Randem Systems Support Board

This may help with error messages...

In the secure folder it is looking for the board-topics.html file. So that would be in your folder F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure

Here is my current directory tree for conversion:

F:\Discusware
F:\Discusware\discus
F:\Discusware\discus\messages
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\15
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\16
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\16947
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\17
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\30
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\31
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\3309
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\3568
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\40
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\695
F:\Discusware\discus\messages\thumbnails
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\1018
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\11406
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\3767
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\385
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\388
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\4275
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\4276
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\4278
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\5302
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\595
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\6290
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\7251
F:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn\secure\8922
F:\Discusware\redirect
F:\Discusware\redirect\discus
F:\Discusware\redirect\discus\messages
F:\Discusware\SMF
F:\Discusware\SMF\Output
F:\Discusware\SMF\Output\attachments

All URLs in all files have been converted to lift them from the subdirectory ("/forum") to the site root ("/").  I'm still getting the 53 - DiscusProcessDiscusMainBoardFile() File not found error.

Here (attached?) is a screenshot of my converter dialog.  (I have obfuscated the 'Discus Website' and 'SMF Forum Addr' values.  No amount of trying with endless tiny variations of the real URLs has elicited any change in behaviour so I'm guessing that's not part of the problem.)



As the forum has a large amount of fairly confidential information on it I'm currently reluctant to leap at your kind offer to attempt a conversion for me.  I have to continue trying for a result at my end until all possibilities are exhausted.

When you start the converter the defaults are exactly where the program expects the data. Make sure you have exactly10 n's. The very same as in the default.

c:\Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn

is exactly that. This is why there are no browse buttons so as to keep it simple. That was the theory at least...

Take a snapshot of your folder tree then post it. If you like I can offer you an FTP upload folder on our server so we can attempt the conversion here.

Thank you very much for that.

I tried all of the PDF instructions with the numbered and non-numbered directory and got the same results.  I have just repeated the process from scratch with a fresh FTP download of the entire forum tree and get the same failures.  This is the current layout for conversion:

   discus/messages
   discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn/secure

I think my problem may stem from the fact that my directory layout doesn't seem to conform to the standard but instead resides in a subdirectory ('/forum') from the domain.  These are the exact directories on my site:

   cgi-bin/forum
   discus_admin/secure
   forum/messages

I strongly suspect I'll have to munge the URLs to bring the 'forum/messages' directory and all file contents (URLs, etc) up one level to make this work.  If a standard install also has a numbered discus_admin tree I may have to munge everything to suit that as well.

Thanks again, I appreciate your patience.

This version should use either user.txt or users.txt

You are missing the main directive... The folders must be nnnnnnnnnn as described NOT the number. If you use the folder name with the number in it. It will NEVER work.

NOTE: Rename discus_admin_3222911694 to discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn in order for this to work. NOT numbers but literal "nnnnnnnnnn". This is your source location.

Step 2 in the instructions:

2.   Download your Discusware 4.10 files to your local computer using FTP. We use FireFTP but you can use any FTP program that you are familiar with. You can also use your browsers FTP functionality. The files you need are in the following locations. You will need to change the numbers on your folder to nnnnnnnnnn for the converter to work. Your folder structure on your computer should look something like this. It closely mirrors what you have on your host system. The converter will automatically create these folders if they do not exist.

I have placed copies of Users.txt (and User.txt - just for laughs) into every input directory specified in the Converter's dialog:

C:\Discusware\discus\messages\User.txt
C:\Discusware\discus\messages\Users.txt
C:\Discusware\discus\User.txt
C:\Discusware\discus\Users.txt
C:\Discusware\discus_admin_3222911694\secure\User.txt
C:\Discusware\discus_admin_3222911694\secure\Users.txt
C:\Discusware\discus_admin_3222911694\User.txt
C:\Discusware\discus_admin_3222911694\Users.txt
C:\Discusware\User.txt
C:\Discusware\Users.txt

Still the Converter fails to find the file.  I get the same error regardless of primary path (C:\Discusware or any other path, existent or not), or the case of the file name (Users.txt or users.txt). 

   76 - DiscusReadUserFile() - Path not found

I thought for a while it was permissions (in Windows 7) but a non-existent path (e.g. C:\blah) and its subdirectories is created happily after clicking 'Convert'.  The same happens on Windows XP.

To affirm that it's the file and not its content that's causing the trouble, here is an example entry from out of the 700+ users in it.

   ned-ludd:WHCl/f8fubmdZ:me@ned-ludd.com:Ned Ludd:1:16:1318273200:0:1326884750:/general/


Here's an odd thing: if I copy the Users.txt into the discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn directory that is created by the Converter, the error changes:

    53 - DiscusProcessDiscusTreeFile() - File not found

Which is promising but if I copy the tree.txt file to discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn I get back to an earlier set of errors when I created my own Redirect.html:

    53 - DiscusProcessDiscusMainBoardFile() - File not found
    9 - DiscusProcessDiscusTreeFile() - Subscript out of range

Copying the entire secure directory to discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn (so it is identical to discus_admin_3222911694) returns me to the DiscusReadUserFile error. 

I feel I'm going in circles here.  If I knew what 'DiscusMainBoardFile' was I might understand this last error better.

The number (3222911694) is only relevant to the Discus installation and does not matter in the conversion. The discus_admin directory is only relevant to administrative function on the discus board which will not be translated only the data will be converted.

The [76 - DiscusReadUserFile() - Path not found] error is from the Users.txt (not user.txt) file not being found at the appropriate location which is under the discus main folder where the tree.txt file is also found. This would be the \Discusware\discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn folder location.

This utility does not have all the bells and whistles of error handling and such for it was not seen as being utilized a lot.

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

I thought I had already read that PDF closely but evidently missed a few subtle points.  I appreciate your willingness to assist me.  (I must be one of the last people wanting to migrate from DiscusWare.)


After renaming the discus_admin_nnnnnnnnn directory to discus_admin_3222911694 I have proceeded a little further.  Now I get the single dialog error

   [76 - DiscusReadUserFile() - Path not found]

I can only guess that message refers to the master user account file.  As I have a discus_admin/users.txt file I copied it to discus_admin_3222911694/user.txt to match the documentation but that hasn't eliminated the error.


I am curious about a few things; I'm not sure if they are relevant to my difficulties.

* My Discusware install has a 'discus_admin' directory.  There is no numbered directory as mentioned in the conversion document.  Is this likely to be significant?

* After renaming the discus_admin directory and clicking 'Convert' the discus_admin_nnnnnnnnn directory was re-created.  Is this deliberate and if so, why?

* The number 3222911694 intrigues me: what is its purpose and is it significant in some way?  Might I need a different number for my Discusware release (4.10.1)?

An example of the redirect.html file is attached. All it does is redirect a page to somewhere else (one topic to another)

Aloha Ned,

I don't know if you have the instructions for this conversion but if you do not here they are:
Now all the files are html files yes? Let me know if this helps any or if we can be of assistance.

NOTE: take notice of the rename of the folder part regarding the numbers.

Discusware Version: 4.10.1 (03/14/2007)  --> SMF Version: 2.0.9

DiscusConvert version 1.0.5 (installed from https://randemsystems.com/scripts/downloadit.php?filename=DiscusConverter.zip)

The required forum files were extracted from a fresh, full Discusware backup and are installed in the default tree under C:\Discusware

Discusware
Discusware/discus
Discusware/discus/messages
Discusware/discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn
Discusware/discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn/secure
Discusware/discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn/tree.txt
Discusware/discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn/users.txt

I have tried this procedure on Windows XP and Windows 7 and get the same results.  The following occurs regardless of any values entered in the Discus Conversion interface - including the root directory C:\Discusware. 

When I click on'Convert' I get three popup dialogs in sequence:

   [76 - GetFileData()  Path not found]

  [Redrect file not found - C:\Program Files\DiscusConvert\Docs\Redirect.html]

   (I note that the Docs directory does not exist.)

   [Done]

This creates the following folders and files (all empty):

SMF
SMF/Output
SMF/Output/attachments
SMF/Output/InternalLinks.txt
SMF/Output/Log.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Attachments.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Boards.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Categories.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_MemberGroups.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Members.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Messages.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_NotifyLog.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_Topics.txt
SMF/Output/SMF_TopicsLog.txt
redirect
redirect/discus
redirect/discus/messages



After numerous attempts I then created a simple Redirect.html file (unlikely to be valid but worth a try) and tried again. This time I got different error dialogs and still no conversions.

   [53- DiscusProcessDiscusMainBoardFile() - File not found]

   [9 - DiscusProcessDiscusTreeFile() - Subscript out of range]

   [Done]

I have copied all of the discus_admin (the backup 'admin_dir') contents into discus_admin_nnnnnnnnnn so nothing should be missing.  I don't understand exactly what DiscusMainBoardFile might be or where it should go.


Rather than feel my way blindly towards a result I was hoping someone could give me some advice and guidance.

Thanks.