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User Registration and Verification Door for PCBoard 14.x Version 3.3 to be used in conjunction with: The Mailing List Manager Written by: Lance Williams Kadet PCBoard P. O. Box 266 Camden, NY 13316-0266 (315) 245-3815 USR HST Dual Standard User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author License Agreement The Mailing List Manager, Verifier Door, & accompanying utility programs ("The Software") is COPYRIGHT 1990, 1991, 1992 by Lance Williams, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not engage in, nor permit third parties to engage in, any of the following: A) Making alterations of any kind in the software. B) ATTEMPTING TO DISASSEMBLE, DECOMPILE, OR REVERSE ENGINEER THE SOFTWARE OR THE FILES IT GENERATES IN ANY WAY. C) Granting sub-licenses, lease or other rights in the software to others. D) This release is SHAREWARE, if you continue to use this package for more than 3 weeks, you must register it with the author. The author of the software grants you a license to use this software as long as you meet the above conditions. Any violation of the above conditions will result in the termination of your license to use this software. Upon termination of this license for any reason, you must stop using the software and destroy all copies of it in your possession immediately. In addition, the author reserves the right to cancel your license to use this software at any time for any reason that he sees fit. The author of this software is not liable for damages suffered as a result of the improper use, proper use, or inability to use this software. This type of disclaimer is prohibited by law in some states, and is therefore void in those states. General Program Characteristics: This door serves as a great user verifier by mail for PCBoard sysops. It insures some degree of satisfaction that all of your users are real persons. The door has three functions, the first function is a registration door complete with unlimited script questionnaires. An interim security level upgrade is available from each script questionnaire, making new user upgrades easy and automatic. The upgrades at this level are a "temporary" level, which will be upgraded with the verification process which is explained next. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 1 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author The second is a user verifier which requires all new users to stay at a "temporary" security level until they receive a registration number in the mail. Each script questionnaire upgraded security level should have a matching verification upgrade, allowing users to upgrade to verified status automatically. This makes your job as the sysop much easier -- No more fiddling with upgrading users after you manually verify them. When a new user logs in, you can send him to this door to fill out the registration and mailing information for a registration card. You should send out cards on a regular basis to your users. When they receive their registration number by mail, they can re-enter the door and chose option #2, verify registration, to be upgraded to a verified user. By using the optional new user form letter in MAILING.EXE (for registered versions only), you can give detailed instructions for the verification process, even subscription information if you operate a subscription system. The third function is a Mailing List Manager for those of you who like to send out occasional flyers and such to your users. The Sysop Utility program (MAILING.EXE) contains many options for printing out labels and form letters for your users. See the Documentation file on the Mailing program for more details. Set-up for Verifier Door: The Door is very simple to set up if you have ever set up a PCBoard door before. The door requires a configuration file, a script definition file (SCRIPTS.DAT), and address definition file (ADDRESS.DAT). Each of these is explained in more detail below: Configuration File: The configuration file for the door MUST be called from the command line in the batch file and contain the following information: Example Configuration File: 1> C:\PCB\PCBOARD.SYS 2> Kadet PCBoard 3> Lance 4> Williams 5> 0 6> WELCOME 7> BYE 8> BASIC 9> NEWUSER 10> REGS 11> YES 12> 8,42,0,42 13> 9,90,0,90 __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 2 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author See Explanations for these lines below: Line 1: The path/filename of your PCBOARD.SYS file. Line 2: The Name of your BBS. Line 3: Sysop's First Name. Line 4: Sysop's Last Name. Line 5: Unused in version 3.3+, leave as "0" Line 6: Path/Filename of your opening screen Line 7: Path/Filename of your closing screen (security specific) Line 8: Path/Filename of your door usage information screen Line 9: Path/Filename of your new user information screen Line 10: Path/Filename of your registration information screen Line 11: Credit time while in Door? (YES or NO) Line 12 The various un-verified security levels, corresponding Thru EOF: verified upgrade level, new days till expiration and expired security level separated by a comma. Some of these lines need explaining: Line 5: This used to be the registration number. It is now unused. Just leave it "0". Lines 6-10: These are various display screens used by the door. Each is described below: WELCOME(G): This is the opening screen displayed after the hardcoded program opening lines. BYE(G): Displayed when exiting the door. I use it to give system information. NEWUSER(G): Displayed to New Users before entering the mailing list data. BASIC(G): Displayed to New Users before doing any registration. It describes what the door does, or whatever you want to use it for. REGS(G): Displayed to Any User before entering his/her registration number for verification The above screens (and any other display screens used by the door) can be any ASCII/ANSI screen you like, and work the same as PCBoard screens. The door also supports PCBoard's @X## color macros. The code will look for a filename with a "G" appended to the end if the user is in graphics mode. These screens are security specific. If you want security specific screens, then just create them using up to the first 4 characters to match the filename in your configuration file (IE: BYE, BYE8, BYE9, BYE50, etc. If you have separate graphic screens, append a "G" to the END of the filename (IE: BYEG, BYE8G, BYE9G, BYE50G, etc). You can disable the displaying of any of these screens by making it a zero-length file. If the program finds a zero length file, it will skip the display process. You can selectively disable the screens by using zero length security and/or language screens. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 3 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author These screens are also language specific, using the same language extension and naming conventions as PCBoard. The program will search for a security-specific file before it checks for a language specific file, so if you are using both, be sure to have language specific/security specific files available. Otherwise, only the security specific files will be displayed. Line 11: If you want the user to have time spent in the door returned to him when he returns to PCBoard, then put "YES" on this line. Anything else will use the caller's time while in the door. Lines 12-EOF: These lines are the security level upgrades used to upgrade from the "temporary" registered level a caller got from answering the script questionnaire(s) to that of a fully verified user. This is the LAST security upgrade the door does, when the caller has received his verification card. There should be one entry for each "temporary" security possible from your SCRIPTS.DAT file. Each entry has 4 parts separated by commas: Part 1: The current "temporary" security level, as was given by your script questionnaire to an unverified but registered user. This security level should match one of the upgrade levels in your SCRIPTS.DAT file. Part 2: This is the NEW security level you want callers at the security level in part 1 to have when they call back and enter the registration number on their verification card. Part 3: This is the number of days until the NEW security level expires. If you want non-expiring levels, put a 0 for this entry. Part 4: This is the NEW EXPIRED security level you want callers at the security level from part 1 to have when they are raised to the security level in part 2. Remember, these upgrade levels are for VERIFICATION Levels, not for initial registration levels. Initial registration security upgrades are handled in the SCRIPTS.DAT file described later. ** REMEMBER TO HAVE A CORRESPONDING SECURITY LEVEL ENTRY IN YOUR ** ** PCBOARD PASSWORD (PWRD) FILE FOR EACH UPGRADE LEVEL IN YOUR ** ** VERIFIER.CFG FILE. OTHERWISE, WHEN A USER RETURNS FROM THE DOOR ** ** HE WILL GET NO ONLINE TIME, SINCE NO TIME-LEVEL ENTRY WAS FOUND! ** The configuration files may be created using the CONFIG.EXE program. This program can create new file, but will not edit old ones, so be sure to keep a copy of your existing file before running the program. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 4 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author ADDRESS.DAT File maintenance & creation: The ADDRESS.DAT file is created with the program ADDRESS.EXE and MUST reside in the directory where VERIFIER is run from. Refer to the document file "ADDRESS.DOC" for details on setting up an ADDRESS.DAT file. It's easy and painless. The ADDRESS.DAT file can be language specific as well. The program will search the current directory for a ADDRESS.<PCB Lang. Ext.>. If found, it will be used. If not, ADDRESS.DAT will be used instead. ADDRESS.EXE handles both editing and creating the ADDRESS.DAT and the language specific address format files. Adding the Door to PCBoard: The implementation of a Door in PCBoard is relatively simple and fairly well documented in the PCBoard User Manual. You must create a batch file to run the door, and add the door to your DOORS.LST file in PCBSetup. Sample Batch File: @echo off e: cd \doors\verifier <--- Location of the Door Files verifier verifier.cfg <--- Be sure to include CFG file on c: command line. cd \pcb <--- Return to the PCBoard Directory board Door Usage Log Files: Caller's Log Output: The Verifier door accesses your Callers Log (via filename found in your PCBoard.DAT file). It writes all the major events occurring inside the door to your Callers Log. If you have your caller's log set to go to the printer, the door will also send the output to the printer. VERIFIER.LOG Output: The Verifier Door maintains a running log of all activity in this file. I suggest you review and delete this file regularly, or it will grow excessively large over time.... VERIFIER.ERR Output: Any User-caused errors (IE: Bad registration numbers, attempts to reverify, etc) will be logged to the file VERIFIER.ERR showing the date and time it occurred. You may want to review this file occasionally, if it has been created (Only when an error occurs), to see what your users are doing wrong. If a user enters a wrong number, the proper number is sent to this file and to the caller's log. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 5 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author PCBoard User File Comment: The door also writes a comment into the PCBoard USER file for the user. The Door writes to SYSOP COMMENT #2, and writes either "Registered via Verifier 3.3" or "Verified via Verifier 3.3" depending on whether the user was registering or verifying. Hard-Coded Files Used by Program: BRUN45.EXE: All the programs in this package require a copy of the QuickBasic 4.5 Runtime Library. The Door requires a version patched for proper DTR handling. Call my system if you need a copy. Just type "D BRUN45.ZIP" from the main board prompt to download the file. BRUN45.EXE MUST RESIDE IN A DIRECTORY IN YOUR DOS "PATH" STATEMENT. VERIFIER.CFG: This is the door configuration file. See above. (also used by MAILING.EXE & USER-REG.EXE). Defined as a command line parameter. MAILLIST.DAT: This is the Mailing List Data file used by both the Verifier Door and the Sysop Utility program (MAILING.EXE). It contains all the mailing addresses for your users that have gone through the door. (Created by program) DELETED.DAT: This is the Deleted Mailing List Data file used by the Sysop Utility program (MAILING.EXE). It contains all the mailing addresses for your users that have gone through the door, but have been deleted from PCBoard. You control when/who/what is written to it. (Created by program) VERIFIER.ERR: This is a log of User-caused errors that have occurred in the door. See the notes on log files above for details. ADDRESS.DAT: This is the sysop maintained Address Definitions file. It hold the prompts for the Mailing Label Information section. Use ADDRESS.EXE to edit this file. VERITEXT.???: This is the verifier door text file used for all of the display lines used by the door. It supports language specific operations. See the section on multi-lingual support for more details on creating your own language file. Script Questionnaire Formats: This door currently supports unlimited script questionnaires. Access control to the questionnaires is contained in the file SCRIPTS.DAT. This file is editable with your text editor. The file format is as follows: __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 6 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author BASIC.DAT,8,60,8,2,9,0 SYSOP.DAT,10,60,10,8,8,4,6,7 COSYSOP.DAT,9,60,9,8,8,4,6,7 METRO.DAT,11,60,11,9,10,5 There are at least 7 entries in each line: Part 1: Name of the Script questionnaire data file Part 2: New security level after answering script Part 3: New expiration date Part 4: New expired security level Part 5: Minimum security to answer script Part 6: Maximum security to answer script Parts 7+: These are the added conferences for this script. (1-39) 0 = no additional scripts The program will look at the current upgraded security level, if equal or greater than the Minimum Security entry AND equal or less than the Maximum Security entry, the user will be asked if he wants to answer the script. Your initial script Minimum Security level should be no higher than your new user security level, then after that, you can control access to scripts by how their security has been upgraded so far. All security level upgrades are dynamic, and no changes are written to the users file until the complete script questionnaire process is completed. The current upgraded security level is kept in memory to be compared with the minimum and maximum levels. The program supports a "No Expiration Date" mode for users. To use this option, just put a "0" in for the number of days till expiration for that security level. Also, if you put a "0" in for additional conferences, an appropriate message will be displayed to users, rather than adding conference 0. This goes for all script questionnaire conference entries. The SCRIPTS.DAT file will be created for you, along with your script questionnaires, if you use the CONFIG.EXE program to set up your door. The CONFIG.EXE program will sort your scripts based on minimum security level (part 5). If you wish to control the access to scripts with the maximum/minimum ranges, you may want to edit the order of the scripts using your favorite text editor. You can rearrange the lines in any order, as long as your initial new user script remains in the top position. Script Questionnaires: Script questionnaires can be created with the CONFIG.EXE program. I suggest you write them out on paper before proceeding with the CONFIG.EXE program, so you know how may questions you will be asking, as the program will ask you that first. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 7 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author Script questionnaires may be language specific as well. The program will search for a file with the PCBoard language extension and the proper script filename (minus any extension in the SCRIPTS.DAT file) and use that if it is found. Sample script file: <BASIC.DAT> e:\doors\mailing\basic.log REGULAR $ALL$ 8 ?;What City & State (& Country) are you calling from?;5;60;A #;I may need to contact you so please give me your ?;Daytime VOICE phone number where you can be contacted?;8;14;P #;Please answer a couple questions about your computer: ?;What is your Computer system?;3;60;A ?;What is your Modem Brand (include max baud)?;5;60;A ?;Do you have a Hard Drive (Y/N)?;1;1;Y #;And some questions about yourself: ?;What is your occupation?;5;60;A #;Where specifically did you hear about us? ?;(NAME of the PERSON, BBS or PUBLICATION);5;60;A ?;What is your birth date (mm/dd/yy);8;10;D *;MEMBERS Script Questionnaire File Format: The first four lines contain the following information: Line 1: Path/filename of the Questionnaire answer file. The Answer file is sysop definable, so you can have the answers appended to the end of an existing script answer file. Line 2: The display screen describing the script questionnaire. Use this line to enter an ANSI/ASCII or PCBoard @X## display screen you wish to have displayed to the caller describing the script. It gives more information than a one-line prompt for the script. This file is NOT LANGUAGE SPECIFIC. Since the questionnaire is language specific, you can use the language specific filename here. This screen is not security specific, either. Line 3: The script name prompt. This is a single line entry that will be displayed to the caller naming the script. If you want ALL CALLERS to answer this script, put a $ALL$ in this line. They will not be prompted as to whether to answer the script, and the $ALL$ will not be displayed to them. $ALL$ will FORCE ALL CALLERS to answer that script questionnaire. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 8 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author Line 4: Number of questions in the questionnaire file. This entry is the total number of QUESTIONS found in the script file. You do not have to count screens or comments for this value, but it doesn't matter if you do. The number can be LARGER than the total number of questions, but NEVER Smaller. It is used to dimension an array to store the answers into, so is must contain at least as many elements as you have questions. Each remaining line in the script file has 2-5 parts separated by a semi-colon (;). Part 1: The type of line being displayed: ? = a question is being asked # = a comment is being displayed * = an ASCII/ANSI screen is being displayed Part 2: Either the line to be displayed (for questions or comments) OR the path/filename of the ASCII/ANSI screen to display. (Screen displays are not language specific in the scripts, since the scripts themselves are language specific. If you want a language specific screen, then put the language specific filename in the language specific script.) Parts 3-5 are used for questions only: Part 3: This is the MINIMUM length of an answer to accept. Part 4: This is the maximum length of the answer. The overall maximum length is set at 60 characters, to conform to PCBoard Script questionnaires. If you select a length greater than 60, it will be set to 60. Part 5: This is the type of input to accept. The testing is done character by character. Control and drawing characters are filtered out in any type. The following types are accepted: Type Code Characters Accepted ---------------- ---- --------------------------- ASCII A Everything Date D 0-9,-,/ Numeric N 0-9/,/. Phone Numbers P 0-9,-,(,),[,] Letters & Punct. L A-Z, punctuation characters Yes/No Y Single Character (Y or N) Sample Script Questionnaire lines: 1> #;And some questions about yourself: | ^----- Comment line to be displayed ^----- Indicates a comment is to be displayed __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 9 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author 2> ?;What is your birth date (mm/dd/yy);8;10;D | | | | ^--- Type of input testing | | | ^--- Maximum answer length | | ^--- Minimum answer length | ^--- Question line to be displayed ^--- Indicated a question is to be asked/displayed. 3> *;MEMBERS | ^----- Name of Screen to Display (Can be complete path\filename ^----- Indicates this is an ASCII/ANSI screen to display All four of my script files are included in the archive. Please feel free to modify them to suit your needs. Multi-Lingual Support: The door supports complete multi-lingual usage in all areas. I have coded the program to look for language specific files where ever necessary. Enclosed with this archive you will find a file called VERIFIER.ENG and a program called VERITEXT.EXE. The VERIFIER.ENG is a standard text file containing most of the display lines used by the program. (Some remain hard-coded, for security & copyright reasons). If you would like to create a language specific prompt file for the door, just translate the lines in the VERIFIER.ENG file to the language of your choice. Many of the PCBoard @macro@'s are available for the text files as well - See the file MACROS.LST for a listing. The maximum length of most lines is 75 characters, but there are some exceptions. Also, some lines are grouped together to form a paragraph of display. See the VERITEXT.DOC file for notes on these exceptions. After you have translated the VERIFIER.ENG file, run the VERITEXT.EXE program to convert it into the random access file the door uses to read the text from. You must use the same extension as the language uses in PCBoard for this new textfile to be used in the door. If you do translate the text file, I would appreciate a copy of it for others to download. You can upload just the ASCII text file to me, and I'll post it for others to use in my Kadet DoorWare file directories. Questions or Comments?? If you have any questions or comments concerning this program, please give me a call at Kadet PCBoard and I'll get back to you usually within 24 hours. I may even call your system to see what I can do to help you out. But, there will always be a reply waiting for you on my system within 24-48 hours. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 10 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author Multi-Node Operations: This door is fully functional on Multi-Node systems. It supports full file sharing for both PCBoard files, and it's own files. The only requirement is that you have a SEPARATE configuration file for each node using the door. *** Remember, SHARE MUST BE LOADED even when *** *** you are running under a single node system *** Non-Standard Com Port Usage: This door now supports non-standard com ports using 2 command line parameters, IRQ=x and ADDR=&Hxxx. If you use one, you MUST use the other for proper operations. IRQ is the IRQ used for this com port, and ADDR is the base address for this com port. This feature is within the door library I use, and his documentation is unclear on one thing: If the IRQ=x and ADDR=&Hxxx do not work, try using IRQ:x and ADDR:&Hxxx (Colon instead of an equal sign.) In one place he says use and equal sign, and later he says a colon. I have no way of testing it, so you'll have to give it a try and let me know :-( To use a non-standard com port, you would call the program in your door batch file similar to the following: VERIFIER VERIFIER.CFG IRQ=4 ADDR=&H3E8 Of course, you would use your IRQ and ADDR as specified by your serial card documentation (Same as you entered in your PCBOARD.DAT file for this node. Registration for Complete Package: This package is distributed as Shareware. You are required to register it if you continue to use it after a 30 day trial period. To register, fill out the registration form found in the file REGISTER.FRM and send to: Lance Williams P. O. Box 266 Camden, NY 13316-0266 Try It Before You Buy It Plan: If you would like to try the registered features of the MAILING.EXE program before you purchase the entire package, you may call Kadet PCBoard at the number listed on the cover page and download a 30 day temporary TESTING KEYFILE which will unlock all of the features of the program for you for 30 days. After that time, if you find the program useful, you are required to register the program. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 11 User Verification Door User Guide Lance Williams, Author Registration for the User Verifier Door and Sysop Utility program is $40 payable in Cash/Check or Money Order in US Funds, or by Visa/MasterCard. All checks must be drawn on US Banks. Foreign orders carry a $5 processing fee and must be paid by Visa, MasterCard or Postal Money Order. Visa/MasterCard registrations carry a $5 processing fee and are handled by modem ONLY thru the following locations: Registrations by New York State residents must include the proper LOCAL sales tax. U.S. Credit Card Registration Sites: Kadet PCBoard, Camden, NY Join Conference #7 and open Door #1 (315) 235-3815 for Visa/MasterCard Registrations at (9600-V.32/14400-HST) Kadet PCBoard. MIDImaze BBS, Manchester, TN Join Conference #20 and open Door #1 (615) 723-1867 (2400) for Visa/MasterCard Registrations at (615) 723-1953 (9600-V.32). MIDImaze BBS. European Credit Card Registration Sites: Active-Net BBS, Join Conference #8 and type "VER-REG" Jona, Switzerland for Visa\MasterCard Registrations at +41-552-61815 (USR DS) Active-Net BBS. Registering with Visa or MasterCard online will give you a 30 day KEYFILE for immediate upgrade to a registered user of the program. You will also get a copy of a utility for registered users only: MAILSCAN.ZIP: It creates a display file showing the current user his address information every 1, 3 or 12 months. Great for having users keep their addresses up to date. This program is also included on your disk set. The KEYFILE, MAILSCAN.EXE and a copy of your invoice are all downloadable in a ZIP file after you complete the credit card, mailing and registration information using your Visa or MasterCard. You will receive a disk set and permanent registration KEYFILE in the mail 2 to 3 weeks after registration. If you prefer to register by mail, you may use the inclosed form "REGISTER.FRM". Mail Registrations will be processed 10 days after I deposit your check. (Money Order Payments will be shipped within 48 hours.) You should receive your disk set within 2 to 3 weeks of mailing your registration form. __________________________________________________________________ Kadet PCBoard, (315) 245-3815 USR Dual Std. Page 12