RATS - RemoteAccess TimeBank System
Version 0.07c
Copyright 1990 by John Parlin
All rights reserved
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Introduction
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The RemoteAccess TimeBank System (henceforth known as RATS) is a user time-
banking system for RemoteAccess. It has many features for the user and Sysop
alike and allows users to bank online time for use at a later date.

RATS is also compatible with programs which utilize an external, automatic
time-banking file (THEBANK.EXT) in that RATS will read this file and apply
deposits/withdrawals automatically to user accounts.

RATS has a separate maintenance program called RMU (RATS Maintenance Utility)
which takes care of the RATS data file RATS.DAT. RMU should be run during
nightly maintenance routines. It performs tasks such as deleting zero-
balance accounts, deleting accounts not found in the RemoteAccess USERS.BBS
file, and sorting the RATS data file in last name order.

The RMU program accepts one command line parameter and that is the path to
USERS.BBS. RMU should be run in the same directory that contains RATS.DAT.
Just pass the path to your USERS.BBS file and it should run fine. For
example:

RMU \MsgBase\



RATS recognizes the Sysop when he/she logs in and affords the ysop Admin.
command which basically allows the Sysop to make balance changes or delete
certain user accounts.

RATS allows the Sysop to define values for maximum deposit, maximum
withdrawal, and maximum transfer as well as default prompt foreground,
prompt background, and prompt highlight colors to be used (see RATS.CFG).

RATS has hot-keys! Although RATS has a fairly decent transaction screen,
you don't have to wait for it to finish displaying if you press a valid
command key.

To speed up hot-key response, and to accomodate some high speed modems
that may have problems with screen displays getting garbled, RATS transmits
one character at a time to the output buffer and waits until the buffer is
empty before transmitting another character. This makes for immediate
response when a hot-key is pressed. However, on some systems using
multitaskers, RATS has been known to be slow on its throughput. You can
speed RATS up by setting the environment variable RATBUFF to ON. Do this
by including the following line in your BBS batch file:

SET RATBUFF=ON

If RATS finds this variable set to ON, it will utilize the FOSSIL transmit
buffer which will speed up output but may slow hot-key response time.

NOTE: At the time of this release this program does not function in
multiline mode. Multiline support is forthcoming.


Licesning Information
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This program is not freeware. This is SHAREWARE which means it is user-
supported software.

The concept works only with your support. If you find that you can
use this program, then a registration fee of $5.00 U.S. funds will
help defray the development cost and encourage the authorship of other
programs that might be useful to you. A Registration Form for this
purpose is included at the end of this documentation.

RATS is Copyrighted 1990 by John Parlin, 922 7th Street South, Hopkins,
MN 55343. All rights are reserved. You may copy this program and
documentation for backup purposes. You also may copy and share UNMODIFIED
copies of the program package, providing that the copyright notice is
reproduced and included on all copies.

You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the product
along with other products without express written permission, nor may
you modify or remove the Copyright Notice from the program or the
documentation.

You may not attach any comments to the archive. This includes the ads
that so many people are putting into their archives. I think it's tacky
and I didn't write this program to promote anyone's system. Please don't
do it.

John Parlin shall not be held responsible for any damage incurred by
the user to hardware, software or peripheral devices during the operation of
the RATS program. This program has been tested on a PC/XT clone using
both COM1 and COM2 configurations and also on an AT clone using a COM1
configuration.

Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. If you have any,
you may call the City Terminal BBS in Hopkins, Minnesota, at (612) 938-4301,
and leave a message to John Parlin. If you're reporting a bug, please give
as much detail as possible about the problem you are having.


Distribution Files
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This program is distributed in archive (PKZip) format. The distribution
archive contains the files:

RATS.CFG The default configuration file
RATS.DOC This documentation file
RATS.EXE The program executable
RMU.EXE RATS maintenance utility
RATS.HLP The program help file
RATS.NEW Program revision history
RATSUPD.EXE Program to upgrade 0.01..0.05 data file to
0.06 structures (see upgrade.doc)
UPGRADE.DOC Instructions on upgrading RATS to 0.06c

Getting Started
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Unpack the distribution archive into the directory you'll run RATS in. RATS
can be run in any subdirectory as long as the RATS.CFG file contains the
correct paths to the EXITINFO.BBS/DORINFO1.DEF and BBS system directories.

Command Line Parameters
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RATS accepts two command line parameters:

/E - This tells RATS not to read upcoming system event information.
Some systems do not define any events within the BBS and RATS
doesn't like finding no events. If you don't have any events
defined within your BBS, pass this parameter to RATS. I would
recommend having at least one event defined within your BBS as
RATS thinks this is an ideal configuration and loves the heck
out of it.

/I - Causes RATS to perform an 'Inquire'. This is used by Bob
Butler's BitSpin game. DORINFO1.DEF will be opened and the
current online user's name retrieved from it. Next, RATS will
search it's data file for this user and return the user's name
and current account balance in the format:

USER_NAME:BALANCE

Where USER_NAME is the user's full name (just as it is in
DORINFO1.DEF for that matter - no underscores) and BALANCE is
the user's current balance. If the user does not have an
account, a balance of 0 will be returned.

This information is then written to a file called RATS.TYM
which is a standard ASCII text file. RATS will overwrite any
existing RATS.TYM file. This file will be written in the same
directory that contains RATS.EXE.

If you pass the /I parameter to RATS, the specified task will be performed
and then RATS will exit to DOS. RATS will NOT come up for online use when
this parameter is passed to it since its sole purpose is to allow the
BitSpin game to retrieve the current user's account balance.

For normal operation, RATS doesn't need any command line parameters passed
to it. RATS gets its configuration information from the RATS.CFG file.


Configuration File (RATS.CFG)
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Edit the RATS.CFG file using your favorite editor. The important thing to
remember about this file is that it is an ASCII text file and that the first
12 lines of the file must contain the configuration values and nothing else
or RATS will choke on it.

The values used in RATS.CFG represent:

Line 1 - The path to the EXITINFO.BBS and DORINFO1.DEF files. You may
wish to have RATS look in a different directory other than the
default directory.
Line 2 - The path to the BBS system directory. This is where RATS will
look for the external time bank support file, THEBANK.EXT. Some
door programs use this external support file for automatic time
deposits, etc..
Line 3 - Your bank's name - you can decide! (max 59 characters)
Line 4 - The inactivity timer value. See RATS.CFG for more information
Line 5 - Maximum Daily Deposit
Line 6 - Maximum Daily Withdrawal
Line 7 - Maximum Daily Transfer
Line 8 - Prompt Foreground Color (1..15)
Line 9 - Prompt Background Color (0..7)
Line 10 - Prompt Highlight Color (1..15)
Line 11 - Minimum time remaining (in minutes) required for users to access
RATS. See RATS.CFG for more details.
Line 12 - Minimum time (in minutes) that a user is required to use the BBS
before being allowed to access RATS. See RATS.CFG for more
information.

Any lines after line 12 are ignored. You will notice some notes after line
12 of the RATS.CFG file.


Bummer List
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RATS supports a 'bummer list' which is an ASCII text file list of user names
that you do not want to have access to RATS. This text file must have no
blank lines. Each line contains one full user name. The user name can be
in upper or lower case. RATS will convert the names to upper case when it
reads them. The name of the text file is RATS.BUM. If RATS finds this
file upon startup, it will process it.

If a user who is on the bummer list tries to fire up RATS, RATS will look for
a file called RATSBUM.TXT. If found, this file will be displayed. Otherwise,
a default message (one-liner) will be displayed.


Notes From the Author
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I've found RATS to perform quite well under a single-line RemoteAccess setup.
RATS does not currently support multinode operation. It's something I will
consider in the future.

RATS is pretty self-explainatory in its operation. However, elp is
available from the Transaction Selections menu. I think I've made the
interface pretty straight forward.

If you have any helpful comments, suggestions or bug reports, please feel
free to drop me a line at the address listed or send Netmail to Fidonet
1:282/12 addressed to me and I will be as responsive as I can. If you use
RATS for 30 days, you are required to register it or remove it from your
system.

REGISTRATION FORM
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Enclosed is my registration fee for RATS:



Name: _______________________________________________________


Street: _____________________________________________________


City: _____________________________State:__________Zip:______


Amount $5.00 U.S. _________Check ________Money Order


BBS Name:___________________________________________________


BBS Phone:____________________ Net/Node Number:___________


Type of computer____________________________________________


Fossil Driver________________ Locked fossil?______________


Mail with payment to: John Parlin
922 7th Street South
Hopkins, MN 55343