///Uploading files
   ---------------
   By Robert Niles


Well simply put....I can't think of anything exceptionably 
creative today. Kind of like that writer's block thing you hear 
about from time to time. So, if you don't mind, I'll just babble 
a bit.

But I'll babble about something ...ummm..errrr...relevant.

Often I log onto BBSes throughout the United States and I even 
dabble a bit overseas (Ma Bell sent me a letter stating that my 
LD costs dropped down to about $300.00 last month and they wanted 
to know if something was wrong). Well have you ever entered the 
file area of a particular BBS, started looking at the files, 
seeing the descriptions and all, and wondered about things like:

What version is this file? Is this the same program that so and 
so did? The name sure looks alike. What the <beep> is 
ROFLWS112.LHA?? What's the difference between DREP111.LHA and 
DREP11_1.LHA?

These are things that boggle me at times...going into a file 
library and not being able to tell what's what.

So I'll make a suggestion...and of course if your local BBS or 
the online service that you call wishes you to do it a different 
way...don't go getting them mad at me, but I think this would be 
helpful, and would very much improve the look of any database.

Say you have a file called SNOOP141.LHA...well it is usually easy 
to tell that the version is 1.41 ...but it could be 0.141 or 
14.1. And what is SNOOP anyways? Something to let you spy on 
other computer users? A task snooper? What is it??

Best thing to do is keep the file named the same way as the 
person who made the archive named it...for the most part, this 
keeps the author happy, and it becomes the standard name. As if 
this file was named Snp141.LHA on one system and Snoop141.LHA on 
another system, one might not know if he/she had already 
downloaded it or not. Of course at times you might get a file 
called Super_Snoop_1.41.LHA from one system, and you being the 
wonderful uploader, might want to upload this file to a system 
that only accepts the 8.3 filename format (ie: ffffffff.eee).

What should you do?? Well there's not always a BEST answer but 
try to take the main part of the program name and shorten the 
rest...like SSnoop141.LHA then if you still need to shorten it, 
take the vowels out. First the vowels that aren't relevant to the 
name, and then if you still have to remove the vowels from the 
name, do so, but at the same time, try to keep the meaning 
intact. Like SSnpr141.LHA. No special rules here, but common 
sense.

Next, you upload the file. And the system asks you for a 
description. Here's the best place to really tell others what 
this file is! 

Often I see something like this:

File       : Snoop141.lha
Description: Task snooper.

Doesn't tell you much and it leaves you guessing.

A good format would be something like this:

File       : Snoop141.lha
Description: Snooper v1.41, by Marco Polo. A system task snooper.

Simple...it lets the downloader know what it is..if he has that 
version...or something newer, and it gives a good idea of what 
that file is for. If you have more room for a longer description, 
great! Add all the information you feel is needed. But if you are 
in a hurry, or hate typing...a short description like the one 
above really helps. It helps the Sysop(s), the people who will be 
downloading the file later, and anyone who might be trying to do 
a search for it. He can search by the program name, the file 
name, the version, the author, or by what the program is supposed 
to do.

Well, I'm done babbling now, take care and happy BBSing!