                      Recipe BUSTER for MasterCook-PC
                              MS-dos / Windows
                         (c) 1996-97 Glen G. Hosey


MCBUSTER 1.7

* MC for MasterCook (II, 3.03 and 4.n)
* Windows (3.1, 3.11 or 95)
* Free for you to download and share
* Designed for people who use MasterCook/WIN
* Creates import/export file with the .mxp extension
* Edits, repairs and extracts emailed recipes 
* Helps convert text files and web page recipes into MasterCook import/export
  files

CHANGES FOR VERSION 1.8:

  a.  In response to a lot of people who wanted a capability to process more
than one file at a time, I have added a switch "/LIST" to the program. If you
run buster with the command "MC_BUSTR /LIST", the program will create a
listing of all files in your subdirectory (BUSTFILE.FIL), and will then go
through the filenames one at a time, and ask if you want to bust that file or
not. If you answer "Y" or "y", that file will be busted. An answer of "N" or
"n" will skip to the next file. Hitting an "X", "x" or CONTROL-X will abort
the program.

  This new switch will NOT prompt you for any files which have extensions:

    .EXE
    .CFG
    .MMF
    .MXP
    .DON
    .OUT
    .ZIP
    .BAK



ADDENDUM FOR VERSION 1.65U:

Version 1.65U is modified with the following new features:

1. Allows user to select the format of recipe titles. The 6th line in
MC_BUSTR.CFG file must contain a line containing either "CAPTITLES=YES" which
will cause ALL recipe titles to be totally in capital letters, or
"CAPTITLES=NO" which will convert all titles to a format like "This Is A
Recipe Title".

2. Allows for pausing screen after each 20 recipes are converted so you can
see what recipes are getting converted or not to pause at all. The 7th line in
the MC_BUSTR.CFG file must contain a line containing "PAUSE=YES" to turn on
the pause feature, or "PAUSE=NO" to turn it off.


-- Monday, March 17, 1997 --


IMPORTANT INFORMATION .................The following topics contain
information that could be critical to your success in installing and using
your MasterCook Buster. Please take a moment to review this document. It
contains information you need to know to speed-up import of recipes from
lists, digests, and web pages. This document is the User's Guide that
accompanies the software.


Contents of this file
1. Needs
2. Installation 
2.1 Basic
2.2 Un-installing
2.3 Upgrading
3. Configuring Buster
3.1 MC_Buster.exe
3.2 MC_Buster.cfg
4. What Does Buster Produce?
4.1 Files Buster produces.
4.2 What you will do with the Busted files.
5.2 
5 . Saving a recipe to your Buster file.
5.1 If Buster is to type automatically for you:
5.1.1 Save file to match a line in Config. File.
5.1.2 From: and Date: must be at the top - Buster uses that information
5.1.3 Place file in Buster folder
5.2 Caution: Do not save using .mmf, .mxp, or .out.
6. Preparing a File to Bust
6.1 MC-Recipe digest
6.2 Recipes from the Web
7. Start Buster
7.1 Bust a file
7.2 Files Buster Creates 
7.3 Cautions
8. Getting Help
8.1 Contacting the Author
8.2 Reporting bugs etc.
9. Legal Stuff About Sharing
10. Buster-isms: A Glossary of Terms
11. Miscellaneous


1. Needs
   * Dos 5.0 or higher
   * Windows 3.1, 3.ll, or 95
   * An UnZIPing Program for mcbust17.ZIP
   * A little disk space 
   * A minimum of 150 kb for the program's files
   * A variable amount for recipe (text) files

2. Installation 

2.11 Basic Installation

   * Create a directory for BUSTER ~[a]
   * Copy the zipped file that you downloaded into your BUSTER directory
   * Unzip the file

2.12 What you get when you open zip
   * mc_bustr.exe -- the program 
   * mc_bustr.cfg -- configure buster, tels Bustert what to do
   * updates.log -- a technical history of current version
   * sample Busted file - an example of what to expect Buster to do 

~[a] Buster may be run on diskette (which will be noticeably slow) or on a zip
drive

2.2 Un-install: Delete the above four files

2.3 Upgrading

2.31 Unzip the upgrade into a temporary location.

2.32 Replace these files in your buster directory

   * mcbuster EXE
   * updates log
   * bust_how txt

2.33 CAUTION! -- The upgrade will contain a copy of mcbuster.CFG. It's up to
you to SAFEGUARD your personalized copy of this file. (In other words, you may
not want to copy the new Config. over your own.)

3. Configuring MC_Buster

3.1 MC_Buster. Exe This is the program file. It runs from the DOS prompt.
Please refer to your Windows manual or the help file for information about
running MS-dos programs from Windows.

3.2 MC_Buster.cfg (A very basic one comes with the program. See (xxxxx) for a
sample Config and possible settings, and explanation of, etc.) The
Configuration file tells MC_Buster what to do. It's a program information file
and must have the .cfg extension. It must kept be in the same file with
Buster.exec.

  You can use Notepad (Win95) or Notebook (3.1) to edit this text file. This
file must have the .CFG extension and be saved in ASCII (text-only) format
only.

3.21 Sample of Configuration file and explanations

  The Configuration file: (This is what drives the exec - tells Buster what
you want him to do): A basic one has been provided for you. Please refer to
it. All you really need in order to run Buster is the first four items at top
of Configuration file. Any other items are OPTIONS; they are simply used in
order to save you repetitive typing.

  These are the items at the top of the Config file. (See the Config. File
included in Zip.) THEY MUST BE THERE! If they aren't there, Buster will 
halt and tell you which line is in error and what you need to do to correct
the problem.

DELETE=NO -- (recommended) When BUSTER is done editing a file, it will change
     it's extension to .DON (for 'done). That way, you still have your
     original. If you don't want to keep original files, set DELETE=YES
ALLFILES=YES -- BUSTER displays a list of ALL files in the directory, as you
     Bust. If you set ALLFILES=NO the Buster will list only those files
     withOUT extensions. (if you use a system that allows no extensions, for
     example: a non-Windows environment.)
LOWERCASE=YES -- Converts ALL-CAPS to standard upper and lower case. MOMMA'S
     STRAWBERRY JAM becomes Momma's Strawberry Jam. This pertains ONLY to the
     ingredients lines.
MCNOTES=NO -- (recommended) If you do not want NOTES to be in MasterCook's
     notes field, then MCNOTES=NO is the option you want. NO will put the note
     at the end of the directions. YES leaves NOTES alone.
WORDWRAP=NO -- Keeps those LONG lines you see in some MasterCook recipes in
     that format. Setting this to "WORDWRAP=YES" will cause all lines over 78
     78 characters long to be broken into smaller lines.
CAPTITLES=NO -- This setting will convert all recipe titles into a format
     like "This Is A Recipe Title"; setting this to CAPTITLES=YES will 
     convert all recipe titles to cap letters "THIS IS A RECIPE TITLE".
PAUSE=YES -- Selects whether you want the program to pause after displaying
     every 20 recipes so you can view the titles as they are being converted.
     Setting this to PAUSE=NO will convert all of the recipes without pausing.
     If you have more than 20 or so recipes in your file, titles of the first
     ones will scroll off the screen.
PERSERVING=YES -- Selects whether you want to leave in the "per serving"
     information that appears at the bottom of some recipes. Setting this to
     PERSERVING=NO will eliminate those lines from the recipes.

EXAMPLES OF LINES YOU MIGHT USE IN CONFIG FILE:

MM,X,Posted to MM-Recipe

   (MEANS: save your file as "MM505", etc, where "505" is the digest number
Buster prints to your recipes: "Posted to MM-Recipes by JDoe@aol.com on Mar
15, 1997.)

MC,N,Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #

   (Using the MC, N line above: save your file as "MC303" where "303" is the
digest number. Prints to your recipe as "Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1#303 by
JDoe@aol.com on Mar 15, 1997.)

EL,N,Posted to EAT-L Digest 
 
   (Using the EL line above, save your file as "EL0315", where "0315" is date
of March 15. Prints to your recipe as prints as "Posted to EAT-L Digest 15 Mar
97 by JDoe@aol.com on Mar 15, 1997.)

CH,N,Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V3 #

   (Using the CH, N line above, save file as "CH263" where "263" is the digest
number. Prints to your recipe as "Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V3 #263 by
JDoe@aol.com on Mar 15, 1997.)

DAVE,D,Posted to Recipe Archive - 

   (Using the DAVE line above, save file as "DAVE0316" where "0316" is March
16th. Prints to your recipe as "Posted to Recipe Archive - 16 Mar 97 by
JDoe@aol.com on Mar 16, 1997.)

TNT,X,Posted to TNT Recipes 

   (Using the TNT example above, save file as anything starting with "TNT",
such as "TNT295". Prints to your recipe as "Posted to TNT Recipes by
JDoe@aol.com on Mar 15, 1997.)

MISC OTHER LINES YOU COULD ADD TO CONFIG FILE:

FF,N,Posted to fatfree digest V97 #
LF,N,Posted to Digest eat-lf.v097.n
JW,N,Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V97 #
BQ,N,Posted to bbq-digest V5 #
GOUR,D,Posted to The Gourmet Connection Recipe Page Newsletter
MD,N,Posted to MasterCook Digest V1 #
BR,N,Posted to Digest bread-bakers.v097.n
FW,D,Posted to FOODWINE Digest 

IF YOU USE THE CONFIGURATION TO TYPE BLURBS FOR YOU, IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP
A COPY OF YOUR CONFIGURATION FILE NEXT TO YOUR COMPUTER FROM REFERENCE.
AND/OR, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP NOTES RIGHT ON THE CONFIG FILE, JUST PREFACE
ANY NOTES TO YOURSELF WITH A # AND BUSTER WILL IGNORE THESE LINES.

EXAMPLE: 
# Prints to my file as Posted by JDoe@aol.com on June 2, 1997

*****************************************

N means Buster is to type in the volume number ( Note: if you use the N
  method, you will have to pay attention to volume number changes: e.g., V4
  will someday become V5.)
X means Buster is to only type in the sender name, date and list name
D means Buster will type in a date you specify
B means Buster is type nothing without direct input from you

  The words that follow the N, X, D will be inserted into the sentence at the
bottom of each recipe, appended by the information the commands N,X,or D
produce.

4. What Does Buster Produce?

4.1 Buster produces up to 4 files with different extensions: .DON, .MXP, .MMF,
OUT.

   * .DON is your original file
   * .MXP is any recipes in MC format
   * .MMF is any recipes in MM format. (This feature will soon be replaced and
     all recipes will be converted to MC. Glen is currently working on that
     version.)
   * .OUT is all the throw away information, like headers and extraneous text.
     (Check this file to be sure that nothing to want to keep is on it's way
     to the trash.)

4.11 CAUTION - never type extensions .mxp or .mmp or .out into the Buster exe.

4.2 What you will do with the Busted files.

4.12 You will use the recipe files for import into your Mastercook software.

4.13 .DON and .OUT you will delete once you are sure that the recipe files are
as you want them.

4.131 Recommend that you test import the recipe files into your software
before you delete the .DON file.

5 . Saving a recipe to your Buster file.

5.1 If Buster is to type automatically for you: Buster to automatically print
sender info, assign a name of digest or list, date: Example: AFTER BUSTING
each recipe in file will have something like this at the bottom: Posted to
MC-Recipe by JDoe@aol.com on June 2, 1997.)

5.1.1 Save file to match a line in Config. File. Example: TNT302.txt

5.1.2 From: and Date: must be at the top - Buster uses that information

5.1.3 Place file in Buster folder

5.2 Caution: The following extensions are reserved by Windows, MasterCook,
and/or Buster.

   * .mxp that's a mastercook file
   * .mmm that's a meal master file 
   * .out that's a buster file

Do not name your file with these extensions or you could damage your files. 

6. Preparing Files

6.1 After file is saved, edit prior to Busting.

6.1.1 Recipe preparation and clean-up

6.1 Buster cannot undo bad formatting. You need to check for proper format.

6.2 Buster can do some cleanups, but not all. 

Example:
Here is a recipe that had problems that Buster corrected.
#5

Subject: Comments
From: Duck@Donald@aol.com
DATE: March 13, 1888

Footer: Here is one of my favorite recipes for pasta. My mother always made it.++
She brought it over from lower Transylvania. It was a traditional dish, served++
at funerals and spring dances. =20

[[[[[
PASTA A LA FRANCO=20
B: Donald Duck's mother
C: Pasta

8 oz Cream cheese
=BE Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
=BD Cup Flour
=BD Cup Water
=BE Cup Chopped Fresh Tomatoes (or sun dried)=20
Cooked Fettucini

Caution: this is NOT a real recipe
In a large saucepan, combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese, flour and
water. Stir over low heat until smooth, add tomatoes and cook for an
additional 5 minutes, add fettucini and toss lightly and serve.
]]]]]


  Actually, the original said '8ounces'. Buster can't fix that. I did, before
I busted this recipe...note that if this had been a real recipe, I would have
made further edits. Buster doesn't properly format for MasterCook : for
instance, most folks want 'chopped' to follow 'fresh tomatoes'. You still have
some edits. (AAAAH! Humans are still needed!)

AFTER BUSTING:

                      * Exported from MasterCook Buster *

                               Pasta A La Franco


Recipe By : Donald Duck's mother
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time : 
Categories : Pasta

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cups grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
3/4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or sun dried)
cooked fettucini

Caution: this is NOT a real recipe
In a large saucepan, combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese, flour and 
water. Stir over low heat until smooth, add tomatoes and cook for an
additional 5 minutes, add fettucini and toss lightly and serve. 

Here is one of my favorite recipes for pasta. My mother always made it. She
brought it over from lower Transylvania. It was a traditional dish, served 
at funerals and spring dances. 

By Duck@Donald@aol.com on March 13, 1888


                  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 


6.3 Buster cannot Bust @@@@@ format (edit into Buster Bracket method, or save
to another file)

6.4 Buster can't Bust plain text recipes until you prepare them.

6.5 

6.2.1 Generic formatting: If a recipe is in plain text you can format it using
Buster.

.MXP FORMATTING USING BUSTER: (very similar to the @@@@@ method): 

Footer: MC formatted by Jake Doe. 
Example:

Footer: MC formatted by Jake Doe <Doe@utoman.com>

[[[[[
title
B: How to Make Morning Beverages by Jackie Gleason
S: 2
C: beverage, alcohol

2 tablespoon molasses
2 cup vodka

Combine the two. Hold your nose and consume.
]]]]]


Footer: Formatted by Mimi Hines on June 2, 1997

[[[[[
Brass Cleaner Homemade Mix
B: Decorating With Style,TV Show;HGTV
S: 
C: Cleaning mixes

-- corn meal
-- little bit of table salt
-- white wine vinegar

Into cornmeal mixed with just a bit of salt, mix in enough white wine vinegar until a thick paste. Use old washrag, dip in cornmeal/vinegar mixture and rub it into the brass.
]]]]]

Buster Brackets ]]]]] must appear at bottom of last recipe in a file or "
Footer: " won't install to last recipe. AND, bottom Buster Bracket (]]]]])
MUST be followed by a hard return (a carraige return).

then run buster...

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

Footer: 
[[[[[
TITLE
By:
Serves:
Categories:
<<<<<<<<----skip here
ingredients
ingredient
<<<<<<<<<<--- skip here
directions
]]]]]


Example of Do's and Don't when editing C.B.S.

DO (in any order) 

C:space
B:space
S:space

You must use caps. You must use colon(:). You must follow with a space. 

  (Optional: spell out Categories:, Recipe By:, Servings: and follow with
space and put comma and space between each category title)

  Buster is set to recognize several words in this field, e.g., Serves, By,
etc.(see complete list in Appendix)

  CATEGORIES: Buster will capitalize the first letter of single words only. '
salad and beans' would come out: Salads and beans.

SPACES MATTER: example C: beans, salads
Comes out: example C: Beans Salads,
but: example C: Beans Salads
Comes out: Bean

FOOTERS: There are 2 kinds of Footers: (see Glossary and see Rules for Footer)

   1) the kind of footer you type into the exec box as you Bust,

   2)' Footer: ' example below (see Glossary for more info and see Rules for
Footer below)

Footer typed into a file directly, here is example:

Footer: Here is a recipe for croquettes, I made them a few year ago, and they are tasty. We thought lime juice++
made them even better. (See' directions' area for how this will look within a recipe.)

                            * Exported from MasterCook *

                                   Meat Croquettes

Recipe By : Culinary Arts Institute - Chicago
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Appetizers Beef 

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 tablespoon fat
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 cups finely ground cooked meat
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1 egg

Melt fat, add flour and blend.
Add milk and cook until very thick, stirring constantly.
Add meat, lemon juice seasoning and parsley.
Chill thoroughly.
Form into clylinders, pyramids or patties.
Dip into crumbs, then into slightly beaten egg mixed with 2 tablespoons water and into crumbs again.
Chill.
Fry in hot deep oil (385F) until brown.
Omit lemon juice and add 1 tablespoon mined onion.

Here is a recipe for croquettes, I made them a few year ago, and they are tasty. We thought lime juice made them even better.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



FOOTER RULES:

1. START a line with "Footer: " (please put a space after the colon!) into the
text file. You can put just about as much data after "Footer: " in there as
you want! It will accept a total of 1024 characters before it blows up!

  The only rule with the length of the line, is DO NOT break the line up with
<RETURN>'s...... just keep all the text on the same line, and buster will do
it's magic translating it into lines of 78 characters in length!

2. This "Footer: " line MUST appear somewhere outside of a valid recipe! Don't
put it inside the first recipe, or program won't see it! (Be careful not to
put in the Notes field of the previous recipe -- must be outside of ANY recipe
field.)

3. After the "Footer: " line is found, it will place that text (minus the word
"Footer: ") in each recipe after that. The line or paragraph will have a
2-space indent on the first line.

4. If you want to change the footer at some point in the file, just use a new
"Footer: " line, and program will pick up the new one.

5. If you want to discontinue the "Footer: " information at some point, just
place a line STARTING with "Footer:" by itself on a line, and buster will turn
Footer: off, until it encounters another Footer: line.

7.0. Busting 

7.1 Bust a file: 'Save as' for example: TNT303.txt. Place in file where Buster
and Config reside. Click on the Buster exec. You will be prompted to enter a
filename. Type: tnt303.txt and click return. (not case sensitive) Buster will
ask you if you want to add any footer. You can enter up to 77 characters here<
return>.

7.2 Exit the Buster Exec: Exit the program by 'x' in the upper right corner or
Control-Break.

7.3 Busting same file again: After you Bust, a '.TXT' file becomes' .DON'. If
you need to re-Bust a file, do exactly as you did the '.TXT' ONLY this time,
type the extension .DON. No need to delete the original .OUT and .MXP file.
Buster will overwrite them for you.

  Example: MC537.txt after Busting becomes MC537.don. SAME FILE, ONLY
EXTENSION NAME CHANGES You need to Bust it again, type: MC537.don

8. Getting help

8.1 How to contact Buster's inventor

8.11 email: Glen Hosey <hosey@erols.com>

8.12 web: URL ? ? ?

8.2 Comments, suggestions, bug reports etc., are welcome. Write:
<hosey@erols.com> Please state the version number of the buster you are using.

9. Sharing and Disclaimer: CHECK WITH GLEN on how much of the usual disclaimer
stuff he want in there and what tone of voice here are choices

9.1 The program may be freely copied and shared among users of MasterCook
software.

9.11 We ask that you distribute the latest version of the software.

9.12 We ask that your copy include all of the files associated with this
software.

9.2 About the intended user: This software was designed primarily for
MasterCook owners. Test importing into the MasterCook software is an IMPORTANT
way of testing the recipe format for correctness. This is especially important
if you are sharing recipes with other MasterCook users. It is recommended that
users become well acquanted with busting Digests before working with
individual incoming recipes or with unformatted recipes.

legal stuff : This version of buster is distributed as Freeware. This means
you don't have to pay for this software, just enjoy it! You are not allowed to
modify this software. You may distribute it by making it available on
online-services. You may not ask money for the program itself, only for the
distribution of the program.

Use of this program is at your own risk. We are not responsible for anything
if your disk blows up.... etc

Glen Hosey reserves the right to release future versions of Buster as Freeware
or as shareware.

Support is available through the addresses listed above, whether you are a
registered user or not. Registered users receive priority treatment, of
course. E-mail will always receive the quickest response.

10. Glossary of Buster - isms

  Buster Blurb - Recipe Poster's name and date posted, etc.

  Buster Brackets - the five symbols used to format plain text recipes

  Footer: Additional information you want inserted into bottom of recipe

  Footer1 - What you type (up to 77 characters) into exec box - This puts your
words at bottom of >directions. Most often used in conjunction with ' X'
setting in Configuration file.

  Footer2 - Footer: (unlimited number of characters, but see Footer:
instructions. You type into the file you want to Bust ""Footer:<space>" and
unlimited number of words, and Buster will put all these words into each
recipe in your file. (See special "Footer:" instructions.)

  Header - The uppermost To/From area of an email 

  MC Header - the * Exported by MasterCook * (note the spacing, there must be
2 spaces in front of 'Mastercook' in order for the recipe to import)

11. Miscellaneous

MXF Header must not be changed. The spaces are important.

* Exported from Mastercook Buster *

note: () = 1 SPACE SPACES MUST BE THERE TO IMPORT INTO MC COOKBOOK 

*()()Exported from()()Mastercook()()Buster()()*

There are two spaces between the "*" and "Exported" and two spaces between
"from" and "MasterCook", just because that's how MC puts it out! The entire
remainder of the line is not looked at!!!!! All I check for is "* Exported
from MasterCook"

Dates must read exactly like this and spaces matter: Wed, 01 Jan 1997 UNLESS
you change the Date: to 'DATE:'

C:, B:, S: these stand for Categories, Recipe by, Servings. Make sure ':' is
used, followed by a space or these fields will read" blank, blank, 1.

something like "all the following are valid tags for the category, 

* Categories:
* Categories
* Category:
* Category
* C:

  Note: where a colon is shown, it MUST be there.....

  ]]]]] (followed by a return and a blank line) must be at end of all
unformatted recipes in order for Buster to format and/or add Footer.

  Want to say: after you bust a digest, a quick perusal of OUT file shows you
what Buster took and didn't take and any adjustments can be made (like
cut/paste over to the Busted .mxf file).

  Notes area in .mxf must not have empty line between 2 paragraphs...Buster
will not grab after a blank line.

  After opening Buster ExeC and before typing into it, be sure that blue line
shows exec to be activated.

  Second Buster Bracket must always be follow by a carriage return.


