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1993-02-26
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The TriBBS (R) Bulletin Board System
Version 4.0
Copyright (c) 1991-1993 By Mark D. Goodwin
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Automatic Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Manual Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Menu Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Help Display Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Modifying BOARD.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Getting TriBBS to Run on Boot Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Your First Log On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
THE TRIBBS MANAGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Configure Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Pack Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
TriMan Odds and Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Drop to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Configure Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Edit Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Edit Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Edit Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Configure System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Edit File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
View Callers Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Pack User File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Exit TriBBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Pack Message Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Modem Status Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Statistics Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Screen Blanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
DISPLAY SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
@-Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Log On and Goodbye Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Security Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
User Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
New User Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Bulletin Menu and Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Message Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Upload Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Download Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Door Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Door Bulletin Menu and Door Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System iii
ARCHIVE TESTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
ODDS AND ENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Obnoxious Callers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Daily Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Special Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Quick Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
File Flagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Packing the Message Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
The TriBBS Protocol Driver: TTPROT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . 109
MULTINODES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Doors and Multinodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Some Helpful Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Multinode Chatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
HIGH-SPEED MODEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
FILE FORMATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
SYSDAT1.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
SYSDAT2.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
NODE.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
USERS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
USERS.IDX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
USERS.SUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
MCONF.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Mnnnn.PTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Mnnnn.IDX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Mnnnn.TXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
FAREA.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
EVENTS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
TRIBBS.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
COLOR CODES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 1
INTRODUCTION
------------
TriBBS is one of the newest Bulletin Board Systems around. Although
TriBBS is a relatively new BBS, it comes equipped with many powerful
features:
Multinode Support - Although TriBBS 4.0 is an excellent single
line bulletin board system, it fully supports multinode
operation. Unlike many other bulletin board systems, you do not
have to pay extra for a multinode system. So when your board is
ready to expand, TriBBS will easily grow along with you at no
additional cost.
Multinode Chat - On multinode boards, TriBBS supports both node
to node chatting and group chats.
Zmodem - Not many other bulletin board systems can claim this
one. By offering Zmodem as a part of TriBBS, the sysop is
relieved from having to set it up as an external protocol.
Full Screen Editor - In addition to an excellent line editor,
TriBBS features a complete full screen editor to make message
entry as easy as possible.
Alias Support - TriBBS optionally supports the use of aliases in
message conferences and file areas.
Net Mail - TriBBS's message base structure provides extensive
support for net mail conferences. Netmail converters are
available for Fido<->TriBBS, PCRelay<->TriBBS, Postlink<->TriBBS,
and QWK<->TriBBS. Although these converters are an optional part
of TriBBS and not included in the TriBBS archive, they a readily
available for download on any TriBBS support board and are
supplied free of charge to all TriBBS sysops.
Compressed Message Base - Another unique feature to TriBBS is
its use of data compression on all messages. This can save a
great deal of valuable hard drive space. So if you plan on
setting up a board with a lot of networked conferences, TriBBS is
the system for you.
Doors - TriBBS can internally generate the door data files to run
most PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), Spitfire, WildCat, and RBBS doors.
By supporting these five major standards, TriBBS can run pretty
much any door program. By generating the door data files
internally, TriBBS relieves the sysop from setting up a
collection of door data file conversion utilities.
Archive Testing - TriBBS allows you to optionally test all
uploaded archives, EXEs, and COMs to see if they were
uploaded without error and scan them for viruses.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 3
REQUIREMENTS
------------
TriBBS requires an IBM PC or compatible computer with 640K of memory,
a modem, and a hard disk drive. Although TriBBS doesn't use 640K of
memory itself, such programs as external protocol drivers, compression
utilities, etc. all have their own RAM requirements; therefore, the
more memory the BBS has to run in the better.
Whereas it would be possible to set up a small TriBBS system on a
floppy disk based system, it really wouldn't be of much practical use.
Therefore, a floppy disk based TriBBS board is not recommended and is
not supported.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 5
INSTALLATION
------------
The first step in using any computer program is to install it. You
probably acquired your copy of TriBBS from a BBS or online service and
have obviously uncompressed the file archive. There are two methods
for installing TriBBS: automatic installation through the included
INSTALL.EXE program or manual installation where you will be required
to do most of the work yourself. The method you chose is obviously up
to you, but most users will find automatic installation to be the best
method for setting up a new TriBBS board.
Automatic Installation
----------------------
Automatic installation is started by running the INSTALL.EXE program.
This is done by entering the following at the DOS prompt:
INSTALL
INSTALL starts by displaying a list of directories it intends to
create. By default, these directories are C:\TRIBBS (the board's main
directory), C:\TRIBBS\MWORK (holds the user data file, the message
conferences, questionnaires, answers to questionnaires, the callers
log, and a few other data files), C:\TRIBBS\NWORK (holds the menu
configuration files, event data files, and temporary caller logs),
C:\TRIBBS\DISPLAY (holds display screens: log on screens, goodbye
screen, bulletins, door bulletins, custom menu screens, etc.),
C:\TRIBBS\TRANSFER (used by TriBBS to hold temporary files during file
transfers), and C:\TRIBBS\TTTEMP (used by TriBBS to hold transient
files and data). You can change the main BBS directory by pressing
the <F10> key and entering the new main BBS directory's name.
The installation process will continue as soon as you press <ENTER>.
The installation program continues by creating the six above mentioned
directories, copies the executable files (BBS.EXE, TTPROT.EXE,
TRIMAN.EXE, FILEMAN.EXE, and TRIPACK.EXE) into the main BBS directory,
creates a BOARD.BAT file in the main BBS directory, copies the menu
configuration files into the NWORK directory, and copies the TeleChat
and full screen editor help screens into the DISPLAY directory.
At this point the installation program will halt and wait for you to
enter the BBS name (default: Unnamed BBS), the sysop's name (default:
Joe Sysop), the com port (default: 1), and your modem's maximum baud
rate (default: 2400). Once you have edited these to appropriate
values, you must press <F10> to continue. INSTALL will continue by
creating three data files in the main BBS directory: SYSDAT1.DAT,
SYSDAT2.DAT, and NODE.DAT.
The automatic installation process should now be complete. You should
now jump ahead to the section entitled "Getting TriBBS to Run on Boot
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 7
You can create a local-only node by specifying a port number of 0 as
follows:
BBS /C0
By creating a local-only node, the TriBBS node doesn't require a
modem. This can be very useful for setting up a node for the sysop to
perform daily maintenance on. You should note that some doors may not
be useable with a local-only node.
IMPORTANT: If your modem can't support at least 2400 baud, you must
start TriBBS with the following command:
BBS /Bbaud
Where "baud" is your modem's highest baud rate. For example, a TriBBS
system that will be using a 1200 baud modem would need to be
initialized with the following command:
BBS /B1200
You can of course combine the /C and /B command line switches. For
example, a system with a 300 baud (YUCK!!!) modem hooked up to COM3
would use one of the following commands:
BBS /C3 /B300 or BBS /B300 /C3
If everything went ok, you should now see TriBBS's Waiting for Caller
screen. This screen presents you with 12 menu options. At this time,
you should use the arrow keys to position the double-lined box around
the "Exit TriBBS" option. Once the double-lined box is around the
"Exit TriBBS" option, simply press <ENTER> (For the rest of this
manual, a keyboard key is indicated by surrounding it with <>.) and
you will be returned to the DOS prompt.
By running TriBBS in this fashion, TriBBS has created two system data
files (SYSDAT1.DAT and SYSDAT2.DAT), a node data file (NODE.DAT), and
five subdirectories off your main TriBBS directory. These five
subdirectories are named MWORK, NWORK, DISPLAY, TRANSFER, and TTTEMP.
If your main TriBBS directory is C:\TRIBBS, you should now have the
following five subdirectories: C:\TRIBBS\MWORK, C:\TRIBBS\NWORK,
C:\TRIBBS\DISPLAY, C:\TRIBBS\TRANSFER, and C:\TRIBBS\TTTEMP. TriBBS
creates these five subdirectories to maintain the BBS. The MWORK
directory holds the user data file, the message conferences,
questionnaires, answers to questionnaires, the callers log, and a few
other data files. The NWORK directory holds the menu configuration
files, event data files, and temporary caller logs. The DISPLAY
directory holds display screens: log on screens, goodbye screen,
bulletins, door bulletins, custom menu screens, etc. The TRANSFER
directory is used to temporarily hold files during file transfers.
The TTTEMP directory is used by TriBBS to hold transient files and
data.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 9
echo off
cd \tribbs
if exist door.bat del door.bat
if exist event.bat del event.bat
if exist endbbs del endbbs
bbs
if exist door.bat door
if exist event.bat event
if exist endbbs goto end
board
:end
Note how the second line of BOARD.BAT changes the current directory to
the TriBBS's main directory. If your TriBBS setup uses a different
directory other than "\tribbs", you will have to use some type of a
text editor to make the appropriate change.
Getting TriBBS to Run on Boot Up
--------------------------------
You will want your TriBBS system to automatically start up whenever
your computer reboots. This can be accomplished by performing two
simple modifications to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. First of all, you
should modify or create a SET PATH or PATH command to include your
main TriBBS directory. At the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you
should put the command BOARD. That way DOS will automatically run
TriBBS each time the computer is rebooted. The following is a sample
AUTOEXEC.BAT file before it has been modified to automatically start
up TriBBS:
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $p$g
PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP
The following is the same AUTOEXEC.BAT file after the appropriate
changes have been made to it for TriBBS:
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $p$g
PATH C:\TRIBBS;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP
BOARD
Note how the PATH command in line three was modified and how BOARD was
added to the end of the batch file.
IMPORTANT: Starting with version 2.1, TriBBS uses TTPROT.EXE to
perform file transfers. TTPROT is included with TriBBS and must be
placed in either your main TriBBS directory or a directory that is in
your DOS PATH statement.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 11
After selecting the appropriate color choice, TriBBS will prompt you
to enter your name as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your FIRST and LAST name:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Simply type your name and press <ENTER>. Because this is your first
log on, TriBBS will display the following:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your FIRST and LAST name: Mark Goodwin
Searching user records for Mark Goodwin.
<G>oodbye, <R>eenter name, or <N>ew User?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Because you are a "new user", you should press <N>. If you weren't a
new user, you could either "reenter name" by pressing <R> or say
"goodbye" by pressing <G>.
TriBBS will now prompt you for a password as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Simply type in a password and press <ENTER>.
IMPORTANT: Be sure that you use a unique password for your system. If
somebody finds out what your password is, it is possible for them to
make extensive modifications to your BBS. So be careful with your
password.
TriBBS will now ask if you entered your password correctly as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.): install
Is Install correct (Y,n)?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If your password is correct, press either <Y> or <ENTER>. If it is
incorrect, press <N> and TriBBS will once again prompt you for your
password. The main reason for allowing you to reenter a password is
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 13
After entering your date of birth, TriBBS will prompt you to select a
default protocol as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
<A> Ascii
<X> Xmodem
<K> Xmodem-1K
<Y> Ymodem
<G> Ymodem-G
<Z> Zmodem
<N> No Default
Please select a default protocol:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Simply select the default file transfer protocol you would like to use
when calling your board remotely. If you don't want to set a default
protocol, press <N>. By selecting "No Default", TriBBS will prompt
you to select a protocol before each file transfer.
After selecting a default protocol, TriBBS will prompt you to select a
default editor as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
<L> Line Editor
<F> Full Screen Editor
<N> No Default
Please select a default editor:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Simply select the default editor you would like to use. By selecting
"No Default", TriBBS will prompt you to select an editor before
entering each message if you have ANSI graphics enabled.
Because your system doesn't have any bulletins yet, the following will
be displayed:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There are no bulletins available today!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 15
THE TRIBBS MANAGER
------------------
The TriBBS Manager program, TriMan, is used to perform such actions as
configuring the system, configuring the node, configuring message
conferences, configuring file areas, editing users, packing the user
file, packing the message base, and more. As a sysop, TriMan will be
one of the most important tools you'll use in maintaining your BBS.
To run TriMan, you must be in your nodes's main directory. Then at
the DOS prompt enter TRIMAN. When executed, TriMan will present a
menu bar with the following three options:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Configure Pack Exit
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To pull down the Configure menu, you need to press <ALT><C>, to pull
down the Pack menu, you need to press <ALT><P>, or to "Exit" TriMan
you need to press <ALT><E>.
The Configure Menu
------------------
When pulled down, the Configure menu will present the following seven
options:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
System
Node
Users
Message Conferences
File Areas
Events
About TriBBS (R) Manager
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 17
Total Calls............. : 0
This is the total number of calls that have been made to
your BBS. This is initially set to 0, but if you are
switching from another type of BBS software to TriBBS, you
may want to change it to your board's current total number
of calls.
Daily Time Limit........ : 60
This is the default number of minutes a caller will be able
to spend on your board. You should note that the daily time
for different security levels can be specified in an
optional file called DLIMITS.DAT. DLIMITS.DAT will be
discussed later in this manual.
Daily Logon Limit....... : 5
This is the default number of times a caller can log on to
the BBS in a single day. You should note that the daily
number of logons for different security levels can be
specified in an optional file called DLIMITS.DAT.
DLIMITS.DAT will be discussed later in this manual.
Max Time Per Logon...... : 60
This is the default maximum time the caller will have for
each logon. You should note that the maximum time per logon
for different security levels can be specified in an
optional file called DLIMITS.DAT. DLIMITS.DAT will be
discussed later in this manual.
Min Sysop Security Level : 100
This is the minimum sysop security level. Anybody with a
security level that is at least equal to this value will be
considered a sysop and be able to do such things as read
private messages, delete messages, and be able to perform a
great number of other operations that the normal caller
cannot do. Therefore, you should only assign a sysop
security level to yourself and any cosysops your board may
have.
New User Security Level. : 10
This is the new user security level. When a user calls for
the first time, he will be assigned this security level.
New User Time Limit..... : 60
This is the amount of time a new user will get for his first
call to the system. Many sysops like to give new users a
little extra time on their first call so that they can get a
feel for the board.
Upload Time Compensation : 1
This if the amount of time a caller will be compensated for
uploads. Many sysops like to reward callers for uploading.
By default, the upload time compensation of 1:1 will give
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 19
To perform a virus check of the uploaded files, you must
have SCAN.EXE somewhere in your DOS PATH.
Waiting Messages Check.. : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS will check all message conferences to see
if the caller has any waiting messages in them just before
displaying the bulletin menu. If this field is toggled to
"No", the waiting message check will be disabled.
Total Nodes............. : 1
This is the total number of nodes in your BBS. This number
is automatically maintained by TriBBS whenever you add a new
node the system. However, you may need to manually adjust
this number if you delete a node at a future date.
System Password......... :
This field allows you to set an optional system password.
Once a password is set, TriBBS will ask the local computer
user for the system password before it will allow him to
select any of the Waiting for Caller screen items except for
local logons. This is useful if you want to restrict access
to the BBS's configuration where many people have physical
access to the computer (i.e., a school or a business).
File Ratio Type......... : Security Levels <- This is a toggle
field
This field defines how TriBBS implements file/byte ratios.
By default, TriBBS will adjust the caller's security level
either up or down according to their file/byte ratio.
Optionally, TriBBS will disallow downloads if the caller has
exceeded his file/byte ratio.
Phone Busy During Config : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS will take the phone off the hook whenever
the sysop is performing maintenance from the Waiting for
Caller screen. If this field is toggled to "No", TriBBS
will not take the phone off the hook. You should note that
some telephone companies electronic switching computers will
flag a line as out of order if it busied for a certain
length of time without any apparent activity. Therefore,
this field should be set for "No" if your telephone company
uses this type of system.
Allow One Word Names.... : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS will allow callers to enter one word
names. If this field is toggled to "No", TriBBS will not
allow callers to use only one name. This is handy for
weeding out obvious aliases on systems that do not want
aliases used.
Bulletin Menu at Logon.. : Yes <- This is a toggle field
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 21
To configure the node, you need to press the <N> key at the Configure
menu. Once the configure node option is selected, you will be
presented with the following items:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Serial Port............. : 2
Initialization String... : ATS0=0Q0E0M0V1H0S2=43X1^M
Initial Baud Rate....... : 2400
Error Correcting Message : ARQ
Lock Serial Port........ : No
RTS/CTS Flow Control.... : No
1/10 Sec. Delay For ATA. : 5
No. of Rings Before ATA. : 1
Allow 300 Baud Callers.. : Yes
Allow 1200 Baud Callers. : Yes
Allow 2400 Baud Callers. : Yes
Page Bell............... : Off
Direct Screen Writes.... : Yes
Use Node DISPLAY Dir.... : No
Node Security Level..... : 0
Node Number............. : 1
Busy During Events...... : No
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a more detailed description for each one of these
configure node items:
Serial Port............. : 1 <- This is a toggle field
This is the node's serial port. This field can be toggled
between 1, 2, 3, 4, or Local.
Initialization String... : ATS0=0Q0E0M0V1H0S2=43X1^M
This is your modem's initialization string. The above
initialization string is TriBBS's default initialization
string and should work with most modems. If your modem
doesn't answer correctly, you should consult your modem's
manual to determine what changes may be necessary to the
above initialization string. Any control characters are
indicated by using the format ^character. The
initialization string must end with a ^M control character.
Although you can change the above string to suit your needs,
you shouldn't modify S0=0 (this instructs your modem NOT to
automatically answer a call), Q0 (this instructs your modem
to display result codes), V1 (this instructs your modem to
use verbal result codes), H0 (this instructs your modem to
put the phone on the hook), S2=43 (this tells your modem the
escape sequence character). Additionally, you should insure
that you use X1 or greater for result codes. Otherwise,
CONNECT codes aren't returned by the modem. You should note
that you can specify a modem initialization string by using
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 23
modem isn't answering, you should try adjusting this to a
higher value. The maximum value is 20 for a 2 second delay.
No. of Rings Before ATA. : 1
This is the number of RING messages TriBBS will wait for
before it will send the ATA command to the modem to answer
the phone. By default, TriBBS answers the phone on the
first ring.
Allow 300 Baud Callers.. : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS allows 300 baud callers. If this field
is toggled to "No", TriBBS will not allow 300 baud callers
to log on to the board.
Allow 1200 Baud Callers. : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS allows 1200 baud callers. If this field
is toggled to "No", TriBBS will not allow 1200 baud callers
to log on to the board.
Allow 2400 Baud Callers. : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS allows 2400 baud callers. If this field
is toggled to "No", TriBBS will not allow 2400 baud callers
to log on to the board.
Page Bell............... : Off <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS turns the sysop page bell off. If you
want to be paged, you should toggle this field to "On".
Direct Screen Writes.... : Yes <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS will write directly to video memory to
display text. This can cause snow on some old CGA systems.
If you experience snow on your video display, you should
toggle this field to "No".
Use Node DISPLAY Dir.... : No <- This is a toggle field
By default, TriBBS looks in node 1's DISPLAY directory for
all screens. If this field is toggled to "Yes", TriBBS will
look in the node's display directory for display screens.
This allows you to have a separate set of display screens
for each node.
Node Security Level..... : 0
This is the node's minimum security level. For a caller to
be allowed access to the node, the caller must have a
security level that is at least equal to or greater than
this field's value. This if useful for creating private
access BBSes and high-security nodes.
Node Number............. : 1
This is the node's number. This is set automatically by
TriBBS when the node is created. However, it can be changed
when required (i.e., deleting a node, etc.).
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 25
To edit the users, you need to press <U> at the Configure menu. Once
the edit users option is selected, you will be presented with the
following items:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Name.................... : Mark Goodwin
Alias................... : Mark Goodwin
Password................ : Install
City, State............. : Bangor, Me
Telephone Number........ : 207-941-0805
Birth Date.............. : 10/19/56
Security Level.......... : 10
Locked Out.............. : No
Delete During Next Pack. : No
Date of First Call...... : 01/01/90
Time of Last Call....... : 02/12/93 09:54
Date of Last File Check. : 06/02/92
Minutes Left Today...... : 117
Total Calls............. : 342
Calls Today............. : 5
Expert Mode............. : Expert
Default Protocol........ : None
MultiNode Chat Status... : Available
Default Editor.......... : Full Screen Editor
Check for Waiting Msgs.. : No
Subscription Expires.... : None
Files Uploaded.......... : 0
Files Downloaded........ : 0
K Bytes Uploaded........ : 2060
K Bytes Downloaded...... : 31
Messages Posted......... : 23
Welcome Display in QWK.. : No
Goodbye Display in QWK.. : No
Bulletins in QWK........ : No
New Files in QWK........ : No
Newsletter in QWK....... : No
QWK Mail Network Node... : No
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a more detailed description of each one of these
configure systems items:
Name.................... : Mark Goodwin
This is the user's name.
Alias................... : Mark Goodwin
This is the user's alias.
Password................ : Install
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 27
If it is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will only display an
abbreviated prompt.
Default Protocol........ : None <- This is a toggle field
This field indicates the user's default file transfer
protocol.
MultiNode Chat Status... : Available <- This is a toggle field
This field indicates the user's multinode chat status. If
the field is set for "Available", the user can be paged by a
caller on another node. If the field is set for
"Unavailable", the user can't be paged by a caller on
another node.
Default Editor.......... : Full Screen Editor
This field indicates the user's default editor type.
Check for Waiting Msgs.. : Yes <- This is a toggle field.
This field indicates if the user wants to check for waiting
messages at log on. By default, TriBBS will check for
waiting messages. If this field is toggled to "No", TriBBS
will not check for waiting messages.
Subscription Expires.... : None
This field sets the expiration date, if any, for the user's
subscription. To set the expiration date to "None", enter a
date of 00/00/00.
Files Uploaded.......... : 0
This field indicates the number of files the user has
uploaded.
Files Downloaded........ : 0
This field indicates the number of files the user has
downloaded.
K Bytes Uploaded........ : 2060
This field indicates the number of K bytes the user has
uploaded.
K Bytes Downloaded...... : 31
This field indicates the number of K bytes the user had
downloaded.
Messages Posted......... : 23
This field indicates the number of messages the user has
posted.
Welcome Display in QWK.. : No <- This is a toggle field
This field indicates if TriMail should include the BBS's
LOGON1 screen in a QWK packet.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 29
While editing the user values, the following function keys are active:
Function Key Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<SPACE> Toggle a toggle field.
<TAB> Move to the next field.
<SHIFT><TAB> Move to the previous field.
<CTRL><PGDN> Move to the next screen of data entry fields.
<CTRL><PGUP> Move to the previous screen of data entry
fields.
<PGDN> Move to the next user.
<PGUP> Move to the previous user.
<F2> Add a user.
<F3> Edit the user's access to private file areas.
<F4> Edit the user's access to private message
conferences.
<F5> Search for a user. Note that when entering
the user's name, you can use the DOS wildcard
characters "*" and "?" in the search string.
<F6> Search for the next user that matches the
previously entered search string.
<ALT><N> Jump to a specified record number.
<F10> or <ESC> Exit the configure system editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To configure the message conferences, you need to press <M> at the
Configure menu. Once the configure message conferences option is
selected, you will be presented with the following items:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Conference Description.. : General
Read Message Security... : 10
Post Message Security... : 10
Private Conference...... : No
Alias Conference........ : No
Allow Private Posts..... : Yes
Networked Conference.... : No
Network................. :
Fido-Style NetMail Conf. : No
User Message Deletion... : Allowed
Purge Msgs Older Than... : 30
Msg Pack Backup File.... : Yes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a more detailed description of each one of these
configure message conference items:
Conference Description.. : General
This is the name of the message conference.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 31
Msg Pack Backup File.... : Yes
This field indicates if TriPack should create backup files
when packing the message base.
While editing the message conference values, the following function
keys are active:
Function Key Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<SPACE> Toggle a toggle field.
<TAB> Move to the next field.
<SHIFT><TAB> Move to the previous field.
<F2> Add a message conference.
<INSERT> Insert a message conference before the
current conference.
<DELETE> Delete the current message conference.
<PGDN> Move to the next message conference.
<PGUP> Move to the previous message conference.
<ALT><N> Jump to a specified message conference.
<F10> or <ESC> Exit the configure message conference editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To configure the file areas, you need to press <F> at the Configure
menu. Once the configure file areas option is selected, you will be
presented with the following items:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
File Area Description.. : TriBBS Related Files
File Area Security..... : 10
File Area Sort Type.... : By Filename
Private File Area...... : No
Alias File Area........ : No
CD-ROM File Area....... : No
File Area Path......... : C:\TRIBBS\TRIBBS
File Area Upload Path.. : C:\TRIBBS\UPLOADS
File Area File List.... : C:\TRIBBS\TRIBBS\FILES.LST
File Area Upload List.. : C:\TRIBBS\UPLOADS\FILES.LST
File Area Index File... : C:\TRIBBS\FILE1.IDX
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a more detailed description of each one of these
configure file area items:
File Area Description.. : TriBBS Related Files
This is the name of the file areas.
File Area Security..... : 10
This minimum security level the caller needs to be able to
access the file area.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 33
While editing the file area values, the following function keys are
active:
Function Key Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<SPACE> Toggle a toggle field.
<TAB> Move to the next field.
<SHIFT><TAB> Move to the previous field.
<F2> Add a file area.
<INSERT> Insert a new file area before the current
file area.
<DELETE> Delete the current file area.
<PGDN> Move to the next file area.
<PGUP> Move to the previous file area.
<ALT><N> Jump to a specified file area.
<F10> or <ESC> Exit the configure file area editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To configure the events, you need to press <E> at the Configure menu.
Once the configure events option is selected, you will be presented
with the following items:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Event Day.................... : Every Day
Event Time................... : 09:01
Event File................... : EVENT1
Event Slide.................. : No
Event Already Executed Today. : Yes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a more detailed description of each one of these
configure events items:
Event Day.................... : Every Day <- This is a toggle
field
This field sets the day the event will run. It can be
toggled to run the event on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Every Day of the
week.
Event Time................... : 09:01
This field sets the time the event is to take place. When
setting event times, you should use a 24-hour clock (00:00
to 23:59).
Event File................... : EVENT1
This field specifies the name of the batch file TriBBS is
supposed to run when the event takes place. The event batch
file must be in the node's main directory.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 35
Switch(es) Action
-----------------------------------------------------------------
/SYSTEM Runs TriMan's system editor.
/NODE Runs TriMan's node editor.
/USERS Runs TriMan's user editor.
/CONF Runs TriMan's message conference editor.
/FILE Runs TriMan's file area editor.
/EVENT Runs TriMan's event editor.
/UPACK Runs TriMan's user file packer and asks
before packing.
/UPACK /BATCH Unconditionally runs TriMan's user file
packer.
/MPACK Runs TriPack via TriMan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: You should be very careful using TriMan when somebody is
online. About the only safe thing you can do while somebody is online
is to edit the user file. You should not attempt to do any other
configuration with TriMan while anybody is on your BBS. To do so, may
lead to an irreversible corruption of your board's data files!
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 37
THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN
-----------------------------
Other than being pretty colorful, TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen
allows the sysop to perform a great deal of board maintenance without
even having to log on to the board. The Waiting for Caller screen
performs these maintenance operations by calling TriMan. The Waiting
for Caller screen is divided into three major parts.
The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu
----------------------------------
The top portion of the screen is the Waiting for Caller menu and
allows you to select one of the following 12 options:
Drop to DOS
Configure Node
Edit Conferences
Local Logon
Edit Users
Edit Events
Configure System
Edit File Areas
View Callers Log
Pack User File
Exit TriBBS
Pack Message Base
As you already know from installing TriBBS, a menu option is selected
by moving the double-lined border to the desired option and pressing
<ENTER>. Each of these ten menu options will now be explained one at
a time.
Drop to DOS
-----------
The "Drop to DOS" menu option will temporarily shell out to DOS and
allow you to enter DOS commands. You can return to TriBBS by simply
entering EXIT at the DOS command prompt. You should note that TriBBS
takes the phone off the hook when the "Drop to DOS" menu option is
selected and will put it back on the hook when you return from DOS.
This will give any callers a BUSY signal while you are shelled out to
DOS.
Configure Node
---------------
The"Configure Node"menu optioncalls TriMan's nodeconfiguration editor.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 39
Exit TriBBS
-----------
The "Exit TriBBS" menu option exits you from TriBBS and returns you to
the DOS command prompt.
Pack Message Base
-----------------
The "Pack Message Base" menu option calls TriMan to pack the message
base.
The Modem Status Window
-----------------------
The middle portion of the Waiting for Caller screen is the modem
status window. The window will display the current state of the
modem: initialization information and ring detection.
The Statistics Display
----------------------
The bottom portion of the Waiting for Caller screen displays a variety
of information about your board: the total number of calls, the number
of calls for the current day, the number of messages that have been
posted during the current day, the number of uploads for the current
day, the number of downloads for the current day, and the node number.
Screen Blanking
---------------
After a short period of time, TriBBS will blank the screen and bounce
a "TriBBS Ready For Caller" message around the screen. This is done
to prevent your screen from being burned by the Waiting for Caller
screen. The Waiting for Caller screen is redisplayed by pressing any
key.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 41
DISPLAY SCREENS
---------------
TriBBS allows you to use a number of optional display screens to
customize your board. These screens can be either ANSI color screens
or monochrome screens. TriBBS requires you to use an extension of ANS
for ANSI color screens and BBS for monochrome screens. All display
screens are stored in the DISPLAY subdirectory. If you have the node
configured to use its own DISPLAY directory, TriBBS will look for the
display screens there. Otherwise, TriBBS will look for the display
screens in node 1's DISPLAY directory.
If the caller has selected ANSI color graphics or TriBBS has
autodetected ANSI color graphics, TriBBS will always search the
DISPLAY subdirectory for ANS screens. If TriBBS can't find an ANS
screen or the caller doesn't have ANSI color graphics selected, TriBBS
will search the DISPLAY subdirectory for an appropriate monochrome
screen. If TriBBS can't find either type of display screen, TriBBS
will either display nothing if it's a simple display screen or TriBBS
will generate and display a menu on the fly if an appropriate menu
screen isn't found.
@-Variables
-----------
TriBBS supports the following @-variables in display screens to
perform a wide variety of actions:
@-variable Action Taken
----------------------------------------------------------------------
@ALIAS@ Displays the caller's alias.
@BAUDRATE@ Displays the caller's baud rate.
@BEEP@ Sends a BELL (07H).
@BOARDNAME@ Displays the board's name.
@BREAKOFF@ Makes the screen unbreakable.
@BREAKON@ Makes the screen breakable.
@BYTERATIO@ Displays the caller's byte ratio.
@CALLS@ Displays the caller's number of calls.
@CALLSTODAY@ Displays the caller's number of calls for today.
@CITY@ Displays the caller's city and state.
@CLS@ Clears the screen.
@DOWNLOADS@ Displays the caller's number of downloads.
@DOWNLOADSTODAY@ Displays the number of downloads for today.
@FILERATIO@ Displays the caller's file ratio.
@FIRST@ Displays the caller's first name.
@HANGUP@ Hangs up on the caller.
@KDOWNLOADED@ Displays the number of K bytes the caller has
downloaded.
@KUPLOADED@ Displays the number of K bytes the caller has
uploaded.
@LASTDATEON@ Displays the caller's last date on.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 43
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CCTOAT filename
Where:
filename is the name of the display screen to be converted.
For example, CCTOAT LOGON1 would convert the
display screens LOGON1.BBS and LOGON1.ANS.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do not specify a file name,
CCTOAT will convert all of the display screens
found in the directory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Log On and Goodbye Screens
--------------------------
TriBBS supports up to nine log on screens and one goodbye screen. The
filename for a log on screen is LOGONn.ANS or LOGONn.BBS. Where "n"
is a number from 1 to 9. After a caller answers the ANSI color
graphics prompt, TriBBS will display either LOGON1.ANS or LOGON1.BBS.
After the caller has entered his name and password, TriBBS will
display the screens LOGON2 to LOGON9. At log off and before TriBBS
disconnects the caller, TriBBS will display either GOODBYE.ANS or
GOODBYE.BBS.
Security Specific Log On Screens
--------------------------------
TriBBS supports security specific log on screens. The filename for a
security specific log on screen is either nSEC.ANS or nSEC.BBS. Where
"n" is the security level for the log on screen. Security specific
log on screens are displayed after TriBBS displays the normal log on
screens.
Newsletter Log On Screen
------------------------
TriBBS supports a newsletter log on screen. The filename for a
newsletter log on screen is either BBSNEWS.ANS or BBSNEWS.BBS. A
newsletter log on screen is displayed to the caller after TriBBS
displays any security specific log on screens. A newsletter log on
screen is only displayed if it has been updated since the user's last
call.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 45
be displayed if none of your MESSn.ANS or MESSn.BBS screens match the
caller's security level.
File Menu
---------
Normally, TriBBS will generate a File Menu for the caller's security
level on the fly; however, you may use custom File Menus by naming the
display files FILEn.ANS and FILEn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's
security level. You may also have custom File Menu display screens
called FILEALL.ANS and FILEALL.BBS. These custom screens will be
displayed if none of your FILEn.ANS or FILEn.BBS screens match the
caller's security level.
Upload Screens
--------------
TriBBS supports an optional upload display screen. This display
screen, if present, is displayed after the caller selects the File
Menu's Upload option. The file names for the optional upload screens
are UPn.ANS and UPn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security
level. You may also have custom upload display screens named
UPALL.ANS and UPALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if
none of your UPn.ANS or UPn.BBS screens match the caller's security
level.
Download Screens
----------------
TriBBS supports an optional download display screen. This display
screen, if present, is displayed after the caller selects the File
Menu's Download option. The file names for the optional download
screens are DOWNn.ANS and DOWNn.BBS. Where "n" is the display
screen's security level. You may also have custom download display
screens named DOWNALL.ANS and DOWNALL.BBS. These custom screens will
be displayed if none of your DOWNn.ANS or DOWNn.BBS screens match the
caller's security level.
Door Menu
---------
Normally, TriBBS will generate a Door Menu for the caller's security
level on the fly; however, you may use custom Door Menus by naming the
display files DOORn.ANS and DOORn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's
security level. You may also have a custom Door Menu display screens
called DOORALL.ANS and DOORALL.BBS. These custom screens will be
displayed if none of your DOORn.ANS or DOORn.BBS screens match the
caller's security level.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 47
List of File Areas
------------------
TriBBS supports an optional custom list of file areas that will be
displayed whenever a caller wants to change the file area he is in.
The file names for the custom file area listings are DIRSn.ANS and
DIRSn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security level. You may
also have a custom list of file areas called DIRSALL.ANS and
DIRSALL.BBS These custom screens will be displayed if none of your
DIRSn.ANS or DIRSn.BBS display screens match the caller's security
level.
Chat Screens
------------
TriBBS supports four optional chat related display screens:
SORRY.ANS/SORRY.BBS will be displayed if the sysop isn't available for
chat, USERCHAT.ANS/USERCHAT.BBS will be displayed if the chat is
initiated at the user's request, SYSCHAT.ANS/SYSCHAT.BBS will be
displayed if the chat is initiated by the sysop, and
NOTTHERE.ANS/NOTTHERE.BBS will be displayed if the caller requests a
chat and the sysop doesn't answer.
Log On Related Screens
----------------------
TriBBS supports ten optional log on related display screens:
LOCKOUT.ANS/LOCKOUT.BBS will be displayed if the caller has been
locked out, DELETED.ANS/DELETED.BBS will be displayed if the caller's
user record has been marked for deletion, TOOLOW.ANS/TOOLOW.BBS will
be displayed if the caller's security level is too low for the node,
NONEW.ANS/NONEW.BBS will be displayed if the new user's security level
is less than the node's security level, TOOMANY.ANS/TOOMANY.BBS will
be displayed if the caller has exceeded his number of daily calls,
PENDING.ANS and PENDING.BBS will be displayed if the caller's time has
been adjusted due to a pending event, FRONTEND.ANS/FRONTEND.BBS will
be displayed if the caller's time has been adjusted due to a frontend
program, PASSWORD.ANS/PASSWORD.BBS will be displayed for a new user
just before his password is requested, and ALIAS.ANS/ALIAS.BBS will be
displayed for a new user just before his alias is requested.
Comment Screen
--------------
Whenever a caller chooses to leave a comment for the sysop, TriBBS
will display an optional COMMENT.ANS/COMMENT.BBS display screen.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 49
Making Your Own Display Screens
-------------------------------
To make your own custom display screens, you'll need a good ANSI
screen editor. Perhaps one of the best is a shareware product called
TheDraw (available for download on The Lobster Buoy).
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 51
THE TRIBBS MENU SYSTEM
----------------------
The heart of TriBBS and what makes it so easy to set up and maintain
is its powerful menu system. The TriBBS menu system is comprised of
eight menus: the Bulletin Menu, the Main Menu, the Message Menu, the
File Menu, the Door Menu, the Door Bulletin Menu, the Questionnaire
Menu, and the Sysop Menu. As you already know, TriBBS allows you to
use your own security level specific menus; however, TriBBS can
generate any of its eight menus from the information contained in its
eight menu configuration files. These configuration files have an
extension of .MNU and are located in each node's NWORK subdirectory.
The Bulletin Menu Configuration File
------------------------------------
The Bulletin Menu file has a name of BULLETIN.MNU. As with all TriBBS
menu configuration files, BULLETIN.MNU is a text file and can be
edited with any text editor. The format for BULLETIN.MNU is as
follows:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 53
The Main Menu Configuration File
--------------------------------
The Main Menu configuration file has a name of MAIN.MNU. As with all
other TriBBS menu configuration files, MAIN.MNU is a text file and can
be edited with any text editor. The format for MAIN.MNU is as
follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
border background,border foreground,background,foreground
B,Bulletin Menu,security level
M,Message Menu,security level
F,File Menu,security level
D,Door Menu,security level
T,TeleChat Menu,security level
Q,Questionnaire Menu,security level
S,Sysop Menu,security level
C,Comment to Sysop,security level
A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level
N,Newsletter,security level
Y,Your Personal Information,security level
I,System Information,security level
U,List of Users,security level
W,Who's On,security level
X,Expert Mode,security level
P,Page Sysop,security level
G,Goodbye,security level
Where:
border background is the border background color for an ANSI
color menu.
border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI
color menu.
background is the background color for an ANSI color
menu.
foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color
menu.
security level is the minimum security level for this
command.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You should note that the order of the Main Menu items and their
descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the
configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 55
Q,Questionnaire Menu,security level
By pressing <Q> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the
Questionnaire Menu. If your board doesn't have any
questionnaires, you should set the security level for this
option higher than anybody's security level.
S,Sysop Menu,security level
By pressing <S> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the
Sysop Menu. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option
should be set for at least your minimum sysop security
level.
C,Comment to Sysop,security level
By pressing <C> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will let the caller
send a private message to the sysop. The message will be
saved in the board's first message conference.
A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level
By pressing <A> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will toggle ANSI
color graphics on and off.
N,Newsletter,security level
By pressing <N> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display the
board's newsletter, if any.
Y,Your Personal Information,security level
By pressing <Y> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will let the caller
display and edit some of his information. TriBBS will
display the following menu to the caller:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Name............: Mark Goodwin
Address.........: Bangor, Me
Alias...........: Programmer
Phone...........: 207-941-0805 Birth.........: 10/19/56
First Call......: 01/01/90 Last Call.....: 02/23/93 14:40
Uploads.........: 11 Downloads.....: 0
K Uploaded......: 2080 K Downloaded..: 31
Messages........: 30 Editor........: None
Times On........: 432 Security Level: 100
Password........: Install Protocol......: None
Waiting Messages: Don't Check Subscription..: None
Chat............: Available
<A>ddress, A<l>ias, <P>assword, Phone <N>umber,
<D>efault Protocol, <E>ditor, Una<v>ailable for Chat,
Check for <W>aiting Messages, <Q>uit:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 57
By pressing <U> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display a list
of the board's users.
W,Who's On,security level
By pressing <W> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display a list
of who's on all of the board's nodes. If you are running a
single line BBS, you will probably want to disable this
option by setting its security level higher than any of the
board's users.
X,Expert Mode,security level
Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If
the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS
will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's
expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not
display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated
menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to
the caller.
P,Page Sysop,security level
Pressing <P> will page the sysop. As soon as the caller
pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in
the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking
asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the
sysop answers the page or the caller logs off.
G,Goodbye,security level
Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board.
The Message Menu Configuration File
-----------------------------------
The Message Menu configuration file has a name of MESSAGE.MNU. As
with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, MESSAGE.MNU is a text
file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for
MESSAGE.MNU is as follows:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 59
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,2,15
C,Change Conference,10
E,Enter a Message,10
R,Read Messages,10
N,New Messages,10
Y,Your Messages,10
S,Set Conference Queue,10
M,Main Menu,0
X,Expert Mode,10
P,Page Sysop,0
G,Goodbye,0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are descriptions of the 10 Message Menu items:
C,Change Conference,security level
Pressing <C> will let the caller change his current message
conference. After displaying a list of the conferences that
are available to the caller, TriBBS will prompt him for the
new conference.
E,Enter a Message,security level
Pressing <E> will let the caller enter a message in the
current message conference. TriBBS will prompt the caller
for the name to address the message to. If the current
conference isn't a net mail conference, TriBBS will check to
see if the addressee is a user of the board. Messages
addressed to Sysop will be changed to your name. If the
message is addressed to an individual, TriBBS will ask if
the message should be flagged as PUBLIC. TriBBS will then
prompt for the message subject. If the conference is a net
mail conference, TriBBS will ask the caller if he wants the
message ECHOed. If the conference is a Fido-style netmail
conference, TriBBS will ask the caller for the recipient's
network address. From there, TriBBS will let the caller
enter his message using the TriBBS line editor or full
screen editor.
If the caller is using the line editor, the editor's menu
can be displayed by pressing <ENTER> on a blank line. The
following are the options the line editor menu offers:
<S>ave
Pressing <S> will save the message.
<A>bort
Pressing <A> will abort the message.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 61
Pressing <A> will abort the message.
<C>ontinue
Pressing <C> will return the caller to the full screen
editor.
<U>pload
Pressing <U> will prompt the caller for the name of a
file to be uploaded and added to the message's text.
Note that during a local logon, you can specify any
file name to be used for the "uploaded" file.
<H>elp
Pressing <H> will display a help screen that describes
what control keys the full screen editor offers.
While editing a message using the full screen editor, the
caller can use anyone of the following control keys:
Control Key IBM Key Function
<CTRL><A> <LEFT ARROW> Move left 1 character
<CTRL><D> <RIGHT ARROW> Move right 1 character
<CTRL><E> <UP ARROW> Move up 1 line
<CTRL><X> <DOWN ARROW> Move down 1 line
<CTRL><I> <TAB> Move cursor to next tab zone
<CTRL><P> <END> Move to end of line
<CTRL><W> <HOME> Move to beginning of line
<CTRL><R> <PG UP> Move up a page
<CTRL><C> <PG DN> Move down a page
<CTRL><G> <DELETE> Delete character under cursor
<CTRL><H> <BACKSPACE> Delete character to left of
cursor
<CTRL><Y> Delete current line
<CTRL><B> Reformat paragraph
<CTRL><L> Redraw screen
<CTRL><O> Quote message
<CTRL><V> <INSERT> Toggle insert/overtype mode
IMPORTANT: The "IBM Keys" are only available to remote
callers if their communications program supports ANSI
keyboard emulation.
R,Read Messages,security level
Pressing <R> allows the caller to read messages. TriBBS
will prompt the caller if he wants to read messages in just
the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued
conferences, or quit to the Message Menu. For each message
conference, TriBBS allows the caller to enter the number of
the first message to be read, only read new messages, or
quit to the Message Menu.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 63
Pressing <T> will toggle a message's status between
permanent or transient. By default, all messages are
transient. If a message is marked as permanent, the
TriPack message base packing utility will not delete
the message. (This option is only available if the
caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.)
<M>ove
Pressing <M> will allow the caller to move a message to
another message conference. TriBBS will prompt the
caller to enter the number of the message's new
conference. (This option is only available if the
caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.)
<C>opy
Pressing <C> will allow the caller to copy a message to
another message conference. TriBBS will prompt the
caller to enter the number of the message's new
conference. (This option is only available if the
caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.)
<S>ave
Pressing <S> will allow the caller to save the message
to a disk file. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the
name of the file to save the message to. If the file
already exists, TriBBS will append the message to the
end of the file. If the file doesn't exist, TriBBS
will create the file. (This option is only available
if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security
level.)
<E>dit
Pressing <E> allows the caller to edit the message's
contents. You should note that the original message is
deleted and the new message is added to the end of the
message conference. (This option is only available if
the caller has at least a minimum sysop security
level.)
<-> Prev
Pressing <-> will move back to the previously displayed
message.
<+/ENTER> Next Message
Pressing <+> or <ENTER> moves on to the next message.
<Q>uit
Pressing <Q> will allow the caller to quit reading
messages in this message conference.
N,New Messages,security level
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 65
Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If
the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS
will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's
expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not
display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated
menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to
the caller.
P,Page Sysop,security level
Pressing <P> will page the sysop. As soon as the caller
pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in
the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking
asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the
sysop answers the page or the caller logs off.
G,Goodbye,security level
Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board.
The File Menu Configuration File
--------------------------------
The File Menu configuration file has a name of FILES.MNU. As with all
other TriBBS menu configuration files, FILES.MNU is a text file and
can be edited with any text editor. The format for FILES.MNU is as
follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
border background,border foreground,background,foreground
C,Change File Area,security level
L,List Files,security level
N,New Files,security level
T,Text Search File Lists,security level
U,Upload File,security level
D,Download File,security level
V,View Archive,security level
R,Remove File,security level
O,Move File,security level
M,Main Menu,security level
X,Expert Mode,security level
P,Page Sysop,security level
G,Goodbye,security level
Where:
border background is the border background color for an ANSI
color menu.
border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI
color menu.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 67
N,New Files,security level
Pressing <N> will let the caller view the board's new files.
TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter a date to begin the
search with. If the caller simply presses <ENTER>, TriBBS
will use the date of the caller's last new file search.
TriBBS will then ask the caller if he wants to see the new
files for his current file area or all file areas.
T,Text Search File Lists,security level
Pressing <T> will let the caller search for a text string in
the board's file lists. TriBBS will prompt the caller to
enter the string to be searched for. After entering an
appropriate search string, TriBBS will ask the caller if he
wants to search the file lists for his current file area or
all file areas.
U,Upload File,security level
Pressing <U> will let the caller upload a file. TriBBS will
prompt the caller for the filenames and descriptions for the
files to be uploaded. If a blank description is entered for
a file, TriBBS will attempt to extract and use either a
FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI description file for the file's
description. In order for TriBBS to be able to find and
extract a description file, the proper decompression utility
must be in the DOS PATH. If the call is a remote call,
TriBBS will ask the caller to select an appropriate
protocol. If the call is a local call, the appropriate
files must be in the file area's file path.
D,Download File,security level
Pressing <D> will let the caller download one or more files.
TriBBS will prompt the caller for the names of the files to
be downloaded. After entering a blank line, TriBBS will ask
the caller to select an appropriate protocol if the caller
hasn't selected a default protocol. You should note that
this menu option is not available to local calls.
If the caller is using a bidirectional protocol, it is
possible to upload a file while downloading a file. After
each download, TriBBS will check the TRANSFER directory to
see if any files were uploaded during the download. If a
file (or files) is found and it isn't already in one of the
board's file area, TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter a
description.
V,View Archive,security level
Pressing <V> will let the caller view the contents of an
archive. TriBBS will first uncompress the archive and then
display a complete listing of the archive's contents. The
caller is then given the option of either relisting the
archive's contents, displaying one of the archive's files,
compressing and downloading one or more individual members
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 69
The Door Menu Configuration File
--------------------------------
The Door Menu configuration file has a name of DOORS.MNU. You should
note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only
necessary if your board has doors available. As with all other TriBBS
menu configuration files, DOORS.MNU is a text file and can be edited
with any text editor. The format for DOORS.MNU is as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
border background,border foreground,background,foreground
door type,description,batch file,security level
.
.
.
door type,description,batch file,security level
Where:
border background is the border background color for an ANSI
color menu.
border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI
color menu.
background is the background color for an ANSI color
menu.
foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color
menu.
door type is the type of door data files TriBBS is to
generate for this door. The door type can be
any one of the following characters:
D - Generates DOOR.SYS for GAP, etc.
type doors.
P - Generates PCBOARD.DAT, PCBOARD.SYS,
and USERS for PCBoard 14.x doors.
R - Generates DORINFO#.DEF for RBBS
doors.
S - Generates SFDOORS.DAT for Spitfire
doors.
T - Generates TRIBBS.SYS for TriBBS
doors.
W - Generates CALLINFO.BBS for WildCat
doors.
U - Generates UTIDOOR.TXT for UTI doors
such as MegaMail.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 71
The following is a sample DOORS.MNU file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,6,15
U,MaineRelay Hub,HUBDOOR,50
S,Global War,GLOBAL,10
P,Imperium,IMPERIUM,10
P,Bowling,BOWLING,10
S,Scrabble,SCRABBLE,10
P,Super Guppy,SUPERG,10
U,MegaMail,MEGAMAIL,10
P,TriBBS Time Bank,TRIBANK,10
P,Tic-Tac-Toe,TICTAC,100
U,Page Me!!!!,PAGE,100
S,Hobbit Trivia,SFHOBTRV,10
S,Stackem,STACKEM,10
P,King of the Board,KINGOB,10
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Door Bulletin Menu Configuration File
-----------------------------------------
The Door Bulletin Menu configuration file has a name of DOORBULL.MNU.
As with all TriBBS menu configuration files, DOORBULL.MNU is a text
file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for
DOORBULL.MNU is as follows:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 73
The following is a sample DOORBULL.MNU file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,4,15
King of the Board Pyramid
King of the Board Points
Imperium Top Ten
Scrabble Status
Scrabble Top Ten
Hobbit Trivia Top Ten
Stackem Top Ten
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Questionnaire Menu Configuration File
----------------------------------------
The Questionnaire Menu configuration file has a name of QUESTION.MNU.
You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and
is only necessary if your board has questionnaires available. As with
all other TriBBS menu configuration files, QUESTION.MNU is a text file
and can be edited with any text editor. The format for QUESTION.MNU
is as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
border background,border foreground,background,foreground
description,questionnaire file,security level
.
.
.
description,questionnaire file,security level
Where:
border background is the border background color for an ANSI
color menu.
border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI
color menu.
background is the background color for an ANSI color
menu.
foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color
menu.
description is a description for the questionnaire.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 75
the line as a comment and will not display
it.
security level is the minimum security level the caller needs to
be able to respond to the questionnaire.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a sample QUESTION.MNU file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,6,15
Question # 1,QUEST0,10
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a sample questionnaire file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Please answer the following questions truthfully:
:What is your real name?
:What is your street address?
:What is your city, state, and zip code?
:What type of computer do you own?
:What type of modem are you using?
:What type of communications software are you using?
:Are you interested in messages, files, doors, or all three?
?Are you the Sysop of a bulletin board
+
:What is the name of your BBS?
#What is the BBS's phone number?
+
-
-
---------------------------------------------------------------------
You should note that TriBBS supports a special New User Questionnaire.
This questionnaire has a file name of NEWUSER and will be presented to
a new user after displaying a new user screen, if any.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 77
---------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,3,15
U,Edit Users,100
C,Edit Message Conferences,100
F,Edit File Areas,100
E,Edit Events,100
V,View Callers Log,100
S,Sort File Lists,100
M,Main Menu,10
X,Expert Mode,10
P,Page Sysop,10
G,Goodbye,0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are descriptions of the 11 Sysop Menu Items:
U,Edit Users,security level
Pressing <U> will let the caller edit the user records. For
local logons, TriBBS will call TriMan's user editor. For
remote logons, TriBBS will display a user editor screen with
the following options:
<N> User Name
Pressing <N> will let you edit the user's name.
<^> Alias Name
Pressing <^> will let you edit the user's alias.
<A> User Address
Pressing <A> will let you edit the user's address.
<S> Security Level
Pressing <S> will let you edit the user's security
level.
<+> Next Record
Pressing <+> will move to the next user's record.
<#> User Phone No
Pressing <#> will let you edit the user's phone number.
<P> User Password
Pressing <P> will let you edit the user's password.
<-> Previous Record
Pressing <-> will move the previous user's record.
<U> Uploads
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 79
Pressing <E> will let you edit the user's subscription
expiration date.
<Q> Quit
Pressing <Q> will let you exit from the user editor.
C,Edit Message Conferences,security level
Pressing <C> will let the caller edit the message
conferences. In order to perform this operation, TriBBS
will call TriMan; therefore, this function is not available
to remote callers.
F,Edit File Areas,security level
Pressing <F> will let the caller edit the file areas. In
order to perform this operation, TriBBS will call TriMan;
therefore, this function is not available to remote callers.
E,Edit Events,security level
Pressing <E> will let the caller edit the events. In order
to perform this operation, TriBBS will call TriMan;
therefor, this function is not available to remote callers.
V,View Callers Log,security level
Pressing <V> will let the caller view the callers log.
TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the starting date to
view the log from.
S,Sort File Lists,security level
Pressing <S> will let the caller sort the board's file
lists. You should note that TriBBS's sort routine has an
upper limit of 3000 files per list. If your file lists grow
beyond 3000 files, you will have to use an external sorting
program to sort them.
M,Main Menu,security level
Pressing <M> returns the caller to the Main Menu.
X,Expert Mode,security level
Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If
the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS
will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's
expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not
display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated
menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to
the caller.
P,Page Sysop,security level
Pressing <P> will page the sysop. As soon as the caller
pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in
the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking
asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the
sysop answers the page or the caller logs off.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 81
EXTENDABLE MENU COMMANDS
------------------------
TriBBS allows the sysop to easily extend the Main Menu, the Message
Menu, the File Menu, and the Sysop Menu through the use of doors and
batch files. The first step in extending a menu is to add the new
command's hotkey character, description, and security level to the
desired menu. For example, let's suppose you wanted to add TriMail to
your Message Menu. The following is a sample Message Menu with
TriMail added to it:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7,0,2,15
C,Change Conference,10
E,Enter a Message,10
R,Read Messages,10
N,New Messages,10
Y,Your Messages,10
S,Set Conference Queue,10
T,TriMail,10
M,Main Menu,0
X,Expert Mode,10
P,Page Sysop,0
G,Goodbye,0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As the above sample Message Menu shows, the new command's hotkey is
"T", its description is "TriMail", and its security level is "10".
You should note that a custom menu option's hotkey can be any key
expect one of the keys that TriBBS uses internally for the menu.
Thus, you couldn't use C or G for a new Message Menu command, but you
could use @, Z, U, etc.
The next step to get the custom menu command functioning is to create
a batch file that TriBBS will call to carry out the command. The
filename must be MAINh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Main
Menu command, MESSh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Message
Menu command, FILEh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom File
Menu command, or SYSh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Sysop
Menu command. So for our example TriMail Message Menu command, the
proper batch file name would be MESST.BAT and could be a batch file
similar to the following:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 83
SPECIAL BATCH FILES
-------------------
TriBBS runs a number of batch files that allow you to run doors and
perform maintenance routines at certain desirable times.
NEWUSER.BAT
-----------
If it exists, the NEWUSER.BAT file is called by TriBBS just before the
bulletin menu is displayed providing it is the caller's first call.
Before exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate all of its possible
door data files.
SECn.BAT
--------
If it exists, SECn.BAT (where "n" is the caller's security level) is
called by TriBBS just before the bulletin menu is displayed. Before
exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate all of its possible door
data files.
LOGON.BAT
---------
If it exists, LOGON.BAT is called by TriBBS just before the bulletin
menu is displayed. Before exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate
all of its possible door data files.
UPLOAD.BAT
----------
If it exists, UPLOAD.BAT is called by TriBBS just after a file is
upload and before it is optionally scanned for viruses. TriBBS will
pass the uploaded file's complete path name as UPLOAD.BAT's first
parameter and the uploaded file's extension as UPLOAD.BAT's second
parameter. This batch file is very handy for stripping comments from
or recommenting archives. You should note that you do not need a call
to BOARD.BAT at the end of an UPLOAD.BAT file.
BETWEEN.BAT
-----------
If it exists, BETWEEN.BAT is called by TriBBS just after a callers
logs off. This batch file is very handy for performing intercaller
maintenance routines. You should note that you do not need a call to
BOARD.BAT at the end of a BETWEEN.BAT file.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 85
FILE LISTS
----------
TriBBS maintains a file list for each file area. A file list is a
simple ASCII file where each line contains the following information:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890.....
FFFFFFFFFFFF SSSSSSSS MM-DD-YY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.....
Where:
FFFFFFFFFFFF is the file's name.
SSSSSSSS is the file's size.
MM-DD-YY is the file's date.
DDDDDDDDDDDD..... is the file's description.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
You should note that the length of the file description cannot be more
than 40 characters per line and no longer than 20 lines in length.
If you wish, you can create each file list file with a text editor.
A simple way to add a file to an area's file list is to locally upload
it. Be sure that the file you want add to the file area's file list
is located in the file area's subdirectory. Next log on locally, go
to the Files Menu, change to the correct file area if you're not
already in it, and select the upload option. Next, enter the file's
name and description. TriBBS will then add the file's information to
the file area's file list.
FileMan
-------
Included with TriBBS is an external utility program called
FILEMAN.EXE. This utility makes it possible to quickly and easily
edit your file lists. To run FileMan, be sure that you are in one of
your node's main directory and enter FileMan at the DOS prompt.
FileMan must be run from a main directory in order to find a
SYSDAT2.DAT file.
FileMan will start by displaying a pulldown menu bar. Press <ALT><F>
to pull down the Files menu. From this menu, you can select the file
area to be edited by moving the highlight bar to the appropriate file
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 87
files for a range of file areas if it is specified using
/F:n1-n2, where n1 is the first file area to be indexed and
n2 is the last file area to be indexed.
IMPORTANT: You should not use an index file for an upload file area.
The reason for this is because TriBBS will only search the index file
for matching files if the file area is configured as an indexed file
area. Therefore, a file that was uploaded after the index file was
created cannot be found until the file area is re-indexed. So the
best use for indexed file areas is to index any large file areas that
don't serve as upload areas. Then you will only have to re-index a
particular file area when you add or move a file to it. Note that it
is possible to index an upload area by either running MakeIdx on your
upload file areas either in an UPLOAD.BAT or BETWEEN.BAT file. You
should also note that once you have built an index for a CD-ROM file
area you will not have to ever rebuild it because the file area's
directory will never change on a CD-ROM. One last note, MakeIdx can
build an index file for any file area that has up to 15000 files in
its directory.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 89
EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS
------------------
TriBBS supports up to 15 external protocols. To enable external
protocols, you must create an external protocol menu configuration
file called EXTPROT.MNU in your node's NWORK directory. EXTPROT.MNU
has the following format:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 91
---------------------------------------------------------------------
z,Zmodem (DSZ),sz.bat,rz.bat,y,n
m,MPt (Puma),smpt.bat,rmpt.bat,y,n
h,HS/Link,hss.bat,hsr.bat,y,n
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This example file replaces TriBBS's internal Zmodem protocol with DSZ
and adds the very speedy MPt (formerly Puma) and the speedy,
bidirectional protocol HS/Link to the board's list of protocols. Both
protocols support batch downloads and neither is an error correcting
protocol.
Send Batch Files
----------------
When TriBBS calls a send batch file, it passes the following three
parameters to the batch file:
port number baud rate filename or EBATCH.DAT
The "port number" and "baud rate" parameters are pretty self
explanatory. The third parameter TriBBS passes to the batch file
requires a little further explanation. If the protocol, doesn't
support batch downloads, TriBBS only passes a single "filename" to the
protocol. Otherwise, TriBBS creates a file called "EBATCH.DAT" and
passes the name of the file to the protocol's batch file.
"EBATCH.DAT" is simply a line-by-line listing of the files in the
batch download.
The following is an example of a DSZ send batch file called SZ.BAT:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
dsz port %1 sz -m @c:%3
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that the above batch file enables MobyTurbo transfers.
The following is an example of a MPt send batch file called SMPT.BAT:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
mpt p%1 s @%3
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 93
---------------------------------------------------------------------
hslink -p%1
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 95
FILE RATIOS
-----------
File/Byte Ratios (Adjusting Security Levels)
--------------------------------------------
To optionally setup your system so that it will adjust callers'
security levels according to their ratios, you must first create a
configuration file called RATIOS.DAT in node 1's MWORK directory.
RATIOS.DAT is a simple ASCII text file that uses the following format:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
security level,file ratio,byte ratio
.
.
.
security level,file ratio,byte ratio
Where:
security level is the caller's security level.
file ratio is the maximum file ratio (files
downloaded:files uploaded) for the caller to
remain at this security level. If you do not
want to impose a file ratio for this security
level, a file ratio of 0 can be used.
byte ratio is the maximum byte ratio (bytes
downloaded:bytes uploaded) for the caller to
remain at this security level. If you do not
want to impose a byte ratio for this security
level, a byte ratio of 0 can be used.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is an example of a RATIOS.DAT file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
30,5.5,7.5
20,10,20
15,20,30
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from this example that you can specify both a file and a byte
ratio for each security level and you can also use decimals to specify
the ratios. In this example, a caller with a security level of 30,
must maintain a file ratio of at least 1 upload per every 5.5
downloads and must maintain a byte ratio of 1K bytes uploaded per
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 97
The following is an example a RATIOS.DAT file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
30,10,20
20,5,10
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from this example that a level 30 caller must maintain a file
ratio of 1 upload for every 10 downloads and a byte ratio of 1K bytes
uploaded for every 20K bytes downloaded. If the caller fails to
maintain these levels he will not be able to download anymore files
until he uploads a sufficient number of files or bytes to restore is
file/byte ratios to the required level.
IMPORTANT: Do not include any security levels in RATIOS.DAT that you
don't want TriBBS to check.
Free Downloads
--------------
Often times, a BBS has a number of files that the sysops would like
all callers to be able to download without the files being counted
towards the caller's file and/or byte ratio. You can accomplish this
with TriBBS by creating a file called FREE.DAT in node 1's MWORK
directory. FREE.DAT is a simple ASCII text file that specifies the
name of any files that will be a free download. You should note that
you can use DOS wildcard characters in the file names. You can
specify a file area's entire contents as free downloads by specifying
the file area directory's complete path name in FREE.DAT. The
following is an example of a FREE.DAT file:
c:\tribbs\tribbs\*.*
r*.*
In the above example, TriBBS will consider any files that are in the
directory "c:\tribbs\tribbs" and any files starting with "r" as free
downloads.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 99
SUBSCRIPTION SYSTEM
-------------------
TriBBS supports an optional subscription system. The first step in
setting up a subscription system is to create a SUBS.DAT file in node
1's MWORK directory. SUBS.DAT is a simple ASCII text file with the
following format:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
security level,expiration level
.
.
.
security level,expiration level
Where:
security level is the caller's security level.
expiration level is the caller's new security level after his
subscription has expired.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is an example of a SUBS.DAT file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
30,10
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from this example that a level 30 caller would be reduced to a
level 10 as soon as his subscription has expired. TriBBS checks for
an expired subscription at logon. A subscription expiration date is
set for an individual caller through the Waiting for Caller screen's
Edit User function.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 101
RUNNING TRIBBS WITH A FRONTEND OR AS A DOOR
-------------------------------------------
TriBBS can be run with either a frontend program (i.e., FrontDoor,
BinkleyTerm, etc.) or as a door. To execute TriBBS when there is
already a connection, you must specify the connection's baud rate with
TriBBS's "/F" command line switch. The format for using this switch
is "/Fbaud rate". Where "baud rate" is the connection's baud rate.
For example, TriBBS could be executed with a 2400 baud connection with
the following command line:
BBS /F2400
The above is only an example and you should use BOARD.BAT to run
TriBBS as you normally would. Otherwise, doors will not function
properly. To do this, modify your BOARD.BAT file as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
echo off
cd \tribbs
if exist door.bat del door.bat
if exist event.bat del event.bat
if exist endbbs del endbbs
bbs %1
if exist door.bat door
if exist event.bat event
if exist endbbs goto end
board
:end
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Note the "%1" after "bbs" in the above batch file. This will use
BOARD.BAT's first command line parameter to pass the "/F" switch to
TriBBS. For example, you could execute TriBBS using the above
BOARD.BAT file with a 2400 baud connection by using the following DOS
command:
BOARD /F2400
Normally, TriBBS will recycle to the Waiting for Caller screen when
the caller either logs off or is forced off the board. If TriBBS is
started with a "/F" parameter, TriBBS will exit memory and return
control to the calling program. Thus, TriBBS acts just like a door
when a "/F" parameter is used.
IMPORTANT: Although doors run fine when using TriBBS in this manner,
events are always executed by TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen
routine. Therefore, events will never run if TriBBS is being run with
the "/F" parameter. If your board requires maintenance events and you
are using TriBBS with a frontend program, simply run them as a
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 103
ARCHIVE TESTING
---------------
TriBBS can optionally scan archives, EXEs, and COMs for viruses. This
feature is enabled with the Waiting for Caller Screen's Configure
System menu. If upload testing is enabled, TriBBS will call MacAfee's
SCAN.EXE program to scan the contents of the upload. Accordingly
SCAN.EXE, must be in your PATH. Additionally, TriBBS requires the
following decompression utilities to be in your PATH to be able to
test archives:
Archive Utility
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ZIP PKUNZIP.EXE
ARJ ARJ.EXE
LZH LHA.EXE
PAK, SDN, and ARC PAK.EXE
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: If TriBBS isn't able to find SCAN.EXE or the proper
decompression utility, the upload will NOT be tested. If an upload
fails the virus scan, it will be immediately deleted. Be aware that
SCAN.EXE is not infallible. It is perhaps the best utility of its
kind, but no virus scanner is perfect.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 105
ODDS AND ENDS
-------------
Obnoxious Callers
-----------------
Sooner or later you will have to lock out a caller and although the
user's record doesn't take up much disk space there's no sense in
maintaining the record to just keep the caller locked out. TriBBS
eliminates the need for needlessly maintaining the caller's user
record with a file called JOKER.DAT. JOKER.DAT is a straight ASCII
text file with each line being the name of a caller you want to keep
locked out. JOKER.DAT is an optional file and must reside in your
board's MWORK directory. The following is a sample JOKER.DAT file:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Hacker
Dr. Doom
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily Limits
------------
You will probably want to give callers with different security levels
different amounts of daily time and number of daily calls. After all,
don't you as a sysop deserve more daily time on you own board than the
average caller? TriBBS supports a daily limits file called
DLIMITS.DAT. DLIMITS.DAT is an ASCII text file and must reside in
node 1's MWORK directory. You should note that any callers whose
security levels aren't found in DLIMITS.DAT will be assigned your
board's default daily time and number of daily calls. DLIMITS.DAT is
an optional file and uses the following format:
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 107
Special Keys
------------
There are a number of special keys that you can use while a caller is
logged on to your board. They are as follows:
Key(s) Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------
<F1> Adds 5 minutes to the caller's time.
<F2> Takes 5 minutes away from the caller's time.
<F3> Toggles the page bell on and off.
<F4> Will allow you to adjust the caller's security level.
TriBBS will prompt you to enter the caller's new
security level.
<F5> Logs the caller off.
<F6> Logs the caller off and marks his user record as
"Locked Out".
<F7> Logs the caller off with a "Keyboard input time
exceeded" message.
<F8> Displays a screen called either NUKE.BBS or NUKE.ANS
and hangs up on the caller.
<F9> After the caller logs off, TriBBS will stop execution
and return to DOS. Once <F9> has been pressed, TriBBS
will display a blinking down arrow in the lower right
hand corner of the user status window. The automatic
shut down can be overridden pressing <F9> again. Note
that TriBBS will exit with an errorlevel of 2 if the F9
key has been pressed.
<HOME> Toggles between the two caller status windows at the
bottom of the display screen and two help screens about
the above mentioned function keys.
<ALT><C> Enters chat mode. The chat can be ended by pressing
<ESC>.
<ALT><D> Allows you to drop to DOS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Quick Logon
-----------
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 109
renumbering your message conference, PCRelay
will not be able to correctly indicate if a
message has been replied to or not.
/C:range is an optional switch. It is used to specify
either a single conference or a range of
conferences to be packed. A single
conference is packed by specifying its number
after the ":". For example, /C:4 would pack
message conference 4. A range of conferences
can be packed by separating them with a "-".
For example, /C:5-9 will pack message
conferences 5 through 9.
IMPORTANT: Never pack a system's message base unless the entire system
is down.
The TriBBS Protocol Driver: TTPROT.EXE
--------------------------------------
The file TTPROT.EXE is the protocol driver TriBBS calls to perform
file transfers. In order for TriBBS to be able to run TTPROT.EXE, it
must be in your DOS PATH. This is very important! If it isn't in
your PATH, file transfers will always abort.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 111
MULTINODES
----------
Setting up a multinode TriBBS board is a pretty easy procedure. You
must first create a directory for your new node. For example, you
might create a directory called C:\TRIBBS2 for the second node's
directory. Now you must copy your SYSDAT2.DAT file from your node 1
directory to your new node's directory. You should note that a copy
of BBS.EXE must be in your PATH. Next change your current directory
to the new node's directory and run BBS.EXE. You now have a second
node. Before exiting to DOS you should use the Configure Node menu to
configure your new node.
Upon returning to DOS, you must create a BOARD.BAT file for your new
node. The simplest method for doing this is to copy your node 1's
BOARD.BAT file to the new node's directory and edit it appropriately.
About the only change you'll have to make is to edit the change
directory command (i.e. cd \tribbs) near the top of you BOARD.BAT file
to change the directory to the new node's directory.
Next, you will need new menu configuration files in the new node's
NWORK directory. Once again, you can simply copy node 1's MNU files
and edit them appropriately.
The process for setting up a third, fourth, fifth, etc. node is just
like the above. You simply set up another directory and repeat all of
the above steps.
How Do I Get the System Up and Running
--------------------------------------
To get multiple nodes up and running on the same computer, you will
need to use a multitasker and have a 386 or better to do it. TriBBS
4.0 can been successfully run under DesqView, Windows, or OS/2 2.0.
IMPORTANT: So that TriBBS's data file will not be written to by more
than one node at a time, TriBBS fully supports file sharing. To
enable file sharing, you must put the command SHARE.EXE in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. SHARE.EXE is a terminate and stay resident program
that comes with DOS that handles record locking. Without SHARE.EXE in
memory, TriBBS does not have the ability to correctly lock and unlock
the system data files and sooner or later they will become corrupted.
For some strange quirk unique to Windows, you must have SHARE.EXE in
memory to run TriBBS under Windows. This is true whether you are
running a single or multinode system under Windows. Also note that
OS/2 2.0 has record locking built right into the operating system;
therefore, SHARE.EXE is not required when multitasking TriBBS with
OS/2 2.0.
To get multiple nodes up and running on more than one computer, you
will need to use some type of networking hardware and software.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 113
of network echos wondering why it can't be done on just one line.
Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way.
If your local phone company offers Busy Call Forwarding, you may want
to consider getting it. With Busy Call Forwarding, a node will
automatically ring down to another node whenever it is busy. For
example, The Lobster Buoy has two lines. Node 1's phone number is
207-941-0805. Whenever node 1 is busy, it will ring down to node 2.
Of course if node 2 is busy, the caller is out of luck. The fee for
Busy Call Forwarding is very small and make it convenient not only for
you but for your callers as well.
The most helpful suggestion I can give is to get your feet wet with a
single line setup first before jumping in with your guns blazing into
a multinode setup. Give yourself sometime to master running a single
line setup first.
Multinode Chatting
------------------
TriBBS supports multinode chatting through its TeleChat system.
Unlike the system's normal sysop/caller chat mode, which is a real
time chatting system where keypresses are sent in both directions
almost instantaneously, the TeleChat system uses a series of special
disk files to send lines of text between two or more nodes a line at a
time.
The TriBBS TeleChat system offers two distinct types of multinode
chat: node chat and group chat. Node chat is where two nodes chat
back and forth between each other. To page another node to enter node
chat, the caller simply enters the desired node's number at the
TeleChat menu. As soon as the caller enters the node number, TriBBS
will send the other node a special message which states that the
caller wishes to chat with the caller on the other node. As soon as
the caller on the other node enters node chat, TriBBS will send the
caller that initiated the chat a message to that effect. As stated
above, text is sent back and forth between the two nodes a line at a
time. When entering text, TriBBS will automatically word wrap each
line at sixty characters. Because of this relatively short line
length, lines of text are sent back and forth at a fairly quick rate
and aid in the flow of the conversation. While the caller is actually
entering text TriBBS will not scan for any chat text from the other
node until the caller has stopped entering text either by pressing the
<ENTER> key or erasing whatever text is on the current line with the
<BACKSPACE> key. This is done so that the text the caller is typing
won't be garbled by incoming messages. The caller may leave chat mode
by simply entering the word EXIT by itself. As soon as the caller
leaves chat mode, the other caller will be informed by an appropriate
message.
Group chat is very similar to node chat except for any caller on any
node can enter group chat at anytime. Therefore, the number of
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 115
HIGH-SPEED MODEMS
-----------------
Because the price of high-speed modems has been dropping steadily over
the past year or so, many sysops have decided to take the plunge and
purchase either a V.32 or V.32bis modem. Unfortunately, most new
owners of high-speed modems quickly find that setting up a high-speed
modem can be rather confusing at first. This confusion occurs because
most sysops have never had any experience with locking a serial port.
Although locking a serial port is a very simple thing to do, modem
manuals generally assume that the modem owner knows all about the
subject.
The first step in understanding how a serial port is locked requires
you to understand a little communications-related terminology and some
of the reasons why it is beneficial to lock a serial port. First of
all, a modem is considered data communications equipment (DCE) and the
computer is considered data terminal equipment (DTE). When your modem
is communicating with another modem, there are essentially three links
in the communication path: your computer and modem are talking to each
other (DTE to DCE), the two modems are talking to each other (DCE to
DCE), and the other person's computer is talking with their modem (DTE
to DCE).
When a DCE to DCE connection is established, the modem will send a
CONNECT message to the computer. This CONNECT message tells the
computer what baud rate the two modems are talking to each other at.
Let's assume that your modem is a 9600 baud modem and that the caller
is calling with a 2400 baud modem. In a case like this, the modems
will establish a 2400 baud connection and your modem will send a
CONNECT 2400 baud message to your computer. If your serial port isn't
locked, the modem will switch the baud rate that it talks to the
computer with to 2400. In turn, the computer's communication program
(BBS software, terminal program, etc.) will set the computer's serial
port for 2400 baud. At this point, both the DTE to DCE and the DCE to
DCE baud rates will be set for 2400 baud.
Now lets assume that the serial port is locked at 19200 baud. When
your 9600 baud modem establishes the 2400 baud connection, it will
once again send a CONNECT 2400 baud message to your computer.
However, this time the modem will maintain the 19200 baud connection
it has with the computer instead of dropping down to 2400 baud.
Likewise, the computer's communication program will not lower the
computer's serial port to 2400 baud. So with a locked serial port,
the DTE to DCE baud rate will be 19200 and the DCE to DCE baud rate
will be 2400.
Why would you want to lock your serial port? Error correction and
data compression are the two best reasons. Error correcting
connections can transmit data about 20 percent faster than non- error
correcting connections. Also through data compression, modems can
send data up to four times faster than without data compression.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 117
SUPPORT
-------
You may obtain assistance with a TriBBS related problem by calling The
Lobster Buoy at 207-941-0805. This is the home board for TriBBS. You
may also call any other TriBBS support board for assistance. TriBBS
support boards are indicated in the list of registered boards that is
included in the TriBBS archives.
If you are having a problem with TriBBS, please try to be as specific
as possible. Please don't say something like "I can't get doors to
work". Unfortunately, statements like that are all too common and do
nothing to help resolve the problem. Instead, try to explain as best
you can exactly what is happening when you try to run a door and ZIP
up and upload your door batch files and door menu configuration file.
Screen captures can be very helpful when trying to diagnose a problem.
So if you can, log on remotely and capture a session that will
illustrate the problem. If you are unable to log on remotely, ask one
of your users for help. Most problems can be cured in one message if
the problem is explained in enough detail. However, if you do not
provide specific details, it can take many messages and a lot of
frustration before resolving the problem.
Also, READ THIS MANUAL!!!!!!!!!
When they become necessary, minor updates, such as 4.01, 4.02, 4.03,
etc., will be available for download from a TriBBS support board. I
will upload major updates, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, etc., to a number of
major bulletin boards and online services across the country. Either
way, it is your responsibility to obtain the latest version of TriBBS.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 119
REGISTRATION
------------
Registration of TriBBS is only $75.00. Please use the form at the end
of this manual to register your board. When you register TriBBS, you
will receive the latest version of TriBBS on disk, a printed manual,
and an encrypted key file called TRIBBS.KEY. All you have to do is
copy TRIBBS.KEY into node 1's main directory and voila instant
registered copy. TRIBBS.KEY can also be used to instantly register
all future versions of TriBBS.
If you find that TriBBS is the BBS for you, then please register it.
I have tried to make TriBBS a quality product. It has taken hundreds
(more likely thousands at this point) of hours of programming and
testing to get TriBBS to where it is today. So please support past,
present, and future TriBBS development by registering your copy today.
Just consider how much a commercial software product of TriBBS's
quality would cost you. By comparison, TriBBS is quite a bargain.
IMPORTANT: The shareware version of TriBBS is NOT (I repeat NOT)
crippled in any way. The registered version and the shareware version
are one and the same program. All features are enabled with the
shareware version. I've had many people ask me if the shareware
version of TriBBS is crippled. It is NOT.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 121
FILE FORMATS
------------
In order to encourage third-party development of TriBBS-related
utilities and doors, this section details the file formats TriBBS
uses. You should note that TriBBS is written in C++ and as such all
data types are C data types. For example, all strings are null-
terminated C strings.
SYSDAT1.DAT
-----------
Is the system configuration file and is located in node 1's main
directory. It uses the following format:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 41 char [41] The board's name.
42 to 82 char [41] The sysop's name.
83 to 91 char [9] The board's starting date.
92 to 95 char [4] The board's default file extension.
Must be ZIP, ARJ, LZH, PAK, SDN, or ARC.
96 to 97 int Total number of nodes.
98 to 99 int The number of today's calls.
100 to 101 int The number of messages posted today.
102 to 103 int The number of uploads today.
104 to 105 int The number of downloads today.
106 to 107 int The default daily time limit.
108 to 109 int The default number of daily calls.
110 to 111 int The maximum time per call.
112 to 113 int The minimum sysop security level.
114 to 115 int The new user security level.
116 to 117 int The new user daily time limit.
118 to 119 int Upload time compensation ratio.
120 to 121 int Maximum no keyboard input time in
minutes.
122 to 125 long The total number of calls.
126 to 127 int US phone number flag. If TRUE, use US
phone number format. If FALSE, don't
use US phone number format.
128 to 129 int Test uploads flag. If TRUE, scan
uploads for viruses. If FALSE, don't
scan uploads for viruses.
130 to 131 int Auto ANSI detection flag. If TRUE, do
auto ANSI autodetect. If FALSE, prompt
user for ANSI color graphics.
132 to 133 int Waiting message flag. If TRUE, check
for waiting messages. If FALSE, don't
check for waiting messages.
134 to 149 char [16] The system password.
150 to 151 int The board's file/byte ratio type.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 123
114 to 115 int The number of RINGs to be received
before sending ATA.
116 to 117 int Page bell flag.
118 to 119 int Use node DISPLAY directory flag.
120 to 121 int The node's minimum security level.
122 to 123 int No 2400 baud callers flag.
124 to 125 int Phone off hook during events flag.
126 to 256 char [131] Reserved for future use. All zeros.
USERS.DAT
---------
Is TriBBS's user records file and is located in node 1's MWORK
directory. Each user record is as follows:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 31 char [31] The user's name.
32 to 47 char [16] The user's password.
48 to 78 char [31] The user's city and state.
79 to 91 char [13] The user's phone number.
92 to 100 char [9] The user's date of birth.
101 to 109 char [9] The date of the user's first call.
110 to 124 char [15] The date and time of the user's last
call.
125 to 133 char [9] The date of the user's last new file
check.
134 to 135 int The user's security level.
136 to 137 int The user's number of calls.
138 to 139 int The amount of time remaining today.
140 to 141 int The user's last message conference.
142 to 143 int The user's last file area.
144 to 145 int The user's default protocol.
146 to 147 int The user's expert mode flag.
148 to 149 int The user's locked out flag.
150 to 151 int Marked for deletion flag.
152 to 153 int The user's number of calls today.
154 to 155 int Reserved for TriMail.
156 to 157 int Reserved for TriMail.
158 to 159 int Reserved for TriMail.
160 to 161 int Reserved for TriMail.
162 to 163 int Reserved for TriMail.
164 to 165 int Reserved for TriMail.
166 to 169 long The user's number of uploads.
170 to 173 long The user's number of downloads.
174 to 177 long The user's K bytes uploaded.
178 to 181 long The user's K bytes download.
182 to 185 long The user's number of messages posted.
186 to 187 int The user's default editor.
188 to 189 int The user's initial multinode chat
status.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 125
This above illustration would have a record length of (10 * 3) + (2 *
2) or 34.
MCONF.DAT
---------
Is TriBBS's message conference configuration file and is located in
node 1's MWORK directory. Each conference record is as follows:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 2 int The conference's read security level.
3 to 4 int The conference's net mail flag.
5 to 6 int The conference's user delete messages
flag.
7 to 8 int The conference's backup flag. If TRUE,
TRIPACK will backup the message
conference before packing it. If FALSE,
TRIPACK will not backup the message
conference.
9 to 10 int The number of days messages are to be
save for. Tells TRIPACK when messages
are old enough to be deleted.
11 to 12 int Private message conference flag.
13 to 14 int The conference's Fido-style netmail
flag.
15 to 16 int Alias conference flag.
17 to 18 int The conference's post security level.
19 to 20 int Do not allow private messages flag.
21 to 61 char [41] The conference's description.
62 to 102 char [41] The conference's network name.
103 to 106 long The conference's highest message number.
107 to 256 char [150] Reserved for future use. All zeroes.
Mnnnn.PTR
---------
Is a message conference's pointer file and is located in node 1's
MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and
is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each message in the conference will
have a record with the following format:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 15 char [15] The date and time the message was saved.
16 to 46 char [31] The name of the message's sender.
47 to 77 char [31] The name of who the message is to.
78 to 118 char [41] The message's subject.
119 to 120 int The message's echo flag.
121 to 122 int The message's thread flag.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 127
1 to 2 int The message's length.
3 to 4 int Compressed/uncompressed flag. 1
indicates a compressed message and 0
indicates an uncompressed message.
5 to ... char [length] The message's compressed or uncompressed
text.
As the above data structure indicates, TriBBS can save a message's
text in either a compressed or uncompressed state. Because of the way
LZS data compression works, a short message may actually grow in
length when compressed. Therefore, TriBBS will attempt to compress
all messages. If the message's compressed length is shorter than the
message's uncompressed length, the message will be saved in a
compressed state. Otherwise, TriBBS saves the message in its
uncompressed state to conserve on disk space.
FAREA.DAT
---------
Is TriBBS's file area configuration file and is located in node 1's
MWORK directory. Each file area record is as follows:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 2 int The file area's minimum security level.
3 to 4 int The file area's sort flag. TRUE if sort
by file name. FALSE if sort by date.
5 to 6 int Private file area flag.
7 to 47 char [41] The file area's description.
48 to 128 char [81] The file area's path.
129 to 209 char [81] The file area's upload path.
210 to 290 char [81] The file area's file list.
291 to 371 char [81] The file area's upload file list.
372 to 373 int CD-ROM file area flag.
374 to 375 int Alias file area flag.
376 to 456 char [81] The file area's index file, if any.
457 to 512 char [56] Reserved for future use. All zeros.
EVENTS.DAT
----------
Is a node's event configuration file and is located in the node's
NWORK directory. Each event record is as follows:
Byte Data Description
Position Type
1 to 2 int The event's day of the week.
3 to 4 int The event's executed today flag.
5 to 6 int The sliding event flag.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 129
COLOR CODES
-----------
The following is a list of color codes TriBBS uses in its menu
configuration files:
Background Color Foreground Color
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0 - Black 0 - Black
1 - Blue 1 - Blue
2 - Green 2 - Green
3 - Cyan 3 - Cyan
4 - Red 4 - Red
5 - Magenta 5 - Magenta
6 - Brown 6 - Brown
7 - White 7 - White
8 - Black Blink 8 - Dark Grey
9 - Blue Blink 9 - Light Blue
10 - Green Blink 10 - Light Green
11 - Cyan Blink 11 - Light Cyan
12 - Red Blink 12 - Light Red
13 - Magenta Blink 13 - Light Magenta
14 - Brown Blink 14 - Yellow
15 - White Blink 15 - Bright White
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The "Blink" background mean that the foreground character will
blink on and off when the background is set to one of the background
color codes 8 through 15.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 131
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
--------------------------
Q. I want to be able to drop to DOS remotely, but TriBBS doesn't
seem to support this feature. Can I remotely drop to DOS with
TriBBS?
A. Because of TriBBS's ability to add commands to the Sysop menu,
there really isn't any need to put a drop to DOS function
directly into the BBS software. If this is a feature you can't
live without, setup either REMDoor or Doorway (both are available
for download off of The Lobster Buoy) as a command off of the
Sysop menu. Both will allow you to perform just about any DOS
command line task.
Q. I'd like to be able to setup a DOS program, such as a database,
as a door. Can this be done?
A. A true door program either has it's own communication routines
written into it or uses a FOSSIL driver (a device driver that
provides communication routines to programs) to communicate with
the remote computer. Unfortunately, the average DOS program
doesn't have the ability to communicate through the serial port.
However, the program Doorway (available for download off of The
Lobster Buoy) will allow you to run just about any DOS program as
a door.
Q. I marked a user's record for deletion but it's still in the user
file?
A. For efficiency reasons, a user's record will not be physically
deleted from the user file until you actually pack the user file.
By marking a user's record for deletion you are telling TriBBS to
delete the record the next time the user file is packed.
Q. I want to run TriBBS under Windows but all I get is a blank
screen with the cursor in the upper left hand corner?
A. Windows has a strange quirk in it that requires you to load
SHARE.EXE into memory even if you don't plan on running a
multinode system.
Q. I have a custom bulletin or door bulletin menu and whenever a
caller tries to display a bulletin TriBBS tells him that it's an
invalid bulletin number. What's wrong?
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 133
Q. I would like to be able to use TriMan and FileMan remotely. Is
there a way?
A. You can setup both TriMan and FileMan as an extension off of the
Sysop menu with the program Doorway (available for download off
of The Lobster Buoy). Although, I do not recommend the use of
either, especially TriMan, remotely. If you are not very
careful, you could very easily corrupt your data files. So
unless you are very experienced with TriBBS and fully understand
how all of the data files interact, I do not recommend that you
ever use TriMan remotely. Do not ever under any circumstances
add, insert, or delete either a message conference or a file area
remotely. Such an action will almost certainly corrupt your data
files.
Q. I want to backup my board on a daily basis, but I really don't
have the time or the floppy disks to back up the whole thing
every day. What's the minimum amount of files I need to back up
and not lose my whole system if it should crash?
A. As a minimal backup you should backup your SYSDAT1.DAT,
SYSDAT2.DAT, NODE.DAT, MWORK\USERS.DAT, MWORK\USERS.SUP,
MWORK\USERS.IDX, MWORK\ALIAS.IDX, MWORK\MCONF.DAT,
MWORK\FAREA.DAT, NWORK\*.*, DISPLAY\*.*, and all of the batch
file in your node's main directory. With such a backup
available, you may lose your message base and/or your file areas,
but you will still have all of your system data files, user
information, and display screens available should the need ever
arise. If you have a really small message base, you may want to
just backup the entire MWORK directory. You may also want to
maintain a backup of your file lists. They will come in very
handy should you have to rebuild one or more file areas.
Q. I think I've found a bug. What information do you need to fix
it?
A. Because no computer program is perfect, you may run across a bug
in TriBBS sooner or later. If you should find a bug, it is
extremely helpful if you can describe how it can be duplicated
every time. A bug can usually be fixed very quickly if I'm able
to duplicate it, but it can take a long time to track down if
there even is a bug at all. Even if you can't duplicate, please
let me know about any suspected bugs you might find. Sometimes
it's possible for me to determine a pattern that causes a bug if
more than one person has found the bug and they provide
sufficient detail for me to find a similar pattern between the
two systems.
Q. I would like to join a netmail network. What programs do I need?
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 135
Q. I have a monochrome VGA system and when I run TriBBS, I either
can't see anything or can only see what I think is a small part
of the Waiting for Callers screen. What's wrong?
A. Some monochrome VGA systems don't use the area of video RAM that
TriBBS expects it to be using. Simply run the DOS commands MODE
BW80 or MODE CO80 before running BOARD.BAT. Probably the best
thing is to just put the appropriate MODE command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
Q. When I try to run a door, TriBBS tries to run an event, or try to
configure my system from the Waiting for Caller screen, it stops
running and just sits there at the DOS prompt. What's wrong?
A. You are running TriBBS through BBS.EXE and not through BOARD.BAT.
You must run it through BOARD.BAT for TriBBS to be able to
perform these operations.
Q. I'm running a multinode system and when I configure the system
from node 1's Waiting for Caller screen everything works fine,
but when I try configuring the board from another node TriMan
runs fine but when I'm returned to the Waiting for Caller screen
I'm returned to node 1's Waiting for Caller screen. What's
wrong?
A. In order to run TriMan from the Waiting for Caller screen, TriBBS
creates a dummy event batch file and in the batch file is a call
to BOARD.BAT to restart the node. You are probably calling your
BOARD.BAT file for node 2 something like BOARD2.BAT and node 1's
BOARD.BAT file is called BOARD.BAT and is somewhere in your DOS
PATH. Simply do all configuration from node 1 or rename your
BOARD.BAT files for the other nodes to BOARD.BAT.
Q. The manual says that TriBBS can run PCBoard doors, but I can't
for the life of me get a PCBoard callback verification door to
work with TriBBS. What am I doing wrong?
A. Although, TriBBS can create the necessary door data files for
many other BBS systems, such as PCBoard, some doors are very
specific to a certain brand of BBS software. For example, a
callback verification door needs to be able to access the PCBoard
user files. TriBBS and PCBoard have a totally different file
structure for their user files so the callback door can't
possibly be forced to run on a TriBBS system. So although you
can run most doors that are written for other systems, there are
a few that you can only run if you are running the BBS software
they were originally written for.
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 137
INDEX
-----
/B command line switch . . . 7 @SECBYTERATIO@ . . . . . . . 42
/C command line switch . . . 6 @SECFILERATIO@ . . . . . . . 42
/F command line switch . . 101 @SECURITY@ . . . . . . . . . 42
/H command line switch . . 102 @SUBSCRIPTIONDATE@ . . . . . 42
/I command line switch . . . 22 @SYSTEMCALLS@ . . . . . . . . 42
/T command line switch . . 102 @SYSTEMCALLSTODAY@ . . . . . 42
<ALT><C> . . . . . . . . . 107 @SYSTEMDATE@ . . . . . . . . 42
<ALT><D> . . . . . . . . . 107 @SYSTEMTIME@ . . . . . . . . 42
<ESC> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @TIMELEFT@ . . . . . . . . . 42
<F1> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @TIMEON@ . . . . . . . . . . 42
<F2> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @TIMETHISCALL@ . . . . . . . 42
<F3> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @TOTALNODES@ . . . . . . . . 42
<F4> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @UPLOADS@ . . . . . . . . . . 42
<F5> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @UPLOADSTODAY@ . . . . . . . 42
<F6> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 @USER@ . . . . . . . . . . . 42
<F7> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 1/10 Sec. Delay For ATA . . . 22
<F8> . . . . . . . . . 47, 107 16450 . . . . . . . . . . . 132
<F9> . . . . . . . . . . . 107 16550 . . . . . . . . . . . 132
<HOME> . . . . . . . . . . 107 8250 . . . . . . . . . . . 132
@-Variables . . . . . . . . . 41 Address . . . . . . . . . . . 77
@ALIAS@ . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Alias . . 20, 25, 30, 32, 56, 77
@BAUDRATE@ . . . . . . . . . 41 Alias Conference . . . . . . 30
@BEEP@ . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Alias File Area . . . . . . . 32
@BOARDNAME@ . . . . . . . . . 41 ALIAS.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 47
@BREAKOFF@ . . . . . . . . . 41 ALIAS.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 47
@BREAKON@ . . . . . . . . . . 41 ALIAS.IDX . . . . . . . . . 124
@BYTERATIO@ . . . . . . . . . 41 Allow 1200 Baud Callers . . . 23
@CALLS@ . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Allow 2400 Baud Callers . . . 23
@CALLSTODAY@ . . . . . . . . 41 Allow 300 Baud Callers . . . 23
@CITY@ . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Allow Aliases . . . . . . . . 20
@CLS@ . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Allow One Word Names . . . . 19
@DOWNLOADS@ . . . . . . . . . 41 Allow Private Posts . . . . . 30
@DOWNLOADSTODAY@ . . . . . . 41 ANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
@FILERATIO@ . . . . . . . . . 41 ANSI . . . . 18, 41, 49, 55, 61
@FIRST@ . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ARC . . . . . . . . 18, 68, 103
@HANGUP@ . . . . . . . . . . 41 Archive Testing . . . . . . 103
@KDOWNLOADED@ . . . . . . . . 41 ARJ . . . . . . . . 18, 68, 103
@KUPLOADED@ . . . . . . . . . 41 ARJ.EXE . . . . . . . . 68, 103
@LASTDATEON@ . . . . . . . . 41 AT commands . . . . . . . . 116
@LASTTIMEON@ . . . . . . . . 42 Auto ANSI Detection . . . . . 18
@MESSAGES@ . . . . . . . . . 42 Autoboot . . . . . . . . . 134
@MESSAGESTODAY@ . . . . . . . 42 AUTOEXEC.BAT . . . 9, 111, 135
@MORE@ . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Backup . . . . . . . . . . 133
@MOREOFF@ . . . . . . . . . . 42 Batch file . . . . . 33, 70, 83
@MOREON@ . . . . . . . . . . 42 BBS Starting Date . . . . . . 16
@NODE@ . . . . . . . . . . . 42 BBS.EXE . . . . . 5, 8, 102, 111
@ORIGINAL@ . . . . . . . . . 42 BBSNEWS.ANS . . . . . . . . . 43
@PAUSE@ . . . . . . . . . . . 42 BBSNEWS.BBS . . . . . . . . . 43
@PHONE@ . . . . . . . . . . . 42 BETWEEN.BAT . . . . . . . 83, 87
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 139
Event . . . . . . . . . . . 135 FRONTEND.ANS . . . . . . . . 47
Event Already Executed FRONTEND.BBS . . . . . . . . 47
Today . . . . . . . 34 FSCREEN.ANS . . . . . . . . . 48
Event Day . . . . . . . . . . 33 FSCREEN.BBS . . . . . . . . . 48
Event File . . . . . . . . . 33 Full screen editor . . . . . 60
Event Slide . . . . . . . . . 34 GAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Event Time . . . . . . . . . 33 GEcho . . . . . . . . . . . 134
EVENTS.DAT . . . . . . . . 127 GOODBYE . . . 28, 57, 65, 68, 80
Exact Match for Dupes . . . . 20 Goodbye Display in QWK . . . 28
EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Goodbye screen . . . . . . . 43
Exit TriBBS . . . . . . . . . 39 GOODBYE.ANS . . . . . . . . . 43
Expert Mode . 26, 57, 64, 68, 79 GOODBYE.BBS . . . . . . . . . 43
EXPIRED.ANS . . . . . . . . . 48 Group chat . . . . . . . . 113
EXPIRED.BBS . . . . . . . . . 48 High-speed modems . . . . . 115
External protocols . . . . . 89 HS/Link . . . . . . . . . . . 91
EXTPROT.MNU . . . . . . . . . 89 Initial Baud Rate . . . . . . 22
FAREA.DAT . . . . . . . . . 127 Initialization String . . . . 21
Fido . . . . . . . . . 30, 134 INSTALL.EXE . . . . . . . . . 5
Fido-Style NetMail Conf . . . 30 Integrity and virus
FIFO buffer . . . . . . . . 132 checking . . . . . 18
File Area Description . . . . 31 JOKER.DAT . . . . . . . . . 105
File Area File List . . . . . 32 K Bytes Downloaded . . . . . 27
File Area Index File . . . . 32 K Bytes Uploaded . . . . . . 27
File Area Path . . . . . . . 32 K Downloaded . . . . . . . . 78
File Area Security . . . . . 31 K Uploaded . . . . . . . . . 78
File Area Sort Type . . . . . 32 Keyboard Idle Timeout . . . . 18
File Area Upload List . . . . 32 LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
File Area Upload Path . . . . 32 LANtastic . . . . . . . . . 112
File description . . . . . . 85 LHA.EXE . . . . . . 18, 68, 103
File Flagging . . . . . . . 108 Limiting Time . . . . . . . 102
File formats . . . . . . . 121 Line editor . . . . . . . . . 59
File Menu . . . . 45, 54, 65, 81 List Files . . . . . . . . . 66
File Ratio Type . . . . . . . 19 List of conferences . . . . . 46
File/byte ratio checking . . 48 List of file areas . . . . . 47
File/Byte Ratios . . . . 95, 96 List of Users . . . . . . . . 56
FILE_ID.DIZ . . . . . . . . . 67 Local-only node . . . . . . . 7
FILEALL.ANS . . . . . . . . . 45 Lock Serial Port . . . . . . 22
FILEALL.BBS . . . . . . . . . 45 Locked Out . . . . . . . . . 26
FILEh.BAT . . . . . . . . . . 81 LOCKOUT.ANS . . . . . . . . . 47
FileMan . . . . . . . . 85, 133 LOCKOUT.BBS . . . . . . . . . 47
FILEMAN.EXE . . . . . . . . . 5 Log on screens . . . . . . . 43
FILEn.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 45 LOGON . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
FILEn.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 45 LOGON.BAT . . . . . . . . . . 83
Files Downloaded . . . . . . 27 LOGONn.ANS . . . . . . . . . 43
Files Uploaded . . . . . . . 27 LOGONn.BBS . . . . . . . . . 43
FILES.MNU . . . . . . . . . . 65 LOWER.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 48
Forced Hang Up . . . . . . 102 LOWER.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 48
FOSSIL . . . . . . . . . . 131 LZH . . . . . . . . 18, 68, 103
FOYER . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Main Menu . 44, 53, 64, 68, 79,
FREE.DAT . . . . . . . . . . 97 81
FrontDoor . . . . . . . 101, 134 MAIN.MNU . . . . . . . . . . 53
Frontend . . . . . . . . . 101 MAINALL.ANS . . . . . . . . . 44
The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 141
QUESTALL.BBS . . . . . . . . 46 System Information . . . . . 56
QUESTION.MNU . . . . . . . . 73 System Password . . . . . . . 19
Questionnaire Menu . 46, 55, 73 TCHAT.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 48
Questionnaires . . . . . 55, 73 TCHAT.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 48
QUESTn.ANS . . . . . . . . . 46 TeleChat . . . . . . . . . 113
QUESTn.BBS . . . . . . . . . 46 TeleChat Menu . . . . . . . . 54
Quick Logon . . . . . . . . 107 Telephone Number . . . . . . 26
QWK . . . . . . . . 27, 28, 134 Test Uploads . . . . . . . . 18
QWK Mail Network Node . . . . 28 Text Search File Lists . . . 67
RAISE.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 48 The Modem Status Window . . . 39
RAISE.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 48 The Statistics Display . . . 39
RATIOS.DAT . . . . . . . 95, 96 TheDraw . . . . . . . . . . . 49
RBBS . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Time Left . . . . . . . . . . 78
Read Message Security . . . . 30 Time of Last Call . . . . . . 26
Read Messages . . . . . . . . 61 TOOLOW.ANS . . . . . . . . . 47
REM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 TOOLOW.BBS . . . . . . . . . 47
REMDoor . . . . . . . . . . 131 TOOMANY.ANS . . . . . . . . . 47
Remove File . . . . . . . . . 68 TOOMANY.BBS . . . . . . . . . 47
Requirements . . . . . . . . 3 TosScan . . . . . . . . . . 134
RTS/CTS Flow Control . 22, 136 Total Calls . . . . . . . 17, 26
SCAN.EXE . . . . . . . 19, 103 Total Nodes . . . . . . . . . 19
Screen Blanking . . . . . . . 39 TRANSFER . . . . . . . . 7, 67
SDN . . . . . . . . 18, 68, 103 TRIBBS.KEY . . . . . . . . 119
SECn.BAT . . . . . . . . . . 83 TRIBBS.SYS . . . . . . 69, 128
Security Level . . . . . 26, 77 TriDog . . . . . . . . . . 134
Serial Port . . . . . . 21, 115 TriMail . . . . . . . . 81, 134
Set Conference Queue . . . . 64 TriMan . . . . . . . . 15, 133
SFDOORS.DAT . . . . . . . . . 69 TriMan command line
SHARE.EXE . . . . . . . 111, 131 switches . . . . . 34
SORRY.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 47 TRIMAN.EXE . . . . . . . . . 5
SORRY.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 47 TriNet . . . . . . . . . . 134
Sort File Lists . . . . . . . 79 TriPack . . 30, 31, 34, 63, 108
SPAWNO . . . . . . . . . . . 2 TRIPACK.EXE . . . . . . . . . 5
Spitfire . . . . . . . . . . 69 TTPROT.EXE . . . . . 5, 9, 109
Squish . . . . . . . . . . 134 TTTEMP . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Stacker . . . . . . . . . . 132 UPALL.ANS . . . . . . . . . . 45
SUBS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . 99 UPALL.BBS . . . . . . . . . . 45
Subscription Expires . . . . 27 Upload display screen . . . . 45
Subscription system . . . . . 99 Upload File . . . . . . . . . 67
Support . . . . . . . . . . 117 Upload Time Compensation . . 17
SYSCHAT.ANS . . . . . . . . . 47 UPLOAD.BAT . . . . . . . 83, 87
SYSCHAT.BBS . . . . . . . . . 47 Uploads . . . . . . . . . . . 77
SYSDAT1.DAT . . . . . 5, 7, 121 UPn.ANS . . . . . . . . . . . 45
SYSDAT2.DAT . . . 5, 7, 111, 122 UPn.BBS . . . . . . . . . . . 45
SYSh.BAT . . . . . . . . . . 81 US Phone Number . . . . . . . 18
Sysop Menu . . . 46, 55, 76, 81 Use Node DISPLAY Dir . . . . 23
Sysop Name . . . . . . . . . 16 User Message Deletion . . . . 30
SYSOP.MNU . . . . . . . . . . 76 User specific log on
SYSOPALL.ANS . . . . . . . . 46 screens . . . . . . 44
SYSOPALL.BBS . . . . . . . . 46 USERCHAT.ANS . . . . . . . . 47
SYSOPn.ANS . . . . . . . . . 46 USERCHAT.BBS . . . . . . . . 47
SYSOPn.BBS . . . . . . . . . 46 USERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
TriBBS REGISTRATION FORM
Registration of TriBBS 4.0 is $75.00. Shipping and handling is free
for all U.S., Canadian, and Mexican orders. All other international
orders must add $10.00 shipping and handling. Payment is to be made
in U.S. funds ONLY! Please answer all of the following questions:
Name_________________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________
City__________________________State__________Zip_____________________
Telephone Number: Day_________________Night__________________________
BBS Name_____________________________________________________________
BBS Phone Number_____________________________________________________
Modem_______________________Maximum Baud Rate________________________
Did you have to alter the default initialization string______________
If yes, your initialization string___________________________________
Would you like your board listed in future manuals___________________
Disk Size (Check One): _____ 5 1/4" _____ 3 1/2"
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING TRIBBS
Mail To:
Mark Goodwin
366 14th St.
Bangor, ME 04401