Beijing Paradise BBS Backup

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Beijing Paradise BBS Backup / PARADISE.ISO / software / BBSDOORW / AWARD40.ZIP / SYSOP.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-02-12 | 17.3 KB | 420 lines

ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS TRIVIA DIAMOND TRIVIA MOVIETIME TRIVIA NCAA SPORTS TRIVIA CELEBRITY TRIVIA STAR TREK TRIVIA AMERICAN HISTORY TRIVIA QUOTES & QUIPS SYSOP'S MANUAL v4.0 February 12, 1995 PCBoard 14.x and GAP 4.x WILDCAT!, SPITFIRE QBBS, RBBS, RA by Dennis Maidon PAROLE TECHNOLOGIES 9411 Buffalo Rd Clayton, NC 27520 (919) 965-3600 -> Voice The Parole Board BBS FIDO: 1:151/185 InterNet: dmaidon@cris.com (919) 965-4696 -> USR Dual Standard v.Everything -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- OVERVIEW ________ NOTE: Since this documentation covers all the PAROLE Software trivia doors, I will refer to the EXE name as AWARD.EXE for the rest of this file. Please substitute the correct name for the particular door you are attempting to setup. CONGRATULATIONS! You and your users will find this Trivia door entertaining and educational. It consists of approximately 100 or so questions that were carefully selected for your entertainment. The door displays a "Trivia Royalty" bulletin to the caller while it creates bulletins and logs for your use. Best of all..this door is not crippleware. It isn't full of advertisements and limitations...best of all I don't charge an arm and a leg. You'll also find we are responsive to your questions. If you need help or have a suggestion for improving this product, let me know! FILES AND DESCRIPTIONS ______________________ The archive includes the following files: AWARD.EXE -- The main executable file SAMPLE.CFG -- The sample configuration file AWARD.DAT -- The main trivia data file AWARD.HIS -- Release History and changes SAMPLE.LOG -- A sample of the log file produced SCREENS.ZIP -- Screens for the AWARD\SCREENS sub directory SYSOP.DOC -- The installation instructions...(this file) QUIKUP.DOC -- Quick and Dirty installation instructions. MAINTAIN.ZIP -- Program to trim the scores database. REGISTER.TXT -- Information and registration form...This will give you a personalized door, voice or bbs support services, new issues of master.dat files, a clear conscience and a still poor but happy door programmer. DOOR.BAT Sample door batch file This ZIP file was created using the -AV function of PKZIP. If my AV is missing then this file may not be complete or has been tampered with. Complete and current editions of this program are always available for D/L on The Parole Board BBS. If the AV is missing please complain to your sysop to stop the practice of removing AV's as this is your assurance from the programmer that the file is complete and virus free. INSTALLATION ____________ Installation is quite simple and straight-forward. Follow these steps and example and you should be up and running in a matter of minutes. Although AWARD is an easy program to install on most any BBS, there may be some Sysop who has trouble. Support is available in those situations. 1) Create a directory to hold all AWARD files 2) Unzip AWARDxx.ZIP into the above directory 3) Run INSTALL.BAT <-Important 4) Create a configuration file, with a name of your choice or modify the SAMPLE.CFG file which is enclosed. 5) Create a door batch file or use the sample enclosed. 6) Modify your particular BBS System Menus to add the door. The BBS setup various depending on the type BBS software you are running. We assumed you are familiar with the general DOOR setup on your system. Therefore our description includes only examples of the AWARD specific configuration file and door batch file. Refer to your BBS documentation for door installation on your particular software. BBS USER FILES The BBS user file provides information to AWARD!!, such as COM port, user name, time allowed in the door, etc. This file is necessary for AWARD to function. The complete path\filename of the BBS user file must be passed to AWARD.EXE as the 1st parameter in the command line. The user file is created by your BBS EACH time a user runs a door....The BBS USER file has a different name on each type of BBS. When you create your AWARD configuration file, you must tell AWARD the name for your particular BBS system. The following is a list of the user files used by the BBS types we support (we included a typical path). drive\dir\filename C:\WILDCAT\CALLINFO.BBS ──┐ <- For Wildcat! 2.x C:\WC30\WCWORK\NODE1\USERINFO.DAT │ <- For Wildcat! 3.x C:\WC4\WCWORK\NODE1\DOOR.SYS │ <- For Wildcat! 4.x C:\PCB\PCBOARD.SYS │ <- For PCBoard using PCBOARD.SYS │ only C:\PCB\USERS │ <- For PCBoard using USERS only C:\BBS\DOOR.SYS │ <- For Systems which support │ DOOR.SYS C:\BBS\DORINFOx.DEF │ <- For QBBS/RBB/RA. Replace x │ with Node#. C:\BBS\TRIBBS.SYS │ <- fOR TriBBS C:\BBS\SFDOORS.DAT ──┘ <- For Spitfire CONFIGURATION FILE One (and only ONE) of the above will be LINE 1 of your configuration file. You MUST specify the path and name (including any extension) correctly if you expect AWARD to find it. Sample for Lines 2 through 10 are: The Parole Board BBS <- Your BBS Name Dennis <- SysOp's First Name Maidon <- SysOp's Last Name 00000 <- Registration Number 100 <- Minimum security level allowed in door. 35 <- Maximum questions allowed per visit to the door. C:\WC\BULL\BULL1.SCR <- Path and Name of Color Bulletin C:\WC\BULL\BULL1.BBS <- Path and Name of ASCii Bulletin WC <- WC Create WC!3.x specific bulls PCB Create PCBoard specific bulls Blank for ANSI & ASCii 2 <- Number of times allowed to play door each day. RIP <- "RIP" create RIP bulletins "N" do not create RIP bulls 15 <- Number of seconds to allow the user to answer each question. The door will accept a timeout as an incorrect answer. The door defaults to 10 seconds. Edit the Sample.CFG file to suit your individual BBS. You must have all 13 lines and no extra characters. Line 1: This line points to where AWARD.EXE will find the callers information file. Just include the line that your particular BBS uses. DO NOT put all of them in the CFG file. Line 2: Place the name of your BBS on this line. Line 3: SysOp's first name goes here. Line 4: SysOp's last name goes here. Line 5: Your Registration Number goes here if registered. If you haven't registered you can still use the door...just enter 00000 until you get your registration number. Line 6: The minimum security level that is allowed in the door. Line 7: Maximum number of questions allowed per visit to the door. I would suggest 25-30 as a reasonable number. The smaller this number, the more likely that the users will continue to use the door. Line 8: Enter the complete path and name of the ANSI bulletin that you want AWARD to create. Line 9: Enter the complete path and name of the ASCii bulletin that you want AWARD to create. Line 10: "WC" to create WC!3.x specific bulletins or NO for ANSI and ASCii bulletins. "PCB" on this line will enable the program to create PCBoard specific color bulletins. If you Config for WC! or PCB bulletins, Place the name of the bulletin on Line 8 of the CFG file. Be sure to add the ".BBS" extension to it. You may leave Line 9 blank but it still MUST be included in the CFG file. Line 11: Number of times users are allowed to enter the door each day. Line 12: Place "RIP" on this line if you wish to create RIP styple bulletins. If you do not support or need them, place an "N" on this line. Line 13: Place the number of seconds that you wish to allow to answer each question. If you use the sample CFG file be sure to remove all remarks and use a pure ASCII editor such as EDLIN or QEDIT. Word processors typically leave hidden control codes. Those hidden codes could cause the program to depart for worlds unknown. Save your newly edited file using any name you want....suggested AWARD1.CFG. DONOR.CL Registered Users may create a file named DONOR.CL and place it in the door directory. If found, the door will display a prompt thanking them for donating the door. GOODBYE.NO Place this file in the door directory to turn the [G]oodbye option off. DOOR BATCH FILE Create a batch file or modify the sample AWARD.BAT file supplied. This is what you need: @ECHO OFF CLS Keeps a clean screen (optional) CD \DOORS\AWARD Change to the AWARD door files directory AWARD AWARD1.CFG Run AWARD using AWARD1.CFG configuration Change back to the WCAT BBS directory Restart the BBS. On BBSs which shell to dos to run the door this line may be omitted or maybe the word "EXIT." Check your BBS door instructions. The above DOOR.BAT file is for a Wildcat! 3.x system using SWAP instead of TERMINATE for doors. MULTIPLE NODES Create a configuration file for each node. Each file should have a unique name. EX: AWARD1.CFG AWARD2.CFG AWARD has been tested under LIVECAT and DESQVIEW and performs very well under either or both. COMM PORT IRQs AWARD is written using DoorFrame. DoorFrame supports COM 1-4 on the standard IRQ's - COM1 or COM3 as a standard uses IRQ4 while COM2 and COM4 use IRQ3. If your system uses a non-standard IRQ, add the IRQ number after the configuration filename. Let's assume your Door is called FOOBAR and you want to use COM1 but non-standard IRQ5. The command line passed to your Door would be: FOOBAR FOOBAR.CFG /5 FOOBAR FOOBAR.CFG *5 The /5 tells DoorFrame to use IRQ5 rather than the standard IRQ4 normally used with COM1. No /x parameter is needed for the standard IRQ's. Fossil Driver Support --------------------- CatList supports the use of Fossil drivers. To tell your Door to use the Fossil driver instead of the standard COM ports, just put /FD on the command line when running the door. For example: MYDOOR MYDOOR.CFG /FD MYDOOR MYDOOR.CFG *FD indicates that a Fossil driver is present and should be used. If no Fossil driver is detected, CatList will print a message to that effect and exit the door gracefully. TIPS AND TRAPS Be sure to read all the READ.ME, README.1ST AND UPGRADE.DOC files if they are included in the package. They sometimes contain some very useful information. <G> Of course you can do like me, just set the darn thing up without the docs then fuss at the door author for not making it simple enough to work the first time. IF You get an error...check every path to make sure you typed it correctly. Check the file name...does it match exactly? Does the configuration filename match? Did you leave off the configuration file extension? Do you have the correct BRUN module in a directory on your path? If all those seem correct and the door still won't work...call me......preferably not in the middle of the night...no door is that important. When the door is in use...you can use the sysop options listed at the bottom of your screen to chat, increase or decrease the users time or log the user off. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES =================== DoorFrame requires DOS 3.x and up since all files are opened in SHARED mode. When using PCBOARD.SYS, AWARD requires that PCBOARD.DAT be in the same directory as PCBOARD.SYS. AWARD also accesses the USERS file. When using USERS.SYS, AWARD also accesses PCBOARD.SYS, PCBOARD.DAT and the USERS file. The DOOR.SYS used by AWARD is the standard 52 line GAP (tm) file. The CALLINFO.BBS used by AWARD currently contains 36 lines. DoorFrame doors may now make use of the IRQ environment variable. For example, instead of DOOR DOOR.CFG /5 you can use DOOR DOOR.CFG /%IRQ%. (I use this method here on The Parole Board for WC! and it works just fine. Use "/%WCIRQID%".) DoorFrame is now aware of the PCBoard environment variables %PCBDRIVE% and %PCBDIR%. If it finds those two variables on the first line of the .CFG file it will substitute the correct drive and path. LEGALITIES __________ THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL ANYONE INVOLVED WITH THE CREATION AND PRODUCTION OF THIS PRODUCT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF ANY USE THEREOF OR BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY. DISTRIBUTION ____________ You may make this file available for downloading from your BBS or you may upload it to any BBS of your choice, provided that you do not make any changes to the contents of the archive (ZIP file). The archive and its individual contents may not be used by any service that charges any money whatsoever, without the written permission of the author. REGISTRATION ____________ I am not a subscriber to the "Crippleware" concept, and this program reflects that philosophy. This is a full-featured program, whose functionality is not hampered in any way, whether you register it or not. It is only $15 to register this door. Registered SysOps will receive an added utility that will allow you to edit and/or add questions to the database. There is a 10 second delay that is removed once the program has been registered. THANKS -------------- Special thanks goes out for my wife who is definitely a "Computer Widow". Ted Freeman the author of DoorFrame, a first class BBS Doors Development Library. May Ted be remembered always in the fine programs he created. My BBS users who have had to endure constant badgering to help me test the programs that I have written. A *VERY SPECIAL THANKS* to Mustang! Software for developing the greatest BBS Software on the market, WILDCAT! 3.x. Liane Benway, SysOp, Running Wild !!! in Norcross, GA. Without Liane, you wouldn't have these fine DOCs. Ned Attayek, SysOp, Free Advice BBS in Smithfield, NC for his tireless effort in coming up with all these questions. Award Trivia is written using MicroSoft's Visual Basic for DOS v1.0. VB/DOS is copyright 1992, MicroSoft Inc. The question database for Star Trek Trivia was written by Tom Walker of "The Tholian Web" BBS in Hopewell Junction, NY. (914) 227-4402. Robert Ferguson of "Klingon Software Labs" has also contributed to the Star Trek Trivia database. (Philadelphia, PA (215) 426-5596) Many thanks for the excellent suggestions I've received from all of you.