QFront to PCBoard Converter
                            by Dave Blagburn

  This program was written to make life a little easier when you are
switching for QFront to PCBoard as a front end.  It doesn't do
everything, but it does do the bulk of the tedious stuff.  I can make no
promises.  I only know what it is supposed to do and that it performs
correctly on my system.  THIS PROGRAM WILL ONLY WORK WITH QFRONT
VERSIONS 1.16b, 1.17b, AND 1.18b AND PCBOARD 15.22 (may work with QFront
1.15b, but not tested). With those words of warning, let's proceed.

  1. Make a backup of CNAMES, CNAMES.@@@, CNAMES.ADD, USERS, USERS.INF
and PCBNDX.Z.  It's might also be a good idea to make a backup of
everything while you are at it.  Better safe than sorry.

  2. If you have setup FIDO in PCBoard before, run FIDOUTIL and select
the convert option.  The formats have changed a great deal between 15.21
and 15.22.

  3. Run PCBSetup and select option J - Fido Configuration.  Select and
complete the following options:

      A  Fido Configuration
      B  Tosser Configuration
      C  Node Configuration *
      E  EMSI Profile
      F  File & Directory Configuration **
      G  Archiver Configuration
      K  FREQ Restrictions
      M  FREQ Deny Nodelist ***

 *   You will only need this if you have to change the packet type or
     archiver for a node from the default.
**   I recommend using full path names here.
***  There is no QFront equivalent to this option. Sorry. :)

  4. Before exiting PCBSetup, make sure you have full paths to USERS,
CNAMES, and PCBFIDO.CFG.

  5. Did you back those files up yet?

  6. Exit PCBSetup and run QFconfig.  If you don't have QSCAN toss
netmail to PCBoard, set this up.  Use NETMAIL as the area tag. Also set
up the bad mail area with an area tag of BAD.  Make any changes to
nodelist paths or names that is necessary.  Again, use full paths. Save
& Pack.  That is *very* important!

  7. CD to a PCBoard directory containing a PCBOARD.DAT with FIDO
active.  The one you setup in step 3 will do just fine. Copy or move
QFTOPCB.EXE to this directory.

  8. Type QFTOPCB <QFront path> where QFront path is the path to your
QFront directory.  A trailing backslash is optional. Example:
QFTOPCB C:\QFRONT

  9. Now would be a good time to pat yourself on the back for making
those backups.

 10. Run PCBSM and check things out.  The following *should* have been
done:

     All your links have been added into your user database.  This
includes setting the RS flags for selected conferences and last message
pointers.
     All phone number translations, magic names (see note 1), FREQ paths,
nodelist paths, origins (see note 2), FIDO echo areatags (includeing
passthru areas), and your FIDO addresses (see note 3) have been
transfered to PCBoard format and placed in the correct directories.

Notes:
1. QFront would allow up to five paths with 80 characters each for each
magic name.  PCBoard is limited to one path with 65 characters.  Only
the first path is copied over and truncated if necessary.

2. I did what I could to match PCBoard conferences to origin lines. You
might want to make sure the right origin is in each PCBoard conference.
If you skipped around a bit when you setup the conferences, some may not
be listed.  This is because of the different methods that QFront and
PCBoard use to index origin lines.  When you first enter PCBSetup and
look at the conferences, you may not see the default origin line listed.
There is an index I did not set.  Don't worry, PCBSetup will take care
of it.

3. Agian, I did what I could with matching AKA's to conferences.  The
same applies here as with the origin lines.  Check carefully.

4. I could have made it a bit smarter on the nodelist paths.  If you
move them from the your QFront directory, be sure to change the paths in
PCBSetup.

Recommedations:
1. Bring all nodes down.  I didn't use any sharing when accessing files.
2. This program is also a memory hog.  Try to have 450k free before
running QFTOPCB.
3.  Make a backup of anything you don't want to lose.  Again, I can only
say that it works on my setup.  I ran this with over 700 fido echos, 30
AKA's, 100 links, 68 phone translations and 5 nodelists.  It worked.
Took a while, but it worked!
4.  Wear a condom.

  I can be reached at my BBS (904) 458-0982 (1:3612/386), in the PCBNET
or PCBOARD conferences on FIDO, or E-mail to thespook@clark.net.