-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
Expand file tree
/
Copy pathJetBBS.html
More file actions
3593 lines (2450 loc) · 124 KB
/
Copy pathJetBBS.html
File metadata and controls
3593 lines (2450 loc) · 124 KB
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">a{text-decoration:none}</style> <!-- We set text-decoration to none so our links are not underlined -->
</head>
<pre>
JetBBS Version 5.0
System Operator's Manual
Documentation by
Troy Beckstrom, Jason Haskins, and Dan Sanderson.
Copyright (c) 1993-1996 Troy Beckstrom. All Rights Reserved.
%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%% %%%%% %
%%% % %%%% %%% %%%% %%% %%% %%%%
%%% %% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%%
%%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %
%%% %%%% %%%%%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%%% %
%%% % %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%%%
%%% %% %%% %%% %%%%%% %%%%%% %%%%
%%% %% %% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%%%
%%% %% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%%%
%%% %%%%% %%% %%% %%% %%% %%% % %%%
%% %%% %%% %%% ___%%% %%% %%% %%% % %%%
%%% %% %%% % %% /\ \%% %%%% %%% %%%% %% %%%
%% %%% %%% % %%%/ \ \ %%%% %%% %%%% %%%% %%%
%%%% %%%% %/ \ \%%%% %%%%%%%%% % %%%%%
/\ / /
/ \ / /
/ \/ /
\ /\ \
\ / \ \
\/ \ \
\ / /
\ / /
___ \/__/ ___
/\ \ /\ \
/ \ \ / \ \
/ \ \ / \ \ ___
\ / / /\ / / /\ \
\ / / / \ / / / \ \
\/__/ / \/ / / \ \
\ / / \ / /
\ / / \ / /
\/__/ \/__/
Table of Contents
<A HREF="#chap_1">Chapter 1 - Introduction.....................................4</A>
<A HREF="#chap_1_sys_reqs">System Requirements ......................................4</A>
<A HREF="#chap_1_contact">How To Contact Me ........................................4</A>
<A HREF="#chap_2">Chapter 2 - Installation.....................................6</A>
<A HREF="#chap_3">Chapter 3 - Customizing Text Files...........................7</A>
<A HREF="#chap_4">Chapter 4 - Configuration....................................8</A>
<A HREF="#chap_4_bbs.ini">BBS.INI Configuration File ...............................8</A>
<A HREF="#chap_4_intro_mnu">Introduction to MNU Files ................................9</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5">Chapter 5 - Advanced Features...............................11</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_doors">Door Programs ...........................................11</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_events">Daily Events ............................................12</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_multi-line">Multi-Line ..............................................12</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_windows">Windows .................................................14</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_pay">Running A Pay System ....................................15</A>
<A HREF="#chap_5_cdrom">CD-ROM Support ..........................................16</A>
<A HREF="#chap_6">Chapter 6 - Utilities.......................................17</A>
<A HREF="#chap_6_import">IMPORT Utility ..........................................17</A>
<A HREF="#chap_6_msgfix">MSGFIX Utility ..........................................17</A>
<A HREF="#chap_7">Chapter 7 - Fixing Modem Problems...........................19</A>
<A HREF="#chap_7_problems">Common Problems and Suggested Solutions .................20</A>
<A HREF="#chap_7_modem_init">Modem Init Parameters ...................................23</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8">Chapter 8 - Using the BBS...................................24</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_message_base">Using the Message Base ..................................24</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_sub-boards">Sub-Boards ..............................................26</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_email">E-Mail ..................................................26</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_auto-message">Auto-Message, Board-News, and Logon Messages ............27</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_borderlines">Borderlines .............................................27</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_file_transfers">File Transfers ..........................................27</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_BBS_phone_list">BBS Phone List ..........................................27</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_userlog_menu">Userlog Menu ............................................28</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_message_base_and_userlog_scrolling">Message Base and Userlog Scrolling ......................28</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_access_level">Access Level ............................................29</A>
<A HREF="#chap_8_sysop_func_keys">Sysop Function Keys .....................................29</A>
<A HREF="#chap_9">Chapter 9 - MNU Tutorial....................................31</A>
<A HREF="#chap_9_menu_block">MNU File [menu] Block ...................................31</A>
<A HREF="#chap_9_do_block">MNU File [do] Block .....................................34</A>
<A HREF="#chap_10">Chapter 10 - MNU %variable% Replacement Keywords............35</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11">Chapter 11 - MNU Command Reference..........................39</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_auto-message">Auto-Message ............................................39</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_bank">Bank ....................................................39</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_borderlines">Borderlines .............................................41</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_doors">Doors ...................................................41</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_goto">Goto ....................................................43</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_logoff">Logoff ..................................................44</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_mail">Mail ....................................................44</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_message_base">Message Base ............................................45</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_miscellaneous">Miscellaneous ...........................................46</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_multi-line">Multi-Line ..............................................48</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_phone_list">Phone List ..............................................49</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_print">Print ...................................................49</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_sub-boards">Sub-Boards ..............................................50</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_sysop">Sysop ...................................................51</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_transfers">Transfers ...............................................53</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_userlog">Userlog .................................................54</A>
<A HREF="#chap_11_voting_poll">Voting Poll .............................................55</A>
<A HREF="#chap_12">Chapter 12 - Software License ..............................56</A>
<A HREF="#page57">Registration Form ..........................................57</A>
<A HREF="#index">Index ......................................................58</A>
- 3 -
<A NAME="chap_1">
Chapter 1 - Introduction
JetBBS is a fully featured, yet easy to use shareware bulletin
board system. Its strong points include:
- Highly configurable. Like a BBS construction kit that is
already put together for you. You can change almost
anything to the way you want it.
- Quick to install and easy to run. JetBBS is designed to be
able to run on its own without requiring sysop attention.
- Multi-line capability, including multi-user chat. Even if
you only have one line, you can use this feature to log
on locally while the BBS continues to take calls.
- A conversion utility that can import the message base from
almost any other BBS software.
- Sub-Boards, so users can run their own mini-BBSes.
- File transfers, with tagged batch downloads.
- Support for four door protocols: DORINFO1.DEF,
CALLINFO.BBS, CHAIN.TXT, and DOOR.SYS.
- Optional credit system with 8 built in casino games.
- Voting polls.
- QWK mail and message packets for offline reading, and
upload of REP packets for responding.
- Easy to use full screen message editor.
<A NAME="chap_1_sys_reqs"> SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
An IBM compatible computer
A hard drive
At least 640k of RAM
A modem
You'll need to be running MS-DOS, or an operating system that can
emulate DOS, such as OS/2. To run multiple lines, or to log on
locally while the BBS is running, you need a multitasking
operating system. JetBBS has been tested thoroughly on Windows,
and a JETBBS.PIF file is included for that purpose. It has also
been running BBSes on DESQview and OS/2 Warp.
<A NAME="chap_1_contact"> HOW TO CONTACT ME
I will be happy to answer your questions and help fix any problems
you are having. Please include your BBS's name and phone number
if you have one, and your mailing address or internet e-mail
address so I can respond if you are long distance. For the
- 4 -
quickest response, call the support BBS and post a message in the
JetBBS Support room, where other sysops may be able to help.
I can be reached by e-mail at:
beckstrom@jetbbs.com
account #2 at Dimension Nine Support BBS,
206-LAB-TEAM (206-522-8326) or 206-522-3980
Or by paper mail:
Troy Beckstrom
2318 Second Avenue #492
Seattle, WA 98121
- 5 -
<A NAME="chap_2">
Chapter 2 - Installation
To install JetBBS, you need to have the files JETSETUP.EXE and
JETBBS.DAT. Type "JETSETUP" to begin the installation program.
After you have completed the setup process, you need to create an
account for yourself on the BBS. You should be the first person
to log on after running the setup program because the first
account will already be set at a Sysop level and feedback will be
directed there. To create an account for yourself, run "JETBBS
LOCAL" and log in as "NEW". After entering all the information,
you will be placed at the main menu.
- 6 -
<A NAME="chap_3">
Chapter 3 - Customizing Text Files
This section will explain what help files are and guide you
through the process of customizing them to modify the appearance
of your BBS. Help files usually contain a list of options that a
user may select from at a menu. Besides editing the help files,
you can also edit and personalize the text files that will be
displayed upon logon and logoff as well as the new user
information file that will be displayed to new users when they
type "NEW" upon connecting with your board. You may either use
the editor included with the BBS program, or any other text editor
you prefer. The text and help files are contained in the TEXT
directory. The following are the text and help files that you may
edit. NEWUSER.TXT, LOGON.TXT, and LOGOFF.TXT should be edited,
but all others are optional.
\BBS\TEXT\NEWUSER.TXT (Text file displayed to new users)
\BBS\TEXT\LOGON.TXT (Logon message displayed upon connect)
\BBS\TEXT\LOGOFF.TXT (Logoff message displayed when logging off)
\BBS\TEXT\MAIN.HLP (Main Menu help file)
\BBS\TEXT\MSG.HLP (Message Base help file)
\BBS\TEXT\SUB.HLP (Sub-Board help file)
\BBS\TEXT\BANK.HLP (Bank/Casino help file)
\BBS\TEXT\POLL.HLP (Voting Poll Help file)
\BBS\TEXT\USERLOG.HLP (Userlog help file)
If you choose to use the editor included with the BBS, press [*]
to go to the Sysop menu, and then [+] to receive a menu of edit
options. Press [T] to edit the help files. All files that are
displayed to users will be included in the listing of available
choices. You might want to go into each one and change "JetBBS"
to your BBS's name to make things more personalized. You may
alter the physical appearance of any of the ".HLP" or ".TXT" files
in any way you wish. It will have no repercussions on what
commands you may access from that menu.
You should be especially sure to edit NEWUSER.TXT which is
displayed to a new user after they log on and type "NEW" as well
as the LOGON.TXT and LOGOFF.TXT which are displayed to the users
upon logging on and off your board. The NEWUSER.TXT should
contain information about what you expect out of the users, and
what your policies and requirements are on the BBS. While in the
editor, you may use escape at any time to return to a listing of
files you may edit, or to the BBS.
You can also use the BBS's built in message editor to edit text
files. Its advantage is that it can also be used from remote (if
RemoteSysopPassword has been set, more on this later), but since
it can't use direct screen writes, it's not as easy to use as the
non-modemable editors. To use it, press [E] in the sysop menu and
give it a filename, such as "TEXT\NEWUSER.TXT".
- 7 -
<A NAME="chap_4">
Chapter 4 - Configuration
<A NAME="chap_4_bbs.ini"> BBS.INI CONFIGURATION FILE
The BBS.INI file contains many useful and easy to change
configuration options. This is one of the first files you should
view and change to suit your needs after entering the BBS for the
first time. There are complete descriptions under each command in
the BBS.INI file which list the possible configurations for each
setting, so modifying this file is extremely easy. To aid you in
editing this file and determining which configurations you may
want to modify, we will include several examples and elaborate on
some of the available settings. To view or edit the BBS.INI file,
enter the sysop menu, press [+] and then select [I] from the list
of options.
The BBS.INI file is broken up into two parts. All lines with a
semicolon (";") in front of them are comments inserted in the file
to aid you in the configuration of the file. Everything else in
the file is an actual command. If you wish to prevent a line in
the file from being read, you may place a semicolon before it, and
the line will ignored. This may useful if you wish to disable a
command or interject a note somewhere in the file.
There are several lines in the BBS.INI file which you may wish to
change. Regardless of whether you are interested in changing any
of the things that we mention, you should at least browse through
the BBS.INI file to see all the options that are available.
JetBBS can filter out the escape character, which is the first of
several characters in a series which produce cursor movements and
colors on the screen. These are generally called ANSI characters.
The current setting in the INI file is to allow escape characters.
If you would like to disallow them, change "AllowEscChar: 1" to
"AllowEscChar: 0".
Also included in JetBBS is the ability to limit the number of
calls per day allowed at each access level and the amount of time
allowed on-line at each access level per day. These are
particularly useful if you are running a popular file board or pay
board and need to place restrictions on the amount of time or
number of calls a user has on-line each day. However, if you are
running a message oriented board, you may not be as concerned
about how long a user is on-line, or how many calls they make to
your board each day. In this case you may wish to raise the
amount of time they have on-line as well as the number of calls
allowed per day to a non-restrictive amount or even abolish all
limitations. The calls allowed per day at each access level as
well as the time limit allowed at each access level per day may be
modified in the BBS.INI file. If you would like to disable them,
you may place a semicolon before each line which will turn them
off. You may also disable time limits or calls per day for
specific access levels and leave them intact for others.
- 8 -
The Sysop menu can be accessed by any level 8 or 9 user, however
JetBBS places a restriction on certain commands. There are some
commands in the sysop menu marked by an "(*)" that can access the
file system directly, inside and outside of the BBS's directory.
They are: Shell to DOS, Enter DOS Command, View Text File, Edit
Text File, Edit Doors, and Edit Transfer Areas. There are others
that could be quickly and widely destructive to the BBS's data
files. To defend against remote access to these commands, there
is a "RemoteSysopPassword:" field in the BBS.INI file. If the
password is left blank, as it is when the BBS is first set up, the
commands cannot be accessed from remote at all. Once you set a
password, they can be used from remote by using the password. In
addition to protecting data, the password is also required in the
Edit User and Delete User commands if the user being changed is
level 8 or 9, or if a level 8 or 9 account is to be created.
The remote sysop password serves as an added barrier of security
beyond the level 9 access level required to access sysop commands.
For most sysops, there is no need to make the whole computer
potentially accessible through the modem. You may want to have
level 9 co-sysops who have full sysop control over the BBS, but
not over the rest of your computer.
The remote sysop password is not required for sysops logged in
locally because the user at the local console could press [ALT+X],
[CTRL+C], or [CTRL+BREAK] and instantly get a DOS prompt to do
whatever they want. Commands listed as access level -2 in the MNU
files can only be used by the local sysop regardless of the remote
sysop password. Level -2 is mainly used for calling external
programs that could not be used over the modem anyway.
<A NAME="chap_4_intro_mnu"> INTRODUCTION TO MNU FILES
This section will explain how to alter MNU files which are located
in the MNU directory. We will give an overview of MNU files so
that you can get a feel of just how configurable JetBBS really is.
If you would like an in depth look at the MNU files, you may refer
to the reference section of this manual.
The MNU files are divided into two sections; the "[do]" block and
the "[menu]" block. The "[do]" block contains commands that are
executed when someone enters the menu. The commands in the
"[menu]" block execute when you press the proper key or enter a
"/" command. The syntax for commands placed in the "[menu]" block
of a MNU file is:
<key or "/" entry>,<command and arguments>,<level>,<print when key
pressed>;
One feature you may be interested in changing is the volume of the
chat bell. If the default chat bell is not loud enough, there is
an alternate chat routine that you may use. To implement it, you
will need to load MAIN.MNU into a text editor. You should either
use [+] in the sysop menu or DOS's "EDIT".
- 9 -
The line is normally:
c, chat, 1, Chat;
Change it to:
c, chatloud, 1, Chat;
Another menu you may wish to modify is FIRST.MNU. After entering
their usernumber and password correctly, this is the menu that
users will automatically be sent to. Any of the "print"
statements may be altered in any way you wish. You may change the
order in which these commands are carried out and even change the
menu that they are placed in to begin with.
After a user goes through the process of logging on, they are
normally placed in the main menu. This can be altered so that
users are placed into a different menu, such as the message base
menu. This may be ideal if you are running a message base board.
To make this change, edit FIRST.MNU and change the line "GOTO
MAIN.MNU" to "GOTO MSG.MNU."
In FIRST.MNU and several of the other MNU files, you will notice
%variable% keyword replacements. When you place these "%"
variables in your MNU files, they instruct JetBBS to retrieve
information such as what access level a user has, what comport
they are calling on, what baud they are connected at, as well as
specific information about the user on-line. There is a complete
listing of all %variable% replacements in the reference section of
this manual.
STATS.MNU is displayed to users when they press [Y] in the userlog
to view general information about themselves. You may alter what
will be displayed to them by editing the file and deciding what
%variable%s you would like them to see when they access this
command.
For more on MNU files, please refer to Chapter 9.
- 10 -
<A NAME="chap_5">
Chapter 5 - Advanced Features
<A NAME="chap_5_doors"> DOOR PROGRAMS
JetBBS provides four door drop file (a.k.a. chain file) formats
which allows it to use a wide variety of door games you may choose
to put on-line. It includes support for DORINFO1.DEF,
CALLINFO.BBS, CHAIN.TXT, and DOOR.SYS. Please refer to the chart
below, which lists which drop file formats are compatible with
which BBS programs. Door games often request the name of a BBS
program instead of the name of the drop file.
Drop file Other BBSes that use it
---------- -----------------------
DORINFO1.DEF RBBS, QBBS, FoReM, TPB, T.A.G.
CALLINFO.BBS Wildcat!
CHAIN.TXT WWIV, Telegard
DOOR.SYS Generic drop file used by many BBSes
PLEASE NOTE: The drop files are not static files that you keep a
copy of. They are created in the BBS directory with current
information about the user at the time the door program is run,
and deleted when the door is finished. You will not normally see
these files.
This section will explain how to set up a door program to run with
JetBBS. Included in the sysop menu, by pressing [6], is a utility
which allows you to enter all the pertinent information such as
the command line to execute, the key the user presses, and what to
put in the help file. After you give JetBBS the information, it
will automatically place it into the DOOR.MNU file as well as the
help file for you.
Before setting up a door game to run with JetBBS, you must first
unpack the door you wish to run. It is best to unpack it into a
subdirectory within the BBS directory. For example, you would
type "MKDIR \BBS\<dir>", where <dir> is the name of the directory
you wish to create. After unpacking the game, you need to read
the documentation included with the game for instructions on how
to set up the game.
Each door game will vary in the way it has to be set up. Some
require you to run an installation program, and others will not.
You will need to follow the instructions to create a batch file or
edit an existing one that was included in the door game's archive.
Some games automatically produce a batch file in any directory you
specify. If this is the case, tell the program to produce a batch
file in the \BBS directory. They may also ask which directory
your BBS produces door files in. Instruct them to look in \BBS.
The batch file will need to "cd" to the proper directory, execute
the door along with any additional parameters, and "cd" back
afterward. Make sure you create the batch file in the \BBS
directory. See the registration form if you would like to buy a
disk full of door games, as well as batch files already set up to
run them from JetBBS.
- 11 -
You will need the following information to give to the door
installer which may be accessed by pressing [6] in the sysop menu.
- The key you would like users to press to access the game
- What you want the BBS to print when they press the key
- Description of the game, or the line you would like to
appear in the help file
- The DOS command to execute the game (This should be the
name of the batch file)
- The access level required to play the game
For additional information on setting up door programs, refer to
the "door" section in Chapter 10.
<A NAME="chap_5_events"> DAILY EVENTS
Some door games require an event or maintenance program to be run
each day to update statistics and reset the player files in the
game. If any games you have on-line require an event file to be
run at midnight each day, then you need to create a batch file to
run them. The first thing to do is make a batch file to run the
door game event file. To do this, have the batch file "cd" to the
directory, run the event file, and "cd" back. You do not have to
worry about drop formats, as it will be run in local mode when
nobody is on-line.
After you have created a batch file for each of the door game
event files, make another batch file called EVENT.BAT. Tell this
file to run all the other event batch files using the syntax "call
DAILY.BAT" where "DAILY.BAT" is the name of the event batch file.
As you add more door games that require event files, you may
create batch files for them and add them to the list in EVENT.BAT.
You now need to edit your BBS.INI file and change the line
"MidnightEvent:" to "MidnightEvent: EVENT.BAT". EVENT.BAT will be
run each day at midnight. The following example is a standard
maintenance batch file as well as a model of what EVENT.BAT should
look like.
Event batch file (EVENT.BAT):
CALL DAILY1.BAT
CALL DAILY2.BAT
CALL DAILY3.BAT
Door game daily maintenance batch file (DAILY1.BAT):
CD GAMEDIR
DORMAINT.EXE
CD ..
<A NAME="chap_5_multi-line"> MULTI-LINE
One of the impressive features that JetBBS boasts is the ability
to run a multi-line board. By using a multitasking operating
- 12 -
system, you may run multiple JetBBS sessions at any given time.
JetBBS has been tested extensively under Microsoft Windows 3.1,
and Windows 95.
Running under Windows, DESQview, or OS/2, JetBBS will detect the
multitasker and yield unused CPU time back to it. By doing this,
the BBS only slows the rest of the system down when it's working
hard, which is infrequent. When it's waiting for a call, posting
a message, or pausing for a key to be pressed, it's taking almost
no CPU time. With this feature, the BBS multitasks on Windows
almost as well as the multitasking of a native-mode application on
a fully multitasked operating system such as OS/2 or Windows NT.
Even if you do not plan to run a multi-line board, it is
convenient to be able to log on locally while another user is on-
line. This way you will not have to take the BBS down every time
you want to log on from console. Simply start a separate session
and run "JETBBS LOCAL".
If you plan on running a multi-line system, you need to first edit
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file which is in your root directory and add the
line "SHARE" to the end if it isn't there already. It will take
effect the next time you reboot.
To take full advantage of the multi-line features, you need to
have a ramdrive. To create a ramdrive, place the line:
"DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 32 /E" in your CONFIG.SYS file which
is also located in your root directory. If this is not the path
of your DOS directory, then substitute it in for "C:\DOS". This
will instruct DOS to create a 32k ramdrive using extended memory
the next time you re-boot. If you do not have more than 640k or
memory, then do not use the "/E" switch. The ramdrive will appear
as the next unused drive letter, which is usually D: on most
systems with one unpartitioned hard drive.
After creating a ramdrive, edit BBS.INI and locate the line
"RamDriveDir:". Change it to "RamDriveDir: D:\" or whatever
letter it turns out to be on your system.
After specifying RamDriveDir, you will be able to use multi-line
commands on JetBBS. JetBBS will create a "lock" file on the
ramdrive that will prevent a user from logging in on more than one
line at a time. Messages sent between users while they are on-
line will be routed through the ramdrive. The multi-line commands
are:
/broadcast or /bc Sends a message to all users currently on-
line.
/touch <user> Sends a message to a specific user on-
line.
/who Displays all users that are currently on-
line, what comport they are connected
on, what speed they are calling at, and
what menu they are in.
- 13 -
/talk [channel] Goes into the multi-user chat area. If
[channel] isn't specified, the default
is channel 0. To have a private
conference with someone, pick a random
number from 1-9999 and use the /touch
command to tell the user you want to
talk with to enter that channel.
When you create a ramdrive and set the BBS up to run as a multi-
line system, a "lock" file will be created on your ramdrive every
time a user logs on. It will then be deleted when they log off.
The file will be saved in the format "LOCK#.TXT", where the "#" is
the caller's user number. Sometimes if the BBS crashes, a
LOCK#.TXT file gets left over and the system will say the user's
account is still online when they're not. Simply delete the
LOCK#.TXT file to unlock it. The lock file is also used by the
"/who" command to see what accounts are logged in.
Many new modems these days allow you to set the IRQ number,
(Interrupt ReQuest, the control line the modem uses to get the
computer's attention when it has incoming data) which can be handy
for setting up a 3 or 4 line BBS. It's best if each line has its
own IRQ, but the way the IBM PC is designed, COM1 and COM3
traditionally share IRQ 4, and COM2 and COM4 share IRQ 3. You
don't have to use these combinations if you have a modem that
allows you to set the IRQ separately. IRQ 5 and IRQ 7 are often
used for modems. IRQ 5 is for the 2nd printer port, which can be
used if you don't have a second printer, and IRQ 7 is for the 1st
printer port, which is ok to re-use for a modem while you're not
printing something out. Don't worry, experimenting with the IRQs
can't break anything. Use the command line switch "/i:#" to set
the IRQ that JetBBS uses. For example, to run on COM3 with IRQ 5,
you would use the command line "JETBBS COM3 /i:5".
There are a couple of common CPU hogs that you should watch out
for. One is screen savers, especially ones that draw things on
the screen. Screen savers are designed with the assumption that
if there isn't someone sitting in front of the computer, the
computer isn't busy so it's OK to waste all the CPU time. This
isn't true with a BBS because users can be using it remotely and
have to compete for CPU time with a greedy screen saver. Another
CPU hog is windowed DOS sessions in graphics mode. If you run the
BBS in a window on the same screen as the graphical user
interface, the operating system has to spend a lot of time to
scroll the windowed screen, and these pauses will be noticable by
users.
<A NAME="chap_5_windows"> MICROSOFT WINDOWS
If you are multitasking under Windows, you will need to create a
PIF file for each additional session of JetBBS you wish to run.
To create another PIF file, enter the PIF editor and open the file
JETBBS.PIF which is in the \BBS directory. If you would like to
create a PIF for an additional modem, click on "Optional
Parameters" and enter "COM# baud", for example "COM2 14400". Save
- 14 -
the file as some other filename, such as JETBBS2.PIF, and create
a new icon in Windows to run it. Two pre-made PIF files are
provided: JETBBS.PIF, which uses the default COM port and baud
speed, and JETLOCAL.PIF for you to log on locally.
You can set the foreground and background priority of the BBS
fairly high because the BBS has a special feature to detect
Windows and yield back unused CPU time. Since it gives back what
it doesn't need, increasing the BBS's priority doesn't increase
the amount of the computer's time that the BBS takes, just the
upper limit on it.
See the file WINDOWS.DOC for more important information on running
JetBBS under Windows.
<A NAME="chap_5_pay"> RUNNING A PAY SYSTEM
JetBBS is designed to be configurable as a pay system by allowing
the sysop to sell usage time or credits for real money. You don't
have to give out both, however, because you can set up commands in
the bank to exchange one for the other at some exchange rate. The
exchange rate does not have to be the same both ways. View or
edit BANK.MNU, which is located in \BBS\MNU, for more details.
(press [*], then [+], then [M], then move the highlight bar down
to BANK.MNU and press enter)
To use time as the commodity on a pay board, first set the
MinutesPerDay lines in BBS.INI to the daily freebie handout that
will be given to non-paying users and to users who have run out of
paid time. This should be relatively low; just enough to allow
them to get oriented with your board and see all the features
available. For paying users, use the [A] Add Time command in the
sysop menu to give out usage time. As long as their Time Left
stays above the MinutesPerDay setting, it will not be reset by
MinutesPerDay. The MinutesPerDay setting only pulls people up
when they are below it; those above it are left alone.
To give free trial time to new users, set "NewUserBonusTime:" in
BBS.INI. Or, a more reliable method is to use the callback
verifier that comes with the registered version to give free trial
time to users when their phone number is verified, so they can
only use their phone number once to get free trial time, and there
will be more accountability because you'll have their real phone
number on record. You can also use the callback verifier to raise
their level and give credits (registered version only).
Some other settings in BBS.INI that might be of interest are
RefundPostingTime, which controls whether posting messages costs
time like everything else. If posting time is refunded, it
encourages users to post messages without the worry of using up
their on-line time. This is a good idea if you want to stimulate
long quality posts. Users will be willing to spend more time
posting if they don't have to worry about paying for it in lost
time. The default is that posts don't cost time.
- 15 -
PayCreditsForPosting controls whether posts are rewarded 25
credits per line. You might want to turn off PayCreditsForPosting
if you'll be selling credits, so that real money will be the only
way to get credits. If you're worried that paying credits for
posts will encourage garbage posts, you don't need to be. There
is an anti-instant-gratification feature built in that delays the
payment by about 2 days, by which time you will have seen the
posts and used "/sysop/u" to take away the delayed credits before
they arrive. But, if you'd still rather not give credits for
posts, set PayCreditsForPosting to 0.
<A NAME="chap_5_cdrom"> CD-ROM SUPPORT
The file transfer area can have a transfer section in any
directory you give it, either by using the [7] command in the
sysop menu or by editing XFERAREA.MNU and XFERAREA.HLP directly.
The directory can be a directory on a CD-ROM drive if it has a
FILES.BBS file in it, which the BBS can read and use for finding
files to download.
If you have a CD-ROM of files that doesn't have FILES.BBS or
FILES.TXT index files in the directories, you can still create a
transfer area in JetBBS for downloading from the CD. Create a new
transfer area on the hard drive like "CDDIR", then execute the
following command:
DIR /S /B /A-D E:\ > C:\BBS\CDDIR\FILES.TXT
Where "E:\" is the drive of the CD-ROM drive. This DIR command
only works on MS-DOS 6.0 (maybe 5.0) or higher, and creates a list
of files not including directories, and including files in sub-
directories. You can add descriptions to the FILES.TXT if you
want, as long as the filename is the first thing on the line
followed by at least one space and then whatever descriptions you
want.
- 16 -
<A NAME="chap_6">
Chapter 6 - Utilities
<A NAME="chap_6_import"> IMPORT UTILITY
The IMPORT utility converts messages from another BBS and brings
them into JetBBS's message base. The messages to be converted
should be in one big text file captured from the other BBS. If
the BBS you're converting from has a capture key for the sysop,
you can turn it on, read all the messages on the message base,
turn off the capture, and then use the capture file as the input
to IMPORT. If the BBS doesn't have a sysop's capture key, have a
user call it up and use the capture buffer on his terminal
program. While you're capturing the messages, make note of a text
keyword that is always present in the first line of every message
header. You need to get the case exactly the same. The longer
and more unique the keyword, the better. Include the spaces if
you can. For example, "Msg #: ", with the trailing space, is
good. When you run the program, it will give you a list of good
keywords to use for some of the more popular BBSes.
When you run IMPORT, it will ask you four questions: The path and
filename of the message text you just captured, the header
keyword, the room to add the messages to, and the location of your
message directory. The imported messages will be posted in the
room like new messages. It should be OK to dump all the messages
into one room, but in some cases the message accessing can get
slow when there are too many messages in a single room, especially
on a floppy drive or slow hard drive. A disk cache such as
SMARTDRV should fix the problem. Another solution is to break up
your capture files and put the messages in different rooms.
If you started IMPORT from the same directory where you start