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C e l e r i t y
Version 1.42
Copyright 1990, 1992
The BBS of the Present - And Future
Written by Brendon Woirhaye and Dave Hicks
Celerity License Statement
This software and documentation are copyrighted products of Brendon Woirhaye
and David Hicks, and are protected by the United States copyright law and
International Treaty provisions.
Copies of Celerity BBS may be freely given to other individuals for
demonstration and distribution purposes only. Any sysop who wishes
to run Celerity BBS on their own system must receive a validation
utility from the authors.
Archival copies of the Celerity validation utility may be made by the
owner of a Celerity license for his personal use and protection only.
In no circumstances is a sysop to give a copy of his validation
utility to someone else. If the sysop does willingly release his
validation utility, or it gets out of his possession in any other way,
he will lose all rights to support and future updates of Celerity BBS.
Contents:
Section 1 What is Celerity?
1.1 General Description
1.2 List of major features
1.3 Distribution Policy
1.4 Hardware requirements
1.5 Required Extras
Section 2 Setting up Celerity Note: Must-Read!
2.1 Initial Setup
2.2 Preparation
2.3 Demonstration installation
2.4 New system installation
2.5 Upgrading to a new version
2.6 Running the SETUP program
2.7 Running Celerity from a RAMdisk
2.8 Running multiple BBS' on one phone line
Section 3 Running the BBS
3.1 Setting up subs / gfiles / xfer sections
3.2 The waiting for call screen
3.3 Online commands
3.4 Background Access Editor
3.5 Online Editing Tools
Section 4 Strategies for running a good board
4.1 Policies
4.2 Access Levels
4.3 Conference Arrangement
4.4 Advertising
Section 5 Technical Details
5.1 Batch file operation and command line parameters
Appendix A Running CONVUSER - upgrading to new versions
Appendix B Running PROTEDIT - editing xfer protocols
Appendix C Running CONVFILE - Converting file areas
Appendix D Setting up doors
Appendix E Configurable Status Screens - what they are, how to make them.
Appendix F CelerityNet conferencing - how to get it going.
Appendix G FidoNet compatibility
Appendix H Using a demonstration version of Celerity
Appendix I Multinode operation
Appendix J Sysop-definable text files
Appendix K CAE and CAE/TAC Mode
Appendix M QWK offline readers
Appendix N Running Celerity under DesqView
Appendix O Running Celerity under a Local Area Network
Appendix P Running Celerity under OS/2 2.0
Appendix Q Configurable menu scripting system
Appendix Z Celerity Credits and Acknowledgements
Section 1: What Is Celerity?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Description
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is a hobbyist-level BBS which attempts to combine the best
features of other software, the newest innovations in BBS technology,
introduce new and original concepts, and seamless integration of
highly configurable options. Celerity draws heavily from KauCom, an
old Apple program I wrote a number of years ago.
Over sixty third-party utilities exist for celerity, and others will
soon be released by various people who have been working on the Celerity
project. As they are finished and declaired bug- free, they will be
distributed.
List of features:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Celerity is capable of hosting a wide array of message and transfer areas.
-- Celerity supports 5 message conferences, with up to 40 message sub-areas
in each conference, for a total of 200 message areas.
-- Celerity supports 5 transfer conferences, with up to 999 sub-areas in
each conference, for a total of 4995 file areas.
-- Celerity is optimized for speed.
-- It takes advantage of 286 / 386 / 486 processors if present for quick
memory access.
-- It fully supports the 16550 buffered UART for greater efficiency.
-- Celerity is designed with high speed modems in mind. Particular support
has been given to 9600, 14400, 16800, and 22000 bps modems.
-- True high-speed DTE rates from 19200 to 115200bps. Get the maximum
performance your modem and serial card can handle.
-- Complete support for v.42/v.42bis HST modems.
-- Support for v.32/v.32bis HST dual standards
-- Sustained ZIP transfer speeds as high as 2080 cps using Zmodem.
-- Extensive code rewriting for speed and efficiency has been done to
older code.
-- FAT file move for incredible file management speed.
-- ANSI/Avatar display enhancement.
-- Internal ANSI driver to end reliance on slow DOS ANSI drivers,
which other many other BBS programs use.
-- Full support of Avatar/0+ specification, including character
repitition, cursor positioning, and color support.
-- Translation of ANSI display screens to avatar for improved speed.
-- Ability to disable color for even greater speed.
-- Celerity was designed with security in mind.
-- Users can be given or denied access to 5 xfer conferences and 5
message conferences. Access can be given to all new users, as users
are quick-validated, or manually at any time thereafter.
-- Users can be given or denied access to individual sub-boards, transfer
sections, or most features of the BBS on the basis of security level
or transfer security level.
-- Access to individual sub-boards in the message section can be toggled
in an easy-to-use full-screen display. Quickly grant and deny access
at the touch of a key.
-- With the menu scripting, access can further be discerned on the basis
of age, bps rate, xfer/message conference flags, sysop access flags,
security level, xfer level, and more.
-- Celerity is designed to make the sysop's life easy.
-- New users can be "Quick Validated" with one keystroke. No need to edit
each access flag unless you desire to.
-- Fully automated new user voting section, to allow your users to decide
who gets access and who doesn't. The sysop has veto power, of course.
-- The new user newscan quickly locates all new users awaiting validation.
-- New user voting section can be completely automated, at the sysop's
descretion.
-- New users can be required to upload an example of their newest software,
for examination by sysop and new user voting committee.
-- Complete user editing available while the user is online.
-- "Suggested Point Value" to make file validation quick and easy. Sysop
definable, of course.
-- Automatic ZIP commenting if desired.
-- Auto-Validate allows the sysop to have all uploads automatically cleared
for downloading as soon as they are uploaded.
-- Easy-to-use setup program.
-- A multitude of sysop-configurable options.
-- Complete control over infoform access, requirements, and text.
-- The most advanced and easy-to-use online sysop tools of any Forum
clone.
-- Celerity is one of the most fully configurable BBS programs available
-- Fully configurable logon shell. Shell commands can be added and removed
as the sysop desires, and each command is fully configurable. The shell
can exist as either a conventional menu-type shell, a dos-simulator
shell, a UNIX-simulator, an interactive lightbar shell, or even an external
sysop-developed shell. The shells are optional, of course, and can be disabled.
-- Configurable prompts. Every Celerity system can have its own distinctive
prompt if the sysop desires.
-- Fully configurable file listings. Each user can choose what file list
information he or she desires.
-- Configurable menu scripting. Celerity allows the sysop to redefine
which keys do what on any particular menu. Sysops can also change the
command descriptions, access requirements (including access
descrimination based on access levels, sysop access flags, age, bps
rate, and more), and even delete commands to tailor the BBS to his or
her particular needs.
-- Configurable login sequence, yet another Celerity first. The sysop can
choose which events will be engaged for the user, and in which order they
will occur. Celerity's login is no longer limited to internal static
events either - the login sequence can display external files and even
run external doors.
-- Celerity has the features you want and need.
-- Full conferencing. Celerity supports up to five entirely independent
message bases and transfer sections, ideal for support of multiple
computer types. Celerity conferences are more than just an access flag.
If you don't desire conferencing, it is a simple matter to turn it off.
-- Celerity will run on com ports 1-8, with fully configurable addresses,
inturrupts, and IRQ's. More flexibility than any other Forum clone.
-- File commission system. If the sysop desires, users will get file points
every time their upload is downloaded. You can even have it set up so
a user gets NO points for uploading, and only gets points when people
download his file. This way, users are not rewarded for uploading crap
that nobody wants, and users who upload good stuff are well rewarded for
their efforts.
-- CAE mode. Celerity once again brings a new revolution (or a very old
one, if you were familiar with the old AE's and Catfurs in the Apple
community years ago) to the PC modem world. See Appendix K for details.
-- QWK offline reader compatibility. See Appendix L.
-- NAPLPS graphic support. Celerity now supports NAPLPS graphics,
which are terminal-independent and resolution-independent.
Celerity currently allows NAPLPS welcome files, menus, and Art
Gallery submissions.
-- Celerity supports TRUE NETWORKING, not lame "Net-Mail" like early Forum
clones have. CelerityNet was the net which inspired the networks of
LSD, Vision, Havok, Silicosis, and others.
-- ONE call per day from your system transfers data to and from the entire
net.
-- If you miss a day, the network will still send all your messages.
-- Average Net Call time is 2-3 minutes, so its cheap. Extenders are
available.
-- Network Update service delivers recent Celerity updates to your system.
No need to call around and download them on your own time.
-- Many new and unique networking features to be added in the near future.
-- Dedicated network server. No longer do net BBS' have to contend
with regular BBS callers to make their net calls.
-- CelerityNet is supported by the greatest number of Forum-based
software, including the popular Silicosis, Cypher, Faq, ADI, Vision-X,
Oblivion/2, and Havok packages.
-- Celerity is compatible with Fido-type networks
-- Celerity supports Multi-node operation.
-- Using network cards or a multitasking operating system, Celerity can
support up to eight seperate nodes, possibly more in the future.
-- Celerity has been used extensively under DesqView, Windows, and OS/2
for multiple nodes on a single machine.
-- Celerity works like a charm under Novell Netware, Netware Lite, and
PowerLAN. Even under the fickle LanTastic, Celerity can run multiple
nodes.
-- Fully functional multinode chat to allow users to talk to each
other directly.
-- Celerity supports additional hardware for those who have it.
-- EGA/VGA card support. Celerity has full support for a 43 line (EGA) or
50 line (VGA) screen for the local display. Also works in the config.
-- SoundBlaster support. Celerity will ring out a digitized chat call for
sysops who own a SoundBlaster card. For those without SoundBlasters,
there is an option for digitized sound using the PC speaker, but it does
NOT sound too hot.
-- Mouse support. If you have a mouse, you may use it for easy access to
commands.
-- 16550 UART buffering.
Celerity has most of the new features FIRST. It has led the pack of
modern Forum based clones such as LSD, Silicosis, Havok, Vision-X,
Velocity, Vision, Magnum, ACS, and many others which have copied and
adapted features found in Celerity first, and continues to bring new
features for the others to copy.
Distribution Policy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is distributed via shareware, and requires a validation utility
to fully utilize the system. The validation utility can be acquired
from the authors directly. Please see the file called "SYSOP.REG" for
information on acquiring a validation utility and the current
registration fees.
Hardware Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity requires the following for operation:
IBM PC or AT compatible computer (XT through 486)
Hard disk drive with at _least_ 5 megs free, 10+ for BBS recommended
320k RAM minimum*
640k RAM recommended w/512k EMS.
* External modules, such as pkzip and dsz, will NOT run in 280k.
Required Extras
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity requires the use of a few other Shareware programs, or their
equivilent. These are listed below:
PKZIP and PKUNZIP archive utilities from PKWare. Most of Celerity's
archive manipulation is done in ZIP format because of its acceptance
as the standard archive format. These files can be obtained on most
BBS'.
DSZ from Omen Technologies. DSZ is an external transfer protocol
program which supports a whole slew of transfer protocols, including
Xmodem, Ymodem, YmodemG, and Zmodem. Although other external protocols
can be used, DSZ is recommended as the standard. Feel free to add
additional DSZ-Log compatible protocols like GSZ, TASY, SZModem,
HS/Link, and Lynx.
HS/Link is required for bidirectional transfers.
Other archive programs like PAK, ARC, ZOO, ARJ, Teledisk, DDD, and
LHARC are also supported (for archive viewing) by Celerity if the
sysop owns these utilities.
QEDIT is the external editor of choice for Celerity, although any
external text editor may be used with equal efficiency, such as DOS
5.0's EDIT, or even EDLIN.
For the ANSI editor, I recommend TheDraw, which is an excellent editor
for the editing and creation of nice ANSI screens.
Section 2: Setting Up Celerity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sysops setting up Celerity for the first time should read this file IN
ITS ENTIRETY, and they will find a lot of their questions answered. When
they configure the BBS via the SETUP.EXE utility, they should read the
SETUP.DOC file. As this is not commercial software, I should not be
responsible to hold your hand through each step of the installation when
the doc file gives you all the needed info. It is important to read the
appendices as well, as they contains a lot of useful information
relating to specific topics. The revision history (REVISION.DOC) is
also a must-read and will explain many features of the BBS not covered
here.
If you are moving up from another Forum-type system, such as Emulex,
LSD, ACS, USSR, Oblivion/2, Havok, Vision, Vision-X, Cypher, Velocity,
etc., you will find the overall feel to be much the same, and pick up
the commands quite quickly. If you are moving from a WWIV or Telegard,
things will be little different from what you are used to.
If you have never run a BBS, I would recommend that you start out
slowly. Celerity is highly automated and easy for an experienced sysop
to run, but it is NOT a simple piece of software, and can cause great
frustration to inexperienced sysops if they set up too much too soon.
Initial Setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With version 1.42, Celerity is shipped in multiple official distribution
archives. They will always be named "CELver??.ZIP" (or .LZH or .ARJ),
where 'ver' is the version number (CEL142.ZIP is version 1.42, for
example).
The main distribution archive contains the following files:
INSTALL .EXE - Menu driven installation program for Celerity
CELverA .ZIP - New files for version upgrade
CELverB .ZIP - Support files for new Celerity systems
CELverD .ZIP - Files needed for the demonstration version.
CELverx .ZIP - Menu set #x
PACKING .LST - File containing information about other files in the zip.
FEATURES.ANS - ANSI feature list for the current version
A complete and up-to-date listing of the archive's contents if found
in the PACKING.LST file.
The INSTALL.EXE program should be run when you install a new Celerity
system, install the demonstration, upgrade from the previous version,
or if you change your menu set. INSTALL.EXE expects to find
PKUNZIP.EXE in your path.
There are other official Celerity distribution archives other than
CELver.ZIP. These include (but may not be limited to) the following:
CELverXT.ZIP: Versions of Celerity .EXE and .OVR files for 8088/8086 machines.
CELverFS.ZIP: Version of Celerity BBS which uses a FOSSIL driver for i/o.
CELverSP.ZIP: Menu/sound/NAPLPS supplement containing additional menus.
CELverUT.ZIP: Utility package including converters, programmer's
toolkit, and many third-party Celerity utilities.
New and old users alike should read through the REVISION.DOC file to
gain some familiarity with the timeline of Celerity's development, and
discover some features which might not be covered in the manual.
Upgrading users should read the README.ver file which includes any
changes from the previous version. Everyone should be familiar with
the documentation file.
Preparation
~~~~~~~~~~~
Before you begin, you should locate the following programs and
utilities: PKZIP.EXE, PKUNZIP.EXE (both by PKWare), and DSZ.COM (by
Omen Technologies). Place these files in your BBS directory (specified
in the setup program). If you do not have registered copies of these
programs, please acquire copies from most any BBS and register them.
Demo Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Release versions of Celerity BBS are always packaged with a
demonstration version so that perspective sysops can set up the
software and get a feel for it before they buy. The only differences
between a registered and a non-registered version are that a
non-registered system has a limit of 10 users and forces a sysop
name of "Abdul Clamwacker".
To install the demo, run INSTALL.EXE and select "Demo Install" from
the menu. Installation of the demonstration version requires
approximately two megabytes of free space. Select one of the menu
sets from the list when prompted. At the current time, the demo can
only be installed correctly to the C:\CELERITY path, although you can
use the DOS SUBST or ASSIGN command to install it elsewhere. If you
install the demo to a path other than c:\celerity, you will have to
change the pathnames in SETUP.EXE for the demo to function properly.
Once you have completed the installation by INSTALL.EXE, you should
exit and switch to the demo directory. There, type "MAIN" to run the
BBS. In a moment you should be presented with the wait for call (or
WFC) screen. Pressing F10 will initiate a local log on. The demo
initially has the lightbar logon shell selected, so you should now
look through the available options (the arrow keys may be used to
move from option to option, and [ENTER] to select) and choose the
"Logon to Celerity Demo".
After the introduction screen, type "Sysop" as the user name. After a
moment, a prompt for your password will come up. Also appearing on
the local screen will be a blow up box telling who the user is and
what their password is - so you can tell easily what password to use -
"HST" in this case. Type it in, and you are on the system!
The first time you log on with the new account, you will be prompted
for your real name, birth date, age, sex, and phone number. You will
then get to fill out an information script. If any of these fields
are blank, users will be required to fill them out on their next call.
In the case of the default sysop password - "HST", you will also be
asked for a permanent password.
Now you will be in the system proper. Feel free to move around and
experiment. You will find some email waiting to be read, a few
messages in the message section, and some files in the transfer area.
Press Alt-H to get a list of local console commands. Any of these can
be used while you or a user is online. The demo BBS is rather sparse,
of course, because it lacks the activity and fullness of a completely
set up system.
Once you become somewhat familiar with the options and various
sections of the system, exit the software and run the SETUP.EXE
utility, and begin modifying some of the options you find. Don't
change too many things without first viewing their effects. Set up
your serial and modem information in SETUP.EXE, and have a friend or
two call your system to check it out. If you like what you see, run
SETUP.EXE and fill out the registration form!
If you would like to see a high volume system running Celerity, feel
free to call the Celerity support BBS at 310-693-9405 (2400 v.22,
9600-14.4kbps v.32, 9600-16.8kbps HST). First-time users can access
most of the features which are enabled on this BBS, although it is set
up as a stock Celerity system with many features under utilized.
New System Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have registered Celerity, or plan to do so, you can install a
fresh copy of Celerity by selecting the "Install New System" option
from the menu. You will be prompted for the path to install to, and
later for your desired menu set. Once everything has been installed,
exit the INSTALL.EXE and switch to your new Celerity node directory.
Run the SETUP.EXE utility, and set up all the options you need. Read
the SETUP.DOC file for detailed information on the various options and
what they do. If you have not yet gotten a validation utility
(VALIDATE.EXE), insert "Abdul Clamwacker" as the sysop name to run
Celerity in demo mode. If you do have a validate.exe, enter your
sysop handle exactly as you registered it as. Exit SETUP.EXE.
When you run MAIN.BAT the first time, Celerity will probably create a
few directories which don't exist. If you run into problems here,
enter SETUP.EXE again and verify your directory locations.
When the WFC (wait for call) screen appears, type F10 to log on
locally. A default sysop account will be created for you, but it
won't be set up with the proper access and preferences you desire.
Once you log on, you will be prompted for your real name, sex, phone
number, age, birthdate, and a new password. You will also be asked to
fill out any information scripts you have defined. Once these tasks
have been completed, type F5 and enter the user editor. Set all the
sysop access flags and conference access flags and the like.
The next step is to enter the user configuration section - K from the
main menu. Select your display preferences, option toggles, and the
like. Once you complete this, you should set up your sub boards and
transfer sections so your system has something for users to do. See
the section below on setting up these sections.
Upgrading
~~~~~~~~~
To upgrade to a newer version of Celerity, run the INSTALL.EXE program
and select the upgrade option from the menu. INSTALL will ask for
the path to your BBS directory and will unpack the new files over the
old ones. If there are conversions which need to be done, you will be
informed that they are taking place.
By all means MAKE A BACKUP of all your BBS program and data files
before you upgrade! The install program will not screw anything up,
but user error often does. Don't take the risk.
Running SETUP.EXE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The SETUP.EXE program is used to set up all the information about your
system and BBS that Celerity needs. It will allow you to enable and
disable features, adjust parameters, define your hardware, and more.
Please see the SETUP.DOC file for detailed information on each dialog
of the setup process.
Running Celerity from a RAMdisk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is quick, but can be made even quicker if parts of it are
contained on a RAMdisk. Observe the following list of Celerity
directories which can be run from a RAMdisk, and the APPROXIMATE
requirements for each directory:
Node Directory : Requires 800-1000k. Having a node directory on a
RAMdisk makes the loading of the board and seperate segments
(which are loaded from the overlay file) much quicker. This
will permit maximum speed when switching from section to
section, and make the activity log auditing nearly
instantaneous. The size can be reduced by not copying the
setup.exe, documentation, and other files.
BBS Directory : Requires 2000-3000k. This directory will greatly
increase the speed at which users are looked up when sending
email, logging on, or when awarding download commissions.
Post-downloading accounting is also sped up.
Menu Directory : Requires 50k to 150k. The only use of placing the
files from this directory in a RAMdisk is quicker menu display
lookup and speed. If you have no non-ANSI users, the .ASC
menus.
Data Directory : Requires 500k to 3 megs. The requirements of the
data directory will vary depending on the number of transfer
areas you have, the number of files in each area, and the
number of subs you have. Buffering this directory from a
RAMdisk will provide the most noticable speed increase, found
when people list files, read posts, upload or download, read or
send mail, or just about anything.
Text Directory : Requires 10k to 50k. This will slightly increase
the speed at which canned text files (new user messages, info-
scripts, etc.).
Message Directory: Requires 5 to 15 megs. Although this directory may
easily be buffered with a new system, the message data files
can grow to over 5 megabytes each, eating up a LOT of space.
In an upcoming version of the software, the storage methods
will be changed and ultimately save a lot of space, but at the
moment, only the greatest RAMdisks can handle this directory.
Temporary Directory: Do Not Buffer. The temporary directory must have
enough room to store the largest batch upload a user will ever
make - plus additional space as large as the largest file
uploaded. If the largest batch upload were ten 100k files,
an 1100k directory would be sufficient, but that is
unrealistic. When a user uploads six 1 meg files to a 1100k
RAMdisk, he is bound to be angry.
Other directories may also be from a RAMdisk.
When using a RAMdisk, particularly directories which will be updated
from time to time, it is a good idea to have the files automatically
backed up to a hard drive between calls. An easy way to do this is to
add a line in your main.bat file:
xcopy f:\celerity\*.* c:\celerity /s /m
This will copy all files from a RAMdisk (f:) to a hard drive (c:) in
the "celerity" directory. The /s parameter tells Xcopy to copy all
subdirectories (celerity\data, celerity\menus, etc.), and /m checks
for archive bits to be set. If you xcopy all the files to buffer to
the RAMdisk, the archive bits will be cleared, and thus all the files
would be automatically copied back to the hard drive when main.bat is
first run. On subsequent runs, such as when the board is put back up
after a user has logged off, only the files which have been changed
will be copied. Do not trust a RAMdisk to hold data for weeks at a
time, and backing up after every call is generally a safe bet.
Lastly, keep an eye on the space free on your RAMdisk. Any of the
directories above shouldn't change size rapidly, but may eventually
get larger and cause problems if they fill up.
Running Multiple BBS'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Through the logon shell, Celerity can be configured to give users a
selection of up to three different BBS' to enter when they connect.
These seperate BBS' can be entirely independent and run different
software, have different file and message areas, and even have
radically different purposes. Some systems have used the second or
third system slots for another BBS program (particularly to give users
a period of transition where they can call either), run a company support
board or shareware support board in addition to their hobby system,
run an online game environment (such as The Time of Chaos) or smaller
door, or run a Remote Access / Carbon Copy link to enable the sysop to
take remote control of the BBS computer.
To set up such an additional system, you should install the bbs /
gaming environment / door / remote link / whatever in the normal
manner in a seperate subdirectory. The next step is to check your
MAIN.BAT file in your node directory, and ensure that there are
errorlevel hooks for 122 or 123. These hooks should call a batch file
(the default is sys2.bat for the 122 error and sys3.bat for the 123
error) which will change to the other program's directory, run the
program, switch back to the node directory, and run main.bat again.
The other software should be set to connect when it detects a carrier
and NOT wait for an incoming call (because a user will already be
online when it is run), and to exit back to dos when the session ends.
If you use a high speed modem with a locked DTE rate, you should set
the other software up to expect a connection AT THAT DTE rate, or pass
the DTE rate to it when run.
If you run Celerity as a second or third system, an example sys2.bat
batch file would look like:
c:
cd \system2
celerity.exe EXIT
cd \celerity\node1
main
The "EXIT" command line parameter for Celerity.exe instructs the
program to exit back to dos if there is no carrier present when it
starts, thus if a user drops carrier while the second system is
loading, it won't sit in the WFC screen waiting for callers there.
The last step is to run SETUP.EXE, and look in the system options
dialog (to define a description for the second and third systems) and
then go to the login commands section to enter the commands for the
additional systems. Note that if you do not use the lightbar logon
shell, you can "hide" the commands for the additional systems by
writing alternate shell menu files "Shell.?" (see Appendix J below).
The most common problem people have is that the second system does not
identify the incoming call correctly. Usually this is because the DTE
rate is not matched by the second system. For example, Celerity is
set up to use a USRobotics Courier Dual Standard modem with a DTE rate
of 38400 bps. The second system, however, is configured to expect a
DTE rate of 19800 bps, and thus gives the user garbage.
Section 3: Running the BBS itself
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you first put up the board, there will be a couple of things
you will need to do after configuring to get everything ready for
callers. Go ahead and log on locally with the F10 key. I suggest you
set the "Sysop Auto-Login" prompt in the CONFIG to OFF for the
duration, so you can get used to the Celerity shell and how it
operates. Log on to system 1 and enter '1' when prompted for a user
#. Your password is HST. You will probably be asked to fill out your
infoform, so go ahead and do that or skip it. When you get to the
main menu, press '+' to change your password. Come up with something
you don't use elsewhere, as it is imperative that you do not allow
anyone else to enter the BBS using your password, as that can be very
destructive. After changing your password, hit 'K' to go to the user
configuration section. Set the board up as you would like it for your
account.
After you've finished playing with the defaults and password, you'll
need to set up the file areas, and message bases. Press 'M' from the
main menu (or 'B' if you use the Alacrity structure) to get to the
message bases. You'll be asked for the conference to join, go ahead and
say '1'. Celerity will tell you that it can't find a message base, and
would like to create one. Go ahead and provide the information it
wants. You will set up your first sub here.
When setting up a sub-board, you will be asked for a bunch of data:
Board Name/Number: This is what a user must type to enter the sub. Usually
you will use a number to access the sub, although you may
decide to use a short name like TALK, SALE, or SOFTWARE in
some cases.
Board Name : This is the subs real name, such as "CelerityNet Talk", or
"For Sale" or "General Access".
Sponsor : The cosysop for the individual sub may be entered here.
Usually the sysop himself will take this role, although you
may appoint others to run a sub if you desire.
Access Level : Users must be of this level or above to access the sub. If
you change their personal access flag, this may be circum-
vented for special cases.
Autodelete After : This value is the total number of posts allowed on the sub.
When this number is exceeded, the 2nd post on the sub will
be removed to make room for new posts.
CelerityNet ID : This is used for the CelerityNet network. See Appendix H
for details. Enter a 0 for a local (non-networked) sub.
FidoNet Path : This will be used for FidoNet compatibility. Appendix G
Anonymous Posts : Set this to YES if you would like to allow users to post
without leaving their handle. Be careful with this.
Dataname Path : To be used in the future.
The sub will then build all of its files and return you to the sub menu.
When you've finished with the first sub, say "A2" or "ASale" or whatever to go
to the next sub you want in this conference. Provide the information about
each sub you wish to add.
When you have entered all the subs for conference #1, go on to the rest of the
conferences (if any) and follow the above steps.
The second task is to set up your xfer section. Enter the xfers, and you will
be prompted to create the first area of the conference. A bit of information
will be requested:
Area Name What do you want the area to be called? Uploads? Doors?
Access Level What xfer level do users need to enter the volume
Sponsor Usually the sysop, but this can be used to allow a regular
user sysop access for the individual section.
Upload Should users be allowed to upload to this area?
Download Should users be allowed to download from this area?
Path The pathname of the directory where uploaded files are to
be stored
Data File This is the pathname of the data file. It is suggested that
you give it the full pathname of your data directory, plus a
filename which will allow it to be easily recognized. The
automatic selection makes a filename called AREAn.x, where n
is the area number, and x is the conference number. This
method can cause problems if you move areas around.
Slow Drive If the area is to be on an optical drive, network drive, or
some other slow media, turning this toggle on will speed up
use of the volume.
Go through and add all of the sections for each conference. Once you
have done that, run any conversion programs (see Appendix C below) if
you are converting from other software.
The next task is to set up your gfiles section. Go in and create it,
and use the % command to get into the Gfiles sysop area if you want to
delete areas or sort them or whatever. There is only one gfiles
section, which spans all of the conferences, so you won't have a
seperate section for each conference like you do with the xfers and
message bases. You can add additional sections in the same manner as
in the xfer section, by logging the non-existant area. The Gfiles
section is otherwise identical to a transfer conference.
If you wish to create a doors section, see Appendix D below.
Waiting Screen: When the BBS is waiting for a call, you will get a complete
display of various statistics and the like. At the top left
you will see the version number of Celerity, followed by your
board's name, followed by your personal serial number.
Immediately below this is a glowing "thermometer" bar,
which is an indication of space used on the drive. If it is
small, your drive(s) are nearly empty. If it has grown large,
then you may want to clean out some older files. This permits
the sysop to determine how much space is free at a glace, which
can be quite helpful for sysops who don't log onto their board
every day, or those with small hard drives.
The box below that holds various system statistics, which are
pretty self-explanatory, so I won't insult your intelligence and
describe them. Every few seconds, the information box
will scroll to display additional info.
On the left below the statistics box is a box which shows the
last caller to the BBS and help keys.
At the lower right side of the screen is a statistic box
showing the status of timed events (CelerityNet call, auto-
backup, and batch event), a clock, the amount of free
storage space, chat status, and modem status. If you press
Alt-H, this box will be replaced with the main command box,
or help screen. The commands are as follows:
F1 will force a network call if you are on the CelerityNet
network. Be sure to have node # and node password before
attempting to net.
Alt-F1 will process any posts in the network directory, and can
be helpful if something goes wrong in the net.
F2 exits from the BBS. Simple.
F3 will force the modem to send a carrier. It is suggested that
you let people connect by calling in, but if you need to send
a carrier, this is how you can do it.
F4 performs an "instant login" for the sysop. The sysop is
immediately deposited at the main command prompt without having
to enter passwords, read mail, and other time-consuming
options.
F5 will enter the Online Editing Tools. See section 3.4 for
more information regarding these.
F6 will run a user-defined external program. This program is
set up as a batch file called DEFINE.BAT, although you can
change this to anything you want. Look in the MAIN.BAT file
which manages the BBS under the label :userdefine for the text
to change. Put your word processor, viris scammer, or
whatever you want here.
F7 will run the user-defined terminal program. Similiar to F6
above, this must be set up in the MAIN.BAT file under the label
:terminal.
F8 will take the phone off hook so users calling will get a busy
signal. This resets after a few minutes.
F9 brings you into the Wait For Call options menu. This allows
a sysop to read mail, edit users, view lists of recent calls,
recent uploads, and recent downloads, view the sysop and error
logs, and more.
F10 logs on locally. If you've got the "Auto-login" option set
in CONFIG, then account #1 will automatically log on. If not,
you will be thrown into the shell or main menu, depending on
whether or not you have a shell.
Alt-F10 will automatically log the sysop in, regardless of the
"Auto-login" option setting.
Alt-A will toggle the sysop availability status.
Alt-H will toggle the help screen on and off.
Alt-D will drop into DOS. Typing EXIT returns to the WFC.
On the left side below the last caller/free storage box is the
system messages box. The top lines specify the modem driver
being used (internal or FOSSIL) and the UART type detected.
Further down in this box is the name of the sysop the copy of
Celerity is registered to. Again, to keep people from giving
copies of this to everyone they know.
Occasionally a message will appear in this box explaining some
problem or marginal situation which may need your attention.
Other messages which may appear include the detection of a
mouse, a warning to upgrade to a new version of Celerity, or
indication that you are running a beta version of the program.
Online Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are a number of keys which can be used when a user is online. By
pressing the Alt-H key, you can toggle through three help screens detailing
every command. Some which need some clarification are outlined below.
F1: Enter split-screen chat mode. This splits the screen horizontally,
giving the user the bottom ten lines and the sysop the top. Many people
prefer this mode as both people can type at the same time, but it can be
slow for 2400 users, and most terminal scrollback functions will not work
with it.
F2: This is not used for a Celerity function. Refer to the Alacrity.doc
F3: Hang up on user. This drops the line on the user quickly and cleanly.
F4: Enter line chat mode. This is a "normal" chat. Quick, speedy, and works
with terminal scrollback.
F5: Enter the Online Tools. See below.
F6: Grant sysop access to user (temporarily).
F7: When you hit this, the system will not reset when the user logs off.
Using this command, a patient sysop can reserve the system without
kicking a user off. Celerity will make some noise when the system is
free.
F8: Time lock. User's time will not decrement.
F9: Lock incoming data from modem. The user will not be able to type.
F10: Lock outgoing data. The user won't be able to see anything.
Alt-A: Toggles sysop availability.
Alt-B: Refresh bottom of screen data display.
Alt-D: Drop to DOS.
Alt-H: Toggle through 3 help screens. The user can continue to use the system
while you are using help.
Alt-K: Take all time away from user (hang up saying "out of time").
Alt-T: Give the user temporary sysop status.
Alt-S: Display quick user status.
Background Access Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alt = : Alt-Equals enters the background access editor. This
brings up a data screen and allows to adjust the access of
the online user while he continues to use the system,
oblivious of your actions.
Alt F1-F5 : Give access to conferences #1 to #5.
Alt F6-F10 : Give access to xfer conference #1 to #5.
Ctrl F1-F5 : Remove access to conferences #1 to #5.
Ctrl F6-F10 : Remove access to xfer conferences #1 to #5.
The following commands can be augmented with the Ctrl key, which will give ten
times the normal addition/subtraction (ie: Ctrl-Home gives ten file points).
Left Arrow : Remove 1 minute of time.
Right Arrow : Grant 1 minute of time.
Home : Give one file point.
End : Remove one file point.
Insert : Add one access level.
Delete : Remove one access level.
Page Up : Add one Xfer level.
Page Down : Remove one xfer level.
Online Editing Tools
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Online Editing Tools provide the sysop with a powerful set of utilities
which may be used when a user or sysop is online, or from the WFC screen.
When you press F5, the menu will appear. You may select options from this
menu in three ways: Moving the light bar with the cursor control keys and
pressing [Enter] on the desired option, moving the light bar with your mouse
and clicking on the desired option, or by pressing the highlighted key for the
desired option. Options currently available include the following:
User Editor: Allows you to edit most of the statistics and access for the
online user. Move from option to option with the cursor keys or Enter key.
Delete User: Provides for deletion of the online user if they turn out to be
a real jerk or for whatever reason.
Hang Up: Log the currently online user off.
Run Setup: Links the Setup program to allow you to change functions of your
system's setup. This will not function if you are short on memory.
Text Editor: Links your external text editor, as set up in the config. A good
example is Qedit.
ANSI Editor: Links another external editor, usually for the editing of ANSI
files such as menus. TheDraw is a good example of an ANSI editor.
Load another User: Loads in a user and allows the sysop to edit his/her
statistics. This command will bring up a pick list of all the available
users, sorted alphabetically by name. You can enter the user's name or
number, or use the scroll bar to select.
Exit: Return to the point you were before calling the tools.
Strategies for Running a Good Board Section 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Running a BBS is not an easy job, and running a high quality board
which commands respect is downright difficult. Here are a couple of
suggestions to help you run a quality system.
[Policies]
Sit down and determine the policies your board will have. If you have
concrete policies that the users can be aware of, they will be much
more cooperative and your system will appear to be much more stable
and well run. Some policies which you should consider:
1: Local callers.
Local callers have often been called the bane of a quality
BBS because of the assumption that "good users will call long distance for
good boards. Local callers will take whatever they can find". In many
cases, this has been proven to be true. In general, users who call long
distance are of a higher quality than those who only call local systems.
However, there may be high quality local users you will miss out on if you
flat out refuse all locals.
Different policies you may take would be:
a. Acceptance of all users, local or not.
b. Acceptance of local users providing they call out-of-state boards
c. Acceptance of only a few local users. Use of the LUL (Local User
Lockout) feature of Celerity will allow you to set a percentage of
local users who are allowed on the system.
d. Flat out refusal of all locals.
e. Acceptance of local users if they have a password found only on out-
of-state systems.
Decide what your policy is going to be, and stick to it. Do not change it
every day, and let your users know when you are changing it.
2: Slow callers.
Nobody can argue that 300 bps users should be permitted to have full access
to any bulletin board system, but in recent years, with the advent of high
speed modems, these restrictions have been extended to 1200 and 2400 users
as well. In general, a 1200 or 2400 bps user can contribute just as much
to sub-board activity as a 9600 or 14.4k user can, but will not be able to
transfer nearly as much data in the transfer sections.
9600/14400/16800-Only systems: When I put up my IBM board for the first
time, in late 1989, there were NO 9600 only boards in the United States,
and many users said I was crazy to have such strict requirements of my
callers. I stuck with the 9600/14.4k only policy, and my board has become
quite successful and currently has over 200 quality HST users, and many
hundreds of HST users who had been denied access. These days, more and
more boards are following my system's lead (although many don't realize
it) and establishing a high-speed-only policy.
Some policies you might consider would include:
a. Accepting all 1200/2400 users.
b. Accepting only the highest quality slow users.
c. Accepting only slow users who are in pirate groups
d. Accepting only out-of-state slow users.
e. Accepting only a small percentage of slow users.
f. Accepting slow users if they give a donation.
g. Accepting slow users, but deny transfer privileges.
h. Turning down all slow users, regardless of qualifications.
i. Accepting slow users for only a certain period of time, such as when
the board first opens.
Selecting your low speed policy can be difficult. If it is too restrictive
if can hinder early development of the system. If it is too liberal, it
can make your system far too busy to get the attention of high speed users
and reduce the amount of new programs uploaded.
In the future, even "high speed" 9600bps may be considered slow with the
wide availability of 14400, 16800, and greater modems.
3: Access requirements.
Many boards will accept anyone who calls. Others are more selective as to
whom they validate. This policy can be a key factor in determining the
quality of your system. Some factors many systems consider when deciding
to accept or deny a user include the following:
a. Speed and location factors, as determined by the above policies.
b. How soon does the user get new programs. You may make a distinction
between games and utilities/applications users.
c. Is the user willing to donate funds/hardware for the upkeep and the
improvement of the BBS?
d. Will the user bring a certain amount of respect to the system (ie: is
the user a major figure in the BBS community)
e. Is the user on other quality systems around the nation?
f. Does the user have good references?
One highly effective way of keeping poor users off your system is to get a
group of highly selective individuals as your new user voting panel (ie:
users with a high enough level to vote), and have them determine whether or
not to accept a user. When you have a number of users voting, the chances
of some of them knowing a user you may not know are improved greatly.
4: Conduct.
Rules of conduct are usually very important in determining the quality of
a BBS. Do you want to allow "rag wares" on your system? They will appeal
to a younger audience, but will turn off your more mature users. Do you
care if users post on the wrong subs? How old can a program be and still
be a wanted upload? Do you accept non-game uploads?
There are a number of small aspects you will want to define and usually
post so users are aware of them. If you enforce them, your good users will
abide by them and help enforce them themselves.
5: Voice Validation.
If you are going to voice validate users, you should let them know that you
may do so. Many sysops will ask, in an info-form, whether a user will
accept a collect phone call, and the best time to call. Voice-validating
is a good way to know that you have SOME accurate information about a user,
and he/she can be contacted if necessary.
[Access Levels]
Be consistant with your access granting. Grant new users a certain level, and
upgrade their access when they prove to be good users. Be very careful when
making a cosysop, and be sure you know that user well. Many boards have gone
down because of sabotage done by a cosysop, and many MANY boards have had their
security compromised when a cosysop downloads the userlist and passwords.
Do not give rediculous access levels. Celerity supports access levels of -5 to
100. A negative access level will delete the user the next time they call.
-1 Deletes the user.
-2 Gives the user the system 2 password and deletes him.
-3 Gives the user the system 3 password and deletes him.
-4 Tells the user he was deleted under "special circumstances" and displays
the "SPECCIRC.BBS" file in the menu directory.
-5 Tells the user what the results of the new user voting on him were, and
deletes the user.
Level 100 is sysop level. Do not make levels over 100.
[Conference Arrangement]
As you may have read, Celerity supports up to five entirely seperate
conferences, each one is much like a BBS to itself, possessing an individual
transfer section and set of sub boards. Sysops may use conferences for
different reasons, but most often they are used to restrict access on a very
general level. Some setups I have seen include:
1: One conference is for general access. All non-computer-specific data,
such as subs on entertainment, music, politics, literature, and the like
stay here. The second conference is for IBM users, and contains all IBM-
specific subs and transfers. The third conference is for some other
computer type.
2: The first conference is general subs and transfers. The second is for
out-of-state users, the third is for locals.
3: Add seperate conferences for certain groups your board may cater to.
The possibilities are endless. Experiment and decide what you want
and need.
[Advertising]
Advertising is a sticky subject. A couple points to remember are:
1: Advertise to your proposed audience. If you don't want any locals, don't
post ads on local boards, and advertise only on out of state systems. The
locals who may be quality users will eventually find out by calling those
other systems. If you don't want slow users, don't post on boards which
cater to them. Posting only on 9600 only boards is quite feasible in this
day and age. Post only on boards which have users of the quality you would
like.
2: Do not over-advertise. Nobody will call a board which makes them sick with
too many ads. Don't always use the same ad either, but vary the ads and
use new ones from time to time. Users will abort any ad they recognize.
3: Never, NEVER, send mass-mail advertising your system. Doing so will most
likely piss off the sysop of the board you are on, and in addition, no
decent user will call a board he has gotten a mass mail invitation to. If
there are a few users you would like, you can try sending them each a peice
of individual mail, but mass mail is sure trouble.
4: Make a nice looking ANSI ad. There are a few ANSI specialist groups, such
as ACiD and A.A.A. who will design ads for people (like myself) who have
absolutely no ANSI talent. When you post it on a forum clone system, be
sure that you have it saved in 79-column mode, not unlimited length.
5: Dumb BBS ads in ZIPs. Don't do it. The proliferation of these ads has
gotten way out of hand, and nobody looks at them anymore anyway.
Technical Details Section 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Various technical details not covered elsewhere will be covered here.
[Batch file operation]
Celerity is run from a batch file. This batch file should loop in on itself
to keep the system running if it is the only system. See the example
"main.bat" file for an example. Celerity will return with the following
errorlevels for certain conditions:
125: Run terminal program
124: Run sysop-defined event
123: Run system 3
122: Run system 2
100: Exit bbs (don't re-run batch file)
67: Run the SETUP.EXE program
66: Run the PROTED.EXE program
50: Exit BBS
[Command Line Parameters]
A number of Celerity functions can be called from the DOS command line, to
facilitate using its features from another program which calls Celerity.
The commands refer to the first parameter, although some may take additional
parameters.
Celerity exit ; This command will cause Celerity to exit if there is no
carrier present, rather than go to the WFC.
Celerity net ; Make a CelerityNet call if such a call has not yet been
made today.
Celerity forcenet ; Force a CelerityNet call, whether or not it has been made
that day.
Celerity toss ; Toss any non-local, non-sent .msg files in FidoNet
directories.
Celerity link d b ; Load up Celerity at DTE rate d and bps rate b
Celerity load d u ; Load up Celerity at DTE rate d and load user #u
Celerity Noverify ; Load up Celerity without full system verification
Appendix A: Running CONVUSER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All internal user conversions are handled by the install program. If
you need to convert from another software package, examine the
contents of the CONVERT.ZIP in your utilities directory.
Appendix B: Running PROTEDIT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROTEDIT.EXE is a program which allows you to set up your protocol files in a
format that the BBS can read. You will be prompted for the letter to use the
protocol, the protocol's file name (ie: dsz.com), a description of the protocol,
and a command line. The command line can use four switches which are passed
from Celerity, which are as follows:
%1 - COM port number
%2 - COM speed value (note: low-speed callers will still have data sent at the
fixed DTE rate when using an HST)
%3 - The filename to be sent. Precede with an AT sign (@) for batch
%4 - The average/estimated CPS, for time estimates
If you get a "Permission Denied" error when trying to download, that
is a result of a conflict between DSZ and DOS' SHARE command. Don't
bother loading SHARE unless you have a network without any protection
going.
I don't pretend to be an expert on protocol setup, so if anyone comes
up with better strings, please post them on Terrapin's Celerity Sysop
sub. Of course, substitute your own logfile name for what I use on
the Puma files above, and MAKE SURE it corresponds to the logfile
parameter you set up in your config. If someone wants to do strings
for Ymodem, Xmodem, Super8k, Jmodem, Cmodem, Whatevermodem, feel free
to post them on the Celerity Sysop sub.
There are a couple of protocol editors written by other folks which
can be found up on the support board.
Appendix C: Running CONVFILE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONV????.EXE will convert file areas, and is covered under the heading
of CONVFILE.EXE (the name for the Celerity->Celerity file converter).
???2CELR.EXE is the name of the user converter for other BBS packages, which
is covered under the CONVUSER.EXE header below (for the Celerity->Celerity
userlist converter).
Be warned that none of these are polished programs. They are ugly,
inefficient, slow, poorly documented, have an attrocious interface, and are
dangerous. The up side is that they (usually) work. MAKE BACKUPS before you
attempt to do any conversions.
It is best to have a complete copy of Celerity set up before you do
any conversions. Set up your board as you wish it to be (at least initially)
with all conferences and transfer areas set up (without files of course).
When you convert data areas, do them in a seperate temporary directory and
then copy them to the Celerity directory over the existing files. User files
are easy to convert, file areas are not. For file areas, you will have to
manually run the CONV????.EXE for each file area.
There are two types of CONVFILE programs. One is to upgrade to a more recent
version of Celerity (such as Celerity 1.20 to 1.23), the other is to convert
file areas from another BBS program to Celerity.
CONVFILE.EXE --- Upgrade Celerity (needed for 1.19 to 1.20, and 1.20 to 1.23)
CONVTCS .EXE --- Convert from TCS 1.41/1.51
CONVLSD .EXE --- Convert from LSD (1.28 to 1.35 tested)
CONVHAV .EXE --- Convert from Havok, all versions
CONVEMU .EXE --- Convert from Emulex 1.65/2.x
CONVVIS .EXE --- Convert from Vision .82 (identical to LSD). .83 untested.
CONVTG .EXE --- Convert from Telegard 2.5
CONVFILE.EXE is the version to upgrade to new Celerity versions. Simply go
to your DATA directory, make a backup of the files, and run the CONVFILE
program. It will update all your file areas and file records to the new format.
CONVxxx.EXE for TCS, LSD, Emulex, Havok, and Vision accepts two parameters:
the source file, and the target file. You may use complete pathnames here if
you desire. The file records for Celerity are stored in the DATA subdirectory
and always have a ".DIR" extension. The individual names are defined when you
create the transfer areas from the xfer menu. The source files from the above
software are usually named "AREA1", "AREA1.1", or something similar.
CONVTG.EXE accepts three parameters. The first is the source file (the
Telegard .DIR file), the second is the target file (the Celerity .DIR file),
and the third is the full pathname of where the files are stored (ie:
C:\xfers\uploads\). The file records for Celerity are stored in the DATA
subdirectory, and always have a ".DIR" extension. The individual names are
defined when you create the transfer areas from the xfer menu.
Appendix D: Doors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity can support a wide array of "doors" such as online games,
tape retrieval systems, another BBS, and more. Doors may be entire
programs or simple utilities.
The BBS industry has a number of standard formats with which a BBS can
transfer information to a door which requires BBS information. The
new standard which most BBS programs now support is the DOOR.SYS
standard. Other standards include the RBBS/QBBS/Remote Access
DORINFO.DEF format, and the WWIV-based CHAIN.TXT. Celerity supports
all three of these formats, and when a door is run, DOOR.SYS,
DORINFO.DEF, and CHAIN.TXT are all created in the node directory. It
should be noted that there are other formats (PCBOARD.SYS,
CALLINFO.DAT, etc.) supported by many doors which are not directly
compatible with Celerity. To use these doors, use a door conversion
program such as DOORWAY (shareware program available on most BBS') to
convert from one of the three supported formats to the desired format.
Nevertheless, over 80% of the BBS-supported doors can use one of the
Celerity supported formats.
To set up a BBS-supporting door (such as an online game - Global War
and Tradewars are two examples), you should first unpack the game and
read all of its enclosed documentation. Look for sections supporting
DOOR.SYS, DORINFO.DEF, and CHAIN.TXT in that order, and follow the
instructions for setting up with that configuration. If the door has
configurable options for modem control, make sure it reflects
Celerity's modem settings. If Celerity locks the COM port at a
specific DTE rate (as is the case with high speed modems), make sure
the door will do so as well. Most doors will allow you to run in a
local mode, so you should try running it a few times locally to make
sure everything is working before you try hooking it up to Celerity.
Once the door is installed and configured, you can add access to it
from Celerity by entering the Doors section (D from the main menu).
If you have sysop access for the doors section, you may use the
C)reate command to make a new door. A display will pop up, requesting
the name / description of the door, required security level to access
it, the door type, and the file name to execute. Although it is
permissible to type an entire pathname to an .EXE or .COM file, it is
preferable to simply give a simple filename with no path. In this
situation, Celerity will run a batch file with the specified filename,
and will expect to find it in the node directory. This is
particularly helpful if the door requires different command parameters
for different nodes.
An example batch file, "TRADEWAR", which I use for TradeWars is as
follows:
copy \celerity\node1\door.sys \doors\tradewar
cd \doors\tradewar
tw2002 -door
The first line copies my DOOR.SYS to the door directory, as I never
figured out how to tell Tradewars where to find the door file. The
second line switches to the Tradewar directory, and the third line
executes the door with the "-door" parameter - meaning "use DOOR.SYS"
to Tradewars.
Try running the door and see if the link works correctly. If it does
not, go over all your filenames and make sure they are entered
correctly. Once it is working locally (note that some doors cannot be
run from within the BBS for local callers, and will exit immediately
if they do not find a carrier), have a user call and try to use it.
Remember, if you like a door and decide to use it, you should support
the Shareware concept by registering it (given that its a Shareware
product, of course).
Other doors can be created which do not support BBS' directly,
although they should have some kind of modem support if the calling
user is expected to see any displays or enter any input. When running
another BBS or remote control program (Remote Access, Carbon Copy, PC
Anywhere, and so on), communications support is a given. When running
some other utility, however, it might not be so easy. Some programs
such as DOORWAY or DOS' CTTY can re-map all screen output and console
input over the modem, which may be necessary. When running extensive
applications or utilities, however, it is recommended that one of the
above remote control programs be used.
Appendix E: Configurable Status Screens
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok. A new feature Celerity has with 1.19 is the ability for the sysop to make
his or her own status screens, rather than use the ones hardcoded into
Celerity.
Three such screens can exist, and should be saved in the following files:
LOGNSTAT. : This will be the stat screen displayed when the user first logs
in to the system.
YOURSTAT. : This replaces the main "Your Status" screen from the main menu.
XFERSTAT. : This replaces the Xfer status screen and xfer policy box.
USERSTAT. : This replaces the user status screen in the sysop's user edit
section.
Make sure the files do not have a suffix. If you wish to make different files
for different emulations, do so, but you MUST have one file with no suffix.
You can add .ANS and .ASC files if you desire.
Now, how the hell do you make a screen? Easy. You need to get into TheDraw or
whatever ANSI editor you use, and design your screen. When you've got every-
thing designed the way you like it, jump into animation mode, and place the
display commands at the location you wish the data to appear. The display
commands come in two types, @ commands and ` commands.
Here are the valid commands:
@A - Sysop Available / Sysop not available
@H - User's handle
@R - User's Real name
@P - User's phone number
@N - User note
@p - Password
@T - Total time spent online
@t - Time left today
@# - Total number of calls
@1..@5 - displays the conference name IF the user has access to the conf.
@L - Date of last call
@l - Time of last call
@h - Hack attempts
@S - Sysop availability
@c - Last caller
@B - User's BBS level
@G - User's Gfile level
@X - User's Xfer level
@Q - Quality rating
`X - Number of uploads
`x - number of downloads
`K - K uploaded (includes a 'k' at the end of the value)
`k - K downloaded (also includes a 'k' at the end)
`R - Upload/Download ratio (includes a '%' at the end)
`r - Upload K/Download K ratio (includes '%')
`F - File points
`C - Commission points earned (since last call)
`V - Validtion points earned (since last call)
`U - New uploads
`G - New Gfiles
`P - New posts
`M - Mail waiting
`D - New databases
`c - Average CPS rate user gets downloading
`p - Number of posts made
`% - Post/Call ratio
`u - gfiles uploaded
`d - Gfiles downloaded
`$ - Gfile u/d ratio
Feel free to design some screens and upload them to Terrapin for other sysops
to use if they desire. This is yet another feature to make your Celerity system
look more distinctive and to your liking.
Appendix F: CelerityNet Conferencing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CelerityNet supports a network of over 50 systems worldwide which run
Celerity, Havok, Silicosis, Cypher, ADI, Vision-X, Faq, or Oblivion/2
software - all of which have adopted the CelerityNet standard. It
contains approximately fifty message conferences, which are
essentially local sub-boards which echo messages to all other systems
in the Net which support the sub identification code. Set up the
network as follows:
Step A: Fill out a Celerity application and send it in for the net
connection. If you register for the net after purchasing Celerity,
indicate your serial number on the form.
Step B: Enter your password, node number, and other relevant information
in the network setup box. Your node number will be the same as your
serial number (#100230, for example).
Note: If you do not want to join the international CelerityNet, but
rather a secondary network running Celerity, you would have to join by
their rules applying to steps A and B, not ours.
Step C: In SETUP.EXE, go to the net options and turn on CelerityNet.
Enable features A and F, and choose any other options you wish to
receive. Enter a unique origin line, and the host phone #. The host #
for international CelerityNet is 310-479-5808. Enter a "1" in the
extender field for normal calls, or you can enter international dialing
codes, an extender, or other dialing codes which will be sent to the
modem.
Note: If you are taking your net feed from a regional or local hub
rather than from the CelerityNet host, you should arrange a net account
directly with the hub (ie: do steps A-C with the hub).
Step D: Enter the sub board section on your BBS. Make a new sub, and
give it a sub ID of #99 (test sub). Make two posts on the sub (the
first post is always made locally as an "introduction" post), one of
them saying "This is a test post from xxxx BBS", or something to that
effect.
Step E: Create another sub, making it accessible to the sysop only (keep
all users out). Give it a CelerityNet ID of #1, and label it
"CelerityNet Support". Post a single message on this sub (and all
subsequent subs).
Step F: Exit the BBS, and press F1 from the wait for call screen. The
system should dial out and attempt to connect to the network server.
Once it connects, you will get a message saying "It's been a while since
you've connected. You will only get recent posts". Ii will send a
feature list, zip up your posts, and send them via DSZ Zmodem. After a
few moments, a return packet should be zipped up and sent to you. The
BBS will unpack the return packet and move posts to the appropriate
subs.
Step G: Log onto the BBS and see if there are any new posts in the new
subs you created. Most likely you won't get anything in the test sub,
but should get some new posts from the CelerityNet support sub.
Step H: Once you know the network is functioning correctly, you are
welcome to add additional subs. Check the NETSUBS.EXE program to get a
list of currently supported subs. New NETSUBS.DAT files are released
periodically. If you have an idea for a new sub, feel free to contact
"Mobius" through Private Netmail (Sub ID #255) and see if he'll add it.
Please do not post "Is the net working???" posts on all the subs. Use
net sub #99 for test posts. It works like all other subs do.
Sysops are responsible for posts originating from their system. If they
do not keep the boards free of ragging and other immature posts, or if
they are indiscriminant in giving out access to the net subs, they may
be locked out of the network.
As of July 7th, 1992, these are the current public net subs carried by
CelerityNet. For more recent listings, run your NETSUBS.EXE file.
You will notice that I have divided the subs into a few general groups.
The first one is for sysops only, and are not for use by general users -
if you let regular users in here, you'll probably be dropped from the
net. The second is "General subs", meaning they aren't
computer-specific. The third section is a more technical computer
section, dealing with the technical aspects of computer use, operating
systems, programming, Amiga, and assorted hardware.
Sysop subs: Only the sysop may have access to these. Not even cosysops
are welcome.
1: CelerityNet Support --- Discussion of network matters
18: Beta Testing --- For beta testing of Celerity
26: Sysops --- Celerity sysops ONLY - no other users.
30: Celerity Utilities --- Celerity sysops ONLY - no other users
80: Celerity Support --- Celerity Sysops ONLY - no other users
254: CelerityNet management-- Complaints about net quality, etc.
Discussion subs: These are various non-computer subs.
2: Buy / Sell --- A marketplace for all the CelerityNet boards.
9: News & Politics --- Political and world event conversation
10: Entertainment --- Movie, Video, TV.
16: Books & Literature --- For those few pirates out there who are literate
21: Sports --- Discussion of sports
25: Music --- Discussion of music, concerts, etc.
40: Philosophy & religion --- Philosophical & religious discussion
41: Auto Enthusiasts --- Cars & racing
42: Video Games --- Video game machines
46: RPG --- Discussion of Role Playing Games
47: Jokes & Riddles --- Jokes
255:Private NetMail --- Network private email
Technical / Computer subs: These are mainly technical bases or bases dealing
with computer-related topics.
5: BBS Discussion --- This is for discussion regarding BBS programs.
7: Technical --- For all sorts of technical discussion/questions
11: Amiga --- Network Amiga discussion for all Amiga boards
12: OS/2 --- Information regarding OS/2 and Applications.
13: Windows 3.0 --- Windows 3.0 and Applications
14: Multitasking --- Discussion of DesqView, VM386, etc.
17: CD ROM --- General programming - whatever language.
20: UNIX --- UNIX / XENIX discussion
22: LAN / Networking --- Technical discussion regarding networking
23: Music & MIDI --- Technical discussion about MIDI
27: Pascal Programming --- Pascal programming
28: C Programming --- C programming
29: Assembly Programming --- Assembly programming
35: Macintosh --- Discussion of the Mac platform
36: BBS Programming --- Hints/help on making a BBS
37: Graphic Programming --- Loaders/graphic demos/etc programming
38: Shareware --- PD/Shareware/Public Domain software
43: Adventure Games --- Adventure game tips
93: Public Vision-X --- Discussion of Vision-X for V-X boards
More conferences will be added in the future as they are needed. Let
me know if there is one you wish to see.
Appendix G-1: FidoNet Compatibility
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This appendix is divided into three sections:
I General notes & FrontDoor setup instructions by Brendon Woirhaye
II Step-by-step instructions for using FrontDoor by Extreme A.I.
III Guide to setting up Celerity with D'Bridge by Willy Wonka
I General Notes and Setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Brendon Woirhaye
Celerity v1.40 brings compatibility with Fido-type echomail networks. To set
up such a network, you will need to set up a front-end mailer such as
FrontDoor, Binkley, or D'Bridge. Additionally, you will need to use a
tosser/scanner such as Tosscan or Confmail to toss the messages.
DO NOT ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT FRONT-END MAILERS OR TOSSER/SCANNERS. I am not
an expert on these products by any means, and I do not intend to assist
Celerity sysops in their use. There will be some people on the net who are a
much better authority on the matter than I am.
Comments about the Fido handling are welcome, but I will not abide with
incessant bitching about this or that. This is intended to be functional, but
will not be extremely extensive.
To set up a Fido-type net with Celerity, I recommend that you get FrontDoor
(or whatever mailer you use) working completely with the network(s) of your
choice. The moderator (or hub) of the network you join should be able to help
you with this. Don't ask me about it, because Frontdoor has nothing to do
with Celerity, and I do not support it.
The second step is to get your tosser/scanner working correctly. All incoming
messages should be placed into a subdirectory tree where they can also be
found by Celerity. Each echo must have its own subdirectory. My structure
looks like:
c:\net\
ansi\
cdrom\
cars\
and so forth. My tosser/scanner (Tosscan) looks for new messages in these
directories, and places incoming messages in them.
The third step would be to set up some subs in Celerity specifying a Fido-type
network for the sub, and specify the subdirectories on the disk you have set
up. When you set up a sub for fido, you will be asked for the subdirectory,
an origin line (this is a 30-character comment which will be appended to your
BBS name after the message's tear line. The origin line may be seperate for
every sub, although we recommend that you use the same one for all your subs),
and your net address. Your net address will be given in four sections: your
zone, net, node, and point. These will all be determined for you by your
network moderator.
When posts are made on a Fido sub, they will be posted on the sub, then will
be written to a .msg file in the specified subdirectory (the first name will
be 2.msg, and they will increment from there). You may run your scanner after
every Celerity call, or only before you export messages. The command for
tosscan would be "tosscan scan".
After your mailer has received new messages, you will need to use your tosser
to "toss" the messages. The tosscan command is "tosscan toss". After the
tosser tosses messages to the subdirectories (specified in the tosser setup),
you will need to make Celerity toss the messages. There are two ways of doing
this. The first is to hit Alt-F2 from the WFC screen, and the other way is to
pass a command-line parameter to Celerity. The syntax for the latter is
"Celerity Toss". This second method would be helpful to automate the process
after receiving new messages. Note that tossing can take a VERY long time,
depending on the size of your conference and the number of messages being
tossed. This is due mostly to the old inefficient storage methods being used
by Celerity (and every other Forum decendant to my knowledge). It will be
improved upon in the future.
When tossing, Celerity will ignore messages which have the "local" flag set
(indicating a message which has been written but not yet sent). Messages
which have the "sent" flag set will be deleted, but not imported. A message
with a title of "Scan mark, ignore." - something used by Tosscan (whether
other mailers use this or not, I do not know) - will be deleted and not
imported.
I would like to thank Extreme A.I. for his extensive work on routines and code
for the Celerity mail handling, and his assistance in debugging and
implementing the feature. Thanks to Mobius for sitting down with me and
figuring out what we needed to do (and then leaving me to do all the work!).
A nod must also go to R. Bubba Magillicutty who began the Celerity Fido
project nearly two years ago, although it didn't go anywhere. I also thank
Force Ten - the moderator of a network for helping me through Frontdoor and
Tosscan, and for his assistance in getting things functioning. Lastly, I
thank Jawbreaker for allowing me to get a net feed off his BBS.
II Setting up with FrontDoor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Extreme A.I.
As of version 1.40 Celerity BBS now supports the FidoNet networking system.
This opens a new world of nets for the sysop to join.. Please note that The
Byter has nothing to do with these nets, and you will have to find and contact
the Net Hub nearest to you to get a node number.
These docs assume you have Front Door setup on your system, and use Tosscan
as your tosser. Front Door has good documentation, and if you need help
setting it up, refer to the docs. You must also be setup for a node number,
and have a list of the subs you will be recieving.
The first step to setting this up, is to figure out what subs you will be
using. Lets say the node number assigned to you is 1:323/2123 and you have
decided to recive "PASCAL","CFORSALE", and "323SYSOPS".
Next make those directories of off your Celerity directory. (If you plan on
carring multiple nets, it may be wise to put them in a subdirectory named
FIDONET first.) So you'd create "F:\CELERITY\PASCAL" for example. Do this for
all your directories.
Now that you know your node number and the subs you want, go into Celerity.
Logon localy, and go to the message bases. Say your gonna put PASCAL in
confrence #3, your technical conference. Go there, and create a new base. Set
the area name and all that stuff like you normaly do. When you get to "Net
Options" choose it, and choose FidoNet. When it asks you for the directory,
say F:\CELERITY\PASCAL\ or whatever it was that you called the directory. It
will then as you for you Zone number. That will be "1", your Net number will
be "323" and you node number will be "2123" ignore the point value. Just put
"0". Repeat this for all of the areas you will be reciving.
Next go into TOSSCAN's config and set up the areas. Refer to TOSSCAN's
documentation for help. It is a menu driven program, and much easier to setup
than most others.
Now that your all setup, we need to setup some events, and a batch file. I'll
explain this in two parts. First for people who wish only to use the front
door during national mail hour (4 to 5 am EST, 1 to 2 am Ca time).
Go into Celerity. Set your external batch even for 4am EST. Create/Edit your
batch file to change to your Front door directory and call "FDBBS.BAT". Go
into front door's config, set the exit on mail level to 100, and Mail only to
yes. You will also have to set up an external even to exit to dos at 5am EST
with whatever errorlevel you want. and another from 4 to 5 am to poll all
nodes. (Again refer to Front Door's documentation on how to setup Events)
Have the FDBBS.BAT be the following.
@ECHO OFF
Set FD=F:\FD
:Loop
CD\FD
FD
If Errorlevel 100 goto TOSS
Goto DONE
:TOSS
TOSSCAN TOSS
CD\CELERITY\NODE1
CELERITY TOSS
GOTO LOOP
:DONE
Now edit your MAIN.BAT file for celerity so that after celerity exits, it does
TOSSCAN SCAN.
Now for the Crashmail system (Front door up 24 hours a day). Go into Front
doors config, setup Mail only to NO. Also you will need to setup a couple
events to poll for mail, and one to exit to dos at around 3 am.. (refer to the
FD docs for help). Have the External event exit with error level 50, and set
all the exit on call to errorlevel 99. And mail to 100.
Your FDBBS.BAT should read
@Echo off
Set FD=F:\FD
Set DSZLOG=F:\CELERITY\NODE1\DSZ.LOG
:LOOP
CD\FD
FD
IF ERRORLEVEL 99 goto CALLER
IF ERRORLEVEL 100 GOTO MAILIN
IF ERRORLEVEL 50 GOTO EXEVENT
Goto Done
:CALLER
CD\Celerity\Node1
CELERITY EXIT
TOSSCAN SCAN
Goto Loop
:MAILIN
TOSSCAN TOSS
CD\CELERITY\NODE1
CELERITY TOSS
Goto Loop
:EXEVENT
ECHO Forcing CelerityNet Call
CD\Celerity\Node1
CELERITY NET
ECHO Other nightly shit should go here
GOTO LOOP
:DONE
Thats all there is to it. If you want (Though this isn't required) you can
setup celerity to identify the exact baud rate the call is coming in at, by
setting the different Caller errorlevel to indivudal values and calling
CELERITY 38400 <BPSRATE>
So if a call was at 9600 you'd call it
CELERITY 38400 9600
etc..
Thats all there is to it. Though these docs are in no way thourough, FidoNet
is one of the hardest things in existance to setup, and I'm am no about to
attempt to write docs on how to setup the net. Just how to get Celerity hooked
up in it. There are several documents (most well over 200k) attempting to
explain how to get the net setup, so if you have any problems, find on of
those, or ask a local FidoNet board for help.
I'd like to make one further note. Although Celerity attempts to sniff out
local posts, it can't always distingush between local and incoming posts
(especialy if you use a Tosser/Scanner other than TOSSCAN) so it may be a good
idea to setup CLRFIDO.EXE. This program quickly deletes all posts in your fido
directories, preventing duplicate incoming posts. Just insert it after the
TOSSCAN SCAN commands.
III Setting Up With D'Bridge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Willy Wonka
The following is the Batch file I use to run Celerity and D'Bridge, You
must also setup schedule events for your maintance files and backup. D'Bridge
takes you connect rate and divides it by 100. For instance a connect rate of
14400 would return a result code of 144, a connect rate of 9600 would be 96,
and so on.
D'Bridge is a lot more automated than Frontdoor and will do most of your
stuff for you where as Front Door you have to do alot of stuff Manually. The
hardest part of D'Bridge is making your batch file to start it, Which is why
I've included most of mine in here.
For events just go to the schedule events screen from D'Bridge and set all
events for errorlevels in your startup.bat with the command *Xerrorlevel. For
the net I use *X83 which exits D'Bridge and go's to the startup.bat and finds
errorlevel 83. You should also setup all your maintance and backup events the
same way.
You also can setup your function keys with the *Xerrorlevel for your term
program and anything you like. Just go into Fuction Key setup from D'Bridge by
hitting the esc key once it's loaded and setup all function keys with
errorlevels. I've found that if you do drops to dos, alot of times you won't
have enough memory free to do everything you need.
There is still a lot not included here, but with D'Bridge you can look it
up in the docs and it's real easy to follow. This is only the bare minimum
you need to know to use D'Bridge with Celerity.
@ECHO OFF
CD\DV ;Where I have Desqview
DVANSI ;So Ansi screens show right
CD\
:==========================================:
: Batch File That Runs The Isle Completely : ;The Begining
:==========================================:
:begin
cls
set DSZPORT=2 ;What Comport I'm using
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Where DSZlog is set to
:================:
: Start D'Bridge : ;For D'Bridge
:================:
:Dbridge
cls
echo Starting DBridge With Celerity
c:
cd \db ;Where D'Bridge is located
db ;To start D'Bridge
if errorlevel 384 goto 38400_Baud ;Errorlevel for 38400 Baud
if errorlevel 192 goto 19200_Baud ;Errorlevel for 19200 Baud
if errorlevel 144 goto 14400_Baud ;Errorlevel for 14400 Baud
if errorlevel 96 goto 9600_Baud ;Errorlevel for 9600 Baud
if errorlevel 83 goto thenet ;Errorlevel to run the net
if errorlevel 50 goto qmodem ;Errorlevel to run Qmodem
if errorlevel 40 goto localbbs ;Errorlevel for local mode
if errorlevel 24 goto 2400_Baud ;Errorlevel for 2400 Baud
if errorlevel 10 goto End ;Errorlevel for Exit
goto end
:38400_Baud
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
cd\celerity ;Where Celerity is located
celerity link 38400 38400 ;Linking Celerity with 38400 DTE and 38400 Baud
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:19200_Baud
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
cd\celerity ;Where Celerity is located
celerity link 38400 19200 ;Linking Celerity with 38400 DTE and 19200 Baud
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:14400_Baud ;For 14400 logons
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
CD\CELERITY ;Where Celerity is located
CELERITY LINK 38400 14400 ;Linking Celerity with 38400 DTE and 14400 Baud
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:9600_Baud ;For 9600 logons
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
cd\celerity ;Where Celerity is located
celerity link 38400 9600 ;Linking Celerity with 38400 DTE and 9600 Baud
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:2400_Baud ;For 2400 logons
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
cd\celerity ;Where Celerity is located
celerity link 38400 2400 ;Linking Celerity with 38400 DTE and 2400 Baud
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:Localbbs ;For Local Logons
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log if multinode
cd \Celerity ;Where Celerity is located
Celerity 38400 ;Loads Celerity at WFC Menu
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:Qmodem ;Is my F2 Key must setup with X@errorlevel
c: ;drive
cd\qmodem ;Where Qmodem is located
qmodem ;Runs qmdoem
goto Done ;Going back to D'Bridge
:thenet ;setup in events to run
SET DSZLOG=C:\CELERITY\DSZ.LOG ;Must reset DSZ.log
cd\celerity ;Where Celerity is located
celerity net ;Command for the net
goto After_bbs ;Going back to D'Bridge
:After_bbs ;Could really do without
goto done ;Going back to D'Bridge
:Done
c: ;Drive
goto DBridge ;Going back to D'Bridge
rem Come here on bad errors or to exit ;For exiting
:end
c:
cd\
cls
Appendix H: A Celerity Demonstration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is distributed in a form which may be run as a demonstration.
It is fully functional, other than a 10-user limit and the sysop must
go by the name of "Abdul Clamwacker". The purpose of the demo is to
allow potential sysops to look a fully functional system over and get
a feel for the sysop-side features. Additionally, the sysop can run
the demo for a few days while his registration is in the mail.
Appendix I: Multi-node Operation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With version 1.20 comes the basis for multinodal operation for Celerity. Each
node runs as a seperate task under a multitasking operating environment such
as DesqView, Windows, PC-MOS, VM/386, or OS/2 2.0's DOS compatibility box.
You may also use a local area network (LAN) and use a seperate computer for each
node.
To add an additional node to a system set up for one node, you must make as many
additional node directories as you require, one for each additional node. In
this directory, you must copy the following files:
CELERITY.EXE CELERITY.OVR CONFIG.EXE CONFIG.OVR KAU.CFG
MAIN.BAT
Switch to this directory and run config. Use the same setup as you had for the
first (main) node, but change the node directory to the current directory you
are in. Change the BBS node number as well.
When you put the system up, switch to the node directory and run the MAIN.BAT
file (which may need some modification if you are using pathnames in it). Go
to each additional node (in seperate tasks) and run the main.bat files for each
node. The system should now be up and running in a multinodal environment.
On a multi-node system, users can enter the multinode chat and talk to other
users who may be on other nodes at the time. Up to 8 users may use the
chat at a time.
If you run Celerity under DesqView, please view Appendix N below.
Appendix J: Sysop-definable Files
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are certain files which reside in the TEXT directory which the sysop can
(and is encouraged to) modify to meet the needs of his or her own system.
Some of these files are:
Assorted Message Files: These have no extension.
Sysoplst -- Displayed to a user leaving feedback. This should
list the various sysops and who is responsible for
what. If this file does not exist, a list of all
users with sysop flag #8 set is printed.
Donation -- Displayed to a user with the $ command. Usually contains the
board's donation policy.
Goodbye -- Displayed to all users when they log off. Often a list of
other BBS' the system recognizes.
Newuser -- When new users log on, this file is displayed. It usually
tells a bit about the system and the requirements for access.
Nicetry -- If a user messes up on a password three times, they will be
logged off and displayed the file. It usually contains a
message to the effect of "If you were a new user, you aren't
wanted here. If you're a hacker, screw off". Not that a
nasty message will stop a hacker.
Nuke -- Displayed when the sysop deletes an online user. Often a
nasty message is appropriate here.
RaiseReq -- This file is displayed to a user who is requesting an
access raise. The format is as follows: A number of lines
of text, unlimited in length, followed by additional notes
depending on the user's current level. To add additional
notes, enter a period on a blank line, and the level range
on the next line (ie: 0-9, 10-50, etc.), followed by the
text for that level. As many entries as there are levels
are permitted.
Summon -- Text displayed to the sysop when chat call is activated.
Often something short and one-line is sufficient.
Timesup -- Text displayed to user when they run out of time while logged
on.
.BBS Files. You may include *.ASC versions without color,
and .TXT files for users without IBM ASCII.
CAEINTRO.BBS -- File displayed to users logging onto a CAE system
validud.bbs -- validation upload text
Preshell.bbs -- A file which is displayed before the shell is entered
Othersys.bbs -- A message which is displayed when the user is kicked off the
normal system and given the password to system 2 or 3.
Denied.bbs -- A message displayed to a user who has been denied access in
the new user voting section.
Feedback.BBS -- Message a new user gets indicating them to leave feedback to
the sysop after applying for access.
Prelogon.BBS -- Text displayed after a user has given the command to enter
system 1 from the shell.
Changes.BBS -- Quick "news brief" displayed AFTER prelogon.BBS, and before
the user enters his/her handle/password etc. This should
not be more than one line, and may be ommitted altogether if
there is no special news (appropriate news would be "Please
fill out the first infoform. Skip the rest.". Inappropriate
news would be "Hard disk crash. Userlist lost. Log on new."
Because of Celerity's Auto-backup feature, there is NEVER any
excuse for loosing a userlist.
Ad.BBS -- This is displayed when a user hits & from the main menu.
This can be an ad for the software, or can be changed to some
other text.
Blacklst.BBS -- Displayed when a user tries to log on new, and has been
blacklisted from your system. See BLACKLST. Below.
Prot_S.BBS -- A menu of the available (non-batch) download protocols
Prot_R.BBS -- A menu of the available (non-batch) upload protocols
Prot_D.BBS -- A menu of the available batch download protocols
Prot_U.BBS -- A menu of the available batch upload protocols
Other Files: See notes with each individual file.
Download.Txt -- Displayed when a user downloads from the system.
Upload .txt -- Displayed before a user uploads.
Shell.? -- These are alternate "menus" displayed in the logon
shell when users request help. Shell.1 replaces the
menu shell's help, Shell.2 is displayed when a user
types "dir" in the DOS shell, Shell.3 is displayed
in the VMS shell, and so on.
Xfernews.* -- Xfernews.confnum is displayed when a user enters the xfer
section of conference #confnum.
Filearea.* -- Replacement for the file area listings. Extension refers to
the conference number.
Subs.* -- Replacement for the sub-board listings. Extension refers to
the conference number.
Blacklst. -- This file has NO extension. It contains a list of handles
which you do not want admitted to your system. If a user
is listed here, they will be displayed the Blacklst.BBS file
when they log on new.
*.WEL -- ANSI welcome screens are displayed to the user upon login
if the welcome event is scheduled in the login sequence
configuration. One file will be picked at random from the
TEXT directory. There may be up to 100 *.WEL files in the
directory (if you have over 100, the others will be ignored).
The prefix can be any 8-letter name.
*.WAS, *.WTX -- These are also welcome files. A .WAS extension denotes an
8-bit ASCII file, a .WTX extension refers to a 7-bit ASCII
file (no IBM ASCII characters). Again, you may have up to
100 such files in the text directory.
*.WNA -- The .WNA extension specifies a NAPLPS welcome file.
If the user has a NAPLPS terminal program and has the
NAPLPS emulation in Celerity turned on, these files
will be displayed.
Lognstat.* -- }
Userstat.* -- } See Appendix F on "Sysop configurable Status Screens"
Xferstat.* -- }
Yourstat.* -- }
Menus: There are four types of menu files, ending with an .ANS suffix
for ANSI, .ASC for IBM ASCII, .NAP for NAPLPS, and .(nothing) for
conventional ASCII. Menus may all be edited at the sysop's convenience.
Inside the Celerity supplement files, and on the Celerity support BBS
are a number of complete menu sets.
Appendix K: CAE Mode
---------------------------------
The CAE (Celerity ASCII Express) is a return to the ideal of the
"no pass AE" or "password AE" of the Golden Age. The CAE asks for a user's
handle and area code upon login, but this information is kept only in the
system logs, as Celerity saves no user account information. Once this
information is established, the user is given complete homogenous access to
the transfer areas, being able to download whatever he or she pleases, with
no obligation to upload.
What's the purpose? There could be several reasons for running a CAE.
File distribution is one. Users uploading to a CAE system may get the
file downloaded freely by callers and spread across the nation in a few days,
spreading it much more quickly than via conventional channels. Or, if you
run a BBS for your business or wish to distribute files free of charge, the
CAE mode would be ideal.
[Characteristics]
As stated above, a CAE system is a transfer system only. No messages,
user accounts, email, ratios, or other conventional BBS features other than
the transfer section. All callers are given the same access and the same
online time.
[Tips for running in CAE mode]
The CAE is an open access system, meaning anyone can get on at any
time. One way to limit access from anyone with your number is to
enable the System 1 password in SETUP. After connection, the user will
first be prompted for the password, then normal logon procedures occur,
thereby limiting access to the specific audience of users whom you
advertise to.
The transfer area structure is the same as in normal Celerity operation,
except for a few commands. The Q (quit to main), M (message areas), and J
(jump conference) commands cause instant logoff, as these functions are
not enabled in the CAE. To account for this, simply install the CAE/TAC menus
(CEL13xT.ZIP) on your system, as they will work for CAE mode with little or no
change.
As the CAE utilizes only the transfer areas, there isn't an message
base, automessage, or news file to get information to your users. Use
the XFERNEWS.1 or CAEINTRO.ANS files to pass information along to users
after login.
[Registration]
To activate the CAE mode, switch the BBS mode to CAE in SETUP. We ask
a non-mandatory registration fee of $10 for a registered copy, and that
$10 fee can be put towards a future standard Celerity purchase if desired
(the standard Celerity registration permits CAE use as well). The only
difference between a registered and non-registered CAE system is that sysops
must hit Alt-T every call on the local keyboard to enable sysop access with
the non-registered copy.
Appendix L: CAE/TAC Mode
----------------------------------------
The CAE/TAC (Total Access Control) mode is related to the CAE mode
(see Appendix K), but with one major difference - it has individual user
accounts. This allows more control by the sysop over who gets access (and
what type of access) to the system.
[Characteristics]
The CAE/TAC system looks like a CAE system from the users' point of
view, and a normal BBS from the sysop's, since the sysop must have access
to the sysop menu in order to edit user accounts. All functions are similar
to the CAE mode, with the following exceptions:
Since user accounts exist, the Top Ten function can be enabled in
SETUP. Users must login in as new on the first call, so information scripts
may be present, and the new user feedback option can also be enabled. The
system can have a co-sysop, since a specific user's access can be adjusted.
Any user with co-sysop level priviledges logs onto the normal main board like
the sysop (as opposed to the transfer area restriction placed on all other
users).
The CAE/TAC system utilizes the message bases and email as well. Email
to users is allowed in this mode - if mail exists for the user, the user is
first placed into the email section, and then, upon exit, the user enters
into the CAE system's transfer area.
Since you control access levels, you control what the user can do. The
amount of online time each user has per day is controlled via the general
access level, while the specific file areas each user has access to is
controlled via the xfer access level. This is helpful to separate the major
contributors from the average users, or to limit access to certain file areas.
[Tips for running in CAE/TAC mode]
Since a new user must apply for access, it is a good idea to activate a
login shell, such as the lightbar menu shell. This way, a new user can find
he or her way easily enough. You can also enable other login shell functions,
such as feedback and chat, so users can contact you.
Since the whole board is actually utilized, install any of the wide
variety of menus available for Celerity, then install the CAE/TAC menus over
them. This way, you have your menus, and the users have theirs.
With TAC mode, you completely control what users can access the system.
Use the information scripts and new user feedback to gather complete
information on an applicant if this precaution is waranted.
It is recommended you create your own statistics files (see Appendix F)
because Celerity's internal displays contain information that the user doesn't
need, such as new posts, ratios, file points, commission points, etc. Since
the system is still basically a CAE, this information is meaningless and can
only confuse new users. Note that file points, commissions, and ratios CAN be
enabled for the CAE/TAC.
The AUTO.MSG file is an excellent way to communicate policies and to
pass on information to your users. PRELOGIN.BBS is also helpful (when the
login shell is enabled), but can be viewed by anyone calling in, not just
validated users. News bulletins are not viewed by the users.
Since the message area exists to the sysops and co-sysops, this is a good
area for a Sysop conversation base, as no user can ever access it.
[Registration]
To activate the CAE/TAC mode, switch the BBS mode to CAE/TAC in SETUP. We
ask a fee of $25 for a registered copy, and that $25 fee can be put towards a
future standard Celerity purchase if desired (the standard Celerity
registration permits CAE/TAC use as well). Running an unregistered version
allows a maximum of 15 users, while registration increases this to the 500
user maximum utilized by standard Celerity registration.
Appendix M: QWK Offline Readers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 1.39 of Celerity / Alacrity contains provision for the
creation of packets of messages which can be read with any QWK-compatible
offline reader. This allows users to quickly log on, create and download a
packet containing all their new messages, log off, and read the messages at
their leisure without incurring phone costs while connected. When the user
responds to messages, a REP response packet is created, and the user can
upload it to a Celerity board for processing.
When the sysop sets up his system, there are a couple files that
should be created for the QWK function to work correctly. These files include
the following (all are stored in the main BBS directory):
WELCOME .OFF - Displayed when a user enters the offline reader.
NEWS .OFF - Displayed in the "News" option for most readers.
BYE .OFF - Displayed when a user leaves the offline reader.
BLT-0 .? - Bulletin files. First is BLT-0.1, second BLT-0.2, etc.
Be sure to have PKZIP in your path.
Some recommended offline readers include Offline Express (OLX), Qmail Deluxe,
KingQWK, Silly Little Mail Reader (SLMR), 1stReader, BlueWave, WinQWK,
Session Manager, and dozens of others.
Appendix N: Celerity Under DesqView
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is quite easy to run multiple Celerity nodes under DesqView, but you must
have several things on your system to do it. It is quite picky about the
setup of the system when you try to run both nodes on one system. You cannot
run more than 2 nodes on one system because of a limitation explained in the
next paragraph. Also, it would probably go too slow unless you had a 486
system or something.
You need two serial ports on COM1 and COM2 with COM1 using IRQ 4 and
COM2 using IRQ 3. I know that it is supposed to work with other serial port
configurations, but I was unable to get those to work under DV. If you use a
serial mouse, you must connect to COM3 using IRQ 5 or 7. If your mouse driver
doesn't support strange COM port/IRQ combinations then you will have to get a
new mouse driver, get a bus mouse with IRQ 5 or 7 support, or do without a
mouse. Both serial ports should be equipped with 16550AFN UART chips (or an
equivilent buffered UART), or you will lose data right and left. It is
recommended that a fast 386 or 486 machine be used, and a static RAM cache is
advisable. I use a 386/33 with 64k cache. It slows performance down just
slightly when multitasking, but not enough to cause any problem. File
transfer speeds are unaffected.
To actually get Celerity to have 2 nodes, you must create 2 directories
under your main CELERITY directory. I call them NODE1 and NODE2. Copy the
following files from your main CELERITY directory to these subdirectories:
CELERITY.EXE, CELERITY.OVR, SETUP.EXE, SETUP.DAT, and NETSUBS.DAT. Now you
must change each copy of Celerity so they can tell which node they are. Go
into the Node1 directory, and run SETUP. Change the "Specific Node Directory"
to your new Node1 directory. Be sure you have a "Common Node Directory" set
correctly. Celerity will use this to keep track of what is going on with the
other node, and for multinode chat. Be sure all the COM port parameters are
set correctly for your COM1 port. Go to BBS Node number and change it to 1,
for node 1. Now save and exit. Change to your Node2 directory, and run the
setup there. Change the Specific Node Directory to the Node2 path. Change
the COM port settings to your COM2 port. Change BBS node number to 2 for node
2. If you have settings for CelerityNet calls, you will want to either turn
them off, or change them to another time of day so that both nodes won't be
trying to net call at the same time. Be sure to leave Use CelerityNet on,
however, because you want users to be able to read Net posts, etc.
Now create 2 batch files in place of your old Celerity startup batch
(commonly MAIN.BAT.) Copy your old startup Batch file to a file called
NODE1.BAT and also to NODE2.BAT. Go into each batch file and have it change
the directory to your Node1 directory and your Node2 directory, respectively.
Change any other applicable directory settings. Also add a line to the
beginning of the batch files that changes the DSZ log to a node-specific file.
SET DSZLOG=DSZNODE1.LOG is how I do it. That way both nodes have their own
log file so when two transfers are in progress the log won't be overwritten by
the other node. All you should have to do now is create two menu options in
Desqview to run these two batch files, and you'll be multinoding.
You will want to allocate at least 512K for it to work. You can have
Desqview load both nodes when started by creating a script macro that loads
both nodes automatically. Then give it a name with an ! at the beginning and
it will execute that script every time Desqview is started. You usually hit
Shift-Alt to access the script menu. I have been able to get a Desqview
multinode board to run successfully, and am running one now. Feel free to call
my board if you would like to see how well it works or if you would like to
ask me a question. It is MODular Madness, at 512-219-8045.
Good Luck,
Fatal Error
Appendix O Running Celerity under a Local Area Network
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The best way to use Celerity as a multi-node BBS is to run it on a network. I
have used the software on Novell Netware 3.1 (dedicated host) and Netware Lite
(peer-to-peer) with no problems. Artisoft's LANtastic causes some problems,
and should be avoided if possible.
With Netware, you must flag all Celerity data files as sharable. With 3.1,
this command would be "flag *.* +s". Flag the files in your BBS directory,
data directory, and message directory.
Appendix P Running Celerity under OS/2 2.0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity has been tested under OS/2 2.0, and seems to work quite well in
this environment. However, there are a few simple modifications that
will be neccessary in order to get everything working correctly.
Under OS/2 MDVM's (Multiple Dos Virtual Machines) some communications
programs have trouble detecting the serial port's RING INDICATOR. This
is the default method that Celerity uses to detect and answer an
incoming call. The alternative to answering on Ring Detect, is to
answer on Carrier Detect.
Normally Celerity does not enable the AUTO ANSWER mode of your modem.
The primary advantage to this method (and the reason it is the default)
is that the modem nevers answers the call unless the BBS program is up
and running. Once the modem's Auto Answer mode is turned on, your modem
will automatically send an answer carrier when the modem detects a ring.
Once a carrier is established, Celerity will detect that the modem has
connected, and bring up the login screen.
Turning on the Auto Answer is very simple. Follow these four steps:
1) Run Setup.
2) Select "Modem Setup"
3) Change the "Answer on Ring #" field from 0 (Zero) to 1 (one).
4) Save the new settings.
Celerity will automatically send an inititialization string to put the
modem in Auto Answer mode. If you have an external modem, you will see
that the Auto Answer indicator is ON.
Setting up your Celerity DOS Session under OS/2:
It is recommended that you create a new icon for the DOS session that
will run Celerity. It is suggested that you use the following settings:
Path and file name: * - Run the default command interpreter.
Optional Parameters: /K MAIN.BAT - Start the MAIN batch file.
Optional Working Dir C:\CELERITY - Or whatever path you are using.
Using these settings OS/2 will start Command.Com and then run the
Celerity MAIN.BAT file. Be sure to provide the path to the Celerity
directory in the Working Directory field.
OS/2 gives the user a lot of options for customizing the way a DOS
program runs. The Dos Settings option for each DOS session has long
list of these options. For best results, make the suggested changes to
the settings listed below. Please note that these are only suggestions,
and can changed to suit your needs and preferences.
COM_HOLD On. This setting will protect the serial port.
DPMI_DOS_API Off
DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT Zero, Celerity does not use DPMI.
EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT 512K. Celerity can use some EMS memory.
IDLE_SECONDS Zero to start, raise to 1 or 2 if BBS is too slow.
IDLE_SENSITIVITY 75 to start. Raise if BBS is too slow, lower if BBS is
slowing down other apps to much.
XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT Zero, Celerity does not need any XMS.
Also keep in mind that a "Windowed" DOS session does not perform as well
as a full screen session. It is best that you configure each Celerity
session to run in full screen mode.
One final note: GET A 16550 UART!!! Multitasking operating systems
such as OS/2 can really benefit from a buffered UART. OS/2 will detect
and make full use of your 16550. Although DOS programs like Celerity
will NOT report that a 16550 is found, they will receive the full
benefit of buffered I/O.
Appendix Q Configurable menu scripting system
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the new features of Celerity are the configurable menus. Celerity will
allow the sysop to define each and every menu via the use of a simple yet
powerful menu definition file. This file, CELMENU.INI, resides in your menu
directory. The following is an example of a menu specification from the
initialization file. Please take note of the file format. All text following
a semicolon (;) is considered a comment.
[New Mail] ; The identifying menu name
menufile= ; To specify an external menu file
menuprompt=Mail ; Text for the menu prompt
V="View the mail", FN=1, XL=20, SL=20, AGE=18, BAUD=9600
S="Send A Letter", FN=2
F="Do Some Feedback", FN=3
O="Oh! A Scan!", FN=4
T="Tell me what's waiting", FN=5,100
Q="Quit", FN=6
[END] ; End of the menu data object
As you can see, the first line of the menu data is the name of the menu -
enclosed in brackets []. This is the default name of the menu as defined in
Celerity/Alacrity. This name will be displayed to the user unless you use the
"menuprompt" command. Speaking of which, all text following the "menuprompt="
command (see line 3 above) will be displayed to the user. The "menufile="
command (see line 2 above) allows you to specify an external menu - almost
always preferable to the internal created menus.
Starting on line four are the commands themselves. Each command line has
three main components. The first is the command character itself, which must
be a single character in length. These should always be uppercase, and may
not be numeric in nature.
Following the command character is an equal sign, followed by the command
description in quotes. The command description isn't essential if you use
external menus, but is recommended for your own use when editing menus.
Follow the command description with a comma. After this comma, you can enter
special instructions for the command. Only one command, the "FN=" parameter,
is required. FN= refers to the command number (see the MENUS.DOC file for a
description of the command numbers for each menu, and the section on "global
commands" below).
Lastly, you may add security checks after the command description, seperated
by commas. When using the internal menus, users who do not have the
sufficient access requirements for the command will not see it listed on the
menu. External menus have no such control. Users who do not meet the
requirements cannot access the option either, of course. The valid security
check commands include:
SL=n ; Security level. n is the user's level.
XL=n ; Transfer level, with n being the required minimum xfer level.
AGE=n ; Required user age. Users below this age will not have access.
BAUD=n ; Required minimum bps rate.
MC=n ; Message conference. The user must have access to conference #n.
XC=n ; Xfer conference. User must have access to xfer conference #n.
SFLAG=n; Sysop flag. User must have this flag set.
The check command should be followed immediately by an equal (=) sign and the
numeric value to be checked. No spaces. If there are more checks to do,
conclude the command with a comma.
Global Commands: From most menus, the following command numbers can be used
to access various features of the BBS to add even more flexibility to your
setup. Each of the global commands has a number of 100 or above.
#100: Go to main menu
#101: Go to transfer sectioon
#102: Go to message base section
#104: Information kiosk
#105: Go to BBS list section
#106: Call for a chat
#107: Log off system
#108: Leave system feedback
#109: User configuration section
#110: Automessage section (not useful for Alacrity)
#111: Art Gallery section
#112: Display news
#113: List users
#114: Go to Door section
#115: Enter Gfiles section
#116: Enter oneliner section
#117: Create a QWK packet
#118: Show the system status / history / storage information
#119: New User Voting section
#120: Show who is online (for multinode systems)
#121: Enter the multinode chat
#122: Show the recent activity (calls, uploads, downloads) lists
#123: Show user status
#124: Perform global newscan
#125: Enter main sysop section
#126: Transfer to another user account
#127: Enter user custodian section
Global commands #201 through #299 call additional menu "blanks" which will
enable you to create additional custom menus utilizing the above commands.
Command #1 in each menu blank is the command to quit.
To create these menus, create custom menus with titles of "Menu #1" and edit
them as you would a normal menu. Note that additional commands will be
added in the future.
Menu Script Objects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following menu data objects are examples for every meny (which we could
find) in Celerity. These may be cut and pasted into your CELMENU.INI file
if you wish to use them, and modified to your liking.
[Net Management]
menufile=NetMan
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
L="List Outgoing Posts", FN=2
V="View an outgoing post", FN=3
D="Delete an outgoing post", FN=4
[END]
[Auto Message]
menufile=automes
menuprompt=
V="View Auto Message", FN=1
W="Write Auto Message", FN=2
U="Upload Auto Message", FN=3
Q="Quit", FN=4
[END]
[News Editor]
menufile=News
menuprompt=
A="Add news", FN=1
D="Delete news", FN=2
V="View news", FN=3
L="List news", FN=4
Q="Quit", FN=5
[END]
[New User Voting]
menufile=NUV
menuprompt=
L="List new users", FN=1
V="View voting results", FN=2
P="Process votes", FN=3
Q="Quit", FN=4
[END]
[Art Gallery]
menufile=ARtgal
menuprompt=
V="View art", FN=1
U="Upload art", FN=2
L="List art", FN=3
D="Delete art", FN=4
; P="", FN=5, SL=101
Q="Quit", FN=6
[END]
[BBS List]
menufile=BBSLIST
menuprompt=
A="Add entry", FN=1
D="Delete entry", FN=2
L="List entries", FN=3
; S="", FN=4, SL=101
; P="", FN=5, SL=101
Q="Quit", FN=6
[END]
[Sub-board Access]
menufile=SUBACC
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
L="List users w/access", FN=2
G="Global access manipulation", FN=3
U="User access manipulation", FN=4
[END]
[Message Base Sponsor]
menufile=SPONSOR
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
A="Access menu", FN=2
E="Edit sub", FN=3
K="Kill sub", FN=4
M="Move Post", FN=5
S="Sort subs", FN=6
O="Order subs", FN=7
[END]
[Newscan]
menufile=Subscan
menuprompt=
A="Read Again", FN=1
D="Delete Post", FN=2
P="Post", FN=3
R="Reply", FN=4
U="Upload Post", FN=5
S="Skip Sub", FN=6
T="Toggle Dumpscan", FN=7
Q="Quit", FN=8
_="Next Post", FN=9
#="Read Message #", FN=10
B="Back one Message", FN=11
[END]
[Message Menu]
menufile=msg
menuprompt=
A="", FN=1 ; sub change
B="Change Board", FN=2
D="Toggle Dumpscan", FN=3
F="Toggle Newscan for Sub", FN=4
G="", FN=5 ; log off
; I="", FN=6
J="Jump Conferences", FN=7
K="Kill Post", FN=8
L="List Posts", FN=9
M="", FN=10 ; alternate jump conferences
N="Newscan", FN=11
O="Log Off", FN=12
P="Post", FN=13
; Y="", FN=14, SL=101
R="Replay to Post", FN=15
S="Scan Posts", FN=16
T="", FN=17 ; transfers (see fn 21)
U="Upload Post", FN=18
V="Newscan this Sub", FN=19
W="Who's Got Access", FN=20
X="Transfer Section", FN=21
Z="", FN=22 ; newscan (see fn 11)
E="Edit Post", FN=23
_="Next Post", FN=24
%="Board Sponsor", FN=25
+="Next Sub", FN=26
-="Previous Sub", FN=27
#="# to read Post", FN=28
Q="Quit", FN=29
[END]
[Menu #n] ; These are menu blanks. n is an integer, 1-99.
menufile=MENUn ; see above
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
[END]
[Miscellaneous Functions]
menufile=MISC
menuprompt=
A="Art Gallery", FN=1
B="BBS List", FN=2
F="Feedback", FN=3
G="G-files", FN=4
I="Infoforms", FN=5
L="List Users", FN=6
N="News", FN=7
D="Doors", FN=8
O="Log Off", FN=9
Q="Quit", FN=10
M="One Liners", FN=11
S="System Statistics", FN=12
U="New User Voting", FN=13
W="Who's online", FN=14
$="Donation Information", FN=15
%="Sysop Commands", FN=16, SFLAG=14
&="Generic Advertisment", FN=17
.="Celerity Credits", FN=18
; +="Debug", FN=19, SL=101
V="Voting Booth", FN=20
[END]
[Main Level]
menufile=MAINLEV
menuprompt=
M="Miscellaneous Menu", FN=1
B="Sub Boards", FN=2
X="Xfer Section", FN=3
T="", FN=4 ; transfers - alternate command
G="Global Newscan", FN=5
Z="", FN=6 ; zipscan
E="Electronic Mail", FN=7
C="Chat w/sysop", FN=8
Y="Your Statistics", FN=9
O="Log Off", FN=10
K="Configure Interface", FN=11
/="Multiline Chat", FN=12
Q="QWK Reader Support", FN=13
%="Sysop Functions", FN=14, SFLAG=14
!="User Custodian", FN=15, SFLAG=15
D="Doors", FN=16
[END]
[Main Menu]
menufile=MAIN
menuprompt=
A="Automessage", FN=1
B="BBS List", FN=2
C="Chat w/sysop", FN=3
D="Doors", FN=4
E="Electronic Mail", FN=5
F="Feedback", FN=6
G="", FN=7 ; log off
=="", FN=8
I="Information Scripts", FN=9
J="Last Lists", FN=10
K="Configure Interface", FN=11
L="List Users", FN=12
M="Message Section", FN=13
N="Read News", FN=14
O="Log Off", FN=15
P="General Files", FN=16
Q="QWK Reader Support", FN=17
R="One Liners", FN=18
S="System Statistics", FN=19
T="", FN=20 ; Transfer section
U="New User Voting", FN=21
W="Who's Online", FN=22
V="View Recent Lists", FN=23
X="Transfer Section", FN=24
Y="Your Statistics", FN=25
Z="Zipscan", FN=26
$="Donation", FN=27
; -="", FN=28
%="Sysop Options", FN=29, SFLAG=14
!="User Custodian", FN=30, SFLAG=15
&="Generic Advertisement", FN=31
.="Celerity Credits", FN=32
/="Multinode Chat", FN=33
[END]
[File Change]
menufile=fchange
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
U="Uploader", FN=2
D="Description", FN=3
S="Special Request", FN=4
R="Rating", FN=5
N="Name of file", FN=6
L="Location", FN=7
V="Value", FN=8
A="Access Password", FN=9
; E="", FN=10, SL=101
F="Full Program Name", FN=11
O="Disk Numbers", FN=12
P="Private", FN=13
T="Times Downloaded", FN=14
[END]
[Sysop Filescan]
menufile=newscan
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
#="# of points", FN=0 ; really function 2, but will never return a value
V="Value", FN=2
C="Change file", FN=3
E="Rename file", FN=4
D="Delete file", FN=5
Z="Zip listing", FN=6
M="Move file", FN=7
S="Skip file", FN=8
0="Free file", FN=9
[END]
[File Newscan]
menufile=filenew
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
N="Next area", FN=2
; A="", FN=3, SL=101
D="Download", FN=4
+="Add to batch", FN=5
I="Info on file", FN=6
Z="Zip listing", FN=7
C="Change file", FN=8
R="Rename file", FN=9
!="Validate files", FN=10
K="Kill file", FN=11
_="Next page", FN=12
[END]
[File Listing]
menufile=filelst
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
N="Nonstop", FN=2
A="Repeat listing", FN=3
D="Download", FN=4
+="Add to batch", FN=5
I="Info on file", FN=6
Z="Zip listing", FN=7
C="Change file", FN=8
R="Rename file", FN=9
!="Validate files", FN=10
K="Kill file", FN=11
_="Next page", FN=12
[END]
[Global Management]
menufile=globman
menuprompt=
S="Sort areas", FN=1
P="Point reassign", FN=2
C="Cleanup offline files", FN=3
V="Verify locations", FN=4
O="Delete old files", FN=5
D="Directory scan", FN=6
Q="Quit", FN=7
[END]
[File Sponsor]
menufile=fsysop
menuprompt=
A="Area change", FN=1
C="Change file", FN=2
D="Delete file", FN=3
F="File directory", FN=4
L="List files", FN=5
K="Kill area", FN=6
R="Edit Area", FN=7
N="New file scan", FN=8
S="Sort area", FN=9
M="Move file", FN=10
U="List users w/access", FN=11
O="Order areas", FN=12
P="Point reassign", FN=13
E="Rename file", FN=14
W="Add files to directory", FN=15
*="Area Change", FN=16
X="Download unlisted file", FN=17
B="Batch move/delete", FN=18
I="Cleanup offline", FN=19
V="Verify locations", FN=20
Z="Zip listing", FN=21
J="Just how much space?", FN=22
Q="Quit", FN=23
G="Global management", FN=24
-="Show who's online", FN=25
=="View sysop log", FN=26
+="Add file locally", FN=27
; T="Verify xfer areas", FN=28
[END]
[User File Editor]
menufile=usrud
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
K="Kill file", FN=2
D="Describe file", FN=3
V="Change value", FN=4
F="Program name", FN=5
O="Disk numbers", FN=6
P="Private", FN=7
[END]
[Transfers]
menufile=file
menuprompt=
U="Upload", FN=1
D="Download", FN=2
L="List files", FN=3
F="Feedback", FN=4
Y="Your status", FN=5
A="Change area", FN=6
*="Change area", FN=7
S="Search for file", FN=8
Q="Quit", FN=9
%="Sysop Access", FN=10, XL=90
N="Newscan", FN=11
V="Newscan Area", FN=12
; H="", FN=13, SL=101
Z="Zip listing", FN=14
W="Configure file listing", FN=15
E="Edit upload", FN=16
T="Type file", FN=17
R="Request file", FN=18
C="Create master file list", FN=19
B="Batch xfer menu", FN=20
+="Add to batch", FN=21
X="Extract from archive", FN=22
I="Information on file", FN=23
G="Goodbye", FN=24
J="Jump conferences", FN=25
M="Message section", FN=26
; P="Test archive", FN=27
/="Multiline Chat", FN=28
[END]
[Sysop Commands]
menufile=sysop
menuprompt=
Q="Quit", FN=1
T="", FN=2
E="Error log", FN=3
A="Add news", FN=4
N="News menu", FN=5
D="Delete error log", FN=6
U="User editor", FN=7
C="Check net", FN=8
I="Infoform scan", FN=9
J="Show all infoforms", FN=10
S="Show sysop log", FN=11
K="Kill sysop log", FN=12
V="View all sysops", FN=13
M="Make a new user", FN=14
; F="", FN=15, SL=101
R="Remove all infoforms", FN=16
Z="Zap specific users", FN=17
P="Set parameters", FN=18, SL=100
!="User Custodian", FN=19
[END]
[Doors]
menufile=doors
menuprompt=
L="List doors", FN=1
O="Open door", FN=2
C="Create door", FN=3, SFLAG=16
D="Delete door", FN=4, SFLAG=16
E="Edit door", FN=5, SFLAG=16
Q="Quit", FN=5
%="", FN=6 ; useless function. Not displayed.
[END]
[Scan Mail]
menufile=scnmail
menuprompt=
R="Reply", FN=1
F="Forward mail", FN=2
S="Save mail", FN=3
A="Read again", FN=4
N="Next piece", FN=5
Q="Quit", FN=6
L="List mail", FN=7
#="Show mail #", FN=8
_="Next piece", FN=9
[END]
[Electronic Mail]
menufile=email
menuprompt=
V="View mail", FN=1
S="Send mail", FN=2
F="Feedback", FN=3
R="Read mail", FN=4
L="List mail", FN=5
Q="Quit", FN=6
Z="Zap mail", FN=7
[END]
[User Editor]
menufile=uedit
menuprompt=
S="Status", FN=1
D="Delete user", FN=2
H="Change handle", FN=3
P="Password", FN=4
L="Level change", FN=5
O="File points", FN=6
E="Xfer level", FN=7
W="Wanted flag", FN=8
T="Time left", FN=9
; B="Board flags", FN=10
Q="Quit", FN=11
; S="", FN=12, SL=101
N="Phone Number", FN=13
I="Show Info script", FN=14
R="Public note", FN=15
X="Xfer parameters", FN=16
C="Conference access", FN=17
+="Quick validate", FN=18
K="Kill infoform", FN=19
Z="Change ratios", FN=20
[END]
[Batch Operations]
menufile=batch
menuprompt=
D="Download batch", FN=1
U="Upload batch", FN=2
L="List batch queue", FN=3
C="Clear batch queue", FN=4
R="Remove one item", FN=5
+="", FN=6 ; useless function, not displayed
Q="Quit", FN=7
[END]
[User Custodian]
menufile=usrcust
menuprompt=
; E="Edit User", fn=1
N="New User Scan", FN=2
L="Load Another User", FN=3
Q="Quit", FN=9
[END]
[Voting Booth]
menufile=vote
menuprompt=
V="Vote", FN=1
L="List Topics", FN=2
S="Show Results", FN=3
C="Create Topic", FN=4, SFLAG=18
D="Delete Topic", FN=5, SFLAG=18
E="Edit Topic", FN=6, SFLAG=18
N="Newscan Topics", FN=7
Q="Quit", FN=8
[END]
Appendix Z: Credits and Acknowledgements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celerity is written by Brendon Woirhaye and Dave Hicks.
Celerity documentation written by Brendon Woirhaye except for the following:
Appendix K,L: Written by "Holy Ward", sysop of MidPoint Void CAE/TAC.
Appendix N : Written by "Fatal Error", sysop of Modular Madness.
Others who have contributed significantly to the Celerity project in the area
of beta testing and suggestions include:
Lord Icon, sysop of The Genisis Division
Earl Weaver, sysop of the former Instant Replay
Malignant Growth, ex-sysop of Fungus Land
Dr. Crunch, sysop of the former The Proving Grounds
Phantom, sysop of the former XTC
Basket Case, sysop of The Hall of Illusions
General Zennor, sysop of The Cassandra Complex
The JokeR, sysop of The Arkham Asylum
The Punisher, sysop of The Crack in Time BBS/CAE
The WardeN, sysop of Maximum Security BBS/CAE
Thanks also to those who have written menus, status screens, and info-forms for
other Celerity sysops to use:
Lord Icon Phantom Basket Case Trooper X Grim Reaper
Wild Gunman General Zennor Optical Illusion Cemetery Shift
Even more thanks go to those sysops who have chosen Celerity as their BBS of
choice.
And to those whom I've forgotten to mention.
Thanks also go to The Shocker, for implementing CelerityNet into his BBS
software, expanding the network to more than one software package.
Additional thanks go to Skeeve, author of Silicosis, for making his software
the third BBS package to support CelerityNet.
Thanks also go to Extreme A.I., author of ADI, for his constructive feedback,
coding assistance (FidoNet, HermesNet), Celerity utilities, and incorporation
of CelerityNet into ADI.
Acknowledgement must also go to the following for incorporating CelerityNet
into their packages: Warlord and The Grim Reaper of Vision-X, the author of
FAQ (who's handle escapes me at the moment), The Elemental of Cypher, Darkened
Emnity and the other authors of Oblivion/2, Big Mario of Prism, and other
authors who choose to support it in the future.
Exceptional thanks to Extreme A.I. for designing the HermesNet specification
and to all the BBS packages in our consortium: Celerity, ADI, Prism, Extreme,
Mirage, Oblivion/2, and Vision-X.
Acknowledgements
MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
DSZ is a trademark of Omen Technologies, Inc.
Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Borland International, Inc.
Forum is a trademark of Kenneth Duda.
PKZIP, ZIP, and PKUNZIP are trademarks of PKWare, Inc.