• MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?

    From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to All on Wed Dec 14 22:12:30 2016
    Hi Everyone,

    I am currently using mTCP Telnet on MS-DOS for BBS access. It works pretty well but has minor problems like pgup and pgdown not working in message listings. I'm curious about possibly better alternatives.

    Thanks
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  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 04:28:42 2016

    14 Dec 16 22:12, you wrote to All:

    I am currently using mTCP Telnet on MS-DOS for BBS access. It works
    pretty well but has minor problems like pgup and pgdown not working in message listings. I'm curious about possibly better alternatives.

    the terminal is one thing but the BBS package also has to be written to support
    pgup and pgdn... many are not... mystic does... remoteaccess does not... sbbs does not... i have others here but don't have them set up where i can test them
    for this but i suspect that they, also, do not support pgup and pgdn...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Overflow on null device; please empty the bit bucket.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 07:05:26 2016
    Hello Chris,

    On 14 Dec 16 22:12, Chris Jones wrote to All:

    I am currently using mTCP Telnet on MS-DOS for BBS access. It works
    pretty well but has minor problems like pgup and pgdown not working in message listings. I'm curious about possibly better alternatives.

    If you're using Synchonet for messages, you may want to try a new external editor. Nightfox's "SlyEdit" does indeed support pgup/pgdown while reading messages in the full screen reader. You can get it from cvs.synchro.net.

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 10:12:50 2016

    15 Dec 16 07:05, you wrote to Chris Jones:

    I am currently using mTCP Telnet on MS-DOS for BBS access. It works
    pretty well but has minor problems like pgup and pgdown not working
    in message listings. I'm curious about possibly better alternatives.

    If you're using Synchonet for messages, you may want to try a new
    external editor. Nightfox's "SlyEdit" does indeed support pgup/pgdown while reading messages in the full screen reader.

    wait... i'm confused... when is an external BBS message editor used as full screen reader? slyedit has a full screen reader mode?


    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... I love my country but am embarrassed by my government.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to mark lewis on Thu Dec 15 12:20:52 2016
    Re: MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?
    By: mark lewis to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 2016 04:28 am

    It appears that the BBS package does support pgup and pgdown. For clarification, I'm not talking about viewing a single message in an editor, but viewing all of the messages in list mode. When using syncterm on a modern PC, pgup and pgdown works there. When using mTCP telnet under DOS, it does not. Hence my question.
    --- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
    * Origin: Decker's Heaven -//- bbs.deckersheaven.com (1:135/371)
  • From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 12:23:38 2016
    Re: MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?
    By: Nicholas Boel to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 2016 07:05 am

    Hi Nick,

    For clarification, I'm not talking about viewing a single message in the editor (I do use SlyEdit though). I'm talking about viewing all the messages in a group in list mode. In syncterm pgup and pgdown works there. In mTCP telnet, it does not. That makes me assume that it is a problem with the client
    application which is why I'm looking for alternatives.

    Thanks,
    Chris
    --- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
    * Origin: Decker's Heaven -//- bbs.deckersheaven.com (1:135/371)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Thu Dec 15 11:29:58 2016
    Hello mark,

    On 15 Dec 16 10:12, mark lewis wrote to Nicholas Boel:

    If you're using Synchonet for messages, you may want to try a new
    external editor. Nightfox's "SlyEdit" does indeed support
    pgup/pgdown while reading messages in the full screen reader.

    wait... i'm confused... when is an external BBS message editor used as full screen reader? slyedit has a full screen reader mode?

    Try it out and you'll see what I mean. It was somewhat based off of Golded and Mystic's FSE system. :)

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 11:31:42 2016
    Hello Chris,

    On 15 Dec 16 12:23, Chris Jones wrote to Nicholas Boel:

    For clarification, I'm not talking about viewing a single message in
    the editor (I do use SlyEdit though). I'm talking about viewing all
    the messages in a group in list mode. In syncterm pgup and pgdown
    works there. In mTCP telnet, it does not. That makes me assume that it
    is a problem with the client application which is why I'm looking for alternatives.

    Oh. Okay, well in that case you may want to find a client that works better with ANSI, specifically BBSing in general. Terminate, Telemate, Qmodem, and Procomm Plus come to mind. With that said, I can't guarantee pgup/pgdn work in any of those either though. :)

    Kind of like when trying to use a linux console to telnet to a BBS. It may or may not (depending on your settings for your console) look nice.

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)
  • From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 14:37:08 2016
    Re: MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?
    By: Nicholas Boel to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 2016 11:31 am

    Thanks. That at least gives me something to Google for. I appreciate it.
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    * Origin: Decker's Heaven -//- bbs.deckersheaven.com (1:135/371)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 13:45:14 2016

    15 Dec 16 12:20, you wrote to me:

    It appears that the BBS package does support pgup and pgdown. For clarification, I'm not talking about viewing a single message in an
    editor,
    but viewing all of the messages in list mode.

    oh! i misunderstood... sorry 'bout that...

    When using syncterm on a modern PC, pgup and pgdown works there. When using mTCP telnet under DOS, it does not. Hence my question.

    you should find out what character sequence syncterm sends for those keys and see if you can map that into mTCP telnet's keys... some terminals allow you to adjust the character sequences sent for the keys transmitted for the terminal type chosen... i'm guessing you are using the same terminal type (eg: vt100, ansi, ansi-bbs, etc) in both terminals? aside from that, i don't know anything about mTCP to be able to point you further...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Features should be discovered, not documented!
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 13:51:34 2016

    15 Dec 16 11:29, you wrote to me:

    If you're using Synchonet for messages, you may want to try a new
    external editor. Nightfox's "SlyEdit" does indeed support
    pgup/pgdown while reading messages in the full screen reader.

    wait... i'm confused... when is an external BBS message editor used
    as full screen reader? slyedit has a full screen reader mode?

    Try it out and you'll see what I mean. It was somewhat based off of
    Golded and Mystic's FSE system. :)

    do you know when it was released with this capability? we haven't seen it in max's last update on 2016 Oct 26 but we may have missed something...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... "Pops" Anderson, one heck of a nice guy ;*)
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 14:01:48 2016

    15 Dec 16 11:31, Nicholas Boel wrote to you:

    For clarification, I'm not talking about viewing a single message in
    the editor (I do use SlyEdit though). I'm talking about viewing all
    the messages in a group in list mode. In syncterm pgup and pgdown
    works there. In mTCP telnet, it does not. That makes me assume that
    it is a problem with the client application which is why I'm looking
    for alternatives.

    Oh. Okay, well in that case you may want to find a client that works better with ANSI, specifically BBSing in general. Terminate, Telemate, Qmodem, and Procomm Plus come to mind.

    don't forget Telix, the best one of them all ;)

    With that said, I can't guarantee pgup/pgdn work in any of those
    either though. :)

    me either... and that reminds me that maybe "doorway mode" or something similar
    might be the trick you're looking for? that or maybe something like "send raw keys"...

    Kind of like when trying to use a linux console to telnet to a BBS. It
    may or may not (depending on your settings for your console) look
    nice.

    and may be influenced by the same file... termcap is one that comes to mind...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... I can't figure out why my "one for two" sale flopped.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Thu Dec 15 14:21:30 2016
    Hello mark,

    On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 13:51:34 -0500, mark lewis -> Nicholas Boel wrote:

    Try it out and you'll see what I mean. It was somewhat based off of
    Golded and Mystic's FSE system. :)

    do you know when it was released with this capability? we haven't seen
    it in max's last update on 2016 Oct 26 but we may have missed something...

    It has always had this capability. In the config file you can specify
    whether you want to use the standard mode, or the FS reader mode. With
    this mode enabled, it's one screen, and you can scroll through the
    message.

    Unless you're thinking about a completely different definition of a full
    screen application..?

    Regards,
    Nick

    --- slrn/1.0.3 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (1:154/10)
  • From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to mark lewis on Thu Dec 15 16:10:46 2016
    Re: MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?
    By: mark lewis to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 2016 02:01 pm

    Thank you for the information. I'll give telix a look.

    Chris
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    * Origin: Decker's Heaven -//- bbs.deckersheaven.com (1:135/371)
  • From Chris Jones@1:135/371 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 16:12:06 2016
    Re: MS-DOS BBS Client Recommendations?
    By: Nicholas Boel to Chris Jones on Thu Dec 15 2016 11:31 am

    I forgot to thank you for the suggestions for alternatives. Thanks! :D
    --- SBBSecho 2.27-Linux
    * Origin: Decker's Heaven -//- bbs.deckersheaven.com (1:135/371)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Thu Dec 15 18:45:54 2016

    15 Dec 16 14:21, you wrote to me:

    Try it out and you'll see what I mean. It was somewhat based off of
    Golded and Mystic's FSE system. :)

    do you know when it was released with this capability? we haven't
    seen it in max's last update on 2016 Oct 26 but we may have missed
    something...

    It has always had this capability. In the config file you can specify whether you want to use the standard mode, or the FS reader mode. With this mode enabled, it's one screen, and you can scroll through the message.

    i think i remember that mode switch...

    Unless you're thinking about a completely different definition of a
    full screen application..?

    if there's editing capabilities in that different mode, then it is definitely not what i/we would call a reader... reader mode has no editing capabilities...
    you have to hit a key to reply or write a new message... anyway, i'll try to take a look in the next days... thanks for the info! :)

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Thu Dec 15 22:05:28 2016
    Hello mark,

    On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 18:45:54 -0500, mark lewis -> Nicholas Boel wrote:

    if there's editing capabilities in that different mode, then it is definitely not what i/we would call a reader... reader mode has no
    editing capabilities... you have to hit a key to reply or write a new message... anyway, i'll try to take a look in the next days... thanks
    for the info! :)

    Yeah, that's basically how it works. It's a full screen reader, and when you want to reply, you can hit "R" to reply to the message, which then would open up SlyDCTedit, SlyIceEdit, or whatever editor you have configured to use.

    Regards,
    Nick

    --- slrn/1.0.3 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (1:154/10)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Fri Dec 16 03:23:30 2016

    15 Dec 16 22:05, you wrote to me:

    if there's editing capabilities in that different mode, then it is
    definitely not what i/we would call a reader... reader mode has no
    editing capabilities... you have to hit a key to reply or write a new
    message... anyway, i'll try to take a look in the next days... thanks
    for the info! :)

    Yeah, that's basically how it works. It's a full screen reader, and
    when you want to reply, you can hit "R" to reply to the message, which then would open up SlyDCTedit, SlyIceEdit, or whatever editor you have configured to use.

    i think you're thinking of the digital distortion's message lister... slyedit has three start up modes, DCT, ICE or RANDOM... the message lister thing is something separate and i don't find any indication of it in Max's setup... the slyedit stuff is there and the docs do reference the DDML but that's all i can find about it... AFAIK, slyedit came with sbbs when Max first pulled it off the
    repo and compiled it... i'm not aware of anything special done to acquire it...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... If girls are all sugar and spice, why do they taste like anchovies?
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Fri Dec 16 07:20:42 2016
    Hello mark,

    On 16 Dec 16 03:23, mark lewis wrote to Nicholas Boel:

    Yeah, that's basically how it works. It's a full screen reader,
    and when you want to reply, you can hit "R" to reply to the
    message, which then would open up SlyDCTedit, SlyIceEdit, or
    whatever editor you have configured to use.

    i think you're thinking of the digital distortion's message lister...

    No, I'm not. I'm specifically referring to DDMR, or Digital Distortion's Message Reader. Please just try it out, rather than assume you know what I'm talking about. :)

    slyedit has three start up modes, DCT, ICE or RANDOM... the message
    lister thing is something separate and i don't find any indication of
    it in Max's setup... the slyedit stuff is there and the docs do
    reference the DDML but that's all i can find about it... AFAIK,
    slyedit came with sbbs when Max first pulled it off the repo and
    compiled it... i'm not aware of anything special done to acquire it...

    The new message reader has the message lister built into it, However, it started out as a message reader, and evolved to incorporate some of his other separate mods now.

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... "Не знаю. Я здесь только работаю."
    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20160827
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (Wisconsin) (1:154/10)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Fri Dec 16 09:42:04 2016

    16 Dec 16 07:20, you wrote to me:

    Yeah, that's basically how it works. It's a full screen reader, and
    when you want to reply, you can hit "R" to reply to the message,
    which then would open up SlyDCTedit, SlyIceEdit, or whatever editor
    you have configured to use.

    i think you're thinking of the digital distortion's message lister...

    No, I'm not. I'm specifically referring to DDMR, or Digital
    Distortion's Message Reader. Please just try it out, rather than
    assume you know what I'm talking about. :)

    ok... we'll have to look and see if we can find it... the only digital distortions stuff max has on her sbbs is slyedit... no ddml or ddmr...

    slyedit has three start up modes, DCT, ICE or RANDOM... the message
    lister thing is something separate and i don't find any indication of
    it in Max's setup... the slyedit stuff is there and the docs do
    reference the DDML but that's all i can find about it... AFAIK,
    slyedit came with sbbs when Max first pulled it off the repo and
    compiled it... i'm not aware of anything special done to acquire
    it...

    The new message reader has the message lister built into it, However,
    it started out as a message reader, and evolved to incorporate some of
    his other separate mods now.

    we'll see if we can find it... hopefully it is included in sbbs like slyedit was so that it can/will be updated when an update from the sbbs repo is made...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... We are all self-made, but only the rich will admit it.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Fri Dec 16 10:16:46 2016
    Hello mark,

    On Fri, 16 Dec 2016 09:42:04 -0500, mark lewis -> Nicholas Boel wrote:

    we'll see if we can find it... hopefully it is included in sbbs like slyedit was so that it can/will be updated when an update from the sbbs repo is made...

    It is. They should be in the xtrn directory, but you may have to update the mods to the current code.

    Regards,
    Nick

    --- slrn/1.0.3 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (1:154/10)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Fri Dec 16 12:27:56 2016

    16 Dec 16 10:16, you wrote to me:

    we'll see if we can find it... hopefully it is included in sbbs like
    slyedit was so that it can/will be updated when an update from the
    sbbs repo is made...

    It is. They should be in the xtrn directory, but you may have to
    update the mods to the current code.

    max has a script, updatesbbs, that archives the current ctrl and exec directories and then pulls from cvs for the exec, 3rdp and xtrn directories... it then runs a make clean followed by a make on sbbs3, sbbs3/scfg, and exec... the next step hunts down the xtrn directories with Makefiles in them and runs make on them... that should cover everything needed for a system running on the
    edge ;)

    the last update was on 2016 Oct 26 so we'll see what has happened in the last two months when we run the update script... that won't be until later this evening or maybe this weekend but we'll have to see what RL throws at us first...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Three dreaded words when making love: Ignore the rash.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Nicholas Boel@1:154/10 to mark lewis on Fri Dec 16 14:06:38 2016
    Hello mark,

    On Fri, 16 Dec 2016 12:27:56 -0500, mark lewis -> Nicholas Boel wrote:

    It is. They should be in the xtrn directory, but you may have to
    update the mods to the current code.

    max has a script, updatesbbs, that archives the current ctrl and exec directories and then pulls from cvs for the exec, 3rdp and xtrn directories... it then runs a make clean followed by a make on sbbs3, sbbs3/scfg, and exec... the next step hunts down the xtrn directories
    with Makefiles in them and runs make on them... that should cover everything needed for a system running on the edge ;)

    Besides that, and I don't update it via CVS, the ctrl directory should probably
    just be watched in case there are any changes you can diff any .ini files and add in what has changed, as well as all the recent text.dat modifications. If you haven't changed anything in text.dat, though, you can just update it to the
    current one.

    the last update was on 2016 Oct 26 so we'll see what has happened in the last two months when we run the update script... that won't be until
    later this evening or maybe this weekend but we'll have to see what RL throws at us first...

    Not too long ago, but plenty has been done since then. :)

    Regards,
    Nick

    --- slrn/1.0.3 (Linux)
    * Origin: thePharcyde_ distribution system (1:154/10)
  • From Mark Lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Nicholas Boel on Tue Mar 7 18:09:48 2017


    16 Dec 16 07:20, you wrote to me:

    Yeah, that's basically how it works. It's a full screen reader, and
    when you want to reply, you can hit "R" to reply to the message,
    which then would open up SlyDCTedit, SlyIceEdit, or whatever editor
    you have configured to use.

    i think you're thinking of the digital distortion's message lister...

    No, I'm not. I'm specifically referring to DDMR, or Digital
    Distortion's Message Reader. Please just try it out, rather than
    assume you know what I'm talking about. :)

    ok... we'll have to look and see if we can find it... the only digital distortions stuff max has on her sbbs is slyedit... no ddml or ddmr...

    slyedit has three start up modes, DCT, ICE or RANDOM... the message
    lister thing is something separate and i don't find any indication of
    it in Max's setup... the slyedit stuff is there and the docs do
    reference the DDML but that's all i can find about it... AFAIK,
    slyedit came with sbbs when Max first pulled it off the repo and
    compiled it... i'm not aware of anything special done to acquire
    it...

    The new message reader has the message lister built into it, However,
    it started out as a message reader, and evolved to incorporate some of
    his other separate mods now.

    we'll see if we can find it... hopefully it is included in sbbs like slyedit was so that it can/will be updated when an update from the sbbs repo is made...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... We are all self-made, but only the rich will admit it.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)