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__________________________________________
TransAmiga BBS v1.1
Shareware FidoNet BBS Software for the Amiga
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991 By Timothy Aston
FidoNet 1:247/192.0
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
__________________________________________
TransAmiga User Manual
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991 By Timothy Aston
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
__________________________________________
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page i
Table of Contents
P A R T I
Introduction
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Welcome: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Canajan, eh: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TransAmiga's Roots: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Philosophies Behind TransAmiga: . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Features: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Registered vs. Unregistered: . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Notes to TransAmiga v1.0x Users: . . . . . . . . . 6
Back-Ups: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Setting Up
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Modem: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Preparation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Upgrading From TransAmiga v1.0x: . . . . . . . . . 8
Directories: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Copying Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
TransCfg: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Limits: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
P A R T I I
Using TransAmiga
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Running TransAmiga: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Troubleshooting: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Pull-Down Menus: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
TransAmiga Online: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Logging On: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
BBS Menus: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Entering Commands: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Text Editors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
BBS Text Editors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Line Editor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Full-Screen Editor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Local Editor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Reply Quoting: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Access Levels
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
User Access: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Access Flags: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
New Users: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Privileged Access: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
A Note on Users' Rights: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
TrMaint
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page ii
User Maintenance: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Running TrMaint from CLI: . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Sample ARexx Macro: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
File Transfers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
File Listings: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Long Descriptions: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Types of Transfers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
TrXPR: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
File Credit: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
P A R T I I I
TransAmiga Multi-Line
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
About Multi-Line: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Up Multi-Line: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Running a Local-Only Line: . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
P A R T I V
Customizing the BBS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Changing Commands
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Command Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Disabling Commands: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Text Files
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Text Files in TransAmiga: . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ANSI Graphics: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
More?: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Imbedded Control Sequences: . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Menus, Prompts & Help Files
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Menu Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Prompt Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Help Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Language Files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
P A R T V
FidoNet Explained
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The Basics of FidoNet: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Topography: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Your Address: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Nodelist: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Joining FidoNet: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
FidoNet and TransAmiga
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page iii
Setting up FidoNet: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Events: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Exporting Mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Importing Mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Time Driven Events: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Advanced Usage: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Other Mailers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
TrUMP: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
TrAL: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Renumbering: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Offline Message Readers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using FidoNet: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
P A R T V I
TransAmiga and ARexx
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Using ARexx with TransAmiga: . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Writing ARexx Macros: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
TransAmiga v1.0x Doors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
ARexx Macro Ideas: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Command Reference
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
ABBEREXX Commands: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
ABBEREXX Variables: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Commands Recognized with no Caller Online: . . . . 86
SkyLine/C-Net ARexx Emulation: . . . . . . . . . . 88
Example ARexx Macro: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
P A R T V I I
Politics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Disclaimer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
License: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Registration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Shareware: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
How to Register: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Support: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Conclusion:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Future: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Comments: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Acknowledgements: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
On Your Own: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A P P E N D I C E S
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page iv
Appendix I
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Samples: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Sample TrapDoor Configuration: . . . . . . . . . . 101
Sample Welmat Configuration: . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Sample ConfMail Configuration: . . . . . . . . . . 106
Appendix II
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
BBS Tools Reference: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
TransAmiga Access Lock: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
TransAmiga BBS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
TransAmiga BBS Line Activity Display: . . . . . . 109
TransAmiga Broadcaster: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
TransAmiga Configuration Tool: . . . . . . . . . . 110
TransAmiga File Lister: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
TransAmiga User Maintenance: . . . . . . . . . . . 110
TransAmiga DOS Shell: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
TransAmiga Update File Areas: . . . . . . . . . . 112
TransAmiga Update Message Pointers: . . . . . . . 112
Appendix III
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Amiga ANSI Codes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Colour Change Codes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Style Controls: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Cursor Controls: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Miscellaneous Commands: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
G L O S S A R Y
Access Levels: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
ANSI Graphics: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Archive: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
ARexx: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Batch Transfer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
BBS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Door: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Download: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Echo: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
FidoNet: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Freeware: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
FTS-0001: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Intuition: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Kludge Lines: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Mailer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Mail Processor: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Matrix Mail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Message Header: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Multi-Line: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Netmail: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Path Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Public Domain: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page v
Protocol: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Release 2: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Return Code: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Session Handler: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Shared Library: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Shareware: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Upload: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Upload:Download Ratio: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
XPR Protocols: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 1
P A R T I
----------
Introduction
Welcome:
Welcome to TransAmiga BBS. TransAmiga is a Shareware
bulletin board system (BBS) for Amiga personal computers.
TransAmiga attempts was to provide an easy to setup and use
BBS programme for not-so-demanding tasks, and at the same
time, incorporate flexibility and advanced features for more
serious purposes, such as networking and multi-line.
Please do not attempt to run TransAmiga without first
reading this manual fully. TransAmiga is not at all the
sort of programme that you can just run and experiment with.
There are many crucial steps, so be sure to read and
understand everything fully before proceeding.
Please see PART VII near the end of this manual for the
usage license.
Some familiarity with AmigaDOS, ARexx and general BBS terms
is assumed.
Canajan, eh:
TransAmiga BBS is a product of the beautiful and peaceful
nation of Canada. It that big country north of the USA,
where we like our hockey and speak French with a funny
accent.
As I'm a Canadian, I decided to write this manual in
English, so United Statians may find some of my spellings a
little wierd (program
me
, colo
u
r, etc). Hope I haven't
confused you too much.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 2
TransAmiga's Roots:
I started work on TransAmiga in December of 1989, just as a
little something to do. But as I started doing more work on
it, it I started to see that it had some potential to grow
into something quite good. In the spring of 1990, I became
a FidoNet point, and made the decision that I would add
FidoNet support to TransAmiga, and make it the first
shareware FidoNet BBS for the Amiga.
At this point in time, it was still in AmigaBASIC, and
extraordinarily slow. In the summer of 1990, I finally
purchased HiSoft BASIC, and compiled TransAmiga. In early
August 1990, Great Lakes Amiga Central went up as the first
BBS running TransAmiga. In September, Chris' Amiga BBS went
up, as my second test site. Finally, in late October,
TransAmiga v1.0 was released to the public. The original
v1.0 matured over a few months in v1.06.
In November of 1990, work began on TransAmiga v1.1. My aim
from the beginning was to make it a major upgrade, with
several substantial new capabilities, but at that time I had
no idea how powerful it would actually become. In May 1991,
TransAmiga v1.1 entered its beta stage. Finally, with its
release, Amiga users now can find real power in shareware
BBS's, complete with FidoNet, ARexx, and multi-line.
Philosophies Behind TransAmiga:
When I wrote TransAmiga, I had only ever used BBS software
from the caller's point of view. I had never run my own
BBS, nor even looked at any BBS software from the SysOp's
end. One of my primary objectives when I started it was to
create an attractive user interface for the caller. Though
much effort has also been made to include in TransAmiga a
large array of powerful features for the SysOp, it is still
my strong belief that the purpose of a BBS is to serve its
callers - afterall, a BBS that doesn't get any callers isn't
much fun.
Another major philosophy behind TransAmiga is the belief
that running a BBS should be fun. The world of Amiga BBS
software has become awfully intense and competitive lately,
and the prices of high-quality BBS software averages well
over $100. Both these facts appear contradictory to the
idea that running a BBS is supposed to be a hobby. With
TransAmiga I hope to rekindle this spirit of fun that
started the BBS world in the first place by not always
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 3
trying to be "one up everyone else", but by providing a good
quality software package at a reasonable.
Lastly, TransAmiga relies heavily on its user-base of
SysOps. This entire package has been developed by only one
person (myself of course), so contributions from TransAmiga
users are valued highly. My first priority is enhancements
to the BBS itself, and following close behind that is
keeping in regular contact with my users. This
unfortunately doesn't leave much time for things such as
documentation, BBS support tools, etc. Luckily, TransAmiga
SysOps have done an excellent job in picking up this slack,
and I hope to see this trend continue in the future.
System Requirements:
TransAmiga BBS requires at least an Amiga 500 with 1 MB of
RAM and two floppy disk drives running Release 1.2 of the
operating system. Though the BBS will function fine in this
environment, it was designed for more powerful systems.
Additional memory and a hard drive of at least 20 MB are
highly recommended. You will also find an accelerated CPU
and Release 2 of the operating system advantageous to have
when running TransAmiga.
The following chart shows TransAmiga's minimum requirements,
the kind of equipment that is recommended for good use of
the BBS, and what you will find ideal for running
TransAmiga:
Item | Minimum | Recommended | Ideal
System | Amiga 500 | Amiga 2000 | Amiga 3000
CPU | 68000 | 68000 | 68030
RAM | 1 MB | 1.5 MB | 2.5 MB or more
O.S. | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.0
Modem | 1200 baud | 2400 baud | DS-HST
Serial Port | built-in port | built-in port | Multi-port card
Drive Space | 2 floppies | 20 MB | 80 MB or more
Features:
Here is a brief listing of the features of TransAmiga BBS:
General
-
* Configure size, depth, and font of TransAmiga's screen.
* Full ARexx support with over 90 ARexx commands. ARexx
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 4
macros can be installed almost anywhere to provide maximum
flexibility.
* Can run many SkyLine ARexx macros with little
modification.
* Arbitrates access to all BBS files that allows several
copies of the programme to be run concurrently without the
risk of access collisions, allowing a multi-line BBS system
to be run.
* Simple "idiot-proof" setup programme.
* ANSI colour graphics optional for each user, with local
ANSI emulation (including both Amiga and IBM ANSI sequences,
as well as full 16 colour ANSI).
* Optional command stacking or hot keys, selected by each
user.
* When entering commands in the BBS, users have the full
range of command line editing keys available, as well as
command line history.
* Intuitive user interface.
File Libraries
-
* Multiple file areas, each with a minimum access level,
defined by the SysOp.
* File transfers using external protocols setup by the
SysOp.
* Optional upload:download ratio for each user.
* Batch and non-batch protocols supported.
* Files can have an optional long description.
* When listing files, users have a choice of either viewing
them a page at a time, or one file at a time.
* Users can mark files for a batch download.
Message Conferences
-
* Multiple SysOp defined message areas, each with a minimum
access level.
* Messages can be public to be viewed by all, or privileged
to be read only by the addresser, the addressee, and those
with privileged access.
* User can check for mail addressed to him/her at logon.
* Message area can be defined as either local, private,
netmail, or echomail.
FidoNet
-
* Able to read and write FidoNet messages according to the
FTS-0001 standard.
* Uses existing FidoNet software that has been time tested
and proven reliable. Unlike other BBS programmes it does
not require it's own custom FidoNet utilities, so no
battling with bugs and unimplemented features.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 5
* Works with most popular Amiga FidoNet utilities,
including ConfMail, TrapDoor, Foozle, Welmat, GCCHost,
FastPoint, TrapToss, Areafix, AmigaTick, etc.
* You can set a different 5-D address for each FidoNet
message conference.
* Able to read the Foozle message format.
* Can create crashmail and file attaches.
* Nodelist support.
* Allows you to run mail processing software while users
are online.
* Supportive of 4-D mail processing software, and can be
run in either a point or a node environment.
SysOp Controls
-
* Optional daily time limit for each user.
* User can leave a one line comment to the next user when
logging off.
* Bulletin menu for posting text files. Each bulletin
requires a minimum access level to view.
* Every command can be assigned to any key, and can be
given any name.
* Every command has a minimum access level.
* Any command, file area, message area, or bulletin for
which a user does not have sufficient access, is invisible
to that user.
* 256 different access levels plus a set of 8 access flags,
for controlling access to almost every facet of the BBS.
* SysOp can view and edit a user's stats from within the
programme while the user is online.
* Fully interactive remote shell.
* Supports three different kinds of editor: a line-editor
for ASCII callers, a full-screen editor for ANSI callers,
and the editor of your choice for local calls.
* User maintenance utility that can be from the BBS as a
door or from the CLI.
Configurability
-
* You set the key, access, flags, and text for every
command in the BBS.
* Add your own commands through ARexx.
* You set the colours that should be used for text displays
within the BBS, so the BBS looks like you want it to.
* Through special control codes, text files can be made to
display over 40 different pieces of system/user information.
* Create your own custom menus and menu prompts, or have
the BBS displays it's own default style menus.
* Fully configurable screen setup including screen size,
depth, font, mode, etc.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 6
Registered vs. Unregistered:
TransAmiga is a shareware package, meaning you get to look
at it free of charge, and once "evaluating" becomes "using",
you are obliged to register. This method allows you to "try
before you buy", to get a really close look at it before you
decide to pay.
You may use the unregistered version of TransAmiga for up to
20 days before you register. Near the end of this manual,
full details are given on how to register, and what you get
in return, so be sure to follow that carefully.
If you have not registered TransAmiga yet then TransAmiga
will still work fully, however, users will not be allowed
online for more than 20 minutes in a day.
When you register, you will get a small personalized key
file that will remove this restriction from TransAmiga. The
actual TransAmiga programme itself is always the same, it is
the presence of the key file that determines the difference
between unregistered and registered.
Notes to TransAmiga v1.0x Users:
Because of the enormous changes that TransAmiga has
undergone in this new release, those that have setup
previous versions of TransAmiga will not be able to simply
"plug-in and go". Many of the file structures have changed,
thus a certain amount of re-setting-up must be done. Read
the section on upgrading for complete details on the steps
you must take.
Back-Ups:
Before you even start, it is highly recommended that you
backup all the TransAmiga files and use the backup as your
work copy. It's unlikely that files get lost, but it is
best to be safe.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 7
Setting Up
The Modem:
TransAmiga should be able to work with virtually any kind of
modem, because you set all the modem commands by yourself.
For TransAmiga to work properly with your modem, it must be
set to include the baud rate on connection messages in the
format CONNECT XXX, where XXX is the baud rate unless it is
a 300 baud connection in which just CONNECT should be sent,
eg. CONNECT 2400. On most Hayes compatible modems, this is
the default action, but on some you must enter the command
ATX4, which you would insert in you modem initialization
string (read on for more info on your modem initialization
string). Consult your modem manual for information on its
commands.
It is very important that your modem is set so that Carrier
Detect (CD) and Data Terminal Ready (DTR) are not forced.
On some modems, you will need to adjust some DIP switches.
On modems with Non-volatile RAM, you may need to enter:
AT&F
AT&D2&C1&W
from a terminal programme. Again, consult your modem manual
to find out more about this.
TransAmiga also requires a 7-wire serial cable to work (most
serial cables are wired as such, this is rarely a problem).
TransAmiga has been fully tested with Hayes compatible 1200
and 2400 baud modems and Courier HST modems, including the
Dual-Standard HST. TransAmiga supports the ability to lock
the serial port baud rate for maximum throughput. How to do
this is explained later on.
Preparation:
The setup procedure for TransAmiga has been made as painless
as possible, but setting up may still prove to be a slightly
complex procedure. Please be sure to read this section over
a few times before you start, and always have the manual by
you as a reference when you actually go through with setup
procedure.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 8
A lot of file moving and directory making will be involved
in setting up TransAmiga. Thanks to the new Release 2
Workbench, this is relatively painless. If you do not yet
have the Release 2 Workbench, a directory utility such as
SID or CLImate is recommended. And of course if you prefer
the shell, you may use that too.
Here are the general steps that will be taken in the setup:
1. Creation of some directories and making some
assignments.
2. Copy some directories from the TransAmiga distribution.
3. Use the TransCfg tool to perform the rest of the
setting up, including the initializing of some general
BBS settings, the setting up of file and message areas,
etc.
Upgrading From TransAmiga v1.0x:
If you have already setup and are using v1.0x of TransAmiga
(that is, any version from v1.0 to v1.07), it will still be
necessary to follow a good deal of the setup procedure. If
you do not have a v1.0x TransAmiga, skip to the next section
on Directories.
All of TransAmiga's configuration files have been changed in
v1.1 from the config files used by the v1.0x versions, as
have the command files. The .Exts files are gone too,
replaced by the .Rx files for executing ARexx macros (see
the section on ARexx for more details). The format of the
user files, and the format of the file listings has also
changed.
The message conferences themselves are unchanged (except
that you must now use a programme called TrUMP to update
FidoNet areas, see the FidoNet section for details). You
will be able to convert your user files and your file
listing, but everything else should be deleted. This
includes your old config files, your old command files, and
your .Exts files. If you have not setup your directories as
described below, then it is recommended that you change over
to the suggested configuration.
Directories:
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 9
The first step in the setup procedure is to create some
directories. If you are using a hard drive system, you will
need to create a unique directory for all the BBS files. It
is suggested that you call this directory 'BBS', although
any name is fine. Within this directory you should create
one directory for all your message areas ('Mail' is the
recommended name to give it) and one directory for all your
file areas ('File' is the recommended name for that).
In this manual, directory names and assignments will be
somewhat standardized for the sake of clarity. If you do
not wish to use the assignments suggested, that is fine.
For example, because of the way your hard drives may be
partitioned, you may wish to have file areas on different
drives, which is perfectly acceptable. But it is
recommended that for the most part you try to follow the
suggestions so as to make setting up as straightforward as
possible.
For the main BBS directory you should make the assignment
'BBS:' point it. The assignment 'Mail:' should point to the
message areas directory, and 'File:' should point to your
file areas directory. This is done by using the Assign
command, eg:
Assign BBS: SYS:BBS
Assign Mail: BBS:Mail
Assign File: BBS:File
If you are running off a floppy based system, you'll have to
dedicate two whole disks to the BBS. The first disk should
be a bootable disk called 'BBS'. Be sure all libraries,
devices, commands and other files required for normal
operation are present on it. On the second drive you will
have the message areas. Call that disk 'Mail'. There will
not be enough room for file areas.
Within the BBS, File, and Mail directories, TransAmiga uses
several other directories, as follows:
* The system directory for keeping various general files
for system upkeep.
* A configurations directory for keeping the various files
that say how the BBS is set up.
* The users directory for keeping individual user files.
* A text directory where all help files, menus, title
screens, and other text files shown to users are kept.
* The bulletins directory where file to be displayed at the
bulletins menu are kept.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 10
* The extras directory for miscellaneous files created by
online games, BBS utilities, and other external BBS related
tools.
* The ARexx macros directory, where the BBS looks for any
ARexx macros. If you do not intend to run ARexx, then you
will of course not have an ARexx directory.
* One directory for each file and message area you choose
to setup. These naturally contain all the messages and
files for those areas.
It is also suggested that you create a directory called
'Bin' to keep all the executable files for use with the BBS.
This directory should be added to your search path, using
the path command, eg:
Path BBS:Bin ADD
which you will probably want to add to your Startup-
Sequence.
These simple tree diagrams illustrates an example of how
your directory structures may look with example file and
message areas:
BBS:
|
+--------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+
| | | | | | |
System Configs Users Text Rexx Bulletins Extras
File:
|
+----------+-----+-----+---------+
| | | |
Telecomm Prog Games Utils
Mail:
|
+----------+-----+-----+---------+
| | | |
Personal General Computers Sports
You don't have to create these directories that live in
BBS:, Mail: and File: yourself, as they will be created
automatically later on, you should just be aware that they
do exist and have a general idea of what they are for.
Copying Files:
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 11
Before you start setting up, a few of TransAmiga's files
need to be copied. If you are a registered user, all these
files will be on your registration disk.
You will need to copy the 'Bin', 'Text' and 'Configs'
directories into your BBS: directory. If you've got a
directory utility, or are using the new Release 2 Workbench,
this is simple enough. If you are using Shell, then you'd
use a commands such as:
Copy Bin BBS:Bin all
Copy Configs BBS:Configs all
Copy Text BBS:Text all
You'll also need to copy the contents of Libs on the
TransAmiga disk to your libs: directory.
Next you will need to install the font you wish to use with
TransAmiga. At least for the time being, it is recommended
you use the provided TransIBM 8 point font. To install it
from the shell, you'd use:
Copy Fonts Fonts: all
All other files required by TransAmiga should be fairly
standard. For example, you will naturally need the serial
device your modem uses (usually serial.device), the
diskfont.library, some DOS commands, etc.
The basic preparation stages are now complete.
TransCfg:
TransCfg is a utility used to help make setting up and
maintaining the BBS easier. If you followed the above
procedure, then it will be located in your BBS:Bin
directory, although it doesn't particularly matter where
you put it.
TransCfg must be loaded from the Shell. Upon execution, it
will ask you for the name of TransAmiga's master
configuration file. The master system configuration file
contains general information that is vital to the operation
of the BBS. You can call this anything you want, but it is
recommended that you call it TransAmiga.Cfg, and place it in
your BBS:Configs directory. Therefore, you would enter
'BBS:Configs/TransAmiga.Cfg'.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 12
When you give TransCfg the name of your master configuration
file, it will see that this is your first time setting up
the BBS. What follows will be a series of questions that
you must answer in order to get the BBS setup according to
how you want it. Before each set of questions there is a
brief paragraph explaining what you are being asked for.
If you wish to set up a system running multiple lines,
you'll have to be a bit patient. Just set up a single line
for now, adding additional lines will be described later on.
When entering information, default values will be shown just
below, you may accept the default by just hitting RETURN, or
you can enter your own. Default values will automatically
be set for you. If you followed the suggestions for
directory names and assignments given above, then you will
be able to accept most of the defaults as they are.
General
-
This is where you setup your master configuration file.
There will be several questions covering a wide area that
will be asked of you here.
The first two questions are simple enough, simply enter your
name, and the name you wish to call your board.
You will need to enter the length of the idle timer. When
an online user is idle for this length of time (i.e. hasn't
entered any commands or other text), he/she will
automatically be logged off.
Then you must enter the names of the various directory that
we discussed earlier. You should give the full pathnames of
these directories with any drive/assignment specifiers. It
is recommended that you accept the default values for all of
these, as all the examples throughout this manual assume
these values. If you wish, though, you can set them to
anything you want. Those that do not have ARexx should need
not worry where their ARexx directory points to, as it won't
be used.
It does not matter if you have not already made these
directories yourself, as TransCfg will make them for you.
You must, however, have made the BBS: assignment (or have a
disk labelled that).
The next questions deal with modem configuration. The
maximum speed of your modem should be straightforward
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 13
enough. If your modem supports baud rate locking, enter the
speed that you wish to lock the baud rate at. You must also
enter the minimum baud rate you wish to support, callers
connecting at a lower baud rate than this will be politely
logged off. You will also be asked for the name of the
serial.device and unit you wish to use. Usually, you would
just select the defaults as this is for the Amiga's internal
serial port. If you are using a third-party multi-port
serial board, then you will need to refer to its
documentation to find out what you need to enter here.
Then you must enter a set of 4 modem commands. Refer to
your modem user manual to learn more about what commands
your modem accepts. The defaults should work with most 1200
and 2400 baud modems. The modem initialization string is
the command TransAmiga sends to the modem when it starts up.
This may vary a lot depending on your modem and your
personal preferences, but it must turn auto-answer on. It
could be something like 'ATZ|~~~ATX4M0S0=1|~' which will
reset the modem, turn on long CONNECT messages, turn the
speaker off, and turn auto-answer on with a standard Hayes
compatible modem. The modem exit command is what TransAmiga
sends to the modem when it quits. Usually a simple 'ATZ|'
will suffice. The local logon and local log off commands
are what is sent to the modem just before a local logon, and
at the end of a local logon. You may wish to have the modem
go off hook during a local logon so you would enter 'ATH1|~'
and 'ATH0|~' respectively. Note that the pipe (|) is used
to indicate to TransAmiga that it should send a carriage
return at that point, and that the tilde (~) causes it to
pause for a half second.
Many modems will not respond properly to commands that are
sent too quickly. Some require a pause after an AT, others
requires pauses between commands. For this reason, you may
have to use several ~ in your modem commands so that they
get sent slow enough. A little experimentation may be
required here.
The next few questions have to do with user access. You may
want to accept the defaults values for now and perhaps
adjust them more to your liking later on. First comes the
time limits, upload:download ratio, flags, and access level
a user takes on right after filling in the new user
questionnaire (i.e. a first time caller who has just joined
the board, you have not got a chance to validate this user
yet). The next question asks what access level shall be
known as "Privileged" access. User's with privileged access
can read privileged mail including private netmail, and can
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 14
see the "kludge" lines in FidoNet mail. Only the SysOp and
assistant SysOps are meant to have this kind of access. For
more information about how TransAmiga handles access
controls, see the appropriate section later on in this
manual.
The last questions in the first section deal with aesthetic
preferences. Here you set the size of TransAmiga's terminal
window, the font and point size to be used, whether or not
TransAmiga should open a custom screen or not, and if so
that screen's depth, size and mode. When entering the
screen size, you may enter 0 for either the width or height
(or both) to have them default to the size of the Workbench
screen.
The defaults are for an 8 colour medium-resolution screen
that is slightly overscanned so as to fit 80 columns and 23
rows. It also uses the TransIBM font so be sure that you
have installed that in your Fonts: directory.
Here you also set some colour preferences used by the BBS.
To save the most memory, have TransAmiga use the Workbench
screen without a sizing gadget.
You also choose the three colours the BBS will use for text
messages. The values must be 0-7 and correspond to the ANSI
colour values. In general, your text input colour should be
white (colour 7), your prompt colour bright (eg. colour 3 or
6) and your trim colour slightly darker (eg. colour 4 or 1).
Some experimentation may be required to find a colour scheme
you like.
You will be asked whether you want input text fields to be
displayed. What is meant by this, is if you wish a colour
rectangle to be drawn for ANSI users to indicate where they
will be entering text. This rectangle will be drawn in the
trim colour you selected. You are given the option of
enabling or disabling this as it will take a few instants to
draw for callers at slow baud rates. You should experiment
with it on and off to see which you prefer.
If you choose to open TransAmiga on its own custom screen,
you will have the option of having TransAmiga also display a
blue backdrop behind the terminal and status windows. This
is purely to add aesthetic appeal for those that configure
their screen such that the terminal window does not cover
the entire screen. For example, if you wish to configure
your screen preferences to recreate the look of the original
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 15
version of TransAmiga, you would use this option. Beware
that it does take up a significant amount of memory.
The file you specified when you executed TransCfg will now
be created with all the information you just entered in it.
Messages
-
Next you will set up the message areas. The purpose of
having separate message areas is so that completely
different topics will be separated. You may setup as many
message areas as you wish. The defaults are for just two
simple message areas, one for private mail and one for
public mail.
The first few questions here deal with FidoNet, which will
not be described just yet, so skip over these for now by
hitting RETURN until you are asked how many message areas to
setup. If you are interested in FidoNet, it will be covered
in detail later on.
For each message area, you must choose an appropriate name.
Examples might be "Sports Talk", "Current Affairs", "Amiga
Users", etc. Next, enter the full path to that message
area's unique directory. If you haven't made the directory,
TransCfg will make it for you, though any parent directories
must already exist. It is recommended that you have your
message directories within Mail:, but this is not essential.
Spreading message areas over multiple drives is perfectly
acceptable, albeit a little confusing.
Now enter the type of message area. For the time being,
enter 0 for a normal message area or 1 for an all-privileged
message area (that is, all messages entered will
automatically be assumed to be private), see the section on
FidoNet later on in this manual for information on net and
echo mail areas. Each area has a minimum access level, and
also flags associated with it.
Each area also has minimum access levels for reading and
writing. These can be used to create read-only message
areas, or to keep first time callers from entering messages
in certain areas.
For each area you must specify a quote lead-in line. When
users are quoting lines from the message they are replying
to, it is often desirable to have a simple intro line before
the quotation so that people reading the message know what's
going on. Simply enter the text for this line. You may
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 16
enter a few codes to have certain information substituted
into the string:
%n - the name of the user who wrote the message you are
replying to
%a - the name of the person that message was addressed
to
%d - the date the original was written
%t - the time the original was written
Some example quote lead-in lines:
In a message sent <%d %t>, %n wrote to %a:
%n uttered this gibberish at %t, %d to %a:
You may decide whether or not you wish to allow users to
post messages under their "handles" in each conference. If
you say yes, users that have setup a handle for themselves
will be prompted as to whether or not they wish to use it
for the message they are posting.
You shouldn't normally need to adjust the low and high
message number, and for now leave them at zero. For all
local message areas you must enter the maximum number of
messages to keep in the area at one time. Once that limit
has been exceeded, TransAmiga automatically deletes
messages, starting at the oldest. Finally, you are prompted
to reset the users' last read pointers. You
must
answer Yes
to this option whenever you are first setting up an area, as
this initializes the data file TransAmiga uses to keep track
of users' last read messages.
After setting up the individual areas, some other questions
must be answered. You must enter the user name messages
entered via the feedback command should go to, and to which
area number they should be placed in.
Finally, you will be asked for the external editor commands.
Once again, there are some % codes you can use to substitute
in information:
%n - the number of the BBS line starting the editor
%f - the filename of the file that should contain the
message text to be saved.
%q - the name of the file containing the quoted text
when you are replying to a message.
%b - the real (non-locked) baud rate of the online
caller.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 17
The full-screen editor command is the programme that gets
run when online callers invokes the full-screen editor (the
different text editors are described in greater detail later
on). You should use the provided TrEd programme for this
(registered users only). The command need simply by:
BBS:Bin/TrEd %f -q%f -n%n
For the local editor command, you should give the command to
start up your favourite text editor. Any editor should
work, such as Ed, MEmacs, QEd, etc. For example, to use QEd
as your text editor, you could use:
Work:Tools/QEd %f
Most other text editors should require similar command
lines.
Files
-
Like the message conferences, the files section is divided
up into separated libraries. The defaults are quite simple,
just two file areas. If you are using a dual floppy drive
system, then you will not have enough space for file
libraries, but you will still have to setup a "dummy" area.
Just call this anything, have the directory as RAM:, and
give it access 256 so no one can get there.
Prior to setting up the libraries, you must specify what is
considered to be a "full" drive. TransAmiga will refuse to
allow uploads when less than the amount you specify is free.
Generally it is desirable to set this to at least 50k so
that the drive will not become full from messages being
posted and other BBS operations.
Setting up the actual file libraries setup to start with is
quite similar to the message area setup. Each file library
must have a name, a unique path, access, flags, and read and
write access levels. It is recommended that all your file
directories are somewhere within File:, but as with message
directories, this is not essential.
After this, you must setup the file transfer protocols.
TransAmiga executes external AmigaDOS programmes to do file
transfers. This has been done to allow for maximum
flexibility when it comes to setting up file transfer
protocols. For most of your protocols, it is recommended
that you use the included TrXPR programme, as it was written
with TransAmiga specifically in mind, and supports the
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 18
popular XPR libraries. The defaults will give you Zmodem
batch and Xmodem-CRC protocols via TrXPR, but you should
consult the TrXPR documentation for more information on
using it.
For each protocol, you must enter the name. Then you must
say whether or not the protocol is capable of doing batch
transfers (where multiple files can be sent in one session).
Lastly, you enter the send and receive commands
respectively. TransAmiga allows a few imbedded commands for
automatically substituting values into the command line:
%n - the number of the BBS line
%d - name of the serial device
%u - serial device unit
%f - the file to be transferred (or directory in the
case of a batch transfer)
%l - the name of the file containing the list of files
to transfer (created by the BBS for sends)
%b - baud rate of the current caller (the real baud
rate, not the locked one, so if you have the
serial port locked, don't use this)
For the time being, just accept TransCfg's defaults. More
information about transfer protocols will be given later.
After setting up the transfer protocols, you will be asked
what formats you wish to support for archive viewing.
TransAmiga allows users to view the contents of an archive
in the file areas. You can support as many different
archiving methods if you want. Even if you do not wish to
support archive viewing, you must setup at least one dummy
method. The default is just for viewing LHarc archives, but
you can always allow for more, such as Zoo, Arc, etc. As an
example, say you only wanted to support viewing of Zoo
archives. The name of the archive type you would enter
would be 'Zoo'. For the archive suffix, you would enter
'.Zoo' because all Zoo files have that suffix, and that's
how TransAmiga will recognize that a file is a Zoo archive.
The command would be the full path name for Zoo on your disk
plus an 'l', which is Zoo's command to look at the contents
of an archive. It is also possible to use such programmes
as Juergen Hermann's XArc.rexx, that automatically recognize
the archive type. For these sorts of programmes, do not
enter a file extension.
Bulletins
-
You must set up at least one bulletin. Simply enter the
file name of each of the text files you wish to display as a
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TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 19
bulletin. Do not enter the full path name, TransAmiga looks
for all bulletins in your bulletins directory. The default
is for one Bulletin called SystemInfo, where you could just
say a few lines about what system is being used to run the
BBS. Note that the file name of the bulletin doesn't
necessarily have to be the title that the user sees. How to
edit that is described later.
You must be careful when setting up bulletins, because each
bulletin you set up will require its own entry in the
Bulletins.Cmds command file. See the section on customizing
commands later on for more details.
NOTE: The CallerLog bulletin created by previous versions of
TransAmiga is gone.
Resetting User File
-
After these files have been setup, you will see TransCfg's
main menu. The last thing you must do is to reset the user
file, and to create the first member of the BBS, the SysOp.
You will be asked some questions about yourself in order to
create the SysOp account, then the user file will be made.
Converting v1.0x User Files and File Listing
-
The last two options on TransCfg are for converting the user
files and file listings of TransAmiga v1.0x to the new
format in TransAmiga v1.1.
To convert the user files, enter the name of your System
directory that you used with v1.0x when prompted. Since
access flags did not exist in v1.0x, you must enter the
flags that you wish each user to have. Once that is done,
the conversion will take place automatically.
NOTE: TransAmiga v1.1 keeps much more information about
users than TransAmiga v1.0x, so some of the new fields will
not necessarily have accurate values. For example, after
the conversion, every user will be given a postal code of
'??? ???', their netmail credit will be set to 0, and the
full screen editor will be set as off.
To convert a file listing, simply enter the path to the
directory, and TransCfg will convert the old format
Files.BBS file to the new format. All information here is
preserved. None of the files will be given long
descriptions, so if you would like a long description for a
file, you will have to edit the .Desc file (see the section
on file listings for details).
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 20
Limits:
TransAmiga has few built in limitations. Theoretically, you
should be able to set up 32 000 file areas, message areas,
transfer protocols, archive viewing methods, ARexx commands
per menu, and bulletins.
The number of messages allowed in a message area is
virtually unlimited, however, TransAmiga will not be able to
keep accurate last read pointers for users that have read
past message 32768. The number of files allowed in an area
is limited only by disk space
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 21
P A R T I I
------------
Using TransAmiga
Running TransAmiga:
TransAmiga must be started from Shell or Workbench via the
Release 2 Workbench Execute Cmd menu option. It Shell usage
is:
TransAmiga [-c<config file>] [-b<baud rate>] [-l<locked
baud rate] [-t<max time>] [-n<line>] [-x] [-r] [-s]
Parameters in [] are optional, and words in <> are
descriptors for what you would put in there. Here is a
description of the parameters:
-c<config file>
- This gives the name of the master system
configuration file you want TransAmiga to use that TransCfg
created. If it is not given, BBS:Configs/TransAmiga.Cfg
will be used. TransAmiga will not start up if it cannot
find all its configuration files.
-b<baud rate>
- This one is optional. If specified,
TransAmiga will open up the serial port at the supplied baud
rate and immediately go to the logon sequence. This
parameter is used if there is already a caller online before
TransAmiga is started. This parameter is only really useful
in conjunction with the -x option.
-l<locked baud rate>
- This parameter is also optional, and
tells TransAmiga to lock the serial port at the supplied
baud rate and do not adjust it. This is useful for HST
users, as locking the baud rate allows maximum throughput
with those types of modems. When used in conjunction with
the above parameter, it will over-ride that baud rate, but
will use it as the "real" baud rate that the connection is
actually at.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 22
-t<max time>
- Again, an optional parameter. When this
parameter is used, then the online time available of the
next caller will be adjusted so that it is no more than this
value. Also, no time bonus will be given after uploads.
This parameter is only useful in conjunction with the -b and
the -x options.
-n<line>
gives the BBS line number. If not given,
TransAmiga assumes line number 0. This is only required
when you wish to run TransAmiga several times
simultaneously. Valid line numbers range from 0 to 99.
-x
- Tells TransAmiga to exit after then next caller. This
useful as it allows you to perform system maintenance tasks
between calls with out the BBS interfering.
-r
- Tells TransAmiga to wait on its ARexx port after
starting up, and not logon any users. This is particularly
useful when having a frontend mailer answering the phone, as
it allows nearly instantaneous transition from the mailer to
the BBS, instead of having to wait for the BBS to load for
every caller.
-s
- Tells TransAmiga to open the status window as soon as
it loads up. Normally you have to select an option from the
pull-down menu to open up the status window. Opening the
status window takes up a little more precious memory.
The most simple way to start up TransAmiga is:
TransAmiga
If your configuration file is something other than
BBS:Configs/TransAmiga.Cfg, then you will have to pass that:
TransAmiga -cTransAmiga:Cfg/Main.Cfg
In an automated environment, you will probably want the BBS
to exit after every call so that you can check the time and
see if any system events need to be run, then you'd use:
TransAmiga -cBBS:Configs/TransAmiga.Cfg -x
HST users will want to lock the baud rate of the serial
port. So they would start the BBS up like:
TransAmiga -cBBS:Configs/TransAmiga.Cfg -l19200 -x
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 23
Parameters can be provided in any order and are not
sensitive to case.
When TransAmiga is started, it will open its window on
either the Workbench screen or a custom screen depending on
how you set things up. This window is the Terminal window
and all BBS I/O is displayed here. You can also open up the
status window from either the pull-down menu or using the -s
command line option, which is used to display information
about the current online caller.
Troubleshooting:
If TransAmiga does not come up and say that it is waiting
for a call when you try to start it up, something is set up
wrong.
TransAmiga will give you an error message which will
hopefully be enough for you to figure out what is wrong. If
it's a problem in either a config file or a command file, it
will tell you which file has the problem, then you will have
to either load the file up in TransCfg or in a text editor
as the case may be. Probably the most common problem is not
adding command entries to the Bulletin.Cmds file for
bulletins that you created in TransCfg.
If a requester or even worse, an alert appears, then there
may be a more serious problem. Please check seek some
support to figure out what the problem is.
Pull-Down Menus:
TransAmiga has two standard Amiga pull-down menus:
"TransAmiga", and "User". The latter is only available when
there is someone logged on, and many of the items from the
former are disabled when users are online.
Commands in the TransAmiga menu allow you to do a local
(SysOp) logon, open or close the status window, enter a
simple terminal mode, resend your modem initialization
string, get some information about TransAmiga, and to quit
the programme altogether.
The User menu allows you to go into "chat" mode with an
online user, edit a user's access and information, and to
automatically log off an online user immediately.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 24
TransAmiga Online:
After TransAmiga starts, it must do some initialization. It
must load the config files, and the command files, etc. If
you did not tell it to immediately try to log on a caller,
then it will scan the message areas. If you did, TransAmiga
does not scan the message areas until after a user logs on.
Depending on how you started TransAmiga, it will either wait
for a caller, wait for an ARexx message, or immediately
attempt to logon an already online user. If it is either
waiting for a call, or waiting for an ARexx message, you can
logon yourself by selecting "Local Logon" from the menu
strip.
If you are unregistered, a requester will come up as soon as
the BBS starts giving the copyright notice. After delay,
you can just click the mouse button to make it disappear.
Logging On:
Before anything can be done, a user must logon. You can do
this from the machine running TransAmiga but selecting the
Local Logon item from the pull-down menu. The logon
consists of first entering you user name. If this is your
first time running TransAmiga, enter the SysOp user name and
password that you set up with TransCfg. If a new user calls
and wishes to logon to your system, he/she should enter
their name at this prompt. TransAmiga will see that they do
not have an account on the BBS, and will take them through
the new user procedure. Users that have set a handle for
themselves (if handles are allowed) may also use their
handle to logon.
After entering the user name, and if the user is not a first
time caller, a password must be entered. You get three
tries at the password, and what you type will be hidden so
that onlookers will not be able to determine your password.
BBS Menus:
At last, the Main Menu is presented. As with most BBS's, in
TransAmiga the user performs functions by making selections
from menus. Sometimes making a selection from a menu will
take you to another menu. In this way, the menu structure
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 25
is similar to a tree. Here's how the tree branches out in
TransAmiga:
Main Menu
|
+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| | | | |
Messages File Bulletin Settings Extras
Menu Menu Menu Menu Menu
Here is a summary of all the menus in TransAmiga. To get a
more detailed description of the commands available, look
through the supplied Help files in the text directory.
Main Menu
- From here the user can get to the other menus
available from the system. These menus are the Change Setup
Menu, the Message Menu, the File Menu, the Bulletin Menu,
and the Extras Menu.
Message Menu
- This is where users can read and write
messages to and from other users. Message areas can be set
up as either traditional local message areas, FidoNet matrix
mail areas, or FidoNet echomail areas. Messages can be
either public which can be viewed by all, or privileged
which may only be read by the person who wrote the message,
the person who the message is sent to, and those with
special access. The Message Menu is divided up into
multiple message areas. Each area is isolated from the
others and requires a certain SysOp defined minimum access
to get to.
Files Menu
- The file areas work in a fashion similar to the
message areas in that each area is isolated from the others,
and requires a certain minimum access. Here is where users
can send and receive files to and from the BBS. Each user
has his own Upload:Download ratio, which means that for
every specified number of downloads the user must upload a
file. If you do not wish to implement this, it can be
side-stepped easily.
Bulletins Menu
- This menu is for posting text files that
users can read. Things you might want to post include BBS
listing for the area, rules of the BBS, online game high
scores, etc.
Settings Menu
- This is where the user can enter information
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 26
about his/herself, and also adjust some global settings for
BBS use, such as password, screen length, etc.
Extras Menu
- As it says, this is just an extra menu. You
would use this to add ARexx commands to, such as online
games.
Entering Commands:
TransAmiga gives users two modes of entering commands at
menus: command-stacking and hotkeyed commands.
Hotkeyed commands (or just hotkeys) means that the command
is processed the second the user presses the corresponding
key, RETURN does not have to be pressed. This of course
cannot be the case when text the user is entering is of
variable length, for example, a message conference number or
their street address, so RETURN must be pressed at the end
of the line.
Command stacking allows the user to enter several commands
on one line, one immediately after the other. For example,
typing in "c?" at the Main Menu will bring take you to the
Change Setup Menu (c) and display the available commands
(?). You can stack as many commands as you want on a single
line. In cases where you'd normally have to press RETURN,
you can instead enter a space, eg. M12 N from the Main Menu
will take you the Message Menu (M), go to conference 12 (12,
followed by space because you would need to normally press
RETURN at this point), and read new messages (N).
TransAmiga offers special command line editing features to
those with ANSI turned. You may use the backspace, the
delete key, and the left and right cursor keys to edit the
line you are entering, just like in the CLI Shell.
Additionally, you may call back commands you've previously
entered and edit them by pressing CTRL-K, and to simply
clear any text you typed on the current line, press CTRL-X
(NOTE: These last two work with ANSI turned off as well).
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 27
Text Editors
BBS Text Editors:
At various times when using the BBS, a user will wish to
enter a relatively large amount of text, for example, when
entering a message, or leaving a long description for a
file. To make the entering of text as simple as possible,
TransAmiga provides a variety of text editor options for
users. There are actually three different sets of editors
that can be used, depending on the circumstances: the built
in line editor; the external ANSI full-screen editor, called
TrEd; and a local editor of your choice.
The Line Editor:
The built in line editor, called TransEd is the simplest
type of editor, included for mainly for those without ANSI
graphics capabilities. A user enters text continually. At
the end of a line there is no need to press RETURN as
TransEd will wrap words automatically.
In the line editor version of TransEd you can not cursor
back to edit something you may have entered incorrectly, you
must use the backspace key and delete everything you have
entered since the mistake. You may only backspace as far as
the beginning of your current line, you cannot go back to a
previous line.
Several commands are available in TransEd and are accessed
by preceding them with the backslash '\' character and must
be the first thing entered on a new line, followed by
RETURN. Entering a \ by itself will take you to the edit
menu where you will be able to get a menu of all the
available commands. There are commands to view what you
have entered so far, to save your text, to abort what you
were doing, to change a string on a line of text, etc.
The Full-Screen Editor:
The full-screen editor, TrEd, provides much more power than
the line editor. You can use the cursor keys to move all
around the text being edited. Attempting to type where
there is already text, causes everything on the line to be
moved forward a space to make room for what you are typing.
It acts much more like a conventional editor that you would
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 28
use. The added power comes at the cost of compatibility, as
TrEd must rely heavily on ANSI control sequences, so only
users that have ANSI terminals may use TrEd.
Most commands understood by TrEd are combinations of either
holding Control and pressing a key, or pressing Escape, then
pressing another key. For example, to view the list of
commands, press the Escape key, then press ?. To save what
you are writing, hold Control and press Z.
Care must be taken when using TrEd. First of all, it makes
very extensive use of ANSI control sequences, and many
terminals do not have all the necessary commands fully
implemented. For example, certain MS-DOS terminal
programmes have difficulties with some of the codes sent.
Most Amiga terminals, however, will work just fine with
TrEd. You should note that TrEd adjusts its display
depending on the screen size of the caller. Therefore, if
the current caller has his/her screen length set larger than
what will fit in your terminal window, TrEd's display may
not look right to you. Rest assured, that provided the
user's screen length is set correctly, it will look fine for
him/her.
NOTE: A full-screen editor can only be used if you are a
registered TransAmiga user.
Local Editor:
TransAmiga also allows you to set the editor to use in local
mode. Unlike the line editor and the full-screen editor,
this editor does not have to be designed for use over the
serial port. All it needs to do is to save the finished
text under the appropriate name, which can be passed using
%f as a part of your editor command. If you wish to quote
lines when replying, the quote buffer is held in the file
passed using %q. Most editors have the ability to execute
macros on startup, so you may wish to create a startup macro
for use with TransAmiga that inserts the quote buffer at the
top of the message text.
Note that there are some problems with editors that auto-
detach themselves from their parent CLI process (eg.
CygnusEd Professional). TransAmiga will think that they
have exited almost as soon as you run them, because they
return immediately. Luckily, most editors that auto-detach
like this have an option to over-ride this, so that they do
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 29
not return until they have exited. You will need to consult
your editor's manual on this.
Reply Quoting:
When replying to a message TransAmiga allows anyone of the
three editor types to insert quoted lines from the original
message into the text. In the line editor, entering \V
allows you to view the lines in the quote buffer, and \Q
allows you to insert them. In the TrEd, you press CTRL-Q,
which opens up the quote window. With the local editor, you
may need to write some scripts or macros to load the quoted
text into the editor.
At the beginning of the quote buffer is always the quote
lead-in line as you setup in TransCfg for that message area.
It is usually good practice to insert this line into your
message right before you quote any actual message text, as
it tells people reading the message exactly what you are
about to quote.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 30
Access Levels
User Access:
TransAmiga has 256 different access levels numbered from 0
to 255. Access levels are useful for a variety of purposes.
For example, allowing assistant SysOps access to BBS
maintenance functions, restricting new non-validated users,
etc.
Access Flags:
Access flags are a second level of access control in
TransAmiga. The BBS is designed such that the access level
should be used as the primary means for controlling access,
but access flags give an additional level of control.
Access flags are a set of eight "flags". For a user to have
access to, for example, a certain file area, he/she must
have at least the same flags set as are required for that
file area. For example, say the flags for that area are:
X--XX----
(X's indicate the flag is set, -'s indicate it is unset)
Now, a user with flags:
X---X-X---
would not have access, because not all the necessary flags
are set; the fact that he has another extra flag set is of
no consequence in this situation. However, a user with
flags:
X--XX--X-
would have access, since all the necessary flags are set.
New Users:
When a user logs on for the very first time, he/she is given
access 0 which denotes a user who has just logged on. This
user is known as a "Guest", one who has just logged on and
is looking around. Therefore, generally speaking, the
functions that a guest should have access too should be
quite limited. You should never manually set a user's
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 31
access to 0, as this will be considered by TransAmiga to be
a deleted user. 1 is the lowest access level.
If the guest wishes to become a member of the BBS, he/she
must select the command to join the BBS. Upon completion of
this questionnaire, the user receives the new user access
level, time limit, and upload download ratio. How much
access is given to this kind of user depends on your own
preferences. Remember it is still that person's first call
and you have not had a chance to validate him/her. Some
people like to run an open system and give first time
callers full validated access, while others prefer to keep
them restricted.
Privileged Access:
Privileged access is anything equal to or above what you
defined as privileged access in TransCfg.
You should be very careful whom you give privileged access
to. Generally speaking, in addition to yourself there
should only be one or two more people with privileged
access.
A Note on Users' Rights
:
Human rights granted to people differs in different
countries. In most countries though, everyone must be
granted access to your BBS, even if you wish to run a
private system. You may not discriminate against a user
because of race, sex, age, etc. nor may you limit any of
their other rights. The law still applies in the BBS world!
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 32
TrMaint
User Maintenance:
Unlike other BBS packages (including TransAmiga v1.0x),
TransAmiga v1.1 does not have a built in SysOp menu.
Instead, it has a separate utility called TrMaint. This
actually works better than having a built in SysOp menu, as
it removes code from the main programme that is only
actually used by one or two users of a BBS, thus saving
memory and cutting loading time. It is also advantageous,
as TrMaint can be run not only through the BBS as a door,
but also from the AmigaDOS shell, thus providing a full-
featured offline user maintenance utility.
Running TrMaint as a Door:
To install TrMaint as a door from within the BBS, you will
have to create an ARexx macro that starts it up (see the
section on ARexx on how to go about this). The sole purpose
of this macro will be to send the appropriate command to
AmigaDOS to start up TrMaint. This command is:
TrMaint -c<config file> -n<line number>
Where <config file> is the same one that you used to start
TransAmiga with, and -n is the number identified with the
current BBS line (this will always be 0 in a single line
system). This last parameter must be provided, as it tells
TrMaint that it will be running through the BBS and not
through the CLI.
Running TrMaint from CLI:
This is done in much the same way as described above, except
that you do not pass the BBS line number. Leaving this out
tells TrMaint that it should use the current CLI. All of
the same functions are available regardless of whether
TrMaint is run from the CLI or through the BBS, except for
the fact that TrMaint can only be "multi-line friendly" when
being run from the BBS, so TrMaint should only be run from
CLI when there are no users currently online.
Sample ARexx Macro:
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 33
This is an example of the type of ARexx macro you would use
for starting TrMaint as a door from the BBS.
/* TrMaint.trans, starts TrMaint */
options results
/* Find out what line we're coming from, and what config
* file this line is using.
*/
SYSTEMINFO 8 ; bbsline=result
SYSTEMINFO 9 ; cfgfile=result
PRINT 'Entering the SysOp Maintenance module...'
NEWLINE
/* Start up TrMaint by sending the proper command */
address command 'BBS:Bin/TrMaint -c'cfgfile' -n'bbsline
exit
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 34
File Transfers
File Listings:
TransAmiga keeps a file called Files.BBS in each file
directory. This file contains all necessary information
about each online file to display the file listing and file
information. It is an ASCII text file. Each line contains
one file entry.
The first field is the name of the file. This is convenient
because you can easily alphabetize your file listings using
the AmigaDOS Sort command.
When the file listing is being displayed from within the
BBS, you may wish to have certain comments displayed with
the file listing. To do this, using a text editor, simply
type in the text you want to have displayed, but have as the
first character on the line be a backslash (\). You can do
this anywhere within Files.BBS and it will still work. When
a user goes to list the files, all lines within Files.BBS
that begin with a \ will be displayed as straight text. If
this text contains ANSI sequence, TransAmiga will
automatically strip them for callers without ANSI.
Here's an example of what you could put in File.bbs:
\ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
\ ++ AMIGA UTILITIES ++
\ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
\
\NOTE: All files have been compressed with LHA.
These lines will be displayed as-is (without the
backslashes) whenever the user gets a file listing for that
area. Note the lone backslash on a line for displaying a
blank line.
Long Descriptions:
In TransAmiga v1.1, users can optionally enter long
descriptions of files they have uploaded. These files are
stored in the file library directory under the name
<filename>.Desc. For example, if the file LHA_1111.Run was
uploaded, its long description would go in the file
LHA_111.Run.Desc. Even if a user doesn't give the file a
long description, a .Desc file will still be created. The
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 35
first line of every .Desc file contains the name of the user
that uploaded it (or that user's handle, if he/she has one).
Every subsequent line is part of the description text. This
is basically like any ASCII text file so it can be edited
outside of the BBS with a text editor.
Types of Transfers:
There are 3 kinds of file transfer modes in TransAmiga:
batch, local and normal. A local transfer can be done only
when you are logged on locally, and there is no such thing
as a local download, only local upload. Batch transfers
allow you to specify several files at once to transfer.
With normal transfers you must specify one transfer at a
time. Local uploads are done when the SysOp would like a
file he/she has placed in a file area directory to appear in
the file listing. Batch transfers are used by protocols
such as Zmodem (see the section on TransCfg to find out how
to designate a protocol as batch). Normal transfers are for
all other protocols (Xmodem, Jmodem, etc.).
TrXPR:
TrXPR is an external programme that TransAmiga uses for
performing file transfers. It uses the XPR transfer
protocol libraries, which is a standardized way for
implementing transfer protocols on the Amiga using shared-
libraries. When you first setup TransAmiga, you were told
to simply except TransCfg's default protocol commands. All
of these used TrXPR and XPR libraries.
TrXPR will now be explained in a little more detail, so that
you will be able to further customize your file transfer
commands. TrXPR has the following command line usage:
TrXPR <line> <protocol> <init> R|S <filelist>|<files...>
<line> indicates which BBS line number wants to perform the
transfer. You should use %n here, so that TransAmiga
substitutes the correct line number.
<protocol> is the name of the protocol library to use minus
the 'xpr' prefix and the '.library' suffix. So for a
protocol that is to use the xprzmodem.library, you would
just enter 'zmodem'.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 36
<init> is the library initialization string. The meaning of
this is dependent on each library. Every library has it's
own set of parameters that can be included here, so you will
have to consult the library's documentation to find out what
to put here.
R|S tells where you want to do a Send or a Receive.
<filelist> is the name of a file that contains a list of
files to be sent.
<files...> is the name of the files to be received. How
this field is treated depends on the library. With most, it
will just be interpreted as the filenames for files to be
sent or received. However, some libraries treat it
differently. For example, the xprzmodem.library ignores
this field when doing a receive.
TrXPR expects the <filelist> argument when the S option is
used, and <files...> when the R option is used.
TransCfg's defaults are for Xmodem and Zmodem protocols.
There are other libraries available, which will allow you to
set up Ymodem, Kermit, CIS B+, Jmodem, and other protocols.
Using TrXPR, getting these to work with TransAmiga should be
quite simple.
File Credit:
One option in TransAmiga is file upload:download ratio.
That is, for every so many files the user downloads, he/she
must upload one file and will not be allowed to download
again until he/she has done so.
This is the only limitation imposed on a user's file
transfers. TransAmiga does keep track of the total amount
of bytes a user has transferred, but TransAmiga does not use
this.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 37
P A R T I I I
--------------
TransAmiga Multi-Line
About Multi-Line:
A multi-line BBS system is simply a BBS that has modems
hooked up to multiple phone lines, so that it can handle
more than one caller at the same time. This is about where
the simplicity of multi-line ends, as there are numerous
complexities.
What makes multi-line so complex is the fact that the BBS
must some how arbitrate access to its resources, as
inevitably two users on different lines will want to perform
operations that conflict with each other. For example,
trying to read a message that is currently being saved, and
downloading a file that is still in the process of being
uploaded. TransAmiga makes sure that when it wants access
to something, that another copy of TransAmiga already
running is not trying to access it at the same time.
Setting Up Multi-Line:
Multi-line is setup in TransAmiga simply by creating a
separate master system configuration file for each line.
All other files, including other configuration files,
messages, bulletins, text files, etc. can be shared by
multiple lines. So you do not have to configure the message
areas for each line, you do not need a separate text
directory for each line, etc. Only the master configuration
files need be different.
If however, you do want certain things to be different, you
may. For example, perhaps you want one line of your BBS to
serve MS-DOS users, and the other to serve Amiga users, you
could have different file and message configurations for
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 38
each line. Or perhaps, if you wanted to require a fee for
access to your additional lines, you would have a different
users directory for only those users with access to that
line.
Usually, most of each of the master configuration files will
end up being the same. Generally speaking, only the modem
configuration will differ. Most likely the serial device
name and/or the unit number will be different, and perhaps
the baud rates and modem commands will need to be altered.
Perhaps you may want your screen configurations to be a
little different also.
To actually run the other BBS lines, you just start up
TransAmiga several times, specifying a different master
configuration file each time, and also specifying a
different number using the -n command line parameter. For
example, if you ran two lines on your BBS, you might use
these two commands to start up the two lines:
TransAmiga -cBBS:Configs/TransAmiga_0.Cfg -n0
TransAmiga -cBBS:Configs/TransAmiga_1.Cfg -n1
Notice how a different configuration files was specified,
and how the -n parameter was used to give the second
invocation of TransAmiga a line number of 1. For each line
you setup, you must be certain that these two things are
unique.
Remember also that TransAmiga is safe to be made resident.
If you are regularly keeping more than one line running, it
will save you more memory by first making TransAmiga
resident.
Running a Local-Only Line:
TransAmiga has the useful ability to designate a separate
line for local use only. Even though you may actually only
have one line available for online callers, you can set up a
second line that you can use locally, thus allowing you to
log onto your board even if there is already a user online.
All that needs to be done is to have the name of your serial
device blank. All other modem related fields will be
ignored, and that BBS line will not be able to accept
callers. The only way to logon will be locally.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 39
Other Programmes and Multi-Line:
Remember our discussion about conflicts that inevitably
arise when running a multi-line system? TransAmiga has the
arbitration capabilities built-in, but it cannot control
what other external programmes do. You have to be very
careful when running multi-line, that you only use doors
that are "multi-line" friendly.
For example, an online game that created a bulletin
containing the scores of the various players, would have to
some how ensure that another invocation of the same door
isn't writing to that file at the same time. A simple
solution for this is to just create a file of a different
name for each line. Another possibility would be to have
the programme to make it's presence known, and not allow
multiple copies of itself to be running at the same time. A
more elegant solution would to have a locking mechanisms
(using the Amiga's semaphores is a very easy way of doing
this) to lock access to certain resources when they are
being used.
Having doors that aren't multi-line friendly running
simultaneously on multiple lines is extremely dangerous. In
the worst instances, it could create corrupt files on your
drive, so be careful.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 40
P A R T I V
------------
Customizing the BBS
Introduction:
Now that is has been explained how to use the BBS, it is
time to go into how you can customize the BBS to look and
act the way you want it to.
TransAmiga allows you to do this in a number of ways. You
can change the key, the access, and the text for every
single command in the BBS; you can turn off commands that
you don't want. You can make your own menus, with different
ones for ASCII and ANSI users. And you can customize the
BBS text files to give them the look you want.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 41
Changing Commands
The Command Files:
Each command in TransAmiga can be customized. You can
assign your own command key, command text, and a minimum
access level to each command. TransAmiga gets information
about this from special command files for each menu. You
edit these command files to customize the menus. Each menu
has its own command file, these all have the suffix ".Cmds".
You can edit these with any ordinary text editor.
There are command files for all of TransAmiga's menus. The
files are called:
Main.Cmds - Main menu commands
File.Cmds - Files menu commands
Message.Cmds - Messages menu commands
Bulletin.Cmds - bulletins menu commands
Settings.Cmds - Settings menu commands
Extra.Cmds - Extras menu commands
All of them should reside in your configurations directory.
Each file follows the same format. The first line contains
the title of the menu. This is used in the default menu
prompt, and the default menu command listing that users see.
Next come the command entries, one for each on the menu.
Each command entry takes up one line and consists of the key
used for the command, the text associated with the command,
the access level required for the command to be available to
a user, and the flags required. TransAmiga expects the
entries to be in a specific order, so do don't mix commands
around. Leading spaces are stripped, and blank lines and
lines beginning with a semi-colon (;) are ignored.
This is an example of what Main.Cmds might look like:
; The is an example command file for the Main menu.
; The first line contains the title of the menu that will
; appear in the prompt:
Main Menu
; After that comes the command entries themselves. First
; comes the key to be pressed for the command, then the
; name of the command, followed by the access required.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 42
; Use the asterisks as a guide to the placement of the
; fields.
; ********************** *** ********
T Time 0 --------
B Bulletins 10 X-------
Y Yell at Tim 0 X-------
C Change Setup 10 X-------
F File Areas 10 X-------
G Good-Bye (Log off) 0 --------
H Help With Commands 0 X-------
J Join TransAmiga 0 --------
M Message Areas 10 X-------
U User List 10 X-------
L Leave Feedback to Tim 0 --------
O Online Programmes 20 X-------
V Version Info 0 --------
W Who's Online? 0 --------
; THE END
There are a few important things to note. First of all, the
length of each field is fixed and must not be changed. If
the spacing is altered, the BBS will probably fail when it
tries to read the file.
The number of entries in each command file is fixed, with
the exception of the command file for the bulletins menu
(Bulletin.Cmds). The number of entries in it depends on the
number of bulletins you set up. It has three basic commands
then one command for each bulletin. So if you have 7
bulletins, your Bulletin.Cmds file will need 10 entries.
It is best to take the sample command files provided and
edit them, to be sure you get the spacing right and the
order of the commands right. Be sure to have a backup of
the samples somewhere, so if you do mess up a command file,
you can go back to the original.
Disabling Commands:
It is not necessary to for all commands to be available to
users. Indeed many commands are intended only for the
SysOp. Some commands you may wish to disable entirely (for
example, if your board is for messages only, you will want
to disable the command that takes you to the file
libraries). To disable a command simply give it an access
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 43
level of 256, and a key that is not being used by any active
command.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 44
Text Files
Text Files in TransAmiga:
At numerous points during its operation, TransAmiga will use
standard ASCII text files to display things. You create and
edit these yourself to give your BBS a customized look. The
following is a list of all text files that TransAmiga will
display at one point in time or another. All of them are
optional, if TransAmiga can not find a text file, it will
simply continue on with the next item of business.
Additionally, whenever TransAmiga displays a text file of
any kind, if there is currently a user online with ANSI
graphics turned on, TransAmiga will first look for
<filename>.ANSI (eg. Title.ANSI), and if it can't find that,
fallback to the original filename. This allows you create
separate files with ANSI graphics for ANSI users. You can
also specify a language if you have changed the current
language with the LOADLANGUAGE ARexx command, by adding a
period then the language, eg. <filename>.<language> or
<filename>.<language>.ANSI. If you have not changed your
language, then there is obviously no point is specifying a
language.
Connected
-
As soon as a caller connects, this file is displayed.
Generally, this file should just be a brief welcome message
to the user, and not a fancy title screen. TransAmiga can
detect if the caller is using an ANSI terminal, so an ANSI
version of this file can be displayed, even though a user
isn't logged on at the time, and the caller's ANSI setting
is unknown.
TooSlow
-
If a caller connects at a baud rate lower than what you have
specified as your minimum rate, that caller will be shown
this file and then be logged off.
Title
-
This is the main title screen for the BBS, displayed after a
user successfully logs on. Generally you try to make this
an attractive screen telling users a little about your BBS.
Guest
-
When a user logs on who isn't already a member, this file is
displayed. You should use this to outline the purpose of
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 45
your BBS, instructions for gaining access, and the rules
that they must follow.
Access.XXX
-
This displays the file only to users with XXX access. Using
this you can create completely different displays for users
of different access levels. The access level must be three
digits long, padded with zeros, eg. Access.025.ANSI,
Access.010, Access.255.ANSI.
News
-
This is the last file displayed in the logon process, right
before the main menu is displayed. This is the place to put
your news flash type information.
Join
-
This file is shown when a user selects the command from the
main menu to join the BBS. Usually this is just a brief
outline of the requirements for gaining access,
Paging
-
Once a user selects the page command from the main menu,
they will see this file. This file could be used to say
what hours the SysOp is likely to answer the page at, and
also to warn off those that abuse the page command.
Feedback
-
When a user issues the Feedback command from the main menu,
this file will be displayed immediately before the user
starts to enter the message. A good place to just thank the
user for any comments he/she has about the BBS, etc.
PreUpload
-
Users see this just before starting an upload. This is a
good place to remind them of the rules of uploading, and
perhaps a little thank you for their contribution.
PreDownload
-
This is what users see right before downloading. This file
is a good to remind users not to be file sponges, and if you
have an upload:download ratio, to display that.
Protocols
-
If present, this will replace the menu that is displayed to
users when selecting transfer protocols.
SendMsg
-
Whenever a user goes to enter a message (either through the
Write Message command, through feedback, or when replying)
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 46
this text file will first be displayed. It is good for some
quick instructions before writing a message (such as a
reminder not to address messages to "SysOp" in echomail
areas).
ReadMode
-
If present, this will replace the menu that is displayed
when a user goes to select the message reading mode.
GoodBye
-
When a user has confirmed his/her desire to logoff, this
file will be displayed. A "Thanks for calling" is usually
appropriate here, and perhaps a brief listing of other
boards worth calling
You can use just about any text editor (Ed, MEmacs, QEd,
etc.) to make these files appear in any way you wish. For
ANSI files, you will need a special ANSI editor, such as
Prism or LaDraw. You are encouraged to customize these as
much as you wish. When displaying text files, TransAmiga
will automatically convert End-of-Line to a Carriage Return
& Linefeed.
Most text displays in TransAmiga can be aborted by pressing
the Space Bar or holding Control and pressing C, unless this
has been disabled (see later on).
Because of the relative slowness of floppy drives, when a
text file is being displayed, slight pauses will be noticed
as the drive steps. This can be avoided by setting up your
text path to be in ram:, and then in your Startup-Sequence,
creating a text directory in ram:, then copying all of the
BBS's text files into that directory, i.e.
Copy TransAmiga:Text ram:Text all
ANSI Graphics:
Files ending with .ANSI contain ANSI graphics escape codes.
Anytime TransAmiga tries to display a text file to a colour
with ANSI, it will automatically add the .ANSI suffix and
first look for that file, and fall back to the original
filename if that file is not present.
ANSI is a graphics protocol often used in telecommunication
for changing colours, moving the cursor, etc. These are
displayed only when a user has the ANSI Graphics option on.
The escape codes make these files rather cumbersome to edit
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 47
in a text editor, so you will probably want to get your
hands on a special ANSI editor. One that will get the job
done for you is called Prism. If you have access to an IBM
clone with at least CGA graphics (almost all of them have
that), you can use an MS-DOS ANSI editor, which in general
tend to be much more powerful than their Amiga counterparts
(the Amiga system has little use for ANSI graphics, they're
used almost exclusively in telecommunications).
Note that there are some differences between Amiga ANSI and
IBM ANSI. IBM ANSI is more standard, and is capable of
displaying 16 colours, while Amiga ANSI (handled by the
console.device) only does up to 8 colours, but can display
bold, underline and italics text. TransAmiga uses its own
custom ANSI routines which can handle both Amiga and IBM
ANSI codes (with the exception of IBM ANSI's flashing text
and keyboard remapping).
The fonts provided with TransAmiga have the upper set the
same as the IBM character set - not like the Amiga's - so
the IBM ANSI line drawing characters are available.
More?:
When a text file is being displayed, and it is about to
scroll off the top of the screen, TransAmiga will prompt the
user with something like "More [32%]? -
Y
/N/C-". TransAmiga
is first telling the user how much of the text file he/she
has viewed so far, and then prompting him/her to either
continue (Y or RETURN), to stop viewing the file (N), or to
view the file continuously with no more More? prompts (C).
Imbedded Control Sequences:
TransAmiga allows more than just straight text in text
files. It supports a number of special control codes, that
are interpreted by TransAmiga, and tell it to output certain
information. These control sequences allow considerable
flexibility. You can use them to cause a 'Press RETURN to
continue.' prompt to come up, to display the name of the
online, to pause for a few seconds, and a host of other
things.
The control sequences can appear anywhere in a text file,
and the file can contain as many of them as you wish. Here
is the complete listing of available control codes:
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 48
Key Function
CTRL-A Prompt user to press RETURN
CTRL-B Don't allow users to abort viewing
CTRL-C Enable aborting
CTRL-D Don't bring up More? prompts
CTRL-E Enable More? prompts
CTRL-F Display a piece of user information
CTRL-K Display a piece of system information
CTRL-W Pause for one second
CTRL-F and CTRL-K have special meanings. The character
following the CTRL-F or CTRL-K determines what piece of
information TransAmiga displays.
CTRL-F combinations are in general for displaying
information about the current online caller:
Key Function
CTRL-F a Returns current caller's name
CTRL-F b User's city, province
CTRL-F c User's password (careful)
CTRL-F d User's computer type
CTRL-F e User's telephone number
CTRL-F g User's flags (X is on, - is off)
CTRL-F f Date of user's last call
CTRL-F l User's netmail credit
CTRL-F m Number of messages posted by user
CTRL-F n User's last read in current conference
CTRL-F o User's access level
CTRL-F p Times the user has called the system
CTRL-F q Number of files user has uploaded
CTRL-F r Kilobytes user has uploaded
CTRL-F s Number of files user has downloaded
CTRL-F t Kilobytes user has downloaded
CTRL-F u Total time user has been online today
CTRL-F v User's screen length
CTRL-F x ANSI status (ON or OFF)
CTRL-F w User's first name only
CTRL-F 0 User's full-screen editor status (ON or OFF)
CTRL-F 1 User's command mode (either Expert or Novice)
CTRL-F 2 User's hotkeys status (ON or OFF)
CTRL-F 3 User's handle
CTRL-F 4 Message read mode (All or Personal)
CTRL-F 5 User's birthdate
CTRL-F 7 User's upload:download ratio
CTRL-F 8 User's street address
CTRL-F 9 User's postal code
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 49
CTRL-K combinations return general information about the
system:
Key Function
CTRL-K a Number of calls system has received
CTRL-K b Last caller to system
CTRL-K c Total number of messages on the system
CTRL-K d Low message in current conference
CTRL-K e High message in current conference
CTRL-K h High user number on system
CTRL-K i Current time
CTRL-K j Current date
CTRL-K m User's time remaining today
CTRL-K q User's daily time limit
CTRL-K r Baud rate of user
CTRL-K y Current message conference
CTRL-K z Current file library
CTRL-K 0 Number of messages in current conference
CTRL-K 1 Number of current conference
CTRL-K 2 Number of current library
CTRL-K 3 Current one-liner
CTRL-K 4 Who the current one-liner is from
CTRL-K 5 Commands available from current menu (command
key of each command, separated by spaces)
CTRL-K 6 Path to current message conference
CTRL-K 7 Path to current file library
CTRL-K 8 Number associated with this BBS line
CTRL-K 9 Master configuration file this line is using.
The uses for these control codes are almost unlimited. They
are useful in any textfile, including menu and prompt files,
and any other text files the BBS displays.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 50
Menus, Prompts & Help Files
Menu Files:
You actually setup up the BBS's menus when you created your
command files. When the user presses ? to see a menu, the
BBS constructs a list of commands for which the user has
access to on the screen. This is quite useful as it
displays only the commands the user has sufficient access to
use.
You may however wish to design your own menus. This is all
a part of giving your BBS that "personal touch". To do
this, you will need to create text files for each menu that
you want to be customized, and place those files in your
text directory. TransAmiga allows considerable flexibility
when creating you own menus. You can create separate menus
for specific access levels, or a default menu for all access
levels. As with all text files, you can add the .ANSI
suffix to create special versions for ANSI users. The
filenaming conventions for menus are exactly the same as any
other text file:
<filename> or
<filename>.ANSI or
<filename>.<language> or
<filename>.<language>.ANSI
This creates a default menu that all users regardless of
access will see when they press '?' at a menu prompt. If
you'd like to have different menus displayed depending on
the callers access level, then you can create a menu for
specific access levels. The filenaming convention for doing
that is:
<filename>.XXX or
<filename>.XXX.ANSI or
<filename>.XXX.<language> or
<filename>.XXX.<language>.ANSI
Where the XXX is a the access level that this menu is to be
displayed to. The access level must be three digits, padded
with zeros. If a menu does not exist for the caller's
access level, then the default menu is displayed, and if
that is not available, then TransAmiga builds the menu
display itself, showing only those commands that the user
has access to.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 51
Now for the actual names of the menu files. Naturally, each
menu within the BBS is going to need its own menu file:
MainMenu - Main Menu
MsgMenu - Message Conferences Menu
BlltnMenu - Bulletins Menu
ExtraMenu - Extras Menu
FileMenu - File Libraries Menu
SetMenu - Settings Menu
MsgConfs - Menu Listing Available Message Conferences
FileLibs - Menu Listing Available File Libraries
Your finished menu files go into the text directory.
Example menu names are: MainMenu.000, FileMenu.255.ANSI,
BlltnMenu, ExtraMenu.ANSI, SetMenu.025.ANSI, etc.
All the imbedded control sequences available in other text
files are available in the menu files, as well as the prompt
and help files.
Prompt Files:
Prompt files are much like the Menu files described above,
except that instead of appearing whenever the user presses ?
at a menu, the appear right away (they are menu prompts).
Also unlike menu files, you can not have specific prompt
files for an access level, users see the same prompt file
regardless of access. The file names of the prompt files
are as follows:
MainPrompt - Main Menu
MsgPrompt - Message Conferences
FilePrompt - File Libraries
BlltnPrompt - Bulletins Menu
ExtrasPrompt - Extras Menu
ReadPrompt - Read Messages Sub-menu
ListPrompt - List Files Sub-menu
ContinuePrompt - Press Continue Prompt
And as with all text files in TransAmiga, you can add the
.ANSI suffix to create special versions for users with ANSI
turned on. If a prompt file isn't available then TransAmiga
will display a default menu showing the name of the menu and
the amount of online time the user has remaining.
All Prompt files should be in your Text directory. Example
file names are: MainPrompt, MsgPrompt.ANSI, ReadPrompt.ANSI,
ReadPrompt, etc.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 52
The CTRL-K 5 imbedded control sequence is particularly
useful in the prompt files, as it gives the user a quick
listing of what commands he/she has available.
Help Files:
TransAmiga has provisions for providing online help to users
of your BBS. Each menu has a Help command, and when
selected by a user, TransAmiga will display a help text file
for that menu. These files all end in Help and all reside
in your text directory. The filenames for the help files
are:
MainHelp
MsgHelp
FileHelp
ExtraHelp
BlltnHelp
SetHelp
SysOpHelp (actually used by TrMaint, not TransAmiga)
TransEdHelp
As you can see there is a help file for each menu. Although
you don't actually have to have these files around, it is
highly recommended that you make them. For novice BBS
users, getting around can be a little difficult, so you
should try to help them out with information in the help
files.
And as with all text files in TransAmiga, you can add the
.ANSI suffix to create special versions for users with ANSI
turned on. If a prompt file isn't available then TransAmiga
will display a default menu showing the name of the menu and
the amount of online time the user has remaining.
Language Files:
Almost all of the text strings displayed by TransAmiga can
be found in files in the Configs directory called language
files. Language files can be identified by the .Lang file
extension. Language files are actually just simple text
files containing the various prompts and messages that the
user will see. Things such as the 'Enter your full name:'
and 'Privileged message?' prompts are in this file.
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TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 53
When the BBS starts up, it loads a language file called
Default.Lang. By editing the default language file, you can
change the text that the user sees. If you have ARexx, you
can use the LOADLANGUAGE ARexx command to switch between
different language files.
Each line of a language file contains one text string. The
only way you can tell which prompt appears when in the BBS
is from the text itself and from experience with using the
BBS. When editing it, you must be extremely careful not to
remove lines, or to shuffle lines around. You should also
refrain from putting any control sequences, such as ANSI, in
these prompts. And most importantly, be sure you have a
copy of the original Default.Lang file backed up somewhere,
so that you can revert to that should something go wrong.
Editting language files is for advanced users only, do not
alter language files unless you know what you are doing.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 54
P A R T V
----------
FidoNet Explained
Introduction:
The purpose of this section document is to give you all you
need to set up TransAmiga as a fully operational node within
FidoNet. Because of the tremendous depth of FidoNet, what
is described here really only scratches the surface. As you
become more experienced with FidoNet, you will become
knowledgeable enough to do things on your own.
The Basics of FidoNet:
FidoNet (and other similar mail networks) is a group of
bulletin board systems that can exchange messages and files
through automated computer operations. With over 10,000
member "nodes" worldwide, FidoNet is the largest amateur
mail network in the world. A "phonebook" or directory of
all member systems, called the nodelist file, lists all
currently active FidoNet systems.
But what does FidoNet do? At the most basic level, FidoNet
simply offers an organized protocol for systems to exchange
files. Where the power lies is in the contents of those
files.
FidoNet has several major features. The first is netmail or
matrix mail. Netmail allows you to send a privileged
message to anyone in the world (that has access to a FidoNet
system) for a small cost - usually less than that of a
stamp. All you need to know is their name and their FidoNet
address.
The most commonly used feature is echomail. Echomail areas
are large public message conferences where groups of users
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 55
can discuss almost anything (in the appropriate topic area
of course). There are hundreds of different echoes
available that cover just about every topic from Amiga music
to back pain. Echomail differs from netmail in that it
involves open conferences where multiple people will
simultaneously be involved in several conversations. It's
roughly equivalent to local message areas on most bulletin
boards.
Topography:
FidoNet's method of organization is based on various levels
of sub-divisions based mainly on geography. Here's a
general overview of the hierarchy:
Zones
|
Regions
|
Nets
|
Nodes
|
Points
Where Zones at the top represent the largest geographical
area, down to Nodes and Points which represent individual
users. Each individual zone, region, etc., is identified by
a number.
There are five zones, each zone represents a continent.
Zone 1 is North America, 2 is Europe, and 3 is Australia.
Within each zone, there are regions. Regions are still
reasonably large areas, most zones contain in the area of
10. For example, region 12 in zone 1 comprises most of the
provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
The next level down FidoNet is the net. A net usually covers
an area code, or a large city, and they usually contain from
15 to 200 nodes. A node consists of one single system.
Most node operators also run BBS's. These are the
individuals that actually make up FidoNet. The numbering
system for nets and nodes is a little different than zones
and regions, in that net numbers can be repeated across
different zones, and node numbers can be repeated across
different nets. For example, there exists a net 247 in both
zone 1 and zone 2, and several nets contain the node number
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 56
192. The simple fact that they are in different zones or
nets is enough to distinguish between the two.
There is one last level below the node, and that is the
point. A point is also an individual user, but is actually
a sort of "child" of a node, and is dependant on that node,
its so-called bossnode. Usually points are run by people
who like to simply read messages in the comfort of their own
home, but do not want the greater responsibilities of
operating a node, although some points do run BBS's. Also
of note is that points do not get listed in the nodelist.
This simply diagram illustrates the hierarchy within
FidoNet:
Zone 1
|
+------+------+
| |
Region 12 Region 13
|
+----+----+
| |
Net 163 Net 247
|
+----+----+
| |
1:247/205.0 1:247/192.0
|
+----+----+
| |
1:247/192.2 1:247/192.5
Your Address:
Who and where you are in FidoNet is identified by your
FidoNet address. Your address follows the format:
zone:net/node.point
Note that your region is not identified in your address. As
an example, point 5 running off node 117 in net 247 in zone
1 would have an address of 1:247/117.5. If you are a node,
you don't have a point number, and it is either written as 0
or left off completely. If the zone is left out, it is also
usually safe to assume that the zone is the same as yours.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 57
Often you will here talk of 2-Dimensional addressing and 4-
Dimensional addressing. A 2-D address means just the
net/node numbers of FidoNet systems. 4-D addressing means
the ability to deal with full zone:net/node.point addresses.
In the old days, most programmes were only capable of 2-D
addressing, so things got confusing when you the need arose
to communicate with points and out-of-zone systems. Most
new FidoNet programmes are capable of full 4-D addressing.
Here are some more examples of FidoNet address:
1:247/202
1:163/109.1
2:247/4
3:113/202.0
The Nodelist:
As has been mentioned, the nodelist is basically FidoNet's
telephone directory. It lists all member nodes, who
operates them, the city they are based in, and the phone
number of the system. The nodelist file itself is very
large, about one megabyte uncompressed.
Because of the size of the nodelist, it becomes difficult to
make any changes in it. Every week, several hundred changes
have to be made as new nodes come up, and old nodes go down.
Instead of getting a completely new nodelist file, special
file are distributed containing the changes, called
NodeDiff's.
To actually make the changes to the nodelist, a nodelist
processor is required. This not only processes the NodeDiff
files, but also optimizes the nodelist for fast and easy
access.
Joining FidoNet:
Before moving onto the mechanics of interfacing with
FidoNet, we should perhaps mention how to join FidoNet.
What you need to get is a node number. It doesn't cost
anything to join FidoNet as a SysOp. Some nets have special
files about becoming a member of their net, and most FidoNet
SysOps will be glad to help you apply for a node number.
Usually, you are required to send a netmail message (from
your system) to the net co-ordinator of the network you wish
to join to demonstrate that you support at least minimal
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 58
FidoNet functions. The Net Co-ordinator's node number will
always be zone:net/0. When you send the message, set your
node number as zone:net/9999. Include all the information
you feel he/she will require, including your address, voice
phone number, etc. After two weeks or so you should have a
node number.
Traditionally, FidoNet has been available only to MS-DOS
users, and Amiga FidoNet software has only been developed in
the last couple of years. Unfortunately, most FidoNet
software is either expensive or only suitable for a single
user point setup. TransAmiga bridges the gap between price
and performance for Amiga FidoNet, by bringing you a low
cost BBS that works fully in a FidoNet setup.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 59
FidoNet and TransAmiga
Introduction:
TransAmiga supports FidoNet as a point or a node. The
difference between a node and a point is basically that a
node is more independent. Not much time will be spent on
using TransAmiga as a point, as it is not all that much
difference, and the advantages of being a node are such that
it is recommended that you become one.
To actually have a complete running FidoNet setup, you'll
need more than just TransAmiga, as it is only one component
in a total FidoNet setup. Unlike other BBS software
packages, TransAmiga does not attempt to "re-invent the
wheel" by attempting to write equivalents of perfectly good
FidoNet tools that already exist. History has shown that
this leads to many compromises in both features and
performance.
So in addition to the BBS, a basic FidoNet setup with
TransAmiga involves the following software:
1. The mailer (sometimes called a session handler or a
frontend)
2. The mail processor (also called a mail packer, or
mail tosser)
3. The message reader and editor.
(Most complete setups will include more software. If you
are feeding echomail conferences to points or other nodes,
an AreaFix utility is needed. If you are handling file
echoes, a Tick utility is needed. These kinds of setups are
much more involved, and tend to be highly personalized, so
it is beyond the scope of this document. We will just go
into a basic setup.)
The purpose of the message reader/editor is fairly obvious,
but the mailer and mail processor require some explanation.
As we said, FidoNet basically involves the transferring of
files from system to system over the modem. This is what
the
mailer
does. It makes calls and receives calls for the
sending and receiving of files. The files can be anything
but are usually packed messages. When your mailer connects
with another mail system (either by you calling out, or the
other system calling you), a handshaking protocol is
performed, which basically involved telling each other who
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 60
you are. Then, one at a time, each end sends any files that
are destined for the other. After each end has done this,
the call has completed and they disconnect.
Now the
mail processor
enters the scene. Every message you
enter on your system in either an echomail conference or in
netmail needs to be processed and packed into a "bundle"
ready to be sent or picked up by another system.
Conversely, you will receive all your mail in these bundles,
which will need to be unpacked and placed into the
appropriate areas. This is what the mail processor is for.
There are two major mailers for the Amiga,
Welmat
by Russell
McOrmand and Michael Richardson, and
TrapDoor
by Maximilian
Hantsch and Martin Laubach. Both programmes have their
strengths and weaknesses, and both are equally suited for
use with TransAmiga, so you may use which ever you prefer.
Be warned that you will need to register TrapDoor before you
can use it properly in a node environment. Be sure that the
version of Welmat you have is at least 0.44, and TrapDoor is
at least 1.80.
As far as mail processors go, you have a few more choices.
There are several major ones, including:
GCCHost
,
Foozle
,
TrapToss
, and
Conference Mail
("ConfMail" or just "CM" for
short).
Setting up FidoNet:
The first step is to obtain the other programmes.
TransAmiga's support board, Chris' Amiga BBS HST (716)289-
3351 has most of the above mentioned programmes if there is
no where closer to you that has them.
You will also need to obtain a copy of the nodelist. This
is a rather big file (about 400k compressed, almost 1 MB
uncompressed), but is essential in a FidoNet setup. This
should be available from most FidoNet BBS's. TransAmiga
uses a programme called TrNode to access the nodelist. Two
versions of TrNode are provided, once called TrNode.tl and
the other is called TrNode.nl. The former is for use with
traplist.library (which you will be using if you use
TrapDoor as your mailer), while the latter is used by
nodelist.library (which you will be using if Welmat is your
mailer). Rename the appropriate version to just TrNode, and
place it somewhere in the default search path.
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TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 61
Once you have obtained the necessary programmes, read the
documentation thoroughly and attempt to setup the config
files. You may wish to refer to the sample configurations
provided in Appendix I. These examples assume that all your
FidoNet message areas are in the logical device Mail:. If
not, it is suggested that you assign Mail: to point to this
area, otherwise you will have to adjust the examples
slightly.
Within Mail:, you'll need to create some directories that
several of the FidoNet utilities will use. The first should
be called 'Outbound', this is where programmes such as
ConfMail will place all files that are to be sent out to
other systems. The second is called 'Inbound', and as you
might have guessed, this is where all files received from
other systems go. You will also need to create a directory
called 'Nodelist', which is where all the nodelist files
will go.
Some preparations within TransAmiga will also be necessary.
To do this you must run TransCfg and edit your message
configuration. You must fill in the questions about
FidoNet.
One of the first things you do is set up your FidoNet
addresses. In TransAmiga you may have several addresses
(for example, if you belong to more than one network, or if
you hold a position such as Net Co-ordinator), though most
people will only have one address. Network addresses in
TransAmiga are 5-dimension, consisting not only of the
normal zone, net, node and point, but also of an optional
domain, which indicates the name of the network. Usually
this is not needed unless you are several networks. You can
also set a pointnet (also known as fakenet) to go with each
address. Use this only if you are a point with a pointnet,
nodes that have points should not use this. Also, if you
are a point and your bossnode is running software that does
not require a pointnet, you may enter a pointnet of zero,
and TransAmiga will create the proper 3-dimensional PATH:
kludge lines.
The rest should be straightforward enough, you simply enter
your address, then your inbound, outbound, and nodelist
directories. Then all you have to do is setup the FidoNet
areas. This is just like adding any other kind of message
area, except you will need to say which one of your
addresses to use (normally just number 1 if you have only
setup one address), and give an origin line for echomail
areas. When doing so, do not enter the '* Origin:' string,
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or your address at the end, as this will be added
automatically.
Your mail directory tree may now look something like this:
Mail:
|
+-------+-------+--------+---+--+------+------+--------+
| | | | | | | |
Personal General Computers Matrix Echo Inbound NodeList Outbound
|
+---------+----+----+--------+
| | | |
Amiga_Prog Amiga TransAmiga Amy_Point
Events:
The command used to start up the BBS requires some more
indepth explanation. In TrapDoor, this is set using the
BBSCOMMAND, and in Welmat using BBSExecute.
At first, you may think that all that has to be done is to
simply start the BBS in immediate logon mode at the baud
rate of the call that Welmat or TrapDoor answers. But this
is too rigid for our purposes, and does not accomplish all
we need to.
To run a fully-operational node, certain other things have
to happen, called "events". For example, at some point in
time you will have to call out to receive your mail bundles.
Then you'll need to unpack those bundles, and you'll also
have to create bundles of your own to send out.
We will divide up the events into two categories: time
driven events, and BBS driven events. Time driven events
are things we want to happen at a certain time in the day.
For instance, you usually want to have your system call out
for mail during the night sometime. BBS driven events are
things that need to be done due to something a user on the
BBS has done, for example entering a netmail message, will
would need to be packed up and sent off.
Lets get a basic listing of actions that initiate the
events, and how we want things to react when these events
happen:
Action:
Reaction:
- User enters a FidoNet - Tell mail processor to
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TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 63
message export
- Mail is delivered - Tell mail processor to import
- Zone Mail Hour - Tell mailer not to allow BBS
callers or file requests
- Time to poll for mail - Tell mail processor to export
any remaining messages. Tell
the mailer to call all nodes
with waiting mail, and also
the feed for our mail.
Import any received mail
bundles. Renumber message
areas.
This is just the basic set of events, once you get things
running you will probably want more.
Exporting Mail:
The most simple event is exporting mail when a user has
entered a FidoNet message. To do this, we must change the
way the BBS gets started up. Instead of having the mailer
run the BBS, the mailer should execute an AmigaDOS script,
which would check the return value from the BBS to see if
any netmail or echomail was entered (or both) and do an
export. Keep in mind that the user will not actually be
hung-up until control returns to the mailer, so any after
BBS operations must be executed asynchronously (eg. using
the DOS Run command).
Importing Mail:
Exporting would normally be handled by your control script,
however if you are using TrapDoor, it has the ability to
execute a command after every mail session, so it would be
easiest to have your importing done there. Just have your
AFTERSESSION command execute a script that call the mail
processor to import mail.
Time Driven Events:
Now we must handle the other kind of event, one caused by a
certain time of the day. To do this, we must first have a
means of finding out when that time of day is. A type of
programme called a "Cron" executes commands a certain time
of day, which may be easiest for you. There are several of
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 64
these utilities available. Two of the more popular ones are
DCron and TPTCron.
All you have to do is set these to start up scripts to
handle your various events at the correct time of day.
Advanced Usage:
There is an alternate way to have the mailer start the BBS,
which is slightly more involved. It involves keeping
TransAmiga running in memory at all times, waiting on it's
ARexx port (using the -r command line option). When the
mailer receives a human caller, it would send ARexx messages
to TransAmiga telling it to log the caller on (see the ARexx
command reference section).
The advantage of doing things this way is that it provides
nearly instantaneous transitions from mailer to BBS, and
avoids the short loading time delay of the running the BBS
for every caller. The disadvantages are that it consumes
more memory as the mailer and the BBS will be running in
memory, and it is more complicated to setup.
Other Mailers:
TrapDoor and Welmat or the only mailers currently available
that are capable of supporting a BBS in a full-node
environment. This may change however, and hopefully the
design of TransAmiga is such that getting any new mailers to
work with it won't cause a problem.
TrUMP:
TrUMP is a special utility for TransAmiga, it stands for
TransAmiga Update Message Pointers. What it does is to save
the high and low message numbers in a FidoNet message
directory, so that TransAmiga does not have to perform a
time consuming message base scan when users are online.
TrUMP is intended only for FidoNet areas, as they will often
be accessed by programmes other than the BBS, but it is also
safe to use on local areas should they need to be rescanned
for some reason.
TrUMP needs to be run any time that the low and/or high
message number in an area changes. It must also be run
after the initial setup of any matrix or echo conference.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 65
Run TrUMP right after: importing, renumbering, deleting, and
after messages have been added by some programme other than
TransAmiga.
If you do not run TrUMP on affected areas, TransAmiga will
have incorrect values for the high and low message numbers,
which could cause messages to be overwritten.
TrUMP must be run from the CLI or shell as follows:
TrUMP <mail dir 1> [<mailer dir n>...]
All you do is give TrUMP a listing of the directories to be
rescanned. Foozle users should note that there is an
alternate usage form for TrUMP, see later on for more
details.
If you run TrUMP while TransAmiga is running, TransAmiga
will not immediately become aware of the new message
pointers (unless you use the RESCAN ARexx command, described
later), however, TransAmiga
will
re-read the message pointer
file before it adds any messages. Therefore it is perfectly
safe to run TrUMP while TransAmiga is running (but see the
important section below on TrAL).
TrAL:
As you become more advanced with your system, you may find
times when it would be convenient to make changes to the
message bases while the BBS is still running, and possibly,
users are online. Usually, these sorts of practices are
totally out-of-the-question because of the threat of your
programme trying to access a file at the exact same time as
the BBS does. For example, when running FidoNet, it is
usually necessary to disallow humans from logging onto the
BBS while the mail processor was running.
TransAmiga offers a solution to this problem in TrAL, which
allows you to temporarily tell TransAmiga to lock out
writing to the message bases so that other programmes can
access them safely even if there are users online.
With the message areas locked, other programmes can then
work with the message areas, doing things like importing
messages, etc. It is not, however, safe to run any process
that modifies existing messages when the message areas are
locked, only things that add new messages.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 66
To use TrAL, you start it from the shell in the following
manner:
TrAL [L|U]
Tral L tells TransAmiga that users are Locked from writing,
and TrAL U Unlocks them. Be sure to match every TrAL L with
a TrAL U, or users won't be able to write messages.
Typically, scripts that call the mail processor should first
do a TrAL L, go about their business, run TrUMP if
necessary, then run TrAL U.
Renumbering:
Sooner or later, FidoNet areas will have to be renumbered.
Many people like to do this on a regular basis, others wish
to do this only once in a while.
In order for individual users' last read pointers to remain
accurate after a renumber, the tool you use for renumbering
must update TransAmiga last read pointers, which are
contained in files called LastRead.BBS in each message
directory. At the time of writing, ConfMail v1.12 supports
this (older versions of ConfMail did not), and support is
planned for GCCHost. If you are using another mail
processor, check the documentation to see whether or not it
supports updating of TransAmiga's last read pointers. If it
doesn't, tell the author he/she should fix that. For the
time being you'll have to either use another programme to
handle renumbering, or simply don't renumber at all.
Although Foozle does not directly update TransAmiga last
read pointers, TrUMP may be used in a special manner so that
last read pointers are properly updated. To do this, you
must use Foozle's FzI utility to edit your External
commands. Set the after-renumber command to something like:
BBS:Bin/TrUMP %r %d
What you need to do is have Foozle execute TrUMP immediately
after an area has been renumbered, passing it Foozle's
special renumber area and the directory that has been
renumbered. It is absolutely essential that you have Foozle
setup in this manner, else lastread pointers will not be
accurate after a renumber.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 67
NOTE 1: Every time you renumber, TransAmiga must rescan the
message areas or it will have incorrect values for the high
and low message number. For this reason, you should never
renumber when users are online, even if the message areas
have been locked with TrAL, wait until after a user has
logged off and ensure that no one calls while the
renumbering is taking place. If you exit then re-run
TransAmiga after every call, the message areas will be
scanned when it starts up; if you have TransAmiga waiting on
its ARexx port, then you must send it the RESCAN command.
Remember also to run TrUMP right after the renumbering
NOTE 2: This only applies to actual renumbering of message,
not just the deletion of older messages.
Offline Message Readers:
The message format used by TransAmiga conforms exactly to
what is outlined in FTS-0001. Therefore, any message reader
that uses this message format should be usable in a
TransAmiga FidoNet environment, such as Chameleon, GCCHost,
PointManager and RMB (the package Juliet uses its own
message format which is completely incompatible with
TransAmiga).
TransAmiga also has special support for the Foozle Mail
Manipulation System by Peer Hasselmeyer. Foozle is a super
fast shareware integrated FidoNet message reader and mail
processor. Foozle supports a custom message format that is
a variant of the FTS-0001 format. TransAmiga will
automatically recognize a Foozle message, and read in the
extra header information that Foozle messages contain.
TransAmiga still writes messages in the standard FTS-0001
format, so Foozle users will have to use its RESCAN command
before it does anything else with the message areas, since
Foozle will not automatically recognize FTS-0001 messages.
Also, Foozle does not update the TransAmiga last read
pointers, so the TrUMP utility described above must do this.
This does not end up being any different than with other
mail processors, as TrUMP has to be run anyway after a
renumber.
Using FidoNet:
Using FidoNet simply involves reading and writing messages
in FidoNet areas. This is basically the same as in local
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 68
and all-privileged areas, except that extra FidoNet specific
information is inserted into the messages.
When entering messages in a Matrix area, you will first be
asked for the FidoNet address you wish to send the message
to. When you enter a valid address, TransAmiga will
automatically look up this address in the nodelist, and when
entering the name of who you wish to send the message to,
the default name will be the SysOp of that node (of course
you can edit this).
Netmail is by default sent routed. TransAmiga leaves the
topic of netmail routing up to your mail processor (GCCHost
and Foozle have routing capabilities built in, CM users will
need to use oMMM to route netmail), however privileged users
are given additional control. If you're privileged you will
also be asked if you would like to send the message
"Routed", "Crash Mail", "Hold" or to send a "File Attach".
Most mail processors will look at their routing information
to determine what happens to mail marked as routed, while
crash mail will always be sent directly to its destination,
and mail put on hold will not be delivered, but rather kept
until the destination node contacts your system. File
attaches sends a file of your choice along with the message
and are always marked crash.
Before a user can actually send the message, TransAmiga will
check the cost of sending the message against the users
netmail credit. The user will not be able to send a message
if he/she does not have adequate credit. Remember, in order
to keep track of costs correctly, the message cost for nodes
that you route mail to should be set to zero in your
nodelist processor configuration.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 69
P A R T V I
------------
TransAmiga and ARexx
Introduction:
Arexx is a very powerful macro language available for the
Amiga. If you have Release 2, then you already have ARexx,
otherwise you will need to purchase ARexx.
If you do not have ARexx, then you are missing out on some
of TransAmiga's most powerful features. Nonetheless,
TransAmiga does make attempts to compensate for this and is
still fully functional. However, it is highly recommended
that you upgrade to Release 2 of the Amiga's operating
system, which comes with ARexx.
No lessons will be given in programming in ARexx, but for
those not familiar with it, ARexx is an interpreted language
that includes the ability to send commands to any other
running programme that has opened a suitable ARexx port.
With a little imagination, tremendous things can be done
through ARexx.
Using ARexx with TransAmiga:
It is TransAmiga's extensive ARexx interface that makes the
BBS so powerful. It allows you to easily programme in new
functions in addition to the built in ones. You can change
the way existing commands work, add new commands, and
basically anything you want. It makes TransAmiga a
completely programmable BBS.
You will probably find that after setting up the BBS, ARexx
will soon start to play a very important role in the running
of your BBS. The ability to customize, and the ease with
which you can customize, are so great that you will probably
find yourself relying on ARexx to make the BBS act the way
you want it.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 70
At first you may feel that having to use ARexx like this is
too much work, and that the BBS should be able to handle
more things without ARexx. However, in order to maximize
the SysOp's ability to make his/her own decisions about the
way his/her board appears, ARexx must be used, otherwise you
would always be running into limitations of the BBS
software. After writing a few ARexx macros yourself, once
you get the hang of it, you will see the enormous potential
the TransAmiga's ARexx interface offers.
When TransAmiga starts up, it opens an ARexx port called
'TransAmiga.<line number>' where it can receive ARexx
commands. TransAmiga sports over 90 ARexx commands that
allow you to access virtually every single function of the
BBS.
By convention, all TransAmiga ARexx scripts should end with
the '.trans' suffix so that they can easily be recognized as
ARexx scripts for use with TransAmiga. All TransAmiga ARexx
scripts must reside in your BBS ARexx directory.
There are two ways to get TransAmiga to run ARexx macros.
One way is as the cause of a user action. For example,
after logging on, the ARexx macro 'Logon.trans' is run. The
second way is by installing an ARexx macro as a command on a
menu in TransAmiga using the special .Rx files in the
TransAmiga configurations directory.
The following ARexx macros are started because of user
actions:
Logon.trans - after displaying the Title text file.
Join.trans - after the user has answered the
questions for the Join command.
File.trans - when a user tries to go to the file
area.
Message.trans - when a user tries to go to the message
area.
Editor.trans - immediately after the user exits the
editor. The text entered can be found
in t:Editor.Temp (for line 0) or
t:Editor_<line number>.Temp (for line
numbers other than 0).
GoodBye.trans - after a user selects the good-bye
command.
LogOff.trans - after the user has actually been
logged off.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 71
None of these are required, and TransAmiga will first check
to see if they are present before trying to execute them.
If they are not present, TransAmiga has some default actions
that it will take. If the Logon.trans ARexx macro is not
there, then the user will shown a list of new message posted
since his/her last call, and also be prompted to search for
new messages sent to him/her. If the File.trans or
Message.trans macros are not found, then the user will be
shown the list of available areas, and be prompted to select
one. If the GoodBye.trans macro is not present, then the
user will be asked if he/she wishes to change the one-line
comment.
To add an ARexx macro as a command from a menu, simply
create an .Rx file for that menu. The format for these .Rx
files is exactly the same as the .Cmds files use to set up
commands, described earlier, and the filenames are the same
too, except that they end in .Rx rather than .Cmds. It has
the key used for the command, followed by the text string to
be associated with the command, followed the access level
required, followed by the flags. What makes the .Rx files
different is one additional field that comes after the
access level with a space inbetween. Here you put the name
of the ARexx macro to be executed when a user selects this
command from the menu. For example:
; Lines beginning with semi-colons are comments.
; Blank lines are ignored, all other lines are assumed
; to be ARexx command entries.
; ********************** *** ******** *******************
P Poker 10 X------- Poker.trans
W Wheel of Fortune 10 X------- Wheel.trans
Y Add to BBS Listing 10 X------- BBS_Lister.trans
; THE END
Be sure that the ARexx macro you specify is indeed a valid
ARexx macro in your BBS ARexx directory, otherwise the BBS
could be hung waiting for ARexx messages coming from a macro
that was never run.
Writing ARexx Macros:
Every single ARexx macro you write for TransAmiga must have
the line 'options results', otherwise the macros will not
function properly. This tells TransAmiga that it is OK for
it to send return codes back to ARexx. As TransAmiga needs
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TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 72
to set return codes for many of its commands, this line must
exist in each and every TransAmiga ARexx macro.
Secondly, you must be able to handle unexpected user
logoffs, due to either dropping carrier or an idle timeout.
There are two ways to handle this: when a command returns
something in the result variable, such as when querying the
user for a string, TransAmiga will update the ARexx variable
CARRIER. If the user is still online, it will hold the
value of 1, otherwise, it will equal 0. All properly
written ARexx macro must check this regularly and respond
appropriately.
TransAmiga ARexx macros need no 'address' line in them, as
the port is set to TransAmiga's when the macro is started.
ARexx macros started by TransAmiga do not need to, and
should not, address TransAmiga's ARexx port, as TransAmiga
sets this before the macro is started. However, if you
start up an ARexx macro from another source (eg. the shell)
that is to talk to TransAmiga, you will first need to
address the name of TransAmiga's ARexx port. TransAmiga
opens a different ARexx port for each line, called
'TransAmiga.#' where # is the line number, eg. line 1's
ARexx port will be called 'TransAmiga.1'. Since ARexx
converts all unquoted strings to upper-case, you must
enclose the port name in quotation marks.
From then on, all you have to know are the special ARexx
commands that TransAmiga understands. As you will see,
there is a very large variety.
TransAmiga v1.0x Doors:
The original versions of TransAmiga had only the most basic
of door support, where a door was simply a DOS programme
that was run, and no interaction between the door and
TransAmiga could take place. Nonetheless, some doors were
written, most notably PTA by James Stewart for running
Paragon BBS doors.
Doors in TransAmiga v1.0x were added as command to menus
using the .Exts files, but they are now gone. Now, you must
have an ARexx macro installed as a command which inturn
starts the v1.0x door using the RUNDOOR ARexx command.
TransAmiga v1.1 creates the old-style t:Door.Temp file for
complete compatibility (new doors should no longer use the
t:Door.Temp file, but should instead get information through
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 73
TransAmiga's ARexx port). Note also that the name of this
file depends on which line starts the door.
Here is a sample ARexx macro for starting a door via PTA:
/* GlobalWar.trans, starts GlobalWar through PTA */
options results
PRINT 'Loading Global War...'
RUNDOOR 'BBS:PTA -s BBS:Extras/GlobalWar/GlobalWar'
exit
ARexx Macro Ideas:
Because of the vastness of the commands available in
TransAmiga through ARexx, you are virtually unlimited in
what you can do.
One of the most popular applications is online games, as
these are quite popular with many BBS callers. TransAmiga's
ARexx interface is ideally suited to easily writing games,
but there is far more that you can do. Here are some ideas
you may wish to think about:
* A callback verification programme for auto-validating new
users.
* Personal file space for users, so that two users can
exchange files privately.
* Division of file and message areas into sub-groups
(sometimes called SIGs).
* A polling booths for users to create and vote on poll
topics.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 74
Command Reference
Introduction:
This sections lists all the ARexx commands that TransAmiga
understands. Many of them will return values of some sort.
You ARexx macro can look at these values by evaluating the
variable
RESULT
.
TransAmiga's ARexx interface is divided into two sets of
commands: The first set, used most often, is made up of the
commands used when TransAmiga starts an ARexx macro when a
user is online. The second set, which are only used for
special situations such as running a FidoNet node, are ones
that are only understood when TransAmiga has been started
with the -r option and a user is not currently online.
The online commands can be further divided into TransAmiga
specific commands, and the ABBEREXX commands and variables.
The ABBEREXX commands are actually a standardized set of
commands used by several different BBS packages, allowing
ARexx macros written for different systems to be run by
TransAmiga. If you want your macros to be run by SysOps
using other BBS packages, then you should restrict yourself
to the ABBEREXX command and variable set. However, for most
applications, you may find it desirable to make use of the
multitude of additional TransAmiga specific commands that
are available, with the consequence being that only
TransAmiga systems will be able handle these macros.
ABBEREXX Commands:
These are the commands that TransAmiga supports as a part of
the Amiga Bulletin Board External Rexx (ABBEREXX) interface
command set. These commands should be used when portability
to other ARexx supporting BBS's is desired.
BBSIDENTIFY ABBEREXX BBS|EMULATION|NAME|SYSOP|TERM|USER
-
Returns certain information, depending on the <what>
parameter. Possible values are:
ABBEREXX: which returns the current version of the
ABBEREXX implementation (at the moment, '1.0').
BBS: which returns the current version of TransAmiga is
being used.
EMULATION: indicates what type of terminal mode the caller
has selected. It returns either 'ASCII' or 'ANSI'.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 75
NAME: returns the name you have set for the BBS.
SYSOP: returns the name of the SysOp of the BBS.
TERM: which returns a string of the format <baud> <rows>
<columns> <line number>, eg. 2400 80 24 0.
USER, which returns a string of the format "<username>"
"<calling from>" <access>, where access is one of: GUEST (a
first time caller, access 0), MEMBER (anyone with access
greater than 0 and less than the privileged access level),
CO-SYSOP (anyone with access equal to or greater than
privileged access, but less than 255), or SYSOP (access
255). An example return string could be: "Tim Aston" "St.
Catharines, Ont." MEMBER
eg: BBSIDENTIFY ABBEREXX
BBSIDENTIFY BBS
BBSIDENTIFY EMULATION
BBSIDENTIFY NAME
BBSIDENTIFY SYSOP
BBSIDENTIFY TERM
BBSIDENTIFY USER
CHECKABORT
-
Returns 1 if the user has pressed one of the abort keys
(CTRL-C or the spacebar), otherwise 0. Takes no parameters.
CLS
-
Sends the screen clearing code. Takes no parameters and
returns nothing.
GETCHAR
-
Waits for a single character from the user. It returns as
soon as it gets something, and does not wait for the user to
press RETURN. It takes no arguments, and the character
received will be returned, or '###PANIC' if the user was
unexpectedly logged off due to carrier loss, timeout, etc.
HANGUP
-
Hangs the online caller up, and after the ARexx macro
terminates, the logoff procedure will be initiated. Note,
that if it is a local logon, nothing actually happens until
the ARexx macro terminates. Takes no parameters and returns
nothing.
IREADY
-
If there is any input waiting in the serial buffer, this
command returns 1, else 0. No input is retrieved though.
It takes no parameters.
MAYGETCHAR
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 76
Checks if they user has entered a character, and returns
immediately, with the result being either the key the user
pressed or 'NOCHAR' if a key was not pressed. Takes no
parameters.
eg: MAYGETCHAR
cmd=RESULT
if cmd~='NOCHAR' then call do_cmd
NEWLINE
-
Sends the newline code (a carriage return followed by a line
feed). Takes no parameters and returns nothing.
PRINT <string>
-
Sends the given string with a newline appended. It returns
nothing.
PROMPT <length> NORMAL|HIDE|YESNO|NOYES "<prompt>"
-
Prompts the user to enter text with the given length as the
maximum. Three types of text input are currently supported:
NORMAL: Normal line oriented input
HIDE: As above, but hid user input behind dashes (-).
Useful for passwords, etc.
YESNO: A Yes or No response, with Yes as the default.
NOYES: A Yes or No response, with No as the defalut.
The prompt text must be enclosed in quotes, an din order for
the BBS to "see" these quotes, they themselves must be
quoted (see examples).
This command returns the string entered in the cases of
NORMAL and HIDE types, and either 'Y' or 'N' in the cases
the YESNO and NOYES types.
eg: PROMPT 30 'NORMAL' '"Enter your favourite colour: "'
PROMPT 10 'HIDE' '"Where were YOU last night?'"
PROMPT 1 'YESNO' '"Was it good for you?'"
SEND <string>
-
Sends the given string exactly as is to the user, with no
translation or screening done on the part of TransAmiga. It
returns nothing.
SENDFILE <filename>
-
Sends the given text file to the online user, the full
pathname must be given. More? prompts will automatically be
displayed as usual, and all TransAmiga imbedded control
codes are available as usual. If the current user has ANSI
turned on, it will first look for <filename>.ANSI, and fall
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 77
back to the original filename if that is not found. It
returns nothing.
eg: SENDFILE 'BBS:Text/Title'
SETNODELOCATION <where>
-
This allows you to change the string that indicates what a
user is doing that is displayed with the List Online Users
command, or the TrBLAD programme.
eg: SETNODELOCATION 'Playing "Kill the Capitalists"'
SYSOPLOG <string>
-
Creates a log entry with the given string. The date and
time will automatically be added infront. It will be
appended to TransAmiga's log file. It returns nothing.
eg: SYSOPLOG 'Lost all his/her money at poker'
ABBEREXX Variables:
Part of the ABBEREXX standard is the maintenance of three
ARexx variables. These are: CARRIER, TIMEONLINE and
TIMELEFT. CARRIER, as explained above, indicates whether or
not there is a user online line, it contains the value 1 if
a user is online, 0 otherwise. TIMEONLINE and TIMELEFT
indicate, in minute, how much time the user has spent online
today and how much time he/she has left for today
respectively.
eg: PRINT 'You've used' TIMEONLINE 'minutes today'
QUERY 'How do you feel about that?'
answer=RESULT
if CARRIER=0 then do
SYSOPLOG 'Carrier Drop!'
exit 10
end
if timeleft<=0 then do
SYSOPLOG 'No more time!'
exit 10
end
Commands Recognized with a Caller Online:
These are the commands that TransAmiga supports in addition
to the ABBEREXX commands while there is a user online.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 78
BROWSEFILES <mode>
-
Allows you to select either browse or regular mode for
listing files. A mode value of 0 indicates normal mode
while a value of 1 switches to browse mode. Returns
nothing.
CHARSTACK
-
This checks if there is anything in the current character
stack, i.e. whether or not the user has "stacked" one or
more commands. Returns 1 if there is, otherwise 0. It
takes no parameters.
eg: CHARSTACK
if RESULT=0 then SENDMENU 'BBS:Text/MyMenu'
CHECKMSGS
-
Does a search of all new messages in all available areas for
messages addressed to the user or to the user's handle (if
he/she has one). Found messages will be marked. The search
can be aborted at any time by pressing CTRL-C or the
spacebar.
CONTINUE
-
Brings up the "Press RETURN to continue." prompt and awaits
a response from the user. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
ECHOMAIL
-
Returns 'TRUE' if echomail has been entered this call by the
user, or 'FALSE' if not.
eg: ECHOMAIL
if RESULT='TRUE' then call export_echo
FEEDBACK
-
Functionally identical to the function from the Main Menu.
Takes no parameters and returns nothing.
FILEAREA <area number>
-
Changes to the specified file area. If the change was
successful, 1 is returned, otherwise 0, indicating that
either in invalid area number was given or that the user did
not have sufficient access.
GETCARRIER
-
Checks to see whether carrier is present or not. Returns
either TRUE of FALSE. It takes no arguments.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 79
GETCMD [<prompt>]
-
This command works in much the same way as GETCHAR, except
that if the user does not have hotkeys selected, it will
wait for the user to press RETURN. Any surplus characters
entered by the user will be kept in his/her command stacking
buffer. You can optionally supply a prompt string for it to
display before waiting for the command. The command entered
will be translated to uppercase automatically. It returns
the character received or '###PANIC' in the case of
unexpected logoff (due to carrier loss, timeout, etc).
JOIN
-
Takes a user through the process of joining the board, in
the exact same way as the Join command from the Main Menu.
Takes no parameters and returns nothing.
LISTFILEAREAS
-
This command lists all file areas the user has access to,
two areas per line, with each area numbered. It returns
nothing and takes no arguments.
LISTFILES
-
Lists the files in the current file area, giving a total at
the bottom. More? prompts will be brought up when
necessary, and the user can abort the listing by pressing
CTRL-C or SPACE. It takes no arguments and returns nothing.
LISTMSGAREAS
-
Lists all message areas the user has access to, two per line
with each area numbered. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
LISTONLINE
-
Displays the current BBS online activity. Takes no
parameters and returns nothing.
LISTPROTOCOLS
-
Displays the available file transfer protocols to the user
along with their corresponding number. Takes no arguments
and returns nothing.
LISTUSERS
-
Functionally identical to the function from the Main Menu.
Returns nothing and takes no parameters.
LOADLANGUAGE <language>
-
Loads in a new language file, over-riding the current one.
The language file is searched for in the configurations
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 80
directory, and the extension .Lang will automatically be
added. Returns nothing.
eg: LOADLANGUAGE "francais"
MARKFILE <filename>
-
Marks the given filename if less than 10 have are currently
marked. It will scan all file libraries available to the
user for the file, it need not be in the current library.
Returns the full path to the marked file, or 'FAIL' if the
file could not be found.
eg: QUERY 'Enter file to mark: ' ; file=RESULT
if CARRIER=1 then do
MARKFILE file
if RESULT='FAIL' then PRINT 'Not found!'
end
MARKMSG <number>
-
Marks the given message number in the current conference.
Returns nothing.
MODEMCMD <string>
-
Sends the given string to the modem, and will expand the
imbedded control code ~ to equal a half second pause, and |
to equal a carriage return.
eg: MODEMCMD '~~~+++~~~ATH|~~'
MORE
-
Brings up the More -
Y
/N/C- prompt and waits for user input.
TransAmiga does no checking on what the user enters, it is
up to the ARexx macro to do this. It takes no arguments.
MSGAREA <area number>
-
Changes to the specified message area. If the change was
successful, 1 is returned, otherwise 0, indicating that
either in invalid area number was given or that the user did
not have sufficient access.
NETMAIL
-
Returns 'TRUE' if netmail has been entered this call by the
user, or 'FALSE' if not.
eg: NETMAIL
if RESULT='TRUE' then call export_matrix
NEWMSGS
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 81
Displays the number of new messages that have been posted in
each area the user has access to since his/her last call.
It takes no arguments and returns nothing.
NEWFILES
-
Prompts the user at what date to start searching for new
files from. It searches all areas and will display new
files to the user. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
NOP
-
NO OPeration, a do nothing command.
PAGESYSOP
-
Writes to the Status Window and the log that the user has
paged, it will
not
beep. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
PROTOCOLSEND <files...>
-
Sends the given files using the current file transfer
protocol. The full-path name of the file must be given,
TransAmiga will
not
search for the file in the file areas.
Note that although several files can be passed, some
protocols are non-batch and will only send the first file.
Also note that a user's current protocol may be
unpredictable unless the SETPROTOCOL command has been used.
QUERY [<prompt>][\\<default>]
-
This command waits for input from the user. The user may
enter up to one line of text, and must terminate the line by
pressing RETURN. If a prompt is supplied, this will be
displayed immediately before waiting for input. A default
for user input can be specified by having two backslashes
(\\) immediately after the prompt text, followed by the
desired default input. The default input will be displayed
for the user to edit. The string entered is returned.
eg: QUERY 'What planet do you live on: \\Earth'
planet=RESULT
QUERYY [<prompt>]
-
This will prompt the user for a Yes or No response, with the
default being Yes. If a prompt is supplied, it will be
displayed immediately before waiting for user input.
TransAmiga translates user input to upper case, but does
nothing else. The character entered by the user is
returned.
eg: QUERYY 'Are Amigas good computers?'
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 82
if RESULT='Y' then smart=1 else smart=0
QUERYN [<prompt>]
-
This is exactly the same as the above, except that the
default response it No.
eg: QUERYN 'Is the sky green?'
if RESULT='N' then smart=1 else smart=0
READMODE <mode>
-
Selects the read mode for reading messages. Current defined
modes are 0 for read all available messages, 1 for reading
personal mail only, and 2 for reading marked messages only.
The read mode is always set as 0 when the user logs on.
Returns nothing.
READMARKEDMSGS
-
This cycles through all message conferences that the user
has access to and the marked messages. This can be useful
as a means of immediately displaying messages to the user
that have been found in some kind of search.
READNEWMSGS
-
Starts reading new messages in the current area, equivalent
to the command from the message menu. Takes no parameters
and returns nothing.
RESCAN
-
Rescan the message areas for the high and low message
pointers. This should be used if your ARexx macro has run
TrUMP to adjust the message pointers, this makes sure
TransAmiga knows about these changes.
RUNDOOR <cmd>
-
Starts a door using the given command. Before the door is
saved, a TransAmiga v1.0x format door information file is
saved in T:, the name of which can be passed using %f (see
below). Several imbedded control codes are supported:
%b - Baud rate of the caller
%n - BBS line number
%f - Name of door info temporary file
%c - BBS master configuration file for this line
The command's result code is returned, or '-1' if the
command could not be executed.
eg: RUNDOOR 'BBS:Extras/MyDoor/MyDoor -n%n -c%c'
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 83
NOTE: This command is only useful some doors, particularly
older ones designed for TransAmiga v1.0x, and doors that
make minimal use of transamiga.library. Most doors (such as
TrMaint and TrShell) will need to be started up with the
built-in ARexx command "address command <cmd>". For an
example of starting doors this way, see the examples of
starting TrMaint and TrShell from the BBS, and you should
also look up "address command" in your ARexx documentation.
Hopefully the door's documentation will clearly state how it
should be started, but when in doubt, use the "address
command" method.
SAVEMSG <filename>\\<msg number>
-
This saves the indicated message number to the given file.
Note that no checking is done to see if the user should be
allowed to read this message. The filename must be
immediately followed by two backslashes (\\) followed
immediately by the message number. Both arguments are
required, nothing is returned.
SEARCHFILES <search string>
-
Searches all file areas that the user has access to for a
file that has the given string in its filename or
description, and displays those files to the terminal.
Returns nothing.
SENDMENU <filename>
-
This is very similar to the SENDFILE command. The only
differences are: the file is assumed to be in the BBS text
directory (therefore, you should not pass a full pathname);
the file may be interrupted when it is being displayed by a
the user pressing a key, which is taken to be a menu
command. This command can then be retrieved using any input
commands such as GETCHAR, GETCMD, etc.; and TransAmiga will
also attempt to see if there is a menu for the user's access
level, in exactly the same way as it does when displaying
menu files.
SETACCESS <access>
-
Changes the online user's access level to the given value.
Returns nothing.
SETALIAS <name>
-
Changes the online user's alias to the given value. Returns
nothing.
SETBIRTH <date>
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 84
Changes the online user's birthdate to the given value,
which must be in YYMMDD format. Returns nothing.
SETCOMMENT <comment>
-
Changes the one-line comment to the given comment, and
attributes it the current user (or to his/her handle if the
user has one). Returns nothing.
SETCITY <city>
-
Changes the online user's city to the given value. Returns
nothings.
SETCOMP <computer>
-
Changes the online user's computer type to the given value.
Returns nothing.
SETEDITOR <editor type>
-
Sets the type of editor for the online user. Values allowed
currently are 0 for the internal line-editor, and 1 for the
external full-screen editor. Note that TransAmiga does no
checking here as to whether the user has ANSI active or not,
so beware of this when setting people to the full-screen
editor. Returns nothing.
SETFLAGS <flags>
-
Changes the access flags of the online user. Should be
eight characters long with an X indicating the flag is set
and a - indicating it is unset. Returns nothing.
SETGRAPHICS <graphics type>
-
Changes the graphics type of the online user. Values
allowed currently are 0 for ASCII, and 1 for ANSI. Returns
nothing.
SETHOTKEYS <boolean>
-
Changes the status of hotkeys for the online user. 0 turns
them off, 1 turns them on. Returns nothing.
SETLASTREAD <number>
-
Changes the user's last read pointer in the current message
area to the given number. Returns nothing.
SETLENGTH <length>
-
Changes the screen length of the online user to the given
value. Returns nothing.
SETPHONE <tel. no.>
-
Changes the phone number of the online user to the given
value. Returns nothing.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 85
SETPOSTAL <postal code>
-
Changes the postal (or Zip) code of the online user to the
given value. Returns nothing.
SETPROTOCOL <protocol number>
-
Changes the protocol of the online user to the given
protocol number. Note that TransAmiga does not actually
save the user's selected protocol, so their current protocol
may be unpredictable before using this command.
SETPROV <province>
-
Changes the province (or territory or state) of the online
user to the given value. Returns nothing.
SETPSWD <password>
-
Changes the password of the online user to the given value.
Returns nothing.
SETRATIO <max. downloads>
-
Changes the maximum number of files the user may download
for each upload to the given value, which may be from 1 to
255. Returns nothing.
SETSTREET <street>
-
Changes the street address of the online user to the given
value. Returns nothing.
SETTIME <minutes remaining>
-
Changes the amount of online time the online users has for
today. Returns nothing
SYSTEMINFO <character>
-
This returns the piece of system information corresponding
to the given character. The characters available are the
same for the system information imbedded control codes that
area available in text files, and the same information will
be returned. Use both this and the USERINFO command to find
out information about the system setup and the current
online user.
An example of its usage would be to send 'SYSTEMINFO 7 ' to
check the access of the current file area, to see if the
user has access.
eg: SYSTEMINFO b ; last_caller=RESULT
TEXTEDIT
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 86
Calls the appropriate editor, depending on the user's editor
choice, and whether or not it is a local logon. It returns
the name of the file that contains the text the user has
entered, or '###ABORTED' if the user aborted the editor.
Takes no parameters.
eg: TEXTEDIT ; file=RESULT
if file~='###ABORTED' then
address command 'copy' file dir||'signature'
USERINFO <character>
-
This returns the piece of user information corresponding to
the given character. The characters available are the same
for the user information imbedded control codes that area
available in text files, and the same information will be
returned. Use both this and the SYSTEMINFO command to find
out information about the system setup and the current
online user.
An example of its usage would be to send 'USERINFO x' to
check the ANSI status of the user, and set some ANSI
variables accordingly.
eg: USERINFO a ; name=RESULT
USERINFO 0 ; acc_level=RESULT
VERSIONINFO
-
Displays the version information to the user. It takes no
arguments and returns nothing.
VIEWMSG <number>
-
Displays the given message number, from the current message
area. Last read pointers are not updated. Returns a non-
zero value upon failure.
YELL
-
Flashes the screen 5 times and posts a message in the status
window stating that the online user has paged. Returns
nothing and takes no parameters.
Commands Recognized with no Caller Online:
Here are the commands that TransAmiga understands when it
was started with the -r option, these commands are not
recognized when there is a caller online:
BAUDRATE <baud>
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 87
Specifies the baud rate the TransAmiga should log the caller
on at. Typically this is followed closely by a LOGON
command. Equivalent to the -b command line parameter. It
will only actually change the baud rate of the serial port
if the LOCKBAUD or -l options were not used. It returns
nothing.
LOCAL [WAIT]
-
Does a local logon, equivalent to the Local Logon item from
the pull-down menu. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
If the optional WAIT keyword is passed, this command will
not returned until the local user has logged off, otherwise,
it will return immediately.
LOCKBAUD <baud>
-
Specifies at what baudrate TransAmiga should lock the serial
port at. Equivalent to the -l command line parameter. It
returns nothing.
LOGON [WAIT]
-
Tells TransAmiga to log on an online user. Typically a
combination of BAUDRATE and possibly LOCKPORT, MAXTIME and
USERNAME commands are issued right before this. It takes no
arguments and returns nothing.
If the optional WAIT keyword is passed, this command will
not return until the call has completed, otherwise it will
return immediately.
MAXTIME <minutes>
-
Specifies the maximum amount of time the next caller will
have. Equivalent to the -t command line parameter. It
returns nothing.
RESCAN
-
Tells TransAmiga to rescan the message areas. You will need
to do this if TrUMP has been run because of changes to the
message pointers (eg. after a renumber or import) without
the BBS being restarted. It takes no arguments and returns
nothing.
QUIT
-
Simply tells TransAmiga to shut down completely, equivalent
to the Quit item from the pull-down menu. It takes no
arguments and returns nothing.
UNLOCKPORT
-
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 88
Tells TransAmiga not to lock the serial port, and to adjust
the baud rate of the serial port to that of the caller.
This is the default, and is only used to over-ride a
LOCKPORT or -l command.
USERNAME <user>
-
This can be used to bypass the initial user name prompt once
the LOGON or LOCAL command is executed. The logon process
will start with the BBS evaluating the name entered. If the
user is currently a member, the password prompt will be
entered. If not, the guest user process will take place.
If its an invalid name, then the BBS will display the user
prompt.
This command is very useful with frontends that take input
from the user (eg. Welmat). This way you can get the user's
name from the frontend and pass it directly to the BBS.
The commands are typically used in conjunction with some
kind of frontend, such as a FidoNet mailer. Using these
commands, you can have the BBS in memory all the time, and
have the frontend run an ARexx macro to "wake-up" the BBS
and save the usual waiting period while the BBS loads,
making the transition from frontend to BBS almost
instantaneous for the caller.
SkyLine/C-Net ARexx Emulation:
TransAmiga also understands many of the same commands as
SkyLine BBS does. Those of you familiar with its command
set will have noticed that several commands are the same
(eg. GETCHAR and QUERY), while other commands work are very
similar to SkyLine BBS ARexx commands, but have different
names (such as SYSOPLOG, which is directly equivalent to
SkyLine's LOGENTRY commands). TransAmiga therefore provides
synonyms for these commands, so that most SkyLine ARexx
macros can be run under TransAmiga almost unmodified. All
that needs to be done is to remove the line:
address 'SkyLine'
from any ARexx macros, and they should work under
TransAmiga. If they do not, it is because they are using
SkyLine ARexx commands that TransAmiga does not support. If
this happens, usually only very simple modifications will be
necessary to support the equivalent TransAmiga commands.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 89
In addition to TransAmiga's commands which are already
compatible with SkyLine, TransAmiga supports: TRANSMIT,
SENDSTRING, LOGENTRY, BUFFERFLUSH, SHUTDOWN, CHECKIO, and
some instances if the GETUSER command.
Example ARexx Macro:
To help you get started writing your own ARexx macros for
TransAmiga, a very simple example is given here. Its not
particularly useful for any purpose other than to
illustrate how to use TransAmiga ARexx interface. Lines
have been numbered in this manual for easy reference, but
actual ARexx macros, naturally, would not have these
numbers.
1: /* Example.trans - the World Famous Hi-Lo Game! */
2: options results
3: userinfo a ; username=result
4: print "Welcome" username "to The World Famous Hi-Lo Game!"
5: newline
6: keepgoing=1
7: do while keepgoing=1
8: num=random(1,100,time(e))
9: print "OK, I have chosen a number between 1 and 100, and"
10: print "it is your job to guess what it is."
11: notright=1
12: guesses=0
13: do while notright=1
14: guesses=guesses+1
15: prompt 3 'NORMAL' '"Enter guess #'guesses': "'
16: guess=result
17: if carrier=0 then exit 10
18: if guess<num then print "Too low."
19: if guess>num then print "Too high."
20: if guess=num then notright=0
21: end
22: print "You win! And it only took you" guesses " tries!"
23: newline
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 90
24: prompt 1 'YESNO' '"Would you like to play again?"'
25: answ=result
26: if carrier=0 then exit 10
27: if answ='N' then keepgoing=0
28: end
29: print "Bye!"
30: exit
line 1: This is a comment line,
every
single ARexx macro
must start off with a comment line like this. Comments in
ARexx are enclosed in /* and */
line 2: All your TransAmiga ARexx macros must have this
line. It tells ARexx that it should expect the host (that
is, the BBS) to set the result after a command.
line 3: This is the first usage of a TransAmiga ARexx
command, USERINFO. USERINFO takes as a parameter a code
which tells it what piece of information to return. In this
case, the code is A, which means it should return the
current user's name. Our ARexx macro takes this value (all
values returned by TransAmiga are stored in the variable
result) and copies into a variable called username (since
the result variable will be changed by other commands).
line 4,5: These two lines make use of the PRINT and NEWLINE
TransAmiga ARexx commands. Note in line 4 how you can
easily include variables in the arguments you pass to
TransAmiga ARexx commands.
line 6,7: This initiates the play loop for our game, using
ARexx's DO WHILE... construct.
line 8: Makes use of ARexx's built-in RANDOM() function to
generate the number that the user is going to have to guess.
line 9,10: Uses TransAmiga's PRINT command again to show the
user some information.
line 11,12,13: Initiates the guessing loop, again using
ARexx's DO WHILE.. construct.
line 14: Increments the guesses variable that we initialized
earlier, to keep track of the number of guesses the user has
made.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 91
line 15,16: Prompts the user for a guess using TransAmiga's
PROMPT command. NORMAL indicates the input type, and 3 is
the maximum number of characters the user can enter (since
the number is between 1 and 100, there's no point in
entering anything longer than 3 characters). The text the
user entered is then copied into the variable guess.
line 17: This is a very important line. While our macro was
waiting for input, the user could have dropped carrier, had
the idle timer expire, or had his/her time limit run out.
In which case, it would be pointless and stupid for our game
to continue without a user there to play. What we do then
is check the TransAmiga variable CARRIER to see whether or
not the user is still there. If it's 0, then he/she is
gone, so our macro should exit. Otherwise, we can continue.
line 18,19,20: Here we check the user's guess to see if it
is too high or too and tell the user so. If the user's
guess is correct, we exit the guessing loop.
line 21: The end of the guessing loop, go back up to the
beginning of this loop.
line 22,23: Congratulate the user using TransAmiga's PRINT
and NEWLINE commands.
line 24,25: Ask the user if he/she would like to play again.
This uses TransAmiga's PROMPT command again, but this time
we use the YESNO input type, since we want the user to
answer Yes or No. The user's response (which is guaranteed
to be either Y or N) is copied into the variable answ.
line 26: Once again, the all important check to make sure
the user is still with us.
line 27: If the user responded with No, then exit the
playing loop.
line 28: End of the playing loop, go back to the start.
line 29: Say good-bye!
line 30: Exit, end of our macro.
Any actual macro you were to write would naturally be a
little more involved that this. For example, you may want
to display ANSI graphics to users that have ANSI turned on.
Also, a little more "idiot-proofing" should be done (for
example, if the user enters text instead of a number, the
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 92
macro will halt with an error). However, this should give
you a good idea of what a TransAmiga ARexx macro looks like
and you should be ready now to write some of your own.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 93
P A R T V I I
--------------
Politics
Disclaimer:
No warranties are implied or expressed with regard to the
fitness or merchantability of TransAmiga BBS for any
particular purposes. All risks and damages, incidental or
otherwise, arising through the use or misuse of TransAmiga
BBS are entirely at the responsibility of the user.
While considerable effort has been made to provide you with
a reliable product, there is no guarantee that the
programmes are 100% "bug-free". Any bugs will be fixed at
the author's discretion in possible future releases of
TransAmiga BBS.
License:
"TransAmiga" refers to a set of programmes for Amiga
computers by Timothy J. Aston making up the TransAmiga BBS
package.
1. TransAmiga is the copyrighted material of Timothy J.
Aston. It may only be used in accordance with the
conditions set out by this license agreement.
2. So that you may evaluate TransAmiga, you are granted a
limited use license for a period of twenty (20) days after
initial usage. After this period you must register with the
author or discontinue using TransAmiga.
3. Registration entitles you to use TransAmiga and any
future versions of TransAmiga as long as you wish, subject
to any special licensing conditions attached to future
versions.
4. Timothy J. Aston is in no way obliged to provide future
versions or support for TransAmiga.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 94
5. You may not modify, disassemble, decompile, re-source or
otherwise reverse engineer TransAmiga.
6. Distribution is limited to the original shareware archive
file only, none of the member files may be omitted and no
new additional files may be included. Furthermore, no
profit or other material gain may be realized for
distributing TransAmiga with the sole exception of that
which is required to cover the cost of the medium. Bundling
TransAmiga, the distribution archive, or any member files,
with any commercial product is not permitted without the
express written consent of the author. At no time are you
permitted to distribute or modify the file "TransAmiga.Key".
7. TransAmiga may not be used in any unlawful or illegal
manner.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 95
Registration
Shareware:
TransAmiga is distributed under the concept of shareware.
Some people like to call this particular brand of shareware
"crippleware" because I am distributing a version with
several features removed. It's not "crippled" though,
because enough features are enabled for you to set up the
BBS, use it, and decide what you think about it.
This allows you to "try before you buy." If, after a period
of 20 days you decide that TransAmiga is not the thing for
you, simply delete it and all it's files, and no harm is
done. However, if you decide that you want to keep using
it, you simply register yourself, and you get your own
keyfile making the BBS fully functional.
How to Register:
To register, you must follow these instructions.
The registration fee should be in the form of cash, a postal
money order, or any cheque or money order that is negotiable
at a Canadian chartered bank. Most cheques and money orders
drawn on major world currencies are acceptable, but only
cash in Canadian dollars, U.S. dollars and U.K. pounds can
be accepted (it is generally not advisable to send cash
through the mail anyway). Please make cheques payable to
"Timothy Aston". These are the only possible methods of
payment for registration. International bank transfers to
my account would be very slow and costly, plus I never quite
know when the money has actually arrived, so do not bother
with that. If you are sending an international postal money
order, please remember that you
must
also send a cover
letter.
The registration fees are as follows:
Canada
-
thirty dollars ($30) Canadian funds
United States
-
thirty dollars ($30) U.S. funds
Elsewhere
-
thirty-five dollars ($35) U.S. funds
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 96
This amount covers the registration fee, as well as postage
and media costs.
You should send the money along with a letter (note: even if
you send an international postal money order, you
must
also
send a letter) which clearly gives following information:
* Your full name
* Your complete mailing address
* Your voice Telephone number
* Some details about the BBS you run, including the phone
number(s), hours of operation, baud rates supported, etc.
* Your network addresses for FidoNet and any other networks
you may be a member of (please specify the name of the
networks).
Additionally, you may include any of the following
information, which I just like to know out of personal
interest. They are all optional:
* What kind of Amiga(s) you own, and what hardware you have
for them.
* How long you've been a SysOp for, and what other BBS
software you have used.
* What you like the most and the least about TransAmiga.
* What your occupation is, your hobbies, favourite TV
shows, preferred sports teams, etc.
* Any other interesting facts about yourself (world
records, appearances on popular TV game shows, etc).
All this should be sent to:
TransAmiga Registration
c/o Timothy Aston
128 Riverview Blvd.
St. Catharines, Ont.
L2T 3M2
CANADA
In return, you will be sent a floppy disk containing the
latest version of TransAmiga BBS, along with your own
personalized keyfile to enable TransAmiga's crippled
features. All disks are sent via Canada post regular mail,
please allow 3-6 weeks for delivery.
Registration through the author is the
only
way you can
become a registered TransAmiga users.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 97
Support:
As a registered user, you will be entitled to support from
the author from the following sources:
* FidoNet netmail:
Tim Aston @ 1:247/192.0 (*)
* UUCP E-Mail through the FidoNet gateway:
tim.aston@p0.f192.n247.z1.fidonet.org
* FAX:
+1-416-682-3501
* Chris's Amiga BBS, +1-716-289-3351, DS-HST, 1:260/660.0,
SysOp Christopher Kloiber, in Manchester, New York, U.S.A.-
official distribution and support HQ or TransAmiga BBS.
* DecBBS, +353-1-288-2454, DS-HST, 2:263/198.0, SysOp
Declan McArdle, in Dublin, Ireland - official European
distribution site and support board.
* Amiga Time, +1-315-454-3072, HST, 1:2608/22.0, SysOp John
Kratz, in Mattydale, New York, U.S.A. - official American
support board for TransAmiga BBS.
* MEBBS ][, +1-306-775-1437, 2400 Baud, 1:140/140.0, SysOp
Jim MacKenzie, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada - official
Canadian support board for TransAmiga BBS.
* Essex Amiga BBS, +44-277-233354, HST, 2:440/67.0, SysOp
Mark Kidd, in Brentwood, Essex, U.K. - official U.K. support
board for TransAmiga BBS.
* Amiga on Phone BBS, +49-7271-6877, DS-HST, 2:241/7520.0,
SysOp Sami Radwan, in Woerth, Germany - official German
support board for TransAmiga BBS.
* Regular mail (remember that?):
Timothy Aston
128 Riverview Blvd.
St. Catharines, Ont.
L2T 3M2
CANADA
Please, do not call me at home, I have a life you know. I
tend to be quite busy, and I'm just not setup to spend a lot
of time on the phone with users (besides, I'm not home often
anyway).
A dedicated support echo called TRANSAMIGA also exists
available on several regional backbones. If your REC does
* The telephone number of this address is unpublished. For
the quickest mail deliver, route mail through 1:247/205.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 98
not carry it, please tell him/her that you'd like to see it
on your region's backbone, and in the meantime you can link
up through Chris' Amiga BBS, or any other site carrying it.
TransAmiga may be periodically upgraded. All upgrades will
be made available on the support boards and on the Amiga
Distribution System's (ADS) dedicated TransAmiga area,
ADSTRANS. Since registered and unregistered users actually
use the same programme, there is no need to mail registered
users upgrades. New versions will recognize your keyfile
and run in registered mode.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 99
Conclusion:
Future:
Here's some things I'm planning to add in the (hopefully)
not too distant future:
* Redesigned user interface according to the
recommendations set out by Commodore's style guide.
* A set of Release 2 style Preferences tools to replace
TransCfg.
* A completely open-ended menu design system, that will
give you complete flexibility in customizing your menus.
* Full support for a standard message base library
currently being developed.
* Greater flexibility, more commands, etc., etc.
NOTE: Apart from possible minor upgrades to TransAmiga v1.1,
all versions past v1.1 will probably
require
Release 2 of
the Amiga's operating system.
Comments:
If you have anything you would like to tell me about
TransAmiga, I encourage you to speak. Comments, criticisms,
suggestions, praise, bug reports, and the time of day are
all very welcome. I really like to receive comments.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to the following people (in no specific
order):
* Ryan Lanyon, my first beta-tester.
* Christopher Kloiber, my secondary beta-tester and SysOp
of the North American support board, who does an outstanding
job at reporting the bugs, making suggestions, and helping
out other TransAmiga SysOps.
* The other support board SysOps: Declan McArdle, Mark Kidd
and Jim MacKenzie.
* Declan McArdle, for TrBroad, and for his tremendous help
in distributing TransAmiga files and information all over
Europe.
* Steve Palm for the TransAmiga support in ConfMail.
* Peer Hasselmeyer for allowing me to be a beta-tester for
Foozle, the absolute best FidoNet mail system for the Amiga.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 100
* The makers of HiSoft BASIC, the only BASIC compiler for
the Amiga worth half a hill of beans.
* Bruce Geerdes for writing Petra, a fine example of a
BASIC BBS.
* Maximilian Hantsch for writing TrapDoor, and for the free
registered version.
* Michael Richardson and Russell McOrmand for writing
Welmat, and for making it free.
* Damian Rogers for helping with writing the FidoNet
documentation.
* Jonathan Forbes and Steve Tibbett for their work,
patience and co-operation in creating the ABBEREXX standard.
* My parents for paying my phone bills.
* All the users that made suggestions, offered bug reports,
and other helpful things.
* My competition, for pushing me to add new and better
features.
* All the people that have registered TransAmiga. I never
dreamed it would ever get this big in such a short amount of
time.
On Your Own:
That about wraps things up, you're on your own from now on.
I apologize if I forgot to mention anything in this
documentation, if I was a little vague at times, or if my
grammar was not perfect (spelling wasn't bad though thanks
to WordPerfect). If you think you can write something
better, I encourage it. I hope you enjoy using TransAmiga
and I look forward to hearing your comments!
-Tim
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 101
A P P E N D I C E S
-------------------
Appendix I
Samples:
This appendix provides numerous samples for to follow to
help you in getting your system running. The samples cover
a wide range of applications, and you will probably only
need to refer to a few of them depending on how you have
things set up. Be careful, as some lines have had to be
wrapped so as to fit in the manual.
Sample TrapDoor Configuration:
This is an example configuration file for the TrapDoor
FidoNet mailer, running as a node.
In addition to the TrapDoor programme itself, the TrapDoor
package comes with three other programmes you will be need
in your setup, TrapTell, TrapPoll and TrapList. TrapTell
won't be used in our examples, but TrapPoll will, and you
will need TrapList, as that is TrapDoor's special nodelist
processor. Copy all of the files into Mail:. TrapDoor
comes with a shared library called traplist.library, which
must be placed in your Libs: directory. There are also a
few other tools that come with TrapDoor which you may find
useful, but will not be explained here.
Here is a sample configuration file. Comment lines start
with a semi-colon (;).
; This is your node number. If you haven't yet received
; yours, use zone:net/9999.o
NODE 1:247/9999.0
; This is the name you've chosen for your system
NAME "TransAmiga Development"
; This should be easy enough, your name
SYSOP "Tim Aston"
; When you are going to perform password protected session,
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 102
; this is where the password goes. For now, leave at ""
PASSWORD ""
; Your maximum and minimum baud rate. Unless you're using
; an HST, leave NOLOCK as is.
BAUD 2400 NOLOCK MINBAUD 300
; The address and phone number of your mail feed.
BOSS 1:247/9999.0
CALL 1:247/99
; These parameters define the type of mail sessions TrapDoor
; will do. Generally you don't have to alter them.
DIETIFNA ZEDZAP
WAZOO
; Your Outbound, Inbound, and Nodelist directories. If you
; don't have a nodelist, use NODELIST ""
OUTBOUND "Mail:Outbound"
INBOUND "Mail:Inbound"
NODELIST "NodeList:"
MAXBAUD
RINGS 1
; Some BBS setup commands, leave these as is for now
BANNER "This is my BBS running TransAmiga"
; The BBS startup command
BBSCOMMAND "rx StartBBS %b"
BBSINOUT ""
BBSMODE SPAWN
; Log file setup
LOGFILE "ram:TrapDoor.log"
LOGLEVEL 0:2
LOGLEVEL 1:2
LOGLEVEL 2:2
LOGLEVEL 3:2
LOGLEVEL 4:2
LOGLEVEL 5:2
LOGLEVEL 6:7
LOGLEVEL 7:2
LOGLEVEL 8:5
LOGLEVEL 9:2
WRAPLINES
SLOWMODEM 10
; Your modem commands. On a typical 1200 or 2400 baud modem
; these should be enough
MODEMINIT "ATZ|~~~~~"
MODEMHANGUP "||^|"
MODEMDIALPRE "ATDT "
MODEMDIALPORT "|"
MODEMANSWER "ATA|"
SHARED
; If you've got ARexx, you can use the FRequest.rexx macro
; to allow other FidoNet systems to request files from you.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 103
; If you don't have ARexx, change this to FREQUEST ""
FREQUEST "rx FRequest %i,%o,%l"
; Import.rexx should be an ARexx script that does your
; importing and renumbering
AFTERSESSION "rx Import"
REXXNAME "TrapDoor"
SHOWREXX
DSR
SERIALNAME "serial.device" SERIALUNIT 0 SERIALFLAGS 0
ADJUST -11
LOGWINDOW 30/12/580/125 STATWINDOW 30/139/580/61
SCREENMODE TRAPDOOR
NOBACKGROUND AUTOOVERSCAN
COLOURS $a00/$fff/$000/$99e
ACCOUNTING ACTMAX "3000 20 2 20 5 2"
ANSWER
RETRIES 1 REDIALDELAY 1
NOQUIET NOSWEPULSE
FKEY "1:EMSI"
FKEY "11:NOEMSI"
FKEY "2:WAZOO"
FKEY "12:NOWAZOO"
FKEY "3:ZEDZAP"
FKEY "13:NOZEDZAP"
FKEY "4:DIETIFNA"
FKEY "14:NODIETINFA"
FKEY "5:BBSMODE SPAWN"
FKEY "15:BBSMODE ZMH"
FKEY "10:SPAWN \"TransAmiga -x\""
Save your configuration in Mail: as TrapDoor.Cfg. To start
TrapDoor, you would just enter:
run TrapDoor
Sample Welmat Configuration:
This is an example configuration for the Welmat FidoNet
frontend mailer, running as a node.
Welmat is a little different than TrapDoor in that it
requires a few more utilities to run. There is the Welmat
programme itself, WCompile, WCtl, WAbort, and WGetLine. In
addition, you will IGen by Todd Kover and its
nodelist.library for processing your nodelist. All these
programmes should go in Mail:, except for nodelist.library
and flow.library which should go into your Libs: directory.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 104
Lines starting with a # are comment lines.
# You enter your address here, use zone:net/9999.0 if you
# haven't received one yet
Host 1:247/9999
# Simple enough, your name
Sysop "Tim Aston"
# This is the name you've chosen for your system
System "TransAmiga Development"
# Log file information
LogFile ram:Welmat.Log
LogFileLevel 30
LogWindow "WelMat Log" 0 119 333 81
LogWindowName "WelMat Log"
DisplayLogLevel 30
DisplayLogLevel 30
StatusLevel 80
# Your Outbound, Inbound, and Nodelist directories. If you
# don't have a nodelist, comment out that line
FidoListM NodeList:NODELIST
Inbound Mail:Inbound
Outbound Mail:OutBound
# Codes is a file that comes with Welmat so that it can
# identify what kind of system it is talking to
CodeList Mail:Codes
# Here's where we set up the individual modem lines. This,
# of course, will be a single line setup, but we will
# actually need TWO Modem # entries, one for normal BBS
# spawning, and one for no BBS spawning.
Modem 0
# Serial port and modem setup
Device serial.device
Unit 0
ModemName "Avatex 2400E"
BaudRate 2400
# The modem commands. These should work pretty much
# unchanged with most 1200 or 2400 baud modems.
Init ~ATZ|~~
Dial ~ATDT
Hangup v~~^~~ATH0|~AT|
PostDial ~~|~~
Atten |~AT|
Answer ATA|
# These are the modem response codes. Again, these
# shouldn't have to be changed.
Response busy "BUSY"
Response ring "RING"
Response maid "NO CARRIER"
Response maid "ERROR"
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 105
Response maid "VOICE"
Response line "NO DIALTONE"
Response 300 "\r\nCONNECT\r\n"
Response find "CONNECT %d"
Prompt OK
# Some miscellaneous modem settings
ResponseWait 10
ConnectWait 60
UseDTR
No7Wire
# The command users see when they connect
WelcomeMessage "|Press Escape for my TransAmiga BBS|"
# This is the BBS startup command, we'll go into more
# detail about this later
BBSExecute "TransAmiga -b%d -x"
YesBBS
NoLogin
NoWaZoo
Launch
ReceiveCalls
StatusWindow "RAW:316/159/324/41/Welmat Slave Status"
LogWindow "WelMat Slave Log" 316 21 324 148
ModemEnd
# This is the ZMH configuration that doesn't spawn the BBS.
# The Launch keyword is left out because we don't want
# Welmat to start with this entry
Modem 1
# Serial port and modem setup
Device serial.device
Unit 0
ModemName "Avatex 2400E"
BaudRate 2400
# The modem commands. These should work pretty much
# unchanged with most 1200 or 2400 baud modems.
Init ~ATZ|~~
Dial ~ATDT
Hangup v~~^~~ATH0|~AT|
PostDial ~~|~~
Atten |~AT|
Answer ATA|
# These are the modem response codes. Again, these
# shouldn't have to be changed.
Response busy "BUSY"
Response ring "RING"
Response maid "NO CARRIER"
Response maid "ERROR"
Response maid "VOICE"
Response line "NO DIALTONE"
Response 300 "\r\nCONNECT\r\n"
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 106
Response find "CONNECT %d"
Prompt OK
# Some miscellaneous modem settings
ResponseWait 10
ConnectWait 60
UseDTR
No7Wire
# The command users see when they connect
WelcomeMessage "|Press Escape for my TransAmiga BBS|"
# This is the BBS startup command, we'll go into more
# detail about this later
NoBBS
NoLogin
NoWaZoo
ReceiveCalls
StatusWindow "RAW:316/159/324/41/Welmat Slave Status"
LogWindow "WelMat Slave Log" 316 21 324 148
ModemEnd
Save this file in Mail: as Welmat.Cfg. Welmat works a
little differently than other programmes, in that before
Welmat can understand your configuration file, you must
compile it. You do this using the supplied WCompile tool,
which will create a file called Welmat.Data which Welmat can
read.
To run Welmat you just need to type:
run Welmat
You'd probably want to do this somewhere in your s:Startup-
Sequence.
Sample ConfMail Configuration:
ConfMail requires two configuration files, both go in Mail:.
The first is called Areas.BBS and that gives information on
the various mail areas you wish to keep around. The second
is called Config.Dog, and that contains additional
information for ConfMail.
Here is a sample Areas.BBS file, lines starting with a ; are
comment lines:
; The first line that is not a comment or blank must be the
; name of your system, following by a !, followed by your
; name.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 107
;--- board name should not be longer than this ---:
TransAmiga Development ! Tim Aston
; Now come your areas. First comes the directory, then
; the exact tag name for the echo, then the list of nodes
; that it gets exported to (usually only your mail feed).
; System areas, these two are required
Mail:Netmail/ MAIL_DIR 247/99
Mail:Bad/ BAD_MSGS
; Echomail areas
Mail:Echoes/Amiga_Net_Dev/ AMIGA_NET_DEV 247/99
Mail:Echoes/Amiga_Prog/ AMIGA_PROG 247/99
Mail:Echoes/Amiga_SysOp/ AMIGA_SYSOP 247/99
Mail:Echoes/Amy_Point/ AMY_POINT 247/99
Mail:Echoes/Niagara/ NIAGARA 247/99
Mail:Echoes/TransAmiga/ TRANSAMIGA 247/99
Mail:Echoes/TrapDoor/ TRAPDOOR 247/99
Mail:Echoes/Welmat/ WELMAT 247/99
Here is a sample Config.Dog file:
; This is your address
NODE 1:247/9999
; Here you put the name of your outbound directory
MAIL Mail:Outbound
; This is you inbound directory
FILES Mail:Inbound
; This is the directory where ConfMail temporarily stores
; unpacked mail bundles
PACKET t:
; Your command for arc'ing mail. This example uses zoo,
; but archiving methods used vary.
ARC Zoo a
; This is your unarc command. Again, Zoo is used in this
; example, but it will vary.
UNARC Zoo x
; These commands tell ConfMail what to do with your netmail
; directory
NETMAIL Mail:Matrix
DO_NETMAIL
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 108
FWD_REPLIES
; Tell ConfMail to update TransAmiga's last read pointers on
; renumber
TRANSAMIGA
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 109
Appendix II
BBS Tools Reference:
This appendix provides a quick reference on the use of all
of the included TransAmiga tools. All these programmes can
be found in Bin directory.
TransAmiga Access Lock:
Usage:
TrAL L|U
Pronunciation:
TRAWL
Either locks (L) or unlocks (U) TransAmiga's message areas.
When the areas are locked, all message areas become read-
only, and users will not be allowed to save messages.
Warning, this only has any real effect while there is a BBS
line running (or anything else that uses
transamiga.library). There is little chance that locking
will have any effect if TrAL is used before any BBS lines
are running, and there is an equally small chance that the
lock will be retained after all lines have been exited.
TransAmiga BBS:
Usage:
TransAmiga -c<config file> [-b<baud rate>] [-l<locked
baud rate] [-t<max time>] [-n<line>] [-x] [-r] [-s]
Starts up the BBS. See earlier on in the manual for
complete details.
TransAmiga BBS Line Activity Display:
Usage:
TrBLAD [<line>]
Displays all current BBS activity in a similar manner to the
"Who's Online" command from the main menu. If no specific
<line> is specified, all lines will be listed.
TransAmiga Broadcaster:
Usage:
TrBroad <message> -n<line>
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 110
Sends an online message to the indicated line number.
TransAmiga Configuration Tool:
Usage:
TransCfg -c<config file>
Setup up and/or edit TransAmiga's configuration. <config
file> is the name of TransAmiga's master configuration file.
TransAmiga File Lister:
Usage:
TrFL -o<out file> -c<configs dir> [-t<title>]
[-a<access>] [-d<days>] [-s] [-n]
Pronunciation:
TRY-full
Creates a readable text file listing files available in the
file section. <out file> is the name of the text file to
create. <configs dir> is the name of your TransAmiga
configurations directory. <title> is an optional text file
that will be inserted at the top of the generated file
listing. Specifying <access> allows you to limit what areas
are included: only areas with this level or lower will be
listed in the generated file. <days> defines what is a
"new" file. New files are marked with an asterisk (*) in
the output file. Specifying -n tells TrFL to include only
files that are new. Finally, -s tells TrFL to sort the
output file. TrFL is very intelligent about this, when
sorting it will not move around comment lines in the file
listing (lines starting with a backslash), and will sort the
files inbetween the comment lines, and not move them
elsewhere.
TransAmiga User Maintenance:
Usage:
TrMaint -c<config file> [-n<line number>]
Starts the remote SysOp user maintenance module. If you
specify a line number, TrMaint assumes that it will be going
through the BBS as a door. Otherwise, it will simply run
from the CLI.
TransAmiga DOS Shell:
Usage:
TrShell -n<line number> -f<FIFO name>
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 111
Starts up TransAmiga remote shell. This can only be run
from within the BBS as a door.
This is a full interactive shell, supporting things such as
simple command line editting, and "raw" mode. It will also
check for carrier loss and user idle timeout, in these cases
it will send a CTRL-C break to the running programme.
In order to run, TrShell requires that the FIFO: device be
properly installed on your system. This requires that you
copy the fifo.library file to your Libs: directory, the
fifo-handler file to your L: directory, which also must be
executed in your Startup-Sequence.
For TrShell to work properly, you should first start up a
new CLI process, with all it's input and output going
through FIFO:. Note how a unique FIFO name must be
generated for each invocation, in the example below this is
done with the ARexx pragma("id") function. An example of
starting TrShell from ARexx would be:
/* ARexx macro to start the remote shell */
options result
id=time("s")
SYSTEMINFO 8 ; bbsline=result
address command 'NewShell FIFO:trshell'id'/rwkecs'
address command 'TrShell -n'bbsline' -ftrshell'id
exit
"trshell" is the unique filename that you must pass to FIFO:
and also to TrShell (they must be identical!); the BBS line
number is appended to the end to avoid conflicts on multi-
line systems. The "/rwkecs" are the parameters that are
required for FIFO: to work correctly with TrShell.
Tell TransAmiga ARexx Commands:
Usage:
TrTell [-n<line number>] <command>
Sends a TransAmiga ARexx command to a currently running
line. Usually this is used when you've started TransAmiga
with the -r option and it is just sitting waiting for an
ARexx messages. The same result can be achieved by using
the RX command, this way just takes a little less typing.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 112
If your command is more than one word, you should enclose
the command in quotes, eg:
TrTell -n0 "baudrate 2400"
TrTell -n0 logon
(the commands are case-insensitive).
Sending ARexx messages while a user is online is generally
not a good idea, and can lead to unpredictable results. You
should only use this command in the situation described
above.
TransAmiga Update File Areas:
Usage:
TrUFL <file dir>
Pronuncation:
TRUH-full
This searches through the specified file directory for files
not listed in TransAmiga's Files.BBS, and prompts you to
enter a description so that it will be added to the file
listing. If you do not wish to add it, simply press RETURN
at the prompt. No long description will be given, and the
uploader's name will be set as "SysOp". This can easily be
edited simply by loading up the appropriate .Desc file in a
text editor.
TrUFL also searches for files that are listed in the file
listing but not actually present in the file directory.
This is handy if you've moved or deleted the file from the
Shell or Workbench, and have forgotten to update the file
listing.
TransAmiga Update Message Pointers:
Usage:
TrUMP <msg dir> [<msg dir>...]
This searches for the high and low message pointers in the
specified netmail or echomail message directories. This
must be run when any programme other than TransAmiga adds a
message to an area, otherwise TransAmiga will have incorrect
values for the message pointers.
Due to slight differences in the way TransAmiga treats local
and privileged-only areas, you must never use TrUMP on
directories of these types.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 113
Appendix III
Amiga ANSI Codes:
This is a complete references section for the ANSI codes
that TransAmiga) understands. For maximum compatibility
with various terminal types, TransAmiga understands a
combination of both IBM ANSI codes, and Amiga console.device
ANSI codes.
Colour Change Codes:
ESC [30m - black foreground
ESC [31m - red foreground
ESC [32m - green foreground
ESC [33m - yellow foreground
ESC [34m - blue foreground
ESC [35m - purple foreground
ESC [36m - cyan foreground
ESC [37m - white foreground
ESC [40m - black background
ESC [41m - red background
ESC [42m - green background
ESC [43m - yellow background
ESC [44m - blue background
ESC [45m - purple background
ESC [46m - cyan background
ESC [47m - white background
Style Controls:
ESC [0m - reset ANSI codes
ESC [1m - boldface on (*)
ESC [3m - italics on
ESC [4m - underline on
ESC [7m - inverse on
(*) In 16 colour ANSI, boldface text is rendered as a
slightly brighter colour, thus giving you access to the
8 additional colours in the palette.
Cursor Controls:
ESC [A - cursor up
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ESC [B - cursor down
ESC [C - cursor right
ESC [D - cursor left
ESC [#A - cursor up # lines
ESC [#B - cursor down # lines
ESC [#C - cursor right # spaces
ESC [#D - cursor left # spaces
ESC [H - cursor home
ESC [#H - cursor to line #
ESC [#;#H - cursor to a specific row and column
ESC [s - save the current cursor position
ESC [u - restore cursor to the last saved position
Miscellaneous Commands:
ESC [@ - insert a space
ESC [#@ - insert # spaces
ESC [L - insert line
ESC [#L - insert # lines
ESC [M - delete line
ESC [#M - delete # lines
ESC [P - delete character
ESC [#P - Delete # characters
ESC [K - delete to end of line
ESC [1K - delete to start of line
ESC [2K - delete entire line
ESC [J - clear to end of screen
ESC [1J - clear to top of screen
ESC [2J - clear entire screen
NOTE: some ANSI commands can be stacked using the semi-colon
(;), eg:
ESC [1;43;34m - blue bold text on yellow background
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G L O S S A R Y
---------------
Access Levels:
A means of restricting users from using certain parts of the
BBS. When an access level is specified for a command or
area in TransAmiga, that function becomes invisible to users
who have an access level lower than that number. Valid
access levels range from 1 to 255.
ANSI Graphics:
A format for sending simple graphics information. It has
codes for changing colours, moving the cursor, etc. Most
terminal programmes and BBS's support this protocol.
Archive:
A single file that contains several other files encoded into
it. Usually some kind of compression is done on these
files. Special tools are needed to add and extract files
from archives. There exist various archiving methods such
as: LHarc and Zoo, which are characterized by the suffixes
.Lzh and .Zoo on the filenames of their respective archives.
ARexx:
A high level scripting language for the Amiga that is unique
in that it defines a protocol for inter-process
communication, allowing non-programmers to create macros
that control other software.
Batch Transfer:
A transfer in which several files will be sent automatically
one after another where no extra work is required by the
users between each transfer. Only certain protocols such as
Zmodem are capable of batch transfers.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
TransAmiga BBS User Manual Page 116
BBS:
Bulletin Board System. A piece of computer software that
will automatically receive calls over the modem and allow
callers to perform various functions such as posting and
reading messages, sending and receiving file, etc.
Door:
A programme that is executed by the BBS to perform some sort
of outside function. Now an obsolete term, as most BBS
packages work interactively with external programmes these
days.
Download:
To receive a file over the modem.
Echo:
A FidoNet message area, where all messages posted are sent
through FidoNet to all other systems that wish to receive
that echo. In essence, a public message conference.
FidoNet:
A non-profit publicly accessible network of several
thousand computer users all around the world (but
predominantly in North America, Europe and Australia) that
allows for the transferring of messages and files.
Freeware:
A concept of software distribution in which the author(s)
retain a copyright over the programme, but require no fee to
use it.
FTS-0001:
The basic FidoNet technical document that describes the
message format, packet format, and mailer protocol.
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Intuition:
The Amiga's graphical user interface. Intuition provides
such aspects of the Amiga's operating system and pull-down
menus, windows, gadgets, etc. Intuition is held in a
shared-library in ROM.
Kludge Lines:
Special lines that appear in FidoNet messages that are
intended to give more information to programmes processing
FidoNet messages. A CTRL a (ASCII code 1) precedes them to
identify them as kludges. TransAmiga displays these in bold
text and can only be viewed by those with privileged access.
Mailer:
A programme that makes and receives calls for the delivering
and picking up of mail bundles and other files. Used within
FidoNet. Usually this will also act as a frontend to a
FidoNet BBS, answering incoming calls and spawning the BBS
when necessary. Eg. TrapDoor, Welmat.
Mail Processor:
A programme used to unpack incoming mail bundles and toss
them into the correct areas, and to pack up outgoing mail
into bundles ready for sending. Eg. ConfMail, FastPoint,
GCCHost, Foozle.
Matrix Mail:
See Netmail.
Message Header:
The part of the message that contains such information as
who sent it, who it was sent to, date it was sent, etc.
Multi-Line:
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The ability for a BBS to somehow handle multiple callers on
multiple phone lines at the same time.
Netmail:
Messages sent through FidoNet to a specific person at a
specific FidoNet address. Usually used to send mail that is
intended to be relatively private. Also referred to as
Matrix Mail.
Path Name:
Refers to the full AmigaDOS reference to the location of a
file. This includes the device or volume name which should
be followed by a colon (:); followed by any directories that
the file may be in, followed by a slash (/); followed by the
file name itself. Example: Sys:Utilities/Calculator
Public Domain:
When referring to software, it means that the author(s)
gives up all rights over the software, allowing anyone to do
whatever they like to it.
Protocol:
A special means to transfer files over the modem that
insures that the file arrives error free. Examples are
Xmodem, Zmodem, Xmodem-1k, etc.
Release 2:
Refers to the second generation of the Amiga's operating
system. Often referred to as Workbench 2.0 or just 2.0.
Return Code:
A code sent to AmigaDOS by a programme when it exits.
Usually to provide information about what that programme has
done so certain actions can be handled by a script file.
Session Handler:
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
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See Mailer.
Shared Library:
A collection of predefined functions that programmers can
use in their programmers. They can either reside in the
Amiga's ROM (such as the intuition.library) or on disk in
the Libs: directory (such as the diskfont.library).
Shareware:
A concept of software distribution where some form of the
software is provided free, and users are required to
"register" after a certain period of time. Registering
normally includes a fee.
Upload:
To send a file to another system over the modem.
Upload:Download Ratio:
A means of restricting people from downloading too much, and
forcing them to upload. For every specified amount of files
they download, they must upload one. If the reach the
download limit without a corresponding upload, they will not
be allowed to download anymore until a file is uploaded.
Ideally, a circle is created: the more people download, the
more they must upload, and the more files there are for
downloading, the more people will download.
XPR Protocols:
A method of implementing file transfer protocols externally
on the Amiga. Each protocol lives in its own shared
library, which contains a standard set of functions for
transferring files. An XPR supporting application can be
made to work with any number of protocols simply by
installing new libraries.
TransAmiga BBS v1.1 Copyright 1991 by Timothy Aston
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