SYNCNEWS 7.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(C) Copyright 2003 by Timothy Arnold (Biohazard) & Richard Brumpton (Merlin)

Courtesy of:  Biohazardous Material      (telnet://biohazmat.ath.cx)
              Carso Information Services (carso.synchro.net)


                                     __    _
                                _wr""        "-q__
                             _dP                 9m_
                           _#P                     9#_
                          d#@                       9#m
                         d##                         ###
                        J###                         ###L
                        {###K                       J###K
                        ]####K      ___aaa___      J####F
                    __gmM######_  w#P""   ""9#m  _d#####Mmw__
                 _g##############mZ_         __g##############m_
               _d####M@PPPP@@M#######Mmp gm#########@@PPP9@M####m_
              a###""          ,Z"#####@" '######"          ""M##m
             J#@"             0L  "*##     ##@"  J#              *#K
             #"               `#    "_gmwgm_~    dF               `#_
            7F                 "#_   ]#####F   _dK                 JE
            ]                    *m__ ##### __g@"                   F
                                   "PJ#####LP"               
             `                       0######_                      '
                                   _0########_ 
                 .               _d#####^#####m__              ,
                  "*w_________am#####P"   ~9#####mw_________w*"
                      ""9@#####@M""           ""P@#####@M""
                    B I O H A Z A R D O U S   M A T E R I A L
                    -----------------------------------------
                           TELNET: biohazmat.ath.cx
                    Owned & Operated by: Timothy Arnold (Biohazard)
                                         Robert Westfall (Ig88)
               
              Specializing in:
                       
              + Online Games (250+)
              + Our very own Tradewars Game Server (100 Nodes)
              + Fantasy Role-Playing Games (Messge Based)
              + Messages, including Dove-NET
              + 10 active nodes
              + Running Synchronet BBS
              + Free server with INSTANT access!
              *** WARNING: Entry to this server contains
                           extremely hazardous and highly 
                           addictive material! Those 
                           exposed may not want to leave.
                           ENTER AT ONES OWN RISK!
                     
				 
			


[1.1]  What's New?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2006-JUL-19 (WED) @ 1143HRS]:
SyncNews 7.5 release has the following additions / changes:

/ CHANGED    : Program name from Bio-News to SyncNews

/ CHANGED    : Directory for ASCII files -- all ascii files are now placed in
               a directory called "ascii" off of the bionews root dir

! FIXED      : Fixed a small bug when the program shows "Rules" for posting Sync-
               News items -- a @ symbol was displaying on the header bar -- this
               has been removed. There was also too many pauses after displaying
               the rules -- this too has been fixed



[1.2]  Beta-News History
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2006-JUL-19 (WED) @ 1143HRS]:
Bio-News 7.4 release has the following additions / changes:

+ ADDED      : Option to display news by title only

+ ADDED      : Option to add title to the news display

- REMOVED    : Annoying delays in UNREGISTERED versions of the program.

+ ADDED      : Unregistered Bio-News screen for UNREGISTERED versions of the program.

+ ADDED      : Serial in configuration file -- program now requires you to enter the same
		   serial as the information in the keyfile.


[2006-JUL-09 (SUN) @ 0954HRS]:
Bio-News 7.3 release has the following additions / changes:

+ ADDED      : Serial to configuration file. Program now requires the same serial info and
               BBS info as the info in the keyfile generated.

/ CHANGED    : Archive to .ZIP and removed the bionews#.asc screens as well as the
               bionone#.asc screens to prevent overwrite of your modded screens (if any).

+ ADDED      : Option for users to read ALL old Bio-News items or select which OLD news
               item to review.

+ ADDED      : Ability for program to display title at the footer line on each Bio-News.

+ ADDED      : Ability to customize most of your prompts in Bio-News.

! FIXED      : Node Activity bug - when a user is reviewing the news, the node activity
               messages other nodes, i.e. User logged on/off, etc. would mess the display
               of the news / program.

+ ADDED      : Ability to allow users to comment only bulletins that the SysOp specifies!
               You will get this option when editing a news item.

! FIXED      : Comment News prompt in the BIONEWS.CFG! Before this version, the program did
               NOT use this prompt in the config -- now it is.

! FIXED      : Comment feature. If you were to make the message area INTERNAL CODE in
               bionews.cfg from GENERAL to PRIVATE, then there was a slight problem
               when a user commented a Bio-News bulletin. This has been fixed and now
               sends all comments directly to the SysOp inbox.

- REMOVED    : NEWS30.DAT file which is your BBS Statistics News Bulletin. This is no
	       longer compatible with the new Synchronet latest released version.


*** If you are interested in creating a Bio-News ANSi for this program, please 
    send the author an email ASAP. If we like the ANSi, we will use it! Send an
    email to the following: biohazard@biohazmat.ath.cx and tell us you are 
    interested!


[2004-FEB-22 (SUN) @ 2144HRS]:
Bio-News 5 Alpha Release 2 has the following additions / changes:


/ CHANGED    : Bio-News version from 5.4 to this release version which is 5.2! Sorry,
               5.4 was an error and we haven't made it to that version as of yet. =)

+ ADDED      : Ability for the SysOp to remove the (Q)uit option in the Bio-News.
	       This removes the ability for the users to miss important Bio-News
               bulletins posted by the SysOp.

+ ADDED      : NEWS30.DAT file which is your BBS Statistics News Bulletin. You can
               rename it to NEWS1.DAT in order for it to be the very first bulletin
               that the users will read.


[2004-FEB-11 (WED) @ 2047HRS]:
Bio-News 5 Alpha Release 1 has the following additions / changes:

*** IMPORTANT ***

YOUR BIO-NEWS KEYFILE FOR 5.0 WILL *NOT* WORK FOR THIS RELEASE. YOU CAN OBTAIN YOUR NEW
KEYFILE BY SENDING A MESSAGE TO BIOHAZARD @ biohazardousmaterial@msn.com!


+ FIXED      : Problem with cosmetics of program when upgrading to the latest release
               of Syncnronet which doesn't convert GOTO @ CODES.


[2003-DEC-21 (SUN) @ 1305HRS]:
Bio-News 5 Alpha Release 1 has the following additions / changes:


+ ADDED      : Feature for the message area to post comments. You now have an option
	       to either put the message area or PRIVATE for comments to be sent
	       directly to the SysOp.

+ ADDED      : Feature to FORCE READ ALL news bulletins without displaying the prompt.


[2003-NOV-10 (MON) @ 1805HRS]:
Bio-News 5 Alpha Release 0 has the following additions / changes:

+ ADDED      : Question in editing "Do you posted date to show the users logon time"
               Makes the date posted for the news item always be the user current
               date/time (Ideal for bulletins that display real time stats to it
               looks newly posted)

+ ADDED      : Added option to ask you to delete old news after XX days.
               Number of days set in bionews.cfg and sysop/bionews.vip users will
               be asked when they read the news items

+ ADDED      : Display of news items in edit mode now shows posters name

+ ADDED      : Display of news items in edit mode has new option ---D that means
               that this item has been set to show the users logon time/date as
               the posted date

+ ADDED      : 	Comment option when reading news. Allows the user to select comment
  	        and then they can post a comment about the selected news item in a
 	        local conference (configured in bionews.cfg)

! FIXED      : Taken out some instances of displaying the main logo twice
               (You can't see when it did this as it just overlays it)

! FIXED      : Pressing Q to quit will now quit Bionews and go directly to
               the final log screen without displaying "No more new news"

! FIXED      : Small problem when unregistered version pauses an gets into an 
               infinate loop and never exits

! FIXED      : Fixed display (X Bio-news on file) when a news item is deleted

! FIXED      : Fixed bug that displays news text on footer ruler line

! FIXED      : Issue with the spinning cursor enabled, it will be temporarily
               disabled while bionews is running as it seems to sometimes mess
               up the ansi cursor positioning

/ CHANGED    : Update data file to store date/time of news in unix time_t format

/ CHANGED    : Edit news list "Continue listing news items?" now defaults to No

/ CHANGED    : Registration key code - Everyone's key needs renewing

/ CHANGED    : The security level (Line 6) in bionews.cfg is the level of a user that
               has TOTAL control to edit/change/reset/delete ANY item, regardless of who
               posted it. Usually this should be set to the Sysop level (90)! If you want
               other users to be able to post then you should put their names in the 
               bionews.vip file. They will be able to post new news but won't be able to 
               edit/delete/reset any that they haven't posted.

/ CHANGED    : Ansi look for the main Bio-News screen!

- REMOVED    : Authors logo screen (only shows in unregistered/demo version)

@ RESTRICTED : Retricted some new features to registered version only: Max of 3 news 
               items, Cut/Paste NOT available, Doesn't use the read files so users
               always see all 3 news as new Splash screen with Bio-News advert and
               nag screens when exiting!


[2003-NOV-08 (SAT) @ 0845HRS]:
Bio-News 4 Alpha Release 5 has the following additions / changes:

+ ADDED      : Option to always show news item as New/Unread

! FIXED      : Edit prompt doesn't show copy/reset/delete if it's unused

! FIXED      : Yes/No prompts that were working backwards!

! FIXED      : Fixed prompt after news item display so it doesn't show "ContinueQ"

/ CHANGED    : "Do you want to edit the actual news text" now defaults to yes

/ CHANGED    : Change to allow a 30 day registration key


[2003-NOV-02 (SUN) @ 1603HRS]:
Bio-News 4 Alpha Release 4:

! FIXED      : Yes/No Question: "[v] Are you sure you want to edit this news item?"
               By selecting "Y" for YES, it doesn't do anything. By selecting "N"
               for NO, it edits the item

! FIXED      : Delay Timer -- in unregistered version of Bio-News on Win32 / Windows
               version

! FIXED      : Bug with prompt displaying in wrong place while editing old news

! FIXED      : Bug with missing 13th line of news when editing/saving old news

^ UPDATED    : Posted date and poster name saved seperatly in newsX.dat file

/ CHANGED    : Alteration of "Bio-News: date (handle)" header on each news item to
               "Posted by handle on date". This is to allow for a change in future
               versions. Unfortunately, old newsX.dat files are no longer compatible
               and will need recreating - Sorry!


[2003-OCT-31 (FRI) @ 2012HRS]:
Bio-News 4 Alpha Release 3:


! FIXED      : Delay Timer -- in Win32 / Windows version of Bio-News the ticker
               would count down faster than it supposed to tick. Now, timer is
               in actual seconds.

! FIXED      : Another issue with Delay Timer which, when the timer is ticking and
               a user hits enter several times, all the key presses get saved to
               the buffer. This causes the next news bulletin(s) to zip by without
               giving the user a chance to read it.

+ ADDED      : Ability for Bio-News to have more than one bionews.asc screen as well
               as more than one bionone.asc screen. Program will randomize screens
               each time the program is loaded.



[2003-OCT-30 (THU) @ 0757HRS]:
Bio-News 4 Alpha Release 2:

/ CHANGED    : The format of the newsX.dat files has changed with this version
               It is easier to delete the old newsX.dat files first, but if you
               want, you can load them into a text editor add a new line before 
               the line that has the Bio-News and date on it...On the new line 
               put NO. You will then need to edit them in bionews.src and add a
               delay time...

! FIXED      :  Correct logo's displayed on last screen

+ ADDED      : Filtering of @EXEC, @SETSTR, @TYPE, @MENU, @HANGUP.  As you enter
               each line of a news item it will scan for these codes. If they
               exist it will display a warning on the bottom row and won't let you
               continue to the next line until you take it out.

+ ADDED      : Each news item has it's own delay timer. Can be set between 0 and 99
               seconds delay. The time ticks down on the bottom line and is displayed
               directly after the delay_prompt that is set in bionews.cfg

+ ADDED      : Each news bulletin can be set to be displayed on the Bio-news web
               server page. This option is for use when using the syncronet bio-news
               add-on

+ ADDED      : When displaying the list of bulletin titles in maintenance, the list
               shows Num:  XX  11  Title (Num is the news item number, XX is the amount
               in seconds the item will delay before the prompt appears, 1 is either a C
               if the normal continue prompt is shown or - for no prompt, 2 is either a W
               if the item is displayed on the bio-news web server addon or 0 and Title is
               the title of the news item.


[2003-OCT-22 (WED) @ 1530HRS]:
Bio-News 4 Alpha Release 1:


* NEWS UPDATE: Myself and Merlin are now the authors of Bio-News. Merlin is the
               FREEBSD Author of Bio-News and I'm the Windows Author.

/ CHANGED    : Bio-News to Run from its own directory (recommend using sbbs/xtrn/bionews)

/ CHANGED    : bionews.ans/asc to just bionews.asc using synchronet ctrl-a codes

/ CHANGED    : Entire code to save memory (Now only 790 lines of code)

/ CHANGED    : All filenames/paths to lower case

! FIXED      : Filtered some insecure @ codes from displaying

! FIXED      : Problem when resetting read pointers (*nix)

! FIXED      : Detection of total news/next news item (*nix)

! FIXED      : Detection/display of bionone (*nix)

+ ADDED      : Unlimited number of news items allowed (still need to set highest available
               in config file)

+ ADDED      : Added "title" to each news item

+ ADDED      : Read delay/prompt type customizable per new item

+ ADDED      : Customizable pause/pause delay prompt (in cfg file)

+ ADDED      : New item maintenance system which includes the following:
               -adding new news
               -editing existing news
               -copy/paste items
               -reset read file
               -delete item


[2003-OCT-15 (WED) @ 2054HRS]:
Bio-News 3 Beta Release 4:


! FIXED  : Minor problem with program searching for bionone.asc in the TEXT\MENU
           directory for UNIX users. The program had the path in UPPERCASE which
           caused the problem.

! FIXED  : Bug when scanning for news files. The total amount of news files was
           not accurate.

+ ADDED  : (3) Three more news bulletins for a total of 15 bulletins MAX!

+ ADDED  : VIP scan -- Any user with their name found in the bionews.vip file will
           be granted permission to generate news *Only*. 

/ CHANGED: The main Bio-News source up a bit and split it. You may notice an extra
           .bin file in the archive.



[2003-OCT-11 (SAT) @ 1508HRS]:
Bio-News 3 Beta Release 3:


! FIXED  : Minor problem with the program checking to see if biononew.asc file
           exists before displaying it's contents. Now the program checks to
           see if biononew.asc exists, if not, it displays No more Bio-News 
           entries on file!" in the color you have configured.

! FIXED  : Some issues in regards to the UNREGISTERED version of Bio-News. The
           program was writing using the old method as opposed to the new write
	   method.

! ADDED  : An UNREGISTERED 5 second delay in the UNREGISTERED version.

/ CHANGED: The News file names as well as the "No More News" file names to keep
           within the eight character name length DOS FILENAME rule and to be
           able to create a maximum of 99 bulletins (to be available soon!).

/ CHANGED: The directory for BIONONE.ASC -- instead of it being in the SBBS\DATA
           directory, I've made it consistent by placing it in the SBBS\TEXT\MENU
           directory where the other .ANS and .ASC are found.



[2003-OCT-11 (SAT) @ 0847HRS]:
Bio-News 3 Beta Release 2:


! FIXED  : The "No News Bulletins" bug! If you are unaware of this, the bug
           occurred when there were NO news bulletins on file. As a result,
           it would give EVERYONE access to writing news until the first news
           bulletin was created.
           
+ REMOVED: Everyone's personal Bio-News Code until I get a proper Registration
           Code generation tool made.


[2003-OCT-09 (THU) @ 1844HRS]:
Bio-News 3 Beta Release 1:

/ CHANGED: The programs entire writing to file format which elimiated the batch
           files once and for all!
           
+ ADDED  : Ability for users to read old news.

+ ADDED  : Ability to change the embedded color of the text when composing a news
           bulletin.

+ ADDED  : FORCE READ Option!

+ ADDED  : DELAY READ Option!


[2003-OCT-05 (SUn) @ 1844HRS]:
Bio-News 2 Beta Release 9:

! BUG FIX: Fixed a bug which when attempting to reset the news, it only resets
           the current user online. I've implemented BATCH FILES to fix this
           problem.

! BUG FIX: Fixed a bug which when creating a new Bio-News bulletin, when the program
           scans for new messages it not only makes the user read that new one but
           all the old ones the user has already read!

/ CHANGED: The entire program code a bit. The code was quite lengthy so I've split up
           the program: (1) BIONEWS <-- Main Program, (2) MAINT <-- Program Maintenance
           and (3) BIOHELP <-- If you press ? on a blank line and hit enter, it brings
           up the help screen for the program.

+ ADDED: The REMOVE1-12 BATCH files as it was easier to use a batch file to remove
         as opposed to using the programs embedded functions.

+ ADDED: Edit feature which does just that. When you hit <ENTER> on a blank line it
         will ask you to SAVE your message. By selecting N for NO it will then ask
         if you want to ABORT the news. If you select N for NO once again, it will
         then ask if you want to EDIT your news that you've just composed.

- REMOVED: Some unwanted functions / programming code was removed to speed up the
           program somewhat.


[2003-OCT-03 (FRI) @ 2000HRS]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 8:

+ ADDED: BIONEWS.CFG which program uses to read information from.

+ ADDED: *Registered* Version of Bio-News & UNREGISTERED limited version.


[2003-SEP-30 (TUE) @ 1639HRS]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 7:

! FIXED: BIONONEW.ASC bug. When you try and make a customized message by editing
         the BIONONEW.ASC file, it doesn't display this custom message. This has
         been fixed!

+ ADDED: Custom message BIONONEW.ASC file that I use on biohazmat.ath.cx!


[2003-SEP-30 (TUE) @ 1224HRS]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 6:

+ ADDED: New SysOp Function: Reset User Read News Flags.

+ ADDED: New SysOp Function: Delete News.

- REMOVED: The BATCH FILE usage. Removing of unwanted news and user read news
           flags are all done internally now.


[2003-SEP-29 (MON) @ 1547HRS]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 5:

+ ADDED: I've added the ability for you to make a custom message to be displayed
         to the users when there are no new Bio-News entries on file. To be able
         to customize this message, edit the BIONONEW.ASC file in your SBBS\DATA
         directory. Ensure that the column length does NOT exceed 78 columns in
         length and no more than a maximum of 15 rows!


[2003-SEP-29 (MON)]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 4:

+ ADDED: Double the amount of news space available. Now one can add up to 12
         news bulletins!

- Removed some excessive clear-screen functions which slowed down the scanning
  process

- Removed excessive "Scanning for new Bio-News" prompts which also slowed down
  the scanning process

+ TOUCHED UP: On the Bio-News Ansi! If you are interested in creating a Bio-News
              ANSi for this program, please send the author an email ASAP. If we
              like the ANSi, we will use it! Send an email to the following:
              biohazard@biohazmat.ath.cx and tell us you are interested!


[2003-SEP-24 (WED)]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 3:

* Fixed MAJOR bug which allowed for users to ADD news. When the user loads the
  program, and they attempt to use the Q (Quit) option when viewing the news,
  the program lets the user add some news. This has been *fixed*.


[2003-SEP-24 (WED)]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 2:

* Fixed scanning of new Bio-News when SysOp attempts to add a news file

* Fixed "Copy over existing news or Add new news" option

* Program runs smoother

* Removed some unnecessary delays


[2003-SEP-01 (MON)]:
Bio-News 2.0 Beta Release 1:

* Fixed Blank News Display *BUG* - When a user has read all the news and runs
  the Bio-News door, it displays a Blank Screen before the "No More News"
  screen.

* Fixed problem with program flagging news which has not been created.

* Added Bio-News Version & Registration Status.



[1.3]  Miscellaneous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bio-News was developed by Timothy Arnold (Biohazard) and Richard Brumpton (Merlin)
using Synchronet's Baja Programming Language and was created on September 1st,
2003. This door is still fairly new and is under Beta Testing. Should you have any
problems with running this door, please contact Timothy Arnold (Biohazard) at
biohazard@biohazmat.ath.cx or at biohazardousmaterial@msn.com! You may also contact
Richard Brumpton (Merlin) by visiting Carso Information Services via telnet at
telnet://carso.synchro.net!