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Text File | 1992-01-04 | 60KB | 1,585 lines

┌──────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌──────┐ └───┐ ┌───┘ └──┐ ┌──┘ ┌┘ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ └┐ │ ┌────┘ │ │ │ │ │ ┌┘ │ │ └┐ │ │ └──┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─┘ │ │ │ ┌──┘ │ │ ┌──┘ └──┐ │ │ │ │ │ └────┐ └──┘ └────────┘ └─┘ └─┘ └──────┘ ┌────┐ ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐ │ └──┐ ┌┘ └┐ ┌┘ └┐ │ ┌─┐ └┐ │ ┌──┐ │ │ ┌─┐ │ │ ┌─┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─┘ ┌┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───┐ └┐ │ └──┘ │ │ └─┘ │ │ └─┘ │ │ │ └┐ │ │ ┌─┘ └┐ ┌┘ └┐ ┌┘ │ │ │ │ └─────┘ └───────┘ └───────┘ └─┘ └─┘ + Byte Bank Time Door version 3.1 "The Ultimate Time Banking, Gambling and Transfer Door for Wildcat!" "Now with a Byte/Download banking!" Time Door is a Crown Jewel BBS production (C)1990,91 Bill Bolden Table of Contents ─────────────────── License Information.......................................... 3 Welcome to Time Door......................................... 4 Why Should I Register?.................................... 4 How to Register........................................... 4 Technical Support......................................... 4 Quick Look At Time Door................................... 4 Requirements to Run Time door................................ 5 Features of Time Door........................................ 5 How to setup Time Door....................................... 6 Tips for using BRUN45.EXE....................................6 Where can I get BRUN45.EXE...................................6 Configuring Wildcat!.........................................6 Environment Variables........................................7 Creating a batch file........................................7 How to use SETUP.EXE.......................... 8,9,10,11,12,13 General Settings...................................... 8,9,10 Time Gamble Settings................................... 10,11 Security Profiles...................................... 11,12 Maintenance............................................... 13 Print Registration........................................ 13 Convert from BTIME........................................ 13 3.0 Conversion............................................ 13 3.1 Conversion............................................ 13 Use of TDSYSOP Program................................ 14,15,16 Use of The Time Door User Editor...................... 14,15 User Overrides - What are they?.......................... 16 Sysop Commands Available in Time Door....................... 17 Use of DOS Hooks.............................................18 Use of LiveCat with Time Door................................18 Carrier Monitoring...........................................18 Use of BRK.SYS...............................................18 Features in Depth......................................19,20,21 Is Time Door Idiot Proof?................................ 19 More on Security Profiles and Overrides.................. 19 Time Prizes: What are they?........................... 19,20 How to use Time Door to Get Money........................ 20 Command Line Options..................................... 20 How Registration Works....................................20 Editing TIME.HLP......................................... 20 Operation of Door - User Perspective........................ 21 Files Used by or Included With Time Door.................... 22 Other Programs for Time Door.................................23 Poster.....................................................23 Acknowledgments............................................ 24 *2* License ───────── The user is granted a limited license to test this door for a reason- able period of time which I consider one month. This door will not expire and contains no crippling that would hinder its true evaluation. After this period, it is required that the door be registered as out- lined in the REGISTER.DOC included with the door. Time Door is not public domain. Limit of Liability ──────────────────── By the use of this product, the user agrees to all terms contained in this document. The user accepts all responsibility for its use and the author is in no way liable for any damage or loss of income caused by this product. Your rights may vary from state to state. Technical support provided by Bill Bolden, David Waldrop or any other representative of Crown Jewel BBS is also covered by this Limit of Liability. Warranty ────────── There is no warranty expressed or implied on the fitness of this product. If you register the door, it is assumed that you have found the door fit for your needs. Since this door is not crippled, there is no reason to believe that the registered version will work if the unregistered doesn't. Distribution ────────────── You are encouraged to distribute this file to other BBS's as long as no specific fee is charged for this door. Technical Support ─────────────────── Technical support is available through Crown Jewel BBS throughout the life of CJBBS. If for some reason, Crown Jewel BBS is taken down within one year of your registering, voice support will be offered if another support BBS can't be found. Crown Jewel BBS support can be revoked if the user doesn't abide by the general user requirements as outlined on Crown Jewel BBS. Crown Jewel BBS is a public board and you will have access to E-Mail on your first call. Access to updates may take 24 hours to verify. No ratios apply to anyone on Crown Jewel and sysops have higher access. Source Code Availability ────────────────────────── For security reasons, the source code for Time Door and its supporting programs is not available. If you are interested in writing a utility to interact with Time Door, please contact me for the necessary code to interact with the Time Door data files. *3* Welcome To Time Door! ─────────────────────── Welcome to Time Door. If this is your first try with this door, you may want to read this file completely before trying the door. Every attempt has been made to make the program easy to setup but there are still some things that can only be explained in a manual such as this. Why should I Register? ───────────────────────── Time Door is the result of 6 months of programming followed by a year and a half of fine tuning by sysop suggestions and Wildcat! changes. This door is a shareware product but the time banking and gambling portions are not crippled in any way. There are some differences between the "Registered" and "Unregistered" version but those differences were not designed to hinder your testing of this door in any way. I have always made these differences clear but I still get questions on whether or not some option does not work because the door is not registered. The following list contains the differences between the registered and unregistered versions. (1) The registered version comes with a Trivia Editor. (2) Users cannot add trivia questions in the unregistered version (you would need the Trivia Editor to add them ). (3) Time Prizes are not supported in the unregistered version. (4) All SETUP beg notices are removed when you register. (5) Users can't abort opening screen in unregistered version. (5) The Byte/Download BANK is only available in the REGISTERED version. (6) Registered Users are the only ones allowed to beta test Time Door. Please reread the license agreement which is the rules by which you test this door. If you are using the door after 30 days, please register it or discontinue its use. How To Register ───────────────── In the past, I have left this information out of the manual but I get too many questions asking for this information. To register the door, please read the REGISTER.DOC that should have been included with this program. However, the easiest way to register is to use the REGISTER option in the SETUP.EXE program. Both methods explain the pricing. In order to keep costs down, I do not accept any credit cards. Technical Support ─────────────────── If you need help setting up the door, you can contact the author by either calling Crown Jewel BBS at (813) 676-7549 or by calling Mustang's HQ BBS. I cannot guarantee an answer if you leave your question on Mustang's BBS however. Quick Look At Time Door ───────────────────────── If you are like me, you like to be able to look at a door immediately after you unzip it. Time Door doesn't use complicated command lines to run. To get a quick LOCAL look at Time Door, just unzip the files to a directory and then type TIMEDOOR. That's all there is to it. *4* Requirements to Run Time Door ─────────────────────────────── In order to run Time Door, you will need the following things on your system. Wildcat! 3.0 or greater - This version of Time Door does not support previous versions of Wildcat! BRUN45.EXE - This is the runtime module necessary to run all .EXE's bundled with this program. The file must either be in the directory containing Time Door or it must be in a directory that is in your DOS path. COM1 - COM4 - Using IRQ 1-9 on standard base addresses. Features of Time Door ─────────────────────── The following is the list of some of the features of Time Door. o Complete sysop control over users' Maximum Time Bank Balance and Maximum Daily Withdrawal. You WON'T find more sysop control anywhere else. o Gambling area with three games where YOU set the odds. Do you want this door to be tough, easy or somewhere in between? Well, that's your option. o Transfer section where users can transfer time to each other. o Sysop controls that allow you to close the door during certain times of the day or require an upload/download ratio. o Two sysop programs that allow you to modify the user database and configuration. You won't find any ASCII configuration files with Time Door! o Remote user editing capabilities through the sysop menu. o User Overrides that allow you to override the configuration on a user by user basis. This option is great for rewarding your better users or punishing those users that cause you trouble. o Full support of COM1 - COM4 using IRQ 1-9. Support for high speed modems is offered for baud rates up to 112,000. o Multinode Support. Time Door is programed to work in a multinode environment. o Users can log off from inside of Time Door. This allows your users to get in and out more quickly. o Full support for HOT KEYS and SPACE BAR ABORTS. Nothing is more frustrating than having to watch endless screens in a door. You will not have that problem with Time Door. o Complete Byte and Download banking available in the registered version. *5* How to setup Time Door ──────────────────────── Step 1: "UnZIP" Timedoor into the directory you want to keep Time Door. In order to avoid confusion, Time Door should be kept in its own directory. It is not necessary to keep Time Door in your node home directory. Step 2: Make Sure a copy of BRUN45.EXE is available. Tips for using BRUN45.EXE ─────────────────────────── The use of BRUN45.EXE is one of the most confusing things to setting up a door to new sysops. The BRUN45.EXE file contains common information used by all the executable files used by Time Door. Without this file, the programs will not load. You can run this door or any door that requires this file by putting a copy of BRUN45.EXE in the same directory as the door. However, to save space on your hard drive its best to put a copy of BRUN45.EXE in a directory that is contained in your DOS path. This way, all doors and utilities can find the runtime module. By compiling the programs in such a way that requires this BRUN45.EXE, you save significant download time not to mention disk space. Where can I get BRUN45.EXE? ───────────────────────────── If you need a copy of BRUN45.EXE, you can call Crown Jewel BBS at (813) 676-7549 and download BRUN45.ZIP. Step 3: Configuring Wildcat! Before you can run ANY door with Wildcat!, you must tell Wildcat! that the door exists. To do this, first load MakeWild.EXE. On the "General Info #1" screen, option 8 is the number of doors. Set this option to the number of doors you wish to set up. In this example, we will assume you will only have ONE door and that door will be Time Door. Adding more doors is easy once you figure out your first. After setting your number of doors in GENERAL INFO #1 to 1 (more if this is not your first door), you need to edit the access to the door on the Door Definition Screen. Once you are on the DOOR DEFINITION screen, arrow down to door number ONE. Once you are there, press F2 (function key #2). At this point, you will see a list of your security profiles. Select those security profiles that you wish to have access to Time Door. Once you have done that set the MULTIUSER flag next to "Y" as Time Door will work with multiple users. Wildcat! is now configured and will recognize the door batch file so you can leave MakeWild. In the case of a multinode system or in a system that uses COM3 or COM4, you must have the proper environment variables set. Please read the following section if this applies to you. *6* Environment Variables ────────────────────── Time Door uses two DOS environment variables. The first is the node number set with SET WCNODEID=## where ## is the node number. You do not need to set this variable if you are running a single line system. If you are using a nonstandard interrupt for your communications port, you will also need to use the SET WCIRQID=## where ## is the IRQ of your port. This variable MUST be set if you are using a nonstandard IRQ for COM 3 or COM 4. Step 4: Creating a batch file. Before you start Time Door, you will need to create a batch file that will load the door. You should only have to create ONE batch file even if you are using Time Door on a multinode system. Basically there will be two types of batch files. Assuming that Time Door will be your Door number one, you would name your batch file DOOR1.BAT and place it in your Node Home Directory (The directory containing WILDCAT.EXE). If you use the shell option for doors, your DOOR1.BAT would look like... CD\DOOR\TIMEDOOR <==== Change to the directory containing Time Door. This can be any directory you wish. TIMEDOOR REMOTE <==== The REMOTE command line option tells Time Door to read the DOOR.SYS and USERINFO.DAT. For a complete list of command line options, please see "Features in Depth." If you terminate Wildcat! before you load your doors, then you will need to add an extra line that will reload the Wildcat! program. If you use more than one node home directory, you can't use the REMOTE command line. Time Door offers another command line that allows you to specify which node home directory to use. For example: TIMEDOOR C:\WC30\ This would tell Time Door that you want to use C:\WC30 as your node home directory. This command line overrides the node home directory set in SETUP.EXE. It must include the last "\" to work properly. Step 5: Load the SETUP.EXE program and set all the options to your taste. A section of this file is dedicated to the explanation of the SETUP.EXE program. It is important that you read that section to get an idea how to setup Time Door most effectively. *7* How to Use SETUP.EXE ────────────────────── First of all the SETUP program requires BRUN45.EXE. This is the same BRUN45.EXE that is necessary to run Time Door. Mouse support is offered throughout the SETUP program if you happen to have a mouse connected to your computer. When you load Time Door, you will be shown a menu with the following options: General Settings Time Gamble Settings Security Definition Print Registration Form Run Maintenance /M Convert From BTIME 3.0 Conversion 3.1 Conversion Quit Program General Settings ────────────────── General Settings are those settings that control the major functions of Time Door. Every field on this screen should be checked carefully to be sure everything matches your system. When you pick General Settings you will be asked to fill in the following fields (Note: Most of the help listed in this DOC file will be displayed as you go from field to field): - BBS - Enter the name of your BBS. - Sysop's Name - This allows you to enter the door more quickly when you load Time Door locally. Its not used anywhere else in the program. - Local Security Level - This is the security level that will be given to ANY user who loads Time Door locally. This would normally be the security level given to sysops. - Allow [G]oodbye - This option allows you to turn off the [G]oodbye function inside Time Door. If you don't want users to be able to log off from inside the door, toggle this option to "NO." - Screen Writing Toggle - You can set the default method Time Door uses to choose whether or not it should write to the local screen when a remote user is using Time Door. ALWAYS ON will mean that Time Door will write to the local screen no matter what. ALWAYS OFF will turn off screen writing on the local screen even if Wildcat!'s screen writing is turned on. READ WILDCAT! is the preferred setting and will mean that Time Door will use screen writing when Wildcat! has local screen writing turned on and Time Door will not write to the local screen when Wildcat!'s screen writing is turned off. [F6] toggles screen writing when a user is online. *8* - Usage Log Toggle - Time Door can log its activity in one of two ways. The first way is to a file called TIMEDOOR.LOG. This file is kept in the directory with Time Door and will be used by all nodes in a multinode system. The second way Time Door can log its activity is to your ACTIVITY.XXX (where XXX is the node number). Time Door's remarks should not interfere with log scanners. If you do not wish to have your user's activity logged, then a NONE option is provided. When NONE is chosen, no log of activity is kept. - Modem Handshake Toggle - If you are using a plain 2400 baud modem, you can toggle this option to NONE and skip reading the rest of this. If you are using a high speed modem or locking your COM port at a high baud rate, you may need to use some sort of "handshaking." Time Door offers three types which are CTS/RTS, XON/XOFF or a combination of the two. Please see your modem manual and your Wildcat! settings to help decide which handshaking you need to use. IF YOU LOCK YOUR COM PORT, ITS IMPORTANT TO USE SOME SORT OF HANDSHAKING. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN THE TIME DOOR ANSI SCREENS BEING MESSED UP AND IN SOME CASES UNREADABLE. - Time Left Toggle - When a user logs on to the system, they have a certain amount of time left for the call and a certain amount of time left for the day. This toggle will allow you to give your users access to their time left for the day when they enter Time Door. The problem with this occurs when you have set Wildcat! to limit a caller's per call time. For example, if you give your users 120 minutes PER DAY and 60 minutes PER CALL, the user could go into Time Door and get their whole 120 minutes and leave with it. If you set the toggle to the CALL option, the user will only be able to deposit and play with the 60 minutes they are given for the call. In most cases this is the best option. However, when HARD EVENTS approach, your users will have lower times to compensate for the event. So to sum it up, the DAY option only gives the user access to their time left for the DAY and the CALL option only gives the user access to their time left for the call. If you have HARD EVENTS, you will need to choose between the two. If you do not use HARD EVENTS, then the CALL option is best for you. - Upload to Download Ratio - Time Door will allow you to require a certain upload to download ratio before a user can enter the door. This ratio is enforced by turning it on either in the security profiles section or by using a user override. This field sets the number of files a person can download per upload. Please see either the Security Profiles or User Override sections to learn how to turn this ratio on. When a user enters with an inappropriate download ratio, they will be told in a user friendly way how many files they need to upload before they are allowed to use the door. - Delete Users after [ ] Days of Inactivity - Using the setup's Maintenance option you can delete users who have not used the door for the number of days you set in this field. Please see the section on Maintenance to learn more about this Time Door option. *9* - Door Sponsor - If you wish to solicit funds from your users to help register this door, you can award the user(s) who give you the registration fee for this program by putting their name in the opening screen. When you put a name in this field, it will show up on the main screen along with the BBS name. If you are not a registered user then this field will be ignored. - Node Home Directory - As stated earlier, your node home directory is your main Wildcat! directory where you keep the WILDCAT.EXE and your activity log(s). Enter your node home directory here. The ending "\" is important. - Bulletin Name - In this field, enter the name (including the directory) that you want to call the statistics bulletin created by Time Door when a user exits the door. The file name should end with .BBS as the bulletin uses the "@" color codes so no .SCR file is created. If you don't want a bulletin created, enter "NONE" in this field. Setup Program: Time Gamble Settings ───────────────────────────────────── As the sysop, you have a great deal of control over how much time a user can win in this door. This door keeps statistics on how well each game "pays out." By checking these statistics, you can make sure that the Time Gamble section is not too easy or too hard. When you select the "Time Gamble Settings" part of the setup program, you will be asked to fill in the following fields: - Sysop's Raffle Take - The Sysop's Time Raffle take is the percentage of every minute gambled that can't be won. For example, if you set the raffle take to 30% and a user gambles 10 minutes only 70% or 7 minutes will be added to the grand prize pot. The other 30%, the Sysop's Time Raffle take, is just lost. If your users are winning too much in the Time Raffle section, set this higher. - Beginning Pot - The beginning pot, is the amount of time that will be used to start the Time Raffle pot whenever a user wins the pot. This time must be enough to entice your users to play in the beginning. After that, the increasing pot will entice users to play. NOTE: The sysop's raffle take will be taken from the beginning pot. - Number of Trivia Questions Allowed Per Day - This is the maximum number of Trivia Challenge questions a user can attempt in one day. If this field is set to zero, the user will be told that the trivia section is closed. - Largest Bet for a Single Trivia Question - A user has to bet at least 5 minutes when they play the trivia challenge portion of Time Door. This field sets the maximum amount of time that the user can bet on a single question. - Scratch N Win Odds - There are three odds for the Scratch-N-Win section: EASY, MEDIUM and HARD. Easy odds will return approximately 100% of the time gambled. The MEDIUM odds will return approximately 80% of the time gambled while the HARD odds will return approximately 60% of the time gambled. *10* - Birthday Gift - This field specifies the amount of time the user will be given on their birthday. Upon entry of Time Door, the user will receive a notice wishing them a Happy Birthday and informing them of their extra time. This field is a nice way to show your users that you care. If this field is blank or set to 0, it will be ignored. $$Registered Version Only$$ SETUP MENU: Security Profiles ──────────────────────────────── One of the most powerful functions of Time Door is the Security Profiles section. This section will explain how to use the security profiles in a way that best fits your system needs. - What are security profiles? - Security profiles are a security level controlled system that allows you to control 13 major functions on a security level basis (meaning you can have a different setting for each security level). The functions controlled by the security profiles (and their descriptions) are listed below: - Maximum Bank Balance - This is the maximum amount of time that a user can keep in their Time Bank account. - Maximum Daily Withdrawal - This is the maximum amount of time that a user can withdraw from their Time Bank account in a single day. This keeps your users from tying up your system for hours if you set the Maximum Bank Balance to a high number. - Access Bank Menu, Access Gambling Menu, & Access Transfer Menu - These toggles control the users ability to access the three main menus. If the toggle is set to "NO" the user will not be able to access that particular menu. - Access SysOp menu - This toggles the user's ability to access the SysOp menu. Special care should be used to make sure that regular users are not given access to the SysOp menu. - Cross Security Transfers - Generally, you don't want users of different security levels transferring time back and forth to each other ESPECIALLY if you give access to Time Door on your users' first call. If you allow users to transfer time on their first call, the temptation to log in under a fake name and transfer time to their real name will be great. This option allows you to turn on Cross Security Transfers to those users you trust. - Apply Download Ratio - This toggle determines whether or not users matching the security profile, will have to maintain the upload/download ratio you set in the "General Settings" section. *11* - Access Byte Bank - This setting determines if the users of the profile should have access to the byte/download bank. - Maximum Download Balance - This is the maximum number of downloads that the user can store in his or her bank. - Maximum Kilobyte Balance - This is the maximum number of kilobytes that the user can store in his or her bank. - Maximum Daily Download Withdrawal - This is the maximum number of downloads the user can withdraw in a single day. - Maximum Daily Kilobyte Withdrawal - This is the maximum number of kilobytes the user can withdraw in a single day. - How to Edit and Add security Profiles - When you select the "Security Definition" option on the main menu you will be shown another menu with the security profile options. When you select "Add a Security Definition" you will be given a screen full of fields that need to be filled. The first field, is the security profile name that MUST match exactly the security profile name set in Wildcat!. The other fields are described above. When you are done, press ESC and you will be asked if you want to save the profile. Editing your Time Door profiles is done easily with the "Edit Security Definitions" option. When you select that option, a window will pop up with a list of your security definitions. Use the arrow keys to highlight the security profile you want to edit and press ENTER. - The Importance of the DEFAULT Security Profile - The default security definition is the profile given to any user whose security level is not found in the list. You MUST set the options of the default security level and it must remain on your list. The default security level is important for two reasons. The first reason is that it can save time if you have a lot of security profiles. If you do have many Wildcat! security profiles, then use the DEFAULT settings to apply to the majority of your users. Then just set up Time Door profiles that are EXCEPTIONS to the default settings. The second reason to use the DEFAULT settings is that you may forget to add a profile to Time Door after you add one to Wildcat!. - Other Profile Editing Options - There are two other security definition editing options. The first allows you to copy a profile. When you select this option, you will be first asked which profile you want to copy from and then which profile you want to copy to. Pressing ESCAPE at either one of these windows will abort the copy. Once you select the profile you want to copy to, you will be placed in the editing portion in case you have any changes you wish to make. Note: The copy process occurs once you select the second profile. Pressing ESCAPE and answering NO to the save option on the edit screen will have no effect when copying profiles. *12* Run Maintenance /M ───────────────────── In the "General Settings" portion of the setup program you can set the maximum number of days a user can stay out of Time Door before they are deleted for inactivity. To delete these inactive users, you need to use the Run Maintenance option which will do the deletion. The maintenance will also compress the database if you have deleted any users. If you wish to run maintenance in your nightly events, they you can load SETUP.EXE from the command line using the /M command line like: SETUP /M Print Registration Form ───────────────────────── If you wish to register Time Door, then you can either fill out the REGISTER.DOC file included with Time Door or you can use this option to print out a ready to mail form for you. When you select this option, you will be asked to fill in several fields. Explanations of each field will be placed at the bottom of the screen. Convert From BTIME ─────────────────── If you are converting from BTIME or Dimension 2000's Time Bank, you can use this option to keep all your Time Bank balances. To convert your data files, copy your ACCOUNTS.DAT file from your old Time Bank directory to your Time Door directory. Then select the CONVERT DATA FILES option which will do the conversion. Its quick and easy and will keep your users happy! 3.0 Conversion ──────────────── To convert from the 2.X versions of Time Door, you need to convert your TIME.DAT to work with Time Door 3.0. Choose this option and follow the instructions to perform the conversion. More information can be found in the UPGRADE.TXT file. 3.1 Conversion ──────────────── Version 3.1 has some minor database changes that must be made for Time Door to work properly. The 3.1 conversion should be run before Time Door 3.1 is run for the first time. * End of SETUP.EXE Information * After you have made all necessary changes in SETUP then you are ready to run Time Door. *13* Use of the TDSYSOP.EXE Program ──────────────────────────────── Another important sysop tool included with Time Door is TDSYSOP.EXE. This file can be accessed by either typing TDSYSOP from the DOS prompt or by selecting [S] from the main menu of Time Door. The latter method has the advantage of giving you access to the sysop menu remotely if necessary. When you load the SysOp menu, you will be given the following list of functions: List Users in Door User Editor Edit TDMASTER.DAT Add a User to Database Statistics on Door Quit Sysop Menu - List Users in Door - This option will list users in the door in five ways. The first is to list all users in the order that they appear in the data files. The second is to list users that have used Time Door today. The third listing method is to list users in debt. Users get in debt when they run out of time and don't have time in the bank. The fourth option allows you to list users with any overrides and the fifth lists users who have current time prizes (registered version). -User Editor- This option allows you to edit your user's Time Door records. Use of the Time Door User Editor ────────────────────────────────── You are given several choices when you pick the user editor. This section will explain each of the choices in detail: - Name - This option allows you to change the name of the user as it appears in Time Door's records. You may wonder why you would want to do this. Well, if you change a user's name in Wildcat! and that user wants to have their Time Bank account, you must also change their name in Time Door or Time Door will not recognize the person and assume they are new. - Balance - This is the user's Time Bank balance. You can change this to whatever you want and you are not limited by the user's maximum balance. - Sec. Level - This is the user's security level. You can't change this field as it is updated when a user enters the door. If a user's security level changes, Time Door will change the user's record. - Trivia Pointer - This is the # of the trivia question that the user will see next. If the trivia pointer is 9999, then the user will be assigned a random question on the next call. *14* - Trivia Questions Attempted - This is the number of trivia questions the user has attempted today or the last time they used Time Door. This field is necessary to make sure that the user does not exceed the maximum number of trivia questions as defined in the "Time Gamble Settings." - Withdrawal Left - This is how much time the user has withdrawn from their Time Bank account today or the last time they used Time Door. This field is necessary to make sure that the user does not exceed their maximum daily withdrawal. - Last Time Used Time Door - This is the date that the user last used Time Door. This field is very important as when a user enters Time Door, this field is checked. If the date here is not the same date as the system date, then the user's "Trivia questions attempted" and "Withdrawal Left" are reset to zero and this field is set to the current date. - Byte Bank Download Balance - This is the number of downloads that the user has stored in the byte bank. - Byte Bank Kilobyte Balance - This is the number of kilobytes that the user has stored in the byte bank. - Give a One Time Prize - This will give the user a prize of the number of minutes you specify on their next use of Time Door. This feature is explained in "Features in Depth" and is only available to registered users of Time Door. - Give a daily prize over a time period - This option will give the user a prize for the number of minutes you specify every day on their first entry of Time Door for the number of days you enter. This feature is also explained in "Features in Depth" and is only available to registered users of Time Door. - Prize List/Delete Prizes - This option will list all prizes that are listed for the user. It will also prompt you for a prize number to delete. You don't have to delete a prize if you use this option. - Delete User - This will delete the user from the database. Note: Maintenance must be run after deleting a user if you want to free up the disk space that was used by the user's record. - User Overrides - This option allows you to edit the overrides for the user. *15* User Overrides - What are they? ───────────────────────────────── User Overrides are like a security profile that are done on a user by user basis. They can be found on the user editor screen by pressing "O". The same settings that can be set in a security profile can be set with overrides. Once again, those features that can be set with a user override are: Bank Menu Access Trivia Menu Access Transfer Menu Access Sysop Menu Access File Ratio Override Cross Security Transfer Bank Balance Maximum Daily Maximum Withdrawal Byte/Download Menu Access Use the override features to help those users who need extra time in an emergency or to punish those users who may be abusing Time Door. - Edit TDMASTER.DAT - Your TDMASTER.DAT file is where all your statistics are stored. You can edit this file with the "Edit TDMASTER.DAT" option. The settings explain themselves so if you feel it necessary to change your door statistics, use this option. - Add a User to Database - If you find it necessary to add a user to Time Door's database, use this option. This becomes important when you want to give a time prize to someone who hasn't used Time Door yet. - Clear User Overrides - This option will clear all overrides set in the user editor. This option cannot be stopped once its started and should only be used if you KNOW you want to clear every single user override. - Statistics on Door Use - This option will display a screen of statistics on your data files. This option is important because it will show you which gambling games are the most popular and which games are returning more than the users are gambling. *16* Sysop Commands Available in Time Door ─────────────────────────────────────── Many Wildcat! doors use the same SysOp commands. Here are a list of Time Door sysop commands. [F10] Return to Wildcat!: This will give you a list of ways to return users to Wildcat!. After pressing F10, you will be given a list of things to tell the user before returning them to Wildcat!. Simply put, this will allow you to lie to the user if you wish instead of informing him that you want him to go to Wildcat! All the choices are self explanatory and serve the same purpose. [2] and [8] (NUMBER PAD ONLY): These two will lower(2) or raise(8) the users time left on the system. Unlike other doors, this time change will be permanent and be passed back to Wildcat!. [F2] User Stats: Will show the stats of the user on-line in the door. This WILL NOT interfere with operation of the door. The user will not know that you are viewing their statistics. All statistics will be drawn over the command line at the bottom and will remain until you press [F2] again. At times like during [H]elp, the F2 option will be turned off. If the statistics don't pop up at the bottom, wait and the statistics will be shown at the next possible moment. [F6] Screen Writing Toggle: Use to toggle screen writing. [F7] Chat: Will put you in simple chat mode with the user on-line. ** Chat, Statistics, and DROP to DOS are not available in the SysOp menu. *17* Use of DOS Hooks ─────────────────── If you decide to run Time Door as a hook from one of your menus, then you need to simply create the batch file appropriate for that menu. This method of loading Time Door is perfect as Time Door is more like a utility than an ordinary door. See your Wildcat! manual for more information on DOS hooks. Use of LiveCat with Time Door ─────────────────────────────── I realize the popularity of the LiveCat program with many Wildcat! sysops but due to the way LiveCat operates, Time Door will not run though LiveCat. This is due to the fact that LiveCat temporarily adjusts the users time to account for restrictions that LiveCat offers. Time Door needs a CURRENT correct time that can be immediately given to Wildcat!. This means Wildcat! must load Time Door and Wildcat! must reload immediately after the user exits Time Door. If you run LiveCat and wish to run Time Door also, simply set Time Door up as a separate door or better yet, use one of the many DOS hooks offered in Wildcat!. In order that you can maintain some control over Time Door without using LiveCat, I have added a files ratio and the ability to close the door during certain times of the day. Once again, there is absolutely no way to get Time Door to work as a LiveCat door. Carrier Monitoring ──────────────────── If a user drops carrier, the door will immediately go into local mode and head for the exit. This will assure that the user's time is changed in Wildcat! even though the user has hung up. Use of carrier monitors like Watchdog will defeat the error handling of the door and shouldn't be used. In effect, they would cause the computer to reboot thus never giving Time Door a chance to tell Wildcat! that the user's time left has been changed. Believe me, users will pick up on this very quickly and hang up if they lose time or make a deposit to cheat your system if you use Watchdog. Use of BRK.SYS ──────────────── Time Door will ignore any CTRL-C received through the modem so use of drivers like BRK.SYS are not necessary. You may be able to break out of the door locally, but doing so remotely is impossible. Redirecting commands like CTTY COM1 should not be used in your door batch file for any reason whatsoever. *18* Features in Depth ─────────────────── This section will explain some of the functions of Time Door that may not be easy to understand or need some extra explanation to use them in the best way possible. - Is Time Door Idiot Proof? - When I program, I use an approach that assumes that both the person setting up the program and user who uses it will do everything that they are not supposed to do. This also means that I have written the program with the understanding that some users may do things to try to trick the door out of time. Consequently, the Time Door has several security measures that prevent things like this from happening. Now I did apply this "Idiot Proof" technique to the sysop's end also. This file goes into great detail on how to use the setup program but even without reading this file, the setup program pretty much explains itself through help windows. This file explains user overrides and Security Profiles when you could get by just using the Default Profile and forgetting about the rest. Finally, this file explains the use of the TDSYSOP program when there is nothing in that program that HAS to be run to keep the door going. The door is powerful but that power is not at the expense of ease of use. - More on Security Profiles and User Overrides - Basically, Security Profiles and User Overrides are the same thing with the exception that security profiles apply to every user of a certain security level and User Overrides just apply to a single user. To better understand the way these things work, here is what Time Door does when a user comes into the door: 1) Time Door checks and finds the user's Wildcat! security level name. 2) Time Door then checks its lists of profiles to see if any of the profiles match the user's. If it doesn't find a match, the DEFAULT profile is given to the user. 3) It then checks to see if any user overrides are in place. If the door finds any overrides, those limits are used instead of the profile limits. So security profiles are exceptions to the DEFAULT security profile and User Overrides are exceptions to the security profile. - Time Prizes: What are they? - Time Prizes are a way to reward your users for anything you wish. If you have a BBS contest such as a trivia contest or "Top Uploader of the Month", you can use a Time Prize to reward the user who wins. This is a great prize mainly because its FREE! When you give a prize to a user, the prize is displayed to the user when they go into the door. There are two type of prizes you can give. The first is a "One Time Prize" which is given to the user upon their next entry of the door. If you wish to add your own special message when the user gets the prize, create a file called PRIZE??.BBS where ?? is the amount of the prize. For example, if you give a prize of 60 minutes, create a file called PRIZE60.BBS in your Time Door directory and that file will be displayed to the user when they are given the 60 minute prize. If no file is present, a default message will be sent. Color codes of any kind are not allowed. Poster, the message posting contest companion to Time Door, can use Time prizes to reward your users also. *19* The second type of prize is a "Daily Prize Over a Time Period." This prize allows you to give a user a prize everyday for the number of days you specify. For example, you can give a prize of 30 minutes every day for 30 days. Like the "One Time Prize", you can use a display file with this prize also in the form DAILY??.BBS where ?? is the amount of the prize. In the above example, the file would be DAILY30.BBS. The unregistered version of Time Door will allow you to enter Time Prizes but the user will not receive the prizes unless your version is registered. - How to Use Time Door to Get Money - Time Door's many configuration options allow you to set up more restrictive profiles for unpaid users and give higher access to security levels that belong to users that have supported your system. This is perfect for encouraging BBS support. - Command Line Options - A command line option is a setting passed to Time Door by placing the command after the DOS filename with you load the program. Currently there are four (4) different ways to load the program. TIMEDOOR <=== If no command line is given, the door will load in local mode. TIMEDOOR LOCAL <=== This command line option load the door locally and is the same as above. TIMEDOOR REMOTE <=== This command line option tells Time Door to read the USERINFO.DAT and DOOR.SYS. TIMEDOOR C:\HOME\ <= This option allows you to override the node home directory setting in the setup program and will load the USERINFO.DAT and DOOR.SYS also. This is only necessary if you use more than one node home directory on a multinode system. - How Registration Works - When you register Time Door, you will either download or be mailed a file called TIMEDOOR.ID. This file, when placed in your Time Door directory, will turn the distributed unregistered versions to registered versions. This means you don't have to download future updates from Crown Jewel BBS. - Editing the TIME.HLP File - In the course of operating the door, you may want to edit the help instructions that the users sees. If you wish to do this, you can load the file in your favorite ASCII editor and add or delete whatever you want. There are several markers in the file that tell the door where to start reading each help section. These markers are separated by "*"'s and should not be edited in any way. *20* Operation of the Door - User Perspective ────────────────────────────────────────── This section is devoted to things that you should know about the door. I won't cover operation of the door itself as that information is contained on the help options. - Loans - If a user loses all their time or deposits all their time into the bank, Time Door will "give" them 2 minutes to log off. If the user doesn't have any time in the bank to take, the door will make a loan to the user. This loan will be denoted by a -2 balance. If a user is given a loan, they will have that loan taken from them the next time they enter the door. - Gambling Odds - I created Time Door with the feeling that the gambling portion shouldn't be too easy. Keep track of the won/lost totals and you will be able to keep the games as hard as is necessary to keep the door from giving away too much time. When I say XX% return, I mean that for every minute gambled approximately XX% of that minute will be returned. PLEASE READ!!!! About once a month, I get reports telling me that the odds are too easy and users are winning too much time. This is not my fault!!! You are the one that sets the odds and the rules in the gambling area. SETUP.EXE is your friend and you should get to know it well if you want to keep Time Door behaving nicely. - Quick Deposits and Withdrawals - To make a deposit or withdrawal from any menu, all a user needs to do is select D (deposit) or W (Withdrawal) and they will be instantly taken to the correct area. After the deposit or withdrawal, the user will be returned to the Time Bank menu. *21* Files Used by or Included with Time Door ────────────────────────────────────────── TIMEDOOR.EXE - Main executable program for Time Door. Command line options available are REMOTE for use through Wildcat! and LOCAL for local usage. TDSYSOP.EXE - Sysop menu options for Time Door. This program can be run locally by just typing TDSYSOP. Note: if you experience out of memory errors when trying to run the setup menu though Time Door, you will need to run TDSYSOP in local mode only. SETUP.EXE - The program used to set all Time Door configuration. To run the maintenance portion, type SETUP /M. TDEDIT.EXE - Program to view, edit, or print trivia questions. Registered Users Only. TIME.DAT - The data file holding all user data. TIME.PRZ - The data file holding all Time Prizes. TIME.PRF - The data file holding all Security Profile Information. TRIVIA.DAT - The data file holding all trivia questions and the statistics on how many times a question was missed or guessed correctly. TIMEDOOR.CFG - The data file holding your general and gamble settings. TIME.PRF - The data file holding your user profile configurations. TIME.HLP - The help file for Time Door. PRIZEXX.BBS - The file displayed to any user who is given a time prize of the amount XX. DAILYXX.BBS - The file displayed to any user who wins a daily prize of the amount XX. SYSOP.DOC - This file. UPGRADE.TXT - The file containing upgrade information. Read this file before attempting to use any new version of Time Door. TIMEDOOR.HIS - The file containing information about each release of Time Door. Look at this file to see what has changed from previous versions. USERS.LST - The list of registered users of Time Door. *22* Other Programs available for Time Door ────────────────────────────────────── Poster - Poster is another program written by Bill Bolden that interacts with Time Door to encourage your users to post messages. Poster keeps monthly totals of messages posted and at the end of the month it awards Time Prizes to your top posters. Poster also creates 3 different bulletins designed to motivate your users to post. Look for POSTERXX.ZIP (where XX is the version number) on the BBS where you downloaded Time Door. Once you start using Poster, you will wonder how you got along without it! *23* Acknowledgments ───────────────── My thanks go to the following people for their assistance with this door... David Waldrop - The other Sysop on Crown Jewel BBS. David helped with this door in more ways than can be listed. Time Door would not have existed without his assistance. Steve LaLonde - Sysop of the Polk County IBM/PC User Group - BBS (813)967-0936 Steve during his beta testing made me look at the door from different perspectives which has led to many improvements. James Bolden - The one paying to educate the author of this program. Thanks Dad! Rick Emmick - Sysop of the Learning Experience BBS (818) 913-6843 who reported the most troubles with version 1.0. Tim Wells - Sysop of The Old Rugged Cross BBS (404) 695-7724. Tim is the first person to register Time Door. Thanks Tim!!! Phill Terry - SysOp of Ginger's Port Limited (614) 794-3143 Michael Callaghan - SysOp of Hottips BBS, Glendale (818) 248-3088 Phill and Michael are the sole reason that I am not releasing Time Door version 2.99. Their ability to find bugs in the early beta versions of 2.0 allowed me to release a relatively bug free program. Robert Cole for the constant word of mouth that he has put out about this door. He has made my day more than once. If there is someone I am forgetting to thank, I apologize. Many people have been helpful in making this door a success and I thank you all! Finally, special thanks go to Jeff Sumberg for his excellent QBSERIAL routines. How to contact the Author ...Bill Bolden may be reached at one of the following... Crown Jewel BBS (813) 676-7549 Mustang HQ BBS ...David Waldrop may be reached at... Crown Jewel BBS Page any time day or night (Grin) Compuserve 72007,304 Note: David is in charge of registration distribution. Time Door is (C)1990,91 Bill Bolden Wildcat! is (C) Mustang Software Live Cat is (C) Steve Cox Quick Basic is (C) Microsoft Corp. For more information on the communications routines used by this program, contact Jeff Sumberg at the SailBoard BBS (201)-831-8152 in Wayne, New Jersey. *24*