| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision |
| custom:text.dat [2021/05/15 17:55] – [Using Defaults] digital man | custom:text.dat [2023/10/27 19:10] (current) – [text.dat file] Mention that text.dat is CP437 (not UTF-8) digital man |
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| ====== text.dat file ====== | ====== text.dat file ====== |
| |
| Much of the text and color that the BBS [[server:terminal|Terminal Server]] displays (sends to a remote terminal) is stored as strings of text in the ''[[dir:ctrl]]/text.dat'' file. The syntax of the ''text.dat'' file is very specific and extreme caution should be taken when editing the file. | Much of the text and color that the BBS [[server:terminal|Terminal Server]] displays (sends to a remote user-terminal) is stored as strings of CP437 text in the file: ''[[dir:ctrl]]/text.dat''. |
| | |
| | **Notes:**\\ |
| | * The syntax of the ''text.dat'' file is very specific and extreme caution should be taken when modifying the file (especially when dealing with strings that contain the ''%s'' printf-specifier). |
| | * Each line of the ''text.dat'' is limited to 255 characters (including comments), while each text string defined in the ''text.dat'' file has a maximum length of 2000 characters. |
| | * The original/stock ''text.dat'' strings are actually compiled (as the auto-generated ''text_defaults.c'' file) and linked into the Synchronet executable (i.e. ''sbbs.dll'' or ''libsbbs.so'') so that any strings missing from a sysop's copy of ''text.dat'' will contain the stock string value by default |
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| Each line of the ''text.dat'' is limited to 255 characters (including comments), while each text string defined in the ''text.dat'' file has a maximum length of 2000 characters. | |
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| ===== Syntax ===== | ===== Syntax ===== |
| ==== Customization Methods ==== | ==== Customization Methods ==== |
| There are multiple ways to customize the contents of the ''text.dat'' file: | There are multiple ways to customize the contents of the ''text.dat'' file: |
| | - Create a ''[[dir:ctrl]]/[[text.ini]]'' file that contains a "key: value" line for each string you wish to over-ride in the ''text.dat'' file |
| | - Alternate-language translations of specified strings can be added to ''[[dir:ctrl]]/text.//lang//.ini'' files |
| - Edit the ''text.dat'' file directly (e.g. using a text editor, but do this with care, see above) | - Edit the ''text.dat'' file directly (e.g. using a text editor, but do this with care, see above) |
| - Use the [[util:Baja]] ''REPLACE_TEXT'' or [[custom:JavaScript]] ''bbs.replace_text'' function to replace a single line, programmatically (e.g. in a login/logon script or command-shell) | - Use the [[util:Baja]] ''REPLACE_TEXT'' or [[custom:JavaScript]] ''bbs.replace_text'' function to replace a single line, programmatically (e.g. in a login/logon script or command-shell) |
| cp /dev/null /sbbs/ctrl/text.dat | cp /dev/null /sbbs/ctrl/text.dat |
| ===== See Also ===== | ===== See Also ===== |
| * [[:dir:CTRL]] Directory | * [[text.ini]] File |
| | * [[:dir:ctrl]] Directory |
| * [[https://gitlab.synchro.net/sbbs/sbbs/-/raw/master/ctrl/text.dat|Current text.dat file in Git]] | * [[https://gitlab.synchro.net/sbbs/sbbs/-/raw/master/ctrl/text.dat|Current text.dat file in Git]] |
| * [[:config:|Customization]] | * [[:config:|Customization]] |
