Scrabble Door v4.0b - Shareware Release
BBS Door adaptation of the popular
Scrabble board game! Supports many
different BBS file formats internally.
Uses a FOSSIL if available - not required.
Supports its own internal ANSI routines.
Requires dictionary file: ScrabDic.Zip

Scrabble Door - History of Revisions

(See the Whats.New file for changes in the current release)

v4.0a - Sat 06/27/92

- Well, I finally DID IT! Made the change to v4.0!
Was running out of letters anyway, but thought that since I finally
upgraded to Turbo Pascal v6.0 that now would be as good a time as any.

- Minor changes to the support of non-standard comm ports. Please note
that the entries for new BaseAddress and new IRQ are BOTH listed in
hexadecimal notation! Eg. COM3 $3F8 $5 (See Sample.Cfg)

- Some minor cosmetic changes. Add (back) the display of "Game You
Are Playing" when selecting "P" to Play a game.

- Added a Shuffle Option from the Game Board Display Menu. This will
randomly shuffle the display of tiles in your hand.

- Added a message text export feature whenever it's someone new's
Turn to Play. This is designed to allow for BBSs that are able to
import ASCII text files into their Message Base. Since I have no idea
how these utilities expect to find these files formatted I will leave it
up to the Sysop to design their own message files. I will use a Template
file - called Message.Txt (must be in the Scrabble directory). You can
edit this file to suit your needs.

*** NOTE ***
If you DO NOT wish to use this option (and want to prevent the
creation of the MSG.### files) - simply DELETE the Message.Txt file!

I will support the use of variable
tokens that will be used to place the appropriate information into the
exported Message Files:

%NAME - The Player's Full Name
%FIRST - The Player's First Name
%GAME - Game Number
%DATE - The Current Date (mm/dd/yy format)

See the provided sample MESSAGE.TXT file for an example.

The program will attempt to create "MSG.1" whenever exporting a message.
It will continue incrementing the extension until it finds a unique number.
Thus, it is possible to have up to 999 exported messages - I will leave it
up to the Sysop to delete the MSG.* files after they have been imported
into the BBSs Message Base.

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v3.0Y - Sat 04-04-1992

- A couple of new configuration file additions:

BEEP | NOBEEP - Will either sound/not sound an alarm on the local
terminal whenever a player tries to use a bad word!

PRIVATE | NOPRIVATE - Will either display/not display the current
player's tiles on the local terminal screen.

- Recompiled with an updated Async Professional. Many bug fixes for
the communication routines.

- Some changes in how the inactivity timer is handled. Improved
error handling for timeouts and carrier loss.

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v3.0X - Sat 03-07-1992

- Added support for a FOSSIL driver back in. The main reason for
doing this was to improve support for non-standard port addresses that
just wouldn't work properly. Specify on the COMx line in the Scrabble.Cfg.

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v3.0W - Thu 02-27-1992

- Added support for non-standard port addresses and IRQ levels.
These are determined with the addition of optional parameters in the
config file. (See Sample.Cfg for example)

- Changed the way the Combined Points is tallied for the Top Ten
Winners Bulletin. Rather than being an accumulative total it is now
figured as the high point value for any one game. It will be necessary
to either edit the existing values in the Players.Dat file (using the
Players.Exe utility) or to erase the existing Players.Dat file to start
with a fresh set of data.

- Made some formatting changes to the Game Status display. It should
now properly handle large game files (and be much faster to boot!).

- Added two new Sysop commands:

Rewrite Bulletins - will rewrite the current Status and Top Ten
Bulletins.

Pass Turn - which will pass the current player in any game without the
possiblity of a Final Score being forced. A Sysop "Pass Turn" will
not be tallied in the Pass.Dat file, thus, will not be counted when
determining whether or not a player should be removed from a game
(based on the 3 pass rule).

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v3.0V Sun 02-16-1992

- Added a DEBUG dump mode. Hopefully, all the Sysops that have
problems with their Scrabble.Cfg files will be able to determine
immediately what the problem is with this option. To invoke, simply add
a /D as the second command line parameter.

Eg. Scrabdor Scrabble.Cfg /D
Scrabdor Local /D

- Made some minor changes in how the LOCKED BAUD RATE variable is
being handled. Should correct any problems that some of you with high
speed modems have been experiencing with low vs high speed callers.

- Enhanced the Status Bulletin again (request from Charles Taylor).

Added to the Winner Line:

*** WINNER *** Winner/Second_Place Win_Score/Second_Score - Moves

- Added an extra 5 Points awarded to the Combined Points Score for
ANY player that made a BINGO in a game! For those of you that don't
understand the terminology (I didn't either until talking with Charles),
a BINGO is where a Player wins the 50 point bonus by using all of their
tiles in one move.

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v3.0U Sat 02-01-1992

- Added a "Keep Port Settings" line to the Scrabble.Cfg file!
This makes obsolete all the previous Comm Port settings. It attempts to
open the port with the current existing hardware parameters.

Several PCBoard Sysops have stated that they had problems with high
speed modems when MNP vs non-MNP callers logged in. The configuration that
seemed to work the best with these circumstances was: A Locked Baud Rate
(eg. 19200), CTS and YES (for the Keep Port Setting).

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v3.0T Sun 01-19-1992

- * Changes to the Scrabble.Cfg file - Please edit your previous one!

Added support for WildCat v3.0+ UserInfo.Dat file.

Games for a Player's Turn will now display when

lay Game is selected.

The History File will now correctly show when a Player has CONCEDED.

Added the ability for the Sysop to change the name of the current
logged-on player (allowing him to take turns as different players).

Added the ability for the Sysop to Create/Join New Games for New Players.

Major changes to the timer and inactivity timeout routines.

Added generation of a Game History file, this is strictly an ASCII file
and should be displayed from the BBS only (no way to view it in game).
Added the [path\]filename to this file in the Scrabble.Cfg.

Added an optional "Extra Line" tag line that will be displayed under the
Main Menu Title. Please put your text in the Scrabble.Cfg file or leave
a blank line in the config file if you do not wish to add anything.

Removed the FOSSIL line from the Scrabble.Cfg file as it is no longer
supported.

Changed the InActivity Timeout line in the Scrabble.Cfg from minutes to
seconds.

Corrected scoring problems when one of the players in a two player game
Concedes. The win will now go, properly, to the last remaining player
no matter what the scores were at the time of the "Concede".

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v3.0S Tue 12-31-1991

- Trying to resolve problems with "Dropped Carrier" when re-writing the
Status Bulletins. This fix applies to both the Door Executable and
SDMaint.

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v3.0R Sun 11-24-1991

- Quite a few changes on how I'm handling User & Sysop Names in the
Bulletins, etc. I'm attempting to deal with the BBS systems that
allow single user names. You should obtain the new SDMaint v1.4
Utility as well!

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v3.0Q Tue 11-05-1991

- Quick fix to allow either the old style Scrabble.Key or the new
one (expanded Sysop and BBS name lengths) to work!

No need to get a new key file if not necessary.

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v3.0P Mon 10-21-1991

- Converted over completely to using Turbo Power's Async Professional
communications program. A FOSSIL driver is no longer required (or
supported).

- The program now has it's own built-in Ansi terminal. Ansi.Sys is
no longer necessary on the host machine (or for you DesqView users).

- The field widths for the Sysop and System Names have been expanded
to allow for those BBS's that get somewhat carried away with names .

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v3.0N Sat 08-17-1991

- Some major changes made in the way Scrabble handles the PASS.DAT
file. This will, hopefully, correct the problems with running the
SDMaint utility.

- Included a ViewPass.Exe utility to see what's really in there!

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v3.0M Tue 11-20-1990

- Changed the TopTen Winner's Bulletin to include some CR/LF's so
that the maximum length of each line would be shortened. These long
lines were causing display problems with certain BBS programs (GT in
particular).

- Found a minor glitch in the dictionary look-up routine in that it
wouldn't find the FIRST word in the dictionary. This HAS BEEN
CORRECTED! Thanks to Morton Cohen for finding this one!

- Have decided to change the format of the Scrabble.Gam file to be
identical to the Multi-Node version game file. This will enable the
Game Editor program to work with both versions.

- I've spent quite a bit of time refining the Status Bulletin
routines (for both versions). Hopefully, things will be a little
better formatted from now on. As a result, you'll need to upgrade
both Maintenance programs as they both use the new Game Status
procedure.

- I've improved the routine for reading the Scrabble.Cfg file so that
any additional line comments are now ignored. This will allow you to
keep comments in the file for later reference. Must be at least ONE
space separating the config information and any comments!

- Along with the new Game file structure I've been able to utilize
the procedures from the MN version for determining when a game is
complete and Open for re-use. This should solve any problems you have
had with regards to recycling completed games. Let me know ASAP if
you have ANY problems.

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v3.0L - 10/16/90

- Added the Player's First Initial to the Who's Turn in the Status
Bulletin.
- Added a new configuration option to enable/disable automatic checking
for QkTerm at program start-up.
- Improved checking on the InActivity Time-Out and Sysop Status
Display.
- Fixed problem with program not re-cycling Completed Games.
- Cleaned up the display of a Player's Turn in a Completed Game.
Some other minor cosmetic changes.
- Slight change in how program reads the DoorType line in the
Scrabble.Cfg file. Certain sub-directory names could cause confusion
as to what type of DoorInfo file to read.
- Inserted a line in the Scrabble.Cfg file that determines whether or
not to use Direct Screen writes for displaying the Game Board. If
enabled, the game board will be displayed instantly during Local play
or when a remote player is using QkTerm.
- I've combined the Fossil and Non-Fossil versions into ONE executable
file. An extra Keyword has been added to the Scrabble.Cfg that
specifies whether or not to use the FOSSIL driver if available.
- Updated Setup.Exe to reflect the new (UseFossil) Keyword for the
Scrabble.Cfg.
- Fixed Last Date Played bug in SDMaint.Exe

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v3.0k - 5/08/90

- This is a MAJOR Update!
- All the Game Files and the Index file have been eliminated.
There will be ONE Master Game file (each game will occupy approx.
5500 bytes).
- The number of games allowed is now configurable via Scrabble.Cfg.
(Limited only by disk capacity)
- Convert is no longer necessary or able to run.
You MUST start new games!
- The Register command line parameter has been eliminated.
Registered Sysops must obtain a Scrabble.Key from PC Network.
All Registered functions will be enabled with this file.
(It must reside in your Scrabble directory)
- Files Updated: SDMaint.Exe, Setup.Exe, Scrabble.Cfg, etc.
- User Names with ONE name (eg. Aliases) will now display properly in
the Bulletin files.
- The program will now check automatically for QkTerm and time-out
correctly if NOT installed.

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v3.0j - 4/30/90 (No Conversion Necessary from v3.0i to v3.0j)

- Significant changes to the Scrabble.Cfg file! Please see the
Sample.Cfg for the new syntax.
- Separated the Status and Winners Bulletins. Scrabble.Cfg must now
specify TWO sets of Ansi/Ascii Bulletins.
- Added support for WWIV!
- Bug fix in the Game Status Routine that could cause a severe error in
the index file under the proper conditions.

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v3.0i - 4/18/90 (No Conversion Necessary from v3.0h to v3.0i)
(Do NOT Run Convert.Exe)

- Added QkTerm support for Scrabble! If a remote user has QkTerm
activated on his end - the Game Board will display instantly on his
terminal. Download QkTerm.Zip to obtain this file w/Source.
- Added support for GT PowerComm v15.5

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v3.0h - 4/11/90

- Added a Number of Word Guesses allowed to the Scrabble.Cfg.
Will default to 3 if none specified.
- Changed the Convert.Exe program to handle ANY prior version updates.
- Added a Change Vote Option in the Game Status Display.
- Included a Setup.Exe program for automatically writing the
Scrabble.Cfg file. (No more problems from people refusing to delete
the comment lines from the Sample.Cfg file - I HOPE!)
- Changed support from Lynx to Osiris and Osiris SE.
(Keywords: OSx and OSSExxx)
- Major changes in the Winners Bulletin format! The door now maintains
a Players.Dat file that keeps track of all game statistics. This
file may be used for tracking tournaments, etc. To start a new
tournament, simply delete this file.
- I no longer write a "Winners.Blt" file. All information is now
contained in the new format Ansi and Ascii Files defined in the
Scrabble.Cfg.
- Fixed problem with Sysop's Remote functions. The program will now
Echo to the remote when entering Player's Names, etc.

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v3.0g - 3/07/90

- Found a small bug in how the program determines if words are
connected properly. (I found this one myself!)
- Added internal support for SpitFire BBS Systems.
(Use the KeyWord "Spit" in the Scrabble.Cfg File)
- Included File Sharing Mode (ReadOnly/DenyWrite) when opening the
Scrabble.Dic file for the NetWork Users.
- Added prompting to add words not found in the dictionary to a
Request.Wds file. The Sysop may then validate these words and add
them to the Dictionary.
- If a Game is Completed - a player in the Completed Game may now join
more games based on the Number of Games Allowed/Player.

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v3.0f - 2/23/90

- Included a CvtScrab Progam to run BEFORE doing ANYTHING ELSE!
This updates the ScrbGam.Ndx file to the new format.
- Added a Last Date/Time Played field to the index file - this
information is used in the Game Status Report.
- Included a 50 Point Bonus Message for the History of Words Report.
- Added a oncede (Resign) Option to the Main Menu and Board Screen.
- Included new GameBrd.A?? Files to display new options.

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v3.0e - 2/16/90

- Changed Local Log-On Mode to allow different players.
- Added a Voting Feature on starting a Game (for you Tom)
- Improved on the History Feature. Now show Whos Turn, what words were
made with each turn and whether the turn was PASSED or Tiles DISCARDED
- A word may be used multiple times in a Game and points will be given
for each occurence of the word.

The GameFil.* and *.NDX files are NOT COMPATIBLE with previous releases!
You'll need to delete all of the above and start from scratch! Also,
the SDMaint program will not be compatible - so get the new SDMain2.Zip
file if you install this new release!

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v3.0d - 1/26/90

Added a new line in the Scrabble.Cfg that determines the amount of
inactive time in the Door. This is a value in minutes and can be used
to limit the amount of time a user can spend before making a move in the
game. Valid entries are 1 through 30 (defaults to 10 if an invalid
entry is made).

Corrected the logic when the Sysop hits the inal Score Option. The
Door will not rewrite an entry to the Winners.Blt if the game has
already been Completed and a Score already written.

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v3.0c - 1/19/90

Made some improvements in the way the Time Remaining is calculated and
monitored. There were times when a user had 0 minutes left and the game
would wait indefinitely until a key was pressed or a char received via
the comm port.

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v3.0b - 1/11/90

Corrected the bug in Remote use of "Removing InActive Players". Added
another option in the Scrabble.Cfg file. You may now specify the
maximum number of games a player may be involved in. (See Sample.Cfg )

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v3.0a - 1/7/90

Added improved Lynx Support. New DoorType "Lynx#" - where # is the Node.
The Door will now read the ExtInfo#.QBS file directly.

RBBS now requires the Node Number in the configuration file as well.
(eg. RBBS2)

The first line in the Scrabble.Cfg file should now read COM# rather than
just # (# corresponding to the ComPort Number - COM1, COM2, etc.)

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v2.0u - 12/25/89

The Scrabble.Dic Dictionary file is now available for distribution with
the Demo version of the game.

Added the ast Words Option from the Playing Screen. This will
display the entire list of words used in a game with their corresponding
scores.

When a Blank is used - a '' will appear next to the letter in the Board
Display.

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v2.0t - 12/1/89

This is the first Beta release of the new Non-Fossil version. I've
incorporated a completely new set of Comm routines that have added
(hopefully) full support for CTS/RTS hardware handshaking. See the
added line in the Sample.Cfg file for the added option.

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v2.0s - 11/15/89
At long last!!! After many hours of thought and aborted attempts, I've
finally gotten the routines perfected for testing proper word locations
in the game. Suprisingly, it was fairly easy once I had the right
approach.

I also changed the routines so that the player's names are no longer in
All Caps! If you have some existing games, this may cause some
problems. You'll need to use a sector editor like Norton's to change
the names so that only the first letter is in CAPS. This was done for
cosmetic reasons, as well as, some incompatibilities with certain BBS
programs.

A "Locked Baud Rate" may be specified in the Scrabble.Cfg file. Line 9
of the Scrabble.Cfg should now read either NO or a Locked Baud Rate
value. Eg. 19200
This line is only recognized in the Non-Fossil version and has no
bearing in the Fossil version.

Some speed improvements were also introduced.

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v2.0r - 10/29/89
I've changed the Sysop Functions so that they will operate if the Sysop
logs on from remote. This will only work if the Sysop's First and Last
names are exactly as specified in the Scrabble.Cfg file. This will also
allow a Sysop to specify a different user as the 'Moderator' of the
Door, whereby, the Moderator can Kill Games, etc. It has no bearing on
the "Registered To:" information in the program file at all!

Also, LOCAL access can now be accomplished via a command line parameter
of 'local' (case is unimportant). Eg. Scrabdor local
There MUST be a SCRABBLE.CFG file in order for this to work! This LOCAL
access will by-pass any reading of a DoorType file. The name of the
player will be determined by the name entered in the Scrabble.Cfg file
on the Sysop's First Name and Sysop's Last Name lines.

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v2.0q - 10/22/89
Thanks to one of the uses on my board - I found a little bug that
cropped up when I was "Beautifying" my code! I inadvertantly had the
Character Set variable as a String[79] rather than a String[100] so that
the maximum number of tiles was 79! Sorry about that guys!

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v2.0p - 10/13/89
I've added another procedure to handle a different RBBS Dorinfo1.Def
file. The DoorType to use in the Scrabble.Cfg file is "RBBSE" (sorry,
I'm not real sure which version of RBBS fits which DoorType). If upon
local logon the user name is "SYSOP" - then use RBBSE.

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v2.0n - 10/01/89
I've added the ability for registered Sysops to upgrade a Demo release
to a registered release with a valid serial number.
Syntax: Scrabdor Register

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v2.0m - 10/01/89
Corrected the problem when a user places the first word. The program
now verifies that the first word covers the center tile!

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v2.0l - 9/25/89
Problems encountered with large "Time Remaining" values and with the
RBBS time computations. These have been corrected.

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v2.0k - 9/13/89
Changed the Display file routines so that a Text file of any length may
be displayed. This will enable the Scrabble.Hlp file to include the
Rules.Txt, etc. The Player will be prompted for More? ([Y]/n)? when
viewing this file.

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v2.0j - 9/11/89
Had a problem with the scoring when a player was removed from a game.
This version will write a "ReMoved.Dat" file that keeps track of removed
player's scores...thus, allowing correct scoring for the remaining
players.

Added direct support for RBBS systems. Changed the Scrabble.Cfg file
path to the Door Type to recognize BBS Type KeyWords. Current supported
types are: QBBS, GT, GAP, WildCat, Genesis, PCB and RBBS. (case is
unimportant) *** See the Sample.Cfg for Examples ***

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v2.0i - 8/29/89

The ScrabDic.Zip file is now encrypted with PKZip v1.01. Do NOT
distribute this file.
The key for decoding this file may be obtained from PC Network, do
not allow anyone else access to this key. I am trying to maintain a
"Master Dictionary" and this is the only method I could come up with to
insure the integrity of the Master file.

To UnZip ScrabDic: PKUnZip -sKEY ScrabDic [Optional Path]

There were some problems experienced with the differences between the
Callinfo.BBS files of Genesis Deluxe and WildCat - I think I've resolved
these problems. If not, please send me a copy of your CallInfo.BBS file
and the type of BBS software that you are running!

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v2.0h - 8/23/89

Added support for 19200 and 38400 bps modems.

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v2.0g - 8/8/89

Removed the ability for users to add their own words - if a word is not
found in the dictionary it cannot be used. My ultimate goal is to have
a 100% Scrabble Player's Dictionary.

Corrected Timer Functions - Door will now exit when a user's time is up.

*Registered Version Only*
Updated the ScrabDic.Exe Utility. Faster Sort routine now available via
a different calling syntax for QSort. This required that the
Scrabble.Dic file be padded to 15 characters. ***
Syntax for QSort.Exe : Qsort Scrabble.Dic /L2 /F16 /SV

You can fix the dictionary yourself by:
1. Run ScrabDic.Exe
2. Write an Ascii file of the Entire Dictionary (call it Scrabble.New)
3. Exit
4. Delete Scrabble.Dic
5. Run ScrabDic.Exe
6. Read Ascii File (Enter Scrabble.New as the filename to Read, and
[Enter] passed the dictionary filename - it will create Scrabble.Dic
7. Sort (QSort.Exe no longer needs to be in the current directory)
8. View (if there are any blanks at the beginning of the dictionary
then return to Main Menu and 9. Update )
That's it!

*** NOTE *** Do NOT use this version of the Utility with an old
(unpadded) dictionary file.

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v2.0f - 7/21/89

Added support for Genesis Deluxe and WildCat systems (CallInfo.BBS),
some minor bug fixes.

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v2.0e - 7/9/89

Added the 'UnDo Last' Option. Allows a player to take back his last
current move....this gives the player the ability to compare
Words/Scores, etc. Improved on the valid move checking routines to
allow only letters in a single column/row.
Added the 'Pass' Option. Used the same key as tart Game.
Improved the Final Score routines...hopefully, all is operating properly
now.
Added 'Errors.Dat' file creation on Run-Time Errors (should they occur).

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v2.0d - 6/21/89

A new Scrabble Configuration file is included. This single file will be
used by ALL types of BBS programs. Please see the Sample.Cfg file for
file format. (This file should be renamed to Scrabble.Cfg)!!

The Dictionary file may now be located anywhere. This makes it possible
now for multiple versions of the Door to use the same Dictionary file
(this became necessary since the dictionary became so large).

The Door also now writes two Bulletins upon completion (an Ansi and an
Acsii flavor). These are written only if a move was made in one of the
games. A batch file errorlevel test can determine if these bulletins
were written (1 - Move was Made, 0 - No Move Made). These merely state
the game number and the current player.
You may display this bulletin to users as they log on to notify
them of their turn to play. The filenames for each of these bulletins
is specified in the Scrabble.Cfg file.

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v2.0c - 6/??

I have implemented a CHAT Mode for this new release!

A new 50,000+ Word Dictionary is now included with the Registered
Version. My thanks go to Phil Brushaber (The Ad Game) from Dallas,
Texas for the work he put in to providing this dictionary.