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SEARCHLIGHT BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM
QUICK INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
by Frank LaRosa
(c) Copyright 1987,88 Searchlight Software
-------------[ Version 1.30 ]--------------
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS are intended as a guide for experienced users of
both MSDOS and BBS software. The full documentation for Searchlight BBS is
contained in the file SLBBS.DOC. Use these instructions only if you're in a
hurry to get your BBS up and running; consult the full manual for further
information.
(1) Files List
To begin the installation process, you need the following files:
CONFIG.EXE - Configuration/initialization program
SLBBS.EXE - Startup program/doors manager
LOGIN.EXE - Login/new user program
BBS.EXE - Searchlight BBS main program
FILES.EXE - Searchlight Files system
SYSOP.EXE - Searchlight Sysop program
In addition, the file TEXT.ZIP, containing the online help files, will be
needed if online help is desired, although omitting the online help files is
not an error.
(2) Installation
Begin by creating a directory on your hard disk for Searchlight BBS; usually
this directory is simply called BBS, although you may call it anything you
like. Make your BBS directory active and copy the above six files into it.
(3) File Setup
The program CONFIG.EXE must be run first. It creates the BBS's main data
files and lets you configure your communications and other system options.
Just type CONFIG and press RETURN. CONFIG says,
Searchlight BBS data files cannot be found.
Do you wish to create them in the current directory (Y/N)?
Type 'Y' to proceed. CONFIG creates six data files, as follows:
CONFIG.BBS - SLBBS configuration info
USER.BBS - User file
MESSAGE.BBS - Message file
INDEX.BBS - Subboard file
LOG.BBS - Call log file
QUOTES.BBS - Quotes file
These six files are used and maintained by the BBS system; these are the only
six data files you need to run Searchlight BBS. Of these six files, only
USER.BBS and MESSAGE.BBS grow dynamically as more users and messages are added
to the system. The remaining files are static in length.
(4) Configuration
Continuing with the CONFIG program, you should now see a menu with the items
General Setup, Communications Setup, and Screen Colors Setup. Select each
section and edit the fields as desired. Here is a brief rundown of the CONFIG
options found in each section:
(A) General Setup
This section contains 19 fields for configuring your system's name, access
levels assigned to new and validated users, path and file names, etc. The
most important item in this list is TEXT FILE PATH. This field defines the
path to the directory where SLBBS will look for its online help files, user
defined text files (such as the login screen), custom menus, etc. Type a
pathname here, such as "C:\BBS\TEXT", and be sure to create the directory
with the MKDIR command after exiting CONFIG.
The Program Path option lets you define the path where Searchlight's
EXE files will be found. If left blank, the path defaults to the current
directory. If nonblank, it can be used to allow you to place your
program files on a different drive (ie. RAMdisk) for faster access.
Consult the SLBBS main manual for a description of the other items.
(B) Communications Setup
These options configure your COMM port, modem speeds, and modem init
strings. For the two init strings, use the ! character to generate a
carriage return, and ~ (tilde) to generate a 1/2 second pause. Remote Init
String is trans-mitted to the modem each time the BBS resets itself for
another call. Local Init String is issued during a local login; it
typically contains the string "ATH1!" to make the phone busy while the SYSOP
logs in.
Searchlight uses interrupt-driven input AND it will use interrupt-driven
output if the "Output Buffering Factor" is set to a nonzero value. IF YOU
EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS with modem I/O, try setting your Output Buffering Factor
to zero. Some RS232 adapters or internal modems do not work reliably with
output buffering.
The BBS waits for an "OK" message from the modem after issuing init
strings. If no OK message is received, a warning message is printed.
Please consult the main manual for further information.
The "Direct Video" option found in this section lets you specify whether
direct writes or BIOS calls will be used for screen output. Select BIOS mode
if running Searchlight in a multitasking, windowed environment; use Direct
otherwise.
(C) Screen Colors Setup
These fields define screen colors used by the program on color CRT's. If
your CRT is monochrome, the colors selected will not affect you, but they
will affect those users selecting the Color ANSI mode when logging in.
Colors are expressed as numeric values from 0 to 15; the numbers correspond
to screen colors as follows:
(Dark Colors) (Light Colors)
0: Black 8: Dark Gray
1: Blue 9: Light Blue
2: Green 10: Light Green
3: Cyan 11: Light Cyan
4: Red 12: Light Red
5: Magenta 13: Light Magenta
6: Brown 14: Yellow
7: Light Gray 15: White
(5) Running Searchlight BBS
After exiting CONFIG, you are ready to run SEARCHLIGHT BBS. Simply type
SLBBS on the command line and press RETURN. You must be positioned in the
"current" directory containing the six BBS data files to run Searchlight;
otherwise, an error message will result.
SLBBS.EXE is the startup file which will invoke the main program, BBS.EXE,
login program, and other programs automatically. Always run SLBBS, rather than
BBS.EXE or LOGIN.EXE, when starting Searchlight. You can exit Searchlight BBS
and return to DOS at any time by pressing ALT-X. You can log in to the system
locally by pressing the spacebar or RETURN key. Other "hot keys" are described
in detail in the main manual.
To log in, type the RETURN key, select [C]olor or [M]onochrome graphics, and
enter SYSOP in response to the "Enter Your Name" prompt. SYSOP is a default
account created automatically by the initilization program. Although most
SLBBS operators use the SYSOP account, you can create other accounts for your-
self as neccesary. BE SURE TO ASSIGN A PASSWORD to your SYSOP account with
the OPTIONS command; otherwise, other users will be able to gain access to
your system.
(6) Text Directory Setup
The pathname specified as the "Text File Path" (item #13 on the General
Configuration Menu) determines where Searchlight will look for certain text
files, including online HELP files, menus, ANSI screens, etc. If you left this
field blank earlier, create a directory named TEXT and enter its pathname into
the Text File Path. Install the Searchlight online HELP files by unpacking the
file TEXT.ZIP into this directory (or, if you did not receive your HELP files
in archive form, copy all files with *.MH, *.SH, *.FH and *.TXT extensions into
your text directory).
Other files in the TEXT directory are files you create with a text editor or
ANSI type editor. Text files have the extension .TXT if the file is a general
text file for all users, or .ANS if the file contains ANSI sequences. You can
create seperate versions of a file for ANSI and non-ANSI users; for example,
if you have the files LOGIN.TXT and LOGIN.ANS, the TXT file is displayed when
a user selecting non-ANSI graphics mode logs in, and the ANS file is used when
an ANSI user logs in. If you want to use one file for both, name it LOGIN.TXT.
Here are the files you can create. All are optional.
LOGIN.TXT/ANS : Title screen, displayed with each login
LOGOFF.TXT/ANS : Ending screen, displayed at logoff
NEWUSER.TXT/ANS : File displayed once for each new user
MMENU.TXT/ANS : File to replace the main HELP menu
FMENU.TXT/ANS : File to replace the files system HELP menu
SMENU.TXT/ANS : File to replace the sysop HELP menu
SUBA.TXT/ANS : Subboard message files, displayed once each time a user
SUBB.TXT/ANS : accesses the indicated subboard.
... :
SUBX.TXT/ANS :
In addition, the online HELP files (files ending in .MH, .FH, and .SH) are
ordinary text files and may be edited if desired.
(7) Files and Doors Setup
To use the FILE transfer system and the DOORS system, you first need to
create two files, FILEDIR.DEF and DOORS.DEF. These files should be present
in the BBS's main working directory (same directory as the BBS data files).
These files must follow a strict format. Please consult the main manual
for complete details; check the table of contents under "Files System" and
"Doors System".
(8) General Information
Some general information and oft-overlooked points of interest:
Abort Key: At any time, the ^C key aborts messages, listings, or other
output in progress. It is quite responsive in comparison to much other
BBS software; use this key often.
Access Levels: Access levels go from 0 to 255. In general, access levels
do not have any "absolute" significance, but are relative to the minimum
access levels you set up on subboards, file directories, and DOORS. The
exceptions are access level 255, defining the SYSOP who has ultimate
access to all functions, and 254, defining a Co-SYSOP who has access to
most features except things like changing his/her own access level, etc.
Help Files: Read the online help files if you want a fast overview of the
system without reading the manual. Just select a command on the main
menu and type the '?' key. Press 'H', then RETURN, for a help menu.
Text Editor: Searchlight BBS's full screen, WordStar(TM) compatible text
editor works with most terminal software supporting the ANSI or VT100
terminal codes. A three-way setup switch (accessable via the Options
command) lets you configure the editor's level of ANSI support. In the
"Full" ANSI mode, the editor requires a robust ANSI terminal at the remote
end to work correctly. "Generic" mode is a relaxed ANSI mode, requiring
less support from the remote terminal but more modem I/O. "ProComm" mode
is provided as a special mode for ProComm(TM) users.
* FLASH * Telix 3.0 has been tested and found to work very well with
Searchlight when vt102 mode is selected within Telix. The only bug found,
with Searchlight configured for "Full" ansi mode, was in Telix's
implementation of the insert-character function. However, since ProComm
doesn't support that either, Telix works perfectly in Searchlight's
ProComm mode.
Doors: The Searchlight BBS Doors System is much more powerful than DOORS
systems provided by other BBS software. Rather than simply redirecting
output to the serial device, Searchlight completely replaces the BIOS INT
10 function, allowing ANY software that uses the BIOS to run as a door.
Cursor positioning, window clearing, color/attribute changes, etc. are
supported by translation into appropriate ANSI terminal sequences. On
the input side, F-Keys, cursor keys, and other special keys are trans-
lated from ANSI sequences to IBM extended keyboard codes. What this
means is that you can run not only line oriented programs, but many full
screen programs as Doors. The best way to see if a program will run as a
Door is to simply try it; make sure you use an ANSI compatible terminal
and run in ANSI mode if the door program uses full-screen features.
ShareWare vs. Extended Version: This ShareWare version of Searchlight BBS
is NOT a stripped-down or modified version of our Extended Version. It
is a powerful, flexible program in its own right. We offer the Extended
Version as an advanced Searchlight BBS offering more features and more
flexibility to those who need it. If you are unsure, you can use this
version now and upgrade later. Please consult the READ.ME file contained
in this package for complete details and order forms.
(9) Technical Comments
Finally, here is some information for the technically oriented.
Language: Searchlight BBS is written in Turbo Pascal. Versions starting
with 1.30 are compiled with Turbo 5.0 and are distributed as .EXE files.
Earlier versions were compiled with Turbo 3.0 and included .COM, .CHN,
and overlay (.000, .001, etc) files.
User File: Searchlight's user file (USER.BBS) is implemented as a binary
tree. The tree is not maintained as a balanced or AVL tree, but it may be
balanced on demand with the BALANCE function on the Extended Sysop Menu.
Deleted records are maintained internally on a free record list, and
reused automatically; when no free records exist, the file is expanded.
Message File: Searchlight BBS maintains messages as linked lists of data
blocks in the MESSAGE.BBS data file. Messages do not occupy fixed
amounts of storage but allocate as many blocks as is needed for the
message. Deleted message blocks are maintained in a free block list, and
reused automatically. MESSAGE.BBS contains text of all messages, mail,
and bulletins on the system.
Message texts are compressed before being stored according to one or
both of two simple compression algorithms. Compression reduces the size
of the message file 10-15%.
User mailboxes are implemented as linked lists of messages; thus, there
is no limit on the number of messages that may be in a user's mailbox.
Both the USER and MESSAGE files are totally self-maintaining; no
"packing" type operations need be performed. Deleted file space is
automatically and efficiently reused.
Directory Files: Each .DIR file is stored as a binary tree with an extra
set or pointers forming a chronological list. Thus, all single file
references, alphabetical file lists, and NEW message scans are extremely
efficient; only wild-card searches require the entire file to be
processed.
Limitations: The following values apply ONLY to ShareWare versions of
Searchlight BBS, and are subject to change in future versions:
Subboards: The number of message subboards is fixed at 24.
Messages: The maximum number of messages that may be posted on any
subboad is 290. In Extended Versions, this has been increased to 480.
Message File: The message file is subject to an upper limit of approx-
imately 3.1 megabytes. Searchlight BBS will return an "out of disk
space" message if this limit is reached (this represents thousands of
messages). The size limit is doubled to 6.2mb with Extended Version.
File Directories: The maximum number of entries in each FILEx.DEF file
is 26. However, you can have up to 24 seperate FILEx.DEF files,
giving you thousands of file system options.
Doors: For readability only, it is suggested that each DOORSx.DEF file
contain less than 20 entries. You can chain DOOR menus and you can
have seperate DOOR listings for each subboard.