BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/doors_1/ktshp231.zip/RENTAL.DOC

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 14KB | 310 lines

                  KTShopper v2.31 - RENTAL.DOC
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There seems to be alot of questions as to setting up KTShopper v2.3
and how the SO Utilities interfaces. I'll try to enlighten everyone
in the next few pages.

Don't confuse the two systems. They were designed to be shipped in
two separate packages. KTShopper v2.3 as one and KTShopperSO! as
another. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PLACED IN THE SAME DIRECTORY!

First I'll talk about the General aspects of how to set up the
system to accept 'Tenants'. From here on, when referring to
'Tenants', that would be the 'Other' person who will be renting
space (or shops) on your system. In addition, I'll refer to
KTShopper v2.30 as KTShopper and KTShopperSO! as simply SO!.


                      SETTING UP KTSHOPPER
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are several files which are required to make this
Owner-Tenant system work. They are temporary files which are
created for the Tenant each time he wishes to receive his New
Orders:

     OWNERC.dbf     is the file which contains this tenants New
                    Customers.

     OWNERC.ntx     is the Index file which is required for
                    processing the tenants New Customers.

     OWNERCX.ntx    is an additional Index which is used
                    internally by KTShopper to create the file.

     OWNERD.dbf     is the file which contains this tenants New
                    Order Detail records.

     OWNERO.dbf     is the file which contains this tenants New
                    Order Summary records.

 THESE FILES MUST RESIDE IN THE KTShopper DIRECTORY FOR THE
PROCESSING TO TAKE PLACE.

Each time a tenant requests his new orders, these files are cleared
of any past data and are updated with his information.

To activate this process, you would use the command [SYSOP OWNER].
The Tenant will then be required to enter his User Name and
Password. There are NO second chances here! If he gets it wrong,
too bad, he'll have to re-enter the door and try again. After he successfully enters his user information, he will be
presented with a window telling him how many new orders he has
pending. At this point, he will decide to continue or not. If for
instance, he only has one new order, maybe he'll choose to wait
until tomorrow. I've left this decision up to the Tenant.

Should he decide to continue, his new Orders (including Summary and
Detail), and New Customers, will be added to the files mentioned
above.

At this point, SYSOP would create a file on the disk called
OKTOSND.XXX. This file is nothing more than a flag used by the
controlling batch file saying 'Yes, send the new data' or 'No, I
don't want it'. In the sample batch file, I'm checking for the
existence of this file (OKTOSND.XXX). If it exists, the batch file
calls PKZip to create a file and sends it for downloading. If it
doesn't exist, then nothing happens and the Tenant is returned to
the BBS.

Now, we'll pick apart the controlling batch file:

 1> @Echo Off
 2> CD C:\Mega\Doors\KTS230
 3> DoorWay Sys /A:On /O:T /I:OwnBeg /Z:DLMsg /S:C:\Mega\Data
                /B:MBZ /V:D /P:Sysop.exe Owner
 4> If exist c:\mega\doors\oktosnd.xxx goto oktosend
 5> if not exist c:\mega\doors\oktosnd.xxx goto exit
 6> :OkToSend
 7> CD C:\Mega\Doors\KTS230
 8> Pkzip Owner.zip Owner*.*
 9> Dsz Port %1 ha cts sz -m Owner.zip
10> Del Owner.zip
11> GoTo Exit
12> :Exit

(1)  Self explanatory.

(2)  We must change to the directory which contains the KTShopper
     Files.

(3)  This is the DoorWay Command Line. If you need additional
     information about the DoorWay command line, please see the
     DoorWay Manual. Here is a brief explanation of the parameters
     we pass:

     DOORWAY   Invoke the DoorWay Program.
     SYS       This tells DoorWay to use DOOR.SYS. You could also
               put the COM port number here.
     /A:ON     Turns on the Alarm.
     /O:T      Turns off the Opening DoorWay Advertisement.     /I:OWNBEG This will display the file OWNBEG (Owner Beginning)
               screen before anything else happens. You are free
               to modify this file as you wish. Basically I'm
               telling the Tenant that he will be required to
               enter his name, password, and what compression and
               protocols I'm using.
     /Z:DLMSG  This will display the file DLMSG upon completion.
               You again can change to suit your needs. I choose
               to put this here instead of having the default
               message RETURNING TO HOST...
     /S:C:\MEGA\DATA     This tells DoorWay where to find the
                         DOOR.SYS file.
     /B:MBZ    This tells DoorWay how to handle line 25. Because
               most people use some sort of status bar displayed
               on their screen, this reroutes line 25 so it's not
               displayed on the remote computer.
     /V:D      This tells DoorWay that the program writes Directly
               to the Screen. This is probably the most important
               parameter as it won't display a thing to the remote
               system if it's not included.
     /P:SYSOP.EXE OWNER  This tells DoorWay the program we want to
                         run. In this case, we are running the
                         SYSOP program and are passing it the
                         parameter OWNER.

(4)  Here is where we're checking for the existence of that
     controlling file OKTOSND.XXX. If it exists then we'll continue
     with the archive and send, otherwise, we'll just return to the
     BBS.

(5)  Again, we're checking for the existence of the file
     OKTOSND.XXX. If it doesn't exist, we'll return to the BBS.

(6)  Label for the OKTOSND portion of the Batch File.

(7)  This will ensure we're still in the correct directory, which
     is still the KTShopper Directory.

(8)  You can use any type of compression program you want. I choose
     PKZip for this example because it seems to be the most
     popular. Basically you want to zip up all the files that begin
     with OWNER (OWNERC, OWNERD, & OWNERO as described earlier).
     You can also name the file any name you wish. I chose
     OWNER.ZIP for this example.

(9)  This line will actually 'Upload' to the remote computer the
     file OWNER.ZIP. I again choose DSZ because it's the most
     popular and it includes the Automatic Downloading feature with
     ZModem on the Remote End. The %1 parameter I'm passing to DSZ
     is the PORT number this user is logged on to. We use MEGAHOST
     BBS Software and these variables are created each time you run
     a DOOR. Most BBS Software has this ability but you'll have to
     refer to your BBS manual for more information. I've also found
     it easier to simply place DSZ.com in the KTShopper directory. (10) Here we are just deleting the file OWNER.ZIP to avoid any
     problems with the next customer.

(11) Simply telling the batch file that we're finished with that
     section, and to goto the :Exit label for return to the BBS.

(12) The Exit label.


OK, that's about it for setup as far as making it all work. Now
we'll discuss how to set up the data files for someone wishing to
'Rent' space from you.

Start up the SYSOP program and go to CUSTOMERS. You can [A]dd one
for testing here or use an existing customer name. [E]dit that
Customer and press Enter to get to the last field- called
OWNERCODE. This will be the Unique Identifier for this Tenants
files. Everything someone buys from this Tenant will have his
OwnerCode attached to it. Go ahead and enter something in the
OwnerCode field.

Exit from Customer and select SHOPS. Again, select an existing Shop
to experiment with and [E]dit. You will again notice the OWNERCODE
field and an additional OWNERFILE field. In the OwnerCode field,
enter the EXACT OwnerCode you entered in the Customer Record. Now
this shop and that User are attached. Everything a customer does
with that shop will be attached to that User or Tenant.

The OWNERFILE field is used to put the name of a .TXT file in. That
text file should contain an advertisement for that particular
store. This is an optional field however, and won't affect
operation of the system. For more information about the OwnerFile
field, see the KTSHOPER.DOC file.


                    SETTING UP KTSOWNER (SO!)
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, now you have KTShopper up and running, what about your Shop
Owner? That's where the SO! utilities come in. The SO! utilities is
simply a subset of SYSOP which comes with KTShopper. Your Tenants
have all the same capabilities as far as Edit/Delete/View/etc.,
Reports, Refresh, Text Editor, and so on. In addition to the
standard Sysop type functions, they have an added option called
'Append New Orders'.

After the Tenant has downloaded his new orders file (i.e.
OWNER.ZIP), he should unarchive it in the directory containing his
other KTShopperSO! files. At that point, he'll run KTSOWNER and
select the Append New Orders option which will read the OWNERC,
OWNERD, and OWNERO files and 'append' any new orders and customers
to his current data files. NOTE: The data files the Shop Owner uses
are the same as the KTShopper data files. That's why you should
never put these two programs in the same directory. That's pretty much it as far as the Tenant receiving his new
orders.

What about updating his product files? You and the Tenant must
coordinate for this to take place. I recommend he set up his shop
locally (his location) and then upload the data files to your BBS.
From there you can copy them to the appropriate directory.

Let's say he has a shop called BOBSTV (BOBSTV being the name in the
SHOP_FILE Field in Sysop). The files he must send you are
BOBSTV.dbf, BOBSTV.ntx, and BOBSTV.dbt. These three files are the
Database, the Index, and the Advertisements. Again, coordination
between you and your tenants is paramount (as explained in the
KTSOWNER.DOC file packaged with KTShopperSO!)


                           IN CLOSING
                           ~~~~~~~~~~

I'd like to thank Corey Blake from Las Vegas for making me realize
there were some loose ends in the documentation. Thanx Corey!

I'll be working on a Truly Stand-Alone Commercial Version of
KTShopper here in the coming weeks. It will be primarily for
businesses who wish to have ordering capabilities in multiple
locations similar to those little catalog booths you see at Sears,
JC Penny, etc. It will be designed with less emphasis on BBS
operations and more on Point-Of-Sale, Eye Catching 'Stuff'. It will
display .PCX files of the products as well as the store and product
advertisements. This does NOT mean however, that I will be
abandoning the BBS version! I will continue to update and change
KTShopper for BBS's but will simply be able to offer another type
of product.

Thank You All for your support! If you require assistance, please
try our BBS first as others could benefit from your questions. Our
BBS number is [phone] 1200-14000/24hrs. If you need
additional support or cannot get the help you need via our BBS,
please call [phone] between the hours of 9:00am and 7:00pm
Eastern Time.

Please keep the comments coming and Thank You Again For Your
Support!!!


                       REGISTRATION POLICY
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The unregistered demo version of KTShopper v2.31 will only maintain
one tenant. This should give you a good feel for how it all works.
The registered version of KTShopper v2.31 will maintain up to three
tenants. If you wish to purchase additional capabilities, the
prices can be found in the main KTShopper Documentation File. You may add additional tenant capabilities at any time by simply
calling Kelsey Technologies and placing your order for the desired
amount. Upon receipt of payment, we will mail your updated
SysOp.EXE file priority mail. If you just can't wait, we will mail
your package Next Day Air for an additional $8.00.

We will also create personalized KTShopperSO! programs for your BBS
or company which can contain any message up to 15 lines on the
opening screen. You are allowed to make as many copies of the
Customized KTShopperSO! package up to the amount of tenants you
currently have.

Again, you can find the order form on the last page of the
KTSHOPER.doc File.

                      THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
*** Modify this form for your use as you see fit. You should create
a similar type of form for a business or individual who wishes to
'Rent Space' from you:


                   *** SAMPLE TENANT ORDER FORM ***

        Kelsey Technologies
        P.O. Box 288
        St. Mary's, GA  31558

Please complete the following information so that we include your
store on our KTShopper On-Line Shopping Network.

Your Name:__________________________________________________

Company:____________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________

City, ST Zip:_______________________________________________

Telephone Number:___________________________________________

Your store name (i.e. Bob's TV, Bills Books, Dans Disks):

____________________________________________________________

Your Store Description (i.e. The Best Deals In TV's):

____________________________________________________________


Upon receipt of this form, we will issue you a Shop_File name and
an OwnerCode to be placed in your product files.

                      Thank You For Your Business!