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Text File | 1987-12-11 | 19.6 KB | 533 lines

T. Jennings Fido Software 164 Shipley San Francisco CA 94107 document updated: 10 Dec 87 Puppy Pup is a very modest project: it is a very small scaleì bulletin board, targeted mainly for the current low-end typeì machines; Z80, 64K, maybe 500K disk storage, primitive DOS.ì It of course works fine on MSDOS; there is a pclone versionì available. (Ask) By Jan/Feb of 88, Pup will have a full featured FidoNetì compatible network interface. The design is complete, andì some code is done. While the pclone version is where new things get tested, itì is NOT the point of Pup. There are already more than enoughì pclone BBSs to choose from; Pup however would fit veryì comfortably into the smallest possible pclone these days. BBSs have escalated in complexity way out of proportion toì their usefulness; most BBSs are used by highly skilledì people with lots of resource$ to talk to people likeì themselves. This is fine, but most of the world isn't in theì position to sit $1,000 (or more!) in a corner of the roomì for one special purpose only. Also, the trend is towards larger, more complex systems,ì wide area networking, extremely high throughput dataì transfers and other things that just push the likes of Fido,ì Opus, TBBS an order of magnitude or two out of the range ofì many (if not most) people who might benefit from them. Seems we've forgotten that the original intent of BBSs wasì to communicate with other people. It is not obvious to meì that talking to more people is better. The best BBSs I'veì ever used, of any type, were all very small systems; RCP/Ms,ì Apple][/GBBS, etc. Most used awful software, but were stillì the best (meaning most useful or most amusing) systems I'veì run across. There's a hint there, I think. I would love to see Pup ported to CP/M (especially: thatì awful Heath/Zenith H-89) and Apple ][ PRODOS or something. .pa .he Copyrights, trademarks, money, that sort of thing. S H A R E W A R E Puppy is shareware; if you like it or find it or parts of itì useful, then mail me what you think it's worth. $40 isì suggested. Less will not be considered an insult. In return,ì I will mail you a diskette with the latest & greatest on it. -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- PUPPY PRE-RELEASE NOTE: The message base design reallyì annoys some people. Instead of the usual linear numberedì messages, I opted for a stack-like design (see the next pageì or so for details.) I may do another message base that is in the more usualì linear fashion; it will be fully compatible with the messageì base data files that this Pup generates; only the programì will change. It's not all that big code-wise, but the Pileì really bugs some people. I do eventually take hints, so ... -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- -*-*- Check out the pclone version, show it to people, see whatì your reaction is. It should be portable as-is to smallì machines. OK, down to brass tacks. (What on earth does that mean?) I,ì Tom Jennings, do business as Fido Software, at the addressì below. My commercial products are copyrighted works, and myì sole source of income. Copyrighted works produced by me willì be marked as such: Copyright Tom Jennings 1987, etc This is very straightforward. These are commercial products;ì you want, you pay. Or the guy in the big car over there willì make you pay double later, OK? Now for years I have been writing programs and distributingì them, in binary and some in source form, but I've never madeì it very clear what their status was. Partly this is becauseì the previous environment (less cutthroat) was more friendlyì and less demanding, and partly because I just wasn't thatì organized. This is to change starting now. (now?) The following notice will be firmly affixed to all programsì produced by me that are not commercial copyrighted works.ì Please don't utter the phrase "public domain" because thatì means something awful: (k) All Rights Reversed (all hail Eris) This means: what you do with it is up toì you. I ask though, that if you distribute it, you provideì sources as part of the package, at no extra cost or penaltyì or obligation to the person receiving it; and that you alsoì do not remove the (k) All Rights Reversed notice. I also askì that you don't change the version number, if there is one;ì you will only needlessly confuse people when I come out withì a new version. Hint: Add your own IDs after it, like "1-AB"ì where "AB" is your version number. "Fido" is a trademark of Tom Jennings. It you utter it sendì me a dollar. "FidoNet" is a also registered trademark of Tomì Jennings. If you even think it send me two dollars. If youì use both, send me ten dollars and your first born child. Allì rights reserved, and all wrongs righted. So there. Fido Software 164 Shipley San Francisco CA 94107 (415)-764-1629, FidoSW, using Fido v12 1:125/111 (415)-882-9835, ch@os, using Puppy v1 soon will be known as 1:125/164 If you have anything to contribute, please do. .pa Historical Curiosities: An Editorial A little history is in order here. I, like hundreds ofì others, have been hanging out on BBSs and writing freeì programs since Ward & Randy's CBBS. Nothing new or unique orì interesting here. Fido, started in 1984, is by far the most popular and wellì known program I have ever produced. To say it exceededì anything I ever planned for it is an understatement.ì Requests for diskettes got so heavy that I started chargingì for diskettes; as demand for functions and reliabilityì increased, by many hundreds of people, it slowly turned intoì a part-time business. Now it eventually became obvious that this wasn't a typicalì free BBS program, and that others wanted to write FidoNet¡ compatible programs; Thom Henderson had sucessfully gottenì SeaDog running. An effort went into documenting the protocolì (Randy Bush did a wonderful job with the FSC001 doc a yearì later) and making structures public, etc. Interfaceì information was released with each version, and work wasì started towards the real technical specification,ì culminating in FSC001. Eventually, Fido/FidoNet became a full time job. I nowì derive all of my income from it. (I license Fido/FidoNet toì mostly small to medium companies and non-militaryì governmental agencies.) Because of this, Fido is no longerì free, starting with version 12. (You can now use previousì versions for free; v11 manuals once again available for $35) My roots and heart is still in the hobbiest end of things,ì and Fido Software is hardly a traditional software company.ì I am working on new software for hobbiests, both "free" andì "shareware". I now fund this development from licensingì Fido, and hopefully other sources in the future. I'm hardlyì getting rich from this, and that's not the point. My goal today is somewhat subversive I suppose; I want toì see more non-technical people use computers forì communicating in ways not traditionally though of, and onì small cheap machines; not by throwing money at high-endì Pclones or traditional services. (You're supposed to doì wierd things with computers, that's what they're for!) Traditional media in the U. S. is getting more and moreì restricted to lowest-common-denominator, safe, bland,ì *profitable* mindless pap. (Did you know: only 26ì corporations own 1/2 or more of all media in the US:ì magazines, books, TV, radio, newspapers, etc? Source:ì "Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting", June 87) Individuals andì small groups running BBSs and writing zines is one way toì promote free (as in open) communications. Some have asserted that I'm a greedy programmer trying toì milk money from peoples hobby with Fido (how dare I chargeì money) and that I don't care about much else. I will merely say: I've been writing free software sinceì 1979, and have had phenomenal, unexpected success withì Fido/FidoNet, which I have basically given to the world,ì gratis. My attitudes haven't changed much, except to get aì bit more radical. Time will tell, as it always does. OK, I'll shut up now. .pa Pup's FidoNet interface Suffice to say at this point, it will be both highì performance, and will fit very nicely on a 64K Z80 with aì couple of decent sized floppies. Keep in mind it's not meant to act as a gateway to all ofì Western Europe. You would probably have a hard time evenì making it a Net Host. What it will do though is run up to 16 echo conferences at aì higher software-performance level available on any machineì today, period. No space- and time-consuming packeting andì unpacketing, no external conferencing packages. Use of the nodelist will be optional; for echo conferences,ì only the system information for the next-in-line systemì (Pup, Fido, Opus, etc) is needed. The method is: on-the-fly packeting and unpacketing. The Pupì FidoNet code uses XMODEM to send the packet, as per FSC001ì specifications. However, instead of generating a packet fileì ahead of time, then XMODEMing it out, when XMODEM goes toì "read" a block from the packet file, it uses a state machineì to generate the data as it goes. Because the message base isì one contiguous file, with a memory resident index,ì performance is not a problem. This part is already coded. The receiver does a similar thing. As XMODEM receivesì blocks, it would normally write them to a packet file forì later unpacking into messages. In Pup, the blocks are notì written to a file, but decomposed byte by byte into theì message base directly. Again, because of the message baseì design performance isn't an issue. .pa Pup the Bulletin Board Pup has all the usual amenities, but it doesn't appear thatì way when you first look at it. There's only ten commands orì so total. The message base consists of two files, one that containsì the message body text, and the other is an index with theì usual TO:, FROM:, etc information, as well as the TOPICì information. (More on Topics later.) Pup's message base is created once when SET-PUP is run, andì never changes in size. (You can set the size of each messageì and the number of messages.) (And later there will be a wayì to change the size, but not right away.) The advantages: itì never grows to fill your disk; performance is extremely goodì (if you format the disk first, you will be guarenteed thatì all sectors in the file are contiguous); there is no needì for message base maintenance. (NOTE: See the PRE-RELEASE NOTE mentioned earlier aboutì message base paradigm.) Messages are arranged to match my desk: a Pile. I work byì writing things on these tiny 3 x 5 pads of paper; one note,ì phone number, bug, etc per sheet. I stack 'em up, move themì around, etc. The one on the top is the newest. Pups messages are in a Pile. When you enter a message, itì goes on the Top; ones entered before are still there, underì the top. Eventually, they reach the bottom, then they fallì off. If you set Pup to have 100 messages, then when youì enter the 101st message, the first one ever entered fallsì off the bottom. Yeah, its a ring buffer. When you read messages you start, by default, at the Top ofì the Pile. From there you can read messages, one afterì another, until you hit the Bottom. You can of course hopì around as you wish. Now a huge monolithic messag base isn't much fun to pokeì around in. This is where Topics come in. Pup can have up to 16 topics; you must have at least one.ì Topics are the usual grouping, areas, subjects, that sort ofì thing. In Pup though, instead of rigid barricades thatì messages must be forced within, in Pup you can hop Topics atì will. When reading messages, you can choose which which topics youì wish to see, including "all". If you choose one topic, thenì those are the only messages you will see. If you chooseì "all", then you see all messages in all topics; this is niceì for browsing a board for the first time or two. If you'reì only interested in two or three topics, you can select onlyì those and you will see no others. When entering messages, you choose which topic the messageì resides in; one message can also reside in any number ofì topics. Obviously to be use with caution, but great forì notices and such. One of the reasons I chose this was because of a commonì problem when using Fido-type message areas; neophyte usersì tend to not change areas, and never become aware of theì different catagories that may exist. Even sophisticatedì users say "A 5" and therefore won't see if the list ofì message areas has changed. By default, in Pup you see all messages in all topics,ì starting at the newest. If this annoys you, you can useì choose which topics to see and not see, including "ALL".ì This is the exact opposite of the Fido (and RBBS, Opus, etc)ì philosophy. .pa Puppy and human callers One of the first things to go in the trash when designingì Pup was anything relating to "callers". As I see it, callerì records have the following main purposes: terminal settings (lines, columns, etc) where they left off last time access controls let users see their name in lights I consider all the other junk like help levels, last¡ accessed message area or file areas and times called to beì design deficiencies (help levels?) or froo-froo (lastì message area). If you need access controls you don't want Puppy. Accessì controls always escalate into huge monstrosities. Theì purpose of Pup is so that people can communicate, in an easyì to use and effecient manner. It's not an operating system,ì like some BBS installations are approaching. Its a little wierd at first ... but you get used to it. Oneì objection that pops to mind is: how do I know that thatì person is who he says he is? Well, you don't. Actually ...ì if you are conversing with someone (not what you call whatì happens when there are 500+ people using a system!) it'sì pretty obvious. Also, it's not much of a challenge and notì worth the bother of entering stupid messages. Remember also,ì this isn't targeted at the mainstream BBS crowd. How do you run a system then, with upwards of 500 differentì people per month? Get a Fido or other large scale (largeì resource) type program, which fits those sort ofì installations perfectly. .pa OK, enough: what's on the disk The end result of all the crap in the Pup package is twoì programs and a few support files: PUP.EXE the Pup program SET-PUP.EXE the Pup installer PUP.SET Pup configuration text file FIDO2PUP.EXE Fido to Pup message converter WELCOME.PUP the initial welcome message FILES.PUP list of download files MAIN.HLP various help files ... MESSAGE.HLP ... EDIT.HLP ... PUPPY.SYS main system file MESSAGE.DAT the message base itself MESSAGE.IDX the message bsae index SET-PUP reads the text file PUP.SET and compiles it into theì PUPPY.SYS file that contains the installation type goodiesì (modem type, node number, limits and controls) and createsì an empty message base, if one doesn't already exist. PUP is the BBS program, and reads all the other junk. FIDO2PUP puts any Fido .MSG messages into the Pup messageì base, and leaves the highest numbered one as the Topì message. Gives you something to start with. .pa The complete list of files is: Include files: ASCII.H PUPMEM.H PUPPY.H DRIVER.H LATTICE.ASH Various tools for compilation: C.BAT PUP MAKE file PUP.LNK PLINK command file IBM.LIB pclone serial driver library DRIVER.DOC Pup/Fido driver specification PUPMAIN.C Pup main() and main loop PUP.C Pup commands MSGBASE.C the message base system FILES.C Pup file commands QUOTE.C signon quotations SCHED.C the scheduler EDIT.C message editor XMODEM.C XMODEM/TELINK protocol handler MODEMIO.C (not so) low level I/O MDMFUNC.C modem drivers SUPPORT.C misc. support routines PRINTF.C a real printf() MS-C.C DOS dependent C routines MS-ASM.ASM DOS dependent ASM routines ABORT.ASM FIDO2PUP.C Fido msg converter SET-PUP.C config program PUP.SET sample config file FILES.PUP sample files list WELCOME.PUP sample welcome file QUOTES.PUP sample quotations MAIN.HLP sample help files MESSAGE.HLP EDIT.HLP .pa .he Implementation Notes GENERAL Data structures and other definitions of global importanceì to Pup are in PUPPY.H, which is included by all .C files inì Pup. When you change this file, recompile all modules; theì make file provided will do this with RMAKE.EXE from Phoenixì Software. Global static data is defined in PUPMAIN.C, and referencesì to it via #extern's are in PUPMEM.H. All sources exceptì PUPMAIN.H include PUPMEM.H. It's the easiest way I've foundì to manage external data; the one time it's a pain is if youì add or delete a global variable (in PUPMAIN.C); you have toì recompile everything. Oh well. SERIAL INTERFACE The serial I/O driver provided, IBM.LIB, is for pclonesì only; you will need to write equivelant routines forì whatever your machine is, even on CP/M. Most are prettyì simple, and even polled is OK; Pup will even allow typeaheadì on polled machines, due to the lookeahead done in MODEMIO.C. Note that the drivers as defined in DRIVER.DOC are ratherì complex; you don't need anything but the low level serialì parts. (Poke through MODEMIO) Why not prune DRIVER.DOC andì pass out a proper version? Pup uses a three or four wire modem installation. It needs: Tx Data obviously Rx Data obviously Ground obviously CD Carrier Detect (pin 6 or 8) DTR Data Terminal Ready (pin 20) DTR is optional; see below. Pup has a parameter "cd-bit" in PUP.SET; this is the bitì mask pup uses to check for CD on the serial port. Pup ANDsì the contents of the status register with the cd-bit, and ifì the result is not zero, then the modem is assumed to beì online. CALLER INTERFACE I/O Basically, the I/O system is the same as Fido and has all ofì it's features: full typeahead, output pause (^S, ^Q),ì background abort-detect (^C, ^K), typeahead flush (^F),ì "command-ahead" (ie. "D N FILENAME.EXT X" executes a wholeì download command skipping all the prompts), formatted I/O,ì complete carrier loss detection with no programmaticì overhead, dead-user timer, full time limit enforcement. In theory, you should never have to mess with anything inì MODEMIO. And be careful if you do, it's filled withì recursive and effecient stuff, and I think it's pretty wellì documented. It does a lot just as it stands; it is fourì years accumulated work and experience. MODEM SUPPORT As implemented, Pup will support just about any Hayes typeì modem. The modem must have a CD (Carrier Detect) line. DTRì is reccomended, but not required. The initialization specified in PUP.SET should set the modemì to numeric result codes and autoanswer OFF. Pup answers theì phone by waiting for a RING result code, then issuing an ATAì command, and waiting for the CONNECT 1200 (or 2400, etc)ì message, and then assumes it's online and connected. Noì hocus pocus or complicated autobaud. LITTLE ENDIAN vs. BIG ENDIAN This is the endless "Intel" vs. "Motorola" argument. Iì really don't care either way; neither does Pup. The onlyì part that cares about byte order is the FidoNet interface,ì and there you have no choice. The only time this might matter is if you were to generate aì message base on a Z80 and physically copy it to a 6502ì machine; you'd have to convert byte order. For locally¡ generated data, it's not an issue. FUNCTION PORTABILITY I tried to keep things down to two kinds of portabilityì problems: C language data typing and O/S functionality. On C data types, most things don't care; general purposeì counters etc are just "int"s, etc. For ones that matter,ì almost all want to be either 8 or 16 bit data. For these, Iì defined two types: BYTE and WORD. In the Lattice 2.12/MSDOSì version, BYTE is defined as char, and WORD as int. Changeì accordingly to fit your system. These are defined inì PUPPY.H.