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                   The DeAdZoNe Utilities for RemoteAccess
                   =======================================

                                   D-UseR
              ANS/ASC Userlist Bulletin Generator for RemoteAccess
                         Version 2.00g   March 11, 1993
                     (C) Copyright James FitzGibbon 1992-93
                              All Rights Reserved


What is it?
-----------

  D-UseR is a program that replaces the built-in User List for RemoteAccess
  BBS's.  D-UseR will create bulletins using either the users' real names
  or their handles.

  D-UseR provides a listing of the user's name ( or handle ), their
  location, their last date called, A calculated ratio of posted messages
  per call, and the number of uploads and downloads they have made.


Features
--------

    * Creates both an Ansi and Ascii version of the D_USER bulletin file,
      ready to be used with RA's type 45 menu option.

    * Built-in Menu Configuration makes setting up D-UseR a snap.  For first
      time installations, as much information as possible is taken from your
      CONFIG.RA file.

    * Custom Colour Configuration lets you select your choice of colour for
      each item in the bulletin.  Full background/foreground colours are
      supported.

    * D-UseR will optionally include the SysOp's name in the bulletin header.

    * Configurable use of Handles or Real Names

    * D-UseR automatically excludes locked out users ( security level 0 ),
      users who are pending deletion ( i.e have been deleted but will not be
      removed from your userfile until you perform a pack ).

    * You have the option to include or exclude the SysOp from the bulletins,
      and to honour the "Hidden" Attribute in the RA Userfile.

    * Supports an external "bad user" file, which allows you to exclude
      up to 100 userscertain users from the userlist.


 IMPORTANT: D-UseR v2.00 is written for RemoteAccess 2.00/gamma-1 and will
            not work properly on prior versions of RA.  Although I don't
            expect Andrew Milner to change the structures when the shareware
            version of RA comes out, it may be necessary to release an update
            if any changes that affect D-UseR are made.


How much does it cost?
----------------------

This utility is FREE!  If you like it you can continue to use it for as long as
you like free of charge!

If you do decide to use it, I would be excited to hear from you !!  I encourage
you to send me a postcard at the address listed below (see the end of this text
file), or a message via netmail. It will cost you practically nothing, and will
let me know you're enjoying the program. It will also give me incentive to keep
improving the program and make it even better!


Configuration
-------------

To configure D-UseR, type:

               DUSER /C

This will bring up the configuration screen.  Following is a description
of the available options :


SysOp Name          The name of the SysOp of the system.  This is used in the
                    header, and by the sysop include/exclude feature.

BBS Name            The name of the BBS system.

Path to USERS.BBS   The path where D-UseR will look for your USERS.BBS file.
                    This is your RA messagebase directory.

Textfile path       Path where D-UseR will create the D_USER.ANS and
                    D_USER.ASC bulletins.

Use Handles         Setting this to YES will force D-UseR to use handles
                    instead of real names in the bulletins.

Include SysOp in    Setting this to YES will include the SysOp in the userlist
  Bulletins         bulletins.  Note that the setting of the "Honour Hidden
                    Attribute" switch and the use of the external "bad user"
                    file override this setting.

Include SysOp in    Setting this to YES will add a line to the bulletin
  Header            header containing the name of the SysOp as defined in item
                    [A] of the configuration screen.

Use Exclusion File  Setting this to YES will make D-UseR search for the file
                    DUSER.BAD.  If found, it will compare all user names and
                    handles against this file, and reject any matching users.

Honour Hidden       Setting this to YES will make D-UseR honour the "hidden"
  Attribute         attribute in the userfile.  This is helpful for excluding
                    Guest accounts without putting them into the exclusion
                    file.

Custom Colour       Choosing this option will bring up the colour
  Configuration     Configuration screen.  Here you can choose the foreground
                    and background colours for different bulletin items.
                    Foreground items are limited to colours 0-15 and
                    background items are limited to colours 0-7.

    * If the RA environment variable is set, D-UseR will try to read the
      "SysOp Name", "BBS Name", "Path to USERS.BBS" and "Textfile Path"
      directly from the CONFIG.RA file.

    * Whenever presented with an input prompt, hitting enter on a blank line
      will retain your previous selection.


Generating Bulletins
--------------------

In order to generate the userlist bulletins, run D-UseR with the /G switch :

          DUSER /G

   *   D-UseR will handle up to *10000* users in the users file. If this
       number is exceeded D-UseR will abort with an error message.

   *   You can either generate the userlist bulletins once per night, through
       a nightly batch file, or every time the option is chosen from the menu.
       To run D-UseR from a menu, create a new menu which consists of three
       menu lines :

            1 - Call DUSER as a type 7 or 15 exit
            2 - Display the D_USER textfile to the user
            3 - Return to the menu from whence you came


Exclusion List
--------------

D-UseR supports an exclusion list which allows you to specify up to 100 users
which you do not want included in the bulletins. This is useful if have users
(or co-sysops) which you want to "hide" from the bulletins.

In order to use this feature you must create a plain ASCII text file called
DUSER.BAD and simply list the name or handle of the user which you want excluded
(one entry per line). You must also enable "Exclusion File Checking" in the
configuration menu.
   
   *   It is not necessary to specify both a user's real name and their handle
       as separate entries, one or the other will suffice.
   *   The entries in DUSER.BAD are *not* case sensitive, so if you have "John
       Smith" in your DUSER.BAD file, and the user's name is actually spelt
       "JoHn SmItH", the name will still be properly excluded.
   *   If you have more than 100 entries in DUSER.BAD, D-UseR will simply
       ignore any entries above #100.
   
           Example of DUSER.BAD:
   
                     John Smith
                     Jane Smith
                     The Punisher
   

Location of Files
-----------------

D-UseR can be run from any directory.  On your first time configuration, the
configuration file DUSER.CFG will be created in the current directory.  During
bulletin generation, D-User will search for necessary files ( DUSER.CFG and
DUSER.BAD ) first in the directory where the executable is stored (not
necessarily the current directory), and then in directories specified in
your path statement.  To speed up the process, keep your DUSER.EXE, DUSER.CFG
and DUSER.BAD files in the same directory.

   * D-UseR does *not* write to any RemoteAccess files at any time.

   * During your first time configuration, D-UseR will try to grab as much as
     it can from your CONFIG.RA file, but only if the RA environment variable
     has been set to point to the directory CONFIG.RA is in.


Bulletins Created
-----------------

D-UseR creates the following bulletins in the directory you have specified
as the Textfiles directory:

                D_USER.ANS      (Ansi bulletin)
                D_USER.ASC      (Ascii bulletin)

       
Legal Stuff and Disclaimer
--------------------------
"D-UseR" refers to the executables and documentation in the original
distribution archive. D-UseR is copyrighted material by the author, James
FitzGibbon. All rights are reserved.  The author grants you a licence to
use this software free of charge.

The program is provided "as is", without warranty or guarantee of any kind,
either expressed or implied, as to its quality or performance. The author will
not be held liable to you or anyone for any direct, indirect, incidental or
consequential damages, including but not limited to any lost profits, or lost
savings which may result from the use or inability to use this program.

The author is in no way obligated to provide future versions of this software.

Your use of the program constitutes your agreement to these terms and to this
disclaimer.

All mentioned products are copyrighted by and trademarks of their respective
holders.


Credits
-------

Thanks to Victor Magdic for getting me started in Turbo Pascal programming,
and for letting me release D-UseR under The DeAdZoNe utilities label.  Also
thanks to Nathan Locklin and Jonathan Rapoport for beta testing D-UseR on
their systems.


Updates
-------

Please see the enclosed file DEADZONE.TXT for information on how to obtain the
latest version of D-UseR.

       
Suggestions always welcome!
---------------------------

If you have any suggestions for improvement or wish to report any bugs, you can
reach me via netmail:
       
       The Flight Deck BBS
       James FitzGibbon
       FidoNet: 1:250/302
       IMEX 89:480/222
       NaNet 41-65-20 (81:416/520)


       or by writing to:
       
       James FitzGibbon
       300 Alton Towers Circle #903
       Scarborough, Ontario
       M1V 4X9
       CANADA

       (please note that the above address is not valid until April 10th,
       1993.  If you have correspondance to send me, please hold it until that
       time to avoid having it returned by the current tenants of the above
       address)
       
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