UltraBBS Version History File ----------------------------- Upgrade instructions follow each new version's entry; if you are upgrading past one or more versions, be sure to follow all upgrade steps in order. If you wish to keep your current configuration, etc when upgrading versions, be sure not to overwrite files such as UBBS.DAT, UBBS.REG, .BAT files, the entire FILES directory, etc when unZIPping the new version. Remember to copy the UTI*.EXE, etc files to all directories where they are used/needed! v2.01 (05/28/91) Offline Reading asked user to select scan conferences after a QWK packet download - this is fixed No special upgrade steps required to go from 2.00 to 2.01. v2.00 (05/27/91): (ED)it File Description no longer displays message about only being able to edit files that you have uploaded, if you have enough access to edit ANY file When entering birthdate, the "MM/DD/YY" format is indicated to the user New users can no longer enter blank city/states, phone numbers, etc Text Directory Import from a DOS directory now sets all imported files to current date and time, not date and time in directory file (Alt-+)/(Alt--) commands go in 5 minute increments now when user has more than 15 minutes of total time (M)odify Scan Conferences command implemented for easier editing of scan conferences An overlaid version is now available which requires MUCH less memory, see the documentation for exact memory requirements for both versions Overall major code optimization/compaction - MUCH smaller and faster in many places throughout the BBS New call waiting screen, which includes a display of the modem session for easier debugging of init string problems UltraBBS uses complete direct screen writing and an internal ANSI driver, a BIOS output option is available from SETUP Shelling to DOS is much faster (6)Leave Urgent Messages command removed, (6)Quick FileBase Editor added in its place There are now several different status lines, and they can be toggled between using the function keys 'Extended Text' On/Off has been removed as an option from SETUP Before the (R)/(S) submenu, the read 'modes' that are currently activated are displayed to the user The Yes/No conference scan string update method now displays the conference number in addition to the name The (L)ocate Wildcard, (D)ownload, and (BI)directional Transfer commands formerly would not find a file called "TEST" if you entered the name "TEST." Text file display, questionnaires, offline packet creation, alias file scanning, and the importing of a text file into a message are all much faster Support for 'terse' call logging, where only the user's login and logout line are displayed, instead of the normal detailed information (O)ffline Reading previously did not properly set the 'Echo' flag on imported messages Amount of Upload Disk Space Free was reported wrong at some times previously Entering Chat mode no longer causes keyboard timeout while in FS editor (O)ffline Reading is now supported in local mode (BB)S Listing command implemented (A)bandon Conference now uses the same security level as (J)oin Conferences Message Capture facility implemented, by means of the (C) and (D) commands from the (R)ead submenu Page Bell/Beeps/etc are now correctly restored after returning from door (F) submenu offers (D)ownload, (VI)ew Compressed, and (F)lag Files commands FIDOCVT import sped up Global File Existence checking can now be aborted Addition of user/file record can now be aborted ZIP files can now be viewed from all 'More?' prompts UBBSWHO now tells whether or not each user is paging the sysop The (R)ead submenu now offers a Read (O)nly mode (no updating of last read pointers), a (J)oin Conf command, a (RE)set last read pointer command, and a (YA)Read Messages to You & All command Expert mode prompts are more terse now At end of message, (RR)Read Refer-To Number command is now available User can now download a non-requested file, as long as it is in the FileBase (for use with BiModem, etc) Video mode and cursor characteristics are now handled better by UltraBBS FS Editor supports more key sequences now - see help screen for info Minor bug with (RE)set Message Pointers has been fixed Minor bug with (VI)ew Compressed File has been fixed Minor bugs with (Alt-U) have been fixed Disconnect is handled better & faster, and goodbye screen is not truncated "Snoop" mode implemented where sysop can logon, and phone is left on the hook; when phone rings, sysop is notified and can logoff to have the BBS answer the call; activated via (S) from call waiting screen, or "UBBS S" from command line or batch file Minor bug with removing time from time bank fixed (R)ead and (S)can submenus offer a sw(I)tch command which toggles between the two modes (E)dit of batch queue allowed just before starting transfer SysOp can now define a security level at which users can edit the text of messages that they have entered Free files formerly counted against your DL KB limit; this has been fixed Daily Download KB limit implemented Better space and semicolon stacking allowed on file commands 3 way graphics operation: (N)one, (B)&W ANSI, (C)olor ANSI Files in FileBase w/ size of 0 are now "variable" - actual size of file is checked instead of size in filebase (D), (BI), and (VI) no longer require you to enter the extension of a file if the extension is one of the supported compression types on the BBS "Has Replies" implemented - messages that have had replies to them show a "(Has Replies)" next to their refer-to # Much improved AND/OR searching support Conferences are stored as bits in user file, not bytes, saving much disk space - see UBBSFMTS.TXT for description of new user file format Minor problem with batch downloads fixed (Z N), (L N) commands implemented - they search for text/wildcards through all new files Upload guard time implemented SysOp-defined maximum number of messages for (O) and (D C) implemented Extracting files from a compressed file is now supported MarkMail's "NE:" subject prefix is now supported, to force a message to be non-echo, even in an echo conference Transfers have shorter log entries to make room for full protocol name in log Foreground and background colors are now reset after displaying text file A blank directory ID can no longer be entered in text directory import Shelling to DOS now uses the COMSPEC environment variable UltraBBS now handles blank lines in messages correctly PgDn/PgUp keys are allowed from Conference Parameters screen to toggle between conferences All Packs (Messages, Users, FileBase) are much faster FileBase Global Change of File Paths command is implemented FIDOCVT displays the current conference file that it is processing The duplicate variable $mins/day$ has been removed ($minsperday$ performs the same function) Minor bugs in full screen editor fixed Non-DSZLOG protocols sometimes went into a continuous loop after the transfer - this has been fixed Uploading a .REP file previously did not work when a default transfer protocol was not defined Minor problem with editing security level values in SETUP fixed Information for other programming languages, and the format of UBBS.SYS, are now included in UBBSFMTS.TXT New command 'ADDMINUTES' added to questionnaires When aborting (O), you are now returned to your original conference "Cannot Hang Up Modem" error is now checked for AFTER initializing the modem, to eliminate problems with some modems (E)dit Message at End of Message prompt now allows removing password from password protected messages When fatal error occurs, a quick message is now displayed to the user & he is properly hung up Press (Any Key) prompt now displayed at end of message scan Time bank prompts clarified (due to many users' confusion) Minor problems with (M)ove and (F)orward message commands fixed The $dlsperul$ macro was previously defined two times accidentally - as both the required ratio, and the users' ratio; the required ratio macro has been changed to $dlfsperulf$ Events now work properly on local-only nodes Viewing compressed files is no longer possible from the 'more' prompt when already viewing a compressed file Users no longer get locked out after time expires during a password failure message Global user conference adding/removing previously did not work when (Enter) was used for the high security range parameter - this is fixed In the message scan display, conference names are no longer truncated - 40 spaces are available, enough to fit any full conference name Date of upload is now updated when a file is overwritten When a passworded message is encountered during the preparation of a .QWK packet, it is automatically skipped now instead of prompting for a password Activating UltraBBS after a front-end at a bps rate of 38400 (ie: running "UBBS 38400") previously did not work - this has been fixed In MANAGER, '0' is now a valid value for a user's page length Passwords are no longer echoed to the local screen to provide more consistency and security Problem with conference global changes fixed that caused parameters to disappear from SETUP, and conference information to be erased To upgrade from v1.1x to v2.00, you should update your MMENU* files (or use the new ones that come with the package) and replace your help files with the new ones. You also must delete your current NODEINFO.DAT file. Then run LCONV.EXE on your Limits Data File, UCONV.EXE on your Users File, and DATCONV.EXE on your UBBS.DAT File. Running these programs with no parameters will generate instructions on their proper use. Also, any batch file which uses the program PCBVUPDT.EXE will have to be updated according to the program's new command-line syntax--see the documentation for details. v1.11 (12/15/90): Problem with reading '+' or '-' fixed Message reading routines further optimized (G X) log offs are now logged in caller log as "Logged Off & Exited" Limits Data File is no longer searched for security level 0 info Prompt is completely erased now when viewing non-ANSI extended dir listings Goodbye screen now goes nonstop after time up/keyboard timeout log off Previously, beginning a search (in MANAGER) past the last user or file record caused unpredictable results--now it simply aborts the search The '*' character after the file date, when a file is new to the user, is now in a different color than the date Problem that occurred when user aborted the (O) command is fixed Problem with editing conference strings fixed (cause infinite printing of spaces under certain conditions) FIDOCVT now properly includes tear lines before the origin line No special upgrade steps required to upgrade from v1.10. v1.10 (12/09/90): Heavy documentation improvements New file scans go by the "last file check date" that was set at the beginning of the current call Processing of downloads is not interrupted by carrier loss (Esc) on local keyboard aborts a ring timeout Users are not penalized time for downloading free files (L)ocate now changes "FILE" to "FILE*.*" and "FILE*" to "FILE*.*" Support to answer on 2nd, 3rd, etc ring instead of only the first Caller number implemented (T)hread (+/-) at end of message aborts an (R A) read (10) (Caller Log Search) command is MUCH faster Improvements in event support and event timing When entering a "password failure" message to sysop, it does not count your earlier time used against the time you have to enter the message Offline Reading & Downloading Attached File correctly detects an aborted transfer when using a DSZ.LOG-supporting protocol To upgrade to v1.10 from v1.00, you must add two lines to the BEGINNING of your UBBS.DAT file. This can be done with any standard text editor (EDLIN works). The two lines you should add are: D:\UBBS\FILES\CALLNUM.DAT 0 The first line is the filename of the caller number data file, the second line is the number of rings to skip before answering. Once you add these two lines, you can modify those two parameters as normal in SETUP if you wish. v1.00 CONVERT fix (11/23/90): Fixed problem with the door conversion utility (CONVERT.EXE) No special upgrade steps required. v1.00 (11/22/90): Initial Release