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Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
LSTFMT Version 1.60 ...................................... 1
2. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 5
Latest Software Versions ................................. 5
3. NOTICES .................................................. 8
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 8
FidoNews 7-08 Page 1 19 Feb 1990
LSTFMT is an abbreviated form which stands for List Formatter.
LSTFMT is designed to take a RAW, FTSC compliant nodelist, and
produce output in a variety of formats based on the user
specified switches.
When I first became a member of FidoNet, I wanted to have just a
list of those nodes in my local net. In order to get it I had to
edit a 500K+ nodelist and then search for Host,382 (which took a
LONG time). Then, once I had extracted this information, I still
had to 'tidy it up' to be of a more human readable form. I also
wanted all of the fields to line up. And then, to get it to all
fit in 80 columns.
What I also wanted to do was extract all of the nodelist header
comments to be able to read about any new developments going on
in the net.
Thus the initial release of LSTFMT only supported these 2
functions. But, as is the nature of software, other SysOps had
additional ideas of functionality I could add. So, in a mere 3
months, the current version scarcely resembles the original.
Here is a brief list of the features of LSTFMT:
1. Ability to extract comments from a nodelist.
2. Ability to extract information about nodes that match a
keyword.
3. Ability to format information about any zone, region or net
in the nodelist.
4. Ability to format the information in a variety of forms:
1. Raw output
2. Formatted output 132 columns wide
3. Formatted output 80 columns wide
FidoNews 7-08 Page 2 19 Feb 1990
4. Explicitly specify which fields to format and output
5. Shrink the nodelist for specific net processing
5. Ability to append multinet information into a single list.
Because all you need is an FTSC compliant nodelist, you may use
nodelists from virtually all of the amateur networks, including
but not limited to FidoNet, EggNet, AlterNet, Network and more!
The following is a brief description of the operation of the
program:
Where all arguments are entered on the same line interactively or
via a batch file. All arguments are optional.
/I<Input_file>
This is the nodelist file from which to extract the information.
If you fail to specify the filename extension, LSTFMT will
calculate the day number of the current nodelist and will attempt
to open the file with the nodelist day as the file name
extension. If you do not use this switch, LSTFMT will attempt to
use the current expected NODELIST.### file.
You may use any valid Drive:\directory\path\filename.ext.
/N<Net_number>
This is the Zone, Region, or Host net from which to extract and
format the information.
If an '*' is specified as the net_number, then all nets in the
input nodelist will be formatted. This parameter will supercede
the /S switch.
/C
This indicates that all comments should be extracted from the
nodelist input file. Only comments with text following them will
be extracted.
/O<Output_file>
Is the file to which the extracted information is to be written.
This file does not have to exist, but it will be created in the
same directory as LSTFMT if it does not exist.
You may specify any valid Drive:\directory\path\filename.ext.
FidoNews 7-08 Page 3 19 Feb 1990
If this switch is not specified, the output will be sent to the
system terminal (console).
If the <Output_file> cannot be opened, or if none is specified,
then the output will be sent to the system terminal (console).
*WARNING* If the file <Output_file> exists, it will be deleted
and the current output from LSTFMT will be directed to the new
file. Refer to the use of the /A switch for appending output to
existing files.
/S<System_info>
This is specific system information that LSTFMT is to search for
and extract to the output file. This may be any text string.
Each system found which contains this information in the
input_file will be formatted and written to the output file.
This may be system name, sysop name, baud rate, etc.
If no /N net number is specified, all Zones, Regions and Hosts in
the input file will be searched. If a /N net number is
specified, only that net will be searched for this information.
/T
This indicates that the /Net output should be formatted for 80
columns. This is handy if you wish to use the output file for
display via a B)ulletins Menu item.
/A
This switch indicates that the output is to be appended to the
output file if it exists, rather than deleting the existing file
first. If the file specified does not exist, it will be
created.
/R
This switch allows for RAW nodelist output. If specified, the
output will not be formatted for display purposes. This switch
overrides the /T switch.
/K<zone>,<region>,<net>
This switch will cause LSTFMT to produce a shrunK, or pruned
NODELIST file which may be used as input to such programs as
Parselst or Xlatlst. LSTFMT does not attempt to provide the same
kind of versatility as is available with programs such as
ShrinkNl or Prune. The intended purpose of this feature is to
produce a list for the SysOp who only wishes to have a nodelist
which is comprised of his local net, or a small number of
specific nets. This switch overrides the /P, /T and /R
switches.
FidoNews 7-08 Page 4 19 Feb 1990
These parameters must be in the order indicated. Each parameter
is optional. If you do not specify any Zones, Regions or Nets,
then LSTFMT will ignore this switch. If you omit the Region and
Net number, then LSTFMT will produce a list containing ALL nodes
in ALL Nets in ALL Regions in the Zone specified. If you omit
the Net number, then LSTFMT will produce a list containing ALL
nodes in ALL Nets in the Region specified.
This switch supercedes the /N, /S, /P, /T and /R switches.
/Pnscypbf
This switch allows for POSITIONAL nodelist output. If specified,
the output will be positionally formatted for display purposes.
This switch overrides the /T switch and the /R switch.
The fields to be output are specified via the argument list.
These are:
1. N - Node number. This includes any information such as
HOST, HUB, etc. The field width is 10 characters wide.
2. S - System name. The field width is 25 characters wide.
3. C - City. The field width is 25 characters wide.
4. Y - sYsop name. The field width is 21 characters wide.
5. P - Phone. The field width is 16 characters wide.
6. B - Baud. The field width is 5 characters wide.
7. F - Flags. The field width is 25 characters wide.
If the data for any field is larger than the field width, the
data is truncated so that the information may be formatted in the
specified widths.
These switches may be in any order and may be in either upper or
lower case. They must be separated by a space.
And that's all there is to it.
LSTFMT is available via the SDS, or from LoneStar CBCS by using
the 'magic' filename of, what else, LSTFMT.
Regards,
Steve.
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FidoNews 7-08 Page 5 19 Feb 1990
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