Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : ACTV100.ZIP
Filename : ACTVIEW.DOC

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ACTVIEW 1.0 (c)
Wildcat! Activity Log Viewer/Analyzer
Copyright (c) 1990 by Greg Wilson
All Rights Reserved
06/06/90
Author: Greg Wilson, Sysop, The Ltd. BBS 708-213-1304
>>New phone as of 07/15/90: 708-882-1060<<
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Purpose
-------
Actview was written out of my own need for a tool to assist with reading the
activity log of my BBS. The task of viewing the log with a file viewer was
taking too long and I found myself rushing through the process, missing many
important events such as system ERRORs and invalid logon attempts.

Actview started as a simple program that produced a one line per call report
with a few flags. After getting input from some fellow sysops, I decided to
make a complete activity log viewer!

Instructions
------------
For a quick look at what Actview has to offer, copy ACTVIEW.EXE to the
directory containing your ACTIVITY.LOG. Then type ACTVIEW. The program will
display the last recorded day's activity in a one line per call format with
the critical information shown. At the top of the screen, the range of dates
in the log is displayed along with the date of the information being
displayed. The primary Fkey functions are displayed at the bottom of the
screen. More functions are shown in the help window (F1). The calls can be
scrolled using the arrows, home, end, pageup, and pagedown keys. If enter is
pressed, the detail of the highlighted call is extracted from the activity
log and displayed. Important events such as invalid logon attempts, file
overwrites, etc., are highlighted.

Key Function
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F1 - Displays the help window.
F2 - Swaps to another node's log. Directories to your different logs must
be entered in a file named ACTVIEW.CFG (see below).
F3 - Displays the following activity:
* Wildcat system errors such as files missing.
* Changes to the user's record such as changing birth dates,
passwords, ..etc.
* File overwrites.
* Invalid logon attempts. When detail is viewed for invalid logon
attempt, the next call is displayed for reference.
F4 - Displays totals for the currently displayed date.
F5 - Displays new users for the day showing their city and state.
F6 - Allows jumping directly to any date in the activity log.
F7 - Jumps to the previous day's activity.
F8 - Jumps to the next day's activity.
F9 - Displays all calls of a specified user. The program will prompt for
user name, beginning date, and ending date of search. The name will
default to the highlighted call. The dates will default to the
beginning and end of the activity log. Actview will scan the log
finding all matching calls and then display the calls in the usual
one line per call format. To view totals for the user, hit F4. To
return to the normal display, hit F9 again.
F10 - Quits to DOS.
ALT-L - Toggles local calls. Local calls will not be displayed or
included in the daily counts.


A typical Actview session would go something like:

* Type ACTVIEW
* Hit F3; if any errors are displayed, view the detail.
* Hit F5; view new users.
* Hit F5 again to view all calls.
* Scroll though the summary looking for uploads, msgs, carrier
drops and pages viewing the detail of these activities.


An average review takes me about 3 minutes compared to 30 minutes before
I had ACTVIEW!

Multi Node Features
-------------------

For multi-node operation, create a file named ACTVIEW.CFG with the
directories and filenames in the following format:

C:\WILDCAT\NODE1\ACTIVITY.LOG
C:\WILDCAT\NODE2\ACTIVITY.LOG
C:\WILDCAT\NODE3\ACTIVITY.LOG
C:\WILDCAT\NODE4\ACTIVITY.LOG

This feature may also be useful for single node sysops that maintain backup
copies of their logs under other names and/or directories.


Actview parameters
------------------

ACTVIEW mm/dd/yy NOLocal ERRors NEW NODE=x MONO SNOW BIOS

mm/dd/yy - Go directly to mm/dd/yy
NOLocal - Do not show local calls (ALT-L toggles)
ERRors - Show errors for the day (F3 toggles)
NEW - Show new users only (F5 toggles)
NODE=x - Go to node x. (If x=3, the 3rd line in ACTVIEW.CFG
will be used.)
MONO - Force monochrome attributes
SNOW - Turn on snow checking during screen writes
BIOS - Use bios screen writes. This option is not necessary
when running Actview under Desqview as checks for
Desqview are made and direct screen writes are
remapped accordingly. BIOS writes are much slower
than the normal direct screen writes.





Requirements and Limits
-----------------------
* ACTVIEW has been tested with the activity log created by Wildcat 2.15.

* ACTVIEW is Desqview aware. No extra parameters are needed for
Desqview as Actview detects DV automatically. AV-PIF.DVP is included
for Desqview installation.

Memory requirements: 200k
Max nodes in ACTVIEW.CFG: 100
Max calls per day per node: 300

* Actview opens the ACTIVITY.LOG in READ ONLY mode. *No* writes are made.


Liability
---------

Actview has been tested on multiple machines using many different
configurations and no problems have occured. However, if a problem does
arise due to Actview, I cannot be held responsible. Use at your own risk.



Distribution and Registration
-----------------------------

This version of Actview may be freely distributed in its original contents
without additions, deletions or modifications.


ACTVIEW.EXE - Actview program
ACTVIEW.DOC - This document
ACTVIEW.HIS - History of Actview
ACTVIEW.REG - Order form
ACTVIEW.NEX - Plans for next release
AV-PIF.DVP - Desqview definition file



Why register?
-------------
Registering Actview enables the following features:

* Reports! Like Actview, these reports are extremely fast and offer many
options. Currently, the following reports are in work and should be
complete and ready for download from the Mustang BBS within a few
weeks. These reports will only work if Actview is registered:

- Users that exceed their time limit repeatedly
- Users that are still using XMODEM and XMODEM/CRC
- Users that repeatedly drop carrier
- Most frequent callers
- Top users and downloads for any given dates
- Users that experience a lot of transfer errors
- Top door users by door#
- List of all activity associated with a given file name
- List all uploads and/or downloads of a given user
- Number of uploads by day/week/month...graph...etc.
- Graphs, charts, ..etc. of BBS usage and stats
- and many many more!

Many of these reports have options for ANSI, creation of USERxx.BBS
files that are user created, etc.

Actview must be registered to utilize these reports.

* All opening and closing screens are removed.
* Original screen is restored on exit.
* All future updates can be downloaded from The Ltd. BBS and the Mustang
main board. Of course any future updates are free!

To register, complete the order form (ACTVIEW.REG).



Contacting the Author
---------------------

I can be reached for comments, questions, suggestions, complaints, etc., at
the following EMAIL boxes:

The Ltd. BBS (GREG WILSON)
CompuServe (71171,1364)
GEnie (XTH04577)
EXEC-PC (GREGORY WILSON)
Mustang BBS (GREG WILSON)

...or at the mailing address on the registration form.


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