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Text File | 1987-12-04 | 18KB | 462 lines

PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 4.0 PHOENIX CONFIG EXPLAINED This is a brief overview of the Phoenix Config program (CONFIG.COM). Config will allow you to set numerous variables to customize Phoenix to your system. Items not covered here are explained fully in the available help function inside Config. 4.1 SELECTION 5 EXPLAINED: 1. Modem CD Mask ----------------- This variable tells Phoenix where the Carrier Detect Bit [CD] is located on your modem. If you have one of the KNOWN supported modems listed in the Hardware Needs section, do not use this. First, try Phoenix without this option. Then, if it does not answer the phone when called, find out your CD MASK, and put it in. Phoenix defaults to 128, which is used on the more popular modems. 2. Daily time limit ------------------- This switch sets the Daily Time Limit for all callers. The default Daily Time Limit is 60 minutes. If a user uses all of his Daily Time Limit for a particular day, he will be logged off and will not be able to log back on that day. If a user has a 60 minute Daily Time Limit, he could sign on the system as many times as he wanted until the 60 minutes was used up, or until midnight had passed. 3. First time caller time limit ------------------------------- This sets the New Users First Day Time Limit. If you wish a new caller to have a lower time limit, then you can set that time with this switch. If you wish, you can set the New Users Caller Limit the same as the Logon Limit [see below] so a new user has the same amount of time as a veteran caller. The default is set to 30 minutes. 4. Per login time limit ----------------------- This variable sets the Time Limit per Logon. If the Daily Limit is set to 100 minutes, and the Logon Limit is set to 50 minutes, the user could use 2 full log-logons. This means a user can use 100 minutes that day, but only 50 minutes maximum for each logon. The Logon Time Limit defaults to 45 minutes. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 5. Daily Download K ------------------- This variable sets the amount (in thousands of bytes [K]) a user may download in one day. If he exceeds his limit, he will not be able to download any more files that day. The default is 1000 K. There is a way to change the download K of a person online (in case he had exceeded the limit, but for some reason you wished to let him download more that day). See FUNCTION KEYS for an explanation. 6. Allow Remote Drop to DOS --------------------------- This selection allows remote sysops to drop to DOS. By invoking this, a remote sysop can sign on his own system and, by entering a specific command, can then drop to DOS. This will not work locally (at the console). 7. Communications Port Number ----------------------------- This selection tells Phoenix which COM port to use. Currently available ports are COM1 and COM2. Simply tell Config a 1 or 2 designating which COM port your modem is running in. 8. Restricted System -------------------- This variable will set Phoenix to function as a RESTRICTED system. There are 3 options to set up a restricted system. Here is a list of the available options for this selection: 1 : First-Time Caller is forced to leave a comment and then is logged off. (but he can <A>bort it w/o leaving one). 2 : First-Time Caller is forced to fill out a Questionnaire and then he is logged off. 3 : Immediate log-off. The file RESTRICT.BBS is sent to him and he is disconnected. The caller is NOT entered into users.bbs with any of these options. It is your responsibility to enter him. In order to enter a user into the users.bbs while running in one of these restrictive modes, it is necessary to call Phoenix up with the 0 parameter (ex. C>Phoenix 0 ) this will DISABLE the restricted system, until Phoenix is reloaded. This is necessary for you to log on with the users name to enter him into the users.bbs. If you attempt to do this without the 0 parameter (and you are running one of the 3 types of restricted systems) you will not be allowed on just as if you were the user! PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 There is another way you may simulate a restricted system while allowing Phoenix to place him as a new user into the users.bbs. See the security level sensitive bulletins section in Chapter 12. 9. Mandatory Phone Number ------------------------- When this is activated, all users will be required to enter their phone number as a second password every time they log onto your system. A. Mandatory New Users Questionnaire ------------------------------------ Using this variable will force a first-time caller to fill-out a questionnaire before entering the system. The questionnaire file that will be called is also defined in Config. This is similar to option 2 of the restricted system, but when this is used the user is still entered into the users.bbs and he can continue to use the board after he fills out the questionnaire. B. Default New User Security Level ---------------------------------- This is the security level to be assigned to all new users the first time they call the system. This variable defaults to 5. Users will stay at this security level unless you change their security level. C. Deny 300 Baud Access ----------------------- If you wish to restrict your BBS to those with 1200 or higher baud modems, then set this variable to yes. When invoked, if a 300 baud user calls, he will be displayed a message stating that 300 baud is not allowed at this time, and if the file NO300.* is present, it will be dumped (following the .bbs/.clr naming system). D. Require Phone Number if not in Record ---------------------------------------- This variable will require all users who do not have a phone number listed in their user record to input their phone number during login. Once a phone number is present, the user will not be asked for his/her phone number again (unless you set it to null). PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 4.2 SELECTION 6 EXPLAINED: 1. Activate Quotes ------------------ Activates QUOTES.BBS. This file displays a different quote-for- the-day each time a user signs on. 2. Modem Type [0..3] -------------------- One of the toughest obstacles we have had to overcome is dealing with all the different modems. For this reason, we have had to make Phoenix flexible enough to work with a broad range of modems. This variable helps provide that flexibility. 0 - Answer by ring detect, determine baud by numeric result codes. 1 - Answer by ring detect, determine baud by C/R's. 2 - Answer by Carrier Detect, determine baud by Numeric result codes. 3 - Answer by Carrier Detect, determine baud by C/R's If you can't get your modem to respond correctly, tells us about your modem type, and we'll try to help! Note that with modem types 2 and 3 it is necessary to set your modem to Auto-Answer (whether through the S1 register or modem dip switches if available). With modem types 0 and 1 it is NOT necessary to do so as Phoenix answers the phone by itself. 3. Modem Initialize Baud ------------------------ Some modems require modem initialization at a higher baud rate than 300 (the default). If your modem is one of these, then place the baud rate necessary for successful operation here. For example, ARK modems must be initialized at 2400 baud to receive 2400 baud calls. ARK modem users should place a 2400 in this selection. 4. ANSI Available on System --------------------------- This variable will enable ANSI graphics on the system. It will ask the user if they want ANSI graphics after displaying PRELOG.BBS, and if they do Phoenix will display the .CLR files mentioned previously, and if not it will defalt to the .BBS files. Note that not all files have ANSI .CLR equivelents, only the ones marked with a .* extension. If you wish to have ANSI displayed on your console, you MUST be in full screen mode otherwise, you will see the escape codes and will not see the color changes, etc (the user will not be affected by this). PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 5. Upload Compensation ---------------------- This is the multiplier to be used for compensation for time spent uploading. For example, if set to 1, then for every minute a user spends uploading he is given 1 more minute to use on the system (in essence, no time is lost for uploading). If set to 2, then for every minute spent uploading, 2 more would be given, and so on. 6. Direct Screen Writes ----------------------- Normally, for speed, Phoenix uses direct hardware screen writes. Some lesser compatibles will not work correctly with direct screen addressing, and if a multitasking program like DOUBLEDOS or DESQVIEW is used so Phoenix runs in the background, direct screen writes will simply not do, because they know nothing of "dual memory partitions" and will over- write the information in your foreground screen. With this option, Phoenix will abandon direct screen writes in favor of the much slower but most compatible BIOS calls. 7. Upload to Download Ratio Warning ----------------------------------- This feature will warn the caller that their Download Ratio is Too High. If 5 is used, then callers will be warned when they have downloaded more than 5 files to everyone they uploaded. This must be on activated if you wish "RATIO.BBS" to be displayed after the warning. 8. Modem Carrier Wait (in seconds) ---------------------------------- This option allows you to tell Phoenix how long to wait after answering the phone for a carrier. Due to some delays in long distance calling, if you seem to be having trouble connecting to boards during Net mail then we recommend a value of 45 seconds (ma bell seems to be getting slower!). Be SURE to set your modem's register to the same value or else Phoenix will still be waiting while your modem resets. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 9. Upload to Download Ratio Lock -------------------------------- This feature will invoke Phoenix's Automatic Locking System. This number should be set higher than the warning ratio, but could be equal and used instead of it. This would simply mean that the caller will be denied downloads without previous warning until he uploads some files and satisfies the lock ratio (meaning his ratio is now lower than the lock ratio). It should be used as a companion switch to the warning ratio. When he is denied downloads, a message is placed into the callers log and the file LOCK.BBS is sent to him. This facility will lock a user from downloads REGARDLESS of his user level. You may wish to defeat this automatic facility for some users but not others. In that case, you should enter the user maintenance facility and change that user's record to reflect 10000 uploads (thats 10,000 WITHOUT the comma and there is NO reason to go higher than that! Phoenix will not handle numbers larger than 32767 in that field but 10000 will allow ample room for logging their uploads). You may remove a users lock status, but without changing his upload count or download count, he will be re-locked on entry to the files system. Removing the lock by changing the upload or download amount AND unlocking his record will re-instate him into the system's "good graces" and will stop the "thank you for the uploads" message from appearing (you will fool the system into thinking he has made uploads). A. Number of Minutes Before Forced Logoff ----------------------------------------- This variable will change Phoenix's default time of 5 minutes to whatever you enter. This is the time Phoenix will wait at a prompt with no input from the user until Phoenix logs him off with a no activity message. The time is entered in minutes. 4.3 OTHER CONFIG SELECTIONS There is an extensive help feature already in the Config program. Simply hit F1 at any option menu, and you will be in a windowed help mode for that set of options. The only options not covered by this help feature are selections 5 and 6, descibed above. A little more information is provided regarding the DSZ upload and download parameter strings. These are NOT necessary and are only available for your convenience. Phoenix already sends DSZ all of the necessary commands for complete file transfers (batch on download!) using Zmodem, Ymodem-Batch, and optionally Ymodem-G (if designated in Config). If you wish to enable hardware handshaking or increase the DSZ buffer, then input the proper commands into these strings. The only available commands are DSZ's handshake, pxN, and z pxN options. See your DSZ documentation for more information (provided in your Phoenix archive). PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 Users who are using COM2 and also wish to use DSZ MUST set the DSZPORT variable to 2. Information on this and other DSZ variables is provided in the DSZ documentation. One final note regarding DSZ. We at GeneSys would like to take this time to officially thank Chuck Forsberg for all of his time and effort in developing DSZ and Zmodem. We ask that all Phoenix Sysops utilizing the DSZ transfers register their copies of DSZ with Omen Technology, Inc. Information on registering DSZ is also in the DSZ documentation. 4.4 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS The only command line option used by Phoenix is the 0 parameter. When invoked, Phoenix will ignore any restriction level set (see section 4.1) until Phoenix is reloaded without the parameter. See section 4.1 for more information. 4.5 BATCH FILES It is advisable to use a batch file when running Phoenix. Here are some advantages: - If an error occurs, it will reset with a batch file - If there is an power outage, batch files could set up Phoenix again. Of course, batch files are not a MUST, but we recommend them. See sample P.BAT enclosed with your Phoenix archive. This is necessary if you wish to allow remote drop to DOS, since that is done by errorlevels. Again, see the P.BAT enclosed.