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The TriBBS Bulletin Board System Version 3.1 Copyright (c) 1991-1992 By Mark D. Goodwin COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- TriBBS is a copyrighted program being distributed under the shareware concept. As such, you may operate a TriBBS Bulletin Board System for a period of 30 days without registering the software. After the 30 day evaluation period, you must register your copy of TriBBS or you will be in violation of United States and International copyright laws. As a shareware program, TriBBS may be freely distributed through a BBS. Shareware distributors may distribute copies of TriBBS on disk for a modest disk duplication charge not to exceed $6 per disk. WARRANTY -------- TriBBS is distributed without warranty. In no event will Mark Goodwin be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of your use of or inability to use the program, even if Mark Goodwin or an authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Mark Goodwin will not be liable for any such claim by any other party. TRADEMARKS ---------- IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation Microsoft, MS, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation The TriBBS Bulletin Board System i TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Modifying BOARD.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Getting TriBBS to Run on Boot Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Menu Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Your First Log On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Drop to DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Configure Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Edit Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Local Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Edit Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Edit Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Configure System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Edit File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 View Callers Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Exit TriBBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Modem Status Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Statistics Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Screen Blanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 DISPLAY SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 @-Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Log On and Goodbye Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Security Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 User Specific Log On Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 New User Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Bulletin Menu and Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Message Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Upload Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Download Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Door Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Door Bulletin Menu and Door Bulletins . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Questionnaire Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Sysop Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 List of Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 List of File Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chat Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Log On Related Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 <F8> Logoff Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Making Your Own Display Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System ii THE TRIBBS MENU SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Bulletin Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Main Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Message Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 The File Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The Door Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 The Door Bulletin Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 64 The Questionnaire Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 66 The Sysop Menu Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 EXTENDABLE MENU COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 SPECIAL BATCH FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 NEWUSER.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 SECn.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 LOGON.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 UPLOAD.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 BETWEEN.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 FILE LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 File List Manager: FILEMAN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Send Batch Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Receive Batch Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 RUNNING TRIBBS WITH A FRONTEND OR AS A DOOR . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Error Correcting Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Limiting Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Forced Hang Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 ARCHIVE TESTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 ODDS AND ENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Obnoxious Callers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Daily Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Special Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Quick Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 File Flagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Packing the Message Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The TriBBS Protocol Driver: TTPROT.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . 94 MULTINODES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Doors and Multinodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Some Helpful Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Multinode Chatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 FILE FORMATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System iii SYSDAT1.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 SYSDAT2.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 NODE.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 USERS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 USERS.IDX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 MCONF.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Mnnnn.PTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Mnnnn.IDX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Mnnnn.TXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Mnnnn.LMR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Mnnnn.WAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 FAREA.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Fnnnn.USR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 EVENTS.DAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 TRIBBS.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 LIST OF REGISTERED TRIBBS BOARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System iv The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 1 INTRODUCTION ------------ TriBBS is one of the newest Bulletin Board Systems around. Although TriBBS is a relatively new BBS, it comes equipped with many powerful features: Multinode Support - Although TriBBS 3.1 is an excellent single line bulletin board system, it fully supports multinode operation. Unlike many other bulletin board systems, you do not have to pay extra for a multinode system. So when your board is ready to expand, TriBBS will easily grow along with you at no additional cost. Multinode Chat - On multinode boards, TriBBS supports both node to node chatting and group chats. Zmodem - Not many other bulletin board systems can claim this one. By offering Zmodem as a part of TriBBS, the sysop is relieved from having to set it up as an external protocol. Full Screen Editor - In addition to an excellent line editor, TriBBS features a complete full screen editor to make message entry as easy as possible. Net Mail - TriBBS's message base structure provides extensive support for net mail conferences. Netmail converters are available for Fido<->TriBBS, PCRelay<->TriBBS, and QWK<->TriBBS. Although these converters are an optional part of TriBBS and not included in the TriBBS archive, they a readily available for download on any TriBBS support board and are supplied free of charge to all TriBBS sysops. Compressed Message Base - Another unique feature to TriBBS is its use of data compression on all messages. This can save a great deal of valuable hard drive space. So if you plan on setting up a board with a lot of networked conferences, TriBBS is the system for you. Doors - TriBBS can internally generate the door data files to run most PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), Spitfire, WildCat, and RBBS doors. By supporting these five major standards, TriBBS can run pretty much any door program. By generating the door data files internally, TriBBS relieves the sysop from setting up a collection of door data file conversion utilities. Archive Testing - TriBBS allows you to optionally test all uploaded archives, EXEs, and COMs to see if they were uploaded without error and scan them for viruses. One of TriBBS's chief design goals is ease of installation and maintenance. Some of the above listed features, such as Zmodem and The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 2 internal generation of door data files, have already pointed out some of the reasons why TriBBS is so easy to use. Other TriBBS features include generation of security level specific menu screens on the fly and the ability to run an almost unlimited number of sliding and nonsliding events. Overall, you should find TriBBS to be one of the easiest bulletin board systems to set up and maintain. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 3 REQUIREMENTS ------------ TriBBS requires an IBM PC or compatible computer with 640K of memory, a modem, and a hard disk drive. Although TriBBS doesn't use 640K of memory itself, such programs as external protocol drivers, compression utilities, etc. all have their own RAM requirements; therefore, the more memory the BBS has to run in the better. Whereas it would be possible to set up a small TriBBS system on a floppy disk based system, it really wouldn't be of much practical use. Therefore, a floppy disk based TriBBS board is not recommended and is not supported. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 4 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 5 INSTALLATION ------------ The first step in using any computer program is to install it. You probably acquired your copy of TriBBS from a BBS or online service and have obviously uncompressed the file archive. The next step you must take is to make a TRIBBS subdirectory on your hard disk. If your hard disk is your C: drive, you could do this by entering the following at the DOS command prompt: MD C:\TRIBBS Next you should copy all of the files that were included in the TriBBS archive to this new subdirectory. This can be accomplished with the following command: COPY *.* \TRIBBS Now you can delete the TriBBS archive files in your current directory by entering the following command: DEL *.* IMPORTANT: Be sure there aren't any other non-TriBBS files in your current directory before you enter the above command. If you don't check for other files, you will lose them. If there are other non- TriBBS files in your current directory, you will have to delete the TriBBS files one at a time. The next step is to change to the newly created TRIBBS directory. This can be done with the following command: CD \TRIBBS Now you must initialize your TriBBS system by running the file BBS.EXE. To do this, you simply enter the following at the DOS prompt: BBS IMPORTANT: If your modem uses another port other than COM1, you must start TriBBS with the following command: BBS /Cport Where "port" is the number of your modem's serial port. For example, a TriBBS system that will be using a modem hooked up to COM2 would need to be initialized with the following command: BBS /C2 You can create a local-only node by specifying a port number of 0 as The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 6 follows: BBS /C0 By creating a local-only node, the TriBBS node doesn't require a modem. This can be very useful for setting up a node for the sysop to perform daily maintenance on. You should note that some doors may not be useable with a local-only node. IMPORTANT: If your modem can't support at least 2400 baud, you must start TriBBS with the following command: BBS /Bbaud Where "baud" is your modem's highest baud rate. For example, a TriBBS system that will be using a 1200 baud modem would need to be initialized with the following command: BBS /B1200 You can of course combine the /C and /B command line switches. For example, a system with a 300 baud (YUCK!!!) modem hooked up to COM3 would use one of the following commands: BBS /C3 /B300 or BBS /B300 /C3 If everything went ok, you should now see TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen. This screen presents you with 10 menu options. At this time, you should use the arrow keys to position the double-lined box around the "Exit TriBBS" option. Once the double-lined box is around the "Exit TriBBS" option, simply press <ENTER> (For the rest of this manual, a keyboard key is indicated by surrounding it with <>.) and you will be returned to the DOS prompt. By running TriBBS in this fashion, TriBBS has created two system data files (SYSDAT1.DAT and SYSDAT2.DAT), a node data file (NODE.DAT), and five subdirectories off your main TriBBS directory. These five subdirectories are named MWORK, NWORK, DISPLAY, TRANSFER, and TTTEMP. If your main TriBBS directory is C:\TRIBBS, you should now have the following five subdirectories: C:\TRIBBS\MWORK, C:\TRIBBS\NWORK, C:\TRIBBS\DISPLAY, C:\TRIBBS\TRANSFER, and C:\TRIBBS\TTTEMP. TriBBS creates these five subdirectories to maintain the BBS. The MWORK directory holds the user data file, the message conferences, questionnaires, answers to questionnaires, the callers log, and a few other data files. The NWORK directory holds the menu configuration files, event data files, and temporary caller logs. The DISPLAY directory holds display screens: log on screens, goodbye screen, bulletins, door bulletins, custom menu screens, etc. The TRANSFER directory is used to temporarily hold files during file transfers. The TTTEMP directory is used by TriBBS to hold transient files and data. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 7 Modifying BOARD.BAT ------------------- The next step in getting a minimal TriBBS system up and running is to make any necessary modifications to a batch file called BOARD.BAT. Although TriBBS will run by simply executing BBS.EXE at the DOS prompt, it will not be able to properly run events and doors without being executed by BOARD.BAT. Consequently, you should always start up your BBS by entering the following at the DOS prompt: BOARD As we said though, BOARD.BAT may need to be modified. The following is a listing of BOARD.BAT: echo off cd \tribbs if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist event.bat del event.bat if exist endbbs del endbbs bbs if exist door.bat door if exist event.bat event if exist endbbs goto end board :end Note how the second line of BOARD.BAT changes the current directory to the TriBBS's main directory. If your TriBBS setup uses a different directory other than "\tribbs", you will have to use some type of a text editor to make the appropriate change. Getting TriBBS to Run on Boot Up -------------------------------- You will want your TriBBS system to automatically start up whenever your computer reboots. This can be accomplished by performing two simple modifications to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. First of all, you should modify or create a SET PATH or PATH command to include your main TriBBS directory. At the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you should put the command BOARD. That way DOS will automatically run TriBBS each time the computer is rebooted. The following is a sample AUTOEXEC.BAT file before it has been modified to automatically start up TriBBS: @ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP The following is the same AUTOEXEC.BAT file after the appropriate The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 8 changes have been made to it for TriBBS: @ECHO OFF PROMPT $p$g PATH C:\TRIBBS;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\QEMM;C:\ZIP BOARD Note how the PATH command in line three was modified and how BOARD was added to the end of the batch file. IMPORTANT: Starting with version 2.1, TriBBS uses TTPROT.EXE to perform file transfers. TTPROT is included with TriBBS and must be placed in either you main TriBBS directory or a directory that is in your DOS PATH statement. If everything has been done properly, TriBBS should start up automatically after a reboot. So let's give it a try and press RESET. After a few seconds, you should see the TriBBS Waiting for Caller screen. If you don't, you should go back and check both BOARD.BAT and AUTOEXEC.BAT for errors. It will probably be something really simple. The Menu Configuration Files ---------------------------- Only one last step and TriBBS should be all set to run as a minimal system. If you are still at the TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen, exit from TriBBS by selecting the "Exit TriBBS" menu option. You should now be returned to the DOS prompt and should be in the main TriBBS directory. If DOS isn't in the main TriBBS directory, recheck your BOARD.BAT file to see if the change directory command in line two was changed properly. TriBBS uses a series of menu configuration files to generate menu displays on the fly. If you do a directory listing of your main TriBBS directory, you will note that TriBBS came with a number of files with the extension of MNU. These are the menu configuration files and must be placed in your NWORK subdirectory for TriBBS to function properly. Moving these files to the NWORK subdirectory and deleting them from main TriBBS directory can be accomplished with the following two commands: COPY *.MNU NWORK DEL *.MNU Your First Log On ----------------- You can now finally log on as a new user. Simply enter BOARD at the DOS prompt to restart TriBBS. After the Waiting for Caller screen appears and the modem has been initialized, move the double-lined The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 9 border to the "Local Logon" menu option and select it by pressing <ENTER>. This option will log you on to the BBS and takes the phone off the hook. The screen should now clear and the following will be displayed: ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONNECT LOCAL / 12-02-91 (15:48) Welcome to Unnamed BBS - Node 1. A TriBBS 3.1 Bulletin Board System Copyright (c) 1991-1992 By Mark D. Goodwin Your Sysop is Joe Sysop. Registration Number: Unregistered!!!!! Do you want ANSI color graphics (y/N)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- This display simply displays that a local connection was made, the name of the board, Unnamed BBS, and node number; that it's a TriBBS 3.1 BBS; a copyright notice; the sysop's name, Joe Sysop; and it's an "Unregistered!!!!!" board. The board's name and the sysop's name can be changed quite simply. We'll discuss how it's done in the next section. As for a registration number, you'll have to register your board to get rid of "Unregistered!!!!!". (Hint, Hint) You will also note that TriBBS is prompting you as to whether or not you want ANSI color graphics or not. If you have a color monitor, you will probably want to respond affirmatively by pressing <Y>. If you don't have a color monitor or just simply do not want a color display, respond "No" by pressing either the <N> or the <ENTER> key. Note how the prompt has the "N" capitalized. This indicates that TriBBS will consider pressing <ENTER> as the same as pressing <N>. So whenever you see a similar TriBBS prompt, you will know that pressing <ENTER> will perform the same action as pressing the capitalized key. After selecting the appropriate color choice, TriBBS will prompt you to enter your name as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your FIRST and LAST name: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Simply type your name and press <ENTER>. Because this is your first log on, TriBBS will display the following: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 10 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your FIRST and LAST name: Mark Goodwin Searching user records for Mark Goodwin. <G>oodbye, <R>eenter name, or <N>ew User? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Because you are a "new user", you should press <N>. If you weren't a new user, you could either "reenter name" by pressing <R> or say "goodbye" by pressing <G>. TriBBS will now prompt you for a password as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.): ----------------------------------------------------------------- Simply type in a password and press <ENTER>. IMPORTANT: Be sure that you use a unique password for your system. If somebody finds out what your password is, it is possible for them to make extensive modifications to your BBS. So be careful with your password. TriBBS will now ask if you entered your password correctly as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your password (1 to 15 chars.): install Is Install correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- If your password is correct, press either <Y> or <ENTER>. If it is incorrect, press <N> and TriBBS will once again prompt you for your password. The main reason for allowing you to reenter a password is because a remote user may get hit with line noise and not realize that his desired password wasn't entered properly. After entering your password correctly, TriBBS will prompt you for your city and state as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your City, State: ----------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 11 After entering your city and state, TriBBS will give you the opportunity to change it as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your City, State: Bangor, ME Is Bangor, Me correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- TriBBS continues this process by asking for your phone number and date of birth as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Enter your phone number ###-###-####: Enter your phone number ###-###-####: 207-941-0805 Is 207-941-0805 correct (Y,n)? Yes Enter your date of birth MM/DD/YY: Enter your date of birth MM/DD/YY: 10/19/56 Is 10/19/56 correct (Y,n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- After entering your date of birth, TriBBS will prompt you to select a default protocol as follows: ----------------------------------------------------------------- <X> Xmodem <K> Xmodem-1K <Y> Ymodem <G> Ymodem-G <Z> Zmodem <N> No Default Please select a default protocol: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Simply select the default file transfer protocol you would like to use when calling your board remotely. If you don't want to set a default protocol, press <N>. By selecting "No Default", TriBBS will prompt you to select a protocol before each file transfer. After selecting a default protocol, TriBBS will prompt you to select a default editor as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 12 --------------------------------------------------------------- <L> Line Editor <F> Full Screen Editor <N> No Default Please select a default editor: --------------------------------------------------------------- Simply select the default editor you would like to use. By selecting "No Default", TriBBS will prompt you to select an editor before entering each message if you have ANSI graphics enabled. Because your system doesn't have any bulletins yet, the following will be displayed: ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are no bulletins available today! ----------------------------------------------------------------- If there were any bulletins, you would have been presented with TriBBS's bulletin menu. Instead, TriBBS continues on by displaying the main menu with the following selections: ..Bulletin Menu <Y>..Your Personal Information <M>..Message Menu ..System Information <F>..File Menu ..List of Users <C>..Comment to Sysop <X>..Expert Mode <A>..Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode ..Page Sysop <N>..Newsletter <G>..Goodbye For the most part, TriBBS's main menu is its gateway to other areas of interest. You will also see the following prompt: ----------------------------------------------------------------- You have been on 9 minutes with 51 remaining. Enter Selection - [B M F C A N Y I U X P G ?]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- At this point, you will want to log off your BBS by pressing <G>. Before logging off, TriBBS will give you a final chance to change your mind as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 13 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Are you sure you want to log off (Y/n)? ----------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 14 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 15 THE WAITING FOR CALLER SCREEN ----------------------------- Other than being pretty colorful, TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen allows the sysop to perform a great deal of board maintenance without even having to log on to the board. Indeed, certain configuration information can only be changed by some of the Waiting for Caller screen options. The Waiting for Caller screen is divided into three major parts. The Waiting for Caller Screen Menu ---------------------------------- The top portion of the screen is the Waiting for Caller menu and allows you to select one of the following ten options: Drop to DOS Configure Node Edit Conferences Local Logon Edit Users Edit Events Configure System Edit File Areas View Callers Log Exit TriBBS As you already know from installing TriBBS, a menu option is selected by moving the double-lined border to the desired option and pressing <ENTER>. Each of these ten menu options will now be explained one at a time. Drop to DOS ----------- The "Drop to DOS" menu option will temporarily shell out to DOS and allow you to enter DOS commands. You can return to TriBBS by simply entering EXIT at the DOS command prompt. You should note that TriBBS takes the phone off the hook when the "Drop to DOS" menu option is selected and will put it back on the hook when you return from DOS. This will give any callers a BUSY signal while you are shelled out to DOS. Configure Node --------------- The "Configure Node" menu option allows you to change the modem's configuration information. Besides providing a means to configure your modem, the "Configure Node" menu option provides the means to The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 16 configure a number of other node-related features. It will display a dialog box with the following fifteen items: <A> Serial Port: 1 Pressing <A> allows you to toggle through your machine's valid serial ports until you come to the desired port. COM1 is the default. Init String: ATS0=0Q0E0M0V1H0S2=43X1^M Pressing allows you to change the modem's initialization string. The above initialization string is TriBBS's default initialization string and should work with most modems. If your modem doesn't answer correctly, you should consult your modem's manual to determine what changes may be necessary to the above initialization string. Any control characters are indicated by using the format ^character. The initialization string must end with a ^M control character. Although you can change the above string to suit your needs, you shouldn't modify S0=0 (this instructs your modem NOT to automatically answer a call), Q0 (this instructs your modem to display result codes), V1 (this instructs your modem to use verbal result codes), H0 (this instructs your modem to put the phone on the hook), S2=43 (this tells your modem the escape sequence character). Additionally, you should insure that you use X1 or greater for result codes. Otherwise, CONNECT codes aren't returned by the modem. You should note that you can specify a modem initialization string by using a "/I" command line switch. Simply follow "/I" with the initialization string while executing BBS.EXE. <C> Init Baud Rate: 2400 Pressing <C> allows you to specify your modem's highest baud rate. The default is 2400 baud. <D> Error Correct Message: ARQ Pressing <D> allows you to specify your modem's error correcting connection message. If you have an error correcting modem and a caller connects with another error correcting modem, your modem will pass a message to TriBBS in the CONNECT string indicating that it is an error correcting connection. Most modem's use ARQ to indicate an error correcting connection. Accordingly, TriBBS uses ARQ as its default. If your modem uses a different error correcting connection string, you should specify the appropriate string. Many MNP modems use REL instead of ARQ. If you modem isn't an error correcting modem, you don't have to worry about even setting this. <E> Lock Serial Port: No Pressing <E> toggles TriBBS's "Lock Serial Port" flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", TriBBS will keep the serial port The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 17 at your modem's highest baud rate upon connection. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriBBS will adjust the serial port to match the baud rate in the CONNECT message. Locking a serial port is only necessary for most error correcting modems. <F> Hardware Data Flow: No Pressing <F> toggles TriBBS's "Hardware Data Flow" flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", TriBBS will use hardware data flow control. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriBBS won't use hardware data flow control. Hardware data flow control is only necessary for most error correcting modems. <G> 1/10 Sec. Delay For ATA: 5 Pressing <G> allows you to specify the tenths of a second TriBBS will wait after receiving a RING message and before sending an ATA command to answer the call. Allowable values are from 5 to 20. The default is 5 tenths of a second. <H> Number of Rings Before ATA: 1 Pressing <H> allows you to specify the number of RING messages TriBBS should wait for before sending the ATA command. The default is 1 RING message. 300 Baud Callers Allowed: Yes Pressing toggles the 300 baud caller flag. If this flag is set to "Yes" (the default), TriBBS will allow 300 baud callers on this node. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will not allow 300 baud callers on this node. <J> 1200 Baud Callers Allowed: Yes Pressing <J> toggles the 1200 baud caller flag. If this flag is set to "Yes" (the default), TriBBS will allow 1200 baud callers on this node. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will not allow 1200 baud callers on this node. <K> Page Bell: Off Pressing <K> toggles the page bell on and off. If this flag is set to "On", TriBBS will allow this node's callers to page the sysop. If this flag is set to "Off" (the default), TriBBS will not allow this node's callers to page the sysop. <L> Direct Screen Writes: Yes Pressing <L> toggles the direct screen write flag. If this flag is set to "Yes" (the default), TriBBS will write directly to the video display. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will use the ROM BIOS to write to the video display. You should only select "No" if you have a really old video display and it exhibits a lot of snow as characters are displayed on the screen. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 18 <M> Use Node DISPLAY Dir: No Pressing <M> toggles the node display directory flag. Under multinode operation this flag controls where TriBBS will look for display screens. If this flag is set to "Yes", TriBBS will use the display screens located in the node's DISPLAY directory. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriBBS will use the display screens located in node 1's DISPLAY directory. This flag has no effect under single node operation. <N> Node Security Level: 0 Pressing <N> allows you to specify the node's minimum log on security level. If the caller doesn't have a security level greater than or equal to the node security level, he will be immediately logged off. The default is 0, which will allow all callers to use the node. <O> Node Number: 1 Pressing <O> allows you to specify the node's node number. This is automatically set by TriBBS and should only be changed if you are running a multinode system and need to renumber one or more of your nodes because you have deleted a node from the system. After you have made any and all changes to your node's configuration, you can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by pressing <ESC>. Before returning to the Waiting for Caller screen, TriBBS will reinitialize the modem. This is necessary for any changes to take effect. While you are using the "Configure Node" dialog box, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit Conferences ---------------- The "Edit Conferences" menu option allows you to add, edit, and delete your message base conferences. It will display a menu similar to the following: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 19 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Message Conference Record Number 4 of 4 Conference Description.. : Netmail Conference Security..... : 10 Private Conference...... : No Netmail Conference...... : Yes Netmail Network......... : FidoNet User Message Deletion... : Allowed Purge Msgs Older Than... : 30 days Msg Pack Backup File.... : Yes Fido-Style NetMail Conf. : Yes <M> Conference Description <+> Next Conference <S> Conference Security <-> Previous Conference <V> Private Toggle <R> Record Number <N> Netmail Toggle <A> Add New Conference <W> Network Name Insert New Conference User Deletion <D> Delete Conference Old Message Purge <F> Fido-Style Netmail Conference Backup Files <Q> Quit Enter Selection - [M S V N W U P B + - R A I D F Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Conferences" menu presents you with the following 15 options: <M> Conference Description Pressing <M> allows you to change the message conference's name. <+> Next Conference Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next message conference. <S> Conference Security Pressing <S> allows you to set the conference's security level. This is the minimum security level a user must have in order to be allowed to access the conference. <-> Previous Conference Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous message conference. <V> Private Toggle Pressing <V> will toggle the message conference's private conference flag. If the conference is a private conference, The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 20 only users that you have specifically given access will be allowed to access the conference. You should note that a conference's security level is not taken into account when granting access to a private conference. If the user has access privileges to a private conference, he will be able to access the conference no matter what his security level is. Even you as the sysop cannot access a private conference unless you give yourself access. (See Edit Users for details on how a user is granted access to a private conference.) <R> Record Number Pressing <R> allows you to specify the message conference to be edited. TriBBS will prompt you for the desired message conference's number. <N> Netmail Toggle Pressing <N> will toggle the message conference's net mail flag. If the conference is a net mail conference, users will be allowed to enter messages to a person who isn't registered on your board. Furthermore, the user will be asked whether or not the message will be ECHOed or not. You should note the some net mail systems ignore the ECHO flag and just go ahead and echo all messages. <A> Add New Conference Pressing <A> adds a new message conference to your board's message base. The new conference will be added on to the end of any existing conferences. <W> Network Name If you have defined the conference as a netmail conference, you may give it a name of the network (i.e. FidoNet, RelayNet, Intelec, etc.), by pressing <W> and entering the appropriate network name. Insert New Conference Pressing inserts a new message conference in your board's message base. TriBBS will prompt you to enter the number of the message conference you want the new message conference to come before. User Deletion Pressing will toggle the message conference's user deletion flag. If user deletion is "Allowed", the user will be able to delete messages that he has either sent or are addressed to him. Otherwise, only a user with a minimum sysop security level will be able to delete messages from the conference. <D> Delete Conference Pressing <D> will delete the current conference. TriBBS The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 21 will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying it out. Old Message Purge Pressing allows you to specify the number of days TRIPACK is to keep messages for. TRIPACK is the TriBBS message base packer and will be discussed in a later section of this manual. After pressing , TriBBS will prompt you for the number of days the conference's messages are to be kept. <Q> Quit Pressing <Q> will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the conferences, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Backup Files Pressing toggles the TRIPACK backup flag. (TRIPACK is the TriBBS message base packer and its use is explained later in this manual.) If the backup flag is set for "Yes", TRIPACK will keep a backup of the message conferences after it is done packing. Otherwise, TRIPACK will delete the backup data files. <F> Fido-Style Netmail Conference Pressing <F> toggles the conference's Fido-style netmail conference flag. If a conference is set as a Fido-style netmail conference, TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the message recipient's network address when entering a message in the conference. This flag should not be set for Fido-style echomail conferences. Local Logon ----------- As you already know from the installation instructions (You did read those didn't you?), the "Local Logon" menu option takes the phone off the hook and logs you on to the BBS just like a remote caller would be. Once logged on, you can use the board as any remote caller might. You can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by selecting <G>oodbye at one of TriBBS's menus. The phone is placed back on the hook after TriBBS returns to the Waiting for Caller screen. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 22 Edit Users ---------- The "Edit Users" menu option allows you to edit your board's user file. It will display a menu similar to the following: ----------------------------------------------------------------- User Record Number [1 of 15] Original Log..: 11/23/91 User Name...: Mark Goodwin Times On......: 495 Address.....: Bangor, Me Security Level: 100 Password....: Install Expert Mode...: Expert Phone Number: 207-941-0805 Uploads.......: 66 Birth Date..: 10/19/56 Downloads.....: 49 Last Call...: 06/29/92 08:22 Locked Out....: No Time Left...: 177 Delete User...: No K Uploaded..: 1668 K Downloaded..: 2103 Messages....: 141 Net Status....: No Chat Status.: Available <+> Next Record <-> Previous Record <D> Downloads <N> User Name <X> Expert Uploads <A> User Address <&> Delete User <!> Time Left User Password <L> Lock User Out irth Date <#> User Phone No <T> Times On <$> K Uploaded <R> Record Number <S> Security Level <%> K Downloaded <O> Original Log Date <F> Find User <M>essages <*> Net Status <1> Priv Files <2> Priv Confs <C> Chat Status <Q>uit Ent Sel - [+ - D N X U A & ! P L B # T $ R S % O F M * 1 2 C Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Users" menu presents you with the following 26 options: <+> Next Record Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next user. <-> Previous Record Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous user. <D> Downloads Pressing <D> will prompt you to enter the user's new number of downloads. <N> User Name Pressing <N> will prompt you to enter the user's new name. <X> Expert Pressing <X> will toggle the user's expert mode flag. If The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 23 the user's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS will only display the menu prompts. If the user's expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will only display abbreviated menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the full menus. Uploads Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new number of uploads. <A> User Address Pressing <A> will prompt you to enter the user's new address. <&> Delete User Pressing <&> will toggle the user's delete flag. The user will not actually be deleted from the user data file by selecting this option. If the user's delete flag is set to "Yes" and the sysop packs the user file (more about that later), the user's record will be deleted from the user data file. <!> Time Left Pressing <!> will prompt you to enter the user's remaining time for the day. User Password Pressing will prompt you to enter the user's new password. <L> Lock User Out Pressing <L> will toggle the user's lock user out flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", the caller will be automatically logged off whenever he tries to log on. This is intended to keep abusive users off you board and unfortunately you'll run across your share of them. irth Date Pressing will prompt you for the user's new birth date. <#> User Phone No Pressing <#> will prompt you to enter the user's new phone number. <T> Times On Pressing <T> will prompt you to enter the user's number of times on. <$> K Uploaded Pressing <$> will prompt you to enter the user's number of K bytes (1024 bytes) uploaded. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 24 <R> Record Number Pressing <R> will prompt you to enter the record number for the user you want to edit. <S> Security Level Pressing <S> will prompt you for the user's new security level. <%> K Downloaded Pressing <%> will prompt you to enter the user's number of K bytes (1024 bytes) downloaded. <O> Original Log Date Pressing <O> will prompt you for the user's new original log on date. <F> Find User Pressing <F> will prompt you for the user's name you'd like to edit. TriBBS will then search the user file for a match. <M> Messages Pressing <M> will prompt you to enter the user's number of messages posted. <*> Net Status Pressing <*> will toggle the user's TriMail netstatus flag. (TriMail is an optional QWK mail door for TriBBS. TriMail can be downloaded from any TriBBS support board.) If this flag is set to "Yes", TriMail will grant the user netstatus. If this flag is set to "No" (the default), TriMail will not grant the user netstatus. <1> Priv Files Pressing <1> will allow you to edit the user's access to any private file areas you may have set up on your board. You will be prompted as follows for each of your board's private file areas: File Area: TriBBS Beta Releases Access : Doesn't Have Access Grant Access (y/N/q)? By pressing <Y>, you will grant the user access to the private file area. By pressing <N> or <ENTER>, you will deny the user access to the private file area. If you press <Q>, you will be returned to the user editor and the user's access for the current area will be left unchanged. <2> Priv Confs Pressing <2> will allow you to edit the user's access to any private message conferences you may have set up on your The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 25 board. You will be prompted as follows for each of your board's private messages conferences: Message Conference: Adults Access : Doesn't Have Access Grant Access (y/N/q)? By pressing <Y>, you will grant the user access to the private message conference. By pressing <N> or <ENTER>, you will deny the user access to the private message conference. If you press <Q>, you will be returned to the user editor and the user's access to the current conference will be left unchanged. <C>hat Status Pressing <C> toggles the caller's initial multinode chat status between "available" and "unavailable". <Q>uit Pressing <Q> will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the user file, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Edit Events ----------- The "Edit Events" menu option allows you to edit your board's events. When TriBBS runs an event, it exits from memory and runs a specified batch file. An event can be set to run at a particular time and for either a specific day or every day of the week. Events are handy for performing such tasks as daily door maintenance routines, net mail relays, etc. After selecting the "Edit Events" menu option, TriBBS will display a menu similar to the following: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 26 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Event Record Number 1 of 2 Event Day (0 = Sun to 6 = Sat or 7 = All).. : 7 Event Time................................. : 00:01 Event File................................. : IMPEVENT Event Slide................................ : Yes Event Already Executed Today............... : Yes <Y> Event Day <-> Previous Event <T> Event Time <R> Record Number <N> Event File Name <A> Add New Event <S> Slide Toggle Insert New Event <F> Event Flag Toggle <D> Delete Event <+> Next Event <Q> Quit Enter Selection - [Y T N S F + - R A I D Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit Events" menu presents you with the following 12 options: <Y> Event Day Pressing <Y> will prompt you to enter the day the event is supposed to run. Enter 0 for Sunday, 1 for Monday, 2 for Tuesday, etc. If you want the event to run everyday, enter 7. <-> Previous Event Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous event. <T> Event Time Pressing <T> will prompt you for the event time. The event time should use a 24-hour clock and must be in the format hh:mm. <R> Record Number Pressing <R> will prompt you to enter the record number for the event you want to edit. <N> Event File Name Pressing <N> will prompt you to enter the name of the event's batch file. This batch file must be located in your board's main directory. You should note that an extension of BAT is not used for the event batch file. TriBBS will copy this file to EVENT.BAT before exiting from memory and then BOARD.BAT will run EVENT.BAT. It is crucial that the event batch file changes the directory back to your main TriBBS directory and then re-executes the board by having BOARD as the last command in the batch file. The following is a sample event batch file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 27 cd \doors\imperium impcycle cd \tribbs board <A> Add New Event Pressing <A> adds a new event to your board's event data file. The new event will be added on to the end of any existing events. <S> Slide Toggle Pressing <S> will toggle the event's slide flag. If the slide flag is set for "Yes", the event will be a sliding event. If it is a sliding event and the event time occurs while somebody is logged on to the board, the event won't run until the caller logs off. If the slide flag is set for "No", the event will be a nonsliding event. If the next scheduled event is a nonsliding event and a caller's remaining time for the day would put him past the scheduled event time, TriBBS will adjust the caller's log on time so that his time will always expire shortly before the event is scheduled to take place. TriBBS will display an appropriate message to the caller whenever the caller's log on time has been adjusted for an event. Insert New Event Pressing inserts a new event in your board's event data file. TriBBS will prompt you to enter the number of the event you want the new event to come before. <F> Event Flag Toggle Pressing <F> will toggle the event's event flag. If the event flag is set for "Yes", the event has already been run for the day. If the event flag is set for "No", TriBBS will run the event at its scheduled time. <D> Delete Event Pressing <D> will delete the current event. TriBBS will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying it out. <+> Next Event Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next event. <Q> Quit Pressing <Q> will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the events, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Configure System ---------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 28 The "Configure System" menu option allows you to change a number of TriBBS's configuration options. It will display a dialog box with the following 19 items: <A> Board Name: Unnamed BBS Pressing <A> allows you to change your board's name. Sysop Name: Joe Sysop Pressing allows you to change the sysop's name for your board. <C> BBS Starting Date: 01/01/90 Pressing <C> allows you to change the BBS's starting date. <D> Total Calls: 1 Pressing <D> allows you to change the total number of calls your BBS has had. This is particularly useful if you are switching from another system to TriBBS. <E> Daily Time Limit: 120 Pressing <E> allows you to change the default daily time limit each caller is given. This can be overridden by the user's security level what a file named DLIMITS.DAT. <F> Daily Logon Limit: 5 Pressing <F> allows you to change the default number of daily calls a caller can make. This can be overridden by the user's security level what a file named DLIMITS.DAT. <G> Max. Time Per Logon: 60 Pressing <G> allows you to change the maximum allowable time a caller is given during each log on. TriBBS will give the user the lesser of his remaining daily time, the maximum allowable time per log on, or the time remaining until the next scheduled event. <H> Minimum Sysop Security Level: 100 Pressing <H> allows you to change the minimum sysop security level. You should only give such a security level to people who can be fully trusted. If the caller's security level is at least equal to the minimum sysop security level, he will be able to read all private messages, delete and undelete all mail, toggle mail between being private and public, and perform any other sysop level functions that your menu setup allows. You should of course edit your user record to give yourself a security level that is at least this high. New User Security Level: 10 Pressing allows you to change the new user security level. This is the security level a caller is given during his first call. It is up to you as to whether or not the new user's security level should be raised or lowered from The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 29 this level. <J> New User Time Limit: 30 Pressing <J> allows you to change the new user time limit. This is the amount of time a new user is given during his first day. <K> Upload Time Compensation: 1 Pressing <K> allows you to change the upload time compensation ratio. TriBBS takes the amount of time it takes for a user to upload a file and multiplies it by the upload time compensation amount. The result is added to the user's remaining time. By setting this figure to 2, 3, or whatever, you can reward your callers for their uploads with more time. <L> Max. No Input Time: 3 Pressing <L> allows you to change the maximum no input time. TriBBS will log the user off if there is no activity within the specified number of minutes. IMPORTANT: Some multitaskers will cause TriBBS to generate random "Keyboard input time exceeded." messages. This situation is rare, but the no keyboard input check can be disabled by setting the maximum no input time to 0. <M> US Phone Number: Yes Pressing <M> toggles the US Phone Number flag. If this flag is set to "Yes" (the default), TriBBS will ask the user to enter phone numbers using the ###-###-#### US phone number format. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will let the user enter phone numbers without formatting them. <N> Auto ANSI Detect: No Pressing <N> toggles the ANSI detection flag. If this flag is set to "Yes", TriBBS will attempt to detect if the user is using a comm program that supports ANSI color graphics. If the user's comm program has ANSI support, TriBBS will display everything using ANSI color graphics. Otherwise, TriBBS will display everything using monochrome text. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will ask the user at log on if he wants ANSI color graphics or not. <O> Default Archive Ext: ZIP Pressing <O> toggles the default archive extension from ZIP to ARJ to LZH to PAK to SDN to ARC and then back to ZIP again. Whenever the user enters a filename without an extension, TriBBS will append the default extension to the filename. Test Uploads: No Pressing toggles the upload testing flag. If this flag The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 30 is set to "Yes", TriBBS will scan all uploaded archives, EXE, and COM files for viruses. If this flag is set to "No" the default, TriBBS will not scan uploads for viruses. (TriBBS requires a number of third-party utilities to perform this upload scanning. The utilities that are required are explained later in this manual.) <Q> Waiting Messages Check: Yes Pressing <Q> toggles the waiting messages check flag. If this flag is set to "Yes" (the default), TriBBS will check at log on if the caller has any messages waiting in any of the message conferences. If this flag is set to "No", TriBBS will not check for waiting messages. <R> Total Nodes: 1 Pressing <R> allows you to set the total number of nodes. This is automatically set by TriBBS whenever a new node is added and should only be changed if you have deleted a node. <S> System Password: Pressing <S> allows you to assign the BBS a system password. Once a system password has been assigned to the BBS, TriBBS will force the operator to enter the correct system password before it will grant access to any of the Waiting for Caller screen menu options. This feature is useful where a number of people have physical access to the BBS computer and you want to restrict access to the system to only a few select people. After you have made any and all changes to your system's configuration, you can return to the Waiting for Caller screen by pressing <ESC>. While you are using the "Configure System" dialog box, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 31 Edit File Areas --------------- The "Edit File Areas" menu option allows you to add, edit, and delete your file areas. It will display a menu similar to the following: ----------------------------------------------------------------- File Area Record Number 1 of 1 File Area Description.. : TriBBS Beta Releases File Area Security..... : 10 File Area Sort Type.... : By Filename Private File Area...... : Yes File Area Path......... : C:\TRIBBS\BETA File Area Upload Path.. : C:\TRIBBS\BETA File Area File List.... : C:\TRIBBS\BETA\FILES.LST File Area Upload List.. : C:\TRIBBS\BETA\FILES.LST <F> File Area Description <+> Next File Area <S> File Area Security <-> Previous File Area <T> File Area Sort Type <R> Record Number <V> Private File Area <A> Add New File Area File Area Path Insert New File Area File Area Upload Path <D> Delete File Area <1> File Area File List <Q> Quit <2> File Area Upload List Enter Selection - [F S T V P U 1 2 + - R A I D Q]? ----------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from this sample display, the "Edit File Areas" menu presents you with the following 15 options: <F> File Area Description Pressing <F> allows you to change the file area's name. <+> Next File Area Pressing <+> will move the editor to the next file area. <S> File Area Security Pressing <S> allows you to set the file area's security level. This is the minimum security level a user must have in order to be allowed access to the file area. <-> Previous File Area Pressing <-> will move the editor to the previous file area. <T> File Area Sort Type Pressing <T> allows you to toggle the file area's sort type. If the file area's sort type is set for "By Filename", the "Sort File Areas" Sysop Menu option will sort the file The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 32 area's list by filename. Otherwise, TriBBS will sort the file area by date. Normally, you will probably only use a "By Date" sort type for your current uploads file area. That way new uploads will be listed in the order they were uploaded. <R> Record Number Pressing <R> allows you to specify the file area to be edited. TriBBS will prompt you for the desired file area's number. <V> Private File Area Pressing <V> will toggle the file area's private area flag. If the file area is a private area, only users that you have specifically given access will be allowed to access the file area. You should note that a file area's security level is not taken into account when granting access to a private file area. If the user has access privileges to a private file area, he will be able to access the file area, no matter what his security level is. Even you as the sysop cannot access a private file area unless you give yourself access. (See Edit Users for details on how a user is granted access to a private file area.) <A> Add New File Area Pressing <A> adds a new file area to your board. The new file area will be added on to the end of any existing file areas. File Area Path Pressing allows you to specify the file area's path. This is the subdirectory TriBBS will use to store the file area's files and file list. Do not use a "\" at the end of the pathname. Insert New File Area Pressing inserts a new file area in your board's file areas. TriBBS will prompt you to enter the number of the file area you want the new file area to come before. File Area Upload Path Pressing allows you to specify the file area's upload path. All new uploaded files for the file area will be stored in the specified subdirectory. It is common practice to have a new uploads directory to put all new files in. Once you have had a chance to review the upload, you can easily move the file to its proper file area. Do not use a "\" at the end of the pathname. <D> Delete File Area The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 33 Pressing <D> will delete the current file area. TriBBS will prompt you to confirm this request before carrying it out. <1> File Area File List Pressing <1> allows you to specify the file area's file list name. Whenever you set the file area's path, TriBBS sets the file list's name to "path\FILES.LST". However, you may optionally set your file list to any file in any directory with this option. <2> File Area Upload List Pressing <2> allows you to specify the file area's upload file list name. Whenever you set the file area's path, TriBBS sets the file list's name to "upload path\FILES.LST". However, you may optionally set your file list to any file in any directory with this option. <Q> Quit Pressing <Q> will return you to the Waiting for Caller screen. While you are editing the file areas, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. View Callers Log ---------------- The "View Callers Log" menu option allows you to view your board's callers log. TriBBS maintains a log of a user's activity while a caller is logged on. This file is named CALLERS.LOG and is kept in node 1's MWORK directory. By selecting the "View Callers Log" menu option, TriBBS will prompt you for a date to start viewing the log from. You can simply press <ENTER> to view the log starting at the beginning of the current day. While you are viewing the callers log, TriBBS takes the phone off the hook. The phone will be placed back on the hook as soon as you return to the Waiting for Caller screen. Exit TriBBS ----------- The "Exit TriBBS" menu option exits you from TriBBS and returns you to the DOS command prompt. The Modem Status Window ----------------------- The middle portion of the Waiting for Caller screen is the modem status window. The window will display the current state of the modem: initialization information and ring detection. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 34 The Statistics Display ---------------------- The bottom portion of the Waiting for Caller screen displays a variety of information about your board: the total number of calls, the number of calls for the current day, the number of messages that have been posted during the current day, the number of uploads for the current day, the number of downloads for the current day, and the node number. Screen Blanking --------------- After a short period of time, TriBBS will blank the screen and bounce a "TriBBS Ready For Caller" message around the screen. This is done to prevent your screen from being burned by the Waiting for Caller screen. The Waiting for Caller screen is redisplayed by pressing any key. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 35 DISPLAY SCREENS --------------- TriBBS allows you to use a number of optional display screens to customize your board. These screens can be either ANSI color screens or monochrome screens. TriBBS requires you to use an extension of ANS for ANSI color screens and BBS for monochrome screens. All display screens are stored in the DISPLAY subdirectory. If you have the node configured to use its own DISPLAY directory, TriBBS will look for the display screens there. Otherwise, TriBBS will look for the display screens in node 1's DISPLAY directory. If the caller has selected ANSI color graphics or TriBBS has autodetected ANSI color graphics, TriBBS will always search the DISPLAY subdirectory for ANS screens. If TriBBS can't find an ANS screen or the caller doesn't have ANSI color graphics selected, TriBBS will search the DISPLAY subdirectory for an appropriate monochrome screen. If TriBBS can't find either type of display screen, TriBBS will either display nothing if it's a simple display screen or TriBBS will generate and display a menu on the fly if an appropriate menu screen isn't found. Control Codes ------------- By placing certain control codes in your display screen, you can control how TriBBS displays a screen. Control codes are the ASCII codes 1 to 26. At present, TriBBS supports the use of the following control codes: Code Description 2 Disables the "more prompt". 3 Makes the screen unbreakable. A breakable screen can be stopped by the caller pressing <SPACE>. 4 Displays the caller's first name. 5 Enables the "more prompt". 6 Displays the caller's city/state. 12 Clears the display screen. 14 Makes the screen breakable. 15 Displays the caller's original log on date. 16 Displays a "more prompt". @-Variables ----------- Besides using control codes in display screens to perform certain specified actions, TriBBS also supports the following @-variables in display screens: @-variable Action Taken The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 36 @BAUDRATE@ Displays the caller's baud rate. @BEEP@ Sends a BELL (07H). @BOARDNAME@ Displays the board's name. @BREAKOFF@ Makes the screen unbreakable. @BREAKON@ Makes the screen breakable. @CALLS@ Displays the caller's number of calls. @CALLSTODAY@ Displays the caller's number of calls for today. @CITY@ Displays the caller's city and state. @CLS@ Clears the screen. @DOWNLOADS@ Displays the caller's number of downloads. @FIRST@ Displays the caller's first name. @HANGUP@ Hangs up on the caller. @LASTDATEON@ Displays the caller's last date on. @LASTTIMEON@ Displays the caller's last time on. @MORE@ Displays a "more" prompt. @MOREOFF@ Disables the "more" prompt. @MOREON@ Enables the "more" prompt. @NODE@ Displays the node number. @PHONE@ Displays the caller's phone number. @SECURITY@ Displays the caller's security level. @SYSTEMCALLS@ Displays the board's number of calls. @SYSTEMCALLSTODAY@ Displays the board's number of calls for today. @SYSTEMDATE@ Displays the date. @SYSTEMTIME@ Displays the time. @TIMELEFT@ Displays the number of minutes the caller has left for this call. @TIMEON@ Displays the number of minutes the caller has been on for this call. @TIMETHISCALL@ Displays the total number of minutes the caller has for this call. @TOTALNODES@ Displays the board's number of nodes. @UPLOADS@ Displays the caller's number of uploads. @USER@ Displays the caller's full name. You should note that case is significant for the @-variables. TriBBS will simply ignore @hangup@ in a display screen, but will hangup the phone if it encounters @HANGUP@ in a display screen. Log On and Goodbye Screens -------------------------- TriBBS supports up to nine log on screens and one goodbye screen. The filename for a log on screen is LOGONn.ANS or LOGONn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 9. After a caller answers the ANSI color graphics prompt, TriBBS will display either LOGON1.ANS or LOGON1.BBS. After the caller has entered his name and password, TriBBS will display the screens LOGON2 to LOGON9. At log off and before TriBBS disconnects the caller, TriBBS will display either GOODBYE.ANS or GOODBYE.BBS. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 37 Security Specific Log On Screens -------------------------------- TriBBS supports security specific log on screens. The filename for a security specific log on screen is either nSEC.ANS or nSEC.BBS. Where "n" is the security level for the log on screen. Security specific log on screens are displayed after TriBBS displays the normal log on screens. Newsletter Log On Screen ------------------------ TriBBS supports a newsletter log on screen. The filename for a newsletter log on screen is either BBSNEWS.ANS or BBSNEWS.BBS. A newsletter log on screen is displayed to the caller after TriBBS displays any security specific log on screens. A newsletter log on screen is only displayed if it has been updated since the user's last call. User Specific Log On Screens ---------------------------- TriBBS supports user specific log on screens. The filename for a user specific log on screen is either n.ANS or n.BBS. Where "n" is the caller's user number. User specific log on screens are displayed after TriBBS displays any newsletter log on screen. Once a user specific log on screen has been displayed to the appropriate caller, TriBBS automatically deletes the screen. User specific screens are unique in the fact that they are always stored in node 1's DISPLAY directory. New User Screen --------------- After a new user enters his name and indicates that he is a new user, TriBBS will display a special new user screen named either NEWUSER.ANS or NEWUSER.BBS. Bulletin Menu and Bulletins --------------------------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Bulletin Menu on the fly; however, you may use a custom Bulletin Menu by naming the display files BULLETIN.ANS and BULLETIN.BBS. You can have from 1 to 99 bulletins by naming them as BULLETn.ANS and BULLETn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 99. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 38 Main Menu --------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Main Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Main Menus by naming the display files MAINn.ANS and MAINn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have custom Main Menu display screens called MAINALL.ANS and MAINALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your MAINn.ANS or MAINn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Message Menu ------------ Normally, TriBBS will generate a Message Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Message menus by naming the display files MESSn.ANS and MESSn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have custom Message Menu display screens called MESSALL.ANS and MESSALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your MESSn.ANS or MESSn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. File Menu --------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a File Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom File Menus by naming the display files FILEn.ANS and FILEn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have custom File Menu display screens called FILEALL.ANS and FILEALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your FILEn.ANS or FILEn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Upload Screens -------------- TriBBS supports an optional upload display screen. This display screen, if present, is displayed after the caller selects the File Menu's Upload option. The file names for the optional upload screens are UPn.ANS and UPn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security level. You may also have custom upload display screens named UPALL.ANS and UPALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your UPn.ANS or UPn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Download Screens ---------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 39 TriBBS supports an optional download display screen. This display screen, if present, is displayed after the caller selects the File Menu's Download option. The file names for the optional download screens are DOWNn.ANS and DOWNn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security level. You may also have custom download display screens named DOWNALL.ANS and DOWNALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your DOWNn.ANS or DOWNn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Door Menu --------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Door Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Door Menus by naming the display files DOORn.ANS and DOORn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have a custom Door Menu display screens called DOORALL.ANS and DOORALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your DOORn.ANS or DOORn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Door Bulletin Menu and Door Bulletins ------------------------------------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Door Bulletin Menu on the fly; however, you may use a custom Door Bulletin Menu by naming the display files DOORBULL.ANS and DOORBULL.BBS. You can have from 1 to 99 door bulletins by naming them as DRBULLn.ANS and DRBULLn.BBS. Where "n" is a number from 1 to 99. Questionnaire Menu ----------------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Questionnaire Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use a custom Questionnaire Menu by naming the display files QUESTn.ANS and QUESTn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have custom Questionnaire Menu display screens called QUESTALL.ANS or QUESTALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your QUESTn.ANS or QUESTn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. Sysop Menu ---------- Normally, TriBBS will generate a Sysop Menu for the caller's security level on the fly; however, you may use custom Sysop Menus by naming the display files SYSOPn.ANS and SYSOPn.BBS. Where "n" is the menu's security level. You may also have custom Sysop Menu display screens The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 40 called SYSOPALL.ANS and SYSOPALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your SYSOPn.ANS or SYSOPn.BBS screens match the caller's security level. List of Conferences ------------------- TriBBS supports an optional custom list of conferences that will be displayed whenever a caller wants to change the message conference he is in. The file names for the custom conference listings are MSGn.ANS and MSGn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security level. You may also have a custom list of conference names called MSGALL.ANS and MSGALL.BBS. These custom screens will be displayed if none of your MSGn.ANS or MSGn.BBS display screens match the caller's security level. List of File Areas ------------------ TriBBS supports an optional custom list of file areas that will be displayed whenever a caller wants to change the file area he is in. The file names for the custom file area listings are DIRSn.ANS and DIRSn.BBS. Where "n" is the display screen's security level. You may also have a custom list of file areas called DIRSALL.ANS and DIRSALL.BBS These custom screens will be displayed if none of your DIRSn.ANS or DIRSn.BBS display screens match the caller's security level. Chat Screens ------------ TriBBS supports three optional chat related display screens: SORRY.ANS/SORRY.BBS will be displayed if the sysop isn't available for chat, USERCHAT.ANS/USERCHAT.BBS will be displayed if the chat is initiated at the user's request, and SYSCHAT.ANS/SYSCHAT.BBS will be displayed if the chat is initiated by the sysop. Log On Related Screens ---------------------- TriBBS supports seven optional log on related display screens: LOCKOUT.ANS/LOCKOUT.BBS will be displayed if the caller has been locked out, TOOLOW.ANS/TOOLOW.BBS will be displayed if the caller's security level is too low for the node, NONEW.ANS/NONEW.BBS will be displayed if the new user's security level is less than the node's security level, TOOMANY.ANS/TOOMANY.BBS will be displayed if the caller has exceeded his number of daily calls, PENDING.ANS and PENDING.BBS will be displayed if the caller's time has been adjusted due to a pending event, and FRONTEND.ANS/FRONTEND.BBS will be The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 41 displayed if the caller's time has been adjusted due to a frontend program. <F8> Logoff Screen ------------------ Whenever the sysop presses the <F8> key, TriBBS will display either NUKE.ANS or NUKE.BBS and log the caller off the system. Making Your Own Display Screens ------------------------------- To make your own custom display screens, you'll need a good ANSI screen editor. Perhaps one of the best is a shareware product called TheDraw. It has many powerful features including ANSI animation. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 42 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 43 THE TRIBBS MENU SYSTEM ---------------------- The heart of TriBBS and what makes it so easy to set up and maintain is its powerful menu system. The TriBBS menu system is comprised of eight menus: the Bulletin Menu, the Main Menu, the Message Menu, the File Menu, the Door Menu, the Door Bulletin Menu, the Questionnaire Menu, and the Sysop Menu. As you already know, TriBBS allows you to use your own security level specific menus; however, TriBBS can generate any of its eight menus from the information contained in its eight menu configuration files. These configuration files have an extension of .MNU and are located in each node's NWORK subdirectory. The Bulletin Menu Configuration File ------------------------------------ The Bulletin Menu file has a name of BULLETIN.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if you have bulletins and aren't using custom Bulletin Menus. As with all TriBBS menu configuration files, BULLETIN.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for BULLETIN.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 44 ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description . . . description Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is one or more descriptions of the bulletins. These should be in the order of your bulletins. For example, the first description should be for BULLET1.ANS and BULLET1.BBS, the second description should be for BULLET2.ANS and BULLET2.BBS, etc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample BULLETIN.MNU file: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,4,15 Rules of the BBS TriBBS 1.0 History ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Main Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The Main Menu configuration file has a name of MAIN.MNU. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, MAIN.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for MAIN.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 45 ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground B,Bulletin Menu,security level M,Message Menu,security level F,File Menu,security level D,Door Menu,security level T,TeleChat Menu,security level Q,Questionaire Menu,security level S,Sysop Menu,security level C,Comment to Sysop,security level A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level N,Newsletter,security level Y,Your Personal Information,security level I,System Information,security level U,List of Users,security level W,Who's On,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Main Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Main Menu configuration file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 46 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6,0,1,15 B,Bulletin Menu,10 M,Message Menu,10 F,File Menu,10 D,Door Menu,999 T,TeleChat Menu,999 Q,Questionaire Menu,999 S,Sysop Menu,100 C,Comment to Sysop,10 A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,10 N,Newsletter,10 Y,Your Personal Information,10 I,System Information,10 U,List of Users,10 W,Who's On,999 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 16 Main Menu items: B,Bulletin Menu,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the Bulletin Menu. M,Message Menu,security level By pressing <M> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the Message Menu. F,File Menu,security level By pressing <F> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the File Menu. D,Door Menu,security level By pressing <D> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the Door Menu. If your board doesn't have any doors, you should set the security level for this option higher than anybody's security level. T,TeleChat Menu,security level By pressing <T> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the TeleChat Menu. If you are running a single line BBS, you will should disable this option by setting its security level higher than any of the board's users. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 47 Q,Questionnaire Menu,security level By pressing <Q> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the Questionnaire Menu. If your board doesn't have any questionnaires, you should set the security level for this option higher than anybody's security level. S,Sysop Menu,security level By pressing <S> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will branch to the Sysop Menu. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop security level. C,Comment to Sysop,security level By pressing <C> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will let the caller send a private message to the sysop. The message will be saved in the board's first message conference. A,Toggle ANSI Graphics Mode,security level By pressing <A> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will toggle ANSI color graphics on and off. N,Newsletter,security level By pressing <N> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display the board's newsletter, if any. Y,Your Personal Information,security level By pressing <Y> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will let the caller display and edit some of his information. TriBBS will display the following menu to the caller: ------------------------------------------------------------ Name......: Mark Goodwin Address...: Bangor, Me Phone.....: 207-941-0805 Birth.........: 10/19/56 First Call: 11/23/91 Last Call.....: 06/24/92 08:36 Uploads...: 66 Downloads.....: 49 K Uploaded: 1668 K Downloaded..: 2103 Messages..: 141 Editor........: None Times On..: 495 Security Level: 100 Password..: Install Protocol......: None Chat......: Available <A>ddress, assword, Phone <N>umber, <D>efault Protocol, <E>ditor, Un<v>ailable for Chat, <Q>uit: ------------------------------------------------------------ As you can see from this sample display, the "Your Personal Information" menu features the following 6 options: <A>ddress The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 48 Pressing <A> prompts the caller for his new city/state. assword Pressing prompts the caller for his new password. Phone <N>umber Pressing <N> prompts the caller for his new phone number. <D>efault Protocol Pressing <D> prompts the caller to select a new default protocol. <E>ditor Pressing <E> prompts the caller to select a new default editor. A<v>ailable, Una<v>ailable Pressing <V> toggles the caller's multinode chat status. By default, all caller's multinode chat status is set to "available". However, the caller can optionally set his chat status to "unavailable" if he doesn't want to be interrupted by multinode chat pages. <Q>uit Pressing <Q> returns the caller to the Main Menu. I,System Information,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display a number of the board's statistics. U,List of Users,security level By pressing at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display a list of the board's users. W,Who's On,security level By pressing <W> at the Main Menu, TriBBS will display a list of who's on all of the board's nodes. If you are running a single line BBS, you will probably want to disable this option by setting its security level higher than any of the board's users. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 49 the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing will page the sysop. As soon as the caller pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the sysop answers the page or the caller logs off. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board. The Message Menu Configuration File ----------------------------------- The Message Menu configuration file has a name of MESSAGE.MNU. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, MESSAGE.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for MESSAGE.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 50 ----------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground C,Change Conference,security level E,Enter a Message,security level R,Read Messages,security level N,New Messages,security level Y,Your Messages,security level S,Set Conference Queue,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Message Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the characters in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Message Menu configuration file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 51 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,2,15 C,Change Conference,10 E,Enter a Message,10 R,Read Messages,10 N,New Messages,10 Y,Your Messages,10 S,Set Conference Queue,10 M,Main Menu,0 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,0 G,Goodbye,0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 10 Message Menu items: C,Change Conference,security level Pressing <C> will let the caller change his current message conference. After displaying a list of the conferences that are available to the caller, TriBBS will prompt him for the new conference. E,Enter a Message,security level Pressing <E> will let the caller enter a message in the current message conference. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the name to address the message to. If the current conference isn't a net mail conference, TriBBS will check to see if the addressee is a user of the board. Messages addressed to Sysop will be changed to your name. If the message is addressed to an individual, TriBBS will ask if the message should be flagged as PUBLIC. TriBBS will then prompt for the message subject. If the conference is a net mail conference, TriBBS will ask the caller if he wants the message ECHOed. If the conference is a Fido-style netmail conference, TriBBS will ask the caller for the recipient's network address. From there, TriBBS will let the caller enter his message using the TriBBS line editor or full screen editor. If the caller is using the line editor, the editor's menu can be displayed by pressing <ENTER> on a blank line. The following are the options the line editor menu offers: <S>ave Pressing <S> will save the message. <A>bort Pressing <A> will abort the message. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 52 <C>ontinue Pressing <C> will start the line editor again where the message left off. <L>ist Pressing <L> will list the message. <D>elete Line Pressing <D> will prompt the caller for the number of the line he wants deleted. nsert Line Pressing will prompt the caller for the number of the line he wants a blank line inserted before. <E>dit Line Pressing <E> will prompt the caller for the number of the line he would like to edit. <R>eplace Text: Pressing <R> will prompt the caller for the number of the line he would like to search and replace text in. After selecting the desired line, TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the search and replace strings. These strings are entered on the same line with a semicolon separating the two strings. TriBBS will then search the line for occurrences of the search string. If the search string is found, it will be replaced by the replace string. <Q>uote Pressing <Q> will allow the caller to quote from a message he is replying to. TriBBS will display the original message and then prompt the call for the first and last lines to be quoted. (This menu option is only available if the caller is replying to another message.) If the caller is using the full screen editor, the editor's menu can be displayed by pressing <ESC>. The following are the options the full screen editor menu offers: <S>ave Pressing <S> will save the message. <A>bort Pressing <A> will abort the message. <C>ontinue Pressing <C> will return the caller to the full screen editor. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 53 <H>elp Pressing <H> will display a help screen that describes what control keys the full screen editor offers. While editing a message using the full screen editor, the caller can use anyone of the following control keys: WordStar Key IBM Key Function <CTRL><S> <LEFT ARROW> Move left 1 character <CTRL><D> <RIGHT ARROW> Move right 1 character <CTRL><E> <UP ARROW> Move up 1 line <CTRL><X> <DOWN ARROW> Move down 1 line <CTRL> <TAB> Move cursor to next tab zone <CTRL> <END> Move to end of line <CTRL><W> <HOME> Move to beginning of line <CTRL><R> <PG UP> Move up a page <CTRL><C> <PG DN> Move down a page <CTRL><G> Delete character under cursor <CTRL><H> <BACKSPACE> Delete character to left of cursor <CTRL><Y> Delete current line <CTRL> Reformat paragraph <CTRL><L> Redraw screen <CTRL><O> Quote message <CTRL><V> <INSERT> Toggle insert/overtype mode IMPORTANT: The "IBM Keys" are only available to remote callers if their communications program supports ANSI keyboard emulation. R,Read Messages,security level Pressing <R> allows the caller to read messages. TriBBS will prompt the caller if he wants to read messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message Menu. For each message conference, TriBBS allows the caller to enter the number of the first message to be read, only read new messages, or quit to the Message Menu. While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the following options: <R>eply Pressing <R> will allow the caller to enter a reply to the message. If the message is PUBLIC, TriBBS will give the caller the option of making the reply PRIVATE. Read Relies Pressing will allow the caller to read a message's replies. After reading all of the replies, TriBBS will return to the original message. (This option is only available if the message has replies.) The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 54 <N>umber Pressing <N> prompts the caller to enter the number of the message to be read next. <D>elete Pressing <D> will allow the caller to delete the message. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level or the conference allows user deletion and the message is either from or to the caller.) ndelete Pressing will allow the caller to undelete a previously deleted message. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) Pulic Pressing will make a PRIVATE message PUBLIC. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level and the message is PRIVATE.) Pri<v>ate Pressing <v> will make a PUBLIC message PRIVATE. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level and the message is PUBLIC.) Permanen<t>, <T>ransient Pressing <T> will toggle a message's status between permanent or transient. By default, all messages are transient. If a message is marked as permanent, the TriPack message base packing utility will not delete the message. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) <M>ove Pressing <M> will allow the caller to move a message to another message conference. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the number of the message's new conference. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) <C>opy Pressing <C> will allow the caller to copy a message to another message conference. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the number of the message's new conference. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) <S>ave The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 55 Pressing <S> will allow the caller to save the message to a disk file. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the name of the file to save the message to. If the file already exists, TriBBS will append the message to the end of the file. If the file doesn't exist, TriBBS will create the file. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) <E>dit Pressing <E> allows the caller to edit the message's contents. You should note that the original message is deleted and the new message is added to the end of the message conference. (This option is only available if the caller has at least a minimum sysop security level.) <-> Prev Pressing <-> will move back to the previously displayed message. <+/ENTER> Next Message Pressing <+> or <ENTER> moves on to the next message. <Q>uit Pressing <Q> will allow the caller to quit reading messages in this message conference. N,New Messages,security level Pressing <N> allows the caller to read new messages. TriBBS maintains pointers in each message conference of the highest message number the caller has read. TriBBS will prompt the caller if he wants to read messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message Menu. For each message conference, TriBBS allows the caller to read the conference's new messages, skip the conference, or quit to the Message Menu. While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the same options as TriBBS uses with the "Read Messages" menu option. Y,Your Messages,security level Pressing <Y> allows the caller to read his messages. TriBBS will prompt the caller if he wants to read his messages in just the current conference, all conferences, the caller's queued conferences, or quit to the Message menu. For each message conference, TriBBS allows the caller to read the message to him in the conference or quit to the Message Menu. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 56 While reading messages, the caller will be presented with the same options as TriBBS uses with the "Read Messages" and "New Messages" menu options. S,Set Conference Queue,security level Pressing <S> allows the caller to set a conference queue. A conference queue allows the caller to select whether or not a conference will be read while reading messages in queued conferences. TriBBS will display a menu with the following three options: <L>ist Your Queue Entering <L> presents a list of the conferences that are available to the user and indicates whether or not they are queued conferences. <####> Conference to Toggle Entering a conference's number toggle's its queued status. <ENTER> to Quit Simply pressing <ENTER> returns the caller to the Message Menu. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing <M> returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing will page the sysop. As soon as the caller pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the sysop answers the page or the caller logs off. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board. The File Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The File Menu configuration file has a name of FILES.MNU. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, FILES.MNU is a text file and The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 57 can be edited with any text editor. The format for FILES.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 58 ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground C,Change File Area,security level L,List Files,security level N,New Files,security level T,Text Search File Lists,security level U,Upload File,security level D,Download File,security level V,View Archive,security level R,Remove File,security level O,Move File,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the File Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 59 The following is a sample File Menu configuration file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,5,15 C,Change File Area,10 L,List Files,10 N,New Files,10 T,Text Search File Lists,10 U,Upload File,10 D,Download File,10 V,View Archive,10 R,Remove File,100 O,Move File,100 M,Main Menu,10 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 13 File Menu items: C,Change File Area,security level Pressing <C> will let the caller change his current file area. After displaying a list of the file areas that are available to the caller, TriBBS will prompt him for the new file area. L,List Files,security level Pressing <L> will let the caller view the board's file lists. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter a file mask. This file mask uses the same format as the DOS DIR command. After entering an appropriate file mask, TriBBS will ask the caller if he wants to view the file lists for his current file area or all file areas. N,New Files,security level Pressing <N> will let the caller view the board's new files. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter a date to begin the search with. If the caller simply presses <ENTER>, TriBBS will use the date of the caller's last new file search. TriBBS will then ask the caller if he wants to see the new files for his current file area or all file areas. T,Text Search File Lists,security level Pressing <T> will let the caller search for a text string in the board's file lists. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the string to be searched for. After entering an appropriate search string, TriBBS will ask the caller if he wants to search the file lists for his current file area or all file areas. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 60 U,Upload File,security level Pressing will let the caller upload a file. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the filenames and descriptions for the files to be uploaded. If a blank description is entered for a file, TriBBS will attempt to extract and use either a FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI description file for the file's description. In order for TriBBS to be able to find and extract a description file, the proper decompression utility must be in the DOS PATH. If the call is a remote call, TriBBS will ask the caller to select an appropriate protocol. If the call is a local call, the appropriate files must be in the file area's file path. D,Download File,security level Pressing <D> will let the caller download one or more files. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the names of the files to be downloaded. After entering a blank line, TriBBS will ask the caller to select an appropriate protocol if the caller hasn't selected a default protocol. You should note that this menu option is not available to local calls. If the caller is using a bidirectional protocol, it is possible to upload a file while downloading a file. After each download, TriBBS will check the TRANSFER directory to see if any files were uploaded during the download. If a file (or files) is found and it isn't already in one of the board's file area, TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter a description. V,View Archive,security level Pressing <V> will let the caller view the contents of an archive. TriBBS will first uncompress the archive and then display a complete listing of the archive's contents. The caller is then given the option of either relisting the archive's contents, displaying one of the archive's files, compressing and downloading one or more individual members of the archive, or returning to the Files Menu. In order for this option to work properly you must have the following compression utilities in you PATH: Archive Type Utility ZIP PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE ARJ ARJ.EXE LZH LHA.EXE PAK, SDN, or ARC PAK.EXE IMPORTANT: Due to ARJ.EXE's extremely large memory requirements, callers are not able to recompress and download individual members of ARJ archives. R,Remove File,security level Pressing <R> will let the caller remove a file from the The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 61 board's file lists and file areas. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the file's name. If the file is found, TriBBS will double check to be sure if the caller really wants to delete the file. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop security level. O,Move File,security level Pressing <O> will let the caller move a file from its present file area to another file area. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the file's name and its new file area. IMPORTANT: The security level for this option should be set for at least your minimum sysop security level. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing <M> returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing will page the sysop. As soon as the caller pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the sysop answers the page or the caller logs off. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board. The Door Menu Configuration File -------------------------------- The Door Menu configuration file has a name of DOORS.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if your board has doors available. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, DOORS.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for DOORS.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 62 ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground door type,description,batch file,security level . . . door type,description,batch file,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. door type is the type of door data files TriBBS is to generate for this door. The door type can be any one of the following characters: D - Generates DOOR.SYS for GAP, etc. type doors. P - Generates PCBOARD.DAT, PCBOARD.SYS, and USERS for PCBoard 14.x doors. R - Generates DORINFO#.DEF for RBBS doors. S - Generates SFDOORS.DAT for Spitfire doors. T - Generates TRIBBS.SYS for TriBBS doors. W - Generates CALLINFO.BBS for WildCat doors. U - Generates UTIDOOR.TXT for UTI doors such as MegaMail. Note that a door type is required. There are a few doors that don't require a door data file to be run. If you wish to use such a door, you can simply specify any one of the above characters. A "U" door type creates the smallest files. Therefore, it is preferable to the others. description is a description for the door. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 63 batch file is the door's batch file. With TriBBS, all doors are run with a batch file and must be loaded in your node's main directory. This batch file is similar to an event batch file. An extension of BAT is not required for a door batch file. However, if an extension of BAT isn't specified in the DOORS.MNU file, TriBBS will first search for a file without an extension and if one isn't found it will search for a file with an extension of BAT. For example, if a file name of GLOBAL is specified in DOORS.MNU, TriBBS will search first for GLOBAL and then GLOBAL.BAT. When TriBBS runs a door, it will generate the proper door data files as is indicated by the door's door type character. It will then copy the door's batch file to a file called DOOR.BAT. TriBBS will then create a temporary caller information file. This temporary file holds the information TriBBS will need when the caller returns to TriBBS from the door. After generating all of the proper files, TriBBS will exit from memory. BOARD.BAT will then run DOOR.BAT. In order for TriBBS to restart after the caller is done with the door, the last line in the door batch file must call BOARD.BAT. The following is an example board batch file: cd \doors\global war /s c:\tribbs\sfdoors.dat cd \tribbs board security level is the minimum security level the caller needs to use the door. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 64 The following is a sample DOORS.MNU file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,6,15 U,MaineRelay Hub,HUBDOOR,50 S,Global War,GLOBAL,10 P,Imperium,IMPERIUM,10 P,Bowling,BOWLING,10 S,Scrabble,SCRABBLE,10 P,Super Guppy,SUPERG,10 U,MegaMail,MEGAMAIL,10 P,TriBBS Time Bank,TRIBANK,10 P,Tic-Tac-Toe,TICTAC,100 U,Page Me!!!!,PAGE,100 S,Hobbit Trivia,SFHOBTRV,10 S,Stackem,STACKEM,10 P,King of the Board,KINGOB,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Door Bulletin Menu Configuration File ----------------------------------------- The Door Bulletin Menu configuration file has a name of DOORBULL.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if you have door bulletins and aren't using custom Door Bulletin Menus. As with all TriBBS menu configuration files, DOORBULL.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for DOORBULL.MNU is as follows: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 65 ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description . . . description Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is one of more description of the bulletins. These should be in the order of your bulletins. For example, the first description should be for DRBULL1.ANS and DRBULL1.BBS, the second description should be for DRBULL2.ANS and DRBULL2.BBS, etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample DOORBULL.MNU file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,4,15 King of the Board Pyramid King of the Board Points Imperium Top Ten Scrabble Status Scrabble Top Ten Hobbit Trivia Top Ten Stackem Top Ten ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 66 The Questionnaire Menu Configuration File ---------------------------------------- The Questionnaire Menu configuration file has a name of QUESTION.MNU. You should note that this is an optional menu configuration file and is only necessary if your board has questionnaires available. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, QUESTION.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for QUESTION.MNU is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground description,questionnaire file,security level . . . description,questionnaire file,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. description is a description for the questionnaire. questionnaire file is the name of the questionnaire and response file. This file name must not have an extension. Your questionnaire file should be in node 1's MWORK directory and have an extension of QUE. TriBBS will save the answers to the questionnaire as a file with an extension of ANS. A TriBBS questionnaire file will display each line in the file as is unless the first character of the line is a special questionnaire character as follows: : - Will display the line and prompt the user for input. Note that the caller must enter something in response to this prompt. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 67 ; - Will display the line and prompt the user for input. Note that the caller can enter a blank line in response to this prompt. @ - Will display the line and prompt the user to enter a date using the format MM-DD-YY. After the caller has entered the date, TriBBS will prompt the caller to see if it was entered correctly. # - Will display the line and prompt the user to enter the date using the format ###-###- ####. After the caller has entered the phone number, TriBBS will prompt the caller to see if it was entered correctly. ^security level - Will set the caller's security level to the number specified after "^". ? - Will prompt the user for a Yes/No response. If the caller responds with a "Yes", TriBBS will ignore the remaining questionnaire until TriBBS finds a "+" character. TriBBS will continue with the questionnaire until another "+" character is encountered. If the caller responds with a "No", TriBBS will ignore the remaining questionnaire until TriBBS finds a "-" character. TriBBS will continue with the questionnaire until another "-" character is encountered. security level is the minimum security level the caller needs to be able to respond to the questionnaire. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample QUESTION.MNU file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 68 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,6,15 Question # 1,QUEST0,10 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a sample questionnaire file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please answer the following questions truthfully: :What is your real name? :What is your street address? :What is your city, state, and zip code? :What type of computer do you own? :What type of modem are you using? :What type of communications software are you using? :Are you interested in messages, files, doors, or all three? ?Are you the Sysop of a bulletin board + :What is the name of your BBS? #What is the BBS's phone number? + ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that TriBBS supports a special New User Questionnaire. This questionnaire has a file name of NEWUSER and will be presented to a new user after displaying a new user screen, if any. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 69 The Sysop Menu Configuration File --------------------------------- The Sysop Menu configuration file has a name of SYSOP.MNU. As with all other TriBBS menu configuration files, SYSOP.MNU is a text file and can be edited with any text editor. The format for SYSOP.MNU is as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- border background,border foreground,background,foreground U,Edit Users,security level C,Edit Message Conferences,security level F,Edit File Areas,security level E,Edit Events,security level V,View Callers Log,security level K,Pack User File,security level S,Sort File Lists,security level M,Main Menu,security level X,Expert Mode,security level P,Page Sysop,security level G,Goodbye,security level Where: border background is the border background color for an ANSI color menu. border foreground is the border foreground color for an ANSI color menu. background is the background color for an ANSI color menu. foreground is the foreground color for an ANSI color menu. security level is the minimum security level for this command. ---------------------------------------------------------------- You should note that the order of the Sysop Menu items and their descriptions can be changed. However, the color codes must be in the configuration file's first line and each of the menu item hotkeys (the character in the first column) must remain the same. The following is a sample Sysop Menu configuration file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 70 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,3,15 U,Edit Users,100 C,Edit Message Conferences,100 F,Edit File Areas,100 E,Edit Events,100 V,View Callers Log,100 K,Pack User File,100 S,Sort File Lists,100 M,Main Menu,10 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,10 G,Goodbye,0 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following are descriptions of the 11 Sysop Menu Items: U,Edit Users,security level Pressing will let the caller edit the user records. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the user records are edited.) C,Edit Message Conferences,security level Pressing <C> will let the caller edit the message conferences. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the user records are edited.) F,Edit File Areas,security level Pressing <F> will let the caller edit the file areas. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the file areas are edited.) E,Edit Events,security level Pressing <E> will let the caller edit the events. (See the Waiting for Caller screen section for a description of how the events are edited.) V,View Callers Log,security level Pressing <V> will let the caller view the callers log. TriBBS will prompt the caller to enter the starting date to view the log from. K,Pack User File,security level Pressing <K> will let the caller pack the user file. TriBBS will purge any users that have been marked for deletion from the user file and the last message read pointer files. TriBBS will prompt the caller if he wants to proceed with packing the user file before it is actually done. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 71 S,Sort File Lists,security level Pressing <S> will let the caller sort the board's file lists. You should note that TriBBS's sort routine has an upper limit of 3000 files per list. If your file lists grow beyond 3000 files, you will have to use an external sorting program to sort them. M,Main Menu,security level Pressing <M> returns the caller to the Main Menu. X,Expert Mode,security level Pressing <X> will toggle the caller's expert mode flag. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller. If the caller's expert mode flag is set for "Super Expert", TriBBS will not display the menus for the caller and will use abbreviated menu prompts. Otherwise, TriBBS will display the menus to the caller. P,Page Sysop,security level Pressing will page the sysop. As soon as the caller pages the sysop, TriBBS will display a blinking asterisk in the user status window's upper right corner. This blinking asterisk will continue to be displayed until either the sysop answers the page or the caller logs off. G,Goodbye,security level Pressing <G> will log the caller off the board. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 72 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 73 EXTENDABLE MENU COMMANDS ------------------------ TriBBS allows the sysop to easily extend the Main Menu, the Message Menu, the File Menu, and the Sysop Menu through the use of doors and batch files. The first step in extending a menu is to add the new command's hotkey character, description, and security level to the desired menu. For example, let's suppose you wanted to add TriMail to your Message Menu. The following is a sample Message Menu with TriMail added to it: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7,0,2,15 C,Change Conference,10 E,Enter a Message,10 R,Read Messages,10 N,New Messages,10 Y,Your Messages,10 S,Set Conference Queue,10 T,TriMail,10 M,Main Menu,0 X,Expert Mode,10 P,Page Sysop,0 G,Goodbye,0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- As the above sample Message Menu shows, the new command's hotkey is "T", its description is "TriMail", and its security level is "10". You should note that a custom menu option's hotkey can be any key expect one of the keys that TriBBS uses internally for the menu. Thus, you couldn't use C or G for a new Message Menu command, but you could use @, Z, U, etc. The next step to get the custom menu command functioning is to create a batch file that TriBBS will call to carry out the command. The filename must be MAINh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Main Menu command, MESSh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Message Menu command, FILEh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom File Menu command, or SYSh.BAT (where "h" is the hotkey) for a custom Sysop Menu command. So for our example TriMail Message Menu command, the proper batch file name would be MESST.BAT and could be a batch file similar to the following: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 74 ----------------------------------------------------------------- cd \doors\trimail trimail c:\tribbs\pcboard.sys cd \tribbs board ----------------------------------------------------------------- At this point, you may be wondering where TriMail will get the necessary door data files it needs to run. Before exiting from memory, TriBBS generates all of its possible door data files and then simply runs the proper batch file just like it would a door. However, you should note that it isn't strictly necessary to run a door as a custom menu command. You can make a command out of pretty much any program. The only limits are your imagination. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 75 SPECIAL BATCH FILES ------------------- TriBBS runs a number of batch files that allow you to run doors and perform maintenance routines at certain desirable times. NEWUSER.BAT ----------- If it exists, the NEWUSER.BAT file is called by TriBBS just before the bulletin menu is displayed providing it is the caller's first call. Before exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate all of its possible door data files. SECn.BAT -------- If it exists, SECn.BAT (where "n" is the caller's security level) is called by TriBBS just before the bulletin menu is displayed. Before exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate all of its possible door data files. LOGON.BAT --------- If it exists, LOGON.BAT is called by TriBBS just before the bulletin menu is displayed. Before exiting from memory, TriBBS will generate all of its possible door data files. UPLOAD.BAT ---------- If it exists, UPLOAD.BAT is called by TriBBS just after a file is upload and before it is optionally scanned for viruses. TriBBS will pass the uploaded file's complete path name as UPLOAD.BAT's first parameter and the uploaded file's extension as UPLOAD.BAT's second parameter. This batch file is very handy for stripping comments from or recommenting archives. IMPORTANT: TriBBS does NOT exit from memory when running UPLOAD.BAT. Therefore, the size of the programs being run with UPLOAD.BAT may be a factor for successful completion of UPLOAD.BAT's desired task. BETWEEN.BAT ----------- If it exists, BETWEEN.BAT is called by TriBBS just after a callers The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 76 logs off. This batch file is very handy for performing intercaller maintenance routines. IMPORTANT: TriBBS does NOT exit from memory when running BETWEEN.BAT. Therefore, the size of the programs being run with BETWEEN.BAT may be a factor of successful completion of BETWEEN.BAT's desired task. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 77 FILE LISTS ---------- TriBBS maintains a file list for each file area. A file list is a simple ASCII file where each line contains the following information: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890..... FFFFFFFFFFFF SSSSSSSS MM-DD-YY DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD..... Where: FFFFFFFFFFFF is the file's name. SSSSSSSS is the file's size. MM-DD-YY is the file's date. DDDDDDDDDDDD..... is the file's description. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Each file entry in the list should be no more than 80 characters in length. Although for display purposes, 79 characters is a more practical limit. If you wish, you can create each file list file with a text editor. A simple way to add a file to an area's file list is to locally upload it. Be sure that the file you want add to the file area's file list is located in the file area's subdirectory. Next log on locally, go to the Files Menu, change to the correct file area if you're not already in it, and select the upload option. Next, enter the file's name and description. TriBBS will then add the file's information to the file area's file list. File List Manager: FILEMAN.EXE ------------------------------ Included with TriBBS is an external utility program called FILEMAN.EXE. This utility makes it possible to quickly and easily edit your file lists. To run FILEMAN, be sure that you are in one of your node's main directory and enter FILEMAN at the DOS prompt. FILEMAN must be run from a main directory in order to find a SYSDAT2.DAT file. FILEMAN will start by displaying a menu of the board's file areas. To edit a file area, simply move the highlight bar to the desired file area and press <ENTER>. FILEMAN will then read in The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 78 the file list and display all of the file area's files in a list box. At the bottom of the list box, FILEMAN will display the size and date for the currently highlighted filename. To the right of the list box, FILEMAN will display the complete description for the highlighted filename. The list box screen allows you to select one of the following function keys: <ESC> - Returns you to the file area menu without saving the new file list. <ENTER> - Let's you edit the currently highlighted file's description. After pressing <ENTER>, FILEMAN will then let you edit the description using its mini-text editor. You can exit the editor by pressing either <ESC> or <F10>. Pressing <ESC> will return you to the list box, but the new description will be discarded. Pressing <F10> will return you to the list box and the new description will be saved. <F1> - Scans the file area's directory for any files that aren't contained in the file list. Any files that aren't in the file list will be appended to the end of the file list. FILEMAN will extract and use any FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI files if the proper decompression utility is in the DOS PATH and enough RAM is available to run both the decompression utility and FILEMAN at the same time. <F2> - Sorts the current file list. <F3> - Moves a file to a new file area. <F4> - Checks the archive for either FILE_ID.DIZ or DESC.SDI. If a description file is found, FILEMAN will extract it and replace the file's current description with the description file's contents. In order for this feature to work, the proper decompression utility must be in your DOS PATH and enough RAM must be available to run the decompression utility and FILEMAN at the same time. <DEL> - Deletes the currently highlighted file. FILEMAN will ask you if you really want to delete the file. If you answer no, FILEMAN will ignore the deletion request. If you answer yes, FILEMAN will remove the file from the file list. Next, FILEMAN will ask you if you want to physically remove the file from the drive. IMPORTANT: Once you tell FILEMAN to physically delete the file, FILEMAN will not be able to restore it. You may be able to restore a deleted file by using DOS 5.0's UNDELETE command or a similar utility, but FILEMAN can NOT restore it. <F10> - Saves the revised file list and returns you to the The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 79 file area menu. IMPORTANT: FILEMAN does NOT support file sharing. Therefore, all nodes should be down on a multinode system before editing your file lists with FILEMAN. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 80 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 81 EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS ------------------ TriBBS supports up to 15 external protocols. To enable external protocols, you must create an external protocol menu configuration file called EXTPROT.MNU in your node's NWORK directory. EXTPROT.MNU has the following format: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 82 ---------------------------------------------------------------- hotkey,description,send file,receive file,batch,error correcting . . . hotkey,description,send file,receive file,batch,error correcting Where: hotkey is the key to be used to select the external protocol. You should note that you can override any of TriBBS's internal protocols by specifying the internal protocol's hotkey for the external protocol's hotkey. For example, you can use a hotkey of "Z" to replace TriBBS's internal Zmodem protocol with DSZ. Additionally, you can't use "N" for a protocol's hotkey. description is a description to be displayed for the external protocol. send file is the exact name of the batch file that sends files to the caller with the external protocol. This batch file must reside in your board's main directory. receive file is the exact name of the batch file that receives files from the caller with the external protocol. This batch file must reside in your board's main directory. batch is "Y" if the external protocol supports batch transfers. Otherwise, "N" to indicated that the external protocol doesn't support batch transfers. error correcting is "Y" if the external protocol is to be used only with an error correcting connection. Otherwise, "N" to indicate that the external protocol can be used with all types of connections. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an example of an EXTPROT.MNU file: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 83 ---------------------------------------------------------------- z,Zmodem (DSZ),sz.bat,rz.bat,y,n m,MPt (Puma),smpt.bat,rmpt.bat,y,n h,HS/Link,hss.bat,hsr.bat,y,n ---------------------------------------------------------------- This example file replaces TriBBS's internal Zmodem protocol with DSZ and adds the very speedy MPt (formerly Puma) and the speedy, bidirectional protocol HS/Link to the board's list of protocols. Both protocols support batch downloads and neither is an error correcting protocol. Send Batch Files ---------------- When TriBBS calls a send batch file, it passes the following three parameters to the batch file: port number baud rate filename or EBATCH.DAT The "port number" and "baud rate" parameters are pretty self explanatory. The third parameter TriBBS passes to the batch file requires a little further explanation. If the protocol, doesn't support batch downloads, TriBBS only passes a single "filename" to the protocol. Otherwise, TriBBS creates a file called "EBATCH.DAT" and passes the name of the file to the protocol's batch file. "EBATCH.DAT" is simply a line-by-line listing of the files in the batch download. The following is an example of a DSZ send batch file called SZ.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- dsz port %1 sz -m @c:%3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note that the above batch file enables MobyTurbo transfers. The following is an example of a MPt send batch file called SMPT.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- mpt p%1 s @%3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 84 The following is an example of a HS/Link send batch file called HSS.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- hslink -p%1 @%3 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Receive Batch Files ------------------- When TriBBS calls a receive batch file, it passes the following three parameters to the batch file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- port number baud rate filename ---------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT: You should note that the "filename" parameter is not passed to external protocols that support batch file transfers. The following is an example of a DSZ receive batch file called RZ.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- dsz port %1 rz -mrr ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note that the above batch file enables MobyTurbo transfers. The following is an example of a MPt receive batch file called RMPT.BAT: ---------------------------------------------------------------- mpt p%1 r ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an example of a HS/Link receive batch file called HSR.BAT: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 85 ---------------------------------------------------------------- hslink -p%1 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 86 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 87 RUNNING TRIBBS WITH A FRONTEND OR AS A DOOR ------------------------------------------- TriBBS can be run with either a frontend program (i.e., FrontDoor, BinkleyTerm, etc.) or as a door. To execute TriBBS when there is already a connection, you must specify the connection's baud rate with TriBBS's "/F" command line switch. The format for using this switch is "/Fbaud rate". Where "baud rate" is the connection's baud rate. For example, TriBBS could be executed with a 2400 baud connection with the following command line: BBS /F2400 The above is only an example and you should use BOARD.BAT to run TriBBS as you normally would. Otherwise, doors will not function properly. To do this, modify your BOARD.BAT file as follows: ---------------------------------------------------------------- echo off cd \tribbs if exist door.bat del door.bat if exist event.bat del event.bat if exist endbbs del endbbs bbs %1 if exist door.bat door if exist event.bat event if exist endbbs goto end board :end ---------------------------------------------------------------- Note the "%1" after "bbs" in the above batch file. This will use BOARD.BAT's first command line parameter to pass the "/F" switch to TriBBS. For example, you could execute TriBBS using the above BOARD.BAT file with a 2400 baud connection by using the following DOS command: BOARD /F2400 Normally, TriBBS will recycle to the Waiting for Caller screen when the caller either logs off or is forced off the board. If TriBBS is started with a "/F" parameter, TriBBS will exit memory and return control to the calling program. Thus, TriBBS acts just like a door when a "/F" parameter is used. IMPORTANT: Although doors run fine when using TriBBS in this manner, events are always executed by TriBBS's Waiting for Caller screen routine. Therefore, events will never run if TriBBS is being run with the "/F" parameter. If your board requires The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 88 maintenance events and you are using TriBBS with a frontend program, simply run them as a frontend event. If you are running TriBBS as a door, simply let your main board run the necessary events. Error Correcting Connections ---------------------------- If your frontend is able to supply an error correcting message (i.e. ARQ, etc.), it may be specified with a slightly modified version of TriBBS's "/F" command line switch: "/F baud rate/error correcting message". Please note the slash between the "baud rate" and "error correcting message" parameters. This slash is essential for TriBBS to be able to correctly parse the "/F" command line switch. Limiting Time ------------- A user's log on time can be limited with TriBBS's "/T" command line switch. The format for this command line switch is "/Tminutes". Where "minutes" is the maximum number of minutes the caller should be allowed for this call. Forced Hang Up -------------- Normally, TriBBS does not hang up on the caller when he says goodbye. It leaves the task of hanging up to the frontend program or the main board. If your frontend doesn't hang up before recycling, you can use TriBBS's "/H" command line switch to instruct it to hang up on the caller before returning to the frontend. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 89 ARCHIVE TESTING --------------- TriBBS can optionally scan archives, EXEs, and COMs for viruses. This feature is enabled with the Waiting for Caller Screen's Configure System menu. If upload testing is enabled, TriBBS will call MacAfee's SCAN.EXE program to scan the contents of the upload. Accordingly SCAN.EXE, must be in your PATH. Additionally, TriBBS requires the following decompression utilities to be in your PATH to be able to test archives: Archive Utility ZIP PKUNZIP.EXE ARJ ARJ.EXE LZH LHA.EXE PAK, SDN, and ARC PAK.EXE IMPORTANT: If TriBBS isn't able to find SCAN.EXE or the proper decompression utility, the upload will NOT be tested. If an upload fails the virus scan, it will be immediately deleted. Be aware that SCAN.EXE is not infallible. It is perhaps the best utility of its kind, but no virus scanner is perfect. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 90 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 91 ODDS AND ENDS ------------- Obnoxious Callers ----------------- Sooner or later you will have to lock out a caller and although the user's record doesn't take up much disk space there's no sense in maintaining the record to just keep the caller locked out. TriBBS eliminates the need for needlessly maintaining the caller's user record with a file called JOKER.DAT. JOKER.DAT is a straight ASCII text file with each line being the name of a caller you want to keep locked out. JOKER.DAT is an optional file and must reside in your board's MWORK directory. The following is a sample JOKER.DAT file: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Hacker Dr. Doom ---------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Limits ------------ You will probably want to give callers with different security levels different amounts of daily time and number of daily calls. After all, don't you as a sysop deserve more daily time on you own board than the average caller? TriBBS supports a daily limits file called DLIMITS.DAT. DLIMITS.DAT is an ASCII text file and must reside in node 1's MWORK directory. You should note that any callers whose security levels aren't found in DLIMITS.DAT will be assigned your board's default daily time and number of daily calls. DLIMITS.DAT is an optional file and uses the following format: The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 92 ---------------------------------------------------------------- security level,time,calls . . . security level,time,calls Where: security level is a security level. time is the security level's daily time limit. calls is the security level's number of daily calls. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Special Keys ------------ There are a number of special keys that you can use while a caller is logged on to your board. They are as follows: Key(s) Description <F1> Adds 5 minutes to the caller's time. <F2> Takes 5 minutes away from the caller's time. <F3> Toggles the page bell on and off. <F4> Will allow you to adjust the caller's security level. TriBBS will prompt you to enter the caller's new security level. <F5> Logs the caller off. <F6> Logs the caller off and marks his user record as "Locked Out". <F7> Logs the caller off with a "Keyboard input time exceeded" message. <F8> Displays a screen called either NUKE.BBS or NUKE.ANS and hangs up on the caller. <HOME> Toggles between the caller status window at the bottom The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 93 of the display screen and two help screens about the above mentioned function keys. <ALT><C> Enters chat mode. The chat can be ended by pressing <ESC>. <ALT><D> Allows you to drop to DOS. Quick Logon ----------- TriBBS allows you to enter both your name and password at the "Enter your name" prompt. Simply separate your name from the password with a semicolon <;>. For example, a caller with the name Mark Goodwin and a password of Install could enter his name and password at the name prompt as follows: Mark Goodwin;Install You should note that for security reasons TriBBS will display the password as a series of periods <.>. File Flagging ------------- While displaying a file listing, the "more" prompt will allow the caller to flag files for downloading by simply pressing <F>. TriBBS will prompt the caller for the name of the file(s) he wants to flag. Packing the Message Base ------------------------ You may have noticed that included with your TriBBS files is a file called TRIPACK.EXE. TRIPACK is the TriBBS message base packer. It will remove any <DELETED> messages and messages that are older than the number of days you have indicated in your message conferences setup. TRIPACK was developed as an external program in order to permit you to pack your message base as an event. TRIPACK is a fairly easy program to use and can be executed with the following command line: TRIPACK /P /R /C:range Where: /P is an optional switch. If specified, all messages marked <PRIVATE><RECEIVED> The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 94 will be deleted. /R is an optional switch. If specified, the message base conference will be renumbered. TriBBS support message numbers as high as 999,999. You should only renumber a message base conference if you think the conference will rollover this amount. Although TriBBS will update its message threads internally, net mail message threads may be lost. For example, PCRelay maintains a list of message threads for each netmail conference. After renumbering your message conference, PCRelay will not be able to correctly indicate if a message has been replied to or not. /C:range is an optional switch. It is used to specify either a single conference or a range of conferences to be packed. A single conference is packed by specifying its number after the ":". For example, /C:4 would pack message conference 4. A range of conferences can be packed by separating them with a "-". For example, /C:5-9 will pack message conferences 5 through 9. IMPORTANT: Never pack a system's message base unless the entire system is down. The TriBBS Protocol Driver: TTPROT.EXE -------------------------------------- The file TTPROT.EXE is the protocol driver TriBBS calls to perform file transfers. In order for TriBBS to be able to run TTPROT.EXE, it must be in your DOS PATH. This is very important! If it isn't in your PATH, file transfers will always abort. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 95 MULTINODES ---------- Setting up a multinode TriBBS board is a pretty easy procedure. You must first create a directory for your new node. For example, you might create a directory called C:\TRIBBS2 for the second node's directory. Now you must copy your SYSDAT2.DAT file from your node 1 directory to your new node's directory. Because BBS.EXE uses overlays, you must put a copy of it in the new node's directory. Next change your current directory to the new node's directory and run BBS.EXE. You now have a second node. Before exiting to DOS you should use the Configure Node menu to configure your new node. Upon returning to DOS, you must create a BOARD.BAT file for your new node. The simplest method for doing this is to copy your node 1's BOARD.BAT file to the new node's directory and edit it appropriately. About the only change you'll have to make is to edit the change directory command (i.e. cd \tribbs) near the top of you BOARD.BAT file to change the directory to the new node's directory. Next, you will need new menu configuration files in the new node's NWORK directory. Once again, you can simply copy node 1's MNU files and edit them appropriately. The process for setting up a third, fourth, fifth, etc. node is just like the above. You simply set up another directory and repeat all of the above steps. How Do I Get the System Up and Running -------------------------------------- To get multiple nodes up and running on the same computer, you will need to use a multitasker and have a 386 or better to do it. TriBBS 3.1 has been thoroughly tested under DesqView on a 386 computer and runs like a charm. It should also run under Windows 3.1, but a multitasking communications programs under Windows is not the best choice because of Windows lack of support for the 16550 UART. If you are not running any high speed modems on your system, you may find Windows to be an adequate multitasker. IMPORTANT: So that TriBBS's data file will not be written to by more than one node at a time, TriBBS fully supports file sharing. To enable file sharing, you must put the command SHARE.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. SHARE.EXE is a terminate and stay resident program that comes with DOS that handles record locking. Without SHARE.EXE in memory, TriBBS does not have the ability to correctly lock and unlock the system data files and sooner or later they will become corrupted. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 96 To get multiple nodes up and running on more than one computer, you will need to use some type of networking hardware and software. TriBBS has been successfully tested on a LANtastic's network. The only possible glitch in running TriBBS on a LAN is that all nodes use identical SYSDAT2.DAT files to locate node 1; therefore, you must configure your LAN in such a way that all workstations and servers refer to node 1 drive as the same drive. For example, if node 1 is located on the C: drive on the server, the rest of the network must refer to this as C: also. If another node's workstation already has a C: drive, you must redirect that drive to say D:, E:, or etc. and configure the node 1 drive as C: So as long as the whole LAN refers to node 1's drive as the same drive, TriBBS should work flawlessly on any LAN. Doors and Multinodes -------------------- The greatest challenge you will find about getting a multinode system fully functional is getting doors to run from all nodes. The problem comes from the fact that most doors do not support multinode operation. If they do, then fine, simply set up the proper configuration and batch files and away you go, but if they don't it takes a little more effort. The best method I've found so far for running a nonmultinode door on all nodes of a multinode system is to use two utilities: FOYER and PROECHO. FOYER is a nifty little utility that create a data file in your door's directory to determine what, if any, node is currently using the door. If the door is in use, FOYER returns an appropriate "errorlevel" that can be used in your batch file to prevent the door from being run. If the door isn't in use, FOYER will return without error and your batch file can continue to run the door as it normally would. After running the door, FOYER is run again so it can "unlock" the door for use by another node. PROECHO is a handy little utility that lets you send a short message out through the comm port. For example, if a door is in use, you could send a message like "That door is in use on another node. Please try again later." By sending such a message to the user, he will know that everything is ok and that he'll probably be able to use the door sometime later in his call. Some Helpful Hints ------------------ If you are multitasking a multinode TriBBS system, you will probably want to give each node the same number of clock ticks if they are running modems that have similar speed capabilities. If you are running a high speed modem on one line and a slower modem on another, you may want to give the node with the high speed The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 97 modem a few more clock ticks than the node with the slower speed modem. A multinode system requires a phone line and a modem for each node. I know that may seem rather obvious, but I've seen people on a variety of net mail echos wondering why it can't be done on just one line. Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way. If your local phone company offers Busy Call Forwarding, you may want to consider getting it. With Busy Call Forwarding, a node will automatically ring down to another node whenever it is busy. For example, The Lobster Buoy has two lines. Node 1's phone number is 207-941-0805. Whenever node 1 is busy, it will ring down to node 2. Of course if node 2 is busy, the caller is out of luck. The fee for Busy Call Forwarding is very small and make it convenient not only for you but your callers as well. The most helpful suggestion I can give is to get your feet wet with a single line setup first before jumping in with your guns blazing into a multinode setup. Give yourself sometime to master running a single line setup first. Multinode Chatting ------------------ TriBBS supports multinode chatting through its TeleChat system. Unlike the system's normal sysop/caller chat mode, which is a real time chatting system where keypresses are sent in both directions almost instantaneously, the TeleChat system uses a series of special disk files to send lines of text between two or more nodes a line at a time. The TriBBS TeleChat system offers two distinct types of multinode chat: node chat and group chat. Node chat is where two nodes chat back and forth between each other. To page another node to enter node chat, the caller simply enters the desired node's number at the TeleChat menu. As soon as the caller enters the node number, TriBBS will send the other node a special message which states that the caller wishes to chat with the caller on the other node. As soon as the caller on the other node enters node chat, TriBBS will send the caller that initiated the chat a message to that effect. As stated above, text is sent back and forth between the two nodes a line at a time. When entering text, TriBBS will automatically word wrap each line at sixty characters. Because of this relatively short line length, lines of text are sent back and forth at a fairly quick rate and aid in the flow of the conversation. While the caller is actually entering text TriBBS will not scan for any chat text from the other node until the caller has stopped entering text either by pressing the <ENTER> key or erasing whatever text is on the current line with the <BACKSPACE> key. This is done so that the text the caller is typing won't be garbled by incoming messages. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 98 The caller may leave chat mode by simply entering the word EXIT by itself. As soon as the caller leaves chat mode, the other caller will be informed by an appropriate message. Group chat is very similar to node chat except for any caller on any node can enter group chat at anytime. Therefore, the number of callers in group chat at any one time is only limited by the BBS's number of nodes. Note that unlike node chat nobody is paged when a caller enters group chat. However, like node chat, appropriate messages are sent to all nodes in group chat whenever a caller either enters or exits group chat. Text entry is performed exactly as with node chat. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 99 SUPPORT ------- You may obtain assistance with a TriBBS related problem by calling The Lobster Buoy at 207-941-0805. This is the home board for TriBBS. You may also call any other TriBBS support board for assistance. TriBBS support boards are indicated in the list of registered boards near the end of this manual. If you are having a problem with TriBBS, please try to be as specific as possible. Please don't say something like "I can't get doors to work". Unfortunately, statements like that are all too common and do nothing to help resolve the problem. Instead, try to explain as best you can exactly what is happening when you try to run a door and ZIP up and upload your door batch files and door menu configuration file. Screen captures can be very helpful when trying to diagnose a problem. So if you can, log on remotely and capture a session that will illustrate the problem. If you are unable to log on remotely, ask one of your users for help. Most problems can be cured in one message if the problem is explained in enough detail. However, if you do not provide specific details, it can take many messages and a lot of frustration before resolving the problem. Also, READ THIS MANUAL!!!!!!!!! When they become necessary, minor updates, such as 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, etc., will be available for download from a TriBBS support board. I will upload major updates, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, etc., to a number of major bulletin boards and online services across the country. Either way, it is your responsibility to obtain the latest version of TriBBS. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 100 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 101 REGISTRATION ------------ Registration of TriBBS is only $75.00. Please use the form at the end of this manual to register your board. When you register TriBBS, you will receive the latest version of TriBBS on disk, a laser printed manual and an encrypted key file called TRIBBS.KEY. All you have to do is copy TRIBBS.KEY into node 1's main directory and voila instant registered copy. TRIBBS.KEY can also be used to instantly register all future versions of TriBBS. If you find that TriBBS is the BBS for you, then please register it. I have tried to make TriBBS a quality product. It has taken hundreds (more likely thousands at this point) of hours of programming and testing to get TriBBS to where it is today. So please support past, present, and future TriBBS development by registering your copy today. Just consider how much a commercial software product of TriBBS's quality would cost you. By comparison, TriBBS is quite a bargain. IMPORTANT: The shareware version of TriBBS is NOT (I repeat NOT) crippled in any way. The registered version and the shareware version are one and the same program. All features are enabled with the shareware version. I've had many people ask me if the shareware version of TriBBS is crippled. It is NOT. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 102 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 103 FILE FORMATS ------------ In order to encourage third-party development of TriBBS-related utilities and doors, this section details the file formats TriBBS uses. You should note that TriBBS is written in C++ and as such all data types are C data types. For example, all strings are null-terminated C strings. SYSDAT1.DAT ---------- Is the system configuration file and is located in node 1's main directory. It uses the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 41 char [41] The board's name. 42 to 82 char [41] The sysop's name. 83 to 91 char [9] The board's starting date. 92 to 95 char [4] The board's default file extension. Must be ZIP, ARJ, LZH, PAK, SDN, or ARC. 96 to 97 int Total number of nodes. 98 to 99 int The number of today's calls. 100 to 101 int The number of messages posted today. 102 to 103 int The number of uploads today. 104 to 105 int The number of downloads today. 106 to 107 int The default daily time limit. 108 to 109 int The default number of daily calls. 110 to 111 int The maximum time per call. 112 to 113 int The minimum sysop security level. 114 to 115 int The new user security level. 116 to 117 int The new user daily time limit. 118 to 119 int Upload time compensation ratio. 120 to 121 int Maximum no keyboard input time in minutes. 122 to 125 long The total number of calls. 126 to 127 int US phone number flag. If TRUE, use US phone number format. If FALSE, don't use US phone number format. 128 to 129 int Test uploads flag. If TRUE, scan uploads for viruses. If FALSE, don't scan uploads for viruses. 130 to 131 int Auto ANSI detection flag. If TRUE, do auto ANSI autodetect. If FALSE, prompt user for ANSI color graphics. 132 to 133 int Waiting message flag. If TRUE, check for waiting messages. If The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 104 FALSE, don't check for waiting messages. 134 to 256 char [123] Reserved for future use. All zeros. SYSDAT2.DAT ----------- Is TriBBS's means for accessing the system data and main work directory between nodes and is located in each node's main directory. It uses the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 81 char [81] The path to node 1's main directory. 82 to 256 char [175] Reserved for future use. All zeros. NODE.DAT -------- Is the node configuration file and is located in each node's main directory. It uses the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 81 char [81] The modem's initialization string. 82 to 86 char [5] The error correcting connection message. 87 to 95 char [9] The date of the last call. 96 to 97 int The node number. 98 to 99 unsigned The modem's maximum baud rate. 100 to 101 int The modem's serial port. 102 to 103 int No 300 baud callers flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will not allow 300 baud callers to log on. If FALSE, TriBBS will accept 300 baud calls. 104 to 105 int No 1200 baud callers flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will not allow 1200 baud callers to log on. If FALSE, TriBBS will accept 1200 baud call. 106 to 107 int RTS/CTS handshaking flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will use RTS/CTS handshaking. If FALSE, TriBBS will not use RTS/CTS handshaking. 108 to 109 int Locked serial port flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will maintain the DTE rate at the maximum baud rate. If FALSE, DTE will follow DCE. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 105 110 to 111 int Direct screen write flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will use direct screen writes. If FALSE, TriBBS will not use direct screen writes. 112 to 113 int The tenths of a second delay before sending ATA. 114 to 115 int The number of RINGs to be received before sending ATA. 116 to 117 int Page bell flag. If TRUE, the page bell is on. If FALSE, the page bell is off. 118 to 119 int Use node DISPLAY flag. If TRUE, TriBBS will use the display screens in the node DISPLAY directory. If FALSE, TriBBS will use the display screens in node 1's DISPLAY directory. 120 to 121 int The node's minimum security level. 122 to 256 char [135] Reserved for future use. All zeros. USERS.DAT --------- Is TriBBS's user records file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Each user record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 31 char [31] The user's name. 32 to 47 char [16] The user's password. 48 to 78 char [31] The user's city and state. 79 to 91 char [13] The user's phone number. 92 to 100 char [9] The user's date of birth. 101 to 109 char [9] The date of the user's first call. 110 to 124 char [15] The date and time of the user's last call. 125 to 133 char [9] The date of the user's last new file check. 134 to 135 int The user's security level. 136 to 137 int The user's number of calls. 138 to 139 int The amount of time remaining today. 140 to 141 int The user's last message conference. 142 to 143 int The user's last file area. 144 to 145 int The user's default protocol. 146 to 147 int The user's expert mode flag. 148 to 149 int The user's locked out flag. 150 to 151 int Marked for deletion flag. 152 to 153 int The user's number of calls today. 154 to 155 int Reserved for TriMail. 156 to 157 int Reserved for TriMail. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 106 158 to 159 int Reserved for TriMail. 160 to 161 int Reserved for TriMail. 162 to 163 int Reserved for TriMail. 164 to 165 int Reserved for TriMail. 166 to 169 long The user's number of uploads. 170 to 173 long The user's number of downloads. 174 to 177 long The user's K bytes uploaded. 178 to 181 long The user's K bytes download. 182 to 185 long The user's number of messages posted. 186 to 187 int The user's default editor. 188 to 189 int The user's initial multinode chat status. 190 to 256 char [67] Reserved for future use. All zeros. USERS.IDX --------- Is the user index file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. This file is sorted in ascending order according to the user's 32-bit CRC. Each record has the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 4 unsigned long 32-bit CRC of the user's name. 5 to 6 int The user's record number in USERS.DAT. MCONF.DAT --------- Is TriBBS's message conference configuration file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Each conference record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The conference's minimum security level. 3 to 4 int The conference's net mail flag. TRUE for net mail conference. FALSE for non-net mail conference. 5 to 6 int The conference's user deletion flag. TRUE for user deletion is allowed. FALSE for user deletion isn't allowed. 7 to 8 int The conference's backup flag. If TRUE, TRIPACK will backup the The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 107 message conference before packing it. If FALSE, TRIPACK will not backup the message conference. 9 to 10 int The number of days messages are to be save for. Tells TRIPACK when messages are old enough to be deleted. 11 to 12 int Private message conference flag. If TRUE, the conference is private. If FALSE, the conference is public. 13 to 14 int The conference's Fido-style netmail flag. If TRUE, the conference is a Fido-style netmail conference. If FALSE, the conference isn't a Fido- style netmail conference. 15 to 55 char [41] The conference's description. 56 to 96 char [41] The conference's network name. 97 to 100 long The conference's highest message number. Mnnnn.PTR --------- Is a message conference's pointer file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each message in the conference will have a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 15 char [15] The date and time the message was saved. 16 to 46 char [31] The name of the message's sender. 47 to 77 char [31] The name of who the message is to. 78 to 118 char [41] The message's subject. 119 to 120 int The message's echo flag. TRUE for echo/FALSE for don't echo. 121 to 122 int The message's thread flag. TRUE if the message has replies/FALSE if the message doesn't have replies. 123 to 124 int The message's private flag. TRUE if the message is private/FALSE if the message is public. 125 to 126 int The message's deleted flag. TRUE if the message is marked for deletion/FALSE if the message isn't marked for deletion. 127 to 128 int The message's received flag. TRUE if the message has been received/FALSE if the message hasn't been received. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 108 129 to 130 int The message's permanent flag. TRUE if the message is permanent/FALSE if the message is transient. 131 to 132 int Netmail "from" zone. 133 to 134 int Netmail "from" net. 135 to 136 int Netmail "from" node. 137 to 138 int Netmail "from" point. 139 to 140 int Netmail "to" zone. 141 to 142 int Netmail "to" net. 143 to 144 int Netmail "to" node. 145 to 146 int Netmail "to" point. 147 to 150 long The message's position in Mnnnn.TXT. 151 to 154 long The message's number. 155 to 158 long If the message is a response to a previous message, this value will hold the original message's number. Otherwise, this will be 0. Mnnnn.IDX --------- Is a message conference's index file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number form 0001 to 9999. Each message in the conference will have a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 4 unsigned long 32-bit CRC of the message sender's name. 5 to 8 unsigned long 32-bit CRC of the message addressee's name. 9 to 12 long The message's number. 13 to 16 long If the message is a response to a previous message, this value will hold the original message's number. Otherwise, this will be 0. Mnnnn.TXT --------- Is the message conference's text file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. The start of each message is pointed to by an appropriate pointer in the conference's Mnnnn.PTR file. The message's text is saved as an integer value, which indicates the message's compressed length, followed by the message's compressed text. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 109 Mnnnn.LMR --------- Is a message conference's last message read file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each user has a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The user's conference queue flag. TRUE if the conference is included in the user's conference queue. 2 to 4 int The user's private access flag. TRUE if the user has access to this conference and it is a private conference. 5 to 8 long The highest message number the user has read in this conference. Mnnnn.WAT --------- Is a message conference's waiting message flag file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the conference number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each user has a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The user's number of waiting messages in this conference. FAREA.DAT --------- Is TriBBS's file area configuration file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Each file area record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The file area's minimum security level. 3 to 4 int The file area's sort flag. TRUE if sort by file name. FALSE if sort by date. 5 to 6 int Private file area flag. TRUE if it's a private file area. FALSE if it's a public file area. 7 to 47 char [41] The file area's description. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 110 48 to 128 char [81] The file area's path. 129 to 209 char [81] The file area's upload path. 210 to 290 char [81] The file area's file list. 291 to 371 char [81] The file area's upload file list. 372 to 512 char [141] Reserved for future use. All zeros. Fnnnn.USR --------- Is a file area's private access flag file and is located in node 1's MWORK directory. Where the file area number is specified by nnnn and is a number from 0001 to 9999. Each user has a record with the following format: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The user's private access flag. If TRUE, the user has access to this file area if it is a private area. EVENTS.DAT ---------- Is a node's event configuration file and is located in the node's NWORK directory. Each event record is as follows: Byte Data Description Position Type 1 to 2 int The event's day of the week. 3 to 4 int The event flag. TRUE if the event has been executed/FALSE if the event hasn't been executed. 5 to 6 int The slide flag. TRUE for a sliding event/FALSE for a nonsliding event. 7 to 12 char [6] The event's time. 13 to 21 char [9] The event's batch file. TRIBBS.SYS ---------- Is TriBBS's proprietary door data file. It is an ASCII text file and uses the following format: 1 <- The user's record number Mark Goodwin <- The user's name Something <- The user's password 200 <- The user's security level Y <- Y for Expert, N for Novice The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 111 Y <- Y for ANSI, N for monochrome 60 <- Minutes left for this call 207-941-0805 <- The user's phone number Bangor, Me <- The user's city and state 10/19/56 <- The user's birth date 1 <- The node number 1 <- The serial port 2400 <- Baud rate or 0 for local 38400 <- Locked rate or 0 for not locked Y <- Y for RTS/CTS, N for no RTS/CTS N <- Y for error correcting or N Unnamed BBS <- The board's name Joe Sysop <- The sysop's name The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 112 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 113 LIST OF REGISTERED TRIBBS BOARDS -------------------------------- List of registered TriBBS Bulletin Board Systems as of 08/19/92: Board Name Telephone Number Maximum Baud Rate Star of Life BBS 203-669-2089 14400 HST/V.32bis The Corn Cobb 205-354-2622 * 14400 HST/V.32bis Hoots with Owls 205-520-9540 2400 The Flight Line BBS 205-598-6656 * 14400 V.32bis The Playground BBS 205-836-4200 2400 Night Watch 205-841-2790 * 2400 The Party Line 205-856-1336 2400 The Electronic Advertiser 206-847-3329 2400 The Lobster Buoy (Node 1) 207-941-0805 * 14400 V.32bis The Lobster Buoy (Node 2) 207-945-9346 * 14400 HST/V.32bis B-2 BBS 207-990-2203 2400 Man Overbaud 214-228-3854 2400 Faunus 214-288-3310 2400 Happy Go Lucky 214-394-0531 2400 The Cross 214-414-8614 2400 The New Frontier BBS (N 1) 214-570-7372 2400 The New Frontier BBS (N 2) 214-252-6247 2400 The BucketBored! BBS 214-783-0536 * 2400 T.R.A.I.N. BBS 214-878-9818 2400 The Gold Line BBS 216-466-6424 2400 Braided Laser BBS 216-481-8646 * 2400 All Computer Support BBS 216-564-7879 2400 The Mystic Rythm BBS 216-992-4774 9600 V.32 PC-Quest 219-223-7395 9600 V.32 The Rock Pile BBS 219-288-8950 14400 V.32bis/CSP Taeser's Palace Adult BBS 301-353-1425 * 14400 V.32bis Starbase 123 301-445-5118 2400 Mended Vessels 301-705-7964 2400 "Ecstatic Bytehead Haven" 301-894-7620 9600 V.32 The LODI BBS 304-273-9729 2400 The Last Resort 305-294-6251 * 9600 V.32 The Data Dump BBS 306-956-3383 * 16800 HST/V.32bis The East Village 312-777-2574 * 9600 V.32 Night Link Chicago BBS 312-873-6752 2400 Karen & Jerry's BBS 313-386-6913 14400 V.32bis Express Shareware Report 314-256-0507 14400 V.32bis Critical Phase 314-443-4378 2400 The Dragon's Nest 314-567-1389 2400 Learn BBS of Indianapolis 317-486-0966 2400 The Trader's BBS 403-435-3523 2400 Missing Link 403-462-8398 16800 HST/V.32bis TopFun TTBS (Node 1) 403-464-0126 * 2400 TopFun TTBS (Node 2) 403-464-0139 * 9600 CSP TopFun TTBS (Node 3) 403-464-5253 * 14400 V.32bis/CSP The Trading Post 403-789-4076 14400 HST Pirate's Cove 404-209-5239 2400 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 114 Bogus! BBS 404-214-9972 2400 The Dining Room 404-292-5303 * 14400 V.32bis Byte Might BBS 404-413-0359 * 14400 V.32bis The Moistened Quill BBS 404-469-1935 2400 Rick's Place 404-720-1446 2400 Bear Cat 404-739-1216 * 14400 V.32bis Falcore BoatWorks Rem Access 407-277-5316 * 9600 V.32 Night-Bytes 407-292-3963 14400 V.32bis The Printer's Connection 407-576-6733 2400 Black Mountain Side 407-774-2768 2400 Aries Knowledge Systems BBS 410-625-0109 2400 Hooterville BBS 413-538-5510 9600 V.32 The Flight Deck BBS 416-332-7075 2400 Townline BBS 416-498-4875 2400 The Bad Connection BBS 416-630-8645 * 2400 The File Connection BBS 417-886-5993 2400 The File Cabinet BBS 501-247-1141 14400 V.32bis MOB BBS 503-282-0882 * 2400 The BlueMoon BBS 505-255-4119 9600 V.32 Live Wire BBS 505-265-0925 14400 V.32bis Crossroads 508-477-1049 2400 !! Two J's !! 508-771-1090 14400 V.32bis Call Again Soon 508-791-8456 14400 HST/V.32bis L E P L U M B E R BBS 514-968-0280 9600 V.32 Havoc Central HQ BBS 516-331-6079 9600 V.32 The Operating Room 516-867-2644 14400 V.32bis The Staff 518-377-6403 2400 WCUC BBS 519-456-5369 2400 Bald Eagle BBS (Node 1) 601-939-2836 * 14400 V.32 Bald Eagle BBS (Node 2) 601-939-3612 * 9600 V.32 Twilight Zone 602-731-4990 9600 V.32 Wayne's World BBS 602-743-3089 * 9600 V.32 The Twilight Zone BBS 602-792-8526 2400 Starfleet Headquarters 602-751-1249 * 2400 Emerald City 603-256-6147 * 14400 V.32bis The Medic's Meeting House 603-256-6931 * 9600 V.32 SARBC HQ BBS 604-383-7681 2400 The Bit Stop... 604-542-8621 2400 The World Beyond BBS 609-854-4296 2400 Lunker Lake BBS 609-886-4854 2400 Paul's Boutique 609-971-9518 2400 The Trash Heap 612-572-1573 2400 North & South Side Embassy 613-967-4534 9600 V.32 Needed BBS 614-635-3117 2400 Redskin BBS 616-642-3854 2400 Prides Crossing 619-464-6271 9600 V.32 Vivid Images Press Syndicate 703-328-6915 9600 V.32 Hokus Pokus BBS 703-330-9488 2400 Chapter 11 BBS 703-335-5545 2400 "The Flash Express" 703-491-7720 2400 Miller Time! 703-631-0561 14400 V.32bis Imagine 703-663-3485 2400 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 115 My UnKnown BBS 703-780-6890 * 14400 V.32bis After the Revolution 703-847-0499 2400 JANUS 703-869-3843 2400 Wheel Chair Express (Node 1) 707-464-3705 2400 Wheel Chair Express (Node 2) 707-465-1272 14400 V.32bis The Lighthouse BBS 707-465-3974 * 2400 The White Hat BBS 707-465-5456 * 14400 V.32bis Recursion City BBS 707-664-0952 9600 CSP Falcon BBS 707-778-7637 2400 My House BBS 708-739-9355 2400 The Software Shop 708-759-6404 9600 V.32 The Digital Underground BBS 709-368-5475 * 14400 V.32bis BHA & Associates TriBBS 713-463-2434 14400 HST/V.32bis Ryanhill BBS 717-698-9007 2400 The Novice BBS 717-839-2250 2400 Westside BBS 717-961-0732 2400 The Screamin' Eagle BBS 803-323-2479 9600 V.32 Popeye's BBS 803-824-2628 2400 The Oasis 804-526-1561 2400 The Fourels BBS 813-843-8155 2400 The Luddite BBS 813-844-3087 2400 "The Big Pit" 813-863-1572 2400 Free Jack's Place 813-977-0743 * 14400 V.32bis The Looney Tunes BBS 814-825-3304 14400 V.32bis Gemini BBS 814-825-6197 * 14400 V.32bis The Want Ad BBS 816-254-9608 2400 Moonshine's BBS 816-331-4416 2400 The "Gore" Zone! 816-363-4673 * 9600 V.32 The Squirrel's Nest 904-377-4529 2400 Fringe Forum, The Sequel 904-656-2263 9600 V.32 The Academy 904-732-4471 2400 Infrared BBS 908-231-0538 2400 Midnight Express 908-537-2488 2400 Triad BBS 913-894-9213 2400 Go Diamond! BBS 914-665-1725 2400 LAMP COM BBS 919-847-4335 2400 Herbert's Mailbox 0537-847498 2400 BUGGY BBS (33)130558098 * 9600 V.32 Computerline BBS 039-6-3320239 2400 ALVSJOE SC BBS (Sweden) 46 886 3000 2400 The Wilde Side Not Listed 2400 PC-Parlor Not Listed 2400 The Nucleus Not Listed 2400 H. Ross Perot BBS Not Listed 9600 V.32 The SaltyDog Not Listed 14400 V.32bis The Tanglewood Connection BBS Not Listed 2400 * - Indicates a TriBBS support board. Plus there are currently 40 registered TriBBS Bulletin Board Systems that prefer to remain unlisted. The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 116 The TriBBS Bulletin Board System 117 TriBBS REGISTRATION FORM Registration of TriBBS 3.1 is $75.00. Shipping and handling is free for all U.S., Canadian, and Mexican orders. All other international orders must add $10.00 shipping and handling. Payment is to be made in U.S. funds ONLY! Please answer all of the following questions: Name____________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________ City__________________________State__________Zip________________ Telephone Number: Day_________________Night_____________________ BBS INFORMATION BBS Name________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number________________________________________________ Modem_______________________Maximum Baud Rate___________________ Did you have to alter the default initialization string_________ If yes, your initialization string______________________________ Would you like your board listed in future manuals______________ THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING TRIBBS Mail To: Mark Goodwin 366 14th St. Bangor, ME 04401