Using the High Speed Link transfer protocol with Celerity BBS.

by Fatal Error of MODular Madness (512)219-8045       11/24/1991

HS/Link is a new bidirectional transfer protocol like Bimodem. Neat
thing about HS/Link is that it doesn't have all those "features" that
many sysops have complained about in the past when asked to install
BiModem. HS/Link is a plain straight forward protocol no different than
DSZ in function. It has no frills like chat, or the infamous File
Requests. It basically sends the files contained in a xferlist file, and
receives whatever the other person wanted to upload. No changes in the
transfer can be made after it is started. Therefore it is perfect for a
BBS.

Ok, enough about HS/Link. Now, to talk about Celerity. Celerity, like
many BBS softwares around is designed for one-way transfers only. It
cannot deal with the confusion of a two way transfer. So, that would
make HS/Link unusable, right? Wrong. I have come up with a scheme that
will trick Celerity into doing two-way transfers. It impliments the
little BIDIR.EXE file I've included in this ZIP.

Basically how it works is this. The user adds the files he wants to
download with the plus key. Then he enters batch transfers so he can
begin the transfer. But, instead of selecting a real protocol, he will
select a pseudo-protocol named "DL batch Bidirectionally". That protocol
will actually call my little program which will save the transfer list,
and tell celerity the transfer was successful. This will charge the
user for the files, and give all the appropriate logging and credits.
Next the user will do a batch upload and upload whatever he chooses, and
select the HS/Link protocol from the list. When he begins his HS/Link
upload, the BBS will automatically start sending the files that were
previously tagged for batch download. When finished all the uploads will
be credited and added online, the user will have the files he wanted,
and he will be charged for that download.

Well, setting it up isn't as hard as you may think. First unzip the HS/Link
file I included in this zip (or any newer version you may now have) into
your celerity directory (or wherever you keep DSZ). Configure it to your
liking using it's configuration program. Then copy my BIDIR.EXE file to
that same place. Now, run PROTED, and add two new protocols:

For Batch Downloads add: LETTER       : B
                         DESCRIPTION  : DL batch Bidirectionally
                         PROGRAM      : BIDIR.EXE
                         COMMAND LINE : %3 C:\CELERITY\BIDIR.LST %4
   (Make the Letter/Description/Path whatever... Just an example.)

For Batch Uploads add:   LETTER       : H
                         DESCRIPTION  : HS/Link
                         PROGRAM      : HSLINK.EXE
                         COMMAND LINE : @C:\CELERITY\BIDIR.LST
The above command line is the path to your BIDIR.LST. It will be found
at the same path you entered for the first protocol. This path can be
anything you choose.

Also, add a command in your main Celerity batch file to delete the
BIDIR.LST after the caller hangs up. This will prevent another user from
getting HS/Link to resend the files that were in the queue. I recommend
that you place the command just before you run Celerity.
   Example: ...
            ...
            DEL C:\CELERITY\BIDIR.LST
            CELERITY
            ...
            ...

That should do it for the setup... Now you may want to give your users
some news explaining how to operate this protocol. (Since it is somewhat
confusing to use.)

If you have any questions, or would like to try it out, just call my
board (top of file). I have it installed. Hopefully, in the meantime
Celerity will get it's own BiDirectional support.



Fatal Error