Conference_Set v1.0 for WC4.01

by Dave Hamilton

November 7, 1994


			 
1. What is it?

	CONFSET (Conference_Set) is a WCCODE program that will
set the caller's last Conference to whichever Conference the
Sysop selects when the caller exits Wildcat. If the Sysop does
not select a Conference, then CONFSET will set the caller's
Conference to Conference 1.

	This utility was inspired by a similar utility written
by Randy Chalupka for WC4.00 called S-CONF.  Unfortunately, Mr.
Chaplupka didn't provide the source code so his otherwise handy
utility ceased to be useful under WC4.01. There were several
other shortcomings of S-CONF which are corrected in CONFSET as
well as certain safety checks and messages which have been added.


2.  Why do you need CONFSET?  

	On my board, we have some local conferences and other
conferences which are echo'd to other boards. I discovered that
users were posting "private" messages and other inappropriate 
(off topic) messages in the echo conferences. "Private" messages
in a BSNet echo conference become "public" messages when echoed.
CONFSET solved this problem by moving everyone back to a local 
conference by default.
  


3.  What CONFSET does (and doesn't do):

    CONFSET first checks for the existence of the CONFSET.CFG
file in the Wildcat home directory. This file consists of a 
single integer number, being the number of the Conference to 
which a user will be changed.  If this file is found in the 
Wildcat home directory, CONFSET reads the number. A sample 
CONFSET.CFG is included.

    If CONFSET.CFG is _not_ found, then CONFSET arbitrarily uses
Conference 1 as the Conference to which the user will be changed.
(It's hard to imagine a BBS which doesn't have Conference 1, but
who knows?)

    CONFSET next checks to see what Conference the user is already in.  
If that is the same as the conference specified in CONFSET.CFG (or
is Conference 1, and no CONFSET.CFG is found), the program terminates.

    If the present Conference is not the same, CONFSET will change the
user's Conference to the one you select in CONFSET.CFG or to Conference 1,
if CONFSET.CFG is not found.

    Finally, CONFSET posts a message about any Conference change in the 
Activity Log, but no message is posted if no change is made. In addition,
CONFSET will post a message in the Activity Log if the file CONFSET.CFG 
is not found.


4.  Installation:

   A.  If you DO NOT presently have a POSTCALL.WCX file:

	Put CONFSET.WCX, CONFSET.CFG and POSTCALL.WCX in your
Wildcat home directory.

	Edit the CONFSET.CFG file to show which Conference
number you want to be set as the users last conference. 
Supported Conference numbers are 0-32767. The only thing in
CONFSET.CFG should be the  Conference number.  Note:  If you
select a Conference which does not exist (or to which a
particular user does not have access) CONFSET will attempt to
change the user to that Conference but the change will be
ineffective.  The user will simply stay in the last Conference
they selected before logging off.

   B.  If you DO have a POSTCALL.WCX file (and you have WCCODE):

	- Put CONFSET.WCX and CONFSET.CFG in your Wildcat home
directory.

	- Edit the CONFSET.CFG file to show which Conference
number you  want to be set as the users last Conference. 
Supported Conference  numbers are 0-32767.  The only thing in
CONFSET.CFG should be the  Conference number.

	- Load up your POSTCALL.WCC in WCCODE and add this line to
it:
			RUN "CONFSET.WCX"

	- Re-compile it and make sure the new POSTCALL.WCX is in
your Wildcat home directory.



   C.  If you DO have a POSTCALL.WCX file (and you DO NOT have
WCCODE):

	- This means that someone else made your POSTCALL.WCX
file. If you have the POSTCALL.WCC file for your POSTCALL.WCX,
have a friend with WCCODE compile or recompile the POSTCALL.WCC
file as in Step 2-B, above, for you (with the added line). 

        - Otherwise, you can replace your POSTCALL.WCX with the
one included (but you will lose whatever additional function(s) 
your current POSTCALL.WCX performs).


NOTE:  It might appear that you could run CONFSET.WCX from a
POSTCALL.BAT (or POSTCALL.RUN) file, particularly since
Wildcat v4.01 now includes the ability to run wcCode Applications 
from the command line (the so-called "/r" option). However, 
when you attempt to use a POSTCALL.BAT file to launch a WCX
application, you will get an error message to the effect that
Wildcat is unable to lock the NODEINFO.DAT file (presumably because
the previous copy of Wildcat had locked that particular node's
DAT file and not yet released it). There may be some work-around
to this that I haven't thought of, or future releases of Wildcat
may permit this, but for the present it seems that a POSTCALL.WCX
file is required.                                             ^^^


5.  That's about it. Hope you find this utility useful. If you
want to  contact me, please leave a note to the Sysop on Dave's
BBS in Dayton, Ohio at (513) 274-7029.


6.  Guarantee/Warranty: None!  Use at your own risk.