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Type : 7
Name : Run an external program in a shell
Optional Data : <Command Line> [Control Codes]
This command will run an external program (a "door") in a
shell while the user is on-line. Examples are on line games,
mail-checking facilities and so on. (Refer also to type 15 -
Exit to DOS for an alternative way of running external
programs). The FULL name of the program must be specified if
it is an .EXE or .COM file. To run one of these two simply
put the name of the program in the optional data field. If
you wish to call a batch file, this must be done via
COMMAND.COM, the memory-resident command-line processor. So
to run your TradeWars batch file, the command line could
read:
C:\COMMAND.COM /C \BBS\DOORS\TW2.BAT
Many programs require extra information to be passed on the
command line, so the following control codes may be used. In
each case, the code is replaced by it's value:
*A : Write the user's handle (if any) in DORINFO.DEF
instead of the user's real name.
*B : User's baud rate, or 0 if local
*C : Full path and name to COMMAND.COM
*D : Automatically generate the Doorway DOOR.SYS
parameter file.
*F : User's first name
*G : ANSI graphics, 0=Off/1=On
*H : Normally the FOSSIL is de-initialised before
running an external program to avoid any possible
conflicts between the FOSSIL and the program.
Specifying this parameter leaves the FOSSIL "hot"
or active.
*L : User's last name
*M : Activate MemorySwap feature. RemoteAccess attempts
to swap itself and all the memory it occupies to
EMS (if installed) and disk, leaving only 20k
resident. Great for running memory-hungry
programs, but it takes a few seconds to do the
swap. If it can't do the swap, it will try a
normal shell.
*N : Line number, as specified by the -N command line
parameter
*Oxxx : Override the baudrate value passed on to the
called program with xxx.
*P : Communications port being used (1-4)
*R : User's record number in the user file
*T : Time remaining for current call
*! : Freeze the system timer for the duration of the
shell. Useful for running external utilities like
full-screen chat programs etc.
*# : Turn off the "Wants Chat" indicator on return
from the shell. This is to facilitate proper
installation of external chat utilities.
*0 : The full path to the currently selected file
template area.
*1 : The number of the currently selected template
message area.
In addition to this command line information that can be
passed, RemoteAccess also creates two data files before the
shell. DORINFO1.DEF, which is a RBBS-compatible file, and
EXITINFO.BBS, which contains an extremely comprehensive
amount of system and user information. The structure of this
file can be found in the RemoteAccess structures document,
RASTRUCT.
RemoteAccess also supports Doorway's DOOR.SYS parameter file
directly; including a *D on the command line enables the
generation of this file.
Note that the external program must do it's own time limit
and carrier watchdogging, in the event that the user does
not exit from the program correctly.
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Written by Dave Pearson