|
|
| Telegard Bulletin Board System
|
| Copyright 1988-1991 by Martin Pollard. All rights reserved.
|
|
| Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
|
| Release Date: 15 Dec 1991
|
|
___________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
___________________
Introduction .................................................... 1
Existing Systems .............................................. 1
New Systems ................................................... 1
Compatibility Notes ........................................... 1
Structures for Data Files ..................................... 1
Converting Your Existing System ................................. 2
Before You Begin .............................................. 2
Performing the Conversion ..................................... 2
Installing a New System ......................................... 4
Before You Begin .............................................. 4
Performing the Installation ................................... 5
Starting Up the System ........................................ 6
System Configuration .......................................... 7
Modem Configuration ........................................... 7
Logging On .................................................... 7
Additional Customization ...................................... 8
Replacing a Corrupt STATUS.DAT File ........................... 9
Changes and Enhancements ........................................ 10
New Features .................................................. 10
Changes ....................................................... 12
Bug Fixes ..................................................... 15
Using Existing Telegard Utilities ............................. 16
Message System Changes ........................................ 17
The Message Base Editor...................................... 17
Message System Menu Commands ................................ 18
Writing Messages ............................................ 21
NetMail ..................................................... 22
Full-Screen Editor .......................................... 24
Conferencing .................................................. 25
Conferencing Examples ....................................... 26
____________________________________
BORING (BUT NECESSARY) LEGAL STUFF
____________________________________
WARRANTY
This program is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, and is only guaranteed to occupy
disk space. In no event will the author be liable to you or
anyone else for any damages, including (but not limited to) any
lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential
damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, this
program.
In short: You're on your own. If it works for you, great; if
not, or if it breaks something, c'est la vie. As the saying
goes, "Use it at your own risk, but if it breaks, *YOU* have
the pieces."
COPYRIGHT
This program is provided at no cost to you. However, it is NOT
public domain; it is copyrighted by the author. You may dis-
tribute this program freely, so long as all files in the dis-
tribution archive remain intact, without any changes or modifi-
cations. The distribution archive is in ZIP format; however,
you may convert the archive to any format you choose, so long
as the above requirements are met.
CREDITS
All brand and product names referenced in this document are
trademarks, registered trademarks, or copyrighted works of
their respective holders.
Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
______________
INTRODUCTION
______________
Version 2.7 represents a major upgrade over previous releases of
Telegard (version 2.5i and earlier). This document will attempt to
detail the changes and additions in this version, and provide con-
version and installation instructions. Please read this document
carefully, as it provides much vital information that is not in the
main documentation.
EXISTING SYSTEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To convert your existing system, use the CONVERT.EXE utility en-
closed in the distribution archive. Refer to the section on system
conversion elsewhere in this document for more information.
NEW SYSTEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~
To install a new system from scratch, use the INSTALL.EXE utility
enclosed in the distribution archive. Refer to the section on
system installation elsewhere in this document for more information.
COMPATIBILITY NOTES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several files have had their formats changed, some slightly, some
severely. As such, there will be many utilities which worked for
previous versions of Telegard, but will not work with this version.
Refer to the section on system changes and enhancements elsewhere in
this document for more information.
STRUCTURES FOR DATA FILES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To assist programmers in their efforts to write (or upgrade) Tele-
gard utilities, the structures for Telegard's data files are provid-
ed in the distribution archive. Two files are included,
TELEGARD.INC (for Turbo Pascal version 5.0 and later) and TELEGARD.H
(for most C compilers). Information on how to use these structures
is beyond the scope of this document; refer to the Telegard Software
Development Kit for more information.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
_________________________________
CONVERTING YOUR EXISTING SYSTEM
_________________________________
This section describes the procedure for converting your existing
version 2.5i or 2.5k system. The CONVERT.EXE utility (included in
the distribution archive) is used to perform the required conver-
sion.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAKE A COMPLETE BACKUP OF YOUR PRESENT SETUP. Although the conver-
sion utility will attempt to retain the original versions of the
data files it converts by renaming them to *.OLD, it's always a good
idea to have a backup just in case something catastrophic happens
(Murphy's Law is a fundamental rule of the Universe).
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH DISK SPACE TO PERFORM THE CONVERSION. How
do you know how much you'll need? Since the message bases are being
converted in addition to several data files, the best way is to look
in your MSGS directory, find the largest *.BRD and *.MIX files, and
assume you'll need at least that much space (more is preferable).
PROCESS ALL ECHOMAIL AND GROUPMAIL. The conversion utility will set
all messages to "sent" status, so it's a good idea to process any
and all pending EchoMail or GroupMail first (outbound messages in
particular).
PERFORMING THE CONVERSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Copy the CONVERT.EXE file into your main BBS directory.
2. Type CONVERT and press <ENTER>, and read the opening screen
carefully. If you do not wish to perform the conversion at
this time, press <ESC>. Otherwise, press <ENTER> to start the
process.
3. If there are no errors, CONVERT will display "Conversion com-
plete!" and return to DOS. If, however, there was an error, a
message will be displayed to that effect. If this is the case,
reinstall the backup you made of your old setup, correct the
problem, and try again.
4. Copy the new TELEGARD.EXE file into your main BBS directory,
and delete the old BBS.EXE and BBS.OVR files.
At this point, you should be all set. During the conversion, sever-
al converted files are left in the main BBS and GFILES directories
with an *.OLD extension. These can be deleted once you've verified
that the new setup is operating properly.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Since there have been several changes to the SysOp function keys and
the Wait For Caller menu commands, new versions of SYSFUNC.ANS and
WFCMENU.ANS are included in the distribution archive. If you wish
to upgrade these screens, simply copy the files into your AFILES
directory. When the BBS is next started up, the new screens will be
automatically generated.
(If you already have a custom WFC menu ANSI created, you can, in-
stead of replacing it, make appropriate changes to your existing
WFCMENU.ANS file by referring to the "Changes" and "New Features"
sections of this document.)
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
_________________________
INSTALLING A NEW SYSTEM
_________________________
This section describes how to install a new Telegard system using
the INSTALL.EXE utility (included in the distribution archive). By
using this program, most of the work of setting up a Telegard BBS is
taken care of for you, leaving only the job of customization and
"tweaking" various settings to your satisfaction.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following lines MUST be added to your CONFIG.SYS file (usually
found in the root directory of your C: drive). If CONFIG.SYS does
not exist, create a new one.
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
FILES=30
BUFFERS=40
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS loads the ANSI video display driver that comes with
DOS. (If ANSI.SYS does not reside in your root directory,
either place a copy there, or add the pathname where ANSI.SYS
resides to the DEVICE= line.)
Due to the proliferation of "ANSI viruses" (programs that use
the ANSI driver to redefine keys on the keyboard to perform
various deadly functions, like reformat your hard drive), we
suggest you use an ANSI driver that does not allow keyboard
redefinition. One such driver is ZANSI.SYS; others are avail-
able. (These drivers usually have an additional advantage, in
that they are much faster than the ANSI.SYS driver.)
FILES=30 specifies the maximum number of files that can be open at
any one time. Since Telegard works with a lot of files, 30
will usually do the job quite nicely. (If a FILES= statement
already exists, make sure that it is defined to AT LEAST 30.)
More files may be required, depending on your system configura-
tion, so experiment.
BUFFERS=40 specifies the number of I/O buffers to be used by DOS
when reading from and writing to disk. Again, since Telegard
performs a lot of disk I/O, 40 buffers will do the job. (If a
BUFFERS= statement already exists, make sure that it is defined
to AT LEAST 40.) More buffers may be required, depending on
your system configuration, so experiment.
Note that if you are using disk caching software, such as PC-
Cache (part of Central Point Software's PC Tools Deluxe), you
should *NOT* include a BUFFERS= line in CONFIG.SYS, as it will
degrade the performance of the caching program.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
You will also need to obtain the latest version of Omen Technolo-
gies' DSZ. DSZ is a file transfer protocol utility that sup-
ports the Xmodem, Ymodem, and Zmodem protocols. Telegard comes
configured for these three protocols, and if you wish to allow
users to upload and download files, you will need DSZ. (DSZ is
widely distributed, and will usually be available on many BBSes
near you.)
Finally, you will have to obtain a FOSSIL driver. FOSSIL stands for
Fido/Opus/SEAdog Standard Interface Layer, and is a standard for
telecommunications in most of the IBM PC BBS world. Several drivers
exist; two of the more popular ones are David Nugent's BNU, and Ray
Gwinn's X00. Either or both of these drivers should be available
from a system near you. (Telegard *REQUIRES* the use of a FOSSIL
driver; if you do not use one, Telegard will not be able to communi-
cate with your modem.) Consult the FOSSIL documentation for
specific information on how to install it into your system.
PERFORMING THE INSTALLATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Create a directory that will serve as the base directory for
the rest of the BBS (using the MKDIR command), then go to it
(using the CHDIR command). We suggest using a name that is NOT
as obvious as, say, "BBS" or "BOARD" or "SYSTEM" or "TELEGARD"
(these are the first things tried by someone with malicious
intent)! Try to choose a unique name that only you will know.
2. Unpack the distribution archive or -- if you have unpacked it
already -- move the files into this directory. Among the files
should be INSTALL.EXE and INSTALL.MJP. INSTALL.EXE is the
installation program itself; INSTALL.MJP is the archive (creat-
ed with PKWARE's PKZIP) that contains many of the files neces-
sary to create a new BBS setup.
3. Type INSTALL and press <ENTER> to run the installation utility.
You will be shown a short menu:
1. Change pathnames
2. Configure parameters
3. Begin installation
4. Create new STATUS.DAT file
Q. Exit to DOS
If, at this time, you wish to abort the installation, press "Q"
to return to DOS.
4. Select option 1. At this menu, you will be shown all the
pathnames that will serve as the default setup. If you wish to
change any of these, now is the time to do it. Once you are
satisfied with the configuration, press "Q" to return to the
main menu.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
5. Select option 2. At this menu, you will be shown several
configuration options, including:
System name
System phone number
SysOp name
SysOp alias
as well as items associated with FidoNet style networking.
Make any appropriate changes, then press "Q" to return to the
main menu. (If you are not interested in networking at this
time, you can skip the second set of options.)
6. Select option 3 to begin the installation. If, during any
point in the installation, an error occurs, the program will
abort the installation process.
Note that PKWARE's PKUNZIP.EXE program *MUST* be located in the
current directory, or in a directory specified in your PATH
statement, for the installation procedure to work, as the
program uses this utility to unpack the INSTALL.MJP archive.
When the installation procedure is finished, the message
"Installation complete!" is displayed. At this point, press
<ENTER> to return to the main menu.
7. Once installation is complete, press "Q" to return to DOS.
8. Add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
SET DSZLOG=C:\BBS\DSZTEMP.LOG
This is necessary when using DSZ (described previously); it is
the log that DSZ writes whenever a file is transferred. Tele-
gard uses this log to determine the success or failure of a
file upload or download.
9. Reboot your system so that the changes in CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT will be in place.
A default Telegard BBS is now installed and configured, ready for
you to customize! (Refer to the section on customizing Telegard for
more information.)
STARTING UP THE SYSTEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make sure your system time and date are set correctly; they are
ALWAYS used by Telegard during EVERY logon. (It is suggested that
you obtain a hardware clock/calendar if your system does not al-
ready have one; IBM PC/ATs, PS/2s, and compatibles usually have
one built-in.)
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
To start the system, go to the main BBS directory and type:
TELEGARD <ENTER>
After loading in data files and performing several boot steps,
the system will attempt to initialize the modem. If after a few
seconds the system is still trying to initialize the modem, press
the space bar to abort the initialization process.
The screen you see before you is called the Waiting For Caller
screen (also known as the WFC screen or WFC menu). From here, you
can choose several options to configure and control your system, as
we as log on locally. Most of these are briefly covered here; for
full details, refer to the Telegard documentation.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To configure the system to your particular wants and needs, use
the System Configuration command ("P" at the WFC screen). Look over
each section carefully and modify whatever you feel necessary.
(The Telegard documentation contains detailed information about each
function.) After you are finished, press "Q" to return to the WFC
screen.
MODEM CONFIGURATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The installation program configures Telegard for use with a 2400 BPS
modem on communications port 1 (COM1). If you are using a different
COM port, or have something other than a 2400 BPS modem, you will
need to enter the Modem Configuration section ("A" from the System
Configuration menu) and modify the BPS rate and COM port options to
match your system configuration.
LOGGING ON
~~~~~~~~~~
1. From the WFC menu, press the space bar to locally logon. Press
"Y" at the prompt to perform a full logon.
2. After the title screen is displayed you will be asked to enter
your user name or ID number. The installation program has
already created the SysOp account (user #1). At this prompt,
you may enter "1", or the SysOp alias you defined using option
2 of the installation program (the default is "SYSOP").
3. At the Password prompt, enter "SYSOP". This is the password
assigned by the installation program; we suggest you change it
immediately, as this one is the first one a person with mali-
cious intent will try. (Use the User Editor, and choose a
password that will be familiar only to you.)
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
4. At the phone number prompt, enter the last four digits of the
phone number you defined using option 2 of the installation
program (the default is "0000").
Using the documentation and the provided sample files, the customi-
zation of your system should be fairly easy to figure out.
ADDITIONAL CUSTOMIZATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cardinal rule is, experiment!!! It's a big system; don't expect
to learn it all in one sitting.
Things to do to a new system:
Find the SysOp menu. All the SysOp commands are located there.
While logged on, this menu is entered by pressing "*" from
almost any other menu. The commands in the SysOp menu mirror
most of the WFC screen commands almost exactly, and offer a few
commands not available from the WFC screen.
Modify the system configuration for your system.
Modify the SysOp account (user #1) using the User Editor ("U"
from the SysOp menu and WFC screen).
Check over the menus and command access levels in the Menu
Editor ("#" from the SysOp menu and WFC screen).
Add/modify the message bases with the Message Base Editor ("B"
from the SysOp menu and WFC screen).
Add/modify the file bases with the File Base Editor ("F" from
the SysOp menu and WFC screen).
Create a voting board using the Voting Editor ("I" from the
SysOp menu and WFC screen).
Post mail in each message section describing what it is.
Set up any games or other online programs you wish. RBBS,
WWIV, Wildcat!, DOOR.SYS, and Spitfire doors are supported.
See the section on menu commands in the main documentation.
Use the Protocol Editor ("X" from the SysOp menu and WFC
screen) to add new protocols to your BBS, or to delete the ones
in the default setup. (Xmodem, Ymodem, and Zmodem protocols
are already set up for single file, batch, and resume trans-
fers.) Also, make sure the programs that implement the proto-
cols (example: DSZ.COM) are somewhere on your DOS PATH!
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
REPLACING A CORRUPT STATUS.DAT FILE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The STATUS.DAT file, located in the main BBS directory, contains
most of the information necessary for Telegard to function. It goes
without saying that if this file is somehow corrupted, your BBS
suddenly becomes nothing more than a meaningless collection of
files!
Normally, if/when this happens, you would have to reinstall the BBS
from scratch. Option 4 in the installation program, however, will
create a brand-new STATUS.DAT file in your main BBS directory, thus
saving you countless hours of work. (It will use the default
configuration specified in options 1 and 2, so if you were using
defaults other than the ones specified, you'd better change them
before you use this option.)
- Page 9 -
Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
__________________________
CHANGES AND ENHANCEMENTS
__________________________
Telegard has undergone quite an extensive refit; this section de-
scribes the changes, enhancements, and bug fixes over previous
versions.
NEW FEATURES
~~~~~~~~~~~~
* The message system has been completely rewritten from the
ground up. Refer to the section on the message system later in
this document for detailed information.
* Conferencing! Yes, finally you can separate message bases AND
FILE BASES, as well as anything else you care to dream up, into
individual categories. Refer to the section on conferencing
later in this document for detailed information.
* Menu command OL was added, which clears the screen.
* After a door exits, Telegard will read the user record from
disk and incorporate certain information into the user's cur-
rent data. This information includes:
SL # downloads # public posts
DSL Amount uploaded (K) # private posts
AR flags Amount downloaded (K) # NetMail posts
AC flags NetMail credit Time in Time Bank
File points NetMail debit
# uploads NewScan/hi-msg pointers
Previously, if a door wrote this information to a user's re-
cord, it was lost when the user logged off (because Telegard
didn't reread the user record to obtain it). This should make
writers of callback verifiers and offline mail programs happi-
er!
(Note that this is done ONLY when a door is executed via the Dx
Cmdkeys, NOT via LOGON.BAT or LOGOFF.BAT.)
* The system batch files (LOGON.BAT, LOGOFF.BAT, etc.) can be
disabled via option X in System Configuration --> System
Flagged Functions. This way, if you don't use them, you can
protect your system from jerks who might attempt to crash your
system.
Note that the conversion program WILL SET THIS FLAG SO THAT THE
BATCH FILES ARE DISABLED! Thus, if you _do_ use them, you'll
have to toggle the flag after you convert... be warned!
- Page 10 -
Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
* Telegard now supports the 7200, 12000, and 14400 BPS rates
returned by V.32bis modems (as well as USRobotics' latest HST
modems)... sort of. What this means is that Telegard will
RECOGNIZE the codes, but it won't actually set the BPS rate
specified, since the FOSSIL driver doesn't support these new
rates (7200 will be sent as 9600, and 12000 & 14400 will be
sent as 19200). This shouldn't be too much of a problem, since
these codes are normally only sent with a V.32bis modem, which
means that the port should be locked for peak performance (and
locking will take care of the BPS rate).
* Telegard will now create empty files ("semaphore files") in the
main BBS directory under certain conditions, for use by exter-
nal utilities. (Note that Telegard does not itself use these
files; it merely creates them.) The currently supported sema-
phore files are:
TGMSCAN.NOW Created if a message has been entered in a
NetMail, EchoMail, or GroupMail base.
TGMBASE.NOW Created if message bases have been changed,
inserted, deleted, or repositioned.
TGFBASE.NOW Created if file bases have been changed,
inserted, deleted, or repositioned.
* Pathnames to your archive utilities and protocol drivers can
now be defined in System Configuration --> File System Configu-
ration. These paths will be prefixed onto every archive and
protocol command, which should prevent unscrupulous people from
using these security holes to do damage to your system.
* Menu command OF added to set/reset/toggle AR flags.
Cmdkeys: OF
Description: AR flag set/reset/toggle
MString: [ <function><flag> [...] ]
<flag> is a flag letter from A to Z. <function> may
be one of the following:
+ Set flag
- Reset flag
! Toggle flag
More than one function/flag combination may be
specified. Case is ignored.
An example would be "+A+G-E!Z-M", which would set flags A and
G, reset flags E and M, and toggle the status of flag Z. (Note
that the flags are saved in the user's record when that user
logs off.)
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
* New ACS command "X" added, which tests various miscellaneous
information. The command format is "X<item>"; valid items at
this time are:
A TRUE if user in ANSI video mode.
C TRUE if user in color mode.
L TRUE if user logged on locally.
T TRUE if user in TTY video mode.
V TRUE if user in AVATAR video mode.
Any other parameter will return FALSE.
* The post/call ratio (PCR) system is FINALLY implemented... in a
slightly different manner than you might expect.
To set the PCR values for each security level, choose option 5
(Post/Call Ratio Settings) at the System Configuration menu.
For each SL, define the number of calls a user must make for
every public message posted. The PCR configuration works just
like the time allowed, UL/DL ratio, etc. configuration areas.
To use the PCR system, the new ACS command "VP" should be
placed in menu commands, file base definitions, or any place
else you wish to force PCR compliance. Thus, if a user doesn't
meet the PCR, the command/feature/etc. is made unavailable
until the user meets the PCR assigned for his/her SL.
* The extension used for batch files may now be specified in
System Configuration --> Miscellaneous Configuration. The
default is BAT (used by COMMAND.COM). Telegard will use this
extension for all internally-generated batch files, as well as
external batch files like LOGON.BAT, WFCBATx.BAT, etc. This is
especially handy for users of 4DOS, as Telegard can now make
use of its memory batch file feature (*.BTM) for increased
system performance.
CHANGES
~~~~~~~
* The Waiting For Caller screen has been modified. Several com-
mands have been removed, others have been reassigned or relo-
cated, and others are new:
K Pack Message Bases *RELOCATED*
M Read All Mail *REASSIGNED*
R Read Email *REMOVED*
W Write Email *REMOVED*
$ Conference Editor *NEW*
The Quick Message feature ("M" from the WFC screen) allows
almost complete access to every message system function, in-
cluding reading, writing, and removing messages, and packing
the message bases. (All messages are accessed and posted as
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
user #1, with appropriate access. Switching to another user is
not provided at this time.) SysOps can now perform message
maintenance without ever having to log on to the BBS.
* Color filters have been removed, pending their possible return
(in an altered form) in a future version. This allowed some
optimization of the character/string display code (also, the
color filter system was slow as heck!).
* The code that handles MCI codes has been revamped, specifically
the code that interprets MCI color codes. Most significantly,
color codes may no longer be specified using ^0..^9; they must
be entered using Ctrl-P 0..9. Not only did this allow some
code streamlining, it also returned the use of the carat ("^")
to prompts and messages. (The sole exception is the menu
system; ^0..^9 can still be specified in menu prompts and such.
The menu code will take care of converting them internally.)
Also, the @ character may now be used in prompts and messages
as long as it is not followed by a valid MCI code character.
Be warned that such massive changes may cause some anomalous
behavior; keep an eye out for it, and be sure to report any
problems.
* The logon prompt that asks for the last four digits of the
user's telephone number has been changed from "Complete phone
#" to "Enter last four digits of phone #". There was much user
confusion reported by many Telegard SysOps over the former
prompt; hopefully, the latter prompt will make things much
clearer.
* Some of the obnoxiousness has been removed from the user infor-
mation prompts (when a user makes a mistake entering the re-
quested information).
* The B AC flag, which prevented using the arrow keys when enter-
ing messages, has been removed, due to the fact that the mes-
sage system no longer allows the use of arrow keys at all
(explained later). It has been replaced with the N flag, which
is used to prohibit a user from posting NetMail messages.
* The (F)ast Logon feature (used when logging on locally from the
WFC screen) will now skip the password and phone number
prompts, allowing an even faster local logon. (The user number
is still requested in case you wish to log on locally using a
different user account.)
* The -B command line switch will not only accept the 7200,
12000, and 14400 BPS rates, it will now IGNORE any invalid
rates that are passed. (Before, Telegard used to blindly
accept whatever rate happened to be passed.)
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
* When deleting a user in the User Editor, messages in the Pri-
vate Message base which are to or from that user are deleted.
Note that if you restore (un-delete) a user, the messages are
NOT restored, since there is no guarantee that they will still
be there.
* The internal archive viewer has been radically changed. First,
it now supports Robert K. Jung's ARJ format. Second, it now
supports the new compression types used in PKWARE's PKZIP 2.0.
Finally, the archive to be viewed is no longer required to have
one of the extensions defined in the archive table, as the
viewer will now automatically determine the archive type. (A
viewer defined in the archive table will still override the
internal viewer, provided the extension on the archive file
matches the definition in the archive table.)
* When packing message bases, you will now be asked if you REALLY
want to continue, allowing you one last chance to change your
mind.
* After a file base is sorted, one of two characters will appear
at the end of the base description: ".", indicating that the
base was not sorted, or "*", indicating that it was sorted.
(Previously, different characters were displayed, depending on
which sort was used, a feature useful to almost no one except
the programmer.)
* For security purposes, the file path is now displayed only to
users with Co-SysOp or higher access when a bad upload or
download file path is encountered.
* The "last few callers" list now displays five entries instead
of four for users with less than Co-SysOp access. (Persons
with Co-SysOp or higher access still see 10 entries listed.)
* The file base list function output has been redesigned to look
similar to that of the message base list function.
* Users can no longer enter a password that is equivalent to part
(or all) of their user name. For example, "Joe Hacker" can't
use the passwords "HACKER", "HACK", "JOE", etc. (Case is
irrelevant to the comparison.)
* The number of file points deducted for unlisted downloads is
now configurable. (Previously, it was fixed at 5 points.)
Option N in System Configuration --> File System Configuration
controls this value, which can range from 0 to 255.
* The message displayed when the multi-tasking flag is enabled
can now be configured in System Configuration --> String Con-
figuration, screen #5.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
* TRASHCAN.TXT will now be read in ALL cases where it is possible
for a new user to log on (shuttle menu, logon prompt, and "NEW"
at logon prompt). Also, if an entry in TRASHCAN.TXT starts
with an asterisk, the word or phrase is used in a wildcard
comparison; otherwise, an entry must match exactly with the
user's input.
* The current date and time is inserted into the message title
when a user leaves private mail to the SysOp after a failed
chat attempt.
* The "performing daily maintenance" display is now more
informative as to what is actually happening.
* The user's date of birth and telephone number (United States
and Canada only) are now checked for valid formats. In the
case of the date of birth, the input itself is checked for
valid values (i.e. no obviously erroneous "21/37/00" inputs).
* If the shuttle menu is active, users cannot log on as new at
the main logon prompt (thus thwarting jerks who may know your
shuttle password and try to damage your system). This does not
apply to a local (F)ast Logon.
BUG FIXES
~~~~~~~~~
* Canadian zip codes have now been fixed.
* Using MCI codes as the password when logging on to the BBS will
no longer lock up the system.
* In System Configuration --> BBS Configuration, the system, new
user, and shuttle logon passwords may now be set to NULL.
Previously, once a password was set, it could not be removed.
(In practice, only the new user password should be allowed to
be NULL; setting the shuttle logon password to NULL defeats its
purpose, and if you set the system password to NULL, you might
as well just forget about system security altogether!)
* Telegard now allows all eight archive types to be
defined/modified, instead of just the first six.
* If a new user indicates ANSI video but no color during the new
user logon procedure, color is enabled anyway.
* Pathnames in the various System Configuration menus could not
be set to NULL. Note that setting certain pathnames to NULL
could have adverse effects on the operation of your system!
* Pressing <ENTER> at the "Filename:" prompt would result in
"Error reading file" when using the Text File Editor.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
USING EXISTING TELEGARD UTILITIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As with any program, upgrading to a new version can mean that pro-
grams and utilities designed for older versions may not longer work,
and Telegard is no exception. Listed below are the files that are
changed, along with certain notations as to how older utilities will
work with the newly changed files.
For details on the changes between the old files and the new, you
should compare the file formats (contained in the distribution
archive) to their older counterparts. Programmers, take note!
*.BRD Major changes. Utilities which use these files will
*.MIX have to be updated. (The biggest difference is in
the way the message text is stored; specifically,
each message is now stored as one block of text,
rather than smaller blocks representing lines of
text.)
BBS.EXE No longer used, and can be safely deleted (they have
BBS.OVR been replaced with TELEGARD.EXE, which combines both
files into one.)
BOARDS.DAT Major changes. Utilities which use this file will
have to be updated.
FIDONET.DAT Major changes, as well as a name change (to
NETWORK.DAT). Utilities which use this file will
have to be updated. Since this file has been re-
named, it can be safely deleted.
LASTON.DAT Major changes. Utilities which use this file will
have to be updated.
PRHELP.* No longer used, and can safely be deleted.
STATUS.DAT No major changes, aside from a few reassigned flags
and fields. Most utilities should work with little
or no change.
STRING.DAT No major changes, though data has been appended to
the end of the file; thus, utilities which use this
file might have to be updated.
USER.LST Major changes. Utilities which use this file will
have to be updated.
ZLOG.DAT Minor changes. Most utilities which use this file
should work with little to no change.
ZSCAN.DAT No longer used, and can be safely deleted (its infor-
mation is now stored in USER.LST).
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Any file not mentioned here can be assumed to have no changes, thus
requiring no updates to existing programs.
MESSAGE SYSTEM CHANGES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As stated earlier, the message system has been completely rewritten.
This allowed major changes and additions to be made to Telegard
while REDUCING the overall size of the program! The major changes
to the message system include:
Internal NetMail support, with the ability to select/toggle
message status flags.
Message bases may now be declared public- or private-only, or
combined public/private. This allows use of EchoMail confer-
ences in which messages must remain private, or which allow
private messages to be distributed. (Currently, only public
and private bases may be defined; public/private will be added
in a future release.)
The private mail base (Email), which was previously accessed
through special commands, is now part of the normal message
base layout. It is base #0, and unlike other bases, it cannot
be deleted or locked out of a user's new message scan (NewScan)
table. It is declared a private-only base, and except for
certain features, cannot be altered via the Message Base Edi-
tor.
The Message Base Editor has been modified to take into account
the various changes and enhancements to the message system.
The menu commands relating to the message system have been
simplified, with some removed and others assigned to new func-
tions.
MCI codes are no longer processed while displaying message text
or from/to/subject information. This means that the "@" and
"^" characters may now be included in message text without
screwing up.
An interface for a full-screen message editor is now available.
Various changes and enhancements to the message reading and
writing functions.
These new features and enhancements are detailed below (not neces-
sarily in the order presented above).
The Message Base Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Message Base Editor works, for the most part, much as it did
before. As stated above, the Private Mail message base is now part
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
of the overall message base layout (as base #0), but unlike other
bases, it cannot be deleted or positioned, other bases cannot be
inserted before it, and only certain fields may be modified. It
also cannot be locked out of a user's message base NewScan table.
Other changes you will find:
NetMail is now among the choices of message base types.
A new option has been added to select how messages will be
posted. Currently, you may choose between "public" and "pri-
vate"; a future version will also add "public/private". (Note
that most EchoMail and GroupMail conferences do NOT allow
private messages!)
As MCI codes are no longer processed in message bases, the ACS
for MCI codes has been removed.
Message base status flags have been altered:
The "strip box/center codes" and "center boxed/centered
lines" flags have been replaced with "strip message
codes", which performs the functions of both flags.
"Immune to twitting" has been added. This prevents the
message deletion ("twit") function of TeleMail from oper-
ating on message bases (useful for EchoMail/GroupMail
conference moderators who HAVE to monitor all messages in
a conference).
"UUCP/Internet handling" has been added. This is only
useful for Usenet conferences that have been gated to
EchoMail or GroupMail. When this flag is enabled, the
"To:" field is displayed ONLY if it is not "All" (which
will be 99% of the time) when reading messages, and the
"To:" field will be forced to "All" when writing messages.
(This is due to the Usenet concept that all messages are
intended for everyone, and thus should not be addressed to
any one person.) True UUCP handling is NOT present; that
may come in a future version.
The color choice for text has been replaced with a color choice
for FTSC kludge lines (default color = 7). Regular message
text (not including kludge, quoted, tear, and origin lines) is
now shown as color #1 exclusively.
Message System Menu Commands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The menu commands for the message system have been radically
changed. You should modify your MSG menu and make any appropriate
changes; you might also want to add any of the new commands listed
below.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Cmdkeys: MA
Description: Message base change
MString: [ base# [;menu] | + | - | L ]
Allows user to change to different message base.
If MString = "base#" Change to specified base. If a
menu is specified, that menu is
loaded if it exists.
If MString = "+" Change to next base
If MString = "-" Change to previous base
If MString = "L" Lists available bases only
If MString = "" Prompts for desired base
Cmdkeys: MC
Description: Check for messages in Private Messages base
MString: None
Allows user to check for, and read, messages to him/her in
the Private Messages base (#0).
Cmdkeys: MD
Description: Delete messages in message bases
MString: [ base# | C | G ]
Deletes messages written by the user.
If MString = "base#" Delete in specified base
If MString = "C" Delete in current base
If MString = "G" Delete in all bases
If MString = "" Prompt for current or all bases
Cmdkeys: ME
Description: Send message to user in Private Messages base
MString: [ user# [ ;[*]title ] ]
Allows user to post message to specified user in the
Private Messages base (#0).
User# must specify a valid user, and cannot be locked out
or deleted. If user# is 0, the user is allowed to specify
the user to whom the message is intended.
If title is specified, it cannot be changed; otherwise,
user selects own title. MCI codes may be used when speci-
fying title. If the first character of the title is an
asterisk ("*"), the user cannot abort the message.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Cmdkeys: MK
Description: Pack message bases
MString: [ base# | C | G ]
Removes deleted messages, and removes enough messages to
make message bases conform to the maximum number of mes-
sages allowed for each base.
If MString = "base#" Pack specified base
If MString = "C" Pack current base
If MString = "G" Pack all bases
If MString = "" Prompt for current or all bases
Cmdkeys: MN
Description: Scan for new messages
MString: [ base# | C | G ]
Allows reading of new messages entered in message bases.
If MString = "base#" Scan specified base
If MString = "C" Scan current base
If MString = "G" Scan all bases
If MString = "" Prompt for current or all bases
Cmdkeys: MP
Description: Post message in current base
MString: None
Cmdkeys: MR
Description: Read messages in current base
MString: None
Allows users to read messages in current base. Messages
can be read in forward or reverse order, messages to or
from the user may be read, and new or waiting messages may
be read. User is prompted as to how he/she wants to read
messages.
Cmdkeys: MS
Description: Scan titles of messages in current base
MString: None
Displays titles of messages in current base. Good for a
quick scan of messages without having to actually read
them.
Cmdkeys: MU
Description: List users with access to current base
MString: None
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Cmdkeys: MW
Description: Scan for new messages waiting for user
MString: [ base# | C | G ]
Similar to MN, except that only new messages addressed to
the user are displayed. Also contrary to the MN command,
the highest read message pointers are NOT updated.
If MString = "base#" Scan specified base
If MString = "C" Scan current base
If MString = "G" Scan all bases
If MString = "" Prompt for current or all bases
Cmdkeys: MZ
Description: Toggle message base NewScan flags
MString: None
Allows the user to allow or prevent message bases from
being scanned with the MN and MW commands. Note that the
status of base #0 (private messages) CANNOT be altered
with this command.
Cmdkeys: M#
Description: Allow message base change at menu prompt
MString: None
If this command is present in the menu, a user may change
message bases by entering the desired base number at the
menu prompt.
Cmdkeys: M$
Description: Show configuration of current message base
MString: None
Displays the name, type, and other aspects of current
message base. Users with Co-SysOp access or higher will
also be shown the base password and ACS fields.
Writing Messages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing messages is, for the most part, the same as it was in previ-
ous releases of Telegard. The few differences that exist do not
(with two exceptions) merit inclusion here; you and your users are
just going to have to find out for yourselves.
The one difference that merits exception is message quoting. Listed
here are the differences in the quoting system in this release:
Quoting now works in ALL cases when replying to a message. In
previous versions, it would not work in some cases.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
The "*** Quoting ... ***" header may now be defined in System
Configuration --> String Configuration, screen #5. Two lines
may be defined, and four special MCI codes are available:
@F Inserts the name of the person in the "From:" field
of the replied-to message.
@T Inserts the name of the person in the "To:" field of
the replied-to message.
@D Inserts the date of the message.
@A Inserts the origin address of the message.
Quoted lines are now shown six at a time, and users can select
how lines are to be added:
A Add all lines shown.
F Add from specified line.
T Add to specified line.
R Add range of lines.
O Add a single line.
S Skip to next set of lines.
Q Return to editing message.
The initials of the person shown in the "From:" field are used
in front of the ">" quoting character. Thus, a message from
Joe Public would have "JP> " in front of the quoted lines.
This helps immensely in attributing text to the proper person
when quoting.
The other exception is in how one can reply to messages. If a
message originated locally, the user is prompted as to whether or
not a private reply is desired. If so, the message is posted in the
Private Messages base instead of the current base.
A NetMail reply function is also available for use in EchoMail and
GroupMail bases. If a user wishes to send NetMail to the person who
wrote an EM/GM message, they can use the (N)etMail Reply function at
the "read messages" prompt. Note that the user must have NetMail
access, as well as enough NetMail credit, for this feature to func-
tion.
NetMail
~~~~~~~
After almost two years, Telegard finally supports NetMail internal-
ly. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, NetMail is like
Telegard's private message base, except that the messages are sent
through a network like FidoNet to a user on another system. (Thus,
in order to use NetMail, you have to have a front-end mailer set up,
and you have to be in an electronic network such as FidoNet.)
To set up NetMail on your system, you must first go to the System
Configuration --> Network Configuration menu. There you must set up
various options pertaining to NetMail:
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
The NetMail path should be the NetMail directory used by your
front-end mailer.
The nodelist path should be the directory that contains your
compiled nodelist files. Telegard uses the nodelist to verify
addresses when entering NetMail; specifically, it uses an
Opus/BinkleyTerm Version 6 format nodelist for this purpose.
If you are already using BinkleyTerm, you need do nothing more.
If, however, you are using a mailer like FrontDoor, you will
need to create a Version 6 nodelist; utilities like ParseLst,
SysNL, and XlaxNode will do this for you. (The Version 6
nodelist can reside in the FrontDoor nodelist directory, as the
filenames are different and will not interfere with each
other.) IF YOU DO NOT SPECIFY A NODELIST DIRECTORY, TELEGARD
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VERIFY ADDRESSES; all addresses will appear
to be valid. This, however, may be desirable by some SysOps.
Users with Co-SysOp access or higher can set the message
attribute status bits when entering a NetMail message. You can
set three attributes -- "crash", "hold", and "kill when sent"
-- to default to either "yes" or "no". (The default configura-
tion is to set "crash" and "hold" to NO, and "kill/sent" to
YES.)
Some SysOps may wish to hold all NetMail entered by uses with
less than Co-SysOp access; this allows them to be reviewed, so
as to prevent users from sending hundreds of messages halfway
around the world, thereby driving up your phone bill. The
"hold all user NetMail" option is used for this purpose; it
defaults to YES.
To create a NetMail base, use the Message Base Editor to create a
new message base. Set the base type to NetMail, and use the NetMail
path when asked for the message path. The posting type will default
to Private, as this is usually the intended purpose of NetMail:
private communications between two people.
(Note that nothing prevents you from creating more than one NetMail
base; TeleMail will export messages from multiple NetMail bases just
fine. However, on import, TeleMail will toss inbound NetMail
messages to the FIRST NETMAIL BASE ENCOUNTERED. This may change in
a future version of TeleMail, but for now, keep that in mind.)
A credit/debit system is used to control NetMail usage. It is used
in conjunction with the "cost" field in the Version 6 nodelist (if
you are not using a nodelist, the cost defaults to 0). Rather than
try to explain how it works, I'll use an example. Suppose a user
has a credit limit of 10000, and 0 in the debit field. If that user
enters a NetMail message that costs 10 points, 10 will be added to
the debit field. This process continues until the user tries to
enter a message that, when its points are added to the debit field,
would exceed the credit limit; when that happens, the user will not
be able to enter the message (i.e. if the credit field is 10000, the
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
debit field is 9995, and the point value of the NetMail message is
15; 9995+15=10010, which exceeds the credit limit). At that point,
you will have to either increase the credit field, or reduce the
debit field (determined by how you allow NetMail access on your
system). It looks complicated at first, but once you start using
it, it's actually quite simple.
Finally, a nodelist look-up function is available when entering
NetMail messages. The user can search by zone, zone:net, and
zone:net/node. Searching by SysOp name is not available at this
time, since the Version 6 nodelist format doesn't contain the SysOp
name.
Full-Screen Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Telegard now has an interface for an external full-screen editor
(FSE), which many people find convenient for creating and editing
messages.
One such FSE is called QuickED, written by Dror and Oren Tirosh. It
is generally available as QED120.ZIP (for version 1.2). QuickED
will be used in the following examples, but any external FSE should
work in its place, as long as it supports a FOSSIL driver and ANSI
codes.
To install QuickED:
1. Unpack the archive into your main BBS directory.
2. Execute the QEDINST program. Nothing needs to be changed,
so simply quitting the program (thereby saving the config-
uration file) is all that needs to be done. (You can
experiment with QEDINST at a later date, once you are
satisfied that the program is running properly.)
3. Load the BBS. Go to Miscellaneous Configuration (under
System Configuration) and change the FSE command line
(option D) to read:
QUICKED @P @B @T 300
where @P is the port, @B is the BPS rate, @T is the amount
of time left in minutes, and 300 is the number of seconds
until timeout (a value which is not passed by Telegard;
thus, a hard-coded value must be used).
Now, whenever a user goes to post or reply to a message, Telegard
will ask if the user wishes to use the FSE (if the user is in ANSI
mode).
If the user is replying to a message, a file called MSGTMP (with no
extension) is created for the external editor in a ready-to-quote
format. It is a standard ASCII file with the familiar quoting
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
prefix ("XX>") already inserted before each line. (QuickED allows
quoting from this file using the Ctrl-K Q option if it exists.)
Upon returning from the FSE, Telegard expects the message to be in a
file called MSGTMP (the same file as the quote file). The format
expected is normal ASCII, with 8D hexadecimal (141 decimal) used to
indicate a soft carriage return, and a CR/LF sequence (0D 0A hexa-
decimal, 13 10 decimal) to indicate a hard carriage return.
If an ERRORLEVEL of 0 is returned from the FSE, Telegard assumes
that the FSE has returned normally, and will save the message.
Otherwise, the message will not be saved.
Note that users CANNOT use the FSE when writing messages that can't
be aborted (e.g. the new user application message).
CONFERENCING
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conferencing allows you to separate message bases, file bases, menu
commands, and just about anything else in the system into individual
categories... a feature that Telegard SysOps have long awaited. The
conferencing system in Telegard is implemented in a slightly differ-
ent fashion from other systems.
The key lies in two places: the Conference Editor ("$" at the SysOp
and WFC screen menus) and the previously unused "Cx" ACS command.
The Conference Editor works much like the other editors, in that you
can delete, insert, and modify new conference designators. Each
conference can be given a description and an ACS requirement for
access to the conference. You can have up to 26 user-defined con-
ferences (labeled "A" through "Z"). An additional conference, "@",
is designated the Main Conference, and is permanent (it cannot be
removed); it is the conference that users have access to when they
log on. Thus, the ACS definition for "@" should allow access by all
users.
In order to separate features into conferences, the "Cx" ACS command
is used, with "x" being a conference designator defined with the
Conference Editor. Place this command into the ACS fields of mes-
sage bases, file bases, menu commands, and other features that you
wish to separate into conferences. Once done, users CANNOT access
that feature unless they are currently joined to that conference.
(Not using "Cx" means that the feature is available to all users at
all times... in other words, the feature is accessed just like it
always has been.)
The new OR menu command is used to allow a user access to confer-
ences. The syntax of the OR command is as follows:
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
Cmdkeys: OR
Description: Change to another conference
MString: [ <conference tag> | ? ]
The <conference tag> can be any character from A to Z, or
@ to switch to the main conference. If the conference is
not defined, nothing is done.
If MString is "?", all conferences available to the user
are displayed.
If MString is blank (""), the user is prompted as to which
conference is desired.
The most obvious places to insert this new command are in the MAIN,
MSG, and FILE menus. The connotation "(J)oin Conference" is sug-
gested.
The new *R command is used to allow access to the Conference Editor.
Its syntax is as follows:
Cmdkeys: *R
Description: Enter Conference Editor
MString: None
Finally, there are two new MCI codes available to indicate the
currently selected conference:
@I Returns the conference tag (@ or A..Z).
@J Returns the conference description.
Conferencing Examples
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's an example to get you used to the concept. Suppose you have
several message and file bases devoted to programming, and you would
like to separate them from the rest of the bases. To do this, you
would use the Conference Editor to create a new entry:
Tag: P Description: Computer Programming
You would then use the Message Base Editor to modify the program-
ming-related message bases, and the File Base Editor to modify the
programming-related file bases. Modify the ACS fields of the bases
to insert the command "CP" (i.e. must be joined to conference "P" to
have access).
Now, when a user logs on, he/she will be in the Main Conference
("@"). The programming message and file bases will no longer be
accessible. In order for that user to access those bases, the
(J)oin Conference command must be used to select conference "P".
When that is done, the message and file bases will suddenly appear,
and the user can access them normally.
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Telegard BBS Version 2.7 Upgrade Information
This is, admittedly, a simple example. The capabilities of the
conferencing system are virtually unlimited, due to its being con-
trolled via ACS. Entire menus can be created, for instance, devoted
to a single conference (a FIRSTCMD can be used with command OR to
switch to the desired conference, and the (Q)uit command can be
chained to another OR command to switch back to the Main Conference)
by placing the appropriate conference command into the menu ACS
field, as well as the command that accesses the menu.
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