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ZL1ABS > WINPAC 29.05.09 11:01l 96 Lines 4296 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 202656ZL1ABS
Read: GUEST
Subj: BBSPRMPT Help text
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<ZL2BAU<ZL1AB
Sent: 090529/0614Z @:ZL1AB.#06.NZL.OC #:29014 [AUCKLAND] FBB7.00i $:202656ZL1AB
From: ZL1ABS@ZL1AB.#06.NZL.OC
To : WINPAC@WW
Problem: When WinPack connects to the BBS, either in an Auto BBS
session or when I press F2, it gets to WAITPROMPT and then
sits there until I cancel the script, even though the BBS has
sent the prompt.
(Another variation of this is that the WAITPROMPT disappears
before the prompt is received from the BBS, and WinPack may
then abruptly disconnect.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answer: It is very important to input the correct setting for "BBS
prompt" in "Personal/BBS Info". Unless this setting is
correct, the BBS.TXT script will stick at WAITPROMPT or
terminate prematurely.
Help is available if you press F1 when the "Personal/BBS Info"
window is open.
Here are some examples of BBS prompts and the correct setting
for "BBS prompt".
Here's an example of a very common BBS prompt:-
2:GB7IDE>
Here is what you put in "BBS Prompt" in WinPack:-
:GB7IDE
note the ':' and note no '>' on the end.
Here's another prompt:-
(1) G8MZX de GB7IDE BBS 12:34 >
Here is what you might put in "BBS Prompt" in WinPack:-
) G8MZX de GB7IDE
Here's another prompt:-
(3) GB7IDE (H for Help) A,B,C,D (most of the alphabet) >
Here is what you might put in "BBS Prompt" in WinPack:-
) GB7IDE (H for Help)
What you're trying to do is to put some text which occurs in
the prompt, but is unlikely to occur anywhere else. WinPack
always assumes that the prompt from the BBS ends with a '>',
so you don't need to put it in. NOTE that the text you specify
must be in the correct case.
A common error is to put something like:-
3:GB7SKG
The '3' is a stream number, and will vary from connect to
connect, so sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't.
Another common error is, with a prompt like the example above
with the time in it, to put:-
) G8MZX de GB7IDE >
By putting the '>' on the end, you are specifying something
which does not actually occur in the prompt. ") G8MZX de
GB7IDE" occurs in the prompt and so does '>', but ") G8MZX de
GB7IDE >" does not. As stated above, WinPack assumes that the
BBS prompt ends with a '>', you don't need to put it in.
One other thing which can *very rarely* give a problem is if
you have an absolutely superb path to the BBS, and the BBS has
very little welcome text, so the prompt arrives in the first
frame almost the instant you connect. In that case remove the
WAITCON from BBS.TXT.
(The following was added to the FAQ on 2000-Jan-06 as a result
of someone sending a bulletin to WINPAC @ GBR saying that all
you needed in "BBS prompt" was '>'.)
**************************************************************
Don't be tempted to take the easy option of putting simply:-
>
It may appear to work, but it will probably cause problems at
some stage. It will certainly cause problems if the sysop
configures the BBS so you see something like this when you
connect:-
< Welcome to GB7XXX! >
< A great BBS for testing your WinPack prompt setting. >
If you have only put '>' in "BBS prompt" in WinPack
then the chances are that you'll never get as far
as the real BBS prompt, which is on the next line:-
(1) GB7XXX BBS>
It will also give you a problem if you don't use the FBB
unproto beacons, and so WinPack has to collect the message
list by connecting to the BBS and listing it. Packet users
will quite often surround the message title with '<' and '>'.
When WinPack lists the messages, it will stop at any line
ending with '>'.
**************************************************************
Roger Barker, G4IDE
2000-Jan-06
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