Post by Pinacolada on Jan 25, 2007 15:45:33 GMT -5
This has some stuff from the sysop's perspective and the user perspective. I apologize if I have not separated the two very well, or repeated certain things. After I format the post properly, I'll post it on LV426 and Riktronics.
Image notes:
============
New user profile questions should be in an external file, and should be skippable by the user, unless flagged as required by the sysop.
See if I can go through old email and get ahold of Karen Leary, Dr. Bob's wife, who found my site a few years back and offered the complete text of the Image Programmer's Reference Guide.
When any type of file read is encountered, display the filename in the 16-character bottom window that normally holds the user's computer type, chat reason, etc. When the file read is done, restore the previous text which was there.
In the manual, under &,52,x section: Include a bit more info. It reads status into a%, I believe. Include Fred Dart's example:
10 &,52,0,3:&"Sysop is ":b$="Out":if a% then b$="In"
20 &"£$b[f6]"
Image Editor should mail the user any text entered in the editor when the user drops carrier. (Centipede does this)
Should use "e.errlog" routine to notify us of mishaps with the system. For example, if there is a typo in the "new user questions" file (format to be determined), flag it.
Include a question editor (for Image 2.0, include this utility in IM system) and have the ability for it to check the validity (both at runtime and in the editor) of a "pre-made" file created by other sysops, or one that the BBS sysop has created. Perhaps stea... er, "borrow" the format from CNet 128.
Also, like CNet 128, include a "check for missing config files" program, run appropriate setup module if requested. It was called prg.Something, I forget what now. Diagnose??
T command (Time): Make this figure out how long you've been on the system in years/weeks/days/hours/minutes/seconds. (Just to account for all possibilities, however outlandish) I guess you could take tr%, divide by 60, but does the system store when you logged on?
Also just for fun display the moon phase and type (from the Farmer's Almanac: Harvest Moon, Cold Moon, etc.)
In the Join mod (if we make one, at least for Image 1.2(a) with TurboRels), use bitwise operators, to save space. The original JN$ was 30 zeroes. We can multiply that by 8, for a total of 240 subs/UD's (have it split into 2 halves, 120 each?) ... Question is (for me at least, Mr. Math Numbskull, how to indiviually address the single bits within groups of 8...
Quoting, from someone on Riktronics BBS:
Qouting might be possible with IMAGE,
but you wouldnt want to do it all in
RAM, You just simply don;
t have enough once the BBS is loaded.
Perhaps you could dump the current
response to a temp SEQ file, then read
it in the editor line by line, the
lines you responded Y to, would be
sent back to the editor, then you would
just add whatever text you wanted to
end the quote, and dumped the user back
to the editor.
That's not a bad idea. I've all but given up on making an extended command in the editor. I at least found out extended commands look for the raw PETSCII value +128 (apparently) directly from the "get a character from RS232" routine. I think around line 1610 in IM...
Perhaps a better way would be to implement a " ("quote", "Q" is taken) option at the End-of-Bulletin prompt. This way, you (I assume) still have the text in the TT$() array, and that would alleviate a whole lot of unknowns.
EM ideas:
Carbon copy a message to the sub-boards, or another user
File attachments
directory listings should calculate blocks used total and # of files in directory listing
(not sure anymore what this relates to)
VF ideas:
new users file needs to use lfn #3 so if you view user stats, you don't need to re-skim through the SEQ file. As it skims through each chunk of the file, print a dot on the screen to let you know it's working.
display # of blocks for these files, perhaps a "partway through %" when reading feedback, etc?
new user login:
mention the user gets full access to the system on the first call. gone are the days of needing to be validated.
SMTP for Internet email:
dial 5555555 (aliased in Jim Brain's tcpser)
send HELO
read echo from server (HELO)
hangs up when BYE is received
Image Term:
Main menu needs hotkeys to quickly access features like upload/download
Capture color/video RAM + cursor position into a block of memory so you can restore it when re-entering term mode, like NovaTerm. Should use "Swapper" ML routine to do this.
Ability to buffer text (or perhaps just log it to a disk file) under the current date/time? would be great for in-BBS chats, too
(Maybe by redefining the printer device # to 8 in v1.2, you can apparently change the printer device # in v2.0)
News items should have a range of dates they'll display.
+.cmd clock should have &,18,0 to turn off screen mask, then restore it when time set/exit
AutoMaint looped endlessly during the last day of the month (10/31/05). Had to reboot, went through it again, then stopped. I've had this happen before, is there a pattern to it being the last day of the month?
Would be nice to have a ." dot command for Quoting messages.
New user signup - ask email address, explain why we're gather birthday info (for others to see and to congratulate you for living another year, also security purposes, possibly)
Handle Daylight Savings Time switchover, reset clock on CMD device(s).
Linefeeds/40-80 col settings at login need ? menu explanations
Bookmark interesting posts so you can find them easily again. This is separate from Joining a sub-board to skip less-read/disliked forums. That or a "find posts" option.
Have a "ring buffer" (not really the correct terminology though) to load the next 60 posts into structure memory when reading past the first 60... this'd get around the 60 posts per sub limit?
Backing up old posts to the text files section would be nice.
Move posts to different subs. Have J act as a "Jump" command at end-of-bulletin if that's the case. Set a flag that the post has been moved, offer up some explanatory message:
"Sorry, this message has moved to SIG x, sub-board y. Type 'J' to rejoin the discussion."
And you could just stuff U$ (command stacking string) with "SGx,y" when J was selected...
+ and - should move forward/backward in thread.
1/22/2007:
Currently, prompt mode must be enabled in order to (R)eply at end-of-bulletin prompt. Perhaps a "Wx" command to "W"rite a response to post #x?
Write system timestamp every x minutes (configurable) to a system file. That way, upon power failure or no RTC at startup, system knows roughly what time it was. Maybe network automaint can handshake about time if other system is running Image 2.0 and thus knows which time zone it is in. System with unknown time could then send a TIME request/packet during initial <ctrl-a> NetMaint handshaking... who knows.
System should do device discovery at startup ala CMD's article in Commodore World issue. Check for RTC's in SmartMouse, CMD FD/HD/RL, Watchdog chips. What are other RTC's?
Lightbar options:
CMD and LtK
One of the light bar slots should be utilized as CMD device dependant, and enable use of subdirectories on devices that support it. No more of this flat file listing in separate partitions.
2 mhz mode (128 in 64 mode) -> CPU <- SuperCPU in 20 mhz mode
Image notes:
============
New user profile questions should be in an external file, and should be skippable by the user, unless flagged as required by the sysop.
See if I can go through old email and get ahold of Karen Leary, Dr. Bob's wife, who found my site a few years back and offered the complete text of the Image Programmer's Reference Guide.
When any type of file read is encountered, display the filename in the 16-character bottom window that normally holds the user's computer type, chat reason, etc. When the file read is done, restore the previous text which was there.
In the manual, under &,52,x section: Include a bit more info. It reads status into a%, I believe. Include Fred Dart's example:
10 &,52,0,3:&"Sysop is ":b$="Out":if a% then b$="In"
20 &"£$b[f6]"
Image Editor should mail the user any text entered in the editor when the user drops carrier. (Centipede does this)
Should use "e.errlog" routine to notify us of mishaps with the system. For example, if there is a typo in the "new user questions" file (format to be determined), flag it.
Include a question editor (for Image 2.0, include this utility in IM system) and have the ability for it to check the validity (both at runtime and in the editor) of a "pre-made" file created by other sysops, or one that the BBS sysop has created. Perhaps stea... er, "borrow" the format from CNet 128.
Also, like CNet 128, include a "check for missing config files" program, run appropriate setup module if requested. It was called prg.Something, I forget what now. Diagnose??
T command (Time): Make this figure out how long you've been on the system in years/weeks/days/hours/minutes/seconds. (Just to account for all possibilities, however outlandish) I guess you could take tr%, divide by 60, but does the system store when you logged on?
Also just for fun display the moon phase and type (from the Farmer's Almanac: Harvest Moon, Cold Moon, etc.)
In the Join mod (if we make one, at least for Image 1.2(a) with TurboRels), use bitwise operators, to save space. The original JN$ was 30 zeroes. We can multiply that by 8, for a total of 240 subs/UD's (have it split into 2 halves, 120 each?) ... Question is (for me at least, Mr. Math Numbskull, how to indiviually address the single bits within groups of 8...
Quoting, from someone on Riktronics BBS:
Qouting might be possible with IMAGE,
but you wouldnt want to do it all in
RAM, You just simply don;
t have enough once the BBS is loaded.
Perhaps you could dump the current
response to a temp SEQ file, then read
it in the editor line by line, the
lines you responded Y to, would be
sent back to the editor, then you would
just add whatever text you wanted to
end the quote, and dumped the user back
to the editor.
That's not a bad idea. I've all but given up on making an extended command in the editor. I at least found out extended commands look for the raw PETSCII value +128 (apparently) directly from the "get a character from RS232" routine. I think around line 1610 in IM...
Perhaps a better way would be to implement a " ("quote", "Q" is taken) option at the End-of-Bulletin prompt. This way, you (I assume) still have the text in the TT$() array, and that would alleviate a whole lot of unknowns.
EM ideas:
Carbon copy a message to the sub-boards, or another user
File attachments
directory listings should calculate blocks used total and # of files in directory listing
(not sure anymore what this relates to)
VF ideas:
new users file needs to use lfn #3 so if you view user stats, you don't need to re-skim through the SEQ file. As it skims through each chunk of the file, print a dot on the screen to let you know it's working.
display # of blocks for these files, perhaps a "partway through %" when reading feedback, etc?
new user login:
mention the user gets full access to the system on the first call. gone are the days of needing to be validated.
SMTP for Internet email:
dial 5555555 (aliased in Jim Brain's tcpser)
send HELO
read echo from server (HELO)
hangs up when BYE is received
Image Term:
Main menu needs hotkeys to quickly access features like upload/download
Capture color/video RAM + cursor position into a block of memory so you can restore it when re-entering term mode, like NovaTerm. Should use "Swapper" ML routine to do this.
Ability to buffer text (or perhaps just log it to a disk file) under the current date/time? would be great for in-BBS chats, too
(Maybe by redefining the printer device # to 8 in v1.2, you can apparently change the printer device # in v2.0)
News items should have a range of dates they'll display.
+.cmd clock should have &,18,0 to turn off screen mask, then restore it when time set/exit
AutoMaint looped endlessly during the last day of the month (10/31/05). Had to reboot, went through it again, then stopped. I've had this happen before, is there a pattern to it being the last day of the month?
Would be nice to have a ." dot command for Quoting messages.
New user signup - ask email address, explain why we're gather birthday info (for others to see and to congratulate you for living another year, also security purposes, possibly)
Handle Daylight Savings Time switchover, reset clock on CMD device(s).
Linefeeds/40-80 col settings at login need ? menu explanations
Bookmark interesting posts so you can find them easily again. This is separate from Joining a sub-board to skip less-read/disliked forums. That or a "find posts" option.
Have a "ring buffer" (not really the correct terminology though) to load the next 60 posts into structure memory when reading past the first 60... this'd get around the 60 posts per sub limit?
Backing up old posts to the text files section would be nice.
Move posts to different subs. Have J act as a "Jump" command at end-of-bulletin if that's the case. Set a flag that the post has been moved, offer up some explanatory message:
"Sorry, this message has moved to SIG x, sub-board y. Type 'J' to rejoin the discussion."
And you could just stuff U$ (command stacking string) with "SGx,y" when J was selected...
+ and - should move forward/backward in thread.
1/22/2007:
Currently, prompt mode must be enabled in order to (R)eply at end-of-bulletin prompt. Perhaps a "Wx" command to "W"rite a response to post #x?
Write system timestamp every x minutes (configurable) to a system file. That way, upon power failure or no RTC at startup, system knows roughly what time it was. Maybe network automaint can handshake about time if other system is running Image 2.0 and thus knows which time zone it is in. System with unknown time could then send a TIME request/packet during initial <ctrl-a> NetMaint handshaking... who knows.
System should do device discovery at startup ala CMD's article in Commodore World issue. Check for RTC's in SmartMouse, CMD FD/HD/RL, Watchdog chips. What are other RTC's?
Lightbar options:
CMD and LtK
One of the light bar slots should be utilized as CMD device dependant, and enable use of subdirectories on devices that support it. No more of this flat file listing in separate partitions.
2 mhz mode (128 in 64 mode) -> CPU <- SuperCPU in 20 mhz mode
