Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : STOCK103.ZIP
Filename : COMMANDS.BOI

This document is effective 8/30/92
COMMANDS - BOI 1.38

BBS Onliner Interface
Copyright (C) 1990,1992 Andrew J. Mead
All Rights Reserved.

Introduction

This documentation is a User's Reference Manual for the BBS Onliner
Interface. It details available command line parameters and SysOp
control function keys. Important Note: All features discussed may
not be available any given door, and any given door may have
additional features that are not covered here. Please refer to any
door specific documentation as well.

Sections

Command Line Parameters Reference
BBS Drop File Commands
Communications Directives
Local Play
FOSSIL Communications
Internal Asynchronious Communications
Additional Communication Directives
Configuration Directives

SysOp Function Keys


BBS Onliner Interface - Command Line Parameters Reference

Notice - This is a listing of all parameters available in the BBS
Onliner Interface. Not all of these commands may be available
or have any meaning for the door you are installing. Also
note that on the commands that take additional parameters, that
the initial colon (:) is usually optional, and is only used for
clarity.

BBS Drop File Commands
The BOI automatically reads many common drop files, as well as
being able to accept command line parameters directly from the
BBS. Please check the list below for a dropfile created by
your BBS software. See INSTALL.BOI for specific information
and examples.

This list is far from comprehensive, and I encourage any and all
of you to send me samples of your installation, or information
about what drop file(s) your BBS can create.

command dropfile BBS software - Notes
/1 PCBOARD.SYS PCBoard 12.x (see /P)
/2 JUMBER.DAT 2 A.M.
/3 OPUS 1.13 (not available)
/4 CHAIN.TXT WWIV, VBBS, TAG, Telegard
/5 CURRUSER.BBS RyBBS
/6 SFDOORS.DAT Spitfire BBS
/7 AUNTIE.SYS Auntie BBS (same format as /1)
/8 Sapphire BBS (not available)
/9 command line Searchlight, Remote Access, Simplex
/D DOOR.SYS DoorWay to Unlimited Doors, GT
NOTE:This is the "Short" Door.Sys see /S
/F USERINFO.TXT Forum
/G Genesis (not available)
/H INFO.TXT Phoenix
/M NUMBER.TXT ModuleX
/O LASTUSER.DAT Opus 1.14
/Oxx LASTUSxx.DAT Opus 1.14 where "xx" is the task number
in hexadecimal
/P PCBOARD.SYS PCBoard 14.x (see /1)
/S DOOR.SYS GAP, Force
NOTE: This is the "Long" Door.Sys see /D
/W CALLINFO.BBS WildCat!, Telegard

/R DOORINFO.DEF DorInfo is the most widely used file.
/R# DORINFO#.DEF EIS-PC, FoReM, OLEcom, QuickBBS, RBBS,
Remote Access, TAG, TPBoard, UBBS, and
VBBS. the "#" represents the node number

If this command is missing, the door will default to local mode.

Drop File Path
If (as recommended) you do not run your online doors from
your BBS directory, you need to tell the BOI where to find
the drop file. You can either copy the file, or add the
drop file's path to the command line. Here's an example
with WildCat! assuming the BBS is in c:\wcat.

doorgame /w:c:\wcat\

Note: the "\" on the end of the path is required, and that
the first ":" (w:c) is optional (for clarity).

The BOI reads user name, user time remaining, user comm port,
and (where available) user handle, user screen size, and if the
user is on the local console.


Communications Directives
Left to its own, the interface will normally detect local play
from the drop file. The override switches (/C, /I, /L) should
only be used with great care.

LOCAL play
The BOI will normally sense local play, but you can force it

command effect
/L Force LOCAL mode. Can NOT be overridden. If
either /c or /i is present the door will exit.

FOSSIL Communications
FOSSIL communications are automatically sensed and used if
present. You can, however, influence, their use. You
should also note that there are NO slashes (/) before these
FOSSIL commands.

command effect
F- Do NOT use FOSSIL (/i command gives same result)

F+ Force FOSSIL use. (ignored if /i command present)
If FOSSIL not found, door will exit.

F@ Deinitialize FOSSIL when through. By default, the
BOI keeps the FOSSIL "hot". This can be combined
with the above option (F+@).

/C:n comport to use (see /C:n below).

Internal Asynchronious Communincations
The BOI contains its own fully functional communciations
library that is very configurable. If FOSSIL is either
disabled or not found, these routines will be used.

command effect
/B Locked BAUD (DTE-DCE) rate. If you are running
your modem with a "locked" baud rate, you will
NEED to add this command to your command line.
The internal routines use RTS handshaking by
default. This switch tells them to use CTS/RTS
handshaking which prevents modem overrun.

/C:n Serial port to use. You can force the program to
use a given serial port. Valid values are from
1 to 8. (NOTE: 5 to 8 are only defined if the
FOSSIL is also used). This command is necessary
if the drop file is wrong, or you are using
command line directives only. If /l or /i is
present the door will exit.

/I:x:nnnn Non-standard IRQ specification. If you are not
using FOSSIL, and you do have a non-standard
serial port configuartion, you can use this
option to specify your IRQ/port address info.
The default settings, would be equivalent to
Com1 : /i:4:03f8
Com2 : /i:3:02f8
Com3 : /i:4:03e8
Com4 : /i:3:02e8
The 'x' is the IRQ number. It is a hexidecimal
value from 0 to f. 'nnnn' is the port address for
communications. It is a 4 digit hexidecimal value
If this command is present, the FOSSIL routines
will not be used. If /c or /l is present the door
will exit.

Additional Communications Directives
command effect
/K Do NOT check for Carrier detect. This should only
be used in dire cases. If this switch is used,
the door may not time out if the remote user hangs
up the phone.

If your modem does not properly maintain a Carrier
Detect signal, the game will automatically abort.
This option supresses this activity. If you are
forced to use this option, you probably are having
hardware problems with the modem, RS-232 connector
(bad pin or broken wire), or modem cable.


Configuration Directives
command effect
/A Play Again? (default x=10)
/A:x If this mode is present, it is available with the door
you are using, and the user has more than x minutes
remaining, they will be asked if they wish to play
again.

/N:... User Name (ie: /n:Doc_Technical)
This option allows you to pass the door the user's name
through the command line. This is handy for BBSes like
Searchlight, or if you are playing locally from DOS.
Underscores are converted to spaces.

/Q Quiet Local Mode
This will prevent all ^G bells from ringing the local
console. (Unless the door author specifically
overrides it). This option will help SysOps get full
nights worth of sleep.

/Z:x User Time Limit
x is an amount of time between 10 and 50. The user's
time allowed will be the lesser of this value, and the
amount found in the BBS drop file.

/X:n Limit Hall of Fame listings
You can limit the time any one name appears in the
monthly top 20 with this switch. The default is no
limitation. The recommended limit is 1 or 2. This
keeps a small number of players from monopolizing the
game. If an occassional (non-fanatical) is more likely
to see his name listed, he is more likely to play the
game. n is any number from 1 to 19.

/Y Alternate path/filespec for text Hall of Fame
/y:\ (ie: /y:c:\wcat\bulls\)
In the sample above, the text Hall of Fame (if
applicable) will be placed into c:\wcat\bulls
using the default name (found in the games docs).
/y: (ie: /y:c:\wcat\bulls\bull4.bbs)
In the sample above, the text Hall of Fame will be
placed in c:\wcat\bulls, and it will be named
bull4.bbs.

A+ Enable AVATAR/1. WARNING: The AVATAR codes are
relatively untested. If you use this switch, please
let me know whether it works or doesn't.


BBS Onliner Interface - SysOp Function Keys
The SysOp is afforded the following SysOp functions.

keypress action
F2 Toggle User Status Line. This will toggle between the
following current modes:
Display Time Remaining (default)
Display Active Communications (FOSSIL or internal)
Display Remote graphics (ASCII, ANSI, AVATAR/1)

F7 Decrement (reduce) user's time remaining by 1 minute.
F8 Increment (increase) user's time remaining by 1 minute.

F9 Drop Carrier. (Fake line noise). This will disconnect
the current communications and send the user a string of
random characters to simulate line noise.

F10 Force return to BBS. This sends the user a notice
informing them that the SysOp has terminated the session.
It then returns control to the BBS. (Ctrl-Break) will
also exit the game, but not as pleasently.


BBS Onliner Interface
Copyright (C) 1990, 1992 Andrew J. Mead
All Rights Reserved.

Contact:
Andrew J. Mead
PO BOX 1155
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-1155
USA

1@9952 WWIVnet
1@9395 VirtualNet
1:3641/417 FidoNet
75:7919/417 DoorNet

+919 489 9446 - PCP:NCRTP - V32BIS - 24HRS

This interface is currently written in Turbo Pascal 5.5, 6.0 and
can be licensed by other programmers. Contact me for details.

END COMMANDS.BOI