__ ... \/--------- -------- --------:.:... _) uPLOAD wIZARD! v1.0 (_:..: | tHE vERY fIRST bACKGROUND i l_ uPLOADPROCESSOR fOR pCB _| `----- --------------- -----' by pHAX/bLZ! (c)1997 introduction ---------- - this is the first upload processor for pcboard that works in background while the uploader may continue using the bbs! the time the user has to wait until he gets back to the main prompt reduces to the few seconds pcboard needs to move the uploaded files to their destination directories where they're going to be processed. this can save MINUTES! (ask someone who has ever uploaded 30 x 1.44mb or even more to a bbs running boomlab or zipzap!;)) but this is not the "upload processor for everyone" (like boomlab is;)) due to the fact it requires some more effort and pcb knowledge to be installed properly. - it's worth the time, though! i suggest anyone using the uPLOAD wIZARD to add her/himself to the bLIZZARD! mailing list because this is the very first version to be released to the public and noone can ever be sure that it does not still carry some hidden bugs to be fixed! whatever.. enough for now, jump to line 34 ;) features ------ - þ works under any multitasking environment þ does not decrease system performance þ supports ANY archiver / fileformat þ easy installation þ supports SENTBY.DAT þ damn fast þ optional file_id-stripping disadvantages ----------- - þ no description can be entered for uploads without file_id.diz ('No File_Id inside' will be inserted) requirements ---------- - þ PCBoard 15.3 þ Windows, OS/2, DeskView or any other multitasking operating system installation ---------- - 0) Uninstall Boomlab and any other upload processor you might have installed 1) Copy *.PPE, *.WIZ, *.CFG, *.PCB and CONFIG.* to a directory of your choice (eg.'c:\pcb\ppe\wizard') 2) Create a work-directory on a fast drive. (ramdisk?) Edit WIZARD.CFG and put the path to the workdirectory in line 2. 3) Load PCBText and replace line #575 with !c:\pcb\ppe\wizard\upload.ppe ofcourse change the path if you have installed the wizard to a different directory.. 5) Add PRIVATE.PPE to your cmd.lst(s). 6) Add SENT.PPE to your cmd.lst(s) 7) Install a new local node, launch it and run 'WIZARD.PPE' on it. (WIZARD.PPE must be running or no files will be processed) Don't forget to disable the Keyboard timeout in PCBSetup! Note: WIZARD.PPE should not be launched via PCBOARDM.EXE /PPE:WIZARD.PPE because my beta testers reported a noticable performance loss when running it this way! 8) Delete all lines out of PCBTEST.BAT. (The file itself MUST exist!) ** THE WIZARD WON'T WORK IF PCBTEST.BAT IS MISSING! ** _ __ _.--- this part is for PPL expirienced sysops only! ---._ __ _ 9.0) Load PCBText and replace line #660 with !c:\pcb\ppe\wizard\skip.ppe ofcourse change the path if you have installed the wizard to a different directory.. 9.1) Decompile the UPLOAD.PPE you are using to skip the internal upload dialog and look for the part saying: KBDSTUFF "U FILEN.AME"+chr(13)+"FAKE DESCRIPTION"+chr(13)+chr(13) or similar. Cut off the "FAKE DESCRIPTION"+chr(13)+chr(13) or replace the whole line with a new one saying: KBDSTUFF "U FILEN.AME" NOTE: This only avoids PCBoard from bugging you and your users when you upload a file with an extension PCBoard doesn't know (RAR/MP3/whatever) to enter a description. So if you are not able to do the changes to your UPLOAD.PPE better remove SKIP.PPE from your PCBText and wait for the wIZARD uPLOAD to be released by bLIZZARD! soon, it will support the uPLOAD wIZARD. ** BAD COMBINATION OF UPLOAD.PPE STUFFING A DUMMY DESCRIPTION AND SKIP.PPE DOING THE SAME COULD CAUSE PCBOARD TO LOCK UP OR END UP IN AN ENDLESS LOOP! ** _ __ _ _ __ _ `--- this part was for PPL expirienced sysops only! ---' configuration ----------- - edit WIZARD.CFG with your favorite ascii-editor. how to launch the uPLOAD wIZARD automatically ------------------------------------------- - edit your gen\welcome and insert at the top: !x:\[path]\LAUNCH.PPE is the node on that the wIZARD will be launched. now start this node from whereever you want with 'PCBOARDM.EXE /LOCALON'.. (does not have any influence on the behaviour of the other nodes!) private uploads ------------- - PRIVATE.PPE switches between private and public uploads. if a user wants to upload something private for the sysop he types 'PRIVATE' and all his uploads will be made private to the sysop.. remind your users to type 'PRIVATE' again after their upload(s), otherwise all their following uploads will also go to the private dir. (if you don't need private uploads to yourself or if you have an own conference for private uploads better remove PRIVATE.PPE from your cmd.lst(s) and don't even bother your users with it, it would only lead into confusion!) NOTE: This is not the final solution, private uploads will be handled much better by the next version of the uPLOAD wIZARD! workdirectory ----------- - i'd suggest to use a virtual ramdrive for this directory. sentby.dat / ulby.dat ------------------- - use the provided SENT.PPE or any similar ppe, it is compatible to almost all other sentby string editors. (pinnacle /X sentby ppe by firefly, gilden ulby/sent string editor by pandur, just to mention two) sent.ppe ------ - this toy should be pretty self explinatory, the presets are named PRESET.1 to PRESET.8 and should be located in same directory like SENT.PPE. only the first line of PRESET.x is used, %USER will be replaced by the current users name (uppercase), %User will also be replaced by the current users name (but mixed case) and even %user will be replaced by the current users name (guess what.. yeah right, lowercase!) the interface ----------- - the uPLOAD wIZARD provides a simple node-monitor alike interface. you can scroll the node list up and down using your cursor keys, the user on top of the list can be disconnected using the tabulator key. supported filetypes ----------------- - when a file is uploaded the wizard checks the extension and executes the referring batch. if a file with the extension 'ZIP' is uploaded the wIZARD executes CONFIG.ZIP. i included several examples.. feel free to customize them! if you want the wizard to support the famous 'LTE'-Archiver just create a batch called CONFIG.LTE: --example begin-- @ECHO OFF cd %3 c:\lte\lte xtract %1%2 file_id.diz c:\lte\lte xtract %1%2 *.nfo c:\lte\lte add %1%2 c:\adverts\advert.txt --example end-- %3 is the temporary path where *.nfo and file_id.diz must be extracted to.. %1 is the path to the uploaded file + backslash %2 is the filename of the uploaded file you may do watchalike with the uploaded file, extract everything and do a virusscan, add tons of adverts or whatever.. just be sure that file_id.diz (if included) and all nfo's get to the temporary directory (%3), otherwise the wizard will handle the file as if no file_id/nfos were included. be careful when adding/stripping/converting the file_id.diz, most of the tools for such jobs don't keep the original date-stamp! virusscan / integrity check ------------------------- - if you want to do virusscans / integrity checks on the uploaded files you should tell the wizard about the results! ;) the wizard will mark a file as virusinfected if he finds a file called 'VIRUS.FLG' in his workdirectory. he marks it as defect if there is a file called 'DEFECT.FLG'.. --example begin-- @ECHO OFF cd %3 pkunzip -t %1%2 if errorlevel != 0 echo CORRUPT >%1DEFECT.FLG pkunzip %1%2 f-prot %3 /NOBOOT if errorlevel = 3 echo INFECTED >%1VIRUS.FLG findviru %3 /ANALYZE /NOBOOT /NOPART if errorlevel = 2 echo INFECTED >%1VIRUS.FLG --example end-- this example CONFIG.ZIP would perform an integrity check and f-prot + dr.solomon toolkit virusscan on all uploaded zips.. note: the upload wizard doesn't read VIRUS.FLG and DEFECT.FLG, it just checks whether they exist so 'echo FISH >%1VIRUS.FLG' would cause an virus-alert as well.. note: this example batch might not work under os/2 or plain dos, read the manual about handling the errorlevel / doserror var note: the wizard adds the content of DEFECT.PCB to the description of a defect archive and the content of VIRUS.PCB to the description of an infected archive. group-prefixes and archiver-descriptions -------------------------------------- - the group-prefixes + descriptions are stored in 'GROUPS.CFG'. the archiver extensions + descriptions are stored in 'FORMAT.CFG'. (the archiver descriptions are not used yet but they will be used in future versions so don't delete FORMAT.CFG! [this would bring up an annoying error message anyways]) troubleshooting ------------- - Problem : The upload wizard is running, when a file is uploaded the Wizard doesn't recognize it until i switch to his screen! Solution: Make sure you have configured the wizard's task not to freeze when switched to background! Problem : The uploads are not processed - after upload the mainprompt appears. Solution: Create an empty 'PCBTEST.BAT'! Problem : The file_id of uploaded amiga-archives looks strange! Solution: The wizard does not convert the file_id before reading.. If you extract file_id's from amiga archives/textfiles you must use a tool such as 'ami2pc' by coroner/fairlight to convert the cr/lf's. Problem : My temporary-dir is not empty, even when the wizard is idle! Solution: Make sure the ReadOnly-Flag is removed from all extracted files, either by using the override-attributes-option in your archiver or by adding a line like 'attrib %3\*.* -R -H -S' to your config.xxx. The wizard cannot delete files that have the ReadOnly-flag set. performance --------- - the uPLOAD wIZARD has been tested under Windows95 and OS/2 Merlin. it worked fine and did not disturb / slow down any other running processes! betatesting --------- - the upload wizard has been running for about 12 months on a four node pcboard 15.3 (2 nodes v34 + 2 nodes isdn) under os/2 merlin without problems. future ---- - this is the first release of the uPLOAD wIZARD, ofcourse i will continue developing it but i need your bugreports and suggestions to improve it! this stuff will come with the next versions: * most of the output will be made customizable * private uploads will become easier * plugin interface (ppe coders keep your eyes open!) * the fun-stuff will be improved (group-detection etc) * automessages at virus-alerts and other nonsense will be added :) be sure to add yourself to the bLIZZARD! mailing list to receive all future updates and fixes! disclaimer -------- - this ppe is freeware, you may use it free of charge. you are allowed to edit strings and colors that don't fit your taste as long as the program name and my name remain _unchanged_. you are neither allowed to use parts of the uPLOAD wIZARD in your own productions nor to publish modified versions! note: you will not get support for any problems caused by a modified wizard! feedback ------ - if you discover any bugs/problems or have any suggestions/questions please don't hesitate and write to phax@itookmyprozac.com. credits ----- - * code by pHAX/bLZ! * betatested by SiNUS/fUNK! . _____/\ _ ____________________________ ________________ _ __ _ _:_\ \/// `-' /_._ ! | __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ ________ ! .\ _____/.\_____ /.\ _ /.\ _ /_\ /_\ __/__. | \__ | _/ / | /___/ | /___/ \_ _/______ | |__________|____\_____|__________|__________||________| /________| _¡__ __¡_ : /_ __ _ ____________________________________________/\ ______\ : . /\\/ . my greets fly out to: positive pain, cyz, sinus, the unconsciousness, cocky, maverick, coldacid, ktc, mr4tune, sneaker, horizon, zcm:bitch, snider, mr.snoyd, cicop, xuon, and to die@dumes.au ..