Starting with version 2.15 of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client, configuration information for the client is kept in a radically different layout. This layout is the only thing affected. Information in the files is kept in a farily portable format, so that it's easy to upgrade to this client, and easy to make your configuration files work with other BBS clients.
This is the directory in which all configuration files are kept. In the past,
configuration files were kept in the users HOME directory. Environment variables
controlled the exact file names, and locations. The environment variable,
TABBS now controls the location and name of this directory. Under
normal circumstances, this directory is called .tabbs and is
located in the user's HOME directory. If you set the TABBS, you can
change this to be anything you want.
For example, to change the .tabbs directory to be "bbsdir" located
in the "/home/ayourk" directory, set the TABBS
environment variable to be "/home/ayourk/bbsdir". Changing environment
variables, and setting them permanently is beyond the scope of this manual.
Please see your system administrator for help. Or check back later, I might
decide it's not beyond the scope here.
The main config file is called "rc", and is located in the .tabbs directory. It keeps information about if you're using the connect list, and what BBSes should be displayed on the connect list. It also tracks the last BBS you connected to, so that it's easier to connect to it the next time you run the client. This file should not be edited by hand. It should only be modified by using the BBS List configuration menus described here.
In the past, colors were kept in the file .bbscolors. This file has been replaced by a file in the .tabbs directory called "schemes". This file doesn't keep information about what colors to use, but rather keeps the list of schemes you can choose from. By default, this file is empty. If you customize your colors, and save them as a new scheme (which you must do, or your customized colors will be lost the next time you run the client), the new scheme will be saved to the schemes file.
This file should never, ever be edited by hand. Doing so will almost certainly result in an invalid file. Only use the Schemes configuration menus.
There are up to three different BBS specific files. These files contain information that can vary from BBS to BBS. These files are <basename>rc, <basename>friends, and <basename>tmp, where <basename> is the basename given for each BBS. You can list each BBS to see the basename for it.
The <basename>rc file, also known as the bbsrc file, keeps most of the configuration settings. It maintains information about your external editor, proxy information, any auto-login info, your Keys, version info, which color scheme you want to use, all your friends, enemies, macros, and other information. In the past, a bbsrc file kept the list of friends, but not any info about the friend. In this version, the info is kept here, too, in the same manner as some very old clients, and the latest version of the IO ERROR client.
In order to upgrade more easily, the <basename>friends file exists to hold the friends list and the friend info. The next time you save your configuration for that bbs, the info will be moved into the the <basename>rc file, and the <basename>friends file will be removed. The really nice thing about this is that it lets you easily add friends from another account. Just copy a bbsfriends or bbsrc file from the other account into the <basename>friends file, and run the client. All the friends from the other account are automatically added to the new one. If the info for a friend differs, the info in the <basename>friends file takes precedence. This even works when copying the Friends file from the Roady & Dox Windows client. In the future, some features will be added to make this even more useful.
The <basename>tmp file is called the bbstmp file, or simply temp file. It's used for all sorts of things. It's good to know where it is, and what it's called for a particular BBS.
Previous versions of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client used configuration files kept
in the user's home directory. Because of several reasons including account
sharing, connecting to multiple BBSes, etc., these files can have somewhat
unpredictable names. However, they were almost always located in the user's
home directory, and were named .bbsrc, .bbsfriends, .bbscolors, .bbstmp,
.tabbsrc, .tabbsfriends, .tabbscolors, and or .tabbstmp. These files are
obsolete and are no longer used. This means that they will
not have the up to date information, and modifying them has no
effect on the client's operation. The upgrade process does not delete them
because some users will find it desirable to keep them. If you don't want to
keep them, they can be safely deleted. Make sure that you're not accidentally
deleting the .tabbs Directory, though! To ensure that you don't, never use
rm -rf, instead, use rm to remove the files.
This section is actually blank for now, since the features it refers to didn't make it into this version of the TOM/Ayourk BBS Client. However, you can still share files between this client and other clients. Please read the info on the <basename>friends file for some ideas.