OS/2 Shareware BBS: 2 BBS/02-BBS.zip/OP2MENU.ZIP/NEWS1.MSG

Text File | 1990-09-16 | 12KB | 266 lines

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Omega Point/2 Bulletin Board System Software for OS/2
Version 1.0
ExcelSoft Software
September 16th, 1990
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Omega Point/2 is a bulletin board system that runs under the
protected mode of Microsoft's multitasking operating system,
OS/2. Omega Point/2 can be used for a variety of communications
tasks: as a full blown BBS system with up to 48 incoming lines,
as a small system with 1 or 2 lines running as a background task,
or simply as an electronic mail or file depot. Omega Point/2 can
be your "electronic answering-machine" or the core of a complete
message and conference system.

OP/2 was designed from the beginning to take advantage of OS/2's
unique and powerful features: multitasking, the High Performance
File System, run-time linking, and up to 16 megabytes of RAM.
More importantly, Omega Point/2 forms a base that can be
configured and expanded to meet your individual needs. The
following describes the features and uses for the Omega Point/2
system.

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Omega Point/2 Description of Features
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Electronic Mail:

Private Electronic Mail can be exchanged between users on your
system. The Electronic Mail section allows you to read, write,
and scan messages. Messages can be easily replied to, forwarded,
copied, saved for later viewing, and deleted. Users can even use
one command to quickly transfer all their new mail to their
system. Binary files can be attached to any E-Mail message. This
makes it easy for your users to exchange private files. Users
will find the built in editor easy to use.


Message Base:

Omega Point/2 allows you to create up to 100 message forums. Each
forum can be custom configured, allowing the SysOp (System
Operator) to define a set of default access rights, or assign
rights to individual users. Default access is based on the user's
access level. Individual users can be given 'read', 'write',
'view', and 'sysop' rights. This flexible system allows you to
group users and assign access in whatever way is appropriate for
your system. Remote network mail (echo mail) will be supported by
the first quarter of 1991. Message text can be uploaded using any
of the supported protocol transfers. Users will enjoy being able
to find what they need quickly with commands that allow them to
read new messages only, read forward, read reverse, and read
individual.


File Section:

This feature allows users to upload or download files to or from
your system. OP/2 supports the standard transfer protocols
Xmodem, Xmodem CRC, Xmodem-1k, Ymodem Batch, Ymodem-G, and
Zmodem. Batch uploads and downloads are both fully supported.
The library functions are comprehensive, allowing users to scan
or view files in several ways. Files may be viewed with long
descriptions, short descriptions and sorted either by name or
date in ascending or descending order. In addition, files may be
searched by keywords in the short descriptions and by using
standard DOS wildcard specifications. You can even use Omega
Point/2's flexible menu system to custom assign search or list
commands. Functions are included for viewing the contents of
standard ARC or ZIP files. Information stored for each file is
complete with a one line description, long description, file
date, contributor, accesses, and file size. Up to 100 file areas
can be active per system. Access functions are similar to those
for Message Bases, with individual flags for 'upload',
'download', and 'list'.


Live Teleconferencing:

The popularity of live 'telecon' is growing rapidly. It offers a
way for several users to communicate in a live forum. Omega
Point/2 teleconferencing can support up to the system limit of 48
users. The SysOp can specify the maximum number of conference
rooms. Individual's can also create 'private' rooms which may be
moderated and named by the owner. Private chat (where two users
can talk one-on-one), paging, and other features are also
provided.


General Features:

Support for up to 48 users is available. Versions for 2 (3 with
PS/2 machines), 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 users are also available so
you only pay for what you need.

OP/2 includes support for 100 access levels and 32 access keys.
In addition, each file library and message forum has its own
access system. Most menu options can be configured to require a
minimum user level or a certain access key.

Any user can be set up as a forum moderator, giving them SysOp
level rights for just a particular forum. The forum moderator can
perform maintenance on the file library, delete any message,
assign forum access to other users, rename or reconfigure the
forum, and in general perform all maintenance tasks.

Command linking is supported. For example, the user could type in
the command "E;R;;" at the main menu to start reading his
Electronic Mail from the first message. A user can create his own
macros. Also, macros can be assigned to menu keystrokes so you
can create your own specialized commands.

Output display can be paused or stopped by the user at any time.
Your users won't have to wait while long messages or menus are
displayed.

OP/2 offers several report generation features. You can generate
reports to disk files, to printer, for many different statistics
in several different formats. For example, you can easily output
your entire userlog to a file that can be read in by your
favorite spreadsheet. Using a spreadsheet program you may
generate custom reports or graphs for data such as upload to
download ratios or number of messages posted per user per logon.
Complete user lists or message logs can also be generated. These
functions allow you to stay well informed about how your system
is functioning and how your users are taking advantage of your
your service.

Virtually all modems are supported. Baud rates up to the OS/2
limit of 19,200 are supported. MNP and V.42bis error correcting
protocols are fully supported. You need not have similar modems
on each line. Each line can be specifically configured for
whatever type of modem you happen to be using.

Omega Point/2 is fast. Much of the development and virtually all
of the live testing was done on a simple 10 Mhz 286 based machine
running multiple lines. OP/2 is one of the fastest products in
its class, easily supporting connect rates of 9600 baud and
offering speedy user response.


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Omega Point/2 Expansion and Customization
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Omega Point/2 comes with many features and functions, but a BBS
is very personal entity and every one is unique. Recognizing
this, OP/2 was designed to allow you, the SysOp, to tailor,
customize, and expand your system to create the precise look and
feel you want.

OP/2 uses what we call Menu Configuration Files (MCF) to allow
you to specify the keystrokes or commands users enter to perform
certain actions. These files are simple to use or modify and a
standard set is, of course, included with the software. A sample
MCF line might look like this:

"W",FUN,10,UsersOnline

Each field in the line is separated by a comma, so reading from
left to right this line means "when the user enters the 'W'
command, execute an internal FUNction. Check to see if the user
has an access level of at least 10. If so, execute the function
'UsersOnline' (which displays a list of the users currently
logged into the system)". Any text editor (including the OS/2
system editor) can be used to modify these files.

In the example above, when the user enters "W", an internal BBS
function is executed. Many internal functions are included for
doing things like listing files in a library, paging users
online, changing menus, etc. In addition to
these built in operations you may also attach an external program
or a Dynamically Linked function to a menu option. Even if you
have no desire to write your own programs or functions, you may
want to take advantage of those written by others. Games are one
of the most popular uses for this feature. For example, from the
Game Menu you may want to call the external program 'ADVENT.EXE',
which is an Adventure type game modified to run with OP/2. The
MCF line to do this would look like this:

"ADVENT",PRO,99,ADVENT.EXE

This line is very similar to the previous example, except instead
of the 'FUN' command this line uses the 'PRO' command to call an
external program. In addition, there are flags to start new
sessions or even load and call an OS/2 Dynamic Link Library on
demand. Using Dynamic Link Libraries for some functions can
dramatically improve overall performance and functionality.
Programs written using the BBS API (described below) snap
seamlessly into the rest of the system. This family of features
is what makes Omega Point/2 shine over it's counterparts running
under operating systems such as MS-DOS. Your BBS continues to run
even as external programs are running in the background.

Although there are several programs already available that take
advantage of these features, you may wish to create your own.
OP/2 includes all the tools you need to do this in a package
called the BBS API (Application Programmer's Interface). This toolkit
consists of an import library for the I/O DLL, include files,
make files, and example code. Programs that use this API are easy
to write and can be integrated easily into the rest of your system.
This means, for example, that the SysOp can spy on a user in
another program or a user in an external program can be paged
from the regular system.

Although you will need an OS/2 'C' compiler to create these
programs, the OS/2 toolkit is not required. Some needs may not
call for an entire stand alone program. For these situations, you
can also create DLLs using the BBS API. These DLL functions can
be loaded on demand and kept in memory until they are no longer
needed. This allows you to make the best use of your RAM while
still providing outstanding performance. And, of course, you can
still take advantage of OS/2's rich programming environment. One
example program included with the system uses a named pipe driver
in a multiplayer mini-game. This technique can even be used to
allow for players on other machines in an OS/2 LAN.

Your needs may not require you to write your own expansion
programs. Nonetheless, since each package we sell includes the full
toolkit there will be many programs available that you may find
useful in your application.


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Omega Point/2 Availability
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If you would like to find out more, why not give our running
system a call? Our BBS phone number is [phone]. Connect
using 8 data bits, 1 stop, and no parity. The system is running
24 hours a day. Leave Electronic Mail to 'SYSOP' or post a message
in one of the public forums if you have any questions.

Omega Point/2 is in final beta testing now and will be available
in the 4th quarter of 1990. Step into the '90s with a BBS program
built on the advanced foundation of OS/2.

Omega Point/2 has the following system requirements: OS/2 1.1 or
later, at least 4 megabytes of RAM, and 2 megabytes of available
disk space.

You can also contact ExcelSoft electronically via:

CompuServe: 74766,1034
BIX: chrisb
MCI Mail: chrisb

Or via Snail Mail at:

ExcelSoft                                ExcelSoft
1100 Indian Trail Rd, #1725              24 High Point Road
Atlanta, GA  30093                       Lincroft, NJ  07738