World of Ham Radio 1994 January

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_____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ *** Forwarding PBBS & Terminal software *** ######### # ### # # ##### # # ## # ## # # # # ## # # # # ## # ## # ##### # # # # ##### # ## # ######### # # ### # # # # # #### ### ## # ## # ## # ## # ######### ## # Version 11.1.1. (C), 1989. By N3DFD. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================= INSTALL SECTION 0 ============================================================================= 05-13-1990. BACKTALK.EXE and supporting software is a forwarding PBBS and full featured terminal emulator using software FLOW control, so a 3 wire hookup is all that is required. ALL FLOW parms in TNC should be ON. This software is written for the Kantronics line of TNC's and is not guaranteed to perform properly on any other TNC although efforts have been made to make it compatible with all TNC's. TNC must be preset to 1200 baud. (computer to TNC baud rate). The first thing to do is create a directory on your hard drive named BACKTALK and then copy all the files to this directory. One of the files you should now have in the BACKTALK directory is a file named INSTALL.EXE. This is the setup program for BACKTALK. This program will create the PBBS.CNF and RUN.BAT files needed to run BACKTALK. Type INSTALL now and answer all the questions asked of you. One of the questions will ask you to enter a PATH command to be put in the RUN.BAT file. This will set the PATH every time you RUN BACKTALK so you do not have to keep all the files in the BACKTALK directory. For example you could keep BACKTALK.EXE in another directory as long as it is covered by the PATH command. The RUN.BAT file MUST be in the directory you are going to run BACKTALK from, in this case the BACKTALK directory. The INSTALL program will also ask you if you wish to create any directories for PBBS operation. These directories are where the files will be kept for users of your PBBS to do UP and DOWNLOADS. If after you are through with INSTALL.EXE and you ever need to create new directories, and you surely will, you may do so in the normal way from MS-DOS. ALL directories for the PBBS must be SUB-DIRECTORY of the \BBS directory that the INSTALL program will have created. So for example if you needed to create a new directory and you wanted to call it UTILITIES then this is what you must do. Type the following: MD\BBS\UTILITIES After you create this directory you MUST create an ASCII directory for it. You do this by going to that directory (CD\BBS\UTILITIES) and type the following: DIR>DIR. This ASCII directory is for the "W" command. When a user of the BBS sends a W UTILITIES, the ASCII directory is downloaded to him. ALL directories associated with the PBBS will have ASCII directories in them. When a user does an upload to any directory BACKTALK will sort the directory and then create a new ASCII directory upon successful completion of the upload, using DS.COM and the DIR>DIR commands. WARNING: THERE MUST NOT BE ANY MEMORY RESIDENT PROGRAMS LOADED INTO MS-DOS BEFORE OR WHILE RUNNING BACKTALK!!!! ============================================================================= INSTALL SECTION 1 ============================================================================= If you wish to have this program automatically run on BOOT up then put these 2 lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as the last 2 entries: CD\BACKTALK RUN ^Z Here is a PARTIAL list of the files you will have in the BACKTALK directory at this time, more will be created by the software later. BACKTALK DOC -- [this file] BACKTALK EXE -- [the PBBS software] BTRENUM EXE -- [a program for renumbering the messages in the PBBS] CHANGE EXE -- [this program will automatically change the data in the TO and or AT fields of messages to be forwarded] INSTALL EXE -- [setup program for BACKTALK] JERK LST -- [list of calls to be refused access to the PBBS. calls must all be on the same line and separated by a space. ONE LINE ONLY] LOGO EXE -- [this program displays the BACKTALK logo upon initializion] LOGO TXT -- [the file that LOGO.EXE reads and displays, may be edited] MFWD BBS -- [not created yet, for mailforwarding routines] PBBS CNF -- [config file for BACKTALK, created by the INSTALL pgm.] RUN BAT -- [created by the INSTALL pgm.] SIGNON TXT -- [the sign on text the PBBS sends upon connection by a user. this file MUST be created before you can run BACKTALK. the file may only contain 3 lines of information and each line MUST be followed by a CARRIAGE RETURN except for the last line] TNC1 SET -- [list of TNC parameters for BACKTALK to read and send to the TNC, comport #1] TNC2 SET -- [same as TNC1.SET but for comport #2] DS COM -- [directory SORT pgm.] EDITOR EXE -- [EDITOR pgm. used by BACKTALK] TNCPARMS SET -- [this is a file that you create to be uploaded to BACKTALK to set up your TNC's mailbox for automatic operation in the event you wish to have it up for your users if the BACKTALK PBBS is not up and running] TIMER COM -- [clock setting software] At this point you are now ready to run BACKTALK for a shakedown. So, from the BACKTALK directory, type RUN. The first thing you will see is RUN.BAT setting your clock by calling the program TIMER.COM. If your computer can't use this clock pgm. your outa luck. You will have to do it manually if needed. The next thing you will see is "1 file copied". BACKTALK has just backed up the MESSAGE.DAT file that is in the \MSG directory. YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE YET. Next you will see a blue screen and a message telling you BACKTALK is setting parameters, etc. Then it will read the TNC1.SET file and then the TNC2.SET file if you are configured for 2 ports. ============================================================================= TERMINAL SECTION 2 ============================================================================= All messages and the MESSAGE.DAT file are kept in the \MSG directory and can be accessed by the EDITOR or DR.COM from the BACKTALK pgm. by pressing F7 or F5. More on these commands later. When you first run BT you will get a prompt asking if you wish to strip the R: headers from incoming forwarded messages. For the time being type "N" at this prompt. More on this in the ODDS & ENDS section. By now you should be in the terminal mode of BACKTALK. There should be two red lines on the screen. The space above the first line is the space for the incoming text and the space below the first line is the space for the keyboard input. On the first line you should see a clock and date. To the right of the date there should be a number changing every 1 second from a starting point of 175. When this number gets to 180 BACKTALK will go into the PBBS ready mode, indicated by a prompt at the lower right hand corner of the screen. When this is so, your PBBS is ready for a user to connect to the PBBS. To return back to the terminal mode just press any key and then BACKTALK will return to the terminal mode. The timer will now be set to 0 and increase 1 increment a second until it gets to 180 at which point BACKTALK will go back to the PBBS ready mode. When you are in the terminal mode and you achieve a connected state the timer will be suspended until your disconnected. To connect to your PBBS via the keyboard you must be in the terminal mode, press F8 and at the prompt enter Y. You will now access your PBBS. The commands are the same as any PBBS. At this point you must create the MESSAGE.DAT file and you do this by putting a message on the BBS. YOU must do this before anyone can access your BBS and leave messages. Sign off the BBS by pressing a B. Most problems that can crop up are covered by prompts that BACKTALK will display. Just do what the prompts tell you to do. BACKTALK will also start creating new files as needed and it will prompt you as to what files are being created and where they are being put. Also if there are files that are missing that BACKTALK does not create, you will be prompted as to what they are, this will mostly happen when you attempt to forward mail. More about mailforwarding later in this file. There are 3 menus available to you which will show you all the commands available and there are quite a few. The 3 menus are displayed with the following: ALT-H, ALT-U and ALT-9. The ALT-H menu is the one that deals with the terminal mode part of this software and is the one we will deal with first. ============================================================================= TERMINAL SECTION 3 ============================================================================= (F)unction KEYS from the ALT-H menu and their functions: SHIFT + 6 keys pressed at the same time will cause BACKTALK to SHELL to MS-DOS. When you want to return to BT make sure you return to the directory you were in to begin with and then type EXIT. F1, the function of the F1 key is to set the drive\path\filename for downloading files. The default path and filename for downloads is the drive and directory you run BACKTALK from and the file name is DESK.AA. To change these parameters press F1 and you will be asked to name the new drive\ directory\filename where a downloaded file will be put and named. F2, to upload the TNCPARMS.SET file to the TNC to set up your TNC's mailbox for operation in place of the BACKTALK BBS. There is a sample file included in this package and must be edited to your requirements and personal information. In the event you do not have this file and you press F2, BACKTALK will display a demo file showing you how to construct the TNCPARMS.SET file for TNC mailbox operation. F3 and F4, macro keys (programmable keys). These keys work ONLY while in the terminal mode. To program the F3 key, from the terminal mode simply press F3 then enter the command you wish to send to the TNC. ie. C N3DFD V ABX and then press the ENTER key. The next time you press the F3 key BT (BACKTALK) will print to the screen and then TNC the command: C N3DFD V ABX. Program the F4 key in the same manner. F5, for reading, renaming or killing files anywhere on any drive. When you press F5, BT will display a prompt asking you for a path. Say there was a file in the BASIC directory you wanted to read, kill or rename. At the prompt enter \BBS\BASIC (all directories pertaining to the BBS are sub- directories of the \BBS directory). BT will now SHELL the DR.COM pgm. and DR.COM will display it's own menu for you to choose various functions from. If you want to use a different pgm. for this purpose you may do so by deleting DR.COM from the \BACKTALK directory and copy the pgm. you wish to use into this directory and then re-name the pgm. DR.COM. You can also read files from another drive, ie, say there was a file on the "A" drive you wanted to read, then at the F5 prompt type in A: now you will get a list of all the files on the A drive, ROOT directory. Scroll to the file you wish to read and then press ENTER. F6, use this key to capture a file you are downloading to the drive and directory you have already named with the F1 key function. When finished, press ANY key and the capture to disk routine will be terminated. ============================================================================= TERMINAL SECTION 4 ============================================================================= (F)unction KEYS from the ALT-H menu, continued: F7, this key when depressed brings up EDITOR.EXE, the text editor that is included in this package. This is an extremely good editor and word processor. When you press F7, BT will prompt you to enter the drive\ path\filename. At this prompt you can just hit Enter if you wish and enter the drive\path\filename at the EDITORS prompt. After you get into the Editor you can use F1 to bring up its menu. Here again you may substitute EDITOR.EXE with any editor of your choice so long as you name it EDITOR.EXE. If you are needing to create a brand new file, at the editors prompt enter the drive\ path\filename and if the filename does not exist then EDITOR.EXE will create it. F8, this is the key you press when you are in the terminal mode to access the BBS or go to the PBBS ready mode. When you press the F8 key BT will display a prompt asking if you want to access the PBBS. If you enter a "Y" at this prompt you will be put into the BBS. If you enter a "N" or just hit Enter you will go to the PBBS ready mode. If you enter a "H" at this prompt you will put the mailforwarding on HOLD and then go to the PBBS ready mode. The mailforwarding will stay on hold until you press ALT-M. More about that in the mailforwarding section of this file. F9, pressing this key will cause a disconnect to be sent to the TNC, press again and the disconnect will be immediate. F10, use this key to do an UPLOAD to a station you are connected to. BT can do only ASCII file exchanges. Press F10 and follow the prompts. When the upload is complete BT will send the receiving station the ^Z at the end of the file transfer, you do not have to send it. ALT-C clears the F3 and F4 macro keys. ALT-B toggles sound on and off. ALT-Q, toggles HEADER filter on and off. The header filter only works properly if the transmitting station's not sending packets in a BLOCK format. The filter relies on a CARRIAGE RETURN being at the end of each line. ALT-V toggles TNC's MONITOR parameter on and off. ALT-S clears and restores the screen plus displays STACK space and DATA space left. ============================================================================= TERMINAL SECTION 5 ============================================================================= ALT-NUMBER key commands from the ALT-U menu: ALT-1, displays the downloads record for the current month. This file is created and appended every time someone does a download. Each month a new file is created and they are kept in the \BBS\DATABASE dir. ALT-2, calls the BTRENUM.EXE pgm. to renumber the messages in your PBBS. The highest number allowed for a message is 9,999. At this point you MUST renumber your messages. The messages and the MESSAGE.DAT file are kept in the \MSG directory. ALT-3, to create a new PBBS.CNF file. This command is a throw back to when the INSTALL.EXE pgm. was actually a part of BACKTALK.EXE. When I removed the code that makes up the INSTALL.EXE pgm. I never reassigned the ALT-3 keys. So when you press ALT-3, BT runs the INSTALL.EXE pgm. ALT-4, allows you to reassign new frequencies to your COM1 and COM2 port prompts for the GATEWAY prompts that are sent to the user while he is using the GATEWAY feature of BT's PBBS. Only valid till next re-boot. ALT-5, prints the screen buffers to disk as SCREEN.BUF. ALT-6, clears the screen buffers. (incoming data while mon- itoring is saved in a revolving buffer). ALT-7, displays the WHO.CON file that BT maintains. The WHO.CON file keeps a record of who has connected to the PBBS. Also displays the record of UPLOADS (WHAT.NEW file ) made to the PBBS. This file can be accessed by a user connected to the PBBS with the "WN" command. This file is deleted every time you boot the BACKTALK pgm. ALT-8, resets the TNC's time and date string. The TNC's time and date string are automatically set every time you run BT. ALT-9, brings up the STATUS menu. This menu mainly shows how the PBBS is configured, etc. ALT-0, displays the MH list from both TNC's. HOME, toggles COM1 and COM2 ports. (only if PBBS configured with COM2 open and provided your computer has a COM2 port). PG DN key, displays what's in the screen buffers, ALT key to scroll, any other key to exit this mode ALT-I, forces BT to beacon the MAIL for: string. ============================================================================= TERMINAL SECTION 6 ============================================================================= COMMANDS from the STATUS menu, ALT-9 ALT-J, calls a routine that will allow you to copy any message that you have to any user directory on the PBBS. Just follow the prompts. ALT-R, this is a dual function routine, the first is the REMIND function. Press ALT-R and then follow the prompts. You will be able to have BT remind you of an event. When it's time for the event the bottom part of the screen will flash the event string you entered plus beep. To stop the alarm you can press ALT-R and then press the Enter key at the prompt. The second part of the routine will be explained in the MAIL-FORWARDING section of this file. ALT-L, activates the LOGBOOK routine. You may create files containing calls, frequencies, addresses, etc. plus comments. ALT-F, accesses the MFWD.BBS file that YOU must create for automatic MAIL FORWARDING. Use ALT-F to clear this file of message numbers to be forwarded. Once you clear the message numbers from this file the messages will NOT be forwarded. BT accesses this file twice a day auto- matically to clear out left over message numbers. More on this in the MAIL FORWARDING section of this file. ALT-M, to force BT to forward the mail. ALT-N, to toggle the GATEWAY beacon feature. Must have gateway ON (PBBS.CNF file) and COM2 port activated. More on GATEWAY operation in the PBBS section of this file. This is a 2 way beacon. When a station is heard on port2 it is beaconed on port1 and vica versa. The beacons go off every 1 minutes. This feature has limited applications I admit. SYSOPS, this is a display, not a command. The REMOTE SYSOPS are set in the PBBS.CNF file when you run the INSTALL.EXE pgm. More on this in the REMOTE SYSOPS section of this file. DOWNLOAD PROHIBIT WINDOW, this window is set up when you run the INSTALL.EXE pgm. This function limits downloads of files over 25k from the time you set until midnight. If you had entered 19 then a user would not be able to download a file over 25k from 7pm to midnight. The PBBS.CNF file can be edited at any time with the EDITOR.EXE pgm. I might mention here that BT will NOT ALLOW DOWNLOADS over 25k via a DIGI at ANY TIME. Connection thru a NODE does not activate this limitation. ============================================================================= PBBS SECTION 7 ============================================================================= All commands on the PBBS generally consist of a letter a space and then the qualifier and then a Carriage Return or on some computers the Return key. eg. N Joe<C/R) will place your name into the system as Joe. For most of the commands if you send the letter without any qualifier you will get an explanation back on the use of the command. Sending the letter D <C/R> for example you will get back from the PBBS; Use: D directoryname\filename.ext Summary of COMMANDS on BBS: [A] --------- to access the world wide PBBS and DIGI list. You can do global searches by entering any string, such as part of a location, frequency, callsign, etc. [B] --------- to LOG off from BBS. (DISCONNECT). Sending the letter B plus a carriage return will disconnect you from the PBBS. [?] --------- to get HELP, these instructions. Sending the ? or the letter H will get you the Summary of commands list. (short version). [F] --------- to FIND any file on the PBBS. Send an F to the BBS and then at the prompt you get back you can enter the first name of the file you are looking for, eg., MORSE, MORS, MOR, CODE, COD, etc. The shorter the string you enter the less selective the search will be. If you entered MORSE you would get back a listing of all the files on the BBS that has the string MORSE in it and what directory it is in. [L] --------- to LIST LAST 20 messages on BBS. Sending just the letter L will list only the last 20 messages on the PBBS. To list more than that you can use LL #, L>, L<, LB or L ALL. [LB] -------- to LIST only messages addressed to ALL. Sending LB to the PBBS will get you a list of all the messages addressed to ALL only. [L ALL] ----- to LIST ALL the messages on the BBS. Sending L ALL will get you a list of every message on the PBBS except those that were sent as private mail with the SP command. ============================================================================= PBBS SECTION 8 ============================================================================= [L>] -------- to FIND mail addressed to you. L> your callsign. Use this to find a particular message or group of messages, for example, if you saw in the BEACON that there was mail on the PBBS for N3XYZ or SALE or IBMUSR, you can list only mail addressed to them by the L> command. eg. L> SALE will get you a list of all the mail addressed to SALE and nothing else. [L<] -------- to FIND mail addressed from you. L< your callsign. This command is just the opposite of the L> command, this one will find and list mail from someone rather than to someone. if for example you wish to see how many messages are on the PBBS from you, you would send L< yourcallsign. [L@] -------- to LIST messages by category, eg., < L@ DX, L@ ARRL >, etc, This command will search the TO and @BBS fields and also the SUBJECT field for the STRING you enter for search. [LM] -------- to LIST messages addressed to you. If you have mail on the PBBS when you first connect to the system you will be notified that you do. It is only at this time you can use the following:LM,RM KM. These commands eliminate the need for you to deal with mes- sage numbers at this point. [LL #] ------ to LIST # of messages. This command will list the number of messages you desire, eg. LL 7 will list the last 7 msgs. [LT] -------- to LIST messages for TODAY only. [I] --------- to read INFOrmation file about this station. Sending the letter I to the system will download to you the Information file con- taining all the pertinent information about the PBBS system and radio station. [N] --------- to put your NAME into the system. <N yourname>. This command puts your name in the system permanently so that the system may address you by name. [NH] -------- to Enter your HOME PBBS into the system. This puts your home PBBS in the system files so the sysop will know where to notify you in the event you have mail here or he can forward it if need be. [R] --------- to READ a message, <R messagenumber>, <R 5>. You may also stack this command, for example if you wanted to read more than 1 message you could send: <R 2 234 236 305>. This syntax would result in the BBS sending you message 2, 234, 236 and 305 with just the one command. ============================================================================= PBBS SECTION 9 ============================================================================= [RM] -------- to READ your message(s). This applies only if you have mail on the system. RM will read ALL your messages. [S] --------- to SEND a msg to someone. <S callsign>, <S N3XYZ>. [SP] -------- to SEND PRIVATE MAIL, will not show up in the listing. Use this command to send mail to someone that you want to be private. This type of mail will not show up in any listing except by the person who sent it or the person to whom it's for. <SP N3XYZ>. [S ALL] ----- to SEND a message or bulletin addressed to ALL. <S ALL>. [S xxx @ xxx] to SEND a message or bulletin to another PBBS or USER at another PBBS. eg., <SB ALL @ ALLBBS>, <S N3ABC @ W3XYZ>. [J] --------- to SHOW LOG.(Who has connected to BBS). [JH] -------- to show what stations the TNC has heard. [G] --------- to access the Gateway if it is available. [KM] -------- to KILL your message(s). Kills ALL mail addressed to you. [W] --------- to see WHAT directories/files are on the PBBS. Files of info- rmation and computer software are stored on the disk in SUB- DIRectories. When you send the command W to the system, what you get back is a list of what's in the ROOT or MAIN directory. You may see files there and also SUB-DIRectories. A file will have a name like, BBS-CMDS.DOC followed by its size in bytes. If you see a name like BASIC <DIR>. then you know that BASIC is a SUB-DIRectory and in it are probably computer pgms written in BASIC. If you wanted to download any files that might be there you must first be able to see what's there and you may do this by sending the command W BASIC and this will show you what's in the BASIC DIRectory. then if you wish you may download any file you see there by sending the following command: D BASIC\MINITERM.BAS if indeed that is the file or pgm you wanted. [WN] -------- to see if any new files since you checked in last. [WH] -------- to find some ones Name, Home PBBS and when they last logged into the PBBS. <WH callsign>. ============================================================================= PBBS SECTION 10 ============================================================================= [D] --------- to DOWNLOAD a file. (D dir\filename.ext).(CTRL-Z to ABORT). After starting a download you may Abort it at any time by the sending of the CTRL-Z character. Upon the PBBS receiving the CTRL-Z the pbbs will immediately stop sending data to the TNC. However there may be up to 3k of data still left in the TNC that will be sent to you so you won't see an immediate cease of incoming data, but be assured it will stop as soon as the TNC has purged itself. It's rather like trying to stop a woman from completing a tirade in mid stream, it'll never happen unless your prepared to shoot her. [V] --------- to show what VERSION of software and author. [U] --------- to UPLOAD a file. (U dir\filename.ext). To upload a file to this system it MUST be in ASCII format. Then just do the same as you would for a download except you replace the D with U, For example, if you wanted to upload a pgm to the BASIC dir- ectory and the pgms name was MINITERM.BAS then you would type the following: U BASIC\MINITERM.BAS [P] --------- to show PATH to a station that has checked into this BBS. If you wanted to know the path a station used to get to this PBBS you would send the following: P N3XYZ and if this station has ever connected to this PBBS you would get back the information on the path he or she took. [T] --------- to TALK to SYSOP. By sending a T to the PBBS you set in motion a series of events that take place in the shack where the PBBS is located. The PBBS pgm moves to an area in its pgm that will allow whatever the sysop types on the keyboard to be sent to the TNC for transmission and whatever comes in from you to be read by him and having no effect on the PBBS. When you sent that T it made the computer BEEP rather loudly to catch the at- tention of the sleeping sysop, so if he comes back to you a little disoriented don't be too concerned. If he does not reply you will be put back to the PBBS in about 15 seconds. [CTRL-Z] ---- This control character is used for closing files and also to ABORT any download, this also includes messages you are reading. [CTRL-A] ---- To bring up the REMOTE SYSOP menu and activate all REMOTE SYSOP privileges. ============================================================================= REMOTE OPERATION SECTION 11 ============================================================================= BACKTALK can be run and maintained completely from a REMOTE status. For REMOTE SYSOP privileges the call sign of the operator must be in the PBBS.CNF file including YOUR call sign, otherwise you won't have SYSOP privileges. You can do just about anything remotely that you can do via the keyboard including rerunning the software. Send a CTRL-A to the BBS and that will put you in the REMOTE SYSOP mode, if your call is in the PBBS.CNF file as a REMOTE SYSOP. Then send a ? and you will get the following menu: [D] ------------ download a file. (D drive\path\filename). [DIR] ---------- create an ASCII directory. (DIR drive\path). [K] ------------ kill a file. (K drive\path\filename). [KA] ----------- kill all message for a given month. (KA 04-00-1990). [KS] ----------- kill msgs. by the TO or AT field. (KS AMSAT). [K0] ----------- kill ALL UNREAD messages. (K0). [U] ------------ upload a file. (U drive\path\filename). [RETURN] ------ to exit REMOTE SYSOP mode. (RETURN). [COPY] --------- copy file to another place. (COPY drive\path\filename drive \path\filename). [SHUTDOWN] ----- shutdown the PBBS. if done remotely you will have to got to the site to bring it back up. (SHUTDOWN callsign). [CLEAR] -------- clears the MFWD.BBS file of message numbers so that the messages scheduled for forwarding will not be forwarded. (CLEAR). [RUN] ---------- reruns the BT program. ( [[RUN]] ). SHELL, this command does not come up in the menu as this is a dangerous remote command and you may not want even your trusted REMOTE SYSOPS to know about it. Missuse of this command could leave the PBBS stuck in DOS, ie., if you remotely SHELLED a pgm. or .BAT file that needed keyboard input you could never get back to the BT pgm. without pressing a key. Also the SHELL command allows for many DOS functions to be executed REMOTELY. DO NOT EVER TYPE "SHELL" WITHOUT A QUALIFIER, 'CAUSE IF YOU DO YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO THE BACKTALK PGM AS YOU WOULD HAVE TO TYPE "EXIT" TO DO SO. The SHELL command is only to be used to run other software or .BAT files that do not require keyboard input at any time. ============================================================================= BACKTALK UTILITIES 12 ============================================================================= INSTALL.EXE --- Used to set up and install BACKTALK. BTRENUM.EXE --- Used to renumber messages. BUBBS.EXE -- Used to backup the entire PBBS on to another hard drive ONLY! (mirror backup). SORTBBS.EXE -- Used to sort all the directories associated with the PBBS and create a new ASCII directory in each directory. CHANGE.EXE -- Used to automatically alter the TO and AT fields in the MESSAGE.DAT file. H.EXE --------- Used to convert R: message headers in the \bbs\mfwd\haddres.new file to "H" addresses for the ADDRS.BBS file. RH.EXE -------- Removes duplicates from the ADDRS.NEW file that H.EXE creates. ALL the above support pgms. for BACKTALK must be available to MS-DOS by the PATH command. It's probably a good idea to keep all these pgms. in the same directory that you run BACKTALK from. ============================================================================= CHANGE THE TO & AT FIELDS 13 ============================================================================= For BACKTALK, Version 10.3 and higher you must have a file named HELP.BBS and this file will go in the \BBS directory. This is the file that the user sees when he sends a ? or an H to the BBS. For BACKTALK, Version 11.0 and higher the following applies: With version 11.0 and higher you may use the optional CHANGE.EXE pgm. to alter automatically the TO and AT fields in the MESSAGE.DAT file. This will affect the way the messages are addressed when forwarding also. Put the CHANGE.EXE pgm. where the PATH command can find it. Then you need to create two new files in the \BBS\MFWD directory called CHANGE.TO and CHANGE.AT. Here is an example of what might be in the CHANGE.TO file: SAT -AMSAT ARL -ARRL 4SALE -SALE SELL -SALE A message addressed SB SAT @ ALLBBS <WA3TYU $4566_WA3TSW for example will have the TO field changed to AMSAT so then the message will look like this: SB AMSAT @ ALLBBS <WA3TYU $4566_WA3TSW The same holds true with what ever you have set up in the CHANGE.AT file to change the @BBS field. THE '- 'IN THE FILES MUST BE THE 7TH CHARACTER REGARDLESS OF HOW SHORT THE FIRST ENTRY IS. THE ENTRY AFTER THE DASH MAY BE ANY LENGTH UP TO 6 CHARACTERS. Your MESSAGE.DAT file will be updated every night at 7pm. if you wish to do it sooner press ALT-R and then type a R and then hit ENTER. This will activate the CHANGE.EXE pgm. NOTICE: For version 11.0 and higher the INSTALL routine is no longer a part of the BACKTALK.EXE pgm. It is now a separate program and is named INSTALL.EXE. ============================================================================= MAIL FORWARD SECTION 14 ============================================================================= Following is an example of what the new MFWD.BBS file that you must create looks like: *** EOF [beginning of segment #1 marker] KA2EZN [callsign of PBBS to be forwarded to] 0 [BACKTALK puts msg. numbers on this line, you put the 0] ARRL AMSAT UOSAT [distribution categories] C EPA V W3ACV [path to a NODE] C KA2EZN [connect request] 17 18 19 20 21 22 [hours to be forwarded to] *** EOF PMD [beginning of segment #2 marker] '*' N3FOA 0 * [the * in this line means do not forward to this BBS] * [the * in this line means ALL and ANY category] NODE [the word NODE in this line means no NODE being used] C N3FOA-4 * [the * in this line means 24 hr. forwarding] Each segment has only 7 lines. There can be as many segments as you need. THERE CAN BE NO BLANK LINES. '*' The PMD in the *** EOF line indicates that this is a personal mail box. This is necessary if you are going to forward to a TNC mailbox. With out the PMD on this line the pgm may lock up when you try to forward mail to a TNC mailbox. Line #3. BACKTALK will place the message numbers of messages that are to be forwarded to the CALL in line #2. If you do not wish to forward any bulletins to this BBS you may place a * in line #3 and then no messages will be forwarded to that PBBS unless the message is addressed to that PBBS. Line #4, this line contains the category of messages to be forwarded. The category follows the @ sign in the message header. eg, SB ALL@ALLBBS. ALLBBS is the category for that message. For a BULLETIN to be forwarded to a PBBS, 3 things must be true: message number must be in line 3 category must be in line 4 hour to forward must match real time, line 7 If you have categories in the CHANGE.AT file, these must be entered also. If you wish to send every type of category you don't need to enter them all, just put a * in place of the categories on line #4. ============================================================================= MAIL FORWARDING 15 ============================================================================= Line #5, on this line you will place the connect request to a NODE if you need to connect through one. If not the word NODE must appear on this line. Here is an example: C EPA V W3ZXC. Line #6, this line contains the connect request to the PBBS you are forwarding to. eg, C N3ABC or XC N3ABC or whatever type of connect request is required. Line #7, this line contains the hours you will forward to the BBS. If you are to forward to a BBS on a 24 hour basis you may place a * in place of the hours. If you wish not to forward to a BBS and just receive messages then place the number 25 on this line instead of anything else. THERE MAY BE NO BLANK LINES IN ANY SEGMENT OF THE MFWD.BBS FILE! You may forward as many times an hour as you need to. This infor- mation is kept in the MAILFWD.ST file. If you did not create this file BACKTALK will create it and insert the number 25 in it. This means BT will scan at 25 after the hour to see if forwarding is appropriate. If you wish to forward more that once an hour place more numbers in the MAILFWD.ST file. eg, 05 25 45 This entry will have BACKTALK scan for forwarding at 5, 25 and 45 minutes after the hour. Any messages to a PBBS that is NOT in your MFWD.BBS file will be sent to the PBBS that is LAST in the MFWD.BBS file. If BACKTALK don't know to what BBS to send the message it will go to whomever is last on the list in the MFWD.BBS file. ============================================================================= FILES 16 ============================================================================= The following files are to be kept in the same directory you are running BACKTALK from. INFO TXT INSTALL EXE JERK LST PBBS CNF RUN BAT SIGNON TXT TNC1 SET [may be eliminated if not needed]. TNC2 SET [may be eliminated if not needed]. MAILFWD ST MFWD BBS EDITOR EXE DS COM DR COM BTRENUM EXE SORTBBS EXE CHANGE EXE LOGO EXE [optional] runs LOGO at beginning of pgm. LOGO TXT [optional] There will be other files appear in the directory as you use BACKTALK. They will be created as needed. The following files are to be kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory and are necessary for proper mail forwarding. ADDRS BBS [H addresses of PBBS's]. CHANGE TO CHANGE AT RMVDUP EXE REJECT MSG H EXE RH EXE The following files are to be kept in the \BBS\DATABASE directory. DATABASE.INF [contains a list of all the BBS worldwide, you can compile this list from any source available, for the A command on the BBS]. The following should be kept in the \BBS directory: HELP.BBS BBS-CMDS.DOC ============================================================================= FILES 17 ============================================================================= There are a few more files BACKTALK creates that need mention here. They are as follows: PROMPT.DAT PROMPT2.DAT DPROMPT.DAT These files contain the necessary prompts for BACKTALK to recognize when connecting to a NODE, forwarding mail and connecting to a station. Look at these files after they are created and you will see what they do. If you need to change any of the prompts you may do so but DO NOT ADD any prompts, only substitution is permitted. INFO.TXT, this file has to be created by you. It is the file that BT reads when a user sends an "I" to the PBBS. It should contain any information about your station that you wish to convey to the user. It may be as long as you wish and each line must be ended with a CARRIAGE RETURN. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Any support pgms. for BACKTALK you do not have may be obtained from the N3DFD PBBS on 144.990/29.2500 Mhz. in Philadelphia or from: The Software Exchange Xpo (S.E.X) 912 E. Ramona Ave. Phila. Pa. 19124. When I started writing this .DOC file BACKTALK was about 150k long. It has now grown to over 420k long therefore it can no longer be run from a A and C drive combination. It must ALL be on the HARD drive. A special thanks to Sam (N3FOA) who assisted in writing this file and also BETA testing the many versions of BACKTALK as it has grown over these many months. He has been running and testing BACKTALK from day 1. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ============================================================================= ODDS & ENDS 18 ============================================================================= BACKTALK.EXE and the UTILITY software for BT are all written by N3DFD in MicroSofts COMPILED BASIC, version 4.5. BACKTALK is a BIG pgm. due to 2 things, COMPILED BASIC pgms. tend to be bigger when compiled than most other language pgms. plus BT does a lot of things and carries most of the STRING variables within the code in an effort to make set up easier and keep the amount of support files to a minimum. Instead of you having to create most of the files BT needs for support, BT creates what it needs. This makes the pgm. bigger also. BT is probably easier than any other PBBS to set up and maintain and it's the ONLY PBBS with a FULL FEATURED terminal emulator built in. The PBBS forwards with "H" addressing and will interface with any PBBS being used today. BT operates at 1200 baud (computer to tnc baud rate). There is a file you must have in the \BBS\MFWD directory named ADDRS.BBS that will contain the "H" addresses of various BBS's. This file may be built up from the R: message headers that precede all messages that are forwarded to you. These R: headers are saved in the \BBS\MFWD directory in a file named HADDRES.NEW. You can update the ADDRS.BBS file from the HADDRES.NEW file by running the UTILITY pgm. for BT called H.EXE. after running that pgm. you run RH.EXE. When this is finished you will be left with a file called ADDRS.BAK or ADDRS.NEW. Now you can kill ADDRS.BBS and re-name the ADDRS.BAK file ADDRS.BBS. The R: headers are saved to the HADDRES .NEW file whether or not you have BT set up to strip them from incoming messages. If a user tries to send a message to be forwarded and the BBS's call is not in the ADDRS.BBS file, BT will prompt him for the correct add- ress. It will force him to address the message in the "H" format and then the call with the "H" address will be appended to the ADDRS.BBS file so the next time he or someone else wants to send a message to that PBBS he will not be prompted for the address since you will already have it in your ADDRS.BBS file. The command to send an "H" addressed message would look like the following: SB ALL @ WA3BCD.CA.USA.NA BT does not poll for mail from the BBS it is connected to after a forwarding session, however if it really becomes necessary for you do so you may do it manually by, from the PBBS ready mode, pressing ALT-K. You will get a prompt asking for the call of the BBS your going to connect to. Enter just the callsign and NO SSID's. The next prompt will ask you to Enter the connect request, ie., C N3ABC-4 V ABX. That's all there is to it. When the connection is made BT will do the rest. BT CAN NOT REVERSE POLL ANOTHER BBS THAT IS USING BACKTALK.EXE. ============================================================================= ODDS & ENDS 19 ============================================================================= The CHANGE.EXE pgm. also now has a new function. When you press ALT-R and then R or when BT does it automatically (twice a day) to alter the MESSAGE.DAT file, CHANGE.EXE reads from a file you create called DBASE.INF. There are 2 lines in this file, the first is the string to match the TO or AT field and the second is either KILL or NO KILL. Both lines MUST be in capitol letters. Now here is what happens. If, for example, you have the word SYSOP on the first line and NO KILL on the second line, any message that is addressed TO or AT sysop will be saved over to the \BBS\DATABASE directory and the original message will NOT be KILLED. If the second line in the DBASE.INF file was KILL then the message would be KILLED after it was saved over to the \BBS\DATABASE directory and this message if not yet forwarded could, of course, not be forwarded. MOST OF THE FILES THAT BT CREATES ARE CREATED IN THE DIRECTORY YOU ARE RUNNING BT FROM, THE REST ARE CREATED IN THE \BBS\MFWD DIRECTORY! If you put the mail forwarding on HOLD with the F8 key it creates a file called MAIL.HD. As long as this file is on the disk, when you run BT it will initialize with the mail on HOLD and you will have to manually force a mail forward and then it will be automatic until the next time you boot the pgm. If you wish to eliminate this, delete the MAIL.HD file from the disk. When you first run BACKTALK it will prompt you as to whether or not you wish the R: headers stripped from the incoming forwarded messages. What ever you answer, Y/N, BT creates MHEADER.MSG. This file contains 1 char- acter, either a Y or a N. As long as this file exist BT will never prompt you again as to whether or not you want it to strip the R: headers. You can either edit the file to change it or delete it and the next time you run BT you will be prompted again. The reason this function exists is 'cause BT was originally written to strip the R: headers from the messages to save time and energy. I think it's ridiculous to forward up to 20 lines of R: headers for a 1 or 2 line message, however some SYSOPS get bent out of shape when you forward bulletins without the damnd things attached so you now have a choice, to header or not to header. Regardless of how you have the MHEADER filter set up, R: headers will NOT be stripped from personal messages or messages addresses to SYSOP. Also, 1 R: header is ALWAYS sent, the one from your PBBS. WARNING: Take note, if you are running BT with the GATEWAY feature on, if someone uses the Gateway, HIS callsign will be the call used on the Gateway, NOT THE PBBS's. ============================================================================= ODDS & ENDS 20 ============================================================================= BACKTALK uses the standard method of checking for duplication of incoming messages. It uses the BID numbers that are saved in the \BBS\MFWD directory in a file named BID.NUM. You do not have to do anything with this file as BT maintains it automatically. This method of dupe checking is the only form of dupe checking that BT does when connected to a non BACKTALK PBBS, however if your being forwarded to or from another BACKTALK PBBS there is an additional method of dupe checking. BT checks the SUBJECT field to see if it matches any in the MESSAGE.DAT file and also checks to see who the message is from. If these two things match perfectly, BT will reject the message on that basis. It's just a little extra insurance against dupes. When BACKTALK is booted up, the first thing it does is set aside a certain amount of STACK space and DATA space for operation. If for any reason the STACK or DATA space allocation should drop below 1k, BT will RUN itself over again. THERE MUST NEVER BE ANY MEMORY RESIDENT PROGRAMS IN MEMORY WHEN RUNNING BACKTALK OR IT WILL SURELY LOCK UP YOUR COMPUTER!!! You may check the amount of STACK and DATA space left at any time by pressing ALT-S. MS-DOS only permits 514 files kept in any directory on a hard drive, so you must not let your msgs. go above that number. If your message count goes above 500 you will be notified by the pgm. that you need to kill some messages. If a message is killed on your BBS, before it is killed it is saved to the \BBS\MFWD directory. This does not apply when you do mass deletes however. The "MAIL for: " beacon string is limited to about 180 characters. Any more than that and the string will be truncated. ALMOST every routine that BT engages in can be exited by pressing the Enter key. This also applies when some one is connected to the PBBS. If they are downloading a file, you can abort the download by pressing the Enter key, press it again and you kick them off the PBBS. To abort the mail forwarding routine press Enter, etc. When in doubt, press Enter! ALT-X, clears the bottom half of the screen only and also displays the REMIND string if you have loaded it. (ALT-R). ALT-Z, allows you to send commands to the TNC while in the PBBS ready mode. You don't have to return to the terminal mode to send commands to the TNC. ============================================================================= ODDS & ENDS 21 ============================================================================= REJECT.MSG, this is a file you can create to have the BBS reject any messages from being forwarded to you. It can contain a callsign or the string from the @ field on. When the forwarding BBS sends a command like SB ALL @ AMSAT <WA4FGH $2445_W4ERT, what ever string(s) you have in the REJECT.MSG file will be compared to what's in the SB string and if there is a match BT will reject the message. REJECT.MSG is kept in the \BBS\MFWD directory and can have as many strings in it as needed. All strings must be followed by a CARRIAGE RETURN. Here is an example file: AMSAT W3ERT NYNET All messages comming in with any of those strings in the S message command that is sent by the other BBS will be rejected. FORWARDING ON COM PORT #2.... To forward to a BBS on COM2 port you must have answered the question about forwarding on port1 or port2 with a 2. This was one of the questions asked when you ran the INSTALL.EXE pgm. If you did not enter a 2 you may edit the PBBS.CNF file so that the last entry is the number 2 for COM2. After doing that you will have to create a file named PORT2.BBS in the directory you run BT from. In this file you will put the callsigns of the BBS's you wish to forward to via COM2 or port2. If you are connecting through a NODE you must put his call in there also. Each entry must be followed by a CARRIAGE RETURN. You need to put DIGI calls in this file also. Any call that will be via COM2 should be in this file. DO NOT ENTER SSID's. ie. -4, -5, etc. When BT starts to forward mail it will check the PORT2.BBS file to see if the call sign of the BBS it is about to forward to is there and if it is, it will switch to COM port #2 before connecting. When BACKTALK disconnects it will reurn to COM1. If you are running BT with the Gateway feature ON and COM2 open, you can turn on the Gateway beacon with ALT-N. When this beacon is on it will beacon who was heard on COM1 to COM2 and vica versa every 1 minute. ============================================================================== Here is an example of what your PBBS.CNF file will look like. N3DFD ...........<===============> your calls Philadelphia Pa .<===============> your location 19124 ...........<===============> your zip code K ...............<===============> what type of TNC you are using 6 ...............<===============> color of incoming text printed to screen N3DFD N3FOA .....<===============> sysop and assistant sysop's Y ...............<===============> do you want open comport 2 ? 144.990 .........<===============> com1 frequency 28.250 ..........<===============> com2 frequency Y ...............<===============> do you want gateway on ? 25 ..............<===============> your download window C: ..............<===============> drive for keeping bbs messages C: ..............<===============> drive for downloading files N ..............<===============> initialize with GATEWAY beacon ON N ..............<===============> r u the last BBS in the fwdng chain? 1 ..............<===============> port for mail fwdng. 1=1 only, 2=both ============================================================================= TNC PARMS SETTINGS 22 ============================================================================= AX25L2V2 ON ABAUD 1200 AUTOLF ON AXDELAY 0 AXHANG 0 BBSMSGS ON BKONDEL OFF CANLINE $18 CANPAC $19 CCITT OFF CHECK 18 CMDTIME 1 CMSG ON COMMAND $03 CONLIST OFF CONMODE CONVERS CPACTIME OFF CR ON CSTAMP OFF DAYTWEAK 8 DAYUSA ON DBLDISC OFF DELETE $08 DWAIT 1 ECHO OFF ESCAPE OFF EXCARDET OFF FLOW ON FILTER ON FRACK 2 FULLDUP OFF HEADERLN ON KISSMODE OFF KNTIMER 3 LCOK ON LCSTREAM ON LFADD OFF LLIST ON MALL ON MAXFRAME 7 MAXUSERS 1 MBEACON ON MCON OFF MCOM ON MODEMENA OFF ============================================================================= TNC PARMS SETTINGS continued... 23 ============================================================================= MRESP ON MRPT ON MSTAMP OFF NEWMODE ON NOMODE OFF NUCR 0 NULF 0 PACLEN 0 PACTIME AFTER 1 PARITY 3 PASS $16 PASSALL OFF PERSIST 255 PID OFF REDISPLA $12 RELINK OFF RESPTIME 1 RETRY 10 RNRTIME 1 SCREENL 0 SENDPAC $0D SLOTTIME 1 START $11 STATSHRT OFF STOP $13 STREAMSW $00 STREAMCA OFF STREAMDB OFF STREAMEV OFF SWDETENA OFF TRACE OFF TRFLOW ON TRIES 0 TXDELAY 50 to 75 TXFLOW ON USERS 1 XFLOW ON XMITOK ON XOFF $13 XON $11