ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º DLCounter - Written by Gary Bouchard º º SysOp - The Computer Store BBS º º St. Augustine, Florida (904)794-0063 BBS º º Copyright(c) 1990,91....All Rights Reserved º º Released August 4, 1990 Modified March 29, 1991 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ DLCounter History File in Reverse Order - July 5, 1991 Ver 1.67 Corrected an error I discovered while playing with Lantastic. Output to the callers log will now be based on the pcboard.dat file you pass to the program. For node specific output, the DLC output will report to the correct callers log. - March 29, 1991 Ver 1.66 There is now included in this release a 286/386 specific version of DLC. If you you have a 286/386 processor, then use the new files. Just delete the ones you do not use... The External Count program is no longer supported (because it isn't needed), and all references will be deleted in the near future.. - March 27, 1991 Ver 1.65 Tim Neff reported problems with the program chopping off the header, and mysteriously deleting files after updates. After looking at his output I discovered that he is using WGM-DMS33 for his headers, which place @X## codes at the first position of each header line to colorize. I was filtering the @ symbol in the first position while looking for the first filename. This was causing the trouble. I removed that symbol from the filter, and it appears to be processing normally now. I will get a better feel for it when I recieve my upgrade for WGM-DMS as I am still on ver3.2. Since I have removed this symbol from the filter, please try not to name any of your files to begin with "@" or that could foul things up a bit. I found out that I had the Stack checking turned off in the compiler, and the stack was overflowing and I did not know it. This was causing the program to lockup in certain cases. I may have also been causing a hardware failure message to appear. I increased the stack space to 24k. If anyone finds a simular problem, let me know. I may need to increase it. If you should report any such failures, please make note of the size of your download.txt file for me, so I can get an idea whats out there! I changed the logic in the program to only take bytes of memory while compiling the database list, *IF* the file actually exists. I was previously adding the record to the list first, then going to verify it's existance. That should cut down considerably on the amount of memory needed to operate on large DOWNLOAD.TXT files. I added a new parameter to the program called DISKFILEDATE. If you have this parameter active in your configuration file, when DLCounter looks at a file description, it will also check the diskfiles date. If they are different, the program will use the diskfile date in the description. If you exclude or comment out that option the program will use whatever date is currently in the DIRxx Description. I also brought DLCDB, the Debug program update to date with the current file structure of the database file. - March 22, 1991 Ver 1.64 Minor correction to a string variable that was too short. BBS Support has been restored. You may now contact my BBS via the number listed above for continued support. Yippie!!! - March 13, 1991 Ver 1.63 Received another call about the program locking up as soon as you called the program. Came to find out that the user was on an XT 8088 type machine. I generated the code using 286 specific instructions, therefore it would not run on XT's. I didn't think anybody was runing there boards on an XT. At any rate this is just a recompile with the 286 aspect turned off. If this does not affect you, then you do not need to change versions. - March 12, 1991 Ver 1.62 I received a call about using DLCounter with WGMDMS version 33s. This program now uses PCB color @X## macros inside the headers. DLCounter was duplicating the header information, but truncating anything past 80 characters wide, which chopped off some of your header file. This was corrected. Apparently there are some boards that kill their Download.TXT file every so often. This creates a problem with the operation of this program, as compilation of the download count is done using the download.txt file. I have a change in the works that will involve a fix to this problem, and at the same time improve the performance of the program. - February 22, 1991 Ver 1.61 I am sure you noticed that I skipped a version number if you care... I accidently packed up and released a fix without updating the history file. This release corrects a problem reported that made duplicate lines if the entry was the very last one in a file. I was just writing the line twice for some reason. I made a couple of changes internally to some routines, to help speed the program up. Made a minor adjustment in the BLT/Display file generation to be a little faster, but I think it still needs some improvement. - February 10, 1991 Ver 1.59 Another reported problem by Pepper Meyers revealed that somewhere along the line I messed up the parsing of the DIRxx descriptions in the conferences, where it would consider a file description complete if it found the line "DOWNLOADED -> x Time(s)". Well the program was *ASSUMING* that this would be the last line of a description. Apparently someone might edit the description with additional information after the last downloaded line, and since it thought it was finished, it would move on to the next file, thus truncating the description or leaving off lines. I think I have corrected this. What I need to do is rethink the logic in counting secondary lines of a file description, and insert my line after the previous ones, all the while looking for a download count entry made previously, so it could be updated. If anyone has any suggestions they would be appreciated. In 1.57 I added a MIN_DLCOUNT variable, but the comparison routine to determine if a file met the requirement was incorrect...Fixed. - February 7, 1991 Ver 1.58 Tim Neff reported a problem with DLC that had to do with the program deleting entries if you were not using the "/NEW" switch, but worked fine with it. Looking at the code I discovered that the logic I was using to determine if the database file needed to be rebuilt or completely re-created was out of whack! I corrected this so that the program will now look for the existence if the database file first. If it cannot locate the file in the location you specified in the configuration it will recreate the file, and the program will note this at the top of the screen with a message stating that the DATABASE RECORDS are being RECREATED. If the program finds the database file, but if the date is less than the system date, the program will show that it is updating the database records. During the UPDATE process, the program will still read through your Download.txt file, but will only update files downloaded since the last successful execution of DLCounter. After all of that I was still not able to duplicate the difficulty that Tim Neff was having. If anyone else is experiencing this, please let me know so I can try to establish a pattern. The program was recompiled under Turbo Pascal 6.0, but I have not completed running it through the Turbo Profiler to optimize the code. So far, it appears that I did not do too bad with the logic according to the statistics produced by the profiler... but I guess we will see about that! Continuing slowly on the manual...soon... real soon! - January 25, 1991 Ver 1.57 I added a feature that allows the user the define the minimum download count to qualify for updating a DIR text record. The default of course is 1, but a new keyword can be placed into the configuration file along with the number the user chooses. The keyword is "MIN_DLCOUNT". This is a different keyword from MIN_DOWNLOAD, which is used in the BLT Display file generation. Note the sample configuration enclosed in the zip file for the explanation. A couple of cosmetic changes where made, and I shortened the record length of the database file that is generated by removing information that was not necessary. I am also working on updating the documentation, which will follow the standard established by others of being produced in WordPerfect 5.1 and will be available to all users for a fee of $8.50 to cover the cost of mailing and paper. This will be a professional style manual. I also changed DLCDB (The debugging program) to follow the record format produced by DLCount. I also fixed that lingering problem of deleting the DIRxx.$$$ temporary work file if the user pressed the ESC key to abort processing. DLCounter now correctly deletes this file, and ends. I forgot to mention that a couple of versions ago, I fixed a problem where DLCounter was not updating records if the filename started with a non alphabetic symbol (i.e @,#,$,&,). I was looking for A-Z or 1-9 for filenames in the first y - December 27, 1990 Ver 1.56 Pat Monk reported a problem with DLCounter not processing the DOWNLOAD.TXT file that had less than 30 or so records. The error was a Divide by Zero error. That error was generated when calculating the growth of the scale, and I had hardcoded the formula, rather than put it into variable format. I tested the correction by taking out all but one record from DOWNLOAD.TXT and running the program, without a hitch. Turbo Pascal Version 6 now has a Profiler program that will help me to optimize the code. I will begin this once I receive my upgrade, so watch for updates. I need to know if anyone is using the COUNT program that is included in the ZIP file. COUNT is a standalone program that will create your database file for you, if you have one too large for DLCOUNT to handle because of memory. If I do not get any responses I will discontinue that program. If you require assistance with the program or have any suggestions you can call me at my voice line (904)797-1713 or (800)424-4337. - December 20, 1990 Ver 1.55 Ron Herrings previous report about not being able to process conferences above 40 was true, but he had also reported that the program would not process Directory File Listings greater than 39. This again was because I had the upper limit of the array set to 40. I wasn't thinking about boards that might have more than 40 DIR Files. This has been corrected. You will also notice that the "á" is gone from the version number. I figured that it has gone thru enough beta testing, and is fairly stable now. I still do not have my BBS up again yet, but you may still call me for support at the number listed below. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see the program do, please let me know, and I'll try to incorporate them in future releases. Updated documentation will be put into the next maintenance release, so in the mean time please consult the history file, docs and config files for operational changes. - September 18, 1990 Ver 1.54á Ron Herring reported that he could not process conferences above 40, which was quite true...I had the conference array set to a max value of 40. No problem! I changed the array max to 100. If someone needs more than this, please let me know. I also fixed the positions that some of the secondary lines where ending up on if they were not in the same place as the PIPE variable used in the program. In other words, the program should put your secondary lines exactly where you set them to be, rather than lining them up with the PIPE variable that I was doing before. Sorry guys! Due to financial difficulties, I find it necessary to temporarily shut down my BBS until I get things caught up. Long Distance charges can really drag you down sometimes. My voice number where you can reach me during the day is 1-800-424-4337. This is in Cincinatti, Ohio. Just ask for me. I cannot return calls, so if I am not there, do not leave a message...please call back. I will still support the DLCounter program via telephone until I can get the BBS back up. I have been a PCBoard SysOp since version 10.0, so I am not a fly by night board! If you have any difficulties with the program, please call me, and I'll do my best to address them. - September 11, 1990 Ver 1.53á Some problems reported from SysOps who do not necessarily use position 32 of the secondary line for the start of the file descriptions. Previously hardcoded, you may now specify what column you wish the '|' symbol to be place in your file descriptions secondary lines. If you recall, PCBoard uses this character as a formatting guide in placing additional lines in file descriptions. Pcboard does not show this character to the caller. In order to specify your own column position, use the 'PIPE' variable in your configuration file to tell DLCounter what column to place the '|' (pipe symbol). ; Example; PIPE 32 ; If the 'PIPE' command is not found in the configuration file the program will default to column 32, as it always has. If you are CHANGING the position, *FIRST* run DLCounter with the /CLEAR /NEW command line switches to remove the previous DLCounter entries, then change the 'PIPE' value, and re-run the program. - September 8, 1990 Ver 1.52á In order to remain consistent with PCBoard(tm) macro conventions, I have changed the program to look for the @USERCOUNT@ macro in UPPER CASE characters. Please check your config files, and be sure that you change the macro to upper case letters. Any further macros added to the program in the future will be created in this fashion. - September 4, 1990 Ver 1.51á A user reported that the program was adding extra lines to the beginning of the DIRxx file if there was no header portion. I checked that out, and sure enough!, Fixed...(I think!)..let me know if you encounter any such circumstances. - September 2, 1990 Ver 1.50á Note: Major revision change. I added the capability for the user to define his/her own tagline to be inserted into the DIRxx file. Within the configuration file there is now a parameter called "USERSTRING". This parameter allows you to assign a string of up to 40 characters to the variable, that is inserted into the DIRxx file. The "USERSTRING" has a replaceable macro type option that will allow you to define where in "USERSTRING" you want your count to be. The replaceable macro parameter is "@usercount@". Notice that the parameter is in lower case letters...please define it that way in your USERSTRING or it will not get replaced with the count in your DIRxx file listing. An example would be like so; USERSTRING Accessed: [@usercount@] Time(s) -= OR =- USERSTRING This file has been downloaded @usercount@ Times(s) The "@" (at sign) surrounding the parameter is required, so that the program may find the parameter within your USERSTRING. Do not place quotes around the text unless you specifically want the quote marks to show up in your DIRxx file entry. If you leave USERSTRING blank, or leave it out of your configuration file, the program will default to the standard entry that was present before; Downloaded -> xx Time(s) . I strongly recommend that if you change your USERSTRING tagline, that you FIRST use the "/CLEAR /NEW" parameter to clear your entries, so as not to cause any problems, then replace your USERSTRING. I have arbitrarily changed the tagline several times in testing with no ill effects, NOT using the "/CLEAR", because I use the color highlighting, and the program looks for either the first word on the line or the "@" character (which is part of the @X## color macro) for reference. Because of the way the line is checked for the update routine, *DO NOT* place the @usercount@ as the first words on the line. If you did, and this number was to change, it would no longer prove to be a true match, and would insert ANOTHER line with the new count rather than replacing the old one. I also added a way to end the program besides Control break...If you press the Escape Key during operation, the program will abort, and return you to the DOS prompt. Be aware that if you abort, the temporary file DIRxx.$$$ will remain in your directory, but the original DIRxx file will remain intact. You can also abort the program during the creation of the Database file. I have not updated the documentation with these recent improvements, but I will when I get some time.. Keep an eye on this HISTORY file for changes to the program. Releases no longer supported are as follows; - August 31, 1990 Ver 1.33á - August 29, 1990 Ver 1.32á - August 28, 1990 Ver 1.31á - August 27, 1990 Ver 1.30á - August 26, 1990 Ver 1.29á - August 25, 1990 Ver 1.28á - August 23, 1990 Ver 1.27á - August 22, 1990 Ver 1.26á - August 19, 1990 Ver 1.25á - August 18, 1990 Ver 1.24á - August 17, 1990 Ver 1.23á - August 15, 1990 Ver 1.22á - August 12, 1990 Ver 1.21á - August 9, 1990 Ver 1.10á - August 8, 1990 Ver 1.02á - August 6, 1990 Ver 1.01á - August 4, 1990 Ver 1.00á Initial release for wide beta testing.