Short: Backup important CNet system files ... Uploader: marlin cnet577 cts com Type: comm/cnet Architecture: m68k-amigaos Long: ============================================================================ CNet Amiga BackUp, v2.0 README! File by Dotoran of Frontiers! ============================================================================ What is it? ~~~~~~~~~~~ This utility was written as a means of safeguarding CNet Amiga's more volatile information files, like "bbs.udata", "bbs.sdata", etc, although it has undergone numerous changes and has proven to be QUITE powerful! System Requirements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In order to use this program, you MUST have the following: CNet Amiga, v3.0 or later. Arexx, v1.14 or higher. Arexx "rexxsupport.library". LHA, v1.40 or higher. (MUST be Named LHA & be present SOMEWHERE in your PATH, preferably in C:) And these DOS commands, located in your C: directory: Copy Delete Filenote Format MakeDir Protect Rename Sort The following calls are made using the "rexxsupport.library": SHOWDIR() SHOWLIST() STATEF() If you are lacking any of the above files, then you will NOT be able to use this program. None of these files are "out of the ordinary" which means you should already have these programs and files if you are running CNet to it's fullest potential. WARNING: ~~~~~~~ This program has the potential to be VERY DANGEROUS if used by one who does not know what they are doing, or one who shouldn't be using it anyways, so please SAFEGUARD this program in a directory available only to YOU in your PFILES: area, or better yet, don't add this file to your PFILES: at all... Instead, add it as a SysOp Only Command which is only known to YOU and those you trust. The old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind" is worth NOTING (REMEMBERING) where this program is concerned! It is also recommended that you NOT allow this file to be used REMOTELY, as their ARE possibilities something unforseen may need your attention, like running out of memory, etc. For this reason, I did NOT include any Loss of Carrier checks in either routine. Perhaps if you come home someday to see the port hanging, because someone used it remotely and lost carrier that you will REMEMBER to NOT allow users to use this from remote. OK, So How Do I Use It? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, to start with, you should have two Arexx files in this archive: CNetBackUp - The SysOp Maint Module. CNetBackUpA - The AutoMaint Module. You should place both of these somewhere in your PFILES: partition. I have mine in the "PFILES:Maintenance/" directory, but you can have yours wherever you wish. You should then add the "CNetBackUpA" file as an EVENT that will be RUN every night. Settings might look like these: - Checkmark ALL SEVEN DAYS. - For Port(s), use your LOCAL Port. Mine's "0". - Event Time : "300" (3 AM) - Valid For : "100" (1 Hour) - Interval : "0" - Iterations : "1" - Command: "RunARexx" - Args: "pfiles:maintenance/CNetBackUpA" - Type: "Immediate--Force System Idle" You should now make a means for using the other file, "CNetBackUp". You can do this in one of two ways(or both if you prefer). You can either add it as an exclusive use only Arexx command file, or add it to your BBSMENU file as an item under Menu # 1, Maintenance Menu: CNB, CNet Backup | {#1pfiles:maintenance/CNetBackUp} ^ `---------. Control-Q | Exclusive Use ARexx PFile Lastly, it is also suggested that you create a directory INSIDE your CNET: directory called "BackUp". This is a TEMPORARY directory, which should remain EMPTY at all times. You can choose to use ANY directory as this TEMP directory, but if using the "BackUp" suggestion, you'll be less likely to store files here, that will be deleted the next time "CNetBackUpA" Backs Up your system. OK, Using CNetBackUp: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you first run the "CNetBackUp" file, you'll see a little message about the CONFIG file not being present in your SysData: path. This is only temporary as it will be created soon. Just press any key to enter the file. On the MAIN Menu of the program, you'll see seven choices: Edit File Parameters - Lets you modify several items of data which define how your BackUp File will operate. (More on this in a bit) Modify File Lists - Lets you modify the list of files that will be Backed Up when this BackUp File is used. Each data item consists of both the PATH and FILENAME of the file to be Backed Up. Add a BackUp File - Lets you add a NEW BackUp File to those that already exist. If this is your first time using CNetBackUp, pressing either "E" or "M" above will both have the same affect as this option. Kill a BackUp File - Allows you to remove a BackUp File you will no longer be using. This is quite helpful when using this program as an easy CNet LHA Packer, which is discussed later on in this file. (see "Extended Uses") Floppy Drives (DF0: DF1:, etc.) - This program will allow you to FORMAT a floppy disk that may be used as the DESTINATION for your BackUp file, but in order to do this, the program needs to know WHICH & HOW MANY floppy drives your system has. Pressing "F" will read the currently defined floppy drives for your system. The program will NOT let you choose FORMAT unless your designated DESTINATION is the same as one of the drives listed here. BackUp CNet Now - Will allow you to activate one of the BackUp Files, without having to wait for the "CNetBackUpA" file to do it. You'll be asked which BackUp File you wish to use, then the BackUp will begin. Upon completion, the BackUp File START DATE will also be updated, so the "CNetBackUpA" file doesn't repeat what you just did, until the interval has elapsed. [Q] Quit CNet BackUp - Does precisely that, no questions asked! (Pressing RETURN/ENTER will also activate the QUIT function). Some of the above menu items take you to other screens that contain even MORE data items. These "extended" screens are described below: Add/Edit File Parameters: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Both of these items use a similar screen, which contains the following: File Extension - This is an extension from 1 to 3 characters that will be used to name the BackUp file. The format for a BackUp filename is: - CNetBackUp.??? <--- Where the ??? is your chosen EXTENSION. - This file is stored in your "SysData:" directory. - The extension "CFG" is reserved for the CNetBackUp CONFIG file. - The actual LHA'ed BackUp file will ALSO follow a similar format: - CNetBackUp_???.LHA <--- Where ??? is your EXTENSION. - Pressing ENTER/RETURN with nothing in the string gadget will use "BAK" as the default extension. BackUp Description - This text is simply used as a description for this BackUp File. It is only used by the program as a means of describing which File is being used for any given action. No filenames are based on this name. - Pressing ENTER/RETURN when empty here will use text of the format: "BackUp File # ???" where ??? will be the next numbered file. TEMP/WORK Path - This should be the location of a FIXED, EMPTY directory. By FIXED, I mean this should be a directory which will never be deleted. By EMPTY, I mean you should NEVER store any of your OTHER files in this directory, as the BackUp program will DELETE all the contents of this directory upon the completion of any BackUp task. It was suggested above that you create a directory called "BackUp" inside your CNET: path just for this purpose... It is NOT a good idea to use a directory in RAM:, as you may find you do not have enough RAM to store all the files you wish to back up! - If you press ENTER/RETURN in this string gadget when empty, and if the "cnet:backup/" directory exists, that will be the default used. DESTINATION Path - This is the location where the LHA packed BackUp file will be placed after it has been created. It was suggested above that you place this file on a FLOPPY disk, in the event you have a Hard Drive Crash, which might take out your ENTIRE partition. This way, at least you'll have your data on FLOPPY to help in your rebuilding! - NOTE: For both the TEMP/WORK Path, and the DESTINATION Path, it is not absolutely necessary to end each entry with a /. Your system will be scanned to see if a directory by this name actually exists, and if so, the "/" will be appended automatically, however if the program cannot locate the stated path, you'll be told this! If, however, you'll be using an ASSIGN that ENDS with a COLON, you MUST supply the COLON or the program will attempt to locate a file by this name. - Pressing ENTER/RETURN when the gadget is empty will use the first drive found on your system(as shown in the Floppy Drives section on the Main Menu) Interval in Days - This is the number of days between individual BackUps of data housed within this file. Set to "1" and this data will be Backed Up every night. Set to "7" and the data is Backed Up every week, etc. - The value of "1" will be used if ENTER/RETURN is pressed when the string gadget is empty. Format Dest Path - Provided you defined your DESTINATION PATH above as a FLOPPY DRIVE, you can have the "CNetBackUp" program FORMAT the Floppy Drive BEFORE the packed file is copied to it. This allows you to make sure the disk has enough room in which to store the BackUp. - If you specify YES, you'll then additionally be asked if you wish the disk to be FULLY formatted or QUICK formatted. The QUICK format will only be successfull on a disk that has been previously formatted. - Pressing ENTER/RETURN here will NOT format the disk. On the "Edit File Parameters" screen, on the top line, you'll be shown both the FILENAME of the Config File, as well as the date the AMAINT Module last backed this file up. Last BackUp Date - Only found on the EDIT screen, this allows you to CHANGE when the "A" module will next backup your info. - If you want to make it backup today, first note the number of interval days, then change this date so that it's that number of days into the past. This file will be used to perform a backup today during AMAINT. Edit File Contents: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the screen where you define WHICH files and at WHICH paths you wish to be Backed Up using this BackUp File. The screen is formatted to only allow 15 items to be shown at one time. A "bar" menu at the bottom of the screen will show you the available commands: dd - Allows you to ADD files to the list. This routine is quite powerful in itself, because files can be added in numerous ways: - You can press RETURN to scan ALL files located in your CNET: Root directory path, pressing "Y" to Add, "N" to Skip, "A" for ALL FILES, or "Q" to Quit. - You can specify the entire string, like "sysdata:bbs.udata" - You can specify just the directory, like "sysdata:" - ALL Files within "sysdata:" will be scanned. Each will be shown one at a time. You can select YES to ADD that file, NO to SKIP that file, ALL to ADD ALL FILES in this directory AFTER the last file presented to you, or QUIT to END the ADDING procedure. - You can use the "*" WILD CARD Character in three ways: - like this: "sysdata:bbs.*" - ALL Files within "sysdata:" STARTING with "bbs.", like: bbs.udata, bbs.ukeys3, bbs.cuser, bbs.sam, etc.... - like this: "sysdata:*data" - ALL Files within "sysdata:" ENDING with "data", like: bbs.udata, bbs.idata, bbs.sdata, bbs.adata, etc.... - like this: "systext:menu/*se*" - ALL Files within "systext:menu/" CONTAINING "se", like: base, base0, browse, udbase, udbase0, vised, etc.... ill - Allows you to REMOVE (Kill) item(s) from the list. CNet PARSING is allowed at this prompt. In other words, 1-3,7,14- would kill these: 1 - 3 & 7 & 14 - thru the end of the list. dit - After specifying WHICH item(s) to Edit, you'll be given a basic CNet string gadget containing the original path/filename data. - NOTE: For ALL String Gadgets in this program, the CONTROL Key can be used in combination with other keys for added power: CTRL-X: Erases entire string. CTRL-B: Goes to Beginning of string. CTRL-N: Goes to the End of the string, etc... BACKSPACE: Erases character to LEFT of cursor, then moves cursor into that position. DELETE: Deletes character UNDER the cursor, then moves all characters to the RIGHT of the cursor ONE SPACE to the left. The cursor stays where it is. - When editing files, the procedure will only work if the NEW file you enter ALSO exists at the given path. There are two reasons you might want to edit a file: - To change to the name of some OTHER file, like: systext:menu/main changed to: systext:menu/udbase - To change to the FULL PATH of the given file, like: systext:menu/main changed to: cnet:systext/menu/main - CNet PARSING is also allowed at this prompt. You'll be asked to edit each one in sequence. Simply press ENTER/RETURN to leave a file as it is, and go on to the next one. ext 15 - Will display the NEXT group of 15 items.

ast 15 - Will display the PAST group of 15 items. ave - Will SAVE the data, then Quit to the Main Menu. [Q]uit - Will prompt you to SAVE DATA if it has been changed, then will directly QUIT back to the Main Menu. Pressing ENTER/RETURN will also activate the Quit command here as well as the Main Menu. Backing Up CNet: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following paragraphs will use this BackUp File example: "CNetBackUp.DLY" BackUp File Parameters =============================== ============================ cnet:bbstext Extension : DLY cnet:bbsmenu Description : Daily BackUp gfiles:sysops/Arexx_Commands Temp/Work : cnet:backup/ sysdata:bbs.udata Destination : df0: sysdata:bbs.adata Interval : 1 systext:sys.start Format Dest : No systext:sys.welcome ============================ systext:menu/main2 systext:menu/editor2 =============================== Using the above data, "CNetBackUpA" would do the following: - Read names of each BackUp File on record, noting those whose intervals have expired. - UpDate the BackUp Date of each BackUp File on record. - If this file was noted above(which we'll say was), then do the following: - If a previous BackUp file by this name exists in the DESTINATION PATH, then UNPROTECT and DELETE it from the DESTINATION directory. - Create a "cnet" directory inside the "cnet:backup/" directory. - Copy the "bbstext" file into the "cnet:backup/cnet/" directory. - Create a "gfiles" directory inside the "cnet:backup/" directory. - Create a "sysops" directory inside the "cnet:backup/gfiles/" directory. - Copy "Arexx_Commands" file into the "cnet:backup/gfiles/sysops/" directory. - Create a "sysdata" directory inside the "cnet:backup/" directory. - Copy the "bbs.udata" file into the "cnet:backup/sysdata/" directory. - Copy the "bbs.adata" file into the "cnet:backup/sysdata/" directory. - Create a "systext" directory inside the "cnet:backup/" directory. - Copy the "sys.start" file into the "cnet:backup/systext/" directory. - Copy the "sys.welcome" file into the "cnet:backup/systext/" directory. - Create a "menu" directory inside the "cnet:backup/systext/" directory. - Copy the "main2" file into the "cnet:backup/systext/menu/" directory. - Copy the "editor2" file into the "cnet:backup/systext/menu/" directory. - Using LHA, pack the contents of the "cnet:backup/" directory. - If enabled, FORMAT the DESTINATION directory. - Copy the "CNetBackUp_DLY.LHA" file to the "df0:" drive. - Create a COMMENT for the LHA file listing the date & time of creation. - PROTECT this file from WRITEOVERS and DELETIONS, using Attributes. - Delete the contents of the "cnet:backup/" directory. - Display the LHA testing of the "CNetBackUp#?" file just created(and store it as a log file in "SysData:Log/" as the FILENAME, minus the LHA). - Completed! As you can see, quite a lot has gone on. Here's a file tree to show you how the data was stored in the "cnet:backup/" directory: cnet ÀÄÄbackup ÃÄÄcnet ³ ÃÄÄbbstext ³ ÀÄÄbbsmenu ÃÄÄgfiles ³ ÀÄÄsysops ³ ÀÄÄArexx_Commands ÃÄÄsysdata ³ ÃÄÄbbs.udata ³ ÀÄÄbbs.adata ÀÄÄsystext ÃÄÄsys.start ÃÄÄsys.welcome ÀÄÄmenu ÃÄÄmain2 ÀÄÄeditor2 As you can see, the format looks SIMILAR to, but not EXACTLY the way the same files appeared within the actual CNET: directory. If your intent is to create the output in CNET format, the BackUp File would need to undergo some slight changes. Here's how it, and the resultant tree would look: "CNetBackUp.DLY" cnet ================================== ÀÄÄbackup cnet:bbstext ÀÄÄcnet cnet:bbsmenu ÃÄÄbbstext cnet:gfiles/sysops/Arexx_Commands ÃÄÄbbsmenu cnet:sysdata/bbs.udata ÃÄÄgfiles cnet:sysdata/bbs.adata ³ ÀÄÄsysops cnet:systext/sys.start ³ ÀÄÄArexx_Commands cnet:systext/sys.welcome ÃÄÄsysdata cnet:systext/menu/main2 ³ ÃÄÄbbs.udata cnet:systext/menu/editor2 ³ ÀÄÄbbs.adata ================================== ÀÄÄsystext ÃÄÄsys.start ÃÄÄsys.welcome ÀÄÄmenu ÃÄÄmain2 ÀÄÄeditor2 Notice the difference? Full paths starting with "cnet:" are used to get a true CNet output, so why bother with the initial way in the first place? Well, for my own purposes, there are times I may only wish to BackUp the contents of say, a particular GFILE directory or PFILE directory, in which case the full CNET path structure would not be needed. It's totally up to YOU how you wish to structure your output BackUp files! Tricks & Tips: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) First, a tip on WHAT to BackUp. You don't want to BackUp EVERYTHING in your CNET: directory, only those files that would be HARD to replace. Files you WOULDN'T want to include might be: ~~~~~~~~ - Any "C" format CNet Command files, like "bbs", "load", etc. (These files are located on your CNet Disk Anyways) - Any UPLOADED files in your udbase partitions. (Face it, here's the BIGGEST HD User on your System. If worse comes to worse, let your USERS refill this area) - Any COMMAND files used for PFILES. By this I mean, don't bother Backing up the actual programs, but you might want to back up the prospective "Players/" directories, etc. - Lastly, don't bother with any files you KNOW you can pick up from another source without any trouble, like utilities, pfiles, etc. Files you WOULD want to BackUp would be: ~~~~~ - ANY files dealing with USER DATA. This could be from CNet itself, like the "bbs." files in SysData: to the "Players/" directories in your favorite PFILE games directories, etc. - ANY files initially created the first time you set CNet up. This would be things like "bbs.adata", the file that holds the Access Group Data, "bbs.avalid", the auto-validation file, "bbsevents", the event scheduler data file, etc. - Your "bbstext" and "bbsmenu" files, which almost EVERY SysOp has modified in ONE way or another! - ANY custom screens, menus, or other text files. These could be anything from ".start", ".end" files, "SysText:Menu/" files, or "SysText:New/" new user question/sysop question files, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) If you'll be using multiple BackUp files, create them in descending interval order, then enable formatting on the highest interval file. Here's what I mean: You have three files: MONTHLY, WEEKLY, and DAILY. In the course of one week, 8 files will have been saved to the floppy. (7 DAILY's and 1 WEEKLY) In the course of two weeks, 16 files, three weeks, 24 files. When the end of the month rolls around, 33 write operations will have occurred on the floppy. By ReFormatting the disk every month, the bit map blocks can be restarted, so you won't run into fragmented memory errors later! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) It's a good idea to keep a couple copies of the same file stored in different locations in case one gets corrupted. You could create two copies of the same BackUp File, only change the DESTINATION of each. You could then offset them by a week. This way, file 1 would be created the first week in location A, then file 2 would be created a week later and stored in location B, then back to file 1 at the end of the third week and so on. The reason I'm mentioning this is that there were a couple times I can remember QB'ing my Hard Drive(which takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours), only to have the day come when I NEED those QB'ed files, but they were corrupted! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4) Also included within this archive is a file called "CNetBackUp.EXA". This is an EXAMPLE BackUp File you may wish to use to initially get started with using this program. To use this file, ADD a BackUp File and enter this data: Extension : EXA Description : Example BackUp Temp/Work : cnet:backup/ Destination : df0: Interval : 7 Format Dest : No Now, when using the "M" command, you'll be shown the data in this file. You can choose to KILL, ADD, or EDIT any of the file/paths within this file to make it work on your system. Furthermore, using the "E" command from the Main Menu will allow you to change the above data as well. This example file contains the paths to most of the REALLY important CNet Data Files. It was included in the hope that it will make it that much easier to get this file up and running on your systems. There's also another file, "CNetBackUp.1ST", which contains only four small files. You could choose to add this file if you wanted to see what happens when you choose the "BackUp CNet Now" option. Use "1ST" as the extension and use the same info as shown above for the rest of the info. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- An Extended Use For CNetBackUp: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever have a user ask if you could pack a couple files together for them, then file-mail the archive to them? Well, I've discovered that CNetBackUp is also great for this purpose. No more having to bust up a copy of DiskMaster, DirectoryOpus, SID, etc... Simply do it through CNet! All you have to do is to ADD a new BackUp File that contains the files you wish to include in your archive, then use the "BackUp CNet Now" feature to pack the files, then KILL the BackUp File from the list. You can even select the udbase you wish to store the file for the user as the DESTINATION of the packed BackUp file. All that's left is to either adopt it into a UD base, or filemail it directly to the user. No goofing around in the back- ground with other programs or shells. If you included a SysOp command to LOAD the CNetBackUp program, then the power of LHA is no more than 2 or 3 keystrokes away at any given moment! That's It! & Other Stuff! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, that's all there is, there ain't no more! Hehe. Actually, if you notice any quirks, bugs, etc, please call my board immediately. If there's a feature missing, let me know that too! Lastly, this program was NOT intended as an alternative to QuarterBack, or some other well known backup program. It is still a VERY WISE idea to use one of these "full blown" programs once every month or so, maybe even more often, if you have a very active system. This program was written in the event you DID have a HD failure. Using these BackUp files, it should be only a matter of minutes before you can get your system back up and running. This will give you the added time to get ahold of the pfiles, gfiles, bases, etc. that you may have also lost, either from a QB set, or the neighborhood bbs', etc, without having to worry about colorization, user data files, custom screens, etc... - Dotoran ============================================================================ Written by: Dotoran of Frontiers BBS (716)/823-9892 ============================================================================ Last Edited: June 20, 1994