Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/001/wwiv.arc/WWIV311.DOC

Text File | 1986-04-21 | 26KB | 650 lines

                                WWIV v3.11
                     Copyright (C) 1986 by Wayne Bell


NECESSARY EQUIPMENT:
====================

IBM-PC,XT,AT or compatible
256K or more of memory
one hard disk (preferably 10 megs or more)
Turbo Pascal compiler version 3.0
A Hayes Smartmodem or compatible.


DISTRIBUTION:
=============

You've  probably  read  this  a  million  times  before, but I'll type it in
anyway.

You may freely distribute this software, as long as:
  1) No fee is charged for such distribution.
  2) The entire system is distributed as a whole, without modifications.

Of course, once you have a copy, you are encouraged to make whatever changes
you feel  are necessary  or appropriate,  such as changing prompts, or other
cosmetic changes.  If you feel brave enough, you might even try changing the
logic of  the program,  but you  should refrain  from this unless you really
know what you are doing.


DONATIONS:
==========

If you find  this  program  useful,  a  donation  of  $25  would  be greatly
appreciated.   Also, I  would be interested in knowing what WWIV systems are
up, and any  suggestions  or  possible  modifications  you  might  think of.
Please address any correspondences/donations to:

               Wayne Bell
               Box 636
               904 Silver Spur Road
               Rolling Hills Estates, CA  90274



INTRODUCTION:
=============

This is  not meant  to be  a comprehensive manual, but is only an outline of
the less-obvious functions.  This is  because I  don't feel  like typing 100
pages of  a manual,  and also because I am sure you will discover more about
the system from playing around with it yourself than you would by my telling
you.

Version 3.11 has been tested out quite thoroughly, and no way has been found
that remote callers can cause any harm to the computer  itself, or  any data
outside the  BBS.  If you give other people high access, it will be possible
for  them  to  erase  data  from  the  BBS  (ie,  messages   and  files  for
downloading), but  there is NO WAY they can, say, destroy WordStar documents
you have in a different directory.



INSTALLATION:
============

You should skim through the entire installation section before beginning.

On your hard disk, create a directory (such as BBS) that is  a sub-directory
of the  root directory.   Now, copy all the board files into that directory.
There should be 16 files.   Also copy  the Turbo  Pascal compiler  into this
directory.  You should now have the following files in your BBS directory:

BBS.PAS
COMMON.PAS
DLOADS.PAS
DLP1.PAS
DOS.PAS
INIT.PAS
PART1.PAS
PART2.PAS
PART3.PAS
SECLEV.DAT
HELP.MSG
MAINMENU.MSG
SYSOPMNU.MSG
DLMENU.MSG
DOSMNU.MSG
WWIV311.DOC
TURBO.COM
TURBO.MSG


You should  now enter  the turbo  pascal compiler, and run "INIT.PAS".  This
program will initialize the necessary BBS  files and  directories.   You now
need to  compile to  disk the main BBS program.  To do this, compile BBS.PAS
to a .COM file,  then compile  DLOADS.PAS and  DOS.PAS to  .CHN files.   The
following keystroaks will do this for you:

TURBO
NRINIT          This runs the initialization program (about 1300 lines).
MBBS
OCQC            This will compile about 4100 lines of the main program.
MDLOADS
OHQC            This compiles about 2700 lines of the file system.
MDOS
OHQC            This compiles about 2900 lines of the dos routines.
Q


But, if  you have  a 300  or 2400  baud modem, or are using one connected to
com2:, you need to  change the  common routines  to make  it work correctly.
Near  the  beginning  of  the  file "COMMON.PAS", you will see two constants
defined.  comnum=1 is the first.   If  your  modem  is  connected  to com2:,
change this to comnum=2.  The second is maxbaud=1200.  If your modem runs at
2400, change this to maxbaud=2400, or  if you  only have  a 300  baud modem,
change this  to maxbaud=300.   No  other changes are necessary for the modem
setup.


CUSTOMIZATION: There are a  few files  that you  will want  to customize for
your needs.   These  files are  in the  sub-directory GFILES of the main BBS
directory.  They are:

SYSTEM.MSG -  This  file  should  contain  system  rules  and  other general
information.

NEWUSER.MSG -  This file  should tell new users what information they should
leave to the sysop.

WELCOME.MSG - This is the file  printed out  right after  a person connects,
and should list the system name.

LOGON.MSG -  This file  is printed out after each person logs on, and should
contain any recent system information or updates.

LOGOFF.MSG - This file is printed out after people log off, and  may contain
the phone numbers of other BBS's.

NONEWUSER.MSG - File listed out when "NEW" is typed for a CLOSED system.

TRASHCAN.TXT -  This is where you put the names of users who you do not want
to log on to your BBS.  For example, if you don't want anyone  with "THE" in
their name (ie, "THE HACKER", etc), just put "THE" on a separate line in the
file.  This will restrict anyone with "THE"  (as a  DISTINCT WORD)  in their
name from logging on.

These files  may be changed by using the built-in text editor, which will be
described later.

The next step in initialization is logging on the sysop.   Run  the main BBS
program by typing BBS at the DOS prompt.  The modem will be initialized, and
a few files read into memory, and you will be presented with a blank screen.
Hit the  spacebar and the "Y" key.  You will now see the welcome message and
the NN: prompt.   Type  in  "NEW"  and  hit  enter.    Enter  the applicable
information for  the sysop  account now.   After verifying the password, the
sysop will be logged onto the system.  You now need to  change the account's
attributes to  sysop access.   to do this, hit F1 and type in "255" <enter>,
then hit F2 and hit "V", then hit  Shift-F1 and  enter "255".   Now  log off
with "/O".   After  logging off, the screen will again be blank.  The system
is now waiting for a caller.  This condition will henceforth be  referred to
as "WFC", "Waiting For Caller."

Now you  will need  to change  the second  sysop password.  At WFC, hit "P".
You will be presented with three options to change.   Right now  you want to
just change the sysop password, so hit "A" and enter the new sysop password.
You will need to enter this password when logging on  remotely, or  to enter
certain portions  of the  BBS.  After entering it, you will be asked if this
is correct.  If so, enter "Y" for yes, the "Q" to quit.


BOARD DATA:

Your next task is  to identify  what boards  (message bases)  you will want.
Before entering  the board  data into  the computer,  you will want to write
down  the  board  names  that  you  will  want,  such  as:  GENERAL, MARKET,
DISCUSSIONS, COMPUTERS, etc.  You may have up to 19 boards.  For each board,
you will need: a name, a  filename, the  maximum number  of messages,  and a
security  level  requirement,  which  limits  the  number of people who have
access to that board.

After writing this down, you will have to  enter it  into the  computer.  At
WFC, hit  "B" for  board data  change.   You will  have to  enter your sysop
password here.  The system automatically initializes one board for  you, but
you will  most likely  want more.   To  add more  boards, hit "I" for insert
board.  There is only one board now, so you will insert  it before  board #2
(which will  place it after board #1).  You will be returned to the previous
display, but there will be two boards listed.  The data for the second board
will be incorrect, so you will need to modify it, using the "M" command.  So
hit "M", enter board #2, and you will see 8 options listed.  If  you want to
change the  Name, hit "1", and type in the new name.  The filename is a very
important part  here.   Each board  >MUST< have  a different  filename.  The
maximum number  of messages  should vary  from 20  to 100,  although you may
specify more than 100 messages.  The SL option should vary from 10 to around
60 or  70.   SL will  be discussed  more later.   Hit "Q" to quit out of the
modify routine.

(Later, if you want to delete a board,  first remove  all messages  from the
board, then delete it using the D option here).

After quitting  out of  the board  edit routine,  you should hit "D" at WFC.
After entering your sysop  password, you  will be  presented with  a list of
directories.   These are different areas for up and downloading files.  This
routine works the same as the board edit routine.

That should pretty much finish off initialization, and the board is ready to
run!



WFC COMMANDS:
=============

The WFC  commands are:  Q,B,D,P,A,S,L,Y,M,R,T,V,F,E,G,<SPACE>.  They will be
discussed in that order.

Q: Quits out of the BBS, and exits to DOS.

B: Board edit routine, described above.

D: Directory edit routine, much the same as board edit.

P: Password change, described above.

A: Answers the phone.  This just tells the modem to answer the phone.  So if
you are  talking to someone on the phone and he wants to connect to the BBS,
hit "A", and he can log on.  After the phone has been answered,  you may hit
"H" to hang it up before a connection is made.

S: Status.  This will print out the current status of the board.

L: Log-of-the-day.   This will show you who logged on so far today, and what
they did while on.

Y: Yesterday's log.  It will show the log-of-the-day for yesterday.

M: Mail read.  This will  display >ALL<  mail sent,  starting with  the most
recent piece.  After each piece of mail, the system will pause.  You can hit
"Q" to quit back to WFC, "R" for re-read, "D" to delete  the piece  of mail,
or any other key for the next piece of mail.

R: Read  feedback.   Hitting "R"  is the  same as logging on under the sysop
account, reading feedback, then logging off.  This  function is  provided to
save the trouble of logging on each time you want to just read feedback.

T: Terminal  mode.  While running a BBS, you may feel the urge to call other
BBS's.  Hit "T" at WFC to access  the internal  terminal program.   When you
enter terminal  mode, the  computer sets up the modem to respond with result
codes, and sets the keyboard to uppercase.  A list of commands  is available
by hitting  the "HOME"  key on  the numeric  keypad.   If you wish to upload
files from the terminal, they must be present  in the  dloads directory, and
downloaded files will be put in the dloads directory.

V: Validate  users.   Using this  utility, you  can page  through the users,
delete users, and change data on  them.   It will  start out  with the sysop
account, display the information, and prompt you for an option.  You can hit
"?" for a list of commands.  The line of data for messages lists:  number of
Posts, number of E-mail, number of Feedback, and the number waiting.  Logged
on lists: the number of times logged on, number of  times today,  and number
of illegal log-ons.  DS sec lev lists the Transfer security level, number of
files uploaded, number of K uploaded, number of files downloaded, and number
of K downloaded.  Options are:
     S - change security level
     A - change access (restrictions)
     [ - go to user number one lower than current
     ] - go to user number one higher than current
     O - change search options
     { - search down
     } - search up
     U - go to user, by name or number
     D - Delete the user
     R - Restore the user if he is deleted
     N - Change name/alias
     P - change phone number
     E - change real user name
     Q - Quit back to WFC
     L - alert sysop when user logs on
     T - change DL security level

F: This  is the dos routine.  You will be in a sort of "min-dos", which will
enable you  to manipulate  files.   Any files  can be  manipulated, with the
exception of  files used  by the bbs, such as the user list, board data, and
other related files.  Only  three  directories  may  be  accessed, "DLOADS",
"GFILES", and  ".".  "." refers to the main BBS directory, and the other two
refer to the sub-directories of the BBS directory with the same name.   When
refering  to  the  different  directories,  you do not need to specify their
actual position in the directory tree, only the name.   The commands  may be
used  as  if  it  were  from  dos.    Examples  of valid commands are: "COPY
DLOADS\SOMEFILE.TXT",  "TYPE   .\BBS.PAS",  "COPY   LOGON.MSG  DLOADS"  (the
backslash after "DLOADS" is optional).  Valid commands are:

CD - Change the active directory.
DEL - Delete file.
REN - Rename file.
DIR - List files.  Only .TXT or .MSG files will be listed, unless you
     specify "*.*" or other such global names.
COPY - Copy file.
TYPE - Type file.
EDIT - Edit a file.  Invoked as "EDIT LOGON.MSG."  A description of the text
     editor follows.
GFILE - Gfile edit.
VOTEPRINT - Print out votes.
LOADHELP - If you have edited the help file, "HELP.MSG", this will
     re-load it into memory, so your changes will take effect.
QUIT - Quit Mini-DOS.


E: Edit.   This  is the same as typing "F" for the dos routines, then typing
"EDIT" followed by a filename, except this will prompt you for the filename.
This option is provided only for convenience.

G: G-file  edit.   This is  the same as entering the dos routines and typing
"GFILE".


 : hit spacebar then "Y" to log on from the keyboard.



TEXT EDITOR:
===========

The text editor is available from the dos routine, and  may ONLY  edit files
with .MSG  or .TXT  extensions.  After entering the editor, the file will be
read in, or you will be told that it is a new file.  For long files, not all
of the  file may  be read  in.   The text editor is line oriented, and has a
command list on line.  At the ":" prompt hit "?" for a list of commands.   A
number may  be specified  with most commands, such as "+15" to go forward 15
lines, or "15" to go to line #15.


SECURITY LEVELS:
================

Each user is assigned, by the sysop, a security level.  This determines what
the user  can and can not do on the system.  New users are given a 10, which
doesn't allow them to do much at all.  Validated users should be given about
a 30.

Board access:  If the user's security level is less than the SL for a board,
the user cannot access the board.

In general, a user's SL should vary between 30 and 100.   If the  user has a
100, he  is able  to do  anything the  sysop is able to do.  There is a time
limit for each user, which is  generally 10  minutes less  than the security
level itself, so a user with a SL of 30 can stay on for 20 minutes.  Special
security levels:

     70 and above: can post anonymously on any board
     80 and above: can send anonymous mail
     90 and above: can read names on anonymous messages
     95 and above: can read names on anonymous mail
     99: this will allow the user to validate and delete messages on the
          board number specified by the SBN for that user.  If the SBN is
          zero, the user can validate and delete messages on any board.
     100: The user can do virtually anything the sysop can, with 3
          exceptions, listed later.
     255: The sysop.  Can do anything.

The download, or transfer, security level  is much  the same  as the regular
security level, except it is used for access to different directories in the
file system.


ACCESS/RESTRICTIONS:
====================

Each user  has a  set of  restrictions that  can be  used against  him.  For
"good" users, none of these should be enacted.  They are:

  L - restrict logons to 1/day
  C - restrict from chatting
  V - make messages unvalidated
  B - restrict from back/downspacing
  A - restrict from changing auto-
      message and adding to BBS list
  * - restrict from posting anon msgs
  P - restrict from posting at all
  E - restrict from sending e-mail
  K - restrict from voting
  M - auto-message deletion


TOP OF THE SCREEN DATA:
=======================

While any  user is logged on, there will be information on that user printed
on the top of your screen.  The  remote  user  will  not  be  aware  of this
information.  There are three lines of information.

The  first  line  contains:  the  user's name, user number, real name, phone
number, and either: last date logged on, or number of times logged on today.

The second line contains:
     SL: security level
     AR: board access; don't worry about this
     LO: number of times logged on
     P : number of messages posted
     E : number of pieces of mail sent
     F : number of pieces of feedback sent
     W : number of pieces of mail waiting for him to receive
     SC: screen size (ie, 80X25).  Before a user is logged on, this
          area will show his/her password
     FW: number of pieces of mail waiting for user #1
     D : download/transfer SL

The third line contains:
     AC: access/restrictions (if any)
     C : computer type
     ML: messages left before forced logoff.  This will only show for
          users who have been on more than one time that day
     TL: time left, in minutes
The next area shows  "Sysop Available"  or "-----  ---------".   If it shows
"sysop available",  the user  is able  to request a chat.  After this, there
will be: nothing, or "CHAT ON", which means the user has requested a chat.



SYSOP KEYS:
===========

While someone is  logged  on  the  system  (remotely  or  from  the computer
itself), the function keys can be used for special commands.  These are:

F1: change the user's security level.

Shift-F1: change the user's download security level.

F2 - change the user's access/restrictions.

F3  -  disable  remote  keyboard.    This  is  used mainly if you want to do
something on the system without the remote user interfering.

F4 - turn off the chat call if it is on.

F5 - hang up on the user - this is the same as if the user hung up.

F6 - update time left, and hang up on the user if his time is expired.

F7 - decrease time left by 5 minutes.   If  you are  annoyed at  a user, and
want him/her  off the  system sooner, hit f7 one or more times.  You can hit
it enough that the time left will be negative, but the system  won't hang up
yet.  You have to hit F4 to have it hang up.

F8 - increase time left by 5 minutes.

Shift-F7 - decrease number of messages allowed by 10.

Shift-F8 - increase number of messages allowed by 10.

F9 - give >TEMPORARY< sysop access.  After the user hangs up, his SL will be
returned to what it was before.  If you don't  want to  wait until  he hangs
up, hit F9 again, and his SL will be restored then.

F10 - chat mode.  If you want to type to a user, hit F10.  When you are done
chatting, hit F10 again, and the user  will  be  returned  to  where  he was
before.   While in  chat mode, you may use all the other function keys also.
In chat mode, you may store what is being said.  Just hit <home>  (with num-
lock off),  and every line that is typed will be stored in "CHAT.MSG" in the
GFILES directory.  To stop storing the lines, hit <home> again, or just exit
chat mode with F10.

Scroll-lock - toggles sysop available.



MAIN MENU SYSOP COMMANDS:
=========================

There are  a few sysop commands at the main menu.  If they are more than one
character long (as most of them  are), and  you have  one key  input on, you
must precede  them with  "//", which  will enable  you to type a whole line.
For example, if you  want to  enter uedit,  you would  type "//UEDIT".   The
sysop commands  (which may  be used  by anyone  with a SL of 100 or greater)
are:

! - Validate users
UEDIT - user edit procedure
STATUS - print system status
IVOTES - initialize voting data
LOG - print today's sysop log
YLOG - print yesterday's sysop log
TEDIT - edit a text file
OLDUSERS - list out users in order of number of days since last logon
DOS - enter the dos routine.  Users  with SL's  less than  255 (100-254) may
only access  the DLOADS  and GFILES  directory, and within those, only files
with .TXT or .MSG extensions.


All of these have either been described or should be  self-evident.   A list
of these commands is also available to the sysop from the main menu.  Simply
type "/?" at the main menu and the above list,  along with  some other data,
will be printed out.

There are  four other  main menu sysop commands, which are only available to
users with a SL of 255.  They are: BOARDEDIT, DLBOARDEDIT, MAILR,  and QUIT.
BOARDEDIT and  DLBOARDEDIT are  the same  as B and D from WFC.  MAILR is the
same as M from WFC.  QUIT returns to dos, the same as a  Q from  WFC, except
an errorlevel  of 1  is returned.   This is not very useful, except for non-
standard setups. These commands  are not  listed in  any menu,  and are only
meant for use by the sysop if he needs to run the entire board remotely.



HIDDEN SYSOP COMMANDS:
======================

There are a few sysop commands which are not listed anywhere.  They are:

Validate user:  After reading  a piece  of mail or posted message, the sysop
can hit "V" at the prompt, and change the SL or restrictions  for that user.
This is  useful for  validating new  users, and  restricting people who have
abused privileges.

Remove messages: using the  R main  menu command,  the sysop  can remove any
message on a board.  Also, in the scan routine, the sysop can hit "D" at the
prompt, which will delete the last message read.

At the message read prompt, the sysop may type "M" to move  the last message
read to another board.


TRANSFER SECTION SYSOP COMMANDS:
================================

There are  also a  few sysop  commands in the file system, which work pretty
much like the ones at the main menu.  They are:

M - Move a file from one directory to another.  You enter the filename, then
the destination directory number.

SORT - Sort files by filename or date uploaded.

REN - Rename file and/or description of file.

0 - change to sysop directory.  Files uploaded with a backslash ("\") at the
beginning of their description will be uploaded into  directory number zero.
The sysop can then remove or move the files.

Of  course,  files  can  not  be  downloaded when you are logged on from the
keyboard, but they can be uploaded.  To do this, first exit to DOS  and copy
the file  into the  DLOADS directory.   Then  run the BBS, log on, enter the
file system, and upload the file as you normally would remotely.

Files can also be uploaded remotely by the  sysop if  they already  exist in
the DLOADS  directory.   This is  meant for  people who already have a large
amount of software that they need to put in the  transfer section,  but need
to do it remotely.

Also, in  version 3.1A, users can up and download files from Apple computers
if they want.


HELP FILE:
==========

Version 3.1 has a new feature - on-line help.   At just  about any  point in
the BBS (with the exception of sysop functions), you can hit ctrl-Z, and get
semi-detailed help about whatever function it is you are using  at the time.
This is  especially useful  for new  users, so you should have this function
listed in your newuser file, or some other place so newusers can be aware of
it.  You may want to change the help file yourself, so this is how it is set
up:

All the help files are  stored  in  one  dos  file,  gfiles\help.msg.   Each
seperate help file is stored as follows:

|C description

help file
.
.
.

|D description

help file
.
.
.

Each file  is started  with a  vertical bar, followed by the character which
identifies which help file it is.  The rest of the line is a  "comment", and
is never  printed out.   It is to aid in editing the file only.  Because the
vertical bar is a "reserved character", none of  the help  files may contain
vertical bars.   Also,  because of the way the help file is set up, the file
may be a MAXIMUM of 25000 bytes long.  If it is  longer than  this, the rest
will be ignored.

The help  file is loaded into memory when the the board is initially run, to
save on I/O, so if you edit the help file with the built-in text editor, you
must re-load  the help file into memory, using the "LOADHELP" command in the
DOS routine.



FUTURE MODIFICATIONS:
=====================

It is  possible that  there are  a few  bugs in  the program,  and there are
certainly more  things to  be added.  Future versions that are numbered 3.xx
will be compatible with other version 3.xx's.




CREDITS:
========

Although I did write most of the code myself, there  are quite  a few people
who did  help, or  whose code got used.  The com routines are based on those
by: Philib Burns, Alan Bishop, C. J. Dunford, and Michael  Quinlan, although
they did get changed quite a bit.

The Neuron  (%) also  helped in the development quite a bit, especially with
testing the software.  Making sure the XMODEM and com routines work is quite
difficult without another patient person to help.


NOTES ON PROGRAM STRUCTURE
==========================

If you  want to  modify the program yourself, here are a few comments on how
the source files are set up.

BBS.PAS - holds most of the main BBS routines, such  as post,  scan, send e-
mail, and the main menu.

COMMON.PAS -  holds routines  such as  print, input, and other i/o routines.
This file is included {$I COMMON.PAS} in BBS.PAS, DLOADS.PAS, and DOS.PAS.

PART1.PAS - holds routines to print  a file,  input a  message, and  print a
message.

PART2.PAS -  has overlayed  routines that  are generally  accessable and are
generally used, such as newuser, logon, g-files, vote, etc.

PART3.PAS -  holds  overlayed  sysop  routines,  such  as  uedit, boardedit,
dlboardedit, move message, etc.

DLOADS.PAS - contains the file system routines.

DOS.PAS - has the dos routines, text editor, and terminal program in it.

DLP1.PAS - has the send and receive routines in it.