January 27, 2005

The v3.12a release has gone pretty well, with the exception of some upgrade problems for v3.xx-Win32 systems, some problems with the ListServer module, and the default SSJS (Server-Side JavaScript) Web Interface.

To address these problems:

1. After upgrading to v3.12a-Win32, verify that SBBSCTRL:File->Properties->Advanced->Hostname and Temp Directory are set to either blank (the normal default value) or valid values (i.e. not "(null)"!). If the Hostname is blank, Synchronet will automatically use the value specified in SCFG->Networks->Internet->Address. If the Temp Directory is blank, Synchronet will automatically use your Synchronet data/temp directory by default.

2. After upgrading to v3.12a-Win32, verify that SBBSCTRL:Web->Configure->HTTP->Server-Side JS File Extension is set to ".ssjs" and not "ssjs".

3. To fix the known issues with the ListServer module, download http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/exec/mailproc_util.js and http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/exec/listserver.js into your Synchronet exec directory.

4. To fix the known issues with the SSJS Web Interface, download http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/exec/sbbsdefs.js
into your Synchronet exec directory. Then download http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/web/web.tar.gz?tarball=1
and extract, with sub-directories, into your Synchronet directory (e.g. "/sbbs"). Tip: You may need to rename it to web.tgz for WinZip to open/extract it correctly. You will also need to change your "HTML Root" directory from "../html" to "../web/html" in SBBSCTRL->Web->Configure->HTTP, or the [Web] section of your ctrl/sbbs.ini file.

There will be a v3.12b release pretty soon (February time-frame) to address these issues as well as any other critical bugs that are discovered/reported and fixed in the near future (so keep those bug reports coming!).

We're currently holding off on any "new feature" development until v3.12b is out and verified stable for a period of time. In the mean time, I'm working on a new external file transfer driver called SEXYZ (Synchronet External X/Y/Zmodem). This program will replace the 16-bit DOS file transfer drivers that we've been stuck with (e.g. FDSZ, CE-XYZ, etc.) on Win32 BBSes and will hopefully be included in the v3.12b-Win32 release. Stephen (AKA Deuce), meanwhile, has been developing his terminal program, SyncTERM (http://syncterm.bbsdev.net), which supports RLogin and Telnet sessions from Win32 and Unix consoles and will soon be integrating the X/Y/Zmodem file transfer modules developed for SEXYZ.

You're gonna dig BBSing in 2005!

digital man

Snapple "Real Fact" #125:
Pigeons have been trained by the U.S. Coast Guard to spot people lost at sea.