            PCBoard v15.3 - Last Minute Changes / Additions
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 This file contains important information regarding manual updates, as well
 as frequently asked questions about usage of the installation/upgrade
 procedure which could not be placed in the manual. Please read it
 carefully to see where it may apply to your installation.

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 For additional information about PCBoard version 15.3, refer to the
 following files.

 WHATSNEW.xxx -  A detailed list of differences between PCBoard 14.5a and
                 15.3.  The xxx represents the version number of PCBoard.
                 The file without an extension is for the current release.
 PPE_INFO -      Descriptions of the PPL applications (PPS/PPE files) found
                 in the PPL subdirectory

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 Installing PCBoard for OS/2
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The installation program does all of the file copying for your copy of
 PCBoard for OS/2.  In order to add the appropriate icons to your desktop,
 you must follow these steps:

   1.  Add PCBCP.EXE to your startup folder.
   2.  From the File menu pick Node Settings.
   3.  Enter C:\PCB\STARTOS2.CMD for the filename to execute.
   4.  For the working directory, enter C:\PCB.
   5.  Set the OS/2 port to use in the port number field (e.g., 1 for COM1).
   6.  Repeat steps 2-5 for each node you want to add.
   7.  Restart OS/2.  See Chapter 7 in the manual for more Control Panel
       information.

 Last Minute Changes/ Additions to The Manual
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   This section points out all known errors in the printed manuals and also
   clarifies a few topics.

   PCBoard SysOps Manual
   ------------------------

    -  Some OS/2 external protocols and door programs require the handle
       number for the comm port.  Therefore, the OS/2 version of PCBoard
       creates an environment variable called PCBHANDLE= which is set to the
       handle of the comm port.

       To make proper use of this feature, three items must be met:

         1)  Transfer protocols must have the "Port Open" column set to Y in
             PCBPROT.DAT if they expect to use the handle.  Otherwise,
             PCBoard will close the port and then handle listed in PCBHANDLE
             is invalid.

         2)  Door programs, put an F in the Shell column of DOORS.LST to
             prevent the port from being closed.  For the curious, the F
             stands for (F)ast mode because PCBoard does not close files or
             comm ports when doing this type of shell.

         3)  The final aspect to consider is make sure that the program
             being run knows how to find the handle.  As mentioned, PCBoard
             creates the PCBHANDLE environment variable so this part will be
             quite easy.  For example, if you have a transfer protocol
             running under the executable FXFER.EXE and it expects the
             handle to be passed via the /H: command line parameter, your
             command line may look like this:

                FXFER.EXE /H:%PCBHANDLE%

             The %PCBHANDLE% is replaced with the real comm port handle
             number.

    -  Some OS/2 front-end programs pass a handle number rather than the
       port name (e.g., COM1, COM2, etc.)  PCBoard can accommodate these
       mailers because it too can accept a handle number via an environment
       switch with the SET PCB= environment variable.  Example:

         SET PCB=/HANDLE:5

       This example shows how to set the handle to use handle #5.  Since the
       handle can change from session to session, it is not wise to
       hard-code it.  Instead, the front-end program that passes the handle
       will do so via something like an environment variable.  Simply be
       aware of this fact so that you can properly configure the system.

    -  In PCBSetup | Configuration Options | OS/2 Settings are options that
       override what priority are assigned to PCBoard and the processes it
       controls.  The first option, Normal Processing, determines what
       "priority boost" PCBoard has.  Every other option is relative to the
       default boost.  Look at this example:

          Priority Settings
          ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
          Normal Processing            :   5
          External Protocols           :   0
          PCBQWK & PCBCMPRS Processing :   0
          Fido Import Processing       :   0
          Fido Export Processing       :   0
          All Other Shells             :   0

       Entering a 5 for the normal or default boost means that all aspects
       of PCBoard default to a priority boost of 5 including the external
       protocols, Fido importing and exporting, etc.  How can that be if
       these options are set to 0?  The answer is really quite simple.

       All of the settings beneath "Normal Processing" are relative to the
       normal processing setting.  This means that if you set the default to
       5 and then set all of the other values to 0, the entire system
       operates at a priority boost of 5.

       How can you lower a boost for process?  Simply enter a negative value
       in the field and that will lower the overall boost as shown in this
       example:

          Priority Settings
          ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
          Normal Processing            :   5
          External Protocols           :   0
          PCBQWK & PCBCMPRS Processing :  -5
          Fido Import Processing       :   0
          Fido Export Processing       :   0
          All Other Shells             :  -2

    ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
    ³ Remember!  If in doubt, leave all of these settings at 0 and let OS/2  ³
    ³ handle the priority scheduling automatically.  It's usually best.      ³
    ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

    -  A few options were added to the Control Panel's menu bar.  They are
       as follows:

         Actions | Hide Active Nodes - minimizes all windowed active nodes
         that are controlled by Control Panel.

         Actions | Show Active Nodes - makes visible all windowed active
         nodes controlled by Control Panel.

         Actions | Rearrange Visible Nodes - rearranges the nodes on the
         screen in on orderly fashion beginning with the upper left corner
         of the screen.

       Also pertinent is that the Actions | Restart Inactive Nodes no longer
       brings the currently running nodes to the foreground, but merely
       restarts those nodes which are defined and are not running.

    - Keeping with the Control Panel theme, a command line parameter was
      added to help facilitate systems that want to use individual PCBCP.INI
      files for Control Panel.  By default this file is stored in the same
      directory as PCBCP.EXE.  Overriding this location is done with the
      /INI= switch as shown in this example:

         PCBCP /INI=C:\PCB\PCBCP.INI

    - In the Fido menu from the Call Waiting screen (ALT-F), an option to
      scan only for netmail was added.  A side-effect of this change is that
      the menu options could no longer be reference as single digit numbers
      (since there are 11 options now).  As a result, the menu options are
      now referenced alphabetically by letters.


   PPLC Reference Manual
   ------------------------

    -  The U_BDL(), U_MSGRD(), U_MSGWR(), U_LMR(), U_FUL(), and U_BUL()
       functions all report a return type of INTEGER.  These now return
       UNSIGNED integers allowing return values up to 4 billion in size.

    -  Using TINKEY(0) is a special case in that it will wait indefinitely
       (or until the keyboard times out) for a keystroke.   This is a great
       way to get a key from the user when you don't care how long they take
       to respond.

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 Upgrading your current version of PCBoard with this file
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 There are a few items you need to be aware of if you are using the install
 program to upgrade an existing version of PCBoard:

     1.  If you have multiple nodes installed, insure you have a BOARD.BAT
         and a PCBOARD.DAT in the directory where PCBOARD is going to be
         installed.  If you do not have these files, copy them from one of
         your node directories before you begin the install.  For example,
         If you have the following type of configuration

               \PCB--+
                     |
                     +---- NODE1
                     +---- NODE2
                     +---- NODE3
                     +---- NODE4

         where the \PCB directory does not have a PCBOARD.DAT or BOARD.BAT
         copy those two files from your NODE1 subdirectory so the INSTALL
         program can do a complete upgrade.

 NOTE                                                                NOTE
 NOTE  If you are running v15.X and upgrading to v15.2 then IGNORE   NOTE
 NOTE  the information shown below (items 2 through 5):              NOTE
 NOTE                                                                NOTE

         The INSTALL program does not know where to find all of your nodes.
         If you have multiple nodes you may have to upgrade each node
         manually.  If you do, the following lists the steps you must use
         to upgrade each node:

     2.  Run your BOARD.BAT and immediately exit your call-waiting screen.
         This will update the PCB environment variable so PCBSetup can
         properly set the options already in use.

     3.  Each BOARD.BAT you use must be changed.  Remove the line which
         says:

               if exist event.bat rename event.bat event.sys

         NOTE:  Do not remove the line which says "if exist event.bat event"
                or your events will *NOT* run.

         Also, change the line which reads PCB145 to run PCBOARD instead.
         If you are using the /M code, change it to PCBOARDM.

     4.  Change to each node directory and run PCBSetup.  If the
         PCBOARD.DAT file used by the node has not been upgraded, you will
         see a version change notice.  Acknowledge the notice and when you
         are at the PCBSetup Main Menu exit and save (using a full save -
         Y) to upgrade the PCBOARD.DAT file.

     5.  If each of your nodes uses its own copy of PCBTEXT you must
         manually upgrade each copy of PCBTEXT.  After you install the
         upgrade, you will find a FIXTEXT.EXE file in the same directory as
         your PCBOARD.EXE.  The syntax for the FIXTEXT program is:

               FIXTEXT <filename>

         Replace <filename> with the location of the PCBTEXT file to
         upgrade.

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