FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MDG ANNOUNCES PROLINE 3.0 UPGRADE SAN DIEGO, California, USA -- November 29, 1993 -- The Morgan Davis Group is proud to announce the ProLine 3.0 upgrade, a major advancement in the evolution of the acclaimed Apple II BBS. ProLine is hailed as the premier networked bulletin board system for Apple II computers, linking more than 100 regions in a dozen countries with the global Internet. The ProLine 3.0 upgrade, the first major enhancement in a year and a half, includes hundreds of improvements and additions making it one of the most substantial revisions in ProLine's ten-year history. Planned for release before the end of the year, the low-cost ProLine 3.0 upgrade kit includes three 800K diskettes with a simple update procedure. Registered ProLine owners can reserve upgrades now by ordering directly from the Morgan Davis Group. SPECIAL: Order before December 31, 1993 and receive a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind "Big Brother Inside" sticker lampooning the Intel logo. A statement against the government proposed data encryption chip, this hilarious farce comes in dark blue on a transparent background, suitable for strategic placement on electronic devices you own (or perhaps don't). How to order: Payment: Visa, Mastercard, check or money order accepted. No CODs. Make checks payable to: Morgan Davis Group Prices: $39 + $4 S/H (2.0 owners) $79 + $8 S/H (1.8 owners, includes new 350-page manual) $159 + $8 S/H (new owners) Include: Name, address (and shipping address if different), and if paying by credit card, type, number, and exp. date. By e-mail: mdavis@mdg.cts.com By FAX: 619/670-9643 By voice: 619/670-0563 By modem: 619/670-5379 (send email to mdavis@mdg.cts.com) By US mail: Morgan Davis Group 10079 Nuerto Lane, Rancho San Diego, CA 91977-7132 USA _________________________________________________________________________ What's New in ProLine 3.0 This extensive document, intended for current ProLine owners, summarizes the myriad changes and improvements which will be packaged in the ProLine 3.0 upgrade kit. Each new or improved command also includes updated documentation on disk. (Note: MDG reserves the right to add to or change this list without notification). Where What ============= ===================================================== addconf Asks for newsgroup info adduser Can ask user if s/he lives in USA, fixed bad login name bug, removes area code restrictions for US expansion addsite NEW! Makes adding a new network site easier addtopic Total rewrite; asks for newsgroup info arbitron NEW! Reports USENET traffic statistics! bank NEW! Bank simulator manages money between games in the ProLine gaming economy. batch Total rewrite, creates proper batches, no longer needs .rsrc blackjack NEW! Full-screen blackjack game with real card images, real deck, and advanced features like split hands, doubling bets, and more. Integrates with the ProLine banking system. calls Avoids error if log doesn't exist (using -f option) cs Better newsgroup support, allows creation of articles to be sent directly into UNIX news systems. csh Mv bug, exec bug, multiple commands on invocation bug, commands after comments bug, and variable parsing after comments bug -- all fixed. Supports global startup script (cshinit) that lets the admin define certain to perform at sign-on time. This also enables the admin to designate sign-off tasks for the user as well. cshinit NEW! Initialization script for csh users (see csh). csmod Asks for newsgroup info cyber NEW! Full-scale interactive fiction game (ala Infocom style) delsite NEW! Makes removing a network site easier dstat Total rewrite; supports '=' opcode to set absolute permissions err Simply converted to a shell script to perform same task flip Total rewrite; can process 1500 accounts, new -d option added gid Total rewrite; smaller and faster Hayes.Acura NEW modemcap import/export Total rewrite; includes support for converting files between ProDOS/HFS, DOS, and UNIX. inspect NEW! Inspects files and reports their contents. Comes with a new CRC utility module. Intel.14.4EX NEW modemcap it NEW! Total rewrite, completely new interface and new features, VTxxx and ANSI arrow key support, debugging modes. itc Total rewrite; adds support for higher baud rates, new command to completely quit from IT. login Logout command, user login alert, reports real connect speed, no longer displays news (see news) lpr Total rewrite; no longer redirects output to modem when done (and not online), allows printing by non-root users at local console only, new options for added flexibility mc Without arguments mc loads the configured modemcap file. Adds support for 38,400 and 57,600 speeds. mdss Fixed 16-file limit on ZMODEM batch receives, enhanced tolerances for slower systems helps avoid the rare but annoying BIN file that caused sendmail to complain. mdssclean Total rewrite; smaller, faster, more accurate, and flexible ned NEW! Full-screen customized editor for managing the newsys file. news Total rewrite; improved interactive mode, new command line options, new items created with editor, replaces login's news displaying function notice Total rewrite od Total rewrite; new -a option enables ASCII dump mode plush Fixed reverse menu searches, added local/bin and games paths plush.m Updated poll Reports real connect speed ps NEW! Reports process and module status rmdir Total rewrite; can remove multiple dir arguments rnews Fixed bug in sending batches to sites with same domain rx 20% speed improvement, correctly handles Binary II files when Binary II decoding is turned off safecom Total rewrite sendmail Searches for domains properly, writes rnews mailboxes faster, added forwarding via "forward" file feature server Smarter at obtaining sender's address rather than using the explicit return path sweep Total rewrite; can be used by regular users not just admins, added new directory command, faster, cleaner, better sx Speed improvements trim Total rewrite unbatch Avoids long newsgroups field error (string too long), faster USR.Sportster New modemcap vedit Smart scrolling implemented, real tab support, numerous fixes and enhancements whereis NEW! Locates programs and manuals Zoom.2400EX New modemcap New filesystem notes: Where What ============= ===================================================== etc/passwd Interpreter no longer requires a path (csh vs. bin/csh). sys/bin Holds administration and networking tools bin Holds everything else sys/man.L New name for man.LOCAL New developer notes: Where What ============= ===================================================== proline.h Includes new definitions, including the IDENT() macro, used by all applications to insert a standard identification REM statement as the first line in the program. IDENT("name", "version", "date") proline.lib Programs now include new logic to detect when they're being launched, or when being returned to, in order to know when to restore environments after sublaunching an application. launch.lib Searches PATH_LIST defined in proline.h for programs to launch in CommandLine$. No longer requires full path to a program. CRC New CRC module (used by inspect), available CRC calculations Notable Enhancements ==================== The following items are worthy of additional explanation: Improved Usenet News Support ---------------------------- Most programs related to conferencing or the news system now include much better support for working with Usenet news distribution. These include addconf, addtopic, batch, cs, csmod, ned, rnews, and unbatch. Even sendmail has been enhanced to recognize messages for rnews and does a high-speed copy to the rnews mailbox. News processing is faster and more robust. New C-Shell ----------- In addition to a number of improvements, the C-Shell now features a sysop-designated shell script (called cshinit) that runs before the user's own login script runs. This lets the sysop tailor certain "required" programs to run before the user's session begins. Since the user's session can be "wrapped" within the cshinit script, this also allows the sysop to perform tasks when the user is all done, too. Additional Modem Support ------------------------ Because ProLine is based on ModemWorks, a communications toolbox, much has been improved at the communications level. Not only does this include new modemcap files, but better supports high speed modems and has faster serial port performance apparent during file transfers. See the separate notes about ModemWorks 3.1 for more details. Major Improvement for InteleTerm -------------------------------- Although it lacks a scroll-back buffer, InteleTerm gives you just about everything you'll need in a terminal program. And because it is conveniently integrated into ProLine, you may never need to quit from ProLine again when you want to get online elsewhere. The entire interface is improved, now based on a hierarchical menu structure that is neatly maintained on the top line of the screen. By pressing the first letter of each menu item, only two keys are needed to get you connected and logged into your favorite host. Scrolling lists make selection of terminals to emulate or scripts to run a keypress away. It's great! Advances to Login ----------------- The login program now has the ability to execute a task after a user has been logged out. Right now, the default is to simply check for mail the user may have created and invoke sendmail to process it. With this new feature, you can have ProLine do any number of things by invoking a custom script of commands. A new security alert feature allows you to instruct ProLine to emit a unique series of audible tones when certain users have logged in. This can be helpful in monitoring troublesome users, or alerting you to guests who might appreciate your assistance. By taking out the news bulletin display and putting it into the improved 'news' utility, callers now have more flexibility in reading (or re-reading) system bulletins and announcements. Finally, the real connect speed (not just the serial port's closets rate) is reported when a caller connects. You'll see 14400 in your log files instead of 19200. Sendmail -------- In addition to the rnews speed improvement and other enhancements, sendmail now supports the concept of mail forwarding. This is controlled by the user who may want to receive mail at one particular site. By creating a file called "forward" in the home directory, a user can include alternate mail addresses (note: plural) to which mail will be forwarded. (Improvements to the standard PLUSH menus now includes a friendly menu for managing mail forwarding). Sweep ----- A super file management utility popular with administrators, sweep can now be used by regular users to help manage their workspace. It's been cleaned up and polished, and since it's been rewritten in MD-BASIC, it's faster and more efficient. VEdit ----- Those long-time annoyances have been removed and new features have been added thanks to the generous assistance by Doug Granzow who lead the way to a better vedit. Doug inspired improvements in scrolling speed and also added better tab support. Other fixes and enhancements make vedit better than ever. Better Gaming ------------- Since the older blackjack game left much to be desired, the 3.0 upgrade includes one that offers a much better user interface, including card images and a real deck (which means card counting schemes will work), and professional features like the ability to double-down and split hands with pairs. The method the older blackjack games used for dolling out free money made it less challenging, so that inspired the idea of a banking system. When you win money at a card (or other) game, you keep your earnings when you quit, and can deposit them into your own bank account for use at another time. The ProLine Users Bank includes real-world features like an ATM, savings account (with interest), loans, and monetary transfers between users. There's even a full-scale interactive fiction adventure game called Cyber World that plays just like an old Infocom game, complete with game saving and restoring features. Lots of Rewrites ---------------- Many, many programs have been completely rewritten -- converted and compiled with MD-BASIC 2.0. This process not only offers the standard MD-BASIC features (like smaller, faster, and more efficient programs), but the conversion offered the opportunity for improvements and new features. Plus, with these programs in MD-BASIC source format, the ability to enhance them in the future is not only possible, but easier and therefore more likely. END