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BCSUTI Version 1.3 Copyright (C) by Mike Woltz, 1992-1994 Buffalo Creek Software INTRODUCTION ------------ BCSUTI is a utility written by Mike Woltz, author of SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System. It consists of eight programs which are designed to interface a SPITFIRE BBS with PCRelay/Postlink Networking Software, MegaMail Door and other netmail systems which require a Revision 2 UTI. BCSUTI is not intended to operate independently but rather in conjunction with the aforementioned programs. The component BCSUTI programs were written in Turbo Assembler for maximum speed while requiring very little disk space. REQUIREMENTS AND OPTIONS ------------------------ To utilize the BCSUTI, the SPITFIRE Sysop need obtain and properly install their netmail programs. Such programs include the PCRelay/ Postlink Networking software, the MegaMail Door or other netmail systems which require a Revision 2 UTI. This document will not attempt to explain the setup of those programs. If you have questions regarding their setup, please refer to the appropriate documentation or contact the author of that particular program for support. It should be noted, a Microsoft-compatible mouse may be used with the BCSUTI.COM utility. However, BCSUTI.COM does not REQUIRE a mouse. DISTRIBUTION PACKAGE -------------------- When decompressed, the distribution package, BCSUTI.ZIP, should contain the following files: BCSUTI.DOC - This documentation file UTIEXPRT.EXE - Export module UTIIMPRT.EXE - Import module UTIDOOR.COM - Works with the Megadoor program UTIVER.EXE - Version number of the UTI UTIHIGH.EXE - Marks highest message for netmail programs UTILIST.EXE - Creates SPITFIRE conference listing UTILSTRD.EXE - Tracks and resets last read messages BCSUTI.COM - Configuration program FILE_ID.DIZ - Text file containing file description You are free to distribute the BCSUTI program as long as it remains unmodified and no fee is charged. Sysops are free to post this and subsequent versions of BCSUTI on public Bulletin Board Systems as long as no fee is charged to obtain the file. SETUP ----- The eight programs that make up the BCSUTI (excluding BCSUTI.DOC) should reside in a DOS subdirectory which is located in your PATH. Sysops can either place them in an existing subdirectory or create a new one specifically for them. The DOS path statement should include the directory in which the BCSUTI files are located. (For information on creating or modifying the DOS path statement, refer to your DOS documentation.) Next, a line must be placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file which enables BCSUTI to locate the SPITFIRE HOME directory. The line should read: SET SFPATH=C:\SF In the above example, C:\SF will need to be replaced with the drive and directory of the SPITFIRE HOME directory if located on a drive other than C: or in a directory other than SF on the C drive. The SPITFIRE HOME directory is defined as the drive and directory in which the files SFNODE.DAT and SFMCONF.DAT can be found. BCSUTI CONFIGURATION -------------------- When BCSUTI is first executed, you will see a mouseable menu including the choices: Full Review, Add/Edit Conf, Delete Conf, Quick Review and Exit. If this is your initial installation, you will want to select "Delete Conf" and use the submenu option to delete "All Conf" to prepare SPITFIRE's SFMCONF.DAT for the BCSUTI's configuration. Next, you will most likely want to select "Add A Conf" so that you can begin configuring the message conferences that will be used for netmail. Each of the mouseable menu options are explained in detail below. Full Review ----------- When this option is selected, information pertaining to the first message conference is displayed for review and/or updating. Any modifications made here will automatically update SPITFIRE's SFMCONF.DAT file. An example of what might appear follows: >>>> RECORD [1 Of 15] MESSAGE SYSTEM <<<< <C>onference Description.. : SPITFIRE Support <M>sg Conference Access... : Equal To Or Greater Than Caller Security ublic Messages Only.... : No <R>ead Only Conference.... : No Conference <S>ecurity..... : 10 <N>et-Mail Conference..... : Yes Maximum Msg <L>ength...... : 99 Purge Msgs <O>lder Than... : 120 days Caller Msg <D>eletion..... : Yes Purge nreceived Msg.... : Yes Purge Old <T>hread Msg.... : Yes Net D Name............. : SPITFIRE SUPPOR <A>llow Message Routing... : Yes Pri<V>iledged Securities.. : 5;0;0;0;0 Mar<K> Messages As Sent... : Yes ENTER COMMAND - [+ - # C M P R S N L O D U T I A V K Q]? Command <+> - Next Conference This option is used to move forward from one Message System record to another. Pressing the "+" key initiates the progression from one Message Conference record to the next in sequential order. Upon reaching the last record, if the "+" key is pressed, SPITFIRE will cycle to the first Message System record. Command <-> - Previous Conference This option is used to cycle through the Message System records in reverse order. Pressing the "-" key causes the previous conference number to be displayed. From the first Message System record, if the "-" key is pressed, SPITFIRE will cycle to the last Message System record. Command <#> - Record Number Allows you to enter a specific Message Conference record number. After entering the number, the information for the record number you specified is displayed. Command <C> - Conference Description Allows you to supply a user defined description of this Message Conference. The Conference Description should reflect the content of messages expected in this message conference. For instance, in the above example; SPITFIRE Support would indicate messages relating to SPITFIRE BBS Software program. Command <M> - Msg Conference Access You will note that SPITFIRE defaults the Message Conference Access to "Equal To Or Greater Than". What this means is that any caller with a security level equal to or greater than the security level of this Message Conference can access it. If you select <M>, SPITFIRE will toggle this feature to "Equal To Caller Security" and only callers with a security level equal to the security level of the Message Conference will be able to access this conference. Callers with a security level greater than or less than the security level of this conference will not be able to access this conference (unless the caller has Sysop security or whose security is equal to a specified Privileged Security). Command - Public Messages Only Toggles whether the Message Conference will allow non-public messages. The default setting of SPITFIRE is to allow non-public messages. By selecting you can toggle this feature so that only messages marked as public are allowed. Command <R> - Read Only Conference When this feature is toggled to No, callers may read and enter messages in this conference. If toggled to Yes, callers may read messages in this conference but no messages can be entered. Any caller with Sysop status may read and enter messages regardless of how this option is set. (For more information, refer to the SPITFIRE documentation regarding Special Commands for Sysop Status.) Command <S> - Conference Security This allows you to set the security level for this Message Conference. SPITFIRE defaults to a security level of 5, which means that any caller with a security of 5 or greater will be able to read messages in this conference. If you wish to set a different security level for this Message Conference, then select <S> to change the security level of the conference. Command <N> - Net-Mail Toggle Allows the Sysop to configure whether an individual message conference will allow net-mail. If a message conference is set up to allow net-mail, callers are allowed to leave messages to a person who is not a caller on the BBS. If a message conference is not configured to allow net-mail a caller can only leave messages to other callers of the BBS. Command <L> - Maximum Msg Length The option allows the Sysop to configure the maximum lines that will be allowed per message in this message conference. Valid options range from 25 lines to 99 lines. For instance, if 50 is entered, the maximum length for all messages in this conference would be 50 lines. Command <O> - Purge Msgs Older Than Specifies how many days old a message in this particular conference must be prior to it being purged during SPITFIRE's internal message packing procedure. For instance, if this is set to 120 days, when SPITFIRE packs this message conference any messages older than 120 days will be purged. Command <D> - Caller Msg Deletion Toggles whether a caller of the BBS is allowed to delete messages. If set to Yes, the caller will be able to delete messages either sent to or sent by them. If this is toggled to No, a caller will not be allowed to delete any messages. This option is set for each message conference individually. You may toggle it one way for one message conference and the other for another message conference. **** Although Buffalo Creek Software offers the Caller Deletion option which the Sysop can use to configure whether a caller is allowed to delete messages in SPITFIRE, it assumes no responsibility for Sysops who use this feature. Legal judgments concerning the ownership of messages on a bulletin board system could possibly hold Sysops liable for denying callers control of their posted messages. Command - Purge Unreceived Msg Specifies whether messages which are unreceived are allowed to be purged from the Message Conference. If set to Yes, when packing the message base any messages older than the days set with the <O>..Old Message Purge option will be purged even if they have not yet been received. If set to No, unreceived messages will not be purged. Command <T> - Purge Old Thread Msg This option allows the Sysop to designate whether threaded messages will be deleted when using SPITFIRE's internal message packer. If this is toggled to Yes, when the message base is packed, threaded messages older than the days set with the Purge Msgs <O>lder Than will be deleted. If toggled to No, threaded messages will not be deleted from the message base. Command - Net ID Name When this feature is selected, the Sysop can configure the Net ID Name for this conference. The Net ID Name is a shortened conference description name used by BCSUTI and LAKOTA (SPITFIRE's QWK Mail System). If the Sysop does not configure this, the Net ID Name defaults to the first 15 characters from the Message Conference description. (LAKOTA uses the first 13 characters of the Net ID Name while BCSUTI and other mail exchange programs may use the full 15 characters.) Command <A> - Allow Message Routing The Routing option is only applicable if the message conference has been configured as a net-mail conference. When set to Yes, and you are using BCSUTI Version 1.1 or greater, the message will automatically be routed for you. Otherwise, you will need to route your messages in the normal fashion. Command <V> - Privileged Securities This feature allows the Sysop to configure up to five privileged security levels per Message Conference. If a caller logs on and has a security level equal to a security assigned here, the caller will have access to this Message Conference regardless of how the Message Conference Security and the Message Conference Access options have been configured. In other words, the privileged security will always override the Security and the Access configuration for the Message Conference. As an example, assume a Message Conference has been configured only to allow callers with a security level greater than or equal to 50. Also, assume that 30 is configured as a privileged security. If a caller with a security of 30 logs onto the BBS, the caller will have access to that particular Message Conference. Command <K> - Mark Messages As Sent This option allows you to toggle messages in this conference as having been sent after it has been exported. Normally you will want this set to Yes so you are not duplicating the messages you are exporting. However, if you are exchanging mail with more than one mail network and the conferences are shared by both networks you may want to enter N at this prompt so messages are assured of being exported to the multiple mail networks. This option is explained more fully under Add/Edit Conf. Command <Q> - Quit Upon selecting this option, you are returned to the DOS prompt. Adding A Conference ------------------- Upon selecting "Add/Edit Conf" a submenu appears which provides the following options: Add <A>ll Add <O>ne <E>dit One Command? By entering A for <A>ll, the BCSUTI will configure all messages at once. Entering O for <O>ne, allows you to configure a single message conference. Selecting <E>dit, you are provided the option of editing a conference you have configured with BCSUTI. Adding <A>ll Conferences ------------------------ Once you enter A at the "Add/Edit Conf" submenu, the BCSUTI will display the following prompt: "Mark exported messages as sent? [Y/n]" BCSUTI defaults to Yes and hitting Y or enter will mark all exported messages as having been sent. Normally you will want this set to Yes so you are not duplicating the messages you are exporting. However, if you are exchanging mail with more than one mail network and the conferences are shared by both networks you may want to enter N at this prompt so messages are assured of being exported to the multiple mail networks. If you are using multiple mail networks, whether a conference is configured to mark exported messages as sent would depend on the order in which the mail exchange occurs for the shared conference. You would only want to configure the BCSUTI to mark the exported messages as sent for the last mail network that would be exchanging messages in that conference. Once you have answered this prompt, BCSUTI will configure all message conferences. When <A>ll is selected, BCSUTI automatically uses the first 15 characters of the SPITFIRE Message Conference description for the short name. In other words, a SPITFIRE Message Conference with a description of "SPITFIRE Questions & Answers" will have the short name of "SPITFIRE QUESTI". The BCSUTI program stores the short name descriptions used by both the PCRelay/Postlink CONFIG.EXE program and by the MegaMail Door. The short name descriptions are used when creating the LISTING.UTI file used by PCRelay/Postlink and the MegaMail door. Anytime you make changes to the conferences you have configured for netmail with the BCSUTI, the LISTING.UTI should be erased. If the LISTING.UTI is not found, programs which require the LISTING.UTI will initiate the UTILIST.EXE module to build a new listing with the updated message conference information. Refer to the section, The LISTING.UTI File, below. Adding <O>ne Conference ----------------------- Selecting O, provides the option of configuring a single message conference. When O is selected, a listing of the message conferences on your BBS will be displayed. You are then prompted to enter the number of the respective conference you wish to configure with the BCSUTI. For example: SPITFIRE Conference #1 - SPITFIRE Technical Support SPITFIRE Conference #2 - SPITFIRE Sysops SPITFIRE Conference #3 - SPITFIRE Utilities <#> of conference, ( ENTER ) to continue If you have more than 22 conferences, pressing ENTER will take you to the second page of your listings. Enter the number of the conference you wish to configure for netmail. You will immediately be displayed the following prompt: "Enter conference short name description 15 character maximum!" At this time, a short description should be provided for the conference. Note that the short name is limited to a maximum of 15 characters. Let's assume that we were configuring SPITFIRE Conference #3 from the list above. We may want to use a short name of SFUTILS. So we would simply type SFUTILS when prompted for the short name description. You will next be prompted with: "Mark exported messages as sent? [Y/n]" BCSUTI defaults to Yes and hitting Y or enter will mark all exported messages as having been sent. Normally you will want this set to Yes so you are not duplicating the messages you are exporting. However, if you are exchanging mail with more than one mail network and the conferences are shared by both networks you will want to enter N at this prompt so messages are assured of being exported to the multiple mail networks. You should verify that the last mail exchange for the conference marks exported messages as sent to prevent exporting the same messages repeatedly. After completing the question regarding marking exported messages as being sent, BCSUTI will redisplay all information regarding this conference and ask you to verify that the information is correct. Using the example above, the following information would appear: Short Name Description = SFUTILS SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Utilities Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Is this correct? [Y/n] Responding with a Y or simply pressing enter will add the information for this conference to SPITFIRE's SFMCONF.DAT file. If the information is not correct, you will need to reconfigure this message conference. The BCSUTI program stores the short name descriptions used by both the PCRelay/Postlink CONFIG.EXE program and by the MegaMail Door. The short name descriptions are used when creating the LISTING.UTI file used by PCRelay/Postlink and the MegaMail door. Anytime you make changes to the conferences you have configured for netmail with the BCSUTI, the LISTING.UTI should be erased. If the LISTING.UTI is not found, programs which require the LISTING.UTI will initiate the UTILIST.EXE module to build a new listing with the updated message conference information. Refer to the section, The LISTING.UTI File, below. Editing A Conference -------------------- The "<E>dit One" slide-bar menu option provides the opportunity to edit the short name description of a configured message conference or to change whether messages in this conference are to be marked as exported when sent. If you find that a conference in your BCSUTI configuration needs to be modified, you can do so by selecting this option. Upon doing so, the BCSUTI configuration program will list all the message conferences that you have configured with BCSUTI. If you have more than 22 conferences, pressing ENTER will take you to the second page of your listings. Entering a conference number and pressing ENTER will display the short name description associated with that conference number. Using the example above, this is what you would see displayed: Enter/Edit conference short name description 15 character maximum! SFUTILS The BCSUTI short name description can be edited at this point. The short name description is limited to a maximum of 15 characters. For the sake of example, let's assume that we want to change the short name description to SFUTILITIES. Once the modifications are made, pressing ENTER will then prompt you with: "Mark exported messages as sent? [Y/n]" BCSUTI defaults to Yes and hitting Y or enter will mark all exported messages as having been sent. Normally you will want this set to Yes so you are not duplicating the messages you are exporting. However, you if are exchanging mail with more than one mail network and the conferences are shared by both networks you will want to enter N at this prompt so messages are assured of being exported to the multiple mail networks. You should verify that the last mail exchange for the conference marks exported messages as sent to prevent exporting the same messages repeatedly. After completing the question regarding marking exported messages as being sent, BCSUTI will redisplay all information regarding this conference and ask you to verify that the information is correct. Using the example above, the following information would appear: Short Name Description = SFUTILITIES SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Utilities Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Is this correct? [Y/n] Responding with a Y or simply pressing enter will update the information for this conference in SPITFIRE's SFMCONF.DAT file. If the information is not correct, you will need to reconfigure this message conference. Deleting Message Conferences ---------------------------- Upon selecting "Delete Conf" a submenu appears which provides the following options: Del <A>ll Del <O>ne Command? By entering A for <A>ll, the BCSUTI will delete all messages conferences from the BCSUTI configuration at one time. Entering O for <O>ne, allows you to delete a single message conference from the BCSUTI configuration. Deleting All Conferences ------------------------ When this option is selected, the BCSUTI will delete all message conferences from your configuration. This option should be used during the initial configuration to prepare SPITFIRE's SFMCONF.DAT for the BCSUTI's configuration. Deleting One Conference ----------------------- If you find that a conference you have added to the configuration needs to be deleted, you can do so by selecting the slide-bar option, "Del <A>ll". The BCSUTI configuration module will then list all the message conferences that you have configured with BCSUTI. If you have more than 22 conferences, pressing ENTER will take you to the second page of your listings. Entering the number of the conference and pressing <ENTER> will delete that message conference from your BCSUTI configuration. Quick Review ------------ This option allows you to review any message conferences that have been added to the BCSUTI configuration. Information pertaining to each conference is displayed, including the shortname description, the SPITFIRE Conference description and information on whether exported message will be marked when sent. Using the sample listing of: SPITFIRE Conference #1 - SPITFIRE Technical Support SPITFIRE Conference #2 - SPITFIRE Sysops SPITFIRE Conference #3 - SPITFIRE Utilities this might be what you would expect to see: Short Name Description = SFTECH SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Technical Support Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Short Name Description = SFSYSOPS SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Sysops Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Short Name Description = SFUTILITIES SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Utilities Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Press your favorite key to continue or, if you had used the Add <A>ll option, when you reviewed your configuration, you might expect to see the following: Short Name Description = SPITFIRE TECHNI SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Technical Support Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Short Name Description = SPITFIRE SYSOPS SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Sysops Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Short Name Description = SPITFIRE UTILIT SPITFIRE Conference = SPITFIRE Utilities Mark Messages As Sent = Yes Press your favorite key to continue Reviewing your configuration provides the opportunity to see how each of your message conferences have been configured. If you notice that any of your conferences have been configured incorrectly, that conference should be edited so that it has the correct information. Quit ---- Selecting this option will return you to the DOS prompt. Any changes you have made in your configuration will automatically be saved. Pressing the escape key will also return you to the DOS prompt. Important Notes Regarding BCSUTI -------------------------------- It is important to note that adding or deleting a message conference from the BCSUTI configuration has no affect of the SPITFIRE message conference. In other words, if you delete a conference from your BCSUTI configuration, this DOES NOT delete that conference from the SPITFIRE message base. Similarly, adding a conference to the BCSUTI configuration does not add it to the SPITFIRE message base. The adding, editing or deleting only affects your BCSUTI configuration! The LISTING.UTI File -------------------- Some netmail programs, such as the Megamail Door, require that the LISTING.UTI file be erased anytime you perform conference updating. In other words, if you add a conference or delete a conference, you should erase the LISTING.UTI file. The program, such as the Megamail Door, will then initiate the UTILIST.EXE module to rebuild a new LISTING.UTI from the updated conference list. USE OF BCSUTI ------------- The BCSUTI programs are usually called by another program. As long as they are all placed in a subdirectory available to the calling program, they will function as intended. Components of BCSUTI are capable of being used on a multinode SPITFIRE BBS as they honor file-sharing. One node can be performing a PCRelay/Postlink transfer at the same time that another node has a caller using the MegaMail door (although this is not generally considered to be good practice.) The MegaMail door CAN be operated simultaneously on multiple nodes. For more information on the use and setup of PCRelay/Postlink and MegaMail, consult the documentation supplied with those programs. BCSUTI ERROR CODES ------------------ The various BCSUTI programs return specific error codes if and when an error occurs during their operate. Listed below are those various error codes: UTIIMPRT -------- 0 = Operation Successful 10 = Incorrect number of passed parameters 13 = Error opening SFNODE.DAT 14 = Error reading SFNODE.DAT 15 = Error opening file to be imported 16 = SFMSG<x>.DAT not found - error occurred creating SFMSG<x>.DAT 17 = SFMSG<x>.IDX not found - error occurred creating SFMSG<x>.IDX 18 = SFMSG<x>.PTR not found - error occurred creating SFMSG<x>.PTR 19 = Error reading SFMSG<x>.PTR 20 = Inadequate disk space to perform message import UTIEXPRT -------- 0 = Operation Successful 30 = Incorrect number of passed parameters 31 = Invalid starting message number 34 = Error opening SFMCONF.DAT 35 = Error opening SFNODE.DAT 36 = Error reading SFNODE.DAT 37 = Error creating message export text file 38 = Error opening SFMSG<x>.PTR 39 = Error opening SFMSG<x>.DAT 40 = Error opening SFMSG<x>.IDX UTIVER ------ 0 = Operation Successful 50 = Incorrect number of parameters 51 = Error creating version text file UTILIST ------- 0 = Operation Successful 60 = Incorrect number of passed parameters 63 = Error opening SFMCONF.DAT 64 = Error reading SFMCONF.DAT 65 = Error creating list text file UTIHIGH ------- 0 = Operation Successful 70 = Incorrect number of passed parameters 71 = Error opening SFNODE.DAT 72 = Error reading SFNODE.DAT UTILSTRD -------- 0 = Operation Successful 80 = Incorrect number of passed parameters 83 = Error opening SFNODE.DAT 84 = Error reading SFNODE.DAT 85 = Error opening SFMCONF.DAT 86 = Error reading SFMCONF.DAT 87 = Error creating last read text file 88 = Error opening SFMSG<x>.LMR 89 = Error reading last read text file 90 = Error opening SFMSG<x>.PTR 91 = Last read text file not found COPYRIGHT INFORMATION --------------------- SPITFIRE is Copyright of Buffalo Creek Software, 1987-1993. PCRelay, Postlink and MegaMail are Copyright Kip Compton, 1988-1993. Turbo Assembler is Copyright Borland International, Inc., 1983-1993. DOS is Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1981-1993. REGISTRATION ------------ BCSUTI is distributed under the shareware concept. You may use the files included within BCSUTI.ZIP for a trial period of thirty days. If you continue to use these programs beyond the thirty day trial period a $1.00 registration fee is required. Registration should be sent to: Buffalo Creek Software ATTN: Mike Woltz 913 39th Street West Des Moines, Iowa 50265 DISCLAIMER ---------- Mike Woltz and/or Buffalo Creek Software shall in no way be held responsible for any damage incurred while operating BCSUTI. All responsibility lies with the user of the software. The documentation for BCSUTI is contributed by Jacque Shipley and The Mother Board BBS. The shareware version of SPITFIRE and other SPITFIRE utilities are available for download from: Buffalo Creek's BBS The Mother Board BBS Mike Woltz, Sysop Jacque Shipley, Sysop (515) 225-8496 (515) 986-3464 38400/19200/9600/2400/1200 Baud 38400/19200/9600/2400/1200 Baud BCSUTI v1.3 - 03-15-94 - UTIIMPRT was altered to add a CRC value to the imported record within SFMSG<x>.PTR. The purpose of this CRC is for duplicate message checking for planned future projects. SPITFIRE v3.5 and LAKOTA also are adding this CRC value within SFMSG<x>.PTR. There were a few other small fixes to the various BCSUTI modules.