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▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒▄ ▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ UltraBBS UltraBBS Version 2.08 UltraBBS by Bob Farmer Documentation by Kevin Carr and Bob Farmer Copyright (c)1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyrights............................................................2 Disclaimer............................................................3 Welcome to UltraBBS...................................................4 Minimum Requirements..................................................5 Multinode Operation Information.......................................6 Beginning Setup.......................................................7 Directory Structure...................................................8 Installation and Configuration........................................9 SETUP Program........................................................11 Explanation of UltraBBS Data File Use................................26 MANAGER Program......................................................27 Command Descriptions.................................................32 CONVERT Program......................................................39 UTI Files............................................................40 PCBVerify Support....................................................41 Qmail/QDeLuxe Support (.QWK/.REP)....................................42 Message Commands.....................................................43 Remote DOS Setup.....................................................45 ANSI and ANSI Music..................................................46 Modem Configuration..................................................47 Doors................................................................48 Questionnaires.......................................................49 Events...............................................................51 Text Files...........................................................52 Call Waiting Screen..................................................54 Local Function Keys..................................................55 Front-End Operation..................................................56 MANAGER Command Line Parameters......................................57 File Formats.........................................................58 Questions and Answers................................................59 UBBSWHO Program......................................................60 FIDOCVT Program......................................................61 Errors...............................................................63 Registration.........................................................64 Contacting the Author................................................65 Thanks...............................................................66 UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 2 COPYRIGHTS COPYRIGHTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, the author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Proceeding further indicates your agreement with this. UltraBBS, including but not limited to: UBBS.EXE, MANAGER.EXE, SETUP.EXE, CONVERT.EXE, UTI*.EXE, PCBVUPDT.EXE, UBBSWHO.EXE, FIDOCVT.EXE are copyrighted (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved. PCRelay, MegaMail, and UTI are copyrighted by Kip Compton. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. DoorWay is copyrighted by Marshall Dudley. Hayes and Smartmodem are trademarks of Hayes Microcomputers Products. Courier HST is a trademark of USRobotics. PCBVerify is copyrighted by Curtis Kowalski. QDeLuxe and Qmail are copyrighted by Mark Herring. PCBoard is a trademark of Clark Development Company. MSG is copyrighted by Ron Bemis. SMLNET is copyrighted by Darwin Collins. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 3 DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR(S) OF ULTRABBS BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. CONTINUING FURTHER INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 4 WELCOME TO ULTRABBS WELCOME TO ULTRABBS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This manual was written to assist you, the new UltraBBS sysop, to install, run, and maintain the UltraBBS software. Our goal is to get you up and running in the shortest possible time and to answer any questions which you may have. Before beginning the installation process, please read this document carefully. Installing a BBS system can be complicated due to the many individual files involved. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 5 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IBM compatible computer running MS/PC-DOS. 512K system. The overlaid UBBS.EXE version requires: 270K during shell (slower, but requires less memory) 310K during operation The nonoverlaid UBBSNO.EXE version requires: 380K during shell (faster, but requires more memory) 420K during operation Fixed disk drive (at least 20 megabytes recommended). MDA/Hercules/CGA/EGA/MCGA/VGA or compatible graphics card and monitor. Hayes (AT) command-set compatible modem. DOS 3.1 or greater, with SHARE.EXE loaded. Revision 5 FOSSIL Driver. FOSSILs can be found for download on most BBSes. They are public domain or shareware, and one MUST be loaded for UltraBBS to operate. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 6 MULTINODE OPERATION INFORMATION MULTINODE OPERATION INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To run multiple nodes of UltraBBS, you must have some method of running multiple copies of UltraBBS concurrently. Two ways of doing this are networking and multitasking. With multitasking, on a reasonably fast computer (ie: a 386/25 MHz), you should be able to run 2, 3, or possibly even 4 copies of UltraBBS per computer with acceptable speed. UltraBBS requires approximately 350K per copy, so you must have enough memory to assign that much to each task, and have enough to create the required number of tasks. Two of the most popular multitasking programs are DESQview, and Microsoft Windows. UltraBBS has been tested under both, and performs well. Although any multitasker which correctly supports file sharing should work, no guarantees are made for other multitasking programs. If, on one computer, you use both COM1 and COM3, or COM2 and COM4, make sure you have a FOSSIL driver that correctly supports the sharing of interrupts. UltraBBS has been tested with two of the major networks, LANtastic and Novell. Any networking program that leaves you with 350K free memory, and correctly supports DOS file sharing should work, however no guarantees are made. Under some networks, you may be even able to multitask on the networked computers, and run 2 or 3 nodes per computer; however, this will obviously result in slower speeds. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 7 BEGINNING SETUP BEGINNING SETUP ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS was designed to be run on a dedicated computer. As such, the sysop should keep his TSR programs down to a minimum (or not use them at all). A good disk cache program is an exception to this rule. A working knowledge of DOS is mandatory. The ability to create and understand batch files is needed. If you are planning on running a multinode system, you should already know how to set up your network or multitasker before attempting to install UltraBBS. We do not provide any setup information for networks since such information takes volumes and our main concern is with getting your UltraBBS system installed as quickly as possible. Since UltraBBS was designed for the professional, this document assumes the sysop has a fair amount of knowledge concerning BBS operation and DOS essentials. You should have or create a CONFIG.SYS file with the following parameters: FILES=25 BUFFERS=30 If you are running UltraBBS in a multitasking environment, such as DESQview or Microsoft Windows, you will need to increase the value of the FILES parameter depending on how many copies of UltraBBS, and any other programs, are running on that computer concurrently. IMPORTANT NOTE: All dates and times used throughout UltraBBS are in IMPORTANT NOTE United States format. That is, dates are in MM/DD/YY format, and times are either in HH:MM format or HH:MM:SS format. UltraBBS specifies the format to use whenever it asks a user for a date, and it should correctly read the date in US format, regardless of what date format DOS is set for. Whenever a date is asked for, be sure to enter it in MM/DD/YY format! UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 8 DIRECTORY STRUCTURE DIRECTORY STRUCTURE ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- In order to insure optimal operation of UltraBBS, the following directory structure is recommended: Root Directory | | UBBS | | --------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HOLD FILES DOWNLOAD HELP SCRATCH BATCH ATTACH FILES contains all data files and text for the main conference area as well for all other conferences. DOWNLOAD contains all uploaded and downloadable files. You may wish to break this directory into seperate upload and download directories. HELP contains all help text files. SCRATCH is used for several of the UltraBBS commands and should be an empty directory. BATCH is the directory where all files are stored when a batch upload is performed until the software moves them to the correct directory, and should also be empty. HOLD is where all duplicate files that are uploaded are stored, and also where files are placed when the user does not have the required security to upload that file. The ATTACH directory is used to store files that are attached to messages (the files are stored in subdirectories that UltraBBS creates off of the ATTACH directory). UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 9 INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you first extract the UltraBBS distribution files from their archive(s), you will need to change all the paths and directories in SETUP to match your system. See the SETUP section below for the meaning of each parameter in the SETUP program. Before you can run any of the UltraBBS programs you must create and/or verify that the start-up batch file is correct. A sample batch file was provided (RUNBBS.BAT). The file should appear as follows: RUNBBS.BAT -------------------------------------------------- echo off cls :start ubbs if errorlevel 7 goto fatal if errorlevel 6 goto event3 if errorlevel 5 goto event2 if errorlevel 4 goto exit if errorlevel 3 goto fatal if errorlevel 2 goto external if errorlevel 1 goto event1 if errorlevel 0 goto start :external command /C rundoor.bat goto start :fatal cls echo Fatal Error Occurred! Check UBBS.ERR. goto start :event1 echo Event # 1 Goes Here goto start :event2 echo Event # 2 Goes Here goto start :event3 echo Event # 3 Goes Here goto start :exit cls echo UltraBBS Exiting to DOS! :end -------------------------------------------------- To insure proper operation of the BBS, UltraBBS MUST be run from the RUNBBS batch file! This document will describe the configuration of a single node system only. If you are running a multi-node system, you will need to perform the configuration from each of your node's default (UBBS1\, UBBS2\, UBBS3\, etc) directories. It is not necessary to have multiple copies of any of the EXE programs if you have a DOS path set to your main node's default directory. Your shared files (text files, data files, etc) should be in a single directory, and all nodes can access the files. All that you would need to keep in the UBBS1\, UBBS2\, UBBS3\, etc directories would be your UBBS.DAT, UBBS.REG, UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 10 protocol batch files, door batch files, remote DOS batch file, RUNBBS batch file, and the post-upload batch file. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 11 SETUP PROGRAM SETUP PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS SETUP Program (SETUP.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved (NOTE: Whenever possible in UltraBBS's SETUP program, you should specify COMPLETE pathnames, including the drive letter!) ULTRABBS CONFIGURATION FILE PATHS #1 ------------- FILE HOLDING DIRECTORY (ex: C:\UBBS\HOLD): UltraBBS will place all FILE HOLDING DIRECTORY uploaded files that are duplicate files, or that were in the NOUP.DAT, in this directory. These files will NOT be placed into the FileBase. You will probably want to check the contents of this directory on a regular basis. You must create this directory. SCRATCH DIRECTORY (ex: C:\UBBS\SCRATCH): This directory is a temporary SCRATCH DIRECTORY directory used by UltraBBS. This directory should be left empty. This directory MUST be different for all nodes. You must create this directory. BATCH UPLOAD DIRECTORY (ex: C:\UBBS\BATCH): This is also a temporary BATCH UPLOAD DIRECTORY directory used by UltraBBS. It stores all files during a batch upload. The program will automatically empty this directory by moving the files into the upload directory. This directory MUST also be different for all nodes. You must create this directory. USER SECURITY FILES DIRECTORY (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES): This directory USER SECURITY FILES DIRECTORY stores all security information text files. The software allows sysops to display a different file to each security level. The file names are simply the corresponding security level. For example, if you want to make a text file to be displayed to all security level 10 users, you would call the file '10' without an extension. Color files can be made, such as '10G' for security level 10 ANSI users. You must create this directory. FILE ATTACH BASE DIRECTORY (ex: C:\UBBS\ATTACH): This directory is FILE ATTACH BASE DIRECTORY where user's attached files will be placed (subdirectories will be created off of this directory). You must create this directory. FILEBASE FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\FILEBASE): This is the filename FILEBASE FILE NAME of the file that will store information on all files on the BBS. It is a random access file, with indexes. This filename should not have an extension. This file is edited with UltraBBS's MANAGER program. LIMITS FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\LIMITS.DAT): This file stores the LIMITS FILE NAME information on time limits and ratios for each security level, and is edited with "Edit Current Limits File" from SETUP's main menu. NODE INFORMATION FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NODEINFO.DAT): This file NODE INFORMATION FILE NAME contains information such as who is on the BBS, what they are doing, and where they are from. It also stores information pertaining to the events. Additionally, this file is also used when one node is paging another node. This file MUST be the same for all nodes. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 12 PROTOCOL FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\PROTOCOL.DAT): This file PROTOCOL FILE NAME contains the information on all of the protocols available for file transfers. It is edited with "Edit Current Protocols File" from SETUP's main menu. USER FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\USERS): This file contains the USER FILE NAME information on every user on the BBS. Everything that is known about the user's location, phone numbers, birthdate, security level, etc is found in this file. This file can be edited with UltraBBS's MANAGER program. This file should not have an extension, since indexes are created for faster searches. CONFERENCE DATA FILE (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\CONFDATA.DAT): This file CONFERENCE DATA FILE contains the information on all conferences, their questionnaires, doors, bulletins, voting booths, text files, etc. This file is edited with SETUP's "Conferences" selection from the main menu. NODE CHAT FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NODECHAT.DAT): This file is NODE CHAT FILE NAME used during node to node chat. For best results, it is highly recommended that this file be on a RAM drive. This file should be the same for all nodes. NEW USER QUESTIONNAIRE FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NEWQUES.DAT): This NEW USER QUESTIONNAIRE FILE NAME is a standard questionnaire file which is given to all new users who log onto the BBS. See the Questionnaire section for more information on questionnaires. NEW USER ANSWER FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NEWANSW.DAT): This file NEW USER ANSWER FILE NAME serves as the users' answer file from the above option. COMPRESSION FORMAT FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\COMPRESS.DAT): This COMPRESSION FORMAT FILE NAME file contains all information on the file compression types supported by your BBS (ex: ZIP, LZH, ARC, etc). This is edited with "Edit Current Compression Methods File" from SETUP's main menu. PAGE BELL MUSIC FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\PAGEBELL.DAT): This file PAGE BELL MUSIC FILE NAME contains music compatible with BASIC's PLAY command, or ANSI music. This file is played when a user pages the sysop. The first line contains the number of times to play the song which is found on the second line and those thereafter. The lines of the song must not begin with ANSI codes. URGENT MESSAGES FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\URGENT.DAT): This is the URGENT MESSAGES FILE NAME name of the file that the sysop's urgent messages are stored in. Urgent messages are created/deleted with the (6) main menu command. EXPIRED SUBSCRIPTION FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\EXPIRED): This is EXPIRED SUBSCRIPTION FILE NAME the text file displayed to users whose subscription date have expired. POST-UPLOAD BATCH FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\UPLOAD.BAT): This is the POST-UPLOAD BATCH FILE NAME batch file run after all uploads. You must make sure you have this feature enabled for this to take effect. Some common things that can be done with this are to convert uploaded files from ARC to ZIP, remove ZIP comments, etc. When this batch file is executed by UltraBBS, the uploaded file(s) will be in the batch dir, and this batch file will be executed from the system dir. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 13 PRE-UPLOAD FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\PREUPL): This is the text file PRE-UPLOAD FILE NAME that is displayed before each upload. Usually it will explain which file formats you prefer to be uploaded, and which ones you do not want to be uploaded. FILE PATHS #2 ------------- CALLER FILE PREFIX (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\CALLER): This is the prefix for CALLER FILE PREFIX the file name used for the callers log. This file contains information on users who have called and what they did. This file should be the same for all nodes. The node number is appended to the prefix when the file is actually used. For example, Node 1's callers log would actually be called 'CALLER1', and for this reason, the name of the caller's log should be no more than 6 characters long. This file can be viewed with a text editor, but should NOT be edited, as it is stored in a special, random format. It can also be viewed in a reverse order with UltraBBS's (1) main menu command, and searched with UltraBBS's (10) main menu command. NO UPLOADS FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NOUPS.DAT): This is the file NO UPLOADS FILE NAME that contains the names/wildcards that should not be uploaded, or that require a specific security level to upload. This is edited with SETUP's main menu "Edit Current No Uploads File" selection. ALIASES FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\ALIASES.DAT): This is the file ALIASES FILE NAME that contains names of people who cannot logon new to the BBS. This is a plain text file (to be edited with DOS's EDLIN or a similar editor) which contains the list of names, one name per line. CONFERENCE MENU FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\CONFS): This is a text CONFERENCE MENU FILE NAME file that contains a list of all conferences available on the board. This is displayed to the user when they use the (J) command. GOODBYE FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\GOODBYE): This is the text file GOODBYE FILE NAME that is displayed to the user when he logs off the system. WELCOME FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\WELCOME): This is the text file WELCOME FILE NAME that is displayed to all users upon logon, after the BBS checks for ANSI. NO NEW USERS FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NONEW): This is a text file NO NEW USERS FILE NAME that is displayed to new users if you have new user logons disabled in the SETUP program. HELP FILES PREFIX (ex: C:\UBBS\HELP\HLP): This is the prefix for the HELP FILES PREFIX UltraBBS help files. These files come with the UltraBBS distribution diskette, but may be modified as a normal text file. NO REGISTRATION FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NOREG): This is the text NO REGISTRATION FILE NAME file displayed to new users if they decide not to register. LOW SECURITY FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\LOWSEC): This is the text LOW SECURITY FILE NAME file displayed if a user's security level is too low to log onto the board, but is above 0. NEW USER FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NEWUSER): This is the text file NEW USER FILE NAME displayed to all new users, before they are asked whether or not they wish to register with the BBS. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 14 REMOTE DOS BATCH FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\REMOTE.BAT): This is the batch REMOTE DOS BATCH FILE NAME file used to allow remote sysops (or co-sysops) to shell to DOS with UltraBBS's (7) command. A sample batch file is provided. See the Remote DOS Setup section for more information. BIRTHDAY FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\BDAY): This is the text file BIRTHDAY FILE NAME that is diplayed to a user when they log on and their birthdate matches the current date (ie, it is their birthday!). CALLER NUMBER FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\CALLNUM.DAT): This is the CALLER NUMBER FILE NAME data file that contains the system's caller number. To keep a total number of callers on the system, this value should be set the same for all nodes. If you wish for each of your nodes to keep a separate caller number, you will want to set a separate name for this file on each node. If, for some reason, you wish to reset your caller number, you can delete this file. BBS PARAMETERS/SWITCHES ----------------------- BBS NAME (ex: Bits & Bytes): This is the name of your BBS. BBS NAME SYSOP'S FULL NAME (ex: BOB FARMER): This is the full name of the SYSOP'S FULL NAME sysop--the name he uses to log into the BBS with. You may want to log on with your real name, or the name 'SYSOP' as it is done on some other BBS packages. NODE # OF THIS NODE (ex: 1): This is the number of the current NODE # OF THIS NODE configuration file's node number. If you are running a single node system, set this number to '1'. TOTAL NODES IN SYSTEM (ex: 1): This is the total number of nodes on TOTAL NODES IN SYSTEM the system. Single node boards should set this to 1. SECONDS FOR REGISTRATION (ex: 180): This is the number of seconds that SECONDS FOR REGISTRATION a new user has available to register. SECONDS BETWEEN NODE CHECKS (ex: 5): This sets how often, on multi- SECONDS BETWEEN NODE CHECKS node systems, that UltraBBS will check for lock out or log off functions performed by a sysop on another node. It also checks to see if another node would like to chat. On single node systems, for optimum performance, this should be set to 0 (which will NEVER check)! UPLOAD TIME CREDIT FACTOR (ex: 1): This will take the number of UPLOAD TIME CREDIT FACTOR minutes used to upload file(s), multiply it by this number, and give a user that much more time after an upload. If it is set at '0', they will lose all of the time it takes to upload. If it is set to '1', they will neither lose nor gain time. If it is set to '2', they will receive twice the amount of time that they spent in the upload, etc. Decimals are allowed in this field. SECONDS OF IDLE TIME ALLOWED (ex: 180): This is the number of seconds SECONDS OF IDLE TIME ALLOWED of inactivity (no keyboard input) before UltraBBS hangs up the user for inactivity. USE POST-UPLOAD BATCH FILE: If you want to use the UPLOAD.BAT file as USE POST-UPLOAD BATCH FILE described earlier in the manual, set this to 'Y'es. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 15 COMMUNICATIONS PORT (ex: 1): This is the communications port used: COMMUNICATIONS PORT 'X'=Local, '1'=COM1, '2'=COM2, '3'=COM3, etc. It will support up to 8 COM ports, as long as your FOSSIL driver does. LOCK MODEM'S BPS RATE: Set this switch to 'Y'es if you would like to LOCK MODEM'S BPS RATE lock your modem in at the baud rate entered in the 'F' field of this menu. This is often used on high speed modems, such as the USR HSTs. When you set UltraBBS to lock at the baud rate specified, you should also set your FOSSIL to lock at that baud rate. See the manual of your specific FOSSIL for information on how to do this. RTS/CTS FLOW CONTROL: Flow control is needed by many of the newer high RTS/CTS FLOW CONTROL speed modems. Set to 'Y'es if your modem needs RTS/CTS flow control. MODEM ANSWER COMMAND (ex: ATA): This is the modem command to make the MODEM ANSWER COMMAND modem answer the phone. Most modems would use 'ATA' for this command. MODEM OFF-HOOK COMMAND (ex: ATH1): This is the modem command to take MODEM OFF-HOOK COMMAND the phone off-hook. This command is used each time UltraBBS exits, except in the case of a fatal system error. LOWEST BPS RATE ALLOWED (ex: 1200): This is the lowest bps (baud) rate LOWEST BPS RATE ALLOWED you want to allow on your BBS. For example, if you want to allow only 2400 and above, then set it to 2400. If you want to allow only 9600 and faster, then set it to 9600. MODEM INITIALIZATION BPS RATE: This is the baud rate to initialize the MODEM INITIALIZATION BPS RATE modem with. UltraBBS supports from 300 to 38400 baud. USE TERSE CALLER LOGGING: Set this to 'Y'es if you wish to tersely log USE TERSE CALLER LOGGING calls. In terse call logging mode, only the logon/logoff/event messages are recorded to the log, instead of the more detailed messages that are recorded in verbose logging mode. ALLOW 7E1 CALLERS: Set this to 'Y'es if you would like to support ALLOW 7E1 CALLERS callers using 7E1 or set it to 'N'o if you would like to deny access to 7E1 callers. In some cases, 7E1 callers will cause problems with external door programs. CONTINUE AFTER INIT FAILURE: Set this to 'Y'es if you want UltraBBS to CONTINUE AFTER INIT FAILURE continue as if there was no error after an initialization fails. Under most conditions, you will want to set this to 'N'o as the initialization string places the modem on hook and performs other critical operations. MODEM INITIALIZATION COMMAND: This option varies greatly from modem to MODEM INITIALIZATION COMMAND modem; however, this does need to do several things: put the phone on the hook, disable auto-answer, turn on extended response codes (CONNECT 2400, etc), and activate the DTR and DCD signals. Read your modem manual for specific information on setting up your modem. See the Modem Configuration section to see if your modem type has been specifically documented. NUMBER OF RINGS TO SKIP BEFORE ANSWERING (ex: 0): This option NUMBER OF RINGS TO SKIP BEFORE ANSWERING specified the number of rings to wait before answering an incoming call. Setting it to '0' causes UltraBBS to answer immediately (ie: on the first ring), setting it to '1' would cause UltraBBS to skip the first ring (thus answering on the second), and etc. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 16 ALLOW USERS TO SKIP WELCOME: If you want the users to be able to skip ALLOW USERS TO SKIP WELCOME the welcome screen by stacking a 'Q' at the logon graphics prompt, set this to 'Y'es. SHELL TO REMOTE DOS: UltraBBS can either exit to remote DOS, or shell SHELL TO REMOTE DOS to remote DOS. If you set this to 'Y'es, then UltraBBS will shell to remote DOS. This is much quicker than exiting, but UltraBBS stays in memory. It is recommended that you set this to 'N'o, in which case UltraBBS will use the errorlevels in the RUNBBS.BAT file to run its doors. SHELL TO DOORS: This is the same as the above option, except it SHELL TO DOORS applies to the doors instead of remote DOS. REMOTE DOS REBOOT ON HANGUP: If this option is set to 'Y'es, UltraBBS REMOTE DOS REBOOT ON HANGUP will reboot the computer if a remote user hangs up after shelling to DOS but before returning to the BBS. TEST UPLOADS: Set this to 'Y'es if you would like UltraBBS to test the TEST UPLOADS integrity of all supported compressed files when they are uploaded. Setting this option to 'Y'es is highly recommended, as it helps to filter out aborted and bad uploads. ALLOW NEW USERS: Set this to 'Y'es if you would like new users to be ALLOW NEW USERS able to log onto the board. ALLOW NON-2-WORD NAMES: Set this to 'Y'es if you would like users to ALLOW NON-2-WORD NAMES be able to log on with names that are less or more than 2 words in length. DIRECTORY ID FOR '/' FILES: This is the directory ID that will be DIRECTORY ID FOR '/' FILES placed on all files that start with a '/' in the description. You will probably want to set up a directory with this ID and its security set at sysop level, so that you can look through the privately uploaded files. Also, all files uploaded without descriptions (for example, the user wasn't around when the upload was finished) will be placed in the private directory! SYSOP START TIME/SYSOP END TIME: This is the beginning and end of the SYSOP START TIME/SYSOP END TIME sysop page bell hours. If the sysop has turned on his page bell (with (Alt-P)), then users will always be allowed to page the sysop. If the page bell is off, then the page bell hours will be checked and if they are currently active, the page will be allowed. DELETE FILE FOR USER: If this flag is set, then after a user's DELETE FILE FOR USER individual file (in the file for user field of the user record) is displayed, it will be deleted and the field cleared in the user's record. CHECK MESSAGE 'TO': If this flag if set, the then 'To' field of a CHECK MESSAGE 'TO' message will be checked when a user enters a message to make sure that the user actually exists. If the user does not exist, the message enterer will be allowed to reenter, abort, or continue with the message. (TI)ME BANK MAXIMUM: This is the maxium amount of time (in minutes) (TI)ME BANK MAXIMUM that a user can store in the BBS's time bank (TI) command. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 17 INSTANT LOGON PASSWORD: This is the password that is required to INSTANT LOGON PASSWORD perform an "instant logon". An instant logon is performed by stacking an equal sign ('=') at the logon graphics prompt. The user will then be prompted for the instant logon password, his name/password, and will be placed at the main menu. If you wish, you may place all input info on the password line, separated by tildes (~) (as you can on most prompts). This feature is especially useful for local/remote sysops, or mail systems that operate through doors (such as PCRelay, etc). During an instant logon, all text files are skipped and the mail scan is skipped. USE BIOS OUTPUT: If this is set to 'Y'es, then BIOS output will always USE BIOS OUTPUT be used instead of direct screen writes. If you have an older video card and don't like the "snow", or if you are running under a multitasking program that cannot intercept direct screen writes, you may want to set this to 'Y'es. Screen writes are much slower though when this is turned on. SECURITY LEVELS --------------- (B) - (11) SECURITIES: All of these are the security levels for the (B) - (11) SECURITIES commands shown. For information on these commands, see the commands section of this manual. MINIMUM LOG ON SECURITY: This is the minimum security required to log MINIMUM LOG ON SECURITY onto the board. (G X) SECURITY: Typing 'G X' from the main menu causes UltraBBS to (G X) SECURITY exit to DOS after it logs off the user. This is a remote sysop oriented command and should be set high enough so that normal users can not take down the board. SYSOP MENU SECURITY: This is the security level required to show the SYSOP MENU SECURITY user the sysop menu. OVERWRITE FILES SECURITY: This is the security level required to OVERWRITE FILES SECURITY overwrite existing files on an upload. MULTIPLE SAVE SECURITY: This is the security level required to use the MULTIPLE SAVE SECURITY multiple save command. The multiple save command allows a user to send one message to more than one person. READ KILLED SECURITY: This is the security level required to read a READ KILLED SECURITY message that has been killed. Packing the message base will remove all killed messages permanently. This option should be set at the sysop level. EDIT/MOVE SECURITY: This is the security level required to either move EDIT/MOVE SECURITY a file from one message base to another or to edit an existing message. KILL ANY MESSAGE SECURITY: This is the security level required to kill KILL ANY MESSAGE SECURITY all messages, whether it is from/to the user or not. This option should be set at the sysop level. SKIP MESSAGE PASSWORD SECURITY: This is the security level required to SKIP MESSAGE PASSWORD SECURITY skip the password protection prompt on password protected messages. This option should be set at the sysop level. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 18 TO-SYSOP MESSAGE SECURITY: If you would like for users to be able to TO-SYSOP MESSAGE SECURITY leave messages to the sysop, but not to other users or public messages, you can set the 'E'nter Message security level command above their security level, and place this at or below their level. They will then be allowed to leave messages to the sysop, but not to other callers, or to 'ALL'. The only exception to this security requirement is when a user repeatedly fails the password entry at login and he is allowed to enter a message to the sysop explaining the problem if he wishes. FILE CLASSIFICATION SECURITY: This is the security level required to FILE CLASSIFICATION SECURITY for a user to be able to specify the directory that his upload goes in. READ PRIVATE MESSAGE SECURITY: This is the security level required to READ PRIVATE MESSAGE SECURITY read all private messages, whether it is from/to the user or not. This option should be set at the sysop level. NEW USER SECURITY: This is the security level given to all new users NEW USER SECURITY when they sign up. EDIT ANY DESCRIPTION SECURITY: This is the security level required to EDIT ANY DESCRIPTION SECURITY edit the description of any file, whether it was upload by the user or not. If you trust your users, you may want to set this to normal security levels. IMPORT INTO MESSAGES SECURITY: This is the security level to import a IMPORT INTO MESSAGES SECURITY file into the message base. The command to use this is 'F' from the Message Editing Command prompt. RETURN RECEIPT SECURITY: This is the security level that the user must RETURN RECEIPT SECURITY have in order to request a return receipt on a message. FORWARD MESSAGE SECURITY: This is the security that the user must have FORWARD MESSAGE SECURITY to forward his messages (after receiving them) with the (F) end-of- message command. PAGE UNAVAILABLE SECURITY: This is the security required to page PAGE UNAVAILABLE SECURITY unavailable users with the (N) command. EDIT HIS OWN MESSAGES SECURITY: This is the security required for a EDIT HIS OWN MESSAGES SECURITY user to edit the text of messages that he entered. NEW USER CONFERENCES/QMAIL PARAMETERS ------------------------------------- NEW USER CONFERENCES: This is the conference string which will be NEW USER CONFERENCES assigned to new users when they first sign up. This string will also be copied into their expired conferences string. OFFLINE READING PACKET ID: This is the ID (maximum 8 letters) that OFFLINE READING PACKET ID will be used to make the filename used in Qmail packets that are received or sent from your BBS. BBS LOCATION: This is the city and state of your BBS, for use in Qmail BBS LOCATION packets. BBS PHONE NUMBER: This is the phone number of your BBS, for use in BBS PHONE NUMBER Qmail packets. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 19 QMAIL MENU FOR PACKET: This is the full path of the Qmail menu that QMAIL MENU FOR PACKET will be placed in with the Qmail .QWK packets. The path should point to a ANSI version (if you have one), since non-ANSI versions will never be used. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MESSAGES FOR (O), (D C) PACKET: This is the maximum MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MESSAGES FOR (O), (D C) PACKET number of messages that a user may pack up in a single (O)ffline or (R)ead (C)apture session. EVENT # 1 - 3 TIMES: This is the time at which these events will be EVENT # 1 - 3 TIMES executed. The time '00:00' would cause the event to run at midnight. All times are in 24-hour military format. EVENT # 1 - 3 ACTIVE FLAGS: If an event's active flag is on, then the EVENT # 1 - 3 ACTIVE FLAGS event will be executed, otherwise they will not be. EVENT # 1 - 3 GUARD TIMES: This is the number of minutes before each EVENT # 1 - 3 GUARD TIMES event during which uploads are not allowed. CONFERENCES: QUESTIONNAIRES, BULLETINS, DOORS, VOTING BOOTHS From the conference selection screen, you can (Alt-A)dd conferences and (Alt-D)elete conferences. You may only delete the last conference, and to delete it you must have it highlighted (this is to provide a safety guard against accidentally deleting a conference). When you add a conference, you will have the option to copy the data over from another conference so that you can more quickly and easily create new conferences that use similar files and similar parameters. CONFERENCE PARAMETERS --------------------- CONFERENCE NAME (ex: General): This is the name of the conference (up CONFERENCE NAME to 40 characters). MESSAGE FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\GENERAL): This is the name of the MESSAGE FILE NAME conference's message file on the drive. This file should not have an extension, since indexes are used. This parameter should be set differently in each conference, otherwise they will share the same message file, and hence, the same messages! MAIN MENU FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\MMENU): This is the name of the MAIN MENU FILE NAME conference's main menu text file. SYSOP MENU FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\SMENU): This is the name of SYSOP MENU FILE NAME the conference's sysop menu text file, displayed to users who have high enough access to see it. NEWS FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\NEWS): This is the name of the NEWS FILE NAME conference's news text file, displayed each call when the user first enters that conference. In conference # 0, this file is displayed when the user first logs on each day. DOORS MENU FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\DOORS): This is the name of DOORS MENU FILE NAME the text file that lists all doors and possibly a brief description for them. This file is displayed to users who select the (OP)en or (DO)or option. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 20 DOORS DATA FILE NAME (ex: C:\UBBS\FILES\DOORS.DAT): This is the name DOORS DATA FILE NAME of the file that stores the information on each door. This can be edited with SETUP's "Edit Current Doors File" selection from the "Conference Setup" menu. For more information on doors, see the "DOORS" section of this manual. BULLETINS MENU FILE NAME (ex: BLTS): This is the name of the text BULLETINS MENU FILE NAME file, shown to users, that lists all bulletins and possibly a brief description for them. BULLETINS DATA FILE NAME (ex: BLTS.DAT): This is the name of the file BULLETINS DATA FILE NAME that stores the information on each bulletin. Bulletins are general text files that users can view from the main menu with the (B) command. This can be edited with SETUP's "Edit Current Bulletins File" selection from the "Conference Setup" menu. QUESTIONNAIRES MENU FILE NAME (ex: QUES): This is the name of the text QUESTIONNAIRES MENU FILE NAME file, shown to users, that lists all questionnaires and possibly a brief description for them. QUESTIONNAIRES DATA FILE NAME (ex: QUES.DAT): This is the name of the QUESTIONNAIRES DATA FILE NAME file that stores the information on each questionnaire. This can be edited with SETUP's "Edit Current Questionnaire File" from "Conference Setup". DIRECTORIES MENU FILE NAME (ex: DIR): This is the name of the text DIRECTORIES MENU FILE NAME file, shown to users, that lists all directories and possibly a brief description for them. VOTING BOOTHS MENU FILE NAME (ex: VOTING): This is the name of the VOTING BOOTHS MENU FILE NAME text file, shown to users, that lists all voting booths and possibly a brief description for them. VOTING BOOTHS DATA FILE NAME (ex: VOTING.DAT): This is the name of the VOTING BOOTHS DATA FILE NAME file that stores the information on each voting booth. This file is edited with SETUP's "Edit Voting Booth File" selection from the "Conference Setup" menu. UPLOAD DIRECTORY: This is the physical directory where all newly UPLOAD DIRECTORY uploaded files in this conference will be placed. ALLOW UPLOADS HERE: If you set this to 'N'o, then users will not be ALLOW UPLOADS HERE allowed to upload when in this conference. ECHO MAIL: If this flag is set, users will be asked whether or not ECHO MAIL their message should be set to 'Echo'. This is used by several mail systems, including PCRelay and UltraBBS's FIDOCVT. For normal message base operation, set this to 'N'o. ALIASES IN MESSAGES: If this flag is set, users will be asked for the ALIASES IN MESSAGES name for the 'From' field of their messages left in this conference. ESC CODES IN MESSAGES: If this flag is set, users will be allowed to ESC CODES IN MESSAGES enter escape codes (ANSI sequences) in their messages left in this conference. DEFAULT FILE DIRECTORY: This is the file directory number in this DEFAULT FILE DIRECTORY conference to which unclassified uploads will be assigned. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 21 FILE DIRECTORY CONFIGURATION ---------------------------- In the file directory configuration screen, you will be displayed the settings of the directory numbers that are defined in this conference. You can modify the four-character, alphanumberic DIRECTORY ID and the DIRECTORY ID DIRECTORY SECURITY for each directory number. Through the Global DIRECTORY SECURITY Changes menu, you can copy the complete file directory settings (including default file directory from the conference parameters screen) from one conference to another. All files, when uploaded, will be given the directory ID of the directory # that they are classified into. Using the directory IDs, you have a great deal of flexibility in how you set up the file directory numbers in different conferences. For example, you could set Directory 1 in Conference 0 for directory ID "GNRL", and set Directory 5 in Conference 12 for "GNRL", and they would contain the exact same files. You may have up to 300 directories per conference. GLOBAL CONFERENCE CHANGES ------------------------- COPY FILE DIRECTORY SETTINGS FROM ONE CONFERENCE TO ANOTHER: This COPY FILE DIRECTORY SETTINGS FROM ONE CONFERENCE TO ANOTHER command allows you to duplicate the file system settings from a conference, and place them into another conference. CHANGE UPLOAD DIRECTORY: This command changes the physical upload CHANGE UPLOAD DIRECTORY directory for selected conferences. CLEAR USERS' MESSAGE POINTERS IN A CONFERENCE: This command allows you CLEAR USERS' MESSAGE POINTERS IN A CONFERENCE to clear all users' last read message pointers in a specific conference. You should use this after manually deleting a message base, etc. EDIT CURRENT QUESTIONNAIRES DATA FILE ------------------------------------- You may have up to 500 questionnaires per conference. This option allows you to edit the questionnaire data file that is specified in the current conference. QUESTIONNAIRE NAME: The name of this questionnaire (up to 20 QUESTIONNAIRE NAME characters). QUESTIONNAIRE FILE NAME: The file name of the file that contains the QUESTIONNAIRE FILE NAME questionnaire's commands. See the questionnaire section of this manual for information on the commands that can be put in this file. ANSWER FILE NAME: The file name of the file to write the questionnaire ANSWER FILE NAME answers to. SECURITY LEVEL: The security level required for a user to answer the SECURITY LEVEL questionnaire. PASSWORD: The password required to answer the questionnaires. PASSWORD EDIT CURRENT BULLETINS DATA FILE -------------------------------- You may have up to 1000 bulletins per conference. This option edits the bulletins data file specified in the current conference. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 22 BULLETIN FILE: This is the file name of the bulletin. BULLETIN FILE SECURITY LEVEL: This is the security level required to view this SECURITY LEVEL bulletin. PASSWORD: This is the password required to view this bulletin. PASSWORD EDIT CURRENT DOORS DATA FILE ---------------------------- You may have up to 625 doors per conference. This option allows you to edit the doors data file specified in the current conference. DOOR NAME: This is the name of the door (up to 20 characters). DOOR NAME BATCH FILE NAME: This is the name of the batch file that runs the BATCH FILE NAME door. It should have the extension of .BAT. SECURITY LEVEL: This is the security required to enter the door. SECURITY LEVEL PASSWORD: This is the password required to enter the door. PASSWORD BBS TYPE: This is the BBS type of the door. It can be set to PCB14, BBS TYPE WILDCAT, RBBS, GAP, UTI, or WWIV. Respectively, the door files created are: PCBOARD.SYS, CALLINFO.BBS, DORINFOx.DEF, DOOR.SYS, UTI.TXT, and CHAIN.TXT. REBOOT ON LOST CARRIER: This flag determines whether UltraBBS will REBOOT ON LOST CARRIER have the FOSSIL reboot the computer if carrier is lost in this door. Under most conditions, you will not want to use this. EDIT CURRENT VOTING BOOTHS DATA FILE ------------------------------------ You may have up to 45 voting booths per conference. This option allows you to edit the voting booths data file specified in the current conference. VOTING TOPIC: This is the question to be voted on. VOTING TOPIC SECURITY FOR VOTING BOOTH: This is the security level required to vote SECURITY FOR VOTING BOOTH on this topic. VOTING RESULTS DATA FILE: This is the data file in which the results VOTING RESULTS DATA FILE of this vote will be stored. PASSWORD FOR VOTING BOOTH: This is the password required to vote on PASSWORD FOR VOTING BOOTH this topic. VOTING CHOICES: These are the possible answers which can be voted for. VOTING CHOICES EDIT CURRENT LIMITS DATA FILE You may have up to 256 limits entries defined. This option edits the limits data file that is specified in the current node's configuration. SECURITY LEVEL: This is the security level for which the following SECURITY LEVEL parameters will apply. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 23 MINUTES PER DAY: This is the total number of minutes that users of the MINUTES PER DAY above security level will get each day. DOWNLOADS PER UPLOAD: This is the total number of files that the user DOWNLOADS PER UPLOAD can download for each file he uploads. If you set this to 0, the user will have no upload/download file ratio. DOWNLOAD KILOBYTES PER UPLOAD KILOBYTE: This is the total number of DOWNLOAD KILOBYTES PER UPLOAD KILOBYTE kilobytes that the user can download for each kilobyte he uploads. If you set this to 0, the user will have no upload/download kilobyte ratio. AUTO LOGIN DOOR NUMBER: This is the door number which the user will AUTO LOGIN DOOR NUMBER automatically be placed in whenever he logs in or calls as a new user and received this security level. To disable this feature, set this parameter 0. DAILY DOWNLOAD K LIMIT: This is the maximum number of kilobytes that a DAILY DOWNLOAD K LIMIT user of this security level can download in one day. EDIT CURRENT NO UPLOADS DATA FILE You may have up to 1450 no upload entries defined. This option edits the no uploads data file that is specified in the current node's configuration. WILDCARD SPECIFICATION: This is the wildcard specification for which WILDCARD SPECIFICATION the following parameter will apply. SECURITY LEVEL: This is the security level required to upload any file SECURITY LEVEL matching the above wildcard. If a user, in a batch transfer, uploads a file that he does not have high enough security to upload, it will be placed in the file holding directory and he will receive no credit. EDIT CURRENT PROTOCOLS DATA FILE You may have up to 256 protocols defined. This option edits the protocols data file that is specified in the current node's configuration. The default protocols data file that comes with UltraBBS contains the main protocols used today, and uses the DSZ and BIMODEM drivers. If you wish to use the protocols data file and the protocol batches that come with UltraBBS, you will need to acquire these two programs (DSZ and BIMODEM). They are available on most BBSes, including the UltraBBS test sites. PROTOCOL LETTER (ex: Z): This is the letter with which the user will PROTOCOL LETTER select this protocol. PROTOCOL TYPE (ex: M): This is the type of protocol--'S'ingle File or PROTOCOL TYPE 'M'ultiple File Support, or 'B'idirectional Transfer Support. UPLOAD BATCH FILE (ex: RZ.BAT): This is the name of the batch file UPLOAD BATCH FILE that is invoked by UltraBBS to receive a file from the user. The parameters passed to it are: %1 = Port Number (1, 2, 3, etc), %2 = Baud Rate (300, 1200, etc). On non-@-supporting protocols, %3 - %9 = UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 24 File Names to Send, and on @-supporting protocols, %3 = File Name of the "@" list file. DOWNLOAD/BIDIR BATCH FILE (ex: SZ.BAT): This is the name of the batch DOWNLOAD/BIDIR BATCH FILE file that is invoked by UltraBBS to send a file to the user. The parameters passed to it are: %1 = Port Number (1, 2, 3, etc), %2 = Baud Rate (300, 1200, etc), %3 = File Name to Receive (Only on non- batch protocols). This batch file is also invoked when a bidirectional transfer is executed. The parameters passed to a bidirectional batch file are: %1 = Port Number (1, 2, 3, etc), %2 = Baud Rate (300, 1200, etc). On non-@-supporting protocols, %3 - %9 = File Names to Send, and on @-supporting protocols, %3 = File Name of the "@" list file. PROTOCOL NAME (ex: Zmodem): This is the name of the protocol. PROTOCOL NAME BATCH "@" SUPPORT (ex: Y): This flag designates whether or not the BATCH "@" SUPPORT protocol supports the "@" filename list parameter. This allows the user to download up to 99 files on a batch transfer. Without this, the user can only transfer several files at a time. DSZ.LOG WRITING SUPPORT (ex: Y): This flag designates whether or not DSZ.LOG WRITING SUPPORT the protocol writes a DSZ.LOG-format file. If you set this flag, you must have your DSZLOG environment variable set (via the DOS "SET xxx=yyy" command) to a legitimate filename (complete, with drive and path). This file will be created by the protocol driver, and need not exist. If your protocol does write a DSZ.LOG-format file, it is strongly recommended that you use this option, as it greatly improves the download capabilities of the BBS. On multi-tasking systems, the DSZ.LOG file paths MUST be different for each node (task). If the protocol does not write a DSZ.LOG file, then UltraBBS assumes the transfer was successfully completed, unless it finds a file called ABORT (which should be created by your batch file) in the UltraBBS directory, in which case it assumes the transfer was aborted. EDIT CURRENT COMPRESSION METHODS DATA FILE You may have up to 275 compression methods defined. This option allows you to edit the compression methods data file which is specified in the current node's configuration. NOTE: The first compression method specified in this data file will act as the default compression method for commands such as (O), (R D), etc. COMPRESSION EXTENSION (ex: ZIP): This is the extension used by this COMPRESSION EXTENSION compression type. COMMAND FOR VIEWING (ex: zip -v $FILE$ >$OUT$): This is the command COMMAND FOR VIEWING executed by UltraBBS to view the contents of a compressed file. $FILE$ = File name of the compressed file, $OUT$ = File name to send output to. COMMAND FOR ADDING (zip -a $FILE$ $LIST$): This is the command COMMAND FOR ADDING executed by UltraBBS to add a file to a compressed file. $FILE$ = File name of the compressed file, $LIST$ = List of file names to add to the compressed file. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 25 COMMAND FOR EXTRACTING (unzip $FILE$ $LIST$ $DIR$): This is the COMMAND FOR EXTRACTING command executed by UltraBBS to extract a file from a compressed file. $FILE$ = File name of the compressed file, $LIST$ = List of file names to extract from the compressed file, $DIR$ = Directory to extract the files to. COMMAND FOR TEST (unzip -t $FILE$ >$OUT$): This is the command COMMAND FOR TEST executed by UltraBBS to test a compressed file's integrity. $FILE$ = File name of the compressed file, $OUT$ = File name to send output to. TEXT TO INDICATE ERROR (ex: contains error): This is the text to check TEXT TO INDICATE ERROR for in the output file after a compressed file integrity check. If this text is found in the file, it is assumed that the compressed file is corrupted. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 26 EXPLANATION OF ULTRABBS DATA FILE USE EXPLANATION OF ULTRABBS DATA FILE USE ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The use of data files by UltraBBS, such as the data files for questionnaires, voting booths, doors, bulletins, limits, no uploads, protocols, compression methods, conferences, and others allows the sysop of an UltraBBS a lot of flexibility. The names of some data files (such as compression methods, conferences, limits, no uploads, protocols) are specified from the main BBS parameter screens in SETUP. These data files can be the same or different on all nodes in your system (if you run a multinode system). To edit the data file which is specified in the currently loaded copy of SETUP, select the appropriate main menu option in SETUP (for example, "Edit Current Compression Methods Data File", "Conferences: ...", etc). The names of other data files (such as doors, bulletins, questionnaires, and voting booths) are specified from the Conferences Parameters screen. These data files can be the same or different in different conferences. The data file specified in the your current conference is edited by selecting the appropriate option from the Conference Setup menu (for example, "Edit Current Doors Data File"). This system allows you to, for example, have a different set of doors in conference # 1 than are in conference # 0. Simply specify different doors data file names in each conference, and set them up. On the other hand, you could set all (or some of) your conferences to read from the same doors data file, and they would all have the same set of doors, because if the data file name is the same, then editing that data file in one conference's setup is going to make the same change in all other conferences that read from that same data file. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 27 MANAGER PROGRAM MANAGER PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS Manager Program (MANAGER.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved USER FILE EDIT -------------- USER NAME: This is the name that the user uses to log in, and cannot USER NAME be changed for indexing purposes. LOGON FILE NAME: This is the file that will be displayed to the user LOGON FILE NAME when he logs in to the BBS. SYSOP COMMENT: This is an optional field where the sysop can jot down SYSOP COMMENT any general comments about a user, for future reference. VOICE TELEPHONE NUMBER: This is the user's voice telephone number. VOICE TELEPHONE NUMBER DATA TELEPHONE NUMBER: This is the user's data telephone number. DATA TELEPHONE NUMBER LAST DATE ON: This is the user's last date on the BBS. LAST DATE ON LAST TIME ON: This is the user's last time on (on the above date). LAST TIME ON LAST FILE CHECK: This is the last date that the user did a new file LAST FILE CHECK search. BIRTH DATE: This is the user's birth date. BIRTH DATE EXPIRATION DATE: This is the date that the user's subscription to the EXPIRATION DATE BBS expired and his security level and conferences are set back to the expired values. SECURITY LEVEL: This is the user's security level. SECURITY LEVEL NUMBER OF DOWNLOADS: This is the user's total number of downloads. NUMBER OF DOWNLOADS NUMBER OF UPLOADS: This is the user's total number of uploads. NUMBER OF UPLOADS DOORS ENTERED: This is the number of doors that the user has entered. DOORS ENTERED MESSAGES ENTERED: This is the number of messages that the user has MESSAGES ENTERED entered. KILOBYTES UPLOADED: This is the user's total number of kilobytes KILOBYTES UPLOADED uploaded. PASSWORD: This is the user's password PASSWORD CITY/STATE: This is the user's city/state. CITY/STATE ELAPSED MINUTES: This is the user's total elapsed minutes on his last ELAPSED MINUTES date called. PAGE LENGTH: This is the user's page length. PAGE LENGTH UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 28 EXPIRATION SECURITY: This is the security which the user will receive EXPIRATION SECURITY after his subscription expires. TIMES ON: This is the user's number of times on. TIMES ON DEFAULT TRANSFER PROTOCOL: This is the user's default transfer DEFAULT TRANSFER PROTOCOL protocol. AUTO PAGE FLAG: This determines if/how the sysop will be paged when AUTO PAGE FLAG the user logs on. If set to 'N', the sysop will not be paged. If set to 'V', the sysop will be paged and the user will be notified. If set to 'I', the sysop will be paged and the user will not be notified. EXPERT MODE: This is the user's expert mode flag. EXPERT MODE DELETE FLAG: If this flag is set, then the user will be deleted when DELETE FLAG the user file is packed. KILOBYTES DOWNLOADED: This is the user's total number of kilobytes KILOBYTES DOWNLOADED downloaded. CONFERENCES: This is the user's conference string. The conferences CONFERENCES which are marked with an 'X' are the conferences which the user can enter. EXPIRED CONFERENCES: This will be set as the user's conference string EXPIRED CONFERENCES after his subscription expires. SCAN CONFERENCES: This is the user's scan conference string. The SCAN CONFERENCES conferences that are marked with an 'X' are scanned/auto read. CLEAR SCREEN: This flag specifies whether or not the screen will be CLEAR SCREEN cleared before reading a message. USER FILE PACK -------------- This commmand allows you to remove deleted users, users with low security, or users that have not called in a specified amount of time. It also updates the user indexes, and allows you to sort the user file alphabetically. Sorting the user file also GREATLY speeds up the pack. For sorting, you must have QSORT.EXE v3.20+ in your DOS PATH or in the current directory. This program can be found on most BBSes. USER FILE GLOBAL CHANGES ------------------------ ADD/REMOVE CONFERENCE: This allows you to add or remove conferences ADD/REMOVE CONFERENCE from users' conference strings (normal, expired, scan, or all of them). You can specify the minimum security and maximum for the change to take place. CHANGE SECURITY LEVELS: This allows you to change a range of user CHANGE SECURITY LEVELS security levels (normal levels and/or expired levels). FLAG/UNFLAGE ALL USERS OF SPECIFIC SECURITY LEVELS FOR DELETION: This FLAG/UNFLAGE ALL USERS OF SPECIFIC SECURITY LEVELS FOR DELETION allows you to flag or unflag a range of security levels for deletion. You will be prompted for the security level range, and then whether you wish to flag these securities for deletion, or unflag them. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 29 FILEBASE FILE EDIT ------------------ FILE NAME: This is the name of the file, and cannot be changed for FILE NAME indexing purposes. TIMES DOWNLOADED: This is the total number of times that this file has TIMES DOWNLOADED been downloaded. LAST DATE DOWNLOADED: This is the last date on which this file was LAST DATE DOWNLOADED downloaded. FREE FILE: If this flag is set, then the file will not be penalized to FREE FILE the user's upload/download ratio. DATE OF UPLOAD: This is the date that the file was uploaded to the DATE OF UPLOAD BBS. DIRECTORY ID: This is the directory ID that the file has been DIRECTORY ID assigned. FILE SIZE: This is the size, in bytes, of this file. If the size is FILE SIZE set to 0, then the actual size of the file on the disk will be checked instead of using this value. DELETE FLAG: If this flag is set, this file will be deleted in a pack DELETE FLAG (if you specify). UPLOADED BY: This is the name of the user who uploaded the file. UPLOADED BY FILE LOCATION: This is the full path and file name of this file on the FILE LOCATION physical drive. (NOTE: It is recommended, although not required, that the NAME of the file on the FILE LOCATION parameter be the same as the NAME of the file in the above FILE NAME parameter; however, the DIRECTORY of the file in the FILE LOCATION parameter can be whatever you wish. If you do use a different name on the FILE LOCATION parameter, problems can occur with protocols that allow users to add files during a transfer--such as BiModem.) DESCRIPTION: This is a description (5 lines) of the file. DESCRIPTION MOVE FILE COMMAND: This can be used to move a file from one physical MOVE FILE COMMAND drive directory to another. When asked for the new file name, you must type a complete path/file name. CHECK EXISTENCE/SIZE COMMAND: This can be used to check the existence CHECK EXISTENCE/SIZE COMMAND of a file and the size of the file of it exists. After you execute this command, you will be told whether or not the file exists. If the size is wrong, you will be given the option to adjust it. FILEBASE FILE PACK ------------------ This command allows you to removed deleted files, old files, or files that have not been downloaded in a long time. It also updates the FileBase indexes, and allows you to sort the FileBase file alphabetically. Sorting the FileBase file also GREATLY speeds up the pack. For sorting, you must have QSORT.EXE v3.20+ in your DOS PATH or in the current directory. This program can be found on most BBSes. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 30 FILEBASE FILE GLOBAL CHANGES ---------------------------- CHANGE FILE DIRECTORY IDS: This allows you to change files' directory CHANGE FILE DIRECTORY IDS IDs. You will be prompted for the directory ID to change, and what you wish to change it to. FLAG/UNFLAG ALL FILES OF SPECIFIC DIRECTORY ID FOR DELETION: This FLAG/UNFLAG ALL FILES OF SPECIFIC DIRECTORY ID FOR DELETION allows you to flag or unflag all files of a certain directory ID for deletion. You will be asked for the directory ID, and then whether you wish to flag them for deletion, or unflag them for deletion. CHECK EXISTENCE/SIZE OF ALL FILES: This command goes through all files CHECK EXISTENCE/SIZE OF ALL FILES in the FileBase and checks for their existence. If they do not exist, it will prompt you to either flag them for deletion, ignore them, change their path, or abort the checking. If they do exist, their size will be checked. If their size is not the same size as the size on the actual file on disk, you will be prompted as to whether or not you wish to correct the size on the file. CHANGE DRIVE/PATH ON FILES IN FILEBASE: This command allows you to CHANGE DRIVE/PATH ON FILES IN FILEBASE change all files in the FileBase with a specific drive/path to a different drive/path. PACK AND/OR RENUMBER MESSAGE FILES ---------------------------------- This command is used to pack and/or renumber the system's message files. You will be presented with the option to choose a specific conference, or (A)ll conferences. You will also be presented with options to kill specific types of messages. A message that meets any of the kill qualifications will be killed. When packing, the message numbers remain the same, and specified messages/killed messages are removed from the message file, thus making the file smaller. When renumbering, the message numbering restarts at your specified value. All message reference numbers, user last read message pointers, and attached files are updated during a message pack. GENERATE A MASTER FILE LIST --------------------------- This command allows you to create a list of all files available on your BBS for download by your users. You will be asked for the conference number and the security level of the user for which you wish to generate a file listing. Next, you will be asked for what file you want to write the file listing out to. UltraBBS will put a header at the beginning of the file which displays your BBS name, and the conference of the listing. The file listing will be generated from the conference number you specified, and from the point of view of users of the security level you specified. IMPORT A TEXT DIRECTORY INTO THE FILEBASE FILE ---------------------------------------------- This command allows you to import a PCBoard-style, or DOS text directory (obtained by redirecting the DIR command) file into UltraBBS's FileBase. It will ask for many of the fields that are required, such as what directory ID to give the files, etc. When you use this command, all files in the text directory must be in the same disk directory, and must all be getting the same directory ID. If not, you must split up the text file and import the sections individually. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 31 Files in the text directory that already exist in the FileBase will not be imported. An alternative to this command is the (U)pload command while logged in locally. This will allow you to move the files you wish to "upload" into the system's batch directory, and it will then process them and ask you for descriptions. This method is preferable for a sysop who wishes to post files on his system. However, for doing initial BBS conversions from PCBoard (or other software) to UltraBBS, the import would be much faster. ADD .GIF RESOLUTIONS TO FILE DESCRIPTIONS ----------------------------------------- This command adds the resolution of all .GIF files to their description. It detects resolutions already in the description, so running it more than once will not add the resolution multiple times. The resolution will be placed in the form "(800x600x256)", etc. It will be placed at the end of the first line of the description that has enough space at the end. IMPORT A PCBOARD 14.X USER FILE ------------------------------- This command allows you to import a PCBoard user file into the UltraBBS user file. All users from the PCBoard user file will be added to the current UltraBBS user file. All of PCBoard's fields except the user- maintained comment field (C1) are converted; however, when you use this option, users will have no birth dates set and will be asked for their birthdate next time they log on. Users in the PCBoard user file who already exist in the UltraBBS user file will not be imported. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 32 COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS COMMAND DESCRIPTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (A)BANDON CONFERENCE Subcommands: None. Description: Returns you to (A)BANDON CONFERENCE conference 0. (B)ULLETINS Subcommands: (#) Bulletin # to View. (L) List the (B)ULLETINS Bulletin Menu. Description: Allows viewing system Bulletins. Numbers can be "stacked" such as "7 3 1" or "2;1;5". (BB)S LISTING Subcommands: (A)dd a BBS to the Listing, (D)elete a BBS (BB)S LISTING from the listing, (M)odify a BBS on the Listing, (L)ist the BBS Listing. Description: Allows viewing and changing the BBS Listing that is maintained by the BBS. (BI)DIRECTIONAL TRANSFER Subcommands: (filename) Names of file(s) you (BI)DIRECTIONAL TRANSFER wish to download (extension is not required if you are downloading a file that has one of the supported compression extensions). Description: Allows a bidirectional transfer, which transfers files simultaneously between you and the BBS. After UltraBBS determines your protocol type (commonly BiModem), you will be prompted for the filename(s) you wish to download. After the transfer, UltraBBS will automatically determine if/what files were uploaded, and prompt you for their descriptions and directory number. Consult your local sysop for more details on bidirectional transfers. (C)OLOR (ANSI) MODE Subcommands: (N)o ANSI color/graphics, (B)lack and (C)OLOR (ANSI) MODE White ANSI graphics, (C)olor ANSI graphics. Description: Changes your screen display mode. If you select graphics and get a lot of ([31;1m, etc) displays on your screen mixed in with the normal text display, your software does not support ANSI graphics and you should toggle ANSI off. (CH)AT WITH OTHER (NO)DES Subcommands: (T) Toggle your available for (CH)AT WITH OTHER (NO)DES chat flag. This can be stacked at the command line. Also available at the node chat menu. (Q) Exits node chat. Available at the node chat menu. (P) Page a node to the main channel. Available at the node chat menu. (C) Change node chat channels. Available at the node chat menu. Description: Allows you to talk to users who are on other nodes, if the BBS is a multi-node system. You may page other users to the main node chat channel with the (P) subcommand. If you wish to start a separate conversation, you can change channels using the (C) subcommand. During chat, everything you type will be sent to all other users who are in your node chat channel. You will also be notified whenever anybody exits or enters your node chat channel. (D)OWNLOAD A FILE Subcommands: (filename) Name of the file(s) you wish (D)OWNLOAD A FILE to download (extension is not required if you are downloading a file that has one of the supported compression extensions). Description: Allows download files from the BBS to your computer. After UltraBBS determines your protocol, you will be for the filename(s) (depending on whether or not you using a batch transfer) you wish to download. After selecting the filenames, you will have the choice of selecting (G)oodbye after transfer, which, if selected, will give a 15-second countdown at the end of the transfer, after which, if you do not abort it, will log you off automatically. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 33 (E)NTER MESSAGE Subcommands: None. Description: Allows you to place (E)NTER MESSAGE a message on the BBS. After selecting (E), you will first be prompted for your alias to use in the message, if aliases are allowed in your current conference. You will then be prompted for who to send the message to. You may enter 'S' to send it to the sysop. Hitting (Enter) will send the message to "ALL". Next, you will be prompted for the message subject. If you hit (Enter) at this prompt, you will be returned to the main menu. After entering the subject, you will be prompted for the message security type. You can get help on security types by selecting '?'. After message security, you will be prompted, if you have ANSI on, whether you wish to use the full screen message editor, a vast improvement over the line editor (if you have a full screen editor default set, then you will not be asked the full screen editor question). Lastly, if the message is not to "ALL", you will be prompted whether you wish to receive a "return receipt" when the message is read by the receiver. This is a short notification message that is sent to you by UltraBBS that tells you your message was received. After this, you will be able to enter the text of the message. Further help is available from most of the other command line prompts. (ED)IT DESCRIPTION OF A FILE Subcommands: (filename) Name of the file (ED)IT DESCRIPTION OF A FILE that you wish to edit the description of. Description: Allows you to edit the description of a file that you have uploaded. After entering a valid filename, you will have 5 lines to enter a file description. This option can be used if you accidentally mistype a description, or if you entered incorrect data. (F)ILE DIRECTORY LISTINGS Subcommands: (E)xtended or (S)tandard (F)ILE DIRECTORY LISTINGS directory display type. (#) File directory number(s) to display, stacking allowed. (L) Display a list of all file directories available. (D)ownload, (F)lag Files, and (VI)ew Compressed Files are available on this menu and perform the same function as their equivalent commands on the main menu. Description: Allows you to list out the file directories, or get a list of all file directories. (FL)AG FILES FOR LATER DOWNLOAD Subcommands: (filename) Names of (FL)AG FILES FOR LATER DOWNLOAD file(s) you wish to flag for download. (D) Clear list of flagged files. Description: Allows you to flag files for later download. The filenames you specify (stacking allowed) will be added to a "queue" which will be used by the (D) and (B) commands when you begin a transfer. The (D) subcommand can be used to clear this queue. (G)OODBYE Subcommands: None. Description: Disconnects you from the (G)OODBYE BBS. (I)NITIAL WELCOME/NEWS Subcommands: (W) Redisplays the initial welcome (I)NITIAL WELCOME/NEWS screen. (N) Redisplays the news file for the current conference. Description: Redisplays the initial welcome screen or the news file for the current conference. The initial welcome screen also includes the BBS name, node number, and the version of UltraBBS. (J)OIN A CONFERENCE Subcommands: (#) or (Name) Any valid conference (J)OIN A CONFERENCE number or name. (+) or (-) Move backward of forward through conferences. Description: Allows joining a conference on the BBS. The conference number to be joined can be stacked with the (J) command if desired. If you are not registered in the conference requested, you UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 34 will be notified and returned to the main menu. A (J 0) or an (A) command will return you to the main conference. (K)ILL A MESSAGE Subcommands: (#) Any valid active message number. (K)ILL A MESSAGE Description: Allows marking a message as inactive (killed) so that users can no longer read it. When the sysop packs the message base, the message will be purged from the system (unless it is restored). (L)OCATE A FILE BY NAME Subcommands: (N) Searches through only the new (L)OCATE A FILE BY NAME files (must be stacked on command line, ie: (L N) from main menu). (E)xtended or (S)tandard directory display type. (wildcard) Wildcard to search for. (dir number) The directory number(s) (separated by spaces) which you wish to search in--(Enter) means all directories and a (D) specified the default directory (usually the upload directory). Description: Allows you to search the file directories for filenames which match the DOS wildcard specification you enter. The standard DOS wildcard '*' and '?' may be used, but do not have to be used. However, the wildcard specification cannot start with a wildcard character. (M)ODIFY SCAN CONFERENCES Subcommands: (Y/N) Use Yes/No Scan Update (M)ODIFY SCAN CONFERENCES Method?. Description: Allows updating of your scan conferences string. This string is used for such commands as (R A), (Y), and (O). (N)EW FILE SCAN Subcommands: (E)xtended or (S)tandard directory (N)EW FILE SCAN display type. (MM/DD/YY) Date to search from, (Enter)=last date checked. (dir number) The directory number(s) (separated by spaces) which you wish to search in--(Enter) means all directories and a (D) specified the default directory (usually the upload directory). Description: Allows you to search the file directories for files that were uploaded on or after the date specified. The date defaults to the last date you used the (N) command. (O)FFLINE MESSAGE READING Subcommands: (U) Allows you to upload a .REP (O)FFLINE MESSAGE READING file for the BBS. (D) Creates a .QWK file for the BBS to send to you. (S) Selects conferences for inclusion in .QWK file. Description: .QWK files sent by UltraBBS are Qmail-compatible, and can be used by most popular offline reading programs, such as EZ-Reader, Qmail DeLuxe, Session Manager, or SLMR. After replying to messages using one of these programs, you will upload your replies as a .REP file and they will be placed into the BBS's message bases. (OP)EN A (DO)OR Subcommands: (#) or (Name) Number or name of the door (OP)EN A (DO)OR to open. Description: Runs an external program, outside of the UltraBBS program. There are many different door applications available, check with your sysop for questions on specific doors. Note: using the (DO) or (OP) command is not required, you may type in the partial or complete name of a door at the main command line. (P)AGE SYSOP TO CHAT Subcommands: None. Description: Allows paging (P)AGE SYSOP TO CHAT of the sysop to come to the BBS keyboard and enter chat mode with you. You can abort the page using (Ctrl-X). (Q)UESTIONNAIRES Subcommands: (#) Questionnaire # to answer. (Q)UESTIONNAIRES Description: Allows you to answer a questionnaire which the sysop has created. Descriptions of the available questionnaires can be found in the menu which is displayed when you type (Q). UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 35 (R)EAD MESSAGES Subcommands: (A) Reads new messages in all of your (R)EAD MESSAGES selected conferences. (S) Reads all messages since your last read. (#) A valid message number to read, with a (+) or (-) optional. (+) Reads messages forward from current message. (-) Reads messages backward from current message. (F) Selects "only messages from you" mode. (Y) Selects "only messages to you" mode. (YA) Selects "only messages to you and ALL" mode. (T) Selects "text search" mode (AND/OR searches allowed). (N) Returns to normal mode (cancels all modes). (U) Selects "only messages to/from another user" mode. (O) Selects "read only" mode (last message read pointers not updated). (J) Join a conference (same as on main menu). (RE)set last read message pointers (same as on main menu). (I) Switches between message read and message scan. (C) Selects "message capture to disk" mode. (D) Downloads the capture file made from the (C) command. Description: Allows reading messages left on the BBS. All public messages will be displayed, along with private messages left either by you or for you. Messages with password protection will prompt you for their password before displaying. After each message display, you will be presented with a set of options for what to do next and you may obtain further help if needed from there. (RE)SET LAST READ POINTER Subcommands: (#) Message number to set your (RE)SET LAST READ POINTER last read message pointer to in this conference. Description: The (RE)set command allows you to set your last read message pointer to whatever message number you wish in the current conference. This is especially useful for users who read their mail offline with an offline reader system like Qmail/MarkMail/MegaMail. (S)CAN MESSAGES Subcommands: (A) Scans new messages in all of your (S)CAN MESSAGES selected conferences. (S) Scans all messages since your last read. (#) A valid message number to scan, with a (+) or (-) optional. (+) Reads messages forward from current message. (-) Reads messages backward from current message. (F) Selects "only messages from you" mode. (Y) Selects "only messages to you" mode. (YA) Selects "only messages to you and ALL" mode. (T) Selects "text search" mode (AND/OR searches allowed). (N) Returns to normal mode (cancels all modes). (U) Selects "only messages to/from another user" mode. (J) Join a conference (same as on main menu). (RE)set last read message pointers (same as on main menu). (I) Switches between message read and message scan. Description: Allows scanning the headers of all messages. All public messages will be displayed, along with private messages left either by you or for you, and password protected messages. Scanning does not update your last read message pointers, and can be used as a way to "look ahead" into your unread messages. SysOps will see a 'K' after the number of any killed messages. (T)RANSFER PROTOCOL Subcommands: (p) Any valid protocol that is (T)RANSFER PROTOCOL defined on the BBS. Description: Allows setting your default transfer protocol for use on the BBS. Before selecting your protocol, you will be displayed a listing of all protocol available on the BBS. If you choose 'N' (None) as your protocol, you will be prompted for a protocol each time you request to transfer a file. For more details on protocols available on the BBS, consult your local sysop. (TI)ME BANK Subcommands: None. Description: Allows you to store (TI)ME BANK extra time in a time bank. You will be displayed the amount of time in the bank, the maximum you can store in the bank, and your total time available. You will be prompted for the amount of your total time UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 36 which you wish to place in the bank. If you ever run out of time on the BBS, you will be allowed to retrieve extra time from the time bank, or you can retrieve time at any time using the (TI) command. (U)PLOAD A FILE Subcommands: (filename) Only required in a non-batch (U)PLOAD A FILE transfer. Description: If you use a non-batch protocol, you will be prompted for the filename before the transfer. If not, the filenames are automatically determined by UltraBBS. After the upload, UltraBBS will check all the files, and prompt you for their descriptions. You have up to 5 lines for each description, and after entering descriptions, if the sysop desires, you will be prompted for the directory number to place the file into. It is always recommended that you use the (F) command to make sure that none of the files that you are going to upload already exist on the BBS. (NOTE: Local users can 'upload' files by using the (U) command. A special 'local upload mode' will be activated and you will be able to copy the files you wish to upload into the batch directory.) (US)ER LIST/SEARCH Subcommands: (text) Text to search for in user (US)ER LIST/SEARCH file. Description: Allows listing the users who have access to your current conference, with an optional search string. (V)OTING BOOTHS Subcommands: (#) Voting booth # to participate in. (V)OTING BOOTHS Description: Allows participating, or viewing the results in, a voting booth set up by the sysop. (VI)EW COMPRESSED FILE Subcommands: (filename) Name of the compressed (VI)EW COMPRESSED FILE file that you wish to use (extension is not required if you are viewing a file that has one of the supported compression extensions). Description: Allows you to view a compressed file (ex: ZIP, ARC, LZH, etc). Before being prompted for the filename, you will be displayed a list of all supported compression types on the BBS. Only files of those types are valid choices. Once you have selected a file, you are able to (T)est the compressed file's integrity, (L)ist the contents of the compressed file, (V)iew a text file from within the compressed file, or (E)xtract files from within the compressed file, and download them. (W)RITE/VIEW USER STATISTICS Subcommands: Described below. (W)RITE/VIEW USER STATISTICS Description: Allows changing some of your data base information stored on the BBS, including: your ANSI mode, your city/state, your voice phone number, your data phone number, your expert mode, your date of birth, your default page length, your full screen editor default, your password, your default transfer protocol, your clear screen flag, and your scan/auto read conference string. Allows viewing your current user settings, including: your name, the number of files you have downloaded, the number of files you have uploaded, the number of doors you have entered, the number of messages you have entered, the number of times on by you, your page length, ANSI mode, your default transfer protocol, the date of your last new file check, your voice phone number, your data phone number, the next event time, the next event date, the current date, the current time, your last date on, your last time on, your logon date, your logon time, your date of birth, your city and state, your expiration date, your security level, your menu expert mode, sysop page bell on/off, your full screen editor default, the conferences you have access to, your clear screen flag, and the conferences which you have selected to scan or auto read. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 37 (WH)O'S ON OTHER NODES Subcommands: None. Description: Displays to (WH)O'S ON OTHER NODES you the status of other nodes, if any, in the BBS system. (X)PERT TOGGLE Subcommands: None. Description: The (X) command (X)PERT TOGGLE toggles between expert and novice mode. When the expert mode is on, the main menu is never displayed, and most command line prompts are considerably abbreviated. (Y)OUR PERSONAL MAIL SCAN Subcommands: None. Description: Allows (Y)OUR PERSONAL MAIL SCAN checking for unread mail to you in the current conference, or scanning all conferences for new messages, using or not using your conference scan string. To change your conference scan string, use the (C) command. (Z)IPPY SEARCH FOR FILE BY TEXT Subcommands: (N) Searches through only (Z)IPPY SEARCH FOR FILE BY TEXT the new files (must be stacked on command line, ie: (Z N) from main menu). (E)xtended or (S)tandard directory display type. (text) Text to search for. (dir number) The directory number(s) (separated by spaces) which you wish to search in--(Enter) means all directories and a (D) specified the default directory (usually the upload directory). Description: Allows you to search the file directories for specified text. A case-insensitive search is done, and all files, with matching text in their description or name, are displayed. (AND/OR searches are allowed.) (1)DISPLAY CALLERS LOGS Subcommands: (#) Node # to view callers log (1)DISPLAY CALLERS LOGS of. Description: Allows sysop level users to view the callers log of a node. Entries are highlighted according to their importance and function. (2)DOS FUNCTION Subcommands: (command line) Command line to shell to. (2)DOS FUNCTION Description: Allows sysop level users to execute the specified command line, via a shell to the operating system. After the command line is executed, UltraBBS execution resumes. (3)RECOVER MESSAGE Subcommands: (#) Message # to recover. (3)RECOVER MESSAGE Description: Allows sysop level users to recover a killed message, thus allowing users to see it again, and preventing it from being removed during the next message base pack. (4)VIEW TEXT FILE Subcommands: (file name) File name of text file to (4)VIEW TEXT FILE view. Description: Allows sysop level users to view any text file in the system. (5)PAGE BELL TOGGLE Subcommands: None. Description: Allows sysop (5)PAGE BELL TOGGLE level users to toggle the sysop's page bell on/off. (6)QUICK FILE EDITOR Subcommands: None. Description: Allows sysop (6)QUICK FILE EDITOR level users to quickly edit a file's vital information from within the BBS. (7)REMOTE DOS SHELL Subcommands: None. Description: Allows sysop (7)REMOTE DOS SHELL level users to shell to DOS, via a pre-made remote batch file. (8)LOG OFF/LOCK OUT OTHER NODE Subcommands: (#) Node # to log off/lock (8)LOG OFF/LOCK OUT OTHER NODE out. Description: Allows sysop level users to log off or lock out a user who is on an alternate node in a multi-node system. After UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 38 entering the node number, you will then be prompted whether you wish to log off, or lock out the user. (9)QUICK USER EDITOR Subcommands: None. Description: Allows sysop (9)QUICK USER EDITOR level users to quickly edit a user's vital statistics from within the BBS. (10)SEARCH CALLERS LOGS Subcommands: (#) Node # to search callers log (10)SEARCH CALLERS LOGS of. Description: Allows sysop level users to search the callers log of a node. Entries are highlighted according to their importance and function. When a call is located that matches the search string, that whole call will be displayed. (AND/OR searches are allowed.) (11)DROP OTHER NODES Subcommands: (#) Node # to drop to DOS. (11)DROP OTHER NODES Description: Allows sysop level users to drop other nodes to DOS. If there is no caller on the node, it will be immediately exited. If there is a caller, it will exit after the caller logs off. If you then wish to logoff the caller immediately, you may use the (8) command. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 39 CONVERT PROGRAM CONVERT PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS Door Conversion Program (CONVERT.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved This utility allows UltraBBS to run GAP, PCBoard 14, RBBS-PC, Wildcat!, UTI, and WWIV doors. The utility is run by typing the utility name followed by one of the following command lines: GAP, PCB14, RBBS, WILDCAT, UTI, or WWIV. It must be run in the UltraBBS main directory, since it reads from the UBBS.SYS user info file that UltraBBS creates whenever a user exits to a door or remote DOS. UltraBBS automatically runs this utility if one of the above door types is specified in the Doors Data File; however, you may want to use this utility in your remote DOS batch file. UltraBBS does not have its own exclusive door type, so sysops should use one of these door types to run their door programs. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 40 UTI FILES UTI FILES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS UTI Programs (UTI*.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved UTI stands for Universal Text Interface. These UTI programs are used in conjunction with PCRelay, MegaMail, and any other UTI software. PCRelay is an echomail system by Kip Compton; MegaMail is an offline message reading system, also by Kip Compton. A two-line file named UTI.CFG must exist in the directory that your UTI*.EXE programs are run from. This file is as follows: Line 1 contains the complete path/filename of your Conference Data File, and Line 2 contains the complete path/filename (without extension) of your Users File. For further information on the use of the UTI programs, consult your PCRelay or MegaMail manuals. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 41 PCBVERIFY SUPPORT PCBVERIFY SUPPORT ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS PCBVUPDT Program (PCBVUPDT.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved. PCBVUPDT.EXE, which comes with UltraBBS, allows UltraBBS systems to run callback verification programs such as PCBVerify. The program requires six command line parameters: Security to give user, path of user file (without extension!), new kilobyte ratio, new file ratio, minutes to add to user's time, and new daily download limit to give the user (in K). The program must be run from the UltraBBS directory. Here is an example of a batch file that would run PCBVerify and correctly update the user: cd\pcbv if exist results del results pcbv30 pcbv.cnf cd\ubbs if exist \pcbv\results pcbvupdt 20 d:\ubbs\files\users 10 10 9 10 The batch file would go into the PCBVerify directory, delete the RESULTS file (you must configure PCBVerify to write a RESULTS file), run PCBVerify, and then update the user if the validation is successful. In this case, the validation gives the user security level 20, a kilobyte ratio of 10, a files ratio of 10, adds 9 minutes to the user's time, and gives him a download limit of 10K per day. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 42 QMAIL/QDELUXE SUPPORT (.QWK/.REP) QMAIL/QDELUXE SUPPORT (.QWK/.REP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS allows users to download messages for offline reading and send their replies to any of the messages back to the BBS to be placed in the message bases. The .QWK file that is sent is compatible with Qmail's .QWK packet format and the reply file (.REP) can be created by any Qmail compatible offline reader. Two of the most popular offline readers are Qmail DeLuxe (commercial) and EZ-Reader (shareware). Support for Qmail DeLuxe is available on Sparky's Machine PCBoard in Memphis, TN (901-382-5583) and on three networks: InterLink, RelayNet, and SmartNet. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 43 MESSAGE COMMANDS MESSAGE COMMANDS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- FULL SCREEN EDITOR COMMANDS FULL SCREEN EDITOR COMMANDS Function Key/Sequence DoorWay Code/Key --------------------- ---------------------------- ------------------ Up ^E or (Esc)[A (NUL)H (Up) Down ^X or (Esc)[B (NUL)P (Down) Left ^S or (Esc)[D (NUL)K (Left) Right ^D or (Esc)[C (NUL)M (Right) Word Left ^A (NUL)s (Ctrl-Left) Word Right ^F (NUL)t (Ctrl- Right) Page Up ^R or (Esc)[r (NUL)I (PgUp) Page Down ^C or (Esc)[q (NUL)Q (PgDn) Start of Line ^W or (Esc)[H (NUL)G (Home) End of Line ^P or (Esc)[K (NUL)O (End) Delete Line ^Y Delete Word ^T Delete Left of Cursor ^H (Backspace) (Backspace) Delete Under Cursor ^G or ASCII #127 (NUL)S (Del) Split Line ^N Join Lines ^J Insert Toggle ^V or (Esc)[n or (Esc)[24~ (NUL)R (Ins) Quote Original ^Q or ^O Help ^Z Redraw Screen ^L Done With Message ^[ (Esc) or ^U or (Esc)[23~ (Esc) MESSAGE SECURITY (R)eceiver makes the messages readable by only the MESSAGE SECURITY sender, and the receiver. (U)nprotected, or (Enter), makes the message public and readable by all users. (P)assword allows you to put a password on the message, and requires users to enter the password before reading the message. (K)ill protection is used for public messages to a specific person when you don't want to receiver to be able to kill the message. END OF MESSAGE (Y) or (Enter) Continues reading messages as you have END OF MESSAGE specified. (N) Stop reading messages. (C) Continuous (nonstop) reading of messages. (#) Message number to skip to, with an optional (+) or (-). (+) Reads messages forward from current message. (-) Reads messages backward from current message. (R) Leave a reply to the message. (K) Kill the message, if you have enough security to do so. (E) Edit all information pertaining to a message, including the text - this is available to sysop level users only. (M) Copies the message into another conference - this is available to sysop level users only. (S) Skips the current conference (valid in an (R A) message read). (G) Goto the user in the FROM field's record - this is available to sysop level users only. (T+/-) Threads reverse or forward from the current message for messages with the same subject. (RR) Read the refer-to message. MESSAGE EDITING (A) Abort message entry and return to the main menu. MESSAGE EDITING (C) Continue entering the text of the message. (D) Delete line(s) in the message. (E) Edit a line of the message. (F) Allows sysop level users to import a file into the message. (I) Inserts line(s) in the message. (L) Lists the full text of the message. (M) Save and send UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 44 multiple copies to other users. (S) Save the message (use when finished with message entry). (Q) On a reply, use this to quote lines from the original message into the current messages, preceded by a '>'. (T) Attach file to the message, for the receiver(s) to download. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 45 REMOTE DOS SETUP REMOTE DOS SETUP ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can use DOS remotely in several ways. One way is with DOS's CTTY command to redirect CON to COMx. A slightly better way is to use the GateWay .SYS driver and use CTTY to redirect CON to GATEx. The best way is to use Marshall Dudley's DoorWay. Following are batch files for both CTTY and DoorWay usage. More information on DoorWay will follow. REMOTE.BAT -------------------------------------------------- ECHO OFF CTTY COM1: CLS ECHO ************************************* ECHO ** Type EXIT to return to UltraBBS ** ECHO ************************************* COMMAND C: CD\UBBS CTTY CON: -------------------------------------------------- (NOTE: This would be for COM1. When using CTTY, you should turn on UltraBBS's watch carrier function in SETUP. If you use GateWay, change to COM1: to GATE1:) REMOTE.BAT ---------------------------------------------------------------- DOORWAY COM1 /g:on /a:on /b:m /c:dos /V:D^O /s:* /l: /o:T /M:200 C: CD\UBBS ---------------------------------------------------------------- DoorWay is highly recommended for your remote DOS function, as it can redirect programs that use DOS, BIOS, or direct screen writes (required to run UltraBBS's MANAGER or SETUP programs!), while CTTY is much more limited. DoorWay also allows function keys to be entered from remote, with the "DoorWay" mode of many popular communications programs. Additionally, DoorWay can monitor time and carrier while the user is in DOS. DoorWay can be found on many BBSes or can be obtained from the author's BBS (Data World BBS, (615)966-3574, Hayes 9600-V). UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 46 ANSI AND ANSI MUSIC ANSI AND ANSI MUSIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music can be put into your BBS text files such as the welcome, logoff, bulletins, menus, etc. ANSI Music is supported in several communication programs. Some communication programs that support ANSI Music are as follows: Telemate PC-Talk 4.65+ Qmodem GT Power Here is a one-line musical score that if you place in any of your BBS text file will play "Happy Birthday". (You must replace the "ESC" with an actual escape code, ASCII 27.) ESC[MFT120L4MFMNO4C8C8DCFE2C8C8DCGF2C8C8O5CO4AFED2T90B-8B-8AFGF2 These notes are all compatible with BASIC's PLAY command. A sample BASIC program which would do the same thing would look like. 10 PLAY "t120 l4 mfmn" 20 PLAY "o4 c8 c8 d c f e2" 30 PLAY " c8 c8 d c g f2" 40 PLAY " c8 c8 o5 c o4 a f e d2" 50 PLAY "t90 b-8 b-8 a f g f2" The strings of ANSI music are mostly compatible with BASIC's PLAY command. Music written for BASIC can be converted to ANSI music by simply inserting escape codes and "[MF" before the music strings. Each ANSI Music line should begin with an ESC[MF or ESC[MB and terminate with a Ctrl-N (ASCII 14). All ANSI Music should be in caps. Spaces between the notes or music directives are optional. VALID ANSI MUSIC COMMANDS A-G Musical notes # or + Following A-G note means sharp - Following A-G note means flat < Move down one octave > Move up one octave . Period acts as dotted note (extend note duration by 3/2) MN Music note duration Normal (7/8 of interval between notes) MS Music note duration Staccato (decrease duration of following notes) ML Music note duration Legato (increase duration of following notes) Ln Length of note (n=1-64, 1=whole note, 4=quarter note, etc) Pn Pause length (same n values as Ln above) Tn Tempo, n=notes/minute (n=32-255, default n=120) On Octave number (n=0-6, default n=4) There are several ways of making ANSI Music in your text files without having to try and figure all of them out for yourself. You can get the utility called MOONSONG (available on many BBSes) which will create ANSI Music text files. ANSI Music is only played to the sysop's console during local logons, and when beeps are turned on. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 47 MODEM CONFIGURATION MODEM CONFIGURATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS will work with virtually any type of modem that supports the standard "ATA" command set, can send back verbose (CONNECT 2400, etc) response codes, and that correctly supports the DCD and DTR signals. Different modem initialization strings and modem DIP switch settings will be made available as they are given to us. One common init string for a standard, 1200/2400, Hayes compatible modem is: ATE0M0&D2&C1H0S0=0V1Q0 The E0 turns the command echo off. This function is not vital, but makes it easier on the BBS. The M0 command turns the modem's speaker off. Again, this is not vital, but usually sysops prefer to have it off. The &D2 and &C1 commands turn on proper DTR signal response, and proper DCD signal handling, respectively. These two commands are vital to the BBS's operation, and may be different for your specific modem; check your modem's manual. The H0 commands puts the modem on the hook. The S0=0 command turns auto answer OFF. The V1 and Q0 commands turn on verbose responses (necessary!) and tell the modem to NOT be quiet (which means to go ahead and send response codes). USROBOTICS COURIER 14.4K HST or DUAL STANDARD SETTINGS USROBOTICS COURIER 14.4K HST or DUAL STANDARD SETTINGS Use any communications program and make sure your NRAM is like this. You can use ATI5 to check your NRAM setting. To change NRAM, type 'AT' followed by the settings to change, followed by a '&W'. B1 E0 F1 M0 Q0 V1 X3 &A0 &B1 &C1 &D2 &G0 &H1 &I0 &J0 &K3 &L0 &M4 &N0 &P0 &R2 &S0 &X0 &Y1 S00=000 S01=000 S02=043 S03=013 S04=010 S05=008 S06=001 S07=060 S08=002 S09=006 S10=007 S11=050 S12=050 S13=000 S14=000 S15=000 S16=000 S17=000 S18=000 S19=000 S20=000 S21=010 S22=017 S23=019 S24=025 S25=000 S26=000 S27=000 S28=008 S38=000 1234567890 Dip switches in the back of modem: UUDDDUUDDU In UltraBBS, you should turn on bps rate locking and lock at either 19200 or 38400 (depending on what doors you are planning on running, and what bps rate they support). Also, you must enable RTS/CTS. You should also lock your FOSSIL's baud rate (see your FOSSIL manual for information on how to do this). HAYES V-SERIES HIGH SPEED MODEMS HAYES V-SERIES HIGH SPEED MODEMS Hayes V-Series high speed modems seem to work best with UltraBBS when you set them (using the proper S-register commands) to lock at the initial baud rate, and set UltraBBS (and your FOSSIL) to lock at the initial baud rate. The information on the specific S-registers that need to be set is not available at this time. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 48 DOORS DOORS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doors are programs that can be run outside of the UltraBBS software. Doors can be utilities, games, or other programs. UltraBBS will either shell to doors or exit to doors depending on how you have it setup. Doors can be added to UltraBBS with the UltraBBS SETUP utility. For more information on setting up doors, consult the documentation of the door you are attempting to setup. (NOTE: At the end of your door batch files, you should return to the UltraBBS drive and directory, but you should NOT run the UltraBBS batch file! The door batch file is executed under the original UltraBBS batch file, and thus will return control to the batch file after finishing.) UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 49 QUESTIONNAIRES QUESTIONNAIRES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questionnaires are "semi-intelligent" in UltraBBS. They can perform simple security/conference operations. Each questionnaire is a text file, with one command per line of the file. Following is a list of the UltraBBS questionnaire language commands: EXIT Terminates the questionnaire CONFS string Changes the user's conference string to <string> CONF(x) [ON,OFF] Add user (ON) or remove user (OFF) from conference x SECURITY x Sets user's security level to x (will NOT lower user's security) DISPLAY filename Displays filename to the user [RED,GREEN,YELLOW,BLUE,MAGENTA,CYAN,WHITE] Changes the current text color PUTANS string(;) Prints string to the answer file, append the ';' for no (Enter) PUTANS *(;) Prints current user answer to the answer file, append the ';' for no (Enter) LOGOFF Logs off current user, with no warning LOCKOUT Locks out (sets user's security at 0) current user, with no warning PAGESYSOP Pages the SysOp PUTTEXT string(;) Prints string to display, append the ';' for no (Enter) PUTTEXT *(;) Prints user's last answer to display, append ';' for no (Enter) GETANSWER x|prompt Prints prompt, and gets answer string of no more than x characters MULTCHOICE validchars|prompt Prints prompt, and gets a character that must be in the UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 50 validchars string IF string ... commands ... ENDIF If user's last answer is different from string, then skip all commands, until an ENDIF is encountered; an IF with nothing after it checks for a blank response SKIPLINE Displays a blank line PUTANSINFO Prints user's name, the current date, and the current time to the answers file GOTO label label: Goes to a specific line label (the line label should be on its own line with a colon after it) ADDMINUTES x Adds x minutes to the current user's time for today. For an example of the use of many of the questionnaire features, see the NEWUSER.DAT questionnaire that comes with the UltraBBS package. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 51 EVENTS EVENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Events are daily batches that are run at any specified time. Typically, events are used for such things as message packing, door game maintenance, or echomail operation. For information on how to use UltraBBS's MANAGER program in your events, see the section in this manual about MANAGER's command line parameters. When the event is run, UltraBBS exits to the BBS batch file with errorlevel 1, 5, or 6 for events 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Users who logon before an event will have their time shorted for that call to avoid delaying the event. It is recommended that you not schedule events that are very close to midnight (2 or 3 minutes before or after), since time rollover could possibly cause problems. Also, you should not schedule events that may be overlapped by other events or events that are very close to each other. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 52 TEXT FILES TEXT FILES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many files used to customize your BBS. These include the welcome, logoff, bulletins, menus, etc. All text files have ANSI and non-ANSI versions. The ANSI versions have a 'G' appended to the end of the filename (ex: GOODBYE for normal screen and GOODBYEG for the ANSI version). If the ANSI version does not exist, or if the user is not in ANSI graphics mode, the non-ANSI version will be displayed to all users. Also, most text files can be displayed only to individual security levels if you wish. This is done by adding a file extension of the desired security level (ex: MMENU.50/MMENUG.50). If a specific security level file is not found, the regular file will be displayed. Variables can also be put into your text files, and UltraBBS will substitute the appropriate information in place of the $...$ variable when it occurs.. The variables which are currently supported are as follows: $USERNAME$ The name of the user, in all capitals If you place this variable in the 'To' field of a message, the message will be to all users and they will be notified of it in a scan. $x$, $x-y$ (Valid only in the 'To' field of a message) When this variable is used in the 'To' field of a message, the message will be to all users of x security level or in the x - y security range and they will be notified of it in a scan. $CALLERNUM$ The current number of calls to this BBS to date $USERNAMEM$ The name of the user, in mixed case $PASSWORD$ The user's password (use with caution) $CITYSTATE$ The user's city/state $BBSVERSION$ The BBS name and version (ex: UltraBBS v3.10) $SYSOPNAME$ The name of the sysop, in all capitals $SYSOPNAMEM$ The name of the sysop, in mixed case $BBSNAME$ The name of the BBS $VOICENUM$ The user's voice telephone number $DATANUM$ The user's data telephone number $EXPIREDATE$ The user's subscription expiration date $LASTDATE$ The user's last date on $LASTTIME$ The user's last time on $CURRENTDATE$ The current system date $CURRENTTIME$ The current system time $CONFNAME$ The name of the conference the user is in $BAUDRATE$ The current baud rate of the connection $DOWNLOADS$ The user's number of downloads $UPLOADS$ The user's number of uploads $PAGELENGTH$ The user's page length $TIMESON$ The user's total number of logins $DOORSENTERED$ The user's total number of doors entered $MSGSENTERED$ The user's total number of messages entered $SEC$ The user's security level $MINSPERDAY$ The user's daily time limit in minutes $MINSLEFT$ The user's minutes left for this call $DOWNLOADK$ The user's download kilobytes $UPLOADK$ The user's upload kilobytes $DLKBSPERULKB$ The DL KB/UL KB ratio the user must maintain $DLFSPERULF$ The UL/DL ratio the user must maintain $SYSOPSTART$ The starting time of the sysop page bell UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 53 $SYSOPEND$ The ending time of the sysop page bell $FIRSTNAMEM$ The user's first name, in mixed case $NODENUM$ The node number of this node $MINSUSED$ The number of minutes the user has used today $EVENTTIME$ The time of the daily event $DLKPERULK$ The user's number of DL KB per 1 UL KB $DLSPERUL$ The user's number of DLs per 1 UL $CLS$ Clears the screen $MORE$ Brings up a yes/no/etc prompt $MOREON$ Turns yes/no/etc prompts on $MOREOFF$ Disables yes/no/etc prompts $BREAKON$ Allows aborting with (Ctrl-X) or (N)o at prompt $BREAKOFF$ Makes file unabortable $ANYKEY$ Brings up a press any key to continue prompt UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 54 CALL WAITING SCREEN CALL WAITING SCREEN ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The call waiting screen is displayed whenever UltraBBS is ready to receive calls. This screen contains a great deal of information. The screen displays the name of the BBS, the UltraBBS version and copyright, and the name of the sysop who the UltraBBS is registered to. It also tells whether beeps and page bell are on/off. It displays the last event and time as well as the next event and time. The current baud rate tells you what baud rate your modem is initialized at. Idle time tells you how many minutes have elapsed since the last caller. Status is shown as "Waiting" if it is waiting for calls. The modem session is also displayed to help you in tracking down any problems. The following commands are available from the call waiting screen: (Esc) Exit to DOS (L) Local Logon (S) Snoop Logon (Alt-B) Beeps Toggle (Alt-J) Shell to DOS (Alt-P) Page Bell Toggle During a snoop logon, the phone is left on the hook. When the phone rings, you will be notified on that status line. You can then log off if you wish and have the BBS answer the call. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 55 LOCAL FUNCTION KEYS LOCAL FUNCTION KEYS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When a caller is logged onto UltraBBS, the sysop has the following keys available to him: (Alt-B) Beeps Toggle (Alt-H) Hang Up User (no log off message, etc) (Alt-J) Jump to DOS (Shell) w/swap if specified in SETUP (Alt-K) Disable Remote Keyboard Toggle (Alt-L) Lock Out and Log Off User (Alt-N) Fake Line Noise Log Off (displays some junk chars) (Alt-P) Page Bell Toggle (Alt-U) Update User's Conferences and Security Level (Alt--) Decrease Time by One Minute (Alt-+) Increase Time by One Minute (Alt-C) SysOp Chat Mode (Alt-X) Exit the BBS After This Caller Logs Off The (F1) through (F7) keys can be used to toggle between different status lines. One of the 7 status lines is a help screen listing all available keys. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 56 FRONT-END OPERATION FRONT-END OPERATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- With many net/echo mailers, such as BinkleyTerm, the mailer will answer the phone and then run the BBS with the caller already connected. With UltraBBS, if the caller is already connected, you should run UltraBBS with the baud rate as the parameter (ie: "UBBS 2400"). If the caller is on local, run UltraBBS with the parameter 'L' (local mode) or 'S' (snoop mode) (ie: "UBBS L"). Batch files for use with these mailers and other BBS software can easily be adapted to UltraBBS operation. When you use a front-end, you should not use UltraBBS's events, as they are triggered at the call waiting screen, which will never come up while using a front-end. Instead, use the front-end's events. If you wish to use UltraBBS's events to limits callers' time on the BBS before the front-end's events, be sure to run UBBS.EXE at the end of your front-end event batch so that UBBS will load at the call waiting screen and immediately exit, thus clearing the event flag. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 57 MANAGER COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS MANAGER COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are 5 commands in UltraBBS's MANAGER which can be executed from the DOS command line. These are very useful in your event or from other batch files. The following is a list of these commands and their parameters and their [defaults]: /PACKUSERS: packs user file /KILLDELETED: kill deleted users? [Y] /SORT: sort the user file? [Y] /KILLDATE: kill users who haven't called since this date [don't] /KILLBELOW: kill all users below this security level [don't] /PACKFILES: packs filebase file /KILLDELETED: kill deleted files? [Y] /ACTUALKILL: actually remove killed files from hard drive? [Y] /SORT: sort the filebase file? [Y] /KILLDATE: kill files uploaded on or before this date [don't] /KILLDATE2: kill files not downloaded since this date [don't] /PACKMSGS: packs a message file /KILLRCVD: kill all received receiver-only messages? [N] /CONFNUM: conference number to pack or (A)ll [0] /KEEPLAST: number of messages below top to keep [keep all] /RENUMBER: message number to begin renumbering at [no renumber] /KILLDAYS: kill messages left before this many days ago [don't] /CREATELIST: creates a master file list /CONFNUM: conference number to generate list from [0] /SECFORLIST: security level's point of view to generate [255] /LISTNAME: name for output file [FILELIST.TXT] /ADDGIFRES: add resolution to all GIF file descriptions Some examples of command line uses: MANAGER /PACKUSERS /KILLDATE:08/10/90 /SORT:N MANAGER /ADDGIFRES MANAGER /CREATELIST /CONFNUM:1 /SECFORLIST:100 /LISTNAME:LIST.DOC MANAGER /PACKFILES /KILLDELETED:N MANAGER /PACKMSGS /KILLRCVD:Y /KEEPLAST:300 /RENUMBER:1 UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 58 FILE FORMATS FILE FORMATS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The complete file formats for UltraBBS are available in the accompanying text file, UBBSFMTS.TXT. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 59 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why doesn't my system date change to the next day at midnight? Why doesn't my system date change to the next day at midnight? Most likely the problem is the version of DOS you are using. MS-DOS 3.2 for instance has been replaced with 3.2.1 to correct the problem. If a new version of DOS does not solve the problem, then you may need a new ROM BIOS. I would like new users to be able to leave private messages to me, but I would like new users to be able to leave private messages to me, but I don't want them to be able to leave messages to anyone else before I I don't want them to be able to leave messages to anyone else before I verify the user. How can I do this? verify the user. How can I do this? There are essentially two security levels for the 'E'nter Message command. The first is the actual security level for entering messages. This is the security level that allows users to send messages publicly or privately to other users. There is also the To-Sysop Message Security level. Set this security level to the security level required to leave messages to the sysop. In other words, you would set the 'E'nter Message command higher than the security level of new users, and you would make the To-Sysop Message Security available for new users. The new user's messages will automatically be directed towards the sysop. I get a 'Cannot Open ...' error from UltraBBS. What is causing this? I get a 'Cannot Open ...' error from UltraBBS. What is causing this? In most cases, a 'Cannot Open ...' (for example, 'Cannot Open Messages File', 'Cannot Open Users File', etc) error from UltraBBS indicates that you have specified a bad path for that file's file name. Either the drive does not exist, or the directory does not exist. Check over all of your paths in SETUP. I am having trouble with modem communications in my multinode, I am having trouble with modem communications in my multinode, multitasking environment. What should I do? multitasking environment. What should I do? If you are using the OPUSCOMM FOSSIL, be sure to load a separate copy of OPUSCOMM into each window that UltraBBS is running in. Also, be sure to use OPUSCOMM.COM, not OPUSCOM1.COM. If you are using BNU, be suer to load a separate copy into each window that UltraBBS is running in. If you have modems that share the same IRQ (COM1 & COM3, COM2 & COM4), make sure that the FOSSIL you are using supports shared IRQs properly. When I log on with a certain name, the BBS says that I am somebody When I log on with a certain name, the BBS says that I am somebody else. What is wrong? else. What is wrong? The index files for your user file are probably incorrect or corrupted. Pack your user file to fix the problem. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 60 UBBSWHO PROGRAM UBBSWHO PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS UBBSWHO Program (UBBSWHO.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved. The UBBSWHO.EXE program is used to get a (WH)o's on Other Nodes display from the DOS prompt in a networking or multitasking environment. It also displays whether or not each user is paging the sysop. The command line (displayed when the program is run) is: UBBSWHO NODEINFO.DAT_Path Highest_Node_Number example: UBBSWHO D:\UBBS\FILES\NODEINFO.DAT 10 You may want to create a batch file in your PATH to run this utility without retyping the command line parameters each time. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 61 FIDOCVT PROGRAM FIDOCVT PROGRAM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS FIDOCVT Program (FIDOCVT.EXE) Copyright (c) 1991 Bob Farmer, All Rights Reserved. The FIDOCVT.EXE program is used to import and export FIDO (usually used for FIDONet) style messages to/from UltraBBS. It handles only echomail messages (no netmail), for obvious reasons. For your private netmail area from FIDONet, you will need to use an external FIDO message editor (such as Ron Bemis' MSG), or, if you want your users to be able to use the area, a FIDO message reading door, such as Darwin Collins' SMLNET program. If FIDOCVT, for some reason, does not work with your FIDONet Toss/Scan program, please let me know and I will see what I can do. As of this writing, FIDOCVT has only been tested with the QMail Toss/Scan program. The command line syntax for FIDOCVT is FIDOCVT [/i|/e] UltraBBS_Message_File FIDO_Directory [/s] [/n] The /i or /e parameter (use one of them, but not both!) specifies an (i)mport or an (e)xport. The UltraBBS_Message_File parameter is the full drive/path/name of the UltraBBS message file (without an extension!) that this import/export will affect. The FIDO_Directory is the directory of the FIDO messages that you wish to import (it may or may not end with a \). The optional /s parameter at the end, if specified, will keep the "SEEN-BY" lines on the echo messages (during an import). Otherwise, they are removed. The optional /n parameter at the end, if specified, will suppress filtering of the hi bit ASCII characters in messages (during an export). Otherwise, they are converted to spaces. If you wish to have an origin line on messages entered from your BBS, create a file named ORIGIN in the directory from which you run FIDOCVT. This should be a one-line, maximum 68 character file which contains your origin line. If you do not create this file, FIDOCVT will not add an origin line to the end of your messages. If you log in to your BBS with a name such as "SYSOP", you may wish to have that name changed to your real name before it is exported out to the FIDONet, and have it changed back to (as an example) "SYSOP" before it is imported. To do this, you should create a file called SYSOP in the directory from which FIDOCVT runs. The first line of this file should be the name which you wish to change, and the second line should be the name which you wish to change it to during an export. The reverse will be done during an import. Any message base which is used with FIDOCVT must be set as "Echo" in the UltraBBS SETUP program. Only messages which users designate as "Echo" will be exported from the message bases. When an (O)ffline Reading packet is imported, all messages posted in "Echo" conferences get their echo flag turned on. To use FIDOCVT, it is recommended that you prepare two batch files, one that will export for all of your message bases, and one that will import for all of your message bases. After your mail tosser, you should run an import on all message bases. The import function will UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 62 import all messages in the FIDO directory, starting at message # 2. It then deletes all messages in the directory (including message # 1). Before your mail scanner, you should run an export on all message bases. The export function will add the new messages in the UltraBBS message base to the end of the messages in the FIDO directory (starting after the last message number currently in that directory). After your mail scanner is done with the FIDO messages, you may wish to do a DEL *.MSG command in each of your FIDO message directories--it is not required, but will save a bit of your disk space. For those interested, the exact specifics of the way FIDOCVT operates follow. Unless you are trying to track down a specific problem, are familiar with the operation of FIDONet, or are just curious, you need not read the rest of this section. FIDOCVT /i The import function first locks the UltraBBS message base, preventing any messages from being saved until the import is done. The import function begins at FIDO message number 2 and imports until it comes to a message number which does not exist in the FIDO directory. If any message which FIDOCVT encounters has the intransit bit turned on, FIDOCVT will skip it. After importing each message, FIDOCVT deletes the message. After the import is finished, FIDOCVT sets the lastfidomsgimported variable in the UltraBBS message base's header to the high message number. FIDOCVT then unlocks the UltraBBS message base. Finally, FIDOCVT deletes the FIDO directory's 1.MSG file. FIDOCVT /e The export function first finds the highest numbered message (# 2 or above) in the FIDO directory, and begins creating messages after that message number. In the UltraBBS message base, FIDOCVT begins exporting at the message numbered lastfidomsgimported + 1. FIDOCVT sets the local and intransit bits on. FIDOCVT will only export messages that have their echo flag turned on, and are not killed. Finally, when there are no messages left to export from the UltraBBS message base, FIDOCVT then sets the lastfidomsgimported variable to the last UltraBBS message number it exported. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 63 ERRORS ERRORS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When a fatal system error occurs, UltraBBS displays the error on the local screen for approximately 10 seconds (or until a key is hit) before exiting back to the BBS batch file with errorlevel 3. The error (and its time and date) are also written to a file called UBBS.ERR. Most of the error messages are self-explanatory; however, if you have a question about a specific error message, please inquire about it through one of the UltraBBS test sites (listed in CONTACT.TXT). UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 64 REGISTRATION REGISTRATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For information on registration, please see the accompanying text file, REGISTER.TXT. Registration is required for corporate and government usage. Private users are highly urged to register after a reasonable (60 day) trial period. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 65 CONTACTING THE AUTHOR CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a list of BBSes (UltraBBS test sites) where the author can be contacted and the latest version obtained, please see the accompanying text file, CONTACT.TXT. UltraBBS 2.08 Documentation Page 66 THANKS THANKS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UltraBBS would not be where it is today without the many hours of testing, support, and patience of many people. Some of these people are test sites, others have taken the time to report bugs and assist in tracking them down. Others have taken the time to suggest new features, or complain about shortcomings. A list of some of these people follows (in no specific order!). Thanks to everybody who has everybody aided with the development of this massive project! Kevin Carr Jon Hutto Mark Robbins Bill Smith Greg Bowers Arthur Mol Craig Baker Dan Crescent Thomas Ryan The Dorsai Staffers