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-------------------------------------------------
S e a r c h l i g h t J a c k p o t L o t t o
-------------------------------------------------
a full featured lottery door
for Searchlight BBS 2.x
version 1.05
Copyright (c) 1992
Tim Rossiter
=================
Table of Contents
=================
Table of Contents.................................................i
Introduction......................................................1
Registration......................................................1
Disclaimer........................................................2
Setup/Installation................................................3
Running Searchlight Jackpot Lotto.................................6
Lotto........................................................6
View.........................................................6
Jackpot......................................................6
Odds.........................................................7
Instant......................................................7
Winners......................................................7
Time.........................................................7
Quit.........................................................8
2-Sysop/Configuration.............................................9
Tickets......................................................9
Param........................................................9
Days.........................................................9
Split.......................................................10
House.......................................................10
Reset.......................................................10
Quit........................................................11
The Drawing Function.............................................12
The JACKPOT.SYS File.............................................13
Acknowledgements.................................................14
Authorized Support/Distribution Sites............................14
Closing Comment..................................................15
- i -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
============
Introduction
============
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto is a professional full featured lottery
program, in which users purchase tickets for on-line time. It provides the
following features:
- Simple setup and configuration
- Full multiuser capabilities for multi-node systems
- Lottery drawing occurs unattended, within a daily event
- Lottery winnings automatically entered in Time Vault account
- Lottery players and winners are sent electronic mail
- All Jackpot specific strings are stored in JACKPOT.SYS and can be
modified using Searchlight's XSYS and MSYS programs.
- Many optional parameters to configure the game. Sysop selects:
- How much tickets cost
- Range of numbers in the game
- Which days the lottery runs
- House percentages for the lotto and instant games
- How the jackpot is divided among winners
- Accumulated totals for lotto and instant tickets
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto uses the same interface provided by Searchlight
BBS. This interface includes everything you are used within the
Searchlight BBS program, including:
- Full ANSI and NON-ANSI support
- Light bar menus with on-line help
- Hot keys, more prompts, and Ctrl-C/Space interrupts
- Color choices and other options read from Searchlight configuration
- Standard Searchlight strings are read from STRINGS.SYS file
- Local status line with standard ALT and F-KEY support
- Keyboard time-out checking
- Checking and auto logoff for time limit expiration
- Automatic display of incoming chat requests on multi-node systems
- Sysop chat mode just like Searchlight's
- DesqView (tm) aware, to make most efficient use of processor time
============
Registration
============
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto is distributed as 'shareware', and continued
use after an acceptable trial period requires a registration fee. The
trial period is 21 days (3 weeks), after which, a registration fee of $20
(US funds) must be paid to the author. If you fail to register after the
21 day trial period, you MUST discontinue use of the software. The only
- 1 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
way shareware authors are compensated for their efforts is through
registrations. Please support the shareware marketing concept and
encourage authors to produce updates, as well as new shareware programs.
==========
Disclaimer
==========
This program is intended to be used as a door for Searchlight BBS. It
has been tested with version 2.15 and should work with later versions as
well. Although it has been tested on several BBS systems and works well, I
still include the following:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM BE LIABLE TO
ANYONE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES) STEMMING FROM THE USE, MISUSE OR
INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.
- 2 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
==================
Setup/Installation
==================
The following files should be contained within this ZIP archive:
JACKPOT.DOC - This Jackpot documentation file
JACKPOT.EXE - The actual Jackpot program file
JACKPOT.SYS - The jackpot strings file
JACKPOT.NEW - Update information on Jackpot
JACKPOT.FRM - Order form for registering
If any of these file as missing, please ask the sysop of the BBS from
which you obtained it to remove the archive from his system.
*NOTE* To run Searchlight Jackpot Lotto, you must also have the Time
Vault door installed on your system. Winnings from the lottery game are
automatically added to users' Time Vault accounts.
Because Searchlight Jackpot Lotto is designed specifically to work with
Searchlight BBS, it is one of the easiest programs to set up. Please
follow these easy steps:
Place the JACKPOT.EXE file somewhere on your hard drive, preferably in
its own directory. For example, you may want to create the directory
C:\BBS\DOORS\JACKPOT.
Next, make an entry in your DOORS.DEF file. Follow the format of the one
below:
2;0;1;10;Jackpot Lotto;.;C:\BBS\DOORS\JACKPOT\JACKPOT.EXE
| | | | | | |
a b c d e f g
a) Tells Searchlight to provide communications support. Set this to
2, telling Searchlight to send color to the remote user even if the
local BBS computer is monochrome.
b) Disk-drive write protection during door. This must be set to 0 to
allow Jackpot Lotto to write to its data files.
c) Action on carrier loss. Set this to a 1, telling Searchlight to
terminate the door program if the carrier is dropped during door
execution. Jackpot Lotto automatically turns carrier checking off
whenever critical information is being written to data files.
d) BBS access level required to use the door.
e) Description of the door displayed to your users.
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Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
f) Directory to switch to before executing door. This should ALWAYS
be set to a PERIOD ONLY, as it is above. Jackpot Lotto looks in
the current directory when trying to read the CONFIG.SL2 file.
Making this a period will insure that the correct CONFIG.SL2 file
is found. If, for some reason, the CONFIG.SL2 file is not in the
current directory, Jackpot Lotto will look for the CONFIG.SL2 in
the path specified by an SLBBS environment variable.
g) The full path and filename of the JACKPOT.EXE file.
If you have additional DOOR.DEF files for other nodes, make identical
entries in those.
Lastly, you must enter the drawing function in a daily event. If your
system already has a batch file that runs every day, you can add the
following lines to this batch file:
C:
CD \BBS
C:\BBS\DOORS\JACKPOT\JACKPOT.EXE DRAW
The DRAW command line option causes the drawing function to be run,
instead of the normal lottery menu. The above assumes the your CONFIG.SL2
file is in the C:\BBS directory and that the jackpot program has been
installed in the C:\BBS\DOORS\JACKPOT directory. Each sysop should
substitute the appropriate directories for his or her system.
If you do not have a daily event running, you can add the following to
line your EVENT.DEF file:
06:00 . C:\BBS\DOORS\JACKPOT\JACKPOT.EXE DRAW
This will cause the drawing function to be run each morning at 6:00 am.
* NOTE * The drawing function should be run every day, regardless of
which days a drawing should occur. Even though the event runs every day,
the program will only draw lottery numbers on the days that have been
configured. See the 2-Sysop/Configuration section below. If your event
runs more than once per day, this is ok. The drawing function will, at
most, run once per day.
If you have a mutli-node Searchlight BBS, the drawing function should
only be run as *one* node's event.
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Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
That's it. You've installed Searchlight Jackpot Lotto with the basic,
default configuration. The default configuration is as follows:
- Tickets cost 5 minutes each.
- Lottery numbers range from 1 to 18.
- A lottery drawing occurs every Saturday.
- The jackpot is divided as follows:
- 50% is divided among tickets with four correct picks.
- 25% is divided among tickets with five correct picks.
- 25% is divided among tickets with six correct picks.
- The House takes 10% off the top of the jackpot.
- The House takes approximately 10% from sales of instant tickets.
For more information on the above options, see 2-Sysop/Configuration
section below.
- 5 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
=================================
Running Searchlight Jackpot Lotto
=================================
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto is easy to use, and features the same user
interface provided by Searchlight BBS. The following main menu options are
available to all users:
-----
Lotto
-----
The LOTTO option allows users to purchase Searchlight Jackpot Lotto
tickets. The cost of each ticket is automatically deducted from the time
the user has available on the BBS. Users are first prompted to enter the
number of tickets they wish to purchase, and then are asked whether or not
they wish to play auto lotto.
If auto lotto is chosen, the selected number of lottery tickets are
randomly drawn, stored, and displayed for the user. If auto lotto is not
selected, the users is prompted to enter his lottery picks for each of the
tickets he has purchased. Users can abort purchasing of lottery tickets by
hitting <ENTER> without keying a valid lottery pick.
----
View
----
The VIEW option displays all tickets the user has purchased for the
current lottery. As with all Searchlight listings, this listing can be
aborted with Ctrl-C or space.
-------
Jackpot
-------
The JACKPOT option displays the number of tickets that have been sold for
the current lottery, and the current lottery jackpot. The date of the next
scheduled drawing is also displayed.
If the current user has 255 access level, or the Super User (ALT-S) flag
is on, the JACKPOT option also displays a summary of instant ticket
purchases and winnings. This information accumulates until is it manually
reset by the sysop. See the 2-Sysop/Configuration section below.
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Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
----
Odds
----
The ODDS option displays the odds of correctly picking four, five or six
lottery numbers, based on the current configuration.
-------
Instant
-------
The INSTANT option allows users to purchase instant lotto tickets. The
cost of each ticket is automatically deducted from the time the user has
available on the BBS. If the user purchases a winning ticket, this time is
added to the time the user has available on the BBS. The most a user can
win on a single instant ticket is 16 times the cost of the ticket. Instant
tickets are not available if the BBS is scheduled to run an event.
Instant tickets can be purchased for less then the normal ticket price if
a user does not have enough time to purchase an instant ticket at normal
price. This allows users to spend all their time on instant tickets.
Instant ticket purchases and winnings are logged by the system, and these
total can be view by the sysop. See the JACKPOT menu choice.
-------
Winners
-------
This option lists up to 90 users who recently picked five or six correct
lottery numbers, along with the number of minutes they received. Also
displayed are users who won the maximum possible with an instant ticket.
As with all Searchlight listings, this listing can be aborted with Ctrl-C
or space.
----
Time
----
The is the standard TIME function available at Searchlight BBS's main
menu. Users can purchase tickets, and then use the TIME function to
determine how much time they have left on the BBS.
- 7 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
----
Quit
----
The QUIT option exits Searchlight Jackpot Lotto and returns the user the
doors menu on the BBS.
- 8 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
=====================
2-Sysop/Configuration
=====================
The 2-Sysop command, only available to users with 255 access level or
when the Super User (ALT-S) flag is on, displays a sysop menu that can be
used to configure several operating parameters, list all tickets purchased,
or reset the instant ticket totals.
Once the lottery is underway, the sysop should be careful when modifying
the operating parameters. For example, if tickets cost one minute when the
lottery begins, and this cost is changed to five minutes near the end of
the lottery, users who purchased tickets for one minute have an unfair
advantage.
-------
Tickets
-------
The TICKETS options displays all user who have purchased lottery tickets,
along with the number of tickets they have purchased. Totals are displayed
at the end of the listing. As with all Searchlight listings, this listing
can be aborted with Ctrl-C or space.
-----
Param
-----
The PARAM option allows the sysop to configure two lottery ticket
parameters. The sysop is prompted to enter the cost of lottery tickets, in
minutes (default is 5), and the range of lottery numbers in the game
(default is 18).
----
Days
----
Using the DAYS option, the sysop can configure days of the week on which
lottery drawings occur. The drawing function, which should be run every
day as an event, looks at this configuration to determine when a drawing
should be held. The default is to hold a drawing each Saturday. Drawings
may be held more than once a week, but at least one week day must be
selected.
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Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
-----
Split
-----
The SPLIT options determines how the lottery winnings are divided up
among winners. The defaults are as follows:
- 50% is divided among tickets with four correct picks.
- 25% is divided among tickets with five correct picks.
- 25% is divided among tickets with six correct picks.
When no user has purchased a winning ticket, a portion of the jackpot is
held over for the next drawing. For example, if no user purchases a ticket
with six correct lottery picks, 50% of the jackpot (after the house
percentage is take out -- see below) is held over for the next drawing.
-----
House
-----
The HOUSE option determines the percentage of the minutes spent on
tickets that is kept by the BBS. A separate percentage my be entered for
lotto tickets and instant tickets (the defaults are 10% each).
When a drawing is held, the house percentage for lotto tickets is
automatically deducted from the jackpot, before any winnings are
distributed. When this percentage is a positive value, users will spend
more minutes on the lottery game than is given away.
The house percentage for instant tickets is used within the formula that
determines the odds for winning at instant lotto. When this percentage is
a positive value, the total number of minutes users spend on instant
tickets should, on average, be higher than the number of minutes that are
given away. Keep in mind that this only holds true on average, and will
most like not be accurate when a small number of tickets have been sold.
-----
Reset
-----
The RESET option resets the instant ticket totals kept by the system.
This option can be used when a sysop wishes to change the house percentage
for instant tickets, and wants to begin tracking instant tickets based on
this change.
- 10 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
----
Quit
----
The QUIT option on the 2-sysop menu returns you back to the Searchlight
Jackpot Lotto main menu.
- 11 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
====================
The Drawing Function
====================
When the JACKPOT DRAW command is given from within a daily event, the
drawing function first checks to see if a drawing is scheduled to occur.
If no drawing is scheduled that day, the program displays a brief message
and terminates. On days when a drawing is scheduled, the follow functions
are performed:
- Winning lottery numbers are randomly chosen and displayed.
- Tickets are processed to determine the number of winners.
- Mail is sent to each user who has purchased a lottery ticket. This
function uses Searchlight's carbon copy feature to minimize usage
of disk space for duplicate messages.
- Tickets are again processed, and winner notifications are mailed to
the owner of each ticket that has four or more correct picks. The
amount won for each ticket is automatically added to each user's
Time Vault account.
- All ticket entries are erased, and jackpot totals are reset. Any
unclaimed time in the jackpot is held over for the next drawing.
- 12 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
====================
The JACKPOT.SYS File
====================
The JACKPOT.SYS contains all the text that is displayed by Searchlight
Jackpot Lotto. These strings can be modified using the standard
Searchlight XSYS and MSYS programs. You may wish to customize these
strings, for example, to configure Jackpot to operate in a different
language.
To create a text file from JACKPOT.SYS that can be edited, enter the
following command:
XSYS jackpot.sys jackpot.txt
You can then modify the file JACKPOT.TXT with a standard text file
editor. Use caution when modifying this file. Be certain not to add or
remove any strings. Also, if the length of some strings are changed
significantly, this may mess up screen display. Most importantly, do not
removed the '$' character from any strings. Jackpot replaces the '$'
character in certain strings with parameters that the program needs to
display.
When you have finished modifying JACKPOT.TXT, you can create a new
JACKPOT.SYS file by entering the command:
MSYS jackpot.txt jackpot.sys
Be sure to keep your original JACKPOT.SYS file, in case you need to start
again from scratch.
- 13 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
================
Acknowledgements
================
- Frank LaRosa, author of Searchlight BBS. Frank's open architecture
and programmer's library allow programmers to create high quality,
integrated doors and utilities available on no other bulletin board
system.
- Jim Barry, author of Time Vault, who inspires programming
challenges, helped beta test this program throughout its
development, and from whom this documentation file is plagiarized.
- Tim Otty, owner of DataComm, for serving as a distribution site for
my software, and for all of his other Searchlight Support efforts.
Created with Searchlight Programmer's Library
Portions Copyright (c) 1991 Searchlight Software
=====================================
Authorized Support/Distribution Sites
=====================================
Primary:
Tim Rossiter
c/o One Andrews Circle
Cleveland, Ohio 44141
(Flip Flop BBS, 216-795-1623)
Alternate:
(For ease of registrations by network and international systems)
DataComm!
1833 Haviland Dr.
Virginia Beach, VA
23454-6701
(DataComm BBS, 804-721-3320 [Node1])
SL_NET 250:250/0, FidoNet 1:275/123
Correspondence with Tim Rossiter is welcome via Flip Flop BBS at
216-795-1623, DataComm BBS at 804-721-3320, or through Searchlight BBS at
516-689-2637.
Tim Rossiter is reachable by Netmail on DataComm BBS (See addresses
listed above). Tim is also available on the SL_SLBBS <SL_NET Echo>,
SLBBS-R Subboard on Searchlight BBS.
- 14 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter
===============
Closing Comment
===============
I offer direct registration via my BBS (After payment your registered key
file can be downloaded), however I have additionally opted to market my
software through "DataComm", the concept of a central software distribution
point is a appealing one, and in a interest to provide as many avenues of
support as possible I endorse "Tim Otty's" services and support his
efforts.
- 15 -
Searchlight Jackpot Lotto v1.05
Copyright 1992, Tim Rossiter