Version 4

Synchronet version 4 was conceptual future version (after v3.x) that “fixed all the things” in one huge upgrade:

The changes originally planned for a version 4:

• Replace most of the proprietary binary file formats (*.cnf, *.dab) with text, likely INI Files format [done]
• Overhaul the file database to support modern files (long filenames, sizes > 4GB, etc.) [done] and other enhancements (discussions, torrents)
• Replace proprietary fixed-length text data files (*.dat), likely with fixed-length record, variable-length field tab/NL-delimited text files [done]
• Replace many of the native utilities (e.g. addfiles) with JSexec scripts [done]
• Eliminate sub-board “ptridx” concept (cause of bugs when copy/pasting subs in SCFG and other issues [done]
• Expand the maximum length of many of the limited-length fields (e.g. passwords, internal codes) [done]
• Replace hard-coded msg area and file area functions (e.g. reading msgs, file listings, etc.) with modules
• Filter file (e.g. *.can, twitlist.cfg) overhaul, adding expiration dates, focused areas of filtering, etc. [done]
• FidoNet netmail stored in data/mail database [done]

... and probably some other stuff from this list.

Rather than a massive version 4 that changed tons of things at once, we've been rolling in progressive enhancements into version 3.x, more or less one feature at a time per release. We will likely continue to do this until there is some massive change that makes virtually all existing Synchronet-related things incompatible with it. None of the todo items in the above bullet list meet that criteria. So, don't be expecting a version 4 any time soon.

• Development