Table of Contents
Import FILES.BBS
MUTIL can import various formats of FILES.BBS into Mystic BBS using options configured in the supplied .INI file. If can also synchronize the file size/descriptions of existing files often useful when using a 3rd party TIC processor.
For more information on the general usage of MUTIL see the How to Use Mystic Utilities (MUTIL) section.
IMPORT_FILES.BBS Stanza
| OPTION NAME | DEFAULT / EXAMPLE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| filesbbs | filesbbs=files.bbs | This option defines the filename of the files.bbs that the importer will look for. If this option is not defined, “files.bbs” will be used automatically. |
| uploader_name | uploader_name=Mystic BBS | This option defines the name used in the Uploader field in the database. If this option is not defined, “Mystic BBS” will be used. |
| update_files | update_files=false | If set to TRUE, the importer will compare the size of the file on disk with what is in the database. If the filesize is different, it will be updated along with the description in the file database. Enabling this option can add a significant amount of processing time when working with very large file base listings. |
| delete_after | delete_after=false | If set to TRUE, the importer will delete the files.bbs file after processing. |
| desc_first | desc_first=0 | This option defines how the first line of the description is parsed. If set to -1 then the importer will not look for the first line of the description on the line that has the filename. If it is set to 0 then the importer will assume the description starts directly after the filename. If set to anything else, the importer will go to the column and copy any text on and after it and use that as the first description line. |
| desc_wrap | desc_wrap = true | If you are importing a files.bbs that has a filename and description on a single line Mystic will word wrap the description at 50 characters when enabled. |
| desc_char | desc_char=| | This option defines the character that signifies an extended description line. A blank value means a space character. |
| desc_start | desc_start=3 | This option defines the column where the DESC_CHAR is found. If the DESC_CHAR is found in this column, then all text afterwards will be imported as an extended description line. |
Example Configurations
The following section shows various FILES.BBS formats and their .INI configuration that was used to successfully import each format. Only the “DESC_FIRST” “DESC_START” and “DESC_CHAR” options are significant to defining the format of the file, so other options are intentionally removed from the examples.
Format #1 (PCBoard, Others)
This FILES.BBS format has a fixed description on the first line at column 34, and each description line is determined by a pipe character at column 32. An example entry looks like this:
MYFILE.ZIP 511579 01-17-96 This is an example description line
| This is another one
| And so is this
The minimal .ini file for MUTIL would be configured like so:
[General] Import_FILES.BBS = true [Import_FILES.BBS] desc_first = 34 desc_char = | desc_start = 32
Format #2 (?)
This FILES.BBS format has the first line of the description directly after the file name without a fixed character position. Each extended description line is fixed at column 14, so we configure a space character on column 13 to trigger an extended description. Any example entry looks like this:
MYFILE.ZIP This is an example description line <ASP>
This is another one
And so is this
The minimal .ini file for MUTIL would be configured like so:
[General] Import_FILES.BBS = true [Import_FILES.BBS] desc_first = 0 desc_char = desc_start = 13
Format #3 (GT Power, Others)
This FILES.BBS format has no description on the first line and each description line is determined by a pipe character at column 3. An example entry looks like this:
MYFILE.ZIP 511579 01-17-96 | This is a test file description | And this is the second line
The minimal .ini file for MUTIL would be configured like so:
[General] Import_FILES.BBS = true [Import_FILES.BBS] desc_first = -1 desc_char = | desc_start = 3