***  **  AUTOPASS.BTS ==> BACKTalk QWK/REP Script for MaxiDoor
**  ***  By Erik Williams, SunFox Productions, Ltd.
***  **  University of Central Florida, Orlando
**  ***  "Jesus saves, Gretzky gets the rebound, SCORES!"

(c) Copyright, 1992.  SunFox Productions, Ltd.  All rights reserved.

LAST MODIFICATION TO SCRIPT:  June 26, 1992
LAST MODIFICATION TO DOCS:    June 26, 1992

WHAT IS IN THE ARCHIVE:

AUTOPASS.BTS   <==   AutoPass script
AUTOPASS.TXT   <==   This documentation

WHAT YOU MAY DO:

You may distribute this archive as far and as wide as you wish
just as long as you distribute it with THIS documentation AND the
*ORIGINAL* script source code.

I know that everyone's setup will be completely different, but 
sending out only the originals will help me if there are any problems.

Because of differing setups and tastes, you may modify this script to
suit your needs, or if you feel adventurous, write one from scratch and
liberally sprinkle in my code.  This was my intention in releasing the
code...I wanted to give everyone an idea of just how powerful BackTalk
is and how easy it is to automate very routine tasks such as this one.

I think I hear a disclaimer coming, though...

THE USUAL DISCLAIMER:

However, as with anything I have ever done that messes with people's 
hard disks, the author (me!) takes no responsibility for bombs and 
trashed hard disks.  The code I have written is so generic that it should
work with no problems, but you are using it at your own risk!  It has 
been tested under TOS 3.06, so it should work easily with any machine
out there.

TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS, AND CREDITS, OH MY!

Oh, by the way, STalker 3.02 and BACKTalk are registered copyrights of
Strata Software (which is being distributed by Gribnif, but you already 
knew that!), Atari TT030 (and whatever models I may use in illustration),
TOS, and GEM are the registered trademarks of Atari, Corp.  MaxiDoor is 
written, debugged, and distributed by Shawn Smith from Ajax, Ontario 
(CANADA).  Shawn also supports MaxiMiser, the best QMAIL offline reader
to date (IMHO).  Finally, Flash 1.6 was originally a trademark of Antic
Publishing, but the rights to Flash have been taken over by Missionware
Software.

Thanks go to Shawn for bringing us MaxiDoor/MaxiMiser and giving the ST
World a QMAIL-compatible offline reader and saving me a ton of online
time and making the Twilight Zone much easier to log onto!

AN OVERVIEW (OR WHY I SPENT MY TIME DOING THIS!):

Any casual user of the various ST BBS systems (in FNET, FIDO, etc.) will
have noticed by now the proliferation of QMAIL doors and offline readers
that have caught on in the ST world and taken it by storm!  The first 
of these wonder utilities was Shawn Smith's MaxiDoor (the QMAIL packer)
and the associated reader MaxiMiser (which is now up to v. 2.09C and is
still being actively updated).

An offline reader setup introduces some new procedures to the user, 
though.  The user logs onto the board, grabs the QWK packet with all of
his messages (pulled from selected conferences), reads/replies offline,
and then sends the REP (replies) file to the door for processing and 
insertion into the appropriate conference.

This automation means that most users spend relatively little time
online now, freeing up the BBS for more users.  It also has had a good
effect on the quality of postings in those conferences as the replies
are done at the user's leisure (no more timeouts when *I* had to go to
the loo!).

I decided to go one step further with automating my setup to the point
that all I would have to do is punch ALT-2, select an option from a 
dialogue box, and let the computer do all of the mundane work for me.
This project was originally going to be done using my trusty Flash and
it's .DO file facility, but this was abandoned in favour of using
STalker 3.02 and BACKTalk when Gribnif released the STalker 3.02 upgrade
patch and finally fixed my flow control problems with STalker (which
allowed me to put Flash into an honourable retirement from active duty, 
though it is still kept in reserve for Kermit downloads).

What you have now is the culmination of that effort.

WHAT IT DOES:

The function of AutoPass is very close to the Aladdin function of the
same name.  If the AutoPass option is selected, it will download a new
QWK packet and then upload a REP packet (if it exists).  There is also
an option for uploading only a REP packet (if you had already grabbed 
your QWK for the day).  It is very simple to use and it keeps a log file
(STKR_MD.LOG) in the directory where your QWK/REP packets reside detailing
what the script did.

HOW TO CONFIGGER THIS BUGGER:

Because you have the complete source code, you have complete control over
the configuration of the script.  If you don't like the log file functions,
blow it away!  Similarly, I had thought of deleting the REP packet at the
completion of a sucessful upload, but I decided to make this a user 
option (very easily done, BTW) rather than do it myself (another reason I
didn't bother was that my other postcardware programme, Maxi*Kill, does
the same function...this was the main reason it was written, to kill QWK/REP
packets when I was done with them, but now it deletes a lot of other things
as well!).

Look at the comments in the code and it will be obvious where you need to 
make changes for the script to work with your particular setup.

Some changes that are needed are:

==>  Changing the QWK/REP names that are the default used by MaxiDoor.  I
     get my packets from the Twilight Zone, so they are named TZ.QWK and
     TZ.REP respectively.  Check the comments in the source code about the
     naming convention used in case of a QWK name conflict.  Your mileage 
     may vary.
==>  Changing the default path for the QWK/REP packets for your setup.  I
     use the same directory for both, which makes things a whole lot easier
     for me (and it is separate from the directory in which MaxiMiser 2.09C
     resides!).
==>  Other tweaks in the code for features that YOU want.

When you change the path names, be sure to use the double slashes!  This
keeps BackTalk from replacing the slashes with "special" characters such 
as newline, carriage return, etc.

HOW TO GET IT WORKING WITH STALKER 3.02:

If you haven't already patched your STalker disk to 3.02, I highly 
recommend doing so at this time.  STalker 3.02 works a whole lot better
than 3.01 or 3.00 for me (flow control was fixed for my 14.4K modem!).  I
know this sucker works under BackTalk 1.02/STalker 3.02, other versions
may cause problems.

At this point, make your modifications to the source code and compile 
the new code with BackTalk 1.02.  After you have it compiled correctly,
you will need to set it up to run in STalker.

I have an autodialer entry for the Twilight Zone and another specifically
for dealing with MaxiDoor.  This second autodialer entry has the script
attached to it (more on this in a minute).  For your autodialer entry,
make sure that you have the autologon enabled.  This is done by clicking
on the L box for that particular entry.  After you have done this, a box
will come up asking you for the HOST PROMPT (what the board sends you) and
TEXT TO RESPOND WITH (the text you answer each prompt with).  Customise
this with your particular logon sequence which will get you to MaxiDoor.
YOU NEED TO HAVE THE AUTODIALER GET YOU TO THE DOOR OR ELSE MODIFY THE
SCRIPT TO GET YOU TO THE DOOR WITH A SCRIPT LOGON SEQUENCE.  Obviously, 
I chose not to add to the script length by using the autodialer to get
me to the door (it's big enough as it is!).

After doing this, then choose the S box for the entry you are configuring.
This will bring up a box asking you for the script that will autorun 
after the logon-sequence has completed.  This is where you enter AUTOPASS
(make sure it is in the default scripts directory).  You are in effect
linking AutoPass to run after you have gotten onto the board (the script
is run right after the last prompt/response pair is executed by the 
autologon sequence).

After doing this, hit the OK box on the Autodialer screen and then ALT-G 
to save the settings in STALKER.INF (or whatever the default .INF file is).
If this seems a bit confusing, then consult your manual on the procedure.

Hopefully, you have the script configured in correctly now.  When the
script executes, it will create a log file in the directory where your
QWK/REP files reside (the file is STKR_MD.LOG).  This log will tell you
everything the script did during execution.  The script will also ask
you (via one alert box) what flavour of pass you wish to perform, either
AutoPass or Upmooning REP only.  Choose the appropriate option, sit back,
and watch AutoPass strut its stuff.

While it is executing, the dialogue box that comes up at the initialisation
of the download/upload may seem to come very quickly, but don't worry.  It
works (for some reason, I couldn't get STalker to recognise the Zmodem
initialisation sequence).  *IF* you are not using Zmodem, then I highly 
recommend that you do use it...the script uses the defaults that are in
place at execution time.  I know it works with Zmodem...other protocols 
may require additional steps/keypresses.

COMPATIBILITY CONCERNS:

This script works beautifully for me on an Atari TT030 in TT Medium and
ST High resolution.  Basically, if you can run STalker in a resolution,
you can run this script.  Considering that it runs on the TT030 with no
problems, I sincerely doubt it will not work on the lower machines as I
don't do anything TT030-specific.  My TT030 is equipped with TOS 3.06.

SO IS IT FREE OR WHAT?

I don't expect, nor am I soliciting any payment for this script.  Use it
in good health!  However, I wouldn't mind seeing a postcard from your
location if you have unLZHed this archive.  I'm simply wanting to see 
how far the script goes...you won't be added to a mailing list and 
deluged with junk mail (*I* hate junk mail just as much as the other
person), harassed, hassled, or anything like that.  This is just a 
request to satisfy my curiosity!  :)

So far, my track record in getting postcards hasn't been all that hot.
In three offerings, I have only received two responses, one from a guy in 
Massachusetts and one from a person in Denmark(!) and both of those were
for Zkons, my NeoDesk Icons Archive from hell.  Please, guys...this is 
what keeps me programming...the knowledge that there is my work out in
the ST userbase either being used or at least having been seen by the 
users.  It doesn't take a lot of effort to send a postcard (nor a lot 
of money...I'm in college...I'm not made of money, either!).  Also, I
tend to help out those people who have sent in a card...it shows me that
the person cares that I have spent a lot of time doing this programming
rather than being the usual software leech.  {soapbox mode off}

Send the postcards to:

Erik Williams
SunFox Productions, Ltd.
11428A Wagon Road
Orlando, FL  32826-3110
USA

After December, 1992, postcards may be sent to my permanent address
(I'm moving home to Raleigh, NC...and my mother will be able to get
them to me very easily as I plan on being home every weekend!).

Erik Williams
SunFox Productions, Ltd.
c/o Osa Redding
7185 Evanston Street
Fayetteville, NC  28314-1210
USA

PROBLEMS?

I doubt there are any problems that are likely to crop up because the
code I used is so generic.  However, I cannot anticipate all of the 
possibilities given that each person's set up will be unique.  My
suggestion is that if it doesn't work as expected, see if any of the 
modifications you have made are not correct and are the culprit.

However, if it looks like it should work, but it doesn't, then feel 
free to EMAIL me on any of the following networks and I will try to
help as best I can (please keep in mind my usual policy given above
in the postcard section).  Even if you are not having any problems
but you have some comments, suggestions (like what string to look for
when Zmodem sends the auto-initiate string, etc.), or general ramblings,
go ahead and send them along!  :)

FIDO:  Erik Williams @ 1:363/112@fidonet.org {The Twilight Zone BBS} 
FNET:  Erik Williams @ FNET 304 {The Twilight Zone BBS}
AtariNet:  Erik Williams @ 51:1/0 {The Twilight Zone BBS}
           (I will have my own AtariNet address that will be NETMAIL
            capable in the very near future...keep an eye out for it!).
GENIE:  SUNFOX
InterNet:  CDA70141@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu (account goes bye-bye 8/7/92)

Enjoy the script!
