ABOUTAbout/Usage

 {2,1}Integrated SysOp Help System for RATSoft/ST - v2.0a
 written by Steve Hughey, 1993 R0dent Laboratories Software

 {4,1}USAGE:
 {4,1}------
 Just select the topic from the main window you wish to view. Another
 window will open displaying the appropiate text. You may scroll using
 the arrow keys or slider bars. The following keys are available:

         {4,1}MENU                           VIEWER
         {4,1}----------------------------   ----------------------------
 {2,1}/// Scroll through Options         Scroll through Text
 {2,1}UNDO    Close Window                   Close Window
 {2,1}ESC     Close Window                   Back to Window
 {2,1}RETURN  Make Selection                 Next Page
 {2,1}SPACE                                  Next Page
 {2,1}B                                      Back to Previous Topic
 
TAGSVariable Tags

 Tags may be expressed using two notations: AND and BRACKET notation.
 Example: &01 and {1} produce the same effect. NOTE: Only tags 0-99
 may be accessed using a leading "&" symbol. BRACKET notation spans the
 entire range (0-indefinate).

 Note that all tags are not available everywhere. For example, many modules
 do not utilize the message/file environment structures and will therefore
 ignor message/file section tags.

 ### Description
 --- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   0 No use, sends an ampersand (&)
   1 Date
   2 Time
   3 Reported Modem Connect String
   4 Caller's Bps Rate
   5 Caller's Alias/Name
   6 Caller's Time Allowed for Today
   7 Time Remaining
   8 Last Caller to the System
   9 System ID (Name)
  10 SysOp ID (Name)
  11 System Phone Number
  12 Current Conference Caller is Located In
  13 Account Note
  14 Real Name
  15 Last Call Date
  16 Last Call Time
  17 First Call Date
  18 Computer Type
  19 Number of Downloads
  20 Number of Uploads
  21 Downloads in Kilobytes
  22 Uploads in Kilobytes
  23 Kilobytes downloaded from Files Databases
  24 Kilobytes uploaded to Files Databases
  25 Messages Posted
  26 Ratio Status for... Uploads:Downloads
  27                     U/L-k:D/L-k
  28                     Posts:Calls
  29                     Files Database U/L-k:D/L-k
  30 Translation Name
  31 Upload to Download Ratio
  32 Upload to Download Kilobyte Ratio
  33 Post to Call Ratio
  34 File Database Upload to Download Kilobyte Ratio
  35 Function: Waits for Character
  36 Street Address
  37 Account Note, in Quotes (only if present)
  38 Current Message Base Title
  39 Current Message Base Sponsor
  40 Current File Area Title
  41 Current File Area Sponsor
  42 Over-all Access Level
  43 File Section Access Level
  44 Database Access Level
  45 City and State
  46 Zip Code
  47 Voice Telephone Number
  48 Data Telephone Number
  49 User's Calls to BBS
  50 Color Codes, varies with translation (see TRANLATE.DAT), Start
  79 Color Codes, End
  80 Total Calls to System
  81 System Calls Today
  82 Definable Tag (same as {100})
  83 System Downloads Today
  84 System Uploads Today
  85 System Files Database Downloads Today
  86 System Files Database Uploads Today
  87 System Messages Posted Today
  88 RATSoft Version ID (ie: 1.6l)
  89 RATSoft Version Date Stamp
  90 Clear Screen
  91 Number of New Messages in all Conferences
  94 Expiration Date
  95 Current Day of the Week
  96 Number of New Messages in current Conference only
  97 Sends a vertical bar (|)
  98 Number of New Files, Current Conference
  99 Inserts Space for all VT52/ANSI translations
 100 Definable Tags, Start
 120 Definable Tags, End
 121 Number of Days since Last Call
 122 Total Time on System
 123 Time Charged (this call only)
 124 Command Log
 125 Country
 126 Birthdate
 127 Next yes/no routine defaults to "yes"
 128 Next yes/no routine defaults to "no"
 129 Sets marker
 130 Jumps to marker, set by 129, on current line
 131 Numerical expression for zero is "No"
 132 Numerical expression for zero is "None"
 133 Numerical expression for zero is "0"
 134 Function, calls "Press any Key to Continue..." routine
 135 Account Number
 136 Maximum Posts/Day
 137 Maximum Downloads/Day
 138 Maximum DB Downloads/Day
 139 Maximum DB Uploads/Day
 140 Maximum Attaches/Day
 141 Maximum ARC Utils/Day
 142 Maximum Calls/Day
 143 Downloads Today
 144 Uploads Today
 145 Calls Today
 146 Posts Today
 147 ARC Utils. Today
 148 DB Downloads Today
 149 DB Uploads Today
 150 File Attaches Today
 151 Maximum Banners
 152 Total Number of Banners Added
 153 Terminal Width
 154 Connection Time for Current Call
 155 Age
 156 Caller ID Phone Number String
 157 Caller ID Name Identification String
 158 Number of New Files, all Conferences
 159 ID Number of Last Mask Applied to Account
 160 Name of Last Mask Applied to Account
 161 Number of downloads remaining before user reaches ratio
 162 Number of k-bytes remaining before user reaches ratio
 163 Same as 161, but considers time limit and max. d/ls a day
 164 Same as 162, but considers time limits and max. k-bytes a day
 165 Maximum k-bytes/day
 166 K-bytes downloaded today
 167 Return Random Banner, Centered
 168 Return Random Banner, Left Justified (not centered)
 169 Number of Active Users
 200 Sends CR/LF

SUPPORTRATSoft Support

No piece of software is perfect. Heaven forbid you find a bug, 
please report it immediately so other sysops can be notified and 
corrective measures can be taken. All "bug reports" should be 
directly reported to the author, if possible.

{2,1}Distributor:

    R0dent Laboratories Software
    P.O. Box 391
    Alta Loma, CA. 91701-0391
    USA

       GEnie: S.HUGHEY1
    Internet: s.hughey1@genie.geis.com

{2,1}Author:

    Steve Hughey
    ... questions? Write to address above.

{2,1}Official US and Canadian Support Sites:

    {4,1}USA/RATSoft Support HQ
    {4,1}-----------------------
    R0dent Laboratories Support Systems
    (909)/xxx-xxxx
    24 hrs, USA Dual Standard
    Operated by Steve Hughey, the author himself!

{2,1}Official European Support Sites:

    {4,1}UNITED KINGDOM
    {4,1}--------------

    {4,1}SWEDEN
    {4,1}------

ERRORSTOS Error Messages and Bombs

 -1: General Error
 -2: Drive not Ready
 -3: UnKnown Command
 -4: CRC error disk check sum wrong
 -5: Bad Request
 -6: Seek error, track not found
 -7: Unknown media, boot sector wrong
 -8: Sector not found
 -9: Out of paper
-10: Write fault
-11: Read fault
-12: General error 12
-13: Write protected
-14: Media change detected
-15: Unknown device
-16: Bad sector (verify ON)
-17: Insert other disk (request)
-32: Invalid function number
-33: File not found
-34: Path not found
-35: Too many open files
-36: Access denied
-37: Invalid handle
-39: Out of memory
-40: Invalid memory block address
-46: Invalid drive specification
-49: No more files
-64: GEMDOS range error, seek wrong?
-65: GEMDOS internal error
-66: Invalid executable file format
-67: Memory block growth failure

2 Bombs - bus error ( possibly a 2/4/8 byte interger has been put in
                      an odd address )
3 Bombs - address error, odd word address!
4 Bombs - illegal instruction executed in machine code
5 Bombs - divide by zero in 68000 ASM
6 Bombs - CHK exception 68000 interupted by CHK
7 Bombs - TRAPV exception 68000 interupted by TRAPV
8 Bombs - priviledge violation by 68000 Machine Code
9 Bombs - trace exception

SHOOTTrouble Shooting!

 {2,1}DISCLAIMER
 {2,1}----------
 RATSoft is completely "legal". It uses only system calls, and never
 uses direct hardware calls, or absolute memory locations (unless they
 are garaunteed by Atari and can be found nowhere else). RATSoft was
 written with machine compatibility in mind, therefore, before you
 accuse RATSoft of not running properly on your system, PLEASE make
 sure it isn't something else that just happens to be interfering
 with RATSoft.
 
 However, I take no responsibility for any damage you may do to your
 own system by doing something stupid. RATSoft will not trash FAT's,
 corrupt partitions, or in any way ruin your system. There is nothing
 in the code capable of such actions. However, this does not rule out
 the possibility of freak accidents happening due to other factors.

 {2,1}"I TOLD YOU SO"
 {2,1}---------------
 {4,9}MAKE BACKUPS!
 
 Something as simple as the power going out during a disk write can
 completely wipe out your system. Any programs which are written improperly
 can also reak havoc on your system. A simple batch file which backs up
 your most important .DAT files, such as PASSWORD.DAT, CONFIG.DAT,
 BBS_DATA.DAT, and your MESSAGE.DAT and FILEAREA.DAT files for each
 conference can be created and placed in your schedular to run once or
 twice a day. And in the future, you may thank God you have those
 backups!

 While RATSoft is designed to run with ALMOST anything, there are some
 precautions that should be taken:

 All TOS's: A serial patch must be installed to properly handle all
            RTS/CTS flow control.

            Allocated atleast 256 extra folders. This is especially
            important for TOS 1.4 users.
          
   TOS 1.0: Install FATSPEED, a freeware AUTO folder program available
       1.2: on almost any BBS which replaces the search for free space
            routines in TOS with much faster code. Otherwise, when
            RATSoft determines free disk space, it will take longer than
            it takes to get to work in Los Angeles with traffic!

   TOS 1.4: That folder thing above? Pay extra close attention to it.
            Rename FOLDRxxx.PRG to FOLDR256.PRG and shove it in your
            AUTO folder. Otherwise, you may see some of those pretty
            system bombs.

    Geneva: If you use Geneva, the multi-tasking environment from Gribnif
            please go to the task manager, open "Flags" and install
            RATSOFT.PRG with the "Multi-Tasking" button OFF. You may
            still "task switch" by using the accessories window from
            RATSoft, however, current versions of RATSoft are not designed
            to run in multi-tasking environments (nor are any Atari
            machines really fast enough!)
            
  MultiTOS: Uh... While I respect Atari for their efforts, and think Eric
            Smith's MiNT is a work of art, buy Geneva. Perhaps with time...

 {2,1}COMMON MISTAKES AND ERRORS:

 {4,1}System Bombs or "Error Outs" During Bootup Sequence
 {4,1}---------------------------------------------------
 Run RATSOFT.PRG and pass the -D option on the command line. This tells
 RATSoft to create a "boot log" in the system log file, listing each
 file that is being loaded. The last file listed is most likely your
 culprit. If the first boot up dialog box fails to appear, your
 RATSOFT.RSC file is most likely corrupted.
 
 {4,1}Modem Won't Answer Phone
 {4,1}------------------------
 Turn off "Quick-Ring Detection" in CONFIG.PRG/Toggles. Check modem
 initialization strings, assure auto-answer is OFF.

 {4,1}"Corrupted Data Files"
 {4,1}----------------------
 Check each disk partition for errors or bad sectors with a reliable disk
 tool, such as Diamond Edge from Oregon Research. If you do not own such
 a program, you're really playing with fire.
 
 {4,1}General Problems
 {4,1}----------------
 Although a very rare problem, you may find certain accessories or TSR's
 which interfer with RATSoft's operation. These may try to seize modem
 control or modify portions of the OS which RATSoft does not understand.
 While no such programs have been found to date that cause problems (that
 we know of), the possibility still exists. Write down each AUTO folder
 program and accessory you add to your system. If you notice the BBS
 starting to act a little "funny", start with the latest addition, remove
 it, and see if the problem persists. Finally, go till you are running a
 "clean" system. If the problem persists, you may have discovered a bug
 within RATSoft (OH! HEAVEN FORBID!). If this is the case, please see
 [SUPPORT] and leave me a message describing the bug in as much detail
 as you can possibly give.
