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Introduction
This section will explore several other features of Ezycom
that have been skipped to date because of their advanced
nature. You should remember that all features explained in
this section are optional and a BBS can be quite functional
without them. We suggest you do not try to understand them
till you have a good grasp of the first five chapters and
you feel comfortable using Ezycom and at least have a
tested and functional system.
File & Message Area Groups
The use of groups allows file and message areas can be
categorised into groups that share a common theme. It is
mainly used in conjunction with file and message area
templating. For example one use of grouping could be to
allow all Amiga related areas to be grouped into one
perceived area, totally separate from all IBM areas.
Special commands in the questionnaire language can be used
to allow users to select the groups they wish to view (see
Appendix A).
In the configuration for each message and file area there
is an option to configure the group to which that
message/file area belongs to (do not confuse this with Echo
Group for messages). The groups can be configured using any
of the letters of the alphabet (A through to Z). To ALWAYS
enable access to a certain message/file area no matter what
the current group settings are you can make the group a *
group (ie Global). Note that file and message areas use the
SAME group ie. group A in the message areas is ALSO group A
in the file areas. You might like to choose group A for
Amiga and group I for IBM for example.
With the use of the questionnaire language group commands
(see Appendix B) and the group settings, it is possible for
the users to select which groups they wish to see. All they
have to do is turn on the groups they want and turn off the
groups they do not want. Then whenever they do a new files
listing, combined read, message area change, file area
change, search for files, or any other global type command
on message or file areas, then only those groups the user
has selected will be displayed.
Note: Groups are NOT a security feature and the user will
STILL be allowed to access areas they can normally
access even if they have the group turned off or if
you make it available using /F= or /M=
commands.
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Users can now select which groups they wish to select, but
if they have all groups turned on, then they still could be
presented with many file/message areas when doing area
change commands. It is possible to override the group
commands on the Goto/Gosub Menu command (with /F=+ or - or
/M=+ or -), the change file area, change message area (and
equivalents), and all global message area/file commands. To
override group settings the sysop MUST place a /FG=
or /MG= on the Data line. The is either a
letter from A through to Z, or * (meaning ALL groups). For
instance, to change to a file area only in the IBM group, a
/FG=I would be used on the Data line of the menu command.
So using a totally separate menu for IBM files, the sysop
could use /FG=I command on all global type commands in the
file area and this will allow only IBM file areas to be
viewed and/or be changed into. Using the /CFG= or
/CMG= option on a Goto/Gosub Menu command eliminates
the need to use totally separate menus for each group you
have on your system. This effectively templates the group
for a group menu.
A problem now arises when a user changes between two
overriding groups. The problem is when they go into the
other group (Eg. Amiga) they will still be in an area of
the group they were last in (Eg. IBM). To overcome this, an
option has been added to the /F= /M= command. This option
allows you to specify the , which the user should be
placed into.
For Example:
Type : 1 (Goto Menu)
Data : FILEMENU /F=A
This would place the user into the last Amiga file area
they were in. If the user has not yet been in an Amiga File
Area, then they are placed in the first available Amiga
File Area (or the first global area should one of these
come before any Amiga ones).
The best way to learn groups is to experiment with them and
see what happens. You should at least have tried
message/file area templating before you begin to tackle
groups however. Be sure to seek help from a support site if
you are still lost or re-read this section of the manual a
few times and then try again.
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QWK Offline Mailing
Ezycom features a built in QWK offline mail processing
facility, a feature quite absent or implemented through a
third party door in other packages. QWK is a mail packet
standard that has been around for quite some time now and
there are mail reader programs for just about every
computing platform in common use. There are often many to
choose from on each platform too. Some common ones include
The Silly Little Mail Reader for DOS, WinQWK for Windows,
KWQ for OS/2 2.1 PM and QBLUE for the Amiga. The number
available is growing daily.
QWK allows users to download all the mail of interest to
them in a single compressed bundle for reading later when
they are no longer connected to the BBS, hence the term
offline mail. They can then reply to messages they read and
their mail reader will then make up a reply bundle to be
sent back to the BBS on their next call. The BBS then
processes this as if it were written online. This allows
much greater participation in mail networks and so is a
boon for any sysop trying to encourage users to write mail.
Configuring Your System To Create QWK Mail
There are a number of settings throughout EZYCFG that you
need to set up in order for QWK to work. On the Mail Areas
menu you will find an option Offline Mail. Selecting this
option brings up another menu that has seven options for
you to configure.
o Unique QWK Filename - Here you define the 8 character
filename that all QWK bundles from your BBS will bear to
distinguish them from other systems. Eg. If your system
was called DOGS BBS, you could use DOGS-BBS and so any
QWK packets from your system would be named DOGS-BBS.QWK
and any reply bundles sent back would bear the name
DOGS-BBS.REP.
o Maximum Messages - This is the maximum number of
messages you will allow a user to scan out at once in
total. The value you put here will largely depend on
your disk space. Count on requiring around 1.6K of space
for each message you allow for per node you have on air
(since more than one user can do this at once). These
files are built in the TEMP path (per EZYCFG) and so
this is the drive the space is needed on. Pointing this
to a sufficiently big RAM drive will speed QWK building
up massively.
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o QWK Message Board - Any BAD QWK mail will end up on this
message board. One would normally point this to the same
area as their bad echomail area.
o Def Local Qwk UL Path - If you choose use an offline
message reader to answer your mail, set this option for
the directory that the .REP packets are stored in.
Ezycom will import the messages and then delete the .REP
packet.
o Def Local QWK DL Path - Set this option to where you
want Ezycom to store your QWK/Bluewave mail packets.
o Receive Own QWK - If this is set to Yes, then any
messages posted by the user will also be included in
downloaded QWK bundles otherwise they will be skipped
during building.
o Taglines in BWAVE - Set this to yes to allow Users who
upload Bluewave mail pkts to include taglines in their
replies. (Only registered versions can use the Bluewave
options)
Here are some other things to make sure you have
configured:
o Be sure to set a QWK Name for each message area on your
system you want to be downloadable. If no name is
defined it will not be selectable by users for their QWK
bundles.
o Message areas must also have the Combined setting set to
Yes for them to be selectable in a QWK bundle.
Ezycom looks at all security settings when scanning out
mail so users CANNOT get access to messages they would
normally not be allowed to whilst online. Be careful also
if you move message areas around (using ALT-M in EZYCFG or
by using EZYUTIL). QWK works on an area number basis only
and so depending on how regularly your users send back
replies, an area may have moved since they last did so and
their message could end up bad or in the wrong area (and
get you into trouble when the conference moderator sees
it). Ezycom will also complain if there is not enough space
on the specified drive to build a user's requested QWK
bundle.
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To allow users to download QWK mail you should set up a
special menu that allows them to do the following:
- configure their combined settings including by global
means
- set their compression preference
- set their default download protocol
- reset their last read pointers
- download QWK bundles
- upload QWK bundles
- allow them to set maximum messages per bundle/area
- allow them to set the maximum age of messages to bundle
The applicable menu commands to do all this can be found
throughout Appendix A.
Netmails In QWK
Ezycom implements special support to allow netmails to be
correctly posted using QWK. Any messages bundled into
downloadable packets from netmail areas will automatically
get a From: line inserted (where will contain a valid FTN number) at the top of the
message to assist the user in replying. When a user replies
they should use a To: statement in the
same place at the top of the message. Ezycom will
automatically process this message as per usual once it has
this information.
Remote QWK Maintenance
Ezycom also supports remote ADD and DROP of QWK areas. It
will look for these messages whenever a QWK .REP bundle is
uploaded and act on them accordingly.
Questionnaires
A Questionnaire is simply a script or series of commands
that Ezycom can execute. Ezycom has a VERY powerful set of
commands that will allow you to do almost anything you like
including running your entire BBS out of a questionnaire
file. Questionnaires are so named because they were
originally invented for asking users a series of sysop
customised questions and then storing the answers given.
These days they do that plus much more. Questionnaires will
be very simple to learn for anyone with programming
experience. Those without any programming experience should
experiment using simple commands at first and then move on
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to more advanced commands. Appendix B is a complete
reference to all the available commands including examples
on how to use them. The commands are introduced gradually
in order of complexity and are grouped together by type.
You will need to find a suitable text editor to make
questionnaire files. The popular shareware editor QEdit or
even DOS's EDIT command will do this task nicely.
Questionnaire files bear the extension .Q-A and must be
located in the Ezycom system directory. They are executed
using menu type 12.
Compiled Questionaires
The main difference in compiled questionnaires and regular
versions is that the compiled versions are trimmed of
excess characters and gotos/gosubs are optimized for speed.
This leads to greater execution speed. Changing the
compiled Q-A with an editor in any way will cause weird
results. Instead, the Q-A should be altered and then
recompiled. Menu Option 93 is used to execute compiled
questionnaires.
Use EZYUTIL2 -compile to compile the
questionnaire.
Eg: ezyutil2 -compileTest.q-a
Special Questionnaire Files
There are some special questionnaire file names reserved
for particular purposes in Ezycom. When the time is right
and Ezycom detects the presence of these files, it will
automatically call them. The purpose of each is outlined
below.
REG-EXP.Q-A
This is a questionnaire defined by you that Ezycom will
automatically run when a users registration has run out.
This is only used if you have enabled either rego days in
the Limits manager in EZYCFG or you have specified an
expiry date in the user file for a particular user.
NEWUSER.Q-A
This allows you to define a new user questionnaire which is
presented to each new user after they have finished
answering login configuration questions. Be sure to have
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enough login time set for new users in EZYCFG to answer
login questions as well as answer this questionnaire if you
have this enabled. MENUCMNDs are NOT available in this
questionnaire.
NEWUSER2.Q-A
This allows you to define a secondary new user
questionnaire. This one is run after new user record has
already been written so MENUCMNDs are now valid.
EMAIL.Q-A
This questionnaire allows your Users to see what their
email address is on your BBS and shows the proper way to
use the email address in a message.
Custom Page Tunes
Ezycom has the ability to play page tunes while the user is
paging the sysop. They take the form of PAGExx.EZY files in
the Ezycom system path. This first tune should be named
PAGE01.EZY, the second PAGE02.EZY and so on.
These are plain text files and they contain either a
comment (indicated by a semi-colon ; at the start of the
line), the TONE [hz] [1/100's second] command or the WAIT
[1/100's second] command. The [hz] indicates the frequency
(pitch) of the tone to be played. Following is a table of
frequencies together with their respective musical notes.
Note Octave Octave Octave Octave Octave Octave
1 2 3 4 5 6
C 45 134 268 536 1071 2145
C# 71 142 284 568 1136 2273
D 75 150 301 602 1204 2408
D# 80 159 319 638 1275 2551
E 84 169 338 676 1351 2703
F 90 179 358 716 1432 2864
F# 95 190 379 758 1517 3034
G 100 201 402 804 1607 3215
G# 106 213 426 851 1703 3406
A 113 225 451 902 1804 3608
A# 119 239 478 956 1991 3823
B 127 253 506 1012 2025 4050
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For Example:
To play middle C for 1 second and then wait (have silence)
for 1 second your page file should contain:
TONE 45 100
WAIT 100
File Points - What Are They? (Registered Versions Only)
File Points are a file credit management system that do not
incur the problems associated with the normal File/Kilobyte
Ratio Systems. The unique feature of file points is that
when user(s) download a file, the uploader of that file is
given credit for the download. So if user(s) upload
old/boring files that aren't popular, then they will not
receive many (if any, depending on the configuration)
filepoints for their upload. This system encourages user(s)
to upload decent files as the more times files they
uploaded are downloaded by others, the more points they get
and so the more downloads they can take.
EZYUTIL - A Powerful Collection Of Tools
Most of Ezycom's many general purpose utilities are tucked
away nicely into a utility called EZYUTIL. There are some
very powerful options available from this seemingly
insignificant utility and so a large section of this
chapter has been devoted to discussing each of these in
turn.
Message Importing
To import a message file into your message base use the
following command line :
-A This is the message area to post the
contents of the file into ie. the message
area number in EZYCFG.
-F This is who the message is to be from.
(Note: You must use underscore characters
where there are spaces in the name eg.
Peter_Davies).
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-T This is who the message is to be sent to
(once again underscores need to be used
where appropriate)
-U<5D address> This is the full 5 dimensional network
address to send the message to (should it
be a netmail message). There are also
some optional parameters for use in
conjunction with this option in order to
specify the status flag(s) to place on
the message being posted. They are:
PVT Private Status
KS Kill/Sent Status
FILE File Request Status
DIR Direct Status
C Crash Status
-S This is the subject of the message to be
imported (once again, place underscores
where spaces are needed).
-L Full path and filename of message text to
import.
For Example:
EZYUTIL -IMPORT -A1 -FPeter_Davies -Tall -SHi -LTest.TXT
Automatic word wrapping is carried out on any lines that
are too long in the text file that you are importing.
Quickly Re-arranging Message Areas
You can use EZYUTIL to quickly sort message areas using a
variety of sorting methods. Use -SORTMESS to activate this
command and use the following command line options to
control its action:
-BYGROUP If this option is present then EZYUTIL
will sort message areas by message area
group and then by message area name.
-BYTAG If you specify this option then message
areas will be sorted by echo tag and then
by area name
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-BYAGROUP Use this option to sort by the echo area
group, then either the message area name
or message area tag.
-FROM Use this to specify which message area
to begin sorting from (as per the area
number in EZYCFG). EZYUTIL will default
to area 1 if you do not specify this
option.
-TO Use this to specify the highest message
area that EZYUTIL should sort to. It will
default to the highest area you have
defined if you do not specify this
option.
While sorting EZYUTIL will move all the messages within the
areas around, it will move the message area entries in
EZYCFG and it will update combined and last read pointers
in the user file. It will also update the netmail boards
and other references to message boards (such as the bad
area) elsewhere in EZYCFG. Naturally it will not update
batch files and menus that reference areas specifically
however so you should check for this carefully after it has
finished. You MUST NOT carry this function whilst users are
online to your system. Also if you are in any mail
networks, ensure that ALL pending echo/netmail has been
scanned out and that all echomail message areas have
pending linking completed on them before sorting message
areas. This should not be a problem if you always link
after mail tosses and always scan new mail out straight
after users log off.
Pruning Batch History
You can use EZYUTIL to prune back your download batch
history data file so that it does not get too big.
-BATCHOLD This specifies how many days to keep
batch history for. 7-14 days should be
quite adequate in most cases. Note
however that the data file for batch
history is a linked list so it never
shrinks in size, so this option merely
frees up entries. After some time
however it should stop growing and
remain static in size.
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Rapidly Deleting Certain Messages
This feature of EZYUTIL allows you to specify certain text
to find in messages areas and when found EZYUTIL will
cause the deletion of those messages from your message
base. The -STRIPMSG option activates this function and the
other command line options are as follows:
-L Use this to specify the filename of a
special text file that controls message
deleting. This file supports the
following commands, each instance of
which has to be on a separate line.
S means search the Subject for the following text.
F means search the From field for the following text.
T means search the To field for the following text.
B means search the From & To field for the following
text.
For Example:
STest
TThe Sysop
FIdiot
BStupid
The search is not case-sensitive and the text only has to
be a sub-string of the appropriate part of the message.
Spaces should NOT be underscored.
-A This is an optional field. If present it is
used to tell the message stripper to only
search the specified message area. By
default all message areas will be searched.
Undeleting Messages
One function of EZYUTIL also allows you to undelete
specific messages. Use the following command line:
EZYUTIL -UNDELETE
You will then be prompted for the message area number from
where you wish to undelete the messages that it contains
within. If you select a valid message area, then EZYUTIL
will undelete all the messages in that conference that have
been marked as deleted. Only messages that were deleted
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AFTER the last MSGCOMP will be undeleted however. After a
MSGCOMP, you can NOT retrieve any messages that were
deleted.
Sorting Your Node Manager
EZYUTIL can sort your up/downlink node manager so that all
nodes appear in numeric/domain order. Use the following
command line:
EZYUTIL -SORTNODE
All your links will be sorted into ascending order while
the pointers in your export lists are also being updated
for each message area. It may take quite some time to do if
you have a complicated message export setup.
Sorting Your Netmail Folder
To quickly sort/renumber the messages in your netmail
folder (*.MSG) use the command:
EZYUTIL -SORTMSG
Rescanning Echomail For New Downlinks
Often when you connect up downlinks to new echomail areas
they will want some mail to start their areas off. Use the
-RESCAN option to achieve this manually (they can use
Areafix to do it remotely). This option has a couple of
parameters:
-A Use this to tell EZYUTIL which echomail
area (as per EZYCFG) to rescan the mail
out from.
-U This is the full 5 dimensional address of
the node in your node manager you want to
rescan the mail out to.
EZYUTIL will generate the necessary information for EZYMAIL
to later rescan the most recent messages (up to the maximum
specified in EZYCFG) out to the system specified. All
messages will carry the @RESCANNED kludge to prevent dupe
loops.
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Stripping Log Files
EZYUTIL also allows you to easily prune back your system
log files if you make use of the -STRIPLOG parameter. Use
the following command line parameters with this:
-L Use this to specify the name of the
Ezycom log which you wish to be stripped.
-D Use this to specify the number of days
of log which you wish to keep. For
example: -D7 would keep the last 7 days
of log file.
You are best to run this function whilst no part of Ezycom
is active else the log file you are trying to prune could
be in use and you will get a share violation.
Automatically Building File Areas
EZYUTIL provides you with a very quick way to automatically
file areas. This is especially helpful if you are in the
habit of adding new CD-ROM discs to your BBS which normally
have thousands of files, hundreds of directories and hence
would require many hours of work to set-up. This is no
longer necessary. Run EZYUTIL with the -MAKEFILEAREAS
parameter using the following options:
-D This tells EZYUTIL which drive to search
(including the colon). The entire
contents of this drive will be searched
for the file list name given. When found,
that path will be added into your file
database along with the contents of that
directory.
-R This allows you to substitute a
different drive or network path for the
used in the -D option. Ezycom can
handle full network style paths if need
be.
-T This will cause EZYUTIL to use the
specified file area as a skeleton setup
to copy to all the areas it creates
carrying across such settings as
security, group etc.
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For Example:
EZYUTIL -MAKEFILEAREAS -LFILES.BBS -A100 -DD: -T10
This will search for FILES.BBS all over D: and any
directories where it finds FILES.BBS will be added to the
File Areas and File Paths part of EZYCFG, starting at file
area/path 100 using area 10 as a template for creating the
new areas.
The -makefileareas option also allows wildcards for the
file to search for (-L). So, you could specify
something like -L*.zip, and it will add any directory with
a zip file in it. You will need to fix up the files.bbs
path in EZYCFG > File Areas > File Paths after that though,
as it will contain the name of a zip file it located.
Importing File Area Headings
EZYUTIL can also save you lots of time when creating new
file areas by automatically importing titles for those
areas from a text file. Run EZYUTIL with the -FILEHEADERS
parameter and use the following options:
-A This tells EZYUTIL at which area to start
inserting headings from.
-L This specifies the name of the text
file that contains the headings
themselves. This file should have the
area titles listed one per line.
File Area Information
EZYUTIL can export file area configuration information to a
file called FILES.TXT. This file contains the configuration
settings for ALL the file areas on your system. It is
placed in the system path eg. C:\EZY. Use the following
command line:
EZYUTIL -EXPORT -FILEAREA
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Below is an example of what each looks like when it is
outputed to FILES.TXT:
File Area Num: 25
File Area Name: Ezycom BBS Support Files
Upload File Area: MS-DOS - *NEW* UPLOADS!!
Area Path: I:\MS-DOS\EZYCOM\
Alt Group 1: 0
Alt Group 2: 0
Alt Group 3: 0
File Group: I
User Security: 10
User Flag A: --------
User Flag B: --------
User Flag C: --------
User Flag D: --------
Upload Security: 0
Upload Flag A: --------
Upload Flag B: --------
Upload Flag C: --------
Upload Flag D: --------
Sysop Security: 100
Sysop Flag A: --------
Sysop Flag B: --------
Sysop Flag C: --------
Sysop Flag D: --------
Minimum Age: 0
Sort By: Alpha
Offline Allowed: Yes
Master List: Yes
Age Check: Yes
Conversion: None
Message Base Information
Similarly to the file base, EZYUTIL can also create an
information file for the message base. The file created is
called MESSAGES.TXT. Once again an example of what to
expect is shown. Use the following command line to achieve
this:
EZYUTIL -EXPORT -MESSAREA
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Below is an example of what each looks like when it is
outputed to MESSAGES.TXT:
Mess Area Num: 21
Mess Area Name: Fidonet Ezycom Support
Mess Area Tag: EC_SUPPORT
Mess Area Type: Echomail
Mess Area Kind: Public
Mess Group: I
Alt Group 1: 0
Alt Group 2: 0
Alt Group 3: 0
AreaMgr Group: E
Days Kill: 30
Receive Kill: 14
Count Kill: 999
Kilobyte Kill: 0
Read Security: 10
Read Flags A: --------
Read Flags B: --------
Read Flags C: --------
Read Flags D: --------
Write Security: 10
Write Flags A: --------
Write Flags B: --------
Write Flags C: --------
Write Flags D: --------
Sysop Security: 100
Sysop Flags A: --------
Sysop Flags B: --------
Sysop Flags C: --------
Sysop Flags D: --------
Alias Allowed: Real Names Only
Combined Access: Yes
Initial Combined: No
Age Test: Yes
Keep Private: No
Show Seenby: No
Clear Seenby: No
Visible: No
Uplink: 3:713/618
Origin Aka: 3:622/407
Origin Line: Lake BBS. NSW, Australia (049) 562853
Seenby: 3:622/407
Export List: 3:622/402 3:622/403 3:622/410 3:622/413
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Message Base Statistics
EZYUTIL can generate a set of statistics for your message
base. The file created is called STAT. This will tell
you such things as the number of participants in that
message area, the average message length in bytes then a
list of user names along with the number of messages posted
by that user, the total length in bytes for all their
messages posted and an average of the length of their
messages posted. At the end of the file there is a section
showing the person that posted the longest message and the
person that posted the shortest message. This text file
could be imported into the message base using the EZYUTIL
message import command to show the users the statistics of
the message area being used. The file will be placed in the
current directory and has no extension.
For Example:
EZYUTIL -MBS -A27
would produce a STAT027 file in current directory showing
the aforementioned information. An example file has not
been included here to save space.
Adding Rumours
You can use EZYUTIL to add new rumours to your rumour file
from a text file. The source file should be a text file
with one line rumours (one per line) that are no longer
than 79 characters each.
For Example:
EZYUTIL -RUMOURADD -LC:\NEW-RUMO.TXT
would import rumours from a the text file C:\NEW-RUMO.TXT.
EZYUTIL has the capability to have up to 1000 seperate
rumour lists. The -RUMOURADD option allows you to added one
liners to an individual rumour list (0 is the default
rumour list) by using the -LIST command to select
which list to add to. This feature is recognized by all the
rumour menu options (options 89-92).
(Registered versions only)
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Deleting Rumours
As well as adding rumours, EZYUTIL can also delete them
after they are over a set number of days old.
For Example:
EZYUTIL -RUMOUROLD10
would delete rumours older than 10 days (ie 10 days or more
since they were added to the rumour file). Remember, using
-RUMOUROLD purges old rumours out of EVERY rumour list.
-BUILDMSGIDX Rebuilds Message Area Index
-BUILDFILEIDX Rebuilds File Area Index
eg. ezyutil -buildfileidx
The above options are used to rebuild the files.idx and
mesage.idx files that reside in the Ezycom system
directory.
Importing Network Echolists
If you are adding a network to your message areas you can
import a text listing of the echos available using the
option -FIDONETNA. This option imports the area tag and the
echo description thereby saving you hours of typing. Of
course, this will work only if the echolist is in the same
format as the listing used by FIDONET. Compare the
network's echo area listing to Fidonet's BACKBONE list to
make sure.
-FIDONETNA has three switches used in it's operation. They
are:
-L Name of the filelist you wish to
import. (eg. backbone.na)
-S What message area do you wish
this conference to start at? Be
aware, entering the number of an
existing message area will cause
that area and any others after it
to be overwritten.
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-T Which message area to use as a
template? All settings for the
designated area will be copied
to each of the new message areas
created in this process.
eg. -FIDONETNA -LMYNET.TXT -S200 -T199
EZYLINK - Fast Message Subject Linking
This is a small, quick utility to allow you to reply-link
messages in echomail areas that have received new mail
since you last ran MSGCOMP -LINK. It is not designed to
replace MSGCOMP. It would normally be used immediately
after tossing new echomail with EZYMAIL so that you do not
have to wait for the next run of MSGCOMP in order to have
all replies to messages, linked together. EZYLINK (unlike
MSGCOMP) will also run with users online.
ANSTOAVT - Convert ANSI to AVATAR
This small utility will convert your .ANS (ANSI) files to
.AVT (Avatar) files. You should run this any time you
change your ANSI screens.
The command line format for ANSTOAVT is:
ANSTOAVT [Options]
Example 1:
ANSTOAVT MESS.ANS
would convert MESS.ANS to MESS.AVT.
Wild cards are also supported so if you wish to convert all
your .ANS files, type
ANSTOAVT *.ANS
This will convert all of your ANSI screens to AVATAR
screens.
There are four options available to provide some
flexibility:
o -NORLE Do NOT use Compression
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o -CPOS Do NOT use Absolute Position for Relative
Cursor Moves.
o -S Path to Ans/Asc Files.
(Current dir default)
o -D Path where to write AVT files
(Current dir default)
eg. ANSTOAVT *.ANS -RLE -CPOS
EZYADOPT - Advanced Features
There are actually two previously neglected (on purpose)
features of EZYADOPT. These were left out (and are not
documented in the command line help for EZYADOPT) due to
their very advanced (and dangerous) nature. They will now
be carefully explained.
Normally when EZYADOPT is run, it will scan every area on
your entire system and build a Paradox database of every
file on your system noting its path. This is done because
it is completely possible that a file may be in a path but
not be in the area that path is normally pointed to by. For
instance if you have a Games file area that normally
resides in E:\GAMES you can move a file from that area to a
totally different one without physically moving the file
(ie. you only move the description). The database entry in
Ezycom has a pointer to the path so it knows where to find
the file so this is not a problem. Trouble is if you assume
that a file is not in the database because it is not listed
in the area normally associated with that path, then you
could be very wrong. Thus importing the file could mean you
will end up having two copies of the same file in the
system without meaning to (ie. two file descriptions in
different areas pointing back to the same physical file).
This is perfectly okay if you would like the same physical
file in different areas. But consider the affect on this
has if several hundred files are in this situation.
One of the most common uses of Ezycom's path independence
feature is to merge a number of smaller directory
collections into one larger logical file area, most often
on CD-ROM discs. The opposite is also true, you may wish to
break one LARGE file area up into smaller more manageable
ones even though they are all in the same physical
directory. Since EZYADOPT imports any files it finds in a
path that are not already in the system, you could end up
with one fine mess unless an exhaustive check is done on
the file base first, in this case the building of a fast
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access reference database where filenames and their path
can be quickly checked. So this is how EZYADOPT normally
works.
That is all fine and well but if you have a VERY large file
base (say half a dozen CD-ROM discs) then this build can
take quite some time and you may only be trying to import a
couple of new files in say a TIC file echo that have just
arrived. A lot of time is wasted here if you know that all
the files in the path are in fact only ever found in the
default area for that path. So EZYADOPT has two special
switches to allow this assumption, these being
-AFROM and -ATO. They work identically to
the -FROM and -TO commands only the areas in question will
be the only ones checked. You should ALWAYS use both
parameters together and combine them with the normal -FROM
and -TO options so that only the area(s) that this is safe
to use on are in fact touched. Leaving off the -ATO
parameter for example will cause all paths from the
starting path onwards to be scanned, quite dangerous. So
always exercise extreme caution when using these command
line options. To be safe, make regular backups of your file
database so that any mistakes can be quickly undone.
Normally you would use identical ranges on both parameter
sets. If you choose not to do this, be VERY careful about
what you give.
LANGEDIT - Ezycom's Complete Prompt Editor
LANGEDIT is a complete language file editor for Ezycom. It
allows full sysop customisation of virtually all prompts
that Ezycom uses.
Upon startup you will see a screen with all the language
files that are currently available for use on the BBS. Use
the up/down arrow keys to highlight one of the available
language files. The commands available on this screen are
as follows:
o Enter - Pressing enter will select the language file you
have highlighted and wish to edit.
o Alt-D - This option brings up a screen titled Edit
Language which contains the following details about the
system settings and the file currently highlighted.
Press the Esc key to save your changes, or Ctrl-A to
abort.
Filename: entered without the .LNG extension
eg. ENGLISH
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Description: A brief description about the language.
Default: Is this the default (Y/N) language new
users are presented with on their first
logon?
Security: What security level do users need to
access this language file?
Flag A-D: What flag settings does a user need for
this language?
Rip Path: Path to the .RIP files.
Avt Path: Path to the .AVT files.
ANSI Path: Path to the .ANS files.
ASCII Path: Path to the .ASC files.
o RIP, AVT, ANS,and ASC Files - These are the paths to
where the BBS's text files are kept. They may all point
to the same directory if you like. Since ANSI files are
the most popular, you may like to put .ANS on a RAM disk
and leave the rest on your hard disk.
Note: Ezycom also uses files with a .ASL extension.
Since these are usually text files, it would be
best to store these in the same directory where
you keep the .ASC files.
ASC7 Path Path to where you store your .AS7 files.
AS7 files are 7-bit ASCII vs the more
common 8-bit ASCII text files.
Menu Path The path to where your menu files
(*.MNU) are stored. This may be a RAM
disk or fixed disk path.
Menu 2 Path This is a second menu path for when the
first path points to a RAM disk. Take
the situation where you alter a menu on
a RAM disk. All modifications are stored
to the RAM disk, not on a fixed disk.
Placing a path here causes all menu
modifications to be stored on this path
as well (ie. both paths will be kept in
sync).
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QA Path The path to where you store your
Questionnaire files.
o Ins - INSert will allow you to add language files for
use on your BBS. An Edit Language window will open
allowing you to configure the settings listed above.
o Del - DELete removes the file from the configuration,
but does not remove the .LNG file from your hard drive.
When a language file is loaded the following keys are
available:
Up/Down Use these keys to move the highlight bar
up and down the prompts, one at a time.
PgUp/PgDn These two keys allow you to move up and
down the prompts one screen full at a
time.
Home/End These two keys will take you to the first
and last prompts respectively.
ALT-D Pressing this will reset the current
prompt to its default text and colour.
ALT-S This will bring up a pop-up search string
box and allow you to search prompts for a
particular series of characters. You will
find this useful for quickly locating a
prompt in order to edit it.
ALT-R Repeats previous search.
CTRL-A This option will throw away all changes
made and exit.
ESC This option will exit and SAVE all
changes.
If you press ENTER on a prompt a pop-up editing box will
appear and the following keys are available:
Up/Down Use these keys to move between the
different editable fields in the pop-up
editing box.
Space When on the colour field, pressing space
will cycle through the colours the
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current prompt can be. The actual prompt
text will also cycle in colour as you do
so.
CTRL-A This will abort any changes and return to
the prompt list.
ESC Save changes and return to the prompt
list.
LANGEDIT has three command line options:
-CAPV Capitalise all the vowels in a prompt
-CAPC Capitalise all the consonants in a prompt
NOTE: All Ctrl-F and Ctrl-K codes are ignored. To reset any
changes to the default settings, start LANGEDIT, select
each of the language files, and when the prompt list
appears press ALT-D for each prompt you want to reset.
-? or /? This will bring up a help screen showing
the commands and a brief description of
what each command does.
NWUTIL.EXE
NWUTIL works with Netware v3.1x Server Utilities allowing
Ezycom to be operated within a network. These options can
help netware 3.1x users to keep their workstations in sync
with their server and each other. It has two command line
options:
-GETSERVERTIME Sets the time and date to that of the
server
-SETSERVERTIME Sets the server to the time and date of
the workstation (must have supervisor
access)
Example: nwutil -getservertime
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DPMI, Win, and OS/2 Utilities
DPMI16 and DPMI32
Included with Ezycom are DPMI (DOS Protected Mode
Interface) utilities for 16- and 32-bit operation. Running
in protected mode these utilities will run a bit faster
than the regular versions, but due to their nature will
require RAM memory to be set aside for their use. Included
in the DPMI16 directory under Ezycom's system dir is a file
titled DPMIUSER.DOC. This file documents the use of
RTM.EXE, RTMRES.EXE, DPMI16BI.OVL, DPMIINST.EXE, and
DPMILOAD.EXE which are required to use the DPMI programs.
It is wise to read this file if you are unfamiliar with
setting up a DPMI environment.
The DPMI16 directory contains 16-bit versions of
EZYADOPT.EXE and EZYMAILX.EXE (discussed in chapter 6). The
DPMI32 directory contains 32-bit versions of EZYIDX.EXE,
EZYLINK.EXE, EZYUTIL2.EXE, and MSGCOMP.EXE.
Win32 Utilities
These utilities are optimised for making use of the Windows
32-bit environment. The utilities available are EZYIDX.EXE,
EZYLINK.EXE, EZYUTIL2.EXE, and MSGCOMP.EXE.
OS/2 Utilities
Included in the EZYOS2.ARJ archive are EZYIDX.EXE,
EZYLINK.EXE, EZYNODE.EXE, EZYUTIL2.EXE, LANGEDIT.EXE,
MSGCOMP.EXE, and USERCOMP.EXE. These are trial OS/2
versions, and have not been tested much. If you decide to
use these, you should use them with caution. Backup the DOS
versions before copying these into the Ezycom system
directory.
To use these utilities with Ezycom running in a DOS session
under OS/2, use the OS2SESS.EXE program.
OS2SESS.EXE
OS2SESS creates an OS/2 and/or DOS session from a DOS
session running under OS/2 command line format. Make sure
you specify the EXTENSION of the file, and remember to set
your EZY environment variable in your config.sys
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OS2SESS []
F means foreground execution
B means background execution
Example: OS2SESS C:\EZY\EZYMAIL.EXE B -TOSS -SCAN
Example:
OS2SESS D:\EZY\USERCOMP.EXE F -B10 -P -D90 -S3 -Alias -U100
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Introduction
Ezycom was designed from the ground up for use as a
multi-line BBS system. Consequently Ezycom operates very
quickly and efficiently in such an environment and is very
aware of the fact that it is in this mode and will behave
differently as a result. Because of the VERY advanced
nature of this topic it is suggested that you do NOT try to
get Ezycom to run multi-line until you are sufficiently
comfortable with the package in general. This is one of the
reasons that discussion of this topic has been left until
the very last chapter of this document. Setting up for
multi-line operation is a complex task at first and
requires you to always be thinking of the consequences of
any of your actions on active nodes. This chapter goes to
great lengths to explain things as simply as possible. Much
example configuration is also given to assist you on this
steep learning curve.
Software You Will Need
Ezycom will support up to 250 nodes on a single BBS system
but it cannot provide multiple lines without the use of
some third party products. These products fall into two
major categories - multi-tasking software and network
software/hardware. Which one of these you use depends on
personal preference, the size of the system you intend to
run and how much money you have to spend doing so. The two
main groups of software and how to make them do what you
want, will now be discussed at length.
Multi-tasking Software
Multi-tasking software allows multiple independent DOS
sessions to run on a single machine, each session thinking
it has the machine all to itself. Ezycom implements
multi-line support by allowing multiple copies of itself to
be running in memory simultaneously via one of these
multi-taskers. Ezycom has been tested successfully with
Desqview, OS/2 and Double DOS (although DoubleDOS has not
been tested extensively). Internal support and detection of
Taskview, Topview and MultiDOS is also available but none
of these systems have been tested. When operating in all
these environments, Ezycom will give up CPU time slices
when it is not busy so that the CPU is free to give time to
other tasks that are running.
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Of all the multi-taskers available, we recommend only two
of them depending on what you wish to do. Desqview from
Quarterdeck Office Systems is probably one of the easiest,
cheapest and fastest options. We suggest you use a 386DX or
better if you wish to run a viable multi-line system. You
should also be looking at 4 megabytes of memory or more
depending on how many lines you wish to run. OS/2 2.1 from
IBM is another excellent option if you have a machine with
8MB of RAM or more (it can be run in 4MB if you jettison
the Workplace Shell). Ezycom operates very rapidly in this
environment although setting up for this is somewhat more
complex. These environments will now be dealt with in turn.
Running Multi-line with Desqview
Desqview from Quarterdeck Office Systems is by far the most
common multi-tasker used in the operation of multi-line BBS
systems. The latest version available at press time was
Version 2.64. Desqview is relatively simple to configure
although some options may seem cryptic at first. The main
hurdle comes from getting your batch files to do things
correctly since a multi-line system under Ezycom relies
very heavily on its batch files for smooth operation.
Sample Desqview Configuration
Program Name: Lake Macquarie BBS (Line 1)
Keys to Use on Open Menu: L1 Memory Size (in K): 480
Program: C:\STARTBBS.BAT
Parameters: 1
Directory: C:\
Writes text directly to screen: [Y]
Displays graphics information: [N]
Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T): [Y]
Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2): [N]
Requires floppy diskette: [N]
Advanced Features (F1)
System Memory (in K): 0 Maximum Program Memory Size (in K):
Script Buffer Size: 1000
Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K): 300
Text Pages: 1 Graphics Pages: 0 Initial Mode:
Interrupts: 00 to FF
Maximum Height: 25 Starting Height: 25 Starting Row: 0
Maximum Width: 80 Starting Width: 80 Starting Column: 0
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Close on exit (Y,N,blank): [ ] Uses its own colors: [Y]
Allow Close Window command: [N]
Runs in background (Y,N,blank): [Y]
Uses math coprocessor: [Y] Keyboard conflict (0-F): [0]
Share CPU when foreground: [Y]
Share EGA foreground/zoomed: [Y]
Can be swapped out (Y,N,blank): [N]
Protection level (0-3): [0]
If you use the previous example configuration as a guide
you should not have too much trouble getting Desqview to
go. We suggest 2:2 ticks for foreground to background time
slicing if you want smooth operation. Set the Disk Buffer
for EMS to 0 if you want the fastest disk access although
if you run Desqview on a network station/server, you cannot
set this option to zero. The maximum EMS size actually
controls access to all external types of memory (XMS, EMS,
DPMI etc). 300K allows enough room for most programs to
swap out to (such as Ezycom) or for overlay buffers. If you
run any DPMI compliant programs (such as EZYADOPT) you
should allocate AT LEAST 1024K of this memory else these
programs will not work under Desqview. You will only need
to allocate this much memory to the session you actually
run Desqview in though.
Running Multi-line with OS/2
OS/2 2.1 is the latest instalment of IBM's powerful 32-bit
operating system. It provides an excellent platform for
running a stable multi-line Ezycom system due to OS/2's
crash protection mechanisms. However due to OS/2's layered
structure and the myriad of settings available for DOS
sessions, there is quite some configuration to do before
you can even begin to fire up nodes.
Using SIO/VSIO/VX00
First of all we highly recommend you get hold of a third
party package called SIO (Serial I/O) by Ray Gwinn (author
of the X00 FOSSIL driver for DOS). The SIO package contains
a complete drop in replacement set of communications port
drivers for IBM's standard supplied drivers. Actually
apparently IBM now recommend Ray's drivers over their own.
In addition, a special virtualised version of X00 is
provided known as VX00 to give FOSSIL driver emulation in
DOS sessions under OS/2 in a VERY efficient manner. This is
most important as you will probably otherwise have great
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trouble getting high speed modems to work under OS/2. Ray's
drivers also provide full support for the 16550 AFN FIFO'd
UART chip (a MUST for any multi-line system) and full flow
control, buffering and CPU time slicing is delivered
automatically. If you are running more than 2 ports under
OS/2 and indeed sharing interrupts, SIO is the only driver
that will properly allow you to do so. SIO also allows port
speed locking for high speed modems, just like its DOS X00
counterpart and will support very high speed communications
effortlessly. To install the drivers, simply place SIO.SYS
in your OS/2 directory (eg C:\OS2) and VSIO.SYS + VX00.SYS
in your emulated DOS directory (eg C:\OS2\MDOS) and then
look for the COM/VCOM.SYS lines toward the bottom of your
OS/2 CONFIG.SYS and REM them out. After them insert the
following lines to run a node on COM2 locked at 38400 baud:
DEVICE=C:\OS2\SIO.SYS (COM2:38400,2F8,IRQ3)
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSIO.SYS
You will need to restart the system for these changes to
take affect. Select Shutdown and then re-boot to do this.
DOS Settings
Create yourself an object that will start a DOS session
(full screen) and go into the DOS Settings notebook change
the following settings:
* Add the following line into the DOS_DEVICE option (be
sure to note the two spaces between 0 and C:\...)
SIZE=0 C:\OS2\MDOS\VX00.SYS
SIZE=0 C:\OS2\MDOS\ANSI.SYS
* Set DOS_FILES=20
* Set DOS_HIGH=ON
* Set DOS_UMB=YES
* Set EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=0
* Set DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT=2
* Set HW_TIMER=ON
* Set IDLE_SENSITIVITY=95
* Set INT_DURING_IO=ON
* Set XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=400
* Set XMS_HANDLES=8
* To prevent communications port conflicts also go and set
all SIO_Allow_Access_COMx settings to No EXCEPT for the
port that this session uses (note you need to have VSIO
installed for these options to appear).
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Save these settings by closing the notebook. Open the
session and you should now find that OS/2 loads VX00.SYS
and ANSI.SYS high in that session (only). This session is
now ready for Ezycom's use.
SHARE.EXE - File Sharing
Ezycom's file locking routines require SHARE to be loaded
when using a DOS environment. Network environments normally
do this for you. Do not confuse share when used in this
respect to that way that it is used in DOS 4.x (it still
MUST be specifically loaded in DOS 4.x). This should be
loaded outside your multi-tasker and can be loaded high.
Virtually all multi-taskers will require this except OS/2
which has it built in. A common problem that occurs when
this is not loaded is that internode communication do not
work. Whenever a sharing violation occurs, Ezycom pops up a
blue box with the name of the locked file in it. Ezycom
will continue to try and access this file unless you press
ESC to abort access attempts or until the file becomes
available. If you see this box come up you are probably
running something when you should not be running it, for
example using USERCOMP while a user online. Be aware that
many CPU cycles are soaked up by the attempted accesses to
the file so it is in your best interests to abort the
attempt as soon as possible after realising your mistake.
You may find the open file monitor (shareware) available
for Desqview useful for locating sharing problems. Be sure
to allow about 15-20 file handles PER node you wish to run
at once (ie your FILES= line in CONFIG.SYS).
STARTBBS.BAT
In order to call up each line, some environment variables
need to be set first to ensure that node will operate
correctly. STARTBBS.BAT is an example batch file that shows
you how to do this. A single parameter representing the
node to fire up is passed to this batch file. From that,
many variables are set and then that node can safely be
brought on air. Notice also that an ANSI driver is loaded
too (in this case, Desqview's ANSI driver). Under most
multi-taskers one must load the ANSI driver within in each
process. Under OS/2 we already took care of this in the
session set-up but for Desqview and many other
multi-taskers, you will need to load it specifically in
this batch file. This example also assumes that the serial
port corresponds with the node number. If not, you could
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pass two parameters to STARTBBS.BAT, one for the node, one
for the comport and substitute the appropriate parameters
into the batch file shown.
@ECHO OFF
CLS
SET TASK=%1
SET DSZLOG=C:\EZY\DSZ.%1
SET DSZPORT=%1
SET TCNODE=%1
C:
DVANSI
CLS
BBS %1
The Directory Layout
When using Ezycom in multi-line operation you do not have
to place each line in separate directories. Ezycom has been
written in such a way to allow all nodes to be run in the
one directory. As every node is in one directory a problem
might arise with using different configurations for each
node. This can be solved by copying the configuration
CONFIG.EZY to CONFIG. (Eg. CONFIG.1). Then Ezycom
will ALWAYS load CONFIG.1 for node 1. You can also have a
few nodes reading the same CONFIG.EZY in one directory and
have other nodes reading a different CONFIG.EZY in a
another directory. This might be desirable if you had say
4x2400 baud modems and 4x9600 baud modems for instance.
Ezycom looks for CONFIG. firstly then CONFIG.EZY in
the CURRENT directory and then CONFIG.EZY in the system
path (pointed to by the EZY environment variable). So you
have the freedom to use separate directories for each node
if you wish but you only need ONE copy of the EXEs and
these should all be located in the Ezycom system directory
pointed to once again by the EZY environment variable.
For Example, to edit CONFIG.2 type:
EZYCFG -N2
However if Ezycom is being used with either the QUICKED or
TOPED full screen editors, then each line of Ezycom MUST be
run in separate directories eg. C:\EZY\NODE1, C:\EZY\NODE2
etc. If TIDE, Gedit or the Internal Editor is being used,
then Ezycom can run every line in one directory if so
desired.
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Not only can CONFIG.EZY be arranged using this
CONFIG. method, but all the other configuration files
including EVENTS, PROTOCOL & MODEM can be also. The only
exceptions to this rule are CONSTANT.EZY, MESSAGES.EZY,
FILES.EZY and ECHOMGR.EZY. Ezycom will ALWAYS locate these
files in the system path and their location can not be
overridden. So it is quite possible to have different
events for each node using EVENTS.1 for node 1 and EVENTS.2
for node 2. Do not forget that to edit any configuration
files for nodes other than 1, you MUST place a -N on
the command line of EZYCFG else the %TASK% environment
variable must be correctly set.
IMPORTANT:
Ezycom stores the all settings specific to modems in a file
called MODEM.EZY. In a multi-line environment you may
choose to share the same modem configuration or you can
copy MODEM.EZY to MODEM. where is the node
number you wish to use it for. EZY and indeed EZYCFG will
automatically pick up the correct modem configuration. This
is useful if you have simular modems or groups of them. The
COM port parameter (-P) on the Ezycom command line will
override the port setting stored in here so it is simple to
share configurations across nodes with the same modems. Be
aware though that without a valid and available modem
configuration, Ezycom with abort upon loading.
Multi-Ports, Doors & Other Things
Ezycom supports up to 8 nodes locally, that is COM1 through
COM8. You must however be able to configure your FOSSIL
driver to this. Remember that any external programs you use
(Eg. Door Games) will also have to support it generally if
they use the FOSSIL you will not have any problems.
When using external programs you MUST make sure they are
multi-node capable. If not, then you need to only allow one
user to access them at anyone time using some special drop
file testing in your batch file for starting that door.
Another method would be to restrict certain doors to nodes
using the Menu Option 'Node'. If you have any problems with
multi-node operation, please do not hesitate to write us a
message in our Support Conference or contact your nearest
support site.
Chapter 8 - Multi-line Operation
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Multi-line Using Networks
Ezycom has been fully tested with both Lantastic from
Artisoft and Netware from Novell. Ezycom works basically
like a Multi-tasker in a network. It does not need to know
anything about the network. You must however load SHARE (or
equivalent) on the File Servers of the Network (in the case
of Lantastic).
Ezycom Utilities - Do's & Don'ts
Although Ezycom can have multiple nodes running at the same
time a lot of it's utility programs will not function while
nodes are active. Following is a quick guide to what you
can and cannot do.
EZYMAIL will function fine while one or more lines are
running, as long as you are using a different log file for
EZYMAIL than the other nodes running. For instance, if node
1 was running, and you wanted to run EZYMAIL, then you
might run EZYMAIL as node 2. Note this does not mean you
have to run EZYMAIL as another node after a user logs off a
node (when you are scanning out mail they have written).
The log file is not open after Ezycom shuts down that node
so it is safe to run EZYMAIL on that node. EZYNET and
EZYPACK function the same way.
IMPORTANT: Although you can simultaneously fire up multiple
copies of EZYMAIL, EZYNET and EZYPACK, they will
not run because the first copy to fire up will
write a EZYMSG.NOW drop file to the Ezycom system
directory and all utilities will refuse to run
after this until it is removed. Should something
go wrong, Ezycom will ignore and delete this file
should it be more than 5 hours old.
MSGCOMP should NEVER be run with any node active. It will
check for both active users and for the EZYMSG.NOW file
before proceeding. It also creates this file while running
so should something go wrong, do not forget to delete it
later else no mail will toss/scan. If the system still
thinks there is someone online when there is not, delete
the ONLINE.BBS file in the Ezycom system directory also.
USERCOMP should never be run with nodes active else your
user file could be totally destroyed.
Chapter 8 - Multi-line Operation
Page: 177
EZYIDX does not correctly function while any nodes are
active. This prevents you from adding new files to your
database while users are online. To overcome this you can
logon locally and upload the files.
FEDIT only locks out the file area it is currently working
with. If a user attempts to access this area they will be
told that maintenance is currently being done on it and to
try again later.
Some functions in EZYUTIL are dangerous to run with active
nodes. These cases have been noted in the previous chapter
and will not be repeated here. Exercise caution.
In a BinkleyTerm style environment, EZYMAIL, EZYNET &
EZYPACK also detect .BSY drop files so they will not try to
pack to mail archives that are in mid-transfer on another
node. Instead the unpacked PKTs will be left lying around
where EZYMAIL will find them on its next run and
automatically bundle them provided it is now safe. If a
.BSY file is more than 5 hours old, EZYMAIL will
automatically remove it.
Special Files For Multi-line Use
When running a multi-line system there are a number of
special files that you can place in the Ezycom system
directory (note the location) that will be used/acted upon
by Ezycom for special features that only work in multi-line
mode. The name and purpose of each of those files will now
be discussed.
NODEINFO.
This file should contain a one liner advert that will show
up in the who's online list when that node (indicated by
the extension) has no-one logged in on it. It may say
something like 'Call (049) 562853 for 14,400 baud'. You may
use a maximum of 70 characters and you can also use smart
colour codes (see appendix C) to put colour into this
display.
USERDOES.
When this file is present its contents will be displaying
in the status field in a who's online list when ever a user
on that node goes into a door. You can use this to indicate
to other users, which door the user on that node is
actually in at present. You may use a maximum of 25
Chapter 8 - Multi-line Operation
Page: 178
characters in this file (no smart codes allowed) since this
is all that will fit in the Status column. You can create
the file as follows:
Assuming you pass *N as the first parameter to your
GAME.BAT that runs the door, then in the batch file %1
would equal the node so:
GAME.BAT
ECHO Playing - BRE League 751 > C:\EZY\USERDOES.%1
REM Load Game Here
DEL C:\EZY\USERDOES.%1
Thus the who's online list would say 'Playing - BRE League
751' for a user if they were inside this door. Be sure to
delete the file after you leave the door.
EZYEX???.
As soon as Ezycom detects the presence of this file it will
exit IMMEDIATELY with the errorlevel indicated by ???.
However only the node indicated by will exit. You
can use this to take a node off the air very quickly.
Naturally if a user is in a door or in the middle of a file
transfer this will not work. But if they are anywhere else
within the BBS, the system will normally detect the file
almost immediately and obey, booting the user off and
exiting back to the DOS with the specified errorlevel.
For example: If you placed a file called EZYEX150.2 in the
Ezycom system directory, then node 2 would immediately exit
with an errorlevel of 250.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-1
Ezycom has a very rich set of very flexible and useful menu
commands. Over time you will find a great many uses for
them. This appendix lists and explains the function and
usage of each command available. A few conventions have
been used in this appendix:
<....> Means that is a necessary option and must be
included for the menu command to function
correctly
[....] This means that it is optional information.
| This means "or". Eg. 1 | 2 would mean 1 or
2, but not 1 and 2.
Option 0 Display
Data None
This command simply does NOTHING and is included for
display line purposes only.
Option 1 Goto Menu
Data | /TOPMENU
[Password]
[/F=| + | - | ]
[/M=| + | - | ]
[/FG=| + | - | ]
[/MG=| + | - | ]
[/CFG=]
[/CMG=]
[/NC]
This command allows the movement from the current menu to
another. The menu name which Ezycom will move to when
activated is indicated by . The must
not include the .MNU extension as this is appended by
Ezycom automatically. If '/TOPMENU' is used instead of a
, then the user will be moved to their TOP MENU
when selecting this option as defined in their user record.
A [Password] may also be specified. The user must then type
in the password correctly before he/she can gain entry to
the menu. As stated in the Menu Templating documentation
the /F=, /M= & /CFG= /CMG= commands are valid for the Goto
Menu Command. The Optional
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-2
parameter /NC means that clear screen command will NOT be
sent to the user before displaying the new menu.
Data Example:
/TOPMENU thepassword /F=+
Option 2 Gosub Menu
Data | /TOPMENU
[Password]
[/F=| + | - | ]
[/M=| + | - | ]
[/FG=| + | - | ]
[/MG=| + | - | ]
[/CFG=]
[/CMG=]
[/NC]
This command works exactly like the GOTO menu command
except that it leaves its FILENAME on the GOSUB MENU STACK
so that you can later return to this MENU using Option 3
(Return from Gosub).
Option 3 Return From Gosub
Data None
This commands returns to the last menu where a GOSUB menu
command was used.
Option 4 Goto Menu & Clear Gosub Stack
Data | /TOPMENU
[Password]
[/F=| + | - | ]
[/M=| + | - | ]
[/FG=| + | - | ]
[/MG=| + | - | ]
[/CFG=]
[/CMG=]
[/NC]
This command behaves exactly like the GOTO menu command
except that it CLEARS the GOSUB menu stack so that you can
NOT return from anymore menus until you have GOSUB'd to
more.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-3
Option 5 Display Text File
Data
This command displays a to the user's screen.
This command does NOT support MENU hotkeys. The
name should not include the extension as Ezycom
automatically determines this (ASL/ASC/ANS/AVT) according
to the user's current Terminal Emulation Options.
Option 6 Bulletin Menu
Data <1-8 character name>
Displays the <1-8 character name> file in the text file
directories. The user is then prompted for the remaining
part of the file name (8 - ). The file is
then displayed. No extension should be placed in the
filename.
Option 7 Run Program In DOS Shell
Data [parameters]
The is the name of the program you
wish to run. If a COM or EXE file is being executed then
just the name of the program AND extension is required. You
should however specify a full pathname just to be sure.
Example Data: C:\EZY\EZYED.EXE
However, if a batch file is being run, then a command line
interpreter needs to be loaded (ie COMMAND.COM).
Example Data: C:\COMMAND.COM /C GAME.BAT
Instead of specifying the entire path to COMMAND.COM, the
COMSPEC environment variable can be used to retrieve the
path. In this case, the C:\COMMAND.COM would be replaced by
*C.
Example Data: *C /C GAME.BAT
On executing a Type 7 Shell, Ezycom writes two files,
EXITINFO. and DORINFOx.DEF. The name for DORINFOx.DEF
is configurable and can be changed with the list of special
commands later. The EXITINFO. holds Ezycom specific
information, that it uses to run. On returning to Ezycom
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-4
after the Type 7 Shell, Ezycom reads in the EXITINFO.
file to process any information that might have been
changed.
There are many allowable command line options for a Type 7
shell and they are as follows:
*F User's First Name
*L User's Last Name
*H The FOSSIL driver is left hot during the Type 7
shell. Generally this option is not used.
*M Swap out Ezycom leaving it using only 9K of RAM.
This enables larger programs to be executed in
the Type 7 shell although swapping can take a few
seconds if disk swapping is used.
*P Comport Number
*R User Record Number
*G ANSI On/Off On=1 Off=0
*V ANSI/Avatar On/Off
3 ANSI & Avatar
2 Avatar
1 ANSI
0 ASCII
*A Users Alias (Real Name if there is no alias)
*C COMSPEC Environment variable (COMMAND.COM)
*S User's Security Level
*N Node : Format 1..250
*9 Node : Format DORIN + FO1..250 - This format
could be used for renaming/copying DORINFOx.DEF
to a naming convention that some door programs
might prefer.
*0 This switch is replaced by the current file area
template number.
*1 This switch is replaced by the current message
area template number.
*2 This is the upload path for the current file area
template.
&V This is the same as *V, except that it places the
*V information in the DORINFOx.DEF and DOOR.SYS
files.
&A This is the same as *A, except that it places the
Alias of the user in the DORINFOx.DEF and
DOOR.SYS files instead of the user's real name.
&O This is the same as *O, except that it places the
locked baud rate in the DORINFOx.DEF and DOOR.SYS
files instead of the effective baud rates ie. if
the comport is locked. &O can optionally include
a baud rate after the parameter, so that door
drop files will use that baud rate when being
written.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-5
Format: &O[]
Eg: &O
&O115200
&O38400
*D1 This option creates the DORINxxx.DEF on executing
the Type 7 Shell where xxx is the *9 Node Format.
*D2 This option creates the DORINFO1.DEF on executing
the Type 7 Shell.
*D3 This option creates DOORx.DEF on executing the
Type 7 shell where x is the *N node Format
*D4 This option creates a doorway compatible DOOR.SYS
file in executing the Type 7 Shell.
*D5 This option creates DOOR.SYS extended version
with a filename of DOOR.SYS
*D6 This option creates DOOR.SYS extended version
with a filename of DOOR.SYS
*! This option stops the clock when the user is in
the Type 7 Exit. That is, the user does not loose
anytime in the shell (useful for external chat
programs).
*# This option turns off the Want Chat Flag.
*B This is the users effective Baud Rate. If the
user is local then the baud rate is set to zero.
*O This is the users actual Baud Rate between the
computer and modem. If the comport is NOT locked,
then it is the same value as the effective Baud
Rate.
For Example:
GAME.EXE *F *L *P
If Peter Davies were logged in this would translate to:
GAME.EXE Peter Davies 1
Option 8 Version Information
Data None
This option displays the current version of Ezycom and
information about who the copy is registered to (where
applicable).
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-6
Option 9 Logoff
Data [/NOHANGUP] [/ERR=]
This option displays GOODBYE.A* (if it exists), before
hanging up the user. If the /NOHANGUP flag is used, then
the users Carrier is not dropped during the termination of
the call. The [/ERR=] command tells Ezycom that
you wish to exit Ezycom with an errorlevel. The errorlevel
must be from 20 through to 255. There is a one second delay
to allow the modem buffer to clear before the modem is hung
up by Ezycom.
Example Data: /NOHANGUP /ERR=25
If both of these options are used together with some
intelligent batch file programming, it is possible to make
a relogon option.
Option 10 System Usage Graph
Data None
This option displays a graph of system usage for the node
number that the user is logged into. This information will
begin from when TIME.BBS was created.
Option 11 Page SysOp
Data String to Display to User (about chat)
This option pages the sysop for a chat request and sends
the data line to the user. A suitable line for Data might
be "Paging Sysop for a Chat... Please Wait...".
Option 12 Execute Questionnaire
Data
[output file] | [/NOWRITE] [/NOLOG]
This option executes a Questionnaire. The Questionnaires
are named .Q-A in your system
directory. [output file] is the name of the answer file you
wish to use. If you do not wish anything to be outputted
from the questionnaire, use the /NOWRITE option. This will
prevent zero byte files being created even if the
questionnaire does not write anything to an answer file.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-7
The /NOLOG option tells Ezycom not to log the fact that the
questionnaire was executed. See the section on
questionaires and the Appendix B reference for information
about Questionnaires.
Option 13 List Users
Data [/A] [/C] [/S] [>=]
[=] [<]
[>]
This option displays a list of all the users on the system.
Various options exist for this option and they are:
/A Show user's aliases instead of real names
/C Displays user's comments, instead of their
location
/S Displays user's security, instead of number of
calls
>= User's security must be equal to or greater
than the security to be displayed
<= User's security must be less than or equal
to the security to be displayed
= User's security must be less than or equal
to the security to be displayed
< User's security must be less than the
security to be displayed
> User's security must be greater than the
security to be displayed
Option 14 Time And Date
Data None
This option displays time statistics about the user
on-line.
Option 15 Exit To DOS With Errorlevel
Data
This option exits Ezycom with which must be in
range from 20 to 255. Ezycom can re-login the user using
the -R option. This option would only be used if the door
games are so big that they can not run inside of a Type 7
Shell even with Swapping. The same parameters apply to this
option as for Option 7.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-8
Option 16 Change Location
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her location.
Option 17 Change Password
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her password.
Option 18 Change Screen Length
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her screen
length.
Option 19 Toggle Screen Clearing
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle whether screen
clearing codes should be sent to him/her.
Option 20 Toggle 'More' Prompt
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle whether they will be
given a more prompt after each screen of text.
Option 21 Toggle ANSI Graphics
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle ANSI Graphics.
Option 22 Check For Mail
Data [/G=]
This option allows the user to check for mail waiting.
Optionally, the groups option can be used to override the
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-9
user's groups settings and thus for instance force scanning
of specified groups. The user is given the option either to
read the mail, not to read the mail and/or mark the mail as
already received (useful for sysops of other BBS's who call
and find a whole load of echomail for them that they have
already read on their own system).
Example Data: /G=ABC
Option 23 Read Messages
Data | /M
This option allows the user to read a particular
conference. If /M is placed in Data, then the current
message area template is used, otherwise the message board
selected is used.
While reading messages the user/sysop is presented with
various option keys. They are:
[A]gain Display the message again.
[L]ast Go back to the previous message.
[N]ext Move to the next message.
[R]eply Reply to the current message.
[W]rite Write a message.
[D]elete Delete the current message.
[F]orward Forward the message to someone else.
[E]dit Edit properties of the current message. Also
allows you to move/copy the message to another
area upon saving the changes.
[G]et Allows the reader to download any file attaches
to this message (registered version only).
[K]eep Keep the message unread.
[!] Shows hidden information in the message.
[S]top Stop reading messages.
[U]pdate Update the user whom the message is from ie. edit
their user record Alt-M (Local Only) Fully Update
User who the message is from.
e[X]port (Local Only) Export the message to Disk. If the
filename is PRN/LTP1/LPT2/LPT3, then the message
is printed.
In the [E]dit mode, various attributes of the message can
be edited. The most powerful feature is the No-Kill flag.
If this is set to On, then MSGCOMP will NEVER delete the
message until such times as the message is deleted by a
User.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-10
Option 24 Scan Messages
Data | /M
This option is the same as Option 23 except that none of
the message body is display to the user.
Option 25 Quickscan Messages
Data | /M
This option is the same as Option 24 except that the
information displayed is on one line, allowing an even more
brief view of the messages.
Option 26 Delete A Message
Data or /M
This option allows the user to delete individual messages
for a particular message area. The user can only delete
message(s) if they are a) are a Sysop of that Message Area,
b) They wrote the message and it is not an echomail message
or c) They have received the message and it is not an
echomail message. If the user does not fall into one of
these categories, then they will not be able to delete the
message(s).
Option 27 Post A Message
Data | /M
[/T=] [/S=]
[/L] [F=]
Post Message allows users to post a message into a
conference pointed to or /M (the current
message area template). The menu creator can FORCE the name
of the user to whom the message is to be posted to by
placing a /T= in the data line. Note that
when using this command, if the name has TWO words, an
underscore must be placed between them. If you use the name
SYSOP it will automatically be translated to the sysop's
name (or the sysop's alias if the area is set to use
aliases).
Example Data: /T=Peter_Davies
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-11
The subject can also be forced as well. This can be
accomplished by using the /S= field. As with the
/T option, an underscore MUST be used to separate words.
The /L option can be used to log the user off immediately
after he/she posts the message. If the user does not post
the message, they are logged off anyway.
The /F option allows you to force a message being posted in
a netmail area to go to a particular network address,
useful if you connect with a UUCP style Internet gateway.
In a multi-node environment, if the user to whom the
message is being posted happens to be logged into another
node of the BBS at the time of posting, they will recieve
notification of the presence of a new message for them
automatically.
Option 28 Select Combined Area
Data [/G=]
This option allows the user to individually select which
message areas they want on/off. Combined area settings are
used for global reading and are now also used for
controlling which message areas QWK will extract mail from
for downloading. Type the area numbers you wish to toggle
On/Off. 'Range' toggles also work.
User Input Example: 10 15 5-8 20 100
This toggles the status of areas 5,6,7,8,10,15,20 & 100.
Use the /G= option to overide any group settings
the user has.
Option 29 Read New Messages (Global)
Data [/SCAN | /LIST] [/G=]
This option allows the user to read all messages which
he/she has not read. Optionally /SCAN can be used to tell
Ezycom to do scanning for new mail, instead of actually
reading new mail. Optionally /LIST can be used to tell
Ezycom to list the messages. The user's groups can also be
optionally over ridden with the G= command.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-12
Option 30 Change Language
Data None
This allows Users to change the language they are using to
view the system prompts in. You must have more than one
language defined in LANGEDIT for this feature to be useful.
Option 31 List Files
Data | /F
[/NEW]
[/FG=]
View a file list for or /F (current file area
template). Simply, if the user has access to the file area
they can view the file list for it. If /NEW is used, then
only NEW files in that file list will be displayed.
Optionally the user's groups for viewing can be over ridden
using the /FG= command. While viewing the file
list, the user is given an option to add to batch (if more
prompt is turned on). The user can add files to the batch
using filenames (wildcards supported) or by typing in the
number of the file. For Example: 1 2. Instead of typing in
the numbers of the files for say 1 to 10, the user could
also do 1-10. It is suggested that you make up a standard
message to send to all new users telling them how to use
this feature. It makes file batching VERY quick.
Option 32 Download
Data None
Using this option, users can download files from anywhere
on the system, so long as they have access to the file
areas in question. This option also supports all the
download batch interaction commands.
Option 33 Upload
Data | /F
This option allows the user to upload files to the system.
If is used, then uploads are ALWAYS uploaded
to that file area. No redirection can take place. If /F
(current file area template) is used, then uploads are
placed in that file area's template upload area. That is if
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-13
the current file area's upload area is pointed to another
file area, then uploads would be placed in that other file
area.
Option 34 View Archive or GIF Info
Data None
This option allows users to view the contents of ZIP, LZH,
PAK, ARC, ZOO, SQZ GIF and ARJ files anywhere on the
system, as long as they have download accesss to those
files. In the case of a GIF image it will give the image
dimensions (resolution), number of colours and the revision
level of the image.
Option 35 File Scan (Keyword)
Data [file areas to search and/or /F]
[/FG=]
This option allows users to search through the file areas
by using a keyword. Data can Optionally contain a list of
file areas that can be used to search. If, Data is blank,
then all file areas are searched. The user may also
optionally select start and ending dates for the search to
be done for.
Example Data: 1 /F
This would mean that first of all, file area 1 is scanned,
then the current file area template is scanned. If they
were reversed on the Data line (ie '/F 1'), then the
current file area template would be searched first then
file area 1.
Again Optionally, /G= can be used to override the
user's groups for viewing.
Option 36 File Scan (File name)
Data [file areas to search and/or /F]
[/FG=]
This option allows users to search through the file areas
by using a filespec. A filespec is a file specification.
This can include DOS/UNIX valid wild cards such as * and ?.
For example to list all files, *.* would be used. As with
Menu Type 35, the file areas to search can be selected for
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-14
this Menu Type. They work in EXACTLY the same way as Option
35. Again, the user's groups for viewing can be overridden
using the /FG= option.
Option 37 New File Search
Data [file areas to search and/or /F]
[/FG=]
This option allows users to view new files since the last
time they executed this option, or the view new files
option at logon. For instance, if the user logged on, and
did not did a new files list in that session, then the next
time they do a new files list, they will see all the files
since the last time the did this option, not the last time
they logged on. The Data also allows the specification of
which file areas to scan. The file areas are listed EXACTLY
the same way as with Option 35. Optionally, the
/FG= can again be used to override the current
user's groups for this command.
Option 38 View Text File
Data None
This option allows users to view text files that are in
file areas. The user is asked for the filename of the text
file to view. Note that this is a GLOBAL option, so the
users do not have to be in the correct file area to view
the text file.
Option 39 Display Fully Named Text File
Data
This option allows the viewing of a textfile name,
specified by . This filename should also
include the extension.
Example Data: C:\EZY\SOLUTION\PQ3.SOL
Option 40 Display Text File With Hotkeys
Data | /MENU
This option allows the displaying of AVT/ANS/ASC/ASL with
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-15
the use of Menu Hotkeys. Typically this option would be
used as an automatic option at the top of a MENU. The
should NOT include an extension.
Example Data: QUICKF
The /MENU command can be used instead of the filename. This
option automatically replaces itself with the FileName of
the current Menu. For example, if Ezycom was in the Menu
TOP and if the /MENU command was used in the Data, then
Ezycom would display the TOP.A* textfile.
Option 41 Toggle Full Screen Editor
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle the use of the full
screen message editor.
Option 42 Toggle IBM Extended Characters
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle the user of the IBM
Extended Character Set. This will tell Ezycom whether to
use the .ASC files or the .ASL files for menu display to
ASCII (non ANSI or AVATAR) users.
Option 43 View Nodelist
Data /M | | /N=
This option allows you to view a nodelist which has been
indexed with EZYNODE. If /M is used on the command line,
then the current message template area is used to view the
nodelist. If is used, then that message board's
nodelist will be used. If /N= is used,
then that is used to view the nodelist.
Note that when viewing the nodelist from a message board,
only echomail or netmail areas will work.
Example Data: /M (Current Message Area)
1 (Message Board 1)
/N=3:622/407 (Net Address 3:622/407)
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-16
Option 44 Reset Combined Areas
Data [/G=group]
This option allows the user to set all of their combined
areas to either ON, OFF or the DEFAULT values. This is also
how users control which areas they wish to get mail from
when using QWK offline mail (see later). Use the /G=group
option to overide any group settings the user has.
Option 45 Display Text File -w- Pause
Data or /MENU
This option displays the text file, then asks the user to
press enter when it has finished being displayed. Again the
/MENU command can be used to substitute the MENU name for
the filename. The FileName should not include paths or
extensions.
Example Data: QUICKF
Option 46 Display Fully Named File -w- Pause
Data
This option displays to the screen and pauses at
the end. This option is basically the same as option 39
except in this option, the FULL pathname should be given.
Example Data: C:\EZY\FILES\PQ3.SOL
Option 47 Make A Log Entry
Data Text to Place in Log
This option allows an entry in the log to be generated
Typically this would be an automatic option, and would be
used to indicate that the user moved into a menu on the
board. The smart text codes of @ and ` can be used to
indicate the current file area template and the current
message area template respectively.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-17
Option 48 Download Specific File
Data [/FREE] [/FREETIME]
This option allows the user to download the file pointed to
be . should be a full path and
extension of the file. Optionally the /FREE switch can be
used to signify a free download for the user (ie the file
does not count against their download record). You might
use this for downloading a membership form from a menu for
instance. The /FREETIME option means all time constraints
and system events will be ignored when downloading this
file.
Option 49 Select Message Area
Data [text file] [/G=] [/RETLIST]
This option gives the user a list of message areas and
changes the current message area template to the message
area they select. If you want to make your own list of
message areas, then place the filename (no extension) of
the textfile to be used instead in the Data line.
Optionally, /MG= can be used to override the
default user's groups for this command. The /RETLIST option
tells Ezycom to immediately begin listing areas instead of
giving the user the option to pick an area without first
viewing the list of areas (ie. skips the need to type '?'
all the time).
Option 50 Select File Area
Data [text file] [/G=] [/RETLIST]
This option is basically the same as Option 49, except that
it changes the current file area template instead.
Optionally, /FG= can be used to override the
default user's groups for this command. /RETLIST has the
same function here as for Option 49.
Option 51 List Today's/Yesterday's Callers
Data [/A] [/Y]
This option displays a list of todays or yesterdays callers
to the Bulletin Board Service. If /Y is placed in Data,
then Yesterday's callers are shown, otherwise Today's
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-18
callers are shown. If /A is used in Data, then aliases are
used instead of real names.
When a list of today's callers is displayed, a DidWhat?
field is shown. They represent certain actions the user did
while online. These are:
N NewUser
R Read Messages
S Sent Messages
D Downloaded
U Uploaded
P Paged Operator
C Chatted with Sysop or other Users (multi-line chat)
O Outside Ezycom (type 7/15 shell)
Option 52 Show Users On-Line
Data [/A]
This option displays a list of users who are currently
online. This option works across networks and/or
multitaskers to show every user who is using Ezycom at this
time. If the /A switch is used on the Data line, then
Aliases are shown instead of real names. Users logged in
locally (eg. the sysop) will be shown with the baud rate as
'Local'.
Option 53 Toggle "Do Not Disturb"
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle the Do Not Disturb
mode. This mode stops users on other lines from sending a
message to their node.
Option 54 Send An Online Message
Data [/A]
[/N= /M=]
This option allows the user currently online, to send a one
line message to a user on another line. The message arrives
only while users are in the menu system, not while they are
reading messages or in an menu option and more. If the /A
switch is used, aliases are shown instead of real names.
The /N combined with /M will send a predefined message to a
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-19
predefined node. Any spaces should be indicated using an
underscore character.
Example Data: /N=1 /M=Howdy_Dude!_Wanna Chat?
Option 55 Download ANY File
Data None
This option allows user(s) to download files from ANYWHERE
on the system. They can specify a full pathname to download
the files. This option should only be made available to the
Sysop or not used at all. It can be a major security risk
otherwise.
Option 56 Import Text File To Message
Data | /M
[/U=]
[/T=]
/S=
/L=
This option is used for importing a text file into the BBS.
The main use for this option would be to post a message to
a newuser. The | /M specify which message
area the message will be posted in. The /U command
specifies the 'From' user name. All spaces in the names
must use an UNDERSCORE character.
For Example: /U=Peter_Davies
If the /U command is left out, then the from user name
defaults to the name of the user currently online. The /T
command is mostly the same as the /U command, except that
it specifies the name of who the message is to be posted
to. If, the /T command is omitted, then the message is
posted to the name of the user online. The /S command
specifies the subject of the message and is NOT an optional
parameter. The /L commands specifies a fully qualified
filename (path, name and extension) of the file which
contains the message to be imported into a message area and
is also NOT an optional parameter.
This command supports the Ctrl-F/K smart text codes in the
text file to be imported.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-20
Option 57 Change Voice Phone Number
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her home voice
phone number.
Option 58 Change Data Phone Number
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her business/data
phone number.
Option 59 Toggle mailbox hold
Data None
This options allows the user to toggle whether his/her mail
is on hold. If a user is going away on vacation, then this
will ensure that all their mail is still waiting for them
(and does not get deleted) until after they get back and
read/reply to it.
Option 60 Mail forwarding
Data None
This option allows the user to turn on forwarding of
his/her mail to another user on the system. A user may want
to redirect all their mail to someone else whilst they are
away on vacation for instance.
Option 61 Toggle Avatar Graphics
Data None
This option allows the user to turn Avatar Graphics On/Off.
Option 62 List Transfer Batch
Data None
This option displays the current contents of the user's
download batch.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-21
Option 63 Erase Transfer Batch
Data None
This option displays the current This option erases the
entire contents of the user's download batch.
Option 64 Add Files To Batch
Data None
This option allows the user to add files to his/her
download batch.
Option 65 Erase One File From Batch
Data None
This option allows the user to erase single or multiple
files (using wildcards) from the download batch. The file
number from the batch can also be used (with or without a
preceding minus '-' symbol). List Batch will show the
numbers.
Option 66 Multiline Conference
Data [/A]
This option allows live chatting between two or more users
on different nodes of the Bulletin Board. The optional /A
switch forces Aliases instead of Real Names to show whilst
in chat. Users can type /HELP for a list of commands
available whilst in chat. A user line(s) of conversation
are sent to all nodes as soon as Enter is pressed. Auto
wrapping occurs so users need only press Enter when they
wish to send.
Option 67 Change To Area With Unread Mail
Data [/RETLIST] [/NEWMAIL]
This option is the same as option 49 (change to message
area) except that the user is told if there is new/unread
mail in an area, indicated by a [NEW] in front of the
message area name in the list. The /RETLIST option also has
the same affect as described in option 49. This option will
display the number of unread (new) messages in each area in
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-22
[ ] before the area number. If there are more than 999
messages, [***] will be shown instead. If the /NEWMAIL
option is used, then only areas containing unread mail will
be shown to the user.
Option 68 Online Master List
Data [/FREE] (Free Download)
[/RAW] (Allow Raw File Download)
[/LZH] (Allow LZH Compression)
[/ARJ] (Allow ARJ Compression)
[/ZOO] (Allow ZOO Compression)
[/PAK] (Allow PAK Compression)
[/ARC] (Allow ARC Compression)
[/SQZ] (Allow SQZ Compression)
[/RAR] (Allow RAR Compression)
[/SWAP] (Swap Out Ezycom on Compression)
This option allows the user to download a master list that
is generated online and on the fly. /RAW, /ZIP, /LZH, /ARJ,
/ZOO, /PAK, /ARC, /SQZ allow the sysop to define which
archive formats are allowable for the download of the
master list. /RAW is means uncompressed and if no formats
are specified, ALL are assumed to be available. The /SWAP
command will tell Ezycom to swap out leaving only 8K of
memory resident while producing the list. If the /FREE
command is used then the download is free.
It is recommended that systems with large filebases do not
use this option and just make a master file list each day
instead (during maintenance for instance).
Option 69 Toggle local display
Data ON | OFF | TOGGLE
This option turns on/off the local display when a remote
user is on-line (does nothing in local mode). If ON is
used, then the display is turned ON. If OFF is used, then
the display is turned OFF. If TOGGLE is used, then the
display is turned ON or OFF depending on its current state.
Option 70 Toggle Date Display Format
Data None
This option allows the user to toggle between using the
American (MM/DD/YYYY) and European (DD/MM/YYYY) date
formats.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-23
Option 71 Change Colour Setup
Data <1..8> <+ | ->
This option allows the user to change colours for the
display of message/file areas. The <1..8> is which colour
to change. If "+" is used, then the colour number is
incremented by one. If "-" is used, then the colour number
is decremented by one.
Option 72 Change Alias
Data None
This option allows the user to change his/her alias to any
other name as long as it is not already in use by another
user (either as their real name or as their alias).
Option 73 Change Comment
Data None
This option allows the user to define a comment about
him/herself, or change the current one to something else.
Option 74 Clear Screen
Data None
This option simply clears the screen, if the user has clear
screen codes set to On.
Option 75 Display .ASC -w- HotKeys
Data
This option is the same as Type 40 except that only ASC/ASL
menus can be displayed. This can give the user fast menus,
but still have ANSI/AVATAR for other options like the Full
Screen Editor for instance.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-24
Option 76 Select Default Protocol
Data None
This option allows the user to select a default protocol
for downloading and uploading. This removes the necessity
to choose a protocol each time the user wishes to do a
transfer (ie saves time).
Option 77 Deposit Time Or Kilobytes
Data /K | /T
This option allows the user to deposit time or kilobytes
into their time or kilobyte bank respectively. The /K
switch, forces the kilobytes bank. The /T forces the time
bank.
Option 78 Withdraw Time Or Kilobytes
Data [/K]
This option allows the user to withdraw time or kilobytes
from their time or kilobyte bank respectively. The /K and
/T switches work the same as for option 78.
Option 79 Display Best User Stats
Data [/M] Display Best Messages
[/C] Display Best Caller
[/UP] Display Best Uploader (Files)
[/DN] Display Best Downloader (Files)
[/FP] Display Best File Points
[/UK] Display Best Uploader (KiloBytes)
[/DK] Display Best Downloader (KiloBytes)
This option displays a best users list. If no options are
specified, then all best lists are displayed. It is
possible to have more than one best list displayed at a
time using a combination of the options.
Option 80 Disable GLOBAL For This Menu
Data None
This option disables functions on the GLOBAL menu for the
menu current menu, thus rendering any normally global
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-25
options, inactive. This should be used as an automatic
option and should be the first line in the MENU.
Option 81 Create Door Information Files
Data [DOORWAY=]
[DORINFO=]
[DOORSYS=]
*A Place Alias in the Files to written.
*O Place the Locked Port Baud Rate (MaxBaud)
in the Files to written.
(This the letter O, not the numeral 0)
*V Use Avatar Standard for Graphics Flags in
DORINFOx.DEF.
*9 Use FO1..250 for Nodes 1 to 250
*N Use 1..250 for Nodes 1 to 250
This option writes the doorway DOOR.SYS and/or DORINFO1.DEF
file(s) to the filenames of your choosing. The subset of
type 7 parameters listed can be placed in any parts of the
command line and will be translated into their meaning.
Example Data: DORINFO=DORIN*9.DEF *A *O *V
Option 81, can optionally include a baud rate after *O to
make the drop files use that baud rate.
Format: *O[]
Example Data: DORINFO=DORIN*9.DEF *A *O115200 *V
Example Data: DORINFO=DORIN*9.DEF *A *O38400 *V
Option 82 Select compression type
Data None
This allows users to choose the type of compression to use
on QWK bundles.
Option 83 Download .QWK bundle
Data None
This allows users to begin bundling and later begin
downloading a QWK mail archive. Selecting this option gives
a submenu where users can also toggle whether they wish to
receive their personal mail and whether they wish to
receive new mail or not. Once download is selected,
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-26
bundling of the QWK files will begin. The user is given
constant updates as to the status of the bundling. Local
downloading of QWK is also allowed and you will be prompted
for a path to download to after the bundle is ready for
transfer. Pressing ESC during bundling will abort building
and allow the user to choose whether or not to download
what has been done so far. If carrier is lost during
bundling, the process is immediately aborted.
Option 84 Upload .QWK bundle
Data None
This allows users to send QWK reply bundles to the BBS ie
replies to messages they downloaded. Local uploads are also
allowed in the same manner as local QWK downloads.
Option 85 Toggle full/combined mail check
Data None
This allows the user to toggle whether a New Mail Scan (at
login or from a menu option) checks ALL areas or only those
turned on in their combined area setup. The latter case is
best not used otherwise users will miss new mail to them in
areas not in their combined setup.
Option 86 Set .QWK options
Data /MAXMESS | /MAXAREA | /MAXOLD
Use this option to allow users to place restrictions on the
size of their QWK bundles. The /MAXMESS option allows the
user to set the maximum number of messages per bundle (up
to the limit you've set in EZYCFG). Use /MAXAREA to allow
users to select the maximum number of messages that can be
scanned out from each area they have selected. The /MAXOLD
option allow the user to control the maximum number of days
old that messages scanned out, are all allowed to be.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-27
Option 87 Toggle Flags
Data
This option allows you to toggle the status of flags from a
menu option. Status can be:
- to turn the flag off
+ to turn the flag on
* to toggle the flag (on becomes off, off becomes on)
Data Example: A8+ - will turn flag A8 on.
Option 88 Reset Lastread Pointers
Data None
This option allows the users to globally reset their
lastread pointers (used mostly for QWK) to either the
begining or the end of each area. The user is also given
the option to quit should they have accidently selected
this option. The choices available to the user are:
o B Beginning - Reset LRPs to zero.
o E End - Reset LRPs to the last message pointer
in each area.
o N Number - Allows the user to reset their LRPs
to any value between 0 and the max number of
messages in each area.
Note: Pressing enter at the prompt for this
choice is the equivalent of selecting E.
o Q. Quit - Exit this option without making any
changes.
Option 89 Display Rumour
Data None
This option will go through a rumours file and randomly
select a one line rumour and display it. This option is
most useful as an automatic option after a type 40 command
to display a rumour at the bottom of a menu before the
prompt is displayed. This is a Registered Only feature.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-28
Option 90 Add Rumour
Data None
This allows the user to add a rumour to the rumour file up
to one line in length. Colours can be embedded into these
rumours using either of the following schemes:
Method Method Colour
1 2
|b |01 Blue
|g |02 Green
|c |03 Cyan
|r |04 Red
|m |05 Magenta
|p |06 Magenta (Purple)
|y |07 Brown
|v |08 Light Gray
|B |09 Light Blue
|G |10 Light Green
|C |11 Light Cyan
|R |12 Light Red
|M |13 Light Magenta
|P |14 Light Magenta (Light Purple)
|Y |15 Yellow
|W |16 White
Lower case means dull, upper means light.
For Example:
|01P|02e|03t|04e|05r|06 D|07a|09v|10i|11e|12s
or
|bP|ge|ct|re|mr|y D|wa|Bv|Gi|Ce|Rs
would produce a rumour saying "Peter Davies" with colours.
Again, this is a registered only feature.
Option 91 Delete Rumour
Data [/DELETEANY]
This option allows a user to delete a rumour that THEY have
entered. Adding the DELETEANY option allows any rumour to
be deleted and this option would typically only be used in
this way by the sysop. Again, this is a registered only
feature.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-29
Option 92 List Rumours
Data [/SHOWUSERNAMES]
This option will list all rumours in the rumours file. If
the /SHOWUSERNAMES option is present, then the name of the
user who wrote each rumour will also be shown. Typically
this option is used only by the sysop. This is a registered
only feature.
Option 93 Display Questionnaire
Data
[output file] | [/NOWRITE] [/NOLOG]
Operates exactly the same as option 12, except this is used
to execute the compiled questionnaires.
Option 94 Change File Group
Data
Option 95 Change Message Group
Data
Menus types 94 (Change File Group) and 95 (Change Message
Group) also support /NOGLOBAL, meaning the the global menu
group will not be shown.
Appendix A - Menu Commands
Page: A-30
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-1
One of the reasons Ezycom is so flexible and extensible is
due to its questionnaire language. These commands range
from the simple to very complex type. This appendix is
intended as a complete reference to all the available
commands including some examples on how to use them. You
will find it useful to keep this appendix at hand should
you be writing a questionnaire file.
Throughout this appendix, is referred to and has
a range of 1 through to 50. All commands are case
in-sensitive so for example Quit, QUIT and quit are all the
same and constitute a valid command.
Commands For Producing Screen Output
All the commands following are used to produce output to
the user screen.
CLEARSCREEN
CLEARSCREEN clears the user's screen if he/she has the
clear screen flag set to ON.
For Example:
CLEARSCREEN
will simply clear the user's screen.
CHANGECOLOR
CHANGECOLOR or CHANGECOLOUR (either spelling works) changes
the current foreground and background colours to those
specified in the command.
For Example:
CHANGECOLOR 15 0
would change the current colour to White with a Black
background.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-2
The colour code assignments are:
Foreground Background
0 - Black 0 - Black
1 - Blue 1 - Blue
2 - Green 2 - Green
3 - Cyan 3 - Cyan
4 - Red 4 - Red
5 - Magenta 5 - Magenta
6 - Brown 6 - Brown
7 - LightGrey 7 - LightGrey
8 - DarkGrey
9 - LightBlue
10 - LightGreen
11 - LightCyan
12 - LightRed
13 - LightMagenta
14 - Yellow
15 - White
DISPLAY ""
This displays a message to the user. It does NOT
automatically place a carriage return on the end. Use the |
character to force carriage return(s).
For Example:
DISPLAY "High"
DISPLAY "High|"
DISPLAY "||This will skip two lines"
The first command simply prints High to the screen. The
second will move the cursor to the beginning of the next
line after displaying High again after the other High. The
third command uses multiple | characters to skip lines
before displaying something.
DISPLAYLOC "" and DISPLAYCOM ""
These two commands are simular to DISPLAY except they only
display either to the local screen or to the communications
port. DISPLAYLOC will only display the message to the local
screen (ie. the BBS end) and DISPLAYCOM will only display
to the communications port. Circumstances may arise where
you may only want one or the other, for instance you may
want to make a note come up during a script while a script
is running for your reference. Can be useful for debugging.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-3
DISPLAYASW & LISTANSWER
DISPLAYASW or LISTANSWER would display the to the user WITH a carriage return.
For Example:
DISPLAYASW 1
would display the contents of variable 1 to the screen AND
would take a new line afterwards.
DISPLAYASWNOCR & LISTANSWERNOCR
These options work like DISPLAYASW and LISTANSWER, but do
NOT add a CR/LF to the display line.
DISPLAYFLAG
This option displays the current status of a user's flag.
For Example:
DISPLAYFLAG A1
would display 'ON' or 'OFF' depending on the value of the
user's flag A1.
DISPLAYGROUP
DISPLAYGROUP will display the current status of a group (A
through to Z). If the particular group is ON, then ON is
displayed, or if it is OFF, then OFF is displayed.
For Example:
DISPLAYGROUP A
GOTOXY
GOTOXY moves the text cursor to position that is defined in
the command line. Note that this does NOT work in ASCII
mode.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-4
For Example:
GOTOXY 10 20
DISPLAY "This is at 10th position on line 20"
The following commands work for ANSI/AVATAR only
SETBOXTYPE <0-4>
Sets the border style for line and box drawing
0 is ڿijÀÙ
1 is ɻͺȼ
2 is ոͳԾ
3 is ַĺӽ
4 is ++-|++
eg: SETBOXTYPE 2
DRAWLINEX
Draws a line along the x access.
eg: DRAWLINEX 5 5 20
DRAWLINEY
Draws a line along the y access.
eg: DRAWLINEY 5 5 10
DRAWBOX
Draws a box
eg: DRAWBOX 5 5 75 20
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-5
Commands For Producing File Output
The next few commands are used for producing output to an
answer (.ASW) file.
POSTINFO
POSTINFO writes the users name and the current time and
date to the answer file.
For Example:
POSTINFO
OUTPUTANSWER "" [var num]
OUTPUTANSWER writes and then the variable
contents to the answer file. The [var num] is an optional
parameter and allows just to be written to the
answer file if so desired. The also supports all
the CtrlK/F commands, such as Ctrl-FA.
For Example:
SETVARS "High" 1
OUTPUTANSWER "Current Value of Var 1 " 1
OUTPUTANSWER ""
OUTPUTANSWER "Ctrl-FA"
(The Ctrl-F represents Control F key)
CREATE
CREATE deletes the current Answer file and restarts it.
This can be used ANYWHERE within a questionaire file. If
you are creating DOOR files this optioon should prove to be
useful.
For Example:
CREATE
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-6
Commands For Getting Input
The next series of commands are using for getting and
controlling input from the user.
WAITENTER
WAITENTER displays the enter prompt, and waits till Enter
is pressed.
For Example:
WAITENTER
would write 'Press [Enter] to Continue: ' on the screen and
then wait for ENTER to be pressed before continuing.
CAPITALIZE
CAPITALIZE or CAPITALISE (either spelling will work) turns
ON or OFF the capitalising of all input statements from now
on in the questionaire. FIRSTLETTER is a special option
that will capitalise the first letter of every word and
force lower case on every other letter.
For Example:
CAPITALIZE ON
would force all following input into capital (upper-case)
letters only.
ASK
ASK will ask the user for a string (A sequence of
characters). The string length maximum is that defined with
. The result is placed in . If used in
conjunction with CAPITALIZE then the text entered can be
forcefully capitalised. The can be a number from
1 to 50. Length can be from 1 to 255.
For Example:
ASK 20 1
DISPLAYASW 1
would ASK the user for a string of maximum length 20
characters, and store it in variable 1.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-7
GETCHOICE [default]
GETCHOICE waits until a key in is pressed and
stores the result in . If a [default] key is in
the command, then if ENTER is pressed, the default key will
be placed in . If GETCHOICE is used in conjunction
with Capitalise ON or FIRSTLETTER, then all input is
capitalised.
For Example:
GETCHOICE YN 1 Y
Would wait until either Y(es) or N(o) or ENTER is pressed.
If, ENTER is pressed, then Variable would contain Y.
Example 2:
GETCHOICE YN 1
Is exactly the same as the previous example but if ENTER is
pressed, it is ignored ie. the user MUST type in Y(es) or
N(o).
Commands For Modifying User Settings
The next series of questionaire commands are used to modify
various user settings that are stored in their userfile.
Normally one would use these commands as the result of the
user carrying out some specified action so these commands
are often found following some sort of test.
SETFLAG
This option is used to set the user's flag to a value. ON
would turn the user's flag on, OFF would turn the user's
flag OFF, and TOGGLE would turn the user's flag OFF if it
was ON, or ON if it was OFF.
For Example:
SETFLAG D8 ON
would set this user's flag D8 to ON.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-8
SETFILEGROUP and SETMSGGROUP
SETFILEGROUP or SETMSGGROUP sets the current group (file
and message) for the user. is the group letter (A
through Z), which you wish the command to act on. Instead
of specifying a group, "*" can be used to globally set ALL
groups ON or OFF (TOGGLE is NOT support for Global Group
Setting).
For Example:
SETFILEGROUP * OFF
SETFILEGROUP A ON
This would set all groups off, then set Group A to ON.
SETWANTCHAT
This would set the User's inter-node chat var to on or off.
SETEXCLUDEUSER
Set to on, this would prevent a User's stats from being
used when USERCOMP creates the "Best" lists.
SETCOMBINEDMAIL
This will set the Users's combined var on or off. Care must
be given here since the User will not be able to use the
QWK mail features if set to OFF.
SETHOLDMAIL
This would allow a User to set their echo/netmail on hold,
preventing it from being deleted while they were absent
from the BBS.
SETSECURITY
SETSECURITY changes the user's current security level to
that defined in the command.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-9
For Example:
SETSECURITY 100
would set this user's security level to 100. If you set the
user's security to zero they will immediately by locked
out.
SETIGNOREFP
SETIGNOREFP sets the file points ignore flag ON or OFF for
the user.
For Example:
SETFP OFF
would set the file points ignore flag OFF for this user.
SETANSI
SETANSI sets ANSI graphics ON or OFF for the user.
For Example:
SETANSI OFF
would set ANSI graphics OFF for this user.
SETAVATAR
SETAVATAR sets AVATAR graphics ON or OFF for the user.
For Example:
SETAVATAR TOGGLE
would turn avatar graphics OFF if it was ON, or ON if it
was OFF for the user.
SETFSE
SETFSE sets the ANSI Full Screen Editor ON or OFF for the
user.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-10
For Example:
SETFSE OFF
would turn off the full screen editor for this user.
SETRATIO
SETRATIO sets the File Ratio Ignore Flag ON or OFF for the
user.
For Example:
SETRATIO ON
would activate file ratio checking on this user (should the
system have any).
SETPOSTCALL
SETPOSTCALL sets the Ignore Post Call Ratio Flag ON or OFF
for the current user on-line.
For Example:
SETPOSTCALL TOGGLE
would set the postcall ratio ON if it was OFF or ON if it
was already OFF for this user.
SETMNUTIME
SETMNUTIME sets the Ignore Menu Time Restrictions, that is
time on-line/start time/end time, ON or OFF for the current
user on-line.
For Example:
SETMNUTIME ON
would set this user's ignore menu time restriction setting
to ON.
Appendix B - Questionnaire Commands
Page: B-11
SETCOMMENT
SETCOMMENT sets the user's comment field the variable
number. Only the first 40 characters of the variable number
are used.
For Example:
SETCOMMENT 1
would set the user's comment line in the user file to the
contents of variable 1.
SETTOPMENU
SETTOPMENU sets the user's top menu field to .
Menuname should NOT include the .MNU extension.
For Example:
SETTOPMENU TOP
would set this user's top menu to TOP.
SETDELETED
SETDELETED will set the user's deleted flag as per the
option after it. If a user is marked as deleted they will
not be logged off. However next time they call they will
have to login as a new user and the deleted account will be
purged during the next run of USERCOMP.
For Example:
SETDELETED ON
would set the user's deleted flag in the user file to On.
SETTIME + | - | = <#> |