• state of play - I missed the odd point :

    From Vincent Coen@2:250/1 to All on Sat Apr 9 21:28:42 2022
    Hello All!


    The new files along with the existing one's are now in the monthly archive and these are now :

    BACKBONE.NA
    BACKBONE.RPT
    ELIST.NA
    ELIST.RPT
    FSXNET.NA
    FSXNET.RPT

    and any other nets that start using the system.

    So to get the BACKBONE.NA file, your system will need to extract it and store it in a directory that your FileMgr can see, when echo's for a new / not set up
    echo arrives such as after a downlink or bbs user has requested it.

    With the introduction of the BACKBONE.NA file, the need to use ELIST.NA for normal BBS operations is removed as that has a restricted list of echo's.

    Note that BACKBONE.* files holds both the moderated echo's from ELIST as well as all the other that are not. The only other differences is that there is no Descriptions for these echo's as details such as RESTrictions, GATEway, ORIGin and FROM contact details are omitted as they are all blank and all 'moderated at least technically for the purposes of the elist software by elistmaint, 2:25/21 and do not expire. Of course dead areas can be deleted if there is no traffic for 12 months other than posting as Rules, Ack, Nak, Any one here, type posts.

    In January and July the full content of any Rules file is also listed for each echo - just to remind moderators to check content for both rules and descriptions to ensure the is no missing text such as at the end of a line (line length is over 75 characters) or just plain excess content in the Rules file. Remember almost all users turn off after reading only a few lines of such assuming of course that a bbs display the entire content, if at all.

    Out of interest In mbse the echo Descriptions are not at all - there is no menu
    function to do so but there is for the rules if a user request to view them.

    Your bbs software may differ :)

    IF any of the BBS prorgammers wish to support within their software the echo descriptions they should contact me self for copies of all such description files held within the elist system and out of possible interest they are in stored in the folder descriptions in the form aaa/bbb.DES and can be sent in to
    2:25/21 using period (full stop) instead of '/' i.e., aaa.bbb.DES

    Up to 15 lines of 75 characters exactly the same as for the Rules files
    which is sent in as bbb.RUL { Echotag.RUL }.

    Where :
    aaa = Group name, e.g., FIDO, FSXNET etc.
    bbb = Echotag name, e.g., ELIST, MBSE, FIDO_SYSOP etc.
    .DES = fixed text all upper case.

    Vincent

    --- Mageia Linux v8 X64/Mbse v1.0.8/GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: The Elist Maintainer (2:250/1)