I *think* it was an error with a packet in FSX_DAT that caused the
official last callers mod (by xqtr for mystic only) to hiccup and the resolution was to wipe the entire FSX_DAT message base.

Oof, that's sort of a bummer to have to nuke the whole set of data from a bad packet but I guess if that's the way it's fixed, that's what you have to do.

Or it could be something else.. I've written a few interbbs last callers
mods for various systems it's good to try and be fairly fault tolerant -
i don't know that xqtr's mod is, so also try and make sure you're out put
is as correct as you can be.

I did a bit more digging and I think it's caused by the Quantum Wormhole messages. It's not all of them, but some of them are missing the LOCATION line (not OS like I originally thought). This makes their encoded posts 1 line less than the usual expected number of lines. I jumped on Wrong Number ][ and grabbed the error message:

PYTHON ERROR (/mystic/themes/default/scripts/xq-ilc.mpy)
File "/mystic/themes/default/scripts/xq-ilc.mpy", line 479, in <module>
processbase()
File "/mystic/themes/default/scripts/xq-ilc.mpy", line 279, in processbase
luser = rot47(msgtext[i+1])
IndexError: list index out of range

So yeah, it looks like it's blowing up because the message is missing the expected number of lines. (luser I'm assuming is location for user). A simple hack fix would be just to check that i + 1 isn't out of bounds and if so, move on to the next message and log the error... or just throw a try/catch around the whole thing.
I wasn't able to hunt down the actual code though to take a look.. it would be nice to be able to patch the mod so it doesn't blow up.

Regarding the time / date.. I don't think it matters too much, I only use
the date in my mods, and it's always a mixture of european / US date
formats - xqtr's mod just uses what ever is local to the BBS. (of course
I fill in the time field, i just don't use it locally)

Yeah I noticed that too. The dates seem to be an assortment of formats. I ended up going with the most common US format I saw from the prev messages.

The way I see it though, if it's posted on fsx_dat and it unintentioally breaks a mod, really that's the mod's problem - it should be fault
tolerant, or at least skip over messages it can't process correctly.

Agreed. I was a bit surprised to see it 'hard down' on those boards. I woudl have expected bad data to just be skipped.


--- NE BBS v0.73 (linux; x64)
* Origin: NE BBS - nebbs.servehttp.com:9223 (21:3/193)

sorry, 24h is used here :)

All good! :) Besides the dates switching from US/European format, I just noticed that yours were the only ones out of the messages that I have that had a different date for a long time now so was thinking that my am/pm tag shouldn't have caused an issue.

In my reply to apam, I think I tracked it down to being caused by a missing location in some of the messages causing the data to be 1 line too short.


--- NE BBS v0.73 (linux; x64)
* Origin: NE BBS - nebbs.servehttp.com:9223 (21:3/193)

On 13 Dec 2024, slacker said the following...

Hi All,

I was working on an implementation of the ibbs last callers and decided
to hop around a few BBS to see how they view the data and noticed that
The Agency and Wrong Number ][ are throwing a python script error.
Quantum Wormhole and Bloodlust seem to be working though.

Yea, I just noticed it also.. I guess it is time to get in touch with Meatlotion and see what he is doing differently..


|11 Bucko |14- |06Wrong Number Family Of BBS' |07- |03www.wrgnbr.com

... Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Wrong Number Family Of BBS' - Wrong Number ][ (21:4/131)

Fixed now on Wrong Number ][... Just has to get populated now..


|11 Bucko |14- |06Wrong Number Family Of BBS' |07- |03www.wrgnbr.com

... Everyone smiles in the same language.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: The Wrong Number Family Of BBS' - Wrong Number ][ (21:4/131)

On 14 Dec 2024 at 09:42a, apam pondered and said...

I didn't grab the error message but if you log in and head to the ibbs last callers on either of those boards, it pops up. It's the same error

I *think* it was an error with a packet in FSX_DAT that caused the official last callers mod (by xqtr for mystic only) to hiccup and the resolution was to wipe the entire FSX_DAT message base.

this is what I ended up doing and it fixed the issue for me.

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)