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1991-08-12
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*NOTE* As of 8/12/91 TriLevel is a free program in the Public Domain.
All features are available and you should ignore any reference
to "Registered" features. You have them!
Also the support BBS, Guru Mountain, is no longer in existance.
T R I - L E V E L
for
T r i T e l B B S ' s
Copyright (c) 1991 By Jerry Halstead
TriLevel is a utility for TriTel BBSs that allows the Sysop to
automatically adjust user levels according to up/download ratios or
using a subscription method. TriLevel allows:
- Raising security levels by preset up/download ratios.
- Lowering security levels when ratio is exceeded.
- Subscription Users file to maintain varying levels of
security levels on user-by-user basis.
- Feedback report of all adjusted levels and reasons.
(can be piped to Callers log for added convienience)
- Using TriTel's user logon screen function, expiring
subscriptions generate a reminder LOGON screen to the user.
*ONLY ON REGISTERED VERSION*
(See your TriTel docs for more info on user logon screens)
**** WARNING **** WARNING **** WARNING **** WARNING ****
I cannot be held responisible for any problems or damage incurred
from using TriLevel. You alone are responsible for reading the
documentation and understanding the setup and configurations for this
program and how they pertain to your own BBS setup. No guarantees,
written or assumed, are given with TriLevel and it is not considered
a part of the TriTel BBS distributed and written by Mark Goodwin.
If you do not agree with any of the above or do not understand
any portion of the documentation you are urged not to run TriLevel.
**** WARNING **** WARNING **** WARNING **** WARNING ****
TriLevel is being distributed as Shareware. If you find this
program to be a valuable addition to your TriTel BBS I urge you to
register it. Support for the program and the latest version can be
found on my BBS, Guru Mountain, at (603) 448-0198 (USR Dual Standard).
Registered versions will automatically send subscribers a reminder
message (using TriTel's User Logon screen function) that their
subscription is expiring 30 days prior to their last day. It will
also generate a message when users security levels have been lowered
due to exceeding their up/download ratios.
SETUP
-----
You should have recieved the following files in your TriLevel
package:
TRILEVEL.EXE...The main program.
TRILEVEL.DOC...This file.
TRILEVEL.KEY...* The KEY file for registered versions.
MESSAGES.BAT...* TriLevel generated message maker - example.
LEVELS.CFG.....Sample up/download configuration file.
SUBSCRIP.CFG...Sample subscription configuration file.
TRILEVEL.......Sample event batch file for TriLevel.
EXPIRING.ANS...* Sample expiration logon message, ANSI. - example
EXPIRING.BBS...* Sample expiration logon message, text. - example
EXPIRED.ANS....* Sample expired subscription message. - example
EXPIRED.ANS....* Sample expired subscription message. - example
LOWERED.ANS....* Sample lowered access message, ANSI. - example
LOWERED.BBS....* Sample lowered access message, text. - example
RAISED.ANS.....* Sample raised access message, ANSI. - example
RAISED.BBS.....* Sample raised access message, text. - example
PAID.ANS.......* Sample new subscription message, ANSI. - example
PAID.BBS.......* Sample new subscription message, text. - example
* (for registered version only)
**************WARNING****************
Since TriLevel directly modifies your USERS.DAT file, it is STRONGLY
suggested that you make backup copies before running this program. It
is even suggested that you put a line like:
COPY C:\TRITEL\WORK\USERS.DAT C:\TRITEL\WORK\USERS.BAK
into your TriLevel batch file to be on the safe side.
*************************************
Copy all of the files into their own directory. The files do not
have to be in any of the TriTel directories, but they all need to be
together. The best way to run TriLevel is as an EVENT once a day.
The syntax for running TriLevel is:
TRILEVEL C:\TRITEL
^
|
\
The directory with Tritel in it.
TriLevel looks for USERS.DAT in the WORK directory and, if
registered, puts the subscriber's logon messages in the DISPLAY
directory. Should you want to run TriLevel on a test basis you could
make a dummy directory with a WORK and DISPLAY subdirectory and copy
USERS.DAT to the WORK directory. Invoking TriLevel with this dummy
directory would only modify the copied USERS.DAT.
TriLevel reads the LEVELS.CFG file for instructions on setting
your user's security levels according to up/download ratios. The file
SUBSCRIP.CFG holds your subscriber's information and access levels.
TriLevel looks for both of these files in the directory it is run
from. Both files are ASCII format and can be edited with most text
editors. The formats are as follows:
LEVELS.CFG
----------
10,20,10
20,60,5
^ ^ ^
| | \
| | The Download to Upload ratio that determines level
| | (# of downloads divided by # of uploads)
| \
| Level to set user at when they are below ratio
|
\
Level of user to check ratio against.
(Also level they drop to if they exceed the ratio)
This is the most difficult part of the setup. In the above
example a level 10 user with a 2:1 ratio (two downloads, 1 upload)
would first be given access level 20 and then immediately given access
level 60. If that same user then becomes a 6:1 ratio, TriLevel would
drop them down to a level 20. A 11:1 ratio would put the user back at
level 10. The most important point when doing multiple level
adjustments is that the program works from the top down. That is,
TriLevel adjusts the users level according to the first line first,
then the second, the third, and so on.
In the above example, TriLevel will only check users with the
access levels of 10, 20, and 60 and adjust them accordingly. Most
BBS's would only need one line for their LEVELS.CFG file, like:
10,30,15
This would adjust any level 10 users with a down/up ratio of less
than 15:1 to level 30. Also, it would adjust any level 30 users who
exceed the 15:1 ratio back down to level 10.
If you are running the registered version of TriLevel, all users
who's access level is lowered are sent the LOWERED.ANS & LOWERED.BBS
messages via the User Logon message function of TriTel.
SUBSCRIP.CFG
------------
104,04/13/92,70,30
91,01/01/90,70,10
^ ^ ^ ^
| | | \
| | | Expiration level
| | \
| | Subscription level
| \
| Subscription end date
\
User Number
TriLevel uses this file to determine which users are subscribers
and what their level should be. For each subscriber you enter a line
of text like above containing: User Number, Expiration Date, Sub-
scription Level, and Expiration Level. TriLevel will compare today's
date to the expiration date and set the users security level to the
Subscription level if it is greater than today, and to the Expiration
level if less than today.
***> NOTE: Do not use any additional characters or spaces <***
If you are running the registered version, TriLevel will also
check for Users who's subscription expires in 30 days and sends them
the EXPIRE.ANS & EXPIRE.BBS files as User Logon messages. *NOTE: If
you do not run TriLevel every day you may miss the warning, as it is
only sent exactly 30 days prior to expiration.
TRILEVEL (TriTel EVENT Batch file example)
---------
cd \events\trilevel
TRILEVEL.EXE C:\TRITEL >> TRILEVEL.LOG
cd \tritel
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The TriLevel batch file is relatively straight forward. First it
switches to the directory with all of the TriLevel files and then it
calls TriLevel WITH the path to your TriTel files.
The ">> TRILEVEL.LOG" is an optional pipe (see your DOS manual
for more information on pipes & redirection) that sends the output of
TriLevel to a file called TRILEVEL.LOG. The ">>" means to append the
information to the end of the file so you should note that the file
can grow quite large after some time. You could replace the ">>" with
a ">" which work erase the old TRILEVEL.LOG file each time and write
today's output only. Another interesting method would be to use the
following:
TRILEVEL.EXE C:\TRITEL >> C:\TRITEL\WORK\CALLERS.LOG
This would put the results of TriLevels adjustments into your
callers log so you could view it on-line. Again, this will append
and it will result in a larger callers file, especially if you have a
large number of users being adjusted daily. It is suggested that you
not use the ">" to pipe to the callers file since it will erase all of
your recent caller activity.
The TRILEVEL batch file can be invoked manually by the Sysop or by
TriTel's EVENTS function. See your TriTel Documentation for a more
thorough explanation of setting up events.
PRIORITIES:
TriLevel works from the top down. It adjusts the users by file
ratios this way and then adjusts the subscriptions this way. The last
entry in either file is the last parameter to be acted on.
SUBSCRIPTIONS are adjusted last, so no matter what the DOWN/UPLOAD
ratios do to a caller, the Subscriptions can override them. So if
user # 223 is level 50 with a ratio of 30:1 and exceeds a level 50
setting in the LEVELS.CFG file, the SUBSCRIP.CFG file will re-adjust
it back to 50. This is not a good way to set things up since you will
get a lot of extraneous messages from all of the adjusting.
REGISTERED GOODIES:
If you have a registered copy of TriLevel you will get a couple
added benefits. TriTel supports (as of version 1.1) sending messages
to individual users at logon by putting a file in the display
directory with their user # and .ANS & .BBS for extensions. Customize
the file(s) LOWERED.BBS and/or LOWERED.ANS in the TriLevel directory,
TriLevel will "send" them to each user # that is lowered. While the two
RAISED files are displayed to users who's access is raised because of
up/download ratios. EXPIRED.ANS & .BBS are displayed when a registered
user gets lowered access after subscription period is over. The files
EXPIRE.BBS and EXPIRE.ANS work the same way except they are only sent
when a user has exactly 30 days until their subscription expires. A
brand new subscriber will be shown the PAID.ANS or PAID.BBS files ONLY
if TriLevel is the one to make the raise in security.
I have seperated the actual user screen generation to another step
so Sysops have a little more control over how and when it happens. The
default method to generate the users messages is to run MESSAGES.BAT
right after TriLevel.
cd \events\trilevel
TRILEVEL.EXE C:\TRITEL >> TRILEVEL.LOG
CALL MESSAGES
cd \tritel
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