[<<Previous Entry] [^^Up^^] [Next Entry>>] [Menu] [About The Guide]
 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.

This page created by ng2html v1.05, the Norton guide to HTML conversion utility. Written by Dave Pearson