Proline press release
Morgan Davis Group
Copyright (c) 1993 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
The Apple II BBS will soon be running with new software - ProLine. ProLine is quite powerful and offers many features, including networking. Networking allows users to send messages and files to other users around the world, via the BBS. The following article will give you a brief overview of what ProLine can do. If you use the Apple II BBS I urge you to read this.
PROLINE - Communications Network Software for the Apple II Computer
Copyright (C) 1984-1992 Morgan Davis Group
All Rights Reserved
o What Is ProLine?
The ProLine BBS is a networked electronic-mail and conferencing system. It is the most sophisticated BBS ever created for the Apple computer. Fashioned after a UNIX system, it provides the most flexible implementation available for networked mail, news, public conferencing, file exchange, and private electronic mail. But, don't let the word "UNIX" scare you away. ProLine's sophistication puts a friendly face on a powerful system. It is well-suited for the first-time sysop operator, yet the experienced operator never outgrows it.
ProLine is infinitely expandable and personally customizable. Adding a new command or feature is trivial, and well-documented. With automatic task scheduling, your system is maintained with no intervention required. Installing ProLine is a painless 30 minute session. Once it is set up, your Apple IIe or IIGS can become a portal of information.
At the heart of every ProLine system is ModemWorks, a communications toolbox for creating modem-based applications. The powerful features and long-standing reliability of ModemWorks provides ProLine with a solid foundation, easy to understand, effortless to maintain and customize.
o Networking
Whether your world consists of club members, classrooms, or continents, ProLine brings people together. No longer must your BBS serve only a handful of callers in your neighborhood. Networking, the hallmark of modern bulletin board systems, is ProLine's finest feature. It gives you the ability to send messages, programs, and any other kind of file to users on computers across town or around the world. Each day, megabytes of information are routinely exchanged throughout the ProLine network using a transfer system that ensures files are received perfectly.
ProLines can talk to more than just themselves. With electronic "gateways", ProLine exchanges mail with other hosts, such as UNIX computers. This opens up an entire world of information sources, giving ProLine users the ability to access a host of networks known collectively as the "Internet". The Internet is host to online discussions (called newsgroups) on an amazingly diverse range of subjects--thousands of groups in all. Through the Internet, ProLine can even exchange mail with commercial information services such as America Online, AppleLink, BIX, CompuServe and MCI Mail.
Becoming part of the ProLine network is optional, but there are many advantages to being networked. Software can be distributed directly over the network. You have instant access to Apple Computer, Inc., developer technical support, Claris Corporation, APDA (Apple Programmers and Developers Association), third party software and hardware companies, user groups, and full customer support for your ProLine software.
Network access is free; there is no charge for using the Internet. The only expense you incur is your normal telephone bill.
o Features
Each user of ProLine has a personal filing area in which to store files. Users can set the security level for their areas in order to allow sharing of files with other system members.
Users have the option of interfacing with ProLine through a friendly menu, or by using an extremely powerful command-line interface.
ProLine includes terminal emulation and a variety of user-definable terminal settings. Over 20 standard terminals can be thoroughly emulated on the host and remote ends (including ANSI, VT-220, VT-102, VT-100 and others). This makes ProLine available to users of all types of computers, and allows total control from a remote location.
Full accounting is maintained. The system operator can adjust the total minutes allotted per month to each user, number of inactive days before automatic or manual removal, and an optional per-minute charge for each member of the system. Users can get up-to-the-minute accounting reports, and the operator can review detailed statistics about system usage at any time, complete with bar charts.
o Mail
Each ProLine member has a personal mailbox. The size and number of letters in a mailbox is limited only by the amount of free disk space. ProLine allows users to send "carbon copies" and "blind carbon copies" of a letter to multiple recipients, as well as forward private messages to others. Users can move messages from the mailbox to files, and can send files from disk to another account, locally or remotely. Binary files can be mailed to users of the local system, or to distant ProLine systems through the network.
The ProLine mail system includes these and many other features:
o User-defined variables for shortcut typing
o Automatically generates return paths when answering network mail
o Attaches a personal "signature" file to the end of each message
o Distribution lists
o A smart router that supports Internet domains and smart-hosts
o Full Usenet news batching, unbatching and redistribution
o Conferencing
The Conference System is the heart of ProLine. Members discuss topics of interest in organized public or private forums, called conferences. Within each conference are subtopics that further organize conferences into related areas. Users may join only the conferences and topics that interest them.
Conferences are governed by sysop-appointed moderators, in charge of maintaining their areas to keep things running smoothly. Moderators can create public, private and read-only topics allowing selective access to topics by system members.
Upon entering the Conference System, the user is presented with a summary of new messages in the topic areas subscribed to. Each new message can be shown by simply pressing RETURN. The conference system takes the user from one conference to the next in order to read the all new messages. Although the Conference System is designed to encourage participation, it allows users to bulk-capture new messages for those who call long distance or are on time schedules.
Users can enter new messages (the size limited only by disk space) or contributed to ongoing discussions. When a message is added to a full topic area, the Conference System automatically purges the oldest message. This makes running a large conferencing system completely self-maintaining. When messages
are added to a networked conference, copies are sent to remote systems through the network, so that discussions can be freely exchanged with computer enthusiasts outside of the local community.
o Data Library
The ProLine Data Library provides powerful features with a logical and friendly interface not found on any other system. Opening the Data Library is just like walking into a real library. Items are organized by sections, making it easy to search for files you're interested in based on title, filename, or keyword. You can even list new items posted since your last visit.
Uploads can be cross-referenced with more than one section, eliminating the need to post copies of a file to multiple areas in the library. The file is linked to a descriptive "card catalog" entry, describing the file. To ensure that only legal and virus-free programs are kept, new uploads are placed "on hold", inaccessible to callers, until verified by the librarian.
With a powerful full-screen library maintenance program, the Data Library can be customized to the librarian's needs and requirements.
o Online Editors
Many areas of ProLine use the system's full-screen or line-oriented text editors to make changes or corrections to letters and messages. The editors can work with documents containing over 25,000 characters. They feature search and replace, wordprocessor-like word wrap, word-delete, line-cancel, insert and overstrike modes, cut and paste, and other powerful editing capabilities.
The editors also allow you to edit any text file in your area, append a file from your area into the editor's buffer, insert and delete lines, and undo mistakes. These editors are used by all areas of the system, locally and remotely, so users need only learn one set of editing commands.
o Command Shell
Users have the choice of two worlds in which to interact with ProLine. In one, the system appears to be an easy to use BBS with a menu system for entering commands. Under that pleasant exterior, however, is an exceptionally powerful environment. This environment is designed after the UNIX C-Shell.
The C-Shell supports shell variables, command aliases, and executable shell scripts. C-Shell scripts use IF-THEN-ELSE logic to control command execution, access command line arguments, and can be used in conjunction with other utilities to create impressive customized shell applications. Users can write their own scripts to personalize or automate their online sessions.
The shell also provides full directory protection settings for all areas on the system so that the operator can assign public directories, or mark off areas that have any combination of read, write, execute, or destroy permissions for users.
All the popular UNIX commands are supported with over 130 commands in all, and more always coming. Best of all, the operator can add new commands from Applesoft programs -- no funny business with compilers or strange installation software. If you can write a BASIC program in Applesoft, you can expand your ProLine system as you desire. No assembly language expertise or a degree in computer science is needed. You can even run existing BASIC programs with very little modification (even those having complex array and string handling--a limitation of other bulletin board systems for the Apple II).
The C-Shell also includes these features:
o Each user has a customizable "login" script
o Output redirection to a printer or file
o Scrolling command line history
o Shell nesting
o ...and much more.
Even though ProLine is the most sophisticated BBS for the Apple, these tools make it easier to operate and maintain than even the simplest bulletin board systems.
o The ProLine Reference Manual
Such a thorough system warrants comprehensive documentation. This is why ProLine comes with the ProLine Reference Manual, over 320 pages in length. The text of the manual is also stored online, and is available to callers. Each manual section is clearly written and formatted with exceptional detail. ProLine can display all or any part of the entire system manual to a dot-matrix printer with underlining and pagination. Or, the output can be generated in PostScript format for high-quality printing on a laser printer. Output can even be directed into files for downloading and printing offline.
Morgan Davis Group
10079 Nuerto Lane
Rancho San Diego
California 91977-7132
Customer Support: +1 619/670-0563; FAX: +1 619/670-9643; 24 Hour ProLine BBS: +1 619/670-5379, 300-9600bps, V.32, V.42bis (Call to find ProLine systems in your area)
(Note: I have left out one section at the end of this article as it contains information for sysops only. If you would like this information my phone number is in the front of the magazine, or you can leave me e-mail on the Apple II BBS, user #5).

THIS CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2007, APPLE MACINTOSH USERS' GROUP, SYDNEY
Permission has been obtained to make this material available on the Internet.

Permission is hereby granted for non-profit user groups to republish this content.
PLEASE CREDIT THE AUTHOR AND THE SOURCE: Applecations, publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia

THIS PAGE COPYRIGHT © 2007, ANDREW ROUGHAN