BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/wildcat/calend1.zip/MANUAL.DOC

Text File | 1992-11-19 | 8KB | 199 lines

                 CalenDoor - Calendar of Events Door

                    (c) 1992, Cove Communications

      A. Zip contents
         1. caldoor.exe - CalenDoor program
         2. cal.* - calendar display file and key files
         3. items.* - calendar items file and key files
         4. control.dat - configuration information
         5. memo.* - calendar item text
         6. users.* - users file
         7. register.doc
         8. license.doc
         9. manual.doc
        10. sample DOOR.SYS file
            a) You may want to use this for testing instead of your own
               DOOR.SYS if you can't get CalenDoor to run on your system.
               It's not needed for local logon. Make sure you change the
               port, baud, and any other settings to those your system
               expects first.
      B. Operation
         1. Who can use CalenDoor
            a) your callers DO NOT REQUIRE FULL ANSI capability to use the
               CalenDoor. The first time anyone uses the door they are
               asked a series of questions which determine the exact
               capabilities of the terminal emulation they are using. All a
               user really needs is to interpret ANSI cursor positioning
               codes properly. We have successfully logged on with an
               ancient 512k Macintosh using MacTerm. It wasn't pretty, but
               it worked. If necessary, the CalenDoor will translate colors
               and line draw characters, so you may want to let your
               non-ansi callers take a crack at the door too. Monochromers
               can still change their colors, though they'll only have a
               choice of normal, reverse video, blink and in some cases
               underline.
         2. installing CalenDoor
            a) Wherever you choose to install CalenDoor, you must make sure
               that you make that directory the current directory before
               you run the program. CalenDoor will only look in the current
               directory for its own data files and for your DOOR.SYS file.
               door.sys and all CalenDoor program and data files must be in
               the current directory. If you install CalenDoor in a
               different direct (i.e. CalenDoor won't go looking for the
               data files, and at present you can't specify)
            b) CONFIG.SYS
               1. you will need a FILES=nn statement in your config.sys where
                  nn is at least 25 for every copy of CalenDoor you have
                  running on that machine. You should set this number a little
                  higher than you need to prevent a "too many files open"
                  error message. The memory penalty for the FILES= statement
                  is quite low.
            c) Available Memory
               1. you will need a minimum of about 450k free to run CalenDoor.
                  This means your BBS program will almost certainly have to
                  shell to DOS.

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         3. Registering CalenDoor
            a) see Registering under the Sysop menu, below.
         4. limitations of unregistered version
            a) can't generate bulletins
            b) can't schedule repeating events
            c) can't schedule anything more than two weeks into the future
         5. bulletins
            a) new items - newcal.ans/asc
               1. bulletins with any items added by the user are automatically
                  generated when the user leaves the door IF the program is
                  registered. The files are NEWCAL.ANS and NEWCAL.ASC.
            b) today's/tomorrow/s items - todaycal, tmrwcal
               1. if the program is registered, you can generate a bulletin of
                  today's events (the program will work from the system date)
                  by running the command CALDOOR /TODAYBULL. The program will
                  return to the dos prompt when it has generated the bulletin.
                  You may want to do this as part of your system's regular
                  nightly maintenance. To generate a bulletin of tomorrow's
                  events, use the command CALDOOR /TOMORROWBULL. CalenDoor
                  does not mess with the serial port at all during this
                  operation, so you can run it while you are on-line, if
                  that's what blows your hair back. The bulletin files
                  generated are TODAYCAL.ASC/ANS and TMRWCAL.ASC/ANS. They're
                  nothing fancy (yet).
         6. running in local mode
            a) use the command CALDOOR /LOCAL
            b) CalenDoor_Sysop is the local user
            c) you have full add/delete access, no time limit
            d) local mode key differences
               1. when editing the main text for an item, you can use
                  ctrl-end, ctrl-home to delete the remaining part or all of
                  the line, respectively. These keys do not work in on-line
                  mode.
         7. the calendar screen
            a) functions the same in local mode as on-line
            b) use the (T)oday command to return from wherever you are in
               the calendar to today's date.
            c) press Enter to see/add items for a given day
               1. adding/changing/deleting items
                  a) users can only change or delete their own items
                  b) times are entered in 24 hour format (this will probably be
                     changed in a later version).
               2. (V)iewing an item
                  a) The instruction (F)orward or the instruction (B)ackward will
                     appear at the bottom of the window if the item is too long
                     for one screenful
         8. changing colors
            a) each user has his/her own color settings
            b) the screen which shows sample color settings is generic and
               will be/is used in other doors also.
         9. sysop menu
            a) verify calendar
               1. although it's unlikely you'll need to do this, you can
                  verify that the data in the items file is properly
                  represented in the calendar screen. A holdover from

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                  debugging, this could be required if you had a session
                  interrupted by power failure or other event before the
                  calendar file could be updated.
            b) purge old data
               1. enter the date you want to purge the file up to. The
                  calendar is automatically verified after this operation.
            c) Registration
               1. Pay your registration fee to Cove Communications, and supply
                  the exact name of your BBS as you want it to be displayed
                  on-screen. We will give you your registration number.
               2. sign on in local mode (CALDOOR /LOCAL) and press Alt-S from
                  the calendar screen for the sysop menu. Choose Registration,
                  and follow the instructions on-screen.
            d) events scheduling
               1. use for regular items - schedule either weekly or daily
                  events by entering the data and specifying a date range
               2. after the events have been scheduled, you can
                  add/change/delete these items the same way you






































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