PowerGenerator

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Q: Since installing the latest PowerBBS and not upgrading my PowerGenerator license, I'm getting "Error #53, during Property dropdown" error, whenever I try to change the P/Base property on my screens using PowerGen or when I open a P/Base View Screen.

A: If you're using PBBS 4.5 or later, PowerBBS moved the PBBSBASE.DAT file over to the \source directory. PGen v1.01 expects that file to be in the root \powrbbs directory so doesn't find it over there. Until you are able to update to PG v1.2 or later, make a copy of the PBBSBASE.DAT in your \powrbbs directory and remember - if you change anything in the PBBSBASE.DAT to make a copy of that over to \powrbbs until you update to PowerGen v1.2 (and btw, what are you waiting for??).

Q: I can't run PowerGen for any number of reasons!

A: If you don't see a specific answer to your question in the FAQ's below, please try the following before contacting Tech Support. The problems may be corrected by one of the following things:

- Try using the Microsoft generic SVGA.EXE video driver. It's available on the PowerBBS Support BBS and elsewhere. At the *very* least, make sure you are NOT using "Large" fonts with whatever video driver you are using! "Large" fonts can cause problems with *many* Windows programs.

- Make sure there are no duplicate *.VBX files on your system! If so, move the latest version to your \Windows\System directory, delete the others, restart Windows and try again!

- Delete THREED.VBX and GRID.VBX from your \Windows\System directory and then re-install PowerGen. Some older versions of those files have newer dates for some reason, and thus, don't get overwritten during the initial PowerGen install as they should.

Q: After installing PowerGen, I receive "Subscript out of Range error upon starting it up?

A: Make sure that you have only one THREED.VBX on your system - anywhere! After doing so, it may be wise to delete the one that is in your \Windows\system directory and then re-install PowerGen. It seems there is some bad versions of THREED.VBX out there with dates incorrectly later than the one that comes with PowerGen, and thus the one that comes w/ PowerGen, does not get installed. Deleting the version in \Windows\System and re-installing should do the trick!The one that ships with PowerGen is *absolutely* the most recent version!

Q: I've "Imported a PBBS Menu" into PowerGen and then saved it, but it doesn't work in PowerAccess?

A: Some people *incorrectly* do an Import and then SAVE the file as *.MNU! That is wrong! The name for the PGen screen after being Imported from a PBBS Menu file should be "filep.". In other words, save the file by the same name as your ANSI or ASCII filename but use a "p" at the end. e.g.:
MAIN. -> ASCII
MAINC. -> ANSI
MAINP. -> PGen

Your *.MNU file must still exist as it was. It is a special file format used by PowerBBS and should not be confused with the display screen used with it and specified on the Menu when using the Menu Editor in PBBS Config.

Q: My macros don't seem to work on PowerGen screens?

A: Due to the way PowerAccess receives screens from the BBS it is not always possible for all Macro information to make it onto some PowerGen screens. For example GOODBYEP. is sent at logON! So a !MINON! macro on that screen would not be able to display properly. Also, PowerGen screens don't get updated once they are open on the users end. So a !FORUM! macro will not change on the screen when the user changes Forums. Russ is currently adding additional Macro support with each update of PowerAccess, but for now you'll have to use a little trial and error to see which macros will work on which screens etc.

Q: Can I use a !PL:###! macro on a PowerGen screen to automatically run a particular POW when a screen is displayed the way I can on an ANSI screen?

A: No. The PowerAccess environment and ANSI environment behave very differently and there is no current way to support the !PL:###! macro on PGen at this time.

Q: Why is "MS Sans Serif" font is specified as not being on my your system, even though I'm sure it is?

A: You may have "Show True Type Fonts Only" selected in your Font configuration in Windows Control Panel. MS Sans Serif is the one non-TrueType font that PowerGen allows and it will not find it if "TrueType Fonts Only" is checked in that area of Control Panel.

Q: Can we use other Fonts besides the ones that PowerGen has installed? If not, why not?

A: Any fonts that you use on your PowerGen screens must also be installed on your users systems in order for those screens to display correctly. Currently the PowerGen fonts in use are installed on your users system when PowerAccess is installed. We are looking into how to allow sysops to use their own fonts in the future, but it will cause increased download time and some other possible problems, so it may be a while until we find a satisfactory solution to this.

Q: Some graphics seem to appear as "negative images" when I use them in PowerGen

A: Some 24-bit images may appear that way on *some* systems and with *some* 24-bit video cards. This is a difficult problem to trap for at this time since it is highly hardware dependent. However, the graphic should hopefully appear correctly when viewed in PowerAccess. If you have a graphic of this type that is displaying this way in PowerGen, feel free to zip it up and send it to Brad Friedman with and explanation of how the colors *should* look and how they are actually displayed in PowerGen instead.

We're always working on fixing whatever needs to be fixed!

Q: Some graphics look fine in PowerGen, but don't look correct in PowerAccess?

A: If you have this situation, please zip up the PG screen along with the graphics in question and file attach them in a message to Bill Ebina on the Support BBS with an explanation of what he should look for. There are various problems in dealing with various Pallette issues in Windows and we are attempting to correct things wherever possible!

Q: Sometimes when I delete several objects at once I'll lose an object that I didn't intend to?

A: Yes, there is a bug that occurs occasionally when doing multiple deletion of objects. It's very difficult to repeat and find and that's why the bug is still there. We hope to fix it as soon as we can nail it! In the meantime, after a group delete, it may be a good idea to SAVE the screen, close it and then re-open it so the object indexing can get itself straightened out before an error occurs.

Q: I'm having problems after putting an image (GIF, PCX, BMP...it doesn't matter) on a pgen screen. Looks great in PGen, but call in and there's no picture in the spot where it should be? I have created a new PGen screen and/or altered an old one, but I don't see the changes when I logon to the system with PowerAccess?

A: You must restart all PBBS nodes after a change to a PGen screen in order to get the changes in PowerAccess when one of the following conditions exists:

- The updated PGen screen is one called by a *.MNU file (so PBBS can add it to the MENUS.ZIP that is created at startup and sent to users on an as needed basis when they logon)

- The updated PGen screen contains a graphic that was *not* already in your specified Pics Directory when you started up PBBS (at startup, PBBS checks all files in that directory for file dates/times etc. and keeps track of that while it is running. If it wasn't there when PBBS started, it won't see that PGen has copied this new graphic over to the Pics Directory until PBBS is restarted. It'll just assume that it's not available when the newly updated PGen screens specifies it. (Same may be true for a Sound file I believe!)

Q: Why do I receive the error - "Can't load Custom Control DLL: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\FXCMP210.VBX"

A: Make sure all of the PG Fonts are installed. You can do so by installing PowerAccess on the system which will install them automatically, or by download PGFONTS.ZIP and installing them manually.

Your feedback is appreciated!