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Cream of the Crop 21
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Cream of the Crop 21 (Terry Blount) (October 1996).iso
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PCBSYS.DOC
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1996-07-23
|
11KB
|
221 lines
WARNING: This document is subject to change at any time. Any changes made
will be indicated by a vertical bar (|) in column 1 of the file.
| Last update: 07/23/96
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The following file documents the format of the PCBOARD.SYS file including the
fields which have been standard throughout the PCBoard version 14.x series as
well as the new v15.0 software.
The file may be written in one of two modes: 1) as a 128 byte file which is
compatible with the PCBoard v14.x series or 2) as a complete file including
all of the extensions added in the v14.5 release.
In any case the file should be pre-filled with spaces inside the first 128
bytes so that any field not written is filled with spaces instead of zeroes
or other characters. Typically this only really matters when a caller is not
online at which time only the first five fields inside of the 128 byte block
are valid. The rest of the fields outside of the 128 byte block may contain
valid data or the file may be truncated to 128 bytes without serious loss of
data.
As a door author wanting to provide LOGOFF PROCESSING in your door, what we
recommend is that you do NOT process the logoff yourself, but instead,
return to PCBoard and let PCBoard perform the logoff processing. This is a
matter of convenience for you, since PCBoard can grow and change and you will
not need to modify your application whenever the logoff processing is
enhanced. If you still wish to offer a GOODBYE command, what we recommend
is that you simply turn DTR off and then return back to PCBoard. PCBoard
will then detect carrier loss and process the logoff for you.
If you still want to perform the logoff processing yourself, here are a few
of the "current" details of what is necessary:
1) You will need to empty the pcboard.sys file. You do that by filling the
file, from offset 9 to offset 127, with spaces, leaving everything else
inside of the file intact.
2) You will need to update the user record in the USERS file for the amount
of time spent online (don't forget to correctly calculate time used when
crossing midnight).
3) If accounting is enabled, charge the caller for time used and write the
information to the account tracking file (in text format or dBase format
as appropriate to the extension of that file).
4) Update the PCBSTATS.DAT file with the last caller information.
5) Run the $$LOGOFF.BAT file if it exists.
NOTE: The above steps may change as PCBoard's features continue to be
enhanced. In some ways, I hope the above set of steps appears daunting
enough to convince you to just let PCBoard do the logoff processing for you.
One more advantage is that, in doing so, that is one less thing for you to
have to do, and one less problem for you to figure out if it is done wrong.
The following layout is specified in a "byte offset" format such that the
first field begins at offset 0.
The following is a definition of the variable types that will be used below:
char = a 1 byte character
str = an array of 2 or more "char" bytes
int = a 2 byte integer
long = a 4 byte long integer
bsreal = a 4 byte Basic Single Precision real number
bitmap = an array of bytes accessed a bit at a time
Offset Type Length Description
------ ------ ------ -----------
0 str 2 Display On/Off ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off)
2 str 2 Printer On/Off ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off)
4 str 2 Page Bell On/Off ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off)
6 str 2 Caller Alarm On/Off ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off)
8 char 1 Sysop Flag (" ", "N"=sysop next, "X"=exit dos)
9 str 2 Error Corrected ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off)
11 char 1 Graphics Mode ('Y'=yes, 'N'=no, '7'=7E1)
12 char 1 Node Chat Status ('A'=available, 'U'=unavailable)
13 str 5 DTE Port Speed (PC to Modem speed)
18 str 5 Connect Speed shown to caller or "Local"
23 int 2 User's Record Number in the USERS file
25 str 15 User's First Name (padded to 15 characters)
40 str 12 User's Password (padded to 12 characters)
52 int 2 Time User Logged On (in minutes since midnight)
54 int 2 Time used so far today (negative number of minutes)
56 str 5 Time User Logged On (in "HH:MM" format)
61 int 2 Time Allowed On (from PWRD file) (see note 1 below)
63 int 2 Allowed K-Bytes for Download (see note 2 below)
65 char 1 Conference Area user was in (if <= 255)
66 bitmap 5 Conference Areas the user has joined this session
71 bitmap 5 Conference Areas the user has scanned this session
76 int 2 Conference Add Time in minutes
78 int 2 Upload/Sysop CHAT Credit Minutes (see note 3 below)
80 str 4 Language Extension (see note 4 below)
84 str 25 User's Full Name (padded to 25 characters)
109 int 2 Calculated Minutes Remaining (see note 5 below)
111 char 1 Node Number (or ' ' if no network)
112 str 5 Event Time (in "HH:MM" format, "00:00" if no event)
117 str 2 Is Event Active ("-1" = On, " 0" = Off) (see note 7)
119 str 2 Reserved (was Slide Event, no longer used here)
121 bsreal 4 Memorized Message Number
125 char 1 Comm Port Number (0=none, 1-8)
126 char 1 Reserved for PCBoard
127 bitmap 1 See Node 8 below for details
128 char 1 Use ANSI (1 = Yes, 0 = No)
129 int 2 Country Code
131 int 2 Code Page
133 char 1 YES character
134 char 1 NO character
135 char 1 Language 0=None, otherwise correspond with PCBML.DAT
136 char 3 RESERVED
139 char 1 Caller Exited to DOS (1 = Yes, 0 = No)
140 char 1 RESERVED (was Event Up Coming, no longer used)
141 char 1 Stop Uploads (1 = Yes, 0 = No)
142 int 2 Conference Area user was in (up to 65535)
144 bitmap varies High Conference Areas the user has joined (note 6)
varies bitmap varies High Conference Areas the user has scanned (note 6)
varies int 2 Node Number if offset 111 is set to 255, seek to
the end of the file, minus 2, to read this value
| varies long 4 When "big indexes" are in effect, it is possible
| for the number of user records to go beyond 65535,
| in which case, this field holds the real user
| record number (in place of the 2 byte integer that
| is found at offset 23).
Note 1
------
The "Time Allowed On" field is not the calculated allowed time remaining.
The user's record in the USERS file is not updated with the "Last Date On" or
"Elapsed Time On" information so far that day before the program exits to
either perform a DOS function or run a DOOR program. DOOR programs,
therefore, should not update the USERS file in their application if the
caller is returning to PCBoard. Only if the caller hangs up inside the DOOR
and the DOOR modifies PCBOARD.SYS should the file be changed.
Note 2
------
The "Allowed K-Bytes for Download" field specifies the number of K-bytes the
caller may download in a day according to the PWRD file and his security
level and his connect speed (if specified in the PWRD file).
This is not the calculated number of K-bytes remaining. To calculate the
number of bytes the caller may download you must multiply this number by 1024
and subtract from it the number of bytes th