FILE_ID.DIZ INFORMATION
Basically, the FILE_ID.DIZ file is a straight ASCII text file, distributed
inside your distribution archive file along with your program files, which
contains a description of your program. This file will be used by most BBS
(Bulletin Board System) software for the online file description of your
file. We recommend that the FILE_ID.DIZ file be used in all of your
distribution archives.


WHY SHOULD YOU USE FILE_ID.DIZ?
The use of this file will insure that the online description of your
program will be in your own words (and who better to describe your program
than yourself?), and that it will remain the same no matter how many
different people upload your file to various BBS systems.

As more and more BBS software makes use of this file, you can be assured
that your own description will replace such online descriptions as "Cool
Program" or "OK utility, but needs better ..."

Please note that the ASP Hub Network, the Author Direct FDN (File
Distribution Network), and the majority of other electronic distribution
services *REQUIRE* that a valid FILE_ID.DIZ file be contained in your
submitted distribution archive. If your file doesn't contain a valid
FILE_ID.DIZ file, then it simply won't be distributed by these services.
Furthermore, most BBS sysops will not accept uploads of files which do not
contain a valid FILE_ID.DIZ file, so you automatically lose out on that
distribution as well.


DESCRIPTION:
FILE_ID.DIZ was created by Clark Development for use with their PCBDescribe
utility, as a means for shareware authors to provide descriptions for their
products, and thus so that BBS callers can upload the file(s) without
having to manually type in a file description.

As long as an author creates and includes a FILE_ID.DIZ file in their
distribution file set, the text from that file will be used for the online
description (in most cases) rather than anything typed in by the uploader.
It also ensures that the online description is always the same regardless
of the number of different BBS systems the file is posted on. It has since
been accepted by the BBS industry more-or-less as the "standard" file
description source. (The extension of "DIZ" actually stands for
"Description In Zip").

NOTE: The FILE_ID.DIZ file *MUST* be named exactly that, and *NOT*
something like <filename>.DIZ. It will *ONLY* be used if it is named
FILE_ID.DIZ!

The FILE_ID.DIZ file is nothing more than a straight ASCII text file which
contains the full description of the archive file containing it. It is
used by most popular BBS software to describe your program, rather than
using the description supplied by the person that uploaded your file. It
should be placed *INSIDE* your distribution archive file. The FILE_ID.DIZ
file is defined by its creators (Clark Development) as being created by the
program author, and *NOT* the end user who is trying to upload the program.

The BBS software will "look" inside the archive file. If a FILE_ID.DIZ file
is found, it will replace any existing online file description with the
text contained in FILE_ID.DIZ. It is an excellent method for making sure
that your program files are described the way that "you" want them
described. Even sysops who's software can't automatically make use of the
FILE_ID.DIZ file have found it to be an excellent source for their manually
added file descriptions.

STRUCTURE:
The file consists of straight ASCII text, up to 10 lines of text, each line
being no more than 45 characters long. It should *NOT* contain any blank
lines, any form of centering or formatting, or any Hi-ASCII or ANSI
characters. (i.e. it should ONLY contain alpha & numeric characters).

We recommended that it consist of 5 basic parts:

   1. the proper name of your program
   2. the version number
   3. the "ASP" identifier (optional, for ASP members)
   4. the description separator
   4. the description

All of the above parts should be separated by a single "space".

PROGRAM NAME: To set it apart from the rest, it is recommended that you use
ALL CAPS for the program name.

VERSION NUMBER: The version number should be in the form of "v12.34".

ASP IDENTIFIER: If you are an ASP author, we recommend that an "<ASP>"
identifying mark be added after the version number, to identify your
product as an ASP-authored product.

DESCRIPTION SEPARATOR: To separate the actual description text, insert a
simple "-" (dash/minus) character after the ASP identifier (or version
number, if not using the ASP identifier), and in front of the description
text.

DESCRIPTION: You should attempt to FULLY describe your product, including
its most important functions and features. Be sure to include anything
which will separate your program from it's competition, and make the BBS
user want to download your file. Also try to include any hardware or
software requirements that your product may have.

You should try to use the first 2 lines of the text to give a basic
description of your program. This is helpful for sysops who's BBS software
limits them to less than 10 lines, 45 characters. Sysops who are limited to
using shorter descriptions can simply use the 1st two lines and truncate
the rest. Thus, you can basically still supply your own description for BBS
software which does not actually utilize the FILE_ID.DIZ feature.

The remaining lines of text can be used to elaborate on the programs
features, enhancements from the prior version, information concerning
multi-file sets. Please note that older versions of some BBS software can
only use 8 lines of text. It is advisable that you create your FILE_ID.DIZ
file so that the file can be truncated to various line lengths without
destroying it's usefulness.


EXAMPLE

   MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> - A program which will
   do anything for anybody. Will run in only 2k
   of memory. Can be run from the command line,
   or installed as a TSR. Completely menu-
   driven. Version 1.23 reduces the previous 4k
   memory requirements, and adds an enhanced
   graphical user interface. Also, MY PROGRAM
   now contains Windows and DESQview support.
   Coming soon - an OS/2 version.
   From Do-It-All Software, Inc. $15.00

MULTIPLE DISK INFO
Please note that if your distribution archive requires multiple archive
files, you should create a separate, specific FILE_ID.DIZ file for each
archive. This can be utilized to describe the various contents of each
archive, and to identify each disk in the set. For example, the FILE_ID.DIZ
file for disk #1 could contain:

   "MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> Program Executable
    Files - Disk 1 of 2"
    [followed by detailed description text]

while the FILE_ID.DIZ file for disk #2 could contain:

   "MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> Documentation Files -
    Disk 2 of 2"
    [followed by more detailed description text]

Optionally, you could also create a "complete" FILE_ID.DIZ file for the
first disk, which would fully describe the program in detail, and identify
it as Disk 1 of x. Then, for each remaining file in the set, simply include
the Program Name, version number, ASP identifier, and the disk number (i.e.
"MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> Disk 2 of x").


ADDITIONAL INFO
Please don't be tempted to use fancy graphic or ANSI sequences in the
FILE_ID.DIZ file, as most BBS software will not allow this, and will render
your FILE_ID.DIZ file useless. Also, don't be tempted to simply copy your
program description file to FILE_ID.DIZ. Attempting to "format" your
FILE_ID.DIZ file (i.e line centering, right & left justification, etc) will
also cause unexpected results, especially for BBS software which re-formats
descriptions to other than 10line/45char.

Fred Hill <ASP> has written a freeware utility which interactively creates
a valid FILE_ID.DIZ file. The file is called DIZGEN.ZIP and can be found on
CompuServe (GO IBMBBS, Library 2) as well as on many fine BBS systems. I
highly recommend that you download a copy of this wonderful utility for
creating your FILE_ID.DIZ files.
