[aprssig] Bulletins source code?

[Robert Bruninga]

> I was thinking of spending some time getting proper bulletin 
> generation support into Xastir, and wanted to scan over the 
> APRSDOS implementation before deciding how to proceed.

On receipt, sort BLN# lines by the # and by the sending call.
Replace any previous lines of the same BLN#.  These sorted lines
then all go onto the single 40 line common bulletin board.
Include a line separator between sending callsigns so that each
group of lines from each sender stand out from each other.
Also, do not ack any bulletins.

Notice that the above routine lets a sender "edit" an existing
line, by resending the same line BLN#.  This is of value when
maintianing bulletins that have some changing data...  Only the
changing data needs to be rte-transmitted as new data.

If the 40 line page is full, then begin to throw away the oldest
lines.

Add some kind of time-out.  Probably, after 24 hours, eliminate
any lines that have not been updated.

On send, if someone has enterd a BLN#, and then begins a new
line, then auto-increment the #.  To not transmit any
line-numbers (there are no acks to bulletins).  Also on send,
allow for the sender to include a bulletin group.  That is
BLN#ggggg where ggggg can be any free text.  This lets others
select to view only "ggggg" group bulletins.  Since bulletins
are sorted on receipt, they do not need to be send sequentially
like regular messages do.

Hope that helps

Bob, WB4aPR