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Text File | 1990-02-18 | 10.5 KB | 295 lines

Zipster 2.5 by Bill Hay A Door to View/Read/Test/Extract Zipfiles February 18, 1990 Table of Contents: I - Files Needed II - Basic Features of Zipster III - Disclaimer IV - The Zipster Configuration File V - Using Zipster with QuickBBS VI - Using Zipster with other BBSes VII - Trouble Shooting VIII - Acknowledgements IX - Reaching the Author I. Files Needed Zipster should include the following four files: ZIPSTER.EXE - The Zipster door ZIPSTER.DOC - This documentation file ZIPSTER.CFG - The sample configuration file ZIPSTER.NEW - The list of changes to Zipster Zipster is basically a BBS shell for Phil Katz's PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE utilities. It was tested with version 1.02 of those utilities, available as PKZ102.EXE on many bulletin board systems. Zipster was tested with version 2.63 of QuickBBS, but should work with most types of BBS software that create a DORINFO1.DEF file. Zipster requires a fossil driver, such as BNU 2.70 by David Nugent. A fossil driver allows for greater compatibility with various computer systems. QuickBBS also requires a fossil driver, so this does not mean any added work for QuickBBS sysops. II. Basic Features of Zipster Zipster allows the viewing of Zipfiles on QuickBBS systems, and also allows the reading, testing, and extraction of files within Zipfiles. Zipfiles almost always end in .ZIP, but Zipster can also handle self-extracting Zipfiles that end in .EXE. Zipster will monitor a user's remaining time, whether carrier is dropped, and whether the user waits too long to press a key. Do not use a separate utility to monitor the carrier. When Zipster is run, it locates the file DORINFO1.DEF which is created by QuickBBS. This file gives Zipster information such as the user's remaining time, graphics capability, and security level. If the sysop wants more than one directory to be checked for Zipfiles, Zipster will use a file called FLSEARCH.CTL (QuickBBS sysops should already be familiar with this file) to determine the directories in which to search. If the user does not have a high enough security level for a given directory, then that directory is not searched. III. Disclaimer Zipster has been tested by the author and it appears to be safe. However, only use this program if you agree not to hold the author responsible for any damage that it may cause your system. IV. The Zipster Configuration File The sysop must edit a configuration file called ZIPSTER.CFG in order for Zipster to function. Here is a sample: C:\BBS\DORINFO1.DEF The Teletech BBS C:\UTILITY\PKZIP.EXE C:\UTILITY\PKUNZIP.EXE C:\BBS\WORK C:\BBS\FILES\UPLOADS 250 The file is 7 lines total, and breaks down into this: Line 1 - The path and name for DORINFO1.DEF. QuickBBS, OLEcom, XBBS, and some other BBSes create a file called DORINFO1.DEF when a door is executed. The file is placed in the main BBS directory. Line 2 - The name of your BBS. Line 3 - The path and name of your PKZIP utility. (PKZIP can be named whatever you choose). Line 4 - The path and name of your PKUNZIP utility. (PKUNZIP can also be named whatever you choose). Line 5 - An empty directory that Zipster can use as a work directory. Line 6 - The directory where EXTRACT.ZIP will be placed. EXTRACT.ZIP is the name of the Zipfile that extracted files are placed in, so this line should specify a directory from which files can be downloaded. Line 7 - The Maximum size for EXTRACT.ZIP. This prevents a user from creating huge extract files in an attempt to decrease the number of their downloads. Also, it prevents an evil hacker from trying to clog your system with a 20 Meg Zipfile. I suggest you place 250 here, which means the file cannot be added to once it reaches 250 kilobytes. V. Using Zipster with QuickBBS A. The Preferred Method for QuickBBS If you want to have Zipster search more than one directory, you will need to have QuickBBS's FLSEARCH.CTL set up, and have it placed in the main BBS directory. The directions for setting this up are in the QuickBBS documentation, and also in the section below (Part VI). First, put ZIPSTER.EXE and ZIPSTER.CFG in the QuickBBS directory. Next, create a QuickBBS Type 7 menu item, with this on the Optional Data line: To search all directories : ZIPSTER.EXE To search a single directory : ZIPSTER.EXE [Name of directory] For example : ZIPSTER.EXE C:\BBS\UPLOADS If no directory was specified, Zipster will use FLSEARCH.CTL to search all the directories in which a user has high enough security to view. If a directory was specified, then Zipster will only search that directory. FLSEARCH.CTL will not be used in this case. The sysop is able to set up his menus so that only a person with a high enough security level for the directory is allowed to use the door. B. The Not-Preferred Method for QuickBBS Zipster can also be called from a batch file, but will not load as quickly. The advantage is that ZIPSTER.EXE and ZIPSTER.CFG do not have to reside in the BBS directory. Here are two examples, both of which assume ZIPSTER.EXE and ZIPSTER.CFG are in the directory C:\ZIPVIEW: To use FLSEARCH.CTL to To search a single search directories: directory: CD \ZIPVIEW CD \ZIPVIEW ZIPSTER.EXE ZIPSTER.EXE C:\BBS\UPLOADS CD \BBS CD \BBS EXIT EXIT If the chosen batch file was called ZIPVIEW.BAT, this would be the Optional Data line for a QuickBBS Type 7 menu item: *C /C C:\ZIPVIEW\ZIPVIEW.BAT VI. Using Zipster with other BBSes If you are using a type of Bulletin Board System that creates a file called DORINFO1.DEF when it shells to DOS, then chances are it will work with Zipster. OLEcom, XBBS, RBBS, and other BBSes create such a file, and will probably work fine with Zipster (as long as it is a single-node BBS). If your BBS does not use a fossil driver, then make sure you load a fossil driver before running Zipster. If you want to have Zipster handle more than one directory, you will need to create a file called FLSEARCH.CTL. This file tells Zipster which directories to search for files in, and also whether or not a user has a high enough security level for a given directory. FLSEARCH.CTL should go in the directory where DORINFO1.DEF will be, which is not necessarily the Zipster directory! Here is the structure of FLSEARCH.CTL: [Directory] [Security Level Needed] [Name of Directory] To give a real-world example: C:\BBS\FILES\GAMES 20 Games C:\BBS\FILES\COMM 10 Communications C:\BBS\FILES\UTIL 20 Utility_Files C:\BBS\FILES\UPLOADS 10 Uploads Note: All that is needed by Zipster are the directories and security levels. The directory descriptions were only shown because that is the format as QuickBBS originated it. ZIPSTER.EXE and ZIPSTER.CFG must reside together in the same directory. The first line of ZIPSTER.CFG specifies the name and location of DORINFO1.DEF. If more than one directory is to be searched, then create the FLSEARCH.CTL file and place it in the directory where DORINFO1.DEF will be written by the BBS. The command lines for calling Zipster are as follows: To search all directories : ZIPSTER.EXE To search a single directory : ZIPSTER.EXE [Name of directory] For example : ZIPSTER.EXE C:\BBS\UPLOADS If Zipster is called from a batch file, the batch file should switch to the directory that has ZIPSTER.EXE, and then run Zipster. For example: CD \ZIPVIEW ZIPSTER.EXE CD \BBS EXIT VII. Trouble Shooting If you run into problems, chances are the ZIPSTER.CFG or FLSEARCH.CTL file was not created properly. So it's a good idea to double check them. Another possible problem is insufficient memory. Zipster itself requires about 40K, but PKZIP and PKUNZIP will add about 90K to this. QuickBBS sysops who have insufficient memory to properly run Zipster should use the overlay version of QuickBBS, or should experiment with QuickBBS's Type 15 menu item. Type 15 removes the BBS from memory, so it is a much slower method than Type 7. For the hang-up feature, Zipster toggles the DTR. If you try this feature and it doesn't drop carrier on the caller, then you might want to try adding &D2&C1 to your modem's initialization string. The jump to DOS feature and the main test Zipfile feature look at COMSPEC for the location of COMMAND.COM. If you boot off of a floppy drive, you might want to add this to the floppy's AUTOEXEC.BAT: SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM That will speed things up a bit, and will also guard against the fact that the boot floppy may no longer be in the floppy drive, or that the floppy drive may be open. Zipster uses Bios screen writes, so its graphics should be compatible with multi-taskers. VIII. Acknowledgements Phil Katz, Loren Strand, Leif Manley, and Joshua Ellis gave me financial contributions for Zipster, which went to support my BBS. Thanks! I'd also like to thank everyone who has offered suggestions and helped test various versions of Zipster. Much credit also goes to Adam Hudson and the QuickBBS Group for writing QuickBBS, and Phil Katz for writing PKZIP and PKUNZIP. IX. Reaching the Author If you run into any bugs or problems you cannot solve, I can be reached either through my BBS or my home address: The Teletech BBS (804)671-8755 1:271/306 Bill Hay 5284 Fairfield Blvd. Virginia Beach, VA 23464 Although payment is not required for using Zipster, a contribution of ten dollars would be appreciated. All proceeds go toward the upkeep of my BBS. Thanks for trying Zipster!