Message Count v1.0 Copyright (C) 1994, by Cutting Edge Online All rights reserved. Programming and Documentation by John Marx Cutting Edge Online (318) 537-7089 Voice 6372-B Kucinski Street (318) 537-7746 BBS Fort Polk, LA 71459 Hayes Optima 28.8k U.S.A. FidoNet: 1:3817/9 Message Count v1.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements The requirements for using this PPE are as follows: a. PCBoard 15.21+ (This program was created with PPLC v3.0 and will not work with any version less than 15.21.) b. Enough space on your hard drive for installation of the program. c. It's not needed but placing this PPE and all your PPE's into different subdirectories is helpful. This allows you to more easily update or remove a PPE with it's accompanying files. Plus if you place more than one PPE in a directory you may run into the program trying to use a file it shouldn't. This is all that is needed to run this program. Message Count v1.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Overview Welcome to the PCBoard "Message Count" program. This program has been designed to gather the total number of *ACTIVE* messages for system. This program will create a bulletin as you feel fit with your own colors, design, etc. This program is 100% SysOp definable, as all of our products our. This program is being released as FREEWARE. There are several @macros@ within this program to better customize the program to your taste. The current available macros are as follows: Macro Does @date@ Last date file was updated @time@ Last time file was updated @conf@ Total conferences defined in PCBOARD.DAT @sysconf@ Total number of conferences defined using the optional command line parameter. This is covered in more detail in the installation of the program. @inuse@ Number of conferences actually being used @active@ Number of ACTIVE messages in ALL of the conferences @confavg@ Average of ALL the messages divided by number of active conferences on the system These macros must all be in upper case and the bulletin is created from a file called DISPLAY, which is the display file you specify in MSG-CNT.CNF file. Just follow the step by step instructions below and you will be running in no time. Message Count v1.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Program Installation If you need a more complete installation help see the GUIDE.ME file provided. This file was created to more easily guide new SysOps through the process of installing FileMenu. To install this program you will need to do the following: 1. First unZIP the archive into its new subdirectory. 2. In you daily maintenance add a line which resembles something similar to: D: CD\PCB\NODE3 PCBOARD /PPE:D:\PCB\PPE\MSG-CNT\MSG-CNT.PPE [?????] Do you notice the [?????]? This is an optional parameter to the program. If you're system is like mine and you plan WAY ahead you may need this parameter to speed things up. I have 15,000 conferences defined, but only use the first 1,000 so I have mine setup as: PCBOARD /PPE:D:\PCB\PPE\MSG-CNT\MSG-CNT.PPE 1000 This tells the program to stop after 1,000 conferences. This does NOT affect the @conf@ variable. It will still show the number of conferences in your PCBOARD.DAT file. 3. You will now need to edit the MSG-CNT.CNF file to your liking. There is a description for each line in this file within the .CNF file. If you don't wish the program credits (made by so-and-so) then there is an option to turn this off in the .CNF file. 4. Your last file to edit is the DISPLAY file. This file is what your bulletin will look like when it's displayed. You may have @macros anywhere you desire in this file, including PCBoard @variables and color codes. There is no limit to the size or length of this file. That's all there is to it! Enjoy! Message Count v1.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Possible Error Codes There are several reasons for error codes. The main reason is something went wrong in the program. Even though all efforts have been made to remove any and all possible errors there still may be some configuration we haven't thought of. As such we've included extensive error checking in all of our programs to eliminate any and all possible errors. Errors will be shown to the caller on the screen explaining what went wrong and why if the program can determine without a doubt what it was. All errors will be logged to the callers log! This allows you to correct any problems that your users might not tell you. A lot of times when an error occurs the users like "that's nice." We feel that even as nice as it would be for the user to explain to the SysOp what they were doing when such errors occur, we know not to expect it so we've added this to the code as well. When it logs this information to the callers log it also logs the exact saying that it gave to the user. This gives you the most complete information we can. You may also wish to check out the "Frequently Asked Questions" at the end of this document for it may cover a question you are currently having about PCBoard and PPE's. Message Count v1.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacting the Author I can be reached on either my BBS or through my home phone number at any time. If I'm not home and you receive the answering machine just leave your name and number with a short explanation, if you can, of the problem. I WILL call you back as soon as I can and if you gave me a description of your problem will more than likely have an answer for you when I do call you back. When you do call us with information about a bug in the program please give us the following information. This information will help us determine what the problem is: 1. Program name and version number. 2. Type and brand of computer, hard disk, plus any peripherals. 3. Version of DOS plus any TSRs or device drivers in use. 4. Explanation of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 5. Description of what is in memory from the MEM command (DOS 4 and above users only) or a similar utility. 6. The exact problem you are having. Please be as specific as possible. Having a printout of the screen and/or being at your computer will be helpful. The Cutting Edge Online BBS operates 24 hours a day, is using a Hayes Optima 28.8k modem, PCBoard 15.2/10 and the number is (318) 537-7746. You will be able to download if you wish on the first call. There are no callback doors. We do use CALLER-ID for just this purpose. I personally don't like callback doors and am sure many others feel the same. We've recently upgraded the system bringing the system to 13.2 Gigs online with 5 CD-ROMs. I'm available also on the PCBoard Support BBS, Salt Air. I only call once a week, normally on Saturday so the replies won't be as quick as you may like. I'm also in the FidoNet PCBoard, PCB-Net conferences. Our FidoNet address is 1:3817/9. If you have a problem, suggestion, comment, download or just wish to talk please call and we will be more than glad to serve you. We're not happy until YOU are happy so let us know if we're doing something wrong. If we're doing it right tell your fellow PCBoard SysOps, if not tell US!