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┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ░░░░ ░░ ░░░ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░ ░░░░ │ │ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ │ │ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░ ░░░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░ │ │ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░░░ ░░░░░ ░░░ │ │ ░░ ░░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░ │ │ ░░░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ │ │ ░░░ ░░░ ░░ ░░░░ ░░░░ ░░░ ░░ ░░░░░░ ░░░░░░ ░░░░ │ │ │ │ Version 2.76 Documentation │ │ │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ QuickBBS is a trademark of Pegasus Software │ │ Copyright 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 - All Rights Reserved │ │ Documentation Copyright 1992, 1993 │ │ Pegasus Software and Rick Luquette │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ Pegasus Software │ │ P.O. Box 678255 │ │ Orlando, Florida 32867-8255 │ │ Support BBS (504) 851-4230 │ │ Fidonet 1:1/114 1:384/3 │ │ Echonet 50:50/604 50:5504/3 │ │ Mailnet 20:400/11 Doornet 75:7504/1 │ │ QBBSNet 150:212/3 DBNet 201:100/128 │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page i Table of Contents Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i Licensing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 DISTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 COMMERCIAL USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 UNLAWFUL USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 MODIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 EXCEPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 We do it to learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 We do it to share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Notes and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Installing QuickBBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Automated Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Manual Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Setting Your Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Key Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Setting Up Netmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Main Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Netmail Board Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Netmail directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Kill/Sent Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Setting Up Message Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Area Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Net Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Kinds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 FMail Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Combined Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Allow Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Keep Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Kill Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Kill Rec'd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Page ii QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Security Levels and Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Read access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Write access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Template access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Sysop access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 External Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Message Reply Quoting String . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Swap to Disk/EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 DOS Command String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Default Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Setting Up File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 File Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 File List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ignore K Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ignore Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Allow Uploads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Check for Duplicate Uploads . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Download Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 File Search Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Menu Template Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Setting File Transfer Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Setting Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Enabled/Disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Days of Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Errorlevel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Forced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Setting Other Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Modem Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Comm Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Wait xx seconds for carrier . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Answer phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Answering by Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Answering by Software . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Initialize at nnnn baud . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Attempt Initialization n Times . . . . . . . . . . 28 Character Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Initialization String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Initialization Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Busy String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Busy Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Speed Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ARQ String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Setting DOS Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Menu Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Text File Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Message Base Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Nodelist Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Overlay Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Swap Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page iii Setting Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Loading Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Selection Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 No New Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Setting Default Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 System Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Allow shell commands from text files . . . . . . . 31 Allow one word user names . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 "Forgot my password" board . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Inactivity time out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Logon time limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Password tries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sysop security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Setting Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 300 baud access allowed between . . . . . . . . . 33 Downloads allowed between . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Paging allowed between . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Page Attempts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Page Bell Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Minimum speed to use ANSI graphics . . . . . . . . 33 Minimum speed for file transfers . . . . . . . . . 33 Minimum speed to log on . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Security Level and Flags to logon . . . . . . . . 33 New User Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Security Level and Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Force US phone format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Home Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Data Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Netmail Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Allow IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Call Back Verifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Modem Initialization String . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dial String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dial Suffix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Check for duplicate phone numbers . . . . . . . . 35 New user security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Validated user security . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Validated user flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Resume BBS after local call . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Maximum cost for local calls . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Allow long distance calls . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Callback Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Wake Up Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Setting Miscellaneous Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Upload Credit Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Screen Blank Timeout . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ANSI Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Colored Input Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Auto ANSI Detect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Page iv QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Auto Logon Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Fast Local Sysop Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Direct Screen Writes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Snow Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Mono Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Swap on Alt-J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Mail Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Multi-Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Capture mode when chat initiated . . . . . . . . . 39 Exit when Net/Echo Mail Entered . . . . . . . . . 39 Use Extended Lastread Pointers . . . . . . . . . . 39 Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 User Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Setting Up Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Menus and Speed Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Add [Alt-A] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Copy [Alt-C] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Copy Menu [Ctrl-C] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Delete [Alt-D] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Delete Menu [Ctrl-D]: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Edit [Alt-E] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Global Change [Alt-G] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 HighLight [Alt-H] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Insert [Alt-I] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 List [Alt-L] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 New Menu [Ctrl-N] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 OS Shell [Ctrl-O] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Prompt [Alt-P] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Rename Menu [Ctrl-R] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Save Menu [Ctrl-S] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Settings [Alt-S] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Write To Menu [Ctrl-W] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Menu Templating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Enhanced Menu Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Extended Path Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Logging On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 A Sample Initial Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Reading Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Entering Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 GroupMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 FMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Line Editor User Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Sysop Activation and Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Activation Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Status Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page v Maintaining the Message Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Maintaining the User Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 USEREDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Multinode Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Interuser Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Upgrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Display Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 BIRTHDAY.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 BAD-EXT.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 BADALIAS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 DATAPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 DNLDHRS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 DUPEFILE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 EDITHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 GOODBYE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 HOMEPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 JUNKFILE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 LOGO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 MAXPAGE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NEWS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NEWUSER1.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NEWUSER2.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NO300.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NODEn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NOTAVAIL.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 NOTFOUND.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 PAGEABRT.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 PAGED.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 PASSWORD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 PRE-UPLD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 PRIVATE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 READHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 SECn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 TIMEWARN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 TOOSLOW.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 TRASHCAN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 UP-DESC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 USERn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 WELCOME.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Page vi QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation XFERHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Callback Verifier Display Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-INTRO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-TRASH.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-DUPE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-DISC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-LOGIN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-VALID.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-LONGD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 S-USERM.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Metacharacters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Transferring Messages to Other Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 What's it All About? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 How Does It Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Incoming Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Outgoing Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 QECHO.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Command Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Defining Echomail Areas (AREAS.BBS) . . . . . . . . . . 104 Importing/Exporting Messages (MAILSCAN.EXE; MAILTOSS.EXE) . 105 Setting Up The Nodelist (QNODE.EXE) . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Using QuickBBS with a Mailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 External Control Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 BAD-FILE.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 BADALIAS.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 FILE-OK.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 LIMITS.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 PHONENUM.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 TRASHCAN.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Menu Command Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Questionnaire Command Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Errorlevels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Modem Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Cardinal 2400 Baud External Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Image Twincom 96/42i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 SupraFax Modem V.32bis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Telebit T2500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Telebit Worldblazer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 US Robotics Courier HST Dual Standard 14.4K Modem . . . . . 135 US Robotics Courier 2400 External Modem . . . . . . . . . . 138 File Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page vii ASCII Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Quick Reference Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 MENUEDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Sysop Activation Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Command Line Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 MAILSCAN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 MAILTOSS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 QUICKBBS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Program Error Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 ErrorLevel Exits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 System Display Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 CallBack Verifier Display Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 MetaCharacters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 System Control Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Menu Command Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Questionnaire Command Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Legal Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 The People Who Made It Happen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 1 Licensing Information QuickBBS and its accompanying utilities and documentation are copyrighted by Pegasus Software. As supporters of the Shareware concept, Pegasus Software grants you permission to distribute QuickBBS and its accompanying utilities and documentation only if you distrib- ute it in unmodified format, including the Pegasus Software Authen- ticity Verification (AV) seal. System Operators who are using QuickBBS under this license may quote brief passages from this documentation to aid others also using QuickBBS within the scope of the license. You are not permitted to modify this documentation in any way without written permission from Pegasus Software. QuickBBS is Shareware. Even though it is copyrighted, commercial software, you are given permission to do the following: 1. DISTRIBUTION: You may distribute the release files of Quick- BBS version 2.76 as long as you receive no payment for such distribution. The distribution may take the form of software on disk or electronic transfer. A. Systems that charge for access are exempted from this provision insofar as their basic charge. There can be no additional charge for QuickBBS beyond basic system access. B. Companies that distribute shareware software on dis- kette are permitted to distribute QuickBBS as long as it is made clear to the user that any payments received are for the media and copying service only, and that no license to this software is conveyed beyond that speci- fied in Licensing Information above. Payment for dupli- cation and media may not exceed $3.00 per diskette for commercial services, or $5.00 per diskette for non- profit user groups, without signed, written permission from the officers of Pegasus Software. C. All compressed distribution files are to remain in their original format, including the Pegasus Software authenticity verification. There may be no additions to or deletions from the release archives without permis- sion of Pegasus Software, which specifically rejects any and all liability for and support of any distribu- tion archives of QuickBBS that do not carry the Pegasus Software Authenticity Verification. 2. EVALUATION: You may use QuickBBS on your system to test its suitability for your application. After a reasonable period of evaluation (not to exceed 30 days after successful in- stallation) and a determination of suitability, you must either register your copy or delete all working copies from Page 2 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation your system. You may keep a copy of the software for distri- bution under section (1) above. 3. COMMERCIAL USE: You may NOT use QuickBBS in any governmen- tal, institutional, or pay system unless registered. Contact Pegasus Software for information on commercial evaluation procedures. 4. UNLAWFUL USE: You may NOT use QuickBBS in any illegal man- ner. This includes but is not limited to the distribution of illegally copied commercial software, the access and distri- bution of telephone access codes, the access and distribu- tion of pornographic pictures and messages, and the access and distribution of information regarding any illegal act, when any such use is in violation of any applicable local, state, or national law. 5. MODIFICATION: You may not modify QuickBBS, its offline utilities, or its documentation without permission from Pegasus Software. User instructions for the Line Editor (see pages 69 to 71) may be extracted and modified as indicated on page 67. 6. EXCEPTIONS: Pegasus Software at its sole discretion reserves the right to waive any and/or all of the above provisions on a case by case basis. In particular, Pegasus Software re- serves the right to authorize Non-profit and Not-for-profit organizations, disabled and differently abled individuals, and others who may have special needs, to use QuickBBS without payment or at reduced cost. However, application for such exemptions must be made to Pegasus Software for evalua- tion. Warranty Pegasus Software makes no warranties, expressed or implied, as to the suitability or performance of QuickBBS or its accompanying utili- ties for your purposes, and assumes no liabilities if the software fails to perform to your satisfaction. Under the shareware concept, you have the legal right to evaluate this software and determine its suitability prior to purchase. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 3 Forward (A Very Personal Note from the Author) When Steve Gabrilowitz first asked me if I would be interested in updating the docs from version 2.75, I didn't know what I was getting myself into! For various reasons, what you hold in your hands (or perhaps read on your screen) is not a revision but a total rewrite. I've tried to write it so it's easy for the experienced user to find exactly what she/he is looking for, while following some type of logical pattern for a novice. As any experienced computer user knows, any manual which pretends to be both easy to understand and complete ends up being only one thing: BIG! In that respect, I certainly succeeded. The finished product is over 200 pages, 50,000 words, and half a million characters. This is the first project of this magnitude I've undertaken, and I'm really quite pleased with and proud of the results. I've also accepted the mantle of running the "Official" QuickBBS Support BBS. By logging onto my BBS (the phone number's on the cover, and in the next paragraph), you can always download the latest release version of QuickBBS and its related utilities, and through a private echo link you can ask questions of the programmer (Steve), questions about keys (handled by Steve's wife, Brenda), and general support questions (that's my area). I can also be reached through Fidonet's QUICKBBS or QUICKPRO echoes; Echonet's ENET_TECH, PC_TECH, or MODEM_TECH; Mailnet's MAILBBS; or any echo in QBBSNET. You'll see my name from time to time in other echoes as well. In the introduction you'll read that running a BBS is the best way to learn about computers; if there's a better way, it must be writing a manual! I want to thank Steve for his faith in me. You'll know whether he likes the results when you see the author's name on the next version. If you find any errors, or have any suggestions to make this manual better the next time around, please let me know. I plan an addendum, or "Volume II" if you prefer, to present more advanced concepts such as multinode operation, multitasking, and operation with a mailer, but only your input can make that a reality. You can reach me through my BBS at 1-504-851-4230; by fax at 1-504- 851-4473, by netmail through Fidonet 1:384/3 or 1:1/114, FamilyNet 8:2031/2, Mailnet 20:400/11, Echonet 50:5504/3 or 50:50/406, Doornet 75:7504/1, QBBSNet 150:212/3, or DBNet 201:100/128, or by SnailMail in care of Computer Associates of Louisiana, 1306 Bayou Blue Road, Houma LA 70364. I have to thank all the QuickBBS beta testers and Gold Key holders who took their time to read the manual and search for errors and omissions. I would especially like to thank Nick Economos, Tom Held, and George Vandervort for proofreading and making suggestions. Mark Thornton, a local sysop who recently set up his first BBS (ru- Page 4 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation nning QuickBBS, of course) gave me some valuable input from the novice's perspective. And I must recognize Raymond Barnes, sysop of the Databank BBS (Fidonet 1:384/3, 1-504-868-1440). Ray ran the first BBS in our town, and has been running one continuously now since the early 80's. We learned a lot together and from each other, but when it came to BBS's, I learned more from him. He provided me with the original versions of many of the display files distributed with the Auto-Install system. Finally... An art teacher in New Orleans was honored for his unfailing efforts to help new artists, especially young ones. One of the comments he made in news interviews was that a teacher once told him when someone thanked him for helping, he should never say "you're welcome." Instead, he should answer, "Pass it on." We thank those who helped us by helping others, so... Pass it on. Rick Luquette Houma, Louisiana 1 January 1993 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 5 Prologue So you've decided to set up a Bulletin Board System, or at least you're thinking about it. Before you begin, please keep in mind that there are better ways to spend your money, quieter and more fulfilling ways to spend your time, and more productive ways to destroy your family life. If that doesn't quell your interest, you're ready to start! Those of us who run a Bulletin Board System (BBS for short) are a strange breed. We're willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment, telephone lines, phone bills, modems, etc., so that someone else can use our computers when we want to! Why do we do it? The answers are anything but simple. We do it to learn. There is no better way to learn about comput- ers and computing than by running a BBS. The users will consider you an expert, and you are! If you can successfully set up and operate a BBS, you've proven your expertise. In your initial setup, you'll ask everyone in sight every question you can think of, and several more. Then, one day, someone will ask you a question and you'll know the answer! Your hat size will increase by several digits, you'll pontifi- cate briefly, and then you'll answer, and it will be one of the proudest moments of your life. At that moment, and at hundreds of moments just like it that will follow, you will pay back all those people who took their time to answer your seemingly endless, stupid questions. That's what this hobby is all about. We do it to share. Whether it is messages or software, newsletter articles or recipes, war stories or bedtime stories, pictures or parade schedules, you'll be distributing something of value to your fellow computer users. Most of them will be grateful most of the time. Occasionally you'll come across a real jerk (called a "twit") who wants to tell you how to run your system. When that happens, you'll discover a most compelling reason: POWER! With one simple keystroke, you can ban that twit from your system forever. After all, this is your game, your ball, your court, and above all, YOUR rules. The American Revolution was nourished by patriots who printed pamphlets in their basements. The crushing of the August Coup (1991) and the subsequent downfall of the Soviet Union was fostered in large part by the availability of new technology such as the computer, the telephone and fax machine. We are in a high-tech age, and computer bulletin boards are the pamphlets of the third millennium. Page 6 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Introduction QuickBBS is a fully self-contained Bulletin Board program which uses a database format for its message base, allowing faster message retrieval than file oriented message systems, and using less hard disk space. The overlay version of QuickBBS will operate in as little as 256 Kb of memory, although such operation is not recommended. Also, from time to time, there have been stories of System Operators (Sysops) running without a hard disk, but they can't be accomplishing much! For effective operation, QuickBBS requires an IBM compatible computer with a Fossil interface (such as X00 or BNU), 512K Kb of available RAM, a 10 Mb or larger hard disk, and a modem for effective operation. QuickBBS features up to 32,000 security levels and 32 user flags, for a total of over 1,000,000 possible security combinations. QuickBBS features customized menus, including the ability to assign any command type to any key and to create customized and even animated menu displays, which presents the opportunity for an extreme- ly flexible and highly customized system. No two QuickBBS boards need ever look alike! QuickBBS features a built-in questionnaire command language that allows you to create custom questionnaires. You can embed more than 80 control-character commands in your display screens. In addition to menu driven displays, QuickBBS displays text files with specific names at strategic times. Log files are automatically created in several areas, there's a built-in sysop page function, and you can allow your users to read multiple message areas together. QuickBBS features multinode capabilities, a built-in multinode chat and a callback verifier, file transfer and manipulation capabili- ties, up to 200 file and message areas, over 60 menu command types, and all utilities necessary to maintain the message base and user base and to interface QuickBBS with external mailer software. QuickBBS also offers complete menu templating and message area grouping, making the creation of menus for even complicated systems a snap. And QuickBBS accepts two methods of running online doors, making it compatible with almost any door product. When you add it all up, no other BBS package gives you more versatility, flexibility, and capability than QuickBBS for such a reasonable price. It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the authors are flattered by the rush of imitations that have been released in the last few years. QuickBBS is the leader again, and QuickBBS gives you access to all its features in the shareware version so you can evaluate the program fairly and complete- ly. And QuickBBS is Made in the U.S.A.! QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 7 Notes and Conventions In this manual user input is enclosed in double quotes (") or italics. Special keys are enclosed in brackets [ and ]; for example, [PgDn] means press the Page Down key and [Space] refers to the space bar. Required input is indicated by < and > and optional input by { and }. Many of the screen displays reproduced in these pages have been edited to reduce their width so they can be reproduced by the simplest 10 CPI text printer. For the same reason, standard text modes rather than graphic modes were used for screen displays. IBM-style graphics characters are used in many screen displays, which your printer may reproduce as italics or other characters. The names of Display files often have question marks in place of characters. FILENAME.A?? refers to a set of display files called FILENAME.ANS, which is an ANSI graphic version, and FILENAME.ASC, which is the ASCII equivalent. A user capable of ANSI graphics will be shown the ANSI version of the file if available; otherwise, the user will see the ASCII version. A user who is not capable of ANSI graph- ics will see the ASCII version, if available, otherwise he/she will not be shown any display file. A caller who's equipment is not ANSI- capable will not see the ANSI version under any circumstances, even if there is no ASCII version. Keep in mind that not all terminal software is capable of reliably reporting its ANSI status to QuickBBS, so if the user chooses ANSI graphics mode at the initial logon or with a Type 21 command (see page 119), QuickBBS will assume the user knows what she/he is talking about and will obediently display the ANSI version. This is often the problem when a user complains about "gar- bage" on the screen. Assumptions In this manual, there are four basic assumptions made about you, the reader and prospective sysop: 1. That you have a basic understanding of simple DOS functions such as MKDIR, CHDIR, RMDIR, COPY, TYPE, ECHO, ERASE, and similar commands; 2. That you know how to create and execute batch (.BAT) files, including IF, THEN, ERRORLEVEL, and GOTO commands; 3. That you have a basic understanding of the functions of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS and know how to set your system path and environmental variables. If you don't, you probably should spend a little more time with the DOS manual before trying to set up a BBS. Page 8 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 4. That you may be suffering from temporary insanity that will be cured once you discover the time, effort, and cost in- volved in setting up and maintaining a BBS. However, many of us never quite recover. Please think kindly of us. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 9 Getting Started The first step in installing QuickBBS is to get a copy of the release archives. This requires at least three files: the documenta- tion (QBBS276D.ZIP, which you already have, or you wouldn't be reading this), the utilities (QBBS276U.ZIP), and the core files. Core files are available in two versions, Executable (QBBS276E.ZIP) and Overlay (QBBS276O.ZIP). The Executable version is faster because all of the code loads into memory, but that also means it takes more memory. An Overlay version stores only the shell of the BBS program in memory. The rest remains on the disk drive in an Overlay file, where it can be accessed by the system as needed. Since the information in the Overlay file is usually read from a hard disk, Overlay versions are slower than Executable versions, but use less memory. Both versions have the same features and use the same control files, so you can try them both to determine which works best on your system. If you have less than 640 Kb of memory, you'll probably want to use the Overlay version. You may also want to get the samples of menus and textfiles submitted by various users (QBBS276S.ZIP), the automatic installation program (QBBS276A.EXE), and the files to create the turnkey system (QBBS276T.ZIP). With this package, the only things you will need to begin operating your BBS are a modem, a telephone line, and a fossil driver (see below). RAM disks have been used with QuickBBS successfully, but they are inherently dangerous. Menu, text, and overlay files can be safely stored on a RAM disk, speeding up the system considerably. Remember that the contents of a RAM disk are lost every time you turn off your computer or have a power failure, so be certain to copy any files that get changed back to the hard drive. Message bases, user bases, log files, etc., should not be kept on a RAM disk unless you have an uninterruptable power supply in case of a power outage, and make certain you copy these files back to the hard drive after EVERY user logs off! FASTOPEN should never be installed on your system. It is not reliable in a BBS system and can cause irreparable damage to the message base and user base. Similarly, software caches can be damaging if used incorrectly. In a BBS setting you should disable write caching as this can also cause irreparable damage to data files. Once you become more familiar with operating a BBS on, you may feel comfortable enabling write caching, but do so at your own risk. Pegasus Software assumes no liability for damages in any event, but especially not if FASTOPEN or write caching are in use on your system Before installing QuickBBS, you'll have to get a fossil inter- face. A Fossil handles the communication between the hardware and software in your computer, and is required by QuickBBS. Two excellent fossils are X00 and BNU. You can most probably pick up one or both at Page 10 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation the same place you got QuickBBS. Read the documentation for the fossil for details on installation. (NOTE: There have been reports that BNU version 1.7x {that means versions 1.70 through 1.79} does not work with QuickBBS 2.76. This problem with BNU has apparently been fixed in subsequent releases. If you wish to use BNU, please make sure your copy has a higher version number.) If you don't have FILES and BUFFERS defined in your CONFIG.SYS, add the following: FILES=25 BUFFERS=50 The BUFFERS statement is an average value that may or may not provide good performance on your system. If you are using a cache, you'll probably want to reduce it. In addition, QuickBBS requires at least 25 available files, or 20 per node for multinode systems. Also, ANSI.SYS must be loaded for some games and utilities but is not required for QuickBBS itself. To load ANSI.SYS, include the following line in your CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=[path]ANSI.SYS replacing [path] with your actual system path to the ANSI.SYS file. If ANSI.SYS is located in the root directory of your C: drive, add this line: DEVICE=C:\ANSI.SYS Setting FILES and BUFFERS to the best values for your system requires patience and experimentation. Setting them too low or too high can make your computer lock up at strange times, or sometimes refuse to work at all, and can certainly have an adverse effect on performance. Experiment until you find the most effective setting on your machine, but remember that QuickBBS needs at least 25 available files, or 20 for each node on a multinode system. Also, you'll need to make sure your QuickBBS directory is located on the DOS path, and that you make the environmental variable QUICK equal to your QuickBBS directory by adding the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT: SET QUICK=C:\QUICKBBS (substitute your correct path) When operating in Standalone mode, QuickBBS does not require that you set the QUICK variable. However, setting it allows utilities like USEREDIT.EXE, QCONFIG.EXE, etc., to find your system files even if they are not run from your main system directory, so it is recommend- ed. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 11 Installing QuickBBS If you are not installing QuickBBS from scratch, you may skip this section as it applies only to new systems, or to upgrades from non-QuickBBS compatible BBS software. Of course, you might want to read it anyway since it presents ideas from several very knowledgeable sources, and you just might learn something! Automated Installation An automatic installation program called QBBS276A.EXE is avail- able which will create the proper directories and install a system which will require a minimum of configuration in order to begin operation. Here is the simple, step by step procedure. 1. Copy all release files into a directory anywhere on your system (floppy disks are OK). The installation process will create a directory named QUICKBBS on the target drive, so if you have enough space available you may wish to place the release files in a directory with another name or on another drive. The release files will not be destroyed by the inst- allation process. 2. Enter the following command to extract the installation utilities: QBBS276A 3. Decide which drive you want your BBS program to reside on. The autoinstall process needs almost 3 MB of available space, but message bases can grow quite large, so you'll want 5 MB or more. Also, you'll need to decide whether you want to run the Executable or the Overlay version. The Executable is recommended unless you are short on memory. You can always switch later. Both files are not necessary for the installation process, but of course it is necessary that you have the one you choose to install. 4. Enter the following command, substituting the version to be installed and the drive letter as indicated below: INSTALL v d where v is the version you want to run (Executable or Over- lay), and d is the drive letter on which you want the pro- gram installed. Don't put a colon after the drive letter. For example, if you want to install the Executable version on drive C:, enter: INSTALL E C Page 12 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 5. Sit back and watch the show! The autoinstall process will create a directory structure like this off the root directo- ry of your chosen drive: \ ────── QUICKBBS ───────┬── ATTACH ├── MENUS ├── MESSAGES ├── MSDOS ├── PICTURES ├── QUICKBBS ├── TXTFILES └── UPLOADS Next, files will be copied into the appropriate directories. The ATTACH directory is a private directory designed for files attached to messages. MENUS is where menu files will be installed, the message and user bases will be placed in MESSAGES, and display files will be placed in TXTFILES. MSDOS, PICTURES, and QUICKBBS are file areas to get you started, while uploads from your users will be placed in UPLOADS for your evaluation. You can move them into the proper download directories after you have evaluated them. 6. Once the autoinstall process is complete, you will be taken into QCONFIG.EXE to customize your configuration. Much of it can wait until later, but there are a few things you'll have to set now: a. Press [R][R] and enter your system information and your registration number if you are a registered owner of QuickBBS. Be sure to enter your name and system infor- mation exactly as received from Pegasus Software, even if it's incorrect. The information is case sensitive, so be careful of upper and lower case. Press [F10] to record your entries. b. Move over to the General menu and select Modem. For now, all you need to do is change your COM port if your modem is not on COM1, and enter the proper baud rate if it is not 2400 baud. The rest will work as configured for most systems. Press [F10] to record your entries. c. If you told the autoinstall process to install QuickBBS on a drive other than C:, choose Dos Paths and change the drive from C: to the proper drive. Make sure the rest of the path stays intact. It is not necessary to enter a Nodelist path for a Standalone system, the overlay path is not needed unless QUICKBBS.OVR is read from a different directory, and the Swap path should only be specified if you want QuickBBS to create its swap file on a different drive from your main BBS system. You'll also need to go into the Files menu and change the drive letter from C: to the proper drive for QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 13 each of the five file areas. Don't forget to press [F10] to record your changes after each change. d. Move over to Quit and then Save your changes. 7. The next step in the autoinstall process is to log onto your new BBS. After completing the logon process, press [Alt-S] and set your security level to 32000 to make sure you have access to all the Sysop features, and then you can look around and then <Q>uit. 8. That's it! Type QUICKBBS to put your system online, and you're ready to go. Of course, you'll want to customize your system to add your own BBS name, more message and file areas, etc. There's lots of time for that as you get accustomed to running your BBS. Happy modeming! Manual Installation Before installing QuickBBS, choose an area of your system where there will be lots of room for growth. While a basic installation requires only about 2 MB, the message base alone can easily grow up to 5 megabytes or more. Design your directory paths in a manner similar to this: \ ────── QUICKBBS ───────┬── ATTACH ├── MENUS ├── MESSAGES ├── MSDOS ├── PICTURES ├── QUICKBBS ├── TXTFILES └── UPLOADS A structure such as this, created at the very beginning of your system setup, can help to keep you organized later on as your system gets larger. Of course, you may want to place your file sections and perhaps even your message base on a different drive. Just be sure to use QCONFIG.EXE TO tell QuickBBS where everything is! Using the proper DOS commands, move to the directory that will be your main QuickBBS directory and unZIP the release files. While they unzip, make sure they carry the Authenticity Verification of Pegasus Software. As you unZIP the archive, each line should have -AV at the end, and you should receive this message on completion: Authentic files Verified! # GXF152 Pegasus Software Page 14 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation If you do not receive this message, stop! Pegasus Software assumes no liability for damaged files! Proceed with caution and at your own risk! Make sure you have the following: QUICKBBS.EXE, MSGPACK.EXE, USEREDIT.EXE, USERSORT.EXE, USERPACK.EXE, QCONFIG.EXE, QLINK.EXE, and MENUEDIT.EXE. If you're running the Overlay version, you'll also need QUICKBBS.OVR. If you're interfacing with an external mailer, check for QECHO.EXE, MAILSCAN.EXE, and MAILTOSS.EXE or appropriate substitutes that work with your mailer. If you're entering Netmail from within QuickBBS, you'll need QNODE.EXE to process your nodelist. Examples of batch files for standalone systems and systems using mailers are included in supplementary archives submitted by users. Next, run QCONFIG.EXE and set your COM port and any other system specific information, and then go through each area of each menu and define your configuration. Then run MENUEDIT.EXE and design your menus, and then you're ready to logon! QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 15 Setting Your Configuration Regardless of which installation method you used, it's time to set your configuration. From your QuickBBS directory, run QCONFIG.EXE. No command line parameters are needed. As you use QCONFIG.EXE, use the [Tab] key to move from one field to the next, and [Shift-Tab] to move in reverse. Be sure to press [F10] or [Ctrl-Enter] as you finish each screen to record your entries. You'll still have a chance to abort everything before you exit the program. When QCONFIG.EXE fires up, you'll see this menu: ╒══════════ QuickBBS System Configuration version 2.76 ═════════════╕ │ Registration Messages Files Protocols Events General Quit │ ╒══════════════╕════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ │ Information │ │ Registration │ ╘══════════════╛ Information Choosing Information displays facts about QuickBBS and QCONFIG.EXE, including information on contacting Pegasus Software. Registration Choosing Registration will give the following: ╒═══════════════════QuickBBS Registration════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Sysop Name: System Operator │ │ System Name: Unregistered QuickBBS system │ │ Registration Key: 0 │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Key Installation Once you have registered QuickBBS, you'll receive a key which will remove the evaluation messages from the software. Enter the Sysop Name, System Name, and Registration Key exactly as you received it from Pegasus Software, even if your name or your system name is wrong. It's case sensitive, so make sure upper and lower case match as well. Contact Pegasus Software for a corrected key, but meanwhile, enter it exactly as received or QuickBBS will not work. If you are evaluating QuickBBS, no registration key is necessary. You will still be able to use every feature of QuickBBS in evaluation mode. Page 16 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Next, move over to the Messages option of the Main Menu, and you'll see these choices: ╒═══════════ QuickBBS System Configuration version 2.76 ═════════════╕ │ Registration Messages Files Protocols Events General Quit │ ╘══════════╒═════════════════╕═══════════════════════════════════════╛ │ Netmail │ │ Message boards │ │ External editor │ │ Origin line │ ╘═════════════════╛ If you are operating a standalone system, you can skip the Netmail section and move on to Message boards. Setting Up Netmail If you don't already understand Netmail, skip this section for the time being. You'll find more information on transferring mail to other systems beginning on page 97. Choosing Netmail will display this screen: ╒════════════════════════════Netmail Setup═══════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Main Address: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #1: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #2: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #3: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #4: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #5: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #6: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #7: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #8: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #9: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ AKA #10: Zone 0 Net 0 Node 0 Point 0 │ │ │ │ Netmail Board Number: 1 Kill/Sent handling: Delete │ │ │ │ Netmail Directory: │ │ C:\QuickBBS\NetMail\ │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Main Address: Enter your Zone, Net, Node, and Point numbers as provided to you by the Network Coordinator. Do not make up numbers to go here. Addresses should be assigned by the proper authority in your network, or you risk of having your mail go elsewhere, running up everyone's phone bills for nothing! If you have additional addresses QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 17 in this or other networks, enter the proper information in the AKA slots. Not needed for a Standalone system. Netmail Board Number: This should normally be left at 1, but you may use any number from 1 to 200. Not needed for a Standalone system. Netmail directory: Where MAILSCAN.EXE and MAILTOSS.EXE will look for *.MSG netmail messages to import into or export from your message base. Not needed for a Standalone system. Kill/Sent Handling: If you allow your users to post Netmail, they could conceivably post a message and your system could transfer and delete it before you even know it went out. Setting this option to Archive will force QuickBBS to set the Archive/Sent flag rather than the Kill/Sent flag. This will instruct your mail processing software to save the message in a designated file for your review, rather than delete it. The actual archiving is done by your mailer, so check your mailer's documentation for information. Not needed for a Standalone system. Setting Up Message Areas Choosing Message Boards in QCONFIG.EXE will present this display: ╒═════════════════════════Message Area #1════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Area Name: │ │ Origin Line: │ │ Net Address: 0:0/0.0 Groups: │ │ │ │ Type: Local Aliases: No Keep Count: 0 │ │ Kinds: Public Combined Mode: Yes Kill Old: 0 │ │ File Area: 0 Allow Delete: Yes Kill Rec'd: 0 │ │ │ │ Read Write Template Sysop │ │ Security 10 10 10 32000 │ │ A Flags -------- -------- -------- -------- │ │ B Flags -------- -------- -------- -------- │ │ C Flags -------- -------- -------- -------- │ │ D Flags -------- -------- -------- -------- │ │ │ ╘PGDN - Prev area════════════ALT-G - Goto════════════PGUP - Next area╛ Area Name: A short description of the message area's purpose. Aquariums would be an adequate name on most systems but if you expect a lot of traffic, you might want to use Freshwater Aquariums and Saltwater Aquariums as two different message areas. You also could decide to set up separate areas for Breeding, Outdoor Ponds, and maybe even one just for Guppies! You can always change your setup later on, but once you've assigned Message area numbers, it is rather complicat- Page 18 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ed to change the numbering, so try to keep the organization of your system in mind while you set it up. Origin Line: Used for systems running a mailer (see page 97). You'll enter a default origin line later. If you want a specific origin line for this message area only, enter it here. Net Address: Used for systems running a mailer (see page 97). Using [Space], [+] or [-], scroll through your AKA's until you choose the one you want to use for this message area. Groups: QuickBBS allows you to group your message areas by subject matter. You can have up to 8 groups, numbered 1 to 8, and a message area may belong to any or all of the groups. Simply enter the group number(s) in this field. You'll make use of that information later. Kinds: There are four kinds of message boards: Public, Private, ReadOnly, and Pub/Pvt. all users who have read access will be able to read all messages in a Public area. In a Private area, only the sender, recipient, and those with sysop access can read a message. In a Pub/Pvt area, the sender will be asked if the message should be private, and in a ReadOnly area, anyone with read access can read messages, but no one can post messages. ReadOnly message areas are normally used for such things as announcements of newly received files entered into the message area by outside utilities. Make your choice in this field by using [Space], [+] or [-]. CAUTION: Be very careful in using the term "Private" with your users. They should be warned that no message is truly private, since you (and anyone else to whom you grant sysop access) can read any message in any area, public or private. There are potential legal problems in revealing the contents of a "private" message to the public. Also, you should be very careful in granting sysop access to message areas which allow private posting. Type: There are four possible message types: Local, FMail, Net, and Echo. Netmail and Echomail require the use of a mailer (see page 97), and permit messages to be sent to other BBS's. FMail permits users to send files as well as messages to one another. Local mail permits the sending of messages that will remain on your local system. One advantage of defining message areas as FMail or Local is that your user base will be searched to make sure the message is being sent to a valid user. Also, anyone with Sysop access to a Local or FMail message area can send GroupMail messages (see page 67). However, the messages will not be flagged for transmission to other systems. As always, scroll through the choices using [Space], [+] or [-]. FMail Area: This option is shown only for FMail message areas. Using an area number from the File Area configuration (see page 23), select the area in which want uploads placed. Any user with access to the file area will be able to download the file using the standard download commands, even if they can't read the message. If you want to QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 19 let users attach files to messages privately, assign a file area that is not publicly accessible, or create a special file area. If the area is set to 0, only users with sysop access (see page 21) in the message area will be allowed to attach files, and they will be prompted for a path and file name. CAUTION: Users are likely to think that a file attached to a private message is also private, so you should make sure any files which can be attached to a private message go to a file area that is not accessible to the general public! Aliases: Three options are permitted. If you set the field to No, all postings will be made in the user's real name; if you set the field to Yes, all postings will use the caller's alias; if you set the field to Ask, the caller will be asked if he/she wants to use an alias. Of course, if the user has no alias in his/her user record, the real name will be used in any case. Use [Space], [+] or [-] to toggle the choices. Combined Mode: QuickBBS allows your users to read messages in all of their favorite message areas at one time, rather than forcing them to select each message area in turn. In this field, you determine whether your users will be allowed to include this message area in their combined read. Make your selection using [Space], [+] or [-]. Allow Delete: Using [Space], [+] or [-], decide whether you wish to allow users to delete messages to them. In public message areas, deleting messages that are part of a thread can often lead to confu- sion and misunderstanding as subsequent users can read only part of the conversation. This often leads to questions that require addition- al messages, often leading to more message base clutter! On the other hand, most messages posted can be deleted with no problem. Deleting messages in private message areas causes no system problem, unless you want to monitor all message traffic. See Kill Rec'd in the next paragraph. Keep Count, Kill Old, Kill Rec'd: These options determine how MSGPACK.EXE will delete messages. Used together, they give maximum flexibility in determining which messages will remain on your system. All take numeric entries. Keep Count determines how many messages will be left in the message area, Kill Old determines how many days messag- es will be kept on the system, and Kill Rec'd determines how many days messages which have been received and read will be kept. If you use all three options, MSGPACK.EXE will delete all messages older than the Kill Old date and all received messages older than the Kill Rec'd date, and then kill the oldest messages until reaching the Keep Count number. For a local E-mail type message area, you might want to set Kill Rec'd to 7, since users often like to keep a message for a few days for reference; Kill Old to 60, since any message not received in 60 days will most likely never be retrieved; and Keep Count to 200 since any larger number will unduly clutter your message area. Of course, if you have a very active system and lots of available space, you can set these numbers much higher. If space is tight and traffic Page 20 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation is light, there's no reason to set them so high. You can change these numbers at any time, so please experiment. Security Levels and Flags: In combination, security levels and flags provide over a million possible combinations with which you can grant and restrict access. Most often, security levels are used to determine online time, registration status, and upload/download ratios, while flags are used to provide access to restricted areas. A new user might be granted an access level of 10, which could permit her/him to read messages but not to write messages, to download software but not to upload it, and to see the online games menu but not to play them. A verified user might have her/his access raised to 20, which would permit writing messages, playing games, and uploading software. Frequent message posters might have their access level raised to 30, which would give them additional online time. On the other hand, the same user may be a visiting sysop, and setting flag C1 on could give access to sysop-only message areas. User group members could have their own message area using flag C2, while those employed by the XYZ Company might have their own file area using the C3 flag, and a Kids-Only message area could be marked with flag C4. Using the flags in combination, a visiting sysop who works for the XYZ company might have flags C1 and C3 set, allowing him/her access to both types of areas. This access would be determined en- tirely by the flag settings, without taking the security levels into account. If you've followed the above example, a visiting sysop who has not been verified might have read access to sysop message areas, but could not post messages until she/he is verified and his/her security level is raised to 20. This may sound extremely complicated, but it's not. The setting of flags and security levels can be automat- ed using another powerful feature, questionnaire files (see page 127). Flags and security levels use AND logic, requiring the user to meet or exceed the particular combination for the area. If a message area requires a security level of 20 and flag C6 to post messages, any user who has a security level of 20 or greater AND has flag C6 set can post messages. Any user with a security level less than 20 OR who does not have flag C6 set will not be able to post messages. There are four types of access to message areas: Read, Write, Template, and Sysop. Read access means the user can to read messages in this area, if he/she meets the flag and security level requirements. Write access means the user can post messages in this area if she/he meets flag and security level requirements. This type of access is not available on ReadOnly message boards. Template access means the user can see this message area listed on templated menus (see page 54). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 21 Sysop access means this user can bypass all security in this message area. CAUTION: Any user meeting sysop access requirements can read any message, public or private; delete any message, read or unread; and convert any message from public to private or private to public. This access should be greatly restricted because of possible legal complications. Using the above examples, you might want to give the user group president sysop access on the user group message area, and the president of XYZ Company sysop access to the company's message area. In any event, your users should be aware of exactly who can read their private messages. Imagine the complications that could result if John Doe posts an insulting message about the president of XYZ Company without realizing his boss can read the message. John Doe gets fired, and you get sued! See why it's so important? Granting Sysop access in a message area does not give that user the ability to <X>port messages, unless that user also meets Sysop security levels set under Security (see page 32). External Editor QuickBBS has a built-in, line-oriented editor that allows message quoting, editing, etc. Many of your more advanced users will prefer to use something more like the word processors they are accustomed to using. QuickBBS includes a standard interface that allows the instal- lation of external, full-screen editor doors. Choosing External Editor from the Message menu will present this display: ╒══════════════════External Message Editor Setup═════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Message Reply Quoting String: Swap to Disk/EMS: No │ │ │ │ DOS Command String: │ │ │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Gedit, Quicked, Shedit, and Toped are full screen message editors that are designed to work with QuickBBS. Like all door programs these are separate from QuickBBS and require a separate registration. They are not to be used with QuickBBS in violation of their license agree- ment. Message Reply Quoting String: This field allows you to specify the characters that will be placed in the left margin of quoted message text. The most common string is the previous message sender's initials, followed by the greater than sign (>). If you Insert a [Ctrl-A] character into this field, QuickBBS will substitute the initials of the sender. A [Ctrl-A] character will represent itself on your screen as a smiley-face. Quoted text is used in the internal line editor, and written to the hard drive for use by external editors. Page 22 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Swap to Disk/EMS: Choose Yes or No using [Space], [+] or [-]. If you say No, QuickBBS will remain in memory while loading the editor, severely limiting the amount of available memory for the editor and the message your caller will post. On the other hand, swapping to disk can be extremely slow, especially on a slow computer. If you are running the overlay version of QuickBBS on a slow computer, try setting this field to No. If you have a more modern computer with EMS memory and/or a large, fast hard drive, you'll get the best perfor- mance by setting this field to Yes. Experiment to find the setting best suited to your system. DOS Command String: Enter the command line that calls up your editor. Be sure to include the complete path and program name: C:\QUICK\EDITOR.EXE With some editors, you may need to add *N at the end of the command line if you are running a multinode setup. This passes the node number to the editor program. Check your editor's documentation, since this can also cause problems with some editors. Since this is, in effect, a Type 7 exit, all options available for Type 7 exits will work here. See page 116 for more on the Type 7 command. Default Origin Line Selecting this choice from the menu presents this display: ╒═════════════════════Default Origin Line══════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Another brand new QuickBBS sysop! │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The origin line is added to the bottom of Echomail messages (see page 97), and is not needed for Standalone systems. Enter your default origin line here. This will be added to any message posted in an area that does not have its own origin line specified in the Message Area screen. Setting Up File Areas Set up your file areas just like you set up your message areas. You can add and delete areas at any time, but the more steps you take toward organization now, the more organized you will be in the future. Try to group file areas according to function. Areas containing DOS files for download should be grouped together as much as possible, and not intermingled with Recipe areas. This will simplify setting up templated menus (see page 54) later on. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 23 Choosing Files from the Main menu will present this display: ╒═══════════════════════════File Area #1═════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Name: │ │ │ │ │ │ File Path: │ │ │ │ │ │ File List: │ │ │ │ Ignore K Limit: Yes Allow Uploads: Yes │ │ Ignore Ratios: Yes Check For Duplicate Uploads: No │ │ Group: 1 │ │ │ │ Download File Search Menu Template │ │ Security: 10 Security: 10 Security: 10 │ │ A Flags: -------- A Flags: -------- A Flags: -------- │ │ B Flags: -------- B Flags: -------- B Flags: -------- │ │ C Flags: -------- C Flags: -------- C Flags: -------- │ │ D Flags: -------- D Flags: -------- D Flags: -------- │ │ │ ╘PGDN - Prev area════════════ALT-G - Goto════════════PGUP - Next area╛ Name: This is a descriptive name that will display in selection menus. File Path: The drive and directory in which the files are to be located. File List: The drive, directory, and filename of the files listing for this file area. The default is FILES.BBS in the same directory as the file path. Many outside utilities will not work properly if you change the default, so don't change it without a good reason. If you're using a read-only CD-ROM drive, your files listing will have to be located elsewhere. Ignore K Limit and Ignore Ratios: Using the LIMITS.CTL file (see page 109), you can set limits on the number of files or bytes a user may download without uploading. For example, you might want to allow a user to download 10 files for every one upload, or 1 Mb of downloads for every 100 Kb uploaded. However, you may not want those limits to apply in every area. If you are a member of certain file distribution networks, you may have to make those files available to callers without regard to uploads. Using [Space], [+] or [-], choose Yes or No for each field. Setting both fields to Yes means any user meeting flag and security level requirements for downloading in this area will be permitted to download regardless of whether they have ever uploaded, ignoring the limits defined in LIMITS.CTL. However, the settings in Page 24 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation LIMITS.CTL will take precedence if a full path is entered in the data line of a download command (Type 32, see page 122). Allow Uploads: Using [Space], [+] or [-], decide whether you want to permit uploads to this area. Many sysops prefer to have all uploads go to a designated area for review before making files available to the users. This guarantees that you will be able to scan files for the presence of viruses, pirated commercial software, illegal pornography, or other undesirables, before they are placed online. If you choose No in this field, no user will be permitted to upload a file here under any circumstances. If you choose Yes, any user who has menu and/or template access to the file area will be permitted to upload. This setting will be ignored if the full path is entered in the data line of an upload command (Type 33, see page 122). Check for Duplicate Uploads: If set to Yes, all file areas will be searched for a file with the same filename before this upload is allowed. Group: QuickBBS allows you to group your file areas by subject matter. You can have up to 8 groups, numbered 1 to 8, and a file area may belong to any or all of the groups. Simply enter the group num- ber(s) in this field. You'll make use of that information later. This is similar to the Group function used in message areas (see page 18). Download Security, File Search Security, Menu Template Security: This is very similar to the way flags and security levels are set in message areas (see page 20). A user will not be able to download from this area unless he/she meets the Download Security settings. On global file searches, this area will not be searched unless the user meets the File Search Security settings, and on templated menus, this area will not be shown unless the user meets the Menu Template Securi- ty settings. Setting File Transfer Protocols Choosing Protocols from the Main menu presents this display: ╒════Internal Protocols════╕ │ │ │ Xmodem: Yes │ │ Xmodem-1K: Yes │ │ Ymodem: Yes │ │ Ymodem G: No │ │ Zmodem: Yes │ │ Kermit: No │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════╛ QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 25 Using [Space], [+] or [-], select whether you wish to make the protocol available to your users. Some sysops prefer to limit download protocols to the one or two that work best, while others allow their users to choose any protocol. Ymodem G provides an additional option, MNP. This protocol does not correct errors, so it should only be used on connections between error correcting modems, such as MNP modems. If set to MNP, this protocol will not be available to your users unless your modem sends the ARQ string specified under Other Options in the General menu (see page 29). Setting Ymodem G to Yes will make Ymodem G available to all callers, but you should warn them that any errors will make the files they transfer unusable. Setting Events From time to time, you'll most likely want to perform functions outside of the BBS such as maintenance on your message area, compila- tion of a files listing, etc. Events tell QuickBBS when to exit so that other programs can be run. This requires that QuickBBS be run from a batch file, using errorlevels to call up various functions (see page 130). Choosing Events from the Main Menu will present this display: ╒════════════════════System Event Configuration══════════════════════╕ │ │ │ 1: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 2: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 3: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 4: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 5: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 6: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 7: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 8: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 9: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 10: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 11: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 12: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 13: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 14: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 15: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 16: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ │ 17: Disabled SNMNTNWNTNFNSN ErrorLevel: 6 Forced: N │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Enabled/Disabled: Using [Space], [+] or [-], choose whether this event is to be enabled or disabled. This field allows you to stop the execution of an event without having to delete it. Page 26 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Days of Execution: You may not want to run every event every day. Using [Space], [+] or [-], indicate whether or not you want that event to run on that day of the week. Errorlevel: This determines the errorlevel at which QuickBBS will exit to call up the action from your batch file. QuickBBS does not run event programs itself, but instead allows DOS to do so. See page 130 for a discussion of errorlevels and batch files. Forced: If a caller is online when a Forced Event is scheduled to take place, his online time will be reduced at logon to the time until the scheduled event. Time banks and some online games can change the available time while the user is online, superseding this process. If this happens, the event will take place after the user logs off. Setting Other Options Choosing General from the Main Menu will present you with these choices: ╒═══════════ QuickBBS System Configuration version 2.76 ═════════════╕ │ Registration Messages Files Protocols Events General Quit │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════╒═══════════════╕═══╛ │ Modem │ │ DOS paths │ │ Prompts │ │ Colors │ │ Security │ │ Restrictions │ │ New User │ │ Verifier │ │ Other │ ╘═══════════════╛ Modem Options Set Modem options carefully, as there is nothing more important to the successful operation of a BBS. After all, if QuickBBS can't make your modem answer the phone, you won't have much of a BBS! Systems using a mailer need to have only the COM port and ARQ paramet- ers set. Choosing Modem will present the following display: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 27 ╒════════════════════════Modem Parameters═════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Comm Port: 1 Initialize at 2400 baud │ │ Wait 30 seconds for carrier Attempt initialization 3 times│ │ Answer Phone: Modem Character Delay: 60 ms │ │ │ │ Initialization String: ATE0F1M0Q0V1X4C1H0S0=1S7=15 │ │ Initialization Response: OK │ │ │ │ Busy String: ATM0H1 │ │ Busy Response: OK │ │ │ │Speed Connect String from Modem Speed Connect String from Modem│ │ 300 CONNECT| 1200 CONNECT 1200 │ │ 2400 CONNECT 2400 4800 CONNECT 4800 │ │ 9600 CONNECT 9600 12000 CONNECT 12000 │ │14400 CONNECT 14400 16800 CONNECT 16800 │ │Error Correcting Protocol if ARQ present in connect string. │ │ │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Comm Port: This tells QuickBBS which communications port your modem is using. Wait xx seconds for carrier: This tells QuickBBS how long to wait for an incoming call to present a carrier (modem tone) before giving up. Answer phone: The choices here are Modem and Software. Answering by Modem: If you choose modem, the modem will answer the phone whenever it rings, and send a CONNECT code to QuickBBS. The modem will continue to answer the phone even if you take your BBS down, or if it locks up for some reason. If you have long distance callers, they will be charged for the call even if they cannot get on your BBS. If you want your modem to answer the phone, you must set S0=n in your initialization string, where n is the number of rings before answering. Setting S0=1 will tell your modem to answer on the first ring, while setting S0=0 disables modem answering. Answering by Software: This is the preferred method if it works. Most modems send a special RI (ring) indication whenever an incoming call is detected. QuickBBS will receive this signal and send the answer code, ATA, to the modem, ordering it to answer the phone. This is the preferred method of answering since the phone will not be answered during maintenance, processing, lockups, etc. However, not all modems send the RI signal, not all computer hardware is capable of receiving it, and not all fossils pass it to QuickBBS, so it may not work on your system. If software doesn't work, you'll have to let the modem answer the Page 28 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation phone. If you do choose the Software method, make sure your initialization string includes the ATS0=0 command to disable modem answering. Initialize at nnnn baud: This should be the highest speed sup- ported by your modem, or the baud rate at which your Fossil is locked, whichever is higher. Attempt Initialization n Times: Specifies how many times QuickBBS will try to initialize your modem before giving up. Three times should be sufficient in nearly all cases. Character Delay: Sets the duration, in milliseconds, of the pause between commands sent to the modem. 60 ms should be sufficient in most cases but if your modem is having trouble processing commands, try setting this to a higher number. Initialization String: This is probably the single most important setting you'll make, so don't change it unless you really know what you're doing. An improper initialization string can prevent your system from answering the phone, cause garbage on the phone lines making them unusable, prevent users at certain baud rates from connec- ting with your system, and create all sorts of other mischief. Modem parameters vary, so a detailed discussion of initialization strings is beyond the scope of this manual, but some examples submitted by users are included beginning on page 132. There are four special characters that QuickBBS will interpret as part of the initialization String. The vertical line (|), also called the pipe symbol, is recognized as a carriage return; the up carat (^) is the "Raise DTR" command; the lower case (v) lowers DTR, and the tilde (~) pauses for 1/2 second. Initialization Response: The string your modem sends back to QuickBBS if initialization is successful, usually "OK". Busy String: QuickBBS can instruct your modem to take the phone off the hook during processing, during event exits, etc. The string that normally performs this function is ATH1. Adding M0 to the string turns off the system speaker so you don't have to listen to the phone company recording. Busy Response: The string your modem sends back to QuickBBS if the Busy String is successful, usually "OK." Speed Responses: The string your modem will send to QuickBBS to show the connection speed. Many modems require a vertical line or pipe symbol (|) symbol at the end of the 300 baud connect string to indi- cate a carriage return. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 29 ARQ String: String sent by your modem to indicate an error- correcting (MNP) connection. ARQ is the standard response, but not all modems follow this standard. If the Ymodem-G download protocol is set to MNP in the Protocol Configuration, it will not be available to the user unless the modem connect string contains the ARQ string. Setting DOS Paths For QuickBBS to know how to operate, it must know where to find all of its files. Choosing DOS Paths from the General menu will present this display: ╒════════════════════════════System Paths════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Menu Path: │ │ C:\QuickBBS\Menus\ │ │ │ │ Text File Path: │ │ C:\QuickBBS\TxtFiles\ │ │ │ │ Message Base Path: │ │ C:\QuickBBS\Messages\ │ │ │ │ Nodelist Path: │ │ C:\QuickBBS\NodeList\ │ │ │ │ Overlay Path: │ │ │ │ │ │ Swap Path: │ │ │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Menu Path: Where QuickBBS will find its menu files (*.MNU). Text File Path: Where QuickBBS will find the text files it displays to callers (*.ANS, *.ASC). Message Base Path: Where QuickBBS will find the files that make up the message base (MSG*.BBS). USERS.BBS, COMBINED.BBS, LASTREAD.BBS, and ALIAS.BBS also must be in this directory. Nodelist Path: Where QuickBBS will find raw nodelist files and the index files produced by QNODE.EXE. Overlay Path: If you're using the overlay version, you can often speed up the system by storing the overlay in a RAM disk. Specify the path to your overlay file here. If left blank, QuickBBS will look for the overlay file in the same directory as QUICKBBS.EXE. Page 30 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Swap Path: If QuickBBS can't swap itself to EMS memory, you can often improve system performance by swapping to a RAM disk. Specify the swap path here If left blank, QuickBBS will swap to the current directory. Setting Prompts Choosing Prompts from the General menu will present this display: ╒════════════════════════════Prompt Strings══════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Loading Message: │ │ Loading, Please Wait ... │ │ │ │ Selection Prompt: │ │ Type Selection or L to List, [Enter]=Quit: │ │ │ │ No New Mail: │ │ No new mail for you. (Gotta write 'em to get 'em!) │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Loading Message: Text displayed to the user while an external program is loading (menu Type 7 or Type 15). Selection Prompt: Prompt displayed for a Type 6 menu command. No New Mail: Text displayed after the personal mail check at logon or as the result of a Type 22 menu selection. Setting Default Colors Choosing Colors from the General menu presents this display: ╒═══════════════╕ │ Main screen │ │ Entry fields │ │ Borders │ │ Windows │ │ Status bar │ ╘═══════════════╛ Select the area you wish to change. QCONFIG.EXE will show you a display of all possible foreground and background colors. Choose the combination that is most appealing to you. If you have a monochrome system, you can tell which colors are displayed by the code at the bottom of the box. The first digit is the foreground color, while the second digit is the background color. The digits are in hexadecimal (base 16) numbers, so A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, and F=15. Keep in QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 31 mind that computers count beginning at 0, so numbers from 0 to 15 give you 16 possible choices! A list of available colors is on page 47. System Security QuickBBS allows virtually unlimited system security. Calling up Security from the General menu provides this display: ╒═══════════════System Security════════════════╕ │ │ │ Allow shell commands from text files: No │ │ Allow one word user names: No │ │ "Forgot my password" board: 0 │ │ Inactivity time out: 120 │ │ Logon time limit: 10 │ │ Password tries: 3 │ │ │ │ Sysop security: 32000 │ │ A flags: -------- │ │ B flags: -------- │ │ C flags: -------- │ │ D flags: -------- │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Allow shell commands from text files: QuickBBS can call up a door file or issue other commands from special characters imbedded within text files. This can be an extremely dangerous feature. You should set this field to No until you understand its full ramifications. Allow one word user names: Many System Operators require their users to use their full names. Others allow handles or aliases. If you wish to allow aliases, set this field to Yes, otherwise set it to No. Note that this does not affect the alias setting in message bases. If this field is set to Yes, a user can log on as "Batman" without ever giving her/his real name. With this field set to No, a user can still use "Batman" in defined message areas, but should put his/her real name in the user base. "Forgot my password" board: If a caller can't think of the correct password after the allowed number of tries, she/he will be given the opportunity to post a message in the board number entered here. This should be a restricted access base, perhaps even a message base dedicated for just such messages. Setting the board number to 0 disables this feature. Callers must have the proper security level and flags to post messages on this board. Page 32 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Inactivity time out: The length of time, in seconds, a user is allowed to remain online without any keyboard input. The caller is warned 30 seconds before the disconnect. Logon time limit: The length of time a new user is given to complete the logon process. An experienced caller should be able to complete logon in less than 5 minutes, but you should allow extra time for inexperienced callers or if you have lots of text and question- naire files to go through. Password tries: The number of attempts a user will be allowed to enter the correct password before the system hangs up. All incorrect password attempts are logged to the SYSTEM.LOG. Sysop security: Security level and flags for a person to be considered a "Sysop." A person with sysop access is allowed to export messages to your printer or to a file on your system. Granting sysop access to the wrong person would allow her/him to export a message to a file such as C:\COMMAND.COM, or C:\QUICK\QUICKBBS.EXE. QuickBBS will obediently comply, causing your system to crash. In the same way, your USERS.BBS, MSG*.BBS, or data from your accounting system could be overwritten. Setting Restrictions Choosing Restrictions from the General menu will present the following display: ╒═════════════════User Restrictions══════════════════╕ │ │ │ 300 baud access allowed between : and │ │ Downloads allowed between and │ │ Paging allowed between and │ │ │ │ Page Attempts: 3 Page Bell Length: 20 │ │ │ │ Minimum speed to use ANSI graphics: 1200 baud │ │ Minimum speed for file transfers: 1200 baud │ │ │ │ Minimum speed to log on: 300 baud │ │ │ │ Security level required to log on: 5 │ │ A flags required to log on: -------- │ │ B flags required to log on: -------- │ │ C flags required to log on: -------- │ │ D flags required to log on: -------- │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 33 300 baud access allowed between: Set the times during which you want to allow 300 baud callers to use your system. If you don't want to restrict them at all, enter 00:00 to 24:00. Downloads allowed between: Set the times during which you want to allow downloads. If you don't want to restrict them at all, enter 00:00 to 24:00. Paging allowed between: Set the times during which a caller will be allowed to page you. This can be temporarily overridden from the keyboard, and you can always bring a user into chat. Page Attempts: Sets the number of times a user is allowed to page you in one session. Some users can become very obnoxious very quickly without a reasonable limit. Some twits think you operate the system for their pleasure and you never have anything better to do than answer their endless questions. A reasonable limit set here (3 is a good number) can add to your enjoyment of your system. Page Bell Length: Controls the length of time, in seconds, the page bell will ring when a user calls you. As in page attempts, a reasonable setting here will add to your enjoyment of your system. Minimum speed to use ANSI graphics: If you would prefer not to let callers with lower speed modems view graphics, set this parameter to whatever speed you desire. Minimum speed for file transfers: If you wish to restrict low speed callers from uploading or downloading files, set the minimum baud rate for file transfers here. Minimum speed to log on: If you wish to prevent low speed callers from accessing your system at all, set the minimum baud rate you wish to allow here. Security Level and Flags to logon: This controls who has actual access to your system. On a single node system, if you make this more restrictive than the new user parameters, new users will be allowed to log onto your system and then dumped off. You might want to do this if you verify your callers manually, but there are much more polite ways of going about it. This feature is more useful on multinode systems that restrict some users from calling certain nodes. New User Restrictions In this section you will set the parameters for first time callers to your system. When you choose New User from the General menu, you'll see this display: Page 34 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ╒════════════════════════New User Parameters═════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Security level: 5 Force US phone format: No │ │ A Flags: -------- Ask For Home Phone: Yes │ │ B Flags: -------- Ask For Data Phone: Yes │ │ C Flags: -------- Ask For Birthday: Yes │ │ D Flags: -------- Ask For Gender: Yes │ │ Allow IEMSI: Yes │ │ Netmail Credit: 0 │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Security Level and Flags: Enter the settings that you have assigned to first time callers. This must be the same or higher than the settings required for logon under User Restrictions, or the user will be logged off as soon as the logon process is complete. Also, you should have at least one message board in which the new user can post messages to you in case she/he is having problems logging on. Make sure it's as simple as possible to find. Always remember that new callers are often brand new at telecommunications and can be easily intimidated. Force US phone format: In the United States, Canada, Mexico, and surrounding countries, telephone numbers are in the format (nnn) nnn- nnnn. If you wish to force users to use this format when entering telephone numbers, enter Yes. Otherwise select No. Ask for Home Phone: If you select Yes, new users will be asked to enter their home/voice telephone number. Ask for Data Phone: If you select Yes, new users will be asked to enter their data/business phone number. Ask for Birthday: If you say Yes, new users will be asked to enter their date of birth in the format MM-DD-YY. Ask for Gender: If you say Yes, new users will be asked if they are Male or Female. Netmail Credit: Use with caution! If an entry is made in this field, new users will be able to send netmail up to this amount. Normally netmail credit is given only after a user has paid for it. However, if you wish to extend credit to your users, enter an amount here in cents. A netmail credit of 1000 is equal to $10.00. Allow IEMSI: If you choose Yes, users with IEMSI-capable software can automatically log onto your system, since the IEMSI process will give QuickBBS most of the information needed to logon. Questions not answered by the IEMSI information packet will still be asked. IEMSI must also be activated under Other parameters (see page 38). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 35 Call Back Verifier Choosing Verifier from the General menu will present this dis- play. Use [Tab] to move to the next field, and [Shift-Tab] to move to a previous field: ╒══════════════════Callback Verifier Configuration═══════════════════╕ │ │ │ Modem initialization string ATX7E0H0 │ │ Dial string ATDT Dial suffix │ │ Call Delay 2000 │ │ Check for duplicate phone numbers Yes Wakeup Delay 2000 │ │ New user security 5 │ │ Validated user security 10 │ │ Validated user A flags -X?????? │ │ Validated user B flags ???????- │ │ Validated user C flags ???????- │ │ Validated user D flags ???????? │ │ Resume BBS after local call No │ │ Maximum cost for local calls 0 │ │ Allow long distance calls Yes │ │ Resume BBS after LD call No │ │ Long distance start time 23:01 │ │ Long distance end time 07:59 │ │ │ ╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Modem Initialization String: Enter the string that QuickBBS will use to initialize your modem for an outgoing call. The default string should be correct for most applications. If your modem uses the standard AT command set, make sure you include E0 in the initializa- tion string. Please see the note on initialization strings on page 28. Dial String: If you have touch-tone service on your telephone line, use ATDT. Otherwise, use ATDP. If you have Call Waiting (which is not recommended for a BBS phone line!), add the override code at the end of the string, followed by a comma (,). In most areas, this code is (*70) for touch-tone lines, or (1170) for pulse (rotary) lines. Depending on your telephone service, a comma also may be needed before the override code, or you may need to dial a different code altogether. If you are calling out through a switchboard and need to dial a special code to access outside lines, add it after the dial string. Dial Suffix: Leave blank in most cases. If your telephone compa- ny, long distance company, or modem require special codes to be dialed after the telephone number, add them here. Check for duplicate phone numbers: If you set this field to Yes, the verifier will not process a new user if there is already a user at the same telephone number. If allowed through your menu settings, your Page 36 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation user can change her/his telephone number and try again, or post a message asking to be verified manually. While this does discourage twits from logging on under more than one name, it also discourages spouses, parents, children, and siblings of your users from becoming interested and involved in telecommunications. At logon, any duplica- tion of an existing user's telephone number is written to a special file called PHONEDUP.LOG for your review. The user is also notified that he/she has given a duplicate phone number. New user security: This normally should be set to the same security level as callers get at initial logon (see page 34). Only callers with this exact security level will be allowed to use the verifier. Validated user security: The security level a caller will be given after successfully completing the verification process (see page 20). Validated user flags: Flags that will be changed or left alone after successful verification. There are three possible settings: (-) will clear (reset) the flag, (X) will set the flag, and (?) will leave the flag setting unchanged (see page 20). Resume BBS after local call: If set to Yes, a local user will be returned to the BBS with his/her new security level and flags. If set to No, the user will be disconnected after being told she/he has been verified, and asked to call back. Entries in PHONE#.CTL (see page 111) are used to determine which calls are local. If you require callers to override Call Waiting, you can answer No in this field, and give information on how to override Call Waiting in S-VALID.A?? (see page 92). Maximum cost for local calls: There are three generally accepted types of telephone calls. Local calls are included in the cost of your monthly phone bill, and so you can make an unlimited number of calls at no additional charge. Toll calls are usually dialed without a 1, but do involve an additional charge. Long distance calls usually require the dialing of 1- or 1-area code, and always involve a charge. (Measured Service essentially turns local calls into toll calls in return for a reduced basic rate.) If your telephone company offers toll calling (sometimes called Local Optional Calling or LOC), you may wish to allow verification of some toll calls and not others. By setting a maximum cost in this field, you instruct the verifier which exchanges to treat as local calls. Cost information is read from PHONE#.CTL (see page 111). Allow long distance calls: If you set this field to Yes, the call back verifier will verify callers even if they are long distance. This will increase your telephone bill slightly, but provides additional security. Since most BBS's get few, if any, long distance callers, QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 37 this is seldom a major factor one way or the other. Cost information is read from PHONE#.CTL (see page 111). Callback Delay: Length of time, in milliseconds, to wait for the telephone company to provide a dial tone. It takes 1000 milliseconds to equal 1 second, so small numbers will have little effect. Wake Up Delay: Number of milliseconds to wait after establishing a connection before sending the "Press Enter" message. Again, small numbers have little effect. Setting Miscellaneous Options Choosing Other from the General menu will present this display: ╒══════════════════════Misc System Parameters═══════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Upload Credit Multiplier: 1 Ansi Graphics: Yes │ │ Screen Blank Timeout: 120 Colored Input Fields: Yes │ │ │ │ Auto ANSI Detect: Yes Direct Screen Writes: No │ │ Auto Logon Character: No Snow Check: No │ │ Fast Local Sysop Logon: Yes Mono Mode: No │ │ IEMSI: Yes │ │ Swap on ALT-J: Yes │ │ Mail Check: Yes Capture mode when chat initiated: No │ │ Multi Node: Yes Exit when Net/Echo Mail Entered: Yes │ │ Node: 1 Use Extended Lastread Pointers: Yes │ │ │ │ Location: │ │ User Editor: │ │ │ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Upload Credit Multiplier: The entry in this field determines how online time will be calculated for a user who uploads a file to your system. If this entry is 0, the time will be deducted from the user's daily allowance. An entry of 1 will not deduct upload time from available time, so the user will have the same online time remaining after the upload as before it. Any other figure will increase avail- able time by the time of the upload times the multiplier. In other words, if a user has 30 minutes left and spends 10 minutes uploading, an entry of 0 in this field will leave him/her with 20 minutes remain- ing, an entry of 1 will leave 30 minutes; an entry of 2 will leave 40 minutes, an entry of 3 will leave 50 minutes, etc. Screen Blank Timeout: The length of time, in seconds, before the screen will blank if there is no one online. Applies only to Stand- alone systems. Page 38 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ANSI Graphics: This must be set to Yes to allow callers to see color screens and use the external editor. Colored Input Fields: If this field is set to Yes, ANSI callers will be given a block with a colored background in which to make text entries. Auto ANSI Detect: QuickBBS has the ability to sense ANSI capabil- ities in some terminal software. If ANSI is detected, the user will be allowed to use the external editor and full-screen chat even if ANSI Graphics is not set in the user's configuration. However, this can cause problems in some situations. If you do not want QuickBBS to test for ANSI capabilities, set this field to No. Auto Logon Character: If you set this field to Yes, QuickBBS will send a [Ctrl-E] character immediately after asking for a caller's name. This can prompt some terminal software to send logon informa- tion. If it is not processed properly, the caller will normally see a +0 appear in the Name field. [Ctrl-E] is also used to start automatic downloads on some pay systems. Fast Local Sysop Logon: If this option is enabled, you will be able to log on locally by entering only your password. The sysop must be the first user listed in the user base. Other users can log on locally by pressing [Enter] at the Password: prompt, and then logging on normally. This does compromise system security slightly, but not enough to be a concern in most situations. Direct Screen Writes: Allows the system to process video informa- tion more quickly on the local screen. Should be set to No if you are running multitasking software. Snow Check: Some older CGA cards have a problem with direct screen writes and produce interference ("snow") on the screen. If you experience this problem, set this field to Yes. Otherwise, leave it at No. Mono Mode: If you have a monochrome monitor, set this field to Yes. All local screen display will be adjusted to monochrome, while callers who have color systems will be shown color displays. IEMSI: Do you want to allow callers with IEMSI-capable terminal software to log on automatically? If you set this field to No, the IEMSI inquiry will not be sent, and the Allow IEMSI setting in the New User configuration (page 34) will be ignored. Swap on Alt-J: Determines whether QuickBBS will remain in memory if you shell to DOS using [Alt-J]. If you set this field to Yes, QuickBBS will take itself out of memory by creating a swap file either in EMS memory or on disk. This will leave more available memory, but slows the system down slightly. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 39 Mail Check: Determines whether a caller's mail is automatically checked at logon. This can be accomplished manually using the Type 22 command (see page 119). Multi-Node: If you are running a multinode operation, set this field to Yes. You will notice frequent hard disk access as QuickBBS looks for files created by other nodes. See page 81 for more on mul- tinode setup. Setting this field to No disables this hard disk check- ing and certain multinode commands, but not message base locking. Node: In multinode configurations, set to the proper node number. Otherwise, leave set at 1. Capture mode when chat initiated: If this option is set to Yes, QuickBBS will begin each chat session by opening a capture log so the chat session will be saved to disk. Exit when Net/Echo Mail Entered: Set to Yes only if you do not run a standalone system. QuickBBS will exit with an errorlevel indi- cating the type of mail that was entered. See page 108 for a list of exit errorlevels. Use Extended Lastread Pointers: If set to Yes, QuickBBS will keep track of the last message read by each user in each message area. This is stored in a file named LASTREAD.BBS. If set to No, only the highest message number read is stored. Location: The location of your BBS, including city, state, country, etc. that will be presented to IEMSI callers. User Editor: The program that will be run if you select [U]ser while reading messages; see page 66. The command should include the full path and may also include these optional parameters: *W If included on the command line, the name of the user sending the message will be fed to the user editor. *M If included on the command line, QuickBBS will swap itself out to EMS or disk before loading the user editor. A typical command line would read: C:\QUICKBBS\USEREDIT.EXE *W *M All of the functions of Type 7 Menu Commands will also work with the user editor. See page 116. Page 40 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Setting Up Menus Before using MENUEDIT.EXE for the first time, you'll need to create and/or customize the configuration file. Called MENUEDIT.CFG, this file sets the defaults that will determine how MENUEDIT.EXE displays menus to you when you first start it up. You can create it with any standard text editor. (A configuration file is included with the Auto Install program.) MENUEDIT.CFG consists of a number of keywords followed by the value you wish to assign to that option. It's important to remember that MENUEDIT.CFG only controls the Simulation mode settings when you first run MENUEDIT.EXE; it has no effect on the menus you will create other than in how it affects the way you view the menus while creating or editing them. Any of the options in MENUEDIT.CFG except MultiPath can be changed from within the program. Keywords may be placed in any order and are not case sensitive, so they may be in all upper case, all lower case, or a combination. If a keyword is missing, the default will be used (shown in brackets and/or italics in the list below). Any line which begins with anything other than a valid keyword will be ignored, so look for spelling errors if something doesn't work right. Here is a list of available keywords: SecurityLevel [5]: Determines the Security Level you will simu- late. Linenumber [On]: Determines whether Line Numbers will be visible on your simulation screen. TopMenu [TOP.MNU]: Identifies the first menu to be loaded when starting MENUEDIT.EXE. WordWrap [Off]: Determines whether WordWrap will be ON or OFF. FlagA, FlagB, FlagC, and FlagD [--------]: Controls simulated flag settings. AutoMode [Off]: Determines whether [Ctrl-A] commands will be activated by the simulation. ShowData [Off]: Determines whether command type explanations will be shown. ANSIMode [On]: Determines the status of ANSI mode in your simula- tion. MultiPath [Off]: Determines whether MENUEDIT.EXE will allow Extended Path Switching. See page 60. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 41 Path1, Path2, and Path3 [No Defaults]: Sets paths for Extended Path Switching. See page 60. To use MENUEDIT.EXE, simply change to your QuickBBS directory and type MENUEDIT. After the opening screens, you'll be placed in the main editing screen and shown TOP.MNU (or the menu identified by the TopMenu keyword in MENUEDIT.CFG, see page 40), and the status line will appear across the bottom of the screen. Status Line The status line will show the following options in a two line display that is too wide for the printed page: Line 1 F1:ANSI ON F2:Data Mode OFF F3:Numbers ON F4:Ctrl-A Mode OFF F5:Line Wrap OFF Line 2 TOP.MNU S:32000 A:XXXXXXXX B:XXXXXXXX C:XXXXXXXX D:XXXXXXXX On the first line, the status of options is shown by the word On or Off, as set in MENUEDIT.CFG or by the defaults. Also, if your video system supports it, options that are on are in bright white text, while options that are off are in black. You can toggle the options to the opposite state by pressing the indicated function key. F1 Toggles ANSI or ASCII mode. Shows how your screen will appear to users with and without ANSI capability. F2 Toggles Data mode, which gives you brief information about each menu option instead of the display text. Data mode is very useful if you are making menus featuring text file menus activated automatically by [Ctrl-A]. F3 Toggles line numbers, which help you to pick the correct line to edit. F4 Toggles Ctrl-A mode. In Ctrl-A mode, the simulator will display a text file used as the display for the menu (see page 59). Also, it will automatically load Type 1, Type 2, or Type 4 menus with a Ctrl-A if this option is ON. If you need to Edit a menu in which you're using a Ctrl-A to call up another menu, turn this option OFF and you will stop at the first menu and be allowed to edit the options in it. Page 42 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation F5 Toggles line wrap. If line wrap is ON you get a more accu- rate simulation of the actual screen display. Leaving line wrap OFF makes editing menus with long display lines a little easier. F6 Allows you to change the security and flags that are being simulated. The second line shows the menu you are now editing and the security level and flag settings you are simulating (see page 20). [F6] allows you to see how the menu will appear to users at various security levels and flag settings. Moving around from menu to menu is as easy from within MENUEDIT.EXE as it is on the BBS itself. You can move from one menu to another by pressing the same key that would call up the secondary menu on your BBS. Some menu types, such as Type 7's and Type 15's, will not activate but instead will display a data line telling you the key's function. Menus and Speed Keys You can bring up the menus within MENUEDIT.EXE in several ways. Pressing [ESC] will give you the Main Menu. You can reach the File menu by choosing File from the Main Menu, or by pressing [Alt-F] from the simulation screen. To the left of each menu option is an Alt-Key or Ctrl-Key combination (Speed Keys) that will activate that function without bringing down the menu. Also, once a menu is shown, you can press the first letter of an option to activate it, or move the highlight to that line and press [Enter]. If you're using a mouse, a click on the mouse key will pull down the Main Menu, and a click on the proper line will activate that option. When the main menu is activated, the following will be displayed: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 43 ╓─────────────────────╖ ║ *MenuEdit* ║ ║ ║ ║ File * Alt-F ║ ║ Settings * Alt-S ║ ║ Add * Alt-A ║ ║ Delete * Alt-D ║ ║ Insert * Alt-I ║ ║ Edit * Alt-E ║ ║ List * Alt-L ║ ║ Copy * Alt-C ║ ║ Global * Alt-G ║ ║ Change ║ ║ ------------------- ║ ║ HighLight * Alt-H ║ ║ Prompt * Alt-P ║ ║ ------------------- ║ ║ Quit * Alt-X ║ ║ ║ ╙─────────────────────╜ The file menu presents the following display: ╓─────────────────────╖ ║ *MenuEdit* ║ ║ File Commands ║ ║ ║ ║ New Menu * Ctrl-N ║ ║ Save * Ctrl-S ║ ║ Rename * Ctrl-R ║ ║ Copy * Ctrl-C ║ ║ Delete * Ctrl-D ║ ║ Write To * Ctrl-W ║ ║ OS Shell * Ctrl-O ║ ║ ║ ╙─────────────────────╜ On either menu, a highlight bar marks the current option. The file menu can be called by pressing [Alt-F] from the simulation screen, by pressing F from the Main Menu, by moving the highlight bar to the File line, or by bringing up the Main Menu and then using your mouse to click on the File line. The four methods of choosing an option are functionally equiva- lent. At the beginning, you'll probably call up menus and choose your options, but soon you'll be using the Speed Keys like a pro! Here is a detailed explanation of each option in the Main and File Menus. They are listed alphabetically. Page 44 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Add [Alt-A]: Allows you to add a command to the end of your menu. If you want to add a command in the middle of the menu, use Insert or Copy and then Edit. Pressing [Alt-A] brings up the Add/Edit screen: ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Editing Entry #: 13 │ │ 1 2 3 4 5 6 │ │12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678│ │····································································│ │ │ │Optional Data: │ │····································································│ │ │ │Menu Type....>0·· │ │Security.....>0···╓──────────────────────Keys In Use───────────────╖│ │Key..........>? ║?0?H012CGP? ║│ │ForeGround...>7· ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────╜│ │BackGround...>0· │ │A Flags......>--------╔════════════════════Shift-FKeys═════════════╗│ │B Flags......>--------║ This information reproduced below because ║│ │C Flags......>--------║ of space limitations on the printed page ║│ │D Flags......>--------╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝│ │ │ │ [F1] to Finish and Save Changes │ │ [ESC] To Abort Changes To This Entry │ │[HOME]-Beginning of Line [END]-End of Line, [INS]-Toggle Insert Mode│ │ [F2]-Center Display Line [F10]-Menu Type Help │ │ │ └────String To Appear On Menu, ^String^ Makes String HighLighted─────┘ ╔════════════════════Shift-FKeys═════════════════════╗ ║ F1-┌ F2-┐ F3-└ F4-┘ F5-─ F6-│ F7-├ F8-┤ F9-┴ F10┬ ║ ║ (Use ALT-FKeys To Change Charset) ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Adding menu options is as easy as filling in the blanks. The top line is the display line. Anything you type here will display on the menu. If you leave it blank, the menu will show a blank line. Normal- ly, each text line is followed by a carriage return, but adding a semi-colon (;) at the end of the line will eliminate the carriage return. A line containing only a semi-colon will not affect the menu display at all. The numbers above the line are to aid you in placing items on the screen. Be sure to note the editing keys shown at the bottom of the screen. [F2] will center your data, [Home] moves you to the beginning of the line, [End] to the end of the line, and [Ins] toggles between Insert and Overtype mode. Including an up-carat (^) on the line toggles between regular and highlight mode. In the following line: This is a ^display line^ in the menu QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 45 the words "display line" would be highlighted. The words "This is a" and "in the menu" would both take on the foreground and background colors specified on the Add/Edit screen. Be careful when using the highlight (^) character in text lines. It will appear to take a character position on the edit screen, but will not use a space in the actual menu display. Also, using the highlight (^) character can produce some interesting effects. If you have your foreground set to white and your background to blue, this line will have a blue background beginning all the way at the left margin, and ending immediately after the last character: This is a display line in the menu On the other hand, this line will show the blue background only behind the letters: ^ ^This is a display line in the menu If you want the blue background to cover the entire line, use the first example but pad it with spaces all the way to the end of the line. Other special purpose keys in Add/Edit Mode include [F1], which saves your work and either returns you to Simulation Mode (if you're in Edit Mode), or gives you another blank command screen (if you're in Add Mode), and [Esc], which aborts the changes on the current command screen and returns you to Simulation Mode. [F10] also has a special function, described under "Menu type" below. Pressing Alt-function key combinations flips through 100 special characters you can include on the text lines of your menus. Remember that users without IBM compatible equipment or that do not have a suitable graphics card might not be able to display characters that are above 126 or below 28 on the table of ASCII characters. Characters below 28 are control characters that control various communications functions, or in some cases trigger the display of special information by the BBS (see page 94). A chart of ASCII characters begins on page 150. There are three Metacharacters supported on menu text lines: *C Centers the display line *F Displays the current file area *M Displays the current message area Metacharacters may be stacked, so *M*C would display the current message area in the center of the line. This can be a little tricky and might require some experimentation with placement of the various options. Page 46 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Menu type defines which one of the available options will be called by this command. A complete, detailed list of Menu Types begins on page 114. Pressing [F10] gives you a list of all available menu types. Security and A-D Flags determine which users will have access to this command. A user must have a security level at or above the specified limit AND the specified flags to use this command. As a sysop, system security should be your most important concern, so a thorough understanding of security levels and flags is necessary (see page 20). By default, MENUEDIT.EXE places you in Insert mode, but this can be a problem when changing flags. Since a maximum of eight flags are allowed on each line, and all eight are already set to [-], you won't be able to "add" an [X] character to toggle a flag on. Delete the [-] character or press the [Insert] key to change to Typeover mode, and you'll be able to make the changes. Key is the character your callers will use to select the menu option. Alphabetical characters will automatically convert to upper case if necessary. Your users can use upper or lower case. Remember that many computers that are not IBM compatible may not be able to generate all of the characters on the IBM-style keyboard, so characters such as the brace ({}), the bracket ([]), the tilde (~), the vertical line (|), and the backslash (\) should be avoided on commands you intend for public access. Often characters such as these make good choices for restricted access commands, such as menus or special read commands for your co-sysops, as many users will not even be able to generate them. Keys in Use shows you which keys already have a function in the current menu. Once you understand what you're doing, you can use the same command more than once, and let it have different effects for different users. For example, you might want to install two different time banking programs. The first might allow users to borrow online time. You probably won't want to let new users do that. The second door might not have that function, but will still allow users to save their own time for later use. You can use the [B] command for both choices as long as you follow three simple rules: 1. The most restrictive command must come first. Users who meet the security level and flag restrictions will select the first command and never get to the second. 2. The less restrictive command must come after the first. 3. Only include a text line on the least restrictive command. Simple enough? If you set the first command at security level 10, and the second command at security level 5, a user with a security level of 10 will activate the first command, while a user with a QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 47 security level of 5 will activate the second. If you place the lower security level first, the user with the higher security level will trigger the first command and never make it to the second. Foreground and Background set the colors that users who have access to the command will see when the text line displays on their screen. This applies only to users who have chosen to use ANSI graph- ics. Colors can add interest and excitement to your system, but they can also make it unreadable, especially if you use certain color combinations, such as dark gray on black. Any combination that does not produce a high contrast will be useless on a monochrome system. Some colors produce underlined text in monochrome, while others blink! If you don't have access to a monochrome system yourself, your best bet is to ask a user you trust to let you know if there are any areas on your menus that are useless to her/him. You'll need to print out a list of your commands first, though, since your user won't be able to report invisible commands! Here is a list of available colors: Black . . . . 0 Dark Gray . . . . 8 Blue . . . . 1 Light Blue . . . 9 Green . . . . 2 Light Green . . . 10 Cyan . . . . 3 Light Cyan . . . 11 Red . . . . . 4 Light Red . . . . 12 Magenta . . . 5 Light Magenta . . 13 Brown . . . . 6 Yellow . . . . . 14 Light Gray . 7 White . . . . . . 15 Only colors 1-7 can be used for background colors. If 8 is entered for the background color, the command will blink; if 9 is entered, the command will blink in reverse colors. Copy [Alt-C]: Allows you to copy or move commands from one place on your menu to another. Pressing [Alt-C] gives the following display: ╓───────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ Copy Range Start Entry:1· ║ ║ Copy Range Ending Entry:1· ║ ║ Copy Range Before What Entry:1· ║ ║ Delete Source Entries?Y ║ ╙───────────────────────────────────────╜ If you enter 1 as your start entry, 5 as your ending entry, and 10 as your destination entry, and answer No to Delete Source Entries?, menu items 1-5 will become items 10-14, and previous #10 will move to #15. If you answered Yes to Delete Source Entries?, then previous items 6-9 will become 1-3; previous items 1-5 will become 4-9, and item 10 will remain in place, as will any other items that follow. To add an item to the end of the menu, enter a destination entry one higher than the last line on your menu, so if your menu has 10 lines, Page 48 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation entering a destination before line 11 would copy the entry to the end of the menu. Copy Menu [Ctrl-C]: This command allows you to replace one menu with another, or create a new menu as a duplicate of a previous menu. You'll be shown the standard file display box (see page 52). Select the file you want to copy (or type in the name including the .MNU extension, or another extension if appropriate), and you'll be prompt- ed for the destination name: ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║Destination Menu Name: (.MNU Extension Assumed) ········║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ While it is necessary to type in the extension for the source file, it is not necessary to enter the extension for the destination menu name. This allows you to copy backup menus or create "core" menus for later use in creating new menus. A core menu contains the shell of commands you will use on every menu. As an example, suppose you wanted every menu to have this basic structure: QuickBBS 2.76 Menu Title Here (Individual menu commands go here) <G>oodbye Menu <Q>uick Bye <-> Return to Previous Menu <T>ime Remaining Online <S>earch Userlog <R>eturn to Top Menu Time remaining: 9999 minutes Enter your command: You could create a special menu named CORE.MNU and duplicate it to create all your other menus. This will save you lots of time in creating new menus. For additional protection, you might want to rename CORE.MNU to CORE.COR or CORE.!!! or some other name so MENUEDIT.EXE and QuickBBS will ignore it, except when using the copy function. Delete [Alt-D]: Allows you to delete a command. Use this option with caution as there are no second chances. Delete Menu [Ctrl-D]: Allows you to delete unwanted menu and backup files. Choosing this option brings up the File Display Box (see page 52). As always, you can choose the menu to be deleted from the display, or type in the filename and extension yourself. Use this option with caution as there is no secondary prompt to ask you if you're sure. Once you delete a file, it's gone forever! (Not really ... if you know how to recover deleted files through DOS, you can retrieve it as long as it hasn't been overwritten.) QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 49 Edit [Alt-E]: Allows you to edit an existing command. You'll be shown the following display: ╔═══════════════════╗ ║Edit Which Entry?1·║ ╚═══════════════════╝ Enter the line number you want to edit. You'll go to the Edit screen so you can update the menu. Remember to press [F1] to save your work. See the section on Adding menu options starting on page 44 for a complete discussion of Add/Edit Mode. Global Change [Alt-G]: Allows you to make changes to several or even all of your menus at one time. Pressing [Alt-G] or choosing Global from the menu will present these choices: Select Type Of Data To Globally Search/Replace:Display Text Data Type Sec HotKey Fg Bg HiFg HiBg P Fg P Bg A Flags B Flags C Flags D Flags This function is similar to the Global Search/Replace function of many word processors. If you choose Display Text, you'll be shown this display: NOTE: On String Searches, Only An Exact Match Will Be Replaced. ╓Enter The Display String To Search For:────────────────────────╖ ║·······························································║ ╙───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ ╓Enter The Replacement Display String:──────────────────────────╖ ║·······························································║ ╙───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ After entering the search string, you'll be shown the replacement string menu. MENUEDIT.EXE will search through the text lines on all of your menus and replace them according to your instructions. If you have the following line on all of your menus: Page 50 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation <^G^>oodbye -- Logof the system you can use this feature to correct your spelling error! Enter the incorrect line under "Enter The Display String To Search For," and the corrected line under "Enter The Replacement Display String." Only exact matches will be replaced, so if you leave out a character (including the highlight (^) character), the replacement will not be made. After you enter the replacement string, you're shown a list of all menus on your system: Select The Menu(s) To Be Searched. The [SPACEBAR] Toggles A Menu To Be Searched. [ESC] Aborts. ┌─────────────────┐ │ FILES.MNU │ │ TOP.MNU │ │ REPORTS.MNU │ │ DOORS.MNU │ │ MESSAGES.MNU │ │ VERIFY.MNU │ │ TOP_2.MNU │ │ COMBINED.MNU │ │ OLGAMES.MNU │ │ OLGAMES1.MNU │ └─────────────────┘ Using the [Space] bar, mark those menus you want to have searched. Other menus will be ignored. MENUEDIT.EXE will search through the marked menus, making replacements as warranted. All other options are almost the same, varying only slightly in the display. For example, if you choose HotKey, you'll be asked for the menu hotkey rather than the display text. HighLight [Alt-H]: Allows you to change foreground and background colors of highlight text. See the list of colors on page 47. Insert [Alt-I]: Inserts a command into a menu. You'll be shown the following display: ╓───────────────────────────╖ ║Insert Before What Entry?1·║ ╙───────────────────────────╜ Enter the line number you want the new command to precede, and you'll be brought to a blank Edit screen so you can enter the new command. List [Alt-L]: Lists the commands that make up the menu. First, you must decide whether you want to print the list: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 51 ╓──────────────────╖ ║List To Printer? N║ ╙──────────────────╜ If you say [No], the list will display on your screen. If you say [Yes], the list will be printed on the printer. Pressing [Esc] will abort the printout. Either way, it will follow this format: 1 Str: Menu Type:0 Sec:5 Key:? Foreground:7 BackGround: 0 DATA: FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 2 Str:<^P^>ost Messages in Current Area ; Menu Type:27 Sec:0 Key:P Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 3 Str:<^R^>ead Messages in Current Area ; Menu Type:23 Sec:0 Key:R Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 4 Str:<^D^>etail Scan of Current Area ; Menu Type:24 Sec:0 Key:D Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 5 Str:<^B^>asic Scan of Current Area ; Menu Type:25 Sec:0 Key:B Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- This condensed format may seem confusing at first, but it pres- ents all of the information shown on the edit screen for each command. In this case, nearly all commands have their security levels set to 0 and flags are all reset because access is determined in the individual message bases rather than at the menu level. New Menu [Ctrl-N]: Calls up a new menu for you to simulate or edit. You'll be shown a list of all available menu files, from which you can select the one you want, or you can type out the name. The menu list will resemble this one: Page 52 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ F1 Help <┘ Select Space Toggle ║ ║ C:\Quickbbs\menus\*.MNU ║ ║ Matching files: 13 Total bytes: 41583 ║ ╟────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ COMBINED.MNU DOORS.MNU FILES.MNU LIBRARY.MNU MESSAGES.MNU ║ ║ MULTINOD.MNU OLGAMES.MNU OLGAMES1.MNU REPORTS.MNU TERM.MNU ║ ║ TOP.MNU TOP_2.MNU VERIFY.MNU ║ ║ ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Pressing the space bar will give a more detailed display: ╓─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ F1 Help <┘ Select Space Toggle ║ ║ C:\Quickbbs\menus\*.MNU ║ ║ Matching files: 13 Total bytes: 41583 ║ ╟─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ COMBINED.MNU 3507 Jun 17,1992 11:56a A ║ ║ DOORS.MNU 3674 Jun 15,1992 3:08p A ║ ║ FILES.MNU 5010 Jun 22,1992 7:14p A ║ ║ LIBRARY.MNU 4342 Jun 15,1992 2:54p A ║ ║ MESSAGES.MNU 3841 Jun 15,1992 4:49p A ║ ║ MULTINOD.MNU 2672 Jun 15,1992 2:56p A ║ ║ OLGAMES.MNU 2338 Jun 17,1992 12:06a A ║ ║ OLGAMES1.MNU 4008 Jun 15,1992 2:55p A ║ ║ REPORTS.MNU 2171 Jun 15,1992 2:54p A ║ ║ TERM.MNU 1837 Jun 15,1992 2:55p A ║ ║ TOP.MNU 668 Jun 22,1992 8:52p A ║ ║ TOP_2.MNU 3507 Jun 17,1992 12:04a A ║ ║ VERIFY.MNU 4008 Jun 15,1992 5:06p A ║ ║ ║ ╙─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Use the up and down arrow keys to scroll the list of its too long to fit on the screen at one time. Select the menu you want to simulate or edit by moving the highlight over the desired menu, or click on it with your mouse, or type in the menu name. If you enter a name that doesn't exist, you'll be asked if you want to create it from scratch, which is usually not a good idea. OS Shell [Ctrl-O]: Allows you to drop into DOS. Handy for renam- ing files to an extension other than .MNU. This function requires about 307 KB of available memory, so if you're using a multitasker or have shelled from QuickBBS and don't have that much memory available, it won't work. After dropping to DOS, you'll see the following: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 53 Menuedit v2.76 Shell Active. Type EXIT to Return. Microsoft(R) MS-DOS(R) Version 5.00 (C)Copyright Microsoft Corp 1981-1991. [MenuEdit v2.76 Shell] D:\QUICK> MENUEDIT.EXE remains in memory, so you don't have much memory left to do heavy duty work. Your display will show information on the version of DOS loaded on your system. To return to MENUEDIT.EXE, type EXIT and press [Enter]. Prompt [Alt-P]: The Prompt is the line at the bottom of the menu that you use to tell callers to enter their command. This function allows you to change the prompt's text and colors. See the list of colors on page 47. Rename Menu [Ctrl-R]: First you're asked for the new name: ╓───────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║Rename What Menu? (.MNU Extension Assumed) ········║ ╙───────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ If you press [Enter], you'll see a file display box like the one on page 52, so you can select the menu that you want to rename. After selecting the menu to be renamed, you're prompted for the new name: ╓───────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║Rename What Menu? (.MNU Extension Assumed) ········║ ╙─╓─────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║Enter New Name: (.MNU Extension Assumed) ········║ ╙─────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ Enter the new name without the .MNU extension, which will be added automatically. Pressing [Esc] aborts any option in MENUEDIT.EXE until the menu is actually saved. As an extra precaution, MENUEDIT.EXE stores the previous version of your menu with the extension .BAK. Once you're sure the menu is the way you want it, you can delete the .BAK file. Save Menu [Ctrl-S]: Saves the menu you're working on. Settings [Alt-S]: Brings up a menu of system settings, along with their current state: Page 54 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ╓─────────────────────────╖ ║ *MenuEdit* ║ ║ Simulation Menu ║ ║ ║ ║ ANSI Mode * F1 - On ║ ║ Data Mode * F2 - Off║ ║ Line Numbers * F3 - Off║ ║ Ctrl-A * F4 - Off║ ║ Wrap Lines * F5 - Off║ ║ ========================║ ║ Sec/Flags * F6 ║ ║ ║ ╙─────────────────────────╜ As before, you may either choose an option from the menu, click on it with your mouse, press the initial letter on the keyboard, or use the Speed Key. Speed keys work even if the menu is not showing, so they really do speed things up. Pressing [F6] will allow you to change the simulated security level and flag settings: ╓─────────────────────────────╖ ║Simulate Security Level?32000║ ╙─────────────────────────────╜ ╓───────────────────────╖ ║Change Flags Settings?N║ ╙───────────────────────╜ ╓────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║A Flags:XXXXXXXX B Flags:XXXXXXXX C Flags:XXXXXXXX D Flags:XXXXXXXX ║ ║ (Press F1 When Done) ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ These menus duplicate the information on the status line. Write To Menu [Ctrl-W]: After you have loaded a menu into Simula- tion/Edit mode, this option will allow you to save it under a differ- ent name. You can add any extension you like. If you don't put an extension, MENUEDIT.EXE will add .MNU for you. There are no safety precautions, so it's easy to make a mistake and overwrite the wrong menu. It's safer to copy the menu to the new file first, and then edit it under it's new name. Menu Templating It's not necessary to create separate menus to create individual- ized menus for each of your file and message areas. QuickBBS allows QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 55 you to create a single message menu and a single file menu, and access all areas through a feature called "templating." A "template" is a master. Carpenters use templates to properly place a lock in a door. In computer terminology, a template is a master that is copied and filled in with information. Spreadsheet users often create master files that are copied and used to calculate payroll, keep a check register, etc. The master file is the template. QuickBBS allows you to create menu templates as well. Using the standard menu commands, you can create a template simply by using [*M] on the data line to designate a message area, or [*F] to designate a file area. Here's an example of an [Alt-L] list of the read, post, and scan commands from a templated menu, along with two commands to choose the area, and commands to move to the next and previous message areas. 1 Str:<^1^> Choose ^Local^ Message Area Menu Type:49 Sec:25 Key:1 Foreground:11 BackGround: 0 DATA:1 FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 2 Str:<^2^> Choose ^Network^ Message Area Menu Type:49 Sec:25 Key:2 Foreground:11 BackGround: 0 DATA:2 FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 3 Str:<^P^>ost Messages in Current Area (*M) Menu Type:27 Sec:0 Key:P Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 4 Str:<^R^>ead Messages in Current Area (*M) Menu Type:23 Sec:0 Key:R Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 5 Str:<^D^>etail Scan of Current Area (*M) Menu Type:24 Sec:0 Key:D Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 6 Str:<^B^>asic Scan of Current Area (*M) Menu Type:25 Sec:0 Key:B Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*M FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- Page 56 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 7 Str:<^+^> Move to Next Message Area Menu Type: 2 Sec:0 Key:+ Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:MESSAGES /M=+ FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 8 Str:<^-^> Move to Previous Message Area Menu Type: 2 Sec:0 Key:- Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:MESSAGES /M=- FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- The first two Type 49 commands allow the user to select that message area she/he wishes to use. Of course, only message areas that meet the user's flag and security level settings will be shown (see page 125). The number on the Data line refers to the message group being accessed by that command (see page 18). Commands 3 through 6 allow the user to read, post, scan, and quickscan the messages in the selected message area. Entering *M on the text line is the same as entering the name of the current message area (see page 115), while entering *M on the data line is like entering the number of the current message base (see page 119). Commands 7 and 8 move to a menu named MESSAGES (which can be the same menu), and at the same time increase or decrease the message area number by one. Assuming the menu shown above is MESSAGES, pressing the [+] key will redisplay the same menu but with the message area number increased by one, while pressing the [-] key will redisplay the same menu with the message area decreased by one. The area will be the next or previous area listed in QCONFIG.EXE to which the user has access, and will not be restricted to the same message group. This one menu will allow your users to have access to up to 200 message areas, divided into as many as eight message groups. If you'd rather not use templating, just substitute the message area number (1-200) in place of the *M. If you use a message area number of 0, the user can read, post, and scan in combined mode, which allows him/her to designate favorite message areas and read them as a group. Combined message areas are selected with a Type 28 command (see page 121). File templating is just as simple. Here's an [Alt-L] list of a templated file menu: 1 Str:<^1^> Choose an MSDOS File Area Menu Type:50 Sec:1 Key:1 Foreground:6 BackGround: 3 DATA:1 FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 57 2 Str:<^2^> Choose a Picture File Area Menu Type:50 Sec:1 Key:2 Foreground:6 BackGround: 3 DATA:2 FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 3 Str:<^3^> List Files in current area (*F) Menu Type:31 Sec:0 Key:3 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 4 Str:<^4^> Download Files in current area (*F) Menu Type:32 Sec:25 Key:4 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:X------- 5 Str:<^5^> View Compressed File Menu Type:34 Sec:0 Key:5 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA: FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 6 Str:<^6^> Search by Keyword in current area (*F) Menu Type:35 Sec:0 Key:6 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 7 Str:<^7^> Search by Filename in current area (*F) Menu Type:36 Sec:0 Key:7 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 8 Str:<^8^> Search by Date (List New Files) in current area (*F) Menu Type:37 Sec:0 Key:8 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 9 Str:<^9^> View a Text File Menu Type:38 Sec:0 Key:9 Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 10 Str:<^M^> Move a File Menu Type:29 Sec:30 Key:M Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:*F FLAGS> A:------X- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 11 Str:<^U^>pload a file Menu Type:33 Sec:25 Key:U Foreground:2 BackGround: 5 DATA:C:\QUICKBBS\UPLOADS\ FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- Page 58 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 12 Str:<^+^> Move to Next File Area Menu Type: 2 Sec:0 Key:+ Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:FILES /F=+ FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- 13 Str:<^-^> Move to Previous File Area Menu Type: 2 Sec:0 Key:- Foreground:4 BackGround: 7 DATA:FILES /F=- FLAGS> A:-------- B:-------- C:-------- D:-------- Commands 1 and 2, Type 50 commands, allow the user to pick the current file area from areas designated as Group 1 or Group 2 (see page 125). Nearly all other commands will depend on this selection. Commands 3 through 10 perform specific functions within the current file area, while Command 11 allows the user to perform an upload. In the example given in Command 11, the user's upload is sent to a dedicated upload directory where you can test it for usefulness, validity, and legality, and for the presence of viruses and other destructive additions, before you make it available for your users. After testing, use a Type 29 command, as in Command 10, to move it into an area where your users can download it (see page 121). If you prefer, you also can put *F on the data line and make uploads immedi- ately available for download, but this is not a very secure practice. For your most trusted users, you can use the technique described under Keys in Use on page 46 to create two upload commands, the first to allow uploads from your trusted users to be immediately available, while the second forces other users to upload to a designated directo- ry for testing. Commands 12 and 13 move to a menu named FILES (which can be the same menu), and at the same time increase or decrease the message area number by one. Assuming the menu shown above is FILES, pressing the [+] key will redisplay the same menu but with the file area number increased by one, while pressing the [-] key will redisplay the same menu with the file area decreased by one. The area will be the next or previous area listed in QCONFIG.EXE to which the user has access. If you would prefer not use templating in your file menus, substitute the complete path to the directory instead of *F in the menus above, or the file area number from QCONFIG.EXE. QuickBBS supports upload/download ratios through a file called LIMITS.CTL (see page 109). Certain file areas can be exempted from these restrictions in the file configuration (see page 23). However, these exemptions will only be effective if the area number or *F is placed on the data line of a download command (Type 32, see page 122). If a full path is used, the settings in entered in QCONFIG.EXE will be QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 59 ignored and only the entries in LIMITS.CTL will be effective. This allows you to create free downloads with one menu command, while restricting downloads from the same area in another part of your system. Enhanced Menu Displays Once you have your BBS running successfully, you may want to become more creative and design customized menus to display to your users. This is most often done with automatically executing Type 40 menu commands (see page 123), although Type 5 (see page 115) and Type 45 (see page 124) could also be used. All three of these commands display a *.A?? file to the user, who actually sees a file with the extension of ANS if he/she has ANSI graphics enabled, and a file with the extension of ASC if ANSI graph- ics are disabled. The advantage of the Type 40 command over Type 5 is the availability of Hot Keys. When menus use hot keys, commands take effect immediately without forcing the user to wait for the entire menu to be displayed. This is especially appreciated by long distance callers when the sysop chooses to use elaborate animated menus, which can take a relatively long time to draw. If a Type 40 command is used, the display will be interrupted if the caller enters any valid menu command. In contrast, a Type 5 display may also be used, but the caller will be forced to view the entire menu before making a selection. The Type 45 command, which forces the caller to press [Enter] at the end of the display, is not very useful for menu displays. The rest of this section will assume that you will use Type 40 displays. In order to create customized displays, you will need to either be extremely familiar with ANSI color and positioning commands, or use an ANSI editor such as TheDraw. You can be as creative as you like, but remember that animation and color changes will slow your menu displays, especially for users calling at slower baud rates. For this reason, QCONFIG.EXE allows you to set the minimum baud rate for callers to see ANSI displays (see page 33). If you use animated ANSI menus, this parameter should be set no lower than 2400 baud. The technique for using enhanced menu displays with QuickBBS is a simple one. As the first command on your menu, create a Type 40 command using [Ctrl-A] as the activation key, and with the menu name on the optional data line. This will automatically display the named file each time the menu is accessed. Create ANSI and ASCII versions of your menu and store them in your Text Files directory (see page 29). You must have both ANSI and ASCII versions, or callers who have ANSI displays toggled off will not see any display at all! For an explana- tion of how display files work, see page 89. Page 60 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Now that you have created your menu, you must eliminate the built-in menu displays. Edit each command line and delete any text in the display line. Insert a semi-colon [;] as the only character, indicating that you don't even want a carriage return. Don't forget to edit your Prompt to eliminate text displays. When creating your ANSI menus, keep in mind that commands on the menu will be displayed to everyone even if they don't have access to the command. Using the technique described on page 46, you can have more than one command using the same activation key, or commands which do not appear on the menu at all. You can even create more than one menu display and control which users see which menu with flags and security levels. Be careful because the more elaborate your security gets, the more likely it is that someone will "fall through the cracks" and end up seeing no display at all! Enhanced menu displays involve a lot more maintenance than regular menu displays. Each time you modify your menu, you must use MENUEDIT.EXE to edit the *.MNU file, your ANSI editor to edit the *.ANS file, and a text editor (or your ANSI editor) to edit the *.ASC file. Forgetting to edit any of these will prevent your users from taking advantage of changes to your system, since they won't know about them. Enhanced displays can create an atmosphere for your system through the use of "theme" menu displays, or provide additional assistance for your users through the use of highlights, blinking text, etc. Extended Path Switching MENUEDIT.CFG includes this function for sysops who run QuickBBS in a multinode or network environment. Extended Path Switching, which is activated with the MultiPath keyword, allows you to edit menus residing in multiple directories identified with the Path keywords. The menu path listed in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 29) in your main QuickBBS directory or in the directory in which you started MENU- EDIT.EXE is the standard directory in which MENUEDIT.EXE looks for your menu files. If MultiPath is set to On, up to three other paths can also be used. Each path must be identified in MENUEDIT.CFG with the keywords Path1, Path2, and Path3. Use the [F8] key to choose alternate directories. MultiPath cannot be toggled from within MENUEDIT.EXE; it must be included in MENUEDIT.CFG for Extended Path Switching to be active, and all paths not listed in QCONFIG.EXE must be identified with Pathn statements. MultiPath functions like the directory setting in many word processors. If you change paths and then save your menu, you will either save the menu to the wrong directory, or perhaps even replace QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 61 an existing menu that you did not want to change. MENUEDIT.EXE will obediently follow your instructions even if it causes the replacement of valuable data, so if you activate Extended Path Switching, be sure to use it with caution! Page 62 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Logging On The first time a user logs onto your system, she/he will go through a logon process to create her/his user record. You decide whether or not you want your users to be asked some of the questions (such as Date of Birth) in the New User Restrictions section of QCONFIG.EXE (see page 33). If you answer Yes to all of the questions, an initial logon will be similar to the sample session that follows. A filename enclosed in braces, like {LOGO.A??}, means an ANSI user will be shown the ANSI version of this file (named LOGO.ANS) if available. Otherwise, he/she will be shown the ASCII version (named LOGO.ASC) if available. If neither file is available it will be skipped. ASCII callers will never be shown the ANSI version of a file; if only the ANSI version exists, ASCII callers will not be shown anything. Comments are indented and in italics. A Sample Initial Logon QuickBBS, Version 2.76 Copyright 1992, Pegasus Software. All Rights Reserved. Registered to " Your Name Goes Here " {LOGO.A??} What is your first and last name? John Doe Scanning User File ... {NOTFOUND.A??} Name Entered: John Doe Did you enter your name correctly [Y/n]? Yes Where are you calling from (City, State)? Anytown, Usa Would you like ANSI color and graphics [Y/n]? No The default here is Yes because QuickBBS determined at logon that the caller is ANSI capable. If QuickBBS cannot determine ANSI capability, the default will be No. Do you want to use the ANSI full-screen editor [y/N]? No How many lines per screen page? 24 Would you like to pause after each screen page [Y/n]? Yes QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 63 Do you want screen clearing codes to be sent [Y/n]? Yes {HOMEPHON.A??} Enter home/voice phone number (XXX)XXX-XXXX: (555)555-1234 {DATAPHON.A??} Enter business/data phone number (XXX)XXX-XXXX: (555)555-1234 Please enter your date of birth [MM-DD-YY]: 01-01-71 What is your gender (M/F)? M {PASSWORD.A??} Enter your password to use: ******** For security reasons, the password is echoed back to the caller as asterisks. She/he is asked to repeat it for confirmation: Please type password again for verification: ******** Did you enter all the above information correctly [Y/n]? Yes Checking phone numbers, please wait ... Duplicate phone number message here, if appropriate... {NEWUSER1.A??} {NEWUSER2.A??} If present, the user will now be given the questionnaire file named NEWUSER.Q-A. Answers will be stored in NEWUSER.ASW. One moment ... {WELCOME.A??} {NODE??.A??} {SEC??.A??} {BIRTHDAY.A??} (if appropriate) Checking for your new mail... You have the following mail waiting: A new user would only have GroupMail messages, or possibly messages that have transferred from other systems. Page 64 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Messages Area -------- ---------------------------------------------------- 1 Sysop Announcements to all Users Total of 1 message in 1 area. These messages have been marked for later retrieval. Read Messages Now [Y/n]? Yes Pause after each message [Y/n]? Yes Press N for next message, S to stop, or P to pause. Scanning messages, please wait ... Message #1 "Sysop Announcements to all Users" (GROUP) Date: 13-May-92 07:53 From: Joe Sysop To: John Doe Subj: Welcome! Hi, I just wanted to welcome you to my BBS. New users are often intimidated by what they find on BBS's, so I wanted to let you know that I'm always happy to answer your questions. I hope you'll come back and visit again soon! [A]gain [N]ext [B]ack [R]eply [E]nter [S]top? N End of messages {NEWS.A??} {TOP.MNU} At this point, the caller is into your system. Your TOP.MNU should include, at the very least, a command allowing a message to be posted to the sysop, a logoff command, and a command that either instructs the user in how to become a fully registered user, or provides access to the built-in callback verification system (see Menu Type 60 on page 126). As you can see, you determine most of what will be presented to your callers. The logon procedure is essentially the same for subse- quent calls, except that the caller will not be asked any questions other than name and password, and will not be shown NEWUSER?.A?? and NEWUSER.Q-A. Reading Messages There are certain options that bring up hard-coded menus. If a user decides to Read (see Menu Type 23 on page 119), Scan (Type 24, QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 65 page 120), or Quick Scan (Type 25, page 120) messages, he/she sees this sub-menu: [F]orward Order [R]everse Order [I]ndividual Msgs [N]ew Messages [S]elected Messages [M]arked Messages [H]elp [C]ustom [Q]uit (Abort) Option: Choosing [F] will give this display: Active Message Board: "Local Message Area" (250 active messages) System has messages numbered 1 to 1000. Enter number to start at, [Enter]=First: Other options will present similar screens. [R] will display the messages in reverse order, from newest to oldest; [I] will prompt for the individual message number (usually found during a Scan or Quick Scan); [N] will present only previously unread messages; [S] will allow the selection of messages by subject or by the name of the sender or intended recipient; [M] will give messages marked during the personal mail search performed at logon or using a Type 22 (see page 119) menu command; [C] allows a combination of options (for example, reading marked messages in reverse); and [H] displays READ- HELP.A?? (see page 91). When reading messages, the caller is asked whether the system should pause after each message. This allows long distance callers to capture messages as quickly as possible to be read later. When reading messages, [P] will pause the display, [S] will stop, and [N] will jump to the next message. After the message, the user is shown these options: [A]gain [N]ext [B]ack [R]eply [E]nter [O]ptions [S]top? [A] repeats the message; [N] (the default) moves to the next message; [B] goes back to the previously displayed message; [R] initiates a reply to the message that was just displayed, with the text of the displayed message available for quoting; [E] allows the user to enter a message without quoting the previous message; [S] returns the caller to the menu, and [O] presents another sub-menu, that shows a regular caller only two options: [N]etmail [Q]uit? [N] allows a reply by netmail (if authorized on your system), while [Q] returns to the previous sub-menu. A [D]elete option also may be available depending on the configuration of the message area. Deleted messages are actually only flagged as deleted; MSGPACK.EXE must be run to perform the actual deletion (see page 74). Page 66 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Anyone with Sysop access, as defined in QCONFIG.EXE's Message area configuration screen (see page 21), will see the following options (the first five options, deleted so the line would fit on the printed page, are the same as listed above): [A] [N] [B] [R] [E] [D]elete [U]nread [O]ptions [S]top? When you read a message, it is marked as received. This may trigger deletion based on the Kill Rec'd setting in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 19). Pressing [U] resets this flag. An [O]ptions choice is also offered, that presents this sub-menu: [X]port [H]idden [P]rivate [M]ove [F]wd [U]ser [Q]uit? [X] is only available to users who meet Sysop access requirements listed in QCONFIG.EXE's Security section (see page 32). This option allows the user to export a message to your printer (if available and online) or to a file on your hard drive. The user is prompted for a path and filename, so exporting to a file named C:\COMMAND.COM or QUICKBBS.EXE is possible. For this reason, Sysop access should be very tightly controlled. All other options are available to anyone who has Sysop access as defined in the message area section of QCONFIG.EXE (see page 21). [H] allows the caller to see hidden information within the message such as MSGID information; [P] toggles the private flag and can make a private message public (DANGEROUS! See page 21); [M] transfers the message to another area and should be used if a user posts a message in the wrong place; [F] sends a copy of the message to another user; [U] loads the user editor with the command line speci- fied in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 39); and [Q] returns to the previous sub-menu. If a message is part of a continuing thread of messages with the same subject line, a user is also offered options of [+] and/or [-], that allows her/him to follow messages along the thread rather than in sequential order. While reading a thread, a [Q] returns to sequential reading. After following a thread, the user is always returned to the original message, which she/he has already read. Often a user will follow a thread to see if a question has been answered. If not, then the user will post a reply to the original message. Returning to the original message makes it easy to post a reply; pressing [N] quickly jumps to the next message in sequence. Entering Messages The Line Editor, accessed either by replying to a message or by executing a Type 27 menu command (see page 120), is one of the few areas of QuickBBS that is self-contained. The section from page 69 to QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 67 page 71 is written so you can extract it from the documentation and make it available to your users. If you do so, make absolutely certain you include the copyright information! You are granted permission to change formatting (bold face type, page numbers, etc.) only if neces- sary to make it available to your users. You may also add your own comments before or after the user documentation, as long as you clearly identify which part is yours! The text may not be changed without permission. GroupMail Entering a message is the same for all users, except that those who have Sysop access to a message area (see page 21) can enter a GroupMail message. Any message posted by a person with sysop access and addressed to **All will be displayed to all users as though it was entered personally to them, except that the top line of the message, which contains the message number and area description, will also contain the word GROUP in parentheses. The message will be shown only to users who have read access in the message area, and replies are permitted only to those with write access. You can restrict the message to only users who have a certain security level by using the relational operators =, <, >, =>, <=, and <>. If the message is addressed to "**All S=10," it will be shown to all users with access to the message area who also have a security level of 10. "**All S>10" will show the message to all users with access who have a security level greater than 10. AND logic is in place, so "**All S>10 S<10" would eliminate all users. Flag designations are also permitted, using + to indicate that the flag must be on, or a - to show that it must be off. The line **ALL S=25 S>100 +A1 -B2 means that the message will be shown to all users who have read access in the message area that also have a security level of 25 or a securi- ty level greater than 100, and that also have flag A1 turned on and B2 turned off. GroupMail is a new feature of QuickBBS, so it might take some offline message editors awhile to make this feature available. If you use an offline editor and **All messages are not recognized as Group- Mail, try entering the message again from within QuickBBS. FMail FMail (or File-attach Mail) allows your users to send each other files as well as messages. When posting a message in an FMail area, the user is asked if he/she wants to send a file with the message. If Page 68 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation the answer is Yes, the user is allowed to upload the file before posting the message, since the message will most likely be useless if the upload doesn't go through. The uploaded files are stored in the area specified in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 18). After reading the mes- sage, the recipient is asked whether she/he is ready to download the file, and can log off automatically after the download. Users with sysop access are shown the complete path to the file. Files are not deleted after they are downloaded. That way you can see whether your callers are using this feature to transfer illegal information. CAUTION! See page 19 for details on a possible security problem if this option is not configured properly. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 69 QuickBBS Version 2.76 Line Editor User Instructions Copyright 1992 by Pegasus Software and Rick Luquette These instructions may not be modified in any manner without consent of the owners of Pegasus Software. Welcome to QuickBBS! As a new caller (we assume you're new; experienced callers seldom read instructions! <grin>) we've tried to make the Line Editor easy to use. If you get stuck, these instructions are here to help. The purpose of a Line Editor is to enter or edit a message line by line. If you're familiar with DOS, you might have used EDLIN, which is a line editor. It's called that because you edit each line sepa- rately. You'll find the Line Editor in QuickBBS much easier to use than EDLIN since it includes a few basic word processor functions like word wrap. If you get stuck, press [Enter] once to get to a blank line, and then press [Enter] again and you'll be given a menu. More on that later. One of the nicest features of QuickBBS's Line Editor is the ability to quote from previous messages. Whether you are entering a new message or replying to a previous one, you will see this dis- play: Who is this message to? John Doe Searching user list for John Doe, one moment ... Subject? Test Message Change anything? [y/N]? Depending on the type of message area, the user list may not be searched. And of course, it's not likely you'll be sending your message to John Doe! If this information (called the Header Information) is OK, the screen will clear and you'll see this display: This will be a PUBLIC message to John Doe. Enter message text now (66 lines maximum/72 characters per line). Words will wrap automatically. Enter blank line to edit/save message. [--------------------------------------------------------------------] 01: Remember that the word PRIVATE is used for convenience only. No message is private, since your System Operator ("Sysop", pronounced SIS-op) and anyone else he/she designates can read any message. PUBLIC messages can be read by anyone. In some areas, you're given the choice of whether the message should be Public (can be read by anyone) or Private (can be read by the sender, the intended recipient, the Sysop, Page 70 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation and any other users designated by the Sysop). In other areas, the Sysop may have chosen to allow only Public or only Private messages to be posted, so there will be no choice. Begin typing your new message. Word wrap is in effect, so don't press [Enter] at the end of a line. When you're finished, press [Enter] on a blank line to bring up this menu: [C]ontinue [D]elete [E]dit [F]ormat Line [H]elp! [I]nsert [J] Subject [L]ist [R]eplace Line [S]ave [Q]uote [A]bort Editor Command: [C] returns to posting mode; [D] deletes one or more lines; [E] edits a line; [F] allows a line to be centered or placed flush left or right; [H] displays a help file explaining these options a little more fully; [I] inserts one or more lines; [J] changes the message subject; [L] lists the message so you can see what it looks like; [R] lets you enter a new line to replace a previous one; [S] saves the message; [Q] enters Quote Mode; and [A] aborts the message after confirmation. Quote mode is used when you reply to a previous message. It allows you to include portions of another message to help remind the sender (and anyone else who happens to be looking in) the topic of the original message. When quoting, make certain you only quote the relevant and necessary portions of the original message! After choos- ing [Q], you are given the option to change the header information. Pressing [T] toggles the name on the "Who To:" line from the original sender to the original recipient. Once you accept the header information, you enter Edit mode as demonstrated above. Press [Enter] on a blank line and then [Q], and you'll see the previous message listed in its entirety. You'll notice that a line has been added at the beginning indicating the original sender, recipient, and date. You're then asked for a starting line number. Enter the number of the first line from the original message you wish to quote, and then you're shown each line, one by one, and asked if you want the line included in the new message. If you do, choose [A]ccept. If not, choose [R]eject. If you don't want to quote any more of the original message, choose [D]one, and you'll be re- turned to edit mode on the line after the last quoted line. If you want to look at the message at any time, press [Enter] on a blank line and then [L]ist the message. [C] returns you to edit mode. Don't forget to [S]ave it when you're finished! Don't be afraid to give it a try. If in doubt, send your first message to the Sysop. If this BBS supports Echomail in Fidonet or one of the many other networks, make sure you are comfortable with enter- ing messages before you try entering one in an echomail area, since QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 71 messages entered in those areas are transferred to other systems, sometimes thousands of them around the world. Depending on how your Sysop has things configured, you might be asked if you want to attach a file to a message. If you do, just press Y and you'll be guided through step by step. Remember that it's possible for your Sysop to have things configured so that any upload attached to a message is automatically put into a download area and available to anyone, even if the message is marked private. If you have confidential files to share with another user, ask your Sysop about security for file attachments. Another type of editor, called a Full Screen Editor, is also available on many BBS's. It's up to your Sysop whether a Full Screen Editor is available on this BBS. If it is, it's best to avoid it until you're really familiar with the Line Editor. Full Screen Editors are usually much more versatile, but also much more complicated to use. That's it! QuickBBS Sysops tend to be a friendly and intelligent lot (after all, they've chosen the best BBS software available!) so don't be afraid to ask questions. Page 72 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Sysop Activation and Information Activation Keys These keys can be used by the sysop from the local keyboard to perform the desired function while a user is online. Alt-C Begin CHAT mode. This will allow you to talk (type) to the user who is online. Press [Esc] to leave the chat mode. Split-screen chat will be used if the user has toggled Ansi graphics on (see page 119), or if QuickBBS detected ANSI capability at logon. Shift-Alt-C Forces the use of Line Chat rather than Split-screen Chat. Occasionally useful for callers whose software does not properly indicate ANSI capability. Alt-D Turns the display on or off. Can be useful for multitasking environments, or in any other circumstance in which you don't want the user's actions to be visible on the local screen. Alt-E Edit the user record while the caller is online. You must press [Ctrl-Enter] to record any changes. Alt-F Allows you to change any of the 32 flag settings of the user currently online. Alt-G Simulates line noise by throwing garbage characters on the screen. Alt-H HANG UP! Disconnects the user. Alt-J JUMP to DOS, while the user is still on line, to perform some task. Type Exit to return to QuickBBS. Alt-L LOCKOUT! This logs the caller off like Alt-H, and then drops the security level to 0 so that she/he will no longer have access to the board. Alt-P PRINTER log. Any entry that is posted to the SYSTEM.LOG is also sent to the printer. If the printer is not online this will have no effect. This can also be done with a command line parameter. Alt-S Allows you to change the security level of a caller while he/she is online. The current security level is displayed so you can change it. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 73 Alt-T Allows you to change the amount of time a caller has left online. Up arrow Increases the users time limit by 1 minute. Down arrow Decreases the users time limit by 1 minute. F9 Offers help on sysop activation keys. Ctrl-Fn A [Ctrl-FKey] combination displays a file named USERn.A??. [Ctrl-F1] will display USER1.A??; [Ctrl-F2] will display USER2.A??; etc. Status Displays There are five two-line status information displays available to the sysop while a caller is online. Choose the display you want by pressing one of the first five function keys, toggle through them with [PgUp] or [PgDn], or move directly to the first or last by pressing [Home] or [End]. Each display gives useful information about the current or previous caller or the system status. These displays do not affect the user at all, however, you should keep in mind that since the display takes two lines, it can sometimes distort the local screen slightly. If your user has a page length of 24 lines, you can only see 23 of them on your local screen. This can cause erratic behavior in some doors, and can affect the positions of some ANSI displays. To be confident of the actual appearance of your system to a caller, you really need to call in from remote occasionally. Local operation will give you an idea of how things look but never the exact picture. All other keys work as if the user pressed them. A sysop can often help a new user to find things, or help a caller locate a file for download, by pressing a few keys. Often a user will call you into Chat and ask a question, and you can help him/her find what she/he is looking for by guiding her/him through the menus. Let him/her know you're doing it, or he/she is liable to think there's some voodoo afoot and hang up! Page 74 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Maintaining the Message Base QuickBBS uses a unique style of message base that combines speed with ease of use. Developed by the original author of QuickBBS, Adam Hudson, the format is often called the Hudson-style by QuickBBS clones that don't want to admit its origin. However, since it was developed for QuickBBS, the term QuickBBS-style is more accurate. The QuickBBS-style message base is a database type format con- sisting of five files: MSGHDR.BBS, MSGTOIDX.BBS, MSGIDX.BBS, MSGINFO.BBS, and MSGTXT.BBS. The last contains the actual messages, and can grow to be very large. Due to a limitation in the structure, you should always be very careful to make sure MSGTXT.BBS does not approach 16 Megabytes or your message base will self-destruct. Only two of the five files contain essential information. MSGHDR.BBS and MSGTXT.BBS contain the header and text, respectively, for messages. The other three files can be completely rebuilt by MSGPACK.EXE. The five message base files contain the following information: MSGHDR.BBS: Message headers (To, From, and Subject information). MSGTXT.BBS: The actual text of the messages. MSGIDX.BBS: Indexes messages by number; allows a message to be located quickly. MSGTOIDX.BBS: Indexes messages by name of the recipient; allows messages to be located quickly. MSGINFO.BBS: Contains a brief overview of how many messages are on the system, and how many are in each area. Because of the database format, messages that are deleted are not actually removed from the message base. Instead, the message is marked with a special flag that shows that the message is to be deleted the next time maintenance is run. MSGPACK.EXE Message base maintenance is performed primarily with MSGPACK.EXE, which will compress your message base to remove deleted messages; renumber when desired or when necessary; and maintain the message base index files. MSGPACK.EXE should be run each day during your system maintenance event. No other program should be accessing the message base during maintenance, and no utility that rearranges data on your hard drive (such as optimizers) should be run while maintenance is taking place. Also, disk caching and the use of FASTOPEN are inherent- ly dangerous during message base maintenance and should be used with great care (see page 9). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 75 Under normal conditions, MSGPACK.EXE will read each message in your message base and decide whether it meets the criteria you entered into QCONFIG.EXE for that message area. If it does, both the message text and its header are written to new files. If not, it is skipped and MSGPACK.EXE moves on to the next message. Each message in your message base is given the same treatment until the entire message base has been rewritten. Deleted messages and messages that are flagged for deletion according to the criteria set in QCONFIG.EXE are not copied to the new files. Once the new text and header files are completed, the old ones are deleted, and new index files are created. This method assures maximum safety for your message base, since the old message files are not deleted until the new ones are completed. However, this requires enough free hard disk space to rewrite your message base. If space is tight, MSGPACK.EXE has the ability to rewrite the message base over the existing files. This is generally safe, but if there is a power failure, system reboot, or other catastrophe, your message base will most likely be lost. MSGPACK.EXE accepts the following command line parameters: -P Tells MSGPACK.EXE to compress (pack) the message base. This is the normal method of operation, and should be used once each day. Can be used with any other option. -R Forces MSGPACK.EXE to renumber messages during pack. If -R is not used, msgpack will still renumber if the highest message number is greater than 25000. -DEL Purges messages based on information in MSGCFG.DAT, entered through QCONFIG.EXE. -C Cleans reply indications ("RE: ", "(r)", "Re: ") out of subject lines, making messages look a little neater. -W Forces Write In Place Mode. MSGPACK.EXE will default to Write In Place Mode if there is not enough available space for standard mode. -LOG Logs all activity to a file named MSGPACK.LOG -I Re-Builds Index Files. MSGPACK.EXE will always rebuild index files during a file compression, but a quick reindexing might be needed if index files are damaged or deleted in between maintenance sessions. QLINK.EXE Message linking allows reading messages that deal with the same subject consecutively, rather than as part of the overall message area. QuickBBS links messages together by subject. When a message reply is entered, it is automatically linked when it is saved. Incom- ing echomail can be linked by running QLINK.EXE. This links all messages in the same message area by subject. If separate conversa- Page 76 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation tions in the same message area have the same subject, the messages will all be linked. There is no way for QuickBBS to tell them apart. Ordinarily, QLINK.EXE reads its information from AREAS.BBS. However, there are two command line options: -F[name] Uses alternate areas file rather than AREAS.BBS -L[name] Uses a log file created by QECHO.EXE. MSGPACK.EXE updates message links after compressing the message files, so QLINK.EXE is normally not necessary for a stand-alone system. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 77 Maintaining the User Base USEREDIT.EXE QuickBBS also uses a database format for its user records. Several files are involved, including USERS.BBS, LASTREAD.BBS, USERON.BBS, COMBINED.BBS, and ALIAS.BBS. However, only USERS.BBS can be edited; the rest are used to track internal information. The program that edits USERS.BBS is called USEREDIT.EXE. Running USEREDIT.EXE from the main QuickBBS directory will produce the following display: ╓──────────────────QuickBBS User Editor, Version 2.76────────────────╖ ║ ║ ║ Name: Joe Sysop Record: 0 ║ ║ Alias: (None) [Deleted] ║ ║ Password: *************** Age: 22 ║ ║ Location: Anywhere, USA ║ ║ Security: 5 ║ ║ A Flags: -------- Voice Phone: 555-555-1234 ║ ║ B Flags: -------- Data Phone: 555-555-1234 ║ ║ C Flags: -------- Birthday: 01-01-70 Gender: M ║ ║ D Flags: -------- ║ ║ Credit: 0 Last Date: 05-11-92 Deleted: N ║ ║ Pending: 0 Last Time: 14:35 No-Kill: Y ║ ║ Uploads: 0 Time Today: 9 Clear Screen: Y ║ ║ Dnloads: 0 Times Called: 1 Page Pausing: Y ║ ║ UploadK: 0 Messages Posted: 0 ANSI Graphics: Y ║ ║ DnLoadK: 0 High Message Read: 0 Full Scr Editor: N ║ ║ TodayK: 0 Screen Length: 24 Xfer Priority: N ║ ╙────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ When first run, the record for User #0, the sysop, is shown. The password is masked with a string of asterisks (************), and the word [Deleted] is hidden from view, unless the user has actually been deleted. When you edit the user record the password is revealed, so make sure no one is looking over your shoulder! The following options are listed across the bottom of the screen: F)irst L)ast P)rev N)ext E)dit S)earch G)oto A)dd D)el Q)uit First, Last, Previous, Search, and Goto control which record is displayed on the screen. These are mostly self-explanatory. First and Last take you to the first and last users entered into the user base. Previous and Next take you to the record immediately preceding or following the current record. Search examines each user's name and alias until it finds the letter combination you specify, and Goto lets you go directly to a certain user number. User numbers are not con- stant, however, so this feature has limited usefulness. Page 78 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Add lets you add a new user at the end of the user base, while Delete flags the current user record for deletion at the next file compression. Quit exits the program. When editing a user record, use the [Tab] key, the [Enter] key, and the arrow keys to move around. If you accidentally press [D] and delete a user, simply edit the record and change Deleted from "Y" to "N". The word [Deleted] is normally hidden from view unless the user has actually been deleted. Credit is the amount of netmail credit you have given that user to send netmail. It has no effect on stand-alone systems. Most sysops who allow their users to send direct, long-distance netmail require a deposit from the user for this privilege. Charges for the cost of these calls will be deducted from this figure, provided the rates have been made available to QNODE.EXE (see page 105). Be sure to give yourself ample credit here. The Security Level may be set to any value from 0 to 32000. Users with a security level of 0 will not have access to the board. You should edit your record so you have the sysop security level as defined in the QCONFIG.EXE (see page 32). Times Called is the number of times the user has called the system. Times Posted is the number of messages the user has posted to the system. High Msg Read is the highest number message that the user has read in your entire message base. If you have not chosen to use Extended Last Read pointers and have multiple message boards then this one number will be taken as the starting point for Read New Messages in all boards. Pending lists the cost of all net mail messages that a user has entered that have not been exported. Uploads lists the number of files the user has uploaded and Upload K-bytes lists the size of those files in kilobytes. Downloads lists the number of files the user has downloaded, and Download K-bytes lists their total size. Last Called is the date and time that the user last called in. Users marked as No-Kill will not be automatically deleted regard- less of how long it has been since they logged on the system. To mark a user as No-Kill, change the No-Kill flag to "Y". QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 79 Most other options are maintained by the users themselves. New users, who try to make sure they don't miss anything, sometimes select ANSI graphics when their systems are not ANSI capable, or choose the Full screen editor when they don't know how to use it. If a new user complains that his/her screen is unreadable, ask if it has a lot of left bracket characters ([). If so, the user most likely chose ANSI graphics but is not capable of displaying them. Toggle ANSI Graphics to "N" and see if the display clears up. Most full screen editors use a sub-set of Wordstar commands that can be very intimidating if your user doesn't know them. They'll say they tried to post a message but couldn't get it saved or couldn't exit. Toggle Full Scr Editor to "N" until they're a little more familiar with BBS's. QuickBBS offers reply quoting in the line-oriented editor, so there is no need to use the full screen editor unless your users are more comfortable with it (see page 69). USERPACK.EXE USERPACK.EXE removes deleted users from the user base in much the same way that MSGPACK.EXE removes deleted messages. Used with no command line options, it will rename the old user record USERS.BAK, pack the user base and remove any users whose records have been flagged as deleted. In addition, you can use these command line options: -B Deletes the backup file after USERPACK.EXE is successfully run. -D<#> deletes users that have not logged on in the last # days unless the No-Kill flag is set in the users' record. There is no space between the -D and the number. Example: USERPACK -B -D30 This will delete any user who has not called in 30 days and does not carry the No Kill flag, pack the user base, and then delete the backup file. Deleting users after a short period will no doubt anger some users; allowing them to remain in your userlog for months without purging them will result in a larger than necessary userlog, and some users who will forget their passwords. Sixty to 90 days is a good average for registered users on a busy system, while many System Operators purge unregistered callers after just a few days. Page 80 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation USERSORT.EXE This program sorts the user base by security level and then by name. It creates a backup file before sorting. To kill the backup file when the sort is completed add '-B' to the command line. Sorting the user base is not necessary to operate the system, but many users prefer to have users with higher security levels listed first. This can create some strange and unexpected results. After running USERSORT.EXE, the user with the highest security level will occupy the User #0 slot. If two users have the same security level, the one who's first name starts with the lowest letter will take over the User #0 slot. For this reason, there should never be more than one user (the sysop) with the highest security level. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 81 Multinode Configuration Running a BBS can be much more pleasant if a second node is available to allow you, the sysop, to log on at the same time as another user. Additional nodes also allow you to spend even more money on phone lines, modems, etc. Multinode setups are not for the faint of heart, however, so if you don't already have your system operating successfully, you should skip this section and come back to it later. The first step in setting up a second node is to choose and install a multitasker or a network. Refer to the documentation includ- ed with your multitasking program or network for installation details. Once you have your network or multitasker working properly, setting up QuickBBS is deceptively simple. We'll refer to two directories in discussing multinode operation. The main BBS directory is the one in which QUICKBBS.EXE resides. This directory must be on the system path, and must be indicated by the environmental variable QUICK. From the DOS prompt, type PATH to make sure that the main BBS directory is included; type SET to make sure the variable QUICK points to that directory. In addition to QUICK- BBS.EXE, this directory can include system utilities such as QNODE.EXE, MENUEDIT.EXE, etc., and any control files that apply to your entire system. Since this directory is included in your DOS path, any program stored here can be executed from anywhere on your system, and QuickBBS will search this directory for any control files not available in the current (node) directory. The node directory will be the current directory when you run QuickBBS. At the DOS prompt, type CHDIR to see the path to your current directory. This directory will include any information that is specific to a particular node such as batch files to start doors, control files that apply to this node only, etc. It must contain QUICKCFG.DAT for the particular node; it may also include other configuration files for the specific node, batch files for doors, etc. Once you have your multitasker or network operating properly, these steps will get your second node up and running. First, check to make sure your main BBS directory is on your path, and is indicated by the environmental variable QUICK. This is absolutely essential, or you'll never get the second node to work properly! You should set the path and environmental variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT so it will be set automatically whenever you restart your system. Next, create the node directory anywhere on your system. It can be a subdirectory of your main BBS directory, or located on another drive entirely. You can name it anything you like, but a simple name like QNODE2 will be easier to duplicate later if you decide to set up a third, fourth, or one hundredth node. Page 82 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation From the node directory, run QCONFIG.EXE and set your con- figuration for this node (see page 39). At first, your nodes should all use the same menus, text files, etc. You can customize them later to provide a different appearance for each node if you wish. In addition to the multinode information, make sure you set your modem configuration for this node if it's not strictly for local access. See page 26 for information on setting your modem configuration. If you do want to use separate menus and text files for this node, set them as on page 29. Remember that if you do not use the same path for your message base files, users will not be able to share messages. You'll also have to keep a separate user base, since USERS.BBS is stored along with message base files. That means a user who logs onto the second node for the first time will be treated as a new user; a user who is verified on the first node will not be con- sidered verified on the second; etc. If you use a batch file to run your BBS, copy it to your node directory and edit it to customize it for your second node. Be especi- ally careful to change any Type 15 door configurations. Not all doors are compatible with a multinode operation, and many that are require special configurations. Check the documentation for the door program to see if it can be set up for multinode operation, and how to do it. You'll also need to copy any batch files you use to execute Type 7 doors, and edit them as above. Including the parameter *N on the menu command line for your Type 7 drops will cause QuickBBS to pass the node number to the door program. Unfortunately, getting your doors to work will most likely be the most difficult and frustrating part of your setup. Many doors, especi- ally older ones, won't work at all in a multinode setup. Others require specific configuration files, or an additional registration fee, before they'll run successfully. Some will appear to work fine, but if two users ever try to access them at one time, they'll lock up or maybe even crash your system. Check the documentation that came with the door for help with multinode setup. If your new node is for local access only, check the documentation for specifics on local sysop use. Your best bet is to refuse access to your doors from your second node until you know you have it working properly. This practice will also help you to isolate and correct problems with your multinode configuration before putting any doors online. To start your second node, simply change to the node directory and type QUICKBBS (or QUICKBBS -L for a local logon). If necessary, you can override the node number set in QCONFIG.EXE by including -N# on the command line, where # represents the actual node number (-N1 for node 1, -N2 for node 2, etc.). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 83 Setting up a second node is not easy, but your problems will seldom be with QuickBBS. You're more likely to have problems with your FOSSIL, multitasker, and doors than with QuickBBS itself. Page 84 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Interuser Chat Interuser Chat is useless without a multinode system, so if you're setting up a single node system, you can skip this section and come back to it later. In order to use Interuser Chat, you must first set up a memory buffer to be used by QuickBBS to store characters that will be sent from one node to another. This is done by loading in one of the following programs, depending on your system configuration: MIXER.COM Creates a memory buffer for Interuser Chat when being used under a multitasker such as DesqView, DoubleDOS, or Windows. Must be loaded before the multitasker. NETMIXER.COM Creates a memory buffer for Interuser Chat when being used under a NetBios compatible network. Must be loaded before the network, and can be used even if a multi- tasker is also running. Either will accept a single command line parameter, representing the maximum number of nodes online. The default is 50. Activation is simple. Just execute a Type 61 (see page 126) menu command. You can have up to 63 "conferences" going on at the same time. In this case, the Data line should contain the conference into which your user will initially be placed. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 85 Upgrading If you're upgrading from an earlier version of QuickBBS, or from one of the imitators, you'll find the upgrade process simple. Of course, you should always do a complete system backup before any upgrade. From QuickBBS 2.75 to QuickBBS 2.76, simply unZIP the release files into your main QuickBBS directory and run 275TO276.EXE. Remember that the format of EXITINFO.BBS has changed with version 2.76, so some doors that rewrite EXITINFO.BBS may not work properly. Conversion programs are available to solve this problem until door authors modify their programs for the more advanced structures of QuickBBS 2.76. From QuickBBS 2.66 or earlier, or from SuperBBS, unzip the release files into the main BBS directory; run 266TO275.EXE; run ALIASFIX.EXE, then run 275TO276.EXE. Most of your Type 15 doors can now be run as Type 7's, if you add *M at the end of the line to make QuickBBS swap out of memory. You'll probably want to revise your file and message menus to take advantage of templating, but you can save that for later. You'll also probably want to run 275TO266.EXE nightly as part of your maintenance event to create version 2.66-compatible configuration files so that your current doors and offline utilities will continue to work. From Remote Access, unzip the release files into your main BBS directory; run RA2QBBS.EXE; run ALIASFIX.EXE; then run 275TO276.EXE. Most of your menus should be compatible, but there will be a few discrepancies. Scan through this manual, especially the Table of Contents and the Introduction, and you'll catch on to the new features quickly. Page 86 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Troubleshooting The overwhelming majority of errors fall into a single category, which most of us come to call the dreaded SSE. This is an affliction to which we all (no matter how experienced we are) fall prey on occasion, and when we do, the glow from our faces can be seen like the Aurora Borealis in the night sky. SSE stands for "Stupid Sysop Error." Something over 90% of the errors you will encounter will fall into this category. The most common SSE's are typographical. C;\QUICK may look like a perfectly good path, but of course DOS expects a colon and not a semi- colon after the drive letter. You'll also probably type C:/QUICK more than once (with a forward slash instead of a back slash), or D:\QUICK when it's really on the C: drive. There is a certain sysop in Louisi- ana who is always typing CL\QUICK, which of course isn't right. (If you want to know the culprit, check out the name of the author of this manual.....) Some programs are highly sensitive to the use of the backslash at the end of the path. C:\QUICK and C:\QUICK\ may seem like the same thing, but if the program adds a backslash at the end of a line you ended with a backslash, you end up with C:\QUICK\\, which DOS doesn't understand. Third party utilities will sometimes mangle your QuickBBS files. In particular, never use a utility intended for an older version of QuickBBS, or for one of QuickBBS's many imitators, without first testing it thoroughly on a spare copy of your files. In fact, it's a pretty safe recommendation that you never use any utilities, including those provided by Pegasus Software, without first making a backup of your system directory. Many problems are not caused by QuickBBS but might seem like they are. Many doors will attempt to modify EXITINFO.BBS. If the door seems to run properly but QuickBBS misbehaves after returning, the door has probably corrupted the data in EXITINFO.BBS so when QuickBBS reads it back after returning from the door, it receives invalid information. Also, many doors that have not been updated to allow for the enhanced features of QuickBBS 2.76 will truncate the file. When QuickBBS attempts to read it back, it will give an error message and drop carrier. Modem and fossil problems tend to confound many sysops regardless of experience. A modem initialization string may work beautifully until you drop to DOS and run a terminal program, which may change other options in the modem's setup that will force QuickBBS to refuse to work. A fossil may be setup perfectly until a door program deacti- vates it, and then QuickBBS won't work until the system is rebooted or the fossil is otherwise reactivated. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 87 Problems fall into two basic categories: 1. The system never worked. These errors occur on initial instal- lation. 2. It used to work but it quit. In the first situation, something is wrong with your configura- tion. Check your system paths and make sure everything is where it's supposed to be. Pay particular attention to typographical errors. Check your modem connect strings and make sure they are the actual strings sent by your modem. Make sure you have a | symbol, represent- ing a carriage return, at the end of your 300 baud connect string. Don't try setting up doors, a mailer, echomail, etc., until the basic system is working. If you're running a mailer, check your initializa- tion strings and paths in the mailer as well. Double check the command line parameters being sent by the mailer to QuickBBS. In the second situation, you have changed something. Perhaps you changed an option in a door, or a path to a download area. That infamous Louisiana sysop mentioned earlier recently installed a new hard drive and moved his upload area to that larger drive, and changed the path to the upload area in QCONFIG.EXE, but no one could upload. Seems he forgot to change the path in QCONFIG.EXE that pointed to his FILES.BBS! Another SSE! Error Codes Error codes given by programs can often be quite cryptic. In many cases, the error that caused the code can be hard to find even of you do know the resulting error code. For example, a Disk Write Error (Code 101) might be caused by a full hard drive, or by a bad sector, or a share violation, or many other causes. Here is a list of Pascal error codes. 002 File not found 003 Path not found 004 Too many open files 005 File access denied 006 Invalid file handle 012 Invalid file access code 015 Invalid drive number 016 Cannot remove current directory 017 Cannot rename across drives 100 Read past EOF 101 Disk write error 102 File not assigned 103 File not open 104 File not open for input 105 File not open for output Page 88 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 106 Invalid numeric format 150 Disk write protected 151 Unknown unit 152 Drive not ready 153 Unknown command 154 CRC error in data 155 Bad drive request structure 156 Disk seek error 157 Unknown media type 158 Sector not found 159 Printer out of paper 160 Device write fault 161 Device read fault 162 Share violation or hardware fault (bad sector?) 200 Division by zero 201 Range check error 202 Stack overflow error 203 Heap overflow error 204 Invalid pointer operation 205 Floating point overflow 206 Floating point underflow 207 Invalid floating point operation 208 Overlay manager not installed 209 Overlay file read error The most common errors are 004 (too many open files) and 162 (share violation). To correct the first, try increasing your FILES setting in CONFIG.SYS (see page 10). The second should occur only in multitasking systems; make sure SHARE.EXE is loaded in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 89 Display Files There are several files that QuickBBS will automatically display at strategic times. All can use Metacharacters (see page 94) to display specific information to the user or to perform specific actions at certain times. Files must be located in the directory listed in Text File Path in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 29). Files should use the extensions ANS for files containing ANSI graphics, and ASC for files that don't. Users who choose ANSI graph- ics will see the *.ANS version, while others will see the *.ASC version. If only an ASCII version exists, ANSI users will see the ASCII version; if only an ANSI version exists, non-ANSI users will not see any display at all. By convention in this manual, the term A?? means files with the extensions of ASC and ANS. Each of the following files can be created in both ANSI and ASCII versions. Some of the files have default displays that will be shown if the indicated files don't exist (see page 7). BIRTHDAY.A?? is shown if a user calls in on her/his birthday. ANSI music codes can be included in the ANS version of the file. BAD-EXT.A?? is shown if a user attempts to upload a file with an extension not listed in FILE-OK.CTL (see page 109). BADALIAS.A?? is shown if a user attempts to register an alias listed in BADALIAS.CTL (see page 109). DATAPHON.A?? is displayed right before a new user is asked for his/her data phone number. You can use this file to ask them to enter their BBS phone number or business voice number, or whatev- er phone number you want entered here. DNLDHRS.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to download a file outside the time frame permitted in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 33). DUPEFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a duplicate file to the system. EDITHELP.A?? is displayed if the user selects the help option from the line oriented message editor. GOODBYE.A?? is displayed when the user logs off. It is the last display that the user will see from your board. HOMEPHON.A?? is displayed right before a new user is asked for her/his home phone number. You can use this file to ask them to Page 90 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation enter their home or voice phone number, or whatever phone number you want entered here. JUNKFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a file listed in BAD-FILE.CTL (see page 109). LOGO.A?? is the first display shown to the user, right after your system name and the QuickBBS identifier, and right before the system asks for the user's name. It gives the first information to the user. This may be information about your system, a legal disclaimer, etc. MAXPAGE.A?? is displayed if the caller attempts to page more times than the maximum specified in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 33). NEWS.A?? is displayed after the Newuser2 or Welcome file, and after the logon mail check (see page 39). NEWUSER1.A?? is displayed after the user has verified that his/her name is typed correctly but before any of the questions specified in QCONFIG.EXE are asked. This is a good place to welcome new users, tell them a little about your system, list basic restrictions, etc. NEWUSER2.A?? is displayed after a new user has selected a pass- word. This file might contain information about your system that would be of interest to a first time caller. NO300.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to call in when 300 baud is not allowed (see page 33). The user is logged off after this file is displayed. NODEn.A?? is displayed when a caller connects to the specified node. This file might give the hours of a part-time node, the phone numbers of additional nodes, etc. In place of n, put the node number without leading zeroes. NODE1.ANS and NODE10.ANS are correct, NODE01.ANS is not. NOTAVAIL.A?? is displayed if the sysop is paged outside the times that paging is allowed (see page 33). NOTFOUND.A?? is displayed if the system cannot find the user's name but before the system asks if the caller typed her/his name correctly. This file might be used to tell the caller what names are not allowed on the system. PAGEABRT.A?? is displayed if the sysop aborted the page. PAGED.A?? is displayed after the page has been made but before the sysop answers. This should say something like "Please contin- ue using this board, the sysop will break in." QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 91 PASSWORD.A?? is displayed before the system asks the user for the password she/he will use on the system. This should explain that passwords should not be too easy to guess, that they should be changed often, etc. PRE-UPLD.A?? is displayed before a user begins an upload. This should explain the types of uploads that are acceptable on your system, and also should inform the uploader if the file will be reserved for testing before being made available for download. PRIVATE.A?? is displayed if the system is a private system and a non-registered user attempts to call in. The caller will be logged off after this is file is displayed. READHELP.A?? is displayed if the user selects help from the read/scan/quick-scan options. This file should explain what each of the options do. SECn.A?? is displayed to each user with security level n where n is a number from 1 to 32000. SEC10.A?? will be displayed to users that have a security level of 10 and ONLY to users with that security level. This is displayed after WELCOME.A?? but before checking for mail. TIMEWARN.A?? is displayed when the user's time limit has been adjusted because of an upcoming system event. TOOSLOW.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to log onto the system with a modem that is too slow as defined in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 33). The system will then disconnect the user. TRASHCAN.A?? is displayed if the system finds the user's name in the TRASHCAN.CTL file (see page 112). The user is then discon- nected. UP-DESC.A?? is shown to the user before he/she is asked to describe an upload. This allows you to ask users for a valid description. USERn.A?? is shown to a user whenever the Sysop presses [Ctrl- Fn], where n is the number of the function key. For example, [Ctrl-F1] will display USER1.A??; [Ctrl-F2] will display USER2.A??; etc. WELCOME.A?? is displayed after a caller has entered his/her name and password and after the display of any NEWUSERn.A?? and SECn.A?? files. This screen welcomes returning callers, so you might want to make it a little more "showy" than the rest. Page 92 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation XFERHELP.A?? is displayed when a user requests help with the file transfer functions. It should explain what each of the protocols do and how they work. Callback Verifier Display Files The following display files are used by the built-in callback verifier. S-INTRO.A?? is the first file the user sees. After this file is displayed, the user is asked to confirm her/his telephone numbers and to decide which one will receive the callback. S-INTRO.A?? can be a short intro into the verification system to explain uses. S-TRASH.A?? is displayed if the phone number the user has select- ed is found in the PHONENUM.CTL file, explaining that you have blocked the number out for some reason (see page 112). S-DUPE.A?? is displayed if another user has the same phone number as the one entered by the caller, and you have decided not to permit multiple users to be verified at the same phone number (see page 35). As a system operator, you should encourage fami- lies to be involved in telecomputing so if you don't allow callback verification to a second person at the same number, this file should explain an alternate method of verification, such as leaving a message to the sysop or sending in a postcard. S-DISC.A?? is displayed after the user is asked to choose or confirm the telephone number, but before QuickBBS disconnects to make the verification call. This file should inform the user that she/he is about to be disconnected, and remind her/him of how to put his/her modem into answer mode. S-LOGIN.A?? is displayed after the user answers the callback. It should be edited to customize the look and style of your board. S-VALID.A?? is displayed after the user properly enters his or her password, and is a welcome back to the system after the user completes the callback verification. This is a good place for a custom graphics screen. If a user is not allowed to resume using the BBS (see page 36), this is the last file displayed before the caller is disconnected. S-LONGD.A?? is displayed if the user is long distance, and you have your configuration set not to permit long distance calls (see page 36), or if it's the wrong time of the day for long distance calls. If you have configured your system for long distance callback during limited hours, this file should explain when the user should call back and try again. Be specific as to QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 93 the allowable hours and make sure you include the time zone: 10pm to 3am East Standard Time. Do not assume that everyone is on your time zone when allowing long distance call backs. If you don't allow long distance callbacks at all, this file should offer an alternate method of verification. S-USERM.A?? contains on-line help for the user. It is called from VERIFY.MNU in the sample configuration. Page 94 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Metacharacters When placed in Display Files, certain characters or character combinations instruct QuickBBS to perform certain functions, or to display a certain type of data. These are known as Metacharacters. Here is a list of available Metacharacters and their functions. The numbers in the left column are the ASCII values of the character(s) that make up the Metacharacter. In the "Char" column, the up-carat (^) is used to mean the [Ctrl] key, so [^A] means [Ctrl-A]. Two characters used together, such as [^F3] means press and hold the [Ctrl] key while tapping the letter [F], then release the [Ctrl] key and press the number [3]. NOTE: Not all editors will let you type control characters as indicated above. Check the documentation for your editor. Remember that the values that replace Metacharacters will often be longer than the Metacharacters themselves, so allow extra space when formatting your files. ASCII #s Char Function 001 ^A Pause and wait for the ENTER key to be pressed 002 ^B Make a file non-abortable 003 ^C Make file abortable after a ^B 004 ^D Turn More Prompts On 005 ^E Turn More Prompts Off 006 033 ^F! Display current caller's Full Screen Editor status (On/Off) as stored in the user base (see ^F1) 006 035 ^F# Display current caller's screen length setting as stored in the user base (see ^FV) 006 049 ^F1 Display current caller's Full Screen Editor status (On/Off) as in effect for the current call (see ^F!) 006 050 ^F2 Display current setting of the "Do Not Disturb" flag in a multinode configuration 006 051 ^F3 Display current caller's download ratio by file number 006 052 ^F4 Display current caller's download ratio by Kbytes 006 053 ^F5 Display current caller's registered alias 006 054 ^F6 Display current caller's age 006 055 ^F7 Display current caller's date of birth 006 056 ^F8 Returns ON or OFF according to the ANSI setting in the user base (see ^FX) 006 057 ^F9 Returns ON or OFF according to the More Prompt set- ting in the user base (see ^FY) 006 058 ^F0 Returns ON or OFF according to the Screen Clear setting in the user base (see ^FZ) 006 065 ^FA Full User Name 006 066 ^FB City and State 006 067 ^FC Password (SERIOUS potential for security violation!) 006 068 ^FD Business/Data Phone Number 006 069 ^FE Home/Voice Phone Number QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 95 006 070 ^FF Last date user logged on 006 071 ^FG Last time user logged on 006 072 ^FH A Flags 006 073 ^FI B Flags 006 074 ^FJ C Flags 006 075 ^FK D Flags 006 076 ^FL Credit Value (in cents) 006 077 ^FM # of messages user has posted 006 078 ^FN Highest message user has read 006 079 ^FO Security level of user 006 080 ^FP # of times user has logged on 006 081 ^FQ Number of uploads user has sent 006 082 ^FR Amount user has uploaded (in kilobytes) 006 083 ^FS Number of downloads user has received 006 084 ^FT Amount user has downloaded (expressed in kbytes) 006 085 ^FU Elapsed time (in minutes) user used today 006 086 ^FV Display's current caller's screen length as in effect for the current call (see ^F#) 006 087 ^FW User's first name (i.e., Bob) 006 088 ^FX Returns ON or OFF according to the ANSI setting 006 089 ^FY Returns ON or OFF according to the More Prompt set- ting 006 090 ^FZ Returns ON or OFF according to the Screen Clear setting 007 ^G Ring Caller's Bell 008 ^H Backspace 009 ^I Tab 010 ^J Linefeed 011 047 ^K0 Display number of messages in currently selected area 011 048 ^K1 Display number of currently selected message area 011 049 ^K2 Display number of currently selected file area 011 050 ^K3 Display previous caller's alias 011 065 ^KA Number of calls on system 011 066 ^KB Name of last caller on system 011 067 ^KC Number of active messages in message base 011 068 ^KD Lowest system message number 011 069 ^KE Highest system message number 011 070 ^KF Number of Times User has Paged Sysop This Call 011 071 ^KG Day of the Week (i.e., Monday, Tuesday, etc) 011 072 ^KH Number of users on system 011 073 ^KI Current time in 24-Hour Format (HH:MM) 011 074 ^KJ Current date in DD-MMM-YY form 011 075 ^KK Minutes Connected 011 076 ^KL Seconds Connected 011 077 ^KM Minutes Used (against time limit) 011 078 ^KN Seconds Used (against time limit) 011 079 ^KO Minutes Remaining 011 080 ^KP Seconds Remaining 011 081 ^KQ Time Limit (in minutes) 011 082 ^KR Current baud rate (300, 1200, or 2400) 011 083 ^KS Abbreviated Day of the Week (Mon, Tue, etc) Page 96 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 011 084 ^KT Download Limit (expressed in kilobytes) 011 085 ^KU The number of minutes until the next system event. 011 086 ^KV The time of the next system event. (24 hour format) 011 087 ^KW Node Number 011 088 ^KX Drop carrier 011 088 ^KY Name of currently selected message area 011 089 ^KZ Name of currently selected file area 012 ^L Clear Screen 013 ^M Carriage Return 017 ^Q DO NOT USE! Used for XON/XOFF. 019 ^S DO NOT USE! Used for XON/XOFF. 023 ^W One second pause 024 ^X Shell to DOS from a text file 026 ^Z DO NOT USE! DOS end of file marker. There are three Metacharacters supported on menu text lines: 042 067 *C Centers the display line 042 070 *F Displays the current file area 042 077 *M Displays the current message area Metacharacters may be stacked, so *M*C would display the current message area in the center of the line. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 97 Transferring Messages to Other Systems If you're setting up your first BBS and don't have it running to your satisfaction, SKIP THIS SECTION for the time being! Setting up your first BBS is hard enough without trying to figure out the use of a mailer, too. What's it All About? Several years ago, Sysops who probably had serious masochistic tendencies decided that reading messages posted on their own BBS's was not enough. After all, most users call in, so that doesn't run up the phone bill high enough! Those Sysops decided to form a network, which eventually became known as Fidonet, to link systems electronically. Soon other networks came into existence, and today there are probably hundreds of them. Of course, they force the use of an entirely new vocabulary. Here are some basic definitions that are not included in the Glossary on page 165: Netmail: The basic exchange of information from one Sysop or user to another on another system. A BBS is not necessary for this process, unless BBS users are involved. Echomail: Exchanging messages directly between two systems was not adequate, so message conferences were developed. The idea is called "Echomail" because the mail "echoes" from one system to another. Individual message areas are called "Echoes," and the person in charge of an echo is the "Moderator." A message entered in an echo may transfer around the world, and be seen on thou- sands of BBS's. Frivolous messages or messages that do not meet the subject area of the conference are frowned upon since each unnecessary message takes dollars out of the pockets of sysops around the world and puts them in the pockets of their local telephone companies. Conference: An individual echomail message area. Tagline: The abbreviated name of the conference. For example, Fido- net's Technical echo is called TECH. Mailer: Software that transfers messages from one system to another. QuickBBS does not include a mailer. This software must be ac- quired, registered, and/or purchased separately. Popular mailers include BinkleyTerm, D'Bridge, FrontDoor, and InterMail. Front End: Another name for Mailer, since the mailer is the "front end" of the system, or the first program to run. Page 98 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Tosser: A program that takes messages from the mailer and brings them into the BBS message base. MAILTOSS.EXE, included with QuickBBS, is a tosser. Scanner: This has several meanings, but the one that applies here is a program that removes new messages from the BBS message base and stores them for processing by the packer. MAILSCAN.EXE, included with QuickBBS, is a scanner. Packer: A program that takes messages that have been removed from the message base by the scanner and compresses them so they can be sent out by the mailer, or extracts incoming packets to be inserted into the message base by the tosser. QECHO.EXE, included with QuickBBS, is a packer. Also a professional football player from Wisconsin. Packet: Incoming or outgoing mail as received by your mailer, or prepared to be sent by your mailer. Xmail: A mail packet that has been compressed using one of the popular archiving methods. Most networks require the use of an ARC 6.0 compatible archiver unless both the sender and receiver agree on another method, but most modern mail processors can handle several different methods. Coordinator: The people who have responsibility within a domain to maintain the nodelist or handle the flow of echomail. The coor- dinator structure is usually abbreviated with an asterisk: *C means the Zone Coordinator, Region Coordinator, and Net Coor- dinator, while *EC means the Zone Echo Coordinator, Region Echo Coordinator, and Net Echo Coordinator. Network: In Fidonet technology, this term has two meanings. First, it is the name of the overall organization, more properly called a Domain. Fidonet, Echonet, Alternet, QBBSNet, DoorNet, EggNet, and many others, are all networks and domains. Second, the local organization within the overall organization is called a network, more commonly abbreviated to Net. In setting up a mailer, you are likely to feel rather often like you're walking a tightrope without a net! Domain: See Network. For clarity, this manual uses the term Domain to refer to the overall organization, and Net to refer to the local network structure. Zone: The basic unit of address for each domain. Some larger domains use more than one zone number, usually assigned geographically. In Fidonet, zone 1 is the United States and Canada; zone 2 is Europe and the Middle East; zone 3 is Australia and Oceania; Zone 4 is Latin America (South and Central America); Zone 5 is Africa; and zone 6 is Asia. Each domain has its own zone structure QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 99 depending on the size and purpose of the organization, and there is some duplication. AlterNet and FamilyNet both use Zone 8, for example. Coordinators are the Zone Coordinator (ZC) and the Zone Echo Coordinator (ZEC). Region: The subdivision, usually geographical, of a zone into smaller sections, usually several states. Coordinators are the Region Coordinator (RC) and the Region Echo Coordinator (REC). Net: The subdivision of a region into smaller groupings. In some domains, nets are assigned according to common interests, but mostly they are geographical. In Fidonet, a net will usually take in the area that can be called without long distance charges. Some very large cities may have more than one net, while some smaller cities may take in outlying areas as well. In other domains, nets may be based on the area code, state, or other factors, and in some, the net may indicate the flow of mail from one system to another. Coordinators are the Net Coordinator (NC) and the Net Echo Coordinator (NEC). Host: The Net Coordinator. Hub: Your hub is the person you get your mail from. He/she may be your NC, NEC, or someone else. Hubs are most often used to help distribute the mail load in nets with many nodes, and to reduce long distance bills in nets that cover large geographical areas. If your net includes 10 nodes in one city and 5 in another, and phone rates between the two cities are long distance, one node (the hub) will most likely make the call and then distribute it to the other 4 systems. Cost sharing programs will often help him/her to pay the phone bill. Node: The individual system. If you join a domain, you will be a node within a net within a region within a zone within a domain. How Does It Work? Processing Netmail and Echomail requires several steps, regard- less of whether the mail is incoming or outgoing, and regardless of whether it is Netmail or Echomail. We'll deal with incoming mail first. Incoming Mail When a mail packet is received by your mailer, it is examined to see whether it is in compressed format. Compressed mail bundles (called Xmail) usually carry extensions that indicate the day of the week on which the bundle was processed, followed by a sequential number. Your first packet on Monday morning will have an extension of Page 100 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation MO1; Thursday's fifth packet will be TH5, etc. The filename will be a representation of the sending system's network address, usually in hexadecimal numbers. Mail from the same system will always have the same filename, but different extensions depending on the day of the week and the sequential number. If the mail bundle is compressed, it must be extracted into mail packets. The filename of each packet is a number generated by the sending system, while the extension is usually PKT. It is possible to read message packets, but addresses and routing information is usually encoded. Once the mail has reached packet status, it is ready to be "tossed" into your message base. QECHO.EXE performs this function. Each mail packet is retained until all messages have been added to the message base in the proper areas, so lots of extra disk space is needed during tossing. After tossing is completed, newly added messages may be linked to messages that were already on the system so messages can be read in a continuous thread by subject. QLINK.EXE performs the linking function. Depending on your mailer, mail may be tossed into Fido-style message areas, in which each message is a separate file. Since DOS allocates disk space one cluster at a time, and a hard drive cluster is usually 2 Kb, a thousand messages of 100 bytes each would take 2 Mb instead of the 100 Kb actually required. MAILTOSS.EXE will take messages from Fido-style message areas and import them into your QuickBBS message base. If you use a mailer requiring this intermediate step, you'll probably require several times more disk space. Netmail nearly always requires the intermediate step of creating a Fido-style message, so MAILTOSS.EXE is almost always used with netmail messages. Outgoing Mail Not surprisingly, the process for outgoing mail is the opposite of that for incoming mail. When a message is entered in QuickBBS, it must be extracted from the message base and prepared to be sent out by your mailer. QECHO.EXE performs this function by preparing the packets and compressing them into Xmail bundles by destination. It's up to your mailer to take these bundles and send them out. If your mailer requires outgoing messages to be in Fido-style format, MAILSCAN.EXE will extract the messages from your QuickBBS message base and create messages in the proper format to be processed by your mailer. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 101 Netmail nearly always requires the intermediate step of creating a Fido-style message. Utilities such as automatic file handling programs are usually compatible with Fido-style messages, so process- ing netmail in this manner will make your system compatible with utilities written for Fido-style message bases, as well as QuickBBS- style message bases. Once the message has been extracted from your QuickBBS-style message area by MAILSCAN.EXE, your mailer will normally handle all processing since netmail messages are normally not com- pressed. Now let's get down to specifics. QECHO.EXE Setting your system up to interface with a mailer requires the Netmail and Message Area configurations to be completed. If you haven't done so already, go back to page 16 and read the section on configuration for netmail. You have probably already set up some message areas, but go back to page 17 and reread that section, paying particular attention to the parts you ignored before, such as the origin line and net address. QECHO.EXE requires a separate control file called QECHO.CTL. When you run QECHO.EXE, it will look for QECHO.CTL first in the current DOS directory, and then in the directory pointed to by the QUICK environ- mental variable (see page 10). A sample is included in QBBS276U.ZIP that can be customized to your needs, and to give examples of the options. Here are the available options: QECHO.CTL NODE: List up to 10 network addresses, starting with your primary address, in the format Z:NNN/nnn where Z is the zone desig- nation, NNN is the Net designation, and nnn is your individ- ual node number. QECHO.EXE will TRY to match your address to that of the other system whenever possible, so if you are sending mail to a zone 50 address, QECHO.EXE will prepare the mail using your zone 50 address (if any). If a match cannot be found, the first address (your primary) will be used. If an address does not include a zone, zone 1 is assumed. LOCK: Allows QECHO.EXE to be used on a multinode system. SHARE must be loaded (see your DOS manual). ARCHIVER: Defines which archiving program you will use to prepare your mail, and the options to be used. PKPAK -OCT -A is the default. Page 102 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation PACKERS: Indicates the beginning of a list of addresses for which you want to assign specific archivers or archiving options. ENDPACKERS: Indicates the end of the list begun with PACKERS. ZONESTRIP: Used for Zonegating. If this keyword is used, all previous information in SEEN-BY lines will be stripped out. ARC: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if ARC mail is detected. PKUNPAK is the default. ARJ: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if ARJ mail is detected. LHARC: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if LZH mail is detected. (Note: Newer versions of this packer are named LHA, but Qecho still expects the keyword LHARC.) PAK: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if PAK mail is detected. PKPAK: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if ARC mail is detected. ZIP: Allows you to name the unpacker and command line options to be used if ZIP mail is detected. POINTNET: This function is used in situations where true four dimensional addressing is not allowed. A 4D address consists of an address in the form Z:NNN/nnn.ppp, where ppp repre- sents a point number. When this format cannot be used, a special, five digit Net number can be substituted. In ef- fect, this allows you to create a private network. It is recommended that Fidonet rules be followed so that any mail that accidentally escapes into the main distribution system can be tracked and the error caught. The points must address you using the first address listed in this control file. Also, you'll need to include the statement BOSSNODE in the control file, indicating that you are the "boss" (the /0 node) of your private network. BOSSNODE: Required for pointnet operation. See POINTNET, above. PACKETPATH: Names the directory in which QECHO.EXE will store mail packets and Xmail bundles. The default is the system directory. KDP-PATH: Names the directory in which QECHO.EXE will store the file AREAS.KDP, used to keep track of duplicate messages. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 103 Depending on the size of your message base, this file can sometimes get rather large. USELOG: Instructs QECHO.EXE create a log file called QECHO.LOG. LOGPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE where to place QECHO.LOG. DUPPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE where to store duplicate messages. You should review duplicates before you delete them so you can track down and end any recurring problems. The telephone company is the only entity that benefits from a "dupe" problem! MAILPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE the location of *.MSG files. FILESPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE where your mailer will place incoming mail bundles. ARCHIVEPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE where to place outbound Xmail bun- dles. QUICKBBSPATH: Tells QECHO.EXE where to find the QuickBBS system files. Command Line Options The following options can be used on the QECHO.EXE command line: -A Archive all mail generated. -C Mark all mail generated as CRASH priority. -E Exports outbound messages. If this option is set, QECHO.EXE will not process inbound mail. -F[name] Uses an alternate areas file rather than AREAS.BBS -G Processes only inbound messages from nodes listed for the specific message area in the AREAS.BBS file. -I Import SEEN-BY and PATH lines. -J Swap to EMS or disk. QECHO.EXE needs at least 350 Kb to run, plus additional memory for the packer. This parameter allows swapping to EMS memory (if available) or to disk if memory is tight. Should be used in multitasking situations. -K Disables checking for duplicate echomail messages. Page 104 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation -L[name] Generates a text file [name] with a list of the names of areas in which messages were received. Used with the -L option in QLINK.EXE. -N Disables processing of any unprocessed echomail located in the network mail directory. -R Remove all SEEN-BY addresses except those in your Net and your downlinks. -S[x] Checks to make sure you have at least x Kb of free drive space before processing mail. -T Imports all echomail processed into the message base. -U Processes any mail archives or stray packets. -V Disables forwarding of any echomail to new nodes. -X Marks all mail generated as HOLD. -Z Sets operation for an oMMM environment (BinkleyTerm). -? Displays online help. Defining Echomail Areas (AREAS.BBS) The file that tells QECHO.EXE where to put incoming messages and where to send outgoing messages is called AREAS.BBS. This file lists the area number, tagline, and a list of systems to which you will forward mail in that area. A semicolon indicates a comment, and a comment line is required at the beginning. Here's a sample: ; Comment Line 1 LOCAL_SYSOP 1:384/1 50:5504/3 50 51 52 136 ENET_TECH 50:50/100 5019/34 215 56 QBBSNET_SYSOP 150:210/1701 52 DB_SOFT 1:384/1 387/301 3812/215 98 MISSING_CHILD 1:384/1 31:31/101 4161/1 102 133 PC_TECH 50:50/100 5019/34 215 5504/50 51 5601/12 120 5817/100 6512/13 P PLEASE 1:104/51 381/1 Each line begins with the QuickBBS message area number as defined in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 17). If P is used instead of an area number, the conference is considered a pass-through area. After processing, all messages in such an area are deleted. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 105 The next column is the area name or Tagline, which can be up to 20 characters long. Taglines are the name given by the network. For example, the Fidonet Hard Drive conference is named HDCONF. The third column contains addresses of systems to which you will forward that conference. Up to 50 addresses can be specified. Address- es should be in the format Z:NNN/nnn.ppp, but can be listed in abbre- viated format, So if all addresses are in zone 1, the 1: need only be listed once. The same is true of addresses within the same Net. The line 1:383/3 50:50/100 5504/50 51 would indicate that messages in this conference should be sent to 1:383/3, 50:50/100, 50:5504/50, and 50:5504/51. Of course, messages will not be sent back to the address from which you received them. QECHO.EXE can handle up to 400 message areas, but only 200 can be imported into QuickBBS. In the remaining areas, mail can be forwarded to your downlinks, but not imported into your message base. If you need to process more than 400 message areas, use the -F command line parameter to use multiple areas files. Importing/Exporting Messages (MAILSCAN.EXE; MAILTOSS.EXE) These utilities take the information they require from your configuration files. MAILSCAN.EXE has one command line option, -K, which flags messages as deleted after they are exported from your QuickBBS message base. MAILTOSS.EXE has the following command line options: -K Kill null messages (messages which contain no text, usually used for file routing and requesting. -F Import mail from this address not marked Kill/Sent -P Set the Private flag on all imported messages -C Do not delete *.MSG files after importing -L Run in multinode mode To use either of these utilities, simply execute them from your main QuickBBS directory. Setting Up The Nodelist (QNODE.EXE) QuickBBS requires a list of telephone numbers to correlate with the Network addresses of systems with which your system will communi- cate. While the actual sending and receiving of mail will be handled by your mailer program, QuickBBS also needs access to nodelist infor- Page 106 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation mation so it can tell which addresses are valid and determine a cost factor for netmail messages. QuickBBS uses the raw nodelist files that you receive from your host, and small index files created by QNODE.EXE. Nodelist files are called by different names, depending on the domain involved. As the oldest domain, Fidonet's nodelist file is simply called NODELIST. Some other examples include FMLYLIST (Family- Net, Zone 8), MAILLIST (MailNet, Zone 20), ENETLIST (Echonet, Zone 50), AGAPLIST (AgapeNet, Zone 70), DNETLIST (DoorNet, Zone 75); QBSNODES (QBBSNet, Zone 150). The extension is always the Julian date of the day on which the nodelist was released. (Note: If you receive a difference file each week, such as NODEDIFF, a separate program such as XLAXDIFF must be used to create the LIST file before it can be processed by QNODE.EXE.) QuickBBS can automatically deduct the cost of long distance netmail messages from your users' Net Mail Credit account (see page 78). This requires a file named NODECOST.CTL to exist in the same directory as the nodelist files. Each line must begin with a keyword, and contain information in this format: DEFAULT <cost> ZONE <number> <cost> REGION <number> <cost> NET <number> <cost> PREFIX <number> <cost> Here's an example: DEFAULT 25 ZONE 1 25 REGION 18 100 ZONE 2 1000 PREFIX 1-504 100 In the example, all calls will cost 25 cents except those in Region 18, which will cost $1.00; Zone 2, which will cost $10.00, and area code 504, which will cost $1.00. You can be as specific as you like, especially with the PREFIX command. For example, if you are located in the continental United States, you might want to list prefixes for all area codes outside the 48 states and the District of Columbia with a significantly higher cost, since those calls will be billed to you at international rates. Keep in mind that these costs will determine only the amount of credit that will be deducted from the user's record. Your mailer will determine whether, when, and how the mail will actually be sent. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 107 After setting up NODECOST.CTL, compile the indexes QuickBBS will use by moving into the directory where your raw nodelist files are kept and typing QNODE. No other parameters are needed if the only nodelist you will be compiling is named NODELIST. List any other nodelist files on the command line: QNODE FMLYLIST ENETLIST DNETLIST QBSNODES This command line will process files named NODELIST.###, FMLYLIST.###, ENETLIST.###, DNETLIST.###, and QBSNODES.###, where ### represents the Julian date of the most recent file. QNODE.EXE will create index files named NODEIDX.DAT and NODEINC.DAT in the same directory as your raw nodelist files. Using QuickBBS with a Mailer There are two basic methods for using QuickBBS with a mailer. Either the mailer can answer the phone and call QuickBBS (Continuous Mailer) or QuickBBS can answer the phone and call the mailer only during mail events (Non-continuous Mailer). If you choose to use a Continuous Mailer, your system can always receive Net and Echomail from other systems. If a call is received that is not a mail call (normally referred to as a Human Caller), the mailer will pass control to QuickBBS. Continuous mailers can use these command line parameters to call up QuickBBS: -Bx Baud rate is x -Ex Exit after caller at Errorlevel x -M The exact answer string sent by the modem (spaces are not allowed) -Tx Time until the next event is x minutes -Nx Node caller is using (Multinode only) -P Log system activity to the printer (if available) -R Reenter the BBS after a Type 15 exit. -S Turn off Snoop mode (used for multitasking) A mailer can use two basic methods to call QuickBBS. It can drop or shell to DOS, with the mailer staying in memory and calling QuickBBS as a child process, or it can exit completely, removing itself from memory and executing QuickBBS through command lines or errorlevels. Dropping is normally faster but requires more memory as the mailer remains in memory. Using the Drop method requires a batch file that will call QuickBBS, normally located in the mailer directory. The mailer will have to allow you to send the caller's baud rate and/or modem connect string, and other useful information can be passed as well including the time to the next scheduled event. Page 108 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Some mailers exit to run the bulletin board, passing control to QuickBBS through errorlevels in the batch file that runs the mailer. Some mailers exit with an errorlevel equal to the baud rate divided by 10 (for example, an exit at errorlevel 12 for a 1200 baud caller). Others may require you to assign the errorlevels yourself. To ensure that QuickBBS doesn't allow callers to overrun external events you can duplicate the mailer's schedule in the event section of QCONFIG.EXE (see page 25). Sample batch files using both Drop and Exit methods are included in the distribution archives. Non-continuous mailers only send and receive mail during speci- fied time slots called events. QuickBBS answers the phone at all other times, but exits to the mailer for mail events. To do this, the QuickBBS event schedule must be set up to exit at the proper times with errorlevels set so the batch file can then start the mailer. The event schedules are set with QCONFIG.EXE (see page 25). Similarly, the mailer must exit at the end of its event and call QuickBBS from its batch file. If you run a continuous mailer, you'll most likely want new net and echomail sent at the end of the calls in which they are entered. QuickBBS exits after calls with the following errorlevels: 0 Normal Exit 1 Important File Missing, such as TOP.MNU 2 Fatal System Error Occurred (recorded in ERRORS.LOG) 3 New Netmail was Entered 4 New Echomail was Entered 5 Both Netmail and Echomail were entered Your batch file must be configured to call the appropriate netmail and echomail scanning utilities for errorlevels 3, 4 and 5, and you must have Exit When Net/Echomail is Entered set to Y in QCONFIG.EXE to have QuickBBS return these errorlevels (see page 39). If you run a non-continuous mailer, your batch file will only have to call the mail utilities during specific mail events. See page 130 for a discussion of errorlevels and batch files. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 109 External Control Files There are several configuration files that you can use to modify the way QuickBBS reacts in certain circumstances. Most are handled through QCONFIG.EXE, but some need to be created with a standard ASCII text editor. Details on the files you can create yourself follow. BAD-FILE.CTL This optional file can contain a list of file names that you do not want users to be able to upload. Wildcards do not work; each line must contain a filename and extension in the form FILENAME.EXT, and each upload must be an exact match or it will not be refused. A user who at- tempts to upload a file listed in BAD-FILE.CTL is shown JUNKFILE.A?? (see page 90). BADALIAS.CTL This optional file can contain a list of aliases you will not allow on your system. If a user attempts to register a forbidden alias, she/he will be shown BADALIAS.A?? (see page 89). FILE-OK.CTL This optional file can contain a list of files you will accept from users. It should contain only the file extensions. If, for example, you allow users to upload files with the extensions of ZIP, PAK, ARJ, LZH, and ZOO, your file would look like this: .ZIP .PAK .ARJ .LZH .ZOO Users would be allowed to upload only files with these extensions. The period (.) before the extension is required. A user trying to upload a file not in FILE-OK.CTL will see BAD-EXT.A?? (see page 89). LIMITS.CTL This required file controls the time limit and download limit of your callers. This is a straight text file that contains a separate line for each security level you will use on your system. Information must be in this format: <Security level> <Daily Time Limit> <Download Limit in Kb> If you wanted to allow users with a security level of 5 to use your system for 60 minutes per day and download up to 500 Kb, you would enter this line: 5 60 500 Page 110 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Since users with faster modems can download more in a given period of time than users with slower modems, you can also allow the download limit to be set according to the caller's baud rate. This entry: 5 60 200 400 600 allows a user with a security level of 5 to stay online for 60 minutes and download 200 Kb if calling at 300 baud, 400 Kb if calling at 1200 baud, and 600 Kb if calling at 2400 baud. The line can be extended even farther to enforce upload- download ratios. Your entries must follow this format (the semicolon <;> at the beginning of the line tells QuickBBS that this line is a comment): ; D\L D\L D\L D\L D\L D\L ; Acc Limit Limit Limit Limit Limit D\L K ; Lvl Mins 300 1200 2400 4800 9600 Ratio Ratio ; ----- ---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- ----- 5 60 200 400 600 800 1000 10 250 forces this user to make 1 upload for every 10 files down- loaded, and upload at least 1 Kb for each 250 Kb downloaded. If ratios are implemented, a download limit must be speci- fied for each of the baud rates even if they are not avail- able on your BBS. Since QuickBBS uses position to tell which value is which, the download ratio must be the eighth item on the line, and the download KB ratio must be the ninth. If you operate a multinode system, QuickBBS will search first in the current node's directory and then in the main QuickBBS directory for LIMITS.CTL, allowing you to set separate limits for your nodes. Ratios are controversial. Many new users are completely unaware of the existence of long distance BBS's. Users with slower modems may not be able to afford to make long dis- tance calls to obtain software. On the other hand, shareware distribution services do great business, and many BBS's, especially in larger cities, have enforced ratios for years. With QuickBBS, you can decide whether or not to enforce upload-download ratios. File ratios can be overridden with entries made in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 23), provided that an area number or *F is entered on the menu data line. If a full path is QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 111 entered, the ratios in LIMITS.CTL will be enforced regard- less of the settings in the file area configuration. PHONE#.CTL Required by the Callback Verifier to determine whether a call is local, toll, or long distance (see page 36). The verifier will not work unless PHONE#.CTL is pres- ent, and in the proper format. An entry in PHONE#.CTL has three columns: <phone number> <dial number> <cost> If the phone number as entered by the user is 123-456-7890, but you need to dial it as 456-7890, and it's a free call, enter it like this: 123-456-7890 456-7890 0 If the same call is within your area code but long distance, and costs 25 cents, use this entry: 123-456-7890 1-456-7890 25 Of course, you don't want to enter each individual phone number, so use area codes and exchanges only: 123-456 1-456 25 If you need to also dial the area code, include in the dial number: 123-456 1-123-456 25 To insure that the verifier will know how to handle all numbers, include a "catch-all" at the end: 2 1-2 <cost> 3 1-3 <cost> 4 1-4 <cost> 5 1-5 <cost> 6 1-6 <cost> 7 1-7 <cost> 8 1-8 <cost> 9 1-9 <cost> Placing these eight lines at the end will insure that any telephone numbers not matching the lines above will be treated as long distance. Using the cost entry, the verifier will determine whether this user can be verified, and whether he/she can continue online after verification, based on the verifier settings in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 36). Page 112 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation PHONENUM.CTL This file allows you to refuse callers from num- bers you know to be bad. The telephone numbers of local police and fire departments, time and temperature, 911, 900 numbers, 976 numbers, 555-5555, 555-1212, etc., should be included in this file. This prevents callers from using phone numbers that you know are false from gaining access to your system without revealing their actual phone numbers. Of course, you can't enter every bad phone number, but you can at least eliminate the most likely ones. PHONENUM.CTL is an ASCII file in which you enter unaccept- able phone numbers in the format nnn-nnn-nnnn. A question mark (?) can be used as part of the telephone number mask. In order to prevent users from using the phone numbers listed above, you would include these entries in your PHONENUM.CTL: 911 900- ???-976 ???-555-5555 ???-555-1212 A user won't be permitted to enter any phone number using these combinations, such as (214) 555-1212 (Directory Assis- tance for Dallas, TX). Don't include question marks at the end of a line (such as ???-976-????), since this is the default. TRASHCAN.CTL This file is a list of unacceptable names that users might try to use at logon, and is also an ASCII text file. Each line contains a first, last, or full name that you find objectionable or otherwise wish to lock out of your system. Each line must match the name entered by the caller exactly. "Dr" and "Dr." are not the same. If your TRASHCAN.CTL contained these entries: Sysop Dr. Computer Hacker Mad John Doe the following users would not be allowed to log in: Dr. Detroit Computer Hacker Mr. Computer Mr. Sysop Dr. Computer QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 113 Mad Doctor John Doe but the following would be allowed: Dr Detroit Doctor Nerd Mr. Nerd Dr Madd John Smith Jane Doe You might want to begin by entering every profanity you can think of, since sooner or later someone will try to log on with an obscene handle. After attempting to log on using a name listed in TRASHCAN.CTL, the user is shown TRASHCAN.A?? (see page 91) and is logged off. Page 114 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Menu Command Types Note: *M or *F on any text line will be replaced by the current message area or file area, respectively. Type Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Field 0. Text Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None This is not actually a command, but is used to display text on the menu. Used for menu titles, explanation lines, etc. 1. Goto New Menu . . . . . . . <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=-?} Jumps to another menu without saving a path back. The optional password is one word, not case sensitive, which must be entered correctly by the user. Related commands are Type 1 (see page 114), Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 (all below). See the discussion of {/M=+}, {/M=-}, {/F=+}, and {/F=-} on page 56, 58 2. Gosub New Menu . . . . . . . . <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=?} Jumps to another menu and saves the path back, allowing a later Type 3 return. Menus can only be nested 20 levels deep. After that, gosub calls will not work and the user will have to return from the current menu either via a Type 1, 3, or 4 command. It's recommended that any command to return to the system's Main Menu use a Type 4 command to clear the stack. The password is one word, not case sensitive, which must be entered correctly by the user. Related commands are Type 1 (above), Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 (below). See the discussion of {/M=+}, {/M=-}, {/F=+}, and {/F=-} on page 56, 58 NOTE: If users start complaining that Type 3 commands don't work, you are probably exceeding the limit on the number of allowable GOSUBs. Change some of your Type 3 commands to Type 4 to correct the problem. 3. Return from Previous Gosub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Returns to the menu that was last called with a Type 2. Related commands are Type 1 and Type 2 (above), and Type 4 (below). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 115 4. Clear Gosub Stack and Goto New Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=?} Jumps to another menu and clears the stack of menu paths created by Type 2 commands. Recommended for use on all commands that return the user to the system's Main Menu. Related commands are Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 (see page 114). See the discussion of {/M=+}, {/M=-}, {/F=+}, and {/F=-} on page 56, 58 5. Display *.A?? File . . . . . . . . . . . . . <1-8 Character Name> Displays an ASCII (*.ASC) or ANSI (*.ANS) file in the Text File directory listed in QCONFIG.EXE. Give only the file name, not the extension, as the user's graphics option will determine whether the ASCII or ANSI file will be displayed. If no ANSI version is found, the ASCII file will be displayed. If graphics mode is off and only the ANSI version is available, nothing is displayed. This menu type will not pause at the end of the display, so use it only for display files that contain a pause command (see page 94). As a special function, you can put *M or *F on the data line and it will be replaced by the number of the current message or file area, respectively. For example, if your user's current message area is 15, the name RULE*M would display RULE15.A??. Remember that the total number of characters cannot exceed 8, so MESSAGE*M would not work for message area #100. Related commands are Type 40 (see page 123) and Type 45 (see page 124). 6. Selection Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <1-7 Character Prefix> Displays a file that serves as a menu for a group of text files and allows the text files to be selected for viewing. The Section Prompt in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 30) is appended to the end of the menu file. This option is ideal for use with system bulletins, game scores, etc. Text files must have the same name as the menu file with one or more alphanumeric characters added at the end, and can be in ASCII or ANSI format. The number of characters cannot exceed the DOS limit of 8. For example, you can create text files named BULL.ANS and BULL.ASC that list 6 system bulletins numbered 1 to 6, and display it with a Type 6 command. Then create individual files named BULL1.ANS, BULL1.ASC, BULL2.ANS, BULL2.ASC, etc. that correspond to the files listed in BULL.ANS and BULL.ASC. When users choose this command, the BULL.ANS or BULL.ASC file will be displayed, giving them a menu of choices. When they choose option n, they will be shown the file named BULLn.ANS/ASC, where n is an alphanumeric character or characters. All files must be located in the textfiles directory. Page 116 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 7. Shell To DOS and Run Program . . . . <Full path and program name> Loads a program to run while the user is on line without unload- ing QuickBBS from memory. The program must be able to detect when the carrier has been lost and then exit. For EXE or COM programs, just put the program name, including the full path and extension, on the command line along with any command line parameters. For example: d:\path\DOORNAME.EXE *B For programs that are not an EXE or COM file, such as batch files or internal DOS commands like Delete, Dir or Rename, you must use the COMMAND.COM /C option. COMMAND.COM is represented with *C: *C /C DOOR.BAT If you use a command processor other than COMMAND.COM, the *C option will run your designated command processor. Check your command processor's documentation for the proper options. QuickBBS can pass information to the program with the following command line arguments: *! Suspend system timer on a Type 7 command *# Disable Want Chat function *0 Path to the current file area *1 Number of current message area when used with a Type 7 command *B Passes the user's Baud Rate (0 for a local logon) *C Full path to the command processor (usually COMMAND.COM) as set in the DOS environmental variable COMSPEC. *F User's First Name *G Graphics Mode (Off is 0, 1 is On) *H Tells QuickBBS to shell with the fossil hot (Open or Active) *L User's Last Name *M Tells QuickBBS to swap itself out to allow more memory for the door. *P COM port *R User's Record Number *T User's Time Remaining (in minutes) This also writes files called EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF. Related command is Type 15 (see page 118) 8. Version Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Displays information about the version of QuickBBS being run. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 117 9. Logoff the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Displays GOODBYE.A?? (see page ), logs the user off the system and hangs up the phone. 10. Display System Usage Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Displays a graph of system usage by hour. 11. Page the Sysop for Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . {Page Prompt} Allows the user to page you for a chat. You can specify the hours that paging is active, the length of the paging bell, and the number of times a user is permitted to page you in QCONFIG.EXE. When the user selects this command, she/he is asked the reason for the page, and the chat request, reason, date and time are written to SYSTEM.LOG. If you don't respond, the user will be shown PAGED.A?? and Want-Chat will be shown on the status bar at the bottom of the screen. If you abort the page by pressing [A], the user will be shown PAGEABRT.A?? and the page attempt will be logged. You can accept the invitation to chat by pressing [C], or [Shift-C] if the caller is using ANSI graphics and you want to use the regular, line oriented chat. If you don't make it while the page is on, press [Alt-C] to bring the user into split screen chat, or [Shift-Alt-C] to bring the user into regular chat mode. A prompt to be displayed to the user while the page is in prog- ress can be placed in the data field. This can be simple and informative ("Paging the sysop...) or long and cute ("He's probably at work ... he's ALWAYS at work!"). Remember that many users who page the sysop are novices who think subtle insults are meant for them personally, so be considerate! If the user pages you more than the allowed number of times, the file MAXPAGE.A?? is displayed. 12. Execute Questionnaire File . . . . . . . <1-8 Character FILENAME> Executes a questionnaire from a file in the main QuickBBS direc- tory named FILENAME.Q-A and stores the answers in a file named FILENAME.ASW. It will automatically create the answer file if it does not exist. Create questionnaire files using the commands beginning on page 127. Each command must be on a separate line, and they can be indented for clarity. If a questionnaire file named NEWUSER.Q-A is present, it will automatically be presented to new users immediately after the NEWUSER?.A?? files are displayed (see page 63). Page 118 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 13. List/Search User List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/R}{/X} Allows the user to list or search the user file. This is handy for local mail options where the user may not remember the correct spelling of the name of the person to whom they want to send a message. Adding a {/R} to the data field will force this menu type to display the user's real name. If the {/R} is not used, the user's alias (if any) is displayed. Adding {/X} will exclude the sysop from the list. 14. Time Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Gives the caller's time on line for the current call, time remaining and total time on line today. 15. Exit to DOS and Run Program . . . <DOS ERRORLEVEL>{RETURN MENU} Exits to the batch file that loaded QuickBBS with the errorlevel given by the data field. This must be greater than 5 as errorle- vels 0 to 5 are reserved by QuickBBS (see page 108). Your batch file will go to the label identified with that errorlevel (or the next lower errorlevel, if one isn't given for that value). See page 130 for more on errorlevels and batch files. If a {RETURN MENU} is given, QuickBBS will return to that menu; otherwise it will return to TOP.MNU. Here's a sample segment of a QuickBBS batch file: QuickBBS -B%1 -T%3 :finished_QuickBBS if ERRORLEVEL 12 goto maintenance if ERRORLEVEL 9 goto outside if ERRORLEVEL 5 goto net&echo if ERRORLEVEL 4 goto echo_only if ERRORLEVEL 3 goto net_only if ERRORLEVEL 0 goto finished :outside {do outside stuff here} QuickBBS -R -E0 goto finished_QuickBBS In this example, Type 15 menu commands with errorlevels of 9,10 or 11 will cause your batch file to execute the commands follow- ing the ":outside" label. Type 15's with an errorlevel of 12 will cause your batch file to run the commands after a ":maintenance" label (not shown here). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 119 Include the command "QuickBBS -R -E0" to return to the board after the external programs have been run. This command writes files called EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF. Related command is Type 7 (see page 116). 16. Change City and State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows users to change their city and state calling from field. 17. Change Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows users to change their passwords. 18. Change Length of Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows users to change the length of their screens. Effective for the current session only, unless saved with a Type 43 command (see page 124). 19. Toggle Screen Clearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Turns the screen clearing codes on/off. Effective for the current session only, unless saved with a Type 43 command (see page 124). 20. Toggle Page Pausing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Turns the page pausing on/off. Effective for the current session only, unless saved with a Type 43 command (see page 124). 21. Toggle Graphics Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Turns the graphics on/off. If the graphics are on then the ANSI equivalent of the ASCII files will be used where available. Effective for the current session only, unless saved with a Type 43 command (see page 124). 22. Check for Personal Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Duplicates the mail check at logon by Checking the message base for unreceived personal mail. This is useful if you do not have the automatic mail checking turned on in the QCONFIG file, or if the user did not read her/his mail at logon. 23. Read Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> Starts the message reading routine for the board number listed in the data field. The board number is the number that was assigned to the board in the Qconfig program. A series of hard-coded menus allow users to select which messages they wish to read and in what fashion (forward or reverse, continuous or message-by-mes- Page 120 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation sage) they wish to read them. Use *M in place of the board number if this is a templated menu, or 0 for combined mode access. 24. Scan Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> Starts the message scanning routine for the board number listed in the data field. Sub-menus allows the user to decide how the scan will be carried out. Scanning lists the full header of the messages scanned and allows the user to mark them for later retrieval. Use *M in place of the board number if this is a templated menu, or 0 for combined mode access. 25. Quick-Scan Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> Starts the Quick-Scan routine for the board number listed in the data field. Sub-menus allow the user to select which messages to Quick-scan. Use *M in place of the board number if this is a templated menu, or 0 for combined mode access. Quick-scan gives a one-line listing of each message, showing the message number, from, to and subject fields (truncated to fit if necessary). 26. Delete Selected Message . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> Deletes selected messages from the board number listed in the data field. This command prompts for the message number, and then displays a Yes/No safety prompt. This is similar to the sysop's <D>elete command on the message reading line menu. Use *M in place of the board number if this is a templated menu. 27. Post a New Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> {/L} {/T="Name"} {/S="Subject"} Posts a message to the board number listed in the data field. The board number is the number that you assigned to the board in the QCONFIG program. Use *M in place of the board number if this is a templated menu. The /L option will force a logoff after the message is written. The /T= option will force the message to be addressed to the person specified in <Name>, and the /S= option forces the sub- ject. The name should be in the form Firstname_Lastname, and both name and subject should use an underscore to indicate a space. If "Sysop" is used in place of "Name", the message will be sent to the person named as the sysop in QCONFIG.EXE. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 121 28. Select Combined Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows the users to select or change the areas they regularly read in combined mode. The default setting is all available message areas ON. To allow use of combined mode, put "0" as the board number for read (Type 23, page 119), scan (Type 24, page 120), and quickscan (Type 25, page 120) commands. Board 0 tells QuickBBS to run the command in Combined Board mode. Your users can reply to messages in combined mode, but cannot enter new messages. 29. Move A File . . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Moves a file from one directory to another. The data field must contain one of the following: The full path to the directory from which the file will be moved, in standard DOS format; The file area number as entered in QCONFIG.EXE; *F in place of the path for templated menus. You will be prompted for the name of the directory TO which you're moving the file and asked if you wish to move the listing in the FILES.BBS file as well. This command is intended for use by sysops on boards that check uploads before placing them in the proper download directories. 30. DOS Directory . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Displays a raw DOS directory to the user. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. 31. List FILES.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Displays the contents of the FILES.BBS in the designated direc- tory. This file should contain the names and descriptions of all files available for download in that file area. It is updated (created if it doesn't already exist) when a user uploads a file to that area. Each of your file areas must have its own FILES.BBS, which cannot end in a Ctrl-Z (DOS End Of File marker). If you edit these files manually, be sure that your editor does not add a Ctrl-Z, or run a utility to remove it. Page 122 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. If the FILES.BBS is not present in the same directory as the files, only the file area number or *F may appear in the data field. 32. Download a File from Sub-Dir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F>{Password} Allows the user to download any file from the directory specified in the data field, even if it is not listed in FILES.BBS. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. Area 0 will allow a download from any area. If a full path is listed on the data line, the "Ignore" settings entered in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 23) will be ignored and ratios entered in LIMITS.CTL (see page 109) will be enforced. The password is one word, not case sensitive, which must be entered by the user. 33. Upload a File to Sub-Dir . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Allows the user to upload a file to the directory specified in the data field. This will add to (or create) the FILES.BBS file in the specified directory. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. If a full path is listed on the data line, the "Allow Uploads" setting entered in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 23) will be ignored and uploads will be allowed. If FILES.BBS is not present in the same directory, only the file area number or *F may appear in the data field. If the user starts the file description with a slash (/), the filename and description will not be written to FILES.BBS, but instead to a file named PVTUPLD.LOG in your system directory. 34. List Archive in Sub-Dir . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Lists the contents of a file archived by one of several popular file compressing programs (ARC, ARJ, LHA, PAK, PKARC, PKZIP, or ZOO) in the directory specified in the data field. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 123 35. Search for File by Keyword . <None> <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Searches the designated file area for the presence of a string of letters entered by the user. If the data line is left blank, all available file areas will be searched. Related commands are Type 36 (see page 123) and Type 37 (see page 123). 36. Search for File by FileName . <None> <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Searches the designated file area for the presence of a file mask entered by the user. Wildcards are acceptable in standard DOS format. If the data line is left blank, all available file areas will be searched. Related commands are Type 35 (see page 123), and Type 37 (see page 123). 37. List New Files/Search by Date <None> <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Searches the designated file area for files that have been added to the system since a specific date entered by the user. The default date is the user's last logon. If the data line is left blank, all available file areas will be searched. Related com- mands are Type 35 (see page 123) and Type 36 (see page 123). 38. View Text File . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Prompts for the name of an ASCII text file in the directory listed in the data field, and then displays it. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. Related command is Type 39 (see page 123). 39. Display a Specific Text File . . . . . . . . <Full Path and Name> Displays the named text file, which can be located anywhere on your system and have any legal name or extension. It may contain the special control characters (Metacharacters) described on page 94. Related command is Type 38 (see page 123). 40. Display .A?? File with Hot Keys . . . . . . <1-8 Character Name> Same as the Type 5 command except that menu hot keys are active while the file is being displayed, allowing you to create special graphic menu displays. To use this function, assign [Ctrl-A] as the activation key, and put only ";" on the display line for all the other commands on that menu. As a special function, you can put *M or *F on the data line and it will be replaced by the number of the current message or file area, respectively. For example, if your user's current message area is 15, the name RULE*M would display RULE15.A??. Remember that the total number of characters cannot exceed 8, so MESSAGE*M would not work for message area #100. Related commands are Type 5 (see page 115) and Type 45 (see page 124). Page 124 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 41. Toggle Full Screen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Toggles the use of the full screen editor. Effective for the current session only, unless saved with a Type 43 command (see page 124). 42. Change Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows the user to register or change their system alias. After an alias is registered, the user may logon with either their real name or their alias, and messages can be posted using the alias if allowed in the message area configuration. 43. Save Current User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Saves changes to the user's configuration so they will be in effect on the next logon. If this command is not used, changes are in effect for the current session only. Related commands are Type 16 (see page 119), Type 17 (see page 119), Type 18 (see page 119), Type 19 (see page 119), Type 20 (see page 119), Type 21 (see page 119), and Type 41 (see page 124). 44. Get User's Birthday and/or Sex . . . . . . . . . . <B> and/or <S> Asks the user to enter his/her birthday and/or sex, depending on the entries on the data line. 45. Display .ASC/.ANS file with EOF Prompt . . . <1-8 Character Name> Same as Type 5 except it pause at the end of the file with the command prompt "Press [Enter] to Continue:". This prevents the file from being forced off the user's screen before it can be read by menu text. As a special function, you can put *M or *F on the data line and it will be replaced by the number of the current message or file area, respectively. For example, if your user's current message area is 15, the name RULE*M would display RULE15.A??. Remember that the total number of characters cannot exceed 8, so MESSAGE*M would not work for message area #100. Related commands are Type 5 (see page 115) and Type 40 (see page 123). 46. Display a .GIF file header . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> Displays information on a .GIF picture including resolution and number of colors. The data field must contain the full path, area number, or *F, as explained on page 121. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 125 47. Create a System Log Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Text> Allows you to list a single line to be written to SYSTEM.LOG. 48. Download a Specific File . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path and Name> Allows your users to download a specific file, which can be located anywhere on your system and have any legal DOS filename and extension. 49. Select Message Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {Group #} Used with message templating, this command allows the user to specify which message area to read. If a group number is not entered, all available message areas will be displayed. 50. Select File Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Group #> Used with file templating, this command allows the user to specify the file area to be used with subsequent commands. If a group number is specified on the data line, only file areas that belong to the designated group will be available. 51. Show List of Today's Callers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/R}{/X} Shows list of those who have logged onto the BBS today. Consecu- tive calls by the same caller will result in only one listing. If the {/R} parameter is present in the data field, the callers' real names are listed, otherwise the callers' aliases (if any) are displayed. The {/X} parameter, if used, will exclude the Sysop from the list. 52. Show Users Currently On-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/X} For multinode systems only; shows users currently logged on to all nodes. The {/X} parameter, if used, will exclude the Sysop from the list. 53. Toggle "Do Not Disturb" Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Changes the system's paging status, determining whether a user can be bothered by a Type 54 message. If off, this command will turn it on; if on, it will be turned off. The sysop can override this setting. Related command is Type 54 (see below). 54. Send an On-Line Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/X} For multinode systems only; sends a message to a user on another node. The {/X} parameter, if used, will exclude the Sysop from the list. Related command is Type 53 (see above). Page 126 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 55. Download any file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Allows the user to download a file from any directory on the system. User will be prompted for the complete path and filename. Note: Be extremely careful with this command. It is intended for you and your most privileged users, since it bypasses all system security and allows access to any file on your system. 56. DOS listing of any directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Presents the results of typing the DIR command in a directory. The user is prompted for the directory path. Note: This command is only for you and your most privileged users, since it bypasses all system security and allows access to any file on your system. 57. Change Voice Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 58. Change Data Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Types 57 and 58 allow users to change their telephone numbers. This should only be allowed before callback verification, since it could be used to erase your record of a user's phone number. 59. Update Lastread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Resets the users Lastread pointer to the last message actually read. Normally, QuickBBS does not update the pointer until the user logs off. A user who reads new messages and then reads new messages again during the same session will see the same messages unless a Type 59 command is executed in between. 60. Callback Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None Activate the Callback Verifier. See page 35 for configuration information. 61. Interuser Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (see page 84) For multinode systems only. Allows users who are online at the same time on different nodes to chat with each other. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 127 Questionnaire Command Language A questionnaire file is actually a form of programming that will ask the user questions, record answers, and perform functions based on the answers. Samples are enclosed in the distribution archives. The questionnaire file must have a 1-8 character filename with the extension Q-A. Blank lines and indentations are permitted for clarity, with commands as the first non-space characters on the line. The answers will be stored in a file with the same filename but the extension ASW. New answers will be appended to the ASW file as they are received. These are the commands available for questionnaire files. ASK <Len> <Var Num> {Min}: Reads a user's response of at least {Min} characters up to <Len> characters and stores it in variable number <Var Num>. <Len> can be from 1 to 255. The {Min} parameter is optional. Display "Question #1: What is your real name? " Ask 60 1 10 OutputAnswer "NAME: " 1 CHANGECOLOR <Foreground> <Background>: Changes the current color if the user has ANSI selected, the <Foreground> can be from 0 to 15 and the <Background> can be from 0 to 7. See page 47 for a list of available color codes. ChangeColor 15 1 CLEARSCREEN: Clears the callers screen, but only if the caller has selected screen clearing. DISPLAY "<String>": Displays the character string <String>, which must be encased in quotes. Display "Question #1: What is your real name? |" ELSE: Used with IF and ENDIF to perform an alternate action. Display "Do you operate a BBS? |" GetChoice YN 1 If 1 = "Y" SetFlag C7 ON Else SetFlag C8 ON EndIf ENDIF: Terminates the If statement (see IF and ELSE). Page 128 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation IF <Var Num> = "<Test String>": Compares a variable number to the Test String. The test is not case sensitive. If the compari- son is true then the following questionnaire lines are processed until an Endif is reached, otherwise all lines through the Endif are skipped. A space is required before and after the equals sign (=), and the arguments to be processed if the test is true must end with an EndIf state- ment. If 3 = "Adam" SetSecurity 3000 EndIf GETCHOICE <Choices> <Var Num>: Inputs one character which will consist of an item in the <Choices>. The result is stored in variable number <Var Num>. Display "Is your modem: | 1: 300 baud |" Display "2: 1200 baud | 3: 2400 baud | 4: Over 2400 |" GetChoice 1234 9 LISTANSWER <Var Num>: Displays the contents of <Var Num> to the user's screen. This makes it possible to list the user's answers so far and ask if they are correct. ListAnswer 4 LOGENTRY "<String>": Writes "String" to SYSTEM.LOG. LogEntry "Security level upgraded" OUTPUTANSWER "<Descriptor>" <Var Num>: Outputs the contents of <Var Num> to the answer file and labels it with the string <Descriptor>. OutputAnswer "NAME: " 2 POSTINFO: Posts the user's name, city, state, and the current date and time in the answer file. You may wish to put this command at the top of your questionnaire so you have a header for each entry in the answer file. QUIT: Ends the questionnaire immediately and closes the answer file. SETFLAG <Flag Set><Flag Number> <ON|OFF>: Sets the user's flag on or off. <Flag Set> is A through D. <Flag Number> is 1 through 8, counting left to right through the flagset. The changed flag setting is valid immediately on flags in menus, but does not take effect on flag settings in QCONFIG.EXE until the user's next call. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 129 SetFlag D5 ON SETSECURITY <Level>: Changes the user's security level to <Lev- el>. This can be any valid security level, from 0 to 32000. If set to 0, the user will be disconnected on completion of the questionnaire file. UPDATEBOARDS: Updates the user's access to message areas based on changes in security levels and flag settings. A '|' character (called the vertical bar or sometimes the "pipe" symbol, and usually placed on the keyboard above the backslash {\}) inside a text string list as the display command to send a carriage return to the user's screen. You can use up to twenty variables, each of which can be up to 255 characters long. Page 130 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Errorlevels Many of the external functions of running a BBS such as system maintenance, message packing, etc., are most easily controlled through the DOS function known as "errorlevels". Originally intended to help programs intercept and deal with errors, an errorlevel is essentially a "code" that is set in DOS, and is often used to pass "messages" from one program to another. For example, if your BBS program exits with an errorlevel setting of 100, your batch file might run a certain game door. Available errorlevels are 1 to 255. In a batch file, the error- level listings should run from highest to lowest. The proper syntax of an errorlevel command in a batch file is simply IF ERRORLEVEL. Let's suppose you want your BBS to automatically run QLINK.EXE at noon each day. You've decided to use errorlevel 100. In QCONFIG.EXE's Events section, enter a line like this: Enabled 12:00 SYMYTYWYTYFYSY ErrorLevel: 100 Forced: Y This will instruct QuickBBS to exit at noon, setting the errorle- vel at 100. System operation is returned to the batch file, which will contain the following line: IF ERRORLEVEL 100 GOTO LINK It is possible to put a command on the line (IF ERRORLEVEL 100 QLINK) but this offers much less flexibility than the GOTO syntax, which permits moving to a different section of the batch file. In this case, LINK is called a "Label." When DOS notices that the errorlevel is set to 100, it will look for a line in the batch file in which the word LINK appears by itself with a leading colon (":LINK") and execute the commands found there: :LINK CD QUICK QLINK GOTO BEGIN DOS will then look for a label called :BEGIN which should be located at the beginning of your batch file. Like filenames, DOS only recognizes the first eight characters of a label, so :CONNECT_2400 will be processed as :CONNECT_2. This can cause problems in some instances. If you used :MAINTAIN_MESSAGES and :MAINTAIN_USERS as labels, DOS would only see :MAINTAIN, likely causing one section to be ignored and the other to be run more often than necessary. More complete examples of batch files and errorlevels can be found in sample configurations submitted by other sysops and included in the distribution archives. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 131 One problem with errorlevels is that DOS will execute the next lower errorlevel if it doesn't find the proper one. If you have the following lines in your batch file: IF ERRORLEVEL 200 GOTO 200 IF ERRORLEVEL 150 GOTO 150 IF ERRORLEVEL 100 GOTO 100 DOS will goto :200 if you issue an errorlevel above 199, :150 if you issue an errorlevel from 150 to 199, and :100 if you issue an errorle- vel from 100 to 149. This can often cause unexpected results. The simple solution is to add an "IF NOT" statement to the line: IF ERRORLEVEL 200 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 201 GOTO 200 IF ERRORLEVEL 150 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 151 GOTO 150 IF ERRORLEVEL 100 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 101 GOTO 100 These commands instruct DOS to go to 200 only if the errorlevel is 200 and no greater; to go to 150 only if the errorlevel is 150 and no greater; and to go to 100 only if the errorlevel is 100 and no greater. In this instance, an errorlevel of 175 would not trigger any of these actions, so the batch file would execute whatever command came next. It's always wise to end a set of "IF ERRORLEVEL" statements with an all-purpose GOTO statement: IF ERRORLEVEL 200 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 201 GOTO 200 IF ERRORLEVEL 150 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 151 GOTO 150 IF ERRORLEVEL 100 IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 101 GOTO 100 GOTO BEGIN QuickBBS reserves errorlevels under 6 for its own functions. See page 108 for a list. Errorlevels 6 through 255 are available for your use. Your mailer may also restrict certain errorlevels. It's common for the mailer to exit with an errorlevel equal to the baud rate divided by 100, so a 9600 baud connection would cause an exit with an errorlevel of 96. See your DOS manual for a more complete discussion of errorlevels and batch files. Page 132 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Modem Information Cardinal 2400 Baud External Modem The following information is from Rick Luquette, sysop of the Computer Associates of Louisiana BBS in Houma, Louisiana (Fidonet 1:384/3; BBS Phone 504-851-4473): Line 2 has a Cardinal 2400 baud external modem. Here is the configuration information from QCONFIG.EXE: Modem Parameters Comm Port: 1 Initialize at 2400 baud Wait 45 seconds for carrier Attempt initialization 3 times Answer Phone: Software Character Delay: 130 ms Initialization String: ATE1M1H0&C1&D2Q0S0=0S2=255 Initialization Response: OK Busy String: ATH1M0S0=0 Busy Response: OK Speed Connect String from Modem Speed Connect String from Modem 300 CONNECT| 1200 CONNECT 1200 2400 CONNECT 2400 4800 CONNECT 4800 9600 CONNECT 9600 12000 CONNECT 12000 14400 CONNECT 14400 16800 CONNECT 16800 Error Correcting Protocol if ARQ present in connect string. Rick Luquette, Sysop Computer Associates of Louisiana BBS (504) 851-4473; Node 2 (504) 868-9904 (part time) Fidonet 1:384/3; Echonet 50:5504/3 Image Twincom 96/42i The following information was submitted by Mark Thornton, sysop of the Swamp Line BBS in Houma, La. (Fidonet 1:384/13; BBS phone 504- 872-0995): Initialization string used in Front Door: ATS0=0M0V1&D2E0Q0S2=255X4S95=55| Initialization string used in QuickBBS before installing the mailer ATE0X2H0 &C1 &D2 S0=1 S7=15| And the string being used to initialize the Callback Verifier: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 133 ATZ0|~~~AT\A3\L0\N3 %M3 %E1 S0=0 S11=65 S46=138| SupraFax Modem V.32bis The following information was provided by Jerry Walker, sysop of the Compu-Nerd BBS in Houma, LA (Fidonet 1:384/12, BBS Phone 504-872- 9956). Here are my NVRAM setting for running the SupraFax Modem V.32bis with D'Bridge. The same init string in Supra144.mcf can be used to initialize the modem in QuickBBS if software is to answer the phone. If the modem is to answer the phone S0=1 must be added to the init string. &F2 in the init string restores the Suprafax V.32bis modem to it's factory default setting and is listed this way in the manual: &F Computer Operation Computer Rate ---------------------------------------------------------------------- &F0 All Standard 14,400 bps connection rate &F1 Macintosh error correction/data compression 57,600 &F2 All others error correction/data compression 57,600 MCF (D'Bridge Modem Configuration File): MCF SUPRA144 SupraFaxModem 14,400 BAUD 19200 LOCKED DELAY 10 TIMEOUT 60 INIT AT&F2S11=50M0S2=255H0W2 OFFHOOK ATH1M0 ANSWER ATA DIAL 300 ATD DIAL 1200 ATD DIAL 2400 ATD DIAL 4800 ATD DIAL 9600 ATD DIAL 19200 ATD NVR: ACTIVE PROFILE: B1 E1 L2 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W2 X4 Y0 %G1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &J0 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &T4 &X0 &Y0 S00:000 S01:000 S02:043 S03:013 S04:010 S05:008 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:050 S12:050 S18:000 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S44:003 S46:138 S48:007 S49:008 S50:255 STORED PROFILE 0: B1 E1 L2 M0 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 %G1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &J0 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &T4 &X0 Page 134 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation S00:000 S02:255 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S44:003 S46:138 S48:007 S49:008 S50:255 STORED PROFILE 1: B1 E1 L2 M0 N1 Q0 T V1 W1 X4 Y0 %G1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &J0 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &T4 &X0 S00:000 S02:043 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S44:003 S46:138 S48:007 S49:008 S50:255 Telebit T2500 The following information was provided by Werner Niedermeier, sysop of the C.A.C.-BOX in Munich, Germany (Fidonet 2:246/2; BBS Phone: 49-89-7469379): E1 F1 M0 Q0 T V1 W0 X3 Y0 &P0 &T4 Version GF7.00-T2500SA S00:000 S01=000 S02=043 S03=013 S04=010 S05:006 S06=002 S07:090 S08=002 S09:016 S10:020 S11=070 S12=050 S18=000 S25=005 S26=000 S38=000 S41=000 S45=000 S47=004 S48:001 S49=000 S50=000 S51:005 S52:001 S54:003 S55=000 S56=017 S57=019 S58:002 S59=000 S61:080 S62=003 S63=001 S64=000 S65=000 S66:001 S67=000 S68=255 S69=000 S90:001 S91=000 S92=000 S93=008 S94:000 S95:002 S96=001 S97:001 S98=003 S100=000 S101=000 S102=000 S104=000 S105=001 S106:001 S107=020 S110=255 S111=255 S112=001 S121=000 S130=002 S131:001 S150=000 S151=004 S152=001 S153=001 S154=000 S155=000 S157=000 S158=000 S160=010 S161=020 S162=002 S163=003 S164=007 S169=000 S255=000 Telebit Worldblazer The following information was provided by Werner Niedermeier, sysop of the C.A.C.-BOX in Munich, Germany (Fidonet 2:246/2; BBS Phone: 49-89-7469379): Here are my settings for my Telebit Worldblazer. The initializa- tion String for the mailer or/and QuickBBS is just ATZ. at&v WorldBlazer - SA - Version LA5.00W- Active Configuration B1 E1 L2 M1 P Q0 V1 X1 Y0 &C1 &D2 &G0 &J0 &L0 &Q0 &R3 &S0 &T4 &X0 S000=0 S001=0 S002=43 S003=13 S004=10 S005=8 S006=2 S007=40 S008=2 S009=6 S010=14 S011=70 S012=50 S018=0 S025=5 S026=1 S038=0 S041=0 S045=0 S046=0 S047=4 S048=0 S050=0 S051:6 S056=17 S057=19 S058:2 S059:7 S060=0 S061=1 S062=15 S063=0 S064=0 S068=255 S069=0 S090=0 S092=0 S093=8 S094=1 S100=0 S104=0 S105=1 S111=255 S112=1 S151=4 S155=0 S180=2 S181=1 S183=25 S190=1 S191=7 S253=10 S254=255 S255=255 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 135 The following was submitted by Leonard Erickson, sysop of the Overworked Dragon BBS in Portland, Or. (Fidonet 1:105/56, BBS phone 503-777-0489): at~n? E1 F1 M1 Q0 T V1 W1 X3 Y0 &P0 &T4 Version GF7.00-T2500SA S00:000 S01=000 S02=043 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07:060 S08=002 S09=006 S10:014 S11:055 S12=050 S18=000 S25=005 S26:001 S38:020 S41=000 S45:255 S47=004 S48=000 S49=000 S50:254 S51:252 S52:004 S54:003 S55=000 S56=017 S57=019 S58:002 S59=000 S61=150 S62=003 S63:002 S64=000 S65=000 S66:001 S67=000 S68=255 S69=000 S90=000 S91=000 S92=000 S93=008 S94=001 S95:002 S96=001 S97:001 S98=003 S100=000 S101=000 S102=000 S104=000 S105=001 S106:001 S107=020 S110:001 S111=255 S112=001 S121=000 S130:000 S131:001 S150=000 S151=004 S152=001 S153=001 S154=000 S155=000 S157=000 S158=000 S160=010 S161=020 S162=002 S163=003 S164=007 S169=000 S255=000 N0:0 (Note that the ":" characters indicate that the setting has been changed to something other than the factory default for "enhanced command mode") US Robotics Courier HST Dual Standard 14.4K Modem The following information was provided by George Vandervort, sysop of the Lounge Lizard's Retreat in San Marcos, Texas (Fidonet 1:382/8; BBS Phone: 512-357-6904): I used to have a DS-HST V32 with V42 Upgrade Roms but traded it in on the Newest DS-HST V32bis/v42bis with ASL/LAPM. Here is my USR DS-HST V32bis/V42bis Roms dated: 3/05/91 NRAM ATI4 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard Settings... B0 C1 E1 F1 M1 Q0 V1 X7 BAUD=38400 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 DAIL=HUNT (TONE) ON HOOK TIMER &A3 &B1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &H1 &I0 &K3 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S1 &T5 &X0 &Y1 %R0 S00=000 S01=000 S02=255 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=060 S08=002 S09=006 S10=010 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S14=000 S15=008 S16=000 S17=000 S18=000 S19=005 S20=000 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S25=000 S26=000 S27=192 S28=004 S29=020 S30=000 S31=000 S32=006 S33=000 S34=000 Page 136 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation S35=000 S36=000 S37=000 S38=000 S0=0 So that Modem does not Answer Phone when Mailer or BBS is Down. S2=255 helps block Hackers who use (+++) etc. S15=8 Help keep Hot-keys Hot with 9600+ baud rates S19=5 Set Inactivity times to cut down on your Long distance bill S27=192 if locked at 38400 S27=192, if locked at 19200 S27=128 S32= Voice/Data switch options S32=6 Resets Modem ATI7 Configuration Profile... Product type External Options HST,V32 Clock Freq 16.0Mhz Eprom 64k Ram 32k Supervisor date 03/05/91 IOP date 10/11/90 DSP date 03/04/91 Supervisor rev 3.0 IOP rev 1.3 DSP rev 10 Here is my Switch settings: Quad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 U U U D U D U U D D U Mailer INIT String: INIT |ATZ|~~ATB0E0S0=1| 1. from B1 to B0 to look for V32 Connects First and HST connects Second. this Allows Non-Standard/Off brand V32 modems to Connect at 9600+. HST's always recognize other HST's no matter what setting you have.. 2. S0=1 to let the BBS or Mailer Answer the phone instead of the Modem. The following information is from Rick Luquette, sysop of the Computer Associates of Louisiana BBS in Houma, Louisiana (Fidonet 1:384/3; BBS Phone 504-851-4230): I have a multinode setup with line 1 running through a mailer (D'Bridge) and line 2 operating part time and standalone. Line 1 uses a US Robotics Dual Standard, while line 2 uses a Cardinal 2400 baud external. Node 3 is for local use only. Here is the NRAM setting for the US Robotics: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 137 ATI4 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard Settings... B0 C1 E1 F1 M0 Q0 V1 X7 BAUD=19200 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 DIAL=HUNT ON HOOK TIMER &A3 &B1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &H1 &I0 &K3 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S1 &T5 &X0 &Y1 %R0 S00=000 S01=000 S02=255 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=045 S08=002 S09=006 S10=007 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S14=001 S15=072 S16=000 S17=000 S18=000 S19=003 S20=000 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S25=000 S26=001 S27=000 S28=008 S29=020 S30=000 S31=000 S32=001 S33=000 S34=000 S35=000 S36=000 S37=000 S38=001 As an initialization string I use ATZ to restore NRAM settings: ATI5 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard NRAM Settings... DIAL=TONE B0 F1 M1 X7 BAUD=19200 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 &A3 &B1 &G0 &H1 &I0 &K3 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S1 &T5 &X0 &Y1 %R0 S02=255 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=045 S08=002 S09=006 S10=007 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S15=072 S19=003 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S26=001 S27=000 S28=008 S29=020 S32=001 S33=000 S34=000 S35=000 S36=000 S37=000 S38=001 Here is my configuration profile: ATI7 Configuration Profile... Product type External Options HST,V32 Clock Freq 16.0Mhz Eprom 64k Ram 32k Supervisor date 03/05/91 IOP date 10/11/90 DSP date 05/29/91 Page 138 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Supervisor rev 3.0 IOP rev 1.3 DSP rev 10 The following information was provided by Nick Economos, sysop of the BigTime BBS in Apache Junction, AZ (BBS Phone: 602-983-0480): Node 1: USR Courier HST/DS External. NS16550AFN chip, init string is ATZ, Nram as follows: ati4 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard Settings... B0 C1 E1 F1 M0 Q0 V1 X7 BAUD=38400 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 DIAL=HUNT ON HOOK TIMER &A3 &B1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &H1 &I5 &K1 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S1 &T5 &X0 &Y1 %R0 S00=000 S01=000 S02=043 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=045 S08=002 S09=006 S10=010 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S14=000 S15=008 S16=000 S17=000 S18=000 S19=002 S20=000 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S25=000 S26=001 S27=000 S28=008 S29=020 S30=000 S31=000 S32=001 S33=000 S34=000 S35=000 S36=000 S37=000 S38=000 ati5 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard NRAM Settings... DIAL=TONE B0 F1 M0 X7 BAUD=38400 PARITY=N WORDLEN=8 &A3 &B1 &G0 &H1 &I5 &K1 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S1 &T5 &X0 &Y1 %R0 S02=043 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=002 S07=045 S08=002 S09=006 S10=010 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S15=008 S19=002 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=150 S26=001 S27=000 S28=008 S29=020 S32=001 S33=000 S34=000 S35=000 S36=000 S37=000 S38=000 US Robotics Courier 2400 External Modem The following information was provided by Nick Economos, sysop of the BigTime BBS in Apache Junction, AZ (BBS Phone: 602-983-0480): QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 139 Node 2: USR Courier 2400 external. 16450 serial chip, init string: AT M0 V1 X4 S0=0 S7=45| This is now set to software answer, I have used the same init with the change of S0=1 with hardware answer. My hangup string is ATM0H1|, connect strings are default. Page 140 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation File Structures Note: Some editing of comments was required to satisfy require- ments of the printed page. It's also possible that last-minute changes may have been made after this manual was completed. See the release archives for actual file structures. (********************************************************************) (* Structures document for QuickBBS version 2.76 *) (* Copyright 1991,1992 Pegasus Software *) (* All Rights Reserved. *) (********************************************************************) Const MaxMsgAreas = 200; MaxFileAreas = 200; MaxEvents = 30; type FlagType = array[1..4] of Byte; UserRecord = record Name : String[35]; City : String[25]; Pwd : String[15]; DataPhone, HomePhone : String[12]; LastTime : String[5]; LastDate : String[8]; Attrib : Byte; Flags : FlagType; Credit, Pending, TimesPosted, HighMsgRead, SecLvl, Times, Ups, Downs, UpK, DownK : Word; TodayK : Integer; Elapsed, Len : Integer; CombinedPtr : Word; (* Record # in COMBINED.BBS*) AliasPtr : Word; (* Record # in ALIAS.BBS *) Birthday : Longint; end; (* Attrib: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 141 Bit 0: Deleted Bit 1: Screen Clear Codes Bit 2: More Prompt Bit 3: ANSI Bit 4: No-Kill Bit 5: Ignore Download Hours Bit 6: ANSI Full Screen Editor Bit 7: Sex (0=male, 1=female) *) type UserActivityType = (InMenu, InDoor, InCallback, ReadingMessages, WritingMessage, ChattingWithSysop, ChattingWithUsers, AnsweringQuestionaire, ViewingTextFile, DownloadingFile, UploadingFile, ViewingFileList, DoingFileSearch, LoggingOn, LoggingOff); USERONrecord = record Name : String[35]; Alias : String[35]; Line : Byte; Baud : Word; City : String[25]; DoNotDisturb : Boolean; Conference : Byte; Activity : UserActivityType; Spare : Array[1..9] of Byte; end; AliasRecord = String[35]; (* for ALIAS.BBS *) MsgToIdxRecord = String[35]; { Nodelist Records ************************************************} NodeTypes = (ntZone, ntRegion, ntNet, ntNode, ntPrefix); NodeIdxRecord = record NodeType : NodeTypes; Number, Cost : Word; RawFile : Byte; RawPos : LongInt; end; FileNameType = String[12]; Page 142 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation NodeIncRecord = record FileName : FileNameType; DateStamp : LongInt; end; { Message Records *************************************************} CombSelectType = array[1..MaxMsgAreas] of Boolean;(* for *) (* COMBINED.BBS *) InfoRecord = record LowMsg : Integer; { Lowest Message in File } HighMsg : Integer; { Highest Message in File } TotalActive : Integer; { Total Active Messages } ActiveMsgs : array[1..MaxMsgAreas] of Integer; end; IdxRecord = record MsgNum : Integer; Board : Byte; end; HdrRecord = record MsgNum, ReplyTo, SeeAlsoNum, TRead : Integer; StartRec : Word; NumRecs, DestNet, DestNode, OrigNet, OrigNode : Integer; DestZone, OrigZone : Byte; Cost : Integer; MsgAttr, NetAttr, Board : Byte; PostTime : String[5]; PostDate : String[8]; WhoTo, WhoFrom : String[35]; Subj : String[72]; end; (* Msg Attributes: QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 143 Bit 0: Deleted Bit 1: Unmoved Outgoing Net Message Bit 2: Is a Net Mail Message Bit 3: Private Bit 4: Received Bit 5: Unmoved Outgoing Echo Message Bit 6: Local Bit Bit 7: Group Message Net Attributes: Bit 0: Kill Message after it's been sent Bit 1: Sent OK Bit 2: File(s) Attached Bit 3: Crash Priority Bit 4: Request Receipt Bit 5: Audit Request Bit 6: Is a Return Receipt Bit 7: Freq *) { Other Stuff *****************************************************} SysInfoRecord = record CallCount : LongInt; LastCallerName : String[35]; LastCallerAlias : String[35]; ExtraSpace : array[1..92] of Byte; end; TodayRecord = record Name : String[35]; Alias : String[35]; Line : Byte; City : String[25]; Date : Longint; Time : Longint; end; TimeLogRecord = record StartDate : String[8]; BusyPerHour : array[0..23] of Integer; BusyPerDay : array[0..6] of Integer; end; LastReadType = Array[1..MaxMsgAreas] of Word; MenuRecord = record Typ : Byte; Sec : Integer; Page 144 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Flags : FlagType; Str : String[75]; Key : Char; Data : String[80]; Fg, Bg : Byte; end; { Configuration Information ***************************************} TypeMsgs = (Standard,Netmail,FMail,EchoMail); KindMsgs = (Both,Private,Public,ROnly); EventStat = (Deleted, Enabled, Disabled); AskType = (No, Maybe, Yes); ProtocolEnableType = (Never, MNP_Only, Always); SecurityRecord = Record Security : Word; Flags : FlagType; End; FileAreaRecord = Record (* FILECFG.DAT *) AreaName, FilePath, ListPath : String[66]; AllowUploads, IgnoreKlimit, IgnoreRatio : Boolean; DlSec : SecurityRecord; SearchSec : SecurityRecord; TemplateSec : SecurityRecord; CheckDupes : Boolean; Spare : Array[2..12] of Byte; End; BoardRecord = record (* MSGCFG.DAT *) Name : String[40]; Typ : TypeMsgs; Kinds : KindMsgs; Combined : Boolean; Aliases : AskType; Aka : Byte; OriginLine : String[58]; AllowDelete : Boolean; KeepCnt, (* Max # of Msgs to keep *) KillRcvd, (* Kill received msgs after (* this many days *) KillOld : Word; (* Kill msgs after this *) (* many days *) ReadSec : SecurityRecord; WriteSec : SecurityRecord; QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 145 TemplateSec : SecurityRecord; SysopSec : SecurityRecord; FileArea : Integer; (* for Fmail *) Group : Byte; Spare : Array[4..12] of Byte; end; EventRecord = record (* EVENTCFG.DAT *) Status : EventStat; RunTime : LongInt; ErrorLevel : Byte; Days : Byte; Forced : Boolean; LastTimeRun : LongInt; Spare : Array[1..7] of Byte; end; ModemTranslationRecord = Record TranslateFrom : String[25]; TranslateTo : Word; End; ConfigRecord = record (* QUICKCFG.DAT *) VersionID : Word; Node : Byte; (* Modem Parameters *) CommPort : Integer; InitBaud : Word; ModemDelay : Word; InitTimes, AnswerWait : Integer; ModemInitStr, ModemBusyStr : String[70]; ModemInitResp, ModemBusyResp : String[40]; ModemConnectResp : Array[1..8] of ModemTranslationRecord; CBV_CallbackDelay, CBV_WakeupDelay : Word; ARQ_String : String[8]; ModemSpareInfo : Array[14..22] of Byte; (* System Paths *) EditorCmdStr : String[70]; Page 146 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation MenuPath, TextPath, NetPath, NodelistPath, MsgPath, SwapPath, OverlayPath : String[66]; (* System misc strings *) LoadingMessage : String[70]; SelectionPrompt : String[70]; NoMailString : String[70]; OriginLine : String[58]; QuoteStr : String[3]; (* User Restrictions *) LowBaudStart, LowBaudEnd, DownloadStart, DownloadEnd : LongInt; MaxPageTimes, PageBellLen : Integer; PagingStart, PagingEnd : LongInt; MinBaud, GraphicsBaud, XferBaud : Integer; (* Matrix Information *) MatrixZone, MatrixNet, MatrixNode, MatrixPoint : array[0..10] of Integer; NetMailBoard : Integer; (* Default Information for New Users *) DefaultSec : SecurityRecord; MinimumSec : SecurityRecord; DefaultCredit : Integer; (* Sysop Security Etc. *) SysopSecurity : SecurityRecord; SysopName : String[35]; SystemName : String[40]; RegKey : LongInt; (* Misc System Parameters *) TextFileShells, AltJswap, Editorswap, QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 147 AutoLogonChar, FastLogon, UseLastRead, MonoMode, DirectWrite, SnowCheck, NetEchoExit, OneWordNames, CheckMail, AskHomePhone, AskDataPhone, AskBirthday, AskSex, Use_Xmodem, Use_Xmodem1k, Use_Ymodem : Boolean; Use_YmodemG : ProtocolEnableType; Use_Kermit, Use_Zmodem, Inp_Fields, GraphicsAvail, ForceUS_Phone : Boolean; InactiveTimeOut : Integer; LogonTime : Integer; DefFgColor : Integer; DefBgColor : Integer; PasswordTries : Integer; EntFldColor : Byte; (* Clr for entry fields *) BorderColor : Byte; (* Clr for menu borders *) WindowColor : Byte; StatusBarColor : Byte; UploadCredit : Integer; ScreenBlank : Byte; (* Callback verifier *) VerifierInit : string[35]; DialString : string[15]; DialSuffix : string[15]; DupeCheck : Boolean; NewUserSec, MemberSec : Word; MemberFlags : Array[1..4,1..8] of Char; LDcost : Word; LDenable, ResumeLocal, ResumeLD : Boolean; LDstart, LDend : Longint; ForgotPwdBoard : Byte; SendATA : Boolean; Page 148 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Location : String[60]; ArchiveNetMail : Boolean; IEMSI, IEMSI_New, AutoAnsi, MultiNode : Boolean; ExtraSpace : Array[69..400] of Byte; end; GosubDataType = array[1..20] of String[8]; ExitRecord = record BaudRate : Integer; SysInfo : SysInfoRecord; TimeLogInfo : TimeLogRecord; UserInfo : UserRecord; EventInfo : EventRecord; NetMailEntered : Boolean; EchoMailEntered : Boolean; LoginTime : String[5]; LoginDate : String[8]; TmLimit : Integer; LoginSec : LongInt; Credit : LongInt; UserRecNum : Integer; ReadThru : Integer; PageTimes : Integer; DownLimit : Integer; WantChat : Boolean; GosubLevel : Byte; GosubData : GosubDataType; Menu : String[8]; ScreenClear : Boolean; MorePrompts : Boolean; GraphicsMode : Boolean; ExternEdit : Boolean; ScreenLength : Integer; MNP_Connect : Boolean; ChatReason : String[48]; ExternLogoff : Boolean; ANSI_Capable : Boolean; end; QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 149 DORINFO1.DEF: Line Information 1 System Name 2 Sysop First Name 3 Sysop Last Name 4 Comm Port (COM0 if local) 5 Comm Parameters (ex. 2400 BAUD,N,8,1) 6 0 (Always set to 0) 7 User First Name 8 User Last Name 4 User City/State 10 Graphics mode (1 for ANSI, 0 for none) 11 Security Level 12 Minutes Left MENU STRUCTURES: MenuRecord = record Typ : Byte; Sec : Integer; Flags : FlagType; Str : String[75]; Key : Char; Data : String[80]; Fg, Bg : Byte; end; Menu_Entry : Array[1..50] of Menu_Record; (* Maximum of 50 Menu Entries *) Menu_Entry[0] is slightly Special! MenuRecord0 = record HighlightFg : Byte; HighlightBg : Integer; Unused1 : FlagType; Prompt : String[75]; UnusedData : String[81]; PromptFg, PromptBg : Byte; end; Page 150 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation ASCII Characters In this chart, ^ represents the Control (Ctrl) key, so ^A is Ctrl-A. Control characters (which have ASCII values below 28) should never be used in menus or display files except as Metacharacters (see page 94). They also cause unpredictable results when printed, so they are represented here with the up carat. Character 27, represented as ^[, is the Escape character used in ANSI displays. Non-keyboard characters are generated by holding down the Alt key, pressing the number designation, then releasing the Alt key. Control characters are generated by holding down the CTRL key and tapping the appropriate letter key, or by using the ALT-number sequence described above. Characters above ASCII 127 are commonly known as "Extended ASCII" but are actually part of the character set as defined by IBM when the original IBM PC was introduced. These characters display differently on different types of computers, especially those that are not based on the IBM PC, so their use in menus and display files can cause unpredictable results for some users. They also print differently on many printers, so the list of characters is not included here. 001 ^A 031 061 = 002 ^B 032 (space) 062 > 003 ^C 033 ! 063 ? 004 ^D 034 " 064 @ 005 ^E 035 # 065 A 006 ^F 036 $ 066 B 007 ^G 037 % 067 C 008 ^H 038 & 068 D 009 ^I 039 ' 069 E 010 ^J 040 ( 070 F 011 ^K 041 ) 071 G 012 ^L 042 * 072 H 013 ^M 043 + 073 I 014 ^N 044 , 074 J 015 ^O 045 - 075 K 016 ^P 046 . 076 L 017 ^Q 047 / 077 M 018 ^R 048 0 078 N 019 ^S 049 1 079 O 020 ^T 050 2 080 P 021 ^U 051 3 081 Q 022 ^V 052 4 082 R 023 ^W 053 5 083 S 024 ^X 054 6 084 T 025 ^Y 055 7 085 U 026 ^Z 056 8 086 V 027 ^[ 057 9 087 W 028 ¬ 058 : 088 X 029 059 ; 089 Y 030 060 < 090 Z QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 151 091 [ 092 \ 093 ] 094 ^ 095 _ 096 097 a 098 b 099 c 100 d 101 e 102 f 103 g 104 h 105 i 106 j 107 k 108 l 109 m 110 n 111 o 112 p 113 q 114 r 115 s 116 t 117 u 118 v 119 w 120 x 121 y 122 z 123 { 124 | 125 } 126 ~ 127 Page 152 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Quick Reference Listings The following listings contain most of the items that QuickBBS sysops need to refer to repeatedly. See the full documentation for explanations. MENUEDIT.EXE The following Speed Keys are active in Simulation Mode: Alt-F Access File Menu Alt-S Change Settings (Flags & Security Level) being simulated. Alt-A Add a command Alt-D Delete a command Alt-I Insert a command Alt-E Edit a command Alt-L List menu commands Alt-C Copy/Move commands Alt-G Make Global changes Alt-H Change Highlight colors Alt-P Edit Prompt string and colors Alt-X Exit MENUEDIT.EXE Ctrl-N Edit a different menu Ctrl-S Save the current menu Ctrl-R Rename a menu Ctrl-C Copy a menu Ctrl-D Delete a menu Ctrl-W Write (save) to a new name Ctrl-O DOS Shell The following speed keys are active in Edit mode: F1 Finish and Save Changes ESC Abort Changes To This Entry HOME Move to Beginning of Line END Move to End of Line INS Toggle Insert Mode F2 Center Display Line F10 Menu Type Help There are three Metacharacters supported on menu display lines: *C Centers the display line *F Displays the current file area *M Displays the current message area QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 153 Here is a list of available colors: Black . . . . . . 0 Dark Gray . . . . 8 Blue . . . . . . 1 Light Blue . . . 9 Green . . . . . . 2 Light Green . . . 10 Cyan . . . . . . 3 Light Cyan . . . 11 Red . . . . . . . 4 Light Red . . . . 12 Magenta . . . . . 5 Light Magenta . . 13 Brown . . . . . . 6 Yellow . . . . . 14 Light Gray . . . 7 White . . . . . . 15 Only colors 0-7 can be used for background colors. If 8 is entered for the background color, the command will blink; if 9 is entered, the command will blink in reverse colors. Sysop Activation Keys These keys can be used by the sysop from the local keyboard to perform the desired function while a user is online. Alt-C Begin CHAT mode. Press [Esc] to leave the chat mode. Shift-Alt-C Forces the use of Line Chat rather than Split-screen Chat. Alt-D Turns the display on or off. Alt-E Edit the user record while the caller is online. Press [Ctrl-Enter] to record changes. Alt-F Change the current user's Flag settings Alt-G Simulates line noise by throwing garbage characters on the screen. Alt-H HANG UP! Disconnects the user. Alt-J JUMP to DOS while a user is online. Type Exit to return to QuickBBS. Alt-L LOCKOUT! Logs the caller off, then drops the security level to 0. Alt-P PRINTER log. Any entry that is posted to the SYSTEM.LOG is also sent to the printer. Alt-S Change the current user's security level. Alt-T Change the current user's available time. Up arrow Increases the current users time limit by 1 minute. Down arrow Decreases the users time limit by 1 minute. F9 Help on sysop activation keys. Ctrl-Fn Displays USERn.A??. Page 154 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Command Line Parameters MSGPACK.EXE -P Pack the message base. -R Forced renumber. -DEL Purges messages based on information in MSGCFG.DAT. -C Cleans reply indications. -W Forces Write In Place Mode. -LOG Logs all activity to a file named MSGPACK.LOG -I Re-Builds Index Files. QLINK.EXE -F[name] Uses alternate areas file rather than MSGCFG.DAT -L[name] Uses a log file created by QECHO.EXE. USERPACK.EXE -B Deletes the backup file. -D<#> deletes users that have not logged on in the last # days unless the No-Kill flag is set in the users' record. USERSORT.EXE -B Delete the backup file after a successful sort. QECHO.EXE -A Archive all mail generated. -C Mark all mail generated as CRASH priority. -E Exports outbound messages. -F[name] Uses an alternate areas file rather than AREAS.BBS -G Processes only inbound messages from nodes listed for the specif- ic message area in the AREAS.BBS file. -I Import SEEN-BY and PATH lines. -J Swap to EMS or disk. -K Disables checking for duplicate echomail messages. -L[name] Generates a text file [name] with a list of the names of areas in which messages were received. Used with the -L option in QLINK.EXE. -N Disables processing of any unprocessed echomail located in the network mail directory. -R Remove all SEEN-BY addresses except those in your Net and your downlinks. -S[n] Checks to make sure you have at least n Kb of free drive space before processing mail. -T Imports all echomail processed into the message base. -U Processes any mail archives or stray packets. -V Disables forwarding of any echomail to new nodes. -X Marks all mail generated as HOLD. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 155 -Z Sets operation for an oMMM environment (BinkleyTerm). -? Displays online help. MAILSCAN.EXE -K Flags messages as deleted after they are exported from your QuickBBS message base. MAILTOSS.EXE -K Kill null messages. -F Import mail from this address not marked Kill/Sent -P Set the Private flag on all imported messages -C Do not delete *.MSG files after importing -L Run in multinode mode QUICKBBS.EXE -Bx Baud rate is x -Ex Exit after caller at Errorlevel x -M The exact answer string sent by the modem -Tx Time until the next event is x minutes -Nx Node caller is using (Multinode only) -P Log system activity to the printer (if available) -R Reenter the BBS after a Type 15 exit. -S Turn off Snoop mode (used for multitasking) -L Logon locally Page 156 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Program Error Codes 002 File not found 003 Path not found 004 Too many open files 005 File access denied 006 Invalid file handle 012 Invalid file access code 015 Invalid drive number 016 Cannot remove current directory 017 Cannot rename across drives 100 Read past EOF 101 Disk write error 102 File not assigned 103 File not open 104 File not open for input 105 File not open for output 106 Invalid numeric format 150 Disk write protected 151 Unknown unit 152 Drive not ready 153 Unknown command 154 CRC error in data 155 Bad drive request structure 156 Disk seek error 157 Unknown media type 158 Sector not found 159 Printer out of paper 160 Device write fault 161 Device read fault 162 Share violation or hardware fault (bad sector?) 200 Division by zero 201 Range check error 202 Stack overflow error 203 Heap overflow error 204 Invalid pointer operation 205 Floating point overflow 206 Floating point underflow 207 Invalid floating point operation 208 Overlay manager not installed 209 Overlay file read error QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 157 ErrorLevel Exits 0 Normal Exit 1 Important File Missing, such as TOP.MNU 2 Fatal System Error Occurred (recorded in ERRORS.LOG) 3 New Netmail was Entered 4 New Echomail was Entered 5 Both Netmail and Echomail were entered System Display Files BIRTHDAY.A?? is shown if a user calls in on his/her birthday. BAD-EXT.A?? is shown if a user attempts to upload a file with an extension not listed in FILE-OK.CTL. BADALIAS.A?? is shown if a user attempts to register an alias listed in BADALIAS.CTL. DATAPHON.A?? is displayed right before a new user is asked for her/his data phone number. DNLDHRS.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to download a file outside the time frame permitted. DUPEFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a duplicate file to the system. EDITHELP.A?? is displayed if the user selects the help option from the line oriented message editor. GOODBYE.A?? is displayed when the user logs off. JUNKFILE.A?? is displayed if a user tries to upload a file listed in BAD-FILE.CTL. LOGO.A?? is the first display shown to the user, right after your system name and the QuickBBS identifier, and right before the system asks for the user's name. MAXPAGE.A?? is displayed if the caller attempts to page more times than the maximum allowed. NEWS.A?? is displayed after the Newuser2 or Welcome file, and after the logon mail check. NEWUSER1.A?? is displayed after the user has verified that his/her name is typed correctly but before any of the logon questions are asked. NEWUSER2.A?? is displayed after a new user has selected a password. NO300.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to call in when 300 baud is not allowed. NODEn.A?? is displayed when a caller connects to the specified node. NOTAVAIL.A?? is displayed if the sysop is paged outside the times that paging is allowed. NOTFOUND.A?? is displayed if the system cannot find the user's name but before the system asks if the caller typed her/his name correctly. PAGEABRT.A?? is displayed if the sysop aborted the page. PAGED.A?? is displayed after the page has been made but before the sysop answers. Page 158 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation PASSWORD.A?? is displayed before the system asks the user for the password he/she will use on the system. PRE-UPLD.A?? is displayed before a user begins an upload. PRIVATE.A?? is displayed if the system is a private system and a non-registered user attempts to call in. READHELP.A?? is displayed if the user selects help from the read/scan/quick-scan options. SECn.A?? is displayed to each user with security level n. TIMEWARN.A?? is displayed when the user's time limit has been adjusted because of an upcoming system event. TOOSLOW.A?? is displayed if a user attempts to log onto the system with a modem that is too slow. TRASHCAN.A?? is displayed if the system finds the user's name in the TRASHCAN.CTL file. UP-DESC.A?? is shown to the user before she/he is asked to describe an upload. USERn.A?? is shown to a user whenever the Sysop presses [Ctrl-Fn], where n is the number of the function key. WELCOME.A?? is displayed after a caller has entered his/her name and password and after the display of any NEWUSERn.A?? and SECn.A?? files. XFERHELP.A?? is displayed when a user requests help with the file transfer functions. CallBack Verifier Display Files S-INTRO.A?? is the first file the user sees. After this file is displayed, the user is asked to confirm her/his telephone numbers and to decide which one will receive the callback. S-TRASH.A?? is displayed if the phone number the user has selected is found in the PHONENUM.CTL file. S-DUPE.A?? is displayed if another user has the same phone number as the one entered by the caller, and you have decided not to permit multiple users to be verified at the same phone number. S-DISC.A?? is displayed after the user is asked to choose or confirm the telephone number, but before QuickBBS disconnects to make the verification call. S-LOGIN.A?? is displayed after the user answers the callback. S-VALID.A?? is displayed after the user properly enters his or her password. S-LONGD.A?? is displayed if the user is long distance, and you DO NOT permit long distance verifications. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 159 MetaCharacters The following Metacharacters are used in display files: ASCII #s Char Function 001 ^A Pause and wait for the ENTER key to be pressed 002 ^B Make a file non-abortable 003 ^C Make file abortable after a ^B 004 ^D Turn More Prompts On 005 ^E Turn More Prompts Off 006 033 ^F! Display current caller's Full Screen Editor status (On/Off) as stored in the user base (see ^F1) 006 035 ^F# Display current caller's screen length setting as stored in the user base (see ^FV) 006 049 ^F1 Display current caller's Full Screen Editor status (On/Off) as in effect for the current call (see ^F!) 006 050 ^F2 Display current setting of the "Do Not Disturb" flag in a multinode configuration 006 051 ^F3 Display current caller's download ratio by file number 006 052 ^F4 Display current caller's download ratio by Kbytes 006 053 ^F5 Display current caller's registered alias 006 054 ^F6 Display current caller's age 006 055 ^F7 Display current caller's date of birth 006 056 ^F8 Returns ON or OFF according to the ANSI setting in the user base (see ^FX) 006 057 ^F9 Returns ON or OFF according to the More Prompt set- ting in the user base (see ^FY) 006 058 ^F0 Returns ON or OFF according to the Screen Clear setting in the user base (see ^FZ) 006 065 ^FA Full User Name 006 066 ^FB City and State 006 067 ^FC Password (SERIOUS potential for security violation!) 006 068 ^FD Business/Data Phone Number 006 069 ^FE Home/Voice Phone Number 006 070 ^FF Last date user logged on 006 071 ^FG Last time user logged on 006 072 ^FH A Flags 006 073 ^FI B Flags 006 074 ^FJ C Flags 006 075 ^FK D Flags 006 076 ^FL Credit Value (in cents) 006 077 ^FM # of messages user has posted 006 078 ^FN Highest message user has read 006 079 ^FO Security level of user 006 080 ^FP # of times user has logged on 006 081 ^FQ Number of uploads user has sent 006 082 ^FR Amount user has uploaded (in kilobytes) 006 083 ^FS Number of downloads user has received 006 084 ^FT Amount user has downloaded (expressed in kbytes) 006 085 ^FU Elapsed time (in minutes) user used today Page 160 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation 006 086 ^FV Display's current caller's screen length as in effect for the current call (see ^F#) 006 087 ^FW User's first name (i.e., Bob) 006 088 ^FX Returns ON or OFF according to the ANSI setting 006 089 ^FY Returns ON or OFF according to the More Prompt set- ting 006 090 ^FZ Returns ON or OFF according to the Screen Clear setting 007 ^G Ring Caller's Bell 008 ^H Backspace 009 ^I Tab 010 ^J Linefeed 011 047 ^K0 Display number of messages in current message area 011 048 ^K1 Display number of currently selected message area 011 049 ^K2 Display number of currently selected file area 011 050 ^K3 Display previous caller's alias 011 065 ^KA Number of calls on system 011 066 ^KB Name of last caller on system 011 067 ^KC Number of active messages in message base 011 068 ^KD Lowest system message number 011 069 ^KE Highest system message number 011 070 ^KF Number of Times User has Paged Sysop This Call 011 071 ^KG Day of the Week (i.e., Monday, Tuesday, etc) 011 072 ^KH Number of users on system 011 073 ^KI Current time in 24-Hour Format (HH:MM) 011 074 ^KJ Current date in DD-MMM-YY form 011 075 ^KK Minutes Connected 011 076 ^KL Seconds Connected 011 077 ^KM Minutes Used (against time limit) 011 078 ^KN Seconds Used (against time limit) 011 079 ^KO Minutes Remaining 011 080 ^KP Seconds Remaining 011 081 ^KQ Time Limit (in minutes) 011 082 ^KR Current baud rate (300, 1200, or 2400) 011 083 ^KS Abbreviated Day of the Week (Mon, Tue, etc) 011 084 ^KT Download Limit (expressed in kilobytes) 011 085 ^KU The number of minutes until the next system event. 011 086 ^KV The time of the next system event. (24 hour format) 011 087 ^KW Node Number 011 088 ^KX Drop carrier 011 088 ^KY Name of currently selected message area 011 089 ^KZ Name of currently selected file area 012 ^L Clear Screen 013 ^M Carriage Return 017 ^Q DO NOT USE! Used for XON/XOFF. 019 ^S DO NOT USE! Used for XON/XOFF. 023 ^W One second pause 024 ^X Text file shell 026 ^Z DO NOT USE! DOS end of file marker. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 161 The following Metacharacters are used on menu text lines: 042 067 *C Centers the display line 042 070 *F Displays the current file area 042 077 *M Displays the current message area System Control Files BAD-FILE.CTL This optional file can contain a list of file names that you do not want users to be able to upload. BADALIAS.CTL This optional file can contain a list of aliases you will not allow on your system. FILE-OK.CTL This optional file can contain a list of files you will accept from users. LIMITS.CTL This required file controls the time limit and download limit of your callers. PHONENUM.CTL This file allows you to refuse callers from numbers you know to be bad. TRASHCAN.CTL This file is a list of unacceptable names that users might try to use at logon. Page 162 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Menu Command Types Type Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Field 0. Text Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 1. Goto New Menu . . . . . . . . <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=?} 2. Gosub New Menu . . . . . . . . <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=?} 3. Return from Previous Gosub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 4. Clear Gosub Stack and Goto New Menu <Menu Name> {Password}{/M=?}{/F=?} 5. Display *.A?? File . . . . . . . . . . . . . <1-8 Character Name> 6. Selection Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <1-7 Character Prefix> 7. Shell To DOS and Run Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . <See Text> *! Suspend system timer *# Disable Want Chat function *0 Path of the current file area *1 Number of current message area *B Passes the user's Baud Rate (0 for a local logon) *C Full path to COMMAND.COM as set in the DOS environmental variable COMSPEC. *F User's First Name *G Graphics Mode (Off is 0, 1 is On) *H Tells QuickBBS to shell with the fossil hot (Open or Active) *L User's Last Name *M Tells QuickBBS to swap itself out to allow more memory for the door. *R User's Record Number *T User's Time Remaining (in minutes) 8. Version Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 9. Logoff the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 10. Display System Usage Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 11. Page the Sysop for Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . {Page Prompt} 12. Execute Questionnaire File . . . . . . . <1-8 Character FILENAME> 13. List/Search User List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/R}{/X} 14. Time Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 15. Exit to DOS and Run Program . . . <DOS ERRORLEVEL>{RETURN MENU} 16. Change City and State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 17. Change Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 18. Change Length of Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 19. Toggle Screen Clearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 20. Toggle Page Pausing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 21. Toggle Graphics Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 22. Check for Personal Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 23. Read Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> 24. Scan Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> 25. Quick-Scan Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> 26. Delete Selected Message . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> 27. Post a New Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Board #> or <*M> {/L} {/T="Name"} {/S="Subject} 28. Select Combined Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 29. Move A File . . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 163 30. DOS Directory . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 31. List FILES.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 32. Download a File from Sub-Dir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F>{Password} 33. Upload a File to Sub-Dir . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 34. List Archive in Sub-Dir . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 35. Search for File by Keyword . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 36. Search for File by FileName . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 37. List New Files/Search by Date . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 38. View Text File . . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 39. Display a Specific Text File . . . . . . . . <Full Path and Name> 40. Display *.A?? File with Hot Keys . . . . . . <1-8 Character Name> 41. Toggle Full Screen Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 42. Change Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 43. Save Current User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 44. Get Birthday and/or Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . <B> and/or <S> 45. Display *.A?? file with EOF Prompt . . . . . <1-8 Character Name> 46. Display a .GIF file header . . . . . <Full Path> <Area #> or <*F> 47. Create a System Log Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <Text> 48. Download a Specific File . . . . . . . . . . <Full Path and Name> 49. Select Message Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {Group #} 50. Select File Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {Group #} 51. Show List of Today's Callers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/R}{/X} 52. Show Users Currently On-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/X} 53. Toggle "Do Not Disturb" Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 54. Send an On-Line Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {/X} 55. Download any file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 56. DOS listing of any directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 57. Change Voice Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 58. Change Data Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 59. Update Lastread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 60. Callback Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . None 61. Interuser Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (see documentation) Page 164 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Questionnaire Command Language ASK <Len> <Var Num> <Min>: Reads a user's response of at least <Min> characters up to <Len> characters and stores it in variable number <Var Num>. <Len> can be from 1 to 255. CHANGECOLOR <Foreground> <Background>: Changes the current color if the user has ANSI selected, the <Foreground> can be from 0 to 15 and the <Background> can be from 0 to 7. See page 47 for a list of available color codes. CLEARSCREEN: Clears the callers screen, but only if the caller has selected screen clearing. DISPLAY "<String>": Displays the character string <String>, which must be encased in quotes. ENDIF: Terminates the If statement (see IF below) ELSE: Used with IF and ENDIF to perform an alternate action. IF <Var Num> = "<Test String>": Compares a variable number to the Test String. The test is not case sensitive. If the comparison is true then the following questionnaire lines are processed until an Endif is reached, otherwise all lines through the Endif are skipped. A space is required before and after the equals sign (=), and the arguments to be processed if the test is true must end with an EndIf statement. GETCHOICE <Choices> <Var Num>: Inputs one character which will consist of an item in the <Choices>. The result is stored in variable number <Var Num>. LISTANSWER <Var Num>: Displays the contents of <Var Num> to the user's screen. This makes it possible to list the user's answers so far and ask if they are correct. OUTPUTANSWER "<Descriptor>" <Var Num>: Outputs the contents of <Var Num> to the answer file and labels it with the string <Descrip- tor>. POSTINFO: Posts the user's name, city, state, and the current date and time in the answer file. QUIT: Ends the questionnaire immediately and closes the answer file. SETFLAG <Flag Set><Flag Number> <ON|OFF>: Changes the user's flag on or off as given. <Flag Set> is A through D. <Flag Number> is 1 through 8, counting left to right through the flagset. SETSECURITY <Level>: Changes the user's security level to <Level>. UPDATEBOARDS: Updates the user's access to message areas based on changes in security levels and flag settings. Use a '|' character inside a text string to send a carriage return to the user's screen. You can use up to twenty variables, each of which can be up to 255 characters long. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 165 Glossary NOTE: Definitions of terms involved in transferring messages to other systems can be found beginning on page 97. ASCII -- The American Standards Conference for Information Inter- change. ASCII developed a standardized set of 127 characters that are used by all computers when telecommunicating. Characters below 28 are called "Control Characters" and are used to control certain functions of computers, printers, and programs. Characters above 127, though often included on ASCII charts and often called "Extended ASCII" are actually not part of the ASCII standard and are often quite different from one computer to another, even within the same operating system or brand name line. Characters below ASCII 28 and above ASCII 127 should not be used in messages because there is no way to tell what kind of unpredictable results they might have on the receiving system (see page 150). ANSI -- The American National Standards Institute. ANSI has developed many standards, including one which allows trans- mitting color and cursor positioning information. The common term "ANSI Graphics" normally refers to this standard. A second standard for transmitting musical tones is called "ANSI Music." Most computers do not support ANSI standards in their native modes. DOS computers require specially written programs or the presence of the ANSI driver, ANSI.SYS, which is loaded as a device driver in CONFIG.SYS. See your DOS manual for more details. Archive -- A compressed file or group of files which make up a single program. Files are compressed to make them smaller so they take less storage space and less file transfer time. AUTOEXEC.BAT -- A text file usually stored in the root directory of Drive C that gives a list of commands DOS will automati- cally execute every time the system starts. Commands to run the BBS should be included in AUTOEXEC.BAT, or called from it. Otherwise the BBS will not re-start if it is brought down by a power failure. BBS -- Bulletin Board System Bulletin Board System -- A computer set aside for external opera- tion, usually via modem, and running a host program such as QuickBBS that allows access through the communications ports. Cache -- A section of memory set aside to help speed hard drive access. When a program reads from the hard drive, extra data is read and stored in the cache. Future reads are made to Page 166 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation the cache first; the hard drive is only accessed if the needed information is not present in the cache. Caching can substantially speed up some operations on some systems (see page 9). Chat -- A live, two-way discussion via keyboards between two users or a user and a sysop. Callback verifier -- That portion of QuickBBS that calls a user's telephone number to verify that he/she is actually calling from that number, as a security measure. Carrier -- The signal transmitted across telephone lines by a modem that "carries" the information. When your modem is not connected to another modem, there is "no carrier present". When your BBS is waiting for someone to call, it is "waiting for a carrier." If a call comes in that does not result in a successful connection, there is "no carrier detect." CONFIG.SYS -- A text file usually stored in the root directory of Drive C that tells DOS how to configure itself. Your DOS manual contains information on CONFIG.SYS. Control files -- Files which control functions of a program (see page 109). Database format -- The type of message base used by QuickBBS. Messages are stored in a single file and headers in another file for quick access. Uses disk space more efficiently than the individual message (*.MSG or Fido) format, but is slightly more dangerous since the entire message base can be lost if a single message is damaged. Doors -- A program run externally outside the BBS, accessed through the BBS (see pages 116 and 118). DOS -- Disk Operating System. All computers which use disk drives have some form of DOS, which may or may not be compatible with Micro- Soft's "MS-DOS" (page 168). References to DOS in this manual refer specifically to MS-DOS version 5.0, and may or may not be correct with other versions of MS-DOS or other operating systems. Download -- See "file transfer" on page 165. E-mail -- Electronic mail. Usually refers to a message sent directly from one user to another and not intended to be read by the general public (see page 19). Environmental variable -- A variable stored in the DOS "environ- ment" using the SET command. Your DOS manual contains infor- mation on environmental variables (see page 10). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 167 Executable version -- A version of a program in which all program information loads into and executes from memory. Executable programs are faster than overlay versions, but take more memory (see page 9). File transfer -- The process of taking a program from the BBS and transferring it to a user's system ("download") or taking a program from the user's system and transferring it to the BBS ("upload"). FOSSIL -- Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer; see "Fossil Interface" below. Fossil interface -- A special type of program that standardizes communications between a program and the RS232 ports of a computer. Full screen editor -- An external, online editor which allows users to edit messages in a word processing environment (see page 71). Grouping -- For QuickBBS, the ability to group message and file areas together by subject, network, etc. (see page 18). Hard copy -- a copy printed on paper. Hot Keys -- Menu command keys which take effect immediately, interrup- ting the menu display. QuickBBS includes support for Hot Keys in its menu displays. IEMSI -- The "Interactive Electronic Mail Standard Identification" provides automatic logon sessions for both new and returning callers. If the caller is using a terminal package that supports IEMSI, information such as the name, alias, telephone number, screen length, and other desired settings are set in the terminal package and automatically transmitted to QuickBBS. Initialization string -- The string of characters QuickBBS sends to the modem to set it up for whatever is to come next (see page 28). License agreement -- The document that spells out your legal rights to use QuickBBS (see page 1). Log files -- Files which maintain a record of activity. SYSTEM.LOG is QuickBBS's log file. Message base -- The collection of files that store messages on the BBS (see page 74). Modem -- "Modulator-DEModulator" -- takes computer signals from the RS232 port and processes (modulates) them into audio Page 168 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation tones that can be transmitted over standard telephone lines; also takes the audio tones and processes (demodulates) them into computer signals. MS-DOS -- MicroSoft Disk Operating System. Often incorrectly used interchangeably with "DOS". While MS-DOS is the DOS on any computer in which is it installed, it is only one type of DOS. All computers which use disk drives have some type of DOS (which means "Disk Operating System") even if they are not MS-DOS capable computers, and not all computers which run MS-DOS are "IBM-compatible." IBM's version of MS-DOS is called PC-DOS, while DR-DOS and PC-MOS are compatible but competing products. DOS, as used in this manual, refers specifically to MS-DOS version 5.0, and may or may not be correct with other versions of MS-DOS or other operating systems. Multinode -- The ability to run more than one copy of a BBS program on the same computer at the same time. This is not the same as multiline, which means that a single program can answer more than one telephone line. Multinode systems are more versatile than multiline systems; for example, multi- line systems normally cannot run online doors. Node -- A single unit. Can refer to one node ("line" of a multinode setup, or one member of a network (see page 99). Online games -- Games that users can play while connected to the BBS. Normally, games will store scores and other information so users can compete against each other. Some games, like chess doors, allow direct competition. See "doors" on page 167. Online time -- The amount of time you allow your users to spend on your BBS. This is determined by LIMITS.CTL (see page 109). Overlay version -- A version of a program in which only the "core" of the program is loaded into memory. Additional program modules are called from storage as needed. Called an "overlay" because new program modules replace or "overlay" existing modules in memory (see page 9). RAM -- Random Access Memory, the "working" memory of a computer. The largest hard drive in the world is nothing more than storage, like a bookshelf. The computer can only process information after it is moved into RAM. RAM disk -- A section of memory used to emulate a disk drive. RAM disks are fast and convenient but somewhat dangerous (see page 9). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 169 Read access -- The possession of the proper security level and flag settings to be able to read messages in a given area (see page 20). Registration -- The process of paying for commercial software distributed as shareware (see page 15). Registration status -- Whether the program is in evaluation mode or registered (see page 15). Snail Mail -- Any mail involving sending a hard copy from one hand to another. Usually refers to the Postal Service. Standalone System -- A BBS that does not use mailer software and does not exchange messages and/or files with other systems. Sysop -- An abbreviation for System Operator, pronounced SIS-op. Sysop access -- The possession of the proper security level and flag settings to be able to perform sysop functions in a given message area. This includes the ability to delete messages, read private messages, move messages from one area to another, forward messages to another user, and change messages from public to private and private to public (see page 21). Sysop security, as defined in QCONFIG.EXE (see page 32), also gives the user the ability to export messages to the local printer or to a file on the local disk drive. System Operators -- The people who spend their own time and money to set up Bulletin Board Systems. Usually called Sysops, and frequently called other names by spouses, parents, and others who don't understand..... Telecommunications -- The process of communicating by modem. Template -- A master (see page 55, 56). Templating -- The process of using a master (see page 55, 56). Text files -- A file displayed "as is" by the BBS. Thread -- A series of messages on the same topic (see page 66). Toggle -- To alternate among choices. A light switch toggles the light on or off. Twit -- A foolish user; one who does things that make a sysop angry; one who thinks she/he owns the BBS. UnZIP -- To decompress an archive processed with PKZIP. PKUNZIP is required. Page 170 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Upload -- See "file transfer" on page 165. Upload/download ratio -- The ratio of uploads to downloads. If a user has uploaded 100 Kb and downloaded 500 Kb, he/she would have an upload/download ratio of 1/5 (see page 109). User base -- The collection of files that store user records on the BBS (see page 77). Verified user -- a user who has completed your verification process. Also called a validated or registered user (see page 35). Violation -- In QuickBBS terminology, the use of QuickBBS and its accompanying utilities in violation of the license agreement (see page 1). Write access -- The possession of the proper security level and flag settings to be able to write messages in a given area (see page 20). Write caching -- A form of caching in which information to be written to the hard drive is stored in memory for a few seconds so it can be written at a more convenient time and when there is likely to be more data to be written at once. More dangerous than read caching because all information in the cache is normally lost in case of a power failure or similar catastrophe (see page 9). QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 171 Acknowledgements Legal Acknowledgements Pegasus Software specifically acknowledges the trademarks and copyrights held on any and all products mentioned in this manual. This acknowledgement includes but is not limited to the following: AgapeNet -- Agape Christian Network AlterNet -- The InterGalactic System Operator Alliance ARC -- System Enhancement Associates, Inc ARJ -- Robert K. Jung BinkleyTerm -- Vince Perriello, Bob Hartman, Alan Applegate, & Bit Bucket Software BNU -- David Nugent and Unique Computing Pty Limited Call Waiting -- Cardinal -- Cardinal Technologies, Inc. COMMAND.COM -- MicroSoft D'Bridge -- Chris Irwin DesqView -- Quarterdeck Systems DoorNet -- Doornet, Inc. DoubleDos -- Soft Logic Systems DR-DOS -- Digital Research, Inc. Echonet -- Echonet, Inc. EggNet -- Ken Shackelford FamilyNet -- FamilyNet FASTOPEN -- MicroSoft Fido -- Tom Jennings, Fido Software Fidonet -- Fido Software FrontDoor -- Joaquim Homrighausen, Interzone Software, Inc. FrontDoor -- Scandinavian PC Systems Gedit -- Chris Patterson GIF/Graphics Interchange Format -- Compuserve, Inc IBM -- International Business Machines, Inc. InterMail -- InterZone Software, Inc. and Scandinavian PC Systems AB. Kermit -- LHA -- Haruyasu Yoshizaki Local Optional Calling -- MAILSCAN.EXE -- Pegasus Software MAILTOSS.EXE -- Pegasus Software MENUEDIT.EXE -- Pegasus Software MNP -- Microcomm, Inc. MS-DOS -- Microsoft MSGPACK.EXE -- Pegasus Software Opus-CBCS -- Wynn Wagner III, The POLE of Dallas PAK -- NoGate Consulting PC-DOS -- International Business Machines, Inc. PC-MOS -- ThiSoftware, Inc. PKPAK -- PKWare, Inc PKZIP -- PKWare, Inc Page 172 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation PKUNPACK -- PKWare, Inc PKUNZIP -- PKWare, Inc QBBSNet -- QBBSnet QCONFIG.EXE -- Pegasus Software QECHO.EXE -- Pegasus Software QLINK.EXE -- Pegasus Software QNODE.EXE -- Pegasus Software QuickBBS -- -- Pegasus Software QUICKBBS.EXE -- Pegasus Software QUICKBBS.OVR -- Pegasus Software QuickEd -- Dror and Oren Tirosh Remote Access -- Continental Software SHARE -- MicroSoft SHEDIT -- Shamaal Software, Inc. & Dana Howard P'Simer, Jr. SuperBBS Supra TheDraw Toped -- TopSoft Software Touch-tone -- AT&T USEREDIT.EXE -- Pegasus Software USERPACK.EXE -- Pegasus Software USERSORT.EXE -- Pegasus Software USRobotics -- U. S. Robotics, Inc. WINDOWS -- MicroSoft X00.SYS -- Raymond L. Gwinn XLAXNODE -- Scott Samet Xmodem Ymodem ZIP -- PKWARE, Inc. Zmodem ZOO -- Rahul Dhesi The People Who Made It Happen Pegasus Software would like to thank everyone who had any part in bringing QuickBBS to the point it is today, especially the following: Adam Hudson, the original author of QuickBBS, who had the fore- sight as a young teenager to create the structure that has served so well. Richard Creighton, one of the founders of Pegasus Software who helped save QuickBBS from oblivion. Jim Westbrook and George Vandervort, moderators of Fidonet's QUICKBBS and QUICKPRO conferences, respectively, for their continuing support of QuickBBS through some difficult times, and their willingness to endlessly answer the same questions from novice users. James Kennemer for his efforts in establishing QBBSNet. QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 173 Benjamin Schollnick, Ken Wall, Dale Barnes, and Jim Perry for their work programming the offline utilities. Tom Bradford for his work on the split-screen chat; Shawn Gresham for the Interuser Chat; Darrell Cadwallader for earlier versions of the documentation. The International Team of Beta Testers who keep finding bugs just when it seems ready to be released. The Door and Utility Authors who continue to support QuickBBS through thick and thin. The Loyal Users who stuck with QuickBBS during hard times or who came back when things got better. And finally, Steve Gabrilowitz, the current author, who made QuickBBS what it is today, and who wanted his name mentioned in this section. :) Page 174 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Index *.ANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 60, 89, 115 *.ASC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 60, 89, 115 *.MNU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 52, 60 *.MSG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 103, 105, 155, 166 *70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 *F . . . . . . . 45, 57, 58, 96, 110, 114-116, 121-124, 152, 161-163 *M 39, 45, 51, 55, 56, 85, 96, 114-116, 119, 120, 123, 124, 152, 161, 162 *N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 82 > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 1170 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 275TO266.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 555-5555 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 900 numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 976 numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 A?? . 7, 36, 59, 62-65, 73, 89-93, 109, 113, 115, 117, 123, 124, 153, 157, 158, 162, 163 Add [Alt-A] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 AgapeNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 171 AKA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-18, 144 Alias . 19, 29, 31, 77, 89, 94, 95, 109, 118, 124, 140, 141, 143, 157, 159, 160, 163, 167 ALIAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 77, 140, 141 Allow delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 19 Allow IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 38 Allow long distance calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 Allow one word user names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Allow shell commands from text files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Allow uploads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 24, 58, 122 AlterNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 99, 171 ANSI . 7, 10, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40, 41, 47, 54, 59, 60, 62, 72, 73, 77, 79, 89, 94, 95, 115, 117, 119, 127, 141, 148-150, 159, 160, 164, 165 ANSI Graphics . . 7, 32, 33, 37, 38, 47, 59, 72, 77, 79, 89, 117, 165 AnsiMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Answer phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 132, 136 Answering by Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Answering by Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 AREAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 103, 104, 154 AREAS.KDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 ARQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25-27, 29, 132, 145 Ask for Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Data Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Home Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Authenticity Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 13 Auto Logon Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 175 AUTOEXEC.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 10, 81, 88, 165 BAD-FILE.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 109, 157, 161 Batch files . . . . . . . . . 14, 26, 81, 82, 108, 116, 118, 130, 131 BBS 1, 3-9, 11-13, 18, 23, 25-27, 29, 32, 35, 36, 39, 42, 45, 59, 64, 70, 71, 74, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 85-87, 89, 92, 97, 98, 103, 104, 107, 110, 116, 119, 121, 122, 125, 127, 130, 132-136, 138, 140-142, 154, 155, 163, 165-170 BinkleyTerm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97, 104, 155, 171 BIRTHDAY.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89, 157 BNU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 10, 171 BNU version 1.77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 BUFFERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Bulletin Board System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 165 Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 165, 166, 170 Call Back Verifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 Allow long distance calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 35, 36 ATDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ATDT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Call waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36, 171 Check for duplicate phone numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dial string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dial Suffix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Maximum cost for local calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 Modem Initialization String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 86 New user security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 PHONE#.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 37, 111 PHONEDUP.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Resume BBS after local call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 S-DISC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-DUPE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-INTRO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LOGIN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LONGD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-TRASH.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-USERM.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 S-VALID.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 92, 158 Validated user flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Validated user security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36 Wake Up Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Call Waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36, 171 Callback Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Caution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 18, 19, 21, 34, 48, 61, 68 CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Colors . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 31, 45, 47, 50, 53, 124, 152, 153 Background colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 45, 47, 50, 153 Monochrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 38, 47 Combined mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 19, 56, 120, 121 COMBINED.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 77, 140, 142 Comm Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 132, 149 Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84, 97, 104, 105, 141, 165 CONFIG.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 10, 88, 165, 166 Page 176 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Configuration QCONFIG.EXE . 10, 12-15, 17, 30, 56, 58-60, 62, 66, 68, 75, 78, 82, 87, 89-91, 104, 108, 109-111, 115, 117, 120-122, 128, 130, 132, 169, 172 Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81, 82, 85, 105, 109 ALIAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 77, 140, 141 COMBINED.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 77, 140, 142 FILECFG.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 LASTREAD.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 39, 77 MENUEDIT.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 41, 60 MSGCFG.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 144, 154 NODEIDX.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 NODEINC.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 USERON.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 USERS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 32, 77, 82 Connect string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27-29, 87, 107, 132 Continuous Mailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 108 Control files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 81, 109, 161, 166 AREAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 103, 104, 154 BAD-FILE.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 109, 157, 161 FILE-OK.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 109, 157, 161 FILES.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 87, 121, 122, 163 LIMITS.CTL . . . . . . . . 23, 24, 58, 59, 109-111, 122, 161, 168 MSGCFG.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 144, 154 NODECOST.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 107 PHONE#.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 37, 111 PHONENUM.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 112, 158, 161 PVTUPLD.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 QECHO.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 98, 99 Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 53, 62, 67, 69, 140 Crash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 82, 103, 143, 154 Ctrl-A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 54, 150 Database format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 74, 77, 166 DATAPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89, 157 Default . . 18, 22, 23, 30, 35, 40, 46, 62, 65, 75, 84, 89, 101, 102, 106, 112, 121, 123, 133, 135, 139, 146 Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12, 60, 81, 121 Display Files ASCII . 7, 41, 45, 59, 62, 89, 94, 109, 112, 115, 119, 123, 150, 159, 165 BIRTHDAY.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89, 157 DATAPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89, 157 Distribution . . . . . . . . . 1, 2, 23, 102, 108, 110, 127, 130 DNLDHRS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 157 EDITHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 157 Enhanced Menu Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 GOODBYE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 117, 157 HOMEPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89 MAXPAGE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 NEWUSER1.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 90, 157 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 177 NEWUSER2.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 90, 157 NO300.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 NODEn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 NOTAVAIL.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 NOTFOUND.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 90, 157 PAGEABRT.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 PAGED.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 PASSWORD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 91, 158 PRE-UPLD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 PRIVATE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 READHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65, 91, 158 S-DISC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-DUPE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-INTRO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LOGIN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LONGD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-TRASH.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-USERM.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 S-VALID.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 92, 158 TIMEWARN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 TOOSLOW.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 TRASHCAN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 113, 158 UP-DESC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 USERn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73, 91, 153, 158 WELCOME.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 91, 158 XFERHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 Distribution Electronic Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 On Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 38 DNLDHRS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 157 Documentation 1, 2, 9, 10, 17, 22, 67, 81, 82, 94, 116, 152, 163, 173 Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 99, 106 Door . . . . . 6, 21, 31, 46, 55, 82, 85-87, 116, 130, 132, 162, 173 DoorNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 98, 106, 171 Doors . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 21, 50, 52, 73, 81-83, 85-87, 166, 168 DORINFO1.DEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116, 119, 149 DOS commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 116 DOS Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 81 DOS Paths Menu Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 60 Message Base Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Nodelist path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 29 Overlay Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 29 Swap Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 29, 30 Text File Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 89 DOS Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 EXIT . . 15, 22, 25, 26, 37, 39, 53, 72, 79, 107, 108, 116, 118, 130, 131, 152, 153, 155, 157, 162 Drop to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Duplicate phone numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 166 Page 178 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Echomail 18, 22, 70, 75, 87, 97-99, 103, 104, 107, 108, 144, 154, 157 Default Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 22 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 17, 18, 24, 56 Main Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Node . . 10, 16, 22, 33, 37, 39, 63, 81-84, 90, 96, 99, 101, 102, 107, 110, 125, 132, 136, 138, 139, 145, 155, 157, 160, 168 Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-18, 22, 101 Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 64, 78, 88, 102, 156, 172 Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 93, 98, 99, 101, 105, 106 EchoNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 98, 106, 132, 171 Editor . 2, 16, 21, 22, 37-40, 59, 60, 62, 66, 67, 69-71, 77, 79, 89, 94, 109, 121, 124, 141, 157, 159, 163, 167 Eggnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 171 EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 22, 30, 38, 39, 103, 154 Enhanced Menu Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Environmental variable . . . . . . . . . . 10, 81, 101, 116, 162, 166 Error correcting modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Error correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Event handling Days of Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 99, 106, 165 Enabled/Disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Errorlevel . . 7, 25, 26, 39, 107, 108, 118, 130, 131, 145, 155, 157, 162 Forced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26, 59, 124, 130, 145, 154 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 16, 25, 26, 107, 108, 130 Executable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 11, 167 EXITINFO.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85, 86, 116, 119 External Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 21, 38 External editors Gedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 171 Quicked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 Shedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 Toped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 FamilyNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 99, 106, 171 FASTOPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 74, 171 Fido-style message areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 FidoNet . . . . . 1, 3, 4, 70, 97-99, 102, 105, 106, 132-136, 171, 172 File area . . 17-20, 23, 24, 45, 55-58, 95, 96, 111, 114-116, 121-125, 152, 160-163 File areas FILES.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 87, 121, 122, 163 List . 23, 30, 31, 39, 40, 43, 46, 47, 50-53, 55-57, 69, 87, 90, 94, 101, 102, 104-107, 109, 112, 115, 118, 121-123, 125, 127-129, 131, 150, 152, 153, 154, 161-165 Name . . 3, 11-13, 15, 17, 19, 22, 23, 31, 36, 38, 39, 48, 51-54, 56, 59, 62, 64, 65, 70, 74, 77, 80, 81, 86, 90, 91, 94-98, 102, 105, 112-116, 118, 120, 121, 123-125, 127, 128, 140, 141, 143, 144, 149, 152, 157-160, 162-165, 167, 173 Path . . 7, 10, 12, 19, 22-24, 29, 30, 39-41, 58, 60, 61, 66, 68, 81, 82, 86, 87, 89, 102, 103, 110, 114, 116, 121-126, 154, 156, 162, 163 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 179 File List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 File path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 29, 89 File ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 File Search Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 File structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 File transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 24, 92, 158, 165-167, 170 File transfer protocols Kermit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 147, 171 MNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 29, 144, 148, 171 Xmodem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 147, 172 Xmodem-1K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Ymodem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25, 29, 147, 172 Ymodem G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25 Zmodem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 147, 172 FILE-OK.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 109, 157, 161 FILECFG.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 FILES.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 87, 121, 122, 163 Fire departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Fossil . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 10, 28, 83, 86, 116, 162, 167 X00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 172 Fossil interface BNU version 1.77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 GroupMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 63, 67 Hard disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 39, 75 Header Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Hexadecimal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 100 Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 94, 104, 154 HOMEPHON.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 89 Hot keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 123, 163, 167 Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 37-39, 148, 167 Ignore K Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Ignore Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Imitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Initialization String . . . . . . . 27, 28, 35, 86, 132, 134, 137, 167 Insert [Alt-I] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 9-11, 13, 15, 21, 81, 87 Interuser chat utilities MIXER.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 NETMIXER.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Julian date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 107 Key 3, 6, 7, 15, 41, 42, 44-46, 51, 54-60, 78, 91, 94, 123, 144, 149, 150, 158, 159 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2, 12, 15, 169 Registration . . . . . . . . . . 12, 15, 16, 20, 21, 26, 82, 169 Kinds of message areas Private . 3, 12, 18, 19, 21, 66, 69-71, 91, 102, 105, 143, 144, 155, 158, 169 Public . . . . . . . . . 17-19, 21, 46, 66, 69, 70, 144, 166, 169 ReadOnly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 20 LASTREAD.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 39, 77 Page 180 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 9, 14 Licensing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 LIMITS.CTL . . . . . . . . . . 23, 24, 58, 59, 109-111, 122, 161, 168 Line Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49, 50, 70 Local mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 118 Local Optional Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 171 LOCKOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 153 Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 167 MSGPACK.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 154 PHONEDUP.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 QECHO.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 SYSTEM.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 72, 117, 125, 128, 153, 167 LOGO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 90, 157 Mail Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 MAILSCAN.EXE . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 101, 105, 155, 171 MAILTOSS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 105, 155, 171 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 76, 98, 100-105, 154, 172 Mailer 3, 6, 14, 17, 18, 26, 87, 97-101, 103, 105-108, 131, 132, 134, 136, 169 MailNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 106 MAILSCAN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 101, 105, 155, 171 MAILTOSS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 105, 155, 171 MAXPAGE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 Measured Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Memory 6, 9, 11, 22, 30, 38, 52, 53, 84, 85, 103, 107, 116, 162, 165, 167, 168, 170 Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 48, 55, 59, 118, 152 Type 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 114, 115 Type 15 . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 42, 82, 85, 107, 116, 118, 155 Type 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 114, 115 Type 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 124 Type 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 39, 65 Type 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 121 Type 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 121 Type 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65, 121 Type 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Type 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Type 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Type 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114, 115 Type 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 58 Type 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Type 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Type 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Type 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Type 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Type 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 181 Type 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 114 Type 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 115, 124 Type 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Type 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119, 124 Type 45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 115, 123 Type 49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Type 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 123, 124 Type 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Type 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Type 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Type 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Type 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 115 Type 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Type 61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Type 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 30, 39, 42, 82, 85, 116, 119 Menu Displays, Enhanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Menu editing MENUEDIT.EXE . 14, 40-42, 46, 48-50, 53, 54, 60, 61, 81, 152, 171 Menu Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 29, 51, 60 Menu Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 60 Menu Templating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 54 MENUEDIT.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 41, 60 MENUEDIT.EXE . . . 14, 40-42, 46, 48-50, 53, 54, 60, 61, 81, 152, 171 Add [Alt-A] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Add/Edit screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 45 AutoMode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Background colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 45, 47, 50, 153 Copy Menu [Ctrl-C] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Copy [Alt-C] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 CORE.!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 CORE.COR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 CORE.MNU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Delete Menu [Ctrl-D] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Delete [Alt-D] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Edit [Alt-E] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Insert [Alt-I] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Keys in Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 46, 58 LineNumber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 List [Alt-L] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 New Menu [Ctrl-N] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Rename Menu [Ctrl-R] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Save Menu [Ctrl-S] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Settings [Alt-S] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 ShowData . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Speed Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42, 43, 54, 152 WordWrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Write To Menu [Ctrl-W] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Message area . . 6, 17-22, 25, 39, 45, 55, 56, 58, 65-67, 69, 75, 76, 95-97, 101, 103, 104, 114-116, 123-125, 152, 154, 160-163, 169 Message area grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Page 182 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Message areas Area Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 105 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 17, 18, 24, 56 Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-18, 22, 101 Private . 3, 12, 18, 19, 21, 66, 69-71, 91, 102, 105, 143, 144, 155, 158, 169 Public . . . . . . . . . 17-19, 21, 46, 66, 69, 70, 144, 166, 169 ReadOnly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 20 Message base . 6, 9, 13, 17, 19, 29, 31, 39, 56, 74, 75, 78, 82, 95, 98, 100, 103, 104, 105, 119, 154, 155, 160, 166, 167 MSGHDR.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGIDX.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGINFO.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGTOIDX.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGTXT.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Message board types Echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 7, 18, 37, 39, 97-99, 118, 143 Fmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 67, 144, 145 GroupMail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 63, 67 Local 2, 3, 17-19, 35-38, 65, 72, 73, 82, 97, 98, 104, 111, 112, 116, 118, 136, 143, 149, 153, 162, 169, 171 Message Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 67 Gedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 171 Line-oriented editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 79 Quicked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 Shedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 Toped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 172 Message maintenance MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . 14, 19, 65, 74-76, 79, 154, 171 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . 14, 75, 76, 100, 104, 130, 154, 172 Message Reply Quoting String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Metacharacters . . . . . . . 45, 89, 94, 96, 123, 150, 152, 159, 161 MIXER.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 MNP modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Modem options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Answer phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 132, 136 Answering by Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Answering by Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 133 ATH1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ATS0=0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Busy Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 132 Busy String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 132 Character Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 132 Comm Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14, 26, 116 connect string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27-29, 87, 107, 132 connection speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Initialization Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 132 Initialization String . . . . 27, 28, 35, 86, 132, 134, 137, 167 Initialize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 35, 132, 133 M0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 133, 134, 137-139 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 183 RI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 S0=0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 133, 136, 139 S0=1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 132, 133, 136, 139 Speed Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Modem Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 132, 145 Call Waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 36, 171 Dial String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Dial Suffix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Initialization String . . . . 27, 28, 35, 86, 132, 134, 137, 167 Modems Cardinal 2400 baud external . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 USRobotics Courier 14400 HST Dual Standard . . . . . . . 135, 137 MSG*.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 32 MSGCFG.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 144, 154 MSGHDR.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGIDX.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGINFO.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 19, 65, 74-76, 79, 154, 171 Keep Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 19 Kill Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 19 Kill Rec'd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 19, 66 MSGPACK.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 154 Write In Place Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 154 MSGPACK.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75, 154 MSGTOIDX.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 MSGTXT.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Multinode . . 3, 6, 10, 22, 33, 39, 60, 81, 82, 84, 94, 101, 105, 107, 110, 125, 126, 136, 148, 155, 159, 168 Net . . . 16-18, 37, 39, 78, 98, 99, 101, 102, 104-108, 118, 143, 154 Netmail Board Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17, 31, 119-121 Kill/Sent handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17 Main Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Netmail Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17 Node . . 10, 16, 22, 33, 37, 39, 63, 81-84, 90, 96, 99, 101, 102, 107, 110, 125, 132, 136, 138, 139, 145, 155, 157, 160, 168 Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 93, 98, 99, 101, 105, 106 Netmail processing Archive/Sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Kill/Sent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17, 105, 155 NETMIXER.COM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Network 16, 60, 81, 84, 97, 98, 100-102, 104, 105, 154, 167, 168, 171 Network Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 New User Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 34 Allow IEMSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 38 Ask for Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Data Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ask for Home Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Force US phone format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Netmail Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 78 Page 184 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Security Level and Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31-34, 36 NEWS.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 90, 157 NEWUSER.Q-A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 64, 117 NEWUSER1.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 90, 157 NEWUSER2.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 90, 157 NO300.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 NODECOST.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 107 NODEDIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 NODEIDX.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 NODEINC.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Nodelist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14, 29, 98, 105-107, 141 Nodelist processing QNODE.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 78, 81, 105-107, 172 NODEn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 Non-continuous Mailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 108 NOTAVAIL.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 157 NOTFOUND.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 90, 157 Novice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 4, 172 Offline utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 85, 173 275TO266.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 MAILSCAN.EXE . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 101, 105, 155, 171 MAILTOSS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 105, 155, 171 MENUEDIT.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 41, 60 MENUEDIT.EXE . 14, 40-42, 46, 48-50, 53, 54, 60, 61, 81, 152, 171 MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . 14, 19, 65, 74-76, 79, 154, 171 QCONFIG.EXE . 10, 12-15, 17, 30, 56, 58-60, 62, 66, 68, 75, 78, 82, 87, 89-91, 104, 108, 109-111, 115, 117, 120-122, 128, 130, 132, 169, 172 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 76, 98, 100-105, 154, 172 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . 14, 75, 76, 100, 104, 130, 154, 172 QNODE.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 78, 81, 105-107, 172 USEREDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 39, 77, 172 USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 79, 154, 172 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 80, 154, 172 oMMM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 155 Online doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 168 Online games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 26, 168 Online time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 26, 37, 46, 168 Other Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26, 50, 65, 66, 79, 86 ANSI Graphics . 7, 32, 33, 37, 38, 47, 59, 72, 77, 79, 89, 117, 165 Auto Logon Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Colored Input Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Direct Screen Writes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Exit when Net/Echo Mail Entered . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 39 Fast Local Sysop Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 39, 77, 103, 148 Mail Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 37, 39, 90, 119, 157 Mono Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Node . . 10, 16, 22, 33, 37, 39, 63, 81-84, 90, 96, 99, 101, 102, 107, 110, 125, 132, 136, 138, 139, 145, 155, 157, 160, 168 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 185 Screen Blank Timeout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Snow Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Swap on Alt-J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Upload Credit Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Use Extended Lastread Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 39 Overlay . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, 22, 29, 88, 156, 167, 168 Overlay File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 29, 88, 156 QUICKBBS.OVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14, 172 Overlay version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 11, 14, 22, 29, 168 Packer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 102, 103 Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 98-100 PAGEABRT.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 PAGED.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 117, 157 PASSWORD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 91, 158 Pegasus Software . . . . . 1, 2, 9, 12-15, 62, 69, 86, 140, 171, 172 Personal mail check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 PHONE#.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 37, 111 PHONEDUP.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 PHONENUM.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 112, 158, 161 Pirated Commercial Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Pornography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Power failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 75, 165, 170 PRE-UPLD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 Private messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 PRIVATE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 Pub/Pvt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 PVTUPLD.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 QBBS276A.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 11 QBBS276E.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276O.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276S.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276T.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276U.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 101 QBBSNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 3, 98, 104, 106, 172 QCONFIG commands External Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 21, 38 Files 1, 4, 6, 7, 9-16, 18-20, 22-26, 29, 31-33, 39, 48, 50-52, 55, 57-60, 67, 68, 71, 74-78, 81, 82, 85-89, 91, 92, 94, 103, 105-110, 115, 116-119, 121-123, 127, 130, 131, 150, 154-159, 161, 163, 165-167, 169, 170 General . . . . . 3, 12, 15, 16, 19, 25, 26, 29-33, 35, 37, 166 Information . 1, 2, 9, 12, 14-18, 24, 34, 36-38, 41, 44, 45, 51, 53-55, 63, 66-70, 72-77, 81, 82, 86, 89, 90, 97, 100, 102, 105-107, 109, 116, 124, 126, 132-136, 138, 144, 146, 149, 154, 162, 165-168, 170 Message Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-18, 20, 78 Messages 2, 5, 12, 13, 15-22, 26, 29, 31, 32, 34, 39, 50-52, 55, 56, 63-67, 69, 70, 71, 74-79, 82, 95, 97, 98, 100-106, 119-121, 124, 126, 130, 142, 154, 155, 159, 160, 162, 165-167, 169, 170 Netmail 3, 14, 16-18, 34, 65, 78, 97, 99-101, 106, 108, 144, 157 Page 186 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Origin Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-18, 22, 101 Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 16, 24-26, 92 Quit . . . . . . . . . . 13, 15, 16, 26, 30, 43, 78, 87, 128, 164 QCONFIG.EXE 10, 12-15, 17, 30, 56, 58-60, 62, 66, 68, 75, 78, 82, 87, 89-91, 104, 108, 109-111, 115, 117, 120-122, 128, 130, 132, 169, 172 QECHO.CTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 76, 98, 100-105, 154, 172 QECHO.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 75, 76, 100, 104, 130, 154, 172 QNODE.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 78, 81, 105-107, 172 Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . 6, 20, 32, 63, 117, 127-129, 162, 164 QuickBBS 1-4, 6, 7, 9-19, 21, 22, 24-32, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 48, 52, 54, 55, 57, 58-60, 62, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 74-77, 79, 81-87, 89, 90, 92, 94, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103-110, 116-119, 121, 126, 130-134, 140, 152, 153, 155, 157, 158, 162, 165-167, 170, 172, 173 Commercial Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Distribution . . . . . . . . . 1, 2, 23, 102, 108, 110, 127, 130 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2, 12, 15, 169 Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 MAILSCAN.EXE . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 101, 105, 155, 171 MAILTOSS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 17, 98, 100, 105, 155, 171 MENUEDIT.EXE . 14, 40-42, 46, 48-50, 53, 54, 60, 61, 81, 152, 171 Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 MSGPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . 14, 19, 65, 74-76, 79, 154, 171 QCONFIG.EXE . 10, 12-15, 17, 30, 56, 58-60, 62, 66, 68, 75, 78, 82, 87, 89-91, 104, 108, 109-111, 115, 117, 120-122, 128, 130, 132, 169, 172 QECHO.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 76, 98, 100-105, 154, 172 QLINK.EXE . . . . . . . . . 14, 75, 76, 100, 104, 130, 154, 172 QNODE.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 78, 81, 105-107, 172 QUICKBBS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 32, 66, 81, 155, 172 Unlawful Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 USEREDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 39, 77, 172 USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 79, 154, 172 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 80, 154, 172 QUICKBBS.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 29, 32, 66, 81, 155, 172 QUICKBBS.OVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14, 172 RAM disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 29, 30, 168 Read access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 20, 67, 169 READHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65, 91, 158 Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 99, 106 Registration key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Registration status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 169 Release Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 11, 13, 85 QBBS276A.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 11 QBBS276E.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276O.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276S.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QBBS276T.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 187 QBBS276U.ZIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 101 Restrictions Downloads allowed between . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Minimum speed for file transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Minimum speed to log on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Minimum speed to use ANSI graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Page Attempts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Page Bell Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Paging allowed between . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Security Level and Flags to logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 S-DISC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-DUPE.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-INTRO.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LOGIN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-LONGD.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-TRASH.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 S-USERM.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 S-VALID.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 92, 158 SECn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 Security . 6, 13, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 31-36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 51, 54, 56, 60, 63, 66-68, 71, 72, 77, 78, 80, 91, 94, 95, 109, 110, 126, 128, 129, 144, 146, 149, 152, 153, 158, 159, 164, 166, 169, 170 "Forgot my password" board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 300 baud access allowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33 Allow one word user names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Allow shell commands from text files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Download Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 File Search Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Inactivity time out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32 Logon time limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32 Menu Template Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Password tries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32 Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 32-34, 46, 58, 62, 90, 146 Sysop security . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 31, 32, 78, 146, 169 Security Level 13, 20, 23, 31-34, 36, 40, 42, 46, 47, 54, 56, 67, 72, 78, 80, 91, 95, 109, 110, 128, 129, 149, 152, 153, 158, 159, 164, 169, 170 SHARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 71, 82, 87, 88, 101, 156, 172 Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2, 6, 110, 169 Shell to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38, 96, 107, 116, 162 Special Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 31, 45 ^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 44, 45, 50, 56, 58, 94, 150, 151 > 7, 21, 44, 48, 55-58, 67, 79, 110, 119-125, 150, 154, 162, 163 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 46, 87, 127-129, 151, 164 ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 46, 133, 136, 151 v . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 28, 104, 133, 134, 150, 151, 154 Speeding Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 SSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Standalone . . . . . . . . . 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 22, 37, 39, 136, 169 Status . 7, 20, 30, 40, 41, 54, 73, 94, 100, 117, 125, 145, 159, 169 Page 188 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Status display Want-Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Status Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13, 48, 74, 88, 98, 156, 172 Suitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 2 Swap to Disk/EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 22 Sysop access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 19, 21, 32, 66-68, 169 Sysop Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 System files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 103 AREAS.KDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 DORINFO1.DEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116, 119, 149 EXITINFO.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85, 86, 116, 119 LASTREAD.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 39, 77 System name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 90, 149, 157 System operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 69, 92, 169, 171 System prompts Loading Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 No New Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Selection Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 System security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 38, 46, 126 Flags . 6, 17, 20, 23, 24, 31-36, 42, 44, 46, 49, 51, 54-58, 60, 77, 78, 95, 105, 128, 140, 144, 149, 152, 155, 159 Security Levels . . 6, 20, 21, 24, 42, 46, 51, 60, 80, 129, 164 SYSTEM.LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 72, 117, 125, 128, 153, 167 Tagline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97, 104, 105 Template access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 24 Templating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 54-56, 58, 85, 125, 169 Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 66, 100, 169 Time banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 TIMEWARN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 TOOSLOW.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 TOP.MNU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 50, 52, 64, 108, 118, 157 TopMenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 41 Tosser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 TRASHCAN.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 113, 158 Twit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 169 Types of Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Read . 3, 6, 9-12, 17-21, 23, 36, 37, 39, 46, 55, 56, 64-67, 69, 75, 77, 78, 86, 87, 88, 91, 95, 100, 101, 119-121, 124-126, 156, 158, 159, 162, 165, 166, 169, 170 Sysop . . 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 15, 17-22, 31, 32, 37, 38, 46, 59, 64, 66-73, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 86, 87, 90-92, 95, 97, 104, 112, 117, 118, 120, 125, 132, 133, 134-136, 138, 146, 149, 153, 157, 158, 160, 162, 166, 169 Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 20, 23, 24, 55, 169 Write . 3, 9, 17, 20, 30, 43, 54, 67, 75, 87, 88, 152, 154, 156, 170 Uninterruptable Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Unregistered QuickBBS system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 UP-DESC.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 158 Upload/download ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 58 QuickBBS 2.76 Documentation Page 189 User base . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 18, 31, 38, 77-80, 82, 94, 159, 170 User editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 39, 66, 77 USEREDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 39, 77, 172 User Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 21 User maintenance USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 79, 154, 172 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 80, 154, 172 USEREDIT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 39, 77, 172 USERn.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73, 91, 153, 158 USERON.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 USERPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 79, 154, 172 USERS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 32, 77, 82 USERSORT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 80, 154, 172 Utilities . 1-3, 6, 9-11, 18, 23, 81, 85, 86, 101, 105, 108, 170, 173 Verification . . . . . 1, 13, 36, 63, 64, 92, 93, 111, 126, 158, 170 Video options Direct Screen Writes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Mono Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Snow Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 38 Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 58 Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 WELCOME.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63, 91, 158 Word processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Write access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 67, 170 Write caching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 170 XFERHELP.A?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92, 158 XLAXNODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172, 106 Xmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98-100, 102, 103