NEWSFLSH.PPE is a PPE to diplay a text file containing date headers  and
entries for a specified number of days.Compiled with PPLC v3.2. Requires 
PCBoard 15.22+ to run.
 
This PPE is now  FREEWARE.  I have removed the  registration routines. I 
would like to thank  everyone that called to get their free KEY file for 
showing their support!

 
-------------
|Intructions|
-------------
Unzip this PPE and accompaning files to the subdirectory of your choice.


NOTE:   if  you  are  updating from  version 2.2,   you  may  keep  your 
current NEWSFLSH.CFG file,  it will  work  correctly  with  this update. 
Others may want to check for necessary needed alterations.
 
To install this PPE, Just add it in your NEWS file.  You do so by adding
the line:
!d:\pcb\ppe\newsflsh\newsflsh.ppe
 
somewhere in your NEWS file, replacing the  appropriate  drive  and path 
information.
 
-------------
|Config File|
-------------
 
Next edit the config file. It must be named NEWSFLSH.CFG and must reside
in the same directory as the PPE. The config file is commented.

Sample NEWSFLSH.CFG
==========================
NEWZ
60
RANDOM
RANDOM
RANDOM

L
R
RANDOM
78
BLANK LINE
d:\path\NEWSBUL
=======End of File========
 
 
Line 1: NEWZ file  to  display.  Base name only. You may have LANG specific
        files. Files must reside in the same directory as the NEWSFLSH.PPE.  
        The  file name may be overridden via the command line.
 
Line 2: Max # of Days  to show  NEWZ file entries If an entry is # days old
        it (and all entries after) will not be displayed. Running  the  PPE 
        with the MAINT option will remove them from the file permanently.
 
Line 3: Date Heading @X color attribute without @X. This is the  color  you 
        want the date to be shown in.
 
Line 4: Text Color Attribute. This is the color you want the  Entry TEXT to 
        be shown in.
 
Line 5: Separator Bar Attribute. This is the  color you want the  Separator
        bar to be shown in. Ignored of an %include file is used  in  line 6 
 
NOTE- For random color schemes enter RANDOM for line(s) 3,4,5. It will
      use random color schemes for each line with RANDOM entered.
 
Line 6: Separator Bar.   This is the text of the separator bar. I suggest a 
        length of 78.  You can create an include display file to use as the  
        separator and enter  %d:\path\filename  here  to  have it displayed 
        instead.
 
 
Line 7: Date Position [L,C,R,N] Left,  Center,  Right,  None - Default Left. 
        To suppress actually showing the date of the entry enter N.
 
Line 8: Subject Position [L,C,R]  Left,  Center,  Right -  Default - Center. 
        Conflicts between  this and  the Date position  will  use  the  date 
        position and override this value.
 
Line 9: Subject Color attribute
		  (See *NOTE following Line 5 - Same applies)
 
Line 10: Length of Date/Subject Line.  Should be an even number.  You should 
         probably make this the same length as the Separator bar. It is used 
         for justifying the Date and Subject on the Date Line and  keeps the 
         line length constant when using a colored background for the 
         date/subject.
 
Line 11: This line is no longer used but must exist in the file.  Just leave 
         it set to N.
 
Line 12: Path\filename of Bulletin file.  If you  are  going  to use the new 
         Bulletin option, you must  specify  the  path and  filename  of the 
         bulletin file to create.
 
All blank lines and lines starting with a  ';'  are considered comments. The 
only required entry is the name of the  news  file to display,  unless it is 
entered on the command line (see CMD Line Options).  The rest of the entries 
have default values if they are missing.
 
*Notes-  When  RANDOM is chosen,  text will be be random forground on black
    background  for  the  entries.  Dates,subjects and separators have more
    color combinations.
    Also, with the lifting of the 78 character line limit for text entries, 
    I recommend only using black background unless you make sure each  line 
    is  EXACTLY  the  same length. The same colors will  not  be  used  for 
    forground and background  for  any  color attributes and I have removed 
    the hardest color combinations to read as well.
 
-----------------
|News Entry File|
-----------------
 
The  News file  entered  in  the  CONFIG file is a plain text file with the 
following format:
 
~~MM/DD/YYSubject of entry #1
This is news entry #1
It can be mutli-line, contain @FF@X0Acolor codes@XOO
and include files
%\path\filespec
~~MM/DD/YYSubject of entry #2
This is text #2
 
 
All date headers must follow the  'MM/DD/YY'  or  'MM-DD-YY'  format and  be 
preceded by '~~' without the quotes. The ~~ characters will not be displayed.
Immediately after the Date should be the Subject. This doesn't need an entry,
so your old NEWZ files will still work if you are upgrading.
 
Once an entry's date is  older  than  the number of  days  specified  in the 
config file, the rest  of  the news file will be ignored.  Do not include @X 
codes in the date or subject headers. They will throw the justification off.

Also, the date header must start in column 1. If you have chosen  Center  or 
Right  justified,  Newsflash  will move it  appropriately.  The Subject must 
follow the date, it will also be justified automatically.
 
After the date is printed,the separator bar is printed in the  color defined 
in the config file, or the default if none is entered.

Text entries can be any news description you wish, including @X color codes. 
The PPE will start each line with the color code in the config file  so  any 
changes you make must be done for each line.

The  Separator  bar and  the  Text entries  can use  PCBoard's %FILESPEC for
including other display files (see your PCBoard manual for details).
If you use the  BUL option to create a bulletin as well, these include files
will NOT be included in the bulletin.
 
 
----------------
|Optional Files|
----------------
 
 
If the File NFHDR exists in the PPE directory, it will be displayed prior to 
the actual news entries. This file may have Security, Graphics, and Language 
versions as well (ie. NFHDR50R.FRE  would be  displayed  to all level 50 RIP
graphics users using the FRE language. If notfound, the default file will be 
displayed)
 
 
------------------
|CMD Line Options|
------------------
 
The PPE now supports 3 Command line options- BUL,  MAINT, and a FileName. If 
BUL or MAINT is used,  they  must  come before the filename (if it is given)

 
Filename example:
=================

!C:\PCB\PPE\NEWSFLSH.PPE Filename
 
If you include the filename (no paths) after the PPE, it  will  override the 
filename used in the config file. With this option you can do away  with the 
config file completely, and use the default values instead! Langauge specific 
files for the Filename will be displayed if they exist.
 
MAINT examples (used for event processing):
===========================================
PCBOARD "/PPE:c:\path\NEWSFLSH.PPE MAINT [Filename]"
 
*Note* The Quotation Marks are REQUIRED for proper  execution in  the  above
manner. You could also assign it to a shift-function key combo, or place  it 
in your CMD.LST file.
 
This method is handy for keeping your News File trimmed. It  can be added to 
your Nightly, Weekly, Monthly...event to keep the file size limited.
 
What the MAINT option does is run through the NewsFile  and  remove  entries 
older than the number of days in the config file or the default if no config 
file exists. It does not check every entry, but rather stops  at  the  FIRST 
entry that is older; any entries after that are also removed.

If a filename is also included after the MAINT option, maintenance  will  be 
performed on that file instead. The Filename MUST come after the MAINT option 
for this method to work, and it must reside in the same directory as the PPE.
 
The Maintenance option creates a temporary file which holds  all the entries
that have been kept. Once the newsfile has been processed,  it  renames  the
temporary file to the original news filename and then deletes the  temporary
file.
 
BUL Example
===========

PCBOARD "/PPE:c:\path\NEWSFLSH.PPE BUL [Filename]"
 
*Note* The Quotation Marks are REQUIRED for proper  execution  in  the  above
manner. You could also assign the PPE to a shift-function key combo, or place  
it in your CMD.LST file.
 
This  option will create a bulletin file that you can place in your Bulletins
so  that  NewsFlash's output can  be  viewed  by  Offline Mail Readers  as  a 
Bulletin. It will use  the filename  given in the  CFG file  as  the Bulletin 
filename. The optional filename above is NOT for the bulletin filename, it is 
forusing an alternate NEWZ file to create the bulletin.  If you have multiple 
NEWZ files,  you will  need to  copy the  created bulletin  file  to  another 
filename before running the  BUL  option on a  different  NEWZ  file (it will 
overwrite any existing bulletin file).

 
 
