Portal:AOL-Files/Articles/FAQ Regarding the Screenname System

(Originally by AOL-Files staff member Dracs)

The AOL name system works a bit differently then just sending tokens for the jobs you need done. The tokens are interlinked, andyou can't send most of them without initializing the NameMan system. I heard from Hypah that this is initialized by sending a certain open file token. When the name system is initialized, it is initialized with a flag for the name task you initialized it with. You can switch these flags by opening a different a form which performs another name function.

Once you change functions, the flag is set on the new form, and the name tokens you use are linked together for the new action you are processing. This means you can go back and use the tokens on other forms and they will effect your NameMan action. The exception to this is when you use name tokens that reset the flag to the purpose of executing their own function.

An example of this is add sub account which when you load it from conventional methods, put in a new name, and hit OK, resets your flag back to add new name. who wants that?

Ok now having an idea how the name system works (which I thought was pretty cool when I figured it out) you can now see a few uses. I haven't found anything super, and some of the things I did find I am not going to share, but here are a few things I found to give you an idea of the way this information can be not only informative but useful. If this stuff helps, you find anything elite, or you know some more name stuff feel free to tell me!

The first thing which I stumbled on, and that let me to postulate the way the Name System works, was an attempt to make a name that wouldn't be added to my account but would be useable. I had an idea that since, if you try to make a SN that someone else has already entered in the Create Sub Account field but hasn't set password for, it comes up as in use, that there might be a way to simultaneously create and delete a name before it was made; i.e I went to create SN, put in a SN and clicked OK, went to delete name, tried to delete the name I was making, and then put in a password.

Didn't work, or else I wouldn't be writing this FAQ, I would be on my sweet non existent accounts laughing at your asses.

So anyhow then I tried entering the name, opening delete, and putting in the password, thinking I would try using delete after the account was made and it still might work since I had the delete form open before I made the name. Still didn't work but I found a cool thing happened. It made a ghosted account, and the best part, changed your password (I am currently working on a FDO pws using this method). So that's the first trick I found, how to change your password with out having to enter your old one.

Next trick, a weird one. OK knowing my hypothesis about how the AOL system works now, and hoping your following along, we get to my next trick. I found that if you go to keyword PASSWORD and bring up the change pass form, then go to names and bring up the make sub account form, put in a name and click OK, then instead of using the password form that comes up using the change password form, something cool happens.

Now Im not going to spoil it for you but I will say I found out other ways to get the same effect, unfortunately none of them added the name to your user list.

Latez Dracs