Displaying Text ¶

Table of Contents ¶

When you logged in, you saw several places where some placeholder messages were displayed. These messages are all specified in files located at \wwiv\gfiles. In this directory, there are a number of .MSG and .ANS files which are the messages and menus displayed to calers as they use your WWIV BBS.

You can customize all of these as you wish. They can be edited with NOTEPAD or another text editor. .MSG files are used by default and .ANS files are displayed to callers if their client supports ANSI. You should definitely have an ANSI version wherever you want to show off some art or where you can enhance the look and feel of your board. This is one of the ways you can make your WWIV BBS your own.

Text ¶

WWIV supports multiple ways of displaying text to callers. You may use straight ASCII text, ANSI color codes (which most ANSI-BBS terminal programs support), Traditional WWIV Heart Codes, Extended Editor Heart Codes, or newer style pipe codes.

Heart Codes ¶

Heart codes are the traditional "heart" + number codes that map to one of the user-configurable colors defined in the user preferences in WWIV. The heart is a control-C (aka ascii value #3) and has been around along as WWIV has. It may be used in any place WWIV is displaying text.

Customizing User Heart Codes ¶

By using the //COLORS menu option, users can customize how color codes are displayed to them and only them. For example, by default |#5 is GREEN on BLACK. A User can change to MAGENTA on WHITE and anywhere |#5 or CTRL-P+5 have been used .MSG files or SUB messages it will display the users chosen color instead. Here is a screen shot of //COLORS. The character in the cell is the one you press to customize that color.

ColorEditor

Extended Editor Heart Codes ¶

These are the color codes you can use when posting messages, sending feedback and email on WWIV BBS. To use a particular color type CTRL-P + the letter or number that represents the color you want. You can then use CTRL-P+0 to return to the default color.

WWIVBBSColors

Pipe Codes ¶

Pipe codes are a newer invention on the BBS scene, only around for 20 years or so (maybe longer), and is supported by the majority of BBS software still in existence. Pipe code support was added to WWIV in 5.0 beta-1 around October 2002. It is a implemented as a vertical bar '|' followed by numbers,letters, or some other characters such as '[' and '{' to implement color changes, perform cursor movement perform display manipulation, include session, user or system information into the output. Pipe codes may be used in any place WWIV is displaying text to the user in prompts, messages, even in .ANS, .B&W and .MSG files.

Pipe Color Codes ¶

Two-digit pipe colors are a more widely-accepted "normal" way to define colors. If you use them in your messages, they are the most likely to be displayed properly on other systems that might see them (gated subs, etc).

These are the default 0-9 Pipe colors used in the menu system and other UI pages. You uses them by specifying |#5 when you want to start GREEN and then |#0 to switch back to GRAY. Look in some of the .MSG files in \wwiv\gfiles for more samples.

defPipeColors

Let NN be a 2 digit color code, and

|NN is the way to display a pipe code to set the color.

You can stack the foreground and background colors, too. If you want to have White on Red, for example, you can use |15|20

NN	Foreground Color	BackGround Color
00	Black
01	Blue
02	Green
03	Cyan
04	Red
05	Magenta
06	Brown
07	Gray
08	Dark Gray
09	Bright Blue
10	Bright Green
11	Bright Cyan
12	Bright Red
13	Bright Magenta
14	Yellow
15	White
16		Black
17		Blue
18		Green
19		Cyan
20		Red
21		Magenta
22		Brown
23		Gray

Pipe Display Macros ¶

WWIV pipe macros are the canonical way to embed system, session and user information into display text.

Let X be a single digit character, and @ be a literal '@' character

|@X is the way to display a pipe code macro to display session information.

Code	Information to display
@~	Total e-mails and feedbacks sent.
@/	Today's Date
@%	Time remaining
@#	User number
@$	File points
@*	WWIV registration num
@-	A$$ points
@!	Display a pause.
@&	status of ANSI or ASCII
@	Current directory name
@:	Current Message area #
@;	Current File area #
@A	User's age
@a	User' language
@B	User's Birthday
@b	Minutes available in the TimeBank
@C	User's city
@c	User's country
@D	Number of files downloaded
@d	User's DSL
@E	# of E-mails sent
@e	# of network E-mails sent
@F	# of Feedbacks sent
@f	Date of first call
@G	# of Messages read
@g	# of gold
@I	User's callsIgn
@i	# of Illegal log-ons
@J	Current message conference name
@j	Current File conference name
@K	Kb uploaded
@k	Kb downloaded
@L	Date of last call
@l	Total number of logons
@M	# of e-mail waiting
@m	# of messages posted
@N	User's name
@n	Sysop's note
@O	Times on today
@o	Minutes on
@P	BBS phone number
@p	User's phone number
@R	User's real name
@r	Last baud rate connected
@S	User's SL
@s	User's street addr.
@T	User's state
@t	Current time
@U	# of files uploaded
@V	# messages in sub
@X	User's gender
@Y	This BBS Name
@y	User Computer type
@Z	User's zip code

Pipe Screen and Cursor Control ¶

WWIV pipe screen and cursor codes allow simple display manipulation to be embedded in text without needing to implement ANSI codes, nor checking for ANSI support from the user.

|[nnX is the way to display a pipe code macro to display session information.

In all cases nn is optional and defaults to 1

Code	Information to display
[nnA	Moves the cursor up nn lines
[nnB	Moves the cursor down nn lines
[nnC	Moves the cursor right nn lines
[nnD	Moves the cursor left nn lines
[xx;yyH	Goto screen position xx, yy. Upper left hand corner is 1;1
[J	Clears the screen
[K	Clears the line from cursor position to end of line
[1K	Clears the line from beginning of line to cursor position
[2K	Clears the entire line, leaves the cursor position the same
[nnN	Performs nn newlines (same as bout.nl(nn) in code)

Pipe Expression Language ¶

WWIV pipe expression language allows more functions to be executed in the context of displaying text. All text that is not part of a string literal (i.e. enclosed in double quotes) must be lower case.

These are of the format |{xxxxx} whre xxxxx is the expression text.

Expression	Action
set	sets the next variable to the value that follows. Example: set pause off
pausescr	displays the system pause.
if	'if "expr", "true value", "false value"'. If expression is true, display true value, otherwise false value
random	'random "1", "2", ...' picks a random string from the list of choices to display
mpl	display a textbox with a colorized background using color #4, like mpl() funtion in WWIV.
sleep	pauses the display for the # of millisecond specified. Example sleep 100
spin	spins the text of the next variable using the color that is the 2nd parameter. Example: spin "Hello", 1
backprint	args: text, color, per-char delay, delay at end of string. Example backprint "Invalid username", 1, 30, 500
rainbow	arg text; Displays text using a rainbow effect.

Set can manipulate the values of several system variables. The values can be strings that must be enclosed on double quotes, numbers, or truthy values.

Truthy values are for true are: 'true', 'yes', 'on'. Every other value is false.

Variable	Meaning
pause	sets the pause on page on or off
lines	sets the number of lines displayed, this is used for pause calculation. Currently only 0 is supported for a value.

Examples:

  |{set pause=off}
  |{set lines=0}
  Hello |@N! How are you today?
  |{pausescr}

Files ¶

Creating new display files is the easiest way to customize your BBS and make it your own. WWIV supports displaying files at many places throughout the BBS.

File Extensions For Files ¶

Here are the various file extensions WWIV will look for when displaying a text file to a caller. This is the order in which they are checked, and if one doesn't exist or isn't applicable to the caller because of a constraint (like color), then the next one in the list will be checked.

Extension	Description
ans	Used for clients who support ANSI-BBS colors.
b&w	Used for clients who support ANSI-BBS without color.
msg	Used fror all clients. It may contain both heart and pipe codes. This is the most common type of file extension used in WWIV since colors may be used with both heart or pipe codes.

File Names ¶

While there are many others, as a new SysOp, the following MSGs are where you should start. These are the fils that may be displayed to callers.

FileName	Description
ar#.msg	Displayed at logon for users with AR matching #
chain.msg	Displayed before listing chains (doors) in the chains menus.
chat.msg	Displayed in the chat room
dar#.msg	Displayed at logon for users with DAR matching #
dsl###.msg	Displayed at logon for users with DSL matching ###
legacy_defaults.msg	Displayed before the user preferences (aka defaults) item is displayed
upload.msg	Displayed when a caller attempts to download a file.
editor.msg	Internal editor help screen
email.msg	Displayed as help for the email menu
feedback.msg	Displayed before sending feedback to the sysop.
fs_msgread.msg	Displayed for the header at the top of the full screen message scan page.
fs_msgscan.msg	Displayed for the header at the top of the full screen message scan page
logoff.msg	Displayed after every caller logs-off. Used to say Goodbye, thank them for visiting, suggest another BBS they might visit.
logon.msg	Displayed after every logon. Contains anything you want callers to see before they start using the board.
mbmain.msg	Displayed when ? is pressed while scanning messages or listing titles.
newuser.msg	Displayed to new callers after they have signed up for the bbs. Use it to thank them for signing up. Point them to anything in particular that is awesome. There is also a new user email, so be brief here.
noansi.msg	Displayed to users who have clients that do not support ANSI. It should let them users know there are ANSI clients out there they
sl###.msg	Displayed at logon for users with SL matching ###
system.msg	Contains system information to display to your callers. Displayed after login.msg and after newuser.msg
upload.msg	Displayed when a caller attempts to upload a file.
welcome.msg	Displayed to every caller before they LOGON or start the new user process. Used to welcome people and show off the style of your board. Usually this has the name of your BBS, A LOGO, other artworks and something to lure people to sign up.
yourinfo.msg	Displayed to implement the YourInfo command (Y) by default from the main menu

These are the files that may be displayed to the sysop for help. The same file extensions are valid for these files.

FileName	Description
sbmain.msg	Co-Sysop and Sysop version of the message scan help.
smain.msg	sysop main menu (//sysop)
sonline.msg	sysop online command menu
srestrict.msg	Displays help for what each of the user restrictions restrict or allow.
swfc.msg	sysop menu in WFC

Special context aware pipe variables ¶

Global context variables

The following are available in all places where pipe variables may be used in expressions.

Some files can have special context aware pipe variables used in expressions.

Variable	Type	Meaning
bbs.name	string	Name of the BBS
bbs.sysopname	string	Name of the SysOp
bbs.phone	string	Phone Number of the BBS
bbs.node	string	Node number for this BBS instance
bbs.os	string	Operating System Name this node BBS is running on
bbs.version	string	WWIV Version #
bbs.reg	string	WWIV 4.x Registration Number
bbs.compiletime	string	Date and time the BBS binary was compiled
user.name	string	User's name or handle
user.sl	number	User's SL
user.dsl	number	User's DSL
user.age	number	User's Age
user.regnum	number	User's WWIV registration number
user.sysop	boolean	Is the user a sysop
user.cosysop	boolean	Is the user a co-sysop
user.guest	boolean	Is the user logged on as a guest
user.validated	boolean	Is the user validated
user.screenlines	boolean	User's screen lines
user.screenwidth	boolean	User's screen width
user.ansi	boolean	Does the user have ansi enabled
user.ansistr	string	describes user's ansi and color state
user.color	boolean	Is color enabled
user.pause	boolean	Is pause enabled
user.mailbox_state	string	Describes the mailbox state (i.e. forwarded to user ...)
user.extcolors	boolean	Are extra colors enabled
user.optional_lines	number	Number of optional message lines
user.conferencing	boolean	Is conferencing enabled
user.fs_reader	boolean	Is the full screen message reader enabled
user.email	string	User's internet email address
user.ignore_msgs	boolean	Ignore inter-instance messages
user.clear_screen	boolean	Clear screen before messages
user.auto_quote	boolean	Use WWIV auto-quote vs. standard quoting
user.protocol	number	default protocol number
user.callsign	string	User's HAM callsign (if provided)
user.street	string	User's street address (if provided)
user.city	string	User's city (if provided)
user.state	string	User's state (if provided)
user.zip_code	string	User's zipcode (if provided)
user.last_ipaddress	string	Last IP addressed used
user.last_bps	number	Last BPS rate (if over serial)
user.laston	string	Date (MMDDYY) last on BBS
user.voice_phone	string	User's voice phone (if provided)
user.data_phone	string	User's data phone (if provided)
user.gender	char	User's gender (as character, M/F) (if provided)
user.menuset	string	curent menuset
user.birthday_mmddyy	string	User's birthday (MMDDYY) (if provided)
user.email_waiting	number	Number of email waiting
user.messages_posted	number	number of messages posted
user.posts_today	number	number of messages posted today
user.posts_net	number	number of messages posted on a network
user.messages_read	number	number of messages read
user.email_today	number	number of email sent today
user.email_sent_local	number	number of email sent locally today
user.feedback_sent	number	number of feedback to sysop send
user.email_sent_net	number	number of email sent to the network
user.chains_run	number	number of chains execute
user.uploaded	number	number of files uploaded
user.uk	number	KB of files uploaded
user.downloaded	number	number of files downloaded
user.dk	number	KB of files downloaded
user.editorname	string	Fullscreen editor name
user.show_controlcodes	boolean	Show message lines with WWIV control codes and FTN kludge
user.twentyfour_clock	boolean	Show time using 24hr clock (i.e. 18:00, not 06:00 PM)

pipe variables formatting ¶

Pipe variables can be formatted using a format mask following the variable.
Example:

    |{user.name, ">35"}

Here's the format for the format mask:

    format ::= [[pad]align][width]
    pad    ::= CP437 character other than '<', '^', '>', '{', or '}' 
    align  ::=  "<" | ">" | "^"
    width  ::=  number > 0

Format: Fill format mask to specify

Pad: The padding character to use when filling in the text to be sized to width

Align: Alignment is one of the following: '<' Left '^' Centered '>' Right

Width: How many characters to pad or trim the string to be.

fs_msgscan.msg ¶

Variable	Type	Meaning
cursub.subnum	number	current sub #
cursub.name	string	current sub name
cursub.desc	string	current sub description
cursub.filename	string	current sub filename
cursub.num_msgs	number	current sub's number number of messages
cursub.maxmsgs	number	current sub max number of messages allowed

Return variables

Variable	Type	Meaning
num_header_lines	number	how many lines does the header use. Default 2

fs_msgread.msg ¶

Variable	Type	Meaning
msg.message_area	string	current message area #
msg.message_number	string	current message number
msg.total_messages	string	curent sub's max number of messages allowed
msg.from	string	Message author
msg.to	string	message receipient
msg.date	string	Message date sent
msg.title	string	Message title
msg.sys	string	Sending system #
msg.loc	string	Sending system's location
msg.flags.local	string	Is this message local
msg.flags.forced	boolean	Is this message forced to be read
msg.flags.not_net_val	boolean	Is this message not yet network validated
msg.flags.not_val	boolean	Is this message not yet validated
msg.flags.permanent	boolean	Is this message permanent (i.e. wont be auto deleted)
msg.flags.ftn	boolean	Is this message part of a FTN network
msg.flags.wwivnet	boolean	Is this message part of a WWIVnet type network
msg.flags.private	boolean	Is this message private
net.name	string	Network display name
net.node	string	WWIVnet node number or FTN address