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Text File | 1991-05-19 | 19KB | 411 lines

BBSLIST Version 1.5 An online BBS Database Program designed for use with Wildcat! 2.xx Bulletin Board Systems. by: Keith R. Personett Copyright (c) 1991, P3 Ventures Software & Consultants Introduction ============ BBSLIST was written after I searched for a BBS Database Door to run with my Wildcat! BBS, and finding nothing available that I liked. The program was written in Microsoft QuickBasic 4.5, and requires a BRUN45.EXE file that has been patched so that it does not close the comm port as the program exits. A copy of a patched BRUN45.EXE has been supplied on the distribution diskette, and is also available for download from the P3 Ventures Support BBS. It is a very easy program to set up, and monitors both time available and carrier detect. For questions regarding this program, I can be reached most evenings at (214) 234-3425 (sorry no collect calls accepted). I can also be reached through "The Assassin's Guild BBS" at (214) 234-3424, or I can be reached easily through the Relaynet International Message Exchange, in the following conferences: C Programming QuickBasic Programming Wildcat! Sysops Common All of the routines included in the writing of BBSLIST, are of my own design, and no non-standard libraries were used. Registered users will recieve the BBSLIST UTILITIES package, a serioes of utilities for importing popular BBS listings into their database, a superfast sort program, a reindexing utility for repairing crashed databases etc... Disclaimer ========== Use of this program, acknowledges this disclaimer of all warranties: This program is supplied "AS IS". Use of this program acknowledges this disclaimer of warranty: "This program is supplied as is. P3 Ventures Software and Consultants disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness of this program for any purpose. P3 Ventures Software and Consultants assumes no liability for damages direct or consequential, which may result from the use of this program. MS-DOS and QuickBasic are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Wildcat! is a registered trademark of Mustang Software System Requirements =================== BBSLIST will run on most all IBM PC Compatible machines. It was written and alpha tested on 25Mhz 386 and a 12Mhx 80286. - 85 KB of memory (BBSLIST dynamically allocates memory depending on the size of your BBSLIST.IDX file. As New entries are added during runtime, more memory is allocated. Databases of up to 1700 entries have been tested with the current version, and I really think we can get past the 5000 mark sometime in the furute. Right now, the index is maintained in memory for faster access, but this may change in future versions to allow greater database capacity. - MS-DOS 3.2 or greater. - One diskette drive. (I honestly doubt anyone is running a Wildcat! BBS on a single floppy diskette drive) - Either a color or a monochrome monitor. - 85 KB of disk space. (Not including data and index files) Setup ===== BBSLIST requires a small two line configuration file. Ideally, you will make a directory for BBSLIST to run in, and put that configuration file in this directory (I recommend \BBSLIST). The format for this files is as follows. File: BBSLIST.CFG Sysop_First_Name Sysop_Last_Name Drive:\Path\Bulletin.Ext Lines to use for Video Display Such a configuration would commonly look like this: Keith Personett C:\WILDCAT\BULL\BULL10.BBS 25 Note! The Sysop Name should be typed in just as the Sysop's name appears on the Board. If you log onto your system using a middle initial, then it should appear with that middle initial. The bulletin Name should include the file extension you wish. The video display line will allow EGA users to use a 43 line mode, and VGA users to use a 50 line mode for local display of the program. Monochrome or CGA users should specify 25 at all times. On a multinode system, always use the lowest number available on all nodes. BBSLIST requires the full pathname to CALLINFO.BBS on the command line. A sample batch file for BBSLIST would be as follows: C: CD\WILDCAT\DOORS\BBSLIST BBSLIST C:\WILDCAT\NODE1\CALLINFO.BBS CAT Simple enough? Unlike some door programs, to run in LOCAL mode, you must log onto the BBS locally and run the DOORXX.BAT file that you have setup BBSLIST to run from. To create the bulletin, you must run BBSLIST as an event ( whenever your events take place by using the following Syntax... BBSLIST bulletin This will create your bulletin file. I changed this from creating a bulletin every time the database change because I run a database of over 1500 entries, and to write such a large file to a little bit of time when the caller exited the door. If you like, you may call "The Assassin's Guild BBS" and download the index and data files that are currently being used there. IF not, you can start your database from scratch. Com3-Com4 Support ================= Currently, only COM1 and COM2 are supported. BBSLIST is due to be rewritten in "C" in the future, and at the time will support com ports that DOS does not ( 3 through 8 ) but until then, I cannot provide I/O for these extended ports. Menu Choices ============ A note on the menus and prompts: The menu design for this door, and any program I write for Wildcat!, are very consistent with Wildcat!'s built in Dynamic Menu structure. This is not the flashiest of menus, but provides for a great deal of continuity between the BBS and the door. Even the local caller information lines, help windows, and additional caller information are very consistent with Wildcat!'s local screens. Oftentimes, I have to look twice to see if the user is in a door, or on the main board. V ] View a BBS Listing The view choice will prompt you for the type of listing you desire. Two choices area available, a Fast Listing, and a Detailed Listing. [F]ast Listing The Fast listing will provide you with a listing consisting of 4 fields as follows. Ref # BBS Name Sysop Name Area Code/Phone # [D]etailed Listing The detailed listing will provide you with ( as the prompt states ) a more detailed listing. The format is as follows. Ref # BBS Name Sysop Name Baud Rates Megabytes of Storage Acode/Phone # Network ID System Type BBS Software 70 Character Comment line Future versions will provide for up to 5 lines of information, but for the time being, 70 characters is the limit. S ] Search for a BBS Listing The Search choice will allow the user to find particular types of systems based on several fields of information as follows: 1 BBS Name 2 Sysop Name 3 BBS Software 4 Supported Baud Rates 5 Network ID's 6 Area Code 7 Comments Upon entering your search criteria (10 characters maximum), the entire database for that criteria. As an entry is found in the database that matches your search criteria, it will be displayed on screen in a detailed format. A ] Add a BBS to the database The Add a BBS choice will prompt the user whether or not he/she really wants to add a new BBS to the listing. Upon a positive response, will start prompting for information on the system. Upon enter the comment line, the user will be prompted whether or not all of the information is correct, if not, the user will be given the chance to correct any errors. When all editing is complete, the program will ask whether the user wants to [W]rite the data or [A]bort the addition. Upon writing the data to the database, the memory for the additional listing is incremented, the database is resorted, and the user is returned to the main menu. ( REINDEX.EXE must be in the current directory or in the DOS path, as it shells to this, to do an extremely fast sort ). This procedure has been tested on a database of 1585 entries, and works fine. Memory for the index inside of the door is released rior to calling Reindex, and the file is reread upon completion. E ]dit a listing The Edit Choice is similar to the second part of the Add a BBS choice. It is very self explanatory, and for more information, see the Add a BBS menu decsrition. One thing on Editing a Listing! Editing Access is always granted to the Sysop of the BBS the door is running from. Editing a Listing is not available to the average user, as this could create real problems with smart-alec usrs editng the listings of Systems they do not like. To allow multiple people to edit the listing, and still provide for database security, I have written in a routine to Check the Users name against a Listing of VALID EDITORS, called BBSLIST.ED. BBSLIST.ED MUST BE IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY whether or not you provide editor access to anyone else or not. If you do not want anyone else editing your database entries, then just create BBSLIST.ED with just a carriage return in the file. The File must contain the names of all valid editors in the EXACT format that they appear in your Wildcat! User Database. A sample editing File is listed below. John Poster Tommy Thompson Rocco Fili Nate Chase Jim Sheppard. Easy enough? D ] Download a BBS Listing For the download function to work, you must have DSZ.COM or DSZ.EXE and PKZIP.EXE in your DOS %PATH% environmental variable or in the current directory. Upon choosing the [D]ownload coice, and NEW BBS Listing (BBSLIST.TXT) will be created in the current directory. It will then Compress the BBSLIST.TXT file into a BBSLIST.ZIP file. It will then ask the user if he/she would like to use Xmode, Ymodem Batch, Zmodem, or Aborting his download. Upon choosing a valid choice, the program will then inform the user to start his download of BBSLIST.ZIP, and wait for a character from either the comm port or the keyboard. Upon receiving a character ( either a NAK or whatever Zmodem sends out ), it will clear the screen, shell to dos, and start the transfer. Upon completion of the transfer, the program will delete any temporary files, and the user will be returned to the Main Menu. If the user is on locally, the program will merely create a BBSLIST.ZIP file in the current directory, and return you to the Main Menu. T ] Toggle ANSI Color This choice will toggle that state of the ANSI flag in the BBSList program. When used, it will change color promps to Monochrome prompts and vice versa. Q ] Quit to the Main Menu Due to the fact that I write my door programs so that they appear to be an extension of Wildcat, I use this term instead of the ever so popular "Quit to the BBS" type of choice. The user will be prompted as to whether or not they really want to return to the Main Menu, and upon a positive response, the program will will go through it's normal shutdown procedures. If any database entries were chaged or added, a new Bulletin file will be written for you, and the program will exit to the batch file that is is running from. K ] Kill a BBS The Kill function will Delete a BBS from the listing. Only the SYSOP may Kill a BBS. The zero file size bug is fixed with version 1.7 of BBSLIST. Sysop Keys ========== Several Keys are available to the Sysop for control of the door. They are as follows: F1 Brings up a help window display all valid sysop keys F2 Brings up an Extended Caller Information Screen F3 Adds one minute to the Callers Time left in the door. and updates the Keyboard Timeout counter. F4 Subtracts one minute form the callers time in the door and updates the Keyboard Timeout counter. F5 Provides the Sysop with a Local Drop to DOS. (If you do not have BRUN45.EXE in your DOS %PATH% environmental variable, you must make sure that you change back to the startup directory before type EXIT to return to BBSLIST) F9 This key will actually hang up on the caller, and the BBS will calculate that the caller dropped carrier in a door. The User is not informed of any of this information. F10 This key will tell the User that their time in this door has run out, and that they are being returned to the BBS. It will go through normal shutdown procedures before exiting. Details on BBSLIST ================== BBSLIST will not allow use of the F9 or F10 keys while user is online in local mode. BBSLIST will always work on a 180 second Input timeout, this checks the keyboard, and the comm port for any activity. This function will return the user to the BBS in the event of no input in a 3 minute period. The only time this is not checked is during a scrolling of a BBS Listing, be it from a Search, or from the View choice. At the end of the listing, the Caller will be prompted to "Press [ENTER] to continue", and the time is restarted. Support ======= Being as I must work full time, I cannot provide 24 hour a day telephone support, but as mentioned earlier in the documentation, I can be reached in several Relaynet Conferences. As soon as I am resettled in Dallas, a telephone number for the Support BBS will be posted in the abovementioned conferences. All upgrades in software will be done electronically, as this provides for an efficient, and rather inexpensive means of distribution. Notification of upgrades in software will be posted in the RIME Wildcat! Conference at the time the update is available for download. Acknowledgements ================ I would like to thanks the following people for help in the design and implementation of BBSLIST. Philip Pappas for his help and encouragement in Beta Testing BBSLIST on The GreasePalace BBS. Floyd Pretz, Tommy Thompson, Mark Thomas, Nate Chase, Pete Olsen, Jon Larsen, and Jim Sheppard for all the enthusiasm that they showed during the Alpha Testing of BBSLIST on The Assassin's Guild BBS.