© 2002: Jan Wolter, Steve Weiss
A typical conflist file might look like this:
!<hl01> /usr/local/backtalk/bbs/general2 gen_eral2:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/general2 general1:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/general1 oldgen_eral:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/general1 tes_t1:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/test1 mar_tian1:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/martian1 mars:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/martian1 bar_soom:/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/martian1The first line is always ``!<hl01>''. This is a magic number identifying the file type and version.
The second line is the directory name of the default conference. This is rarely used in Backtalk's web interfaces, but it is in command-line interfaces.
The remaining lines each consist of a conference name, a colon, and a conference directory. Conference names usually have an underscore inserted in them somewhere. When a user types the name of a conference, he may abbreviate it by leaving off letters after the underscore. Thus, you could join version 2 of the general conference by typing ``gen,'' ``gene,'' ``gener,'' ``genera,'' ``general,'' or ``general2.'' To join version 1, you'd have to type ``general1'' however, because there is no underscore in the name so no abbreviations are allowed. Note that there can be more than one line for the same conference. Thus we can also go to version 1 of the general conference by using the name ``oldgen.''
If ``/usr/local/backtalk/bbs/'' is the default location for conference directories (this is set during the installation process), then you can abbreviate directory names by replacing that part of the path with a % sign. Thus, the following file would be equivalent to the one above:
!<hl01> %general2 gen_eral2:%general2 general1:%general1 oldgen_eral:%general1 tes_t1:%test1 mar_tian1:%martian1 mars:%martian1 bar_soom:%martian1This format is recommended, since it is easier to maintain. It is not, however, understood by Yapp.
Lines may be commented out by starting them with a # sign.
In most Unix-login configurations, Backtalk changes the group of the files to one it can read/write. In Backtalk-login and Yapp 3.0 compatible Unix-login configurations, the files are owned by the cfadm account.
!<pr03> Jan Wolter 1 76 3D1C5899 2 8 3D1C5A80 3 3 3D1C5A8A 4 20 3D1C5B69 5 18 3D1C5B80 6 58 3D1C5BA3 7 52 3D1C5CD8 8 -9 3D1CEF3F 9 -30 3D1CEF6A
The second line gives the user's alias in this conference.
The remaining lines describe items that the user has read. Each contains three columns.
The number of the last response read may be prefixed with a minus sign. This means that the item has been forgotten. Picospan recognizes "-0" as a distinct value from "0" - the former is an item that has never been read, but has been forgotten. The later is an un-read, un-forgotten item. Yapp does not understand "-0" and does not allow unread items to be forgotten.
The time of last reading is represented as a standard unix time value (the number of seconds since the begining of 1970), written in hexidecimal notation.
The time of last reading is used to distinguish between new and unseen items. An item has unseen responses if the number of responses in the item exceeds the last response read. An item has new responses if it is unseen AND the date of the last response in the item exceeds the date on which we last read responses.
These files are named the same as a Picospan file would have been, and are stored in the same locations, except that Backtalk accounts don't usually have .cfdir directories.
!<pr10> alias=(Jan Wolter) pistacho.background=(C0FFE0) 1 r=(76) d=1025267865 2 r=(8) d=1025267352 3 r=(3) d=1025268362 4 r=(20) d=1025268585 fav 5 r=(4-9,11,18) d=1025268608 6 r=(58) d=1025268643 7 r=(52) d=1025268952 fav 8 r=(9) d=1025306431 forgot 9 r=(30) d=1025306474 forgot
In the conference-wide section, the 'alias' tag defines the user's name in the conferences.
In the per-item sections, the 'r' field is a selector describing all unread responses in the item. There is an implied '-$' at the end of each, so 'r=(9)' means we have not read responses 9-$. Currently these are always single digits, because, like Picospan, if we have read response 109, then we assume that we have read all that went before. But to support tree-style items, we need to remember exactly the set of responses which are still unread, so these will become more general selectors. If this is a single number (as it usually is), it can be written out as a number instead of a string, without the parentheses.
The d field is the date the item was last read. This is exactly like the date field in the traditional picospan participation file, except that it is written in decimal instead of hexadecimal.
Forgotten items are marked by a 'forgot' tag.
Extensions to the standard Picospan format include the 'fav' tag which is included if the item is one of the user's favorites, and the title flag which gives the user's personal title for the item.
So we maintain our extra information in an extra file, called the participation extension file. It's name is the same as the participation file, but with an 'x' appended to the name.
!<px01> pistacho.background=(C0FFE0) 4 fav 5 r=(4-9,11,18) 7 fav