Beijing Paradise BBS Backup

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Beijing Paradise BBS Backup / PARADISE.ISO / software / BBSDOORW / XBBS_118.ZIP / DOCS.ZIP / COMMANDS.DOC next >

Wrap

Text File | 1992-03-16 | 102.8 KB | 2,451 lines

╔══╗╔══╗╔═════╗╔═════╗╔════╗ ╓──╖ ╓──╖ ╓────╖ ║ ║║ ║║ ┌┐ ║║ ┌┐ ║║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ┌┐ ║ ║ ╚╝ ║║ └┘ ║║ └┘ ║║ ╔═╝ ╙╖ ║ ╙╖ ║ ║ └┘ ║ ╚╗ ╔╝║ ╔╝║ ╔╝║ ╚═╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╙╖ ╓╜ ╔╝ ╚╗║ ┌┐ ╚╗║ ┌┐ ╚╗╚═╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╓─╜ ╙─╖ ║ ╔╗ ║║ ││ ║║ ││ ║╔═╝ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ┌──┐ ║ ║ ║║ ║║ └┘ ║║ └┘ ║║ ║ ╓╜ ╙╖╓╖╓╜ ╙╖║ └──┘ ║ ╚══╝╚══╝╚═════╝╚═════╝╚════╝ ╙───╜╙╜╙───╜╙──────╜ "For he knew no words in the language of the Damned..." --Text Files, the driving force behind XBBS: XBBS is controlled entirely by text files. There are no "menus" like QuickBBS sysops are used to using. You write a text file (with your favorite ASCII text editor or word-processor in ASCII or non-document mode) containing embedded text commands, and these commands tell XBBS to do certain things. You are, in effect, writing a program in which any non-command is printed. This results in free-flowing "menus" with almost total control in your hands. XBBS's embedded text commands are _always_ preceded by a Control-A, sometimes written as ^A or ^a or CTRL-A. This is ASCII 1, and is represented on most clones as an open smiley-face. BASIC programmers know it as CHR$(1), C programmers know it as '\x1', and I don't know what the heck Pascal programmers call it. Most text editors will insert one if you hold down the ALT key and type '001' on the numeric keypad. In the following discussion of embedded text commands, we'll replace the ^A character with the @ sign just to make things easier to look at. Since ^A is the only ASCII character that XBBS considers "proprietary," you may use the rest of the ASCII/High ASCII character set as you would normally. The ASCII and any ANSI character strings will have much the same effect that they would in a text file or in a screen display: ASCII character #8 is a backspace, and ANSI cursor sequences will cause the cursor to move to wherever you tell it to, change colors, and so forth (as in ANSI animation). The character that immediately follows the ^A determines what the command is. This following character is Case Sensitive (when it's an alphabetic character). After this character there may be additional characters which give more information to XBBS. Hopefully, someday there will be a "precompiler" to make writing XBBS menus a little easier (hint, hint). Remember, text files ending with .XBS are assumed to be in the Menu directory unless you include a path in the name you call (i.e. there's a backslash or colon in there somewhere). If the user has ANSI graphics enabled, XBBS will try to find a file ending with .GBS first, and go with it if found, although it's fairly simple to mix ANSI and ASCII in the same .XBS file. XBBS has several replaceable arguments (metastrings) you can use in the arguments to many calls. Metastrings are prefaced by * (i.e. *B translates to baudrate): *A Arq (Reliable Conn) *B Baudrate *C Credit *D D/L Path\ *E Menu path *F First Name Handle *G Graphics *H Errorlevel as hex *I Data from ^aINFO: kludge line *L Last Name Handle *M(0-9) Current Msg. Data: Fm/To/Subj/Date /Orig/Dest/Times/Cost/Attr/XBBS_Attr *N Real Name *O<args> (see @O) *P Commport *Q Unique user id (as a filename) *R User number *S Special Flag *T Time Remaining *U U/L Path\ *V# User string vars *Z Zone:Net/Node *a Age *c Associated File *d D/L Path *e Errorlevel *f Flag2 word *g Last u/d filestring *h BBS Home path *k Key message *l Screen Length *m Message Area # *n Node ID # *o Total system calls *p Commport+1 *r Last caller's handle *s# Security *t Time Left-2 *u U/L Path *v# User numeric vars *w Screen Width *z Alt Zone:Net/Node *0...*9 Variables *! City *@ State *: Current msg path *% Date/Time string *& Message area attr *$ Fileboard name ** Message area name *^ Fidonet-style date *( User's last calldate *) User's last calltime *#<#> User's phone #'s *| CR/LF *~ CR *{variable name} Named variable *` Just an asterick *+number+ ANSI color; see table at @G (+ 256 to clear screen) Notes: In *s#, # determines which security level is used. For instance, *s0 would use security level 0, *s9 would use security level 9, etc. Same sort of setup for phone #'s (*#) and message header fields (*M#). *O should be the last thing on a line, as nothing more will be translated after one is encountered. It's more for getting the strings into a variable with @#= than for passing arguments to programs. *{ will skip over an intervening space used as a delimiter ("*{THISVAR *F *L" (note 2 spaces) would produce "Hi Joe Blow" (note single space) if THISVAR contained "Hi" and username was "Joe Blow"). However, "*{THISVAR*s" will produce the expected results (* being a non-alphanumeric character will 'terminate' the variable name). *{THISVAR} will also behave as might be expected (the closing curly brace can be used in place of an extra space). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "The ice cream lady wet her drawers to see you in the Passion Play." --XBBS Embedded Text File Commands: Following is a brief listing of the XBBS commands, together with brief samples. This stuff is technical. For more in-depth coverage, see the sample "menus" in the distribution archive. Also see the section after this, "Basic Menu Making". Remember, @ == ^A unless specifically referred to as "the commercial 'at' sign". A...Add string to logfile. Metastrings are translated. @AUser entered File Area #1 B...Break connection (hang up) Flushes FOSSIL send buffer first @B C...Check message board statistics @C0 Output format: Area #<#>: Board Name * # messages New messages (see XBBS.TXT prompt #27) @C1lLabel Outputs as @C0, branches to lLabel if there are new messages @C2lLabel No output, just the branch D...Set label to seek to on abort @DlLabelname Useful for ensuring that an input is not skipped even though prefacing text output may be. Example: Skip to lSkipHere and restart if file is aborted with "S" @DlSkipHere E...External command There are a variety of ways to run external programs. Metastrings are translated here. S...Spawn @ESProgram.EXE arg1 arg2 etc. (XBBS stays in memory, very fast, but you cannot run a batch file or intrinsic DOS command with this...see D or use @ESCOMMAND.COM /c Program.EXE etc.) E...Exec @EEProgram.EXE arg1 arg2 etc. (Removes XBBS from memory, very fast) D...DOS (through COMMAND.COM (COMSPEC)) @EDDothis.BAT arg1 arg2 etc. (Runs batch files or executes DOS commands and keeps XBBS in memory, not quite as fast as spawn) X...Exit with ERRORLEVEL @EX25 (Would exit to calling batch file with ERRORLEVEL 25) B...Write a batch file and exit with ERRORLEVEL @EB25 arg1 arg2 etc. (arg1 arg2 etc. would be written to XBBS.BAT and then XBBS would exit to calling batch file with ERRORLEVEL 25) W...Write a string to a file (doesn't exit, but does replace parameters in the string before writing) @EWXBBS.LOG arg1 arg2 etc. (arg1 arg2 etc. would be written to XBBS.LOG) w...Write a string to a file, no *replacement. I...Spawn with Swap. Forces swapping if swapping is not enabled in Config.BBS. Remember that the executable's extension *must* always be included when swapping. If you have XBBS set to swap normally, this command is reversed and will _not_ swap. @EIProgram.EXE arg1 arg2 etc. O...Spawn with FOSSIL hot. @EOProgram.EXE arg1 arg2 etc. s...Same as Spawn above, but updates CONFIG.BBS and ONLINE.XBS before exit and rereads upon return. *You only need to use this if a Door author tells you that you should.* d...Same as DOS above, but updates CONFIG.BBS and ONLINE.XBS before exit and rereads upon return. *You only need to use this if a Door author tells you that you should.* F...Set up file area @FArea Name,Drive:\DownloadPath\,Drive:\UploadPath\,Flags,Leech% The Area Name should not contain commas, which are used as the delimiter. Area names are limited to 48 characters, paths to 80 characters. Leech% determines what u/d percentage, if any, is required to be maintained in order to download from the area. For instance, 10 would mean a 10% u/d ratio would have to be met before allowing download. 0 disables. It's calculated like this: if Leech% < downloadK/uploadK disallow download. Therefore, if Leech% is 9 and the user has uploaded 10K and downloaded 100K, his ratio is 10 (100/10) and he can't download (9 is less than 10). If he's uploaded 20K and downloaded 100K, he can (100/20=5). Actually, what happens is this: first, no check is made at all if the user's ignoreratio bit is set or the number of files specified in the configuration haven't been downloaded yet. Then the u/dK ratio is calculated. Then the #uploads/#downloads ratio is calculated. If both fail, the download is disallowed. Clear as mud? Flags can have the following values or combination thereof: 1......Track number of downloads by timestamp 2......Free file area 4......Is Associated with message area See notes at @M. There is no built-in limit on the number of file areas you may have. G...Graphic Menu @GG<prompt,option 1,option 2,option3,...,option n>EOL or @GG@<varnum>EOL Performs special ANSI-only top-line input. Returns selected option number in errorlevel. 0 indicates an abort (by ESCape or CTRL-K). Example: @GGRead msgs,Write msgs,Quit to Main @GA<prompt,option 1,option 2,option3,...,option n>EOL or @GA@<varnum>EOL Performs rolling or top-line menu depending on user's settings. @GS<number> Set color for above to <number> @G<var#><color><truncate><prompt_1 prompt_2 ... prompt_33) Sets up a point-and-press menu for ANSI users. Variable # is 0-9...the selection will be returned in this variable for examination. Color is an Avatar/IBM-PC style number...the current selection is highlighted with highvideo, others are lowvideo. Truncate is 0 if you want the entire prompt (uppercased, with spaces instead of underlines) returned on selection, ORed with 1 if you want only the first letter of each prompt. Prompts are strings with underlines instead of spaces (true spaces are delimiters). XBBS replaces the underlines with spaces when displaying the line. Users select input with the arrow keys and [Enter]. For convenience's sake, non-ANSI users will get a menu of sorts if they run through this command, and ANSI users who have the ANSI cursor menus bit off will get one with a little color, but no cursor movement. If you set the truncate parameter, the ANSI cursor users can select an option by its first letter (so make them unique). This is not really meant as something to write the whole BBS with, it's just a little flash. You can change up the way this command returns values by ORing <truncate> with 4, which will cause values to be returned as the number of the entered option's position. You can OR <truncate> with 2 to force the no-graphic style of input. The color number is the same as attributes used by IBM PCs: bit value: (128)(64)(32)(16)(8) (4) (2) (1) --- -- -- -- - - - - bit: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 - - - - - - - - | | | | | | | | | | | | | +---+---+ | +---+---+ | | | | | | | text color | | | | | bright text | | | background color | blink Three bits can contain the numbers 0 to 7. Here are what those values mean: 0 black 1 blue 2 green 3 cyan 4 red 5 magenta 6 brown 7 gray (i.e. non-intense white) As an example, 7 sets the current text attribute to light grey text on a black background, and 15 sets the current text attribute to white text on a black background. H...Set up hot keys @HlLableName <hotkeylist> There can be up to 36 hotkeys entered (i.e. ABCDEF123) XBBS will check for a hotkey between each line printed and branch to lLablename if one is encountered. This should be the first statement in a menu. Input or finding a key clears the hotkey "register". The hotkey hit will be entered into the first XBBS variable (variable #0) for testing at lLablename. I...Scan Nodelist @I<partial or complete address> If the address is zone:0, all hosts (0-nodes) in the net will be listed. If the address is zone:net, all nodes in the net will be listed. More than that and only one node gets listed. All this assumes the nodes are there to be found and listed, of course... J...Gosub to another file @JFilename.ext If the filename ends in .XBS and is in the menu area (i.e. there is no path given), this gives no warning if the file is not found. You can use this to your advantage by having external processes write a menu dynamically which XBBS will interpret when it hits this command _if_ the menu exists. For a hairbrained example, suppose you got input from the user that requested that a file be extracted from an archive. You then exitted to a batch file which would try to extract the file. If the extract was successful, the batch file could then dynamically build (or copy in) an XBBS download menu with a certain name. On return from the batch file, XBBS would attempt to gosub (@J) to that menu to allow the download. If there was a problem with the extraction, the menu would not exist and the gosub would not be performed. If Filename.ext is a digit (i.e. @J0), the contents of the appropriate variable will be used as the filename. K...Upload/Download commands @Ku (Upload a file to the current file area's upload dir) @KV<filename.ext> (Upload named file to the current file area's upload dir. If filename begins with @ (commercial at sign, not ^a) it is assumed to be a file containing a list of files to be uploaded. How you write the list file is up to you.) @Kv<#>,[key] (Upload file named in variable # to the current file area's upload dir. List files apply. If [key] follows, it will be used to find the protocol with the matching key-to-select (i.e. Z would find ZModem's protocol entry if ZModem was normally selected by the user via the Z key)) @Kd (Download a file from the current file area's download dir Any file in the directory, whether listed in FILES.BBS or not, can be downloaded if the user enters the proper name. You could, for instance, put all your downloads in one directory and read different FILES.BBS-style files to make it appear to be multiple areas, and this would allow downloading of any file in any area from a single download prompt.) @KD<NULL or drive:path/filename.ext>,<seclvl>,<flsearch.ctl> (DL a specific file OR DL a file from a scan of areas Generally speaking, give NULL for a filename to get XBBS to prompt the user for a filename. Give the name of a FLSEARCH.CTL-style file if you want XBBS to scan directories for a match. seclvl is used to determine if a user has access to a given directory. seclvl is 0-9 to indicate one of XBBS's security levels to use for the comparison. List files apply here, but don't try to use a list with the FLSEARCH option; it won't work.) @Kk#,<seclvl>,<flsearch.ctl>,[key] (D/L a specific file named in variable #...same notes. [key] works as with @Kv above. The leech% figure you pass with @F will *not* affect this command; check with @Lk and @L# if desired. @KU# (Add u/l credits for file named in variable # (wildcards accepted, list file applies)) @KK# (Set download credits for file named in variable # (wildcards accepted, list files apply)) @Ka# (Set upload K today to saved errorlevel #) @KA# (Set download K today to saved errorlevel #) @Kl#<Filename.EXT> (Print a list of file areas to which the user has access from a FLSEARCH.CTL-type file. # is the user's security level # (0-9) to use for the access test.) @Kn#<Filename.EXT> (Find the next file area to which the user has access from a FLSEARCH.CTL-type file. If wraparound occurs (after EOF), the internal ERRORLEVEL is set. # is the user's security level # (0-9) to use for the access test.) @KN#<Filename.EXT> (Reset the FLSEARCH.TXT file to the start of file for @Kn calls as described above. The arguments are dummies.) @Km<Filename.EXT> (Hah, hid one from you. Like @Kn# for message areas, except you don't need the security level # (XBBS uses seclvl #0 for msgs).) @KM<Filename.EXT> (Like @KN# except it's for message areas.) Note: FLSEARCH.CTL-type files have the following format (one entry per line): D:\PATH\ SECLVL# Name_of_area <flags> <D:\upload_path\> <Description>,<age>,<userflags> For example: C:\XBBS\ 9 XBBS_Programs 3 C:\XBBS\UPLOADS\ Note that a "true" FLSEARCH.CTL-type file does not contain the <flags> parameter or an upload path, but it should be ignored by well-behaved programs that do not use it. XBBS won't choke if you don't include the extra parameters (the ones between the <>), except that @Kl won't list areas properly without them. Note that parameters after <Description> are separated by commas instead of a space. L...Branch on user parameters @LMlLabel (Branch if user's ARQ flag set) @LTlLabel (Branch if user's Twit flag set) @LGlLabel (Branch if user has ANSI Graphics on) @LNlLabel (Branch if user's NoKill flag set) @LSlLabel (Branch if Special flag is set) @LElLabel (Branch if Expert flag is set) @LHlLabel (Branch if Ignore Hours flag is set) @LDlLabel (Branch if Deleted flag is set) @LRlLabel (Branch if Ignore Ratio flag is set) @LglLabel (Branch if Full Screen Editor flag is set) @LslLabel (Branch if Screen Clear flag is set) @LAlLabel (Branch if ANSI cursor menus are on) @LnUser Name,lLabel (Branch if user's name=User Name) @LhHandle,lLabel (Branch if user's handle=Handle) @LC<arg><type>,lLabel Branch on user's computer type If arg is !, branch if not equal If arg is =, branch if equal @Lk<arg><ratio>,lLabel Branch on user's u/d kilobyte ratio (the percentage of kilobytes uploaded to kilobytes downloaded) If arg is <, branch if less than ratio% If arg is >, branch if greater than ratio% Takes into account the starting # of downloads set in Config.BBS Ratio is a whole number representing a percentage (i.e. 10=10%) See sample menus for more info. @L#<arg><ratio>,lLabel Branch on user's u/d number ratio If arg is <, branch if less than ratio% If arg is >, branch if greater than ratio% Same notes as above for @Lk @Lb<arg><baud>,lLabel Branch on user's baudrate If arg is <, branch if baud is less than user's baudrate If arg is >, branch if baud is greater than user's baudrate @Lv<arg><#violations>,lLabel Branch on number of user violations Arg can be < or > @Lw<arg><#cols>,lLabel Branch on user's screen width Arg can be < or > @Ll<arg><#lines>,lLabel Branch on user's screen length Arg can be < or > @La<arg><age>,lLabel Branch on user's age Arg can be < or > @Lu<arg><#>,lLabel Branch on user's upload kilobytes for the day Arg can be < or > @Ld<arg><#>,lLabel Branch on user's download kilobytes for the day Arg can be < or > @LF<arg>,lLabel Arg is 1 to 16, one of the sysop-defined user flags @Lf<arg>,lLabel Arg is 1 to 3, one of the general flags Note: for some of these commands it is much easier to use more specific commands like @ESC to skip a line if the user doesn't have graphics on. The @ESC line could contain a branch (@blLabel) command, thereby giving you a branch-if-graphics-on. M...Set up message area @MArea Name,Attribute,Maximum,Number,SubStat0,SubStat1,ForceTo,MinimumWriteAccess Area Name should not contain commas, which are used as delimiters. Maximum refers to the maximum number of messages you want to allow in the area; overwrite will occur when the area is full. Number is the number associated with the area, and should normally be unique for each area. SubStat0 and SubStat1 refer to the security levels #0 and 1 required for XBBS to consider a user a subop in a given area. ForceTo is the name of the user you want to Force an entered message to be addressed to. MinimumWriteAccess is the minimum access the user must have in security level #0 to post. Attribute can be one or more of the following (add the values together to get multiple attributes): 1 No Origin or tear in this echomail conference Use this with care, as almost all echomail conferences today require a tear line and an origin line. 2 ANSI Graphics 4 Private 8 Public 16 Echo 32 Net 64 MCI MCI is a way for users to enter some of the more harmless special print routines that you have available as SysOp in the text files. MCI Commands: ^H# (print # backspaces) ^U# (print name...#=0=full name, #=1=first, #=2=last) ^B (print a bell) ^T (print the current time) ^D (print the current date) ^R (print user's remaining time in minutes) ^S (slow-print this line) ^A# (change screen colors and attributes for ANSI users. Possible values for #, and results: 0...restore normal attributes (bright green on black) 1...bright 2...dim 3...flash on 4...reverse on 5...red 6...green 7...yellow 8...blue 9...magenta A...cyan ) 128 ReadOnly 256 Alternate Net Area 512 Alternate Echo Area 1024 Anonymous 2048 Real Names 4096 Is Associated with file area If both the current message area and the current file area have the Associated flag set, when a user uploads a file, the user is given the opportunity to post a descriptive message as well as give the description for FILES.BBS. This message a ^AASSOC: FileName.EXT kludge line prepended to it. When this message is read later, an extra [V]iew option pops up at end-of-message. If selected, this begins reading VIEWFILE.XBS. This can call Peeker, allow a download, or whatever else you can think of. See sample menu XBBS.XBS for an idea of how to implement this. 8192 Gives Extern prompt As with the Associated flag, this causes a new prompt to pop up at end-of-message: [E]xtra. This will read EXTRAMSG.XBS with KeyMess set to the message's number. You could then use XPort to get the message as an ASCII file and easily write a simple program to extract information from it. Possible uses might be to provide more information about the user who posted the message or the node that an echomail message originated from. 16384 Causes message to be forced to force-to name even in Bulls-mode. Use with care; may make it impossible to reply to a user's message without addressing it to yourself. 32768 Messages in this area may be compressed using the LZSS compression method. Messages must also meet or exceed the length specified in CONFIG.BBS (wouldn't do much good to compress a 12 byte message). Message compression takes up a lot of memory, so you might not want to activate it if you're operating under RAM-tight circumstances like multi-tasking. How XBBS compresses messages: First, the length of the original message is stored as an ASCII number. This is followed by a carriage return. Then, the relevant portion of any MSGID string is stored, followed by another CR. Finally, the relevant portion of any REPLYID and a final CR. CR's are always present even if MSGID and REPLYID fields weren't available. Following all this is the compressed message. This allows XBBS to thread using MSGID/REPLY without having to uncompress the messages first. Area names are limited to 48 characters. Note that you can multiply identify the same area, if you can think of a reason to do so, and treat the area differently at different times (private, public, etc.) Note that XBBS can have up to 4095 message areas (1-4095). N...Loop read through all message areas @N<msgareas.xbs-style file>,<type of read>,<newonly>,<abortok>,<startat> @NMSGAREAS.001,2,1,1,1 (Type 2 read through eligible areas listed in MSGAREAS.001, stop for new only, allow aborting, start at area #1) O...Set system variables Examples: @O1,Joe Blow @1AJane Smith @O2,@1 0: Message header subject 1: Message header to 2: Message header from 3: Message header date 4: Message header Fidonet attribute 5: Message header XBBS extended attribute 6: Message header times-read 7: Message header cost 8: Message header origin node 9: Message header origin net 10: Message header origin zone 11: Message header origin point 12: Message header destination node 13: Message header destination net 14: Message header destination zone 15: Message header destination point 16: Message header date (YY/MM/DD, YY=year-1989) 17: Config system name 18: Config sysop name 19: Config logfile name 20: Config commport 21: Config node 22: Config net 23: Config zone 24: Config alternate node 25: Config alternate net 26: Config alternate zone 27: Config BBS directory 28: Config menu directory 29: Config message directory 30: Config idleseconds 31: Config number of pages allowed 32: Config sysop in 33: Config touchup filedates 34: Config return upload time 35: Config return download time 36: Config use direct video 37: Config use bios video 38: Config use bios writes for ANSI 39: Config debug mode 40: Config ANSI available? 41: Config status line # 42: Config say prompts #'s? 43: Config fullscreen editor string 44: Config line editor string 45: Config local editor string 46: Config minimum baud for ANSI 47: Config quote string 48: Config number of system calls 49: Config last caller's name 50: Config netmail board 51: Config alternate netmail board 52: Config default origin line 53: Config number of carbons 54: Config jumpfiles (requires 3 args, second is jumpfile #, third is jumpfile string, i.e. @O54,1,THATFILE.XBS) 55: Config jumpkeys (requires 3 args, second is jumpfile #, third is jumpfile key (first char of string)) 56: Config subfiles (requires 3 args, second is subfile #, third is subfile string) 57: Config subkeys (requires 3 args, second is subfile #, third is subfile key (first char of string)) 58: Config number of LMRs 59: Config current position in indexed quote file 60: Config name of indexed quote file 61: Config number of downloads at which to start enforcing 62: Config number of computer types to track 63: Config ANSI Graphics editor string 64: Config number of comment lines for uploads 65: Config maximum purgebaud 66: Config generic phone input? 67: Config generic state/zip field? 68: Config use Share file locking? 69: Config use fast ANSI output? 70: Config log menu changes? 71: Config log file listings? 72: Config log areas when messages read? 73: Config log text files when read? 74: Config nodelist directory 75: Config last user's record number 76: Config letter of swapdisk 77: Config use LIMEMS for swap? 78: Config swap? 79: User's name 80: User's handle 81: User's birthdate (4 args required, 2=month, 3=day, 4=year i.e. @O81,12,23,1955) 82: User's password 83: User's city 84: User's state 85: User's zipcode 86: User's phone number1 87: User's phone number2 88: User's screen length 89: User cold input? 90: User's screen width 91: User ANSI? 92: User fullscreen editor default? 93: User screen clearing? 94: User special flag 95: User expert flag 96: User more flag 97: User ignore hours flag 98: User ignore ratio flag 99: User nokill flag 100: User deleted flag 101: User arq flag 102: User twit flag 103: User ansimenu flag 104: User gen1 flag 105: User gen2 flag 106: User gen3 flag 107: User attribute2 flags (unsigned integer) 108: User security levels (3 args, 2=stat# to set, 3=level) 109: User upload K 110: User download K 111: User upload # 112: User download # 113: User # posts 114: User credit 115: User violations 116: User lastdate (4 args required, 2=month, 3=day, 4=year) Example: @O116,01,01,1980 117: User logondate (4 args required, 2=month, 3=day, 4=year) 118: User lasttime (4 args required, 2=hour, 3=min, 4=sec) 119: User logontime (4 args required, 2=hour, 3=min, 4=sec) 120: User total calls 121: User calls per day 122: User time per call 123: User total time per day 124: User calls today 125: User time today 126: User computer type 127: User upload K today 128: User download K today 129: User string variable (3 args req'd, 2=var #, 3=var string) 130: User numeric variable (3 args req'd, 2=var #, 3=var) 131: Message area name 132: Message area force-to name 133: Message area attribute 134: Message area maximum 135: Message area number 136: Message area security 0 137: Message area security 1 138: File area name 139: File area flags 140: File area download directory 141: File area upload directory 142: User number 143: Baud 144: Pages 145: Age 146: Timer off/on 147: XBBS variables (3 args req'd, 2=var #, 3=var string) 148: XBBS events (4 args req'd, 2=event #, 3=filename, 4=secsleft) 149: Lastread (3 args req'd, 2=area, 3=msg #) 171: Current message directory 172-223: same as 79-130 for other user structure (see FINDAUSER and UPDATE) 235: same as 142 for other user number 236: RESERVED 237: Configuration Domain 238: Alternate Domain 239: Next msg's "To" Domain 240: Number of current node (for multitaskers) 241: User's unique id # 242: Nodenumber user initially logged onto 243: Other user's unique id # 244: Nodenumber other user initially logged onto 245: Next unique user id to be assigned 246: 1 if RBBS-style DORINFO?.DEF is made, else 0 247: Can user take high-ASCII characters? (1=yes) 248: Can shadow user take high-ASCII? 253: Last INFO: encountered while reading msgs Also used to make INFO: when writing a msg 254: Last ASSOC: encountered while reading msgs Also used to make ASSOC: when writing a msg 255: Last msg area user was in last call 256: Last msg area for shadow user 257: User's point id# 258: Shadow user's point id# UTSL P...Pause # seconds @P2 (Pause 2 seconds) Q...Query user's list @Q0 (List handles) @Q1 (List real names) @Q4 (List user in msg.from field) * @Q8 (List user in msg.to field) * *Be sure something valid is in the msg fields (i.e. a message has been read). Messages not locally entered will cause an abort; the user isn't on your system. Handles or Real Names are searched according to the message board attribute. R...Restart file at a label @RlLabelname If you're branching backwards (to a point above where the branch occurs), this is faster and more reliable than @blLabel. S...Security level branching @S<06 lLabelname (Branch to @lLabelname if seclvl #0 < 6) @S>399 lLabelname (Branch to @lLabelname if seclvl #3 > 99) T...Slow printing. @T5 Hi there. @T@3 (uses contents of variable 3 as a number) @Te2 (uses saved errorlevel 2) Delays printing of each letter by the number of clock ticks (apx. 18.2/sec) specified. You have to manually turn it off with @T0. If you have text behind the @T#, you must follow it with a space which XBBS uses to find the end of the following number. See sample menu NEWUSER.XBS. U...Update user's record in USERS.BBS @U0 (Updates user record) @U1 (Reloads LMRs) @U2 (Saves LMRs) There's normally no reason to use this command. V...Variables. Named variables (see *{ and @e=$<variable name>) Assignment: @VA<variable name>=<string> @Va<variable name>=<converted string> Delete variable: @VD<variable name> Free (remove) all variables: @VF Print variable: @VP (Unconverted) @Vp (converted) Save variables:* @Vk<filename> Load variables:* @VK<filename> Notes: Named variables must use only alpha and/or numeric characters. Internal errorlevel is set accordingly: NOERR 0 's cool, m'man NOVARS 1 No variables NOTVAR 2 Name given isn't a variable NOMEM 3 Out of memory NOFILE 4 Can't read, write or open a file SYNTAX 5 Syntax error IDIOT 65535 * Saves and retrieves ALL variables: named, 0-9 and stored errorlevels. 0-9 and stored errorlevels are overwritten when loaded, as are existing named variables. Nonexistent named variables are created. .VAR extension added to <filename>. <filename>.VAR is deleted before saving if it exists. You'll probably want to kill *.VAR during your recycle batch. This can be used as a method to quickly preload variables, or to store them before a restart. W...Mark Where you are or return to a marked spot @W<0=Return, 1=Mark><Mark ID, 0-9> See sample menu CONFIGUR.GBS for example usage. This is an extremely fast way to do branching. X...Write Exit files @X0 (Writes USERINFO.XBS, DORINFO1.DEF, LASTUSER.BBS and DOOR.SYS using Real Name in name field) @X9600 (Does the same, but uses 9600 as baud rate in exit files unless local, for high-speed modem usage with Doors that can't accept unsigned integers as baud rates or whatever other use you can think of.) @X0 1 (Does the same as first example, but uses Handle in name field) Y...Cancel Embedded Commands for file being read @Y Z...Set file to read next or top file or reset nextfile pointer @Z0 (Unset nextfile pointer) @Z1Filename.ext (Set nextfile pointer to Filename.ext) @Z2Filename.ext (Set topfile pointer to Filename.ext) a...Turn file aborting on/off @a0 (Turn aborting on) @a1 (Turn aborting off) b...Branch down to a label in current file @blLabelname (Branch down to @lLabelname) This can be useful to form the "ELSE" in an IF...THEN...ELSE type of menu paragraph. It can also be used to skip a block of comments (see also @;): @blSkipComments--------+ This is a comment. | More comments. | @lSkipComments<--------+ @0AlLabel @b@0 (Branch to label lLabel) @b#0 (If saved errorlevel pos #0 = 50, would branch to label l50) An example of using @b to form the "ELSE" in an IF...THEN... +----- @LF1 lFlag1On (Branch to label lFlag1On if flag 1 is on) | +-- @blFlag1Off (else branch to label lFlag1Off) +--|-> @lFlag1On | (do stuff here) +--|-- @blSkipFlag1Off (skip else code) | +-> @lFlag1Off | (do stuff here) +----> @lSkipFlag1Off See also @R c...Chat request @c Reads the file CHAT.XBS in the Menu directory if you're In, or NOCHAT.XBS if you're Out. If the user has paged more times than allowed in XConfig, GETLOST.XBS is read instead. NOTE: XBBS does _not_ produce a default bell or page tone.. you will have to create your own "pager" either with a series of ASCII 7 (Ctrl-G) characters, or with a spawn to a simple program that sounds the bells and "whistles" (even a GWBASIC program will do). d...Date printing/branching/checking @dc (Print current date in ANSI C standard format) @dw (Print day of week as Monday, Tuesday, etc.) @dd<arg> lLabel (Branch if day of week is equal to <arg> (Sun-Sat)) @da# lLabel (Branch if day of month not equal to #) @dm# lLabel (Branch if month not equal to #) @dl (Set internal errorlevel to # days since user's last call) e...Errorlevel branching @e=<###> or <@#> or <$<variable name> (Set errorlevel to <###>. If <###> begins with @ (the commercial at sign, not ^a), assigns the number represented by variable <#>. If <###> begins with $, assigns the number represented by named variable <variable name>. Examples: @e=55 (Errorlevel is set to 55) @9A45[Enter] (Var 9 is set to "45") @e=@9 (Errorlevel is set to 45) @e=$KEEPTHIS @e-- (Decrement errorlevel by 1) @e++ (Increment errorlevel by 1) @e-#<#> (Decrement saved errorlevel <#> by 1) @e+#<#> (Increment saved errorlevel <#> by 1) @e~ Errorlevel = NOT errorlevel @et Errorlevel = time remaining (in minutes) @eR Errorlevel = random # (0-32767) @eU Errorlevel = Upload K @eu Errorlevel = # of uploads @eD Errorlevel = Download K @ed Errorlevel = # of downloads @eK Errorlevel = Download K for today @ek Errorlevel = Upload K for today @eL Errorlevel = Lastread in current area @el Lastread for current area = Errorlevel @eE Errorlevel = #minutes spent in last spawn/shell @eV<#> Errorlevel = user numeric variable <#> @eS<#> User numeric variable <#> = Errorlevel @en Errorlevel = # of calls for this user @eF Errorlevel = user flag word @ef user flag word = Errorlevel @eP Errorlevel = # user posts ('ware the wraparound!) @ea Errorlevel = last message area user was in on previous call @em Errorlevel = # msgs in current area @eM Minimum write access (for msgs curr. area) = Errorlevel @eO Errorlevel = # of shadow user (0 if none) @e0 Errorlevel = scroll lock status @e<+-/*|&% or ^><e or @(at sign)><# or constant> Perform numeric computations (result in errorlevel) Examples: @e+5 (Add 5 to errorlevel) @9A45 (Put "45" in var 9) @e/@9 (Divide errorlevel by 45) @e=8 (Errorlevel = 8) @es1 (Save in position 1) @e&e1 (Errorlevel = errorlevel AND 8) @e? (Errorlevel=last XBBS.TXT prompt # accessed) @es<#> (Save errorlevel in save position <#> (0-9) ) @er<#> (Retrieve errorlevel from save position <#> (0-9) ) @e0 (Zero internal errorlevel) @e@<#> (Set errorlevel to len of variable <#> (0-9)) @e==3 (Branch if ERRORLEVEL == 3) @e<1 lLabelname (Branch if ERRORLEVEL < 1) @e>253 lLabelname (Branch if ERRORLEVEL > 253) This is useful for branching on the returned ERRORLEVEL of a Spawned program. Some internal functions, like write-a-message, findfirst, findnext, etc. also return an ERRORLEVEL. Syntax @e<e# should also work. f...Files.BBS reading, raw directory, read-any, read-new, read-text, etc. @ff<type> <filename> <datestring> <searchstring> Read file <filename> FILES.BBS-style Values for <type>: 0=download dir 1=upload dir OR with 2=new d/l OR with 4=use <searchstring> OR with 8=if D hit at paged prompt, return with errorlevel 3. This lets you "ask" the user if he's seen a file he wants to download after every page if you're feeling ingenious. OR with 16=if M hit at paged prompt, read file MARKFILE.XBS. Lets you do anything you want, and resumes reading FILES.BBS where you left off when finished. <datestring> is used for new file searches, and defaults to the user's lastdate if no string is passed. <datestring> must be in mm/dd/yyyy format. See sample menus FILES.XBS and IBMCOM.XBS <searchstring> is used as the mask (usually user input) if type is ORed with 4. If the file is not read all the way through (aborted), the internal ERRORLEVEL is set to 1. If no files are listed (weren't any in FILES.BBS or none new), the internal ERRORLEVEL is set to 2. A return of 3 indicates that [D] was pressed at the paged prompt line. A return of 4 means there wasn't any file to list (bogus, dude). See sample menus FILES.XBS and IBMCOM.XBS @fr<type (0-2)> <directory(\mask)> Raw directory. If <type> is greater than 1, don't ask for a mask (mask included in <directory> string) and don't display the file's extension. If <type> is 1, allow directory+filename mask. If <type> is 0, allow only filename mask. Example: Display directory of all files in C:\XBBS\NEWS matching "*.NWS": @fr2 C:\XBBS\NEWS\*.NWS @fa<directory> <extension (optional)> <type> Read any file in a directory Passing an extension limits files that can be read to files having that extension If <type> is not 0, use paged read, otherwise use embedded command read. Example: Allow reading of any file in C:\XBBS\NEWS that has a ".NWS" extension: @fa .NWS C:\XBBS\NEWS\ @fn<directory\mask> <type> Read new files in directory (newer than last call) If <type> is not 0, use paged read, otherwise, use embedded command read. Example: Read any new files in C:\XBBS\NEWS matching *.NWS: @fnC:\XBBS\NEWS\*.NWS @fd Output file description of last file found (see @0...@9 and sample menu BIMODEM.XBS) @fD<drive><arg> Branch if space on <drive> is less than <arg> See sample menu IBMCOM.XBS @ft<var #> or @ft<filename> Paged read of the file named in variable #, or of filename See sample menu HELP-.XBS g...Assign following string to *g return (last u/d filestring) @gFilename.EXT h...Pause until [Enter] pressed (prints prompt from XBBS.TXT #194, then #273 after Enter pressed) @h i...File input/output @i<o[@# or filename], c<i or w>, r, a or m[@# or filename], w[# or text] or i[#]> You have one input file and one output file available. @iofilename.ext or @# (at sign+variable #) Open filename.ext for input (SHARE-compatible). If a file is already open, it's closed first. Return 0 in internal errorlevel if opened without error, otherwise return 1. @ic<i or w> Close an open file. If <i>, close input file else close output file. @ir Reposition an open input file to the start of the file. Returns 0 on success, non-zero on error. @ii# Input from open file into variable #. If successful, internal errorlevel is 0, otherwise it's 1 (usually file not open or EOF). Up to 80 chars may be read or until a CR/LF is encountered (not retained). @imfilename.ext or @# (at sign+variable #) Create filename.ext for output (deny write to other processes). If a file is already open, it's closed first. Returns 0 on success, 1 on error. @iafilename.ext or @# Open a file for append (seek to end after opening. Must exist.) @iw@# or @iwText to write Write variable # to file created with @im, followed by a CR/LF. j...Jump to another file (GOTO) @jFilename.ext (Close current file and begin reading Filename.ext) @jFilename.ext lLabelName (Same, but starts at lLabelName) @j0 lLabelName (Same, but reads filename in variable #0) @j01 (Same, but starts in label contained in variable #1) k...Stuff/clear key macro buffer @kc (Clear macro buffer) @ka<text or @var#> (Append to macro buffer) XBBS will attempt to access the macro buffer for keypresses whenever an input is called for. If the macro buffer contains keys, they are used as if entered by the user. You can use this feature to create macros. The character '|' (vertical pipe) is translated to a carriage return (usually end-of-input). l...Label (marker) @lLabelname Label names must always be CTRL-A followed by lowercase "l" followed by label name. They are ignored when file is being read except when they are the object of a branch-to. Labels must start at beginning of a line and be only object on line...EXCEPTION: you can put a @lFakeName at the end of a line to suppress CR/LF for that line. You can use "meaningless" labels to comment your menus (see @; for a better way to do comments). m...Manipulate user file (shadow user) @m<User Name> (Find User Name -- internal errorlevel set if not found) @m0<#> (Load user <#>) @m1<#> (Save user <#>) @m2 (Save *current user's* last message read pointers) @m3 (Load *current user's* last message read pointers This could be used to refresh a user's LMRs after an extract or whatever.) n...Run a .MNU file @nC:\XBBS\MNU\MENU.MNU If XBBS finds no MAIN.XBS but does find a MAIN.MNU, it invokes Mijit-mode (so called because you can't do as much with a menu-based BBS as the 'standard' XBBS) by processing it as if it was called with this command. UTSL (Use the Source, Luke). o...Advanced ANSI interface @o<###>,<params> @o1,text Display an error message window. Pause until a key is pressed. @o2,text Display an error message window. Pause until a key is pressed or two minutes elapse. @o3,text Display an error message window. Pause one second. @o4,text @o5,text @o6,text Display a note message window. @o7,title,text @o8,title,text @o9,title,text Display a generic one-line window. @o10,filename,topic @o11,filename,topic @o12,filename,topic Display a help window. @o13,<var#>,title,prompt,mask,default,foreground color,background color,top-left x,top-left y,type Display an input window and accept input. Variable <var#> gets the returned string. Errorlevel is set if user ESCapes out of the window without entering anything. Colors are: RED 4 GREEN 2 BLUE 1 WHITE 7 YELLOW 6 AQUA 3 MAGENTA 5 BLACK 0 The mask string should be composed of underlines (_) where you want user input. Other characters may be included; they serve as delimiters in the input field, but are not included in the returned string. A sample for USA phone numbers: (___)___-____ The type should be one of the following: A...Uppercased anything-goes a...Anycased anything-goes N...Numeric D...Date field with auto-validation (USA format, sorry) Z...Zero-filled numeric C...Cash O...X or - (bit field) @o14,x,y,h,w,keys Treats what's on the screen as a pick-list. x,y is the top left corner of the 'window' (from 0,0 for the top left corner of the screen), and h,w are the height and width of the 'window'. The internal errorlevel is set to indicate the selection (0 means ESCape or CTRL-K aborted; HOME, PGUP, PGDN, CTRL-HOME and CTRL-END return their values--left and right arrows return 203 and 205 respectively). keys is a list of keys that XBBS will allow for quick selection (not necessarily the first letter of the text on the screen); if one is pressed, its order in the list is returned. @o255, Invoke the built-in user editor in remote mode (for what it's worth). @o254, Invoke the other-options menu in remote mode (for what it's worth). p...Pause mode on or off @p0 (Pausing allowed) @p1 (Pause not allowed) q...Quit reading (close) file being read. If a nextfile pointer has been set, the nextfile will be read; otherwise, the topfile will be read. If the topfile doesn't exist for some reason, MAIN.XBS gets read. If that doesn't exist, Ijit-mode is invoked. @q r...Read a message @r0,0 (Read anything public and personal) @r1,0 (Read only personal) @r2,0 (Quiet check for personal messages) @r4,0 (Non-stop read) @r8,0 (Selective read, preset) @r16,0 (Selective read) @r64,0 (Extract instead of read) @r128,0 (Scan instead of read) You can add values together to get the desired effect (though obviously not all additions will be practical) You can also pass a non-zero number as the second parameter (or @# or e#) to bypass the "Start at #:" prompt and begin reading at a specified location. s...Get message header @s<msg#> This gets the header for <msg#> in the current message area. You can then display/analyze with *M#. If an error occurs, internal errorlevel is set; otherwise, it's 0. Examples: @s12 (Get msg header for msg #12) @s@0 (Get msg header for msg #<numeric value of var 0>) @se3 (Get msg header for msg #<saved errorlevel 3>) Note: This command was once an undocumented "scan messages" command. If you have used it in that manner, replace with @r128,... t...Time printing/branching/checking @tc (Echos current time) @tr (Echos minutes remaining) Example: @tr mins remaining. @to (Controls system timer) (0=off & save, 1=on & restore, 2=on) @tl (Sets internal errorlevel to # minutes since last call to system) @texx:xx:xx yy:yy:yy lLabel (Should branch to label during offhours...maybe) @t<operator><[@(at sign) or e][#]minutes> (Set/branch on time remaining) Examples: @t=30 would set the user's timelimit to 30 minutes @t+30 would add 30 minutes to user's time @t-30 would subtract 30 minutes from user's time @t<30lLabel would branch to lLabel if the user had less than 30 minutes remaining. @t>30lLabel would branch to lLabel if the user had more than 30 minutes remaining. @t=@0 would set user's timelimit to whatever # was represented by the string in variable #0 @t-e4 would subtract saved errorlevel position #4 from the user's time. u...Display user parameters (see also metastrings) @uf (First name handle) @ul (Last name handle) @uw (Whole handle) @uN (Real name) @un (Number of total calls) @um (Number of calls today) @uo (Number of calls remaining) @up (Number of calls allowed per day) @uc (Time allowed per call) @ut (Total time allowed per day) @us (Last call date) @ua (Last call time) @uF (Time used so far today) @uu (# of uploads) @uU (Uploaded Kb) @ud (# of downloads) @uD (Downloaded Kb) @uA (Age) @uL (Lastread message pointer for current message area) @uC (City) @uS (State) @uZ (Zipcode) v...Set user parameters @vp (Change password) @vh (Change handle) @vl (Change screen length) @vw (Change screen width) @v1 (Change phone #1) @v2 (Change phone #2) @vz (Change zipcode) @vs (Change state) @vc (Change city) @vC (Change Computer Type) @vg (Toggle ANSI) @vf (Toggle ANSI Fullscreen editor preference) @vm (Toggle More?) @vr (Toggle Screen Clearing) @vx (Toggle Expert bit) @vo (Toggle Special bit) @vt (Toggle Twit bit) @vM (Toggle ARQ bit) @vk (Toggle Deleted bit) @vn (Toggle NoKill bit) @vR (Toggle IgnoreRatio bit) @vH (Toggle IgnoreHours bit) @vA (Toggle ANSI cursor menu bit) @vu<arg> (Add <arg> to number of uploads) @vd<arg> (Add <arg> to number of downloads) @vU<arg> (Add <arg> to uploaded kilobyte total) @vD<arg> (Add <arg> to downloaded kilobyte total) @vF<arg> (Arg is 1 to 16, a sysop-defined flag, or 17, cold input flag, or 18, hi-ASCII flag) @vG<arg> (Arg is 1 to 3, one of the general flags) @vK Adds k from last @0D to user's download k @vL Adds # of files from last @0D to user's download # w...Write a message @w<type1> <type2> Where type1 is one of the following: 0=normal (ask for info, write message, import to message base) 1=ask and write message but don't import* 2=ask but don't write or import* 4=import MSGTMP? to message base* and type2 has one of the following values: 0=Standard first-posting 1=is a reply 2=Force to message board's Force-to name 4=Upload message to BBS via XModem (Can be ORed with any type2) 8=Not used, reserved 16=Offer private as default option *Not yet fully implemented Note that for the upload option to work, you must have a batch file in the default directory named MSGUL.BAT (see XBBS.TXT prompt #322) which accepts the following parameters: *B *p *P *T <filename, usually MSGTMP> The batch file can rearrange these parameters as required, and is expected to download <filename> into the default directory via XModem (usually with DSZ). Note that XModem is used as it will not allow the filename to be changed during the download, as could happen with ZModem and other protocols. The line editor is invoked after the upload for minor touch-ups. See FDBK.XBS sample menu for examples. x...Logoff current user @x or @x0 (logoff and drop DTR if remote) @x1 (logoff, leave DTR high, for use as Door) @x2 (logoff, set baud to 0, don't terminate XBBS...can be used to run clean-up menu) y...Print system parameters (see also metastrings) @yl (print name of last caller) @ys (print sysop's name) @yn (print system's name) @y# (print number of messages in current message area) @yc (print total system calls) @ydA (print free bytes on drive A: substitute letter of desired drive) @yM (print name of current message area) @yF (print name of current file area) z...Print a quote from a quote file @z#,<filename.ext> (if # is other than 0, if a random number between 1 and 10 is less that #, a quote is printed; otherwise, it is not. If # is 0, a quote is always printed) Examples: @z0,QUOTES.BBS (print a quote from QUOTES.BBS) @z5,QUOTES.XBS (about 50% chance a quote will be output) Note: Quote file is "standard" format with blank line between quotes. 0-9...Variable manipulation/input/output/testing & Events @0A<string>[Enter] Assigns <string> to variable #0. @0=<letter/symbol> Assign a system variable to a user variable All the metastring letters/symbols are available. Examples (quote marks are for clarity only): @0=B (If caller is 2400 baud, puts "2400" in var 0 @0=r (If last caller's handle was George, puts "George" in var 0) @0C<operand><string>[Enter]<lLabelName>[Enter] Compare variable #0 to <string>. If <operand> is ! then branch if variable #0 is not equal to <string>. If <operand> is = then branch if variable _is_ equal to <string>. Examples: If variable #0 is not equal to "^" branch to lANSIMESS: @0C!^ lANSIMESS If variable #0 is equal to "READ MESSAGES" branch to lRead: @0C=READ MESSAGES lRead @0S<string>[Enter]<lLabel> Branch if string is equal to variable #0. Only the length of string is compared (for instance, if variable #0 contained ALUMINUM, @0SALUM[Enter]lLabel would branch to lLabel. @0P Prints variable #0. @0I#<length>,<pword>,<caps>,<hot>,<type> Inputs into variable #0 up to <length-1> characters (80 max), masks echo if <pword> is not 0, forces input to uppercase if <caps> is not 0, is "hot" (doesn't need [Enter] to terminate) if <hot> is not 0, and is of one of the following types (<type>): 1=ALL (all printable chars) 2=ALPHA (alphabetical chars) 3=NUM (decimal digits) 4=ALPHANUM (alpha and digits) 5=YESNO (Y or N) 6=FILE SPEC 7=FILE SPEC w/ PATH 8=FILE SPEC w/ WILDCARDS 9=FILE SPEC w/ PATH & WILDCARDS 10=NAME (2 words, both capitalized) 11=NEAT (first char of each word capitalized) 12=PHONE (a phone number, with mask if conf.genphone=NO) 13=DATE (a date, with mask) 14=SUBJECT (first char capitalized) 15=YESNO (no echo) 16=FILE SPEC no extension 17=[reserved] 18=ANSIIN (cursor keys inc/dec # represented by var) 19=Set default for ANSIIN (see sample CONFIGUR.GBS) 20=FILE SPEC (BATCH) 21=FILE SPEC (BATCH w/ WILDCARDS) 22=FILE SPEC (BATCH w/ WILDCARDS & PATH) 23=FILE SPEC (BATCH w/ PATH) 24=TRUEANSI (cursor key sequences, i.e. ESC[1C) 25=WORD (no spaces, alpha only) 26=WORDNUM (no spaces alpha or digit) 27=BITS (- or X) 28=ANY (anything) 29=ANYNOECHO (same, no echo) 30=HYPER (Used by hypertext reader) 31=THRU (INKEY$-like) 32-64=[Reserved] 65=YESNOQ (Y N or Q) 66-127=[Reserved] 128=RECORD (or any type with 128, input *won't* use macro buff) 129-255=[Reserved] Examples: Input a single uppercased character "hot": @0I1 0 1 1 1 Input a word up to 32 characters long: @0I33 0 0 0 2 Input a filespec: @013 0 1 0 6 @0F<U,D or N> Do a FindFirst on the file spec in variable #0. Set Errorlevel variable if not found; otherwise, return actual filename in variable #0. If extra arg is U, searches Upload path. If D, searches Download path. If N, no path is prepended. See BIMODEM.XBS sample menu for examples. @0f Do a FindNext and react as for @0F. See BIMODEM.XBS sample menu for example. @0+ Increment the time stamp of all files matching the file spec in variable #0 in the current download path by 1 (the # of downloads pointer). See BIMODEM.XBS sample menu for example. @0c<arg> Copy the contents of variable #0 into variable #<arg>. @0t<arg1> <arg2> Test the string in variable #0 as a number. If less than <arg1> or greater than <arg2> it will fail the test, and the errorlevel variable will be set. This can be tested with @e. @0T<lLabel1>,<lLabel2>,...<lLabel255> Does an "ON...GOTO" based on the number represented by the string in variable #0. If variable #0 is "1", lLabel1 would be sought, and so forth. Don't exceed 255 character width per line. Example: @0TlNull,lPass1,lLen1,lWid1,lGra1,lMore1,lFull1,lScrn1,lComp1 (See sample menu CONFIGUR.GBS) @0D Lists the files as contained in variable name (works with batches and wildcards). If the user doesn't have enough time to download everything, internal errorlevel is set to 2. If no files were found, internal errorlevel is set to 1. @0a1 Parse through variable 0 one character at a time with character copied to variable 1 (in this case). For instance, if variable 0 contained "Hello", the first call would result in variable 0 containing "ello" and variable 1 containing "H"; the second call would produce "llo" and "e", etc. @0p1<delimiters> Parse through variable 0 by delimiter string. For instance, if variable 0 contained "Here,There" and "@0p1 ," was called, variable 0 would contain "There" and variable 1 would contain "Here". @0s Strip leading and trailing blanks from variable 0. @0|<#> Concatenate variable 0 with variable <#>. @0/<[e]#>[[e]#] Return in variable 0 the string currently in variable 0 starting at position <#> for [#] characters. If <#> is out of range, the internal errorlevel is set and no change is made to the variable. If [#] is missing or out of range, the remainder of the string is returned. If # is preceded by the letter e, the corresponding saved errorlevel is used. @0V<#><lLabel> Branch to <lLabel> if variable 0 exactly matches variable <#>. @0Z<string>[Enter]<lLabel> Branch to <lLabel> if <string> is found within variable 0. The internal errorlevel is set to the position within variable 0 where <string> starts. @0i<#><lLabel> Branch to <lLabel> if variable <#> is found within variable 0. The internal errorlevel is set to the position within variable 0 where variable <#> starts. @0e<#> Assign string representing saved errorlevel #<#> to variable 0. @0U<#> Copy variable 0 into user string variable #. @0d<#> Print variable 0 after converting any metastrings contained in it. @0l Lowercase variable 0. @0u Uppercase variable 0. @0k Copy contents of keyboard macro buffer into variable 0. @0g<environment_variable or @#> Copy value of environment variable into variable 0. Can be used to make menus for distribution portable. @0b Copy value of variable 0 into the associated filename. Can be used to be sure associated filename is cleared before posting a non-associated message in an associated area. Note that 0 could have been any digit between 0 and 9 in the above, and would have affected the variable represented by the changed digit. Events: There is one additional @<#> command that relates to Events instead of variables. Events are set up with this command, and XBBS tracks the event and executes the named file when the timelimit drops to below what you specify with this command. Format: @<#>E<seconds>,<filename.ext> Example: @0E360,THRMIN.XBS (would gosub to THRMIN.XBS at the earliest possible moment after 360 seconds remaining to the user...event #0) To turn an event off, set <seconds> to 0. Events are automatically turned off after they occur. ~...Clear screen if user parameter allows screen clearing in either graphics or ASCII mode @~ ESC...(an actual escape character, 0x01b or 27 decimal) Send text to ANSI users Example: @ESCESC[0;1;32m (Set green text on black background if user has ANSI graphics enabled...otherwise ignore) Text followed by the @ is ignored by XBBS if the user is _not_ in ANSI graphics mode. Text files with ANSI codes in them (i.e. the "pretty" or "sharp" screens and menus you might want your users to see) can be easily edited with ANSI editors (like TheDraw or PCCrayon) and integrated into your menus, if you like. Note that the ESC directly behind the @ is *not* sent (different as of 1.14)! You can set color/graphics attributes by entering: ESC[#;#;#m where the first number is normal, bold or dim, the second number is the desired foreground attribute or color, and the third is the desired background color. Here are some suggested attributes and colors 0 Normal (white against black background) 1 Bold/intensity ON (bright foreground) 2 Bold/intensity OFF (normal foreground) 30 black foreground 40 black background 31 red foreground 41 red background 32 green foreground 42 green background 33 yellow foreground 43 yellow background 34 blue foreground 44 blue background 35 magenta foreground 45 magenta foreground 36 cyan foreground 46 cyan background 37 white foreground 47 white background You can position the cursor at a particular position on the screen with ESC[#;#H (i.e. ESC[1;1H to put the cursor at the top left corner of the screen). For more details on ANSI graphics attributes, as well as ANSI cursor movement sequences, you should consult your DOS user's guide or technical reference manual. You would be amazed at all the things you can do with ANSI sequences. See the sample menus for more examples and usages. Don't overlook the fact that you can do @ESC@blIfANSI !...Turn FOSSIL carrier detect watchdog on/off @! Be very careful using this function with Opus!Comm. OCOM_530 has a bug that doesn't allow the watchdog to be turned on. OCOM_531 has a bug that doesn't allow the watchdog to be turned back off. This means your computer will reboot at carrier loss at any time after turning watchdog on, possibly even before XBBS can finish updating the user file during a normal logoff! BNU should work reliably for you if you need the watchdog, or there are external programs to do the job (WATCHBIRD purports to force a return to DOS instead of a reboot). $...Miscellaneous control functions @$0Filename.Ext[Enter] Set name of startfile and quit current file (back up a gosub then goto) @$1Filename.Ext[Enter] Set name of startfile and restart XBBS from the beginning Don't use this until logon is complete! @$2<0 or 1> Turn on/off gosubfile keys Please note that you should be careful with Gosub files. You should not use them in a situation where you will not return to them! Stack space will be eaten and your BBS would probably crash. @$3<0 or 1> Turn on/off gotofile keys Please note that you should be careful with Goto files. It is still possible to get into a situation that can only be cleared up by reexecuting LOGON with a suitable -R<filename> argument. @...Set up Selected Read search strings (for @r type 8) @@<#><var # or text> (where we're talking about ctrl-a+@) @@0 (Resets all search strings to null) @@1<var # or text> (Copies var # or text to the From: search string) @@2<var # or text> (Set the To: search string) @@3<var # or text> (Set the Subj: search string) @@4<var # or text> (Set the Msg. Body: search string) Examples: @@10 (Copy contents of variable #0 into the From: search string When a type 8 read is executed, messages From: whatever is in the search string will be read; others will be skipped.) @@3IBM (Copy "IBM" into Subj: search string) &...Look up message area or file area @&<arg><Filename.EXT or var #>,<Area Name or var #>[,Security level #] @&M<Filename.EXT>,<Area Name> looks up Area Name in the MSGAREAS.XBS-style file designated by Filename.EXT. The internal errorlevel is set if there is no match. If the area is found, the message board structure is set up with the information from the file. Security information works the same way it does in Bulls-mode, i.e. no access (a no-match) if seclvl #0<substat1 for that area. @&m<Filename.EXT>,<var #> looks up Area Number in var # in the MSGAREAS.XBS-style file designated by Filename.EXT. Other than using area # instead of area name, works as above. Note you must use a variable with this version of the command. @&F<Filename.EXT>,<Area Name>,<Security level #> looks up Area Name in the FLSEARCH.CTL-style file designated by Filename.EXT (with extended fields Flags and Upload path). The internal errorlevel is set if there is no match. If the area is found, the file board structure is set up with the information from the file. The user's security level #<Security level #> is tested against the area's security and access is denied (no-match) if too low. (There is no corresponding @&f because file areas don't have numbers. However, you can have XBBS search for a file area by number if the Area Name begins with a # sign. KEEP IN MIND: The number can be different for every user, as it hinges on both the file used to look up the areas and the user's security number. For instance, if the user has access to the first and fourth areas listed, the fourth area will be #2 to him. Therefore, this should be used only for user input and not relied upon in programming.) @&L<Filename.EXT> lists all msg areas to which the user has access; Area #, Area Name, Area Description @&l<Filename.EXT>,,<Security level #> lists all file areas to which the user has access; Area #, Area Name, Area Description Examples: @&FFLSEARCH.CTL,XBBS Programs,0 @&MMSGAREAS.XBS,XBBS Echo @&mMSGAREAS.XBS,5 @&LMSGAREAS.XBS @&lFLSEARCH.CTL,,0 See also sample menus AREAMSFL.XBS, SETAREA.XBS and FILEMESS.XBS +...Change current filename and restart or just restart @+Filename.Ext @+ In the first example, the current filename is changed to Filename.Ext and the file is closed then restarted. In the second example, the current filename is unaffected, but the file is still closed and restarted. -...Change user's security level @-<arg1><arg1> Sets user's security level #<arg1> to <arg2>. *...Go to Bulls-mode @*Drive:\Path\Filename.Ext @* @*Drive:\Path\Filename.Ext 1 @*Drive:\Path\Filename.Ext 2 @*Drive:\Path\Filename.Ext 3 In the first example, areas would be read from Filename.Ext. Areas are kept in the same basic format as an @M line (without the leading @M, and with a few extra optional parameters--just use XEdit, okay?). In the second example, the default MSGAREAS.XBS would be used (in the current message directory). In the third example, the [U]pload message command will be active. In the fourth example, the [X]tract option is active, and in the fifth example, both [U]ploading and [X]tracting are permissible. Bulls-mode approximates the style of the XBBS Bulls door, allowing users to read messages in any of the listed areas. One thing is slightly different: The first security level for each area determines whether the user will have access to that area (see @M entry). Therefore, if SubStat0 is greater than the user's security level 0, that area will be ignored. You must set the starting area with an @M statement before entering Bulls-mode. A sample MSGAREAS.XBS file can be found in HEADEDIT.PAK in the distribution archive. If you are allowing Xtraction, you must set up the file area before invoking Bulls-mode. The file area directories should be .\MPORT for incoming reply packets and .\XPORT for outgoing mail packets (append node number if other than 1). \...Change Alternate Zone:Net/Node @\Zone:Net/Node@Domain Example: @\1:380/16@FidoNet Note that XBBS insists on a fully qualified address including domain (except for point designator. XBBS will not function as a point (it's always .0, or the boss). HeadEdit will.) and doesn't bother checking to see if you messed it up, so use this carefully. :...Change message directory @:Drive:\Path\ Example: @:D:\XBBS\MESS\ @...(Control-a) Turn "Cold Input" option on/off @@0 turns cold keys off @@1 turns cold keys on ^B...(Control-b) Display line if and only if the user's Special flag is set @^B^V^Y@; (Emit an Avatar sequence if Special flag is set. For information on Avatar, see FSC-0037) ^C...(Control-c) Put the contents of a variable into the input stream and process as if it was a line in the .?BS file. @0A@r0,0 @^C0 (Reads a message) ^D...(Control-d) Display line locally only after translating any metastrings ^E...(Control-e) Display line normally after translating any metastrings ^F...(Control-f) Set the prompt number to be displayed when the help key (CTRL-T) is pressed. Numbers should be from 601-???. XBBS will display that prompt when CTRL-T is pressed at an input point. Set to 0 to disable help ("Sorry, no help" is displayed) or 65535 to completely disable (only a beep is sent if the help key is pressed). Note help won't work with ansi cursor menues (it'd destroy the display), so build it in if you need it. ^K...(Control-k) Display line if and only if user's expert flag is set. ^L...(Control-l) Display line if and only if user's twit flag is set. ^N...(Control-n) Display line if and only if user can receive high ASCII characters (either high-ASCII or graphics set) ^O...(Control-o) Display line if and only if flag x (1-16) is set: @^O<##>,line_to_display ^P...(Control-p) Display line if and only if user cannot receive high ASCII characters (neither high-ASCII nor graphics set) ^Q...(Control-q) Display line if and only if user has high-ASCII set ^R...(Control-r) Display line if and only if user arq flag is set ^S...(Control-s) Display line if and only if user generic flag x (1-3) is set @^S<#>,line_to_display ^T...(Control-t) Send line to modem; do not echo locally. CR/LF is stripped but may be added with metastring. @^T<-[6n (Send ANSI DSR to remote without local echo) ^U...(Control-u) Set/Reset/Test/Clear user variable as a bit field @^Us112 (Set bit 12 in user variable #1) @^Ur044 (Reset bit 44 in user variable #0) @^Ut044 (Test bit 44 in user variable #0--return in internal errorlevel) @^Uc1 (Reset all bits in user variable #1) Remember that user strings are 76 bytes long (total) with 8 bit 'flags' in each byte. There are 5 user strings (0-4). This function does no error checking, so don't screw up. ^X<option>...Invoke an automatic mode. Possible values for <option>: B...Bulls C...Configure user D...Doors F...Files f...File area list/pick L...Library M...Macros m...Message area list/pick N...Scan nodelist n...News S...Select a file (must follow with var num, directory and mask) Example: @^X0c:\files *.txt V...View archive (must follow with filename, d/l path assumed if none given) X...Ijit x...Ijit w/ pulldown menus (warning: variables 0-9 will be wiped) Note XBBS' Ijit defaults are used in all cases where defaults are applicable, except for Library and News which will accept the name of the directory (including trailing backslash) following, and file and message area list/pick: @m[optional msgareas.xbs-style file filename] @f<mandatory security level #, 0-9>------------. .-->[optional flsearch.ctl-style file filename] | | , `------------------------------------------------ ^W...Escape ^a's Escapes ^a's so they can be displayed if necessary ;...Put a comment in your .?BS file. This is skipped (not displayed). You could also use @l, but this is less likely to cause confusion later (is it a label or a comment?) ?...Random branching. @?5lLabel0,lLabel1,lLabel2,lLabel3,lLabel4,lLabel5 Branch randomly to one of the following labels. /<c or #>...Keyboard recording buffer (for use w/ macros) @/c...Clears keyboard recording buffer @/#...Copies keyboard recording buffer into variable # =<@# or text>...Assign text to msginfo variable @=Delete @=@1 If the msginfo variable has information in it before a msg is written, it will be inserted into the next msg written as a ^aINFO: <variable><cr> kludge line. When a msg with a ^aINFO: kludge line is read, the information is placed into the msginfo variable (however, replying to the msg zeros the variable). This can allow you to place special hidden information in a msg for use by after-msg functions like EXTRAMSG.XBS and VIEWFILE.XBS. Note that text after a ^aINFO: line, although hidden, can be "found" when searching the msg body while Selected Reading. '<title color>,<color>,<title>,<top prompt bar>[,<top pos>,[<down pos>],[<helpfile>]] @'37,36,CHOOSE,Read_Msg Write_Msg Quit<cr> Make a crude pull-down menu. Variables are assumed to hold the pull-down prompts (var #0 would hold prompts for first selection, var #1 for second, etc. If var is empty, choice alone is sufficient). Returns (in internal errorlevel) selection #*10 if top choice with no var prompts is selected, selection #*10+pull down choice, or 0 (aborted with ESC or CTRL-K). Screen is cleared on abort, not on valid selection. ANSI graphics are required for this function, so test the user's ANSI before calling it. See sample file PULLDOWN.XBS. Note that this probably shouldn't be used with speeds below 2400 baud (and might be too slow for that, too...). The pull-down menus are a compromise between speed and looks, but they don't look all that bad. They use positive cursor positioning in an attempt to minimize bad screens caused by line noise. As of XBBS 1.12, there is a variation on the pull-down menus (just a tree-structured menu) which can be sent to ASCII users, so you don't have to worry too much about blocking non-ANSI users from this. As of XBBS 1.14, you can pass a top-position and a down-position for the menu to start at. These fields are optional to maintain backward compatibility. Again, it's not really intended that you write your entire BBS using pulldown menus, but it does add some flash. About the helpfile parameter: XBBS will used named help to try to help the user out if you pass this. How it works: If the user has pulldowns, hitting ? or the coniguration help key on any item gets help for that item by its name; for example, if the user is on a top-line item "Msgs", XBBS will try to find a help entry "Msgs" in the helpfile. If the user is on a pulldown item under "Msgs" called "Read", XBBS tries to find a help entry "Msgs|Read". It works a little differently for non-graphics users (using the ASCII tree-menu instead of the pulldown). Since the tree-menu isn't "on" a particular item, just either at the main prompt or a subtree, what you get is either topic "@Main" if the user is at the main prompt or, for example, "Msgs" if in the "Msgs" subtree. Clear as mud? "...Clear to end of screen from current cursor position ANSI is obviously required. .(a period)<sec lvl #><Filename.EXT> Invoke XBBS' built-in Door-mode. Uses DOORLIST.XBS (or as indicated in XBBS.TXT) and security level 3 as a default. DOORLIST.XBS should have the following format (one entry per line): Security_level Name Type<Errorlevel> String_to_spawn/exec Description_Text Types can be: S=Spawn E=Exec X=Exit D=Dos d=Dos - write/read exit files s=Spawn - write/read exit files I=Spawn reverse swapsetting H=Spawn leave FOSSIL hot For example: 5 Peeker S PEEKER.EXE_B*B_C*P_AFLSEARCH.CTL_D:\XBBS\ Archive_Door 6 Maze X15 Nothing Messages_and_Adventure With this, users with a security level 5 could run Peeker but not Maze, which would require 6 or greater. Peeker is spawned, Maze is exitted to with an ERRORLEVEL of 15. Note the String_to_spawn/exec is not used with exit types, but you must put something there if you want to have a description. Descriptions are optional. Example: @.3DOORLIST.XBS ,<sec lvl #><Filename.EXT> Invoke XBBS' built-in Files-mode. Uses FLSEARCH.CTL as the default (or as indicated in XBBS.TXT) and security level #2. `...'Rolling' prompt @`Text_one Text_two Text_n XBBS replaces the underlines with spaces and displays the first 'word' of text. Cursor keys cause the next/previous word of text to be shown. [Enter] selects. Internal errorlevel is set to indicate the selection. First character of a 'word' can also be pressed to select. [<variable #>,<title>,<filename>,<color> Invoke an ANSI-only list-pick screen. Displays all lines of file (21 per page) and allows user to position a reversed video bar atop a line and strike [Enter] to select it. Returns the string selected in the variable # specified. Internal errorlevel is set on error or abort by [ESCape/CTRL-K]. ]<0 or 1, append if 1>,<filename>,<mask>,<path to include> Invoke a function that makes a list of filenames that can be used with @[ above. If <path to include> is not nul, prepends that string to each entry. Internal errorlevel is set if the file cannot be opened. {<0 or 1, append if 1>,<title>,<filein>,<color>,<fileout>,<prepend> Invoke an ANSI-only list-mark screen. Displays all lines of filein (21 per page) and allows user to position a reversed video bar atop a line and strike [Enter] to mark it. When all entries desired are marked, the user can strike [CTRL-K] to create fileout containing only the marked entries. If prepend is not nul, it is prepended to each line of fileout as it is written. Internal errorlevel is set on error or abort by [ESCape]. Note that this function preloads all lines into memory (up to 4096 lines), so it can use a lot of RAM. It can quite possibly require more with very large lists than you have available. Beware. Example: @;Make a file to select from @]0,temp.,*.*, @;Let user mark files from temp and create temp2 @{0,Pick a file; any file,temp.,,temp2. }<filename>,<topic> Looks up a topic in a file and reads all lines under that topic until the next topic. Topics are delimited by <> brackets (flush left). A topic name <end> indicates no more topics are available. Example of a named help file: <hi> Hello. <bye> Goodbye. Come again. <end> ><area#><starting#>...Fidonet export Export messages from area <area#> starting at message <starting#> to a Fidonet(tm) packet. The packet is created in the Xport directory with a filename of <4-digit-net-in-hex><4-digit-node-in-hex>.PKT. It is *not* archived; you'll probably want to archive it into a filename 00000000.MO? to sorta follow Fidonet conventions. If the area# parameter is 0, all areas are exported from sequentially. The currently defined message area is used if the area# parameter is non-zero. If starting# is zero, export begins from the first new message. If a packet exists, it is appended to, so don't leave packets from users laying around in the Xport directory after a user logs off. All messages will have the MSGAREAS.XBS name in them as an AREA: tag. A few notes on this type of extraction: Advantages: 1. You don't have packets for all your points lying around taking up disk space until they pick them up. 2. Points don't need a mailer. 3. Points can use any point message reading software (HeadEdit, MsgEd, GoldEd, etc.) and message base format they choose and upload reply packets in Fidonet format for you to import with your echomail import software (probably XST). Disadvantages: 1. The user has to wait while messages are extracted. It's a pretty fast process, but not instantaneous. 2. You lose security. You can't be sure what the user's software will let him put into messages, or that the user can properly handle his software. 3. Messages sent to local areas will have origin lines unless the user's software allows originless echos (HeadEdit does). Local areas do not have to be marked as echos on your system for XBBS to export from them. They probably *do* have to be marked as echoes on the point's system so that replies can be exported back to you. This could result in local messages with tear/origin lines unless the user's software allows him to turn tear/origin lines off on a conference-by-conference basis. A user cannot use this function unless you've assigned him a point number with XUser. Note that if you intend to forward echo messages returned from points by this process your MSGAREAS.XBS-type file must contain the AREA: tag of the echo in the name field. This is because other echo mail processors down the line won't understand some arbitrary name you decide to give to an area. For instance, if you're pointing the NET_DEV echo out, name it NET_DEV, not The Network Developer's Echo Conference or NET_FLAME (however appropriate it might be). |#<args>...Hypertext links @|0<name of hypertext (topic) file> This loads the hypertext file index. The internal errorlevel is set if this fails. A variable may be used for the filename as @|0*0 @|1<topic name> This sets the first topic for a hypertext read. The internal errorlevel is set if this fails to find the topic. A variable may be used for the topic name as above. @|2<#> This reads the hypertext file (be sure you set it up as above first!). <#> is mandatory and determines which security level (0-9) will be used to regulate access to various topics in the file if you are using the security function. XBBS.TXT-spawned hypertext reads always use security level 0. Hypertext files are *not* reentrable, that is you can't run one, then call another from an XBBS.TXT prompt or menu file and return to the one you left and expect the world as we know it to continue. @|| Frees hypertext buffers. About hypertext formats: Hypertext files have the following format: Topic line 1 Text... Topic line 2 Text... ... Topic line 100 Text... <end> Here's a breakdown of a topic line: ┌───Topic name (up to 22 characters) │ ┌┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬┐┌───Literal '>' character │││││││││││ <topic name> K### min### flags### │ ││││ ││││││ ││││││││ │ │└┴┤ └┴┴┴┴┤ └┴┴┴┴┴┴┴───(Future) flags req'd │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───Minimum security req'd (0-65535) │ │ │ │ │ └───Type of link (0-15) │ │ │ └───The key that selects this topic │ └───Literal `<' character flush left The 16 types of links currently supported are: 0. Displays text, doesn't run through metastring converter 1. Displays text, does run through metastring converter 2. Send command on first text line to DOS Link to topic on second text line 3. Load new hypertext file named on first text line Start at topic on second text line 4. Place text from first text line into menu file input stream Point to topic on second text line Return to menu file called from 5. Switch start menu file to name on first text line Point to topic on second text line Begin reading new menu file 6. Paged-read text file named on first text line Link to topic on second text line 7. Gosub to menu named on first text line Link to topic on second text line 8. Spawn string on first text line Link to topic on second text line 9. Exec string on first text line 10. Send string on first text line to DOS Link to topic on second text line 11. Exit at errorlevel indicated on first text line 12. Spawn string on first text line, leave FOSSIL hot Link to topic on second text line 13. Spawn string on first text line, swap if swap is off (reverse swap setting) Link to topic on second text line 14. Spawn string on first text line, save & reload ONLINE.XBS Link to topic on second text line 15. Send string on first text line to DOS, save & reload ONLINE.XBS Link to topic on second text line Text lines for type 0 and 1 can contain link text in {} brackets which will cause it to be reverse highlighted when read to ANSI users (don't use the brackets for types 2+). Text lines ending with ; will not be cr/lf terminated. "Invisible" links may be put into topic text by putting the topic name within [] brackets on a line by themselves, flush left. Additionally, as with XBBS.TXT lines, a leading control character on a text line can change its effect: ASCII value Effect XLate Used =========== ======================================= ======= ==== 2 Put text in menu buffer no no 3 Sent to log file yes no 4 Printed local only yes yes 5 ANSI users only yes no 6 ASCII users only yes no 11 Gosub to this file yes no 14 Paged-read this file yes no 15 Send this text to DOS (shell) yes no 16 Put text in menu buffer yes no 17 Pause until return hit (line ignored) n/a n/a 18 Set a new topic and go to it no no 19 Clear screen (line ignored) n/a n/a 20 Say a prompt no no 21 Use line only if twit flag is on yes no 22 Use line only if special flag is on yes no 23 Read named help from file,topic no n/a 24 Read a .MNU menu file no n/a 25 Right-justify line no no 28 Center line no no Here's a brief, simple, meaningless sample: -------------------Cut--------------------- <Start> S0 Well, this is the start of the whole thing. From here, you can go to the {Middle} or the {End}. <Middle> M0 [Link] This here is the middle. You can go to the {Start} or the {End}. <End> E0 And, finally, this is the end. You can get back to the {Start} or just to the {Middle} from here. <Link> L3 tester2.tpc Middle <end> -------------------Cut--------------------- Hypertext files can contain a maximum of 100 topics. If you don't pass a path with the hypertext filename, XBBS figures you put them in (BBS's homepath)\HYPER, and if you didn't, it won't read them. If you're interested in more flexible hypertext files, look for XHYPER*.*, written by Ariel Szczcupak of 2:4177/1. This is a sophisticated hypertext system written in XBASIC, including source.