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PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 5.0 GETTING STARTED What you probably really want to do is put the documentation aside, and get started running Phoenix. Well, let's do just that. You must read the documentation completely before permanently setting up your board, but for now, just to get a look, lets go! You MUST RUN CONFIG FIRST! And if you are upgrading your system from Collie v1.2 or lower, be SURE TO RUN CONVERT AS WELL before you try to continue with this chapter. You must also have NODELIST.BBS present. It is distributed as NODELIST.XXX where xxx is the nodelist revision number. Simply copy or rename this file to NODELIST.BBS. Be sure that you have all our distribution menus present to start. You may reconfigure them later. Previous versions of Collie menus will not work nor will Phoenix look for them! 5.1 DEFAULT DRIVE If you're using a floppy-based system, then you'll want to have all the Phoenix files located in drive A. Later, after you learn your way around, you can set up Phoenix so the overlays and other files can be located in a RAM Disk. But for now, let's have all the files resident on drive A. If you're running from a hard disk, then make a main sub- directory for Phoenix. Place all your Phoenix files in this sub-directory. 5.2 CONFIG.SYS FILE REQUIRED As you begin running Phoenix, we feel you'll quickly agree it's lightning FAST! Phoenix is a complicated Communications program which requires several files being opened at the same time. For this reason, you'll need to have the following files and buffers set in your computer's CONFIG.SYS file, located in your root directory. If you are unfamiliar with how CONFIG.SYS works, consult your DOS manual, or ask any Phoenix Testers. NOTE: Phoenix WILL NOT work properly if this is not done! CONFIG.SYS should have the following settings: FILES=20 BUFFERS=30 (for xt. for at types use BUFFERS=40) DEVICE = <path> ANSI.SYS the ansi driver is required if you will have ansi graphics displayed on your console. This is supplied with your DOS version. Experiment with the buffers setting a little until you find the value that works best for your system. It will seem to be the fastest during file access at the correct value. Experience has shown, that Miniscribe and other 30 mb rll drives work best around 30 buffers, while Seagate 20 mb and other mfm drives seem to work best at 20 buffers (results tested on xt only). PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 5.3 RUNNING PHOENIX THE FIRST TIME After you have all the Phoenix files located on your default drive, all you have to do to get things running is type: "Phoenix" at your DOS prompt. Don't type the quotes! Your DOS command line should look like this: A>Phoenix Then, press RETURN. Next you'll see Phoenix loading up and building your System files. When you see the prompt "Phoenix ready for calls at....", the program is ready to run. For a quick listing of your keyboard commands press HOME. The help screen will appear. Press any key and it will disappear. Next, to sign-on locally, you need to hold down the ALT Key and type the letter "S". Phoenix will place your modem "Off Hook" and prompt you for your First Name. Now, since you're the sysop, you can simply type SYSOP at the prompt and continue. If you prefer to use your own name then you can do that, also. Just keep in mind that this is how you'll be signing on locally to do Sysop Maintenance. Also, when you send a message, this will be the Name imbedded in the FROM column in the message area and when someone leaves a comment this is the name that will appear. Let's assume you just enter Sysop. Next Phoenix prompts you for your last name. Press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Now Phoenix asks if all the information you've given it is correct. If so, answer "y" or press <RETURN>. At the prompt for a password, type in a word you'll never forget and no one else will ever guess. Phoenix asks you to if your password is correct. If it is, press "y" or <ENTER> again. This will take you to the Main Menu. At the Main Menu, hold down the Alt key and type the letter "N" (ALT+N). You should see "Enter New Security Level". At this point, enter 999. This will give you high enough security level to access all of the SYSOP Utilities. Press the following two alt key sequences now. ALT+F1 and ALT+F2. You will see messages like: "user is allowed access to sensitive information" and " user can read comments". The power these keys give a user is enormous and will be fully described in ADVANCED USES AND OPTIONS. Leave it suffice for now, that you have just made yourself "SUPER SYSOP" . Now, hit the ENTER key once and you'll see the Main Menu reappear, this time with the <U>tilities for Sysop listed. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 NOTE: wherever Phoenix asks a question that requires a y or n response, non-critical areas are defaulted. A capital letter will tell you what will be assumed if you press return. ex: "Is that correct ? [Y/n]" will default to y if you press return. "[y/N]" will default to n. Where there is no difference in case "[y/n]", you must type the appropriate response. We use that in critical areas so that no accidental answer can happen. 5.4 SETTING UP THE SYSTEM FILES The very next thing we must do is configure the System files. Type 'U' at the Main Menu for "Utilities for the Sysop." Next you'll see the Sysop Menu which includes "<4> Update Message System " and "<6> Update Files System". Select #4 and hit ENTER. Next, the Update Message Menu will appear, which looks like this: [N]et Mail area toggle [C]reate an area [L]ist areas [A]rea Security level [M]odify an area [D]escription [F]ile name for area [I]nclude To/From in message [P]ublic only area [S]ave record [Q]uit to Previous Menu [?] Help! [X]pert toggle [R]emove Deleted records from file Let's start by creating the first system record. This is done by selecting 'C' for "Create an area". Phoenix will respond with "Creating new system record number 1". You will now see the following: System Record #1 Message security..0 Msg description... Entry filename.... <* Private messages allowed> <* To/From: INCLUDED in header> At this point, some general explanations are in order. When ever you see "<* text>", it indicates a system TOGGLE which only has 2 selections and pressing the proper command key will toggle those two selections. Each system record contains the minimum security level required for a caller to access the message board associated with that system record. Press A to set the level you wish. Just remember that the maximum security level within Phoenix is 9999. If you set an area to a security level higher than your own, even you will not be able to access it. You will have to go back into this menu and change the level. You need to enter descriptions for each area. These descriptions are displayed when the caller wants to see what different message areas are available on your board. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 When a caller changes message areas, an optional file is looked for and, if present, sent to the caller before he is entered into the selected area. This is the Entry filename. It could be a short description of expected types of messages in that area, or whatever you like. The file will follow the .bbs/.clr rules for ansi selections described elsewhere, so unless you want to fix it as a text only file, do not put an extension on the filename. Phoenix will automatically look for the filename with the appropriate extension. If it is a "special file" and you do not want Phoenix to treat it as a normal system file, then you may place an extension and it will bypass the "ansi/no ansi" system logic. There can be one file per message area and these optional files are in addition to the msgmsg.* file that can be sent to the user upon entry to a message menu. The [L]ist areas command will allow you to view the contents of an area record but will not allow it to be modified or changed in any way. You should [M]odify an area when you wish to change something in an EXISTING record. TOGGLES: Net Mail: This must be toggled in any area which will be used for net mail. To enter a net mail message, the user MUST change into this area. Public only: You may define any area as public only. This means that NO private messages will be allowed in this area. This is different from the global "all messages must be public" in CONFIG. If you state that as true, then the public only toggle is not effective. All defined areas will then be public. YOU MUST TOGGLE ALT+F1 WHILE YOU ARE LOGGED IN OR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THIS COMMAND! You should not do this if you did it above when you first logged in. See a more detailed description below. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 Include To/From: This toggle will allow you to have a very private message area. Default is to include the following in any message that the user can read: MESSAGE # AND DATE FROM: TO : CARBON: SUBJECT: Now, if you toggle this to NOT include to/from, the user will see: MESSAGE # AND DATE SUBJECT: and will not know who the message is from or to. If private messages are allowed, then only messages that are addressed to the particular user (if private) or public messages will be displayed. Even though the information is not displayed, The user will be notified he has mail if the message is for him. THIS WILL BE TRUE EVEN FOR SYSOP LEVEL! There is a way that you or a TRUSTED user can read the header just like a normal area. This is with the ALT+F1 keys while the user (including yourself) is logged in, or it can be set in the sysop user maintenance utility. Once set, this will stay with the individual user in his record until you remove the permission by pressing alt F1 again or remove the permission in the user maint. facility. This is decided by you on an INDIVIDUAL BASIS. Each user you wish to give permission to see headers in a not include to/from area must be given such individually. The alt F1 key is a very powerful tool so be sure to read ADVANCED USES AND OPTIONS to fully understand what you will be doing by giving someone permission with alt F1. It includes other permissions in other circumstances. YOU MUST USE THE ALT F1 ON YOURSELF OR YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THIS COMMAND! Do not do this if you did it when logging in following our instructions above. Pressing this keyset again will remove your permission. It can be toggled as many times as you wish. It is a good idea when exploring the features of Phoenix to toggle this to see what a normal user would see. We will use the term "alt f1 (or "alt f2") applies here". When you see that, you will know that the user will see or have a different command set than you and you may toggle that key to see what the user sees. Delete/Undelete: You may mark an area for removal if you are not going to re-define it for something else. Once marked, you should pack the file with the Remove records command to remove it permanently. If you plan to use it later, simply set the security access high enough so no one can see it or access it. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 When you're done, and the record is the way you want it, you should save the record before continuing on. Type "S" for save and hit ENTER. If you forget to do this, Phoenix will prompt you if you try to create another record or modify an existing one. If you quit before saving, Phoenix will automatically save the record for you without prompting you. If you create it by mistake, simply mark it for removal, save it and then remove it. The removal process will only take a few seconds. If you are modifying an existing record, and do not wish to save the changes, hit M again and say N to the question. This will then remove the record in memory. Just remember, if a record is brought up into memory and not saved, if you quit, it will be automatically saved. If you wish to create more areas, do so then type Q to return to the SYSOP menu. Now type 6 for Update files system. You will then see: [N]et Files area toggle [C]reate an area [L]ist areas [A]rea security level [M]odify an area [E]nter Description [U]pload file path [D]ownload file path [Q]uit to previous menu [?] Help! [X]pert toggle [R]emove Deleted records from file [P]assword [Z] Delete/Undelete toggle Many of the commands are now familiar as they were discussed in the message area section above. They operate the same and will not be covered here. Specific to the files areas are: Net files: This is not implemented yet but will be by v3.0. It will mark the area, but Phoenix will do nothing with it at this time. The Upload & Download path are any legal DOS pathnames telling Phoenix where it can find the files associated with the area description. You can set uploads to go into a single "Upload file" area, or to different areas, which you could specify by subject. Here are a few examples of upload/download paths: PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 The following would send all the uploads for a particular area to a sub-directory called "UPLOADS" and allow the caller to download programs from a sub-directory called "GAMES". (Note: Phoenix is the parent directory.): Upload Path.......C:\Phoenix\UPLOADS Download Path.....C:\Phoenix\GAMES The next example would send both uploads and downloads to the same sub-directory: Upload Path.......C:\Phoenix\GAMES Download Path.....C:\Phoenix\GAMES If you're running on a floppy-based system with your uploads and download files on drive B, and not using sub-directories, you could do the following: Upload Path.......B: Download Path.....B: When defining file paths, Phoenix will check to see if the path exists. If not, Phoenix will attempt to create the path and will notify you of success or failure. Phoenix also will check for invalid drives but will not eliminate a floppy drive door open message! Be sure , if you specify a floppy as a file upload or download path, that you have a disk in the drive and the door is closed. When creating paths, Phoenix will parse the string and begin with the drive letter and work down the path creating where necessary, and validating the entire path as it goes. A drive specifier MUST be included in the path. eg: c: is valid \Phoenix is not valid c:\Phoenix or c:\Phoenix\files\uploads is valid but c:\Phoenix\files\uploads\ is not valid. A "\" is not valid as the last character and Phoenix will strip it from the string. If you wish a root dir specifier, just use the drive letter and colon. Phoenix automatically enters the \ when needed. Any drive letter that is legal in your system is valid. Your path may be a MAXIMUM of 60 characters. PLEASE NOTE that Phoenix will NOT VALIDATE EXISTING records, only new entries. When UPGRADING AN EXISTING SYSTEM be sure to go over any existing paths and verify them manually. A use for the entry file in the files system might be to list noteworthy files to download. We recommend that these entry files be short. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 ACCESS PASSWORD: You may password protect a particular files area. When the user tries to change into this type area, he will be prompted for a password. If he does not know it, he will be placed into the NEW USER FILES AREA you defined in CONFIG. Do not attempt to password protect the new user files area without defining another one! The user will automatically be placed into the new user area even if it is password protected because we must place him somewhere. If you do protect the new user area be sure to remove that as a new user area and define another one! If he knows the password, he will be placed into that area. If he should log off while in the protected area, when he logs back on, he will be placed into the new user area and will have to change areas again if he wants to return to the protected area. Important to note is that the password is case sensitive and the combination of upper and lower case MUST MATCH EXACTLY! Phoenix does not format the password in any way and will look for an exact match the way you enter it into the field. ANY legal character except control characters and alt characters can be used. Space is a valid character. Although the entry command will allow alt characters, the private entry of the password when changing areas will not allow alt characters. If you use alt characters, no one not even you will be able to access that area. To remove a password, simply select E then hit return at the "what is the password" question and the password will be removed. THIS IS THE ONLY COMMAND in the entire update system that is NOT available remotely! The password listing and the password menu command are only displayed on your console screen and the command is available ONLY to your console keyboard. NO ONE, NOT EVEN YOU will be able to access this command, see the password or see the menu selection remotely under ANY circumstances! Remember that to access this command you must log in from the console. Upgrading a user who is online to change this will not work. Phoenix will allow you, when logged in locally only, to enter a password protected area without entering the password. This will allow convenient access when you are doing board maintenance. This automatic feature is only available at the console and only with SUPER SYSOP STATUS (sysop level, alt+f2, and alt+f1). If you press any command other than password accidentally, just press enter and Phoenix will use the previously entered information. If you want to clear an entry other than password, enter a number 0 and press enter. Phoenix will then clear the entry. PHOENIX REMOTE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM DECEMBER 4, 1987 When you are finished configuring your message and files areas, you MUST say goodbye and when Phoenix is waiting for calls, press the F10 key to quit. You may then bring Phoenix back up and the new configuration will be valid. You do not have to do this when creating or modifying additional areas. Only when you must create the FIRST area for messages or files must you quit and return. This is because there are flags that must be set on entry to the main menu. If the first record of either file is not configured, Phoenix will not allow most message or files commands depending on which corresponding file is not configured. You do NOT need both. You may have your board with only messages and no files, or only files and no messages but you must have at least one unless you only want bulletins and commands that are not message or file specific. YOU MUST DECLARE MESSAGE AREA #1 EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ALLOWING MESSAGES if you want to allow comments. If you are not going to have comments or messages then you do not have to create message area #1. Comments are saved to area #1 and you must read your comments from area #1. 5.5 SETTING PHOENIX ENVIRONMENT Some of you may want to place Phoenix.com and the overlay files in a RAM disk. This can be done by setting Phoenix's environment through a DOS call. The syntax would be : A> SET Phoenix=C:\ Assuming Drive 'C' is the location of your RAM disk. Now you can place the .COM, .000, .001,..004 files in RAM, and watch it FLY! BE SURE THERE ARE NO SPACES BETWEEN Phoenix AND THE = SIGN! If there are, Phoenix will NOT BE ABLE TO FIND ITSELF! This could also be done if you are using Phoenix on a hard disk subdirectory. (Ex. C> SET Phoenix=C:\Phoenix) If you do not specify the environment, Phoenix will default to the startup directory path. You can check the path in the initialization messages Phoenix lists on startup.