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C9Master / C9Door Software Installation and Usage Guide Copyright Corbin 22, LTD. All Rights Reserved Table of Contents Page Copywrite Notice .......................................................... i A MESSAGE TO A PAY BBS SYSOP .............................................. 1 Downloaded Version Installation ........................................... 1 Installing from diskette .................................................. 1 C9MASTER .................................................................. 2 Using the Edit Keys ..................................................... 2 CONFIGURING YOUR COPY OF THE C9MASTER PROGRAM ............................. 2 System Options .......................................................... 2 Comport Settings ........................................................ 3 Account Options ......................................................... 3 Member Accounts ......................................................... 4 Read Account Info ....................................................... 4 Shell to DOS ............................................................ 4 Exit to DOS ............................................................. 4 SPECIAL FEATURES .......................................................... 5 Automated Accounting .................................................... 5 DESCRIPTIONS OF EXE'S ..................................................... 6 C9Master ................................................................ 6 C9Door .................................................................. 6 C9Bbs ................................................................... 6 DESCRIPTIONS OF .ANS, .TXT, & .MSG FILES .................................. 7 MAKING REDEMPTION CODES FOR THE DEMO VERSION .............................. 8 HOW TO CONTACT CORBIN 22, LTD ............................................. 9 Page i Connect 900 and C900 are Registered Trademarks of Corbin 22. LTD. This software is Copyright (c) 1993 Corbin 22. LTD. All Rights Reserved. This Connect 900 Service Software product is owned by Corbin 22. LTD. and is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Therefore, you must treat this software Product like any other copyrighted material (e.g., a book or recording). Page 1 Thank you for purchasing The Connect 900 Service (C900). C900 was created because of a need in the Pay BBS world for an instant means of validation as well as a trouble-free way for callers to pay for premium BBS services. A Message to a Pay Sysop I want to share something with you that I think you will find quite interesting. If you are reading this you are probably at least interested in running a pay oriented BBS. If you already run a pay BBS then you realize that the most important, and unfortunately most difficlt, function of that BBS is to get the user to pay. It gets a little easier if they have already paid once or twice. However, the real difficulty comes with getting that caller to pay the very first time. If I may digress for just a moment, I would like to share something else with you. In the last twelve years many of the billion-dollar enterprises have become so due to a particular group of people and a particular strategy. The group: people between the ages of 12 and 35. The strategy: low cost, high volume entertainment products. Think about it. What is the most successful new product in the last 12 years? Home entertainment systems; i.e., NintendoTM and Sega GenesisTM, to name just a couple. Now, what was the precursor to the home entertainment system? Arcade video games. These alluring and quite remarkable machines draw you to them and ask only a quarter to see the rest of what they have in store. Lets say that you come across a video game with some of the most awesome graphics around and it's multi-player so you and your buds can play against one another. Youve decided to play, but in order to you must first mail in a check to the company that owns the video game and keep coming back until you know that theyve received the check, at which time you receive a limited amount of time to play. Would you be so inclined to pay much attention to that game? Maybe so, but now think of everyone else who would read this scenerio... would they? Who knows? The fact of the matter is, it would take so long to be able to play that you could quickly lose interest, or if you have already mailed in checks for your favorite video game, whos to say that you will want to go through the whole process for yet another great new game that you have come across? If you think about it, this is what your callers face each and every time they come across a great new BBS. They may like it, and they will easily pay for it, but it just takes too much time and trouble to get on-line. It may also be easier to just stick with the one they are already paying for even if it may be a long-distance call. I run a BBS and think that I have solved that problem in much the same way arcade video games entice you to play. I use a 900 number. This allows the caller to quickly pay a small amount of money for a reasonable amount of time on-line. What happens is when a caller connects for the first time they get enough time to become interested. Once they are interested in the BBS I give them my 900 number so they can call and get instant time on-line. The process is much like paying for an arcade video game! It's simple. They just call the 900 number and receive a code. The caller then calls the BBS back and enters that code. He receives instant Membership! I know that they have paid for the code because they could only get it by calling the 900 number and thereby charging their phone. The 900 number makes a flat charge to their phone of $10.00. That gives them $10.00 worth of on-line time once that code is redeemed. The response is phenome- nal! My paid user-ship had gone up nearly 600% in just a few months. In conversations with other BBS Sysops running pay-for-play systems we would often get on the topic of making more money with the system or at least making it pay for itself. Usually, before the Connect900 Service was available, we would get on the subject of instant pay. That would inevitably lead to the discussion of credit card acceptance and then to 900 numbers and would quickly end with sighs and groans about the expense and complications of each step. Credit cards offer instant pay, but, unless you offer some automated way of validating that credit card number, not instant play. Fear of fraud and misuse generally tends to only shorten the time between paying and playing. It still takes awhile. Also, some people, namely myself, are a bit wary of leaving that valuable 12 to 14 digit number in the hands of a stranger. That problem is no more. Downloaded Version Installation 1. Unarchive the file that you have downloaded (each Systems' file will have a unique archive filename) into a temporary directory. 2. Move to that temporary directory, and type INSTALL <DRIVELETTER> where driveletter is the first character of the drive you want to install onto, example INSTALL C would install The Connect 900 Service Software onto your C:, in the directory C900 off of your root directory. 3. Unarchive ALL archived files into the C900 directory that was just created. Be sure to include the BBS interface archive. 4. Your copy of The Connect 900 Service Software is now installed on your machine. You can now proceed to the section titled, C9MASTER Installing the C900 Software from the installation diskette 1. Place the distribution diskette in your floppy drive. 2. Type <drive letter containing disk>: <Enter> 3. Type INSTALL <DRIVELETTER> <Enter> where DRIVELETTER is the first letter of the hard drive to install C900 onto. For example, INSTALL C will install The Connect 900 Software onto your C: Drive. Page 2 C9MASTER Configuring your copy of the C9MASTER program To enter the C9MASTER program, type C9MASTER <Enter>. A menu will appear displaying the following options: System Options Comport Settings Account Options Member Accounts Read Account Info Shell to DOS Exit to DOS USING THE EDIT KEYS From within the C9MASTER program certain editing keys are available. These keys, and their functions remain constant throughout the menus. F1 Help Gives a context sensitive help screen. F2 Save Saves the current record to a data file. F3 Next Moves to the next record in the file. F4 Previous Moves to the previous record in the file F5 Search Searches for a specific record. Note: F5 will prompt you for a string to search for in the file. If it locates that string, you will be asked if it is the correct string. If so, the search ends otherwise, it continues the search. Also, the search is case insensitive, and always finds the closest match. For example, if you enter "on" as the search key, all "DON"s will be presented to you. F8 Create Adds a new record to the database. F10 Delete Marks a record for deleteion. Note: F10 will mark the record as "[* PURGE *]" however, the record does not actually get deleted until you exit from the C9MASTER program. SYSTEM OPTIONS From this menu option, you will be required to fill in the following entry fields. Please note, that all fields preceded with an asterisk * are MANDATO- RY, and essential to the proper execution of this software. Sysop Name This is your name, or the handle you go by on your BBS. System Name This is your BBS name. System ID#* This is the system ID# that you received from the Connect 900 Service. If you do not yet have a system ID#, then please contact Corbin 22 at the address or phone number listed at the end of this documentation. Data Path* The Data Path is the location that your BBS software stores its user file. If you do not know this information, please read your BBS software documentation. Do not just leave this field blank! Use Comport This number is used to determine which comport the Automated Accounting feature of this software will use. For more information on this feature, please refer to the section Baud Rate This is the baud rate to set when performing the Automat- ed Accounting. Page 3 COMPORT SETTINGS From this menu option, you need to set up EVERY comport that your BBS uses. We have pre-set the initial 8 comports to the DOS standards. In future versions of this software, the task of determining these settings will be automated. Node #* This is the node number to associate this particular comport with. Comport* This is the comport # to use for callers on this Node#, i.e., COM1, etc. IRQ This is the IRQ# that this comport uses. It is very important that the IRQ be different for each comport unless you are using a fossil driver. Address This is the I/O Address to use for this comport. It is very important that the I/O address for each comport be different from every other I/O address in your computer. Node Path* This information is very important. This is where the C9DOOR program will look for the DOOR.SYS file and all other necessary files created by the BBS software while running an external program. ACCOUNT OPTIONS This is where you setup all of your different Subscription and/or Membership types. This data base is important because this information is what your members will see, and what they are paying you for. NOTE: It is very important that every Subscription type that you offer be entered into this database. This will allow the C900 software to keep track of how much each of your Subscription types cost and prorate the proper amounts for its account functions. This is a very powerful part of the C900 software which can make life very easy and profitable for you if you maintan it properly. Description* This field is what you use to describe to your members a basic idea of just what this subscription is for. The length is up to 30 characters. Security Level* This is the security level to grant to users who purchase this subscription. Dollar Value* How much do your members have to pay to purchase this subscription? This can be any amount since the C900 software always keeps track of how much money a caller has on account. Number of Days* How many days is this subscription good for? NOTE: If you enter a 0 in this field, then you will be prompted for a Number of Minutes to grant to the purchaser. You MUST give them something for their money. Bytes alone is not sufficient. If you want to sell subscriptions for, say, $10.00 for 5 megs of download bytes then sell them enough time to get those 5 megs, and set the security level to match the security level in your BBS software for 5 megs. Maintain Internally Mark Y if you do not intend to run C9MASTER /M for automated maintenance in your events. Page 4 MEMBER ACCOUNTS This option is to allow you to manually edit your members accounts on your BBS. You can use this part of the software to totally manage how your customers pay for the services of your BBS. Member Name The members name or handle. Start Level The members level BEFORE he used the C9DOOR. CurrentLevel The members NEW level, AFTER he uses the C9DOOR. Start Exp Date The members expiration date BEFORE he used the C9DOOR. Current Exp Date The members NEW expiration date. Current Balance This is how much money the member has spent on your BBS but does not yet have spent on a subscription. You can add to this amount manually if you receive monies outside of the 900 service. The Master program simply credits the callers account with the amount you enter. This is a good idea since this will give you a single point at which to manage your accounting functions. Total $$$ Spent This is how much money the member has spent on your BBS period, ever, total. Active Account This tells you whether or not this user is currently under the expiration date of one of your subscriptions. You cannot edit this field since it is used by the software to keep track of callers accounts. It is provided here for your information. READ ACCOUNT INFO Selecting this option will show you just how many codes have been redeemed on your system, how much that means to you in dollars, etc... And allow you to print that data to your default printer. SHELL TO DOS This option will perform a Shell or Swap to DOS. This will use EMS/XMS or a DISK based swap. Using EMS, the C9MASTER program leaves an average of a 1.6k footprint while shelled. EXIT TO DOS This will, of course, return you to DOS. When C9MASTER returns to DOS, it performs all of its internal maintenance. Going through and removing all deleted records, etc.. Page 5 SPECIAL FEATURES AUTOMATED ACCOUNTING This feature will automatically call our ccounting System and upload your database of redeemed codes for processing. The call is initiated on the first of the month. If the system cannot make the call on the first of the month it will automatically make the call on the first time after you use the C9MASTER program after the first of the month. It is a good idea to run the C9MASTER program in maintenance mode each night to insure that your codes are uploaded in a timely manner. The faster we receive your codes after the first of the month the faster we can initiate payment to you. Page 6 DESCRIPTIONS OF EXECUTABLES C9MASTER Command Switches There is currently only one command switch that is optionally passed to the C9MASTER program: /M This will instruct the software to run its auto maintenance procedures and then exit back directly to DOS, or the calling program. We suggest that you run the C9MASTER program with this command at least once every 24 hours. C9DOOR The C9DOOR program takes all of its configuration information directly from the data you have entered into the C9MASTER program. Simply keep the C9DOOR.EXE and all support files in the \C900\ Directory on your hard drive. The command to run the C9DOOR is simple, C9DOOR <NODE NUMBER> If you are running a single line system pass a 1 as the node number. Otherwise, it is important that you pass the proper node id to the door program. C9DOOR will accept two command line options: /P<BaudRate> will force a baud rate to be initialized instead of using the baud rate specified in the DOOR.SYS file. # The Node number that C9DOOR is supposed to handle. This option is MANDATORY, and must be the LAST option on the command line. C9BBS This software is the BBS-specific user utility. Each different BBS Software brand that we support will have its own C9BBS.EXE file. To ensure that you have the C9BBS file that is designed for your BBS Software, type C9BBS.EXE a screen should appear informing you of the type of BBS Software that this copy of C9BBS.EXE was compiled for. Thisfile should be included as a separate archive, called, for example, C900WCAT.ARJ. It should contain two files, C9BBS.EXE and C9BBS.TXT. The text file is a short readme file detailing the specifics of that particular C9BBS.EXE file. Note: Authors interested in writing their own C9BBS program for their BBS should contact Gary McNickle at Corbin 22, LTD. Page 7 DESCRIPTIONS OF .ANS, .TXT and .MSG FILES There are three ANSI (.ANS) files available to the sysop for editing; 1: GOODCODE.ANS This file is displayed to the member immediately after they have entered a valid redemption code. Some uses for this file could be. A: To give instructions as to what to do now, after they have redeemed their code. B: To thank the member for purchasing the specific services. C: A short explanation of how your registrations work. 2: BADCODE.ANS This file is displayed to the member immediately after they have entered an invalid redemption code. Some uses for this file could be. A: To give instructions as to what to do if they are SURE that they entered the code that was given to them by the 900 service. B: A warning concerning attempted hacking, and the possible repercussions. 3: THANKYOU.ANS This file is displayed to the member immediately after they choose the 'X'Exit Back to BBS option from the main menu. Some possible uses for this file could be. A: To thank the member for purchasing your services. B: An encouragement to talk to their friends about the service. C: An addvertisement for some other service on your board. There are three ASCII (.TXT) files available to the sysop for editing. 1: INFO.TXT This file is displayed to the member when they select 'I'<enter> from the 'A'ccount Options screen. The purpose of this file is to give the member a general, overall description of your different membership plans. (Subscriptions) 2: START.TXT This file is displayed to the member immediately after they enter the C9DOOR program. It's purpose is to provide some form of advertisement for your services. 3: END.TXT This file is displayed to the member immediately before the C9DOOR exits back to the BBS. It's intended purpose is to provide some form of extra "Thanks" to the member. There are up to 257 different ASCII (.MSG) files that are available to the sysop for editing. 1: HELP.MSG This file is displayed to the member when they select 'F1' from within the 'A'ccount Options screen. It's intended purpose is to give to the member an outline of how to use the service, and how to select a membership plan (subscription). 2..256 INFO###.MSG These files are displayed to the member when they select 'I###' <enter> from the 'A'ccount Options screen. The purpose of these files is to display to the member a more specific description of each membership option. Page 8 MAKING REDEMPTION CODES FOR THE DEMO VERSION For the Demo Version of the C900 Software you will need to create your own set of redemption codes to use on your BBS. There is a program included in the Demo distribution called MKRCOD.EXE which takes, as a single command line option an ID NUMBER which is the same number you used in as your BBS System ID in the C9Master program. When you run the MKRCOD.EXE program two files are created, SYS#.C9D, which is the actual database of redemption codes that you would put into your \C900 directory, and SYS#.TXT, which is the text file that is an exact copy of your redemption codes. Possible uses for these codes could be to use them in new user mailings in which you would like to give a new caller some FREE demo time on your system. This is a sure fire way to get more callers calling your BBS back and paying for your services once they see what it is like to be a paying caller. Another use would be as demo codes distributed in brochures or at PC user group meetings. Each code will credit the caller with $10.00 on your system. They can spend that $10.00 any way they like as long as you have configured a subscription. You could even use these codes as point-of-sale coupons to sell access to your system through a local computer store. There are many uses for them. And, with the accounting power of the C900 software you can actually run your entire BBS from this software! Page 9 HOW TO CONTACT CORBIN 22, LTD. Address Corbin 22, LTD. 3721 South Westnedge Suite 222 Kalamazoo, MI 49008 Phone Orders: 800-453-9250 Tech Support: 616-372-4628 BBS: 616-343-1346