home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
BBS Toolkit
/
BBS Toolkit.iso
/
programs
/
visx097.zip
/
VISION-X.DOX
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-10-07
|
116KB
|
3,309 lines
ViSiON-X BBS Software
v0.96
written by Ryec
DOCUMENTATION
by Ryec with Gun Runner
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LEGAL NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 5
CONFIGURATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6
Board Config. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
Modem Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11
Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14
NUV/Newuser Config. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 16
Color Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20
Main Conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 21
Msg/File Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22
Default Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 25
Events/Times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 27
Infoform Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 29
Netmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 30
Matrix/Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 33
Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 35
CONFIGURING YOUR SYSTEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 38
RUNNING ViSiON-X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 40
SETTING UP BATCH FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 42
RUNNING ViSiON-X IN MULTINODE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 44
MULTINODE COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 47
EXTERNAL EXECUTABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 48
ONLINE SYSOP COMMANDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 49
SECURITY LEVELS and ACCESS FLAGS . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 51
QWK MESSAGE SUPPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 52
FILE CREDIT SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 53
NEWUSER SECURITY AND INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 54
MATRIX SECURITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 55
PROTOCOL, TRASHCAN AND FILE SECURITY . . . . . . . . . . Page 56
NETMAIL SETUP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 58
FIDO NETMAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 59
ONLINE DOORS MAINTENANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 63
CONFIGURABLE CHAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 64
EXTERNAL FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 66
MCI CODES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 68
MENU COMMANDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 69
LEGAL NOTICE
The ViSiON-X BBS software and information attached hereto,
hereafter referred to as ViSiON-X, is protected by applicable
copyright laws and international treaty provisions. ViSiON-X is
provided as is, without warranty of any kind or fitness for a
particular purpose, either expressed or implied, all of are
hereby explicitly disclaimed. The programmer Ryec, hereafter
referred to as the Author, only guarantees that ViSiON-X will
occupy disk space.
In no event shall the Author be liable to you or anyone else for
any damages or costs, including, but not limited to, any lost
profits, lost savings, lost income, lost information, loss of
the right to use ViSiON-X, or other incidental or consequential
damages arising out of the use or inability to use ViSiON-X. Nor
shall the author be in any means responsible for the use of the
software, the users the software caters to, or to the types of
software made available for download. The Sysop's take full
responsibility for any messages/files found on their systems.
Additional statements by agents, employees, distributors, and
dealers of ViSiON-X do not constitute warranties by the Author
and do not bind the Author in any way.
ViSiON-X is not public domain, shareware, or freeware; nor is it
crippled after a certain amount of time. ViSiON-X MUST be
REGISTERED by persons aspiring to run this software. It is not
allowed to use ViSiON-X within a commercial environment (ie.
business, governmental organization, association, school,
foundation, or any other form of juridical person) without prior
written permission from the Author.
ViSiON-X can only be used by physical persons (as opposed to
juridical persons), and installed on a computer which is
personal property. Information on how to register the current
version (and all later upgrades) of ViSiON-X is included in a
separate section of this document.
You may freely distribute and copy ViSiON-X provided no fee is
charged and the ViSiON-X archive contains unmodified copies of
the original files as produced by the Author. No part of
ViSiON-X may be modified, altered, reverse engineered, sold, or
distributed in any form which would involve some sort of trade
without prior written permission from the Author.
All Ryec products are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Ryec Distributors and The ViSiON-X Team. Other brand and product
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.
REGISTRATION
Individuals wishing to register ViSiON-X can do so by sending a
CHEQUE or MONEY ORDER to:
Eid Youssef
97 Melrose Ave.
Ottawa, Ont
K1Y 1V2
There is a limit of 3 boards per area code (exceptions will be
dealt with on an individual basis). Registration costs $50 U.S.
for the first 2 boards, and $100 U.S. for the third.
Registration entitles the individual to the latest version of
ViSiON-X, 24hr support, support files and access into FelonyNet
or any other major netmail.
Unregistered public versions are limited to 5 users and are
burdened by delays and registration messages. Failure to
register within one week of testing entitles the author and the
ViSiON-X team to take whatever action deemed necessary to
prevent the individual from running the software. We are not
responsible for any damage caused as a result of registration
violation.
Support is available through any FelonyNet board or by calling
the Nevada Testing Grounds at 313.348.2829. If you have problems
or questions you'd like to discuss with the author, call the NTG
and leave me E-mail.
INTRODUCTION
Now that all the legal stuff has been put aside, allow me the
honour to welcome you to one of the coolest BBS software
packages out there. ViSiON-X, a BBS program will flare, great
looks, powerful features and ongoing support. I could go into
the many features of ViSiON-X but the best way for you to get a
feeling is to try it out for a few days. All public versions are
fully functional. If you would like to run this software and
receive free upgrades and 24 hrs support, then register with us
now!
But for those who like to see what this baby can do beforehand,
here is but a taste:
The ONLY software with limitless message sizes
The ONLY software with real-time multinode chat
A 32k full color scrollback for the sysop.
5 Independent Message/File Conferences
Ultra Cool Waiting For Caller Screen
Unique and fully secure MATRIX for Loging on and Applying
QWK message Support
Great ANSi Menu's and Status Screens
Built in Netmail Support (ViSiON-X and CelerityNet)
Fido compatibility (coming soon)
File Upload Checker (the best around!)
Rumours and One Liners
Up to 99 welcome screens displayed randomly
Anti-Hacker routines (impenetrable)
HST and 16.8k support with locking up to 57600
Fully coloured messages
Configurable color selections for sysops and users
FelonyNet availability (the best net out there)
VGA/Soundblaster Support
144 Chat Tunes
Configurable Matrix/Pulldowns
Online User Editor
Turbo Chat
Multi-Node Support
Desqview and OS/2 Aware
Network Capable
New User Voting with Comments
FULL ANSI/AVATAR support (and detection)
Ultra Fast modem routines
Turbo Fast Direct Screen Writes
Animated screen open and closing (Terminator 2 inspired)
Online Doors
and much much much more
and even more coming up!
INSTALLATION
To install your copy of ViSiON-X, first unzip the archive into
a temporary directory. If you have a RAMDISK someplace, then use
that. It'll make things go all that much faster. Run the
INSTALL.EXE program. You will reach a menu with several options.
The first 4 or 5 will have to do with Introductions, ViSiON-X
History, Credits and Registration Info. Read them at your
leisure and to find out what's new with this version. Once
you've done that select the INSTALL option at the bottom.
You will find yourself at another menu. There you will see Full
Installation, Upgrade, Make Batch Files, Run Config and perhaps
a few others. If this is your first installation, do a full
install. After a short while the ViSiON-X files will be copied
over to a directory you specify as your main BBS directory. You
should then select Make Batch Files to create the files
necessary to keep your board up and running. You can also
install a menu set (if available). They'll make a good starting
point for you to get used to the software. They have all the
available options in them. You may run the CONFIG program from
the install. However it's better that you go through the dox you
are reading now before you begin configuring your board. You can
always run CONFIG later from your main BBS directory (and run it
more then once you will.. I guarantee it).
Sysops who are upgrading from an earlier version should select
Upgrade instead of Full Installation. And should at least go
through the REVISION HISTORY to find out what's new and what
needs to be done with this version. After the UPGRADE is
complete, you will receive a short note or two informing you of
additional steps you may need to take to finish the upgrade.
Follow them carefully.
CONFIGURATION
Run the CONFIG program to configure your board's settings and
preferences. The CONFIG program must be run from the main bbs
directory. It reads a file called CONFIG.DAT. Do not alter this
file. It creates a file called CONFIG.BBS which contains all
your configuration parameters.
When you first run the CONFIG it will set the paths to point to
your current directory. You manoeuvre through each page of the
config by pressing page up or page down, and user the arrow keys
to manoeuvre from one option to the next. The CONFIG options are
grouped in categories that appear at the bottom. Use them to
find your options quickly. To change an item, press ENTER on the
line you wish to change. The line will clear and you can type
what you wish. Use the ESC key to clear the line in case you
make a major mistake. Once you're finished press ENTER again. If
you do not type anything, the original line will be restored. To
enter a blank line you must type the letter N at the start of
the line and then press ENTER.
New options and changes are always being made to the CONFIG. It
should become a habit for you to look over every option in the
CONFIG when you upgrade to a new version. Sometimes you will
receive errors when running the BBS because you have not run the
new CONFIG and saved the new parameters. It is important that
you stay ahead with the game.
Help is available by pressing the F1 key. To save press F10. To
abort, press ESC (then confirm). The following is a detailed
explanation of each option.
The Config is divided into 13 sections:
1. Board Config - Define your board name and hardware
2. Modem Setup - Modem configuration and strings
3. Strings - Various Message Strings (Chat, Wait..)
4. NUV/Newuser - New User Voting/Configuration
5. Color Selections - All color configs
6. Main Conference - Define Main Message and File Conferences
7. Msg/File Section - Configure File and Message parameters
8. Default Levels - Set levels for various areas
9. Events/Times - External Events and Time Choices
10. Infoform Setup - Setup all Newuser Infoforms
11. Netmail - Netmail (ViSiON-X, Celerity, Fido)
12. Matrix/Passwords - Matrix config, Newuser/Login Passwords
13. Miscellaneous - Anything else
Board Config
Board Name, Long
Enter your Board's full name here. Note that for registration
purposes it is important that you capitalize the letters exactly
as given to you once you register.
Board Name, Short
Use this as a short form for your BBS Name. If you enter the
word BBS as the short name then you'll be able to test the board
locally for uploads and downloads etc..
Sysop Name
Enter your Alias here. In order to log on locally as sysop the
alias entered here must match user #1's handle. Note that for
registration purposes it is important that you capitalize the
letters exactly as given to you once you register.
Registration Code
Enter the registration code exactly as given to you. There is a
different between capital letters and lowercase letters.
Path to ViSiON-X BBS
This is the main ViSiON-X directory where all the main files are
kept. That includes the ViSiON-X.EXE, ViSiON-X.OVR, the CONFIG
program and data, etc.. If you are running in multinode, set
this to your node directory.
Path to message base
This is where the contents of the messages are kept. The files
in this area can get rather large depending on the traffic of
messages you get. Be sure that it points to a directory that has
at least 10 megs of space.
Path to board files
This area is used to hold the message index files that point to
the messages in the message base directory above. This should
never be placed on a RAMDISK since it contains all the links to
your messages.
Path to text files
This directory is used to hold all menus and ANSI screens used
in your BBS. Infoforms and custom files are also kept in this
directory.
Path to door files
Set this to the directory you wish to store your DOOR files.
Generally you will use this directory to hold the batch files
that run the doors and make subdirectories off this directory to
hold the door games themselves.
Path to Net directory
This directory is used when creating netmail packets. You can
set this to a RAMDISK to speed things up.
Path to Work Directory
This directory is used for miscellaneous functions. Among which
are for testing for files in the TRASHCAN (see), receiving
netmail packets, etc. It is highly recommended that you set this
to a RAMDISK. However, should you wish to keep it on your hard
drive, set it to a subdirectory off your main ViSiON-X
directory. NEVER set it to the root directory.
Path to Multinode Files
This area is used to manage multi-node BBS's. When running in
multi-node make sure that EVERY node has this area pointing to
the same directory. You will receive great benefits by pointing
this into a ramdisk.
BAD Directory
Set this directory to point to the directory where all files
that fail the Demon Tasker testing, or those that are found in
the TRASHCAN are placed.
Sysop Auto-Login
If set to YES, then Local Logon (F10) from the main menu will
bypass the Matrix and the logon procedures. If set to NO, the
sysop will be required to manoeuvre through the matrix, enter
his alias and password, etc.. This option has no effect on the
Turbo Logon (Shift-F10) from the WFC (Waiting For Caller)
screen.
Use VGA WFC & Intro
If set to YES, any and all VGA routines currently available in
ViSiON-X will be used where present. Users running under
desqview need not fear about their text mode being changed to
VGA. No VGA screen will ever be displayed under desqview.
Use Soundblaster Card
If set to YES, then the Sound Blaster Card will be used wherever
present. This includes the ViSiON-X VGA Intro, and chat pages.
The chat page looks for a file called CHATCALL.MOD. This can be
any MOD file you want to use. Currently, the SBC card must be
set at interrupt 7h port 220h to work. The port address and
interrupt number will be made configurable in later versions.
Note also that the Soundblaster will not be used under Desqview.
Using OS/2
If set to YES, this tells ViSiON-X that you will be running
under OS/2. Currently, the only difference between running under
OS/2 and DOS is FAT moves do not work under OS/2. Thus, if you
are running OS/2 make sure you have this set to YES or every
file you attempt to move from within ViSiON-X will disappear.
Default Chat
You have a choice of 5 chat modes. Horizontal/Vertical
Single/Multi-coloured Split Screen or One Line Chat. When a user
is online you can press F1 to activate this default chat mode.
It is much quicker then the standard method (Pressing F3, then
selecting the chat mode). However, both F1 and F3 modes are
always available to you.
Chat Tune
For those who don't have a Soundblaster card, or do not wish to
use it for Chat pages, this option can be set to any number from
0 to 134. If it's set to 0, a standard beep will be played and
will be continuously sounded everytime the user presses RETURN.
This mode of chat remains on until the user turns the page off
or logsoff the board. Setting this to a number between 1-133
will play a little chat tune once and once only. Chat mode is
turned off after the song is over or when a key is pressed.
Using the value 134 will randomly select a tune in the range 1-
133 each time a user pages the sysop. If you have the Use
Soundblaster set to YES, this option is rendered ineffective.
Chat Delay Factor
Use this to set the tempo for the chat tunes. Experiment with
integer values from 1 to 15 to find the right speed for the
tunes. A 386-25 would use a value of 5 and a 486-33 would use a
value of 11. Use this as a starting point.
# of Welcome Files
Enter an integer number here to indicate the number of welcome
files your BBS has. Welcome files are ANSI files which are
randomly displayed each time a user logs on. The WELCOME files
are in the form WELCOME.<x> where x is a number from 1-99. These
welcome files go into your TEXTFILE directory.
Modem Setup
Com Port #
Currently, only COM ports 1 and 2 are supported. In later
versions, COMs 1-8 can be used. Set this to the port your modem
is using.
BBS Answers Phone
Set this to YES if you want the BBS to send the ATA command to
answer the phone when it rings. If you choose to have this set
to YES you must make sure your Modem Init String has the
commands V1S0=0 (where V0 is Verbal Result Codes and S0=0
prevents your modem from autoanswering the phone). Conversely,
if you set this option to NO, you should put the commands V1S0=1
in your Modem Init String.
Supported BAUD rates
Use this to set the modem baud rates that you'll be supporting
on your system. Valid values are 2400, 4800, 7200, 9600, 12000,
14400, 16800, 19200, and 38400. You should only toggle on those
baud rates which your modem supports.
Download BAUD rates
Use this to set the baud rates at which users must be at to be
able to download files. So if you want 2400 users on your board
but you don't want them downloading anything, then remove 2400
from the baud rates. You toggle a baud rate on or off by
entering it's numeric value.
Default BAUD rate
This is the baud rate that your modem will be locked at. For HST
couriers, this should be set to 19200. For HST dual standards
set this to 38400. For 16.8k modems set this to 57600. Whatever
baud rate you set here should be the same baud rate that you
lock your fossil at. (See)
Modem INIT string
This is the modem command string that initializes your modem. A
recommended INIT string is ATX7V1H0S0=0|. Notice that the |
(pipe) acts as a carriage return. You can also use ~ (tidle) for
pauses and ^x for control characters (where X is the control
char). You can look up the valid command codes in your modem
manual.
Modem HANGUP string
This is the command string used to hangup your modem. Most
modems will work with +++~~~ATH|. In later versions we'll allow
you to enter DTR to have the modem toggle DTR (in effect shut
the modem off) to hangup the users. This mode is available on
all USR HST modems.
Dial Prefix
This is the modem command string used as the prefix in dialing
numbers. Generally you will set it to ATDT (for tone dialing)
and ATDP (for pulse). Tone is much faster. If you're not sure
which you have try with tone mode first and if the after the
tones have been dialed you still hear the dial tone.. then your
phone line is stuck with pulse dialing. Contact your phone
company to get tone lines ($2/month here).
Dial Suffix
This is sent after the phone number itself. In most cases it
will just be the | (pipe) command which sends a carriage return.
If you need to enter some other numbers/commands after the phone
number then place them here. Do not forget to include the pipe
command to end the string with a carriage return.
Lock Out Baud Pass
This password is used for users who's connect rate is not among
the Supported Baud rates. If they enter the password correctly,
they'll be allowed to enter your matrix. Otherwise, they'll be
disconnected. If you don't want 2400 baud callers.. remove their
baud rate from the Supported Baud Rates and give this password
to those 2400's which you DO want on.
Use 16550 Fix
This is a problem that has come up with computers who have the
16550 UART chip on their serial cards. This chip is designed to
buffer bytes during modem transfers to prevent loss of data
under multitasking environments. If you have this chip you must
set this to yes. If you don't then leave it off. If you are not
sure then try having it off. Have a user call your board and do
a quick file transfer. If after the transfer is over, his ANSI
is totally messed up, then you need to have the fix one. The fix
requires that you have XU.EXE (x00 Fossil Driver manager) in
your DOS PATH.
Strings
The Login Header
This is displayed after the main status screen (the default one)
is displayed. It's a one liner that you can use anyway you see
fit. It may be removed in later versions.
Hidden Input Character
This is the character that is displayed when a user enters a
password or some other crucial text. Rather than echoing what he
types it will send this character. Use the * (star) or >
(Greater than sign), or any other characters you may wanna use.
Chat Mode Start String
This is displayed to the user when the sysop enters chat mode.
You may use color codes in here if you want. They are |01-|15.
Chat Mode Exit String
This is displayed to the user after the sysop leaves chat mode.
You may use color codes in here if you want. They are |01-|15.
Sysop is Here String
When a user logs on this is the string displayed to him to let
him know that the sysop is available for chat.
Sysop is Out String
When a user logs on this is the string displayed to him to let
him know that the sysop is not available for chat.
Sysop Working
The string displayed when the sysop enters the online sysop
commands (F2) or the Chat Mode Select menu (F3).
Anonymous String
What the string says when users posts anonymously.
Sysop in DOS string
This is displayed to the user when the sysop shells to dos. You
can use color codes here.
Invalid Prompt
This is displayed when a user picks an invalid option or choice.
NUV/Newuser Config
Newuser Main Level
This is the level newusers (as they just apply) receive. You
should set this FAIRLY low.. a good value would be 1. The new
user voting searches for users matching this level. Remember
that it's the matrix logon level that determines if they can get
into the board itself.
Newuser File xfer Lvl
This is the file level a new user receives when he applies.
Newuser file xfer points
This is the number of file points a new user receives when he
applies.
2nd Call access Level
This is the main level a user receives on his second call. Leave
it to 1 to have it unchanged until you validate the user.
2nd Call xfer Level
This is the file level a user receives on his second call.
2nd call xfer points
This is the number of file points a user receives on his second
call.
Have New User Voting
If set to YES, new users will be voting on by their peers. The
users will be able to vote YES or NO for the user, view their
new user infoform (Infoform.5) and even leave comments about the
user for other voters. The voting process is totally anonymous
(unless they leave a comment) and fail safe. No user can vote
more then once on the same person. When new users are validated
by the NUV, you will receive a notice informing you who the user
is and how many YES and NO votes he received.
Auto-Delete NUV
If you are using New User Voting, setting this option to YES
will delete the user if he fails to qualify the new user voting.
Setting it to NO will remove the user from the voting list and
will leave him at level -1, unable to do anything, waiting for
you to over rule or delete him. You will receive a notice when
the user has been turned down in the NUV.
Level to use NUV
This is the level that the users must have to be able to vote on
new users. Set it to a high enough level so that only your good
users are voting. You don't want lamers voting lamers in..
# of YES Votes (NUV)
This is the number of YES votes a new user must receive to be
validated. Use a value between 1 and 10.
# of NO Votes (NUV)
This is the number of NO votes a new user must receive to be
deleted. Use a value between 1 and 10.
NUV Validation Level
This is the level a new user who is validated by the NUV will
receive. His daily time limit will be set according to this
level as well.
NUV File Level
This is the file level a new user who is validated by the NUV
will receive.
NUV File Points
This is the number of file points a new user who is validated by
the NUV will receive.
Default Level
This is the quick Validation default main level a new user
receives. To use this, press + in the user editor. His daily
time limit is set accordingly.
Default File Level
This is the quick Validation default file level a new user
receives. To use this, press + in the user editor.
Default File Points
This is the quick validation default file points a new user
receives. To use this, press + in the user editor.
Default Account Note
This is the quick validation default account note (or user note)
that a new user receives. To use this, press + in the user
editor.
Default Msg Conf 1
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to message
conference 1.
Default Msg Conf 2
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to message
conference 2.
Default Msg Conf 3
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to message
conference 3.
Default Msg Conf 4
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to message
conference 4.
Default Msg Conf 5
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to message
conference 5.
Default File Conf 1
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to file conference
1.
Default File Conf 2
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to file conference
2.
Default File Conf 3
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to file conference
3.
Default File Conf 4
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to file conference
4.
Default File Conf 5
If set to YES, newusers will receive access to file conference
5.
Color Selections
Chat Colors
There are 8 chat colors. They are used in the multi-coloured
chats. Pick any colors you wish. For the configurable chat, the
first 6 colors are used in the following manner. Colors 1-3 are
for the remote user and colors 4-6 are for the sysop. The 3
color groups conform to the following system:
Color 1 : Highlight characters (capitals)
Color 2 : Normal Characters
Color 3 : Punctuation and Numbers
Quote Color
This is the color that quotes in messages will use.
Regulate Colors
As much as I hate censorship, this option was added as per
request of a lot of users/sysops. Setting this to YES will force
all messages local or net, to have the same colors. That is, the
quote colors will be in whatever color was chosen above, and the
message color will be in the users default color. Setting this
to NO allows all message colors to remain unaltered.
Color Selection
There are 18 color choices you can select. Whatever colors you
choose in the config are the colors that are given to new users
when they apply. Pick a color combination that works.
Default File Colors
There are 9 colors used to determine the default file listing
colors.
Main Conferences
Show Newscan Prompts
If set to YES, the BBS will prompt the users to scan for new
files or new messages once they enter the file/message sections.
No. Of Msg Confs
This sets the number of message conferences you will be using.
Valid ranges are 1-5.
No. of File Confs
This sets the number of file conferences you will be using.
Valid ranges are 1-5.
Msg Conference 1-5 Names
Use these to set the names of the 5 message conferences. If you
do not wish to use all 5, leave the unwanted conferences blank.
File Conference 1-5 Names
Use these to set the names of the 5 file conferences. If you do
not wish to use all 5, leave the unwanted conferences blank.
Ask Message Conference
If set to YES, users will be asked which message conference to
join before entering the message section. If set to NO, they
will enter the last conference they were in the last time they
called.
Ask File Conference
If set to YES, users will be asked which file conference to join
before entering the file section. If set to NO, they will enter
the last conference they were in the last time they called.
Msg/File Section
Use Zip Comments
If set to YES, every upload will have it's zip comment replaced
by the contents of the file called ZIPCOMNT.TXT in your TEXT
FILE directory. If set to NO, zip comments are left untouched.
Check Uploads
If set to YES, all uploads will be tested for CRC Integrity,
SCANed for viruses, have their zip comment replaced by
ZIPCOMNT.TXT in your TEXTFILE directory (regardless of above
option), and BBS advertisements found in the file KILLLIST (in
your main bbs directory) deleted. This is an all around demon
tasker based on PCBoard's ZipLab. It even displays a graphical
representation of the tasks it's performing to the user online.
Upload Factor
This is the upload factor that determines how many file points
a user receives for uploads. Setting this to 3 (for example)
will give the user 3 file points for every 1 file point he
downloads. To use this option, you must make sure the automatic
upload factor is nonzero.
Upload Time Bank
This is the percentage of time the uploader will receive back
after a transfer.
Post/Call Ratio
This is the PCR ratio a user must maintain to be allowed in the
file section. If you don't know what a PCR is, it's the minimum
numbers of posts a user must maintain per calls. A PCR of 33%
would mean that the user must have posted at least 1/3 of his
total calls [messages]. Set this to zero to disable it.
Up/Download Ratio
This is the file upload to download ratio a user must maintain
to be allowed to download. A ratio of 25% would mean that he
must upload 1 file for every 4 files he downloads. Set this to
0 to disable it.
Up/Download K Ratio
This is the file upload to download k ratio a user must maintain
to be allowed to download. A ratio of 25% would mean that he
must upload a 1k file for every 4k he downloads. Set this to 0
to disable it.
Use Auto-Compensation
If set to YES, uploaders will receive file points everytime a
user downloads a file they have uploaded. It's a good way to
promote good uploads. Users won't download shitty files, so they
have to upload good ones to get their file points.
File Point Compensation
The number of file points they get when users download their
uploads.
Automatic UL Factor
This is required if you're using a file point system. You use
this to set the conversion factor. That is a value of 100 would
mean that each 100k is worth 1 points. It always rounds down..
so a 99k file is worth 0 points.
Minimum Free Space
The minimum amount of hard drive space there must exist before
a user is allowed to upload.
File Name for Zips
The file name to add to zip archives. This is very lame. Any
sysop that users this is a total dufus. I'm gonna remove it in
later versions.
Leech Week
Set this to ignore U/D ratios and file points and allow users to
download as much as their time will allow.
Allow Archive Viewing
If set to YES, users can view the interior of archives and
extract files from them.
Auto Validate Uploads
If set to YES, uploads will be tested for CRC errors, viruses,
will have bbs ads stripped from them and zip comments replaced.
Add AC to UserNote
If YES, will show the user's area code after the user note in
the message section.
QWK Packet Name
A maximum of 7 characters for the QWK packet name. The
conference number is suffixed to the end of the name.
Default Levels
Exempt Level
This is the level at which users will no longer receive file
point, upload/download or PCR ratios. This should be set high
enough so only your good users get to leech.
Co-Sysop Level
This is the level required for a user to have co-sysop powers.
Co-Sysop powers resemble those of the sysop but are generally
more limited. For instance, co-sysops cannot add files online
from your hard drive.. yet they can validate, move and delete
existing files in the file areas. They cannot give any user
(including themselves) an access level higher then their own.
They cannot edit the sysop or see his password.
Anonymous Level
This is the level a user must have to be able to post messages
anonymously. However, sysops are able to see who it was that
posted the message. Set it very high if you want no one posting
anonymously.
Bulletin Post Level
This is the level a user must have to be able to post a message.
List Level
This is the level a user must have to list the board's users.
User Note Level
This is the level a user must have to view the user notes and
area codes of the users. So to see the full information of a
board's users a user must have a level greater than or equal to
both the List Level and the User Note Level.
Last Level
The level required to see the last callers list.
Level to Leave Msg
This is the level a user needs to be able to leave a message to
the next user when he logs off.
Level to Add Rumour
The minimum level required to leave a rumour.
Level to use Time Bank
The minimum level required to deposit/withdraw time from the
time bank.
Level for Private Hours
The level users must have to be able to logon during private
hours.
Events/Times
Allow Time Bank
If set to YES, the board will allow users to add part of their
daily time into a time bank for later withdrawal and use. The
maximum amount of time a user can add into the timebank is
controlled by the Maximum Time Allowed in Timebank and the Level
to use TimeBank.
Maximum Time in Bank
The maximum time a user can add to his timebank.
Time Sysop's available
Enter the time the sysop will be available for chat. Use the
format hh:mm [am|pm]. If you wish to be available all the time,
leave this line blank.
Time Sysop isn't
Enter the time the sysop will no longer be available for chat.
Use the format hh:mm [am|pm]. If you wish to be available all
the time, leave this line blank.
Time File xfer opens
Enter the time the file section will be open. Use the format
hh:mm [am|pm]. Leave this blank if you wish the file section
open all the time.
Time file xfer closes
Enter the time the file section will be closed. Use the format
hh:mm [am|pm]. Leave this blank if you wish the file section
open all the time.
Input Time Out
This is the number of minutes of inactivity before the BBS hangs
up on a user.
Time Private Hrs Start
The time private hours start at. Use the format hh:mm [am|pm].
Leave this blank if you don't want private hours.
Time Private Hrs Stop
The time private hours end. Use the format hh:mm [am|pm].
Dos Shell Command Line
The dos shell file (batch) to run. Doorway.EXE is included in
most ViSiON-X archives. It's by far the best around. However,
you can leave this line blank to use the VISGATE.SYS available
on most V-X boards. This restricts users to the actions they can
take.
Dos Shell Password
The DOS Shell password a sysop must enter to shell to dos
remotely.
Time to run Batch
Time to run a batch event. Leave it blank for none.
Batch file to run
Batch file to run at event time. Leave it blank for none.
User Time per day
You can use this option to configure the daily time limits for
each given level. Note that you can always override the daily
time limits by directly editing the user's daily time limit.
Infoform Setup
Number of Infoforms
The number of infoforms in use.
Mandatory Infoform 1-5
Set these to YES for those infoforms which your users MUST fill
out, and to NO for those that are optional.
Infoform 1-5
The names of the infoforms. Note that Infoform 5 is used for the
new user voting.
Netmail
Net Start Sending
Time to start sending vision-x netmail.
Net End Send
Time to stop sending vision-x netmail.
Net Name
The name of the net.. (for example: FelonyNet)
Net Password
The net password used to initiate a netmail session.
Netmail String
This is displayed beside each message area during a msg area
listing.
Extender Prefix
This is what's dialed before the number. Use this for codes and
what not.
Extender Suffix
This is dialed after the number.
Netmail Origin Line 1,2
Set your netmail origin lines. Pick good colors to add to your
origin line's appeal.
Is this BBS a HUB
Set it to YES if you are a netmail HUB.
Net Exename
The name for the protocol program. For example DSZ.COM
Net Upload Command Line
The command line for net uploads.
Net Download Command Line
The command line for net downloads.
Fidomail Net Name
The name of the FIDO based net.
Fidomail Short Name
The name listed besides each fido message area during a msg area
listing.
Fidomail Origin Line
The origin line for the Fido based system. You can use a
different origin for each sub by setting it in the area rename
portion.
Strip Kludge Line
If set to YES, the kludge line is removed (^A lines)
Strip Seen By Line
If set to YES, removes the node numbers who've 'seen' the
message.
STrip Tear Line
If set to YES, removes the --- tear line.
Cel-Net Start Send
Time to start sending celerity netmail
Cel-Net End Send
The time to end sending celerity netmail.
Cel-Net Origin Line 1
Celerity netmail origin line #1.
Cel-Net Origin Line 2
Celerity Netmail origin line #2.
Delay net Time
Amount of time to delay celerity net calls when line is busy
before trying again.
CelerityNet String
The celerity netmail string shown in an area list in the message
section.
Matrix/Passwords
Matrix Logon Level
Minimum level required to get through the matrix. Set it to a
level greater then 1 to keep new users from logging on.
Is the System Private
If set to YES, new users will not be accepted on your board. If
you feel you're getting too many users or you wish to only allow
users on by invitation, set this to YES and create the accounts
yourself.
Hangup On New Users
If set to YES, the BBS will hang up on new users after they've
finished applying. Otherwise, they will be returned to the
matrix and allowed to login (depending on their new user access
of course). It's wise to make sure that new users can't get into
your board until after they are validated. So I suggest that
this option be set ON.
Matrix Type
Select the look and feel of the matrix. It is highly recommended
that you use the DOS matrix or the Pulldown matrix. They are the
best. But experiment and find the one you like best.
Matrix Chat
Set it to YES to allow users to page you from the MATRIX.
Matrix Feedback
Set it to YES to allow users to leave you feedback from the
MATRIX.
System Passwords
Sets the passwords needed to get into systems 1-3.
New User Password
The password needed to be able to apply as a new user. Commonly
known as the NUP.
Sysop Password
The password needed to perform sysop commands remotely. Users
must have sysop levels before they can do that of course.
Emergency Chat Password
The password needed to page the sysop when he is not available
for chat.
Matrix Prompt
The matrix prompt. ;)
Matrix Commands 1-8
This is the commands users must type to perform the proper
matrix actions. In order, they are: system1, system2, system3,
apply, check, logoff, feedback and chat.
Matrix Prompts
The prompts for each of the above commands.
Have Logon Whistle
If set to YES, three quick whistles will be sounded each time a
user logs on to your board. This could get quite annoying, and
has no time restrictions, so the choice to use this is all
yours.
Use Auto-Detect ANSi?
Kind of tedious, if set to YES, the BBS will attempt to detect
if a user has ANSi capabilities. I assume most of your users
have ANSi, so this option only accomplishes in wasting 5 seconds
of the users time when he logs on. The delay is rather annoying
to most. So use it if you deem it necessary.
Miscellaneous
Direct Video Addressing
Direct Video Addressing will greatly speed things up on the
local side. It sends all text to the screen using ultra fast
writes to your video memory. As a result, this may sometimes
create conflicts under Desqview or other multitasking
environments. It has been my experience that so long as you set
the Uses Direct Screen Writes in desqview to yes, you will have
no problems at all and things will still display relatively
fast. If you're running under desqview, experiment a little to
find out what the fastest setup is for your system.
Remote Door Editing
If set to YES, cosysops/sysops will be allowed to edit the doors
remotely. This option is available as a means of protection. IT
is possible that while the sysop edits the doors, he does
something wrong that leaves the board hung. Doors should only be
edited locally while the sysop is around to correct any
problems. However, if you have enough trust in yourself and your
cosysop then set this option to NO.
Allow Doors At All
Set this option to YES if you wish to have online door games.
Otherwise, set it to NO. For more information on setting up
doors (See Door Maintenance).
Allow Rumours
If set to YES, your board will use randomly generated rumours
that your users can enter from the main menu. Choose NO if you
don't want to user rumours.
Use One Liners
One liners are one line messages 70 characters or less. They
appear shortly after a user logs on, and prompts the user to add
a one-liner. Set this to NO if you don't want to use one-liners.
Use EMS
If set to YES, the BBS will load it's overlays into EMS. This
will greatly improve speed/performance. If you have 1 or more
megs of EMS free, then set this to YES.
Maximize Dos Shell
This works hand in hand with the Use EMS option. If set to YES,
it will attempt to swap as much memory as it can into EMS before
executing any dos shells (such as COMMAND.COM, PKZIP.EXE,
DSZ.COM, etc..). Set this to YES if you have the free EMS to
spare. It'll give the above mentioned applications more memory
to play with.
Use Printer Log
If set to YES, all crucial user actions will be sent to printer.
It uses the default PRN device.
Save Screen
If set to YES, the screen will blank at the WFC after 5 minutes
of inactivity.
Use Private Levels
If set to YES, users of higher levels will not be able to tell
the level of users under them. Ineffective at present, will be
removed.
Use BBS in Multi-Node
Set it to YES to user Multi-Node.
Node Number
If in Multi-Node, use this to distinguish it's node number.
Total Nodes
The Total Numbers of nodes in use.
Status Line Active
Set this to YES if you wish to have the users stats show up at
the bottom of the screen. They can be toggled On/Off while the
user is online with the Alt-B command.
Status Screen Type
The type of status screens users will see. We currently have 3
cool sets by Cyclonus, JeD and Slum-Dweller. Check them all out
and go with the ones you like the most.
Use Main Status Screen
If set to YES, the main status screen is displayed when a user
logons to the system.
Use File Status Screen
If set to YES, the file status screen is displayed when a user
enters the file section.
Use Msg Status Screen
If set to YES, the message status screen is displayed when a
user enters the message section.
Max Last Callers
The maximum number of callers displayed in the last callers
list.
Allow Usernote Edit
If set to YES, users will be allowed to change their own user
notes.
CONFIGURING YOUR SYSTEM
ViSiON-X is a powerful BBS package. But before you can make use
of it's features, it's essential that your system be setup
properly.
Let's start with the CONFIG.SYS file. The optimum case is one in
which your system has 4 or more megs of RAM. Although 640k is
all that is needed to run ViSiON-X, there's no harm in fine
tuning the performance of your board. Thus, if you have the
extended memory available, you should do the following:
Use the DOS=HIGH,UMB (using EMM386) or DOS=HIGH (QEMM)
command.
Load EMM386.EXE or QEMM386.SYS with 1 (or more) megs of
RAM and use the word RAM at the end of the line. For
example:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS 2048 RAM
Use a cache of 200k-2 Megs for extra speed. The more the
better. For example:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\SMARTDRIV.SYS 1000
If you have sufficient memory, you should also make use
of a RAMDISK. Set the WORK directory in your config to
point to the RAMDISK. You can do the same for the NETMAIL
directory as well to speeden things up. The more
directories you point to a RAMDISK, the faster things
will be. You should NEVER however make the BOARDS or TEXT
directories point into a RAMDISK (since a system crash
would result in the loss of ALL messages). For example:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 1000 1024 512 /e
Set your FILES to 40.
Set your BUFFERS to 20.
All other device drivers such as ANSI.SYS should be
loaded with the DEVICEHIGH command.
My experience has shown that QEMM is a more effective
memory manager (over DOS's EMM386) but that it is not as
reliable as EMM386. Try using QEMM (and it's STEALTH MODE
features.. read the QEMM MANUAL), and if problems
persist, switch to EMM386.
The following is a sample CONFIG.SYS:
device=c:\sys\qemm\qemm386.sys RAM ST:M
files=40
buffers=20
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /e:1024 /p
DEVICE=c:\dos\smartdrv.sys 2000
DEVICE=c:\dos\ramdrive.sys 2000 512 1024/e
DEVICE=c:\dos\ansi.sys
DOS=HIGH
Note that if you're using QEMM386 you can run the OPTIMIZE
program that comes with it to load those devices HIGH. The
DEVICEHIGH command has no effect with QEMM. However, if you use
EMM386, simply add the line DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS before
loading EMM386.EXE.
RUNNING ViSiON-X
In most cases, you will want to run your board by simply typing
ViSiON-X.EXE at the DOS prompt. If you are just starting your
board, you may have to run it a couple of times before all the
USER files and other data files are created. Once this is
completed, you will find yourself at the Waiting For Caller
(WFC) screen. This is essentially the base of all operations.
The WFC is responsible for answering the modem, handling netmail
and giving the sysop a chance to perform various functions
without logging onto the board. These will all be explained in
detail under the heading the WFC Screen.
Returning to the matter at hand, ViSiON-X will accept several
parameters. The following is a list:
/<baud> - Force Baud Rate
where baud is a valid baud rate. Using this option
effectively bypasses the WFC screen, and places the user
at the MATRIX. If the modem reports a NO CARRIER before
this point, the board will return to the WFC screen
instead.
This option is used primarily to transfer control from a
mailer, a telecommunications package, or another BBS
program. As an example, if you were running FrontDoor, it
would answer the phone itself and determine the baud
rate. You can configure FrontDoor to execute a batch file
(to run your bbs). Frontdoor will provide the baud rate
as a parameter. In your batch file, you can have the line
ViSiON-X /%1 to load your BBS at the connected rate.
Failing to do so, will result in the BBS toggling through
all the possible connect rates to determine the baud
rate.
Another example: if you connect with a user at 14.4k HST
in Qmodem, and you wish to transfer him to your board,
you would exit Qmodem and run ViSiON-X /14400 to get him
to the board.
/L or -L - Runs board in Local Mode
Use this option to run the board in LOCAL mode. All
modem commands are suppressed. In effect, you can run
your board without having to load the fossil driver or
even having a modem connected. Note that if you are
running a multinode system, the /L parameter act as a
non-node.. in other words, users won't KNOW you're even
there.
/POLL - Force polls the ViSiON-X Net
Use this option in your batch file to automatically force
the bbs to make a ViSiON-X based netcall. This can be
extremely useful for those running Frontdoor and FiDo
based nets. You can set up an event in your Frontdoor to
run ViSiON-X with the /POLL parameter.
<User Num> <baud> <parity> [menu]
This form of loading the board is used primarily in
running the doors or returning a user to the board after
a full drop to DOS. <User Num> is the user's number. The
<baud> can be any valid baud rate. A value of 0 indicates
a local logon. <Parity> should almost always be set to 0.
And [menu] which is optional, is the location to return
the user to. Currently, this can be M (for main menu) and
D (for doors). This will be expanded if deemed necessary.
SETTING UP BATCH FILES
Now that you know how ViSiON-X is run, you will have a better
comprehension of how to setup your batch files. The INSTALL
program will create this batch files for you automatically if
you ask it to. But for those who like to do things manually,
here's the run down on how the batch files work.
Basically, you will need two batch files. BBS.BAT and RUN.BAT.
You can call BBS.BAT anything you want, but RUN.BAT must be
named RUN.BAT for the doors to function.
The BBS.BAT is responsible for loading the fossil driver and
setting the path environments. It should then jump to RUN.BAT.
When first loading ViSiON-X you should call upon BBS.BAT. All
later attempts to load the board should be directed with
RUN.BAT.
Here's an example of BBS.BAT:
@echo off
Set DSZLOG=D:\ViSiON-X\KERMIE (Essential to file transfer)
D:
cd d:\ViSiON-X
x00 e (Load Fossil Driver)
xu lock:1:38400 fifo:15 (Setup Fossil)
run.bat (Call recursive batch file)
RUN.BAT is the backbone that keeps the board up and running. It
essentially will load the ViSiON-X.EXE, test for errorlevels
upon exit and take the appropriate actions (either loading the
board back up, terminating the process, or loading the
communications package).
Here's an example of RUN.BAT:
@echo off
D:
cd d:\ViSiON-X
vision-x %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
if errorlevel 255 goto Reboot
if errorlevel 111 goto Alt2
if errorlevel 110 goto ALT1
if errorlevel 90 goto FATAL
if errorlevel 9 goto CtrlBREAK
if errorlevel 4 goto EXIT
if errorlevel 3 goto Door
if errorlevel 2 goto EXIT
goto START
:ALT1
Echo Running QMODEM
call qmodem.bat
goto START
:ALT2
echo Running User Editor
USEREDIT.EXE
goto START
:START
echo Reloading BBS
D:
cd d:\source
run.bat
:DOOR
echo Running Door
call door.bat
goto START
:REBOOT
echo Rebooting
XU BOOT
:EXIT
echo - Exiting ViSiON-X 0.95 ─
You should take note of the errorlevels. Errorlevels of 110 to
119 can be used as macros. They are activated by holding down
the ALT key and pressing a number from 0-9 at the WFC screen. A
good use for them is to load up your TERM program, the
USEREDITOR, or even run the message PACKER.
Fatal Errors usually indicate major problems. They rarely occur,
but should such a thing happen, you should decide if you want it
to reboot and retry things, or simply sit at the DOS prompt for
you to return. Fatal Errors may spawm from hardware failures, or
loss of system integrity. Most sysops will never see this error,
so it's nothing to concern oneself with.
RUNNING ViSiON-X IN MULTINODE
ViSiON-X will run with any number of nodes. The only limit at
this time is that you may only use COM ports 1 and 2. So to have
more then 2 nodes, you'll need more then one computer. This will
be corrected in the near future, allowing for up to 8 COM ports
on a single computer.
The first step to setting up a multinode system is the fossil.
You need to load the fossil as a device driver and specify to
the fossil that it will be using more than one COM port at a
time. Using X00, you would have the following line in your
CONFIG.BBS:
DEVICE=C:\X00.SYS E 2 B,0,38400 B,1,38400
The above line tells X00 to use 2 com ports, and to lock com
ports 1 and 2 (Physical Ports 0 and 1) at 38400. The fossil
driver MUST be loaded before you run Desqview or any other
multitasking system.
Next you will need to create the node directories off your main
BBS directory. For example, create NODE1 and NODE2 off
C:\ViSiON-X:
MD C:\ViSION-X\NODE1
MD C:\ViSiON-X\NODE2
Copy (at least) the following files from your main ViSiON-X
directory into each of the node directories:
ViSiON-X.EXE BBS.BAT
ViSiON-X.OVR RUN.BAT
ViSiON-X.REG USEREDIT.EXE
CONFIG.EXE VGA.EXE
CONFIG.DAT PACKER.EXE
CONFIG.BBS FIDOMAIL.EXE (*Optional*)
Next you will have to go into each of the node directories and
run the CONFIG. THe only things you will really need to change
at this point are the following:
The path to the main BBS directory should be set to the node
directory.
The Com Port Number; set to the com port of this node
BBS Runs in MultiNode; set to YES
BBS Node Number; set to the node number
The Total Nodes; set to the total nodes you will be using.
Then edit each of the RUN.BAT's and BBS.BAT's so that they
remain in the NODE directories when they run. ViSiON-X.EXE must
run seperately from each of the node directories. Furthermore,
you must have the command SET DSZLOG=C:\ViSiON-X\NODE1\KERMIE
for node 1, SET DSZLOG=C:\ViSiON-X\NODE2\KERMIE for node 2, and
so on. These environment lines should be placed in the BBS.BAT
files in each of the respective node directories.
Now you're setup for multinode. Just configure your desqview
windows (experimenting with memory sizes and tick settings at
your leisure) to run the two different BBS.BAT files from their
respective NODEx directories.
If you are running ViSiON-X multinode under OS/2, it becomes a
bit more involved. First of, let me mention that the VCOM.SYS
and the COM.SYS that came with OS/2 are extremely buggy and
unfunctional to a great extent. Microsoft has released beta
updates of these drivers. They are called COMM22xx.ZIP and can
be found on the OS/2 support board.
Using these new updates, you will need to set COM_HARDWARE to
yes. I found this to be the fastest setting for my Courier HST
14.4k modem. Others who are running it with 16.8k leave it off.
Perhaps it has something to do with dual modems. Whatever the
case, expirement and choose the method that works best for you.
COM_HOLD should definitely be turned on. COM_SELECT should also
be on, although if you run into problems with this, choose the
COM port specific to the node window.
When loading the fossil driver, I have found that X00 will not
recognize the COM ports characteristics properly (i.e. 16550 as
opposed to a 16540) unless COM_HARDWARE is set to yes. Unlike
running under desqview, you will want to load a seperate version
of X00 in each window under OS/2. The command line should look
like this X00 e 1=COM2 (port 2 = com 2). I have my mouse on
com1. If i omit to tell it that the one com port i want is COM2,
it will try to use COM1 and OS/2 will give me some bogus error.
This way I'm telling X00 and OS/2 that I only want one COM Port,
logical port 1 (the 2nd port) named COM2. Similarly, if you only
wanted COM1 you would type X00 e 0=COM1. Since this is the
default, X00 e would suffice.
Now we come to another part were sysops disagree and
experimentation is called for. I feel that the fossil should be
locked for high speed modems, others disagree. So I use the
command XU LOCK:1:38400 to lock my COM2 modem at 38400 baud. I
have a 16550 Fifo so i lock it at 38400. A normal courier would
be locked at 19200 and a dual would be locked at 38400. A 16.8k
modem should theoritcally be locked at 57600.
Even though I lock my modem at 38400, XU reports that it is not
in locked mode, even tho the locked baud rate IS set. This is
another OS/2 bug they've yet to correct. My modem lights show NO
flow control whatsover. And even with my 16550 I get the
occasional (tho rarer now) error and poor CPS for uploads. This
could be attributable to my modem being a Courier and OS/2 not
knowing diddly squat about modems. But let's leave that behind
us and get this thing working.
Try running the board without it being locked and see if your
users CPS rates are acceptable and weather or not they lose data
and get errors.
A note to the wise. Tho it's cute to see 2 or 3 nodes running
simultaeously under OS/2, it does hell to the modem performance.
For this reason, you should not window each node.. but hide them
or bring one of them to full screen. Unless you have a fast
computer and an even faster video card, all those graphic screen
writes will eat up CPU time like crazy. Think of your users,
give them the speed they expect.
Another point of note, somebody hacked a version of X00 and
renamed it to 1.49a or something like that, claiming that it
would work under OS/2. His attempt to outsmart OS/2's bugs fell
quite short. Use the new drivers and the original X00 fossil
driver.
MULTINODE COMMANDS
ViSiON-X is proud to boast the most phenomenal and unique
multinode chat system seen anywhere. The multinode chat consists
of up to 4 real-time chat 'windows' that each user can see and
type in. The instant they hit a character, it is echoed to all
the other nodes. You won't see any of this lame 1 line at a time
chat system found in softwares like Celerity, Prism, Oblivion
etc.. ViSiON-X is the FIRST and ONLY to make use of real time
multinode chat.
Furthermore, ViSiON-X offers a quick messaging system that
allows any user to send a brief one line message to another
node. THis message is seen instantaneously on the other node's
screen. It will disappear after 30 seconds or until the screen
is scrolled up.
As of 0.96, the following commands are accesible (from anywhere)
for multinode commands:
/PAGE
This will summon another node. The other node(s) can then
enter /CHAT to enter multinode chat.
/SEND
This sends a one line message to any node currently
online.
/CHAT
Enters multinode chat. There must be at least 2 nodes
already in chat or user must have been paged, to be able
to enter into chat.
/HELP
Displays a brief description of the above commands. Note,
these commands ONLY work if you are running in multinode.
EXTERNAL EXECUTABLES
ViSiON-X comes with a number of tools and external files. Each
of their use will be explained below:
INSTALL.EXE
Used to install ViSiON-X onto your hard drive. You should
also use the install program that comes with all upgrades
to upgrade to the latest version.
VGA.EXE
This is the main EXE file that displays the VGA intro. It
is used by ViSiON-X.EXE to display the ViSiON-X intro
screen and animate it.
CONFIG.EXE
This is the main CONFIG file. It will provide you with a
means to configure your board settings.
PACKER.EXE
This is the message base packer. It compresses all your
messages to the smallest possible size. See the section
on MESSAGE PACKING later in this document.
USEREDIT.EXE
The external USER editor. Much more versatile then the
built in editors. This editor provides many advanced
features. Experiment with it to get the feel of the
program.
FIDOMAIL.EXE
This program acts as a converter to make ViSiON-X FidoNet
compatible. It will take ViSiON-X messages and convert
them to the *.MSG format originally used by Fido. Read
the portion on FIDOMAIL for more information.
Other external files are bound to appear. Generally, they will
have a little .NFO file explaining the purpose of that file. You
should be cautious about any external file you run that is not
written by the ViSiON-X team or that is included with an older
package of ViSiON-X. Record Structures are constantly being
updated and changed, so there's a good chance that some of these
extra utilities you come across will not work with your version
of ViSiON-X.
ONLINE SYSOP COMMANDS
Sysops have a variety of tools available to them while the user
is online. Press Alt-H for a summary of available commands. You
will see the following options:
F1 Chat with user using the default chat mode.
F2 Online Sysop Tools
F3 Pops up chat selection screen.
F6 Run CONFIG program.
F7 Sysop gets system next. BBS will fall to DOS after
user logs off. It will sound a brief whistle to
alert you that the user is done.
F8 Locks the clock timer. User time left does not
change.
F9 Toggles acceptance of modem input.
F10 Toggles output to modem.
Alt-A Toggles Chat availability.
Alt-B Toggles Bottom status line. Status line cycles from
4 pages of information and then turns off.
Alt-C Toggles texttrap. All user activity is logged to a
file called TEXTTRAP in your main BBS directory.
Alt-D Local shell to DOS.
Alt-K Takes away all of user's time.
Alt-L Subtract 5 minutes from users time.
Alt-M Add 5 minutes to users time.
Alt-N Quick Hangup on user with fake line noise
Alt-S View User Stats
Alt-T Toggle temporary sysop access.
Alt-V Auto Validate User
Alt-= Autovalidate user
Ctl-PrtSc Toggle printer echo
Up-Arrow Shows the 32k full color scrollback (if enabled)
Note that the majority of toggles will appear in the bottom
status line when they are enabled. Certain important ones like
HACKER alert, and TEMP SYSOP ACCESS will flash in the status
line.
The Online Sysop Tools provides the following options:
F1 Edit User
F2 Set User Access Flags
F3 Other Commands
F4 Shell to DOS
F5 Full Drop To DOS
F6 Run CONFIG program
F7 Currently Reserved for later use
F8 Chat Commands
F9 Displays the FINGERS.BBS file to user. Consider this as
a means of conveying an unfriendly gesture to annoying
users.
F10 Quit Sysop Commands
While inside the user editor, you can use the cursor keys to
manoeuvre and change the user items. They take immediate effect.
To exit the user editor option, press ESC.
The Set User Access Flags provides another menu where you can
set the user's main conference flags, board access flags,
subboard access flags (for message areas) and sysop access
flags. See the section on SECURITY LEVELS and ACCESS FLAGS for
more information on the user of these features.
The Other Commands option provides the sysop with some extra
functions. Currently, there's not much in this menu. You can do
any of the following:
Hangup on the user
Delete the User (Nuke him!)
Turn Snoop mode On/Off
The Other Commands menu will most likely have more options added
to it in later versions.
The difference between a SHELL to DOS and a FULL DROP to DOS is
that the SHELL keeps the BBS in memory (and attempts to swap it
into EMS if possible) before entering the command interpreter.
The sysop can then enter EXIT <ENTER> to return back to the BBS.
A FULL DROP however, will unload the BBS and return to DOS. To
return back to the BBS at this point, you will need to enter
RETURN <ENTER>. RETURN.BAT is a file that is created that will
reload the BBS and palace the user who was online at the time of
your FULL DROP back into the main menu.
The CHAT COMMANDS is identical to the menu you get when you
press F3. You get a choice of 5 different chat modes. Four split
screen chats (two vertical and two horizontal) and a single line
chat.
SECURITY LEVELS and ACCESS FLAGS
ViSiON-X has a variety of means for controlling the access
privileges users are entitled to. The most often used one is the
user level. The user level can be any value from 1 to 32767. You
can set minimum user levels in the message and file areas that
users must satisfy before they can have access to that area.
In addition to the user levels, you may also give users
different BOARD FLAGS. Board flags are like little keys. You
have a choice of 30 different keys, numberered 1-30. The areas
you create (either message or file) can have an optional flag
numbered assigned to it. This acts as a lock on the area. In
order for a user to have access to an area with flag number 3
(for example), he must himself possess that same flag (key).
In addition to this, there is another means by which users can
be granted or denied access to message areas (termed ACCESS
FLAGS). For each user, you can determine (for each message area)
if the user is to be allowed based on his user level, allowed in
regardless of level, or kicked out regardless of level. In these
cases, board flags take precedence over access flags.
You may also give users sysop powers in limited quantities.
Users you trust can be assigned as sponsors. Their powers are
not quite those of a sysop. In fact they're quite limited. But
they do have the ability to perform a wide variety of actions
depending on which sysop flags they received. You can give them
sponsor access to the messages, the file section, the doors, the
rumours, the email section, the database section and the main
section, as well as any combination of the previous. You should
be careful who you give main menu sponsor access to. They will
be able to edit users (not your account, but other users') as
well as view the system log and change some of the configuration
parameters.
You may also assign cosysops for your board. To give a user
cosysop access simply give him a main user level equal to or
greater then the minimum level for cosysop that you chose in
your CONFIG.
QWK MESSAGE SUPPORT
A popular format for offline readers is the QWK system. ViSiON-X
is fully compatible with most QWK readers. With this feature,
your users can compiler an archive with the extension .QWK (in
actually a collection of 3 files packaged into a ZIP file) and
download it. This gives the users the opportunity to read all
the new messages at their leisure after they've logged off. This
can prove quite useful for long distance callers who would not
prefer to spend so much time reading messages. Furthermore, it
gives them more time for file transfers.
QWK has a reply packet counterpart with the extension REP. As
the users are reading the messages in the QWK packet (using
their favorite offline mail reader), they can reply to the
messages. The messages are appended with a tagline indicating
where the message came from. When the user exists the offline
reader, his message replys are packaged into the .REP file. The
next time the user logs onto that board, he can upload the reply
packet and receive credit for his posts.
All QWK and REP packets have the name ViSiONX?.QWK or ViSiON-
X?.REP. Here, the question mark (?) represents the conference
number where the messages were taken from. Users must ensure
that they send the REP packet to the proper conference.
FILE CREDIT SYSTEM
For the majority of BBS's, the online files are going to be the
most essential (and mostly overabused) part of their board.
Depending on the inclinination of the sysop, there are a variety
of way in which files are given value.
The simplest is making all files free. In the CONFIG, you set
the UPLOAD FACTOR, the UD RATIO and the UD k RATIO to 0. This
means the users have no restriction on how much they can
download (with the exception of their daily time limit).
Conversely, you can 'inflict' ratios upon your users. These UD
and UD k RATIOS determine how much a user must upload before he
can download. You can use any combination of these two ratios.
The difference between UD and UD k is that the first is the
ratio of the number of files uploaded/downloaded and the latter
is the ratio of the size of files uploaded/downloaded.
Another system which some sysops may prefer is the file point
system. Here, each file is given a file rating based on it's
size. For example, to charge 1 file point for each 100k you
would set the AUTOMATIC UPLOAD FACTOR (in the CONFIG) to 100. A
user must possess the minimum number of file points required to
download the file(s). The user can gain file points by uploading
(in a ratio set by the UPLOAD FACTOR item in the CONFIG) and, if
enabled, by FILE POINT COMPENSATION. Compensation means that
users will receive file points for their uploads each time
another user downloads their file. This tends to promote good
uploads. No one will download old stuff (unless you're flocked
with lamers) and the uploader would never receive any credits
for bad uploads.
If you ever feel a twinkle in your heart, or a sense of
compassion or goodwill, you may want to temporarily make all
files free. The best way to do this is to set LEECHWEEK on. As
long as this is turned on in the CONFIG, users will be able to
download anything regardless of their ratios or file points.
Once you turn leech week back off, they're back to where they
started.
NEWUSER SECURITY AND INFORMATION
Although new users are usually always welcome, there are those
bad elements that float around there that you don't particularly
want hanging around your board, trying to hack their way into
anything. And sometimes, it's just a case of not wanting any
lamer that happens to war dial your board to get anywhere. At
any case, ViSiON-X provides several methods of matrix security
in this regard.
First, we'll discuss the NEWUSER PASSWORD. This is an item found
in your CONFIG. Before any new user can apply to your board they
must have this password. It's usually a good idea to change it
from time to time. Give it out only to those you want calling
your board, or post it on those nets or boards you feel have
quality users.
In the CONFIG, there is an option called HANGUP ON NEW USERS. I
strongly suggest that you have this set to YES. In this way,
once a user has finished applying and sending his feedback to
the sysop, he will be disconnected. If this is set to NO, he
will have access to your board's MAIN MENU. He can view your
ANSI's and whatever else comes with the priviledge level you
assign to your new users. It's best to be safe then sorry. Show
no more of your board than what is deemed necessary.
A useful means of determining which users qualify as good ones,
is the INFOFORMS. Infoforms are basically questionaire files
that they fill out while they're online. You can disguise them
in splendid animation, but what it comes down to is an answer
for each question. You can create INFOFORMS using the draw. The
filenames are called INFOFORM.1, INFOFORM.2,... INFOFORM.5. The
last infoform is reserved for New User Voting (discussed later).
To create an infoform, you run THEDRAW and design the layout of
the form. Once you've completed the layout (i.e. the setup and
the questions), you must convert the ansi into an animation
ansi. Then maneouver your cursor to where you'd like the answers
to appear and place the * character there. When ViSiON-X comes
to display the infoforms, the * will indicate that it is to wait
for a respones from the user. There are usually samples of
INFOFORMS floating around that you can use as examples.
The CONFIG allows you to make any number of the INFOFORMS
mandatory. You may want to make use of this feature to force new
users to fill out a Sysop Infoform and the NUV infoform. Any
user who doesn't have the time to fill these out properly is
probably not worth your time.
Although, this method leaves a lot of decision making up to the
sysop, it is sometimes preferable to have the new user voted on
by his peers. Hence, NEW USER VOTING (NUV). Make sure you have
an INFOFORM.5 made out. This infoform will be accessible to all
the users on your board when they come to vote on the new user.
You can set the number of YES votes required to validate the
user, and the number of NO votes required to delete the new user
in the CONFIG. No one user can vote more then once on the same
new user and the sysop still has overriding powers. Furthermore,
each time a new user is validated or deleted by NUV, you will be
notified by means of a notice. This allows you to keep an eye on
who's getting through the NUV. NUV provides several powerful
features. One of which is the ability to leave comments about
the user you've voted on. The other voters will be able to read
the comments and see who it was that left them. This will aid
them in their decisions. In most cases, you may want to set the
level required to use NUV fairly high, so that only the better
element of users on your board can vote. You don't want lamers
voting in lamers.
MATRIX SECURITY
The matrix is where the users begin their quest on your board.
It is here that they are able to APPLY for new access, CHECK
their access, or LOGON to your system. It is recommended that
you make use of a SYSTEM PASSWORD on your board. The system
password is given to validated users (using the CHECK command)
and is required to log into the system. This throws another
barrier to those hackers who like to take wild guesses at the
sysops password. Although you will be notified of any such hack
attempts, it's a good idea to stop them before they get the
chance. In most cases, they cannot enter a password wrong more
then 3 times. Doing so usually results in them being
disconnected and a brief notice to the user being hacked. The
SYSTEM password prevents any user from attempting to logging on
unless they know it.
The MATRIX can also provide FEEDBACK and CHAT options. It's
completely up to you if you wish to use these options. It can
get quite annoying if rejected newusers start leaving you
feedback all the time, crying and asking the old question "Why
haven't I been validated yet?". <sigh>
A good deterent to these annoying pests is the system blacklist.
Any user added to the blacklist (either from the sysop menu, or
when a user is deleted) will not be allowed to login, chat,
leave feedback or anything. When an ANSI of a hand with the
middle finger comes up extended with the caption FUCK YOU LAMER
above, users tend to get the impression that they're not wanted.
PROTOCOL, TRASHCAN AND FILE SECURITY
An important issue to running a BBS is file security and board
integrity. DSZ leaves a sysop open to attacks by hackers if it's
not configured properly. Use the PROTEDIT.EXE to look over all
your upload protocol files. You must make sure that the DSZ
command line has the command -p (lowercase p) at the end. For
example:
CommandLine: Port %1 speed %2 est len %3 rz -mp
The above line with receive files into the upload directory
using zmodem's MobyTurbo. Note the -p is used to tell DSZ to
prevent uploads from overwriting existing files. If this command
is left out, it is possible for uploaders to send you their own
autoexec.bat into your root directory. Anything can happen from
there on. The default protocols that come with ViSiON-X 0.95
have the -p command included. Make sure that your protocols have
it as well.
Greater file security is achieved with the TRASHCAN. Basically,
any file specification found inside this text file will not be
accepted. It will be moved into the BAD directory for your
inspection. It is recommended that you include the following in
there:
*.BAT All Batch files
*.SYS All system files
*.COM All COM files
*.EXE All EXE files
Some sysops may want to leave the *.EXE out for VGA loaders and
similar files. But for optimum security, include all the above
and anything else you can think of that could possibly cause you
problems. This TRASHCAN file is found in your main BBS
directory. Note that the following file specs are hard coded
into ViSiON-X:
ViSiON-X.EXE
ViSiON-X.COM
DOORWAY.*
COMMAND.*
DSZ.*
The TRASHCAN will track down the files no matter where they are
uploaded. It is essential that you make sure you have that -p
command in your protocols to prevent any of your files from
being overwritten.
Although the -p (prevent overwrite) command is usually
sufficient to protect a system, those who find themselves not
fully convinced of their security can take a further method to
insure safety. For the batch uploads, rather then using DSZ.COM,
select the file to execute as DSZ.BAT (and specify a full path
to it so that no other DSZ.BAT can be run in it's stead). For
the commandline, use: %1 %2 rz. In your DSZ.BAT batch file, you
will have something like this:
@ECHO OFF
CD %4
C:\ViSiON-X\DSZ.COM port %1 speed %2 restrict %3 %4
CD C:\ViSiON-X
This batch file in effect changes the current directory to your
uploads directory. And then it executes the DSZ.COM found in
your main BBS directory (DO NOT leave out the path.. you
wouldn't want to be executing a DSZ.COM that someone just
uploaded there). Note the keyword restrict (all in lowercase).
This is a DSZ command that does several things:
Prevents the user from uploading autoexec.bat and
command.com
Prevents the user from uploading a file outside the
current directory (obviously the most important feature)
Prevents the user from overwriting existing files.
If you're not clear on how the %1-%4 keywords work, I'll give
you a brief narrative. ViSiON-X will execute the DSZ.BAT with
the port (%1), the speed (%2), the protocol mode (RZ for
example), and the directory (%4). You don't see the directory
name tacked on in the command line, and do not include it.
ViSiON-X will automatically append it to the %1 %2 rz command
line. When the batch file (DSZ.BAT) runs, it will find that it
has been given 4 parameters, %1 through %4. Naturally, the %3
used in the batch file is the protocol mode and the %4 will be
the directory that you will be switching to. This method is by
no means set. You can send the parameters to the batch file, and
setup the batch file anyway you like, providing you understand
how the parameters are sent.
This method provides the highest degree of security and the
highest degree of work. But once you have it all setup, you can
feel safe in knowing that you're system is hacker-proof.
NETMAIL SETUP
ViSiON-X has a built in netmail handler. No external front end
or mailer is required at all. Setting up your netmail is fairly
simple, just follow these simple steps:
Run the CONFIG program. Set the following items:
Line Descriptions Sample Settings
- Net Start Sending 4:00 AM
- Net End Send 4:30 AM
- Net Name |05FelonyNet
- Net Password sinister
- Netmail String NET
- Extender Prefix
- Extender Suffix
- Netmail Origin Line #1 ViSiON-X HQ
- Netmail Origin Line #2 613.728.4861
- Is this BBS a HUB? NO
- Netmail EXE Name DSZ.COM
- Netmail Upload CmdLine PORT %1 SZ
- Netmail Download CmdLine PORT %2 RZ
Enter the SYSOP menu. Select NODELIST EDITOR. There you will
create the node using the following items:
Item Description Sample Settings
- Node Password NETMAILTEST
- Node Name The NTG
- Node Phone Number 13133482829
- Node Baud Rate 38400
- The node ID Address 1:613
Once you select your node ID you will be prompted for the
netmail base ID's. These are numbers ranging from 1 to 255
which identify the net message area. You will receive a list
of the current message bases supported in any given net once
you apply and are accepted. It is during this time that you
will be assigned a NODE ID and a NODE PASSWORD. Without those
two items, you cannot net.
Enter the message section. It is preferable that you create a
seperate conference for the net. However, it is not necessary
to do so. ViSiON-X will find all netmail bases regardless of
which conference they appear in. When you create an area, you
will be asked if this is a netmail sub. Answer YES. Then you
will be prompted for the net type. Select 1 for ViSiON-X, or
2 for CelerityNet. When prompted for the net ID, enter the
number assigned to that message sub in the netmail list you
received.
A point of note here. If you are having problems with DSZ then
it is most likely as a result of baud conflict. Most Sysops have
the command PORT %1 SPEED %2 .. as their command lines. To be on
the safe side, you should change that to PORT %1 .. that way,
the connect speed is used as opposed to a prefixed baud rate.
That's all there is to setting up a ViSiON-X net. To join an
existing net (either FelonyNet or ToxicNet), contact Aftermath
at the Nevada Testing Grounds, 313.348.2829 for more
information.
FIDO NETMAIL
ViSiON-X offers FidoNet compatible messaging. It is
appropriately called FIDOMAIL. To make use of FIDOMAIL, you will
have to obtain FrontDoor (another front end mail handler will
do, but this is the best) and TossScan (you must register this
with the author). You are responsible for reading all the
documentation that comes with these two packages to setup your
node. I will not go any further in this regard.
Basically, you will run the program FIDOMAIL.EXE each time a
user logs off your board (place it in your RUN.BAT). This is
assuming you want to support CRASH mail (instantaneous netmail).
If you wish to net only once a night, then you can run
FIDOMAIL.EXE as an event just before your netmail begins.
FIDOMAIL uses the following syntax:
FIDOMAIL.EXE <option> [Conference]
Where <option> can be IMPORT (to toss messages into ViSiON-X),
EXPORT (to scan messages from ViSiON-X) and PURGE (to delete old
*.MSG files). The Conference number is optional. If left out, it
assumes conference 1. You can use the word ALL for the
conference to have it scan/toss through all message conferences.
FIDOMAIL EXPORT will convert all the new vision-x messages into
the *.MSG format. The tosser (TossScan for example) is
responsible for 2taking these *.MSG files and making packets out
of them for FrontDoor to send. Similarly, TossScan will take the
packets that FrontDoor returns and unarchive them back into the
*.MSG files. You would then run FIDOMAIL IMPORT to convert all
the *.MSG files into the ViSiON-X format.
When creating the message areas to be used for FidoMail, you
will be asked the address. This is your node address and is
usually in the form 1:649/100 The net you join will inform you
of your node address. You will also be asked for the message
directory. This should point to a different area for each fido
net base you want to support. Fido bases usually come with TAGS
such as GENERAL, SOFTWARE, LOCSYSOP, etc.. You can use these as
a basis for specifying the msg directories. For example, if you
had a message based for General Discussions, you would set the
address to C:\ViSiON-X\FIDO\GENERAL\. When the FIDOMAIL program
runs, it will place and receive messages from this directory.
Another option you will be asked is if you want to use real
names. Most fido nets refuse to allow handles in the net. This
will force the real names of your users to be substituted for
their handles. THe choice is up to you and will likely depend on
the net you wish to join.
I will admit theat FidoNet is now at the beginning of it's
testing phase. I'm releasing it now so that other sysops can
test it out with various systems. I've never been much adept at
FrontDoor, FidoNet and the whole shabang. So the venture is
entirely theirs. I would hope tho, that these sysops will take
the effort to inform me of any bugs or problems they encounter
with FIDOMAIL. If anybody's having trouble setting up FrontDoor
then DO NOT ASK ME CAUSE I DON'T HAVE A CLUE. That is one tough
bitch, but it's the best.
As for the tossin of mail, I can probably help quite a lot here.
I managed to test this out with a Fido based net and it worked
great. The tosser I used is called SQUISH. You can find it on
most PD boards. It's a nicely written program and real quick.
Setting it up is relatively easy. There are 3 configuration
files that go with SQUISH. Let's go through them, one by one.
COMPRESS.CFG
This file determines how the mail is to be archived. I.e.
whether to use PKZIP, ARJ, etc.. and what the command lines
will be. SQUISH comes with a COMPRESS.CFG file that's all set,
you don't have to do anything here.
ROUTE.CFG
This determines where your mail should be sent and how. It is
sufficient in most cases to have this one single line in that
file: SEND CRASH WORLD
SQUISH.CFG
This is the main SQUISH configuration file. The most important
things in this file are the node address (ex: 1:649/666) and
the net bases. The net bases should be written in the
following form:
EchoArea GENERAL C:\fido\GENERAL\ -p100:649/666 100:649/1
EchoArea WARES C:\fido\WARES\ -p100:649/666 100:649/1
etc..
Note that the word GENERAL and WARES must be in uppercase.
These are the area tags you get in Fido based nets. The path
that follows it points into directories where the *.MSG files
will be kept. These paths should be IDENTICAL to the ones you
entered as the message directory when creating a Fido Base.
The -p should be followed by your node address (the same as
the one you used when you created the fido base). Note there
is no space between the -p and the address. Then skip a space
and enter the address of the HUB you will be sending those
messages to.
Squish has other options that are necessary, such as supplying
the path to where the messages will be kept (C:\FD\SQUISH) for
example) where bad messages are kept, etc. It's up to you to
read the SQUISH dox to get an idea of exactly what needs to be
done.
Then you have to set yourself up with FrontDoor. I will only
mention the essentials pertaining to ViSiON-X. Simply put, you
must set up all your paths to the directory where the packaged
messages will be placed and read from. (C:\FD\SQUISH,
C:\FD\MAIL\) Again, you can find this info in the dox. You
must also enter your main address (the 1:649/666 or whatever
it is) in FrontDoor. Frontdoor will scan the SQUISH directory
for packaged mail and send them out (assuming it's CRASH
mail). Again read the FrontDoor dox. When you receive mail,
they will be placed in the C:\FD\MAIL directory. Frontdoor
will exit the batch file with an errorlevel you determine.
Let's assume this errorlevel is 100.
Now that you have everything setup, here's what you have to do
with ViSiON-X. In the RUN.BAt that keeps your board up, add
the following lines under the :START label (just before it
loads the board back up):
FIDOMAIL EXPORT ALL ; Convert messages into *.MSG
SQUISH OUT SQUASH ; Package them into SQUISH dir
FIDOMAIL PURGE ALL ; Delete old *.MSG files
Now say later on you receive mail and FD exists with
errorlevel 100. You should in the FD.BAT have it call a little
batch file that has the following lines:
SQUISH IN LINK ; Create *.MSG from MAIL dir
FIDOMAIL IMPORT ALL ; Convert *.MSG into ViSiON-X
FIDOMAIL PURGE ; Deleted old *.MSG files
Everywhere you see the word ALL, you can substitute a
conference number. This is only if you have ALL fido bases in
the same conference.
Anyone having problems setting this up can go ask somebody
else. I will not answer ANY questions about FIDO. I think it's
as lame as Oblivion and I will not spend anymore of my time on
this. Enjoy.
ONLINE DOORS MAINTENANCE
This BBS is fully able to support all types of doors. It
generates three popularly used door information files. These are
the DORINFOx.DEF files used in RBBS type doors, PCBOARD.SYS for
PCBoard doors and USERSPEC for other miscellaneous doors. These
are created and updated automatically each time a user opens a
door. It also creates DOOR.BAT and TEMPDOOR.BAT. Later versions
of ViSiON-X will most likely support the DOOR.SYS format which
has been gaining popularity in recent years. The DORINFOx.DEF
file is usually sufficient for most door programs. If you wish
to run a door who's format is not yet supported by ViSiON-X, you
can use a utility that will convert door formats. You can find
these on most PD boards. They're quite numerous in quantity, as
a matter of fact. If you would like to see a certain format
implemented, get in touch with the Author and let him know about
it.
Once the user opens the door, the ViSiON-X BBS system removes
itself completely from memory and exists with an errorlevel.
This errorlevel triggers a call to DOOR.BAT in your RUN.BAT.
DOOR.BAT calls TEMPDOOR.BAT which is a copy of the door batch
file you create with each door. (Read the doors documentation to
find out how it needs to be run). Generally, you will want to
place your door files in subdirectors of the ViSiON-X\DOORS
directory and place the batch files needed to run these doors in
the ViSiON-X\DOORS directory. Once doors are finished, the board
reloads itself and places the user back in the door menu. For
doors to function properly, you must name the batch file that
keeps your board up as RUN.BAT.
That's all there is too it. If you have problems setting up your
doors contact us for immediate support.
CONFIGURABLE CHAT
ViSiON-X, thanx to the ingenuity of High Voltage, has a fully
confugirable chat system. The Sysop (or his charges) can setup
and ANSI file to be used as the CHAT backdrop, and dictate how
and where the chat is to work.
A program is included called CHATCFG.EXE. Before you can use it,
you must create a CHATxx.ASC and a CHATxx.ANS file. The [xx]
indicates a number. It doesn't have to be two digits long. It
could even be blank. (ex: CHAT.ASC, CHAT1.ASC CHAT33.ASC). You
create as many different chats as you want to use. They don't
all have to made the same day of course.
To create the .ANS and .ASC files, load up Thedraw and create
your ANSI files. You should plan how the chat is going to look
like, i.e. Where the user's text will appear, the sysops, the
time variables, etc.. For an example, look at Ryec's or High
Voltage's chats. (They will NOT be installed. You should unzip
the file called CHATSAMP.ZIP and follow the readme.nfo file in
there).
Once you've finished the design, run the program CHATCFG. It
will bring you to a menu. It is all basically self explanatory.
Suffice it to say that all your configurable chats are added
into a file called CHAT.DAT in the DATA directory. When you
first create a chat, you will be shown a blueprint of your Chat
Screen (the .ASC file) and asked to move the cursor around and
press ENTER. THe prompts at the bottom explain what is required
of you and are fairly explanatory.
During this phase, the following keys are available:
<ENTER> Confirm <LEFT> Go left
<ESC> Abort/Skip <RIGHT> Go right
<TAB> Move right 8 characters. <UP> Go up
<S-TAB> Move left 8 characters. <DOWN> Go down
The chat configuring process involves 6 parts:
Determining the local chat behavior
Determining the remote chat behavior
Placing the local (sysop's) handle
Placing the remote user's handle
Placing the current time
Placing the elapsed time
Note that all but the first two are optional. But to be
complete, you should define all 6 parts. Once you've finished,
you will be reminded to copy your CHATxx.ANS file into your
textfile directory. Now you are ready to use it!
Logon locally, press F3 for the Chat Menu. Select Conf. Chat
(colored or uncolored) and select your chat.
A brief explanation of the color system is required here. In the
CONFIG, you will find under the heading COLORS, 8 options for
chat color. The first 3 are used for the remote user, the next
3 for the sysop. The first of the 3 is the highlight color (All
uppercase characters), the second is the regular color (normal
text) and the third is the punctuation and numbers color. If you
select the uncolored chat, then only the 2nd colors of the
remote and local colors will be used.
EXTERNAL FILES
The following is a list and a brief description of all the
external files you can use to give your board it's own custom
look. All files are resident in your TEXTFILE directory.
Note that in the external menus, you may have 3 different
extensions:
ANS (for ANSI viewers)
ASC (for Ascii only)
AVT (for AVATAR users)
Generally you will only need to create the .ANS files, but the
other extensions are available should you feel inclined to
support non-Ansi and AVATAR users. ANSi files will be converted
to AVATAR codes on the fly for users who make use of the AVATAR
support. However, it would be slightly faster to have the .AVT
files there instead. Seeing that there's not a total resurgence
of AVATAR editors, ANSi files will probably be the easiest to
create and maintain.
External Menus
BBSLISTM ANS BBS List Menu
BULLETM ANS Message Menu
CONFIGLM ANS Local Configuration Menu
CONFIGM ANS Sysop User Configuration Menu
DATAM ANS Database Menu
DOORSM ANS Doors Menu
DSYSOPM ANS Sysop Doors Menus
EMAILM ANS Email Menu
EMAILS ANS Email Reminder or Note for Sponsor
ESCANM ANS Email Scan Menu
ESYSOPM ANS Sysop Email Menu
FBATCHM ANS File Batch Menu
FCHANGEM ANS File Change Menu
FEDITM ANS File Edit Menu
FEEDM ANS Feedback Menu
FILEM ANS File Menu
FSYSOPM ANS Sysop File Menu
FSYSOPS ANS Sysop/Sponsor File Note/Menu
GROUPM ANS Group Editing Menu
MAINM ANS Main Menu
NEWSM ANS News Menu
RUMORM ANS Rumour Menu
SDOORSM ANS Sysop Doors Menu
SPONSORM ANS Sysop Message Menu
SYSOPM ANS Sysop Main Menu
UEDITM ANS User Editor Menu
VOTINGM ANS Voting Menu
VSYSOPM ANS Sysop Voting Menu
Custom Messages
FILENEWS BBS Appears right after the user enters the file
section.
FINGER BBS Throw the Bird ANSI used in the online sysop
menu.
MATNEWS BBS Appears right before the matrix prompt when
the user first connects.
EMLNEWS BBS This is displayed in the email menu.
MATRIX BBS A matrix menu (Ansi), optional.
MATRIX NOW This is displayed after the ANSI/AVATAR
autodetect
NETHRS BBS This is displayed when the BBS is in netmail
hours.
PRELOGON BBS Text file or ansi that appears after the user
Logs in and before he's prompted for his
alias/password.
PRIVHOR BBS This is displayed when the board is in private
hours.
WANTLIST BBS This is the sysops file want list (X from the
file menu)
ANSI Greetings
BLACKLST SCR This is used to give the user an explanation
for why he was placed on the black list.
BLACKLST ANS This is the ANSI to give a black listed user.
GOODBYE ANS Users see this when they logoff your system.
WELCOME ASC The welcome screen for ASCII users.
WELCOME 1 The welcome screen for ANSI users. You may
have up to 99 different welcome screens. Just
call them WELCOME.2, WELCOME.3, etc.. And set
the total number of welcome screens in your
config.
Miscellaneous
DONATION Donations screen ($ from main menu)
EDITHELP ANS Full Screen Editor Online Help
EDITHELP One-Line Message Editor Online Help
INFOFORM 1 Infoforms for users to fill out. You may have
up to 5.
NICETRY Hack attempt ansi screen.
SUMMON This is displayed when a user pages sysop.
TIMESUP This is displayed when the user's time runs
out.
VISION-X AD Any ViSiON-X Advertisement (& from main menu)
ZIPCOMNT TXT This is the zip comment added to files
TRASHCAN Filenames found in this file will not be
accepted as uploads.
KILLLIST Files in here will be deleted if found inside
uploaded archives.
NETBLACK.LST This is a file used for HUBS. Essentially, any
handles found in here will have their messages
ignored when the HUB receives netmail. This is
an extreme form of censorship and should only
be used on users who are completely abusing
the net.
MCI CODES
MCI codes are tokens that begin with the PIPE (|) character and
are followed by 2 alpha-numeric characters. Color codes are
displayed in this manner. Valid ranges are |01 to |15. You must
have the preceeding 0 for color numbers 1 to 9. MCI codes can be
used in all external files listed above. In addition to the
color tokens, the following codes are also available (don't
forget the | prefix):
UH - User Handle UL - Main Level
FL - File Level FP - File Points
NU - Number of Uploads ND - Number of Downloads
UK - Upload K DK - Download K
UN - User Note BR - Last Baud Rate
TT - Time Left Today LC - Last Caller
C1 - Conf 1 Access C2 - Conf 2 Access
C3 - Conf 3 Access C4 - Conf 4 Access
C5 - Conf 5 Access NF - New Files
NP - New Posts TC - Total Callers Today
TO - Total Calls Today NM - New Email
TE - Time till Event NE - New Email
UU - User Number LN - Board Long Name
SN - Board Short Name CP - Com Port
CD - Current Date CT - Current Time
TL - Time Left HA - Hack Attempts
RN - Real Name TP - Total Posts
LO - Last On (date) LT - Last On (time)
UD - U/D Ratio PC - PCR Ratio
RP - Required PCR TO - Times On (Total Calls)
MENU COMMANDS
The following is a list of available commands in each menu.
These are often times updated from copy to copy, so you should
make sure you have the most rescent menu set, or at least, edit
the menu's yourself to contend with the discrepancies.
The commands are organized by menu grouping. You will notice the
menu name indented to the left, followed by all its commands.
The text appearing in the brackets indicate the physical
filename with the extension .ANS which each menu uses.
Message Base Menu [BULLETM]
P Post Message
R Read Message(s)
D Download Message
F Feedback Sponsor
U Upload REP Packet
K Kill Messsage
T Go to Transfer
* Change Area
M Mail Sender
Q Quit
# Read Msg #
% Sponsor Menu
W Users w/Access
N Newscan
A Change Area
V Scan Current Base
C Chat
E Edit Message
L List Titles
+ Next Area
G Goodbye
! Message Header Type
O Download QWK packet
J Jump Conference
[ Previous Area
- Previous Area
] Next Area
Z Toggle Newscan
Message Base Sponsor [SPONSORM]
D Set Autodelete
L Board Level
S Set Sponsor
* Change Area
U Change Access for User
E Change Access for All
Q Quit
R Rename Board
K Kill Board
C Sort Boards
M Move Message
B Order Boards
O List Users w/Access
Config Menu [CONFIGM]
Q Quit
L Linefeeds
W Column Size
O Post Prompts
M More Prompts
G Ascii Graphics
T Show Time
U Upper/Lower Case
E Emulation Mode
D Display Length
P Prompt Color
I Input Color
R Regular Color
S Status Color
N Newscan Config
Y Your Status
F Full Screen Editor
B Menu Border
C Menu BackGround
J Blow Border
K Blow Inside
Z Define Macros
A Avatar
H Menu Highlight
V Status Box Color
= Prompt Type
! Edit Usernote
Database Menu [DATAM]
Q Quit
A Add Database Entry
* Select Database
S Search Database
L List Database
V Newscan Database
N Newscan All
% Sponsor Menu
C Change Database
D Delete Database
Database Sysop [DSYSOPM]
Q Quit
C Change Database
D Delete Database
E Set Level
K Kill Database
O Reorder Database
R Rename Database
Doors Menu [DOORSM]
Q Quit
L List Doors
O Open Door
I Info on Door
% Door Sponsor Menu
Sysop Door [SDOORSM]
Q Quit
C Change Door
A Add Door
D Delete Door
E-Mail [EMAILM]
Q Quit
R Reply to Mail
S Send Mail
L List Mail
N Newscan Mail
<CR> Next Mail
% Email Sponsor
D Delete Mail
K Kill Outgoing
A Announcements
V View Outgoing
# Read Number
E Edit Sender
C Copy Mail
F Forward Mail
G Group Editing
I Show Infoforms
Z Zippy Mail Send
Sysop E-Mail [ESYSOPM]
Q Quit
L Look in Mailbox
S Scan All Mail
G Group Flags
D Delete Range
E-Mail Scan [ESCANM]
Q Quit
S Send Mail
E Edit Sender
R Edit Receiver
D Delete Mail
N Next Mail
A Read Again
C Continue Scan
<CR> Next Message
# Read Number
Group Editing [GROUPM]
Q Quit
S Select Group
* Select Group
L List Groups
G Add Group
D Delete Group
V List Members
M Add Member
R Remove Member
C Set Creator
A Set Class
E Add By Level
File Menu [FILEM]
U Upload File
D Download File
L List files
F File Request Menu (not done)
Y Your Status
A Change Area
S Search File
Q Quit
% Sponsor Menu
N Newscan All
V Newscan Area
R View Archive
X Sysop Want List
W List Files Extended
T Type File
+ Add File to Batch
B Batch Menu
G Goodbye
* Change Area
I Compile File List
K Configure File List
J Jump Conference
M Go to Message
[ Previous Area
] Next Area
C Chat
E Edit Descriptions
Z Last Call Date
File Change [FCHANGEM]
Q Quit
U Change Uploader
D Change Description
S Special Request
N New File
F Filename
P File Path
V Point Value
B Offline
T Send To
A Password
G Group
Newscan [NEWSCANM] {File newscan}
Q Quit
# Set File Point
<CR> Next File
C Change File
E Rename File
D Delete File
R View Archive
M Move File
0 Free File
File Sponsor [FSYSOPM]
A Add file online
C Change File
D Delete File
F File Listing
G Goodbye
K Kill Area
R Rename Area
N Newscan Files
S Sort Areas
M Move File
L List Files
O Order Areas
Q Quit
E Edit Description
W Multiple Add Files
X Multiple Move/Delete
Z Batch Move/Delete
* Switch Area
U Users w/Access
Batch Xfer [FBATCHM]
C Clear Batch
L List Files Batch
D Download Batch
U Upload Batch
Q Quit
R Remove Files From Batch
Sysop [SYSOPM]
Q Quit
T Edit Specifications
E Read Error Log
A Add News
N Edit News
D Delete Error Log
U Edit Users
C Change Date/Time
I Infoform Hunt
J Show All Infoforms
S View Sysop Log
K Kill Sysop Log
V Show All Sysops
M Make User
R Remove All Infoforms
Z Zap Users
P Local Configuration
L Loozer List
B Nodelist Editor
* Remote DOS Shell
Main [MAINM]
M Message Menu
C Chat
D Database
E Email
F Feedback
G Goodbye
I Infoforms
J Jump Conference
K Konfig
L List Users
B BBS List
N News
O New User Voting
P Doors
Q Leech List
R Rumors
S System Status
T Transfer Section
U Time Bank
V Voting Booth
W Last Callers
X Transfer to User
Y Your Status
Z Last CAll
+ Change Password
- Statistics
& Show Ad
$ Donations
% Sysop Menu
* Ansi Gallery
^ Credits
. Registeration
Local Configuration [CONFIGL]
S BBS Short Name
P System Password
M Matrix Type
T Sysop Password
U Time Refund
A Allow New Users
N New User Password
H Login Header
F Allow Feedback from Matrix
C Allow Chat from Matrix
V View Config
L Leech Week
Q Quit
User Edit [UEDITM]
S View Stats
D Delete User
H Handle
P Password
L Level
O U/D Points
E U/D Level
W Wanted Flag
T Time for Today
B Board Flags
Q Quit
Y Special Sysop
N Phone Number
I View Infoform
A User Note
+ Auto Validate User
C Board Flags
X Expiry Date
! Ud Ratio
$ UD K Ratio
^ PCR Ratio
& Time limit
J Main Conference
Voting Booth [VOTINGM]
Q Quit
S Select Topic
<CR>Next Topic
V Vote
L List Choices
R View Results
# Choice #
* Select Topic
% Voting Sponsor
Voting Sysop [VSYSOPM]
Q Quit
A Add Topic
C Add Choice
D Delete Topic
R Remove Choice