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CUSTOM ONLINE TAPE-DRIVE SYSTEMS
PRODUCT OF
CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS(tm)
KityTrax v0.01b COPYRIGHT (c) 1992 by Bryan E. Paulson
An ONLINE live door program for use with Wildcat(tm)3.0+
and IRWIN(tm) tape drive systems
WARNING! if you are considered to be a sysop with cold heart that has
hardened over your years from running a bulletin board, then perhaps this is
your chance to feel the warmth begin to return................NOT!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, although this is my first "real" attempt at writing a program and
it's documentation, it is the intended purpose to make these docs easy to be
understood by the "wet behind the ears" rookie as well as the "grizzled vet".
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITY-TRAX version 0.01b Page 1
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Table of Contents
Title Page.......................... Front Cover
Index............................... Page 1
Introduction........................ Page 2
Limited Warranty.................... Page 3
Bug Reporting....................... Page 4
Rookies'Installation Guide ......... Page 4 - 10
Grizzled sysop's Installation guide. Page 11
Menu creation....................... Page 12
Using file areas already established Page 12 - 13
Known problems with this program.... Page 13
System Requirements................. Page 14
Last Word........................... Page 15
Acknowlagements..................... Page 16
Copyrights & Registration........... Page 17
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
MAILBASE Version 3 Page 2
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
INTRODUCTION
Boy!, Geeze, where do I start?.......Well, This program was created
out of a need for additional storage space without the cost of paying
for another large hard drive, and let's face it, money doesn't grow from
trees, especially for sysops! With the comming of the CD-ROM, came mass
storage at a somewhat reasonable price but with a compromise, that being the
fact that unless you had about $9,000.00, you could ONLY read from the CD-ROM.
So I went on a quest for finding a live door program that would do such a
task, but alass, the only such software out there in Shareware land was for
those who had a "Colorado"(tm) tape drive, or one that was able to except
filename(s) on the command line as %1,%2,%3,etc.
Since I don't own a tape drive by "Colorado"(Mountain Memory systems)(tm)
but rather one manufactured by "Irwin Magnetics"(tm) and of course "THEY"
had to be different, I developed KityTrax.....
KityTrax is a live door program written for any bulletin board package
that creates a DOOR.SYS & USERINFO.DAT when exiting in order to run a live
door. At this point of development, I can only say for sure that the
program will run correctly on a wildcat v3.0+ bulletin board system. I will
be developing conversion utilities to distribute along with this program but
at this time Wildcat is the ONLY "officially" support software.
KityTrax has the following features that sets it apart from it's
competitors:
a.) Area change - Allows the caller to choose which type of
files he/she wants (i.e. games,utils,etc.) This also
allows the sysop to seperate the files into such groups
as suggested above.
b.) File Listing - Allows the caller to view the available
files in the area chosen by using the "area change"
command (see installation section on Pages 4-10)
c.) Yell at sysop - allows the caller to page the sysop for
help or just to chat, if needed.
d.) Create a restore list - Allows the caller to list up to
eight files to be restored in one session
NOTE: it is my opinion that the available software of this
type only permitts the restoration of one file at a time.
e.) Download file(s) - Allows the caller to (after restore)
download the file(s) right from within the live door
instead of going back to the bulletin board software.
At present, Z-modem is the expected protocol and this cannot
be changed.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 3
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Limited Warranty - (Not much really)
KityTrax version 0.01b, Copyright 1992 (CyberDyne) comes `as is' with no
warranty, implied or otherwise. KityTrax version 0.01b is distributed with
all necessary files contained within one archived file. Distribution of
modified executable or document files is NOT permitted. Reselling, leasing
or hiring of KityTrax is not permitted without first obtaining the prior
approval of the author. KityTrax Version 0.01b remains the property of
the author at all times.
Any archive method may be used to distribute KityTrax version 0.01b,
but I ask that you retain the same archive name. ie. The extension may
be altered to reflect the archiving method used, but the filename should
remain constant.
KityTrax has been thoroughly tested by the author and a number of beta
testers. This does not mean that KityTrax version 0.01b will work on
your system. The author makes no guarantee that it will work on any system
except his own. Given the infinite number of possible "PC" configurations,
it is beyond the scope of this program to be compatible with them all.
The "ONLY" warranty (if you can call it that), is that if you have a
problem with this program, (i.e. Bug,setup concerns/problems,etc)...
generally stuff that I can control....I give you my word as a professional
and a gentleman that I would do my best to correct the situation! The only
cost to you is the $$ for the phone call or the stamp on an envelope. Voice
support is FREE, I DO NOT charge for help, but it's got to be on YOUR dime.
I sincerely believe in supporting (at no additional charge to my customers)
the programs/products that I write/create. I will try to remain as
flexable and as tollerant as possible, but it only takes one person with
too much of a hassel, and it will come to a screeching halt!
For further information on KityTrax; reporting of bugs and suggestions
for improvements, I can be reached by one of the following methods:
a.) Support bbs (414)426-2947
The Cloak Of Illusion II
24hrs a day ->chat mode 10am-2pm
->comment to sysop 24hrs
->Electronic Mail 24hrs [1:139/720] FidoNet
b.) U.S mail
Send all correspondence to:
CyberDyne Systems
815 Jackson Street
Oshkosh,WI 54901
c.) Voice Support
Business phone # (414)426-2941
Business hours are: 10am - 2pm (M-Fr) central time zone
Note:
Answering machine is online for when I cannot personally take
your call. I'm sorry but long distance calls will NOT be returned
by voice call, but will be responded to thru the U.S Mail
d.) FidoNet Electronic Mail
[1:139/720] running 24hr crash net/echomail
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 4
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
BUG REPORTING
For the most part, if you come accross a error, you and/or the caller
should see an error message displayed at the time. Excecution of the
program will suspend giving the person or persons time to write down the
error code that's generated at the time of the problem. When making Bug
reports, please make sure that you give as full a description as possible of
the problem, at what point was the program (i.e. main menu or area change
menu, and what menu choice was selected (if any) )when the problem occurred.
In other words, be as accurate and complete in description as possible.
This will enable me to isolate the problem and correct it or work around it
as best and as quickly as possible.
ROOKIES' INSTALLATION GUIDE
NOTE: This section is for those who "MAY" be considered rookies at sysop'n...
it is NOT intended as an insult of any kind, but rather, is aimed at
providing more extensive help in the installation process! If you are
more of a seasoned individual in the way of sysop'n, then skip this
stuff and proceed to the "quick installation guide" in the following
section.
Installation of this program is really quite simplistic if you just take
the time to think it out. I am a firm believer of the "KISS" method....
that stands for (K)eep (I)t (S)imple (S)tupid. The first thing you want to
do depends on whether you are setting up file areas for the first time or
maybe you've decided to take some of the (for example) smaller or less
popular files off the HD and put them into the tape system. I'll attempt to
give you both cenario's.
CENARIO #1 - "NEW file areas NOT already online"
I.) Let's assume that you are setting up some "NEW" file areas and you have
not defined them in your bbs software yet. The first step would be to create
the sub-directories on your hard drive that you will be backing up onto tape.
In order to better illustrate, let's get an example going here. In our
example, let's assume that you've got all your "other" file directories off
the root directory (i.e. c:\)and under a sub-directory called files:
example: c:\files\games <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|____\utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|_____\bbs_utils <---previously existing file areas defined to
bbs
Let's also assume that the first file area that we want to add (for use with
our tape backup system, will be called TPprog(Turbo Pascal programming
files)....So we need to make another sub-directory under the "FILES"
sub-directory and our example now looks like this:
example: c:\files\games
|____\utils
|_____\bbs_utils
|_____\TPprog
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 5
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
II.) OK, now that we have the needed sub-directory created, there's only one
file that needs to be in this new sub-dir....and that's a "FILES.BBS". A
"FILES.BBS" is a plain ASCII text file that will contain the filenames &
extensions as well as there respective size, and descriptions. The following
is an example of what that should look like:
[Brief file area description could go here]
===============================================================================
KITYTRAX.BAS 27100 10-11-92 Qbasic source code for Kitytrax Tapedrive
software
AREAMEN 1308 10-02-92 NON-color area change menu for KityTrax
ACTIVITY LOG 3847 10-11-92 Activity log created by KityTrax
KITYTRAX EXE 68114 10-11-92 Main Executible for KityTrax
INSTALL BAS 2220 10-09-92 Qbasic source code for KityTrax install prog.
-EOF-
For those who don't have the slightest idea as to how to get this the "EASY"
way, just put all your files into the respective sub-dir (c:\files\TPprog).
Then, type the following at your DOS prompt:
"dir > files.bbs" (minus the quote marks of course).
At this point, leave all the files that you intend to backup onto tape in
each sub-directory for now, as they will be deleted later once you have made
a backup of them.
Then you will need to do some editing on the files.bbs, and you'll see what I
mean when you take a look at it. Strip out everything EXCEPT for the filenames,
extensions, file sizes and date stamps. Then while your in editing mode, (and
if you already know the descriptions) take the time to key in the file
descriptions for each of the filenames, if you don't have file descriptions
yet, you can always come back to it and edit the file again. Although you
don't have to, it is suggested that you put in a brief file area description
at the top of "FILES.BBS" text file as suggested in our above example.
Now, your directory structure (according to our example) should look like this:
example:
c:\files\games <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|__\utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|__\bbs_utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|__\TPprog <---sub-dir created for use with KityTrax
|____FILES.BBS <---ASCII text file
|____BBS.ZIP
|____CLOCK.ZIP
|____etc.
You would do the above two step (creation of sub-directory & files.bbs) for
each of the file areas that you want available on tape.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 6
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Although, this documentation may tend to catre' to the "ROOKIE" sysop, it is
beyond the scope of this manual to teach you how to use your IRWIN tape
backup drive at this time. Let's face it, certain assumptions must be made
when writing a utility program such as this and knowing how to use ones tape
backup drive is (unfortunately) one of those assumptions. I will however be
willing to act as an "UNOFFICIAL" tech support person, as long as it pertains
to the use of "MY" program. With this in mind......let's continue!
III.) Step three will consist of doing a backup of those file areas & files
that you want to be used in conjunction with the KityTrax tape drive file
retrieval system. One note worth mentioning at this point would be to write
down somewhere the name of the backup set that you use when actually doing
the backup, as you will need this information later when running the install
program.
IV.) Once the backup process is complete and you have made a note as to
what the backup set is called, then quit EZtape, and delete (in each sub-dir
to be used with KityTrax) all the files with the exception of the FILES.BBS
With our ongoing example in mind, your directory structure should now look like
this :
c:\
|_ files\games <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|____\utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|_____\bbs_utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
|______\TPprog <---sub-dir created for use with KityTrax
|____FILES.BBS <---ASCII text file
V.) Now that we have the files and sub-directories set up for use by
KityTrax, it's time to actually install the live door! To do this we need to
create two sub-directories for KityTrax. Keeping with our ongoing example,
let's (again) assume that you keep all(if any) of your live doors in a
sub-dircetory off the root directory called "DOORS" so the structure will now
look like this:
c:\
|_ files\games <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |____\utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |_____\bbs_utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |______\TPprog <---sub-dir created for use with KityTrax
| |____FILES.BBS <---ASCII text file
|__doors
|____startrek <----A star Trek trivia game
|____Ook <----Operation OverKill
|____KityTrax <----This door that we're setting up now
In our DOORS sub-directory make another sub-directory and call it
"KITYTRAX"....now, it doesn't have to be called this but what kind of author
would I be if I didn't keep pushing the name of the program????
right????........ NOT!!!!!!!!!!! sorry, had to lighten things up just a bit!
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 7
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ok, back to business....I mentioned that we needed to create TWO subs....the
second sub-directory will be called RESTORE and in order to keep things in
the tree as neat as possible, let's put the new "RESTORE" sub under the FILES
sub-dir, so that your structure now looks like this:
c:\
|_ files\games <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |____\utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |_____\bbs_utils <---previously existing file areas defined to bbs
| |______\TPprog <---sub-dir created for use with KityTrax
| | |____FILES.BBS <---ASCII text file
| |_______\restore <---sub-dir create for restoration of tape files
|__doors
|____startrek
|____Ook <----Operation OverKill
|____KityTrax
Now that we have all the sub-directories made, it's time to unpack the
KityTrax ZIP archive into the sub called "KITYTRAX". With the archive now
unpacked, we need to load and run the install program provided, in order to
create a configuration file that will be required to run KityTrax. So type the
word "install" at your DOS prompt at this time and follow the
prompts....remember I told you to use the KISS method and think things
out????..... I hope you listened!
Here are the prompts that you MUST answer in order to configure KityTrax
properly:
QUESTION #1.) What is the default drive? (i.e. c:\)
EXAMPLE #1.) Most of the time it will be "C:\"
EXPLAINATION #1.) simply tell me on what drive are you working?
QUESTION #2.) What is the FULL path to where your DOOR.SYS file will
be located?
EXAMPLE #2.) With Wildcat v3.+ systems it's most likely going to be:
c:\wc30\wcwork\node1
EXPLAINATION #2.) Two files called DOOR.SYS and USERINFO.DAT are created by
wildcat when a caller enters a live door. I need to know
where this file is located.
QUESTION #3.) What is the name of your BBS system?
EXAMPLE #3.) The Cloak Of Illusion II
EXPLAINATION #3.) The question should be self-explanitory
QUESTION #4.) Are you using GAP or PCboard BBS software?
(enter 0=GAP, 1=PCboard)
EXAMPLE #4.) 0
EXPLAINATION #4.) This information is not used at this time, however you
should enter the number zero since GAP bbs software is
about the closest to wildcat that you can get.
QUESTION #5.) What is the FULL path to your Ez-Tape software?
(i.e. c:\eztape)
EXAMPLE #5.) C:\eztape
EXPLAINATION #5.) Unless you want to be different for some reason, they
suggest that their software be installed off the root
directory so let's assume that it would be.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 8
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
QUESTION #6.) What is the FULL path for restoring files to?
EXAMPLE #6.) C:\FILES\RESTORE
EXPLAINATION #6.) Remember I suggested putting the restore sub-directory
under the same sub as all your other file areas in order
to keep the tree looking as neat as possible?
QUESTION #7.) What is the name of the backup-set for which the files are
located in?
EXAMPLE #8.) BBS
EXPLAINATION #8.) This can be any name that follows DOS rules. In the
example for this question I just called it BBS, which
DOES correspond with my backup set. Remember I told
you to write it down when you were doing your backup?
QUESTION #9.) Enter the FULL path for where you're installing this
software?
EXAMPLE #9.) C:\DOORS\KITYTRAX
EXPLAINATION #9.) Here, you're telling me where the KityTrax program is
being installed.
QUESTION #10.) Enter the FULL path where the USERINFO.DAT file is locate?
EXAMPLE #10.) C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1
EXPLAINATION #10.) I believe for wildcat v3.+ systems this file is also located
in the node1 sub-directory.
QUESTION #11.) Enter FULL path to file areas (i.e. files\games)
DO NOT use a drive designator!
EXAMPLE #11.) FILES\GAMES
EXPLAINATION #11.) The rest of the questions ask for file areas. This is
where you tell KityTrax what sub-dir's you created for
file areas that are to be used with KityTrax. As prompted
DO NOT use a drive designator (i.e. C:\). Take a close
look at the example for this question and the one given
with the question. In between entering each file area,
you will be prompted as to whether you wish to add any more
file areas. If yes, the press "y" and you will be
prompted for another file area. If NO, press "n" and you
will end the installation process and the info will be saved
to a file called KITYTRAX.CNF
What follows is an example of the KITYTRAX.CNF file that is created by
running the install program. I've also include with the ZIP archive, a
sample KITYTRAX.CNF file as a text file. The format of the *.CNF file comes
out different, compared to the order of the questions when running the
install program as you may notice in the following example.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 9
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
c:\wc30\wcwork\node1 <--Path to DOOR.SYS
The Cloak Of Illusion II <--Name of your BBS
0 <--Not used at this time
c:\ <--Default drive
c:\eztape <--Path to Eztape software
c:\files\restore <--Path the file restore sub-dir
bbs <--Name of backup set
c:\qb45\unpack2 <--Path to where KityTrax is installed
c:\wc30\wcwork\node1 <--Path to USERINFO.DAT
files\games <--Path to file areas
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE 'From this point, if you do not define
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE 'any sub-dir as file areas, the line
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE 'you see to the left will be automatically
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE 'be appended to the end of the file.
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE
OK?...........let's take a few minutes to recapp what we've done so far.
Step 1....We created the necessary sub-directories as file areas to be used
by KityTrax.
Step 2....We copied the files/archives that we wanted to have into those
sub-directories
Step 3....Using the "type" command provided by DOS, we then created a
FILES.BBS and edited it so that it looked something like the
following:
[Brief file area description could go here]
===============================================================================
KITYTRAX.BAS 27100 10-11-92 Qbasic source code for Kitytrax Tapedrive
software
AREAMEN 1308 10-02-92 NON-color area change menu for KityTrax
ACTIVITY LOG 3847 10-11-92 Activity log created by KityTrax
KITYTRAX EXE 68114 10-11-92 Main Executible for KityTrax
INSTALL BAS 2220 10-09-92 Qbasic source code for KityTrax install prog.
-EOF-
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 10
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Step 4....Using the EzTape software provided by Irwin Magnetics, we then did
a backup of those newly created sub-dir's with all the files still
in place, making note of what we called the backup set.
Step 5....Once done with doing the backup and we made a note of the backup
set name, we then deleted all the file/archives EXCEPT for the
FILES.BBS text file.
Step 6....While still in the C:\FILES sub-directory, we also created a
sub-dir and called it RESTORE (c:\files\restore)
Step 7....We changed to the DOORS sub-directory and created a place for
installation of the live door, and called it KITYTRAX.
Step 8....We UNzipped the archive in the KityTrax sub-dir
Step 9....We ran the installation program in order to create the CNF file
needed for KityTrax to operate.
And that brings us up to where we are now. The ONLY step for completing
installation that we haven't done yet, is making the appropriate batch file
for wildcat in order to run the program. Sample Batch files will be included
with the distribution archive, but the name of the batch file depends as to
whether you are going to run the door off one of the menus as a DOS hook or
as a normal live door from the doors menu, so be sure to consult your wildcat
manual for information on those items. That pretty much takes care of the
preparation and installation of KityTrax from start to finish. I hope that
(for the novice sysop anyway.....) it was of some help, rather the a
hinderance, by going into a longer and more detailed explaination of the
install process. Feedback is the best tool to a programmer, so if you have
any comments about the program, manual, or the installation
explaination....feel free to drop me a line or give me a call during business
hours.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 11
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
GRIZZLED SYSOP'S INSTALLATION GUIDE
Step 1.... Create the necessary sub-directories for file areas to be used
by KityTrax.
Step 2....Copie the files/archives that you want to have, into those
sub-directories
Step 3....Using the "type" command provided by DOS, create a
FILES.BBS and edit it so that it looks something like the
following:
[Brief file area description could go here]
===============================================================================
KITYTRAX.BAS 27100 10-11-92 Qbasic source code for Kitytrax Tapedrive
software
AREAMEN 1308 10-02-92 NON-color area change menu for KityTrax
ACTIVITY LOG 3847 10-11-92 Activity log created by KityTrax
KITYTRAX EXE 68114 10-11-92 Main Executible for KityTrax
INSTALL BAS 2220 10-09-92 Qbasic source code for KityTrax install prog.
-EOF-
Step 4....Using the EzTape software provided by Irwin Magnetics, do a backup
of those newly created sub-dir's with all the files still in place,
making note of what you call the backup set.
Step 5....Once done with doing the backup and make a note of the backup
set name, then delete all the file/archives EXCEPT for the
FILES.BBS text file.
Step 6....While still in the C:\FILES sub-directory, create a
sub-dir and call it RESTORE (c:\files\restore)
Step 7....Change to the DOORS sub-directory and create a place for
installation of the live door, and call it KITYTRAX.
Step 8....UNzip the archive in the KityTrax sub-dir
Step 9....Run the installation program in order to create the CNF file
needed for KityTrax to operate.
The ONLY step for completing installation that we haven't done yet, is
making the appropriate batch file for wildcat in order to run the program.
Sample Batch files will be included with the distribution archive, but the
name of the batch file depends on whether you are going to run the door off
one of the menus as a DOS hook or as a normal live door from the doors menu,
so be sure to consult your wildcat manual for information on those items.
That pretty much takes care of the preparation and installation of KityTrax
from start to finish. I hope that (for the novice sysop anyway.....) it was
of some help, rather the a hinderance, by going into a longer and more detailed
explaination of the install process. Feedback is the best tool to a
programmer, so if you have any comments about the program, manual, or the
instal explaination....feel free to drop me a line or give me a call during
business hours.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KITYTRAX Version 0.01b Page 12
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
MENU CREATION
Although KityTrax comes with sample menus (main menu and area change menu),
you still may want to customize these menus so as to blend into your bbs system
better. The sample menus were created using an ANSI drawing program called
THE DRAW. This makes it simple for the sysop to either create new
menus of their own or to alter the sample ones. It is not my intention to
indorse any program other than my own, but rather should be seen as a
professional courtesy. These menus can look like anything the sysop wants
them to look like, however the main menu commands MUST start with the KEY
LETTERS/SYMBOLS that are used in the samples, and the KEY LETTERS for the
area change menu MUST use the alphabetical letters of [A thru J]....otherwise
the graphics can be as simple or as complex as the sysop wants.
USING FILE AREAS ALREADY ESTABLISHED
Remember when I said that I was going to give you two possible cenario's?
well, I intend to keep my promise.....geeze sorta sounds like something Ross
Perot might say huh? <ARRRRRGH>
Seriously....here it is:
CENARIO #2 - "Using already existing file areas"
Let's NOW assume that you are a grizzled vet of sysop'n (or at least you've
dried the wetness out from behind the ears by now). By taking on that
thought we can acknowlege that someone may already be running a bulletin
board system and just want to add some more space without going out and
buying another or bigger hard drive. Enter ME! and KityTrax of
course.....and let's say that you've noticed a drop in traffic in one or more
of your file areas. You don't want to take them offline completely????? but
yet you'd like to open up the space on your HD for other things or maybe your
thinking of adding a NEW file area....(sound familiar?). Well, why not MOVE
those seldom used files & file areas to a online tape backup? they can still
be accessed by callers and it will open up space for that NEW file area. I
know, I know.....I am starting to sound like one of those dog-gone'd 30
minute info-mercials! ok! ok! let's get down to business, but consider that
I am now up to line 836 of this manual and have been going at this for about
9 hours straight!...
ok....assumming your a wildcat sysop, here's what you do.
STEP 1.) Do a backup of all the already existing file areas that you want to
use with KityTrax.
STEP 2.) Go into each sub-directory that you wish to put on the tape system
and create a FILES.BBS by using the "DIR" command provided by DOS.
DIR > FILES.BBS
This will pipe a directory listing of the files in the "current"
sub-directory into a ASCII text file and call it FILES.BBS for you...all in
one command! Do this command in each of the already existing file areas and
edit them as you create them so that they look like the example shown in
previous pages.
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CENARIO #2 - "Using already existing file areas" - cont'd
STEP 3.) Providing that you've done step one and step two, you can now go
ahead and delete all the archive/files that you might have in each of those
sub-directories, but DON'T delete the FILES.BBS text file that you've created
just recently!
STEP 4.) Since you've already defined these files and file areas in your
BBS software prior to setting up "this" program, you'll need to go into
MAKEWILD (for wildcat systems anyway) and remove those file areas that "were"
defined. If you plan on "keeping" the "file areas" but getting rid of the
files in those areas, then you'll have to either use WCpro! or get into the bbs
locally and then the sysop menu/file section and manually delete those files.
STEP 5.) You can now pick up with the normal installation of the program
by running the install program for KityTrax and following the directions for
the other cenario.
KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THIS PROGRAM
I wished I could say that this program will be bug free and be able to please
all of the people all of the time, but in reality????? NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1.) If a caller is in Monochrome mode when entering this door?....for some
reason unknown at this time, it displays the welcome screen and then just
swaps back to loading wildcat. I'm fairly sure that it's just some little
stupid thing that I've overlooked and should be corrected by the next Beta
release.
2.) Because of apparent memory management limitations of the language, I
have not done anything in the way of governing time used in KityTrax. In
other words, I don't deduct time used in the door from total time allowed
online while logged into wildcat. There again, I hope to have this
implemented by the next release.
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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
NOTE: This program was written with the intention of being run on an IBM PC
with a minimum of 640k memory. It is NOT concievable that it would run on
anything less because of large memory requirements by EZtape and also
KityTrax.
IBM PC or 100% clone
Hard Drive (large enough to run a bulletin board)
640k RAM
IRWIN(tm) Tape Backup Drive (internal or External)
Eztape backup software 2.2 w/compression enhancement
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I realize that this program might seem a bit rushed, but I wanted to get the
program out, so that other people with my delemma could benefit from it as
well.....Plus I would like to make a buck or two from it as well <grin>
I've been running a public bbs for over 5 years now, and I've "always" used
wildcat software. I have nothing but sincere admiration for the folks at
Mustang Software for writing such an outstanding bbs package, and I hope that
this utility/live door program will do a little bit of justice for wildcat.
When you live in the north-central part of the United States, you don't really
see much of the bbsing community, but I know there's got to be others out there
with the same type of problem that prompted me to develope this door program.
I hope to make many enhancements to this door program over time....and if
encouragement is steady enough, I will improve on it as quickly as possible.
Some of the possible enhancements could be as follows:
1.) Full support for wildcat door information files, such as deducting the
time that a caller was in this door from the time the caller has online for
that call. Deducting # of files and there Kbytes due to downloading is
another item that needs to be dealt with.
2.) Support for checking security level, incase the sysop wants to keep
certain sec. levels out of this door for some reason.
3.) Phrase searching was an option that I already have the source code
developed for, however it had to be taken out due to memory limitations.
4.) Filename searching was also another option that was taken out due to
memory limitations.
5.) Additional download protocols will be added.
6.) Uploading may also be a possibility
7.) Making this program compatible with other bbs packages as well as with
older/newer versions of wildcat is going to be a HIGH priority with me over
the next few months.
PLEASE NOTE: I am always open to suggestions for enhancements, so if you
have something in mind that you'd like to see added, by all means, drop me a
line somehow.
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ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The following companies and/or their products may be registered trademarks of
said companies and were ONLY mentioned in this manual for illustration
purposes.
IBM (International Business machines)
IRWIN (Irwin Magnetic Systems, Inc.)
EzTape (Irwin Magnetic Systems, Inc.)
Colorado Memory Systems
Wildcat (Mustang Software, Inc.)
Zmodem
GAP Bulletin board systems (GAP Development)
PCboard
Operation OverKill
Pkzip
TheDraw
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COPYRIGHTS & REGISTRATION OF THIS PROGRAM
I.) Copyrights - This program and it's documentation is the copyrighted
work of Bryan E. Paulson & CyberDyne Systems, and may NOT be duplicated
without the express written consent of the author. You are however, hereby
given permission to make a working copy of your KityTrax archive or disk (if
you recieved it directly from CyberDyne Systems) in order to protect your
investment. If for some reason, your working copy becomes inoperative, you
may at that time make another copy of theis program. You are also hereby
given permission to install KITYTRAX on a perminant storage device (a hard
disk drive) and if that installed copy becomes inoperative, you may at that
time, re-install KITYTRAX again on the perminant storage device.
II.) If after a trial period of 21 days, you find KITYTRAX useful and
continue to use it, you are required to register the program. If you choose
NOT to register, then you MUST cease to use this program and MUST remove it
from any perminant storage device (hard drive,floppy drive,tape drive,etc)
that it is installed on. This does NOT include keeping the original archive,
however, since you may decide to register at another time.
The registration price for single computer use and also registration
prices for site locations will be posted in the text file REGISTER.FRM that
is included in the distribution archive.