ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ º MTA Make Them Anything ³ D.I.S.P. ³ÄÄÄÄ¿ º Convert Compressed ³ ³°°°°³ ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ ³°°°°³ º (c) 1994 Robert W.van Hoeven ³ Dutch ³°°°°³ ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ Independent ³°°°°³ º Release : 15.57 ³ ShareWare ³°°°°³ º Rel.Date: March 7th, 1994 ³ Programmer³°°°°³ ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ°°°°³ º | ³°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°³ º ³ MTA.EXE / MTM.EXE | ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ º ³ MTL.EXE / MTZ.EXE | ÚÄÄÄÄÄ¿ | º ³ MTA.CTL / MTA.CHx | ³°°°°°³ | º ³ | ÀÄÄÂÄÄÙ | º ³ MTAOVR.EXE / MTAOVR.OVR (*) | ÚÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄ¿ | º ³ ------³³³³³³ ÍÍͳ------- º ³ MTADPMI.EXE (**) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ º ³ º ³ Lines starting with '³' are º ³ changes to release 15.55/6 ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ º Address: Robert W. van Hoeven º PO. Box 131 º 1170 AC Badhoevedorp º Nederland / Holland ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ (*) OVERLAY FILES ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MTAOVR.EXE and MTAOVR.OVR are files that make the overlayed version º º of MTA. These files are available in a separate package which can be º º found under the name MTAOVvvv.eee (where vvv has the same number as º º the last 3 digits of this archive (e.g. F10, F11, F35) and eee is º º the extension. º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ (**) PROTECTED MODE FILES ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MTADPMI.EXE is the protected-mode version of MTA. This version can º º be used on 286/386/486 (and higher) computers and will use a kind º º of virtual memory. Because of that, there are no real limits to the º º number of options you use and files you convert in one run. º º The file can be found in a separate package which has the same º º which can be found under the name MTAPVxxx.eee (syntax see above º º for the OVERLAYED version). º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º READ THE MTA.NEW DOCUMENTATION, THERE ARE SOME CHANGES IN PARAMETERS º º AND OPTIONS ! º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 0 ³ Table of contents ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 1 ---- General information 1.1 Copyrights and License Agreement 1.2 Newer versions and contacting the author 2 ---- Package description and requirements 2.1 Preface 2.2 Requirements 2.3 Included files 2.4 History 3 ---- Installation description 3.1 Installation 3.1.1 Installation of the software 3.1.2 The overlay mechanism 3.2 Archivers 3.2.1 General remarks and suggestions on archivers 3.2.2 Remarks on ARC 3.2.3 Remarks on PAK 3.2.4 Remarks on ZIP 3.2.5 Remarks on PKPAK/PKUNPAK 3.2.6 Remarks on DWC 3.2.7 Remarks on ZOO 3.2.8 Remarks on LHarc 3.2.9 Remarks on LArc 3.2.10 Remarks on MD 3.2.11 Remarks on ARJ 3.2.12 Remarks on HYPER 3.2.13 Remarks on PKLITE 3.2.14 Remarks on GIFLITE 3.2.15 Remarks on JPEG 3.2.16 Remarks on GIFTEST 3.2.17 Remarks on SQZ 3.2.18 Remarks on SQZ 3.3 MTA.CTL 3.3.1 Basic statements 3.3.2 Statements that define the environment that MTA uses (paths) 3.3.3 Statements that define the logging 3.3.4 Statements that define the selection of files 3.3.5 Statements that define the resulting files 3.3.6 Your own (new) compressor 3.3.7 Statements that define the various exits (hooks) in MTA 3.3.8 Statements that are useful to Bulletin Board Systems/SysOp's 3.3.9 Special statements 3.3.10 Statements available when using a registered version 3.4 Diskette option 3.5 KeyBoard control 3.6 Running multiple copies of MTA at the same time 3.7 Compression of single executable files (PKLITE) 3.8 The MTA tag-window 3.9 MTA and unattended operations 3.10 TICK-files and related material 3.11 ALLFIX, yet another TICK-clone ? 3.12 Special ARC considerations 3.13 Using newer versions of archivers 3.14 Lo-tek functions, calling MTA as shell of MTA ³ 3.15 Wildcard support 3.16 TEC files 4 ---- Run-time information 4.1 Command-line parameters 4.1.1 Command-line parameters that stand on their own 4.1.2 Command-line parameters that overrule/toggle/disable MTA.CTL 4.1.3 Command-line parameters with a special usage 4.2 Aborting MTA 4.3 LOG file 4.4 Errors 5 ---- Version information and credits 5.1 The BETA-team 5.2 Credits 5.3 Version history 5.4 Copyright, Trademarks ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 1 ³ General information ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 1.1 Copyrights and License Agreement ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ - Users of the MTA-package must accept this disclaimer of warranty: - The MTA-package is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of the MTA-package; - The MTA-package is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. - If you find this program useful and find that you are using and continue the use of the MTA-package after a 30 days trial period, you must register the MTA-package as described below; - Non-commercial can get a license for the usage up to this release of the MTA-package for a small amount of money. Look into the details in REGISTER.MTA. Previous registered users will receive a big reduction to upgrade to the newer versions. These users should look into the details in UPGRADE.MTA. For Non-commercial users there is a POSSIBILITY to submit to one of the special contracts as explained in the file REGISTER.MTA. - Commercial usage of MTA will cost somewhat more. Also, a so called 'closed' Bulletin Board System (a system where the user must pay direct to the SysOp to get full access) is has to pay more than a Non-commercial user. Both types of users should look into the details in REGISTER.MTA; - The registration of the MTA-package will license ONE copy for use on any computer at any one time, as long as the usage confirms to the type of registration you have done (so NON-commercial usage when you have a non-commercial license); - Anyone distributing the MTA-package for any kind of remuneration must first contact the Author at the address above for authorization. - You are encouraged to pass a copy of the MTA-package along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it; - Support on MTA, when used in a non-commercial environment, is available by means of written letters or by entering the inter- national echomail area DISP; - Problems and suggestions can be entered in the FidoNet Echomail conference called DISP (international). Entering this echo does not exclude you of the duty to register the MTA-package, though users who evaluate the product can enter the echo for questions; - The MTA-package, all programs, the documentation and support-files is copyrighted 1990,94 by Robert W. van Hoeven, PO. Box 131, Badhoevedorp 1170AC, Holland. All rights are reserved. You may copy this package for backup purposes. Also you may copy and share unmodified copies of the whole package, providing that the copyright notice is reproduced and included on all copies. Excluded from this statement are the support-files written by other authors. Please refer to the documentation of these programs for copyrights and license agreements; - It is forbidden to modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile and/or disassemble the software in the MTA-package. Patching the medium at places that carry the software is seen as a program change and is also forbidden. It is forbidden to create a so called 'bypass' to skip the original introduction screens and delay. Also it is forbidden to use such a 'bypass' unless supplied by the author (Robert W. van Hoeven) himself; - Performing any of the illegal actions as stated in the previous lines, is a theft and no fair play to the author and, more important, to the registered users; - Bulletin Board Systems that distribute the MTA package can convert the WHOLE package to any archive-system they like but all original files must be included in the new archive. The MTA-package on the Bulletin Board can contain at the most 2 extra files. These files can only be a commercial for that Bulletin Board and/or validation data that is presented as a service to all users and shall have no other functions; - After the normal trial period of 30 days, you must register the soft- ware (see REGISTER.MTA) or you must remove it from your PC; - Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome and will be answered as soon I have the time to do so. You can send me a letter of leave a NetMail message named to Rob Van.hoeven (mind the point) on node 2:281/904 (PB Support, Monster, Holland, SysOp is Reinier de Groot). When you want to send me normal mail, address it to: Robert W. van Hoeven, PO. Box 131, 1171 AC Badhoevedorp, Holland; Also you can enter messages in the FidoNet DISP Echomail area; 1.2 Newer versions and contacting the author ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The newest version of MTA is always available at the DISP-HQ on node 2:281/904. MTA is also distributed thru a number of DISP support nodes and thru some forums in CompuServe. There are six ways in which you can obtain newer versions of MTA: - Logging on at DISP-HQ or a support node (FidoNet) Look into the file SUPPORT.MTA for a full list of support nodes; - Logging on to a SDS node MTA is distributed thru SDS/SDN, but only big minors (x.10, x.20 and so on) and majors (14.01, 15.01 and so on) are submitted to the SDS distribution point in Holland; - Logging on to your own BBS; Chances are, that you will find an older version (international users) because it will take some time for the new version to 'bleed' thru the net; - Logging on to CompuServe; Important versions of MTA are uploaded to several CompuServe forums. It is intended to upload versions to the SYMANTEC and IBMSYS forums but depend on the authorization of the forum sysops. If you are not sure, you can contact me on CompuServe personally; - Update service; You can enter a special update service (read REGISTER.MTA). If you think you have found problems in MTA, or in any other case, you wish to contact the author, you can send me: - A letter to the address you can find in the header of this file; - A NetMail message to Rob Van.hoeven (please mind the point between Van and Hoeven) at 2:281/904 or (better) 2:281/904.5; - A Message in the FidoNet DISP echomail area; - A message (mail forum) in CompuServe to user Robert van Hoeven, with account/user number 100120,1146; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 2 ³ Package description and requirements ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2.1 Preface ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA is a program that can be helpful with the job to convert archives (compressed files) from one archive-system (ZIP, ARJ, LZH and such are called archive-systems) to another one. The conversion from archive-systems is something that is done frequently on BBS systems. Different users do uploads for files created in various archive-systems. The SysOp (System Operator of a BBS) will make these files available in only one system so all users who download one or more files, only need one archive program to decompress the files. When a normal user visits various BBS's that all have their own archive system, she/he will also get a mixture of different files, created in different archive-systems. In this case MTA can also help. There a tons of features available in MTA. Some of them will only have a meaning for a SysOp, some of them only for the normal user and many of them for both. Users can automatically remove files from archives (many BBS's add headers and/or files to the archive as advertisement for the BBS), SysOp's can add them, both can scan for viri (in many different ways). There are options to convert a single file, a complete directory (with or without sub-directories), complete drives and a special feature to convert all files on a diskettes from one system to another (while the user won't have to worry that the target files will not fit on the diskette). The list can go on for hours. The MAJOR benefit of MTA is, that it treats ANY of the most known archivers with the same service. Other programs may be smaller but only treat a certain archive-system for the full 100%. MTA is made in a way that YOU can decide what output (archive-system) should be created without having to search for better programs when you swap from one system to another. Another benefit of MTA is the up-to-date status of the program. For more than 3 years now, I have managed to update MTA at the same time (and sometimes earlier) you got hold of a new version of your archive-program. And even when you are not served within the minute, you can always use the special routines in MTA that implement a 'user-type' of archive program (based on the extension of the archives). MTA's documentation is NOT easy. It is a large text. There are so many options that can be useful for you. The best way to start is to read everything one (without the description of the options), then take a ASCII-editor, import chapter 3 and start to create the configuration file, line by line, option by option. If you have completed the setup, you nearly don't have to look at it anymore for a long time, so take your time. 2.2 Requirements ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA requires: - PC XT/AT/386/486 (or more) - At least 400K free memory but it depends on the archiver(s) you use (NON OVERLAYED VERSION); - At least 200K free memory but it depends on the archiver(s) you use (OVERLAYED VERSION); - DOS 3.xx and higher; (tested with 4Dos 4.0, should work with lower versions); - DOS 2.xx ONLY when registered. In this case, a customized version will be created; - HDU optional - Mouse optional - One or more virus-scanners (optional) - The original (de)compression programs. MTA does NOT contain the compression/decompression routines; - The original GIF conversion programs that are supported by MTA; 2.3 Included files ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The package includes : MTA.EXE The main program MTA.CH1 The chained tag-menu module MTA.CH2 The chained help-menu module MTM.EXE The maintenance program MTL.EXE The list program MTA_DIR.EXE The directory utility MTA_CRC.EXE The VALIDATE caller MTA__BAT.EXE A SFX with examples of batches MTA__UTL.EXE A SFX with additional utilities Besides this normal and complete package, there is an additional file, containing MTAOVR.EXE and MTA.OVR. These are the files that are needed to run MTA in overlayed mode. 2.4 History ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA is now 3 years old. It started with version 4.01 (first public release). Releases 1, 2 and 3 were called MTZ and could only convert ZIP-files. With release 13, MTA changed from freeware to shareware. With release 14, MTA added some extra options for BBS's and became able to output some of the text to a modem (so MTA could be run as a shell under the BBS or a protocol-driver). With release 15, a new type of compressed files is supported. These are GIF files. Release 15 can support the conversion of GIF files. Also, within release 15, a MS/Windows version of MTA will be released AND (finally) the setup of the configuration file will change from a ASCII-file to a windowed (full-screen) setup program (not in 15.01, 15.01 is a forced release because of the upcoming ZIP 2.xx). I will try to keep MTA as up-to-date as possible. Every few months or so, new versions of archive programs hit the market. Some of these versions contain new algorithms and also contain changes in the internal structure. Up to now, I was able to release a new version of MTA only a few days after the final release of such versions (and sometimes earlier, based on the beta-versions). Needless to say that it is a hell of a job to keep informed about all the changed. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 3 ³ Installation description ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 3.1 Installation ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA is not an easy program to install. There are numerous features that can be used. Also, there are no specific guidelines for a quick install of the program, but in the next chapters I will try to guide you thru the installation in a structured way. Both new and advanced users should also take a look at any included *.TEC file. These files (if present) will give a wider description of a specific topic which has caused some questions in the past. 3.1.1 Installation of the software ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The first step is the installation of the (program) files. This is a very easy step if you observe all the following rules. The next steps are described with a hard-disk system in mind: - Decide which directory you want to use. MTA can find its own support files in three possible ways (in the following order): - In the current directory; - The directory containing MTA.EXE (DOS 3.xx and higher only) or any other program name if you have renamed MTA.EXE to something else. The same goes for the overlay version; - The DOS PATH (DOS 2.xx and higher); Either use an existing directory or create a new directory that will be used for the installation of MTA (in the second case, add it to the DOS PATH, so the call to MTA.EXE can be done from anywhere on the disk); - Place MTA.EXE, MTA.CH1, MTA.CH2, MTL.EXE, MTM.EXE and MTZ.EXE in the selected directory. If you don't want to use MTL, MTM and/or MTZ, you can always remove them later. MTA.CH1 and MTA.CH2 are (sometimes) needed by MTA. MTA.CH1 contains the interactive pick- list to select files from a large list, MTA.CH2 is called when you want help information about the command-line options. When you have obtained the overlayed version of MTA, you must also copy MTAOVR.EXE and MTAOVR.OVR to the selected directory. All programs CAN be renamed to anything you like (e.g. delete the non-overlayed MTA.EXE and re- name the overlayed MTAOVR.EXE to MTA.EXE) but the files MTA.CH1, MTA.CH2 can NOT be renamed. Also when you rename the overlay version (MTAOVR.EXE), you must give the filename-part (not the extension) of the overlay file (MTAOVR.OVR) the SAME name (so rename MTAOVR.EXE to BLURB.EXE, in that case, rename MTAOVR.OVR to BLURB.OVR); - Copy the included example of MTA.CTL to the same directory as the MTA program files. This example file must be changed later on to you own environment and needs. For now, leave it unchanged; - MTA can also look for an environment variable called MTA. You can add a line in AUTOEXEC.BAT with the value 'SET MTA=[path]' (do not code the quotes and replace [path] with the name of the directory where MTA.EXE/CH1/CH2/OVR/CTL are; - NEVER use compression programs like PKLITE, SHRINK or DIET on the executable files inside the MTA package. They must stay unaltered. The programs that are called within MTA (archivers, exits) can, from MTA's point of view, be compressed with these programs. If you insist on using the least possible space, you CAN compress the MTA.CH1/CH2, MTL.EXE, MTM.EXE and MTZ.EXE files with PKLITE or any other program that you like; - Be sure to have the DOS program SUBST.COM/EXE inside your DOS path. This program comes with your release of DOS and without them, MTA can do less of the conversion than when you have them available. As you will see later, you need special options to set to a value to let MTA make use of this program (so you can still have them on the drive without MTA using them). Unless you have a special setup networks and such), you can rest assure that you can use the SUBST program along with MTA, unless you use specialized software that will not match with SUBST usage; - When installing the MTA files, also take some time to see which archive programs you have where (write them down, because you can use this info when you create MTA.CTL). Also take a look at the versions you run of these programs. The next chapters will go into specific details for every supported archiver. In case of difficulty or just to stay up-to-date, you should try to obtain the highest version that is mentioned in the documentation; - When using the overlayed version of MTA, you should read the next paragraph for more details on how to setup the overlay environment; 3.1.2 The overlay mechanism ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There is also an overlay version of MTA. This means that only part of the code will be active and available in conventional memory (the part of memory up to 640K) and the remaining parts of the code can be loaded into memory when a certain part is needed. Overlays are only useful when a program will not have to access all parts of the coding in a short time. The more coding is not needed concurrently, the bigger the overlay and the smaller the part of conventional memory the program needs. When a program is written, the author will always try to search for the best result on a large number of implementations, but not all situations can be dealt with. Because of these special situations, MTA includes a number of options to make the overlay mechanism as flexible as possible. To change the overlay mechanism means that you must know how it works by default. When MTA is loaded, it will try to initialize the overlay manager first. This is done in the following manner: - The program will search for the overlay-file. The location it will search is the location where the EXE-file is found. The name must be the same as the filename-part (without extension) of the EXE-file, so when you rename MTAOVR.EXE to MTA.EXE, you must also rename the MTAOVR.OVR file to MTA.OVR. This mechanism works for all DOS releases from version 3.0 and higher. Lower versions of DOS (1.x and 2.x) can not work in this manner and you need to set the location and name overlay-file with help of an environment variable (see later); - If the overlay-file is found, the program will initialize it and will examine the memory. The overlay-manager need some conventional memory and it can store the remaining part of the overlay (the not-active part) in expanded memory (EMS) if that is available and contains enough free memory. The size of the part of conventional memory is variable (though it can not be too small) and is set to a good average (by default). The size of the part of EMS memory is fixed for a given release of the program. The more conventional memory that is assigned to the overlay buffer, the better the performance of the program but the less memory (conventional) is available. If the overlay part can not be loaded into EMS (because it isn't there or there isn't enough free memory in EMS), it will be left on disk and parts of the coding must be loaded from disk (slower!) when they are needed; - If the overlay-managers fails to install the overlay, the program will abort. In general, the failing will be the result of: - The OVR-file (the overlay) could not be found; - Not enough conventional memory available to load the overlay; - Invalid (old) EMS drivers; - I/O errors on the overlay-file - Conflicts between other programs that use EMS or conventional memory (TSR's, device drivers); In general, when you do nothing about the overlay-manager and you run under DOS 3.xx or higher, you will have a solid running program. If you have problems (see above) or you want to optimize the program for better thruput, you can (must) alter the overlay management. These changes must be made with help of environment variables (see the DOS SET command). Many people asked why you can't put these changes inside the control-file. That is not possible, because the parsing of the control-file itself is an overlayed part of the coding. You need the overlay before you can access the control file. That is why you must make use of environment variables. The following environment variables are tested for: MTAOVROL : This environment variable can be used to point to the name and/or location of the overlay-file. You can use it in two ways: (1) SET MTAOVROL=F:\RAMDRIVE\ (2) SET MTAOVROL=C:\BBS\PRG\MTA.OVR In the first case (1) you point to the directory that contains the overlay-file. The name of the overlay-file is generated from the program-name (minus the extension), so when you have MYMTA.EXE, you must put MYMTA.OVR in this directory first. The directory-name MUST end with a '\' otherwise the overlay-manager will assume RAMDRIVE as the name of the overlay-file and will search for it in F:\. In the second case (2) you point to the location AND name of the overlay-file. In this case the overlay-file can have a complete different name. So it is valid to call the program MTAHELL.EXE and the overlay MTAOVR.OVR if you use SET MTAOVROL=C:\BBS\PRG\MTAOVR.OVR. This option is also needed when you run under DOS 1.xx or 2.xx; The most common usage of this environment variable is to put the overlay-file on a RAM-disk (fast access) and to deny the usage of EMS for the overlay (because you have better candidates for EMS usage). MTAOVRUE : This environment variable can have 2 values, either Y or N. The program will only test if the value 'N' is used (so SET MTAOVRUE=N). If this is the case, the overlay manager will not use EMS for the overlay-file and access to the overlay-file is done on disk (see MTAOVROL); MTAOVRBS : This environment variable can be used to alter (enlarge) the overlay buffer in conventional memory. The program's default will give a good average, but when memory is not a problem (conventional memory), you can make the overlay buffer bigger and gain some speed in the program thruput. To see which value you should set, you should run the program without this option first. Inside the log (you must activate the log), you can find the default value for the overlay buffer. You can make it smaller but don't make it smaller than the current size minus 8192 otherwise the overlay-manager could fail. You can make it bigger but don't make it too big (experiment with small steps and see if the performance gets better). SET MTAOVRBS=100000 will allocate 100.000 bytes of conventional memory for the overlay buffer; MTAOVRPS : This environment variable can be used to alter (enlarge) the 'prohibition area'. This area is a part of the normal overlay buffer. It is used to store recently accessed parts of the code. The code will remain as long as possible over here. If the code is accessed again, it doesn't have to be loaded from the overlay-file but can come from this area. The value you supply with this variable should not be less than 2. The default is 3 (buffersize / 3). You can try to gain some speed by making the overlay buffer larger and to set this value to 2. The default gives a good average in combination with most overlay buffers; In general (DOS version equal or higher than 3.xx, unaltered names for the program-file and overlay-file, enough EMS memory or a fast disk), you can use the default values and don't have to set these environment variables. MTA's overlayed version is available as a separate package (MTAOVxxx). It is advised to use the overlay version when the remaining memory is very low (when running MTA under a BBS door like FileDoor . 3.2 Archivers ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In the next chapters I will give some personal advise and some remarks on the various archivers that are available and that MTA can support. If you are an inexperienced user, you can obtain some information about archivers you haven't looked at, if you are a pro, you will find some remarks on the various archivers that have to deal with the way MTA converts from and to these kind of systems. 3.2.1 General remarks and suggestions on archivers ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ This chapter (3.2.1) contains some PERSONAL information about archivers in general. If you don't know all the systems or if you are still in search for a better one, this chapter can guide you in a certain way. I won't start a discussion about the information in this chapter, neither with the authors (beta-testers) nor with the users, remember it is my personal point of view, after looking at all of them. For starters, I will URGE to say that MTA supports ALL archive systems in the BEST possible way, so the fact that I am not using a certain system does not mean that MTA does not support it for 100%. Some other vendors supply conversion programs from all (or one) systems to all (or one) other system. Please be warned that most of these programs ar written with a certain archive system in mind. MTA is not such a program. I neither sell nor develop any archive system myself so MTA can look as 'objective' as possible to any archive system. The question 'which is the best archive system for my situation' is a question that is asked many times. I can not give 100% OK answer to this question but I can try. First you must ask yourself one question. WHY, besides gaining disk space, should I use an archive program. Here are some guidelines: -a) I need as much files in on my disks, so HIGH compression is my major goal; -b) I want to create compressed files very quickly because I have either a slow machine or much archives to maintain; -c) I want to make my archives 'transparent' to other types of operating systems (called 'platforms' with a difficult word); -d) I need to archive (and store) files on diskette that are bigger than my highest diskette format; -e) I want some sort of version control, so when I add a file to an archive, any previous file with the same name inside that archive must be kept as a backup (older level); I am sure there are some other guidelines to follow. For one, I personally like a good and bug-free archive program with a good feedback from users of vendor when needed. But let us take the given guidelines (a) to (e) and see what COULD be best for you. In the given order: -a) Most archivers can compress to a very small format but there are three groups that differ in size. The first group contains ZIP (2.xx), LZH (2.xx) and ARJ (2.xx) in a random order. It is a matter of 1 to 3 percent depending on the kind of files. LZH is free (with source-code) which can be a bonus but also a drawback. The second group contains ZOO (2.xx), HYPER (25) and PAK (2.xx). ZOO 2.1x is somewhere between the first and second group, other differ in speed and options. The remaining systems are combined as the third group; -b) When speed is the main interest, ZIP is your goal. LZH (2.xx) is also good and some of the older systems can work fast. There is a rule that says, the higher the compression, the more time it will take to compress. Where ARJ, ZIP and LZH make very com- pressed files (within a the 5% bounds), ZIP outruns the others; -c) If you want to make 'portable' archives, the choices are small. Excluding OS/2 and to my knowledge, only LZH and ZOO can create transparent archives. ARJ is working on one and the archives are already prepared to be transparent; -d) For this feature you need the so called multi-volume support. Only ARJ and ZIP (2.xx) support multi-volume support (MTA does not by the way); -e) Version control is an option in demand by programmers. ARJ and ZOO include version control. ZOO in a somewhat nicer way as ARJ but it has just been included in ARJ, so there is room for improvements; I think that most of the users need a combination of -a) and -b). From the text you can see that, unless you need special tricks, ARJ, LZH and ZIP are the first you should try. If you love many options (and have a fast machine), you should take a look at ARJ. If you love a good simple interface and very speedy results, ZIP is your first target and when you want something of both (and the sources, AND no registration), LZH would be nice, though it has some drawbacks (no path-information, no multi-volume). I will skip to ZIP 2.xx because the AV-code is finally possible for non-USA users. 3.2.2 Remarks on ARC ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : All ARC versions up to 6.02 There are no special tricks concerning ARC. When destination is ARC, FULL recursive support is available if you use the SubstDrive option in MTA.CTL, otherwise, no recursive support is available, due to the nature of ARC's recursive support. MTA is NOT able to detect incoming encrypted ARC-files. There is no indication in the ARC whatsoever that an ARC-file is encrypted. Please be careful ! MTA IS able to unARC encrypted ARC-files when you supply the correct switches to MTA; If you receive files from the newer (7.xx) version of ARC (SEA) but you don't own ARC 7.xx, you can use the UNARCPath option in MTA.EXE. This option can point to either ARCE.EXE or XARC.EXE. In that case you can decompress the files and convert them to another system that you CAN support. 3.2.3 Remarks on PAK ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : All PAK versions up to 2.51 There are a few things to keep in mind when using a PAK version. If you still use GSARC (the old PAK), skip as fast as you can to a newer level (GSARC support will be removed from MTA, somewhere in 1994). There are some special tricks concerning PAK. When destination is PAK, FULL recursive support is available if you use the SubstDrive option in MTA.CTL, otherwise, no recursive support is available, due to the nature of PAK's recursive support. When adding comments to the PAK file (AutoComment option), up to 64000 bytes are allowed, although this seems to be more than PAK can support. MTA is NOT able to detect incoming encrypted PAK-files, see the remarks on ARC files. NoGate Consulting have released a PAK 2.5x with ZIP-support inside. MTA is NOT able to use PAK as a substitution for PKWare's ZIP. You MUST use PKZIP/PKUNZIP to compress and decompress ZIP files ! 3.2.4 Remarks on ZIP ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : All ZIP versions up to 2.04g When using ZIP files (as destination), you must remember to set the correct compression switches in the ZIPCompression option in MTA.CTL. You can not (of course) use a switch that is not supported with your current version of ZIP. Also be sure to upgrade to the highest possible version. MTA versions up to 14.57 contain upgrade support to upgrade from older ZIP (0.xx) to newer ZIP (1.xx) formats. MTA 15.01 and up still contain upgrade support but now for the 1.xx to 2.xx versions of ZIP. MTA will ignore newer ZIP archives if you still use an older ZIP version. MTA is able to detect and process both encrypted ZIP-files and ZIP-files with Authenticity Verification set to ON. MTA will skip encrypted ZIP-files when no password is supplied to MTA. Be warned that the new PKZIP (2.xx) will not detect any AV-code in a PKZIP 1.xx archive (and the other way around). MTA *CAN* detect BOTH situations but the version of PKZIP you use will deside if (and how) the AV-code is shown to MTA. From 14.50 and on, conversion of volume-labels from and to ZIP files is available in MTA. ³There are some reversed engineered versions of the ZIP algorithm for ³various platforms. During the last weeks I have had reports of problems ³with an OS/2 version of such a program. This program creates ZIP files ³with archives in a way that it causes the ORIGINAL PkWare PKUNZIP.EXE ³for DOS platforms to generate errors. These errors relate to the way ³directories are stored in the OS/2 ZIP-clone-archive (which looks like ³a file). MTA can be configured to work with these archives but I do NOT ³recommend you to do so (data-lost situations can occur). In any case, ³if you really want to, you can set the IGNOREUNZIPWARNING parameter and ³add the 'UNZIPCompression -o' option in MTA.CTL. 3.2.5 Remarks on PKPAK/PKUNPAK ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : All PKPAK/UNPAK versions up to 3.61 There is nothing special in this support. To go along with S.E.A., PKPAK/PKUNPAK format is not supported as destination, nor are the (archive) comments inside a PKware created ARC-file; MTA is NOT able to detect incoming encrypted PKPAK-files. There is no indication in the ARC whatsoever that a PKPAK-file is encrypted. Please be careful ! MTA IS able to unPAK encrypted PKPAK-files when you supply the correct switches to MTA. 3.2.6 Remarks on DWC ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : DWC version 5.10A No support for included directories. You can set the type of compress (average, good) by means of the DWCCompression option in MTA.CTL. There are some special tricks concerning DWC. When destination is DWC, FULL recursive support is available if you use the SubstDrive option in MTA.CTL, otherwise, no recursive support is available, due to the nature of DWC's recursive support. MTA is able to detect and process DWC files that are encrypted. MTA will skip an encrypted DWC-file when no password is supplied to MTA. 3.2.7 Remarks on ZOO ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : ZOO version 2.10 There is nothing special in this support. Full recursive and relative path support is available. MTA also supports ZOO 2.01 'extended' and the new ZOO 2.10 with very small target files (high compression). You can set high compression for ZOO by using the ZOOCompression option with a value of h. When adding comments to the ZOO file (AutoComment option), up to 64000 bytes are allowed, although this seems to be more than ZOO can support. 3.2.8 Remarks on LHarc ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : All LHarc versions up to 2.13E (including 2.55 beta) There are some special tricks concerning LZH. When using LZH (in/out), FULL recursive support is available if you use the SubstDrive option in MTA.CTL, otherwise, no recursive support is available, due to the nature of LZH's recursive support. NEVER use versions 2.03 to 2.06. Please contact me if you want to know the details WHY MTA can not support these versions. Remember to set the LZHVersion option to the correct value !!!!!!!!!! 3.2.9 Remarks on LArc ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : LArc version 3.33 MTA supports LArc as it can. There is no documentation available to me, so everything comes from 'the dark'. There are some special tricks concerning LZS. When using LZS (in/out), FULL recursive support is available if you use the SubstDrive option in MTA.CTL, otherwise, no recursive support is available, due to the nature of LZS's recursive support. 3.2.10 Remarks on MD ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : MDCD version 1.00 MTA supports MDCD. The not so commonly used MDCD program can be used both as source and as target. Although the sources are available, MTA will use the stand-alone program MDCD.EXE for (de)compression. 3.2.11 Remarks on ARJ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : ARJ version 2.41a Support for ARJ is rather straight forward. All standard functions are implemented but at least ARJ 2.22 is needed because MTA uses the -+ option to switch off the SW_ARJ options. There is no support for multi-volumes and neither for ARJ files with backups inside. MTA can process them correctly (even with extended testing, see later) but it is up to you what will happen. You can set the ARJCompression option in MTA to whatever you like. If you add the -jo switch, ARJ will decompress the backup-versions along the original, renaming the backup-versions. ARJ files with a security envelope are supported but MTA will not add comments or files to these files as with ZIP (ARJ disallows adding of these objects by reporting an invalid security envelope). ARJ contains the original archive-name within the archive itself. MTA can use this name and (optionally) rename the source-archive back to that original name before conversion start (OriginalARJName option). Support for the 2.10 volume labels is added. Please remember to put the KeepVolLabel (/KEEPVL) option on ONLY in combination with ARJ version 2.1x>. If you use ZIP (1.1x>) and a lower version of ARJ than 2.1x, conversion of the volume-labels will cause ARJ to abort and the converted files to be moved to the error-directory ! From MTA version 15.36, MTA can detect the difference there is between ARJ versions PRIOR to 2.39d and 2.39d and higher (security envelope and the different header ). 3.2.12 Remarks on HYPER ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : HYPER version 25 (and up) This nice little compression program from Germany, is also supported in MTA. Testing (to implement the protocol in MTA) gave results that are in the same order as LHARC. MTA support the recursive features in HYPER. Any commenting in a HYP file is impossible (yet) and thus not supported by MTA. All comment related features will do nothing on a HYP file. MTA will support HYPER SFX (self extracting archive) files. Also MTM, MTL and MTZ are changed to reflect the results of the change from or to HYPER and to do maintenance on these files. 3.2.13 Remarks on PKLITE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : PKLITE version 1.15 (and up) It is a little off-topic type of program to be included in MTA, but it is. MTA (and the selection-menu MTA.CH1) is changed so that you easy convert COM/EXE files to compressed (self-contained) COM/EXE files with PKLITE. I think this is a useful bonus (and nothing more) to MTA. Why not include LZEXE you would ask. The reasons are simple (and a hint to the author, based on the current version 0.91): - LZEXE can only directly compress EXE files (COM files need a special conversion); - LZEXE can only go one way; In the near future I will think about adding the Japanese DIET program into MTA (it can do the same, and more, than PKLITE). When MTA works in (UN)PKLITE mode, it can only convert with PKLITE. All other files (archives) are not converted. When MTA ignores files in the selection, there can be a number of reasons. These are: With PKLITE: - The file is already PKLITE'ed; - The file is already LZEXE'ed; - The file is a SFX (Self extracting archive); With UNPKLITE: - The file is not PKLITE'ed; LZEXE files are left, because it will create problems when converting these programs with PKLITE and when it does NOT create problems, there will be NO gain in size. SFX-files are left for the same reasons. 3.2.14 Remarks on GIFLITE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : GIFLITE 1.41 (and up) With version 15.01, MTA can also convert GIF files. There is support for GIFLITE (registered and un-registered) without any drawbacks. 3.2.15 Remarks on JPEG ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : JPEG 15 (and up) There are various JPEG implementations. The one from Handmade Software is included for the moment. The original programs from the JPEG group have reached DISP-HQ to late to be implemented. 3.2.16 Remarks on GIFTEST ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : GIFTEST 4.0á MTA does not use any command-line parameter in the call to GIFTEST. You can add some yourself (using MTA.CTL options and/or a command-line parameter for MTA). MTA is aware of all of the errorlevels that can be returned by GIFTEST. If you include command-line parameters for GIFTEST that cause the GIF-file(s) to be removed if they are wrong, MTA still try to move the file but without success. The only 'problem' in this case, is the warning message you will receive. MTA is aware of all the errorlevels. 5 and 255 are converted to 'decompression error'. When you use /L on the GTECOMPRESSION option, be sure to point to a place (directory) that is not 'owned' by MTA (so NOT the current directory). Use /M to trigger when the dimensions are not supported. In that case MTA will move the file to the error-directory (lvl 20). 3.2.17 Remarks on SQZ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : SQZ version 1.08.3 This is a new compression/decompression program from Sweden. There is contact between the SQZ author (Jonas I Hammarberg) and me, and I will try to update MTA as soon as possible as there are new (changed) versions of SQZ that need a change in MTA ! The performance of SQZ is the same or better than ARJ and the new PKZIP (2.xx). The speed is somewhere between ZIP and ARJ, all in all it looks very impressive and I have the intention (if possible) to support all functions in SQZ. MTA does NOT support the c(omment) option of SQZ because SQZ itself (1.08.3) does not support it yet. When a new version of SQZ is released with this option active, you should not use it in combination with MTA 15.xx but wait until the explicit support of this option is included in MTA. MTA is unable to obtain comments FROM SQZ files (CarryComment 1 and 2 will work but will use an empty string) but CAN add comments to SQZ files. Recursive support is included and MTA will always try to compress the files with the /p0 switch (paths 'as-is'). To use recursive support for source SQZ-files, the SUBSTDrive support is needed (as with all other archivers). Also MTM, MTL and MTZ are changed to reflect the results of the change from or to SQZ and to do maintenance on these files. 3.2.18 Remarks on UC2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA supports : UC2 dated 1.1.94 (also the 005 pre-release) Again a new compression/decompression program. This time from Holland (my native country) and with much more potential than some other 'new' compression programs I have seen the last month. Also a dedicated team of developers ! There is direct contact between the author and me, so I hope that I can keep MTA up-to-date with the latest changes in the program. The performance of UC2 is far better than PKZIP and/or any of the other archive programs (on the average). This results in a reduction of the speed but it isn't that dramatic ! All in all, UC2 can keep around the same speed as, for example, ARJ. Compared to ZIP it much slower but the results are better ! Support for UC2 is not very simple. The archive does not have an open architecture like ZIP or ARC. In fact, the construction of the archive itself (including the archive-index itself) is compressed with the same algorithm as UC2 uses for the normal file (this algorithm is not public available, for obvious reasons). This means that MTA must always access functions of the UC/UUC programs and this will reduce the speed with a factor 100% to 200% (compared to 'open' archives like ZIP). But again, if disk-space is your main interest, this all doesn't matter. UC2 also lacks some obvious options (like MOVE) but these will all come in time. Concerning UC2, MTA does NOT support (yet) the de/encryption of files with CRYPT.EXE. Incomming 'crypt'ed files must be converted by hand. This is done, because MTA (and UC/UUC) is unable to detect the size of the uncompressed files. MTA 16.01 will include (at least) the option to encrypt files and decryption will be included when there is a demand for it ! When MTA detects an UC2 archive with versions (much the same like ZOO and ARJ with backups), you have the option to convert (with the loss of the older versions) or to ignore these kind of archives (the option can be set in MTA.CTL). Recursive support is included and MTA will always try to compress the files with the S switch (paths 'as-is'). To use recursive support for source UC2-files, the SUBSTDrive support is needed (as with all other archivers). Because it is impossible to alter the length of UC2 archives (XModem transfers will give a problem), MTA's marking mechanism (which adds bytes at the end of archives) will not work with UC2 archives. You have to use the alternative mechanism (another one will be added to MTA 16.01); Also MTM, MTL and MTZ are changed to reflect the results of the change from or to SQZ and to do maintenance on these files. 3.3 MTA.CTL ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ To let MTA work, you must create a configuration file where MTA can obtain the information it needs. This file is called MTA.CTL by default but can have any other name (in which case you must assign it to MTA by means of a command-line option or an environment variable). You can even have more configuration files for different tasks. If you call the file MTA.CTL and place it as described in chapter 3.1, MTA will find it without the use of special forces like command-lines and/or environment variables. In this DOCUMENTATION we refer to a configuration file by its original name (MTA.CTL). You can substitute your filename in place. The configuration file is a normal ASCII-file (text file) which you can create and edit with line-editors like EDLIN or EDIT. You can make the file as big as you want (by inserting many comment-lines) but remember that the size has a relation with the speed of reading when MTA starts. Large files will take MTA to do longer over the startup. The general formats of options are: OPTION parameter parameter parameter .... parameter for active options, or: % comment for comments in the configuration file. In the documentation we call the first parameter 'option' and the secondary parameters are called 'parameter'. For parameters, the following syntax is used in the description: [.....] this parameter is mandatory, it MUST be present and have a valid value; {.....} this parameter is optional. If it is NOT present, some default is used; 'value' Values between quotes must be coded WITHOUT the quotes itself UNLESS specified; (*) If this mark occurs at the end of the options syntax, it means that this option is used by other programs in the MTA package as well. In that case refer to the bottom of the description to see in which program(s) the option is used also; There are NO restrictions to the position you start the option, nor the starting position of the parameters, but the 'option' and (if present) the 'parameters' have to be separated with at least one or more spaces. You can make any mixture of upper and lower case ! Some of the parameters in the MTA.CTL file can be overruled with command-line switches. A generalized example of MTA.CTL is included in the release-file. It contains ALL options available in this release. The following chapters will contain the several statements you can use in MTA.CTL. In the documentation, the statements are put in logical groups. These groups contain statements with the same sort of functions or serve the same group of users. The ACTUAL order of options in the configuration file does not matter at all. 3.3.1 Basic statements ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following options are more or less basic options and should be used in any setup. Some of the statements can be left out, because they only add something extra or change the default that MTA itself assumes. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ARCPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ UNARCPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ PAKPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ ZOOPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ DWCPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ LZHPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ LZSPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ SQZPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ UC2Path [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ PKZIPPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ MDPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ PKUNZIPPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ PKUNPAKPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ ARJPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ HYPERPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} (*)³ ³ PKLITEPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ ZIP2EXEPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ GIFLITEPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ GIF2JPGPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ JPG2GIFPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ³ GIFTESTPath [path] {opt} {DynSwapSiz} {second path} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : These options point to the various archivers you have installed on your system. If you do not include statements for archivers that ARE installed AND can be found in the DOS-path, MTA will search for them itself, so do not be surprised if, for example, you did not include the ZOOPath option but MTA is still able to work with ZOO files. In that case MTA has found ZOO.EXE in the DOS-path ! If you have all archivers in the DOS-path, it is still advised to include the options for these archivers. MTA will be able to pin-point the archiver directly in this case, causing a gain of speed because, otherwise, MTA will start a 'quest' for the archiver in the DOS-path. [Path] This parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename of the archiver in question. MTA will validate if the program is at the given location and terminate with an error if it isn't. {opt} This parameter is optional. You MUST code it when one of the following parameters is used and/or if you want to change the default. This parameter must have a value of either 'Y' or 'N'. The value will decide if THIS archiver is going to be included when you want to optimize your archive on to the smallest size. All the archive programs that do COMPRESSION and have a value of 'Y' will be included if you force MTA to optimize on size (/OOA on the command-line or OptimizeOnSize option in MTA.CTL set). 'N' will cause MTA to skip this archiver when optimize is running. For some archivers the value is not important because they either can not COMPRESS (like PKUNZIP) or they have nothing to do with normal file-compression (GIFLITE and such), but if you code one or more of the next parameters you still must include a 'Y' or 'N' ('N' would be obvious. 'Y' is ignored) for this parameter; {DynSwapSiz} This parameter will instruct MTA if swapping is needed before the (de)compression program is actually called. In previous releases, this parameters was set to a fixed value ('SWAP') but with 15.01 and up, MTA uses DYNAMIC swapping. You need to supply the amount of memory that is needed to run the specific archive program. In the included example of MTA.CTL, all minimal values that worked are included. If you need at least 250K to run a specific archive program, you must code '256' (or higher) over here. For some programs it is best to swap ALWAYS. In this case a value of '640' will do, because that amount of CONVENTIONAL memory is NEVER available when MTA is running, causing MTA to always swap before the archive program is called. With this option you are more or less save when MTA is run from a secondary shell. Programs that need as much memory as possible are GIG2JPG, JPG2GIF and, in some cases, ARJ. {second path} MTA (from 15.01) can use two different sets (or versions) of a specific archiver. If you use the current PKZIP and a newer version (or even an alpha or beta) is released, you normally would like to test this archiver before you start using it. For this situation, you can use this parameter. You can rename your new version to an alternate name (f.i. P2ZIP.EXE) or you can place it in another directory. When you have done so, you can include the full path to this new program in this parameter. Now if you run MTA with the /ALT command-line, MTA will use the program that is coded over and not the one that is coded in the [path] parameter. If there is no {second path} option included but you run MTA with /ALT, the program in [path] is used; Please notice that you must supply the correct programs to the above options. If you replace one of the program's with another one, strange things (errors) can occur and data could corrupt. Supply the following programs to the options: ARCPath ARC.EXE or its alias UNARCPath XARC.EXE or its alias (see ARC remarks) PAKPath PAK.EXE or its alias ZOOPath ZOO.EXE or its alias DWCPath DWC.EXE or its alias LZHPath LHARC.EXE or its alias LZSPath LARC.EXE or its alias SQZPath SQZ.EXE or its alias UC2Path UC.EXE or its alias (or UUC.EXE) PKZIPPath PKZIP.EXE or its alias MDPath MDCD.EXE or its alias PKUNZIPPath PKUNZIP.EXE or its alias PKUNPAKPath PKUNPAK.EXE or its alias or PKXARC.COM or its alias or PKXARC.EXE or its alias ARJPath ARJ.EXE or its alias HYPERPath HYPER.EXE or its alias ZIP2EXEPath ZIP2EXE.EXE or its alias GIFLITEPath GIFLITE.EXE or its alias JPG2GIFPath JPG2GIF.EXE or its alias You need to set DJPEG.EXE if you use the StandardJPEG option (see later) GIF2JPGPath GIF2JPG.EXE or its alias You need to set CJPEG.EXE if you use the StandardJPEG option (see later) GIFTESTPath GIFTEST.EXE or its alias Where 'alias' is the name you renamed the original file to. Please supply the complete drive, directory and filename to any of the options ! If you leave the drive and/or directory, MTA will replace it with the CURRENT drive and/or directory. If you don't own one or more of the (de)compression programs, leave out the related option, otherwise MTA will abort ! Relate: None Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ CompressionType [ttt] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option sets the normal TARGET archive system. You can, at any time, overrule this target with another target. In that case you can supply the correct command-line to do so. [ttt] This sets the target. You can supply the values 'ARC', 'PAK', 'ZIP', 'ZOO', 'LZH' (LHarc/LHA), 'LZS' (Larc), 'DWC', 'HYP', 'ARJ', 'MD' (MDCD), 'PAKSFX', 'ZIPSFX', 'LZHSFX', 'ARJSFX', 'PKLITE', 'UNPKLITE', 'GIFLITE', 'GIF2JPG', 'JPG2GIF','GIF','SQZ','SQZSFX', 'UC2' and 'OWN'. Most of them look normal. Some of them don't. The PAKSFX, ZIPSFX, LZHSFX, SQZSFX and ARJSFX are the same as PAK, ZIP, LZH, SQZ and ARJ but also include the creation of an EXE/COM (SFX) file. The PKLITE can be used to convert EXE files to PKLITE'ed EXE files, the UNPKLITE does the reversed. The GIFLITE will convert normal GIF files to GIFLITE GIF's. The GIF2JPG can be used to convert GIF files to JPG files with JPEG and JPG2GIF does the reversed. The value GIF will cause MTA to test all GIF's (normal and lite) with GIFTEST (no conversion, other than removal of obsolete bytes, will be done). OWN is used when you work with a special (not normally supported compression program, see the OWNxxxx options later on). When set to PKLITE/UNPKLITE, MTA will only look for COM/EXE files that can be converted to PKLITE or that are converted with PKLITE. When set to GIFLITE, GIF2JPG or GIF, MTA will only look for GIF files, when set to JPG2GIF, MTA will only look for files with the extension '.JPG'. All other values will cause MTA to look at all known archives. I suggest that you include the most frequently used target in MTA.CTL and use command-line switches to work with the special ones (so set CompressionType to ZIP if ZIP is your normal target and use /PKLITE on the command-line to let MTA work on COM/EXE files when needed). Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LZHVersion [version] {alt version} ³ ³ PAKVersion [version] {alt version} (*)³ ³ ZIPVersion [version] {alt version} (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : These options set the version number for the various archives. They are needed because the archivers involved use different command-lines and/or internal formats for different versions. MTA can NOT auto-detect the version-number (f.i. based on the length of the archive program) because these programs can be converted with PKLITE, DIET, LZEXE or some other EXE-compress program. You MUST set the manually and you MUST set them to the version you actually use ! [version] Must contain the right version. 1.10 must be translated to 110, 2.0 to 200, 1.13c to 113 and so on. {alt version} If you use the /ALT command-line option and the archiver in question has an alternate version set with {second path} in the xxxPath option, you must supply the version number of this program if it is not the same as the one you supplied in [version]. So if you use both PKZIP.EXE (1.10) and P2ZIP.EXE (2.04), you must code 'ZIPVersion 110 204'. If you do not supply {alt version}, it will be the same as the value set for [version] ! Some notes about the various differences between versions. For LZH, any value under 200 will cause MTA to give a warning when a 2.xx archive is found (it will skip the conversion). For ZIP, any value under 200 will cause MTA to give a warning when a ZIP with a 2.xx format is detected (it will not convert such a file). For PAK, the difference lies between 000 (GSArc) and 100 and higher (GSArc does not return an errorlevel) and 100-199 and 200 and higher (other formats in the PAK files). By default, MTA uses the versions 110 for ZIP, 251 for PAK and 213 for LHarc/LHA. Relate: None Dest. : LZH/PAK/ZIP (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ StandardJPEG ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When this option is NOT set, MTA will assume the GIF2JPEG and JPEG2GIF programs from HandMade Software as the programs to convert to and from JPEG. If you set this option, MTA will call the supplied programs without any parameters so you can use the STANDARD CJPEG and DJPEG programs that come from the Independent JPEG Group . Relate: JPG2GIFPath, GIF2JPGPath Dest. : JPG/GIF ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ZIPCompression [parm..parm] (*)³ ³³ UNZIPCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ ZSFCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ DWCCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ ARJCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ ASFCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ ZOOCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ LZHCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ LSFCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ SQZCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ SSFCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ UC2Compression [parm..parm] ³ ³ PKLITECompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ GIFLITECompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ G2JCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ J2GCompression [parm..parm] ³ ³ GTECompression [parm..parm] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : These options can be used to add some extra parameters to the compression program. Normally MTA uses the standard parameters for each program but some of the programs can have alternate parameters to set the density of the compression, the usage of BIOS/Direct screen calls, the detail of reporting and so on. You can add these options yourself (some suggestions are given below) by means of these statements. Those archive programs that are NOT included, don't have any useful extra parameters that MTA should pass. [parm..parm] When you include the options, you must set the parameters you want to ADD to the ones that MTA already adds. You can code them just as you would do when you called the program from the command-line. The following options can be used to add (overrule) command- line parameters to the specific program: ³ ZIPCompression for PKZIP ³ UNZIPCompression for PKUNZIP ZSFCompression for ZIP2EXE DWCCompression for DWC ARJCompression for ARJ ASFCompression for ARJ (when creating SFX files) ZOOCompression for ZOO LZHCompression for LZH LSFCompression for LZH (when creating SFX files) SQZCompression for SQZ SSFCompression for SQZ (when creating SFX files) UC2Compression for UC2 PKLITECompression for PKLITE GIFLITECompression for GIFLITE G2JCompression for GIF2JPG J2GCompression for JPG2GIF GTECompression for GIFTEST For ZIP you could add -es, -en or -ex to overrule the default type of compression, for ZOO you could add the 'h' for high compression (ZOO 2.1x), for DWC you could add the 'y' or 'z' for compression on speed or size, of ARJ the -jm1 parameter would be nice and also the -jo statement would be nice when you use ARJ 2.3x+ and want to convert any backups inside the archives as well. For LHarc the /o option would force the older (1.13) method and so we can go on for a while. Be sure to add only extra parameters. The obvious ones are already passed by MTA itself. The parameters for encrypted files and for special work directories (and drives) are also passed by MTA, depending on other options ! Relate: None Dest : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ OriginalARJName ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : ARJ keeps the name of the archive (when created) inside its own internal structure. Normally you would nor have any problem with that, but there are users who rename the ARJ to a name that fits their own needs better. When you include this option in MTA.CTL, MTA will FIRST rename the file back to the ORIGINAL name inside the ARJ-structure BEFORE conversion will start. This could be useful but please be warned that some third party archive-conversion programs first create the archive with a temporary name before renaming it to the name it should be. In such case a file DSZ1212.ARJ could also be renamed back by MTA to ZIPCONV$.$$$ before the conversion starts. In general, when you receive files from others, don't use the option, otherwise you could set it. Relate: None Source: ARJ 3.3.2 Statements that define the environment that MTA uses ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following statements all define a part of the actual environment that MTA.EXE will use. Included are statements that define the several directories that MTA can use, the minimal requirements for memory and space on the drives, the swapping functions and so on. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ TempPath [dir] {bytfree} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Most decompressors can use an assigned work-directory. It can be useful to point this work-directory to a virtual disk (a so called RAM-disk) or to the fastest medium you have, but, in most cases, you must sure that this drive (directory) will contain enough space to hold the temporary work files for the largest file to convert. Some archivers also use the environment variable TEMP to look which directory can be used for temporary work-space. In MTA you can (optionally) assign the temporary directory that will be passed to all archivers that can work with such a directory. In most cases, this will cause the archiver to use THIS directory for work-space and NOT the one supplied in the variable TEMP (if any). In doubt, consult the documentation of the archiver in question. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which can be used for temporary work-space. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). {bytfree} For most conversions you need at least a number of bytes free on the assigned work-directory (drive). To make sure that this amount is present on that drive, you can, optionally, supply the number of bytes that must be free as the third parameter. If the number of bytes on the drive is LOWER than the supplied value, MTA will not work and abort with an error. If you do not supply a value, MTA will look if at least 256K bytes is available, though that could not be enough in some cases. If you want to ignore the test at all, you can supply a value if 0. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MTATempPath [dir] {bytfree} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : For every archive (and other object) that MTA will convert, MTA creates (and later on removes) a temporary directory UNDER the current directory. If this is not what you want (and this is advised), you must supply this option. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which can be used for temporary directories. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In fact, relative directories for this option, are useless in most cases. {bytfree} For most conversions you need at least a number of bytes free on the assigned directory (drive). To make sure that this amount is present on that drive, you can, optionally, supply the number of bytes that must be free as the third parameter. If the number of bytes on the drive is LOWER than the supplied value, MTA will not work and abort with an error. If you do not supply a value, MTA will look if at least 256K bytes is available, though that could not be enough in some cases. If you want to ignore the test at all, you can supply a value if 0. MTA will create temporary directories UNDER this directory. The name is 8 bytes long (and when you run as a second or third TASK, not child, they also contain the task-number) and will represent the HEX value of the time/date they were created. When running as a child of itself (arc-in-arc), MTA will create temporary directories with the name '$' under the original first (8 byte) temporary directory. Some archivers (DWC as the most important, related to MTA) do not like to see points inside a directory-name. Such a name (f.i. DC33ABAF.1) can ONLY be the LAST tree from the root. As an example, C:\ZIP\DC33ABAF.1 is allright with DWC but C:\ZIP.ZIP\DC33ABAF.1 is NOT. Relate: ALTMTATempPath Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ALTMTATempPath [dir] {bytfree} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you have supplied the MTATemppath option, you can also supply this option. The format and usage of this option is the same as for the MTATempPath option. What is the usage of this option ? You can setup the normal MTATEMPPath option to point to a fast drive (like a RAM-disk). Normally a RAM-disk only contains a limited number of bytes and that can be a problem when big archives are converted. If there is not enough free space on the drive that is pointed to by the MTATempPath option, the archive(s) in question will be skipped. If you supply the ALTMTATempPath (along with the MTATEMPPath) you are out of trouble. IN MTATempPath you point to a RAM-disk of average size (or your fastest hard-disk). Most of the small archives will fit in the free space and are converted with a reasonable speed. Now if there are bigger archives that don't fit on that drive, MTA will swap to the drive (and directory) that is pointed to by the ALTMTATempPath option. This can be a normal hard-disk (or a slower one) with more free space. The big archives can still be converted ! If an archive won't fit on either of the two drives, MTA will (as before) skip the archive. Relate: MTATempPath Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MTAErrorPath [dir] {F|S[count]} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When decompression fails (memory, corrupted archive and so on), MTA will put the original archive (even though it could not be OK) into the temporary directory that was assigned to this file (the directory with the 8-byte (or more) name under the current directory OR under the directory assigned in the MTATempPath option (see above). This will lead to a maintenance problem when much archives fail. All corrupted files are moved to different directories and you need tools to move (or delete) them all AND to remove the temporary directories. If you do not want this maintenance, you can assign a special directory where MTA places such files. All you have to do, is to include this option in MTA.CTL. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which can be used for files in error. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In fact, relative directories for this option, are useless in most cases. {F|S[count]} When this parameter is present, MTA will stop the conversion when [count] number of files (when you use F) or bytes (when you use S) is present in [dir]. For example, F200 will cause MTA to stop when there are 200 or more files in [dir] and S200000 will cause MTA to stop when all combined files in [dir] come to (or exceed) 200.000 bytes. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FDUTempPath [dir] ³ ³ FDUTrashPath [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you want to convert whole diskettes to a new system (use the /D switch, see later), you need two special directories. Without these directories you can still convert archives on diskette but you can't use the special options that MTA can offer when converting diskettes. There is a special chapter about the conversion of diskettes. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which can be used the /D option. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). The directories must NOT point to the same drive as you are going to convert. For a 'mixed' (HDU and FDU) system, you must assign the HDU, for a 'single' (FDU 2 times) system, you must assign a directory on the other diskette station. Relate: /D option Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ITSPath [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can be used in combination with ITS (version 1.06 and all higher versions). When used in combination with ITS, MTA can be stopped like pressing the ESC-key but now without any human actions involved. The stopping of MTA is ruled from the ITS task(s) that are running. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which contains the ITS.SPH file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). MTA MUST find the ITS.SPH file, otherwise MTA will abort, even when ITS is not currently in use. If you don't have (or use) ITS, you must leave this option OFF. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SemaphorePath [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you supply this option, MTA will create a MTA_SEMA.xxx in [dir]. xxx is the task-number (default is 001). You can now use a batch-file to detect which task-number you have to start by testing the presence of MTA_SEMA.xxx. The file is removed JUST before MTA terminates. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which will contain MTA_SEMA.xxx. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SwapPath [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can (and will) use a mechanism to clear memory when it needs to. This technique is called swapping. Swapping will do the following: - All data structures that MTA uses are compressed together and written to the swapping device; - All program-coding minus a small piece (the program code for the swapping itself) will be written to the swapping device; - Memory is cleared an will be rearranged so it will be (again) one continuous piece of memory; - The external program (compressor, decompressor, exit, virus checker and so on) is called and uses the freed memory; - After termination of the external program, control is passed to the swapping-code that remained in memory; - The coding will (again) rearrange memory as it was, will read the program-coding back AND will read all data-structures back; - It will clean the swapping device; - It will pass control back to the point where MTA was; With this technique, around 230.000 bytes are removed from memory. These 230.000 were in use by MTA (non-overlayed) and there will remain only a couple of bytes for the swapping itself (around 4K bytes). Normally the swapping device can be any of the following resources: - EMS First choice, unless the NoEMS option (or /NOEMS command-line parameter) is supplied or there is not enough EMS to contain all data (ca. 230.000 bytes); - XMS Second choice in SOME cases. Not all swapping routines in MTA can support XMS yet. If the NoXMS (or /NOXMS command-line parameter) is supplied or there is not enough (or no) XMS to contain all data (ca. 230.000 bytes), MTA will use the next resource; - Disk When there is not enough (or no) EMS or XMS (or the NoEms and/or NoXMS options are active), MTA will use disk for the swapping; When MTA is forced to use disk, it will use the current directory for the swap-file that will be created. You can (and sometimes MUST) overrule this with this option. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which contains the swapping file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). You can also assign a directory on a RAM-disk when you have a large one. The only place where MTA disallows disk-swapping is on REMOVABLE drives (diskettes). The swap-file (if created) has a special (unique) name and will have the HIDDEN/SYSTEM attribute. You must NEVER try to remove such a file while MTA is still running. It will cause a hangup ! Relate: All swapping options Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoEMS ³ ³ NoXMS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you do not want MTA to use either (or both) EMS or (and) XMS, you can add these option(s) to MTA.CTL. When NoEMS is set and NoXMS isn't and you use QEMM or 386Max (or some program like that), XMS is used. When you set both options, only disk is used. These options are related to the swapping mechanism. This mechanism is the only mechanism in MTA that can make use of EMS/XMS. Relate: All swapping options Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MoveToDir [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can, optionally, move archives (and all other converted objects) to another directory AFTER the conversion. There are currently 2 different ways to obtain this result. One is the usage of the DefaultPath option (see later), which can be used by most SysOp's of Bulletin Boards. The other one, the current option, can be used when you want to move all converted files from any directory that you wish to use to a new one. Normally you will use the command-line /M to do so, but if you always want to have the converted archives on the same place, you can use the MoveToDir option. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where the files are moved to. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). There is one special format. When combining the /D option (diskette conversion) with the MoveToDir (or the /M command- line parameter), MTA will convert diskettes from one diskette to another one. If you mix runs of MTA to convert diskettes AND to do normal conversion, you can get problems when this option is put into the MTA.CTL. In such cases it is advised to use the /M command-line parameter. WARNING: When you use MoveToDir in conjunction with the ExitAfterCompression option you have to be aware of the following extra's: - When you create an extra file in the exit with the extension .COM or .EXE which is in the same directory as the original compressed file, MoveToDir moves these files also. When a name-like file already exist in the MoveToDir target directory, MTA gives you a warning and leaves the file where it was. This does not go for the original compressed file; - When you delete the original compression file in the exit, MTA will notice this and will take no further actions; When you are running 4Dos and your original files contain a description in the 4Dos description file, MTA will use 4DOS's MOVE command to move any files (if MTA has detected a full 4DOS environment and the Not4DosAware option is not set). This will cause any descriptions (added with 4DOS) to be carried along to the new directory. Relate: Not4DosAware, /D command-line parameter Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FreeMemory [minfree] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA uses memory very dynamically. When you convert two different directories you will see that the starting amount of free memory (displayed by MTA) will never be the same. To make the story short, almost every option that can be entered multiple times (like DoNot, DefaultPath, IncludeFile and so on) will take a few extra bytes of memory and all files that will be converted (up to 1000 in one run) will also take a dynamic amount of memory. All external calls can be ruled with a swap option (see xxxPath, Virusscanner and all exits) so that is not such a problem. Also MTA will take a look at the memory and will determine if it is possible to make itself useful in the presented amount of bytes. If you still want to abort MTA when a specific number of free bytes in NOT available, you can add this option to MTA.CTL. [minfree] This value must be the number of BYTES (not KILO bytes) that must be free in order to let MTA start the conversion. By default MTA will look if 256Kb is free in memory after all structures are build in memory. You can overrule the test when you supply 'FreeMemory 0'. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Runtime [seconds] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can be interrupted when running attended (by pressing the ESC key) but when you run UNattended this can be a problem. When you want to run MTA for a certain time (when MTA is run inside a BBS event for instance), you can supply this option. [seconds] This value must be set to the number of seconds that MTA must execute. If the time is over and there are still files left, MTA will skip them. To make sure that already converted files are not converted again, it is advised to either move them to another directory, use MTA's marking-technique or use the option where MTA will only convert files that have an earlier date then the file FILES.MTA (a semaphore file, see later). MTA will always run somewhat longer than [seconds]. MTA will not stop in the middle of a conversion so the one that started [seconds]-1 will be finished. If this is a big one, some time can pass before MTA will terminate. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Not4DosAware ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA will do some internal DOS-calls to see if 4DOS is present in the machine. If so, MTA will use 4DOS's move on any move of a file that will be done inside MTA. If there is no 4DOS in usage, MTA will use its own internal (and quicker) MOVE. 4DOS's MOVE is used to move any descriptions inside the file DESCRIPT.ION (a 4DOS internal file which can be present inside the directory with a HIDDEN attribute). If you don't use 4DOS descriptions for your files and/or you want to use the faster internal MOVE AND you run 4DOS on your machine, you can include this option. Relate: MoveToPath (and all internal moves) Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoResetDirectories ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA will change various directories on various drives others. When you do NOT include this option, MTA will reset all the directories to the originals before exit. The routines used to detect th e drives and directories *could* not work in some of the older versions of DOS or on specific setups. If you detect any problem after the termination of, include this option. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ VideoMode [mode] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can adjust itself to non-standard text-modes. Some of the more common examples are 80x43, 132x60 and so on. If you enter MTA when the screen is such a mode, MTA will extend the display in the actual number of lines and, with modes that support more than 110 characters, also the number of characters on a line. If you normally run in a normal text-mode (80x25) but still want to see MTA running in a special text-mode, you can add this statement to MTA.CTL. [mode] This is the decimal number of the video mode that MTA will try to set. Look inside your video-card manual to see which mode you should use. After MTA has processed the MTA.CTL options, MTA will reset the video-card to the supplied mode (if included in MTA.CTL) and before termination, MTA will reset to the standard text- mode. If you use an invalid mode, damage to your monitor could be the case (see video-card manual) or you are not able to see anything until MTA has finished (or the machine can even hang). MTA will not alter the video-mode if it can detect that it is called under a multi-tasking environment like DesqView . In these cases the VIDEOMODE option will be obsolete. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoSpecialUC2Video ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : UC2 can be configured in mono and color mode, both fast and in BIOS mode. All of these moded cause the DOS-window under MTA to scroll of the screen. MTA uses a special trick with the UC2 command-line (supplied by the UC2 authors) and in this mode UC2 will stay inside the window (like all other archivers). If you don't want this mode (or it doesn't work, or you prefer the color-version that scrolls), you must set this option. If the option is NOT set, MTA will force UC/UUC into this special mode. Relate: UC2 archiver Dest. : N/A ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SubstDrive [drivearray] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This is a VERY important option. Most archives include the so called directory entries. These are the directories that were included when the archive was created. If an archive was made, containing all files (*.*) from the current directory and all lower trees AND you supplied the options to include the actual directories, given the following structure (root is the current directory): [root, current directory, drive C] CONFIG.SYS [sub-dir HLP] TEST.TST [sub-dir ZIP] TEST.TST [sub-dir ZAP] TEST.TST [sub-dir ZA1] TEST.TST [sub-dir ZA2] TEST.TST the archive will contain one of the two following formats, either the relative directories: CONFIG.SYS HLP\TEST.TST HLP\ZIP\TEST.TST HLP\ZAP\TEST.TST HLP\ZAP\ZA1\TEST.TST HLP\ZAP\ZA2\TEST.TST or the absolute directories: \CONFIG.SYS \HLP\TEST.TST \HLP\ZIP\TEST.TST \HLP\ZAP\TEST.TST \HLP\ZAP\ZA1\TEST.TST \HLP\ZAP\ZA2\TEST.TST The fact if there are ABSOLUTE or RELATIVE directories will depend on the type of archive system. Normally (without the SubstDrive option set), MTA will only convert directories if the source archive system contains RELATIVE directories AND the target archive system can contain directory entries. For some archivers you can not be sure about the fact if they contain ABSOLUTE or RELATIVE directories and some will ONLY contain ABSOLUTE entries. When MTA would convert such an archive, it would extract the archive with all options into a directory F:\JUST\AN\EXAMPLE\156DA12F (just an example) but while decompress starts, the decompress program would add files in ABSOLUTE directories, causing NONE of the files to be added to F:\JUST\AN\EXAMPLE\156DA12F. Files would be stored in C:\, C:\HLP\, C:\HLP\ZIP, C:\HLP\ZAP, C:\HLP\ZA1 and the C:\HLP\ZA2 directory. MTA would be able to notice this and could archive the files from these directories back into the new archive (with the delete option) but there are too many risks involved. MTA is created so UNATTENDED operation is possible. To secure this, all warnings and queries are suppressed. MTA would start to call the decompress program and the first thing that will happen is the overwrite of CONFIG.SYS on C:\ (all other files look like if they will not cause any trouble). When MTA would start the target-compression program, CONFIG.SYS would then be archived AND deleted, leaving C: without CONFIG.SYS. Can you imagine what would happen if files like IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS would be extracted to the root or COMMAND.COM ? Given the example above, MTA will NEVER decompress archives that could contain ABSOLUTE directories unless you use some special options. There ARE many archives that have a structure like this AND you would still be able to convert them but in all cases WITHOUT any risk involved. For this reason, MTA contains support for SUBSTituted drives. If you don't know what the command SUBST means under DOS, you should read the DOS manual. In short, SUBST will create a new drive-letter and the root of this drive is the same directory as you supply to SUBST. So when you make a SUBST drive (G:) from F:\JUST\AN\EXAMPLE\156DA12F (see above), G:\ would be the same as F:\JUST\AN\EXAMPLE\156DA12F and all directories created under G:\ would in fact be created under the directory F:\JUST\AN\EXAMPLE\156DA12F. With this trick (which is a normal DOS command), you CAN convert archives with directories that are ABSOLUTE and you can still convert archives with RELATIVE directories. If you include the SubstDrive option, all archives WITH directories, no matter the type of the directories, will convert in the BEST possible way to the new target (if the new target does not support directories, MTA can't fix that, but if it does, they will be there). There are some precautions to take before you start with this option. First, your DOS must support SUBSTituted drives: - Your DOS must support SUBSTituted drives. All DOS versions from 3.0 and up will contain the support for SUBSTituted drives; - You need the DOS program that can make and delete these kind of SUBSTituted drives. This program is called SUBST (EXE in most cases, sometimes COM). It would be possible to have a self-contained support in MTA but the methods to create SUBSTituted drives vary every DOS release. Make sure that the program SUBST.EXE or SUBST.COM is somewhere inside the DOS-path (MTA will search for the file itself and will abort if the SubstDrive option is set but the SUBST.EXE/COM program isn't found); - You must alter the LASTDRIVE option in CONFIG.SYS (or set with one of the QEMM utilities) to a higher value. If your current last drive is F: and you are going to run only ONE MTA at a time (it is possible to run multiple copies at the same time under any multi-tasker like DesqView or MS Windows ), you can set it to G:. In fact, you need as much extra drives as the number of concurrently running MTA programs. If you have a variable drive configuration (sometimes you have a RAM-disk, sometimes you haven't), you can also assign a much higher letter. In fact, it is allowed to use drive Z: for SUBSTituted drives, even if the last one is F:. In doubt, you must leave out the LASTDRIVE option in CONFIG.SYS; - You must test the SUBST program manually to make sure is works. Use a directory and try SUBST on all drives that are going to use in MTA; If all points above are checked, you can add the SubstDrive option in MTA. If you use the SubstDrive option with invalid letters things CAN go wrong. I strongly advise to use drive letters that are NEVER going to be used (f.i. Y: and Z: when running 2 concurrent MTA's or only Z: if you only use one). It IS possible but NEVER use a drive letter that is one of your CURRENT drives and certainly not one of the floppy drive letters if you want to use the /D option ! [drivearray] You must supply at least one drive-letter but you can supply op to 26. You must supply a different letter for each concurrent MTA that you are going to run. The first MTA (task 1) uses the first letter, the next MTA (task 2) will use the second and so on ! With all warnings in mind, you could supply the option 'SubstDrive Z' of one MTA and 'SubstDrive YZ' for two concurrently running MTA's; There is nothing to worry about when you use the SubstDrive option (unless you have a very special configuration). MTA will do all the work for you. MTA will assign the SUBSTituted drives itself (by calling SUBST.EXE/COM) and will remove them again when conversion is finished. MTA will check the drive letters you supplied in the SubstDrive to see if any of them is a 'real' drive. If this is the case, MTA will abort. Under special conditions this test may fail though, so you should take all previous warnings in mind before you start. Don't experiment with the option, just do it the way it is suggested. Relate: SubstOn, SubstOff Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SubstOn [path] {parm}..{parm} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can only be used in combination with the SUBSTDrive option. When used, the SubstOff option is mandatory. When SubstDrive is set, MTA will use the following calls to the DOS SUBST.EXE program to set the substituted drive ON or OFF: - On [drive:][dir]\SUBST.EXE [drive_to_page] [dir_to_page_over] - Off [drive:][dir]\SUBST.EXE [drive_to_page] /D Normally this will work in the proper way unless you need another syntax (special DOS-versions) or you even need another program (networks) to page (virtual) drives over directories. For this need, you can use the SubstOn and SubstOff options. With these options, you can tell MTA which program(s) with which parameters are to be called to switch the substituded (paged) drive on (SubstOn) and off (SubstOff): [Path] This parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename of the program in question. MTA will validate the working of the program; [parm] {parm} At this location you can (must) supply the various parameters for the program. There are a few macros available that will be replaced by values at run-time. These are: %DP This macro will be replaced with the drive letter (without ':') of drive that will be paged over the temporary directory; %DF This macro will be replaced with the drive letter (WITH ':') of drive that will be paged over the temporary directory; %PP This macro will be replaced by the temporary directory that needs to be accessed as a drive (normally a directory under the one you specified in MTATempPath). This macro will NOT give a directory with a backslash; %PF This macro will be replaced by the temporary directory that needs to be accessed as a drive (normally a directory under the one you specified in MTATempPath). This macro WILL give a directory with a backslash; %NP Same as %PP but without the drive-letter (so you can create combinations like \\TEM\PAS; %NF Same as %PF but without the drive-letter (so you can create combinations like \\TEM\PAS\; Included are two examples, one that will be the same as MTA uses internally (but now specified with SubstOn and SubstOff) and one for a network that needs a program MAP to subtitute (page the drive). The first example is split in two examples (one with a DIRECT call to SUBST and one using a batch-file SUBST.BAT): - Using SUBST (THIS IS THE MTA DEFAULT AND NEED NOT BE USED) - Directly: SubstOn C:\DOS\SUBST.EXE %DF %PP SubstOff C:\DOS\SUBST.EXE %DF /D - Called from a batch-file SubstOn C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /C C:\DOS\SUB.BAT %DF %PP SubstOff C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /C C:\DOS\SUB.BAT %DF /D - Using MAP (only an example, use your own Network-program) SubstOn C:\NOV\MAP.EXE ROOT %DF=%PP SubstOff C:\NOV\MAP.EXE R %DF Relate: SubstOff, NoSubstTest Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SubstOff [path] {parm}..{parm} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : See SubstOn (SubstOff is used tro switch the substitution off). Relate: SubstOn, NoSubstTest Dest. : All ³ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ StowBeforeSubst [text] ³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³Usage : Some external SUBST-alike programs (like MAP.EXE and others) ³ sometimes require user-input. This is most unwelcome when you ³ run MTA unattended. This option will allow you to stow up to ³ 15 characters into the keyboard buffer before the actual call ³ to the program is made. ³ ³ [text] Overhere you can code up to 15 characters that ³ will be stowed in the keyboard buffer. You can ³ use the macro ^M for a CR+LF combination. MTA ³ will replace the ^M with the actual CRLF. Be ³ warned that ^M generates 2 positions in the ³ buffer. ³ ³ After the SUBST-alike program is called, MTA will remove the ³ characters that were left on the keyboard-buffer again ! ³ ³ ³Relate: SubstOn, SubstOff ³Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoSubstTest ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When substituted drives will be used by MTA (either by using SUBST or any other kind of program when the SubstOn and SubstOff options are used), MTA will check (after the 'subst' drive is assigned) if this new drive is not a REAL drive. In certain configurations (networks), MTA will get a REAL drive back and will abort. In these cases this option should be supplied. It will bypass the test for a REAL drive ! If this is used in a normal (non-network) DOS environment, you are bypassing all security checks and strange things can happen if the SUBST-drive actually IS a real drive with files. Never use this option unless you know what you are doing AND after you have made a backup of the files on the drive(s) in that can/will be used. Relate: SubstOn, SubstOff, SubstDrive Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ExtendedTesting ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Some older decompress programs do not return an errorlevel when something is wrong with the decompress. For example, some older PAK versions (GSARC) could signal that one or more files inside the archive contained a CRC-error but returned a zero errorlevel. In these cases MTA will think that the decompress is ok, will remove the archive and will compress the remaining (if any) files to a new archive, causing only a part (or none) of the original archive to be converted. MTA can make sure (for 98%) that the extracted files are the same as the ones that are in the original source-archive. To add this fail-save mechanism, you must add the ExtendedTesting option in MTA.CTL. MTA will count the combined uncompressed bytes that the archive will show to the world and will count these bytes again (bases on the actual files) after the files are decompressed. If they differ, MTA will delete these files again and will move the original archive to the directory that contains the faulty archives. A warning is produced and the next conversion (if any) will start. There are some special archives that can not be tested for the full 100%. These are: - ARJ archives with files that are compressed as TEXT-files ARJ can compress files as TEXT-files (-t1 parameter on the ARJ command-line). The filesize of such files inside the ARJ-archive is showed as the size WITHOUT any CR/LF and CTRL-Z (EOF) markers. For instance, a text-file with 2 records, each containing 10 bytes, will normally have a size of (2 x 10) + (2 x 2 (CRLF)) + 1 is 25 bytes. ARJ will show this file as a file with a size of 20. THIS IS ONLY THE CASE with files that are compressed with -t1 ! If MTA detects an ARJ-file with such text-files inside, it will skip the extended test (not to worry, because ARJ will return an errorlevel when the files inside the original archive are not OK). In a discussion with the author of ARJ I was told that this has something to do with the multi- platform (DOS/UNIX and so on) support; - ARJ and ZOO archives with backups inside Both ZOO and ARJ archives can contain backup copies, even multiple backup copies. When you make an archive with the file A.A inside an a few days later you will do this again (with special ZOO/ARJ command-line options), the first A.A will be marked as backup and the second is added. This can go on for a large number of times, eventually resulting in archives that contain (for instance) 100 A.A files, 1 of them being the original (the one added last) and 99 backups. There is NO direct support archival backups in MTA but you CAN add options in MTA to instruct ARJ (and ZOO) to extract all of these backups (with a rename, done by the archive program itself). Because this is possible, MTA will skip extended testing for archives with backups inside. This is no problem. ARJ and ZOO will both report errorlevels when the decompress fails. The same goes for UC2 files with versions inside ! It is advised to always use ExtendedTesting. The only drawback is some loss in speed but on hard-disks this will be less than a second for each file (average). ExtendedTesting has no effect when your source program is of the 'OWN' format. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ShareWait [seconds] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : You can run multiple copies of MTA AND it is possible to run MTA in a second task (along side a BBS). In these cases it can be possible that MTA needs resources (files) that the other task is using also. In multi-tasking environments you must always load SHARE (see DOS manual) to give support to programs that would like to share resources (files). If MTA needs a resource that is currently locked (a file that is being updated by the other task), it will wait until the resource is free again unless it takes to long. If it takes to long, MTA will abort. MTA will look every 10 seconds to see if a resource if free to use again (after the initial lock). This process will go on for 300 seconds (5 minutes) by default. After that, no new cycle will start, but MTA will abort. You can also stop the cycle by pressing CTRL-E, in which case MTA will abort. [seconds] By default, MTA will look every 10 seconds for the duration of 300 seconds. You can alter this value to anything you like. If you want to change it, you must supply the ShareWait option with that number of seconds. F.i., 'ShareWait 600' will cause MTA to look every 10 seconds for the duration of 600 seconds (is 10 minutes). ShareWait is ONLY needed in a multitasking/network environment and has no meaning when SHARE is not loaded. If SHARE is not loaded and a lock occurs (multi-tasking without sharing), MTA will abort directly ! Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AltDisplay ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When running in a normal 80x25 text-screen, MTA can display two different kind of information windows on the right side of the screen. The normal one contains a summary of the most important options. The other one contains a dynamic list of the archives that still need to be converted. You can swap between the list with the 'T' key but you can also force MTA to display the dynamic file-list at startup. In that case you can still swap screens with the 'T' key, but the dynamic window is the first one to show up when you start MTA. To force MTA to start with the dynamic file-list, you must supply the AltDisplay option. When running in 110+x25+ modes, MTA will always display BOTH windows and the AltDisplay option will be ignored. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ WarningTime [cycles] (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA will sometimes give a warning or an error. In this case a message is displayed and a 'running light' is displayed for a number of cycles. You can stop the cycles by hitting ESC or you can wait until it is finished (around 20 seconds). [cycles] By default, MTA will use 20 cycles (equivalent to 20 seconds). You can supply any value from 0 (no cycles) to 65535. If you supply a value of zero, MTA will also stop making some noise when errors or warnings are displayed. If you supply any non-zero value, MTA will beep when an error or a warning is displayed unless the NoBeep option is active. Relate: NoBeep Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoBeep ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : By default MTA will produce a beep on the PC-speaker when an error or warning is displayed (or when MTA is finished). There will be no sound when WarningTIme equals a value of zero but in this case you will also not see any messages. If you want to see messages but you dislike the sound, you must use the NoBeep option in MTA.CTL. Relate: WarningTime Dest. : All 3.3.3 Statements that define the logging ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA can log almost anything. The following statements define the type of logging (if any) for the several actions and the actual format of the logged records. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogPath [dir] ³ ³ LogPath [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can log almost everything. Under normal conditions you can choose not to log (it will speed things up a little) but then you will not be able to create statistical reports and nothing can be traced back. In a BBS environment you can choose to log in the same log-file as the one that is used by your BBS program. In all cases MTA will try to open the log in shared append mode, so current logs will appended to and full sharing is available. There are two different ways you can setup the logging: [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where logging will take place. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the name MTA.LOG and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the log-file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the SUPPLIED name and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; The LogPath option only assigns the actual log-file or (if not present) will force to 'noLog'. The style of logging that will be used, will depend on other options. Inside the log-file you will see information, statistics, warnings and errors. The earlier MTA versions contained a ErrorLogPath option. With the 15.01 release (and higher) this option has become obsolete. Relate: LogStyleFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogThreshold [bytes] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option is used by both MTA and MTL. You can set a number of bytes which will be the threshold for both MTA and MTL to do a special function. [bytes] This must be a numeric (positive) value that will be used as the threshold; If the log-file (as defined on the LOGPATH option) gets bigger than [bytes], MTA will terminate with an errorlevel that is 100 bigger than normal. Currently MTA can terminate with the errorlevels 0 (normal termination), 16 (abnormal termination), 100 (normal termination and LOG-file is bigger than [bytes] or 116 (abnormal termination and LOG-file is bigger that [bytes]). MTL will use the LogThreshold option to detect if the log has to be compressed (when MTL is executed with /BATCH) and will (or will not) compress the log according to the actual size. MTA can work with errorlevel for this function, to overcome a useless call to MTL. You can setup a batch where you can test the errorlevel and call MTL when the errorlevel is 100 or 116. Relate: LogPath and MTL Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AVLogPath [dir] ³ ³ AVLogPath [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can log AV-codes and names. Under normal conditions you can choose not to log (it will speed things up a little) but then you will not be able to see which AV-codes belong to which authors. This log-file will contain AV-numbers (from ZIP and ARJ files) and the names that belong to that numbers. The log can be a help when you setup the IncludeAVFile option(s). Never point to the same log as in the LogPath option. The general format of the AV-log is quite different than the normal log that MTA maintains ! There are two different ways you can setup the logging: [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where logging will take place. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the name MTA.LOG and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the log-file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the SUPPLIED name and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NormalPasswordListPath [dir] ³ ³ NormalPasswordListPath [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you create archives with passwords (/OP command-line parameter), MTA will log these archives (and passwords) in a special log-file. This log-file CAN be the same as the log-file that is assigned in the LogPath option or it can be a different log. The usage of NormalPasswordListPath is fully optional but if you leave it out and you use passwords for the target archives you must remember the passwords from your head. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where logging will take place. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the name MTA.NPW and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the log-file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the SUPPLIED name and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; Relate: RandomPasswordListPath, LogStyleFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ RandomPasswordListPath [dir] ³ ³ RandomPasswordListPath [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA has an option to assign RANDOM passwords to the target archives (the /OP@ command-line parameter). The files that are converted and the passwords that have been assigned to each file MUST be logged. If you leave out this option and you use /OP@, MTA will ENFORCE the logging in the current directory, otherwise it uses the values that are supplied with this option. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where logging will take place. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the name MTA.PWD and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the log-file. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). In this case MTA will try to open the file with the SUPPLIED name and will append to it when it is present or create it when it is not (yet) available; Relate: NormalPasswordListPath, LogStyleFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogStyleFormat [styleformat] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA creates several log-records under different conditions. You can use the standard log, but Sysop's hate all these different log-files (in general). MTA can create customized log-records. With this option, you can instruct MTA to create records that look the same as the records from your mailer and/or BBS program. The option LogStyleFormat and the following LogDateFormat/LogTimeFormat combination can be used to define the style of the log-records that MTA will create for ALL three log-files (LogPath, NormalPasswordListPath RandomPasswordListPath log-files). These options are implemented with the idea that different log-styles only vary at the start of the records and NOT at the end. The LogStyleFormat defines the 'structure' of the log-record header. The format is free but with three special cases: - Spaces must be replaced by underscore characters '_'; - The part of the record that contains the date must be defined with %D (if a date is wanted); - The part of the record that contains the time must be defined with %T (if a time is wanted); - Any extra CRLF combinations (to create a separation line) must be defined with ^M; - A '*' (asterix) or ' ' (single space) will be inserted at the location of a %* macro. An asterix is substituted when this log-record comes from a MTA-child, otherwise a space is included; - The MTA-child number (0 for the parent, 1, 2 and so on) will be inserted at the location of thje %C macro; [styleformat] This is the actual string that defines the format of the log-header. You can use two macros inside this string, the %T that will be replaced with the time in the format as supplied in the LogTimeFormat option and %D that will be replaced with the date in the format as supplied in the LogDateFormat option. You must observe the 4 rules that are described above; An example (also read LogDateFormat and LogTimeFormat for a description of the time and date functions). You want to create records that look like this: + 6 Jan 1990 2:00p The-start-of-the-log The 'The-start-of-the-log' part is constructed by MTA itself, so you have only to define the header. This is done as follows: LogStyleFormat +_%D__%T___ (The '_' replaces the spaces) LogDateFormat DD_nnn_yyyy LogTimeFormat HH:mmt %D and %T are replaced by MTA with the date and time formats as supplied in LogDateFormat and LogTimeFormat. MTA.CTL contains a number of examples for the various BBS/Mailer programs. Relate: LogStartStyleFormat, LogDateFormat, LogTimeFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogStartStyleFormat [styleformat] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This is an additional option you can use along with the previous LogStyleFormat option. Some types of log use a special format where the actual date is put into an extra record (with- out any further meaning than logging the date). MTA can create such a record for you. MTA will put the record with the format you supply in LogStartStyleFormat into the log as the first and only record for THIS run of MTA. If MTA stops and is started again, a new record of this type is written. [styleformat] This is the actual string that defines the format of the log-file start. You can use two macros inside this string, the %T that will be replaced with the time in the format as supplied in the LogTimeFormat option and %D that will be replaced with the date in the format as supplied in the LogDateFormat option. You must observe the 4 rules that are described above; A type of log with this format is found in the FrontDoor mailer. The options you can use in this logstyle-format are the same as with the LogStyleFormat option. Relate: LogStyleFormat, LogDateFormat, LogTimeFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogDateFormat [styleformat] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : LogDateFormat is used to define the 'date part' (actually the %D) in the LogStyleFormat option. MTA can is able to replace a number of characters (macros) by parts that make up the date. You can (must) also include special date-separation characters so your newly created date will actually look like a data ! [styleformat] This is the actual string that defines the format of the %D macros, used in the options LogStyleFormat and LogStartStyleFormat. The [styleformat] must be coded in the format you want the date to have. Spaces, used as the separation between components of the date, must be coded as spaces (and not as '_' characters). The following codes can be used: mm Month with a (optionally) leading zero MM Month ,, ,, ,, space dd Day ,, ,, ,, zero DD Day ,, ,, ,, space yy Year (format: 92 ) yyyy Year (format: 1992) nnn Name of the month (with mixed case, like Jan, Oct and so on). The length of 'nnn' will rule the length of the name, so 'nnnn' will be replaced by 'Janu'; NNN Name of the month (UPPER case, like JAN OCT and so on). The length of 'nnn' will rule the length of the name, so 'NNNN' will be replaced by 'JANU'; www Name of the day (with mixed case, like Fri, Sat and so on). The length of 'www' will rule the length of the name, so 'wwww' will be replaced by 'Frid'; WWW Name of the month (UPPER case, like FRI SAT and so on). The length of 'nnn' will rule the length of the name, so 'WWWW' will be replaced by 'FRID'; Some valid examples (notice the separation characters that are coded between the macros): mm/dd/yy 01/31/90 MM-dd-yy 1-31-90 dd/mm/yyyy 31/01/1990 dd/mm/yyyy 31/01/1990 dd NNN yyyy 31 JAN 1990 dd nnn yy 31 Jan 1990 dd n yyyy 31 J 1990 www dd nnn yyyy Sun 31 Jan 1990 Relate: LogStyleFormat, LogStartStyleFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LogTimeFormat [styleformat] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : LogTimeFormat is used to define the 'time part' (actually the %T) in the LogStyleFormat option. MTA can is able to replace a number of characters (macros) by parts that make up the time. You can (must) also include special time-separation characters so your newly created time will actually look like a time ! [styleformat] This is the actual string that defines the format of the %T macros, used in the options LogStyleFormat and LogStartStyleFormat. The [styleformat] must be coded in the format you want the time to have. Spaces, used as the separation between components of the time, must be coded as spaces (and not as '_' characters). The following codes can be used: hh Hour with a (optionally) leading zero HH Hour ,, ,, ,, space mm Min ,, ,, ,, zero MM Min ,, ,, ,, space ss Sec ,, ,, ,, zero SS Sec ,, ,, ,, zero t will be replaced by 'p' (in pm) or 'a' (in am); T will be replaced by 'P' (in PM) or 'A' (in AM); e will be replaced with 'm' (in am or pm) and must be combined with 'T' or 't'; E will be replaced with 'M' (in AM or PM) and must be combined with 'T' or 't'; If you leave out any 't'/'T'/'e'/'E' combination, the time will be in 24-hour format. Some valid examples (notice the separation characters that are coded between the macros): hh:mm 14:00 hh.mmt 02.00p HH:mmte 2:00pm HH:mm:ss 14:00:45 hh:mm:ss 14:00:45 Relate: LogStyleFormat, LogStartStyleFormat Dest. : All 3.3.4 Statements that define the selection of files ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There are several options in MTA.CTL that rule the selection of files. Most of them are described in this chapter. Those which have to do with the selection of files in a BBS environment (SysOp's) can be found in the chapter that describes the special BBS parameters. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DefaultPath [dir] {targetdir} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Without any special options, MTA will start working in the current directory. There are several ways to overrule this (by default in MTA.CTL or temporary on the command-line). One of the options that can be used by both BBS operators and by normal users, is this DefaultPath option. With this option you force MTA to convert files that are in the directories that you supply an unlimited number of DefaultPath options. If you don't do special actions AND you leave the converted files inside the directories that you assign with the FIRST parameter of this option, MTA will convert them AGAIN when you start MTA for the second (and further) time. You can fix this problem by either marking the files as done (see the MarkString related options) or by using the OnlyNewFiles option or by moving them to another directory that is not touched by MTA, either automatically or by hand. The selection of which files inside these directories are to be converted is ruled by the file-mask(s) that you supply on the command-line. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where conversion will take place. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). {targetdir} This value CAN point to a valid drive/directory where files that are converted in [dir] are moved to AFTER the conversion. If no {targetdir} is supplied, the files stay in [dir]. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). This parameter is optional !! There can be unlimited DefaultPath options. You can mix the formats (some of them can have a {targetdir}, some of them don't have this parameter). If you use the /W command-line parameter, the DefaultPath options are ignored ! If you use the full-screen selection of files (MTA is started without any file-mask), ONLY the first directory is converted and all other DefaultPath options are ignored ! Relate: BBSPaths BBS systems Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DoNot [filemask] ³ ³ DoNot [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you use MTA unattended or you convert complete directories (with f.i. DefaultPath options) it is possible that files are converted that you don't want to convert. Examples of these files are many but most commonly, you can think of files that came from programs like XRS (734B0384.TU1 and such) or files that have a public usage (like NODEDIFF.A23 and such). The DoNot option can be used to exclude some files EVEN when they match the file-mask selection on the command-line. You can use an unlimited number of these options. [path] This parameter must contain a complete path with filemask, so drive, directory and filemask like in E:\ZIP\*.A??. Wildcards in the filemask can be used; ³ [filemask] The parameter must contain a single file-mask. ³ You can use all the supported wildcards (see the ³ information in chapter 3.15); When using the /D and AllDisketteFiles options together, files are NEVER excluded. This is also the case when MTA does call to itself (compressed-in-compressed files). Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SFXFiles ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : With archive conversion you have to deal with so called SFX files. These are SelF eXtracting archives. In general, this are normal COM or EXE files that can be started as a program and which task only is to decompress all files that are also inside this COM/EXE file. SFX files are commonly used for distribution of the archive programs them self. It would be rather difficult to decompress PKZ110.ZIP if this was the first time you got involved with ZIP, so such a file will be distributed as PKZ110.EXE. MTA is able to convert SFX files into a new target system. To do so, it must be able to recognize such a file as an archive. These is a lot of coding involved in MTA to do so and I won't say that the coding can trap 100% of each cases. Most other products that involve archives will tell you that they will recognize SFX files for 100% but most of them will fail on occasion. A SFX archive contains some executable coding at the start of the archive. MTA must be able (and is) to skip this coding and to look for the archive part. To keep MTA as 'generic' as possible, there is no SPECIFIC code for each type of header. This would make maintenance almost an impossible job because the headers change with every new version of every archive that supports SFX archives. Up to now, MTA has never failed its job BUT it is possible that MTA will recognize a normal EXE/COM file as being a SFX file. This is not a problem because the decompression of such a file will fail and the file will stay as it is. Normally MTA will NOT (by default) convert SFX archives. If you supply this option, MTA will also start converting SFX files if they match the file-masks that you supply on the command-line. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MaxGifDim [w] [h] [c] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option rules the selection of GIF files. It is only needed when you run the unregistered version of GIFLITE but will also work for GIF to JPEG conversions. With this option you instruct MTA only to select GIF files that have the same or a lower resolution. The option is ignored when using GIF as the compression type (GIFTEST). For this conversion, you can add a command-line parameter for GIFTEST (GTECompression option) in which case GIFTEST will reject all GIF files with dimensions LOWER than a specific one. [w] [h] [c] With this 3 parameters you define the maximum resolution of GIF files what will be selected. The values 640 480 256 will be useful when you use the unregistered version of GIFLITE, other values can be set to narrow the selection. Please notice that the three parameters have an OR relation. If one of them is smaller than the actual resolution of a GIF file, the file is not selected. So a 641*479*255 GIF is NOT selected when the option is set to 640 480 256 because the weight (641) is higher than 640. Relate : GIFLite Dest : GIF types ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoMarked ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : What if you have one or more directories that contain archives and where you want to convert ONLY archives that haven't been converted before ? So a directory contains 20 ZIP archives and each period, you move 1 or more new archives (ALSO containing ZIP archives amongst others) to this directory. You only want to convert these 1 or more archives once, without having to convert the other 20. This is a normal problem on a BBS where various archives are stored in the upload-space and the Sysop only wants to convert the newly uploaded archives. There are two ways to do it. One is to use the OnlyNewFiles option (see later), but this is a very primitive (but fast) way. The other is to use MTA's Archive Marking System . When AMS is active, MTA will convert an archive and after the conversion is finished, MTA will add a special string at the end of the archive. This string is made up with some special information that will be unique. When MTA runs again, the file is read and MTA will detect that this string is present. If it is, MTA will ignore the archive (unless AMS is switched off). If, for some reason, you want to remove the special string, you can run MTM (a support utility in this package) to do so. Also, when you want to start using AMS and you already have many converted archives, you can use MTM to add the string (called the mark-string) to all these files, without having to convert them. AMS will be active when NoMarked is set to on. This option will instruct MTA to look if an archive contains a mark-string and if so, if it is the one that you use on your system. The mark-string can be created (and made unique) by yourself ! All compressors have been tested with this extra information appended and they seem to have no trouble with it. That is not so strange if you know that some communication protocols will append binary zeroes to a file, when transferred, to fill a complete transfer block. A special word about the mark-string information. If everyone should use MTA's default and should download a file, converted with MTA/NoMarked and would like to convert this file again with MTA/NoMarked, the file would be ignored. It is advised to set your own marker with the MarkString option to something more or less private. BBS's could enter their Node/Net/Point number or the name of the SysOp or something like Ghostbuster, Snoopy or whatsoever. Another piece of advise. Many BBS Sysop's like to convert all files in the upload-space to see if there is a virus inside. MTA is perfect to do that job BUT you must be careful with your mark-string. If users can download archives from you that contain the mark-string, they are able to upload archives with a virus AND YOUR mark-string also. When this file is placed in the upload-directory and you use the NoMarked option, MTA will ignore the archive because it already contains your mark-ID. You can use one of the following scenarios: - Use the mark-string in the upload directory conversion but remove the string (with MTM) before the file is available for download (when moved to its own directory); - Don't use the mark-string in your upload-directory but use it only in your normal directories; - Don't use the mark-string in your upload-directory (run MTM to remove any), then convert the file with NoMark and move it at once to another directory. When MTA is used as an exit to the protocol-driver in your BBS (you can use FileDoor, another DISP product, to do so), you can set up marking in a save way (convert ALL archives that are uploaded and only convert archives that are not marked in your upload directory); NoMarked has no meaning when using /D with the AllFiles option. The mark is not set when the MoveToDir option (/M) is used. Marking of UC2 files is impossible (it changes the length). You must implement another way to exclude the files after you have converted them (see later). Version 16.01 of MTA will include a new (extra) option to look inside the archive for a given file and when it is available, MTA treats the archive like it is marked. This can also be used on UC2 files ! Relate: MoveToDir, /D, MarkString Dest. : All, UC2 excluded ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MarkHeader [markstring] (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : The mark-string that is used by MTA to test if archives are already converted and which is added to new archives when the NoMarked option is set, is made up of two parts, the so called header and the actual string). Both have a default but when you work with the NoMarked option, you should AT LEAST alter the value of the string and you COULD alter the value of the header also. If you don't alter one or both of them, it will be possible that someone else supplies an archive with the same values as you use (because they didn't alter the header also). [markstring] This must be a 6 byte long value you want to assign to the header. The default is 3 times a binary zero and the upper-case word MTA. If you supply less than 6 bytes, the header is filled up to 6 bytes with spaces. If, for some reason, you change [markstring] after you have converted one or more archives with the older [markstring], you must run MTM to convert [markstring] to the new value in those archives that have the old value. Relate: NoMarked, MarkString Dest. : All, UC2 excluded (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MarkString [string] (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : The mark-string that is used by MTA to test if archives are already converted and which is added to new archives when the NoMarked option is set, is made up of two parts, the so called header and the actual string). Both have a default but when you work with the NoMarked option, you should AT LEAST alter the value of the string and you COULD alter the value of the header also. If you don't alter one or both of them, it will be possible that someone else supplies an archive with the same values as you use (because they didn't alter the header also). [markstring] This must be a 14 byte long value you want to assign to the string. The default has the value 'MTAYour ID here !'. If you supply less than 14 bytes, the string is filled up to 14 bytes with spaces. If, for some reason, you change [markstring] after you have converted one or more archives with the older [markstring], you must run MTM to convert [markstring] to the new value in those archives that have the old value. Relate: NoMarked, MarkString Dest. : All, UC2 excluded (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UnMark ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Unmark overrules the NoMark option and should not be used together with it. The option is there for those special cases where an archiver is not able to decompress a file with a mark-string at the end. The earlier (older) LHA.EXE programs (2.0x series, the 2.1x series work ok), would fail with a CRC check when the file was longer than the length calculated by LHA itself. This foolish option is removed from LHA and there is no current usage for the option. Relate: NoMarked, MarkHeader Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ExcludeFriendlyMark [markmask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When your receive files from a known BBS and that BBS has done everthing to the archive that you would normally do yourself (the correct virus-scanners, the correct target format and so on), you could select to skip conversion of such files because you are doing the same as the BBS has already done for you ! With the ExcludeFriendlyMark (an unlimited # of options are allowed), you can instruct MTA which files (in combination with those files that already carry your own mark) can be skipped. The only thing that you must know, is the mark-string that the BBS uses (the BBS must use marking to make this option work). [markmask] This must be a 20 byte long value you want to use as the mask. Depending on the values that the BBS uses (there can be non-printable characters in use, when the MTA-default is used), you can use the '?' wildcard on one or more placed. You can NOT include spaces in the mask ! Spaces can be replaced with a wildcard ('?'); An example: ExcludeFriendlyMark ??????Rob?van.Hoeven The first 6 characters are masked because they are the MTA default X'00' (6 times) and not printable characters. The space between 'Rob' and 'van.Hoeven' is also masked because there are no spaces allowed in the ExcludeFriendlyMark option. Relate: NoMarked, MarkHeader Dest. : All, UC2 excluded ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ OnlyNewFiles ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option works something different than the NoMarked option. When set, MTA will look for a file FILES.MTA in the directory where the source-archives are. MTA will read the date/time of this file and EVERY file with a date/time HIGHER than the date/time of FILES.MTA will be converted. At the end of the conversion, MTA will set the dat/time of the FILES.MTA to the current date and time. If no FILES.MTA is present, MTA will assume 0 for both the date and time (resulting in a conversion of ALL selected files) and will create the file when conversion is done. FILES.MTA can be excluded from BBS file-selection when you use a program like FileDoor . This way of detecting already converted archives is most useful when you work with UC2 files. These files can not be marked with a mark-string. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DelOldFiles [mm-yyyy] {action} ³ ³ DelOldFiles [-days] {action} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA is able to do some maintenance for you also. Users with big libraries of archives would like to clean some of the older ones, once in a while. Also, BBS SysOp's like to remove uploaded files when they are too old. Most protocol drivers (also FileDoor) have such options but most of them only look at the file date (FileDoor looks inside the archive). With MTA you can assign a file date that depends on the files inside the archives (see later). If you did so, you can use this option to clean your library from older files. [mm-yyyy] Is the month (2 bytes, use leading zeros) and yyyy is the year of the oldest files you want to KEEP in your library. If the file date is lower than [mm-yyyy], MTA will do something with that file, depending on the presence of the second parameter and the DelOldPath option; [-days] You can also use this syntax as a replacement for [mm-yyyy]. In this case, you supply the number of days that must be subtracted from the current date. This new date will now be the marking-line and older files are considered 'too old'. You must supply the minus sign and a number of days (up to 32767) that must be subtracted from the current date. {action} {action} can have the following values: NONE : MTA will sound the bell (if NoBeep is not set and WarningTime is not zero) and will give a warning. The actual manipulation of the file will follow; NOMSG : MTA will not sound the bell, nor will there be any message; ASK : MTA will ask the user if this file must be manipulated or not. The file IS too old (otherwise no questions will be asked) but it allows you to manually exclude some of the files from the manipulation that will follow. You can answer 'Y' or 'N'. This parameter must not be used when you want to run MTA unattended. If the DelOldPath option is NOT set and the file IS marked as too old (either direct or after a positive reply when you use the ASK parameter), MTA will DELETE the file. If the DelOldPath option IS set and the file IS marked, MTA will MOVE the file to the directory assigned in the DelOldPath option. Relate: DelOldPath Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DelOldPath [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If DelOldFiles is set and a file is marked as too old, MTA will delete the file, unless you supply the DelOldPath option. If this option is supplied, MTA will MOVE (not delete) the file to the assigned directory. [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory where the files are moved to when they are too old. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). Relate: DelOldFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SkipNewFiles [days] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Where DelOldFiles will do something for files that are too old, this option can be used to skip files that are too new to convert. [days] This value must be set to the number of days that an archive can not be converted by MTA. Any value between 1 and 65535 is valid. MTA will not convert the files if the file-date/time is higher than [currentdate]-[days]. This can be useful when you don't want to change archives for a certain number of days. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ HackList [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : You can force MTA to look into a list of files that should not be selected, in fact, should be moved to elsewhere. The most obvious form of such a list is the mothly HACK-report that is distributed thru the BBS net. MTA will support the *.IDX format but, in fact, can support ANY list that contains lines with a filename (without extension) on column 1. The list can have an unlimited length, but the longer the list, the longer MTA will have to search ! Any archive that will match the filename in the HACK-list, will be moved to the error-directory (with a warning in the log-file). The files will NOT be converted. [path] This value must point to a valid (and present) file that complies with the format described above. Relate: None Dest. : All 3.3.5 Statements that define the resulting files ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA includes a number of options that will rule the resulting archives. These include optimizing the files, the comments to add, the files to add and remove from the archive and so on. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ ExcludeFile [filemask] {SUB|NOSUB} {minsize} {maxsize} (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Today there can be no archive that does not include some files that have no relation with the actual archive but which is/are added as some sort of advertisement. Every BBS adds, at least, a comment in the archive, so you can read over and over from which BBS the file came but there are also BBS Sysop's who add files to the archive with the same (or other) information. When I had to choose, I would like to see NONE of the both ways (all the extra bytes will cause longer connections, thus costing money) but if I had to choose between one of them, I would rather like to see included files than archive comments. The included files are compressed (thus costing less transfer time) but the comments are not ! I wait for the day that SysOp's start to add GIF's (640*480*256 or higher) with their own pictures. In that case we all can have fun when we download an archive with 2 Kb programs and 300Kb GIF advertisements ! Normally, when you obtain archives with added advertisements, you would like to remove them as soon as possible. There is one thing positive about it, MOST SysOp's use the same name of the included file(s) over and over. MTA can remove these files, based on their name, AFTER the decompression AND the check for any virus. So these files ARE included in the check for a virus. [filemask] The parameter must contain a single file-mask. ³ You can use all the supported wildcards (see the ³ information in chapter 3.15). You must only ³ include a file-mask and not a directory and/or a ³ drive-letter. There is one special filemask that ³ you can use. When you code .ext (where ³ ext is the extension or a dos wildcard for the ³ extension), MTA will replace the with ³ the original name of the archive that is being ³ converted (during runtime). Some new included ³ files match the .SEC format (a file with ³ validation codes, don't ask me why). ³ ³ {SUB|NOSUB} If you code SUB on the ExcludeFile option, MTA will also look into all sub-directories that are created by the extraction. If a match is found in a sub-directory, MTA will also remove it from the archive. If the parameter is NOT coded, MTA will only look in the relative 'root' directory ³ of the archive. The same goes for the NOSUB value ³ which must be used when {minsize} and {maxsize} ³ are used; ³ {minsize} Sometimes you want to limit the matched files for ³ exclusion to a number of bytes. When you code ³ {minsize} (must be numeric), MTA will only match ³ files for exclusion that match [filemask] and are ³ equal or greater (in size) than {minsize}. When ³ you do not use {minsize}, 0 is assumed (so all ³ files that match [filemask]); ³ ³ {minsize} Sometimes you want to limit the matched files for ³ exclusion to a number of bytes. When you code ³ {maxsize} (must be numeric), MTA will only match ³ files for exclusion that match [filemask], are ³ greater (in size) than {minsize} and are equal or ³ less (in size) than {maxsize}. When you do not ³ use {maxsize}, MTA will use no limits for the ³ maximum size (so all files that match [filemask] ³ and {minsize} will match); The usage of the '=' wildcard can be handy when the SysOp alters the name of his/her include file now and then. In most cases you will see a range like this: JOHNDOE.ADD $JOHNDOE.ADD JOHNDOE$.ADD JOHNDOE.$$$ It is a real pain in the neck and I can't see the reason for doing so, but with =JOHNDOE for [filemask], you get rid of all these files. Don't use README or READ.ME. If some SysOp adds files like this as an advertisement, they should think twice. Most of the time, these files contain important info about the package you have just obtained. You can use an unlimited number of ExcludeFile options. Relate: IncludeFile Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ExcludeFiles [mask] {SUB} When the new SUB option is coded, MTA will also test if this mask will match files in all SUB-directories that are extracted. If nothing is supplied, only the root directory of the extracted files is tested; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IncludeFile [path] {newname} {CF$} (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : See the discussion on ExcludeFile. This option can do the reversed. Where ExcludeFile removes any advertisement files, IncludeFile can add your own advertisement ! [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the file to include. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory); {newname} This optional parameter can be used to change the name of the file assigned with [path] as it appears in the archive. For example, if [path] is C:\COMMON\MYFILES.ASC and {newname} is JDOEBBS.ADD, the file inside the archive will actually be called JDOEBBS.ADD. If you don't use the {newname} parameter, the file will be called MYFILES.ASC; {CF$} This parameter is optional. When you use it, the {newname} parameter is mandatory because {CF$} MUST be the third parameter ! When you code CF$, you are telling MTA that the file you include is in fact an archive. In this case, MTA will convert the included file to the same system as the target system for the archive. There can be unlimited IncludeFile options in the MTA.CTL. All files will be included in EVERY converted extension. When you leave out the option, nothing is included. I hope that no SysOp will use to many options for advertisement files. Relate: ExcludeFile Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ TouchLow ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This parameter is optional and controls MTA's touching system. When used, MTA touches (resets the compressed file's time/date stamp) to the lowest date of any file inside the compressed file. All files that match any supplied ExcludeFile option (see before) are NOT looked at. As an example, the archive contains: A.A 12/31/91 B.B 11/18/91 C.C 01/01/92 JOHNDOE.ADD 01/01/91 JOHNDOE.ADD is not looked at because it matches one (or more) of the ExcludeFile options. With TouchLow set, the archive will get the date 11/18/91 (JOHNDOE.ADD has a lower date but is not looked at). When TouchLow is set, TouchCur and TouchHig can not be used. When neither TouchLow nor TouchCur nor TouchHig are set, MTA will retain the original file date/time; Relate: TouchCur, TouchHig, ChildTouch Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ TouchHig ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This parameter is optional and controls MTA's touching system. When used, MTA touches (resets the compressed file's time/date stamp) to the highest date of any file inside the compressed file. All files that match any supplied ExcludeFile option (see before) are NOT looked at. As an example, the archive contains: A.A 12/31/91 B.B 11/18/91 C.C 01/01/92 JOHNDOE.ADD 02/01/92 JOHNDOE.ADD is not looked at because it matches one (or more) of the ExcludeFile options. With TouchHig set, the archive will get the date 01/01/92 (JOHNDOE.ADD has a higher date but is not looked at). When TouchHig is set, TouchCur and TouchLow can not be used. When neither TouchLow nor TouchCur nor TouchHig are set, MTA will retain the original file date/time; Relate: TouchCur, TouchLow, ChildTouch Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ TouchCur ³ ³ TouchCur [+days] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This parameter is optional and controls MTA's touching system. When used, MTA touches (resets the compressed file's time/date stamp) to the current date. When TouchCur is set, TouchHig and TouchLow can not be used. When neither TouchLow nor TouchCur nor TouchHig are set, MTA will retain the original file date/time. A special format is the usage of [+days]. If this parameter is present, MTA will add the number of days that is supplied in this parameter to the current date and will touch all archives with that new date (comes in handy when using a BBS and giving the new uploads a new date in the future). [+days] This value must be set to a plus sign and the number of days (up to 365) to add to the current date; Relate: TouchLow, TouchHig, ChildTouch Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ChildTouch [type] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Normally, MTA will use the same type of touching for archives inside archives (nested arc-in-arc files) as for the main archive. When this is not what you want, you can make use of this ChildTouch option to overrule the touching with another method for nested archives. [type] You must either supply HIGH, LOW, CUR or FILE. When HIGH is used, touching on the highest date will occur for nexted archives, LOW for the lowest date, CUR for the current date and FILE will cause the original date to be retained for these nested archives. As an example, you can touch all archives on current date (so they will show as new files on a BBS) but it is logical that this is not desired for archives inside archives. These nested archives can be touched in another way if you include this op- tion; Relate: TouchLow, TouchHig, TouchCur ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IgnoreTimeComponent (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option belongs to the previous TouchHig and TouchLow options. When you use this option (you don't have to), the time-component of the date/time of every file inside the archive is ignored. Sometimes you need such an option when you use software that use the spare bit of the time/date field in the DOS directory entry. There are some programs (some commercial backup programs) that do so. When the option is set, all archives will get the time 00:00:00 when the TouchHig or TouchLow option is active. Relate: TouchLow, TouchHig Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AcceptHighDate (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Also this option belongs to the TouchHig and TouchLow options. Sometimes archives contain files with dates higher than the current date. MTA will give a warning for each of such files inside any archive because it could be possible that your PC's date is not correctly set. If this is normal, or if you expect to receive files with higher (invalid) dates, you must use the AcceptHighDate option. The actual archive will also get the high date when TouchLow or TouchHig are in use. Relate: TouchLow, TouchHig Dest. : All (*) : Marked options are also in usage by: MTM ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ArcInArc ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option is the reversed of the NOArcInArc option. It is available for future usage. The default is to convert all nested archives unless NoArcInArc is included in MTA.CTL. Relate: NoArcInArc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoArcInArc ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA will convert any archives inside archives (in this manual we call them arc-in-arc files) up to ANY level deep (but with respect to the conventional memory available). When running DOS 5.0 on 286, 386 or 486 machines, it is normal to have around 600.000 (or more) bytes of memory free. With this number of bytes free (and when swapping is used), you can go up to 80 levels deep (I have never seen such a file). You need around 200K to run MTA itself and every MTA child uses 4K extra overhead for swapping. Normally you should let MTA convert any archives inside. But if memory is low, or speed is slow or disk-space (for swapping) is low, you CAN select to leave arc-in-arc files alone. In this case a TEST.ZIP, containing a TEST.ARJ and the target is LZH, will result in TEST.LZH containing TEST.ARJ. When the option is NOT set, it will result in TEST.LZH, containing TEST.LZH ! For each level of arc-in-arc files, MTA will call itself to do the job on the nested archives, thus giving all possible options (with a few restrictions). Relate: ArcinArc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SFXArcInArc {ALSONORMAL} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If set and ARCINARC is set (e.g. NOARCINARC is NOT set), MTA will convert in-archive files as it would normally do but will also check to see of all *.EXE and *.COM files INSIDE the archives are of the SFX-kind (self extracting archives). If MTA finds one or more of these files INSIDE the archive, it will convert such archives BUT ONLY WHEN THE TARGET-FORMAT WILL ALLOW SFX-alike archives. So EXE/COM files in the old format will be changed to EXE/COM in the new system but won't be converted when you choose a target that doesn't support SFX-archives like ZOO or MDCD. If you code SFXARCINARC without the ALSONORMAL parameter, MTA will ONLY convert in-archive SFX-alike files but NO in-archive normal-archive files. If you include ALSONORMAL, MTA will convert BOTH SFX-alike files (if possible) and normal archives that are included in the main archive. For example: A.ARJ will contain B.EXE and ZIP is the target. With this option set, B.EXE (ARJ) will be converted to B.EXE (ZIP) and A.ARJ will be converted to A.ZIP (with B.EXE inside). A.ARJ contains B.EXE and C.ARJ and ALSONORMAL is NOT set. ZIP is the target, so B.EXE (ARJ) is converted to B.EXE (ZIP) and A.ARJ is converted to A.ZIP (with B.EXE and C.ARJ inside). C.ARJ is NOT converted. With ALSONORMAL set, C.ARJ is also converted to C.ZIP and A.ZIP will contain B.EXE (ZIP) and C.ZIP. Relate: ArcinArc, NoArcInArc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ EXTArcInArc ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If set, and ARCINARC is set (e.g. NOARCINARC is NOT set), MTA will convert all files as it would normally do but will also check to see of any of the files inside the archive is also an archive but with a strange (non-archive) extension. With this option on, MTA will test any file inside an archive and is thus much slower than before. Also there is a certain risk involved. Some archives contain a INSTALL.EXE (or alike program) that will extract files from for example BAB.MUA. BAB.MUA is of the LZH format and INSTALL.EXE can extract this file in this format. Now you convert the archive with EXTArcInArc option set to on. BAB.MUA will now be of the (f.i.) ZIP format but INSTALL.EXE will not be able to extract the files from BAB.MUA anymore ! Use this option ONLY when you are sure that you know what you are doing ! Relate: ArcinArc, NoArcInArc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AIAInstallFile [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : There can be an unlimited number of these options (depending on the amount of available memory). They are used in conjuction with the ???ArcInArc option. If one or more of the supplied options matches a filename inside the archive AND one or more of the files inside the archive would normally be converted (based on the ArcInArc, SFXArcInArc and/or EXTArcInArc options in MTA.CTL) because it/they is/are archive(s), they are now left alone and will NOT be converted. This option comes in handy when you have archives that contain installation programs or batch-files which are used to install the package from an archive that is inside the main archive. [mask] You must supply a valid DOS-filemask. Wildcards ³ are allowed (see chapter 3.15) but drive-letters ³ and directories are not allowed. An example. Archive A.ARJ contains INSTALL.BAT, PKUNZIP.EXE and INSTALS.LIB (INSTALS.LIB obviously is a ZIP archive, containing the package and INSTALL.BAT will be called to decompress INSTALS.LIB with the PKUNZIP.EXE program. If you include AIAInstallFile PKUNZIP.*, MTA will match the PKUNZIP.EXE with this option and will NOT convert INSTALS.LIB, even when EXTArcInArc is set to on (see above). Relate: All ???ArcInArc options Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ArcInArcSIM ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Depending on the ArcInArc, NoArcInArc, SFXArcInArc (with the optional parameter) and EXTArcInArc options this option will force MTA not to convert the arc-in-arc file but only to test it. For example, when ArcInArc is set AND SFXArcInArc is set, MTA will convert A.ARJ (with B.EXE (ARJ) inside) to A.ZIP (with B.EXE (ZIP) inside). When ArcInArcSIM is set, MTA will only extract the B.EXE file and will test the file for viri and such but the target archive will still contain B.EXE in the ARJ format (so the actual conversion is NOT done). Relate: ArcinArc, NoArcInArc, SFXArcInArc, EXTArcInARc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ OptimizeOnSize ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA can also be used to make the smallest possible archive. It needs a selection of different archive programs to complete this job and it will convert any archive to the system that will result in the smallest archive (this creating a mixture of a number of different target systems). All archivers that are included in the xxxPath options (see 3.3.1, the first options) and that have a 'Y' as the second parameter, will be used for testing. YOU must select which archivers to include in the test. There are some combinations (that can change when newer versions hit the street) that are useful. ZIP, ARJ, LZH and ZOO (2.1x) can give a good result. Including MD or ARJ in this list has NO meaning. They ALWAYS result in a bigger archive, but the given combination works. For each archive, MTA will call the selected archivers and will start to convert the archive to each of them (one after another, only taking disk-space for one of them). When the smallest is known, MTA will AGAIN start the conversion but now with ALL possible options (IncludeFile and such) active. OptimizeOnSize will cause MTA to run [number of archivers selected]+1 times longer (average) than normal. Only when your space is limited, this option should be used ! Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ OnlyUpgrade ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be useful when you want to convert your files to a higher technical level. In general, OnlyUpgrade will cause the following files (also based on the file-mask(s)) to convert to the new target: - Files that are not in the target format (e.g. ZIP is the destination, so all non-ZIP files will be converted); - Files that ARE in the target format (e.g. ZIP and the target is also ZIP) but that have a LOWER TECHNICAL level than the current target; The latter looks somewhat difficult to understand, so I will come to the point. ZIP, PAK and LZH have different levels of archives. You have the older LZH 1.13 format but the new 2.xx format is different, you have the older PAK (crushed) files and today we have also a new PAK format (distilled). For ZIP the same rules apply. In plain english for each archiver involved: - If the source and target are LZH and the source contains 1.13 formatted files, conversion will be done to the 2.xx format with LHA; - If the source and target are PAK and the source contains crushed files, conversion will be done to the destilled format with PAK; - If the source and target are ZIP and the source contains either reduced 1-4 files or imploded files, conversion will be done to the ZIP 2.xx deflated format (the previous versions of MTA up to 14.57 only did an upgrade from 1-4 reduced to imploding, 15.01 will convert to deflated); If the source archive already contains one or more files from the NEW systems (f.i. 3 x stored but 1 x deflated), MTA will not convert it when ZIP is also the target. Relate: ZIP, PAK, LZH Dest. : ZIP, PAK, LZH ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AllDisketteFiles ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you use the /D command-line parameter (start diskette conversion), MTA will only convert archives on the diskettes. If you want to move the files to another diskette (with the MoveToDir option) or you want to format the diskette (with one of the exits), you must make sure that ALL files are reMOVED from the diskette. These files will not be converted but (temporary) moved to the same directory as where the converted files are stored (temporary). You can instruct MTA to move ALL files from the diskette (and back!) by setting this option. Diskette conversion is not possible when the OnlyUpgrade option is set ! Relate: EXITBeforeFill, EXITAfterFill, MoveToDir Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MakeArc [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA is able to convert ANY NON-ARCHIVE file that is in the working directory when it has started to convert archives. To instruct MTA to do such a thing, you must include one or more MakeArc (and optionally MakeArcExclude) option(s). ³ [mask] This must be a valid filemask. Wildcards are ³ allowed. You can use all the supported wildcards ³ (see the information in chapter 3.15). MTA will convert all matching files to archives of the selected target-type on a one-to-one basis. An example: MakeArc *.* MTA detects the following files in the working directory: A.ZIP B.ARJ C.WAV D.DOC E.GIF Z.ZOO With a destination (target) of ZIP, the following will happen: A.ZIP will be converted to A.ZIP B.ARJ ,, ,, ,, ,, B.ZIP C.WAV ,, ,, archived into C.ZIP D.DOC ,, ,, archived into D.ZIP E.GIF ,, ,, archived into E.ZIP Z.ZOO ,, ,, converted to Z.ZIP With this example, MTA will archive every SINGLE file into a SINGLE archive. There can be an unlimited number of MakeArc options. Relate: MakeArcExclude Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ MakeArcExclude [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be used in combination with the MakeArc option and can be used to narrow the selection of non-archived files that will be converted to an archive. [mask] This must be a valid DOS (4DOS or DISP ) filemask (up to 12 characters, wildcards allowed) of (a) non-archived file(s) that MTA must exclude from the MakeArc process; MTA will exclude all matching files from the archive process that is initialized by the MakeArc option(s). An example: MakeArc *.* MakeArcExclude *.GIF MakeArcExclude *.WAV MTA detects the following files in the working directory: A.ZIP B.ARJ C.WAV D.DOC E.GIF Z.ZOO With a destination (target) of ZIP, the following will happen: A.ZIP will be converted to A.ZIP B.ARJ ,, ,, ,, ,, B.ZIP C.WAV ,, ,, archived into C.WAP D.DOC ,, ,, archived into D.ZIP E.GIF ,, ,, left alone as E.GIF <------------ Z.ZOO ,, ,, converted to Z.ZIP With this example, MTA will archive every SINGLE file into a SINGLE archive except GIF files ! Relate: MakeArc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KeepAbnormalExtensions ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Some of the archives contain a special extension that is not common with the archive system. You can receive files with the extension .A25, .SDN and so on. Normally MTA will convert these archives (unless excluded by DoNot or the file-mask) to a new archive with a NORMAL extension (e.g. ZIP when you convert to ZIP). If you include this option, MTA will keep the abnormal extension even after the conversion. So A.SDN (in ZIP format), converted to ARJ, will still be called A.SDN. Only one archive system can not work with abnormal extensions. DWC can only work with archives that end with .DWC. When you convert A.SDN (in ZIP format) to DWC, the result will be named A.DWC ! Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ WeekExtension [ext] [letter] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : There are archives with a very special extension. These are the archives that (f.i.) contain the BBS-nodelist and BBS-nodediff files. These extensions are made up by a letter (normally a A) and two digits that are the last two digits of a day-number. In this manner, files with names like NODEDIFF.A21 can be found on various BBS's. There have been some proposals and standards as how to use these extensions for BBS-nodelist/nodediff files. As fas as I know, there is only one valid standard and that is the usage of ARC (SEA ARC, crunched) files with extension Axx (xx are the last two digits of the day-number). Some nets use other archivers for these files (like ZIP, ARJ and LZH). To keep a difference between these SEA ARC (Axx) files and those converted to any of the other systems, nets use different letters. As such the following list looks more or less standard (but is not covered by a formal fidonet-standard): SEA ARC xxxxxxxx.Ann ZIP xxxxxxxx.Znn ARJ xxxxxxxx.Jnn LZH/LZS xxxxxxxx.Lxx MTA can be used to maintain such a system. Normally, you can supply the KeepAbnormalExtensions option to maintain the original extension of a file, but this would cause NODEDIFF.A10 to keep its original extension (A10) even when the file is actually converted to ZIP (Z10 would be better). You can use the WeekExtension option(s) (up to 20) to inform MTA how files with the an extension made up by one letter and two digits (A01, Z11, J18 and so on) should be (re)named. If you do not supply this option, MTA will either convert the name to a normal archive-extension or to the original extension if the KeepAbnormalExtensions option is active. The WeekExtension option is set for the target-file ! [ext] This parameter must be set to the NORMAL archive extension that the target-file would have been given (like ZIP, ARJ, ARC and so on); [letter] This parameter must be set to the letter of the new extension that belongs to [ext] (like Z for ZIP, L of LZH/LZS or J for ARJ). When MTA starts converting an archive with an extension that is made up by a letter and two numbers AND the new extension that the archive should get under normal conditions (LZH for LHarc, ZIP for ZIP, ARJ for ARJ and so on) is defined by a WeekExtension option, MTA will use the supplied letter and will create a new extension with this letter and the original two digits. For example: WeekExtension ARC A WeekExtension ZIP Z WeekExtension LZH L WeekExtension LZS L WeekExtension ARJ J Source-archive is called NODEDIFF.A12 and conversion is done to ZIP. ZIP is inside the array and 'owns' letter 'Z', so the new archive will be called NODEDIFF.Z12. Source is RA.H11 and conversion is done to ARJ. ARJ is in the array and 'owns' the letter 'J' so the new archive is called RA.J11. Source archive is called DISP.J01 and conversion is done to HYPER. HYP (the extension for a normal HYPER archive) is NOT in the array so, unless KeepAbnormalExtensions is set, the new archive will be called DISP.HYP ! Because of the lack of rules for the conversion of extensions, MTA uses a 'dynamic' system. Relate: KeepAbnormalExtensions Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FixedConversion [mask] [target] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : There can be unlimited FixedConversion options. For each file that is selected for processing, MTA will look if it matches any [mask] in the FIXEDCONVERSION option. If the name matches [mask] (the first match will count), MTA will convert the file to the [target] format EVEN if the default format is something else. ³ [mask] This must be a valid filemask. Wildcards are ³ allowed. You can use all the supported wildcards ³ (see the information in chapter 3.15). [target] This must be a valid name of the target archiver (or convertor in case of GIF-alike files). The valid names are the same as you supply with the COMPRESSIONTYPE option (ZIP, ARJ, ARC, ZOO, GIF and so on); For example: FixedConversion NODELIST.A?? ARC FixedConversion NODEDIFF.A?? ARC Will force MTA to convert any selected file with one of that names, to the ARC format, even if the selected target-format is ZIP. This option comes in handy when certain files always have to be converted to a fixed system. All other options like WEEKEXTENSION and KEEPABNORMALEXTENSION will still word. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ReportSpecialAttributes ³ ³ ReportSpecialAttributes SKIP ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Some archives can contain files with abnormal file-attributes like HIDDEN, READONLY and/or SYSTEM. If the decompression program is able to decompress these files in this way, you could be in for trouble (though MTA will remove any left files after the conversion). If you like to, MTA can report archives that contain such files when you set this option. Also, when this option is set, MTA will reset all attributes that are not 'normal' (READONLY, HIDDEN and SYSTEM) before the new archive is created. When SKIP is supplied, MTA will not convert the attributes and will not even convert the archive. The archive is moved to the error-directory and conversion must be done by hand. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ReportInvalidFiles ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : It is invalid (and dangerous) when an archive contains one of more files with a name equal to a device-name in your PC. To overcome any problems with these archives, you should remove them ! MTA is (optionally) able to test EVERY filename inside the archive against ALL CURRENT device-driver names you have active in your PC. If you set this option (it is highly recommened that you do so), MTA will perform these checks, otherwise (no option) it won't. Testing of all files will only take a few moments extra ! In general, only when this option will cause problems in your PC, you should not include it, otherwise include the option ! Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KeepAV ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Both ARJ and ZIP can create archives with a special attribute, called the security envelope/Authentification Verification. Normally these files are created by the original author of the program(s) that are included and the code functions as a kind of proof that the file is untouched by others (virus, patches and so on). One piece of bad luck is that some BBS's also use the AV/Security Envelope to mark these files as 'theirs', destroying the original idea behind the AV/SE code. When you want to keep files with a valid AV/SE as they are (and you should do so, certainly on a BBS), you must include this option. If MTA detects such an archive it will do the following: - Decompress the file - Test for any virus (still) - Perform the exists involved; - Remove all decompressed files; - Include any new files to the original file (only ZIP); - Add comments to the original file (only ZIP); - If the source is an SFX, it CAN be converted to a non-SFX file of the same system (when you set the SFXFiles option); The original archive is kept as it was. Only some special files could be added and, optionally a comment header (ZIP). Relate: IncludeAVFile Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IncludeAVFile [filemask] {AVCode} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : As you have read in the previous option, there are situations where the AV/SE code has NO meaning whatsoever. You can use this option to instruct MTA WHICH AV/SE files must keep their code. All others will be stripped EVEN if the KeepAV option forces MTA not to do so. [filemask] The parameter must contain a single file-mask. ³ You can use all the supported wildcards (see the ³ information in chapter 3.15); You must include ³ only a file-mask and not a directory and/or drive ³ letters; {AVCode} When this parameter is NOT present, all files that match [filemask] will keep their AV-code (e.g. they will not be converted) if KeepAV is set. You can also supply a valid AV-code or AV-code-mask overhere. In this case, all files that match [filemask] AND that match {AVCode} will keep their AV-code (e.g. they will not be converted) when KeepAV is set. You can either supply a full AV-code overhere (like 0000 for the AV-code that comes with original ARJxxx.EXE distribution file or PKW655 that comes with the original PKLTExxx.EXE file) or a mask. The mask can include 2 types of characters. Either a # (for numeric digit) or @ (for alphabetic digit) can be used in combination with real digits. For example, P@W### will cause a match for PKW655 but NOT for P1WA11; Most obvious you would like to keep the AV/E codes for some general files like SCAN*.*, CLEAN*.*, 4DOS*.* and so on. Some examples are included in the archive. Some general hits: - When you want to keep all ZIP AV-codes, you can supply IncludeAVFile *.* @@@### - When you want to keep all ARJ AV-codes, you can supply IncludeAVFile *.* #### - Independent of the IncludeAVFile options you MUST set the KeepAV option to actually KEEP the AV-codes (e.g. no con- version of the archive). If there is a matching IncludeAVFile but NO KeepAV option, the archive will still be converted; There can be unlimted IncludeAVFile options in MTA.CTL ! Relate: KeepAV, ExcludeAVFile Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ExcludeAVFile [filemask] [AVCode] {KEEP³DELETE³MOVE} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option works is the reversed of the IncludeAVFiles option described above. The combination of In- and ExcludeAVFiles can result in a very nifty management of archives with AV-codes. The number of ExcludeAVFile options that can be used is 512. The ExcludeAVFile option is tested AFTER A MATCH from the IncludeAVFile is found. If it then matches the ExcludeAVFile option, it is again excluded AV operation an the AV is not kept. If you did not use any IncludeAVFile (but KeepAV is set) you can still use this option. In this case ALL AV'ed archives match (e.g. there is no specific IncludeAVFile) and you can exclude them again with this option. The first two parameters for the ExcludeAVFile opion are the same as those on the IncludeAVFile option. The ExcludeAVFile option can use an extra parameter (when you compare it with the IncludeAVFile option). This parameter can have the following value: KEEP : KEEP is the default so it can be left out. When KEEP mode is selected, MTA will leave the AV'ed archive when it matches the ExcludeAVFile option in question; MOVE : When MOVE is used and the AV'ed archive will match the given ExcludeAVFile option, the file is MOVED to the error directory; DELETE : When DELETE is used and the AV'ed archive will match the given ExcludeAVFile option, the file is deleted from the disk. This comes in handy when you want to remove all bogus-files with a bogus-AVcode. Because both the ARJ and ZIP AV-codes are cracked, there are some bogus codes in the circuit. If you know one, you can include the ExcludeAVFile option for this AV-code, along with the DELETE option; Example 1: IncludeAVFile *.* #### (include all ARJ's) IncludeAVFile *.* @@@### (include all ZIP's) ExcludeAVFile *.* 0123 KEEP (EXclude ARJ AV 123) A file A.ZIP enters with AV-code PKQ001. It matches the second IncludeAVFile option and does not match the ExcludeAVFile. Now a B.ARJ with code 123 enters. This file matches the first of the IncludeAVFile options but also matches the ExcludeAVFile option. It is kept as it was and no conversion will take place. Example 2: IncludeAVFile MT*.* RVH001 ExcludeAVFile M*.* RVH001 DELETE MTA_VXXX.ZIP with AV-code RVH001 enters. It matches MT*.* but also M*.* and is deleted. Both Include and exclude match but the exclude is tested last and has a higher priority ! Relate: KeepAV, IncludeAVFile Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KeepAVNoCode ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If MTA is unable to extract the AV-code or AV-user from the archive (see AVCODES.TEC file) where the original file 'looks' like a file that has an AV-code, MTA will mark those files as NOT having the AV-code and they are converted. If you include this option, MTA will always KEEP the file in original state (when KEEPAV is also included), though there is no check against the IncludeAVFile and ExcludeAVFile options possible (there is no AV-code/AV-user obtained from the archive); Relate: KeepAV, IncludeAVFile, ExcludeAVFile Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KeepVolLabel ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Both ARJ and ZIP can contain (optionally) a volume label. This is sometimes used for ARJ/ZIP files that are a compressed image of a diskette. MTA uses some special techniques to enforce the volume label inside a ZIP or ARJ (if any). The technique only works when you have the SubstDrive option set and is as follows: - The current volume-label of the substituted drive is read. This is the same label as the drive containing the ORIGINAL directory that is now used for the substitution (in fact it IS the volume label of that drive); - The ARJ or ZIP is read. If it contains no volume-label, it will be converted as normal; - If it contains a volume-label, MTA will decompress it with the option to decompress the volume-label as well; - The target system will be called to compress the file again (if it supports volume-labels, those options are also added by MTA); - MTA will reset the volume-label to the original value unless there was no previous value, in which case MTA will delete the temporary label; Relate: LabelDrive Dest. : ZIP, ARJ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LabelDrive [drive] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If there are archives involved that contain volume-labels AND these labels should be carried over into the new archive (if this is possible), the de-compression and compression programs will normally extract/obtain the volume-label from the drive that will be current at the moment of (de)compression. MTA will manage this process for you. Some network systems are not able to extract volume-labels because the drives are virtual (placed on the file-server) and/or changing the label is disallowed because of other reasons. The LABELDRIVE option is designed to overcome these problems or to force MTA to use a certain drive to extract the labels on. In the network examples above, you can now create a small (very small) RAM-disk on the workstation and you can point to this drive with the LABELDRIVE option. In all cases, MTA will rule the process of labeling the drive and the restoration of the old label (if any). [drive] must point to a valid drive-letter that is available on the machine that MTA will execute on. Relate: KeepVolLabel Dest. : ZIP, ARJ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ NoCloakedArchives {ALL} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Some achives are repacked recursively. For example, someone has created MYFILES.ZIP (with 15 files inside). Now this file is for some reason packed again to MYFILES.ZIP. You now have a file MYFILES.ZIP with ONE file inside (MYFILES.ZIP). This included file contains the real files. This type of files is very dangerous to process from the command-line. If you should unpack MYFILES.ZIP with 'PKUNZIP MYFILES.ZIP', PKUNZIP would report a message, asking to overwrite the existing file. If you answer 'Y'es, PKUNZIP will start doing so and while the work is in progress, PKUNZIP could overwrite parts of the original archive MYFILES.ZIP with new data from the extracted file MYFILES.ZIP. This will cause a damaged source AND target file. On BBS's this type of archives is sometimes created to show a newer file-date than the actual files inside are (a bad behaviour) or it can happen as a result of a conversion of a complete package (originally containing INSTALL.ARC which is now converted to, lets say, INSTALL.ZIP). If you include the NoCloakedArchives option, MTA will test if the archive will ontain ONE file AND that file has the same name as the original archive. You can also add the parameter ALL in which case MTA will test of ANY file inside the archive has the same name as the archive itself. When the test matches, MTA will move the archive to the error-directory. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SkipBackups ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Both ARJ and ZOO can contain (optionally) backups. These files are normally not decompressed by MTA and will be lost unless you have set special options for both ARJ and ZOO. The same goes for the new UC2 archives ! If you want to keep the backups, you can force MTA to leave this archives as they were. In fact, they are skipped when you supply this option! Normal ARJ/ZOO/UC2 files that DON'T contain (backup) versions are processed as before. Relate: None Dest. : ZOO, ARJ, UC2 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ OverwriteDuplicates ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Normally MTA will never overwrite any duplicate file. If you convert A.ZIP and A.ARJ to ZOO, it will result in A.ZOO and A.ZO1 (the second archive will be renamed but will NOT erase the other). If you supply the OverwriteDuplicates option, MTA WILL overwrite any file with the same name. This also goes for files that are moved to the error-directory and/or the trashcan directory ! Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Description ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Most archivers have the option to add a description to one or more (or all) components inside the archive. If you set this option, MTA will add options for the target to ask for such comments. THIS IS MANUAL WORK, DON'T USE THIS OPTION WHEN MTA MUST RUN UNATTENDED !! Relate: Autodescription Dest. : All, excluding UC2 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Autodescription [path] (*)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you want to include a comment header in your target file, you can use this option to do so (automatically). Those target systems that support it, will be instructed to add a common header to each and every converted archive. Currently the comment can be added to ZIP, ZOO, ARJ and PAK files. [path] This value must point to a valid drive/directory and filename of the file which include the actual comment. If no drive is supplied, the default one is used. Relative directories (..\WRKDIR and such) are not advised but can be used (the are counted from the CURRENT directory). The file must be a normal text-file. It can be a ANSI file (not preferred, most archivers won't display ANSI-sequences unless specifically told, because ANSI sequences can reconfigure the key- board. You would be surprises and angry to see that F3 now starts a FORMAT of your hard-disk), but a normal pain ASCII file is best. The total size can not be greater than 64000 bytes. The AutoDescription can also be combined with the CarryComment option (see BBS options) to gain maximum result ! MTA uses the quickest but safest way to add the comment to a file. In most cases piping will be used (PKZIP -z A - TBScan by Frans Veldman - VIRX by Microcom Software Division - CPAV by Central Point Software (Version 1.2 and up) - FINDVIRU by S&S International (Dr. Solomon) With the current version of MTA, unlimited scanners can be included. If a file contains a virus, the archive is moved to the error-directory and marked with special 0-byte files. Also further processing of THIS file is aborted and MTA will start working on the next archive. [desc] This must be a short description of the type of scanner. It will be displayed in the MTA log-file and remote when MTA is doing its work under a protocol driver like FileDoor . It can be up to 40 bytes and spaces must be substituded by underscore characters ('_'); [crt] You must either supply 'B' or 'D'. If the scanner is BIOS oriented (line-mode) and can be run in the MTA window, you can use 'B'. If the scanner is using direct video calls/running full screen, you must supply 'D'. MTA will preserve the screen according to this option; [swap] This must be the amount of memory (in Kbytes) that must be available to run the scanner without MTA having to swap itself out of memory. The examples in the supplied MTA.CTL are good ones and used while testing; [lowe] This must be the errorlevel the scanner returns when a virus is found. Most scanners use the errorlevel 1 when a virus is found, some of them use a range. Check the documentation of the scanner to make sure you supply the right level. The examples in MTA.CTL are correct for the given scanners; {highe} This parameter is optional. If the scanner will return a range of errorlevels when a virus is involved (some have it), you must supply the lower limit in [lowe] and the higher limit in {highe}. If you don't supply {highe}, it will be set to the same value as [lowe]. The given examples in MTA.CTL are correct for the given scanners; [Path] This parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename of the scanner in question. MTA will validate if the program is at the given location and give a warning if it isn't; [parm] {parm} At this location you can (must) supply the various parameters for the scanner. There are a few macros available that will be replaced by values at run-time. These are: %P This macro will be replaced with the full name of the HIGHEST directory in the tree where the decompressed files reside; %F Will do the same but will show a \*.* behind the directory; %D This macro will be replaced with the LAST node in the directory tree. For example, if the directory is E:\TUP\TST\1F6566A6, %D will be replaced by 1F6566A6. This comes in handy for scanners that make problems in networks; %L This macro will be replaced by the driveletter and a colon (C:, E: and so on). Some scanners can only work on drives and not on directories only; %S This is a better replacement for %L. It will be subtituded with the driveletter (and colon) of the SUBSTituted drive (only when you use the SUBST support, which is advised). Only when the scanner has problems with a SUBST drive you should use %L. If you don't use the SUBST support of MTA, %S will be replaced with the normal drive (as with %L); Never forget to check if the scanner will halt for a prompt. If this is the case and you run unattended, you could have a problem. If you run attended, this makes no difference. Most scanners implement a type of 'No-prompt' mode, like /NOPAUSE with SCAN. Be sure to set it somewhere in [parm] or {parm}. Also do not forget to implement the option to check ALL lower trees under the directory that is tested. The scanner must also scan all sub-directories. Examples for the mentioned scanners are included (and tested) in the example MTA.CTL in the distribution archive. Relate: VirusMasks Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ VirusMasks [mask1] {mask2}..{mask10} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Normally when you supply one or more VirusScanner options, MTA will ALWAYS call all virus-scanners for every archive that is converted. This can be a pain in the neck when you have lots of files that don't contain files that can carry a virus. If this is the case, or you want to limit the testing of viri for some other reason, you can supply this VirusMasks option. With the option you can supply 1 to 10 different file-masks. If one or more of these file-masks match files inside the archive that is converted, MTA will call the virus-scanners. If no file in the archive matches any of the masks that you supply with this option, the virus-scanners are NOT called ! [mask1] This parameter must be a valid file-mask. You can \\ also use the DISP-compatible format (=value). You {mask10} must supply at least one mask when you use this option and you can supply to a maximum of 10 of these masks. In normal situations you will only supply extensions like (*.COM, *.EXE, *.OVR and *.SYS) but it IS possible to trigger the scan on a full file-mask (like AVIRUS.COM). When you do NOT supply this option but you have supplied one or more VirusScanner options, the scan is ALWAYS performed. Only when the VirusMasks option is present, the scan will be limited to those archives that contain one or more match ! Relate: VirusScanner Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ SetDblSpaceRatio ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you have installed DBLSPACE volumes on your harddisk, MTA can be used to (re)set the current ratio on these volumes. (Re)setting the ratio is very important. In the process of the add, move, change and remove of files, the ratio of these volumes can change (and so will the possible free space). When you include this option and DBLSPACE.EXE is somewhere in your DOS-path, MTA will call DBLSPACE after EVERY converted file (before the conversion of the next file or before the end of MTA) in the followin way: DBLSPACE /RATIO /ALL All non-DBLSPACE volumes will not be affected by this command and all DBLSPACE drive will get their correct (current) RATIO. Setting this option will slowdown MTA but will give an extra safety when you use DBLSPACE drives. Relate: None Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ EXITBeforeStart {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ³ EXITBeforeEnd {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ³ EXITBetweenConversion {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ³ EXITAfterCompression {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ³ EXITBeforeFill {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ³ EXITAfterFill {dynswapsiz} [path] {option}...{option} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : These options include the support for various user exits at various places in MTA. You can instruct MTA to call a program OR a batch-file (normally batch-files are not allowed but they are for these exits). All options have these parameters in common: {dynswapsiz]} This can be the amount of memory (in Kbytes) that must be available to run the scanner without MTA having to swap itself out of memory. You can also leave out the parameter (no swapping); [Path] This parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename of the exit in question. MTA will not validate if they are present but will fail the exit (but continue) if they are not. You can either supply a program or a batch-file. {option} You can include various parameters that will be passed to the called program/batch over here. For some options there are special macros (see below) that can be used. Some of the exits can contain macros inside the {option} part of the call, these are: %1 This parameter can occur anywhere in {option}. MTA will substitute this parameter with the relative path where the uncompressed files are. This parameter is in fact superfluous, because you ARE in this directory when the call to the exit is made (only valid for the ExitBetweenConversion and ExitAfterCompression exits); %2 MTA will substitute this parameter with the name (not the extension) of the compressed file (to be) created (only valid for the ExitBetweenConversion and ExitAfterCompression exits); %3 MTA will substitute this parameter with the extension (without the point, so LZH and not .LZH) of the compressed file (to be) created. Can be used to test the target type in most situations (only valid for the ExitBetweenConversion and ExitAfterCompression exits); %T MTA will substitute this parameter with the number of the MTA-task (see /TASK) that is running. When no /TASK is supplied, %T will be replaced by 1. This macro can be used to assign different exits for different tasks; You can take a look into the supplied example of batch-files that are present inside the distribution archive. The various exits are called in the following phases: ExitBeforeStart Called once, after reading the MTA.CTL file and before the actual conversion. Can be used to (re)set the cache (if any) or to sort directories and so on; ExitBeforeEnd Called once, after the conversion and just before the termination of MTA. Can be used to reverse the actions in ExitBeforeStart or anything else; ExitBetweenConversion Called after every decompress and before the actual compress takes place. Can be used to perform special actions on the decompressed files that MTA can't do for you; ExitAfterCompression Called after every final compress of a file. Can be used to perform actions on the new archive that MTA can't do; ExitBeforeFill Only called when /D is used. Can be used to do something with the empty diskette that is going to be filled with files. An example is to (re)format such a diskette. Exit is called for every converted diskette; ExitAfterFill Only called when /D is used. Can be used to do something with the newly filled diskette. An example is to catalogue all files on the diskette with your favorite catalogue program. Exit is called for every converted diskette; As said before, there are some example batch-files inside the distribution archive. Relate: All of MTA Dest. : Any ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ViewProgram [program] [macros] {options} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you call MTA without any parameters, MTA will call MTA.CH1 to show you a pick-list of possible files that can be converted with MTA. Inside the pick-list you can use to call a program that can view (and optionally modify) archives. An example of such a program is SHEZ . MTA.CH1 needs to know which archive-view/modify program you are using and in what way this program should be called. To define this information, you need to include the VIEWPROGRAM option that is ONLY used by MTA.CH1. [program] This must be the full path to the program that you want to call. Include drive and directory and also the extension of the program; [macros] You must specify either one or more macros that MTA will substitute with real values or some fixed options to call the archive view program. The following macros are available: $F Will be substituted by the filename (without the directory. As MTA.CH1 will be in the directory that contains the file to be viewed, this will (in most cases) do; $P Will be substituted by the complete pathname of the file to be viewed (drive, diectory and name) and will work in almost all cases; $D Will be substituted by the name of the directory that contains the file to be viewed. In most cases this won't do (alone); {options} You can supply various options that the archive view program needs. This is optional though. An example for SHEZ will look like this: ViewProgram C:\ARC\SHEZ.EXE $P or ViewProgram C:\ARC\SHEZ.EXE $F Both will work because MTA.CH1 will swap to the directory that contains the file ($F or $P) that must be viewed. Relate: None Dest. : Any 3.3.8 Statements that are useful to Bulletin Board Systems and SysOps ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA can be useful for normal user and also for SysOp's of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). There are several options that involve the daily operation of archives inside a BBS. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ BBSPaths [BBSType] [area-file] {alt-FBBS} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If you change your file areas once in a while, you can decide to use another source for MTA than the usage of the DefaultPath option. If you use the BBSPaths option, MTA will start the conversion on all directories inside the area-file that you assign. This is only useful when you make usage of AMS (the MarkString/NoMarked options) or the OnlyNewFiles option. The BBSPaths option is meant for a large number of QuickBBS compatible BBS's (clones) like Remote Access , SuperBBS and certainly QuickBBS itself in all various flavors. [BBSType] With this parameter you assign the type of BBS that created the area-file (f.i. FLSEARCH.BBS or FILES.RA) that MTA will use. The following values are currently supported: PROB : ProBoard versions 1.xx and higher (FILECFG.PRO) SBBS : SuperBBS versions 1.16 and higher (FLSEARCH.BBS) QOLD : QuickBBS versions 2.74 and lower (FLSEARCH.CTL) QBBS : QuickBBS versions 2.75 and higher (FILECFG.DAT) MAXI : Maximus versions 2.xx and higher (AREAS.DAT) RA00 : Remote Access versions 0.0x (FILES.RA) RA10 : Remote Access versions 1.0x, uses (FILES.RA) RA11 : Remote Access versions 1.1x, uses FILES.RA and alternate FILES.BBS files for CD-ROM RA20 : Remote Access versions 2.0x, uses FILES.RA and alternate FILES.BBS files for CD-ROM [area-file] This parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename of the BBS area-file. MTA will validate if it is present. The file must follow the standard for the type of BBS you choose in [BBSType] (some have various formats, depending on the version). See the example MTA.CTL file(s) for the correct file-names; {alt-FBBS} When you assign RA11 or RA20, you must also use this parameter. You assign the alternate dir for the FILES.BBS files (FILES.1, FILES.99 and so on) that are used for READ-ONLY devices like CD-ROM. For all other BBS-types, this parameter has no meaning. Depending on the type of BBS, MTA will work on all areas that are inside the BBS area-file. Some BBS's show the difference between normal areas and READ-ONLY areas (like CD-ROM). In that case, MTA will also know the difference and will NOT work on these areas (it is impossible to write on these media, nor to move any vaulty archives from these media). BBS's that have CD-ROM access are, RA (1.xx and higher, by means of alternate FILES.nnn files that must be present in a special directory), SBBS (inside the FLSEARCH.BBS, when the file-path and list-path are not equal) and QuickBBS 2.75 (same as SBBS). MTA will *ADD* all the valid directories from BBSPaths to the already present directories that can come from Defaultpath and will also look at the ExcludeDirectory option to see which directories must be left out. MTA is able to store up to 255 directories in memory. If there are more directories inside the area-file, MTA will abort (this will be changed very soon). Relate: DefaultPath, ExcludeDirectory Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ExcludeDirectory [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option is mainly used when you want to exclude one or more (up to 255) directories from the directories that are collected by the BBSPaths option. If one or more of the directories inside the BBS contain abnormal archives (f.i. other platforms) you can exclude such directory to overcome the problem that otherwise would occur when MTA starts converting these files ! [dir] This value must point to a valid drive/directory which will be excluded from the BBSPaths option (even from DefaultPath, but this has no useful meaning). Relate: DefaultPath, BBSPaths Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ CarryComment [type] {comment} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option is another way of putting (useful) comment inside the target archives. There are various in which way this option can work, but only one is allowed. You can overrule the type of work with the /CARCOM command-line option though. With CarryComment you order MTA to carry over any comment from the source archive (PAK/ZIP/ARJ/ZOO) into the target archive (same types). The carry can be done in three different ways. [type] This parameter can be set to 1, 2 or 3. The way CarryComment will work depends on the number you set over here. The values have the following meaning: 1 : MTA will carry over the comment (up to 256 bytes) from the source file, if a comment is available; 2 : MTA will first look into the source file and will remember up to 256 bytes of the comment (if any). After conversion, MTA will look into the file you supplied in the FilesBBS option (if you did supply this option). If the file has a record inside the FILES.BBS (or alike file), THIS comment is taken and not the comment in the source file. If no comment is available, MTA will use the comment from the source file (if any); 3 : MTA will always look into the FILES.BBS (or alike) file. This is only valid when you use the FilesBBS option. If a record is available, the comment is carried over to the target file. If no record is available the target will NOT have any comment; {comment} When you supply this parameter (spaces must be replaced with underscore characters), MTA will put this comment IN FRONT of the comment that came from the carry itself. There will be a CRLF between this comment and the following (carried) comment. You can make a combination of the AutoComment and the current option (CarryComment). In this case, MTA will add a combined into the target-file. In the combination, the comment from AutoComment file comes first and the comment constructed by the CarryComment statement comes directly (WITHOUT A CRLF) after this comment. Please keep in mind that you separate the two comments yourself (if needed) by adding a CRLF in the file assigned by AutoComment. Please also read the info on the FilesBBS option and the AddFilesBBS option. Relate: FilesBBS, AddFilesBBS Source: ZIP/PAK/ZOO/ARJ Dest. : ZIP/PAK/ZOO/ARJ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FILEIDDIZ {name1} {name2} {name3} {name4} {name5} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : For some BBS programs, the file FILE_ID.DIZ has a special meaning. It contains a description of the programs (files) that are included inside the archive. MTA can do a few things with this comment. If you use this option (FILEIDDIZ), you instruct MTA to store the text from FILE_ID.DIZ into memory. This is done, only when the archive actually contains a FILE_ID.DIZ file (or name-like, see parameters). You can also instruct MTA to search for other files that have the same usage as FILE_ID.DIZ. In some distribution nets, the author can create two files, one containing 'high' characters and one containing only characters in the range X'00'-X'127'. Other types of files will also be used for sure, so MTA is very 'dynamic' in the usage of this option. {name1} Normally MTA will look for files with the name // FILE_ID.DIZ. If this is not the correct standard {name5} on your system, MTA can look for (an)other file(s) with such usage but with different names. MTA will use the priority in the way you order the different names. If you use A B C D and E for {name1} to {name5} and the archive contains both B and D, MTA will use B and will leave D alone. If you use A D C B and E, MTA will use the D-file because it comes first in the list. There can be a maximum of 5 different names ! Previous versions of MTA were not so relaxed when the format of the FILE_ID.DIZ was tested. There is no actual standard for this file, though the original distribution-net used files with 8 lines, each containing 43 bytes of text (FILES.BBS format). MTA would give a warning when more (or less) lines were present and the lines exceeded the 43 byte bounds. Because of the more dynamic usage (not only FILE_ID.DIZ can be used), MTA will now store up to 20 lines of (up to) 128 bytes of text without any warning. This option (on its own) will not do more than reading the file FILE_ID.DIZ (or the names you supplied) and storing the information in memory. What is going to happen with this informations is depending on the FilesBBS/AddFILESBBS option and/or the StoreComment and ReplaceComment option). Relate: FilesBBS/AddFilesBBS, StoreComment, ReplaceComment Source: All Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ LeadingSpace TRIM ³ ³ LeadingSpace CHAR [char] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This is a very special option that can be used when you work with special door-programs that list your FILES.BBS-alike files in a non-conventional way. When MTA obtains information from the FILE_ID.DIZ (or alike) files and this comments contains spaces at the beginning of the second (or higher) line, like: This file description has a special format because - It contains spaces at the start of this line - And again - And again it will keep this spaces (by default), resulting in entries in the FILES.BBS-alike file, that look like this: ffffffff.eee This file description has a special format because + - It contains spaces at the start of this line + - And again + - And again Some door-programs that list FILES.BBS-alike files with this format, will display these lines with a bad adjustment on the screen. To overcome this problem, you can use LEADINGSPACE to convert the descriptions. TRIM : When TRIM is used, MTA will strip all leading spaces from the comment and will add the '+' before the first non-space character; CHAR : When CHAR is used, MTA will replace all leading spaces with the character [char]. [char] can be coded as a single character (like 'Leadingspace #', resulting in the replacement of each leading space into '#') or as a 3-digit number (like 'Leadingspace 225', resulting in the replacement of each leading space into 'á'). The number must be decimal ! Relate: FILEIDDIZ, ADDFILESBBS Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ReplaceComment ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When you use the FILEIDDIZ parameter, MTA can add new comments to FILES.BBS that come from this file (see FILEIDDIZ option). Normally, MTA will not REPLACE a comment in FILES.BBS with the comment taken from this file. This could cause much harm to all your FILES.BBS files when you (re)convert a complete area of files. All you modified comments would be removed when a file contains a FILE_ID.DIZ-alike file. If you want to replace existing comments in FILES.BBS with the comment that comes from a FILE_ID.DIZ-alike file that is read when the file in question is converted, you can supply this option but be careful. For starters, MTA remove the comment somewhere in the FILES.BBS and will add the new comment to the end of the FILES.BBS. Also, carefully created comments with nice bells and whistles are replaced by something that indeed covers the file-description but is always very simple ! Relate: FilesBBS/AddFilesBBS, FILEIDDiz Source: All Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DefFilesBBSDesc [mask] [desc] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When MTA has to add the converted file to the FILES.BBS (alike) file and there is NO comment taken from ANY location (any of the FILE_ID.DIZ-alike files and/or previous FILES.BBS entries), MTA will (by default) add 'No description available' as the comment inside the FILES.BBS-alike file. Previous versions of MTA would even only add the filename (and no comment) to the FILES.BBS-alike file when the archive was NEW. MTA will now, by default, put 'No description available' in the FILES.BBS-alike file. This will be the case if NO previous description is available (FILE_ID.DIZ, FILES.BBS) and/or the archive is NEW. BEFORE MTA will add 'No description available', MTA will scan all available DefFILESBBSDesc options in MTA.CTL. These options (an unlimited number is allowed) have two parameters: ³ [mask] This must be a valid filemask. Wildcards are ³ allowed. You can use all the supported wildcards ³ (see the information in chapter 3.15). It is not ³ allowed to use directoories or drive letters. [desc] This must be the description that belongs to the previous [mask]. It can be up to 47 byte long and spaces are allowed. If MTA can match the filename with a mask, the comment of the FIRST match is carried over into the FILES.BBS-alike file. You can also use this option to change the default comment for ALL files. An example: DefFilesBBSDesc NODELIST.* The new nodelist file DefFilesBBSDesc NODEDIFF.* The new nodelist difference file DefFilesBBSDesc NODE*.* Something to do with the nodelist DefFilesBBSDesc *.LU ARRRG, who uses LU these days ? DefFilesBBSDesc *.* No description found, sorry ! The following files will give the following results: NODELIST.A26 Decription : The new nodelist file NODESHIT.A88 Something to do with the nodelist NADASHIT.Z12 No description found, sorry ! BAR.LU ARRRG, who uses LU these days ? FOOBAR.ZOO No description found, sorry ! Relate: FilesBBS/AddFilesBBS, FILEIDDiz, CarryComment Source: All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FilesBBS {location} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If you convert files, the name will change in most cases (from the source system, fi. A.ZIP, to the destination, fi. A.LZH). This change will cause any entry in the FILES.BBS alike file to be invalid. MTA can help out in this case. When you add this option, the entries in the FILES.BBS alike file (if available) will also change ! There are several formats of this option. If coded without a parameter, MTA will assume FILES.BBS as the filename and the directory where the conversion takes place as the location of the file. {location} This parameter is optional an can either contain: - A filename. In this case MTA will assume this filename as the name of the FILES.BBS alike file and the directory where the conversion takes place as the location; - A full path, containing drive, directory and filename. In this case, MTA will assume that you only have ONE FILES.BBS alike file (this is the case for RBBS-alike systems). The name and location are assigned with this parameter. When you don't use the FilesBBSFormat option (see later), MTA will search for filenames in position 1 of each record and with the format FILENAME.EXT (upper- and lower case). Changes are made after every conversion. If MTA aborts on an operation, all PREVIOUS archives that are converted ARE already changed in the FILES.BBS alike file(s). If you run the ExitAfterCompression to create SFX files from the target archives, the change in the FILES.BBS alike file will be incorrect ! You must use one of the MTA CompressionType values that instruct MTA to create the SFX. In this case the change will be done correctly ! It is also possible to change any sizes in the FILES.BBS alike file(s). Some of these files contain the actual size of the file (RBBS master directory). MTA will change the size also, if the correct size was already present in the FILES.BBS alike file. If comments in the FILES.BBS alike file start with a download counter (e.g. FILENAME.EXT [01] Downloaded once), and you use the CarryComment option (types 2 or 3), MTA will strip the download-counter (only when the format is [nnnn]) from the description that will be added to the archive (not in the FILES.BBS alike file). This option can also be used in a NON-BBS environment where 4Dos is installed and used. You should set the various options as follows: - Set the FilesBBS option to 'FilesBBS DESCRIPT.ION'; - Set the FilesBBSFormat option to 'FilesBBSFormat 1 1 I2'; - Set the AddFilesBBS option; - Set the CarryComment option to 2 (without extra parameters); In this case the comment will be carried over out of the 4Dos DESCRIPT.ION file (this is a hidden file that 4DOS maintains when you use the DESCRIBE command), the change of extension (if any) will be performed in the same file and if there is no comment for this file in the DESCRIPT.ION file, MTA can carry over the comment from the archive (if any) into this file. When the FilesBBS option is active and MTA detects a defective archive, MTA will move this archive to the supplied directory for archives in error. MTA will also carry the description from the original FILES.BBS alike file over to a new FILES.BBS alike file in this error directory. The original comment will ALSO stay in the original FILES.BBS alike file. When the FILES.BBS alike file is on a fixed location, this option is not triggered. Relate: FilesBBSFormat Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ AddFilesBBS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : If you receive new files without any entries in the FILES.BBS alike file, MTA can add them for you. If the source archive also contains a description (comment), this is also added to that file. The AddFilesBBS option will ONLY function when you have set the FilesBBS option. The description will only be added (if present) when the CarryComment option is set with a value of 1 or 2. The format of the added record is the same as set in the FilesBBSFormat option. If you have set the FILEIDDIZ option AND there is such a file inside the archive, MTA will use THIS comment (it has a higher priority than CarryComment) for the new entry in the FILES.BBS alike file. If there already IS a comment in the FILES.BBS alike file (for this file), MTA will NOT overwrite that comment with the new comment. If MTA is unable to obtain comments from the FILEIDDIZ option, it will also search in any DESCRIPT.ION file (4Dos comment file) or in any ?????????.I?? (FileDoor information file) file before searching in the DefFilesBBSDesc options ! Relate: FilesBBSFormat, FilesBBS, CarryComment, FileIDDiz, DefFilesBBSDesc Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FilesBBSFormat [name] [extension] [comment] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option will instruct MTA about the internal format of the FILES.BBS alike file. Under default conditions, MTA expects the filename to start on position 1 of each line, with a filename format for name.ext (with a point between the name and the extension) and the comment to start on position 14. When your FILES.BBS alike file (if you use any) is different, you must use this option to set the new format. [name] This parameter must be set to the position where the filename will start; [extension] This parameter must be set to the position where the extension will start. If filename and the extension are combined together with a point, [name] and [extension] must be the same value; [comment] This parameter must be the starting point of the comment. If the FILES.BBS alike file does not contain a comment, you must set it to 255. If the comment 'floats' somewhere in the file, the starting position is different every time, you can use another format. In this case you supply the ITEM NUMBER (and not the starting position) with the value 'I'. For example: My.ZIP 1234 The comment Our.ZIP 233222 The comment In this case, the comment is floating but is always the 4th item. In this case you supply I4 for this parameter. The FilesBBSFormat option only has a meaning when the FilesBBS option is also set. Relate: FilesBBS Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FilesCounter [location] {startchar} {endchar} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be used to instruct MTA how to recognize and use files-counters in the FILES.BBS-alike file. MTA will use the information to strip files-counter from descriptions that are added as comment to the archive (CARRYCOMMENT option) and to add files-counters when the filenames are changed in the FILES.BBS-alike files or files are added to this file (if the ADDFILESBBS option is set). [location] This is the location of the files-counter in the FILES.BBS-alike file. Valid values are: NONE : There are NO files-counters set in the FILES.BBS-alike files (you don't use any counters); START : The files-counters are placed at the start of the comment; END : The files-counters are placed at the end of the comment; {startchar} This parameter can be used to tell MTA which character is used as the starting character for the files-counter (like '[', '{', '(' and so on). By default MTA assumes the '[' character as the start-character of the files-counter; {endchar} This parameter can be used to tell MTA which character is used as the ending character for the files-counter (like ']', '}', ')' and so on). By default MTA assumes the ']' character as the end- character of the files-counter; When no FILESCOUNTER option is supplied, MTA will assume: FilesCounter START [ ] E.g. counters at the start of the comment, starting with '[' and ending with ']'. FILES.BBS-alike entries will look like: nnnnnnnn.eee [##] ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc When you do not use any counters in your FILES.BBS-alike files, you have to set: FilesCounter NONE Relate: FilesBBS, AddFilesBBS, CarryComment Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ TICKFiles [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Until now, all previous BBS-options had to do with normal FILES.BBS alike type of files. The following options do some- thing with other types of files. These options makes it possible to pick up the description of a certain file from a TICK-file. When you get your files into the inbound directory and the *.TIC files along with them, you can now convert them (and optionally move them) to any other system, while MTA will try to extract the comment of the file from the associated TIC-file. You can do two types of things with these comments. You can add them to the FILES.BBS (if AddFILESBBS is set to on) AND you can store them in the header of the archive (comment) when CarryComment is set to on. If CarryComment is on (independent of the type 1,2 or 3), MTA will search for the comment in the old archive-header, the FILES.BBS or both. If TICKFiles is set AND MTA can find a description in any of the TICK-files, this comment will always overrule the comment from the FILES.BBS or the old header. [mask] This parameter must point to a drive, directory and filemask. Most obvious is to include *.TIC as the filemask (and in some cases *.BAD can also be handy). You can use multiple TICKFiles options to assign different TICK files (*.TIC and *.BAD) and in different directories. An unlimited number of options is allowed. The TIC-files are ALL searched (for every converted archive) until either: - a description is found; - all files are processed and no description was found; MTA will search for either FILE: or FILE and DESC: and DESC inside the TICK-files. This is pointed out in FSC-0028 ! Relate: FilesBBS, AddFilesBBS, CarryComment Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UpdateUntypedFiles [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This is a special, independent, option to update any type of file with the new (converted) name of the archive. Let us take an example: -) Some products keeps a small database with names of files (also your archives) inside. RFW is such an example. Now you convert some archive and the information inside the database has become invalid ! UpdateUntypedFiles is the answer to your problem. UpdateUntypedFiles will update ANY type of file (even a program or binary file) with the new name of the archive IF: - You don't use the /D option; - The name of the target has the same length as the name of the source. A conversion from something.ZIP to Something.MD will not be performed; - The name location is within the 64K (65535) bytes bounds of the file; Longer files will NOT be truncated but only the first 64K of bytes are scanned and (optionally) changed; [mask] This parameter must point to a drive, directory and filemask. You can add unlimited UpdateUntypedFiles options into the file MTA.CTL. But be smart and think before you do. MTA will search ALL files and though this is fast I/O, it can take some time if you include numerous files ! UpdateUntypedFiles can be used as a replacement to the update of the FILES.BBS alike file(s) when these files are smaller than 64K. In that case, this option will give you a 50-200% gain in speed over the FilesBBS option !!. Relate: UpdateTICKFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UpdateUntypedFull ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be used in combination with the previous option (UPDATEUNTYPEDFILES). If this option is set, MTA will only change the filename in the 'untyped file' when both the old filename AND the name of the directory both match the converted file. Without this option, MTA will only change the file when the old old filename matches but MTA won't look at the directoryname. You should set this option when you use UPDATEUNTYPEDFILES to update *.MSG files with attached files (TICK support) ! Relate: UpdateUntypedFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UpdateTICKFiles [mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : The syntax is the same as with UpdateUntypedfiles. See the chapter about TICK files, later in this documentation. The material is to complex to put over here. Relate: UpdateUntypedFiles, UpdateMSGFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UpdateMSGFiles [dir] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : The UPDATEMSGFILES option has a different format than the three previous options. There can be unlimited UpdateMSGFiles options with the following parameter: [dir] This parameter must point to a ddirectory where your *.MSG files are. Do not code the file-mask, but ONLY the directory. See the chapter on TICK files for a description of this option. Relate: UpdateTICKFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ UpdateMSGFull ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : Same as the UPDATEUNTYPEDFULL option but now in relation with the UPDATEMSGFILES option. You should set this option when you use UPDATEMSGFILES to update *.MSG files with attached files (TICK support) ! Relate: UpdateMSGFiles Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ COMPort [port] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : MTA has internal modem support. This is needed in case you run MTA as an exit of the BBS (e.g. a protocol driver like DISP's FileDoor). When you use modem support, MTA will echo some of the progress to the COM-port and the user can follow a part of the conversion. All modem related options will do NOTHING unless the Remote option or the /REMOTE command-line parameter is used. [port] This parameter must point to the COM-port that MTA will use. If set to 0, no remote tracking is done. Relate: BaudRate, Remote, FossilPort /REMOTE Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FOSSILPort [port] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be used as a replacement for the COMPort option. The major difference is that [port] will now point to the FOSSIL port number (usually 1 less than the COM-port). Relate: BaudRate, Remote, COMPort /REMOTE Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ BAUDRate [baud] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When remote tracking is used, MTA must know the baudrate of the MTA-to-Modem speed. [baud] This parameter must be set to the connect speed. If you use a locked modem, you must set it to the locked speed and not to the connect speed. If set to 0, remote tracking is disabled. Normally you use the /BAUD command-line parameter to set the baud-rate because it can vary, unless a locked speed is used. Relate: COMPort or FOSSILPort, Remote, /REMOTE Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ StoreSize {ext} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option, on its own, does nothing, but it will be useful when remote tracking is active. In this case it will do a function that is specific to FileDoor. If this option is active and MTA is running under FileDoor, MTA will create a special file with a specific format. This file contains the ACTUAL size of the file BEFORE the conversion. FileDoor will detect this file and will credit the user for the actual bytes that were uploaded and not the newly created number of bytes. For example the user uploads A.ARC (10000 bytes) and MTA will convert it to A.ZIP (6000 bytes). Without StoreSize, FileDoor will credit the user for 6000 bytes but with StoreSize set, FileDoor will take the actual 10000 bytes as credit. {ext} Normally, MTA will create a file with the name equal to the archive (without extension) and the extension XS1. This extension can only be used in FileDoor 3.01+. All earlier versions (up to 3.01â5) use the extension F$D. When you run FileDoor 2.03 (up to 3.01â5) or a clone of FileDoor that uses this system, you must change {ext} to the proper extension (F$D in case of FileDoor 2.03); Even if you don't run remote, you can still use this option. In this case, it is up to you (or a batch oriented program) to do something with the created file(s). Relate: Remote Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ StoreName {nam} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option, on its own, does nothing, but it will be useful when remote tracking is active. In this case it will do a function that is specific to FileDoor. If this option is active and MTA is running under FileDoor, MTA will create a special file with a specific format. This file contains the name of the archives before and after the conversion. FileDoor will detect this file and will use it to see any altered names AFTER the upload. {nam} Normally, MTA will create a file with the name equal to FileDoor.XS2. This filename can only be used in FileDoor versions 3.01 (3.01â6 up to release). Only beta-testers and users of FileDoor clones will have to alter {name} to something different (FILEDOOR.F#D for gamma's up to 3.01â5. Even if you don't run remote, you can still use this option. In this case, it is up to you (or a batch oriented program) to do something with the created file(s). Relate: Remote Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ StoreComment {ext} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option, on its own, does nothing, but it will be useful when remote tracking is active. In this case it will do a function that is specific to FileDoor. If this option is active and MTA is running under FileDoor, MTA will create a special file with a specific format. This file contains the comment (from CarryComment or FileIDDIZ) for the specific file that was uploaded by the user. {nam} Normally, MTA will create a file with the name equal to FILEDOOR.XS3. This name can only be used in FileDoor 3.01+ (up from FileDoor 3.01â6). If you use a FileDoor clone you will have to alter {nam} to the name this program uses; Even if you don't run remote, you can still use this option. In this case, it is up to you (or a batch oriented program) to do something with the created file(s). Relate: Remote Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Remote ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : When set (and when both COMPort and Baudrate contain non-zero values), MTA will do remote tracking and will send messages to the remote user. Relate: Baudrate,FOSSILPort,COMPort,StoreSize,StoreName,StoreComment Dest. : All ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ RemoteColor [txtlow] [txthig] [ok] [err] [act] [fil] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option can be used to overrule the default colors that MTA uses for remote messages. [...] There are 6 types of colors that can be changed to your own needs. You must supply ALL of them when you use this option. [...] can have the following values: 0 : Black 8 : DarkGray 1 : Blue 9 : LightBlue 2 : Green 10 : LightGreen 3 : Cyan 11 : LightCyan 4 : Red 12 : LightRed 5 : Magenta 13 : LightMagenta 6 : Brown 14 : Yellow 7 : LightGray 15 : White You must supply a value that is made up by the foreground-color and background-color with the following formula: Color = [Foreground] + 16 * [Background] Only the values 0 to 7 can be used for the back- ground color. Also you can add 128 to the total to force a blinking value ! [txtLow] This is the low intensity text color (common text). Default value is 3; [txtHig] This is the high intensity text color (common text). Default value is 11; [Ok] This is the color to display ok-text. Default value is 10; [Err] This is the color to display errors. Default value is 12; [Act] This is the color to display special activity. Default value is 13; [Fil] This is the color to display files. Default value is 14; Local colors can not be changed (yet). Colors are only shown when ANSI-support is used (so /ANS0 is not used). Relate: Remote Dest. : All 3.3.9 Special statements ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following statements are a collection of statements that can not be categorized in one of the other groups. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IncludeCtl [path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This parameter is optional. In MTA.CTL you can include one (or several) other CTL-files. This comes in handy when you want to separate your 'normal' run-time options and the 'special' options you change much. MTA can handle nested IncludeCTL statements. So you can include 'IncludeCTL MTA.001' in your MTA.CTL and again you can include 'IncludeCTL MTA.002' in your MTA.001. The total number of IncludeCTL options (nested and in the primary file) can be up to 16. [path] This parameter must point to the control-file you want to include. The parameter must contain the drive, directory and filename. Relate: None Dest. : All 3.3.10 Statements available when using a registered version ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following statements can be used to define one or more exits. An exit a sort of hook in the MTA execution process. The several exits (hooks) are called at special places while MTA is executing on one or more files. The user can 'hook into' the process when one or more exits are defined in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ RegistrationName [name] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Usage : This option has only a meaning when you received a key after you registered MTA. In ANY OTHER case (non registered usage) you must NOT include this option. Relate: None Dest. : All 3.4 Diskette option ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ One of the benefits of MTA is its power to convert diskettes with great ease. This method is only functioning properly when you have a PC with both floppy (FDU) and hard-disk (HDU). Most users with hard-disks will have a collection of archive diskettes, containing their (less) used software. When new archive systems are released (or newer versions), conversion of the complete collection is sometimes needed (or wanted). You must activate MTA's diskette option with the /D switch. If you do, MTA will start a conversion cycle that can be interrupted by pressing [ESC] when the next diskette is finished. It can be repeated for the next diskette when you insert this diskette into the drive and when you press [ENTER]. Which steps does MTA take to convert a diskette: - MTA will read all files (the ones matching the wildcard, normally you use the *.* wildcard to select them all) and will detect which files are archives or not; - MTA will move (copy + delete) the archives to the directory that you assigned to the FDUTempPath option. If you also supplied the AllDisketteFiles option, MTA will also move all non-archive files to that directory; - MTA will convert all archives inside the FDUTempPath directory to the new system or the higher release; - The exit ExitBeforeFill is called, so you can do something with the (empty if AllDisketteFiles was set) diskette (like a reformat); - Now MTA will sort the converted (and non-archive) files based on size. It will start a copy for each file, from the FDUTempPath directory (back) to the diskette until one of the following events happens: - The diskette is full before the last file is copied. This can be the case when the target system has created bigger files (a negative reduction); - The files are all moved; Depending on the type of event above, MTA will do the following: - When there are still files left to copy back, MTA will move these files to the directory you assigned in the FDUTrashPath option; - When all files were moved back to the diskette and the diskette still contains free space (you had a positive reduction on one or more archives), MTA will look if there is/are (a) file(s) in the FDUTrashPath directory that fit on the diskette. If so, it will copy this(these) file(s) until the diskette is full or until there are no files left that will fit into the free space on the diskette; - MTA will now execute the ExitAfterFill EXIT if set; - MTA will ask for next diskette (or you press [ESC] to terminate); Please notice that it is possible that MTA leaves some files inside the FDUTrashPath directory after it has finished. If the number of files is getting to big (or there are no more diskettes left to convert), insert an empty diskette in the FDU and run MTA with the /D option. Because there are no files to convert, MTA will move files from the FDUTrashPath directory to this empty diskette. You can repeat this until the lower threshold is reached or until all files are moved. One final word. As you have noticed (I hope) you can add unlimited power to MTA's diskette option with the 'Before' and 'After' exits. These can be used to reformat the diskette or something else (the 'Before' exit) and/or to re-catalog your diskette when you use a disk-catalog program (the 'After' exit). 3.5 KeyBoard control ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When MTA is executing you have control over some keyboard functions. When you press [ESC] (escape button), MTA will terminate AFTER the current files is converted. When you did hit [ESC] but you would like to continue after all, you can do so by hitting any other key. Using the [ESC] key is not available when you execute MTA with the diskette option (/D). When you press [S], MTA will start a DOS-shell, the moment it is save to do so. This can be anywhere in the conversion phase. MTA will place you in the directory you started MTA from. NEVER alter files in the temporary directory MTA has created if you do not know what you are doing. Also pressing any other key after [S], releases the DOS-shell option as with [ESC]. Pressing [T] will cause MTA to toggle the statistical display from static to dynamic mode or the other way around, depending on the default settings (AltDisplay option). You can toggle as much as you like while MTA is running. If you run in a special text mode that has more than 110 characters for each line, the [T] button is disabled because all possible screens are displayed. If MTA is displaying warnings and you have enough of these warnings, you can press [Q] during a warning. From that time on (during the current run of MTA) all warnings are supressed. 3.6 Running multiple copies of MTA at the same time ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ You ARE able to execute multiple copies of MTA at the same time when you run a network or a multitasking environment like DesqView or MS-Windows . To make it possible for MTA to execute concurrent, you take some special actions: - If you use the SubstDrive option, you must make sure you use as many drive-letters in this option as you are going to run multiple copies of MTA; - Make sure the LASTDRIVE option is set along with the SubstDrive option; - Make sure you have SHARE.EXE loaded in your machine. Without SHARE MTA will make a mess of things (SURE !); - Make sure that you run all the concurrent copies of MTA, all with their own TASK-number. You assign a task number with the /TASK command-line option. If you forget this, MTA will crash because it will try to use the same substituted drive for each different task; - Use the SemaphorePath option if you want to make an intelligent batch file that will run either 1, 2, 3 or more concurrent MTA tasks; After you have setup MTA in the way I described above, MTA will give protection for some resources: - MTA will protect all the files it uses INTERNALLY; - All log-files (if they are the same in all copies of MTA), all temporary files, all directories and all substituted drives are either unique to the task or SHARE'ed with all other tasks; - All external files (like the FILES.BBS-alike files) are protected when they are altered. This means that these files are SHARE'ed within the multiple copies of MTA but also with other tasks that have SHAREing options like SOME Bulletin Board Systems; - When two MTA's want to access the same file at the same time and with different attributes (one WRITE, one READ for example), one of the tasks will wait until the file is released again. To over- come problems with 'eternal waits' (called deadlocks) you can in- stall an option in MTA.CTL that will manage the maximum time MTA will wait before aborting. Waiting for allocation of a file, will also be the case with external files, provided the 'other' task has used SHAREing attributes with the open of that file. If you want to abort the waiting (and MTA along the way), you can press [CTRL-E]. In that case the 'deadlock' is released an MTA will abort; Some resources can NOT be protected by MTA: - MTA will NOT manage anything that happens within the shell's. So when the (de)compressors run or when you are within one of the supplied exits, the called program has to manage the SHAREing by itself. It is almost stupid to say, but be sure to convert different files in each of the copies of MTA. Letting two or more copies of MTA convert the same files, will cause trouble. Though SHAREing is managed, there could be cases where MTA is waiting for a file (it will do so) and when this MTA gets the 'GO' signal, the file could be gone (temporary) because one of the other copies of MTA is working on that file. Running multiple MTA's in a multitasking environment works but there is a big tradeoff. When you don't have enough 'power' on your machine, running two concurrent copies could take as long as serially running these copies. (De)compressors are in the habit to eat lots of your cycles. The multi-tasker also wants to have a little snack and all are eating more food than the PC can supply, causing delays, low performance and so on. I have tested with several machines, but you need at least a true 386-25 (or a very fast 286, like a 20Mh) or higher to get good results. But in the world where these options of MTA are needed, machine-power is usually available. Also, when you run MTA concurrent and you use only the /SIM option, performance is not so very much affected because MTA will only perform a decompress (usually this is very fast). This is the case when you run MTA as an exit under some BBS program (like FileDoor ). 3.7 Compression of single executable files (PKLITE) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ With this version of MTA, you can also use MTA to do conversions of executable files to compressed (self contained) executable files with PKLITE. This feature merely comes as a bonus to the program. MTA's main goal is to convert archives from a certain system to a system you like. The compression of EXE/COM files can be used as a separate function. Most of the MTA.CTL statements have no meaning to this type of con- version. You can setup MTA to do nothing BUT conversion of COM/EXE files when you set the CompressionType option to PKLITE or UNPKLITE but in this case you only use around 10% of the programs functions. In most cases you setup MTA to do a archive-to-archive conversion and you set CompressionType to the system you like. If you have setup MTA like this (along with all possible options), you can still use MTA to convert COM/EXE files by including /PKLITE or /UNPKLITE as a command-line parameter when you call MTA. MTA will ignore all options that have nothing to do with the conversion of executable files and will convert COM/EXE files from normal to PKLITE or back. I did not include LZEXE because the latest version I have seen can, only convert from normal to LZEXE'ed and not back. There are programs that can do the reversed (LZEXE'ed to normal) but there are at least 3 I have seen and I can not create a protected and generalized interface to all of them (also because 2 of them come as a shell and not as a stand-alone program). This does not mean that MTA is not LZEXE-aware. When selecting files, MTA takes into account if a COM/EXE file is already compressed with LZEXE (0.90 or 0.91) and will skip the file in that case. When decompressing, MTA will only select PKLITE-compressed COM/EXE files. When you run MTA without any file-mask, but WITH the /PKLITE or /UNPKLITE option (or CompressionType set to one of both), the tag-window will also change and will only display available files for this type compression. A file is available (and usable by MTA) for PKLITE if: - It is a COM or EXE file; - If it is not compressed with PKLITE, LZEXE 0.90 or LZEXE 0.91; - If it is not a self-extracting archive (SFX) of any of the known archive systems; A file is available (and usable by MTA) for UNPKLITE if: - It is a COM or EXE file; - It is compressed with PKLITE; 3.8 The MTA tag-window ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When you run MTA without any file-masks on the command-line, a tag menu is displayed. In this tag-menu you have the option to tag inside only ONE directory. A mix of files in several different directories is impossible then you use the full-screen tag. When the tag-menu is displayed, you CAN switch to other directories and even to other drives. If one or more of the displayed drives is not available (not ready, door open, unformatted disk) it can be selected but the tag-window will ignore it after it has detected any error on that drive. In that case you must select another drive. When you start MTA with SFX support (so you include self extracting archives), all files with abnormal extensions and COM/EXE files that are SFX-files, will be included. The testing will take a while, depending on the speed of the drive and the machine you have. If you start MTA with the PKLITE or UNPKLITE option, all available AND usable files are displayed (so only decompressed executable files or executable files, compressed with PKLITE). If you start MTA with the GIFLITE option, all available GIF files that are not already processed by GIFLITE (AND which are valid for MTA, based on the MaxGIFDim option) will be shown. If you start MTA with the GIF option, all available GIF files that are present will be shown (normal AND GIFLITE). If you start MTA with the GIF2JPG option, all available GIF files (again with respect to the MaxGifDim option) are displayed. When you used the JPG2GIF option, MTA will only show (all available) JPG files. 3.9 MTA and unattended operations ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There are a number of options that influence the way that MTA works in unattended mode. Most of them you can find out when the need is there but some must be pointed out. In most cases you will do an unattended MTA on the same directories each time over and over. First I must point out the way you must setup MTA to work in the right directories. This can be done in one of the 3 following ways: - Put the MTA in a batch-file, change to the right directory before you call MTA and call MTA with its options (see later). You can repeat this for every directory. For example: .. .. D: CD \ZIP1 MTA [parameters] E: CD \ZIP2 MTA [parameters] .. .. To work on \ZIP1 on D: and \ZIP2 on E:; - Make the batch smaller and use DefaultPath options in MTA.CTL. You include DefaultPath D:\ZIP1 and DefaultPath E:\ZIP2 in MTA.CTL and you can reduce the previous batch to: .. .. MTA [parameters] .. .. To work on those two directories again; - You would like to run MTA on all your directories of a BBS. MTA supports a number of BBS types. You include the BBSPaths option in MTA.CTL and inside the batch-file you perform: .. .. MTA [parameters] .. .. And MTA will work on all files in all BBS directories. Now the next problem. You must tel MTA to work on some files. You can do this in two different ways: - Use file-masks for [parameters]. In the previous examples you could tell MTA to convert all *.ZIP and *.LZH files (ARJ is your target) with 'MTA *.ZIP *.LZH' and MTA will convert all *.ZIP and *.LZH files in the supplied directories; - Use the MarkString and NoMarked options (or /MAS and /MAR on the command-line). This is a better option. In the previous example you would have problems when someone uploaded a *.LZS or *.ARC file. These would not be converted. If you used *.* ALL files would be converted even those that you converted earlier !!! NoMarked can be used to tell MTA only to convert files that confirm to the supplied mask AND that are not converted before. So with the NoMarked and MarkString options set, the call to MTA can be changed to 'MTA *.*'. Only those files that are not converted before are converted and will not be converted again until you set the NoMarked option to OFF; - Use the OnlyNewFiles option (see the description of this option); Finally there are some options that you must change or include. When you run MTA in unattended mode but you don't want MTA to run longer than a certain amount of time (BBS events !!) you can include the RunTime option to limit the number of minutes that MTA can run. Remember that MTA will start in a new archive even when 1 second is left, so you can outrun the RunTime by the time that your machine needs to convert the last archive. Sometimes you can get frequent warnings on some files. In unattended mode these warnings won't be seen, neither do you want to hear the beeping, so put a value of 0 to the WarningTime option. All important things are logged (when you put on the logging). You can also use the NoBeep option to make the execution of MTA more quiet. When you run MTA as an exit under a door (FileDoor ), you should keep the WarningTime option (set to 1 or higher) and you should use the NoBeep option. If you set Warningtime to 0 in this case, the user won't see any error messages ! REMEMBER. ALWAYS include a file-mask. To call MTA without parameters in unattended mode will force MTA to display the tag-menu and to wait until you enter the files. 3.10 TICK files and related material ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As you know by now, there are several options that deal with TICK (and ALLFIX f.i.) files. I won't go into the TICKFILES option. This option is described in detail in the CTL-section and is only important with incoming files. It becomes different with TIC-files that are outbound ! In general you have the following problems when you run MTA over files that are also the subject of an outgoing TIC-file: - The messages that are generated by TICK or ALLFIX, contain the name of the archive. With a conversion from ARC to ZIP, this will cause the file to be renamed from A.ARC to A.ZIP but the messages generated by TICK still contain A.ARC ! - The TIC-files ALSO contain the name A.ARC, so that is another problem; - The TICK files also contain the CRC of the A.ARC file. Obvious, when you convert A.ARC to A.ZIP, the CRC will also be changed but the TIC-files still contain the old CRC; MTA can deal with all these problems. You must use a number of special options to do so (using them will cause some overhead on MTA) but after implementing them, you won't have any trouble with a conversion of a file that is also subject of a TIC-file. In general, these options can also deal with other products than TICK if they work in the same way. The following options must be set and will do the following: - UpdateTICKFiles You can add unlimited of EACH options all pointing to file-masks in certain directories. When you have set up the BBS is a way that you support different TIC-outbound directories for different nets (or zones), you must point to all of them, for example: UpDateTickFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE1\*.TIC UpDateTickFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE2\*.TIC UpDateTickFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE5\*.TIC When A.ARC is converted to A.ZIP, MTA will scan ALL these files in the supplied directories and search for hits for A.ARC. When found, A.ARC is changed in A.ZIP. The TIC-files are changed as binary files. MTA reads up to 16K of data per file and does a search on the changed item. As a result of this, it is NOT possible to use these options when the file-name length is changed. So a conversion from A.MD to A.ARC and reversed is NOT supported. The changed files don't have to be TIC-files but these files contain the filename (obvious). If your product also creates a file with a filename inside, MTA can still do the job ! Now you have a choice either to use the UpdateUntypedFiles option OR the UpdateMSGFiles option. The choice depends on the number of messages that are normally inside the MSG-directory. If this are many messages (100 or more), you should use the UpdateMSGFiles option. If it are a small number of messages, you should use the UpdateUntypedFiles option. The UpdateUntypedFiles option will update very fast but will slowdown MTA when there are many files (*.MSG files in this case) to search thru after each conversion. The UpdateMSGFiles is somewhat slower than the UpdateUntypedFiles option but will benefit from the fact that it only has to search ALL messages ONCE and will then update ONLY THE RELATED files. I will describe both: - UpdateUntypedFiles You can add unlimited of these options. In our TICK example, this option must point to the netmail directory (outbound) be- cause the *.MSG files must also be changed. For example: UpDateUntypedFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE1\*.MSG UpDateUntypedFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE2\*.MSG UpDateUntypedFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE5\*.MSG MTA will do the same with these files (obvious they are the outbound messages). This option differs from the previous 2 in the fact that UpdateTICKFiles ALSO change the CRC (32-bit CRC) of the files and this option ONLY the file names; - UpdateMSGFiles In our TIC-file example, this option must point to the netmail directory (outbound) where the *.MSG files will be. For example: UpDateMSGFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE1\ UpDateMSGFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE2\ UpDateMSGFiles D:\MAILER\OUTBOUND\TICZONE5\ The result of these options will be the same as in the previous example for the UpdateUntypedFiles option BUT will work in a different way. Where UpdateUntypedFiles will scan ALL *.MSG files after EVERY converted files (this can slow down the process when there are MANY messages to search thru), UpdateMSGFiles will work in he following way: - When MTA starts, MTA will look in ALL CONFIGURES message areas (3 in the case of our previous example); - For every area whete there is at least ONE message found with an attached file, MTA will create a record in a special file which is called MTA$$$$$.MFA (in the current directory or the directory pointed to by the MTATEMPPATH option); - Each record can contain information for message numbers 1 to 65000 which would be enough; - Now AFTER the conversion of EVERY file, MTA will search thru the MTA$$$$$.MFA file and will only try to change the messages that have attached files in the message. The change will only be done when the filename of the old file (f.i. A.ARC) will match the name in the message; - Before termination, MTA will delete the MTA$$$$$.MFA file again; With this flow of action, MTA will only have to check the messages that have files attached to them, which will normally be only a small percentage of the total number of messages. When you use the UpdateTICKFiles options in combination with the with the UpdateUntypedFiles/UpdateMSGFiles options to update your TICK files (incomming and outgoing), you should also set one of the two two related options UpdateUntypedFULL or UpdateMSGFull. DON'T use this options when you don't work with a TICK-alike complex. When UpdateTICKFiles options are present in MTA.CTL, MTA will ALWAYS calculate the 32-bit CRC of the source and the target. This causes overhead when there are never updates for TIC-files. The 32-bit CRC is fast but on a big number of files it will still count ! If you have TIC-files that are BIGGER than 16K, please contact me. I can change MTA to make it compatible with files up to 64K, but it will cause memory overhead. Only when your seen-by lines are to many to mention, these problems will occur ! 3.11 ALLFIX, yet another TICK-clone ? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ALLFIX is one of the first products that is developed by someone else and that is distributed thru the DISP network. Products that are developed in a serious way, though still ShareWare, which don't conflict with my own programs, are always serious candidates for such a deal, but in the case of ALLFIX , it is combined with the fact that I personally believe in the product (as many others also do) and that I use it (for DISP distribution). It combines a user friendly setup with a good product and even an online BBS interface (which I don't use myself, as my BBS is a closed one, only for testing software). There are numerous options that you can use, while still maintaining the 'old' format, but also the extended format of TIC-files. Where development of earlier TICK-clones runs behind on the technical level that we may ask for such a product and other programs are either too big, too difficult and/or too buggy to run, this product is already working at that level and still enhanced with new features. As a small advertisement in this documentation (I don't have stocks in Haralds enterprise (yet) ), I would say, take a look at ALLFIX and see for yourself if it suits your needs. Distribution is at the same level as the DISP products, so when you can find this MTA, you can also find ALLFIX ! Future versions will contain an interface to the MTA program as well. 3.12 Special ARC considerations ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There are a few special ARC-files. These are the files that are normally created with a clone of ARC or with ARC 7.xx (or whatever SEA likes to call it). In MOST cases, these archives can not be decompressed with ARC, PAK or PKUNPAK but need a special kind of program. So far I have NO information about SEA's new archiver and that will stay that way unless either SEA or someone else can give me full details about the operation of this program. Until that time, SEA eXtended (7.xx) archives will NOT be supported as OUTPUT (target) files. There ARE is a special program that is able to EXTRACT these special type of archives. It is called XARC.EXE and is released by SEA for PD/Shareware (??) usage. XARC must be executed without any parameters and is therefore not suitable to be included in MTA's ARCPath option ! The same story goes for some very old types of archives that are more or less compatible to the older ARC. An example is the older ARCA and its counterpart ARCE but these files will, in general, be available for decompress with ARC, PAK or PKUNPAK. From my point of view, it is very difficult to support all these non-standard formats. But to make it more flexible, I have included ONE options that makes it possible to use a special un-arc program that will be used for all ARC-alike archives. You could even call a special shell program that can see the difference between all ARC-formats (I do NOT mean the difference between ARC, PAK and PKUNPAK, MTA can see this for itself) and calls the correct un-ARC procedure for the supplied archives. This option is the UNARCPath option. The program that is supplied in this option will ONLY be called for DECOMPRESSION and is called as PROGRAM.EXT DRIVE:\PATH\ARCHIVEN.AME (no options, only the archive and its location is presented in the call). The UNARCPATH option is designed to be used with XARC.EXE or with ARCE.EXE/ARCE.COM when you don't expect eXtended SEA archives ! If you include the following: ARCPATH C:\ARC\ARC.EXE [rest of MTA-parameters] UNARCPATH C:\ARC\XARC.EXE [rest of MTA-parameters] The following will happen when MTA is called to convert A.ARC to the ARC format: - XARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for decompress; - ARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for compress; The following will happen when MTA is called to convert A.ARC to the ZIP (or any NON-ARC) format: - XARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for decompress; - PKZIP.EXE (or its substitute) is called for compress; Now the same sequences without UNARCPath set and without XARC.EXE in your DOS-path: - ARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for decompress; - ARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for compress; and - ARC.EXE (or its substitute) is called for decompress; - PKZIP.EXE (or its substitute) is called for compress; The latter can result in errors when A.ARC is a SEA eXtended (7.xx) archive. The first examples will run fine ! If you think this is all, then read on. It will become rather messy. In their development, NoGate (PAK) and SEA (ARC) have both found it the correct procedure to keep the internal archive format the same (understandable, you will be backward compatible), but they both use the archive version-number 10 (and maybe higher on SEA's format, but information is not available to me) for their extended format. In the NoGate version, 10 is crushed, in the SEA format, 10 is something else (eXtended in any case because XARC can decompress it). Now see what happens with A.ARC (an eXtended archive, containing 10 files, created with ARC 7.xx): - A.ARC contains 10 files all with code 10; - Code 10 is PAK crushed; - PAK.EXE with extract is called to decompress the archive; - The result is an archive in error and not converted because PAK terminates with error 'CRC error in data' or something else; Nothing can keep me from thinking that the same COULD also be the case for code 11 (NoGate destilled, SEA whatever) or even higher ! In any case it is a complete mess and about 10K of coding in MTA is consumed by these little jokes. The actual victims are the users who receive ARC 7.xx files AND PAK files. Our dear friends in the SDN/SDS circuit to name but a few ! MTA fixes the problem with the ARC-version 10 and 11 with a rather Q&D solution. When PAKPath AND UNARCPath are available in MTA.CTL, MTA will first call PAK with the T (test) option. If the resulting errorlevel is not 0, MTA will use the program you supplied in the UNARCPath option (e.g. XARC.EXE). If the resulting errorlevel equals 0, MTA will use the program you supplied in the PAKPath option (e.g. PAK.EXE). When the PAKPAth option is NOT available and PAK.EXE is not in the DOS path but A.ARC contains files with archive-code 10, MTA will use the program supplied in UNARCPATH by default, EVEN when A.ARC was a NoGate archive with crushed files (in which case the decompress will result in an error). When the PAKPath option IS available but the UNARCPath option is NOT, A.ARC will be marked as a NoGate archive (even when it is SEA eXtended) and the program supplied in the PAKPath option is used (resulting in an error when A.ARC was SEA eXtended). When BOTH are NOT supplied, MTA will give an error because neither PAKPath nor UNARCPath are present. The special dirty tricks that must be executed on these files will result in somewhat overhead but should work full-proof. Because I dislike 2 versions per day, I do the same with archives that contain only ARC-version 11 files). Normal users should not use the UNARCPath option UNLESS they got trouble. SDS/SDN sysops will have no other choice than to include them (in general). You can make up your own mind about all these special tricks that must be executed to serialize an archive in the correct way. I myself find it rather strange that these mixups are created in the first place. 3.13 Using newer versions of archivers ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Once in a while you receive new versions of the archivers that you use (or don't use). In some cases, it is quit a risk to start converting all files to the new version (certainly when you receive beta versions) and in some other cases you would like to see if a specific new option is indeed working and giving you the expected result. UNLESS the internal format of the archive is changed, MTA can work with a ALTernate set of archive-program versions. This comes in handy when you want to test the new version on various files but in the mean while you would like to convert all other files with the older version. All you have to do is the following: - Rename the new version (for example, you receive PKZIP/PKUNZIP 2.0á, in which case you could rename PKZIP.EXE to P2ZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE to P2UNZIP.EXE); - Alter the xxxPath option(s) in MTA.CTL. You must add the path to the new version as the LAST parameter in the option. In this example you add the path, C:\ARC\P2ZIP.EXE to the PKZIPPath option and also you add C:\ARC\P2UNZIP.EXE to the PKUNZIPPath option. They will look something like: PKZIPPath C:\ARC.PKZIP.EXE N 200 C:\ARC\P2ZIP.EXE PKUNZIPPath C:\ARC.PKUNZIP.EXE N 200 C:\ARC\P2UNZIP.EXE You can do this for each and every archiver (GIF-conversion program) you use; - Alter the xxxVersion option in MTA.CTL. You must add the version of the new release as the second parameter to the xxxVersion option(s). In the example, you normally use PKZIP 1.10 and will start to test the PKZIP 2.04. In this case you change ZIPVersion so it will have both values showed (ZIPVersion 110 204); When you are finished with the changes, you can execute MTA as normal to get the 'normal' versions of all archivers. When you execute MTA with the (optional) /ALT command-line parameter, MTA will look if there is a second path available inside the xxxPath option and will use THAT one. If it is not set, MTA will use the original path from this option (e.g. there is no new version present). After this routine is finished, MTA will look if there is a second value set in the xxxVersion. If so, MTA will use that one, otherwise the original value (or the default value) is used. With our example and in short: MTA *.* will convert files, using PKZIP/PKUNZIP (1.10) when needed, to the format you have set; MTA *.* /ALT will convert files, using P2ZIP/P2UNZIP (2.04) when needed, to the format you have set; 3.14 Lo-tek functions, calling MTA as shell under MTA ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA can only call itself as a child (to work on arc-in-arc files). If you try to run MTA as a shell of MTA (e.g. you press [S] to shell out if MTA and start MTA again), you will get a message and the second MTA will abort. This coding is present for a various number of reasons (one of the is the usage of SUBST functions). If for some reason these functions can not be used, MTA will give a 'lo-tek' warning and will perform various other tests to make sure that it's own working-environment is not trashed by other tasks. ³3.15 Wildcard support ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³Earlier DISP programs supported the conventional DOS wildcards '?' and ³'*' (like 'AR??.*') and the specific DISP compatible wildcards '=' and ³'~' (eg. '=MTA' to search a file with 'MTA' inside and '~MTA' to search ³a file that sounds like 'emthah' (the verbs M, T and A). The latter is ³only supported in specific programs like FDL and FDP ! ³ ³Current DISP programs have been extended to cover a variety of old and ³new wildcards, taken from various systems (DOS, OS/2, *NIX) and/or from ³specific programs like 4Dos . It IS possible that not all wildcards ³are supported for one or more options, but normally all the wildcards ³that are described below can be used unless documented otherwise. ³ ³Standard compatible wildcards ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³'*' An asterisk in a filename means that any, zero or more ³ characters in this position are valid. Examples: ³ ³ *.ARJ will match all files with extension ³ .ARJ; ³ ³ TEST.* will match all files with name TEST ³ and any extension; ³ ³'?' A questionmark will match any single filename character ³ in the filename. Examples: ³ ³ T?ST.AR? will match TEST.ARJ but also TEST.AR2 ³ or TAST.AR3; ³ ³ TEST.?? will match TEST.AR but NOT TEST.ARJ; ³ ³ ³4dos compatible wildcards ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³'*..*' A set of asterisks inside a component will match the ³ value between the two asterisks. Examples: ³ ³ *TEST*.* will match any file that has 'TEST' in ³ the name component; ³ ³'[set]' You can use a set-mark to make the selection for a ³ single position more specific. It is an extension of ³ '?' question mark wildcard. Examples: ³ ³ T[a-e]st.AR[1-4] will match all files starting with T, ³ a, b, c, d or e on the second position ³ and ending with st. The extension can ³ be AR1, AR2, AR3 or AR4; ³ ³ TES[a-z].ARJ will match all files starting with TES ³ and ending with any letter. Extension ³ must be ARK; ³ ³'[!set]' You can use a set-mark to make the selection for a ³ single position more specific. This format it the ³ REVERSED (or NOT) format of '[set]'. Examples: ³ ³ T[!f-z]st.ARJ will match all files starting with T, ³ a, b, c, d or e on the second position ³ and ending with st. The extension must ³ be ARJ. Letters f to z are EXCLUDED; ³ ³ ³DISP compatible wildcards ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³'=' This wildcard starts a shifted match. It is much the ³ the same as the 4DOS '*..*' wildcard but easier to ³ use. Examples: ³ ³ =TEST will match all files that have TEST ³ somewhere inside the filename like ³ TEST.ARJ and ATEST2.ARJ; ³ ³ =T.A will match all files that have T.A ³ somewhere inside the filename like ³ TEST.ARJ or BUT.ALL; ³ ³'~' This rarely used DISP compatible wildcard will match ³ a file on sound. The soundex algorithm is used and ³ will thus cause many mismatches. There isn't much use ³ for sound-matches in filenames that contain numbers, ³ special characters and so on, but some other 3PV's ³ have the sound-match as a MAJOR feature. In some DISP ³ programs (FDL/FDP) it is available as a 'minor' and ³ undocumented feature. Example: ³ ³ ~emtheeaah Matches all files that sound like ³ emtheeaah, like MTA; ³ ³ ³Miscelaneous wildcards ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³'[set,!set]' This is the combination of the '[set]' and '[!set]' ³ formats. Example: ³ ³ T[a-e,!bc]st.ARJ will match all files starting with T, ³ a, d or e on the second position and ³ ending with st. The extension must be ³ ARJ. a to e are allowed but b and c ³ are excluded from the range a to e. ³ ³'{}' This is an extension on the question mark wildcard. ³ Examples: ³ ³ t{}t.ARJ All files starting and ending with a ³ 't'. Extension must be ARJ; ³ ³ test.A{0-9} All files staring with TEST and the ³ extension can be A0 to A99 ³ ³ test{a-z}.ARJ All files TESTA.ARJ until TESTZZZZ.ARJ ³ will match; ³ ³Like with 4DOS, files that actually include some of the special cases ³above as a part of the filename (like ENZ{123}.ZIP or FOO_[111].ARJ) ³can cause strange matches when used as a selection. At best, these ³filenames should be matched with something like ENZ?123?.ZIP in the ³first and FOO_?111?.ARJ in the second example. 3.16 TEC files ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ With every release, one or more *.TEC files will be supplied. These TEC files will each go deeper into some delicate subjects. The TEC files are based upon the most frequently asked questions. These problems can range from examples for simple setups to discussions about comments in archives. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 4 ³ Runtime information ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 4.1 Command-line parameters ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Most of the information that MTA needs is obtained from the MTA.CTL configuration file. When you want to change one (or some) of the options temporary, you can use command-line parameters to do so. The syntax to start execution of MTA is: MTA {dir} {filespec} {filespec}..{filespec} {CMD} {CMD}..{CMD} {dir} when using LVL1/LVL2 or LVL3 commands, you can include a directory that will be the starting point for the LVL1, LVL2 or LVL3 search. If the full drive has to be searched, the drive-letter of {dir} will count as the drive. If you want to use /LVL1, LVL2 or /LVL3 in this way, the {dir} MUST precede the /LVLx option ! {filespec} is the optional wildcard (or complete filename) you can supply. You can supply up to 25 {filespec} values. You can use the normal DOS wildcards AND the special wildcard that is supplied in almost ALL DISP-programs. This is the '='. This wildcard can be used for a shifted test. =MTA will select files with the names doMTA.bat, MTAtest.zip, newMTA.me. If you want to include the '.', you MUST supply it in the wildcard. =A.Z will include mtaA.Zip and so on. If you do not supply a {filespec} a full-screen menu will be shown. This menu can be used to select files in ONE directory. {CMD} You can (optionally) supply one or more command-line options when you execute MTA. Some of the work like a toggle, some of the overrule options in MTA.CTL, some of them can only switch on or off in MTA.CTL. In general, the /STOSIZ, /STOCOM and /STONAM toggles work in the old-fashioned way, command-line options that work like a toggle, can be supplied in two different ways: - /CMDOPT With this format you reverse (toggle) the option in the MTA.CTL file but you need to know for sure in what state the option in MTA.CTL is. In other words, if the FOO option is set in MTA.CTL, /FOO will switch is off. If it was off in MTA.CTL, /FOO will switch it to on; - /CMDOPT+ or /CMDOPT- With this format you can explicitly switch an option on (with /COMOPT+) or off (with /CMDOPT-). You don't need to know in what state the option in MTA.CTL is; The three switches mentioned earlier (/STONAM, /STOSIZ and /STOCOM) work in the old way (+ or - is NOT possible). This is the result of the extended format (where a name can be supplied along with the command-line option). A command-line parameter must start with a slash ('/'). Multiple command-line parameters must be separated with at least one space. If the command-line parameter has extra values, the must follow the parameter itself WITHOUT any spaces between the command-line parameter and the value. If the value must include spaces, you must replace them with the underscore character. So if you use the /M command-line option to move files to C:\ZIP, you must supply /MC:\ZIP; The following command-line options are available and can be used: 4.1.1 Command-line parameters that stand on their own ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following command-line parameters can be used (in special cases) and they don't have any counterpart in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /? ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : Using /? will activate MTA's help system. When this system is invoked, no conversion will be possible. You are shown a screen where all command-line options are described. You can now hit the [ENTER] key and you will have the option to setup the calling sequence for MTA. You can do this for different options until you have all the options you need (so you can read about the option and its syntax while you can write it down in the help-screen's little note-book). When you have finished (use [ESC]), the system will make a batch-file, called GOMTA.BAT with all this options inside. You can start this batch-file (and you can even add some extra parameters to it); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /CTL[path] ³ ³ /CTL[file] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : By default, MTA will use MTA.CTL IF the file is somewhere in the DOS path (DOS 2.x and higher), in the current directory (all DOS versions) or in the directory where the MTA.EXE file resides (DOS 3.x and higher). If your MTA.CTL does not follow this conventions OR you want to assign a different name for it OR you want to use an alternate file for special tasks, you can instruct MTA to use this file if you supply the /CTL command-line parameter. It comes in two forms. Either you supply a complete path (eg. the drive, directory and filename, or you just supply the filename, if MTA is able to find it in the same was as it can find the MTA.CTL (path, current directory, executed directory). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /TASKnn ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : If you want to run multiple (concurrent) runs of MTA, you must supply a task-number to each of the concurrently running tasks. By default, MTA assumes that is will run stand alone. If this is not the case, you must supply the /TASK switch with a task-number from 01 to 99. Each con- currently running MTA must have a different task-number ! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /LVL0 ³ ³ /LVL1 ³ ³ /LVL2 ³ ³ /LVL3 ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : There are several command-line parameters that can be used to limit (extend) the search for files to be converted. The set of /LVLx command-line parameters can be used (in combination with the filemask(s)) to define WHERE MTA has to look for files. They can be used as command-line driven replacement for some of the options in MTA.CTL (DefaultPath to name one). The search is extended in the following way: /LVL0 : The search will be done in the CURRENT directory. This is the same as NOT using any DefaultPath (or alike) option in MTA.CTL or using /W when you did set these options. It can be overruled to run MTA from the command-line for just the current directory without having to change the DefaultPath (or alike) options in MTA.CTL; /LVL1 : With /LVL1, MTA will look in all sub-directories under (NOT INCLUDING) the current directory; /LVL2 : With /LVL2, MTA will look in all sub-directories under AND the current directory; /LVL3 : With /LVL3, MTA will search the whole CURRENT drive (all directories included); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /@[path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : All the files you want to convert can be selected in several ways. The usage of the /@ command-line option is just only one of them. [path] must point to a drive, directory and filename that exists. This file must be a ASCII flat-file (created with any normal line-editor) and it must contain one filename on each line (any drives and directories are stripped by MTA internally). All files must reside in one directory. It is allowed to use wildcards but, unlike the masks you can supply on the command-line, the extension '.*' is NOT added when you do not supply any extension. MTA will convert all these files (if they exist) after each other. You can use /@ when the masks on the normal command-line would exceed the maximum number of bytes of a parameter list. As an extension to this option, it is now also allowed to supply various files with directory-names in VARIOUS directories (usage for some popular programs that call MTA to convert archives). There is one flaw. If you use this format, MTA will search for all supplied files in ALL of the supplied directory, so: F:\ZIP\TEST.ZIP C:\TEST\WANTED.ARJ Will force MTA to convert TEST.ZIP and WANTED.ARJ in F:\ZIP and to convert TEST.ZIP and WANTED.ARJ in C:\TEST. Normally this is no problem because only one of the two will reside in each directory. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /IP[password] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : With MTA you can convert encrypted files. When you select such files, you MUST supply the original password that was used for encryption. You can only supply ONE password for each execution of MTA, so when you must convert various files with various passwords, you must do so in separate runs of MTA. The password that is needed for the decompress of the input-file, is supplied with the /IP option. There is (obvious) no counterpart in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /OP[password] ³ ³ /OP@ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : It is possible to let MTA create new archives that will be encrypted with a password. In this case, you must supply the password for the target files, which is used as the password for compression IF the target system supports any encryption in this way. Any target files with passwords are (optionally) recorded in a log-file (filename and the password). There is no counterpart in MTA.CTL BUT you could use the xxxCompression options to set a fixed password (if needed). When you use /OP with a password, you can also use some macros inside [password], in which case MTA will do a substitution of the macros. The following macros are available: $JD : Replaced by julian-date number. This is the number of days, counted from the start of the year, so January 31th will be date-number 31, February 2nd will be number 33 and so on; $JY : Replaced by the year-component. These are the last 2 bytes of the year (so 92 for 1992); $ND : The current day (2 positions always); $NM : The current month (2 positions always); $NY : The current year (4 positions always); $FN : The current filename (only name, not extension) /OP$JY$JDRvh will create a password of 92002Rvh when used on January 2nd 1992. With this macros you can create any password you like, as long as the target password (and the supplied [password]) will NOT contain any spaces. /OP@ is a special form of password usage for output files. If you supply /OP@, MTA will generate a RANDOM password for every file it converts. In this case the logging of these passwords is mandatory otherwise you would never know which passwords were assigned to which files. These IS some usage for this option. You can allow users to download ANYTHING from your system but they can only use the files when they obtain the password in another way (by calling you on a separate line, by paying you in which case you can send the passwords by mail etc.); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /ALT ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you have set SPECIAL versions of archivers (see the xxxPath and xxxVersion options in MTA.CTL) that can be used (on request) for testing or swift conversion, you can select THESE versions (which are not the normal versions) by using the /ALT command-line parameter. When /ALT is used, MTA will look if an alternate version of any archiver is set and will, if set, this version (if needed). If there is no special version set, /ALT will cause the normal version to be used. See the chapter on using new versions of archivers; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /SIM ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This option can be used to execute MTA in a kind of simulate mode. For each archive to be converted, MTA will do the following: - Decompress the file; - Scan for Virus; - Call exits; This option comes in handy when you execute MTA under a door inside a BBS (FileDoor) to look for a virus inside files, the moment the file is uploaded or to check you files (without a convert) when a new virus-scanner is released. There is no counterpart option for this command-line parameter in the MTA.CTL file; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /REMSIM ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This option can be used to create a file called MTAVANSI.xxx (where xxx is equal to the MTA-task number, by default this will be 001). After MTA has finished, you can use DOS TYPE to list the file. You will see what otherwise a remote call would have seen when MTA would have been used under a BBS door (like FileDoor ). You can use several runs with /REMSIM to adjust the remote colors to your own taste ! If you do not delete the MTAVANSI.xxx file yourself, MTA will append to that file if /REMSIM is used again and the file is still in place (by default, MTA will place the file in the CURRENT directory). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /DATE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This option can be used to execute MTA in a kind of simulate mode. For each archive to be converted, MTA will do the following: - Test if the file matches any mask; - If it does, test if the date is lower than the date that you supplied in the DelOldFiles option; - If it does, manipulate the file (delete, move) depending on the DelOldPath option; This option comes in handy when you execute MTA to remove (without conversion) all your files that are too old to keep. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /ANS[type] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When this command-line parameter is NOT set AND MTA will use remote logging, MTA will use ANSI sequences. This is also the case when you code any value from 1 to 9 for [type]. If you use the value 0 for [type] MTA will use ASCII for remote logging; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /D{=d:} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : With this parameter you instruct MTA to start the diskette support as described before. There is no alternative option for it in MTA.CTL. When you use /D, MTA will start diskette support for DRIVE A:. If your diskettes are accessed from another drive (eg. B:), you must use /D=B: to do so; 4.1.2 Command-line parameters that overrule/toggle/disable MTA.CTL ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following command-line parameters will either switch an option in MTA.CTL on, off or will act like a toggle. Some can overrule values that are set in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /DEBUG{file} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : See MTADEBUG.TEC inside the supplied MTA__TEC.EXE file for a discription of this option. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /ARC ³ ³ /ARJ ³ ³ /ARJSFX ³ ³ /DWC ³ ³ /HYP ³ ³ /LZH ³ ³ /LZHSFX ³ ³ /LZS ³ ³ /MD ³ ³ /OWN ³ ³ /PAK ³ ³ /PAKSFX ³ ³ /SQZ ³ ³ /SQZSFX ³ ³ /UC2 ³ ³ /ZIP ³ ³ /ZIPSFX ³ ³ /ZOO ³ ³ /PKLITE ³ ³ /UNPKLITE ³ ³ /GIFLITE ³ ³ /GIF2JPG ³ ³ /JPG2GIF ³ ³ /GIF ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : Normally MTA will convert all matched (and selected) files to the system you assigned to the CompressionType option in MTA.CTL. With these command-line switches you can overrule them with another format (see CompressionType option for a description of the various supported targets); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NO4DOS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you run under 4DOS and you want to use MTA's internal move options, you can overrule the 4DOS MOVE command with this parameter. It has the same meaning as when you include the Not4DOSAware option in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /W{directory} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you have included DefaultPath (or alike) options in MTA.CTL, or you wish to convert files in another directory as the current, you can include /W. /W by itself will over- rule any DefaultPath (or alike, like BBSPaths) option in MTA.CTL and will force MTA to work inside the CURRENT directory. /W{directory} (so you append a valid directory to the parameter, like /WD:\ZIP) will force MTA to work on the supplied directory; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /TOUCHC{+days} ³ ³ /TOUCHH ³ ³ /TOUCHL ³ ³ /TOUCHF ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : One of these command-line parameters can be used (if you use multiple at the same time, only the last will count) to overrule the touching system that MTA uses. If you have set a way of touching (TouchHig, TouchCur, TouchLow) in the MTA.CTL, these parameters can be used to overrule this option in the following way: /TOUCHC : Converted files will get the current date (or a date {+days} (for example /TOUCHC+10 for +10 days) away from the current-date; /TOUCHH : The same as using TouchHig in MTA.CTL (use the highest date inside the archive); /TOUCHL : The same as using TouchLow in in MTA.CTL (use the lowest date inside the archive); /TOUCHF : Files will keep the same date as they had before the conversion started; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /M{directory} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : If you use the MoveToDir option in MTA.CTL you can use /M on its own to make that option inactive. If you also append a directory (eg. /MD:\ZIP\TRA), it will work the same as if you supplied D:\ZIP\TRA as the directory in this option. So /MD:\ZIP\TRA will move converted files to D:\ZIP\TRA even when the MoveToDir option in MTA.CTL is set otherwise or when it is not set at all; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /C2G[options] ³ ³ /C2J[options] ³ ³ /CD[options] ³ ³ /CGL[options] ³ ³ /CH[options] ³ ³ /CHS[options] ³ ³ /CJ[options] ³ ³ /CJS[options] ³ ³ /CL[options] ³ ³ /CQ[options] ³ ³ /CS[options] ³ ³ /CSS[options] ³ ³ /C2[options] ³ ³ /CZ[options] ³ ³ /CZS[options] ³ ³³ /CU[options] ³ ³ /CGT[options] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : For almost all archivers (and GIF-alike programs) you can add some extra options for each and every archiver (or GIF program). These options can be found in MTA.CTL as the xxxCompression options (see over there). You can also over- rule them (or add them on the fly) with these command-line parameters. [options] must be the added options for that archiver. Spaces must be replaced by underscore characters, so '-a -z' must be coded as '-a_-z' (without the quotes). Each of the command-line parameter stands for: - /C2G GIF2JPG - /C2J JPG2GIF - /CD DWC - /CGL GIFLITE - /CH LZH - /CHS LZH (SFX) - /CJ ARJ - /CJS ARJ (SFX) - /CL PKLITE - /CQ ZOO - /CS SQZ - /CSS SQZ (SFX) - /C2 UC2 ³ - /CZ PKZIP - /CZS ZIP2EXE (ZIP SFX) ³ - /CU PKUNZIP - /CGT GIFTEST Refer to the documentation for each archiver to see a list of non-common options that can be used. Also remember that the SFX creation is done AFTER the compression (and NOT at the same time, even if the compression program supports it). This means that adding something for LZH SFX will cause that it will ONLY be used to create the SFX and NOT for the compression of the LZH-file (same goes for all other SFX's); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /Z{path} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter has the same meaning as the usage of the AutoDescription option in MTA.CTL. When you use /Z as is, the AutoDescription option (if set) is turned off and no comments will be added. When you append a path (the drive, directory and filename) to the parameter, the file that you supply will be added as comment to all converted archives that support these comments. As such it can be used to (temporary) add the AutoDescription or to overrule the values set in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /CARCOM{n} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line option can be used to change the behavior of the CarryComment option in MTA.CTL (if set). When you supply /CARCOM as is, the CarryComment option in MTA.CTL will be (temporary) switched off. If you use /CARCOMn (where 'n' is the number 1, 2 or 3), you can (re)set the function of the CarryComment option for this run; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /AFB ³ ³ /AFB- or /AFB+ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle for the AddFilesBBS option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /LOG ³ ³ /LOG- or /LOG+ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you use the /LOG- command-line parameter, MTA will stop any logging in the normal log-file(s) for the duration of the run. If you supply /LOG+ and no LOGPATH option was set, MTA will start logging in the current directory under a default log-name (MTA__RUN.LOG); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /DI ³ ³ /DE ³ ³ /DD ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : You can disable the functions of the options IncludeFile (/DI), ExcludeFile (/DE) and the DoNot (/DD) options with help of these command-line parameters; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /E1 ³ ³ /E2 ³ ³ /EB ³ ³ /EG ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Functions : Any exit you have declared, can be disabled. /E1 will disable ExitBeforeFill (if set), /E2 will do the same for ExitAfterFill (if set), /EB for ExitBetweenConversion and /EG for ExitAfterCompression. Exits can only be SET with help of options in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /U ³ ³ /U[filename] ³ ³ /U[path] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter comes in three flavors. The first, /U, is a toggle for the FilesBBS option in MTA.CTL. /U will disable the option if it was set in MTA.CTL and will enable the option if it was not set. /U[filename] will enable the FilesBBS option but in this case you overrule the filename FILES.BBS (in the working directory) with [filename]. /U[path] will enable the FilesBBS option but in this case you overrule the filename FILES.BBS AND the fact that this file must reside in EACH working directory with [path]. [path] is the SINGLE filename (with drive and directory) that MTA will update (RBBS master directory and such); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOOLD ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you added the DelOldFiles option to MTA.CTL, you can use /NOOLD to switch the option off. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /UPGRADE ³ ³ /UPGRADE+ or /UPGRADE- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle for the OnlyUpgrade option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /SBA ³ ³ /SBA+ or /SBA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle for the SkipBackups option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NFC or /NFC- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the FIXEDCONVERSION option in MTA.CTL to off. You can not toggle this option to ON. When FIXEDCONVERSION options are set in MTA.CTL, they are set ON by default. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NUU or /NUU- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the UPDATEUNTYPEDFILES option to off (on is not possible); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NUM or /NUM- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the UPDATEMSGFILES option to off (on is not possible); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NUT or /NUT- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the UPDATETICKFILES option to off (on is not possible); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NMA or /NMA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the MAKEARC option to off (on is not possible); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NME or /NME- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter toggles the MAKEARCEXCLUDE option to off (on is not possible); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOB ³ ³ /NOB+ or /NOB- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle for the NoBeep option in MTA.CTL; ³ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ /WTI ³ ³³ /WTI+ or /WTI- ³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle for the WarningTime ³ option in MTA.CTL. /WTI- will set the time to 0 cycles (eg. ³ no warnings and errors) and /WTI+ will set it to 20 cycles ³ when WarningTime was not already set in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOM- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter is a toggle (only OFF, not ON) for the MultiMediaBanner option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NVI ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter will switch of the configured virus scanners for the duration of this run. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NVM ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameter will switch of the configured masks that limit the scan for a virus. If /NVM is supplied and the VirusScanner options are available and active (no usage of /NVI), the scan is ALWAYS performed on EVERY file in EVERY archive. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOEMS ³ ³ /NOXMS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : This command-line parameters can be used to disable the usage of EMS and/or XMS. The same can be done permanently with the NoEMS and/or NoXMS options in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /VMODE{mode} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /VMODE as is, will switch any VideoMode option in MTA.CTL to OFF. /VMode{mode} (where {mode} is the DECIMAL video- mode) will force MTA to switch the video-card to {mode}; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /EXTTST ³ ³ /EXTTST+ or /EXTTST- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /EXTTST is used as a toggle for the ExtendedTesting option in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /SFX ³ ³ /SFX+ or /SFX- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /SFX is used as a toggle for the SFXFiles option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /LEA ³ ³ /LEA+ or /LEA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /LEA is used as a toggle for the KeepAbnormalExtensions option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /TIM ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When you use the /TIM command-line parameter, you disable the RunTime option in MTA.CTL (if set); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NEW ³ ³ /NEW+ or /NEW- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /NEW is used as a toggle for the OnlyNewFiles option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /MAR ³ ³ /MAR+ or /MAR- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /MAR is used as a toggle for the NoMarked option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /MAH{string} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : If you want to change the value for the MarkHeader option, you can use the /MAH{string} command-line option. When you do not supply {string}, MTA will be forced to use the default value. When used, {string} must be 6 bytes of less; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /MAS{string} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : If you want to change the value for the MarkString option, you can use the /MAS{string} command-line option. When you do not supply {string}, MTA will be forced to use the default value. When used, {string} must be 14 bytes of less; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /UNMARK ³ ³ /UNMARK+ or /UNMARK- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /UNMARK is used as a toggle for the UnMark option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOOWNMARK ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /NOOWNMARK should only be used when MTA is executed under a protocol driver like FIleDoor (XFD). In this case, the incomming (uploaded) files are checked against your own mark that you use with NoMarked/MarkString. If the file contains the same mark, MTA will delete the file at once. This option will stop those users who download a file from you, rename the file to a bogus-name and upload it again. The dupe-check will not deny such a file, but MTA can see that it is one of your own files. If you use /NOOWNMARK you should make it sure that you are NOT using the DEFAULT mark-string but one of your own !! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /OOA ³ ³ /OOA+ or /OOA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : Using /OOA will do the same as using the OptimizeOnSize option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /AIA ³ ³ /AIA+ or /AIA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /AIA is used as a toggle for the NoArcInArc option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /SIA ³ ³ /SIA+ or /SIA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /SIA is used as a toggle for the SFXArcInArc option in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /SAA ³ ³ /SAA+ or /SAA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /SIA is used as a toggle for the SFXArcInArc option in MTA.CTL. It doesn't toggle the option itself but it will toggle the ALSONORMAL parameter of this option. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /EIA ³ ³ /EIA+ or /EIA- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /EIA is used as a toggle for the EXTArcInArc option in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /IUW ³ ³ /IUW+ or /IUW- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /IUW is used as a toggle for the IgnoreUNZIPWarning option in MTA.CTL. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /KEEPAV ³ ³ /KEEPAV+ or /KEEPAV- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /KEEPAV is used as a toggle for the KeepAV option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /KEEPVL ³ ³ /KEEPVL+ or /KEEPVL- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /KEEPVL is used as a toggle for the KeepVL option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /NOCLOAK ³ ³ /NOCLOAD+ or /NOCLOAK- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /NOCLOAK is used as a toggle for the NoCloakedArchives option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /ALL ³ ³ /ALL+ or /ALL- ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /ALL is used as a toggle for the AllDisketteFiles option in MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /MAKEARC ³ ³ /MAKEARC{mask} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /MAKEARC on its own, will disable all MAKEARC options that are set in MTA.CTL. /MAKEARC{mask} (f.i. /MAKEARC*.DOC) will add an entry to the current MAKEARC options in MTA.CTL (if available, otherwise it start with this one) during the current run with the file (mask) that you supply. You can supply more than one /MAKEARC option. For example: MTA *.* /MAKEARC /MAKEARC*.DOC /MAKEARC*.TXT This will cause all current MAKEARC options to be disabled (/MAKEARC) and the *.DOC and *.TXT to be added. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /ADDEXC[mask] ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : With this command-line option you can add a file to the list of files that must be excluded from the target archives. It will be appended to the ones that you defined in the options ExcludeFile in MTA.CTL. You can add more than one /ADDMASK parameter on the command-line. You can also specify a valid DOS-mask, though /ADDMASK*.* is not advised because in this case your target archives will be empty (except the included files). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /BAUD[baudrate] ³ ³ /COM[comport] ³ ³ /FOSSIL[fossilport] ³ ³ /REMOTE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : When MTA is used under a door inside a BBS and you want MTA to keep the user informed about the current status, you can use /BAUD, /COM (or /PORT) and /REMOTE (or their equivalent counterparts in MTA.CTL) to do so. [baudrate] can be the baudrate (locked or not) or 0 (in which case NO remote operations will be done). [comport] can be a valid COM port or 0 (in which case no remote operations will take place). [fossilport] must be the valid fossil-port, there is no value to switch remote operations off other than setting [baudrate] to 0. /COM is preferred. You can use all these command-line parameters (or their counterparts in MTA.CTL) but they will do nothing unless the following combination is made (where the command-line parameters overrule any options in MTA.CTL): - /BAUD (Baudrate) must be set to a non-zero value; - /COM (ComPort ) ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, OR /FOSSIL (FossilPort) must be used; - /REMOTE (Remote) is used; You should also look into the /ANS command-line parameter in the previous (sub)chapter. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /STOSIZ{ext} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /STOSIZ is used as a toggle for the StoreSize option MTA.CTL. When you use this option to SET the option to ON, {ext} (optional) can be used to set the extension of the semaphore file (default XS1) to something else (F#D when running FileDoor 2.03 or older betas); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /STONAM{nam} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /STONAM is used as a toggle for the StoreName option MTA.CTL. When you use this option to SET the option to ON, {nam} (optional) can be used to set the filename of the semaphore file (default FILEDOOR.XS2) to something else (FILEDOOR.F#D when running older FileDoor betas); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /STOCOM{nam} ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : /STOCOM is used as a toggle for the StoreComment option MTA.CTL. When you use this option to SET the option to ON, {nam} (optional) can be used to set the name of the semaphore file (default FILEDOOR.XS3) to something else. 4.1.3 Command-line parameters with a special usage ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The following command-line parameters are special (should not be used but are documented to be complete) or are only used in debugging situations. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /| ³ ³ /> ³ ³ /< ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : These options should (and can not) be used. They can not be executed from the DOS command-line because they have something to do with piping. These command-line parameters are used by MTA internally ! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ /PAUSE ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Function : Sometimes MTA will execute a program (archiver, virus scan, exit and so on) and this programs reports an error. In these cases you are not able to see what happens because MTA will go on (after a warning is given). If you use /PAUSE, MTA will pause (without clearing the screen) after the shell returns to MTA. You must press [ESC] to continue MTA in the normal way; 4.2 Aborting MTA ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There is only one way to abort MTA before it's normal end. When MTA is busy, you can press [ESC]. MTA will (in time) display that it will terminate soon. Termination will be done AFTER THE CURRENT FILE IS CONVERTED ! When you did press [ESC] by mistake, you can always press any other key to release the pending termination. In that case, MTA will continue as normal. The termination option does NOT work when you use the /D switch. In this case you must wait until the diskette is fully converted. 4.3 LOG file ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ MTA makes a log of almost everything (unless you specify NoLog in the MTA.CTL file or supply /L as a runtime switch). You can browse thru the log with a program like V.Buerg's LIST or with the 'good old' TYPE command. The log-style can be adjusted to the users need with three different options (LogStyleFormat, LogDateFormat and LogTimeFormat). Also you can combine all possible logs (the 'normal' log, called MTA.LOG by default, the password log, called MTA.PWN by default and the random password log, called MTA.PWD by default) into one log-file, because MTA will open (APPEND) and close the log for every record it has to write. Depending on the number of files MTA has to convert, the MTA.LOG file can get very large. I have supplied a program (MTL.EXE) to solve this problem. With MTL.EXE you can make a statistical review of your log file. In addition, you can instruct MTL to shorten the log-file. MTL will rewrite the MTA.LOG file with only the total counters so far. The next run MTL will detect these counters again and adjust the current counters with these values. MTL depends on the format of the log-file. Therefor you should not make any changes to the current log-file, but make a copy of the file and work on the copy and not the original. MTL IS able to detect customized log-files and will adjust itself to search at the right places. Also, records of a different kind can be available in the log (in case of a mailer or BBS program). MTL will skip these records but. If you want to clean the log with MTL, MTL will ALSO remove all NON-MTA data from the log ! If you get tired of the log, delete it, and MTA will create a new one. When MTA calls itself as a child invocation, the child MTA does not do any type of logging ! 4.4 Errors ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Under some conditions, MTA can abort (or skip files) which causes the temporary directory to stay on disk. Normally MTA will try to remove all files from this temporary directory but there can be cases when this is impossible. In such cases, MTA will report this at the end of the run. In that case you must correct the errors manually and remove the directory (or directories) from disk. Under normal conditions, this will only take place with critical errors (disk failures and such). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 5 ³ Version information and credits ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 5.1 The BETA-team ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Look into the file SUPPORT.MTA for a full list of all beta-testers and support nodes. 5.2 Credits ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Thanks to the following people (besides my eternal thanks for the BETA team): - All paying, registered users. You made it possible to enhance MTA with nice features; - All users who did write me bug reports, suggestions and so on; 5.3 Version history ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 11.xx ³ Sampled release info ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Bug fixes; þ Added FilesBBSFormat option, CarryComment option, alternate CTL support, combination of /M and /D allowed; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 12.xx ³ Sample release info ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Bug fixes; þ All tables to 255 entries, tag-menu, /@, /MD, AltDisplay, internal swapping (SwapPath, NoSwap), MDCD support (MDPath), IncludeCTL, AV-aware, encryption aware, configurable log-file, MTAErrorPath, extended help, mouse aware, ITS aware and many, many more changes; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 13.xx ³ Sample release info ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ MTA swapped from free-ware to shareware so now a small price must be payed for continued usage; þ Several bugs fixed; þ Added support for 4DOS descriptions, EGA/VGA special text-modes ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 14.xx ³ Sample release info ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed some bugs; þ Added support for volume-labels (ZIP/ARJ), special log-files, descriptions, substituted drives (recursive support), VGA support, special selections (/LVLx), sharing and multi-tasking (also multi- MTA), ARJ, multiple virus scanners, HYP(er), PKLITE, menu-tagging, better help, LZH 2.xx support, videomode, TICK, FES, untyped files, simulation, macros in the password command-line parameters, remote logging, files that are too old, XARC/ARCE, ZOO 2.xx, ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.01 ³ Major Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ I did an almost complete rewrite of the documentation. Many cross references are now explained at their proper locations, old info is removed (a couple of chapters), all options and command-line parameters are revised and (I hope) better explained. The only thing that still is on the list, is an index and a proper utility to create the page numbers for the various users. Overall the new documentation is somewhat smaller than the previous version while still giving you all relevant information; þ The internals of MTA have changed completely. This causes MTA to use almost the same amount of memory as before though there are many options added. There is also a separate overlayed version of MTA available (MTAOVR) that uses 100K less of (conventional) memory; þ There was a serious bug in the RAPATHS option logic, causing MTA not to recognize the FILES.RA file. This is fixed. The RAPATHS option is somewhat changed in syntax and the RA0 and RA1 options are removed from MTA; þ The dos-shell in MTA (you know, the little window) was getting somewhat old for the current state of the technique. The same was true for the swapping routines. They are all replaced and we now have 4 new DOS-shell routines in MTA (2 non swapped, 2 swapped, each pair consisting of a windowed and non-windowed routine). This also causes archivers that needed a swap, to stay inside the DOS-window as were the non-swapped archivers. Because of these changes the STOWBUFFER and FORCECGA options are removed from MTA and are now obsolete; þ Changed the logic for AV'ed files. Previous versions would give errors under special conditions. This problem is fixed; þ Fixed a problem where MTA could make a mess of ARJ AV'ed archives (if KEEPAV was set) in combination with AutoDescription. If these conditions were met (KEEPAV, ARJ-AV, AutoDescription) and the target was ZIP, MTA would add a description to the ARJ-file, using internal patching techniques, causing the target-file to be defect (you could still extract them, but with a warning). This is fixed; þ Changed the logic for SFX files. Previous versions did contain their own logic to remove the SFX-header from the archives. This coding is removed and MTA should be able to convert SFX files if the archiver can extract files from the SFX'ed file. By my knowledge, there is only one non-standard SFX-file. This is the ZOO-SFX created with a separate program. These files can not be converted when ZOO is not able to decompress files from the *.EXE files. Overall, this will give a much more secure (and version independent) result; þ The /M (MOVETOPATH) command-line parameter could be used with invalid directory names. MTA would report errors when the converted files was actually moved to this directory or a file would be renamed (convert RA_110.ZIP to ZIP, with /MTRA where TRA was not a valid directory. The result was a file TRARA_11.ZIP and the file was still in the current directory). This logic has been changed and fixed; MTA will now validate the supplied directory and will abort (before the conversion) if there is an invalid directory supplied; þ Previous versions of MTA could not work with generic directories. You always had to include the full pathname (directory and the drive name). When reading options from MTA.CTL and the command-line, MTA will now expand generic paths (/M.. or /Z\ZIP\) to full names, based on the current directory and drive. Be warned though. If the generic path results in an expanded NON-existing path, MTA will abort with an error; þ MTA would fail the extended test when ARJ files were converted that contained files, archived with -t1. These files can be found in the original ARJxxx.EXE distribution file (just run a verbose list of this archive, write down the length of all files, decompress the file, run a DIR and compare the lengths) and all other ARJ files that are created with the -t1 ARJ command-line parameter. MTA will now ignore the extended test when dealing with such ARJ archives; þ In certain cases, MTA would forget to clean the temporary directory when an extended test failed. This is fixed; þ MTA will now FULLY ignore the ARJ_SW environment variable. MTA will pass a command-line parameter to ARJ (2.21 and higher) that will force ARJ NOT to look at this env.var.. All additional options in this env.var. must be added to the ARJCompression option; þ MTA will still give a beep EVEN when the WarningTime option was set to 0. This is fixed; þ CarryComment would sometimes be unable to find the comment in the FILES.BBS alike file. Fixed; þ The full-screen picklist would 'flicker' when you pressed F1 (help) more than once. Fixed; þ Sometimes MTA would screw up the first file inside a PAK SFX file. This is fixed; þ MTA would truncate the log-file when it became bigger than 64K. This is fixed; þ MTA would consume 8K blocks of conventional memory when the TICK support was on. This is fixed; þ The documented /CO command-line parameter (to overrule the option ZOOCOMPRESSION) did cause MTA to fail. It has now been included in MTA.EXE under the name /CQ; þ MTA would sometimes not remove directories. This happened when MTA needed to access various drives. This is fixed; þ Sometimes MTA would display a very huge number of uncompressed bytes for ARJ files (causing MTA to skip the file if that number of bytes was not available on the hard-disk). This is fixed; þ Under 4DOS (4.0 and higher), MTA would show a cursor after the first MOVE. This is fixed. MTA will hide the cursor after each call to an external program (4DOS is one of them); þ Various problems with TBSCAN 2.9, 3.1 and 3.2 are fixed (look at the new command-line examples for this scanner). When using MTA under DesqView (with SHARE), you MUST use TBSCAN 3.2 or higher because older versions will deny the removal of files and directory that MTA (not TBSCAN!!) has created. The 3.2 works fine with the new coding in MTA if you (at least) use the -compat option of the TBSCAN program; þ Various problems with HTSCAN 1.6 (and lower). Some of them caused by MTA (fixed) and one of them caused by HTSCAN. When HTSCAN has to run in 200Kb or less, it would cause MTA to report that the archive contained a virus. The author of HTSCAN will change this bug in the next version and MTA can now work with HTSCAN's new error-levels because of a change in the VIRUSSCANNER option; þ Added %D macro in the VIRUSSCANNER option. %P (as before) will be expanded to the complete directory to scan (without filenames), %F will be expanded to the complete directory plus \*.*. %D will be expanded to the last branch (node) in the temporary directory and is a relative directory. This macro can be used in complex network structures; þ Mouse support in the main MTA-body is removed. It is still available in the full-screen pick-list. The NOMOUSE option and the /NOMOUSE command-line parameter are removed from MTA; þ Older versions of MTA would rename the target file if a file with the same name existed on the target location. You can now add the OVERWRITEDUPLICATES option to force MTA to overwrite such files. The new target-file will overwrite a file with the same name in the target directory; þ The /CTL command-line parameter is enhanced. You can now also supply a filename (without path) if that file can be found in the DOS PATH, the current directory or the directory where MTA.EXE (MTAOVR.EXE) is found (last option only under DOS 3.xx and higher); þ The EXCLUDEFILE and DONOT options now accept wildcards, including the '=' wildcard (see documentation); þ Remote operations (introduced in the 14.5x versions of MTA) was only possible when the /REMOTE command-line parameter was used. The REMOTE option for MTA.CTL is added; þ MTA will now do remote logging (modem communications) when the REMOTE option or /REMOTE command-line parameter is set along with non-zero values for BAUD and COM-port. If either of these two contains a zero (/BAUD0 and/or /COM0), MTA will not use remote logging; þ Added the /ANS command-line parameter. Normally MTA will do its remote logging in ANSI-mode. When /ANS0 is used, MTA will use plain ASCII. /ANS1 and higher values (up to /ANS9) will cause ANSI logging; þ Added the NOBEEP option. When WarningTime is set to a non-zero value (nice when running unattended BUT WITH remote logging) you can still shut down the beeps and bells; þ Added the /PAUSE command-line parameter (no counterpart in MTA.CTL). When present, MTA will halt until you press ESC after EACH call to an external program. Added for debugging; þ Added coding so you can abort MTA when it is waiting for a locked (shared) file. If you press CTRL-E, MTA will abort from the lock; þ Added the NOEMS and NOXMS options in MTA.CTL and the /NOEMS and /NOXMS command-line parameters, to force MTA NOT to use EMS and/or XMS while swapping itself from memory; þ Changed the logging. The following changes have been made: - All records have been split into single-item lines, containing the needed info in the smallest number of bytes; - The errors are now recorded in the normal log-file. As a result of this change, the ERRORLOGPATH option is removed from MTA; - MTA and MTL work with the new log. If you convert to 15.01, you must run the previous MTL version (with log-compression) before you start using MTA and MTL unless you do not need the statistics inside the log-file; - MTA now uses its own codes (MTL will also use them): * error message ! important information $ extra information = status information ~ password information # conversion information (needed by MTL) @ MTL information (created by MTL) þ Changed the syntax of the xxxPATH options (see documentation for the current format). This was done to change the swapping function and to add alternative archiver versions. PLEASE READ the documentation carefully ! þ Added a cheap alternative to archive-marking (NOMARKED and related options) with the ONLYNEWFILES option and/or the /NEW command-line parameter. Only files that are newer than the file-date of the file FILES.MTA in the working directory, are converted. MTA will (re)set the file FILES.MTA itself; þ At the risk of loosing some friend, I include the following text. It has become general practice for some BBS's to add their own AV-code to ARJ and ZIP files. In my views the AV-code is meant to tell the user that a certain file is untouched after it has been created by the author. When a BBS includes AV-codes, it will mean that the file is untouched after it has been created by the SYSOP (not the author) and that is ALMOST useless information. It can be used as long as ORIGINAL AV-codes are left unaltered but it is misleading users when original AV-codes ARE altered. With this practice, it is almost useless to keep AV codes inside the archive because you (as user/sysop) only have the advertisement of the BBS as added value. To (partially) overcome this problem, MTA now contains an option INCLUDEAVFILES. If this option is NOT present in MTA.CTL and KEEPAV is set, all AV'ed files are still unaltered. If you include one or more INCLUDEAVFILES options, and KEEPAV is set, MTA will only keep the AV code for the files that match one or more of the INCLUDEAVFILES file-masks. ALL other AV'ed files will be converted EVEN when KEEPAV is set. One of the next minor versions of MTA will extend this option in a very dynamic (and more secure) way; þ Added dynamic swapping. In the previous versions you could only tell to ALWAYS swap before the call to another program was made or to NEVER swap before the call to another program was made. Though this function was variable for each different (de)compression program, it was somewhat rough. You can now supply a minimum number of bytes that must be available in memory (conventional). If this number of bytes (or more) is available, MTA will NOT swap itself out of the way. If it isn't available, MTA WILL swap before the call is made. Dynamic swapping is now available in all xxxPATH options (as a replacement for the older SWAP value in these options) and is added to the VIRUSSCANNER and all EXITxxx options; þ Removed the NOSWAP option from MTA. It became obsolete after the introduction of dynamic swapping; þ Added alternative archive-program versions in the xxxPATH options. Added the /ALT command-line parameter to activate the alternative versions. See the chapter about the usage of alternative versions; þ Added support for SFX (TARGET!!) files. You can now create SFX files as the target. To support this option, the values ZIPSFX, ARJSFX, LZHSFX and PAKSFX can be used as the value for the COMPRESSIONTYPE option. Also the /ZIPSFX, /ARJSFX, /LZHSFX and /PAKSFX command-line parameters can now be used. Also added are the ASFCOMPRESSION, LSFCOMPRESSION and ZSFCOMPRESSION options to add extra parameters to the call to the archive-program (when creating SFX files). The /CJS, /CLS and /CZS command-line parameters can be used to over- rule the ASFCOMPRESSION, LSFCOMPRESSION and ZSFCOMPRESSION options. The ZIP2EXEPATH option is added to point to the ZIP2EXE.EXE program; þ MTA will also convert archives inside archives (arc-in-arc) to SFX files (when one of the xxxSFX options is set) so the customer does not need any decompression program to decompress the file; þ Added support for GIFLITE. You can now convert normal GIF-files to the GIFLITE format when the target is set to GIFLITE. When running a GIF->GIFLITE conversion, no normal archives can (or will) be converted so 'MTA *.ZIP /GIFLITE' will have no meaning. To implement this function, the options GIFLITEPATH and GIFLITECOMPRESSION are added as well as the 'GIFLITE' value for the COMPRESSIONTYPE option. The /CGL and /GIFLITE command-line parameters are also added; þ Added support for GIFTEST. You can now test GIF-files (normal and lite) when the target is set to GIF. When running GIF->GIF test no normal archives can (or will) be converted so 'MTA *.ZIP /GIF' will have no meaning. To implement this function, the options GIFTESTPATH and GTECOMPRESSION are added as well as the 'GIF' value for the COMPRESSIONTYPE option. The /CGT and /GIF command- line parameters are also added; þ Added support for JPEG. You can now convert normal GIF-files to the JPEG format when the target is set to GIF2JPG and you can also convert JPEG (.JPG) files back to GIF when the target is set to JPG2GIF. When running a GIF->JPEG or JPEG->GIF conversion, no normal archives can (or will) be converted, so 'MTA *.ARJ /GIF2JPG' will have no meaning. To implement these functions, the options GIF2JPGPATH, JPG2GIFPATH, G2JCOMPRESSION and J2GCOMPRESSION are added, as well as the values GIF2JPG and JPG2GIF for the COMPRESSIONTYPE option. The /C2J, /C2G, /GIF2JPG and /JPG2GIF command-line parameters are also added; þ Added the MAXGIFDIM option to narrow the selection of GIF-files for GIFLITE (unregistered version of GIFLITE); þ Changed the full-screen picklist to include the correct files when one of the GIF-alike options is used in MTA (you will now see the usable GIF/JPG files and not archives); þ Changed the help-display (MTA /?) to reflect the new command-line parameters in MTA 15.01; þ Added logic and support for the new PKZIP (1.93+) deflating algorithm. MTA will detect these files and will convert them if the newer PKZIP/PKUNZIP is used (ZIPVERSION and PKZIPPATH/PKUNZIPPATH set to 1.93/2.04 values) or will report the need for a higher version of PK(UN)ZIP is you still use the 1.10 (or lower); þ /UPGRADE is changed. It can now be used to convert from PKZIP 1.xx type of archives to 2.xx (it was set to convert from 0.xx to 1.xx); þ Added support and logic for the new ARJ (2.30+). MTA will not con- vert backup files in ARJ archives. You can add the SKIPBACKUPS option in MTA.CTL (/SBA command-line parameter) in which case MTA will skip ZOO and ARJ archives that contain backup-versions of files. Also, the extended testing will be skipped if these backup version are available in the archive. With the last change, it is possible to convert ARJ files with backups (and also ZOO for that matter). For ARJ you can choose to do a normal conversion (in which case the backup files are removed) or you can use a special command-line parameter in the ARJCOMPRESSION option, in which case ARJ will rename all backup-versions with a special extension; þ Added a graphical bar when parsing the MTA.CTL; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.02 ³ Bug & minor release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ MTA would report 'duplicate file, extension changed to ...' when a file was checked with the /SIM mode. This could alarm users that saw the message at the remote side. Fixed; þ MTA would report 'Unable to RmDir/MkDir/ChDir to .........' when a file was checked with the /SIM mode. This could alarm users that saw the message at the remote side. Fixed; þ MTA would report 'SIMULATE MODE' and not 'SIMULATE MODE [OVERLAY]' on the main screen when the overlayed version and /SIM were used. Fixed; þ MTA would report 'DATETEST MODE' and not 'DATETEST MODE [OVERLAY]' on the main screen when the overlayed version and /SIM were used. Fixed; þ MTA /? would always cause a GOMTA.BAT in the current directory, even when no changes were made to the note-pad; þ The pick-list would display ALL files when /GIF was used. This is fixed so only .GIF files are showed; þ Some cosmetic changes in the copyrights for the remote display; þ The overlay algorithm is somewhat changed to speed up the parsing of the MTA.CTL alike file; þ Added the RemoteColor option in MTA.CTL to alter the remote colors so they can match the BBS colors. The default colors are the same as the default colors for FileDoor ; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.05 ³ Minor Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ MTA would report 'no compressor available' or something alike, when ZIP files were involved. This could happen when you did not include a ZIP2EXEPath option in MTA.CTL and/or ZIP2EXE.EXE was not found in the DOS-path. This is fixed; þ JPG2GIF would report 'no compressor' available or something alike, when JPG files were involved. This could happen when you did not include a GIFTESTPath option in MTA.CTL and/or GIFTEST.EXE was not found in the DOS-path. This is fixed; þ Under some conditions (errors), the 'bar' would not display the correct values, neither did some of the counters. Also when multiple files were converted and one or more files were invalid, the ratio (percentage) could show incorrect values. This is fixed. MTA will now display counters for invalid files (in red) also and the normal counters, ratio and 'bar' are modified in the correct way; þ Fixed a problem with /P (toggle logging). This was still a toggle but could result in errors. /P can now only be used to switch any current logging to OFF. Using the log-file, must be set in MTA.CTL; þ Added a /NVI command-line option. When used, the virus-scanning (of ALL configured scanners) will be skipped; þ Enhanced the IncludeAVFile option. You can now (optionally) include the AV-number (security env. number) of the filemask. It is now possible to filter the correct files from the ones that are not from the original authors. In the past IncludeAVFiles PKLTE*.EXE would cause PKLT113.EXE to pass (keep its AV, when KeepAV was also set) even when RVH012 was the one that added the AV-code (and that is NOT PKWare). Now you can add the PKW655 code to the option (IncludeAVFile PKLTE*.* PKW655) to force only the keeping of the AV is the file matches PKLTE*.* AND the AV-code is PKW655). Also masks for the AV-code (numeric/alphanumeric masks) can be used; þ Added the AVLogPath option which causes a log-file to be maintained by MTA, that included AV-numbers and their names (like 0000 Robert K Jung or PKW655 PKWare Inc). This file can be maintained by MTL; þ Added several log-records to the normal log that have to do with AV (security env.) coded. The values will only be used when either AVLogPath is set OR at least one or more AV-codes are supplied as parameters for the IncludeAVPath option(s); þ Added the test for the MTAOVRSZ environment variable (only overlay version). If present and containing a numeric value, this value will be used as overlay buffer. Using number above 56000 will cause MTAOVR to run faster but will also cause MTAOVR to use more conven- tional memory; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.06 ³ Minor Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a problem with a runtime error 200 when no valid files could be processed. This is fixed (both overlay and normal version); þ Changed the DoNot option in a way that you can also supply paths. It is now possible to exclude complete directories with the DoNot statement (e.g. DoNot E:\TUP\DONOT\*.*) or partial directories (e.g. DoNot E:\TUP\SOME\DONOT\*.ARJ). This option also comes in handy in combination with the QBBSPaths and RAPaths option(s); þ Added a ChildTouch option so you can use another type of touching for nested archives; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.07 ³ Minor Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed all problems with READONLY, HIDDEN and SYSTEM files. MTA would not copy, delete, rename and/or move these files. Though they will not show up in archives very frequently, some users complained. It was a bug and therefore fixed; þ Added support for those virusscanners that can only work good on complete drives. Scanners like Central Point Software CPAV (1.2 and up) can now be run in batch-mode but will run best when they can scan a full drive. In these cases you should use the SUBST support of MTA (only if you have troubles with it, you SHOULD use this feature, if you HAVE problems, tell me); þ Added examples (tested by me or others) for Dr.Solomon's virus scan (FINDVIRU) and Central Point Software's CPAV (only 1.2 and higher, 1.0 does not return errorlevels and I skipped 1.1, so don't know if this version already returns errorlevels); þ The %D macro in the VirusScanner option was not included in the DOCs (it is now) and there is a much better description of all the macros that you can use in this option (including the new %S and %L macro); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.07 ³ Bug (?) Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Reports got in from users about MTA in a OS/2 2.0á DOS box. MTA is not able to find any file that the user wants to select. This nasty problem *looks* like a problem with OS/2 2.0 because the normal DOS (ALSO IBM PC-DOS 5.0) works fine and the problems involved have to do with DOCUMENTED interrupts and NORMAL Turbo Pascal processing. Thanks to some willin beta-testers I was able to track the problem down. This release contains a work-around that even causes MTA to be somewhat smaller and still giving the same functions. Under OS/2 2.0 DOS boxes it *should* work again (as it did with beta-testers). Look into HELP__ME.MTA for questions about OS/2 2.0á because I don't run this operating system and must rely on the input from users who do ! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.10 ³ Minor Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Several requests from users have been addressed in this release. Also please read the Q&A.MTA file (if it is present inside the archive). þ Fixed another file-selection mask (OS2 problem) in MTA.CH1. Also a couple of OS2 beta-testers have reported me that IBM has addressed the problem and that there is a fix-file in the later OS2 betas that can solve the problem; þ Added the FileIDDiz option. When active, it will store the comment inside this file into memory. This comment can later be added to FILES.BBS (when ADDFilesBBS is on) and/or into the semaphore file for the protocol-driver (StoreComment and /STOCOM, see later); þ StoreSize, StoreName (see later) and StoreComment (see later) can now also work when remote operation is NOT the case. Normally you should use the command-line options (/STOSIZ, /STONAM, /STOCOM) when you run MTA under a door (FileDoor). When you set the options in MTA.CTL they will work also when remote operation is NOT the case (again, unless you toggle the options to OFF with the same command-line parameters as mentioned before); þ StoreSize (/STOSIZ) has been expanded. You can now supply the extension of the file (normally xxxxxxxx.XS1) when the caller needs to access another extension (FileDoor 2.03 will need the extension F$D); þ Added the StoreName (/STONAM) option. It will create a file with old and new names that can be used by a protocol-driver like the FileDoor program. Only FileDoor 3.01 (and up) will work with this semaphore file; þ Added the StoreComment (/STOCOM) option. It will create a file with comments from the header or FILE_ID.DIZ file. It can be used by a protocol driver to overrule (supply) the comment of uploaded files; þ Added SubstOn and SubstOff options to overrule the internal sequence that MTA uses when paging directories to a substituted drive; þ The warning for using a Substituted drive is reversed. You will now get a flashy warning when NOT using a substituted drive; þ Added the %T macro in all exit-calls that can be used to assign different batch-files for different tasks (when running multiple tasks); þ The call to LABEL.COM/EXE has been removed. MTA will now use some internal coding to reset the volume-label to the original label (or a dummy when no label was set), when archives contain volume labels inside; þ The CarryComment option did only allow the first 255 bytes of archive-comments to be carried over to the new archive. This has been enhanced to 64K of comment. There are several special tricks involved to deal with ARJ-comments in this matter because of the 'multi-platform' 'compatible' matter ARJ stores the comment inside the archives (removing part of the CR/LF sequence, resulting in problems when carried over to other archivers); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.20 ³ Major sub-release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Several requests from users have been addressed in this release. Also take some time to sort out the *.TEC files included (if any) that cover special subjects more deeply. þ Fixed a problem for non-registered usage where the MTA-childs would all wait for a certain time (will work on most machines); þ Fixed a problem for non-registered usage where the MTA under remote operations would wait 90 seconds. This is reduced to 10 seconds; þ MTA could be called twice (again within a DOS shell of MTA). This is fixed for most configurations. Only MTA itself can call new copies of MTA (child processing); þ When displaying message remote (BBS under a door like FileDoor ) MTA would not restore the color to the original color before MTA was called. This is fixed; þ When MTA called the FOSSIL to init remote operations, the display could be trashed if the FOSSIL reported itself. MTA will now save and restore the screen before and after the call to the FOSSIL-init routine; þ When running under multi-taskers (Desqview etc.) MTA would still try to change the video-mode if the VIDEOMODE option was used. This is fixed. VIDEOMODE will have no meaning under multi-tasking; þ Fixed a problem (enhancement) where +-comment lines were not moved along with the original file-comment in the FILES.BBS alike file. MTA will now move these +-comment lines; þ GIF files were not touched (and kept their original date). When TouchCur (also the new format, see later), TouchHig or TouchLow is the default, GIF files are touched with the current date (or an added number of days, see new TouchCur format); þ Files that were marked in error (in the first 'TESTING' pass) were not moved to the error-directory. This is fixed; þ OverwriteDuplicates only worked for converted files. It will now also work for moving (with overwrite) to the error-directory and (if needed) the trashcan-directory; þ Some users were reporing problems with the child-call. As a result of the rather short command-line (110 bytes) under DOS, MTA could fail with arc-in-arc files (child calls) because a longer parameter was needed. Now MTA will pass the command-line parameters to the child-MTA thru a file. The file is placed in the same directory where MTA.EXE (MTAOVR.EXE) is placed OR will be placed in the directory that is pointed to by the TEMP environment variable; þ Added routines and coding to work with SQZ archives. MTA already supports this archiver (like PKZIP 1.93a) to make testing rather simple. As a result of this new archiver, the following options are added to MTA.CTL: - CompressionType SQZ - CompressionType SQZSFX - SQZPath - SQZCompression _ SSFCompression Also the following command-line switches are added: - /SQZ - /SQZSFX - /CS - /CSS They work the same as their counterparts for other archive programs like ZIP, ARJ and LZH; þ Added MAXPATHS option with same functions as RAPATHS and QBBSPATHS but for Maxmimus ; þ Enhanced the RAPATHS option to work with RA 0.xx, 1.0x and 1.1x releases of Remote Access . Also CD-rom areas for RA 1.1x releases are detected and ignored by MTA; þ Enhanced the QBBSPATHS option to work with pre 2.75 releases (the MTA 15.10- situation) and 2.75+ releases of QuickBBS . The pre 2.75 format (FLSEARCH.CTL) remains the default for backward compatibility with MTA (will be altered in a later); þ Added the ExcludeDirectory option that can be used to exclude one or more directories that come from RAPaths, QBBSPaths and/or the new MAXPaths option; þ Added an example in MTA.CTL to be used with the virus-scanner (commercial) that is called GOBBLER ; þ Extended the usage of the FILEIDDIZ option. It is now possible to let MTA use one of a set of files (not just only one); þ Relaxed the testing of the FILE_ID.DIZ alike file. In previous releases this caused many warnings. Because of the more dynamic usage of comment-files (extended FILEIDDIZ option), MTA will now store up to 20 lines with each having up to 128 characters, into memory without giving any warnings; þ Added command-line parameter /REMSIM to let MTA create a file that can be TYPE'ed and will show the looks of MTA when it displays messages remote. Can be used to check color-setup; þ Added two remote lines when MTA is not used in SIMULATE mode and will call a child of itself. The childs (arc-in-arc files) will not write remote messages (yet); þ Added the ReplaceComment option and the /REPLCOM toggle to make it possible to overrule existing comments in FILES.BBS alike files with the comment from a comment-file (like FILE_ID.DIZ); þ Changed /C into /TOUCHC, /F into /TOUCHF, /L into /TOUCHL and /H into /TOUCHH for compatibility reasons; þ Added a new parameter to TouchCur (and the /TOUCHC command-line switch) to touch files with the current date PLUS a supplied number of days; þ Enhanced the DelOldFiles option so it can work with a relative number of days. The old format (with a fixed date) is still possible; þ Added VIRUSMASK option to make it possible for MTA to only call the virus-scanners when matching files (extensions) are found; þ Added ALTMTATEMPPath to make it possible for MTA to convert smaller archives on a RAM-disk (or fast drive) and to swap to another drive if there is not enough room on the RAM-disk (or fast drive); þ Added WEEKEXTENSION option to make it possible to convert special BBS-extensions (A10, J23) in a special way (f.i. from A20 which is an ARC file to Z20, which is ZIP); þ Added NOSUBSTTEST option for special environments like networks; þ Added %NP and %NF macros for the SubstOn and SubstOff options. To be used for networks; þ All toggles (/STOSIZ, /STOCOM and /STONAM excluded) can now be coded in two ways. The new format allows to use the /command+ or /command- syntax to switch options on (+) or off (-); þ Revamped the overlayed version. It will now run somewhat faster and still uses around the same amount of memory. Also added a large number of envrionment variables for the overlay mechanism so the user can change the overlay mechanism to suit her/his own needs; þ On general request, all new, changed and deleted options in MTA.CTL can now be found in a special file MTA__xxx.CTL (xxx is the version for which this file is meant). In the next releases I will keep some of the older MTA__xxx.CTL files, so when you skip from version 15.20 to 15.50 you can still use all MTA__xxx.CTL files that were created in-between and you are still able to update your own MTA.CTL in an easy way ! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.21 ³ Bug release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Some new routines caused a number of cosmetic bugs. These are now fixed (registered users!!!). Also registered users should unpack the supplied MTA__REG.EXE (which contains MTAREG.EXE and MTAREG.DOC) and run the MTAREG.EXE file once; þ Fixed a problem in the documentation. VirusMasks was actually called VirusMask (in the DOC and the example MTA.CTL). This must be the VirusMasks option (with an extra 's' at the end); þ Fixed a problem in the documentation. In the FilesBBSFormat option, the example showed an incorrect syntax for I(tem) numbers. If you want to select the 4th item, I4 must be used and not 4I; þ Fixed a problem when a user did not use the MTATempPath option. It is highly recommended that you use this option, but if you didn't, MTA 15.20 would trash the screen and ignore ALL archives. This problem is fixed (and you can still run MTA without the option); þ Added coding for the new SQZ 1.08.2. 1.08.1 is still supported but 1.08.2 files can only be converted by MTA 15.21; þ The needed memory for SQZ is released to a normal amount, also the earlier problem with SQZ's temporary file is removed (fixed in the new SQZ release); þ Added coding to add comments to SQZ files (CarryComment and the AutoDescription option). At this moment, MTA is unable to obtain existing comments from SQZ files; þ Added ReportInvalidFiles option to test filesnames inside archives agains DOS-device names; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.30 ³ Major release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a bug where MTA 15.20 and 15.21 would not recognize ZOO files in the correct way; þ Cleaned the archive detection for some archive types. Could result in strange files (16meg) to be converted; þ Fixed a bug in recursive ARC/HYP usage. This could result in invalid actions (under rare conditions); þ Fixed a bug in extended testing. This would occur when files with special attributes were extracted from the archive; þ Fixed a bug where MTA 15.02 and up would go wild when files with the READONLY, HIDDEN and/or SYSTEM attribute were inside any archive; þ Fixed a bug where /ATL WAS used in the primary MTA but any child of MTA (arc-in-arc) would not notice the /ALT option; þ Fixed a bug in the CARRYCOMMENT logic (type 2). Comments would not be taken from FILES.BBS and would result in wrong descriptions in the new archive (double headers and so on); þ Fixed a bug in the ReportInvalidFiles option. 'Device files' with an extension did not match but DOS still allows them as deviced. This is now fixed. The extension is stripped before the test; þ Under rare conditions, MTA would leave the *.MTA file in the working directory (most noticeable with MTA /?). This is fixed; þ Under some multi-tasking programs and on some 80486 machines, MTA would countdown to slow or to fast. Fixed; þ Touching of GIF files still didn't work. This is now fixed forever; þ The calling sequence of PKZIP would not allow the compress of any READONLY file. This is fixed; þ One archive program (for the risk of getting boring, again it is another 'as designed' feature which can not be overruled in this program) will not allow READONLY/HIDDEN/SYSTEM files to be moved into the target archive. This is fixed with a special trap; þ The documentation (15.21 and lower) would suggest that the SHAREWAIT option could be used without a parameter. In fact it was marked as an error. MTA will now ignore the SHAREWAIT parameter when there is no parameter coded; þ Some items in the log-file (mostly errors) could not be related to any file. This is fixed; þ Fixed a bug where MTA would truncate files-counters in an incorrect manner. '[00]' would be stripped but '[ ]' wouldn't where [ovrlay] would be stripped again (where it should stay inside the comment); þ Fixed a problem where MTA would go crazy if you used TAB's in the MTA.CTL file. Only spaces were allowed but MTA will now also deTAB any TAB-character; þ Fixed a problem with AV'ed files where the AV bit was set but no AV code was present in the archive. Pervious versions of MTA would keep the AV code (without looking at the Include/ExcludeAVFile), this version will drop the AV code; þ Fixed a problem with ZIP files and the AUTODESCRIPTION option. This could result in help-screens and questions from the target archive program; þ Enhanced the REPROTSPECIALATTRIBUTES option, so MTA can either reset the attributes to normal (no extra parameter) or skip the archive (SKIP parameter coded); þ Enhanced the VIRUSSCANNER option. There is now a new parameter that must contain a short description of the type of scanner. It will be displayed in the MTA log-file and remote, when MTA is running under FileDoor (or alike programs). You MUST CONVERT THESE OPTIONS IF YOU UPGRADE FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION ! þ Added the FIXEDCONVERSION option to force one or more files to a fixed target-system, independent of the current target-system setting. Also added the /NFC command-line parameter to toggle this option off; þ Added the FILESCOUNTER option to tell MTA which type of counters (if any) are used in your FILES.BBS-alike files; þ Added the UpdateMSGFiles option which will convert archive names in netmail messages (TICK/FES support) much faster (compared to the UpdateUntypedFiles option) when there are a large number of messages to be processed; þ Added the UpdateMSGFull and UpdateUntypedFull options. When present, MTA will check both filename AND directoryname for a match, BEFORE any updating is done on the untyped or MGS file; þ Added the LeadingSpace option to convert comments from FILE_ID.DIZ t, (and alike) files to a format that can be used by some FILES.BBS list-programs; þ The virus-check programs will now be recorded in the MTA.LOG as well as the resulting errorlevel. You can now check WHICH virus-checker marked the file as infected. On the remote side, the user can that various virus-checkers are called; þ Added the ExcludeAVFile option to make the selection of archives of AV's must be kept more easy. Also bogus AV-codes can now result in removal of files or placement in the error-directory; þ Added the ExcludeFriendlyMark to make it possible to skip files from BBS's who use marking and already have done to the archive what you would normally do yourself; þ Added SkipNewfiles option to tell MTA not to touch files before a certain number of days have passed); þ Added the /NUU, /NUM, /NUT and /NUF command-line parameters to toggle the UpdateUntypedFiles, UpdateMSGFiles, UpdateTICKFiles or UpdateFESFiles to off; þ You can now code the optional parameter SUB on the EXCLUDEFILE option to let MTA also delete all matched files in sub-directories of the archive; þ Added the DefFilesBBSDesc option to change the default description for new files and files without any comment. Descriptions can be different, based on the filename; þ Added the LogThreshold option to let MTA return an errorlevel 100 or 116 when the log-file has grown above a certain threshold; þ Added the /NOOWNMARK command-line parameter that can be used when MTA is running under FileDoor . It will remove any (uploaded) file that has your own mark-string at the end (obvious the file was obtained from your BBS and will be a duplicate with a bogus name); þ If AddFILESBBS is on, MTA will also try to find comments in any DESCRIPT.ION (4Dos ) comment files or ????????.I?? files which come from FileDoor ; þ Added the MakeArc and MakeArcExclude options to convert non-archive files into archives when MTA is converting other archives in the same run. /NMA(-) and /NME(-) can be used to swith either or both the MakeArc and MakeArcExclude option to off; þ Added an example of the calls for the virus scanner F-PROT.EXE in the example for MTA.CTL; þ Added a default configuration file (MTA_EASY.CTL) that can be used as a starting point for non-BBS usage of MTA; þ Changed the SUBST.TEC file; þ Changed the COMMENTS.TEC file; þ Added the ATTRIBUT.TEC file; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.35 ³ Minor release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a big number of strange bugs that were caused by one of the included commercial PASCAL routines. These routines weren't outdated but did work incorrectly. I now have included routines of my own that work OK (after a long period of testing). Anything from hangups to incorrect functions could occur is some special cases. These all apply to every included program; þ Fixed some bugs in the logic where MTA would copy comments from one FILES.BBS to another. This should now work fine; þ Fixed a problem where MTA would not report the name of the type of VIRUS-scan program into the MTA.LOG. The name you have assigned to a certain VIRUS-scanner will now be showed remote and inside the log-file; þ Fixed a problem where MTA would detect arc-in-arc files with the extension being a valid archive. In these cases MTA would try to extract the file (it will still do this) and would MOVE the file to the error-directory (this is removed). These files were thus not included anymore in the target-archive, which was incorrect. Any incorrect file inside a NESTED-archive (arc-in-arc) is now left as it was, independent of any extraction-results; þ Fixed various problems with AV-codes (both ZIP and ARJ). You should consult the AVCODES.TEC file inside the MTA__TEC.EXE archive to read all about the problems with AV-codes; þ Fixed a flaw where MTA would report 'Mask file not found' where it really meant 'No files selected'. This would occur if you use the pick-list to tag files and did not tag any file at all; þ Fixed a problem where MTA would bail out after a number of files. This was only the case when the UPDATEMSGFILES option was active. As it was, MTA kept one file-handle open, causing the file-handles to exhaust. MTA would report various problems, from invalid extractions to invalid files; þ Converted the MTA package to Borland TP 7.0. Users can apply for a very special version of MTA, compiled under StonyBrook Pascal, which can EXECUTE overlays in EMS. This version is still under development but if you need such a version, please send a message to me; þ The pick-list will always scan the directory where it is started and in previous releases this could not be aborted. Now you can hit ESC when it is taking you too long; þ Changed the detection code for PKZIP 2.xx AV-files. These were not reported by earlier MTA versions (only PKZIP 1.93 or higher with included AV-codes). See the AVCODES.TEC file inside MTA__TEC.EXE for details; þ Changed the detection code for SQZ 1083. This version is now able to generate AV-codes which can be detected by MTA. Also the new SQZ1083 structures are detected and handled correctly; þ If you use the /@ command-line option (to use a file with filename to convert), MTA will now also swap to the supplied directory. There is still one flaw (see /@ documentation) of minor interrest; þ Added a new command-line parameter /DEBUG. For details, see the file MTADEBUG.TEC inside the MTA__TEC.EXE file, which is included inside the release archive; þ Added a new option KEEPAVNOCODE to keep AV-codes EVEN if there is no AV-number available or no AV-owner can be extracted. This was the default behaviour of all MTA versions BEFORE 15.30. In 15.30 I did change it in a way that these files were always converted (as if there wasn't any AV-code). If you want the pre 15.30 behaviour again in MTA, you can include this option; þ Added a new option NOCLOAKEDARCHIVES (in combination with the new command-line parameter /NOCLOAK) to detect archives that contain an file inside with the same name as the original archive; þ Added an extra parameter on the MTAERRORPATH option. You can set the parameter if you want MTA to terminate when there are more than the specified number of FILES or BYTES present in the error-directory; þ Added coding to use the ORIGINAL CJPEG.EXE and DJPEG.EXE programs from the Independent JPEG Group . The default is still to use the Handmade Software GIF2JPEG.EXE and JPEG2GIF.EXE programs but with the STANDARDJPEG option set, you can now also use the original programs; þ The options to overrule/add parameters for GIF2JPEG and JPEG2GIF programs, are extended to 80 characters to accomodate the longer parameters needed for CJPEG.EXE and DJPEG.EXE; þ Added the MTV program to the MTA package. MTV is a fast file-finder program with macro options and with detection of archives. The old MTV program (which was a stand-alone package) is now obsolete and replaced with this shape-up version; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.36 ³ Minor release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a *POSSIBLE* problem with the combiination of CARRYCOMMENT (2) and commented archives. The problem arises when the names of your directories are very long. MTA will now swap to a certain directory to reduce the calling-string with at least one of these directories. 16.01 will deal with this problem permanently; þ Fixed the problem where MTA would try to convert files on CD-ROM devices when you used RAPATHS (see later, BBSPaths); þ Added new version of the archive-detection code (OPCFI) to be able to detect and support the new ARJ 2.39d+ archive headers; þ Added *EXPERIMENTAL* coding to work with the new ARJ security codes that are introduced with ARJ 2.39d. The original ARJ239d.EXE file is taken as the example for this code (no other SE-codes available, nor any documentation). The old format (when you use ARJ 2.39c or lower versions) is still supported; þ Removed the RAPaths, QBBSPaths and MAXPaths options from MTA.CTL (they are replaced by the BBSPaths option). þ Added the BBSPaths option as a replacement for the RA/QBBS/MAXPaths options. MTA will now support more BBS types and will also be able to detect CD-ROM areas in the correct way (for RA 1.1 and RA 2.0). Added is the explicit support for RA 1.1x and RA 2.0x. Also the support for SBBS (1.16) is added. Please convert your old MTA.CTL to the new format; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.40 ³ Maintenance Release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a problem with the strange screens (DOS windows) with PKZIP and some others. New routines have been implemented; þ Fixed a problem where sometimes an errormessage from a DOS-process (like the 4DOS move) would stay on the screen; þ Fixed a problem where MTA would copy the FILES.BBS description from the working directory to the error directory but where the entry in FILES.BBS in the working directory was kept. MTA will now also remove the entry from FILES.BBS when the archive is moved (because of an error); þ Removed the extended testing (even if you did set this option) when the source-archive is of the OWN-format; þ Removed the support for FES from MTA. This can be dealt with, with the other available update-options that are available in MTA; þ All limits for all previous options have been reset to UNLIMITED. Any option that could have multiple occurances and had a limit (255 in most cases) can now have an unlimited number of entries. The drawback is, that any entry will take a number of bytes from the CONVENTIONAL memory, so you should plan careful to keep enough conventional memory left. MTA will display the used number of bytes for variables in the status-screen (VAR). If you don't want to have any problems, use the DPMI (protected mode) version of MTA, which will take much more memory for its variables. þ Added a protected-mode (DPMI) version of MTA which extends the available memory in relation to the normal and overlay versions. The DPMI version lacks some options and is somewhat different in other areas. The main differences are: - The test for DOS-devices is different from the DOS/OVERLAY version; - The DOS-shell is now a full-screen DOS window without a special PROMPT (software problem, still working on this one); - The number of handles in the DEBUG-log is removed. These are replaced by question-marks; - Swapping will never occur (faster) because there will always be enough memory for a DOS-shell (if the virtual memory is high enough); The DPMI-version is available in a separate archive; þ Changed the memory display in the status-screen. If the available memory is above 999.999 bytes (only possible in the DPMI version), the screen will show Kbytes. Also the memory that is occupied by the variable is now displayed. This number will vary, based upon the number of option in MTA.CTL and the number of selected files; þ Fixed the ONLYUPGRADE (/UPGRADE) option. When you set this option, MTA will now convert the files from the current system but with a lower version AS WELL AS the files from any other system to the current system; þ Added the HACKLIST option to compare files to convert with a list of unwanted files; þ Added the ArcInArc option (the reversed of NoArcInArc). ArcInArc already was (and still is) the default behaviour of MTA; þ Added the SFXArcInArc option (along with the /SIA and /SAA commands to toggle this option). The option will rule if SFX-alike archives inside the main-archive will also be converted. Please read the description of this option ! þ Added the EXTArcInArc option (along with the /EIA command-line, to toggle this option). The option will rule any archive inside the main-archive, independent of the name and/or extension. Please read the description of this option ! þ Added the AIAInstallFile option to exclude conversion of in-archive files that could belong to a complete package that should be installed; þ Added the LabelDrive option to overrule the drive that is used to extract volume-labels that come from archives. This drive will also be used to obtain the volume label again if the target format will support this option and the source-archive contained a volume label; þ Changed the way MTA handles the labels. Unlike ARJ, PKUNZIP is not able to extract the volume-label to designated drive (like -$c). PKZIP can obtain the label from any drive though. This caused a number of problems with previous versions of MTA (decompress error with errorlevel 11). MTA will now search a volume-label in the source-archive and will label the designated drive itself (it will save the old label, if any). After the decompress and compress (the latter with a volume-label, if any and if possible), MTA will then restore the old label (or will remove the label if the drive did not contain any label); þ Changed the screen-layout for /SIM, /DATE, the overlay version and the new protected-mode (DPMI) version. þ Added PROB to the BBS-paths option. PROB is used when you run MTA in combination with ProBoard ; þ 'Enhanced' MTA to support the ARJ 2.39x/2.41 format and new AV security codes; þ Added the /MAKEARC command-line option. /MAKEARC without parameters will disable the MAKEARC options in MTA.CTL. /MAKEARC{mask} will temporary add this masks to the current MAKEARC options. With this command-line option, it is now also possible to use MTA as a simple shell for any archiver you have; þ Added the SETDBLSPACERATIO option in MTA to force MTA to reset the ratio of all DBLSPACE'ed volumes after each conversion; þ Changed MTA.CH1. You can now view an archive in the picklist is you define a viewer (see below). Also MTA.CH1 will now read the MTA.CTL file to obtain the ViewProgram option and also the MaxGifDim option; þ Added the VIEWPROGRAM option to define a archive-view program that can be called from within MTA.CH1; þ HTScan has been dropped. The author has stopped further development; þ Changed the example MTA.CTL for some new command-lines of the new versions of virus scanners. Dropped HTScan, changed TBScan, CPAV and F-PROT. Thanks to the people who suggested these changes ! And, for the real virus-stressed under us, you can now define a virtually unlimitted number of virus-scanners in MTA.CTL (it WILL take time though); ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.41 ³ Bug-fix release (DPMI only)³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ This release fixes a number of minor and major bugs and drawbacks that were present in the 15.40 (DPMI) release. The normal and the overlayed versions stay at 15.40, because these fixes don't affect these releases ! þ The following features were different in the DPMI version but are now changed to the same behaviour as the NORMAL/OVERLAY versions: - Obtaining labels for ZIP/ARJ files with volume-labels now works with internal routines. LABEL.EXE is not needed anymore; - The shell in MTADPMI.EXE was different in the way that it did not alter the DOS-PROMPT. It does now (as in the NORMAL and the OVERLAY versions); þ Fixed a large number of potential runtime 216 (protection vault errors, same as Exception Error 13 in QEMM ) errors in this version. They were the result of incorrect code in some of the commercial units that were used and are now fixed (thanks for the fast support of the suppliers). One obvious error that was reported frequently was a RT 216 just before the start of the decompression; þ If the DPMI version does not work (contact programmer error), you should verify if you have SHARE.EXE loaded or if you are running under Windows or a OS/2 DOS-BOX. In THESE cases, the file MTADPMI.EXE should be altered to READ-ONLY (as it is in release archive of MTAPxxxx.ZIP). This attribute could have been altered along the way ! If the file IS READ-ONLY, you should contact me, otherwise FIRST try the same run but with the READ-ONLY attribute set ! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.50 ³ Minor release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ MTA would change the carious directories on the various drives when it was converting files (mainly with diskettes). Now MTA will fetch all the directories before the start and will reset all directories back to the original locations at the end of the program. If this routine causes problems, you can add the NoResetDirectories option in MTA.CTL to leave the behaviour of MTA in this matter as it was in previous releases; þ If the user supplied alternate SUBST.EXE routines in the SUBSTOn and SUBSTOff options in MTA.CTL, MTA would still like to detect the SUBST.EXE program, though it would not use it at all. This is fixed. DrDos users and network users should read the SUBST.TEC file in the MTA__TEC.ZIP file inside the release archive; þ If you used DefaultPath options or BBS-specific directories in the BBSPaths option, MTA would not overrule these directories when you supplied /W or /W[dir] on the command-line. This is fixed; þ The FILEDOOR.XS3 alike file with descriptions from the FILEIDDIZ (alike) file, now has a different format, to overcome a problem in FileDoor 3.20. Do NOT use this MTA-release in combination with the StoreComment (/STOCOM command-line) option when you use a FileDoor release BELOW 3.20; þ Added the IgnoreUNZIPWarning option (or /IUW command-line parameter) to ignore errorlevel 1 from PKUNZIP. This will normally be the case when the ZIP-file has a CRC-error but ALSO when the AV does not match anymore. You can still convert these files with this option set, at the risk of invalid archives; þ Added the /ADDMASK command-line parameter to add one or more files to the list of (already) excluded files. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.55 ³ Minor release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed a major bug in the volume-label support. When volume-labels were longer than 8 bytes, MTA would replace them with the label on your temporary drive and the original label was gone; þ Fixed a major bug in the /LVLx command-line options. When /LVLx was used, strange (trashed) directories were shown and lower trees were NOT included. This fixes a lot of the strange behaviour of MTA when executed with /LVLx command-line options; þ Fixed a major bug in the child-support when you supplied parameters on the command-line (like MTA /UC1). In some childs the parameters were not available anymore; þ Fixed a problem where MTA would sometimes hang after the call to an external program (memory trashing); þ When disk-space for the swap-file was exhausted, MTA would give a strange warning. Now MTA will give the correct warning; þ Users of a CD-ROM (like me) were not pleased with MTA 15.50 as it sometimes waited for the CD-ROM to gain speed before MTA terminated. This was caused by a routine that will place all the directories back to the original values but also looked at the CD-ROM as a valid R/W device. This is fixed; þ Fixed the text inside the pick-list. CRTL-H was mentioned as option to de-select everything. This was in fact CTRL-K+H; þ A WarningTime option with a value > 255 would cause an eternal loop inside MTA (when an warning was shown). Fixed; þ The TouchCur +1 (or more) option trashed the time-component of the new file (strange times). This is fixed; þ Some problems with the MTA environment variables are fixed; þ Fixed a problem with SFX-support. In most cases, when you used extra parameters to create the SFX-files, there would be an error because there was no space between these extra options and the file-name; þ MTV would not 'see' a network-drive. MTV will now look at all drives (including SUBST'ed and INVALID) drived; þ Replaced the /P command-line option with the /LOG{+|-} option. You can now also set the log to ON, even when no options are supplied in the MTA.CTL. /LOG- is equivalent to the old /P which is now an obsolete option; þ Added a kind of 'fast search' on the MTA pick-list. You can now use letters to speed-scroll to the correct position; þ Added coding to force the display of warnings to OFF (during this run) by pressing [Q] when a warning is displayed and you want to ignore the remaining warnings; þ Added some extra DEBUG-code to examine executed external programs; þ When logging is on, MTA will now also log the childs. The childs are marked as MCH (and not MTA) to skip them during a MTL run. Added the %C and %* macros for the logging. %C will be replaced by the level of child-call (1,2,3 and so on) and %* will be replaced by a '*' when logged by a child or it will be replaced by ' ' (single space) when logged by the parent; þ Added internal support for the UC2 compression program. Included in MTA, MTM, MTL and MTZ as well as in MTV; þ Replaced the DWC statistics in MTL by UC2. DWC is now counted as 'other'. Conversions from old log-files is automatic; þ Added the UC2Path option to support the UC2 compression program; þ Added the UC2Compression to add extra parameters during calls to the UC2 compression programs. The equivalent command-line option is the /C2 option; þ Enhanced the CompressionType option with the UC2 parameter for the UC2 compression. The equivalent command-line option is the /UC2 option to force the targets to UC2; þ Added the MultiMediaBanner option to include multimedia banners into target UC2 archives. Equivalent command-line option is /NOM{+|-}; þ Added the NoSpecialUC2Video option. If set, UC/UUC will cause the MTA-display to scroll from the screen. If NOT set, special video modes are used by UC/UUC and the information (mono) will stay inside the little MTA/DOS-window; þ /LVLx will now work with a supplied directory. For example: MTA C:\OWN /LVL2 *.* (current directory is E:\ZIP) would convert all files in E:\ZIP and lower and not those in C:\OWN and lower. This is now possible, provided that you include the /LVLx AFTER the directory. Both C:\OWN *.* and C:\OWN\*.* are allowed ! þ Added a SemaphorePath option to set a semaphore file during the execution of MTA. The semaphore filename will include the MTA task number; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.56 ³ Bug fix release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ The new SEMAPHOREPATH option caused an when MTA called itself. It would report that MTA was already running. Fixed; þ Possible division by zero error (runtime error 200) is fixed; þ MTA would not pass the alternate CTL-file to its own childs. Sorry for this nasty bug. Fixed; ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 15.57 ³ Minor and bug-fix release ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ þ Fixed the problems with ArcInArc. This was a very nasty and hard to track problem. Thanks to one of our beta-testers (Felix Mueller from Muenchen) who experimented with the various settings, I was able to pinpoint the problem and to correct it. Normally only users who use the BBSPaths option would have the problems. Fixed; þ Thanks to another beta-tester (Bob R. from the USA) I was able to track another nasty problem. Sometimes files would be removed from the archive (only 1 reporter of problems though). It seemed that the wildcard-routine was invalid in a way that it matched A.REG with a file A.RE (or B.DL with B.DLL). Fixed; þ Fixed problems with OS/2 HPFS and *NIX extended filenames. For OS/2 there seems to be a reversed engineered ZIP-alike program which can produce ZIP files with these files. The internals for these files are NOT correct though because directories cause problems. If a OS/2 ZIP file contains extended filenames (like D:\MYDIR\HELPME_OS2.TEST) MTA will now ignore these archives (warning) and will not try to convert them. These files CAN occur in the pick-list (MTA without a selection) as the pick-list will not look at the filenames of the archive. MTA will; þ Fixed problems with some invalid files inside ARJ archives. If such an archive contains invalid files (files with spaces), MTA will then ignore the archive like with OS/2 HPFS files with extended filenames inside the archive; þ Sometimes files were not deleted from temporary directories (most obvious when using /SIM with archives containing files with READONLY and HIDDEN attributes). This is fixed; þ Many strange errors in the DPMI version were fixed as a result of an update of the 3PV routines I use; þ As I had to rewrite the wildcard selection routine (see bug above) I could add a whole new suite of wildcards. See chapter 3.15 for the complete list of supported wildcards. Almost all selection routines have been altered to allow the new wildcards (including sets, NOT relations and 4DOS compatible wildcards). BE WARNED that the new and much requested wildcards CAN cause strange mismatches when files actually contain these wildcards (like [123] and {az}). The old and conventional wildcards will (hopefully) give you no problems; þ Added the StowbeforeSubst option to make it possible to pass some characters to the keyboard buffer (like Y^M or N^M). Some of these programs (like MAP.EXE) sometimes need an answer. Normally this would cause MTA to halt until the answer was given; þ When you create a GOMTA.BAT file with the help of the online help (MTA /?), MTA will now display that this batch-file is created; þ The little file-list window at the right border of the screen (when MTA is switched in this mode) would already display LHA 1 and LHA 2 for LHA archives and will now also display ZIP 1 and ZIP 2 for the old and new formats of PKZIP (only a cosmetic change, internally MTA already knows the difference between PKZIP V 1.xx and 2.xx formats; þ Added the /WTI{+|-} option to switch the WarningTime value on the command-line to ON or OFF; þ Added the UNZIPCompression option and the related /CU command-line parameter to add extra options to PKUNZIP.EXE. Normally you don't need to add -o as it is impossible within MTA that a file should be overwritten by another file from the same archive. See the notes on ZIP for a special case that could need the -o option; þ Changed the ExcludeFile option in a way that it is now possible to limit the excluded files also on minimum and/or maximum size (both in combination with a filemask). Also added the option to allow one special filemask .ext for which the part at runtime is replaced by MTA with the name of the original archive (eg. T.ZIP containing an advertisement as T.SEC); þ Added an example for the IBM IBMAVSP.EXE virus detection program and added *.OBJ to the example VirusMask option. Thanks to Jan Terpstra of IBM Nederland for the information ! þ Changed much of the internal code and optimized the overlay version a bit; MTA is tested with PKWare PKPAK version 3.61, PKWare ZIP version 1.10, PKWare ZIP version 2.04g, NoGate PAK version 2.51, ARC version 6.02, ZOO version 2.10, DWC version 5.10, LHarc version 1.13c/d/2.13, LARC version 3.33, MDCD version 1.0, ARJ version 2.41a, SQZ version 1.08.3, HYPER version 25, PKLITE release 1.15, GIFLITE version 2.01, JPEG version 1.5 (HandMade), JPEG4386 (JPEG Group) and GIFTEST version 4.0á. For the UC2 support, the UC2, dated 1/1/94 and the 005 pre-releases are used; 5.4 Copyright, Trademarks ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ PKPAK, PKUNPAK, PKZIP and PKUNZIP are trademarks of PKWare Inc. PKLITE is a trademark of PKWare Inc. SQZ is a trademark of Jonas I Hammarberg. UC2 is a trademark of Ad Infinitum Programs (AIP-NL) PAK is a trademark of NoGate Consulting. ARC and XARC are trademarks of SEA inc. ZOO is a trademark of R. Dhesi. DWC is a trademark of Dean W. Cooper LZH and LHarc are trademarks of Yoshi; LZS and LARC are trademarks of K.Miki H.Okumura and K.Masuyama MD is a trademark of Michael Davenport ARJ is a trademark of Robert K. Jung HYPER is a trademark of Peter Sawatzki and Klaus Peter Nischke CRA is a trademark of DISP and donated to public domain DesqView is a trademark of Quarterdeck inc. Windows is a trademark of The Microsoft Corporation DBLSPACE is a trademark of The Microsoft Corporation DrDos is a trademark of Digital Research 4Dos is a trademark of J.P. Software / R.C. Conn and T. Rawson FrontDoor is a trademark of J. Homrichhausen SCAN is a trademark of McAfee Associates TBScan is a trademark of Frans Veldman / ESaSS B.V. VIRX is a trademark of Microcom Software Division CPAV is a trademark of Central Point Software SHEZ is a trademark of Jim Derr FINDVIRU is a trademark of S&S International Dr. Solomon is a trademark of S&S International Gobbler is a trademark of COMRAC F-PROT is a trademark of Fridrik Skulason VALIDATE is a trademark of McAfee Associates Proboard is a trademark of Phillipe Leybaert QuickBBS is a trademark of Pegasus Software Remote Access is a trademark of Continental Software TICK is a trademark of Berry Geller GIFLITE is a trademark of Tsung Hu JPEG 1.5 is a trademark of Handmade Software Inc. JPEG is a trademark of The Independent JPEG Group GIFTEST is a trademark of Dave Navarro Jr. OS/2 is a trademark of International Business Machines (IBM) PC-DOS is a trademark of International Business Machines (IBM) FileDoor is a trademark of Robert W. van Hoeven MTA is written in Borland Pascal 7.0, with help of the Turbo Debugger ³3.0 and makes extensive use of Object Professional 1.22 and OPCFI V ³20.03. Some routines are obtained from TurboPower's Asynch ³Professional 2.00. Borland Pascal is a trademark of Borland International Turbo Debugger is a trademark of Borland International Object Professional is a trademark of TurboPower Inc. Asynch Professional is a trademark of TurboPower Inc. Pascal+ is a trademark of StonyBrook software Inc. OPCFI is a trademark of Robert W. van Hoeven [======================== END OF DOCUMENT ============================]