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                       The Dynamic Archive Advertiser!

             (c)1993-1994 by Bob Milutinovic & The OnLine Tryst



        Firstly, I'd like to thank all those who responded to my plea in the
last version for feedback regarding new features to be incorporated into
EzyAd version 3. Without that feedback, there would be much fewer improvements
in the current version.

        To that end, the following people deserve a mention:

                Dan Lundqvist           2:205/241.5
                Michael Heinbockel      2:242/316
                David Potter            3:711/437
                Craig Sprod             3:711/923
                Lawrence Gould          3:712/535
                Andrew Maggs            3:713/501
                Robert Wilson           3:713/618
                Geoff Martin            3:800/881

        Thanks to them, the following new features have been implemented in
version 3 of EzyAd:

* You now have the option of specifying an "advertisement file", which can
  be a self-displaying ANSI, free game, or what have you, which EzyAd will
  add to the archive before it gets downloaded. I personally don't go for
  this type of advertising, but for those of you that do, here's yet another
  way to save storage space by not including these advertisements in-situ.

* The "banner" containing the user's name/alias, BBS name, and file details,
  can now be located before OR after your advertising logo at the header of
  the archive file.

* There's a hell of a lot more feedback going back to the user's side while
  EzyAd is processing files, so they don't get the idea that the system's
  locked up. Large files will still take a longer time to process than small
  files, but you shouldn't have too many confused users.

* A complete "parsing" routine has been incorporated for checking the config
  file, and if there are ANY anomalies, they are reported and logged in an
  error log called EZYAD.ERR, along with the time and date of the occurence.
  This should make it a LOT easier to debug your initial configuration.

* EzyAd now removes ALL traces of files it's moved into temporary directories,
  even if the system crashes. The fact that EzyAd version 2 occasionally left
  files and temporary directories in tact was a downright pain for which I
  apologise, but you'll find the new version suffers no such afflictions.

* Support for SQZ archives - although a relative newcomer to the archiving        
  scene, SQZ has shown its fantastic compression capabilities and is slowly
  becoming the preferred compression type for many BBS's. EzyAd now recognises
  SQZ archives and appends advertising accordingly.
        
        Although these represent a considerable improvement over EzyAd version
2, I do regret not being able to incorporate some other features which were
suggested. Firstly, I've yet to figure out a way to get QuickBASIC to read the
command line parameters without capitalising them first, so users of DSZ and
similar protocols which require lower-case parameter passing still won't be
able to use EzyAd. Then there's the "compression" routine which I worked on
for a while without much success - a user suggested that EzyAd should compress
selected uncompressed files (such as .TXT, .INF, etc., usually found on CD's)
before passing them for download, but alas once compressed & downloaded, EzyCom
refused to recognise that the file was downloaded. I was also asked to include
support for PAK archives, but unfortunately, PAK only handles single-line
comments, which would make it pretty useless as far as the header/banner system
was concerned.

        However, I did manage to incorporate a few of my own thoughts into the
new version:

* Rather than EzyAd relying on finding its configuration file in the current
  directory (which isn't always assured when you're running in a multitasking
  environment), you can now specify an environment variable, EZYAD, which (if
  found) will cause EzyAd to look for its configuration file in the directory
  specified by this environment variable.

* Complete file sharing, which means you should never have file lock conflicts
  in multitasking & networking environments (as long as you've loaded DOS's
  SHARE first!)

* Bullet-proof error protection - if EzyAd comes across ANY error while
  processing a file, it'll leave the file where it is, as it is, and let the
  user download it from there. The file won't have the advertising plastered
  all over it, of course, but it'll stop system crashes if (for example) you're
  running low on hard drive space.

* A choice of six different types of borders to be drawn around the "banner".
  It is a bit of a muchness, but it should keep you all happy as far as keeping
  your board's identity when BBS's in your area are also using EzyAd.

        Finally, EzyAd version 3 is "registrable". No, you still don't have to
pay anything for it, but if you send me a netmail message to declare your use
of EzyAd, you will be sent back a registration number which will allow EzyAd
to display the message "Registered to..." along with your name, to all callers
using your filebase. Read the file "REGISTER.DOC" for information on this.



                                                   - Bob Milutinovic,
                                                     The OnLine Tryst

                                                     P.O. Box 1200,
                                                     Liverpool  NSW  2170
                                                     Australia

                                                     'phone +61-(0)18-868-152
                                                     
                                                     3:713/111 @ FidoNet
                                                     61:9600/240 @ WorldNet
                                                     69:1171/807 @ AdultLinks
                                                     151:6121/964 @ EzyNet
                                                     7:696/69 @ HeartNet
                                                     181:100/210 @ MysticNet
