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1993-09-16
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TriHub 2.0
A QWK Networking Program for Streamlining Network Transfers
Copyright (c) 1993 By Mark D. Goodwin
TriHub 2.0 is distributed as a shareware program. You can freely use
TriHub for 30 days in order to evaluate its usefulness. After
TriHub's 30 day evaluation period, you must register it. The current
registration fee for TriHub is $25.00. Please see the file
REGISTER.DOC that is included in the TriHub archive for details about
registering TriHub.
Why TriHub?
===========
Although a TriBBS board can serve as a hub on a QWK-based network with
TriMail, TriHub can greatly reduce the costs incurred by the nodes
that pull from your hub by moving the majority of the mail handling
activities offline. TriMail requires the caller to wait while it puts
together a QWK packet and to wait while it processes incoming messages
in a REP packet. TriHub performs both of these activities completely
offline. Therefore, the only time a node spends online is for
performing the actual file transfers.
Getting Started With TriHub
===========================
The first step in setting up TriHub is to create a directory for it.
Let's assume you chose to setup the directory as C:\TRIHUB and that C:
is your current drive. You would use the following command to create
the directory on your C: drive:
md \trihub
Next copy the three TriHub EXE files (CONFIG.EXE, MAKEQWKS.EXE, and
TRIHUB.EXE) into the TriHub directory with the following command:
copy *.exe \trihub
Next change to the TriHub directory and run the TriHub Configuration
program with the following two commands:
cd \trihub
config
The TriHub Configuration Program
================================
The TriHub configuration program features a single pulldown menu: the
"Configure" menu. The "Configure" menu is pulled down by pressing
<ALT><C> and offers the following four options:
System
Accounts
About TriHub
Exit TriHub
Configuring the System
----------------------
The TriHub system is configured by either pressing <S> in response to
the "Configure" menu or by moving the menu's highlight bar to the
"System" option and pressing <ENTER>.
After selecting the "System" option, the configuration program will
open a dialog box that allows you to set the following two system
parameters:
Main TriBBS Directory
The Hub's QWK Name
If, for example, your main TriBBS directory is C:\TRIBBS and the name
you use for your board's QWK packets is LOBSTER, you would simply
enter these values in the appropriate data entry field.
Note that you can use the following control keys when entering the
system information:
=================================================================
Control Key Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<ENTER> Move down to the next data entry field.
<TAB> Move down to the next data entry field.
<DOWN ARROW> Move down to the next data entry field.
<SHIFT><TAB> Move up to the previous data entry field.
<UP ARROW> Move up to the previous data entry field.
<F10> Close the dialog box.
=================================================================
Configuring the Accounts
------------------------
Next you must let TriHub know what accounts will be using the TriHub
door for mail transfers. The accounts are configured by either
pressing <A> in response to the "Configure" menu or by moving the
menu's highlight bar to the "Accounts" option and pressing <ENTER>.
After selecting the "Accounts" option, the configuration program will
open a dialog box that allows you to specify up to 200 account names.
You should note that all account names must be entered exactly as they
are recorded in the user's TriBBS record.
IMPORTANT: Be sure that you have given all users that will be using
TriHub netstatus by setting the "QWK Mail Network Node" to "Yes" in
their TriBBS record. Without this set properly, they will not be able
to download private message or enter messages from another person.
Note that you can use the following control keys when entering the
account information.
=================================================================
Control Key Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<ENTER> Move down to the next data entry field.
<TAB> Move down to the next data entry field.
<DOWN ARROW> Move down to the next data entry field.
<SHIFT><TAB> Move up to the previous data entry field.
<UP ARROW> Move up to the previous data entry field.
<PG DN> Move to the next ten accounts.
<PG UP> Move to the previous ten accounts.
<DEL> Delete the account in the highlighted data entry
field.
<F10> Close the dialog box.
=================================================================
Other Configuration Program Options
-----------------------------------
If you want to see a dialog box containing TriHub's copyright notice,
you can press <T> in response to the "Configure" menu or by moving the
menu's highlight bar to the "About TriHub" option and pressing
<ENTER>.
If you want to exit the configuration program, you can press <E> in
response to the "Configure" menu or by moving the menu's highlight bar
to the "Exit TriHub" option and pressing <ENTER>.
Generating QWK Packets
======================
As the above introduction stated, all QWK packets are generated
offline by TriHub. The particular program that performs this
operation is called MakeQWKs and is run with the following command
line:
MAKEQWKS
IMPORTANT: Be sure that you have configured the TriHub system and
accounts with the TriHub configuration program before running
MakeQWKs.
When you run MakeQWKs, it will generate a QWK packet for each account
that has been setup for TriHub. If there is an existing QWK packet
for an account, MakeQWKs will simply append any new messages onto the
end of the existing QWK packet.
When Should You Run MakeQWKs
----------------------------
MakeQWKs should be run at least once a day in an event file. However,
there is no reason why it can't be run more often. For example, you
may want to test for the zero-byte file POSTED, which TriBBS creates
for each caller if the caller has posted a message, in your
BETWEEN.BAT file and run MakeQWKs if POSTED exists. If you require
all network nodes to use TriHub, you could just run MakeQWKs after the
TriHub door is run.
The TriHub Door
===============
The TriHub Door is used by the network nodes to perform the actual
mail transfers. You can add TriHub to your Door menu with the
following line in your DOORS.MNU file:
T,TriHub,TRIHUB,10
The above line tells TriBBS to generate TRIBBS.SYS, use a description
of TriHub in the Door menu, run the batch file "TRIHUB.BAT" or
"TRIHUB", and set the door's minimum security level to 10.
The Door's Batch File
---------------------
The next step is to create the door's batch file. The following is an
example or a TriHub batch file:
cd \trihub
trihub thub1.cfg
cd \tribbs
board
The following is a line-by-line description of the above batch file:
cd \trihub <- Change to the door's directory
trihub thub1.cfg <- Run TriHub and specify the configuration
<- file
cd \tribbs <- Change back to TriBBS's directory
board <- Run TriBBS again
Modifying THUB1.CFG
-------------------
The next step is to modify THUB1.CFG to meet your board's needs. The
following is a sample THUB1.CFG file:
TRIBBS
C:\TRIBBS
The Lobster Buoy
Mark Goodwin
38400
C:\TRIBBS
C:\TRIBBS
LOBSTER
The following is a line-by-line description of THUB1.CFG:
TRIBBS <- The door uses TRIBBS.SYS
C:\TRIBBS <- The directory where TRIBBS.SYS is located
The Lobster Buoy <- The board's name
Mark Goodwin <- The sysop's name
0 <- The board's locked baud rate or 0 for not
<- locked
C:\TRIBBS <- The board's main directory
C:\TRIBBS <- The node's main directory
LOBSTER <- The board's QWK id
Nonstandard IRQs
----------------
TriHub supports nonstandard IRQs. If a nonstandard IRQ is being used
with your board, you simply specify the IRQ number being used after
the TriHub configuration file's name in the TriMail batch file. The
following example shows how the above TriHub batch file could be
modified so that TriHub will use IRQ 5:
cd \trihub
trihub thub1.cfg 5
cd \tribbs
board
Multinodes
----------
TriHub supports multinode TriBBS systems. You must create a separate
configuration file for each node. Node 1's configuration file is
TriMail's normal THUB1.CFG, node 2's configuration file should be
named THUB2.CFG, etc. Be sure to specify the correct batch file for
each node's door batch file.
Archiver and File Transfer Protocol
-----------------------------------
TriHub uses PKWare's PKZIP program for file compression. Therefore,
the files PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE must be in your DOS PATH.
TriHub uses HS/Link for performing bidirectional file transfers.
Therefore, the file HSLINK.EXE must be in your DOS PATH. Because I
wanted TriHub to provide as much efficiency as possible, I decided to
choose HS/Link as the protocol driver because of its ability to
perform bidirectional file transfers.
IMPORTANT: If you are using a HS/Link configuration file, be sure that
you do not set a transfer directory or TriHub may not be able to find
the files during file transfers.
IMPORTANT: Both PKZIP and HS/Link are shareware programs and I highly
encourage you to register them as per their respective license
agreements.
Running TriHub at Logon
-----------------------
In order to let your users go directly into the TriHub door after
logging on, you can set up a security-specific batch file to run the
door. For example, on The Lobster Buoy I assign all TriHub users a
security level of 62 and use the following security-specific batch
file called SEC62.BAT:
cd \trihub
trihub thub1.cfg
cd \tribbs
board
Note that this is the same as the above door batch file.
Support
=======
If you have any problems installing or using TriHub, you can obtain
support by calling The Lobster Buoy at 207-941-0805.