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BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 1 - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 User Guide -- November 16th 1991 Worldwide (C) 1990-91 Tony Sheen, All Rights Reserved CONDITIONS OF USECONDITIONS OF USECONDITIONS OF USE___________________________________________________ You are advised that the use of this program implies complete acceptance of the terms and conditions stated in this document, so please read it all. BTD<tm> operates as specified on the author's and beta tester's BBS systems. Further, the author states that BTD contains no deliberate backdoor method(s) of accessing any part of your host BBS system. BTD is used at your own risk as NO WARRANTY IS STATED OR IMPLIED. The author shall not be held responsible for any damages resulting from its use, directly or indirectly. The only guarantee offered by the author is that BTD.COM and its associated files will take up space on your hard disc. BTD is distributed as freely available copyrighted software. Although initially distributed as an LZH archive, sysops may use any compression method acceptable to them for storage on their systems. With the SOLE EXCEPTION of virus scanning details, the author requests that BBS advertisements should NOT be included in the archive itself or in any archive comments. No fee may be charged for distribution other than a small charge to recover the costs of any disc media involved. The archive may be made available on pay BBS's provided that there is no specific charge for obtaining this program. Although BTD is may be freely used in FidoNet, non-commercial and non-corporate environments, small (or large) donations to the author will be very gratefully accepted. In this context FidoNet refers to any amateur network of a similar nature and use. Pay BBS's, commercial and corporate are defined as any systems which are directly or indirectly used to make a profit for an individual, organisation or company, or any non-FidoNet system which has over 4 lines. REGISTRATIONREGISTRATIONREGISTRATION____________________________________ Registration for FidoNet, non-commercial and/or non-corporate users in the UK is charged at a flat fee of ten pounds per BBS. The fee for overseas users is 15 pounds sterling to allow for mailing overseas, and you must ensure that the fee is redeemable in sterling. For your money, you will be sent either a 720kb or 360kb disc (yes, you get a free disc!) containing a registered copy of the latest version with the Sysop's name and/or BBS name instead of the 'Unregistered : Non-Commercial' blurb. One free non-bugfix upgrade is also offered. Bugfix versions are free if registered. The registered version may be used on up to 4 telephone lines connected to that BBS (8 for FidoNet) without further charge. Any non-FidoNet BBS which has more than 4 lines is considered commercial. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 1 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 2 COMMERCIAL USECOMMERCIAL USECOMMERCIAL USE__________________________________________ BTD<tm> is NOT to be used on a pay BBS, or a commercial or corporate BBS system without the WRITTEN permission of the author and without paying an appropriate fee. Please write to the author at the address given later for more details. THE DISTRIBUTION ARCHIVETHE DISTRIBUTION ARCHIVETHE DISTRIBUTION ARCHIVE________________________________________________________________________ The BTD_300.LZH archive, in which this program was originally supplied, contains the following files: BTD.DOC - The complete program documentation (this file!) BTD.COM - The executable program BTD.CF? - Example configuration files BTD?.BAT - Example batch files UPGRADE.GG - Upgrade information for GG.EXE users only BTD.REG - BTD registration form It may also contain the following: NEW.DOC - A list of new features and or program changes when applicable. HISTORY - A brief history of BTD releases since version 3.00 WHAT DOES IT DO ???WHAT DOES IT DO ???WHAT DOES IT DO ???_________________________________________________________ 1) BTD's main function is to answer the telephone and pass on the connection details to the host BBS software. 2) By default, BTD has been configured enable non-FidoNet sysops to run Scott Dudley's excellent Maximus-CBCS without the need to install a full scale Mailer such as Frodo. These defaults may be changed by using a configuration file (explained below). BTD also allows FidoNet Sysops to set up multiple tasks which do not need a mailer. 3) BTD will run up to 100 timed events per day. It keeps track of which events have been run and executes those that may have been missed while a user was on-line or the system was down etc. See the EVENT verb for an explanation of BTD's extended event handling capabilities. 4) BTD will either spawn the host BBS software as a child process or exit with an errorlevel appropriate to the connection speed. See the EXIT verb below. 5) It keeps a Opus/Maximus-CBCS compatible log file. 6) BTD is now Desqview aware. (My thanks to Marc Kalen for his code.) 7) BTD checks for events to run at approximately 5 second intervals. This is to enable BTD to pass up spare time to Desqview (if installed). 8) BTD allows access to the system to be restricted to preset times. 9) When running, BTD requires approx 6kb of RAM, releasing the rest to DOS. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 2 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSYSTEM REQUIREMENTSSYSTEM REQUIREMENTS_________________________________________________________ 1) 64Kb of RAM on startup. (Normal amount required by a COM file). 2) ONLY 800 BYTES of RAM (plus whatever your BBS needs) when spawning. 3) Version 3 or higher of MSDOS or PCDOS. 4) An IBM or compatible PC. (Who uses real IBM's anyway...) 5) A Hayes command set compatible modem which returns verbal responses. 6) A version 5 compatible FOSSIL. (BTD was fully tested with BNU and BTF.) 7) An installed and working BBS (might help a bit...) Although BTD has been thoroughly and successfully tested on a number of XT, AT, 386, desktop and portable PC systems at baud rates from 300 to 9600, this is not offered as a guarantee that it will work on your system. SIMILAR SOFTWARESIMILAR SOFTWARESIMILAR SOFTWARE________________________________________________ There are many similar programs, but only one other program that I know of has been written in assembler and that is MAMM by Dan Thomson of Canada. While BTD's code owes nothing to that of MAMM's, some of its capabilities were influenced by it. For this reason, BTD is configuration file compatible with MAMM version 1.00. However, no program I know of offers as many capabilities as BTD. BTD started life as GG.EXE (Garden Gate) and was written in Turbo C v1.5 then v2. GG was intended for private use by myself, friends and colleagues, although it did find its way onto a couple of BBS's! Work on the first BTD version of GG began in early August 1990 and was released in November 90. The current version of BTD was started in July 91 and continued in fits and starts as new facilities were added and as time and wife permitted. Version 3.00 of BTD is the FIRST public release. IMPORTANT NOTES FOR GG.EXE USERS UPGRADING TO BTDIMPORTANT NOTES FOR GG.EXE USERS UPGRADING TO BTDIMPORTANT NOTES FOR GG.EXE USERS UPGRADING TO BTD___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One of the biggest difference between BTD and GG is the size of the executable file. GG v2.10 was a massive 27618 bytes and yet had few extra functions. Our targets for BTD v3 were 1024 bytes when spawning and 8192 bytes in total. We did it, both on time and with room to spare. If you were using GG, please see UPGRADE.GG for the changes you'll need to make. (GG is no longer available.) Some of the most important changes you should make to your configuration file are reproduced here. 1) The /C (Callback) switch is not supported by BTD and is ignored if found on the command line. (Only 1 registered GG user employed it anyway!) 2) The H (hourly) event type prefix is no longer supported. BTD's new method of setting event times means that it is no longer required. 3) Modem and text strings are no longer surrounded by quotes. The modem strings are longer but the banner strings are now only one line. 4) The modem delay and DTR control characters ('"v^, etc) are no longer needed and will now be sent to the modem as they are not translated. 5) The @ file identifier for banners etc is not currently supported. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 3 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 4 INSTALLATIONINSTALLATIONINSTALLATION____________________________________ BTD does not need a complicated installation routine. Simply copy the BTD.COM file to the same directory as your BBS, then complete the following steps. 1) Create a configuration file that suits your needs using the verbs listed at the end of this document. Most of the verbs used by BTD are fairly standard for the BBS world. The file must be in pure ASCII (as created by EDLIN or in WordStar's non-document mode etc) and can have any legal file name. 2) Create a single batch file to run your BBS system. BTD does not create any runtime batch files (such as RUNBBS.BAT or SPAWNBBS.BAT) as it can either run the BBS program from within it, or exit with an errorlevel appropriate to the connection speed. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, the choice is yours. An example of the spawning exit mode (the default) is shown below, but see the included batch files for examples of both uses. echo off cls rem start FOSSIL btf1m /m- rem start BTD - cfg file is on RAMDRIVE E: :loop btd e:\cfgs\btd.cfg rem catch all program errors and Sysop exit if errorlevel = 241 goto exit rem catch midnight rollover, events and BBS exits if errorlevel = 240 goto midnight if errorlevel = 70 goto event2 if errorlevel = 60 goto event1 if ErrorLevel = 12 goto mailproc if ErrorLevel = 11 goto mailproc if ErrorLevel = 5 goto mailproc goto loop rem handle event 1 :event1 <do something> goto loop rem handle event 2 :event2 <do something else more interesting> goto loop rem handle mail exits :mailproc ScanBld User.Bbs Area.Dat Local goto loop rem handle midnight processing :midnight lha f syslog *.log *.bbs *.ans goto loop rem quit batch file and release FOSSIL :end cls btf1m /u BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 4 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 5 3) Although a single batch file is all that BTD needs, an explanation of the errorlevels is needed. Because your BBS software can be run from within BTD, there is no way to know whether an errorlevel was returned from BTD or from the BBS. On the other hand, if the errorlevel mode is used, you'll need to know which errorlevels are used for which speeds!! As an example, the Maximus-CBCS errorlevels are shown with BTD's. If you are not using Maximus, consult your BBS manual for the appropriate errorlevels: ErrorLevel 255 - Maximus undefined error ErrorLevel 254 - BTD configuration file syntax error(s) ErrorLevel 253 - BTD No configuration file specified ErrorLevel 252 - BTD No FOSSIL installed ErrorLevel 251 - BTD Cannot talk to modem ErrorLevel 250 - BTD Sysop exit request ErrorLevel 249 - BTD Bad statistics file ErrorLevel 248 - BTD BBS spawn problem/error ErrorLevel 247 - Unused ErrorLevel 246 - BTD DOS memory allocation failure ErrorLevel 245 - Unused ErrorLevel 244 - Unused ErrorLevel 243 - Unused ErrorLevel 242 - Unused ErrorLevel 241 - Unused ErrorLevel 240 - BTD Midnight rollover ErrorLevel 29 - BTD Remote logon with unknown speed ErrorLevel 28 - BTD Remote logon at 38400 baud ErrorLevel 27 - BTD Remote logon at 19200 baud ErrorLevel 26 - BTD Remote logon at 9600 baud ErrorLevel 25 - BTD Remote logon at 4800 baud ErrorLevel 24 - BTD Remote logon at 2400 baud ErrorLevel 23 - BTD Remote logon at 1200 baud ErrorLevel 22 - BTD Remote logon at 600 baud ErrorLevel 21 - BTD Remote logon at 300 baud ErrorLevel 20 - BTD Remote logon at 7200 baud ErrorLevel 19 - BTD Remote logon at 1275 baud ErrorLevel 18 - BTD Local logon ErrorLevel 16 - Maximus internal stack error ErrorLevel 12 - Maximus Echo/Net Mail entered ErrorLevel 11 - Maximus Net Mail entered ErrorLevel 5 - Maximus No Echo/Net Mail entered ErrorLevel 4 - Maximus Error Condition ErrorLevel 3 - Maximus Error Condition ErrorLevel 2 - Maximus Caller vanished during log-on ErrorLevel 1 - Maximus Error condition ErrorLevel 0 - BTD no error exit if used with the /T switch Errorlevels 18 to 29 are only used if the errorlevel exit mode is used. Errorlevels 30 to 239 are free for use as event exits. The example batch file assumes that it is the MASTER task. Running a mail handling utility must only be done from a single task and all other tasks must loop back to BTD. If used on a second line of a FidoNet system, you must ensure that only the main batch file does the mail scans and/or packs etc. Weird results can occur if multiple tasks are trying to read and write to the same files at the same time!! 4) If you are not going to use Maximus, setting up the configuration file will take you a little longer. Use the appropriate verbs to change the switches, switch character and BBS name etc. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 5 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 6 5) Once everything is working, set up your events. There are far too many possibilities to go into any detail here. Events are fully covered later. 6) Before leaving BTD to control access to your system, get a friend to make a few calls to ensure that everything is working to your satisfaction. If you have any suggestions for future versions/bug reports/general comments/huge donations, please send them to me at the FidoNet address below, or by mail. COMMAND LINE SWITCHESCOMMAND LINE SWITCHESCOMMAND LINE SWITCHES_______________________________________________________________ The current version of BTD supports only one command line switch. /T This switch is used to test a configuration file. In this case, BTD will not be run, but will produce a more useful list of errors if any are found. BTD.CFE is a fully commented example configuration file containing a number of deliberate errors. Please that some of errors are NOT displayed or trapped because the line syntax is correct!! RUNTIME OPTIONSRUNTIME OPTIONSRUNTIME OPTIONS_____________________________________________ Once the program is running, BTD gives you the following options: 1) Press ALT-X to terminate BTD. 2) Press ALT-L to logon to the BBS locally. 3) Press ALT-T to enter the full screen mini-terminal. 4) Press ALT-O to toggle the system Open or Closed (only if system times used). 5) Sit and watch BTD at work. (Pretty boring really...) RUNTIME INFORMATIONRUNTIME INFORMATIONRUNTIME INFORMATION_________________________________________________________ When BTD is active, an information panel appears in the centre of the screen. The number of items shown on this panel depends on some of the verb settings in the configuration file. The information displayed is fairly self-explanatory. This is the basic layout: Port: 1 Time: 20:57:30 # Callers: 2 Alt-X: Quit BTD Baud: 2400 Date: 31 Oct NonU Evnt: 35 Alt-L: Local Parm: 8N1 Usr Event: 183 Alt-T: Terminal 1275: None This is how it appears when both SYSTIME and MINTIME have been used: Port: 1 Time: 20:57:30 # Callers: 2 Alt-X: Quit BTD Baud: 2400 Date: 31 Oct NonU Evnt: 35 Alt-L: Local Parm: 8N1 Status: Closed Usr Event: 183 Alt-T: Terminal 1275: None Change: 663 Min Time: 20 Alt-O: Open/Close BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 6 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 7 MINI-TERMINALMINI-TERMINALMINI-TERMINAL_______________________________________ Although present, the terminal was undocumented in GG and all prior versions of BTD. It was originally provided to allow the beta testers access to the modem so they could check what was going on. We forgot (oh okay - I forgot) to remove it from the released versions of the code. It is now documented and has been enhanced to correctly handle carriage returns, linefeeds, tabs and backspaces. All control and other characters, including the IBM extended characters are still passed to the modem and to the screen. When BTD enters terminal mode, the modem is automatically taken off-hook and all automatic event processing and caller detection and handling is suspended until BTD returns to its normal operation. If one or more events should have been run while BTD was in terminal mode, they will be run when the terminal is exited. On exiting from terminal mode, BTD will always place the modem on-hook before checking for events and callers etc. To distinguish between the three sources of text that can appear on the terminal screen, text that is typed at the keyboard will appear in cyan. Text received from the modem appears as light cyan and system and help text is bright white. Pressing the return key will only send a carriage return to the modem. If you need a linefeed as well, press ^J (control and J) afterwards. The terminal has one function key option and a few useful ALT key functions: 1) Press F1 for a list of the ALT key functions. 2) Press ALT-A to send the ANSWER string to the modem. 3) Press ALT-C to clear the terminal screen. 4) Press ALT-E to toggle the local echo function on or off. 5) Press ALT-H to send the BUSY string and take the modem off-line. 6) Press ALT-I to send the INITialisation string. 7) Press ALT-O to put the modem back on-line while in terminal mode. 8) Press ALT-X to return to BTD's normal operation. During testing, BTD's terminal mode was used to connect to a number of different BBS systems, including Maximus, Remote Access, RBBS and PCBoard, but it does NOT support ANSI screen controls or have any download/upload capabilities. Finally, a word of caution: If someone calls your BBS while you are in terminal mode, the word 'RING' may appear on the screen. If so, you should press ALT-X to allow BTD to answer the call. If you manually answer the call using the terminal, BTD will not be able to connect with the caller. Please note that THIS IS NOT A BUG. It was never our intention that BTD's terminal would be used to connect with incoming callers. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 7 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 8 BTD CONFIGURATION FILEBTD CONFIGURATION FILEBTD CONFIGURATION FILE__________________________________________________________________ All the verbs in the configuration file must start at the beginning of the line. If the verb does not, or if a line does not start with an ASCII letter (A-Z or a-z), it will be considered a comment and is therefore ignored. If a verb does not appear in the configuration file - the default will be used instead. This may not be what you want, so take care. In normal operation, syntax errors and their line numbers are displayed, but are not kept in a log file. Use the /T switch for testing problem configurations. Any file specification may be up to 72 characters in length. Several versions of MSDOS do not support longer file specs, hence the restriction. File specs in the configuration file are terminated by a tab, a space or a carriage return. For the modem commands to use, consult your modem manual. Modem strings in the configuration file are terminated by two spaces, a tab or a carriage return. Always ensure that a string type verb (such as INIT and BANNER) is followed by the required text. If text does not follow the verb, the default setting may be erased and NOTHING used in its place. DEFAULTSDEFAULTSDEFAULTS________________________ There are now 27 verbs, but several are for configuring BTD to a BBS program and may be ignored if using Maximus-CBCS. The supported verbs and their defaults are listed below: Verb Range Default ======= ========= =========================================================== ANSWER 38 chars ATA B1275 0-2 Convert to 1200 (0) BANNER 78 chars Loading BBS... BAUD See table 2400 BBSLOG 72 chars MAX.LOG BBSNAME 12 chars MAX.EXE BUSY 38 chars AT M0 H1 CLOSED 78 chars System is closed. EVENT See verb Midnight only EXIT 0-1 Spawn to BBS (0) INIT 78 chars ATZ LEVEL 0-3 Log all messages (3) LOG 72 chars MAX.LOG MINTIME 0-1440 No time added (0) NO1275 78 chars Sorry 1200/75 (V23) calls not supported. Try 1200/1200 (V22) PARAMS See verb 8N1 (8 data bits / no parity / 1 stop bit) PORT 1-16 COM1 (1) SWBAUD 1 char B SWITCH 1 char - (hyphen) SWLOCAL 1 char K SWLOG 1 char L SWPORT 1 char P SWTASK 1 char N SWTIME 1 char T SYSTIME See verb Open 24 hours TASK 0-99 1 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 8 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 9 VERB DETAILSVERB DETAILSVERB DETAILS____________________________________ If a verb is used more than once, only the LAST setting will be used and if an entry exceeds the maximum permitted length or range, an error will be reported, but BTD will continue to run. ANSWER Tells BTD what commands to send to the modem when a caller connects. The maximum number of characters allowed is 38, but is usually ATA. If your modem has a hardware switch setting to answer the telephone, ensure it is set to allow answering by modem command and make sure the S0 register is set to 0. This ensures that the call is only answered when BTD is ready to accept it. B1275 This verb determines what will happen if a caller connects at 1200/75 (V23). Most FOSSIL's and BBS programs do not support it, and if the 1275 connection speed is allowed to pass through to the BBS unchanged, garbage on the caller's screen is the usual result. This verb aims to help remedy the problem. B1275 will accept numbers in the range 0-2. Setting B1275 to 0 (zero) tells BTD to change the 1275 connection speed to 1200 before passing it to the BBS. If set to 1, BTD will not alter the speed and lets it pass to the BBS unchanged. If set to 2, BTD will not permit 1275 callers and sends the NO1275 string back to the caller before disconnecting after 5 seconds. In all cases, the actual connect speed will be entered into the log file. NOTE: It is your responsibility to see that the modem is set correctly if 1275 calls are to be permitted. See the modem manual for the needed commands. B1275 can be ignored if your modem does not support V23. BANNER The text specified by this verb is sent to the caller just before the BBS program is run. The string is sent to the caller exactly as found in the configuration file. Only a single line of up to 78 characters is allowed. Leave the line blank for no banner. BAUD This should be set to your modem's maximum baud rate, and if you have locked your FOSSIL, you should use the locked baud rate here. BTD only supports the standard revision 5 FOSSIL speeds of: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 and 38400 baud. BBSLOG Tells BTD the drive/path/filename of the log file to be used by the BBS program. BTD passes it to the BBS with a command line switch. It is quite safe to use the same file as that used by BTD, as all files are closed before exiting or spawning. However, the same file should not be used by more than one BTD or BBS task. Most Sysops keep a separate log file for each telephone line to prevent these file sharing problems. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 9 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 10 BBSNAME Tells BTD the name of the executable program file that will be used when spawning to your BBS program. If you do not use MAX.EXE, use this verb to tell BTD the name of your BBS program. It must not contain a path or drive specification, just the name of the executable program - INCLUDING - the file extension. (EG MAX.EXE) BUSY Tells BTD what commands to send to the modem to take it off-hook (busy the line). The maximum number of characters allowed is 38. These commands are sent to the modem just before BTD runs an event, connects locally to the BBS or when BTD is terminated with ALT-X. NOTE: Using the ATH1 command to busy a phone line is disliked by many PTT's (including the UK and Canada) and is illegal in some countries. CLOSED The line of text specified by this verb is sent to the caller if the system is closed, and it should perhaps contain the reason why and the opening time. Only a single line of up to 78 characters is allowed. Leave blank for no closed message. See SYSTIME for more information. EXIT This verb determines how BTD will access your BBS software. If set to 0 (zero), it will spawn your BBS program as a child process. If set to 1, it will exit with an errorlevel appropriate to the connect speed. 0 and 1 are the only parameters allowed here. If EXIT is set to 1 and an unknown connection speed is encountered, BTD will always exit with errorlevel 29. If EXIT is set to 0, BTD will pass that speed to the BBS software unchanged. When EXIT mode 1 is used, BTD is not able to pass on the task number, port number, time remaining until the next event, or the name of the log file. All this must be done in your controlling batch file. INIT This verb specifies your modem's initialisation commands which will be sent to the modem when BTD starts. The commands to send can be found in your modem manual. Spaces are not needed between the commands, but it does aid readability. The maximum number of characters is 78. If your initialisation is stored in non-volatile RAM, it should simply be ATZ. You must make sure that verbal responses are returned (usually ATV1) and that the extended results codes are on (usually ATX3 or ATX4). See also the notes on the ANSWER verb. Any '"~,^ or v characters are sent to the modem exactly as found, so if your modem doesn't need or understand them, don't use them because they are not translated! LEVEL This verb determines the amount of detail that BTD will display on the screen and enter into the log file. Setting LEVEL to 0 (zero) will display only the most basic information, while 3 displays the most. LOG Tells BTD the drive/path/filename of the log file to be used by BTD. It is quite safe to use the same file as that used by the BBS as all files are closed before exiting or spawning. See also BBSLOG above. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 10 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 11 MAXLOG Alternative verb to BBSLOG. (For MAMM compatibility only.) MINTIME Sets the minimum amount of time to give to a caller, regardless of the time to the next event. This verb was added because there is nothing more infuriating than spending hours getting onto a busy BBS only to be told that you have only 2 minutes left because an event is due. The range allowed here is 0 to 1440. If MINTIME is not used or set to 0, no extra time will be granted to your callers. For example: if the next NON-USER event is in 2 minutes and MINTIME is set to 15, the caller will be given 15 minutes. If the next event is due in 17 minutes and MINTIME is again set to 15, the caller will receive 17 minutes as expected. The time set here can also affect the system closing time. If a caller connects when the BBS is due to shut in 1 minute and MINTIME is set to 15, the caller may get 15 minutes. This can be prevented. See SYSTIME. NO1275 This verb tells BTD what message to send to the caller if they connect at 1275 and 1275 callers are not allowed. (See B1275 above.) It is unused at all other times. The maximum number of characters is 78. If you bar 1275 callers, it is often a good idea (and more polite) to tell them why - before disconnecting them!!! PARAMS This verb is provided for those who do not wish to use 8N1 as their communications parameters. Most BBS systems use 8N1 so you should not have to change it. The format for this verb is data bits, then parity and finally stop bits with no space between them. The number of data bits can be from 5 to 8, parity can be None, Even or Odd, and the number of stop bits can be 1 or 2. Please make sure that both your FOSSIL and BBS software can handle the parameters you choose. PORT Tells BTD which COM port to use. BTD will accept any number between 1 and 16, so make sure that both your PC and/or the FOSSIL supports the chosen port. Some FOSSIL's allow up to 16 ports, (such as BNU), while others support only 2 or 4. TASK Tells BTD the task number to be used for this session. Decimal numbers in the range 0 to 99 are allowed. The task number is always used when creating or updating an SCD file. BTD does not support hexadecimal task numbering. SWBAUD This verb is used to change the baud rate BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SWITCH This verb is used to change the switch character itself which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 11 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 12 SWLOCAL This verb is used to change the local logon BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SWLOG This verb is used to change the log file BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SWPORT This verb is used to change the port number BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SWTASK This verb is used to change the task number BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SWTIME This verb is used to change the 'time until the next event' BBS switch character which is used when spawning to the BBS. Only a single letter is permitted. It may only need changing if you are NOT using Maximus. SYSTIME This verb is used to limit the time during which the BBS is available. It was originally added to GG release 1.30, and remained undocumented in non-commercial versions until now. The verb is followed by two 24 hour times: first the opening time, and then the closing time. If BTD detects that the closing time is earlier than the opening time, (open across midnight), BTD will handle itself accordingly. Only a single use of SYSTIME is supported at present. If SYSTIME is not used, or the times are the same, or one if the times is invalid, the system will be open 24 hours a day (the default). When the system is closed, the text set by the CLOSED verb will be sent to every caller until the system reopens. After the CLOSED string has been sent, BTD waits for 5 seconds and then disconnects the call. The closing time can be altered by the MINTIME setting. To prevent this, prefix the times with the letter 'N'. The SysOp can use ALT-O to manually toggle the current status between OPEN and CLOSED, but the ALT-O toggle only works if the SYSTIME verb has been used. SYSTIME 08:00 20:00 : only allows BBS access between 8am and 8pm SYSTIME 20:00 08:00 : only allows BBS access between 8pm and 8am NOTE: If access to the BBS is currently CLOSED, there is absolutely NO password, or ANY other means come to that, by which the caller can get beyond BTD's block and be able to use your BBS! BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 12 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 13 EVENTSEVENTSEVENTS__________________ BTD can handle up to 100 events, any of which can be either USER or NON-USER. If a NON-USER event is coming up, BTD limits the amount of time given to the caller so that the event will not be missed. If a USER event is coming up, BTD will allow the USER event to be missed and limits the caller to the time of the next NON-USER event or 1440 minutes if none is due. See also the MINTIME verb. BTD also supports the running of daily USER and NON-USER events on specific days of the week and will correctly calculate the time of the next NON-USER event on the other side of midnight. Events have the following format: EVENT <U/N> <[SMTWTFS]> HH:MM ERL EVENT The name of the verb. Not very original is it... U or N This parameter is optional and specifies either a User or Non-user event. ONLY a U or N can be placed in this position, and if omitted, BTD assumes the event to be NON-USER to maintain MAMM compatibility. [SMTWTFS] This optional parameter specifies on which the day(s) of the week to run the event and if omitted, BTD runs the event every day. SMTWTFS stands for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday etc. The parameter starts with an open square bracket, followed by either the first letter of each day, or a hyphen, and ends with a closed square bracket. When an event is to be run on a certain day, the first letter of that day is placed in the correct position. When an event is NOT required on a particular day, the letter is replaced by a hyphen (-). For example: the syntax to run an event only at weekends is [S-----S]. HH:MM This parameter is NOT optional and determines the time at which the event will be run. BTD only accepts times in 24 hour format: eg 14:00 for 2 in the afternoon. BTD will not accept 1400 as a valid time. ERL Again, this is not optional and sets the errorlevel which will be used when BTD terminates to run that event. The number placed here must be between 30 and 239. As you can see, the above format allows for some very complex and powerful event patterns. BTD will check each event line for syntax and will IGNORE any where errors are found. Any text that follows the errorlevel is considered to be a comment and is ignored. If a user and non-user event is scheduled for the same time, the non-user event always takes priority and will be run first. GG users should note that using an errorlevel of 220 or over no longer bypasses the MINTIME setting. BTD has only one event that cannot be changed by the user and that is the Midnight event. This event only occurs when BTD finds that the date has changed and is used for reseting the SCD file. It is a USER event which could be missed if a caller is on-line, so if you really need a midnight event that cannot be missed, specify one with the Non-user parameter. If you do any kind of midnight processing, it is probably best to set a non-user event at 23:59 or earlier at which time you can pack up log files, delete and/or renumber your message bases etc. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 13 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 14 BTD sorts the events by the scheduled time and day. It keeps track of these events by using a file with the format BTDnn.SCD, (where nn is the task number). If the times in a configuration file are changed, the SCD file MUST BE DELETED, otherwise BTD will not know about the changes. The details stored in this file include the following: The number of the last USER event The number of the last NON-USER event The total number of scheduled events The number of callers since midnight The current day FidoNet users! If your mailer has a midnight event, be sure to set a NON-USER event at the same time in your configuration file(s) to ensure that all your users have gone before you start to renumber your message bases etc. If you have used MINTIME, take care to ensure that you know what MINTIME might add to your users time. Examples: EVENT N 23:58 30 Pack up message bases etc - every day EVENT N [-MTWTF-] 17:30 40 Dump users so I can read my mail after work EVENT N [S------] 04:00 60 Backup system files for posterity EVENT [---W---] 04:00 61 And again but don't affect the users EVENT [-M-W-F-] 05:00 70 Delete expired mail messages etc BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 14 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 15 TROUBLESHOOTINGTROUBLESHOOTINGTROUBLESHOOTING_____________________________________________ Although great efforts have been made to ensure that the program will work correctly, a guide to solving some common problems is listed here. Things do not work as expectedThings do not work as expectedThings do not work as expected Check and recheck your configuration, or better still, get someone else to check it for you. 99% of all configuration problems during final testing were still caused by syntax errors and unknown commands (better known as 'finger trouble'). BBS program failed to run:BBS program failed to run:BBS program failed to run: If the 'BBS spawn failure' message appears on the screen and BTD exits with an errorlevel of 248, it can be for one of four main reasons: 1) Your version of DOS does not support spawning. This is very unlikely if you are using version 3 or higher. 2) The BBS executable file could not be found. Make sure that the BBS executable is in the same directory as BTD. 3) DOS denied access to the file. On multi-line systems, this could be because the BBS executable was being loaded by another line -or- the BBS executable was found to be corrupt in some way and could not be loaded properly. 4) There was insufficient memory to load and run the BBS program. Check how much RAM your BBS program requires, add the amount of RAM required by BTD and subtract this from the total amount of free RAM you have available (as shown by CHKDSK etc). You will still need around 32kb free for most BBS programs. 5) Yes I know I said 4, but the information given here was obtained during my time on a PC support desk and concerns a rare MSDOS bug. It will probably NOT apply in your case. Some early 3.nn versions of MSDOS do not always work correctly every time a child program is spawned, particularly if that program spawns a child of its own. This has been found with some 3.1 and 3.2 Zenith versions, but it is not restricted to their products. Time drifts and/or events are late:Time drifts and/or events are late:Time drifts and/or events are late: There are usually two reasons for this: 1) You don't have a real-time clock fitted to your PC. Time drifts of up to several minutes a day have been noted on PC's that do not have a real-time clock. Leaving ANY BBS program running 24 hours a day will cause the time to drift. The only solution is to buy a real-time clock... 2) BTD only scans for a pending event once every 5 seconds or so. This is done to release time to Desqview. If DesqView is not installed, your events can therefore be up to 5 seconds late. BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 15 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 16 CREDITSCREDITSCREDITS_____________________ Special thanks to Marc and Cindy Kalen for doing most of the beta testing and for providing me with detailed bug reports. Thanks to Kelly Johnson for writing the drafts of this document from the 'final' versions. Any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are now mine. Kelly, I promise I will never again say 'Here is the final version...' Thanks to Keith Watson for bringing MAMM to my notice and for suggesting the new event syntax. (See Keith, it does work after all... and by the way, when ARE you going to send me that bug report???) Thanks to Dave on the UK support desk of Borland International and who provided help with getting TASM to do what I wanted to do, not what IT wanted to do (and for accepting and confirming my reports of TASM 2.0 bugs with good grace). Yes folks, even Borland makes mistooks. Thanks are also due to the authors of the following software, without whom BTD would not be as it is today: BNU - David Nugent and Unique Computing BTF - Tony Sheen and Marc Kalen DesqView - Quarterdeck Office Systems Hayes - Trade Mark of Hayes Modems MAMM - Dan Thomson Maximus - Scott Dudley TASM 2.0 - Borland International CONTACTING THE AUTHORCONTACTING THE AUTHORCONTACTING THE AUTHOR_______________________________________________________________ A message left in either the MUFFIN or MAXDEV echo will probably be seen, and if so - always answered. If that fails, the author can be contacted via either of the following FidoNet nodes. I call Paradigmus at least once a week, and Integrated Circuit about once a fortnight. 2:253/68 Paradigmus Maximus - +44 81 566 5393 2:253/165 Integrated Circuit - +44 707 270 230 Finally, if all else fails, you can contact the author directly by writing to the following address. All pay BBS, commercial and corporate enquiries MUST be directed to this address. BTD 12 Bloomsbury Gardens, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, Beds, LU5 5RH England Tony Sheen 01/11/1991 BTD - BBS Telephone Doorway - Version 3.00 - Sysop Documentation Page 16