      Newfie -- A NEWFILES.DAT posting adjunct for Synchronet.


OVERVIEW
--------

Newfie is a rather simple program.  It's a batch file, in fact.  :-)  It
performs a simple task: posting a summary of NEWFILES.DAT contents to a
subgroup of your choice.  Here's how it works:

If your Sychronet system calls other Synchronet systems to pick up QWK
packets, then you can turn on a QWK option that automatically includes a
file called NEWFILES.DAT in each QWK session.  This file contains a list
of the files that have been changed/added to the remote site's transfer
section since the last time your QWK account was used.  This file is
normally stored in a happy place on your system and awaits someone to do
something with it.  If you have ever seen messages like "Received
NEWFILES.DAT from XYZ" when you logged on, then you know what this is all
about.  If you haven't seen those messages, then you don't have that QWK
option turned on.  Check the "QWK Configuration" section of the Synchronet
System Operator's Manual for more information.

Newfie is intended to run as an event under Synchronet.  It will check
your system for those NEWFILES.DAT files and if they are found, will
post their contents to any subgroup you want.  This makes it easy to see
what's new and exciting on your neighbor's system.  Just read that subgroup
like any other subgroup!  No hassles, no fuss.  Just good, clean fun.


INSTALLATION
------------

Installation is quick and easy.  Follow these steps:

   1) COPY NEWFIE.BAT to C:\SBBS\EXEC (or wherever your EXEC directory is).

   2) Make sure you have a copy of SMBUTIL.EXE in your EXEC directory.  If
      not, download SMB_*.ZIP from VERT and extract SMBUTIL.EXE into your
      EXEC directory.  You only need that one file in the archive.

   3) Go into SCFG->External Programs->Timed Events and create a new
      event.  Call it "NEWFIE".  Here are the parameters:

		Internal Code			NEWFIE
		Start-Up Directory		<the place you put NEWFIE.BAT>
		Command Line			%!newfie <parameter list>
		     (More about the <parameter list> below)
		Execution Node			<the node to run NEWFIE.BAT>
		Execution Days			Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
		Execution Time			<a good time for your system>
		Requires Exclusive Execution	No
		Force Users Off-line For Event	No

      Obviously, pick an appropriate node and time for your site.  Common
      sense applies to setting up this event, so use your best judgement.
      The parameters above are for example only.  Your milage may vary.

   4) Create a Message Area, if you don't already have one you want to use,
      to hold the messages Newfie creates.  On my system, I set up a new
      message area under my local group and called it "NEWFILES Listings".

   5) Set the Message Area options appropriately.  This should include a
      valid Internal Name, a maximum number of messages and so on.  I would
      recommend 50 messages max, Fast Allocation, NO network flags on, and
      the default posting/reading options.  Make it available to the users
      if you wish, or restrict it using ARS.  That's up to you.

   6) Go back to the Timed Events and update the Command Line by adding
      these parameters to the command:

	%!newfie <DATA path> <internal name> <site name> [ <site name> ... ]

      Where <DATA path> is the *FULL* path to where you have your DATA
      directory.  Don't use relative paths; fully qualify this path.  Omit
      any trailing slashes.  Example: D:\SBBS\DATA

      <internal name> should be the internal name that you specified for
      Step #5 (or already have).  It must be accurate or else you won't
      get any messages posted.  Don't include any extensions just the name
      as you entered it in Step #5.  Example: SYS-NEWF

      <site name> is one or more QWK site names that you want to check
      for NEWFILES.DAT files.  Make sure the name is exactly as you have
      it defined in SCFG->Networks->QWK Networks.  You can put up to about
      eight other sites on the command line.  For the sake of nice looking
      postings, I suggest these site names be in ALL CAPS.  This makes the
      Subject lines stand out and hey, it looks professional and all that.

                                ** Example **

      As an example, suppose your DATA directory is on D:, the subgroup
      you created has an internal name of "SYS-NEWF" and you poll two
      other Synchronet QWK sites called VERT and FCON.  Your full command
      line would then look something like this:

		%!newfie d:\sbbs\data sys-newf VERT FCON

      At least three parameters are REQUIRED.  Newfie will complain if
      haven't entered enough parameters, but it won't complain if the
      paths or names are invalid, so be SURE of your facts!

   7) You're set to rock and roll!  Save everything and await the first
      batch of new postings the next morning!


CAVEAT EMPTOR
-------------

Being as this is a simple program, it is not particularly robust.  Don't
try anything funny with it, lest you be disappointed.  Here are some
important points to be aware of:

1) Environment space will be your biggest concern.  A lot of systems have
   just the minimum amount of environment space that they need to get by.
   If that's the case with your system, you may be in trouble if your
   command line is long.  You'll know if this is going to be a problem
   for you when your first batch of postings don't arrive, but you still
   see a message like "Received NEWFILES.DAT from XYZ" upon login.  In
   this case, remove the '@echo off' line in NEWFIE.BAT, make a QWK Network
   Node with the same parameters as the Timed Event NEWFIE, and then force
   a QWK poll to occur with 'F' at the WFC screen.  This will help you
   debug and verify that the environment size is at fault.

   You can fix this problem by either adding more environment space to
   your CONFIG.SYS file, or by adding lines to NEWFIE.BAT that will get
   rid of any non-useful environment variables before it continues.  I
   have already made Newfie temporarily get rid of SBBSCTRL, DSZLOG and
   SBBSNNUM variables while it runs.  These aren't needed by the program
   and give up a few bytes here and there.  Look for them near the start
   of the file and add more lines after them as needed.

2) Newfie automatically deletes the NEWFILES.DAT file once it has been
   posted to the subgroup.  If you don't want this to happen, edit
   NEWFIE.BAT and 'rem' out the line that deletes the file.  You should
   be able to find it without too much difficulty -- Newfie's only about
   a hundred lines long...  Keep in mind, however, that if you DO comment
   that line out, Newfie will post a duplicate message every time it
   is told to check for new files.

3) If you want, you can create multiple timed NEWFIE events, scheduled
   to run after a QWK poll, several times a day, or whatever.  It's
   pretty darn flexible.  No special maintenance is required, and it
   should be self-sufficient, for the most part.


RENUMERATION
------------

Naw, not this time, thanks.  :-)  Newfie's a freebie.  I hope it helps
make your system look better and more professional.  If it does, then
post a note to me in the Synchronet Sysop's subgroup on DOVE-Net.  I
would like to hear that people are finding it useful.  That will help
encourage me to keep producing nifty stuff like this.  Beyond that, save
your money for other things.  As a Sysop, I know the millions of little
shareware products that you have to register, and how FAST they add up...

Obviously, you are free to use and distribute Newfie however you want.  I
only ask that you don't remove any of the authorship information that is
in NEWFIE.BAT and this text file.  And please only distribute the batch
file with this accompanying text file.  Keep the ZIP file name the same
(currently NEWF_10A.ZIP) to help maintain consistency in tracking.

The current version is v1.0a, dated 03-Sep-94.

If you come up with an enhancement, send it to me.  I'll see about
putting it into the next release.  Appropriate credit where due, of
course.  I'm always open to suggestions and improvements.

Since this is a freebie, I am offering no warranty nor support of any
kind.  If it works for you, great.  If not, sorry.  I'll try to answer
any and all questions asked of me, but that's strictly limited by time
and available resources.


AUTHORSHIP
----------

Newfie is an unpublished work, Copyright (c) 1994 by Bruce A. Bergman.
All rights reserved.  This work is placed in the public domain, however
the author retains all rights to original ownership.

You can reach the author at:

   Bruce A. Bergman
   Fat City BBS
   11598 Windcrest Lane, Suite 1013
   San Diego, California  92128-4257

   Internet: bruceb@fatcity.com
   Fido:     Bruce Bergman @1:202/504
   BBS:      619/675-7027

[End of document]
