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   REPLYADDR: ozznixon@gmail.com   
   MSGID: 1:1/123.0 5CBC2362   
   PID: ExchangeBBS NNTP Server v3.1/Linux64   
   TID: ExchangeBBS FTN Tosser/JAM v1.19.04 (Beta 4.09)   
   See www.saltairbbs.com   
      
   PCBoard v16 (currently) is online so people can see how far we are in    
   the rewrite. Attempts were made to migrate from MSC to GCC without    
   success. Stepping back and looking at the project, and our other    
   efforts, the decision was made to port the code to a different language    
   and framework. v16 is now written using Modern Pascal, and designed    
   using the Modern Pascal Coderunner framework. Modern Pascal is    
   available as a command line compiler and interpreter, along with an    
   Apache Mod, allowing you to code web scripts. Coderunner is a socket    
   server that processes your code. Coderunner is self-threading and    
   manages memory allocation per thread. Allowing developers to focus on    
   their code, somewhat like a modern DOOR-KIT.   
      
   PCBoard v16 file structures are being revised also. v15 and older were    
   limited in scope. For example, having an array in the USERS for    
   LastRead means the larger your site the slower and bulkier your USERS    
   file was and the memory requirement also increased. With this said, we    
   have migrated v16 to using the JAM message base. It has a superior    
   design from other message bases, while keeping the flexability    
   introduced by PCBoards MSGS extended headers. Currently we have build a    
   NNTP (Newsgroup Server) as part of PCBoard v16 Registered Suite. It    
   allows the sysop and users to access the message areas using their    
   logon credentials, from Desktop and Mobile devices. * It also allowed    
   us to seriously stress test the JAMmb engine before swapping MSGS for    
   JAM sturctures. JAM also tracks per user per message area the LAST READ    
   - reducing the memory requirements that previous PCBoard USERS records    
   introduced.   
      
   PCBoard v16 is being released as Open Source. We are doing this as it    
   is a complete rewrite from scratch. NO previous code is used for this    
   new design. Opening the rights so we can release as Open Source. Note    
   Open Source does not mean we wave the rights to the source in any way.    
   PCBoard v16 is (c) Modern Pascal Solutions, LLC. PCBoard v16 is still    
   marketed as a commercial product. The source is being offered to help    
   third-party developers produce new PCBoard modifications. We have    
   removed the kludge script engine PPE. Instead the whole produce is now    
   a Coderunner script. So if, for example, you had written a replacement    
   for the prompt... you can do it again replacing doPrompt.inc with your    
   fancy/ANSI version.   
      
   PCBoard v16 uses the built-in features of TStringList to extend    
   PCBTEXT. A previous limitation was PCBTEXT allowed up to 60 characters    
   per prompt. This meant fancy/ANSI animations or color sequences for    
   prompts had to fit into 60 bytes. For some this was impossible, so they    
   had to embed PPE links for prompt. In the modem age, the latency was    
   not notable, in todays gigabit Internet age, it was noticable. So.    
   v16's PCBTEXT is BYTE 1 = FG color (1 to 15) (0=last color or no color    
   change), followed by as many characters you want and terminated with    
   EOL (Carriage Return and/or Line Feed - depending upon your Operating    
   System). This change in itself truly extends the capability of making    
   an iCE or ACiD looking BBS... while reducing all of the overhead of PPE    
   scripts as prompts. What if you want to replace a prompt with a script    
   for even more control? You simply modify the associate *.inc file with    
   your requirements. Coderunner uses a JIT (Just In Time) compiler, and    
   will merge your code change on the next connection it handles.   
      
   *** What if their is a bug in my new mod? ***   
      
   Simply start Coderunner in a terminal - using a different terminal    
   telnet to your BBS - the error will show on the previous terminal. We    
   have tried to make sure all error messages include the line number    
   (even relative to the *.inc file(s)), and character position on that    
   line - with a description of what is wrong with said line. Example:   
   * Invalid evaluation at line 133, column 1 in file    
   "/var/www/BBS/pcboard/main.p"   
      
   Usually that means you forgot to put a semicolon at the end of the    
   previous line, or you have a stray character/invalid syntax at the    
   start of this line.   
      
   *** Uptime/Downtime Schedule ***   
      
   SaltAirBBS.com is linking right to our in-house source code. So, there    
   will be periods where you are unable to connect. Or you may be    
   disconnected while we rollout a change. We work on the source code 7    
   days a week. Once we achieve Beta status, we will move pre-alpha to a    
   different port on the servers. This way (like the old modem days) you    
   can access the stable release, or the cutting edge release - depending    
   where you connect on our servers.   
      
   * IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A TERMINAL - WWW.EXCHANGEBBS.COM    
   DEFAULTS TO THE ALPHA CODE IN A BROWSER *   
      
   --    
   .. Ozz Nixon   
   ... Author ExchangeBBS (suite)   
   .... Since 1983 BBS Developer   
      
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