Chinese Zodiac - v3.4 Written and (C)1998-2006 by Sean Dennis Another fine Cheepware production! http://outpostbbs.net Last updated on 8 May 2006 Have you ever wondered what your Chinese Zodiac sign is? Now you'll be able to find out and who some famous figures that share your sign are. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LICENSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This program and its associated data files are property of Sean Dennis. You are being granted a license to use the software only. You are not allowed to reverse engineer, hex edit or in any way change the main executable or any other files included in the archive. You may, however, change the data files to your liking if they are intended for that purpose. You may copy this program freely and include it on your BBS, website, FTP site or what-have-you as long as there is little ($5 or less) or no fee charged to obtain the archive. You may not tamper with the archive's contents. THIS INCLUDES PUTTING BBS ADS IN THE ARCHIVE. That is expressly forbidden under this license. YOU MAY NOT USE THIS PROGRAM ON A PAY BBS, PERIOD. If you charge for access, then you can't use this program. BBSing is a hobby and should be free. This program is guarenteed to do nothing. If it picks up the phone and calls China, someone somewhere will be happy to receive the money from your bill. This program might not even take up disk space (who knows). All I can guarentee is that this program worked on my system and my BBS when I put it up for download. I am NOT responsible for any damage that this program may or may not do (but I don't see how)... If you would like to port this door to another OS or proprietary BBS scripting language (such as WCCode), please contact me and we'll discuss it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPGRADING FROM EARLIER RELEASES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 3.4 contains some extra error handling code and some logic error fixes, as well as a little code tightening. This version does not support color codes. You do not need any configuration files and the CZODIAC.ANS splash screen is no longer needed. The DAT files are still the same, however, and may be used interchangeably with the newer version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - What is Chinese Zodiac? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese Zodiac is a BBS door (but it can be run locally also) that will work with any BBS that can support DOS doors and the following dropfile formats: The Magic Oracle is a BBS door (but it can be run locally also) that will work with any BBS that can support DOS doors and the following dropfile formats: DOOR.SYS (Telegard, Force!, New PCBoard, GAP, Synchronet) DORINFO#.DEF (QuickBBS, Remote Access, SuperBBS, RBBS) INFO.BBS (Phoenix BBS) CALLINFO.BBS (WildCat! BBS, Genesis, Force!) SFDOOR.DAT (SpitFire) CHAIN.TXT (WWIV, Telegard, Synchronet) PCBOARD.SYS (PCBoard 14+) DOBBS.BAT (FrontDoor - this is actually not a dropfile, but you could use this file to load a door before the BBS actually starts) If you have a dropfile format you'd like to see supported, please contact me and I'll see what I can do to help you! Some of the other features with The Magic Oracle: - ANSI.SYS not needed as the door has its internal ANSI routines - No FOSSIL driver needed (it will run with one just fine, but if there's not a FOSSIL driver present, it will use its own internal routines) - Multitasker aware (Windows, OS/2 DesqView, et al.) - Supports all comports - EASY CONFIGURATION (no configuration/control files needed!) This door has been tested under Maximus/2 v3.01 under OS/2 Warp 4.52. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 - How do I set it up? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thankfully, this is the easy part. Here's the fastest way to do it: 1) Create a directory to put TMO in and unarchive it there. 2) Type: ORACLE to try it out! Also, this will create the INDEX.DAT file for use (more on this file later). 3) Set it up in your BBS. I use batch files to run my doors, so we'll create a batch file called RUNTMO.BAT and put it in D:\MAX (my BBS's main directory): @echo off d: cd\doors\tmo oracle d:\max\node%1\door.sys cd\max\node%1 You can also just run it directly with that command line from within your BBS if you wish (but make sure to put the dropfile that you're using on the end explicitly). My setup in Maximus/2 (in MENUS.CTL): NoDsp Display_File misc\doorsys Normal "The Magic Oracle" Xtern_OS2 runtmo.bat_%k Normal "The Magic Oracle" (I use Xtern_OS2 since I run OS/2 - you can run Xtern_DOS also. If you run Maximus, don't forget to SILT the CTL files!) For a single node BBS, just put your node number in manually on the command line. It's pretty easy to set up in any BBS, I'd imagine. However, if you get stuck, check your BBS manual! 4) Enjoy. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 - Sysop-specific information ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) There are a few files that you should be aware of: - SIGNS.DAT : This text file holds the names of the actual signs. - 1-12.DAT : These text files contain the information about each sign. You can add more information in the files, but be aware that the screen may scroll if you put too much more information in them. 2) There are six sysop key combos you can use inside the door: * Alt H : Disconnects the caller and drops carrier * Alt X : Returns to the BBS without hanging up * Alt C : Enters chat mode * Alt J : Jumps to DOS (DOS Shell) * Alt + : Adds one minute to time remaining * Alt - : Subtracts one minute to time remaining 3) For Linux sysops: Chinese Zodiac uses all lowercase letters internally when dealing with files, et cetera. I don't know how well TMO will work under Linux with DOSEMU, but if it does, please contact me and let me know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 - Credits/Contacts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese Zodiac was written using QuickBASIC/PDS 7.1 using the Easy-Door v2.80 doorkit (http://www.vbsoft.org/ezdoor.php) under OS/2 Warp 4.52. The main executable was compressed using UPX (http://upx.sourceforge.net/). Credits: - Sandy Chiedster of Outworld Arts for permission to use part of one of her wonderful ANSI screens. (Sandy no longer does ANSI or RIP stuff, but you can get her stuff from the Web or from a BBS. My board carries Sandy's art.) - Daryl Stout and Patrick Vittori for testing this out on their systems. - My wife, Maura, for having patience with me as I sit here working on my doors and the BBS constantly. Contact: You can contact me via the following: - Netmail: 1:18/200@Fidonet (or search a recent Fidonet nodelist) - Email : sean@outpostbbs.net - WWW : http://outpostbbs.net - BBS : telnet://outpostbbs.darktech.org 423-926-0556 (2400-33.6k) I hope you enjoy using this door as much as I did creating it! You can find more doors, sysop utilities and other fun stuff at http://outpostbbs.net (click on the Cheepware link). If you like this door, please drop me a line and let me know. I like to know who's using my doors out there in the BBS world. Support your local BBS scene! --Sean Dennis Cheepware Author