Chapter 1Chapter 1 FilesFiles The Files selection allows setup of configuration items that are needed by the program. Before doing anything else, you should go through each selection before attempting to use the other functions of the program. 1.1 BBS Options 1.1 BBS Options This selection is used to set up BBS Options that will show up throughout the program. 1.1.1 BBS Name 1.1.1 BBS Name Enter the Name of the BBS that the news files will be generated for this name will be placed into each news file entry. The entries in this field will be switched to mixed case--each word will be capitalized, and the following letters will be lower case. 1.1.2 Codes 1.1.2 Codes Valid entries in this field are the letters A or P. Placing an A in this field will cause the program to generate 2 news files--one in plain ASCII format, the other with ANSI colors. Entering a P will cause a single news file to be generated using PCBoard @X codes. 1.1.3 Date format 1.1.3 Date format The date of news file creation will be entered into the file based on the selection made here. There are six formats that can be used, they are: Table 1.1: Date FormatsTable 1.1 December 3, 1988 3 Dec 88 12-3-88 12/3/88 3/12/88 12/03/88 Select the format that suits your personal preference. 1.1.4 Time format 1.1.4 Time format You may select one of six formats for the date of the news file creation: Table 1.2: Time FormatsTable 1.2 16:30:57.89 16:30:57 4:30 PM 4:30p 4:30 04:30 The format that you use will be based solely on your personal preference. 1.1.5 Send "More" 1.1.5 Send "More" Send More determines if some kind of "More" or "Pause" prompt is sent as part of the news file. The code will only by put in the ANSI file produced. 1.1.6 "More" code 1.1.6 "More" code This is the code used to cause a pause at the end of a news item. if it is left blank, nothing will be sent. 1.2 Conference Configuration 1.2 Conference Configuration This selection will allow you to configure multiple conferences for news generation. Each conference is treated as a separate entity for news generation. The raw news files are kept separated by conference number, and actual files are generated based on information entered here. 1.2.1 Conference Number 1.2.1 Conference Number Enter the number of the conference for which you wish to generate news files. 1.2.2 Conference Name 1.2.2 Conference Name Enter the name of the conference, i.e., Main Board or Science Fiction. Your entry will be converted to mixed case as you type. 1.2.3 SysOp/Conference Host Name 1.2.3 SysOp/Conference Host Name Enter the name of the conference SysOp or host. If the name is the same as the BBS SysOp it may be left blank. This name will be entered in the news files as "from". If the name is the main BBS SysOp, the news will be "From Your SysOp", if a conference-specific name is used, it will be "From Your Host". - 2 - 1.2.4 News Path 1.2.4 News Path This is the path to the news file--it may be a complete drive/path specification, just a path, or if left blank, the news files will be created in the current directory. 1.2.5 News Format 1.2.5 News Format NewsRoom currently produces three separate formats for news files, they are: o Simple (see figure 5.1, page 11) o Printer Paper (see figure 5.2, page 11) o Header (see figure 5.3, 12) Each conference may maintain news in a separate format. Formats may be "mixed and matched" for a BBS. 1.2.6 File Names 1.2.6 File Names This is the name that will be used to generate the actual news file. If you have separate ASCII and ANSI files, enter the names used in the appropriate field. One note for PCBoard SysOps: If you use PCB @X color codes for your news, the name entered in the ASCII Name field will be used to generate the news file. 1.3 Colors 1.3 Colors Use this function to select the colors that will be used by the ANSI files. Colors may be different for each format of news files. 1.3.1 Simple Format 1.3.1 Simple Format Select the colors that will be used when generating news using the Simple format. The actual format style and colors will be displayed when using this function, and colors are updated as selections are made. 1.3.1.1 Text Color 1.3.1.1 Text Color This color will be used to generate any nonspecific text in the news file. 1.3.1.2 BBS Name Color 1.3.1.2 BBS Name Color This color will be used to display the BBS Name. - 3 - 1.3.1.3 SysOp Name Color 1.3.1.3 SysOp Name Color The Sysop's name will be displayed using this color. 1.3.1.4 Title Color 1.3.1.4 Title Color The title of the news file will be displayed using this color. 1.3.1.5 Date/Time Color 1.3.1.5 Date/Time Color Both the date and time fields will be displayed with the color selected here. 1.3.1.6 Seperator Color 1.3.1.6 Seperator Color If the format using a separator line between news items, it will be shown in this color. 1.3.2 Printer Paper Format 1.3.2 Printer Paper Format This function will allow selection of colors used when generating the news file in the Printer Paper format. A representation of the printer paper format will be shown in an adjacent window, and the colors will change in the window as selected. 1.3.2.1 Edge Colors 1.3.2.1 Edge Colors This color will be used on the edges of the printer paper format. 1.3.3 Header Format 1.3.3 Header Format This is the function to use to update the Header format news colors. The format will be displayed in a window, and the colors will be updated as selections are made to aid in finalizing your format. - 4 - Chapter 2Chapter 2 CreateCreate Before using the Create function, you should set up BBS and Conference options in the Files function. When you select this function, you will be presented a window with the conferences you have set up listed in it. If you have set up more conferences than what are shown in the window, the window may be scrolled using the up/down arrow keys. Select the conference you want to generate news for. After selecting the conference, you will be presented with a window asking for the title of this news item. Enter anything that you wish. The contents of this field are not forced to mixed case. When you have entered a title, the program will open an editor window for you to enter your news item. Thee size of the news will be limited by available memory. After finishing in the editor, the edit file will be saved if you did a quit and save, or discarded if you do a simple quit. - 5 - - 6 - Chapter 3Chapter 3 EditEdit As with the Create function, you will be presented with a list of conferences to select from. After selecting, you will be shown all of the news file names pertaining to that conference. Select the name of the file you wish to edit, and that file will be put back in the news editor for you to make changes to. - 7 - - 8 - Chapter 4Chapter 4 ExportExport Once again, as with Create and Edit, you will be shown a list of conferences. Select the conference that you want to build a news file for. The program will locate all news files produced for that conference, and present them to you in a window in groups of 18. You will be shown the name of the file, and the subject of that file. Preceding the file information will be a one character field that will accept entry of "A" (to add the file to the news), "D" (to delete the file) or "I" to ignore the file on the current export. The export function will completely build the news file(s) each time it is run. - 9 - - 10 - Chapter 5Chapter 5 SupportSupport You can obtain support for newsroom from several areas. The best is LMD Group's support conference (Nr. 18) on the Existentialist BBS (801) 226-8310 (USR HST Dual Standard V.32bis v.42bis 14.4k). Your registration includes a a user account on this board. If you need support prior to registering, just call and log on. Join conference 18 and address questions to LMD SUPPORT. Another area to obtain support would be on CompuServe where you can send mail to 73750,2626. One word of caution on taking the CompuServe route--the mail is not checked daily. Bulletin Board News from: Brought to you by your SysOp: nnnnnnnnnnnnnn at hh:mm:ss on mmmmmm dd, yyyy Subject: text text text text text text text text Generated by NewsRoom news manager (C) 1991 LMD Group Figure 5.1: Simple News Format Figure 5.1 ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | Mmmmmm dd, yyyy hh:mm:ss | O ³ ³ O | Bulletin Board News from: Your BBS Name | O ³ ³ O | Brought to you by your SysOp: A Name | O ³ ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | __News Title__ | O ³ ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | text text text text text text text text text text text | O ³ ³ O | text text text text text text text text text text text | O ³ ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | Generated by NewsRoom news manager (C) 1991 LMD Group | O ³ ³ O | | O ³ ³ O | ----------------------------------------------------------- | O ³ Figure 5.2: Printer Paper Format Figure 5.2 *B 86,Header - 11 - ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» ΙΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ» ΝΝΝΝΝΝΉ mmmmmmmmm dd, yyyy ΜΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΉ hh:mm:ss.tt ΜΝΝΝΝΝΝ ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ ΘΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΌ Bulletin Board News from: Issued by: Your (sysop), . Concerning: text text text text text text text Generated by NewsRoom news manager (C) 1991 LMD Group ΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝΝ Figure 5.3: Header News FormatFigure 5.3 - 12 - Appendix AAppendix A Program InformationProgram Information NewsRoom was written specifically for BBS SysOps. Since SysOps are, in our experience, more scrupulous about registering their shareware, we take a markedly different stance with programs aimed at the SysOp market than with other markets. NewsRoom is in no way crippled. Registering will take the "UNREGISTERED DEMO" line out of your news and replace it with a line indicating that it's registered, and do the same thing with the main menu screen. We don't ask you to trust us that the program will work after registration, and we don't put an expiration date on the program. Please propagate our trust in you by registering your copy of NewsRoom after you've tried it. - 13 - - 14 - Appendix BAppendix B Editing KeysEditing Keys Table B.1: Cursor MovementTable B.1 Arrow keys - cursor movement Ctrl-LeftArrow - word left Ctrl-RightArrow - word right Home - beginning of field End - end of line/field Ctrl-Home - beginning of first field Ctrl-End - end of last field Tab - next field Shift-Tab - previous field Table B.2: Inserting and Deleting Table B.2 Ins - toggle insert mode Del - delete character at cursor BackSpace - delete character left Ctrl-BackSpace - delete word left Ctrl-T - delete word right Ctrl-U - delete to end of field Ctrl-Y - delete to end of form Table B.3: Other Editing KeysTable B.3 Enter - process current field Ctrl-Enter - process all fields Ctrl-R - restore field Esc - abort data entry - 15 - - 16 - Appendix CAppendix C Quintessential legalitiesQuintessential legalities C.1 The Copyright C.1 The Copyright This software is the property of the LMD Group. As such, users are granted a limited license for the use of this software. Basically, you are allowed to use the software the same as a book. You are allowed to make archive copies of the software to protect your investment. By saying "as a book", this means that any number of people may use the software, it my be moved from CPU to CPU, but it may not be used at more than one location or on more than a single computer at the same time unless a site license is negotiated. Along with that, goes a few other restrictions: You may not decompile or reverse engineer the software. You may not modify the program's operation in any way. The key file used by the software is non- transferrable. You may not sell or give away or in any other way transfer a key file to another person without express consent of LMD Group. C.2 The Disclaimer C.2 The Disclaimer This software is not warranted to do anything but take up valuable space on your disk, and possibly make you regret you ever heard of it. Any loss of income or productivity is not our fault, although we will lend a sympathetic ear to such problems. C.3 The Acknowledgements C.3 The Acknowledgements We'd like to take a moment here and point out that PCBoard is a product of Clark Development Company and is a registered trademark (aside from being a darn good BBS). - 17 - - 18 - Appendix DAppendix D EditorEditor The editor is an extremely simple text editor. It is brain damaged, and will allow entry of text, quitting the edit, and quitting and saving the edit. Please do not expect more. -----Editing Keys------ Home - Position cursor to column 1 End - Position cursor to last column of current line Ins - toggle insert mode Ctrl K Ctrl K - End and save file Ctrl K Ctrl Q - End and do not save file Esc - End and do not save file - 19 - ContentsContents Chapter 1 Files 1 1.1 BBS Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.1 BBS Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.2 Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.3 Date format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1.4 Time format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.1.5 Send "More" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.1.6 "More" code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Conference Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2.1 Conference Number . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2.2 Conference Name . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2.3 SysOp/Conference Host Name . . . . . . . 2 1.2.4 News Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2.5 News Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2.6 File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.1 Simple Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.1.1 Text Color . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.1.2 BBS Name Color . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.1.3 SysOp Name Color . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.1.4 Title Color . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.1.5 Date/Time Color . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.1.6 Seperator Color . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.2 Printer Paper Format . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.2.1 Edge Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.3.3 Header Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter 2 Create 5 Chapter 3 Edit 7 Chapter 4 Export 9 Chapter 5 Support 11 Appendix A Program Information 13 Appendix B Editing Keys 15 Appendix C Quintessential legalities 17 C.1 The Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 C.2 The Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 C.3 The Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . 17 i Appendix D Editor 19 ii FiguresFigures Figure 5.1: Simple News Format . . . . . . . . . . .11 Figure 5.2: Printer Paper Format . . . . . . . . . .11 Figure 5.3: Header News Format . . . . . . . . . . .12 iii iv TablesTables Table 1.1: Date Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Table 1.2: Time Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Table B.1: Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Table B.2: Inserting and Deleting . . . . . . . . .15 Table B.3: Other Editing Keys . . . . . . . . . . . .15 v