Ú¿Ú¿Ú¿Ú¿Ú¿Ú¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿Ú¿ Ú¿ÚÄ¿ Ú¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿Ú¿Ú¿Ú¿ÚÄÄÄÄ¿ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͳ³³³³³³³³³³³ÀÄ¿ÚÄÙ³³ ³³³ À¿³³³ÚÄÄÄÙ³³³³³³³ÚÄÄÄÙÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º Volume 3 ³³³³³³³³³³³³ ³³ ÀÅ¿ÚÅÙ³ ÀÙ³³ÀÄÄÄ¿³³³³³³³ÀÄÄÄ¿ August 25 º º Issue 4 ³³³³³³³³³³³³ ³³ ³³³³ ³Ú¿ ³³ÚÄÄÄÙ³³³³³³ÀÄÄÄ¿³ 1992 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍͳÀÙÀÙ³³ÀÙÀÙ³ÚÄÙÀÄ¿ ÀÅÅÙ ³³À¿ ³³ÀÄÄÄ¿³ÀÙÀÙ³ÚÄÄÄÙ³ÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÙ ÀÙ ÀÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÙ ³ ³ Serving WWIV Sysops & Users Across All WWIV Networks ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³This Month's Features³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Random Factors.......................................Wayne Bell (1@1) ³ ³ ³ ³ A PKZip 2.0 Status Update............................Allen Turner (1@9956) ³ ³ ³ ³ TechnOTES............................................WWIVnews Staff ³ ³ ³ ³ Filo's Mod of the Month..............................Filo (1@5252) ³ ³ ³ ³ Dateline: @#$*()#!...................................Omega Man (1@5282) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ Random Factors ³ ³ Creative Commentary by Wayne Bell (1@1) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ WWIV v4.21a has been released now. My current feeling is that I'll have v4.21b out in a few months, with some minor bug fixes and enhancements. As people have probably heard, net32 (which is not out yet) will allow e-mail to be gated among all networks of which you are a member. If I get somewhat ambitious, v4.21b (and net32) will allow you to gate subboards among networks, also. Not just copying the messages across networks, but tweaking the 'from:' lines such that users will actually be able to auto-reply across networks (surprisingly enough, using the e-mail gating feature). I'd like to take this opportunity to ask people to >NOT< e-mail me, asking for help in installing mods, or for problems with on-line programs. If you are having problems with mods or on-line programs, please contact the authors OF THE MOD OR ON-LINE PROGRAM. They will be much more familiar with the program, and be able to help you (while I will not). Also, please do not e-mail me asking for help in WRITING mods. I just don't have the time to help people with that kind of thing, given everything else I'm doing. (I will, however, help you out with specific interfaces to the BBS when writing mods. If you ask, "What does this parameter to shrink_out() do?", I can help you. If you ask, "How can I write a mod to...?", I don't have the time. I am, however, always accepting suggestions on 'what to add into the next version'. Please keep in mind, however, that in order for something to be likely to be included in the next version (of the BBS or net software), it must be something in which a lot of people will be interested. If it is something that only you and maybe a few other people would use, it probably won't be added. Please also don't suggest things that everyone has already asked for, such as suggesting more than 64 subs, or multi-line, and things like that. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ Is Phil Katz Stuck Up In A Tree? ³ ³ Delays Continue in Release of PKZIP v. 2.xx ³ ³ A PKZIP 2.0 Update ³ ³ By Allen Turner (1@9956) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ "Read my lips: The next version of PKZIP will be released on ." Although Phil Katz, author of the PKZIP archive utilities, hasn't made that statement, he could have ... several times. PKWare, Inc. began announcing last winter on the PKWare BBS (414-354-8670) that PKZIP 2 would be released near the end of 1991. That and subsequent release dates have been announced and missed so many times that an opening screen on the PKWare BBS has stopped predicting a date and simply says: ********************************************************************* ******* PKZIP 2.0 is expected to be released sometime in ******* ******* the next few months, as soon as possible. ******* ********************************************************************* Katz himself hasn't discussed the delays and has been noticeably absent from the BBS since announced release dates started being missed. Instead, the task of placating impatient users has fallen to various members of the PKWare support staff. The most recent announced release date, on a discussion sig on the Katz BBS, is late August, but they aren't going to make it. Mark Gresbach of the PKWare staff told a user of the BBS on 8-21-92, "We currently do not have an exact date. We are hoping for release in the next few months, as soon as possible." In the meantime, I've been exchanging e-mail with Joe Pantuso of the Katz staff. Joe was asked specific questions regarding the holdup with release 2.x, and was gracious enough to answer them as follows: Q: What is holding up PKZIP 2? A: Software development takes time. In no way are the delays there have been in releasing the product deliberate or due to carelessness. Rather, the delays are because we are being extremely cautious. PKZIP is used by a great many people in "mission-critical" tasks. For these people PKZIP must be flawless. It is our desire to have PKZIP be as good as possible the first time. We do not want to face the problems involved with an abortive and buggy release. We do a much greater service to the community by refusing to release it before it is 100% to our satisfaction. Q: With all the hacked versions floating around, has any consideration been given to skipping 2.xx in the numbering scheme for the new version? A: It is currently being referred to simply as PKZIP 2. This leaves off any burden of an exact version number. I don't expect to know exactly what the version will be called until hours before we ship. This protects everyone from there being a hack that is on the mark. We are considering a number of different plans for helping assure people of the authenticity of the package (besides that registered users will have it in hand before it is on the boards). Q: What can people who already ordered PKZIP 2 and been charged for it do? A: PKWARE has not billed anyone for PKZIP 2. The only orders that we have received which have been processed are orders for PKZIP 1.10. It would be illegal for PKWARE to process orders without sending product at the same time. Our sales staff is in fact in the process of calling back customers who placed orders months back and whose credit cards have expired in the interim. This will allow us to process their orders instantly when we are ready to ship. We are also sending back checks which we have had more than 30 days so as to make it easier for people to balance their checkbooks :-) Q: When does Phil Katz *really* think it will be out? A: At present it appears that we should be shipping packages mid to late September. There is really very little I can imagine happening that would prevent this. Q: What's new in PKZIP 2? A: This list is rather brief and low on explanation, but covers most of the high points. NEW FEATURES FOR PKZIP 2.xx ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ PKZIP ÄÄÄÄÄ - New compression algorithm: The new algorithm provides greater compression at a similar speed to PKZIP 1.10, or equal compression at a much greater speed. PKZIP 2 is approximately twice as fast as other utilities offering comparable compression. - Four levels of speed/compression plus "zero" compression (storage only) - Novell Netware support: Improves the speed of operation in some situations. - Storage of empty subdirectories: Optional retention of empty subdirectories for a 100% backup. - Creation multi-volume archives: PKZIP will also format disks as it goes if necessary, otherwise using whatever free space is available on each formatted disk. This feature can use any standard and removable DOS device (This means 2.88 meg floppies and bigger as well as "standard" 360/720/1.2/1.44). - "Compatibility" file opening mode. (-=): Opposite of "Share" mode. Helps overcome some network situations where a file would be locked otherwise. - Improved archive attribute support. (-a+/-i/-i-): You now can compress using the archive attribute 3 ways: - All files then turn the archive attribute off - Take only files that have the archive attribute but leave the attribute on - Take only files that have the archive attribute then turn it off - Improved date range support. (-t/-T): Files equal to or later than a date, or files before a date, or a combination. - When deleting files after a command using -m (move), PKZIP now displays the percent complete on removing files. Similar display is used when clearing archive attributes. PKUNZIP ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ - When PKUNZIP detects existing files it now checks before overwriting files (y/n/a/r)=Yes/No/All/Rename. Rename will prompt for a new name, All will cause PKUNZIP to continue as though -o had been specified on the command line. - Exclusion of list files (-x@file.lst) - View option now supports pause as well as technical view (-vm/-vt) (previously available only on PKZIP) BOTH ÄÄÄÄ - Expanded documentation. Including tutorial, "How PKZIP works", Special section on encryption, Using List files. The "How..." section includes a theoretical explanation of how compression works (for interested folk--not a technical discussion) as well as a general explanation of how a file is structured and what happens when PKZIP does it's thing. Separate handy guide to "Backing up your hard drive". - EMS/XMS support. DPMI Usage. EMS/XMS support reduces conventional memory use significantly. - PKZIP/PKUNZIP now can use 386 instructions, EMS XMS and DPMI in a DOS box under OS/2 2.0 or above (Previous versions of OS/2 did not support 386 instruction usage properly so when PKZIP detects a lower version of OS/2 it will disable this ability). - Creation of List files by PKZIP and PKUNZIP: This new feature allows PKZIP and PKUNZIP to generate list files containing the equivalent of the files that would have been processed by a command. - New improved (very strong) AV feature: Replaces the old AV system which is now invalid. All AV's will be re-issued at the time of PKZIP 2's release. - The size of list file that can be read has be increased to 5000-9700 bytes (from 2000-4000) - Handy information display shows XMS/EMS/Net use and type of compression and CPU type detected. - PKSFXjr can now use an output path, it previously could only output to the current directory. - ZIP2EXE now accepts output path - ZIP2EXE can now reverse the process with -x (EXE to ZIP) - The -s "Password" option can now accept input from the keyboard directly. This allows complex passwords to be entered more easily. This feature also allows a password to be entered without being echoed to the screen for added security. - Problems with display of View and Percent complete when working with files of 100 megabytes or greater have been fixed. - New PKUNZIP Junior is less than 3k in size and uses only 64K memory. Limited to ZIP files containing less than 500 files. - 386 instruction/EMS/XMS/DPMI offered in DOS session under OS/2 2.0 (Previous versions of OS/2 did not support these features properly, so PKZIP would disable it's usage of 386 instructions) - Volume Label is displayed as single string instead of 8.3 format used previously (i.e. "PKWARE VOL" rather than "PKWARE V.OL") - View option now supports pause between screens w/more (-vm[...]) View order can be reversed by adding 'r' to -v option. (-vr[...]) - Any ANSI codes detected in file names or comments are suppressed, preventing ANSI bombs and such mischief. - PKZIP 2 includes PKSFANSI (PK Safe ANSI), a (very) small TSR that blocks keyboard reassignment codes with any version of ANSI. Also offers the stripping of color codes which is useful on monochrome systems such as laptops. - New PKZIP Configuration program allows easy setup of the PKZIP.CFG file. Q: Is there anything else PKWare is working on that should be noted? A: We have in development PKZMENU 2. This product offers the ability to extract and compress. It is very easy to use and mouse driven. Offers nifty new features like renaming files within a ZIP file, and moving files between ZIP files. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As Joe's responses suggest, the delay in release of v. 2.xx becomes a bit more serious because hacked versions are being circulated. One reported hack is relatively harmless, although it produces files that aren't compatible with the most current distribution release, PKZIP 1.10. Another hack, however, has been reportedly found to contain a trojan which formats hard drives. Because hacks were being circulated as "legitimate" and I was seeing posts on WWIVnet sysop subs announcing the availability of PKZIP 2 on some systems, I began calling the PKWare BBS weekly to monitor the upgrade status. I posted my findings on sysop subs and with encouragement of some sub hosts (particularly 1@5252 ... thanks, Filo), began weekly posts on several subs letting people know the status of PKZIP 2.0. The response was disconcerting. Initially, I received at least a half dozen pieces mail from sysops who were distributing the hacked versions and who demanded that I "prove" their versions weren't legitimate. Most of that mail was vehement and some was "hate-mail." Later, many people tired of my weekly posts (forgetting the purpose was to help folks guard against unwittingly having unauthorized releases available for download as the "real thing") and publically and privately derided me for being too anxious and excited about the new release. No biggie. The bottom line is that PKZIP 2.xx still hasn't been released, I continue to call Katz's board weekly and I'm still posting reports on the results of the calls on about a half dozen sysop subs. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ TechnOTES ³ ³ Compiled by the WWIVnews Staff ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ...Those who bought Stacker or Superstore and thought they got a really good deal may be in for a rude shock soon. Microsoft has announced that it has licensed a new form of fractal-based image-compression technology from Georgia- based Iterated Systems. The Iterated method calls for an image compression board using eight specialized co-processors capable of delivering a 75 to 1 compression ratio. While the licensing is primarily aimed at aiding Microsoft's Multimedia Publishing Group by allowing them to cram more on a CD-ROM than the current 650mb standard capacity, Microsoft insiders are expecting the lower-end of the method (30 to 1 and below) to be used for anything else that would benefit from compression. ...a side benefit from the Iterated method is that decompressed images can actually *gain* enhancement through an interpolation process. While some fine surface detail is lost, existing aliasing (the "jagged edge" look of diagonal lines) in the image is dramatically reduced, giving the image a sharper overall appearance. ...The first such commercial implementation of this new compression scheme was expected to be a massive 5 gigabyte revamping of Microsoft Bookshelf, followed by a Ziff-Davis release of a complete library of the past 10 years of Z-D computer publications on an Iterated CD-ROM. However, it seems that Amaze will beat everyone to the punch by releasing their yearly calendar updates for 1993 (including _The Far Side_ and _Cathy_ calendar updates) on a single floppy disk. ...It may take a while longer, but fractal compression will eventually make it into the mainstream BBS world. WWIV sysops whose file areas are perpetually swamped with .GIFs would particularly benefit from such a compression method, although a non-graphic-specific version of the Iterated method with a ratio of at least 8 to 1, or even 2 to 1, would benefit any system whether it was running a BBS or not. ...speaking of on-the-fly compression utils, a new one has hit the market promising faster speed over Stacker. Integrated Information Technology's XtraDrive offers pretty much the same features as Stacker and SuperStor, has an optional co-processor card, and costs about the same ($149 MSRP, $99 OTS) as Stacker. By their own benchmarking, XtraDrive compresses about 10% better than Stacker and SuperStor, and is about the same percent faster than both. These minimal gains in performance, however, may not be enough to cause either Stac or AddStor any lost hours of sleep, as both companies' products are fairly entrenched in the marketplace. Add to this the fact that the name chosen by IIT for their product is way too similar to that of one of the biggest practical jokes on the shareware industry in the past three years. In fact, when brought up on one of the IBM discussion netsubs, 4 out of 5 users contributing to the thread mistook XtraDrive for XtraTank while proceeding to flame the legitimate product to no end! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ Filo's Mod of the Month ³ ³ by Filo (1@5252) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The Mod-of-The-Month Selection represents my choice of what appears to be a useful, practical mod to WWIV. It does not mean it is the best mod posted or even that it works as I may not have tested it. Given the limitations of this media, uuencoded mods are NOT eligible for selection as mod-of-the-month. This month's selection if from Darrel D. Mobley (1@9402 WWIVnet) and permits a sysop running in multi-net environment to selectively force callouts from WFC. It is needed where there are two or more boards that are being called that have the same number but in different networks if both are in respective CALLOUT.NET files. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Mod Name: : CALLOUT4.21A Author : Darrell D. Mobley #1 ³ ³ Difficulty : Moderate Network: WWIVnet @9402 ³ ³ WWIV Version : 4.21a Files : NETSUP.C ³ ³ ³ ³ Description : This mod allows you to force a callout to other ³ ³ network node numbers than your main network. 4.21a ³ ³ (8/15/92) does not check to see if you use the same node # ³ ³ in more than one network during Forced Callout "/". ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ What this does: I noticed from my WFC screen in the net pending list that if I had two nodes sharing the same number but were in different networks, the "/" Force Callout command would always force the callout to the node in the primary network. This is because of the way the multiple net pending list was incorporated. It seems Wayne's "for" loop checked for the first occurrence of the specified node number and executed that. This mod prompts you for the network to force the callout to. If the requested callout is to a node that is not supposed to be called at the time, it will prompt you with the network name and node number for which you must enter Yes or No, rather than the standard "Are you sure?". On with the mod. Disclaimer: Why bother? You KNOW to back up your source! Grin. ++ means Add the line -- means Delete the line == means Change the line Look for "void force_callout": Add the two lines marked ++ and then add the onx[20] and *mmk to the one marked with the ==: void force_callout(void) { int i,i1,i2,i3,index,ok,sn,nn; float fl,fl1,fl2,ffl; long l,l1; ++int onxi,odci; /* ADD THIS LINE */ ==char ch,s[81],s1[81],onx[20],*mmk; /* ADD "onx[20],*mmk" */ struct time ti; ++net_system_list_rec csne; /* ADD THIS LINE */ Right below that, add this entire block of code right before the "time(&l)" command: /************************/ /* ADD THIS BLOCK */ if (net_num_max>1) { odc[0]=0; odci=0; onx[0]='Q'; onx[1]=0; onxi=1; nl(); for (i=0; i=0) && (i