fields shouldn't ever NEED to be edited at all - the BBS can look after them fine by itself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Purge by Date ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This code was pinched from a small standalone program I wrote a couple of years ago. It asks you for a cut-off date for users, checks the userlog, finds the date the user last called, and if earlier than the cutoff date you specified removes that user from your userlog. There are ample opportunities given to back out of this. Just check your input like crazy before sending it off on its business. If you really want to make sure, backup your userlog FIRST so you can restore it. (My userlog is backed up by a script once a day in any case). When a user is removed from the userlog, the file itself doesn't get any smaller. This allows your users to keep the same user NUMBER regardless of the number of users we may have deleted. Any deleted user will appear as a blank "hole" in the userlog - next time a user logs in the first vacant slot is used. If there is no vacant slot, his entry gets tacked on to the END of the userlog file. What this means is your userlog will NEVER get smaller than what it is. After it's grown to a sufficient size, please use this function to purge non-active callers and provide vacant slots for new users to be allocated so you don't wind up with a MASSIVE userlog file after a few years. (Each user only occupies 125 bytes in this file, so you can store quite a few in a small space - unlike other BBS programs, where each user entry is a FILE thus using a minimum 1024 bytes on your hard drive PER USER). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Validate Users ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Use this function to upgrade users' time limits and security level to that you have specified in the VALIDTIMEPERCALL VALIDTIMEPREDAY and VALIDUSERLEVEL keywords in Metro.cfg. (See the OzMetro docs under "Metro.cfg" for full details on these keywords). You're first asked what security level users you wish to upgrade. This defaults to the level you have set in NEUSERLEVEL, although you can specify any other level. Any user of this level OR LOWER will be flagged for editing. It then asks you which user number to begin with. Entering a number out of bounds (eg -1) will abort the function. You then have the opportunity to cancel the operation, or let it go on automatically, or pausing between each user. If you select not to pause, then ALL users meeting your search and user number criteria will be upgraded to the levels you've specified. Since I require users to fill in an online survey before upgrading them I don't use the non-stop function at all, but it would save you a lot of time, if you just wish to upgrade en-masse. As each user meeting the search criteria is found, the usernumber, username, security level, time per call and time per day is displayed. If you've selected to pause it will ask whether you want to upgrade this user or not - or quit the entire process. If the user's security or time limits are changed the new settings will also be displayed on the screen and the program moves on to the next user. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edit a User ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This allows you to edit most of a user's details stored in the userlog. These fields can be changed: UserName Password Level Suburb, State Phone Number Date Lst Call Time Per Call Time Per Day Some other fields such as page pausing, screen height and file transfer protocol can be changed by the user himself from the BBS. Firstly the program asks which user you wish to edit. You can enter either the user's number or name to edit the account. The usernumber will be located more quickly than the name. The program then asks you to type in the number of the field to change, and gets a new value for it from you. You enter 9 to save the record to disk, or 0 to abandon the changes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add a User ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This simply asks you for the user details and creates an account for that user. Useful for pre-arranged accounts either on a private system or to give a user a higher than normal security so they can login and do something not normally available to first-time callers. Naturally the user will have to be conveyed the password for them to use this account. At the moment, this will allow you to enter a username ALREADY in your userlog - something I will have to fix later. If you have two accounts of the same name, then if the user logs in with his user NAME (rather than number) the FIRST matching account will be found (which may or may not be the right one). There's no way to cancel this operation once you've started it off, except by deleting the user (see next section) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Delete a User ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Really easy section this one - deletes any old account. Simply specify the usernumber or username, some details will be shown, then you're asked to confirm or cancel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ View Userlog ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prints up the userlog one line per entry displaying these fields: User Number User name Suburb, State Phone number Security Level Every screenful, you'll get a MORE prompt, where you can quit, get the next screenful, or run through the rest without any more prompts. As a tip, if you're looking for dodgy accounts, the PHONE NUMBER field often reveals a few interesting snippets of info. Numbers such as 123-456-789 are an obvious indicator the user is a fake. Blank lines in the Userlog listing simply indicate that this is a vacant userlog slot (as outlined above in "Purge By Date") ------------------------------------------------------------------------ View NewAccounts ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As each new user gets an account, a file called BBS:BBSFiles/NewAccounts is appended to. This is useful if you allow users to use handles rather than their real names as login names. You can cross reference the handle with this file to get the real names. This function simply displays this file. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Politics ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Muddles archive is not and has never been in the Public Domain. The copyright always remains the property of Peter Deane. You may not modify, copy, distribute, attempt to reverse-engineer or disassemble the program except as provided for in the licence agreement below. The Muddles archive can be distributed by any means provided the person or organisation making such distribution makes no charge over and above a small copying fee. By "small copying fee" I mean a value usually charged for a freely distributable disk, and in NO CASE WHATSOEVER above a fee of $AUD8.00 plus postage. Any person or organisation asked by Peter Deane to cease distributing the archive shall comply forthwith. Partial distribution of the Muddles software is NOT ALLOWED, if you distribute the program, you must distribute it lock, stock and barrel, with no files removed or added from the original distribution archive as created by Peter Deane - re-archiving is NOT allowed. You may not use or distribute this software for an illegal purpose. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing this means that any person using the software to run a pirate BBS where COMMERCIAL software is available for download is infringing the copyrights of this product (Not to mention the copyrights of the commercial software they have for download)! The maximum liability of Peter Deane for any damages the use of or inability to use this software may cause is limited to the amount (if any) paid directly to Peter Deane for the software, exclusive of postage and handling charges. There is no individual registration fee for Muddles. If you are a registered user of the OzMetro package, you get registration for Muddles thrown in for free. See the OzMetro docs for details of what benefits registration bring. If you have ANY questions, need ANY help or simply want to let me know this software is being used please send me mail to any of these addresses: Peter Deane FidoNet: 3:622/401 Postal: PO Box 228 GlobalNet: 54:6101/401 Swansea NSW 2281 AmigaNet: 41:200/401 AUSTRALIA Or call the BBS: from O/S +61-49-72-1647 (24 hrs) from Aust (049) 72-1647 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++