# File and Message Area Editor

The Area Editor (DLG:AreaEd) is a sysop module introduced in release 1.27. Its purpose is to allow the sysop to define and edit the file and message areas that can be found on the BBS. Unlike DLG 1.26 and earlier, one program is used for both types of area.

## Adding the Area Editor to a Menu

If you purchased DLG at release 1.27 or later, AreaEd will already be configured for you as the Define / Edit Message Areas [ D ] and File Area Define/Edit [ F ] entries in the Sysop menu. Purchasers of previous versions will need to add these functions to thier menus using the Menu Editor .

Important! -- AreaEd (the editor program) can be run in two different modes: Overlay or Chain, like many of the other DLG online modules.

The following settings are recommended:

To run as ... | Configure menu ... | Menu setting | Command Line
Message Area Editor | SYSOP | Chain | AreaEd
File Area Editor | SYSOP | Chain | AreaEd -f

Other menu settings are largely up to your own preferences. Use the defaults if in doubt.

## Available Functions

Function | Builtin Name | Purpose
Add Area | AreaEd_New | Takes you through the process of adding a new file or message area. If you have previously created templates, you may use those templates to create the area when prompted. Once an area is created, you are presented with the option to further edit it before committing to saving it.
Edit Area | AreaEd_Edit | Presents you with a menu of parameters that you can edit as needed. See Area Parameters for details)
List Areas | AreaEd_List | Presents you with a list of valid file or message areas.
Delete Area | AreaEd_Delete | Delete an existing file or message area. The area parameters are removed from the BBS list, the area is purged from all users' newscan lists, and the area's directory is deleted from FILE: or MSG:. Alt file paths are NOT deleted. There is no undo for this function!!
Move Area | AreaEd_Move | "Move" (renumber) an existing area to a new number. This operation changes the area definition in the BBS list, changes the number in all users' newscan lists, and renames the area's directory in MSG: or FILE:. At this time, the alt file path is NOT renamed, though you can change that parameter in the area definition.
Templates | AreaEd_Temp | Enter the Template Editor Menu.
Exit Menu | AreaEd_Exit | Leave the Area Editor and return to the previous (assumed to be SYSOP) menu.
Help | Help | Display online help for a command key that you will be asked to choose.
Re-Display | DisplayMenu | Clears screen and re-draws the menu. This is usually only useful if you are (1) online and have suffered line noise, or (2) if you are in Expert or Intermediate help mode and wish to see the full text of the menu.

## Area Parameters

Key | `M|F` | Parameter | Notes
1 | `M F` | Auto-Access | If this flag is set, you will have the option to automatically add the new area to the users' new-scan list. When you un-set this parameter, the auto-access levels are reset to 1 and 1 and all users are purged from of the area.
2 | `M F` | Auto-Access Level | If the auto-access flag is set, you have the ability to set or change what level of user is automatically included in the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit.
3 | `M F` | Write Access (M) Upload Access (F) | This controls the level of user that is allowed to write (upload) to the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit.
4 | `M F` | Kill Access | This controls the level of user that is allowed to kill messages or files in the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit. NOTE: Users can only kill messages or files that they themselves wrote / uploaded on your BBS, unless they have sysop (usually 255) access. You need not worry about deranged users deleting messages or files all over the place.
5 | `M F` | Forward Access (M) Download Access (F) | This controls the level of user that is allowed to forward (download) messages from the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit. NOTE: Users can only forward messages to areas on the BBS that they have access to unless they have sysop (usually 255) access.
6 | `M F` | Copy/Move Access (M) Transfer Access (F) | This controls the level of user that is allowed to copy or move (transfer) from the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit. NOTE: Users can only copy/move (forward) to areas on the BBS that they have access to unless they have sysop (usually 255) access.
7 | `M` | Edit Access | This controls the level of user that is allowed to edit messages in the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit. NOTE: Users can only edit what they themselves wrote on your BBS, unless they have sysop (usually 255) access.
8 | `M F` | Sysop Access | This controls the level of user that is allowed to perform Sysop functions in the area. Must be between 1 and 255, and the upper limit cannot be lower than the lower limit. You should be very careful changing this to anything other than 255! Users with Sysop access can do any of the above actions!
9 | `M` | Echo Area | This flag indicates that the message area will be hosting Echomail from a fidonet-tech network. This flag cancels the Netmail and Newsgroup flags.
10 | `M` | Hide Seen-Bys | This flag indicates that messages displayed in this area will not show the "Seen-By Kludge" lines in the message. While this information is useful for a sysop, it is of little use to most other people. This flag is only available for Echomail areas. Defaults to YES.
11 | `M` | Origin Line | Each message you write in an Echomail area must contain an Origin Line. Normally, DLG uses the default origin line defined in the FidoNet Settings Editor. However, you may wish to create a different origin line for different echo types. Additionally, if the echo belongs to a network other than your default network (domain), you must define the origin line AND include your address at the end of the line within parenthesis, e.g. `The Techno-Mages' Guild * 613.619.1429 (40:405/101)` This setting is only available for Echomail areas. Defaults to the system default.
12 | `M` | Netmail Area | This flag indicates that the message area will be hosting Netmail from a fidonet-tech network. This flag cancels the Echomail and Newsgroup flags. Note that while you may define as many netmail areas as you wish, DLGMail only recognizes one netmail area per system.
13 | `M` | Newsgroup | This flag indicates that the message area will be hosting a newsgroup from a UUCP network. This flag cancels the Echomail and Netmail flags.
14 | `M` | Newsgroup Name | This parameter indicates which newsgroup is being imported into this message area. If you set the Newsgroup flag above, you must enter something in this field. The editor will not let you exit until you do so.
15 | `M F` | Use Handles | This flag indicates that messages posted in the message area will be tagged with the users' aliases (handles) rather than thier real names. You should be careful with this flag, as many networked message areas (especially fido-tech) do not allow aliases in echos. Defaults to NO.
16 | `M F` | Use Signatures | This flag indicates that posts in the area will be tagged with the users' signature. DLG offers three types of signatures for message areas: normal (the default), FidoNet (used in Echo areas), and UUCP (used in newsgroups). There is also a special signature for file areas. If one of the latter does not exist, the default signature will be used. If that does not exist, no signature will be appended.
17 | `M F` | Translator | A Translator is an external program that changes the text in some way. In the past, DLG has shipped with programs such as Jive or kraut that gave mock accents (the latter provided a mock German twist) to the message. Digerati Dreams has discontinued these programs for personal reasons. However, the ability to use such programs is still in place. If you wish, you may consult the three batch files Spare1.batch, Spare2.batch, and Spare3.batch for hints on how to use translator files.
18 | `F` | File Requestable | This flag indicates that files in the area area are available for FidoNet File REQuests (FREQs) from other BBSs. You should never place sensitive files in file requestable areas.
19 | `F` | Copy before Download | This flag indicates that files should be copied to a temporary directory before they are downloaded. This is most useful for BBSs that offer more than 1 CD on a "turntable" system. Because of the multitasking nature of the Amiga, it is conceivable that users on different lines might be requesting files from different CDs at the same time, causing excessive wear and tear on the changer (and the sysop's nerves!)
20 | `F` | Validate Uploads | This flag indicates that files uploaded to the area must be validated before they can be made available to users or for FREQing. You will be alerted to unvalidated files next time that you log on the BBS.
21 | `M F` | Message Capacity (M) Validation Area (F) | Message Areas: This defines how many messages are to be kept in the message area. When more than that number of messages is added to the area (user writing message, imported message), the lowest number message will be deleted until the number of messages is equal to this number. Any number between 10 and 9000 may be entered. Defaults to 100. File Areas: If the Validate Uploads flag is set, this number will indicate a file area to copy the file to while it is awaiting validation. Not to worry, when the file is validated it will be returned to whence it came. You do not have to set an area here, as the file can be held right where it is if you wish.
22 | `M` | Renumber Trigger | When the message number of the highest message in an area exceeds this number, the message area will be renumbered. To cut down on system drag, this only occurs when you, the sysop, run the Renumber utility. This number cannot be lower than the capacity of the area. Defaults to 500. Cannot be more than 9999.
23 | `M` | Character Set | This defines a character set to use to translate messages to another format, such as Norwegien character sets or Macintosh 7-bit. You may only select from a list of installed character sets. Defaults to 0 (SYSTEM DEFAULT).
24 | `F` | Alt File Path | Files are normally stored in FILE:<Area>/, but you may choose an alternate directory to store them in; this is especially usueful for spreading the load over several drives or partitions. If nothing is set here, the default file path is used. You may enter a path up to 18 characters in length for the alt path. If the specified directory does not exist, it will be created.
25 | `M F` | Edit EnterArea.Txt | If a file called EnterArea.Txt exists in the message or file area's directory, it will be displayed whenever a user enters the area. You may edit the file on the spot using this command.
26 | `M F` | Delete EnterArea.Txt | If a file called EnterArea.Txt exists in the message or file area's directory, it can be deleted on the spot using this command.
27 | `M` | Edit EchoArea.Txt | If a file called EchoArea.Txt exists in a message area's directory, AND that area is an echo area, it will be displayed whenever a user posts to the area. You may edit the file on the spot using this command.
28 | `M` | Delete EchoArea.Txt | If a file called EchoArea.Txt exists in the message area's directory, it can be deleted on the spot using this command.
29 | `F` | Edit UploadFile.txt | If a file called UploadFile.Txt exists in a file area's directory, it will be displayed whenever a user uploads to the area. You may edit the file on the spot using this command.
30 | `F` | Delete UploadFile.Txt | If a file called UploadFile.Txt exists in the file area's directory, it can be deleted on the spot using this command.
31 | `M` | Edit Screen.dat | If a file called Screen.dat exists in a message area's directory, messages written in that area will be screened for words of your choosing, and those words replaced with words also of your choosing. This command will allow you to edit it on the spot. See Editing Screen.dat for details on how this works. This command also compiles the generated file for you.
32 | `M` | Delete Screen.dat | If a file called Screen.dat exists in the message area's directory, it can be deleted on the spot using this command.
33 | `M F` | Apply Template | Using this powerful command, you can "blast" all the current settings for an area and apply a set of parameters from a template. Once the template is applied, you can edit it further if needed.