Cardfish Release History file - (in reverse order.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 02/20/91 - version 3.3 Has been running for several weeks now without any problems! Going to go ahead a release it now! 01/31/91 - version 3.3á4 More minor cosmetic changes to the code. Fixed the score_card and bank_breakers files to save and restore the default ANSI colors that you might be displaying on your command line. ie: the DOS type command for displaying the score_card file would change all of your DOS output to yellow! Now will leave it the original color. Neat huh. This really only applies to those of you who use the ANSI.com ansi driver (supports @X color codes). Also made some minor changes to the format of the files to allow for the larger numbers now possible with the new data formats. This does not effect the current data files, only the text files. 01/27/91 - version 3.3á3 Minor change to the logic for the starting money amount. It appears that sometimes the amount defaults to $20 for some unknown reason. Doesn't happen very often. This change only applies if you have registered! 01/25/91 - version 3.3á2 Boy, I can't ever get my dates right! This is 1991, isn't it? Anyway, Skip came up with an interesting problem...if you set the file attribute of the cardfish.sys file the program would give you a run-time error #5. It took us quite a while to figure that one out, but I think that I have it licked now. Anything else that you guys can think of? Decided to double check my bank_breakers limit, and found that I had the decimal off by 2 places. Should work fine now. The actual limit is 9.99e14. 01/23/91 - verison 3.3á1 Ok, time to get on with life! There have been VERY limited problems with 3.3...mostly due to failure to remove old files. I think that we can get on with this one, and that there should be much less trouble with 3.3! SO, on with the BETA testing! Also raised the limit to the Bank_breakers maximum to 999,000,000,000,000! Is that high enough for you? You should enter it as 9.99e12 in your cardfish.cnf file. Please let me know if anyone has any problems! New for 1991 - The Stand BBS now has a "Booster's" conference, where you can get the latest version of my programs, and get the most current information, and support! 01/16/91 - version 3.3à3 Didn't like the location of the account balance so I moved it again. Also turned off the fkeys so that you can't drop to dos. The problem with the drop to dos it repainting the screen, and I have not yet found an easy way to do it. The only problem with this solution, is you can't use F8 to drop a caller off the board anymore. ???? Anyone able to come up with any problems yet???? 01/15/91 - version 3.3à2 Sorry, I had the wrong record type for the registration files. Fixed it, and also modified the variable to be an extended, which means that the upper limit is almost too high to imagine. I have, however, set a limit as to the highest amount that you can practically set the bank breakers at 9.9e12. That should do for now, huh? 01/14/91 - version 3.3à1 Decided to start playing around with large numbers, and this is the start. The money variables are all now reals instead of longints and that may change the way this thing works. Let me know if it is drastic! Also planning to distribute the .EXE compressed with PKLITE. If you have any problems with the .EXE, try unpacking it and then let me know if you have any further problems. I rewrote the registration routines, so everyone will need a new cardfish.sys file. Sorry, but I wanted to make it work a little better, and be able to use the same code in all my programs! 12/07/90 - version 3.2 You would think that after working on this thing for this long that I would learn how this stuff works! Almost immediately after I called and uploaded 3.11 to Strawberry Patch, Terry called me to point out that the blt19 was being shortened to blt1. This was due to my haste in trying to get the runtime errors caused by 3.0 and 3.1 fixed! So. I fixed the code to properly look for the correct series of letters and numbers... ie: A-Z, and 0-9. The code left out 'A', 'Z', '0', and '9'....I left out an = in my boolean comparison. Great huh? I am NEARLY sure that this works correctly now. ANYONE with problems...PLEASE call me and let me know what it is so that I can get it resolved as soon as possible! Oh...planning to start the 'GOLD-MINER' door this weekend if possible! I came up with an idea for a game that I used to play in High-School on the old CBM-PET machines! I hope that I can have it ready to test by the end of the year! Any volunteers? 12/05/90 - version 3.11 Unbelievable. You change one thing because you think that it fixes the bug, and someone else calls you to say that it doesn't work on their board now! I think that I have found all of my problems with this file read...it is safe to leave the comments in...you no longer have to have a space after the file/path name, and I THINK that it all works well. I have spent too much time fixing something that I thought worked. NOW the code will read your cardfish.cnf file, and strip out anything past a space, or CR/LF. The problem on Sleepy Hollow was the comments, and the problem on Researchers was the CR/LF which hung me up because I was looking for a space! Neat huh? I am sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused any of you! Mark 12/03/90 - version 3.1 WOW! Relief! I managed to figure out that the comments in the cardfish.cnf file were causing the problem, so I added a bit of code to strip all the comments out without screwing up the ability to handle paths in the file description! Thanks go to Jim Fouch for helping me get this one figured out! Also fixed a little documentation! The CRC check is enabled if you put Y on the last line...a N or anything else will disable it. I hope that anything else that might come up has been covered. If not...PLEASE call me and let me know about it! 12/02/90 - version 3.01 This is REALLY frustrating! We are having problems getting this thing to work correctly on Sleepy Hollow. Seems that the door comes up with a fatal error upon trying to write the score file. I am attempting to figure out what is different in this version compared to the last! 12/01/90 - version 3.0 - NO áeta! I am going to let this thing go! I think that all the bugs are gone now, and after a year of working on this thing...I want to walk away for a bit and start a new one. I will still support this program as long as there are people who use it! I want to extend my thanks to Terry West of The Strawberry Patch, Jon Badeaux of The Hotline, Joe Sheppard of The Ledge PCBoard, Alex Sandor of 42 BBS III, Jim Dunham of The Hidden BBS, and Skip Taylor of Researcher's BBS.... You guys have been great in your support and help in the development of this door, AND for coming up with some GREAT ideas! I am including this history file in the Cardfish distribution file for the first time with this release, and I hope that it is useful to all those who may use the door. ENJOY! This is Cardfish version 3.0! Mark 11/29/90 - version 3.0á8 - Got a note from Skip that tells me the CRC check won't work on his system...so I added YET another flag to the configuration file... Put a 'Y' on the last line if you want the CRC check enabled... a 'N' if want it disabled! Thanks Skip. I am using a CRC routine that someone else wrote...so I can't guarantee that it will work on all machines. 11/28/90 - version 3.0á7 - Terry had mentioned that I was writing to the bulletin file twice when the caller got above 600,000,000. Thanks Terry. I found my screw up and fixed it! Alex @ 42 BBS III bitched about the amount of time that it took for the deck to shuffle so I sped it up a bit..... The starting money default is now a registered option. If the door is registered, you can set the amount to anything you like (up to 32767), otherwise the door will default to the original $20. Thanks to Alex for that idea....! Anything else guys?? Oh....and the .CNF file will tell you what the NEW registered user only options are....Comments are appreciated! 11/27/90 - version 3.0á6 - There has been a report from The Strawberry Patch that duplicate cards were coming up.... I think that I fixed it and the version 3.0 should be ready to go this weekend. Let me know if anything needs more work! I am going to update the documentation this weekend. I hope to have everything ready to go by Friday! I added a CRC check to make sure that there have been no virus attacks... {grin}... it slows down the initialization of the door, but I hope you don't mind. I can take it out later? Also added a new field....you can set the default amount that the player starts with. i.e.: new players have started with $20 in the past... You can now set it for any amount up to $32767.... Enjoy! 11/27/90 - version 3.0á5 - Just some minor fixes.... So minor I forgot what they were..... Oh well. 11/07/90 - version 3.0á4 - I found more problems....minor things, but they really are worth mentioning since they affect the way you guys need to run the door! Thanks to Terry from the Strawberry Patch..who by the way, has been a big help in testing this time around.... We found some logic errors. The biggest one is in the code for updating the bank_breakers file. I have a problem that is due to the limitations of the compiler that I use. Turbo Pascal 5.5 only allows a longint to be less than 2,147,000,000 or so. If you try to go above that number the value gets mangled. I am trying to find a way around it, but in the mean-time.....I suggest that the upper limit for your bank_breakers be somewhere around 500,000,000. That will keep us out of trouble for now! I am going to add a line to the code that will keep that the limit for now. I added a feature for Jon Badeaux of the Hotline PCBoard....There is now a CARDBYE file that is displayed after the caller exits the door. You can change it to display ANYTHING you wish! I have made mine the BBSAD that I include with the CARDFISH.ZIP. You could also delete the CARDBYE file, and it will not display anything! Let me know what you guys think of these changes! I hope to get all the little things worked out of this code so that I can release it by the first of December....Any comments or suggestions? I think that is it for this time! Enjoy....and keep in touch. I really like the feedback that I have been getting, and hope that you are all satified with the program! Mark 10/29/90 - version 3.0á3 - Well! This is always fun huh? I really like áeta testing since I get a lot of good comments! I added a feature that I have always wanted to add: This may be worthless code, but if the .exe file is attached by a virus, the door will prompt a message that asks the caller to tell the sysop! I also fixed the suit value flag...you can leave the comments in the .cnf file now. I changed the variable to 'string[2]' to make sure that the boolean expression check the 'ON' or 'OF' that was read from the init. Thanks Jim.... I really appreciate the comments from all of my testers! Lets keep up the good work! 10/28/90 - version 3.0á2 - I guess that I forgot to give out some current information! Take a look at the new cardfish.cnf file that I have included in this áeta file. INTERRUPT * This is the driver * FISH * The Bankbreakers file name * This MAY include a path! SCORE * The Score card file name * This MAY include a path also! 10 * The maximum number of names in the score card * 2 * The number of plays allowed per day * ON * Suit value flag ... ON or OFF * 5000000 * The bankbreakers minimum * 6 * The number of Jokers in the deck * Y * Delete the cardfish.dat file? * Jim Dunham left me a note about an error 106 with the old .cnf file! That was caused by the accidental deletion of line 8. It was trying to read a number a bombed because it found a character. I got that figured out now! Thanks Jim!!! The other comment that I have gotten....The play number counter DOES not change IF your security level is greater than 100. I did this so that I could test the program with some ease. If you have a security level >100, Cardfish will allow you to play as many times as you like! I will be removing this line of code as soon as the regular release is ready! I have also gotten many favorable comments about the play for time idea! I will be working on that, BUT I don't know if I will have it ready for version 3.0. I may add that with the version 4.0 rewrite which will be in 'C'.... I hope! 10/27/90 - version 3.0á1 - OK! Lets start this round of áeta testing! I have added several new features for you guys to play with! If you want to delete the cardfish.dat file....the data file for the users...just enter the 'Y' flag for the last line of the cardfish.cnf file! If you leave the line blank it will assume that you do not want the file around on the first of the month! The entry above the last one is the amount needed to break the bank! All you need to do is enter the amount that you wish to have in order for the caller to break the bank! Simple huh? Another option that I am thinking of....is to allow the sysop to set the door up to allow the caller to gamble time away instead of the current setup of dollars! I think that we may have an original idea here! 10/10/90 - version 3.0à3 - I guess that I could start keeping notes again! I have not been keeping track of the changes that I have been making! Oh well! Mostly internal changes right now...clean-up of the code! I learned new tricks, and I hope to have the code run a little faster...not like it was slow before! Recompiled to run with Prokit 3.4á...Seems that Sam has not totally given up the ship! Oh....I fixed a bug that allowed the first caller of the month only one play that day! Also fixed the scorecard display that tells 'top 10' or whatever! If you have fewer than the number you put in the scoremax field...ie: top 10... the scorecard will show that number....'top 6'... etc... I thought that it was too tacky to show 'top 10' if you only have 5 players so far this month! Also move some of the code into units so that I could figure out what the hell was going on...after 2.2 was finished...the program had grown to over 1100 lines. Want to talk about difficulty trying to find a routine?