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Chapter 8: Menus and Menu Commands 8.1.1 Overview The menus are the heart of the BBS. They direct the user around the BBS, and act as a guide. Whether the menus are simple and plain, or complicated and fancy, the SsyOp has complete control over every aspect of the menus. This is a powerful feature enabling the SsyOp to personalize and create a BBS which is very unique. 8.2.1 Menu Formats All menu files are plain ascii files located in the MENU: directory. Editing and creating menus should be done with a text editor like MEMACS, or QED. The first line of the menu file should be the help file for the menu. This filename is appended either a .ASCII or .ANSI automatically by the BBS, depending on the on-line user's mode. The second line is the prompt for the menu. This can include EIC codes and color codes. If color codes are encountered and the user is in ASCII mode, they will simply be ingnored. Max of 80 characters. The third line is the type of entry for the menu, and they are listed below. Type Description 0 Hotkey-User Enters one character without enerting return. #>0 User can enter UP TO # characters, and must hit return at end. IE: 10 means the user can enter up to 10 characters. # The number sign means that a user can enter one character without/ having to hit return, but can enter up to a 3 digit number and must hit return. This is must often used in a menu to allow the user to enter hot keys, and full numbers (ie: in a message bases menu to change sections. -1 No user entry for this menu, and the first command will be executed automatically, irrelevant of the keypress code. If the second, third and so on commands also have the same keypress, they will be executed also. This mode is designed for Command Menus. (see 8.4.2) From the fourth line on, each line represents one function. Everything on the line before the : represents the keypress for that function, the : is the seperator, everything on the right side of the colon is assumed to be the command. The command can be split up into one to four parts seperated by spaces. If a keystroke has more characters than alotted in line three, the function WILL NOT be accessible by the user. Multiple lines CAN HAVE the same keystroke, and all lines will be executed BUT they must ALL be consecutive lines in the menu file. An example line would be: p:p p 0 This means the keystroke is a single p, and the command is :p with parameters of p 0. An example of multiple lines would be: o:2 TEXT:LOGOFF.TXT o:0 q This would display the file "TEXT:LOGOFF.TXT" to the user, then do a quick logoff. The following would NOT execute the third line: o:2 TEXT:LOGOFF.TXT o:2 TEXT:LEAVE.TXT p:p p 0 o:0 q In this example, the BBS would execute the first two commands, but upon seeing that p (line 4) is different from the o (line 2) the BBS would return to the prompt, and NOT execute the fourth line. 8.2.2 Layouts 4D-BBS uses menu locks to control user access to menus. These menu locks can be unique to each user, and are system specific. When designing your menus, it is best to first list all menus which you will be using, and give a unique lock to each menu. If some menus are similar in function, you can give the same lock to them, to cut down on the number of menu locks used. See Section 8.5.1 for more information. There are two types of menu layouts which can be used. The first is a hirechy method which means a menu is called, and when finished, the calling menu regains control. You can stack menus in this method up to 16 times, so keep this in mind when designing your menus. The second method is a basic goto or jump. In this method, the calling menu is NOT remembered. This is ideal if you wish to setup a maze or setting type BBS since menus do not have to be remembered. Below is two examples of menus: Main Menu ________________|___________________ | | | Message Bases File Transfers Game Room | Electronic Mail In the above setting, a user starts out at the main menu, an can go to one of the three menus. If they choose the message bases, they can not go into the game room unless they exit the message bases and go back to the main menu. If they are in the file transfers, and want to go to electronic mail, they must go to the main menu, then the message bases, then finally to electronic mail. +- Main Menu -+ / | \ Message Bases +---------+------------+- Game Room | \ | / E-Mail +- File Transfers -+ In the above example, A user can jump from any section they wish to, to another section EXCEPT for the E-Mail section. To go to or from the E-Mail section, they must go through the Message Bases. Remember the two above examples are ONLY examples, and the SYSOP can setup the BBS using one of them, a combination, or design their own layout. 8.2.3 Menu Move Commands The 0 and 1 menu command cover most basic menu move operations. They are: Command Description 0 e Exits the current menu, and returs to the calling menu. Can Only be used if the calling menu used the 1 command. 0 M Returns to the main menu and clears all hierachy stacks. 0 * NAME Enters a new menu WITHOUT saving the previous menu. The * is the lock for the new menu. The new menu does NOT know who the calling menu was. 1 * Name Enter a name menu saving the previous menu. The * is the lock for the new menu. The new menu DOES know who the calling menu is and can use the 0 e command to return to the calling menu. The two basic commands for moving between menus can be mixed (as in the second example of section 8.2.2, but caution should be exercised when doing so. A loop like this can cause stack limit problems: Menu --+ | | Sub-Menu | | | Sub-Menu2 -+ If a jump was used to go from sub-menu 2 back to menu, the stack would not be cleared. Doing this two many times would bring upon a maximum sub-menus encountered error to the user. 8.3.1 Menu Commands When a user hits a key in a menu, the BBS will scan the menu file, to see if any matching keypresses are found. If none are found, and the menu is in kotkey mode, nothing will happen, and the BBS will get another character. If the menu is multi-character input and the BBS does not find a match, it will display "Unknown menu function" and redisplay the prompt. If the BBS does find a match, it will execute the command after the : in the line, and then check to see if the next line is the same. If it is, then that line will also be executed, and this cycle is continued until either a match is not found, or the last command is executed. Once a command is finished the BBS displays the prompt again, and starts this process all over again. If the command which was executed goes to another menu, this process is continued on THAT menu. If the command logs the user off, the process of course, stops. 8.4.1 Types of Menu Currently there are four types of menus which you can setup. These four types of menus are command menus, personal menus, access menus, and default menus. 8.4.2 Command Menus A command menu is a menu that directly executes the first command without displaying the logon/stats screen, or bulletins. An example of using this type of menu would be if you wanted to spawn a serial based program when a certain account logged on. UUCP's UUCICO could be used this way. The format for this type of menu is the "Cmd." plus the account name plus ".menu". So, if you were running UUCP, and your feeds logon account was called UUCP, you would make a menu called Cmd.UUCP.Menu, which is a normal menu, with the first command as "a:4 UUCICO" and the second command as "a:q". Although the keypress for the commands are irelavant, they MUST be the same. 8.4.3 Personal Menus A personal menu is the same as a main menu, except it is used INSTEAD of the default access or main menu. This allows you to give a different menu set to a certain user. The filename is comprised of be putting the user's names between "main." and ".menu". (ie: "Main.John_doe.Menu) The difference between a command menu and a personal menu is that a personal menu will display the logon/stats screens, and check for new bulletins. 8.4.4 Access Menus You can create a different MAIN menu for each access group. These replace the default main.menu, and are only used if found. The filename format of these menus are MAIN.[ACCESS GROUP].Menu. Valid filenames are Main.NoAccess.Menu, Main.NewUsers.Menu, Main.Members.Menu, and Main.Sysop.Menu. 8.4.5 The Global Menus If all of your menus have one same function, instead of having to define it for every menu, you could define it only once by entering it into "global.menu"! Below is an example of "global.menu". -------------------- !:0 H ; Logs off X:A ; Toggle the expert mode A:B ; Toggle the ANSI mode =:0 M ; Returns to the main menu -------------------- The four functions defined above would work in ALL menus on the system. The format of "global.menu" is just like a regular menu but without the first three lines. In other words, no display file, no prompt or input type lines. But, please note that if there is already a keystroke defined in a regular menu, the function associated with that keystroke will override the one defined in the file "global.menu." For example, if one regular menu has the key "!" defined for, say, reading mail, the user who hit "!" would read mail instead of be logged off. 8.5.1 Function Locks Any function in 4D-BBS can be "locked" from a user. For example, if a user has a lock of "T", this means that the user can not use function T (the file-downloading function). If a user has a lock string of "tuxyz", then the use can not use the following functions: "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", and "Z". 8.5.1 Menu Locks It is also possible to lock a user from a menu. The menu functions (0 and 1) have a paramater which determines which locks the menu uses. Those lock characters are "!@#$%^&*()". If a menu uses a lock of "$", and a user has that lock in his lock string, then he will not be able to enter that menu. Example: "f:1 $ file.menu". If a menu uses "^", and the user doesn't have that in his lock string, then he WILL be able to enter that menu. 8.6.1 An Example Menu Below is an example of a menu file, called "main.menu". -------------------------------- mainmenu.txt MAIN MENU: 0 ?:0 ? o:1 ! off.menu z:0 q m:1 % base.menu d:1 $ file.menu y:3 echo "^GChat requested!!!" u:5 a 0 w:5 s 0 l:6 e:7 x:a j:q v:v f:1 % feed.menu r:m r 0 s:m s 0 !:m m 0 g:j 0 0 a:d a b:d s p:b {:H MeSoCool {:1 ^ sysop.menu -------------------------------- The first line of the above example is the name to use for the display file. There are two versions of the display file, one with the extension ".ansi" for the ANSI version, and one with the extension ".ascii" for the ASCII version. (For the above example, there would be two files called "mainmenu.txt.ansi" and "mainmenu.txt.ascii".) The second line contains a string (up to 80 characters long) that will be used as the menu prompt. It may contain ANSI sequences or embedded codes. The third is the input type. A 0 here in this example means hotkeys. The rest is the actual menu. The keys before the ":" will do whatever function is after the ":". 8.7.1 Menu Functions Functions listed in a menu file must follow a strict format. This format is as follows: the first character of a line is the keypress or word (depending on the 3rd line #) that you want to represent that function. The second character is a delimiter and can be anything but a carriage return. The above example uses a colon (":") for this. The third character in a line is the actual function call itself. All the functions are listed below. Some functions require one or two parameters. Each parameter must be seprated by at least a space. A few functions require a string as the parameter -- this is anything immediately after the function and a space, and ended by a carriage return. **NOTE** If you plan on using a control char like <CTRL>M (enter key) for your hotkey identifier (EX: If user hits enter <CTRL>M your menu option could be "^M:0 ?" to show the menu again) you need to place this someplace HALFWAY in your menu. If you have this command at the end of your menu you may get a menu read error warrning. This is not a big deal, and will not happen if its in the middle of your commands list... Here is a list of all available 4D-BBS functions and a description of each: Function Description 0 This function requires a paramater, one of the following: If an "H" is given, the BBS will send the "logoff.txt" file and then hang up. If a "Q" is given, the BBS will do a QUICK LOGOFF, and NOT send the "logoff.txt" message. If a "E" is given, the bbs will exit to the menu that called this menu. If this is placed in the main menu, the effect is the same as the "Q" option. If a "?" is given, the current menu display will be shown. If a "M" is given, the bbs will return to the main menu from anywhere in the menu system. If the secondary paramater is a menu lock (i.e., one of the following: "!,@,#,$,%,^,&,*,(,)"), followed by the name of a menu, the bbs will call up a new menu WITHOUT saving the current menu. Please use this with caution, because if the function "0 E" was executed from such a menu, it would have unpredictable results. See the next function ("1") for more information. Examples: "g:0 h" ; log off normally with the "g" key. "z:0 q" ; Instant logoff! "?:0 ?" ; Show the current menu. "=:0 M" ; Return to the main menu "t:0 % new.main" ; Jump to new menu 1 This function forces the BBS to call up a new menu file. (Also, the previous menu is saved, so when the user exits the new menu, he/she will be returned to the previous menu.) A paramater (one of the following: "!,@,#,$,%,^,&,*,(, )") is given and used as a lock to prevent some users from accessing this menu. (See Section 6.3 for more information locks.) The second parameter is the name of the new menu which will be called from the MENU: directory. Examples: "f:1 ^ file.menu" ; Load and use file.menu "m:1 & mbases" ; Load and use mbases 2 This function will send a text file with page breaks. The parameter here is the name of the file to be sent. (You need to use the file's full pathname here.) But if an "0" is given instead, the user will be prompted for the name of a file. (It's a good idea to keep this use of the "0" out of most users' reach, since you may not want them to "spy" everything on your disks. This is intended mostly for sysops' use.) For example: "t:2 TEXT:readme.doc" 3 This function will page the sysop for chat. It takes in a string parameter some AmigaDos command that you may want to use to alert you that the user wants to chat with you, such as playing some sound file. However, if the sysop is not available for chatting, this command won't be executed -- instead, the user will get a message stating that the sysop isn't available for chatting. If the string parameter happens to be left out, nothing will happen except that the status window will state that the user has requested a chat. Example: "c:3" ; Page the sysop for chat but doesn't do much "c:3 play sound" ; Plays a sound file 4 This function will execute an external DOS command. It requires a string containing some DOS command as it's parameter. Example: "e:4 dh0:jrcomm/jrcomm" The above example will cause the BBS to execute the DOS command "dh0:jrcomm/jrcomm" just as if it were typed from the CLI. The BBS will remain dormant until the execution of this command is complete. Unless it's pointed to the NIL: (Note: if the parameter is "0", the user will be prompted to enter a DOS command. 5 This funtion will show the user list. If a paramater of "A" is given, the entire user list will be shown. If a "S" is given, the user is prompted for a search string. This string will be checked with each entry in the user list, and if a match is found, that entry will be shown. If a "W" is given, then the profile of that user (name, phone number, interests, et cetera) will be displayed. (Note: it won't be displayed if the user has set his data to be private.) This function requires a second parameter, which is either an "0" (which will prompt the user to enter a string) or a string. If the string is used, only entries consisting of that string will be used. Examples: "s:5 s 0" ; Will allow you to enter the string "s:5 s WA" ; will automaticaly search for "WA" "s:5 w Sysop" ; Will display profile of "Sysop" "u:5 A" ; Complete user list No "0" 6 This funtion will show the daily user log. No parameters needed. Example: "l:6" 7 This function will activate the user editor to allow an user to modify his own personal data. (Not to be confused with the sysop user editor accessible from the waiting screen.) No parameters needed here. Example: "e:7" ; Edit a users stats. 8 This function will show the current time and date. Example: "t:8" ; Show the current time and date 9 Displays the bulletins. (Bulletins are automatically displayed upon each user's login, but this function is provided here in case the user wishes to see the bulletins again. No parameters needed. Example: "b:9" ; Show the bulletins A This function will toggle a user's EXPERT mode either ON or OFF. No paramaters used. Example: "x:a" ; Xpert menu toggle B This function will toggle the ANSI mode. If a user has the ANSI mode toggled to OFF, all ANSI color codes will be filtered out and the altername ".ASCII" menus will be shown. No parameters needed. "a:b" ; Toggle ansi filter on/off C This function executes a Paragon game or door from the DOORS: directory It takes a string as its parameter. OR If a paramater of "A" is given, then the string(name) 4D will execute an AREXX script (Game or whatever it is). "g:c adv" ; Run a game called "adv" "r:c A rexx:games/cool.rexx" ; Runs arexx script D This function deals with the online BBS listing. If a paramater of "A" is given, you will be prompted to add a BBS entry to the list. If "S" is given, the entire BBS list will be shown. Examples: "b:d s" ; Show the BBS list "b:d a" ; Add a new entry to the list. E This displays a line of text. Example: "z:e Hiya world!" ; Displays "Hiya world!" F This lets you edit any text file, using the built-in text editor. (This is a very good idea to keep this function out of users' reach! It is intended mostly for sysops' use in case they log on their BBS's remotely and need to fix something.) For example: "e:f 0" ; Prompts the user for filename "e:f text:junk.txt" ; Edits the file named "text:junk.txt" G This is a logging function that you can put anywhere in a menu function. Basically, it adds a user's name and time to the file. For example: C:G text:log.txt C:1 % new.menu In the above example, each user who goes to the menu "new.menu" will be recorded in the file "log.txt". (NOTE: this file can get BIG if updated many times, so be sure to delete it now and then!) H This prompts the user for a password. The string parameter is the actual password. if the password that the user typed in does not match this, the bbs will skip all the subsequent functions associated with that keystroke. For example: "x:h EXOTIC" ; Prompts the user for password "x:1 % adult.menu ; If the password is correct ; then user goes to this menu (The password is case-insensitive; it doesn't matter to the bbs whether the user typed the password in upper or lower case.) I This function will allow you to change the current file library. If a paramater of "G" is given, the current sub will become "ALL" and not have a current sub (Good for starting a search from the first sub instead of the current sub) If any other number from 0 to 99 is given, the current file library is changed to that number. Examples: "c:i G" ; Now in "ALL" "c:i 12" ; change to sub 12 J This function will start a "Global Q-Scan" of non-masked message sub-boards. No parameters needed. Example: "g:j" ; Will global scan ALL bases K This function will change the current message sub-board. It works just like the function I. (See the function I above.) ** However the "G" param will not work! L This function will show a listing of all available message sub-boards. If a parameter of "0" is given, then the entire list will be shown. If a 1 to 99 is given, then ONLY that sub-board will be listed. Examples: "l:l 0" ; list all subs "l:l 23" ; list only sub 23 M This is the E-Mail function. If a paramater of "S" is given, then the SEND mail function will be executed. If an "R" is given, then the READ mail function will be executed. If an "M" is given, the MULTI-SEND mail function will be executed. This function allows you to send one piece of mail to up to 10 different users. This function requires a second parameter, which is "0" or the name of a user. If "0" is used, then the user will be prompted to enter the name of a user while sending mail. Otherwise, the name given as the string parameter will be used. If a name is given in the string parameter of a READ mail function, you will be able to READ another user's private E-Mail, so it is suggested that this feature not be given to the general user. If the "S" is given followed by "SYSOP" the message will be sent to the systems sysop (Feedback). The MULTI-MAIL function doesn't require a second parameter. Examples: "s:m s 0" ; Send mail, prompt for name "s:m s JOE BLOW" ; Send mail to joe blow "r:m r 0" ; Read YOUR E-mail. "r:m r DON" ; Read E-mail to DON "s:m m 0" ; Send MULTI-Mail N This function will display the file catalog. All files cataloged under the current file-sub number will be shown. If the current sub-number is 0, then ALL files will be shown regardless. If a parameter of "0" is given, the user will be prompted for a search string. The BBS will then show only filenames or file descriptions that contain a match to the search string. If a "1" is given, all files in the current catagory will be shown. If a "2" is given, then all files that have been uploaded since the users last call will be shown. Examples: "l:n 0" ; List whole file catalog "l:n 1" ; Prompt for keyword "l:n 2" ; List new files O This function will display all the available file-sub directories. No paremeters needed. Example: "l:o" ; List sub's P This function will let you post, read and scan a message sub-board. If a parameter of "P" is given, the POST function will be executed. If a "R" is given, the READ function will be executed. If a "S" is given, the SCAN function will be executed. A second parameter is required here. Normally, "0" is used (for the current message baord). But if a number from 1 to 50 is given, then the function will be performed on the board of that number only. Examples: "p:p p 0" ; Post on current sub. "r:p r 0" ; Read on current sub. "r:p r 23" ; Read on sub 23 only. "s:p s 3" ; Scan sub 3. "s:p s 0" ; Scan the current sub. Q This function will invoke the MACRO editor. No parameters needed. Example: "m:q" ; Edit your macros R This function allows the user to mask out any message sub-board or file library from the Global Q-Scan. If an "M" is given, the Message base mask editor will be called, If an "F" is given the file mask editor will be called up. If no param is given the user will be prompted. Example: "y:r f" ; Files mask editor "m:r" ; Prompt T This function will allow a user to DOWNLOAD a file. If a parameter of "1" is used, the XMODEM transfer protocol will be used. If a "2" is given, then the YMODEM protocol is used. If a "3" is given, then the ZMODEM protocol is used. If a "0" is given, the BBS prompts the user for which protocol (ASCII, XMODEM, YMODEM, ZMODEM) he/she would like to use. This function requires a second parameter. If the second parameter is a "0", the user will be prompted to enter one or more filenames (which should be available in the current file library. On the other hand, if parameter is a filename (can be any pathname on any device -- it needn't be in the file libraries), that file will be downloaded. Examples: "d:t 3 0" ; Download using zmodem "d:t 2 file:demo.arc" ; Download with ymodem, demo.arc "d:t 0 0" ; Prompts user for protocol U This function will allow a user to UPLOAD a file to the current file library. This function works exactly the same as the T funtion mentioned above (except that the ASCII protocol isn't supported). V This has to do with the users ability to Mark, view, and clear file lists. It needs to have a second param. If a "C" is given, The mark list will be cleared. If a "L" is given, the mark names will be listed. If a "A" is given, one can add a name to the mark list. If a "G" is given, the user is prompted for as many names as he wants. Examples: "y:v c" ;Clear "h:v l" ;List "l:v a file:cool.dat" ;Tag this file "y:v a" ;Prompt for name "f:v g" ;prompt for LOTS of names W Catalog Editor **Not available for Demo X This is the SYSOP'S user editor. No parameters needed. Example: "u:x" ; Edit a user Y Allows you to edit system defaults. However if you give a second param, you may enter many editors. If there is no second param you will be prompted for which editor you wish to run. If an "F" is given, enter the FileEditor. If an "S" is given, enter the system editor. If a "B" is given, enter the Boards Editor. If a "U" is given, enter the User Defaults editor. If a "C" is given, enter the catalog editor ** !nDemo * Example: "s:y" ; Be prompted for editor "d:y b" ; enter the Boards editor Z This is the system BULLETINS editor. No paramters needed. Example: "b:z" ; Edit the bulletin dates. ! This will allow the reloading of system, user and etc. data files (Can be used in an arexx script, for example in a fido script, if user is on-line or not, update the bbs's pointers to show new mail that was just recieved.) This requires a second paramater, however if none is given the message boards pointers will be reloaded. If an "S" is given, the system data will be reloaded. If an "R" is given, the Fido-net data will be reloaded. If a "G" is given, the global.menu data will be reloaded. If a "U" is given, the user defaults data will be reloaded. If an "F" is given, the file/trans data will be reloaded. If a "W" is given, you NEED to then have a third param. the third is the name of the new "Def_say.dat" file, this will allow the user to change the strings they see (change to a diff. language) If a "D" is given, same as above "W", this allows you to change the paths 4d uses (like the -D CLP switch on the fly) this could allow you to change to a completely separate menus directory) It can work in conjuction with the "W" command and load in a diff. language menu. The "W" and the "D" commands are extremely handy, a language menu can be setup to allow the on-line user the ability to change your bbs to suit his needs! Example: f:! w BBS:Startrek.lingo ;load the new strings f:! d BBS:Startrek.newpaths ;load new paths g:! g ;load global menu If you changed the global menu or ANY data file and would like the bbs to recognize the change NOW, you have these menu commands and the pulldown menu to do it. @ This will toggle the QuickListing ability.