[Announce] more TADS updates

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

No, this isn't a repeated message that got stuck in the news queues - it
really is my second TADS update announcement of the day. This time it's a
new TADS 2 release - version 2.5.8. There are no significant new features
here; it's mostly just bug fixes. (As you've probably noticed, I'm spending
most of my "new feature" time on TADS 3 these days.)

htads_authkit_258.zip - Windows HTML TADS 2.5.8 Author's Kit
tadsexe_258.zip - TADS real-mode DOS compiler/tools (version 2.5.8)
tadsexx_258.zip - 16-bit protected-mode DOS compiler/tools
tads32_258.zip - 32-bit Windows console-mode compiler/tools
htmltdb_258.zip - Windows HTML TADS Workbench (this is also in the Author's
Kit)
htmltads_258.zip - Windows HTML TADS 2.5.8 (also in the Author's Kit)
tadsrun_258.zip - real-mode DOS interpreter
tadslib_258.zip - library source code (adv.t, std.t)
adv.t - library source as a plain text file
std.t - library source as a plain text file
tads_src_258.zip - generic (portable) TADS 2.5.8 source code
htads_src_258.zip - HTML TADS (Windows + portable) source code

These are mostly DOS/Windows versions, but the source code is there to
enable the updates to propagate to other platforms. If you're on DOS or
Windows, you should only need one of the versions above - most people with
modern PC's running Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP will want the Author's Kit
and/or the Player Kit (which was in the batch of uploads I announced earlier
today). If you're running DOS (not Windows), you'll probably want either
the real-mode (tadsexe_258.zip) or 16-bit protected-mode (tadsexx_258.zip)
versions - if you have at least a 286 processor, the protected-mode version
is probably the better of the two, since it lets you use more memory.

As usual, the files will be in the "unprocessed" directory until they move
to their permanent homes, generally under the /programming/tads2 directory
tree.

--Mike
mjr underscore at hotmail dot com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Il Sun, 13 Jun 2004 20:19:09 +0000, Mike Roberts ha scritto:

> There are no significant new features
> here; it's mostly just bug fixes.

Have you fixed the security hole we discuss because of the doubts around
Delvyn (the "entry" in the IFComp '03 )?

Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

"Dott. Piergiorgio" <dott.piergiorgioAKAGI@fastwebnet.itKAGA> wrote:
> Have you fixed the security hole we discuss because of the doubts around
> Delvyn (the "entry" in the IFComp '03 )?

You'll have to refresh my memory, because I don't actually recall any
security holes having been found. My recollection is that people were
concerned about the large size of the game, which turned out to be because
of an embedded audio file (which is unthreatening) and because of some
cryptic responses to certain commands (which also turned out to be
unthreatening; they were just intentionally cryptic for some in-game
reason).

Unless you're talking about the external function feature. That wasn't a
"hole," obviously, but the consensus here was that the feature had outlived
its usefulness and should be disabled, which has indeed happened in this
version. There was also a suggestion to increase the default "file safety"
setting to level 1 (which confines file creation and writing to the game's
working directory), and that's been adopted as well.

--Mike
mjr underscore at hotmail dot com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Il Mon, 14 Jun 2004 10:31:51 -0700, Mike Roberts ha scritto:

> You'll have to refresh my memory, because I don't actually recall any
> security holes having been found.

You're correct about your reccollection, what you have forgotten is that
you add also the fact that TADS have an unused feature for _executing_
binary files from the .gam files. As you explained, no game uses this
geature, and you have also maked a poll about the removal of this feature.
whose I replied that I agree on the removal.

IIRC the feature, as you explain, permit to execute binary files taken, I
don't remember well, inside the .gam file or an external file.

I think this discussion can be retrieved on google.

Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

In rec.arts.int-fiction, Dott. Piergiorgio <dott.piergiorgioAKAGI@fastwebnet.itkaga> wrote:
> Il Mon, 14 Jun 2004 10:31:51 -0700, Mike Roberts ha scritto:
>
> > You'll have to refresh my memory, because I don't actually recall any
> > security holes having been found.
>
> You're correct about your reccollection, what you have forgotten is that
> you add also the fact that TADS have an unused feature for _executing_
> binary files from the .gam files.

This is the "external function" feature which Mike mentioned:

> Unless you're talking about the external function feature. That
> wasn't a "hole," obviously, but the consensus here was that the
> feature had outlived its usefulness and should be disabled, which
> has indeed happened in this version.

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

"Dott. Piergiorgio" <dott.piergiorgioAKAGI@fastwebnet.itKAGA> wrote:
> You're correct about your reccollection, what you have forgotten is that
> you add also the fact that TADS have an unused feature for _executing_
> binary files from the .gam files.

That's the "external function" feature that I mentioned in my previous note,
and, as I said, that has indeed been disabled.

> I think this discussion can be retrieved on google.

Right - if you do read over it again, let me know if you see anything else
that you were concerned about at the time. I'm pretty sure that the
external function feature was the only issue, though.

--Mike
mjr underscore at hotmail dot com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Dott. Piergiorgio wrote:
> [...]
> You're correct about your reccollection, what you have forgotten is
> that you add also the fact that TADS have an unused feature for
> _executing_ binary files from the .gam files. As you explained, no
> game uses this geature, and you have also maked a poll about the
> removal of this feature. whose I replied that I agree on the
> removal.
>
> IIRC the feature, as you explain, permit to execute binary files
> taken, I don't remember well, inside the .gam file or an external
> file.

This feature has been declared obsolete by Mike and is no longer available
in 2.5.8. You can still use 2.5.7 and older versions to develop such a
game, but it won't run in 2.5.8.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Il Mon, 14 Jun 2004 10:31:51 -0700, Mike Roberts ha scritto:

Thanks to all three of you, but actually I have maked a mistake: I have
replied without reading all :#)

I think I have deleted the post on USENET, but seems that or I have acted
too late, or I have goofed with the newsreader....

Yes, I refer to the ext function feature, and sorry for the wasting of
time, bytes and bandwidth.

Now I'm self-punishing, playing Appallatron....

Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

In article <Ayozc.34$kd5.307@news.oracle.com>,
Mike Roberts <mjrUNDERSCORE@hotmail.com> wrote:
>"Dott. Piergiorgio" <dott.piergiorgioAKAGI@fastwebnet.itKAGA> wrote:
>> You're correct about your reccollection, what you have forgotten is that
>> you add also the fact that TADS have an unused feature for _executing_
>> binary files from the .gam files.
>
>That's the "external function" feature that I mentioned in my previous note,
>and, as I said, that has indeed been disabled.

I was starting to write a comment that the "external function" feature
doesn't/didn't allow you to execute binary files, but on second thought
it actually does: there's nothing to stop you from writing an external
function that calls exec(), is there?

--
Magnus Olsson (mol@df.lth.se)
PGP Public Key available at http://www.df.lth.se/~mol