Maximus BBS

Documentation for Maximus BBS — Next Generation

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Language Editor

Using the maxcfg built-in language string editor

Maxcfg includes a built-in browser and editor for language strings. Instead of hunting through a 1300-line TOML file in a text editor, you can search, filter, and edit strings from inside the configuration tool — with live write-back to the file.

Opening the Language Browser

From the maxcfg main screen, navigate to:

Content → Language Strings

If only one .toml language file exists in your config/lang/ directory, it opens directly. If multiple language files are present, you are prompted to choose one.

The Browser Screen

The browser shows every string in the language file as a scrollable list. Each entry displays the dotted key name (like global.press_enter) and a truncated preview of the string value.

MaxCFG Language Browser

The title bar shows the filename and a count of visible vs. total entries. The [meta] and [_legacy_map] sections are automatically hidden — you only see strings that callers and the sysop actually encounter.

Keyboard Controls

Key Action
Up / Down Move through the list
PgUp / PgDn Jump a page at a time
Home / End Jump to first / last entry
/ or F Activate the filter (type a substring, Enter to apply, Esc to cancel)
H Cycle the Heap dropdown (All → global → sysop → …)
G Cycle the Flags dropdown (All → mex → none)
Enter Open the selected string for editing
Esc Exit the browser

Filtering

Press / or F to activate the filter field. Type any substring — the filter matches case-insensitively against both the key name and the string value. Press Enter to apply, or Esc to cancel. This is the fastest way to find a specific string when you know part of the wording or the key name.

For example, filtering on password shows all strings that mention passwords. Use the H key to narrow by heap (e.g., cycle to m_area to see only message area strings) and G to filter by flags.

Editing a String

Press Enter on any string to open the edit dialog:

MaxCFG Language Edit Dialog

The top section shows read-only metadata: Heap, Symbol, Flags, and Params (positional parameter mock values derived from the params metadata). The text area below is a full multi-line editor — \n sequences in the stored string are split into separate visual lines that you can navigate and edit naturally.

Editor Controls

Key Action
Arrow keys Move cursor through the text area
Home / End Jump to start / end of line
Enter Insert a new line (splits at cursor)
Backspace Delete character, or join with previous line at column 0
Delete Delete forward, or join with next line at end of line
F2 Save and exit
P Show preview (see below)
Esc Cancel (prompts if you have unsaved changes)

You are editing the raw TOML string content, so |14 is a yellow color code and |!1d is a positional parameter with an int type suffix. The status bar shows Modified when you have unsaved changes.

Press F3 to open the MCI Code Reference — a tabbed overlay listing all available color codes, background codes, and info codes with live samples:

MaxCFG Language Edit MCI Reference

Preview

MaxCFG Language Edit Preview

Press P to open a preview popup that renders the string exactly as a caller would see it — MCI color codes are expanded to real colors, cursor codes are applied, information codes like |UN are filled with mock user data, and |!N positional parameters are substituted with sample values from the params metadata. This is the fastest way to check that your edits look right without restarting the BBS.

Saving

Press F2 to save. The change is written to the TOML file immediately — no separate save step needed.

Press Esc to cancel. If you have unsaved changes, you are asked to confirm before discarding.

How Write-Back Works

The editor is careful about preserving your file structure:

This means you can safely edit strings that have metadata attached without worrying about accidentally deleting the flags or params fields.

Tips

Find strings by what the caller sees. If a caller reports a confusing prompt, filter on a distinctive word from that prompt. The browser searches values too, not just key names.

Leave escape sequences alone unless you know what they do. Sequences like \x16\x19\x02 are legacy AVATAR cursor codes that were preserved during conversion. They still work — but if you are rewriting a string from scratch, use MCI cursor codes instead (see Display Codes).

Do not edit [_legacy_map] entries. The browser hides them for a reason — they are auto-generated lookup tables, not user-facing strings.

Restart after editing. Language strings are loaded once at BBS startup. After saving a change in maxcfg, restart the BBS (or the node) to see it take effect.

See Also