Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : WC3COLOR.ZIP
Filename : WC3COLOR.TXT

WC3COLOR
(c) 1992 Mike Hammitt
The Tech Board BBS (513) 385-0660 HST D/S 14.4
3359 Sumac Terrace Cincinnati, Ohio 45239

A Wildcat! 3.x Utility
Distributed as FREEWARE to Wildcat! Sysops

Wildcat! (c) Mustang Software Inc.

CONTENTS:
WC3COLOR.TXT (This text file)
WC3COLOR.COM (.COM file used to change colors)


1. WC3COLOR - What is it?
WC3COLOR is a .COM file to change the color of the prompts, file
names and descriptions, and messages in Wildcat! 3.x. Basically, it
replaces the text colors with the colors of your choice.


2. WC3COLOR - Why use it?
If you're a Wildcat! Sysop like me, you already know that Wildcat! is the
best BBS software on the market today. However, Mustang Software has not
made it easy to modify the text colors in Wildcat!. Wildcat! is written in

such a way that the text colors are intertwined within the WCTEXT.DAT,
WILDCAT.OVR and WILDCAT.EXE files. The purpose of WC3COLOR is to make it
relatively easy to modify the text colors in Wildcat! to give your BBS a
more distinctive appearance, rather than looking like "all the other"
Wildcat! BBS's.


3. WC3COLOR - What does it do?
WC3COLOR is a simple search-and-replace .COM routine which looks at your
Wildcat! WCTEXT.DAT, WILDCAT.OVR and WILDCAT.EXE files for the "@0X@" codes
and changes them to "@0X@" where "X" is the specified character as
determined by the command line parameter. Nothing fancy, just an automated
way to change the color specified to a different color.


4. WC3COLOR - How do I use it?
Using WC3COLOR is very simple and quick. I have included the .COM file to
change any foreground color (with black as the background color) to any
other color available using the @XX@ scheme. All the possible combinations
of color changing cannot be easily documented here. And are limited only
by your imagination, so I will only give a simple example of what you can
do and leave the rest to your imagination! (I've been driving my users
nuts with my "playing" with colors!). Consult your Wildcat! 3.x manual
(back cover) for a listing of the color codes.


STEP 1:
Make a BACKUP copy of your WCTEXT.DAT, WILDCAT.EXE and WILDCAT.OVR files!


STEP 2:
Copy your WCTEXT.DAT, WILDCAT.EXE and WILDCAT.OVR files into a directory
containing the .COM file for WC3COLOR.


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STEP 3:
Once you've decided what color(s) you want to change the text to, simply
run the .COM file as follows:

WC3COLOR WCTEXT.DAT EC (RETURN)
WC3COLOR WILDCAT.OVR EC (RETURN)
WC3COLOR WILDCAT.EXE EC (RETURN)

In this example, we changed all the @0E@ codes for high intensity brown
(I call it yellow!) to @0C@ - high intensity red.

Using the .COM file, you can easily modify the other colors used in
Wildcat! as well, giving your BBS it's own distinctive appearance.


STEP 4:
After this is done, copy WCTEXT.DAT, WILDCAT.EXE and WILDCAT.OVR back into
your \WC30 (node home) directory. That's it! Now the "old yeller" will be
gone, and replaced with your favorite colors!


USING WC3COLOR ON WILDCAT! 3.5!!:
Mustang Software has just released a patch file for Wildcat! 3.5 to patch
it to 3.51. In order to run this patch, your WILDCAT.EXE and WILDCAT.OVR
files must NOT have been modified by WC3COLOR. Therefore, you must FIRST
run the patch on "virgin" WILDCAT.XXX files, then you may use WC3COLOR to
change the colors as desired. WCTEXT.DAT is not patched, and can be
modified as desired before or after using the patch.


OTHER USES:
Since the .COM routine only looks for and modifies the @0X@ codes in a file
this can also be used to modify your .BBS screens and menus using the @XX@
coding scheme. Might be easier than using a drawing editor!


DISCLAIMER:
WC3COLOR is distributed as FREEWARE for Wildcat! Sysops. No warranty
expressed, implied or inferred.

Mike Hammitt and The Tech Board BBS shall be held harmless against any
damages, incidental or consequential resulting from the use of WC3COLOR
and the programs contained therein.


CREDITS:
Many thanks to Rob Leclair for rewriting the .COM routine making WC3COLOR
a viable (and very useful!) program.

Thanks to Carolyn Faulkner for the "inspiration" for WC3COLOR.


REVISION HISTORY:
06/23/92
Initial release.

07/18/92
.COM routine rewritten to select colors from command line. (Thanks Rob!)
making WC3COLOR a much easier, and smaller program!
Information written into the DOCS on using WC3COLOR with Wildcat! 3.50/3.51.



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