Re: CBS Star Trek Picard
By: Digital Man to Nightfox on Wed Jul 03 2019 12:50 pm

There's nothing inherent to Synchronet that prevents the creation or use of a "menu maker". I started (and never completed) one in JS years ago and echicken started one fewer years ago (I'm not sure it was completed or not). They're both in CVS, I think.

Yep, I've had a look at echicken's. However, I had already written my own custom shell, so I haven't really used echicken's menu maker JS much.

Anyway, what you find through the process is that it's limiting: existing command shells can't be edited with it and new command shells written with it aren't all that unique. It's like those batch file makers that some people used in the 80's. Or those menu-driven web-site creation tools that were popular in the 90's. Yes, it's totally possible, but the result is unlikely to make every "menu editing" sysop happy and ultimately they'll result to just using a text editor and ANSI editor to create their module/shells.

When I used RemoteAccess in the 90s, I always thought what made a BBS's menus unique were the particular options available on the menus and the ANSI screens displayed for the menus. Sysops could add whatever options they want to their menus and create ANSI screens for their menus that look however they want. RemoteAccess also had other things to add to its menus besides simple commands: Things like 'events' that would happen when loading the menu, which could be used for displaying an ANSI, etc. I thought it allowed for creating unique enough menus.

I do like Synchronet's use of command shells, since they're a lot more flexible in that you can code them to do whatever you want. I originally wrote a custom command shell in Baja (which mimicked my menu structure of my older BBS); I later re-wrote my command shell in JavaScript and haven't looked back.

I've had a look at some of the other command shells in CVS, and I think it's interesting what you can do with them. There's the lightbar shell, and also the DOS shell, to emulate a MS-DOS experience..

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: BBS menus
By: Nightfox to Digital Man on Wed Jul 03 2019 02:31 pm

Re: CBS Star Trek Picard
By: Digital Man to Nightfox on Wed Jul 03 2019 12:50 pm

There's nothing inherent to Synchronet that prevents the creation or use of a "menu maker". I started (and never completed) one in JS years ago and echicken started one fewer years ago (I'm not sure it was completed or not). They're both in CVS, I think.

Yep, I've had a look at echicken's. However, I had already written my own custom shell, so I haven't really used echicken's menu maker JS much.

Anyway, what you find through the process is that it's limiting: existing command shells can't be edited with it and new command shells written with it aren't all that unique. It's like those batch file makers that some people used in the 80's. Or those menu-driven web-site creation tools that were popular in the 90's. Yes, it's totally possible, but the result is unlikely to make every "menu editing" sysop happy and ultimately they'll result to just using a text editor and ANSI editor to create their module/shells.

When I used RemoteAccess in the 90s, I always thought what made a BBS's menus unique were the particular options available on the menus and the ANSI screens displayed for the menus. Sysops could add whatever options they want to their menus and create ANSI screens for their menus that look however they want. RemoteAccess also had other things to add to its menus besides simple commands: Things like 'events' that would happen when loading the menu, which could be used for displaying an ANSI, etc. I thought it allowed for creating unique enough menus.

"unique enough" I guess is subjective. To get the flexibility to do whatever a sysop might want from a user interface, ultimately, you need to be able to use state data (e.g. define/use variables) and custom logic on that state data with abiltity to interact with the user. And then you end up with a script environment again.

I'm familiar with the menu editors of QuickBBS/RA/EleBBS and the like. The same could totally be created for Synchronet, but no one has shown that might desire.

digital man

Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #45:
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Re: BBS menus
By: Digital Man to Nightfox on Wed Jul 03 2019 03:03 pm

I'm familiar with the menu editors of QuickBBS/RA/EleBBS and the like. The same could totally be created for Synchronet, but no one has shown that might desire.

echicken has made one, though I haven't used it enough to really compare it to menu editors that come with other BBS packages.

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: CBS Star Trek Picard
By: Zombie Mambo to Vk3jed on Thu Jul 04 2019 02:39 pm

And for the record, no, I don't have any Aboriginal heritage that I
know of, but as at least one of my ancestors came over on a convict
ship in 1788, anything's possible.

Well my friend, I shall sponsor you for american citizenship and then you can get reparations for your ancestor. It's all the rage here now.

hmmmm touche'


HusTler
Havens BBS (havens.synchro.net)

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þ Synchronet þ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net