Dec 262017
PC Board door to provide text search for users, such as BBS lists. | |||
---|---|---|---|
File Name | File Size | Zip Size | Zip Type |
TSDOOR.DOC | 52372 | 14071 | deflated |
TSDOOR.EXE | 70528 | 30844 | deflated |
UPGRADE.TXT | 348 | 229 | deflated |
WHATS.NEW | 6200 | 2336 | deflated |
Download File TSDOOR16.ZIP Here
Contents of the TSDOOR.DOC file
TSDoor
(C) Copyright 1989, 1990
by R. P. Byrne
Version 1.5
November 17, 1990
TSDoor version 1.5 Documentation i
Licensing Information......................................1
Program Overview...........................................2
Basic Definitions..........................................3
Example Door #1 - The BBS List Door........................4
Example Door #2 - The PCMag Utility Door...................8
Installation..............................................10
Configuration File(s) Setup...........................10
Batch File Setup......................................14
Doors.Lst File Entry..................................14
Commands..................................................16
Sysop Commands........................................16
Display Toggle....................................16
Other Sysop Functions.............................16
Local Testing.....................................16
TSDoor Commands.......................................16
B)rowse List(s)...................................17
G)oodbye (Hang up)................................17
H)elp.............................................17
I)nitial Welcome..................................17
M)ode (graphics)..................................18
NEWS..............................................18
O)perator Page....................................18
Q)uit TSDoor......................................18
S)earch List(s)...................................18
V)iew Statistics..................................19
X)pert mode.......................................19
Advanced Keyword Searches.................................20
Boolean Operators.....................................20
Embedded Spaces.......................................20
Single-character Wildcard.............................21
Parenthesized Expressions.............................21
Acknowledgements..........................................22
Feedback..................................................23
TSDoor Licensing Information Page 1
TSDoor is provided for private, personal use. You may distribute the
TSDoor program so long as the following conditions are satisfied:
The program is supplied in the original, unmodified archive file.
No fee is charged for the distribution of TSDoor.
TSDoor may not be distributed as part of any other application or
service without the written consent of the author
TSDoor is being distributed as a ShareWare product. If you like the
program then send the author a check for whatever you feel the program
is worth.
If you are running your BBS for profit, or as part of a business or
government operation, then you are required to remit $35.00 to the
author for each copy of PCBoard under which the TSDoor program will be
run.
Send checks to: Mr. Richard P. Byrne
5 Twin Elm Terrace
Sparta, NJ 07871
* * * DISCLAIMER * * *
Unfortunately, I cannot and do not claim or guarantee that
the TSDoor program is good for anything! If YOU think it
is, that's great, but it is up to you to decide. If you
lose a million dollars because TSDoor messes up, I refuse
to be held responsible...it is you that is out the
million, not me!
TSDoor Program Overview Page 2
TSDoor is a program for use with PCBoard version 14.5 that allows your
callers to search a database of straight ASCII text files and to
display the results of each search on the caller's terminal screen.
The database of information to be searched may contain any type of
information (names & numbers of local bulletin boards, bug reports,
product pricing information, etc.).
The database is searched for one or more "keywords" that are entered
by the caller. Keyword entries may contain one or more boolean
operators thus providing a simple mechanism for performing complex
queries of the information database.
This document will describe the various options available to you in
setting up your own database of information and installing the TSDoor
software to operate as a "door" under PCBoard. It will also describe
each of the commands available to your callers while running the
TSDoor program.
Basic Definitions Page 3
The TSDoor program operates on "lists" of information. A "list" is
one or more ASCII text files containing discrete pieces of information
called "list entries" (or just "entries" for short). A good example
of a "list" would be one of the many text files that contain the names
and phone numbers of on-line bulletin board systems.
Two types of list files are supported by TSDoor; those whose entries
fit entirely on a single line (single-line lists) and those whose
entries span multiple lines (multi-line lists). The distinction
between these two types of lists is important when it comes to
creating the configuration file that TSDoor will use, so keep it in
mind as you proceed through this document.
Before we start diving into the "generic" reference material for the
setup and operation of TSDoor, two sample applications will be
presented (this should make understanding the reference material which
follows a bit easier). These samples are contained in your TSDoor
distribution archive as Example1.Zip and Example2.Zip.
The first example shows how TSDoor can be configured to create a door
that allows your callers to search one or more bbs lists and can be
configured to use Salt Air's Blt1, the Darwin USBBS list, and many
others.
The second example is a bit more creative and allows your callers to
search a list to determine which PC Magazine utility archive a
particular utility program is in.
Following a review of these sample applications you'll find detailed
information on how to configure TSDoor to suit your particular system
and application as well as detailed descriptions of each of TSDoor's
commands.
So, without further ado .....
Example Door #1 - The BBS List Door Page 4
The BBS List Door sample application provides the caller with the
ability to scan one or more of the many lists containing information
on national, regional, and specialty electronic bulletin boards.
Included within the archive are some (out of date) copies of three of
the more popular lists: The National PCBoard BBS, the Darwin USBBS,
and Dave Schubert's World-Wide 9600 bps lists. These files constitute
our "database" of list files.
Also included in the archive is a file called BBSLIST.CFG. This is
the TSDoor configuration file for this application. The contents of
this file describe the names, locations, and internal layout of your
database to TSDoor and it is here that we will focus our attention
(there are quite a few other files in the archive, but these will be
described later in the "Configuration File(s) Setup" section of this
document).
The contents of the TSDoor configuration file for this application is
shown below with each line numbered for easy reference (comments and
other distractions have been removed for readability):
BBSLIST.CFG
Line #
+=======================================================
1 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\tshello
2 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\tsnews
3 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\tsoff
4 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\tshelp
5 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\tsmenu
6 | c:\pcb\pcboard.sys
7 | c:\pcb\pcboard.dat
8 | 3
9 | Darwin USBBS list
10 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\usbbs*.lst
11 | --------------------------------
12 |
13 | PCBoard National bbs list
14 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\blt1
15 | --------------------------------
16 | --------------------------------
17 | Casino 9600 bbs list
18 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\96bb*.lst
19 | NUMBER MDM ST CITY
20 |
+=======================================================
Lines 1 through 7 are discussed in detail in the "Configuration
File(s) Setup" section later in this document. For now, we will
concentrate on explaining lines 8 through 20.
Example Door #1 - The BBS List Door Page 5
Line 8 in the configuration file contains a number from 1 to 10
indicating the number of list file specifications that define this
database. As previously mentioned, the "database" for this
application will consist of three bbs lists. Since we will provide
fully qualified filenames for each file in the database (as opposed to
using DOS wildcards to specify the files), this line contains the
number 3.
Following line 8 are four lines for each list in the database. These
four lines tell TSDoor everything it needs to know about your lists.
On the first of these lines (shown above as lines 9, 13, and 17) you
assign a title to each of your lists. These titles are used by the
door to construct a menu from which the caller can select which lists
are to be searched.
The second line (shown above as lines 10, 14, and 18) contains a fully
qualified DOS file specification that tells TSDoor where to find the
list. Notice that DOS wildcards are allowed here. If a wildcarded
name matches more than one physical file on your disk, then those
files will be concatenated for searching purposes (thus allowing a
particularly large list to be partitioned into more than one physical
file on your disk). In this particular example, each list resides on
the disk as a single DOS text file. Wildcards are used in this
application for another purpose. Since each of the bbs list files is
updated frequently and since the names of these files typically
contain the date on which they were last updated, use of wildcards in
the file specification allow the sysop to replace an old file with a
new one without needing to change the TSDoor configuration file (since
a carefully chosen wildcard specification will always match!).
The third and fourth lines for each list tell the TSDoor program about
the internal structure of the list. Consider the USBBS listing, a
piece of which is shown below:
USBBS51.LST
+==============================================================
| << I B M P C B U L L E T I N B O A R D S >>
|
|
| USBBS51.LST
| 08/05/88
| Discard your list if more than a month old
|
| Copyright (c) 1988 Darwin Systems, Inc.
| May be freely distributed so long as NO modifications ar
|
| Please send updates via questionnaire on DARWIN BBS, 301-251-
| Updates may be relayed also to Meade Frierson. PC-Pursuit inf
| List is updated 2/mo and new version released nationwide firs
|
| PHONE STATE CITY SYSOP T/S BdHrs NA
Example Door #1 - The BBS List Door Page 6
---> | -------------------------------------------------------------
| 201-214-8896 NJ N. Brunswick Dave Klein B 9U -Sof
| 201-239-1346 NJ Verona Mark Rapp BV 9U *^Mic
| 201-247-6748 NJ NewBrunswick Todd Lehr O 9U Eas
| .
| .
| .
+==============================================================
Note that the list itself is prefaced by "header" information
containing the date of issue, the terms that cover distribution of the
information, etc. Also notice the string of hyphens that separate
this header info from the actual list data (indicated by the arrow).
The third line of the configuration file that pertains to this list
(line 11) contains this string of hyphens. This tells TSDoor where
the header information ends and the list begins. TSDoor ignores
header information when performing its searches.
In the USBBS example above, each "entry" in the list occupies its own
line within the file. It is thus a "single-line entry" list. This
may not always be the case. Consider the PCBoard National listing, a
piece of which is shown below:
BLT1
+=============================================================
| ******************************************************
| * Official PCBoard National BBS List as of 10/04/88 *
| ******************************************************
|
| Please report all changes/additions/deletions to the Salt Air
| (801) 261-8974 using (S)cript Questionnaire #1 in the main se
| the board. Please DO NOT leave board change information in a
| to us. ONLY (S)cript Questionnaire answers are used to updat
|
| PCBoard software upgrades are available only from the Salt Ai
| the 4 numbers listed below. New orders for PCBoard software
| calling Nodes 1-3, followed by completion of (S)cript Questio
| main section of the board. Please have either your VISA or M
| when you call!
|
| * * * 9600 Baud Modem Codes Used * * *
|
| USR = USRobotics Courier HST
| MIC = Microcom AX9624C
| HAY = Hayes 9600 V-Series
| EVI = FastComm 2496
| MNP = 2400 Baud Supporting MNP
| TEL = Telebit/Trailblazer/VenTel
| UNK = Brand Unknown
|
| -------------------------------------------------------------
| (801)-261-8974 Salt Air BBS, SLC, UT (Node 1)
Example Door #1 - The BBS List Door Page 7
| 12/24/96-USR 24 Hours, Home of PCBoard Software (USR HST)
---> | -------------------------------------------------------------
| (801)-261-8975 Salt Air BBS, SLC, UT (Node 2)
| 12/24/96-USR 24 Hours, Home of PCBoard Software (USR HST)
---> | -------------------------------------------------------------
| (801)-261-8976 Salt Air BBS, SLC, UT (Node 3)
| 12/24/96-USR 24 Hours, Home of PCBoard Software (USR HST)
---> | -------------------------------------------------------------
| .
| .
| .
+==============================================================
Again, we see information preceding the actual list data (see line 15
of our example configuration file) but we also note that each list
entry spans more than one line. It is thus called a "multi-line
entry" list. Also note that each entry is separated from the next by
a predictable string of characters (as indicated by the arrows). This
string is what gets placed into the fourth line of the configuration
file for each list. If a list contains single-line entries, then the
fourth configuration line is left blank. Otherwise, it must contain
that string of characters which separates one entry from the next.
Should you decide that you'd like to run this particular application
on your system, it's basically all ready to go. Replace the sample
BBS list files with current versions, edit the sample configuration
file to reflect the drive letters and subdirectory names used by your
system, and you're basically ready to run. Please be sure, however,
to review the rest of this document for additional details regarding
the installation and operation of the TSDoor program.
Example Door #2 - The PCMag Utility Door Page 8
This sample application was created by Dr. S. David Klein to solve a
particularly irritating problem. PC Magazine has for years released
source code and executables for all of the utility programs presented
in their magazine each month. These files can usually be found on
bulletin boards in archived format with a filename of the form
VxxNyy.ZIP (or .ARC or .ZOO or ...). The x's and y's in the name
specify the Volume and Number of the issue in which the utilities were
discussed. Unfortunately, the shear number of VxxNyy archive files
makes it extremely difficult to find that one utility program that you
need if you can't remember the volume and issue number in which it
appeared.
The PCMag door uses a single list for its database. This list
contains a verbose archive contents listing for each of the VxxNyy
archives in your bulletin board file directories. Callers can use
this list to determine which archive they need to download to get that
one little utility that will make their lives complete.
Inside the Example2.Zip archive you'll find a file called PCMag.Txt.
This is the list file used in this application. Shown below is a
piece of that file:
PCMAG.TXT
+===================================================
| Archive: V6N10.ZIP
|
| Name Length
| ============ ========
| DOS.BAR 1402
| DOS.BDF 3059
| MAKEBAR.ASM 46341
| MAKEBAR.BAS 19583
| MAKEBAR.COM 2079
| SLASHBAR.ASM 40885
| SLASHBAR.BAS 19147
| SLASHBAR.COM 2025
| ============ ========
| *total 8 134521
---> | ----------------------
|
| Archive: V6N11.ZIP
|
| Name Length
| ============ ========
| REPEATS.ASM 24546
| REPEATS.BAS 12065
| REPEATS.COM 1253
| ============ ========
| *total 3 37864
---> | ----------------------
Example Door #2 - The PCMag Utility Door Page 9
|
| Archive: V6N12.ZIP
|
| Name Length
| ============ ========
| APPBK.ASM 40640
| APPBK.BAS 16221
| .
| .
| .
+===================================================
As you'll note, unlike the previous example, this list contains no
header information at all. You'll also notice that this list contains
multi-line entries. These are the two key pieces of information
required to build a TSDoor configuration file for this list. Shown
below is what that configuration file might look like (it can be found
inside the Example2.Zip archive as PCMag.Cfg):
PCMAG.CFG
Line #
+===========================================
1 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pchello
2 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pcnews
3 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pcoff
4 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pchelp
5 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pcmenu
6 | c:\pcb\pcboard.sys
7 | c:\pcb\pcboard.dat
8 | 1
9 | PC Magazine Utilities by volume
10 | c:\pcb\tsdoor\pcmag.txt
11 |
12 | ----------------
+===========================================
Since there is only one list in the database, line 8 will contain the
number 1. Line 10 contains a title for the list and 11 contains the
file specification. Line 11 is blank because the list contains no
header information. Finally, line 12 contains the string of
characters that separates the list items.
While we have concentrated on explaining how the structure of a list
is translates into specific lines within a TSDoor configuration file,
the next section of this document presents detailed information
concerning each of the entries in such a file.
TSDoor Installation Page 10
Installation of TSDoor is a simple process. Simply create a
subdirectory to hold the program and its support files (e.g.
C:\TSDoor) and copy the contents of the TSDoor distribution archive
into that subdirectory.
What little information the program cannot obtain from PCBoard's own
setup files (pcboard.sys and pcboard.dat) is provided by the sysop in
a configuration file.
Once a configuration file has been built, a batch file is created to
invoke the door program. This batch file serves to invoke the door
program, and return to PCBoard after the door program has been
terminated.
Finally, entries are made into PCBoard's Doors.Lst file(s) (via the
PCBSetup program) to inform the board software that a new door is
available to callers.
Configuration File(s) Setup
===========================
The environment under which TSDoor will operate must be described
in a configuration file. There is no magic associated with this
file, so you can use your favorite editor (Edlin?) to put one
together or make changes to the samples provided. There are only 2
rules to follow:
* Put each entry on a line by itself
* Precede any comment in the file with a semicolon
================================================================
NOTE: A separate configuration file needs to be created for each
node of a multi-node system.
================================================================
Several sample configuration files are provided in the TSDoor
archive (see the "Example Door" sections of this document for
details). These should be used as templates for creating your own
configuration files.
Pretty simple, eh? Ok, lets begin with a description of what is
specified on each line in the file.
Line 1: Full Path and Filename for an Opening Message File
This line specifies the "base" name of a text file that
will be shown to the caller when the door is first opened.
If the caller is NOT in graphics mode when the door is
opened, TSDoor will look for a file with the name
specified here. If the caller IS in graphics mode, TSDoor
will append a 'G' to this filename and attempt to display
TSDoor Installation Page 11
it. Should this fail, TSDoor will fall back to displaying
the file with the exact name specified here. If this too
fails, no opening message will be displayed, and
processing will continue normally.
PCBoard 14.5's @xx color codes are NOT yet supported by
TSDoor (we'll be sure to include that in the next
release), so if you want graphic versions of this and
other files displayed to your callers, you'll have to rely
on ANSI.SYS escape codes to do it.
The contents of this file will NOT be paginated for the
caller, so keep it short.
Line 2: Full Path and Filename for a News File
This line specifies the base name of a text file that will
be displayed to the caller following the Opening Message
File.
As with the opening message file, a graphic version may be
created. Append a 'G' to the name of the graphic version
filename, and TSDoor will automatically display it if the
caller is in Graphics mode. Similarly, if the graphic
version cannot be found by TSDoor, the Non-Graphic news
file is displayed. If neither is found, processing
continues normally.
Unlike the opening message file which is displayed each
time a caller enters the door, the news file is only
displayed to a caller if it has been modified since the
last time that particular caller logged on to the bbs.
The contents of this file will be paginated, so feel free
to make it as long as you need it to be.
Line 3: Full Path and Filename for a Logoff Message File
This line specifies the name of a text file that will be
displayed to the caller after the G)oodbye command is
issued (before carrier is dropped).
As with the Opening Message and News files, a graphic
version may be created for callers in color graphics mode.
The contents of this file will NOT be paginated, so keep
it short.
Your existing Script0 file can be used, however the
semicolons are not parsed out prior to display. It is
suggested, therefore, that you copy Script0 to another
name and then edit out the semicolons.
TSDoor Installation Page 12
Line 4: Full Path and Filename for a Help File
This line specifies the base name of a text file that will
be displayed to the caller if the H)elp command is
selected from one of TSDoor's menus.
As with the Opening Message and News files, a graphic
version may be created for callers in color graphics mode.
The contents of this file will be paginated, so feel free
to make it as long as you need it to be.
Line 5: Full Path and Filename of the Main Menu file
This line tells the door where to find its main menu. The
rules for creating both graphic and non-graphic versions
of the main menu are the same as stated above for the
opening message, news, logoff, and help displays.
A sample main menu file is provided in the TSDoor archive.
Line 6: Full Path and Filename of the PCBoard.Sys file
This line tells the door where to find the PCBoard.Sys
file that is generated by PCBoard whenever a caller enters
a door.
Line 7: Full Path and Filename of the PCBoard.Dat file
This line tells the door where to find the PCBoard.Dat
file that contains the setup information for PCBoard.
Line 8: Number of lists in the database
This line tells the door how many individual lists make up
your database. You may have any number of lists in your
database up to a maximum of 10.
Note that this number does not necessarily correspond to
the actual number of "physical DOS files" that make up the
database since the file specification for a list (see the
description for line 10 of the configuration file) may
contain DOS wildcard characters. This provides you with a
way to include an unlimited number of list files in each
of your "databases".
Each list in the database requires 4 entries in the
configuration file. These entries immediately follow this
one (e.g. if your database contains 8 lists, then there
will be a total of 32 configuration file entries that
follow).
Line 9: Title for the list
TSDoor Installation Page 13
This line contains the "title" for this particular list.
You MUST supply a title for each list in your database.
These titles are used to construct a menu from which the
caller may select which list(s) will be scanned for
matching keyword(s).
Line 10: File specification for the list
This line tells the door where to find the file(s) that
constitutes the list. The entry should contain a fully
qualified DOS file specification
(ie. drive:\path\filename.ext).
Note that DOS wildcards are allowed in the file
specification. This allows a list to span more than one
physical file on your disk. It also allows you to enter a
generic specification for a single file so you won't have
to edit the configuration should the filename change each
time the list is updated (as might be the case if the
filename contains a release date or version number).
Line 11: Character string denoting the end of the list's header
If the list file being described contains header
information at the beginning of the file (possibly
relating to the authorship of the list, or containing
information on when the list was last updated, etc.), then
this line must contain a unique string of ASCII characters
that mark the end of that information.
If the list has no header information in it, then leave
this line blank.
If an end-of-header string is specified, that string must
start in column 1 in the list file.
Line 12: Character string used to separate list entries
For lists that contain "single-line entries", this
configuration file line may be left blank.
For lists that contain "multi-line entries" (such as the
PCBoard National BBS List discussed in the "Example Door
#1" section of this document), this line must contain the
character string that is used to delimit the list entries.
This string must start in column 1 in the list file.
Lines 9 through 12, as described above, must be repeated for each
list in your database.
TSDoor Installation Page 14
Batch File Setup
================
A batch file needs to be created to invoke the TSDoor program.
This batch file will be renamed to door.bat and executed by PCBoard
when the door is selected. The only difference between a "real"
batch file and a "door" batch file is the filename extension.
While DOS expects the extension to be '.BAT', PCBoard expects no
filename extension at all.
e.g. "TSDoor.Bat" is no good, but "TSDoor" is fine.
Assuming that all TSDoor files are kept in C:\Doors, that C:\Doors
is part of your DOS Path, that PCBoard runs on COM1:, and that the
name of the TSDoor configuration file is TSDOOR.CFG, then the
following door batch file should suffice:
TSDOOR C:\DOORS\TSDOOR.CFG
BOARD
(If C:\Doors were not part of your DOS Path, the batch file would
need to change subdirectories before running the TSDoor program.)
If you run a multi-node system, then you will need separate batch
files for each node. For instance:
Node 1 Node 2
============================ ============================
TSDOOR C:\DOORS\TSDOOR1.CFG TSDOOR C:\DOORS\TSDOOR2.CFG
BOARD1 BOARD2
NOTE: If your DOORS.LST is shared between nodes, you would rename
both TSDoor1 and TSDoor2 to TSDoor, but place the appropriate
one in the "\PCB" subdirectory for each node.
Doors.Lst File Entry
====================
The final step for installing TSDoor is to create an entry in your
board's DOORS.LST file (and possibly also in your conference
doors.lst file if your conferences do not use the one for the main
board area). This file describes all available doors to PCBoard
and instructs PCBoard as to the name of the batch file to be
invoked when a particular door is selected by the caller. Other
miscellaneous information about each door is also stored here.
The Doors.Lst file is modified via the PCBSetup program. For the
main board, this is accomplished by selecting option J Main Board
Configuration from the main menu. Towards the bottom of the
screen, you'll notice the DOORS entries. The second of these (ie.
the one to the right) contains the fully qualified filename of your
doors.lst file. Place the cursor on this filename and press the F2
key to edit the file's contents.
TSDoor Installation Page 15
The proper entries to make for TSDoor are shown below:
Filename Password Sec USER.SYS DOOR.SYS Path to Batch Files
========== ============ === ======== ======== =======================
1) TSDoor 30 Y N C:\PCB\
The Filename field identifies the name of the batch file that will
be used to invoke this door.
The Password field allows you to assign a password to this door.
This field is optional. If specified, then each caller who
attempts to access this door will be required to enter this
password before being allowed entry.
The Sec field is used to specify the minimum security level
required to use the door. Callers possessing a security level
below what is specified here will be denied access.
The USER.SYS field tells PCBoard to create a User.Sys file in
addition to the PCBoard.Sys file. A Y MUST be entered in his
field.
The DOOR.SYS field is used to tell PCBoard that the door requires a
DOOR.SYS file to operate. Since TSDoor does NOT require this file,
you should enter N into this field.
Finally, the Path to Batch Files field is used to tell PCBoard
where the batch file for this door will be located. Normally, this
is the main PCBoard subdirectory.
Note that if your conferences do not use the main board Doors.Lst
file you will have to repeat the above procedure for each
conference.
TSDoor Commands Page 16
Sysop Commands
==============
When a remote caller has entered the door from PCBoard, both the
caller's keyboard and the sysop's keyboard may be used to enter
commands. In this way, a sysop can help a new user by actually
showing him how to use the door. This feature is only enabled when
the sysop's local display is enabled.
Display Toggle
The local display can be enabled or disabled by the sysop. When
disabled, nothing will be echoed to the screen by the door. The
F9 key on the sysop's keyboard toggles the display on/off.
On entry, the PCBOARD.SYS file is examined to determine if the
display was active prior to the door being invoked. If so, the
display is automatically enabled for the door. If the display
was disabled in PCBoard, it will remain disabled when the door
program is loaded.
The state of the display is maintained on return to PCBoard.
That is, if the display is on when TSDoor terminates, then it
will be on when PCBoard reloads itself and visa-versa.
Other Sysop Functions
Many functions are available to the sysop via the local console.
When the display is enabled, a "PCBoard-like" status line will
be displayed. Press the HOME key to change this status line to
show the available sysop keys and the functions they provide.
The END key may also be used and will change the status line to
display the caller's registration information.
One function that is not displayed on the local status line when
the HOME key is pressed is the ability to dynamically alter the
caller's remaining time allowed. The UP ARROW key, when
pressed, will add 5 minutes to the time allowed for the current
call. Similarly, the DOWN ARROW key will reduce the caller's
time allowed for the current call by 5 minutes.
Local Testing
TSDoor may be run locally to test the configuration and setup.
Log onto the board locally, and invoke the TSDoor just as you
would if you were calling from remote.
TSDoor Commands
==================
TSDoor's menu is not shown to Expert callers. On entry, the
caller's USERS file entry is examined to determine the state of the
Expert flag and the door's menu is shown/not shown as appropriate.
TSDoor Commands Page 17
The display of the menu may be toggled on/off via the X)pert
command (A caller's expert status within TSDoor has no effect on
the caller's Expert status in PCBoard).
TSDoor's menu, like those for PCBoard, reside on your disk as
normal text files and may be customized to suit the particular
application. Both graphic and non-graphic versions of the menu may
be created (the names used for each version follow PCBoard
conventions).
A sample TSDoor menu appears below:
+====================[ TSDoor Menu ]====================+
+---------------------------+---------------------------+
| B)rowse List(s) | O)perator Page |
| G)oodbye (Hang Up) | Q)uit TSDoor to PCBoard |
| H)elp with Commands | S)earch List(s) |
| I)nitial Welcome | V)iew Session Statistics |
| M)ode (Graphics on/off) | X)pert (Menus On/Off) |
+---------------------------+---------------------------+
| NEWS - Displays the latest TSDoor News file |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
Each option from this menu is described below:
B)rowse List(s)
---------------
Callers may use this command to display one or more of the
available list files in your database. The entire list is
displayed, including any header information in the file(s).
G)oodbye (Hang up)
------------------
Choosing this option causes TSDoor to update all relevant USERS
file statistics for the caller, write logoff information to the
CALLER log, display the Logoff Message file, and drop carrier
on the caller.
H)elp
-----
Choosing this option causes TSDoor to display a help file to the
caller. The name of this file is specified in the TSDoor
configuration file.
I)nitial Welcome
----------------
TSDoor Commands Page 18
This command is analogous to the PCBoard command of the same
name with the exception that it is the TSDoor Opening Message
file that is displayed rather than the PCBoard Initial Welcome
file.
M)ode (graphics)
----------------
This command toggles the caller into and out of color graphics
mode.
Graphics mode will be denied to callers showing a connection
using anything other than 8 data bits and no parity.
NEWS
----
This command is analogous to the PCBoard command of the same
name with the exception that it is the TSDoor News file that is
displayed rather than the PCBoard News file.
O)perator Page
--------------
This option allows the caller to page the sysop. The page bell
will be sounded at the local console only if it has been enabled
by the sysop.
The sysop may respond to a page with either the spacebar or with
the F10 key. Chat mode can be terminated using the ESCape key.
Q)uit TSDoor
-----------
Selecting this option returns the caller to PCBoard.
S)earch List(s)
---------------
This command constitutes the "guts" of TSDoor. It allows the
caller to search one or more of the available list files for
entries that match a particular search string. Matching entries
are then displayed to the caller.
After selecting this command, the caller is prompted to enter
the keyword string(s) that will be searched for in the list
file(s). The keyword string may be entered in any case (ie. the
searches are not case sensitive). Multiple keywords may be
entered at one time separated by one of two boolean operators
(see the section on "Advanced Keyword Searches" later in this
document for more details on using this feature).
TSDoor Commands Page 19
Once the caller has entered the desired search string, a menu of
available list files is presented. The caller may limit the
search to specific lists, may select a combination of available
lists for the search, or may choose to have all lists searched
in one pass.
Finally, TSDoor performs the actual processing of the list
files. Each list is scanned for matches based on the caller's
keyword entry. Any list entry that contains a match will be
displayed to the caller.
V)iew Statistics
----------------
This option allows the caller to obtain a display of various
PCBoard statistics relating to his board activity. Among the
statistics displayed are upload and download counts, security
level, last time on, last DIR scan date, and more. In addition
to historical information, the caller is also shown statistics
accumulated during the current call including bytes downloaded
and bytes still available for download.
X)pert mode
-----------
This option toggles the display of TSDoor menus on/off.
Advanced Keyword Searches Page 20
TSDoor allows the entry of multiple keywords for its searches.
Multiple keywords must be separated by one of two boolean
operators: the logical AND operator or the logical OR operator.
The logical AND operator is represented by the & character and the
logical OR operator is represented by | (note that previous
releases of TSDoor used the + character to represent the AND
operator ... + will still work in this release).
Since this concept is easier to explain by example than it is
through words alone, lets immediately dive into some examples of
what we're talking about.
Assume the caller were interested in scanning one or more of your
list files for information dealing with hard disks. A search on
the term DISK would certainly do the trick, but would also clutter
up the display by matching entries that deal with floppy disks as
well as hard disks. The solution would be to enter the search
string "HARD + DISK" to restrict the search to only those entries
containing both of the terms HARD 'and' DISK.
Similarly, if the caller were interested in information dealing
with either the Basic or Pascal programming languages, he could
perform two searches, one on the term BASIC and one on the term
PASCAL, or he could perform a single search on the string "BASIC |
PASCAL" to match any entry containing either the term BASIC 'or'
the term PASCAL.
Continuing with the above examples, suppose our mythical caller
were the same person in both instances ... a single search on the
string "BASIC | PASCAL | HARD + DISK" would net the same results
in a single scan of the list(s) as issuing both of the previous
example strings.
There are only a couple of rules to be followed in utilizing the
enhanced search string options described above. The first is that
the logical AND operator takes precedence over the logical OR
operator (ie. + operators are evaluated before | operators).
The second rule deals with spaces that may be embedded in a search
string. As before, it is easier to explain this rule by example
than it is with words.
Generally, spaces embedded within a search string are considered
significant. Thus, searching on the string 'This String' will
match entries containing the term 'This' followed by a space
followed by the term 'String'. The exception to this is when the
search string is "stacked" on the TSDoor command line. This is
not allowed because spaces are considered valid command line
delimiters (much the same as semi-colons are valid command line
delimiters). To search on a string that contains embedded spaces,
Advanced Keyword Searches Page 21
the caller must issue the search command (e.g. 'S') and allow
TSDoor to prompt for the string to be located.
Even when TSDoor is allowed to prompt for the search string, not
all spaces are significant. Leading and trailing spaces are
discarded before the search begins. Consider the following string
entered in response to a search prompt:
Enter text to scan for (Enter)=none, (+)=AND, (|)=OR
|--------------------------------------------------|
? This string | That string + Another string
/|\ /|\ /|\
| | |
+- These 3 spaces are significant -+
All others are stripped away before the search begins
If the issue of embedded spaces seems complicated, be assured that
a little experimentation will clear up the matter very quickly.
A new feature introduced in version 1.3 of TSDoor is the single-
character wildcard. In any search string entered by the caller, a
question mark (?) will match any single character during the
search. Thus, the search string "MS?DOS" will match any entry
containing any of the terms "MS DOS", "MS-DOS", "MSxDOS", etc.
New in release 1.5 is the ability to override the default
precedence of the boolean operators by the use of parenthesis.
Normally, the search string "BASIC | PASCAL | HARD + DISK" would
match items containing the string BASIC or the string PASCAL or
both of the strings HARD and DISK. Changing this to
"(BASIC | PASCAL | HARD) + DISK" will cause the search to match
only on entries containing the string DISK and one or more of
BASIC, PASCAL or HARD.
Acknowledgements Page 22
I would like to thank all those involved in the development and
testing of TSDoor and all who have contributed ideas and suggestions.
Without the assistance of these people, TSDoor might never have been
written.
Special thanks to Dr. S. David Klein (Sysop of the Software Society
South BBS) for the donation of materials for the PCMag Utility Door
(and for his ceaseless nagging without which this program may never
have been released).
Thanks also to Phil Burns for publishing a wonderfully useful set of
communications routines and to Fred Clark for creating the environment
under which TSDoor executes.
Feedback Page 23
Please report any problems or difficulties in the use of this program
to me. I will attempt to resolve any and all trouble reports. I can
be reached on any of the fine bulletin boards listed below:
Software Society South
Sysop: Dave Klein
(201) 846-9664
Computer Connections
Sysop: Robert Blacher
(202) 547-2008
Northern Lights
Sysop: Jack Kilday
(207) 766-2467
Chuck's Attempt
Sysop: Chuck Ammann
(201) 729-2602
rpb
December 26, 2017
Add comments