

       ͸     *      
	     ͸   ͸ ͸ ͸	          
	                   ͸   ĿĿ ĳĿĿĿ
	           ; ; ;     
    
    VOL X Nr.XX  **  The Unofficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
    

    Message from the Editor:

	Well, the Newsletter is back, and under a New Editor. For those of
    you who don't know me (and that can't be many of you) I'm Steve Sears
    and I run Imagine BBS in Ft Myers Fl. I've been running a BBS for about
    a year now and really enjoy the ease of TriBBS. I hope to make this
    newsletter something everyone can enjoy, and benefit from. In the future
    months, I'll be adding more specialty articles as I gather information.
    For this month, I can't promise too much. But I hope to at least get a
    setup for the format the Target will follow.

    ========================================================================


		    ***    C O N T E N T S    ***


    Message from the Editor.........................................Cover

    Contents........................................................Cover

    TriBBS v 4.0 Released By Mark Goodwin...........................page 1

    Shareware Review  -  List 7.7 ..................................page 3

    Archivers, 1st in a several part story By Steve Sears...........page 5

    Door Review, Imperium ..........................................page 7

    TriBBS Third Party Programers, What's safe to use with 4.0......page 9
					    By Clay Fugitte
    TriBBS Optimization, by Joe DeCarlo ............................page 13

    Hardware Help, DESQview & Colorado Jumbo Tape Drives............page 16
					    by Steve Strope
    Eric Ratcliffe  Editorilizes....................................page 16

    Final Notes from the Editor.....................................page 19







============================================================================
 Page 1	  **  The Unofficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================




		     **  TRIBBS 4.0 RELEASED  **

    On 28 Feb 1993, Mark Goodwin released the his latest and greatest
    creation, TriBBS 4.0. Once again, Mark has suprised us all and
    gotten out a superior product in less time than anyone thought he
    would. For those of you still using 3.3, Please take a look at the
    included TriBBS history file and see what your missing.


TriBBS 4.0
----------

Most of TriBBS's configuration is now handled by a program called TriMan.

TriBBS now supports aliases.

TriBBS now swaps out of memory to XMS, EMS, or hard disk when it needs to
spawn a program.

Simplified TriBBS's file flagging method.

TriBBS now lets you index file areas.

You can now upload messages to both editors.

Questionnaires can now nest yes/no questions up to 10 levels and now
allows comments in the questionnaire files.

TriBBS now offers a split screen chat mode for callers with ANSI terminal
emulation.

TriBBS will now optionally clear the screen before display its on the fly
menus.

TriBBS can now be configured to search for exact matches during upload
dupe checking.

TriBBS now creates a 0 byte file called POSTED when a caller posts a
message.

When packing the user file, any locked out callers are now automatically
added to JOKER.DAT.





============================================================================
 Page 2	  **  The UnOfficial Newsletter Of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================


You can now set a minimum security level for posting messages in each
conference.

You can now disable the birthdate question at new user logins.

TriBBS's fullscreen editor now accepts the <DELETE> key locally and the
<BACKSPACE> key now works correctly remotely.  The <CTRL><S> control key
has been switched to <CTRL><A>.

Added the following new @-variables:
    @kuploaded@
    @kdownloaded@
    @messagestoday@
    @alias@
    @uploadstoday@
    @downloadstoday@

You can now pack the user file and the message base from the Waiting for
Caller screen.

Added ASCII as an internal protocol.

TriBBS will now take the phone off the hook during BETWEEN.BAT if the node
is configured to take the phone off the hook during events.

You can now optionally assign security levels to bulletins.

BULLETIN.MNU and DOORBULL.MNU are now required even if you have custom
bulletin menus.

Revised TCHAT.BBS and FSCREEN.BBS.

TriBBS will now display the following optional display screens:
    COMMENT.ANS/BBS
    NOTTHERE.ANS/BBS
    PASSWORD.ANS/BBS
    ALIAS.ANS/BBS

Added a second user status window.

Corrected a wordwrapping bug in group chat.

Corrected a bug that would cause TriBBS to ask for a file description for
a file that failed the archive test.






============================================================================
 Page 3	  ** The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================




Corrected a bug that would prevent the system stats from occasionally
not to be reset on multinode systems.

Corrected a bug that would prevent message conferences and file areas to
still be unavailable to a caller even after his security level has been
raised.

Fixed a number of minor bugs and speeded up a lot of existing features.






		       **    SHAREWARE REVIEW    **




    Program: LIST v. 7.7 dtd 10-7-92
    Author:  Vernon D. Buerg
	     139 White Oak Circle
	     Petaluma, CA 94952

    Price: $39


	LIST is easily the file most used  by a non-Windows user.  It is so
    much a part of a BBS sysops  everyday workings, in fact, that it rarely
    is  mentioned  when  excellent  shareware  or  commercial  programs are
    discussed.  Why  would  that  be,  you  ask?  The  answer  lies  in its
    simplicity, its usefulness and its non-frills approach. It has no fancy
    graphic wrappings or  displays, nor any of the  extraneous trappings of
    commercialism. What it  has is usefulness. It performs  a function that
    DOS simply is unable to do at present, it gives you a directory list of
    files  in an  easily read  manner, with  the ability  to manipulate the
    files without extensive  typing and retyping of commands.  Not only can
    it view the  files individually, but it can move  it, erase it, copy it
    and do a myriad of other  manipulations all with a single keystroke. It
    can view a list of files within  an archive and it can extract portions
    of a text file or set a bookmark for quick scanning of the file. It has
    made the DOS dir, copy and del commands obsolete. Sure, there are other




===========================================================================
 Page 4	  **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================



    programs that will do this, but  they either can only accomplish one or
    two of the commands or else  they are complete shell programs that take
    up a lot of  hardrive space. List is a single .com  program that can be
    put into  your DOS directory taking  up just 25251  bytes  of space and
    run from  anywhere within your system,  with a quick list  <enter>, and
    you don't have to manually change directories to view files in another.
    Just toggle up  to the top of the  list, press enter and you're  in the
    parent directory where you can toggle quickly to another.

	Another  reason for its usefulness is that requires no long-winded
    setup  procedures. Simply  put the  .com program  in the  directory and
    voila, it works. Of course, you can add a mouse capability or, now, new
    to LIST,  an editor can  be invoked  from  within its shell  or you can
    change the colors,  but none of these are necessary  for the program to
    be quickly  useful. I have  used the program  so often now  that I type
    "LIST" automatically  at the DOS prompt.  One might say that  "LIST" is
    like sleeping, you don't think much about it but without it you'd never
    be able to accomplish a thing.

	List  comes in more than one flavour, depending on how much you want
    it to do. The most common one  found in BBS's is the LIST Plus version.
    There  is also  LISTS (Small),  LISTR (Regular,  and even  a commercial
    version. Among other functions of  LIST are a telephone dialer, support
    for various  screen sizes, ability  to scan for  text and extract  text
    lines to  another file, display multiple  files at one time,  sort file
    lists, rename files, and so on.





	So, as you  can see,  while  LIST is a  small, overlooked, but much
    worked  program for  quickly listing  files, it  is so  much more  than
    simply a file lister. If you don't have the program then get it because
    you'll soon find  that you can't work without  it. And please, register
    it once you've determined that it is  worth the price. This is the type
    of programming we need more of and  paying for it will ensure that this
    type of programming continues.











 ==========================================================================
  Page 5	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
 ==========================================================================




		       **    Archivers    **

     With the recent release of the New ZIP, there has been allot of talk
     about which Archive is really better. While we all have our
     favorite, I am hoping to shed a little light on some of the more
     popular ones. This will be a several part story. This month, I will
     be giving a few stats on what they can do. I have archived two sets
     of files, one all text, and one all .EXE files. I recorded the
     times it took, as well as the final size.

     Next month, I'm planing on doing one more test, with a mixture of
     text and .EXE's as well as one with only Database files (if someone
     would be helpful enough to pass along to me a large group of them)
     In the months ahead, I would like to do a story on what each
     Archive has to offer in the way of switches, as well as the prices
     of each. Also in the works is a story on one of the latest crazes,
     compressing .EXE files. I hope this information will be helpful to
     all.

     Now, on the results.

			       Text files


     Type of compression     Original size    Compressed size   Time

     PKZ204g with -ex	  2,796,962k	1,097,359k     1.01
     max compression switch

     PKZ204g Default	   2,796,962k	1,101,702k      .49

     ARJ 2.39D (beta)	  2,796,962k	1,104,233k     1.15

     Squeze		    2,796,962k	1,097,202k     1.40

     ARC v 6.02		2,796,962k	1,424,665k      .49

     PAK v 2.51		2,796,962k	1,173,673k     1.32

     LHA v 2.13		2,796,962k	1,138,181k     1.33






  =========================================================================
   Page 6	**  The Unofficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
  =========================================================================


     It was interesting to note that while ARC did not compress as well
     as the rest, its time was as good as the New ZIP. Now on the
     EXE files. I looked over each file to insure it was not compressed
     with PKLite, but it did appear that some of the files had already
     been compressed somehow as the compression was less than 5 % on
     some. But for the sake of the test, I left them in as these file
     could be in any archive. So here are the results of the .EXE test

     Type Of Compression     Original Size    Compressed Size   Time

     PKZ204g with -ex
     Max compression switch    2,840,178k	1,532,012k     1.10

     PKZ204g Default	   2,840,178k	1,535,701k      .52

     ARJ 2.39D (beta)	  2,840,178k	1,537,995k     1.13

     Squeeze		    2,840,178k	1,532,247k     1.29

     ARC v 6.02		2,840,178k	2,134,127k     1.03

     PAK v 2.51		2,840,178k	1,665,380k     1.29

     LHA v 2.13		2,840,178k	1,561,892k     1.27


     So now the summery, In the Text file test, Squeeze won by only a few
     K over PKZ204g's max compression switch as far as size goes. While
     PKZ204g's default and ARC v 6.02 tied for speed. I did not use any
     special switches to improve speed on these, just the defaults

     As far as the .EXE files go, it appears that PKZ024g's max
     compression just eased out Squeeze in compression, and that
     PKZ204g's default won on the speed as well.

     All these test were run on a 386 DX 40MHZ system with 4 meg of ram
     and QEMM. While your results might very some, I don't believe that
     there would be much difference.

     So, which should you use?? Well, thats up to you. People look for
     different things in compression programs and this first story just
     touches on a few. In the future, I hope to give you more to chew
     on, and we can both learn at the same time






  =========================================================================
   Page 7	**  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
  =========================================================================




		       **    Door Review    **


     - - - IMPERIUM - - -
 THE WARGAME OF THE MILLENNIA	  Copyright (C) 1988, 1992,
 Multi-Player Version 3.52	 Search IV. All rights Reserved
 The Castle of the Four Winds BBS. (714) 860-3213

     Anyone who's been around P.C.'s a while has probably seen
the game Empire and if you've been around BBS's a while you've
probably seen Imperium since the door has been out for a number
of years. So, why the review? Simply stated, flexibility. With
all the new options, rewritten code and sysop utilities this door
deserves one.
     For those who have never seen it, Imperium is like one of
those big war maps in the movies where generals pushed around
tanks and battle ships to form their front lines. A clear
explanation of play is difficult since so many things are
determined by the sysop (or game master). Usually, you start out
with one city and a hand full of pieces. As you expand outward
you try to capture more cites. Each city will build you more
units. The map is totally blank to start and you only see what is
within your range. The map is only updated by your current
position. ie. if you saw an enemy piece a few turns ago it has
probably moved but you won't know till you can go back and check.
     The map can be any number of terrain types. The following
are the ASCII terrain characters.

       [.]  -  Deep Water		 [~]  -  Low Hills
       [+]  -  Land		       [?]  -  Forests
       [^]  -  Mountains		  [)]  -  Desert
       [=]  -  Swamps		     [#]  -  Tundra
       [:]  -  Ice			[&]  -  Jungles
       [@]  -  Sand Dunes		 [V]  -  Volcano
       [,]  -  Rivers/Coastal Water       [-]  -  Lava Flows

     Of course the door can ( and I highly recommend) be played
in ANSI where the terrain is more easily identified and you get a
nice splash of color. Naturally the terrain affects unit
movement. For example ground units might be damaged crossing
swamps while air units fly right over. The unit types are land,
sea, air and space. Another nice option is Warhead types for





===========================================================================
 Page 8	  **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================


those that  prefer chemical or nuclear destruction. The map can
be almost any size up to 650 x 650 depending on available RAM and
hard disk space.
     Perhaps the best description of the doors flexibility is by
example. My board currently runs three Imperium doors. One is
your standard Empire type computer generated map, the pieces are
armies, tanks, fighters, several different types of ships, Cruise
missiles, satellites ect.
     The second is a D&D game where the map consists of tunnels,
underground rivers and lakes with lava flows making up the
dungeon walls. The pieces are Elves, Dwarfs, Trolls, Wizards
(which can teleport and carry spells), Dragons (which fly and
breath fire), Clerics (which heal) Ect..
     The third (and private door) is a World War II recreation
for Five players. Each Player starts with eight cites. The Axis
players start with many more units while the Allies, though
weaker are more spread out and find it easier to expand to
unowned areas rapidly.
     I'm sure you can see the possibilities are only limited by
your imagination. The door comes with two utilities. IMPINIT.EXE
starts the game and randomly generates a basic map, or by using
switches you can specify how much of certain terrain ( /V10 would
be ten percent Volcanos, perhaps your pieces should be
dinosaurs), load an already existing map, define city names and
load optional pieces. Once the door is initialized IMPUTIL.EXE
allows full sysop control for customizing the game. Starting
forces, Unit and terrain stats, predetermined players if desired,
distance between starting players, Kill probability and a
complete map editor for those finishing touches.

     On to the sysop type stuff. I found the door easy to install
and it works locally without a separate "local access door". My
BBS is run on an old 286 with 1 meg RAM and Imperium has never
made it lock up, crash, beep ect.. In fact it's been one of the
best behaved doors I run. The docs are complete and easily
understood. I have called the support board and my questions were
quickly and cheerfully answered.
Registration for the door is $20 U.S. and an additional $10
receives one year full support & beta test privileges:










============================================================================
 Page 9	  **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================



		       **  TRIBBS THIRD PARTY PROGRAMS  **

	 Normally this area would have a review of a one of the many TriBBS
   Third party program, but this month I thought it would be more helpful to
   have this list by Clay Fugitte. Clay has gone through allot to bring us this
   list of Utilities that will work with TriBBS 4.0 and we owe him allot for it
   If it save just one sysop from disaster, then it was worth it. Thank you
   Clay


Okay everyone here is a list of files that I *know* will work 100% with
TriBBS 4.0:

 ==> NOTE: These programs do not support with the new ALIAS option! <==

		    UPDATED LIST: March 4, 1993

BLIST400.ZIP -- BBS List Maker <Door or extended menu option>
CHANGE24.ZIP -- Change your LOGOFF/LOGON or MENUES daily
CHNGPAGE.ZIP -- Toggle your PAGE BELL On/OFF
COLORALM.ZIP -- Modifed ALMANAC program, the original ALMANAC will also
--------------- work.
DELFS10.ZIP --- Delete files from your FILES.LST
FIXCALL11.ZIP - Shrink your CALLERS.LOG
FLASH30.ZIP  -- Creates newsletter/newspaper/banner etc. <you specify>
--------------- Logon or Bulletin screen with info you supply.
FLST20.ZIP ---- Add files to your FILES.LST
MCHECK2.ZIP --- Asks users if they wish to check for mail.
TBDNLD21.ZIP -- Track files downloaded from your TriBBS File Directories
TBDROP01.ZIP --- Checks for User Carrier Drop and sends Nastygram.
TBSN23.ZIP ---- Send Note to another user (up to 10 users). <door or
--------------- extended menu option>
TBSYSOP1.ZIP -- Registered TriBBS SysOp Upgrade (Use TRISEC41.ZIP)
TBDNLD20.ZIP -- TriBBS/TriTel Download Tracker (Use TBDNLD21.ZIP)
TMAST22.ZIP --- TriBBS Master File List Maker.
TNTBRD10.ZIP -- BBS List Maker <Door>
TRIBUL10.ZIP -- Track Number of times Bulletins are read. <bulletin>
TRIJOKE.ZIP --- Make a Joke a day <Logon or Bulletin>
TRISTA14.ZIP -- Statistics of use of your system.  <Logon or Bulletin>
TRIWCR10.ZIP -- Who Called your system recently? <Logon or Bulletin>
TRIWNU10.ZIP -- Welcome New Users to your system <Logon>
TTFXLG20.ZIP -- Shorten your callers.log file. <use this over
--------------- FIXCALL11.ZIP>





===========================================================================
 Page 10	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================



TTLIST1.ZIP --- This contains 3 files: FILE.COM - Ok, USER.COM - Ok
--------------- CONF.COM * WARNING: DO NOT USE *
TTOP3012.ZIP -- Generates a TOP 30 Files Downloaded List.  Requires the
--------------- use of TDNLD20.ZIP or TBDNLD21.ZIP and TMAST22.ZIP.
--------------- <Logon or Bulletin>
TTTP1020.ZIP -- Top Ten Users list generator <Logon or Bulletin>
TNTFND10.ZIP -- Locate User on your system.  Will NOT check or find any
--------------- users aliases. <door or extended menu option>
TNTUSR11.ZIP -- Gives multiple info on users of your system. <Logon or
--------------- Bulletin>
TNTHAPPY.ZIP -- Create a birthdaygram for your users, makes logon screen
--------------- for 4th of July, Valentines Day or Christmas.
TBANK31.ZIP --- TriBBS Time Bank <door or extended menu option>
TBCBV201.ZIP -- Call Back Verifier <door or extended menu option>
MAKEHELP.ZIP -- Create help menues for users of TriBBS.

 ================== NEW FILES TESTED as of 02/23/93: ==================

DRWY221.ZIP --- Allows you to add normal programs to your BBS as a door
FILECNT8.ZIP -- Create headers and other options for TriBBS File Lists
LASTCL10.ZIP -- Last Callers Bulletin Generator (Use LASTCL12.ZIP)

LASTCL12.ZIP -- Updated version of above.
SYSUSE10.ZIP -- System Usage Report.  Creates ANSI and ASCII Bulletins
TBDACC30.ZIP -- Lets you add security to your on-line doors.
TBDELU20.ZIP -- TriBBS DELETE USER utility.  Set # days and Sec. level
FIXCAL12.ZIP -- Another CALLERS.LOG shrinking utility
NEWUSR12.ZIP -- New Users Bulletin Generator
TOPDOR11.ZIP -- On-Line Door ranking utility
FILDAT10.ZIP -- FILES.LST utility to add actual dates to FILES.LST

	  11 files tested and verified to work with TriBBS 4.0

 =================== NEW FILES TESTED as of 03/04/93: =================

LAST1530.ZIP -- Display last 15 callers on your TriBBS board.
NEWSEC.ZIP ---- Allows you to use PCBoard CBV's with TriBBS.
RNDMZR.ZIP ---- Randomize your logon or logoff screens.
QUESTAIR.ZIP -- Sample questionaire files for TriBBS.
TBSN25.ZIP ---- Newest version of SendNote.
BBSLIS10.ZIP -- BBS Lister for creating a BBS list bulletin.
DIR_CVT1.ZIP -- Converts Non-TriBBS file lists to TriBBS file lists.
FBRAINXX.ZIP -- File Brain Upload Virus / File Checker.
MAKLST10.ZIP -- Another MASTER File list maker.




===========================================================================
 Page 11	 ** The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================


SHMPG310.ZIP -- Artificial Intelligence <automated> SysOp Chat program.
TRIMENU1.ZIP -- Allows you to view, print or delete your CALLERS.LOG
TRISEC41.ZIP -- TriBBS <REGISTERED> SysOp Upgrade. (TriBBS 3.3 and 4.0)
TSCN402.ZIP --- File Upload Virus scanner/checker.
ZLPGEN11.ZIP -- Zip Lab File Upload Virus scanner/checker.

	  14 files tested and verified to work with TriBBS 4.0

 ======================== END OF UPDATED LISTING =====================

I have found ALL of the above files will work extremely well and very
reliably with TriBBS 4.0.  And believe me a lot of time, research and
unzipping of files went in to verifying these files.  Not to mention
locating/downloading those I could still find.  :)

Please note: The above files may come under different archive formats,
such as .ARJ, .ZOO, .LZH, .PAK, etc. I convert all files to ZIP format
on Dracula's Tomb and is why they are so listed.

However I recommend you *avoid* any programs that were written for
TriBBS 3.3 or earlier that deal with the message bases of TriBBS.  These
files will either LOCK UP your computer, give an error code or trash
your message files!  Well I sure hope this helps everyone.  If you
don't see a file listed you've been using it's probably because I either

 A. Didn't have it.  or

 B. Couldn't get it to test.

 Please note that there are several files listed above by FC Software
 and note that FC Software NO LONGER SUPPORTS these files or accepts
 registrations for them.  They were files I was using and had stopped
 using until I could verify that they would work with TriBBS 4.0, of
 which the ones above do.

 Here are some files to *AVOID* as they may corrupt or damage your
 TriBBS 4.0 message files or some other aspect of TriBBS 4.0:

		 --====>>> Files to AVOID: <<<====--

 TBCHLP40.ZIP -- Lets you make conference descriptions for your message
 --------------- areas for TriBBS 3.3
 TTCONFS1.ZIP -- Allows you to print your conferences for TriBBS 3.3
 CONF.COM ------ Makes a list of your TriBBS 3.3 conferences.  Found in
 --------------- the file: TTLIST1.ZIP
 TTPURGE1.ZIP -- Allows you to set # of days to purge messages in one
 --------------- sweep for TriBBS 3.3



============================================================================
 Page 12	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================



	     ====>>> TRIDOG / TRINET WARNING!!! <<<====

WARNING: When converting to TriBBS 4.0 MAKE SURE you OVERWRITE your
TRIDOG 4.0 and RESET with the TRIDOG 5.0 files!  If you run your old
TriDog with TriBBS 4.0 your messages will NOT be exported!  All you
will EXPORT is the TriDog tagline and your boards origin line!  The
rest of the message will be BLANK!  Also do the same with TRINET if you
are using TriNet.  Otherwise you CAN and WILL corrupt your *.CRC files
, *.HGH files and your TriBBS MESSAGE Conferences!  If you do not
overwrite your old *.EXE files with the new ones!  Believe me this has
already happened to two SysOps!  Any messages imported will also be
corrupted!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!

     ===============>>> END OF WARNING MESSAGE <<<==============

Well I hope this helps a lot of SysOps out that were having as many
doubts as what would run with TriBBS 4.0 and some of the message
conversion problems encountered along the way.

 So there you have it.

 Clay Fugitte - Dracula's Tomb #137 - A TriBBS Support Board

Note: The above information may be FREQ'd or Downloaded from my Board:
Dracula's Tomb from 8pm - 8am Eastern Standard Time
Phone: (407) 282-3173
Filename: TB4CKLST.ZIP

	   Watch for future updates if and when they occur.


















===========================================================================
 Page 13	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================




		   **    TriBBS Optimization   **

			  By Joseph DeCarlo

			       SysOp of

			THE FLASH EXPRESS BBS

			     703-491-7720



	This is the first article I have ever written for a news
letter so if there are confusing areas please understand.  I've been
running TriBBS since November 9, 1991.  In that time I have learned
quite a bit in improving the performance of TriBBS.  My goal was to
reduce the amount of time it would take for a caller to logon and
still see the information I had to put out.  I believe I have
accomplished this and hope to help others thru this article.  I'll
try to be as clear as possible, but if a point or method is vague,
please feel free to leave me mail and I'll try to clarify.

	Though I have not tried these methods on an XT, some of them
may be helpful in running TriBBS on that type of computer.  First and
probably most important is organization of your hard drive.  If you
have a 40 meg or bigger drive, partitioning is very important.  I use
a 20 meg partition for the BBS, but it would fit in as little as a 10
meg partition with no problem.  I'm not sure of the upper limit, but
with a 16 meg or greater partition, the sector size is 2048 bytes.
Anything less and it is 4096 bytes.  This helps in reducing the
amount of space the files takes up.  Now you ask why partition.  Well
though I found it by accident it significantly improved the
performance of the BBS.  The DOS search process is very slow and the
less files it has to search thru speeds up the process.  Any
utilities that can run in a directory in your path should be kept out
of the BBS partition (i.e., Tripack, Fileman, Fileslst, etc.).  If
you have the hard drive space it is also beneficial to partition for
files, uploads and doors.

	Once you have your partitions set the next step is to decide
what programs you need to run in your config.sys and autoexec.bat.
I've found that the fewer number of TSRs used improves overall
performance.  If you have the memory, use a memory manager.  On the




===========================================================================
 Page 14	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================




286 I used QRAM.  This program supported UMBs so that I could load my
TSRs high.  On a 386 and above, QEMM is about the best, but there are
others out there.  I'll give examples of my config.sys and
autoexec.bat, but one thing I've found out is no two machines are
alike.  Here they are:

AUTOEXEC.BAT

SET PCTOOLS=C:\PCTOOLS\DATA
@ECHO OFF
VERIFY OFF
PROMPT $p$g
SET COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM
SET ZIPLAB=K:\WORKDIR
SET GSZWINDOW=23
SET DSZLOG=G:\TEMP\DSZ.LOG
PATH=C:\;C:\QEMM;C:\DV;C:\DOS;e:\TRIBBS;G:\UTIL;C:\DV\DVTREE;e:\tribbs\zlab
C:\DV\DVTREE\DVTXDI.COM
C:
CALL DV

CONFIG.SYS

DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS R:1 RAM I=0C00-0FFF X=C800-CBFF NW3 ST:M DMA=64
device=c:\pctools\ramboost.exe load
DOS=HIGH
buffers=48
files=50
INSTALL=C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE /f:512 /l:30
DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 2048 /e
DEVICE=C:\DOS\MOUSE.SYS BUS
STACKS=0,0
FCBS=1
LASTDRIVE=K
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /E:384 /P

	One thing that helps is to experiment with QEMM to see what
works best with the way you load TSRs and how you load them.  For
example Install can be loaded in either the Autoexec.bat or the
Config.sys.  I've found that loading it this way saves memory (as
much as 2K) loaded in the Config.sys vice the Autoexec.bat.  Next
you'll notice that no cache program is used.  I've tried just about
everyone imaginable and each had it's own little quirks.  For overall




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 Page 15	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
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performance and reliability "buffers=48" works best if you have the
memory available.  Next is a ramdrive.  I use the ramdrive for
ZIPLAB.  If you use the set statement for ZIPLAB this will
significantly improve the speed of it and reduce hard drive use.  The
Stacks command is important because it saves the amount of memory
used and improves performance.  The commands for QEMM are machine and
BIOS dependent.  As I said before each computer is different and what
works on one won't necessarily work on another.  The FCBS statement
only saves about 500 bytes, but each little bit helps in overall
performance and helps use programs like ARJ.  Last of all you'll
notice there are no QEMM Loadhi statements.  The reason is I use
PCTOOLS Ramboost program.  This is an auto memory manager and takes
into account any changes made to the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys.  Also
it increased memory availabilty by 2K.  As I've said every little bit
helps improve speed and performance.

	Now that you have everything setup, routine maintenance can
help with performance.  Running Tripack helps reduce the amount of
time for message searching regardless of the size of your message
base.  I use "TRIPACK /P" to delete received private messages and
dated messages.  One thing you need to do is logon locally to make
sure all private messages were marked received.  You can delete them
and help speed up performance.  After doing this you should
unfragment your hard drive.  I do all partitions daily and do a full
optimization on the BBS drive daily.  The rest of the partitions I do
a full optimization once a week.  It may not be necessary to do this,
but every little bit helps.

	The last area I'd like to go into is hardware.  TriBBS will
run on any IBM compatible computer and run very well thanks to our
author, Mark Goodwin.  The hardware I use here is rather unique, but
if you get the chance to logon here you'll see what I mean.  I have
four IDE hard drives running on one computer.  The reason this is
possible is an additional IDE controller.  It has it's own BIOS to
read the hard drives and if the drives are DMA (Direct Memory
Access) capable the drive performance increases SIGNIFICANTLY.
I have two ST-3283A's on the controller that are DMA capable.  Though
the drives are rated at 12 MS with DMA speed has increased to 4-6 MS.
I'm not saying you need to get hardware like this, but if you can
afford it you can really improve how fast a caller can logon to your
BBS.  Again if you have any questions or need help, feel free to
leave mail or call my BBS.






===========================================================================
 Page 16	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================

		       **   Hardware Help  **


Desqview and Colorado Jumbo Tape drive users:
     By Steve Strope


I don't know how many folks here use DesqView along with the Jumbo tape
drive system, but I'll throw this out anyway.  It may help someone out
allot.  In the past there has been a BIG problem with backing up data
with the Jumbo tape drive under Desqview.  Their tape software wouldn't
multi-task.  Sure, you _could_ backup under DesqView with the drive (I
could anyway), but only as long as that was ALL I was doing.  You
couldn't have another task active while the backup was taking place.

Quarterdeck has now said that if you start DesqView with the parameter:

/HW:0E:L

then you should be able to use the drive WHILE doing other tasks.  I
have NOT done it personally, but the messages I've been reading about
this parameter have been really good (one sysop reported that he
successfully backed up his drives while he had a caller downloading
files and he was using a text editor at the same time).  Others are
getting the same success.  So if you need it - try it.  I'll give it a
shot soon and report success/failure. (grin).

p.s. This works only with the tape backup running off the Floppy
controller. Not the dedicated card.

p.p.s.  I can show ya the original message from Quarterdeck if you don't
believe me. <grin>.




                       Eric Ratcliffe  Editorializes


     "...Hey, have  you tried  the WordSpooger  word processor  for Windows
yet?   Man,  the graphics  are in*TENSE*!   And the  cookbook database  and
earthquake  predictor  features  are  truly  innovative!   Also,  you   can
calculate your biorhythms, log favorite TV shows, and sound alarms whenever
your baby needs a diaper change...  You have GOT to have this!"

     Yeah, but how is it with word processing?





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 Page 17	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
===========================================================================



     "...Uh, well... It's WordSPOOGER!  It can  do that  stuff too...   But
have you  seen its  gas mileage  tracking feature  yet?  Definitely  an 'A'
ticket!..."

     Right.  I think I'll stick with VDE, thank you very much.

     It seems that in  a day  and age  when we  are at  least *trying*   to
convince ourselves that our software is moving in  a forward  direction, we
are  actually  regressing  to  the dime  store mentality  of combining  100
features into a single unit.  A lot of today's software  reminds me  of the
cheap  Woolworths  all-in-one  stereo  systems that  have a  cassette deck,
record player,  8 track  tape player,  and TV  in one  "conveniently priced
unit", sure to please all...  The problem is,  these stereos  were designed
to make a lot of different people happy by incorporating more features than
the average person would even want, much less  actually USE,  and sometimes
quality was sacrificed to make these  wonderful items  a reality.   Perhaps
software for DOS systems  has reached  its azimuth  and is  now at  a point
where  everything  that can  be done  *has*  been  done, so  it's time  for
worthless extras  to be  thrown in  for good  measure...  When  did quality
cease  to  be top  priority?  Why  is it  that flashy  screens and  obscure
features are  what people  are going  for in  today's software?   I wish  I
knew...

     With the popularity of Windows on the rise, it seems to me that a  new
WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get)  feature is  enough to  convince the
average person that he or she needs to upgrade to  the latest  and greatest
of whatever it is that they have; whether they really *need* the upgrade is
sometimes  debatable.   For  some  reason  I'm  only  seeing  this  in  the
commercial market; shareware, it seems, is usually upgraded for bug  fixes,
whereas commercial software seems to be upgraded for  questionable features
that quite possibly will create a  slew of  all-new-and-improved bugs  (for
your computing pleasure, of course...  But  boy, doesn't  that screen  look
just DANDY?  So what if my computer is locked up;  I have  something pretty
to look at while I call tech support for $2 a minute...).  With the  volume
of horror stories of this ilk that I've been hearing lately, I'm  glad that
there is an active shareware industry to take up the  slack.  The  majority
of the programs I run on a daily  basis are  shareware or  freeware, reason
being that I generally trust these  programs more,  they are  nicely sized,
and (for the most part) they are not clogged up  with inane  features; they
are focused in their scope, and thus prove to be more useful  to me  than a
large all-in-one commercial package.  Quality and  functionality should  be
the name of the game, not esthetics.






============================================================================
 Page 18	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
============================================================================



     After having toyed with a *NIX variant, I am now privy to the excesses
that some commercial DOS softwares hide under to  make them  more appealing
to the  general public.   Graphics don't  cut it  with me.   *POWER*  does.
*NIX and its variants generally are not graphics oriented, which leaves you
with pure text and binaries that provide the  rawest of  raw functionality;
piecing these elements together with a shell language  or a  C program  can
provide unparalleled power to your every day computing needs, and  it's all
part of the world of *NIX.  I would  like to  think that  the average  user
(like myself) could have  some options  to choose  from that  provide true,
specialized power when using *DOS*, but I am not seeing  very much  of this
in today's commercial DOS software market.

     If  I  had to  single out  one type  of commercial  software as  being
bloated, it would have  to be  word processors.   Take them  in their  true
perspective; word processors are really nothing  more than  printer control
programs.  They can't do anything that your printer is not  already set  up
to do, so basically there isn't anything that the average  person is  going
to get from MS Word that they won't get from Boxer or VDE.  If your printer
does not support downloadable fonts, you will be stuck with the same  fonts
in Word  as with  the latter  two.  The  same goes  for printing  graphics,
incorporating high  ASCII characters,  and basic  underlining and  multiple
striking.  In my opinion, these are all that the average  person will  need
for his/her word processing needs.  So  why is  it that  today's commercial
word processors are so bloated?  With the exception  of businesses,  who is
*really*  going  to use  a mail  merge, or  incorporate graphic  files into
their documents?  Sure, it can be nice to have these features, but the cost
of the software does not justify the purchase  when you  think of  how many
times these obscure features will *actually*  be used.  If one wants to use
graphics in their documents, they should be able to get add-on modules  for
their word processors; it  should be  an option,  not a  mandatory feature.
The bottom line is what should be important; a word processor should  excel
in *word*processing*, and anything beyond that should be  left to  the add-
on's.  (Lotus 123 and AutoCad are the only two programs that I know of that
incorporate this modular approach.  They may be a bit pricey, but at  least
you don't have to buy what you don't want.)

     So much for the software companies; now a  small blurb  about the  end
users...

     I know of quite a few people who have purchased high end 486 PC's (no,
I'm not talking about you Joe...<G>) supposedly for the power and speed  of
the computers, and in the end they only use them  for balancing  checkbooks





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 Page 19	 **  The UnOfficial Newsletter of TriBBS  **  March 1993
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and playing video games with their  kids.  For  some reason  this does  not
register as being logical to me.  If you are not  going to  use or  require
the power of a high end PC, why  spend the  extra coin  to get  it?  I  can
accomplish more with a 286 than a lot of these people can with their 486's,
and I am by no means an expert at computing.   If one  wants to  play video
games, he/she can get  a Nintendo  system.  If  one wants  to do  financial
management, he/she can get  a 286.   I personally  would be  embarrassed to
fork out the dough for something that I wasn't going  to use  (I have  done
this in the past, and yes, I have  been embarrassed  over it).   Why buy  a
Maserati to drive to and from a grocery store?  If you don't  want to  keep
that money, believe me, I'll take it off of your hands...

     Basically, the gist of this whole  tirade is  that if  you are  in the
market for something new computer-wise, you need to consider what  you will
actually use; whether it's a word processor or an actual  computer, if  you
are not going to use it for what it's meant to be used for,  either now  or
in the future, then skip it.  I have tried out  high tech  word processors,
and for my needs VDE is more than  adequate.  Also,  I have  worked on  486
computers, and I must say that for what I do with a computer a 386 is  just
fine.  I guess what I'm trying  to address  is more  "bloat-mentality" than
"bloat-ware", as it seems  that the  whole environment  surrounding today's
DOS based  PC market  is of  a "bloat"  nature.  Bigger,  faster, and  more
expensive  isn't  necessarily  better  in all  cases.  I  am more  ready to
respect the 286 user who creates a mind blowing assembler program than I am
a  486  user who  can only  show me  how much  in checking  account service
charges he racked up last month.  Somehow, it just doesn't add up...

     Even if it was added up on a 486 using WordSpooger...



    Since I am the editor now, I get to get the last word in. Doing this
    newsletter has been a learning experience for me. I've never done any-
    thing like it and have enjoyed it imensly. In the future, I hope to be
    able to add more regular articles. I would like to add an area where
    TriBBS sysops could tell everyone about important events in their life,
    like weddings, New children, BBS milestones and such. Please, if you have
    any news like this, send me a message on TTN in the Newsletter conf. I
    am also always looking for articles about TriBBS or programs of interest
    to TriBBS sysops. By all means, send them this way. Your contributions
    are the only way this Newsletter will keep going.

    Thankyou for taking the time to read this over, and I hope you have
    enjoyed it, or at the very least, learned something from it

							    Steve Sears


