SIGDOOR v1.3
Copyright 1989 by Michael A. Quinlan, all rights reserved.

SIGDOOR is a door for PCBoard v14 systems. It provides access to the PC-SIG
diskettes on CD ROM. Users can display information about PC-SIG, search the
diskette descriptions, list the contents of a diskette, and prepare diskettes
for downloading.


Files included:

READ.ME - This file.
SIGDOOR.EXE - Executable code for the door.
SIGDOOR.CNF - Sample configuration file for the door.
SIGDOOR - .BAT file to control execution of the door.

DODINDEX.EXE - Program to prepare the diskette description index file.

LIBDEF - Defines the location of the diskettes.
DODINDEX.DAT - Index to the diskette description file.

SIGDOOR.PAS - Source for the door.
DODINDEX.PAS - Source for the DODINDEX program.


Installation Overview:

You must follow these steps to install this door on your BBS. The steps are
listed here briefly. The next section talks about each step in detail.

1. Load the files onto your hard disk.
2. Update SIGDOOR.CNF to match your configuration.
3. Run DODINDEX to create a new DODINDEX.DAT file.
4. Update LIBDEF to define the location of your CD ROM files.
5. Update SIGDOOR and move it to your PCBoard directory.
6. Use PCBSETUP (a PCBoard utility) to add the door to PCBoard.
7. Notify your users that the new door is available.


Installation Instructions:

1. Load the files onto your hard disk.

First, create a subdirectory on your hard disk. I use \SIGDOOR. Some
SYSOPs like to have the door subdirectories be subordinate to their
PCB directory; if you want to do this, your subdirectory name would
be \PCB\SIGDOOR.

You do not need to create a special subdirectory just for SIGDOOR if
you don't want to. You can copy the files into an existing directory
(such as \DOORS, or \PCB\DOORS, or whatever you want).

Once you have a subdirectory created, un-ZIP the files into that
subdirectory. At a minimum, you will need SIGDOOR.EXE, SIGDOOR.CNF,
and SIGDOOR. You will also need LIBDEF, but if you are using the
ProDoor LIB command, you will already have a LIBDEF file that SIGDOOR
can use unchanged. If you do not already have a LIBDEF file, then you
will need to modify the one included in this ZIP file in step 4 below.


2. Update SIGDOOR.CNF to match your configuration.

SIGDOOR.CNF contains parameters that control the execution of the
door. You can rename this file if you wish. Item 5 below (Update
SIGDOOR) documents how to tell SIGDOOR the name of the configuration
file if you rename it.

SIGDOOR.CNF is an ASCII text file. Each line of the file contains
a different parameter. You can use any text editor to edit this
file.

The format of SIGDOOR.CNF is very inflexible. The program does not do
very much validation of the contents of this file. You must have the
correct information on each line. Each line must start at the left with
no leading blanks. You must not include extra lines (not even blank
ones), and you must not include extra information on any line.

The file is 10 lines long. Its basic format is:

1. display control
2. archive utility name
3. archive utility options
4. diskette description path\file name
5. buffer size
6. search timeout
7. diskette description index path\file name
8. PC-SIG info subdirecotry path
9. LIBDEF path\file name
10. upload path name

An example file might look like this:

INTERRUPT
C:\UTIL\PKPAK.EXE
-a
C:\SIGDOOR\DOD\1_1000.UPP
65024
15
C:\SIGDOOR\DODINDEX.DAT
F:\INFO
C:\SIGDOOR\LIBDEF.
C:\MAIN\UP

The first line contains a keyword that tells the program how to write
to your display. The options are INTERRUPT, BIOS, and PCBTRAP. I use
INTERRUPT. If that doesn't work for you, try BIOS. If you see double
characters on the screen (lliikkee tthhiiss), use PCBTRAP.

The second line contains the full path and file name of an archive/
compression utility. I use C:\UTIL\PKPAK.EXE because that is where
my copy of PKPAK is located. The extension (.EXE in this case) is
required. The current version of the code does not support .BAT files,
nor does it support searching the PATH to find the program.

NOTE: PKZIP (ver 0.90) can be used, but it has a problem: when your
users un-ZIP the files, they will be marked read-only. This happens
because the files on the CD-ROM are marked read-only and PKZIP retains
this attribute. I have asked Phil Katz to correct this problem, so
future releases of PKZIP may be more usable in this environment.

The 3rd line contains parameters to be passed to the archive/compression
utility. I intended to use it to pass the compression options to
PKZIP (-ea4 -eb4) but, as noted above, PKZIP is not yet usable by
SIGDOOR. Set this line to the options required by your archive/
compression utility to add files to an archive. SIGDOOR will create a
command line that consists of this information followed by the archive
name (no file extension is given, so it will use the default of your
archive/compression utility), the path name of the CD-ROM diskette, and
\*.*. Example command line built by SIGDOOR:

-a CD-1124 F:\1100_200\DISK1124\*.*

This assumes that you specify -a as the 3rd line of SIGDOOR.CNF, and
that your LIBDEF file says the diskettes are located on drive F in
the indicated subdirectory.

The fourth line contains the drive and path name of the diskette
description file. If your CD-ROM is drive E, you would specify
E:\DOD\1_1000.UPP (because that is where the descriptions are
located). The search by keyword function will run slightly faster
if you copy the 1_1000.UPP file to a hard disk or a ram disk, and
specify that location instead of the CD-ROM. The keyword search
function, however, is already very fast and the extra speed is
probably not worthwhile. On my BBS (running on a 6Mhz 80286), a full
search of the description file only takes 45 seconds on the CD-ROM.
Moving the file to the hard disk reduces the time to 30 seconds.

The 5th line has the buffer size to use while processing the diskette
description file. I use 65024 (the maximum value). There is no reason
to reduce this value since the memory for this buffer is released before
running your archive/compression utility.

The 6th line has the number of seconds to wait before timing out when
searching the diskette descriptions by keyword. If no matches are found
in the indicated time, SIGDOOR stops and gives the user a chance to
quit. This option is only provided to let the user cancel an unproductive
search. If you set it longer than the full file search time (45 seconds
on my system), SIGDOOR will not give this prompt and will just search
the entire description file. This option is most useful if full seaches
take several minutes on your machine -- you can use it to keep the user
from having to wait that entire interval if he/she mistypes a keyword.

The 7th line has the path and file name of the diskette description file
index. The index file is used to quickly locate the description for a
specific diskette. I have included DODINDEX.DAT, which should work with
the January 1989 edition of the PC-SIG CD ROM. If you have another
edition, or if you have a customized description file, then you will
need to run the DODINDEX program (see step 3) to create an index file.

The 8th line has the path name (path name only, no file name) of the
PC SIG information files. These files are in the \INFO subdirectory
on your CD ROM. There is no reason to copy these files to your hard
disk. If you CD ROM is drive F, specify F:\INFO

The 9th line contains the path and file name of the LIBDEF file. The
LIBDEF file is documented in item 4 below. It tells SIGDOOR the
location of the PC-SIG diskettes (drive and path), based on a range
of diskette numbers.

The 10th (and last!) line of SIGDOOR.CNF has the path name where
SIGDOOR will place downloadable (archived) copies of the PC-SIG
diskettes. This directory must be included in the download paths you
specify to PCBoard; otherwise the user won't be able to download any
diskettes.


3. Run DODINDEX to create a new DODINDEX.DAT file.

SIGDOOR uses a high speed index to locate diskette descriptions for
specific diskettes. The file DODINDEX.DAT has already been built based
on the January 1989 edition of the PC-SIG CD ROM. If you have a
different edition of the CD-ROM, or if you have customized your copy
of the diskette description file (\DOD\1_1000.UPP on your CD ROM), then
you will need to build a new index file.

To build an index, run DODINDEX and specify two parameters on the
command line. The first parameter is the path and file name of the
diskette description file. The second parameter is the path and file
name where the program is to write the new index file.

Example, assuming your CD ROM is drive F:

DODINDEX F:\DOD\1_1000.UPP C:\SIGDOOR\DODINDEX.DAT

The program will run for a while, displaying its progress. It requires
a 4-digit diskette number at the start of each line in the diskette
description file. It also depends on the diskettes being listed in
ascending numerical order. Descriptions that do not follow these rules
will be skipped and will not be indexed.


4. Update LIBDEF to define the location of your CD ROM files.

The LIBDEF file tells SIGDOOR where to find the PC-SIG diskettes. Each
line contains two entries, separated by a single blank. The positioning
of the data on the line is critical. Extra blanks are not permitted.
The first item on the line must be a number, followed by one blank,
followed by a partial directory name. SIGDOOR will search the file for
the first entry with a number less than or equal to the diskette number.
It will then take the partial directory and append the diskette number
to it (with no leading zeros). This is used as the directory containing
the files for the diskette.

For example, if you LIBDEF looked like this:

9 D:\001_100\disk000
99 D:\001_100\disk00
100 D:\001_100\disk0
200 D:\101_200\disk0
300 D:\201_300\disk0
400 D:\301_400\disk0
500 D:\401_500\disk0
600 D:\501_600\disk0
700 D:\601_700\disk0
800 D:\701_800\disk0
900 D:\801_900\disk0
999 D:\901_1000\disk0
1000 D:\901_1000\disk
1100 D:\1001_100\disk
1200 D:\1101_200\disk
1240 D:\1201_300\disk

When SIGDOOR looked for diskette 87, it would scan down to the entry
for '99', then use D:\001_100\DISK00 concatenated with '87' to yield
D:\001_100\DISK0087 as the directory holding the files for diskette
number 87.

Normally you just have to update the drive letter on each line. If you
already have a LIBDEF file (it is used by the LIB command in ProDoor),
then you can use that same file for SIGDOOR since the formats are
identical. Make sure your SIGDOOR.CNF file has the correct path and
file name so it can locate your LIBDEF file.


5. Update SIGDOOR and move it to your PCBoard directory.

The file named SIGDOOR (no file extension) is a .BAT file used by
PCBoard to invoke the door. You do not need to use any special
programs with SIGDOOR. It does not need DOORWAY, GATEWAY, or CTTY.
When you invoke the program, you must specify two parameters on the
command line. The first parameter is the path and file name of the
SIGDOOR.CNF file (you don't need a path if it is in the current
subdirectory). The second parameter is the path name (with a
terminating back slash character) of your PCBoard main directory.
An example SIGDOOR file is:


@ECHO OFF
C:
CD\SIGDOOR
SIGDOOR SIGDOOR.CNF C:\PCB\
BOARD

The first line (@ECHO OFF) tells DOS to not echo the lines in the
.BAT file as it executes them. If you have a version of DOS prior to
version 3.3, you will need to remove the '@' since it isn't supported.

The next two lines simply change to the SIGDOOR subdirectory. You will
have to change them to go to the subdirectory you set up containing
the SIGDOOR files.

The 4th line executes SIGDOOR with the required parameters. If you
chose a different name for SIGDOOR.CNF, you will need to specify your
name here. If SIGDOOR.CNF is not in the SIGDOOR directory, then you
will need to specify a fill path and file name, instead of just the
file name shown above. The C:\PCB\ represents your PCBoard main
subdirectory. You need to specify the correct location for your
PCBoard installation.

The last line simply re-invokes PCBoard after SIGDOOR exits.

The SIGDOOR file MUST be copied into the PCBoard main directory. This is
a requirement of PCBoard.



6. Use PCBSETUP (a PCBoard utility) to add the door to PCBoard.

Run PCBSETUP to add the door to PCBoard. You will need to update
the Menu Listing file, and the Path/Name List File for the DOORS.
The items are listed in the Main Conference Configuration screen;
you position the cursor over the appropriate file name and press F2
to edit the file.



7. Notify your users that the new door is available.

Leave a message to your users telling them that the SIGDOOR is
available.



Using SIGDOOR:

SIGDOOR is menu driven. The main menu offers choices of:

1 - View information on PC-SIG and this CD ROM

2 - Search the diskette descriptions

3 - View contents of a diskette

4 - Prepare a diskette for downloading

Q - Quit to PCBoard

The 1st option displays a menu that lets the user select informational
files. The files are from the \INFO subdirectory on the PC-SIG CD ROM.

The second option lets the user search the diskette descriptions by
keyword, category, or by a specific diskette number.

The third option lets the user display the directory from a specific
diskette.

The fourth option is required before the user can download a diskette.
It creates an archive of the name CD-n (where n is a 1 to 4 digit number)
that contains all the files from the diskette. You specify, in the
SIGDOOR.CNF file, the name and parameters of the archive/compression
utility, and the name of the directory to place the resulting archive in.



Ongoing Maintenance:

SIGDOOR creates archive files in a directory that you specify. The current
version doesn't ever delete these archives. You will want to periodically
scan this directory and delete old files. The files will all have names
in the format CD-n when n is a 1 to 4 digit number. You could just delete
all of these files in an event, but it may be good to leave them there a
couple of days -- people sometimes build the archives then run out of time
to download them; if you leave the files, the users can just call back the
next day to download the rest of the files and not have to spend the time
to re-create the archives.



Support:

I cannot afford to spend any time to support this software. I have a
full time job, and I run a BBS in my "spare" time. If you run into
problems, or if you have suggestions or ideas, or if you have created
improved versions of the programs, feel free to call me at my BBS. BUT,
I can't guarantee any sort of response.

Michael Quinlan, SYSOP
Greater Boise BBS
300/1200/2400/9600 (HST)
208-322-5227